it than he had observ'd in the fourth Part of his Book of Principles in describing the Formation of the Earth as he at that Time conceiv'd it Besides that Subtil Matter whereof it was compos'd whilst it was yet a Star which Matter is lodged in the Centre and besides that Shell infinitely hard that dams it in I conceiv'd said he a kind of third Region constituted of the Parts of the third Element not very strictly united And I yet farther divided that third Region into three Stories before I imagin'd to my self the Earth in the Capacity it has at present and in which I am going to put my own I The Centre of the Earth full of the Matter of the First Element M the internal Shell that covers it C the Place of Metals D Water E Earth on which we tread V Air. The lowest of these Subordinations was according to my Position an Arch of very Solid and Heavy Matter and there I place the origin of Metals The Second which I rang'd above it was a Liquid Body constituted of the Parts of the third Element pretty long very flexible and pliant as it were little Eels temper'd with an abundance of the Parts of the second Element which was nothing else but what we usually call Water Lastly above all this I suppos'd a third Vault made of the most clinging and craggy Parts of the third Element whose sensible Parts were only Stones Sand Clay and Mud and which was very porous And this is the outward Surface of the Earth on part of which tread Mortal Men. Next I explain'd how in that upper Vault of the Earth by its being expos'd to the constant Beating of the two first Elements against it that rush'd through its Pores with Violence there were made a World of Crevices and Chinks which being in Time inlarg'd by little and little its structure at last all of a sudden fail'd and broke in Pieces whereupon its Ruins fell in part of the Water below it of the second Story and forc'd it above them because it was less weighty and that 's the Water which constitutes the Seas Some Parts of the Vault were still upheld and remain'd suspended as it often happens in the downfal of great Buildings these were not drown'd and they were these that made the Plains and level Parts of the Earth Lastly some Pieces as they fell were shelv'd and supported against one another and raised above the rest and thus came the Inequalities of the Earth which we call Mountains I You plainly see then said M. Descartes that to shew you the Train of all these Things would demand a great deal of Time But the Hour of your Departure hastens on I remit you therefore to my Book for Satisfaction in all those Particulars I am going now to make an Abridgment of all those Motions and to shew you in as little Time as we are speaking on 't this Earth exactly like yours with Mountains Valleys Plains and Seas No sooner said than done He falls to determining the Motion of an infinite Number of those long and flexible Parts of the third Element and agitating them by playing among them the Parts of the second in the several Places where he had heap'd them to gether we saw presently a kind of Sea diffuse itself over the Face of the Earth it was a less Trouble to him to raise Mountains by only amassing together an abundance of the branchy Parts of the third Element and causing them to link and graple with each other whereby there stood in many Places great and mighty Piles nothing differing from our Mountains That Earth look'd very bare and naked without Trees without Herbs without Flowers for to produce all those Things that are the greatest Ornaments to our Earth was a Business that would take up longer Time This done he employ'd the rest of the Time that we staid with him in the consideration chiefly of two Things First of the Gravity or rather of the Motion of Bodies we call Heavy towards the Centre And secondly of the Manner of the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea He began with the first and explained it at this rate Take notice said he that this Earth turns upon its Axis in its Vortex it has not that Power of Moving of itself but it is carried about by the Stream of the Celestial Matter that surrounds it which whirling with a more rapid Motion than the Earth spends the overplus in making other Motions in all Parts and especially in squeezing and pressing Terrestrial Bodies against the Earth a Pressure so necessary that take it but away the whole Earth would crumble all in Pieces and all the Men and Animals on the Surface of the Earth of your World would be hurl'd into the Fluid Space according to my grand Principle of Motion that every Body that turns circularly as does the Earth with all that is upon it flies fromward the Centre of its Motion if not prevented by the other Bodies that keep it in as does the Pression of the Celestial Matter S the Sun T the Earth A B C D the little Vortex of the Earth N A C Z the great Orb wherein the Earth is carried round the Sun And it is for the same Reason that a Terrestrial Body forc'd into the Air is oblig'd to descend towards the Centre of the Earth because it has less Force to digress from the Centre than has the Mass of Air which it ought to dismount to get into its Place And the Reason why it hath less Force to digress from the Centre is because it contains much more Matter of the third Element and much less of the second than the Mass of Air equal to it in Bigness Now the Matter of the third Element is dull and more unactive and unable to get rid of the Centre than the Matter of the second it must therefore descend Your Peripatetick Quality continu'd he and Democritus and Gassendi's Chains made of link'd Atoms are not worth a Straw in comparison of what I say and with that he cast a Stone on high to shew us by Experience the Truth of what he had been Teaching I The Figure of the Vortex of the Earth He made us forthwith acknowledge the Truth of all those Principles and Effects that naturally follow them for upon his placing the Moon perpendicular to the Equator of the Earth we immediately saw first the Sea press'd by that Matter to sink lower and its Waters thus press'd and crowded hurry towards the Poles and spread themselves successively on the Shores proportionably to their Distance from the Equator 2. The Terrestrial Globe rowling on his Axle from West to East we beheld the Pressure of the Moon to light on several Places after one another according to the Succession of Meridians 3. That successive Pressure of the different Parts of the Sea had this necessary effect viz. to cause it to swell and fall in several Places according to the plain and evident
Principle as the Indivisibility of the Soul it was easy for him to prove she kept her Court no where but in the Brain There it is that the Nerves do center or rather from thence they have their Origin It is there that the Philosophers if you except a few and in those Vanhelmont who seiz'd with a Whim plac'd the Soul in the Breast it is there I say that the Philosophers generally agree to be found that which we call the Common Sense that is to say the only place where the Soul can be advis'd of all the different Impressions that external Objects make upon the Senses But since the Brain is of large Extent and besides that soft and whitish Substance which commonly goes by that Name hath Membranes Glands Ventricles or Cavities it was something intricate to resolve and precisely to determine in what place the Soul was seated M. Descartes throughly examin'd the different Opinions of Philosophers and Physicians thereupon and after having solidly confuted the greatest part of their Sentiments that were founded upon but weak and unsound Principles he evidently concludes The seat of the Soul must have three Conditions First it must be one to the end that the Action of the same Object that at the same time strikes two Organs of the same Sense should make no more than one Impression on the Soul as to instance she might not see two Men where there was but one Tom. 2. Let. 36. Secondly it must be very near the Source of the Animal Spirits that by their means she might easily move the Members And in the third Place it must be Moveable that the Soul causing it to move immediately might be able to deter mine the Animal Spirits to glide towards some certain Muscles rather than others Conditions no where to be met with but in a little Gland call'd Pineale or Conarium situated betwixt all the Concavities of the Brain supported and incompass'd with Arteries which made up the Lacis Choroides It is that Lacis we may be assur'd that is the source of the Spirits which ascending from the Heart along the Carotides receive the form of an Animal Spirit in that Gland disengaging themselves there from the more gross parts of the Blood and from thence they take their Course towards the different Muscles of our Body partly dependently partly independently on the Soul as the Author of Nature has order'd it with reference to the end he propos'd to himself in the production of Mankind So far M. Descartes took Reason along with him for his Guide and for ought I know he might have stop'd there had not Fortune or rather the good Providence of God who often encourages the laudable Curiosity of those that apply themselves to the consideration of his wonderful Works reveal'd to him in an extraordinary manner the Secret that he was in search of And that was without doubt one of the most strange Effects of the desires of a Philosophical Soul P. Malleâ— branche which a famous Author stiles a Natural Prayer that never fails to be heard when it is joyned with a prudent and exact Management of our Reason Should you believe me added he if I should tell you M. Descartes had often Fits of Extasy Why not Said I that 's no such incredible thing of so Contemplative a Man as he was nor is it a Case without a President Who has not heard of those of the famous Archimedes in which he often lost himself through his vehement Application to Mathematical Speculations and in one of them his Life Syracuse being taken by the Roman Army whilst he was drawing Figures in his Chamber with that earnestness of Mind the Tumult of a Town taken by Storm was not loud enough to wake him And he sooner was run through by the Soldiers that had forc'd his House than he was apprehensive of their Approach Alas reply'd he with a Sigh you 'll see in the Consequence of what I am relating That the Extasies of M. Descartes were no less fatal tho' they were not of the same Nature and proceeded from a far different Cause It happen'd one Day whilst we were at Egmond a little Town in Holland which he delighted in that he entred his Stove very early in the Morning which he had caus'd to be built like that in Germany where he began his Philosophy and set himself to thinking as he us'd to do Two Hours after I came in I found him leaning over the Table his Head hanging forward supported with his left Hand in which he held a little Snush Box having his Finger near his Nose as if he was taking Snush As for the rest he was Immoveable and held his Eyes open The noise that I made in entring the Room not causing him to stir I had the Patience to observe him half an Hour postur'd in that manner without his perceiving of me In the mean while there happen'd an Adventure that much surpriz'd me There stood upon the Cornish of the Wainscot in the Stove a Bottle of the Queen of Hungary's Water I was amaz'd to see it descend whilst no Body came near it and to pass through the Air towards M. Descartes The Cork with which it was stopt came out of its own Accord and the Bottle fastning it self to his Nose hung there for some time I protest I durst have swore at that moment there had been no small Conjuring in the Business of our Philosopher and that some familiar Demon like that of Socrates had inspir'd him with all the fine Things he still had taught us But I was convinc'd not long after that there was nothing less in it and I desire you to suspend your Judgment thereon He awaken'd a little while after as in a start and striking his Hand upon the Table This time at last said he I have it I thought him still in a Dream And springing up forth with upon his Chair transported with Joy without seeing me he cut two Capers in the middle of the Room still repeating I have it I have it I burst out with Laughter to see that Frolick a thing not customary with M. Descartes being naturally of a Grave and Melancholy Temper who hearing and seeing me at the same time presently redden'd and afterwards fell a Laughing as well as I. And as I was urgent with him to give me the Reason of his Joy and Rapture To punish you says he for having observed an Indecorum unbecoming a Philosopher you shall not know 't so soon And with that he left the Room in which we were and entred into his Closet bolting it upon him Nevertheless two days after he imparted to me the Mystery We took a turn together out of Town and after occasional Discourse of several Things Well said he abruptly without recourse to Mercury's Caduceus I have found out the Secret not only of the Union of the Soul and Body but also how to separate them when I please I have experienc'd it already
almost two thousand years For that many Stars that have formerly appear'd in the Heavens now disappear What 's become of the seventh Pleiade and of that seen the last Age in the Constellation of Cassiope And supposing any one since its ceasing to appear should bring his Action against Tyco Bruhe and others that observ'd it as false Intelligencers that thus'd the credulous World do you think it would not be thrown out And does not M. Descartes himself give us to apprehend that our Vortex infinitely greater than the Sphere of Fire shall be sometime swallow'd up when one least thinks on 't And when by that Absorption the Sun shall become an Earth and perhaps at once the subtil Matter which is confin'd in the Centre of our Earth forcing its Passage through the Crusts that cover it shall make that a Sun granting that the Books of M. Descartes existed in another Vortex where are Men would not they look on all he has wrote of our World as Fabulous and Romantick However granting that there never was a Sphere of Fire it was ever admirably suppos'd Never was System more exactly contriv'd than Aristotle's of the Elements They all are rang'd according to the Dignity or Meanness of their Nature The Earth as the most unactive and ignoble Element has the lowest Seat The Water less course and heavy than the Earth takes place above it The Air by reason of its Subtilty is exalted higher than the Water And the Fire the most noble and most vigorous of them all owns no Superior but the Stars and the subtil Matter in which swim the Planets The extent of each is likewise proportion'd to the Merit of their Nature Like Brethren they have divided the Estate of the four Qualities each of them has two one of which in the Superlative Degree The Earth is cold and dry the Water is cold and moist the Air is hot and moist the Fire is hot and dry And to the end they may bear up still in the perpetual Combats they give each other if the prevaling Quality of one 's more active the predominant Quality of the others put them in a good posture of Defence against the effort of their Enemy Could any thing be more justly or ingeniously imagin'd In fine with how many fine Thoughts has that Sphere of Fire and that orderly Disposition of the Elements furnished our Preachers heretofore and still supplies those of Italy But to mention something better in its kind that one Devise of Father le Moine of which the Sphere of Fire is the Substance deserves there had been one and would deserve there should be one still and that it should endure for ever Designing to signifie the more pure are Friendships the more durable they are he painted the Sphere of Fire with this Spanish Motto Eterno porque Puro This Fire 's Eternal because it 's pure What an unhappiness it is that that Thought so fine and solid as it is all over should at last be false for want of a Sphere of Fire Thus I was defending as well as I could the Peripatetick Interest whilst we arriv'd at the Globe of the Moon I shall not be tedious in giving a large Description of it since others have don 't before me I will only say that the Earth look't to us that view'd it from the Moon as the Moon appears to those that view it from the Earth with this difference that the Earth seem'd bigger far because it really is so So we judg'd that the Earth in respect of those that beheld it from the Moon had the same Phases as the Moon in regard of those that behold it from the Earth that it had its Quadratures its Oppositions its Conjunctions except that it could never be totally Eclips'd by the reason of its greatness in comparison of the Moon whose Shade could not have a Diameter so large as the Earth then in Conjunction The Moon is a Mass of Matter much like that of which the Earth is compos'd There you have Fields and Forests Seas and Rivers I saw no Animals indeed but I am of Opinion if there were some transported they would thrive and probably multiply Empire de la Lune 'T is false that there are Men there as Cyrano reports but 't was undesignedly that he deceiv'd us having first been deceiv'd himself One of the separate Souls which we found in great Multitudes and which were there at his Arrival told me the Original of that Error A great Company of Souls surpriz'd to see a Man with his Body in a Land where the like was never seen before had a mind to know the meaning of it They agreed together to appear in Human Shape to him They accost him and enquire by what Method he accomplish'd so great a Voyage Made him relate what he knew of our World and as he seem'd equally inquisitive as to the Transactions of the World of the Moon and the Life the Inhabitants led there the Familiar Spirit of Socrates who was among the rest took upon him to answer And having declar'd who he was as that Historian himself relates he made him upon the Spot a Fantastical System of the Republick and Society which is the same he gives us in his Relation where he seriously tells us There are Men in the Moon characters their Humour describes their Employments their Customs and Government But 't is worth the knowing that some Fopperies he has inserted he brought not from that Country as the Soul assur'd me and that many Profane Allusions and Libertine Reflections he there makes were only the Fruits of a debauch'd Imagination and a corrupt Mind such as was that Historians or of the Imitation of an Author yet more Atheistical than himself I mean Lucian one of whose Works was made the Plan to his History of the Moon The Inequalities we found in the Globe of the Moon are partly Isles wherewith the Seas there are pleasantly chequer'd and partly Hills and Vallies in its Continent They belong to several famous Astronomers or Philosophers whose Names they bear and who are the high and mighty States there We landed in Gassendi a Seat extraordinary fine and very apposite and such in a Word as an Abbot like Monsieur Gassendus could make it who wanted for neither Genius Art nor Science and who had no use for his Revenues in gaming treating and living high The Lord of the Mannor was then absent whom we should have been glad to have waited on since we heard that he still continu'd his Civility and Moderation which were his Natural Endowments And though formerly there were some Misunderstandings betwixt him and Cartesius yet he always very obligingly and with a Mark of Distinction entertain'd the Cartesians that came to pay a Visit and especially Father Mersennus who was his peculiar Friend He was a Man that equall'd M. Descartes in capacity of Genius excell'd him in the reach and extent of Science but was less heady and conceited
years for the Prince of Philosophers What Obligation had you to take up arms against him Monsieur I reply'd I still preserve that Respect that Esteem and Friendship for you which I owe inviolable and I take it for a peculiar favour of Fortune to meet you here to make a fresh Protestation of them And I assure you that I am neither come in quality of a Spy or Enemy but if you please so to receive me of a Voyager 'T was purely curiosity that brought me hither by the way As to the concern of Philosophy I must acknowledge I am a little Sceptical in that Matter and know not at present what I am I am resolv'd to try all Sects before I am determin'd so that you may Sir look upon me as a Man of an uninterested Country and that contrives no Plot or Mischeivous Design against your Commonwealth These Gentlemen indeed are profess'd Cartesians but they are Philosophers and Men of Honour and have Esteem for Merit though it be on the contrary side and who hold that Liberty of Conscience in point of Philosophy is the unviolable Charter of all honest well bred Men But I pursued I am highly surpriz'd at the bustle and disturbance in this Country There 's no Spanish ' Town in Flanders so readily Alarm'd as yours What is' t you so much dread That which we so much dread said he is that Implacable Enemy of our Sovereign your Descartes who when on Earth did all imaginable towards the extirpating the Peripateticks and only desisted there as we are from good Hands inform'd to come to ruin them in this Country It is now more than thirty years so exact a Guard has been observ'd to prevent a Surprize consequent to the Advice we have had that in all this time he hath been forming a Party and gathering all the Forces possible in order to a Descent This is the Intelligence we have receiv'd from a Dutch Professor of Philosophy who acts here as Generalissimo in Aristotle's Absence But Descartes may come as soon as he pleases you see we are in a capacity to receive him Well Monsieur said I if that be all you may sleep secure Monsieur Descartes I assure you has no Design of an Invasion in his Head he 's a thousand Times farther off this Place than 't is from hence to Earth he is thinking of Building a New World above the Heavens he has invited us to see the Execution of his Grand Design and thither 't is we are going And to convince you of the Truth of what I say 't is but deputing when we part some Souls to bear us Company and they shall bring you an account of what they there shall see You rejoyce me mightily said he for we Peripateticks are tired with these long Fatigues but take it not ill that I execute my Orders and conduct you to the Governour of the Place according to the Custom That all Philosophers of a different Sect from ours arriving here give him an account what Project brought them hither we have used this Course but since Descartes has given us these Alarms So we took the Road that led to the Place convoyed with a Detachment of about fifty Souls Academiques for the most part and Collegians who look'd as if they did not wish us very well that Place was only a great Garden that represented the Lyceum in Athens where Aristotle used to teach his Scholars walking whence they derived the Name of Peripateticks 'T is of a great extent and very finely kept it is cut into abundance of Allies whereof the four greatest meet in the middle of the Garden at a round large Fountain whereon is raised a stately Pedestal of the most delicate Marble I ever saw on which stands the Statue of Alxander the Great crowned by Victory with Lawrels trampling under Foot Scepters and Crowns and Bucklers and broken Arms and the Treasures of Asia Four great Statues chained to the four Corners represent the Principal Nations Alexander conquered I found that Monument so like that of the Place des Victoires that I should have believed one had been the Pattern to the other had not I at the same Time made Reflection that the near Resemblance of those two Hero's might easily have furnished the Minds of both the Undertakers with the same Ideas All the Figures of the Monument no less than the other Statues in several Parts of the Garden as those of Philippus Olympias and many other illustrious Personages who formerly honoured Aristotle with their Friendship are of Silver for Silver is very cheap and common in the Globe of the Moon and it is probably for that Reason Chymists who always affect Mystery in their Words call that Metal by the Name of the Moon As we were admiring that noble Monument we were astonished to see all of a sudden four Water-Spouts rise from the four Angles of the Pedestal the largest and the highest that ever were they mounted at least four hundred Poles in heighth and they were brought from a River behind a neighbouring Mountain that was higher than the Wells of Domme in Auvergn over which the Water was carried by the admirable Contrivance of the Old Philosophy that in supposing the Horror of a Vacuum in Nature shew'd how with Pumps to fling Water infinitely high which Secret is unfortunately lost in our World for since the Time of Galileus we can raise Water no higher than three or four and thirty Foot We saw these Water Spouts on every Side the least of which exceeded the highest Trees that encompassed the Garden From the middle of the Garden we observed four Halls of different Figure and Architecture one at the End of each of the four Alleys We were conducted to the biggest of them which was of exquisite Beauty and Magnificence being of Gold Azure and Precious Stones On both Sides in the Intervals of the Windows was your Imbossed Work of Silver excellently carved but that made a Gallimawfry odd and humerous enough for on one Part on the Right-hand were represented the famous Exploits of Alexander the defeat of Darius near the City Arbela the Attack of Porus his Army the Passage of Granicus and the Taking of the City Tyre On the other were Triumphs of Aristotle over the rest of the Philosophers and the Extravagancies of those that went for Wisemen before his Time The first on the Left-hand exhibits Pythagoras doctrining his Disciples and presenting them with a sort of Table-Book wherein among others were written these three Precepts First That they were to hear him full five Years without speaking a Word to contradict him Secondly They must lend an attentive Ear especially in the Night to the Musick and Harmony of the Celestial Spheres which only Wisemen are priviledged to understand And Thirdly they must abstain from eating Beans The Second shews you Democritus laughing with Might and Main and Heraclitus weeping in warm Tears and a Troop of little Children hooping after them as after
insensible Vacuities interspers'd throughout all Bodies Their pretended Demonstration amounts to this To the end a Body may move it is necessary it disturb another Body from its Place That other cannot stir because it has not where to go if all is full Therefore Motion will be impossible if there is no Receptacle or a Vacuum On the other Hand supposing a Vacuum among Bodies they may be compress'd in lesser Room and consequently may make Way for such as press against them and thus Motion will be made This is a meer Fallacy of theirs which both you and we can easily unriddle by only telling the Epicureans That to conceive how Motion is perform'd without a Vacuum we need only understand That a Body is never mov'd alone but that in the same Instant one Body quits its Place another crowds in and takes it And when I conceive one Body may in the same Moment take the Place another Body leaves I perfectly conceive Motion for there lies all the Mystery My Peripateticks seemed surpriz'd to see me come over them thus readily with so neat a Conclusion drawn from a Principle they had so freely granted me and doubtless repented them of their Condescention But I proceeded by telling them I scorned to take an Advantage over them from their Courtesie though they were oblig'd to it by the Evidence of the Truth and I was unwilling they should reproach me as perhaps they did already in their Hearts for having us'd Surprize and abus'd their good Nature to insnare them and therefore I would endeavour by their own Principles to enforce to them at least the Probability of the Truth I was defending Gentlemen said I there are Prejudices in the Case that we are upon proceeding from the Imagination more than Reason We imagine in the first Place That a Body which we fancy in the midst of the Matter of the World is far more press'd if we suppose that Matter Solid than it would be upon Supposition it were Fluid which is manifestly false For if the World be full whether with Solid Matter or with Fluid there is neither more nor less of it but an equal Quantity in each Supposition and consequently its Parts are no more close and crowded supposing it Hard than if you suppose it Fluid Again we are apt to believe That a Body whilst it is Liquid is ever ready to give way to the Motion of another Body and on the contrary whilst 't is Solid it is incapable of that Compliance if incompassed with other Solid Bodies The first is prov'd evidently false by a very common Experiment Fill a Glass Bottle with Water whose Neck is long and slender then turn the Mouth of it downwards placing it perpendicularly upright the Water by its own Weight is forc'd towards the Earth it meets no other Body in its Way but Air that is still more Liquid than it self yet notwithstanding the Gravity and Propensity of the Water to put itself in Motion notwithstanding the Fluidity of the Air that is below it its Motion is impossible and the Air makes as great an Opposition as could a Solid Body wherewith you should have firmly stopt the Orifice of the Bottle What is it then that thus obstructs the Motion of the Water 'T is the Air and Water 's being in such a Situation as no Tendency or Attempt whatsoever of the Water can determine the Air or any other Body to come and fill its Place in the same instant that it leaves it For as soon as it can that is to say as soon as you shall incline the Bottle a little Side-ways and consequently make Way for a little Line of Air to wind itself in by the Side of the Water the Motion will follow proportionably to the Space that the Air shall fill We must not then suppose that a Liquid Body is ever disposed to yield to the Motion of other Bodies Nor ought we more to imagine that when a Body is Solid and surrounded with other Solid Bodies it never is inclinable to be mov'd which I thus prove Let us suppose an hollow Globe perfectly full partly with Water and partly with a vast many little solid Bodies of every Make and Figure dispers'd all over this Mass of Water Let us conceive all these Bodies settled and at rest being that the Water fills all the Spaces betwixt these little Bodies we imagine the Parts of this Water of all sorts of Figures as are the Spaces which they fill Thus we conceive in those Spaces your little Globes of Water little Triangles little Cubes little Hexagons c. Let us suppose now that Water and all those little Bodies put in Motion Making then Reflection on the Figure of the Parts of this Water before the Motion we easily conceive an Alteration in all these Figures in the instant of Motion that is to say the little Globes of Water are divided in two half-Globes the Cubes of Water lose their Angles and so on Of these little Parts whether Solid or Liquid some receive more Motion some less and briefly all so determine one another as not the least empty Space is left but upon one's forsaking of a Place another repossesses it in the very instant And all this is easily perform'd by the proneness of the watery Parts to break and disengage themselves from one another Thus in the first instant of the Motion we imagine that there happen'd a Change of insinite Figures that this Change was made only by the Fraction or Separation of the Parts that that Fraction was occasion'd by the Motion and that the Motion was impossible without that Fraction That the Impulse that serv'd to put these Bodies in Motion was the Cause of both the Motion and Fraction That the Fraction of a Part was caused immediately whether by one of the Solid Bodies or by another part of the Water for instance the Angle of a Cube was no otherwise separated from the rest of the Mass or any other Part to which it was joyn'd than by another part that slipt in betwixt them both or so exactly seiz'd its Place as to sit it to an Hair and finally that nothing could prevent the Motion and Fraction of the Parts except such a Situation among themselves as rendered it impossible for one Part to take the Place of another in the Moment of Desertion For all being full before the Motion it is necessary in the Motion all remain full still Let us suppose at present all this Water and all these little Bodies restated in the same Condition they were in before the Motion And let us conceive instead of the parts of Water that possess'd all the Intervals betwixt the solid Bodies some other solid Bodies that precisely take up the same Space the Watry parts took up before Or let us only suppose the Water congeal'd but without any diminution or augmentation of its Mass Let us farther suppose that God made an attempt to move this Matter and that he
Star whose Vortex immediately borders on the Suns what will become of the other Stars whose Vortexes are infinitely distant from that of the Sun and which must make a sensible impression on our Eye across a great many Vortexes whose Matter is differently mov'd and are all so many Obstacles to that Communication Doubtless though all we have been urging amounted not to a Demonstration in respect of the Stars situate near the Sun it would infallibly in respect of all the other So that instead of those infinite Stars we see sparkling in the Firmament by night we should not discover an hundred with the best Perspectives What now if we should add it were impossible to see the Sun it self Yet this may be prov'd by the same Principles for no more is requisite for this than that the Earth should have a particular Vortex whose Motion should equalize and resist that of the Celestial Matter which the Sun pushes towards our Eyes But so much is true according to Descartes himself for he expresly teaches That the Earth hath a particular Vortex whose Matter struggles as much as possible from the Centre That effort is contrary to the effort of the Matter of the Solary Vortex on that side which is inlightned by the Sun That effort is equal to that of the Matter of the Sun Otherwise the Vortex of the Earth would run to ruin Therefore the Impression of the Sun cannot be communicated to our Eye What shall we say of the Planets and Comets which are seen by the help only of the reflected Rays of the Sun and that consequently are not so strong as if they were direct If the Earth's Vortex arguing on Descartes's Principles is able to obstruct the latter how much easier is it to obstruct the former and hinders us from seeing all those Stars All this seem'd very difficult and before we turn'd Cartesians we had a mind to be satisfy'd thereupon But one thing yet remains and perhaps something better than ordinary upon the particular Vortex of the Earth which is Matter of a third Difficulty in us The third Argument This third Difficulty is well grounded on M. Descartes's Principles and brings such weighty Consequences against the System of his World as though all the rest were insignificant would alone unravel the finest Contexture in it He supposes the Earth to have a Vortex particular to it self in the great Vortex of the Sun A Priviledge also he confers on Jupiter but denies the Moon He explains this Supposition in a plain and very familiar way exemplifying it by those great Whirl-pools we sometimes see in Rivers In the midst of these great Whirl-pools there are several little ones that attend the Motion of the bigger and are carryed round their Centre and at once whirl Chips and Straws about their own Nothing could be better thought on for the making us understand how the Earth and Jupiter when carried about the Sun by the Matter of the Grand Solary Vortex at the same time cause the other Planets to circuit about themselves how the Moon is forc'd about the Earth and four little Planets about Jupiter But as Ill-luck would have it examining that Hypothesis by the Principles of our Philosopher we found it absolutely impossible The Demonstration Either the particular Vortex attributed to the Earth is the same with what it had whilst yet it was a Star or else it is a new one made since the Destruction of the other We maintain that neither the one nor the other can be said Therefore it can have none at all It cannot be that it formerly had For 't is M. Descartes's Position that a Star degenerates into a Planet or a Comet by the loss only of its Vortex According to him a Vortex is preserv'd meerly by its Matter having as much Motion and Resistance as the Matter of those about it and its Matter loses that equality of Motion and Resistance when the Star at the Centre can no longer communicate so much by reason of the Scum that covers it Now the Earth is a Star not only covered with a Scum or Dross but with several thick Crusts of an unaccountable Depth So that it was incapable of preserving its Vortex which must have been quite and clean destroy'd and swallow'd up as M. Descartes's Latin Word expresses it by that of the Sun Let us see then if the Earth was able to procure a new one since its removal near the Sun S the Sun T the Earth A B C D the little Vortex of the Earth N A C Z the great Orb wherein the Earth is carried round the Sun M. Descartes takes this same course to communicate his Thoughts He makes this Figure which represents the Vortex of the Sun in which the Centre S is the Sun it self The little Circle or Ellipsis design'd with C. D. B. A. represents the little oval Vortex of the Earth which carries the Moon about the Earth T. The Circle N. A. C. Z. is that which the Earth describes in a twelve Months time about the Sun The Circle B. and the Circle D. bound and terminate the least Diameter of the oval Circle of the Earth Moreover he supposes that though the Planets and Earth are carried about the Sun by the Celestial Matter yet that Matter moves swifter than the Planets as the Water of a River runs swifter than the Boats that glide along its Current From this Supposition he concludes That the Celestial Matter ought not only to give the Planets a turn about the Sun but also about their several Centres and ought to form it self into little Heavens round about them that shall exactly mimick the motions of the greater He makes this second Conclusion That if two Planets chance to meet in the same Circle one of which is little and consequently fleeter than the other the least upon its Approach ought to fall in with the petty Heaven of the bigger and dance along with it an eternal round And this says he is the fortune of the Moon in reference to the Earth Whereas now almost all the Physicks of M. Descartes rowl upon this particular Vortex of the Earth and since this is as a Man may say the principal Wheel in his whole Machine he had need so to strengthen and establish it as to render it uncontroverted and to suppose not the least thing there in danger to be call'd in Question and that cannot be made good by most solid Reason and Argument Let us see then how it answers expectation He explains his first Supposition which is the main Support of all the rest viz. That the Celestial Matter which carries the Planet round the Sun moves far swifter than the Planet He explains I say this Supposition by the Simily of a Boat falling down a River which goes on much slower than the Water that flows under it A plausible comparison at first sight but that has nothing solid in it Since the reason of the Boats tardy Motion in respect
be destroy'd by the Vortex of the Sun If stronger it must ruin his It remains then that its Strength be equal with the Suns And M. Descartes must unavoidably suppose it But how will he prove it to us I say not by a Demonstration we will not put him on so hard a Task but how will he bring the least Conjecture to give this Supposition a pretence to probability Cannot we on the other side produce several Reasons to destroy this Supposition Cannot we shew in case the Vortex of the Earth was as strong as that of the Sun and the little Globules wrested themselves as forcibly from the Centre of their Vortex that the Earth it self would appear a Sun and so would Jupiter to boot Since that which makes the Centre of a Vortex to us seem luminous is only the vehement Motion of its Matter Though Descartes says the Centre would be drain'd of all its Matter might not we however imitating the Stile of that Philosopher compare the Vortex of the Sun quite from S. to D. to a vast Ocean whose boystrous Tide swelling against the Stream of a little River by which we illustrate the Vortex of the Earth obliges it to fall back again and adds a Determination to its Waters quite contrary to its former But with Descartes for a Vortex to be destroy'd and for the Matter of the Vortex to take the Motion and Determination of another is one and the same thing Let M. Descartes but prove his Vortex of the Earth with the least part of the reason we have brought against it or by as natural a Comparison as we have us'd to demonstrate it a meer Chimera and he need not fear to stand the Test Sallies and Assaults of the best of his Adversaries What now if we should fall to examining the Difficulties that may be gather'd from the little Planet in particular I mean the Moon consider'd in the petty Vortex of the Earth Should we probably find less Matter of Objection Here ought to be the foregoing Figure p. 278. We advance no more than this that supposing the Moon when arriv'd at A. was carried on towards B. she ought to deviate from her Vortex in C. For first That 's the external Superficies of the little Vortex as M. Descartes will not deny Secondly She Attempts to leave her Vortex by his grand Principle of circular Motion He pretends she cannot make her escape towards B. because the Matter of the Solary Vortex in that place is more light and active and repels her towards the Centre Nor can she according to him make downwards towards K. for that says he the Celestial Matter on that side is heavier than the Moon and equally opposes her Descent But we say she will get out of her Circle at C. and continue her Progress toward Z. For being in C. she finds no resistance since the Matter of C. Z. is that of her own Circle which is already on its March and willing to give up its place Besides being in that place she actually makes an Attempt to get rid of the Centre of her Motion that is to say of T. she therefore will accomplish her escape since there is no Obstacle in that as is found in the other Points and being cast out of her Circle she will be oblig'd to continue her Journy towards Z. by the Matter plac'd above and below her in the Circle for the self-same Reasons as are given by M. Descartes Yet in spite of all this it cannot be deny'd but that M. Descartes had good reason to order his Suppositions of these things as he did His System was too far advanc'd to think of stopping at so small an Obstacle as a Moon All the Grandee-Planets were plac'd severally according to the Quality and Preeminence their Solidity had given them Madam Luna too was seated in the Circle of the Earth There was only one little Inconvenience in the case which was that she must necessarily take a turn about the Earth and consequently must be sometimes in the Earths own Circle and sometimes out of it She must therefore have a little Vortex of her own And this is the best as also only reason that can be given for his making one on purpose And setting this aside the Laws of Staticks alone could never have prevail'd with his Frugality to put it self to that extraordinary Expense We had not insisted so long upon this Article had not we consider'd it as the capital Point in the Cartesian System and as the Foundation of that prodigious Edifice which has been taken in our days by so many for the compleatest Mastery of a Human Mind Let us see the Importance of our Demonstration by the Corollaries drawn from it Consequences of the preceding Demonstration The first Consequence belongs to Astronomy and the Phenomena of the Planets For first of all there being no such thing as a Vortex the Moon turns no longer round the Earth since according to M. Descartes the only reason of her circuiting is the Vortex that carries her aloft Secondly the four Satellites of Jupiter must be cashier'd of their Dignity and Employment which they only injoy on account of the continual Centry they keep about him and that by means of a particular Vortex attributed to that Planet as well as to the Earth in the grand Vortex of the Sun For all that we have said of the Vortex of the Earth and of the Moon ought to be apply'd to Jupiter and his garde du Corps These two Particulars in Astronomy are considerable enough to assure us that the World of M. Descartes is not that of Gods own making which we live in but of a very different Architecture and Contrivance The second Consequence respects almost all the principal Phenomena's of the lower World in general whereof wee 'l only concern our selves with the most considerable and easiest to be understood 'T is by the means only of the Vortex of the Earth that the Cartesians following their Master explain the gravity of Bodies and account for the Motion which they have towards the Centre of the Earth For to instance say they when you cast a Stone up in the Air it forces below it a Mass of the second Element and Air equal to its bulk But that same Mass has a far greater agitation and is better dispos'd for Motion and consequently has more power to spring fromward the Centre of its Vortex than the Stone that scarce contains any thing but the Matter of the third Element and therefore must be compell'd by the Matter of the second to descend towards the Centre of the Vortex which is to say the Centre of the Earth We may truly say then that without a Vortex heavy Bodies would not fall downwards on the contrary they would naturally fly upwards and thus we should see Miracles and Wonders According to the new System the Sun as far out of Gun-shot of the Earth as he is could not warrant his own Security