over the actions of men AS for the power which the starres can have in this kinde I have in the end of the former Article alreadie declared Howbeit that I may leave as few scruples behinde me as I can my purpose is to cleare this question a little more For it hath been the serious perswasion of not a few that according to the tenent of Basil in his Hexameron and some others the dispositions of men may not be imputed any whit to the starres without wrong either to God or them If say they vicious inclinations or evil actions be stirred up by the starres then God should be the cause of humane outrages wickednesse and the like Or again if the moderation of our actions dependeth upon the stars then many absurdities would follow For first those starres whose aspect is said to be evil should either of themselves be created evil by their maker or else it must be that in respect of their own wills they made themselves evil afterwards neither of which may be affirmed Not the first because every thing thâ—… God made was very good Gen. 1. Not the second because seeing the stars are inanimate creatures without life and soul it were wickednesse to attribute a will unto them To all which objections and doubts it may be thus answered viz. that the starres are no malicious agents voluntarily striving to do mischief to the world but rather such as do harmlesly send down their naturall influences and powers into the universe and had it been that man had not fallen their inclinations in him had been no inclinations nor their power in occasioning felt any jot at all The evil proceeds from the nature of man who lost his puritie and strength of will in yeelding to that which was forbidden it comes not from the starres but from our selves And so Melancthon doth in effect answer to that of Basil saying that we ought in this to consider what excellencie of condition our humane nature hath lost and thereby observe how grievous and evil sinne is by which our temperatures are become brutish and not rashly condemne or without consideration go throw the starres out of heaven For in this present state of things Nè nunc quidem stellas scelerum causas esse they be his own words we say not that the starres are causes of our sinne in regard that though our inclinations rise from them yet they are not sole or chief causes of our actions but our will is the principall cause thereof which was first created in perfect libertie by which it both had power to withstand even as still it ought to refrain all inordinate inclinations Non enim fatalem necessitatem constituimus nec cogi Neronem à stellis c. For we do not constitute fatall necessitie nor affirm that Nero was compelled by the starres unto his so great and monstrous sinnes but yeelding to his lusts he willingly entertained those rages which the devil more and more instigated and so became worse then his nature though bad enough had made him Hitherto Melancthon to that of Basil. Wherefore when we fall into a due consideration of these things and finde that it was the fall of our first parents which hath induced this disproportion between our natures and the influences of the starres we shall soon see where the fault resteth namely in our selves For as that worthy Knight observeth we must consider that the impression or operation of every agent is alwayes answerable not to the power of it self but to the capacitie and aptnesse of the patient according to which rule the starres produce their effects even as the subject or matter is in which their influence doth work Which is but as I said before viz. that if man had not fallen their inclinations in him had been no inclinations nor their power in occasioning felt any jot at all For as the fire hurteth sore eyes but warmeth cold hands so the starres are formaliter bona although effectivè according to the unapt qualitie of the subject they produce a sad effect Or to use again the words of the said authour as we see the wine which is healthfull and comfortable to some how quickly it hurteth the constitution of another who hath but a weak brain so the sunne doth soften and melt wax but stiffen and make clay hard yet no man for this affirmeth either the wine to be drunk or the sunne to be formally soft or hard Wherefore saith he by this I may boldly conclude that although it be confessed that the starres are efficient causes of our inclinations yet there is no consequence to conclude them such themselves as the effects are that they produce for where the fault resteth hath been declared Furthermore he also proveth against those who say the starres are tainted in being causes by accident or occasions many times of ill he proveth I say that every occasion to sinne is not to be accounted a provocation to sinne or to be held unlawfull for if this were admitted we must also pollute God himself with sinne because he hath made fair women and sweet wine by means whereof many men fall yet neverthelesse none will denie them to be good for they have their lawfull use and right end Wherefore he doth here also excellently conclude that as no man will say that the Physician or his medicines do sinne though when they restore a spent and difeased bodie accidentally they procure lust no more are the starres to be accounted bad or to sinne though in constituting the temperature of our bodies they may be truely confessed causes by accident or occasions of sinne The question is therefore resolved that it is no derogation from the perfection of things created although we grant the starres to have a kinde of power over the actions of men which power both how and what it is hath been declared Artic. 3. Of predictions or whether the signes of heaven may be understood or searcht into THey be Davids words that The works of the Lord are great and sought out of those who have pleasure therein And Moses here in testifying that God created the starres for signes doth likewise shew that they may be understood otherwise to us they were no signes at all Neither do I doubt but that even Moses himself and Daniel likewise who were brought up the one in the learning of the Egyptians the other in the skill of the Caldeans did understand the signification of these signes And from whence was it that those nations had their knowledge but from Noah and Abraham if Iosephus or Berosus may be credited For concerning Noah do not those authours storie that soon after the floud he taught the Armenians and Scythians the secrets of these things Whereupon they said that he participated of a divine spirit So also Abraham that Father of many nations did equally instruct the Caldeans and Egyptians although indeed afterwards it was their bold adventure to mix magick
〈◊〉 Time shall be no more but we do not know whether the space of time allotted for that Trumpet be either long or short The Trumpets before it had time allowed them and what time this last shall have the event will best discover Wherefore I do well perceive that it is no easie thing to finde an apparent length of this last age any long while before it endeth unlesse we could be directly certified of the utmost periods of all the Trumpets or knew the times of the seven Vials which by seven Angels were to be poured out The best and onely way is alwayes to watch and to be evermore ready either for death or judgement For certainly when that time comes pure hearts as Bernard speaketh shall prevail more than subtill words good consciences better then full purses because the Judge will not be deceived with words nor moved with gifts neither is it possible that any should avoid him for all shall be summoned to appeare before him To which purpose Du Bartas descants thus Those that were laden with proud marble tombes Those that were swallow'd down wilde monsters wombes Those that the Sea hath drown'd those that the flashes Of ruddy flames have burned all to ashes Awaked all shall rise and all revest The flesh and bones that they at first possest But some must Justice some must Mercie taste Some call'd to joy some into torment cast CHAP. II. Shewing in what part of the yeare the world was created Sect. 1. Of three opinions concerning the time of the worlds beginning with a confutation of the first IN the account of Times it is very necessary that there should be a proposed point or mark from whence every reckoning may take beginning that thereby the yeares which have severall times of beginning may the more truely be computed and compared amongst themselves Wherefore it cannot be amisse to set down the most probable conjectures concerning the yeare wherein the world began especially seeing amongst Chronologers it is usuall to referre their accounts either to the yeare of the worlds Creation or to the birth of Christ. And now concerning this there be chiefly three opinions 1. Some imagine that the world was created in the very time of the Summer Solstice and that in the beginning of time the Sunne entring into Leo gave beginning to the yeare 2. Others referre it to the Spring when the Sunne entred into Aries 3. And in the last place 't is supposed that the world was made in Autumne when the Sunne entred into Libra Of all which I purpose to discourse severally and to shew the best reasons for that which I think to be the truest time The first is an opinion maintained by Mercator and as is thought was first hatched among the Priests of Egypt who observing the river Nilus to overflow about the Summer Solstice adored it for a God esteeming the time of its inundation for an infallible beginning of divine actions in things created and thereupon for the beginning likewise of the yeare at the time of the worlds creation But if this were the onely cause we may not unfitly say that it was folly and superstition which first set this opinion abroach and therefore he is worthy of blame who will go about to maintain it And although Mercator in his Chronologie seems to alledge some other reasons thereby to uphold his share in it yet his chief reason is not sufficient for it is grounded upon that which is not granted viz. that the Floud should end about Iuly because in the eleventh moneth which he supposeth to be May or Iune when the Olive beginneth to put forth the Dove brought green Olive leaves unto Noah into the Ark. To which it is answered That the word in Gen. 7. 11. which he taketh to signifie green leaves may as expositours witnesse as well be taken for branches even such as have been used to make Bowers with which according to the translation of the Septuagint is expressed by a word signifying a dry stalk And so saith that †Doctour in his Hexapla upon Genesis chapter the first question the 17 that the word in the originall is Gâ—…alce which as S. Hierome translateth it elsewhere signifies the branches of Olives and in the Septuagint it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a stalk without leaves That therefore which the Dove brought might be some branch of the Olive tree rather then the leaves and so might the Floud end at the dead time of the yeare rather then when things were fresh and flourishing But admit that the stalk or branch had leaves on it yet it proves not that it was about May or Iune when the Dove found and brought it because it is recorded of the Olive that she loseth not her leaves as other trees doe but is green and flourishing all the yeare Such leaves therefore as it had before the Floud it might have after the Floud for if they were new ones they must needs spring out in seven dayes because the Dove was sent out but seven dayes before returning then as a creature disconsolate not finding any thing at all Sect. 2. ANother opinion is that it was created in the Spring and that the Sunne who is the Index of time by whose revolution we account our yeares began his course in Aries The most forcible reasons to uphold this opinion are these First the naturall beginning of the yeare was in the Spring time because Noah entred into the Ark the first moneth and after a yeare about the end of the second moneth he came forth of the Ark again Gen. 7. 8. Now the first and second moneths here mentioned agree not to Autumne because if Noah came out of the Ark at that time of the yeare he could not then provide himself with victualls for those creatures which were with him against the next yeare by reason that the Harvest time was then past and Winter coming on so that the yeare naturally began in the Spring time and not in Autumne Secondly it is likely that the world took beginning at such a time when things were growing more and more to perfection as in the Spring rather then when they were decreasing as in Autumne Thirdly it is no weak assertion to affirm that the world was created about that time of the yeare when by the second Adam it was redeemed which was not in Autumne but in the Spring Fourthly the children of Israel coming out of Egypt were commanded to begin their yeare at Abib called afterwards Nisan which moneth agreeth partly to our March and partly to April See Exodus chap. 12. verse 1 and chap. 23. verse 15. Now by this command it is like that they were onely put in minde of their ancient custome which was in use amongst their Ancestours and lost by them since their going into Egypt and death of the Patriarchs For when the twelve Patriarchs the sonnes of Jacob were dead they of their posteritie learned the customes of Egypt
of Kings chap. 17. 16. and chap. 21. 3. and chap. 23. 5. and in Jeremie chap. 19. 13. and in Zeph. chap. 1. 5. and in the Acts chap. 7 42. For in all these places the holy Ghost calleth the starres the host and armies of heaven thereby amplifying the divine power of God by the force and power of these glorious creatures and this also is further confirmed by that in the song of Deborah Judg. 5. 20. where it is expressely testified that The starres fought from heaven the starres in their courses fought against Sisera Thus farre Scripture And now let experience also speak that thereby they who will not frame their understandings to be taught by the one but will seek for strange expositions may be forced to yeeld and acknowledge the truth by compulsion of this other in the front whereof I cannot but remember the noble Poets saying Senselesse is he who without blush denies What to sound senses most apparent lies And ' gainst experience he that spits fallacians Is to be hist from learned disputations And such is he that doth affirm the starres To have no force on these inferiours 1. As for example when the sunne shifts his habitation how diversly are the seasons differing insomuch that although the frostie beard of winter makes us tremble and shiver through extremitie of cold the warm lustre of the summers raies causeth us on the contrary to sweat and as it were pant through heat 2. Also the terrible accidents that succeed eclipses may not be forgotten nor vilipended for these testifie that the sunne by his heat and light quickeneth after an admirable fashion all earthly creatures being as it were the sourse and conserver of vitall heat and that the moon also hath a great power over inferiour bodies For if it were otherwise such lights coming to be hidden from the earth where there is a continuall revolution of generation and corruption could not cause after their eclipses the nature of inferiour things to be so altered and weakened as they are both in the elements and also in bodies composed of them 3. And furthermore who seeth not how orderly the tides keep their course with the moon of which I have spoken in the third dayes work 4. Also it is an observation that seldome faileth viz. that we have thunder and lightning in the summer time at the meeting of Mars with Jupiter Sol or Mercurie and for the most part great windes when Sol and Jupiter or Jupiter and Mercurie or Mercurie and Sol are in conjunction 5. And again the increase and decrease of bodies or of marrow bloud and humours in the bodie according to the increase and decrease of the moon doth speak for that horned queen and signifie that her vertue is not little For as she fills with light the marrow abounds in bones the bloud in veins the sap in trees the meat and moisture in the oister crab and creafish 6. Moreover experience also teacheth that all such wood as is cut for timber if it be not cut after the full moon will soon be rotten 7. Also those pease which are sown in the increase never leave blooming And as some report the pomegranate will bear no fruit any longer then just so many yeares as the moon was dayes old when it was first set and planted The Heliotropium with certain other flowers and plants we likewise see that they keep their course with the sunne And Plinie reports in his 37 book at the 10 chapter that the Selenite is a stone which hath the image of the moon in it increasing and decreasing according to her course in the heavens And doth not Cardan also report for certain as Sir Christopher Heydon it may be affirmed that the heavens in some sort do work upon mens mindes and dispositions And hereupon it comes to passe that Mars doth sometimes sow the seeds of warre by his working upon adult choler and the like Or the aire being greatly out of tune causeth not onely many sicknesses but strange disorders of the minde and they breaking out into act do many times disturb states translate kingdomes work unluckie disasters and the like of which I spake before in the second dayes work And now know that if the operation of the heavens in this be but so farre forth as the soul depends upon the bodily instruments all that is done to the soul is but an inclination for there can be no compulsion where the cause is so remote And therefore let it be observed that it is one thing to cause another thing to occasion or one thing to inferre a necessitie another thing to give an inclination The former we cannot averre to be in the power of the starres forasmuch as mans will which is the commandresse of his actions is absolutely free from any compulsion and not at all subject to any naturall necessitie or externall coaction Howbeit we cannot deny a certain inclination because the soul of man is too much indulgent to the body by whose motion as one worthily observeth it is rather perswaded then commanded There is therefore no Chaldean fate to be feared nor any necessitie to be imposed upon the wills of men but onely an inclination and this inclination is not caused by an immediate working of the starres on the intellectuall part or minde of man but occasioned rather mediately or so farre forth as the soul depends on the temperaments and materiall organs of the bodie In which regard I hope never to be afraid of the signes of heaven neither is there cause why I should ever curse my starres seeing I know in this the utmost of their power And as it was said to that Apostle My grace is sufficient for thee so may every one take it for granted that there is a second birth which overswayes the first To which purpose one makes this an observation Iustè age Sapiens dominabitur astris Et manibus summi stant elementa Dei Do godly deeds so shalt thou rule the starres For then God holds the elements from warres Or as another not unfitly also speaketh Qui sapit ille animum fortunae praeparat omni Praevisumque potest arte levare malum The wise for ev'ry chance doth fit his minde And by his art makes coming evils kinde And in a word that pithie saying of Ioannes de Indagine shall close this Article Quaeris a me quantum in nobis operantur actra dico c. Dost thou demand of me how farre the starres work upon us I say they do but incline and that so gently that if we will be ruled by reason they have no power over us but if we follow our own nature and be led by sense they do as much in us as in brute beasts and we are no better For agunt non cogunt is all that may be said Artic. 2. Whether it be not a derogation from the perfection of things created to grant that the starres have any kinde of power
and superstitious vain inventions with this their lawfull skill And for us experience hath travelled in the manifestation of the severall qualities belonging to the lamps of heaven For as we know the fire to be hot the water moist this herb to be cold that to be drie so also by observation it doth manifestly appeare that the sunne gives heat and cherisheth the moon moisteneth Mars drieth and so of the rest Or thus ♄ Saturn is cold and drie stirres up and increaseth melancholy ♃ Jupiter is temperately hot and moist works most upon sanguine complexions stirring up and increasing that humour ♂ Mars through his heat and immoderate drinesse stirres up and increaseth choler and so often proves an accidentall cause of brawlings fightings warres and the like beside such sicknesses as may come by the superabundancie of that humour ☉ Sol is moderately hot and drie greatly cherishing all kinde of creatures ♀ Venus is cold and moist but it is in a temperate manner and as for her operation it is seen most in flegmatick complexions ☿ Mercurie is said to be drie in respect of his own nature but joyned to any of the other Planets he puts upon him their natures and works as they work Then followeth the Moon and she is well known to be the mistris of moisture Neither can you truely say that it is impossible to finde their natures to be either thus or thus for it is but 30 yeares that the longest of these did ever spend in his periodicall revolution and but 72 yeares as Tycho teacheth can runne about whilest the fixed starres alter one degree in their longitude Insomuch that Saturn whose period is but 30 yeares cometh twice to the same point of heaven before the eighth sphere is moved one degree and Jupiter whose revolution is 12 yeares cometh 6 times to the same place and Mars who accomplisheth his period in little lesse then 2 yeares meets 36 times with the same starres in the same place and as for the Sunne Venus Mercurie and the Moon their meetings with them be oftner Also it is certain that the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is once every 20 yeares and Mars and Saturn visit each other in lesse then every two yeares by means whereof it is no hard thing or as a thing impossible to finde out the simple natures either of the Planets or fixed starres And from these natures thus known and their mixtures and places observed it is that the effect is foreseen and the judgement given which if it be modestly carefully deeply and deliberately done by one well versed or conversant in these things doth for the most part happen as is foretold for the most part I say and not alwayes For as the Physician knoweth that the same portion of either single or mixed simples will not work upon all bodies alike so neither can the like portion and power of qualities stirre up or work alwayes ad idem but may sometimes receive either intention or remission according to the indisposed aptnesse of the subject the elements or elementary bodies not alwayes admitting of their powers alike or when they be overswayed by more potent and prevailing operations For universall and particular causes do many times differ and then the one hinders the operation of the other As for example particular causes as the conjunction of Venus and the Moon or some such like meeting may promise rain snow or sleet when universall causes which are not so easily seen do often turn it into more fair and warm weather And so also particular influences may seem to work upon such or such humours and thereupon make the bodie subject to this or that sicknesse and the minde enclined to this or that kinde of action with many such other like things howbeit it may so happen that nature may be at this time so abstrusely shut up that what we see not may overpower and work beyond what we see A man had need therefore have Argus his eyes to pierce throughly into these causes and examine without rashnesse either what may help or what may hinder otherwise his judgement may fail him even in things wrought by the course of nature for of other things he ought not to judge And indeed when there is a divers mixture of qualities all in a manner of equall portions as it may sometimes be how hard a thing is it then to finde out without a sound judgement the true event for there be many difficulties proceeding from the weaknesse of our judgements And for that again which I said before of natures abstruse kinde of working although I be no Stoick to tie Gods mightie hand to second causes yet I verily suppose that all things are not beyond the course of nature which seem to be extraordinarie but even many strange seeming things are wrought by the power of nature as sometimes in unwonted storms tempests droughts strange appearances or other like accidents And this again I also think that one man may see the cause when another cannot whereupon it comes to passe that there is such diversitie of judgements and thwarting of opinions many times about one and the same thing Also I might adde something which one or other will be readie to object concerning the devils permission in raising unwonted windes storms and such like Or I might speak not onely of Gods power but of his providence likewise in disposing his creatures to manifest their operation rather in one place then in another which is an act proceeding from his secret purpose and divine wisdome as when the clouds according to his decree do disburden themselves of their wearie drops rather here then there or there then here For saith he in the 4 chap. of Amos at the 7 vers I have caused it to rain upon one citie and it hath not rained upon another and the citie where it hath not rained was barren But I shall not need to meddle further For notwithstanding these difficulties it is manifest enough that the signes of heaven may be both sought into and also in some ample measure understood For it is true that God Almightie having both set and foreseen the course of nature long before doth now uphold it by his providence instrumentally to perform his will Neither every day doth he make the windows of heaven to stand open or the fountains of the great deep to be broken up nor yet doth he every day make the sunne or moon to stand still or the shadow to go back or an Eclipse to be at a quite contrarie time or the moon again to arise before her usuall course but hath undoubtedly left his works to be sought out of all those who take pleasure therein and according to that portion of sound judgement which he hath given to every one they may understand either more or lesse of these signes For as one starre differeth from another in lustre and beautie so one mans knowledge and better judgement transcends not seldome
and all the hosts of them spiritu oris by the spirit of his mouth Psal. 33. 6. All which considered and found to be done in the beginning must needs be then when there was no pre-existent matter to work upon For as it is witnessed the Hebrew word Reshith which is englished the beginning doth not signifie any substance neither doth the other word Bara to create signifie any way to create but of nothing and thereby it is distinguished from the word Iatzar to form and Gnasha to make And therefore though now we behold a glorious something wherein appeares in every part more then much matter of wonder yet at the first saith noble Bartas Nothing but nothing had the Lord Almightie Whereof wherewith whereby to build this citie That Axiome therefore in philosophie Ex nihilo nihil fit must needs stand aloof off when we speak of creation For although it be true that according to the course of nature and ordinary custome of things nothing can be made unlesse out of some former matter yet when we descend ad inquirendam primarum rerum conditionem to enquire after the first condition of the first things then we shall finde that God is above nature because he is the Lord of nature And he whose sufficiencie and efficiencie is altogether absolute must needs be able supernaturali quadam ratione by a certain supernaturall means to produce all things out of nothing Of which nothing that I may say something my best and onely way is to look at Moses and as neare as I can explain his meaning In the beginning saith he God created the heavens and the earth In which words he laboureth not so much to deliver a generall proposition of the works of creation or of the two distinct parts of the world or of the matter of heaven and earth as if the one word did insinuate all the superiour parts of the world the other all the inferiour parts beside or as if taking both together he meant by them joyntly totius mundi semen the seed of the whole world mentioning it under these two words of Heaven and Earth as a Chaos This he meaneth not because that which concerns the Chaos is mentioned afterwards in the second verse And what were it but a plain tautologie to say that in the beginning God created a Chaos and that Chaos was a Chaos Wherefore in those first words he intendeth nothing more then to shew that the world which now is called according to its parts Heaven and Earth was not from everlasting but took beginning and so without controversie the right reading of his words doth also witnesse For in their originall as it is witnessed by expositours thus they sound In the beginning God created these heavens and this earth as if it should be said These very heavens and this very earth which now we see in being were not alwayes but began Then afterwards he proceedeth to shew how and in what time God created them speaking first how all was like a disordered and deformed Chaos the earth and the heavens not distinguished but lying as it were in a confused heap all together And this is manifest For on the second day when the heavens were made it seemeth that their matter was from amongst that masse or unfashioned lump which was said to be void and without form and not able to be kept together had not the Spirit of God cherished it for the Spirit of God moving upon the waters did as it were sit upon it and nourish it as a fowl doth her eggs with heat and life yea their matter I say was from among the waters which by the power of Gods word were extended and stretched like a canopie round about the earth as now we see them In which regard S. Austines words are also pertinent saying concerning this All of which we now speak Materies adhuc erat corporearum rerum informis sine ordine sine luce It was yet an informed matter of corporall things without order without light Or as that Nightingale of France hath sung it This was not then the world 't was but the matter The nurserie whence it should issue after Or rather th' Embryon that within a week Was to be born for that huge lump was like The shapelesse burden in the mothers wombe Which doth in time into good fashion come Thus and in this manner I cannot but think of these things not doubting that Moses in his description of the sensible world meaneth otherwise but sheweth that that heaven and earth which now we see were in the beginning or first degree of being an earth or as an earth or one lump without form and void a darkened depth and waters a matter of no matter and a form without form as one speaketh a rude and indigested Chaos or confusion of matters rather to be beleeved then comprehended of us And this saith he is the second naturall beginning For after the expressing of the matter followeth that which Philosophers call a second naturall principle Privation the want of that form of which this matter was capable which is accidentally a naturall principle required in regard of generation not of constitution here described by that part next us earth which was without form as is said and void This was the internall constitution The externall was darknesse upon the face of the deep Which deep compriseth both the earth before mentioned and the visible heavens also called a depth as to our capacitie infinite and pliant to the Almighty hand of the Creatour called also waters not because it was perfect waters which was yet confused but because of a certain resemblance not onely in the uniformitie thereof but also of that want of stabilitie whereby it could not abide together but as the Spirit of God moved upon these waters to sustain them c. Here therefore is the third beginning or principle in nature that form which the said Spirit by that action framed it unto The Hebrews call the whole masse as it is comprehended under the names of Heaven and Earth Tohu Vabohu Tohu without order bohu without varietie But it was not long that it continued in this imperfect state for in one week it was as I may say both begotten and born and brought from a confused Chaos to a well ordered and variously adorned Universe Or as one saith Materiam Deus ipse creat comitque creatam Whose meaning may be taken thus The matter first God out of nothing drew And then addes beautie to that matter new Which was not because he was unable to make all the world perfect in an instant but because he would not Whereupon an holy Father said Voluntas Dei est causa coeli terrae ideo major est voluntas Dei quà m coelum terra The will of God is the cause of heaven and earth and therefore it is greater then either of them God therefore doth not disable his
omnipotence in not working all at once but sheweth that he worketh all things according to the counsell of his will which in this work of creation prosecuted both by an order of time and degrees is so farre from eclipsing his power that it rather doth demonstrate both his power and wisdome to be infinite and that he hath so done his marvellous works that they ought alwayes to be had in remembrance Psal. 111. 4. For in wisdome he hath made them all And why not all at once was because the counsell of his will was otherwise But may we not yet enquire a further reason why it pleased the Almighty thus to will such a space and would not rather produce this All perfect at once This perhaps may be thought a question too curious to be determined because Gods will is a sufficient reason in all his actions and therefore it is better left then looked into Which surely might well be so if the reasons urged prove too eagle-eyed and unprofitable not bettering us in our dulnesse or want of knowledge But otherwise if they instruct man in any thing pertinent to his present condition and inform him so as he may be somewhat reformed by them then they may be urged without the brand of nicenesse or imputation of curiositie First therefore we may joyn with them who say that perhaps it pleased Gods infinite perfection to take this leisure because if the creatures had been made all at once they might be thought to be increate and not made at all nor yet to have the like sense of their infirmitie as now they have one seeing another made before them Secondly seeing the world was thus perfected by degrees before man was who being made was the chief inhabitant of it me thinks so orderly to raise such a sumptuous palace for mankinde whilest yet mankinde was not what was it but the declaration of a greater kindnesse and a demonstration proving how kinde how carefull and how gracious God would be to us ever after being made and therefore now we must not distrust him but in all our wayes acknowledge him and he shall direct our paths Prov. 3. 5 6. For so he hath promised and so he doth perform to all that love and fear him causing every thing to work together for their good nay for their best as the Apostle speaketh Or as the Psalmist hath it No good thing shall he withhold from them who live a godly life Psal. 84. 12. Thirdly by this example mankinde may reade a lecture against himself if heedlesly or hastily he behave himself in any work and shall not rather proceed soberly and by degrees making haste as it is said by leisure For true it is that with us a soft pace goes farre Which made one fix this contemplation upon the works of creation saying How should we deliberate in our actions which are so subject to imperfection seeing it pleased Gods infinite perfection not out of need to take leisure Upon thought of which let us Make sober speed for 't is observ'd by proof That what is well done is done soon enough Festina lenté Nam sat citò si sat bene Thus having as it were considered the first part of the first dayes work we may now come more nearely to that which is the beauty of it I mean the Light which some call Gods eldest daughter or the first distinguished creature wherewith the Lord decked the world as with a garment Sect. 2. The creation of the Light ANd now concerning this bright creature no sooner did God say Let it be but lo it was He commanded that it should shine out of darknesse as speaks the Apostle and that being separated and set apart from the darknesse the first of dayes might be and Gods good works appeare beginning with the Lights proceeding to shew forth his exceeding glory But of this resplendent creature without which the beauty of the rest could not be seen there are no few opinions 1. Some would have it a spirituall Light and so under it they comprehend the creation of Angels But surely in my judgement their opinion is the founder who make it a naturall and materiall Light onely such as now is in the Sunne the Index of time and the worlds bright eye For as the office of the Sunnes light is now to distinguish between the Day and the Night so was the office of this Light being commanded to shine out of darknesse before the Sunne was made which being made was the subject ever after to retain it If it were otherwise or any other light where is it now shall we say that it is either extinguished or applied to some other use surely I think not because God who made all by the power of his word needed no instrument or help in the work of his creation And therefore that Light which at the first made his works appeare is no spirituall Light but such and the same that now is in the Sunne And yet perhaps as Aquinas thinketh it was but Lumen informe quod quarto die formatum est An informed Light which on the fourth day had its perfect form And as for the creation of Angels it is not like that they were made this first day but on the fourth day For it is very probable that there was the like order observed in making of the invisible world which was in the visible and that on the second day not onely the visible but also the invisible heavens were created yet so as both of them remained as it were unpolished or unfinished untill the fourth day For then as the outward heavens were garnished with Starres so might the inward and highest heavens be beautified with Angels This me thinks is not obscurely pointed at in Job chap. 38. vers 7. Where wert thou saith the Lord to Job when the starres praised me or sang together and all the sonnes of men shouted for joy it being here evident that when the Starres were made the Angels also had then their being rejoyced before God which was but upon the fourth day of the creation All this I say might well be thus although Moses doth not directly mention it which was because he applied himself to the simple capacitie of the people describing the creation onely of sensible things being that which at the first he intended and did in plain tearms testifie in the beginning of his historie when he said These Heavens and this Earth of which I spoke before And further were the creation of Angels comprehended under the creation of the heavens and light what were this but to leave the literall sense which is to be followed in the historie of the creation and to cleave unto Allegories But secondly concerning this Light others think that the element of fire was signified by it whose effect is light and whose act and qualitie is to enlighten which made one therefore say that The uncreated Light