nere how eclipses come yea it serueth thus farre euen to measure the degres the minutes This ground being laid the effects which we se here beneth do folowe the which by the meanes of Astrologie we knowe to come frō aboue and that not onely when they are come but also we are aduertised before they come There is none but he heareth the noise of the windes and seeth the raine haile snowe but none knoweth the causes saue onely by the meanes of Astrologie which as I haue saide geueth also some coniectures for the tyme to como Although that we may not make therof a general rule I speak therfore of the ordinary course which is not letted by other accedents or chaūces comming from some other cause But well this is the matter which we haue to intreate of for our feined Astrologians do take a principle which is true to witte that the earthly bodies and generally all creatures which are vnder heauen are subiecte to the order of heauen to draw from it some qualities Howbeit they applye it ful il And thoghe the case were euen so the naturall Astrologie wil shew well enough that the bodies which are here beneth doe receiue some influence of the moone by that that the oysters are either full or empty as the moone is eyther in the full or weane Likwise that the bones are either full of marowe as the moone is either in the ful or els weaneth Likewise the phisicians doe drawe out of the true Astrologye all the iudgement that they haue to ordeyne bloode lettings or drinks or pilles other things in due time Therefore we must needes confesse that is a certain conuenience betwyxte the starres or planets and the disposition of mans body And all this as I haue said is conteined vnder the naturall Astrologie But the shameles deceiuers which wold vnder the cloke of the science haue gone furder haue counterfeicted an other kynd whych they call Iudicialle which consisteth in two princypall articles whereof the first is to know not onely the nature and complexion of mē but also al their fortunes as they call them yea and all that they shal either do or suffer in ther life The second is what end those matters shall haue which they go aboute when they traffike and occupie one with an other and generally of the whole estate of the world But let vs first entreate of the complexion of euery one according to his birthe And as ther was neuer lie so great nor so impudent which will not borrowe some coulour of truthe I graunt surely that as touching the complexions of men and chiefly as concerning the affections which are partakers of the qualities of their bodies that they partly depend of the starres or at least haue some agreement therewith As to say that a man is of a more coloricke thē flegmaticke complexion or contrariwise Neuerthelesse euen in this ther are many things to be noted Our Mathematiciens to whom I speake doe found theyr iudgement vpon the houre in the which one is borne But I say contrariwise that the hour of the generation is more to be considered the which for the most part is vnknowen for the mother hath not allwais a time certaine wherein she shoulde bring for the her childe And whatsoeuer they haue to reply agaynst it yet for all that shall they be conuinced by reason that the starres haue not so greate force to prynt qualities in a man at his birthe as at his conception yea I say more ouer that putte the case the starres did giue vs our qualities or properties by their influence that that doeth not come by our birthe for cōmune experience doeth proue it Neither is it wtout cause that Persius saith Geminos Horoscope Varo Producis genio which is as muche to saie as that vnder the same Horoscope or ascendent two may be borne of diuerse natures Whych is allways sene yea and that in brethren which are twynnes whych wyll so dyffer one frō an other as thogh the positions of the starres had bene clene contrary I will not say that to iudge surely by the natiuitie of the nature of a man beside this the he must haue all the degrees of the Climate wel marked moreouer this genethliak and teller of mens fortune by the starres must haue his Astrolobe in his hand For to trust to the clocke or diall is scant sure enough For if one doe misse but a fewe minuts a man shall finde great chaunges in the beholding of the starres But whether it be that one must iudge by the conceiuing or by the birth it is no matter this I will aske if the sexe of male and famale do not surmount all the rest of the qualities which ar in the creature But if this be true that in one moment and in one belly a sonne a daughter shal be conceiued yea in one moment one womā shal be brought to bedde of a man childe and an other of a woman childe Whence cometh this diuersitie which is the principall but that the starres planets haue no suche power as those felowes wolde haue men to beleue If a man shoulde make a comparison Ther is nothing more certaine thē that the sede of the father of the mother haue an influence and vertue of an hundreth folde more power then hath all the starres together yet notwithstanding a man may see that it faileth oftentimes and the disposytion also may be diuerse Let vs take two men of contrary and diuerse natures hauing either of them a wyfe lykewise of a contrary complexion and nature the do begett children in the selfe same houre and are broght to bed in the self same houre it cometh commonly to passe that the children wil take their complexion rather of their fathers mothers then of the aspecte of the starres which they both had like And the reason is so euident that none of good iudgement wyll speake any thing to the contrary What should we say then of the influence that the starres of heauen giue to men I graunt according to that that I touched before that the starres haue in deed some concourse to forme the complexions specially those that concerne the body but for all that I denie that the principall cause cometh frō thense I vnderstand as concerning naturall causes euen those whiche they call inferior causes For the seede whereof the children are procreated and made dothe goe before and is of greater importaunce Secondly I say that the Astrologians doe make an euill foundation and are not of a sure ground when thei wil rather iudge by the natyuitye and byrthe then by the generatyon and conceptyon but it is true that the generatyon and conceptyon is vnknowen vnto them therfore haue they no certaynty of iudgement Thirdly I say that God worketh in many by a speciall grace euen in forming their nature so that the constellation hath no place at all or at the
stars had any powre to conducte and gyde mans enterprises shoulde we not rather haue regarde to them which then beare rule when the matter is a doyng What foly is it to saye yf I ought to bye marchandies of a man which is beyonde the sea that the starre which ruleth at my departure shall giue me good successe and they which rule when the bargaine is made can do nothyng I remembre the tale that they are wont to tell of the Cardinall Farnesus who by the counsel of an astrologer was compelled to leaue his dinner to get on horsebacke to the entent that he might haue good succes in his embassage And if he had departed two houres after hauing dined at his leasure and had come that night to the same lodgyng what woulde that either haue furthered or hyndered hym who is it that doth not perceyue that the chiefest point is to know the situatioÌ„ of the stars wheÌ„ we shuld end the matter I meane yf there were anye controuersitie whether we ought to beleue them or no. But we may easely perceyue that all is but a mere abuse I haue heard tell of certayne phantasticall felowes which are in honor which durst not get vpon their mules without thei had afore asked leaue of the stars Put the case it were a counseller of some hie court there is a certain time appoynted to assemble together there are twentye which are subiect to one rule law yet for all that theyr stars are diuers the law calleth theÌ„ all together what shall they doe If men were ruled by Astrology they would be so far from euer endyng any proces and action that one should not be able to bryng three Iudges together to here a mans cause Therefore it must nedes be that either the stars must be remoued to the intent thei may otherwise agree or els that al policie should be beaten downe But we knowe that god doth approue this order that there shoulde be certayne houres appoynted to kepe iustice to heare his worde to receyue the sacramentes without hauing regarde to the opposition of heauen If that in musing vpoÌ„ the starres men doe forsake the order which God hath appoynted and that euery one go asyde without accommodating hym selfe to the common societie of mankind shuld not God be contrary to himselfe Where shall that incomprehensible wisdome appeare by the which he hath so well ordered all thyngs that it doeth seeme that he hathe made all by line and measure If one can not obey hym in thys one poynt except he do contrary to the order which he hath placed in nature A man may very well applie that mery taunte to this kinde of men which an auncient Philosopher heard of his maide who whiles he marked ouer earnestly the starres and the firmament had no leasure to loke to his fete and so stumbled fel into a ditche Then sayde his mayde vnto hym there is nothyng better then to thinke vpon those thinges that are most neare vnto vs. I woulde not turne nor applye this taunt or mocke to the trewe Astrologians whose labours and paine which thei haue taken to make vs know the secretes of heauen can neuer be ouermuch praised for somuch as it was good bothe to glorifie God and also to serue vs to our vse and commoditie But for these speculatiue fooles which walke aboue the cloudes and in the meane season doe not consider whither God doth cal them nor haue regarde of their dutie which I saye wander out of the way which God sheweth them and forget their dutie which they owe to their neighbours is there not good cause why one shoulde mock and deride their vanitie and that God also shoulde make them ignominius and shameful cause them not onely to stumble but also in the ende to fall and to breake their necks After that these our good maisters the Genethliaks which tell mens fortunes by their birth haue broght euery one of vs vnder their perticular iurisdiction by Astronomy they vsurpe also the same power ouer the vniuersall estate of the worlde And surely I do confesse accordynge to that that I haue afore sayde that in so muche as the earthly bodies haue a certain agrement with the heaueÌ„ we mai well note that certaine causes in the starres why thyngs come so to pas here beneth For euen as the influence of heauen doth often times cause tempest whirle windes and chaunge of weather and continuall raines so consequently it bringeth barrennes and pestilences Therefore in that that we see an order and as it were a knotte and tying together of the things whiche ar aboue with the things that are beneth I am not against but that one may seeke in the heauenly creatures the begynnyng and cause of the accedentes which are sene here in the earth I take this worde beginninge not as the first and principall cause but as an inferiour meanes to Goddes wyll yea and such a one as he vseth as a preparation to accomplyshe hys worke euen so as he determined in his eternall counsell How be it we must not altogether deny but that there is sometime a certaine agrement of a pestilence which we see here and the influence of the stars which is knowen by Astrologye Yet this in no case can be general for when the choyse was lefte to Dauid which of the thre roddes of God he woulde chuse and that he had chosen the pestilence we may not say that that did procede of the starres Likewise when the famin was so great in Siria and in Israell in the time of Elias and that the drought was there so longe it were a point of great folishenes to seke wither the starres were there vnto disposed or no synce it was an extraordinary miracle Neither must we take this example as one amonge others very rare since God speakyng generally in the bokes of Moyses sayeth that all aduersities that come vnto mâ—n are hidde in his treasures Whereby he doeth signifie that he powreth them furthe to punishe mans sinnes and that if maÌ„ by his malice did not prouoke his wrath he woulde shut them vp as it were in a coffer And surely there is not anye more common doctrine thoroughout all the Prophetes then this to wit that he wyl make the heauen and the earth as brasse And seyng he assigneth the cause to our sinnes all influence of the starres is excluded As for the warres there is lesse matter why thei should searche the cause in the starres wherfore they come since they also are Gods scourges to correct synnes which depende nothing of the starres God promising to Abraham that he woulde geue the lande of Canaan to his posteritie sayth that the terme is not yet come He doth not say that the aspect of the stars doeth not beare it What doeth he say then He sayth that the iniquitie of the Ammorities is not yet com to the perfectioÌ„ Wherfore as men vse to gather the fruicte of a tree
least is so there exting wished and put out that it can not be perceiued of men Thus much concerning the natural inclination But if we come to the grace that God geueth to his children at such tyme as he reformeth them by his holy spirite and changeth them in suche sorte that they are worthely named New Creatures whereto serueth all the aspecte and respects of the planets Is this it wherevpon God hath founded his eternall election if the Byrthtellers castars of mens natiuities wil alledge this that a man may vse these things as inferior means This is a very folishe cauillation We do se how it hath pleased God of set purpose to drawe vs backe from suche considerations when he hath caused them to be borne in the second place whom he wolde preferre to the other as we haue in the example of Iacob For wherfore was it that Esau which shuld be reiected came before but that God in breaking the commune order of nature woulde lyfte our eyes more hyghe Admonishing vs hereby that we muste loke vp and fasten oure eyes vpon hys wyll only without tourning away to searhe other causes Let vs only rest vpon this that God reformeth men in suche sort when he calleth them vnto hym that they become all together new It was spoken of saul when God wolde prepare him to be king that he wold make hym far otherways then he was Thys came by no constellation but God wroght in hym far aboue beyond the course of nature And yf thys come to passe in a man whō he had chosen for the temporall regiment what shall come to passe as concerning them whom he hath chosē for his children and heriters of the heauenly kyngdome Surely it must needes be that this doth surmount all the firmament and the starres And this is most certain that whosoeuer dothe denye that regeneration is a worke of God aboue nature dothe not onely shewe that he is a profaine man but also doth openly renounce the faythe of the Christians Therefore we must limite the forse of the starres by that which concerneth the worlde and doth apperteine to the body and is one of the first inclinations of nature excepting neuertheles the speciall gyftes that God gyueth to one aswell as to an other without the ordinarye meanes and specially the reformation that he maketh in his elect reneuing them by his spirit But this bastardly astrology not contented to haue disposed and set in order the complexion and maners of men doth extend her iudgement further Which is in foretelling that which shall fal vpon them all their life longe and the time and maner of their deathe Wherein there is nothing but a rashe boldnes and no reason at all For at the moste the starres may emprinte certain qualities in the persones but they can not cause that this thing or that shuld fall vpon them aftrwarde of other occasions So now thogh that a birth reader cold iudge a man to be pain full and dilygent to gather ryches yet can he not forsee that some heritage shall fall vnto hym by succession because that lyeth in the wil or condition of others and not of him self Behold then wherfore it was sayd of olde that these mathematician maskes are good to fil the eares and to empty the pursses Because that when they tel of good fortune they fede the curious wyth wynde and vanitie and drawe forth of thē what so euer they wyll after that once they haue bewitched them Well they can tell a man how many wiues he shall haue yea but fynde they in their starres the natiuitie of his first wife to know how long she shall liue By this meanes the women shoulde no more haue their peculiar natiuitie because thei should be subiect to their husbandes natiuitie To be shorte by this meanes the Horoscope or ascendent in the byrth of one particuler person shoulde comprehend the iudgement of the whole disposition of a contrey seing that they boast themselues that thei cā iudge if a man shall haue an happye mariage and whether he shall haue good or euil chaunce by the wayes and fieldes into what dangers he shall fall whether he shal be slayne or dye in his bedde Let vs regarde nowe with howe manye men we haue to doe wyth all in oure lyfe tyme. If the Sothsayers had not all their wylles and their fortunes in their sleues at commandement what colde thei promise vs hereby Therefore doe I conclude that all those that take vpon them to knowe the fortune of one man by his natiuitie ar deceyuers of the people in so much as the causes are not in him whose byrthes he casteth but in others It should be to longe to brynge all the examples that mighte be broughte but one only may suffice There dyeth many times in one battell thre score thousande men I do not speake of the most great discomfitures but of such as are very common nowe I demande if that we muste assigne to all these that are coupled together in their death the selfe same ascendent in theyr byrth When they wyll saye that one thing that commeth rare may not be preiudiciall to the common doctrine of an arte This is but a shyfte easely to be auoyded For I speake vnto them of a common thing the histories do testifie that in twenty battels in Spaine there dyed about thre hundred thousand men And wythoute further waydyng in the matter who can not easly iudge that these that dyed together were far diuerse in natiuitie in the espects respects of the stars So that in so greate a multitude Capricornus and the Ram and the Bulle dyd so iumble their hornes together that all was there confounded Aquarius did powre out his water in such aboundance that it was like a floode The virgine had loste her virginitie The Creuis went backewarde The Lion stroke behinde with his taile in suche sort that one could not perceyue it The twinnes called Gemini did so mingle them selues together as though they had bene one The Archer did shute traiterouslye and afore one were aware of hym The Scales or Ballance was false The fishes did hide them selues vnder the water so that thei coulde besene no more Neyther had the sting of Scorpio any force vnles it were the cause of all thys murther Yea whiche is a great deale worse thei are not content to haue spred their winges so farre abrode in mans natiuitie but they do vsurpe the iudgement or rather the sothsaying and for tellyng of all enterprises by the present aspect of the starres As for example if a man haue a iorney of two hundreth miles of where he doth dwel maister Astrologer wyl gaze and spye by the heauen to know when it will be good that this pore foole shuld depart to finde at .xv. dayes ende his familie safe wel disposed when as the stars which did promes him good succes shal be out of their reigne dominiō I pray you if the