Providence of him that made them they likewise daily manifest and Praise him as the Royall Prophet sayes in the 19 Psa. Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei opera manuum ejus annuntiat Firmamentum that is The Heavens declare the glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handyworks Of the Heavens or severall Orbes distances THe Astronomers in their measuring the height of the severall Orbes or Heavens doe make use of the Earths halfe diameter the halfe Diameter is of twelve hundred Leagues or thereabouts and infer thus that the Heaven of the Moon is distant three and thirty halfe Diameters from the Center of the Earth which makes nine and thirty thousand and six hundred Leagues Mars one thousand eight hundred and two and fifty halfe Diameters Jupiter Seven thousand eight hundred two fifty Saturne Fourteen thousand three hundred and seventy three The Firmament two and twenty thousand six hundred and twelve halfe Diameters which are seven and twenty Millions one hundred foure and thirty Thousand and foure Hundred Leagues These leagues are Geometricall leagues which containe three thousand paces which is so vast an extent that if our first father Adam were yet alive and that from his Creation he had ascended every day eighteen Leagues towards the Heavens yet for the present he would not have attained to the concavity of the eight Heaven and thus much more I may say for to represent how far distant the Starres are from us That if a Cannon bullet were in that place where the Starres are and that it should descend each hour two hundred leagues yet would it remaine more then 15 yeares before it could arrive to the Earth Now by the distance of the Heavens as beforesaid can be knowne the thicknesse of each Orbe or Heaven and that by substracting the lesser distance from the greater following As for Example if three and thirty halfe diameters be substracted from threescore and foure halfe Diameters the remainder will be one and thirty halfe diameters and of so many halfe Diameters is the solidity of the Moones Heaven or Orbe and in the like manner you may find out the others Of the Elementary Region THe Elementary Region is the concavity of the Moones Heaven or Orbe the which is filled with the four Elements Fire Aire Water and Earth An Element is a simple Body the which cannot be divided nor seperated into different formes that there are foure Elements is easily proved since there is nothing so naturall as that the things do dissolve into the same parts of the which they are composed All perfect mixt Bodies ca 〈…〉 into Earth Water Aire and into Fire there 〈…〉 both earth water aire and fire the which 〈…〉 manifestly shews for when a green St 〈…〉 of it is seen dissolved into Fire part into 〈…〉 which is of the nature of Aire part into scumme which is of the nature of water and part of it into ashes which are of the nature of the Earth and consequently all oother mixt Bodies as Stones Mettalls Plants Animalls c. That they are just foure is also proved by the four humours which are observed to be in the severall bodies of Animalls as the gall which answers to the fire the Blood which answers to the Aire the Fleame which answers to the Water and the Melancholy humour which answers to the Earth The Fire possesses the highest place of the Elementary Region as the most purest and the lightest The Aire is next unto the Element of the Fire as being purer and lighter then the Water and Earth The Water is under the Aire and above the Earth and the Earth as heaviest is the Lowermost and the Center to all the world Of the Fire THe Fire is an Element extreame hot and moderately dry Since each Element hath its proper and naturall place Reason wills that the fire should have his Now since its the purest and the lightest of all the Elements its naturall place must then bee in the nearest space unto the concavity of the Moone wee doe also see that all the Fires lighted here beneath tend naturally upwards and are corrupted by the Aire which invirons them which clearly shews that the naturall place of this Element is above the Aire We cannot see it in its naturall place because it hath no colour and it does not inflame the Heaven because the Heaven is not susceptible of any heat nor of any other alteration The Element of the Fire containes about forty thousand leagues of depth from its superficiall concavity to its convexe Of the Aire THE Aire is an Element very moist and moderately hot Its naturall place is the superficiall concavity of the Element of the Fire and the superficiall convexe of the Element of Water But the Water and the Earth making but one Globe as wee shall shew hereafter the place of the Aire is all the space there remaines betwixt the Earth and the elementary Fire which space hath thirty leagues of height The Aire is divided into three Regions the highest middlemost and lowermost The highest Region of the Aire is hot and dry by reason of the proximity of the elementary Fire and of the motions of the Heavens The middlemost is cold and moist by reason of the vapors which are elevated by the vertue of the Sun which thickening and congealing do refresh the place where they are and this Region is yet colder by reason of the Antyperistasis that is to say by a contrary force which a contrary Element makes strengthening it selfe against a greater strength of a contrary Element The lowermost Region of the Aire is both hot cold and temperate according as the beames of the Sunne cast themselves perpendicularly or oblickly thereon Of the Water THE Water is an Element both extream cold and moderately moist The naturall place of the Water is betweene the Aire and the Earth so that the Earth ought to be environed and wholly incompassed by the Waters But God hath caused the Element of the Water to retire in the concavities of the Earth for the habitation and preservation both of Men and Animals in their being there is much to be alleadged that may contradict this passage but this seemes to be the most probably true that God hath ordained it by his absolute power as it is written in Genesis the first Chapter Congregentur aquae quae sub Coelo sunt in locum unum et appareat arida that is to say Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appeare Of the Earth THE Earth is an Element both extream dry and moderately cold That the Earth is heavier then the Water is proved thus That which causes another to yeeld in heavinesse ought to be heavier then that other But the Earth causes the water to yeeld in heavines therfore it must needs follow that the Earth is heavier then the Water this is proved thus when any Earth or a Stone is cast into a
The Second LECTURE being an Introduction to COSMOGRAPHIE Read Publiquely at SR. Balthazar Gerbiers ACADEMY ON BEDNALL GREENE ROM. cap. 1. ver. 20. Invisibilia enim Dei a creatura Mundi per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur Sempiterna quoque ejus virtus Divinitas The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made Rom. chap. 1. Vers 20. London Printed for Robert Ibbitson in Smithfield near the Queens head Tavern 1649. To the Right Honourable the Lord President of the most Honourable Councell of State Right Honourable HAving given to the Publique according to desire the first Lecture concerning an Introduction to Cosmography read gratis in the Academy which I have endeavoured to Erect for the glory of God the honour of this State and Nation the encouragement and improvement of all Lovers of Vertue I have accompanied the same by way of respect and humble duty with a Dedicatory Epistle to the Right Honourable Speaker of the most Honourable Assembly of Parliament And accordingly take leave humbly to present this Printed Lecture to your Lordship who sits at the Helm of that great Councell of State on which the wisest publique Ministers of the world look with great observance And as I may humbly conceive this Dedication to be very fit This Lecture beginning with a Summary Description of the Orders of the Heavens of their Revolutions and Distances so many times by those Orders which passe at the Councell of State this part of the world is to be Governed so as that the Question may prove not inpertinent whether or no this State shall bee a second Earthly Paradise And all the Revolutions setled answerable to the same that there be no Distances between Peace Righteousnesse and Truth but that all may be so united as to meet and kisse each other perpetually Being the fervent wishes and prayers of Right Honourable Your most humble and obedient Servant Balthazar Gerbier Bednall green this 5 of Novemb. 1649. THE Second Lecture BEING An Introduction to Cosmographie Read Publiquely at Sir Balthazar Gerbiers Academy on Bednall-greene IN our first Lecture of Cosmography we declared what the Sphere is What Heaven is Of the Qualities of the Heavens Of the Celestiall Region That there are many Heavens or Orbes Of the Firmament or eight Heaven Whether or no the Starres be infinite and how the Astronomers divide them Whether or no the Stars be shining of themselves and transparent That the Heavens are round and that their motions are the one within the other from the East to the West In this Second Lecture wee shall shew how that there are two other Heavens differing from the eight precedent The Order of the Heavens Of the Heavens revolutions Of the Heavens distances Of the Elementary Region Of the Fire the Aire the Water and the Earth That the Earth is in the Center of the World and that the Earth is unmoveable That there are two other Heavens differing from the eight Heavens proved in our first Lecture UNtill the time of Aristotle there were but eight Heavens discovered because that then there were but observed but eight different motions in the Celestiall Bodies but when afterwards it was observed that the Starres had a different motion to that of the world it was expedient not to give two contrary motions to a simple Body as the Heavens are to suppose a ninth Heaven the which as first moveable conveyed by its impetuous swiftnesse all the others with it This was the opinion of Ptolomie and since him Thebit Alphragan Albategnius and other excellent Astronomers and for the same reason after that it was observed that there were three different motions in the Firmament there was added a tenth Heaven which is the first moveable it moves from East to West in 24 houres on the Poles of the World drawing by its impetuous swiftnesse all the other inferiour Heavens with it the which neverthelesse turnes alwayes contrary to it performing the course which is proper and naturall to them from West to East on the Poles of the Zodiaque the which they severally atchieve in diversity of times This is also alledged by the learned King Alfonze John of Lineris George Purbachis John of Monte Region and others Besides these ten Heavens which have been observed by the diverse motions of the Starres and Planets there is yet another the highest and largest of all the which is unmoveable and its in that Heaven in the which God spreads the beames of his glory to his welbeloved there is the eternall rest of the happy or as the Apostle sayes Quod oculos non vidit nec auris audivit nec in cor hominis ascendit quae preparavit Deus iis qui diligunt illum that is to say Eye hath not seen nor eare heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him It 's named Coelum impereum that is to say of fire because of its purenesse But this Heaven being not knowne unto us but by divine Revelation it behooves the Divines and not the Astrologers to discourse of it The Orders of the Heavens or Orbes IN times past there were divers opinions touching the order and disposition of the Heavens or Orbes some placing the Sunne and the Moon above the other Planets as having authority over them others as Plato assuring that the lights were the nearest to the Earth that their influences might flow with more effect Some as Democritus maintaining Mercury to bee the highest elevated But in this manner the order of the Heavens is by us proved First by the swiftnesse or slownesse of the motions that is to say that the Planet which is the longest a finishing its course is of necessity the highest Saturne performes his in 30 yeares Jupiter in 12 Mars in 2. the Sun in 365 dayes and 6 houres c. and therefore it must necessarily follow that they exceed one another in height Of the Heavens or Orbes Revolutions ALL the Heavens or Orbes doe sur-round the Earth as a circle doth its center and the further they are from it the longer they are accomplishing their circuits The Moon as being in the lowermost Orbe or Heaven and the nearest to the Earth makes its revolution in 27 dayes and 8 houres Mercury Venus and the Sunne in 365 dayes and 6 houres Mars in one year three hundred twelve dayes and 23 houres Saturne in nine and twenty years one hundred foure and fifty dayes and three and twenty houres The Firmament makes a revolution in six and thirty thousand years and another revolution in seven thousand years The ninth Heaven accomplisheth its course in nine and forty thousand yeares And the tenth Heaven of a quite contrary motion to all these performes his in foure and twenty houres or in a naturall day These Marvelous revolutions Manifest unto us the Power and Greatnesse of the Omnipotent
concluded that the earth is at the Center without any motion But Copernicus answers to these Reasons and inferres on the motion of twenty foure houres that though its very swift yet neverthelesse it hath its due proportions and may be resembled to a rest as those who are in a Boat sit at their ease though the Boat swiftly moves which is also more evident in a Pale full of water which may be turned about in the Aire foure or five times without spilling a drop Yet neverthelesse this answer which he holds forth is to little purpose since that if the earth should performe its course in twenty foure houres and that having eight thousand leagues of circuit to accomplish it must then make five or six leagues in a minute of an houre and if a Stone being cast up into the Aire should remaine a minute of an houre in its ascent or descent it would then fall five or six leagues beyond the place from whence it was flung which hath never been seen nor heard of Neverthelesse he answers to this reason and sayes that the earth doth not onely turne but the Aire also with an equall swiftnesse which causes the earth the Man the Aire and the Stone to turne all by an equall swiftnesse But suppose this were then there would happen two inconveniencies which are against all experience The first is that if a man should shoot an arrow with all his force towards the East and contrary to the motion of the Aire and that the same man should shoot such another arrow towards the West according to the motion of the Aire the arrow shot towards the West with the motion of the Air will go much swifter for having the Aire to back it then that shot towards the West for having the Aire against it the which contradicts to experience it selfe The second is That those things supported by the Aire the lighter they are the further they are carried the heavier they are the lesse are they transported it must therefore follow that if from the top of a Tower a Stone and a Hat should be flung the Hat would be carried a great deale further then the Stone which is also against experience Those which maintaine the motion of the earth are forced to set the Sunne at the Center and although this opinion be as far from a seeming truth as from the truth it self Neverthelesse as the haughtinesse of mans wit tends to affect alwayes some particular point so there are many found who have more passion then reason and will maintain things which they themselves know to contradict reason only to give an Essay of their wit and eloquence but these are meer flashes and directly against the holy Scriptures where it is said in the 1. Epistle 10. Verse of St. Paul to the Hebrewes Et tu in Principio Domine terram Fundasti that is to say And thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foundations of the Earth stable and by the same unreproveable words it is likewise proved that the Sun hath its course and motion and that therefore it cannot be at the Center of the world Needs there any other allegation or instance hereon then the Commandement which Joshua gave to the Sunne to retarde its course as it is written in the 10. Chapter 12. and 13. Verses of the Booke of Joshua Sol contra Gabaon ne movearis et Luna donec ulciscereturse gens de inimicus suis that is to say Sunne stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou Moone in the valley of Ajalon And the Sunne stood still and the Moone stopped untill the people of Israel had avenged themselves on their enemies We will not trouble you with a further search of any other motions since these are sufficiently deducted and confirmed But in all Ages there have beene such Critticks onely for to make themselves famous and to be spoken of and hereat wee need not to wonder since there are so many diverse opinions and beliefes extant which repugne directly against the holy Scriptures and against the Articles of our Faith whereon our Salvation is grounded Let us conclude therefore this Lecture with all due acknowledgement and admiration that God hath been pleased in his infinit incomprehensible bounty to create for our use who are but dust and ashes these inaccessible Heavens as also the Sun Moon and Stars prescribing unto them their severall infallible courses and admirable Order for as he is above them all he needs them out But we cannot subsist without them our eyes would not stand us in stead unlesse we doe make use of them as the two great lights of our bodies to contemplate and study the admirable order motion and distance of the great lights of Heaven which by their marvellous operations and courses do manifest to the good and bad who doe equally enjoy the light of the Sunne Moon and Stars the glory excellency power and bottomlesse riches of God and who doe confound those wilfull blinde Atheists more to be abhorred if possible could be then the Devills for that Devills doe acknowledge God though they doe not believe in him We know that some will be apt to alleadge that divers great and wise men have not believed that there is a God But those were more then blinde and bereaved of all their senses and far worse then Swine who never looke up to the Oake whence the Akorns fall downe to them Certainly they were greater enemies then friends to knowledge being they studied not to know the Principle of all the Author of Immortality and seeing they denyed that point it s no wonder they denied the Divine Providence Neither was it an ill observation that all those Philosophers who were Atheists had not studied the Art of Cosmography But alas to what purpose doth Hell the Devills and Furies serve and against whom doe they inrage and where doe they discharge their furies if they should not swallow these Monsters who doe not apprehend that the Sunne might eclipse or that it should withdraw its beames condemning them to an eternall night for that they doe not remember their Creator in the dayes of their youth when the Sun or the Moon or the Stars be not darkened O Great and mercifull God let all men acknowledge thee in thy Works as well as see thee by Faith since thy works are the visible messengers and witnesses of thy Power and Mercy Let all men adore and love thee for that thou art Let their soules profit by every thing that argues that thou art the same who said to Moses Ego sum qui sum I am that I am And finally let all men acknowledge that as by an infallible computation the height of the Heavens is argued to be such as that if a Canon bullet should descend two hundred leagues in one houre it would be more then fifteen yeares ere it could arrive to the superficies of the earth Yet Lord and mercifull Father thou hast made all mens hearts which by Sinne were become hard as flint and certainely heavier then a Canon bullet capable to ascend unto thee in a moment by Faith not onely seven and twenty millions one hundred foure and thirty thousand and four hundred leagues as beforesaid but so much more higher as thou art above all those Heavens Continue this wonder of all wonders and suffer us so to advance in knowledge that the more we study and know the more we may become capable to be united unto thee The end of the second Lecture of COSMOGRAPHY