primary Qualities residing in them by the conjunction of the Elements and so under the Mask of Qualities which they could not tell what to make of couch all ignorance of Bodies their Causes if not Effects Democritus and his People impute nothing to Qualities but all to Figure and Motion called the Atomical Physiology For my part I think neither Opinion right yet a middle between both may be true I shall consider both Opinions and then give my Reasons against both and for the middle one As for the Pyrrhonian Doctrine of Qualities 't is too trifling to merit an Answer I might introduce this Question with a great deal of pomp and shew that it hath been a Controversie in the world for above Two Thousand Years that it hath exercised the greatest Men and that it is not yet determined But I shall think my self happy enough if I can put an end to this Debate without any other consideration The Method I propose to take I think differs from those that have gone before me for I intend to speak of the Creation of the First Matter and Universal Form and shew how from the various Union of these Two various Qualities arise But it would be too Magisterial to reject Opinions without shewing their Mistakes I shall therefore endeavour to shew the Error of these two Parties and then substitute what I conceive more true As to the Aristotelian that of Occult Qualities 't is Ignotum per Ignotius a thing is hot or cold bitter or sweet because of some Quality in it and what is that Quality 'T is Occult that is in plain English 't is so because it is so But the most that can be made of this Notion of Qualities may amount to this That there is a Form or Vital Principle latent or occult in all Bodies that not only retains and keeps the Parts together be the Genus or Species what it will and so distributes it self to all the Members performing the Office of Life but is the Specifick Formal Cause of all those Qualities with which Bodies abound be they those of Sweet Bitter Sharp c. or Hot and Cold in their several degrees Which Form being a Vital Principle is invisible and therefore occult as Lucretius holds Ex insensilibus ne credas sensile gigni Nimirum Lapides Ligna c. ' Of things unseen things visible are made ' As Stones and Wood and all things that do fade But this I conceive cannot be for though Galtruchius tells us in justification of this Doctrine That there is an actual Modification and Determination of the Form to the Matter I would fain know what particular Quality can a Form have that enters passive Matter Where can it receive before it enters Matter such a Specification For notwithstanding what Pliny saith of the Planet Venus that she scatters a Prolifick Dew which is but general and what the Astrologers say of the particular Influences of each Planet I desire to know who can distinguish the Influences of Saturn from Jupiter Mars from Venus and so of the rest except that of Sol The Sun indeed melts Wax but hardens Clay but this diversity of effect proceeds from the difference of the Object not of the Agent for the Agent is always one and the same tho' varied according to the passive Matter that receives it 'T is not therefore the Form alone that gives or is the Quality in the Body for as the Body was scatter'd Atoms loose and insipid till its parts being collected constituted by virtue of the Form a mixt Body so was its Form simple and undetermin'd till bound down and tied to the Body Now for the Atomical Physiology of Leucippus Democritus and Epicurus which is now called the New by what Figure I know not How can meer Matter which in it self loose and scattered is insipid i. e. in its parts hath no Taste for what Taste have the uncompounded Bodies of Atoms void of Qualities when put together by the clinging of its Atoms the emanation of its Particles or imagine what other way you please acquire a particular Taste or give a particular Odor Nil dat quod non habet may hold well enough here That which it had not in its Parts it can never have in the whole I speak of the same undetermin'd Matter for I know that Bodies of different Natures when conjoyn'd obtain Qualities by Fermentation which neither had a part besides if Atoms by their Position and Figure or by the manner of the flowing forth of their Particles do give a Taste and Smell c. these Atoms are so very small that the Body though separated into many Parts yet must retain notwithstanding the Figure of the Atoms the Atoms being too minute to have their Angles and Points cut off by a small division of the Body and consequently the Parts of the Body must have the same Taste and Odor when divided as before if the Qualities that are perceived by the Organs of Taste and Smelling be wholly owing to Matter i. e. to the figuration of the Atoms But this daily Experience evinces the contrary for Bodies divided or but a little opened as Plants and Fruit c. lose in a little time both their Taste and Smell and yet no one can say that the points or angles of the Atoms were disfigured or the Emanation of their Particles obstructed since great Proportions were left untouched But Galtruchius affirms Matter to be previously disposed to such a Form by a Temperament of Qualities But how can this be Are not Qualities the Effect of Life in every Body what needs there then a Form where there is Life before The Qualities therefore of Odor and Taste cannot proceed from the configuration of the Atoms Now if neither the Form gives the Quality of it self for the Form as I have shewn before is simple a vital Air undetermin'd nor the passive Matter though Atomical as I have shewn here and yet all Bodies have Qualities they must proceed from the Union of both and not from any distinct Cause in either So the Spirit of Nitre and Salt Armoniack apart have no Qualities or Power to dissolve or rather corrode Gold but united do it effectually 4. This brings me to the Fourth and last Thing I intend to speak to and that is How the Earth comes to be filled with variety of Bodies abounding with different qualities Since I propose here to treat of the Original of Qualities I must of necessity speak of the First Matter and its Formation and that leads me naturally to consider the first Creation which I shall do as briefly as possibly I can I shall not cite the various Opinions of the several Sects of Philosophers that treat of the World's beginning tho' some thought it had none this would look more like Shew than Use which I have no Temptation to do since I write for Pleasure not for Bread Besides for Philosophy's sake I shall omit it for there is
Plant and infuse it into the Body of another And thus Van Suchten and the acuter sort of Chymists tell us may be done with Metals But what need we fly to Laborious Art for the proof of this Does not sagacious Nature afford Instances enough of this sort in divers Places witness the petrefying Baths at Buda Glashitten and Eisenbach in Hungary that turn Wood and Iron into Stone and the Venereal Mine at Hern-grunat near Neusol where by leaving Iron in the Vitriolate Water for Fourteen Days it is transmuted into excellent Copper better and more ductil than the Natural But enough of this I have done with Pythagoras and shall touch now on Four Things 1. I shall speak somewhat to the duration of Bodies 2. Examine some Principles and Elements generally received 3. Compare some Aristotelian Hypotheses with those of Democritus 4. Having already shewn how variety of Plants and Metals are now generated in the Earth from the Diversity of Salts c. I will endeavour to shew how the Earth comes to be filled with such variety of Bodies abounding with different Qualities First As to the Duration of Bodies Bodies after the sensitive Spirit has left them and before their resolution into Dust have a sort of Vegetable Life remaining in them as appears by the growth of Hair and Nails that may be perceived in dead Bodies and a weak Animal one that lurks in the Moisture whence in Putrefaction Worms and divers sorts of Insects may be generated who dying others of another sort arise If therefore Bodies obtain this sort of Immortality not to speak of the Resurrction of the Body in a Philosophical Discourse why should it be denied to the Spirit which hath a much greater Right to it by the pure and incorrupt lasting Nature of its Essence But I shall advance the Nature of Bodies to a much more unmixt and pure Immortality For the Radical Moisture of Bodies that lies in the Bones may justly challenge a Right as things now are to an eternal duration For not to mention Bones that are found entire after a Thousand Years Burial nor the Bodies of Egyptian Mummies preserved whole for several Thousand Years there is in the Bones a Radical Moisture that is fix'd and permanent and is so far from giving way or suffering loss by that Element that is the Destroyer of mix'd Bodies that it is the Vessel made use of to purge the fix'd Metals in the Fire and remains unhurt when the volatil Metals fly away so that none of the Elements can destroy it no not the most torrid Vulcan Now for mix'd Bodies Fire indeed may separate the Parts of a mix'd Body change the Figure and so alter its Appearance as to puzzle the best Mechanick to reduce it to its primitive state yet this is no Annihilation but Division The burning of Wood or any Fuel is a Destruction of it I confess as to the Proprietor but not with respect to the Universe no more than there is less Money in the World by the Profuseness of a Prodigal as the one doth but change Hands so the other alters only the situation of its Parts The Watery or Mercurial Part of the Wood passeth away in Smoak the Oily or Sulphurous in Flame and the Body of Salt rests in the Ashes The Air preserves the two former and the Earth retains the latter each part returns to its native Country What then can destroy this Body except the First Cause I am yet to learn For though Bone-Ashes by reason of Moisture may flow and become Glass the ultimate end and use of them yet so glorious a lightsome body as that of Glass is rather an exaltation of its Essence than diminution of its Excellency nor does it give any termination to its Being but only a change to its Figure If Culinary Fire destroys the Parts of the Universe in time it may the whole But this is inconsistent with the Wisdom of its Maker to create Principles destructive of one another The Light of Nature as well as Experience taught Plato that the World was not destroyable by any other Cause but by the same God who composed it which the Eternal can easily do by Fire according as Things now appear without the Light of Holy Writ Which makes me wonder that Aristotle Zenophanes and other Great Men did not see this but thought the World of necessity as Eternal as God for though the Heat of the Sun is now tolerable between the Tropicks yet he that considers its being a little multiplied by a concave Glass even in our Meridian though its Rays pass through a vast Region of Water rarefied if reflected on a Man for some time it will scorch and destroy him when the volatil Waters that allay his Heat become fixed which the People think now are and a Philosopher knows may easily be then the Sun having no Cloud to obstruct his Light nor any Water to cool the scorching Heat of his Rays will necessarily burn up and calcine the Earth Thus the very Elements would destroy us did not the Eternal by his Providence defend us from the Heat by the interposition of the Waters and from the Chilness of the Waters by impregnating them with a Solar Heat whose invisible congealed Spirit saith one of the Learned Magi is more valuable than the whole Earth Clementissimo itaque infinitae sint Laudes Secondly As to Principles and Elements being to speak of these it will not be amiss to enquire how and when these came into the World The Study of Natural Philosophy was as early in the world as Men came to call upon God For whatever Appearances God made to the Antediluvian Patriarchs and by that means communicated his Divine Will and Nature to them yet we cannot suppose that the World in general had any other Light of the Divine Glory and Majesty than what came to them by Tradition and the Contemplation of the several Parts of the Universe for God is known by his Works they are the Witnesses of his Wisdom Power and Goodness The Knowledge of these Works comes not to Mankind at least generally by Inspiration but by exerting our Faculties And as for Tradition that is apt to make but a weak impression on thinking Men unless it is back'd with Reason But besides though the Creation of the World was a Tradition and the manner out of Chaos yet to give an account of the Phaenomena of Things and the manner now of Nature's Productions could not be a Tradition This was left to Man as the proper exercise of his Rational Powers that by improving and advancing his Thoughts he might come to have a clearer Light and Knowledge of God and consequently love him the more intensely for it is almost impossible to have a true knowledge of God and not to be inflamed with Love of him such is the Purity and Perfection of the Divine Nature When Men therefore began to contemplate the works of God they found all
true Pitch I must confess when I consider the Lives not only of the Cynicks but others of the Pagan Philosophers and to what a Noble Height they advanced their Minds meerly by the due exercise of their Understandings how meanly and contemptibly they looked upon sensual Pleasures to that degree that the former trampled upon Riches and Honour as vile things Antisthenes the Father of them saying he had rather be mad than given to Sensuality and Heraclitus contemn'd his Body esteeming it as Dross taking care for the Cure only as God should command him to use it as an Instrument and this not as a sudden Fit or Passion or Declamation of Wit but as a setled Principle rooted in their minds and exerting its Fruit and Effects in their Lives I blush both for my self and other Christians to think how impetuously we pursue the things of this Life and how coldly those of a better It may be enough to make a Christian asham'd even in Heaven to see Hermes Pythagoras Socrates Plato and the whole Crowd of vertuous Heathens there bearing the Honourable Badges of Mortification and the Noble Scars of Reproach and Wounds for Vertue 's sake as a Sacrifice pleasing to God whilst the Christian at a distance beholding in himself the Marks only of Professing his Religion where there was no danger in the doing it and having received much gave a little and lov'd with Sincerity and yet how few are there reach this Pitch What Christian is there from the Debauchee to the Professor that conquers a Lust subdues a Passion or resists a charming Temptation Christi gratia If the Lascivious grows chaste 't is not because his mind is changed but his Spirits are weak and his Blood low But how did Socrates of fierce and cholerick become calm and sedate by Philosophy And can Philosophy do more than Christianity But why do I say this to you my Dear Friend who know all this and your own Merits too or you would want Judgment and are yet contented in a low Sphere grateful to the Almighty under a narrow Fortune whilst you see others that set no Bounds to their Actions with a mean Understanding acquire Riches and Honour I know it is easie for the Rich to speak fine things of a low state what Physick it is to the mind and how it reduces the Fever in the Soul to a good Temper But for a man that is generous in his Nature which Plato tells us is the best kind of Nobility and who would embellish his mind with all the Useful Knowledge and Learning that can be had to be stopped in this commendable Ambition against the Career of his Desires and to acquiesce requires the Philosophy of an humble mind which is often a stranger to the Learned This is more difficult than to conquer Kingdoms Fortior est qui se You are therefore the truly great Hero I have chose to defend this Essay which tho' it has been disbelieved by all because not considered by the learned nor understood by the Vulgar you will do neither by the dazling splendor of a bright Star and Garter nor the clashing and thundering Noise of Swords and Guns nor by your ten Thousands but by the soft Voice of Reason and Philosophy which is more valuable to the Wise and Vertuous Adieu Dear Sir and may you enjoy a calm and serene Mind flat and languishing towards the World but active and vigorous and full of Hopes towards Heaven May the Light of Wisdom and Knowledge fill you full of all Joy and Ecstasie and as no Variation of Fortune has or ever shall alienate my Affections from you so let ' no Disappointment abate your Zeal for the Honour of our most Munificent Benefactor for whom you can never do too much since He always chuseth best for us and never denies us but for our greater Good I am what Words need not express Your Affectionate Servant Whitelocke Bulstrode THE PREFACE TO THE READER I Writ this Essay for my own Satisfaction and Use and now publish it to vindicate the Honour of Pythagoras whom though I would not with the Heathen Deifie for his eminent Works yet I would defend him from the Calumny of the World so unjustly cast upon him as the Author of an erroneous Doctrine This is a Tribute all Men that pretend to Letters to which I do the least owe him that has advanced Learning especially to Pythagoras who seems to have been a Treasury of Knowledge and that Fountain that watered the Grecian Empire with all that Learning they afterwards boasted Nor were his Morals less refin'd than his Knowledge was eminent and his Wisdom was equal to both so that should I give an Account of his Life how careful he was to subdue all sensual Passions how temperate in his Diet Cloaths and Sleep how indefatigable to improve and adorn his Mind with all the Knowledge that was to be attained how zealous to promote the Honour of God and the Good of Man how careful to reflect on the Errors of the Day and in short to advance all Vertue and depress Vice 't would put most of us out of countenance to be so much out-done by a Heathen The Vindication therefore of so good and great a Person I hope will not be thought impertinent But besides that I propose to manifest this Opinion not only as Orthodox Philosophical amongst the Ancients but as True and Evident in Nature Though were it only a speculative Notion and of no Use as for me it should have slept in eternal Shades but in regard it acquaints us in its full Latitude with the various Operations of God the Generation and Dissolution of all Created Beings under Heaven i. e. the Animal Vegetable and Mineral the Accesses and Recesses of Life it self it is a Subject not so mean as to be despised though it may be here but indifferently handled Epicurus who has defin'd Happiness well places it in the Tranquillity of the Mind and Indolence of the Body To attain this he makes Physicks as necessary as Ethicks for without knowing the Causes of Things Fear and Doubts perplex the Mind and disturb that Quiet which is necessary to Happiness I am sure it is the Duty of all Men that have Capacity and Opportunity to look into the Works as well as Word of God The Heathens had no other Book to read the Majesty Wisdom and Power of God in it was the Heavens that declared to them as well as the inspired King his Glory Nor does the Knowledge of God's moral Government of the World supersede the Consideration of his Natural the latter being as worthy our Admiration and Praise as the former is of our Love and Affection 'T is true God has in nothing so intensely exhibited his Love to Mankind as in giving his Son nor can Man receive a greater Honour than by being the Temple of the Divine Mind The Consideration of which may well strike us with Astonishment the Favour is
then their Excellency would be very manifest 〈◊〉 that has seen the perpetual Light to which they have been advanced by Dissolution does know what place 〈◊〉 merit in this Life 〈◊〉 were the operation as easie 〈◊〉 the Reason is evident no ingenious Man would be without it For my part I own myself herein only Un 〈◊〉 yet he that is not able to 〈◊〉 a Bow may yet give 〈◊〉 Wherefore to this I conceive there is need of an homogeneous Agent defecated from all Impurity and impregnated with a Metalline Sulphur the former found in the House of Gemini the latter in that of Aries by the benign Influences of Libra and Aquarius But let none but the Happy pretend to this He that can retire and enjoy the Freedom of Horace his Countryman Beatus ille qui procul negotiis Ut prisca gens mortalium Paterna rura bobus exercet suis Solutus omni foenore c. Happy the Man from toilsome cares set free Who does regain Man's ancient Liberty Ploughing his Ground with Oxen of his own By Parents left 's free from Usurious Loan To this Freedom of Thought there is necessary a Knowledge of all Nature a plentiful Fortune and above all a wise and a Learned Friend Qui publicis 〈◊〉 bus Muneribus funguntur 〈◊〉 privatis necessariis 〈◊〉 cupationibus jugiter incumbunt 〈◊〉 summum hujus Philosophiae 〈◊〉 contendant Totum enim 〈◊〉 illa desiderat 〈◊〉 possedet Possessum ab omni 〈◊〉 longo negotio vendicat 〈◊〉 omnia aliena reputans flocci 〈◊〉 They who are 〈◊〉 tigued with Publick Honours and Employments or have continual Avocations of private domestick Affairs let them not pretend to the Heights of this Philosophy for she requires the whole Mind which obtain'd she keeps and retains him from all tedious Business teaching him to slight all Things else as Trifles This is an Eternal Bar to such as my self who am bow'd down to an Employment of daily Attendance Me Miserum Well may the Qualifications above be thought necessary since besides the Fineness and Acuteness of Mind there is required Herculean Labour Non viribus ullis Vincere nec duro poteris convellere fern This to attain no Steel 〈◊〉 any Force Nor French Dragoons 〈◊〉 Missionary Horse For 't is so difficult that 〈◊〉 tells us Mars being imprisoned by Neptune's Son Thirteen Months in a Dungeon could scarce be set 〈◊〉 by Juno's help though assisted by Hermes himself 〈◊〉 meaning whereof when have told you that Mars the Son of Juno and she the Metallick Nature is too obvious to need an Explanation for a Surcharge is nauseous to the Mind of an Ingenious Man Now to remove all Objections to the Foundation of this Opinion of Pythagoras and what is superadded It may be asked How doth it appear that the Heavenly Bodies bestow an Influence or Universal Spirit on the Earth Why may not the Earth it self be impregnated ab initio with Seed enough to hold out for all Species to the end of the World That the Heavenly Bodies move and transmit Heat we Both see and feel Nay this Heat beyond the Tropicks is so intense and powerful that with us collected by a concave Glass it will melt Silver and that in a more extraordinary manner than a Culinary Fire is able to perform Whence Mechungus affirms that there is no artificial Fire able to give such a heat 〈◊〉 that which comes down from Heaven We see Infects sort of Animals in a feu days are generated by it is waterish places Those 〈◊〉 pass for Animals as Frogs Toads and even Mice whose Generation is aequivocal 〈◊〉 so produced by means whereof we perceive that Vegetables grow and increase Timaeus the Locrian saith That God scatters Souls i. e. Forms some in the Moon others in other Planets and Stars whence they are instilled into Creatures To which Aristotle agrees when he saith That the Universal Efficient Cause of all things is the Sun and the other Stars and that their Access and Recess are the Causes of Generation and Corruption If so what need is there of an Element of Fire above the Region of the Air But I conceive 't was placed there for Order's sake only Now this Virtue that is Ministerial to such Variety of things must be in its own Nature General and Catholick or it could not be subservient to so many several different Individuals The Specification of it naturally proceeds from the Particulars We see a little Salt seasons a great Lump and a Scion transmutes the whole Juice of the Tree into its own Nature Wherein we may observe a twofold Change First Of the general Moisture into an Identity of that of the Tree Secondly A new Specification of it by its passing into the Scion Nay such is the virtue of Fermentation that you may inoculate Scion upon Scion after a little Growth and whatever becomes of Transmutation in the Mineral we daily see it various ways in the Vegetable Province to that degree that in many Trees you may ingraft and inoculate out of species as Cherries on a Laurel Pears on a Hawthorn-Tree nor is it otherwise in the Animal of which no man's Experience is without some Instances Fermentation saith the incomparable Eirenaeus the Great is the Wonder of the World by it Water becomes Herbs Trees Plants Fruit Flesh Blood Stones Minerals and every Thing This Epicurus calls the attracting and intangling adaptable Atoms by their Fellow-Atoms by which they grow up into the same Nature of which hereafter As for the latter part of the Objection touching the Earth's having Seed enough in it self and therefore needs not borrow of the Heavens What I said already to the first part of the Question may be a sufficient Answer But to proceed That the Earth is barren sluggish dead and passive we may easily see by considering how unfruitful all places are that are surrounded with Buildings For if the Earth had Seed enough in it self she might be as fertil in a City-Garden as in a Country But it is plain that the want of a free access of the Air whereby an Universal Spirit or animating Heat is conveyed is the only Cause of Sterility Why do your Country-men after some years plowing leave the Ground fallow Is there not Seed or Virtue enough in the Earth to hold out If there is not whence does she receive it It must proceed either internally from the Centre or externally from the Heavens if from her own Centre why does she wait the accession of the Sun to call forth her Vegetables And why where his Influences are interrupted is she barren But may not the Earth have a Feminine Sperm in it and may not this vital Heat be as a Masculine Principle that may only excite and bring this dormant Seed from Potency into Act to which Opinion Xenocrates seems to be inclined If the Earth were filled with such an
Modest and the Vertuous move only in this elevated Sphere But Morals are needless after what the Excellent Dr. Lucas has said in his admirable Works who has obliged an ungrateful Age. If what I have said take with the few Wise and Vertuous I have my End as for the Dissolute may he reform but as Vicious I neither court his Suffrage nor value his Judgment Quid mali feci c. Sempiterna Lux Nec Honores nec Divitias peto me modò Divinae Lucis Radio illumines Sapientiâ Rerumque Naturalium Cognitione instruas ut hisce à me probè perspectis Majestatem tuam earum meique Creatricem intensiore Amore Ardore Animi prosequar adorem ut cum mei transierint Dies Coelesti Regno tuo illatus comparatior sim ad Divina contemplanda Sapientiamque tuam Amore Seraphico amplexandam FINIS a Thus high the Cynicks and Stoicks advanced Vertue whose sole Reward which it self brought they held sufficient to conquer the Miseries of Pain and Want Of the Generation of Metals How 〈◊〉 Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 this Position answers them all b 〈◊〉 may be understood the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Orpheus the Father of the Gods with Vesta his Wife and what he and the rest of the Philosophers meant by a Generation of Deities proceeding from such Parents Of the Imperfect Metals Of Perfect Metals How various Metals are in the same place Of Stones The precious The Common Vegetables of Two Sorts what grow of themselves and what are sown That grow of themselves The Cause of Variety of Plants * This is evident from Tunbridge and other waters which passing thro' Iron Mines are impregnated with the virtue of the Mines through which they pass Nay put but a few Iron Nails into a little common water for half an hour and it shall have the same taste not to say virtue for the Iron-stone is too hard to have much of its Particles washed off by the soft gliding of Water and common Water is too weak a Menstruum to dissolve a Martial Body Of their Figure This difference of Qualities Epicurus imputes to the various transposition of Atoms Of the sowing of Seeds Of Plants Of the Generation of Animals How the Form leaves Matter in Animals How in Minerals and Vegetables What then becomes of the Form that it passes into the Air where it receives new virtue Mundus nunquam est moritur semper nascitur id tantum habet constantiae quod divina Providentia ab eo nunquam recedit That thence it flows down again and animates a new Body which is the true Notion of Transmigration If Bodies are not annihilated much less are Forms Objection That Animals convey a Sensitive Spirit in Generation Answered Though they do convey a portion of Specifick Spirit yet the Universal 〈◊〉 The manner how the Universal Spirit joyns with the Specifick in the Generation of Animals That the Universal Spirit is more plentifully in the Air than elsewhere That the Animal Spirit increases in Animals The Mischief of Sulphurous Vapors fluctuating in the Air that they cause the Plague A Means to foresee a Plague The Foresight of a Dearth Of Augury The Loss of Arts. The Benefit of good Air. Homer explained Superior govern inferior Natures The Seven Planets called Gods and why in a large not a strict sence The ancient Philosophers did not adore all they called Gods Aristotle proves from Motion that there can be but one God How the Philosophers came to call many Things Gods a I say Created because this Spirit of Light was on the 4 th Day contracted into the Body of the Sun The Description of Nature in her Ascent and Descent a I say of one Species for various were the parts of Idolatry and there were several Origins from whence they sprang the Worship of the Stars not being the Original of all Idolatry for most Nations adored several Deities The Scythians ado red the Wind as God being as they say the Cause of Life The Chaldeans adored Fire the Persians Water the Romans Earth under the Name of Vesta the Egyptians divers Animals and Insects and all Nation had their Deisied Heroes Of the Mysteries of the Ancients That all the ancient Philosophers that treated mysteriously of Nature meant the same Thing under divers AEnigma's Au Egyptian Symbol explained According to the Chaldean Astrology Grecian Mythology Egyptian Chaldean Grecian Mercury described Egyptian Explanation Chaldean Explanation The Grecian Explanation The Fables of the Ancients refer to Things not Persons Objection Respons Objection Respons Of the Identity of Form in all Bodies a Aliment says Aristotle must be the same potentially which the Thing augmented or nourished is in Act. A comparison of the Form in Animals Plants and Minerals Of the Excellency of the Form in Metals Of the perpetual light made out of them and of its great difficulty a This is Jargon to those only who do not understand it Object 1. Object 2. Respons Aristotle held that there was an Element of Fire above the Region of the Air. Of the Universal Spirit Respons 2. Object Resp. Object Resp. That Bodies are only changed not annihilated a In nihilum nil posse reverti The Moral of Transmigration Transmigration in Plants and Minerals demonstrable to sense Of the duration of Bodies Of the general Conflagration 2. Of Principles and Elements Of the 3 Principles of the Chymists Principles Objection Respons Objection Respons Of the Elements Of the Air. Of the Earth Of Water Of Fire Of the Creation a 'T is an usual Hebraism to impute second Causes to the first This distinction of First and Second Causes was found out first by the Greeks who taught the World to speak Scholastically but the Jews made them all one which indeed in a large sence they are for the world is the Lord's and all things therein And therefore I saiah c. 40. v. 8. saith The Grass withereth the Flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it As the World is God's and all the Spirits in it and Parts of it so indeed this may be said to be the Spirit of the Lord in point of Property but not of Identity Can any one think that this Spirit that blows on the Grass or take it Metaphorically for Man is the Holy Ghost Junius and Tremellius translate the Words Spiritus Jehovae the appropriate Name of the Eternal yet in their Commentary say 't is not Regenitus Spiritus Sanctificationis in Christo which if they had remembred they would not have rendred the Spiritus Dei Gen. 1. Spiritus Sanctus Tertia illa Persona Deitatis à Deo Patre Filio procedens But they have I must acknowledge not a few Commentators on their side though I conceive the Jews never dreamed of such an Interpretation they might believe it some Vis Potentia or Emanatio Dei but not the Divine Nature himself which it is dishonourable to imagine was incubans superficiei Aquarum brooding over the Waters as a Hen does over her Eggs. This piece of Mechanism may be suitable to Man or some created Power but the Almighty Fiat is worthy only of God But besides this Conjecture the Original will bear it for the Learned say that Ruach signisies not only Spiritus but Ventus Voluntas Angulus Pars Plaga And therefore R. Abraham on this Place renders it Spiritus aut Ventus Dei sufflabat aut cubabat super faciem Aquarum i. e. saith he Ventus missus à Deo ad desiccandum Aquas The First Day The Second Day The Third Day The Fourth Day The Fifth Day The Sixth Day a I am confirmed the more in this Opinion by an Iron Mine which I saw at Tunbridge whose Vein running about three Miles was stopt at a hard Rock for this Rocky Substance hindred the ascending Vapour Conclusion
as Plutarch will have it and then 't will be disputing only about Words But we 'll consider this Elements seem to be but modern in respect of the Ancients Moses speaks only of the Spirit and the Abyss and so for what I perceive it continued even to the Time of Thales who flourished in the 35th Olympiad Principles and Elements being not then distinguished by him for which Plutarch finds fault with him The same Author makes Empedocles to hold Four Elements who 't is said was a Disciple of Pythagoras who was contemporary with Thales Here I will suppose Elements to begin the Reason this They that held four Elements perceiving that besides the moist Vapour and heavenly Influence or Fire and Water in the modern Language there were Earth and Air that Air is the Food and as it were the Companion of Fire and Water of Earth and that things generated in the Earth could not but partake of its Nature as the Foetus in the Womb. That two of these were active and two passive two heavy and two light must of necessity be those Parts of Matter that constitute the Harmony of each Being To speak clearly to this Matter I shall take each Element apart and by that you will see whether these four or two only are self-subsisting Beings Pure Simple Primitive and Unmixt which is the Notion of an Element I will begin with the Air. That the Air we walk in is pure and unmixt no one will pretend for the Sulphurous Steams that are sublimed into the Air and the abundant Moisture fluctuating in this Region shew the contrary The Truth is what we call Air is nothing but Water rarefied attracted by the Heat of the Sun or sublim'd by the Archeus of the Earth and this may be made manifest by many several Experiments as the evaporating of Water into Smoak which is a gross Air or calcin'd Tartar that will attract it and dissolve it into Water The Earth can never be said to be pure simple or unmix'd for it is the common Shop of Nature wherein bodies of all sorts and qualities do reside It is in truth nothing more than the grosser parts of the Waters which condensing into a body became the Settlement of the Waters which God afterwards caused to become dry by the removal of the Waters from it and the Spirit of Light shining on it Though it is said In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth yet this is by a Figure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 usual as the Learned say amongst the Hebrews for the Darkness was upon the Face of the Deep and the Spirit moved upon the Face of the Waters The Chaos therefore or first Matter was plainly an Abyss of Waters and so our Latin Translators and Commentators render it Aquarum Terrae supernatantium say Junius and Tremellius Water I conceive is in its own Nature pure simple and unmix'd without any quality though susceptible of all A Primitive in Nature a middle Substance whose one Extream constituted Earth and its other Air or Heaven This may well be called a Principle for she is the first Matter of all things into which all things may be reduced Fire in its Original is an emanation of a Solar Spirit its Rays darting downwards impregnate and enkindle Passive Matter into Motion and Vegetation It is the Life or Spirit of the World as Water is the Matter To doubt this a Principle or Element for I think it no Blunder under Plutarch's Favour to make them Synonyma's were a mortal Sin in Philosophy Having said this 't is easie to infer That Water is the passive Principle and the Solar Influence the Formal of all created Beings and that properly speaking these two are the only Principles according to the Ancients and the other two only Derivatives But does not the excellent a Learned Magus tell us That the Four Elements by their never ceasing Motion cast forth a Sperm or subtil Portion of Matter into the Earth where meeting and uniting it is digested and brought to perfection according to the purity or impurity of the place The Authority of this Person and the Reverence and Admiration I have for him as it makes me conceal his Name so it does almost make me blush to lift up my Pen against him Sed magis Amica Veritas If Four Elements go to the Constitution of each Being these Elements must be intimately united Now that cannot be unless the purest part of one Element enter per minima the purest part of the other But Earth cannot enter Water per minima unless it be reduced to the Form and Tenuity of Water and then what need is there of Earth if Earth must be first resolved into Water ere it can unite with it Again Water must be rarefied to the dignity of Air or else it cannot unite intimately with Air if so what need is there of Water since Water must become Air before it can assist in the Constitution of a Body It to me therefore seems most plain that all created Beings here below are a Concrete of Water the purest part whereof being rarefied and impregnated with a celestial Heat which is all the Element of Fire I know of is digested into the various works of Nature diversified now according to what Nature has wrought in the Matrix before the Form enters for the Form is as capable of divers effects as the Water is susceptible of qualities Thus much for the Second Viz. Principles and Elements Thirdly I shall compare some Aristotelian Hypotheses with those of Democritus Aristotle and Heraclitus too held the Elements to be contrary to each other as Fire to Water Earth to Air two active and two passive Principles but Democritus denies it alledging that the Agent and Patient must be in some measure alike otherwise they cannot act upon one another Wherein Democritus is certainly in the right for Fire and Water differ not in a remiss but intense degree witness the quiet resting of Iron in which the Fire of Nature dwells plentifully in Water and witness the Generation of Animals in water which cannot be done without heat and witness the Seeds of all Beings whose germinating Virtue is the Fire of Nature involved in Moisture There is in truth no more difference between these two than between Water and Plants of which the one is so far from being repugnant to the other that the Plant is nourished by the water yet when the water is raised to an Acid and the Plant reduced to an Alkali by the union of these two a violent ebullition is caused a controversie even unto Death As for the Cause of the variety of Bodies the difference between Aristotle and his Followers and Leucippus Democritus and Epicurus and their Followers is no less and 't is no wonder that they who differ in the Nature of their Principles should fall out in the effects they produce The Aristotelians impute the effects of Bodies to secret