his modesty in this second change as I found it wanting in his first coniecture and I am of opinion that S. Augustine never purchased more true honour by any booke that ever hee writ then that of his Retractations the shame is not so much to erre as to persevere in it being discouered Specially if it be an errour taken vp entertained by following those whom for their great gifts wee highly esteeme and admire as it seemes Du Moulin tooke his errour at leastwise touching the moueablenes of the Poles of the Equatour from Ioseph Scaliger But the motion of the heavens puts mee in minde of passing from it to the light thereof CAP. 3. Touching the pretended decay in the light of the heavenly bodies SECT 1. The first reason that it decayes not taken from the nature of that light and those things wherevnto it is resembled AS the waters were first spread over the face of the earth so was the light dispersed thorow the firmament and as the waters were gathered into one heape so was the light knit vp and vnited into one body As the gathering of the waters was called the Sea so that of the light was called the Sunne As the rivers come from the sea so is all the light of the starres derived from the Sun And lastly as the Sea is no whit leassened though it furnish the Earth with abundance of fresh rivers So though the Sunne haue since the Creation both furnished garnished the world with light neither is the store of it thereby diminished nor the beauty of it any way stayned What the light is whether a substance or an Accident whether of a Corporall or incorporall nature it is not easy to determine Philosophers dispute it but cannot well resolue it Such is our ignorance that euen that by which wee see all things we cannot discerne what it selfe is But whatsoeuer it bee wee are sure that of all visible Creatures it was the first that was made and comes neerest the nature of a Spirit in as much as it moues in an instant from the East to the West and piercing thorow all transparent bodies still remaines in it selfe vnmixed and vndivided it chaseth away sadde and mellancholy thoughts which the darkenesse both begets and mainetaines it lifts vp our mindes in meditation to him who is the true light that lightneth every man that commeth into the world himselfe dwelling in light vnaccessible and cloathing himselfe with light as with a garment And if wee may behold in any Creature any one sparke of that eternall fire or any farre off dawning of Gods glorious brightnes the same in the beauty motion and vertue of this light may best be discerned Quid pulchrius luce saith Hugo de sancto Victore quae cum in se colorem non habeat omnium tamen rerum colores ipsa quodammodo colorat What is more beautifull then the light which hauing no colour in it selfe yet sets a luster vpon all colours And S. Ambrose vnde vox Dei in Scriptura debuit inch oare nisi à lumine Vnde mundi ornatus nisi à luce exordium sumere frustra enim esset si non â—…ideretur From whence should the voice of God in holy Scripture begin but from the light From whence should the ornament of the world begin but likewise from the same light For in vaine it were were it not seene O Father of the light of wisedome fountaine Out of the bulke of that confused mountaine What should what could issue before the light Without which Beauty were no Beauty hight SECT 2. The second for that it hath nothing contrary vnto it and heere Pareus and Mollerus are censured for holding that the light of heaven is impaired S. Augustine in diverse places of his workes is of opinion that by the first created light were vnderstood the Angells and heerein is hee followed by Beda Eucherius Rupertus diverse others Which opinion of his though it bee questionlesse vnsound in as much as wee are taught that that light sprang out of darkenesse which of the Angells can in no sort bee verified yet it shewes the lightsome nature of Angells so likewise the Angelicall nature of light still flourishing in youth no more subject to decay or old age then the Angells are Since then in the properties thereof it comes so neere the nature of Spirits of Angels of God mee thinkes they who dare accuse the heavens as being guilty of decay and corruption in other respects should yet haue spared the light thereof The more I wonder that men reverenced for their learning reputed lights of the Church should by their writings goe about to quench or blemish this light Videntur haud parum elanguisse minusque nitidi esse quam fuerant initio saith one speaking of the heavenly bodies They seeme to hame suffered not a little defect and to haue lost of that brightnes in which they were at first created And another Non est nunc illa claritas luminis nec sunt illae stellarum vires quae fuerunt There is not now that brightnes of the light nor those vertues of the starres that haue beene Venturous assertions and such I beleeue as would haue pusled the Authours of them to haue made them good specially considering that as there is nothing contrary to the Quintessentiall matter and circular figure of the Heavens So neither is there to the light thereof Fire may bee quenched with water but there is nothing able to quench the light of Heauen saue the power of him that made it Againe fire may bee extinguished by withdrawing or withholding the fewell vpon which it feedes But the light of heaven hauing no matter by which it is nourished there is no feare of the failing thereof thorow any such defect for the matter of the Coelestiall spheres and starres in which it is planted it hath already sufficiently appeared that it neither is nor in the course of Nature can be subject to any impairing alteration And so much Pareus himselfe hath vpon the matter confessed in two severall places in his Commentaries vpon the first of Genesis whereof the first is this speakeing of the firmament and the Epithetes of iron and brasse given it in holy Scriptures and by prophane Authours Haec Epitheta saith hee Metaphoricè notant Coeli firmitatem quia tot millibus annorum immutabili lege circumvoluitur nec tamen atteritur motu aut absumitur quia à Deo sic est firmatum initio These Epithetes metaphorically signifie the firmenes stablenes of heaven because by an vnchangeable law it hath now wheeled about so many thousand yeares and yet is it not wasted or worne by the motion thereof because it is established by God And againe within a while after hee vseth almost the same wordes firmamentum non dicitur de duritie aut soliditate impermeabili sed de firmitate quâ perpetuo motu circumactum coelum non atteritur nec
ingenia despicio neque enim quasi lassa aut effaeta natura vt nihil jam laudabile pariat I am one of the number of those who admire the ancients yet not as some doe I despise the wits of our times as if Nature were tired and barren and brought forth nothing now that were praise-worthy To which passage of Pliny Viues seemes to allude male de natura censet quicunque vno illam aut altero partu effaetam arbitratur hee that so thinkes or sayes is doubtles injurious and ingratefull both to God and nature And qui non est gratus datis non est dignus dandis hee that doth not acknowledge the peculiar and singular blessings of God bestowed vpon this present age in some things beyond the former is so farre from meriting the increase of more as hee deserues not to enjoy these And commonly it falls out that there the course and descent of the graces of God ceases and the spring is dried vp where there is not a corespondent recourse and tide of our thankfullnes Let then men suspend their rash judgoments nec perseverent suspicere preteritos despicere presentes onely to admire the ancients and despise those of the present times Let them rather imitate Lampridius the Oratour of whom witnesseth the same Sydonius that he read good Authours of all kindes cum reverentia antiquos sine invidia recentes the old with reverence the new without envy I will conclude this point and this chapter with that of Solomon Hee hath made every thing beautifull in his time answereable wherevnto is that of the sonne of Syrach which may well serue as a Commentary vpon those workes of Solomon All the workes of the Lord are good and hee will giue every needfull thing in due season so that a man cannot say this is worse then that therefore prayse ye◅ the Lord with the whole heart and mouth and blesse the name of the Lord. CAP. 3. The Controversy touching the worlds decay stated and the methode held thorow this ensuing Treatise proposed SECT 1. Touching the pretended decay of the mixt bodies LEast I should seeme on the one side to sight with shaddowes and men of straw made by my selfe or on the other to maintaine paradoxes which daily experience refutes it shall not bee amisse in this Chapter to vnbowell the state of the question touching the Worlds decay and therewithall to vnfold and lay open the severall knots and joynts thereof that so it may appeare wherein the adverse party agrees and wherein the poynt controverted consists where they joyne issue and where the difference rests It is then agreed on all hands that all subcoelestiall bodies indiuidualls I meane vnder the circle of the moone are subiect not onely to alteration but to diminution and decay some I confesse last long as the Eagle and Rauen among birds the Elephant and Stagge among beasts the Oake among Vegetables stones and mettalls among those treasures which Nature hath laid vp in the bosome of the earth yet they all haue a time of groweth and increase of ripenesse and perfection and then of declination and decrease which brings them at last to a finall and totall dissolution Beasts are subject to diseases or at least to the spending of those naturall spirits wherewith their life and being as the Lampe with oile is mainetai ned Vegetables to rottennesse stones to mouldering and mettalls to rust and canker though I doubt not but some haue layen in the bowells of the earth vntainted since the worlds Creation and may continue in the same case till the Consummation thereof Which neede not seeme strange since some of the Aegyptian Pyramides stones drawne from their naturall beds and fortresses and exposed to the invasion of the aire and violence of the weather haue stood already well nigh three thousand yeares and might for ought wee know stand yet as long againe And I make no question but glasse and gold and christall and pearle and pretious stones might so be vsed that they should last many thousand yeares if the world should last so long For that which Poets faine of time that it eates out and devoures all things is in truth but a poeticall fiction since time is a branch of Quantity it being the measure of motion and Quantity in it selfe isno way actiue but meerely passiue as being an accident flowing from the matter It is then either some inward conflict or outward assault which is wrought in time that eates them out Time it selfe without these is toothlesse and can neuer doe it Nay euen among Vegetables it is reported by M. Camden that whole trees lying vnder the Earth haue beene and daylie are digged vp in Cheshire Lancheshire Cumberland which are thought to haue layen there since Noahs floud And Verstigan reports the like of finre trees digged vp in the Netherlands which are not knowne to grow any where in that Countrey neither is the soyle apt by nature to produce them they growing in cold hillie places or vpon high mountaines so that it is most likely they might from those places during the deluge by the rage of the waters be driuen thither Yet all these consisting of the Elements as they doe I make no doubt but without any outward violence in the course of nature by the very inward conflict of their principles whereof they are bred would by degrees though perchance for a long time insensibly yet at last feele corruption For a Body so equally tempered or euenly ballanced by the Elements that there should be no praedominancie no struggling or wrastling in it may be imagined but surely I thinke was neuer really subsisting in Nature nor well can be SECT 2. Touching the pretended decay of the Elements in regard of their quantity and dimensions I Come then in the next place from the mixt Bodies to the Elements themselues wbereof they are mixed Of these it is certaine that they decay in their parts but so as by a reciprocall compensation they both loose and gaine sometime loosing what they had gotten and then again getting what they had formerly lost Egregia quaedam est in elementis quaternarum virium compensatio aequalibus iustisque regulis ac terminis vices suas dispensantium saith Philo in his book de Mundi incorruptibilitate there is in the Elements a singular retribution of that foure-fold force that is in them dispensing it selfe by euen bounds and just rules The Element of the fire I make no doubt but by condensation it sometimes looses to the aire the aire againe by rarefaction to it Again the aire by condensation looses to the water the water by rarefaction to it The earth by secret conveyances sucks in steales away the waters of the Sea but returns them againe with full mouth And these two incroach likewise make inrodes interchangeably each vpō other The ordinary depth of the sea is cōmonly answerable to the ordinary hight of the
main land aboue the water and the whirlepooles extraordinary depths answerable to the hight of mountaines aboue the ordinary hight of the Earth The Promontories and necklands which butt into the Sea what are they but solide creekes and the creekes which thrust forth their armes into the Land but fleeting promontories The Ilands what are they but solide lakes and the lakes againe but fleeting Ilands Nay Ilands sometimes are swallowed vp by the Sea sometimes new rise out of the Sea Sometimes parts of the Continent are recouered out of the Sea as was a place in Egypt called Delta Ammania regio and others nay the greatest part of the Netherlands was so recouered as appeares by their finding innumerable shels of sea-fish almost in euery place where they dig and other parts againe irrecoverably lost by the inundation thereof as it fell out in the same Countreyes about foure hundred yeares since in the raigne of our King Henry the first the steeples and towres which yet appeare aboue the water shewing to Passengers the revenge of that vnmercifull Element vpon a part for the losse of the whole land Helice likewise and Bura citties of Greece were drowned as it seemes in Ogyges sloud of which the Poet Siquaeras Helicen Buram Achaidos Vrbes Invenies sub aquis Bura and Helice on Achayan ground Are sought in vaine but vnder water found And Seneca in the sixth booâ—…e of his Naturall questions thus speakes of these two Citties Helicen Burimque totas mare accepit supra oppida duo navigatur duo autem quae novimus quae in nostram noâ—…iam memoria literis servata perduxit quam multa alia alys locis mersa sunt Helice and Buris the Sea hath wholly swallowed vp so that now wee saile ouer two Townes two I say which are come to our knowledge by the memory of ancient records but how many other trow wee may bee swallowed vp in diuers other places which we neuer heard of Inter insulas nulla iam Delos saith Tertullian in his booke de Pallio among the Ilands there is now no such thing to be found as Delos and againe Acon in Atlantico Lybiam aut Asiam adequans quaeritur nunâ—… Acon in the Atlanticke Sea equalling Africke or Asia is now found wanting The story of K. Arthur and the Knights of the round table is but an idle Booke yet it was not it seemes without cause that he calls the Cornish Tristram Sir Tristram de Lionesse inasmuch as Master Carew of Antony in his Survay of Cornewall witnesseth that the Sea hath ravened from that shire that whole Country of Lionesse and that such a Countrey of Lionesse there was he very sufficiently proueth by many strong reasons Sometimes dry Townes become Hauens and sometimes againe Hauen-townes haue become dry as Hubert Thomas a man of very good parts chiefe Secretary to Frederiâ—…k the third Count Palatine of Rhene and Prince Elector in his description of the Country of Liege affirmeth that the Sea hath in time come vp to the wals of Tongres now well nigh an hundreth English miles from the Sea which among other reasons he proues by the great iron rings there yet to be seene vnto which the ships that there sometimes arriued were fastned Also Forum Iulium a Towne seated in littore Narbonènsi the present estate whereof is described very well as all other things by that excellent Chancellour of France Michael Hospitalis Apparet moles antiqui diruta portus Atque vbi portus erat siccum nunc littus horti The ruines of an ancient hauen appeares to be But where the haven was now gardens may you see In like manner the river Arno now falleth into the sea sixe miles from Pisa whereby it appeareth that the Land hath there gotten much vpon the Sea in this coast for that Strabo in his time reporteth it was but 20 furlongs which is two miles and an halfe distant from the Sea Lastly sometimes Ilands haue beene annexed to the Continent as Samos which as witnesseth Tertullian is become sand and Pharos which in Homers time was an Iland but in Plinyes annexed to the Continent by the slime of Nilus and sometimes againe peeces haue beene cut off from the Continent and made Ilands as Sicily which was separated from the maine of Italy Haec loca vi quondam vasta comvulsa ruina Tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetust as Dissiluisse ferunt cùm protinùs utraque tellus Vna foret venit medio vi pontus vndis Hesperium Siâ—…ulo latus absâ—…idit arvaque urbes Littore diductas angusto interluit aestu These places by huge force with ruine violent So great a change in things long tract of time can make Sundred they say which erst were both one Continent Till in betweene the Sea with force impetuous brake And with his mighty waues th' Hesperian did divide From the Sicilian shore and now twixt townes and fields Thus rent asunder ebbes and flowes a narrow tide Sic Hispanias à contextu Africae mare eripuit saith Seneca Thus did the Sea snatch away Spaine from the Continent of Africa And this 〈◊〉 as many imagine was likewise broken off from the Continent of 〈◊〉 grounding themselues partly vpon their priuate reasons and parâ—… 〈◊〉 pon the authorities of Antonius Volscus Dominicus Marius Niger 〈◊〉 Servius Honoratus who seekes to proue it from that of Virgil Et penitùs toto divisos orbe Britannos And Britaines wholly from the World divided And of Claudian in imitation of Virgil Nostro diducta Britannia mundo Britaine from our World seuer'd Of both these as well Ilands annexed to the Continent as peeces of the Continent broken off from it by force of the Sea and made Ilands Pliny hath written at large in the second Booke of his Naturall History cap. 85. 86. 87. And Ovid in the 15 of Met. toucheth them both Fluctibus ambitae fuerant Antissa Pharosque Et Phaenissa Tyros quarum nunc Insula nulla est Antissa Pharos and Phaenissian Tyre Now are not but with Seas surrounded were And on the other side Leucada continuam veteres habuere coloni Nunc freta circumeunt Zancle quoque iuncta fuisse Dicitur Italiae donec confinia pontus Abstulit media tellurem repulit unda Th' old inhabitants of Leucadian Iles Conjoyned to the Continent them found And Zancle joyned was to Italy Which now cut off by Sea the waues surround By reason of which mutuall traffique and interchange the Elements may truly be said to remaine alwayes the same in regard of their intire bodies as Theseus his ship so renowned antiquity was held by the schollers of Athens to be the same though it were renewed in euery part thereof and not a planke or pin remained of the first building Or as a riuer may properly be said to be the same though it vary from it selfe by the accesse of fresh supplies euery moment Rusticus expectat dum
and among the rest that taken from the Worlds decay to proue the finall consummation thereof I take to be most vnsound in as much as it beggs a principle which is not to be graunted and supposeth such a decay which in my judgment to the worlds end and the day of Judgment will neuer be soundly and sufficiently proued I remember the Philosophers propose a question Vtrum Mundus solo generali concursu Dei perpetuo durare possit Whether the World by the ordinary and generall cooperation of Gods power and prouidence could still last or no and for the most part they conclude it affirmatiuely euen such as professed the Christian Religion and for proofe of their assertion they bring in effect this reason The Heauens say they are of a nature which is not capable in it selfe of corruption the losse of Elements is recouered by compensation of mixt Bodies without life by accretion of liuing Bodies by succession the fall of one being the rising of the other as Rome triumphed in the ruines of Alba and the depression of one Scale is the elevation of another according to that of Solomon One generation passeth away and another generation commeth but the earth abideth for euer Mutantur in aevum Singula incoeptum alternat natura tenorem Quodque dies antiqua tulit post auferet ipsa Each thing in euery age doth vary And Nature changeth still the course she hath begun And will eftsoones vndoe what she erewhile had done Againe all subcoelestiall bodies as is evident consist of matter and forme Now the first matter hauing nothing contrary vnto it cannot by the force of nature be destroyed and being created immediatly by God it cannot be abolished by any inferiour agent And as for the formes of natural bodies no sooner doth any one abandon the matter it informed but another instantly steps into the place thereof no sooner hath one acted his part is retired but another presently comes forth vpon the stage though it may bee in a different shape and to act a different part so that no portion of the matter is or at any time can be altogether voide empty but like Vertumnus or Proteus it turnes it selfe into a thousand shapes and is alwayes supplied and furnished with one forme or other Nec sic interimit mors res ut materiaï Corpora consiciat sed coetum dissipat ollis Inde alijs aliud coniungit efficit omnes Res vt convertant formas mutentque colores Et capiant sensus puncto tempore reddant Vt nosâ—…as referre eadem primordia rerum Death doth not so destroy things As it the matter to nought brings It onely doth dissolue the frame And so it leaues to be the same And joyning other things it changeth Their shape forme colour and so rangeth Their being at times that you may know They all from like principles doe flow Neither in trueth in the course of Nature can it possibly be otherwise since it intends not the abolition of any thing as being a defect and contrary to it 's owne good but for the succession and generation of some other thing in the roome thereof As Nature then cannot create by making something out of nothing so neither can it annihilate by turning something into nothing Whence it consequently followes as there is no accesse so there is no diminution in the vniversall no more then there is in the Alphabet by the infinite coÌ„bination transposition of letters or in the waxe by the alteration of the seale stamped vpon it If a man should take but one drop of water in the whole yeare from the Ocean or but one sand from the sea shore or but one grasse from the earth without any new supply nay without a supply proportionable that the additioÌ„ may fully countervaile repaire the subtractioÌ„ their store must in continuance of time of necessity bee emptied and vtterly exhausted and in like manner the World being finite and there being no accesse to the whole if there should bee any such perpetuall and vniversall decay and decrease in all the parts thereof as is pretended it must needes at last by degrees be annihilated and brought to nothing which is both in reason and by the consent of all Divines as incommunicably the effect of a power divine and aboue nature as is the worke of the Creation it selfe so as whatsoeuer is taken from one must of necessity be giuen to another Ne res ad nihilum redigantur protinus omnes Lest things ere long to nothing should be brought Put the case then that some principall part of the World should still decrease surely some others must thereupon continually increase or there would follow some diminution and consequently some annihilation in respect of the whole if vpon the continuall decrease of some others should still increase there would likewise thereupon follow such a disproportion and jarring as they could neuer well accord and in the end the whole would be turned into those which gained by the losse and grew great by the fall of others consequently they would proue the ruine both of others and themselues as the splene growing and swelling to an immoderate bignes vpon the pining of the other parts in the end ruines both it selfe and them as then a due proportion is held betwixt the parts as well in the naturall body of man as the body politique of the state for the vpholding of the whole so is there likewise by the divine providence in this vast body of the World not that any of the limbs or members thereof the heauens onely excepted remaine without their alteration or diminution but because they mutually by turâ—…es and exchanges both take one from another and again repay one to another what they formerly tooke by which meanes neither is any thing lost in the whole nor any one part so either infeebled by decrease or by increase ouer strengthned as they loose that proportion which makes the musicke of the whole or that vse and seruice which to the whole they all stand obliged to performe and to this purpose it is surely as a diuine oracle for the wisdome trueth thereof which the Poet hath put into the mouth of Pythagoras Nec species sua cuique manet rerumque novatrix Ex alijs alias reparat natura figuras Nec perit in tanto quidquam mihi credite mundo Sed variat faciemque novat nascique vocatur Incipere esse aliud quà m quod fuit ante morique Desinere illud idem cùm sint huc forsitan illa Haec translata illuc summâ tamen omnia constant They hold not long their shapes but soone Dame Nature Of one shape lost brings forth another feature Beleeue it in so great and huge a masse Nothing doth perish but change and vary face We say a thing new borne is when as It doth become another then it was And so wee say a thing doth
waues to shoreward roll And againe Omnia ventorum concurrere praelia vidi I saw the windes all combating together Such a winde it seemes was that which smote at once all the foure corners of the house of Iobs eldest sonne Let any who is desirous to inquire into and compare things of this nature but reade what is recorded in the Turkish history of two wonderfull great stormes the one by land in Sultania set downe in the entrance of Solymans life the other at Algiers not farre from the mi'dst of the same life at Charles the 5th his comming thither as also at his parting from thence and I presume hee will admire nothing in this kinde that hath falne out in these latter times Vidi ego saith Bellarmine quòd nisi vidissem non crederem à vehementissimo vento effossam ingentem terrae molem eamque delatam super pagum quendam vt fovea altissima conspiceretur vnde terra eruta fuerat pagus totus coopertus quasi sepultus manserit ad quem terra illa deuenerat I my selfe haue seene which if I had not seene I should not haue beleeued a very great quantity of earth digged out and taken vp by the force of a strong winde and carried vpon a village thereby so that there remained to be seene a great empty hollownes in the place from whence it was lifted and the village vpon which it lighted was in a manner all couered ouer buried in it This example I confessâ—… could not be long since since Bellarmine professes that himselfe saw it Yet it might well be some skores of yeares before our last great windes which notwithstanding by some for want of reading and experience are thought to bee vnmatchable And I know not whether that outragious winde which happened in London in the yeare 1096. during the reigne of William Rufus might not well bee thought to paralell at least this recorded by Bellarmine It bore downe in that City alone six hundred houses blew off the roofe of Bow Church which with the beames were borne into the aire a great heigth six whereof being 27 foote long with their fall were driuen 23 foote deepe into the ground the streetes of the citty lying then vnpaued And in the fourth yeare of the same King so vehement a lightning which as hath beene said is of the same matter with the winde pierced the steeple of the Abbay of Winscomb in Glostershire that it rent the beames of the roofe cast downe the Crucisixe brake off his right legge and withall ouerthrew the image of our Lady standing hard by leauing such a stench in the Church that neither incense holy-holy-water nor the singing of the Monkes could allay it But it is now more then time I should descend a steppe lower from the aire to the water CAP. 8. Touching the pretended decay of the waters and the fish the inhabiters thereof SECT 1. That the sea and riuers and bathes are the same at this present as they were for many ages past or what they loose in one place or time they recouer in another THough the Psalmist tell vs that the Lord hath founded the earth vpon the Seas and established it vpon the flouds because for the more commodious liuing of man and beasts hee hath made a part of it higher then the seas or at least-wise restrained them from incursion vpon it so as now they make but one intire Globe yet because the waters in the first Creation couered the face of the earth I will first begin with them The mother of waters the great deepe hath vndoubtedly lost nothing of her ancient bounds or depth but what is impaired in one place is againe restored to her in another The riuers which the Earth sucked from her by secret veines it renders backe againe with full mouth the vapours which the Sunne drawes vp empty themselues againe into her bosome The purest humour in the Sea the Sun Exhales in th' Aire which there resolu'd anon Returnes to water descends againe By sundry wayes into his mother maine Her motions of ebbing flowing of high springs and dead Neapes are still as certaine constant as the changes of the Moone and course of the Sunne Her natiue saltnes by reason thereof her strength for the better supporting of navigable vessells is still the same And as the Sea the mother of waters so likewise the rivers the daughters thereof â—…ither hold on their wonted courses and currents or what they haue diminished in one age or place they haue againe recompenced and repayed in another as Srâ—…bo hath well expressed it both of the sea and rivers Quoniam omnia moventur transmutantur aliter talia ac tanta administrari non possent existimandum est nec terram ita semper permanere vt semper tanta sit nec quicquam sibi addatur aut adimatur sed nec aquam nec candem sedem semper ab istis obtineri presertim cum transmutatio ejus cognata sit ac naruralis quiniâ—…ò terrae multum in aquam convertitur aquae multum in terram transmutatur Quare minime mirandum est si eas terrae partes quae nunc habitantur olim mare occupabat quae pelagus sunt prius habitabantur Quemadmodum de fontibus alios deficere contingit alios relaxari item flumina lacus Because thnigs moue and are changed without which such and so great matters could not well be disposed we are to thinke that the earth doth not remaine alwayes in the same state without addition or diminution neither yet the water as if they were alwayes bounded within the same lists specially seeing their mutuall chang is naturall kindly but rather that much earth is turned into water coÌ„trarywise no lesse water in to earth it is not theÌ„ to be wondered at if that part of the earth which is now habitable was formerly overflowed with water and that againe which now is sea was sometimes habitable as among fountaines some are dried vp and some spring forth afresh which may also be verified of rivers and lakes wherewith accordes that of the Poet. Vidi ego quod fuerat quondam solidissima tellus Esse fretum vidi factas ex aequore terras Et procul à pelago Chonchae jacuere marinae Et vetus inventa est in montibus anchora summis Quodque fuit campus vallem decursus aquarum Fecit eluvie mons est deductus in aequor Eque paludosa siccis humus aret arenis Quaeque sitim tulerant stagnata paludibus hument Hic fontes natura nouos emisit et illic Clausit antiquis tam multa tremoribus orbis Flumina prosiliunt aut exsiccata residunt What was firme land sometimes that haue I seen Made sea and what was sea made land againe On mountaine tops old anchours found haue been And sea fish shells to lie farre from the maine Plaines turne to vales by
the temper thereof Sect. 1 Of excessiue drouth and cold in former ages and that in forraine Countryes pag. 110. Sect. 2 Of excessiue cold raine in former ages heere aâ—…tome and of the common complaint of vnseasonable weather in all ages together with the reason thereof p. 112. Sect. 3 Of contagious diseases and specially the plague both here at home 〈◊〉 abroad in former ages p. 113. Sect. 4 Of Earth-quakes in former ages and their terrible effects elegantly described by Seneca p. 116. Sect. 5 Of dreadfull burnings in the bowels of Aetna Vesuvius and the rising of a new Iland out of the Sea with hideous roring neere Putzol in Italy p. 117. Sect. 6. Of the nature of Comets and the vncertainety of predictions from them as also that the number of those which haue appeared of late yeares is lesse then hath vsually beene observed in former ages and of other fiery and watery meteors p. 119. Sect. 7 Of strange and impetuous windes and lightnings in former ages aboue those of the present p. 121. CAP. 8. Touching the pretended decay of the waters the fish the inhabiters thereof Sect. 1 That the Sea Rivers and Bathes are the same at this present as they were for many ages past or what they lose in one place and time they recover in another by the testimony of Strabo Ovid and Pontanus p. 123. Sect. 2 That fishes are not decayed in regard of their store dimensions or duration p. 125. CAP. 9. Touching the pretended decay of the earth together with the plants beasts minerals Sect. 1 The divine meditation of Seneca and Pliny vpon the globe of the earth An objection out of Aelian touching the decrease of mountaines answered That all â—…hings which spring from the earth returne thither againe and consequently it cannot decay in regard of the fruitfulnes in the whole Other objections of lesse consequence answered p. 128. Sect. 2 Another obiection touching the decay of the fruitfulnes of the holy Land fully answered p. 131 Sect 3 The testimonies of Columella Pliny produced that the earth in it selfe is as fruitfull as in former ages if it be well made and manured together with the reason why so good and so great store of wine is not now made in this kingdome as formerly hath bin p. 133. Sect. 4 An argument drawne from the present state of husband-men and another from the many and miserable dearths in former ages together with an objection taken from the inhauncing of the prizes of victuals in latter times answered p. 136. Sect. 5 That there is no decrease in the fruitfulnesse the quantities or vertues of plants and simpâ—… nor in the store and goodnesse of mettals mineralls as neither in the bignesse or life of beasts together with an objection touching the Elephant mentioned in the first of Macchabes answered p. 139. Sect. 6 Aâ—…ection taken from the Eclypses of the planets answered p. 142. LIB 3. Of the pretended decay of mankind in regard of age duration of strength and stature of arts and wits CAP. 1. Touching the pretended decay of Men in regard of their age and first by way of comparison betweene the ages of the Ancients and those of latter times Sect. 1 Of the short life of man in regard of the duration of many other Creatures and that he was created mortall but had he not fallen should haue beene preserved to immortalitie pag. 144. Sect. 2 Of the long liues of the Patriarches and of the manner of computing their yeares and that Almighty God drew out the lines of their liues to that length for reasons proper to those first times p. 145. Sect. 3 That since Moses his time the length of mans age is nothing abated as appeares by the testimony of Moses himselfe and other graue Authours compared with the experience of these times p. 147. Sect. 4 The same confirmed by the testimony of other ancient and learned writers p. 149. Sect. 5 That in all times and nations some haue beene found who haue exceeded that number of yeares which the wisest of the ancients accounted the vtmost period of mans life and that often those of latter ages haue exceeded the former in number of yeares as is made to appeare aswell from sacred as prophane story p. 150. Sect. 6 The same assertion farther proved inlarged by many instances both at home abroad specially in the Indyes p. 153. Sect. 7 That if our liues be shortned in regard of our Ancestours we should rather lay the burden of the fault vpon our selues our owne intemperance then vpon a decay in nature p. 156. CAP. 2. Farther Reasons alleadged that the age of man for these last thousand or two thousand of yeares is little or nothing abated Sect. 1 The first reason taken from the severall stops pawses of nature in the course of mans life as the time of birth after our conception our infancie childhood youth mans estate old age being assigned to the same compasse of yeares as they were by the Ancients which could not possiblely be were there an vniversall decay in mankinde in regard of age and the like reason there is in making the same Clymactericall yeares the same danger in them p. 159. Sect. 2 The second is drawne from the age of Matrim ony and generation which among the Ancients was as forward as ours now is if not more timely p. 163. Sect. 3 The third is borrowed from the age which the Ancients assigned for charge and imployment in publique affaires Ecclesiasticall Civill Militarie they were therevnto both sooner admitted therefrom sooner discharged then men now a dayes vsually are which should in reason argue that they likewise vsually finished the course of their life sooner p. 167. CAP. 3. Contayning a comparison betwixt the Gyants mentioned in Scripture both among themselues and with those of latter ages Sect. 1 Of the admirable composition of mans bodie that it cannot bee sufficiently proved that Adam as he was the first so he was likewise the tallest of men which in reason should be were there in truth any such perpetuall decrease in mans stature as is pretended p. 171. Sect. 2 What those Gyants were which are mentioned in the sixth of Genesis and that succeeding ages vntill Davids time afforded the like p. 173. Sect. 3 That latter times haue also afforded the like both at home abroad specially in the Indies where they liue more according to nature p. 175. CAP. 4. More pressing Reasons to proue that for these last two or three thousand yeares the stature of the AncieÌ„ts was little or nothing different from that of the present times Sect. 1 The first reason taken from the measures of the Ancients which were proportioned to the parts of mans body in the view of them wee are first to know that they were standards that is for publique contracts certaine constant consequently if the graines of our barley corne the first
teach Wherein that of Vadianus in his Epistle of Paradice is and euer will be verified Magnos errores magnorum virorum authoritate persuasi transmittimus We deliuer ouer as it were by tradition from hand to hand great errours being thereunto induced by the authority of great men Whiles we are young our judgment is raw and greene and when we are old it is forestalled by which meanes it comes often to passe that inter iuvenile iudicium senile preiudicium veritas corrumpitur betweene the precipitancie rashnes of youth to take whatsoeuer is offered and the obstinate stiffenes of age in refusing what it hath not formerly beene acquainted with truth is lost The evidencing of which assertion is the proper subject of this Chapter wherein I hope I shall make it appeare that many opinions are commonly receiued both in ordinary speech in the writings of learned men which notwithstanding are by others either manifestly convinced or at leastwise justly suspected of falshood and errour and this aswell in Divinity as in Philosophy and History First then in Divinity not to meddle with doctrinall points in controversie at this day it is commonly receiued and beleeued that Iuâ—…as among the other Apostles receiued the blessed Sacrament at our Lords hands of which notwithstanding saith the learned Zanchius Etsi multi magni viri hoc docuerint scripserint ego tamen nullo modo concedo aut concedere possum quia apertè pugnat cum historia Iohannis Evangelistae Though many great Clarks haue taught and written it yet my selfe neither doe nor can by any meanes grant it in asmuch as it plainely contradicts the History of Iohn the Evangelist That Melchizedek spoken of in the Epistle to the Hebrewes was Sem the sonne of Noah Yet Pererius in his Commentarie on the 14 of Genesis endeauours to ouerthrow it by many weighty reasons drawne from the Text. That our first Parents stood but one day in Paradice of which opinion the same Author affirmes Pervulgata est eademque ut mâ—…ltorum sic imprimis nobilium illustrium Authorum firmata consensu it is commonly receiued and strengthned by the consent of many worthy and famous Authors yet labours he to disproue it in as much as so many and so different acts are by Moses recorded to haue passed betweene their Creation and Ejection as could not well be dispatched within the compasse of one day And Tostatus though he were first of the common opinion yet afterward vpon better advice he changed it That the Prophecie of old Iacob The Scepter shall not depart from Iudah vntill Shiloh come was fulfilled in Herods raigne at the birth of CHRIST by the continuance of the gouernment in the Tribe of Iudah till the raigne of Herod reputed the first stranger that tooke vpon him the Kingly office among the Iewes but Causabon in his Exercitations prooues that neither the kingly government was continued in that Tribe in as much as it was often interrupted and at length ended in Zedechiah nor that Herod was a stranger in as much as himselfe his father and his Grandfather were all circumcised and yet he confesses of the coÌ„moÌ„ opinion haec sententia ab insignibus pietate doctrina viris profecta vbi semel est admissa sine vlla controversia aut examine apud omnium aetatum eruditos praeter admodum paucos semper deinceps obtinuit this opinion first set on foot by men of singular pietie and learning and being once generally embraced without any question or examination of it afterward prevailed with the learned of all ages some few onely excepted That Iephtah flew his daughter and sacrificed her to the Lord but Iunius in his annotations on that place thinkes he only consecrated her by vowing her virginity which may well stand with the nature of the originall word and the contrarie cannot well stand either with Iephtahs faith or Gods acceptance That the Ark rested vpon the hils of Armenia wheras Sir Walter Rawleigh is coÌ„fideÌ„t that therin most writers were vtterly mistaken Neither was he led so to thinke as he professeth out of humour or singularitie but therein groundeth himselfe vpon the originall and first truth which is the word of God and after vpon reason and the most probable circuÌ„stances thervpon depending And in truth he that shall consider that the sonnes of Noah coÌ„ming out of the Arke trauelled from the East into the land of Shinar where they built the tower of Babell and that Armenia lies to the Northwest of that plaine will easily conceiue that it could not well bee that the Arke should rest vpon those hils but the chiefe occasion of the mistake seemes to be in the vulgar translation which hath rendred Armenia instead of Ararat That of the three sonnes of Noah Sem Cham and Iaphet Sem was the eldest C ham the second and Iaphet the yongest whereas Iunius is of opinion that Iaphet was the eldest grounding himselfe vpon the text Genesis 10. 21. C ham the youngest which he proues from Genesis 9. 24. and that Iaphet was the eldest is not his opinion alone but of Lyranus Tostatus Genebrard and the Hebrew doctors That the fruit of the tree of knowledg of good and evill was an apple wheras the text specifies no such matter and it should seeme by the circumstances thereof that it was rather som other kind of fruit more pleasant both to the tast and sight That the waters of the red sea were of colour red whereas travellers into those parts by sight find the contrary it rather borrowing that name from the red bankes and clifts about it as both Castro and Barros are of opinion or from the Coasts of Idumaea by which it passeth as Scaliger first observed and after him Fuller To these may be added that it is commonly belieued that Moses had hornes when he came downe from the mountaine because they read in the vulgar Latine Ignorabat quòd cornuta esset facies sua He knew not that his face was horned wheras the sense is he knew not that his face shined the same word in the Hebrew signifying both an horne and a shining beame That our Saviour wore his haire long because we read he was a Nazarite whereas the truth is that he was a Nazarite or rather a Nazarene as with Beza our last translatours read it by education not by profession and institution in regard of the place in which he was nursed and conuersed not any vow wherevnto he was bound And lastly that Absolon was hung by the haire of the head whereas the text sayes in plaine tearmes his head caught hould of the oke in like manner it seemes as Henry Grand-child to the Conquerour is sayd to haue ended his dayes in the new forrest SECTIO 2. In Philosophy SEcondly in Philosophy it is commonly receiued that the heart is the seate and shopp of the principall faculties of the
statutes Doe they not publickely vse all other wayes whereby the life of man is held in and kept in compasse all according to the orders and customes of the countrey in their severall nations These things therefore being so and that no noveltie hath broken in to interrupt the perpetuall tenor of things by severing and discontinuing them What is it that they say Confusion is brought vpon the world since Christian religion entred into it and discovered the misteries of hidden verity But the Gods say they exasperated with your injuries and offences bring vpon vs pestilen◅es droughts scarcity of corne lo◅usts mice haile and other hurtfull things assaulting the affaires of men Were it not follie longer to insist vpon things evident and needing no defence I would soone by vnfolding former times demonstrate that the evills yee speake of are neither vnknown nor sudden nor that these confusions brake in nor that mortall businesses began to be infested with such varietie of dangers since our Societie obtained the happines of this name to be bestowed vpon them For if we be the cause and for our demerits these p◅gues were invented whence knew antiquity these names of miseries whence gaue it signification to wars With what knowledge could it name the Pestilence ◅nd Haile or assume them into the number of thosewords wherewith they vttered their speech For if these evills be new and drawe their causes from late offences how could it be that it should forme words to those things whereof it selfe neither had experience nor had learnt that they were in any time done Scarcitie of corne and extreame dearth distresseth vs. What were the ancient and eldest ages at any time free from the like necessity Doe not the v◅ry names by which th◅se evills are called testifie and crie that never any mortall man was priviledged frō it Which were it a matter so hard to beleeue I could produce the testimonies of Authours what n◅tions how great how often haue felt horrible famine and haue beene destroted with a great desolation But stormes of Haile fall very often and light on all things And doe wee not see it registred and recorded in ancient writings that countries haue osten beene battered with showers of stones Want of raine kils vp the corne and makes the earth vnfruitfull And was antiquitie free from these evills especially seeing wee know that huge rivers haue beene dried vp to the very bottome The contagion of Pestilence vexeth Mankind Runne over the Annals written in severall tongues and yee shall learne that whole countries haue oftentimes beene made desolate and emptied of inhabitants All kind of graines are destroied and devoured by locusts by mice Passe through forraine histories they will informe you how often former times haue bin troubled with these plagues and brought to the miseries of povertie Citties shaken with mighty earthquakes totter even vnto ruine What Haue not former times seen Citties together with the Inhabitants swallowed vp in huge gaping clefts of the earth Or haue they had their e◅ate free from these casualties when was mankind destroyed with deluges of waters not before vs when was the world burnt dissolued into embers ashes not before vs whē were mightie cities overwhelmed by the seas inundation not before vs when did they make war with wild beasts and encounter with Lyons not before vs when were people plagued with ven◅mous serpents not before vs For that yee vse to object vnto vs the causes os so often warres the laying wast of Citties the irruption of Germans and Scythians I will by your good leaue and patience be bold to say that yee are so transported with desire to slander that yee know not what it is yee say That vpward of tenthousand yeares agoe a huge swarme of men should breake out of that Iland of Neptune which is called Atlantick as Plato declares and vtterly destroy and consume innumerable nations were we the cause That the Assyrians and Bactrians sometimes vnder the leading of Ninus and Zoroastres should warre one against the other not only with sword and strength but also by the hidden artes of Magick and the Chaldeans was it our envie That Helena by the direction and impulsion of the Gods was ravished and became a fatall calamitie both to her owne and future times was it attributed to the crime of our religion That the great and mighty Xerxes brought in the sea vpon the land and past over the seas on foot was it done through the injury of our name That a yong man rising out of the borders of Macedon brought the kingdome and people of the East vnder the yoke of captivity and bondage did wee procure and cause it That now the Romans should like a violent streame drowne and overwhelme all nations did wee forsooth thrust the Gods into the fury Now if no man dare to impute to our times the things that were done long since how can we be the causes of the present miseries seing there is no new thing falne out but all are ancient and not vnheard of in any antiquitie although it be not hard to proue that the warres which yee say are raised through the envie of our religion are not only not increased since Christ was heard off in the world but also for the greater part by repressing mans furiousnesse lessened For seing wee so great a multitude of men haue learned by his instructions lawes that we are not to requite evill fo◅ evill that it is farre better to suffer then to do wrong rather to shed a mans owne then to pollute his hands and conscience with the bloud of another the vngratesull world hath ere while receiued this benefit from Christ by whome the fiercenesse and wildnesse of nature is tamed and they haue begun to refra◅ne their hostile hands from the bloud of the creature Kinne vnto thē Certainely if all who know that to be men stands not in the shape of bodies but in the power of reason would listen a while vnto his wholesome and peaceable decrees and not puffed vp with arrogance and selfeconceit rather beleeue their owne opinions then his admonitions the whole world long agoe turning the vse of iron vnto milder workes should haue liued in most qu◅et tranquillity and haue met together in a firme and indissoluble league of most safe cōcord But if say they through you the state of man suffereth no disadvantage whence are t◅ese evils wherewith now a long time miserable mortality is afflicted and oppressed You aske my opinion in a matter not necessary to this businesse For the present disputation now in hand was not vndertaken by mee to this end to shew or proue vpon what causes or reasons each thing was done but to manifest that the reproch of so great a crime as wee are charged with is farre from vs which if I performe and by deeds and evident remonstrances vnfold the truth of the matter whence these evils are or out of what fountaines or principles
water falls the downe By overflowes is chang'd to champaine land Dry ground erewhile now moorish fen doth drowne And fens againe are turn'd to thirsty sand Here fountaines new hath nature opened There shut vp springs which earst did flow amaine By earthquakes rivers oft haue issued Or dryed vp they haue sunke downe againe The Poet there bringes instances in both these And to like purpose is that of Pontanus Sed nec perpetuae sedes sunt fontibus vllae Aeterni aut manant cursus mutantur in aeuum Singula inceptum alternat natura tenorem Quodque dies antiqua tulit post auferet ipsa Fountaines spring not eternally Nor in one place perpetually do tary All things in every age for evermore do vary And nature changeth still the course she once begun And will herselfe vndoe what she of old hath done which though it be true in many yet those great ones as Indus and Ganges and Danubius and the Rhene Nilus are little or nothing varied from the same courses and currents which they held thousands of yeares since as appeares in their descriptions by the ancient Geographers But aboue all meethinkes the constant rising of Nilus continued for so many ages is one of the greatest wonders in the world which is so precise in regard of time that if you take of the earth adjoyning to the river and preserue it carefully that it come neither to be wet nor wasted and weigh it dayly you shall finde it neither more nor lesse heavy till the seventeenth of Iune at which day it begineth to groweth more ponderous and augmenteth with the augmentation of the river whereby they haue an infallible knowledge of the state of the deluge Now for the Medicinall properties of Fountaine or Bathes no man I thinke makes any doubt but that they are both as many and as efficacious as ever some it may be haue lost their vertue and are growne out of vse but others againe haue in stead thereof beene discovered in other places of no lesse vse and vertue as both Baccius Blanchellus in their bookes de Thermis haue observed And for those hot ones at the citty of Bath I make no question but Nechams verses may as justly be verified of their goodnesse at this present as they were fower hundred yeares since about which time he is sayd to haue written them Bathoniae Tharmas vix prefero Virgilianas Confecto prosunt Balnea nostra seni Prosunt attritis collisis invalidisque Et quorum morbis frigida causa subest Our Baines at Bath with Virgills to compare For their effects I dare almost be bold For feeble folke and crazie good they are For brus'd consum'd farre spent and very old For those likewise whose sicknesse comes of cold SECT 2. That the fishes are not decayed in regard of there store dimensions or duration BUt it is sayd that though the waters decay not yet the fish the inhabitants thereof at leastwise in regard of their number are much decayed so as wee may take vp that of the Poet. Omne peractum est Et iam defecit nostrum mare All our Seas at length are spent and faile The Seas being growne fruitlesse and barren as is pretended in regard of former ages that so it appeares vpon record in our Hauen townes But if such a thing be which I can neither affirme nor deny hauing not searched into it my selfe themselues who make the objection shape a sufficient answere therevnto by telling vs that it may so be by an extraordinary judgment of God as he dealt with the Egyptians in the death of our fish for the abuse of our flesh-pots or by the intrusion of the Hollander who carries from our coast such store as we might much better loade our selues with and if we should a little enlarge our view cast our eyes abroad comparing one part of the world with another we shall easily discerne that though our Coast faile in that abundance which formerly it had by ouer-laying it yet others still abound in a most plentifull manner as is by experience found vpon the Coast of Virginia at this present And no doubt but were our Coasts spared for some space of yeares it would againe afford as great plenty as euer Finally if the store of fish should decay by reason of the decay of the world it must of necessity follow that likewise the store of plants of beasts of birds and of men should dayly decay by vertue of the same reason Nay rather since the curse lighting vpon man extended to plants and beasts but not to fishes for any thing I finde expressely registred in holy Scripture As neither did the vniversall Deluge hurt but rather helpe them by which the rest perished There are still no doubt euen at this day as at the first Creation in the Sea to be found As many fishes of so many features That in the waters one may see all Creatures And all that in this All is to be found As if the World within the deepes were drown'd Now as the store of fishes is no way diminished so neither are they decayed either in their greatnes or goodnes I will instance in the whale the King of fishes or as Iob termes him the King ouer the children of pride That which S. Basil in his Hexameron reports namely that the whales are in bignes equall to the greatest mountaines and their backes when they shew aboue water are like vnto Ilands is by a late learned Writer not vndeservedly censured as intollerably hyperbolicall Pliny in the ninth booke and third Chap. of his Naturall history tels vs that in the Indian Seas some haue beene taken vp to the length of foure acres that is nine hundred and sixty feete whereas notwithstanding Arrianus in his discourse de rebus Indicis assures vs that Nearchus measuring one cast vpon that shore found him to be but fifty cubits The same Pliny in the first Chapter of his 32 booke sets downe a relation of King Iubaes out of those bookes which he wrote to C. Caesar son to Augustus the Emperour touching the History of Arabia where he affirmes that in the bay of Arabia Whales haue beene knowne to be 600 foot long and 360 foote thick and yet as it is well known by the soundings of Navigatours that Sea is not by a great deale 360 foot deep But to let goe these fancies and fables and to come to that which is more probable The dimensions of the Whale saith Aelian is fiue times beyond the largest Elephants but for the ordinary saith Rondeletius hee seldome exceedes 36 cubits in length and 8 in heighth Dion a graue Writer reports it as a wonder that in the reigne of Augustus a Whale lept to land out of the German Ocean full 20 foot in bredth and 60 in length This I confesse was much yet to match it with lattet times Gesner in his Epistle to Polidor Virgill avoucheth it as
the body of him that should bee slaine None of the people might crye skrecke make any noice or giue any signe whatsoeuer And heerevnto at Hall in Suevia a place appointed for Campfight was so great regard taken that the Executioner stood beside the Iudges with an axe ready to cut off the right hand and left foot of the party so offending He that being wounded did yeeld himselfe was at the mercy of the other to be killed or let to liue if hee were slaine then was he carried away and honourably buried and hee that slew him reputed more honorable then before But if beeing ouercome he were left aliue then was hee by sentence of the Iudges declared vtterly voide of all honest reputation and neuer to ride on horsbacke nor to carry armes The tryall by red hot iron called Fire-Ordeall was vsed vpon accusations without manifest proofe though not without suspition that the accused might be faulty the party accused and denying the offence was adjudged to take red hot iron to hold it in his bare hand which after many prayers and invocations that the truth might be manifest hee must either adventure to doe or yeeld himselfe guilty and so receiue the punishment that the Law according to the offence committed should award him Some were adjudged to goe blinde-folded with their bare feete ouer certaine plow-shares which were made red hot laid a little distance one from another and if the party in passing thorow them did chaunce not to tread vpon them or treading vpon them receiued no harme then by the Iudge he was declared innocent And this kind of tryall was also practised here in England as was likewise the Camp-fight for a while vpon Emma the mother of K. Edward the Confessour who was accused of dishonesty of her body with Allwin B. of Winchester and being led blind-folded to the place where nine hot Culters were laid went forward with her bare feet and so passed ouer them and being past them all not knowing it good Lord said shee when shall I come to the place of my purgation then hauing her eyes vncovered and seeing her selfe to baue passed them she kneeling down gaue God thankes for manifesting her innocencie in her preservation in memoriall thereof gaue nine Lordships to the Church of Winchester and King Edward her sonne repenting he had so wrongfully brought his Mothers name into question bestowed likewise vpon the same Church the I le of Portland with other revenewes A much like tryall vnto this is recorded of Kunigund wife to the Emperour Henry the second who being falsely accused of adultery to shew her innocency did in a great honourable assembly take seaven glowen irons one after another in her bare hands had thereby no harme The tryall called Hot water Ordeall was in cases of accusation as is afore sayd the party accused being appointed by the Iudge to thrust his armes vp to the elbowes in seething hot water which after sundry prayers and invocations he did and was by the effect that followed judged faulty or faultles Lastly cold water Ordeall was the tryall which was ordinarily vsed for the common sort of people who hauing a cord tied about them vnder their armes were cast into some riuer and if they sunke down to the botttome thereof vntill they were drawne vp which was within a very short limited space then were they held guiltlesse but such as did remaine vpon the water were held culpable being as they sayd of the water rejected cast vp These kindes of impious vniust lawes the Saxons for a while after their Christianity continued but were at last by a decree of Pope Stephen the second vtterly abolished as being a presumptuous tempting of God without any grounded reason or sufficient warrant and an exposing many times of the innocent to manifest hazard CAP. 3. Touching the insufficiencie of the precepts of the Ancient Philosophers for the planting of vertue or the rooting out of vice as also of the common errour touching the golden age SECT 1. Touching the insufficiencie of the precepts of the ancient Philosophers for the planting of vertue and the rooting out of vice as also of the manners of the Ancients observed by Caelius secundus Curio out of Iuvenall and Tacitus TO these lawes of the Graecians and Germans may be added the opinions precepts of the Ancient Philosophers touching vertue and vice finall happinesse and the state of the soule after this life which were as diverse one to another as they were all erronious and opposite to the truth the growth of vertue or suppressing of vice What could possiblely ◅ore hinder the course of vertue then the doctrine of the Epicureans that soueraigne happinesse consisted in pleasure or more strengthen the current of vice then that of the Stoicks that all sins were equall The Epicureans though they graunted a God yet they denyed his prouidence which should serue as a spurre to vertue and a bridle to vice The Stoickes though they graunted a diuine providence yet withall they stiffely maintained such a fatall Necessity not only in the events of humane actions but in the actions themselues as thereby they blunted the edge of all vertuous endeauours and made an excuse for vicious courses Againe the Epicurean gaue too much way to irregular affections and on the other side the Stoicke was too professed an enimy to them though regulated by reason but both of them doubted if not denyed the immortality of the soule whereby they opened a wide gappe to all licentiousnesse not censureable by the lawes of man or which the executioners whereof either thorow ignorance could not or thorow feare or fauour would not take notice of Which hath often made mee wonder that the common-wealth of the Iewes would suffer such a pestilent sect in the bowels of it as the Sadduces who flatly denyed not only the resurrection of the body but the immortality of the soule Since then the Christian religion and that alone teacheth both as fundamentall articles of our beleife and withall a particular providence of God extending to the very thoughts and a particular judgement after this life rewarding every man according to that he hath done in the flesh whether it be good or euill and besides requires a reformation of the heart inward man the fountaine source of all outward actions speeches it is most euident that howsoeuer our liues bee yet our rules tend more to vertue and honesty then did those either of the Gentiles or of the Iewes who although they were not all infected with the foule leprosie of the Sadduces yet it is certaine that these doctrines and rules were not in the law of Moses the Prophets so cleerely deliuered as now they are by Christ his Apostles in the Gospell nay the law it selfe permitted vnto thē such a diuorce though for the hardnes of their hearts as is not now allowed And though the Law allowed not