Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	air_n	element_n	fire_n	13,062	5	7.1789	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96681	Fax fonte accensa, fire out of water: or, An endeavour to kindle devotion, from the consideration of the fountains God hath made Designed for the benefit of those who use the waters of Tunbridg-Wells, the Bath, Epsom, Scarborough, Chigwell, Astrop, Northall, &c. Two sermons preached at New Chappel by Tunbridg-Wells. With devout meditations of Cardinal Bellarmin upon fountains of waters. Also some form of meditations, prayers, and thanksgivings, suited to the occasion. By Anthony Walker, D.D.	Walker, Anthony, d. 1692.; Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621. Selections, English, 1684.	1685 (1685)	Wing W302A; ESTC R230546	55,606	206

three Opinions which almost all that write on this Subject chiefly insist upon 1. First Some ascribe the Origine of Fountains to the Transmutation of the Elements Air and Vapours say they getting into the Caverns and hollow Recesses of the Earth are by the Coldness of the Rocks and Stones condensed and turned into Waters as we see in Vaults and Cellers the Stone Walls will stand with Drops especially when the Air is thick and moist This Opinion glories in no less Author than him who was the great Secretary of Nature Aristotle This I confess may do something produce some little Rills and fainter Springs but the Objection against it seems rationally strong and unanswerable as to more noble Fountains which flow ubere venâ from the vast quantities of Waters they send forth which we cannot conceive how this means alone can possibly supply and furnish 2. Others suppose them to arise from the falling of Rain and dissolution of Snow soaking into the Bowels of the Earth and when it sinks into the hollow Caverns of it glides through them till it finds some vent and makes a Spring at its Eruption or place of breaking forth And tho there may be some colour for this in some Times and Places as near the Alps yet this is beset with greater Difficulties than the former from the exceeding depth of many subterraneous Waters and the Times and Places where the Rains and Snows are none or few and small and yet afford both plenteous and constant Fountains 3. Therefore the third and best Opinion and which is beset with easiest Objections is That Fountains arise from the Sea and from vast Stores and Treasuries of Water made by God and reserved under ground in vast capacious Cisterns and Cellars for this end and use And this Opinion fairly claims and pleads both the patronage of Scripture and the suffrage of Reason First of Scripture which often mentions the great Abyss the Deep the Depths the same with Plato's Barathron as the Womb and Mother of Springs Gen. 7.11 The Fountains of the great Deep were broken up to make the Flood And again chap. 8.2 The Fountains of the Deep were stopped And Job 38.16 they are call'd the Springs of the Sea Psal 33.7 He layeth up the Depth in Store-houses to be thus broach'd and issued forth Eccles 1.7 All the Rivers run into the Sea and yet the Sea is not full unto the place from whence the Rivers come thither they return again They come from the Sea through the Bowels of the Earth and return unto it through the Chanels in the Surface of it Fountains are the Mouths by which the Sea and great Abyss vomit and cast forth those mighty Streams the Rivers And with the Scripture-Testimony concur Plato and Seneca and other Naturalists And the Sum of this Opinion is That there are vast prodigious Quantities of Water reserved under ground in huge Caverns and hollow Receptacles and that the Sea hath also in the sides and bottom of it either loose spungy Earth which the Waters easily penetrate and soak through Or else large Ostia wide Clefts and gaping Orifices and Whirl-pits by which it empties out and disburdens it self of its superfluous Waters without which Evacuations and discharging of it self of that vast mass of Waters which flow continually into it by so many Rivers it must necessarily and unavoidably overflow the Earth which is most obviously manifest in the Caspian Sea which hath no visible Intercourse with or outlet into the main Ocean and yet the Waters which run into it from the might Volga in one Year were sufficient to drown that part of the World should it not have secret conveyances and ways of Evacuations to prevent its over-flowing Some have ingeniously compar'd this Terraqueous Globe to a great Animal the vast Abyss is as the Heart or Liver or the Blood-bowl in the rustick Phrase these Waters are the Blood the hollow Caverns under Ground and the Chanels of the Rivers in the Surface are as the Arteries and Veins by which this Blood circulates and where its Apertures and places of breaking forth are there are the Springs and Fountains which resemble the Orifices upon the pricking or opening of a Vein by Phleboromy And whereas the Sea is salt and many Fountains fresh this account is given That God at first made all the Waters sweet and fresh and those vast stores treasured up in the Bowels of the Earth retain those their primitive Qualities tho in great Wisdom he after made the Sea salt to prevent its Putrefaction by Stagnation and to make it fitter for the Nourishment of living Creatures in it and more commodious for Navigation the strength of the salt Water bearing those Vessels of Burden which were it fresh would sink to the bottom with their own weight an Egg will swim in strong Brine And for the sea-Sea-Water which passes out as aforesaid the fixed Salt is strained off by Percollation and the volatil Salt partly by Evaporation by the subterraneous Fires and partly by mixing with the sweet Waters in the bowels of the Earth as also of those made of transmuted Air and Vapours and farther by Accession of Rain which soaks in and dissolved Snows which mingle with it it becomes lympid sweet and wholsome And by passing through different Soils or Minerals as Gold Silver Antimony Copper Lead Tin and Iron Vitriol Nitre Sulphur Allom and God only knows how many more it is impregnated by them imbibes their Properties and Vertues besides what useful Qualities God may in his kind Providence infuse into them and communicate immediately to render them useful and beneficial to Mankind of which no account can be given but the goodness of him who doth what ever he pleaseth in Heaven in Earth and all deep places and worketh all things according to his own good Pleasure But to sum up and reduce to order this more lax Discourse I will lay down these following Propositions 1. 'T is demonstrable by Scripture that God made the Fountains 2. He made them not as a necessary but a voluntary Agent they are not the product of his Nature but his Will 3. The Knowledg we have of the Origine of them as to their second and immediate causes is not certain and demonstrative but only probable and conjectural 4. 'T is probable some are made and others are encreas'd by Transmutation or change of grosser and moister Air and Vapours into Water 5. 'T is very probable that the wise Builder of Universal Nature hath so dispos'd and fashioned the whole System of this Terraqueous Globe that there are in it as it were Furnaces of subterraneous Fires and vast hollow Caves and winding Meanders not unlike to natural Stills and Alymbecks and Retorts which turn salt Waters into Vapours and then change both those Vapours and others suckt into the Chinks and Caverns of the Earth from the ambient Air and Mists into sweet and wholsome Waters 6. 'T is possible that some Springs arise

to fight against him Yet O Lord so inconquerable is thy Goodness that thy Patience seconds thy Bounty in continuing to us what our ill Deserts have forfeited as thou gav'st it freely without any good Desert of ours And not only in supplying our bare Necessities but furnishing of us for Convenience for Pleasure and Delight yea for recovery of those Distempers which we possibly have brought upon our selves by the abuse of thy own Blessings for the whole World is thy well-stor'd Shop and every Element is furnish'd with Supply The Air with Fowls the Water with Fish the Earth with small and great Cattel and with a numberless variety of Plants and Minerals and the Fire is the common Servant to them all to concoct their Crudities to dress and make them fit for Use and Nourishment Neither are they less apt for Physick than for Food for Medicine than for Meat To pass the rest in a grateful tho silent Admiration The Fountains are not only thy Cellars to quench our Thirst but thy Baths and thy Alimbecks where Almighty Goodness is the Operator and the God of Nature prevents the Trouble and Charge of Art O let this thy Goodness at length conquer the Obstinacy of our Rebellions that our Ingratitude and Provocations may never overcome thy Clemency and Patience that we may be so weary and asham'd of sinning against thee that thou mayest never be weary nor repent the doing of us good Amen MEDITAT V. Upon the Water of Jealousy Numbers the 5th THere are many righteous Laws and severe Threatnings in holy Scripture of the Execution of which we meet with no recorded Instance or Example Such is that of the rebellious Son being ston'd to death upon his Parents Complaint of him and testifying against him for his Disobedience Deut. 21.18 And that of the bitter Water to be drunk by the Wife of the jealous Husband which Water was to be mixt with the Dust of the Floor of the Tabernacle probably to make the Punishment Sins Anagram and to signify it should not fail of its dire Effects on them who trampled under foot the Authority of him who dwelt in it which caused her Belly to swell and Thigh to rot who was defiled Numb 5. There is a great Affinity and Likeness between God's Books of his Word and of his Works the Laws of both have righteous Sanctions either expressed or imply'd and tho we read not Examples of the Punishments of those who brake the first nor have observed instances of their Misery who have transgrest the latter yet assuredly wilful Offenders shall not escape the smart and burden of vindictive Justice O my Soul thy Maker is thy Husband provoke him not to Jealousy let not the Impunity of others imbolden thee they may feel that those surda verbera which thou canst take no notice of or he who sees their day is coming may reserve severer Wrath against that day What ever others do do thou thy Duty Love flows in these Waters make sutable returns of Love Provoke not him whose Help thou always needest and here most signally expectest not only lest thy Hopes abuse thee with a Disappointment but the expected Blessing be turn'd into a Curse and instead of opening Obstructions and yielding Help and Health they make thy Belly swell and occasion Sorrow Pain and Death MEDITAT VI. WHen I observe the great Quantities of Water drunk every Morning at these Wells it calls to my mind that Expression of David of some who drink Iniquity like Water Lust is a very thirsty and insatiable thing it never saith it is enough 't is an hydropick Sickness of the Soul the more it drinks the more it thirsts The Fountain of Corruption cannot be stopt it is impatient of a Damm If one Outlet be shut it will find or make another But O how poisonous how deadly are those draughts it swallows down with so greedy a delight We here drink innocent Healths But such Men drink much worse than Circean Cups their own Damnation How can any Sinner hope for impunity when every Sin carries its own Hell a bottomless desire after more And O most Righteous Lord 't is just and equal that they who have forsaken Thee the satisfying Fountain of Living Waters should weary themselves in their labouring after Disappointment in hewing out such broken Cisterns as can hold no Water O Thou who hast given me a Soul capable of thy Self and incapable of rest till it rest in thy self who art the Center of its Being and Desires draw me to thy Self fit me for thy Self fill me with thy Self give me to drink of those Waters of Paradise every drop of which is bigger than the Ocean Give me to hunger and thirst after Righteousness and I have the Security of his Word who cannot lie that I shall be satisfied that having a Well of Water in my self derived from thee the living Fountain I may thirst no more with an uneasy vexing deadly Thirst MEDITAT VII Ezek. 47.9 And every thing shall live whither the River cometh THe latter part of this Prophet is so dark that all Interpreters are ready to cry out as I remember Carthusianus doth when he comes to it I now enter into the thick darkness 'T is no wonder therefore that the heads of that River which brake out in those Regions of Obscurity should be more hidden than those of Nile yet undoubtedly this is that River which David saith makes glad the City of God and which he elsewhere calls the River of his Pleasure What can this be but those Waters of the Sanctuary which flow from the Throne of God and the Lamb the Graces and Comforts of thy Spirit O let that Blessed Spirit which proceedeth from the Father and the Son and whom the Nicene Creed teacheth us to call the Lord and Giver of Life come down upon us and effect more in and for our Souls than we expect or look for to our Bodies from the Waters of these Wells that by the coming of this River to us we may live the life of Grace here and may be fitted for the Life of Everlasting Glory hereafter MEDITAT VIII Upon 2 Kings 5.12 Are not Abana and Pharphar Rivers of Damascus better than all the Waters of Israel May I not wash in them and be clean and he went away in a rage With vers 17. Thy Servant will henceforth offer neither Burnt-Offering nor Sacrifice unto other Gods but unto the LORD THere 's not a greater difference betwixt the Waters in which he wash'd and the Fire by which he offered burnt Sacrifice than between the Sentiments and Language of the Syrian Leper and the cleansed Proselyte How did the Rage of his insolent Mind flame out at his disdainful Lips But when that Jordan which wash'd his Body had baptiz'd his Soul healing both with how sedate a Calmness and humble and resolved Firmness doth he devote himself to Israel's God and to the Rights of his before despised Worship Tho right

this preaching Angel worship not the Wells or Fountains or any supposed tutelary Deities or Daemons residing in them or presiding over them but him that made them and alone can bless them Idolize not the likeness of any thing that is in the Waters under the Earth nor the Virtues of those Waters nor the faint Resemblance there seems to be of an eternal Being in their Perennity nor any thing in them or in any other Being which is made but him that is the Maker of them and the great Creator and Preserver of all things else for nil factum adorandum God made nothing to be worshipt'd and nothing must be worship'd that is made 2. But the second and more positive Reason why he directs us to worship him that made the Fountains is because the making of them is a signal proof that he is the true God and witness those Perfections to be in him for which he is truly adorable and a meet Object capable and worthy of Religious Adoration I before suggested that whatever Work of Nature or of Grace manifests the Author of it to be indued with infinite Perfections or that he is a Being absolutely and infinitely perfect is a good and sufficient Reason for the worshipping of him Now not to enquire into all or more than the signal Trinity of Attributes infinite Power infinite Wisdom infinite Goodness if the making of the Fountains be a valid and convincing Argument that he who made them hath all these is infinitely powerful wise and good nay hath but any of them supposing that they might be parted is perfect in Power only or in Wisdom or in Goodness that alone were a good Argument both that he might and ought to be worshipped Not that the making of the Fountains proves no more for I think it is easy to evince that their Maker is an Eternal Being from Prov. 8. and Eternal is truly an incommunicable Attribute and a most adorable Perfection And more might be named but we may safely confine our selves to the three afore specified and if the making of them proves him to be all or any of these he must be worship'd that is such because he is such I will touch them in order First The making the Fountains proves him infinitely powerful which we may consider in several respects 1. 'T is a Work and a Demonstration of Almighty Power to produce out of nothing that which was not to give that a Being which had none before Now there was a time when or rather before time it self was there were no Fountains abounding with Water Prov. 8.24 And his Almighty Fiat gave them Being who spake the Word and they were made who commanded and they were brought forth By the Word of the Lord were the Waters made and all the kinds and regions of them by the breath of his Mouth and the first of Genesis makes at least as signal and more repeated mention of the Waters the Deep the Seas then of Heaven and Earth Some think that the first matter the Platonists ὕλη the Scriptures Tohu and Bohu which we call the Chaos was a watery fluid Mass Mr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth is chiefly built upon this Hypothesis And the great Abyss or Barathron was the first or oldest of God's Works of Power and the Issues and Outlets thereof are the Effects of the same Power and they are those we call the Fountains of the great Deep so that the making them evidences him to be an Almighty Creator 2. Having made and shut up those vast Stores and Treasuries of Water 't is a proof of his Power to unlock and unbar those mighty Rocks and Mountains which imprisoned and shut them in and give them vent and passage and open the very Womb of the Earth and Nature that they may issue out The Jews have a saying that God keeps three Keys in his own Hand the Key of the Womb the Key of the Grave and the Key of the Barn sinifying thereby that Fruitfulness or Barrenness Life and Death Plenty and Scarcity depend immediately on him and are great Evidences of his Power and certainly it is no less to have the Key of the great Abyss 'T is one of the most majestick Proofs of the Divine Power which God himself insists upon Job 38.8 11. To shut up the Sea with doors and to say to it Hither shalt thou go and no further and here shall thy proud Wave stop themselves And 't is no less Power which cleaves the mighty Rocks to let it out than to bridle its swelling Surges by the smallest Sand. 3. He makes new sudden extraordinary Fountains when he pleases without and beyond any natural apparent Causes strikes the flinty Rock and Waters gush forth more readily than Sparks or Fire would by strikeing it with Steel He must certainly be the Almighty Lord of Nature who can unhinge it and change its Laws when ever he pleases turning the dry Ground into Water-springs 4. As the making Heaven and Earth prove his Omnipotence for 't is upon that account we profess in our Creed to believe him Almighty I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth c. No less doth the making of the Sea and Fountains prove the same for they are rank'd in the same Series in this very Text. 5. 'T is a mighty proof of his Power to continue them to supply and feed them for so many Ages that they die not but are justly stiled living Waters Preservation is a continued Creation Secondly The making of the Fountains is a proof of his Wisdom as may appear 1. In his contriving and building the whole System of universal Nature so admirably so commodiously every piece thereof agreeing so excellently with all the others that they are mutually subservient This harmonious Fabrick this exact Composition of the whole is a Work of that deep that infinite and adorable Wisdom that it is an unanswerable Argument for an intelligent Providence And may put to shame and to silence all the Atheists and Semi-Atheists in the World And tho I confess 't is more usual to instance in the Heavens as being more visible and to argue from the Scituation Motion and Position of the Sun Moon and Stars towards the Earth to render their Influences more propitious that the whole may be fruitful and a commodious Habitation that all may in good degree injoy their Comfort and their Blessing and none be wholly depriv'd or destitute nor scorch'd or spoiled by them Yet with the like advantage might we argue from the Sea and Fountains the spreading and diffusing of which through so many hidden Veins within the Earth and dislodging themselves in so many commodious places and flowing in so many chrystal cooling healthful Streams both greatly beautifies and garnisheth the Earth and renders it fertile and delightful for benefit of Man and Beasts 2. As they are so contrived that all the Phaenomena about them are unaccountable and the wisest and most inquisitive

Streams and Virtues you would endow this House built to his Name so near them that the Waters of the Sanctuary may flow from hence with a constant Perennity like to the Waters of these Wells and with an Healthfulness to the Souls of those that dwell here which may equal or exceed the Usefulness of the Waters to the Bodies of us Strangers who come hither to drink them And now Oh thou most glorious Lord who hast made the Fountains of Waters and thereby manifested forth thy Almighty Power thy unsearchable Wisdom and inexhaustible Goodness which render thee a most sutable Object of all possible Adoration Love and Service Accept we beseech thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and Praise which we offer to thee from the Altar of an humble Heart for making of these Fountains and making known and continuing their useful Virtues and for blessing them to any of us And we further bless thy glorious Name who art the Fountain of Living Waters and in whom are all our Springs for all the Streams of Mercy that flow from thee especially for thy Son and thy Spirit thy Word and thy Sacraments and that sutable Portion of it we have now been made partakers of Beseeching thee so to write in our Hearts by the Finger of thy Spirit what we have heard with our outward Ears that it may bring forth in us the Fruit of good Living to the Glory of thy holy Name the good Example of our fellow Christians the present Comfort and the eternal Salvation of our precious Souls through Jesus Christ our dearest Lord To whom with thy Majesty and eternal Spirit be rendred as is most due all Honour Love Thanksgiving Praise and Adoration now and for evermore Amen FINIS Devout Meditations of Cardinal Bellarmine made English Of the Consideration of the Waters and chiefly of Fountains CHAP. I. THE Water holds the second place amongst the Elements of this World and if that be rightly look'd upon a step may be made of it to assist the Heart's Ascent to God And if we will premise a general Consideration of Water then draw out of the Fountains a special Ascent to God Water is moist and cold and from hence it hath these five Properties For 1. It washeth and cleanseth away Spots and Defilements 2. It quencheth Fire 3. It cools and slakes the heat of Thirst 4. It joyns into one many and different things Lastly So low as it descends so high it will ascend again All which are manifest Symbols and Foot-steps of that God who is the maker of all things 1. Water washeth off bodily Stains God washeth off those that are spiritual Thou shalt wash me saith David and I shall be whiter than Snow Psal 51.7 For altho Contrition Sacraments Priests Alms-deeds do wash away Sins which are the Stains of the Heart All these are but Instruments and Dispositions He that is the Author of this washing is God alone I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake saith God by Isaiah Chap. 43.25 And therefore the Pharisees murmuring against Christ said Who can forgive Sins but God only Luke 7. 49. And they were not mistaken in ascribing unto God only the supream Power of forgiving Sins But in that that they believ'd not Christ to be 〈◊〉 God and so blasphem'd and spake Truth in the same breath Neither doth God only like Water wash away Spots but will also be called by the Name of Water John 7.38 He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified Therefore the holy Spirit which is very God is living Water And of this Water speaks Ezekiel Chap. 36.25 I will sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your Filthiness and from your Idols will I cleanse you And because this celestial and uncreated Water far excels the Virtues of this terrestrial and created Water we will take notice of three Differences betwixt the washing of created and uncreated Water First That which is created washeth the Bodies Spots but not all for many it cannot get out unless it be help'd by Soap and other Instruments but uncreated Water washeth out throughly all kind of Spots for in the fore-cited place 't is said You shall be clean from all your Filthiness Secondly Created Water rarely washeth Spots so clean away as to leave no Marks or Shadows of them But uncreated Water washeth so that what is washed with it is whiter and fairer then it was before it was defiled Thou shalt wash me saith David and I shall be whiter than Snow And the Lord himself saith by Isaiah Chap. 1.18 Tho your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll Lastly Created Water washeth away natural Spots which resist not him that washeth them But uncreated Water washeth away voluntary Spots which cannot be rinsed off unless the Soul be willing and spontaneously consent to him that rinseth it But so great and admirable is the Virtue of this Water that it sweetly penetrates hearts of Stone and is resisted by no hard Heart because it makes it not to resist as St. Augustin rightly observes Lib. de Praed SS cap. 8. Who can understand O Lord with how admirable Methods thou breathest Faith into the Hearts of the Unbelievers and pourest Humility in-the Heats of the proud and instillest Love into the Hearts of thy Enemies that he who a little before breathing Threatnings and Slaughter did persecute thee in thy Disciples being suddenly chang'd did willingly bear the Threats and Violences of the Persecutors for thee and for thy Church It is too much for me to search into thy Secrets and I had rather know the efficacy of thy Grace by sweet Experience than by search and because I know this Water of thine to be a voluntary Shower design'd for thine own Heritage as thy Prophet singS therefore I most humbly and submissly beg that I may be found in thine Inheritance and it may please thy Grace to descend into the Earth of my Heart that it continue not towards thee like Earth without Water dry and barren as 't is of it self being not sufficient so much as to think the least that 's good But let 's us proceed CHAP. II. VVAter quencheth Fire and that heavenly Water viz. the Grace of the holy Spirit in an admirable way and manner quencheth the Fire of carnal Lusts 'T is true Fastings and corporal Mortifications do much avail to quench this Burning but provided they be used as Instruments of the Grace of the Holy Ghost otherwise of themselves alone they signifie but very little For Love is the principal of the Affections and Passions of the Mind that governs them all and all obey it Love will not be