the day it selfe or the quality of the Iudge by whom they are to be tryed p. 456. Sect. 3 Or the nature and number of their accusers p. 459. Sect. 4 Or lastly the dreadfulnes of the sentence which shall then be pronounced vpon them p. 461. Sect. 5 Secondly the consideration of this day may serue for a speciall comfort to the godly whether they meditate vpon the name and nature of t'c day it selfe in regard of them or the assurance of Gods loue and favour towards them and the gracious promises made vnto them p. 464. Sect. 6 Or the quality condition of the Iudge in respect of them by whom they are to be tryed or lastly the sweetnes of the sentence which shall then be pronounced on their behalfe p. 467. Sect. 7 Thirdly the consideration of this day may serue for admonition to all p. 470. Sect. 8 As likewise for instruction p. 471 OF THE VALVE OF THE ROMAN SESTERCE Compared with our English coyne now in vse BEcause in the fourth and last booke of this ensuing treatise in discovering of the Romane luxuâ—…ie frequent mention is made of their excessiue expences and the ordinary computation of their Authors whose testimonies I vse is by Sesterces I held it requisite for the better vnderstanding of those summes by such who are not acquainted with the Romane coynes in this table to expresse the value of the Sesterce and withall to reduce some of their most noted summes to our sterling that so the Reader desirous to know any particular summe may either finde it expressed in this Table or easily find it out by proportioning the summe he desires to know with the neerest vnto it either aboue or vnder The Sestertius was among the Romans a coyne so common that nummus and Sestertius came at length to be vsed promiscuously the one for the other so called it was quasi Semistertius because of three asses it wanted halfe a one and is thus commonly expressed â—…S or thus HS by which is vnderstood two asses and an halfe For the value os it ten asses make a denarius or Roman pennie so tearmed because it contained denaaera which were the same with their asses so as the Sesterce containing two asses and an halfe must oâ—… necessity be founâ—… in the denarius foure times now the denarius being the eighâ—… part of an ounce and an ounce of silver being now with vs valued at fiue shillings it followes from thence that the value of the denarius is seaven pence halfepenny consequently of the Sesterce being the fourth part thereof pennie halfe pennie farthing halfe farthing Touching their manner of counting by Sesterces a controversie there is betwixt Budaeus and Agricola whether Sestertius in the masculine and Sestertium in the neuter be to bee valued alike which Agricola affirmes Budaeus vpon better reason in my iudgement denies and to him I incline holding with him that Sestertium in the neuter containes a thousand Sestertios But heere two things are specially to be noted first that if the numerall or word that denoteth the number being an adictinâ—… and of a different caâ—…e be joyned with Sestertiûm by an abbreviatioÌ„ put for Sestertiorum in the genitiue case plurall then doth it note so many thousand Sesterty for example decem Sestertiûm signifieth decem millia tenne thousand Sesterces Secondly if the numerall joyned with Sestertiûm be an adverb then it designeth so many hundred thousand ex grâ—… decies Sestertiûm signifies decies contena millia ten hundred thousand or a million of Sesterces and sometimes the substantiue Sestertiûm is omitted but necessarily vnderstood the adjectiue then or adverbe set alone being of the same value as if the substantiue were expressed as thuâ—… decem standing by it selfe is fully as much as decem Sestertium decies in like case as if it were decies Sestertiûm which I haue premised that the reason of my rendring the Latin summes might the better be conceived now to the table Sesterces Are worth In English monies Twenty 0l-3 -3s-1 -1d-0b A hundred 0-15-7-0b Fiue hundred 3-18-1-0b A thousand 7-16-3-0 Fiue thousand 39-1-3-0 Ten thousand 78 2 6-0 Twenty thousand 156-5-0-0 Fiftie thousand 390-12-6-0 A hundred thousand 781-5-0-0 Fiue hundred thousand 3906-5-0-0 A Million 7812-10 0-0 Fiue Millions 39062-10-0-0 Ten Millions 78125-0-0-0 Twenty Millions 156250-0-0-0 Fiftie Millions 390625-0-0-0 A hundred Millions 781250-0-0-0 Two hundred Millions 1562500-0-0-0 Fiue hundred Millions 3906250-0-0-0 A thousand Millions 7812500-0-0-0 A Talent is 750 ounces of silver which after fiue shillings the ounce is 187 pounds Boethius Lib. 3. Metro 9. O Qui perpetua mundâ—…m ratione gubernas Terrarum Coelique Sator qui tempus ab aevo Ire jubes stabilisque manens das cuncta moveri Da Pater augustam menti conscendere sedem Da fontem lustrare boni da luce reperta In te conspicuos animae defigere visus Disijce terrenae nebulas pondera molis Atque tuo splendore mica Ta namque serenum Tu requies tranquilla pijs Te cernere finis Principium vector dux semita terminus idem THou that madest heaven earth whose wisedome still doth guide The world by whose commaund time euermore doth slide Thou that vnmov'd thy selfe causest all things to moue Graunt Father I may climbe these sacred seates aboue Graunt I of good may view the spring that finding light My minde perpetually on thee may fixe her sight Dispell these cloudes discharge this loade of lumpish clay And spread thy beames for thou to Saints the clearest day The calmest quiet art and thee to comtemplate Port passage leader way beginning is and date AN APOLOGIE OF THE POWER AND PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD OR An Examination and Censure of the common errour touching Natures perpetuall and vniversall decay LIB I. Which treates of this pretended decay in generall together with some preparatiues thereunto CAP. I. Of diuerse other opinions justly suspected if not rejected though commonly receiued SECT I. In Divinitie THE opinion of the Worlds decay is so generally receiued not onely among the Vulgar but of the Learned both Diuines and others that the very commonnes of it makes it currant with many without any further examination That which is held not onely by the multitude but by the Learned passing smoothly for the most part without any checke or controle Nec alius pronior fidei lapsus quà m ubi rei falsae gravis author extitit saith Pliny Men doe not any-where more easily erre then where they follow a guide whom they presume they may safely trust They cannot quickly be perswaded that he who is in reputation for knowledge and wisdome and whose doctrine is admired in weighty matters should mistake in points of laesser consequence and the greatest part of the World is rather led with the names of their Masters and with the reverend respect they beare their persons or memories then with the soundnesse and truth of the things they
faith These are as seuerall lines drawne from the same Center or seuerall beames from the same Sunne All which notwithstanding in their seuerall rankes and degrees carry in them or rather haue stamped and printed vpon them some character or resemblance of the Diuine Excellencie And as Truth is the breath of God so is the Soule of man too which may well be thought to be in part the cause that the Soule is so wonderfully taken and affected with the loue and liking of it All the Kingdomes in the World and the glittering pomp of them cannot so much refresh and delight a studious minde as this one inestimable Iewell of Truth which Lucretius hath liuely described Suave mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis c. It is a view of delight saith he to stand or walke vpon the shore side to see a ship tossed with tempests vpon the Sea or to be in a fortified towre and to see two Armies joyne battle vpon a plaine but it is a pleasure incomparable for the minde of man to be setled landed and fortified in the certainty of Truth and from thence to descry and behold the errours perturbations labours and wandrings vp and downe of other men We see in all other pleasures there is satiety and after they be vsed their verdure departeth which sheweth well they be but deceits of pleasure and not pleasures and that it was the novelty that pleased and not the quality But of the Contemplation of Truth there is no satiety but satisfaction and appetite are perpetually interchangeable and certainely the more contentment and comfort doe we reape therein For that the apprehension of Truth helpes to repaire that Image of God which by the fall of man was in that very part sorely batter'd and bruis'd I meane in regard of the knowledge of naturall Truths but in regard of supernaturall vtterly defaced Now such being the condition of Truth both in regard of God it selfe and vs we may not part with it vpon any tearmes nor can we purchase it at too deare a rate Buy the truth but sell it not Some perchance in this very point may suppose that the opinion maintaining Natures decay argues in the maintainers more modesty and humility and is apter to breed in men a religious feare and devotion being perswaded as well by sense and reason as by Scripture and faith that the World must haue an end and that in appearance the end thereof cannot be far off Which though it were so yet may it not be vpheld with an vntruth Rectè placet laudem humilitatis in parte non ponere falsitatis ne humilitas conconstituta in parte falsitatis perdat praemium veritatis saith S. Augustine Wee desire not to settle the praise of humility vpon false grounds lest being built vpon falshood it loose the reward of Truth If euill be in no case to be done that good may come thereof no not the least euill for the greatest good if a lye may not be made for the winning of a mans Soule no nor for the gaining of a world of Infidels to the faith as Diuines truly teach then may not the defence of any vntruth bee vndertaken what faire pretence soeuer of piety or charity or humility it may put on For as we are to speake veritatem in charitate the truth in loue so are we to follow charitatem in veritate loue grounded vpon truth It being one of the properties of true charity to reioyce in truth Truth then and true piety Truth and true charity Truth and true humility being inseparable companions let none presume to put them asunder whom God hath thus linked and ioyned together Will yee talke deceitfully for Gods cause saith Iob will ye make a lye for him if we may not vtter an vntruth for Gods cause and the advancement of his glory much lesse for the best good of man the glory of God being as much and more to bee preferred before the best spirituall good of man as mans spirituall good before his temporall Absit à me vt veritatem per mendacium vâ—…lim iri confirmatam saith Chrysostome farre bee it from mee to attempt the strengthning of truth by falshood The reason hereof is well yeelded by S. Augustine fracta velleviter imminuta authoritate veritatis omnia dubia remanebunt the credite and soueraignty of Truth being neuer so little crackt or the practise of lying neuer so little countenanced a man can build vpon nothing but all things will be full of doubt and distrust And againe nunquam errari tutius existimo quam cùm in amore nimio veritatis reiectione nimia falsitatis erratur a man cannot lightly erre more safely then in too much loue of Truth and hatred of lies whe ther they arise from errour and mistake or malice and forgerie whether they consist in the disagreement and disconformitie betwixt the speech and the conceptions of the minde or the conceptions of the minde and the things themselues or the speech and the things SECT 2. The second is the vindicating of the Creators honour AS my first Reason for the writing and publishing this Discourse was for the redeeming of a captivated truth so my second is for the vindicating of the Creators honor the reputation of his wisedome his iustice his goodnes and his power being all of them in my judgment by the opinion of Natures decay not a little impeached and blemished His wisedome for that intending as by the sacred Oracles of his word hee hath in sundry passages cleerely manifested it to put an end to the World by fire it cannot I thinke be well conceiued why hee should ordaine or admit such a daylie vniversall and irrecouerable consumption in all the parts of Nature which without fire or any other outward meanes would vndoubtedly bring it to that finall period His iustice for that withdrawing from latter ages that strength and ability of performing religious duties and practising morall vertues which to the former he granted yet to demaund and expect no lesse from the latter then he did from the former what is it but to reape where he sowed not to require as much of him that had but fiue talents as of him that had tenne or to deale as Pharaoh did with the Israelites still to exact the same taske of bricke and yet to withhold the wonted allowance of straw Neither can we with that confidence reprehend the raigning vices of the times if we cast the reason thereof not so much vpon the voluntary malice and depravation of mens wils as vpon the necessitie of the times praeordained by God which vpon the matter what is it but to lay the burden vpon God and to accuse him that so we may free and excuse our selues His Bounty and Goodnesse as if out of a niggardly and sparing disposition he envied the succeeding generations of the World that happines which vpon the preceding he freely and
bouche diuine Qui Causera sa fin Causa son origine Th'immutable diuine decree which shall Cause the Worlds end caus'd his originall Let not then the vaine shadowes of the Worlds fatall decay keepe vse ither from looking backward to the imitation of our noble Predecessors or forward inproviding for posterity but as our predecessors worthily prouided for vs so let our posterity blesse vs in providing for them it being still as vncertaine to vs what generations are yet to ensue as it was to our predecessors in their ages I will shut vp this reason with a witty Epigram made vpon one who in his writings vndertooke to foretell the very yeare of the Worlds consummation Nonaginta duos durabit mundus in annos Mundus ad arbitrium sistat obitque tuum Cur mundi sinem propiorem non facis vt ne Ante obitum mendax arguerere sapis Ninety two yeares the World as yet shall stand If it doe stand or fall at your command But say why plac'd you not the Worlds end nigher Lest ere you died you might be prou'd a lyer SECT 5. The fifth and last reason is the weake grounds which the contrary opinion is founded vpon THE fifth and last reason which moued me to the vndertaking of this Treatise was the weake grounds which the contrary opinion of the Worlds decay is founded vpon I am perswaded that the fictions of Poets was it which first gaue life vnto it Homer hath touched vpon this string with whom Virgill accords and they are both seconded by Iuvenal and Horace But aboue all that pretty invention of the foure Ages of the World compared to foure mettals Gold Siluer Brasse and Iron hath wrought such an impression in mens mindes that it can hardly bee rooted out For ancient Philosophers and Divines I finde not any that are so much as alleadged in defence of it but Pliny and Cyprian to whom some haue added Gellius and Augustine but how truly it shall appeare Godwilling when we come to speake of their testimonies in their proper places And for Scripture proofe it is both very sparing and wrested That which aboue all as I conceaue hath made way for this opinion is the morosity and crooked disposition of old men alwayes complaining of the hardnesse of the present times together with an excessiue admiration of Antiquity which is in a manner naturall and inbred in vs vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi The ancient we extoll beingcarelesse of our owne times For the former of these old men for the most part being much changed from that they were in their youth in complexion and temperature they are fill'd with sad melancholy thoughts which makes them thinke the World is changed whereas in truth the change is in themselues It fares with them in this case as with those whose taste is distempered or are troubled with the Iaundise or whose eyes are bloodshot the one imagining all things bitter or sowre which they taste and the other red or yellow which they see Terraeque Vrbesque recedunt Themselues being launched out into the deepe the trees and houses seeme to goe backward whereas in truth the motion is in themselues the houses and trees still standing where they were Seneca tels vs a pleasant tale of Harpaste his wiues foole who being become suddenly blind shee deemed the roome in which she was to be darke but could by no meanes be perswaded of her owne blindnesse Such for the most part is the case of old men themselues being altered both in disposition of body and condition of minde they make wonderfull narrations of the change of times since they remember which because they cannot bee controlled passe for currant The other pioner as I may so call it which by secret vndermining makes way for this opinion of the Worlds decay is an excessiue admiration of Antiquity together with a base and envious conceit of whatsoeuer the present age affords or possibly can afford in comparison thereof Vetulam praeferunt immortalitati they preferre the wrinkles of Antiquity before the rarest beauty of the present times the common voice euery where is and euer hath beene and will be to the Worlds end Faelix nimium prior aetas Contenta fidelibus arvis Vtinam quoque nostra redirent In mores tempora priscos Thrice happy former ages and blessed With faithfull fields content and pleased Would our times also had the grace Againe old manners to embrace yet if we will speake properly and punctually Antiquity rather consists in the old age then infancie or youth of the World But take it as commonly vnderstood I thinke it will not be denied by any that vnderstand the course of times but that in latter ages many abuses haue beene reformed many Arts perfected many profitable Inventions discouered many noble and notable acts atchieued Multa dies variusque labor mutabilis aevi Rettulit in melius Time and much toile of this vnsteddie World Hath bettered many things As truly Virgil and elegantly Claudian Rerumque remotas Ingeniosa vias paulatim explorat egestas Wittie necessity by degrees traceth out Of things the prints and windings most remote But let vs heare what the wisest man that euer liued of a meere man hath determined in this point Say not thou what is the cause that the former dayes were better then these for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this Vpon which words saith Isidorus Clarius Quia manifestum est habuisse priora tempora sicut haec nostra habent incommoda sua because it is evident that former times had their mischiefes and miseries waiting vpon them as well as ours Yet because for the most part the best of former times is recorded and the worst concealed from vs as the Sieue le ts goe the finest flower but retaines the bran or because wee are generally more sensible of the crosses then the blessings of our owne times or lastly because the sight and presence of things diminisheth that reputation which we conceiued of them Such is the disease and malignity of our nature Vitium malignitatis humanae as Tacitus cals it vt vetera semper in laude praesentia sint in fastidio Et nisi quae terris semota suisque Temporibus defuncta videt fastidit odit Sed redit ad fastos virtutem imputat annis Miraturque nihil nisi quod Libitina sacravit Saue what remoued is by place nor lacks Antiquity to warrant it he lothes and hates Vertue he counts by yeares and Almanacks Wonders at nought but what death consecrates But as the same Poet wittily speakes comparing the Graecians with the Romans the same may wee demaund comparing our selues and â—…atter ages generally with the ancients Quod si tam antiquis novitas invisa fuisset Quam nobis quid nunc esset vetus aut quid haberet Quod legeret tereretque viritim publicus vsus If ancients had envied as much as wee Things that
the Lord that I will heare the heavens and they shall heare the earth and the earth shall heare the corne and the wine and the oile and they shall heare Israell From that we may descend to the foure Elements which as a musicall instrument of foure strings is both tuned and touched by the hand of heaven And in the next place those bodies which are mixed and tempered of these Elements offer themselues to our consideration whether they bee without life as stones and mettalls or haue the life of vegetation only as Plants or both of vegetation and sense as beasts and birds and fishes and in the last place man presents himselfe vpon this Theater as being created last though first intended the master of the whole family chiefe Commaunder in this great house nay the master-peece the abridgment the mappe and modell of the Vniuerse And in him wee will examine this pretended decay first in regard of age and length of yeares secondly in regard of strength and stature thirdly in regard of wits and Arts and fourthly and lastly in regard of manners and conditions to which all that is in man is or should bee finally referred as all that is in the world is vnder God finally referred to man And because it is not sufficient to possesse our owne fort without the dismantling and demolishing of our enimies a principall care shall bee had throughout the whole worke to answere if not all at least the principall of those obiections which I haue found to weigh most with the adverse part And in the last place least I should any way bee suspected to shake or vndermine the ground of our Christian religion or to weaken the article of our beliefe touching the consummation of the world by teaching that it decayes not to wipe off that aspertion I will endeavour to prooue the certainety thereof not so much by Scripture which no Christian can be ignorant of as by force of Reason and the testimony of Heathen writers and finally I will conclude with an exhortation grounded therevpon for the stirring of men vp to a preparation of themselues against that day which shall not only end the world but iudge their actions and dispose of the everlasting estate of their persons CAP. 4. Touching the worlds decay in generall SECT 1. The three first generall reasons that it decayes not THe same Almighty hand which created the worlds massie frame and gaue it a being out of nothing doth still support and maintaine it in that being which at first it gaue and should it with draw himselfe but for a moment the whole frame would instantly returne into that nothing which before the Creation it was as Gregorie hath righly observed Deus suo presentiali esse dat omnibus rebus esse ita quod si se rebus subtraheret sicut de nihilo facta sunt omnia sic in nihilum diffluerent vniversa God by his presentiall Essence giues vnto all things an Essence so that if hee should withdraw himselfe from them as out of nothing they were first made so into nothing they would be againe resolved In the preservation then of the Creature wee are not so much to consider the impotencie and weakenesse thereof as the goodnesse wisedome and power of the Creator in whom and by whom and for whom they liue and moue and haue their being The spirit of the Lord filleth the world saith the Authour of the wisedome of Solomon and the secret working of the spirit which thus pierceth through all things hath the Poet excellently exprest Principio caelum ac terr as camposque liquentes Lucentemque globum Lunae Titaniaque astra Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem magno se corpore miscet The heauen the earth and all the liquide maine The Moones bright globe and starres Titanian A spirit within maintaines and their whole masse A minde which through each part infus'd doth passe Fashions and workes and wholly doth transpierce All this great Body of the Vniverse This Spirit the Platonists call the Soule of the World by it it is in some sort quickned and formaliz'd as the body of man is by its reasonable Soule There is no question then but this Soule of the World if wee may so speake being in truth none other then the immortall Spirit of the Creator is able to make the body of the World immortall and to preserue it from disolution as he doth the Angels and the spirits of men and were it not that he had determined to dissolue it by the same supernaturall and extraordinary power which at first gaue it existence I see not but by the ordinary concurrence of this spirit it might euerlastingly endure and that consequently to driue it home to our present purpose there is no such vniversall and perpetuall decay in the course of Nature as is imagined and this I take to be the meaning of Philo in that booke which he hath composed De Mundi incorruptibilitate of the Worlds incorruptibility there being some who haue made the World eternall without any beginning or ending as Aristotle and the Peripateticks others giue it a beginning but without ending as Plato and the Academicks whom Philo seemes to follow and lastly others both beginning ending as Christians and other Sects of Philosophers whom Aristotle therefore flouts at saying that he formerly feared his house might fall downe about his eares but that now he had a greater matter to feare which was the dissolution of the world But had this pretended vniversall perpetuall decay of the World beene so apparant as some would make it his flout had easily beene returned vpon himselfe his opinion by dayly sensible experience as easily confuted which wee may well wonder none of those Philosophers who disputed against him if they acknowledged and beleeued the trueth thereof should any where presse in defence of their owne opinions it being indeed the most vnanswerable and binding argument that possibly could be enforced against him were there that evident certaintie in it as is commonly imagined whereas he in the sharpnesse of his wit seeing the weakenesse thereof would not so much as vouchsafe it a serious answere but puts it off with a jeast For mine owne part I constantly beleeue that it had a beginning and shall haue an ending and hold him not worthy the name of a Christian who holds not as much yet so as I beleeue both to bee matter of faith through faith we vnderstand that the Worlds were framed by the word of God and through the same faith we likewise vnderstand that they shall be againe vnframed by the same word Reason may grope at this truth in the darke howbeit it can neuer cleerely apprehend it but inlightned by the beame of faith I deny not but probable though not demonstratiue and convincing arguments may be drawn from discourse of reason to proue either the one or the other
and that deservedly censures Eratostenes Hipparchus Polybius Possidonius the gravest Authors among the Ancients and Ptolomie sharply takes vp Marinus Tyrius though otherwise a diligent Writer yet both Strabo Ptolomy themselues if they be compared with our latter Geographers Hondius Mercator Thevet Merula Ortelius Maginus how defectiue how imperfect will they be found The ignorance of former ages in this point was so grosse that what time Pope Clement the sixth as we read in Robert of Auesbury had elected Lewis of Spaine to be Prince of the Fortunate Ilands for to aide assist him mustered Souldiers in France Italy our Countrey-men were verily perswaded that he was chosen Prince of Brittaine as one sayth he of the Fortunate Ilands yea and our very Ligier Embassadors there with the Pope were so deepely settled in this opinion that forthwith they with-drew themselues from Rome hasted with all speed into England there to certifie their Countreymen and friends of the matter Yet that which to me seemeth more strange is that those two learned Clearkes Lactantius and Augustine should with that earnestnesse deny the being of any Antipodes Their words are worth the noting thereby to see their confidence and eagernesse in the maintenance of so evident a mistake Quid illi saith Lactantius qui esse contrarios vestigijs nostris Antipodes putant num aliquid loquuntur aut est quisquam tam ineptus qui credat esse homines quorum vestigia sunt superiora quam capita aut ibi quae apud nos jacent inversa pendere fruges arbores deorsum versus crescere pluvias nives grandinem sursum versus cadere in terram miratur aliquis hortos pensiles inter septem mira narrari quam Philosophi agros maria vrbes montes pensiles faciunt What shall we thinke of them who giue out there are Antipodes that walke opposite to vs doe they speake any thing to the purpose or is there any so blockish as to beleeue there are men whose feet are higher then their heads or that those things there hang which with vs lye on the ground that the plants and trees spring downeward that the snow and raine and haile fall vpward vpon the earth need any man marvell that hanging gardens are counted in the number of the seuen wonders of the world since the Philosophers haue made both fields and seas cities and mountaines all hanging Lactantius is herein seconded by Augustine Quod verò Antipodes esse fabulantur id est homines à contraria parte terrae vbi sol oritur quandò occidit nobis adversa pedibus nostris calcare vestigia nullâ ratione credendum est Their fable of the Antipodes that is men dwelling in the opposite part of the earth where the Sunne rises when it sets to vs hauing their feete opposite to ours is a matter altogether incredible by no meanes to be beleeued But Zachary Bishop of Rome and Boniface Bishop of Mentz led as it seemes by the authority of these Fathers went farther herein condemning one Virgilius a Bishop of Saltzburg as an Heretique onely for holding that there were Antipodes But time and travell haue now discovered the contrary so evidently that we may aswell doubt the being of a Sun in the firmament as the experimentall cleerenes of this truth And as evident it is now likewise found to bee by certaine experience that vnder the middle or burning Zone which the Ancients by means of excessiue heate held altogether inhabitable there is as healthfull temperate and pleasant dwelling as any-where in the world as appeares by the relations of Benzo Acosta and others Besides the Ancients as it seemes were altogether ignorant of the new World discovered in the yeare 1492 by Columbus now knowne by the name of America or the West-Indies whatsoeuer from Platoes Atlantis or Salomons Ophir be slightly pretended to the contrary yet I confesse I haue often wondred not a little at Senecaes bold prepheticall spirit touching that Discovery Venient annis Secula seris Quibus Oceanus Vincula rerum Laxet ingens Pateat tellus Typhisque novos Detegat orbes Nec sit terris Vltima Thule In latter times an age shall rise Wherein the Ocean shall the bands Of things enlarge there shall likewise New Worlds appeare and mighty Lands Typhis discouer then Thule The Worlds end shall no longer be This prophesie wee haue found fulfilled not onely in the discovery of those vast Regions before vnknowne but in opening by meanes of Navigation and the helpe of the Compasse euery creeke and corner of the habitable World worth the knowing so that now it hath neuer before had it thorow lights made in it Nay particular countreyes haue bin of late yeares most exactly described by several Writers The Netherlands by Lewis Guicciardine Great Brittaine by the renowned Camden the like by others Neither haue there wanted some who haue descended to Provinces and Shires Master Carew to the survay of Cornewall Master Lambert to the perambulation of Kent and Master Burton to the description of Lecestershire yea particular Cities Rome Venice Paris London the Houses of great Princes haue found their particular Maps delineations so fully perfectly expressed that a man who neuer saw them but in representation may now speake as particularly of them as if he had beene borne and bred in them SECT 2. That the defect of the Ancients in Naturall Ecclesiasticall history is iustly corrected by the moderns in Civill history the moderns are matched with the Ancients And of the knowledge of weights and measures and the true valuation of coinès recovered and restored by latter Writers which thorow the neglect of former ages had well nigh perished THe bodie of History branches it selfe into History Naturall Ecclesistasticall Civill For the first it is most certaine that euen Aristotle himselfe and Pliay were ignorant of many things and wrote many not onely vncertaine but now convinced of manifest errour and absurdity Conradus Gesnerus hath laboured this part of History most industriously but others who haue vndertaken severall peeces of this burden more exactly Some of birds de animalibus insectis crustaceis testaceis Zoophytis as Aldrouandinus Some of fishes as Rondoletius some of Bathes as Baccius and Blanthellus some of Mettals as Georgius Agricola and some of plants and vegetables as Mathiolus Ruellius Fuchius to whom may be added the commendable paines of Gerrard in our owne language And some others againe purposely of some one particular kinde of beasts or birdes or fishes or plants or bathes or mettals History Ecclesiasticall hath likewise beene shamefully abused by thrusting into it many fabulous narrations of the liues of Saints and deaths of Martyrs Baronius and before him the Magdeburgians haue both very diligently though with different purposes travelled heerein in somuch that now betweene them both we haue made vp a compleate history of the Church
of him that devised it or the bold heart of him that vndertooke it To commaund such a thing to be done or to obey and yeeld and goe in hand with it But when wee haue sayd all that we can the folly of the blind and bold people of Rome went beyond all who trusted such a ticklish frame durst sit there in a seate so moueable loe where a man might haue seene the body of that people which is Commaunder and ruler of the whole earth the Conqueror of the world the disposer of kingdomes Realmes at their pleasure the divider of countryes and Nations at their wils the giver of lawes to forraine states the vicegerent of the immortall Gods vnder heaven and representing their image vnto all mankind hanging in the aire within a frame at the mercy of one onely hooke rejoycing ready to clap hands at their owne daunger What a cheape market of mens liues was heere toward what was the losse at Cannae to this hazard how neere vnto a mischiefe were they which might haue hapned heereby in the turning of a hand Certes when there is newes come of a city swallowed vp by a wide chink and opening of the earth all men generally in a publique commiseration doe greeue thereat and there is not one but his heart doth yearne and yet behold the Vniversall state and people of Rome as if they were put into a couple of barkes supported betweene heaven and earth and sitting at the deuotion only of two pinnes or hookes And what spectacle doe they behold a number of Fencers trying it out with vnrebated swords Nay ywis but even themselues rather entred into a most desperate fight and at the point to breake their neckes every mothers sonne if the scaffold failed never so little and the frame went out of joynt SECT 5. The third objection touching the pretended fortitude of the Romans answered in asmuch as their Empire is by their owne writers in a great part ascribed to Fortune by Christians may be referred to Gods speciall providence for the effecting of his owne purposes rather then to any extraordinary worth in them NOw that which is most of all stood vpon aswell by the Romanes themselues as by their Proctours Patrons is their great fortitude courage as appeares in their subduing the greatest part of the knowne world and in truth placing their chiefe happinesse in the honour and glory of their names withall supposing that there was for the purchasing thereof no readier meanes then the sacryficing of their liues for the inlarging advancement of their Empire they were in this regard for the most part even prodigall of their blood But shall we call that fortitude which neither aimed at justice nor was guided by true wisedome or rather obstinacie adventurous boldnes It is very true that they were often in their warres very successefull but Careat successibus opto Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putat May that mans actions never well succeed Who by th' event doth censure of the deed By the confession of their owne writers they owed as much to Fortunâ—… as their valour whom therefore they made a Goddesse and placed in heaven Te facimus Fortuna Deam coeloque locamus Thee Fortune we a Goddesse make And grant thee place in heaven to take These two Fortune Fortitude Ammianus so chayneth linketh together as neither of them could well be wanting in the raysing of their Empire Roma vt augeretur sublimibus incrementis foedere pacis aeternae virtus convenit atque fortuna quarum si altera defuisset ad perfectam non venerat summitatem That Rome should rise to that height greatnes Fortitude Fortune made a league of eternall peace so as had either of them beene wanting it could never haue risen to that perfection Both of them performed their parts heerein seeming to striue which should precede the other which Plutarch disputes at large in his booke de fortuna Romanorum and Florus hath briefely but roundly cleerely expressed Ad constituendum Romanum imperium virtutem ac Fortunam contendisse videri that to the stablishing of the Romane Empire Fortitude Fortune seemed to contend which should be most forward Now if themselues attributed as much to fortune as to their fortitude wee may well conceiue that the latter was short of the former rather then otherwise And surely if by Fortune we should vnderstand Gods Providence we may safely say that for the effecting of his owne purposes though happily vnknowne to theÌ„r ather then for any extraordinary worth or merit in them he conferred vpon them the Empire of the world As Augustus Caesar was by Gods speciall providence directed in taxing the world that so euery man repairing to his owne Citty Christ by that meanes might be borne in Bethleem as was fore-told by the Prophet Micah so likewise was he by the same hand and power settled in the Empire that he might thorow the world settle an vniversall peace when the Prince of Peace was to be borne into it as was foretold by another Prophet They shall beate their swords into plow-shares and their speares into pruning hookes And may we not well conceiue that the world was therefore by the divine Providence brought vnder the yoake of the Roman government made subject to their Lawes and acquainted with their language that so when the Emperours themselues should become Christians as afterwards they did the propagation of the Gospell of Iesus Christ might finde an easier passage The Romans then perchaunce might challenge that as due to their owne worth in the conquering of the world which is rather to be ascribed to the hand of Heauen disposing these earthly Monarchies for the good of his Church or for the chastising of his enemies To which purpose he gaue to Nebuchadnezzar such great victories and large Dominions Thou O King art a King of Kings for the God of heaven hath giuen thee a kingdome power and strength and glory which was not for any extraordinary worth or vertue that we read of in Nebuchadnezzar but only to make him as a staffe or a rod in his hands for the scourging of other rebellious nations an instrument for the accomplishment of his own designes Answerable whereunto is that memorable speech of S. Augustin Non tribuamus dandi regni atque imperij potestateÌ„ nisi Deo vero qui dat faelicitateÌ„ in regno coeloruÌ„ solis piis regnum verò terraruÌ„ piis impiis sicut ei placet cui nihil injustè placet Let vs not referre the power of conferring Kingdomes but only to the true God who giues happines in the kingdome of heauen only to the godly but these earthly kingdoms both to the godly vngodly as pleases him whoÌ„ nothing pleases that is vnjust I conclude this point with that of Salomon The race is not alwayes to the swift nor the battle to the
wōderfull either to beget in vs an abilitie for the doing of that which we apprehēd we cā do or a disability for the not doing of that which we cōceiue we cānot do which was the reasō that the Wisards and Oracles of the Gentiles being cōsulted they ever returned either an hopefull answer or an ambiguous such as by a favourable cōstructiō might either include or at leastwise not vtterly exclude hope Agesilaus as I remēber clapping his hāds vpon the Al tar taking it off againe by a cūning divice shewed to his souldiers victory stāped vpon it whereby they were so encouraged and grew so cōfident that beyong all expectation they indeed effected that wherof by this sleight they were formerly assured Prognostications and Prophesies often helpe to further that which they foretell and to make men such as they beare thē in hand they shall be nay by an vnavoydable destinie must bee Francis Marquesse of Saluzze yeeldes vs a memorable example in this kind who being Lieuetenant Generall to Francis the first King of France over all his forces which hee then had beyond the mountaines in Italy a man highly favoured in all the Court and infinitly obliged to the King for his Marquesite which his brother had forfeited suffered himselfe to be so farr afrighted and deluded as it hath since been manifestly proued by Prognostications which then throughout all Europe were giuen out to the advantage of the Emperour Charles the fifth and to the prejudice of the French that hauing no occasiō offered yea his owne affections contradicting the same hee first began in secret to complaine to his private friends of the inevitable miseries which he foresaw prepared by the Fates against the Crowne of France And within a while after this impression still working into him he most vnkindly revolted from his Master and became a turne-coate to the Emperours side to the astonishment of all men his owne greate disgrace ond the no lesse disadvātage to the French enterprize on the other side I doubt not but that the prophesies of Sauanarola as much assisted Charles the eight to the conquest of Naples which he performed so speedily and happily as he seemed rather with chalke to marke out his lodgings then with his sword to winne them To like purpose was that Custome among the Heathen of deriving the pedegree of valiant men from the Gods as Varro the most learned of the Romanes hath well observed Ego huiusmodi à Dis repetitas origines vtiles esse lubens agnosco vt viri fortes etiamsi falsum sit se ex Dis genitos credant vt eo modo animus humanus veluti diuinae stirpis fiduciam gerens res magnas aggrediendas presumat audaciùs agat vehementiù ob haec impleat ipsa securitate foeliciùs I for my part sayth he judge those pedegrees drawne from the Gods not to be vnprofitable that valiant men though in truth it be not so beleeving themselues to be extracted from divine races might vpon the confidence thereof vndertake high attemps the more boldly intend them the more earnestly and accomplish them the more securely and successiuely And of the Druides Caesar hath noted that among other doctrines they taught the soules immortality by propagation because they taught hoc maximè ad virtutem excitari homines metu mortis neglecto that by meanes of this apprehension men were notablely spurred forward and whetted on to the adventuring and enterprising of commendable actions through the contempt of death Which same thing Lucan hath likewise remarked Vobis authoribus vmbrae Non tacitas Erebi sedes ditisque profundi Pallida regna petunt regit idem spiritus artus Orbe alio longae conitis si cognita vitae Mors media est certè populi quos despicit Arctos foelices errore suo quos ille timorum Maximus haud vrget Lethi metus inde ruendi In ferrum mens prona viris animaeque capaces Mortis et ignavum est rediturae parcere vitae Your doctrine is Our ghost's goe not to those pale realmes of Stygian Dis And silent Erebus the selfe same soules doth sway Bodyes else-where and death if certaine trueth you say Is but the mid'st of life Thrice happy in your error Yee Northerne wights whom Death the greatest Prince of terror Nothing affrights Hence are your Martiall hearts inclind To rush on point of sword hence that vndanted mind So capable of Death hence seemes it base and vaine To spare that life which will eft soones returne againe By all which wee see the admirable efficacy of the imagination either for the elevating or depressing of the mind for the making of it more abject and base or more actiue and generous and from thence infer that the doctrine of Natures necessary decay rather tends to make men worse then better rather cowardly then couragious rather to draw them downe to that they must be then to lift them vp to that they should and may bee rather to breed sloath then to quicken industry I will giue one instance for all and that home-bredde the reason why we haue at this day no Vineyards planted nor wine growne in England as heretofore is commonly ascribed to the decay of Nature either in regard of the heavens or Earth or both and men possessed with this opinion sit downe and try not what may be done whereas our great Antiquary imputes it to the Lazines of the Inhabitants rather then to any defect or distemper in the Climat and withall professes that he is no way of the mind of those grudging sloathfull husbandmen whom Columella censures who thinke that the earth is growne weary and barren with the excessiue plenty of former ages I haue somewhere read of a people so brutish and barbarous that they must first be taught and perswaded that they were not beasts but men and capable of reason before any serviceable or profitable vse could be made of them And surely there is no hope that ever wee shall attaine the heigth of the worthy acts and exploits of our Predecessours except first we be resolved that Gods Grace and our own endeavours concurring there is a possibility wee should rise to the same degree of worth Si hanc cogitationem homines habuissent vt nemo se meliorem fore eo qui optimus fuisset arbitraretur ij ipsi qui sunt optimi non fuissent if men had alwayes thus conceaved with themselues that no man could be better then he that then was best those that now are esteemed best had not so beene They be the words of Quintilian and therevpon hee inferres as doth the Apostle 1. Corinth 12. at the last verse Nitamur semper ad optima quod facientes aut evademus in summum aut certe multos infra nos videbimus Let vs covet earnestly the best gifts and propose to our selues the matching at least if not the passing of the most excellent patterns by which meanes we
he tooke it vp vpon trust without bringing it to the touchstone to prooue men to be but reedes now a dayes as he termeth them in comparison of the Cedars of former ages giues vs an instance drawne from the times and practise of Galen in comparison of ours telling vs that Galen did ordinarily let bloud six pound weight whereas wee saith hee for the most part stop at six ounces The truth of his allegation touching Galens practise I shall heereafter haue â—…itter occasion to examine in the chapter purposely dedicated to the consideration of mens decay in strength at this time I will only touch the matter of proportion There is some doubt among Chronologers of the precise time wherein Galen liued as appeares by Gesner in his life but in this they all agree that he practised at least two huâ—…dred yeares since Christ so that taking our leuell from thence we may safely affirme that hee flourished about fourteene hundred yeares since in the compasse of which time men haue lost by that account about a pound of bloud for euery Centenary which proportion of losse if wee should obserue in the like distances of time before Galen from the Creation it were not possible that so much as a drop of bloud should be left in any mans body at this day From these particulars wee may guesse at the rest as retaylers doe of the whole peece by taking a view of the ends thereof or as Pythagoras drew out the measure of Hercules whole body from the Sâ—…antling of his foote SECT 4. Sixth argument taken from the authority of Solomon and his reason drawne from the Circulation of all things as it were in a ring TO these reasons may be added the weighty authority of the wisest man that euer liued of a meere man how often doth he beat vpon the circulation and running round of all things as it were in a ring how earnestly and eloquently doth hee presse it and expresse it as it were in liuely colours in that most divine booke of the Preacher The Sunne saith hee ariseth and the Sunne goeth downe and hasteth to the place where he arose Which Boetius discoursing vpon the same Theme hath elegantly set forth Cadit Hesperias Phoebus in vndas Sed secreto tramite rursus Cursum solitos vertit ad ortus The sunne doth set in Westerne maine But yet returnes by secret wayes Vnto his wonted rise againe But the Preacher stayes not there The winde goeth toward the South and turneth about toward the North it whirleth about continually and returneth againe according to his circuites All the rivers runne into the Sea yet the sea is not full Vnto the place from whence the rivers come thither they returne againe Wherevpon hee inferres the thing that hath beene it is that that shall bee and that which is done is that which shall bee done and there is no new thing vnder the sunne Is there any thing whereof it may bee sayd behold this is new it hath beene already of old time before vs againe that which hath beene is now and that which is to bee hath already beene and God requireth that which is past Now this wheeling about of all things in their seasons and courses and their supposed perpetuall decrease are in my vnderstanding incompatible they cannot possiblely stand together nor be truly affirmed of the same subject For if they returne againe to their times and turnes to the state from which they declined as Boetius speakes of a bowed twigge Validis quondam viribus acta Pronum flectit virga cacumen Hanc si curuans dextra remisit Recto spectat vertice coelum The tender plant by force and might Constran'd its top doth downeward bend Romoue the hand which bowed it And straight to heaven-wards will it tend If I say they thus returne to their former condition as hath bin more at large proved by Lodovicus Regius a French man in a booke which hee purposely intitles De La Vicissitude des choses and dedicates it to Henry the third King of France then can it not bee they should alway grow worse and worse as on the other side if they alway degenerate and grow worse and worse it cannot be they should haue such returnes as Solomon speakes of wise and learned men in all ages haue observed and experience daily confirmes The Poets faine that Saturne was wont to devouâ—…e his sonnes and then to vomite them vp againe which fiction of theirs saith Rodogin the wiser sort vnderstand to be referred to time shadowed vnder the name of Saturne à quo vicibus cuncta gignantur absumantur quae renascantur denuò because as all things spring from time and by it are consumed so in it they are renewed and restored againe And by this meanes the world for the intire is still preserved safe and sound Exutae variant faciem per secula gentes At manet incolumis mundus suaque omnia servat Quae nec long a dies auget minuitve senectus Nec motus puncto currit cursuve fatigat Idem semper erit quoniam semper fuit idem Non alium videre patres aliumve nepotes Aspicient The people chang'd at times the face doth vary The world stands sound and alwaies holds its owne Nor by long daies encreas'd nor age lesse growne Runnes round yet moues not nor by running's weary Was still the same and still the same shall bee That which our gransirs saw our sonnes shall see CAP. 5. Generall arguments making for the worlds decay refuted SECT 1. The first generall objection drawne from reason answered HOwbeit as the great Patriarch of Philosophers hath taught vs that Verum est index sui obliqui Truth may serue as a square or rule both for it selfe and falshood as a right line discovers the obliquity of a crooked yet because Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera Aequum licet statuerit haud aequus fuit Who but one party heares yet doth decree Iust is he not though iust his sentence bee Let vs see what the Adverse part can say for themselues Their generall arguments then for the worlds decay are drawne partly from reason and partly from authority The maine argument drawne from reason vpon which all the rest in a manner depend so as I may call it the Pole-deede of their evidence is this That the Creature the neerer it approaches to the first mould the more perfect it is and according to the degrees of its remouall and distance from thence it incurres the more imperfection and weakenes as streames of a fountaine the farther they runne thorow vncleane passages the more they contract corruption For the loosing of which knot I shall craue pardon if I inlarge myselfe and make a full answere therevnto considering that in the striking off of this head the body of the opposite reasons fall to the ground and at the shaking of this foundation the whole building totters First
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
onely discernable by one sense as colours by seeing and sounds by hearing motion is discernable by both nay and by feeling too which is a third sense really distinguished from them both That there is in the heavenly bodies no motion of Generation or Corruption of augmentation or diminution or of alteration I haue already shewed There are also who by reason of the incredible swiftnes of the first Mouer and some other such reasons dare deny that there is in them any Lation or Locall motion heerein flatly opposing in my judgement both Scripture and Reason Sense But to take it as graunted without any dispute that a Locall motion there is which is the measure of time as time againe is the measure of motion the line of motion and the threed of time beeing both spun out together Some doubt there is touching the moouer of these heavenly bodies what or who it should bee some ascribing it to their matter some to their forme some to their figure and many to the Angells or Intelligences as they call them which they suppose to bee set over them For mine owne part I should thinke that all these and euery of them might not vnjustly challenge a part in that motion The matter as beeing neither light nor heavy the forme aswell agreeing with such a matter the figure as being Sphericall or Circular the Intelligence as an assistant In the matter is a disposition For whereas light bodies naturally moue vpward and heavy downeward that which is neither light nor heavy is rather disposed to a Circular motion which is neither vpward nor downeward In the figure is an inclination to that motion as in a wheele to bee carried round from the forme an inchoation or onsett and lastly from the Intelligence a continuance or perpetuation thereof as a great Divine of our owne both age and Nation hath well expressed it Gods owne aeternity saith hee is the hand which leadeth Angells in the course of their perpetuity their perpetuity the hand that draweth out Celestiall motion that as the Elementary substances are governed by the heavenly so might the heauenly by the Angellicall As the corruptible by the incorruptible so the materiall by the immateriall and all finits by one infinite It is the joynt consent of the Platoniks Peripatetiks and Stoikes and of all the noted sects of Philosophers who acknowledged the Divine Providence with whom agree the greatest part of our most learned Christian Doctors that the Heavens are moued by Angells neither is there in truth any sufficient meanes beside it to discover the beeing of such Creatures by discourse of Reason Which to mee is a strong argument that the Heauens can by no meanes erre or faile in their motions beeing managed by the subordinate ministery of such indefatigable and vnerring guides whose power is euery way proportionable to their knowledge and their constancy to both SECT 2. The Second reason taken from the Certainty of demonstrations vpon the Coelestiall globe The Third from a particular view of the proper motions of the Planets which are observed to bee the same at this day as in former ages without any variation The Fourth from the infallible and exact praediction of their Oppositions Conjunctions and Eclypses for many ages to come The Fifth from the testimony of sundry graue Authours auerring perpetuall Constancy and immutability of their motions THe most signall motions of the heavens beside their retrogradations trepidations librations and I know not what which Astronomers haue devised to reconcile the diversitie of their observations are the diurnall motion of all the fixed starres and Planets and all the Coelestiall spheres from East to West in the compasse of every foure and twenty houres and the proper motion of them all from the West to the East againe These motions whether they performe by themselues without the helpe of orbes as fishes in the water or birds in the aire or fastned to their spheres as a gemme in a ring or a nayle or knot in a Cart-wheele I cannot easily determine howbeit I confesse wee cannot well imagine how one and the same body should bee carried with opposite motions but by the helpe of somewhat in which it is carried As the Marriner may be carried by the motion of his shippe from the East to the West and yet himselfe may walke from the West to the East in the same ship Or a flie may be carried from the North to the South vpon a Cart-wheele and yet may goe from the South to the North vpon the same wheele But howsoever it bee it is evident that their motions are most even and regular without the least jarre or discord variation or vncertainety languishing or defect that may bee Which were it not so there could bee no certaine demonstrations made vpon the Globe or materiall Sphere Which notwithstanding by the testimony of Claudian are most infallible as appeares by those his elegant verses vpon Archymedes admirable invention thereof Iuppiter in parvo cum cerneret aether a vitro Risit ad superos talia dicta dedit Huccine mortalis progressa potentia curae Iam meus infragili luditur orbe labor Iura poli rerumque fidem legesque Deorum Ecce Syracusius transtulit arte senex Inclusus varijs famulatur Spiritus astris Et vivum certis motibus vrget opus Percurrit proprium mentirus signifer annum Et simulata nouo Cynthia mense redit Iamque suum volvens audax industria Mundum Gaudet humana sydera mense regit When Ioue within a little glasse survaid The Heavens hee smil'd and to the Gods thus sayd Can strength of Mortall wit proceed thus farre Loe in a fraile orbe my workes mated are Hither the Syracusians art translates Heavens forme the course of things and humane fates Th' included spirit serving the star-deck signes The liuing worke in constant motions windes Th' adulterate Zodiaque runnes a naturall yeare And Cynthiaes forg'd hornes monthly new light beare Viewing her owne world now bold industry Triumphes and rules with humane power the skye The Gentiles sayth Iulian as S. Cyrill in his third booke against him reports it videntes nihil eorū quae circa Coelū minui vel augeri neque vlla sustinere deordinatam affectionē sed congruam illius motionem ac bene op◅atū ordinem definitas quoque leges Lunae definitos ortus occasus Solis statutis semper temporibus merito Deum Dei solium suspicabantur seeing no part of heaven to deminished or decreased to suffer no irregular affection but the motion thereof to be as duly and orderly performed as could be desired the waxing and waning of the moone the rising and setting of thee sunne to bee setled and constant at fixed and certaine times they deseruedly admired it as God or as the throne of God The order and regularitie of which motions wee shall easily perceiue by taking a particular view of them I will touch only those of the
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
by the Law to bee mustered vnder that age and which is more strange the very guards of Iehosaphars person amounted to almost an eleuen hundred thousand And for the number of Cattell there were slaine in one sacrifice at the dedication of Salomons temple two and twenty thousand bullocks and an hundred twenty thousand sheepe When I say I compare these multitudes of men cattell with the narrow bounds of that countrey I am forced to beleeue that it was indeed a most fruitfull soile flowing with milke and hony richly abounding in all kinde of commodities Yet the reports of some who haue taken a survey of it in these latter ages beare vs in hand that the fruitfullnes thereof is now much decayed in regard of those times From whence they would inferre a generall decay in all soyles consequently in the whole course of nature But it may truely be said that this wonderfull fruitfullnes proceeded from a speciall favour of Almighty God toward this people as appeares in the 11 of Deuteronomy this land doth the Lord thy God care for the eyes of the Lord thy God are alwayes vpon it from the beginning of the yeare euen to the end of the yeare And more cleerely in the 26 of Leviticus If you walke in mine ordinances and keepe my commaundements I will send you raine in due season and the land shall yeeld her increase and the trees of the field shall giue their fruite and your threshing shall reach vnto the vintage and the vintage shall reach vnto the sowing time and you shall eate your bread in plenteousnes and dwell in your land safely But the miraculous prouidence of God shewed it selfe most euidently ouer this land in answering their doubt what they should eate the seuenth yeare if they suffered the land to rest as God had injoyned them the reply is I will send my blessing vpon you in the sixth yeare and it shall bring forth fruite for three yeares Now then as this extraordinary fruitfulnes proceeded from an extraordinary favour so this favour ceasing the fruitfulnes might likewise cease without any naturall decay of the soyle The countrey about Sodome Gomorrha was for fruitfulnes as the Paradice or garden of the Lord till the curse of God fell vpon it then it became a wast land and so remaines to this day Yet can it not be gainesaid but that beside this speciall blessing of God this soyle of Palestina was naturally very rich in it selfe in asmuch as it fed one thirty Idolatrous Kings with their people before the entrance of Gods chosen nation into it one of which alone possessed as it should seeme threescore citties and the pomegranats the figs the grapes which the spies sent by Moses to discouer the land brought backe with them were marveilous goodly faire And as this soyle was thus rich before the entrance of this people so since the displanting of them from thence the Saracens possessing it it hath not altogether lost its ancient fruitfulnes whatsoeuer is pretended to the contrary if wee may credit Brocardus who about three hundred yeares since was himselfe an eyewitnesse thereof His words are these Non est credendum contrarium nunciantibus neque enim eam diligenter considerarunt his oculis vidi quanta fertilitate Terra benedicta fructificat frumentum enim vix terra exculta sine stercore simo mirabiliter crescit multiplicatur Agrisunt velut horti in quibus feniculum salvia ruta rosa passim crescunt There is no heed to be given to them who affirme the contrary For they haue not throughly coÌ„sidered of the matter with these eyes did I behold the exceeding fertilitie of that blessed land The Corne with a very little makeing of the earth prospers and multiplies beyond beliefe the fields are as it were gardens of delight in which fennell sage rue and roses every where grow And so having largly described the admirable fruitfulnesse thereof in all kinds at length he concludes Denique illic exstant omnia mundi bona verè terra fluit rivis lactis mellis Finally there are to be had all the good things the world can afford so that it may still be truly tearmed a land flowing with rivers of milke and honey And if it be degenerated from it's ancient fertility which vpon the report of Bredenbachius Adrichomius and others I rather beleeue I should rather impute it to the Curse of God vpon that accursed nation which possesseth it or to their ill manuring of the earth from which the proverbe seemes to haue growne that where the Grand Signiors horse once treads the grasse never growes afterward then to any Naturall decay in the goodnes of the soyle SECT 3. The testimonies of Columella and Pliny produced that the earth in it selfe is as fruitfull as in former ages if it be made and manured NOw that which by Brocardus hath beene delivered touching the holy land in particular is by Columella in his bookes of Husbandry with no lesse assurednesse averred touching the nature of the Earth in generall nay to shew his confidence herein he makes that assertion the entrance to his whole worke thus beginning the very first chapter of his first booke Saepenumero Civitatis nostrae principes audio culpantes mâ—…do agrorum infoecunditatem modo Coeli per multa jam tempora noxiam frugibus intemperiem quosdam etiam praedictas querimonias velut ratione certa mitigantes quod existiment vbertate nimiâ—… prioris aevi defatigatum effoetum solum â—…equire pristina benignitate prebere mortalibus alimenta quas ego causas Publi Sylvini procul à veritate abesse certum habeo quod neque fas est existimare rerum naturam quam primus ille mundi genitor perpetua foecunditate donavit quasi quodam morbo sterilitate affectam neque prudentis credere tellurem quae divinam aeternam juventam sortita communis omnium parens dicta sit quia cuncta peperit deinceps paritura sit velut hominem consenuisse ne posthaec reor violentia Coeli nobis ista sed nostro potius accidere vitio qui rem rusticam pessimo cuique servorum velut carnifici noxae dedimus quam majorum nostrorum optimus quisque optimè tractauerit I haue often heard the chiefe of our Citty complaining of the vnfruitfulnesse of the earth and sometimes againe of the vnkindlinesse of the weather now for a good space hurtfull to the fruites and some haue I heard with shew of reason qualifying these complaints in that they beleeue the earth being worne out and become barren by the excessiue fruitfulnesse of former ages not to be able to yeeld nourishment to mankind according to the proportion of her accustomed bounty but for mine owne part Publius Sylvinus I am well assured that these pretended causes are farre from truth it being a peece of impiety so much as once to imagine that nature
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
to the quicke The former Capellus I meane in his very preface sharpely censures the Poets Homer Virgill Iuvenall for their hyperbolicall amplifications in speaking of the enormous stature of the Ancients and so doth he Pliny Solinus S. Augustine and Ludouicus Vives for following them therein and then alleadging that passage of Iulius Scaligers where he affirmes that the Samogithians a people seated betwixt Prussia Liuonia by turnes beget dwarfes gyants he graunts that this vicissitude though not in that degree yet in some sort may be obserued in all nations yet this man after all this flourish tells vs that it cannot be but some kinde of truth there should be in those complaints of the Poets that the world waxes old though not in post-hast as they would haue it yet sensim sine sensu as he tearmes it soft faire by degrees insensible The onely reason he buildes vpon being this that the measures of all Nations being proportioned as he imagineth to their statures and withall that as the Nations rise in antiquitie one aboue another so doe their measures from whence he inferres that as the measures of the Ancients were longer so were likewise their statures Wherein he manifestly crosseth both himselfe and as many as I haue read of that subiect either occasionally or of set purpose for himselfe he freely acknowledgeth in another place of the same discourse that both the present Parisian foote in France the Picen in Italy are bigger then the Ancient Romane for the latter of which he both vouches and well approues the testimony of Cardan de subtil lib. 11 Adducor authoritate scribentium olim de re militari qui tyronum mediocrem magnitudinem quinque pedum esse statuerunt vt quarta parte pes antiquus mensura pedis nostri minor sit I am induced by the authority of those who writing of military matters set down fiue foote for the ordinary stature of a common souldier to beleeue that the ancient foote was by measure a quarter lesse then ours Againe himselfe confesseth neither without manifest follie can it bee denyed that some nations in regard of their Clymate much exceed others in stature as for the most part do the Westerne the Easterne the Northerne the Southerne so as if his comparison had beene made betwixt the ancient and moderne measures of the same nation it might well haue carried at leastwise some semblance of truth but to make it betwixt different nations though in different ages as he doth carries with it in my iudgment no colour at all Lastly he holds not the like decrease in age wits manners that he doth in stature nor in the heavens the earth the beasts the plants that he doth in men which though it stand with his purpose yet how it can stand with the course of nature for mine own part I cannot imagine as neither can I conceiue how there should bee any such alternatiue vicissitude of stature in all nations as he holdes and yet withall an vniversall and perpetuall decrease all which himselfe it seemes foreseeing modestly concludes the point Nos igitur haec ea potius mente in medium adduximus vt haec vere nobilis questio ab eruditis viris luculentius accuratius pertractetur quà m quod veluti de inventa veritate gloriemur nobis ipsi suffeni simus We then haue produced these things to this purpose that this question truly noble may by learned men be more cleerely and exactly handled not that I would glory in the finding out of a truth or as if I were onely pleased with mine owne conceite Now for Iohannes Temporarius he doth not mince the matter as Capellus but in his Chronologicall demonstrations Anno mundi 410 and fourth Chapter strikes downe-right right blowes telling vs roundly and plainely that nothing is altered in the stature of man since the Creation and that eadem est hominum primi saeculi insecutorum magnitudo that the stature of the men of the first age and those which afterward ensued is the â—…ame and that as there were Gyants then so haue there since beene in all ages downeward and some euery way as tall if not taller then they and afterward discoursing of the Arke the capability thereof out of Buteo though indeed hee name him not he makes Moses his cubit to be the same with ours the beasts then to be of the same bignesse as now they are to spend no more quantitie of foode then now they doe herein likewise treading in Buteo his steps though in some other things touching the fabrique of the Arke he dissent from him SECT 7. Another rubbe remoued taken from the impurity of the seede contracted by the succession of propagation as also touching some late memorable examples of parents famously fertile in the linage issuing from their bodies beyond any examples in that kinde in former ages THE last but in the opinion of many not the least rubbe to bee remoued is drawne from the impuritie of the seede contracted by the succession of propagation from whence there must needes in reason succeed as a diminution in the continuance and duration so likewise an imparing both in the strength and stature of mankinde This argument I find thus expressed in a treatise published in Mr Câ—…ffs name and intitled The differences of the ages of mans life As is nutrition saith he to the particular so is generation to the species in the case of their continuance and preservation Wherefore as by the nourishment wee take for our naturall moisture there being supplied not so pure humiditie as was lost the particulars decaying by little and little are at last cleane consumed so by procreation the mainetenance of our species the purity of our complexion being by degrees time diminished at length there followes euen of necessity an absolute corruption but for answere herevnto though it be graunted that generation be as requisite to the continuance of the species as is nutrition for the preseruation of the particular withall that our foode doth not so kindely and fully supply our radicall moisture which is daily wasted by our vitall heate feeding vpon it whence finally ensueth the Individuals extinguishing Yet that every individuall should necessarily yeeld weaker and worsâ—…r seede for the propagation of the species then it selfe was generated of that I constantly beleeue can neuer be proued Nay the contrary therevnto is manifested by daily experience in asmuch as wee often see feeble sickely parents to beget strong healthy short to beget tall such as haue dyed young long-liued children And vndoubtedly if this were so indeede as is pretended mankind had long since beene vtterly extinguished with it had this controuersie beene at an end not only mankind but the severall kindes of fowles fishes beasts plants since they are all maintained by their seed as man is whose decay notwithstanding is questioned but by
but finding the boate charged with Flemings yeelded themselues and the place Lastly for Sea-fight this age vndoubtedly surpasseth the Ancient theirs being but boyes play in comparison of ours What poore things were their Gallies to our ships their pikes and stone-bowes slings to our Canon musket-shot how vntowardly the managing of their vessels in regard of that skill which latter ages haue found out practised And heerein I dare match our owne Nation if perchaunce the Hollander haue not gotten the start of vs with any in the world only it were to be wished that some worthy pen would vndertake the reducing of these kindes of fights into an Art as many haue done the land-seruice by setting downe rules and precepts for it gathered out of obseruation Sir Richard Hawkins hath done somewhat in this kinde but brokenly and glancingly intending chiefely a discourse of his owne voyages Sir Walter Rawleigh tels vs in his history of the world that himselfe had entred vpon such a worke at the commaund of Prince Henry but vpon his death put it by The intendment was noble and the writer doubtles very able so as it were to be wished that those peeces fragments which he left behind him touching that subiect were sought vp brought to light that they might serue if not for sufficient directions in matter of practise yet for patterns delineations to such as would farther advance perfect so worthy a businesse there being no one thing as I conceiue which can be more important for the state or more concerne the safety and wellfare of this Iland CAP. 9. Touching Grammar Rhetorique Logicke the Mathematiques Philosop by Architecture the Arts of Painting and Navigation SEC 1. Touching Grammar Rhetorique and Logicke BVt leauing these considerations to Souldiers let vs returne to our owne Element taking a view of the liberall sciences among which Grammar deseruedly challenges the first ranke as being indeede the key that opens the doore to the rest This latter age hath heerein excelled so farre that all the great learned Schollers who haue of late risen specially if they adhered to the reformed Churches haue beene by the Fryers such like people in a kind of scorne tearmed Grammarians But these Grammarians are they who by the helpe of Phylologie the languages haue discouered so many forgeries supposititious writings now by all acknowledged so to be which before passed as currant aswell in the workes of the Fathers of the Church as prophane Authours These are they who haue presented vs with so many exact Translations out of Greeke Hebrew into Latine and againe out of Latine into other languages And howsoeuer Albericus Gentilis some others haue written in defence of the Latinity of that translation of the Bible which goes vnder the name of the Vulgar yet can it not be denyed but it is justly accused of much incongruity barbarisme which by latter Translations haue beene reformed These are they who haue vindicated infinite Authours from a number of foule corruptions which by tract of time had crept vpon them thorow the ignorance or negligence of Transcribers or Printers or both So that they haue herein in a manner restored the Authours to themselues making them speake in their owne words sence and besides by annotations animadversions commentaries expositions by the search helpe of coynes old Epitaphs inscriptions such like remainders of Antiquity haue further added a marveilous great light vnto them In the next place Rhetorique presents it selfe which in trueth was brought to the height amongst the Graecians Romans specially whiles their states remained popular But in the generall declination decay of Arts which followed after this likewise was well neere extinguished that little life of it which remained being reserued onely in the predicancie of Postillers or the patheticall sermons of Fryers till Sadoletus Bembus Muretus others reuiued reduced it to its auncient lustre Logicke indeed is it wherein we are thought to be most defectiue in regard of former ages and it is true that the Schoole-men had set their stocke the vtmost of their endeavours vpon this part of learning their whole life being in a manner little else but a perpetuall wrangling and altercation that many times rather for victory ostentation of wit then a sober serious search of truth so as their entrance being vaine their end was likewise fruitlesse What huge volumes haue they compiled of the Predicables Predicaments as if in them consisted the very spirit soule of Logicke whereas in truth they are rather an Appendix or preparatiue vnto it then part of it By which meanes they kept men so long in the porch that they entred not into the house till it was more then time to goe out of it Latter ages finding this intollerable inconvenience haue well compacted the body of this Art into a lesser compasse yet so as Aristotles Text is not to be neglected and to this body haue they not improperly added the doctrine of Methods as a necessary limbe thereof whereas we doe not find that anciently it was so held either by the Founders or principall Masters of this science or at leastwise they haue left vs no sufficient Rules and precepts touching this most vsefull part Euen Hooker himselfe though otherwise no friend to Ramystry acknowledgeth that it is of marvellous quicke dispatch shewing them that haue it as much almost in three dayes as if it dwelt three score yeares with them and againe that the mind of man is thereby restrained which through curiositie doth many times with perill wade farther in the search of truth then were convenient And for Raymundus Lullius a man it seemes of a strong braine some great wits are of opinion that by his ars breuis greater matters may in the sciences be more speedily effected then by any helpes of the ancients that went before him SECT 2. Touching Astronomie and Geometrie as also the Physicks and Metaphysicks FOr the Mathematiques Regio-Montanus might in Ramus his iudgement safely enough compare with the best of the Ancients Noriberga tum Regiomontano fruebatur Mathematici inde studij operis gloriam tantam adepta vt Tarentum Archyta Syracusae Archimedi Bizantium Proclo Alexandria Ctesybio non justius quam Noriberga Regio-Montano gloriari possit Then did Norinberg injoy Regio-Montanus and from thence purchased so great honour both of the study practice of the Mathematiques that Tarentum could not more justly glory in Archytas nor Syracuse in Archimedes nor Bizantium in Proclus nor Alexandria in Ctesybius then might Norinberg in Regio-Montanus I will onely touch the two most noble parts thereof Astronomy Geometry It was the opinion of the greatest part of the Ancients not only Grecians Egyptians Arabians Hebrewes but many Doctours of the Christian Church as appeares by Espencaeus in his Treatise de Coelorum animatione that the Heavens or at least the stars were liuing bodies informed with
undique velut signo dato ad fasque nefasque miscendum coorti sunt Non hospes ab hospite tutus Non socer à genero fratrum quoque gratia rara est Lurida terribiles miscent aconita Novercae Imminet exitio vir conjugis illa mariti Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos Sed quota pars ista scelerum est Wickednesse is become so common and hath taken in all breasts such deep rooting that innocency is not onely rare but no-where to be found Neither haue single persons or some few onely transgressed the Law but as it were at the giuing of a signe men are on all sides euery-where risen vp to the blending confounding of right and wrong The host his guest betrayes Sonnes father in lawes twixt brethren loue decayes Wiues husbands husbands wiues attempt to kill And cruell step-mothers pale poysons fill The son his fathers hasty death desires And yet how small a part is this of the present villanies But the Civill warres was it which chiefly discovered the bloudy vindictiue disposition of this Nation Before which as testifieth Saint Augustine their dogges their horses their asses their oxen all such beasts as liued vnder the service for the vse of men of tame became so wild that they forsooke their mansions masters got them into mountaines woods not without the danger of such as offered to reduce them to their former condition And surely this wildnes of the beasts served as a fore-runner of that fiercenesse inhumanity which afterwards appeared in their Masters The sedition of the Gracchi being appeased Lucius Opimius Consull executed 3000 as being guilty of that conspiracie by judiciall processe ex quo intelligi debet saith S. Augustine quantam multitudinem mortuorum habere potuerit turbidus conflictus armorum quando tantam habuit judiciorum velut examinata cognitio From whence we may probably gather what multitudes died in the confused conflict of Armies since so great a number was made away by a legall tryall But Sylla was he who vnder pretence of chastising the out-rages of Marius filled the city with bloud Illo bello Mariano atque Syllano exceptis his qui foris in Asia ceciderunt in ipsa quoque vrbe cadaveribus vici plateae fora theatra templa completa sunt vt difficile judicaretur quando victores plus funerum ediderunt vtrum prius vt vincerent an postea quia vicissent In the warres of Marius Sylla besides those which were slaine in the fields abroad in the city it selfe their streets their market places their theaters their temples were all strewed ouer with carcases so as it was hard to judge when the Conquerours slaughtered more either first that they might conquer or afterwards hauing conquered Sylla alone quem neque laudare neque vituperare quisquam satis dignè potest quia dum quaerit victorias Scipionem se populo Romano dum exercet Hannibalem representavit whom no man can sufficiently either commend or dispraise for that in pursuing his victories hee shewed himselfe as another Scipio to the Romane state in making vse of them another Hannibal hee alone I say by his infamous proscription bereaued the city of foure thousand seuen hundred Citizens whose names he commaunded to be registred in the publique Records videlicet ne memoria tam praeclarae rei dilueretur forsooth lest the memory of so notable a fact should be extinguished neither were they of the baser ranke of the people there being among them no lesse then one hundred forty Senatours besides infinite slaughters committed either by his commaund or permission neither did he thus rage against those onely who bore Armes against him but to the number of the proscribed he added the most peaceable citizens if they were rich he also drew out his sword against women as not being satisfied with the slaughter of men Id quoque inexplebilis feritatis indicium est saith Valerius that was likewise a signe of most vnsatiable cruelty that hee commaunded the heads of such as he had slaughtered to be cut off brought into his presence though retaining neither life nor visage vt oculiâ—… illa quae ore nefas erat manderet that he might feed vpon them with his eyes because with his mouth he could not the eies of Marius he plucked out befoâ—…e he depriued him of life then brake in pieces all the parts of his body Marcus Pleâ—…orius because he fell into a sound at the sight of that execution he coÌ„manded presently to be slain vpon the place novus punitor misericordiae apud quem iniquo animo scelus intueri scelus admittere fuit a rare punisher of mercy with whom vnwillingly to behold a wicked act was to commit wickednesse but perchance though he thus tyrannized vpon the liuing he spared the dead no such matter for digging vp the ashes of C. Marius who was sometime Questor though afterwards his enemy hee threw them into the river Amen En quibus actis foelicitatis nomen sibi asserendum putavit behold with what goodly acts he purchased to himself the name of happinesse vix mihi verisimilia narrare videor I scarce seeme to my selfe to report likelyhoods saith Valerius And S. Augustine tells vs that some counselled him sinendos esse aliquos vivere vt essent quibus possit imperare that he should doe well to suffer some to liue lest there should be none whom he might commaund And from Quintus Catulus he deservedly wrested that bitter speech Cum quibus tandem victuri sumus si in bello armatos in pace inermes occidimus with what forces are we likely to vanquish our owne enemies if wee thus kill our own men both armed in warre vnarmed in peace And from Lucan it drew those excellent verses Sylla quoque immensis accessit cladibus vltor Ille quod exiguum restabat sanguinis vrbi Hausit dumque nimis jam putrida membra recidit Excessit mediâ—…ina modum nimiumque secuta est Quâ morbi duxêre manus After these barb'rous butcheries revengefull Sylla came The little bloud that yet remain'd in Rome he spilt the same And whilst he off the rotten parts doth cut the remeâ—…die Due measure too much doth exceed his hands the maladie Pursue too farre And that herein he deliuered no more then trueth or rather indeede came short of it may sufficiently appeare by this one bloody act Sylla having vpon his credit received to favour foure Legions which make vp twenty foure thousand of the adverse part he caused them notwithstanding in publique to be cut in peeces calling in vaine for mercy at his treacherous hand And when the Senate hearing their groanes and scritches stood amazed at it the satisfaction he giues them was none other then this Hoc agamus Patres Conscripti pauculi seditiosi iussu meo puniuntur My Lords let 's to the businesse as for the tumult you heare
it is only a few mutinous souldiers are punished at my commaund Vpon which Lypsius giues this just censure Nescio quid magis hic mirer hominem id facere potuisse an dicere I know not whether of the two I should more wonder at that a man could either so doe or so speake Yet me seemes we need not much wonder at it since the Senatours themselues were drawne out of the Senate house as it had beene a prison to execution Nay Mutius Scevola being both a Priest a Senatour was slaine imbracing the very Altar in the temple of Vesta then which nothing among the Romans wâ—… held more sacred and was like to haue quenched with his blood that fire which was alwayes kept burning by the care of Virgins Quae rabies exterarum gentium quae saevitia barbarorum huic de civibus victoriae civium comparari potest saith S. Augustine What rage of forraine nations what cruelty of barbarians was ever comparable to this victory of fellow citizens vpon each other Yet was the fire of these broyles scarce quenched before the flame burst out afresh in the civill warres betwixt Sertorius Catiline Lepidus and Catulus Caesar and Pompey of which Lucan Alta sedent civilis vulner a dextrae Heu quantum terrae potuit pelagique parari Hoc quem civiles hauserunt sanguine dextrae Deepe sticke the wounds which civill armes haue made What lands what seas might haue bin purchased Even with that blood which civill warres haue shed And againe Desuntque manus poscentibus arvis They wanted hands For tillage of their lands And in another place Generis quo turba reducta est Humani Hard it was to finde What was become of mankind Yet after all this again vpon the death of Caesar in the Senate the Triumuiri Octavius Lepidus and Antony vnder pretence of revenging his death reforming the state like the true schollers of Sylla ordained the like proscription as he had done proscribing at once the heads of three hundred Senatours and two thousand Romane Knights Reade Appian in him a most liuely description of the incredible cruelty of those times some making themselues away some flying some hiding themselues in wells and draughts servants wiues children hanging and howling about their masters and husbands and parents but not able to helpe them Heu scelera quibus nihil acerbius Sol ille vidit visurâ—…sque est ab ortu omni ad occasum peream ego nisi humanitatem ipsam perijsse dicas fero ferino illo aevo they be the words of Lypsius the great patron of the Romane vertues O horrible cruelty then which the Sunne neuer saw or shall see any thing more greivous from the rising to the fall thereof Let me not liue if you would not beleeue that humanity it selfe was vtterly lost out of the world in that bloudy and barbarous age SECT 7. Secondly of the cruelty of their Emperours towards their subiects their Captaines towards their souldiers their Masters towards their slaues and generally of their whole nations YEt within a while after pax cum bello de crudelitate certabat vicit peace contended with warre which should be more cruell and overcame I will instance only in Tiberius and Caligula the third and fourth Emperours and content my selfe only with a part of Suetonius his testimony concerning their monstrous cruelties Touching the first specie gravitatis morum corrigendorum sed magis naturae obtemperans saith he Vnder a colour of gravity reformation but in trueth by a powerfull inclination in his nature he did many such outragious acts as it gaue occasion among others to the casting out of these verses on him Fastidit vinum quia iam sitit iste cruorem Tam bibit hunc avidè quam bibit ante merum He loatheth wine now he after blood doth thirst Drinks this as greedily as wine he dranke at first Nullus à poena hominum cessanit dies ne religiosus quidem ac sacer no day was priviledged from executions no not the most solemne holy dayes Because Virgins by a received custome were not to be strangled he caused the hang-man first to deflower a Virgine then to strangle her He thought death so light a punishment that when he heard Carnulius had by death prevented his tortures he cryed out Carnulius me evasit Carnulius hath escaped me His thoughts were so intent vpon nothing else but horrible executions that having by familiar letters invited a Cittizen of Rhodes to come to him to Rome and being informed of his comming he commaunded him instantly to be put to the racke and his errour being discovered to be put to death least it should be divulged Having caused men to be drawne on to fill themselues with wine hee would suddainely commaund their privy parts to be fast bound with lute-strings that so for want of meanes for avoyding their vrine they might endure miserable torments Caligula a man of much like temper succeeded him in the Empire but in cruelty farre exceeded him Many of honourable ranke being first branded with infamous markes he condemned to the mines or the beasts or shut them vp like beasts in cages or sawed them asunder in the middest And that not for great matters but either because they had no good opinion of his shewes or had not sworne by his Genius He forced fathers to be present at the execution of their sons and to one excusing himselfe by reason of his sickenesse he sent his litter for him inviting him to mirth and iollity Having recalled one home who in his Predecessours dayes was sent into banishment he asked him how hee spent the time while he was abroad who answered by way of complement that he incessantly prayed for the speedy death of Tiberius his succession to the Empire wherevpon conceiving that his banished men prayed likewise for his death he presently dispatched away messengers to the Ilands where they liued in exile commaunding them all to bee put to the sword When he desired that a Senatour should be torne in peeces he hired one who entring in to the Senate house should assault him as an enimy to the state and stabbing him with stillettoes should leaue him to be torne by others Neque ante satiatus est quam membra artus viscera hominis tracta per vicos atque ante se congesta vidisset Neither was he satiated before with his eyes he beheld the members bowels of the man dragged thorow the streets and cast before him Hee did not commonly execute any but with many soft strokes his commaund being now generall and commonly knowne Ita feri vt se mori sentiat so strike him that he may feele himselfe to die Being offended with the multitude for crossing his desires he was heard to say Vtinam populus Romanus vnam cervicem haberet I could wish the people of Rome but one necke