Fromondus Ant. c. 16. affirms much more then may our earth which is a rugged mountainous Body be able to turne about so little a part of the world as that vaporous aire next unto it Suppose the inward circle to represent the Earth and the outward the thicker aire which encompasses it Now it is easily conceivable that the revolution of so great a Body as this Globe of Earth may turne about by it's meere motion if there were nothing els so little a part of the adjoyning aire as is here represented And yet 1 The disproportion betwixt the thicknesse of the Earth and this Orb of Aire is farre greater than could bee exprest in the Figure being but as twenty miles which is at most the thicknesse of this Aire unto 3456 miles which is the semidiameter of our Earth and so is but as an insensible number in respect of this other 2 Besides the meere motion of the Earth which in probabilities being such a rugged body might bee enough to carry so little a part of the aire along with it there is also as wee suppose a magneticall vigor which proceeds from it whereby 't is more able to make all things that are neere unto it to observe the same revolution But if it be so saith Alex. Ross. that not only the man but the medium also and the Object bee moved this must needs be such a great hinderance to the sight that the eye cannot judge exactly of any thing For suppose the man alone to be in a motion hee could not see so well as when hee is still but now if not only he but his spectacles and booke were all mooved he would not bee able to discerne any thing distinctly I answer the consequence were pertinent if all these were severall motions but if the Subject and Medium and Object were all carried with one and the same equall motion as it is here supposed this could be no impediment to the act of seeing but it would bee all one with the rest because by this means they are not severed from one another and therefore the species are not disturbed 'T is an excellent saying of Gallilaeus and may serve for the resolution of many such doubts as these Motus eatenus tanquà m motus operatur quatenus relationem habet ad eas res quae ìpso distituuntur in ijs verò-rebus quae totae aequaliter de eo participant nihil operatur ita se habet ac si nullus esset If a man be within some roome of a Ship he may read altogether as easily when the Ship moves as when it stands still 4 Another Argument against this circular motion of the earth is grounded upon that common Principle amongst the Aristotelians Vnius corporis simplicis unum tantum est motus One kind of body ha's but one kind of motion But now the Earth and Water ha's a motion of descent the Aire a motion of ascent and therefore none of them can have any circular motion naturall unto them I answer First these right motions of elementarie bodies belong onely to the parts of them and that too when they are out of their proper places so that the whole to which they belong may notwithstanding this have another motion of it's owne But secondly this saying which Aristotle cals a Principle will not consist with other evident experiments of nature Thus though a Loadstone in respect of it's matter and condensitie naturally tends downward yet this do's not hinder but that in respect of some other qualities as it 's desire of union and coition to another loadstone it may also naturally move upwards From whence it will follow that the same elementarie bodie may have divers natural motions 5 The gravitie and magnitude of this Earthy Globe do make it altogether unfit for so swift a motion I answer First Heavinesse can onely be applyed unto those bodies which are out of their proper places or unto such parts as are severed from the whole to which they belong And therefore the Globe of Earth considered as whole and in it's right place cannot truly bee called heavy I deny not but that there is in it and so likewise in the other Planets an ineptitude to motion by reason of the matter and condensitie of their bodies And so likewise there is as truly though not according to the same degrees in the least particle of a materiall condensed substance so that this cannot reasonably be pretended as a just impediment why the earth should be incapable of such a motion Secondly and though this Globe be of so vast a magnitude yet as nature bestowes upon other creatures for instance an Eagle and a Flye spirits and motive powers proportionable to their severall bodies so likewise may she indowe the Earth with a motive facultie answerable to it's greatnesse Or if this may make the Earth incapable of so swift a motion as is supposed much more then will the Heavens bee disabled for that greater swiftnesse which is imagined in them I might adde the Globe of the Sun and Iupiter are observed to move about their owne centres and therefore the Earth which is farre lesse than either of them is not by reason of it 's too great magnitude made unfit for such a revolution Thirdly as for the swiftnesse of the Earth's course it do's not exceed all circumstances well considered the celeritie of some other motions with which we are acquainted as that of the clouds when driven by a tempestuous wind that of a Bullet shot from a Cannon which in the space a minute do's fly 4 miles Or as another hath observed in the second scruple of an hour it may passe the fifteenth part of a Germane mile Than which there is not any point in the Earth's Equinoctiall that moves faster and though a Bullet bee much slower in moving a greater distance yet for so little a space while the force of the pouder is most fresh and powerfull it do's equal the swiftnesse of the Earth And yet 1 A bullet or cloud is carried in it's whole body being fain to break it's way through the aire round about it but now the earth in respect of this first motion do's remaine still in the same scituation and move onely about it's owne centre 2 The motion of a Bullet is violent and against it's nature which do's strongly incline it to move downwards Whereas the Earth being considered as whole and in it's proper place is not heavy nor do's it containe any repugnancie to a circular motion 6 The chiefe Argument on which our adversaries do most insist is this If there were such a motion of the Earth as is supposed then those bodies which are severed from it in the Aire would be forsaken by it The clouds would seeme to rise and set as the Starres The Birds would be carried away from their nests No heavy body could fall perpendicular An Arrow or Bullet being shot from East to West by the
difference in their bignesse you may then conceive if you can what a kinde of celeritie that must be by which the primum mobile wil be whirled about Tycho makes the distance of the Stars to bee much lesse and their motion flower and yet hee is faine to confesse that it is omni cogitatione celerior Clavius likewise speaking concerning the swiftnesse of the Starry Orbe do's acknowledge Quod velocitas ejus captum humani ingenij excedit What then could he thinke of the primum mobile Dr Gilbert being it seems astonished at the consideration of this strange swiftnesse sayes of it that it is motus supra omnes cogitationes somnia fabulas licentias poeticas insuperabilis ineffabilis incomprehensibilis A man may more easily conceive the possibilitie of any Fable or Fiction how Beasts and Trees might talke together than how any materiall Body should bee moved with such a swiftnesse Not but that 't is possible for God to turne them about with a farre greater velocitie Nay 't is possible for Art to contrive a motion which shall be equally slow in that proportion as this is swift But however the question here is not what can be done but what is most likely to be don according to the usuall course of Nature 'T is the part of a Philosopher in the resolution of naturall events not to fly unto the absolute Power of God and tell us what he can doe but what according to the usuall way of Providence is most likely to be done to find out such causes of things as may seem most easy probable to our reason If you ask what repugnancy there is in the Heavens unto so great a swiftnes we answer Their being such vast materiall condensed substances with which this inconceivable motion cannot agree Since Motion and Magnitude are two such Geometricall things as beare a mutuall proportion to one another therefore it may seeme convenient that slownesse should be more agreeable to a great Body and swiftnes to a lesser and so it would bee more consonant to the Principles of Nature that the Earth which is of a lesser quantitie should be appointed to such a motion as is somewhat proportionable to it's bignes than that the Heavens that are of such a vast magnitude should bee whirled about with such an incredible swiftnes which do's as farre exceed the proportion of their bignesse as their bignesse do's exceed this Earth that is but as a point or centre to them 'T is not likely that nature in these constant and great workes should so much deviate from that usual harmony and proportion which she observes in lesser matters If this Globe of Earth onely were appointed to move every day round the Orbe of the fixed Starres though it be but a little Body and so more capable of a swift motion yet that swiftnesse would be so extremely disproportionable unto it that wee could not with reason conceive it possible according to the usuall course of nature But now that the Heavens themselves of such strange bignesse with so many Starres which do so farre exceed the magnitude of our Earth should bee able to turne about with the same celeritie Oh 't is altogether beyond the fancy of a Poet or a mad man For answer unto this Argument our adversaries tell us that there is not in the Heavens any repugnancie to so swift a motion and that whether wee consider the nature of those Bodies or secondly the swiftnesse of this motion 1 For the nature of those Bodies either their Qualities Quantity 1 There is not in them the Qualities of lightnesse or heavinesse or any the least contrarietie that may make them reluctant to one another 2 Their magnitude will helpe them in their swiftnesse For the greater any body is the quicker will it be in it's motion and that not onely when it is moved by an inward Principle as a milstone will descend faster than a little pibble but also when it 's motion do's proceed from some externall Agent as the Winde will drive a great Cloud or a heavy Ship when it is not able to stir a little Stone 2 As for the swiftnesse of this motion the possibilitie of it may be illustrated by other particulars in Nature As 1 The sound of a Cannon in a little time is carried for twenty miles distance 2 Though a Starre bee scituated so remotely from us yet the Eye discerns it in a moment which is not without some motion either of the Species of the Starre or the Rayes of the Eye Thus also the Light do's in an instant passe from one side of the Heaven to another 3 If the force of Pouder be able to carry a Bullet with so great a swiftnesse we need not doubt then but that the Heavens are capable of such a celeritie as is usually attributed unto them Vnto these it may be answered 1 Where they say that the heavenly Bodies are without all gravitie wee grant it in the same sence as our Earth also being considered as whole and in it's proper place may bee denied to bee heavy since this qualitie in the exactest sence can onely bee ascribed unto such parts as are severed from the whole to which they belong But however since the Heavens or Stars are of a materiall substance 't is impossible but there should bee in them some ineptitude to motion because matter is of it selfe a dull and sluggish thing and by so much the more as it is kept close and condensed together And though the followers of Ptolomey doe with much confidence deny the Heavens to be capable of any reluctancie to motion yet it were easie to prove the contrary out of their owne Principles 'T is not conceivable how the upper Sphaere should move the nether unlesse their Superficies were full of rugged parts which they deny or else one of the Orbes must leane upon the other with it's weight and so make it partake of it's owne motion And besides they tell us that the farther any Sphaere is distant from the primum mobile the lesse is it hindered by that in it's proper course and the sooner do's it finish it 's owne revolution From whence it will easily follow that these Bodies have resistency from one another I have often wondred why amongst the inchanted Buildings of the Poets they have not fained any Castle to bee made of the same materials with the sollid Orbs since in such a fabrick there would have been these eminent conveniences 1 It must needs be very pleasant by reason of it's perspicuitie because it is more diaphanous than the Aire it selfe and so the Walls of it could not hinder the prospect any way 2 Being so solid and impenitrable it must needs be excellent against al violence of weathers as also against the assaults of the enemy who should not be able to breake it with the most furious batteries of the Ram or pierce it with any Cannon shot 3 Being void of all
reason given why that greater light should represent her body under a false colour 2. 'T is not such a duskish leaden light as we see in the darker part of her body when shee is about a sextile Aspect distant from the Sunne for then why does shee appeare red in the eclipses since meere shade cannot cause such variety for 't is the nature of darknesse by its opposition rather to make things appeare of a more white and cleare brightnesse than they are in themselves Or if it be the shade yet those parts of the Moone are then in the shade of her body and therefore in reason should have the like rednesse Since then neither of these lights are hers it followes that she hath none of her owne Nor is this a singular opinion but it hath had many learned Patrons such was Macrobius who being for this quoted of Rhodiginus hee calls him vir reconditissimae scientiae a man who knew more than ordinary Philosophers thus commending the opinion in the credit of the Author To him assents the venerable Bede upon whom the glosse hath this comparison As the Looking-glasse represents not any image within it selfe unlesse it receive some from without so the Moone hath not any light but what is bestowed by the Sunne To these agreed Albertus Magnus Scaliger Maeslin Keplar and more especially Mulapertius whose words are more pat to the purpose than others and therefore I shall set them down as you may finde them in his Preface to his Treatise concerning the Austriaca sydera Luna Venus Mercurius terrestris humidae sunt substantiae ideoque de suo non lucere sicut nec terra The Moone Venus and Mercury saith he are of an earthly and moyst substance and therefore have no more light of their owne then the earth hath Nay some there are who think though without ground that all the other Starres doe receive that light whereby they appeare visible to us from the Sunne so Ptolomie Isidore Hispalensis Albertus Magnus and Bede much more then must the Moone shine with a borrowed light But enough of this I have now sufficiently shewed what at the first I promised that this light is not proper to the Moone It remaines in the next place that I tell you the true reason of it And here I think 't is probable that the light which appeares in the Moone at the eclipses is nothing else but the second species of the Sunnes rayes which passe through the shadow unto her body and from a mixture of this second light with the shadow arises that rednesse which at such times appeares unto us I may call it Lumen crepusculinum the Aurora of the Moon or such a kinde of blushing light that the Sunne causes when he is neere his rising when he bestowes some small light upon the thicker vapours Thus we see commonly the Sunne being in the Horizon and the reflexion growing weak how his beames make the waters appeare very red The Moabites in Iehorams time when they rose early in the morning and beheld the waters afarre off mistooke them for blood Et causa hujus est quia radius solaris in Aurora contrahit quandam rubedinem propter vapores combustos manentes circa superficiem terrae per quos radij transeunt ideo cum repercutiantur in aqua ad oculos nostros trahunt secum eundem ruborem faciunt apparere locū aquarum in quo est repercussio esse rubrum saith Tostatus The reason is because of his rayes which being in the lower vapours those doe convay an imperfect mixed light upon the waters Thus the Moone being in the earths shadow and the Sunne beames which are round about it not being able to come directly unto her body yet some second rayes there are which passing through the shadow make her appeare in that ruddy colour So that shee must appeare brightest when shee is eclipsed being in her Apoge or greatest distance from us because then the cone of the earths shadow is lesse and the refraction is made through a narrower medium So on the contrary shee must be represented under a more dark and obscure forme when she is eclipsed being in her Perige or neerest to the earth because then shee is involved in a greater shadow or bigger part of the cone and so the refraction passing through a greater medium the light must needs be weaker which doth proceed from it If you ask now what the reason may be of that light which wee discerne in the darker part of the new Moone I answer 't is reflected from our earth which returnes as great a brightnesse to that Planet as it receives from it This I shall have occasion to prove afterward I have now done with these propositions which were set downe to cleare the passage and confirme the suppositions implied in the opinion I shall in the next place proceed to a more direct treating of the chiefe matter in hand Proposition 6. That there is a World in the Moone hath beene the direct opinion of many ancient with some moderne Mathematicians and may probably be deduced from the tenents of others SInce this opinion may be suspected of singularity I shall therefore first confirme it by sufficient authority of divers Authors both ancient and moderne that so I may the better cleare it from the prejudice either of an upstart fancie or an absolute errour This is by some attributed to Orpheus one of the most ancient Greek Poets Who speaking of the Moone sayes thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That it hath many mountaines and cities and houses in it To him assented Anaxagoras Democritus and Heraclides all who thought it to have firme solid ground like to our earth containing in it many large fields champion grounds and divers Inhabitants Of this opinion likewise was Xenophanes as he is cited for it by Lactantius though that Father perhaps did mistake his meaning whilst hee relates it thus Dixit Xenophanes intra concavum Lunae esse aliam terram ibi aliud genus hominum simili modo vivere sicut nos in hac terra c. As if hee had conceived the Moone to be a great hollow body in the midst of whose concavity there should be another globe of sea and land inhabited by men as our earth is Whereas it seemes to be more likely by the relation of others that this Philosophers opinion is to be understood in the same sence as it is here to be proved True indeed the Father condemnes this assertion as an equall absurdity to that of Anaxagoras who affirmed the snow to be black but no wonder for in the very next Chapter it is that hee does so much deride the opinion of those who thought there were Antipodes So that his ignorance in that particular may perhaps disable him from being a competent Judge in any other the like point of Philosophy
radiis illustrata non aliam profecto visam iri probabile est quam qualis modo visatur lunaris globi species If you conceive your selfe to bee in some such high place where you might discerne the whole Globe of the earth and water when it was enlightned by the Sunnes rayes 't is probable it would then appeare to you in the same shape as the Moone doth now unto us So Paulus Foscarinus Terra nihil aliud est quà m altera Luna vel Stella talisque nobis appareret si ex convenienti elongatione eminus conspiciretur in ipsaque observari possent eaedem aspectuum varietates quae in Lunâ apparent The earth is nothing else but another Moone or Starre and would appeare so unto us if it were beheld at a convenient distance with the same changes and varieties as there are in the Moon Thus also Carolus Malapertius whose words are these Terra haec nostra si in luna constituti essemus splendida prorsus quasi non ignobilis planeta nobis appareret If wee were placed in the Moone and from thence beheld this our earth it would appeare unto us very bright like one of the nobler Planets Unto these doth Fromondus assent when he sayes Credo equidem quod si oculus quispiam in orbe lunari foret globum terrae aquae instar ingentis syderis à sole illustrem conspiceret I believe that this globe of earth and water would appeare like some great Star to any one who should looke upon it from the Moone Now this could not bee nor could it shine so remarkably unlesse the beames of light were reflected from it And therefore the same Fromondus expresly holds that the first region of ayre is there terminated where the heate caused by reflexion begins to languish whereas the beames themselves doe passe a great way further The chiefe argument which doth most plainely manifest this truth is taken from a common observation which may bee easily tryed If you behold the Moone a little before or after the conjunction when she is in a sextile with the Sunne you may discerne not onely the part which is enlightned but the rest also to have in it a kind of a duskish light but if you chuse out such a situation where some house or chimney being some 70 or 80 paces distant from you may hide from your eye the enlightned hornes you may then discerne a greater and more remarkable shining in those parts unto which the Sunne beames cannot reach nay there is so great a light that by the helpe of a good perspective you may discerne its spots In so much that Blancanus the Jesuite speaking of it sayes Haec experientia ita me aliquando fefellit ut in hunc fulgorem casu ac repente incidens existimarim novo quodam miraculo tempore adolescentis lunae factum esse plenilunium This experiment did once so deceive mee that happening upon the sight of this brightnesse upon a sudden I thought that by some new miracle the Moone had beene got into her full a little after her change But now this light is not proper to the Moone it doth not proceed from the rayes of the Sunne which doth penetrate her body nor is it caused by any other of the Planets and Starres Therefore it must necessarily follow that it comes from the earth The two first of these I have already proved and as for the last it is confidently affirmed by Caelius Quod si in disquisitionem evocet quis an lunari syderi lucem foenerent planetae item alii asseveranter astruendum non foenerare If any should aske whether the other Planets lend any light to the Moone I answer they doe not True indeed the noble Tycho discussing the reason of this light attributes it to the Planet Venus and I grant that this may convey some light to the Moone but that it is not the cause of this whereof wee now discourse is of it selfe sufficiently plaine because Venus is sometimes over the Moone when as shee cannot convey any light to that part which is turned from her It doth not proceed from the fixed starres for then it would retaine the same light in ecclipses whereas the light at such times is more ruddy and dull Then also the light of the Moone would not be greater or lesser according to its distance from the edge of the earths shadow since it did at all times equally participate this light of the starres In briefe this is neither proper to the Moone nor does it proceed from any penetration of the Suns rays or the shining of Venus or the other Planets or the fixed starrs Now because there is no other body in the whole Universe save the earth it remaines that this light must necessarily be caused by that which with a just gratitude repaies to the Moone such illumination as it receives from her And as loving friends equally participate of the same joy and griefe so doe these mutually partake of the same light from the Sunne and the same darkenesse from the eclipses being allo severally helped by one another in their greatest wants For when the Moone is in conjunction with the Sun her upper part receives all the light then her lower Hemispheare which would otherwise be altogether darke is enlightened by the reflexion of the Sunne-beames from the earth When these two Planets are in opposition then that part of the earth which could not receive any light from the Sunne-beames is most enlightened by the Moone being then in her full and as shee doth most illuminate the earth when the Sunne-beames cannot so the gratefull earth returnes to her as great nay greater light when shee most wants it so that alwayes that visible part of the Moone which receives nothing from the Sunne is enlightened by the earth as is proved by Galilaeus with many more arguments in that Treatise which he calls Systema mundi True indeed when the Moone comes to a quartile then you can neither discerne this light nor yet the darker part of her body and that for a double reason 1. Because the neerer it comes to the full the lesse light dos it receive from the earth whose illumination dos always decrease in the same proportion as the Moone dos increase 2. Because of the exuperancy of the light in the other parts Quippe illustratum medium speciem recipit valentiorem the clearer brightnesse involves the weaker it being with the species of sight as it is with those of sound and as the greater noise drowns the lesse so the brighter object hides that which is more obscure But as they do always in their mutuall vicissitudes participate of one anothers light so also doe they partake of the same defects and darknings for when our Moone is eclipsed then is their Sunne darkned and when our Sun is eclipsed thē is their Moon deprived of its light as you may see affirmed by Meslin Quod si
terram nobis ex alto liceret intueri quemadmodum deficientem lunam ex longinquo spectare possumus videremus tempore eclipsis solis terrae aliquam partem lumine solis deficere eodem planè modo sicut ex opposito luna deficit If we might behold this globe of earth at the same distance as we doe the Moon in her defect wee might discerne some part of it darkened in the Sunnes eclipses just so as the Moone is in hers For as our Moone is eclipsed by the interposition of our earth so is their Moone eclipsed by the interposition of theirs The manner of this mutuall illumination betwixt these two you may plainly discerne in this Figure following Where A represents the Sunne B the Earth and C the Moone Now suppose the Moone C to be in a sextile of increase when there is onely one small part of her body enlightened then the earth B will have such a part of its visible Hemispheare darkned as is proportionable to that part of the Moone which is enlightened and as for so much of the Moone as the Sun-beames cannot reach unto it receives light from a proportionall part of the earth which shines upon it as you may plainly perceive by the Figure You see then that agreement and similitude which there is betwixt our earth and the Moone Now the greatest difference which makes them unlike is this that the Moone enlightens our earth round about whereas our earth gives light onely to that Hemispheare of the Moone which is visible unto us as may be certainly gathered from the constant appearance of the same spots which could not thus come to passe if the Moone had such a diurnall motion about its owne axis as perhaps our earth hath And though some suppose her to move in an epicycle yet this doth not so turne her body round that wee may discerne both Hemispheares for according to that hypothesis say they the motion of her eccentrick doth turne her face towards us as much as the other doth from us But now if any question what they doe for a Moone who live in the upper part of her body I answer the solving of this is the most uncertaine and difficult thing that I know of concerning this whole matter But yet unto mee this seemes a probable conjecture That the upper Hemispheare of the Moone doth receive a sufficient light from those Planets about it and amongst these Venus it may bee bestowes a more especiall brightnesse since Galilaeus hath plainly discerned that she suffers the same increases and decreases as the Moone hath and 't is probable that this may bee perceived there without the help of a glasse because they are farre neerer it than wee When Venus saith Keplar lies downe in the Perige or lower part of her supposed Epicycle then is she in conjunction with her husband the Sunne from whom after shee hath departed for the space of ten moneths shee gets plenum uterum and is in the full But you 'll reply though Venus may bestow some light when she is over the Moone and in conjunction yet being in opposition she is not visible to them and what shall they then doe for light I answer then they have none nor doth this make so great a difference betwixt those two Hemispheares as there is with us betwixt the places under the poles and the line And besides 't is considerable that there are two kinde of Planets 1. Primarie such whose proper circles doe encompasse the body of the Sunne whereof there are six Saturne Iupiter Mars Ceres or the Earth Venus Mercury As in the Frontispice 2. Secondary such whose proper circles are not about the Sunne but some of the other primarie Planets Thus are there two about Saturne foure about Iupiter and thus likewise dos the Moone encompasse our earth Now t is probable that these lesser secondary Planets are not so accommodated with all conveniences of habitation as the others that are more principall But it may seeme a very difficult thing to conceive how so grosse and darke a body as our earth should yeeld such a cleere light as proceeds from the Moone and therefore the Cardinall de Cusa who thinks every Starre to be a severall woâ—ld is of opinion that the light of the Sunne is not able to make them appeare so bright but the reason of their shining is because wee behold them at a great distance through their regions of fire which doe set a shining lustre upon those bodies that of themselves are darke Vnde si quis esset extra regionem ignis terra ista in circumferentia suae regionis per medium ignis lucida stella appareret So that if a man were beyond the region of fire this earth would appeare through that as a bright Starre But if this were the onely reason then would the Moone be freed from such increases and decreases as shee is now lyable unto Keplar thinks that our earth receives that light whereby it shines from the Sunne but this saith he is not such an intended cleare brightnes as the Moon is capable of and therefore he guesses that the earth there is of a more chokie soyle like the I le of Crete and so is better able to reflect a stronger light whereas our earth must supply this intention with the quantity of its body But this I conceive to bee a needlesse conjecture since our earth if all things were well considered will bee found able enough to reflect as great a light For 1. Consider its opacity if you marke these sublunary things you shall perceive that amongst them those that are most perspicuous are not so well able to reverberate the Sunne-beames as the thicker bodies The rayes passe singly through a diaphanous matter but in an opacous substance they are doubled in their returne and multiplyed by reflexion Now if the moone and the other Planets can shine so cleerely by beating backe the Sunne-beames why may not the earth also shine as well which agrees with them in the cause of this brightnesse their opacity 2. Consider what a cleare light we may discerne reflected from the earth in the middest of Summer and withall conceive how much greater that must bee which is under the line where the rayes are more directly and strongly reverberated 3. 'T is considerable that though the Moon dos in the night time seeme to be of so cleere a brightnesse yet when wee looke upon it in the day it appeares like some little whitish cloud Not but that at both times she is of an equall light in her selfe The reason of this difference is because in the night wee looke upon it through a darke and obscure medium there being no other enlightned body whose brightnesse may abate from this Whereas in the day time the whole heavens round about it are of an equall clearenesse and so make it to appeare with a weaker light Now because wee cannot see how the enlightned parts of our earth
the Earth and the motion of the Sun therefore these phrases must needs bee understood in the same proper construction as those afterwards where motion was attributed to the Wind and Rivers Which inference you see is so weake that the Objector need not triumph so much in it's strength as he doth Another proofe like unto this is taken from S. Peter epist. 2. cap. 3. ver 5. where hee speakes of the Earth standing out of the water and in the water 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore the Earth is immooveable I answer 't is evident that the word here is equivolent with fuit and the scope of the Apostle is to shew that God made all the Earth both that which was above the water and that which was under it So that from this expression to collect the rest and immobilitie of the Earth would be such an argument as this other Such a man made that part of a Mill-wheele or a Ship which stands below the water and that part which stands above the water therâ—fore those things are immoovable To such vain and idle consequences do's the heate of opposition drive our adversaries A third Argument stronger than either of the former they conceive may may be collected from those scriptures where 't is said The World is established that it cannot be mooved To which I answer These places speake of the World in generall and not particularly of our Earth and therefore may as well proove the immobility of the Heavens they being the greatest pert of the World in comparison to which our Earth is but as an insensible point If you reply that the word in these places is to be understood by a Synechdoche as being meant only of this habitable World the Earth I answer First this is onely said not prooved secondly David but a little before seems to make a difference between the World and the Earth Psal. 90. 2. where he sayes Before thou hadst formed the Earth and the World But thirâ—â— in another place there is the same original word applyed expresly to the Heavens and which is yet more the same place do's likewise mention this supposed setlednesse of the Earth Prov. 3. 19. The Lord by wisdome hath founded the Earth and by understanding hath he established the Heavens So that these places can no more proove an immobilitie in the Earth than in the Heavens If you yet reply That by the Heavens there is meant the seat of the Blessed which do's not moove with the rest I answer though by such an evasion a man might possibly avoid the force of this place yet first 't is but a groundlesse shift because then that verse will not containe a full enumeration of the parts in the World as may seeme more agreeable to the intention of it but onely shew that God created this Earth where we live and the Heaven of Heavens So that the Heaven of the Starres and Planets shall be shifted out from the number of the other creature secondly there is another place which cannot bee so avoided Psal. 89. 37. where the Psalmist uses this expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It shall bee established as the Moone So Psal. 8. 3. The Moone and the Starres 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which thou hast established Thus likewise Prov. 8. 27. when he established the Heavens and in the next verse our English translation reads it when he established the clouds And yet our adversaries will affirme the Moone and Starres and Clouds to bee subject unto naturall motions why then should the very same expressions be counted as sufficient Arguments to take it away from the Earth If it be replyed That by establishing the Heavens is meant only the holding of them up that they doe not fall downe to us as Lorinus explaines that in the eighth Psalme and quotes Euthymius for the same interpretation fundandi verbum significat decidere non posse aut dimoteri a loco vbi collecti sunt I answer why may not we as well interpret the words thus of the Earth so that by establishing of it is meant only the keeping of it up in the vast places of the open aire without falling to any other place From hence it is plaine That these Scriptures are to be understood of such an immobilitie in the Earth as may likewise agree with the Heavens the same originall word being so promiscuously applyed to both I but you wil say there are some other places which do more peculiarly apply this setlednesse and establishment to the Earth So Psal. 119. 9. Thy faithfulnes is unto all generations thou hast established the Earth and it abideth Thus likewise Psal. 104. 5. Who laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not bee removed for ever The later of which being well weighed in it's original saith M. Fuller do's in three emphaticall words strongly conclude the Earth's immobility As first when he sayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fundavit he hath founded it wherein it is implyed that it do's not change his place To which may bee added all those Texts which so frequently speake of the foundations of the Earth as also that expression of the Psalmist where hee mentions the Pillars of the Earth Psal. 75. 3. The second word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated Basis and by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is he hath founded it upon it's owne firmenesse and therefore it is altogether without motion The third expression is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the root 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies declinare implying that it could not wagge with the least kind of declination To these I answer severally First for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fundavit It cannot be understood properly as if the naturall Frame of the Earth like other artificiall buildings did need any bottome to uphold it for he hangeth the Earth upon nothing Iob. 26. 7. But it is a Metaphor and signifies Gods placing or scituating this Globe of Land and Water As David tells us of the Pillars of the Earth so Iob mentions Pillars of the Heavens Iob 26. 11. And yet that will not proove them to be immoveable True indeed wee reade often concerning the foundations of the Earth but so we do likewise of the ends sides and corners of the Earth and yet these Scriptures will not proove it to bee of a long or square forme Besides we reade also of the Foundations of Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Sam. 22. 8. And yet wee must not hence inferre that they are without all motion As also of the planting of the Heavens Isai. 51. 6. which may as well proove them to be immoovable as that which followes in the same verse concerning the foundations of the Earth Which phrase as I have observed right in severall places of Scripture is to be understood according to these three interpretations 1 It is taken somtimes for the lower parts of the Earth as appeares by that
move would not be able to reach so farre in the eighth Sphaere being considered according to Ptolomies Hypothesis as to touch the Pole-starre which notwithstanding saith he is so neere the Pole it selfe that wee can scarse discerne it to move Nay that circle which the Pole-starre makes about the Pole is aboue foure times bigger than the Orbe of the Sunne So that according to the opinion of our adversaries though our Earth were at that distance from the centre as they suppose the Sunne to be yet would not this eccentricitie make it neerer to any one part of the Firmament than the Pole-starre is to the Pole which according to his confession is scarse sensible And therefore according to their opinion it would cause very little difference in the appearance of those Stars the biggest of which do's not seeme to bee of above five cubites in it's diameter 3 'T is considerable That the sphaeres of Saturne Iupiter Mars are according to the generall opinion of very great extension and yet each of them is appointed onely to carry about it's particular Planet which are but very little in comparison of the fixed Starres Now if for the scituation of these fixed Starres there should be allotted a proportionable part of the World 't is certaine that their Orbe must be farre bigger than it is commonly supposed and very neer to this opinion of Copernicus 4 Wee usually judge the bignesse of the higher Orbs by their different motions As because Saturne finishes his course in thirty yeares and Iupiter in twelve therfore we attribute unto those Orbes such a different proportion in their bignesse Now if by this rule wee would finde out the quantitie of the eighth Sphaere wee shall discerne it to be farre neerer unto that bignesse which Copernicus supposeth it to have than that which Ptolomy Tycho and others ordinarily ascribe unto it For the starry Heaven say they do's not finish his course under 26000 yeares whereas Saturne which is next unto it do's compasse his Orbe in thirty yeares From whence it will probably follow that there is a very great distance betwixt these in place because they have such different termes of their revolutions But against this answer unto the last Argument our adversaries thus reply 1 If the fixed Starres be so far distant from us that our approaching neerer unto them by 2000000 Germane miles doe not make any sensible difference in their appearance then Gallilaeus his perspective could not make them seeme of a bigger Forme than they doe to the bare eye which yet is contrary to common experience 2 From hence it may bee inferred That the least fixed Star is bigger than all this Orbe wherein wee suppose the Earth to move because there is none of them but are of a sensible bignesse in respect of the Firmament whereas this it seemes is not 3 Since God did at first create the Starres for the use of all nations that are under the wholeheavens Deut. 4. 19. it might have argued some improvidence in him if he had made them of such vast magnitudes whereas they might as well bestow their light and influences and so consequently be as serviceable to that end for which they were appointed if they had been made with lesse bodies and placed neerer unto us And 't is a common maxime that nature in all her operations do's avoid superfluities and use the most compendious way I answer 1 To the first whether the perspective do make the fixed Starres appeare bigger than they do to the bare eye cannot certainly be concluded unlesse wee had such an exact glasse by which wee might trie the experiment But if in this kinde we will trust the authoritie of others Keplar tells us from the experience of skilfull men that the better the perspective is by so much the lesse will the fixed Starres appeare through it being but as meer points from which the beames of light doe disperse themselves like haires And 't is commonly affirmed by others that the Dog-starre which seemes to bee the biggest Starre amongst those of the first magnitude do's yet appeare through this glasse but as a little point no bigger than the fiftieth part of Iupiter Hence it is that though the common opinion hold the Starres of the first magnitude to be two minutes in their diameter and Tycho three yet Gallilaeus who hath bin most versed in the experiments of his owne perspective concludes them to bee but five seconds 2 To the second First wee affirme the fixed Starres to be of a vaste magnitude But however this Argument do's not induce any necessitie that we should conceive them so big as the earth 's Orb. For it might easily bee prooved that though a Starre of the sixth magnitude were but equall in diameter unto the Sunne which is farre enough from the greatnesse of the Earth's Orbe yet the starry heav'n would be at such a distance from us that the Earth's annuall motion could not cause any difference in it's appearance Suppose the diameter of the Sunne to be about half a degree as our adversaries grant whereas a Starre of the sixth magnitude is fifty thirds which is comprehended in that of the Sun 2160 times Now if the Sunne were removed so far from us that it's diameter would seeme but as one of that number whereof it now containes 2160 then must his distance from us bee 2160 times greater than now it is which is all one as if wee should say that a Starre of the sixth magnitude is severed from us by so many semidiameters of the Earth's Orb. But now according to common consent the distance of the Earth from the Sun do's containe 128 semidiameters of the Earth and as was said before this supposed distance of the fixed Starres do's comprehend 2160 semidiameters of the Earth's Orbe From whence it is manifest that the semidiameter of the Earth in comparison to it's distance from the Sunne will bee almost doubly bigger than the semidiameter of the Earth's Orbe in comparison to this distance of the Starres But now the semidiameter of the Earth do's make very little difference in the appearance of the Sunne because we see common observations upon the surface of it are as exactly true to the sence as if they were made from the centre of it Wherefore that difference which would bee made in these fixed Stars by the annuall course of the earth must needs be much more unobservable or rather altogether insensible 2 The consequence of this Argument is grounded upon this false supposition That every body must necessarily be of an equall extension to that distance from whence there do's not appeare any sensible difference in it's quantitie So that when I see a Bird flying such a height in the aire that my being neerer unto it or farther from it by tenne or twenty foot do's not make it seem unto my eyes either bigger or lesse then I may conclude that the bird must needs be either
bee probably concluded that the Earth is rather the subject of this motion than the other To this it may be added that the Sun and Stars seem to be of a more excellent Nature than the other parts of the World and therfore should in reason be indowed with the best qualifications But now motion is not so noble a condition as rest That is but a kind of wearisome and servile thing wheras this is usually ascribed to God himself Of whom 't is said Immotus stabilisque manens dans cuncta moveri Aristotle tells us 't is very agreeable to reason that the time appointed for the revolution of each Orbe should be proportionable to it's bignesse But now this can onely be by making the Earth a Planet and the subiect of the annuall and diurnall motions Wherefore 't is probable that this do's rather move than the Heavens According to the common Hypothesis the primum mobile will move round in a day Saturne in thirty yeares Iupiter in twelve Mars in two The Sunne Venus and Mercury which have severall Orbes yet will agree in their revolutions being each of them about a yeare in finishing their courses Whereas by making the Earth a Planet there will be a just proportion betwixt the bignesse of the Orbes and the time of their motions For then next to the Sunne or Centre there will be the Sphaere of Mercury which as it is but narrow in it's diameter so likewise is it quick in it's motion running it's course in eighty eight days Venus that is next unto it in 224 dayes The Earth in 365 daies or a yeare Mars in 687 dayes Iupiter in 4332 dayes Saturne in 10759 dayes Thus likewise is it with those Medicean Starres that encompasse Iupiter That which is lowest amongst them finishes his course in two and twenty houres the next in three dayes and a half the third in seven dayes and the farthest in seventeen days Now as it is according to Aristotles confession more likely that Nature should observe such a due proportion betwixt the Heavenly Orbes so is it more probable that the Earth should move rather than the Heavens This may likewise be confirmed from the appearance of Comets Concerning which there are three things commonly granted or if they were not might be easily proved namely 1 That there are divers Comets in the Aire betwixt the Moone and our Earth 2 That many of these Comets do seeme to rise and set as the Stars 3 That this appearing motion is not properly their owne but communicated unto them from somewhat else But now this motion of theirs cannot be caused by the Heavens and therefore it must necessarily proceed from the revolution of our Earth That the Moones Orbe cannot carry along with it the greater part of the aire wherein these Comets are placed might easily be proved from the common grounds For the concave Superficies of that Sphaere is usually supposed to bee exactly terse and smooth so that the meer touch of it cannot turne about the whole Element of Fire with a motion that is not naturall unto it Nor could this Elementarie Fire which they imagine to be of a more rarified and subtle Nature communicate the same motion to the thicker Aire and that to the waters as some affirme For by what meanes could that smooth Orbe take hold of the adjoyning Aire To this Sarsius answers that there are great gibbosities and mountainous inequalities in the concavitie of the lowest Sphaere and by these is it inabled to carry along with it the Fire and Aire But Fromondus tels him Fictitiaista ad fugam reperta sunt And yet his owne Conjecture is scarse so good when hee affirmes that this motion of the aetheriall Aire as also of that elementary Aire hard by us is caused by that ruggednesse which there is in the Bodies of the Planets of which opinion wee may with as good reason say as hee sayes to Sarsius Fictitia ista ad fugam reperta These things are meere fictions invented for shifts and without any probable ground But now this appearance of the Comets may easily be resolved if wee suppose the earth to move For then though they did still remaine in their wonted places yet this by it's diurnall revolution successively with drawing it self from them they wil appear to rise set And therefore according to this common naturall experiment it is more probable that the Earth should move than the Heavens Another Argument urged by some to prove that this Globe of Earth is easily movable is taken from the opinion of those who affirme that the accesse of any weight unto a new place as suppose an army do's make the Earth poise it selfe afresh and change the centre of gravitie that it had before but this is not generally granted and therefore not to bee insisted on as a common ground To this purpose likewise is that inference of Lansbergius who from Archimedes his saying that hee could move the Earth if he knew where to stand and fasten his instrument concludes that the Earth is easily movable whereas 't was the intent of Archimedes in that speech to shew the infinit power of Engines there being no weight so great but that an instrument might be invented to move it Before we finish this Chapter t is requisite that we enquire what kind of facultie that is from which those motions that Copernicus ascribes unto the Earth do's proceed Whether or no it be some Animall Power that do's assist as Aristotle or informe as Keplar thinks or else some other naturall motive qualitie which is intrinsicall unto it Wee may observe That when the proper genuine cause of any motion is not obvious men are very prone to attribute unto that which they discerne to be the most frequent Originall of it in other things Life Thus the Stoicks affirme the Soule of the Water to bee the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea Thus others thinke the Winde to proceed from the Life of the Aire whereby it is able to move it selfe severall waies as other living creatures And upon the same grounds doe the Platonicks Stoicks and some of the Peripateticks affirme the Heavens to bee animated From hence likewise it is that so many do maintaine Aristotle his opinion concerning Intelligences which some of his followers the Schoole-men doe confirme out of Scripture From that place in Mat. 24. 29. where 't is said The Powers of the Heaven shall bee shaken In which words by Powers say they are meant the Angels by whose power it is that the Heavens are moved And so likewise in that Iob 9. 13. Where the vulgar ha's it Sub quo curvantur qui portant orbem that is the Intelligences Which Text might serve altogether as well to prove the Fable of Atlas and Hercules Thus Cajetan concludes from that place in the Psalme 136. 5. Where 't is said God by wisdome made the heavens or according to the
for it but when a new and an unheard of truth shall come before it though it have good grounds and reasons yet the understanding is afraid of it as a stranger and dares not admit it into his beleefe without a great deale of reluctancie and triall And besides things that are not manifested to the senses are not assented unto without some labour of minde some travaile and discourse of the understanding and many lazie soules had rather quietly repose themselves in an easie errour than take paines to search out the truth The strangenesse then of this opinion which I now deliver will be a great hinderance to its beliefe but this is not to be respected by reason it cannot be helped I have stood the longer in the Preface because that prejudice which the meere title of the booke may beget cannot easily be removed without a great deale of preparation and I could not tell otherwise how to rectifie the thoughts of the Reader for an impartiall survey of the following discourse I must needs confesse though I had often thought with my selfe that it was possible there might be a world in the Moone yet it seemed such an uncouth opinion that I never durst discover it for feare of being counted singular and ridiculous but afterward having read Plutarch Galileus Keplar with some others and finding many of mine owne thoughts confirmed by such strong authority I then concluded that it was not onely possible there might be but probable that there was another habitable world in that Planet In the prosecuting of this assertion I shall first endeavour to cleare the way from such doubts as may hinder the speed or ease of farther progresse and because the suppositions imply'd in this opinion may seeme to contradict the principles of reason or faith it will be requisite that I first remove this scruple shewing the conformity of them to both these and proving those truths that may make way for the rest which I shall labour to performe in the second third fourth and fifth Chapters and then proceede to confirme such Propositions which doe more directly belong to the maine point in hand Proposition 2. That a plurality of worlds doth not contradict any principle of reason or faith T Is reported of Aristotle that when he saw the Books of Moses hee commended them for such a majestick stile as might become a God but withall hee censured that manner of writing to be very unfitting for a Philosopher because there was nothing proved in them but matters were delivered as if they would rather command than perswade beliefe And 't is observed that hee sets downe nothing himselfe but hee confirmes it by the strongest reasons that may be found there being scarce an argument of force for any subject in Philosophy which may not be picked out of his Writings and therefore 't is likely if there were in reason a necessity of one onely world that hee would have found out some such necessary proofe as might confirme it Especially since hee labours for it so much in two whole Chapters But now all the arguments which hee himselfe urges in this subject are very weake and farre enough from having in them any convincing power Therefore 't is likely that a plurality of worlds doth not contradict any principle of reason However I will set downe the two chiefe of his arguments from his owne works and from them you may guesse the force of the other The first is this since every heavie body doth naturally tend downwards and every light body upwards what a hudling and confusion must there be if there were two places for gravity and two places for lightnesse for it is probable that the earth of that other world would fall down to this Center and so mutually the ayre and fire here ascend to those Regions in the other which must needs much derogate from the providence of nature and cause a great disorder in his works But ratio haec est minimè firma saith Zanchy And if you well consider the nature of gravity you will plainely see there is no ground to feare any such confusion for heavinesse is nothing else but such a quality as causes a propension in its subject to tend downwards towards its owne Center so that for some of that earth to come hither would not be said a fall but an ascension since it moved from its own place and this would be impossible saith Ruvio because against nature and therefore no more to be feared than the falling of the Heavens If you reply that then according to this there must be more Centers of gravity than one I answer 'T is very probable there are nor can we well conceive what any piece of the Moon would doe being severed from the rest in the free and open ayre but only returne unto it againe Another argument hee had from his Master Plato that there is but one world because there is but one first mover God Infirma etiam est haec ratio saith Zanchy and we may justly deny the consequence since a plurality of worlds doth not take away the unity of the first mover Vt enim forma substantialis sic primum efficiens apparentem solummodo multiplicitatem induìt per signatam materiam saith a Country-man of ours As the substantiall forme so the efficient cause hath only an appearing multiplicity from its particular matter You may see this point more largely handled and these Arguments more fully answered by Plutarch in his booke why Oracles are silent and Iacob Carpentarius in his comment on Alcinous But our opposites the Interpreters themselves who too often doe jurare in verba magistri will grant that there is not any strength in these consequences and certainly then such weake arguments could not covince that wise Philosopher who in his other opinions was wont to be swayed by the strength and power of reason wherefore I should rather think that he had some by-respect which made him first assent to this opinion and afterwards strive to prove it Perhaps it was because hee feared to displease his scholler Alexander of whom 't is related that he wept to heare a disputation of another world since he had not then attained the Monarchy of this his restlesse wide heart would have esteemed this Globe of Earth not big enough for him if there had beene another which made the Satyrist say of him Aestuat infoelix angusto limite mundi That he did vex himselfe and sweat in his desires as being pend up in a narrow roome when hee was confin'd but to one world Before he thought to seat himselfe next the Gods but now when hee had done his best hee must be content with some equall or perhaps superiour Kings It may be that Aristotle was moved to this opinion that hee might thereby take from Alexander the occasion of this feare and discontent or else perhaps Aristotle himselfe was as loth to hold the
name unto divers constellations Now if the Holy Ghost had intended to reveale unto us any naturall secrets certainly hee would never have omitted the mention of the planets Quorum motu nihilest quod de Conditoris sapientiâ testatur evidentius apud eos qui capiunt Which doe so evidently set forth the wisedome of the Creator And therefore you must know that 't is besides the scope of the old Testament or the new to discover any thing unto us concerning the secrets of Philosophy 't is not his intent in the new Testament since wee cannot conceive how it might any way belong either to the Historical exegeticall or propheticall parts of it nor is it his intent in the old Testament as is well observed by our Countrey-man Master WRIGHT Non Mosis aut Prophetarum institutum fuisse videtur Mathematicas aliquas aut Physicas subtilitates promulgare sed ad vulgi captum loquendi morem quemadmodum nutrices infantulis solent sese accommodare 'T is not the endeavour of Moses or the Prophets to discover any Mathematicall or Philosophicall subtilties but rather to accommodate themselves to vulgar capacities and ordinary speech as nurses are wont to use their Infants True indeed Moses is there to handle the History of the Creation But 't is certaine saith Calvin that his purpose is to treat only of the visible forme of the world and those parts of it which might be most easily understood by the ignorant and ruder sort of people and therefore we are not thence to expect the discovery of any naturall secret Artes reconditas aliunde discat qui volet hic spiritus Dei omnes simul sine exceptione docere voluit As for more hidden Arts they must be looked for else-where the Holy Ghost did here intend to instruct all without exception And therefore 't is observed that Moses does not any where meddle with such matters as were very hard to be conceived for being to informe the common people as well as others he does it after a vulgar way as it is commonly noted declaring the originall chiefely of those things which are obvious to the sense and being silent of other things which then could not well be apprehended And therefore Pererius proposing the question why the Creation of plants herbs is mentioned but not of mettalls and mineralls Answers Quia istarum rerum generatio est vulgo occulta ignota Because these things are not so commonly knowne as the other and hee adds Moses non omnia sed manifesta omnibus enarranda suscepit Moses did not intend to relate unto us the beginnings of all things but those onely which were most evident unto all men And therefore too Aquinas observes that hee writes nothing of the ayre because that being invisible the people knew not whether there were any such body or no. And for this very reason St. Ierom also thinks that there is nothing exprest concerning the Creation of Angels because the rude and ignorant vulgar were not so capable of apprehending their natures And yet notwithstanding these are as remarkable parts of the Creation and as fit to be knowne as another world And therefore the Holy Ghost too uses such vulgar expressions which set things forth rather as they appeare than as they are as when he calls the Moone one of the greater lights whereas 't is the least that wee can see in the whole heavens So afterwards speaking of the great raine which drowned the world hee sayes The windowes of heaven were opened because it seemed to come with that violence as if it were poured out from windowes in the Firmament And in reference to this a drowth is described in sundry other places by the heavens being shut up So that the phrases which the Holy Ghost uses concerning these things are not to be understood in a literall sense but rather as vulgar expressions and this rule is set down by Saint Austin where speaking concerning that in the Psalm who stretched the earth upon the waters he notes that when the words of Scripture shall seeme to contradict common sense or experience there are they to be understood in a qualified sence and not according to the letter And 't is observed that for want of this rule some of the Ancients have fastned strange absurdities upon the words of the Scripture So Saint Ambrose esteemed it a heresie to think that the Sunne and Starres were not very hot as being against the words of Scripture Psalm 19. 6. where the Psalmist sayes that there is nothing that is hid from the heat of the Sunne So others there are that would prove the heavens not to be round out of that place Psal. 104. 2. Hee stretched out the heavens like a curtaine So Procopius also was of opinion that the earth was founded upon the waters nay hee made it part of his faith proving it out of Psal. 24. 2. He hath founded the earth upon the seas and established it upon the floods These and such like absurdities have followed when men looke for the grounds of Philosophy in the words of Scripture So that from what hath beene said I may conclude that the silence of Scripture concerning any other world is not sufficient argument to prove that there is none Thus for the two first arguments Vnto the third I may answer that this very example is quoted by others to shew the ignorance of those primitive times who did sometimes condemne what they did not understand and have often censur'd the lawfull and undoubted parts of Mathematicks for hereticall because they themselves could not perceive a reason of it And therefore their practise in this particular is no sufficient testimonie against us But lastly I answer to all the above named objections that the terme World may be taken in a double sense more generally for the whole Vniuerse as it implies in it the elementarie and aethereall bodies the starres and the earth Secondly more particularly for an inferiour World consisting of elements Now the maine drift of all these arguments is to confute a plurality of Worlds in the first sense and if there were any such it might perhaps seem strange that Moses or St. Iohn should either not know or not mention its creation And Virgilius was condemned for this opinion because hee held quòd sit alius mundus sub terrâ aliusque Sol Luna as Baronius that within our globe of earth there was another world another Sunne and Moone and so he might seeme to exclude this from the number of the other creatures But now there is no such danger in this opinion which is here delivered since this World is said to be in the Moone whose creation is particularly exprest So that in the first sense I yeeld that there is but one world which is all that the arguments doe prove but understand it in the second sense and so
I affirme there may be more nor doe any of the above named objections prove the contrary Neither can this opinion derogate from the divine Wisedom as Aquinas thinks but rather advance it shewing a compendium of providence that could make the same body a world and a Moone a world for habitation and a Moone for the use of others and the ornament of the whole frame of Nature For as the members of the body serve not onely for the preservation of themselves but for the use and convenience of the whole as the hand protects the head as well as saves it selfe so is it in the parts of the Vniverse where each one may serve as well for the conservation of that which is within it as the help of others without it Mersennus a late Jesuite proposing the question whether or no the opinion of more worlds than one be hereticall and against the faith He answers it negatively because it does not contradict any expresse place of Scripture or determination of the Church And though saith he it seemes to be a rash opinion as being against the consent of the Fathers yet if this controversie be chiefly Philosophicall then their authorities are not of such weight Vnto this it may be added that the consent of the Fathers is prevalent onely in such points as were first controverted amongst them and then generally decided one way and not in such other particulars as never fell under their examination and dispute I have now in some measure shewed that a plurality of worlds does not contradict any principle of reason or place of Scripture and so cleared the first part of that supposition which is implied in the opinion It may next be enquired whether 't is possible there may be a globe of elements in that which wee call the aethereall parts of the Vniverse for if this as it is according to the common opinion be priviledged from any change or corruption it will be in vain then to imagine any element there and if we will have another world we must then seeke out some other place for its situation The third Proposition therefore shall be this Proposition 3. That the heavens doe not consist of any such pure matter which can priviledge them from the like change and corruption as these inferiour bodies are liable unto IT hath beene often questioned amongst the ancient Fathers Philosophers what kinde of matter that should be of which the heavens are framed Some think that they consist of a fifth substance distinct from the foure elements as Aristotle holds and with him some of the late Schoolemen whose subtill braines could not be content to attribute to those vast glorious bodies but commonmaterialls and therefore they themselves had rather take pains to preferre them to some extraordinary nature whereas notwithstanding all the arguments they could invent were not able to convince a necessity of any such matter as is confest by their owne side It were much to be desired that these men had not in other cases as well as this multiplied things without necessity and as if there had not beene enough to be knowne in the secrets of nature have spunne out new subjects from their own braines to finde more work for future ages I shall not mention their arguments since 't is already confest that they are none of them of any necessary consequence and besides you may see them set downe in any of the books de Coelo But it is the generall consent of the Fathers and the opinion of Lombard that the heavens consist of the same matter with these sublunary bodies St. Ambrose is so confident of it that he esteemes the contrary a heresie True indeed they differ much among themselves sâ—me thinking them to be made of fire others of water and others of both but herein they generally agree that they are all framed of some element or other Which Dionysius Carthusianus collects from that place in Genesis where the heavens are mentioned in their creation as divided onely in distance from the elementary bodies not as being made of any new matter To this purpose others cite the derivation of the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aquae or quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aquae Because they are framed out of these elements But concerning this you may see sundry discourses more at large in Ludovicus Molina Eusebius Nirembergius with divers others The venerable Bede thought the Planets to consist of all the foure elements and 't is likely that the other parts are of an aereous substance as will be shewed afterward however I cannot now stand to recite the arguments for either I have onely urged these Authorities to countervaile Aristotle and the Schoolemen and the better to make way for a proofe of their corruptibility The next thing then to be enquired after is whether they be of a corruptible nature not whether they can be destroyed by God for this Scripture puts out of doubt Nor whether or no in a long time they would weare away and grow worse for from any such feare they have beene lately priviledged But whether they are capable of such changes and vicissitudes as this inferiour world is lyable unto The two chief opinions concerning this have both erred in some extremity the one side going so farre from the other that they have both gone beyond the right whilst Aristotle hath opposed the truth as well as the Stoicks Some of the Ancients have thought that the heavenly bodies have stood in need of nourishment from the elements by which they were continually fed so had divers alterations by reason of their food this is fathered on Heraclitus followed by that great Naturalist Pliny in generall attributed to all the Stoicks You may see Seneca expresly to this purpose iu these words Ex illâ alimenta omnibus animalibus omnibus satis omnibus stellis dividuntur hinc profertur quo sustineantur tot Sidera tam exercitata tam avida per diem noctémque ut in opere ita in pastu Speaking of the earth he sayes from thence it is that nourishment is divided to all the living creatures the Plants and the Starres hence were sustained so many constellations so laborious so greedy both day and night as well in their feeding as working Thus also Lucan sings Necnon Oceano pasci Phoebúmque polumque Credimus Vnto these Ptolomie also that learned Egyptian seemed to agree when hee affirmes that the body of the Moone is moister and cooler than any of the other Planets by reason of the earthly vapours that are exhaled unto it You see these Ancients thought the Heavens to be so farre from this imagined incorruptibility that rather like the weakest bodies they stood in need of some continuall nourishment without which they could not
Vnto these agreed Pythagoras who thought that our earth was but one of the Planets which moved round about the Sun as Aristotle relates it of him and the Pythagoreans in generall did affirme that the Moone also was terrestriall that she was inhabited as this lower world That those living creatures and plants which are in her exceed any of the like kind with us in the same proportion as their dayes are longer than ours viz. by 15 times This Pythagoras was esteemed by all of a most divine wit as appeares especially by his valuation amongst the Romans who being commanded by the Oracle to erect a statue to the wisest Graecian the Senate determined Pythagoras to be meant preferring him in their judgements before the divine Socrates whom their Gods pronounc'd the wisest Some think him a Iew by birth but most agree that hee was much conversant amongst the learneder sort and Priests of that Nation by whom hee was informed of many secrets and perhaps this opinion which he vented afterwards in Greece where he was much opposed by Aristotle in some worded disputations but never confuted by any solid reason To this opinion of Pythagoras did Plato also assent when he considered that there was the like eclipse made by the earth and this that it had no light of its owne that it was so full of spots And therefore wee may often reade in him and his followers of an aetherea terra and lunares populi An aethereall earth inhabiters in the Moon but afterwards this was mixed with many ridiculous fancies For some of them considering the mysteries implied in the number 3 concluded that there must necessarily be a Trinity of worlds whereof the first is this of ours the second in the Moon whose element of water is represented by the spheare of Mercury the ayre by Venus and the fire by the Sunne And that the whole Vniverse might the better end in earth as it began they have contrived it that Mars shall be a spheare of the fire Iupiter of ayre Saturne of water and above all these the Elysian fields spacious and pleasant places appointed for the habitation of those unspotted soules that either never were imprisoned in or else now have freed themselves from any commerce with the body Scaliger speaking of this Platonick fancy quae in tres trientes mundum quasi assem divisit thinks 't is confutation enough to say 't is Plato's However for the first part of this assertion it was assented unto by many others and by reason of the grosnesse and inequality of this planet 't was frequently called quasi terra coelestis as being esteemed the sediment and more imperfect part of those purer bodies you may see this proved by Plutarch in that delightfull work which he properly made for the confirmation of this particular With him agreed Alcinous and Plotinus later Writers Thus Lucian also in his discourse of a journey to the Moon where though hee does speake many things out of mirth in a jesting manner yet in the beginning of it he does intimate that it did contain some serious truths concerning the real frame of the Vniverse The Cardinall Cusanus and Iornandus Brunus held a particular world in every Starre and therefore one of them defining our earth he sayes it is stella quaedam nobilis quae lunam calorem influentiam habet aliam diversam ab omnibus aliis stellis A noble Starre having a distinct light heat influence frō all the rest Vnto this Nichol. Hill a Country man of ours was enclined whē he said Astrea terrae natura probabilis est That 't is probable the earth hath a starry nature But the opinion which I have here delivered was more directly proved by Maeslin Keplar and Galilaeus each of them late Writers and famous men for their singular skill in Astronomy Keplar calls this World by the name of Levania from the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the Moon and our earth by the name of Volva à volvendo because it does by reason of its diurnall revolution appeare unto them constantly to turne round and therefore hee stiles those who live in that Hemisphere which is towards us by the title of Subvolvani because they enjoy the sight of this earth and the others Privolvani quia sunt privati conspectu volvae because they are deprived of this priviledge But Iulius Caesar whom I have above quoted speaking of their testimony whom I cite for this opinion viz. Keplar and Galilaeus affirmes that to his knowledge they did but jest in those things which they write concerning this and as for any such world he assuredly knowes they never so much as dreamt of it But I had rather beleeve their owne words than his pretended knowledge 'T is true indeed in some things they doe but trifle but for the maine scope of those discourses 't is as manifest they seriously meant it as any indifferent Reader may easily discerne As for Galilaeus 't is evident that hee did set downe his owne judgement and opinion in these things otherwise sure Campanella a man as well acquainted with his opinion and perhaps his person as Caesar was would never have writ an Apologie for him And besides 't is very likely if it had beene but a jest Galilaeus would never have suffered so much for it as report saith afterwards he did And as for Keplar I will onely referre the Reader to his owne words as they are set downe in the Preface to the fourth book of his Epitome where his purpose is to make an Apologie for the strangenesse of those truths that he was there to deliver amongst which there are divers things to this purpose concerning the nature of the Moone Hee professes that he did not publish them either out of a humor of contradiction or a desire of vaine-glory or in a jesting way to make himselfe or others merry but after a considerate and solemne manner for the discovery of the truth Now as for the knowledge which Caesar pretends to the contrary you may guesse what it was by his strange confidence in other assertions and his boldnesse in them may well derogate from his credit in this For speaking of Ptolome's Hypothesis hee pronounces this verdict Impossibile est excentricorum epicyclorum positio nec aliquis est ex Mathematicis adeo stultus qui veram illam existimet The position of Excentrickes and Epicycles is altogether impossible nor is there any Mathematician such a foole as to think it true I should guesse hee could not have knowledge enough to maintaine any other Hypothesis who was so ignorant in Mathematicks as to deny that any good Author held this For I would faine know whether there were never any that thought the Heavens to be solid bodies and that there were such kindes of motion as is by those fained
her to produce this variety and this in all probability was her intent to make it a fit body for habitation with the same conveniences of sea and land as this inferiour world doth partake of For since the Moone is such a vast such a solid and opacous body like our earth as was above proved why may it not be probable that those thinner and thicker parts appearing in her doe shew the difference betwixt the sea and land in that other world and Galilaeus doubts not but that if our earth were visible at the same distance there would be the like appearance of it If wee consider the Moone as another habitable earth then the appearances of it will be altogether exact and beautifull and may argue unto us that it is fully accomplished for all those ends to which Providence did appoint it But consider it barely as a starre or light and then there will appeare in it much imperfection and deformitie as being of an impure darke substance and so unfit for the office of that nature As for the forme of those spots some of the vulgar thinke they represent a man and the Poëts guesse t is the boy Endymion whose company shee loves so well that shee carries him with her others will have it onely to be the face of a man as the Moone is usually pictured but Albertus thinkes rather that it represents a Lyon with his taile towards the East and his head the West and some others have thought it to be very much like a Fox and certainly 't is as much like a Lyon as that in the Zodiake or as Vrsa major is like a Beare I should guesse that it represents one of these as well as another and any thing else as well as any of these since 't is but a strong imagination which fancies such images as schoole-boyes usually doe in the markes of a wall whereas there is not any such similitude in the spots themselves which rather like our Sea in respect of the land appeares under a rugged and confused figure and doth not represent any distinct image so that both in respect of the matter and the forme it may be probable enough that those spots and brighter parts may shew the the distinction betwixt the Sea and Land in that other world Proposition 8. The spots represent the Sea and the brighter parts the Land WHen I first compared the nature of our earth and water with those appearances in the Moone I concluded contrary to the proposition that the brighter parts represented the water and the spots the land of this opinion likewise was Keplar at the first But my second thoughts and the reading of others have now convinced me as after he was of the truth of that proposition which I have now set downe Before I come to the confirmation of it I shall mention those scruples which at first made mee doubt the truth of this opinion 1. It may be objected 't is probable if there bee any such sea and land as ours that it beares some proportion and similitude with ours but now this proposition takes away all likenesse betwixt them For whereas the superficies of our earth is but the third part of the whole surface in the globe two parts being overspread with the water as Scaliger observes yet here according to this opinion the Sea should be lesse than the land since there is not so much of the bespotted as there is of the enlightened parts wherefore 't is probable that there is no such thing at all or else that the brighter parts are the Sea 2. The water by reason of the smoothnesse of its superficies seemes better able to reflect the Sun-beames than the earth which in most places is so full of ruggednesse of grasse and trees and such like impediments of reflexion and besides common experience shewes that the water shines with a greater more glorious brightnesse than the earth therfore it should seeme that the spots are the earth and the brighter parts the water But to the first it may be answered 1. There is no great probability in this consequence that because 't is so with us therefore it must be so with the parts of the Moone for since there is such a difference betwixt them in divers other respects they may not perhaps agree in this 2. That assertion of Scaliger is not by all granted for a truth Fromondus with others thinke that the superficies of the Sea and Land in so much of the world as is already discovered is equall and of the same extension 3. The Orbe of thicke and vaporous aire which incōpasses the Moone makes the brighter parts of that Planet appeare bigger than in themselves they are as I shall shew afterwards To the second it may be answered that that though the water be of a smooth superficies and so may seeme most fit to reverberate the light yet because 't is of a perspicuous nature therefore the beames must sinke into it and cannot so strongly and clearely be reflected Sicut in speculo ubi plumbum abrasum fuerit saith Cardan as in Looking-glasses where part of the lead is razed off and nothing left behind to reverberate the image the species must there passe through and not back againe so it is where the beames penetrate and sinke into the substance of the body there cannot be such an immediate and strong reflexion as when they are beate back from the superficies and therefore the Sunne causes a greater heate by farre upon the Land than upon the water Now as for that experiment where it is sayd that the waters have a greater brightnesse than the Land I answer 't is true onely there where they represent the image of the Sunne or some bright cloud and not in other places especially if wee looke upon them at any great distance as is very plaine by common observation And 't is certaine that from any high mountaine the land dos appeare a great deale brighter than any lake or river This may yet be farther illustrated by the similitude of a looking glasse hanging upon a wall in the Sun-shine where if the eye be not placed in the just line of reflexion from the glasse t is manifest that the wall will bee of a brighter appearance than the glasse True indeed in the line of reflexion the light of the glasse is equall almost unto that which comes immediately from the Sunne it selfe but now this is onely in one particular place and so is not like that brightnesse which wee discerne in the Moone because this dos appeare equally in severall situations like that of the wall which doe seeme bright as well from every place as from any one And therefore the ruffnesse of the wall or as it is in the objection the ruggednesse of our earth is so farre from being an hinderance of such a reflexion as there is from the Moone that it is rather required as a necessary condition unto
doe looke in the night therefore in comparing it with the Moone wee must not consider her as she is beheld through the advantage of a darke medium but as she seemes in the day-time Now in any cleere Sun-shine-day our earth does appeare as bright as the Moone which at the same time does seeme like some duskish cloud as any little observation may easily manifest Therefore we need not doubt but that the earth is as well able to give light as the Moone To this it may be added that those very clouds which in the day-time seeme to be of an equall light to the moone doe in the evening become as darke as our earth and as for those of them which are looked upon at any great distance they are often mistaken for the mountaines 4. T is considerable that though the moone seeme to bee of so great a brightnesse in the night by reason of its neerenesse unto those severall shadowes which it casts yet is it of it selfe weaker than that part of twilight which usually wee have for halfe an houre after Sunne-set because wee cannot till after that time discerne any shadow to be made by it 5. Consider the great distance at which we behold the Planets for this must needs adde much to their shining and therefore Cusanus in the above cited place thinks that if a man were in the Sunne that Planet would not appeare so bright to him as now it doth to us because then his eye could discerne but little whereas here we may comprehend the beames as they are contracted in a narrow body Keplar beholding the earth from a high mountaine when it was enlightned by the Sunne confesses that it appeared unto him of an incredible brightnes whereas then he could onely see some small parts of it but how much brighter would it have appeared if hee might in a direct line behold the whole globe of earth and these rayes gathered together So that if we consider that great light which the earth receives from the Sunne in the Summer and then suppose wee were in the Moone where wee might see the whole earth hanging in those vast spaces where there is nothing to terminate the sight but those beames which are there contracted into a little compasse I say if we doe well consider this wee may easily conceive that our earth appeares as bright to those other inhabitants in the Moone as theirs doth to us But here it may bee objected that with us for many days in the yeare the heavens are so overclowded that wee cannot see the Sunne at all and for the most part in our brightest dayes there are many scattered clouds which shade the earth in sundry places so that in this respect it must needs be unlike the Moon and will not be able to yeeld so cleare unintermitted a light as it receives from that planet To this I answer 1. As for those lesser brighter clouds which for the most part are scattered up and down in the clearest days these can be no reason why our earth should be of a darker appearāce because these clouds being neere unto the earth and so not distinguishable at so great a distance from it and likewise being illuminated on their back parts by the Sunne that shines upon them must seeme as bright to those in the Moone as if the beames were immediately reflected from our earth 2. When these clouds that are interposed are of any large extension or great opacity as it is in extraordinary lasting and great rains then there must be some discernable alteration in the light of our earth But yet this dos not make it to differ from the Moone since it is so also with that Planet as is shewed in the later part of the next chapter Proposition 12. That t is probable there may be such Meteors belonging to that world in the Moone as there are with us PLutarch discussing this point affirmes that it is not necessary there should be the same meanes of growth and fructifying in both these worlds since nature might in her policy finde out more wayes than one how to bring about the same effect But however he thinks it is probable that the Moone her selfe sendeth forth warme winds and by the swiftnesse of her motion there should breathe out a sweet and comfortable ayre pleasant dewes and gentle moisture which might serve for refreshing and nourishment of the inhabitants and plants in that other world But since they have all things alike with us as sea and land and vaporous ayre encompassing both I should rather therefore thinke that nature there should use the same way of producing meteors as shee doth with us and not by a motion as Plutarch supposes because shee doth not love to vary from her usuall operations without some extraordinary impediment but still keepes her beaten path unlesse shee bee driven thence One argument whereby I shall manifest this truth may bee taken from those new Stars which have appeared in divers ages of the world and by their paralax have been discerned to have been above the Moone such as was that in Cassiopeia that in Sagittarius with many others betwixt the Planets Hipparchus in his time tooke especiall notice of such as these and therefore fancied out such cōstellations in which to place the Starrs shewing how many there were in every asterisme that so afterwards posterity might know whether there were any new Starre produced or any old one missing Now the nature of these Comets may probably manifest that in this other world there are other meteors also for these in all likelyhood are nothing else but such evaporations caused by the Sunne from the bodies of the Planets I shall prove this by shewing the improbabilities and inconveniences of any other opinion For the better pursuite of this 't is in the first place requisite that I deale with our chiefe adversary Caesar la Galla who doth most directly oppose that truth which is here to be proved Hee endeavouring to confirme the incorruptibility of the Heavens and being there to satisfie the argument which is taken from these Comets He answers it thus Aut argumentum desumptum ex paralaxi non est efficax aut si est efficax eorum instrumentorum usum decipere vel ratione astri vel medii vel distantiae aut ergo erat in suprema parte aeris aut si in coelo tum forsan factum erat ex reflectione radiorum Saturni Iovis qui tunc in conjunctione fuerant Either the argument from the paralax is not efficacious or if it bee yet the use of the instruments might deceive either in regard of the star or the medium or the distance and so this comet might be in the upper regions of the ayre or if it were in the heavens there it might be produced by the reflexion of the rayes from Saturne and Iupiter who were then in conjunction You see what shifts hee is driven to how he runnes up and downe to
in eclipsi nupera solari quae fuit ipso die natali Christi observavi clarè in luna soli supposita quidpiam quod valde probat id ipsum quod Cometae quoque maculae solares urgent nempe coelum non esse à tenuitate variationibus aeris exemptum nam circa lunam adverti esse sphaeram seu orbem quendam vaporosum non secus atque circum terram adeoque sicut ex terra in aliquam usque sphaeram vapores exhalationes expirant it a quoque ex luna In that solary eclipse which happened on Christmas day when the Moone was just under the Sun I plainly discerned that in her which may clearely confirme what the Comets and Suns spots doe seeme to prove viz. that the heavens are not so solid nor freed from those changes which our aire is liable unto for about the Moon I perceived such an orbe or vaporous aire as that is which doth encompasse our earth and as vapours and exhalations are raised from our earth into this aire so are they also from the Moone You see what probable grounds and plaine testimonies I have brought for the confirmation of this Proposition many other things in this behalfe might bee spoken which for brevity sake I now omit and passe unto the next Proposition 13. That t is probable there may be inhabitants in this other World but of what kinde they are is uncertaine I Have already handled the Seasons and Meteors belonging to this new World t is requisite that in the next place I should come unto the third thing which I promised and say somewhat of the inhabitants Concerning whom there might bee many difficult questions raised as whether that place bee more inconvenient for habitation than our World as Keplar thinks whether they are the seed of Adam whether they are there in a blessed estate or else what meanes there may be for their salvation with many other such uncertaine enquiries which I shall willingly omit leaving it to their examination who have more leisure and learning for the search of such particulars Being for mine owne part content only to set downe such notes belonging unto these which I have observed in other Writers Cum tot a illa regio nobis ignota sit remanent inhabitatores illi ignoti penitus saith Cusanus since wee know not the regions of that place we must be altogether ignorant of the inhabitants There hath not yet beene any such discovery concerning these upon which we may build a certainty or good probability well may wee guesse at them that too very doubtfully but wee can know nothing for if wee doe hardly guesse aright at things which bee upon earth if with labour wee doe find the things that are at hand how then can wee search out those things that are in heaven What a little is that which wee know in respect of those many matters contained within this great Universe This whole globe of earth and water though it seeme to us to bee of a large extent yet it beares not so great a proportion unto the whole frame of Nature as a small sand doth unto it and what can such little creatures as we discerne who are tied to this point of earth or what can they in the Moone know of us If we understand any thing saith Esdras t is nothing but that which is upon the earth and hee that dwelleth above in the heavens may onely understand the things that are above in the height of the heavens So that 't were a very needelesse thing for us to search after any particulars however we may guesse in the generall that there are some inhabitants in that Planet for why else did providence furnish that place with all such conveniences of habitation as have beene above declared But you will say perhaps is there not too great and intolerable a heate since the Sunne is in their Zenith every moneth and doth tarry there so long before he leaves it I answer 1. This may perhaps be remedied as it is under the line by the frequency of mid-day showers which may cloud their Sunne and coole their earth 2. The equality of their nights doth much temper the scorching of the day and the extreme cold that comes from the one requires some space before it can bee dispelled by the other so that the heat spending a great while before it can have the victory hath not afterwards much time to rage in Wherfore notwithstanding this doubt yet that place may remaine habitable And this was the opinion of the Cardinal de Cusa when speaking of this Planet he sayes Hic locus Mundi est habitatio hominum animalium atque vegetabilium This part of the world is inhabited by men beasts and plants To him assented Campanella but he cannot determine whether they were men or rather some other kinde of creatures If they were men then he thinks they could not be infected with Adams sinne yet perhaps they had some of their owne which might make them liable to the same misery with us out of which it may bee they were delivered by the same means as we the death of Christ and thus he thinks that place of the Ephesians may be interpreted where the Apostle sayes God gathered all things together in Christ both which are in earth and which are in the heavens So also that of the same Apostle to the Colossians where he sayes that it pleased the Father to reconcile all things unto himselfe by Christ whether they be things in earth or things in heaven But I dare not jest with divine truths or apply these places according as fancy directs As I thinke this opinion doth not any where contradict Scripture so I thinke likewise that it cannot bee proved from it Wherefore Campanella's second conjecture may be more probable that the inhabitants of that world are not men as we are but some other kinde of creatures which beare some proportion and likenesse to our natures Or it may be they are of a quite different nature from any thing here below such as no imagination can describe our understandings being capable only of such things as have entered by our senses or else such mixed natures as may bee composed from them Now there may be many other species of creatures beside those that are already knowne in the world there is a great chasme betwixt the nature of men and Angels It may bee the inhabitants of the Planets are of a middle nature between both these T is not improbable that God might create some of all kindes that so he might more compleatly glorifie himselfe in the works of his Power and Wisedome Cusanus too thinks they differ from us in many respects I will set downe his words as they may be found in the above cited place Suspicamur in regione solis magis esse solares claros illuminatos intellectuales habitatores spiritualiores etiam quà m
in lunâ ubi magis lunatici in terra magis materiales crassi ut illi intellectualis naturae solares sint multum in actu parum in potentia terreni verò magis in potentia parum in actu lunares in medio fluctuantes Hoc quidem opinamur ex influentia ignili solis aquatica simul aerea lunae gravedine materiali terrae consimiliter de aliis stellarum regionibus suspicantes nullam habitationibus carere quasi tot sint partes particulares mundiales unius universi quot sunt stellae quarum non est numerus nisi apud eum qui omnia in numero creavit Wee may conjecture saith hee the inhabitants of the Sunne are like to the nature of that Planet more cleare and bright more intellectuall than those in the Moone where they are neerer to the nature of that duller Planet and those of the earth being more grosse and materiall than either so that these intellectuall natures in the Sunne are more forme than matter those in the earth more matter than forme and those in the Moone betwixt both This we may guesse from the fierie influence of the Sunne the watery and aereous influence of the Moone as also the materiall heavinesse of the earth In some such manner likewise is it with the regions of the other starres for we conjecture that none of them are without inhabitants but that there are so many particular worlds and parts of this one universe as there are starres which are innumerable unlesse it be to him who created all things in number For hee held that the stars were not all in one equall orbe as wee commonly suppose but that some were farre higher than others which made them appeare lesse and that many others were so farre above any of these that they were altogether invisible unto us An opinion which as I conceive hath not any great probability for it nor certainty against it The Priest of Saturne relating to Plutarch as hee faignes it the nature of these Selenites told him they were of divers dispositions some desiring to live in the lower parts of the Moone where they might looke downewards upon us while others were more surely mounted aloft all of them shining like the rayes of the Sunne and as being victorious are crowned with garlands made with the wings of Eustathia or Constancie It hath beene the opinion amongst some of the Ancients that their heavens and Elysian fields were in the Moone where the ayre is most quiet and pure Thus Socrates thus Plato with his followers did esteeme this to bee the place where those purer soules inhabite who are freed from the Sepulcher and contagion of the body And by the Fable of Ceres continually wandring in search of her daughter Proserpina is meant nothing else but the longing desire of men who live upon Ceres earth to attaine a place in Proserpina the Moone or heaven Plutarch also seemes to assent unto this but he thinks moreover that there are two places of happines answerable to those two parts which he fancies to remaine of a man when he is dead the soule and the understanding the soule hee thinks is made of the Moone and as our bodies doe so proceede from the dust of this earth that they shall returne to it hereafter so our soules were generated out of that Planet and shall be resolved into it againe whereas the understanding shall ascend unto the Sunne out of which it was made where it shall possesse an eternity of well-being and farre greater happinesse than that which is enjoyed in the Moone So that when a man dies if his soule be much polluted then must it wander up and downe in the middle region of the ayre where hell is and there suffer unspeakable torments for those sins whereof it is guilty Whereas the soules of better men when they have in some space of time beene purged from that impurity which they did derive from the body then doe they returne into the Moone where they are possest with such a joy as those men feele who professe holy mysteries from which place saith he some are sent downe to have the superintendance of oracles being diligent either in the preservation of the good either from or in all perills and the prevention or punishment of all wicked actions but if in these imployments they mis-behave themselves then are they againe to bee imprisoned in a body otherwise they remaine in the Moone till their souls bee resolved into it and the understanding being cleared from all impediments ascends to the Sunne which is its proper place But this requires a diverse space of time according to the divers affections of the soule As for those who have beene retired and honest addicting themselves to a studious and quiet life these are quickly preferred to a higher happinesse But as for such who have busied themselves in many broyles or have beene vehement in the prosecution of any lust as the ambitious the amorous the wrathfull man these still retaine the glimpses and dreames of such things as they have performed in their bodies which makes them either altogether unfit to remaine there where they are or else keepes them long ere they can put off their souls Thus you see Plutarchs opinion concerning the inhabitants and neighbours of the Moone which according to the manner of the Academicks hee delivers in a third person you see hee makes that Planet an inferior kind of heaven and though hee differ in many circumstances yet doth hee describe it to bee some such place as wee suppose Paradise to be You see likewise his opinion concerning the place of the damned spirits that it is in the middle region of the aire and in neither of these is hee singular but some more late and Orthodox Writers have agreed with him As for the place of Hell many think it may be in the aire as well as any where else True indeed S. Austin affirmes that this place cannot bee discovered But others there are who can shew the situation of it out of Scripture Some holding it to be in another world without this because our Saviour calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outward darknesse But the most will have it placed towards the center of our earth because 't is said Christ descended into the lower parts of the earth and some of these are so confident that this is its situation that they can describe you its bignesse also and of what capacity it is Francis Ribera in in his Comment on the Revelations speaking of those words where 't is said that the blood went out of the wine-presse even unto the horses-bridles by the space of one thousand and six hundred furlongs interprets them to be meant of hell and that that number expresses the diameter of its concavity which is 200 Italian miles But Lessius thinkes that this opinion gives them too much roome in hell and therefore he guesses that 't
us many things which our Ancestors were ignorant of will also manifest to our posteritie that which wee now desire but cannot know Veniet tempus saith Seneca quo ista quae nunc latent in lucem dies extrahet longioris aevi diligentia Time will come when the indeavors of after ages shall bring such things to light as now lie hid in obscuritie Arts are not yet come to their solstice But the industrie of future times assisted with the labors of their forefathers may reach that height which wee could not attaine to Veniet tempus quo posteri nostri nos tam aperta nescisse mirentur As wee now wonder at the blindnesse of our Ancestors who were not able to discerne such things as seeme plaine and obvious unto us so will our posterity admire our ignorance in as perspicuous matters In the first ages of the world the Ilanders thought themselves either to bee the only dwellers upon earth or else if there were any other they could not possibly conceive how they might have any commerce with them being severed by the deepe and broade Sea But after times found out the invention of ships in which notwithstanding none but some bold daring men durst venture according to that of the Tragoedian Audax nimium qui freta primus Rate tam fragili perfida rupit Too bold was he who in a ship so fraile First venturd on the trecherous waves to saile And yet now how easie a thing is this even to a timorous and cowardly nature And questionlesse the invention of some other means for our conveiance to the Moone cannot seeme more incredible to us than this did at first to them and therefore we have no just reason to bee discouraged in our hopes of the like successe Yea but you will say there can be no sayling thither unlesse that were true which the Poëts doe but faine that she made her bed in the Sea Wee have not now any Drake or Columbus to undertake this voyage or any Daedalus to invent a conveiance through the ayre I answer Though wee have not yet why may not succeeding times rayse up some spirits as eminent for new attempts and strange inventions as any that were before them T is the opinion of Keplar that as soone as the art of flying is found out some of their nation will make one of the first Colonies that shall transplant into that other world I suppose his appropriating this preheminence to his owne Countreymen may arise from an overpartiall affection to them But yet thus far I agree with him That when ever that Art is invented or any other wherby a man may be conveyed some twenty miles high or thereabouts then t is not altogether improbable that some or other may be successefull in this attempt For the better clearing of which I shall first lay downe and then answer those doubts that may make it seeme utterly impossible These are chiefly three The first taken from the naturall heavinesse of a mans body whereby it is made unfit for the motion of ascent together with the vast distance of that place from us 2. From the extreme coldnes of the aethereall ayre 3. The extreme thinnesse of it Both which must needs make it impassible though it were but as many single miles thither as it is thousands For the first Though it were supposed that a man could flie yet wee may well think hee would be very slow in it since hee hath so heavy a body and such a one too as nature did not principally intend for that kind of motion T is usually observed that amongst the varietie of birds those which doe most converse upon the earth and are swiftest in their running as a Pheasant Partridge c. together with all domesticall fowle are lesse able for flight than othhrs which are for the most part upon the wing as a Swallow swift c. And therefore wee may well think that man being not naturally endowed with any such condition as may inable him for this motion and being necessarily tied to a more especiall residence on the earth must needs be slower than any fowle and lesse able to hold out Thus is it also in swimming which Art though it bee growne to a good eminence yet he that is best skilled in it is not able either for continuance or swiftnesse to equall a fish Because he is not naturally appointed to it So that though a man could fly yet hee would be so slow in it and so quickly weary that hee could never think to reach so great a journey as it is to the Moone But suppose withall that hee could fly as fast and long as the swiftest bird yet it cannot possibly bee conceived how he should ever be able to passe through so vast a distance as there is betwixt the Moone and our earth For this Planet according to the common grounds is usually granted to bee at the least 52 semidiameters of the earth from us Reckoning for each semidiameter 3456 English miles of which the whole space will be about 179712. So that though a man could constantly keep on in his journey thither by a straite line though he could fly a thousand miles in a day yet he would not arrive thither under 180 dayes or halfe a yeare And how were it possible for any to tarry so long without dyet or sleep 1. For Diet. I suppose there could be no trusting to that fancy of Philo the Iew mentioned before who thinks that the musick of the spheares should supply the strength of food Nor can wee well conceive how a man should be able to carry so much luggage with him as might serve for his Viaticum in so tedious a journey 2. But if he could yet he must have some time to rest and sleep in And I yet they have not any present inclination or pronesse to one another And so consequently cannot bee styled heavy The meaning of this will bee more clearely illustrated by a similitude As any light body suppose the Sunne dos send forth his beames in an orbicular forme So likewise any magneticall body for instance a round loadstone dos cast abroad his magneticall vigor in a spheare Thus. Where suppose the inward circle at A to represent the Loadstone and the outward one betwixt B C the orbe that dos terminate its vertue Now any other body that is like affected comming within this sphere as B will presently descend towards the center of it and in that respect may be styled heavy But place it without this sphere as C and then the desire of union ceaseth and so consequently the motion also To apply then what hath been said This great globe of earth and water hath been proved by many observations to participate of Magneticall properties And as the Loadstone dos cast forth its owne vigor round about its body in a magneticall compasse So likewise dos our earth The difference is that it is
Trent were not such confident defenders of Ptolomy's hypothesis against Copernicus as many now are For speaking of those intricate subtilties which the Fancies of men had framed to maintain the practice of the Church they compared them to Astronomers who say they do faine Excentricks and Epicijcles and such engines of Orbes to save the Phenomena though they know there are no such things But now because this opinion of Copernicus in later times hath been so strictly forbidden and punished it will concerne those of that Religion to take heed of medling in the defence of it but rather to submit the liberty of their reason unto the command of their Superiors and which is very absurd even in naturall Questions not to assent unto any thing but what authoritie shall allow of 3. A iudging of things by sence rather than by discourse and reason a tying of the meaning of Scripture to the letter of it and from thence concluding Philosophicall points together with an ignorance of all those grounds and probabilities in Astronomie upon which this opinion is bottomed And this in all likelihood is the reason why some men who in other things perhaps are able Schollers doe write so vehemently against it and why the common people in generall doe cry it downe as being absurd and ridiculous Vnder this head I might referre the opposition of Mr. Fuller Al. Ross. c. But now no prejudice that may arise from the bare authoritie of such enemies as these will be liable to sway the judgement of an indifferent considering man and I doubt not but that hee who will throughly weigh with himselfe these particulars that are here propounded may find some satisfaction for these Arguments which are taken from the seeming Noveltie and Singularitie of this Opinion PROP. II. That there is not any place in Scriptures from which being rightly understood wee may inferre the diurnall motion of the Sunne or Heavens IT were happy for us if we could exempt Scripture from Philosophicall controversies if we could bee content to let it bee perfect for that end unto which it was intended for a rule of our Faith and Obedience and not stretch it also to be a Iudge of such naturall truths as are to be found out by our owne industry and experience Though the Holy Ghost could easily have given us a full resolution of all such particulars yet hee hath left this travell to the sonnes of men to bee exercised therewith Mundum reliquit disputationibus hominum that being busied for the most part in an inquisition after the creatures we might find the lesse leisure to wait upon our lusts or serve our more sinfull inclinations But however because our Adversaries generally doe so much insult in those Arguments that may be drawne from hence and more especially because Pineda doth for this reason with so many bitter and empty reproaches revile our learned countryman Dr. Gilbert In that renewing of this opinion he omitted an answer to the scripture expressions therfore 't is requisite That in the prosecuting of this discourse wee should lay down such satisfaction as may cleere all doubts that may be taken thence Especially since the prejudice that may arise from the misapprehension of those Scripture phrases may much disable the Reader from looking on any other Argument with an equall and indifferent minde The places that seem to oppose this are of two kinds First such as imply a motion in the Heavens or secondly such as seeme to expresse a rest and immobilitie in the Earth Those of the first kind seem to beare in them the cleerest evidence and therfore are more insisted on by our Adversaries They may be referred unto these three heads 1 All those Scriptures where there is any mention made of the rising or setting of the Sunne or Starres 2 That story in Iosuah where the Sunne standing still is reckoned for a miracle 3 That other wonder in the dayes of Hezekiah when the Sunne went back ten degrees in the Diall of Ahaz All which places doe seeme to conclude That the diurnall motion is caused by the Heavens To this I answer in generall That the Holy Ghost in these Scripture expressions is pleased to accommodate himselfe unto the conceit of the vulgar and the usuall opinion whereas if in the more proper phrase it had been said That the Earth did rise and set or that the earth stood still c. the people who had been unacquainted with that secret in Philosophy would not have understood the meaning of it and therfore it was convenient that they should be spoken unto in their own Language I but you will reply It should seeme more likely if there had been any such thing that the Holy Ghost should use the truest expressions for then he would at the same time have informed them of the thing and reformed them in an errour since his authoritie alone had been sufficient to have rectified the mistake I answer 1 Though it were yet 't is beside the chiefe scope of those places to instruct us in any Philosophicall points as hath been proved in the former book especially when these things are neither necessary in themselves nor do necessarily induce to a more ful understanding of that which is the maine businesse of those Scriptures But now the people might better conceive the meaning of the Holy Ghost when he do's conforme himselfe unto their capacities and opinions than when hee talks exactly of things in such a proper phrase as is beyond their reach And therefore 't is said in Isaiah I am the Lord which teacheth thee utilia profitable things where the glosse ha's it non subtilia not such curiosities of Nature as are not easily apprehended 2 'T is not only besides that which is the chiefe purpose of those places but it might happen also to be somwhat opposite unto it For men being naturally unapt to beleeve any thing that seemes contrary to their senses might upon this begin to question the authoritie of that Booke which affirmed it or at least to retch Scripture some wrong way to force it to some other sence which might be more agreeable to their owne false imagination Tertullian tels us of some Hereticks who when they were plainly confuted out of any Scripture would presently accuse those texts or Books to be fallible and of no authority and rather yeeld Scripture to bee erroneous than forgoe those Tenents for which they thought there was so good reason So likewise might it have been in these points which seem to beare in them so much contradiction to the sences and common opinion and therfore 't is excellent advise set down by S. Austin Quod nihil credere de re obscur â temere debemus neforte quod postea veritas patefecerit quamvis libris sanctis sive testamenti veteris sive novi nullo modo esse possit adversum tamen propter amorem nostri erroris oderimus That wee should not hastily settle our
opinions concerning any obscure matter lest afterwards the truth being discovered which however it may seeme cannot bee repugnant to any thing in Scripture wee should hate that out of love to the error that wee have before entertained A little reading may informe us how these Texts have bin abused to strange and unmeant Allegories which have mentioned any naturall truth in such a manner as was not agreeable to mens conceits And besides if the Holy Ghost had propounded unto us any secrets in Philosophie we should have bin apt to be so busied about them as to neglect other matters of greater importance And therefore Saint Austin proposing the question what should be the reason Why the Scripture do's not cleerely set down any thing concerning the Nature Figure Magnitude and Motion of the Heavenly Orbes hee answers it thus The Holy Ghost being to deliver more necessarie Truths would not insert these lest men according to the varietie of their dispositions should neglect the more weighty matters and bestow their thoughts about the speculative naturall points which were lesse needfull So that it might seeme more convenient that the Scripture should not meddle with the revealing of these unlikely Secrets especially when it is to deliver unto us many other mysteries of greater necessitie which seeme to be directly opposite to our sense and reason And therefore I say the holy Ghost might purposely omit the treating of these Philosophicall Secrets till time and future discoverie might with leisure settle them in the opinion of others As he is pleased in other things of a higher kind to apply himselfe unto the infirmitie of our apprehensions by being represented as if hee were a humane nature with the parts and passions of a man So in these things likewise that he might descend to our capacities do's he vouchsafe to conforme his expressions unto the errour and mistake of our judgements But before we come to a further illustration let us a little examine those particular Scriptures which are commonly urged to prove the motion of the Sun or Heavens These as was said might be distributed under these three heads 1 Those places which mention the rising or setting of the Sunne as that in the Psalme The Sun like a Bridegroome commeth out of his chamber and rejoyceth as agyant to runne his race His going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the end of it and there is nothing hid from the heate thereof And that in Ecclesiastes The Sunne ariseth and the Sunne goeth downe c. In which Scriptures we may observe divers phrases that are evidently spoken in reference to the appearance of things and the false opinion of the vulgar And therefore 't is not altogether unlikely That this which they seem to affirme concerning the motion of the Heavens should also bee understood in the same sence The Sun like a Bridegroome commeth out of his chamber alluding perhaps unto the conceit of ignorant people as if it took rest all the while it was absent from us and came out of it's chamber when it arose And reioyceth as a Gyant to run his race because in the Morning it appeares bigger than at other times and therfore in reference to this appearance may then be compared unto a Giant His going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it Alluding againe unto the opinion of the vulgar who not apprehending the roundnesse of the Heavens doe conceive it to have two ends one where the Sun riseth the other where it setteth And there is nothing bid from the heate thereof speaking still in reference to the common mistake as if the Sunne were actually hot in it self and as if the heate of the weather were not generated by reflection but did immediately proceed from the body of the Sun So likewise for that in Ecclesiastes where 't is said the Sun riseth and the Sun goeth downe c. which phrases being properly understood doe import that he is sometimes in a higher place than at others whereas in a circumference there is no place higher or lower each part being at the same distance from the centre which is the bottome But now understand the phrase in reference to the Suns appearance and then we grant that he do's seem sometimes to rise and sometimes to go downe because in reference to the Horizon which common people apprehend to bee the bottome and in the utmost bounds of it to joyne with the heavens the Sun do's appeare in the Morning to rise up from it and in the Evening to goe down unto it Now I say because the Holy Ghost in the manner of these expressions do's so plainly allude unto vulgar errours and the false appearance of things therefore 't is not without probabilitie that hee should be interpreted in the same sence when he seemes to imploy a motion in the Sun or Heavens 2 The second place was that relation in Iosuah where 't is mentioned as a miracle That the Sunne did stand still And Iosuah said Sunne stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moone in the valley of Ajalon So the Sun stood still in the midst of Heaven and hasted not to goe downe about a whole day And there was no day like that before it or after it In which place likewise there are divers phrases wherin the Holy Ghost do's not expresse things according to their true nature and as they are in themselves but according to their appearances and as they are conceived in common opinion As 1 When he sayes Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon or over Gibeon Now the whole Earth being so little in comparison to the body of the Sun and but as a point in respect of that Orbe wherein the Sun is supposed to move and Gibeon being as it were but a point of this Globe of Earth therefore the words cannot be understood properly but according to appearance 'T is probable that Iosuah was then at Azecha a little East from Gibeon and the Sunne being somewhat beyond the Meridian did seeme unto him as he was in that place to bee over against Gibeon and in reference to this appearance and vulgar conceit do's hee command it to stand still upon that place 2 And so secondly for that other expression And thou Moone in the valley of Ajalon This Planet was now a little East from the Sun it being about three or foure dayes old as Commentators guesse Ajalon was three miles from Gibeon Eastward and Iosuah commanded the Moone to stand still there because unto him it did then seeme to be over against that valley whereas 't is certaine if he had been there himselfe it would still have seemed to be as much distant from him Iust as men commonly speak in shewing another the Stars we point to a Star over such a chimney or such a tree because to us it appeares so wheras the Star in it selfe is not sensibly more over
it upon a wrong ground supposing the Orbs to be living creatures and assisted with intelligences Wee may observe that the meaning of these coasts by the relations of right hand and left hand c. is so far from having any ground in the nature of those severall places that these relations are not onely variously applyed unto them by divers religions as was said before but also by divers Arts and Professions Thus because Astronomers make their observations towards the South parts of the Horizon where there bee most Stars that rise and set therefore do they account the West to be at their right hand and the East their left The Cosmographers in taking the latitude of places and reckoning their severall climates must looke towards the North Pole and therefore in their phrase by the right hand is meant the East and by the left hand the West and thus saith Plutarch are we to understand these expressions in Pythagoras Plato Aristotle The Poets count the South to bee towards the left and the North the right hand Thus Lucan speaking of the Arabians comming unto Thessalie sayes Ignotum vobis Arabes venistis in orbem Vmbras mirati nemorum nonire sinistras The Augures taking their observations at the East count the South to be at their right hand and the North their left So that these denominations have not any reall ground in the nature of the things but are imposed upon them by the Scripture phrase in reference to the account and opinion of the Iewes Thus also because heretofore it was generally received that the Heart was the principall seat of the Faculties therefore doth the Spirit apply himself unto this common Tenent and in many places attributes Wisedome and Vnderstanding to the Heart Whereas to speake properly the reason and discurfive Faculties have their principall residence in the Head saith Galen and Hypocrates together with the generalitie of our later Physitians because they are hindred in their operations by the distempers of that part and recovered by medicines applyed unto it So likewise are wee to understand those other places Isaiah 59. 5. where some translations reade it Ova Aspidum ruperunt they have broken the Vipers eggs alluding to that common but fabulous story of the Viper who breakes his passage through the bowells of the female So Psal. 58. 4 5. where the Prophet speaks of the deafe Adder that stops her eares against the voice of the charmer Both which relations if we may beleeve many naturalists are as false as they are common and yet because they were entertained with the generall opinion of those days therfore doth the holy Ghost vouchsafe to allude unto them in Holy Writ 'T is a plaine mistake of Fromondus when in answer to these places he is feigne to say that they are used proverbially only and doe not positively conclude any thing For when David writes these words that they are like the deafe Adder which stoppeth her eares c. This affirmation is manifestly implyed That the deafe Adder do's stop her eares against the voice of the charmer which because it is not true in the letter of it as was said before therefore 't is very probable that it should bee interpreted in the same sence wherein here it is cited In reference to this also wee are to conceive of those other expressions Cold commeth out of the North Iob 37. 9. and againe faire weather comes out of the North ver 22. So ver 17. thy garments are quieted when he warmeth the Earth by the South winde And Prov. 25. 23. The North wind driveth away raine Which phrases do not containe in them any absolute generall truth but can so farre only bee verified as they are referred to generall climates and though unto us who live on this side of the Line the North wind be coldest and driest and on the contrary the South wind moist and warme by reason that in one of these places there is a stronger heate of the Sun to exhale moist vapors than in the other yet it is clean otherwise with the inhabitants beyond the other Tropicke for there the North wind is the hotest and moist and the South the coldest and dry So that with them these Scriptures cannot properly bee affirmed that cold or that faire weather commeth out of the North but rather on the contrary All which notwithstanding do's not in the least manner derogate from the truth of these speeches or the omnisciencie of the speaker but doe rather shew the Wisdome and Goodnesse of the blessed Spirit in vouchsafing thus to conforme his Language unto the capacitie of those people unto whom these speeches were first directed In the same sence are we to understand all those places where the Lights of Heaven are said to be darkened and the Constellations not to give their light Isai. 13. 10. Not as if they were absolutely in themselves deprived of their light and did not shine at all but because of their appearance to us and therefore in another place answerable to these God sayes he will cover the Heavens and so make the Starres thereof darke Ezech. 37. 2. Which argues that they themselves were not deprived of this light as those other speeches seem to imply but wee In reference to this likewise are wee to conceive of those other expressions that the Moone shall blush and the Sunne bee ashamed Isai. 24. 23. That they shall be turned into bloud Math. 24. 29. Not that these things shall bee so in themselves saith S. Ierome but because they shall appeare so unto us Thus also Marke 13. 25. The Starres shall from Heaven that is they shall be so wholly covered from our sight as if they were quite fallen from their wonted places Or if this bee understood of their reall Fall as it may seeme probable by that place in the Revelations 6. 13. And the Stars of Heaven fell unto the Earth even as a Figge-tree casteth her untimely Figges when she is shaken by a mighty Winde then is it to be interpreted not of them that are truly Stars but them that appeare so alluding unto the opinion of the unskilfull vulgar saith Sanctius that thinke the Meteors to be Starres And Mersennus speaking of the same Scripture sayes Hoc de veris Stell is minimè volunt Interpretes intelligi sed de Cometis alijs ignitis Meteoris Interpreters do by no means understand this of true Starres but of the Comets and other fiery Meteors Though the falling of these be a naturall event yet may it be accounted a strange prodigie as well as an Earthquake and the darkening of the Sunne and Moone which are mentioned in the verse before In reference to this doth the Scripture speake of some common naturall effects as if their true causes were altogether inscrutable and not to bee found out because they were generally so esteemed by the vulgar Thus of the wind it is said That none know whence
place 2. Sam. 22. 16. The channels of the Sea appeared the foundations of the World were discovered 2 Somtimes for the beginning and first creation of it Isa. 40. 2. Hath it not been told you from the beginning have ye not understood from the foundations of the Earth And in many other places Before the Foundations of the World was laid that is before the first creation Sometimes it signifies the Magistrates and chiefe Governours of the Earth So many interpret that place in Micah 6. 2. where 't is said Heare O yee mountaines the Lords controversie and yee strong foundations of the Earth So Psal. 82. 5. The foundations of the Earth are out of course and in Sam. 2. 8. they are called pillars For the Pillars of the Earth are the Lords and he hath set the World upon them Hence it is that the Hebrewes derive their word for Master or Lord from a root which signifies a Basis or bottome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Greeke word for King do's in it's Primitives import as much as the Foundation of the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But now none of all the severall interpretation of this phrase will in the least manner conduce to the confirmation of the present Argument As for the second word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basis ejus I answer the proper signification of it is locus dispositus sedes or statio an appointed seat or station and according to this sence is it most frequently used in Scripture And therefore the Heavens are sometimes called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seat of Gods habitation And for this reason likewise doe Aquila and Symmachus translate it by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a seat or appointed scituation which may as well be attributed to the Heavens The third expression is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it should not be moved from the Primitive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which do's not signifie barely to move but declinare or vacillare to decline or slip aside from it's usual course Thus is it used by David Ps. 17. 5. where he prayes Hold up my goings in thy paths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That my footsteps slide not He do's not meane that his feet should not move So Psal. 121. 3. He will not suffer thy foot to bee mooved Thus likewise Psal. 16. 8. Because the Lord is at my right hand I shall not be moved which last place is translated in the new Testament by the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies fluctuare or vacillare to be shaken by such an uncertaine motion as the waves of the Sea Now as Davids feet may have their usuall motion and yet in this sence be said not to move that is not to decline or slip aside so neither can the same phrase applyed to the Earth prove it to be immovable Nor doe I see any reason why that of Didacus Astunica may not be truly affirmed That wee may prove the naturall motion of the Earth from that place in Iob 9. 6. Qui commovet terram è loco suo as well as it's rest and immobilitie from these From all which it is very evident that each of these expressions concerning the founding or establishing both of Heaven or Earth were not intended to shew the unmovablenesse of either but rather to manifest the power and wisedome of Providence who had so setled these parts of the World in their proper scituations that no naturall cause could displace them or make them decline from their appointed course As for such who doe utterly dislike all new interpretation of Scripture even in such matters as do meerely concern opinion and are not fundamentall I would only propose unto them a speech of S. Hierome concerning some that were of the same mind in his time Cur novas semper expetant voluptates vulgae eorum vicina Maria non sufficiant cur in solo studio Scripturarum veteri sapore contenti sunt Thus have I in some measure cleered the chiefe Arguments from Scripture against this opinion For which notwithstanding I have not thence cited any because I conceive the Holy Writ being chiefly intended to informe us of such things as concerne our faith and obedience wee cannot thence take any proper proofe for the confirmation of Naturall Secrets PROP. VI. That there is not any Argument from the words of Scripture principles of Nature or observations in Astronomy which can sufficiently evidence the Earth to bee in the centre of the Vniverse OVr adversaries doe much insult in the strength of those Arguments which they conceive do unanswerably conclude the Earth to bee in the centre of the World Whereas if they were but impartially considered they would be found altogether insufficient for any such conclusion as shall be cleerly manifested in this following Chapter The Arguments which they urge in the proofe of this are of three sorts Either such as are taken 1 From expressions of Scripture 2 From principles of naturall Philosophy 3 From common appearances in Astronomy Those of the first kinde are chiefly two The first is grounded on that common Scripture phrase which speakes of the Sunne as being above us So Solomon often mentioning humane affaires calls them the works which are done under the Sunne From whence it appeares that the Earth is below it and therefore neerer to the centre of the Vniverse than the Sunne I answer Though the Sun in comparison to the absolute frame of the World be in the midst yet this do's not hinder but that in respect to our Earth he may be truly said to bee above it because wee usually measure the height or lownesse of every thing by it's being further off or neerer unto this centre of our Earth From which since the Sunne is so remote it may properly bee affirmed that wee are under it though notwithstanding that bee in the centre of the World A second Argument of the same kinde is urged by Fromundus 'T is requisite that Hell which is in the centre of the Earth should be most remotely scituated from the seat of the Blessed But now this Heaven which is the seat of the Blessed is concentricall to the starry Sphaere And therefore it will follow that our Earth must bee in the midst of this Sphaere and so consequently in the centre of the World I answer This Argument is grounded upon these uncertainties 1 That Hell must needs bee scituated in the centre of our Earth 2 That the heaven of the Blessed must needs bee concentricall to that of the Starres 3 That places must bee as farre distant in scituation as in use Which because they are taken for granted without any proofe and are in themselves but weake and doubtfull therefore the conclusion which alwaies followes the worser part cannot bee strong and so will not need any other answer The second sort of Arguments taken from naturall Philosophy are principally these three 1 First from the
vilenesse of our Earth because it consists of a more for did and base matter than any other part of the World and therefore must bee scituated in the centre which is the worst place and at the greatest distance from those purer incortuptible bodies the Heavens I answer This Argument do's suppose such propositions for grounds which are not yet prooved and therfore not to be granted As 1 That bodies must bee as farre distant in place as in Nobilitie 2 That the Earth is a more ignoble substance than any of the other Planets consisting of a more base and vile matter 3 That the centre is the worst place All which are if not evidently false yet very uncettaine 2 From the nature of the centre which is the place of rest and such as in all circular motions is it's selfe immooveable And theresore will be the fittest scituation for rhe Earth which by reason of it's heavinesse is naturally unfit for motion I answer This Argument likewise is grounded upon these two foolish foundations As 1 That the whole Frame of Nature do's moove round excepting onely the Earth 2 That the whole Earth considered in it's whole and in it's proper place is heavy or more unfit for a naturall motion than any of the other Planets Which are so farre from being such generall grounds from which contro versies should be discussed That they are the very thing in question betwixt us and our adversaries 3 From the nature of all heavy bodies which is to fall towards the lowest place From whence they conclude that our Earth must be in the centre I answer This may proove it to be a centre of gravitie but not of distance or that it is in the midst of the World Yea but say our adversaries Aristotle for this urges a demonstration which must needs be infallible Thus the motion of light bodies do's apparantly tend upward towards the circumference of the World but now the motion of heavy bodies is directly contrary to the ascent of the other wherefore it will necessarily follow that these doe all of them tend unto the centre of the World I answer Though Aristotle were a Master in the art of Syllogismes and he from whom we received the rules of disputation yet in this particular 't is very plain that hee was deceived with a fallacie whilst his Argument do's suppose that which it do's pretend to proove That light bodies doe ascend unto some circumference which is higher and above the Earth is plaine and undeniable But that this circumference is the same with that of the World or concentricall unto it cannot be reasonably affirmed unlesse he suppose the earth to bee in the centre of the Vniverse which is the thing to be prooved I would fain know from what grounds our adversaries can proove that the descent of heavy bodies is to the centre or the ascent of light bodies to the circumference of the World The utmost experience we can have in this kinde do's but extend to those things that are upon our Earth or in the aire above it And alas what is this unto the vaste frame of the whole Vniverse but punctulum such an insensible point which do's not beare so great a proportion to the whole as a small sand do's unto the Earth Wherefore it were a sencelesse thing from our experience of so little a part to pronounce any thing infallibly concerning the scituation of the whole The Arguments from Astronomy are chiefly these foure each of which are boasted of to be unanswerable 1 The Horizon do's everie where divide all the great circles of a Sphaere into two equall parts So there is always halfe the Equinoctiall above it and half below Thus likewise there will constantly be six signs of the Zodiacke above the Horizon and other six below it And besides the circles of the Heaven and Earth are each way proportionable to one another as fifteen Germane miles on the Earth are every where agreeable to one degree in the Heavens and one houre in the Earth is correspondent to fifteen degrees in the Equator From whence it may bee inferred that the Earth must necessarily bee scituated in the midst of these circles and so consequently in the centre of the World I answer This Argument do's rightly proove the Earth to be in the midst of these circles but we cannot hence conclude that it is in the centre of the World from which though it were never so much distant yet would it still remaine in the midst of those circles because it is the eye that imagines them to be described about it Wherefore it were a weake and preposterous collection to argue thus That the Earth is in the centre of the World because in the midst of those circles or because the parts and degrees of the Earth are answerable in proportion to the parts and degrees in Heaven Whereas it follows rather on the contrary That these circles are equally distant and proportionall in their parts in respect of the Earth because it is our eye that describes them about the centre of it So that though a farre greater part of the world did appeare at one time than at another yet in respect of those circles which our eye describes about the Earth all that wee could see at once would seem to be but a perfect Haemisphere As may bee manifested by this following Figure Where if wee suppose A. to bee our Earth B. C. D. E. one of the great circles which we fancy about it F. G. H. I. the orbe of fixed Starres R. the centre of them Now though the Arke G. F. I. bee bigger than the other G. H. I. yet yet notwithstanding to the eye on the Earth A. one will appeare a semicircle as well as the other because the imagination do's transferre all those Starres into the lesser circle B. C. D. E. which it do's fancy to be described above that centre Nay though there were a habitable Earth at a far greater distance from the centre of the world even in the place of Iupiter as suppose at Q. yet then also would there bee the same appearance For though the Arke K. F. L. in the starry heaven were twice as big as the other K. H. L. yet notwithstanding at the Earth Q. they would both appeare but as equall Hemispheres being transferred into that other circle M. N. O. P. which is part of the Sphaere that the eye describes to it selfe above the Earth From whence wee may plainely discern That though the Earth be never so farre distant from the centre of the World yet the parts and degrees of that imaginarie Sphaere about it will always be proportionall to the parts and degrees of the Earth 2 Another demonstration like unto this former frequently urged to the same purpose is this If the Earth be out of the centre of the World then must it be scituated in these three positions either in the Equator but out of the Axis
or secondly in the Axis but out of the Equator or thirdly besides both of them But it is not placed according to any of these scituations therefore must it needs be in the centre 1 'T is not in the Equator and beside the Axis For then first there will bee no Equinox at all in some places when the days and nights shall be of an equall length secondly the afternoones and forenoones will not bee of the same length because then our Meridian Line must divide the Hemisphaere into unequall parts 2 'T is not in the Axis but out of the Equator for then first the Equinox would not happen when the Sunne was in the middle line betwixt the two Solstices but in some other paralell which might bee neerer to one of them according as the earth did approach to one Tropicke more than another Secondly there would not bee such a proportion between the increase decrease of days and nights as now there is 3 'T is not besides both of them For then all these inconveniences and sundry others must with the same necessity of consequence be inferred From whence it will follow That the Earth must be scituated there where the Axis and Equator meet which is in the centre of the World To this we grant that the Earth must needs be placed both in the Axis and Equator and so consequently in the centre of that sphaere which we imagine about it But yet this will not prove that it is in the midst of the Vniverse For let our adversaries suppose it to bee as far distant from that as they conceive the Sun to be yet may it still be scituated in the very concourse of these two Lines because the Axis of the World is nothing else but that imaginary Line which passes through the Poles of our Earth to the Poles of the World And so likewise the Equator is nothing else but a great circle in the midst of the Earth betwixt both the Poles which by imagination is continued even to the fixed Starres Thus also we may affirme the Earth to be in the plane of the Zodiacke if by it's annuall motion it did describe that imaginarie circle and in the plane of the Equator if by it's diurnall motion about it's own Axis it did make severall paralels the midst of which should be the Equator From whence it appeares that these two former Arguments proceed from one and the same mistake whilest our adversaries suppose the circumference and centre of the Sphaere to be the same with that of the World Another demonstration of the same kinde is taken from the Eclipses of the Sunne and Moone which would not alwaies happen when these two Luminaries are diametrically opposed but somtimes times when they are lesse distant than a semicircle if it were so that the Earth were not in the centre I answer This Argument if well considered will be found most directly to inferre this conclusion That in all Eclipses the Earth is in such a strait Line betwixt the two Luminaries whose extremities doe point unto opposite parts of the Zodiacke Now though our adversaries should suppose as Copernicus do's the Earth to be scituated in that which they would have to bee the Sunnes Orbe yet would there not bee any Eclipse but when the Sunne and Moone were diametrically opposite and our Earth betwixt them As may cleerely bee manifested by this Figure where you see the two Luminaries in opposite Signes and according as any part of our Earth is scituated by it's diurnall revolution so will every Eclipse be either visible or not visible unto it The last and chiefe Argument is taken from the appearance af the Starres which in every Horizon at each houre of the night and at all times of the yere seeme of an equall bignesse Now this could not bee if our Earth were sometimes neerer unto them by 2000000 Germane miles which is granted to bee the diameter of that Orbe wherein the Earth is supposed to move I answer this consequence will not hold if we affirme the Earth's Orbe not to be big enough for the making of any sensible difference in the appearance of the fixed Stars Yea but you wil say t is beyond conceit and without all reason to think the fixed Starres of so vast a distance from us that our approaching neerer unto them by 2000000 Germane miles cannot make any difference in the seeming quantitie of their bodies I reply There is no certaine way to find out the exact distance of the starry Firmament but we are fain to conclude of it by conjectures according as severall reasons and observations seem most likely unto the fancies of divers men Now that this opinion of Copernicus do's not make it too big may be discerned from these following considerations The Worlds great little are relative tearmes and do import a comparison to somthing else So that where the Firmament as it is according to Copernicus is said to be too big 't is likely that this word is to be understood in reference to some other thing of the same kinde the least of which is the Moones Orbe but now if it 's being so much bigger than this may bee a sufficient reason why it should be thought too great then it seemes that every thing which exceeds another of the same kind in such a proportion may be concluded to be of too big a quantitie and so consequently we may affirme that there is no such thing in the World And hence it will follow that Whales and Elephants are meere Chimaera's and poeticall fictions because they doe so much exceed many other living creatures If all this eighth sphaere saith Gallilaeus as great as it is were a light body and placed so farre from us that it appeared but as one of the lesser Starres wee should then esteeme it but little and therefore we have no reason now to thrust it out from being amongst the works of nature by reason of it 's too great immensitie 'T is a frequent speech of our adversaries Tycho Fromundus and others in excuse of that incredible swiftnesse which they imagine in their primum mobile That 't was requisite the motion of the Heavens should have a kind of infinitie in it the better to manifest the infinitenesse of the Creator And why may not wee as well affirme this concerning the bignes of the Heavens Difficilius est accidens praeter modulum subjecti intendere quà m subjectum sine accidente augere saith Keplar His meaning is that 't is lesse absurd to imagine the eighth Sphaere of so vast a bignesse as long as it is without motion or at least ha's but a very slow one than to attribute unto it such an incredible celeritie as is altogether disproportionable to it's bignesse 2 'T is the acknowledgement of Clavius and might easily be demonstrated That if the centre were fastened upon the Pole of the World the Orbe wherein he supposes the Sunne to
ten or twenty foot thicke or when I see the body of a Tree that may be halfe a mile from me and perceive that my approaching neerer to it by thirty or forty paces do's not sensibly make any different appearance I may then inferre that the Tree is forty paces thicke with many the like absurd consequences that would follow from that foundation upon which this Argument is bottomed To the third I answer 'T is too much presumption to conclude that to bee superfluous the usefulnesse of which we doe not understand There be many secret ends in these great works of Providence which humane wisedome cannot reach unto and as Solomon speakes of those things that are under the Sunne so may we also of those things that are above it That no man can find out the works of God for though a man labour to seek it out Yea further Though a wise man thinke to know it yet shall he not be able to finde it He that hath most insight into the works of nature is not able to give a satisfying reason why the Planets or Stars should be placed just at this particular distance from the Earth and no neerer or farther And besides this Argument might as well be urged against the Hypothesis of Ptolomy or Tycho since the Starres for ought we know might have been as serviceable to us if they had been placed farre neerer than either of those Authors suppose them Againe were there any force in such a consequence it would as well conclude a great improvidence of nature in making such a multitude of those lesser Stars which have lately discovered by the perspective For to what purpose should so many Lights be created for the use of man since his eyes were not able to discerne them So that our disabilitie to comprehend all those ends which might be aimed at in the works of nature can bee no sufficient Argument to proove their superfluitie Though Scripture doe tell us that these things were made for our use yet it do's not tell us that this is their only end 'T is not impossible but that there may be elsewhere some other inhabitants by whom these lesser Stars may be more plainly discerned And as was said before why may not we affirm that of the bignesse which our adversaries doe concerning the motion of the Heavens That God to shew his owne immensitie did put a kinde of infinitie in the creature There is yet another Argument to this purpose urged by Al. Ross. which was not referred to any of the former kinde because I could scarsely beleeve I did rightly understand it since he puts it in the front of his other Arguments as being of strength and subtilty enough to be a leader unto all the rest and yet in the most likely sence of it 't is so extremely simple to be pressed in a controversie that every fresh man would laugh at it The words of it are these Quod minimum est in circulo debet esse centrum illius at terra longè minor est Sole Aequinoctialis terrestris est omnium in Coelo circulus minimus ergo c. By the same reason it would rather follow that the Moon or Mercury were in the centre since both these are lesse than the Earth And then whereas he sayes that the Aequinoctiall of the Earth is the least circle in the Heavens 't is neither true nor pertinent and would make one suspect that hee who should urge such an Argument did searse understand any thing in Astronomy There are many other objections like unto this not worth the citing The chiefe of all have bin already answered by which you may discerne that there is not any such great necessitie as our adversaries pretend why the Earth should bee scituated in the midst of the Vniverse PROP. VII 'T is probable that the Sunne is in the centre of the World THe chiefe reasons for the confirmation of this truth are implyed in the inconveniences of this Hypothesis above any other whereby wee may resolve the motions and appearances of the Heavens into more easie and naturall causes Hence will the frame of nature bee freed from that deformitie which it ha's according to the Systeme of Tycho who though he make the Sunne to be in the midst of the Planets yet without any good reason denies it to be in the midst of the fixed Starres as if the Planets which are such eminent parts of the World should bee appointed to move about a distinct centre of their owne which was beside that of the Vniverse Hence likewise are wee freed from many of those inconveniences in the Hypothesis of Ptolomy who supposed in the Heavens Eppicides and Eccentrickes and other Orbes which he calls the differents of the Apoge and the Perige As if nature in framing this great engine of the World had been put unto such hard shifts that shee was faine to make use of wheeles and screwes and other the like artificiall instruments of motion There bee sundry other particulars whereby this opinion concerning the Sunnes being in the centre may bee strongly evidenced which because they relate unto severall motions also cannot therefore properly be insisted on in this place You may easily enough discerne them by considering the whole frame of the Heavens as they are according to the Systeme of Copernicus wherein all those probable resolutions that are given for divers appearances amongst the Planets doe mainly depend upon this supposition that the Sunne is in the centre Which Arguments were there no other might be abundantly enough for the confirmation of it But for the greater plenty there are likewise these probabilities considerable 1 It may seem agreeable to reason that the light which is diffused in severall Starres through the circumference of the World should be more eminently contained and as it were contracted in the centre of it which can only be by placing the Sunne there 2 'T is an Argument of Clavius and frequently urged by our adversaries That the most naturall scituation of the Sunnes body was in the midst betwixt the other Planets and that for this reason because from thence he might more conveniently distribute amongst them both his light and heate The force of which may more properly bee applyed to proove him in the centre 3 'T is probable that the planetarie Orbes which are speciall parts of the Vniverse doe moove about the centre of the World rather than about any other centre which is remote from it But now 't is evident that the Planet Saturne Iupiter Mars Venus Mercury doe by their motion encompasse the body of the Sunne 'T is likely therefore that thâ—s is scituated in the midst of the World As for the three upper Planet 't is found by observation that they are alwaies neerest to the Earth when in opposition to the Sunne and farthest from us when in conjunction with it which difference is so eminent that Mars in his Perige do's appeare sixty times
adversaries Sundry of which objections to speak as the truth is do beare in them a great shew of probabilitie and such too as it seemes was very efficacious since Aristotle and Ptolomy c. men of excellent parts and deep judgements did ground upon them as being of infallible and necessarie consequence I shall reckon them up severally and set downe such answers unto each as may yeeld some satisfaction to every indifferent seeker of truth 1 First then 't is objected from our sences If the Earth did move we should perceive it The Westerne mountaines would then appeare to ascend towards the Starres rather than the Stars to descend below them I answer The sight judges of motion according as any thing do's desert the plane whereon it selfe is seated which plane every where keeping the same scituation and distance in respect of the eye do's therefore seem immovable unto it and the motion will appeare in those Starres and parts of the Heaven through which the verticall Line do's passe The reason of such deceit may be this Motion being not a proper object of the sight nor belonging to any other peculiar sence must therefore be judged of by the sensus communis which is liable to mistake in this respect because it apprehends the eye it self to rest immovable whilest it do's not feel any effects of this motion in the body As it is when a man is carried in a Ship so that sence it but an ill judge of naturall secrets 'T is a good rule of Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Philosopher must not bee carried away by the bare appearance of things to sight but must examine them by reason If this were a good consequence The Earth do's not move because it do's not appeare so to us we might then as well argue that it do's move when we goe upon the water according to the verse Provehimur portu terraeque verbesque recedunt Or if such Arguments would hold it were an easie matter to prove the Sunne and Moone not so big as a Hat or the fixed stars as a Candle Yea but if the motions of the Heavens bee onely apparant and not reall then the motion of the clouds will be so too since the eye may bee as well deceived in the one as the other I answer 'T is all one as if he should inferre that the sence was mistaken in every thing because it was so in one thing and this would be an excellent Argument to prove that opinion of Anaxagoras that the Snow was blacke The reason why that motion which is caused by the Earth do's appeare as if it were in the Heavens is because the sensus communis in judging of it do's conceive the eye to be it selfe immovable as was said before there being no sence that do's discerne the effects of any motion in the body and therefore it do's conclude every thing to move which it do's perceive to change it's distance from it So that the clouds do not seem to move sometimes when as notwithstanding they are every where carried about with our Earth by such a swift revolution yet this can be no hinderance at all why wee may not judge aright of their other particular motions for which there is not the same reason Though to a man in a Ship the Trees and Bankes may seeme to move yet it would be but a weak Argument to conclude from hence that therefore such a one could not tell whether his friend do's really stirre whom he sees to walke up and downe in the Ship or that hee might as well bee deceived in judging the Oares to move when they doe not 'T is againe replyed by the same Objector That it is not credible the eve should bee mistaken in judging of the Starres and Heavens because those being light bodies are the primarie and proper Objects of that sence I answer The deceit here is not concerning the light or colour of those bodies but concerning their motion which is neither the primarie nor proper Object of the Eye but reckoned amongst the Objecta Communia 2 Another common Argument against this motion is taken from the danger that would thence arise unto all high buildings which by this would quickely bee ruinated and scattered abroad I answer This motion is supposed to be naturall and those things which are according to nature have contrary effects to other matters which are by force and violence Now it belongs unto things of this later kind to be inconstant and hurtfull whereas those of the first kinde must be regular and tending to conservation The motion of the Earth is alwaies equall and like it selfe not by starts and fits If a glasse of Beere may stand firmely enough in a Shippe when it moves swiftly upon a smooth streame much lesse then will the motion of the Earth which is more naturall and so consequently more equall cause any danger unto those buildings that are erected upon it And therefore to suspect any such event would bee like the feare of Lactantius who would not acknowledge the being of any Antipodes lest then he might bee forced to grant that they should fall downe unto the Heavens We have equall reason to be afraid of high buildings if the whole World above us were whirled about with such a mad celeritie as our adversaries suppose for then there would be but small hopes that this little point of Earth should escape from the rest But supposing saith Rosse that this motion were naturall to the Earth yet it is not naturall to Townes and Buildings for these are artificiall To which I answer Ha ha he 3 Another Argument to this purpose is taken from the rest and quietnes of the aire about us which could not be if there were any such swift motion of the Earth If a man riding upon a fleet horse doe perceive the aire to beat against his face as if there were a winde what a vehement tempest should wee continually feele from the East if the Earth were turned about with such a swift revolution as is supposed Vnto this 't is usually answered That the aire also is carried along with the same motion of the Earth For if the concavitie of the Moones Orbe which is of so smooth and glabrous a superficies may according to our adversaries drive along with it the greatest part of this Elementarie World all the regions of Fire and all the vast upper regions of Aire and as some will have it the two lower Regions together with the Sea likewise for from hence saith Alex. Rosse lib. 1. sect 1. cap. 3. is it that betwixt the Tropicks there is a constant Easterne wind and a continuall flowing of the Sea Westward I say if the motion of the Heavens which are smooth bodies may bee able to carry with it so great a part of the elementarie World or if the rugged parts of the Moons Body be able to carry with it so great a part of the aire as
same violence will not bee carried an equall distance from us but we should by the revolution of our Earth overtake that which was shot to the East before it could fall If a man leaping up should abide in the Aire but one second scruple of an houre or the sixtieth part of a minute the Earth in that space would withdraw it selfe from him almost a quarter of a mile All these and many other such strange inferences which are directly contrary to sence and experience would follow from this motion of the Earth There are three severall wayes most frequently used for the resolving of these kind of doubts 1 From those magneticall qualities which all elementarie bodies do partake of 2 From the like motions of other things within the roome of a sailing Ship 3 From the like participation of motion in the open parts of a Ship 1 For those magneticall properties with which all these bodies are endowed For the better understanding of this you must know That besides those common elementarie qualities of heat coldnesse drinesse moisture c. which arise from the predominancie of severall Elements there are likewise other qualities not so well known to the Antients which wee call magneticall of which every Particle in the Terrestriall Globe do's necessarily participate and whether it be joyned to this Globe by continuitie or contiguitie or whether it be severed from it as the Clouds in the second Region a Bird or Bullet in the Aire yet do's it still retaine it's magneticall qualities together with all those operations that proceed from them Now from these properties doe wee suppose the circular motion of the Earth to arise If you aske what probabilities there are to prove that the Earth is indowed with any such affections I answer 'T is likely that the lower parts of this Globe do not consist of such a soft fructifying Earth as there is in the surface because there can be no such use for it as here and nature do's nothing in vain but rather of some hard rocky substance since we may well conceive that these lower parts are pressed close together by the weight of all those heavy bodies above them Now 't is probable that this rocky substance is a Load-stone rather than a Iaspis Adamant Marble or any other because experience teacheth us that the Earth and Loadstone do agree together in so many properties Suppose a man were to judge the matter of divers bodies each of which should bee wrapt up in some covering from his eye so that he might not only examine them by some other outward signes If in this examination he should find any particular body which had all the properties that are peculiar to a Load-stone hee would in reason conclude it to be of that nature rather than any other Now there is altogether as much reason why wee should inferre that the inward parts of the Earth doe consist of a magneticall substance The agreement of these two you may see largely set forth in the treatise of D. Gilbert I will instance only in one Example which of it self may sufficiently evidence that the Globe of Earth do's partake of the like affections with the load-stone In the mariners needle you may observe the magneticall notions of direction variation declination the two last of which are found to be different according to the varietie of places Now this difference cannot proceed from the needle it selfe because that is the same every where Nor can we well conceive how it should bee caused by the Heavens for then the variation would not be alwaies alike in the same place but diverse according to those severall parts of the heaven which at severall times should happen to bee over it And therefore it must necessarily proceed from the Earth which being it selfe endowed with magneticall affections do's diversly dispose the motions of the needle according to the difference of that disponent vertue which is in it's severall Ports Now to apply this unto the particular instances of the Objection We say though some parts of this great Magnet the Earth may according to their matter be severed from the whole yet are they alwayes joyned to it by a communion of the same magneticall qualities and doe no lesse observe these kinde of motions when they are separated from the whole than if they were united to it Nor need this seeme incredible that a heavy Bullet in such a swift violent course should bee able to observe this magneticall revolution of the whole Earth when as we see that those great bodies of Saturne Iupiter c. hanging in the vaste spaces of the aetheriall Aire do so constantly and regularly move on in their appointed courses Though we could not shew any similitude of this motion in these inferior bodies with which we are acquainted yet wee must know there may be many things which agree to the whole frame that are not discernable in the divers parts of it 'T is naturall unto the Sea to ebbe and flow but yet there is not this motion in every drop or bucket of Water So if we consider every part of our bodies severally the humours bones flesh c. they are all of them apt to tend downewards as being of a condensed matter but yet consider them according to the whole Frame and then the bloud or humours may naturally ascend upwards to the Head as well as descend to any of the lower parts Thus the whole Earth may move round though the severall parts of it have not any such particular revolution of their owne Thus likewise though each condensed body being considered by it selfe may seem to have only a motion of descent yet in reference to that whole Frame of which it is a part it may also partake of another motion that may be naturall unto it But some may here object Though the Earth were endowed with such magneticall affections yet what probabilitie is there that it should have such a revolution I answer 'T is observed of those other magneticall bodies of Saturne Iupiter and the Sun that they are carried about their owne centers and therefore 't is not improbable but that it may be so with the Earth also which if any deny he must shew a reason why in this respect they should be unlike Yea but though the Earth did move round what ground is there to affirme that those bodies which are severed from it as a Bullet or the clouds should follow it in the same course I answer Those spots which are discovered about the Sun and are thought to bee clouds or evaporations from his body are observed to bee carried about according to his revolution Thus the Moone is turned round by our Earth the foure lesser Planets by the body of Iupiter Nay thus all the Planets in their severall Orbes are moved about by the revolution of the Sunne upon it's owne Axis saith Keplar and therefore much more may an Arrow or Bullet be carried round by the magneticall
the Aire did move round with the earth But this saith he they dare not avouch for then the Comets would always seem to stand stil being carried about with the revolution of this aire and then they could not rise or set as experience shews they doe To this it may be answered that most Comets are above that Sphaere of Aire which is turned round with our Earth as is manifest by their height The motion that appeares in them is caused by the revolution of our Earth whereby we are turned from them As for those which are within the Orbe of our Aire these do seem to stand still Such a one was that mentioned by Iosephus which did constantly hang over Ierusalem and that likewise which appeared about the time of Agrippa's death and for many dayes together did hang over the City of Rome Wherefore Seneca do's well distinguish out of Epigenes betwixt two sorts of Comets the one being low and such as seeme immovable the other higher and such as did constantly observe their risings and settings as the Starres I have done with all the Arguments of any note or difficultie that are urged against this diurnall motion of the Earth Many other cavils there are not worth the naming which discover themselves to be rather the Objections of a captious than a doubtfull minde Amongst which I might justly passe over those that are set down by Alex. Rosse But because this Author do's proceed in his whole discourse with so much scorne and triumph it will not be amisse therefore to examine what infallible evidence there is in those Arguments upon which hee grounds his boastings We have in one chapter no lesse than these nine 1 If the Earth did move then would it bee hotter than the Water because motion do's produce heate and for this reason likewise the Water would be so hot and rarified that it could not bee congealed since that also do's partake of the same motion with the Earth 2 The Aire which is next the Earth would be purer as being rarified with motion 3 If the Earth did move the Aire it would cause some sound but this is no more audible than Pythagoras his Harmony of the Heavens 4 'T would have been in vaine for Nature to have endowed the Heavens with all conditions requisite for motion if they had been to stand still As first they have a round Figure Secondly they have neither gravitie nor levity Thirdly they are incorruptible Fourthly they have no contrary 5 All similarie parts are of the same nature with the whole But each part of the Earth do's rest in it's place therfore also doth the whole 6 The Sun in the World is as the Heart in a mans Body But the motion of the Heart ceasing none of the members do stir therefore also if the Sunne should stand still the other parts of the World would be without motion 7 The Sun and Heavens do worke upon these inferior Bodies by their light and motion So the Moone do's operate upon the Sea 8 The Earth is the Foundation of Buildings and therefore must be firme and stable 9 'T is the constant opinion of Divines that the Heavens shall rest after the day of Iudgement which they prove from Isa. 60. 20. They Sun shall no more goe downe neither shall thy Moone withdraw it selfe So likewise Rev. 10. 6. The Angell sweares that there shall be time no longer and therefore the Heavens must rest since by their motion it is that time is measured And S. Paul sayes Rom. 8. 20. That all the Creatures are made subject to vanity Now this can be no other in the Heavens than the Vanitie of Motion which the Wise man speaks of Eccles 1. 4. The Sunne riseth and the Sunne goeth downe c. To these it may be answered In the first you may note a manifest contradiction when hee will have the Earth to bee hotter than the Water by reason of this motion when as notwithstanding he acknowledges the Water to move along with it and therefore too in the next Line he infers that the Water because of that heate and rare faction which it receives from this motion with the earth must be incapable of so much cold as to be congealed into Ice But unto that which may be conceived to bee his meaning in this and the next Argument I answer if he had fully understood this opinion which hee opposes he would easily have apprehended that it could not be prejudiced by either of these consequences For we suppose that not only this Globe of Earth and Water but also all the vaporous Aire which invirons it are carried along by the same motion And therfore though what hee sayes concerning the heate which would bee produced by such a motion were true yet it would not bee pertinent since our Earth and Water and the Aire next unto them are not by this meanes severed from one another and so doe not come within the compasse of this Argument If any reply That this will notwithstanding hold true concerning the upper part of the Aire where there is such a separation of one body from another and so consequently an answerable heate I answer 1 'T is not generally granted That motion in all kind of bodies do's produce heate some restraine it onely to follid bodies affirming That in those which are fluid it is rather the cause of coldnesse This is the reason say they why running Waters are ever to our sence the coolest and why amongst those Winds which proceed from the same coasts of Heaven about the same time of the yeare the strongest alwaies is the coldest If you object that running Waters are not so soone frozen as others They answer this is not because they are thereby heated but because unto congellation it is requisite that a Body should settle and rest as well as be cold 2 If wee should grant a moderate heate in those parts of the Aire we have not any experiment to the contrary nor would it prejudice the present opinion or common Principles As the sound of this motion is not more heard than the Harmony of the Heavens so neither is there any reason why this motion should cause a sound more than the supposed motion of the Heavens which is likewise thought to be continued unto the Aire hard by us This will prove the Earth to move as well as the Heavens For that ha's first a round Figure as is generally granted Secondly being considered as whole and in it's ptoper place it is not heavy as was proved before and as for the two other conditions neither are they true of the Heavens nor if they were would they at all conduce to their motion 1 This Argument would prove that the Sea did not ebbe and flow because there is not the same kind of motion in euery drop of Water or that the whole Earth is not sphaericall because every little
piece of it is not of the same Forme This is rather an illustration than a proofe of if it do prove any thing it may serve as well for that purpose unto which it is afterward applyed where the motion of every Planet is supposed to depend upon the revolution of the Sunne That the Sunne and Planets do work upon the Earth by their own reall daily motion is the thing in question and therefore must not be taken for a common ground Wee grant that the Earth is firme and stable from all such motions whereby it is jogged or uncertainly shaken 1 For the authoritie of those Divines which hee urges for the interpretation of these Scriptures this will be but a weake Argument against that opinion which is already granted to bee a Paradox 2 The Scriptures themselves in their right meaning will not at all conduce to the present purpose As for that in Isaiah if wee consult the cohaerence wee shall finde that the scope of the Prophet is to set forth the Glory of the Church triumphant Wherein hee sayes there shall not bee any need of the Sunne or Moone but Gods presence shall supply them both For the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light and thy God thy glory ver the nineteenth and as for this Sunne and Moone it shall not goe downe or withdraw it selfe but hee shall bee an everlasting Light without intermission So that 't is evident hee speakes of that Light which shall hereafter bee in stead of the Sunne and Moone As for that in the Revelations wee yeeld that time shall cease but to say that this depends upon the cessation of the Heavens is to beg the question and to suppose that which is to be proved viz. that time is measured by the motion of the Heavens not of the Earth Perrerius from whom this last argument was borrowed without acknowledgement might have told him in the very same place that time do's not absolutely and universally depend upon the motion of the Heavens sed in motu successione cujuslibet durationis but in any such succession by which duration may be measured As for that in the Romans wee say that there are other vanities to which the Heavenly Bodies are subject As first unto many changes and alterations witnesse those Comets which at severall times have been discerned amongst them and then likewise to that generall corruption in which all the creatures shall be involved at the last day When they shall passe away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heate Thus you see there is not any such invincible strength in these arguments as might cause the Author of them to triumph before hand with any great noise of victory Another Objection like unto these is taken from the Etymologie of severall words Thus the Heavens are called Aethera ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because they are alwaies in motion and the Earth Vesta quia vi stat because of it's immobilitie To which I answer 'T were no difficult matter to finde such proofes for this opinion as well as against it Thus wee may see that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia currit and Terra non quod terratur sed quod perenni cursu omnia terat saith Calcagnius However though wee suppose the Etymology to be never so true and genuine yet it can at the best but shew what the more common opinion was of those times when such names were first imposed But suppose all this were so That the Earth had such a diurnall revolution yet how is it conceivable that it should at the same time have two distinct motions I answer This may easily bee apprehended if you consider how both these motions doe tend the same way from West to East Thus a Bowle being turned out of the hand ha's two motions in the Aire one whereby it is carried round the other whereby it is cast forward From what hath been delivered in this Chapter the indifferent Reader may gather some satisfaction for those Arguments which are usually urged against this diurnall motion of the Earth PROP. IX That it is more probable the Earth do's move than the Sun or Heavens AMongst those many Arguments that may bee urged for the confirmation of this truth I shall set down only these five 1 If we suppose the Earth to be the cause of this motion then will those vast and glorious Bodies of the Heavens be freed from that inconceivable unnaturall swiftnes which must otherwise bee attributed unto them For if the diurnall revolution be in the Heavens then it will follow according to the common Hypothesis that each Starre in the Equator must in every houre move at the least 4529538 Germane miles So that according to the observation of Cardan who tels us that the pulse of a well tempered man do's beat 4000 times in an houre one of these Starres in that space whilst the pulse beats once must passe 1132 Germane miles saith Alphraganus Or according to Tycho 732 Germane miles But these numbers seem to be somwhat of the least and therefore many others doe much inlarge them affirming that every Starre in the Equator in one beating of the pulse most move 2528 of these miles 'T is the assertion of Calvius that though the distance of the Orbs and so consequently their swiftnesse seeme to be altogether incredible yet it is rather farre greater in it self than Astronomers usually suppose it yet saith he according to the common grounds every star in the Equator must move 42398437½ miles in an houre And though a man should constantly travel 40 miles a day yet he would not be able to goe so far as a Star do's in one houre under 3904 yeares Or if wee will suppose an Arrow to bee of the same swiftnesse then must it compasse this great Globe of Earth and Water 1884 times in an hour And a Bird that could but fly as fast might go round the World seven times in that space whilest one could say Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum Which though it be a pretty round pace yet you must conceive that all this is spoken onely of the eighth Sphaere and so being compared to the swiftnesse of the primum mobile is but a slow and heavy motion For saith the same author the thicknesse of each Orbe is equall to the distance of it's concave superficies from the centre of the Earth Thus the Orbe of the Moone do's containe as much space in it's thicknesse as there is betwixt the neerest parts of that and the centre Thus also the eighth Sphaere is as thicke as that whole space betwixt the centre of the Earth and it 's owne concave superficies So likewise must it be in those three other Orbes which he supposes to bee above the Starry Heaven Now if we proportion their swiftnesse according to this
heavinesse a man may carry it up and downe with him as a Snaile do's his House and so whether hee follow the enemy or fly from him hee ha's still this advantage that he may take his castle and defence along with him But then againe there are on the other side as many inconveniences For 1 It's perspicuitie would make it so open that a man should not bee able to retire himselfe into any private part of it And then 2 Being so extremely sollid as wel as invisible a man should be stil in danger of knocking his head against every Wall and Pillar unlesse it were also intangible as some of the Peripatetickes affirme 3 It 's being without all gravitie would bring this inconvenience that every little puffe of wind would blow it up and downe since some of the same sect are not ashamed to say that the Heavens are so utterly devoid of heavinesse that if but a little Fly should justle against the vast frame of the Coelestiall Sphaeres hee would move them out of their places A strong fancy that could bee at leisure might might make excellent sport with this Astronomicall fiction So that this first evasion of our Adversaries will not shelter them from the force of that Argument which is taken from the incredible swiftnes of the Heavens 2 Whereas they tell us in the second place that a bigger Body as a Milstone will naturally descend swifter than a lesse as a Pibble I answer This is not because such a great Body is in it selfe more easily movable but because the bigger any thing is which is out of it 's owne place the stronger will bee it 's naturall desire of returning thither and so consequently the quicker it's motion But now those Bodies that move circularly are alwayes in their proper scituations and so the same reason is not applyable unto them And then whereas 't is said that Magnitude do's alwayes adde to the swiftnesse of a violent motion as Winde will move a great Shippe sooner than a little Stone Wee answer This is not because a Shippe is more easily movable in it selfe than a little Stone For I suppose the Objector will not thinke hee can throw the one as farre as the other but because these little Bodies are not so liable to that kinde of violence from whence their motion do's proceed As for those instances which are cited to illustrate the possibilitie of this swiftnesse in the Heavens wee answer The passage of a sound is but very slow in comparison to the motion of the Heavens And then besides the swiftnesse of the Species of sound or sight which are accidents are not fit to infer the like celeritie in a materiall substance and so likewise for the Light which Aristotle himselfe and with him the generalitie of Philosophers doe for this very reason prove not to bee a Body because it moves with such swiftnesse of which it seemes they thought a Body to bee incapable Nay the Objector himselfe in another place speaking of Light in reference to a substance do's say Lumen est accidens sic species rei visae alia est ratio substantiarum alia accidentium To that of a Bullet wee answer Hee might as well have illustrated the swiftnes of a bullet which wil passe 4 or 5 miles in 2 minutes by the motion of a hand in a Watch which passes 2 or 3 inches in 12 houres there being a greater disproportion betwixt the motion of the heavens and the swiftnes of a Bullet than there is 'twixt the swiftnes of a bullet and the motion of a hand in a watch Another Argument to this purpose may be taken from the chiefe end of the Diurnall and Annuall motions which is to distinguish betwixt Night and Day Winter and Summer and so consequently to serve for the commodities and seasons of the habitable World Wherfore it may seeme more agreeable to the Wisedome of Providence for to make the Earth as well the efficient as the finall cause of this motion Especially since nature in her other operations do's never use any tedious difficult means to performe that which may as well bee accomplished by shorter and easier wayes But now the appearances would be the same in respect of us if only this little point of Earth were made the subject of these motions as if the vast Frame of the World with all those Stars of such number and bignes were moved about it 'T is a common Maxime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nature do's nothing in vaine but in all her courses do's take the most compendious way 'T is not therefore I say likely that the whole Fabricke of the Heavens which do so much exceed our Earth in magnitude and perfection should bee put to undergoe so great and constant a Worke in the service of our Earth which might more easily save all that labour by the circumvolution of it's owne Body especially since the Heavens doe not by this motion attaine any farther perfection for themselves but are made thus serviceable to this little Ball of Earth So that in this case it may seeme to argue as much improvidence in nature to imploy them in this motion as it would in a Mother who in warming her Childe would rather turne the fire about that than that about the sire Or in a Cook who would not rost his Meat by turning it about to the fire but rather by turning the fire about it Or in a man who ascending some high Tower to save the labour of stirring his head should rather desire that all the Regions might successively bee turned before his eye that so hee might easily take a view of them Wee allow every Watch-maker so much wisdome as not to put any motion in his Instrument which is superfluous or may bee supplied an easier way and shall wee not thinke that Nature ha's as much providence as every ordinary Mechanicke Or can wee imagine that She should appoint those numerous and vast Bodies the Stars to compasse us with such a swift and restlesse motion so full of confusion and uncertainties when as all this might as well be done by the revolution of this little Ball of Earth Amongst the severall parts of the World there are six Planets which are generally granted to move As for the Sun and the Earth and the fixed Starres it is yet in question which of them are naturally indowed with the same condition Now common reason will dictate unto us that motion which is most agreeable to that which in kind and properties is most neer to those Bodies that undoubtedly are moved But now there is one eminent qualification wherin the Earth do's agree with the Planets wheras the Sun together with the fixed stars do in the same respect differ from them and that is Light which all the Planets and so too the Earth are fain to borrow elswhere whilest the Sun and the Stars have it of their owne From whence it may
vulgar Qui fecit Coelos intellectu That the Heavens are moved by an intelligent Soule If wee consider the originall of this opinion we shall find it to proceed from that mistake of Aristotle who thought the Heavens to be Eternall and therefore to require such a moving cause as being of an immateriall Substance might be exempted from all that wearinesse and inconstancie which other things are liable unto But now this ground of his is evidently false since 't is certain That the Heavens had a beginning and shall have an end However the imploying of Angels in these motions of the World is both superfluous and very improbable 1 Because a naturall Power intrinsicall to those Bodies will serve the turne as well And as for other operations which are to bee constant and regular Nature do's commonly make use of some inwarde Principle 2 The Intelligences being immateriall cannot immediatly worke upon a Body Nor do's any one tell us what Instruments they should make use of in this businesse They have not any hands to take hold of the Heavens or turne them about And that opinion of Aquinas Dur and Soncinas with other School-men seemes to bee without all reason who make the faculty whereby the Angels move the Orbs to be the very same with their Vnderstandings and Will So that if an Angell doe but meerely suspend the Act of willing their Motion they must necessarily stand still and on the contrary his only willing them to move shall bee enough to carry them about in their severall courses Since it were then a needlesse thing for Providence to have appointed Angels unto this businesse which might have been done as well by the only Will of God And besides how are the Orbes capable of perceiving this Will in the Intelligences Or if they were yet what motive Facultie have they of themselves which can inable them to obey it Now as it would bee with the Heavens so likewise is it with the Earth which may bee turned about in it's diurnall revolution without the helpe of Intelligences by some motive Power of it's owne that may be intrinsicall unto it If it be yet enquired what cause there is of it's annuall motion I answer 'T is easily conceivable how the same Principle may serve for both these since they tend the same way from West to East However that opinion of Keplar is not very improbable That all the Primary Planets are moved round by the Sunne which once in twenty five or twenty six dayes do's observe a revolution about it's owne Axis and so carry along the Planets that encompasse it which Planets are therefore slower or swifter according to their distances from him If you aske by what means the Sunne can produce such a motion He answers By sending forth a kind of Magneticke Vertue in strait Lines from each part of it's Body of which there is alwaies a constant succession so that as soone as one beame of this vigor ha's passed a Planet there is another presently takes hold of it like the teeth of a Wheele But how can any vertue hold out to such a distance He answers First as light and heate together with those other secret influences which work upon Minerals in the Bowels of the Earth so likewise may the Sunne send forth a magneticke motive vertue whose power may bee continued to the farthest Planets Secondly if the Moone according to common Philosophy may move the Sea why then may not the Sun move this Globe of Earth In such Quaere's as these wee can conclude only from conjectures that speech of the wise man Eccl. 3. 11. being more especially verified of Astronomicall questions concerning the Frame of the whole Vniverse That no man can finde out the Works of God from the beginning to the end Though wee may discerne diverse things in the World which may argue the infinite Wisedome and Power of the Author yet there will bee alwaies some particulars left for our dispute and enquiry and we shall never bee able with all our industry to attaine a perfect comprehension of the creatures or to find them wholly out from the beginning to the end The Providence of God having thus contrived it that so man might look for another Life after this when all his longing and thirst shall be fully satisfied For since no naturall appetite is in vain it must necessarily follow that there is a possibilitie of attaining so much knowledge as shall bee commensurate unto these desires which because it is not to be had in this World it will behove us then to expect and provide for another PROP. X. That this Hypothesis is exactly agreeable to common appearances IT hath been already proved that the Earth is capable of such a scituation and motion as this opinion supposes it to have It remaines that in the last place we shew how agreeable this would bee unto those ordinary seasons of Dayes Moneths Yeres and all other appearances in the Heavens 1 As for the difference betwixt days and nights 't is evident That this may be caused as well by the revolution of the Earth as the motion of the Sunne since the Heavenly Bodies must needs seeme after the same manner to rise and set whether or no they themselves by their owne motion do passe by our Horizon and Verticall point or whether our Horizon and Verticall point by the revolution of our Earth doe passe by them According to that of Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There will not appeare any difference whether or no the Eye be moved from the Object or the Object from the Eye And therfore I cannot chuse but wonder that a man of any reason or sence should make choise of no better an Argument to conclude his booke withall than that which were read at the later end of Al. Ross. where he infers that the Earth do's not move because then the shadow in a Sunne-diall would not be altered 2 As for the difference of Moneths we say That the diverse illumination of the Moone the different bignes of her Body her remaining for a longer or shorter time in the earth's shadow when she is eclipsed c. may well enough be solved by supposing her to move above our Earth in an Eccentricall Epicycle Thus In which kinde of Hypothesis there will bee a double difference of motion The one caused by the different scituation of the Moones Body in it's owne Eccentricke The other by the different scituation of the Moons Orbe in the Earth's Eccentricke which is so exactly answerable to the motions and appearances of this Planet that from hence Lansbergius drawes an Argument for this Systeme of the heavens which in the strength of his confidence hee calls Demonstrationem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cui nullâ ratione potest contradici 4 As for the difference betwixt winter summer betwixt the number and length of days which appertain to each of those seasons the seeming motion of the sun from one signe to