ended and the next began And now if it be further demanded why God commanded the Israelites at their return out of Egypt to alter the beginning of their yeare from Autumne unto the Spring unlesse it had been so of old To that it is answered thus viz. that there are two reasons for it 1. The one is this They coming out of Egypt from the bondage of Pharaoh were to begin their yeare from that time in memorie of their deliverance And therefore it is said in Exod. 12. 42. It is a night to be much observed to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations 2. And not onely so but also at the same time of the yeare as God had determined it there was a better and a greater deliverie to be wrought for mankinde namely such a delivery as should free him from the bondage of Satan by the death of Christ. Now this may be called the Deliverie of deliveries of which that other out of Egypt was but a figure because it was but from a corporall bondage whereas this was from a spirituall And thus came the yeare to be changed which ever before pointed to the time of mans creation but now it is made to point another way namely to the time of mans redemption by which God taught his Church then typically delivered how to expect the acceptable yeare of the Lord and time of mans redemption which was both proclaimed and purchased by that Lambe of God who taketh away the sinnes of the world whose offering upon the crosse was at the same time of the yeare when that Paschal lambe by which he was prefigured was slain which time why it is severed from Autumne hath been shewed Yea thus came the first to be last and the last first thus came Nisan to get the dignitie from the other moneths and to be called the beginning or first monethâ—…in the yeare At which we need not marvell for the time of mans redemption was a more worthy mark from whence to reckon then the time of his creation And thus have I delivered what I finde and verily think to be most probable in this matter Unto which may be added that as the evening was before the morning so was the Autumne before the Spring for the yeare and the day have a kinde of analogie between the one and the other as may be seen in the seventh day compared with the seventh yeare and therefore they do well serve the one to expresse the naturall beginning of the other CHAP. III. Containing a discourse of such things as are pertinent to the first dayes work Sect. 1. Of God the Architect of all and of the first part of the first dayes work TIme by whose revolutions we measure houres dayes weeks moneths and yeares is nothing else but as it were a certain space borrowed or set apart from eternitie which shall at the last return to eternitie again like the rivers which have their first course from the seas and by running on there they arrive and have their last for before Time began there was Eternitie namely GOD which was which is and which shall be for ever without beginning or end and yet the beginning and end of all things Aeternitas enim Dei solummodo naturae substantialiter inest saith one that is Eternitie is substantially onely in the nature of God When Moses therefore would have known Gods name he tells him Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I AM hath sent me unto you By which name saith Junius he would have himself known according to his eternall essence whereby he is discerned from all other things which are either in heaven on the earth or elsewhere Which in another place is thus illustrated Egosum Primus Ultimus praeter me non est Deus I am the First and the Last and beside me there is no God Esay 44. 6. Or thus Before the day was I am he and there is none that can deliver out of my hand Esay 43. 13. To which that of the Psalmist doth well agree Before the mountains were brought forth or ever the earth and the world were made thou art God from everlasting to everlasting Psal. 90. 2. Thus we see that before ever any thing was God onely was who gave both a beginning and a being unto every thing that is and he in respect of his divine essence is but one Yet so as in that single essence of his there be three divine subsistences or persons all truely subsisting whereof every one is distinct from other and yet each hath the whole Godhead in it self and these are the Father Sonne and holy Ghost 1. John 5. 7. 1. The Father is a person who from all eternitie hath begotten the Sonne 2. The Sonne is a person from all eternitie begotten of the Father 3. The holy Ghost is a person eternally proceeding from the Father and the Sonne as the holy Scriptures witnesse These thus distinct in person not divinitie All three in one make one eternall Trinitie From which eternall and undivided Trinitie the whole world consisting of things visible and invisible took beginning as the originall words Elohim and Bara do well expresse For Elohim being a word plurall doth signifie Dii Gods but being joyned with a word singular namely Bara which is Created they then together shew that there are three persons in the Deitie and that the three persons are but one God who did create Or thus Those two words being the one of the singular the other of the plurall number do note unto us the singularitie of the Godhead and pluralitie of the persons And not onely so but they also shew that the three persons being but one God did all of them create For such is found to be the proprietie of the Hebrew phrase Elohim bara Creavit Dii The Gods created 1. Of the Father it is witnessed that he created as the fountain of goodnesse For saith S. James Every good and perfect gift is from above cometh down from the Father of lights Jam. 1. 17. Of whom and through whom saith S. Paul are all things Rom. 11. 36. 2. Of the Sonne it is witnessed that he created as the wisdome of the Father For when he created the heavens saith Wisdome I was there Prov. 8. 27. And again By him were all things created that are Coloss. 1. 14 15. namely by him who did bear the image of the Father and was the Redeemer of the world 3. And lastly of the holy Ghost it is witnessed that he createth as the power of the Father and the Sonne For by his Spirit he garnished the heavens and by his hand he hath formed the crooked serpent Job 26. 13. and chap. 33. 4. Or as the Psalmist hath it By the word of the Lord were the heavens made
and all the hosts of them spiritu oris by the spirit of his mouth Psal. 33. 6. All which considered and found to be done in the beginning must needs be then when there was no pre-existent matter to work upon For as it is witnessed the Hebrew word Reshith which is englished the beginning doth not signifie any substance neither doth the other word Bara to create signifie any way to create but of nothing and thereby it is distinguished from the word Iatzar to form and Gnasha to make And therefore though now we behold a glorious something wherein appeares in every part more then much matter of wonder yet at the first saith noble Bartas Nothing but nothing had the Lord Almightie Whereof wherewith whereby to build this citie That Axiome therefore in philosophie Ex nihilo nihil fit must needs stand aloof off when we speak of creation For although it be true that according to the course of nature and ordinary custome of things nothing can be made unlesse out of some former matter yet when we descend ad inquirendam primarum rerum conditionem to enquire after the first condition of the first things then we shall finde that God is above nature because he is the Lord of nature And he whose sufficiencie and efficiencie is altogether absolute must needs be able supernaturali quadam ratione by a certain supernaturall means to produce all things out of nothing Of which nothing that I may say something my best and onely way is to look at Moses and as neare as I can explain his meaning In the beginning saith he God created the heavens and the earth In which words he laboureth not so much to deliver a generall proposition of the works of creation or of the two distinct parts of the world or of the matter of heaven and earth as if the one word did insinuate all the superiour parts of the world the other all the inferiour parts beside or as if taking both together he meant by them joyntly totius mundi semen the seed of the whole world mentioning it under these two words of Heaven and Earth as a Chaos This he meaneth not because that which concerns the Chaos is mentioned afterwards in the second verse And what were it but a plain tautologie to say that in the beginning God created a Chaos and that Chaos was a Chaos Wherefore in those first words he intendeth nothing more then to shew that the world which now is called according to its parts Heaven and Earth was not from everlasting but took beginning and so without controversie the right reading of his words doth also witnesse For in their originall as it is witnessed by expositours thus they sound In the beginning God created these heavens and this earth as if it should be said These very heavens and this very earth which now we see in being were not alwayes but began Then afterwards he proceedeth to shew how and in what time God created them speaking first how all was like a disordered and deformed Chaos the earth and the heavens not distinguished but lying as it were in a confused heap all together And this is manifest For on the second day when the heavens were made it seemeth that their matter was from amongst that masse or unfashioned lump which was said to be void and without form and not able to be kept together had not the Spirit of God cherished it for the Spirit of God moving upon the waters did as it were sit upon it and nourish it as a fowl doth her eggs with heat and life yea their matter I say was from among the waters which by the power of Gods word were extended and stretched like a canopie round about the earth as now we see them In which regard S. Austines words are also pertinent saying concerning this All of which we now speak Materies adhuc erat corporearum rerum informis sine ordine sine luce It was yet an informed matter of corporall things without order without light Or as that Nightingale of France hath sung it This was not then the world 't was but the matter The nurserie whence it should issue after Or rather th' Embryon that within a week Was to be born for that huge lump was like The shapelesse burden in the mothers wombe Which doth in time into good fashion come Thus and in this manner I cannot but think of these things not doubting that Moses in his description of the sensible world meaneth otherwise but sheweth that that heaven and earth which now we see were in the beginning or first degree of being an earth or as an earth or one lump without form and void a darkened depth and waters a matter of no matter and a form without form as one speaketh a rude and indigested Chaos or confusion of matters rather to be beleeved then comprehended of us And this saith he is the second naturall beginning For after the expressing of the matter followeth that which Philosophers call a second naturall principle Privation the want of that form of which this matter was capable which is accidentally a naturall principle required in regard of generation not of constitution here described by that part next us earth which was without form as is said and void This was the internall constitution The externall was darknesse upon the face of the deep Which deep compriseth both the earth before mentioned and the visible heavens also called a depth as to our capacitie infinite and pliant to the Almighty hand of the Creatour called also waters not because it was perfect waters which was yet confused but because of a certain resemblance not onely in the uniformitie thereof but also of that want of stabilitie whereby it could not abide together but as the Spirit of God moved upon these waters to sustain them c. Here therefore is the third beginning or principle in nature that form which the said Spirit by that action framed it unto The Hebrews call the whole masse as it is comprehended under the names of Heaven and Earth Tohu Vabohu Tohu without order bohu without varietie But it was not long that it continued in this imperfect state for in one week it was as I may say both begotten and born and brought from a confused Chaos to a well ordered and variously adorned Universe Or as one saith Materiam Deus ipse creat comitque creatam Whose meaning may be taken thus The matter first God out of nothing drew And then addes beautie to that matter new Which was not because he was unable to make all the world perfect in an instant but because he would not Whereupon an holy Father said Voluntas Dei est causa coeli terrae ideo major est voluntas Dei quà m coelum terra The will of God is the cause of heaven and earth and therefore it is greater then either of them God therefore doth not disable his
viz. God commanded this elementarie light to be that so the thinner and higher element severed from the aire might by his enlightning operation effect a light some shining and the aire according to the nature thereof receive it which to the fire was an essentiall propertie to the aire an accidentall qualitie approved of God as good both to himself and the future creatures Thus some But others except against it affirming that this light was moveable by the presence of it making day and by its absence making night which could not have been had it been the element of fire unlesse it be more or lesse in one place then in another and not equally dispersed Or as Pareus answereth it could not be the element of fire because that is above the clouds according to the common rules of Philosophie and therefore in his judgement the fierie element was not untill the second day being created with the Expansum or stretching out of the aire But unto these exceptions I think an answer may be framed as I perhaps shall afterwards shew you Thirdly if as some have done we should think that this was the very light of the sunne and then in the sunne or in such a cloud or subject as was the matter of the sunne the text would be objected against it which affirmeth that the sunne was not untill the fourth day for the creation of that was but then although the light was before Fourthly Aquinas saith Lux primo die fuit producta secundum communem lucis naturam quarto autem die attributa est luminaribus determinata virtus ad determinatos effectus secundum quod videmus alios effectus habere radium solis alios radium lunae sic de aliis Whereupon he concludeth that howsoever it was it was but an informed light untill the fourth day Now therefore amongst a multitude of opinions which are besides these already mentioned I for mine own part cannot but preferre this as the best namely that the light for three dayes space wanted a subject such as now it hath and yet it did perform the same office which now it doth being fastened to a subject or to the bodie of the Sunne which is Vehiculum lucis A Chariot for the light For we may easily perceive that in the works of creation there is such an harmonious order observed as that there may be an union and reduction of all things of one kinde to their own heads and centre As for example the upper waters must be severed by the out-spread firmament and the lower must repair all to one sea as their naturall subject and as for heavie substances they hasten downwards and the light ones they fly upwards In like manner that light which at the first was dispersed and fixed to no subject doth presently as soon as the sunne was unite it self unto that body as now it is This of all other seemeth to me the best opinion to pitch upon and the most probable in this kinde which may well be as an Embleme how God will one day gather his elect from all coasts of heaven to the participation of one glorie S. Paul applieth it to our regeneration thus God who commanded the light to shine out of darknesse hath shined in our hearts c. that we who were once darknesse are now light in the Lord. And in this consideration I think we need not much dissent from them who would have the element of fire signified by it which opinion was before mentioned for howsoever it be that that element be now dispersed or wheresoever placed yet it might be that the first light shined from it thus I say it might be because we may not reason à facto ad fieri or from the order of the constitution of things in which they now are to the principles of their institution whilest yet they were in making And for further proof of this I do easily assent to them who have probably affirmed that the starres and lights of heaven contain the greatest part of this fire as afterwards in the fourth dayes work shall be more plainly shewed This I have said as seeming to me the best and most probable tenent although perfectly to affirm what this light was must be by our enlightning from him who commanded that it should shine out of darknesse Of which shining and darknesse seeing the Sunne was not yet made which by his course and turning about makes it day and night at the same time in divers places it may be said that it was day and night at the same instant now over the face of the whole earth which made one therefore say that the first darknesses were not loco divisae sed planè depulsae à luce ut nusquam essent yet so as that they should either return or depart according to the contraction or expansion of this first light caused by a divine dispensation Thus Pareus And now of thee oh bright-shining creature it may be said that hadst thou never been the beautie of the world had been as nothing For thou art the beautie of all the beauties else as saith Du Bartas Gods eldest daughter Oh how thou art full Of grace and goodnesse Oh how beautifull Quest. But if God made the Light was he not before in darknesse Answ. No For he needs not any created light who is himself a Light uncreated no corporall light who is a spirituall one God is light and in him is no darknesse at all 1. Joh. 1. 5. He made this light for our mortall journey on earth himself is the Light of our immortall abode in heaven neither did he more dwell in this light that he made then the waters were the habitation of the Spirit when it was said that the Spirit moved upon the waters But see there was Night Light and Day before the Sunne yet now without it there is neither which sheweth that we must allow God to be the Lord of his own works and not limit his power to means And surely as it was before man was made so shall it be after he is dissolved For then as the Prophet speaketh The Sunne shall no more be thy light by day neither shall the Moon give light unto thee but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy glory Lastly unto this amongst many things let me adde but one thing more God made light on the first day so Christ arose from death on the same day being the first of the week And he is the true light which lighteth every one that cometh into the world Of which light if we have no portion then of all creatures man is the most miserable Sect. 3. Of the intercourse between day and night WHat now remaineth God called the light Day and the darknesse Night 'T is true Th' All 's Architect alternately decreed That Night the Day the Day should Night succeed Of both which we have more then
such a nature as that the rain falling through them should dissolve or corrupt them Those indeed who follow Aristotle make them of a Quint-essence altogether differing from things compounded of the Elements But for mine own part more easily should I be perswaded to think that there is no such fifth essence in them but rather that they are of a like nature with the Elements or not much differing For first although Aristotle deny any change or alteration to have been observed or seen in the heavens since the beginning of the world yet he was deceived For Hipparchus who had better skill in Astronomie then ever Aristotle had he as Plinie witnesseth telleth us out of his own diligent and frequent observations that the heavens have had changes in them for there was in his dayes a new starre like unto that which was once in Cassiopea And that which is beyond the authoritie of the greatest philosopher doth also witnesse as much I mean the sacred voice of the everlasting Spirit affirming that the two parts of this universe the heavens as well as the earth do both of them wax old even as doth a garment which is as if it should be said that by little and little they are changed tending so long to corruption till at last shall come the time of their dissolution What great difference then can there be between the heavens and things here below seeing in their own natures both of them do tend to corruption and are subject to mutation Besides as it is with Man who is the little world so certainly it is with Macrocosme who is the greater world but man changeth and declineth daily not being now as heretofore he hath been and so also as a good consequence it must follow that the greater world doth also suffer change and by declining alteration That man declineth saith one is a thing most manifest For men are of lower stature lesser bones and strength and of shorter lives then their forefathers were Now from whence cometh this but from the declining estate of the greater world The earth we see which is the lower part of it is not so fruitfull as before but beginneth to be barren like the wombe of Sarah neither do the fruits which she bringeth forth yeeld so much nutriment as heretofore they have done And how cometh that to passe but because the heaven also fainteth For the Planets wax old and cannot afford so great vertue and influence to these lower bodies as in times past they did which Plinie and Aulus Gellius testifie And indeed this must needs be a manifest proof seeing lesse and weaker bodies are conceived every Age in the wombe of nature that nature therefore waxeth old and weary of conceiving Also saith he if a man do but behold the face of heaven the Moon looketh pale and wan Mars lesse rubicund Sol lesse orient Iupiter not of so amiable and favourable countenance Venus more hypocriticall and all the rest both of the wandring and fixed starres more weak and suspicious then they did before That mighty Giant which was wont to runne his unwearied course now waxeth wearie as if he would stand still in heaven as he did in the dayes of Joshua for he shineth more dimmely and appeareth more seldome then before being much nearer to the earth then of ancient times For if we may give credit to the calculations of the chief masters in Astronomie the Sunne quoth Copernicus and after him also Stofler is nearer to the earth then it was in the dayes of Ptolomie by the space of twenty six thousand six hundred and sixtie miles or as Philip Melanchthon saith nine thousand nine hundred seventie and six miles to whom saith Diâ—…tericus assenteth that famous mathematician of our age David Origanus in his Prognostication for the yeare of our Lord 1604. All these are proofs and although we do not greatly contend concerning this last allegation of the sunnes approach so neare us yet neverthelesse the assertion in generall is true enough that the heavens as well as the earth as they grow older and older do suffer change and in that regard their natures cannot but be much alike Unto which adde this namely that these visible heavens of which we now speak were taken from that masse or lump which lay here below and that the whole lump was created at once in which regard it cannot be denied that they differ toto genere or altogether but that they are of a much like nature with inferiour bodies or things here below And as for Aristotle he never would so earnestly have defended the contrary had he not known that it was an excellent means to colour that which he also held concerning the worlds eternitie But besides all this the observations of our best and modern Astronomers make much against him for they have modestly and manifestly proved that not onely new starres but comets also have been farre above the moon As for example that strange starre which once was at the back of Cassiopea's chair was of an extraordinarie height above it for it shined without any difference of Aspect Parallax or diversitie of sight even untill all the matter whereof it consisted was consumed having alwayes as the observers thereof do witnesse one and the same station to every of the starres both in all climates and also in all parts of the heaven no diversitie of sight at all observed all which in the lowermost Planets is otherwise and perceived most of all in the moon because the Semidiameter of the earth according to which quantitie we dwell from the centre hath a sensible bignesse unto the distance of the moons sphere from us Had therefore that New starre Comet or what you please to call it been lower then the moon and not in the starrie heaven then like the inferiour Planets it would have suffered a Parallax or diversitie of sight and never have kept such a regular motion as it did contending not to be overcome of the starrie heaven in its motion but to keep as it were an equall pace with it thereby shewing that it was even in the Ethereall heaven it self For this is a rule that by how much a starre is higher then the earth by so much it imitateth the highest heavens in their daily motion Neither was it this starre alone but others also after it even Comets themselves whose places were found to be above the moon for observing more diligently and exactly then in former times the observers could easily demonstrate this truth also thinking thereupon that many of those Comets which have been seen in former ages were burnt out even in the starrie heaven it self and not so many of them below the moon as generally without serious observation have been supposed Longomontanus proveth this both in that last Comet which was seen in the yeare 1618 and also in other Comets before it And now what of all this Nothing but onely thus viz. If
propinquitas dat motum calorem et levitatem and thereupon it comes to passe that we have coldnesse in the middle Region the cause first beginning it being in respect of the hills which hinder the aire from following the motion of the heavens as in two severall places of the second dayes work I have declared Sixthly I would also know why an arrow being shot upright should fall neare upon the same place where the shooter standeth and not rather fall beyond him seeing the earth must needs carry him farre away whilest the arrow flyeth up and falleth down again or why should a stone being perpendicularly let fall on the West side of a tower fall just at the foot of it or on the East side fall at all and not rather be forced to knock against it We see that a man in a ship at sea throwing a stone upright is carried away before the stone falleth and if it be mounted up in any reasonable height not onely he which cast it but the ship also is gone Now why it should be otherwise in the motion of the earth I do not well perceive If you say that the earth equally carries the shooter aire arrow tower and stone then methinks you are plainly convinced by the former instance of the ship or if not by that then by the various flying of clouds and of birds nay of the smallest grashopper flie flea or gnat whose motion is not tied to any one quarter of the world but thither onely whither their own strength shall carry them some flying one way some another way at one and the same time We see that the winde sometimes hindereth the flight of those prettie creatures but we could never yet perceive that they were hindered by the aire which must needs hinder them if it were carried alwayes one way by the motion of the earth for from that effect of the earths motion this effect must needs also be produced Arm'd with these reasons 't were superfluous To joyn our forces with Copernicus But perhaps you will say it is a thing impossible for so vast a bodie as the heavens to move dayly about the earth and be no longer then 24 houres before one revolution be accomplished for if the compasse were no more then such a distance would make as is from hence to Saturns sphere the motion must extend in one first scruple or minute of time to 55804 miles and in a moment to 930 miles which is a thing impossible for any Physicall bodie to perform Unto which I must first answer that in these mensurations we must not think to come so neare the truth as in those things which are subject to sense and under our hands For we oft times fail yea even in them much more therefore in those which are remote and as it were quite absent by reason of their manifold distance Secondly I also answer that the wonder is not more in the swiftnesse of the motion then in the largenesse of the circumference for that which is but a slow motion in a little circuit although it be one and the same motion still must needs be an extraordinary motion in a greater circle and so I say the wonder is not more in the motion then in the largenesse of the circumference Wherefore he that was able by the power of his word to make such a large-compassed bodie was also able so to make it that it should endure to undergo the swiftest motion that the quickest thought can keep pace with or possibly be forged in imagination For his works are wonderfull and in wisdome he hath made them all Besides do but go on a while and adhere a little to the sect of Copernicus and then you shall finde so large a space between the convexitie of Saturns sphere and the concavitie of the eighth sphere being more then 20 times the distance of Saturn from us and yet void of bodies and serving to no other purpose but to salve the annuall motion of the earth so great a distance I say that thereby that proportion is quite taken away which God the Creatour hath observed in all other things making them all in number weight and measure in an excellent portion and harmonie Last of all let me demand how the earths motion and heavens rest can agree with holy Scripture It is true indeed as they alledge that the grounds of Astronomie are not taught us in Gods book yet when I heare the voice of the everlasting and sacred Spirit say thus Sun stand thou still and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon I cannot be perswaded either to think teach or write that the earth stood still but the sunne stood and the moon stayed untill the people had avenged themselves on their enemies Neither do I think after this that it was the earth which went back but the sunne upon Ahaz his diall in the dayes of Ezekias For when God had made the earth what said he did he bid it move round about the heavens that thereby dayes weeks moneths and yeares might be produced No. What then This was its office and this that which it should do namely bud and bring forth fruit for the use of man And for motion it was absolutely and directly bestowed upon the heavens and starres witnesse those very words appointing to the sunne and moon their courses setting them in the heavens so as they should never rest but be for signes and for seasons for dayes and for yeares And so also the wise Siracides understood it saying Did not the sunne go back by his means and was not one day as long as two I conclude therefore and concluding cannot forget that sweet meditation of a religious and learned Prelate saying Heaven ever moves yet is that the place of our rest Earth ever rests yet is that the place of our travell and unrest And now laying all together if the cause be taken away the effect perisheth My meaning is no more but thus that seeing the earth is void of motion the ebbing and flowing of the sea cannot be caused by it but dependeth upon some other thing Or again were it so that the earth had such a motion I should scarce beleeve that this ebbing and flowing depended on it For as I said before if this were the cause it could never be that the course of ebbs and flouds should keep such a regular alteration as they do day by day Neither could it produce a cause why the tides should be more at one time of the moneth then at another Nor yet as some suppose could the waters be suffered to flow back again but alwayes must be going on as fast as they can toward the Eastern part of the world But I leave this and come to another It was a mad fancie of him who attributed the cause to an Angel which should stand in a certain place of the world and sometimes heave up the earth above the waters
which they are cherished into thin aire and so doing nature is kept from perishing before her time Neither let it seem strange although the starres be granted to consist most of a fierie temper that therefore they cannot be cherished by watrie humours for it is certain that fires are endued with sundry qualities or forces according to the divers mixtion of matter or divers disposition of the subject From whence it comes to passe that a bituminous flame is not quenched but nourished in water and the fire of lightning is said to burn the fiercer when we strive to quench it These waters therefore sweating in the likenesse of thin vapours through the utmost extent or roof of the out-spread Firmament which was made strong by stretching out and by which they are upholden do both supplie that decay of aire which otherwise would be and also do so temper and cherish the diuturnitie of the starres that thereby they shall continue untill the end of the world Elementorum transmutationes saith one sunt inaequales ergò proportiones ac majores quidem eorum quae faciliùs transmutentur in alia hoc ex necessitate non dico ad mundi aeternitatem sed diuturnitatem Aqua autem multò magìs mutatur in terram quà m terra in ipsam aër hoc aquae damnum sine maximo sui dispendio resarcire nullo modo potest nisi ab aquis supercoelestibus And perhaps the daily wasting of these waters may be the cause that the world is perceived to have a successive declination and to grow old as doth a garment untill at the last age for want of matter to keep an harmonious transmutation in the conservation of it shall according to the determined purpose of Almighty God suffer it to end as being worn out and little able to continue any longer Which when it shall be or how he intendeth to shorten it rests onely in the secret counsel of the holy Trinitie the divine word neverthelesse testifying that as tokens before it there shall be signes in the sunne and the moon in the heavens and starres For the starres shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be shaken Cadent de coelo stellae saith one non ratione substantiae sed lucis quia lumen suum retrahent obscurè reddent Which saying agrees directly to my meaning when I speak of the waters wasting For as the elements before from time to time have suffered a transmutation and shall now begin to devoure one another so the starres shall fade and perhaps be weakened in their qualities by having the lesse powerfull elementarie part in them turned by the more powerfull or if not so yet much altered by that sensible decay in the waters above the heavens And thus though I differ from Aristotle and the Peripateticks yet I have not much declined from the paths of other ancient Philosophers or from the steps of Plato in which how farre in my judgement we may follow the Academicall sect the Stoicks and those of Epicurus hath been related Howbeit I leave all free to the more judicious though for mine own part I think thus of the worlds Systema Let therefore those of the adverse part pitch their censure with the more favour and so I proceed to the following articles Artic. 2. Of their order and place in the skie and how it comes to passe that one starre is higher then another HAving already shewed that the whole concave of the heavens is filled with no firmer matter then soft and penetrable aire and that the starres have no solid orbs to uphold and move them it may not unfitly be questioned how they should hang in such a weak yeelding place and yet according to their times keep such severall certain distances one from another as we see they do To which perhaps some would answer that every starre in respect of his either more or lesse fiery qualitie doth either more or lesse ascend from the centre and so according to his gravitie or levitie rest naturally higher or lower as in his proper place the aire having a like power in the upholding of fiery bodies which the water hath in carrying of airie bodies For as a piece of Brasill or Lignum vitae will sink lower into the water then some lighter kinde of wood wherein there is more aire In like manner that starre which hath most of his matter from the more grosse elements takes his place in the lowest room whereas the lighter ones are naturally seated higher And indeed this is an answer which would serve the turn and bear out the matter well enough if there were no starres but those which we call the fixed starres for they are never observed to be higher or lower but alwayes of one and the same distance from the centre But seeing there be Planets likewise whose distances are unconstant and whose places are at some one time farre more absent from the earth then at some other nay Mars is sometimes nearer then the sunne seeing it is so I say their gravitie or levitie cannot absolutely be the cause but rather ought this to be referred to that infused force which his hand first gave them who placed them there For as the Sea being stirred by the moon to a loftie flux and having lifted up his rolling waves above the neighbouring banks would in all probability overflow the earth if the Almightie had not infused it with some occult qualitie saying Hitherto shalt thou come and no further as we reade in Job So likewise the starres would not keep their high and low places at certain infallible times so as they do and be so orderly in their motions as they are were it not from the power first put into them when they were placed in the firmament of which I spake but a little before when I shewed they were no living creatures For conclusion therefore I like well of the former reason if it be referred to the fixed starres but as concerning the Planets we see that it holdeth not in all and every part nor yet is absolutely found sufficient And yet for further satisfaction of the curious let it be supposed that the aire is ever thinnest in that place whereunto the sunne is nearest so that though the Planets naturally have but one place yet accidentally they may be found either higher or lower according to their approaching to or from the place of the sunne like as may be seen in one and the same weight if it be proved how unequally it will sink in divers waters and in waters of a differing thicknesse Of which reade more in Mr Lydiat his Praelectio Astronomica in the fourth and eighth chapters But in the mean time ever after admire the wisdome of thy Maker and praise his holy name For he hath so done his marvellous works that they ought to be had in perpetuall remembrance O never let these works forgotten be Their art is more then humane
of Kings chap. 17. 16. and chap. 21. 3. and chap. 23. 5. and in Jeremie chap. 19. 13. and in Zeph. chap. 1. 5. and in the Acts chap. 7 42. For in all these places the holy Ghost calleth the starres the host and armies of heaven thereby amplifying the divine power of God by the force and power of these glorious creatures and this also is further confirmed by that in the song of Deborah Judg. 5. 20. where it is expressely testified that The starres fought from heaven the starres in their courses fought against Sisera Thus farre Scripture And now let experience also speak that thereby they who will not frame their understandings to be taught by the one but will seek for strange expositions may be forced to yeeld and acknowledge the truth by compulsion of this other in the front whereof I cannot but remember the noble Poets saying Senselesse is he who without blush denies What to sound senses most apparent lies And ' gainst experience he that spits fallacians Is to be hist from learned disputations And such is he that doth affirm the starres To have no force on these inferiours 1. As for example when the sunne shifts his habitation how diversly are the seasons differing insomuch that although the frostie beard of winter makes us tremble and shiver through extremitie of cold the warm lustre of the summers raies causeth us on the contrary to sweat and as it were pant through heat 2. Also the terrible accidents that succeed eclipses may not be forgotten nor vilipended for these testifie that the sunne by his heat and light quickeneth after an admirable fashion all earthly creatures being as it were the sourse and conserver of vitall heat and that the moon also hath a great power over inferiour bodies For if it were otherwise such lights coming to be hidden from the earth where there is a continuall revolution of generation and corruption could not cause after their eclipses the nature of inferiour things to be so altered and weakened as they are both in the elements and also in bodies composed of them 3. And furthermore who seeth not how orderly the tides keep their course with the moon of which I have spoken in the third dayes work 4. Also it is an observation that seldome faileth viz. that we have thunder and lightning in the summer time at the meeting of Mars with Jupiter Sol or Mercurie and for the most part great windes when Sol and Jupiter or Jupiter and Mercurie or Mercurie and Sol are in conjunction 5. And again the increase and decrease of bodies or of marrow bloud and humours in the bodie according to the increase and decrease of the moon doth speak for that horned queen and signifie that her vertue is not little For as she fills with light the marrow abounds in bones the bloud in veins the sap in trees the meat and moisture in the oister crab and creafish 6. Moreover experience also teacheth that all such wood as is cut for timber if it be not cut after the full moon will soon be rotten 7. Also those pease which are sown in the increase never leave blooming And as some report the pomegranate will bear no fruit any longer then just so many yeares as the moon was dayes old when it was first set and planted The Heliotropium with certain other flowers and plants we likewise see that they keep their course with the sunne And Plinie reports in his 37 book at the 10 chapter that the Selenite is a stone which hath the image of the moon in it increasing and decreasing according to her course in the heavens And doth not Cardan also report for certain as Sir Christopher Heydon it may be affirmed that the heavens in some sort do work upon mens mindes and dispositions And hereupon it comes to passe that Mars doth sometimes sow the seeds of warre by his working upon adult choler and the like Or the aire being greatly out of tune causeth not onely many sicknesses but strange disorders of the minde and they breaking out into act do many times disturb states translate kingdomes work unluckie disasters and the like of which I spake before in the second dayes work And now know that if the operation of the heavens in this be but so farre forth as the soul depends upon the bodily instruments all that is done to the soul is but an inclination for there can be no compulsion where the cause is so remote And therefore let it be observed that it is one thing to cause another thing to occasion or one thing to inferre a necessitie another thing to give an inclination The former we cannot averre to be in the power of the starres forasmuch as mans will which is the commandresse of his actions is absolutely free from any compulsion and not at all subject to any naturall necessitie or externall coaction Howbeit we cannot deny a certain inclination because the soul of man is too much indulgent to the body by whose motion as one worthily observeth it is rather perswaded then commanded There is therefore no Chaldean fate to be feared nor any necessitie to be imposed upon the wills of men but onely an inclination and this inclination is not caused by an immediate working of the starres on the intellectuall part or minde of man but occasioned rather mediately or so farre forth as the soul depends on the temperaments and materiall organs of the bodie In which regard I hope never to be afraid of the signes of heaven neither is there cause why I should ever curse my starres seeing I know in this the utmost of their power And as it was said to that Apostle My grace is sufficient for thee so may every one take it for granted that there is a second birth which overswayes the first To which purpose one makes this an observation Iustè age Sapiens dominabitur astris Et manibus summi stant elementa Dei Do godly deeds so shalt thou rule the starres For then God holds the elements from warres Or as another not unfitly also speaketh Qui sapit ille animum fortunae praeparat omni Praevisumque potest arte levare malum The wise for ev'ry chance doth fit his minde And by his art makes coming evils kinde And in a word that pithie saying of Ioannes de Indagine shall close this Article Quaeris a me quantum in nobis operantur actra dico c. Dost thou demand of me how farre the starres work upon us I say they do but incline and that so gently that if we will be ruled by reason they have no power over us but if we follow our own nature and be led by sense they do as much in us as in brute beasts and we are no better For agunt non cogunt is all that may be said Artic. 2. Whether it be not a derogation from the perfection of things created to grant that the starres have any kinde of power
word and then the other creatures were produced but now he calls a councell and doth consult not out of need but rather to shew the excellencie of his work or indeed to shew himself he speaks not therefore to the Angels but the Trinitie saying Let us make man Wherein the Father as the first in order speaketh to the Sonne and holy Spirit and the Sonne and Spirit speak and decree it with the Father and the Father Sonne and holy Ghost all Three in One and One in Three create a creature to be the other creatures lord He was therefore the last as the end of all the rest the last in execution but first in intention the Map Epitome and Compendium of what was made before him Three worlds there are and Mankinde is the fourth The first is Elementarie the second a Celestiall world the third Angelicall and the fourth is Man the little world In the first is ignis urens a burning fire and this in the heavens is ignis fovens a nourishing and quickning fire but in those creatures above seated in the supercelestiall world it is ignis ardens amor Seraphicus an ardent burning and Seraphicall love and in the fourth are all these found at once For first as mans bodie is compounded of the Elements he hath his share of that warm fire in him The influence of the Planets working on him doth likewise shew the second And for the third their hearts who burn within them do declare it Neither was he made like other creatures with a groveling look or downward countenance but with an erected visage beholding the heavens and with lordly looks well mixt with majestie He hath a bodie whose members are either Principall and Radicall or else Lesse principall and Officiall His heart liver and brain contain the vitall naturall and animall spirits and these are carried by the arteries veins and nerves The arteries carrie the vitall spirits from the heart The veins carrie the naturall spirits from the liver giving nourishment to every part And the nerves carrie the animall spirits from the brain being spirits for sense and motion and therefore called animall spirits howbeit the motive nerves spring from the marrow in the back and the sensitive come from the brain Also know that under every vein is an arterie for wheresoever there goeth a vein to give nutriment there goeth an arterie to bring the spirit of life Neither is it but that the arteries lie deeper in the flesh then the veins because they carrie and keep in them more precious bloud then the veins keep and are therefore not onely further from outward dangers but clothed also in two coats whereas the veins have but one Whereupon it is no hard thing to distinguish between these two vessels of bloud if we can but remember that the arterie is a vessel of bloud spirituall or vitall and the vein a vessel of bloud nutrimentall for as I said before the veins have their beginning from the liver bringing from thence nutritive bloud to nourish every member of the bodie Moreover his heart is the seat of all the passions as in one instance may suffice for being transported with fear we call back the bloud to the heart as to the place where fear prevaileth the bloud going thither as it were to comfort and cherish the heart And whereas it may seem that our anger is seated in the gall love in the liver and melancholie in the splene it is answered that those humours placed in the gall liver and splene are not the seat of the passions and affections but they are the occasion whereby the passions are stirred up as the abundance of bloud in the liver stirreth up the passion of love which neverthelesse is placed and seated in the heart and so of the rest And again seeing the vitall spirits proceed from the heart it cannot be denied but that this member liveth first and dieth last And as the heart was the seat of all the passions so the head is a seat and place for all the senses except the touch for that is not onely in one place but in all and every place being spread quite through the whole bodie or isle of man The eyes are the windows of the bodie and albeit a man have two eyes in his head yet he receiveth but one sight at once because the optick nerves meet both in one The eares be like certain doores with labyrinthicall eâ—…tries and crooked windings and here again although the eares be two yet a man can heare but one sound at once because his acoustick nerves like to the optick nerves meet both in one His tongue discerneth tastes and albeit he have two eyes and as many eares yet his tongue is single and alone A man should therefore heare and see more then he speaketh and when he speaketh not wrong his heart and secret thoughts by uttering words with a double tongue for bilinguis is more then God made him and double tongues shall be rooted out Besides the lungs be the bellows of the voice and are seated close to the heart to teach us that speech ought to be the interpreter of the heart and not that a man may speak one thing and think another The nose serveth not onely as a gutter for the excrements of the brain to flow and passe through but also for a pipe of respiration to give and take our living breath and to conduct the aire and odoriferous smells up to the brain for the conservation and recreation of the animal spirits When the head is in danger the hand casts it self up to save it And in giving hands to man the speciall providence of God is to be marked for he hath made him to take his meat with his hand and hath not left him to gather and take it up with his lips as the beasts do because that would be a means to hinder his speech by thickening his lips as experience teacheth in those who either by nature or by accident have thick swollen lips causing them to speak in the mouth uttering their words very badly and indistinctly Neither could there be so many quick conceits of the minde or curious inventions of sundry artists brought to perfection without such an instrumentall help as the hand The feet be the bases of the bodie carrying man like a lordly creature with his face from earth and eyes to heaven that he might thither strive to come at last where he inhabiteth who gave him these and all his other members else which now I cannot stand to dilate upon at large And when he had them all and was framed out like a curious piece God breathed in his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul he then took his second part when his first was finished neither was that second made till then for in the infusion it was created and in the creation it was infused