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
would quickly have renounced his owne Principles and have come over to this side for in one place having proposed some questions about the heavens which were not easie to bee resolved He sets downe this rule That in difficulties a man may take a liberty to speake that which seems most likely to him and in such cases an aptnesse to guesse at some resolution for the satisfying of our Philosophicall thirst do's deserve rather to bestiled by the name of Modestie than Boldnes And in another place he referres the Reader to the different opinions of Astronomers advising him to examine their severall tenents as well Eudoxus as Calippus and to entertaine that not which is most antient but which is most exact and agreeable to reason And as for Ptolomy 't is his counsell that wee should endeavour to frame such suppositions of the Heavens as might be more simple being void of all superfluities and he confesses that his Hypothesis had many implications in it together with sundry intricate and unlikely turnings and therefore in the same place hee seems to admonish us that wee should not bee too confident the Heavens were really in the same Forme wherein Astronomers did supposethem So that 't is likely 't was his chief intent to propose unto us such a frame of the coelestiall bodies from which wee might in some measure conceive of their different appearances and according to which wee might be able to calculate their motions But now 't is Copernicus his endeavour to propound unto us the true naturall Causes of these severall Motions and Appearances It was the intent of the one to settle the Imagination and of the other to satisfie the judgement So that wee have no reason to doubt of his assent unto this Opinion if hee had but clearely understood all the grounds of it 'T is reported of Clavius that when lying upon his Death-bed he heard the first Newes of those Discoveries which were made by Gallilaeus his Glasse he brake forth into these words Videre Astronomos quo pacto constituendi sunt orbes Coelestes ut haec Phaenomena salvari possint That it did behoove Astronomers to consider of some other Hypothesis beside that of Ptolomy whereby they might salve all those new appearances Intimating that this old one which formerly he had defended would not now serve the turne and doubtlesse if it had been informed how congruous all these might have been unto the opinion of Copernicus hee would quickly have turned on that side 'T is considerable that amongst the followers of Copernicus there are scarce any who were not formerly against him and such as at first had been throughly seasoned with the Principles of Aristotle in which for the most part they have no lesse skil than those who are so violent in the defence of them Whereas on the contrary there are very few to bee found amongst the followers of Aristotle and Ptolomy that have read any thing in Copernicus or doe fully understand the Grounds of his opinion and I thinke not any who having been once setled with any strong assent on this side that have afterwards revolted from it Now if we do but seriously weigh with our selves that so many ingenious considering men should reject that opinion which they were nursed up in and which is generally approved as the truth and that for the embracing of such a Paradox as is condemned in Schooles and commonly cryed downe as being absurd and ridiculous I say if a man doe but well consider all this he must needs conclude that there is some strong evidence for it to bee found out by examination and that in all probabilitie this is the righter side 'T is probable that most of those Authors who have opposed this opinion since it hath bin confirmed by new discoveries were stirred up thereunto by some of these 3 insufficient grounds 1 An over-fond and partial conceit of their proper inventions Every man is naturally more affected to his owne brood than to that of which another is the Author though perhaps it may bee more agreeable to reason 'T is very difficult for any one in the search of Truth to find in himselfe such an indifferencie as that his judgement is not at all swayd by an overweening affection unto that which is proper unto himselfe And this perhaps might bee the first reason that moved the noble Tycho with so much heat to oppose Copernicus that so hee might the better make way for the spreding of that Hypothesis which was of his owne invention To this I might likewise refer that opinion of Origanus and Mr. Carpenter who attribute to the earth only a diurnall revolution It do's more especially concerne those men that are Leaders of severall sides to beat downe any that should oppose them 2 A servile and superstitious feare of derogating from the authoritie of the antients or opposing that meaning of Scripture phrases wherein the supposed infallible Church hath for a long time understood them 'T is made part of the new Creed set forth by Pius the fourth 1564 That no man should assent unto any interpretation of Scripture which is not approved of by the authoritie of the Fathers And this is the reason why the Iesuites who are otherwise the greatest affectors of those opinions which seeme to be new and subtill doe yet forbeare to say any thing in defence of this but rather take all occasions to inveigh against it One of them do's expressely condemn it for a heresie And since him it hath bin called in by two Sessions of the Cardinals as being an opinion both absurd and dangerous And therefore likewise doe they punish it by casting the Defenders of it into the Popes truest Purgatorie the Inquisition but yet neither these Councels nor any that I know of since them have proceeded to such a peremptorie censure of it as to conclude it a heresie fearing perhaps lest a more exact examinanation and the discoverie of future times finding it to bee an undeniable Truth it might redound to the prejudice of their Church and it's infallibilitie And therefore he that is most bitter against it in the heat and violence of opposition will not call it a heresie the worst that he dares say of it is That it is opinio temeraria quae altero saltem pede intravit haeresios limen A rash opinion and bordering upon heresie Though unto this likewise he was incited by the eagernesse of disputation and a desire of victorie for it seemes many eminent men of that Church before him were a great deale more milde and moderate in their censures of it Paul the third was not so much offended at Copernicus when he dedicated his Worke unto him The Cardinall of Cusa do's expresly maintaine this opinion Scombergius the Cardinall of Capua did with much importunitie and great approbation beg of Copernicus the commentaries that he writ in this kind And it seems the Fathers of the Councell of
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
possibility of a world which he could not discover as Alexander was to heare of one which he could not conquer 'T is likely that some such by-respect moved him to this opinion since the arguments hee urges for it are confest by his zealous followers and commentators to be very fleight and frivolous and they themselves grant what I am now to prove that there is not any evidence in the light of naturall reason which can sufficiently manifest that there is but one world But however some may object would it not be inconvenient and dangerous to admit of such opinions that doe destroy those principles of Aristotle which all the world hath so long followed This question is much controverted by some of the Romish Divines Campanella hath writ a Treatise in defence of it in whom you may see many things worth the reading and notice To it I answer that this position in Philosophy doth not bring any inconvenience to the rest since 't is not Aristotle but truth that should be the rule of our opinions and if they be not both found together we may say to him as hee said to his Master Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though Plato were his friend yet hee would rather adhere to truth than him I must needs grant that wee are all much beholden to the industry of the ancient Philosophers and more especially to Aristotle for the greater part of our learning but yet 't is not ingratitude to speak against him when hee opposeth truth for then many of the Fathers would be very guilty especially Iustin who hath writ a Treatise purposely against him But suppose this opinion were false yet 't is not against the faith and so it may serve for the better confirmation of that which is true the sparks of errour being forc'd out by opposition as the sparks of fire by the striking of the flint and steele But suppose too that it were hereticall and against the faith yet may it be admitted with the same priviledge as Aristotle from whom many more dangerous opinions have proceeded as that the world is eternall that God cannot have while to looke after these inferiour things that after death there is no reward or punishment and such like blasphemies which strike directly at the fundamentals of our Religion So that it is justly to be wondred why some should be so superstitious in these dayes as to stick closer unto him than unto Scripture as if his Philosophy were the onely foundation of all divine truths Vpon these grounds both St. Vincentius and Serafinus de firmo as I have seene them quoted think that Aristotle was the violl of Gods wrath which was powred out upon the waters of wisedom by the third Angel But for my part I think the world is much beholden to him for all its sciences But yet 't were a shame for these later ages to rest our selves meerely upon the labours of our Fore-fathers as if they had informed us of all things to be knowne and when we are set upon their shoulders not to see further than they themselves did 'T were a superstitious a lazie opinion to think Aristotles works the bounds and limits of all humane invention beyond which there could be no possibility of reaching Certainly there are yet many things left to discovery and it cannot be any inconvenience for us to maintaine a new truth or rectifie an ancient errour But the position say some is directly against Scripture for 1. Moses tels us but of one world and his History of the Creation had been very imperfect if God had made another 2. Saint Iohn speaking of Gods works says hee made the world in the singular number and therefore there is but one 't is the argument of Aquinas and he thinks that none will oppose it but such who with Democritus esteeme some blinde chance and not any wise providence to be the framer of all things 3. The opinion of more worlds has in ancient times beene accounted a heresie and Baronius affirmes that for this very reason Virgilius was cast out of his Bishoprick and excommunicated from the Church 4. A fourth argument there is urged by Aquinas if there be more worlds than one then they must either be of the same or of a diverse nature but they are not of the same kinde for this were needlesse and would argue an improvidence since one would have no more perfection than the other not of divers kindes for then one of them could not be called the world or universe since it did not containe universall perfection I have cited this argument because it is so much stood upon by Iulius Caesar la Galla one that has purposely writ a Treatise against this opinion which I now deliver but the Dilemma is so blunt that it cannot cut on either side and the consequences so weake that I dare trust them without an answer And by the way you may see this later Author in that place where hee endeavours to prove a necessity of one world doth leave the chiefe matter in hand and take much needlesse paines to dispute against Democritus who thought that the world was made by the casuall concourse of atoms in a great vacuum It should seeme that either his cause or his skill was weake or else he would have ventured upon a stronger adversary These arguments which I have set downe are the chiefest which I have met with against this subject and yet the best of these hath not force enough to endanger the truth that I have delivered Vnto the two first it may be answered that the negative authority of Scripture is not prevalent in those things which are not the fundamentals of Religion But you 'le reply though it doe not necessarily conclude yet 't is probable if there had beene another world wee should have had some notice of it in Scripture I answer 't is as probable that the Scripture should have informed us of the planets they being very remarkable parts of the Creation and yet neither Moses nor Iob nor the Psalmes the places most frequent in Astronomicall observations nor any other Scripture mention any of them but the Sunne and Moone Because the difference betwixt them and the other starres was knowne onely to those who were learned men and had skill in Astronomie As for that expression in Iob 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the starres of the morning it is in the plurall number and therefore cannot properly be applied to Venus And for that in Isaiah 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 't is confessed to be a word of obscure interpretation and therefore is but by guesse translated in that sence It being a true and common rule that Hebraei reisideralis minime curiosi coelestium nominum penuriâ laborant The Jewes being but little skilled in Astronomie their language dos want proper expressions for the heavenly bodies and therefore they are faine sometimes to attribute the same
the Moones descending to the earth for the love of Endymion with such ridiculous interpretations of these and the like fables which any reasonable considering man cannot conceive to proceed from any but such as are distracted No lesse fantasticall in this kind are the Jewish Rabbies amongst whom is not any opinion whether in nature or policy whether true or false but some of them by a Cabalisticall interpretation can father it upon a darke place of Scripture or if need bee upon a text that is cleane contrary There being not any absurditie so grosse and incredible for which these abusers of the text will not find out an argument Whereas 't is the more naturall way and should be observed in all controversies to apply unto every thing the proper proofes of it and when wee deale with Philosophicall truths to keepe our selves within the bounds of humane reason and authority But this by the way For the better proofe of this proposition I might here cite the testimony of Diodorus who thought the Moone to bee full of rugged places velut terrestribus tumulis superciliosam but hee erred much in some circumstances of this opinion especially where he sayes there is an Iland amongst the Hyperboreans wherein those hills may to the eye bee plainly discovered and for this reason Caelius calls him a fabulous Writer But you may see more expresse authority for the proofe of this in the opinions of Anaxagoras and Democritus who held that this Planet was full of champion grounds mountains and vallies And this seemed likewise probable unto Augustinus Nifus whose words are these Forsitan non est remotum dicere lunae partes esse diversas veluti sunt partes terrae quarum aliae sunt vallosae aliae montosae ex quarum differentia effici potest facies illa lunae nec est rationi dissonum nam luna est corpus imperfectè Sphaericum cum sit corpus ab ultimo coelo elongatum ut supra dixit Aristoteles Perhaps it would not be amisse to say that the parts of the Moone were divers as the parts of this earth whereof some are vallies and some mountaines from the difference of which some spots in the Moone may proceed nor is this against reason for that Planet cannot be perfecty sphericall since 't is so remote a body from the first orbe as Aristotle had said before You may see this truth assented unto by Blancanus the Jesuit and by him confirmed with divers reasons Keplar hath observed in the Moones eclipses that the division of her inlightned part from the shaded was made by a crooked unequall line of which there cannot bee any probable cause conceived unlesse it did arise from the ruggednes of that Planet for it cannot at all be produc'd from the shade of any mountaines here upon earth because these would bee so lessened before they could reach so high in a conicall shadow that they would not be at all sensible unto us as might easily bee demonstrated nor can it be conceived what reason of this difference there should be in the Sun Wherefore there being no other body that hath any thing to doe in eclipses we must necessarily conclude that it is caused by a variety of parts in the Moone it selfe and what can these be but its gibbosiâ—â—ties Now if you should aske a reason why there should bee such a multitude of these in that Planet the same Keplar shall jest you out an answer Supposing saith hee that those inhabitants are bigger than any of us in the same proportion as their dayes are longer than ours viz. by fifteen times it may be for want of stones to erect such vast houses as were requisite for their bodies they are faine to digge great and round hollowes in the earth where they may both procure water for their thirst and turning about with the shade may avoid those great heats which otherwise they would be liable unto or if you will give Caesar la Galla leave to guesse in the same manner he would rather thinke that those thirsty nations cast up so many and so great heaps of earth in digging of their wine cellars but this onely by the way I shall next produce the eye-witnesse of Galilaeus on which I most of all depend for the proofe of this Proposition when he beheld the new Moone through his perspective it appeared to him under a rugged and spotted figure seeming to have the darker and enlightned parts divided by a tortuous line having some parcels of light at a good distance from the other and this difference is so remarkable that you may easily perceive it through one of those ordinary perspectives which are commonly sold amongst us but for your better apprehending of what I deliver I will set downe the Figure as I find it in Galilaeus Suppose A B C D to represent the appearance of the Moones body being in a sextile you may see some brighter parts separated at a pretty distance from the other which can be nothing else but a reflexion of the Sun beames upon some parts that are higher than the rest and those obscure gibbosities which stand out towards the enlightened parts must be such hollow and deepe places whereto the rayes cannot reach But when the Moone is got farther off from the Sunne and come to that fulnesse as this line B D doth represent her under then doe these parts also receive an equall light excepting onely that difference which doth appeare betwixt their sea land And if you doe consider how any rugged body would appeare being enlightned you would easily conceive that it must necessarily seeme under some such gibbous unequall forme as the Moone is here represented Now for the infallibility of these appearances I shall referre the reader to that which hath been said in the sixth Proposition But Caesar la Galla affirmes that all these appearances may consist with a plaine superficies if wee suppose the parts of the body to be some of them Diaphanous and some Opacous and if you object that the light which is convayd to any diaphanous part in a plaine superficies must bee by a continued line whereas here there appeare many brighter parts among the obscure at some distance from the rest To this he answers it may arise from some secret conveyances and channels within her body that doe consist of a more diaphanous matter which being covered over with an opacous superficies the light passing through them may break out a great way off whereas the other parts betwixt may still remaine darke Just as the River Arethusa in Sicily which runnes under ground for a great way and afterwards breaks out againe But because this is one of the chiefest fancies whereby hee thinks hee hath fully answered the argument of this opinion I will therefore set downe his answer in his owne words least the Reader might suspect more in them than I have expressed Non est impossibile coecos
legeret tereretque viritim publicus usus If our Forefathers had but hated thus All that were new what had been old to us Or how might any thing confirmed be For publicke use by it's Antiquitie But for more full satisfaction of all those scruples that may arise from the seeming Novelty or Singularity of this opinion I shall propose these following considerations Suppose it were a Noveltie Yet 't is in Philosophy and that is made up of nothing else but receives addition from every dayes experiment True indeed for Divinity wee have an infallible rule that do's plainly inform us of all necessary Truths and therfore the Primitive Times are of greater Authority because they were neerer to those holy Men who were the pen-men of Scripture But now for Philosophy there is no such reason what ever the Schoole-men may talke yet Aristotles works are not necessarily true and hee himselfe hath by sufficient Arguments proved himselfe to be liable unto errour Now in this case if wee should speake properly Antiquity do's consist in the old age of the World not in the youth of it In such Learning as may be increased by fresh experiments and new discoveries 't is we are the Fathers and of more Authority than former Ages because wee have the advantage of more time than they had and Truth wee say is the Daughter of Time However there is nothing in this opinion so Magisterially proposed but the Reader may use his owne liberty and if all the reasons considered together doe not seeme convincing unto him he may freely reject it In those naturall points which carry with them any doubt or obscurity it is the safest way to suspend our assents and though we may dispute pro or con yet not to settle our opinion on either side In weighing the Authority of others 't is not their multitude that should prevaile or their skill in some things that should make them of credit in every thing but wee should examine what particular insight and experience they had in those times for which they are cited Now 't is plaine that common people judge by their senses and therefore their voices are altogether unfit to decide any Philosophicall doubt which cannot well be examined or explained without discourse and reason And as for the antient Fathers though they were men very eminent for their holy lives and extraordinary skill in Divinitie yet they were most of them very ignorant in that part of Learning which concernes this opinion as appeares by many of their grosse mistakes in this kinde as that concerning the Antipodes c. and therefore it is not their opinion neither in this businesse that to an indifferent seeker of Truth will bee of any strong Authority But against this it is objected That the instance of the Antipodes do's not argue any speciall ignorance in these learned Men Or that they had lesse skil in such humane Arts than others since Aristotle himself and Pliny did deny this as well as they I answer 1 If they did yet this do's make more to the present purpose For if such great Schollers who were so eminent for their knowledge in naturall things might yet notwithstanding be grossely mistaken in such matters as are now evident and certaine Why then wee have no reason to depend upon their assertions or Authorities as if they were infallible 2 Though these great Naturalists for want of some experience were mistaken in that opinion whilest they thought no place was habitable but the temperate Zones yet it cannot be from hence inferred that they denied the possibilitie of Antipodes since these are such Inhabitants as live opposite unto us in the other temperate Zone and 't were an absurd thing to imagine that those who lived in different Zones can be Antipodes to one another and argues that a man did not understand or else had forgotten that common distinction in Geography wherein the relation of the Worlds Inhabitants unto one another are reckoned up under these three heads Antaeci Periaeci and Antipodes But to let this passe 'T is certaine that some of the Fathers did deny the being of any such upon other more absurd grounds Now if such as Chrisostome Lactantius c. who were noted for great Schollers and such too as flourished in these latter times when all humane Learning was more generally profest should notwithstanding be so much mistaken in so obvious a matter Why then may wee not think that those Primitive Saints who were the pen-men of Scripture and eminent above others in their time for holinesse and knowledge might yet be utterly ignorant of many Philosophicall Truths which are commonly knowne in these dayes 'T is probable that the Holy Ghost did informe them onely with the knowledge of those things whereof they were to be the pen-men and that they were not better skilled in points of Philosophy than others There were indeed some of them who were supernaturally indowed with humane Learning yet this was because they might thereby bee fitted for some particular ends which all the rest were not appointed unto thus Solomon was strangely gifted with all kinde of knowledge in a great measure because he was to teach us by his owne experience the extreme vanity of it that we might not so settle our desires upon it as if it were able to yeeld us contentment So too the Apostles were extraordinarily inspired with the knowledge of Languages because they were to preach unto all Nations But it will not hence follow that therfore the other holy pen-men were greater Schollers than others 'T is likely that Iob had as much humane Learning as most of them because his Booke is more especially remarkable for lofty expressions and discourses of Nature and yet 't is not likely that he was acquainted with all those mysteries which later Ages have discovered because when God would convince him of his owne folly and ignorance he proposes to him such questions as being altogether unanswerable which notwithstanding any ordinary Philosopher in these dayes might have resolued As you may see at large in the thirty eighth Chapter of that Booke The occasion was this Iob having before desired that he might dispute with the Almighty concerning the uprightnesse of his owne wayes and the unreasonablenesse of those afflictions which he underwent do's at length obtaine his desire in this kinde and God vouchsafes in this thirty eighth chapter to argue the case with him Where he do's shew Iob how unfit he was to judge of the wayes of Providence in disposing of Blessings and Afflictions when as he was so ignorant in ordinary matters being not able to discerne the reason of naturall and common events As why the Sea should bee so bounded from overflowing the land What is the bredth of the Earth what is the reason of the Snow or Hayle what was the cause of the Raine or Dewe of Ice and Frost and the like By which questions it seemes Iob
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