in workes of heate but the sunne burneth the mountaines three tymes more breathing out fiery vapours Neither were there wanting some among the ancient Philosophers who maintained the same opinion as Plato and Plyny and generally the whole sect of Stoicks who held that the Sunne and Starres were fed with watery vapours which they drew vp for their nourishment and that when these vapours should cease and faile the whole world should be in daunger of combustion and many things are alleaged by Balbus in Ciceroes second booke of the nature of the Gods in favour of this opinion of the Stoicks But that the Sunne and Starres are not in truth and in their owne nature fieric and hot appeares by the ground already layd touching the matter of the heavens that it is of a nature incorruptible which cannot bee if it were fiery inasmuch as thereby it should become lyable to alteration and corruption by an opposite and professed enimie Besides all fiery bodies by a naturall inclination mount vpwards so that if the starres were the cause of heat as being hot in themselues it would consequently follow that their circular motion should not bee Naturall but violent Wherevnto I may adde that the noted starres being so many in number namely one thousand twenty and two besides the Planets and in magnitude so greate that every one of those which appeare fixed in the firmament are sayd to bee much bigger then the whole Globe of the water and earth and the Sunne againe so much to exceede both that globe and the biggest of them as it may iustly bee stiled by the sonne of Syrach instrumentum admirabile a wonderfull instrument which being so were they of fyre they would doubtlesse long ere this haue turned the world into ashes there being so infinite a disproportion betweene their flame and the little quantity of matter supposed to bee prepared for their Fewell That therefore they should bee fed with vapours Aristotle deservedly laughs at it as a childish and ridiculous device in as much as the vapours ascend no higher then the middle region of the ayre and from thence distill againe vpon the water and earth from whence they were drawne vp and those vapours being vncertaine the flames likewise feeding vpon them must needes be vncertaine and dayly vary from themselues both in quantity and figure according to the proportion of their fewell SECT 2. That the heate they breed springes from their light and consequently their light being not decayed neither is the warmth arising there from THe absurdity then of this opinion beeing so foule and grosse it remaines that the Sunne and Starres infuse a warmth into these Subcaelestiall bodies not as being hot in themlselues but only as beeing ordeined by God to breed heate in matter capable thereof as they impart life to some creatures and yet themselues remaine voyd of life like the braine which imparts Sense to every member of the body and yet is it selfe vtterly voyd of all Sense But here againe some there are which attribute this effect to the motion others to the light of these glorious bodies And true indeed it is that motion causes heat by the attenuation rarefaction of the ayre But by this reason should the Moone which is neerer the Earth warme more then the Sunne which is many thousand miles farther distant the higher Regions of the Aire should be alway hotter then the lower which notwithstanding if wee compare the second with with the lowest is vndoubtedly false Moreouer the motion of the coelestiall bodies being vniforme so should the heat deriued from them in reason likewise be the motion ceasing the heat should likewise cease yet I shall neuer beleeue that when the Sun stood still at the prayer of Iosua it then ceased to warme these inferiour Bodies And we find by experience that the Sun works more powerfully vpon a body which stands still then when it moues the reason seemes to be the same in the rest or motion of a body warming or warmed that receiueth or imparteth heat The motion being thus excluded from being the cause of this effect the light must of necessitie step in and challenge it to it selfe the light then it is which is vndoubtedly the cause of coelestiall heate in part by a direct beame but more vehemently by a reflexed for which very reason it is that the middle Region of the aire is alwaies colder then the lowest and the lowest hotter in Summer then in Winter and at noone then in the morning and evening the beames being then more perpendicular and consequently in their reflexion more narrowly vnited by which reflexion and vnion they grow sometimes to that fervencie of heate that fire springs out from them as wee see in burning glasses and by this artificiall device it was that Archimedes as Galen reports it in his third booke de Temperamentis set on fire the Enemies Gallyes and Proclus a famous Mathematician practised the like at Constantinople as witnesseth Zonaras in the life of Anastasius the Emperour And very reasonable me thinkes it is that light the most Divine affection of the Coelelestiall Bodies should be the cause of warmth the most noble actiue and excellent quality of the Subcoelestiall These two like Hippocrates twinnes simul oriuntur moriuntur they are borne and dye together they increase and decrease both together the greater the light is the greater the heate and therefore the Sun as much exceedes the other starres in heate as it doth in light To driue the argument home then to our present purpose since the light of the Sun is no way diminished and the heate depends vpon the light the consequence to me seemes marvailous faire and strong which is that neither the heate arising from the light should haue suffered any decay or diminution at all SECT 3. Two obiections answered the one drawne from the present habitablenes of the Torrid Zone the other from a supposed approach of the Sun neerer the earth then in former ages NOtwithstanding the evidence of which trueth some haue not doubted to attribute the present habitablenesse of the Torride Zone to the weaknesse and old age of the Heauens in regard of former ages But they might haue remembred that the Cold Zones should thereby haue become more inhabitable by cold as also that holding as they doe an vniversall decay in all the parts of Nature men according to their opinion decaying in strength as well as the Heauens they should now in reason be as ill able to indure the present heate as the men of former ages were to indure that of the same times wherein they liued the proportion being alike betweene the weaknes as between the strength of the one and the other But this I onely touch in passing hauing a fitter occasion to consider more fully of it hereafter when we come to compare the wits and inventions of the Ancients with those of the present times That which touches
tempus eam debilitavit Dost not thou see the heavens how faire how spacious they are how bee-spangled with diverse constellations how long now haue they lasted fiue thousand yeares or more are past and yet this long duration of time hath brought no old age vpon them But as a body new and fresh flourisheth in youth So the heavens still retaine their beauty which at first they had neither hath time any thing abated it Some errour or mistake doubtlesse there is in Chrisostomes computation in as much as he lived aboue 1200 yeares since yet tels vs that the world had then lasted aboue 5000 yeares but for the trueth of the matter he is therein seconded by all the schoole divines and among those of the reformed churches none hath written in this point more clearely and fully then Alstedius in his preface to his naturall divinity Tanta est hujus palatij diuturnitas atque firmitas vt ad hodiernum vsque diem supra annos quinquies mille sexcentos ita perstet vt in eo nihil immutatum diminâ—…tum aut vetustate diuturnitate temporis vitiatum conspiciamus Such saith hee and so lasting is the duration and immoveable stability of this palace that being created aboue 5600 yeares agoe yet it so continues to this day that wee can espie nothing in it changed or wasted or disordered by age and tract of time SECT 4. Another obiection taken from Psalme the 102 answered ANother text is commmonly and hotly vrged by the Adverse part to like purpose as the former and is in truth the onely argument of weight drawne from Scripture in this present question touching the heavens decay in regard of their Substance In which consideration wee shall bee inforced to examine it somewhat the more fully Taken it is from the hundred and second Psalme and the wordes of the Prophet are these Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth the heavens are the worke of thine handes They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall waxe old as doth a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy yeares shall haue no end To which very place vndoubtedly the Apostle alludes in the first to the Hebrewes where he thus renders it Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the workes of thine hands They shall perish but thou remainest and they shall wax old as doth a garment and as a vesture shalt thou fold them vp and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy yeares shall not faile In which passages the words which are most stood vpon and pressed are those of the growing old of the heavens like a garment which by degrees growes bare till it bee torne in peeces and brought to ragges S. Augustine in his Enarration vpon this Psame according to his wont betakes him to an Allegoricall Exposition interpreting the heavens to bee the Saints and their bodies to bee their garments wherewith the soule is cloathed And these garments of theirs saith hee waxe old and perish but shall be changed in the resurrection and made comformable to the glorious body of Iesus Christ. Which exposition of his is pious I confesse but surely not proper since the Prophet speakes of the heavens which had their beginning together with the earth and were both principall peeces in the great worke of the Creation Neither can the regions of the aire be here well vnderstood though in some other places they bee stiled by the name of the heavens since they are subiect to continuall variation and change and our Prophets meaning was as it should seeme to compare the Almighties vnchangeable eternity with that which of all the visible Creatures was most stable and stedfast And besides though the aire bee indeed the worke of Gods hands as are all the other Creatures yet that phrase is in a speciall manner applied to the starry heavens as being indeed the most exquisite and excellent peece of workemanship that ever his hands fram'd It remaines then that by heavens heere wee vnderstand the lights of heaven thought by Philosophers to bee the thicker parts of the spheres together with the spheres themselues in which those lights are fixed and wheeled about For that such spheres and orbes there are I take it as granted neither will I dispute it though I am not ignorant that some latter writers thinke otherwise and those neither few in number nor for their knowledge vnlearned But for the true sense of the place alleadged wee are to know that the word there vsed to wax old both in Hebrew Greeke Latin doth not necessarily imply a decay or impairing in the subject so waxing old but somtimes doth only signifie a farther step accesse to a finall period in regard of duration Wee haue read of some who being well striken in yeares haue renewed their teeth and changed the white colour of their haire and so growne yong againe Of such it might truly be sayd that they grew elder in regard of their neerer approch to the determinate end of their race though they were yonger in regard of their constitution and state of their bodies And thus do I take the Apostle to be vnderstood that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away where hee speakes of the Ceremoniall law which did not grow old by degrees at least before the incarnation of Christ but stood in its full force and vigour vntill it was by him abrogated and disanulled To which purpose Aquinas hath not vnfitly observed vpon the place Quod dicitur vetus significat quod sit prope cessationem the tearming of a thing old implies that it hastens to an end This then as I take it may truly be affirmed of the signification of the word in generall and at large and may justly seeme to haue been the Prophets meaning in as much as he addeth But thou art the same and thine yeares shall haue no end From whence may be collected that as God cannot grow old because his yeares shall haue no end so the heavens because they shall haue an end may be therefore sayd to grow old But whereas it is added not only by the Psalmist but by the Apostle in precise tearmes They shall wax old as doth a garment and againe as a Vesture shalt thou change them the doubt still remaines whether by that addition the sense of the word bee not restrained to a graduall and sensible decay I know it may be sayd that a garment waxing old not only looses his freshnesse but part of his quantitie and weight it is not only soyled but wasted either in lying or wearing so in continuance of time becomes vtterly vnserviceable which no man I think will ascribe to the heavens I meane that their quantity is any way diminished All agree then that the Similitude may be strained too
about the yeare 3369 after Christ. This opinion of Copernicus is received by most of this time some following him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others somewhat varying in the difference of the greatest declination making it when it is least as in our time not lesse then 23 30 and in the Periodicall restitution thereof But to speake freely I cannot so easily bee drawne into this opinion but rather thinke the greatest declination of the Sunne to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immutable and for ever the same For the little difference of a few minutes betwixt vs and Ptolomy may very well arise as I formerly said from the errour of observations by the Ancients The greatest declination of the Sunne from the Aequinoctiall towards either Pole being alwaies the same the Sunne cannot goe more Southernely from vs nor come more Northernly towards vs in this then in former ages But supposing a mutability in the Sunnes greatest declination according to the former Periods it followeth that as the Sunne about 65 yeares before the Epoche of Christ went from our verticall point more Southernly then now it doth So many Ages before Christ it went no more Southernly then now it doth and that many ages after our time it shall goe as farre Southernly as at the Epoche of Christ. Secondly when the greatest declination was most As then in Winter the Sun went more Southernly from vs then now so in Summer it came more Northernly and neerer vs then now Againe when the greatest declination is least as in our Age it goeth not so farre Southernly from vs in Winter as formerly neither in Summer comes so farre Northernly From which answere it may as I conceiue bee fitly and safely inferred first that either there is no such remoueall at all of the Sunne as is supposed or if there bee as wee who are situate more Northernly feele perchance the effects of the defects of the warmth thereof in the vnkindly ripening of our fruites and the like so likewise by the rule of proportion must it needs follow that they who lie in the same distance from the South-Pole as wee from the North should enjoy the benefite of the neerer approach thereof And they who dwell in the hottest Climates interiacent of the abating of the immoderate fervency of their heate and consequently that to the Vniversall nothing is lost by this exchange And as in this case it may happily fall out so vndoubtedly doth it in many other from whence the worlds supposed decay is concluded Wee vnderstand not or at least-wise wee consider not how that which hurts vs helpes another nation wee complaine as was before truely observed out of Arnobius as if the world were made and the government thereof administred for vs alone heereby it comes to passe that as hee who lookes onely vpon some libbat or end of a peece of Arras conceiues perhaps an hand or head which he sees to bee very vnartificially made but vnfolding the whole soone findes that it carries a due and iust proportion to the body So qui ad pauca respicit de facili pronuntiat saith Aristotle hee that is so narrow eyed as hee lookes onely to his own person or family to his owne corporation or nation will paradventure quickely conceiue and as soone pronounce that all things decay and goe backewarde whereas hee that as a Citizen of the world and a part of mankinde in generall takes a view of the Vniversall and compares person with person familie with familie nation with nation suspends his judgement or vpon examination cleerely findes that though some members suffer yet the whole is thereby no way indammaged at any time and at other times those same members are againe relieued And from hence my second inference is that supposing a mutability in the Sunnes greatest declination looke what dammage wee suffer by his farther remoueall from vs in Summer is at least-wise in part recompensed by his neerer approach in Winter and by his Periodicall Revolutions fully restored And so I passe from the consideration of the warmth to those hidden and secret qualities of the heavens which to Astronomers and Philosophers are knowne by the name of Influences CAP. 5. Touching the pretended decay of the heavenly bodies in regard of their Iufluences SECT 1. Of the first kinde of influence from the highest immoueable Heaven called by Divines Coelum Empyraeum HOwbeit Aristotle thorow those workes of his which are come to our hands to my remembrance hath not once vouchafed so much as to take notice of such qualities which wee call Influenences and though among the Ancients Auerroes and Auicenne and among those of fresher date Picus Mirandula and Georgius Agricola seeke to disproue them Yet both Scripture and Reason and the weighty authority of many great schollers aswell Christians as Ethnickes haue fully resolved mee that such there are They are by Philosophers distinguished into two rankes the first is that influence which is derived from the Empyreall immoueable heaven the pallace and Mansion house of Glorified Saints and Angells which is gathered from the diversity of Effects aswell in regard of Plants as beasts and other commodities vnder the same Climate within the same Tract and latitude equally distant from both the Poles which wee cannot well referre originally to the inbred nature of the soile since the Authour of Nature hath so ordained that the temper of the inferiour bodies should ordinarily depēd vpon the superiour nor yet to the Aspect of the moueable spheres and stars since every part of the same Climate successiuely but equally injoyes the same aspect It remaines then that these effects bee finally reduced to some superiour immoueable cause which can be none other then that Empyreall heaven neither can it produce these effects by meanes of the light alone which is vniformely dispersed thorow the whole But by some secret quality which is diversified according to the diverse parts thereof and without this wee should not onely finde wanting that connexion and vnity of order in the parts of the world which make it so comely but withall should bee forced to make one of the worthiest peeces thereof voyde of action the chiefe end of euery created being Neither can this action misbeseeme the worthinesse of so glorious a peece since both the Creator thereof is still busied in the workes of Providence and the Inhabitants in the workes of ministration SECT 2. Of the second kind derived from the Planets and fixed starres THe other kind is that which is derived from the starres the aspect of severall constellations the opposition and conjunction of the Planets the like These wee haue warranted by the mouth of God himselfe in the thirty eight of Iob according to our last and most exact Translation Canst thou binde the sweete influences of the Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion Canst thou bring forth Mazzoreth in his season Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sonnes Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven
light and warmth they are no whit impaired why should wee make any doubt but that their influence is now likewise as sweet as God in his conference with Iob teameth it as benigne as gratious as favorable as ever in regard of the Elements thee Plants the beasts and man himselfe and why should we not beleeue that education reason and eeligion are now as powerfull as ever to correct and qualifie their vnlucky and maligne aspects that the hand of God is no way shartned but that he is now as able as ever to controle and check his creatures and make them worke together for the best to them that loue him As he did sometime in this very case for his chosen people they fought from heaven the starres in their courses fought against Sisera Hee that set the Sun and Moone at a stand in their walks and commanded the shadow to retire in the dyall of Ahaz he that made a dry path through the red sea musled the mouthes of thee Lyons and restrained the violence of the fire so as for a season it could not burne hath he bound himselfe to the influetce of a Starre that he cannot bind it vp or divert it or alter it at his pleasure and vpon the humble supplication of his servants no no Sanctus dominabitur astris if according to Ptolomy the great Master of Iudiciary Astrology wisedome and fore-sight ouer-rule the starres then surely much more devotion and piety If the Saints by their prayers commaund the Divels and both shut and open Heauen for raine and drought as did Elias then may they aswell by vertue of the same prayer stoppe the influences of the starres the instrumentall causes of drought raine Bee not dismaide then at the signes of heauen for the Heathen be dismaide at them And surely they in whom corrupt Nature swayes raignes haue much more reason to be dismaide at them then others in whom Grace and the sence of Godlines prevailes And whiles they feare many times they know not what by meanes of their very feare they fall into that which they stand in feare of feare being the betrayer of those succours which reason affords Much noise there is at this present touching the late great Conjunction of Saturne Iupiter many ominous conjectures are cast abroad vpon it which if perchance they proue true I should rather ascribe it to our sinnes then the starres wee need not search the cause so far off in the Booke of Heauen we may find it written neerer at home in our own bosomes And for the starres I may say as our Saviour in the Gospell doth of the Sabboth the stars were made for men and not men for the starres they were not created to governe but to serue him if he serue be governed by his Creator and if God be on our side and we on his Iupiter Saturne shal neuer hurt vs But whatsoeuer the force of the starrs be vpon the persons of private men or the states of weale-publiques I should rather advise a modest ignorance therein then a curious inquisition thereinto following the witty pithy counsel of Phavorinus the Philosopher in Gellius where he thus speakes Aut adversa eventura dicunt aut prospera si dicunt prospera fallunt miser fies frustrà expectando si adversa dicunt mentiuntur miser fies frustrà timendo si vera respondent eaque sunt non prospera jam indè ex animo miser fies antequam è fato fias si falicia promittunt eaque eventura sunt tum planè duo erunt incommoea expectatio te spe suspensum fatigabit futurum gaudij fructum spes tibi defloraverit Either they portend then bad or good luck if good they deceiue thou wilt become miserable by a vaine expectation if bad they lye thou wilt be miserable by a vaine feare if they tell thee true but vnfortunate events thou wilt be miserable in mind before thou art by destiny if they promise fortunate successe which shall indeed come to passe these two inconveniences will follow therevpon both expectation by hope will hold thee in suspence hope will deflowre devoure the fruit of thy Content His conclusion is which is also mine both for this point and this Chapter this discourse touching the Heavenly Bodies Nullo igitur pacto vtendum est istiusmodi hominibus res futuras praesagientibus we ought in no case to haue recourse to those kinde of men which vndertake the fore-telling of casuall events And so I passe from the consideration of the coelestiall bodies to the subcoelestial which by Gods ordinance depend vpon them and are made subordinate vnto them touching which the coelestiall bodies both together comparing each with other the Divine Bartas thus sweetly and truly sings Things that consist of th' Elements vniting Are euer tost with an intestiue fighting Whence springs in time their life and their deceasing Their diverse change their waxing and decreasing So that of all that is or may be seene With mortall eyes vnder Nights horned Queene Nothing reteineth the same forme and face Hardly the halfe of halfe an houres space But the Heau'ns feele not fates impartiall rigour Yeares adde not to their stature nor their vigour Vse weares them not but their greene-euer age Is all in all still like their pupillage CAP. 6. Touching the pretended decay of the Elements in generall SECT 1. That the Elements are still in number foure and still retaine the ancient places and properties HAuing thus prooued at large in the former Chapters touching the Heauens that there neither is nor in the course of Nature can be any decay either in regard of their matter their motion their light their warmth or influence but that they all continue as they were euen to this day by Gods ordinance it remaines that I now proceed to the consideration of the sublunary bodies that is such as God Nature hath placed vnder the Moone Now the state of these inferiour being guided and governed by the superiour if the superiour be vnimpaireable as hath beene shewed it is a strong presumption that the inferiour are likewise vnimpaired For as in the wheeles of a Watch or clock if the first be out of order so are the second third the rest that are moued by it so if the higher bodies were impaired it cannot bee but the lower depending vpon them should tast thereof as on the other side the one being not impaired it is more then probable that the other partake with them in the same condition Which dependance is well expressed by Boeshius where hauing spoken of the constant regularity of the heauenly bodies he thus goes on Haec concordia temperat aequis Elementa modis vt pugnantia Vicibus cedant humida siccis Iungantque fidem frigora flammis Pendulus ignis surgat in altum Terraeque graves pondere sidant Iisdem causis vere tepenti
as they did And for the strength of their Physicke let vs heere Goropius a famous Physitian and doubtles a very learned man as his workes testifie and his greatest adversaries cannot but confesse Dicunt olim medicamenta multò vehementiora data fuissâ—… quà m nunc hominum natura ferre possit They say that the Physicke which the Ancients administred was much stronger then the nature of man is now capable of to which he replies eos qui sic arbitrantur insigniter falli contendo ferunt enim corpora aequè nunc helleborum atque olim eodem vel majori pondere vt ipse in alijs meipso sum expertus Verùm inscitia eorum qui nihil Medici habent praeter titulum vestem longam impudentem arrogantiam in causa est vt sic opinentur I am confident that those who thus thinke are notablely deceiued in asmuch as our bodies can now aswell endure the like or greater quantity of Elleborum as I haue made triall in my selfe others But the ignorance of such as haue indeed nothing in them of the Physitian but the bare title a long gowne and impudent arrogancie is the cause that men so thinke And with him heerein plainely accords Leonardus Giachinus of the same profession who hauing composed a Treatise purposely to shew what damage arises to learning by preferring Authority before reason makes this the title of his first Chapter Corpora nostra eadem ferre posse auxilia quibus Veteres vsi sunt idque cum ratione tum experientia comprobari That our bodies now a dayes may well enough suffer the same helpes of Physicke which the Ancients vsed that this may be made euident aswell by reason as experience And I suppose skilfull Physitians will not deny but that the Physicke of former times agrees with ours as in the receites so for the dosis and quantity and for them who hold a generall decay in the course of Nature they are likewise forced to hold this For if plants and drugges and minerals decay in their vertue proportionablely to the body of man as is the common opinion then must it consequently follow that the same quantity hauing a lesse vertue may without daunger and with good successe be administred to our bodies though inferiour in strength Roger Bacon in his booke de erroribus medicorum tells vs that the disposition of the heavens is changed euery Centenary or thereabout and consequently that all things growing from the earth change their complexions as also doth the body of man and therevpon infers that eaedem proportiones medicinarum non sunt semper continuandae sed exigitur observantia certa secundum temporis discensum The same proportions of medicines are not still to be continued but there is required a certain quantity according to the variation of time Where by the change of the disposition of the heavens I cannot conceiue that he intends it alwayes for the worst for so should he crosse himselfe in the same booke neither for any thing I know haue we any certainty of any such change as he speakes of but this am I sure of that if together with the heauens the plants change their tempers and with the plants the body of man then needs there no alteration in the proportion of medicines in asmuch as what art should therein supply nature her selfe preuents performes But for mine own part holding a naturall decay in neither vpon that ground as I conceiue may more safely be warranted the continuance of the ancient proportions Now touching the drawing of blood I know it is said that Galen vsually drew six pounds at the opening of a veine whereas we for the most part stoppe at six ounces which is in truth a great difference if true specially in so short a time he liuing three hundred yeares or thereabout since Christ. For decision then of this point we must haue recourse to Galen himselfe who in that booke which he purposely composed of cures by letting of blood thus writes Memini quibusdam ad sex vsque libras sanguinem detractum fuisse ita vt febris extingueretur I remember that from some I haue drawne six pounds of blood which hath ridde them of their feuer yet from others he tooke but a pound and a halfe or one pound and sometimes lesse as he saw occasion neither in old time nor in these present times was the quantity euer definite or certaine but both then and now variable more or lesse according to strength the disease age or other indications and in pestilent fevers his advise is vbi valida virtus subest aetas permittit vsque ad animae defectum sanguinem mittere expedit where the strength and age of the patient will beare it it will doe well to take blood euen to a fainting or sounding and such was the case as by his owne words it appeares in which he drew so great a quantity Neither is this without example in our age Ambrose Par a French Surgeon a man expert in his profession as his bookes shew reports that he drew from a patient of his in foure dayes twenty seven pallets euery pallet of Paris containing three ounces more so that he drew from him about seven pounds allowing twelue ounces to the pound which was the account that Galen followed as appeares in his owne Treatise of weights and measures and so continues it in vse among Physitians and Apothecaries vnto this day The whole quantity of blood in a mans body of a sound constitution and middle stature was anciently estimated and so is it still at about three gallons and I haue beene informed by a Doctour of Physicke of good credit and eminent place in this Vniversity that a patient of his hath bled a gallon at nose in one day and hath done well after it which as I conceiue could not be so little as seuen or eight pounds allowing somewhat lesse then a pound to a pint in asmuch as I haue found a pint of water to weigh sixteene ounces Now what Nature hath done with tollerance of life Art may come neere vnto vpon just cause without danger And if any desire to be farther informed in this point he need goe no further then the Medicinall observations of Iohannes Shenkius de capite Humano where to his 333 observation hee prefixes this title Prodigiosae narium haemorragiae quae interdum 18 interdum 20 nonnunquam etiam 40 sanguinis librae profluxere Prodigious bleedings at the nose in which sometimes 18 sometimes 20 sometimes 40 pouÌ„ds of blood haue issued The Authors from whom he borroweth his observations are Matheus de Gradi in his commentaries vpon the 35 chapter of Rasis ad Almans Brasauolus comment ad Aphor. 23. lib. 5. Donatus lib. de variolis morbillis cap. 23. Lusitanus Curat 100. Cent. 2. And againe Curat 60 Cent. 7 his instances are of a Nunne who voided by diverse passages 18 pounds of bloud of Diana a
old but a substitution of new in asmuch as the Prophet Esay addes the former shall not be remembred nor come into minde And Saint Iohn the first heaven and the first earth passed away and there was no more Sea And Saint Peter The heavens shall passe away with a noise and the elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes that are therein shall be burnt vp And of this opinion Beza in one place seemes to haue beene Promittuntur novi Coeli ac nova terra non priorum restitutio sive in eundem sive in meliorem statum nec ijs possum assentiri qui hanc dissolutionem ad solas qualitates referendam censent There are promised new heavens and a new earth not the restitution of the old either vnto their former or a better state neither can I assent vnto them who referre this dissolution to the qualities alone But seing belike the singularity and absurditie of this opinion he recalls himselfe in his annotations vpon the very next verse But the truth is that by new heavens and a new earth is to be vnderstood in the Prophet Esay the state of the Church during the kingdome of Christ and in Saint Peter and S. Iohn the state of the Saints in the heavenly Ierusalem For the Prophet that which I affirme will easily appeare to any vnderstanding Reader that pleaseth to pervse that Chapter specially if therevnto we adde the latter part of the next touching the same point For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remaine before me sayth the Lord so shall your seed and your name continue and from moneth to moneth and from sabbaoth to sabbaoth shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the Lord. Vpon the alleaged passage of the former chapter Iunius Tremelius giue this note Omnia instauraturus sum in Christo I will restore all things in Christ Referring vs for the farther illustration thereof to that of the same Prophet in his 25 chapter at the 8 verse And for the exposition of the latter passage in the 66 chapter referres vs to that in the 65 going before So that aswell by the drift and coherence of the text as by the judgement of sound Interpreters materiall heavens and earth are not there vnderstood Which some of our English Translatours well perceiving haue to the first passage affixed this note I will so alter and change the state of the Church that it shall seeme to dwell in a new world And to the second this Heereby he signifieth the kingdome of Christ wherein his Church shall be renewed Yet I will not deny but that the Prophet may in those words likewise allude to the state of the Saints in the heavenly Ierusalem To which purpose S. Peter seemes to apply them according to his promise sayth he we looke for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth Righteousnes that is by the consent of the best expositours righteous and just men who after the day of judgement shall dwell no longer vpon the Earth but in the heavenly Ierusalem Which Saint Iohn more liuely describes in the 21 of the Revelation for having sayd in the first verse And I saw a new heaven and a new earth he presently addes in the second as it were by way of Exposition of the former And I Iohn saw the holy Citty new Ierusalem comming downe from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and by the sequele of that Chapter and the latter part of the precedent it cleerely appeares whatsoever Bright-man dreame to the contrary that he there describes the state of the Saints after the day of judgement and the glory of that place which they are eternally to inhabite being such that it had no need of the Sunne nor of the Moone to shine in it the glory of God inlightning it and the Lambe being the light thereof And Iunius thus begins his Annotations on that chapter Nunc sequitur historiae propheticae pars secunda de statu futuro Ecclesiae coelestis post Iudicium vltimum Now followes the second part of this propheticall history of the future state of the Church triumphant after the day of Iudgement And with him therein accord the greatest part of the soundest and most judicious Interpreters The other passage alleaged of the Prophet Esay touching the increase of light in the Sunne and Moone is likewise vndoubtedly to be vnderstood of the restauration of his Church according to the tenour of the chapter and the annotation of Iunius annexed therevnto Illustrissima erunt gloriosissima omnia in restitutione Ecclesiae all things shall then be more beautifulll and glorious in the restitution of the Church And with him fully accord our English notes when the Church shall be restored the glory thereof shall passe seaven times the brightnesse of the Sunne For by the Sunne and Moone which are two excellent Creatures he sheweth what shall bee the glory of the Children of God in the kingdome of Christ. Now for the words of the Apostle The fashion of this world passeth away what other thing intends he but that in these wordly things there is nothing durable and solide elegantly thereby expressing the vanitie of them in which exposition both Iunius Calvin agree That of the same Apostle in the 8 to the Romans touching the delivering of the Creature from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God is I confesse in appearance more pressing But this passage the great wit of Saint Augustine found to be very obscure and perplexed in somuch as not a few vnderstand those words of Saint Peter of this particular that in Saint Paules Epistles some things are hard to be vnderstood It were then in my judgement no small presumption vpon a place so intricate and difficult peremptorily to build so vncertaine a doctrine But because it is so hotly vrged as a testimony vnanswereable let vs a little examine the parts and sense thereof First then it is cleere that the Creature may be delivered from the bondage of corruption and yet not restored to a more perfect and beautifull estate in asmuch as being annihilated it is thereby freed from that abuse of wicked and vngratefull men which heere it is of necessity still subject vnto But all the doubt is how the Creature shall be made partaker of the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God I hope no man will dare to affirme that they shall be with them Coheires of eternall blessednes as the words seem to import how then are they made partakers of this glorious liberty But in asmuch as when the sonnes of God shall be made partakers thereof the Creature shall be altogether freed from the bondage of corruption So as that into the liberty of the sonnes of God is no more then together with the liberty of the Sons of God or by reason of