in lunâ ubi magis lunatici in terra magis materiales crassi ut illi intellectualis naturae solares sint multum in actu parum in potentia terreni verò magis in potentia parum in actu lunares in medio fluctuantes Hoc quidem opinamur ex influentia ignili solis aquatica simul aerea lunae gravedine materiali terrae consimiliter de aliis stellarum regionibus suspicantes nullam habitationibus carere quasi tot sint partes particulares mundiales unius universi quot sunt stellae quarum non est numerus nisi apud eum qui omnia in numero creavit Wee may conjecture saith hee the inhabitants of the Sunne are like to the nature of that Planet more cleare and bright more intellectuall than those in the Moone where they are neerer to the nature of that duller Planet and those of the earth being more grosse and materiall than either so that these intellectuall natures in the Sunne are more forme than matter those in the earth more matter than forme and those in the Moone betwixt both This we may guesse from the fierie influence of the Sunne the watery and aereous influence of the Moone as also the materiall heavinesse of the earth In some such manner likewise is it with the regions of the other starres for we conjecture that none of them are without inhabitants but that there are so many particular worlds and parts of this one universe as there are starres which are innumerable unlesse it be to him who created all things in number For hee held that the stars were not all in one equall orbe as wee commonly suppose but that some were farre higher than others which made them appeare lesse and that many others were so farre above any of these that they were altogether invisible unto us An opinion which as I conceive hath not any great probability for it nor certainty against it The Priest of Saturne relating to Plutarch as hee faignes it the nature of these Selenites told him they were of divers dispositions some desiring to live in the lower parts of the Moone where they might looke downewards upon us while others were more surely mounted aloft all of them shining like the rayes of the Sunne and as being victorious are crowned with garlands made with the wings of Eustathia or Constancie It hath beene the opinion amongst some of the Ancients that their heavens and Elysian fields were in the Moone where the ayre is most quiet and pure Thus Socrates thus Plato with his followers did esteeme this to bee the place where those purer soules inhabite who are freed from the Sepulcher and contagion of the body And by the Fable of Ceres continually wandring in search of her daughter Proserpina is meant nothing else but the longing desire of men who live upon Ceres earth to attaine a place in Proserpina the Moone or heaven Plutarch also seemes to assent unto this but he thinks moreover that there are two places of happines answerable to those two parts which he fancies to remaine of a man when he is dead the soule and the understanding the soule hee thinks is made of the Moone and as our bodies doe so proceede from the dust of this earth that they shall returne to it hereafter so our soules were generated out of that Planet and shall be resolved into it againe whereas the understanding shall ascend unto the Sunne out of which it was made where it shall possesse an eternity of well-being and farre greater happinesse than that which is enjoyed in the Moone So that when a man dies if his soule be much polluted then must it wander up and downe in the middle region of the ayre where hell is and there suffer unspeakable torments for those sins whereof it is guilty Whereas the soules of better men when they have in some space of time beene purged from that impurity which they did derive from the body then doe they returne into the Moone where they are possest with such a joy as those men feele who professe holy mysteries from which place saith he some are sent downe to have the superintendance of oracles being diligent either in the preservation of the good either from or in all perills and the prevention or punishment of all wicked actions but if in these imployments they mis-behave themselves then are they againe to bee imprisoned in a body otherwise they remaine in the Moone till their souls bee resolved into it and the understanding being cleared from all impediments ascends to the Sunne which is its proper place But this requires a diverse space of time according to the divers affections of the soule As for those who have beene retired and honest addicting themselves to a studious and quiet life these are quickly preferred to a higher happinesse But as for such who have busied themselves in many broyles or have beene vehement in the prosecution of any lust as the ambitious the amorous the wrathfull man these still retaine the glimpses and dreames of such things as they have performed in their bodies which makes them either altogether unfit to remaine there where they are or else keepes them long ere they can put off their souls Thus you see Plutarchs opinion concerning the inhabitants and neighbours of the Moone which according to the manner of the Academicks hee delivers in a third person you see hee makes that Planet an inferior kind of heaven and though hee differ in many circumstances yet doth hee describe it to bee some such place as wee suppose Paradise to be You see likewise his opinion concerning the place of the damned spirits that it is in the middle region of the aire and in neither of these is hee singular but some more late and Orthodox Writers have agreed with him As for the place of Hell many think it may be in the aire as well as any where else True indeed S. Austin affirmes that this place cannot bee discovered But others there are who can shew the situation of it out of Scripture Some holding it to be in another world without this because our Saviour calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outward darknesse But the most will have it placed towards the center of our earth because 't is said Christ descended into the lower parts of the earth and some of these are so confident that this is its situation that they can describe you its bignesse also and of what capacity it is Francis Ribera in in his Comment on the Revelations speaking of those words where 't is said that the blood went out of the wine-presse even unto the horses-bridles by the space of one thousand and six hundred furlongs interprets them to be meant of hell and that that number expresses the diameter of its concavity which is 200 Italian miles But Lessius thinkes that this opinion gives them too much roome in hell and therefore he guesses that 't
knowledge which do's more depend upon conjectures uncertaintie They are onely those who want skill in the Principles of this Science that mistrust the conclusions of it Since therefore in these respects it is one of the most excellent Sciences in Nature it may best deserve the industry of Man who is one of the best Works of Nature Other creatures were made with their Heads and Eies turned downwards would you know why man was not created so too why it was that he might be an Astronomer Os hominum sublime dedit Celumque tueri Iussit erectos ad Syder a tollere vultus God gave to man an upright face that he Might view the stars learn astronomy 2 Consider it in reference to us and so it is 1 Most Vsefull 2 Most Pleasant 1 Most usefull and that in sundry respects It proves a God and a Providence and incites our hearts to a greater admiration and feare of his omnipotencie We may understand by the Heavens how much mightier he is that made them for by the greatnesse and beauty of the creatures proportionably the Maker of them is seene saith the booke of Wisdome 13. 4. 5. Itwas hence that Aristotle did fetch his chiefe Argument to prove a primus motor 'T was the consideration of these things that first led Men to the knowledge worship of God saith Tully Haec nos primum ad Deorum cultum tum ad modestiam magnitudinemque animi erudivit And therefore when God by the Prophet would convince the people of his Deitie he bids them lift up their eyes on high and behold who hath created those things that bringeth out their Host by number that calleth them all by their Names c. Isa. 40. 26. which occasioned that saying of Lactantius Tanta rerum magnitudo tanta dispositio tanta in servandis ordinibus temporibusque constantia non potuit aut olim sine provido artifice oriri aut constare tot saeculis sine incolapotente aut perpetuum gubernari sine perit◠sciente rectore quod ratio ipsa declarat Such a great order and constancy amongst those vast Bodies could not at first be made but by a wise Providence nor since preserved without a powerfull Inhabitant nor so perpetually governed without a skilfull guide True indeed an ordinary view and common apprehension of these Coelestiall Bodies must needs manifest the Excellencie Omnipotencie of their Maker but yet a more accurate and diligent enquiry into their Natures will raise our Vnderstandings unto a neerer Knowledge and greater Admiration of the Deitie As it is in those inferiour things where the meere outside of a Man the comelinesse and majesty of his countenance may bee some Argument from whence to inferre the excellencie of his Creator But yet the subtle Anatomist who searches more deeply into this wonderfull structure may see a cleerer evidence for this in the consideration of the inward Fabricke the muscles nerves membranes together with all those secret contrivances in the Frame of this little World Thus also is it in the great Vniverse where the common apprehension of things is not at all considerable in comparison to those other discoveries which may bee found out by a more exact enquiry As this Knowledge may conduce to the proving of a God and making Men religious so likewise may it serve to confirme unto us the Truth of the Holy Scriptures since the sacred Story in the order of it's narrations do's so exactly agree with the conversions of Heaven and Logisticall Astronomy It may also stirre us up to behave our selves answerably unto the noble and divine nature of our Souls When I consider the Heaven the Workes of thy fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordained what is Man that that thou art so mindfull of him as to create such vast glorious Bodies for his service Againe when I consider with my self the strange immensitie and bignesse of this great Vniverse in comparison to which this Earth of ours is but as an undiscernable point When I consider that I carry a Soule about me of far greater worth than all this and desires that are of a wider extent and more unbounded capacity than this whole Frame of Nature Then mee thinks it must needs argue a degeneratenesse and poverty of Spirit to busie my Faculties about so ignoble narrow a subject as any of these earthly things What a folly is it in Men to have such high conceits of themselves for some small possessions which they have in the World above others to keep so great a bussle about so poore a matter Hoc est punctum quod inter tot gentes ferro igni dividitur 'T is but a little point which with so much adoe is distributed unto so many nations by fire and sword What great matter is it to be Monarch of a small part of a point Might not the Ants as well divide a little Mole-hill into diverse Provinces and keep as great a stir in disposing of their government Punctum est illud in quo navigat is in quo bellatis in quo regna dìsponitis All this place wherin we warre and travell and dispose of Kingdomes is but a point far lesse than any of those small stars that at this distance are scarse discernable Which when the Soule do's seriously meditate upon it will begin to despise the narrownesse of it's present habitation and thinke of providing for it selfe a mansion in those wider spaces above such as may bee more agreeable to the noblenesse and divinity of it's Nature Why should any one dreame of propagating his name or spreading his report through the World when as though he had more glory than ambition can hope for yet as long as all this habitable earth is but an inconsiderable point what great matter can there be in that fame which is included within such strait contracted limits Quicunque solam mente praecipiti petit Summumque credit gloriam Late patentes aetheris cernat plagas Arctumque terrarum situm Brevem replere non valentis ambitum Pudebit aucti nominis He that to honour only seeks to mount And that his chiefest end doth count Let him behold the largenes of the skies And on the strait Earth cast his eyes He will despise the glory of his Name Which cannot fill so small a Frame Why should any one be taken up in the admiration of these lower outsides these earthly glories Respicite Coeli spatium firmitudinem celeritatem aliquando desinite vilia mirari Hee that rightly understands the nature of the Heavens will scarse esteem any other thing worth his notice much lesse his wonder Now when wee lay all this together that he who hath most in the World hath almost nothing of it That the Earth it selfe in comparison to the Vniverse is but an inconsiderable point and yet that this whole Vniverse do's not beare so great a proportion to the Soul of man as
is not so wide for saith hee the diameter of one league being cubically multiplyed will make a spheare capable of 800000 millions of damned bodies allowing to each six foot in the square whereas sayes he t is certaine that there shall not bee one hundred thousand millions in all that shall bee damned You see the bold Iesuit was carefull that every one should have but roome enough in hell and by the strangenesse of the conjecture you may guesse that hee had rather bee absurd than seeme either uncharitable or ignorant I remember there is a relation in Pliny how that Dionysiodorus a Mathematician being dead did send a letter from this place to some of his friends upon earth to certifie them what distance there was betwixt the center and superficies hee might have done well to have prevented this controversie and enformed them the utmost capacity of that place However certaine it is that that number cannot be knowne and probable it is that the place is not yet determined but that hell is there where there is any tormented soule which may bee in the regions of the ayre as well as in the center And therefore perhaps it is that the Divell is stiled the prince of the ayre But of this only occasionally and by reason of Plutarchs opinion concerning those that are round about the Moone as for the Moone it selfe hee esteemes it to bee a lower kind of heaven and therefore in another place he calls it a terrestriall starre and an Olympian or celestiall earth answerable as I conceive to the paradise of the Schoolemen And that paradise was either in or neere the Moone is the opinion of some later Writers who derived it in all likelyhood from the assertion of Plato and perhaps this of Plutarch Tostatus layes this opinion upon Isiodor Hispalensis and the venerable Bede and Pererius fathers it upon Strabus and Rabanus his Master Some would have it to bee situated in such a place as could not bee discovered which caused the penman of Esdras to make it a harder matter to know the out-goings of Paradise than to weigh the weight of the fire or measure the blasts of wind or call againe a day that is past But notwithstanding this there bee some others who think that it is on the top of some high mountaine under the line and these interpreted the torrid Zone to be the flaming sword whereby Paradise was guarded 'T is the consent of divers others that Paradise is situated in some high and eminet place So Tostatus Est etiam Paradisus situ altissima supra omnem terrae altitudinem Paradise is situated in some high place above the earth and therefore in his Comment upon the 49 of Genesis he understands the blessing of Iacob concerning the everlasting hills to bee meant of Paradise and the blessing it selfe to bee nothing else but a promise of Christs comming by whose Passion the gates of Paradise should bee opened Unto him assented Rupertus Scotus and most of the other Schoolemen as I find them cited by Pererius and out of him in Sir Walter Rawleigh Their reason was this because in probability this place was not overflowed by the Flood since there were no sinners there which might draw that curse upon it Nay Tostatus thinks that the body of Enoch was kept there and some of the Fathers as Tertullian and Austin have affirmed that the blessed soules were reserved in that place till the day of Judgement and thereford 't is likely that it was not overflowed by the Flood It were easie to produce the unanimous consent of the Fathers to prove that Paradise is yet really existent Any diligent peruser of them may easily observe how they doe generally interpret the Paradise whereto Saint Paul was wrapt and that wherein our Saviour promised the Thiefe should be with him to bee locally the same from whence our first parents were banished Now there cannot be any place on earth designed where this should bee And therefore it is not altogether improbable that it was in this other world And besides since all men should have went naked if Adam had not fell 't is requisite therefore that it should be situated in some such place where it might be priviledged from the extremities of heat and cold But now this could not be they thought so conveniently in any lower as it might in some higher ayre For these and such like considerations have so many affirmed that Paradise was in a high elevated place Which some have conceived could bee nowhere but in the Moone For it could not b◠in the top of any mountaine nor can wee thinke of any other body separated from this earth which can be a more convenient place for habitation than this Planet therefore they concluded that it was there It could not bee on the top of any mountaine 1. Because we have expresse Scripture that the highest of them was overflowed 2. Because it must be a greater extension and not some small patch of ground since t is likely all men should have lived there if Adam had not fell But for a satisfaction of the argum̄ets together with a farther discourse of Paradise I shall referre you to those who have written purposely upon this subject Being content for my owne part to have spoken so much of it as may conduce to shew the opinion of others concerning the inhabitants of the Moone I dare not my selfe affirme any thing of these Selenites because I know not any ground wheron to build any probable opinion But I thinke that future ages will discover more and our posterity perhaps may invent some meanes for our better acquaintance with these inhabitants Proposition 14. That t is possible for some of our posteritie to find out a conveyance to this other world and if there be inhabitants there to have commerce with them ALL that hath been said concerning the people of the new world is but conjecturall and full of uncertainties nor can we ever looke for any evident or more probable discoveries in this kind unlesse there bee some hopes of inventing means for our conveyance thither The possibilitie of which shall bee the subject of our enquiry in this last Proposition And if we doe but consider by what steps and leasure all arts doe usually rise to their growth we shall have no cause to doubt why this also may not hereafter be found out amongst other secrets It hath constantly yet been the method of providence not presently to shew us all but to leade us on by degrees from the knowledge of one thing to another 'T was a great while ere the Planets were distinguished from the fixed stars and some time after that ere the morning and evening starre were found to be the same And in greater space I doubt not but this also and other as excellent mysteries will be discovered Time who hath alwayes been the father of new truths and hath revealed unto
bee probably concluded that the Earth is rather the subject of this motion than the other To this it may be added that the Sun and Stars seem to be of a more excellent Nature than the other parts of the World and therfore should in reason be indowed with the best qualifications But now motion is not so noble a condition as rest That is but a kind of wearisome and servile thing wheras this is usually ascribed to God himself Of whom 't is said Immotus stabilisque manens dans cuncta moveri Aristotle tells us 't is very agreeable to reason that the time appointed for the revolution of each Orbe should be proportionable to it's bignesse But now this can onely be by making the Earth a Planet and the subiect of the annuall and diurnall motions Wherefore 't is probable that this do's rather move than the Heavens According to the common Hypothesis the primum mobile will move round in a day Saturne in thirty yeares Iupiter in twelve Mars in two The Sunne Venus and Mercury which have severall Orbes yet will agree in their revolutions being each of them about a yeare in finishing their courses Whereas by making the Earth a Planet there will be a just proportion betwixt the bignesse of the Orbes and the time of their motions For then next to the Sunne or Centre there will be the Sphaere of Mercury which as it is but narrow in it's diameter so likewise is it quick in it's motion running it's course in eighty eight days Venus that is next unto it in 224 dayes The Earth in 365 daies or a yeare Mars in 687 dayes Iupiter in 4332 dayes Saturne in 10759 dayes Thus likewise is it with those Medicean Starres that encompasse Iupiter That which is lowest amongst them finishes his course in two and twenty houres the next in three dayes and a half the third in seven dayes and the farthest in seventeen days Now as it is according to Aristotles confession more likely that Nature should observe such a due proportion betwixt the Heavenly Orbes so is it more probable that the Earth should move rather than the Heavens This may likewise be confirmed from the appearance of Comets Concerning which there are three things commonly granted or if they were not might be easily proved namely 1 That there are divers Comets in the Aire betwixt the Moone and our Earth 2 That many of these Comets do seeme to rise and set as the Stars 3 That this appearing motion is not properly their owne but communicated unto them from somewhat else But now this motion of theirs cannot be caused by the Heavens and therefore it must necessarily proceed from the revolution of our Earth That the Moones Orbe cannot carry along with it the greater part of the aire wherein these Comets are placed might easily be proved from the common grounds For the concave Superficies of that Sphaere is usually supposed to bee exactly terse and smooth so that the meer touch of it cannot turne about the whole Element of Fire with a motion that is not naturall unto it Nor could this Elementarie Fire which they imagine to be of a more rarified and subtle Nature communicate the same motion to the thicker Aire and that to the waters as some affirme For by what meanes could that smooth Orbe take hold of the adjoyning Aire To this Sarsius answers that there are great gibbosities and mountainous inequalities in the concavitie of the lowest Sphaere and by these is it inabled to carry along with it the Fire and Aire But Fromondus tels him Fictitiaista ad fugam reperta sunt And yet his owne Conjecture is scarse so good when hee affirmes that this motion of the aetheriall Aire as also of that elementary Aire hard by us is caused by that ruggednesse which there is in the Bodies of the Planets of which opinion wee may with as good reason say as hee sayes to Sarsius Fictitia ista ad fugam reperta These things are meere fictions invented for shifts and without any probable ground But now this appearance of the Comets may easily be resolved if wee suppose the earth to move For then though they did still remaine in their wonted places yet this by it's diurnall revolution successively with drawing it self from them they wil appear to rise set And therefore according to this common naturall experiment it is more probable that the Earth should move than the Heavens Another Argument urged by some to prove that this Globe of Earth is easily movable is taken from the opinion of those who affirme that the accesse of any weight unto a new place as suppose an army do's make the Earth poise it selfe afresh and change the centre of gravitie that it had before but this is not generally granted and therefore not to bee insisted on as a common ground To this purpose likewise is that inference of Lansbergius who from Archimedes his saying that hee could move the Earth if he knew where to stand and fasten his instrument concludes that the Earth is easily movable whereas 't was the intent of Archimedes in that speech to shew the infinit power of Engines there being no weight so great but that an instrument might be invented to move it Before we finish this Chapter t is requisite that we enquire what kind of facultie that is from which those motions that Copernicus ascribes unto the Earth do's proceed Whether or no it be some Animall Power that do's assist as Aristotle or informe as Keplar thinks or else some other naturall motive qualitie which is intrinsicall unto it Wee may observe That when the proper genuine cause of any motion is not obvious men are very prone to attribute unto that which they discerne to be the most frequent Originall of it in other things Life Thus the Stoicks affirme the Soule of the Water to bee the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea Thus others thinke the Winde to proceed from the Life of the Aire whereby it is able to move it selfe severall waies as other living creatures And upon the same grounds doe the Platonicks Stoicks and some of the Peripateticks affirme the Heavens to bee animated From hence likewise it is that so many do maintaine Aristotle his opinion concerning Intelligences which some of his followers the Schoole-men doe confirme out of Scripture From that place in Mat. 24. 29. where 't is said The Powers of the Heaven shall bee shaken In which words by Powers say they are meant the Angels by whose power it is that the Heavens are moved And so likewise in that Iob 9. 13. Where the vulgar ha's it Sub quo curvantur qui portant orbem that is the Intelligences Which Text might serve altogether as well to prove the Fable of Atlas and Hercules Thus Cajetan concludes from that place in the Psalme 136. 5. Where 't is said God by wisdome made the heavens or according to the