Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	wonder_n	word_n	write_v	27	3	4.8310	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86055	Natura prodigiorum or, a discourse touching the nature of prodigies. Together with the kinds, causes and effects, of comets, eclipses, and earthquakes. With an appendix touching the imposturism of the commonly-received doctrine of prophecies, spirits, images, sigils, lamens, the christal, &c. and the propugners of such opinions. / By John Gadbury philomathēmatikos.	Gadbury, John, 1627-1704.	1660 (1660)	Wing G91; Thomason E2131_3; ESTC R202414	80,331	276

Resp That a Prodigie hath a Natural cause is resolved in the affirmative by most Meteoroligists and the greatest Students in Nature And the Learned Plutarch in the fifth Book of his Symposiaques Ph●losophically concludes That it is our ignorance only of things that makes them seem to us both prodigious and miraculous whereas saith he were the true cause known or hunted out the wonder would quickly abate or seem less And that which before was deemed monstrous and miraculous would become very common if not contemptible Dubartas as Translated by J. Sylvester agrees it thus in fol. 15. He not deny but that a learned man May yeild some reason if he list to scan Of all that moves under Heav'ns hollow cope And the great Master of Reason himself concludes That such things which be strange may be derived both from Natural causes and also include God the chief and best cause of all things by whose admirable providence each thing is ordered and by whose unspeakable wisdom each particular is decreed Yea even in the course of Nature he both foresaw and appointed how things should happen although in respect of our weakness and want of skill the searching of them out be too abstruse and hard Lucretius puts so much weight in the scale to prove that Prodigies have a cause in Nature that he seems to neglect the first cause and endeavoureth with the strength of Reason and pregnancie of Rhetorick to perswade men to believe so or else to bring them within the verge of his check Caetera quae fieri in terris coeloque tuentur Mortales pavidis quam pendent mentibus saepe Efficiunt animos humileis formidine divûm 1.6 Depressosque premunt ad terram propterea quod Ignorantia causarum conferre deorum Cogit ad imperium res concedere regnum Quorum operum causas nulla ratione videre Possunt haec fieri divino Numine rentur c. Thus Englished by one Those Bug-bear Meteors which the Tim'rous eyes Of pavid Mortals wonder at i' th skies And those unfrequent Prodigies that appear On earth while their weak souls are fool'd by fear Are the sole charms that do Emasculate And cheat mens minds to a belief of Fate And some vindictive Numen for because Men understand not Natures Cryptick laws Nor ber occult Efficiency they flie To salve their ign'rance to divinity And idly rest in this whatere befal 'T was caus'd by providence that disposeth all Here although Lucretius be in some part excellently Philosophical and seemeth therein to agree with the learned Plutarch before cited yet is he somewhat defective in this that he goeth about to exalt the positive power of Nature or second causes above the superlative power of the Deity unto which if Nature be not concatenated and this in all its operations it most certainly becomes empty of all power to act Yet I will say again so far in favour of this eminent Author that it is below the courage and true spirit of a Philosopher or one acquainted with the secret wonders of Nature to startle at every uncouth I might have said not common 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Apparition in the Heavens An evil I must needs confess unto which the vulgar Pate and heart doth unnecessary obeisance too too often It is reported of Charls the Great that beholding that new Star which presaged and preceded his death he was very inquisitous and desirous to know what it portended one who writ his History Enigardus by name returns the words of the Prophet Jeremiah for answer Et à signis coelorum ne consternemini quia consternantur Gentes ab illis Cap. 10. v. 2. i. e. Fear not the signs of Heaven though the Heathen be afraid of such Unto which the prudent Emperour replies Nè quidem metuere ejusmodi signa sed signorum op●sicem causam i. e. That he did not indeed fear any signs of that Nature but the Maker or cause of those signs A lesson most worthy to be learned of every man as well Philosopher as Christian And it is most certainly true that second causes very seldom suffer any detriment or suspension either in their motions or actings by God which is the first and chief cause he never denying or suspending or with-drawing that Concurrence or Conjunction of himself with them without the which they presently cease to act but only upon especial designe to be a remembrancer to the world that Nature and the chain of second causes are not Autocratorical i. e. they do not perform what ordinarily they do perform independently and of themselves but that he is the Soveraign Lord of them and hath all their operations in his hand Vide Mr. Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fol. 7. Dubartas illustrates it farther fol. 16. God the great God of Heaven sometimes delights From top to toe to alter Natures rites That his strange works to Nature contrary May be fore-runners of some misery The learned Dr. Fulke in his Book of Meteors resolves that Prodigies and Apparitions are the declarative signs and tokens of Gods Power and may be termed and looked upon as Miraculous but not so as they should want a Natural cause Nay the greatest Sons of Learning always accounted Nature nothing but the Art of God Thales Milesius one of the seven wise Greeks examining the sweet Harmony and Musical Symmetry and proportion of the Universe and observing how orderly and decently it is governed and conserved most wisely sets up his rest in this golden resolve that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is the Artifice or workmanship of God The excellently Learned Philosopher and Astronomer Hieronim Cardanus in his first Segment calls the Heavens or Nature the Instrument of God by which he worketh enforceth and effecteth every thing From all which we may clearly conclude that God doth nothing contrary to the order of second causes or the power of Nature but doth rather act Nature in an extraordinary way to shew that he hath by his over-ruling power a soveraignty sufficient to do what he pleaseth and is not tied to one way or manner of working When God sent a Star as the happy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of mans redemption from slavery before the coming of Christ it was a Star not miraculous but natural For had it been a Star miraculous how then should the Astrologers or wise-men have seen or come to the knowledge of it by the Science of the Stars True it is that this Star was acted in an extraordinary way and its motion might be miraculous it being moved for to declare the greatest of miracles Yet this proveth not but that the Star might be an ordinary Star though made use of in an extraordinary way I very well know that may great Clerks there are who contend it was a Star created on purpose for that so wonderful and miraculous work viz. The declaring of a Saviour to the world And one in a Rhetorical verse hath asserted as much Novâ coelum

great Monarchy pretty enthusiastical delusions the greatest and last that ever will be Vide Blag Ephem 1659. p. 1. Again if there were any verity or reason in this high-towring doctrine they pretend unto may we nor with much reason conclude both these Angel-mongers mistaken for according to the Principles of their Patron Trithemius neither Gabriel nor Hanael but Samael the Angel or Spirit of Mars to cope with them in their own canting dialect should have ruled this present Age of the world For he acquaints us that under Mars's rule or dominion wars were all over the world what peace have we in this age had I pray you infinite thousands of men perished Is our age behind hand with any age for that also Sundry Battels fought Doth not this age of ours by experience woful enough prove the same Kingdoms lost their former bounds How conspicuous is this truth to us also Now if Mercury had governed at this time the world had then been busi●d about novel fancies and opinions secret plottings and privy clandestine conspiracies and not apted or fitted for any such publick or notorious actions And had Venus by her Angel raigned as was urged we should then have been blessed with concord pleasure tranquillity peace and quietude Ergo it roundly follows that were we willing to suppose a truth in the doctrine neither Venus or Mercury or their Angels for them could at this time govern the world But when rash Assertors want arguments of reason to make good the things they so ignorantly obtrude upon mens understandings it is no wonder that they are found guilty of such gross absurdities I appeal to the whole world whether our scarlet Times have not more resembled Mars and his fury then either the changeable fancies or witty conceits of Mercury or the serenity and smiles of Venus Blood death and tragique stories Mars doth yeild A Golgotha of graves whose purple field Dy'd Crimson with his fatal Massacres Ant. Philos Sat. 5. Craves bloody Inke and scarlet Characters A pen that like a bullets force would reel A marble conscience By this short Annotation you may judge of what worth and excellency the whole is although so prodigiously boasted of For you see plainly Trithemius owns not the doctrine and it is plainly to be seen also that his disciples understand it not nor indeed do they know how to make use thereof except only to gild over their ignorance in honest and demonstrable Arts they pretend to the knowledg of It seemeth as cleer to me as the Sun in his Meridian glory that Trithemius his design and aim was to get himself fame and honor and to fix the Image of his ambition in the beliefs and understandings of the ignorant and credulous sort of people in the world so to perpetuate his name and memory for ever by such an undertaking For you must know that the world is not half so barren of persons ignorant as ingenious and really I account it a providence that God and Nature have given to wit and ingenuity wings that the Heavenly part of the ingeniously learned may bear them up above the dunstable resolutions of the rustick or unlearned otherwise they would be most sure to be voted out of their knowledge as reason it self too often is at a Grand-Jury It is not to be doubted but Trithemius knew the vanity and fictitiousness of this pretended Angel-skill But had not Trithemius done something above the ordinary level how should he have now been talked of among us he alas hath passed away and would have been remembred no more or at least but a little while among the sons of men but for such an undertaking Now the better to obtrude this his fancy upon the spirit of the world he dedicates the story to Caesar submitting to his judgment and the censure of the Church therein And hence it is come to pass that the learning of Trithemius and the authority and greatness of Caesar his Patron hath born down as well the reason and judgment of some persons very learned as the yeilding brains of the ignorant And thus much for Trithemius 2. Of Agrippa Henry Cornelius Agrippa is the second person in my triumvirate who beyond all thoughts of doubt was a most eminently learned man or else surely he had never been admitted Councellor to Charls the fifth Emperor of Germany nor yet judge of his Prerogative Court both which honors Cornelius was possessed of This learned person being strangely possessed with the vanity of what we have now under examination wrote three books De occulta Philosophia of occult Philosophy and therein to the skie as we use to speak magnified the Doctrine of Angels Spirits Characters Seals and Images c. and thereby set the fancies of divers persons at work expecting to be acquainted with their genius or at least so far with the vertue of a Sigil that thereby they might work wonders who have indeed after much pains and expence of money and time returned as wife from the search thereof as they came first to it Some it is true that I know will talk largely of their skill and cunning abilities and report with much confidence what they are able to do but alas they only act the part of Vangoose in the Play viz. pretend much when they can do nothing but talke Van Vill yow see somting Ick sall bring in de Turkschen met all Zin Bashawes Zin dirty towsand Yanitsaryes met all Zin whooren Eunuken all met an auder de Sofie van Persia de Tartar Cham met de groat king of Mogul and make deir men and deir horse deir Elephanten bee seen fight in de ayre and bee all killen and aliven noe such ting And all dis met d● Ars van de Catropricks by de refleshie van de glassen Such indeed is the skill that many pretenders have arrived at by their being credulous of things impossible to be performed and while they have twatled of raising spirits and of shewing faces in a Glass and other such like counterfeit cozening stories they have layd their reputations and honesty low enough in the esteem of all I remember to have heard a story of what hapned between that excellent Philosopher and great naturalist Sir K. Digbie and that Arch-pretender Dr. Lamb. This Dr. Lamb would needs be thought a person able to converse with Spirits command Devils and what not which the learned Sir K. hearing of and desirous to be confirmed of either the truth or falshood of the relation repaired to the Dr. who presently meeting the Knights request supposing him ignorant in his craft begins to shew him some shapes by the reflection of some Optical Glasses upon a wall which the Knight readily perceiving found him a cheat in his pretences for that there was nothing more in that knack of his of rarity then what an ordinary capacity might honestly arrive unto by the Optiques and took him by the collar of his doublet demanding of