effectuum qui in terris fiunt causas quae in coelo sunt cognoscant aliquando etiam antequam fiunt ipsos effectus in suis causis praevideat This is the use of true Astrology to understand from it the Causes which are in the Heavens of many Effects that are on Earth and sometimes to foresee those Effects in their Causes before they come to pass Thirdly The heavenly Bodies are Signs as of Natural and Political Affairs so of things Divine and above Nature's Order And as the two former are signified by the Ordinary Motions of these Bodies so the last are discovered by the extraordinary and unusual aspect of them When those great Luminaries are disturbed and out of Order then and onely then they as well as those extraordinary Bodies in Heaven which this discourse hath designedly treated of are certain Indications of the exerting of some Divine Power and the bringing to pass some strange things in the World For this I take to be an unquestionable Maxim that those Accidents which exceed the ordinary course of Nature and are above the usual Laws and Power of it are the particular Finger of God and are for extraordinary ends and purposes From whence I gather that the constant Courses of the Celestial Luminaries portend not evil and hurt to Mankind but they are the unnatural Motions Alterations and Appearances of them which render them prodigious As when the Sun hath been extraordinarily deficient as at that darkness which was one of the Plagues of Egypt when the Sun and Moon have stood still as when Ioshuah was taking vengeance on his Enemies when the Stars fought against the Host of Sisera when the Sun went back in King Hezekiah's days Not onely Poets but Historians take notice of and transmit to posterity the remarkable Obscuring of the Sun which was observed almost that whole year in which Iulius Caesar was unfortunately killed Solis quoque tristis Imago Lurida sollicitis praebebat lumina terris From Heaven a shadow onely then was hurl'd Of the Sun's Light to scare the won dring World And another Poet thus Caput obscurâ nitidum ferrugine texit Impiáque aeternam timuerunt secula noctem A rusty scum eclips'd Sol's glorious Light And th'impious Age dreaded an endless Night And we are told by a grave Historian too that this presaged and accompanied that horrid Murther The Eclipse at Christ's Passion was a miraculous darkning of the Sun's Body for against the course of Nature it was obscured in Full-moon Great Signs from Heaven as it was prophesied by our Saviour were the forerunners of Ierusalem's Destruction Luk. 21. 11. There was an Example of an extraordinary Defect in the Sun about an hundred years after saith a Learned Father Seventeen days darkness was the attendant of Constantine's Death who had his Eyes put out by his Mother Irene if some Historians may be believed We have it from the Testimony of him who is Infallible and Truth it self That there stall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars before his last coming Luk. 21. 25. The Sun shall be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the Stars shall fall from Heaven and the powers of the Heaven shall be shaken Mat. 24. 29. We see then what it is that makes the ordinary Heavenly Bodies Prodigious and Presaging viz. Their being disordered and going against their natural course When they are thus they are of the nature of those extraordinary and preternatural Lights which I have before discoursed of whose very Appearance is Ominous By this we may know what notions to frame of the Aspects of the Stars the particular Phases of the Moon and the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon before spoken of It is certain that these although they may signifie in General and cause several Events yet contain not any thing in them i. e. in their own Nature which is Boding and Unfortunate Nor are they designed as Comets are to be Signs of some remarkable Evils and Calamities For I build on this ground that extraordinary Events are not foresignified by ordinary and natural Accidents but such are the Aspects of the Planets and particularly the Conjunction of Saturn and Iupiter this year so much talked of by the common Prognosticatours These are made and come to pass by the usual and Fixed Motion of the Planets They fall of themselves into these Figures These are the Natural Shiftings of the Stars And as a demonstration of it these like the rising and setting of the Sun and the entry of it into the Equinoctial and Solstitial Points and the Phaenomena of that nature are certainly discerned and may be foretold many hundred years before hand And therefore they are not in themselves portentous they are no tokens of God's Wrath there is nothing signified of the Divine Displeasure by them But this cannot be said of Comets because they are Preternatural Appearances and being such cannot possibly be foreknown by Art I never read that any Astrologer put out Ephemerides of them Nor can the Shiftings of the Moon be said to be Presaging and in themselves Ominous and that for the foresaid Reason For though I deny not her Influence on the Bodies and Minds of Men and as to her producing of Changes in the World yet it is plain that she was not set up in the Firmament to portend approaching Distresses by her various Figures and Faces which she sheweth for all these are Natural and of course She is constant and unvariable in her Changes they may be all known and told long before Besides any man of common sense will grant me this that what is usual and frequent cannot be prodigious I might here say something of Eclipses and it is this I declare against the Doctrine of those well-willers to the Mathematicks who generally reckon these as ominous From what hath been said it may be gathered that they are not to be judged as such for they are not contrary to the usual course of Nature and what is not so cannot carry any ill Omen with it If an Eclipse particularly that of the Sun be portentous in it self then every Night which is no other than the Interposition of the Earth between the Sun and us is of that Nature also and consequently we have an unlucky time of it all our Lives It was the Ignorance of the Cause of Eclipses which first gave occasion to People to think they presignified some Evil and hereupon the foolish Pagans were mightily disturbed at this Sight and as for the Moon they imagined she was in Labour and accordingly came with great Noise and Officiousness no other than the Midwifery of Pans and Kettles to relieve the teeming Lady But we know that the Sun and Moon come naturally to this Situation and Posture and the time of their Eclipses may certainly be foreknown for they depend on the determined and unerring Motions of the Heavenly Bodies they must happen at
Last represents the Hilt and the Train the Blade of the Sword which sometimes is streight and sometimes like a Falchion Several of this sort have been seen in the World It is very probable that That at the beginning of things I mean that Flaming Sword which turned every ways at the entrance of Paradise belonged to this Species Indeed this could not have been better expressed than by the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Version of the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 especially with the addition of the Adjective 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 anceps bipennis two edged representing a Sword which cutteth both ways i. e. Both the sides of that Comet 's Tail were alike and of equal make And whereas the Text saith that Cherubims were placed at the entrance of Paradise it lets us understand that Angles were particularly Administring in shewing this extraordinary Prodigy and perhaps for this Reason among others these Ministring Spirits are called a Flaming Fire Psal. 104. 4. This Comet as it is the Nature of them produced Barrenness the Earth according to the Curse brought forth Thorns and Thistles This likewise presaged all the other sad and deplorable Effects of our first Parents Expulsion out of Paradise Such a Sword-Comet appeared in the Year of our Lord 70 or 71 being the first Year of the Emperour Vespasian It hung over Ierusalem a whole Year before it was Taken and Sack'd by Titus as one who was an Eye-witness of it assures us But lest that should be thought to be God's peculiar and singular Ensign and not to be parallel'd or to be made use of in the present Case as some will not permit us to alledge this Instance of Ierusalem's Comet I will produce some others and the most remarkable I have read of are these which follow A terrible Xiphias or Sword-Comet appeared when the Civil War between Octavius and Mark Antony began which was 42 years before Christ's Birth Another of the like Figure shewed it self A. D. 383. or as others 392. in the Reign of Theodosius This appeared 40 days and was a little before Valentinian was slain and Eugenius invaded the Western Empire Such another Flaming Sword was seen over the City of Constantinople about the Year of our Lord 400. This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Historian calls it was so great that it reached from the Horizon to the Zenith Nicephor Eccl. Hist. l. 13. c. 5. and of this likewise speak other Historians This happened when the so much dreaded Gainas the Barbarous and Tyrannical Commander of the Gothes brought the Gothish Army into Thrace and miserably wasted the greatest part of Greece and was about to encompass Constantinople and take it An Ensiformis but of lesser size appeared 30 days in the Year 632 or 633. before Persia was taken by the Saracens These were no Fantastick shapes such as the feigned Images and Iconisms of the Constellations of the Dog and Bear c. but they were Real and Substantial and no man need nourish any lavish Fancy to make out these Shapes and Resemblances from which we may certainly infer that they are truly Significant and Presaging I must confess that Gaffarel in his Book of Curiosities and Cornelius Gemma de Nat. Charact. divin are too Fantastical in their interpreting the Figures of Comets and too punctual in determining the effects from such Likenesses and Shapes But as I am no Slave of these Cosmocriticks so I must needs profess that it is irrational and impious to disregard the Finger of God in the peculiar shape of some Comets because some idle Writers have indulged their Fancy and Humour and have shewed themselves conceited in the account they give of the Figures of Comets Thus far I have considered these Heavenly Bodies Naturally and as they are in themselves Now it remains that I treat of them Theologically as they are by Divine Appointment and Institution rendred Significative It is the Pleasure of the great Moderatour of all things and that is sufficient that these should be set up as Signs And This is acknowledged even by those who will not be brought to confess the former 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Heavenly Bodies are not constituted Causes but Signs of Wars saith a Religious Man Future occurrences are discovered by these Heavenly Lamps Non Naturali Causarum nexu ordine sed Dei Natu Auxilio saith another Nego Cometam saith Fromondus Meteor l. 3. c. 3. calamitatum Physicam causam non nego tamen Signum ex Institutione divina esse quam omnium temporum Historia affirmat But I will make it plain that Both these are very consistent and that the consideration of Comets in both these respects is Rational and Accountable We may treat of them not onely as Natural Philosophers but as pious Men and Christians I know God sometimes speaketh to the World by Supernatural Signs without making use of Second Causes and even against the course and order of Nature These are Divine Signs onely but now I am speaking of such as are Natural Signs and Causes i. e. produced in a Natural way wholly or partly and are Physical Causes of such and such Effects and yet are Divine Signs likewise For it may be worth your observing that the Same things may be Natural Causes and Effects and yet Divine Tokens The Rainbow signifies the Covenant between God and Man and therefore is styled the Token of the Covenant 9. Gen. 13. but withall it is a Meteor that hath a Natural Production and the Cause of it is made out by Philosophy Fire and Brimstone from Heaven burnt up the lewd Sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah and yet when I reade in Gen. 14. 10. and in profane Writers that these Cities were near to many Pits of Slime and fat and pitchy Clay I can well conceive also how that dreadfull Conflagration was carried on even by Natural Causes how the Fire broke out of the Earth to meet that which rained from Heaven and consequently how the Destruction of those places may partly be attributed to the Nature of the Soil and the Combustible Matter it afforded The Tower of Babel was without doubt demolished by the Signal Hand of the Almighty yet it may be true which Iosephus relates and after him Eusebius that that great Pile was thrown down by a Tempest and extraordinary force of Wind. With which agrees the Sybil's Verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Elias his time the Drought which happened in Syria and Iudaea was a Calamity which is wont to be produced by Natural Causes and from it Naturally followed a Famine but both these were peculiar Signs of the Divine Anger and by these God shewed his Wrath against the Sins of the People The Thunder and Lightning which were procured by Samuel were in Harvest Time 1 Sam. 12. 16. which is supposed to be a warm Season and therefore according to the Natural course of things
and voluntary ones cannot As the things which depend on the mere Power and Pleasure of God so those that issue from the Freedom and Election of Man are beyond the reach and out of the ken of Astrological Predictions Mens Wills are the Planets that guide them and make them Erratical It is not in the power of Astrologers to fix these and to bring them within the sphere of their Knowledge We see and observe that their Conjectures are uncertain concerning the change of Weather How often may they be confuted in their Predictions of Rain Snow Frost Winds c Some have writ down the weather quite contrary to their Prognosticks as Buchanan dealt with his Almanack above fifty Years together and as the Earl of Mirandula hath observed and have found that what they set down came nearest to the truth If an Astrologer then faileth so mnch in telling the weather how much more in undertaking to determine those Events which depend on the Will and choice of Man If he cannot exactly foretell the Changes of the Clouds and Elements how will he be able to acquaint us before-hand with the Alterations in Families and Kingdoms which are more uncertain It is by reason of such bold Pretenders and Undertakers that Astrology is rendred vile and scandalous and the Professours of it looked upon as Lyars and Impostours For what can be more like cheating than for a man to take upon him to determine certainly of future Contingencies when the Objects of his Predictions are every minute alterable by the interposal of free Agents who have power to interrupt the Causality of the Stars For though men may be thus and thus Disposed and Inclined according to the different Constellations and their Aspects yet they are left free and are not constrained and forced to doe this or that And if this be true the most sagacious Artist on Earth cannot punctually determine their Actions this being an impregnable Proposition That nothing can be certainly foretold by Man which is in the power of a free Agent Thirdly Astrology is abused not onely when the free Agency of God and Man are infringed but when the Concurrence of those other Causes which are requisite in the life of Man is wholly neglected This then must be laid down as a necessary Proposition That the Tempers and Constitutions of Men and consequently their Dispositions and Actions and all humane Affairs which are the issue of them depend upon several conjoyned Causes It is true that we receive our Complexion and Temperature from the quality of the Heavenly Bodies but not from them only but from other Causes and Authours I have granted once and again that there is a great consent and intercourse between the upper and lower World Heaven and Earth are confederate Many things are derived to our Natures from above many of our Inclinations are received from thence many Events and Accidents are depending on the Astral Revolutions but they do not derive their force from them alone There are other Causes besides the Prime Efficiency of God and the free Agency of Men which powerfully influence on Humane Actions Say then that the Stars act on the Body of Man and say that the Complexion of the Body swayeth the Mind as is acknowledged yet this Complexion depends on the Temper of the Parents and the quality of their Seed on the temper of the Air of that Countrey which he was born in and afterwards lived in on his Diet and Food he constantly takes on his Education and manner of Life All these and several other things make a great difference in men and the influence of the Stars may be hindred by any of them much more by all of them together Though the Heavens dispose to such and such Temperatures of Body yet they are easily changed and over-ruled by the Concurrence of these To speak freely the Stars act as all other natural Causes do according to the Capacity and Disposition of the matter they work upon Now the Disposition of Inferiour Bodies is very different and on that account they receive not the Heavenly Influences alike Just as we see the Effects of Diseases are according to the Diversities of Mens Bodies and therefore no certain Judgment can be made of the issue of one Man's Distemper from what is observed in another For Example a Physician sees such and such Signs of Death in two persons who have high Fevers but though the Prognosticks are equal in both yet the Natural Temper of one may be stronger than the others and so be too hard for the Disease and overcome it but it was not possible for the Master of Medicks to foresee this The Case is the same here and it is confirmed by Experience All persons who were born under the same Planets are not of the same condition and Fortune in the World and on the contrary the Conditions and Fates of Men are alike as when many thousands fall in Battel in one day though different Stars reigned at their Births and the Reason is because all men are not alike capable of the Influence of Heaven for there may be wanting a Concurrence of several Causes which I have before named to make them equal and it is undeniably true that the Heavens are not the Integral Causes of Mens Conditions and Actions I infer then irrefragably That no Astrologer can certainly foretell future Events which depend upon so many Causes whilst he is carefull onely to be acquainted with one sort of them And from all the premised Heads it is easie to conclude how shallow and imperfect the Judgments of common Astrologers are and what little reason they have to be absolute and peremptory in their Predictions For the Actions of Mens Lives and the different Events that happen to them are derived from several Springs and Originals besides the Heavenly Bodies A Judgment cannot be made of a Man's Life from one of these onely but from all The Prime Source and Fountain of all is God or the Divine Providence which Commandeth the Sun and it riseth not and sealeth up the Stars Job 9. 7. which can countermand the Ordinary course of Nature and particularly that of the Celestial Bodies Or the same infinite Power can change the Temper which was received from the Stars and cause his Grace to check and controll the Influence of their Aspects so that it shall be out of the reach of any humane Science to make a steddy Judgment of any Actions or Events that belong to such Persons And as for that other Spring of Mens Actions their Wills these being Free and Arbitrary cannot be confined by Art and whatever Actions depend on voluntary choice and determination cannot be foreknown unless they be revealed by him who is the onely knower and Searcher of Hearts It is His sole Pretogative to foresee future Contingencies which depend on free Causes Though it is true the Devil hath claimed This in all Ages witness the many ways of Divination by Oracles
three Instances of it The latter is the more known and celebrated kind and may by that great Philosopher's leave be properly called a Comet according to the true Etymology of it expressed by the Poet Flamma Comas imitata volat tenuésque Capillos Now it may deservedly be asked What is the Reason of this strange Figure Why do not Comets appear to us round be they flat or disciform in themselves as some imagine that is not much to the purpose but why do not the whole bodies of the Comets appear to be Globous as all other Stars both fixed and erratick seem to be What makes those differ from these Why are the Rays and Splendour of a Comet carried further than that of other Stars Why sends it forth such stragling Beams Since the Figure of all Stars is Globular or Sphaerical what causes a Comet if it be a Star to be of a long Figure Why do not all other Stars shoot out such Streams as this I desire not to make difficulties but certainly these Questions have not been solved to the satisfaction of any diligent and curious Enquirer Such Reasons as the learned have suggested I will set down and I am confident that it will be made clear from them as from all other things appertaining to Comets that they are a sort of Phaenomena which were made to puzzle the World and that their strange Nature signifieth to us their more strange events I am to let you know then that according to the different Hypotheses taken up some write that the Tail or Beard is part of the Comet others on the contrary as stifly maintain that it is not part of it but is onely the Rays of the Sun shot through the Comet 's Head First It is said that the Tail is part of the Comet or as Seneca represents Apollonius his judgment the long Tail is the form of this kind of Planet The Body of the Star is made of this Figure But according to Aristotle i. e. if it be a Peripatetick Comet the Head of it is supposed to be troubled with Fumes and Vapours and these being over-heated by the Sun are set on fire and so the Tail is no other than the flame of the burning Meteor But seeing a Flame by its natural Lightness tends upwards why is not the Tail of every Comet exactly erect For they suppose Comets to be low and their Flame to be seen in its just proportion whereas the fixed Stars and others are not supposed to appear Shaerical because of their vast Distance from us which confoundeth all distinction of Figures One very Astronimically skill'd solves it thus The Flame of the Comet saith he doth not move directly upwards and appear erect because of the solid Orb above it for he believes these Comets with Tails or Beards are in the Concavity of the Orb of the Moon hence the Flame is forced downwards just as the Flame in an Oven or Fornace beaten from above strikes towards the sides But if it be so how happens it that the Flame is not seen on both sides or ends but onely on the hinder part of the Comet How comes that part which is next to the Sun to be always without a Train or Stream The Flame of the Comet is driven by the Wind towards one side as we see plainly in Torches when the Wind blows so the Peripateticks give an account of the Tail or Bush of a Comet But if it were caused by the Wind then there must be always a great Wind stirring as long as Comets appear and the Blaze of these would increase as that increases but I never read that any such Observation was made and we know by experience that Calms have accompanied the Appearance of Comets whatever violence of Weather happened afterwards Besides if the long Train were occasioned by the Wind it would also disappear when the Wind is allaid Moreover the Wind hath not blown from the same Point of Heaven all the time of the Comet 's appearing And that it should doe so to all Comets is yet stranger You may as well say and maintain it that the Wind is ever in the same Corner But after all if I should add that Comets are above the Wind as it is hugely probable they are then this way of solving the Difficulty is quite overthrown In short according to the Aristotelian Hypothesis of a Comet being a heap of Inflamed Exhalations I do not see how the Tail can be made out for this being a Flame and lighter and rarer Matter than the head of the Comet it should tend upwards in the form of a Pyramid as it fares with all other Flames Again such a heap of viscous Vapours must needs burn on all sides if it be equally kindled and then the long Train is spoiled or if the matter doth not burn equally then certainly There where the Fuel is most capable and how can that be supposed to be always just opposite to the Sun But if the Wind cannot solve the Phaenomenon the Sun must accordingly Kepler Gassendus and others say that the Tail being of the same matter with the Head onely more rare and subtile is driven and thrust by that force of the Suns Rays towards that part of the Heavens which is contrary to the Sun It was soon seen that this thrusting and shoving of Sun-beams was a very precarious Notion and therefore the most judicious Astronomers go another way to work They abandon their Opinion who think the Tail belongs to the Substance of the Comet and is a Flame issuing from it and in stead of that they defend this for Truth that the Tail or Beard is no other than the Beams of the Sun transmitted through the Diaphanous Head of the Comet This is embraced by Cardan Longomontanus Scaliger and that famous Triumvirate of Astronomers Tycho Kepler Galilaeus If these say true the Transparent Body of the Comet is illuminated by the Solar Rays and the Sun thus shining through it and causing a various Refraction and Repercussion of Light makes that Splendour which we call the Tail or Tresses of a Comet In order to this they fancy the Body of the Comet to be like a Globe or Ball of Glass which by its Diaphanousness imbibes the Beams received from the Sun and those Beams passing through it appear on the Reverse of it Such a kind of Trajection or striking of the Sun's Rays through the Head or Body of a Comet is the cause of its Beard or Tail But this will not clear the Point for then the Tail should not be of that Figure it appears but of a Comick one as the Rays appear behind a Glass-Ball viz. broad towards the Glass but narrower and sharper the other way But the Trains of Comets appear otherwise they being large and wide at the Cuspis or end but lesser and more contracted towards the Head of the Comet Thus the Laws of Opticks and the Rules of Perspectives will be indangered
have said to solve all that the Head of the Comet had Brains and knew when it was to Face about There is Another who refers the business to a secret Antipathy between the Rays of the Sun and those of a Comet insomuch that these latter are as it were afraid of the former and consequently flie away from them But the Jesuite grows more sober afterwards and finding after all his exquisitive Searches that the Doctrine of Comets was obscure and unaccountable at last he ascribes the Make and whole Regimen of them to God or some Intelligences and in the close of his Learned Tractate of Comets he ends thus In re adeò incerta liceat tandem nobis ex hoc Labyrintho si non exire at certè evolare It is impossible saith he in such a perplexed Maze as this to find my way out fairly and orderly and therefore I hasten to get out how I can You hear in what humble and despairing Language they utter themselves And it is certain that the Persons who speak after this manner had great Insight into Philosophy and were the chief Favourites and Confidents of Nature It had been an easie thing for them to have pitched upon an Hypothesis and gone through with it against all Opposers and they had Credit and Authority enough to back what they had a mind to avow This was not the course they took but they suspended their Judgments and nothing but mighty Dissatisfaction and Amazement appear in their Writings and instead of being positive and decretory they confessed themselves Silenced and Puzzled These great Dictators in Philosophy would not be found in this odd posture if the matter of their disquisition were not some thing Extraordinary and Wonderfull nay if every thing in these Bodies were not Rare and Astonishing which is a demonstration that they were set up in the Heavens on purpose to call our Eyes to them that they were designedly placed there to create Wonder and to be taken notice of and that they are the Amazing Finger of God to the World But though the wisest and subtilest Heads were backward in giving an Account of the Natural Philosophy of Comets yet as you shall be convinced afterwards they are plain and peremptory in delivering their Opinions concerning the Effects Ends and Events of them the consideration of which is my next and indeed my Main Business Having then dispatch'd our Enquiry into the Matter Figure and other Properties of Comets I am to shew you in the Second Place that they carry in them the true Nature of Causes and Signs or as others are pleased to word it of Operative and Indicative Signs Some have stifly denied both these but I doubt not but I shall make it evident to any Considerative Man that they lie under a great Mistake I assert then that Comets signifie both Naturally and Arbitrarily that is in Themselves and likewise by Divine Institution Whether you consider them Physically or Theologically they are certain Indications and Signs of future Evils To prove them to be Causes or Operative Signs I will treat of them first Physically and here I will offer to you these two things 1. That they have a Connexion with the Nature of the things produced 2. That they are plain Representations and Resemblances of the things signified as Signs ought to be First I say They have some Agreement and Connexion with the Nature of those things of which they are said to be Omens And it is necessary that this be cleared unless we will step directly into Magick and Divination The things which lead us to the knowledge of future Events must have a Natural Connexion with the things they are said to point at or else they may justly be reckoned to be vain and Fantastick as Tully excellently proves the vanity of the Gentile Divination from this that those means which they used as the Bowels of Animals the Chattering of Birds and the like had no cognation and alliance with the fortuitous things the knowledge and foresight of which they pretended was acquired by them He shews that there is not any Consent or Sympathy between these things and thence concludes they are Cheats and Impostors And so here it may be justly asked Are future Evils produced by Comets as by their proper Causes What certain Connexion is there between those Calamities and these Apparitions so as that we should be able to gather from these that such effects will assuredly follow We are certain that the Philosophers of old thought there was some Affinity between them and that Comets were both Signs and Causes It is vouched by them once and again that great and vehement Winds and excessive Drougth are the Physical Effects of these Appearances 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they appear often they portend Winds and Drougth And immemediately after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they be frequently seen the years are remarkably Dry and Tempestuous Our Philosopher in his Natural Questions is of this persuasion and observeth that after Comets and he gives particular Instances great and continued Tempests accompanied with Earthquakes followed as the Natural Effects of them And not onely the Ancient but Modern Sages aver the same Thus the Learned Kepler lib. de Cometis and Cardan lib. de rerum varietate l. 1. c. 1. prove the Natural Effects of Comets and the latter of these is not confuted by his acute Opposer Scalig. Exercit 79. c. According to these it is no uneasie thing to make it evident how by the extraordinary and hurtfull Heat which is produced by a Comet both when it is in Sight and after its Extinction several other Evils are caused in a Natural way From the Air and Earth being infected how easie a consequence is there of Barrenness and unfruitfull Seasons If it once be admitted that Comets distemper and inflame the Air and exhaust the Succus of the Earth it will necessarily follow that a barren Soil and the corrupting and blasting of the fruits must be the Products of them And from these will naturally ensue Dearth Scarcity and Famine And as the inevitable Effect of both we must expect Sickness Diseases Mortality and more especially the sudden Death of many Great Ones because these are sooner and more easily hurt than others for their delicate Feeding and Luxurious course of Life and sometimes their great Cares and Watchings which weaken and infeeble their Bodies render them more obnoxious than the vulgar sort of People Hence it is that Comets may deservedly be said to presage the Death of mighty Monarchs and Princes to be Funeral Torches to light Kings to their Tombs And because by their noxious and infectious Irradiations Mens Bloud is apt to be heightned into Fevers and Calentures and all malignant Distempers and even into the most contagious Diseases the Consequence of a Raging Pestilence from a Comet is very easie and natural if not almost necessary Thus it is plain that the greatest and
most dreaded Calamities have a Dependence on these Prodigies and are the Real and Physical Effects of them And whereas it is Objected That the Effects of Comets as they are presented to us by those that treat of them are contrary to one another this is soon answered for that there should be Contrary Effects from the same Cause is no unusual thing in Philosophy wherefore great Inundations likewise no less than Drought may be the Product of these Causes for that intemperate Weather which the Flames of Comets beget causeth an extraordinary heap of Vapours and Exhalations to be drawn up which form themselves Naturally into Clouds and those Clouds in a short time must needs fall down in excessive Showres and immoderate Rains And it might be shewed also that great calms as well as Storms and Tempests Cold and Frost no less than extreme Heat may be the Effects i. e. secondary Effects of the same Cause Moreover It is no hard Enterprize to shew how Comets are the Causes of Civil and Political as well as Natural Events For from what hath been said before viz. that they portend the Death of Princes it follows that they probably Bode great Changes and Vicissitudes in Kingdoms in reference to Religion and other Matters for History abundantly informs us that these are oftentimes the Consequences of a new Prince's succeeding in the Throne Besides from the inflamed Spirits of Men caused by a distempered Air Wars and Tumults Broils and Seditions naturally proceed So that Comets have been the Causes and Forerunners not onely of great Storms and Concussions in the Air but of Turbulent and Tempestuous Seasons in the State of Confusion Massacres Slaughter Bloudshed and Mischiefs of all Dimensions both at home and from foreign Quarters These have been thought by men of sober Philosophy to have been the significations and Presages of Comets I will sum up all their Dire Effects in these plain Verses which I lately met with Dira Cometarum proles pestisque famésque Seditio regum foedera vincla neces Excidium patriae ventorum praelia morbi Insoliti caedes funera nulla fides Dissidium nubis tremulae telluris hiatus Fulgetra cum tonitru fulmineaeque faces Aestates siccae aut nimio mox imbre madentes Externo infuso milite vastus ager Dira locustarum volucrúmque examina regum Translata hostili sceptra videnda loco Abdacti ex patria populi civilia bella Diluvia pecorum non abolenda lues When once a direfull Comet spreads its Train Contagious Deaths and pining Famine reign Monarchs make Leagues to render Empire sure Sedition now keeps Gaols and Deaths in ure Countreys are Sack'd impetuous Storms arise And Bodies feel unheard-of Maladies Slaughter grows bold Faith seeing this expires The heated Clouds disclose their inbred Fires And now by Sympathy in Thunder groan Th' Earth Quakes and Trembles at the dismall Tone Heaven mourns in scorching droughts and then again Despairing weeps in lavish showres of Rain A foreign Foe in glittering Arms appears And dries up the poor Remnant of our Tears The Airy Region then displays its Host Of scarce-known Fowls which hover o'er the Coast. See next how Sceptres here and there are hurl'd And Regal Globes are tost about the World Some are led Captive to a Foreign Strand Whilst Wars at home afflict their Native Land Great Deluges come next and ' cause the Fate Is Vniversal from a Comet 's Date Not onely Men but Beasts must in it share Hence Rot and Murrain are the Cattels fare Such Effects as these may be expected from those Causes and I do not see why they may not be called Physical Events since they proceed from those as from Natural Causes and Agents Nor doth the eminently knowing Kepler dissent from this though when he speaks of the Comets that appeared in the Years 1607 and 1618. he holds they are the Causes of Disorders and Calamities here below by a certain kind of Sympathy which the Sublunary Elements have with the Heavenly Bodies for notwithstanding his expressing himself after that manner he means no other than what Aristotle Ptolemy Cardan and others did viz. That there is a Natural Connexion between Comets and those Evils which are seen to ensue them though it must be granted that these Portentous Sights are not Necessary Causes i. e. Those Dismall Effects do not certainly and infallibly follow them one is not necessarily and always the Product of the other of which more hereafter But that which I say and I think I have proved is this that they are commonly chained together like Natural Causes and Effects and that the Natural Power of those Causes is able to produce and generally doth actually produce such Effects and this is enough to prove them to be True Causes Secondly They are as Signs ought to be Plain Representations of the things signified We may learn from the very Make of Comets what they are designed for Their Figure is representative of that which is meant by them Sometimes they display themselves in the shape of Besoms as if they taught us by that homely Embleme what we ought to doe viz. to remove our Defilements and Pollutions not to say as if they were sent to tell a Nation that they shall be swept away and destroyed for their Sins How often without any help of Fancy doth this prodigious Light appear in the likeness and proportions of a Rod to acquaint us that it was designed to correct and discipline a froward People and that we ought to submit to it's Pedagogy When we see it at another time representing it self like a Torch or Flambeau how can we think otherwise than that it is sent to give more Light to the dark World or if it despise that to shew that it deserveth to be burnt up I know that all this will pass with some for mere moral Reflexions or divine Fancies It will be said that some devout Fools will make things to be like any thing they please But then I desire to know whether the old Pagan Philosophers were a sort of Religious Fools whether Seneca and Pliny whom I have often brought on the Stage especially the latter of them whose Writings let us understand he was one of Those Fools who say in their Heart there is no God whether These and all the profound Astronomers who have writ of the Figures of Comets and did it not to exercise their Fancies but to display their Judgments whether These I say were Religious and Fancifull Fools Untill this be Answered I proceed Who knows not that these strange Flames appear most commonly in the shape of Military Weapons and Instruments of War and Bloud You may see one appear like a Dart or Arrow another like a Lance or Spear a third bowed like a Warlike Horn or Trumpet as it were to sound an Allarm from Heavens a fourth in the figure of a Sword a known Weapon of Bloud and Slaughter The Head of This
a fit time for that sort of Meteors yet we know that they were designed to be marks of God's displeasure and Anger And the Holy Scripture informs us how at other times God hath created Awe and Terrour by them The Jews received their Law in Thunder and Lightning and on other occasions were affrighted into a remembrance of their Duty by the same means The voice of Thunder rouzes some stupid Souls into the serious belief of a Divine Power Coelo Tonantem credimus Iovem Nothing in Nature leaves such impressions of Fear as loud and repeated Thunderclaps Some Emperours who were in a manner Atheists and notwithstanding that which is strange made Themselves Gods yet used to Tremble at this horrible Allarm from Heaven and to confess a greater Power than themselves which is as much as to disown their Self-Divinity This made Caligula get under his Bed And Tiberius another of Iupiter's Brothers and Fellow-Gods was glad of his Chaplet of Laurel to secure him from Lightnings These few Instances above named are sufficient to convince us that the same things are not onely Natural Causes or Effects but that they signifie by God's Appointment And This may be applied to Comets which as they are produced themselves in a Natural way viz. from a Collection of matter in the Heavens though after some uncertain and unaccountable spaces of Time so they produce Effects in the same Natural course and yet God uses them as Tokens of his Wrath and appoints them to be Divine Signs and to Bode extraordinary things to come Which was the sense of one of the Writers of the Byzantine History 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Comets saith he which are seen in the Air are produced in a Natural way yet withall they proclaim the Deaths of Kings or other Illustrious Personages And for this he quotes St. Basil the great From which it is evident that the same Things may have certain and manifest Causes in Nature and are likewise appointed by the Authour of Nature to presignifie future Events so that it is possible not onely to attain to a Physical Knowledge of them but a kind of Divination But my main business at present is to make good this Latter and to prove that Comets are Signs of future Calamities ex Instituto Divino that it is God's Will and Pleasure they should signifie such things In order to this I will onely premise that God gives Notice before-hand by evident Tokens what he intends to doe afterwards supposing there be no Prevention by amendment of Mens Lives This is the meaning of the whole sixth Chapter of the Book of the Revelation which is an Account of the Opening of the Seals and sets before us the Forerunners of the Iudgments which were to follow And though it is presented in the way of a Vision yet if Mens Eyes were Open it would be seen to be the usual Method of the Most High in the World Accordingly I aver that Comets are Warnings and Harbingers of God's Wrath and Displeasure against the Wickedness of Mankind and also of the Effects of that Displeasure which are some ensuing calamities They are undeniable Arguments that there is some great Disorder in the World and that things are exceedingly amiss They are signal Testimonies that Sin and Vice are predominant for these are the onely things that provoke God to Anger Now those prodigious Appearances in the Heavens are fitted to this Purpose viz. of allarming us and giving Notice of ensuing Evils because they are both unusual and affrighting First As they are Rare and Unusual they are serviceable to this purpose For it happeneth it seems by the Make or rather the perverse Disposition of Humane Nature that what is common and frequent and according to the ordinary course of things is slighted by us and thence it is necessary that we should sometimes be surprized and extraordinarily moved by Objects that are rare and uncommon Sol spectatorem nisi cum deficit non habet Si quid turbatum est aut praeter consuetudinem emicuit spectamus interrogamus ostendimus Adeò Naturale est magis Nova quà m Magna mirari It is an Ecclipse that makes the Sun to be gazed at If we espie any thing that is strange and out of Order we presently stare at it we start many Queries about it we point at it and shew it to others So natural a thing is it become to admire what is Rare rather than what is Great But the Appearances we are speaking of are both Rare and Great and therefore doubly deserve to be taken notice of and to be made the Subject of our deepest Admiration Worthily did our Philosopher begin his Book of Comets with those excellent words Nemo usque eò tardus hebes demissus in terram est ut ad Divina non erigatur ac totâ mente consurgat utique ubi Novum aliquod è coelo Miraculum fulsit He must be a Sot indeed and sunk into the very Earth who doth not lift up his Soul to God and what is Divine and Heavenly as soon as he beholds such a miraculous Apparition as a Comet Again These great Bodies are Affrighting and that on a double account First The Rarity of them which I before spoke of makes them so For to what purpose are these unusual Spectacles shewn by God to the World To what end are these strange Shapes set before us There are innumerable Lights of Heaven of an entire round Figure which we constantly behold but what mean these which appear but seldom with fiery Scrolls or flaming Labells issuing from them It is downright sottishness to think that these are set up for vain shews and useless sights It is unworthy of Providence to defend this But it is highly reasonable to think that they are appointed by God to affright and terrifie the World to denounce future Judgments and to forewarn Men of the Wrath to come and to let them expect the emptying of the Vials of God's Anger upon them Secondly Their Posture and Figure as hath been partly suggested already render them Terrible They have such a Frame and Shape given them by God as is apt to stir up Fear and Dread You have read in what Images they appear And though I know it may be said that there are other Shapes besides those I mentioned which are not danting and affrighting yet as those Bodies themselves are Irregular and Monstrous and of a Figure different from all the Luminaries of Heaven they are on that score Terrible And you may remember that all the Phaenomena belonging to Comets of which I have given a particular Narrative breed an unspeakable amazement and Consternation Wherefore are these strange Lights hung up so high in the great and spatious Theatre of Heaven but that all Eyes should behold them and tremble at them In short the Eternal Being looks angrily upon the World in the Blaze of a Comet If it be asked Why God gives Warning
any one shall still urge the Question and ask me Where are we told that these Comets and Prodigies are Divine Signs I Answer We are told so directly in the Infallible and Holy Book by one who was an accurate Observer of the Works of God Thou hast given saith he a Banner or a Sign a Token unto them that fear thee Psal. 60. 4. Thou O God who are mercifull to all Mankind but in a special manner to those who fear and serve thee art pleased to give warning of approaching Evils and as it were to hold up a Signal that thy Servants may be admonished to avoid the impendent Danger even when hardned sinners are overtaken and crushed with it Such a Banner was that which appeared to Constantine the Great presaging as Victory to his Army so Confusion to that of his Enemies Such a Signal and Token is every Bearded Light that sheweth it self in the Heavens though 't is difficult to bring some prejudiced minds to believe it I answer again that the Scripture expresly abetts this Doctrine in the 28th of Deuteronomy where Moses or rather God threatens the People that if they will not observe to doe all his Commandments all these Curses shall come upon them viz. Scarcity Famine Drought Pestilence Sword Blasting c. Now these Calamities are the signs of God's Wrath for they are denounced and threatned here as such whence it undeniably follows that the Causes and Procurers of them which I have proved Comets to be are no less the Signs and Marks of the Divine Displeasure for no rational Man can deny that the Cause here must be of the same nature with the Effect So then these Menaces and Threatnings in Scripture prove those Appearances to be Significative and that they are appointed by God to portend evil Tidings to the World You see then what it is I defend viz. That Comets are Signs of approaching Calamities and Monitors of God's Anger to Mankind If upon some difficulties which might be alledged I should be induced to wave the one yet I persuade my self the other is impregnable But I have proved both especially the latter which I most insist upon And I may lawfully without being over-bold conclude from the Premisses that these extraordinary Lamps of Heaven are presages of future Evil and that God hath instituted and impowered them for that end I have now dispatched my Second Task and in that I have partly prevented my self as to the Third which I propounded which was to shew what abundant Suffrage my Assertion hath from all ranks of Writers But now I will purposely pursue that Undertaking and I will be the shorter in it because I have done so much towards it already That it may appear then that I maintain no Paradox and that I dote not on an Opinion by my self I will let you see that what I have offered concerning the Presages and dreadfull Effects of Comets is the Sense of the Wise and Judicious and if Authority be an Argument we must needs close with the side I have taken Let the Poets stand forth first who were the Earliest Philosophers Naturalists Astronomers nay the first Divines and therefore Competent Judges in the Case The Prince of Poets and therefore I will begin with him enumerating the several Prodigies which fore-signified the Death of Iulius Caesar and the Civil Wars which afterwards followed makes this Remark among the rest Nec diri toties arsere Cometae Never so many cursed Lights Were seen before to plague the nights And in another Book Cometae Sanguinei lugubrè rubent These Comets blush in Gore to think What Deluges of Bloud they drink Marcus Manilius an Ancient Poetick Astrologer who lived in Caesar Augustus his days and dedicated his Books of Astronomy to him relates the dismal Effects of Comets in the close of the First Book of his excellent Poem Nunquam futilibus excanduit Igninibus aether With Lights of such a fiery train The Heavens never burnt in vain And then he proceeds to particularize the horrid Effects of them Squalidáque elusi deplorant arva coloni Et steriles c. And afterwards Quin bella canunt Ignes subitóque Tumultus Et clandestinis surgentia fraudibus Arma. It would be too tedious an Employment to transcribe all or to translate any thing in that place The affrighting and fatal nature of Comets is excellently deciphered by Silius Italicus who flourished in Vespatian's time in these words though he brings them in by way of Comparison Crine ut flammifero terret fera regna Cometes Sanguineum spargens Ignem vomit atra rubentes Fax coelo radios saevâ Luce coruscum Scintillat sidus terrÃque extrema minatur As when a Comet with its flaming Beard Appears at which the fiercest Realms are scar'd Scattring abroad its bloudy Fire and soon The Heavenly Torch being more dismal grown Vomits out deeper-coloured Flakes and then Having Disgorged thus clears up again And shines with Brisker but more cruel Light Threatning the World with Death and its last night Though I know some will have this spoken of Three several sorts of Appearances and they hold that a Comet cannot be said Scintillare as fixed Stars do according to that of Cornelius Gemma Nullus Cometarum unquam visus est Scintillante lumine visum ferire sed tristis semper lugubris tranquillo effluvio But I onely Reply that Poets do not speak like Philosophers The same Person relating the Prodigies that foreran the horrible Slaughter at the Battel of Cannae speaks directly and positively Non unus Crine Corusco Regnorum Eversor rubuit Lethale Cometes See! Sholes of Comets their bright Tresses wave Blushing to send whole Kingdoms to their Grave Another giving an account of the Portentous Sights that appeared before the Civil Wars which happened between Caesar and Pompey adds this black Character of a Comet Crinémque Timendi Sideris terris mutantem Regna Cometen Lo at it s wild dishevel'd Hair Kingdoms run mad and Statesmen stare I might add Claudian's Cometes Prodigiale rubens And again Et nunquam coelo spectatum impunè Cometem And Tibullus his Belli mala signa Cometen That likewise of another Astronomical Poet Apparere solent Regalia Fata Cometae A Comet in the Heavens burns To light great Monarchs to their Vrns. I might add to these a piece of venerable Antiquity viz. part of the Sybills Verses now they may deservedly be called Oracles which speak of the Signs and Presages of future Distresses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Look what Strange Lights do mount the Hemisphere And in the Skies what Bearded Flames appear Sure Omens ever of a Labouring State Of bloudy Battels and a Hostile Fate And in another place l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What can these blazing Tapers else portend But Sword and Famine
that Learned French Physician his Judgment and Practice in this case are well known I question not but the carefull observing and due attending of the Times of the Heavenly Aspects and Influences are very usefull in Physick though now that course be laid aside generally by Practitioners A Third End of these Lights in the Heavens is to be for Days and Years v. 14. that is by the constant Motion of these Bodies Time is measured and numbred by these Time is divided and distinguished into greater and lesser portions as Years Months Weeks Days Hours c. By these we keep an account of our Actions we call to mind reckon compute forecast we understand the duration of Beings the certain Intervalls and distances of things the Ages and Generations of the World which is of singular Use in Man's Life Their Fourth Use is to divide the Day from the Night v. 14. or as it is said afterwards v. 18. to divide the Light from the Darkness and to rule over the Day and over the Night These Heavenly Bodies by their Setting and Rising cause Light and Darkness and consequently are the Authours of the successive Returns of Day and Night to us This is set them as an immoveable and never failing constitution and therefore is styled the Covenant of the Day and Night Ier. 33. 20. and the Ordinance of Heaven Ier. 31. 35 36. And under This Vse of the Heavenly Bodies is comprehended their Warming and Chearing Virtue especially of the Sun which brings to us Day and This together and of which the great Observer of God's Works thus speaketh There is nothing bid from the heat thereof and also their fructifying generative and prolifick Faculty whereby they may justly be said to Rule and bear sway in the World The Fifth and Last Use of these glorious Lights in the firmament of Heaven and which is the use of them wherein we are most concerned at present is to signifie something to the World Let them be for Signs v. 14. And in the place before commented upon they are called the Signs of Heaven Which an Astronomical Poet expresseth thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here then may Business is to shew how they are said to be for Signs or What it is that they signifie to the World Accordingly I assert that they signifie three forts of Occurrences viz. Natural Civil and Divine First They give notice to us of Natural things as Rain or Drought Storms or Calms Heat or Cold Winter or Summer with the other Seasons of the Year the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea Plenty or Scarcity of the Fruits of the Earth in short the Change of Weather and Alteration of the temper of the Elements These are signified by the Sun 's Rising or Setting with such and such Stars or Constellations by the Access or Recess of the Planets to and form the Sun and among themselves This it seems is a thing which was thought worthy to be mentioned by a Divine Pen-man for he biddeth the Rebellious Jews seek him that maketh the Seven Stars and Orion i. e. God who by the Appearing of these and other Constellations at certain times gives notice of the different Seasons of the Year And this was a way of speaking which well became Amos the Herdsman who had been used to keep his Cattel and watch in the Fields all Night and there had leisure and opportunity to observe how the several Seasons were ushered in by these Lamps of Heaven But hear what another inspired Searcher into the Heavenly Bodies saith of the great Creatour viz. that He maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the Chambers of the South That is he maketh the Year the Parts of which are signified and known by the rising of these Constellations for Arcturus or the Bear 's Tail a Star of the first Magnitude in the Northern Hemisphere is said to arise in Autumn Orion a Southern Constellation made up of many splendent Stars arises in Winter It is called Nimbosus Orion by Virgil and is accordingly deemed by Astrologers to be the Cause of great Storms and Tempests It s name in Hebrew is Kesil whence perhaps the Month Kisleu among the Jews which answers to November had its denomination this Constellation rising in that Month. And by the bye let me shove in this Criticism when we reade that the same word Kesil signifies a Fool as in Solomon's Proverbs and other places we need not wonder that a Constellation which causes Change of Weather gives name to a foolish light and unconstant Person The Pleiades or Seven Stars arise in the Spring And Iob makes mention of the Chambers of the South which perhaps are the Stars which arise in the Summer and so the four several Quarters of the Year are set down Aratus and Hyginus and other Ancients discourse of this kind of Prognosticks Of these Philo the Jew speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Stars were made not onely to enlighten the Earth but to be signs of future Accidents i. e. as he there explaineth himself of different Seasons of Weather Which is his meaning in another Treatise where he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Signs of all these things that you see upon Earth are set up and erected in the Heavens And I am mistaken if the Learned Father speaketh not of these Prognosticks when he telleth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Observation of the Luminaries of Heaven is usefull and even necessary for Man's Life unless People will beyond measure and with an unlawfull curiosity search into the Signs which those Bodies afford us Secondly These Heavenly Bodies were created not onely to signifie Natural things but Humane and Civil Occurrences and these either Private or Publick the Concerns of Families or Kingdoms All sorts of Actions and Events whether good or evil or indifferent may at one time or other be partly discerned from the Observation of the Natural and usual Motions of the Host of Heaven For though I cannot make out the dependence and affinity between them and these as of Effects and Causes and though the Knowledge which is gained thence is usually uncertain yet I cannot assert with the boldness which I see others do that there are no Natural Effects following from such Positions and Situations of the Stars but I have reason to believe on the contrary that their various Motions and Aspects are in some measure Significant Let us consider then that the Seven Planets are always in one or other of the Twelve Signs or which is the same thing they are directly under some part of the Zodiack which is divided into 12 parts in all or to speak plainer yet the Wandring Stars move under some particular fixed ones and the mutual Habitude which those have to one another as they are placed under these or as Artists speak as they move through these Signs causeth several Aspects And these Aspects are either Right or Collateral
Power and too exorbitant a Regency is ascribed to those Bodies This is done when such an Agency and Virtue is given to them by us as is prejudicial and derogatory 1. To God's universal Power and Government 2. To the Agency of Man's Will And 3. To the Concurrence of other Causes In these Three the Judicious Reader will find the whole Abuse of Astrology as to this latter extreme of it summ'd up For they who immeasurably and proudly brag of this Science defend the Stars to be as it were Divine Agents or that they are instead of God and they go so far as to destroy the native or acquired Freedom of Man's Faculties and they exclude all other Causes but the Stars from having a share in mens Actions On the Contrary if we would avoid the excess and Extravagancy of Astrology if we would correct so wild a Folly we must let God Man's Will and Ioynt Causes have their due place First I say Astrology is shame fully abused when Men attribute such a Power to the Heavenly Bodies as to deny God's Government and Superintendency or which is all one when they deprive God of his Sovereign Power and Dominion to give it to the Stars Some of the High-flown of this Faculty have been guilty of excluding the Divine Providence and Concourse whilst they have defended the Influence or rather Efficiency of the Celestial Powers This is a kin to that Pagan Persuasion That these Bodies have a certain Divinity in them and that they fatally and necessarily act upon us Hence the Chaldeans and others offered Sacrifice to the Stars and expected all good or evil from them which is making them Gods The Epicureans held that every one had his proper Star as a peculiar Daemon or Numen And not onely the Gentiles but Iews polluted themselves with the Worship of the Host of Heaven Manasses being their chief Perverter herein 2 Chron. 33. 3. But if some who pretend to Astrological Studies are not directly guilty of this as I cannot prove they are yet they act almost as profanely whilst they extravagantly and impiously extoll the Power of those Bodies above even so far as to deny God to be the principal Moderatour and Disposer of all Affairs and whilst they assert that extraordinary and preternatural Events and such as depend wholly on God's mere Pleasure and have no Relation at all to natural and common Causes are the Effects of the Motions and Aspects of the Stars and might have been foretold and prognosticated by them A most Intolerable Arrogance and Blasphemy For though I have above granted and am always ready to grant what is Reason and good Sense that God may and doth make use even of natural Instruments in the production of supernatural Effects yet this is a thing that is exceeding rare and then also it is impossible that these Arbitrary Effects should be foretold by any Knowledge that Men have of the Stars But there are some supernatural Effects and Productions which depend not in the least on second Causes but are wrought by God himself without the assistence of Instruments or any Means nay even in defiance of all Secondary Causes as most of the Miracles of the Old and New Testament and these could never be prognosticated by the Stars And therefore the Insolency and Impiety of those is to be abhorred who have told the World in Print that the Judgment of God in the Deluge of old and all the Appearances of Angels afterwards and the Prophesies and Wondrous Dispensations to the Jewish People were from the particular Influence and Operation of the Stars at those Times and that all Christ's Actions Life and Death and consequently our Redemption depended on the Figure of the Heavens at his Nativity in short that Christianity itself was beholding to the Constellations that the Gospel was indebted to the Aspects of the Stars and that all things of Religion are from the Position of the Heavens If the Reader pleaseth to cast his Eye on the Margent he will see that this cursed Doctrine was patronized not onely by professed Atheists but by great Divines and Church-men but let not that offend him for they were such as belonged to that Church which is said by some to be the Nurse of Atheism and Profaneness witness the swarms of Atheists in Italy and the adjacent Countries But sober Reason as well as Religion will inform us that the things before named are above the power of Nature and therefore out of the reach of Astrology This Art hath nothing to doe with supernatural Events with the Divine Oeconomy and God's immediate Will and Pleasure And though in respect of things of another Nature I grant the Heavenly Bodies to have an Influence yet this must be remembred that they cannot Act without the Almighty's Order He telleth the number of the Stars and calleth them all by their Names i. e. He hath the full Command and Disposal of them It is no Dream but a Reality that the Sun Moon and Stars come and bow down and make Obeysance to Him Which indeed is after the rate of the sober Philosophy of the Stoicks viz. That the First Cause is not tied to the Stars These are subject to the Prime and Omnipotent Being who can suspend their Influences whensoever He pleaseth This I suppose is the meaning of what the Hebrew Doctors tell us God said to Abraham in Chaldaea when he studied Judiciary Astrology there Abraham egredere de Astrologia tua nullum enim est sidus Israeli Trouble not thy self about the Stars for there is not one of them can be unlucky to Israel And on this consideration it might be made evident that no man can be Positive in foretelling future Events by the Stars Secondly Astrology is abused and perverted by those who attribute such a Power and Sovereignty to the Heavenly Bodies as whereby they destroy the liberty of mans Will and introduce a kind of fatal Necessity whereupon they ground the certainty of their Prognostications For these men fondly hold that we are all fatally tied to the Stars whereas Man being a free Agent it is folly to imagine that his Will can be constrained This faculty remaineth Arbitrary and Unconsined and therefore no Artist can Divine what the Acts and Exertments of it shall be It is true that Reason and Wisedom have the Dominion but in few Men. The Generality are led by their sensitive and brutish part which is immediately Subject to the Influence of the Heavens But it is not impossible nay it is easie by the aid of Divine Grace and by a resolute Resisting to avoid their Operation upon us Prayers and Endeavours frustrate the Stars for their Influence is not inevitable so as to force any Man's Will and hereupon it is undeniably consequent that voluntary Actions cannot be Infallibly foretold I have shewed already that Supernatural Actions cannot be predicted by the Stars Now I believe it will as palpably appear that Free