a strange metamorphosis of man, transformed into a vvildernesse deciphered in characters. approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a strange metamorphosis of man, transformed into a vvildernesse deciphered in characters. brathwaite, richard, ?- , attributed name. [ ] p. printed by thomas harper, and are to be sold by lawrence chapman at his shop in holborne, london : . sometimes attributed to richard brathwait. signatures: a⁶ b-i¹² (-a ). the last two leaves are blank. running title reads: characters. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng characters and characteristics -- early works to . nature -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - judith siefring sampled and proofread - judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a strange metamorphosis of man , transformed into a vvildernesse . deciphered in characters . london , printed by thomas harper , and are to be sold by lawrence chapman at his shop in holborne . . the preface to the reader . the world is a wildernesse , man apilgrime lost in the desert ; or rather man is the desert , not to be found , but in the wildernesse . a desert who leaving the path of rectitude , hath plunged himselfe into the thicket of worldly appetites ; to seeke him in the citie were in vaine , who leaving ierusalem , entred into the desert the way of iericho . to finde him then , we must leave the citie , and seeke him in the wildernesse . where behold a strange metamorphosis ! wee finde him not in his owne similitude , but like vlissis crew , transformed into the shape of everie thing we meete with . we then take him as we finde him , and deliver you his character in those borrowed shapes , not to put him to the blush . but lest of a wildernesse of things , i make a wildernesse of words , and loose my selfe in my owne wildernesse : or labouring in a maze as pasiphae in a strange metamorphosis of man , transformed into a wildernesse . . the lyon king of beasts is a right tyrant among beasts , nature it seemes hath made him for terror , for when he roares his subiects tremble at his voyce . instead of ermins like hercules hee weares a lyons skinne ; which robe though hee had not on yet would he be knowne by his clawes . he is alwayes seene in his parliament robes , but carries up his owne traine himselfe . he hath an antipathy with the cocke , especially of the game . one reason is , because he sees him commonly with his crowne on his head , while princes commonly are iealous of each other . some say because he presumes to come into his presence booted & spur'd , contrary to the law in court. but i thinke rather because hee meetes with a lyons heart in so weake a body . he is of a generous & noble dispositiō , offend him not , & he is a lambe , touch him never so little , and hee is a lyon right : he is exceeding iealous of his lionesse especially of the parde ; not without good cause , since they often meet by stealth , and he inforced ful sore against his will to father the leopard though a bastard , and none of his . he is so hot of nature that he is never without a burning feaver , but is faine to recover himselfe ; for in his raging fits , no one of his physitians dares approach to feele his pulse . he dreads the fire hee sees without , because he feeles so great a heat within , which euen glowes againe at the windowes of his eyes . his children are no crying puppies , but whelpes rather , that come at last to be roaring boyes ; yet they cannot a letter of the booke , not so much as the christ-crosse row. onely in the greeke alphabet their memorie serues but to carry away the last letter ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) which they will tone foorth with such a throat as no cryer in westminster-hall can put you forth such a one . and no maruell they can reade no better , since they hate the vowels ; the a because it is too childish , the e too feminine , the i stands not with their maiestie , for the o they are too stout to blinch or say oh at any thing , and for the v they hold it rusticitie . if hee chance to flye out at any time or be unruly , whereas mad-men are put into bedlam , rogues into bridwell , beggers into the stocks , night-walkers into the counter , he for his nobilitie is clapt into the tower , where he is never like to come forth , till instead of stripping his collar , he be stript of his skin . . the squirill is that nimble reueller of the forrest who is alwaies set vpon a merrie pin . it is the innocencie of his gentle breast , that makes his heart so light , and the bodie so naturally actiue . he keepes holiday euerie day , and is neuer without his pumps on , to be readie to dance . for he will daunce you beyond measure , and yet be neuer out of his dance . he is verie desperate in his tricks , so that if he chance to fall , he ventures his necke , life , and all . he is no carpet-knight that danceth on strewed tapestries , for he will daunce upon a tree without any musicke , but this in the forrest onely , for in the citie he hath another manner with him , where it is ridiculous to daunce without musicke , and therefore gets him a dauncing schoole with a chime of little bels at least . he is a foure-footed bird that is kept in a cage , not to sing , for hee hath no voice that is worth the hearing , but to dance onely . one would wonder to see him so well breathed who will hold out so long and yet not be tyred , especially considering the diet he uses being commonly nuts , so apt with us to breed obstructions , and the tisicke . with an apple and a nut or two hee will make himselfe not onely an handsome collation but a royall feast . it is verie strange what teeth the thiefe hath , for he wil pare you a wallnut as bigge as his head , much sooner than we an apple , yea and devoure the kernell and all ere you would imagine . he hath a good face , and he knowes it well , & some beautie withall , whereof he is exceeding choice and tender , while hee never goes especially in the sun , but he carries his vmbrella about him , which serves him likewise for a cloake in a showre of raine . hee that should marke him well , would thinke him a puppet made in fashion of a squiril , that by engines were made so to mount up and downe , and that either he had no ioynt at all , or all were nothing else but ioynts , for he moves not his head so much as his whole bodie when hee moves . hee is very neat , for hee washes his face at every bit he eats , & should be a iew in that , but in other things hath no religion in him at all . in a word , i told him to have a good nature with him , and a pretty wit , & though hee seeme to have a cunning head , yet stayed enough from any debauchments . . the bramble is that little great competitour of regall dignitie upon trees , who carried it away from the rest . he is the right agathocles raised from dust to supreme authoritie , to weild the scepter in our wildernesse of plants . the dionisius tyrant of sicilie , who rules rather with the prickie thornes of severitie , than with the roses and sweets of lenitie . had he the muskes of the eglantine to temper his thornes , his empire would be more tolerable . it is a tree indeed without a trunke , a trunke without boughes , boughes fuller of prickes than leaves , of leaves than fruits . he proclaimes his shadow to be a protection to all ; but who is hee would chuse such a harbour to pay for his lodging with a scracht face ? to retaine the maiestie of a prince he hath alwayes a corps-de guard about him , armed with holbe●ts never from his side . he is greedie and having , because tenacious and a notable griper of all who have any thing to do with him : and for his fees ( as he calls them ) he will pull the cloathes from your backe by hooke or crooke . it is a woodden saw full of teeth , which needs no whetting , as being alwayes on edge , but without handles , because not to bee handled , yet yeelds no dust as it goes , like other sawes , but in lieu thereof makes the bloud to follow . he is a schoolemaster right , who is never without a sharpe rod in his hand , and his schollars are certaine blacke boyes that board in his house . he is as good as a sergeant at mace , for if he catch a debter by the cloake as he goes along , he would make him beleeve he were arrested , and looking backe to bee readie to aske at whose suite . howsoever hee is a right catch pole , that will go neare to catch one by the pole indeed . he is no swearer , but will rend and teare like an arrant turk . in fine , being of the familie of the bushes , he is raised to have a place in the moone ; for if it bee true that there is a man in the moone with his dogge , he is not without his bush with him which is our bramble . . the stagge is a stately beast to behold , you would say he were some coriphaeus of the lyons court. he is tall enough of stature of himselfe , but affects a portlinesse so much , that as others helpe themselves with corkes and cheppeens , hee hath his stilts upon his head , to make him seeme much higher then he is . his coat is faire and beautifull , powdered here and there with certaine spots which make a handsome shew , and were it not his owne , would be thought a rich weare , and little inferiour to the martin furrs or the ermins of russia . he hath long and slender legges , like a redshanke , or irish kern , which makes him so tall a footman as he is . he hath foure of them , or else it were impossible so great a bulke could be held up by so weake pillars . hee flies like a parthian archer , with his face turned backwards , not to shoote his enemies , but to shew them a faire paire of heels . before he fights he whets his horne , as a mower doth his sithe , but uses them rather as a pitchforke in harvest to tosse the hounds with , like hey-cocks in the meadowes . hee is much delighted with musicke , i may say much taken with it , for he is often caught of the hunters by that meanes ; as the horse by his teeth is knowne how old he is , if the marke be not out of his mouth ; so hee by his hornes , if he have not cast them in some bush . the heralds call his hornes his thiara or dresse , and say hee is not fully attired till he have them absolute and compleate : this i am sure of , that when they have them not on , they are ashamed , and hide themselves , as maids that are unreadie . hence it is perhaps that tyers and hornes are held synonimas . hee is very constant in his fashion , for he changes his attire but once a yeare , and then never al●ers it a whit . hee beares his yeares very well , as one that takes no care , while all the care and paine is rather had how to take him . when he is hunted by a prince , he is ever after termed a hart. in fine , had he but valour to his strength , and not such wings at his feet , i see not why but for his goodly head hee might make a noble standard in our wildernesse . the golden myne is the basiliske of metals , for the regall crowne he weares upon his head . nature it seems hath layd him out of sight in the bowels of the earth for feare of killing with his lookes . it is either the sulphure it selfe or the boyling froth of hell , and eternall flames , it is the selfe same colour , and the cause of so many damnable actions . it is now through wantonnes made potable , and for its sake wee swallow all things . and if they could , i verily think they would have it respirable , which they do pretty well , when they can breathe and speake of nothing else . he is the orpheus who with his lookes only , without setting his hand to the lyre , enchants and ravishes the most savadge of our wildernesse . he hath a key that opens all locks , will prostitute widdowes , and corrupt virgins . hee will enter into all mens counsels , yea , insinuates himselfe into princes cabinets . it is the sunne that dispels all clouds of melancholy from the heart , and makes one , of a saturne a iupiter , because joviall . hee is capable but of two sinnes , basenesse and levity , which in him are held for mortall . he loves not to bee cut or barbed , nor washed in his trimming , for thereby he loses much of credit and estimation with men . hee is very charitable , for he will waste and spend himselfe and substance to make a sick man well , or to comfort his heart . he hath no good voyce , but a kinde of hoarsenesse with him , which yet is twenty times more gracefull than the best musick the silver makes . hee seemes to have the yellow iaundies , it is but his naturall complexion , which in the eyes of men makes him the more amiable , nor have ever heard him to bee thrust into the pesthouse for his looke : if he looke pale now and then , it is for feare of falling in th● coyners or clipper● hands , his chiefest ene●mies . hee feares no● theeves so much as vsu●rers , while the first giv● him liberty , and let him go currant where he will the other thrust him up in some hole or dun●geon , where hee sees no light . though hee bee heavy in himselfe , yet is hee lighter and fitter for travell than silver is : in fine hee is good if not abused . . the hedgehog is a right vrchin and a peevish elfe , that cannot bee medled with at no hand . he is a whole fort in himselfe , hee the governor , his skin the wals , his prickles the corpes de guard . he is very jealous and suspitious by nature , so that he never takes his rest , till hee have set the watch . he hath a draw-bridge to collect himselfe with at his pleasure , especially when he stands upon his guard , so as it were impossible to make any breach into him . hee is a great enemy to the winds , principally the north and south ; and therefore having but two gates to the city where he keepes his hold , hee hath barricadoes for them both to shut them out . there are two sorts of them , one for land , who never put to sea , the other seafaring men , that never come to land : who as they differ in trade of life , so do their manners : yet both are weather wise alike , and both crafty enough it seemes to provide for themselves . for if the one have his fort , the other his ship to trust to : and if the one keepe out the wind at his doores , the other in a storme will stick to his tackling , and take in stones for his ballice , or if need bee , cleave to an anchor ; and therefore should be politick as they all likely are , who are so . hee is all comb , though not to kemb with , which hath no teeth but to mischiefe with , and therefore is no friend from the teeth outward , while every tooth is a very sting . he is but a milksop yet , and a very suckling , who will hang on the speens of every cow , which therefore makes him cry so like a child . he cannot brag much of his gentry , whose father was a boare , his mother a sow , himselfe a pigge , and all begot under a hedge . if there bee any such place as hoggs norton is , where piggs play on the organs , it is surely with them ; who have such a squeeking cry with their wind instruments . what his flesh is to eat , i know not , but i should think , hee that should eat him whole , were as good have a burre in his throat . they say his flesh is as good and as tender as a rabbet , but this i am sure , their furre is nothing neere so gentle . as the fox hath his hole , so hath he his bush , from whence there is no getting him forth , till he be fired out . hee is no great medler himselfe , nor loves to bee medled with , nor any that is wise , i think , will teyze with him , who knowes how touchy hee is . for my part , if i stumble not on him , i will have nothing to do with him . . the pike is the pirat of the lake , that roves and preyes upon the little fishermen of that sea , who is so covetous and cruell , that he gives no quarter to any ; when hee takes his prize , hee goes not to the shore to make his market , but greedily devoures it himselfe ; yea , is such a cormorant , that hee will not stay the dressing of it . he is called the wolfe of the water , but is indeed a monster of nature ; for the wolfe spares his kinde , but hee will devoure his owne nephewes ere they come to full growth . he is very gallant in apparrell , and seemes to affect to go rather in silver than in gold , wherein he spares for no cost ▪ for his habit is all layd with silver plate downe to the foot in scallop wise . hee is a right man of warre , and is so slender built , and drawes so little water , as hee will land at pleasure , and take his prey where he list , no shallop shall follow where hee will lead . the pikes themselves are the taller ships , the pickerels , of a middle sort , and the iacks , the pinnaces amongst them , which are all armed according to their burden . the the master or pilot sits at the prore , yet hath the rudder so at command , that hee can winde and turne the vessell which way he will , in the twinckling of an eye . he sets up but little sayles , because he would not bee discovered who he is , yea many times no sayle at all , but trusts to the finnes , his oares . the youthfuller sorts of pikes , whom through familiarity they call iacks , are notable laddes indeed , and so their strength and bignesse will fish as their fathers 〈◊〉 . in a word , a man would easily bee mistaken in him in beholding him so handsome and gentle a creature , and never imagin him to bee halfe so ravenous as he is ; but fronti nulla fides . . the rock is the huge and vast whale in the sea of the desert , which spouts his water by the springs that shout from him ; and in the time of tempests , by his open jawes receives the amazed beasts as ionas into his belly , and so shelters them till the storme blow over . hee is so unweildy and stiffe in all his joynts , as he never moves but in earthquakes , and then rocks like himselfe . it is the pallace of the king of beasts , where hee keepes his court , well founded , walled , and vaulted over with a stony roofe ; no windowes there , but the open doores or mouth thereof , unlesse you will say the eyes of every creature there , are the glasse windowes , which being within , doe serve them well enough to see with . he is even as old as the world , and hath seene many centuries of yeeres to passe over his head . hee could speake perhaps of the deluge of noah , as it had been but yesterday , were hee well put to it . this i can tell you , that being so long under water , hee still keeps his breath to the end , as well as at the first , and came forth of the waters as fresh as ever . there is no tortoyse could beare so great a load , yea , if the whole world were laid on his back , he would not shrink an inch under it , unlesse the foundation or center should faile . it is well that god and nature hath made him inanimate , for were he sensible as the beasts of the forrests are , and should but walk therein , hee would shoulder every thing out of his place . hee is nothing so bad as those of the sea are , which lie lurking in wait over head and eares to work mischiefe , while this of the wildernesse is very curteous , and doth many good offices for his neighbours , the inhabitants round about him . he is very valiant , for if he have any quarrels with any , hee will never budge a foot from the place hee is in . in fine , though he be a rock , hee is no scandall of offence to any , but a faire example and pattern to us of constancy and perseverance in vertue and a good life . the goat is a right worcestershire man , bred on mauburne hills , which hee takes for an honour , and therefore stands so much upon his tiptoes . he is high fed , but is but leane , because leaving the fat of the earth , he picks his hungrie salets from the bush tops . he is a very churle , who is never good to any til he be dead , for then you may have his skinne , a good commoditie , nor ever comes to any honour till then , when he hath the priviledge to kisse the best mans hand . if hee come from spaine , he is allied to the chiefest houses there , and derives himselfe from that of the corduas , and will be called by no other name . yet howsoever he is but a sloven in his clothes , which hang so like ragges about him as his knees appeare not . it should seeme of himselfe he hath but an ill breath , who is likely never without his perfumes , and is not so neat as hee should bee . hee is very grave as appeares well by his long beard , but not trim'd after the persian manner , with faire mustacho's , while his haire growes all beneath his chinne ; whereof hee is so proud , that if you take him by it , they all take it for a common affront to the illustrious familie of the goats , and wil either hang downe the head , or make it a quarrell . he glories of i know not what , and despiseth the innocencie of the sheepe for his simplicitie , and wanting the garbe of a compleate gallant as he takes himselfe to be . but the great shepherd as the onely king herald of armes , hath decided alreadie which is the better man , and put him on the left hand . while they are kids they are innocent enough , but being elder grow debauched to all lasciviousnesse . they are very amorous , and therefore their milke is cordiall , for love flows from the heart . he is a notable physitian , but deales by restoratives onely , and therein hath excellent medicines many wayes . he should be curst , who hath so harsh a haire which perhaps is the cause he is never trim'd . he is quicke of hearing , but not so quicke as to heare any good of himselfe , for they all crie out upon him , fie , fie , how he stinks ; which he neither regards , nor yet beleeves ; so good a conceit hee hath of himselfe . he hath an excellent eare , and loves musicke beyond measure , but not out of measure , for that would argue he had no eare . but he hath no nose to smell with , that makes his eares so good , quia pluribus intentus : the fawnes and satyrs take it for a grace to put on his dresse , who are no small ones in this wildernesse . nor hath he lived so ill a life on earth , but hee hath deserved to have his place there in the heavens , as well as the rest , where i leave him . . the eccho is the iris of the eare , as the iris is the eccho of the eyes . she is the true camelion of the aire that changes into every colourable sense . the proteus that transformes her selfe to every shape of words . she is the inamourado of the forrest that will be taken with every ones love , and as narcissus with his own beauty , be enamoured with her owne tongue , and take delight to heare her selfe speake . yea she is a thing or nothing , a ratling gossip , a meere babler , a teller of tales . one that hath no substance in her , but is a meere accident , in that she comes suddenly upon you unlooked for . she is of a strange qualitie , who takes delight to affright the ignorant and simple : will play the hobgoblin , the fairie of the woods , least in sight , or wholly out of sight . though shee bee a talker , and full of her tongue , yet she hath no invention with her , nor can contrive any thing of her owne , for she speakes but by heare-say , onely all shee utters , and that upon trust of another , nor can tell you the author , unlesse he discover it himselfe . she hath no memorie at all , and therefore can remember but the last words shee heares , which she will do very faithfully indeed , and not leave you out a tittle . she hath no certaine tone of her owne , but as she is taught , immediately before which she will exactly imitate , if her master bee present , else not , for shee cannot retaine her lessen long , but must instantly recite it , or else shee is no bodie . she will keepe her key well if she sing , and never misse it , if he that is the rector chori , guides the quire , mistake it not . and when shee sings at anytime ; she sings no distinct part from her fellow , or the rest of the parts ; for she hath no skill at all to compose or set a whit , or to runne descant on a ground , but sings the very same the others do . she dares not stand to any thing she saith , but goes her wayes presently , and never yet durst shew her face . she is a very monster and a prodigie of nature , having no body to speake of , at least as small and slender as the ayre , and yet hath a mouth as wide as the valleyes . she hath no proper tongue of her own , but what she borrowes . if the lyon roare , she roares likewise ; if the heyfer lowe , she lowes as loud ; if the wolfe but howle , she howles for company ; yea rather then stand out , she will bray with the verie asse ; but is never better in her q indeed then when she apes the nightingale especially in their fughes , for then you would thinke them both starke madde , while they follow one another so close at the heeles , and yet can never overtake each other . she is a right woman , that can keepe no counsell , and yet will bee readie to intrude her selfe into everie ones counsell , but as soone as shee hath it , out it goes straight , life or death , all is one to her . she were good to make a player of the stage , for she would take her cues excellently well . she is no ciceronian , nor apt for fluent stiles ; but a lipsian right , and fitter for a briefe manner of speech dialogue wise . all her poetry is chiefly in saphicks or iambicks at most , for she cannot abide the examiter or heroical verse , because too long for her . in fine , though shee bee a common speaker and teller of newes ( as i said ) yet makes she a conscience to devise any of her selfe , and therefore would hardly serve to be the secretarie of false fame , but being once broached , let her alone to blaze it abroad through all the wildernesse . . the lake is dian's glasse , or common mirrour of the rest of nimphs , wherewith they dresse themselves . it is a liquid christall , whose ice the crust thereof makes the perfect christal , while the sands in the bottome as the blacke of the mirrour , makes the foile that causeth the reflection . it is more properly a sea , than the sea it selfe , because indeed a true congregation of waters , so gathered into the stonie cesterne of the rocks . he is no flatterer , but a true tell-troth , for he will shew the stagge his braunchy hornes , the asse his prodigious eares , and discover the satyr to bee a beast as he is by his attire . he is very liberall of his liquids to all the forrest , for let them provide meat elsewhere , and hee will finde them drinke enough : exceedingly blessed of god for this his hospitalitie , for though he have given drinke to all our desert from the time of noe , his store is never a whit the lesse . he is verie patient , who will suffer any reasonable burden to be layed on his backe , and beare it ; willingly , if it sink not of it selfe , or bee not perhaps stirred up and set on by the malitious blasts of the calumnious winds : for thē he wil so lash forth with his waves like so many kicks of the heele , that twentie to one he unhorseth whatsoever is on his backe , unlesse such as through a priviledge of nature are so good horsemen as to keepe the saddle and ride it out in spight of aeolus and him . he is not hot , but yet of that qualitie , that he will beare no coa●es , especially if active and lively . as great as hee is , there is no snake shall creepe in at a lesser hole then he ; and like him where he gets but his head in once , with time enough hee will draw his whole bodie after him . he is free to lend what hee hath , as appeares by the sunne who is alwayes borrowing of his store , which he fetches and drawes with his exhalation , but lookes to be repaide againe with interest . he loves to keepe company with the nobler sort , who are truly generous and better then himselfe , and will beare with them , especially the more airy they be , as come from a higher familie . but for the ignobler multitude , as the earth and earthly things , he contemnes thē , and sets them at his foot . he is so pittifull that hee will communicate himselfe to any that stands in need of him , & will even spend and exhaust himselfe to do them good , being never more troubled then when he findes himselfe so limited that he cannot go forth to help his neighbour . he is cold of constitution , and will congeale through feare with the least frost , and then the very boyes may triumph over him , and even ride upon him at their pleasure . he is stable and constant , and not so fleeting as the sea which hath his ebbes and flowes , while being contented with his owne estate , he lives most happy in his solitude , remaining so private in the wildernesse , where like a true hermite he keepes an exact and endlesse silence in his cell assigned him by nature . . the coalepit is the shop of mulciber , or vulcan's forge , where neptune's trident , iove's thunderbolts , and mars his sword and target were first forged . if pluto's treasury be golden mynes in the bowels of the earth , this is his kitchin , seated in his cellars there , or his coalehouse rather , where hee stores his fuell for his rosts . it is the right downe staire-case that from the face of the earth , leades into his pallaces beneath , whose staires are no more than a wicker basket , and a rope , not to hold , but to hang by rather . it is a chimny , whose tunnell casts no smoake , but damps , yet able to make all the chimnies of the world to smoake . it is the peru of newcastle merchants . the havana where they make their randevouz for their black and sable gold . it is the mare mortuum , or black sea , where they dive for pearles , a pearlelike treasure hidden in the scallop of coale , through its inestimable riches . it seems to bee no other mould than ordinary , a little blacker than the richer sort of our best soyle . if the wildernesse bee sicke or distempered with some melancholy , or choler adust ; it is the opening of the veine to let out that coaly and black stuffe , true melancholy indeed : while the anger is the lancet that pierceth it , the buckets the sawcers which receive the corrupt bloud . hee is very charitable , who hath not only an ardent heat and foruour in himselfe , but is euer ready to communicate the same to others , especially if they approach unto him , and bee but conversant and familiar with him : it being not possible for one to keepe him company for any time , and not enflamed , though of iron , or harder hearted than a very stone . he is a right salamander that lives in the fire , but yet for want of fresh company , will even die in the fire it selfe , and , as all things else , at last bee brought to ashes . the truth is , hee is not a master cooke , but a scullion , and therefore meddles no higher than with making the fire only . he is fitter indeed for the kitchin than the parlour , for his ill complexion he gives to others ; especially ladyes , and the finer sort , who therefore casheere him thence , and shut him out for a rude companion . hee is but of meane and base condition , and hath his extraction from the earth only , both by father and mother , whereas seignior charcoale is of a better descent , and comes perhaps from the loynes of stately ash , oak , or beech. hee is good to approach to , but not too neere , for so hee will anger you , and put you into a heat , but if you keepe your distance with him , hee is a very good companion in the winter . and to tell you truth , hee is a good plaine fellow , and an honest blacksmith , and in the forge will take his liquor as well as his master , if hee take not too much . . the beare is a clumzy fisted fellow come from greenland , who goes in a rugge-gown , for the coldnesse of that climate , which here also hee cannot leave off , out of custome . hee is a true savage , who hath no more civility with him than that place can afford him : by his gate you wold take him to bee a right cripple , who goes on his hands , while his forefeet are much shorter than his hinder . hee is no witch though hee border upon lapland , and bee tied to a stake , for hee burnes not there , though he bee hot , and put into a chafe by the mastive dogs . he is pestilence kind where hee takes , for if hee chance to catch a dog in his armes , hee so hugges him , as hee will even breake his back withall . hee is very licorish , which makes him love hony so much , that costs him many a scratcht face by those peevish elfs who have the keeping of it ; but he cares not , so he may lick his lips after it . what his tallents are otherwise , i know not , but i am sure , hee hath good tallons of his owne that take such hold of one ▪ some call them clawes , but they do him wrong , for he cannot flatter . but i should take them for pawes rather , which will make you pause ere you get out of them . if he be a man of warre , he is a tall one , for hee fights high , and is nothing snugge as the bull is , who fights so low ; but high or low , when he fights , he will be sure to roare full loud with his cannon voyce , if hee bee put to it . hee is very unthrum at every thing he goes about , and brings his work but rawly forth , till with the fyling of the tongue with much adoe , he brings them at last to some perfection . he is a good trencherman , for hee will eat soundly at an other mans cost . but if he be at his own finding , hee will dine you sometimes with duke humphrey , and keepe his chamber like one with never a peny in his purse . they have their seniors with them , it should seem , who have their majorities and minorities amongst them : but fall not out about precedence , because in the heavens there is no strife at all ; the truth is , hee would make at least a good groome in the lyons court , especially the porter there , for his grim looke and the habit hee weares . . the mustard-seed seemes to be a thing of nothing . it is even the dwarfe among the rest of seeds ; and yet is a giant if you deale with him . hee is very snappish , for if you meddle with him , he will strait take you by the nose . he is full of his jests , which are so quick and sharpe , as you will not know how to relish them , for they bite shrewdly . hee hath a strange manner with him , while hee will touch you by the tongue , and tickle you in the nose , and so tyrannize upon you , as he will make you put finger in the eye . he is alone but a common souldier , but if they gather together , and make a muster , there is no hoe with them , especially when they take their liquor well , for then they will assault the stoutest man of the guard . poore iohn were but a poore thing , were it not for him , and a ioule of ling , a fit companion for the best mans table , will blush to appeare without his company , when they will never lin calling for him , where is the mustard ? yea , a surloyn of beefe , as surly as he lookes , after he hath bin well soused in a brinish sea , and come safely off with a powder , and be never so well larded within with fat on his sides , yet if he have not this case of pistols by his side , no man will reguard him . hee is hot and firy of nature , which makes him mount up to the brain , as to his proper element , where he keepes such a bustling , as hee turnes all the liquors thence out of the glasse windowes . he is very saucy wheresoever hee comes to any mans table , for he will take upon him to season every dish , so much sometimes as he mars all , till hee take his sugar with him , for then hee hath no fellow . he is but little in himselfe , but growes to be an oak among the rest of herbs ; upon whose boughes , the chanting birds take pleasure to warble out their descants , and who knows whether to the honour of this miracle of seeds . he feares not the muster master so much , who but layes him forth to take view of them and no more , as the mustard maker , who puts him into bridewell , as it were , to pound in a morter . if he be of the right stamp , and a true tewxbury man , he is a cholericke gentleman , and will beare no coales ; but will himselfe strike any man into a heat that takes him into his roofe ; though indeed he will easily bee pacified againe with a crust of bread , and so long i hold him to bee no such perillous companion . . the goose is the trustie centinel of the romane capitol , whom heliogabolus hated and the romanes honoured so much . she hath but a simple looke with her , but hath a great deale more matter in her , then you would take her to have . yet shee hath no good way to bring up her children , for she still keeps them at home shee is so fond of them ; nor ever sends them abroad to see fashions , whereby they prove to bee arrand guls , and know not how to looke a man in the face . she maintains them handsome enough in apparell , if not too richly for her calling , while they go in plush every day , assoone as they come out of their cradle , but of a colour as makes them to bee right guls indeed . there is no deceit in them , but are honest swizers all , as bred in lucerna lake . they hate the laurell , which is the reason they have no poets amongst them ; so as if there be any that seeme to have a smatch in that generous science , he arrives no higher then the stile of a ballet , wherin they have a reasonable facultie ; especially at a wake , when they assemble themselves together at a towne-greene , for then they sing their ballets , and lay out such throats as the countrey fidlers cannot bee heard . they are good pen-men , though no good clarks , but yet excellent scribes , who copie forth all the books that are . but for the gander hee is so curst , and is so full of teeth , that hee even sputters againe , and hath no good utterance with him , and therefore by all scribes is thrust out for a wrangler , being good for nothing but to sweepe houses , which hee will do very neatly ▪ she is good for bed and boord , for bed while there is no feather-bed or pillow likely without her ; & for the boord , there is no feast if she be not there . she is able to furnish a whole table her selfe ; if pudding , pottage , rost , and baked , make but a feast . she is very hot of nature , which makes her bathe so much , and go barefoot , winter and summer . she is no witch or astrologer to divine by the starres , but yet hath a shrewd guesse of rainie weather being as good as an almanack to some that beleeve in her . she hath a great opinion of her owne stature , especially if she be in company of the rest of her neighbours and fellow ghossips the duckes and the hennes at a harvest-feast : for then if she enter into the hall there , as high and wide as the doore is , she will stoop for feare of breaking her head ; and is so full of tongue the while , as she takes up the whole discourse of the table , which makes her so much noted for it : she hath but a hoarse voyce when she sings forth ; because shee straines it so much , whereas if shee would sing but somewhat lower , her voyce perhaps would be more gratefull ; but as it is , i know not a worse . she lisps not when she speakes , but pronounces her s s very perfectly , in so much as she hisses againe , the reason may be , because her organ-pipe is made in forme of an s. in fine , i could wish there were none that had more malice in them . . the horse is a creature made as it were in waxe . when nature first framed him , she took a secret complacence in her worke . he is even her master-peece in irracionall things , borrowing somewhat of all things to set him forth . for example his slicke bay coat , hee tooke from the chesnut , his necke from the rainbow , which perhaps make him rain so wel ; his maine belike he tooke from pegasus , making him a hobbie to make this a compleat gennet , which main he weares so curld , much after the womens fashions now adayes , this i am sure of , howsoever it becomes them : it sets forth our gennet well , his legges , he borrowed of the hart with his swiftnesse , which makes him a true courser indeed . the starres in his forehead hee fetcht from heaven , which will not be much mist , there being so many . the little head he hath , broad breast , fat buttocke , and thicke tayle , are properly his owne ; for he knew not where to get him better . if you tell him of the hornes he wants to make him most compleat , he scornes the motion , and sets them at his heele . he is well shod especially in the upper leather , for as for his soles , they are much at reparation , and often faine to be removed . nature seemes to have spent an apprentiship of yeares to make you such a one , for it is full seven yeares ere hee comes to this perfection , and be fit for the sadle : for then ( as we ) he seemes to come to the yeares of discretion , when he will shew a kinde of rationall judgement with him , and if you set an expert rider on his backe , you shall see how sensiblie they will talke together as master and scholler . when he shall be no sooner mounted and planted in the seat with the reins in one hand , a switch in the other , and speaking with his spurres in the horses flankes , a language he wel understands , but he shall pronce , curvet , and dance the canaries halfe an houre together in compasse of a bushell , and yet still as he thinkes get some ground , shaking the goodly plume on his head with a comely pride . this will our bucephalus do in the lists . but when hee comes abroad into the fields hee will play the countrey gentleman as truly as before the knight in turnament . if the game be up once , and the hounds in chase , you shall see how he will pricke up his eares streight , & tickle at the sport as much as his rider shall , and laugh so loud , that if there be many of them , they will even drowne the rurall harmony of the dogges . when he travels , of all innes he loves best the signe of the silver bell , because likely there he fares best , especially if hee come the first , and get the prize . he carries his eares upright , nor seldome ever lets them fall till they be cropt off , and after that as in despight will never weare them more . his taile is so essentiall to him , that if he loose it once hee is no longer an horse , but ever stiled a curtall . to conclude , he is a blade of vulcans forging , made for mars of the best metall , and the post of fame to carrie her tidings through the world , who if he knew his own strength would shrewdly put for the monarchie of our wildernesse . . the hawk is a noble bird , and if the eagle be royally descended , and of the bloud , hee is one of the peeres of that monarchy , that would put in for the crown , if that line failed . the truth is , he is a companion for a prince , who will not stick sometimes as a favour to take him by the hand , yea ' that hand which every one strives to kisse , will not disdaine to kisse his foot , and bee his footstoole . he is such a courtier , that a clown will commit you a thousand absurdities in his language , but only to speake of him , much lesse know how to demeane himselfe in his presence , and to give him his dues . he is so punctuall and precise in all things , as he hath a peculiar language , as it were , to himselfe , so as hardly hee hath a feather about him , that hath not his proper appellation . there is a world of distinct families sprung from the ancient stock of the hawkes , while there are no yeomen amongst them , being all daintily bred . the femals , which are the wives with them , do weare the breeches , the males having yeelded up the right of superiority to them , as being the true amazons of that species . they are chast and loyall enough to their mates , nor will easily stain the marriage bed ; but the male is fain to play the cocquain at home to look to the house , while the goodwife her selfe will go to the market to seeke provision , or hunt for the purpose . they go in severall habits , some with long sleeves , they call wings , other shorter , and so are stiled short or long wing'd hawes , according to their habits , but so , as constant ever in the fashion they once take up . they have excellent taylors when need is to mend their cloathes , who will put you peeces so cunningly in , that they shall not be perceived . hoods are a great fashion with them , which terme they keepe common with us ; but for their bootes , they call them gesses , to distinguish them from ours . they are very forgetfull , for being tied so fast by the heeles , they never think of it , but will offer to fly away an hundred times an houre . she hath so curious a pallat of her owne , as she will not trust any cooke to dresse her fowle for her , but will plume and pick it her selfe with an admirable dexterity . if she bee high with too much ease , and grow pursie , shee will physick her selfe , and take a vomit , and thereby come as sound as a bell. she hath a piercing and rowling eye in her head , but no wanton , being so honest : otherwise shee were like enough to have many paramours , who goes so much abroad at her owne pleasure . when she goes a hunting , shee is well attended with many that go with chaines about their necks , by two and two , which they call couples , where they doe nothing but serve her , and put up her game ; yea , the best man in the company will not refuse to toyle and sweat to shew her sport , and of all they take , she is first serv'd . they are somewhat fantasticall , and as their manner is , will take a toy now and then , and go strait beyond seas without a licence , or taking leaue of their friends ere they go , where when they come , or returne againe , they are held as passengers and great travellers , and happy he who can get them into his service : they never stirre no way but the bels ring . they are watcht sometimes , they are so unhappy , especially when they have not sowed all their wilde oats . if they bee once reclaimed from their debauchments , they prove notable convertyts , and very obedient to the cure . . the elephant is a huge colossus or mausoleon of flesh and bloud to bury quicke in , a certain thing they call life , which like an artificiall engine within , gives it a motion , and makes it a kind of a moving pageant in the form of an elephant . he is the vast poliphemus or gogmagog of the wildernesse , but without a clubbe , while his owne bulke is club enough to terrifie withall . it is a hulk at land of such a burden , that when it moves it is hard to say , whether the trees passe by it , or it saile by the trees . he is as the whale amongst beasts that might well have wafted ionas through the desert had it beene his way to ninive . the trojan horse was not so handsome and commodious to lodge the grecian ambuscado , as he had been within his flanks . it is a living house not tyled without , but pentised rather with oakē boords , not thatch'd because he hath no haire on his backe . he hath no manners at all in him , for he will still be leaning on some tree or other , and is so heavie and lubberly , that sometimes the tree will fall , and he lye sprawling on the ground . he is so stiffe in the hammes , as he cannot make you a handsome legge , nor so much as kneele to his own father to aske him blessing . he can yet make shift to dance if he list , but that so unhandsomely , as for shame of other witnesses hee practises by moone-light . hee hath no loftie galiards with him , but all his revelling is with ground tricks , and then especially when hee falls downe flat , as hee often doth . he is very religious , i should say superstitious rather , for they will flocke in sholes to worship the moone at full , and the sunne at his arise . he is a sturdie porter that will carry you a whole tower on his backe , and yet will not sweat you a haire for it . he is a good sword-man , and layes about him in the warres , but cannot weild the two hand-sword nor is any fencer at all for want of a dagger hand toward withall . he is a notable birder too , for he is never without his trunke in his mouth . but no rat-catcher , while every mouse will be ready to take him by the nose , and make him roare like himselfe . they are not fruitfull , for they breed but once in all their life , and then bring forth but one at once : whence it is they have no gavelkin tenour amongst them , the occasion of much strife , but every one is heire apparent to his father , but living as they do three hundred yeares ( as they say ) they are faine to stay long ere they enter into their lands . in a word , he is so intelligent , and hath so good a memorie and judgement with him , that were he not where i finde him amongst beasts in our wildernesse , i should thinke hee were some one of vlisses crew transformed into that shape . . the gnat if you take him as he is indeed , is but a point , but an atome , but a little nothing that flies in the aire : but otherwise is a vaste amphitheater , wherein the divine wisedome takes pleasure to shew his omnipotence . he hath a curious pallet of his owne , which makes him so liquorish of humane bloud , which this little caniball daily and nightly suckes at others costs . there is something doubtlesse in the fornace of the stomacke of this little piece of creature , which causeth such a raging thirst as cannot be satisfied . it is a pleasure to see him swim in the ayre , where he flies without flying , or rather the ayre flies for him , and serves him as a coach to convey him at pleasure . they say he hath wings , but indeed he hath none , for that which is fastened to his backe so , and glued at it were unto his skinne , in forme of wings is no more then aire , and a wind wrought to a stuffe that hath no name , nor all chyna affoords you any such , and that is it , they call his wings . and yet with them he will skimme and vault in the ayre , like a mountebanke upon the stage . he is a notable tilter , and with his launce , will not misse you his adversary , but smite him full on the face , and that so dexterously as you shall not know who did it , being the onely recreation he takes . this is admirable in him , that the speare which is felt by night of such as sleep , cannot bee seene by day by such as wake . hee never puts it in the rest in vaine ; for either he fetches bloud indeed , or leaves some marke of his valour and dexteritie behinde him . he is but a pigmie or dwarfe of himselfe , but being on his stilts , he would make you beleeve he were some body , and so he is indeed , for he is all body and no legges . he hath a voyce notwithstanding like a giant , and if he be disposed to put it in tune , hee sings you a deepe tenour ; and layes out such a throat withall , that shall drowne a quire of better musicke . the harmony they make of many parts is none of the best , the reason is , because they have no treble amongst them , but all trouble and confusion . when they go into the warres among themselves , they keepe no discipline at all , nor march all their troopes in files , but pelmel rush in one upon another , and every one sounds his owne trumpet . when he sings he would make you beleeve he runs division , being no more then a shaking of the bodie , through a foolish tricke hee hath got , to dance when hee sings , or to sing when he dances . when he lists to taste a cup of wine , he hath his wimble to pierce the the vessell that holds his hipocras , which is likewise his quill to sup his possets . he is an excellent chirurgion , who with his lancet will not misse you a veine , though at midnight . he is no good tobacconist , since what hee takes he lets down , which makes him dogge-sicke . being bred in the marshes , hee is much subiect to rewmes and grievous defluxions of the eyes , and therefore cannot abide a smoakie roome , but will immediately avoid it , and bee readie to breake his necke out of the window for haste . they are notorious rebels , for if they rise once , they chiefly ayme at the head , witnesse the frequent ryots they make , especially about our heads and faces . hee is a great whisperer , and teller of tales in our eares , but so as one is never the wiser for them . in fine , they are busie bodies where they have no thankes for their labours . . the mole takes his name from his extraction the mould , being of the ancient familie of adam by the mothers side . he hath no armes at all , though he be so anciently descended , nor any legges that he can garter . for his square shoulders , he is an atlas right , for as he shores up the heavens with his , this beares the earth on his backe . hee is in truth an engener , who is wholly occupied in mines and countermines . hee is a great lord , for he is master of many burrowes , which meeting together with streets and lanes , make up a goodly citie of his owne , which is not paved , because the citizens there go all bare-foot . he is a good ferrier under ground , but bolts no rabbets out , because they are countrey men , and haile-fellowes well met . he hath no eyes that hee can see with , because the sunne shines not in his region , and as for candle-light , he needs it not , because his chiefest trade consists in groping out his worke . the waspes belike doe hire his vaults and cellars to inhabite in , but what rent they pay him , or what tenants they prove , i cannot tell : but i should think he were even as good to forgo his rent quite , as to demand it at their hands . he is the true spirit of the earth , that causeth such earthquakes , as would make a world of ants beleeve that doomes-day were come . he is an outlaw , and a publicke bando set forth against him , with a reward of fiftie maravedes proposed to any , that shall bring him to the lord of the soile either dead or alive . yea there are some braves of purpose set a worke to cut them off , and yet as brave as they are , they dare not set upon them , but creeping by stealth , and armed with many stillettoes at once . but yet for my part , i hold them good swizzers that would live contented in their stoves ; if they would let them alone : for alas ! what would they have them to do . to keepe in alwayes , and never to looke out of doores , were a hard case , while this is all the hurt i see they do . . the peacocke is the paradise among birds , but not the bird of paradise , because not so innocent . hee is the heavenly spheare in feathered things . for if the heavens have one iris , he wil shew you many irises at once . hee is a whole court in himselfe upon s. george his day , where all is nothing else but braverie . or rather is the knight who rides in pompe at his installment , attended with an honorable traine so awfull and obsequious of him as they even tremble at every motion of his body . he is very circumspect , but t is but to see who notes him , and very carefull of his carriage , because he knows he hath many eyes upon him . hee is no mercer of cheape-side who keepes a constant shop at home , but a pedlar rather that carries his packe about him , which he will open every foot , but sells no ware , he sets so great a price upon them . if you looke on them , hee cares for no more ; but if you take off your eye once , he will bee in his dumpes straight , put up his packe , and go his wayes . hee is no goldsmith on the other side , who utters plate and that by weight , but a right ieweller who deales with nothing else but jemmes , a commoditie more light , but yet of greater price . the truth is , rather , he is a true feather-man of blacke friers , but none buies at his shop but giddy heads ; for the estrige is more in request , and puts him by his custome . it is a merry world with him , who alwayes carries his spring about him , where every feather is a rare tulip . when he is disposed hee will keepe state , but it is in the hall onely all for shew , for in the dining roome there is but poore doings , because hee spends all on fine cloathes , and bestowes nothing on his belly . he hath a turret to his palace , where his head stands like a weather-cocke as fickle as it : for it will turne and wind on this side and that side with everie puffe of vanitie . when he hath all his accoutrements about him , you would take him to be a tall ship well rig'd and deckt with streamers top and top gallant , but no merchant man , because no substance in him . he is very spruce and neat , and can abide no sordities at all , and wil make you sport to see how gingerly he wil passe over a heape of dust . he is wise , but t is but in his owne opinion , for hee is such a prodigall that once a yeare he turns bankrupt ; and then shall you heare him cry a myle off as one that had lost all . were it not yet for his pride , hee might be an angel among birds , whereas now he is a lucifer , and altogether as proud as he : which may be the reason he hates the serpent so much ; for proud folkes can never agree together , or else because hee borrowed his head of him , for where you borrow once , you lose your friend and turne enemy . . the batte is a right amphibium ; with the mice , hee is a mouse , with birds , a bird ; complying so with both kindes to insinuate himselfe with either , and by the priviledge so of his double habit , makes an excellent intelligencer for either state. hee loves not the citie , as being , hee thinks , too full of tumults . the country he likes better , and especially the yeomens houses , where he findes his chiefest rost-meat . he is a great student by day , but what hee studies i know not , unlesse it be the blacke art , for hee loves darkenesse , and hates the light : howsoever hee keepes within doores all the day , to what other purpose i know not . hee is no great traveller , for hee loves not to goe farre from the smell of the smoake of that chimnie where hee was bred and borne . hee is a notable good husband , who in an age will not spend you a penny in good fellowship . if he walke abroad at any time , it is towards the evening , where hee will fetch you a turne or two , till he can see no more , and then goes to bed to save candlelight , and perhaps supperlesse too , for i am not privie with his ordinarie diet . when they are infants , and but newly weaned from the breast , they feede them with gnats , a great regalo with them . they are well toothed , for they bite shrewdly , the reason is , because they are not given to fruit , so as it is a rare matter to heare of a barber sent for to them to draw a tooth . he that should see them but even now to walke on the ground like drowned mice , and immediately got up a cocke-horse , not knowing the mistery of their wings , would wonder what upstart fellowes they were , so sodainly prickt up to honours . they see nothing by day , and it seems as little by night , for they will run full upon you , ere they or you bee aware . though hee be no phaeton , because his wings are not of feathers , nor a magus because not borrowed , or any waies counterfeit or helpt by art magicke , yet is he a very impostour , for who would imagine them to be made of leather ? they are most sacrilegious , for they will make no conscience to rob churches , which they do as often as they come where lampes are , for they love oyle beyond measure . there is great aversions betweene them and the ants , the reason therof i could never learn , unles it be for that they are both amphibiums alike , while figulus figulum odit ; since the winged ant is a mungrill between the worme and the flye , as he betweene the bird and the beast . in fine , though hee be a batte , hee is no timber , especially of the plane-tree , which he hates as he hates plaine dealings , which to the vertuous and good is a great jewell . . the mosse is properly the mantle of the wildernesse ; a stuffe that is either tapistrie , valence , velvet , or plush , or rather is all of them , according to the use it is put to . it is ordinarily a winter weare , and then is most in fashion . it is wrought truely not of silke , nor woven with threed or cruell , but is rather a downy stuffe as will never be thred-bare , though it be worne winter & summer , or whole ages . it is commonly betweene an olive colour , and a beazar , curiously mingled in the stuffe ; not died , but naturall , and so good the colours , that they never fade or change the hew . the birds make good use of it , who hang their houses with that dornix , and make it serve for flock beds under their feather beds . the very rocks and stones of the desart are glad sometimes to put on ierkins of that freeze , to defend them from the cold . it is a wooll that if it could spin and hold out a threed as well as ours , it would sell as well as cotsall wooll , and make as good as any kentish cloath . it were excellent to make felts with , as i should thinke as good as any beaver , if wee had but the art to dresse and handle it as it should be . hee will sometimes seeme to perke up to honours , while he gets him on the tops of houses , but i dare say of no pride , but charity to defend them better from the raine and weather when they waxe old . he is no greatfeeder , for he will live in the barren'st places , and sterve the whole wildernesse besides , ere he pinch a whit . hee is never young , or very old , but still keepes the same complexion he had at first , and beares his yeeres excellent well ; a good spring helpes him nothing , nor a hard winter empaires him a whit . he is ever in good state for soule and body no doubt , who seemes to bee so mortified a creature , as to be alwaies ready for the tomb , and yet never comes there , but lives for ever , as one may say , in this very life , enjoying an endlesse rest . he is most constant in himselfe , and hates inconstancie in all others , so as by his will hee will have nothing to doe with any such , as appeares by the saying , that a rowling stone gathers no mosse . to conclude , he hath a good nature with him , and truely loves where he takes . . the ant is a kinde of serpent , a serpendo , not on his belly , as pleading not guilty to that curse , but with his feet , and therfore a footman right . they are great theeves , and live upon rapine , especially in filching of corne , and if they lived in any other well governed common-wealth then theirs , they should be sure to be laid in the iayle for it : but with them all is fish that comes to the net . they haue no king , because they will have none , and that is all the reason they will yeeld for it . they like better of the republiques , then of monarchies , for so they may come happily to shuffle their owne cards themselves . they have no gentry among them , they live like switzers lazing in their stoves or caves under ground . they are true netherlanders indeed , because their country lyes under the ground , and somewhat northerly , because likely they see not the sunne for halfe a yeere together . in stead of embassadors , they have their agents abroad , true agents indeed as full of action . their common-wealth is not governed by the prescripts of solon , or those of lycurgus , whose lawes were civill , but rather by the lawes of their corrupt nature . for though they live now in the time of grace , yet have they no benefit thereof , being atheists all . and if there be any that have any feeling of god , it is but while the judgements of god light on him . they scarcely heed any of his precepts , more then crescite & multiplicamini , which they truely observe to the letter . whence it is their common-wealth is so populous , that if they were not very industrious , they might starve for ought i know . they have no state houses amongst them , because no buildings there but caves in the ground , according to the fashion of that country . the boores will assemble together to betake themselves to severall offices for the publicke good ; some to carry corne to their granaries , where a single grain is accounted a load for a sturdy ant , and he shall brag as much of it , as ours shall do for the carrying halfe a seame of wheat , and if one cannot , two will joyne together , and carry it between them . they go somtimes to the warres , but gaine more by craft then downe right blowes . they have no flying armies , because they are foot all , and have no wings , but they have their running armies , and then it is when they shew their heeles . in fine , they have many enemies , but like the foxe , fare best when they are most curst . . the ivie , whether a tree , or what it is i know not , at least hath great alliance with them , and some affinitie , as having often matched with many of their stockes : but is indeed it selfe a fatall and unlucky family to joyne with , as being the ruine of many of them . hee hath great ambition to linck himselfe with the ancientest houses hee can get into , and so kinde where hee takes , as hee kils with kindnesse . he is a sure friend , for hee never leaves one , till hee hath brought him to the last cast . he shewes himselfe to bee very amorous , as being full of his embraces , but they are trayterous complements . hee reverenceth antiquity much , and will be alwayes in the gravest company . he hath the honour to be joyned with the bayes in poets wreathes , in their laureat acts . he is a right noune adjective , that cannot stand without his substantive ; but yet makes a foule solecisme , that never agrees with him in case , because without ; nor in gender , because of a different kinde ; nor number , because the one is singular , the other plurall , being twenty to one . hee is a very leech , that sucks the bloud out of the veines , and sokes up the sap and humour so , as the party growes old , and will decay in a short time . there are some martialists amongst them , as appeareth by their valour , who are so warlike , as to assault castles , scale the wals , and mount the battlements thereof . there is great contestation between him and the holly , and much part-taking on both sides about precedence , and taking the upper place , which no herald will or can , i thinke , take up . hee is all heart , you would thinke , that makes him so kinde as hee seemes to be , where every leafe is a token thereof ; yet he is indeed a very dissembler , and a right parasite , who can sooth and claw so for his owne ends , using a dumbe eloquence , and expressing with signes and tokens onely , what his tongue , if he had it , would do . . the daw is a pert companion , and a right pedant , because hee goes in blacke , and wants the gravitie that coat requires . he is a linguist because a man of his tongue , but no latinist , because his k is no letter in that alphabet . he is a very spalt , that carries his head so like a shittlecocke , and no marvell , who hath such a shittle braine of his owne . hee will stalke you up and downe as he were some bodie , and so he is , for hee hath a bodie , and that is all . he seemes to be a proud iacke , for what , i know not , unlesse for his buckram jacket , which he takes perhaps to be right satin . he goes very spruce , in his spanish leather boots , but blacke , because suitable he thinkes ; and is so neat , that hee weares gamashes over them , of what colour he cares not , though they be red , for so he shall bee more conspicuous . hee hath none of the dove in him , for though he be simple , he is not innocent , nor is a serpent , because he hath no malice in him , and yet of the two , is more knave than foole . he is very ambitious , who alwayes aymes at the soveraigntie of the highest steeples , which he uses for towres to looke about him : but is base in other things , who for his tabernacle , is content to put his head in a hole . the bels he cares not for a whit , who hath a bell of his owne , which when he list to ring out indeed , they will rattle such a peale , that will even drown the bels of osney . they say he is no gentleman borne , but a yeoman , and therefore is called plaine iacke , but they do him wrong , for he will be very tame & gentle ; while it is onely his much familiaritie with us , that makes him called so : for the truth is , the chaugh , the rookes , and they were all of a familie once ; but now are three distinct houses , giving the bill for armes , but with some difference , whereby the daw appeares to be of the elder house who hath his without any difference at all . in fine , i hold him a good companion , and as the world goes now adayes , an honest knave . . the snake or serpent , is that creature that deceived our first parent eve. for his skin , he is a right panther , but yet hath nothing neare so sweete a breath that ever i could heare of . he seemes to carrie a whole heaven upon his backe , it being so variously distinguished here and there with little speckled clouds , dispersed all over in a s●ren night . hee hath an ill tongue , that cannot speak a good word of any one , and a shrewd wit with his ill tongue , for betweene jest and earnest , hee will sting one to the quicke , and the worst is , they are such cruell jests he breakes , that they even fester where , they light . he is a right forrester , for he never goes without his forked arrow in a readinesse , to shoot and wound whom he list , and is so churlish in his office , as it is but a word and a blow with him ; and is so full of his windings and turnings to this side and that side , as one knows not where to have him . hee is some great malefactour belike , for hee lurkes continually in holes , as if he durst not show his face : but it is indeed to worke some mischiefe when hee sees his time . he is neat in his habit , & when it is a twelve-moneth old , changeth it for a new . hee hath no sleeves to his coat , and yet is streightly put to it , while he gets it off ; but he cares not what paines he takes , so he may be fine , & have a new one . he is esteemed to bee devour , while hee mortifies his body so much , for hee cares not what they do with it , so they spare his head , the better part , where chiefly his soule resides . hee is cold of complexion , but not good of condition , who spits poyson . it is true hee hath an ill name , whereas , were it not for his sting which hath made him to loose his credit so , i see not but for his silver coat and other habiliments he hath , he might bee received into ladies laps , and be hang'd about their neckes instead of a carkanet . . the crab is an apple as well as the rest , though for his sowre condition , he seems to be shut out for an harsh companion . this is the rurall crab onely , whereas the towne crab is of better respect , as more civill , and knowne to bee of a sweeter nature . hee is a right forrester , who is never seene without a greene suite , of so good a colour , as will hardly weare yellow . he is a painter right , not the apprentice that makes no faces , but the master himselfe , who will make you make a face . he is very rich , who hath so good a stocke with him , whereof he is no niggard , that so freely communicates himself to every one , that will but joyne with him , nor shall they ever thrive indeed or fructifie well till then . he would faine turne vintner , and utter wine , cider at least , but t is but verges , and he no more then a plaine chaundler . they should be schollars , for they have great seminaries amongst them , but have no severall classes , that makes them stand so without order , till they ascend to the vniversities , and then as graduats they take degrees , and keepe their ranks , according to their standing . he is a generall man , and will close in with everie man , but 't is for his ends onely to be respected , for of himselfe , hee knowes none will regard him . he is a very hydra , for cut off his head , and he will have three for one , and those much better then the old : or take him for a martialist standing in his file , he is a lame souldier with stumpt armes , wrapped up in searclothes , and this after a hot skirmish , when they are put to it , for then likely they are fetcht off . they are not strong , but yet great bearers ; for they will bring forth many children at a birth , but those so weake , as they never come to any growth . if hee take upon him to make a tart , he will be as good as his word , for you shall be sure to have him tart enough , and so sterne that all the sugred speeches in the world will not qualifie him . though the pippin be held to be the king of apples , yet is the crab of an ancienter family then he ; as he from whence the pippin fetches his chiefe bloud , and derives his family ; while the crab is descended from adams time , from father to sonne , linea recta , without any bastardy or attainder of bloud . he is a right brittaine , and true native of this land , and not a gascoigne come in with the conquerour ; which is the reason they desire to match into his stocke ; wheras the gascoignes of curtisie onely made free denizons , are nothing so regarded for antiquity . he is a very criticke , who sharply censures every thing , but it is no matter while no man regards what hee saith , being knowne to have no iudgement with him . in a word , though he hath lived thus long , he is a man of no experience , nor hath much knowledge in him , which is so much the better . . the ape is a mimick made by nature to play the ape for his owne ends : the truth is , hee is a true buffon , as made for mirth . the sport is when he and his couzin monky meet together , for they are somewhat of kin , but now there having bin so many removes between them , their kindred is so worne out , as they are but quater couzins . hee is a savadge in the wildernesse , and in the city he is every thing . in the wildernesse he contents himselfe with the coat that nature hath dressed him with ; in the city he will be , as occasion serves : he hath notable cheeks of his owne to make a trumpeter , were it not for a great imperfection he hath , that he cannot hold his breath so long from chattering with his teeth . he is a very sloven , yet he never eates without his cut finger-gloves : he hath but an ill-favoured foot , and a worse legge . it is to be feared he is much troubled with the stone , for he is a great sitter . he would make a good horseman , for hee never gaules himselfe . he hath a good wit , but the great agility and dexterity of his fingers is beyond bounds . wheras others have pockets in their slopps likely , he hath his in his chops . he should bee a poet , for he hath a running head of his owne , as appeares by the many pranks he plaies . he is no musician , because he cannot keepe an even stroke ; and which is worse would breake all the strings , were it onely to heare them knap asunder : to conclude , his best trade is a true comedian , to play a zany or pantalon on the stage , which hee will doe very naturally , and to the life indeed . . the owle deare to athens , sacred to minerva , and the muse as it were of nightly lucubrations , is yet to others in the day held to be a prodigy in nature : but portends no more then a massacre of mice . he is ever buckled as it were for a journey ; for hee hath alwaies his riding cloake on , his hood with glasses for his eyes to looke out at , in the spanish fashion . when he perches on a tree , hee sits like a prince , in his chaire of estate , to give audience , which he doth full sore against his will , while every one hath his owne saying , and he without any other reply , faigne to consent with his nod . for he is a man of few words , and when he speakes , hee shewes to have a hollow voyce ; unlesse sometimes when he puts it forth , for then hee squeakes right out , and even screeches againe . hee loves hunting well , and takes great pleasure to hallow to the hounds . but for hawking , he hath no maw to it ; nor will once come neere that sport , for feare hee prove an acteon , and become the subject of the game . for quicknesse of sight , though hee yeeld to the eagle in gazing on the sunne by day , without dazling his eyes , yet hee will chalenge him by moone-light . hee would make a notable watchman at midnight , as needing no other bels alarum then his owne voyce , nor mastiffe dogge then his owne gripe . though most unfit for a centinell in warres , because he cannot change his watch-word , while every one that could but hollow , might passe for him . but i should think him apter for a quiet life to pray his nocturnes in the night , leaving the prime and other houres to the larke , and the rest of the quire of birds , to sing their benedicite omnes volucres coeli , to their common creator . . the snayle is a gentleman every inch of him ; as ancient surely as adams time ; while for armes , hee hath had a house for coat ever since , which he bears to this day . he seemes very stately in the manner of his gate , but hee is not proud . he is cold of complexion , because flegmaticke , which makes him so slow of his pace . hee is a scholler , for he keepes his study , though he have no bookes . he is no accademicke , though a philosopher , because not sociable , but rather a peripateticke , because a walker ; but especially a stoicke , because he carries all whatsoever hee hath on his backe . if hee were confined to his five miles according to the statute , it would trouble him nothing , while hee would travaile where hee list , yet not incurre the forfeiture , or the penalty of the law . he hath indeed a certaine house of his owne , but no setled one , and a faire porch to it , but no doore . hee is a free-holder , and no tenant at will , or for any terme that is lesse then his life . there is no covenant servants amongst them , but are housholders every one . they have no constant cities of their owne , while their houses joyne not one to another , as others doe . though they wander much , and gad abroad , yet they are not included in the statute of rogues . the snayle and the periwincle are much alike , with this difference , that the snayle with paines carries his house on his backe , and the periwincle , house and all , is carried with the waves with ease , as held up by the chinne . in fine , they are at peace with all the world , and have no enimies at all ; and so like the hamburgers , trade and travaile where they please ; unlesse in a time of famine , when perhaps for better food , they come to be snapt up , and made good prize . . the swallow is the little spirit of the ayre , who will bee here , and there , and every where , in the twinckling of an eye . hee loves to dwell in the city for societies sake . his house is built in the manner of the antipodes , in the vulgar opinion ; for as their feet are opposite to ours , of consequence their houses must needs bee turned upside downe ; and so are theirs . they have no windowes , or posterns behind their houses , but all their light , egresse , and regresse , is at the porch only , where they keep watch with their bils , both night and day , for feare of forreigne invasion . their fare is light and easie of digestion , which makes them so active and nimble as they are ; not of worms , for that they hold too grosse and earthly : not of corn , not to put the world to so much cost : nor of flesh , for they cannot indure the flesh pots of egypt . they hawke , hunt , and fish where they list , as being the rangers of the forrests , allowed by nature through the priviledge of their wing . hee must needs fly well , that feeds on flyes , who is so fleet , that hee will stay by the way for no mans pleasure , for hee is alwayes set on the spurre , and , as it were , the post of the eagles court. the difficulty is , he can hardly stay so long in a place , as to take his message ere hee goeth , so tickle he is . they are notable physitians , or chirurgians , which you will , for they will cure you the blinde , as readily with the herb chelidonia , as cause it with their dung . in fine , they are welcome ghests when they come first , because they bring in the summer with them ; and never depart without teares when winter comes . . the oak is the atlas of the forrest trees , for though the pine and cedar have a loftier crest , and beare the head more high , yet not so full a breast , nor with so square a paire of shoulders . before noahs time , it was a good provision for a frugall family . it is even a market of corne and fruit ; and a very prodigy among trees , for whereas some have leaves , and no fruit , some fruit and leaves ; the oak hath both . if iron were to be sought for among trees , it would bee found in the heart of oak . he is a tree more generous than the walnut , while the walnut will endure to be beaten by every boy , and his nuts to bee taken from him : but the oake will not part with his , till hee let them goe of his owne accord : he beares his yeeres beyond measure , for let him alone , and hee will out passe methusalems dayes , and oft times wears out many ages and generations of all his neighbours round about him . the eagle willingly will perch upon no other tree then him . he is no iew , for he loues porke well , who feeds so many at his owne cost . he is very stout , that stands so lustily to all weathers , nor were it good to anger him , for as formicis sua bilis inest , he hath his gall , yet otherwise patient enough ; for if you make him a mill-post , hee wil patiently beare all ; turne him to boards , and he wil humbly lye at your feet , and suffer himselfe to bee trampled on . and which is all that possibly can bee required , hee makes himselfe a very holocaust , while hee is sacrificed in the fire , and turned to ashes . . the dog is a fit groome for a princes chamber , because loyall and trusty . he is a fit companion for a lady , if hee can but creep into her glove , for then shall he bee taken up into her lap ; yea , her bosome too , and haply bee kissed , as a better thing . if hee be a right island , and bee put into the lyons cut , hee is then no more her servant , but her guardian and keeper rather ; at least he will be her gentle man-usher , to lead her in and out . if shee haue no children to play with of her owne , hee is like to be her only sport , without the which shee were no lady . as wee have our vtopia , the dogs have an i le likewise , but not set downe in mercator ; therefore lost perhaps , or not yet discovered . hee is a great harkner after newes , and therefore searches the privy pockets of all the dogs hee meets with , perhaps to understand some tidings from the i le of dogs . they had once a language sure , as well as serpents , but lost their alphabet as well as they ; save s and r , which still they keep . he is a slave by condition , and made for wayting , and not for rule and command ; for hee is most imperious and intolerable , where hee feeles any power and authority in himselfe , a great token of his basenesse . he is not for suits of law , because hee cannot attend a legall course , but will seeke to right himselfe out of hand . hee never makes any set duels , or points any field , for all his valour is shewed in hot bloud ; they are frayes hee makes , not single combats : yet if they be set on by others , and have their seconds , for so they must ; they are tyrants for fiercenesse . they are very cholericke , and great swearers , but their oathes are peculiar to thēselves . in fine , i hold him a good house-keeper , though otherwise of no hospitalitie , that is so readie to shake up folkes that enter in . . the parat is the iew among birds , because he hath no proper language of his owne , that hee can speake , but what he learnes where he is bred and borne . yet india is his proper palestin , that speakes the language he should speake , which because it is so hard , hee hath the lesser difficultie , to frame and accommodate himselfe to our languages in europe . he hath the bignesse of our doves , but nothing neare the candour and simplicity of that bird : for if hee bee a foole , hee is also a knave , being waggish and unhappy enough sometimes . hee is a companion for great personages , & therefore is taken up in court , to bee the princes jester : where he will be very gay in apparell . he weares about his necke a collar not of s s , for that will not be allowed him , but rather a white silke rope , which is the cause belike , the pages so upbraid him for it , in saying , a rope for parat . he loves all nuts , but almonds beyonde measure : so as by his good will , hee will talke of nothing else : when hee awakes , he opens the windowes of his eyes , and begins to stretch himselfe , now one legge , and then another , like a dottrel , then quivering with his wings , and shrinking in his head into his shoulders in manner of an italian shrugge , shake his eares ; and then is he up , for all that day . it is wel he hath such a thick short necke of his owne ; else you would verily beleeve , hee would breake it an hundred times a day , could he peece it together as often : for he will desperately cast himselfe from the upper rope , and dexterously take hold of another beneath with foot or hand , and oftentimes with his very teeth . he is indeed the ape of birds , and with his tongue will counterfeit more london cryes , then any ape shall play tricks . he hath a reasonable wit , and a better memorie , but cannot a word of the book ; for he is all by roat , and will con very well by heart . finally , he is full of his wagers , that if he used the cock-pit , he would be quickly beggered , for hee will lay twenty pound at every word , when he hath not a peny in his purse . . tobacco . is a soveraigne plant of an active spirit , which being set on fire , mounts to the upper region of the braine , and there playes rex : where like a lord of mis-rule , calling the whimsies round about him , they all play revell rout together , and thence like a little sathan , he sends them here and there , as spirits up and downe to work wonders . it is a spice that comes from india , now growne in more request then pepper is ; but will bee sure to pepper them that take it over much . it makes a verie chimney of the body ; else why doe they wash the tonnell so with sacke . he that useth it while hee playes at cards , shall bee sure to have a flush at all times . it is the very incense of vulcan , fumed to his honour in a thurible of cley . it is a meteor , that being set on fire , makes the ignis f●tuus in mens braines ; whereby they cannot finde sometimes the right way out of doores . it is the milke of tellus , which suckles mortals , with as many tears , as earthen pipes . it is immortall in a sort , which lives so in his ashes ; and which after death , is so beneficiall to man. the physitians hold him an empericke , and but that he finds many friends in court , hee had beene exploded from the colledge long since . they would faine put him out of practise , because they say hee is no graduate , nor ever commenced in any act of physicke : but they strive in vaine ; for so long as he is so reasonable in his fees , hee will have more practice , though not so full of gain . in fine , had hee but discourse to set forth himselfe , and the infinite cures he workes , galen and hypocrates might break their vrinals , and carry his after him . . the bay-tree is the lawrel , so deare to apollo , for his daphney's sake ; so priviledged by nature , that even thunder and lightning , are here even taxed of partiality , and will not touch him for respects sake , as a sacred thing . he is a schollar , and studies standing , for i could not finde that ever he sat to his booke : and when we see them stand so thicke together in a knot or cluster , then it is they make their repetitions of the lessons of apollo . he is an enemy to fire , because they both are hote and cholericke by nature . hee is fit for halls and stately roomes , where if there be a wedding kept , or such like feast , he will be sure to take a place more eminent then the rest . he is a notable smell-feast ▪ and is so good a fellow in them , that almost it is no feast without him . he is a great companion with the rosemary , who is as good a gossip in all feasts , as he a trencher-man . hee is made , as it were , all of tongues , so as had he fit organs to them , as teeth and lips , it is like with his eloquence , hee would change the whole world , and make them beleeve and do what he list . of all fish , hee is very much taken with the spitch cock ; for then hee will bee his owne cooke , and dresse it , and make the sawce himselfe . he is fresh and lively , for he is alwayes greene , and beares his yeares wel , for hee will looke you as fresh at sixtie years as at fifteen . he is a man of excellent example , who leaves so good an odour behinde him ; yet he is by religion a pagan ; addicted to the worshipping of the fained gods , and much versed in that theology ; nor is he altogether free from superstition ; for he wil make you beleeve that if you put his leaves but under your pillow , you shall be sure to have true dreames . in fine , there is none without some faults ; but yet take him with all his faults , and in all the world for some things , you shall hardly finde his fellow . . the vine is that creeping worme , which with his liquours fils the head with spirits . it is a lymbecke which distills sweet liquors into those little bottles hanging so in clusters . it is the cloud that holds the showers which falls so plentiously in poets braines . bacchus makes him his bosomed friend , while he tenderly hugges him in his armes . mars makes use of no other squire then him , to put his sword into his hand , which hee readily doth , and works you wonders . he is witty and ingenious , and very learned , because well endowed with sciences , who yearly turnes over many a leafe to good purpose . and though outwardly he shew to bee but a plaine fellow , hee is rich , because he hath his vintage every yeare , which puts many crownes into his purse . he is a good storier in winter , that hath his vaults of wine so under ground : but yet prodigall enough thereof in summer , when like a good fellow , he brings his hogs heads to light . when hee is in his cups hee is verie brisk , and sparkles againe . he is the master scavenger of the citie of mans bodie , and will scowre their gutters excellent well . there are many counterfeits that passe for wine , as cider , perry , and the like ; but are not right , because they derive not from the true ancient stocke of the vines , who are a great family descended from the time of noe : who for armes beare certaine branches , vert , pendent , charged with the leaves of the same , in a yard , instead of a field . hee is not humble , for he cannot abide to be trampled under foot ; and yet is forced to indure it , that costs him his life ; but riseth again to have the honour to be brought to the princes table . . the fox seemes in the senate of the rest of beasts to bee as grave as any of them : but is indeed a slye and crafty merchant . hee is the davus in esops comedies , and the best jests in all those interludes are fathered upon him . hee hath the monopoly of the best blades in his hands ; witnesse his figure ingraven thereon , forbidding all to sell them without his stampe . hee is so crafty a companion , that he will not be drunke , because he will not be overtaken himselfe , but still lyes in wayte to catch others : and therefore when men are overtaken with drinke , they are said to be foxed . hee is a true purveyer , because he provides and takes , not for the king , but for himselfe , upon no price , and therefore is hated and cursed where he comes . hee makes no conscience of any shifts ; & for a goose , or a ducke , or such a matter , it is but a schollers tricke with him to amend his commons with , and so passes it over without any scruple at all , unlesse hee be taken in the manner , and then proues it a hanging matter , which halters the case quite . hee is a great lecturer , but reades to a company of geese onely , when hee will bee sure to bee well paid for his paines , with a good supper , where some one of his auditory are present . hee is very neat in his habit , for he alwaies carries his brush with him , especially when hee rides , for then hee carries it not at his pommell , for that were not fightly , but carries it still at the crupper . he hath a slye looke , and a notable leering eye of his owne ; and so good a mar-kman , as likely hee never misseth his ayme . for his eye , hee would make a notable gunner , but that hee cannot away with a piece , especially if it lie in ambascado , for that puts him quite out of his play . hee cannot abide a packe of dogges , which if he should , would cost him his life . he hath his forts and holes to retire into , where he feares nothing but countermynes to oppose and confront his ; for then hee is brought to a parley with his enemies , and faine to yeeld to hard conditions : in fine , were the world turned honest againe , and all knavery banished thence , it would be found in a foxe skinne . . the primrose is the principall of roses , because the prime and first in her precedence ; as the herbinger of flora , the queene of flowers . shee is the true and proper rose of the wildernesse , where shee is in her element the earth , as fishes in the sea , and fowles in the ayre . shee is the lowly and humble flower , and if shee want the sweet perfumes and civits the other roses have , shee is supplied with a sweeter odour of meekenesse , which they want through the churlish guard about them . shee is very courteous , and disdaines not the lappe of the forrest nymphs that greedily seeke after her , as the primitias of the spring . they make a dainty shew with them , when they sit familiarly together with their handmaids the leaves : but when they take their sister violets into their company , then they make an admirable enamell . shee is a common prostitute to eyes , but no strumper , because thereby she loseth no virginity shee hath , but still remaineth humbly chaste in her mothers lap , till shee bee violently snatcht away , and ravished thence , keeping her integrity still , so long as forced against her will. shee keepes willingly in the wildernesse , to shunne the company of men , but yet is no anchoresse , because no recluse , but a right hermitresse , inhabiting in the deserts . their habit and dressing is sutable to the spring , and the summers approach . in fine , i could wish the primrose were restored to her former state againe ; for then i should hope the golden age wherein shee flourished in times past , would happily returne againe . finis . a table of the contents of each severall character contained in this booke . the lyon. the squirrill . the bramble . the stagge . the golden mine . the hedge-hog . the pike . the rocke . the goat . the eccho . the lake . the cole-pit . the beare . the mustard-seed . the goose. the horse . the hawke . the elephant . the gnat. the mole . the peacocke . the bat. the mosse . the ant. the ivie . the daw. the snake . the crabbe . the ape . the owle . the snaile . the swallow . the oake . the dog. the parrat . tobacco . the bay tree . the vine ▪ the fox . the primrose . finis . a free enquiry into the vulgarly receiv'd notion of nature made in an essay address'd to a friend / by r.b., fellow of the royal society. boyle, robert, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing b estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a free enquiry into the vulgarly receiv'd notion of nature made in an essay address'd to a friend / by r.b., fellow of the royal society. boyle, robert, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed by h. clark for john taylor ..., london : / [i.e. ] reproduction of original in library of congress. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng nature -- early works to . natural history -- pre-linnean works. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - jonathan blaney sampled and proofread - jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a free enquiry into the vulgarly receiv'd notion of nature ; made in an essay , address'd to a friend . by r. b. fellow of the royal society . audendum est , & veritas investiganda ; quam etiamsi non assequamur , omnino tamen propius , quam nunc sumus , ad eam perveniemus . galenus . imprimatur . carolus alston , r. p. d. hen. episc. lond. à sacris , jan. . . london , printed by h. clark , for iohn taylor at the globe in st. paul's church-yard , / . the preface . i have often wonder'd , that , in so inquisitive an age as this , among those many learned men , that have with much freedom , as well as acuteness , written of the works of nature , ( as they call them , ) and some of them of the principles too , i have not met with any , that has made it his business to write of nature herself . this will perhaps hereafter be thought such an omission , as if , in giving an account of the political estate of a kingdom , one should treat largely of the civil judges , military officers , and other subordinate magistrates , and of the particular ranks and orders of inferior subjects and plebeians , but should be silent of the prerogatives and ways of administration of the king ; or , ( to use a comparison more suitable to the subject , ) as if one should particularly treat of the barrel , wheels , string , ballance , index , and other parts of a watch , without examining the nature of the spring , that sets all these a moving . when i say this , i do not forget , that the word nature is every where to be met with in the writings of physiologers . but , though they frequently employ the word , they seem not to have much consider'd , what notion ought to be fram'd of the thing , which they suppose and admire , and upon occasion celebrate , but do not call in question or discuss . weighing therefore with my self , of what great moment the framing a right or a wrong idea of nature must be , in reference both to the speculative and practical part of physiology ; i judg'd it very well worth the while , to make , with philosophical freedom , a serious enquiry into the vulgarly receiv'd notion of nature ; that , if it appeared well-grounded , i might have the rational satisfaction of not having acquiesc'd in it , till , after a previous examen ; if i should find it confus'd and ambiguous , i might endeavour to remedy that inconvenience , by distinguishing the acceptions of the word ; if i found it dubious as to its truth , i might be shy in trusting too much to a distrusted principle ; and , if i found erroneous , i might avoid the raising superstructures of my own , or relying on those of others , that must owe their stability to an unsound and deceitful foundation . and , because many atheists ascribe so much to nature , that they think it needless to have recourse to a deity , for the giving an account of the phaenomena of the universe : and , on the other side , very many theists seem to think the commonly received notion of nature , little less , than necessary to the proof of the existence and providence of god ; i , who differ from both these parties , and yet think every true theist , and much more every true christian , ought to be much concerned for truths , that have so powerful an influence on religion , thought my self , for its sake , oblig'd to consider this matter , both with the more attention and with regard to religion . and yet , being to write this treatise as a physiologer , not a christian , i could not rationally build any positive doctrine upon mere revelation , which would have been judg'd a foreign principle in this enquiry . only , since the person , i intentionally address'd my thoughts to , under the name of eleutherius , was a good christian , i held it not impertinent , now and then , upon the by , to intimate something to prevent or remove some scruples , that i thought he might have , on the score ( i say not of natural theology , for that is almost directly pertinent , but ) of the christian faith. but these passages are very few , and but transiently touch'd upon . since the reader will be told by and by both that , and why the papers , that make up the following treatise , were not written in one continued series of times , but many years were interpos'd between the writing of some of them , and that of those which precede and follow them : i hope it will be thought but a venial fault , if the contexture of the whole discourse do not appear so uniform , nor all the connections of its parts so apt and close , as , if no papers had been lost and supply'd , might reasonably be look'd for . i expect the novelty of divers of the sentiments and reasonings , propos'd in the following discourse , will be surprising , and encline many to look upon the author as a bold man , and much addicted to paradoxes . but , having formerly , in a distinct essay , deliver'd my thoughts about paradoxes in general , i shall not now ingage in that subject , but confine my self to what concerns the ensuing paper . i say then , in short , that in an opinion , i look upon its being new or antient , and its being singular or commonly receiv'd , as things that are but extrinsical to its being true or false . and , as i would never reject a truth , for being generaly known or receiv'd , so will i not conclude an opinion to be a truth , merely because great numbers have thought it to be so ; nor think an opinion erroneous , because 't is not yet known to many , or because it opposes a tenent embrac'd by many . for i am wont to judge of opinions , as of coins : i consider much less in any one , that i am to receive , whose inscription it bears , than what metal 't is made of . 't is indifferent enough to me , whether 't was stamp'd many years or ages since , or came but yesterday from the mint . nor do i regard through how many , or how few , hands it has pass'd for current , provided i know by the touch-stone , or any sure tryal , purposely made , whether or no it be genuine , and does or does not deserve to have been currant . for , if upon due proof it appears to be good , its having been long and by many receiv'd for such , will not tempt me to refuse it . but , if i find it counterfeit , neither the princes image or inscription , nor its date ( how antient soever , ) nor the multitude of hands , through which it has pass'd unsuspected , will engage me to receive it. and one disfavouring tryal , well made , will much more discredit it with me , than all those specious things , i have nam'd , can recommend it. by this declaration of my sentiments about paradoxes in general , i hope it will be thought , that the motive i had to question that notion of nature , which i dissent from , was not , that this notion is vulgarly receiv'd . and i have this to say , to make it probable , that i was not ingag'd in this controversie , by any ambition of appearing in print an heresiarch in philosophy , by being the author of a strange doctrine , that the following discourse was written about the year . ( that is , some lustres ago , ) and that not long after , the youth , to whom i dictated it , having been inveigled to steal away , unknown to me or his parents , into the indies , ( whence we never heard of him since , ) left the loose sheets , wherein ( and not in a book ) my thoughts had been committed to paper , very incoherent , by the omission of divers necessary passages . upon which account , and my unwillingness to take the pains to supply what was wanting , those papers lay by me many years together neglected , and almost forgotten ; 'till the curiosity of some philosophical heads , that were pleas'd to think they deserv'd another fate , oblig'd me to tack them together , and make up the gaps that remain'd between their parts , by retrieving , as well as , after so many years , my bad memory was able to do , the thoughts i sometimes had , pertinent to those purposes . and indeed , when i consider'd of how vast importance it is in philosophy , and the practice of physick too , to have a right notion of nature ; and how little the authority of the generality of men ought , in so nice and intricate a subject , to sway a free and impartial spirit ; as i at first thought myself oblig'd , since others had not sav'd me the labour , to make a free enquiry into this noble and difficult subject , so i was afterwards the more easily prevail'd with , by those that press'd the publication of it . with what success i have made this attempt , i must leave others to judg . but if i be not much flatter'd , whatever becomes of the main attempt , there will be found suggested here and there , in the following discourse , some reflections and explications , that will at least oblige the zealous assertors of the vulgar notion of nature , to clear up the doctrine , and speak more distinctly and correctly about things that relate to it , than hitherto has been usual . and that will be fruit enough to recompense the labour , and justifie the title , of a free enquiry . in prosecution of which , since i have been oblig'd to travel in an untrodden way , without a guide , 't will be thought , i hope , more pardonable than strange , if , in attempting to discover divers general mistakes , i be not so happy as to escape falling into some particular ones myself . and , if among these , i have been so unhappy , as to make any that is injurious to religion , as i did not at all intend it , so , as soon as ever i shall discover it , i shall freely disown it myself , and pray that it may never mislead others . what my performance has been , i have already acknowledg'd that i may be unfit to judg ; but , for my intentions , i may make bold to say , they were , to keep the glory of the divine author of things from being usurp'd or intrench'd ▪ upon by his creatures , and to make his works more throughly and solidly understood , by the philosophical studiers of them. i do not pretend , and i need not , that every one of the arguments , i employ in the following tract , is cogent , especially if consider'd as single . for demonstrative arguments would be unsuitable to the very title of my attempt ; since , if about the receiv'd notion of nature , i were furnish'd with unanswerable reasons , my discourse ought to be styl'd , not a free enquiry into the vulgar notion of nature , i consider , but a confutation of it. and a heap of bare probabilities may suffice to justifie a doubt of the truth of an opinion , which they cannot clearly evince to be false . and therefore , if any man shall think fit to criticize upon the less principal or less necessary parts of this treatise , perhaps i shall not think my self oblig'd to be concern'd at it. and even , if the main body of the discourse itself shall be attack'd from the press ; i , who am neither young nor healthy , nor ever made divinity , philosophy , or physick , my profession , am not like to oppose him in the same way : since , as i ought not to wish , that any errors of mine ( if this essay teach any such , ) should prevail ; so , if the things i have deliver'd be true for the main , i need not despair but that , in such a free and inquisitive age as ours , there will be found generous spirits , that will not suffer weighty truths to be oppress'd , tho' the proposers of them should , by averseness from contention , or by want of time or health , be themselves kept from defending them . which i have thought fit to take notice of in this place , that the truth ( if i have been so happy , as to have found and taught it , ) may not suffer by my silence ; nor any reader surmize , that , if i shall leave a book unanswered , i thereby acknowledg it to be unanswerable . but this regards only the main substance of our essay , not the order or disposition of the parts : since , if any shall censure that , i shall not quarrel with him about it. for indeed , considering in how preposterous an order the papers , i have here tack'd together , came to hand ; and how many things are upon that score unduly plac'd , i shall not only be content , but must desire , to have this rhapsody , of my own loose papers , look'd upon but as an apparatus , or collection of materials , in order to [ what i well know this maim'd and confus'd essay is not , ] a compleat and regular discourse . yet ( to conclude , ) i thought , that the affording even of a little light , in a subject so dark and so very important , might keep an essay from being useless ; and that to fall short of demonstration would prove a pardonable fault , in a discourse , that pretends not to dogmatize , but only to make an enquiry . sept. , . a free enquiry into the received notion of nature . sect . i. i know not whether or no it be a prerogative in the human soul , that , as 't is itself a true and positive being , so 't is apt to conceive all other things , as true and positive beings also . but , whether or no this propensity , to frame such kind of idea's , suppose an excellency , i fear it occasions mistakes ; and makes us think and speak , after the manner of true and positive beings , of such things , as are but chimerical , and some of them negations or privations themselves ; as death , ignorance , blindness , and the like . it concerns us therefore , to stand very carefully upon our guard , that we be not insensibly misled by such an innate and unheeded temptation to error , as we bring into the world with us . and consequently i may be allowed to consider , whether , among other particulars , in which this deluding propensity of our minds has too great , though unsuspected , an influence upon us ; it may not have impos'd on us , in the notion we are wont to frame concerning nature . for this being the fruitful parent of other notions , as nature herself is said to be of the creatures of the universe ; the notion is so general in its applications , and so important in its influence ; that we had need be jealously careful , of not over-easily admitting a notion , than which there can scarce be any that more deserves to be warily examin'd , before it be throughly entertain'd . let me therefore make bold to enquire freely , whether that , of which we affirm such great things , and to which we ascribe so many feats , be that almost divine thing , whose works among others we are ; or a notional thing , that in some sense is rather to be reckon'd among our works ; as owing its being to human intellects . i know , most men will be forestall'd with no mean prejudices against so venturous an attempt ; but i will not do eleutherius the injury , to measure him by the prepossess'd generality of men ; yet there are two scruples which i think it not amiss to take notice of , to clear the way for what shall be presented you in the following discourse . and first , it may seem an ingrateful and unfilial thing , to dispute against nature , that is taken by mankind for the common parent of us all . but though it be an undutiful thing , to express a want of respect for an acknowledg'd parent , yet i know not , why it may not be allowable to question one , that a man looks upon but as a pretended one , or at least does upon probable grounds doubt , whether she be so or no ; and , 'till it appear to me that she is so , i think it my duty to pay my gratitude , not to i know not what , but to that deity , whose wisdom and goodness , not only design'd to make me a man , and enjoy what i am here bless'd with , but contriv'd the world so , that even those creatures of his , who by their inanimate condition are not capable of intending to gratifie me , should be as serviceable and useful to me , as they would be , if they could and did design the being so ; and you may be pleas'd to remember , that , as men may now accuse such an enquirer , as i am , of impiety and ingratitude towards nature : so the persians , and other worshipers of the coelestial bodies , accus'd several of the ancient philosophers , and all the primitive christians , of the like crimes , in reference to the sun ; whose existence , and whose being a benefactor to mankind , was far more unquestionable , than that there is such a semi-deity as men call nature : and it can be no great disparagement to me , to suffer on the like account with 〈◊〉 good company , especially , when several of the considerations that justifie them , may also apologize for me . i might add , that , it not being half so evident to me , that what is called nature is my parent , as that all men are my brothers , by being the off-spring of god ; ( for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of aratus is adopted by st. paul ) i may justly prefer the doing of them a service , by disabusing them , to the paying of her a ceremonial respect . but setting allegories aside , i have sometimes seriously doubted , whether the vulgar notion of nature has not been both injurious to the glory of god , and a great impediment to the solid and useful discovery of his works . and first , it seems to detract from the honour of the great author and governor of the world ; that men should ascribe most of the admirable things that are to be met with in it , not to him , but to a certain nature , which themselves do not well know what to make of . ●tis true that many confess , that this nature is a thing of his establishing , and subordinate to him ; but , though many confess it when they are ask'd , whether they do or no ? yet , besides that many seldom or never lifted up their eyes to any higher cause , he that takes notice of their way of ascribing things to nature , may easily discern , that , whatever their words sometimes be , the agency of god is little taken notice of in their thoughts : and however , it does not a little darken the excellency of the divine management of things , that , when a strange thing is to be effected or accounted for , men so often have recourse to nature , and think she must extraordinarily interpose to bring such things about : whereas it much more tends to the illustration of god's wisdom , to have so fram'd things at first , that there can seldom or never need any extraordinary interposition of his power . and , as it more recommends the skill of an engineer , to contrive an elaborate engine , so as that there should need nothing to reach his ends in it , but the contrivance of parts devoid of understanding ; than if it were necessary , that ever and anon a discreet servant should be employ'd , to concur notably to the operations of this or that part , or to hinder the engine from being out of order : so it more sets off the wisdom of god in the fabrick of the universe , that he can make so vast a machine , perform all those many things which he design'd it should , by the meer contrivance of brute matter , managed by certain laws of local motion , and upheld by his ordinary and general concourse ; than if he imployed from time to time an intelligent overseer , such as nature is fancied to be , to regulate , assist , and controul the motions of the parts . in confirmation of which , you may remember , that the later poets justly reprehended their predecessors , for want of skill , in laying the plots of their plays , because they often suffered things to be reduced to that pass , that they were fain to bring some deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the stage , to help them out . ( nec deus intersit , nisi dignus vindice nodus , ) &c. and let me tell you freely , that , though i will not say , that aristotle meant the mischief his doctrine did , yet i am apt to think , that the grand enemy of god's glory made great use of aristotle's authority and errors , to detract from it . for as aristotle , by introducing the opinion of the eternity of the world , ( whereof he owns himself to have been the first broacher ) did , at least in almost all mens opinion , openly deny god the production of the world : so , by ascribing the admirable works of god , to what he calls nature , he tacitly denies him the government of the world. which suspicion , if you judg severe , i shall not , at more leisure , refuse to acquaint you , ( in a distinct paper ) why i take divers of aristotle's opinions relating to religion , to be more unfriendly , not to say pernicious , to it , than those of several other heathen philosophers . and here give me leave to prevent an objection , that some may make , as if , to deny the receiv'd notion of nature , a man must also deny providence ; of which nature is the grand instrument . for in the first place , my opinion hinders me not at all from acknowledging god to be the author of the universe , and the continual preserver and upholder of it ; which is much more than the peripatetick hypothesis , which ( as we were saying ) makes the world eternal , will allow its embracers to admit ; and those things which the school-philosophers ascribe to the agency of nature , interposing according to emergencies , i ascribe to the wisdom of god in the first fabrick of the universe ; which he so admirably contrived , that , if he but continue his ordinary and general concourse , there will be no necessity of extraordinary interpositions , which may reduce him , to seem as it were to play after-games ; all those exigencies , upon whose account philosophers and physicians seem to have devis'd what they call nature , being foreseen and provided for in the first fabrick of the world ; so that meer matter , so ordered , shall in such and such conjunctures of circumstances , do all that philosophers ascribe on such occasions to their almost omniscient nature , without any knowledg of what it does , or acting otherwise than according to the catholick laws of motion . and methinks the difference betwixt their opinion of god's agency in the world , and that which i would propose , may be somewhat adumbrated , by saying , that they seem to imagine the world to be after the nature of a puppet , whose contrivance indeed may be very artificial , but yet is such , that almost every particular motion the artificer is fain ( by drawing sometimes one wire or string , sometimes another ) to guide , and oftentimes over-rule , the actions of the engine ; whereas , according to us , 't is like a rare clock , such as may be that at strasbourg , where all things are so skilfully contriv'd , that the engine being once set a moving , all things proceed according to the artificers first design , and the motions of the little statues , that at such hours perform these or those things , do not require , like those of puppets , the peculiar interposing of the artificer , or any intelligent agent imployed by him , but perform their functions upon particular occasions , by vertue of the general and primitive contrivance of the whole engine . the modern aristotelians and other philosophers would not be tax'd as injurious to providence , though they now ascribe to the ordinary course of nature , those regular motions of the planets , that aristotle and most of his followers ( and among them the christian school-men ) did formerly ascribe to the particular guidance of intelligent and immaterial beings , which they assign'd to be the movers of the coelestial orbs. and when i consider , how many things , that seem anomalies to us , do frequently enough happen in the world , i think it is more consonant to the respect we owe to divine providence , to conceive , that as god is a most free , as well as a most wise agent , and may in many things have ends unknown to us : he very well foresaw , and thought fit , that such seeming anomalies should come to pass , since he made them ( as is evident in the eclipses of the sun and moon ) the genuine consequences of the order , he was pleas'd to settle in the world ; by whose laws the grand agents in the universe were impower'd and determin'd , to act according to the respective natures he had given them ; and the course of things was allowed to run on , though that would infer the happening of seeming anomalies , and things really repugnant to the good or welfare of divers particular portions of the universe . this , i say , i think to be a notion more respectful to divine providence , than to imagine , as we commonly do , that god has appointed an intelligent and powerful being , called nature , to be as his vice-gerent , continually watchful for the good of the universe in general , and of the particular bodies that compose it ; whilst in the mean time , this being appears not to have the skill , or the power , to prevent such anomalies , which oftentimes prove destructive to multitudes of animals , and other noble creatures , ( as in plagues , &c. ) and sometimes prejudicial to greater portions of the universe , ( as in earth-quakes of a large spread , eclipses of the luminaries , great and lasting spots on the sun , eruptions of vulcan , great comets or new stars that pass from one region of heaven to another . ) and i am the more tender of admitting such a lieutenant to divine providence , as nature is fancied to be , because i shall hereafter give you some instances , in which it seems , that , if there were such a thing , she must be said to act too blindly and impotently , to discharge well the part she is said to be trusted with . i shall add , that the doctrine , i plead for , does much better than its rival comply with what religion teaches us , about the extraordinary and supernatural interpositions of divine providence . for when it pleases god to over-rule , or controul , the establish'd course of things in the world , by his own omnipotent hand , what is thus perform'd may be much easier discern'd and acknowledg'd to be miraculous , by them that admit , in the ordinary course of corporeal things , nothing but matter and motion , whose powers men may well judg of ; than by those who think there is besides , a certain semi-deity , which they call nature , whose skill and power they acknowledg to be exceeding great , and yet have no sure way of estimating how great they are , and how far they may extend . and give me leave to take notice to you , on this occasion , that i observe the miracles of our saviour and his apostles , pleaded by christians on the behalf of their religion , to have been very differingly look'd on by epicurean and other corpuscularian infidels , and by those other unbelievers who admit of a soul of the world , or spirits in the stars , or , in a word , think the universe to be governed by intellectual beings , distinct from the supream being we call god. for this later sort of infidels have often admitted those matters of fact , which we christians call miracles ; and yet have endeavour'd to solve them by astral operations , and other ways not here to be specified : whereas the epicureàn enemies of christianity have thought themselves oblig'd , resolutely to deny the matters of fact themselves ; as well discerning , that the things , said to be perform'd , exceeded the mechanical powers of matter and motion , ( as they were managed by those , that wrought the miracles , ) and consequently must either be deny'd to have been done , or be confess'd to have been truly miraculous . but there may hereafter be occasion , both to improve the things already said , and add others , to satisfie theological scruples about our hypothesis . i formerly told you , that 't was not only to the glory of god , ( as that results from his wisdom , power , an● goodness , express'd in the world ) that i suspected the notion of nature , that i am examining , to be prejudicial , but also to the discovery of his works . and you will make no great difficulty to believe me , if you consider , that , whilst men allow themselves so general and easie a way , or rendring accounts of things that are difficult , as to attribute them to nature ; shame will not reduce them to a more industrious scrutiny into the reasons of things , and curiosity itself will move them to it the more faintly : of which we have a clear and eminent example , in the ascension of water in pumps , and in other phaenomena's of that kind , whose true physical causes had never been found out , if the moderns had acquiesced , as their predecessors did , in that imaginary one , that the world was govern'd by a watchful being , call'd nature , and that she abhors a vacuum , and consequently is still in a readiness , to do irresistibly whatever is necessary to prevent it : nor must we expect any great progress , in the discovery of the true causes of natural effects , whilst we are content to sit down with other , than the particular and immediate ones . 't is not that i deny , that there are divers things , as the number and situation of the stars , the shapes and sizes of animals , &c. about which , even a philosopher being ask'd can say little , but that it pleased the author of the universe to make them so ; but when we give such general answers , we pretend not to give the particular physical reasons of the things propos'd , but do in effect confess we do not know them . to this i add , that the veneration , wherewith men are imbued for what they call nature , has been a discouraging impediment to the empire of man over the inferior creatures of god. for many have not only look'd upon it , as an impossible thing to compass , but as something of impious to attempt , the removing of those boundaries which nature seems to have put and setled among her productions . and whilst they look upon her as such a venerable thing , some make a kind of scruple of conscience , to endeavour so to emulate any of her works , as to excel them . i have staid so long , about removing the first of the two scruples i formerly propos'd against my present attempt , that , not to tire your patience , i shall in few words dispatch the second , which is , that i venture to contradict the sense of the generality of mankind : to which i answer , that in philosophical inquiries , it becomes not a naturalist to be so solicitous , what has been , or is believ'd , as what ought to be so ; and i have also elsewhere , on another occasion , shew'd , how little the sense of the generality of men , ought to sway us in some questions : but that which i shall at present more directly reply , is , first , that 't is no wonder , men should be generally prepossest with such a notion of nature , as i call in question , since education ( especially in the schools ) has imbued them with it from their infancy , and even in their maturer years they find it taken for granted , and imployed not only by the most but by the learnedst writers , and never hear it call'd in question by any ; and then it exceedingly complies with our innate propensity , to think that we know more than we do , and to appear to do so . for to vouch nature for a cause , is an expedient , that can scarce be wanting to any man , upon any occasion , to seem to know what he can indeed render no good reason of . and to this first part of my answer , i shall subjoin this second . that the general custom of mankind , to talk of a thing as a real and positive being , and attribute great matters to it , does but little weigh with me ; when i consider , that , though fortune be not any physical thing , but a certain loose & undetermin'd notion , which a modern meta-physician would refer to the classis of his non entia , yet not only the gentiles made it a goddess , ( nos te facimus , fortuna , deam , coeloque locamus , ) which many of them seriously worship'd , but eminent writers , in verse and in prose , ethnick and christian , ancient and modern , and all sorts of men , in their common discourse do seriously talk of it , as if it were a kind of antichrist , that usurped a great share in the government of the world ; and ascribe little less to it , than they do to nature . and not to speak of what poets , moralists and divines tell us of the powers of ignorance and vice , which are but moral defects : let us consider what things are not only by these men , but by the generality of mankind seriously attributed to death , to which so great and fatal a dominion is assign'd ; and then if we consider too , that this death , which is said to do so many and such wonderful things , is neither a substance , nor a positive entity , but a meer privation ; we shall , i trust , the less believe , that the feats ascribed to nature do infer , that there is really such a physical agent as is suppos'd . and now having , as i presume , clear'd our enquiry , as far as 't is yet necessary , [ and 't will be further done hereafter ] from those prejudices , that might make the attempt be censur'd before it be examin'd , i proceed to the inquiry it self ; wherein i shall endeavour ( but with the brevity my want of leisure exacts ) to do these six things . first , to give you a short account of the great ambiguity of the word nature , arising from its various acceptions . secondly , to shew you , that the definition also , that aristotle himself gives of nature , does not afford a clear or satisfactory notion of it . thirdly , to gather from the several things , that are wont to be affirmed of , or attributed to , nature , the received notion of it , which cannot be well gathered from the name , because of its great ambiguity . fourthly , i will mention some of those reasons , that dissuade me from admitting this notion of nature . fifthly , i shall endeavour to answer severally the chief things , upon which men seem to have taken up the idea of nature , that i disallow . and , sixthly , i shall propose some of the chief effata or axioms , that are wont to be made use of , concerning nature in general , and shall shew , how far , and in what sense i may admit them . and here it may be opportune , to prevent both mistakes and the necessity of interrupting the series of our discourse , to set down two or three advertisements . . when any where in this tract i speak of the opinions of aristotle and the peripateticks , as i would not be thought to impute to him all the sentiments of those that will be thought his followers , some of which seem to me to have much mistaken his true meaning ; so ( on the other side ) i did not conceive , that my design oblig'd me to inquire anxiously into his true sentiments , whether about the origine of the universe , ( as whether or no it were self-existent , as well as eternal ) or about less important points : since , besides that his expressions are oftentimes dark and ambiguous enough , and the things he delivers in several passages do not seem always very consistent ; it suffic'd for my purpose , which was to question vulgar notions , to examine those opinions , that are by the generality of scholars taken for the aristotelian and peripatetick doctrines , by which , if he be mis-represented , the blame ought to light upon his commentators and followers . . the rational soul or mind of man , as it is distinct from the sensitive soul , being an immaterial spirit ; is a substance of so heteroclite a kind , in reference to things so vastly differing from it as mere bodies are , that since i could neither , without injuring it , treat of it promiscuously with the corporeal works of god , nor speak worthily of it , without frequently interrupting and disordering my discourse by exceptions , that would either make it appear intricate , or would be very troublesome to you or any other that you may think fit to make my reader ; i thought i might , for others ease and my own , be allow'd to set aside the considerations of it in the present treatise : and the rather , because all other parts of the universe being , according to the receiv'd opinion , the works of nature , we shall not want in them subjects more than sufficiently numerous , whereon to make our examen . though i shall here consider the world but as the great system of things corporeal , as it once really was , towards the close of the sixth day of the creation , when god had finish'd all his material works , but had not yet created man. sect . ii. i. a considering person may well be tempted to suspect , that men have generally had but imperfect and confused notions concerning nature ; if he but observes , that they apply that name to several things , and those too such , as have some of them very little dependance on , or connexion with , such others . and i remember that in aristotle's metaphysicks , i met with a whole chapter expresly written , to enumerate the various acceptions of the greek word , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , commonly render'd nature ; of which , if i mistake not , he there reckons up six . in english also we have not fewer , but rather more numerous significations of that term. for sometimes we use the word nature , for that author of nature , whom the school-men , harshly enough , call natura naturans ; as when 't is said , that nature hath made man partly corporeal , and partly immaterial . sometimes we mean by the nature of a thing , the essence , or that which the school-men scruple not to call the quiddity of a thing , namely , the attribute or attributes , on whose score it is , what it is ; whether the thing be corporeal or not ; as , when we attempt to define the nature of an angle , or of a triangle , or of a fluid body as such . sometimes we confound that which a man has by nature , with what accrues to him by birth ; as , when we say , that such a man is noble by nature , or such a child naturally forward , or sickly , or frightful . sometimes we take nature for an internal principle of motion ; as , when we say , that a stone let fall in the air , is by nature carried towards the centre of the earth ; and , on the contrary , that fire or flame does naturally move upwards towards heaven . sometimes we understand by nature , the establish'd course of things , as , when we say , that nature makes the night succeed the day : nature hath made respiration necessary to the life of men. sometimes we take nature for an aggregate of powers belonging to a body , especially a living one ; as , when physicians say , that nature is strong , or weak , or spent ; or that in such or such diseases , nature left to her self , will do the cure. sometimes we take nature for the universe , or system of the corporeal works of god ; as , when 't is said of a phoenix , or a chimera , that there is no such thing in nature , ( i. e. ) in the world. and sometimes too , and that most commonly , we would express by the word nature , a semi-deity , or other strange kind of being , such as this discourse examines the notion of . and besides these more absolute acceptions , if i may so call them , of the word nature ; it has divers others ( more relative ) as nature is wont to be set in opposition or contradistinction to other things ; as , when we say of a stone when it falls downwards , that it does it by a natural motion ; but that if it be thrown upwards , its motion that way is violent . so chymists distinguish vitriol into natural and fictitious , or made by art , ( i. e. ) by the intervention of human power or skill ; so 't is said , that water kept suspended in a sucking pump , is not in its natural place , as that is , which is stagnant in the well . we say also , that wicked men are still in the state of nature ; but the regenerate , in a state of grace : that cures wrought by medicines , are natural operations ; but the miraculous ones , wrought by christ and his apostles , were supernatural . nor are these the only forms of speech , that a more diligent collector , than i think it necessary i should here be , might instance in , to manifest the ambiguity of the word nature , by the many and various things 't is applied to signifie ; tho' some of those already mentioned , should be judged too near to be co-incident . among latin writers i found the acceptions of the word nature to be so many , that i remember , one author reckons up no less than fourteen or fifteen . from all which 't is not difficult to gather , how easie 't is for the generality of men , without excepting those that write of natural things , to impose upon others and themselves , in the use of a word so apt to be mis-imploy'd . on this occasion i can scarce forbear to tell you , that i have often look'd upon it as an unhappy thing , and prejudicial both to philosophy and physick ; that the word nature hath been so frequently , and yet so unskilfully imploy'd , both in books and in discourse , by all sorts of men , learned and illiterate . for the very great ambiguity of this term , and the promiscuous use men are wont to make of it , without sufficiently attending to its different significations , makes many of the expressions wherein they imploy it , ( and think they do it well and truly ) to be either not intelligible , or not proper , or not true : which observation , tho' it be not heeded , may , with the help of a little attention , be easily verified ; especially because the term nature is so often used , that you shall scarce meet with any man , who , if he have occasion to discourse any thing long of either natural or medicinal subjects , would not find himself at a great loss , if he were prohibited the use of the word nature , and of those phrases whereof it makes the principal part . and i confess i could heartily wish , that philosophers , and other learned men ( whom the rest in time would follow ) would by common ( tho' perhaps tacite ) consent , introduce some more significant , and less ambiguous terms and expressions in the room of the too licenciously abused word nature , and the forms of speech that depend on it . or would , at least , decline the use of it , as much as conveniently they can ; and where they think they must imploy it , would ▪ add a word or two , to declare in what clear and determinate sense they use it . for without somewhat of this kind be done , men will very hardly avoid being led into divers mistakes , both of things , and of one another ; & such wranglings about words and names , will be ( if not continually multiplied ) still kept on foot , as are wont to be manag'd with much heat , tho' little use , and no necessity . and here i must take leave to complain , in my own excuse , of the scarce superable difficulty of the task , that the design of a free inquiry puts me upon . for 't is far more difficult than any one that hath not try'd , ( and i do not know that any man hath , ) would imagine , to discourse long of the corporeal works of god , and especially of the operations and phaenomena's that are attributed to nature , and yet decline making oftentimes use of that term , or forms of speech whereof 't is a main part ; without much more frequent , and perhaps tedious , circumlocutions ; than i am willing to trouble you with . and therefore i hope you will easily excuse me , if , partly to shun these , and to avoid using often the same words too near one another , and partly out of unwillingness to imploy vulgar terms , likely to occasion or countenance vulgar errors ; i have several times been fain to use paraphrases or other expressions , less short than those commonly received : and sometimes for one or other of these reasons , or out of inadvertence , miss'd of avoiding the terms used by those , that admit and applaud the vulgar notion of nature : whom , i must here advertise you , that partly because they do so , and partly for brevity's sake , i shall hereafter many times call , naturists : which appellation i rather chuse than that of naturalists ; because , many , even of the learned among them , as logicians , orators , lawyers , arithmeticians , &c. are not physiologers . but if on this occasion you should be very urgent to know , what course i would think expedient , if i were to propose any , for the avoiding the inconvenient use of so ambiguous a word , as nature : i should first put you in mind , that , having but very lately declar'd , that i thought it very difficult , in physiological discourses especially , to decline the frequent of that term ; you are not to expect from me the satisfaction you may desire in an answer . and then i would add , that yet my unwillingness to be altogether silent , when you require me to say somewhat , makes me content to try , whether the mischief complain'd of , may not be in some measure either obviated or lessen'd , by looking back upon the ( eight ) various significations , that were not long since deliver'd of the word nature , and by endeavouring to express them in other terms , or forms of speech . . instead then of the word nature taken in the first sense , [ for natura naturans , ] we may make use of the term 't is put to signifie , namely , god ; wholly discarding an expression , which , besides that 't is harsh and needless , and in use only among the school-men , seems not to me very suitable to the profound reverence we owe the divine majesty ; since it seems to make the creator differ too little by far from a created ( not to say an imaginary ) being . . instead of nature in the second sense , [ for , that on whose account a thing is what it is , and is so call'd , ] we may imploy the word essence , which is of great affinity to it , if not of an adequate import . and sometimes also we may make use of the word quiddity , which , though a somewhat barbarous term , is yet frequently imploy'd , and well enough understood , in the schools ; and , which is more considerable , is very comprehensive , and yet free enough from ambiguity . . what is meant by the word nature taken in the third sense of it , [ for , what belongs to a living creature at its nativity , or accrues to it by its birth , ] may be express'd sometimes , by saying , that a man or other animal is born so ; and sometimes by saying , that a thing has been generated such ; and sometimes also , that 't is thus or thus qualifi'd by its original temperament and constitution . . instead of the word nature taken in the fourth acception [ for , an internal principle of local motion ] we may say sometimes , that this or that body moves as it were , or else that it seems to move , spontaneously ( or of its own accord ) upwards , downwards , &c. or , that 't is put into this or that motion , or determin'd to this or that action , by the concourse of such or such ( proper ) causes . . for nature in the fifth signification , [ for , the establish'd course of things corporeal ] 't is easie to substitute what it denotes , the establish'd order , or the setled course of things . . instead of nature in the sixth sense of the word [ for , as aggregate of the powers belonging to a body , especially a living one ] we may imploy the constitution , temperament , or the mechanism , or the complex of the essential properties or qualities , and sometimes the condition , the structure , or the texture of that body . and if we speak of the greater portions of the world , we may make use of one or other of these terms , fabrick of the world , system of the vniverse , cosmical mechanism , or the like . . where men are wont to imploy the word nature in the seventh sense [ for , the vniverse , or the systeme of the corporeal works of god ] 't is easie , and as short , to make use of the word world or vniverse ; and instead of the phaenomena of nature to substitute the phaenomena of the vniverse , or of the world. . and , as for the word nature taken in the eighth and last of the fore-mention'd acceptions [ for , either ( as some pagans styl'd her ) a goddess , or a kind of semi-deity ] the best way is not to imploy it in that sense at all ; or at least as seldom as may be , and that for divers reasons , which may in due place be met with in several parts of this essay . but though the foregoing diversity of terms and phrases may be much increas'd , yet i confess it makes but a part of the remedy , i propose , against the future mischiefs of the confus'd acception of the word nature , and the phrases grounded on it . for besides the synonymous words , and more literal interpretations lately propos'd , a dextrous writer may oftentimes be able to give such a form ( or , as the modern frenchmen speak , such a tour ) to his many-ways variable expressions , as to avoid the necessity of making use of the word nature ; or sometimes so much as of those shorter terms , that have been lately substituted in its place . and to all this i must add , that though one or two of the eight fore-mention'd terms or phrases , as quiddity and cosmical mechanism , be barbarous or ungenteel ; and some other expressions be less short than the word nature : yet 't is more the interest of philosophy to tolerate a harsh term , that has been long received in the schools in a determinate sense , and bear with some paraphrastical expressions , than not to avoid an ambiguity that is liable to such great inconveniences as have been lately , or may be hereafter , represented . there are , i know , some learned men , who , ( perhaps being startled to find nature usually spoken of so much like a kind of goddess , ) will have the nature of every thing , to be only the law that it receives from the creator , and according to which it acts on all occasions . and this opinion seems much of kin to , if not the same with , that of the famous helmont , who justly rejecting the aristotelian tenent of the contrariety or hostility of the elements , will have every body , without any such respect , to act that which 't is commanded to act . and indeed this opinion about nature , though neither clear nor comprehensive enough , seems capable of a fair construction . and there is oftentimes some resemblance between the orderly and regular motions of inanimate bodies , and the actions of agents , that , in what they do act , conformably to laws . and even i sometimes scruple not , to speak of the laws of motion and rest , that god has establish'd among things corporeal , and now and then , ( for brevities sake , or out of custom ) to call them , as men are wont to do , the laws of nature : having in due place declar'd , in what sense i understand and imploy these expressions . but to speak strictly , ( as becomes philosophers in so weighty a matter ) to say that the nature of this or that body , is but the law of god prescrib'd to it , is but an improper and figurative expression . for , besides that this gives us but a very defective idea of nature , since it omits the general fabrick of the world , and the contrivances of particular bodies , which yet are as well necessary as local motion itself , to the production of particular effects and phaenomena's ; besides this , i say , and other imperfections of this notion of nature , that i shall not here insist on , i must freely observe , that , to speak properly , a law being but a notional rule of acting according to the declar'd will of a superior , 't is plain , that nothing but an intellectual being can be properly capable of receiving and acting by a law. for if it does not understand , it cannot know what the will of the legislator is ; nor can it have any intention to accomplish it , nor can it act with regard to it ; or know , when it does , in acting , either conform to it or deviate from it . and 't is intelligible to me , that god should at the beginning impress determinate motions upon the parts of matter , and guide them , as he thought requisite , for the primordial constitution of things : and that ever since he should , by his ordinary and general concourse , maintain those powers , which he gave the parts of matter , to transmit their motion thus and thus to one another . but i cannot conceive , how a body , devoid of understanding and sense , truly so call'd , can moderate and determine its own motions ; especially so , as to make them conformable to laws , that it has no knowledg or apprehension of . and that inanimate bodies , how strictly soever call'd natural , do properly act by laws , cannot be evinc'd by their sometimes acting regularly , and , as men think , in order to determinate ends : since in artificial things we see many motions very orderly perform'd , and with a manifest tendency to particular and pre-design'd ends ; as in a watch , the motions of the spring , wheels and other parts , are so contemperated and regulated , that the hand upon the dyal moves with a great uniformity , and seems to moderate its motion , so as not to arrive at the points , that denote the time of the day , either a minute sooner , or a minute later , than it should do , to declare the hour . and when a man shoots an arrow at a mark , so as to hit it , though the arrow moves towards the mark , as it would if it could and did design to strike it , yet none will say , that this arrow moves by a law , but by an external , tho' well directed , impulse . sect . iii. ii. but possibly the definition of a philosopher may exempt us from the perplexities , to which the ambiguous expressions of common writers expose us . i therefore thought fit to to consider , with a somewhat more than ordinary attention , the famous definition of nature that is left us by aristotle , which i shall recite rather in latin than in english , not only because 't is very familiarly known among scholars , in that language , but because there is somewhat in it , that i confess seems difficult to me , to be without circumlocution render'd intelligibly in english : natura ( says he ) est principium & causa motus & quietis ejus , in quo inest , primo per se , & non secundum accidens . but though when i consider'd that according to aristotle , the whole world is but a system of the works of nature ; i thought it might well be expected , that the definition of a thing , the most important in natural philosophy , should be clearly and accurately deliver'd ; yet to me this celebrated definition seem'd so dark , that i cannot brag of any assistance i received from it , towards the framing of a clear and satisfactory notion of nature . for i dare not hope , that what , as to me , is not itself intelligible , should make me understand what is to be declared or explicated by it . and when i consulted some of aristotle's interpreters upon the sense of this definition , i found the more considerate of them so puzzled with it , that their discourses of it seem'd to tend , rather to free the maker of it from tautology and self-contradiction , than to manifect that the definition itself is good and instructive , and such as affords a fair account of the thing defin'd . and indeed , though the immoderate veneration they cherish for their master , engages them to make the best they can of the definition given by him , even when they cannot justifie it without strain'd interpretations , yet what every one seems to defend in gross , almost every one of them censures in parcels ; this man attacking one part of the definition , and that man another , with objections so weighty , ( not to call some of them so unanswerable ) that if i had no other arguments to urge against it , i might borrow enough from the commentators on it , to justifie my dislike of it . however , we may hereafter have occasion to consider some of the main parts of this definition , and in the mean while , it may suffice that we observe , that several things are commonly receiv'd as belonging to the idea , or notion of nature , that are not manifestly or not at all comprehended in this aristotelian definition , which doth not declare , whether the principle or cause ( which expression already makes the sense doubtful ) here mention'd is a substance , or an accident ; and if a substance , whether corporeal or immaterial , nor is it clearly contain'd in this definition , that nature does all things most wisely , and still acts by the most compendious ways without ever missing of her end , and that she watches against a vacuum for the welfare of the universe , to omit divers other things , that you will find ascrib'd to her in the following section : to which i now proceed . that the great shortness of this third section may not make it too disproportionate in length , to the others , this tract consists of ; i shall in this place , though i doubt it be not the most proper that could be chosen , endeavour to remove betimes the prejudice , that some divines and other pious men may perhaps entertain , upon the account , as they think , of religion , against the care i take , to decline the frequent use of that word nature , in the vulgar notion of it : reserving to another and fitter place some other things , that may relate to the theological scruples , if any occur to me , that our free inquiry may occasion . the philosophical reason that inclines me to forbear , as much as conveniently i can , the frequent use of the word nature , and the forms of speech that are deriv'd from it , is , that 't is a term of great ambiguity : on which score i have observ'd , that , being frequently and unwarily imploy'd , it has occasion'd much darkness and confusion in many mens writings and discourses . and i little doubt , but that others would make the like observations , if early prejudices and universal custom did not keep them from taking notice of it . nor do i think my self oblig'd , by the just veneration i owe and pay religion , to make use of a term so inconvenient to philosophy . for i do not find that for many ages the israelites , that then were the only people and church of god , made use of the word nature in the vulgar notion of it . moses in the whole history of the creation , where it had been so proper to bring in this first of second causes , has not a word of nature . and whereas philosophers presume , that she , by her plastick power and skill , forms plants and animals out of the universal matter ; the divine historian ascribes the formation of them to gods immediate fiat . gen. i. . and god said , let the earth bring forth grass , and the herb yielding seed , and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind , &c. and again , vers. , god said , let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind , &c. vers. , and god ( without any mention of nature ) made the beast of the earth after his kind . and i do not remember , that in the old testament , i have met with any one hebrew word that properly signifies nature , in the sense we take it in . and it seems , that our english translators of the bible were not more fortunate in that , than i ; for , having purposely consulted a late concordance , i found not that word nature in any text of the old testament . so likewise , though iob , david and solomon , and other israelitish writers , do , on divers occasions , many times mention the corporeal works of god , yet they do not take notice of nature , which our philosophers would have his great vicegerent in what relates to them . to which , perhaps it may not be impertinent to add , that , though the late famous rabbi menasseh ben israel , has purposely written a book of numerous problems touching the creation , yet i do not remember that he imploys the word nature , in the receiv'd notion of it , to give an account of any of gods mundane creatures . and when st. paul himself , who was no stranger to the heathen learning , writing to the corinthians who were greeks , speaks of the production of corn out of seed sown , he does not attribute the produc'd body to nature , but when he had spoken of a grain of wheat , or some other seed put into the ground , he adds , that god gives it such a body as he pleaseth , and to every seed it s own body , i. e. the body belonging to its kind . and a greater than st. paul , speaking of the gaudiness of the lillies , ( or , as some will have it , tulips ) uses this expression , if god so cloath the grass of the field , &c. matt. vi . , , . the celebrations that david , iob , and other holy hebrews , mention'd in the old testament , make an occasion of the admirable works they contemplated in the universe , are address'd directly to god himself , without taking notice of nature . of this , i could multiply instances , but shall here , for brevity's sake , be contented to name a few , taken from the book of psalms alone . in the hundredth of those hymns , the penman of it makes this , that god has made us , the ground of an exhortation , to enter into his gates with thanksgiving , and into his courts with praise , psal. lxxix . . and in another , let the heaven and earth praise god , [ that is , give men ground and occasion to praise him ] congruously to what david elsewhere says to the great creator of the universe . all thy work 's shall praise thee , o lord , and thy saints shall bless thee , psal. cxlv . . and in another of the sacred hymns , the same royal poet says to his maker , thou hast cover'd me in my mothers womb . i will praise thee , for i am fearfully and wonderfully made , marvellous are thy works , and that my soul knoweth right well , psal. cxxxix . , . i have sometimes doubted , whether one may not on this occasion add , that , if men will need takes in a being subordinate to god , for the management of the world ; it seems more consonant to the holy scripture , to depute angels to that charge , than nature . for i consider , that , as to the coelestial part of the universe , in comparison of which the sublunary is not perhaps the ten-thousandth part ; both the heathen aristotelian's , and the school philosophers among the christians , teach , the coelestial orbs to be moved or guided by intelligences , or angels . and as to the lower or sublunary world , besides that the holy writings teach us , that angels have been often imploy'd by god for the government of kingdoms , ( as is evident out of the book of daniel ) and the welfare and punishment of particular persons ; one of those glorious spirits , is , in the apocalypse , expresly styl'd the angel of the waters : which title divers learned interpreters think to be given him , because of his charge or office , to oversee and preserve the waters . and i remember , that in the same book there is mention made of an angel , that had power , authority , or iurisdiction , ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) over the fire : and though the excellent grotius gives another conjecture of the title given the angel of the waters ; yet in his notes upon the next verse save one , he teaches , that there was an angel appointed to preserve the souls that were kept under the altar there-mention'd . and if we take the angel of the waters to be the guardian or conserver of them , ( perhaps as the romans ( in whose empire st. iohn wrote ) had special officers to look to their aqueducts and other waters ; ) it may not be amiss to observe ( upon the by ) that he is introduc'd praising his and his fellow-spirits great creator : which is an act of religion , that , for ought i know , none of the naturists , whether pagan or even christians , ever mention'd their nature to have perform'd . i know it may on this occasion be alledg'd , that subordinata non pugnant , and nature being god's vicegerent , her works are indeed his . but that he has such a vicegerent , it is one of the main businesses of this discourse to call in question , and till the affirmative be solidly prov'd , ( nay , and tho' it were so ) i hope i shall be excus'd , if with moses , iob , and david , i call the creatures , i admire in the visiible world , the works of god , ( not of nature ) and praise rather him than her , for the wisdom and goodness displayed in them : since among the israelites , till they were over-run and corrupted by idolatrous nations , there was for many ages a deep silence of such a being , as we now call nature . and i think it much more safe and fit , to speak as did those , who for so long a time were the peculiar people of god , than which the heathen poets and philosophers , who were very prone to ascribe divinity to his creatures , and sometimes even to their own . i mention these things , not with design to ingage in the controversie , about the authority or use of the scripture in physical speculations , but to obviate or remove a prejudice , that ( as i formerly intimated ) i fear may be taken up , upon the account of theology or religion , against my studiously unfrequent imploying the word nature , in the vulgar sense of it ; by shewing , that , whether or no the scriptures be not design'd to teach us higher and more necessary truths than those that concern bodies , and are discoverable by the meer light of reason ; both its expressions and its silence give more countenance to our hypothesis , than to that of the naturists . sect . iv. iii. having shewn , that the definition given of nature by aristotle himself , as great a logician as he was , has not been able to satisfie so much as his interpreters and disciples , what his own idea of nature was ; 't would be to little purpose to trouble you and my self , with enquiring into the definitions and disputes of other peripateticks , about so obscure and perplex'd a subject ; especially , since 't is not my business in this tract , solicitously to examine what aristotle thought nature to be , but what is to be thought of the vulgarly receiv'd notion of nature ; and tho' of this , the schools have been the chief propagators , for which reason it was fit to take notice of their master aristotle's definition ; yet the best way , i know , to investigate the commonly receiv'd opinion of nature , is , to consider what effata or axioms do pass for current about her ; and what titles and epithets are unanimously given her , both by philosophers and other writers , and by the generality of men that have occasion to discourse of her and her actings . of these axioms and epithets , the principal seen to be these that follow . natura est sapientissima , adeoque opus naturae est opus intelligentiae . * natura nihil facit frustra . natura fine suo nunquam excidit . † natura semper facit quod optimum est . natura semper agit per vias brevissimas . natura neque redundat in superfluis , neque deficit in necessariis . omnis natura est conservatrix sui . natura est morborum medicatrix . natura semper invigilat conservationi vniversi . natura vacuum horret . from all these particulars put together , it may appear , that the vulgar notion of nature may be conveniently enough expres'd by some such description as this . nature is a most wise being , that does nothing in vain , does not miss of her ends ; does always that which ( of the things she can do ) is best to be done ; and this she does by the most direct or compendious ways , neither employing any things superfluous , nor being wanting in things necessary ; she teaches & inclines every one of her works to preserve it self . and , as in the microcosm ( man ) 't is she that is the curer of diseases , so in the macrocosm ( the world , ) for the conservation of the universe , she abhors a vacuum , making particular bodies act contrary to their own inclinations and interests , to prevent it , for the publick good. what i think of the particulars , that make up this paneygrical description of nature , will ( god permitting ) be told you in due place ; my present work being only to make you the clearest representation i can , of what men generally ( if they understand themselves ) do , or with congruity to the axioms they admit and use , ought to conceive nature to be . 't is not unlike that you may expect , or wish , that on this occasion , i should propose some definition or description of nature , as my own . but declining ( at least at present ) to say any thing , dogmatically , about this matter , i know not whether i may not , on this occasion , confess to you , that i have sometimes been so paradoxical , or ( if you please ) so extravagant , as to entertain , as a serious doubt , what i formerly intimated , viz. whether nature be a thing , or a name ? i mean , whether it be a real existent being , or a notional entity , somewhat of kin to those fictitious terms , that men have devis'd , that they might compendiously express several things together , by one name ? as when , for instance , we speak of the concocting faculty ascrib'd to animals ; those that consider , and are careful to understand , what they say , do not mean i know not what entity , that is distinct from the human body , as 't is an engine curiously contriv'd , and made up of stable and fluid parts ; but , observing an actuating power and fitness in the teeth , tongue , spittle , fibres and membranes of the gullet and stomach , together with the natural heat , the ferment , or else the menstruum , ) and some other agents , by their co-operation , to cook or dress the aliments , and change them into chyle ; observing these things , i say , they thought it convenient , for brevity's sake , to express the complex of those causes , and the train of their actions , by the summary appellation of concocting faculty . whilst i was indulging my self , in this kind of ravings , it came into my mind , that the natuists might demand of me , how , without admitting their notion , i could give any tolerable account of those , most useful , forms of speech , which men imploy , when they say , that nature does this or that ; or , that such a thing is done by nature , or according to nature , or else happens against nature ? and this question i thought the more worth answering , because these phrases are so very frequently us'd by men of all sorts , as well learned as illiterate , that this custom hath made them be thought , not only very convenient , but necessary ; insomuch , that i look upon it as none of the least things , that has procur'd so general a reception to the vulgar notion of nature , that these ready and commodious forms of speech suppose the truth of it . it may therefore , in this place , be pertinent to add , that such phrases , as , that nature , or faculty , or faculty , or suction , doth this or that , are not the only ones , wherein i observe , that men ascribe to a notional thing , that which , indeed , is perform'd by real agents ; as , when we say , that the law punishes murder with death , that it protects the innocent , releases a debtor out of prison , when he has satisfied his creditors ( and the ministers of justice ) on which , or the like occasions , we may justly say , that 't is plain that the law , which , being in it self a dead letter , is but a notional rule , cannot , in a physical sense , be said to perform these things ; but they are really performed by judges , officers , executioners , and other men , acting according to that rule . thus , when we say , that custom does this or that , we ought to mean only , that such things are done by proper agents , acting with conformity to what is usual , ( or customary ) on such occasions . and , to give you an yet more apposite instance , do but consider , how many events are wont to be ascrib'd to fortune or chance ; and yet fortune is , in reality , no physical cause of any thing , ( for which reason probably it is , that ancienter naturalists than aristotle , as himself intimates , take no notice of it , when they treat of natural causes , ) and only denotes , that those effects , that are ascribed to it , were produc'd by their true and proper agents , without intending to produce them ; as , when a man shoots at a deer , and the arrow lightly glancing upon the beast , wounds some man that lay beyond him , unseen by the archer ; 't is plain , that the arrow is a physical agent , that acts , by virtue of its fabrick and motion , in both these effects ; and yet men will say , that the slight hurt it gave the deer , was brought to pass according to the course of nature , because the archer design'd to shoot the beast ; but the mortal wound , it gave the man , happen'd by chance ▪ because the archer intended not to shoot him , or any man else . and , whereas divers of the old atomical philosophers , pretending ( without good reason , as well as against piety ) to give an account of the origin of things , without recourse to a deity , did sometimes affirm the world to have been made by nature , and sometimes by fortune , promiscuously employing those terms : they did it , ( if i guess aright ) because they thought neither of them to denote any true and proper physical cause , but rather certain conceptions , that we men have , of the manner of acting of true and proper agents . and therefore , when the epicureans taught , the world to have been made by chance , 't is probable , that they did not look upon chance , as a true and architectonick cause of the system of the world , but believ'd all things to have been made by the atoms , considered as their conventions and concretions into the sun , stars , earth , and other bodies , were made without any design of constituting those bodies . whilst this vein of framing paradoxes yet continued , i ventur'd to proceed so far , as to question , whether one may not infer , from what hath been said , that the chief advantage a philosopher receives from what men call nature , be not , that it affords them , on divers occasions , a compendious way of expressing themselves ? since ( thought i , ) to consider things otherwise than in a popular way , when a man tells me , that nature does such a thing , he does not really help me to understand , or to explicate , how it is done . for it seems manifest enough , that whatsoever is done in the world , at least wherein the rational soul intervenes not , is really effected by corporeal causes and agents , acting in a world so fram'd as ours is , according to the laws of motion setled by the omniscient author of things . when a man knows the contrivance of a watch or clock , by viewing the several pieces of it , and seeing how , when they are duely put together , the spring or weight sets one of the wheels a work , and by that another , till by a fit conse cution of the motions of these and other parts , at length the index comes to point at the right hour of the day : the man , if he be wise , will be well enough satisfied with this knowledge of the cause of the propos'd effect , without troubling himself to examine , whether a notional philosopher will call the time-measuring instrument , an ens per se , or an ens per accidens ? and whether it performs its operations by virtue of an internal principle , such as the spring of it ought to be ? or of an external one , such as one may think the appended weight ? and , as he , that cannot , by the mechanical affections of the parts of the universal matter , explicate a phaenomenon , will not be much help'd to understand , how the effect is produc'd , by being told , that nature did it : so , if he can explain it mechanically , he has no more need to think , or ( unless for brevity's sake ) to say , that nature brought it to pass , than he , that observes the motions of a clock , has to say , that 't is not the engine , but 't is art , that shews the hour ; whereas , without considering that general and uninstructive name , he sufficiently understands how the parts , that make up the engine , are determin'd by their construction , and the series of their motions , to produce the effect that is brought to pass . when the lower end of a reed , being dipp'd , for instance , in milk or water , he that holds it , does cover the upper end with his lips , and fetches his breath , and hereupon the liquor flows into his mouth : we are told , that nature raiseth it to prevent a vacuum , and this way of raising it , is call'd suction ; but , when this is said , the word nature does but furnish us with a short term , to express a concourse of several causes ; and so does in other cases , but what the word suction does in this . for neither the one , nor the other , helps us to conceive , how this , seemingly spontaneous , ascension of a heavy liquor is effected ; which they that know , that the outward air is a heavy fluid , and gravitates , or presses , more upon the other parts of the liquor , than the air , contained in the reed , ( which is rarefy'd by the dilatation of the sucker's thorax ) does upon the included part of the surface , will readily apprehend , that the smaller pressure will be surmounted by the greater , and , consequently yield to the ascension of the liquor , which is , by the prevalent external pressure , impell'd up into the pipe , and so into the mouth , ( as i , among others , have elswhere fully made out . ) so that , according to this doctrine , without recurring to nature's care , to prevent a vacuum , one that had never heard of the peripatetick notions of nature , or of suction , might very well understand the mention'd phaenomenon . and if afterwards he should be made acquainted with the receiv'd opinions , and forms of speech , us'd on this occasion , he would think , that so to ascribe the effect to nature , is needless , if not also erroneous ; and that the common theory of suction can afford him nothing , but a compendious term , to express , at once the concourse of the agents , that make the water ascend . how far , i think , these extravagant reasonings may be admitted , you will be enabled to discern , by what you will hereafter meet with , relating to the same subjects , in the vii . section of this discourse . and therefore , returning now to the rise of this digression , namely , that 't is not unlike you may expect , i should , after the vulgar notion of nature , that i lately mention'd , without acquiescing in it , substitute some definition or description of nature , as mine : i hope you will be pleas'd to remember , that the design of this paper was , to examine the vulgar notion of nature , not propose a new one of my own . and indeed the ambiguity of the word is so great , and 't is , even by learned men , usually employ'd to signifie such different things ; that , without enumerating & distinguishing its various acceptions , 't were very unsafe to give a definition of it , if not impossible to deliver one that would not be liable to censure . i shall not therefore presume to define a thing , of which there is yet no settled and stated notion agreed on among men. and yet , that i may , as far as i dare , comply with your couriosity , i shall tell you , that if i were to propose a notion , as less unfit than any i have met with , to pass for the principal notion of nature , with regard to which , many axioms and expressions , relating to that word , may be not inconveniently understood , i should distinguish between the universal , and the particular nature of things . and , of universal nature , the notion , i would offer , should be some such as this , that nature is the aggregate of the bodies , that make up the world , framed as it is , considered as a principle , by virtue whereof , they act and suffer according to the laws of motion , prescrib'd by the author of things . which desrciption may be thus paphras'd , that nature , in general , is , the result of the vniversal matter , or corporeal substance of the vniverse , considered as it is contrived into the present structure and constitution of the world , whereby all the bodies , that compose it , are inabled to act upon , and fitted to suffer from , one another , according to the setled laws of motion . i expect , that this description will appear prolix , and require to be heedfully perus'd : but the intricateness and importance of the subject hindred me from making it shorter , and made me chuse rather to presume upon your attention , that not endeavour to express my self intelligibly and warily , about a subject of such moment . and this will make way for the other ( subordinate ) notion , that is to attend the former description : since the particular nature , of an individual body , consists in the general nature , apply'd to a distinct portion of the vniverse . or rather , supposing it to be plac'd , as it is , in a world , fram'd by god , like ours , it consists in a convention of the mechanical affections ( such as bigness , figure , order , scituation , contexture , and local motion ) of its parts , ( whether sensible or insensible ) convenient and sufficient to constitute in , or to entitle to , its particular species or denominations , the particular body they make up , as the concourse of all these is considered as the principle of motion , rest , and changes , in that body . if you will have me give to these two notions more compendious expessions , now that , by what hath been said , i presume , you apprehend my meaning ; i shall express , what i call'd general nature , by cosmical mechanism , that is , a comprisal of all the mechanical affections ( figure , size , motion , &c. ) that belong to the matter of the great system of the universe . and , to denote the nature of this or that particular body , i shall style it , the private , the particular , or ( if you please ) the individual mechanism of that body ; or , for brevity's sake , barely the mechanism of it , that is , the essential . modification , if i may so speak , by which , i mean , the comprisal of all its mechanical affections conven'd in the particular body , consider'd , as 't is determinately plac'd , in a world so constituted , as ours is . 't is like , you will think it strange , that in this description i should make the present fabrick of the vniverse , a part , as it were , of the notion i frame of nature , though the generality of philosophers , as well as other men , speak of her , as a plastick principle of all the mundane bodies , as if they were her effects ; and therefore they usually call them , the works of nature ; and the changes that are observ'd in them , the phaenomena of nature . but , for my part , i confess , i see no need to acknowledg any architectonick being , besides god , antecedent to the first formation of the world. the peripateticks , whose school either devis'd , or mainly propagated , the received notion of nature , conceiving ( not only matter , but ) the world to be eternal , might look upon it , as the province , but could not , as the work of nature , which , in their hypothesis , is its guardian , without having been its architect . the epicureans themselves , that would refer all things , that are done in the world , to nature , cannot , according to their principles , make what they now call nature , to have been antecedent to the first formation of our present world. for , according to their hypothesis , whilst their numberless atoms wildly rov'd in their infinite vacuity , they had nothing belonging to them , but bigness , figure and motion : and 't was by the coalition , or convention of these atoms , that the world had its beginning . so that , according to them , it was not nature , but chance , that fram'd the world ; though afterwards , this original fabrick of things , does , by virtue of its structure , and the innate and unloseable motive power of atoms , continue things in the same state for the main ; & this course , though casually fallen into , & continued without design , is that , which , according to their hypothesis , ought to pass for nature . and , as meer reason doth not oblige me to acknowledge such a nature , as we call in question , antecedent to the origin of the world ; so neither do i find , that any revelation , contain'd in the holy scriptures , clearly teaches , that there was then such a being . for , in the history of the creation , 't is expresly said , that in the beginning god made the heavens and the earth ; and , in the whole account that moses gives of the progress of it , there is not a word of the agency of nature ; and , at the later end , when god is introduc'd , as making a re-view of all the parts of the universe , 't is said , that god saw every thing that he had made ; and 't is soon after added , that he blessed and sanctified the seventh day , because , in it , ( or rather , just before it , as i find the hebrew particle elsewhere us'd , ) he had rested from all his works , which god created and made . and tho' there be a passage in the book of iob , that , probably enough , argues the angels ( there call'd , the sons of god ) to have existed , either at the beginning of the first day 's work , or some time before it ; yet 't is not there so much as intimated , that they were co-operators , with their maker , in the framing of the world , of which they are represented as spectators and applauders , but not so much as instruments . but since revelation , as much as i always reverence it , is , i confess , a foreign principle in this philosophical enquiry , i shall wave it here , and tell you , that , when i consult only the light of reason , i am inclin'd to apprehend the first formation of the world , after some such manner as this . i think it probable , ( for i would not dogmatize on so weighty , and so difficult a subject , ) that the great and wise author of things , did , when he first form'd the universal and undistinguish'd matter , into the world , put its parts into various motions , whereby they were necessarily divided into numberless portions of differing bulks , figures , and scituations , in respect of each other . and that , by his infinite wisdom and power , he did so guide and over-rule the motions of these parts , at the beginning of things , as that ( whether in a shorter or a longer time , reason cannot well determine ) they were finally dispos'd into that beautiful and orderly frame , we call the world ; among whose parts some were so curiously contriv'd , as to be fit to become the seeds , or seminal principles , of plants and animals . and i further conceive , that he setled such laws or rules , of local motion , among the parts of the universal matter , that by his ordinary and preserving concourse , the several parts of the universe , thus once completed , should be able to maintain the great construction , or system and oeconomy , of the mundane bodies , and propagate the species of living creatures . so that , according to this hypothesis , i suppose no other efficient of the universe , but god himself , whose almighty power , still accompanied with his infinite wisdom , did at first frame the corporeal world , according to the divine idea's , which he had , as well most freely , as most wisely , determin'd to conform them to . for , i think , it is a mistake to imagine , ( as we are wont to do ) that what is call'd , the nature of this or that body , is wholly compris'd in its own matter , and its ( i say not substantial , but ) essential form ; as if from that , or these only , all its operations must flow . for an individual body , being but a part of the world , and incompass'd with other parts of the same great automaton , needs the assistance , or concourse , of other bodies , ( which are external agents ) to perform divers of its operations , and exhibit several phaenomena's , that belong to it . this would quickly and manifestly appear , if , for instance , an animal or an herb could be remov'd into those imaginary spaces , the school-men tell us of , beyond the world ; or into such a place , as the epicureans fancy their intermundia , or empty intervals , between those numerous worlds , their master dream'd of . for , whatever the structures of these living engines be , they would as little , without the co-operations of external agents ; such as the sun , aether , air , &c. be able to exercise their functions , as the great mills , commonly us'd with us , would be to grind corn , without the assistance of wind or running water . which may be thought the more credible , if it be considered , that by the meer exclusion of the air , ( tho' not of light , or the earth's magnetical effluvia , &c. ) procur'd by the air-pump , bodies plac'd in an extraordinary large glass , will presently come into so differing a state , that warm animals cannot live in it ; nor flame ( tho' of pure spirit of wine ) burn ; nor syringes draw up water ; nor bees , or such winged insects , fly ; nor caterpillars crawl ; nay , nor fire run along a train of dryed gunpowder : all which i speak upon my own experience . according to the foregoing hypothesis , i consider the frame of the world already made , as a great , and , if i may so speak , pregnant automaton , that , like a woman with twins in her womb , or a ship furnish'd with pumps , ordnance , &c. is such an engine as comprises , or consists of , several lesser engines . and this compounded machine , in conjunction with the laws of motion , freely establish'd and still maintain'd , by god among its parts ; i look upon as a complex principle , whence results the setled order , or course , of things corporeal . and that which happens according to this course , may , generally speaking , be said to come to pass according to nature , or to be done by nature , and that which thwarts this order may be said to be preternatural , or contrary to nature . and indeed , though men talk of nature as they please , yet whatever is done among things inanimate , which make incomparably the greatest part of the universe , is really done but by particular bodies , acting on one another by local motion , modifi'd by the other mechanical affections of the agent , of the patient , and of those other bodies , that necessarily concur to the effect , or the phaenomenon produc'd . n. b. those , that do not relish the knowledg of the opinions and rights of the ancient iews and heathens , may pass on to the next or v. section , and skip the whole following excursion , compris'd between double paratheses's , which , though neither impertinent nor useless to the scope of this treatise , is not absolutely necessary to it . [ in the foregoing ( iii. ) section of this treatise , i hope i have given a sufficient reason of my backwardness to make frequent use of the word nature , and now , in this ( iv. ) section , having laid down such a description , of nature , as shews that her votaries represent her as a goddess , or at least a semi-deity : 't will not be improper in this place , to declare some of the reasons of my dissatisfaction with the notion or thing it self , as well as with the use of the name ; and to shew , why i am not willing to comply with those many , that would impose it upon us as very friendly to religion . and these reasons i shall the rather propose , because not only the generality of other learned men , ( as i just now intimated ) but that of divines themselves , for want of information , or for some other cause , seem not to have well consider'd so weighty a matter . to manifest therefore the malevolent aspect , that the vulgar notion of nature has had , and therefore possibly may have , on religion ; i think fit , in a general way , to premise , what things they are , which seem to me to have been the fundamental errors , that mis-led the heathen world , as well philosophers as others . for , if i mistake not , the looking upon meerly corporeal , and oftentimes inanimate things , as if they were endow'd with life , sense , and understanding ; and the ascribing to nature , and some other beings , ( whether real or imaginary ) things that belong but to god , have been some , ( if not the chief ) of the grand causes of the polytheism and idolatry of the gentiles . the most ancient idolatry , ( taking the word in its laxer sense ) or at least one of the earliest , seems to have been the worship of the coelestial lights , especially the sun and moon : that kind of aboda zara , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as the iewish writers call strange or false worships ) being the most natural , as having for its objects , glorious bodies , immortal , always regularly mov'd , and very beneficial to men. there is recorded , in the holy scripture , a passage of iob , who is probably reputed to be , at least , as antient as moses , which seems to argue , that this worship , of the two great luminaries , was practis'd in his time , and look'd upon as criminal by religious men , and , as our english version renders the hebrew words , punishable by the civil magistrate . if , says iob , i beheld the sun when it shined , or the moon walking in brightness : and my heart hath been secretly inticed , or my mouth hath kiss'd my hand , &c. iob xxxi . , . and that this idolatry was practis'd in moses's time , may be gather'd from that passage in deuteromy . and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven , & when thou seest the sun , & the moon , and the stars , even all the host of heaven . shouldst be driven to worship them , & serve them , &c. deut. . . the sabaeans , or , as many criticks call them , the zabians , are by some very learned men thought to have been the earliest idolaters : and the ablest of the iewish rabbies , maimonides , makes them to be so antient , that abraham was put to dispute against them . and their superstition had so over-spread the east , in moses's time , that the same maimonides judiciously observes , that divers of the ceremonial laws , given to the iews , were instituted in opposition to the idolatrous opinions , magical rites , and other superstititions , of these zabians . of this , he ( seconded therein by our famous selden ) gives several instances ; to which , some are added by the learned hottinger . but this only upon the by ; my purpose , in mentioning these zabians , being to observe to you , that they look'd upon the planets , and especially the sun and moon , as gods , & worshipp'd them accordingly , taking them for intelligent beings , that had a great interest in the government of the world. this may be prov'd out of some eastern writers , especially maimonides , who , in one place , asserts the zabians to have ador'd the sun and moon , and the host of heaven , ( as the scripture styles the coelestial lights ) as true gods. and this we shall the less wonder at , if we consult another place of the same learned author , where he informs the readers , that these idolaters ( the zabians or chaldaeans ) made statues of silver and gold , those for the sun , and these for the moon ; which , being consecrated by certain rites and ceremonies , did invite , and , as it were , attract the spirits of these stars into those shrines : whence they would speak to their worshippers , acquaint them with things profitable , and even predict to them things to come . and of some such sort of speaking-images , some learned criticks suppose the teraphim ( as the original text calls them ) to have been , that laban so priz'd , as to call them his gods : which 't is guess'd rachel stole from her father , lest , by consulting them , he might learn what way her husband and his company had taken in their flight . and the same great rabbi , having inform'd his readers that he saw several books of the zabian superstition , somewhere mentions one or two , that treated of speaking-images . and 't was perhaps from these zabians , or their disciples , that zeno , the founder of the stoical sect , taught , as stobaeus informs us , that the sun , moon , and the rest of the stars were indow'd with understanding and prudence . and seneca , an eminent champion of that rigid sect , * reprehends epicurus and anaxagoras , ( whose disciple he was in that opinion ) that they held the sun to be a burning stone , or an aggregate of casual fires , and any thing rather than a god. i am sorry , i could not avoid thinking the great hippocrates , to have been involv'd in the great error we are speaking of , when in his book de principiis aut carnibus , near the beginning , i met with this passage . videtur sane mihi id , quod ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) calidum vocamus , immortale esse , & cuncta intelligere & videre , & audire & scire omnia , tum praesentia tum futura . according to which supposition , he presently attempts to give some such account of the origin of the world's frame , as he could in a very few lines ; and then spends the rest of the book , in giving particular accounts , how the parts of the human body come to be fram'd , wherein , though i commend the attempt in general , because , without acquiescing in i know not what faculties , he endeavours to give an intelligible and particular account , how things come to be perform'd and produc'd ; yet i cannot but look on this book , as a remarkable instance of this truth , that , without having recourse to the true god , a satisfactory account cannot be given of the original or primitive production of the greater and lesser world , since so great a naturalist as hippocrates , by the help of his idoliz'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , was unable to perform this task , with any satisfaction to an attentive and intelligent enquirer . and galen himself , who was not unacquainted with moses's writings , and liv'd where christianity was propagated thro' a great part of the world ; galen , i say , even in that admirable treatise , de usu partium , where he so excellently declares and celebrates the most wise author of things , was so far transported with the errour , which infected so many other heathen philosophers , that he phancied the earth itself , though he speaks contemptibly of it , had a certain soul or mind , imparted to it by the superior bodies , which , he saith , is so conspicuous , first in the sun , next in the moon , and afterwards in the other stars ; that by their beauty the contemplator will be induc'd to think it reasonable , that the more pure their corporeal substance is , 't is inhabited by a mind , so much the better and more perfect , than that of these terrestial bodies . and having spoken of the reasoning nature , that shin'd in plato , aristotle , hipparchus , archimedes , &c. he thus infers . si igitur in tanta colluvie ( quo enim alio nomine quis appellet id quod ex carne , sanguine , pituita , ac bile utraque est conflatum ) mens gignatur , adeo eximia & excellens ; quantam ejusdem putandum est esse excellentiam in sole , luna , allisque etiam sideribus ? ( to which he subjoins ) mihi quidem , dum haec mecum voluto , non exigua quaedam mens talis , per ipsum etiam nos aerem ambientem , esse extensa videtur . fieri enim non potest , quum lucis ipsius solis sit particeps , quin vim etiam ab ipso assumat . but this upon the by. nor did this opinion , of the divinity of the coelestial bodies , die with the zabians , or the greek philosophers . for i found , by some questions i propos'd to an inquisitive person , who , having liv'd many years in china and several of the neighbouring kingdoms , had acquired skill enough in the tongues to converse with the natives ; i found , i say , that in a solemn conference he had with some of the more eminent and philosophical doctors of the chineses religion , they frankly profest , that they believe the heavenly bodies to be truely divine , and to be worshipp'd , and that upon this particular ground , that they imparted to men such good things , as light , heat , rain , &c. and the productions and consequences of these . and this belief they declar'd , they thought more rational , than that of the europeans , who worship a deity , whose neither shape , nor colour , nor motion , nor efficacy on sublunary things , were at all visible . it agrees very well with the opinion of the ancient greeks , who , as origen relates , call'd the sun , moon , and the stars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , conspicuous and sensible gods. and we are taught by eusebius , that the ancient aegyptian theologizers , whose religion was neer of kin to that of the chaldeans , if not borrow'd of it , look'd upon the sun and moon , whom they worshipp'd under the names of osiris and isis , not only as the chief gods , but as the makers and governours of much , if not of all , of the rest of the universe . i will not here enquire , whether these old heathen philosophers did , besides the stars and other beings , that they ador'd as gods , believe one only numen or supream deity . but that may suffice for my present purpose , which seems manifest , viz. that they ascrib'd to sensible beings , attributes peculiar to the true god ; that this was occasion'd by their thinking them intelligent and governing , and that these inferiour beings were , by far , the most usual and familiar objects both of their discourses and their worship , and that they did ( to use the phrase of the apostle of the gentiles ) worship the creature besides , or more than , ( for the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signifie either ) the creator , who by moses , the prophets , and the apostles , expresly declares a dislike of this worship , and even in that more specious and seemingly excuseable kind of it , which was in use among the ten tribes , that profess'd , and perhaps believ'd , their worship to be directed to the one supream god , and him the true god of israel . but this also upon the by. this belief , that the world and divers of its principal parts , as the sun , moon , stars , &c. were animated and endowed with intelligent minds , was so contagious , that , not only it help'd to seduce the emperor iulian from christianity to heathenism , ( insomuch that he gives the sun solemn thanks for his advancement to the roman monarchy ; ) but it infected very learned men among the iews and christians . of the former , i shall need to name but two ; the first being the famousest and judiciousest of the ancienter rabbins , maimonides , in whom , i confess , i wonder'd to find this assertion , that the sun and stars were animated beings , endow'd with understanding and will : and the other , being-reputed the chief and the most learned of the moderns , menasseh ben israel , ( with whom i have convers'd at amsterdam ) who in his problems , de creatione ; hath this notable passage . — quod de intelligentiis tradunt id vero mera fabula est ; nam coeli , secundum rabbi mosem , & rei veritatem , habent animas proprias rationali vita praeditas , sicut alibi à me demonstrabitur . and a greater man than maimonides , origen himself , among the christians , not only in one place adventures to say , siquidem etiam coelestes stellae animalia sunt rationalia , virtute praedit● illustrata cognitionis lumine , à s●●●entia illa quae est splendor aeterni luminis ; but in another proceeds so far , that i found ( not without surprize ) that he says , the christians sing hymns to god the lord of all , and god the word ; no otherwise than do the sun , moon , and stars , and the whole heavenly host , since all these , being a heavenly quire , do with just men celebrate the supream god , and his only begotten [ son. ] the boldness of these unjustified paradoxes i the the less wonder at , when i consider , what has for many ages been taught by the school philosophers , from aristotle ; namely , that the coelestial spheres had their peculiar intelligences , that is , rational , immortal , powerful and active beings . 't is true , that in the jews and christians , i have been speaking of ; the malignity of the error , they embrac'd , was corrected and master'd by the sound and orthodox principles they held together with it . but still 't is dangerous for those , that would be loyal to him , that styles himself a iealous god , to adopt premises that have been able to mis-lead such great persons , and from which many famous philosophers have plausibly enough drawn consequences very repugnant to true religion . nor are christians themselves so much out of danger of being seduc'd by these heathenish notions , about an intelligent world , but that ( not again to mention the apostate emperor ) even in these times there is lately sprung up a sect of men , as well professing christianity , as pretending to philosophy ; who ( if i be not mis-inform'd of their doctrine ) do very much symbolize with the ancient heathens , and talk much indeed of god , but mean such a one , as is not really distinct from the animated and intelligent universe ; but is , on that account , very differing from the true god , that we christians believe and worship . and , though i find the leaders of this sect to be look'd upon , by some more witty than knowing men , as the discoverers of unheard of mysteries in physicks and natural theology ; yet their hypothesis does not at all appear to me to be new , especially when i remember , besides the passages of the ancients , cited in this paper , some others of the same import , such as is particularly that of lucan . estque dei sedes , ubi terra , & pontus , & aer , et coelum , & virtus : superos quid quaerimus ultra ? iupiter est quodcunque vides , quocunque moveris . the great affinity between the soul of the world , so much talk'd of among the heathen philosophers , and the thing that men call nature , makes it fit for me to take notice , in this place , of the influence which the belief of that imaginary soul had upon the gentiles with reference to religion . that divers of the ancient philosophers held the world to be animated , hath been observed by more than one learned man. but that which makes more for my present purpose , is , that the same old sages did also ( at least for the most part ) believe , that this mundane soul was not barely a living , but a most intelligent and wisely active being . this may be easily enough discerned by him , that shall heedfully peruse diogenes laertius's lives of the philosophers , and particularly of zeno. but at present i shall rather make use of an author , who , though he be very seldom cited for philosophical history , seems to me to have been very well vers'd in it . the writer i mean , is the acute sceptick sextus empiricus , ( who is thought to have lived about plutarch's time , and by some , to have been his nephew ; ) who recites a long ratiocination of xenophon , which , whether it be solid or not , is at least ingenious and plausible , but too prolix to be transcrib'd in this place , where it may suffice to say , that he thus concludes : est ergo mundus mente praeditus & intelligens , &c. which assertion sextus himself thus proposes for him ; si non esset aliqua mens in mundo , neque ulla mens in te esset . est autem in te mens aliqua ; ergo est etiam in mundo . et ideo mundus est mente & intelligentia praeditus . the same sceptick introduces zeno cittiens . discoursing thus ; quod immittit semen ejus quod est particeps rationis , est ipsum quoque rationis particeps . mundus autem emittit semen ejus quod est particeps rationis ; est ergo mundus rationis particeps . to which testimonies i might add many others out of the same author , who , in the same discourse , tells us , that the stoicks held the world to be an animal . but the opinion that the old philosophers , we have been speaking of , held of the world 's being endowed with an understanding or rational soul , will be yet more evident by what i now proceed to alledge , to manifest how this opinion of theirs led them to the worship of another , than the true god. sextus empiricus , in the lately cited discourse of xenophon , infers from the worlds being an intelligent being , that it is also a divine one ; for to the lately recited conclusion , est ergo mundus mente praeditus & intelligens , he immediately subjoins this other , et ideo deus . and alittle after , repeating their discourse that defended this argumentation of xenophon against an objection , he concludes their reasoning thus ; ideo mundus est mente & intelligentia praeditus : cum sit autem mente & intelligentia praeditus , est etiam deus . quemadmodum ( says also phurnutus the philosopher , ) nos anima gubernamur , sic & mundus animam habet , quae vindicet illum ab interitu ; & haec vocatur iupiter . to which agrees that in cicero's academick questions ; mundum esse sapientem , & habere mentem , quae seipsam fabricata sit , & omnia moderatur , regat . and the reasoning of the stoicks in st. augustin is very ryclear to the same purpose ; * dicunt ( saith he , speaking of the embracers of that sect ) omnia sidera partes iovis esse , & omnia vivere atque rationales animas habere , & ideo sine controversia deos esse . and socrates is introduc'd by aristophanes , as no less than invocating the air and the aether together , in these words . o rex , o imperator , aer vaste , quae terram contines suspensam , nec non splendide aether . which brings into my mind that plain confession of the poet manilius . qua pateat , mundum divino numine verti , atque ipsum esse deum . to all these i shall add that notable and express passage of the elder pliny ; † mundum & hoc quod alio nomine coelum appellare libuit , cujus circumflexu teguntur omnia , numen esse credi par est , aeternum , immensum , neque genitum , neque interiturum unquam . sacer est , aeternus , immensus , totus in toto , vero ipse totum , finitus & infinito similis , extra , intra , cuncta complexus in se , idemque naturae opus , & rerum ipsa natura . if it be objected , that the passages , i have cited out of heathen philosophers , concern the soul of the world , and not nature ; i answer , that the affinity of these two is so great , that divers of the old sages seem to have confounded them , and not to have made account of any other vniversal nature , than the soul of the world. and however , the great and pernicious errors they were led into , by the belief that the universe itself , and many of its nobler parts , besides men , were endowed , not only with life , but understanding and providence , may suffice to make us christians very jealous of admitting such a being , as that which men venerate under the name of nature : since they ascribe to it as many wonderful powers and prerogatives , as the idolaters did to their ador'd mundane soul. but i shall give a further answer to the above propos'd objection , if i can shew , how sacrilegiously they abus'd the being we are speaking of , as well under the very name of nature , as under that of the soul of the world. on this occasion i remember a passage in * seneca , that i did not expect to meet with , where , speaking of some ethnick opinions about thunder , non iovem , ( says he ) qualem in capitolio colimus , fulmina mittere , sed custodem rectoremque vniversi , animam ac spiritum mundani hujus operis dominum & artificem , cui nomen omne convenit . to which , within a few lines after , he adds , vis illam naturam vocare ? non peccabis , est enim ex quo nata sunt omnia , cujus spiritu vivimus . vis illam vocare mundum ? non falleris , ipse enim est totum quid , totus suis partibus inditus & se sustinens vi sua . and the same author elsewhere , nihil ( says he ) natura sine deo est , nec deus sine natura , sed idem est vterque . and , in another of the roman sages , we have this passage ; natura est igitur quae continet mundum omnem , eumque tuetur , & quidem non sine sensu ac ratione . and the opinion , not of a private philosopher , but of the sect of stoicks , is thus delivered by lactantius : isti uno naturae nomine res diversissimas comprehenderunt , deum & mundum , artificem & opus , dicunique alterum sine altero nihil posse , tanquam natura sit deus mundo permistus . nam inter dum sic confundunt , ut sit deus ipsa mens mundi , & mundus sit corpus dei ; quasi vero simul esse caeperint mundus & deus . and , to let you see , that in this our free enquiry , i do not , without cause , here and there style nature sometimes a semi-deity , and sometimes a goddess , and talk of some mens idolizing her ; i shall here annex part of a hymn of orpheus's , address'd immediately to nature . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. which his interpreter thus renders into latin ; o natura omnium mater dea , artificiosa admodum dea , suscitatrix honorabilis , multa creans , divina regina , omnidomans , indomita gubernatrix , ubique splendens . and after a few lines ; aetheria , terrestiis , & marina regina , &c. i know aristotle , and his commentators , do not so directly idolize nature , as did orpheus ( or whoever was the antient author of the hymns , that bear his name ; ) but yet i doubt they pass further than they can justifie , when they so freely and often assert , that natura est sapientissima , that opus naturae est opus intelligentiae , that natura fine suo nunquam excidit , that natura semper quod optimum est facit , ( to which may be added other-like axioms : ) and when they most commonly call the works of god , the works of nature , and mention him and her together , not as a creator and a creature , but as two co-ordinate governors , like the two roman consuls ; as when they say frequently , and without scruple , ( what i find to have been first by aristotle himself ) ▪ that deus & natura nihil faciunt frustra ; to which phrase may agree that expression of ovid , where , speaking of the chaos , whilst the bodies , that compos'd it , lay shuffled together , and were not yet pack'd , he says , hanc deus & melior litem natura diremit . to the recital of the irreligious errors of the ancient heathens , about the divinity of the world , and some of its principal parts , as the sun , moon , stars , aether , &c. i should add a redargution of them ; if i thought it necessary , in this place , solemnly to refute opinions , some of which are altogether precarious , and others very improbable . those greek and latin philosophers , that held the sun to be a fire , were much at a loss to find out fuel to maintain the flame . but those zabians and chaldeans that thought him indow'd , not only with a living soul , but with understanding and will , must , if they had duly consider'd things , have ben much more puzzled , to find not only food for so vast a body , ( above times bigger than the terraqueous globe ) but to find in him the organs necessary to the preparation and digestion of that food , and to the other functions that belong to animal-nutrition . and , if we admit the cartesian hypothesis , the way whereby the sun , fix'd stars , and planets , are generated , will sufficiently manifest them to be neither intelligent nor living bodies . and , perhaps , i could here propose a quite other hypothesis , about the nature of the sun , and the fuel of its fire , that may be countenanc'd by some phaenomena and experiments , without making him other than an igneous , and altogether inanimate body , whose flame needs to be repair'd by fuel furnish'd to it nearer hand , than from the sea or earth . but i purposely omit such objections against the opinion i oppose , as , though drawn from the dictates of sound philosophy , about the origine of things , may be question'd without being to be clear'd in few words . 't is also without proof , that 't is presum'd and asserted , that the coelestial bodies , newly mention'd , are indow'd with understanding and prudence , especially , so as to be able to know the particular conditions and transactions of men , and hear and grant the prayers of their worshippers . and the moon , which was one of their principal deities , and by them prefer'd before all the other planets and stars , the sun excepted , is so rude and mountainous a body , that 't is a wonder that speculative men , who consider'd how many , how various , and how noble functions belong to a sensitive soul , could think , a lump or mass of matter , so very remote from being fitly organiz'd , should be animated and govern'd by a true living & sensitive soul. i know that both these deifiers of the coelestial globes , and also the heathen disciples of aristotle , besides divers of the same mind , even among the christians , say great and lofty things of the quintessential nature of the heavenly bodies , and their consequent incorruptibility ; of the regularity of their motions , and of their divine quality of light , that makes them refulgent . but the persuasion they had , of this quintessential nature of the superior part of the world , was not , if i guess aright , grounded upon any solid physical reason , but was entertain'd by them for its congruity to the opinion they had of the divinity of the coelestial bodies : of which , aristotle himself , especially in his books de coelo , speaks in such a way , as hath not a little contributed , among his followers ; to such an excessive veneration for those bodies , as is neither agreeable to true philosophy , nor friendly to true religion . he himself takes notice , that the pythagoreans held our earth to be one of the planets , and that it moved about the sun , which they plac'd in the middle of the world. and since this hypothesis , of the earths motion , was in the last age reviv'd by copernicus , not only those great men keplerus , galileo , and gassendus , but most of the best modern astronomers ; and , besides des-cartes and his sect , many other naturalists have imbrac'd this hypothesis : which , indeed , is far more agreeable to the phaenomena , not only than the doctrine of aristotle , ( who was plainly mistaken about the order and consistence of the heavens ) but than the ancient and generally received ptolomaick system . now , supposing the terraqueous globe to be a planet , he that considers , that 't is but a round mass of very heterogeneous substances , ( as appears by the differing natures of its great constituent parts , land and sea ) whose surface is very rude and uneven , and its body opacous , unless as it happens to be inlightned by the the sun , moon , and stars , and so very inorganical for so much as nutrition , that it seems wholly unfit to be a living animal , much less a rational one . i say , he that considers such things will scarce be forward to ascribe understanding and providence , much less a divine nature , to the other stars . as for instance , to the moon , which our best telescopes manifest to be a very craggy and mountainous body , consisting of parts of very differing textures , ( as appears by her brighter parts and permanent spots ) and which of herself is opacous , having no manifest light , but what she borrows from the sun , and perhaps from the earth . as for the boasted immutability of the heavenly bodies , besides that it may be very probably call'd in question by the phaenomena of some ( for i do not say every one ) of the comets , that by their parallax were found to be above the moon , and consequently in the coelestial region of the world ; besides this , i say , the incorruptibleness and immutability of the heavenly bodies is more than probably disproveable by the sudden and irregular generation , changes and destruction , of the spots of the sun : which are sometimes so suddenly destroyed , that , i remember , in the year . on the th of may , having left in the morning a spot , whose motions we had long observ'd through an excellent telescope , with an expectation , that it would last many days visible to us , we were surpriz'd to find , that when we came to observe it again in the evening , it was quite dissipated , though it seemed thick ; and by comparing it to the sun , we estimated the extent of its surface to be equal to that of all europe . as to the constancy of the motions of the stars ; if the earth , which we know to be inanimated , be a planet , it moves as constantly and regularly about the sun , ( in that which they call the great orb , ) as the other planets do , or as the moon doth about the earth . and i consider , that though we should suppose our globe not to be a planet , yet there would manifestly be a constant motion , and regular enough , of a great part of it : since ( bating some anomali's , that shores , winds , and some other extrinsick things , occasion , ) there is a regular ebbing and flowing twice a day , and also spring-tides twice a month , of that vast aggregate of waters , the ocean ; which perhaps is not inferior in bulk to the whole body of the moon , and whereof also vast tracts are sometimes observed to shine . and lastly , whereas a great proof of the divinity of the stars is taken from their light ; though i grant it to be the noblest of sensible qualities , yet i cannot think it a good proof of the divine , or very excellent , nature of bodies endow'd with it , whether they be coelestial or not . for whereas the zabians and chaldeans consider'd and ador'd the planets , as the chief gods , our telescopes discover to us , that , except the sun , ( if he be one , rather than a fix'd star ) they shine but by a borrow'd light ; in so much that venus , as vividly luminous as it appears to the naked eye , is sometimes seen ( as i have beheld it ) horn'd like the moon in no long time after her change. and at this rate also the earth , whether it be a planet or no , is a luminous body , being enlightned by the sun : and possibly , as a body forty times bigger , communicates more light to the moon , than it receives from her , as is probably argued from the light seen on the surface of the moon in some of her eclipses . and , though in the night , when the darkness hath widened the pupils of our eyes , and the moon shines with an unrival'd lustre , she seems exceeding bright , yet she may be , for ought i know , more opacous than the solid part of the terrestrial globe . for i remember , that i have more than once heedfully observ'd a small cloud in the west , where the moon then was , about sun-set ; and comparing them together , the little cloud , as opacous and loose a body as it was , reflected the light as strongly to my eye , as did the moon , that seem'd perhaps to be not far from it , both of them appearing like little whitish clouds , though afterwards , as the sun descended lower and lower beneath the horizon , the moon grew more and more luminous . and , speaking of light indfienitely , 't is so far from arguing a divine nature in the bodies that are endow'd with it , whether , as the planets , by participation from an external illuminant , or as the sun , from an internal principle ; that a burn'd stone , witness that of bolonia , will afford , in proportion to its bulk , incomparably more borrow'd light than one of the planets . and a light from its internal constitution may be found , not only in such abject creatures as insects , whether winged , as the cucupias of hispaniola , or creeping , as our glow-worms ; but also in bodies inanimate and corrupted , as in rotten wood , in stinking whitings , and divers other putrify'd fishes . i cannot now stay to enquire , how the zabians , and such idolaters as they , could make out the connexion , symmetry , and subordination or dependance of the several parts of the world , compos'd of so many different and distant beings , endowed not only with animal souls , but with their distinct and peculiar understandings and wills , and many of them also with divine nature . nor shall i consider , how strange a monster , rather than an animal and a deity , those many heathen philosophers and their adherents must make of the universe , who held it to be but one ; and yet were of the paradoxical opinion , that ( as hath been elsewhere noted ) is roundly profess'd by stobaeus , at the very beginning of his physical eclogues , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. i. e. iupiter ( quidem ) totus mundus est : animal ex animalibus ; numen ex numinibus compositum . these , i say , and the like objections against the pagan doctrine , i must not now insist on , because i perceive that i have slipp'd into a somewhat long digression , which yet perhaps may not be altogether unseasonable or useless , ) which therefore i shall here break off , to resume and conclude the discourse , that this section was allotted to , which i might easily have enlarg'd , but i presume there is enough said in it already , to let you see , that 't is a dangerous thing to believe other creatures , than angels and men , to be intelligent and rational ; especially to afcribe to any of them an architectonick , provident and governing power . and though i readily acknowledge , that that there is no great danger , that well instructed christians should , like some heathens , worship nature as a goddess ; yet the things i formerly alledg'd , to shew it unsafe to cherish opinions , of kin to those that mis-led a multitude even of philosophers , make me fear too many , and not a few of the learned themselves , may have a veneration for what they call nature , much greater than belongs to a meer creature : if they do not , to use a scripture expresssion , worship the creature , above or besides the creator , who , and not the world , nor the soul of it , is the true god. and though i should grant , that the received notion of nature doth neither subvert , nor much endanger any principle of religion : yet that is not enough for the purpose of those naturists i reason with , since they are here supposed to make it a fault in others , not to ascribe to the nature they venerate , as much as themselves do : and they represent their own notion of it , not only as innocent , but as very useful , if not necessary to religion . ] sect . v. iv. i come now , eleutherius , to acquaint you with some of the reasons , that have made me backward to entertain such a notion of nature , as i have hitherto discours'd of . and i shall at present comprise them under the following five . i. the first whereof , is , that such a nature , as we are speaking of , seems to me to be either asserted , or assum'd without sufficient proof . and this single reason , if it be well made out , may , i think , suffice for my turn . for , in matters of philosophy , where we ought not to take up any thing upon trust , or believe it without proof , 't is enough to keep us from believing a thing , that we have no positive argument to induce us to assent to it , though we have no particular arguments against it . and , if this rule be to take place in lesser cases , sure it ought to hold in this , where we are to entertain the belief of so catholick an agent , that all the others are look'd upon but as its instruments , that act in subordination to it ; and which , being said to have an immediate agency in many of the phaenomena of the world , cannot but be suppos'd to be demonstrable by divers of them . i have yet met with no physical arguments , either demonstrative , or so much as considerably probable , to evince the existence of the nature , we examin . and , though i should admit the use , that some divines contend for , of the holy scriptures in philosophical controversies , yet i should not be persuaded of the existence of the nature , we dispute of . for , i do not remember , that the scripture any where declares to us , that there is such a thing , ( in the sense by me question'd ) though ( as i formerly noted more fully in the iv. section , ) in genesis and some other places , where the corporeal works of god are expresly treated of , ( though in order to spiritual ends ) one might probably enough expect to find some mention of god's grand vicegerent in the universe of bodies , if he had establish'd any such . but , whatever be the true cause of the scriptur's silence about this matter , the silence itself is sufficient to justifie me , for examining freely , by reason , a thing that is not impos'd on my belief by revelation . and , as for the physical arguments that may be brought in favour of the question'd notion of nature , i shall , e're long , examine the principal of them , and shew that they are not convincing . to these things may be added , as to the proof drawn from the general opinion about nature , that , being a popular , not a physical argument , it may indeed pass for currant with the vulgar , but ought not to do so with philosophers . ii. the second reason is taken from the unnecessariness of such a nature , as is pretended . for , since a great part of the work of true philosophers has been , to reduce the principles of things to the smallest number they can , without making them insufficient ; i see not , why we should take in a principle , of which we have no need . for , supposing the common matter of all bodies to have been at first divided into innumerable minute parts , by the wise author of nature , and these parts to have been so dispos'd of , as to form the world , constituted as it now is ; and especially , supposing that the vniversal laws of motion , among the parts of the matter , have been establish'd , and several conventions of particles contrived into the seminal principles of various things ; all which may be effected by the meer local motion of matter , ( not left to itself , but skilfully guided at the beginning of the world ) if ( i say ) we suppose these things , together with god's ordinary and general concourse , which we very reasonably may : i see not , why the same phaenomena , that we now observe in the world , should not be produc'd , without taking in any such powerful and intelligent being , distinct from god , as nature is represented to be . and , 'till i see some instance produc'd to the contrary , i am like to continue of this mind , and to think that the phaenomena , we observe , will genuinely follow from the meer fabrick and constitution of the world. as , supposing the sun and moon to have been put , at first , into such motions about the earth , as experience shews they have ; the determinate celerity of these motions , and the lines , wherein they are performed , will make it necessary , that the moon should be sometimes full , sometimes scarce illuminated at all to us-ward , sometimes horned , and , in a word , should exhibit such several phases as every month she doth , and that at some times she and the sun should have a trine , or a quadrate aspect , &c. and that now one , and now the other of them , should at set times suffer an eclipse : though these eclipses were by the romans and others of old , and are by many unlearn'd nations at this day , look'd upon as supernatural things ; and though also aristotle , and a multitude of his followers , fancy'd , that such regular motions could not be maintain'd without an assistent intelligence , which he and they therefore assign'd to each of the heavenly orbs. and indeed the difficulty , we find , to conceive , how so great a fabrick , as the world , can be preserved in order , and kept from running again to a chaos , seems to arise from hence , that men do not sufficiently consider the unsearchable wisdom of the divine architect or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as the scripture styles him ) of the world , whose piercing eyes were able to look at once quite through the universe , and take into his prospect both the beginning and end of time : so that perfectly fore-knowing , what would be the consequences of all the possible conjunctures of circumstances , into which matter , divided and mov'd according to such laws , could , in an automaton so constituted as the present world is , happen to be put ; there can nothing fall out , unless when a miracle is wrought , that shall be able to alter the course of things , or prejudice the constitution of them , any further , than he did from the beginning foresee , and think fit to allow . nor am i sure , that the received notion of nature , though it be not necessary , is at least very useful , to explicate physical phaenomena . for , besides that , i shall shew e're long , that several explications , where recourse to it is presum'd to be the most advantagious , are not to be allow'd : to give the nature of a things for the cause of this or that particular quality , or operation of it , is to leave men as ignorant as they were before ; or , at least , is to acknowledg , that a philosopher can , in such cases , assign no better particular and immediate causes of things , than a shepherd or a tradesman , that never learnt natural philosophy , can assign of the same things , and of a thousand others . and though it be true , ( as i formerly also intimated ) that , in many cases , philosophers themselves can answer no otherwise , to such questions as may be propos'd to them , than by having recourse to the nature of the thing ; yet such answerers do not declare the proper cause of a dark phaenomenon , but only that he , who imploys them , does not yet know it : and so this indefinite notion of nature , which is equally applicable to the resolving of all difficulties , is not useful to disclose the thing , but to delude the maker of the question , or hide the ignorance of the answerer . iii. my third argument is , that the nature , i question , is so dark and odd a thing , that 't is hard to know what to make of it , it being scarce , if at all , intelligibly propos'd , by them that lay most weight upon it . for it appears not clearly , whether they will have it to be a corporeal substance , or an immaterial one , or some such thing , as may seem to be betwixt both ; such as many peripateticks do represent substantial forms , and what they call real qualities , which divers school-men hold to be ( at least by miracle ) separable from all matter whatsoever . if it be merely corporeal , i confess , i understand not , how it can be so wise , and almost omniscient an agent , as they would have it pass for . besides that , if it be a body , i would gladly know , what kind of body it is , and how , since , among bodies , there can be no penetration of dimensions , this body can so intimately pervade , as they pretend nature does , all the other bodies of the world ? and to this i would add divers other questions , that would not be easily answered . ( but i shall resume this third argument in another place . ) if it be said , that nature is a semi-substantia , as some of the modernest schoolmen are pleas'd to call substantial forms , and real qualities ; i roundly answer , that i acknowledge no such chymerical and unintelligible beings , and shall only desire you to apply to them a good part of the discourse , made in certain papers , occasion'd by a chymico-physical essay about salt-petre , against the pretended origine , and inexplicable nature , of the imaginary substantial forms of the peripateticks . it remains therefore , that this nature , we speak of , if it be any thing positive , should be an immaterial substance . but to have recourse to such an one , as a physical agent , and not only a determiner , but the grand author , of the motion of bodies , and that , especially in such familiar phaenomena , as the ascension of water in pumps , the suspension of it in watering-pots for gardens , the running of it through siphons , and i know not how many others ) and to explain its casuality , as they speak , will , i think , prove a work exceeding difficult : though i shall not here spend time to shew you the farther inconveniences of such a supposition , being to do that hereafter ; and , in the mean-while , contenting myself to observe , as to many of the naturists , that , though their doctrine may favour it , they seem rather content to talk darkly , and uncertainly , of what they call nature , than by clearly-defining it , expose it to objections not easie to be answered , and who foresee the advantage , that the unsetledness of the notion gives them , to pretend knowledg , or disguise ignorance . iv. since many of the most learned amongst the naturists are christians , and not few of them divines too , it may not be improper ( which else i should , perhaps , think it would be , ) to add , in this place , that the next thing , for which i dislike the vulgar notion ( or idea ) of nature , is , that i think it dangerous to religion in general , and consequently to the christian. for this erroneous conceit defrauds the true god of divers acts of veneration and gratitude , that are due to him from men , upon the account of the visible world , and diverts them to that imaginary being they call nature , which has no title to them ; for , whilst nature is suppos'd to be an intelligent thing , that wisely and benignly administers all that is done among bodies , 't is no wonder that the generality of philosophers , and , after their example , of other men , should admire and praise her , for the wonderful , and for the useful things that they observe in the world. and , in effect , though nature , in that sense of the word i am speaking of , be never ( that i remember ) to be found in the sacred writings ; yet , nothing is to be more frequently met with ( and that adorn'd with titles and encomiums ) in the books of philosophers , than nature and her effects . and , if we consider , that , whatever has been said , by some , in excuse of aristotle himself , yet the generality of the peripateticks , from whom the vulgar notion of nature is chiefly receiv'd , made the world to be eternal , and referr'd all the transactions among the bodies it contains , to what they call'd nature . whence , 't will not be difficult to perceive , that , if they do not quite exclude god , yet , as they leave him no interest in the first formation of the universe ; so they leave him but very little in the administration of the parts it consists of , especially the sublunary ones . so that , instead of the true god , they have substituted , for us , a kind of a goddess , with the title of nature : which , as they look upon as the immediate agent and director in all excellent productions , so they ascribe to her the praise and glory of them. whether this great error , in a point of such importance , may not undermine the foundation of religion , i think it may not irrationally be suspected . for , since the most general and efficacious argument , that has persuaded philosophers , and other men , that there is a god and a consideration of the providence , is afforded by the visible world , wherein so many operations and other things are observ'd , that are manag'd ( or perform'd ) with such conduct and benignity , as cannot justly be ascrib'd but to the wisdom and goodness of a deity : they that ascribe these things to mere nature , do much weaken the force of that argument , if they do not quite take away the necessity of acknowledging a deity , by shewing , that , without any need of having recourse to him , of the administration of the world and of what is perform'd among things corporeal , an account may be given . though , when men are put upon considering the matter , and press'd to declare themselves more clearly , they are asham'd to affirm , that god and nature are the same thing , and , will confess , that she is but his vicegerent ; yet , in practise , their admiration and their praises are frequently given to nature , not to god : in like manner , as , though the sun be the fountain of light , and the moon derives all hers from the sun ; yet the sea , in its grand motions of ebbing and flowing , appears to respect the moon , and not the sun : for thus , the generality of men , though they will acknowledg that nature is inferior and subordinate to god , do yet appear to regard her more than him. to be short , nature uses to be so frequently recurr'd to , and is so magnifi'd in the writings of physiologers , that the excessive veneration men have for nature , as it has made some philosophers ( as the epicureans ) deny god , so , 't is to be fear'd , that it makes many forget him : and , perhaps , a suspicious person would venture to add , that , if other principles hindred not ( as , i know , that in many , and , think , that in most , of the christian naturists they do , ) the erroneous idea of nature would , too often , be found to have a strong tendency to shake , if not to subvert , the very foundations of all religion ; mis-leading those that are inclin'd to be its enemies , from overlooking the necessity of a god , to the questioning , if not to the denyal , of his existence . v. my fifth and last argument is taken from hence ; that i observe divers phaenomena , which do not agree with the notion or representation of nature , that i question . for , if indeed there were such an intelligent , powerful and vigilant being , as philosophers are wont to describe nature to be , divers things would not be done , which experience assures us are done . and here i shall once for all give an advertisement , which i desire may be call'd to mind , whenever there shall be occasion , in the following part of this tract , which is this ; that , because inanimate bodies are usually more simple , or less compounded , and of a slighter and less complicated or curious contrivance , than animals or plants , i thought fit to chuse most of the instances i employ , rather among lifeless bodies , whose structure and qualities are more easy to be intelligibly and with brevity discours'd of , than among living creatures , whose textures , being organical , are much more intricate and subtil . and this course i did not scruple to take , because the celebraters of nature give her a province , or rather an empire , as large as the world , and will have her care and jurisdiction reach , as well to inanimate as to living bodies ; and accordingly most of the conspicuous instances they alledge , of her providence and power , are taken from bodies destitute of life ; as when they tell us , that the ascension of water in sucking-pumps , and the sustentation of it in gardeners watering-pots , are caus'd by nature's abhorrence of a vacuum : that heavy bodies ( unhinder'd ) fall to the ground in a perpendicular line , because nature directs them the shortest way to the centre of the earth ; and that bubbles rise thro' the water , and flames ascend in the air , because nature directs these bodies to re-join themselves to their respective elements ; to omit other instances of this sort , that there will be occasion to mention hereafter : till when , these may suffice to warrant my taking most of my instances from inanimate bodies ; though i shall not confine my self to these , especially when i shall come to answer objections that are taken from living creatures . the foregoing advertisement will be , i hope , found conducive to clear the way for my fifth argument , lately propos'd , which concludes , that , if indeed there were such a being , as nature is usually represented to be , several things would be otherwise administred in the universe , than experience shews they are . to enumerate all the particulars that may be propos'd to make this good , would swell this discourse much beyond the bulk to which my haste obliges me to confine it . but , to make you amends for the paucity of instances , i shall now name , by the kind of them , i shall propose such as , for the most part , are taken from those very things , whence the wisdom and vigilancy of nature is wont to be confidently argued , which i the rather do , that by such i may make way for , and shorten the answers i am to give to the arguments e're-long to be examined . first then , whereas the great care and vigilancy of nature , for the common good of the universe , is wont to be demonstrated from the watchful care she takes , to prevent or replenish a vacuum , which would be very prejudicial to the fabrick of the world : i argue the quite contrary from the phaenomena , that occur about a vacuum . for whereas 't is alledg'd , that nature , in great pumps , and in the like cases , lifts up the heavy body of water in spight of its tendency towards the centre of the earth , to obviate , or fill up a vacuity ; and that out of a gardener's pot , or inverted pipe , stopp'd at one end , neither the water , nor even quick-silver , that is near fourteen times as heavy , will fall down , lest it should leave a vacuum behind it ; i demand how it comes to pass , that , if a glass-pipe be but a foot longer than or feet ; or an inverted tube , fill'd with quick-silver , be but a finger's breadth longer than inches , the water in the one , and the quick-silver in the other , will subside , though the one will leave but about a foot , and the other but about an inch , of deserted space , which they call vacuum , at the top of the glass . is it possible , that nature , that in pumps is said to raise up every day so many hundred ton of water , and , if you will believe the schools , would raise it to any height , ( left there should be a vacuum ) should not have the discretion , or the power , to lift up , or sustain , as much water as would serve to fill one foot in a glass-tube , or as much quick-silver as an inch of a slender pipe will contain , to obviate or replenish the vacuum , she is said so much to abhor ? sure , at this rate , she must either have very little power , or very little knowledge of the power she has . so likewise , when a glass-bubble is blown very thin at the flame of a lamp , and hermetically seal'd whilst 't is very hot , the cause , that is rendered , why 't is apt to break , when it grows cold , is , that the inward air , which was before rarefied by the heat , coming to be condens'd by the cold , left the space deserted by the air , that thus contracts itself , should be left void , nature , with violence , breaks the glass in pieces . but , by these learned mens favour , if the glass be blown but a little stronger than ordinary , though at the flame of a lamp , the bubble , as i have often tryed , will continue unbroken , in spight of natures pretended abhorrency of a vacuum : which needs not at all to be recurr'd to in the case . for the reason , why the thin glass-bubble broke not when 't was hot , and did when it grew cold , is plainly this ; that , in the former state , the agitation of the included air , by the heat , did so strengthen the spring of it , that the glass was thereby assisted and enabled to resist the weight of the incumbent air : whereas , upon the cessation of that heat , the debilitated spring of the internal , being unable to assist the glass , as formerly , to resist the pressure of the external air , the glass itself being too thin becomes unable to support the weight or pressure of the incumbent air , the atmosphaerical pillar , that leans upon a bubble of about two inches diameter , amounting to above one hundred pound weight ; as may be manifestly concluded from a late experiment that i have try'd , and you may meet with in another paper . and the reason , why , if the bubble be blown of a due thickness , it will continue whole after it is cold , is , that the thickness of it , though but faintly assisted by the weakned spring of the included air , is sufficient to support the weight of the incumbent air , though , several times , i have observed , the pressure of the atmosphaere , and the resistence of the bubble , to have been , by accident , so near the aequipollent , that a much less outward force , than one would imagine , applyed to the glass , as , perhaps , a pound , or a less weight , gently laid on it , would enable the outward air to break it , with noise , into a multitude of pieces . and , now give me leave to consider , how ill this experiment , and the above-mentioned phaenomena , that happen in glass-pipes , wherein water and quick-silver subside , agree with the vulgar apprehension , men have of nature . for , if in case she did not hinder the falling down of the water , or the quicksilver , there would be no such vacuum produced , as she is said to abhor ; why does she seem so solicitious to hinder it ? and why does she keep three or four and thirty foot of water in perpendicular height , contrary to the nature of all heavy bodies , suspended in the tube ? and , why does she furiously break in pieces a thin seal'd bubble , such as i come from speaking of , to hinder a vacuum ? if in case she did not break it , no vacuum would ensue . and , on the other side , if we admit her endeavours , to hinder a vacuum , not to have been superfluous , and consequently foolish , we must confess , that , where these endeavours succeed not , there is really produc'd such a vacuum , as she is said to abhor . so that , as i was saying , either she must be very indiscreet to trouble herself , and to transgress her own ordinary laws , to prevent a danger she need not fear ; or her strength must be very small , that is not able to fill a vacuity , that half a pint of water , or an ounce of quick-silver , may replenish ; or break a tender glass-bubble , which , perhaps , a pound weight on it , would , with the help of so light a body as the incumbent air , crush in pieces . the other grand instance , that is given of the wisdom of nature , and her watchfulness for the good of the whole world , is , the appetite she has implanted in all heavy bodies , to descend to the centre of the earth , and in all light ones , to ascend towards heaven ; or , as some would have it , towards the element of fire , contiguous to the orb of the moon . but , for positive levity , 'till i see it better prov'd , than it hath hitherto been , i allow no such thing implanted in sublunary bodies ; the praepollent gravity of some , sufficing to give others a comparative or respective lightness . as a piece of oak , or the like wood , being let go in the air , falls down by its own gravity , or rather by virtue of the efficient of that gravity ; but if it be let go under water , it will , though it be never so great a log or piece of timber , ascend , with a considerable force , to the top of the water ; which , i hope , will not be ascribed to a positive levity , since , when it descended in the air , 't was by its gravity that it did so . but not to insist on this , nor to take notice , how wisely nature has implanted into all heavy bodies an appetite to descend to the centre of the earth , which , being but a point , is not able to contain any one of them ; not to urge these things , i say , i will only invite you to consider one of the most familiar things that occur among heavy bodies . for , if , for example , you let fall a ball upon the ground , it will rebound to a good height , proportionable to that from whence you let it fall , or , perhaps , will make several lesser rebounds , before it come to rest . it it be now ask'd , why the ball , being let out of your hand , does not fall on this or that side , or move upwards , but falls directly toward the centre of the earth , by that shortest line , ( which mechanitians call linea directionis ) which is the diameter of the earth prolong'd to the centre of gravity of the ball ? 't will be readily answer'd , that this proceeds from the balls gravity , i. e. an innate appetite , whereby it tends to the centre of the earth the nearest way . but then i demand , whence comes this rebound , i. e. this motion upwards ? for , 't is plain , 't is the genuine consequence of the motion downwards , and therefore is encreas'd according as that motion in the ball was encreas'd , by falling from a greater height : so that it seems , that nature does , in such cases , play a very odd game , since she forces a ball , against the laws of heavy bodies , to ascend divers times upwards , upon the account of that very gravity , whose office it is to carry it downwards the directest way : and , at least , she seems , in spight of the wisdom ascribed to her , to take her m●asures very ill , in making the ball move downwards with so much violence , as makes it , divers times , fly back from the place she intended it should go to . as if a ball which a child can play with , and direct as he pleases , were so unweildy a thing , that nature cannot manage it , without letting it be hurried on with far greater violence , than her design requires . the reflection , i have been making on a ball , may ( mutatis mutandis , as they speak ) be applyed to a pendulum . for , since 't is unanimously affirm'd , by all that have written of it , that it falls to the perpendicular , upon the account of its gravity : it must not be deny'd , that 't is from a motion proceeding from the same gravity , that the swinging weight passes beyond the perpendicular , and consequently ascends , and oftentimes makes a multitude of diadroms , or vibrations ; and consequently , does very frequently ascend , before it comes to rest in the perpendicular : which is the position wherein its gravity is best comply'd with , and which therefore it had been best setled in at first . i shall not here mention those grand anomalies , or exorbitances , even in the vaster bodies of the universe ; such as earth-quakes , that reach some hundreds of leagues , deluges , destructive eruptions of fire , famines of a large spread , raging pestilences , coelestial comets , spots in the sun , that are recorded to have obscured it for many months ; the sudden appearing , the dis-appearing , and the re-appearing of stars , that have been judg'd to be as high , as the region of the fix'd ones . i will not , i say , enquire how far these anomalies agree to the character wont to be given of natures watchfulness and vigilancy , because , probably , i may have hereafter a fit opportunity to do it , and must now proceed to the remaining instances i promis'd you , which are taken from what happens to animals : as soon as i shall have dispatch'd some considerations and advertisements , that seem necessary to be premis'd , to what i have to offer about that difficult subject . if the past discourse give rise to a question , whether the world , and the creatures that compose it , are as perfect as they could be made ? the question seems to me , because of the ambiguity of the terms , too intricate to be resolv'd by a single answer . but yet , because the problem is not wont to be discuss'd , and is , in my opinion , of moment , in reference to natural theology ; i shall venture briefly to intimate some of the thoughts that occurr'd to me about it : having first declar'd , that i am , with reason , very backward to be positive in a matter of this nature , the extent of the divine power and wisdom being such , that its bounds , in case it have any , are not known to me . this premis'd , i consider , that the sense of the question may be , whether god could make the material world , and the corporeal creatures it consists of , better and more perfect that they are ? speaking in a general way and absolute sense : or else , whether the particular kinds or orders of the creatures , in the world , could any of them be made more perfect or better , than they have been made ? to answer the question in the first-nam'd sense of it , i think it very unsafe to deny , that god , who is almighty and omniscient , and an owner of perfections , which , for ought we know , are participable in more different manners and degrees than we can comprehend , could not display , if it be not fitter to say adumbrate , them , by creating a work more excellent than this world. and , his immense power and unexhausted wisdom considered , it will not follow , either , that because this world of ours is an admirable piece of workmanship , the divine architect could not have better'd it ; or , because god himself is able to make a greater master-piece , this exquisitely contriv'd system is not admirably excellent . but the propos'd question , in the other sense of it , will require some more words to resolve it . for , if we look upon the several species of visible creatures , under a more absolute consideration , without respect to the great system of the universe , of which they are parts , or to the more particular designs of the creator ; it seems manifest , that many sorts of creatures might have been more perfect than they are , since they want many compleating things , that others are indow'd with ; as an oyster , that can neither hear , nor see , nor walk , nor swim , nor fly , &c. is not so perfect a creature , as an eagle , or an elephant , that have both those senses that the oyster wants , and a far more active faculty of changing places : and , of this inequality of perfection in creatures of differing kinds , the examples are too obvious to need to be enumerated . but if the question be better propos'd , and it be inquir'd , not whether god could have made more perfect creatures , than many of those he has made , for that , 't is plain , he could do , because he has done it ; but , whether the creatures were not so curiously and skilfully made , that 't was scarce possibly they could have been better made , with due regard to all the wise ends he may be suppos'd to have had in making them , it will be hard to prove a negative answer . this i shall indeavour to illustrate by a supposition . if one should come into the well-furnish'd shop of an excellent watch-maker , and should there see a plain watch , design'd barely to shew the hour of the day ; another , that strikes the hours ; a third that is also furnish'd with an alarm ; a fourth , that , besides these , shews the month current , and the day of it ; and lastly , a fifth , that , over and above all these , shews the motions of the sun , moon and planets , the tydes , and other things , which may be seen in some curious watches . in this case , i say , the spectator , supposing him judicious , would , indeed , think one of these watches far more excellent and compleat than another ; but yet he would conclude each of them to be perfect in its own own kind , and the plain watch to answer the artificer's idea and design in making it , as well as the more compounded and elaborate one did . the same thing may , in some circumstances , be further illustrated , by considering the copy of some excellent writing-master , for , though there we may find some leaves written in an italian hand , others in a secretary , and , in others , hands of other denominations ; though one of these patterns may be much fairer , and more curious than another , if they be compar'd together ; yet , if we consider their equal conformity to the respective idea's of the author , and the suitableness to the design he had of making each copy , not as curious , sightly and flourishing as he could , but as conformable to the true idea of the sort of hand he meant to exhibit , and the design he had to shew the variety , number and justness of his skill , by that of the patterns he made compleat in the respective kinds ; we shall not think , that any of them could have been better'd by him : and if he should have made a text-hand as fair as a roman-hand , by giving it more beauty and ornament , he would not have made it better in its kind , but spoil'd it , and , by a flourish of his skill , might have given a proof of his want of judgment . but , to return thither whence i began to make this excursion , perhaps , eleutherius , you will object against the examples i have produc'd before it , that the exceptions , i have taken at some of the proceedings of nature , may be as well urg'd against providence , and exclude the one as well as the other , from the government of the world. but to this i answer , that this objection is foreign to the question , which is about mens notion of nature , not god's providence ; which , if it were here my task to assert , i should establish it upon its proper and solid grounds : such , as the infinite perfections of the divine nature , which both engage and enable him to administer his dominion over all things ; his being the author and supporter of the world ; the exquisite contrivance of the bodies of animals , which could not proceed but from a stupendious wisdom ; the supernatural revelations and discoveries he has made of himself , and of his particular care of his creatures , by prophecies , apparitions , true miracles , and other ways , that transcend the power , or overthrow , or , at least , over-rule the physical laws of motion in matter : by these , i say , and the like proper means , i would evince divine providence . but being not now oblig'd to make an attempt , which deserves to be made very solemnly , and not in such haste as i now write in . i shall , at present , only observe to you , that the case is very differing between providence and nature , and therefore there is no necessity , that the objections , i have made against the later , should hold against the former . as , ( to give you a few instances of the disparity ) in the first place , it appears not , nor is it likely , that 't is the design of providence to hinder those anomalies and defects , i have been mentioning : whereas , 't is said , to be the duty and design of nature , and her only task , to keep the universe in order , and procure , in all the bodies that compose it , that things be carried on , in the best and most regular way that may be , for their advantage . secondly , nature is confess'd to be a thing inferior to god , and so but a subordinate agent , and therefore cannot , without disparagement to her power , or wisdom , or vigilancy , suffer divers things to be done , which may , without degradation to god , be permitted by him ; who is not only a self-existent and independent being , but the supream and absolute lord , and , if i may so speak , the proprietor of the whole creation : whence both melchizedec and abram style him , ( gen. xiv . , . ) not only the most high god , but , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 koneh , possessing ( or , as our version has it , possessor of ) heaven and earth : and who , when he made the world , and established the laws of motion , gave them to matter , not to himself . and so , being obliged to none , either as his superior , or benefactor , he was not bound to make , or administer , corporeal things after the best manner , that he could , for the good of the things themselves : among which , those that are capable of gratitude , ought to praise and thank him , for having vouchsafed them so much as they have , and have no right to except against his having granted them no more . and , as being thus oblig'd to none of his works , he has a sovereign right to dispose of them ; so , he has other attributes , which he may justly exercise , and both intend and expect to be glorified for , besides his goodness to inferior creatures : and his wisdom may be better set off to men , and perhaps to angels or intelligences , by the great variety of his contrivances in his works , than by making them all of the excellentest kind : as shadows in pictures , and discords in musick , skilfully plac'd and order'd , do much recommend the painter , and the musician . perhaps it may be added , that the permitting the course of things to be somewhat violated , shews , by the mischief such exorbitances do , how good god has been in setling and preserving the orderly course of things . thirdly , as god is a most absolute and free , so he is an omniscient , being ; and , as , by his supream dominion over the works of his hands , he has a right to dispose of them , as he thinks best for his own glory , so upon the score of his unfathomable wisdom , he may have designs , and , if i may so speak , reaches , in the anomalies that happen in the world , which we men are too short-sighted to discern ; and may exercise as much wisdom , nay , and as much providence ( in reference to man , the noblest visible object of his providence ) in sometimes ( as in divine miracles ) receding from what men call the laws of nature , as he did at first in establishing them : whereas the office of nature , being but to preserve the universe in general , and particular bodies in it , after the best manner that their respective conditions will permit ; we know , what 't is she aims at , and , consequently , can better discern , when she misses of her aims , by not well acting what is presum'd to be her part. fourthly , we must consider , that , as god is an independent , free and wise , so he is also a just agent ; and therefore may very well be suppos'd to cause many irregularities and exorbitances in the world , to punish those , that men have been guilty of . and , whereas nature is but a nursing-mother to the creatures , and looks e'ne upon wicked men , not in their moral but in their physical capacities , god expresly declares , in the sacred scriptures , that , upon adam's fall , he curs'd the ground , or earth , for man's sake , gen. iii. , . and that there is no penal evil in the city that is not deriv'd from him , amos iii. . he is not over-rul'd , as men are fain to say of erring nature , by the head-strong motions of the matter , but sometimes purposely over-rules the regular ones , to execute his justice ; & therefore plagues , earth-quakes , inundations , and the like destructive calamities , though they are sometimes irregularities in nature , yet , for that very reason , they are design'd by providence ; which intends , by them , to deprive wicked men of that life , or of those blessings of life , whereof their sins have render'd them unworthy . but , whil'st i mention designs , i must not forget , that mine was only to give you a tast of the considerations , by which one may shew , that such things , as manifest nature to act unsuitably to the representation that is made of her , may yet , when attributed to divine providence , be made out to have nothing inconsistent with it. and yet , somewhat further to clear this weighty matter , and particularly some things , but briefly hinted in what i have been lately discoursing , i think it fit , before i descend to the particulars , that i am to employ against the vulgar notion of nature , to premise somewhat by way of caution , that i may do some right ( though i can never do enough , ) to divine providence ; and take care betimes , that no use , injurious to it , may be made of any thing that my argument hath oblig'd me , or will oblige me , to say about that imaginary thing , vulgarly call'd nature , either in this or the vi. section , or any other part of our present enquiry . i conceive then , that the divine author of things , in making the world , and the particular creatures that compose it , had respect to several ends ; some of them knowable by us men , and others hid in the abyss of the divine wisdom and counsels . and that of those ends , which are either manifest enough to us , or , at least , discoverable by human sagacity and industry , some of the principal are , the manifestation of the glory of god , the utility of man , and the maintenance of the system of the world ; under which is comprised , the conservation of particular creatures , and , also , the propagation of some kinds of them . but this general design of god , for the welfare of man and other creatures , is not ( as i conceive ) to be understood , but with a twofold limitation . for , first , though men , and other animals , be furnish'd with faculties or powers , and other requisites , to enable them to preserve themselves , and procure what is necessary for their own welfare , yet this provision , that god has been pleas'd to make for them , is made with reference to what regularly , or what most usually , happens to beings of that species or sort that they belong to ; but not with regard to such things as may happen to them irregularly , contingently , and ( in comparison of the others , ) unfrequently . thus it is , in general , far better for mankind , that women , when they are brought to bed , should have their breasts fill'd with milk , to give suck to the new-born babe , than that they should not ; though sometimes , as , if the child die in the delivery , or presently after , and in some other cases also , the plentiful recourse of milk to the mothers breasts proves troublesome and inconvenient , and sometimes also dangerous , to her . thus a head of hair is , for the most part , useful to the person , whether man or woman , that nature has furnish'd with it , though , in some cases ( as of consumptions , and in a few other circumstances ) it happens to be prejudicial to the wearer ; and therefore physicians do often , with good success , prescribe , that it be shaven off . thus the instinct , that hens have to hatch their eggs and take care of their young , is , in general , very useful , if not necessary , for the conservation of that species of birds ; and yet it sometimes mis-guides and deludes them , when it makes them take a great deal of pains to brood upon those duck-eggs , that housewives , ( having taken a way the birds own eggs ) lay in her nest , which makes her very solicitous to hatch and take care of ducklings , instead of chickens . thus 't is an institution that ordinarily is profitable for man , that his stomach should nauseate or reject things that have a loathsome taste or smell , because the generality of those things , that are provided for his nourishment , are well , or , at least , not ill-tasted ; and yet , on some occasions of sickness , that disposition of the stomach to refuse , or vomit up , nauseous purges , and other dis-tastful medicines , ( as such remedies are usually loathsom enough ) proves very prejudicial , by being a great impediment to the recovery of health . and thus ( to be short ) the passions of the mind , such as fear , joy and grief , are given to man , for his good ; and , when rightly us'd , are very advantageous , if not absolutely necessary , to him : though , when they grow unruly , or are ill-manag'd , as it but too often happens , they frequently prove the causes of diseases , and of great mischief , as well to the passionate man himself , as to others . the second limitation ( which has a natural connexion with the former , ) is this , that the omniscient author of things , who , in his vast and boundless understanding , comprehended , at once , the whole system of his works , and every part of it , did not mainly intend the welfare of such or such particular creatures , but subordinated his care of their preservation and welfare , to his care of maintaining the universal system and primitive scheme or contrivance of his works , and especially those catholick rules of motion , and other grand laws , which he at first establish'd among the portions of the mundane matter . so that , when there happens such a concourse of circumstances , that particular bodies , fewer or more , must suffer , or else the setled frame , or the usual course of things , must be alter'd , or some general law of motion must be hinder'd from taking place : in such cases , i say , the welfare and interest of man himself ( as an animal ) and much more that of inferior animals , and of other particular creatures , must give way to the care , that providence takes of things of a more general and important nature or condition . thus ( as i formerly noted ) god establish'd the lines of motion , which the sun and the moon observe , tho' he foresaw , that , from thence , there would necessarily , from time to time , ensue eclipses of those luminaries ; which he chose rather to permit , than to alter that course , which , on several accounts , was the most convenient . thus a blown bladder , or a foot-ball , falling from a considerable height upon the ground , rebounds upwards , and so , contrary to the nature of heavy bodies , moves from the centre of the earth , lest the catholick laws of motion , whereby the springyness and reflection of bodies , in such circumstances , are established , should be violated or intrench'd upon . thus , he thought not fit to furnish sheep with paws , or tusks , or swiftness , or animosity , or craft , to defend or preserve themselves from wolves and foxes , and other beasts of prey . and tame and fearful birds , such as hens , are so ill provided for defence , that they seem designed to be the food of hawks , kites , and other rapacious ones . thus oysters , having neither eyes nor ears , are not near so well provided for , as the generality of beasts and birds , and even most other fishes . and thus silk-worms ( to name no other catterpillars , ) usually ( at least in these countries , ) live not much above half a year , being less furnish'd with the requisites of longaevity , than the generality of birds , and beasts , and fishes . i have thought fit to lay down the two foregoing limitations , partly , because they will be of use to me hereafter , and , partly , because they contain something , that may be added to what hath been lately represented on behalf of the divine providence ( as it falls under the naturalist's consideration . ) for , by these limitations , we may perceive , that 't is not just , presently to deny , or censure the providence of god , when-ever we see some creatures less compleatly furnish'd to maintain themselves ; or some cases less provided for , than we think they might be ; or seeming anomalies permitted , which we look upon as mischievous irregularities . for the welfare of men , or of this or that other particular sort of creatures , being not the only , nor , in likelihood , the principal end of god , in making the world ; it is neither to be admir'd nor reprehended , that he has not provided for the safety and conveniency of particular beings , any further , than well consists with the welfare of beings of a more considerable order , and , also , will comport with his higher ends , and with the maintenance of the more general laws and customs , setled by him among things corporeal : so that divers seeming anomalies and incongruities , whence some take occasion to question the administration of things , and to deny the agency of providence , do not only comport with it , but serve to accomplish the designs of it. i have the more expresly declar'd my mind on this occasion , because , indeed , of the two main reasons , which put me upon so difficult a work , as i foresaw this treatise would be , as one was , the love i bear to truth and philosophical freedom ; so the other was , a just concern for religion . for thinking it very probable , that , in so inquisitive an age as this , some observations , like mine , about nature itself , might come into the minds of persons ill-affected to divine providence , who would be glad and forward to wrest them , and make a perverse use of them ; i thought it better , that such notions should be candidly propos'd , by one that would take care to accompany them with those cautions , that may keep them from being injurious to religion . having premis'd the two foregoing advertisements , to obviate misconstructions ; i hope , i may now safely proceed to particulars ; whereof , for brevity's sake , i shall here mention but a few , leaving you to add to them those others , that occur in other parts of this treatise . in the first place then , i shall take notice , that there are several instances of persons that have been choak'd with a hair , which they were unable , either to cough up , or swallow down . the reason of this fatal accident , is , probably , said to be the irritation that is made , by the stay of so unusual a thing , as a hair , in the throat ; which irritation occasions very violent and disorderly , or convulsive , motions to expel it , in the organs of respiration , by which means the continual circulation of the blood , necessary to the life of man , is hinder'd , the consequence whereof is speedy death . but this agrees very ill with the vulgar supposition of such a kind and provident being , as they represent nature , which is always at hand to preserve the life of animals , and succour them in their ( physical ) dangers and distresses , as occasion requires . for since a hair is so slender a body , that it cannot stop the throat , so as to hinder , either , the free passage of meat and drink into the stomach , or , that of the air to or from the lungs ; ( as may be argued from divers no-way mortal excrescences and ulcers in the throat , ) were it not a great deal better for nature , to let the hair alone , and stay , 'till the juices of the body have resolv'd or consum'd it , or some favourable accident have remov'd it , than like a passionate and transported thing , oppose it , like a fury , with such blind violence , as , instead of ejecting the hair , expels the life of him , that was troubled with it ? how the care and wisdom of nature will be reconcil'd to so improper and disorderly a proceeding , i leave her admirers to consider . but it will appear very reconcileable to providence , if we reflect back upon the lately given advertisement . for , in regard of the use and necessity of deglutition , and in many cases of coughing and vomiting , it was , in the general , most convenient , that the parts that minister to these motions , should be irritated by the sudden sense of things that are unusual , though , perhaps , they would not be otherwise dangerous or offensive , because ( as we formerly noted , ) 't was fit , that the providence of god should , in making provision for the welfare of animals , have more regard to that , which usually and regularly befalls them , than to extraordinary cases or unfrequent accidents . though most women are offended with the stink of the smoaking wick of a candle , which is no more than men also are , yet it has been frequently observ'd , that big-bellied women have been made to miscarry , by the smell of an extinguish'd candle , which would before have indeed displeas'd , but not endanger'd , the same persons : so that it seems , nature is , in these cases , very far from being so prudent and careful , as men are wont to fancy her , since , by an odour , ( which , if calmly receiv'd , would have done no harm to the teeming woman , ) she is put into such unruly transports : and , instead of watching for the welfare of the teeming woman , whose condition needed a more than ordinary measure of her care and tenderness , she violently precipitates her poor charge into a danger , that oftentimes proves fatal , not only to the mother , but the child also . the improper , and oftentimes hurtful , courses that nature takes , in persons that are sick , some of one disease , some of another , will be , hereafter , taken notice of in opportune places ; and therefore , for the present , i shall only observe , that nature seems to do her work very weakly , or bunglingly , in the production of monsters , whose variety and numerousness is almost as great as their deformity , or their irregularity ; insomuch that several volums have been written , and many more might have been , to give the description of them . how these gross aberrations will agree with that great uniformity , and exquisite skill , that is ascrib'd to nature , in her seminal productions , i leave the naturists to make out . i know , that some of them lay the fault upon the stubbornness of the matter , that would not be obsequious to the plastick power of nature , but i can hardly admit of this account from men of such principles , as they are that give it : for 't is strange to me , they should pretend , that nature , which they make a kind of semi-deity , should not be able to mould and fashion so small , and soft , and tractable , a portion of matter , as that wherein the first model and efformation of the embrio is made ; when , at the same time , they tell us , that 't is able , in sucking-pumps , to raise , and , if need be , sustain , whole tons of water , to prevent a vacuum : and can , in mines , toss up into the air , houses , walls , and castles , and , perhaps , the rocks they are built on , to give the kindled gun-powder the expansion , that its new state requires . other arguments , that , by a light change and easie application , may be made use of and added to these , against the vulgar notion of nature , may be met with in divers parts of this treatise , and especially in the vii . section ; for which reason ( among others ) i decline lengthning this part of my discourse with the mention of them . i foresee it may be said , that , unless we admit such a being as nature , to contrive and manage things corporeal , and , in a regular and methodical way , direct them to their respective ends , there will appear no visible footsteps or proof of a divine wisdom in the corporeal world. and this argument , i confess , is so specious , that 't was one of the things that made me the longest hesitate , what i should think of the receiv'd notion of nature . but having further consider'd the matter , i saw it might be answer'd , that the curious contrivance of the universe , and many of its parts , and the orderly course of things corporeal , with a manifest tendency to determinate ends , are matters of fact , and do not depend upon the supposition of such a being , as they call nature ; but , setting aside this or that hypothesis , may be known by inspection , if those that make the inspection be attentive and impartial : as , when a man sees a humane body skilfully dissected by a dexterous anatomist , he cannot , if he be intelligent and unprejudic'd , but acknowledg , that there is a most curious and exquisite contrivance in that incomparable engine , and in the various parts of it , that are admirably fitted for distinct and determinate functions or uses . so that i do not at all , nor indeed can , suppress the manifest tokens of wisdom and design , that are to be observed in the wonderful construction and orderly operations of the world and its parts : but i endeavour to refer these indications of wisdom to the true and proper cause . and whereas , in the hypothesis of the objectors , there may be three causes assign'd of these specimens or foot-steps of wisdom , namely , god , nature , and chance ; if , according to the doctrine by me propos'd , nature be laid aside , the competition will remain only between god and chance : and sure he must be very dull , or very strongly prejudic'd , that shall think it reasonable to attribute such admirable contrivances and such regular conducts , as are observable in the corporeal world , rather to chance , ( which is a blind and senseless cause , or indeed no proper cause at all , but a kind of ens rationis ) than to a most intelligent being , from which the curiousest productions may with congruity be expected : whereas , if such a celebrated thing , as nature is commonly thought , be admitted , 't will not be near so easie to prove the wisdom ( and consequently the existence ) of god by his works , since they may have another cause , namely , that most watchful and provident being , which men call nature . and this will be especially difficult in the peripatetick hypothesis of the eternity ( not of matter only , for in that the atomists and others agreed with them , but ) of the world. for , according to this account of the universe , there appears no necessity , that god should have any thing to do with it , since he did not make this automaton , but it was always self-existent , not only as to matter , but to form too : and as for the government or administration of the bodies it consists of , that is the proper business of nature . and if it be objected , that this being is by its assertors acknowledg'd to be subordinate to god ; i shall answer , that , as , upon the reasons and authorities i elsewhere deliver , it may justly be question'd , whether many philosophers , and perhaps some sects of them who are adorers of nature , confess'd her to be but the substitute of a superior and divine being ? so , this distinction and subordination is not so easie to be prov'd against those that side with those other ancient philosophers , who either acknowledg'd no such thing , or expresly deny'd it . besides that , this objection supposes the existence and superiority of a deity , which therefore needs to be prov'd by other ways ; whereas in the hypothesis i propose , the same phaenomena that discover admirable wisdom and manifest designs in the corporeal world , do themselves afford a solid argument , both of the existence and of some of the grand attributes of god , with which the rest , that properly belong to him , have a necessary connexion . sect . vi. v. having , in the foregoing section , propos'd some of the considerations , that have dissatisfied me with the receiv'd notion of nature , it may now be justly expected , that i should also consider , what i foresee will be alledg'd in its behalf , by the more intelligent of its favourers . and i shall not deny the objections , i am going to name against my opinion , to be considerable , especially for this reason , that i am very unwilling to seem to put such an affront upon the generality as well of learned men as of others , as to maintain , that they have built a notion of so great weight and importance upon slight and inconsiderable grounds . the reasons , that i conceive may have induced philosophers to take up , and rely on , the receiv'd notion of nature , are such as these that follow . and the first argument , as one of the most obvious , may be taken from the general belief , or , as men suppose , observation , that divers bodies , as particularly earth , water , and other elements , have each of them its natural place assign'd it in the universe ; from which place , if any portion of the element , or any mixt body , wherein that element predominates , happens to be remov'd , it has a strong incessant appetite to return to it ; because , when 't is there , it ceases either to gravitate , or ( as some school-men speak ) to levitate , and is now in a place , which nature has qualifi'd to preserve it , according to the axiom , that locus conservat locatum . to this argument i answer , that i readily grant , that , there being such a quantity of very bulky bodies in the world , 't was necessary they should have places adequate to their bigness ; and 't was thought fit by the wise architect of the universe , that they should not be all blended together , but that a great portion of each of them should , at the beginning of things , be dispos'd of and lodg'd in a distinct and convenient place . but when i have granted this , i see not any necessity of granting likewise , what is asserted in the argument above-propos'd . for inanimate bodies having no sense or perception , ( which is the prerogative of animadversive beings ) it must be all one to them in what place they are , because they cannot be concern'd to be in one place rather than in another , since such a preference would require a knowledg , that inanimate things are destitute of . and , for the same reason , a portion of an element , remov'd , by force or chance , from what they call its proper place , can have no real appetite to return thither : for , who tells it 'tis in an undue place , and that it may better its condition by removing into another ? and who informs it , whether that place lies on this hand of it , or that hand of it , or above it , or beneath it ? some philosophers indeed have been somewhat aware of the weakness of the argument , drawn from the vulgarly propos'd instance ( which yet is the best that is wont to be imploy'd , ) of earthy bodies , which being let fall from the top of an house , or thrown into the air , do of themselves fall , in a direct line , towards the centre of the earth ; and therefore they have strengthned this argument , as far as might be , by pretending , that these bodies have not indeed , as former philosophers were wont to think , an appetite to descend to the centre of the earth , but to the great mass of their connatural bodies . i i will not therefore accuse these philosophers of the inconsiderate opinion of their predecessors , who would have nature make all heavy things affect to lodg themselves in the centre of the earth , which ( as was formerly noted , ) being but a point , cannot contain any one of them , ( how little soever it be ; ) but yet the hypothesis of these moderns is liable , though not to that , yet , to other weighty objections . for the first argument , i lately imploy'd , will hold good against these philosophers too , it not being conceivable , how an inanimate body should have an appetite to re-joyn homogeneous bodies , neither whose situation , nor whose distance from it , it does at all know . secondly , it does not appear that all bodies have such an appetite , as is presum'd , of joyning themselves to greater masses of connatural bodies ; as , if you file the end of an ingot or bar of silver or of gold , the filings will not stick to their own mass , though it be approach'd never so near , or made to touch them , and much less will they leap to it , when 't is at a distance from them . the like may be said almost of all consistent bodies we are acquainted with , except the loadstone and iron , and bodies that participate of one of those two . thirdly , 't is obvious to them that will observe , that , that which makes lumps of earth , or terrestrial matter , fall through the air to the earth , is some general agent , whatever that be , which , according to the wise disposition of the author of the universe , determines the motion of those bodies , we call heavy , by the shortest ways that are permitted them , towards the central part of the terraqueous globe ; whether the body , put into motion downwards , be of the same , or a like , or a quite differing nature , from the greater mass of matter , to which , when 't is aggregated , it rests there ? if , from the side of a ship , you let fall a chip of wood out of your hand , when your arm is so stretch'd out , that the perpendicular , or shortest line , between that and the water , lies never so little without the ship , that chip will fall into the sea , which is a fluid body , and quite of another nature than itself , rather than swerve in the least from the line of direction , as mechanicians call it , to rejoyn itself to the great bulk of wood , whereof the ship , though never so big , consists . and , on the other side , if a man , standing upon the shore just by the sea , shall pour out a glass of water , holding the glass just over his feet , that water will fall into the sand , where 't will be immediately soak'd up and dispersed , rather than deviate a little , to joyn itself to so great a mass of connatural body , as the ocean is . and as to what is generally believ'd , and made part of the argument that i am answering , that water does not weigh in water , because it is in its own natural place , and elementa in proprio loco non gravitant . i deny the matter of fact , and have convinc'd divers curious persons by experiment , * that water does gravitate in water , as well as out of it , though indeed it does not praegravitate , because 't is counter-ballanc'd by an equal weight of collateral water , which keeps it from descending . and lastly , for the maxim , that locus conservat locatum ; besides that , it has been prooflesly asserted , and therefore , unless it be cautiously explain'd , i do not think my self bound to admit it ; besides this , i say , i think , that either the proper place of a body cannot be inferr'd , as my adversaries would have it , from the natural tendency of a body to it ; or else it will not hold true in general , that locus conservat locatum ; as when , for instance , a poor unluky seaman falls , from the main-yard of a ship , into the water , does the sea , to which he makes such hast , preserve him or destroy him ? and when in a foul chimney , a lump of soot falls into the hearth , and presently burns up there , can we think that the wisdom of nature gave the soot an appetite to hasten to the fire , as a greater bulk of its connatural body , or a place provided by nature for its conservation . and now i speak of such an innate appetite of conjunction between bodies ; i remember , what i lately forgot to mention in a fitter place ; that bubbles themselves may overthrow the argument , i was answering . for if a bubble happens to arise from the bottom of a vessel to the upper part of it , we are told , that the haste , wherewith the air moves thorow water , proceeds from the appetite it has to quit that preternatural place , and re-joyn the element , or great mass of air , detain'd at the very surface of the water by a very thin skin of that liquor , together with which it constitutes a bubble . now i demand , how it comes to pass , that this appetite of the air , which , when it was at the bottom of the water , and also in its passage upwards , is suppos'd to have enabled it to ascend with so much eagerness and force , as to make its way thorow all the incumbent water , ( which possibly was very deep , ) should not be able , when the air is arriv'd at the very top of the water , to break thorow so thin a membrane of water , as usually serves to make a bubble , and which suffices to keep it from the beloved conjunction with the great mass of the external air ? especially since they tell us , that natural motion grows more quick , the nearer it comes to the end or place of rest ; the appetites of bodies encreasing , with their approaches to the good they aspire to ; upon which account , falling bodies , as stones , &c. are said ( though falsesly ) to encrease their swiftness , the nearer they come to the earth . but if , setting aside the imaginary appetite of the air , we attribute the ascension of bubbles to the gravity and pressure upwards of the water , 't is easie hydrostatically to explicate , why bubbles often move slower when they come near the surface of the water , and why they are detain'd there ; which last phaenomenon proceeds from this , that the pressure of the water being there incosiderable , 't is not able to make the air quite surmount the resistence made by the tenacity of the superficial part of the water . and therefore in good spirit of wine , whose tenacity and glutinousness is far less than that of water , bubbles rarely continue upon the surface of the liquor , but are presently broken and vanish . and to make this presum'd appetite , of the smaller portions of the air to unite with the great mass of it , appear the less probable ; i shall add that i have often observ'd , that water , in that state which is usually call'd its natural state , is wont to have store of aerial particles mingled with it , notwithstanding the neighbourhood of the external air , that is incumbent on the water , as may appear by putting a glass full of water into the receiver of the new pneumatical engine . for the pressure of the external air being by the pump taken off , there will , from time to time , disclose themselves in the water , a multitude of bubbles , made by the aerial particles , that lay conceal'd in that liquor . and i have further try'd , as i doubt not but some others also have done , that , by exactly inclosing , in a conveniently shap'd glass , some water , thus freed from the air , and leaving a little air at the top of the vessel , which was afterwards set by in a quiet place ; the corpuscles of that incumbent air did , one after another , insinuate themselves into the water , and remain'd lodg'd in it ; so little appetite has air , in general , to flee all association with water , and make its escape out of that liquor ; though , when sensible portions of it happen to be under water , the great inequality in gravity , between those two fluids , makes the water press up the air. but , though 't were easie to give a mechanical account of the phaenomena of mingled air and water , yet , because it cannot be done in few words , i shall not here undertake it ; the phaenomena themselves being sufficient , to render the supposition of my adversaries improbable . another argument , in favour of the received opinion of nature , may be drawn from the strong appetite , that bodies have to recover their natural state , when by any means they are put out of it , and thereby forced into a state that is called preternatural ; as we see , that air being violently compress'd in a blown bladder , as soon as the force is remov'd , will return to its first dimensions : and the blade of a sword being bent by being thrust against the floor ; as soon as the force ceases , restores itself , by its innate power , to its former straightness : and water , being made hot by the fire , when 't is removed thence , hastens to recover its former coldness . but though i take this argument to have much more weight in it , than the foregoing ; because it seems to be grounded upon such real phaenomena of nature , as those newly recited , yet i do not look upon it as cogent . in answer to it therefore , i shall represent , that it appears by the instances lately mention'd , that the proposers of the argument ground it on the affections of inanimate bodies . now , an inanimate portion of matter being confessedly devoid of knowledge and sense , i see no reason , why we should not think it uncapable of being concern'd to be in one state or constitution , rather than another , since it has no knowledge of that , which it is in at present , nor remembrance of that , from which it was forc'd ; and consequently , no appetite to forsake the former , that it may return to the latter . but every inanimate body , ( to say nothing now of plants and bruit animals , because i want time to launch into an ample discourse ) being of itself indifferent to all places and states , continues in in that place or state to which the action and resistence of other bodies , and especially contiguous ones , effectually determine it . as to the instance afforded by water , i consider , that before it be asserted , that water , being heated , returns of itself to its natural coldness , it were fit , that the assertors should determine , what degree or measure of coldness is natural to that liquor ; and this , if i mistake not , will be no easie task . 't is true indeed , that , in reference to us men , water is usually cold , because its minute parts are not so briskly agitated , as those of the blood and juices , that are to be found in our hands , or other organs of feeling . but , that water is actually cold in reference to frogs , and those fishes that live in it , whose blood is cold as to our sense , has not , that i know of , been prov'd , nor is easie to be so . and i think it yet more difficult to determine , what degree of coldness is natural to water , since this liquor perpetually varies its temperature , as to cold and heat , according to the temper of the contiguous or the neighbouring bodies , especially the ambient air. and therefore the water of an unshaded pond , for instance , though it rests in its proper and natural place , as they speak , yet in autumn , if the weather be fair , the temperature of it will much vary in the compass of the same day , and the liquor will be much hotter at noon , than early in the morning , or at midnight ; though this great diversity be the effect only of a natural agent , the sun , acting according to its regular course . and , in the depth of winter , 't is generally confess'd , that water is much colder than in the heat of summer ; which seems to be the reason of what is observ'd by watermen , as a wonderful thing , namely , that in rivers , boats equally laden will not sink so deep in winter as in summer , the cold condensing the water , and consequently making it heavier in specie , than it is in summer , when the heat of the ambient air makes it more thin . in divers parts of africk , that temperature is thought natural to the water , because 't is that which it usually has , which is far hotter than that which is thought natural to the same liquor in the frigid zone . and , i remember , on this occasion , what perhaps i have elsewhere mention'd upon another , that the russian czars chief physician inform'd me , that in some parts of siberia , ( one of the more northern provinces of that monarch's empire , water is so much more cold , not only than in the torrid zone , but than in england , that two or three foot beneath the surface of the ground , all the year long ( even in summer itself , ) it continues concreted in the form of ice , so intense is the degree of cold that there seems natural to it . this odd phaenomenon much confirms what i lately intimated , of the power of contiguous bodies , and especially of the air , to vary the degree of the coldness of water . i particularly mention the air , because , as far as i have try'd , it has more power to bring water to its own temperature , than is commonly suppos'd . for though , if , in summer-time , a man puts his hand into water , that has lain expos'd to the sun , he will usually feel it cold , and so conclude it much colder , than the ambient air ; yet , that may often happen upon another account , namely , that the water being many hundred times a more dense fluid than the air , and consisting of particles more apt to insinuate themselves into the pores of the skin , a greater part of the agitation of the blood and spirits , contained in the hand , is communicated to the water , and thereby lost by the fluids that part with it . and the minute particles of the water , which are , perhaps , more supple and flexible , insinuating themselves into the pores of the skin , which the aerial particles , by reason of their stifness , and perhaps length , cannot do ; they come to affect the somewhat more internal parts of the hand , which , being much hotter than the cuticula or scarf-skin , makes us feel them very cold ; as , when a sweating hand is plung'd into luke-warm water , the liquor will be judg'd cold by him , who , if his other hand be very cold , will with it feel the same water hot. to confirm which conjecture , i shall add , that , having sometimes purposely taken a seal'd weather-glass , whose included liquor was brought to the temperature of the ambient air , and thrust the ball of it under water , kept in the same air , there would be discover'd no such coldness in the water , as one would have expected ; the former reason of the sensible cold the hand feels , when thrust into that liquor , having here no place . to which i shall add , that having , for tryal's sake , made water very cold , by dissolving sal-armoniac in it , in summer time , it would , after a while , return to its usual degree of warmth . and , having made the same experiment in winter , it would return to such a coldness , as belong'd to it in that season : so that it did not return to any determinate degree of coldness , as natural to it , but to that greater or lesser , that had been accidentally given it by the ambient air , before the sal-armoniac had refrigerated it. as to the motion of restitution , observable upon the removal or ceasing of the force in air violently compress'd , and in the blade of a sword forcibly bent ; i confess it seems to me a very difficult thing , to assign the true mechanical cause of it. but yet , i think it far more likely , that the cause should be mechanical , than , that the effect proceeds from such a watchfulness of nature , as is pretended . for first , i question , whether we have any air here below , that is in other than a preternatural or violent state ; the lower parts of our atmospherical air being constantly compress'd by the weight of the upper parts of the same air , that lean upon them . as for the restitution of the bent blade of a sword , and such like springy bodies , when the force that bent them is remov'd ; my thoughts about the theory of springynes belong to another paper . and therefore , i shall here only , by way of argument ad hominem , consider , in answer to the objection ; that if , for example , you take a somewhat long and narrow plate of silver , that has not been hammer'd , or compress'd , or , which is surer , has been made red-hot in the fire , and suffer'd to cool leasurely , you may bend it which way you will , and it will constantly retain the last curve figure , that you gave it. but if , having again streightned this plate , you give it some smart stroaks of a hammer , it will , by that meerly mechanical change , become a springy body : so that , if with your hand you force it a little from its rectitude , as soon as you remove your hand , it will endeavour to regain its former streightness . the like may be observ'd in copper , but nothing near so much , or scarce at all , in lead . now upon these phaenomena , i demand , why , if nature be so careful to restore bodies to their former state , she does not restore the silver blade or plate to its rectitude , when it is bent this way or that way , before it be hammer'd ? and why a few stroaks of a hammer ( which , acting violently , seems likely to have put the metal into a preternatural state , ) should entitle the blade to nature's peculiar care , and make her solicitous to restore it to its rectitude , when it is forc'd from it ? and why , if the springy plate be again ignited and refrigerated of itself , nature abandons her former care of it , and suffers it quietly to continue in what crooked posture , one pleases to put it into ? not , now , to demand a reason of nature's greater partiality to silver , and copper and iron , than to lead and gold itself , in reference to the motion of restitution ; i shall add to what i was just now saying , that even in sword-blades it has been often observ'd , that though , if soon after they are bent , the force that bent them be withdrawn , they will nimbly return to their former straightness ; yet , if they ( which are not the only springy bodies , of which this has been observ'd , ) be kept too long bent , they will lose the power of recovering their former streightness , and continue in that crooked posture , though the force that put them into it cease to act : so that , it seems , nature easily forgets the care she was presum'd to take of it , at first . there is an axiom that passes for current among learned men , viz. nullum violentum durabile , that seems much to favour the opinion of the naturists , since 't is grounded upon a supposition , that what is violent , is , as such , contrary to nature , and , for that reason , cannot last long . and this trite sentence is , by the schools and even some modern philosophers , so particularly apply'd to local motion , that some of them have , not improbably , made it the characteristick token , whereby to distinguish natural motions from those that are not so ; that the former are perpetual , or at least very durable , whereas the later , being continually check'd more and more by the renitency of nature , do continually decay , and within no long time are suppress'd or extinguish'd : but , on this occasion , i must crave leave to make the following reflections . . it may be justly question'd , upon grounds laid down in another part of this essay , whether there be any motion , among inanimate bodies , that deserves to be call'd violent , in contradistinction to natural ; since among such , all motions , where no intelligent spirit intervenes , are made according to catholick , and almost , if not more than almost , mechanical laws . . methinks , the peripateticks , who are wont to be the most forward to imploy this axiom , should find but little reason to do so , if they consider how unsuitable it is to their doctrine , that the vast body of the firmament and all the planetary orbs are , by the primum mobile , with a stupendious swiftness , whirl'd about , from east to west , in four and twenty hours , contrary to their natural tendency ; and , that this violent and rapid motion , of the incomparably greater part of the universe , has lasted as long as the world itself , that is , according to aristotle , for innumerable ages . . we may observe here below , that the ebbing and flowing of the sea , which is generally suppos'd to proceed either from the motion of the moon , or that of the terrestrial globe , or some other external cause , has lasted for some thousands of years , and probably will do so , as long as the present system of our vortex shall continue . i consider also , that the other great ocean , the atmosphere , consists of numberless myriads of corpuscles , that are here below continually kept in a violent state ; since they are elastical bodies , whereof the lower are still compress'd by the weight of the higher . and , to make a spring of a body , it is requisite that it be forcibly bent or stretch'd , and have such a perpetual endeavour to fly open , or to shrink in , that it will not fail to do so , as soon as the external force , that hinder'd it , is remov'd . and , as for the states of inanimate bodies , i do not see , that their being or not being natural can be , with any certainty , concluded , from their being or not being very durable . for , not to mention , that leaves that wither in a few months , and even blossoms that often fade and fall off in few days , are as well natural bodies , as the solid and durable trees that bear them ; 't is obvious , that , whether we make the state of fluidity , or that of congelation , to be that which is natural to water , and the other that which is violent ; its change from one of those states into another , and even its return to its former state , is oftentimes , at some seasons , and in some places , made very speedily , perhaps in an hour or less , by causes that are acknowledg'd to be natural . and mists , hail , whirlwinds , lightning , falling-stars , to name no more , notwithstanding their being natural bodies , are far from being lasting , especially in comparison of glass , wherein the ingredients , sand and fixt salt , are brought together by great violence of fire . and the motion that a thin plate , or slender wire , of this glass can exercise , to restore itself to its former position , when forcibly bent , is ( in great part ) a lasting effect of the same violence of the fire . and so is the most durable perseverance of the indissolubleness of the alcalisate salt , that is one of the two ingredients of glass , notwithstanding its being very easily dissoluble in water and other liquors , and not uneasily e'ne in the moist air itself . there is a distinction of local motion , into natural and violent , that is so generally receiv'd and us'd , both by philosophers and physicians , that , i think , it deserves to have special notice taken of it in this section ; since it implicitely contains an argument for the existence of the thing call'd nature , by supposing it so manifest a thing , as that an important distinction may justly be grounded on it. this imply'd objection , i confess , is somewhat difficult to clear ; not for any great force , that is contained in it , but because of the ambiguity of the terms , wherein the distinction is wont to be imploy'd : for most men speak of the propos'd distinction of motion , in so obscure , or so uncertain a way , that 't is not easie to know what they mean by either of the members of it. but yet some there are , who endeavour to speak intelligibly , ( and for that are to be commended ) and define natural motion to be that , whose principle is within the moving body itself ; and violent motion , that which bodies are put into by an external agent or cause . and , in in regard these speak more clearly than , the rest , i shall here principally consider the lately mention'd distinction , in the sense they give it. i say then , that , even according to this explication , i am not satisfied with the distinction : for , whereas 't is a principle received , and frequently employ'd , by aristotle and his followers , quicquid movetur ab alio movetur ; it seems , that , according to this axiom , all motion may be called violent , since it proceedes from an external agent ; and indeed , according to the school philosophers , the motion of far the greatest part of the visible world , though this motion be most regular and lasting , must , according to the propos'd distinction , be reputed violent ; since they assert , that the immense firmament itself , and all the planetary orbs , ( in comparison of which vast coelestial part of the world , the sublunary part is little more than a physical point , ) is perpetually ( and against its native tendency , ) hurry'd about the the centre of the world , once in twenty four hours , by an external , though invisible , agent , which they therefore call the primum mobile . and as for the criterion of natural motion , that , its principle is within the moving body , it may be said , that all bodies , once in the state of actual motion , whatever cause first brought them to it , are mov'd by an internal principle : as , for instance , an arrow , that actually flies in the air towards a mark , moves by some principle or other residing within itself ; for , it does not depend on the bow 't was shot out of , since 't would continue , tho' that were broken , or even annihilated ; nor does it depend upon the medium , which more resists than assists its progress , as might be easily shewn , if it were needful ; and , if we should suppose the ambient air either to be annihilated , or ( which in our case would be aequialent , ) render'd uncapable of either furthering or hindring its progress , i see not why the motion of the arrow must necessarily cease , since in this case there remains no medium to be penetrated , and on that account oppose its progress . when in a watch that is wound up , the spring endeavours to unbend or display itself ; and when the string of a drawn bow is broken or let go , the spring of the former , and the woo●y part of the later , does each return to a less crooked line . and though these motions be occasioned by the forcible acts of external agents , yet the watch , spring , and the bow , have in themselves ( for ought appears to those i reason with , ) an inward principle , by which they are mov'd till they have attain'd their position . some , perhaps , would add , that a squib , or a rocket , though an artificial body , seems , as well as a falling star , to move from an internal principle : but i shall rather observe , that , on the other side , external agents are requisite to many motions , that are acknowledg'd to be natural , as , to omit the germination and flourishing of divers plants , as onions , leeks , potato's , &c. though hung up in the air , by the heat of the sun in the spring ; to pass by this , i say , if in the pneumatical engine or air-pump , you place divers insects , as bees , flies , catterpillars , &c. and withdraw the common air from the receiver , they will lye moveless , as if they were dead , though it be for several hours , whilst they are kept from enjoying the presence of the air : but , when the external air is permitted again to return upon them , they will presently be reviv'd , ( as i have with pleasure try'd , ) and be brought to move again , according to their respective kinds ; as if a fly , for instance , resembled a little windmill in this , that being moveless of itself , it required the action of the air to put its wings and other parts into motion . but , to insist no farther on these arguments ad hominem , we may consider , that , since motion does not essentially belong to matter , as divisibility and impenetrableness are believ'd to do ; the motions of all bodies , at least at the beginning of things , and the motions of most bodies , the causes of whose motions we can discern , were impress'd on them , either by an external immaterial agent , god ; or by other portions of matter ( which are also extrinsecal impellers ) acting on them . and this occasion invites me to observe , that , though motion be deservedly made one of the principal parts of aristotle's definition of nature , yet men are wont to call such motions natural , as are very hard to distinguish from those , they call violent . thus , when water falls down to the ground , they tell us , that this motion is natural to that liquor , as 't is a heavy body ; but when a man spurts up water out of his mouth into the air , they pronounce that motion , because of its tendency upwards , to be contrary to nature . and yet when he draws water into his mouth , by sucking it through a long pipe held perpendicularly , they will have this motion of the water , though directly upwards , to be not violent , but natural . so when a foot-ball , or blown bladder , being let fall upon a hard floor , rebounds up to a good height , the descent and ascent are both said to be natural motions , though the former tends towards the centre of the earth , and the later recedes as far as it can do from it . and so if from a considerable height you let fall a ball of some close wood , that yet is not too heavy , as oak or the like , into a deep vessel of water , it will descend a great way in that liquor , by a natural motion ; and yet its contrary motion upwards ought not to be esteem'd violent , since , according to the schools , being lighter in specie than water , 't is natural to it to affect its proper place , for which purpose it must ascend to the top of the liquor , and lye afloat there ; and yet 't is from these tendencies to opposite points , ( as the zenith and the nadir ) that men are wont to judg many motions of bodies to be natural or violent . and indeed , since it must be indifferent to a lifeless and insensible body , to what place 't is made to move , all its motions may , in some respect , be said to be natural , and in another , violent : for as very many bodies of visible bulk are set a moving by external impellents , and , on that score , their motions may be said to be violent ; so the generality of impell'd bodies do move either upwards , downwards , &c. toward any part of the world , in what line or way soever they find their motion least resisted ; which impulse and tendency , being given by vertue of what they call the general laws of nature , the motion may be said to be natural . i might here take notice , that , according to the epicurean hypothesis , it need not at all be admitted , that motion must be produc'd by such a principle , as the schoolmens nature . for , according to that great and ancient sect of philosophers , the atomists , every indivisible corpuscle has actual motion , or an incessant endeavour to change place , essentially belonging to it , as 't is an atom : insomuch that in no case it can be depriv'd of this property or power . and all sensible bodies being , according to these physiologers , but casual concretions or coalitions of atoms ; each of them needs no other principle of motion , than that unloseable endeavour of the atoms that compose it ; and happen , on the account of circumstance , to have the tendency of the more numerous , or at least the predominant , corpuscles , determin'd one way . and to these i might add some other such reflections . but i shall , in this place , say no more concerning motion , not only because , even after having consider'd the differing definitions , that aristotle , cartesius , and some other philosophers , have given of it , i take it to be too difficult a subject , to be clearly explicated in few words ; but because the only occasion i had to mention it here , was , to shew that the vulgar distinction of it into natural and violent is not so clear and well-grounded , as to oblige us to admit ( what it supposes , ) that there is such a being , as the naturists assert . i come now to consider the argument , that may be drawn in favour of the receiv'd notion of nature , from the critical evacuations which happen at certain times in diseases , and the strange shifts that nature sometimes makes use of in them , to free herself from the noxious humours that oppress'd her. this argument i willingly acknowledg to be very considerable . for we really see , that in continual feavers , especially in hotter climates , there do usually happen , at certain times of the diseases , notable and critical commotions or conflicts , after which the morbifick matter is dispos'd of and discharg'd by ways strange and surprising , to the great and speedy relief of the patient , if not to his perfect cure ; as may appear by many instances , to be met with in the observations of physcians about feavers , pleurisies , &c. upon this account , i take the argument drawn from crises's to be much the weightiest , that can be urg'd for the opinion from which i dissent , and therefore i shall employ the more words in clearing this important difficulty . in order to this , i desire it may be kept in mind , that i do not only acknowledge , but teach , that the body of a man is an incomparable engine , which the most wise author of things has so skilfully fram'd , for lasting very many years , that , if there were in it an intelligent principle of self-preservation , ( as the naturists suppose there is ) things would not , in most cases , be better or otherwise manag'd , for the conservation of the animals life , than they generally are . so that the question is not , whether there is a great deal of providence and wisdom exercis'd , in the crises's of diseases , but upon what account it is , that these apposite things are perform'd ? the universal opinion of physcians is , that 't is that intelligent principle they call nature , which , being solicitous for the welfare of the patient , and distress'd by the quantity or hurtfulness of the morbifick matter , watches her opportunity ( especially when 't is concocted ) to expel it hastily out of the body , by the most safe and convenient ways , which , in the present condition of the patient , can be taken . and i , on the other side , attribute crises's to the wisdom and ordinary providence of god , exerting itself by the mechanism , partly of that great machine , the world , and partly of that smaller engine , the human body , as 't is constituted in the patients present circumstance . and the reasons that hinder me , from acquiescing in the general opinion of physicians about crises's , are principally these . first , i observe that crises's , properly so call'd , do very seldom happen in other than feavers , and the like acute diseases ; where , according to the common course of things , the malady is terminated , in no long time , either by recovery , or death , or a change into some other disease : but chronical-sicknesses , such as coughs , dropsies , gouts , &c. unless they happen to be accompany'd with feaverish distempers , are not wont to have crises's ; which argues , that nature doth not make critical evacuations , upon the account of such care and watchfulness , as physicians ascribe them to : since she neglects to employ so salutary an expedient in diseases , that are oftentimes no less dangerous and mortal , than divers acute diseases , which she attempts to cure by crises's . next i consider , that critical evacuations may be procur'd by the bare mechanism of the body . for , by vertue of that , it will often happen , that the fibres , or motive organs of the stomach , bowels , and other parts , being distended or vellicated by the plenty or acrimony of the peccant matter , will , by that irritation , be brought to contract themselves vigorously , and to throw out the matter that offends the parts , either by the emunctories or common-shores of the body , or by whatever passages the proscrib'd matter can be , with most ease , discharg'd . thus , when some men find their stomachs burden'd with a clog of meat or drink , they use to thrust their fingers into their throats , and , by that mechanical way , provoke the stomach to disburden itself of its offensive load , without being beholden to natures watchfulness for a crisis , which probably she would not ( at least so seasonably ) attempt . and thus , whereas 't is usual enough , for crises's to be made in feavers by large haemorrhagi's at the nose , and sometimes at other parts , which is ascrib'd to natures watchful solicitude for the patients recovery ; i must take leave to add , that it hath been divers times observ'd , that , even after death , large bleedings have succeeded , at the nose and other parts of the body : which shews , that such excretions may be made by vertue of the structure of it , and the turgescence and acrimony of the humours , without any design of nature , to save the life of the patient , already dead . indeed , if it did appear by experience , that all , or almost all , the crises's of diseases , did either expel the morbifick matter , or at least notably relieve the patient , the critical attempts of nature would much favour the opinion men have conceiv'd of her vigilance and conduct : but unwelcome instances daily shew , that , as some crises's are salutary , ( as they call them ) so others prove mortal . and among those that do not directly or presently kill the patient , there are divers that leave him in a worse condition , than he was before . and therefore , i wonder not , that physicians have thought themselves oblig'd to lay down several circumstances , as necessary requisites of a laudable crisis , if any of which be wanting , 't is not thought of the best kind ; and if the contrary to some of them happen , 't is to be judg'd either pernicious , or at least hurtful . for , whereas there are two general ways , suppos'd to be employ'd by nature in making crises's , the one by expulsion of the peccant matter out of the body , and the other by the setling of the matter somewhere within it : neither of these two ways is constantly successful . and therefore experience hath oblig'd physicians to divide crises's , not only into perfect , that fully determine the event of the disease , and imperfect , that do but alter it for the better or the worse ; but into salutary , that quite deliver the patient , and mortal , that destroy him . and to a perfect and salutary crisis , some learned men require no less than six conditions ; namely , that it be preceded by signs of coction of the peccant matter ; that it be made by a manifest and sufficiently copious excretion or translation ; that it be made upon a critical day , as the seventh , fourteenth , twentieth , &c. that it leave no relicks behind it , that may indanger a relapse ; that it be made safely , that is , without dangerous symptoms : and lastly , that it be suitable to the nature of the disease , and the patient . by this it may appear , that 't is no common thing to meet with a perfect and salutary crisis , so many laudable conditions must concur in it ; and indeed nature doth usually take up with but imperfectly good ones , and it were happy if she made not better , provided she made no worse . but 't is found , by sad experience , that she rouses herself up to make a crisis , not only upon improper , and , as physicians call them , intercident days , such as the third , fifth , ninth , &c. or upon those they call empty or medicinal days , which seldom afford any crisis , and much seldomer a good one , but also when there appear not any signs of coction , or at least of due coction , and by these unseasonable attempts weaken the patient , and encrease the malady , or perhaps make it speedily mortal . nor will it justifie nature , to say , with some learned physicians , that these attempts are accidentally brought on by the acrimony or importunity of the morbifick matter , by which she is provok'd , before the time , to endeavour an expulsion of it . for if nature be indeed so prudent and watchful a guardian , as she is thought , she ought not to suffer herself to be provok'd to act preposterously , and make furious attempts , that lavish to no purpose , or worse than no purpose , that little strength the patient hath so much need of . and therefore physicians do oftentimes very well , when , to act agreeably to the dictates of prudence , they forget , how much wisdom they are wont to ascribe to nature , and employ their best skill and remedies to suppress or moderate the inordinate motions , or the improper and profuse evacuations , that irritated nature rashly begins to make . and though the crises's that are made by a metastasis of the peccant matter , or by lodging it in some particular part of the body , whether external or internal , be oftentimes , when they are not salutary , somewhat less hurtful , than those that are made by excretion ; yet these do frequently , though perhaps more slowly , prove dangerous enough , producing sometimes inward imposthumes , and sometimes external tumors , in parts that are either noble by their functions , or by their situation , or connexion , or sympathy with others , that are not to be without hazard or great inconvenience oppress'd . i know that physicians make it a great argument of nature's providence and skill , that she watches for the concoction of the peccant matter , before she rouses herself up to expel it by a crisis . what is to be meant by this coction of humours , ( for it ought not to be confounded with the coction of the aliments ) they are not wont so clearly to declare . but , as i understand it , when they say that a portion of peccant matter is brought to coction , they mean , that it has acquir'd such a disposition , as makes it more fit , than before , to be separated from the sounder portion of the mass of blood , or from the consistent parts , to which it perhaps formerly adhered , and to be afterwards expell'd out of the body . this may be partly exemplifi'd by what happens in some recent colds , where the lungs are affected , in which we see , that , after a few days , the phlegm is made more fluid ; and that which is lodg'd in the lungs , ( not sticking so fast to the inside of the aspera arteria ) is easily brought up by coughing , which could not dislodg it before . and in feavers , that separation in the urine , formerly cloudless , that physicians look upon as a good sign of coction , seems to be produc'd by some part of the peccant matter , that , beginning to be separated from the blood , mingles with the urine , and is not usually distinguish'd from it , whilst this liquor is warm ; but when it is grown cold , does , on the score of its weight or texture , somewhat recede , and appear in a distinct form , as of a cloud , a sediment , &c. but whatever they mean by coction , 't is plain enough , by what hath been lately noted , that , on many occasions , nature doth not wait for it , but unseasonably , and oftentimes dangerously , attempts to proscribe the matter that offends her , before it be duly prepar'd for expulsion . i come now to that circumstance of crises's , that is thought the most wonderful , which is , that nature does oftentimes by very unusual ways , and at unexpected places , discharge the matter that offends her , and thereby either cures , or notably relieves , the patient . and it must not be deny'd , that , in some cases , the critical evacuations have somewhat of suprising in them ; and i shall also readily grant , that , n. b. [ divine providence may expressly interpose , not only in the infliction of diseases by way of punishment , but in the removal of them in the way of mercy . ] but , setting aside these extraordinary cases , i think it not absurd to conjecture , that the performances of nature , in common crises's , may be probably referr'd , partly to the particular condition of the matter to be expell'd , and partly ( and indeed principally ) to some peculiar disposition in the primitive fabrick of some parts of the patients body , or some unusual change made in the construction of these parts by the disease itself , or other accidents ; which original or adventitious disposition , of the sick man's body , not being visible to us , at least whilst he is alive , we are apt to ascribe the unexpected accidents of a crisis , if it prove salutary , to the wonderful providence of nature . and , if it happen to be other than salutary , we are wont to overlook them . to illustrate this matter , we may consider , that plentiful evacuations , procured by medicines , are a kind of artificial crises's : we see , that some bodies are so constituted , that , although the peccant humour , wrought on by the medicine , ought , as the physitian thinks , to be expell'd by siege , and indeed is wont to be so , in the generality of those that take that kind of medicine , as , for instance , rhubarb or senna ; yet the peculiar disposition of the patient's stomach will make that an emetick , which was intended to be , and regularly should be , a cathartick . nor does this constitution of the stomach equally regard all purging medicines ; for the same stomach , that will reject them in the form , for instance , of a potion , will quietly entertain them , being in the form of pills . and to this let me add what we observe of the operation of mercury ; which though , if it be duly prepared , it is usually given to procure salivation , especially to succulent bodies ; yet there are some patients , wherein , instead of salivating , 't will violently and dangerously work downwards , like a purge , or make some other unexpected evacuation . and i have seen a patient , who , though young and very fat , could not be brought to salivate , neither by the gentler ways , nor by turbith-mineral and other harsher medicines , though administred by very skilful physitians and chyrurgeons . and this peculiarity may be as well contracted , as native . for some persons , especially after surfeits , having been rufly dealt with , or at least tyr'd out with a medicine of this or that kind of form , will afterwards nauseate and vomit up the like medicine , tho' in other bodies it be never so far from ●●ing emetick . we see also , that sometimes sudorifick medicines , instead of procuring sweat , prove briskly diuretick , and sometimes either purging or vomitive . from all this we may argue , that the qualities of the irritating matter , and much more the particular disposition of the patients body , may procure evacuations at unexpected places . i remember too , that , among the observations i have met with of famous physitians , there are instances of periodical and critical evacuations , at very inconvenient , as well as unusual , vents ; as some women are recorded to have had their menses , sometimes at the eyes , sometimes at the navil , and sometimes at the mouth ; of which there seems no cause so probable , as some peculiar structure , whether native or adventitious , of the internal parts concern'd in that discharge ; and of such unusual structures , anatomists must have seen many , since i my self have observ'd more than one or two. if these uncommon ways of disposing of the morbifick matter were always salutary to the patient , the argument grounded on them would have more weight : but though most men take notice of this sort of crises's , but when they are lucky , yet an impartial observer shall often find , that ill-condition'd and hurtful crises's may be made by unusual and unexpected ways . and , in some translations of the morbifick matter to distant and nobler parts , perhaps it will be as difficult to shew , by what channels or known ways the matter pass'd from one to another , as 't is to determine , how it was conducted to those parts , at which it was the most happily vented . in the foregoing discourse about crises's , there is , i confess , much of paradox ; and 't was unwillingly enough ; that i made an excursion , or in-road , into a subject that has been look'd upon as the physitians peculiar province . and , you may remember , that not far from the beginning of this little book , i told you , that i was willing to decline medling with other , than inanimate bodies : living ones being , as of a less simple sort , so of a more intricate speculation ; which reflexion will , i hope , excuse me to you , if you find , that my propos'd brevity , or the difficulty of the subject , has had any great influence on what i write , about health , diseases and crises's . and , as for the sons of aesculapius , it may be represented to them , in my favour , that , besides that i have treated of sickness and crises's , rather as a physiologer than a physician , i could not leave them unconsider'd , without being thought , if not to betray , at least to be wanting to , the cause i was to plead for . if it should be dislik'd , that i make the phaenomena of the merely corporeal part of the world , under which i comprize the bodies of animals , though not the rational souls of men , to be too generally referr'd to laws mechanical ; i hope you will remember , for me , several things dispers'd in this treatise , that may , when laid together , afford a sufficient answer to this surmize ; and particularly , that almost all the modern philosophers , and among them divers eminent divines , scruple not to forsake the spread opinion , that the coelestial orbs were mov'd and guided by intelligences ; and to explicate , by physical causes , the eclipses of the sun and moon , the production or apparition and phaenomena of comets , and other things , that the romans , as well as other heathens , both ancient and modern , have ascrib'd to the immediate agency of divine causes . this allows me to observe to you , that , since these modern naturalists and divines are wont to explicate the phaenomena of the vast coelestial bodies , by their local motions and the consequences of them ; they do , as well as i , endeavour to account for what happens in the incomparably greatest part of the vniverse , by physico-mechanical principles and laws . and , even in the terrestrial part of the world , which we men inhabit , most of the moderns , that have freed themselves from the prejudices of the schools , do not stick to give statical , hydro-statical , and other mechanical explications of the ascension of water in pumps , the detention of it in watering-pots , whose upper orifices are clos'd , and of other various phaenomena , which were formerly unanimously ascrib'd to nature's wonderful providence , express'd in her care to hinder a vacuum . but perhaps you will think it fitter for me to provide against their censure , who will dislike what i have written about crises's , not because i have ascrib'd too much to merely physical causes , but ( on the contrary , ) because i do not strictly confine my self to them. for i doubt , that if you should shew these papers to some of your friends , that affect to be strict naturalists , they will think it strange , that in one of the clauses in the foregoing discourse about crises's , ( i mean , that to which this mark n. b. is prefix'd , ) i admit that their events may sometimes be vary'd by some peculiar interposition of god. but yet i own to you , that the clause , 't is like they would take exceptions at , did not unawares slip from my pen. for 't is my setled opinion , that divine prudence is often , at least , conversant in a peculiar manner about the actions of men , and the things that happen to them , or have a necessary connexion with the one , or the other , or both. and tho' i think it probable , that in the conduct of that far greatest part of the universe , which is merely corporeal , the wise author of it does seldom manifestly procure a recession from the settled course of the universe , and especially from the most catholick laws of motion : yet , where men , who are creatures , that he is pleas'd to indow with free wills , ( at least in reference to things not spiritual , ) are nearly and highly concern'd ; i think he has , not only sometimes by those signal and manifest interpositions we call miracles , acted by a supernatural way , but , as the sovereign lord and governor of the world , doth divers times , ( and perhaps oftner than mere philosophers imagine ) give by the intervention of rational minds , as well united , as not united , to human bodies , divers such determinations to the motion of parts in those bodies , and of others , which may be affected by them , as by laws merely mechanical , those parts of matter would not have had : by which motions , so determin'd , either salutary or fatal crises's , and many other things , conducive to the welfare or detriment of men , are produc'd . the interposition of divine providences , in cases of life and death , might be easily shewn to christians out of divers passages of scripture , which expresly propos'd long life as a reward to obedient children , and to other righteous persons among the iews , and threatens bloody and deceitful men , that they shall not live out half their days ; and which relates , that a king of israel had his disease made mortal by his impious recourse to the false god of eckron ; and that , upon hezekiah's prayers and tears , god was pleased to add fifteen years to his life , and grant a special benediction to an outward medicine , apply'd to his threatning sore . to which passages divers may be added out of the new-testament also , and especially that of st. iames , who exhorts the sick to seek for recovery by prayer ; and that of st. paul , where , speaking to the corinthians of the unworthy receivers of the sacrament of the eucharist , he tells them , that , for that cause , divers were become sick and weak among them , and many also died . but though the nature of this discourse dissuades me from imploying here the authority of scripture , yet it allows me to observe , ( what is considerable on this occasion ) that natural theology and right reason comport very well with our propos'd doctrine . for , as i lately intimated , and do more fully shew in another paper , * god has left to the will of man the direction of many local motions in the parts of his own body , and thereby of some others ; though the mechanical laws , on which the ordinary course of things mainly depends , do not only regulate the motions of bodies , but the determinations too : and since man himself is vouchsaf'd a power , to alter , in several cases , the usual course of things , it should not seem incredible , that the latent interposition of men , or perhaps angels , or other causes unthought of by us , should sometimes be imploy'd to the like purposes by god , who is not only the all-wise maker , but the absolute , and yet most just and benign , rector of the universe , and of men. to conclude the excursion , which i hope will not appear useless , that has been occasion'd by the discourse of crises's , i think it becomes a christian philosopher , to admit , in general , that god doth sometimes in a peculiar , though hidden way , interpose in the ordinary phaenomena and events of crises's ; but yet , that this is done so seldom , at least in a way that we can certainly discern , that we are not hastily to have recourse to an extraordinary providence , and much less to the strange care and skill of that question'd being call'd nature , in this or that particular case , though perhaps unexpected , if it may be probably accounted for by mechanical laws , and the ordinary course of things . and here , though in a place less proper than i might have chosen , if i had timely remembred it , i shall , both in reference to the extraordinary accidents that sometimes happen in crises's , and more generally to the seemingly irregular phaenomena of the universe , venture to offer you a notion , that perhaps you will not dislike . i think then , that , when we consider the world , and the physical changes that happen in it , with reference to the divine wisdom and providence ; the arguments for the affirmative ought , in their kind , to have more force than those for the negative . for it seems more allowable , to argue a providence from the exquisite structure and symmetry of the mundane bodies , and the apt subordination and train of causes , than to infer from some physical anomalies , that things are not fram'd and administred by a wise author and rector . for the characters and impressions of wisdom , that are conspicuous in the curious fabrick and orderly train of things , can , with no probability , be referr'd to blind chance , but must be to a most intelligent and designing agent . whereas , on the other hand , besides that the anomalies , we speak of , are incomparably fewer , than those things which are regular , and are produc'd in an orderly way ; besides this , i say , the divine maker of the universe being a most free agent , and having an intellect infinitely superior to ours , may , in the production of seemingly irregular phaenomena , have ends unknown to us , which even the anomalies may be very fit to compass . thus , when a man , not vers'd in the mathematicks , looks upon a curious geographical globe , though , as soon as he perceives that the differing bignesses , and particular confines of kingdoms and provinces , and the apt situations , true distances and bearings of the cities and towns he knows by sight or fame , be rightly set down ; he cannot but conclude , from these impresses of art or skill , that this was the work of a designing artificer . but though he also sees on the same globe several circles , as the tropicks , the zodiack , the meridians , &c. if he be a sober man , he will not think that these were made by chance only , because he knows not the reasons or uses of them , or because some of the lines , as those curve-lines the seamen call rumbs , are not , like the other , circular , but do odly , and with a seeming irregularity , intersect them : but will rather think , that the artist , that had knowledg enough to represent the globe of the earth and waters , in a body not two foot in diameter , had also skill enough to draw those lines , with some design worthy of the same skill , though not obvious to those that are unacquainted with his art. i did not incogitantly speak of irregularities , as if they might sometimes be but seeming ones . for i think it very possible , that an artificer of so vast a comprehension , and so piercing a sight , as is the maker of the world , might , in this great automaton of his , have so order'd things , that divers of them may appear to us , and as it were break out , abruptly and unexpectedly , and at great distances of time or place from one another , and on such accounts be thought irregular ; which yet really have , both in his preordination , and in the connection of their genuine causes , a reference that would , if we discern'd it , keep us from imputing it either to chance , or to nature's aberrations . to illustrate this a little , let us consider , that if , when the jesuits , that first came into china , presented a curious striking watch to the king , he that look'd to it had wound up the alarm , so as to strike a little after one ; if , i say , this had been done , and that these chineses , that look'd upon it as a living creature , or some european animal , would think , that when the index , pointing at two of the clock , likewise struck the same hour , and so three , four , and onward , they would judg that these noises were regularly produc'd , because they ( at equal intervals of time ) heard them , and whensoever the index pointed at an hour , and never but then ; but when the alarm came unexpectedly to make a loud , confus'd , and more lasting noise , they could scarce avoid thinking , that the animal was sick , or exceedingly disorder'd : and yet the alarming noise did as properly flow from the structure of the little engine , and was as much design'd by the manager of it , as those sounds of the clock , that appear'd manifestly regular . sect . vii . i proceed now to the sixth and difficultest part of my task , which is to shew , that the most general and current effata and axioms concerning nature , that are wont to be imploy'd in the writings of philosophers , may have a fair account given of them , agreeably to the doctrine i have hitherto propos'd , tho' these axioms do some of them suppose , and others seem strongly to support , the receiv'd notion of nature . to clear the way for the ensuing explications , i must desire you to recall to mind the two cautions i have formerly offer'd you ( in the fifth section , ) wherewith i would have the common doctrine , about the ends or designs of nature , to be understood or limited . and therefore i shall not here repeat , what i there said , but only add in two words , that if those , and some few other such things , had been observ'd and duly consider'd , they might perhaps have prevented much of the obscurity , and some of the errors , that relate to the notion of nature . i hope you have not forgot , that the design of this paper was , to examine the vulgar notion of nature , not to establish a new one of my own . and indeed the ambiguity of the word is so great , ( as hath in the second section been made appear ) and 't is , even by learned men , frequently imploy'd to signifie such different things ; that , without enumerating and distinguishing its various acceptions , it were very unsafe to venture a giving a definition of it , and perhaps it were very impossible to give any , that would not be liable to censure . i shall not therefore here presume to define a thing , of which i have not found a stated and setled notion so far agreed on amongst men , but that i was oblig'd , out of aristotle and others , to compile , in the fourth section , a collective representation of the vulgarly receiv'd idea , or notion of nature : and afterwards to draw up , as well as i could , instead of an accurate definition , tolerable descriptions of what , on most occasions , may be intelligibly meant by it. wherefore , desiring and presuming , that you will retain in your mind , and , as occasion shall require , apply , in the following part of this essay , the things already delivered in the fourth section , i will not trouble you with the repetition of them. but before i descend to treat of the particular effata or sentences , that are receiv'd concerning nature's actings , it may not be improper , nor unuseful , to try if we can clear the way , by considering in what sense nature may , or may not , be said to act at all , or to do this or that . for , for ought i can clearly discern , whatsoever is perform'd in the merely material world , is really done by particular bodies , acting according to the laws of motion , rest , &c. that are setled and maintain'd by god among things corporeal . in which hypothesis , nature seems rather a notional thing , than a true physical , and distinct or separate , efficient ; such as would be , in case aristotles doctrine were true , one of those intelligences , that he presum'd to be the movers of the coelestial orbs. but men do oftentimes express themselves so very ambiguously or intricately , when they say , that nature does this and that , or , that she acts thus and thus ; that 't is scarce ( if at all ) possible to translate their expressions into any forms of speech , adequate to the original and yet intelligible . for which reason , though i have in the section said something to the same purpose with what i am now to propose , yet the difficulty and weight of the subject makes me think it may be expedient , if not necessary , in this place somewhat more fully to declare what men do , or should , mean , when they speak of nature's acting , or of a thing 's being naturally done or performed , by giving their words and phrases sometimes one interpretation , and sometimes another . i. sometimes when 't is said , that nature does this or that ; 't is less proper to say , that 't is done by nature , than , that it is done according to nature . so that , nature is not here to be look'd on , as a distinct or separate agent , but as a rule , or rather a systeme of rules , according to which , those agents , and the bodies they work on , are , by the great author of things , determin'd to act and suffer . thus , when water is rais'd in a sucking-pump , 't is said , that nature makes the water ascend after the sucker , to prevent a vacuum ; though in reality this ascension is made , not by such a separate agent , as nature is fancied to be , but by the pressure of the atmosphere , acting upon the water , according to statical rules , or the laws or the aequilibrium of liquors , settled by god among fluids , whether visible or pneumatical . so , when the strict peripateticks tell us , that all the visible coelestial orbs , being by a motion , that they call violent , hurried about the earth every four and twenty hours from east to west ; each of the planetary orbs has a natural motion , that is quite contrary , tending from the west to the east : if they will speak congruously to their master's doctrine , they must use the term natural in the sense our observation gives it : since aristotle will have the coelestial orbs to be moved by external or separate agents namely , spiritual intelligences . our observation may be also illustrated by other forms of speech , that are in use ; as when 't is said , that the law takes care of infants and lunaticks , that their indiscreet actions or omissions should not damnifie their inheritances ; and , that the law hangs men for murther , but only burns them in the hand for some lesser faults ; of which phrases the meaning is , that magistrates and other ministers of justice , acting according to the law of the land , do the things mention'd . and it tends yet more directly to our purpose to take notice , that 't is common to ascribe to art those things that are really perform'd by artificers , according to the prescriptions of the art , as when 't is said , that geometry ( as the name imports , ) measures lands , astrology foretels changes of weather and other future accidents , architecture makes buildings , and chymistry prepares medicines . ii. sometimes , when divers things , such as the growth of trees , the maturations of fruits , &c. are said to be perform'd by the course of nature , the meaning ought to be , that such things will be brought to pass by their proper and immediate causes , according to the wonted manner and series or order of their actings . thus 't is said , that , by the course of nature the summer days are longer than those of the winter : that , when the moon is in opposition to the sun , ( that is in the full moon , ) that part of her body which respects the earth , is more enlightned than at the new moon , or at either of the quadratures : and lastly , that when she enters more or less into the conical shadow of the earth , she suffers a total or a partial eclipse . and yet these and other illustrious phaenomena may be clearly explicated without recourse to any such being as the aristotelians nature , barely by considering the situations and wonted motions of the sun or earth , and the moon , with reference to each other , and to the terrestrial globe . and here it may not be amiss to take notice , that we may sometimes usefully distinguish between the laws of nature , more properly so call'd , and the custom of nature , or , if you please , between the fundamental and general constitutions among bodily things , and the municipal laws , ( if i may so call them , ) that belong to this or that particular sort of bodies . as , to resume and somewhat vary our instance drawn ftom water ; when this falls to the ground , it may be said to do so by virtue of the custom of nature , it being almost constantly usual for that liquor to tend downwards , and actually to fall down , if it be not externally hinder'd . but when water ascends by suction in a pump , or other instrument , that motion , being contrary to that which is wonted , is made in virtue of a more catholick law of nature , by which 't is provided , that a greater pressure , which in our case the water suffers from the weight of the incumbent air , should surmount a lesser , such as is here the gravity of the water , that ascends in the pump or pipe. the two foregoing observations may be farther illustrated , by considering , in what sense men speak of things which they call praeter-natural , or else contrary to nature . for divers , if not most , of their expressions of this kind , argue , that nature is in them taken for the particular and subordinate , or , as it were , the municipal laws establish'd among bodies . thus water , when 't is intensly hot , is said to be in a praeter-natural state , because it is in one that 't is not usual to it , and , men think , doth not regularly belong to it ; though the fire or sun , that thus agitates it and puts it into this state , is confess'd to be a natural agent , and is not thought to act otherwise than according to nature . thus , when a spring , forcibly bent , is conceiv'd to be in a state contrary to its nature , as is argued from its incessant endeavour to remove the compressing body ; this state , whether praeter-natural , or contrary to nature , should be thought such , but in reference to the springy body . for otherwise 't is as agreeable to the grand laws , that obtain among things corporeal , that such a spring should remain bent by the degree of force , that actually keeps it so , as that it should display itself in spight of a less , or incompetent , degree of force . and to omit the six non-natural things , so much spoken of by physitians , i must here take notice , that though a disease be generally reckon'd as a praeter-natural thing , or , as others carry the notion further , a state contrary to nature ; yet , that must be understood only with reference to what customarily happens to a human body : since excessively cold winds , and immoderate rains , and sultry air , and other usual causes of diseases , are as natural agents , and act as agreeably to the catholick laws of the universe , when they produce diseases , as when they condense the clouds into rain or snow , blow ships into their harbour , make rivers overflow , ripen corn and fruit , and do such other things , whether they be hurtful or beneficial to men. and , upon a like account , when monsters are said to be praeternatural things ; the expression is to be understood with regard to that particular species of bodies , from which the monster does enormously deviate , though the causes , that produce that deviation , act but according to the general laws , whereby things corporeal are guided . . i doubt , whether i should add as a third remark , or as somewhat that is referrable to one or both of the two foregoing , that sometimes , when 't is said , that nature performs this or that thing , we are not to conceive , that this thing is an effect really produc'd by other than by proper physical causes or agents ; but , in such expressions , we are rather to look upon nature , either as a relative thing , or as a term imployed to denote a notional thing , with reference whereunto physical causes are consider'd , as acting after some peculiar manner , whereby we may distinguish their operations from those that are produc'd by other agents , or perhaps by the same , consider'd as acting in another way . this , i think , may be illustrated by some other receiv'd expressions , or forms of speech . as , when many of the ancient , and some of the modern , philosophers , have said , that things are brought fatally to pass ; they did not mean , that fate was a distinct and separate agent , but only , that the physical causes perform'd the effect , as , in their actings , they had a necessary dependance upon one another , or an inviolable connexion that link'd them together . and on the other side , when men say , as they too frequently do , that fortune or chance , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( for aristotle and his followers distinguish them , ascribing to the former , what unexpectedly happens to deliberating or designing , and to the later , what happens to inanimate or undesigning beings , ) has done this or that : considerate philosophers do not look upon fortune or chance as a true and distinct physical cause , but as a notional thing , that denotes , that the proper agents produc'd the effect without an intention to do so , ( as i have more fully declar'd in the fourth section . ) one may , for ought i know , without impertinence , refer to this our third observation , that many things are wont to be attributed to time ; as , when we say , that time ripens some fruits that are too early gather'd ; that it makes many things moulder and decay , ( tempus edax rerum ; ) that 't is the mother of truth ; that it produces great alterations , both in the affairs of men , and in their dispositions and their bodies : to omit many other vulgar expressions , which represent time as the cause of several things , whereof really it is but an adjunct or a concomitant of the effects , ( however coincident with the successive parts of time , and so , some way , related to it ) being indeed produc'd by other agents , that are their true and proper efficients . sometimes likewise , when it is said , that nature does this or that , we ought not to suppose , that the effect is produc'd by a distinct or separate being ; but , on such occasions , the word nature is to be concei●●d to signifie a complex or convention of all the essential properties , or necessary qualities , that belong to a body of that species whereof the real agent is , or to more bodies respectively , if more must concur to the production of the effect . to this sense we are to expound many of those forms of speech , that are wont to be imploy'd , when physicians , or others , speak of what nature does in reference to diseases , or the cure of them . and , to give a right sense to such expressions , i consider nature , not as a principal and distinct agent , but a kind of compounded accident , that is ( as it were ) made up of , or results from , the divers properties and qualities that belong to the true agents . and , that the name of a compounded accident may not be startled at , i shall , to explain what i mean by it , observe , that , as there are some qualities or accidents , that , at least in comparison of others , may be call'd simple , as roundness , streightness , heat , gravi●● , &c. so there are others , that may be conceiv'd as compounded , or made up of several qualities united in one subject : as , in divers pigments , greenness is made up of blew and yellow , exquisitely mix'd ; beauty is made up of fit colours , taking features , just stature , fine shape , graceful motions , and some other accidents of the human body and its parts . and , of this sort of compounded accidents , i am apt to think , there are far more , than , at the first mention of them , one would imagine . and to this kind of beings , the expressions , that naturists do on divers occasions imploy , incline me to think , that , what is call'd nature has a great affinity , at least in reference to those occasions . on which supposition , one may conceive , that , as when 't is said , that health makes a man eat well , digest well , sleep well , &c. considering men do not look upon health as a distinct and separate cause of these effects ; but , as what we lately call'd a compounded accident , that is , a complex of all the real and genuine causes of good appetite , digestion , sleep , &c. insomuch that health is not so properly the cause of these , as their effect or result : so in divers things that nature is said to do , we need conceive no more , than that the effects are produc'd by physical bodies and qualities , or other proper causes ; which , when we consider as conspiring , or rather concurring , to produce the same effect , by a compendious term we call nature . by these and the like ways of interpretation , i thought fit to try , whether i could give an intelligible and commodious sense to divers of the maxims or sentences ; and other forms of speech , that are imploy'd by those , that , on many occasions , and in differing expressions , say , that nature does this or that , and acts thus and thus . but i confess , that to clear all those ambiguous and unskilfully fram'd axioms and phrases , i found to be so intricate and difficult a task , that , for want of time , and perhaps too of patience , i grew weary before i had prosecuted it to the utmost . for which reason , though 't is not improbable , that some light may be given in this dark subject , by what i have been now saying , ( as immature and unfinish'd , as it is ) especially if it be reflected on in conjunction with what hath been formerly deliver'd ( in the fourth section ) about nature , general and particular ; yet i shall , at present , make but very little use of the things that have been now said , in expounding the axioms i am particularly to consider in this seventh section ; hoping , that i may , by the help of other mediums , dispatch my work without them . and , to do it the more easily ; i shall , without tying myself to the order wherein they are marshall'd after the beginning of the fourth section , treat of them in the order wherein i think their explications may give most light to one another , or in that , wherein the papers that belong'd to them were retriev'd . the first of the receiv'd axioms i shall consider , is , that which pronounces , that omnis natura est conservatrix sui ; where , by the word nature , i suppose , they understand a natural body , for otherwise i know not what they meant : now this axiom easily admits of a twofold interpretation . for , either it may signifie no more , than that no one body does tend to its own destruction , that is , to destroy itself : or else , that in every body there is a principle call'd nature , upon whose score , the body is vigilant and industrious to preserve its natural state , and to defend itself from the violence and attempts of all other bodies that oppugn it , or endeavour to destroy or harm it. in the former of these two senses , the axiom may be admitted , without any prejudice to our doctrine . for since according to our hypothesis , inanimate bodies can have neither appetites , nor hatreds , nor designs , which are all of them affections , not of bruit matter but of intelligent beings ; i , that think inanimate bodies have no appetites at all , may easily grant , that they have not any to destroy themselves . but , according to the other sense of the propos'd axiom , 't will import , that every body has within itself a principle , whereby it does desire , and with all its power endeavour , to compass its own preservation : and both to do those things , that tend thereunto , and oppose all endeavours , that outward agents , or internal distempers , may use in order to the destruction of it. and as this is the most vulgar sense of this axiom , so 't is chiefly in this sense , that i am concern'd to examine it. i conceive then , that the most wise creator of things did at first so frame the world , and settle such laws of motion between the bodies , that , as parts , compose it ; that by the assistence of his general concourse , the parts of the universe , especially those that are the greater and the more noble , are lodg'd in such places , and furnish'd with such powers , that , by the help of his general providence , they may have their beings continued and maintained , as long and as far forth , as the course he thought fit to establish , amongst things corporeal , requires . upon this supposition , which is but a reasonable one , there will appear no necessity to have any recourse , for the preservation of particular bodies , to such an internal appetite and inbred knowledg in each of them , as our adversaries presume . since , by virtue of the original frame of things , and established laws of motion , bodies are necessarily determined to act on such occasions , after the manner they would do , if they had really an aim at self-preservation : as you see , that , if a blown bladder be compress'd , and thereby the included air be forc'd out of its wonted dimensions and figure , it will uncessantly endeavour to throw off , and repel , that which offers violence unto it ; and first displace that part of the compressing body , that it finds weakest ; though in all this , there be no appetite in the air , ( as i elswhere shew ; ) no more than in the bladder , to that particular figure , to maintain itself in which it seems so concern'd . thus , 't is all one to a ●lump of dough , whether you make it into a round loaf , or a long rowl , or a flat cake , or give it any other form : for whatever figure your hands or your instruments leave in it , that it will retain , without having any appetite to return to that , which it last had . so , 't is all one to a piece of wax , whether your seal imprints on it the figure of a wolf , or that of a lamb. and , for brevity's sake , to pass by the instances that might be drawn from what happens to wood , and marble , and metals , as they are differently shap'd by the statuaries art and tools ; i will only observe , that the mariner's needle , before it is excited , may have no particular propensity to have respect to one part of heaven , more than another ; but when it has been duly touch'd upon a load-stone , the flwer-de-luce will be determin'd to regard the north , and the opposite extream the south . so that , if the lilly be drawn aside , towards the east or towards the west , as soon as the force , that detain'd it , is remov'd , it will return to its former position , and never rest , 'till it regard the north. but , in spight of this seeming affection of the lilly to that point of the horizon , yet , if the needle be duly touch'd upon the contrary pole of the same or another vigorous load-stone , the lilly will presently forget its former inclination , and regard the southern part of heaven ; to which position it will , as it were , spontaneously return , having been forc'd aside towards the east , or towards the west , if it be again left to its liberty . so that , though it formerly seem'd so much to affect one point of heaven , yet it may , in a trice , be brought to have a strong propensity for the opposite : the lilly having , indeed , no inclination for one point of heaven , more than another , but resting in that position , to which it was last determin'd by the prevalence of magnetical effluvia . and this example may serve to illustrate and confirm , what we have been lately saying in general . ii. another received axiom concerning nature , is , that she never fails or misses of her end , natura sine suo nunquam excidit . this is a proposition , whose ambiguity makes it uneasie for me to deliver my sense of it. but yet , to say somewhat , if by nature we here understand that being , that the school-men style natura naturans , i grant , or rather assert , that nature never misseth its end. for the omniscient and almighty author of things , having once fram'd the word , and establish'd in it the laws of motion , which he constantly maintains , there can no irregularity , or anomaly , happen , especially among the greater mundane bodies , that he did not from the beginning foresee and think fit to permit , since they are but genuine consequences of that order of things , that , at the beginning , he most wisely instituted . as i have formerly declar'd in instances of the eclipses of the sun and moon ; to which i could add others , as the inundations of nilus , so necessary to the health and plenty of aegypt . and though , on some special occasions , this instituted order , either seemingly or really , has been violated , as when the sun is said to have stood still in the days of ioshua , and the red sea to have divided itself to give free passage to the israelites , led by moses ; yet these things having been rarely done , for weighty ends and purposes , by the peculiar intervention of the first cause , either guiding or over-ruling the propensities and motions of secundary agents ; it cannot be said , that god is frustrated of his ends by these design'd , though seeming , exorbitances , by which he most wisely and effectually accomplishes them. but , if by nature be meant such a subordinate principle , as men are wont to understand by that name , i doubt the axiom is in many cases false ; for though it it be true , as i have often said , that the material world is so constituted , that , for the most part , things are brought to pass by corporeal agents , as regularly , as if they designed the effects they produce , yet there are several cases , wherein things happen quite otherwise . thus 't is confess'd , that when a woman is with child , the aim of nature is , to produce a perfect or genuine human foetus ; and yet we often see , that nature widely missing her mark , instead of that , produces a monster . and of this we have such frequent instances , that whole volumes have been publish'd , to recount and describe these gross and deform'd aberrations of nature . we many times see , ( and have formerly noted , ) that in feavers , and other acute diseases , she makes critical attempts upon improper days , and in these unseasonable attempts does not only , for the most part , miss of her end , which is to cure the patient , but often brings him to a far worse condition , than he was in , before she us'd those miscarrying endeavours . to this may may be referr'd the cheats men put upon nature ; as when , by grafting , the sap , that nature raises with intention to feed the fruit of a white thorn. ( for instance , ) is by the gardener brought to nourish a fruit of quite another kind . so , when maulsters make barley to sprout , that germination , whereby nature intended to produce stalks and ears , is perverted to a far differing purpose , and she deluded . and now , to annex some arguments ad hominem , we are told , that nature makes every agent aim at assimulating the patient to itself , and that upon this account , the fire aims at converting wood , and the other bodies it works on , into fire : but , if this be so , nature must often miss of her end in chymical furnaces , where the flame does never turn the bricks , that it makes red-hot , into fire ; nor the crucibles , nor the cuples , nor yet the gold and silver , that it throughly pervades , and brings to be of a colour , the same , or very near the same , with its own , and keeps in a very intense degree of heat , and in actual fusion . and , even when fire acts upon wood , there is but one part of it turn'd into fire , since , to say nothing of the soot and concreted smoke , the ashes remain fix'd and incombustible . and so , to add another instance ad hominem , when we are told , that nature makes water ascend in sucking-pumps , ob fugam vacui , she must needs ( as i formerly noted to another purpose , ) miss of her aim , when the pump exceeds five and thirty , or forty , foot in height ; for then , though you pump never so much , and withdraw the air from the upper part of the engine , the water will not ascend to the top ; and consequently , will leave a cavity , for whole replenishing she was suppos'd to have rais'd that liquor two or three and thirty foot. iii. another of the celebrated axioms concerning nature , is , that she always acts by the shortest or most compendious ways , natura semper agit per vias brevissimas . but this rule , as well as divers others , does , i think , require to be somewhat explained and limited , before it be admitted . for , 't is true , ●hat , as i have frequently occasion to inculcate , the omniscient author of the universe has so fram'd it , that most of the parts of it act as regularly in order to the ends of it , as if they did it with design . but , since inanimate bodies , at least , have no knowledge , it cannot reasonably be suppos'd , that they moderate and vary their own actions , according to the exigency of particular circumstances , wherewith they must of necessity be unacquainted , and therefore it were strange , if there were not divers occurrences , wherein they are determin'd to act by other , than the shortest , ways that lead to particular ends , if those other ways be more congruous to the general laws or customs , established among things corporeal . this i prove by instances taken from gravity itself , which is , perhaps , that quality , which of all others is most probably referr'd to an inbred power and propension . for 't is true , that if a stone , or another heavy body , be let fall into the free air , 't will take its course directly towards the centre of the earth ; and , if it meet with an inclining plane , which puts it out of its way , it will not for all that loss its tendency towards the centre , but run along that plane , by which means its tendency downwards is prosecuted , though not , as before , in a perpendicular line , yet in the shortest way it is permitted to take . these obvious phaenomena , i confess , agree very well with the vulgar axiom , and possibly were the chief things that induc'd men to frame it . but now let us suppose , that a small bullet of marble or steel , after having for a pretty space fallen through the air , lights upon a pavement of marble , or some such hard stone , that lies , as floors are wont to do , horizontal ; in this case , experience shews , ( as was formerly noted on another occasion ) that the falling stone will rebound to a considerable height , ( in proportion to that it fell from ) and falling down again rebound the second time , tho' not so high as before ; and , in short , rebound several times , before , by setling upon the floor , it approaches , as near as is permitted it , to the centre of heavy bodies . whereas , if nature did in all cases act by the most compendious ways , this bullet ought not to rebound at all ; but , as soon as it found , by the hardness of the floor , it could descend no lower , it ought to have rested there , as in the nearest place it could obtain to the centre of the earth , whence every rebound must necessarily remove it to a greater distance . and so likewise , when a pendulum , or bullet fasten'd to the end of a string , is so held , that the string is ( praeter propter ) perpendicular to the horizon , if it be thence let fall , it will not stop at the perpendicular line , or line of direction , which is suppos'd to reach from the nail or other prop , through the centre of the bullet , to the centre of the earth , but will pass beyond it , and vibrate or swing to and fro , 'till it have pass'd again and again the line of direction , for a great while , before the bullet come to settle in it , though , whenever it removes out of it , towards either hand , it must really ascend or move upwards , and so go further off from the centre of the earth , to which , 't is pretended , its innate propensity determines it to approach , as much and as soon as is possible . but this instance having been formerly touch'd upon , i shall now observe , to the same purpose , that having taken a good sea-compass , [ and the experiment succeeded with a naked , yet nicely pois'd , needle ] and suffer'd the magnetick needle to rest north and south ; if i held the proper pole of a good loadstone at a convenient distance , on the right or left hand of the lilly , this would be drawn aside from the north point towards the east or west , as i pleas'd ; and then the loadstone being remov'd quite away , the lilly of the needle would indeed return northward , but would not stop in the magnetick meridian , but pass on divers degrees beyond it , and would thence return without stopping at the meridian line : and so would , by its vibrations , describe many arches still shorter and shorter , 'till at length it came to settle on it , and recover that position , which , if nature always acted by the most compendious ways , it should have rested at the first time , that by the removal of the loadstone it had regain'd it . but the truth is , that , at least , inanimate bodies , acting without knowledg or design of their own , cannot stop or moderate their own action , but must necessarily move as they are determin'd by the catholick laws of motion , according to which , in one case , the impetus , that the bullet acquires by falling , is more powerful to carry it on beyond the line of direction , than the action of the causes of gravity is to stop it , assoon as it comes to the nearest place they can give it to the centre of the earth . and something like this happens in levity , as well as gravity ; for if you take an oblong and conveniently shap'd piece of light wood , as firr or deal , and , having thrust or sunk it to the bottom of a somewhat deep stagnant water , give it liberty to ascend , it will not only regain the surface of the water , where , by the laws of gravity , it ought to rest , and did rest before it was forc'd down , but it will pass far beyond that surface , and in part as it were shoot itself up into the incumbent air , and then fall down again , and rise a second time , and perhaps much oftner , and fall again , before it come to settle in its due place , in which it is in an aequilibrium with the water , that endeavours to press it upwards . another of the sentences that are generally receiv'd concerning nature , is , that she always does what is best to be done : natura semper quod optimum est facit . but of this it will not be safe for me to deliver my opinion , 'till i have endeavour'd to remove the ambiguity of the words ; for they easily admit of two different senses , since they may signifie , that nature in the whole universe does always that which is best , for the conservation of it in its present state ; or , that in reference to each body in particular , nature does still what is best , that is , what most conduces to the preservation and welfare of that body . if the first of these senses be pitch'd upon , the axiom will be less liable to exception . but then , i fear , it will be difficult to be positively made out , by such instances as will prove , that nature acts otherwise than necessarily according to laws mechanical ; and therefore , 'till i meet with such proofs , i shall proceed to the other sense that may be given our axiom , which , though it be the most usual , yet , i confess , i cannot admit , without it be both explain'd and limited . i readily grant , that the all-wise author of things corporeal has so fram'd the world , that most things happen in it , as if the particular bodies that compose it , were watchful both for their own welfare , and that of the universe . but , i think , withall , that particular bodies , at least those that are inanimate , acting without either knowledg or design , their actions do not tend to what is best for them in their private capacities , any further than will comport with the general laws of motion , and the important customs establish'd among things corporeal : so that to conform to these , divers things are done that are neither the best , nor so much as good , in reference to the welfare of particular bodies . these sentiments i am induc'd to take up , not only by the more speculative considerations , that have been formerly discours'd of and therefore shall not here be repeated , but by daily observations and obvious experience . we see oftentimes , that fruit-trees , especially when they grow old , will for one season be so overcharg'd with fruit , that soon after they decay and die ; and even whilst they flourish , the excessive weight of the too numerous fruits does not seldom break off the branches they grow upon , and thereby both hinders the maturity of the fruit , and hastens the death of the tree : whereas , this fatal profuseness would have been prevented , if a wise nature , harbour'd in the plant , did , as is presum'd , solicitously intend its welfare . we see also in divers diseases , and in the unseasonable and hurtful crises's of feavers , how far , what men call , nature oftentimes is , from doing that , which is best for the sick man's preservation . and indeed , ( as hath been formerly noted on another ocsicaon , ) in many diseases , as bleedings , convulsions , cholera's , &c. a great part of the physicians work is , to appease the fury , and to correct the errors , of nature , which being , as 't were , transported with a blind and impetuous passion unseasonably produces those dangerous disorders in the body , that , if she were wise and watchful of its welfare , she would have been as careful to prevent , as the physicians to remedy them. add to all this , that , if nature be so provident and watchful for the good of men and other animals , and of that part of the world , wherein they live ; how comes it to pass , that from time to time , she destroys such multitudes of men and beasts , by earthquakes , pestilences , famine , and other anomalies ? and , how comes it so often to pass in teeming women , that , perhaps by a fright , or a longing desire , or the bare sight of any outward object , nature suffers herself to be so disordered , and is brought to forget her plastick skill so much , as , instead of well-form'd infants , to produce hideous monsters , and those oftentimes so mishapen and ill-contriv'd , that not only themselves are unfit to live one day , or perhaps one hour , but cannot come into the world without killing the mother that bare them. these and such other anomalies , though ( as i have elsewhere shewn , ) they be not repugnant to the catholick laws of the universe , and may be accounted for in the doctrine of god's general providence ; yet they would seem to be aberrations , incongruous enough to the idaea the schools give of nature , as of a being , that , according to the axiom hitherto consider'd , does always that which is best . but 't is time that we pass from that , to the examen of another . though i have had occasion to treat of vacuum in the fifth section , yet i must also say something about it in this , because i there consider'd it , but as it is imploy'd by the peripateticks and others , to shew the necessity of the principle they call nature . but now i am to treat of it , not so much as an argument to be confuted , as on the score of its belonging to a ( very plausible ) axiom to be consider'd ; although i fear , that , by reason of the identity of the subiect , ( though consider'd in the fifth sect. and here , to differing purposes ) i shall scarce avoid saying something or other , co-incident with what has been said already . v. the word vacuum being ambiguous , and us'd in differing senses , i think it requisite , before i declare my opinion about the generally receiv'd axiom of the schools , that natura vacuum horret , ( or , as some express it , abhorret à vacuo ) to premise the chief acceptions in which , i have observ'd , the term vacuum to be made use of . for it has sometimes a vulgar , and sometimes a philosophical or strict , signification . in common speech , to be empty , usually denotes , not to be devoid of all body whatsoever , but of that body that men suppose should be in the thing spoken of , or of that which it was fram'd or design'd to contain ; as when men say that a purse is empty , if there be no mony in it ; or a bladder , when the air is squeez'd out ; or a barrel , when either it has not been yet fill'd with liquor , or has had the wine or other drink drawn out of it . the word vacuum is also taken in another sense by philosophers that speak strictly , when they mean by it , a space within the world , ( for i here meddle not with the imaginary spaces of the school-men , beyond the bounds of the universe , ) wherein there is not contain'd any body whatsoever . this distinction being premis'd , i shall inform you , that taking the word vacuum in the strict sense , though many , and , among them , some of my best friends , press'd me to a declaration of my sense about that famous controversie , an detur vacuum , because , they were pleas'd to suppose , i had made more tryals than others had done about it , yet i have refus'd to declare myself , either pro or contra , in that dispute . since the decision of the question seems to depend upon the stating of the true notion of a body , whose essence the cartesians affirm , and most other philosophers deny , to consist only in extension , according to the three dimensions , length , breadth , and depth or thickness : for , if mr. des cartes's notion be admitted , 't will be irrational to admit a vacuum , since any space , that is pretended to be empty , must be acknowledg'd to have the three dimensions , and consequently all that is necessary to essentiate a body . and all the experiments , that can be made with quicksilver , or the machina boyliana ( as they call it , ) or other instruments contriv'd for the like uses , will be eluded by the cartesians , who will say , that the space deserted by the mercury , or the air , is not empty , since it has length , breadth , and depth , but is fill'd by their materia subtilis , that is fine enough to get freely in and out of the pores of the glasses , as the effluvia of the loadstone can do . but though , for these and other reasons , i still forbear ( as i lately said i have formerly done , ) to declare either way in the controversie about vacuum , yet i shall not stick to acknowledg , that i do not acquiesce in the axiom of the schools , that nature abhors a vacuum . for , first , i consider , that the chief , if not the only , reason , that moves the generality of philosophers to believe , that nature abhors a vacrum , is , that in some cases , as the ascension of water in sucking-pumps , &c. they observe , that there is an unusual endeavour , and perhaps a forcible motion in water and other bodies , to oppose a vacuum . but i , that see nothing to be manifest here , save that some bodies , not devoid of weight , have a motion upwards , or otherwise differing from their usual motions , ( as in determination , swiftness , &c. ) am not apt , without absolute necessity , to ascribe to inanimate and senseless bodies , such as water , air , &c. the appetites and hatreds that belong to rational , or or least to sensitive , beings ; and therefore , think it a sufficient reason , to decline imploying such improper causes , if without them , the motions , wont to be ascrib'd to them , can be accounted for . . if the cartesian notion of the essence of a body be admitted by us , as 't is by many modern philosophers and mathematicians , it can scarce be deny'd , but that nature does not produce these oftentimes great , and oftner irregular , efforts to hinder a vacuum ; since , it being impossible there should be any , 't were a fond thing to suppose that nature , who is represented to us as a most wise agent , should bestir herself , and do extravagant feats , to prevent an impossible mischief . . if the atomical hypothesis be admitted , it must be granted , not only that nature does not abhor a vacuum , but that a great part of the things she does require it , since they are brought to pass by local motion ; and yet there are very many cases , wherein , according to these philosophers , the necessary motions of bodies cannot be perform'd , unless the corpuscles , that lie in their way , have little empty spaces to retire , or be impell'd into , when the body , that pushes them , endeavours to displace them . so that the effatum , that nature abhors a vacuum , agrees with neither of the two great sects of the modern philosophers . but , without insisting on the authority of either of them , i consider , that , for ought appears by the phaenomena imploy'd to demonstrate nature's abhorrency of a vacuum , it may be rational enough to think , either that nature does not abhor a vacuum , even when she seems solicitous to hinder it ; or , that she has but a very moderate hatred of it , in that sense wherein the vulgar philosophers take the word vacuum . for if we consider , that , in almost all visible bodies here below , and even in the atmospherical air itself , there is more or less of gravity , or tendency towards the centre of our terraqueous globe , we may perceive , that there is no need that nature should disquiet herself , and act irregularly , to hinder a vacuum : since , without her abhorrence of it , it may be prevented or replenish'd , by her affecting to place all heavy bodies as near the centre of the earth , as heavier than they will permit . and even without any design of hers , not to say without her existence , a vacuity will be as much oppos'd , as we really find it to be , by the gravity of most , if not of all , bodies here below , and the confluxibility of liquors , and other fluids . for , by vertue of their gravity , and the minuteness of their parts , they will be determin'd to insinuate themselves into and fill all the spaces , that they do not find already possess'd by other bodies , either more ponderous in specie than themselves , or , by reason of their firmness of structure , capable of resisting or hindring their descent . agreeably to which notion we may observe , that , where there is no danger of a vacuum , bodies may move , as they do , when they are said to endeavour its prevention . as , if you would thrust your fist deep into a pail full of sand , and afterwards draw it out again ; there will need nothing but the gravity of the sand to make it fill up the greatest part of the space deserted by your fist. and if the pail be replenish'd , instead of sand , with an aggregate of corpuscles more minute and glib than the grains of sand , as for instance , with quicksilver or with water , then the space , deserted by your hand , will be , at least as to sense , compleatly fill'd up by the corpuscles of the liquor , which , by their gravity , minuteness , and the fluidity of the body , they compose , are determin'd to replenish the space deserted by the hand , that was plung'd into either of those liquors . and i elsewhere shew , that , if you take a pipe of glass , whose cavity is too narrow to let water and quick-silver pass by one another in it ; if , i say , you take such a pipe , and having ( by the help of suction , ) lodg'd a small cylinder of mercury of about half an inch long in the lower part of it , you carefully stop the upper orifice with the pulp of your finger , the quick-silver will remain suspended in the pipe. and , if then you thrust the quick-silver directly downwards into a somewhat deep glass , or other vessel , full of water , till the quick-silver be depress'd about a foot or more beneath the surface of the water ; if then you take off your finger from the orifice of the pipe which it stopt before , you shall immediately see the quick-silver ascend swiftly five or six inches , and remain suspended at this new station . which experiment seems manifestly to prove , what i did long ago devise and do now alledge it for : since here we have a sudden ascent of so heavy a body as is quick-silver , and a suspension of it in the glass , not produc'd to prevent or fill a vacuum , for the pipe was open at both ends , the phaenomena being but genuine consequences of the laws of the aequilibrium of liquors , as i elsewhere clearly and particularly declare . when i consider , how great a power the school-philosophers ascribe to nature , i am the less inclin'd to think , that her abhorrence of a vacuum is so great , as they believ'd . for i have shewn in the fifth section , that her aversion from it , and her watchfulness against it , are not so great , but that , in the sense of the peripateticks , she can quietly enough admit it in some cases , where , with a very small endeavour , she might prevent or replenish it , as i have particularly manifested in the fore-cited section . i just now mention'd a vacuum in the sense of the peripateticks , because when the torricellian experiment is made , though it cannot , perhaps , be cogently prov'd , either against the cartesians , or some other plenists , that , in the upper part of the tube , deserted by the quick-silver , there is a vacuum in the strict philosophical sense of the word ; yet , as the peripateticks declare their sense , by divers of their reasonings against a vacuum , mention'd in that section , 't will to a heedful peruser appear very hard for them to shew , that there is not one in that tube . and , as by the school-mens way of arguing nature's hatred of a vacuum , from the suspension of water and other liquors in tubes and conical watring-pots , it appears , that they thought that any space here below , deserted by a visible body , not succeeded by another visible body , or at least by common air , may be reputed empty . so , by the space deserted by the quick-silver at the top of the pipe of a baroscope thirty one inches long , one may be invited to doubt , whether a vacuum ought to be thought so formidable a thing to nature , as they imagine she does , and ought to , think it ? for what mischief do we see insue to the universe upon the producing or continuance of such a vacuum , though the deserted space were many time greater than an inch , and continued many years , as has divers times happen'd in the taller sort of mercurial baroscopes ? and those peripateticks that tell us , that , if there were a vacuum , the influences of the coelestial bodies , that are absolutely necessary to the preservation of sublunary ones , would be intercepted , since motion cannot be made in vacuo , would do well to prove , not suppose , such a necessity ; and also to consider , that in our case the top of the quick-silver , to which the vacuum reaches , does usually appear protuberant ; which shews , that the beams of light ( which they think of great affinity to influences , if not the vehicle , ) are able to traverse that vacuum , being in spight of it reflected from the mercury to the beholder's eye . and in such a vacuum , as to common air , i have try'd that a load-stone will emit his effluvia and move iron or steel plac'd in it. in short , it is not evident , that here below nature so much strains herself to hinder or fill up a vacuum , as to manifest an abhorrence of it. and , without much peculiar solicitude , a vacuum , at least a philosophical one , is as much provided against , as the welfare of the universe requires , by gravity and confluxibility of the liquors and other bodies , that are placed here below . and as for those that tell us , that nature abhors and prevents a vacuum , as well in the upper part of the world as the lower , i think we need not trouble ourselves to answer the allegation till they have prov'd it. which i think will be very hard for them to do ; not to mention , that a cartesian may tell them , that 't were as needless for nature to oppose a vacuum in heaven as in earth , since the production of it is every where alike impossible . vi. i come now to the celebrated saying , that natura est morborum medicatrix , taken from hippocrat . who expresses it in the plural , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and because this axiom is generally receiv'd among physicians and philosophers , and seems to be one of the principal things , that has made them introduce such a being as they call nature , i think it may be time well employ'd , to consider somewhat attentively , in what sense , and how far , this famous sentence , may , or should not , be admitted . first then , i conceive it may be taken in a negative sense , so as to import , that diseases cannot be cur'd in such persons , in whom the aggregate of the vital powers or faculties of the body is so far weaken'd or deprav'd , as to be utterly unable to perform the functions necessary to life , or at least to actuate and assist the remedies employ'd by the physitian to preserve or recover the patient . this i take to be the meaning of such usual phrases , as , that physick comes too late , and , that nature is quite spent . and in this sense i readily acknowledge the axiom to be true . for , where the engine has some necessary parts , whether fluid or solid , so far deprav'd or weakn'd , as to render it altogether unable to co-operate with the medicine , it cannot be rationally expected , that the administration of that medicine should be effectual . but in this , i presume , there is no difficulty worthy to detain us . i proceed therefore to the positive sense , whereof our axiom is capable , and wherein it is the most usually imploy'd . for men are wont to believe , that there resides , in the body of a sick person , a certain provident or watchful being , that still industriously employs itself , by its own endeavours , as well as by any occasional assistence that may be afforded it by the physitian , to rectifie whatever is amiss , and restore the distemper'd body to its pristine state of health . what i think of this doctrine , i shall leave you to gather from the following discourse . i conceive then in the first place , that the wise and beneficent maker of the world and of man , intending that men should , for the most part , live a considerable number of years , in a condition to act their parts on the mundane stage ; he was pleas'd to frame those living automata , human bodies , that , with the ordinary succours of reason , making use of their exquisite structure fitted for durableness , and of the friendly , though undesign'd ▪ assistence of the various bodies among which they are plac'd , they may in many cases recover a state of health , if they chance to be put out of it by lesser accidents than those , that god , in compliance with the great ends of his general providence , did not think fit to secure them from , or enable them to surmount . many things therefore , that are commonly ascrib'd to nature , i think , may be better ascrib'd to the mechanisms of the macrocosm and microcosm , i mean , of the universe and the human body . and , to illustrate a little my meaning by a gross example or two , i desire you will consider with me a sea-compass , wherein the excited magnetick needle , and the box that holds it , are duly pois'd by means of a competent number of opposite pivats : for though , if you give this instrument a somewhat rude shake , you will make the box totter , and encline this way and that way , and at the same time drive the points of the magnetick needle many degrees to the east , or to the west ; yet , the construction of the instrument and the magnetism of one main part of it , are such , that , if the force , that first put it into a disorderly motion , cease from acting on it , the box will , after some reciprocations , return to its horizontal situation ; and the needle , that was forc'd to deviate , will , after a few irregular ▪ motions to this and to that side of the magnetical meridian , settle itself again in a position , wherein the flower-de-luce stedfastly regards the north. and yet this recovery to its former state is effected in a factitious body , by the bare mechanism of the instrument itself , and of the earth , and other bodies , within whose sphere of activity it is plac'd . but , because many have not seen a mariner's compass , i will add a less apposite but more obvious and familiar example : for , if when an empty ballance is duly counterpois'd , you shall , by your breath or hand , depress one of the scales , and thereby , for the time , destroy the aequilibrium ; yet , when the force is once remov'd , the depress'd ballance will presently ascend , and the opposite will descend ; and , after a few motions up and down , they will both of them , of their own accord , settle again in an exact aequilibrium , without the help of any such provident internal principle , 〈◊〉 nature : the absence of whose agency may be confirm'd by this , that the depress'd scale does not at first stop at the horizontal line , beneath which it was first depress'd , ( as it ought to do , if it were rais'd by an intelligent being , ) but rises far above it. if it be here objected , that these examples are drawn from factitious , not from merely physical , bodies ; i shall return this brief answer , and desire that it be apply'd not only to the two freshly mention'd examples , but to all of the like kind , that may be met with in this whole treatise . i say then , in short , that divers of the instances , we are speaking of , are intended but for illustrations ; and that others may be useful instances , if they should be no more than analogous ones : since examples , drawn from artificial bodies and things , may have both the advantage of being more clearly conceiv'd by ordinary understandings , and that of being less obnox●●s to be question'd in that pa●●●●ar in which the comparison or correspondence consists . and i the less scruple to employ such examples , because aristotle himself and some of his more learned followers make use of divers comparisons drawn from the figures and other accidents of artificial things , to give an account of physical subjects , and even of the generation , corruption and forms of natural bodies . this advertisement premis'd , i persue this discourse , it interrupted , by adding , thus in a human body , the causes that disorder it are oftentimes but transient , whereas the structure of the body itself and the causes that conduce to the preservation of that structure , are more stable and durable , and on that account may enable the engine to out-last many things , that are hostile to it. this may be somewhat illustrated , by considering , that sleep , though it be not properly a disease , easily becomes one , when it frequently transgresseth its due bounds ; and even whilst it keeps within them , it does , for the time it lasts , hinder the exercise of many functions of the body , more than several diseases do ; and yet , according to the common course of things , the matter that lock't up the senses being spent , the man of himself recovers that sensible and active state , on whose score he is said to be awake . but to come somewhat closer to the point ; we see , that many persons , who get a praeter natural thirst with over-much drinking , get rid of it again in a few days by forbearing such excesses ; and many , that by too plentiful meals are brought to a want of appetite , recover , as it were , of course , by a spare diet , in a few days ; the renewed ferment , or menstruum of the stomach , being able in that time to concoct by little and little , or expell the indigested aliments or peccant humours that offended the stomach , and caus'd the want of appetite . and here i desire to have it taken notice of , as a thing that may be considerable to our present purpose , that i look not on a human body , as on a watch or a hand-mill , i. e. as a machine made up only of solid , or at least consistent , parts ; but as an hydraulical , or rather hydraulo-pneumatical engine , that consists not only of solid and stable parts , but of fuids , and those in organical motion . and not only so , but i consider , that these fluids , the liquors and spirits , are in a living man so constituted , that in eertain circumstances the liquors are dispos'd to be put into a fermentation or commotion , whereby either some depuration of themselves , or some discharge of hurtful matter by excretion , or both , are produc'd , so as , for the most part , to conduce to the recovery or welfare of the body . and , that even consistent parts may be so fram'd , and so connected with other parts , as to act , as it were , pro re nata , varying their motions , as differing circumstances make it convenient they should be varied , i purposely shew in another paper . to this i might altogether refer you ; but , in regard the thing is a paradox , and lays a foundation for another not inferior to itself , i shall here borrow thence one instance , not mention'd that i know of by others to this purpose , that may both declare my meaning , and confirm the thing itself : i consider then , that what is call'd the pupil or apple of the eye , is not ( as 't is known , ) a substantial part of the organ , but only a round hole or window made in the vvea , at which the modify'd beams of light enter , to fall upon the chrystalline humour , and thence be refracted to the bottom of the eye , or seat of vision , to make there an impression , that is usually a kind of picture ( for 't is not always a neat one , ) of the object . now the wise and all-foreseeing author of things has so admirably contriv'd this instrument of sight , that , as it happens to be employ'd in differing lights , so the bigness or area of the pupil varies . for when the light is vivid , and would be too gteat if all the beams were let in , that might enter at an aperture as large as the usual , the curtain is every way drawn towards the middle , and thereby the round window made narrower . and , on the other side , when the light is but faint , and the object but dimly illustrated , there being more light requisite to make a sufficient impression at the bottom of the eye , the curtain is every way drawn open , to let in more light : and when the eye is well constituted , this is regularly done , according as the organ has need of more or less light. of this , some late masters of opticks have well treated , and i have spoken about it more fully in another place . and the truth of the observation you may easily find , if you look upon the eyes of a boy or a girl , ( for in young persons the change is the most notable ) when the eyes are turn'd from looking on dark objects towards bright or more illuminated ones . and i have found the variation yet more conspicuous in the eyes of a young cat , as i elsewhere particularly relate . so that , referring you to the writings already pointed at , i shall only add in this place , that these various motions in the eye are produc'd by mere mechanism , without the direction , or so much as knowledg or perception , of the rational soul. and , upon the like account it is , that other motions , in several parts belonging to the eye , are produc'd , as 't were spontaneously , as occasion requires . and so , as to the fluid parts of the body , we find , that , according to the institution of the author of things , when healthy women are of a fit age , there is a monthly fermentation or commotion made in the blood , which usually produces a kind of separation , and then an excretion , advantagious to the body . and , that you may the better make out what i meant by the disposition , or tendency , of the parts , to return to their former constitution , i shall desire you to consider , with me , a thin and narrow plate of good steel , or refined silver ; for , if one end of it be forcibly drawn aside , the changed texture of the parts becomes such , or the congruity and incongruity of the pores , in reference to the ambient aether , that endeavours to permeate them , is made such , that , as soon as the force that bent it is remov'd , the plate does , as it were , spontaneously return to its former position . and yet here is no internal watchful principle , that is solicitous to make this restitution , for otherwise it is indifferent to the plate what figure it settle in ; for , if the springy body stand long bent , then , as if nature forgot her office , or were unable to execute it , though the force that held the spring bent be remov'd , it will not endeavour to regain its former streightness : and , i have tryed , in a silver plate , that , if you only heat it red-hot , and let it cool , if you put it into a crooked posture , it will retain it ; but barely with two or three stroaks of a hammer , which can only make an invisible change of texture , the plate will acquire a manifest and considerable springyness , which you may again deprive it of , by sufficiently heating it in the fire , without so much as melting it . but , to return to the discourse , formerly begun , about distempers wont to be harmless by being transient , we may observe , that the third or fourth day after women are brought to bed , there is commonly a kind of feaver produc'd , upon the plentiful resort of the milk to the breasts ; for which cause , this distemper is , by many , call'd the feaver of milk. and this is wont , in a short time , to pass away of itself , as depending upon causes far less durable , than the oeconomy of the womans body . and , if it be objected , that these are not diseases , because they happen according to the instituted course of nature ; i will not now dispute the validity of the consequence , though i could represent , that the labour of teeming woemen , and the breeding of teeth in children , happen as much according to the institution of nature , and yet are usually very painful , and oftentimes dangerous : but i will rather answer , that , if the troublesome accidents , i have alledg'd , cannot serve to prove , they may at least to illustrate , what i aim at . and i shall proceed to take notice of a distemper , that physicians generally reckon among diseases , i mean , the flowing of blood at the haemorrhoidal veins : for , though oftentimes this flux of blood is excessive , and so becomes very dangerous , and therefore must be check'd by the physician , ( which is no great argument , that a being , wise and watchful , manages this evacuation , ) yet frequently , if not for the most part , the constitution of the body is such , that the superfluous or vitiated blood goes off , before it has been able to do any considerable mischief , or perhaps any at all , to the body . and so we see , that many coughs , and hoarsenesses , and coryzas are said to be cur'd , that is , do cease to trouble men , though no medicine be us'd against them , the structure of the body being durable enough to out-last the peccant matters , or the operation of those other causes , that pro-duce these distempers . it is a known thing , that most persons , the first time they go to sea , especially if the weather be any thing stormy , are , by the unwonted agitations , which those of the ship produce in them , ( assisted perhaps by the sea-air , and smells of the ship ) cast into that disease , that , from the cause of it , is call'd the sea-sickness , which is sometimes dangerous , and always very troublesome , usually causing a loss of appetite , and almost continual faintness , a pain in the head , and almost constant nauseousness , accompany'd with frequent , and oftentimes violent , vomitings ; which symptoms make many complain , that , for the time , they never felt so troublesome a sickness ; and yet usually , after not many days , this distemper , by degrees , is master'd by the powers of the body , tending still to persevere in their orderly and friendly course , and suppressing the adventitious motions that oppose it , and the sick person recovers without other help . and so , though persons unaccustom'd to the sea , whether they be sick or no , are , by the inconvenient motions of the ship , usually brought to a kind of habitual giddiness , which disposes them to reel and falter , when they walk upon firm ground : yet , when they come a shore , they are wont in no long time to be freed from this uneasie giddiness , without the help of any medicine : the usual and regular motions of the parts of the body obliterating by degrees in a few days ( i us'd to be free from it within some hours , ) that adventitious impression , that caus'd the discomposure . to the same purpose , we may take notice of that which happens to many persons , who riding backwards in a coach are not only much distemper'd in their heads , but are made very sick in their stomachs , and forced to vomit , as violently and frequently , as if they had taken an emetick : and yet all this disorder is wont quickly to cease , when the patient leaves the coach , without the continuance of whose motion , ( that continues a preposterous one in some parts of the patient ) the distemper will quickly yield to the more ordinary and regular motions of the blood , and other fluids of the body . so , when in a coach , or elsewhere , a man happens to be brought to faintness , or cast into a swoon , by the closeness of the place , or the over-charging of the air with the fuliginous reeks of mens bodies ; tho' the disease be formidable , yet , if the patient be seasonably brought into the free air , the friendly operation of that external body , assisting the usual endeavours or tendency of the parts of the patients body to maintain his life and heath , is wont quickly to restore him to the state he was in , before this sudden sickness invaded him . divers things , that happen in some diseases , may be grosly illustrated , by supposing , that into a vial of fair water some mud be put , and then the vial be well shaken , for the water will be troubled and dirty , and will lose its transparency , upon a double account ; that of the mud , whose opacous particles are confounded with it ; and that of the newly generated bubbles , that swim at the top of it ; and yet to clarifie this water , and and make it recover its former limpidness , there needs no particular care or design of nature , but according to the common course of things , after some time the bubbles will break and vanish at the top , and the earthy particles , that compose the mud , will , by their gravity , subside to the bottom , and settle there , and so the water will become clear again . thus also must , which is the lately express'd juice of grapes , will for a good while continue a troubled liquor ; but though there be no substantial form to guide the motions of this factitious body , yet , according to the course of things , a fermentation is excited , and some corpuscles are driven away , in the form of exhalations or vapours , others are thrown against the sides of the cask , and harden'd there into tartar , and others again subside to the bottom , and settle there in the form of lees ; and by this means leave the liquor clear , and , as to sense , uniform . and why may not some depurations and proscriptions of heterogeneous parts be made in the blood , as well as they are usually in must , without any peculiar and solicitous direction of nature . there is indeed one thing , to which the sentence of nature's being the curer of diseases may be very speciously apply'd , and that is the healing of cuts and wounds , which , if they be but in the flesh , may oftentimes be cured without plaisters , salves , or other medicines ; but , not to mention haemorrhagies and some other symptoms , wherein the chriurgeon is fain to curb or remedy the exorbitancies of nature ; this healing of the solutio continui seems to be but an effect or consequent of that fabrick of the body , on which nutrition depends . for the alimental juice , being , by the circulation of the blood and chile , carried to all parts of the body to be nourish'd , if it meets any where , either with preternatural concretions , or with a gap made by a cut or wound , its particles do there concrete into a kind of bastard-flesh , or some such other body , which that juice , in the place and other circumstances 't is in , is fitted to constitute . thus we see , that not only wens and scrophulous tumors are nourish'd in the body , but mis-shapen mola's do by nutriment grow in the womb , as well as embryo's feed there . and , to come closer to the present argument , we see , that , in wounds , proud-flesh , and perhaps fungus's , are as well produc'd and entertain'd by the aliment brought to the wounded part , as the true and genuine flesh ; so that either nature seems much mistaken , if she designs the production and maintenance of such superfluous and inconvenient bodies ; or the chirurgeon is much to blame , who is industrious to destroy them , though oftentimes he cannot do it , without using painful corrosives . but , for ought appears , nature is not so shy and reserv'd in her bounty , but that she sends nourishment , to repair as well things that do not belong to the body , as genuine parts of it , as to restore flesh to wounded parts , as may appear by warts and corns , that grow again after they are skilfully cut . and , i remember , i have seen a woman , in whose forehead nature was careful to nourish a horn , about an inch and more in length , which i fully examin'd , whilst it was yet growing upon her head , to avoid being impos'd upon . but , besides the diseases hither to discours'd , there are many others , as well acute as chronical , wherein , 't is confess'd , that nature alone does not work the cure , so that as to these , ( which are more numerous , than the former ) i may well pretend , that the aphorism , that makes nature the curer of diseases , is not true , otherwise than in a limited sense . but , because i know 't is pretended , that even in these diseases nature is the principal agent , by whose direction the physician acts in subserviency to her designs ; and physicians themselves ( whether out of modesty or inadvertence , i now enquire not , ) are wont to acknowledg , that they are but nature's ministers , i think it necessary to consider briefly , what sense is fit , according to our doctrine , to be given to these assertions , to make them receivable by us . but , to make way for what we are to say on this occasion , it may be fit to observe , that one great cause of the common mistakes about this matter , is , as hath been partly intimated already , that the body of a man is look'd upon , rather as a system of parts , whereof most are gross and consistent , and not a few hard and solid too , than as , what indeed it is , a very compounded engine ; that , besides these consistent parts , does consist of the blood , chyle , gall , and other liquors ; also of more subtil fluids , as spirits and air ; all which liquors and fluids are almost incessantly and variously moving , and thereby put divers of the solid parts , as the heart and lungs , the diaphragma , the hands , feet , &c. into frequent and differing motions . so that , as , when the constitution or the motions , that in a sound body do regularly belong to the fluid parts , happens the former to be deprav'd , or the later to grow anomalous , the engine is immediately out of order , though the gross solid parts were not primarily affected : so , when by proper remedies ( whether visible or not , ) the vitiated texture or crasis of the blood or other juices is corrected , and the inordinate motions , that they and the spirits are put into , or , that they also put the consistent parts into , are calm'd and rectify'd , the grosser and more solid parts of the body , and so the whole animal oeconomy , if i may so call it , will be restored to a more convenient state. thus we see , that in many hysterical women , by the fragrant effluvia of a spanish glove , or some other strong perfume , the spirits and genus nervosum being affected , several disorderly symptoms are produc'd , and oftentimes the motion of the blood is so stopt or abated , that any pulse at all is scarcely to be felt , nor respiration discern'd , and the whole engine , unable to sustain itself , falls to the ground , and lies moveless on it ; and yet we have often , by barely holding to the patient's nostrils a vial full of very strong spirit , or volatile salt , or sal-armoniack , or of harts-horn , in less than a quarter of an hour , sometimes in a few minutes , restor'd women in that condition to their senses , speech and motion . we are also here to consider , what i have formerly inculcated , that the oeconomy of the human body is so constituted by the divine author of it , that it is usually fitted to last many years , if the more general laws , setled by the same author of the universe , will permit it . and therefore 't is not to be wonder'd at , that in many cases , the automaton should be in a condition to concur , though not with knowledge and design , to its own preservation , when , though it had been put somewhat out of order , 't is assisted by the physicians hands or medicines to recover a convenient state. and if it be objected , that the examples , that have been in this past discourse frequently drawn from automata , are not adequate , and do not fully reach the difficulties we have been speaking of , i shall readily grant it , provided it be consider'd , that i avowedly and deservedly suppose the bodies of living animals to be , originally , engins of god's own framing , and consequently effects of an omniscient and almighty artificer . so that , 't is not rational to expect , that in the incomparably inferior productions of human skill , there should be found engins fit to be compar'd with these , which , in their protoplasts , had god for their author . not to mention , ( what yet may be considerable in reference to the lastingness of human life , ) that a man is not a mere mechanical thing , where nothing is perform'd for the preservation of the engine , or its recovery to a good state , but by its own parts , or by other agents , acting according to mechanical laws without counsel or design ; since , though the body of a man be indeed an engine , yet there is united to it an intelligent being , ( the rational soul or mind , ) which is capable , especially if instructed by the physitians art , to discern , in many cases , what may hurt it , and what may conduce to the welfare of it , and is also able ( by the power it has to govern the muscles and other instruments of voluntary motion , ) to do many of those things it judges most conducive to the safety and the welfare of the body , 't is join'd with . so that , a man is not like a watch , or an empty boat , where there is nothing but what is purely mechanical ; but like a mann'd boat , where , besides the machinal part , ( if i may so speak ) there is an intelligent being that takes care of it , and both steers it , or otherwise guides it , and , when need requires , trimms it ; and , in a word , as occasion serves , does what he can to preserve it , and keep it fit for the purposes , 't is design'd for . these things being premis'd , i think the physitian ( here suppos'd to be free from prejudices and mistakes , ) is to look upon his patients body , as an engine that is out of order , but yet is so constituted , that , by his concurrence with the endeavours , or rather tendencies , of the parts of the automaton itself , it may be brought to a better state. if therefore he find , that , in the present disposition of the body , there is a propensity or tendency to throw off the matter that offends it , and ( which ought to be some way or other expell'd , ) in a convenient way , and at commodious places ; he will then act so , as to comply with , and further , that way of discharge , rather than another . as , if there be a great appearance , that a disease will quickly have a crisis by sweat ; he will rather further it by covering the patient with warm cloaths and giving sudorifick medicines , than , by endeavouring to carry off the peccant matter by purging or vomiting , unseasonably hinder a discharge , that probably will be beneficial : and in this sense men may say , if they please , that the physicians are ministers or servants of nature ; as sea-men , when the ship goes before a good wind , will not shift their sails , nor alter the ships motion , because they need not . but to shew , that 't is as 't were by accident , that the physitian does , in the fore-mention'd case , obey nature , ( to speak in the language of the naturists , i reason with , ) i need but represent , that there are many other cases , wherein the physitian , if he be skilful , will be so far from taking nature for his mistress , to direct him by her example , what should be done ; that a great part of his care and skill is imploy'd , to hinder her from doing what she seems to design , and to bring to pass other things very differing from , if not contrary to , what she endeavours . thus , though nature in dropsies inportunately crave store of drink , the physician thinks himself oblig'd to deny it ; as he does what they greedily desire , to his patients of the green-sickness , or that distemper they call pica : though the absurd and hurtful things , as very unripe fruit , lime , coals , and other incongruous things , be earnestly long'd for . thus also the chirurgeon does often hinder nature from closing up the lips of a wound , as she would unskilfully do , before it be well and securely heal'd at the bottom . so the physician does often , by purging or phlebotomy , carry off that matter , that nature would more dangerously throw into the lungs , and expel by frequent and violent coughs . and so , if a nerve or tendon be prick'd , the chirurgeon is fain , with anodynes , and other convenient medicines , to prevent or appease the unreasonable transports of nature , when , being in a fury , by violent and threatning convulsions , she not only much disorders , but endangers , the patient . and so likewise , when in those evacuations that are peculiar to women , nature affects , in some individuals , to make them by undue and inconvenient places , as the nipples , the mouth , or the eyes , whereof we have divers instances , among the observations collected by schenckius , or related by other good authors . the physitian is careful by bleeding the patient in the foot and by using other means , to oblige nature to alter her purpose , and make the intended evacuations by the proper uterine vessels . and , tho' according to the institution of nature , as they speak , there ought to be a monthly discharge of these superfluities , and therefore , whilst this is moderately made , the physician does rather further than suppress it : yet if , as it often happens in other patients , nature overlashes in making those evacuations , to the great weakning or endangering the sick person , the physitian is careful by contemperating medicines and other ways to correct nature's exorbitancy and check her profuseness of so necessary a liquor , as the blood. other instances , more considerable , than some of these hitherto mention'd , might be given to the same purpose ; but i forbear to do it , because , there being some , though perhaps very needless , controversies about them , i could not make out their fitness to be here alledg'd without more words , than i am now willing to employ about unnecessary proofs , fearing it might be thought , i have dwelt too long already upon the explication of one aphorism . i shall therefore only observe in short , that i look upon a good physician , not so properly as a servant to nature , as one that is a counsellor and a friendly assistant , who , in his patient's body , furthers these motions and other things , that he judges conducive to the welfare and recovery of it ; but as to those , that he perceives likely to be hurtful , either by encreasing the disease , or otherwise endangering the patient , he think it is his part to oppose or hinder , though nature do manifestly enough seem to endeavour the exercising or carrying on those hurtful motions . on this occasion , i shall take notice of the practice of the more prudent among physicians themselves , who , being call'd to a patient , subject to the flux of the haemorrhoids , if they find the evacuation to be moderate , and likely either to benefit the patient on another account , ( as in some cases 't is , ) or at least to end well , they do , as some of them speak , commit the whole business to nature ; that is , to speak intelligibly , they suffer it to take its course , being incouraged to do so , in some cases , by the doctrine of hippocrates , and in others by experience . but , if the evacuation prove to be too lasting , or too copious , they then are careful to hinder nature from proceeding in it , and think themselves oblig'd to imploy both inward and outward means , to put a stop to an evacuation , which may bring on a dropsie , or some other formidable disease and if it be said , that nature makes this profusion of so necessary a liquor as blood , only because she is irritated by the acrimony of some humour mix'd with it ; i say , that this answer , which , for substance , is the same that naturists may be compell'd to fly to , on many occasions , is in effect a confession , that nature is no such wise being as they pretend ; since she is so often provok'd to act , as it were , in a fury , and do those things in the body , that would be very mischievous to it , if the physitian , more calm and wise than she , did not hinder her. so that , notwithstanding the reverence i pay the great hippocrates , it is not without due caution and some limitations , that i admit that notable sentence of his , where he thus speaks ; * invenit natura ipsa sibi-ipsi aggressiones . and after three or four lines , non edocta natura & nullo magistro usa , ea quibus opus est facit . which , i fear , makes many physitians less couragious and careful than they should , or perhaps would be , to employ their own skill on divers occasions , that much require it. i shall now add , that , as in some cases , the physitian relieves his patient in a negative way , by opposing nature in her unseasonable or disorderly attempts : so in other cases , he may do it in a positive way , by employing medicines that either strengthen the parts , as well fluid as stable , or make sensible evacuations of matters necessary to be proscrib'd by them ; or ( he may do it , ) by using remedies , that by their manifest qualities oppugn those of the morbifick matter or causes ; as when by alcaly's or absorbing medicaments he mortify's praeter-natural acids , or disables them to do mischief . and , perhaps , one may venture to say , that , in some cases , the physitian may ▪ in a positive way , contribute more to the cure even of an inward disease , than nature herself seems able to do : for , if there be any such medicine preparable by art , as helmont affirms may be made of paracelsus's ludus , by the liquor alkahest ; or , as cardan relates , that an empirick had in his time , who , travell'd up and down italy , curing those where-ever he came , that were tormented with the stone of the bladder ; if , i say , there be any such medicines , the physitian may , by such instruments , perform that , which , for ought appears , is not to be done by nature herself , since we never find , that she dissolves a confirm'd stone in the bladder . nay , sometimes the physician does , even without the help of a medicine , controle and over-rule nature , to the great and sudden advantage of the patient . for , when a person , otherwise not very weak , happens by a fright , or some surprising ill news , to be so discompos'd , that the spirits hastily and disorderly thronging to some inward part , especially the heart , hinder the regular and wonted motion of it , by which disorder the circulation of the blood is hinder'd , or made very imperfect : in this case , i say , the patient is by nature's great care of the heart , ( as is commonly suppos'd even by physitians , ) cast into a swoon ; whence the physitian sometimes quickly frees him , by rubbing and pinching the limbs , the ears and the nose , that the spirits may be speedily brought to the external parts of the body ; which must be done by a motion to the circumference , ( as they call it , ) quite opposite to that towards the centre or heart , which nature had given them before . but as to the theory of swoonings , i shall not now examine its truth , it being sufficient to warrant my drawing from thence an argument ad hominem , that the theory is made use of by those i reason with . by what has been discours'd one may perceive , that , as there are some phaenomena , that seem to favour the doctrine of the naturists about the cure of diseases , so there are others , that appear more manifestly favourable to the hypothesis we propose . and both these sorts of phaenomena , being consider'd together , may well suggest a suspition , that the most wise and yet most free author of things , having fram'd the first individuals of mankin'd , so as to be fit to last many years , and endow'd those protoplasts with the power of propagating their species ; it thereupon comes to pass , that in the subsequent hydraulico-pneumatical engines we call human bodies , when neither particular providence , nor the rational soul , nor over-ruling impediments interpose , things are generally perform'd according to mechanical laws and courses ; whether the effects and events of these prove to be conducive to the welfare of the engine itself , or else cherish and foment extraneous bodies or causes , whose preservation and prospering are hurtful to it. on which supposition it may be said , that the happy things , referr'd to nature's prudent care of the recovery and welfare of sick persons , are usually genuine consequences of the mechanism of the world , and the patients body ; which effects luckily happen to be co-incident with his recovery , rather than to have been purposely and wisely produced in order to it ; since , i observe , that nature seems to be careful to produce , preserve , and cherish things hurtful to the body , as well as things beneficial to it. for we see in the stone of the kidneys and bladder , that out of vegetable or animal substances of a slighter texture , such as are the alimental juices , which , in sucking children ( who are observ'd to be frequently subject to the stone in the bladder ) are afforded by so mild a liquor as milk ; nature skilfully frames a hard body of so firm a texture , that it puzzles physicians and chymists to tell , how such a coagulation can be made of such substances : and i have found more than one calculus to resist both spirit of salt , that readily dissolves iron and steel , and that highly corrosive menstruum , oyl of vitriol itself . we see also , that , divers times , the seeds or seminal principles of worms , that lye conceal'd in unwholesome fruits , and other ill-qualifi'd aliments , are preserv'd and cherish'd in the body , so , as in spight of the menstruum's ferments , &c. they meet with there , they grow to be perfect worms , ( of their respective kinds ) that are often very troublesome , and sometimes very dangerous , to the body that harbours them : producing , though perhaps not immediately , both more and more various distempers ( especially here in england ) than every physician is aware of . this reflection may very well be applied to those instances we meet with in good * authors , of frogs , and even toads , whose spawn , being taken in with corrupted water , hath been cherished in the stomach 'till the eggs being grown to be compleat animals , they produc'd horrid symptoms in the body , that had lodg'd and fed them . and if , according to the receiv'd opinion of physicians , stubborn quartans are produc'd by a melancholy humour seated in the spleen ; it may be said , that nature seems to busie herself to convert some parts of the fluid chile into so tenacious and hardly dissipable a juice , that in many patients , notwithstanding the neighbourhood of the spleen and stomach , neither strong emeticks , nor purges , nor other usual remedies , are able , in a long time , to dislodg it , or resolve it , or correct it . but that is yet more conducive to my present purpose , that is afforded me by the consideration of the poyson of a mad-dog , which nature sometimes seems industriously and solicitously to preserve : since we have instances , in approved authors , that a little foam convey'd into the blood by a slight hurt , ( perhaps quickly heal'd up , ) is , notwithstanding the constant heat and perspirable frame of the human body , and the dissipable texture of the foam , so preserved , and that sometimes for many years , that , at the end of that long time , it breaks out , and displays its fatal efficacy with as much vigour and fury , as if it had but newly been receiv'd into the body . to this agrees that which is well known in italy , about the biting of the tarantula . for , though the quantity of poyson can scarce be visible , since 't is communicated by the tooth of so small an animal as a spider , yet , in many patients , 't is preserved during a great part of of their lives , and manifests its continuance in the body by annual paroxysms . and , i know a person of great quality , who complain'd to me , that , being in the east , the biting or stinging of a creature , whose offensive arms were so small , that the eye could very hardly discern the hurt , had so lasting an effect upon him , that , for about twelve years after , he was reminded of his mischance , by a pain he felt in the hurt place , about the same time of the year that the mischief was first done him . and , in some hereditary diseases , as the gout , falling-sickness , and some kinds of madness , nature seems to act as if she did , with care as well as skill , transmit to the unhappy child such morbifick seeds or impressions of the parents disease , that , in spight of all the various alterations the younger body passes through , during the course of many years , this constantly protected enemy is able to exert its power and malice , after forty , or perhaps fifty , years concealment . such reflections as these , to which may be added , that the naturists make no scruple to style that death , which men are brought to by diseases , a natural death , make me backward to admit the fam'd sentence of hippocrates hitherto consider'd , morborum naturae medici , without limitations , especially those two that are deliver'd in the fifth section : to which i refer you the rather , because they may help you to discern , that divers phaenomena , that favour not the receiv'd notion of a kind and prudent being , as nature is thought to be , are yet very consistent with divine providence . sect . viii . i have now gone through so many of the celebrated axioms , concerning nature , that , i hope , i may reasonably presume , that the other sentences of this kind , that my haste makes me leave unmention'd , will be thought capable of being fairly explicated , and with congruity to our hypothesis , by the help of the grounds already laid , since , with light variations , they may be easily enough improv'd , and apply'd to those other particulars , to which they are the most analogous . but this intimation ought not to hinder me to make a reflection , that not only is pertinent to this place , but which i desire may have retrospect upon a great part of the whole precedent discourse . and it is this , that , though we could not intelligibly explicate all the particular axioms about nature , and the phaenomena of inanimate bodies , that are thought , but not by me granted , to favour them by mechanical principles ; it would not follow , that we must therefore yield up the whole cause to the naturists . for we have already shewn , and may do so yet further ere long , that the supposition of such a being , as they call nature , is far from enabling her partizans to give intelligible accounts of these and other phaenomena of the universe . and though our doctrine sh●●ld be granted to be , as well as that generally receiv'd about nature , insufficient to give good accounts of things corporeal : yet i shall have this advantage in this case , that a less degree of probability may serve , in arguments imploy'd but to justifie a doubt , than is requir'd in those that are to demonstrate an assertion . 't is true , that the naturists tell us , that the nature they assert is the principle of all motions and operations in bodies ; which infers , that in explicating them , we must have recourse to her. but before we acquiesce in , or confidently employ , this principle , it were very fit we knew what it is . this question i have discours'd of in the section : but having there intimated a reference to another place , the importance , as well as difficulty of the subject , invites me to resume in this place the consideration of it ; and both vary and add to what i formerly noted , that i may as well inculcate as clear my t●oughts about it. i demand then o● those , that assert such a nature as is vulgarly describ'd , whether it be a substance or an accident ? if it be the later , it should be declar'd , what kind of accident it is ; how a solitary accident can have right to all those attributes , and can produce those numerous , manifold , and wonderful effects , that they ascribe to nature ; and why a complex of such accidents , as are the mechanical affections of matter , ( as figure , bulk , motion , &c. ) may not altogether , as probably as that accident they call nature , be conceived to have been instituted by the perfectly wise author of the universe , to produce those changes among bodies , which are ( at least for the most part , ) intelligibly referable to them ? and if things be not brought to pass by their intervention , 't were very fit , as well as desirable , that we should be inform'd , by what other particular and intelligible means nature can effect them better , than they may be by that complex . but if it be said , as by most it is , that the principle , call'd nature , is a substance , i shall next demand , whether it be a corporeal , or an immaterial one ? if it be said to be an immaterial substance , i shall further ask , whether it be a created one , or not ? if it be not , then we have god under another name , and our dispute is at an end , by the removal of its object or subject , which is said by the schools to be god's vicegerent , not god himself . but if nature be affirm'd ( as she is , at least by all christian philosophers , ) to be a created being , i then demand , whether or no she be endowed with understanding , so as to know what she does , and for what ends , and by what laws she ought to act ? if the answer be negative , the supposition of nature will be of very little use to afford an intelligible account of things ; an unintelligent nature being liable to the objections , that will a little below be met with against the usefulness of nature , in case she be suppos'd a corporeal being . and though it should be said , that nature is endowed with understanding , and performs such functions as divers of the antients ascribe to the soul of the world ; besides , that this hypothesis is near of kin to heathenism , i do not think , that they who shall with many grecian , and other philosophers , who preceded christianism , suppose a kind of soul of the universe , will find this principle sufficient to explicate the phaenomena of it. for if we may compare the macrocosm and microcosm in this , as well as many are wont to do in other things ; we may conceive , that , though nature be admitted to be indowed with reason , yet a multitude of phaenomena may be mechanically produc'd , winhout her immediate intervention ; as we see that in man , though the rational soul has so narrow a province to take care of , as the human body , and is suppos'd to be intimately united to all the parts of it ; yet , abundance of things are done in the body by the mechanism of it , without being produc'd by that soul. of this we may alledge , as an instance , that , in sleep , the circulation of the blood , the regular beating of the heart , digestion , nutrition , respiration , &c. are perform'd without the immediate . agency , or so much as the actual knowledge , of the mind . and , when a man is awake , many things are done in his body , not only without the direction , but against the bent of his mind ; as often happens in cramps and other convulsions , coughing , yawnings , &c. nay , though some brutes , as particularly apes , have the structure of many parts of their bodies very like that of the analogous ones of human bodies : yet , that admirable work of the formation and organization of the foetus , or little animal , in the womb , is granted by philosophers to be made by the soul of the brute ( that is therefore said to be the architect of his own mansion , ) which yet is neither an incorporeal , nor a rational substance . and , even in a human foetus , if we will admit the general opinion of philosophers , physitians , divines and lawyers , i may be allowed to observe , that the human body , as exquisite an engine as 't is justly esteem'd , is form'd without the intervention of the rational soul , which is not infus'd into the body , 'till this hath obtain'd an organization , that fits it to receive such a guest ; which is commonly reputed to happen about the end of the sixth week , or before that of the seventh . and this consideration leads me a little further , and prompts me to ask , how much , by the supposition or knowledge of the mind , ( at the newly mention'd time , ) we are enabled to explicate the manner , how the foremention'd functions of an embryo are perform'd , when at the end of six or seven week the rational soul supervenes and comes to be united to this living engine ? and , if it be urg'd , that nature being the principle of motion in bodies , their various motions , at least , which amount to a considerable part of their phaenomena , must be explainid by having recourse to her : i answer , that 't is very difficult to conceive , how a created substance , that is immaterial , can by a physical power or action move a body : the agent having no impenetrable part , wherewith to impell the corporeal mobile . i know , that god , who is an mmaterial spirit , ought to be acknowledg'd the primary cause of motion in matter , because ( as we may justly with monsieur des cartes infer , ) motion not belonging to corporeal substance , as such ; this must owe that to an incorporeal one. but then , i consider , that there is that infinite distance between the incomprehensible creator , and the least imperfect order of his creatures , that we ought to be very cautious , how we make parallels between him and them , and draw inferences from his power & manner of acting to theirs . since he , for instance , can immediately act upon human souls , as having created them , but they are not able so to act upon one another . and i think it the more difficult to conceive and admit , that , if nature be an incorporeal substance , she should be the greater mover of the mundane matter , because we see , that , in a human body , the rational soul , ( which the school-philosophers assert to be an immaterial spirit , ) tho' vitally united to it , can only determin the motion of some of the parts , but not give motion to any , or so much as regulate it in most . and , if nature be said to move bodies in another than a physical way , i doubt , whether the supposition of such a principle will be of much use to physiologers in explicating phaenomena ; since i shall scarce think him an inquisitive or a judicious doctor , who should imagine , that he explains , that it gives an intelligible and particular account of the astonishing symptoms of those strange diseases , that divers very learned and sober physitians impute to witchcraft , when he says , that those strange distortions and convulsive motions , for instance , and other prodigious effects , were produc'd by a wicked immaterial spirit , call'd a devil . but having to this purpose said more in another paper , which you may command the sight of , i shall not trouble you with it here . the past discourse opposes their opinion , who assert nature to be an immaterial creature . but because 't is thought , that a greater number of philosophers , at least among the moderns , take her to be corporeal , i shall now address my discourse to their hypothesis . and though i might object , that , if nature be a body , it may be demanded , how she can produce , in men , rational souls , that are immaterial beings , and not capable to be produc'd by any subtiliation or other change of matter whatsoever ? yet , waving this objection , i shall first demand , whether those , i reason with , believe nature , though corporeal , to act knowingly , i. e. with consciousness of what she does , and for pre-designed ends ; or else to be blindly and necessarily moved and directed by a superior agent , indow'd with ( what she wants , ) an excellent understanding ; and then i shall represent a few things , appliable some to one or the other of the two answers , that may be made , and some to both . and first , the cartesians would ask , how , if nature be a corporeal substance , we can conceive her capable of thinking ; and , which is more , of being a most wise and provident director of all the motions that are made in the corporeal world ? secondly , a philosophizer may justly ask , how a corporeal being can so pervade , and , as it were , com-penetrate the universe , as to be intimately present with all its minute parts , whereof yet 't is said to be the principle of motion ? thirdly , he may also demand , whence nature , being a material substance , comes itself to have motion , whereof 't is said to be the principle ? since motion does not belong to matter in itself , and a body is as truly a body when it rests , as when it moves . and , if it be answer'd , that the first cause , that is , god , did at first put it into motion ; i reply , that the same cause may , at least as probably , be suppos'd to have put the unquestion'd mundane matter into motion , without the intervention of another corporeal being , in whose conception , ( i. e. as 't is matter , ) motion is not involv'd . fourthly , it may likewise be ask'd , how the laws of motion come to be observ'd or maintain'd by a corporeal being ? which , as merely such , is either uncapable of understanding them , or of acting with respect to them , or at least is not necessarily endow'd with any knowledge of them , or power to conform to them , & to make all the parts of the unquestion'd mundane matter do so too . fifthly , and i do not see , how the taking in such an unintelligent & undesigning principle will free our understandings from great difficulties , when we come to explicate the phaenomena of bodies . for , as is elsewhere noted , if nature be a bodily creature , and acts necessarily , and ( if i may so speak , ) fatally , i see no cause to look upon it but as a kind of engine ; and the difficulty may be as great , to conceive how all the several parts of this supposed engine , call'd nature , are themselves fram'd and mov'd by the great author of things , and how they act upon one another , as well as upon the undoubted mundane bodies ; as 't is to conceive how , in the world itself , which is manifestly an admirably contriv'd automaton , the phaenomena may , by the same author , ( who was able to endow bodies themselves with active powers , as well as he could , on other scores , make them causes , ) be produc'd by vertue , and in consequence of the primitive construction and motions that he gave it ( and still maintains in it , ) without the intervention of such a thing , as they call nature . for this , as well as the world , being a corporeal creature , we cannot conceive , that either of them act otherwise than mechanically . and it seems very suitable to the divine wisdom , that is so excellently display'd in the fabrick and conduct of the universe , to imploy in the world , already fram'd and compleated , the fewest and most simple means , by which the phaenomena , design'd to be exhibited in the world , could be produc'd . nor need we be much mov'd by hearing some naturists say , that nature , though not an incorporeal being , is of an order superior to mere matter ; as divers of the school-men teach the things , they call material forms to be . for , who can clearly conceive an order or kind of beings , that shall be real substances , and yet neither corporeal nor immaterial ? nor do i see , how the supposition of this unintelligible , or at least unintelligent being , though we should grant it to have a kind of life or soul , will much assist us to explicate the phaenomena ; as if a man be acquainted with the construction of mills , he he may as well conceive , how corn is ground by a mill , driven by the wind or by a stream of water , which are brute and senseless beings , as he can by knowing , that 't is kept at work by a horse , who , though an animated being , acts in our case but as a part of an engine that is determin'd to go round , and who does neither intend to grind the corn , nor know that he grinds it. and in this place ( though perhaps not the very fittest , ) i may question , with what congruity to their master's doctrine , the school-philosophers teach , that nature is the principle of motion in all the bodies , they call natural . for , not to urge , that those great masses of sublunary matter , to which they give the name of elements , and the mixt bodies , that consist of them , are , by divers learned men , said to be mov'd to or from the centre of the earth , by distinct internal principles , which they call gravity in the earth and water , and levity in the fire and air ; and that there is ascrib'd also to every compounded body , that quality of the two , which belongs to the element that predominates in it. not to urge this , i say , consider , that the coelestial part of the world does so far exceed the sub-coelestial in vastness , that there is scarce any comparison between them ; and yet the generality of the peripateticks , after aristotle , tell us , that the coelestial globes of light , and the vast orbs they suppose them to be fix'd in , are mov'd from west to east by intelligences , that is , rational and separate beings , without whose conduct they presume , that the motions of the heavens could not be so regular and durable , as we see they are . so that , in that part of the universe , which is incompararably vaster than the sublunary is , intelligences being the causes of motion , there is no recourse to be had to nature , as the true and internal principle of it. and here it may not , perhaps , be improper to declare somewhat more fully a point already touch'd upon , namely , that , if to know what is the general efficient cause of motion , can much contribute to the explication of particular phaenomena ; the hypothesis of those naturists i now reason with , will have no considerable advantage , if any at all of ours ; which derives them from the primitive impulse given by god to matter , and from the mechanical affections of the greater and lesser portions of it. for 't is all one to him , that would declare by what particular motion , as swift , slow , uniform , accelerated , direct , circular , parabolical , &c. this or that phaenomenon is produc'd ; to know , whether the motions of the parts of matter were originally impress'd on them by nature , or immediately by god ; unless it be , that he , being of infinitely perfect knowledge , may be , more probably than a creature , suppos'd to have at first produc'd in matter motions best accommodated to the phaenomena , that were to be exhibited in the world. nor do i see sufficient cause to grant , that nature herself ( whatever she be , ) produces any motion de novo , but only , that she transfers and regulates that , which was communicated to matter at the beginning of things : ( as we formerly noted , that in the human body , the rational soul or mind has no power to make new motions , but only to direct those of the spirits and of the grosser organs and instruments of voluntary motion . ) for , besides that many of the modern naturalists approve of the cartesian opinion , that the same quantity of motion is always preserv'd in the whole mass of of the mundane matter , that was communicated to it at first , though it be perpetually transferring it from one part to another : besides this , i say , i consider , that , if nature produces in these & those bodies motion , that were never before in beings ; ( unless much motion be annihilated , which is a thing as yet unprov'd , ) the quantity of motion in the universe must have for some thousands of years perpetually increas'd , and must continue to do so ; which is a concession , that would much disorder the whole theory of local motion , and much perplex philosophers , instead of assisting them , in explicating the phaenomena of bodies . and as for the effects of local motion in the parts of the universal matter , which effects make a great part of the phaenomena of the world : after what i have formerly declar'd , you will not wonder to hear me confess , that , to me , the supposition of nature , whether men will have her an immaterial or corporeal substance , and either without knowledge or else indowed with understanding , doth not seem absolutely necessary , nor perhaps very useful , to make us comprehend , how they are produc'd . the bodies of animals , are divers of them little less curiously fram'd than mens , and most of them more exquisitely , than , for ought we know , the great inanimate mass of the corporeal world is : and yet , in the judgment of no mean naturalists , some of the mechanical philosophers , that deny cogitation , and even sense properly so call'd , to beasts , do , at least as intelligibly and plausibly , as those that ascribe to them souls indow'd with such faculties as make them scarce more than gradually different from human ones , explicate the phaenomena that are observ'd in them . and i know not , whether i may not on this occasion add , that the peripateticks themselves , especially the moderns , teach some things , whence one may argue , that the necessity of recurring to nature does not reach to so many things by far , as is by them suppos'd . for the efformation ( or framing ) of the bodies of plants and animals , which are by great odds the finest pieces of workmanship to be met with among bodies , is ascrib'd not immediately to nature , but to the soul itself , which they will have to be the author of the organization of the body , and therefore call it the architect of its own mansion ; which , they say , that it frames by an innate power and skill , that some call plastick , and to which others give other names . and unto the same soul , operating by her several functions , they attribute the concoction of aliments , the expulsion of excrements , the production of milk , semen , &c. the appetitive , loco-motive , and i know not how many other faculties , ascrib'd to living bodies . and , even in many inanimate ones , the noblest properties and operations are , by the same school-philosophers , attributed to what they call their substantial forms ; since from these they derive the wonderful properties of the load-stone , the attractive faculty of amber and other electricks , and the medical vertues of gems and other mineral bodies , whether consistent or fluid . but not to insist on this argument , because 't is but ad hominem , ( as they speak , ) if we consider the thing itself , by a free examen of the pretended explanations , that the vulgar philosophers are wont , by recurring to nature , to give of the phaenomena of the universe ; we shall not easily look on those accounts , as meriting the name of explications . for to explicate a phaenomenon , 't is not enough to ascribe it to one general efficient , but we must intelligibly shew the particular manner , how that general cause produces the propos'd effect . he must be a very dull enquirer , who , demanding an account of the phaenomena of a watch , shall rest satisfied with being told , that 't is an engine made by a watch-maker ; though nothing be thereby declar'd of the structure and co-aptation of the spring , wheels , ballance , and other parts of the engine ; and the manner , how they act on one another , so as to cooperate to make the needle point out the true hour of the day . and ( to improve to my present purpose an example formerly touch'd upon , ) as he that knows the structure and other mechanical affections of a watch , will be able by them to explicate the phaenomena of it , without supposing , that it has a soul or life to be the internal principle of its motions or operations ; so he , that does not understand the mechanism of a watch , will never be enabled to give a rational account of the operations of it , by supposing , as those of chiness did , when the jesuits first brought watches thither , that a watch is an european animal , or living body , and indow'd with a soul. this comparison seems not ill to befit the occasion of propounding it ; but to second it by another , that is more purely physical ; when a person , unacquainted with the mathematicks , admires to see , that the sun rises and sets in winter in some parts of the horizon , and in summer in others , distant enough from them ; that the day , in the former season , is by great odds shorter than in the later , and sometimes ( as some days before the middle of march and of sept. ) the days are equal to the night ; that the moon is sometimes seen in conjunction with the sun , and sometimes in opposition to him ; and , between those two states , is every day variously illuminated ; and , that sometimes one of those planets , and sometimes another , suffers an eclipse ; this person , i say , will be much assisted to understand , how these things are brought to pass , if he be taught the clear mathematical elements of astronomy . but , if he be of a temper to reject these explications , as too defective , 't is not like , that it will satisfie him , to tell him after aristotle and the school-men , that the orbs of the sun and moon , and other coelestial spheres , are mov'd by angels or intelligences ; since to refer him to such general and undetermin'd causes , will little , or not at all , assist him to understand , how the recited phaenomena are produc'd . if it be here objected , that these examples are drawn from factitious , not from merely physical , bodies ; i shall return this brief answer , and desire that it be apply'd not only to the two freshly mention'd examples , but to all of the like kind , that may be met with in this whole treatise , ( near the beginning of which , had i remember'd it , something to the same purpose should have had place . ) i say then in short , that divers of the instances we are speaking of are intended but for illustrations ; and that others may be useful instances , if they should be no more than analogous ones : since examples , drawn from artificial bodies and things , may have both the advantage of being more clearly conceiv'd by ordinary understandings , and that of being less obnoxious to be question'd in that particular , in which the comparison or correspondence consists . and i the less scruple to imploy such examples , because aristotle himself , and some of his more learned followers , make use of divers comparisons , drawn from the figures and other accidents of artificial things , to give an account of physical subjects , and even of the generation , corruption and forms of natural bodies . this advertisement premis'd , i persue the discourse it interrupted , by adding , that thus we see that confirm'd , which was formerly observ'd , namely , that though mechanical principles could not be satisfactorily imploy'd for explaining the phaenomena of our world ; we must not therefore necessarily recur to , and acquiesce in , that principle , that men call nature , since neither will that intelligibly explain them : but in that case , we should ingeniously confess , that we are yet at a loss , how they are perform'd ; and that this ignorance proceeds , rather from the natural imperfection of our understandings , than from our not preferring nature ( in the vulgar notion of it , ) to the mechanical principles , in the explication of the phaenomena of the universe . for whereas monsieur des cartes , and other acute men , confidently teach , that there are scarce any of these phaenomena , that have been truly and intelligibly deduc'd from the principles peculiar to the aristotelians and school-philosophers ; it will scarce be deny'd by any that is acquainted with physico-mathematical disciplines , such as opticks , astronomy , hydrostaticks , and mechanicks , more strictly so call'd , but that very many effects ( whereof some have been handled in this present tract , ) are clearly explicable by mechanical principles ; which , for that reason , aristotle himself often imploys in his quaestiones mechanicae and elswhere . so that , if because the corpuscularian principles , cannot be satisfactorily made use of to account for all that happens among things corporeal , we must refuse to acquiesce in them : it is but just , that , since a recourse to what is call'd nature is yet more dark and insufficient , at least , we must reject as well the later as the former hypothesis , and endeavour to find some other preferrable to both. and now , if it be demanded , what benefit may redound to a reader from the explications given in the foregoing seventh section ? and in general , from the troublesome , as well as free , enquiry , whereof they make a considerable part ? i shall answer , that i am not quite out of hope , that the things hitherto discours'd may do some services both to natural philophy and to religion . and as to the first of these ; this tract may be of use to the cultivaters of that science , by dissuading them from employing often , and without great need , in their philosophical discourses and writings , a term , ( i mean nature , ) which , by reason of its great ambiguity , and the little or no care , which those that use it are wont to take , to distinguish its different acceptions , occasions both a great deal of darkness and confusedness in what men say and write about things corporeal ; and a multitude of controversies , wherein really men do but wrangle about words , whilst they think they dispute of things ; and perhaps would not differ at all , if they had the skill or luck to express themselves clearly . besides which service , the past discourse may do this other , to wean many from the fond conceit they cherish , that they understand or explicate a corporeal subject or a phaenomenon , when they ascribe it to nature . for to do that , one needs not be a philosopher , since a country swain may easily do the same thing . on this occasion , i must not forbear to take notice , that the unskilful use of terms of far less extent and importance , and also less ambiguous , than the word nature is , has been , and still is , no small impediment to the progress of sound philosophy . for not only the greatest part both of physitians ( though otherwise learned men , ) and of chymists ; but the generality of physiologers too , have thought , that they have done their part , though not on all occasions yet on very many , when they have referr'd an effect or a phaenomenon to some such things as those , that are presum'd to be real qualities ; or are by some styl'd natural powers ; or are by others , by a more comprehensive and more usual name , ( which therefore here chiefly imploy , ) call'd faculties ; for each of which they are wont to form a name , fit for their purpose : though they do not intelligibly declare , what this faculty is , and in what manner the operations they ascribe to it , are perform'd by it. thus the attractive faculty ascrib'd to a man , that is enabled by nature's ( presum'd ) abhorrence of a vacuum , to suck up drink through a straw or pipe , has been for many ages acquiesced in , as the true cause of the ascension of that liquor in suction ; of which nevertheless the modern philosophers , that have slighted explications deriv'd merely from faculties , have assign'd ( as has been already declar'd , ) intelligible , and even mechanical causes . the power that a load-stone has with one pole to attract ( as they speak , ) the northern point of the mariner's needle , and with the other to drive it away , is look'd upon as one of the noblest and most proper faculties of that admirable stone . and yet i elsewhere shew , how in a very small , indeed , but true and natural magnet , i have , by a bare , and sometimes invisible , change of texture , given that extream of the magnet , that before drew the southern point of the needle , the power to draw the northern , and to the opposite extream , the power to drive it away : so much does even this wonderful attractive faculty , as 't is call'd , depend upon the mechanical structure of the mineral , and its relation to other bodies , among which 't is plac'd , especially the globe of the earth , and its magnetical effluvia . but because in another paper , i purposely discourse of what naturists call faculties , i shall here content my self to note in general , that the term faculty may , indeed , be allowed of , if . it be applied as a compendious form of speech , but not as denoting a real and distinct agent ; since in reality the power or faculty of a thing is ( at least ) oftentimes but the matter of it , made operative by some of its mechanical modifications ; [ i say , some , because the complex of all makes up its particular nature . ] and with how little scruple soever , men commonly speak of faculties , as supposing them to be distinct and active principles ; yet this condition does not necessarily belong to them . for sometimes , if not frequently , the effect , of what is reputed a natural power of faculty , is produc'd by the texture , figure , and , in a word , mechanical disposition of the agent ; whereby it determines the action of a remoter agent to the produc'd effect . thus in a clock , to make the ballance vibrate , to point at the hour , to make , at set times , the hammer strike upon the bell , are but different effects of the weight or spring , that sets and keeps the engine in motion . and so a key may either acquire or lose its power of opening a door ( which , perhaps , some school-men would call its aperitive faculty , ) by a change , not made in itself , but in the locks it is apply'd to , or in the motion of the hand that manages it. and least it should be objected , that these instances are taken wholly from artificial bodies , i shall add , that , when a clear piece of native chrystal has obtain'd , as it often does , a good prismatical shape , and is , in a due position , expos'd to the sun-beams ; its figuration , by inabling it to refract and reflect those beams after a certain manner , gives it a colorifick faculty , whereby it is inabled to exhibit that wonderful and pleasing variety of colours , that emulate , if not surpass , those of the rain-bow . and so in a concave metalline looking-glass , though there seem to be many distinct faculties , such as that of reflecting , inverting , magnifying divers objects , and melting , burning , &c. several bodies ; yet all these powers are but the genuine consequences of the figure , capacity and smoothness , which are mechanical affections of the matter of the speculum . and , indeed , if i judge aright , ( though what i am going to say will seem a paradox , ) yet many qualities of very many bodies are but lasting dispositions to be thus or thus wrought upon by the action of external agents , and also ( perchance ) to modifie that action ; as we see , that the power of making an eccho , that is observ'd in divers hollow places , is nothing but the mechanical disposition , their figure and resistence gives them to reflect a sound . and , to resume the lately mention'd instance of a key , we may add , that , by bare position , either end of it , especially if the key be long , may be made to acquire or lose a transient magnetick faculty from the effluvia of that great magnet , the earth ; and that also the same key may , in a few moments , acquire a durable magnetism , by a mechanical change receiv'd from the load-stone , as is known to those , that are any thing vers'd in the philosophy of that wonderful mineral . and to me it seems likely , that one main reason , why learned men have ascrib'd such inherent and active powers , as they call faculties , to so many bodies , is , because that , not being conversant enough with natural and artificial things , they did not duly perpend , how great a difference there may be between a body consider'd absolutely , or by itself , and the same body consider'd in such circumstances , as it may be found in . for in some cases a physical body many have strange things justly ascrib'd to it , though not as 't is such a body consider'd simply , or unassociated with other bodies ; but as 't is plac'd among congruous ones , and makes the principal or most operative part of a compounded body , or of the complex of bodies it is joyn'd with , and which are of such determinate structures , as are convenient for the phaenomena , to be exhibited . this may be analogically seen in what happens to a spring . for if , being bent , 't is held in ones hand , or crouded into a box , 't is but a simple thing , that does only , by its expansive endeavour , strive to remove the bodies that keep it compress'd . but in a curious watch , it may , by virtue of the structure of that engine , become the principle of i know not how many differing , and perhaps contrary , motions , among the parts of it ; and of many notable phaenomena and effects exhibited or produc'd thereby . this reflection may , perhaps , be improv'd , if i here add , that , in many bodies , a fluid substance , determin'd to convenient motions , may be equivalent to an internal spring ; especially if it be assisted by friendly external agents . this may be illustrated by considering , that if one that plays skilfully on a flute , blow out of his mouth into the open air , he will but turn it into a vapid aereal stream : but if this wind duly pass into the instrument , and be modify'd there by the musician's fingers and skill , the simple stream of air may be form'd into very various and melodious tunes . thus gunpowder artificially temper'd , tho' , if it be fir'd in the open air , it will give only a rude and sudden flash , that presently vanishes ; yet , if it be skilfully dispos'd of in rockets and other well-contriv'd instruments , and then kindled , it will exhibit a great and pleasing variety of shining bodies and phaenomena , that are justly admir'd in the best sort of artificial fire-works . a physical instance also , in favour of our analogical or vicarious springs ( if i may so call them , ) is afforded me by the bulbs of onions , and the roots of aloes , commonly call'd semper-vive , and some other vegetables , which in the spring being expos'd to the air , the juices and spirits , contain'd in them , will be so agitated by the warmth of that season , and so modify'd by the particular structure of the more firm parts , that , though neither earth nor rain co-operate , they will shoot forth green stalks or leaves for many weeks together , as if they were planted in a good soil ; ( though the matter of these green productions be furnish'd by the radical parts themselves , as may be argued both from the manifest diminution of the bulb in bigness , and the great and gradual decrement in weight , that i observ'd in making experiments of this king. and so also the air , which is an external fluid , concurring with the juices and spirits of divers insects and other cold animals , may both be put into motion , and have that motion so determin'd by their organization , as to recover in the spring or summer , as it were , a new life , after they have lain moveless and like dead things , all the winter ; as we see in flies , that , in a hot air , quickly recover motion and sense , after having lost both , for perhaps many months . and the like change may be far more suddenly observ'd in them , in the warmer seasons of the year , when the air is drawn from them by the pneumatick pump , and afterwards permitted to enliven them again . and to give another instance , that may possibly please better , ( because , as 't is purely physical , so 't is simple and very conspicuous , ) tho' that which the sun-beams are wont primarily to produce be but light and , perhaps , heat ; yet falling in a due manner upon a rorid cloud , they form there the figure of a vast bow , and , being variously reflected and , refracted , adorn it with the several colours , men admire in the rain-bow . but i must not farther prosecute an observation , that i mention'd but occasionally , as an instance whereby to shew , that the advancement of solid philosophy may be much hinder'd by mens custom of assigning , as true causes of physical effects , imaginary things or perhaps arbitrary names ; among which none seems to have had a more malevolent influence upon physiology than the term nature , none having been so frequently and confidently us'd , or imploy'd to so many differing purposes . and therefore , though i would not totally forbid the use of the word nature , nor of expressions of kin to it , in popular discourses or even in some philosophical ones , where accurateness is not requir'd or ambiguity is prevented by the context ; nor ( to dispatch ) whereit may be imploy'd as a compendious form of speech , without danger to truth , or prejudice to sound philosophy , ( in which cases i myself forbear not the use of it ; ) yet , i hope , our free enquiry may ( somewhat at least , ) conduce to the more skilful indagation , and happy discovery , of physical truths , if it can perswade men to make use less frequently , and with more circumspection , of so ambiguous , and so often abus'd , a term as nature ; and cease to presume , that a man has well perform'd the part of a true physiologer , till he have circumstantially or particularly deduc'd the phaenomenon he considers , by intelligible ways , from intelligible principles . which he will be constantly put in mind of doing , or discover that he hath not done it ; if , by forbearing general and ambiguous terms and words , he endeavours to explain things by expressions , that are clear to all attentive readers , furnish'd with an ordinary measure of understanding and reason . and this perspicuous way of philosophizing should be not a little recommended to ingenious men , by the valuable discoveries , which those that have imploy'd it , in their researches and explications of difficult things , have in this inquisitive age happily made , not only about the various phaenomena , commonly referr'd to the fuga vacui ; but in the hydrostaticks , opticks , anatomy , botanicks , and divers other parts of real learning , that i cannot now stay to enumerate . and thus much it may possibly be sufficient to have said , about the service our doctrine may do natural philosophy . as for religion , if what i have formerly said in favour of it be duly consider'd and apply'd , the past discourse will not appear unfriendly , nor perhaps useless , to it. and therefore , if i do here abridge what i have there said , and add to it some considerations , that were fit to be reserv'd for this place ; i hope the doctrine , we have propos'd , may appear fit to do it a threefold service . i. and in the first place , our doctrine may keep many , that were wont , or are inclin'd , to have an excessive veneration for what they call nature , from running , or being seduc'd , into those extravagant and sacrilegious errors , that have been upon plausible pretences imbrac'd not only by many of the old heathen philosophers but , by divers modern professors of christianity , who have of late reviv'd , under new names and dresses , the impious errors of the gentiles . this i venture to say , because many of the heathen writers , as hath been shewn in the fourth section , ackonwledg'd indeed a god ( as these also own they do , ) but meant such a god , as they often too little discriminated from matter , and even from the a world ; and as is very differing from the true one , ador'd by christians and jews : for ours is a god , first , infinitely perfect ; and then secondly , by consequence , both incorporeal and too excellent to be so united to matter , as to animate it like the heathens mundane soul ; or to become to any body a soul properly so call'd ; and thirdly , uncapable of being divided , & having either human souls or other beings , as it were , torn or carv'd out , or otherwise separated from him , so as to be truly parts or portions of his own substance . b b the error here rejected , was the opinion of many of the heathen philosophers , and particularly of the stoical sect ; of whose author , * * in vita zenonis . laertius says , de divina substantia zeno ait mundum totum atque coelum . and several ethnick philosophers , even after the light of the gospel began to shine in the world , adopted the argument of the elder stoicks , who inferr'd the world to be animated and rational from the nature of the human soul , which they thought a portion of the intelligent part of the world , that some of them confounded with the deity . for the soicks ( in laertius ) affirm , de vitis phil. l. . mundum esse animale & rationale & animatum ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) & intelligibile . and 't is added , mundum animatum esse , inde manifestum est , quod anima nostra inde veluti avulsa sit . thus seneca , epist. . quid est autem cur non existimes , in eo divini aliquid existere , quae dei pars est ? plutarch in quaest. plut. so plutarch , speaking of the soul , non opus solum dei , sed & pars est ; neque ab ipso , sed ex ipso nata est . and epictetus , dissert . . caip . . animae ita alligatae & conjunctae deo sunt , ut particulae ejus sint . whereas , the idolaters and infidels i speak of , conceiv'd , under the name of god , a being , about which they dogmatically entertained conceptions , which , tho' different from one another , are much more so from the truth . for first , most of them thought their god to be purely corporeal , as , besides what diogenes laertius and others relate , i remember origen doth in several places affirm . if you will believe c c praepar . lib. . cap. . eusebius , the ancient aegyptian theologers not only affirm'd the sun , moon and stars to be gods , but deny'd incorporeal substances , or invisible nature's , to have fram'd the world , but only the sun , that is discoverable to our eyes . and this corporiety of god seems manifestly to be the opinion of mr. hobbs and his genuine disciples , to divers of whose principles and dogmas it is as congruous , as 't is repugnant to religion . but secondly , there are others , that allow'd a soul of the world , which was a rational and provident being , together with the corporeal part of the universe , especially heaven , ( which , i remember , aristotle himself styles a d d de coelo l. . c. . divine body , ( or , as some render his expressions , the body of god : ) but withal , they held , that this being did properly inform this great mass of the universe , and so was , indeed , a mundane soul. and though some of our late infidels ( formerly pointed at in this treatise , ) pretend to be great discoverers of new light in this affair , yet , as 〈◊〉 ●s i am inform'd of their doctrine , it has much affinity with , and is little or not at all better than that which i formerly noted out of lactantius to have been asserted by the stoicks , and the doctrine which is express'd by maximus ( a pagan ) to st. austin . equidem vnicum esse deum summum atque magnificum , quis tam demens , tam mente captus , ut neg●t esse certissimum ? hujus nos virtutes per mundanum opus diffusas , multis vocabulis invocamus , quoniam nomen ejus cuncti proprium ignoremus . or by that famous and learned roman , varro , who is cited by st. austin , de civit dei lib. . cap. . to have said , deum se arbitrari animam mundi , & hunc ipsum mundum esse deum : sed sicut hominem sapientem , cum sit ex animo & corpore , tamen ab animo dicimus sapientem ; ita mundum deum dici ab animo , cum sit ex animo & corpore . the doctrine , by us propos'd , may ( 't is hop'd , ) much conduce to justifie some remarkable proceedings of divine providence , against those cavillers , that boldly censure it , upon the account of some things , that they judge to be physical irregularities , ( for moral ones concern not this discourse , ) such as monsters , earth-quakes , floods , eruptions of volcanos , famines , &c. for , according to our doctrine , — . god is a most free agent , and created the world , not out of necessity , but voluntarily , having fram'd it , as he pleas'd and thought fit , at the beginning of things , when there was no substance but himself , and consequently no creature , to which he could be oblig'd , or by which he could be limited . . god having an understanding infinitely superior to that of man , in extent , clearness , and other excellencies , he may rationally be suppos'd to have fram'd so great and admirable an automaton as the world , and the subordinate engines compriz'd in it for several ends and purposes , some of them relating chiefly to his corporeal , and others to his rational creatures ; of which ends , he hath vouchsafed to make some discoverable by our dim reason , but others are probably not to be penetrated by it , but lye conceal'd in the deep abyss of his unfathomable wisdom . . it seems not incongruous to conceive , that this most excellent and glorious being thought fit to order things so , that both his works and actions might bear some signatures , and as it were badges of his attributes , and especially to stamp upon his corporeal works some tokens or impresses , discernable by human intellects , of his divine wisdom ; an attribute that may advantagiously disclose itself to us men , by producing a vast multitude of things , from as few , and as simple , principles , and in as vniform a way , as , with congruity to his other attributes , is possible . . according to this supposition , it seems , that it became the divine author of the vniverse to give it such a structure , and such powers , and to establish among its parts such general and constant laws , as best suited with his purposes in creating the world ; and , to give these catholick laws , and particular parts or bodies , such subordinations to one another , and such references to the original fabrick of the grand system of the world , that , on all particular occasions , the welfare of inferior or private portions of it , should be only so far provided for , as their welfare is consistent with the general laws setled by god in the vniverse , and with such of those ends , that he propos'd to himself in framing it , as are more considerable , than the welfare of those particular creatures . upon these grounds , if we set aside the consideration of miracles , as things supernatural , and of those instances , wherein the providence of the great rector of the universe , and human affairs , is pleas'd peculiarly to interpose ; it may be rationally said , that god having an infinite understanding , to which all things are at once in a manner present , did , by vertue of it , clearly discern , what would happen , in consequence of the laws by him establish'd , in all the possible combinations of them , and in all the junctures of circumstances , wherein the creatures concern'd in them may be found . and , that having , when all these things were in his prospect , setled among his corporeal works , general and standing laws of motion suited to his most wise ends , it seems very congruous to his wisdom , to prefer ( unless in the newly excepted cases ) catholick laws , and higher ends , before subordinate ones , and uniformity in his conduct before making changes in it according to every sort of particular emergencies : and consequently , not to recede from the general laws he at first most wisely establish'd , to comply with the appetites or the needs of particular creatures , or to prevent some seeming irregularities ( such as earth-quakes , floods , famins , &c. ) incommodious to them , which are no other than such as he fore saw would happen ( as the eclipses of the sun and moon from time to time , the falling of showers upon the sea and sandy desarts , and the like must do , by vertue of the original disposition of things , ) and thought fit to ordain , or to permit , as not unsuitable to some or other of those wise ends , which he may have in his all-pervading view , who either as the maker and upholder of the universe , or as the sovereign rector of his rational creatures , may have ends , whether physical , moral , or political ; ( if i may be allowed so to distinguish and name them , ) divers of which , for ought we can tell , or should presume , are known only to himself , whence we may argue , that several phaenomena , which seem to us anomalous , may be very congruous or conducive to those secret ends , and therefore are unfit to be censur'd by us , dim-sighted mortals . and indeed , the admirable wisdom and skill , that , in some conspicuous instances , the divine opificer has display'd in the fitting of things for such ends and uses , for which ( among other purposes ) he may rationally be suppos'd to have design'd them , may justly persuade us , that his skill would not appear infeferiour in reference to the rest also of his corporeal works , if we could as well in these , as in those , discern their particular final causes . as if we suppose an excellent letter about several subjects , and to different purposes , whereof some parts were written in plain characters , others in cyphers , besides a third sort of clauses , wherein both kinds of writing were variously mix'd , to be heedfully perus'd by a very intelligent person , if he finds that those passages , that he can understand , are excellently suited to the scopes that appear to be intended in them , it is rational as well as equitable in him to conclude , that the passages or clauses of the third sort , if any of them seem to be insignificant , or even to make an incongruous sense , do it but because of the illegible words ; and that both these passages , and those written altogether in cyphers , would be found no less worthy of the excellent † † see the discourse of final causes . writer , than the plainest parts of the epistle , if the particular purposes , they were design'd for , were as clearly discernable by the reader . and perhaps you will allow me to add , that by this way of ordering things so , that , in some of god's works , the ends or uses may be manifest , and the exquisite fitness of the means may be conspicuous ; [ as the eye is manifestly made for seeing , and the parts it consists of admirably fitted to make it an excellent organ of vision ] and in others , the ends design'd seem to be beyond our reach : by this way , ( i say ) of managing things , the most wise author of them does both gratifie our understandings , and make us sensible of the imperfection of them. if the representation now made of providence serve ( as i hope it may , ) to resolve some scruples about it ; i know you will not think it useless to religion . and though i should miss of my aim in it , yet since i do not dogmatize in what i propose about it , but freely submit my thoughts to better judgments ; i hope my well meant endeavours will be , as well as the unsuccessful ones of abler pens have been , excus'd by the scarce superable difficulty of the subject . however , what i have propos'd about providence , being written , rather to do a service to theology , than as necessary to justifie a dissatisfaction with the receiv'd notion of nature , that was grounded mainly upon philosophical objections ; i hope our free enquiry may , though this second use of it should be quite laid aside , be thought not unserviceable to religion , since the first use of it , ( above deliver'd ) does not depend on my notions about providence , no more than the third , which my prolixity about the former makes it fit i should in few words dispatch . iii. the last then , but not the least , service , i hope our doctrine may do religion , is , that it may induce men to pay their admiration , their praises , and their thanks , directly to god himself ; who is the true and only creator of the sun , moon , earth , and those other creatures that men are wont to call the works of nature . and in this way of expressing their veneration of the true god , ( who , in the holy scripture styles himself a iealous god , exod. xx . . ) and their gratitude to him , they are warranted by the examples of the ancient people of god , the israelites , and not only by the inspir'd persons of the old testament , but by the promulgators of the new testament , and even by the coelestial spirits ; who , in the last book of it , are introduc'd , rev. iv . . praising and thanking god himself for his mundane works , without taking any notice of his pretended vice-gerent , nature . the conclusion . and now , dear eleutherius , you have the whole bundle of those papers that i found and tack'd together , ( for they are not all that i have written ) touching my free enquiry into the receiv'd notion of nature : at the close of which essay , i must crave leave to represent two or three things about it. . since this treatise pretends to be but an enquiry , i hope that any discourses or expressions that you may have found dogmatically deliver'd , about questions of great moment or difficulty , will be interpretated with congruity to the title and avow'd scope of this treatise ; and that so favourable a reader , as eleutherius , will consider , that 't was very difficult in the heat of discourse , never to forget the reserves , that the title might suggest , especially since , on divers occasions , i could not have spoken , with those reserves , without much enervating my discourse , and being , by restrictions and other cautious expressions , tedious or troublesome to you . but this , as i lately intimated , is to be understood of things of great moment or difficulty . for otherwise , there are divers notions , suppositions , and explanations , in the vulgarly receiv'd doctrine of nature , and her phaenomena ; which i take to be either so precarious , or so unintelligible , or so incongruous , or so insufficient , that i scruple not to own , that i am dissatisfied with them , and reject them . . though , upon a transient view of these papers , i find that several parcels , that came first into my hands , having been laid and fasten'd together , ( to keep them from being lost , as others had already been ) before the others were lighted on , some of them will not be met with in places that are not the most proper for them ; yet haste and sickness made me rather venture on your good nature , for the pardon of a venial fault , than put myself to the trouble of altering the order of these papers , and substituting new transitions and connections , in the room of those , with which i formerly made up the chasms and incoherency of the tract , you now receive . and if the notions and reasonings be themselves solid , they will not need the assistence of an exact method to obtain the assent of so discerning a reader , as they are presented to : upon the score of whose benignity , 't is hop'd , that the former advertisement may likewise pass for an excuse , if the same things , for substance , be found more than once in a tract written at very distant times , and in differing circumstances . for , besides that such seeming repetitions will not ( if i be not mistaken ) frequently occur , and will , for the most part , be found , by being variously express'd , to elucidate or strengthen the thought or argument , they belong to : and besides , that the novelty and difficulty of some points may have made it needful , not only to display , but to inculcate them ; besides these things , ( i say ) 't is very possible that the same notion may serve to explicate or prove several truths ; and therefore may , without impertinency , be made use of in more than one part of our treatise . and if our enquiry shall be thought worthy to be transcrib'd , and presented to you a second time , after i shall have review'd it , and heard objections against it , and consider'd the things , that either you , or i myself , may find fault with in it ; 't is very possible , that ( if god grant me life and leisure , ) this tract , which , in its present dress , i desire you would look on but as an apparatus ( towards a more full and orderly treatise , ) may appear before you in a less unaccurate method : and that my second thoughts may prove more correct , more mature , or better back'd and fortifi'd , than my first . . the subject of my enquiry being of great extent , as well as consequence , it oblig'd me to consider , and treat of many things , ( as philosophical , medical , theological , &c. ) and , among them , of divers that are not at all of easie speculation . and i found it the more difficult to handle them well , because the attempt i have ventur'd upon being new , and to be prosecuted by discourse , many of them opposite to the general sentiments of mankind , i was not to expect much assistence from any thing , but truth and reason . and therefore , as i cannot presume not to need your indulgence , so i cannot despair of obtaining it , if in this my first essay , upon a variety of difficult points , i have not always hit the mark , and as happily found the truth as sincerely sought it . but if you shall ( which 't is very probable you will ) find that i have fallen into some errors , 't will be but one trouble for you , to make me discern them , and forsake them , ( especially any , wherein religion may be concern'd ) which i have , by way of praevision , made it the more easie for myself to do ; because ( if my style have not wrong'd my intentions , ) i have written this discourse , rather like a doubting seeker of truth , than a man confident that he has found it. finis . a catalogue of some books lately printed for , and are to be sold by , john taylor at the globe in st. paul's church-yard . the declamations of quintilian , being an exercitation or praxis upon his twelve books , concerning the institution of an orator ; translated ( from the oxford theatre edition ) into english , by a learned and ingenious hand , with the approbations of several eminent school-masters in the city of landon . octavo . price s. d. england's happiness in a lineal succession ; and the deplorable miseries which ever attended doubtful titles to the crown , historically demonstrated by the bloody wars between the two houses of york and lancaster . twelves . price s. d. the happy ascetick , or the best exercise ; with a letter to a person of quality , concerning the lives of the primitive christians . by anthony horneck , d. d. preacher at the savoy . octavo . price s. d. this book is now printing in latine , by the author 's own direction , and will be publish'd by trinity term next . printed for , and sold by iohn taylor at the globe in st. paul's church-yard , . errata . pag. . l. . r. angel , p. . dele to which i now proceed , p. . l. . r. causality , p. . l. . & . r. god and a providence is afforded by the consideration of the visible , &c. p. . l. . r. world. mal-punctations , or small literal faults ( if any be , ) the courteous reader is desired to correct with his pen. advertisement . the reader is here to be advertis'd of a great oversight that happen'd to be made by several transpositions of the loose sheets , wherein ( and not in a book , ) the copy was sent to the press . for the discourse beginning at the sole break that is to be met with in the hundred and fiftieth page , and ending with another break at the second line of the hundred fifty and sixth page , ought to have been plac'd at the sole break that is to be met with in the hundred sixty and second page . and the discourse that reaches from the beginning of the hundred seventy and eighth page , to the close of the v. section , which ends in the hundred eighty and second page , ought to have been printed among the arguments that may be alledg'd by the naturists , among which it should , if i misremember not , have been brought in at the close of the two hundred forty and eighth page , and thence have reach'd to the end of the sixth section . these transpositions are thought necessary to have notice given of them , to avoid confusion , since the printed sheets did not come to hand , 'till too much of the book was wrought off before the transpositions could be discern'd ; which makes it fit to give notice of what 't is too late to remedy . and though also some connections and transitions , relating to the transpos'd papers , be not such as they should be , yet 't is not judg'd fit , that the reader be troubled with long advertisements about them ; because his discretion may easily correct them , and the incongruities are not of moment enough to spoil the discourses they relate to . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e act. . see the iii , the iv , and also the last section of this treatise . notes for div a -e phys. c. . l. . cor. xv . , . rev. xvi . . rev. xiv . . verse . notes for div a -e * arist. de coelo , l. ii. c. . † arist. de coelo l. ii. c. . it . de gen. l. ii. c. . §. . gen. i. . gen. ii . . job . xxxviii . , , . more nevoch . lib. iii. cap. . histor. orientalis . lib. i. cap. . lib. iii. cap. . king. xvii . & . chron. xxxiii . & . mor. nevoch . lib. iii. cap. . gen. xxxi . & xix . vers . . * sen. de benef. lib. vii . cap. . galenus de usu partium , l. xvii . apud lacunam in epitome oper. galeni . origen . cont . celsum . l. v. prae parat . l. iii. c. . damascius vita isidori apud photium : colunt prae coeteris diis aegyptii osirim & isin ( i. e. solem & lunam , ) illum omnia condere , & figuris numerisque materiam adornare arbitrati . rom. i. . sed nec illam , quam ejusdem numinis ( solis ) beneficio adeptus sum , sortem conditionemque parvi facio ; quod ex eo genere , penes quod terrarum dominatus atque imperium est , temporibus nostris ortum acceperim . julian . ad regem solem . more novochim . l. . c. . ( ni fallor . pag. m. . origen-contra celsum . l. v. origen . contra celsum . lib. . exod. xx . sextus empir . adversus mathemat . lib. . p. m. . * august . de civit. dei. l. . c. . † natur. hist. l. . c. . * natur. quaest. l. . c. . de benef. l. . c. . lib. . cap. . deus & natura nihil prorsus faciunt frustra . arist. de coelo , lib. ii . cap. . see lib. xi . cap. . aristot. de coelo . l. xi . c. . rom. . . notes for div a -e heb. xi . . see the iv. section . notes for div a -e * see the appendix to the hydrostat . paradoxes . natura est principium quoddam & causa , cur id moveatur & quiescat , in quo inest , &c. aristot. auscult . lib. ii. cap. . the fifth commandment , in exodus xx . psalm v. . psalm lv . . kings i. . isa. xxxviii . james v. . cor. xi . . * a discourse relating to miracles . notes for div a -e differunt autem fortuna & casus , quia casus latius patet . quod enim à fortuna est , casu est : hoc autem non omne est à fortuna . arist. auscult . lib. ii . cap. . natura semper id facit quod est optimum eorum quae fieri possunt . arist. de coelo . lib. ii . c. . see also arist. de gen. lib. ii . cap. . §. . hippocrat . epidem . lib. . §. . t. . schenk . obser. l. iv. pag. m. . & seq . hippocrat . lib. vi . aphorism . xi . * hippocrat . epidem . l. . § . text . . . * schenck . observ. lib. . pag. mihi . & seq . see pag. . to pag. . notes for div a -e a thus the stoicks , in laertius , describe the world thus , mundus est qui constat ex coelo & terra atque ex illorum naturis ; sive , qui constat ex diis & hominibus , iisque rebus quae horum gratia conditae sunt . and of chrysippus , one of the patriarchs of that sect , the same . † historian in the same book says , purissimum dixit ac liquidissimum aethera , quem etiam primum asserunt stoici esse deum , sensibiliter veluti infusum esse , per ea quae sunt in aere , per cunctas animantes & arbores , per terram autem ipsam secundum halitum . to which agrees not only that noted passage of virgil , principio coelum , &c. — but another , which i somewhat wonder learned men should read with no more reflexion : since he there gives the sky the very title of the high god : tum pater omnipotens foecundis imbribus aether , &c. † diog. laertius l. . in vita zenon . the creatures praysing god: or, the religion of dumbe creatures an example and argument for the stirring vp of our deuotion and for the confusion of atheisme. benedicite omnia opera domini domino; laudate & superexaltate eum in secula. g.g. goodman, godfrey, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a stc estc s this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) the creatures praysing god: or, the religion of dumbe creatures an example and argument for the stirring vp of our deuotion and for the confusion of atheisme. benedicite omnia opera domini domino; laudate & superexaltate eum in secula. g.g. goodman, godfrey, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed by felik kingston, london : . g.g. = godfrey goodman. "example and argument," is enclosed in curly brackets on title page. errata on f r, final leaf. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng nature -- religious aspects -- christianity -- early works to . - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - olivia bottum sampled and proofread - olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the creatvres praysing god : or , the religion of dumbe creatures . an example and argument , for the stirring vp of our deuotion , and for the confusion of atheisme . benedicite omnia opera domini domino ; laudate & superexaltate eum in secula . g. g. london , printed by felik kingston . . to the reader . good reader , the authour himselfe not vouchsafing his name , title , or preface to this his worke , and very vnwilling that it should be publisht , i thought fit to let thee vnderstand , that the booke it selfe containes no paradox , notwithstanding the title : for the naturall seruice of god in dumbe creatures , when they obey god , in their owne kinde , and follow their owne naturall course , this is it , which he calls the religion of dumbe creatures : and as it is frequent , and vsuall , to make comparisons in particular instances , so here in generall their seruice is compared to our religion . to commend the worke , seeing i am so farre ingaged , as that against the authors will , it was my importunity to publish it , were in effect to commend mine owne iudgement , i will here onely acquaint you with the reasons that moued me ; first , to take away grose atheisme , which denies any god , he vseth no sophistry , no perswasion , not the testimonies either of god , or of men , but herein craues aide of the dumbe creatures , and in effect desires them to beare witnesse , who instantly acknowledge a god , and discouer many excellent , and admirable attributes in god , and this he calls their confession , or the naturall implicite faith of the creatures , pag. . secondly , that this knowledge of god , which we learne from nature , is an imperfect knowledge , though otherwise , it was the sole knowledge of the ancient heathen philosophers , he brands it with this imputation , that it is no more in effect then the religion of dumbe beasts ; but as reason is aboue sence , so faith aboue reason : reason points out mysteries , faith discouers them ; by vertue of which faith , we ioyne with the angels in their seruice , as the dumbe beasts doe ioyne with vs in nature : and here he takes away all naturall obiections against the mysteries of religion , beating downe mans curiosity , pag. . thirdly , how the creatures praise god in their voices and sounds , which in effect are their prayers ; in their naturall law , which is their decalogue ; in all their qualities and affections , both naturall , and as they are sometimes meanes and conduit-pipes of grace , whereby nature is sanctified , pag. . fourthly , how all naturall sciences may be reduced to theology , suppose the metaphysicks , naturall philosophy , morall philosophy , which are indeed the branches of naturall theology and are incorporated into the body of our diuinity . and hence you may as well exclude the morall law , the decalogue , and the whole state of nature , as to exclude humane learning ; which showing the perfections and excellencies of nature , doth therein show the praise and commendations of the maker . pag. . fifthly , this naturall religion not only comprehends in it selfe all naturall sciences , but it is further a supposed ground and foundation in all religions . thus iudaisme , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as well as christianity , acknowledge god in nature ; though the iudiciall , and ceremoniall law began with moyses , the gospell with christ , yet the naturall law , together with the state of nature , began with adam , not by any reuelation , but by ingrafted and inbred principles , and therefore is common to all nations , to all religions . hence he gathers these two notes , first , that different and opposite religions may notwithstanding ioyne together in such things as are good , and alike approueable in both : for so we ioyne with dumbe creatures in their naturall seruice , and that the bounds of the church are not to be hedged in , according to mens priuate phansies and imaginations ; or according to the prouinces , and iurisdiction of prelats , but according to the vnity and concent of faith . secondly , that be the religions neuer so opposite and contrary , yet all agree in the naturall law , and therefore are bound to performe to each other , all naturall rights , suppose the discharging of trust , where it is reposed , to vse morall honesty in our actions , obedience to our superiours , allegiance to the prince , and the like ; thus may different religions liue quietly and peaceably vnder one iust gouernment . if this were obserued , surely it would cause much peace in the christian world , so much distracted and disquieted at this day , with infinit and innumerable sects and religions , pag. . to conclude : what can be more glorious to god , then that his praise should be set forth by all his creatures ? what greater charity , then to comprehend them , not within the walls of our christian church ( though once they were contained in the arke ) yet within the compasse and circuit of religion ? what greater deuotion , then by their example to stirre vp thy selfe ? though the angels be out of sight , and thou canst not heare their hymnes , yet the beasts may awaken thy dulnesse ; what greater humility , then to stoope to the basest wormes , and together with them , to associate thy selfe in gods seruice ? these reasons ( i confesse ) did moue me to publish it : and as i had no other intent , but gods glory , so i beseech him to giue a blessing to thy reading hereof , that it may tend to the increase of thy deuotion . the creatvres praysing god : or , the religion of dumbe creatures . psal. . , , , and , verses . . praise the lord vpon earth , yee dragons and all deepes : . fire and haile , snow and vapours , stormy winds , fulfilling his word : . mountaines and all hilles , fruitfull trees and all cedars , . beasts and all cattell , wormes and feathered fowles . two absurdities may here seeme to be committed at once , with one breath ; either that man should speake and exhort such auditors , who are without sence , and therefore not capeable of exhortation , or that creatures dumbe in themselues , should be exhorted to praise god , which seemes to be a thing proper to angels and men . both these are easily satisfied , if we rightly consider that the praises of god doe not necessarily imply the most exact and magnificent order and forme , such as might well beseeme the maiestie of a deitie ( both men and angels come short in that excellent seruice ) but the praises of god require no more in effect , then the power and ability wherewith god hath first inabled the creature : for he accepts our imperfect prayers , and descends to our weakenesse . thus the stocks and the stones in their silence , and in their naturall properties ; the beasts in their sounds and their cries , in their sence and in their motions , all serue to praise him : for god requires no more then he hath first giuen , the right imployment of his gifts is indeed to praise him . now man exhorting them to this their bounden duty , ioynes with them in their seruice , and as it were seemes to congratulate their praises of god : notwithstanding his owne disobedience and sinne , yet he reioyceth in their seruice , and exhorts them still to continue their praises of god. and though they seeme dumbe , yet in verity and truth they speake in their silence : for obiecting , or presenting themselues to our view , shewing their excellent nature , their rare and wonderfull properties , therein they speake their maker . man perceiuing and apprehending this , falls instantly to admiration , which is a kinde of naturall trance , wherein his speech failes him , as if he were for a time strucken dumbe together with the dumbe creatures , to shew his fellow-feeling and symbolizing affection with them ; at length he comes to himselfe , begins to breathe , then is he tied to his vtterance , as it were to comment vpon their silence , or to be their interpreter ; for as god requires no more then the ability of the creature , so he will admit no lesse , but expect , the vttermost extent of our power : in the dumbe creatures their silence did suffice : man hauing the free vse of his tongue , is therefore tied to adde speech to their silence , reason to their sence , and perswading them not to any impossibility aboue their condition , as to beleeue the mysteries of grace , and the like , but applauding them in their owne naturall course , therein he seemes to exhort them , and thus exhorting them , stirs vp himselfe , and magnifies the diuine prouidence , who first appointed the course : as god speaking the word , all things were made : god speakes to nothing , and by vertue of his words , behold a creation : so wee speaking to the dumbe creatures , and in them approuing gods workes , wee shew the conformitie of our wills to the diuine institution . for in our speech wee doe not alwaies respect others , but sometimes our selues . the most learned preacher speaking to the most iudicious auditory , yet cannot promise vnto himselfe happy successe ; wee must looke to the discharge of our owne dutie , and not to the euent . man speaking to the dumbe creatures though they vnderstand him not , yet his owne bounden duty , together with the strength and vehemency of his affections , ( that he can doe no lesse then speake in a cause which concernes gods glory ) this makes it no fruitlesse labour , and surely some profit thereby redounds : for whereas otherwise man were a stranger to beasts , and they seruing god in their owne kinde , their seruice should no way concerne him ; yet now by vertue of his exhortation , he hath a part and portion in their obedience , and thus very cunningly , what is wanting in himselfe , he desires to supply it in them , to make their seruice seeme as his owne , as if forsooth they had beene rebellious , had it not beene for his perswasion ; though himselfe be dissolute , yet it is he , that keepes all in good order : a pretty policy . thus as they were ordained for his naturall vse , for his food , clothing , labour : so it should seeme , they were appointed for his spirituall vse , to serue him in the nature of chaplaines , that they should honour and praise god , while their master , sinfull and wretched man , dishonours him , yet their seruice might seeme to be done by his appointment . though i will not excuse our selues , yet suffer mee to speake in their behalfe , who being dumbe , cannot speake for themselues , i know not how powerfull and effectuall mans words are , but surely in them i can doe no lesse then admire their obedience ; the most dumbe and senselesse creatures , the very rocks and the caues , if we speake vnto them , and speake aloud ; instantly they make a reuerberation of our breath , whereby our owne words are renewed , as if they vnderstood , and did answere vs in our owne speech and language ; suppose i should stretch out my voice , and cry vnto them to praise god , instantly you should heare them answer , praise god : or if they faile in this eccho , yet sure they will not faile in their conformity ; herein they are not so properly our schollers , as presidents and examples to vs of obedience . then let vs conceiue that all the workes of god make one corporation , and are as members of one body , vnder one common gouernment . as then it appeares in man , that the heart giues direction to the dull hands , to be lifted vp in deuotion , and the dull hands knocke the sleepy heart , to awake her out of drowsinesse ; and thus they doe mutually prouoke and stirre vp each other to ioyne in the seruice . as this befalls the parts of man in respect of himselfe , so the like befalls man and the creatures in respect of the vniuerse . and that it may no way seeme strange , that dumbe creatures should bee said to praise god , to speake most properly and most exactly of the praises of god , which surely consist in a religious worship and seruice of god ; if , then i should say , that in the stocks and in the stones , in the foure-footed beasts , and generally in all the dumbe creatures , that there is some obscure shadow , or some resemblance of religion , or rather indeed some proper kinde of religion : for there are diuers and seuerall kindes of religions , religions of all sorts , of all sizes , of all fashions ( witnesse the diuersity of religions in these our daies ) if then i should say that the dumbe creatures haue likewise their proper kinde of religion as well as men , and that they are very deuout , godly , zealous , strict and most religious in their owne kinde , euen farre aboue men ; if i should say this ; i would humbly craue your patience a while . let mee bring my reasons and labour to proue it , that the naturall seruice of god in dumbe creatures , howsoeuer wee may esteeme it , yet in verity and truth , it is a kinde of naturall religion . morall vertues we may suppose to be onely competent to man , as being grounded in the reasonable soule , yet therein the dumbe creatures instruct vs , goe , sluggard , learne of the pismire ; religion wee may conceiue to be mans owne proper inheritance , yet behold , wee are stirred vp by the example of the dumbe beasts , the oxe and the asse acknowledge their lord & master . the windes and the seas obey him . it should seeme , that as there is a religion aboue man , the religion of angels , so there may be a religion beneath man , the religion of dumbe creatures . for wheresoeuer there is a seruice of god , in effect it is a religion . thus according to the seuerall degrees and difference of states , the state of nature , grace and glory , religion may likewise admit degrees , and difference . religion then , if i doe not mistake , consists of these foure parts , a creed for our beliefe , which is the obiect of our faith ; a set forme of prayer for our supplication , which is the anchor of our hope : a decalogue or law for our practice , which is the rule of our charity : sacrifice and sacraments for the vpshot and consummation of all , to season and sanctifie all . these are in effect the briefe heads of religion , as well appeares in our ordinary catechisme , consisting of these foure parts , and therein is contained the summe of religion . now if all of these , or at least , if some of these can no way appeare in the creatures , yet how great the similitude and analogy is betweene both , if you please to obserue with patience , and to condemne nothing vnheard , i doe well hope , that many things will be for our instruction , and all for our example and imitation . and first , of that knowledge which wee haue of the creatures , how there should be such a mutuall intelligence or correspondency betweene vs , as that we should truely know them and their religion , as if wee vnderstood their language , & were thorowly acquainted with all the secrets and mysteries of their church and state. the first notice then which wee haue of the creatures , it is by an information of sence , wherein the diuine prouidence hath so fitted and porportioned things each to other , suppose the faculty to the obiect , sence to things sensible , that wee instantly receiue them , not with any difficulty of learning , but by a naturall instinct : thus it is betweene the sensible man , and the visible world , being creatures of like condition , we doe easily conceiue them . thus sence first serues to informe vs : but if wee should here rest onely in the information of sence , this were most dangerous : from hence grew our first error : whereas beauty was giuen to the creatures , to point out the incomparable beauty of god , many beholding them , haue so doted vpon them , and so farre enamoured with their beauty , that they could goe no farther , but haue taken the creatures for god , supposing that god himselfe could not be more glorious . thus whereas a right vnderstanding would conclude , great is the beauty of creatures , therefore how great and incomparable is the beauty of god! sence , as being of a lower straine , not able to aime at such a high pitch , rather inferres , such is the beauty of creatures , that our sence cannot possibly comprehend any greater beauty ; therefore the creatures are god. thus sence and sence alone , without other information , is indeed the mother and nurse of idolatry ; and if wee should proceed to no further search and inquisition , then the creatures might seeme to blaspheme , to make themselues gods ; being onely witnesses to the deity , they might seeme to assume vnto themselues the right of the deitie : yet herein let me excuse them , they are innocent , they doe it not of themselues , but through our corruption some sensuall men haue ascribed it : for being not able to conceiue greater perfection , it is naturall to man to acknowledge god in the highest . thus some haue worshipped the sunne , the moone , the starres , diuers and seuerall creatures , and the like . by the way giue me leaue to make some vse of their error , and here to crie out , o what an excellent workeman is god , that euen his owne common and meanest workes should be of that excellency , as that they should be taken for god! and thus idolatry which seemes wholly to detract from god , and to ascribe all to the creatures , yet by an ouer-ruling prouidence of god , contrary to her owne intent , in so much magnifying the creatures , doth in them and by them set foorth the supereminent greatnesse of god the creator . this were sufficient , if mans whole knowledge were plunged and puzzled in sence , and that hee had no other guide or direction saue onely sence ; but man hath further a reasonable soule , which taking information from sence , as it well beseemes his condition , vseth degrees of discourse , and in this reasonable soule wee shall finde this ingrafted , as a first ground and principle , that in all our knowledge , we must first search out the cause of euery effect ; for euery effect naturally points out his cause : and there is no relation so necessary , as is that which is betweene the cause and the effect . as it is the truth of things , that nothing can subsist without a cause : so in our apprehension , that wee cannot conceiue the one without relation to the other : there is no knowledge without the knowledge of causes , and therefore we striue and endeuour to discerne the cause in the effects , and the effects in the cause . by vertue of this ingrafted principle , wee cannot consider the creatures alone , and by themselues , but together with them and in them wee must search out their cause . here then reason would faine know , whether the creatures be the effects of another , or causes of themselues ? this is the first proposition , or quare . now you shall vnderstand , that euery search and inquisition , when we know not things of our selues , but that wee take our information from others , wee seeke them from others , and learne them of others ; this is a kinde of demand : of whom then should reason demand this ? not of her selfe , then surely of none but the creatures ; or who should make answer to this demand ? not reason to her selfe , then surely none but the creatures marke then the answer of the creatures , to this demand of reason ; their answer as giuing an account of their faith : faith is the ground and foundation of religion , and without faith , religion cannot subsist . marke then the faith of the creatures in their answers : their answers , i say , not in expresse termes , for this is not necessary : men that are speechlesse and dumbe , may notwithstanding make a confession of their faith , digitis nu●●que loquuntur , so may the dumbe and speechlesse creatures , they may likewise vse outward signes and tokens , to giue a confession of their faith ; their answer is answerable to their nature , their silent nature , and their still properties giue this resolution , and make this answer , and that without any difficulty . for their bounden nature must necessarily imply , that the limitation of their nature proceeds from another . here is their answer : their composition and dissolution must necessarily presuppose first a compounder : here is their answer : their seuerall times of rising and setting must argue , that there being a time , when they were not , needs they must want a cause first to subsist ; being not by themselues , or for themselues alone , but carrying a mutuall respect each to other : suppose the heauens to the earth , the earth to the heauens , the faculty to the obiect , the obiect to the faculty : this must needs inforce , that they could not thus seuerally ordaine themselues , but that there was some other extrinsecall cause , which knowing both , and making both , appointed each for other . to conclude , that vnreasonable creatures should mooue , according to the rules of reason , and such as want vnderstanding , should be guided by the direction of an vnderstanding ; this must needs argue that some intelligent cause did first ordaine them , which now preserues them in their naturall course . this in briefe is their answer ; for they intimate thus much , the creatures acknowledge themselues to be no more then effects , they pointed out a cause , an intelligent cause . here then we must exclude blind fortune , for that things by great chance should fall into such an excellent order , reason it selfe seemes to oppose it , which admits no fortune , but deemes it as a base-borne childe of ignorance : which if wee should yeeld , it would rather prooue the cause of disorder and confusion , and it would vndoubtedly imply a contradiction , to ascribe the workes of foresight and prouidence vnto a blind guide . thus then the creatures being true , reall , positiue effects , they seeme to confesse , or rather to challenge vnto themselues a true , reall , positiue efficient cause , which in effect is to acknowledge a god , & a maker . and this their knowledgement of god , as it is fitly gathered from the creatures , so it is in verity and in truth no lesse then a naturall implicit faith of the creatures : all of them testifying the same truth , doe in a sort make one common confession of their faith : accedentem ad deum oportet credere quod fit deus ; this is the first article of their creed , that they acknowledge a god ; thus they cannot be iustly taxed with infidelity . herein they farre exceed the atheist , who denying his maker , must therefore make himselfe liue of himselfe , and so consequently should preserue himselfe . surely of all others he is the greatest and the most notable impostor , denying the true god , he makes himselfe god , for he made himselfe . but i will as easily beleeue , that man either should not be borne , or being borne , that he should not decline in yeres , not be subiect to sorrow , griefe , or infirmity , and that he should neuer taste of death or corruption , as that he should first subsist without a maker . thus then the creatures agree that there is a god. now let vs heare what other testimony they giue of this god ; and looke how many testimonies they giue of god , in effect they rehearse so many articles of their creed ; the first attribute of god is , vt sit vnus , as god speakes of himselfe : ego deus vnus , non habebis deos alienos , &c. let vs then enquire of the creatures , whether they acknowledge one god , or will admit a plurality of gods in their seruice . and heere vpon the first view and appearance , they seeme vnto me to cry and to testifie one god , one god , for all nature is directed to one end : whereas if there were many efficients , they would vndoubtedly intend their seuerall ends . the world is circular , which best resembleth the figure of one : all the streames are reduced to one head : all the degrees of things still tend to the highest , there being in nature a priority and posteriority ; euery gouernment tends and ends in a monarchie ; nature will not endure many competitors ; order and decency require as much in effect : all heat is reduced to one first heat ; all bodies to one first body . philosophy beats vpon this axiome , that nature desires to worke with the fewest instruments , and therefore euery thing is to be reduced to the fewest principles . in the constitution of any thing , she requires but a couple ; for the effecting of any thing , one will suffice ; to admit of more , would rather hinder and distract the worke , then any way further or helpe the action . thus to acknowledge one god : the workemanship and fabrike of the whole world will testifie as much , wherein the foot-steps and impression of one and the same god doe most eminently appeare , all of them giuing sufficient demonstration of one and the same wisdome and prouidence , which appeares alike in all , grounding all his workes , and all his actions , vpon the selfe-same principles and rules of his owne wisdome : there are not gods of the mountaines , gods of the valleys , gods of the land , and gods of the ocean : for the fishes of the sea , the birds of the ayre , the beasts of the field , haue a like fashion and forme for their outward feature , and a like inward instinct and prouidence for their course and direction , which similitude of nature must needs proceed from one and the same ground of wisdome ; the voice and verdit of nature will likewise testifie as much , which being to admit some infinit power , transcending reason , and the course of all creatures , will therefore tie it selfe to admit of the least inconuenience , rather of one then of a multitude . heere is the second article of their faith ; as they acknowledge a god , so they acknowledge but one god , and therefore they worship the true god. thus the inuisible god visibly appeares in the visible creatures ; their multitude altogether concurring to one end , betokens the vnity of their maker , which maker being the first and sole efficient cause , needs we must conceiue in him , whatsoeuer belongs to a first moouer ; now behold how many excellent attributes of god doe issue out of this one ground , and are hence discouered , as wee consider god to be the first cause and moouer . suppose for his owne absolute necessity , that being the first , he must subsist of himselfe , and can doe no lesse then subsist , and therefore subsist from eternity . and thus subsisting of himselfe , he must be immutable and vnchangeable in himselfe , that he may likewise hold out for eternity . being thus the cause of himselfe , hee must haue the best and most absolute being ; and this being must needs be infinit , since he is of himselfe , and cannot prescribe himselfe bounds , nor cannot admit bounds from another , when as there is nought but himselfe ; being thus one , infinit , and from eternity , he must be without mixture or composition , purus actus , most pure and simple in his owne nature : for heere were not diuers ingredients , which being first simple in themselues , might afterwards compound him ; and as he is without composition , so he cannot admit diuersity of parts , which doe indeed arise onely from a composition , which parts in respect of themselues should be more or lesse perfect , when as the whole deity is infinitly perfect , and cannot admit degrees of comparison . being thus without composition , or diuersity of parts , he cannot admit variety of faculties , which seeme to be tied and annexed to the diuersity of parts , and therefore those many seuerall perfections which appeare in the creatures , they are but one absolute perfection in god. thus the wisdome of god is the power of god , the power of god is the will of god , the will of god is the iustice of god , the iustice of god , is the mercy of god : all these attributes can admit no difference betweene themselues , and all these attributes are but one and the selfe-same god , though to vs , both for our apprehension , and in respect of gods actions , they seeme to be diuers and distinct , yet are they linked , and together incorporated in that one and infinit nature of god , which cannot admit a variety . thus farre of god in himselfe : and all this we must suppose in a first cause or moouer : and all this , it is no lesse in effect , then a naturall implicit faith of the creatures , as they doe necessarily point out and demonstrate this first cause or moouer . now in respect of the creatures , nothing can be wanting to god , which was necessarily required for the workemanship . suppose an infinit wisdome in contriuing the worke , which otherwise would aske an infinit time of deliberation , as i may so say , a world of consultation were requisit for the framing of this world , were it not supplied in an instant by the infinit wisdome of god , which wisdome more especially and immediatly appeares in the comprehending and vnderstanding of himselfe . secondly , hauing once laid downe the plot-forme , then succeeds a most absolute freewill in bounding and disposing his owne actions . thirdly , intending to create , and being resolued of the manner , then followes an infinit power to put all in execution . fourthly , hauing once finished the worke , necessary it is , that there should be a continuance of the same infinit wisdome , will , and power , in his prouidence , for the continuance and preseruation of his workes . the creatures can no more preserue themselues , then at first subsist of themselues , and therefore they want a continuall concourse , and sweet influence of this first moouer : for as it is a property of god to be independent , so it is a property of creatures to be alwaies dependent ; and this serues as a bridle to curbe them , besides the ouer-ruling power and prerogatiue which god reserues in himselfe , whereof i will not dispute . see here how many excellent attributes of god are discouered by the information and instructions which wee haue from the creatures ; these are the articles of their faith , and all these arise out of this one ground ( as the schoole speakes ) ratione , & necessitate causalitatis , as wee consider god to be the first cause and moouer . alas , i should be infinit , if i would proceed in this subiect to speake of god , onely so farre forth as the creatures doe testifie of god , which in effect is their faith ; but i will passe this ouer : yet giue me leaue to passe my censure vpon it . audita & approbata sunt omnia : vpon due examination i finde them to be sound and orthodoxall , i cannot taxe them with atheisme or heresie , but what they say or testifie of god , it is most true ; onely with this defect , that they say not enough ; nature cannot be raised aboue nature ; the mysteries of grace fall not within the compasse of naturall bounds . why , thus there are degrees of faith amongst vs : we see but in part , wee know but in part , all cannot conceiue mysteries alike , and the most faithfull man may truly say , lord , i beleeue , lord , helpe my vnbeliefe . and thus it is with the creatures , what they testifie of god , is most true , but they testifie not enough , yet what they testifie not , it is not out of frowardnesse , or that they are hard of beliefe , but it is for want of capacity : here then they are sufficiently excused ; excused i say , in respect of themselues , but whether any wrong or iniurie be done vnto vs , this is a question ; for if the creatures propose vnto vs this knowledge of god as a perfect rule of our faith , to which we should not adde , but that we should be tied to the stint of their beliefe : to haue no more faith then they , this were dangerous ; for to admit this , were to oppose and contradict all the mysteries in religion , which are not discouered by their light ; this were in effect to seduce vs , to make vs of christians , meere naturalls ; indeed they haue already too farre preuailed on our passions and on our affections , that we are almost growne sensuall and beastly , like vnto them , as if we were of their common-wealth ; but if they shall presse further vpon vs , to worke vpon our soules , our consciences , and our vnderstandings , to intice vs to be of their faith , of their church , of their religion , to make vs meere naturals , like to themselues , this were most intolerable . so then the question remaines , whether the creatures , or nature , i meane , in the creatures , or that which is the same in effect , whether naturall reason proceeding vpon naturall grounds , whether these supposing their owne ability in the fulnesse of gods knowledge , seeme to exclude grace , or otherwise in the weakenesse of their knowledge , shewing their owne insufficiency , seeme onely to make way , and serue as an introduction to grace ? it is a question indeed , in my iudgement , of all others most worthy to be resolued : for in effect it implies the whole ground and foundation of all our mysteries , and it stands thus ; whether by the light of our owne naturall reason , we are to beleeue no more of god , then appeares in the creatures ; or whether the same light of our owne naturall reason will informe vs , that there are other greater mysteries to be receiued of god , more then those natural attributes , which are discerned by his works ? for your satisfaction herein , you may be pleased to vnderstand , that what knowledge wee haue of god by the light of our naturall reason , it is not deriued immediatly from god himselfe , but by a reflection , onely so farre foorth as god is discerned in the glasse of his creatures ; now this is a rule in all arts , that no causes can fully , exactly and totally appeare in their effects , as hauing first a proper nature allotted to themselues , before they were ordained to action : first , they are in themselues , before they come to relation , so that for the knowledge of causes in themselues , there must be some further search and inquisition , more then the effects demonstrate : this shall appeare , by considering the diuersity of causes , which i will suppose to be of three sorts . first , naturall causes : and these are not sufficiently discerned by their owne naturall effects : ( e. g. ) by the nature and properties of a weed , you cannot discouer the whole nature , and properties of the sunne or the earth ; for the inward nature and the outward actions , are not alwaies of like extent , nor doe they agree in all accidents . more especially this will appeare in voluntary causes , that they cannot totally be discerned by their workes , when as the limitation of the worke , and the diuersitie of the worke proceeds , not from the necessity of the nature , but depends vpon the free will of the maker . thus one and the same voluntary cause brings foorth various and different effects , and therefore cannot imprint her whole and perfect image in all . thus if man were knowne by his workes , we should neuer make search for malefactors , but euery one should instantly appeare . now there are yet other causes , and these are of a different nature , and condition : suppose the angelicall spirits , and the materiall world ; god and the creatures , a spirituall deity and a corporeall worke , haec differunt toto coelo , differunt plusquam genere : how is it possible then , that the one should fully and perfectly discouer the other ? thus in a word to make application of all , god being a cause , a voluntary cause , a cause of another nature , surely the whole vertue , and power of the deity cannot be discerned or laid open by the workes of the deity . e. g. by the building of this house though the skill of the workeman sufficiently appeares , yet you cannot informe me of his age , his name , stature , strength , condition , complection , the place of his birth , the place of his dwelling , his means , his maintenance , and none of all these will euer appeare by the worke : and thus it befalls the creatures in reference to god , they set forth indeed many excellent attributes of god , yet they doe not intend to giue vs full satisfaction in the knowledge of god ; but in humility seeme to confesse , that there is something in the deity , which appeares not in the creatures , and therefore in their owne want and defect , they referre vs to gods owne reuelation of himselfe . for in our knowledge of god , the creatures are not our bounds , but serue onely to point out a deitie , and then to cry , plus vltra , plus vltra , and so to leaue to god himselfe , sending vs from the outward shop of his workes , to the inward schoole of his words , from the theatre of the creatures , to the sanctuary of his dwelling , there to learne a new lesson in the knowledge of god. here is another article of their faith , another testimony of god , in effect they confesse that god being incomprehensible , he cannot be comprehended in his workes : hence proceeds their submission , considering their owne weakenesse , and the infinit distance betweene god and themselues , they will not dare or attempt to discouer the whole deity , nor will they iustly be taxed with curiosity , but content themselues with such a competent measure in the discouery of gods knowledge , as their owne nature is capeable . thus then the creatures not fully reuealing god , there is some place left for a further knowledge of god , and to this end there must be some further search and inquisition made after god ; here then is opened a gap to let in all the mysteries of our christian faith and religion : suppose the eternall generation of the sonne , the admirable procession of the spirit , the glorious and indiuisible trinity , the miraculous incarnation of the god-head , and the like . nature indeed cannot reueale these mysteries , and being once reuealed , nature cannot contradict them ; she can neither propose nor oppose them ; for as all contrarieties are in the same kinde suppose heat to coldnesse , moysture to drought , and the like ( these are qualities of the same kind ) so in our vnderstanding , all opposition must be betweene things of like nature ; but if secrets and mysteries be of another kinde , of a different nature , of a different world , and therefore of a different speculation ; then surely one and the same ground of reason which is fitted and proportioned to this our present state and condition , cannot equally suffice both , much lesse impugne and oppose things farre aboue and beyond her reach and capacity . so then , for the right vnderstanding of mysteries which are of a different kind , we must expect a reason of a different kinde , which in effect is a sanctifying grace , gods holy spirit to guide vs. and to this end consider how absurd were it , that man should haue no other teachers , or instructors in the knowledge of god , but only the dumbe creatures , which must be admitted , in case we had no other knowledge of god , but onely of such attributes , as are discerned by his works ; how improbable is it , that reason should haue no other information , but onely from sence and sensible obiects , euen concerning such things , which infinitly transcend and are aboue all reason , and all sence , as if a man should stoope downe to lay hold on such things , which are indeed aboue him , and beyond his reach ? thus in humility the creatures acknowledge their owne bounds ; as bounds in their substance , bounds in their power ; so bounds in their knowledge ; they will not trespasse beyond their bounds , they will not incroach vpon mysteries , which standing a farre off , belonging to another world , and therefore farre remote from the view of nature . we want a sanctifying grace , like a prospectiue glasse to discerne them . thus it falls out in nature , euen in respect of naturall things ; the sunne and the starres must first send downe a light , and without their owne light , they cannot be discerned ; so god himselfe must first giue a testimony of himselfe , and then inlighten our hearts , for receiuing this testimony , and without this his owne testimony , he cannot be reuealed . thus to conclude , though the creatures , or nature i meane in the creatures , or that which is the same in effect , though naturall reason proceeding vpon naturall grounds , though these doe not discouer our mysteries in particular , yet in generall they seeme to imply that mysteries there are , nature seemes to confesse that there is a power aboue nature , and this power did then appeare in the first institution of nature ; reason seemes to acknowledge that all faculties hauing their owne proper bounds , she her selfe cannot be without bounds , and therefore many things there may be and are beyond the comprehension of reason . thus much in generall . now for proofe and confirmation of our mysteries in particular , we doe not require their testimony , for we haue other greater proofes then theirs , and therefore we will ease them of that labour : they haue the workes of nature to testifie the god of nature . we haue workes aboue nature , miracles beyond all naturall causes , to testifie our mysteries aboue nature : they haue a creation for their being ; a prouidence for their preseruation , &c. we haue an eternall prescience , an immutable decree , prophecies and predictions , fore-telling future euents , together with the full accomplishing of these prophesies ; in a word , they haue the voice of nature ; we haue the testimony of the god of nature . this i speake , looking to the generall nature , yet it cannot be denied , but by a particular charge , as it were a speciall commission , some creatures may likewise be truely and properly said to giue a testimony , and to confirme our mysteries of grace ; for the same god is god both of nature and grace , he hath laid the foundation of grace in the ground-worke of nature : as grace doth sanctifie nature , so nature supports grace ; as grace workes by nature , so nature may beare witnesse to the working of grace . thus all miracles , what did they argue , but that the creatures changing their owne nature , did therein shew their obedientiall power to be at his command and direction , who first appointed their nature , who can change and alter their nature , and now workes aboue and beyond nature ; these workes surmounting nature , his words may likewise surpasse nature . thus mysteries aboue naturall apprehension , are no more incredible then workes aboue naturall power ; both carry the same stampe , and are of the same mint , they giue credit and testimony to each other . miracles we discerne by sence , we acknowledge in reason , to be such as indeed they are , miracles beyond all naturall power . then presently our faith not carried with a vaine credulity , not seduced with sophistry , but being truly informed of the workes , presently she stoopes in humility and hearkens to the words , and therein she acknowledgeth mysteries , mysteries beyond mans reason and comprehension . thus it should seeme , that some giantlike deity , by his workes , by his words hath made knowne vnto the world , that his power and his wisdome surpasseth all naturall bounds , while the creatures shewing in themselues the effects of his power , doe likewise point out the depth of his wisdome , and hereby conclude an infinit power , an infinit wisdome , both which cannot admit mans weake opposition or disputation , but rather should worke in vs admiration , astonishment and silence . for as in miracles , the dumbe creatures , notwithstanding their naturall inclination , yet are they ouer-ruled by gods power : so in mysteries , man , notwithstanding his naturall wrangling , and contentious wit , and the scrupulous curiosity of his owne minde , yet must he submit himselfe to gods words . thus the power manifested , serues as a seale to the will reuealed : miracles prooue the truth of mysteries ; the one our naturall reason may easily see , and discerne ; and these being discerned , doe prooue the infallible truth of the other . this by way of digression : for this is extraordinary vnusuall , and therefore onely incident to some few of them , according to times , place , and occasions . come we then to their generall faith , which i call the naturall faith of the creatures , which faith implies the whole knowledge of god , whereof the creatures informe vs , how farre by their direction wee may proceed in gods knowledge , and where we must desist . this knowledge of god being fitly gathered from the creatures , can be no lesse then a naturall implicit faith of the creatures ; all of them testifying the same truth , doe in a sort make one common confession of their faith , they say their creed together , as we doe ; this is enough , to saue and excuse them from the imputation of infidelity : for children doe no more in their baptisme , whom notwithstanding we know to be in the number of gods faithfull people . faith doth not alwaies imply the actuall surrendring vp of our wills and consents , but sometimes an habit or forme ; neither is euery faith , a iustifying faith : but there is a testifying faith , an historicall faith , yea , sometimes an imputatiue faith ; and there being so many kindes and degrees of faith , i pray be not so vncharitable , as to make the poore dumbe creatures infidels . for there is a wisdome of nature , there is a knowledge in dumbe beasts , they know their times and their seasons , their manner of working , and what is fit and agreeable to the state of their bodies ; and why may there not be a naturall faith in them , as well as a naturall wisdome and knowledge ? for these seeme to be as proper to man as his faith ; yet these we ascribe to dumbe beasts , though they want a reasonable discourse : and why may we not as well yeeld vnto them a faith , not a sanctifying , but a naturall faith ? for i will not exceed the bounds of nature in them : their faith is an historicall faith , or a testifying faith ; for this their naturall faith serues onely to giue testimony to the god of nature . surely they haue a faith , and what is more , they preach this faith vnto vs , together with many morall instructions , and many good admonitions , they are , i confesse , very learned preachers , and doe exceedingly edifie , for they were able to strike the very heathen ( who were without the knowledge of the true god ) with wonder and amazement : the most dumbe and sencelesse creatures beare witnesse and testifie of god , the heauens declare the glory of god , and the firmament sheweth his handyworke : one day telleth another , and one night certifieth another . thus they instruct vs , while they catechize each other ; and as we exhort them to praise god , so they exhort vs , that what is wanting in them , they may supply it in vs : ( here is their cunning : ) they are dumbe , therefore they make vs their aduocates , their instruments and spokesmen , they vse our tongues to set forth gods praise , giuing vs occasion , and stirring vs vp to praise him , our praise becomes theirs , and their praise is made ours ; wee are their god-fathers to make the confession of their faith ; they are our remembrancers , & serue as the seales of our truth . and thus there is not onely a communion of saints , but a communion of creatures , which ioyne together in one naturall seruice of god ; as we partake with them in substance , so we may ioyne with them , or rather learne of them , the commendations of god. thus much of their faith : wherein if i haue beene somewhat obscure , i pray remember the nature of faith , which is of things inuisible , and so from their faith and testimonies of god , come we then to their praiers , and praises of god. it is not onely proper to angels to be continually busied in praising and magnifying of god , singing their halleluiah , &c. but euen the most dumbe creatures partake in this seruice , and beare their part in this song , though not in such an excellent manner . this is natures daily taske and imployment : for what is naturall to things in generall , therein nature cannot be wanting to her selfe , but must first know and acknowledge her owne properties , within her selfe ; artificem collaudat opus , that the worke should praise and commend the workeman , i take it to be a seruice imposed , or an homage done to the lord. thus wheresoeuer ye discerne the worke , you cannot exclude the workeman , both are of like extent , since to be , and to be the effects of his power , both are alike inseparable from the creatures ; who vpon the first view and appearance doe plainly shew , that what they are in themselues , this they haue from their maker ; their perfection speakes his excellency ; their continuance , his eternity ; if they haue ought praise worthy in themselues , this makes for his praise , who is most worthy of all praise , though we most vnworthy to set forth this praise . consider then in the creatures in generall : first , their proper and bounded nature , together with so great variety and perfection in their owne kinde . secondly , in this nature , such excellent properties , affections , and accidents which doe so well agree with the nature . thirdly , from this nature , such strange and wonderfull apparitions and effects . fourthly , by this nature such an excellent order , and proportion both in themselues , and to the whole vniuerse . fifthly , through this nature , such a constancy and perseuerance in keeping their due course ; in performing their duty , seruice and ministry to man. o excellent artist , that could so sweetly tune nature to make such a melody , where there is such a concent and agreement on euery side ; the parts to the whole , the whole to the parts , each to it selfe , all to the maker ! o excellent melody ! here is neither found , nor voice to the eare , yet a most sweet and delectable harmony , a musicke of nature . doe not then harken with your eares , but listen with your mindes , and in stead of notes , conceiue this ditty : we sing the praise of our maker . this praise and seruice of god seemes to resemble our mentall prayer : for it is inward , secret , and consists only in meditation . come we then to their vocall prayers , which in effect is our leiturgy or church-seruice : and first , behold the magnificence of their temple , which is the materiall world , the naturall temple of god , a temple made by god for himselfe , and by himselfe consecrated to his owne vse , where the heauens are the roofe , the earth is the footstoole , and wherein nothing is wanting , which may serue for beauty and ornament : here all the creatures dayly attend , and are euer conuersant in this temple : for the sparrow hath found her a house , and the swallow a nest , where she may lay her young ones , euen thine altars , o lord god of hostes , my king and my god : blessed are all they that dwell in thy courts , for they will euer be praysing thee , psal. . , . decent and comely ceremonies , which serue to stirre vp our dulnesse , and to set forth gods magnificence , and therefore are most commendable in vs , yet they haue none ; for they want none : in stead of them , they haue a truth and syncerity in their seruice , without hypocrisie or dissimulation : they are not troubled or disquieted in their owne thoughts ( as we are ) that they should be admonished by outward ceremonies : but they are like the angels in heauen , wholly intent to their seruice . i would i could say as much for our selues . now listen a while to their prayers : here euery creature hath his sound & his voice , vox naturae inclamautis dominum naturae , the voice of nature calling vpon the god of nature . nature is no foole , that she should babble and talke to her selfe , nor is there any other nature , with whom she might haue conference ; she is no more idle and superfluous in her words , then in her workes : natura mhilfecit frustrà , natura nihil dicet frustrà . then vndoubtedly in these cries , she offers vp her prayers to her maker . now would you know the meaning and sence of these prayers ? surely i conceiue them to be to this or the like purpose . venite , iubilemus deo nostro , quifecit nos , exultemus & laetemur in ipso : ( the very beginning of our morning seruice ) o all yee workes of the lord , praise ye the lord , blesse him , and magnifie him for euer . doe you yet require some more particular notice , what they request in their prayers ? truely they pray in a strange tongue , i neuer learnt their language ; yet this i can say for a truth , in mine owne experience : that according to the diuersity of occasions , you shall finde a difference in their prayers : in their ioy and mirth , you may discerne their pleasant notes of thankfulnesse : in their griefe and heauinesse , you shall heare their sorrowfull sighes , and groanes of complaints . then it should seeme , nature becomes a petitioner : and to whom should she petition , but to that higher power which sits aboue nature ? though the dumbe creatures haue neither speech nor language among them , yet their sound is gone out into all quarters : though their cries be inarticulate , and vnsignificant to vs , yet are they vnderstood of their maker ; he that sees the secrets of our hearts , can much more easily discerne the intent of their prayers . but in this their seruice , or prayers , doe they vse no meanes of deuotion ? haue they no respect to gods magnificence ? but confusedly doe mumble vp , or bellow out their prayers , as if with their crying , and roaring , god could be praised ? which were indeed more to dishonour god in the manner , then to honour him in the seruice . herein , to giue you full satisfaction , i say , that euery thing , according to the vttermost extent of his own ability , doth offer vp his seruice to god in the most excellent manner . to instance only in their quier , or in their church-musick , here you haue a full , perfect , and compleate quier ; sufficient variety of voices ; the little chirping birds , the wren and the robin , they sing a treble ; the gold-finch , the nightingale , they ioyne in the meane ; the black-bird , the thrush , they beare the tenour , while the foure-footed beasts , with their bleating and bellowing , they sing a base : how other birds sing in their order , i referre you to the skilfull musicians : here is diuersity of musicke , some haue their seuerall notes , as if they sung verses alone , and did pawse and keepe time like queristers , while others vse their continued songs , that all might please with variety . these songs are fitted for euery season , as if they had some proper seruice , some collects appointed for the time ; thus they alter and varie according to the quarters of the yere , the houres of the day , the coasts of the world ; and as if they were in some solemne procession , and did purpose to compasse and circuit the whole earth , with their anthemes and letanies : some sing while they are flying , others make choice of the woods for their standing , some in the groues , some in the meddowes , some in the plaines , some on the house toppe : here are their voyces . now for their instruments ; me thinkes the rockes , the caues , and the woods , with a hollownesse of their sound , like a musicall instrument , send forth an eccho , and seeme to vnite their songs , together with the pleasant noyse in the fall , and gliding of waters ; the pretty , sharpe whistling of the winde , which serues as a ground to their musicke . and what is more , beleeue it , they obserue their canonicall houres , as if they were some religious order , they haue their lauds , their mattens , their vespers , in effect , they haue their morning prayer , and their euening song , for these are the speciall and the appointed times for their deuotion ; neither will i conceale that which i haue so often obserued ; sometimes one bird prouokes another to sing , then me thinkes i heare the churches antiphona's , one side of the quier answering another , a custome which hath anciently beene brought into the church , according to the patterne and president of the seraphims , isa. . et clamabant alter ad alterum , & dicebant ; sanctus , sanctus , dominus deus exercituum . to conclude , how effectuall , and acceptable their prayers are , i will not demand of them , they may chance to be foolish and partiall in their owne behalfe ; herein take rather the testimony of god himselfe , and that to the poorest bird , which of all others we might suppose to be most neglected , for it is a night-bird , melancholy , ill presaging it hath a harsh note , and it feeds vpon carrion , and yet notwithstanding the psalmist can testifie , psal. . . escam dat pullis coruorum inuocantibus eum , as if god kept a watch ouer the nest , and did teach the young rauens to call vpon him , and in effect to say grace , and to giue him thankes before the receiuing of their food . after their prayers followes in the next place , their decalogue or law : and truly , for the practice of their religion in their liues and conuersations , which appeares in the keeping and fulfilling of this decalogue or naturall law , i cannot but greatly admire them . they are still carried with the same course , which god first appointed ; the sunne keepes his iust houre of rising , the moone obserues her certaine reuolutions , so all the dumbe creatures , and all the beasts of the field doe the like : you may assoone abolish their nature , as accuse them for the breach of the law of nature ; they are led by their owne instinct , they haue no liberty of will to oppose , they cannot be refractory , but are like the angels in heauen , sealed and confirmed in their state and condition . here is their conformity to gods naturall law ; as farre forth as god hath giuen them a law , they are surely led by the law , and the most sanctified man can doe no more , but according to the measure of grace that is giuen him . alas ! i should shame our selues , if i should speake of our disobedience , in respect of theirs . heare then how all those naturall vertues appeare in them , how they are rooted and grounded in them , suppose temperance , iustice , sobriety , industry , naturall affection and the like ; i will forbeare to speake , being verily perswaded that nature hath proposed them vnto vs , as presidents of each vertue , that hauing giuen vs a rule , some inclination in our selues to morall vertues , she might annexe some example to that rule , the example of dumbe creatures ; that if we our selues , through the malignity of our wills , should practise to abolish the law in our hearts ( for so the custome of sinne takes away the sence of sinne ) yet still the law might be reserued whole and entire , together with the exact patterne and practice of the law , as i may so say , bookes of reports in the creatures ; and to this purpose i had made a long discourse , but to enter vpon it , i should proue tedious : therefore i will forbeare to make any further mention of this , which indeed is so euident and palpable , as that it cannot admit a contradiction . from their law , come we then to their sacrifice , which truely is as naturall as is their law : for sacrifice is a pledge of our thankfulnesse , which thankfulnesse is a branch of common iustice , this iustice is naturally ingrafted in all creatures , that receiuing our selues from god , we should offer vp our selues vnto god , or at least , something in lieu of our selues , some quit-rent or fine in the acknowledgement of our tenure , that we hold our selues from god , and therefore we are not at our owne disposing , but must surrender vp our selues vnto god ; so that you might as well exclude from nature , a naturall law , as to deny a sacrifice . thus in generall , all things being ordained to gods glory , they are likewise ordained for his seruice , here is their sacrifice . more particularly : nothing in it selfe , containes in it selfe the vse and end of it selfe ; but hath some reference beyond it selfe ( e. g. ) doth not euery thing euaporate , and impart some part of it selfe , suppose the flowers of the field in their sweet smels ; many creatures with their incense and odoriferous perfumes : and what are these indeed but natures sacrifices ? shall we yet come neerer , and shew how they partake in a true sacrifice ? what are the stones in the temple , but indeed offered vp in sacrifice ? for it is not necessary , that all should consecrate , who attend at the altar : all cannot be principals ; if the materiall temple will not suffice , come we then to mans body , which is the temple of gods spirit : and surely things ordained for the vse of this temple , and the vse consisting in their owne slaughter , they are indeed consecrated and become a sacrifice . if hitherto you dislike the metaphoricall or large signification , come we then to the strictest sence . what were the sacrifices of the iewes , but indeed the offering vp of dumbe creatures ? then surely , these dumbe creatures were no small part in the sacrifice , they cannot be excluded ; but these were only types and shadowes of a true sacrifice ; come we then to that one and only true sacrifice , the sacrifice of christ : as we partake in his sacrifice , in regard of our nature , the manhood of christ , so all the creatures cannot be excluded in regard of one common matter , or substance , in the body of christ ; so that in him , in him alone , the whole world , the great world in the little world , becomes a true and reall sacrifice . and for sacraments : are not all the creatures sanctified for mans vse ? and what is this in effect , but to be the visible signes of inuisible grace ? suppose the foure elements . the fire , when as god appeared like fire in a bramble-bush , and the holy descended in fiery tongues ; the aire , when as christ together with his owne breath , breathed out his spirit : the water , in our baptism ; the earth , in her fruits ; bread and wine in the eucharist . thus they share in our sacraments , according to the capacity of their nature : we actiuely , they passiuely , all concurre in the sacraments . and to proceed yet further : lest they might seeme to faile in the end , and scope of religion , i say , they are not altogether without hope ; for what may they not hope and expect from god , who is so bountifull and magnificent in his rewards ? though their seruice be a naturall seruice , a seruice necessarily imposed , and that they can doe no lesse then serue him in their owne kinde , yet it stands with gods bounty to reward their seruice . i say then , that they are not altogether without hope ; for there is a naturall hope , as iob speaks , iob . . lignum si praecisum fuerit , habet spem quod reuirescet : so if i should extend this naturall hope , as an earnest , or as an implicite hope , to a renouation of nature ; this were no inconuenience . for certaine it is of all the dumbe creatures , that at the generall day of our resurrection , they likewise , though not in themselues , yet in their owne elements and principles , shal be renewed . for there shall be a new heauen and a new earth , that then they may be fitted for our vse , as now in the time and state of corruption , they serue our present turnes and occasions . if this seeme a strange doctrine then , let this reason confirme it : creatures were first created in paradise . then surely they were not so much ordained for slaughter , and mans vse , as for the setting forth of gods glory . now since our fall , they groane and trauell in paine together with vs vnder the burthen of our sinnes , and our miseries , the punishments of sinne , rom. . . yet still they continue innocent in themselues , they are often imployed in gods seruice , alwaies praysing god in their owne kinde , and neuer incurre the breach of his law , but are patient , notwithstanding our immoderate and inordinat abuse . then surely by a course of iustice , according to their manner , and the capacity of their owne nature , though not in themselues , ( that is ) in the fiercenesse , malignity and corruption of their nature , yet in their owne first elements and principles , or as they haue now entred into mans body , and are become parts of mans flesh , all the creatures in generall shall partake with vs , in our future intended renouation . thus then we will say with ioshuah , . . i and my house will serue the lord : we and whatsoeuer is ours , either inwardly in our selues , or outwardly in our substance , we are all at his seruice , euery one according to his power and ability doth praise god , and hath his religion , if a defectiue religion . then looke to the power , and you shall finde it likewise defectiue , for both are fitted and proportioned to each other : in nature , there is a faith of nature , there is a law of nature ; and where the naturall creature is capeable of grace , there are the mysteries of grace , the precepts and counsels of grace . and thus without any figure or metaphore , the creatures may truly be said to praise god , in a kinde of religious worship and seruice ; for whatsoeuer proceeds from god , tends to his glory : heere is the end . now the way must be agreeable to this end : and therefore what tends to his glory , must needs runne in the course of his seruice , whether nature or grace . if ye say , that religion be properly tied to a state of grace ; non est litigandum de verbis , vbi in re conuenimus , yet i am not of that opinion , for i thinke it no absurdity to say , a natural religion . thus all nations are said to haue their religion , and yet we know , that most of them haue no more then sence , reason , and nature ; and yet notwithstanding , they haue a religion : then surely they haue onely a naturall religion , which in effect is no more , then the religion of dumbe beasts , for nature appeares alike in them as in vs : that which giues mans religion a speciall dignity and prerogatiue aboue the religion of dumbe beasts , is onely this , that mans religion is not meerely naturall , and onely naturall , but there is an earnest of grace to sanctifie the corruption of nature , mysteries of grace beyond the apprehension of nature , and a certainty of hope beyond the expectation of nature . and thus in generall , as there is a seruice of nature , so in generall , we may well say that there is a kinde of naturall religion ; which notwithstanding proceeding onely from nature , it cannot be raysed aboue nature , but must againe returne and end in nature , and being by the necessity of their nature , it is therefore a seruice which requires no further reward , but onely serues as a motiue and example to vs. and thus far of the naturall seruice of god in dumbe creatures , which i call the religion of dumbe creatures ; now briefely to conclude , three things there are wherein i doe much desire to giue you contentment . first , whether this meditation may be thought vaine and needlesse . secondly , how farre it may seeme strange or a paradoxe . thirdly , what good vse may be made of it : for the first , whether this be a vaine meditation , i pray trace it by degrees : the faith of the creatures , i did suppose to be that knowledge of god , which is gathered from the creatures , as much in effect , as the naturall or reasonable man can know of god. now whereas of all sciences , the metaphysicks haue euer beene held the most excellent , this very subiect is the principall part of the metaphysicks ; by consideration hereof , the heathen philosophers haue beene strangely transported , and rauished , and haue burst foorth into these or the like exclamations and inuocations of god : eus ●●tium , primus motor , prima intelligentia , naturans natura , immensa infinitas , principium sine principio , &c. secondly , after their faith ; how the dumbe creatures doe praise god in their owne nature , in their passions , in their affections ; or if these be secret and hidden from man , then according to the imitation of man , how they praise god in their voyces , in their sounds , which are the outward signes , and symptoms of their owne inward nature . this belongs to the physickes , and is in effect , the whole scope and intent of all naturall philosophy . thirdly , for their law which serues as a guide to direct them ; which law is written in their hearts , practised in their actions , in so much that in them , we may easily read the characters of this law , the very pure text of the law of nature without any corrupt glosse : this is in effect the whole ground and foundation of all morall philosophy . fourthly , for the sacrifice and sacraments of creatures , when we consider how the dumbe creatures are sanctified , and prooue to be sacramentalia , fit to enter into the holiest of holies , to be vnto vs as meanes and conduit-pipes of grace , which seeme to imply , that nature and grace being now incorporated , there was surely some deity incarnate , by vertue wherof , the whole materiall nature is combined to the spirituall nature ; not by consanguinity , but by alliance , by the nuptials of those two natures in his one person , who was both perfect god and perfect man ; this is a most deepe and profound mysterie in theology , and thus you cannot condemne this meditation as vaine and needlesse . neither can it seeme so strange , or a paradox : for take the bookes of philosophers , and such as haue written of the creatures in generall , and suffer me to prefixe these words in the frontispice , a ioue principium , or in dei nomine ; which are the same in effect . then giue me leaue to turne ouer the leaues , and to the last lines , in stead of finis , or explicit , to adioyne these words , as a labell or codicill to the worke , ad dei gloriā : & both these nature implies : for first there must be a workeman , then the worke must be directed to some end . now besides the worke it selfe , no other end appeares but the workeman : things must then runne in a circle , from god , to god ; god in the forefront , god in the vpshot . and thus if you consider the creatures , betweene god and god , in stead of a naturall discourse , here you haue a religion of nature . thus in christian religion , if our ceremonies were first inuented by pagans , if our prayers were first composed by heathen , yet still we may lawfully vse them : for when we prefixe , in nomine patris , & filij , & spiritus sancti , or when we shut vp our prayers with per christum dominum nostrum , then wee giue them the tincture of christianity . thus with dauids psalmes , which are indeed the psalmes of the iewes , when we cloze them vp with this period , gloria patri & filio & spiritui sancto , then we make them ours , and properly ours ; in effect , we christen them . and thus to consider the creatures barely in themselues , without reference to god , were a most imperfect knowledge ; but shew them their discent and originall , from whence they proceed , shew them their right vse , and the end of their progresse , and here in effect you haue composed a naturall religion . thirdly , for the vse which we may make vnto our selues of this religion of dumbe creatures , in a word it is this : first , it serues to make vs ashamed of our selues , that while all other creatures doe strictly serue god in their owne kinde , yet wee , though more bound vnto god for the many blessings receiued , then they ; though more especially intended for gods seruice , seeing all other creatures serue man , and man alone is immediatly ordained for gods seruice ; yet the poore dumbe creatures should strictly serue god in their owne kinde , while we , and we alone , and we onely are the transgressors . secondly , it sets forth the large extent of gods church , and the vntouchable height of his glory , though our sinnes haue made a separation betweene god and vs , though our blasphemies be such and so great , as that faine they would obscure and eclipse gods glory : yet maugre our attempts , and in despight of our malice , god shall be glorified , as of the angels aboue , so of the dumbe creatures beneath : if men shall cease to sing their hosannah , the stones will cry , luke . . then in the last place let their seruice be some encouragement and motiue to ours , if we cannot attaine to the perfections of angels to offer vp our selues as a whole burnt sacrifice to god ; if we cannot approue our selues , as members of one catholike church , to serue god in the vnity of one faith , but that as the east hath formerly beene separated from the west , so is now the south from the north , as if with sects and schismes , we were to quarter out religion according to the coasts of the world , and to diuide christs seamelesse garment among vs , hauing first crucified the lord of life : if in the course of christianity , we cannot agree in the very fundamentall points of religion , but are wholly separated , so that neither one mother church beneath , nor yet one heauen aboue can containe vs. suppose that christianity should cease , then let vs come to the tearmes of humanity , and desire to exceed all other creatures , as well in vertue and dignity , as in nature and condition . but if all faile , if all faile ( as i feare they doe in some ) then in the last place i pray let me recommend vnto them the religion of dumbe creatures : surely we can doe no lesse then ioyne with them in their religion : for they are sensuall and beastly , like to our selues : then let not those most excellent attributes of god , which are discouered by them , be contradicted by vs : here we shall auoide atheisme in our prayers , deuotions , and seruice of god , let vs not be inferiour to them . but aboue all , let me recommend this one thing to our practice , that the creatures may not out-strip vs , in the strict obseruing of the naturall law , which to vs , in effect , is , in moral honesty . this i doe the rather wish , because the morall law was neuer abrogated , notwithstanding the change of priest-hood , the change of ceremonies , the change of religion , which was translated from the synagogue of the iewes , to the church or congregation of the gentiles ; yet still one and the same morall law was continued . so at this day , notwithstanding our diuersity of sects , schismes and religions ; yet it were to be wished , that our actions might be squared out by one morall law , which law appeares in the creatures , and is common to man and the creatures ; and is as naturall to man , as is his owne nature , and should no more be separated from man , then his owne nature : for want then of religious piety and godlinesse , let this morall law be our guide . thus man shall know his dutie to man. but how miserable were our condition ? what a world of mischiefe would follow ? if we should neglect morall duties , vnder cloake and pretence of religion , as if religion did abolish nature , as if the morall law were abrogated together with the ceremoniall ; yet this is the practice and iniquity of these our most vnhappy times , that all factions , seditions and trecheries must be forsooth rooted and grounded in religion , as if religion were the sole mother , and nurse of all treasons ; as if heauen could not subsist with the earth ; as if the tower of babel could not be built , but with church stones . this is the bane and the shame of religion . god knowes , i cannot speake of it with patience , or without my great hearts griefe : and therefore i will here end abruptly ; beseeching the almighty god to reforme it ; beseeching the almighty god reforme it . sancte & indiuiduae trinitati sit honor & gloria . some faults haue escaped the presse , either in omitting letters , as page . line . for awake read awaken ; or omitting words , as p. . l. . this word sanctus should be thrice repeated , as implying a mystery : or mistaking some words , as pag. . lin . . for apparitions , read operations , yet the faults are such and so few , as that thou thy selfe maist easily correct them . ( e. g. ) signifies exempli gratia , as for example . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e how god is praised . dumbe creatures speake , and man is strucken dumbe . the end why man exhorteth beasts . the vse of the creatures . the obedience of the creatures is set foorth by a similitude . a corporation of all creatures . the religion of dumbe creatures . the seruice of god in dumbe creatures , is their religion . the parts of religion . how we come to know the creatures . sence is the mother of idolatrie . the vnderstanding reacheth beyond sence . the good vse of idolatry . in reason we cannot consider the effects without their cause . reason as apt to discourse , so to search and enquire . reasonlesnes of the dumbe beasts . the answer of dumbe creatures vnto reason . the beasts acknowledge a god , and deny all fortune . the naturall implicite faith of beasts . the beasts may teach the atheists . the dumbe creatures confesse one god. the creatures deny that there can be many gods . the creatures point out god , as the first moouer . hence is implied gods necessity , immutability , eternity , bonity , infinity , simplicity , without variety of parts . without diuersity of faculties . gods wisdome . freewill . power . prouidence . whereas here are many grounds wherby we come to the knowledge of god. natures testimony of god is defectiue and insufficient . whether this defect in gods knowledge appeares by the testimony of nature . the ground of all the mysteries in religion . causes are not fully discerned by their effects . naturall causes . voluntary causes . supernaturall causes . the application . an instance . how nature directs vnto grace . nature will not trespasse beyond her owne bounds . reason giues way to mysteries . she neither reueales , nor impugnes them . the necessity of faith . dumbe creatures cannot be the sole teachers of man concerning god. faith is a kinde of reason eleuated aboue a naturall condition . naturall reason acknowledgeth mysteries in generall . supernaturall workes confirme supernaturall words . reason discerning the open miracles , cannot gaine say the secret mysteries . reason , admiration , faith. miracles proue mysteries . the naturall implicite faith of the creatures . the seuerall kindes of faith . dumbe creatures may as well be said to haue faith as knowledge . the dumbe creatures preach their faith vnto vs : and exhorting vs , they praise god by vs. as angels , so dumbe creatures continually praise god. the perfection of the creatures . how creatures praise their maker . the temple of the creatures and their leiturgie . they vse no ceremony , but substance . the prayers of the creatures . the generall intent of prayers . the diuersity of their prayers . they praise god in the best manner . the church-musicke of the creatures . their variety of anthems and collects . their canonicall houres . how powerful their prayers are . the decalogue of the creatures . the morall vertues of dumbe beasts . the sacrifice of dumbe creatures . their various and different sacrifices . the truth of their sacrifices . how the creatures concurre in the sacraments . the hope of the creatures . what becomes of the creatures after our resurrection . their religion is according to their power . euery thing must haue a religion . there is a naturall religion . proper to beasts , not to man. a naturall religion hath naturall bounds . the metaphysicks . naturall philosophy . morall philosophy . theology . how all sciences may be reduced to this naturall religion . how this naturall religion and iudaisme is reduced to christianity . the creatures make man ashamed . the large extent of gods church . the example of creatures , is an exhortation to vs. by our nature we are tied to a naturall religion . there is but one and the same morall law to all religions . no differences in religion should take away morall duties . anima magica abscondita or a discourse of the universall spirit of nature, with his strange, abstruse, miraculous ascent, and descent. by eugenius philalethes. vaughan, thomas, - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing v ). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing v estc r this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; :e [ ]) anima magica abscondita or a discourse of the universall spirit of nature, with his strange, abstruse, miraculous ascent, and descent. by eugenius philalethes. vaughan, thomas, - . [ ], , [ ] p. printed by t.w. for h. b[lunden]., london : . eugenius philalethes = thomas vaughan. publisher's name from wing v a. with a final leaf of verse to the author. probably not issued separately, but with his "anthroposophia theomagica", since that work ends with f , and the first quire of this work is signed g , a , g , although the balance of the quires are signed b-d, e⁴. thomason dates both works jan. . annotation on thomason copy: "jan: ". reproductions of the originals in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery (early english books) and in the british library (thomason tracts). eng nature -- early works to . a r (wing v ). civilwar no anima magica abscondita: or a discourse of the universall spirit of nature, with his strange, abstruse, miraculous ascent, and descent. by e vaughan, thomas d the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the d category of texts with between and defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread - tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion anima magica abscondita ; or a discourse of the universall spirit of nature , with his strange , abstruse , miraculous ascent , and descent . by eugenius philalethes . stapul : in dion : est autem vniversum speculum unum , ad quod astans amor , suum efformat idolum . dû a digon : hêb dhû , hêb dhim . london , printed by t.w. for h. b. . to the reader . now god defend ! what will become of me ? i have neither consulted with the stars , nor their vrinals , the almanacks . a fine fellow , to neglect the prophets , who are read in england every day ! they shall pardon me for this {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . there is a mystery in their profession , they have not so much as heard of : coelum stellatum christianum ; a new heaven fansied on the old earth . here the twelve apostles have surpris'd the zodiak , and all the saints are rang'd on their north , and south sides . it were a pretty vanity , to preach when saint paul is ascendent , and would not a papist smile to have his pope elected under saint peter ? reader , if i studied these things , i should think my self worst imployd then the roman chaucer was in his troilus . i come out as if there were no houres in the day , nor planets in the houres : neither do i care for any thing , but that interlude of perendenga in michael cervantes : let the old man my master live , and christ be with us all . thou wilt wonder now where this drives , for i have neither a conde de lemos , nor a cardinal to pray for . i pray for the dead , that is , i wish him a fair remembrance , whose labours have deservd it . it happened in exposing my former discourse to censure , ( a custom hath strangl'd many truths in the cradle ) that a learned man suggested to me some bad opinion he had of my author , henricus cornelius agrippa . i ever understood , it was not one , but many in whose sentiment that miracle suffer'd . it is the fortune of deep writers to miscary because of obscurity : thus the spots in the moon with some men are earth , but 't is more probable they are water . there is no day so clear , but there are lees towards the horizon : so inferior wits , when they reflect on higher intellects , leave a mist in their beames . had he liv'd in ignorance , as most do , he might have past hence like the last yeares cloudes , without any more remembrance . but as i believe the trueth a maine branch of that end , to which i was born ; so i hold it my duty to vindicate him , from whom i have receiv'd it . the world then being not able to confute this mans principles by reason , went about to do it by scandal , and the first argument they fastend on , was that of the iews against his sviour : thou art a samaritan , and hast a divel . the chief in this persecution is cicognes , and after him delrio in his fabulous disquisitions . but paulus iovius stirr'd in the vomit , who amongst other mens lives hath put my author to death . it is done indeed emphatically betwixt him , and his poet , whom he hir'd ( it seems ) to stitch verse to his prose , and so patch'd up the legend . quis ( sayth he ) in henrici cornelii agrippae sedato vultu portentosum ingenium latuisse crediderit ? in his subsequent discourse he states his question , and returns my authors best parts as a libell on his memorie . but that which troubles him most of all is , that agrippa should prove his doctrine out of the scriptures . then he inculcates the solemn crambe of his dog-devill , whose collar emblematically wrought with nails , made the ruffe to his familiar . for a close to the story , he kills him at lyons , where being neer his departure he unravell'd his magick in this desperat dismission , abi perdita bestia , qui me totum perdidisti . this is the most grosse lie , and the least probable in every circumstance that ever was related . devils use not to quit their conjurers in the day of death , neither will they at such times be exterminated . this is the hour wherein they attend their prey , and from seeming servants become cruell masters . besides , is it not most gross , that any should dog this devil from agrippa's lodging to araris , where ( sayth this prelate ) he plung'd himself ? certainly spirits passe away invisibly , and with that dispatch no mortall man can trace them . believe this , & believe all the fables of purgatory . now reader , thou hast heard the worst , lend a just eare , and thou shalt hear the best . iohannes wyerus , a profest adversarie to ceremonial magick , and sometimes seccretary to cornelius agrippa , in his daemonomania speaks thus . he wonders that some learned germans and italians were not asham'd to traduce his master in their publick writings . that he had a dog whose call was mounsieur he confesseth : and this spaniell during his service he us'd to leade , when agrippa walk'd abroad , in loro ex pilis concinnato . at revera ( saith he ) canis erat naturalis masculus , to which also agrippa coupl'd a bitch of the same colour call'd madammoyscelle . it is confest he was fond of this dog , as some men are , and having divorc'd his first wife , would suffer him for a sarcasm , to sleep with him under the sheetes . in his study too , this dog would couch on the table by his master , whence this great philosopber , inter supellectilem chartaceam certe insignem delitescens , sayth wyerus , would not somtimes stir out for a whole week together . so studious was he for the good of posterity , who have but coldly rewarded him for his pains . i have observ'd also in his epistles , that when he was resident at malines , his domesticks us'd to give him an account in their letters how his dogs far'd ; so fond was he of those creatures . but to come to the rest of the legend ; paulus iovius tells you he died at lyons ignobili , & tenebroso in diversorio : but wyerus , who had more reason to be inquisitive after his masters death , tells me he died at granople , and that in domino , not desperatly as his enemies would have it . here now was a ioviall stride from gratianopolis to lugdunum : sure this paul was a scant geographer . but reader , it is not my intention to conceale any thing in this matter , know therfore that agrippa had another dog , his filioli : and this last died in more respect then most of his masters adversaries . for my author by some secret meanes having strangely qualified him , divers learned men writ epitaphs upon him , whereof some have been published , and are yet extant . out of this fable of the cerberus baptista possevinus pumpt these verses . vivens quem cernis tumulum , nè fertè meretur os placidum , stygii rex fuit iste lacus . quare etiam custodē habuit , dū viveret , orci , cui nunc in tenebris praeda daret comitem . ast hic , st ingeniū moderari scisset , ad auras tantum isset , quantum tartara nigra subit . thus have they all-to-be-divell'd him , but why may not trueth run in verse , aswell as scandal ? sic agrippa ingens , duplici quoque sufficit orbi , fractaque diversas fabrica monstrat opes . terram terra capit caeloque affinia coelum possidet : hoc vivus scripserat ante sophos . naturam natura trahit : similemquesupernae hanc animam , agnoscit vita superna suam . sic vivens , moriensque docet : dumque altus in astra tendit , habet magicas parca vel ipsa manus . now reader , if thou wouldest be further satisfied in his distaste of black magick , i wish thee to read his most christian invective against the german conjurer entertained in the french court . nay , so zealous , and nice of conscience was he , that being sollicited by some divines for a comment on trismegistus , he return'd them a very tart answer , referring all true knowledge to the scripture . in a word , he did not onely hate impious , but vain arts ; for he lost the favour of the queen-mother , because he would not be imployed by her in astrologie . a science in whose true naturall part , which concernes generation and corruption , he was skill'd to a miracle : but he knew it was bootles to look fatal events in the planets , for such are not written in nature , but in the superior tables of praedestination . having thus then sufficiently prov'd his integrity , i will in a few words discover the grounds of his persecution . he was a man reform'd in his religion , and had i the leysure to cite his workes , i could quickly prove he was not of the roman church . for in his book de vanitate scientiarum he allows not of monks and friars , but calls them sects , quibus carvit ecclesia , cum fuit optima . and certainly that notable iest of his on the cowle , nettles the papists to this day . he disclaimes also their images , their invocation of saints , their purgatory and pardons , and would have the laity communicate sub utraque specie . he corrects the pope himself sufficiently , and is utterly against the inquisition office . what also his opinion was of luther , is not hard to guesse out of his epistles : for in a letter to melancthon he hath these words . salutabis per me invictum illum haereticum martinum lutherum , qui ( ut ait paulus in actibus ) servit deo suo secundum sectam quam vocant haeresin . lastly , he was altogether for the written word , preferring it to humane constitutions , which is contrarie to the papist , who will not allow it to be the iudge of controversies . this is the man , and thus qualified at home , howsoever the world hath rendred him abroad . now for his more mysterious principles , thou hast their maine in this discourse , which if thou canst apprehend , i know thou wilt style him in particular , as trismegistus doth man in generall , {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : or as panaetius did his plato , hominem divinum , sanctissimum , sapientissimum & homerum philosophorum . but this sluttish shuffle fits not his memorie , and things fall from me now as strictures , not compositions . i shall say nothing more , but leave thee to thy studies , whiles i translate that epitaph of platina , to his tom. . quisquis es , si pius , agrippam et suos ne vexes : anguste iacent , & soli volunt esse . e. p. anima magica abscondita . to build castles in the air , is a common proverb with all men , but a common practice with the peripateticks onely . i have oftentimes admir'd , that the very end and result of their philosophy did not cleerly discover its falsity . it is a meer help to discourse . moode and figure are their two pillars , their non ultra : their heptarchie ends in a syllogism , and the best professour amongst them is but a scold well disciplin'd . their seven years studie are seven years of famine ; they leave the soul not satisfied , and are more a dream then that of pharaoh . for verily if the stage , and reign of dreams be no where beyond fansie , then the fansies of these men being no where beyond their authors , may rest on the same pillow . this sect then may be styl'd {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} : their conceptions are not grounded on any reason existent in nature , but they would ground nature on reasons fram'd , and principl'd by their own conceptions . their philosophie is built on generall empty maxims , things of that stretch and latitude they may be applied to any thing but conduce to the discovery of nothing . these are the first lineaments of their monster , and in reference to them they have many subordinate errors , which praetend a symmetrie with their fundamentalls , but in trueth have none at all . these later quillets are so minc'd with divisions and distinctions , that their very patrons are dubious how to state them . i could compare their physiologie to a chase in arras , where there is much of similitude , but nothing of truth . t is the childe of fancie , a romance in syllogisms , a texture of their own brain , like that cob-web campagnia , which lucians spiders planted betwixt the moon , and venus . nature in generall ( say they ) is principium motus , & quietis . a form is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , a definition they know not what to make of , and the soul is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or actus corporis organici . these two last descriptions ( for they are no substantial definitions ) are such riddles , that i verily believe aristotle made use of those words {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} & {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} because he would not discover his ignorance in these points . for why should a form , be call'd {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or in what other author can we find this {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ? but because nature in generall , that is , in her active , and passive portions , namely matter and form , together with the soul of man , are the main fundamentals wherein to build a philosophie , and that this aristotle is so sainted by his clients , that the divines of collein tell us , he was praecursor christi in naturalibus , ut iohannes baptista in gratuitis ; i shall further examine these his definitions , and acknowledge the benefit when i finde it . in the first place then , it may be thought i am beholding to this man for telling me , that nature is a principle . so i may tell the reader , the magician's passive spirit is a principle , but if i tell him not what kind of substance it is , i will allow him ten years studie , and if the sun went back every day ten degrees in his diall , he shall not without a supernaturall assistance know what , or where it is . but you will reply : he tells me further , it is a principle causet● bodies to move and rest . i thank him for his nothing . i desire not to know what this principle doth , for that is obvious to every eye ; but i would know what it is , and therefore he may pocket his definition . again you will object , he tells me not onely that nature is a principle , but that natura est forma , and by consequence forma est natura . this is idem per idem , he retains me in a circle of notions , but resolves nothing at all essentially . besides , forma in the genuine scope of the language signifies the outward symmetrie , or shape of a compound . but the peripateticks who impose on ●oungs , as they do on nature , render it otherwise in their books ; and mistake the effect for the cause . i shall therefore take it in their sense , and be content for once to subscribe to their comments . forma then in their conception is the same with {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , or vis formatrix , which aristotle defines {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . i must confesse i do not understand him , and therefore i shall take him upon trust , as his disciples expound him . est enim {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ( saith magirus ) quoniam absolvit , expolit , & informat rem naturalem , ut per eam una ab alterá distinguatur . this is an expresse of the office and effect of formes , but nothing at all to their substance , or essence now let us see what he sayth to the soul of man . the soul ( sayth he ) is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} that is in plain terms consummatio , or barbarously but truely finitatio , though his own followers falsly render it , actus corporis organici . but this definition is cōmon to beasts , & plants , & therfore he hath stumbl'd on another ; anima est principium quo vivimus ; sentimus ; movemur , & intellîgimus . now both these descriptions concerne only the operations and faculties which the soul exerciseth in the body , but discover not her nature , or originall at all . it was ingenuously done of galen , who confess'd his ignorance concerning the substance of the soul , but this fellow who had not so much honestie is voic'd prince of philosophers , and the positions of more glorious authors are examin'd by his dictats , as it were by a touchstone ; nay the scripture it self is oftentimes wrested , and forc'd by his disciples to vote a placet to his conclusions . it is a miserable task to dwell on this ethnick , to gather his straw and stubble most of our dayes , and after all to be no better acquainted with our selves , but that the soul is the cause of life , sense , motion , and understanding . i pity our customarie follies , that we binde our selves over to a prentiship of expence and study , onely to compasse a few superficiall trueths which every plow-man knows without book . verily nature is so much a tutor , that none can be ignorant in these things : for who is so stupid as not to know the difference between life and death , the absence , and presence of his soul ? yet these very definitions , though look'd upon as rare , profound , philosophicall determinations , instruct us in nothing more . away then with this peripateticall philosophy , this vain babling , as s. paul justly stiles it , for sure inough he had some experience of it at athens , in his dispute about the resurrection . let us no more look on this olla podrida , but on that spirit which resides in the elements : for this produceth reall effects by the subsequent rotations of corruption & generation , but the spirit of errour , which is aristotl's , produceth nought but a multiplicity of notions . observe then , that this stagirit and nature are at a great distance , the one ends in works , the other in word : his followers refine the old notions , but not the old creatures . and verily the mystery of their profession consists onely in their termes : if their speculations were expos'd to the world in a plain dresse , their sense is so empty , and shallow , there is not any would acknowledge them for philosophers . in some discourses , i confesse they have nature before them , but they go not the right way to apprehend her , they are still in chase , but never overtake their game : for who is he amongst them , whose knowledge is so intire and regular , that he can justifie his positions by practice ? againe , in some things they are quite besides the cushion , they scold and squable about whymzies and problems of their own which are no more in nature then lucian's lachanopters , or hippogypians . now the reason of their errours is , because they are experienc'd in nothing but outward accidents , or qualities : and all the performance they can do in philosophie is to pronounce a body hot , or cold moyst , or drie ; but if they minde the essentiall temperament , they are grosly mistaken in stateing these qualifications for it is not the touch , or sight that can discern intrinsecal , true complexions . a body that is outwardly cold to the sense , may be hotter in occulto where the genuine temperament lyes , then the sun himself is in manifesto . but they know not the providence of nature how she interposeth a different resisting quality in the circumference of every thing , lest the qualities of ambient bodies should conspire in too great a measure with the center , and so procure a dissolution of the compound . thus she interposeth her passive refreshing spirit between the centrall fire , and the sulphur ; again she placeth the sulphur between the liquor of the coelestiall luna , and her outward mercurie . a rare and admirable texture , infallibly proving , that none but god onely wise , who foresaw the conveniencies and disconveniencies of his creatures , could range them in that saving order , and connexion . but to go further with these peripateticks : their philosophy is a kinde of physiognomy , they will judge of invisible , inward principles , ( formes as they call them ) which are shut up in the closet of the matter , and all this in perusing the outside , or crust of nature . 't were a foolish presumption , if a lapidarie should undertake to state the value , or lustre of a jewell that is lockt up , before he opens the cabinet . i advice them therefore to use their hands , not their fansies , and to change their abstractions into extractions ; for verily as long as they lick the shell in this fashion , and pierce not experimentally into the center of things , they can do no otherwise then they have done ; they cannot know things substantially , but onely describe them by their outward effects and motions , which are subject , and obvious to every common eye . let them consider therefore , that there is in nature a certain spirit which applies himself to the matter , and actuates in every generation . that there is also a passive intrinsecal principle where he is more immediatly resident then in the rest , and by mediation of which he communicates with the more gross , materiall parts . for there is in nature a certain chain , or subordinate propinquity of complexions between visibles , and invisibles , and this is it by which the superiour , spirituall essences descend , and converse here below with the matter . but have a care lest you misconceive me . i speake not in this place of the divine spirit , but i speake of a certaine ar● by which a particular spirit may be united to the universall , and nature by consequence may be strangely exalted , and multiplyed . now then , you that have your eyes in your hearts , and not your hearts in your eyes , attend to that which is spoken , and that i may exhort you to magick in the magicians phrase , intellectu cordis audite . it is obvious to all those whom nature hath inrich'd with sence , and convenient organs to to exercise it , that every body in the world is subject to a certain species of motion . animals have their progressive outward , and their vitall inward motions . the heavens are carried with that species , which the peripateticks call lation , where by the way i must tell you , it proceeds from an intrinsecall principle , for intelligences are fabulous . the aire mooves variously , the sea hath his flux and refluxe . vegetables have their growth and augmentation , which necessarily inferre a concoction ; and finally the earth , with her mineralls and all other treasures , are subject to alteration , that is to generation and corruption . now the matter of it selfe being meerely passive , and furnished with no motive faculty at all , wee must of necessity conclude , that there is some other inward principle which acts and regulates it in every severall species of motion . but verily it is not enough to call this principle a form , and so bury up the riches of nature in this narrow , and most absurd formality . we should rather abstaine from scribling , or study to publish that which may make something for the authors credit , but much more for the benefit of the readers . to be plaine then , this principle is anima mundi , or the universall spirit of nature . this anima is retaind in the matter by certaine other proportionate natures , and missing a vent , doth organizare molem . she labours what she can to resume her former liberty , frames for her selfe a habitation here in the center , puts her prison into some good order , and brancheth into the severall members , that she may have more roome to act and imploy her faculties . but you are to observe , that in every frame there are leading principles . the first is this anima whereof we have spoken something already . the second is that which is called spiritus mundi , and this spirit is the medium per quod anima infunditur & movet suum corpus . the third is a certaine oleous aethereall water : this is menstruum , & matrix mundi , for in it all things are framed and preserved . the anima is a compound ex aura tenuissima , & luce simplicissima . hence that admirable platonicall poet stil'd it — aurai simplicis ignem . virg. neither should you wonder that i say it is a compound , for there is no perfect specificall nature that is simple and voyd of composition , but only that of god almighty . trust not then to aristotle , who tells you , that the elements are corpora simplicia , for the contrary hath been manifested by absolute , infallible experience . the passive spirit is a thinne aereal substance , the only immediate vestiment wherein the anima wraps her selfe , when she descends and applies to generation . the radicall vitall liquor is a pure coelestiall nature , answering in proportion and complexion to the superiour interstellar waters . now as soone as the passive spirit attracts the anima , which is done when the first link in the chayne moves ( of which we shall speake in its due place ) then the aethereall water in a moment attracts the passive spirit , for this is the first visible receptacle wherein the superiour natures are concentrated . the soule being thus confined and imprisoned by lawfull magick in this liquid chrystall , the light which is in her streams thorough the water , and then it is lux manifest è visibilis ad oculum , in which state it is first made subject to the artist . here now lies the mystery of the magicians denarius , his most secret and miraculous pyramid , whose first vnity or cone is alwaies in horizonte eternitatis , but his basis or quadrate is here below in horizonte temporis . the anima consists of three portions of light , and one of the matter . the passive spirit hath two parts of the matter , and two of the light , wherefore it is called natura media , and sphaera equalitatis ; the coelestial water hath but one portion of light to three of the matter . now the chaine of descent which concernes the spirituall parts , is grounded on a similitude , or symboll of natures according to that principle of osthanes {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . for there being three portions of light in the anima , and two in the passive spirit , the inferiour attracts the superiour . then there being but one portion in the coelestiall nature , and two in the middle spirit ; this solitary shining unity , attracts the other binarius to fortifie and augment its selfe , as light joynes with light , or flame with flame , and thus they hang in a vitall magneticall series . againe the chayn of ascent which concerne the matter , is performed thus . the coelestiall nature differs not in substance from the aereall spirit , but only in degree and complexion ; and the aereall spirit differs from the aura , or materiall part of the anima in constitution only , and not in nature ; so that those three being but one substantially , may admit of a perfect , hypostaticall vnion , and be carried by a certaine intellectuall light in horizontem mundi super-supremi , and so swallowed up of immortality . but me thinks nature complaines of a prostitution , that i goe about to diminish her majesty , having allmost broken her s●ale , and exposed her naked to the world . i must confesse i have gone very far , and now i must recall my selfe : for there is a necessity of reserving , as well as publishing some things , and yet i will speake of greater matters . the anima though in some sence active , yet is she not so essentially , but a meer instrumentall agent , for she is guided in her operations by a spirituall metaphysicall graine , a seed or glance of light , simple , and without any mixture descending from the first father of lights . for though his full-ey'd love shines on nothing but man , yet every thing in the world is in some measure directed for his preservation by a spice or touch of the first intellect . this is partly confirmed by the habitation and residence of god : for he is seated above all his creatures , to hatch as it were , and cherish them with living eternall influences which daily and hourely proceed from him . hence he is call'd of the cabalists cether , and it answers to parmenides his corona ignea , which he plac'd above all the visible spheares . this flux of immateriall powers , christ himself , in whom the fullnesse of the godhead resided , confirm'd , and acknowledged in the flesh : for when the diseased touch'd his garment , though the prease was great , he questioned who it was , adding this reason , i perceive ( said he ) that vertue is gone out of me . but laying aside such proofs , though the scripture abounds in them , let us consider the exercise , and practise of nature here below , and we shall finde her game such , she can not play it without this tutor . in the first place then , i would faine know who taught the spider his mathematicks ? how comes he to lodge in the center of his web , that he may sally upon all occasions to any part of the circumference ? how comes he to praemeditate , and forecast ? for if he did not first know , and imagine that there are flies , whereupon he must feede , he would not watch for them , nor spin out his netts in that exquisite form , and texture . verily we must needs confesse , that he who ordain'd flyes for his sustenance , gave him also some small light to know , and execute his ordinance . tell me if you can , who taught the hare to countermarch , when she doubles her trace in the pursuit to confound the sent , and puzzle her persecutors ? who counsels her to stride from the double to her form , that her steps may be at a greater distance , and by cnosequence the more difficult to finde out ? certainly this is a well order'd policy , enough to prove that god is not absent from his creatures , but that wisdom reacheth mightily from one end to another , and that his incorruptible spirit filleth all things . but to speak something more immediatly apposite to our purpose . let us consider the severall products that are in nature , with their admirable features and symmetrie . we know very well there is but one matter out of which there are form'd so many different shapes , and constitutions . now if the agent which determinates , and figures the matter , were not a discerning spirit , it were impossible for him to produce any thing at all . for let me suppose hyliard with his pencill , and table ready to pourtray a rose : if he doth not inwardly apprehend the very shape , and proportion of that which he intends to limne , he may aswell do it without his eyes , as without his intellectualls . let us now apply this to the spirit which worketh in nature . this moves in the center of all things , hath the matter before him , as the potter hath his clay , or the limner his colours . and first of all he exerciseth his chymistry in severall transmutations , producing sinews , veines , bloud , flesh , and bones : which work also includes his arithmetick for he makes the joynts and all integrall parts , nay , as christ tells us , the very hairs of our heads , in a certain determinate number ; which may conduce to the beauty and motion of the frame . again in the outward lineaments , or symmetrie of the compound , he proves himself a most regular mathematician , proportioning parts to parts , all which operations can proceede from nothing but a divine , intellectuall spirit . for if he had not severall ideas or conoeptions correspondent to his several intentions , he could not distinguish the one from the other : and if he were not sensible , if he did not foresee the work he doth intend , then the end could be no impulsive cause , as the poripateticks would have it . the consideration of these severall offices which this spirit performs in generation , made aristotle himself grant , that in the seeds of all things there were virtutes similes artificiis . we should therefore examine who weaves the flowers of vegetables ? who colours them without a pencill ? who bolts the branches upwards , and threds ( as it were ) their roots downwards ? for all these actions include a certain artifice , which cannot be done without judgement , and discretion . now our saviour tells us , my father worketh hitherto ; and in another place , it is god cloathes the lilie of the field & again not one sparrow fals without your father . verily this is the trueth , and the testemony of trueth , notwithstanding aristotle and his problems . neither should you think the divine spirit disparag'd in being president to every generation , because some products seem poor , and contemptible : for verily as long as they conduce to the glory of their author , they are noble inough , and if you reflect upon egypt , you will finde the basest of his creatures to extort a catholik confession from the wizards ; digitus dei est hic , the finger of god is here . that i may come then to the point , these invisible , centrall artists are lights seeded by the first light , in that primitive emanation , or sit lux , which some falsly render fiat lux . for nature is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} , not a meer sound or command , but a substantiall active breath , proceeding from the creatour● and penetrating all things . god himself is {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} ; and this is the only sense wherein a form may be defined {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} {non-roman} . i know this will seem harsh to some men , whose ignorant zeal , hath made them adversaries to god , for they rob him of his glory , and give it to his creature , nay sometimes to fancies , and inventions of their own . i wish such philosophers to consider , whether in the beginning there was any life , or wisdom beyond the creator , and if so , to tell us where . verily ( to use their own term ) they can never finde this ubi . for they are gratious concessions , or talents which god of his free will hath lent us , and if he should resume them , we should presently return to our first nothing . let them take heed therefore whiles they attribute generation to qualities : lest the true author of it , should come against them with that charge , which he brought sometimes against the assyrian . shall the ax boast it self against him that heweth therewith ? or shall the saw magnifie it self against him that shaketh it ? as if the rod should shake it self against them that lift it up , or as if the staffe should lift up it self , as if it were no wood . let them rather cashier their aristotle , and the errors wherewith he hath infatuated so many generations . let them approach with confidence to the almighty god , who made the world , for none can give a better account of the work then the architect . let them not despair to attain his familiarity , for he is a god that desires to be known , and will reveale himself both for the manifestation of his own glory , and the benefit of his creature . there is no reason then why we should decline this great , and glorious school-master , whose very invitation speaks more then an ordinary incouragement . thus sayeth the lord , the holy one of israel , and our maker : ask me of things to come concerning my sons , and concerning the work of my hands command you me . i have made the earth , and created man upon it ; i , even my hand , have stretched out the heavens , and all their hostes have i commanded . but it will be question'd perhaps , how shall we approach to the lord , and by what means may we finde him out ? truely not with words , but with workes , not in studying ignorant , heathenish authours , but in perusing , and trying his creatures : for in them lies his secret path , which though it be shut up with thornes and briars , with outward worldly corruptions , yet if we would take the pains to remove this luggage , we might enter the terrestriall paradise , that hortus conclusus of solomon , where god descends to walk , and drink of the sealed fountain . but verily there is such a generall prejudice such a customary opposition of all principles which crosse aristotle , that trueth can no sooner step abroad , but some sophister or other flings dirt in her face . it is strange that none of these schoolmen consider , how the severall distinctions , and divisions translated from logick to divinity , have set all christendom on fire : how they have violated the peace of many flourishing kingdoms , and occasion'd more sects in religion , then there are opinions in philosophie . most seasonable then and christian is that petition of saint augustine , a logicâ libera nos domine ! and here i must desire the reader not to mistake me● i do not condemn the vse , but the abuse of reason , the many subtleties , and fetches of it , which man hath so applied , that truth and errour are equally disputable . i am one that stands up for a true naturall knowledge , grounded as nature is , on christ jesus , who is the true foundation of all things visible , and invisible . i shall therefore in this discourse , touch neerly upon those mysteries , which some few have delivered over to posterity , in difficult , obscure termes ; that if possible , the majesty of trueth , and the benefit they shall receive from it , may settle men in a new way , and bring them at last from vain , empty fansies , to a reall , sensible fruition of nature . you may remember how in my former discourse of the nature of man , i mention'd a certain triplicity of elements according to their severall complexions in the severall regions of the world . i shall now speak of another triplicity much more obscure and mysticall , without which you can never attain to the former , for these three principles are the clavis of all magick , without whose perfect knowledge you can never truely understand the least idioms in nature . the first principle is one in one , and one from one . it is a pure , white virgin , and next to that which is most pure , and simple . this is the first created vnity . by this all things were made , not actually , but mediately , and without this nothing can be made either artificiall or naturall . this is uxor d●i , & stellarum . by mediation of this , there is a descent from one into four , and an ascent from three by four to the invisible , supernaturall monas . who knows not this , can never attain to the art , for he knows not what he is to look for . the second principle differs not from the sirst in substance and dignity , but in complexion and order . this second was the first , and is so still essentially , but by adhaesion to the matter it contracted an impurity , and so fell from its first unity , wherefore the magicians stile it binarius . separate therefore the circumference from the center per lineam diametralem , and there will appear unto thee the philosophers ternarius , which is the third principle . this third is properly no principle , but a product of art . it is a various nature , compounded in one sence , and decompounded in another , consisting of inferior and superior powers . this is the magicians fire , this is mercurius philosophorum , celeberrimus ille microcosmus , & adam . this is the labyrinth and wild of magick where a world of students have lost themselves : a thing so confusedly and obscurely handled by such as knew it , that it is altogether impossible to find it in their records . there is no late writer understands the full latitude , and universality of this principle , nor the genuine metaphysicall use thereof . it moves here below in shades and tiffanies , above in whites aethereall vestures ; neither is there any thing in nature expos'd to such a publique prostitution as this is , for it passeth thorough all hands , and there is not any creature but hath the use thereof . this ternarius , being reduc'd per quaternarium ascends to the magicall decad , which is monas unitissima , in which state quaecunque vult , potest ; for it is united then per aspectum to the first● eternall , spirituall unity . but of these three , hear the oracle of magick , the great , and solemn agrippa . quatuor itaque quae diximus sunt elementa , sine quorum notitiâ perfectâ nullum in magiâ producere possumus effectum : sunt autem singula triplicia , ut sic quaternarius com pleat duodenarium : & per septenarium in denarium progrediens ad supremam unitatem , unde omnis virtus , & mirabilis operatio dependet , fiat progressus . primo igitu ordine elementa pura sunt , quae nec componuntur , nec mutantur , nec patiuntur commixtionem , sed incorruptibilia sunt , & non a quibus , sed per quae omnium naturalium rerum virtutes producuntur in effectum . virtutes illorum a nullo explicari possunt , quia in omnia possunt omnia . haec qui ignorat , ad nullam mitabilium effectuum operationem pertingere potest . secundi ordinis elementa composita sunt , multiplicia , & varia , & impura , reducibilia tamen per artem ad puram simplicitatem , quibus tuno ad suam simplicitatem reversis virtus est super omnia complementum dans omnium operationum occultarum & operationum naturae : haec sunt fundamentum totius magiae naturalis . tertii ordinis elementa , haec primò & per se non sunt elementa , sed decomposita varia multiplicia , & inter se invicem permutabilia : ipsa sunt infallibile medium , ideoque vocantur media natura , sive anima mcdiae naturae : paucissimi sunt , qui illorum profunda mysteria intelligunt . in ipsis per certos numeros , gradus , & ordines : est consummatio omnis effectus in quacunque re naturali , coelesti , & supercoelesti , miranda sunt● & plena mysteriis quae operari possunt in magiâ tam naturali , quam divina : per ipsa enim omnium rerum ligationes , etiam solutiones , & transmutationes , & futurorum cognitio & praedictio , etiam malorum daemonum exterminatio , & bonorum spirituum conciliatio ab illis descendit . sinc his igitur triplicibus elementis , eorundemque cognitione , nemo confidat se in occultis magiae , & naturae scient●is quicquam posse operari . quicunque aurem haec in illa , impura in pura , multiplicia in simplicia reducere noverit , eorundemque naturam , virtutem , potestatem in numero , gradibus , & ordine sine divisione substantiae discernere sciverit : is facile obtinebit omnium naturalium rerum & coelestium secretorum sclentiam , & ooperationem perfectam . this is he with the black spaniell : or rather , this is he qui ab ineunte aetate semper circa mirabilium effectuum , & plenas mysteriorum operationes curiosus , in trepidusque extitit explorator . now for your further instruction hear also the dark disciple of the more dark libanius gallus . primum principium in uno consistit , non a quo , sed per quod omnis mirandorum naturalium virtus producitur in effectum : per quod diximus , quia purum ab uno procedens non componitur , neque mutatur . ad ipsum a ternario & quaternario fit ad monadem progressus , ut compleatur denarius : per , ipsum enim est numeri regressus ad unum , simul descensus in quatuor , & ascensus in monadem . impossibile est compleri denarium , nisi per ipsum : monas in triade laeta convertitur . omnes hoc principium post principium monadis ignorantes nil in ternario proficiunt , nec ad sacrum quaternarium pertingunt . nam etsi sapientum libros omnes habeant , syderum cursus , virtutes , potestates , operationes , & proprietates perfecte cognoscant , ipsorumque imagines , annulos , & sigilla & secretissima quaeque ad plenum intelligant , nullum tamen mirandorum consequi possent in suis operationibus effectum , sine hujus principii a principio cognitione , in principium ; unde omnes quotquot vidi in magiâ naturali operantes aut nihil consecuti sunt , aut ad vana , frivola , & superstitiosa , post longas & inutiles operationes desperatione prolapsi sunt . principium vero secundum ordine non dignitate quidem a primo separatum quod unum existens facit ternarium , est quod operatur miranda per binarium . in uno est enìm unum , & non est unum , est simplex , & in quaternario componitur : quo purificato per ignem in sole aqua pura egreditur & ipsum ad suam simplicitatem reversum , complementum operanti monstrabit occultorum . hic centrum est totius magiae naturalis , cujus circumferentia sibi unita circulum repraesentat inmensus ordo in infinitum : virtus ejus super omnia purificata , & simplex minor omnibus , quaternario super gradu composita . quaternarius autem pythagoricus numerus ternario suffultus , si ordinem gradumque observat , purificatus purusque in uno , ad binarium in ternario miranda & occulta naturae operari potest . hic est quaternarius in cujus mensurâ ternarius binario conjunctus in uno cuncta facit , quae mirabiliter facit . ternarius ad unitatem reductus per aspectum omnia in se continet , & quae vult potest . principium tertium per se non est principium , sed inter ipsum & binarium est finis omnis scientiae & artis mysticae , ac infallible medii centrum : in alio quam in ipso facilius non erratur , quoniam paucissimi vivunt in terris qui profunda ejus intelligant : varium est compofitum , & per septenarium in ternarium octies multiplicatum consurgens , & manens fixum . in ipso est consummatio numeri graduum , & ordinis : per hoc omnes philosophi , occultorum naturae veri inquisitores mirabiles effectus consecuti sunt ; per ipsum ad simplex elementum in ternario reductum subito fiunt infirmitatum curae miraculosae , & naturaliter omnium aegritudinum : opusque in magia naturali & praeternaturali operantis consequitur effectum per dispositionem quaternarii . praedictio futurorum per ipsum verificatur , occultorumque insinuatio , non aliunde quam per ipsum a natura percipitur . hoc unico medio secretum naturae a peritur alchimistis , sine quo nec intellectus artis acquiritur , nec operationis effectus invenitur . errant , crede mihi , errant omnes , qui sine istis tribus principiis quicquam operari in occultis naturae scientiis se posse confidunt . thus far trithemius ; where for thy better understanding of him i must inform thee there is a twofold binarius , lucis , & confusionis : but peruse agrippa seriously de scalis numerorum , and thou mayst apprehend all , for our abbot borrowed this language from him , the perusall of whose books he had , before he publish'd any thing in this nature of his own . now for thy further instruction go along with me , not to athens or stagyra , but to that secretary and pen-man of god almighty , who stood in a cleft of the rock when he made all his goodnes to passe before him . i am certain the world will wonder i should make use of scripture to establish physiologie , but i would have them know that all secrets physicall and spirituall , all the close connexions , and that mysterious kisse of god and nature is clearly and punctually discovered there . consider that mercifull mystery of the incarnation wherein the fullnesse of the godhead was incorporated , and the divine light united to the matter in a far greater measure then at the sirst creation . consider it i say , and thou shalt finde , that no philosophie hath perfectly united god to his creature , but the christian , wherefore also it is the onely true philosophie , and the onely true religion : for without this union there can be neither a naturall temporall , nor a spiritual aeternall life . moses tells us that in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth , that is the virgin mercurie , and the virgin sulphur . now let me advice you not to trouble your selves with this mercurie , unlesse you have a true friend to instruct you , or an expresse illumination from the first author of it , for it is a thing attain'd arte mirabili . observe then what i shall now tell you . there is in every star , and in this elementall world a certain principle which is uxor solis . these two in their coition do emittere semen , which seed is carried in the womb of nature : but the ejection of it , is perform'd invisibly , and in a sacred silence : for this is the conjugall mystery of heaven and earth , their act of generation , a thing done in private between particular males and females , but how much more think you , between the two universall natures ? know therefore that it is impossible for you to extract , or receive any seed from the sun , without this faminine principle , which is the wife of the sun . now then my small sophisters of the stone , you that consume your time and substance in making waters and oyles with a durty caput mortuum : you that deal in gold and quick-silver being infatuated with the legends of some late and former mountebanks : consider the last end of such men . did they obtain any thing by it but diseases & poverty ? did they not in their old age inveterat● dierum malorum , fall to clipping and counterfeiting of coyne ? and for a period to their memory did they not die in despair , which is the childe of ignorance ? know then for certain that the magicians sun and moon are two universall peeres : male and female , a king and queen regents , alwayes young , and never old . these two are adaequate to the whole world , and coextended thorough the universe . the one is not without the other , god having united them in his work of creation in a solemn sacramentall union . it will then be a hard and difficult enterprise to rob the husband of his wife , to put those asunder , whom god himself hath put together : for they sleep both in the same bed , and he that discovers the one must needes see the other . the love betwixt these two is so great , that if you use this virgin kindly , shee will fetch back her cupid , after he hath ascended from her in wings of fire . observe moreover that materiall principles can be multiplyed but materially , that is by addition of parts , as you see in the augmentation of bodies , which is perform'd by a continuall assumption of nutriment into the stomack , but it is not the body that transmutes the nutriment into flesh and bloud , but that spirit which is the life and light of the body . materiall principles are passive , and can neither alter nor purifie , but well may they be altered , and purified : neither can they communicate themselves to another substance beyond their own extension which is finite and determinate . trust not those impostors then who tell you of a sulphur tingens , and i know not what fables ; who pin also that new and narrow name of chemia , on a science both ancient and infinite . it is the light onely that can be truely multiplied , for this ascends to , and descends from the first fountain of multiplication , and generation . this light applied to any body whatsoever exalts & perfects it in suo genere . if to animals , it exalts animals , if to vegetables , vegetables , if to minerals , it refines minerals , and translates them from the worst to the best condition . where note by the way , that every body hath passive principles in it self , for this light to work upon , and therefore needs not borrow any from gold , or silver . consider then what it is you search for , you that hunt after the philosophers stone , for eiusdem est transmutare , cujus est creare : you seek for that which is most high , but you look on that which is most low . two things there are which every good christian may , and ought to look after , verum , & necessarium . trueth is the arcanum , the mystery & essence of all things : for every secret is trueth , and every substantiall trueth is a secret . i speak not here of outward historicall trueths , which are but relatives to actions , but i speak of an inward essentiall trueth which is light , for light is the trueth , and it discovers falshood which is darknesse . by this trueth all that which is necessary may be compass'd , but never without it . i preferred wisdom ( said the wise king ) before sceptors and thrones , and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her . neither compared i unto her any precious stone , because all gold in respect of her is as a little sand , and silver shall be counted as clay before her . i loved her above health and beauty , and chose to have her instead of light , for the light that commeth from her never goeth out . all good things came to me together with her , and innumerable riches in her hands . and i rejoyced in them all , because wisedom goeth before them , and i knew not that she was the mother of them . if riches be a possession to be desired in this life , what is richer then wisedom that worketh all things ? for she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of god , and a lover of his works . god hath granted me to speak as i would , and to concerve as is meet for the things that are given me : because it is he that leadeth unto wisdom , and directeth the wise , for in his hand are both we and our words , all wisdom also , and knowledge of workmanship . for he hath given me certain knowledge of the things that are , namely to know how the world was made , and the operation of the elements . the beginning , ending , and middest of the times , the alterations of the turning of the sun , and the change of seasons . the circuit of yeeres , and the position of stars . the natures of living creatures , and the furies of wild beasts , the violence of windes , and the reasoning of men : the diversities of plants , and the vertues of rootes . and all such things as are either secret or manifest , them i know . for wisdom which is the worker of all things taught me . for in her is an understanding spirit , holy , onely begotten , manifold , subtil , lively , clear , undefiled , plain , not subject to hurt , loving the thing that is good , quick , which cannot be letted , ready to do good , kind to man , stedfast , free from care , having all power , overseeing all things , and going thorough all understanding , pure , and most subtill spirits . for wisdom is more moving then any motion , she passeth , and goeth thorow all things by reason of her purenesse . for she is the breath of the power of god , and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the almighty , therefore can no defiled thing fall into her . for she is the brightnesse of the everlasting light , the unspotted mirror of the power of god , and the image of his goodnesse . and being but one she can do all things , and remayning in her self she maketh all things new : and in all ages entring into holy souls , she maketh them friends of god , and prophets . for god loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom . for she is more beautifull then the sun , and above all the order of stars , being compared with the light , she is found before it . for after this commeth night , but vice shall not prevail against wisdom . thus solomon , and again a greater then solomon ; first seek you the kingdom of god , and all these things shall be given you . for of a trueth temporall blessings are but ushers to the spirituall , or to speak more plainly , when once we begin to love the spirit , then he sends us these things as tokens and pledges of his love . for promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west , but from god that giveth it . verum ( saith one ) est esse , a quo nihil abesse cuiq● nil adesse multoque minus obesse potest . necessariū id omne , quo carere nō possumus . veritas itaque sūma virtus est , ac inexpugnabile castrum paucissimis inhaerentibus amicis , at innumeris obsessum inimicis , paulo minus quam toti mundo nunc invisum , sed insuperabile pignus iis qui possident illud . hac in arce verus & indubitatus philosophorum lapis , & thesaurus continetur , qui non erosus a tineis , nec perfossus a furibus , manet in aeternum caeteris dissolutis omnibus , multis in ruinam positus , aliis ad salutem . haec est res vulgo vilissima , spreta plurimum , & exosa , non tamen odibilis , at amabilis , & preciosa supra philosophis , supra gemmas , & aurum obrizon : omnium amatrix , omnibus ferme inimica , ubique reperibilis , & a paucissimis , quasi nullis , inventa per vicos acclamans omnibus , venite ad me omnes qui quaeritis , & ego vos ducam in veram semitam . haec est res illa tautum a veris praedicata philosophis , quae vincit omnia , nec ab ulla re vincitur , corpus , & cor omne durum & solidum penetrans , ac omne molle consolidans , & ab omni duro resistendum confirmans . nobis omnibus se facit obviam , & non videmus eam , vociferans , & alta voce dicens , ego sum via veritatis , transite per me : quia non est alius ad vitant transitus , & nolumus eam audire . odorem sua vitatis emittit , sed non percipimus eum . dapibus sese nobis liberaliter in sua vitatem offert indies & non degustamus eam● blande nos ad salutem trahit , & ejus tractui resistentes , sentire nolumus . quoniam facti sumus sicut lapides , oculos habentes & non videntes , aures habentes & non audientes , nares non olfacientes habentes , ore linguaque muniti non degustantes , neque loquentes manibus & pedibus nil operantes , nec ambulantes . o miserum tale genus hominum , quod lapidibus non est praestantius , imò longe inferius eo , quod hoc , non illi rationem daturi sunt operationum suarum ! transmutemini ( inquit ) transmutemini de lapidibus mortuis in lapides vivos philosophicos . ego sum vera medicina , corrigens & transmutans id quod non est amplius , in id quod fuit ante corruptionem , ac in melius , ac id quod non est , in id quod esse debet . ecce prae foribus conscientiae vestrae sum noctes ac dies pulsans , & non aperitis mihi , t●men expecto mitis , nec a vobis irata recedo , sed patiens injurias sustineo vestras , cupiens per patientiam ad eam exhortando vos ducere . venite iterum , atque saepius iterum venite , qui sapientiam quaeritis & emite gratis , non auro nec argento , minus laboribas propriis , quod vobis offertur ultro . sonora vox , suavis & grata philosophantium auribus . o fons divitiarum inexhaustibilis veritatem & justitiam sitientibus ! o desolatorum imperfectioni solatium ! quid ultra quaeritis mortales anxii ? cur infinitis animos vestros curis exagiratis miseri ? quae vestra vos excaecat dementia , quaeso ? cum in vobis , non ex vobis sit omne quod extra vos , non apud vos quaeritis . proprium hoc solet esse vulgi vitium , ut propria contemnens , aliena quae sunt , semper appetat . proprium hic pro nobis appropriati sumimus , nam ex nobis ipsis nihil habemus boni , sed si quid habere boni possumus , ab eo qui solus est bonus , ferimus acceptum : è contra quod habemus mali , nobis ipsi nos appropria vimus , ex alieno malo per inobedientiam . proprium ergo nihil homini est ex suo praeterquam malū quod possidet : quod ex bono bonum habet , non ex seipso , sed contribute proprium habet , ex bono cum recipit tamen . lucet in nobis ( licet obscure ) vita lux hominum tanquam in tenebris , quae non ex nobis est , sed ab eo cujus est . hic illam planta vit in nobis , ut in ejus lumine , qui lucem inhabitat inaccessibilem , videremus lumen , & hoc caeteras ejus praecelleremus creaturas : illi similes hac ratione facti , quod semtillam sui luminis dederit nobis . est igitur veritas non in nobis quaerenda , sed in imagine dei , quae in nobis est . this is he to whom the brothers of r. c. gave the title of sapiens , and from whose writings they borrowed most of their instructions ad candidatum quendam germaniae . but that you may the better understand how to come by this stone , hear what he speaks in another place . non prius incipit vera cognitio , quam perennium & labilium , cum vitae , tum intetitus oblatâ comparatione , selegat anima cum animo jungi , deleetatione majori tracto hujus , quam corporis . ex eâ ●ognitione mons oritur , & corporis voluntaria separatio sumit exordium , cum anima respiciens ex unâ corporis faeditatem & interitum , ex alterâ parte praesta●itiam & foelicitatem animi perpetuam , cum isto ( divino sic disponente statu ) connecti cupit , altero penitus neglecto , ut hoc solum appetat , quod a deo conclusum esse videt in salutem & gloriam : corpus in amborum jam unitotum unionem condescendere cogitur . haec est admirabilis illa philosophorum transmutatio corporis in spiritum & hujus in corpus , de quâ dictum nobis relinquitur a sapientibus : fac fixū volatile & volatile fac fixū , ut habeas magisterium nostrum : ( intellige ) fac de pertinaci copore tractabile , quod animi praestantià cum anima conveniente constantissimum fiat corpus ad omnia sustinendum examina . probatur enim aurum igne , quo reprobatur omne quod aurum non est . o praestantissimum philosophorum aurum , quo ditantur sapientiae filii , non illo quod cuditur : adeste qui thesaurum philosophorum tam vario conatu quaeritis , reprobatum a vobis lapidem cognoscite , prius quis ille sit antequam quaeratur . mirum est super omne miraculum , quod quispiam appetat ignotum sibi : fatuum certè videtur id ab hominibus quaeri , cujus veritatem non norunt investigantes , quia nihil in eo spei relinquitur . suadeo quibusvis ergo perquirentibus , ut cognoscant prius ejus quod quaerunt , veram existentiam , antequam quaerant : sic eos laboribus frustrari non continget . sapiens quaerit quod amat , nec amare potest quod non cognoscit , alioquin insipiens esset ; ex cognitione igitur natus est amor omnium veritas , quae sola viget in omnibus veris philosophis . thus he , and again : frustra laboratis omnes abditorum naturae secretorum indagatores , cum aliam ingressi viam , terrenorum virtutes per terrena detegere conamini . discite igitur coelum per coelum , non per terram , sed hujus per illius virtutes cognoscere . nemo enim ascendit in coelum quod quaeritis , nisi qui de coelo ( quod non quaeritis descendit , prius illuminet eum . incorruptibilem quaeritis medicinam , quae corpora nedum a corruptione transmutet in verum temperamentum , sed etiam temperata diutissime conservet : talem alibi quam in caelo reperire non poteritis unquam . coelum virtute suâ per invisibiles radios in terrae centrum undique concurrentes , omnia penetrat elementa , & elementata generat , fovetque nemo in seipso , sed in sui simili , quod etiam ex ipso sit , generare potest . foetus etiam promiscuus utriusque parentis in se naturam ita retinet , ut in eo parens uterque potentia & actu sit reperibilis . quis haerebit amplius nisi lapis in generatione philosophicâ ? disce ex teipso , quicquid est in coelo , & in terrà cognoscere , ut sapiens fias in omnibus ignoras coelum & elementa prius unum suisse , divino quoque ab invicem artificio separata , ut & te , & omnia generare possent ? si hoc nosti , reliquum & te fugere non potest , aut ingenio cares omni . rursus in omni generatione talis separatio est necessaria , qualem de te supra dixi fiendam , antequam ad verae philosophiae studia velum applices . ex aliis nunquam unum facies , quod quaeris , nisi prius ex teipso fiat unum quod audisti . nam talis est voluntas dei , ut pii pium consequantur opus quod quaerunt , & perfecti perficiant aliud cui fuerint intenti . malae voluntatis hominibus nihil praeter quod seminaverint , datur metere : imo quod magis est , persaepe bonum eorum semen in lolium , propter eorum malitiam convertitur . fac igitur ut talis evadas , quale tuum esse vis . quod quaesieris opus . this is now the true essential mystery of regeneration , or the spiritual death . this is , and ever was the onely scope , and upshot of magick . but for your further instruction ruminate this his other mysticall speech . agitedum igitur anima mea , corpusque meum : surgite nunc , animum sequamini vestrum . ascondamus in montem hunc excelsum nobis oppositum , de cujus cacumine vohis ostendam iter hoc bivium de quo per nubem , & sine iumine locutus est pythagoras . nobis aperti sunt oculi , tum praelucet sol pietatis & justitiae , quo duce non possumus à via veritatis deflectere . volvite primum oculos ad detram , ne videant vanitatem , antequam sapientiam perceperint . videtisnè relucens illud , & inexpugnabile castrum ? in eo se continet philosophicus amor , de cujus fonte fluunt aquae vivae quas qui degustarit semel , non sitiet vanitatem amplius . ab eo loco tam amaeno , suavique recta progrediendum est ad amaeniorem , in quo sophia moram trahit : de cujus etiam fonte scaturiunt aquae primis longe faeliciores , quas qui gustarint inimici , pacem eos mire necesse est : eorum qui deveniunt eo plerique solent altius tendere , sed non omnes ontatum assequuntur . est locus ultra dictos , quem adire vix licet mortalibus , nisi per divinum numen ad immortalitatis gradum assumpti sunt : at antequam introducantur , mundum coguntur exuere ; caducae vitae spolio retento . non est eo cum pervenerint , quod amplius mortem timeant , imo potius eam indies amplectantur suavius , quam in mundo quid unquam suave judicatum est eis amplexu dignum . ultra haec tria loca quicunque progrediuntur , ab hominum oculis evanescunt . quod si secundum & tertium locos videre lubet , ascendamus altius . en supra chrystallinam primam arcem , aliam argenteam videtis , ultra quam & tertiam adamantinam , quar●● vero non cadit sub sensum , donec ultra tertiam deventum sit . hic est aureus perpetuae foelicitatis locus , sollie itudinis expers , & omni repletus gaudio perenni . this is the pitch and place , to which if any man ascends , he enters into chariots of fire with horses of fire , and is translated from the earth , soul and body . such was enoch , such was elijah , such was esdras , to whom this medicine was ministred by vriel the angel . such was saint paul , who was carried up to the third heaven ; such was zoroaster , who was transfigured , and such was that anonymus mention'd by agrippa : i dipsum ( sayth he ) & de se prodidit sapiens quidam , ita ut scintillantes flaminae hinc inde , etiam cum sono prosilirent . this i suppose ; was r. c. the founder of almost christian , and famous society , whose body also by vertue of that medicine he took in his life time , is preserv'd intire to this day , with the epitomes of two worlds about it . such elijahs also are the members of this fraternitie , who as their own writings testifie ; walk in the supernatural light . vt nobiscum autem covenias ( say they ) necesse est hanc lucem cernas , sine enim huc luce impossible est nos videre , nisi quando volumus . i know some illiterate school-divines will no sooner read this , but they will cry out with the iewes : away with such a follow from the earth . truly they are the men , quibus & ego nunc consulo , ne nostra scripta legant , nec intelligant , nec me●●inerint : nam noxia sunt , venenosa sunt ; acherontis ostium est in in hoc libello , lapides loquitur , caveant ne cerebrum illis excutiat . let them not mind it , buy it not , touch it not . — , procul hinc , procul ite prophani . go on still , and proceed in your own corrupt fancies , ut servetur iustitiae locus . follow your old beggarly elements , the rudiments of this world , which hitherto have done despight to the spirit of grace : which have grieved that holy and loving spirit of god , whereby you are seal'd to the day of redemption . but consider whiles you are yet in the flesh , whiles it is to day with you , and timely to consider , that god will use those men whom you revile for his trueth , as witnesses against you in a day when you shall have nothing to speak for your ignorance , unless you plead your obstinacie . of a trueth god himself discovered this thing to the first man , to confirm his hopes of those three supernaturall mysteries , the incarnation , regeneration , and resurrection : for i amblichus citing the aegyptian records with a credendum est arcanis sermonibus , hath these very words , traditam fuisse materiam quandam a deis per beata spectacula , haec ergo illis ipsis tradentibus cograta est . and our former christian author in a certain place speakes thus . dubium non est quin deus antiquis patribus medicinam aliquam revelaverit , per spiritum sanctum suum qua tuerentur carnis corruptionem & potissimum iis , cum quibus locutus est , & faedus inivit . let me tell you then that the period and perfection of magick is no way physicall , for this art attingit solium iovis , & coelestia tentat . in a word it ascends per lumen naturae in lumen gratiae , and the last end of it is truely theologicall . remember therefore that elijah depos'd his mantle , and past thorow the waters of iordan before he met with the chariots of israel . but as agrippa sayth , clausum est veritatis armarium : the scripture is obscure , and mysticall even in historicall passages . who would believe that in the history of agar and sarah , the mystery of both testaments was couch'd , but that saint paul himself hath told us so ? for it is written ( sayth he ) that abraham had two sons , the one by a bond-maid , the other by a free-woman . but he who was of the bond-woman , was born after the flesh , but he of the free-woman by promise . which things are an allegorie ; for these are the two covenants , the one from mount sinai , which gendereth to bondage , which is agar : for this agar is mount sinai in arabia , and answereth to jerusalem that now is , and is in bondage with her children ; but jerusalem from above is free , which is the ` mother of us all . i could instance in many more such places , as that of the royal prophet , that the dew of hermon descends to mount sion , which is altogether impossible in the literall sense , for every geographer knows there is a vast distance between these two . but to return to my former discourse : some philosophers who by the speciall mercy of god attain'd to the ternarius , could never notwithstanding obtaine the perfect medicine , neither did they understand it . i never met in all my reading but with six authors , who fully apprehended this mystery . the first an arabian , a most profound , but exceedingly obscure writer , and from him i conceive , artesius borrowed all his knowledge . the second a most ancient christian anonymus , the greatest that ever was in point of practice , for he ascended to that glorious metaphysicall height where the archtype shadows the intellectual spheares . the other four are famously known in christendom . to instruct thee then , this mystery is perfected when the light in a suddain , miraculous coruscation strikes from the center to the circumference , and the divine spirit hath so swallowed up the body , that it is corpus glorificatum tanquam sol & luna splendidum . in this rotation it doth passe ( and no sooner ) from the natural to a supernaturall state , for it is no more fed with visibles , but with invisibles , and the eye of the creator is perpetually upon it . after this the material parts are never more to be seen , atque haec est illa toties decantata , & sine scelere magorum invisibilitas . verily this is the way that the prophets and the apostles went , this is the true primitive divinity , not that clamorous sophistrie of the schooles . i know the world will be ready to boy me out of countenance for this , because my yeares are few , and green . i want their two crutches , the praetended modern sanctitie , and that solemnity of the beard , which makes up a doctor . but reader let me advise thee , if by what is here written thou attain'st to any knowledge in this point ( which i hold impossible without a divine assistance ) let me advice thee i say , not to attempt any thing rashly : for agrippa tells me , quicunque impurificatus accesserit , superinducit sibi judicium , & traditur ad devorandum spiritus nequam . there is in the magicall records a memorable story of a iew , who having by permission rifl'd some spiritual treasures , was translated in solitudines , and is kept there for an example to others . i will give thee the best counsel that can be given , and that out of a poet : orandum est , ut sit mens sana in corpore sano . thou must prepare thy self , till thou art conformable to him , whom thou wouldest entertain , and that omnimoda similitudine . thou hast three that are to receive , and there are three accordingly that give . fitt thy roofe to thy god in what thou canst , and in what thou canst not , he will help thee . when thou hast thus set thy house in order , do not think thy guest will come without invitation : thou must tyre him out with pious importunities , perpetuall knockings at his doore , teares sullying his transparent roomes . sighes upon sighes : weep mors and more , he comes . this is the way thou must walk in , which if thou doest , thou shalt perceive a sudden illustration , eritque in te cum lumine ignis , cum igne ventus , cum vento potestas , cum potestate scientia , cum scientià sanae mentis integritas . this is the chain that qualifies a magician : for sayth agrippa , explorare de futuris , & imminentibus , allisve occultis , & quae hominibus divinitus portenduntur , veridicas sententias , atque operari opera virtutum communem naturae consuetudinem excedentia , non nisi profundae & perfectae doctrinae , integerrimaeque vitae , ac fidei est , non hominum levissimorum , ac indoctorum ; and in another place . non poterit illa dare , qui non habet . habet autem nemo , nisi qui jam cohibitis elementis , victâ natura , superatis coelis , progre●sus angelos , ad ipsum archetypum usque transcendit , cujus tunc cooperator effectus potest omnia . this is the place , where if thou canst but once ascend , and then descend , tunc ire ad mundum archetypum saepe , atque redire , cunctarumque patrem rerum spectare licebit . then i say , thou hast got that spirit , qui quicquid portentosi mathematici , quicquid prodigiosi magi , quicquid invidentes naturae perrecutores alchymistae , quicquid daemonibus deteriores malefici necromantes promittere audent , ipse novit discernere , & efficere , idque sine omni crimine , sine dei offensâ , sine religionis injuriâ . such is the power he shall receive , who from the clamorous tumults of this world ascends to the supernaturall , still voice ; from this base earth and mud whereto his body is allyed , to the spiritual invisible elements of his soul ille deum vitam accipiet , dovisque videbit permotot horoas , & ipse videbitur illes . this , reader , is the christian philosophers stone : a stone so often inculcated in scripture . this is the rock in the wildernesse ; in the wildernesse , because in great obscurity , and few there are that know the right was unto it . this is the stone of fire in ezekiel ; this is the stone with seven eyes , upon it in zacharie , and this is the white stone with the new name in the revelation . but in the gospel where christ himself speakes , who was born to discover mysteries , and communicate heaven to earth , it is more clearely describ'd . this is the salt which you ought to have in your selves , this is the water and spirit whereof you must be born again , and this is that seed which falls to the ground , & multiplies to an hundred fold . but reader , be not deceiv'd in me . i am not a man of any such faculties , neither do i expect this blessing in such a great measure in this life : god is no debtor of mine . i can affirm no more of my self , but what my author did formerly : accipe me volo velut indicem , qui semper prae foribus , manens , aliis quod iter ingrediendum sit , ostendat . behold● i will deal fairely with thee ; shew me but one good christian , who is capable of , and fit to receive such a secret , and i will shew him the right , infallible way to come by it . yet this i must tell thee , it would sink thee to the ground to hear this mystery related : for it cannot ascend to the heart of the naturall man , how neer god is to him , and how to be found . but of this enough . i will now speak of a naturall coelestial medicine , and this latter is common amongst some wise men , but few are they , who attain to the former . the common chymist works with the common fire , and without any medium , wherefore he generates nothing ; for he works not as god doth , to preservation , but to destruction : hence it is , that he ends alwayes in the ashes . do thou use it cum phlegmate medii : so shall thy materials rest in a third element , where the violence of this tyrant cannot reach , but his anima . there is also a better way : for if thou canst temper him with the spirit of heaven , thou hast alter'd him from a corrupting to a generating fire . sublime the middle nature fire per trigonum & circulum , till thou com'st to a breach of inferiors and superiors . lastly , separate from the magicall compounded earth that principle which is call'd terra media , because it is middlemost between the vnarius , and the binarius : for as it attaines not to the simplicity of the first , so it is free from the impurities of the second . this is the true petra chrystallina , a bright virgin earth without spot or darknesse . this is terra maga in aethere clarificata , for it carries in its belly winde and fire . having got this fundamentall of a little new world , unite the heaven in a triple proportion to the earth , then apply a generative heat to both , and they will attract from above the star-fire of nature . sic habebis gloriam totius mundi , ergo fugiet a te omnis obscuritas . now because the law of nature is infallible , and confirm'd to the creature by gods royall assent , think not therefore there is any necessity upon god , but what he hath inacted in general , he can repeal in any particular . remember who translated the dew from the earth to the fleece , and from the fleece to the earth . god bestowes not his blessings where they are to turn to curses . he cursed the earth once for adam's sake : take heed he doth not curse it again in thy work for thy sake . it is in vaine to look a blessing from nature , without the god of nature : for , as the scripture sayth , without controversie the lesser is blessed of the greater . he must be a good steward , that shall overlook the treasuries of god . have therefore a charitable seraphick soul : charitable at home , in being not destructive to thy self● as most men are : charitable abroad , in a diffusive goodnesse to the poor , as many are not . there is in every true christian a spice , i can not say a grain of faith , for then we could work miracles : but know thou that as god is the father , so charity is the nurse of faith . for there springs from charitable works a hope of heaven , and who is he that will not gladly believe what he hopes to receive ? on the contrary there springs no hope at all from the works of darknesse , and by consequence no faith , but that faith of divels , to believe and tremble . settle not then in the lees , and puddle of the world , have thy heart in heaven , and thy hands on earth : ascend in pietie , and descend in charity , for this is the nature of light , and the way of the children of it . above all things , avoyd the guilt of innocent blood , for it utterly separates from god in this life , and requires a timely , and serious repentance , if thou would'st find him in the next now for thy studie , in the winter time thy chamber is the best residence ; here thou mayest use fumigations , and spicie lamps , not for superstition , but because such recreate the animal spirits , and the braine . in the summer translate thy self to the fields , where all are green with the breath of god , and fresh with the powers of heaven . learn to refer all naturals to their spirituals , per viàm secretioris analogiae : for this is the way the magicians went , and found out miracles . many there are who bestow not their thoughts on god , till the world failes them ; he may say to such guests , quum nemini obtrudi potest , itur ad me . do thou think on him first , and he will speak to thy thoughts at last . sometimes thou may'st walk in groves , which being full of majestie will much advance the soul . sometimes by clear , active rivers , for by such ( say the mystick poets ) apollo contemplated . omnia , quae phaebo quondā meditante , beatus audiit eurotas : &c. so have i spent on the banks of ysca many a serious hour . 't is day , my chrystal usk : now the sad night resignes her place , as tenant to the light . see , the amazed mists begin to flye , and the victorious sun hath got the skie . how shall i recompence thy streams that keep me and my soul awak'd , when others sleep ? i watch my stars , i move on with the skies , and weary all the planets with mine eyes . shall i seek thy forgotten birth , and see what dayes are spent since thy nativity ? didst run with ancient kishon ? canst thou tell so many yeers as holy hiddekel ? thou art not paid in this . i 'le leavie more such harmles contributions from thy store , and dresse my soul by thee as thou do'st passe , as i would do my body by my glasse . what a clear , running chrystall here i find ? sure i will strive to gain as clear a mind . and have my spirits freed frōdross , made light , that no base puddle may allay their flight . how i admire thy humble banks ! nought 's here , but the same simple vesture all the yeer . i 'le learn simplicity of thee , and when i walk the streets , i will not storme at men , nor look as if i had a mind to crie , it is my valiant cloth of gold , and i . let me not live , but i 'm amaz'd to see what a clear type thou art of pietie . why should thy flouds inrich those shores , that sin against thy liberty , and keep thee in ? thy waters nurse that rude land wch inslaves and captivates thy free , and spacious waves . most blessed tutors ! i will learn of those to shew my charity unto my foes , and strive to do some good unto the poor , as thy streams do unto the barren shore . ' all this from thee my ysca ? yes , and more : i am for many vertues on thy score . trust me thy waters yet : why , wilt not so ? let me but drink again , and i will go . i see thy course anticipates my plea , i 'le haste to god , as thou dost to the sea . and when my eyes in waters drown their beams , the pious imitation of thy streames , may every holy , happy , hearty teare help me to run to heav'n , as thou do'st there . this is the way i would have thee walk in , if thou doest intend to be a solid , christian philosopher . thou must as agrippa sayth , vivere deum , & angelos : reject all things quae coelo dissimilia sunt , otherwise thou canst have no communion with superiors . lastly , unus esto● non solus : avoid the multitude , aswell of passions , as persons . now for authors , i wish thee to trust no moderns , but michael sendivow , and that other of physia restituta , especially his first aphonisticall part . the rest whom i have seen suggest inventions of their own , such as may passe with the whymzies of des chartes or bovillus his mathematicall roses . to conclude , i would have thee know , that every day is annus contractus : that every yeer is dies extensus . anticipate the yeer in the day , and lose not a day in the yeer . make use of indeterminate agents till thou canst fi●de a determinate one : the many may wish well , but one onely loves . circumferences spread , but centers contract : so superiors dissolve , and inferiors coagulate ; stand not long in the sun , nor long in the shade : where extremes meet , there look for complexions . learn from thy errors to be infallible , from thy misfortunes to be constant : there is nothing stronger then perseverance , for it ends in miracles . i could tell thee more , but that were to puzzle thee : learn this first , and thou mayst teach me the last . thus reader , have i published that knowledge which god gave me , ad fructum bonae conscientiae . i have not busheld my light , nor buried my talent in the ground . i will now withdraw and leave the stage to the next actor : some peripatetick perhaps , whose sic probo shall serve me for a comaedie . i have seen scolds laugh'd at , but never admir'd : so he that multiplies discourse , makes a serious cause , ridiculous . the onely antidote to a shrew , is silence : and the best way to convince fools , is to neglect them . faelices animae ! quibus haec cognoscere primū , inque domos superas scandere , cura fuit . credibile est illos pariter vitiisque jocisque altius humanis exeruisse caput . si tu iehova , deus meus , illuminaveris me , lux fient tenebrae meae . finis . to his ever honour'd friend , the learned author . sir , your book now finish't . let a shallower pen ad these few drops , to your vast ocean . not by my shaddowing praise , t' eclipse the glory of your high worth : this book must tell that story , to truth-beleiving soules ; whose eagle-eyes can penetrate these hidden mysteries . but you ( thrice honor'd sir ) my groveling minde have rais'd to higher pitch , to tell how kinde , how rare a freind , how deare , how choise a treasure my fates have blest me with , above the measure of vulgar thought : how this diviner ray of your bright soul , would fill with clearest day the darkened world : did not earth-shadowing mist . with thickest clouds , heavens influence resist but who from envies sordid mire is washt , is clad in pure attire of innocence ; a light shall see , ( unthral'd from errors sophistry ) will kindle that magnetick fire , which shall concenter , wild desire ; and fix the roving thoughts in one inseperate trivnion hee l then disdaine the slymie earth ; a house too mean for nobler birth , his heaven-rais'd soul , will then aspire to bear a part in th'angels quire . dear so , fare well . let seekers thirsty flames , refresht by these your soul-reviving streames , eccho you praise : with thankfull elogies your ever-living name immortalize . sir , your own beyond expresses h. b. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- gen : wis. exod. isai. is. xlv . in gen. ioan. trith . gal. . . a demonstration of the existence and providence of god, from the contemplation of the visible structure of the greater and the lesser world in two parts, the first shewing the excellent contrivance of the heavens, earth, sea, &c., the second the wonderful formation of the body of man / by john edwards ... edwards, john, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : - (eebo-tcp phase ). a wing e estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) a demonstration of the existence and providence of god, from the contemplation of the visible structure of the greater and the lesser world in two parts, the first shewing the excellent contrivance of the heavens, earth, sea, &c., the second the wonderful formation of the body of man / by john edwards ... edwards, john, - . xix, , , [ ] p. printed by j.d. for jonathan robinson ... and john wyat ..., london : . textual footnotes. errata: p. at end. reproduction of original in harvard university libraries. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng god -- proof, ontological. nature -- religious aspects. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - john latta sampled and proofread - john latta text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a demonstration of the existence and providence of god , from the contemplation of the visible structure of the greater and the lesser world. in two parts . the first , shewing the excellent contrivance of the heavens , earth , sea , &c. the second , the wonderful formation of the body of man. by iohn edwards , b. d. sometime fellow of s. iohn's college in cambridge . london , printed by i. d. for ionathan robinson at the golden lion , and iohn wyat at the rose in st. paul's church-yard . . to the most reverend father in god , his grace thomas by divine providence lord archbishop of canterbury , primate and metropolitan of all england , &c. may it please your grace , having lately presented your grace with a short essay concerning the causes and occasions of atheism , i thereby in a manner obliged my self to dedicate this following treatise to your venerable and illustrious name ; for that was but a preparatory introduction to this . it is certain your grace hath right to both , because you have shew'd your self a strenuous asserter and defender of the true and orthodox faith concerning the deity , and betimes exploded the vanity and inconsistency of the hobbian creed relating to this great concern . and not only before , but since your arrival to the metropolitan see , you have signally owned and patronized this cause which i undertake : and ( on the contrary ) you have ( as becometh your high place ) publickly discountenanc'd , and given check to the abettors of atheism . i profess my self to be one that abhors unnecessary disputes , and loves a free and ingenuous latitude in matters that are of an indifferent nature . but when i see the grand points of our holy religion shock'd by prophane assailants , when i behold impiety and atheism lifting up their daring heads amongst us , i think my self indispensably concern'd ( according to that talent which the divine goodness hath been pleas'd in any measure to confer upon me ) to grapple with the bold and vaunting adversaries , to make opposition to their extravagant attempts , and to assert and defend that cause which is the basis of all religion , the supporter of kingdoms , and the glory of our lives . this is that which i at present design , and humbly crave your grace's acceptance of what i here offer . but whilst i implore your patronage , i will not apparently incur your displeasure , ( and at the same time injure the whole nation ) by diverting and detaining your grace any longer : wherefore i take my leave of your grace , and am glad i have this farther opportunity of publishing to the world that i am , your grace's most bounden servant , and dutiful son , iohn edwards . the preface . i could have presented the reader with many more observations on the particulars which i handle in the ensuing discourse , especially on animals , for ( besides what remarks i have made my self ) many learned enquirers not only of * old , but † lately have given us a distinct and full account of the nature of them . but my business was to take notice only of the most eminent of them , and that so far as they are evident arguments of a deity , i. e. of the divine wisdom in contriving their make and structure . and on other works of the creation , i could have expatiated much more than i have done ; but it being not my chief province , i did not think it would be expected of me , especially when that which i have said is sufficient for my present purpose . nor did i design a particular philosophical account of all the things i treat of , because this is to be found in the known tractates of physicks . and as to the latter part of my undertaking , i could have more largely insisted on the parts of the body , but that had been to transcribe the books of anatomy . i reckon'd it therefore enough to give a solution of the main phaenomena's in this humane system , and to bring all by rational deduction to this conclu●ion , that they are caus'd by an intelligent mind . if i cannot by this attempt convince atheists , ( which perhaps is next to blanching an ethiopian ) yet i hope i shall do something towards preventing the spreading of that pernicious infection which they are the authors of ; i hope i shall effect something towards checking the progress of that hellish ferment which works in the world at this day . it may be what i shall offer will be serviceable to bridle the insolence of those bold men , and to make them recoil and give back . it may be it will cripple and disable them , though they make a shift to be upon their feet . perhaps it may give them a mortification , though they will not let us know so much . or , if my hopes fail me as to this , yet i will not despair of confirming , and strengthning such who are really perswaded of the doctrine here treated of . i may be helpful to establish these persons in their belief , though i cannot reclaim the infidelity of others . but this is not the height of what i aim at ; for , besides what i have already suggested , my intention is that this discourse should afford variety of matter to the religious for their devout contemplations . i have set the greater and lesser world before them , and have so display'd the several parts of both , that they may every where discern the eternal godhead . i have propounded those visible and remarkable topicks whence pious minds may infallibly deduce the truth and reality of providence , and the adorable excellency of the power , wisdom and goodness of god , and his other divine perfections and properties which respect mankind . if i had not chiefly design'd these papers for such , i should not have so often alledg'd the holy scriptures : which with the other sort of men are in no esteem , and are thought to have no authority ; no more than the alcoran , or some legendary tale. but all those that have a true sense of religion on their spirits , reverence and prize these writings next to the blessed author of them ; and they know that it is proper to prove a god out of his own book . the reader may observe that i frequently make use of scripture in setting forth natural things , those which appertain to the heavens , earth , sea , &c. and the body of man ; because i would let the world see that this holy book is not only useful as to divine and spiritual matters , but even in respect of all sorts of humane learning , which i have on another occasion amply proved . having thus propounded the designs of my undertaking , ( and if i be successful in any of them , i shall reckon it a great happiness ) i will enter upon the work it self , by the assistance of him whose existence and providence i am now to demonstrate . the contents . part i. chap. i. the argument of the following discourse is suited to the genius of those for whom it is chiefly designed . god's being and providence are proved in general : . from the harmony and connection of the things in the world. where is shew'd wherein this harmony consists , and how the notion of chance is baffled by it . . from their excellent end and designs , the chief of which is to be serviceable to man. both animate and inanimate creatures conspire in this , being actuated by a divine director and disposer . this ruines monsieur des cartes's opinion , whereby he attempts the solving of all things by mechanick principles . this also confounds his denial of final causes in natural philosophy . pag. . chap. ii. the author proceeds to a particular proof of the divine existence and providence from the consideration of the heavenly bodies . the unrivall'd beauty of the sun. the vniversal vsefulness and benefit of it . it s vast dimensions . the transcendent swiftness of its motion . it s regular course through the heavens . where is largely discuss'd the copernican hypothesis concerning the earth's motion , and is proved to be precarious ; because , . it is grounded on this vnphilosophical notion , that it is difficult and troublesom to the vast heavenly bodies to be continually journeying and posting , and therefore the copernicans would free them of this great trouble by laying it upon the earth , which they fancy can bear it better . . it confronts that historical part of the bible , jos. . . isaiah . . in such a plain narration of matter of fact , and that of a miracle , it is not to be supposed that words are spoken any otherwise than according to the real nature of the thing , and the propriety of speech . . it proceeds upon an erroneous and mistaken apprehension concerning the nature of the earth , and the chief inhabitant of it , man : for both of them are far greater than the heavens in real worth and value . . we may as well imbrace the doctrine of transubstantiation , which is an absolute defiance to our senses , as this opinion . objections and evasions framed from custom , and the moving in a ship , answered . . if the trembling of the earth may be felt ( as all grant ) then the violent whirling of it about must needs be more sensible . objections against this answered . demonstrations which depend on the eye-sight are fallible , and have been question'd by the best artists . the modishness of the copernican notion tempts most men to follow it . this is no temptation to the author , who for the reasons premised holds , that the heavens continually roll about the earth , from that effectual impulse which they at first receiv'd from the almighty hand . p. . chap. iii. the oblique course of the sun , being the cause of the vicissitudes of day and night , of winter and summer , which are so beneficial to mankind , is an argument of the divine care and providence . the powerful influence of the moon evidences the same . so do the planetary stars , and fixed ones : which latter are eminent for their magnitude , number , beauty and order , regular course , vse and influence ; all which set forth the wisdom and goodness of the beneficent creator . the study of the stars leads us to god. astronomy vseful . p. . chap. iv. the things which are remarkable in the space between the heavens and the earth administer clear proofs of a deity ; as the air , the winds , the clouds , ( where the late archaeologist is rebuked ) the wonderful ballancing of these latter : their gentle falling down in rain by degrees : the vsefulness of these showers . the rain-bow . thunder and lightning . snow , hail , frost and ice . p. . chap. v. the frame of the earth argues a godhead . a particular account of the torrid zone , and of the two temperate , and two frigid zones : especially the two latter are shew'd to be testimonies of divine providence . the present position of the earth is the same that it was at first , whatever the theorist ( who confutes himself ) suggests to the contrary . against him it is proved that the shape of the earth at this day is not irregular and deformed ; and that the primitive earth was not destitute of hills and mountains . these are of considerable use . the particular advantages of them are recounted , and thence the wise disposal of the creator is inferr'd . p. . chap. vi. vegetables are next consider'd , and their different parts enumerated , and shew'd to be arguments of a divine contriver . their fragrancy , delightfulness , beauty . their various natures , kinds , properties . their vsefulness in respect of food . particular instances of some foreign plants , viz. the metla , the cocus-tree . they are serviceable for physick . the signature of some of them declares their properties , and is a divine impression . p. . chap. vii . god is to be found in the subterraneous world. where are waters , fires , metals , minerals , to which latter belong earths , salts , sulphurs , stones both common and precious . the loadstone particularly considered , and the author's opinion concerning it . he disapproves of the total dissolution of the earth at the deluge , and gives his reason for it . his iudgment touching earth-quakes and trepidations of the earth . he invites the reader to reflect with great seriousness upon the late instance of this kind : and to that purpose offers some remarks upon it . which he closes with a devout address to heaven , to supplicate the averting of the manifestation of the divine displeasure in this kind for the future . p. . chap. viii . the sea , with all its treasures and riches , is another evidence of an omnipotent and all-wise being . the several sentiments of writers concerning its ebbing and flowing are examined . the phaenomenon is resolved into a supernatural efficiency , and why . the saltness of the sea-waters is in order to the preserving them from putrefaction . the sea is kept within its bounds by an almighty arm. god's providence seen in making it both the source and receptacle of all waters . the theorist's conceit of the primitive earth's being without sea , refuted by scripture and reason . the great vsefulness of the sea in several respects . p. . chap. ix . the wisdom and power of god are discern'd in the formation of living creatures that are four-footed : which are distinguish'd according to their hoofs , or their having or not having horns , or their chewing or not chewing the cud. their serviceableness in respect of food , and work or labour . instances of the latter sort . even creeping and groveling animals exalt their creator . fishes ( some of which are of a vaster magnitude than any other kinds of animals ) shew the distinguishing providence of god in the peculiar structure of their bodies , in order to the element they live in . fowls are purposely shaped and contrived for the particular use they were designed for . their food is sometimes extraordinarily provided for them : and sometimes they are supported without it . they are observable for their being musical , for their imitating man's voice , for their beautiful colours . birds of prey are generally solitary . the several incubations of these creatures afford matter of singular remark . the wonderful make and contrivance of their nests speaks a divine architect . p. . chap. x. in the smallness of insects is display'd the skill of the divine artificer . a fly is of a wonderful make. the omnipotent deity is discernable in a bee , and in a silk-worm . the ant is more largely consider'd , viz. as to its indefatigable industry and sagacity : both which are celebrated by all sorts of antient writers . the admirable artifice of the spider in making and hanging her web , and catching her prey . a flea is the workmanship of divinity . mites have organized bodies . p. . chap. xi . it is from a divine author that all animals are fashion'd and contriv'd in their parts and organs , in their senses and faculties , according to the employment , use and end for which they are serviceable . the natural propension in them to propagate their kind is from god. so is their sagacity . this latter is voted for reason by some writers ; who also attribute speech to them . it is proved that this is groundlesly asserted , and that reason is the sole prerogative of those beings that are capable of religion . to those who object the uselesness , nay hurtfulness of several animals , ( as if this were an argument against providence ) it is answered , . though we are not able to assign the vse of some creatures , yet it doth not follow thence that they are useless . . the creatures which seem most vile are a foil to the rest . . there is some thing worthy of our observation in every one of them . . some of these are food for others . . most of them are useful to mankind in a medical way . the author's conjecture concerning the benefit of gnats , fleas , lice , flies , spiders . venomous creatures carry an antidote with them . . the most hurtful animals may be beneficial to man as crosses and afflictions are , which are welcome to the vertuous . . that they generally do so little harm , when they are able to do so much , is a manifestation of the divine care and providence . . the enjoyment of their essence is from the divine bounty , which none ought to repine at . . they are made use of by god sometimes to plague notorious offenders . lastly , that any creatures are noxious , proceeds from the sin of man , and the curse which followed it : wherefore we have no reason to complain of them , or to question the goodness and providence of god. the vast numbers and various kinds of insects are some proof of their vsefulness . all creatures are some ways good , and made for some vse . though we do not see their vsefulness at present , after-ages may discover it . p. . chap. xii . this argument which hath been used all along in this discourse to prove a deity and providence , was made use of in the old testament by job , and by david in several of his divine hymns , ( which are distinctly commented upon ) : by st. paul in the new testament , by the christian writers of the succeeding ages , by pagan philosophers and poets , whose memorable testimonies are cited . the proper inferences from the whole are these ; . we are obliged to own a deity in the visible works of the creation . . we have hence encouragement to contemplate the creatures , and to study the works of nature . . by this contemplation and study we should be induced not only to acknowledg but to worship , love and obey the omnipotent creator , and to devote our whole lives to his service and honour . p. . part ii. chap. i. the body of man is more excellent and perfect than those of other creatures , as to its stature , and several of its organs and vessels . this singular and peculiar workmanship is elegantly expressed in psal. cxxxix . , , . which words are commented upon . in the first noble cavity , viz. the head , are observable , the skull with its sutures and its membranes , with which it is lined ; the brain , the face with its forehead , nostrils , cheeks , lips , chin , mouth , to which latter belong the palate , uvula , tongue , teeth : the wonderful contexture , particular vse and design of all which parts are distinctly set forth , and shew'd to be the effect of stupendous wisdom . page . chap. ii. the excellent fabrick of the ear , and the several parts and organs which contribute to the sense of hearing . the peculiar structure of the eyes ; where a large and full account is given of their humours , coats , muscles , of the eye-brows and eye-lids , and the hair belonging to both . the transcendent usefulness and convenient situation of this part of the body . p. . chap. iii. the neck contains two passages or channels of a very admirable contrivance , viz. the windpipe with its larynx and epiglottis , and the throat or gullet . the second or middle partition of the body , viz. the breast , is also shewed to be the product of an omnipotent and intelligent operator . the particular vse and serviceableness of the lungs , and the peculiar composure of them in order to this . the proper office of the heart . its vessels for conveying of blood. the circulation of this noble liquor . the swiftness of its motion . the situation of the heart . the useful membrane which encloses it . the several vses of the diaphragm . p. . chap. iv. the frame of the third and lowest region of the body speaks a divine artist . the convenient position of the stomach . it s wonderful operation in the concocting of food . the diverse opinions of writers concerning the cause of it . the author 's particular sentiment . an account of the intestines , and of the proper vses of them . the several passages and conveyances of the chyle . the distinct offices of the liver , spleen , pancreas . how this lower partition of the body is guarded and secured . the mutual and necessary correspondence of the brain , heart and stomach , which are the principal contents of the three regions of the body . how by the nerves and animal spirits convey'd in them , all motion and sensation are performed in humane bodies . p. . chap. v. the several kinds of flesh , and how exactly fitted and placed in the body according to their several vses and purposes . why the hinder part of the cranium is so strong and thick . the admirable conformation and contrivance of the vertebra of the neck and back . the particular structure of the hip-bones . the nature and vse of the ribs . how smiting under the fifth rib , sam. . . is to be understood . the peculiar configuration of the bones of the hands . the general vse of the bones , together with the marrow , of the whole body . they are numerous . the nature and serviceableness of the gristles . a distinct enumeration of the several sinks and dreins which are made to carry off excrementitious humours . what is the immediate matter of the seed . what of the milk. the author interposes his opinion . the lymphatick vessels . the pores of the skin . p. . chap. vi. the wonderful formation of the foetus in the womb is an irrefragable argument of the divine wisdom and power . it is so acknowledg'd by david , solomon , hippocrates , harvey , glisson . whether the child all the time of its close confinement be nourish'd with blood , or chyle , by the navel or by the mouth . as its living in the womb , so its safe coming forth thence is the effect of a divine conduct and providence . the secret parts are proofs of a wise and intelligent creator . a reflection on the whole . the body of man a temple . the great variety of workmanship in this structure . st. paul speaks like a natural philosopher . every thing in humane bodies shews wise forecast and design . though some of the hypotheses proceeded on in this part of the discourse should prove faulty , yet the very things themselves will always remain arguments of the divine wisdom , power and goodness . the exact symmetry of man's body proved by several learned writers . the exquisiteness of this fabrick is made use of as an argument for the demonstration of a deity by david , job ( whose observable words are paraphras'd upon ) , isaiah , the great apostle , the christian fathers , learned jews , gentile philosophers and physitians , several of the moderns , as bartholine , diemerbroek , harvey , glisson , willis , lower , boyl , ray. p. . chap. vii . an apology for physicians : wherein there is given an account why they commonly lie under the imputation of irreligion and atheism ; viz. . from a vulgar prejudice which hath prevail'd in the world , and that among gentiles , iews , christians . it had its first rise from that averseness which was justly shew'd to those who were only pretenders to the art , and abused this noble profession . . this prejudice is partly nourish'd by the particular deportment of the persons of this faculty when they visit their patients . . it may perhaps be increas'd by observing how seldom ( in respect of some others ) they appear in places of publick devotion . . it may be occasion'd by their promiscuous converse . . they may by some be thought to have no religion because they have so much philosophy . as for such of this faculty as really favour atheism in their speeches and practices , this is not to be imputed to their particular art and calling , for there are some very bad men of all professions . there are some footsteps of religion in the prescriptions of physitians . galen was in his way devout . modern physitians have been illustrious examples of christian piety and devotion , and great assertors and patrons of our holy religion . a physitian as such is disposed to be a wise and good man. p. . a demonstration of the existence and providence of god , from the contemplation of the greater world. chap. i. the argument of the following discourse is suted to the genius of those for whom it is chiefly designed . god's being and providence are proved in general . . from the harmony and connexion of the things in the world. where is shew'd wherein this harmony consists , and how the notion of chance is baffled by it . . from their excellent end and designs , the chief of which is to be serviceable to man. both animate and inanimate creatures conspire in this , being actuated by a divine director and disposer . this ruines monsieur des cartes's opinion , whereby he attempts the solving of all things by mechanick principles . this also confounds his denial of final causes in natural philosophy . it is certainly a great proof of the catholick degeneracy of this present age , that the minds of men are generally averse to religion and vertue : but it is yet a greater evidence of this degenerate and vile temper , that such numbers of them are backward to acknowledg the divine being himself , and his wise contriving and managing of all things . many arguments have been made use of to baffle this gross piece of impious folly , but still we find it is rampant in the world. many antidotes have been prescribed to expel this poison , but yet we see it is not rooted out , yea in some places it grows more raging and infectious . even those who pretend to be the greatest masters of reason industriously propagate this contagion : that is as much as to say , the men of wit confront and deny what all the wise heads in the world have acknowledged . these latter , whilest they have been searching into the works of nature , have been directly led to a deity . for , as an excellent person saith , * by the greatness and beauty of the creatures , proportionably the maker of them is seen . the works of the creation shew us the creator himself . these are nature's bible , wherein we plainly read a god. which occasion'd plotinus to say , if the world could speak , and we could hear its voice , it would certainly utter these words , god made me . this is the subject of our present undertaking . and i make choice of this argument before all others , because it is one of the most sensible nature , and therefore is fittest to be used when we deal with those that are governed by sense and outward impressions only . this is an argument that they can feel and see , and have a bodily apprehension of , and therefore there may be some hopes of working upon them by it . the wisdom and power of god are legible in the admirable structure of the universe . all created things bear the manifest signatures of a deity . the existence of a divine numen may be inferr'd from the fabrick and contrivance of the world , and all the parts of it . this is that grand truth which i will insist upon : and , . more generally , and at large , i will prove that the creation and make of the world forcibly argue a god. . i will instance in the particular works of the creation . first , to speak of the works of the creation in general , they are arguments of a deity and a most wise disposer of all things , because , . they are so exact and harmonious . . it appears that they are design'd to some excellent ends and purposes first , we cannot but take notice of and admire their exactness and harmony . * the works of god , saith the excellent philo , are so accurate that they cannot possibly be found fault with , reproved or amended , because they are framed with the most consummate skill and art. this marvellous art and wisdom in the make of every creature , ( even the least and meanest ) in the proportion , beauty , distinction , and yet fitness of their parts and organs , are so plain and evident that they cannot possibly escape our observation . this was the meaning of plato's saying , that god doth always act the geometrician , that is , in all his works he keeps an exact proportion and harmony . scan well the nature of things in the universe , and you will see that there is a due correspondence of one thing with another ; all things are fit , sutable and agreeable : there is a convenient and regular subordination of one to another . the clouds are naturally in a propension to fall upon the earth and moisten it , and the earth naturally stands in need of these clouds , and cannot bring forth its fruits without their assistance ; and therefore in time of drought it seems with open mouth to call as 't were for the rain of heaven , and afterwards it gratefully returns it in vapours and exhalations for the producing of clouds again : these clouds and this earth , with their rain and fruits , are absolutely necessary for the use of man and beast , as appears from their impatient craving of these benefits when they are deprived of them . thus god is said to hear the heavens , and they to hear the earth , and the earth to hear the corn , wine and oil , and they to hear his people , hos. . , . it fully , but briefly , expresses the mutual agreement of the works of the creation among themselves , and the dependence of them all upon the supream being . so the difference of sexes , or the constitution and make of male and female in all living creatures , shews that they have a respect to one another , that there is a relative tie and connexion among them , viz. in order to the preserving of the kind , and increasing the number of them , ( whence by the way we may infer that the arabian bird which the poets talk of , of which sort they say there never is but one , is a fiction , for nature designed the propagation of the species . ) and in almost innumerable other instances it might be shew'd that there is this natural dependance of one thing upon another : wheresoever we look we may espy this . hence we find that those profound sages pythagoras and plato frequently inculcate that all things are linked together ; there is an affinity among beings in the world : all things in nature are a-kin to one another . and this heraclitus meant when he said after his obscure manner , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i.e. one and all things in the world have a mutual dependence , they are like the body and the members : their perfection consists in their relation to and connexion with one another . this the royal philosopher often suggests , that the world is of one piece . * all things are tied together as 't were by a sacred tie and bond , so that nothing is a stranger to another : they are all coordinate , and adorn and beautify the same world. now this wonderful sympathy and cognation , this pulchritude and consent of things cannot be without an eternal mind . this excellent order and harmony of the world argue a supream director . † the workman is known from the work it self , as philo saith rightly ; from the make of the world you may gather the author of it : for ( as he adds ) no exact and artificial work is of self-production . wherefore from the admirable artifice of the world's composition , we may conclude that it was not from chance , not from a temerarious ( but lucky ) hit of atoms . what beautiful and stately palace was ever known to be rais'd by chance ; and how then can this massy fabrick , this great amphitheater of the world be thought to have no other rise ? which very argument plutarch long since used to baffle those mens fond conceits who talk'd of fortune in this case . * nothing , saith he , that is fair and goodly hath a fortuitous original , but is wrought by some art. he that sees an excellent clock or watch , made of so many wheels , &c. shewing the hour of the day , and observes the orderly motion of it , will not say it was thus framed by chance : how then can he have the face to say that the sun which rules this artificial work is a casual product ? yea , how can he be so impudent as to say that man himself was but a by-blow ? shall an inanimate machine be extoll'd as the effect of art and invention , and yet shall the artificer himself be voted to be from no such principle ? surely men of sense and brains cannot but blush at such absurd propositions . it was incomparably spoken of maximus tyrius , † be perswaded ( saith he ) that this universe is the harmony of a musical instrument , and that the artificer of it is no other than god. though we should grant the world to have been eternal , yet it is impossible that that immense and eternal matter should dispose it self into such beautiful order without some intelligent substance and contriver . and therefore those who are of opinion that aristotle held the world to be eternal , yet confess that he acknowledg'd it to be from god , and not by chance . for it is unspeakably absurd and ridiculous to say that meer matter fell into this excellent frame we behold it in , and not from a knowing and designing principle ; for casualty is without order , rule or certainty : therefore the fabrick of the world must be from the wisdom of some omnipotent creator , or else we can give no account of the order and graceful disposition of things , and of the harmony of the world , which ( as * seneca saith truly ) consists of discording and contrary qualities . to this purpose an antient christian writer , speaking concerning god , hath these words , † he hath most fitly adorned the universe , and hath reduced the discord of elements into order and concord , that the whole world might be harmonious . and the permanency of this excellent order shews its author : wherefore to that question , * whence doth it appear that there is a god ? iustin martyr gives this answer , from the consistency and lasting order of things in the world. the laws and course of it have remained regular and constant for so many ages : the effects are steady , methodical , and unalterable . this is that admirable † consequence and proportion ( as philo calls it ) which we may observe to be in all things , whereby they are indissolubly chain'd together , and continue with an uninterrupted series . the only account that can be given of this , is what the same author saith , ‖ the eternal law of the eternal god is the most firm and stable basis of the world , and all things in it . thus the works of the creation are a proof of the deity ; their durable harmony evince a god. chance could not effect all these great and wondrous things , it could not produce such a glorious fabrick , neither can it uphold and sustain it : wherefore we may infer that there is an omniscient creator , a wise artificer . secondly , as the admirable order , so the excellent end and design of the works of the creation demonstrate the being of a god. not only men and angels , which are the flower of the creation , act for some end ; but all other creatures of a lower rank may be said to do so likewise : even things that are inanimate and void of sense act for some purpose . the sun warms , and the clouds moisten the earth , but not for themselves ; and the earth thus warmed and moistened produces herbs and fruits , but not for it self , but for the several animals which inhabit on it , man especially who rules over them . but this will not go down with some , particularly the theorist : * to say ( saith he ) that the world was made for the sake of man is absurd , and better deserves to be censured for an heresy in religion , than many opinions that have been censured for such . and then in order to this he degrades and defames man in a most scandalous manner , ( as if he were no sharer in humane nature himself ) he makes him a very paultry creature , a poor sorry scrub ; and then at last he cries out ( i wish he had forborn ) is this the great creature which god hath made by the might of his power , and for the honour of his majesty , ( thus comparing the almighty to nebuchadnezzar ) upon whom all things must wait , to whom all things must be subservient ? i delight not in quoting such passages as these , but there is a kind of necessity of doing so , that mens minds may not be corrupted and debauch'd by such ill language , which i hope may be in part prevented by my cautioning against it . and here , by the way , seeing i now have , and shall frequently afterwards have occasion to mention some opinions of this ingenious gentleman , and to argue against them ; i do here once for all declare that nothing of this nature is done by me from a principle of contradiction , or a delight to oppose this or any other author's assertions . no : i most solemnly profess and acknowledg that i bear a due regard to the wit and invention of his hypotheses , which are very diverting and entertaining . but because i am verily perswaded that they are defective as to truth , i on that account offer a refutation of them . but i would not be thought to say any thing out of pique , or so much as an inclination to reflect with contempt or disgrace on any man's person or undertakings , and particularly those of the ingenious and learned theorist . it is wholly from a just and deep sense of their opposition to that great standard of truth in this kind , viz. moses's writings , that i appear against them . and i think it is a good and justifiable employment to assert and defend the mosaick verity : and whilst i am about this work , i reckon i am in an honourable post. that the world is made for man , is no such daring proposition as some pretend it is . the heavens above him , and the earth beneath him , are for his sake . even those former , the heavenly bodies , are made for him , or else you can never make sense of the psalmist's words , psal. . , . when i consider thy heavens , the work of thy fingers , the moon and stars which thou hast ordained , then i say , what is man that thou art mindful of him , and the son of man that thou visitest him ? whence it is evident that these glorious creatures ( so bright , so beautiful , so remarkable ) were created and provided for the use and benefit of man , and that god sheweth how mindful he is of him , and how he delights to visit him , i. e. to discover an extraordinary kindness to him above all other creatures , by providing the world and all things in it for him . it is true , the heavens are made for the angels as well as man ; but yet we know that even these excellent beings ( though they be of higher nature that he ) are ministring spirits , and employed for the good of mankind , especially of the choicest part of them , the heirs of salvation . so that not only the heavens , but the inhabitants thereof are for man's sake . but it is enough for my present purpose that the sublunary world , and the heavens ( of which we are to treat ) serve man , and were made for him . this the stoicks were great assertors of ; and particularly * tully , who was a friend to that grave sect , defends it . man is as it were the center of the world in respect of final causes , saith a † profound philosopher of our own . and though this be denied by des cartes , and some of late , ( who would pretend to imitate him in that as well as in some other things ) yet till there be assigned better arguments for their opinion than we hitherto find , we have reason to hold fast our proposition , that the world was made for the sake of man. even inanimate creatures are accommodated to his use and service , and the whole creation some way or other is for his good. yet it is certain that they have no knowledg or foresight , no consultation or deliberation , and consequently can understand nothing of this end which they are made and continually act for . wherefore we must necessarily grant that there is an omniscient principle that acts them , there is a wise and understanding being that directs and governs them . it must be ascribed to this , and this alone , that irrational and dumb creatures , yea such as have no sensitive perception , act so orderly , and with a tendency to an end : and this they do not seldom , but constantly and perpetually . we see and observe that there is an uninterrupted course of the sun and moon , and other heavenly bodies in order to our welfare , which could not possibly be procured without them : and we see and are convinced that other senseless creatures are directed to an end , and miss it not : all natural agents ( of what kind soever ) have a regular and fixed tendency to what is profitable for the universe . the short is , any man that is not wilfully blind may see that there is design and contrivance in the world's creation , and in all the parts of it , and that there is an end pursued even by those beings which have no sense or reason : whence we cannot but conclude that seeing these are void of all counsel , and consequently do not act thus by any counsel of their own ; therefore they do it by another's . there is some intelligent agent and principle , there is some wise over-ruling cause that directs and governs them , and purposely produced them for such ends and uses . will not any understanding and considerate man grant that this director and governour is god ; who as he is the ruler , so was the author and architect of the world ? it was he that first endued them with such a nature and instinct , whereby they tend to their particular good and end , and also to the universal good of the world. yea , those things which are contrary to one another , conspire in one common end. we must be forced to give our suffrage to what one of the antients said , there is god , * who hath commodiously framed and ordered all the parts of the universe for the advantage of the whole : as they have their existence from him , so they are actuated by him . and it is utterly impossible to conceive that they can be able to act as they do , i. e. for certain ends and purposes , unless there were an higher agent to direct them . the end and contrivance of things undeniably prove the divinity , and confute blind chance and fortune , yea and necessity too ; which latter is held by spinosa , and accordingly † he asserts that god himself hath no certain end or design in what he doth . thus whether you respect the order and beauty of the creatures , or the end and design of them , it is evident that they are arguments of a deity . the whole frame of nature cries out that there is a god : all the creatures confess that they are not of themselves , but from an other . in vain hath the french philosopher attempted to prove that we may give an account of all the phaenomena of the visible world from matter and meer mechanical motion . i say , in vain was this attempt made , though i deny not that the noble author of it hath shewed a great deal of wit and art in the prosecution of it , and hath said more than any other man ever did , or perhaps could in defence of this hypothesis . but any impartial judg that hath perused what the learned * dr. more hath offer'd against it , will pronounce it to be a vain enterprize , and indeed utterly unphilosophical . he hath demonstrated that there is not any necessary causality in matter , whereby such effects are produced , that there is no such immutable law implanted in it , no such original and independent power , but that it is derived wholly from a higher principle . by sundry arguments he irrefragably baffles the notion of solving all things by mechanick principles , but by no topick more effectually than that which i have propounded , viz. the wise contrivances in the works of nature . mere motion is no designer , no contriver , therefore it can't be the cause of those things which we daily see . we must then rationally as well as necessarily infer an all-wise being from the operations of the creatures , for we see that they are directed to some end. and as to what des cartes saith , that the ends of the creating of things are not known to us unless god be pleased to reveal them , i refer the reader to the * honourable mr. boyl , who hath professedly writ against this doctrine , and hath with undeniable demonstrations confounded it ; that is , he hath most clearly and convincingly shew'd that the ends and designs of god in the works of the creation are manifestly known , and in abundant instances he shews that they are most obvious and apparent . he denies not that in some of god's works the ends designed are somewhat obscure , and seem to be beyond our reach ; but then it is as true that in most of them the ends and uses are manifest , and the exquisite fitness of the means is conspicuous . and ( as he observes ) by this way of ordering and managing things , the most wise author of them doth both gratify our understandings , and make us sensible at the same time of the imperfection of them . indeed this must be said , that cartesius's opinion , viz. that the consideration of final causes , hath nothing to do in philosophy , is consistent enough with his own principles : for , if all that we see in the bodies of animals , and elsewhere in the world , be merely mechanical , then there is no contrivance , no art , because he holds all to be the natural result of matter ; and consequently there is no end , and ( which follows from that ) there is no signature of divine wisdom in the framing of them . but this conceit of his of mechanism hath been justly exploded by all the great masters of reason who have handled this subject ; and the excellent person before-named hath for ever silenc'd that opinion , if convictive arguments can silence it . therefore des cartes's denial of final causes falls to the ground , because it hath nothing to support it now since that foundation is removed . mr. boyl hath observed well ( not only like a philosopher but a christian ) that this french wit , by his throwing aside final causes , hath thereby deprived his disciples of the chief end of natural philosophy , which is to set forth the praises of god , and to admire his goodness and wisdom in the fabrick of the universe . but if we will truly philosophize , we must by no means shut out the consideration of the ends of the creation , but we must with great diligence and study enquire into them , and acquaint our selves with them : and then by seeing and observing the world we shall learn to know a god , we shall be brought to acknowledg and adore an infinitely wise author who appointed all things their ends , as well as gave them their beginning . and now having thus spoken in general , i will descend to particulars , and consider the whole visible structure and system of the world as to its several parts . here we will contemplate , . the heavens . . those things which are observable between the heavens and the earth . . the earth . . the sea. . the inhabitants that belong to these several regions , aerial , terrestrial , aquatile . all these proclaim a god , an omnipotent supream being , a wise and provident governour . chap. ii. the author proceeds to a particular proof of the divine existence and providence from the consideration of the heavenly bodies . the unrivall'd beauty of the sun. the vniversal vsefulness and benefit of it . it s vast dimensions . the trascendent swiftness of its motion . it s regular course through the heavens . where is largely discuss'd the copernican hypothesis concerning the earth's motion , and is proved to be precarious ; because , . it is grounded on this vnphilosophical notion , that it is difficult and troublesome to the vast heavenly bodies to be continually journeying and posting , and therefore the copernicans would free them of this great trouble , by laying it upon the earth , which they fancy can bear it better . . it confronts that historical part of the bible , jos. . . isa. . . in such a plain narration of matter of fact , and that of a miracle , it is not to be supposed that words are spoken any otherwise than according to the real nature of the thing , and the propriety of speech . . it proceeds upon an erroneous and mistaken apprehension concerning the nature of the earth , and the chief inhabitant of it , man : for both of them are far greater than the heavens in real worth and value . . we may as well imbrace the doctrine of transubstantiation , which is an absolute defiance to our senses , as this opinion . objections and evasions framed from custom , and the moving in a ship answered . . if the trembling of the earth may be felt ( as all grant ) then the violent whirling of it about must needs be more sensible . objections against this answered . demonstrations which depend on the eye-sight are fallible , and have been questioned by the best artists . the modishness of the copernican notion tempts most men to follow it . this is no temptation to the author , who , for the reasons premised , holds that the heavens continually roll about the earth , from that effectual impulse which they at first received from the almighty hand . i begin with the heavens , that immense space where the sun and stars are placed , that vast expansum which contains the great and glorious luminaries of the world ( for i speak not any thing of angels , the blessed inhabitants of this upper part of the creation ; as afterwards when i shall treat of man i shall say nothing of his soul , because i have design'd to discourse only of the visible world. ) these heavens declare the glory of god , and the firmament sheweth his handy-work , psal. . . they tell aloud who was their author , even the same who is the infinite and bountiful source of all things . he framed this molten looking-glass ( job . . ) this solid and bright mirrour of his own majesty , that we might behold him and his perfections in it . and yet he stretched out the heavens like a curtain , ( psal. . . ) as a vail to shrowd as it were the amazing excellency of the divine glory from mortal eyes , although from thence he distributes all the tokens of his liberality and kindness to us . there is nothing more evident than that the heavenly bodies were made for the good of mankind , i. e. to influence on the earth , to shine , to give rain from the clouds , to yield heat and moisture , &c. which is expressed by their hearing the earth , in that fore-mentioned place hos. . . where god is likewise said to hear them ; for they do as it were by their natural frame and disposition desire of god to be beneficial to the earth , and the inhabitants of it . and he doth hear ( or as 't is in the hebrew ) answer , and fulfil the natural inclinations of these celestial bodies , which have a tendency to man's good and advantage . and that the end and use of them is to be serviceable to mankind , is clear from the first institution and appointment of them : god made two great lights , the greater light to rule the day , the lesser light to rule the night : he made the stars also , gen. . . viz. to rule the night . and what can we imagine this government of day and night to be for but to serve the necessities of man ? of these celestial bodies i will speak particularly , and first of the sun , that great and vast source of light , that glorious eye of the world which penetrates into the darkest recesses on earth , and lays them open and visible : though such is its sovereign majesty that it will let nothing be seen in the heavens but it self , it blots out all the stars with its redundant and unrivall'd lustre ; yea , such is its radiant glory that it will not suffer us to gaze upon it . that which is the cause of seeing all things , will scarcely be look'd upon it self . this is the prince of the heavenly luminaries , as * arnobius speaks , by whom all things are array'd and deck'd with the robes of light. this is emphatically call'd † the light , or the fire , ( for vr signifies both ) because it not only illuminates but warms the world with its powerful rays . unto the former quality we are beholden for our ability to see how to dispatch our business and work. our bodily eyes would be useless without this of the world , for they would serve us to no purpose of life : and the whole earth would be but one dark dungeon . and it is not only for necessity but pleasure that this light is given us , for to it we owe the several beautiful colours which ravish our sight , for these are the various modifications of its light and splendour . from the latter quality with which this glorious body is endued , the earth receives all its fecundity and fruitfulness , and all animals their vigour and activity . for the sun is the grand cherisher of all things , the common parent of life , the foster-father of the world. because of this transcendent excellency the pagans ascribed divine nature to it . yea , others ( both iews and christians ) though they went not so high , yet were of opinion that the sun is an intelligent being . this was the apprehension of * maimonides , and of † manasseh ben israel : and ‖ origen long before these held the same . which extravagancy we can attribute to nothing but their very high esteem which they had of this glorious and beneficial gift of the creator . next to its beauty and usefulness we might consider its stupendous magnitude , which calls for our admiration , and commands us at the same time to admire with a most profound reverence the divine immensity from whence it had its original . it is some thousand times greater than the moon ; and a hundred and forty , others say a hundred and sixty , others say eightscore and odd times bigger than the earth , ( for the opinions of authors are different about the dimensions not only of the sun , but of the moon , stars , and earth , their computations varying because their hypotheses of the heavenly system and the distances of these bodies from one another are disagreeing ; ) but 't is acknowledged by all that the body of the sun is of a wonderfully vast bigness ; they all agree that it is much above a hundred times larger than the whole earth , and they unanimously reject and explode epicurus and that philosopher of the italian sect , * who held the sun is no bigger than it appears to us to be . again , the admirable motion and course of this glorious luminary require and deserve our contemplation : and here we shall plainly observe the footsteps of an extraordinary and divine power . first , the constancy of its motion is matter of admiration : whence it was ( as * plato thought ) that the heavenly bodies , and this more especially , were call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as if their never-failing course argued them to be divine . and it appears from † macrobius likewise that they had that denomination from their incessant running ; as if this were a stamp and impress of divinity . secondly , not only the perpetuity of the sun's motion , but the swiftness of it is remarkable , which is very elegantly express'd to us by the inspired poet , psal. . . he rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race , he resembles some celebrated athletick that is famous for his nimbleness of feet , and always outruns those whom he strives with , and wins the prize from them . this celestial racer , as the skilfullest mathematicians inform us , runs degrees in an hour ; and seeing a degree in the heavens is german miles , i. e. italian or english ones , we may infer that he measures about miles in an hour . though this illustrious body be of that huge bulk and magnitude which i before mentioned , yet this is its marvellous speed and career . because of this great celerity wings are attributed to the sun , mal. . . ( but applied in a spiritual manner to the sun of righteousness ) he flies rather than runs . and in allusion to this is the psalmist's expression , if i take the wings of the morning , psal. . . i. e. if i make as much haste as the sun doth when it sets out in the morning , and flies from the east to the west in a few hours ; or if i hasten as fast as the sun-beams do when at its rising they spread themselves over the horizon . the rapid motion of the sun , the swift and sudden passage of its light are its wings . the like manner of expression is used by lycophron , who speaking of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aurora , attributes pegasus's wings to it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it flew over a certain promontory with the swift wings of pegasus . and for this reason perhaps pegasus is said by the greeks to be the son of aurora . but , thirdly , the regularity of the sun's motion is that which i shall chiefly insist upon , and thence demonstrate that there is a higher cause and author that gave it this orderly progress . as it hath a monthly motion through a twelfth part of the zodiack , and passes through the whole every year ; so it every day runs about the earth . though i know according to some late philosophers this globe of the earth is daily moved about its own axis , as well as yearly through the zodiack . these men have taken pity of this part of the world which was thrust into the center of it , and have set it up higher . and the sun , as if it were some malicious spy and betrayer of secrets , is detruded by them into the lowest part of the world , the earth's former place . and accordingly they tell us that the earth turning round its own axis in hours from west to east , makes day and night ; day in that part which being turn'd toward the sun it receives the rays thereof , night in that part which is turn'd from the sun. and the earth , besides this diurnal motion , hath an annual one , they say ; that is , in months time it goes round about the sun : and hereby it is that the sun seems to be joined with or opposed to such and such stars . but though i dislike no modest and sober assertions of philosophick heads , and i reject no hypothesis merely because it is new , ( though i must needs say that pythagoras and one or two more of the antient philosophers speak as if they had believ'd such a thing ) yet i find little reason to embrace this , notwithstanding copernicus hath so many disciples of late ; yea though * iacob behmen ( that this piece of philosophy might be even iure divino ) tells us that he received the doctrine of the earth's turning round from the spirit by revelation . i do not lay any stress ( as some i find have done ) on such passages of scripture as that in psal. . . he laid the foundations of the earth , that it should not be moved for ever , and other places which have expressions that denote the stability and fixedness of the earth ( though i must needs say we ought to have regard to the very phraseology of the holy writings . ) there is no absolute proof from these texts , no more than there is on the other side for the rotation of the earth , from such places of scripture that mention the moving of the earth , or from the etymology of the hebrew word eretz terra , which some derive from rutz currere . to which might be opposed the derivation of vesta , which is one of the names of the earth , * stat vi terra suâ ; vi stando vesta vocatur . the earth ( which is the same with vesta ) hath its denomination from its standing : which by the way shews what was the sentiment of the antients concerning this matter ; they verily thought and believ'd that the earth stands still . but , to pass this by , i am induced to disbelieve the circular motion of the earth after the rate that the copernicans assert it , for these following reasons . . this supposes the sun and the other heavenly bodies to be without motion , or to have a very inconsiderable one : for the grand reason , you must know , why they assert the rolling about of the earth , is because they would free those vaster bodies of the sun and stars from this troublesome motion . they would save them the labour of such long journeyings and postings . it is more fitting and reasonable , they say , that this terrestrial spot should be in perpetual agitation than that the huge and spacious orbs of the sun and stars should wheel constantly about . yea , some of them have founded it upon a culinary maxim , viz. that the meat which is to be roasted turns round with and upon the spit ( its axis ) before the fire : but we do not see that the fire turns round about the meat . just so the earth turns it self round to the sun , to roast it self , and who would expect any other thing ? they are the very words of a * great astronomer . this is their kitchin-astronomy , and they talk more like cooks than philosophers . if we would speak like these latter , we must confess that this rest ( which they suppose ) of those great firy bodies is against the very nature of them , which is active and stirring , and tends to a circumgyration . therefore it is an unphilosophical thought to imagine that the vast bodies of the heavens stand still , seeing their very nature is to be in continual motion . the etherial part , and especially the globes of light are made for agitation , yea their essence consists in it , for fire is nothing else but fine and subtile matter in motion . wherefore if we conceive aright of things , we shall apprehend it very reasonable to believe that the celestial bodies are in perpetual motion , and that they move not only about their center , but sally out into a progressive motion , and constantly remove from one place to another , at least in respect of the other bodies that are about them , or are in other spheres or orbits : for we do not now go upon the notion which des cartes hath of local motion , according to whom the earth doth not properly move , but only its vortex in which it swims ; whilst the earth it self is all the time in perfect rest , because it changes not its place , but continues in the same space it was in at first . but we deal not now with the cartesians but the copernicans , who hold that the heavens ( properly speaking ) stir not out of their place , but may be said to stand still ; or however in comparison of the body of the earth they may be said to have but an inconsiderable motion : for this is one argument which is used by them for their opinion , viz. that it is not likely that such huge vast bodies as these , and so many of them should be set a moving , whenas the earth is of a small bulk in respect of them , and might soon be turned about , and besides it is but one single body . this hath been the constant reasoning ( if i may so call it ) of those that adhere to the copernican system . galilaeus argues after this manner in his * system of the world ; and so † kepler infers the motion of the earth from its smallness , and the greatness of the heavenly bodies . another ‖ great mathematician uses this comparison , the earth is more easily moved ( saith he ) than the celestial luminaries , as a mother with more ease can take her children and set them at the fire to warm them , than she can remove the fire to them . thus they all along fancy that it is a very troublesome thing for these huge globes to remove from place to place : they conceit that the greatness of these bodies makes them uncapable of moving with ease . but this is unphilosophical , and therefore we may justly look upon the argument drawn from it as so too . what man of unprejudiced thoughts can perswade himself that * varenius ( who sums up in brief the sense of all the copernicans ) discourses closely when he saith , it will appear that the earth moves about its axis , if we consider the vast magnitude of the stars in respect of the earth . the sun is above two hundred times bigger than the earth , and the fixed stars are above a thousand times bigger than it . now , is it not more likely that the earth moves than that these vast bodies move from place to place ? i answer , no : the thing is not at all likely , for the vaster these bodies are , the more easy is their motion . this is plain , because where there are the more parts in motion , there the impulse is stronger and more vehement : and where there is this vehemency the motion must needs be facile , it being put on with so much strength and vigour ; especially , if we remember that god impress'd this motion at the very first , and so it is natural , and consequently is easy . this , i think , sufficiently proves that they who argue from the bigness of the sun and other heavenly bodies to the stability and rest of them , have no ground in reason and philosophy . no : they talk after a popular manner , and because they see that bulky persons do not stir about with that nimbleness which is observ'd in others of a lesser size , they think it is so with the sun and stars , or that they are idle and lazy , and loth to bestir themselves . or it may be they proceed on that vulgar maxim , viz. that great bodies move slowly . and because that those of the heavens are very great , they will not suffer them to move at all ; forgetting in the mean time that it is their very nature to move , and that their make and constitution prompt them to it . secondly , the copernican opinion seems to confront a higher principle than that of reason . if we will speak like men of religion , and such as own the bible , we must acknowledg that their assertion is against the plain history of the holy book ; for there we read that * the sun stood still in ioshua's time , and † went back in king hezekiah's . now , this relation is either true or false , ( it must be one of them ) : if it be the latter , then the inspired scripture is false , which i take to be as great an absurdity as any man can be reduced to : if it be the former , i. e. if the relation be really true , then the sun hath a diurnal motion about the earth ; for the sun 's standing still could not be a strange and wonderful thing ( as it is here represented ) unless its general course was to move . this any man of sense will grant . and so likewise the sun 's going back doth necessarily imply that it went forward before : and if it did so , surely it moved . this i think no man can deny , and consequently it is evident that the sun hath a progressive motion , and goes from one part of the heavens to the other . if it be said ( as it is suggested by some ) that the sun only seemed to stand or to go backward , then farewell all miracles , for they may be only seeming ones according to this answer : which is as much as to say , there are no such things in truth and reality . if it be said ( as i know it is ) that this manner of speaking is only in compliance with the speech and notion of the vulgar , i grant indeed that the scripture speaks so very often , ( as i have * elsewhere shew'd from several instances both in the old and new testament ) : yea even when it makes mention of some of the heavenly bodies , the expressions are according to the capacity and common apprehension of men , and not according to the accuracy of the thing . so that i do not think that a body of natural philosophy , or a system of astronomy , is to be composed out of the bible ; this being design'd for a far greater and higher purpose : yet this i say that whenever the scripture speaks after the foresaid manner , concerning these things and several others , it doth it in that manner that we may plainly see that the words are not to be taken strictly and properly , but only in a popular way , as might be shew'd in abundant instances . but it is not so here , for in the forenamed places we have matter of fact plainly and directly set down ; we are told what prodigious things happen'd in those days , viz. that upon the request of ioshua the sun stood still ( as well as the moon stayed ) : and that we might not think that this is spoken popularly , and meerly according to the common notion of men , the very same words are repeated , and others are added to convince us that they must be meant in the plain and proper sense of them . so the sun stood still , yea in the midst of heaven , and hastned not to go down about a whole day . all this is said to let us know that it was a reality , and not an appearance ; that what is here said is spoken properly , and not in conformity to a receiv'd opinion . and if it should be said that the hebrew word used in the former of these places is dum , which signifies to be silent , as well as to stand still ; any one that is not prejudiced may see that it is here of the latter signification : for in the next verse gnamad stetit is the word , and is apply'd to the moon , and immediately after to the sun : and the seventy translate it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and so in the other place it is in plain and intelligible terms related that the sun returned ten degrees , by which degrees it was gone down : than which there can't be more perspicuous terms to assure us that the sun it self really moved backward . though vulgar expressions are used at other times by the sacred writers ( which is readily acknowledged ) yet in such a case as this , when there is a plain narration of what happened , and when it is a supernatural and extraordinary occurrence , even a miracle that is spoken of , we cannot reasonably bring our selves to believe that they merely conform to the apprehensions of others , but we must needs be perswaded that they speak according to the nature of the things themselves . the upshot then is this , that the sun moves round in a diurnal motion , or else we must hold that the standing of it , and its going back were no miracles . this to me is a very considerable argument , and i suppose will be thought so by those who reverence the holy scriptures , and believe the historical part of them to be true . thirdly , men do not frame right notions concerning this lower world and the nature of it , whilst they defend the other hypothesis : for i find that they have a very mean opinion of this terrestrial habitation , such indeed as is both unworthy of god , and of themselves the chief inhabitants of it . for tho the earth be a dull sediment in respect of the bodies of the sun and stars , and though it be a shrivel'd point in comparison of those vast globes , yet this is to be remembr'd that i● far surpasses all those celestial regions , and whatever is in them , because it is made the seat of man of whom god hath so great a care , and to whom he bears so ineffable a love. what are the heavens in comparison of this glorious creature ? what is the brightest constellation in respect of the organiz'd fabrick of humane bodies ? what is the sun if compar'd with the rational soul of man ? god hath signally honoured and dignified the earth with making it the receptacle and dwelling place of this his most beloved favourite . i say most beloved , for the singularity of divine love was shew'd in restoring mankind , when the like favour was denied to the apostate angels . the very glorified saints above are but a colony of this earth , transplanted hence to those superior habitations . yea , the angelical spirits ( next to their attending on the divine majesty , and enjoying his more immediate presence ) were made to be servants to this darling of his love. he that considers this ( and whoever doth not , reflects not on the prerogative of his nature ) must be forced to acknowledg that man outshines all the world besides , and is crowned with glory and honour above all other created beings , and that the place of his abode is a palace , a paradise : for it is made such by so noble , so divine an inhabitant dwelling there . he therefore forms a wrong notion of this terrestrial world who doth not prize it for the sake of the choicest creature in it , and because of the peculiar privileges and honours conferr'd upon it . the earth was purposely made by god to be the residence of man , who is the glory of the creation ; it was appointed to be the scene of all humane actions , to be the delightful resort of angels and arch-angels , to be the happy ground on which the holy jesus ( god and man ) was to tread , and to be the stage whereon the blessed millennium shall be celebrated . the earth thus considered is not inferiour to the sun , moon and stars ; yea it far excels them : and though it be much lesser in space and quantity , yet in these forenamed respects it is far greater and nobler than they . therefore those who prefer these to that ( in the latitude wherein i have represented it ) esteem things by their bulk and magnitude , and not by their real worth. of this number was our countreyman gilbert , else he would not have said , * it is ridiculous that the heavens should move for our sake , and for the sake of the earth which is so small a globe . and yet observe the rashness of this writer , and of others who talk after this rate : man is less than the earth ( that i suppose they will not deny ) , why then is the earth according to them moved about for his sake ? so they plainly confute themselves by this argument from the bulk of the bodies : therefore let this be never mentioned again . when we behold a king incircled with his whole court , and attended on by officers and guards , and a numerous retinue , we can't but acknowledg that all these take up a great deal more room , and make a greater shew than he doth : yet they were all of them design'd but to be his attendants , and to be serviceable to him , i. e. to his royal person and government . just so it is here , man is the king and monarch of this inferiour world , * god hath made him to have dominion over the works of his hands : he hath put all things under his feet : all sheep and oxen , yea , and the beast of the field : the fowl of the air , and the fish of the sea , and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas . thus god hath placed him here to rule and govern ; and all the spacious heavens round about him are but his attendants and ministers , they are the train of this great prince , whom god out of his immense bounty and philanthropy hath made so in this terrestrial world. and this beloved of god , this minion of heaven is fitly seated in the middle of the whole world , in the heart of the universe , and is environ'd with stars , and enclosed and protected with a shining and flaming guard. the glorious furniture of the heavens is for his service as well as state and royalty . those vast luminaries shine , those lofty flambeaus burn to give him light . those globes of fire are to warm and chear him , and they all keep their constant rounds for that very purpose . it is true , they are larger and more splendid than man , or whatever we see on the earth , yea than the earth it self : but yet it is certain that they were all made for the use of this lower region and center of the world , they were design'd by god to be serviceable , yea tributary to it , and therefore they continually move , and act , and are restless in their service , whilst the earth stands unmoveable to receive their influence , and whilst man sits still and is waited upon by them . i know it will be said that the earth is of the same make and constitution with the moon and the other planets , because they are opake bodies as this is , and therefore this must be reckoned as one of them , and consequently deserves not that character which i have given it . but the answer is easy , namely that though we allow the earth to have affinity with the planets in respect of its opacity , yet it follows not thence that they are equal to it in other regards . if they could prove that mercury and venus , or the moon it self are inhabited by mankind , then indeed they might have something to alledg to the purpose ; but this they are never able to do , and those who have attempted it have been laught at for their pains . the voyage to the world in the moon was a wild conceit ; and it is a sign the moon had an influence on the author . there is but one stock of mankind ; and there is but one earth that receives them and is the place of their abode . this dark spot then ( if you will so call it ) is a peculiar , it is not to be likened to any other part of the universe , for it is the only habitation of the sons of men , who were so entirely beloved of god that he himself became man. nay , it surpasses all the planets in other respects , for they are not stock'd with vegetables of all sorts , they are not enrich'd with metals and minerals , they abound not with animals of various kinds . there are no such things there as these which i have named : and he that saith the contrary let him prove it . there is therefore a great mistake in the foresaid allegation or objection ; for though our earth may be said to be another moon if we speak of it as a dark and a solid body , yet there is no likeness or equality between them , if we consider the particular honour done by the almighty to this part of the world , above all others besides , in making it the treasury of those things which i last mentioned , and also the dwelling-place of those choice creatures who have the happy privilege of being loved and honoured by him above all other beings in the world. this is the notion i have of this matter , and though i were not absolutely and infallibly sure that it is true , yet i am certain it is very rational and accountable , and i am sure no man can disprove it : no , not he that hath so publickly defamed and libell'd our mother earth , calling it mere ruines and rubbish , a broken and confused mass , an indigested pile , a monstrous and deformed lump , a little dirty planet , the dirt and scum of the creation ; for these are his cleanly expressions in his english theory . this is not the stile of a philosopher , nor is it the language of truth , for in respect of the several things before-named the earth is the most excellent part of the visible and material creation . fourthly , i would argue thus , why do we check and gall ( and not undeservedly ) the romanists with this , that they deny their senses in holding of transubstantiation ? and why do we condemn the doctrine of transubstantiation for being contradictory to the verdict of our senses , if we hold that the earth turns round notwithstanding we have no notice of it in the least by our senses ? or , can we be wheel'd and hurl'd about every minute as fast as we can imagine , and yet have no apprehension of it , not only not feeling the earth move under us , but not perceiving the air at all moved , nor having any intimation of it by our sight , or any other sense at any time of our whole lives ? this is not to be believ'd , and why therefore do any take the confidence to assert the earth's moving under them when they have no sense of it ? for this is certain that if there be any such thing , it is the proper object of sensation . but if we admit this which is so much against our senses , we may as well embrace transubstantiation , which is a defiance to our senses . if any man satisfactorily answers this , i shall be enclined to be a copernican , and i shall have a great temptation to believe the doctrine of transubstantiation , i mean upon this account of our senses , though there are other arguments which are purely theological that will for ever uphold the contrary belief in me . in short , it is strange to me that such a considerable piece of natural philosophy as this , the object of which is corporeal and sensible , should have no proof from any of the senses . a romanist with his hoc est corpus may solve the matter , but i do not see how this can be the philosophy of one of the reformed . i know it is usually said that the vertigo of the earth is not felt , or perceived by us , because we are used to it . indeed if this motion were slow and gentle , this might pass for a good solution : but when it is very swift and rapid , fierce and violent , ( as they suppose it to be ) we cannot imagine that custom will wholly take away the sense of it , and that we shall neither discern it with our eyes , nor with our ears , nor with our touch. that of the pythagoreans is as plausible , that the heavenly orbs make an excellent melody and harmonious sound , but men by their continual being used to it hear it not . the asserters of the earth's motion may in time perswade their disciples that there is such a thing as the musick of the earth , as well as the spheres . but they tell us that we must not expect to be sensible of this motion of the earth ; for when a man is in a ship under sail , suppose he be in a cabin , or in any place under deck , he can't discern whether the ship moves . but this doth not reach our case , for we are not cabin'd or shut up in the earth . besides , to go on strait in a direct line ( as a ship in its general course ) and to be violently whirl'd about with the earth , are two different things : for i suppose they do not speak of a ship in a storm or tempest , for then the motion of it is sufficiently discern'd , though a man were coop'd up in his cabin , or were lodg'd in the hold. and then , if we suppose a man upon the deck and looking about him , whilst the ship is under sail ; he can easily satisfy himself that the vessel moves , though there be no other ships , or no land in view : for if he throws out into the sea a barrel , or any other thing that will swim upon the waters , he will discern by his eye that the ship moves , because that which he cast into the sea will speedily be out of his sight ; and the faster he sails the sooner will he lose the sight of it , whereby he certainly knows that the ship was in motion . therefore i conceive this instance which they make use of is not available to the end for which they produce it . again , i argue thus , the motion of the earth can be felt , or it cannot : if they hold it cannot , they are confuted by earth-quakes , i do not mean those that are accompanied with violent eruptions of the inclosed vapours , and a downfal of some part of the earth , which are more than a simple motion , but i mean the gentler tremblings of the earth , of which there are abundant instances in history , and we our selves have had one not long since ; so that by too true an experiment we are taught that the earth's motion may be felt . if this were not a thing that had been frequently experienc'd , i confess they might have something to say , they might put us off with this , that it is not possible to perceive the moving of the earth : but now they cannot evade it thus ; they must be forc'd to acknowledg the motion of it is sensible . if then they hold this , i ask why this motion also which they speak of is not perceived by us ? can a man perswade himself that the light trepidation of this element can be felt , and yet the rapid circumvolution of it cannot ? are we presently apprehensive of the earth's shaking never so little under us ? and yet have we no apprehension at all of our continual capering about the sun ? but they will say it is another sort of motion , and they say right : but then they must remember that it is a motion that is much more easily perceived than the other , for that is but a jogging of the earth , whereas this is a fierce and vehement whirling it round about . who therefore can deny that this is more sensible than that ? and if it be more sensible , what is the reason that according to them we have no perception of it ? or , is a thing sensible , and yet not the object of sense ? nay truly , if the earth were hurl'd about in a circle , ( as these persons assert ) we should feel it to our sorrow , for we should not be able to keep our ground , but must necessarily be thrown off , and all houses and other buildings would be thrown down , being forcibly shaked off from the circumference of the earth , as things that are laid on a wheel are flung off by it when it turns round . this you will find demonstrated by * dr. more . it may be they will say there is a difference between a motion of a part of the earth ( as in the usual shakings of it ) and of the whole ( as in the present case ) : yes , i grant a difference , but it makes against them , for the the moving of the whole terrestrial mass is a more sensible thing than the motion of a part of it only . therefore if we feel this latter , we may feel the former , i. e. we may feel it if there be any such thing : but it is evident there is no such thing , because we have no sense at all of it . for this and other reasons i take the immobility of the earth to be an unshaken verity : i hold it a consistent and rational system , that the earth is the steady center of the material world , and that the sun and fixed stars with their innate light , and the planets with their borrow'd one , wheel about this beloved spot , and as it were dance round the lord and owner of it , who is the glory of this visible world , and the image of the supream deity . to conclude , having thus offered my own thoughts on this controverted point , i commend the reader to that accomplished mathematician and astronomer ricciolus , who hath in his * almagestum novum several demonstrative arguments against the copernican hypothesis , which if they be well weigh'd will be found to have great force in them . however , this must be said that there is no certain proof , there is no demonstration of the contrary . for tho there is a great and celebrated experimenter in philosophy , one whose profound insight into all mathematical secrets is well known to the world , and whose integrity and faithfulness in discovering what he hath found out are not to be question'd in the least , though there is ( i say ) such an excellent person who hath offer'd something to demonstrate the earth's diurnal circuit , for he found that there was a * sensible parallax of the earth's orb among the fixed stars , and particularly that fixed star which is in the dragon's head ; yet no man knows better than himself , that demonstrations that depend upon eye-sight are fallible and uncertain ; witness the disputes that have been between the learnedst mathematicians about parallaxes , and several other matters which are to be judged by sense . and this gentleman himself declares that he was not fully satisfied with the observation which he made , because by reason of inconvenient weather and some other causes he could not make it exactly . therefore ( with all deference and respect paid to this learned gentleman and other great philosophers of our own nation ) i look upon the motion of the earth as an ingenious conjecture only : and so some of the most judicious writers have granted it to be . but since several persons of eminency have appear'd in its behalf , and have espous'd it as a true hypothesis , it hath been taken up for a modish piece of philosophy ( for there is a mode in philosophy as well as in clothes or any thing else ) ; and it h●th been thought ridiculous by some not to conform to it . he is not reckon'd a virtuoso who makes not this one of the articles of his philosophick creed : i am verily perswaded that most become tame proselytes to this opinion merely in compliment to some considerable persons who vouch it . this is one of the chiefest reasons why the copernican notion is so prevalent . the other doctrine , held by the old peripatetick gentlemen and others heretofore , is grown out of fashion , and therefore is rejected . i speak not this as if i were against any ingenious discovery or invention be it never so new ( as i have already declared ) or against any philosophick liberty justly so called ; but then i would have it bottomed on some good foundation , something that a man can have some notice of by sense or some other plain way . but such is not the doctrine of the earth's circumrotation : therefore it is ( so far as i have hitherto discern'd ) a precarious and groundless opinion , and is the vain result of copernicus's gigantick attempt to raise up the earth into the place of the heavens . i will only add this one thing more , that seeing copernicus's system begins to be vulgar and common , i thence expect its declination ; for very few opinions of this nature are long-lived when they come to be generally received . for the great and ambitious wits disdain what is common , and much more that which is old , and accordingly will bethink themselves of some new system , or perhaps will retrieve the old one , which will seem new and fresh at first , especially from those colours which they may give it . thus the opinions concerning the earth go round , when that stands still . for my part , i keep my ground , and presume to proceed upon the antient hypothesis : which yet is not altogether so neither , for that great soul of astronomy tycho brahe hath maintain'd it , making the earth the moveless center of the world. about this moves the vast machin of the heavens , being set into motion by the almighty architect and framer of them . but especially the motion of the sun in so constant and regular a course , is to be taken notice of by us with religious admiration . if its revolution were stopt in any one part of heaven , that side of the earth which is next to it would be scorch'd and burnt up , and the opposite side would be all frozen , and by that means the whole earth become useless ; which may give us some account of the great blessing which we enjoy by the circular progress of the sun. chap. iii. the oblique course of the sun , being the cause of the vicissitudes of day and night , of winter and summer , which are so beneficial to mankind is an argument of the divine care and providence . the powerful influence of the moon evidences the same . so do the planetary stars , and fixed ones : which latter are eminent for their magnitude , number , beauty and order , regular course , vse , and influence , all which set forth the wisdom and goodness of the beneficent creator . the study of the stars leads us to god. astronomy vseful . but more particularly and signally the course of it in that oblique line which it m●k●s is most remarkable , and is a proof of a wise being who order'd it so at first for the good of the world. for i listen not here to what a * modern author suggests , that the heavens before the deluge in noah's time had not the same course they now have . as if the eruption of the flood had reach'd to the celestial orbs , and had wash'd the sun , moon and stars . we read that god threatned to send a floud of waters on the face of the earth , gen. . , , . but there is not a word of the heavens being concern'd in the inundation . but this learned writer tells us that not only the earth but the heavens are not the same that they were at first , but that they have another form and state ; and particularly he saith that the situation of the earth in respect of the heavens is not what it was at the beginning . the earth was not , saith he , oblique to the sun or the axis of the ecliptick , as it is now . but this is mere surmise , because it is apparent that the present situation of these bodies is most convenient and useful , and would well become the paradisiacal state. for it is this , and this only that causes an inequality of heat and cold , from which proceeds a variety of seasons . hence are spring and autumn , when the sun touches the equinoctial , and makes the days and nights of an equal length twice a year : hence are summer and winter , when the sun visits the tropicks , and its rays either fall perpendicularly upon the inhabitants , or when it is removed at the greatest distance from them . this is the effect of the oblique posture of the sun to the earth , whereby this latter is kept in good temper , and made serviceable for the use of all creatures that proceed from it or inhabit on it . it is this vicissitude of seasons that makes the earth pregnant and fruitful , and gives life and increase to all vegetables and animals : whereas a continual winter or summer would be destructive to them . if the motion of the sun were streight and direct through the equator , heat and cold would be disproportion'd , they would be either too much or too little , and consequently the generation and growth of all fruits and of all living creatures would be hindred , and infinite inconveniencies would follow . ( of which i shall have farther occasion to speak , when i come to treat distinctly of the earth ) . wherefore we are oblig'd to take notice of the singular care and providence of god in this present disposition and posture of the heavens : we have reason to applaud the divine wisdom in the language of the psalmist , thou hast made summer and winter , psal. . . this is a plain and sensible demonstration of a divine superintendency . there were some of old who fancied that the gods * substracted their influence in the cold part of the year : and particularly it was the conceit of the phrygians that god slept in winter , but awaked in summer . this was the effect of their gross ignorance and inconsideration , for it is certain that to an intelligent and considerate man it will appear that winter hath its conveniencies proper to it , and those no less than what the summer hath : both are requisite for the good of mankind , because thence proceeds the alternate diversity of seasons , which is of so great use . this excellent order and succession of times , which are distinguish'd by a constant variety , were alledged by the * antient christians as an undeniable proof of a god. and the gentile world was forward to own and celebrate that wise benefactor : † qui mare & terras , variisque mundum temperat horis . now , we cannot deny that these different seasons depend wholly upon that position and motion of the sun which i have been speaking of . if this bright luminary should leave the ecliptick , and make its course in another line without obliquity , these would presently cease , and thereupon this lower world would soon be in disorder and confusion . wherefore a ‖ wise and observing writer thought he had reason to spend a chapter in setting forth the wisdom of god in the site and motion of the sun. the orderly succession of day and night , which is from the diurnal motion of this lamp of heaven , doth no less argue the divine wisdom and conduct . once in four and twenty hours all people in the world , excepting a few toward the poles , have a day and a night . and this latter , which is the shadowing of the earth , when the sun is gone from us , is as useful and necessary as the former . for ( as a * great naturalist speaks ) were it not for darkness and the shadow of the earth , the noblest part of the creation had remained unseen , and the stars in heaven as invisible as on the fourth day when they were created above the horizon with the sun , and when there was not an eye to behold them . again , night is not only for rest and cessation of labour , which is absolutely requisite for mankind and other creatures , ( except those wild ones , those beasts of the forest , psal. . . who creep forth when it is dark , and lay them down in their dens when the sun ariseth , and so turn night into day , and day into night ) ; but for the cooling and refreshing of the air , and moistning the earth , and for receiving the proper influences of the moon and other planets , and of the fixed stars , which as they shew themselves , so they exert their vigour most strongly in the absence of the sun. wherefore the royal psalmist joins both these together , as equal instances of god's power and providence , the day is thine , the night also is thine , psal. . . and to the same purpose again , psal. . . thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice , i. e. both these do praise and celebrate the honour of their maker , and do as 't were rejoice in it . there is not certainly a more convincing argument of the wise direction of an almighty being than this daily progress of the sun , in so much that he is said to know his going down , psal. . . i. e. by the guidance of an all-knowing actor he sets and rises in that place and at that time , where and when we see he doth . by the same superintendency its monthly and annual motion is performed : by this it takes up its several mansions and lodgings as it were in the signs through which it passes : by this it compleats its course through its several stages in its circuit about the world. which is thus expressed by the psalmist , his going forth is from the end of the heaven , and his circuit to the ends of it , psal. . . he travels just so many degrees toward the north , and as many toward the south every year , and is bounded on both sides by the tropicks , beyond which he never stirs . therefore from this tekuphah , ( which we render circuit ) this stinted revolution , the iewish masters call the tropicks tekuphoth . who is there that doth not find himself as 't were forced to believe a god when he considers these things , which cannot possibly be without an intellectual guide , without a principle that acts from wisdom and counsel ? yea , after all , if the copernican hypothesis should be true , i. e. if the earth rolls about on its center , and so turns it self to the sun in its various positions , yet still there are the same effects of this that there were of the other revolution ; the good and benefit of mankind are promoted , and the power and goodness of the great benefactor are declared . secondly , the moon , though it be the lowest of all the planets , and about times less than the earth , yet it is a * faithful witness in heaven of those foresaid perfections of the deity . it is but an opake body , it is but the sun reflex'd , it is no other than a † celestial earth , or an earthly star ( as some philosophers of old stiled it . ) though this is to be said , that it is not properly an earth , i. e. it seems not to be a body wholly dark , as is evident in the eclipses which it is incident to , for then we may discern its whole body . therefore it is not altogether destitute of light , it hath an intrinsick glimmering of its own . but because this is very faint , the lunar body may be reckon'd as opake . but notwithstanding this ( which the more signally advances the wondrous power of the creator ) it hath a mighty influence on this inferiour world and all things in it : so that we could no more be without this than without the sun. and this powerful influx which is of such use , yea of absolute necessity to us , is increas'd or diminish'd ( either of which are requisite accordingly as there is occasion ) by its different postures and figures in which it appears to us . for in its going round our earth ( by copernicus's leave ) it turns it self variously to the sun , whence it is necessary that according to its various access to or recess from that luminary , more or less of its enlightned half be turn'd toward us , and that it appear in divers phases and shapes ; by which means its virtue is communicated in a manner proportionable to our several needs : especially when this lunar body is in the full , i. e. when all that part which is toward us is replenish'd with light , all plants and animals , the air , the earth , and the whole ocean ( which is observ'd to swell at that season ) feel its power and vigour . whence as you read of the precious fruits brought forth by the sun , so also of the precious things put forth by the moon , deut. . . some of the choicest and most valuable products of nature are from the particular influence of this second-hand sun , which most officiously supplies the place of the other , and makes some amends for his absence , by being a remedy ( as * pliny speaks ) against the night's darkness in several parts of the world : and to that purpose it dispatcheth its course through the zodiack every month without fail . thirdly , the stars , both planetary and fixed , attest a divine numen . the former of these are distinguish'd from the latter by their particular colour , motion , size , and distance from us . venus is clear and bright , and goes through the zodiack in a year ; and is less than the earth times : and yet is the biggest next to the sun and moon , as to appearance . mars is of a firy hew , it passes through the signs in the space of years ; and is less than the earth times . iupiter is fair and coruscant ; is bigger than the earth times , and is many years making its passage through the zodiack . mercury dispatcheth his revolution in a year , and is times lesser than the earth ; and is the least planet as to sight . saturn is of a pale colour ; this slow-paced planet is years performing its course , and is times larger than the earth . some of these planets as venus and mercury , are pages or lackeys to the sun , and never go far off from it : but the rest , as mars , iupiter and saturn , are not so tied to attendance on their illustrious master : they can go farther off , and ramble six signs from the sun , and so be opposite to it . and as there are these primary planets , so there have been secondary ones discovered of late , viz. four about iupiter , and two about saturn , which have their peculiar motion about their primary and central planets : and both of them are situated and govern'd by him that gave them their nature . but as to the situation of these planets with respect to the earth , and as to their motion and magnitude , there is a great disagreement between the ptolomaeans and the copernicans : and tycho differs from both these , and then comes des cartes and disagrees with them all : therefore what hath been said before as to any of these , must be submitted to those that are able to judg of these hypotheses . then as to the fixed stars , which in the inspired book are justly call'd the stars of god , isa. . . because of their greatness and height ; for in the sacred stile god's name is frequently used to express what is great and excellent . and such are these heavenly bodies , which are so many suns at a distance from us ; for those firy globes are of the same make with the solar body : and if they were as near to us as this , they would appear not inferiour in bulk and brightness to it . these vast lights are so remote from us , that telescopes ( which magnify the planets after a great rate ) make these seem no bigger to us , or very inconsiderably . and this is one cause of their scintillation ; they are so far off that their rays are much more refracted than those of the wandering luminaries . they quake and tremble because of the different mediums they appear through : though this twinkling may arise also from the greater fulgor of these than that of the planets , which causeth a more vehement vibration on the eye . the least of these is far greater than the whole earth ; and one of the largest size is a hundred times bigger : and so this globe of the earth and its whole vortex are inconsiderable , and shrink into nothing if compared with those innumerable orbs above us . this stupendous magnitude argues the greatness , yea the immensity and incomprehensibleness of their maker . and if it be ask'd , whence is that fewel for those vast fires , which continually burn ? whence is it that they are not spent and exhausted ? how are those flames fed ? none can resolve these questions but the almighty creator , who bestowed upon them their being ; who made them thus great and wonderful , that in them we might read his existence , his power , his providence . nor is their number less admirable ; which exceeds our mean arithmetick : and therefore to tell the stars is mention'd as an insuperable task , gen. . . god promis'd to make abraham 's seed as the stars of heaven , gen. . . which if compared with gen. . . will be found to be of the same import with making his seed as the dust of the earth , which is innumerable . it is true , the constellations ( a certain numer of fixed stars which are together , and seem to make up several particular figures or representations ) are but sixty four , viz. twelve in the zodiack , twenty nine in the southern hemisphere , and twenty three in the northern one. but if we speak of the fixed lights which belong not to any constellation , they are not so easily reducible : for though there are not above one thousand and four hundred of these visible to the eye , according to the largest accounts given us by astronomers , ( who likewise tell us that our northern hemisphere is the most remarkable for them , for as there is more earth in this part of the world than in the other , so there are more stars ) yet it is granted by all that there are more of them than are apparently seen ; for by reason of their unconceivably vast distance from us , and because they are lesser than the rest , they are invisible . but the curious and inquisitive continually discover them , and when they have more perfect glasses they will discern more , and every day add to their number , and yet acknowledg that their full number is not to be told , but by him whose prerogative it is to tell the number of the stars , psal. . . and he it was that gave them their transcendent beauty which so ravishes the eyes of beholders . for though that of the apostle be true , one star differeth from another star in glory , yet every one of them hath its peculiar lustre , and all of them together have a common glory . but the theorist was not of this mind , for he tells us , * that they lie carelessy scatter'd ; as if they had been sown in the heaven like seed , by handfuls ; and not by a skilful hand neither . what a beautiful hemisphere would they have made , if they had been placed in rank and order ; if they had been all dispos'd into regular figures , and the little ones set with due regard to the greater ? thus he : and it is no wonder that he who finds fault with the earth's deformity and irregularity , finds the same in the heavens : for nothing of god's creation ( no not man himself ) pleases him . but this i will say , though those balls of liquid fire may seem to be set in the heavens in a careless manner , though they seem to be scatter'd and thrown about the spatious sky , yet without doubt there is care and exactness in the placing of them : they are ranged in an excellent order , though we apprehend it not , nor can we , because we have but an imperfect view of them . as well the single stars as the several constellations have a due and orderly position , though the numerousness of them hinders our discerning of it . the glorious canopy of heaven is set so thick with glittering lights that we are not able to give an account of the just figure of them : and yet , because we cannot see them all , we are not able to judg of the excellent proportion of them . yea , 't is not to be doubted that even those smaller lights with which the galaxy is so powder'd and bespangled are all marshall'd according to their proper stations , and are thereby render'd very beautiful , though we have not yet found out engines to give us a conviction of it . this is the meaning of iob's words , ch . . v. . by his spirit he hath garnish'd the heavens ; for the stars are the garnishing and adorning of them . and thence according to varro and pliny coelum is qu. coelatum , finely wrought and engraven , exquisitly carved with artificial workmanship . which occasion'd that of cicero , * though the stars ( saith he ) be necessary parts of the world , and appertain to its consistency , yet this likewise is true that they were made to be look'd and gazed upon by mankind , who cannot possibly entertain their sight with a more insatiable and beautiful object . and seneca saith rightly , * who will not be ravish'd with the sight of this glorious part of the world , when in a clear night it displays all its glittering fires , and shines with such an innumerable company of stars ? in every one of which the image of the creator is plainly to be seen . again , their regular course speaks their author . that a few of them have liberty to wander , yet so as not to transgress their bounds , and that all the rest are so fixed that they move not from their stations , is the product of an unerring wisdom and providence . but when i say that these are thus fixed , it is not to be understood as if they were not in motion ; for they all move , and that from place to place , but in an equal and steady posture , and all at the same time , and so they keep the same distance continually from one another : as , if a great number of men should run all at the same time , but some behind and others before , and the rest on this and that side , and observe a due and equal distance from one another ; it may properly and in the strictest sense be said that they move progressively , i. e. from place to place , though all the time they are not farther off nor nearer to one another . that the motion and revolution even of the erratick lights are exact and precise , constant and unalterable , is evident from this that the very minute of their oppositions , conjunctions and other aspects , as well as eclipses , can be foretold a hundred years before they come to pass . and not only the planets but the whole host of heaven ( as they are call'd ) keep their ranks , and observe an exact order . * nec quicquam in tantâ magis est mirabile mole quam ratio , & certis quòd legibus omnia parent , nusquam turba nocet , nihil ullis partibus errat . in which words the poet represents these heavenly bodies as endued with reason , because they are so exact in their courses . but though this was too high a flight , and is poetry rather than sober philosophy , yet thus far we are upon a true and solid bottom , that it is the work of reason and some intelligent principle , that they all obey the laws that are set them , that the great crowd of them is not prejudicial , that being so numerous they do not thrust one another out of their ranks , and run into disorder and confusion . * such an excellent ranging of them ( as an antient writer of the church speaks ) such a constancy in observing their orders and seasons could not be at first without a provident artist , or so long be preserv'd without a powerful intelligence inhabiting as it were in them , or be perpetually govern'd without a skilful ruler , as reason it self declares . this was the foundation , it is probable , of the harmony of the heavenly spheres held first by pythagoras , then by plato , afterward by macrobius , boetius , and even our venerable bede . the admirably exact and uniform motion of these bodies , the constant order which they keep in their revolutions and periods , are the true harmonick musick and concord of them . this is thus expressed by † a great artist , there is no one , though but meanly learned in astronomy , that will not acknowledg , upon his attentive considering the order of the heavenly bodies , a certain kind of harmony in the distances and motions of the planets . and a * great man , of a very inquisitive brain , thought so , or else we should not have had these remarkable words from him , could we satisfy our selves in the position of the lights above , and discover the wisdom of that order so invariably maintain'd in the fixed stars of heaven ; could we have any light why the stellary part of the first mass separated into this order that the girdle of orion should ever maintain its line , and the two stars in charles's wain never leave pointing at the pole-star , we might abate the pythagorical musick of the spheres , the seven-fold pipe of pan , and the strange cryptography of gaffarel in his starry book of heaven . lastly , in the great vsefulness of the stars we may see the footsteps and impressions of the beneficent creator . as he giveth the sun for a light by day , so he appointeth the ordinances not only of the moon but of the stars for a light by night , jer. . . and these ordinances shall not depart from before him , ver . . they are of perpetual use for affording light in the night-seasons , and they are on other accounts unspeakably beneficial to mankind . the fruitfulness of the earth , the alternate succession of the seasons of the year , our bodily constitutions , and in part the dispositions of our minds , our health , our life , depend upon the influence and vertue of the stars . * sir w. rawleigh hath suggested very excellent things on this subject . our divine poet expresses his sentiments in this matter thus , † and if an herb have power , what have the stars ! doubtless our plagues and plenty , peace and wars are there much surer than our art is sure . it is not to be doubted that the ministry of these heavenly bodies is made use of in the government of this inferiour world. they act continually upon it , and nothing is done without their influence . god hath set the dominion of the heaven in the earth , job . . which is an irrefragable text to prove that the celestial bodies have a virtue and power on all things below : both those which are animate and inanimate do someways feel the operation of them . which proves the first and original disposer of them to be a rational and intellectual agent . this is he that maketh arcturus , orion and pleiades , and the chambers of the south , job . . this is he that made , and therefore ( as himself saith , iob . , . ) is able to bind the sweet influences of the pleiades , ( the seven stars whose influence is felt in the spring ) and to loose the bands of orion , ( which is most predominant in the winter , and produces storms , &c. ) and to bring forth mazaroth in his season , ( the same perhaps with mazzaloth , planetae , kings . . for lamed and resh are often changed for one another : but the rabbins call the twelve signs by the name of mazzaroth ) and to guide arcturus with his sons , i. e. the constellation call'd septem triones , the wain , the bear , together with the other stars and constellations of this southern hemisphere ; which are call'd his sons . and in amos . . he that maketh the seven stars and orion is the periphrasis of god. and we are bid there to seek him who doth this , we are to worship god because of the works of the heavens . his making them ( and together with them constituting the seasons of the year ) invites us to acknowledg and seek him . the heathens went too far , and wildly asserted these heavenly bodies to be gods : but then we rightly use them when we argue a god from them . and this we may easily do because they set forth the wisdom of god , and the other excellent attributes belonging to him . this is the work of astronomy rightly improved : it points at the creator , and conducts us to him , as the wise men of old were led to our saviour by a star. i speak not of that vain pretence to the knowledg of all sorts of future events by inspection into the stars , which some impostors talk much of , and would make us believe is a real science : this hath been exploded by all the wise and sober heads in every age. and it might be observ'd that those who have been most addicted to this iudiciary way of consulting the stars , and have confided in it , have felt the folly of it most signally . their giving credit to it did procure their ruine , as we see in iulius caesar , pompey , nero , iulian the apostate , and several others that might be named of a meaner figure . their fond trusting to this science ( falsly so call'd ) prov'd fatal to them , and render'd their ends unfortunate : but the study of the stars is not to be blamed , the astronomical art is harmless and innocent , yea 't is useful and advantageous : for by help of this we climb the heavens , and scale the ethereal battlements , but with a success different from that of the antient giants ; because they fought the gods ( as the poets talk ) , but we find out the true one by contemplating the starry bodies . we come acquainted with the great nomenclator of the stars , * he that calls them all by their names , and enabled adam ( as a very † learned man thinks ) at the same time that he gave names to the creatures here below to do the same to these above ; by which names they were wont to be call'd by the patriarchs , some of which remain in the bible , as gnas , chesil , chimah , job . . amos . . but most of them are lost . we step from orb to orb , and measure the vast heavens , and rifle the several vortices , and make new discoveries in those celestial regions , and thereby frame fresh arguments of divine wisdom in contriving the world ; and we extort an acknowledgment of a deity even from the irreligious , and such as are most averse to the notion of a god. for from our enquiries that assertion of the learned philo is made good , * whatever is contained in the heavens is made and fitted with the greatest reason and congruity : there is nothing but what is founded on the most rational grounds . and we arrive to the determination of that wise roman , † what can be more plain and evident , when we behold the heavens , and all things belonging to them , than that there is a numen of a most excellent understanding by whom these things are order'd and govern'd ? and a little after , he comes to this final result , * that there is therefore a god is so plain that for my part i look upon the man that denies it to be out of his wits . for the frame and contrivance of the heavens ( which is the subject i have been insisting upon , and now am finishing ) are sufficient to perswade any man of a sound mind of the existence of an invisible but wise being , who is the author and contriver of this excellent system of the upper world. so little reason had alphonsus x. k. of leon and castile , author of the astronomical tables that bear his name , to utter those blasphemous words , ( as we find related by lipsius and spondanus , and others ) that he could have mended the fabrick of the world if he had assisted at the creation , especially he could have order'd things better in the heavens . this was that alphonsus ( as † lipsius observes ) who was deposed from his throne , expell'd his kingdom , and died hated of all men. ‖ mariana saith he ran mad , being reproved by an hermite for uttering the forementioned words ; but whether that be true or no ( as there may be some ground to question it ) it is agreed that he was a most unhappy king , he was dethron'd by his own son , and * died of grief and melancholy . but though he thus impiously blasphemed the creation , yet he was not so sottish as to deny a god , the artificer of all these works that we behold : which yet our atomical and chance-philosophers will not be induced to assert or believe . chap. iv. the things which are remarkable in the space between the heavens and the earth administer clear proofs of a deity ; as the air , the winds , the clouds ( where the late archaeologist is rebuked ) the wonderful ballancing of these latter : their gentle falling down in rain by degrees : the vsefulness of these showers . the rain-bow . thunder and lightning . snow , hail , frost and ice . now let us go down from these lofty battlements of heaven to behold the things that are between this and the earth . let us descend from the etherial to the aerial region , where still we shall find every thing declaring a divine and omnipotent creator . the air , the clouds , the winds , and all the meteors preach a deity . the air is the necessary but noble instrument of man's subsistence in the world. we breathe by it , and so it is the most necessary of all the elements , because without respiration there is no life . the * greek word which signifies to breathe hath but two letters , and those are the first and last of the greek alphabet . the air or breath by which we breath is our alpha and omega ; we began our life with it , and we end it without it : for this is that whereby the fuel of life is at first kindled and afterward maintained . this also was made to transmit to us the light , heat and influences of the sun and stars , and is the medium and conveyer of colours to the eye , and of sounds to the ear , and is the vehicle of all wholesom smells , of all fragrant and delightful odours for the refreshment of our spirits . this is of perpetuall use to all creatures whether vegetative or animal . and if we would be curious we might observe here the elastick power or spring of this element , the native self-expansion of this vast body , whereby it flies out and seeks to be at liberty upon the removal of all circumambient obstacles : which a noble philosopher of our age hath improved to very good purpose , and therein discover'd the wonders of the creation . the winds are the stream and current of this element , and are caused by the condensation and rarefaction of it , which are procured by a lesser or greater degree of the sun's heat . but sometimes this boisterous meteor is bred by vapours and exhalations rising out of the earth or waters , and then generally it is most vehement and loud , it is most swift and rapid , on which latter account we have mention of the wings of the wind , psal. . . but both the gentle gales and stormy blasts are useful at their several seasons , viz. to fan , clear and purge the air , and to prevent the stagnating of it , to dispel unwholesom and noxious vapours , especially at sea , and in very wet soils ; to dry up excessive moisture after great rains , to qualify the scorching heat of the summer , to cool those regions which are most liable to the sun 's perpendicular rays ( and accordingly it is well known that there are briezes , i. e. fresh eastern winds which constantly blow about noon in the hottest countries , even under the equator , and mitigate the excessive heat ) . they are welcome and refreshing to trees and plants and fruit , both as they bring rain to water them , and fair weather to ripen them . they are serviceable at sea for ships , yea of such necessity that navigation could not be performed without them . and they are useful for several considerable purposes at land , for the needs of man's life . the winds therefore may be reckon'd as no contemptible instances of god's care and providence toward mankind . whence these are attributed to him alone by the inspired prophet , * he bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures ; the treasures of sea and land that afford a plentiful stock of exhalations , which being either rarified by heat , or condens'd by cold , stir and move in that manner which we either feel or hear . he makes the weight for the winds , as it is elegantly said of him iob . . there is such a certain order and appointment concerning every one of them , ( whether they be the cardinal ones from the four quarters of the world , or those that are intermediate and collateral ) that they may be said to be weighed and poized . they are always in such a posture as he pleaseth , and their place and motion together with the effects of them are exactly determined . let us behold the clouds , the visible and constant witnesses of an almighty power and wisdom . they are moist vapours drawn up and thickned into water in the middle region of the air : therefore they are call'd the waters above the firmament , gen. . . i. e. above the great expansum of the lower region of the air ( for there is another firmament mentioned , gen. . . the firmament of the heaven , or aether , where god placed the stars ) . so that if we distinguish between the aerial and aethereal firmament , ( which we ought to do ) we shall reconcile the controversy which hath been among writers concerning the rakiang , the expansum mentioned by moses , which divided the waters that are under it , i. e. the sea , from the waters that are above it , i. e. the clouds . the not observing of this hath occasioned that vile notion which we find vented by the archaeologist , who tells us , * that moses makes waters above the heavens or firmament , to comply with the vulgar conceit of the people , that god almighty hath a store-house of rain there , and so sends it down thence to them on the earth . i am heartily sorry to see such ill words fall from the pen of a christian writer . they not only import that moses willingly and designedly fosters the people in their erroneous and false apprehensions concerning god's works , but they make a mock of a plain truth , viz. that the heavens or clouds are the receptacles or store-houses of rain , and were appointed by the all-wise god to be so . the heaven is expresly call'd god's good treasure ( or rather treasury ) whence he gives rain , deut. . . and we read of the treasures of snow and hail , job . . ( we should rather translate it treasuries , as the same hebrew word is render'd in psal. . . where also it is apply'd to a meteor , as it is here ) . and what are these treasuries and store-houses of rain , snow and hail , but the clouds , from whence these meteors descend ? and these clouds ( as any impartial and considerate man must needs grant ) are the waters that are above the firmament , or aerial heaven . so little reason had the foresaid writer to look upon these as the mere imagination of the vulgar , and to think that the inspired pen-man makes mention of them in mere compliance with the conceited people . whereas it is rational to believe that the chapter wherein this passage occurs is a plain narrative of what was done at the creation , and therefore we are to understand it in a literal and historical sense . and we are told by * one who was as great a judg in this case as any that can be named , that although moses in this chapter treating of the creation of the world doth not unlock the secrets of astronomy , because he writes to a people that understood not those things , yet he delivers nothing here but what may be granted by astronomers themselves . this was the determination of that noble dane , that wise philosopher and mathematician , and it is a smart rebuke to our new antiquary in philosophy . we may then , notwithstanding what he hath vainly suggested , admire the divine providence in placing those waters above the firmament , and we may reckon them as a singular contrivance of the omnipotent and merciful creator . to supply which constantly he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth , psal. . . to be drawn up from all the farthest parts of the world for this purpose . and when they are mounted up into the skies , he admirably poizeth them , so that they fall when and where he pleaseth . a late ingenious philosopher tells us of an instrument whereby we may know the weight ( i. e. the degrees of gravity and levity ) of the air , clouds and winds . but we are certainly informed from the infallible writings that this is effectually done by an almighty hand ; he not only makes the weight for the winds , but he weigheth the waters ( i. e. the clouds ) by measure , job . . accordingly you read of the ballancing of the clouds , job . . which is reckoned as the wondrous work of him that is perfect in knowledg . whence some of the hebrew doctors have thought the word shamajim ( the heavens ) was derived from shaab obstupuit and majim aquae , to express that particular region above where these waters hang in that stupendous manner . though i do not take this to be the genuine etymology of the hebrew word , for it is most probable it had its * name only from the waters ( i. e. the clouds ) being there ; yet this derivation rightly suggests to us , that if we duly consider this wonderful ballancing of these moving bodies , we cannot but stand astonished at these divine staticks , and admire the hand which gives them that exact libration . a great naturalist takes special notice of this , and cries out , † what is more wonderful than the waters standing in the air ? he might have said , so many seas hanging in the air ? these he thought to be an extraordinary work , and this we know to be a divine one . the clouds therefore are in a poetick way stiled god's paths , psal. . . his chariots , psal. . . his chambers , ver . . because he acts and converses , and shews himself here , because his presence and providence are signally discover'd in them , and by them . these are emphatically call'd the water-spouts of heaven , psal. . . because they pour out water like pipes or spouts , for when those condensed vapours ( being now turn'd into clouds ) become too ponderous for the air to bear them , they fall down in rain . these clouds therefore are fitly and elegantly call'd dark waters , psal. . . because being thick and full of water they become black : and besides , from the gathering together and condensing of these clouds the earth is shadowed and darkned . but this proves generally a comfortable darkness , being in order to rain , which soon restores light again . but this also is produced by the singular and extraordinary direction of god : for tho we grant that these vast heaps of water fall by their own weight , or by the violence of winds which thrust them downwards , yet it is from the particular care and guidance of the almighty that this is done : which we find taken notice of by iob , a great and skilful observer of god's works , iob . . he bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds , and the cloud is not rent under them . that the thick and heavy clouds , so loaded with waters , do not break presently , but hang and hover between heaven and earth a considerable time ( as frequently we see them do ) is very wonderful , and is to be ascribed to the divine power and wisdom . to which it is to be attributed also , that they fall so lightly , and not all together . it is from this most wonderful disposal that these vast heavy bodies do not fall down upon us at once , and all in a heap , and so crush us with their load . this very thing iob's friend ( who by his discourse we may perceive was a man of some philosophy as well as great piety ) particularly insists upon with the highest admiration ; iob . . he maketh small the drops of water , which the lxx not minding so much the very words as the sense , ( as is common with them ) render very finely * the drops of rain are numbred by him ; he is so careful in distributing them that he divides them out by tale : so exact is he in measuring out the rain , that he uses as it were an arithmetical proportion . these waters are with great accuracy dispens'd to mankind ; they ( as it immediately follows ) pour down rain according to the vapour thereof , according to god's disposing and parcelling out of the vapours which are the matter of the clouds , for here he doth as it were use an arithmetick . whence it is that they dissolve into showers by degrees , and gently distil upon the ground in drops , as a gardiner waters his garden . not but that in some places , as in the southern regions of the world , ( as guinea , brasil , egypt , the country of the abyssines ) the rains fall in greater quantity : which is a great argument of the divine providence ; for those parts of the world want more rain , and therefore the drops are bigger and more ponderous , and the showers fall faster and thicker , and with much more force : but still they descend orderly and by degrees . and that we may be the more apprehensive of this benefit , god sometimes permits examples of the contrary , as those fallings of waters in the indies which they call spouts : the clouds fall down altogether , and like a violent torrent . they are not showers but floods of rain that come down from the skies . but this is rare and extraordinary , and serves only to commend the constant goodness of god in the ordinary dispensing of rain . therefore it is said , he made a decree for the rain , job . . it was a peculiar appointment and ordinance of heaven , that there should be this admirable filtration of the clouds , which is a thing very amazing and stupendous . it is no wonder then that it is reckon'd among the great , vnsearchable , and marvelous things which god doth , job . , . and that he himself calls upon us to admire him as the sole author and father of rain , job . , , , . and that this is owned to be the peculiar work of the almighty iehovah ; jer. . . are there any among the vanities ( i. e. the idols ) of the gentiles that can cause rain ? or can the heavens ( of themselves ) give showers ? art not thou he , o lord god ? the old jews express'd their sentiment concerning it thus , one of the keys proper to god , and kept in his own hand , is that of rain : thereby reckoning it a singular and immediate gift of the almighty . and they used to join it with two other keys , viz. of giving life , and of raising from the dead , which shews that they thought it peculiar to god alone . and then the known vsefulness of this blessing is an argument of its author . this is with great elegancy set forth by the inspired poet ; psal. . . thou visitest the earth , and waterest it : thou greatly enrichest it with the river of god , ( i. e. the clouds or rain ) which is full of water : thou preparest them corn , when thou hast so provided for it ( by vouchsafing seasonable showers : ) thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly : thou settlest the furrows thereof : thou makest it soft with showers ; thou blessest the springing thereof : thou crownest the year with thy goodness , and thy paths ( the clouds wherein god is poetically said to walk , psal. . . ) drop fatness : they drop upon the pastures of the wilderness , and the little hills rejoice on every side . the pastures are clothed with flocks : the valleys also are cover'd over with corn : they shout for ioy , they also sing . this they do , thus they behave themselves , being as it were drunk with the bottles of heaven , ( as the clouds are call'd iob . . ) being abundantly satisfied with * ioresh and malkosh , the former and the latter rain : the first of which is necessary after the seed is sown ; the second before harvest to set it forward , to fill the ears . wherefore st. paul proves a god from the clouds , acts . . he left not himself without witness , ( i. e. of his divine power and providence ) in that he gave us rain from heaven , and ( as the consequent of that ) fruitful seasons . for it is this celestial water that makes the ground fruitful : it hath a peculiar faculty to do it , and no other water doth the like . thence that talmudick saying , rain is the husband of the earth , because it impregnates it , and makes it fructify . therefore showers are rightly call'd by pliny , * the food of plants , the meat as well as the drink of all vegetables . but this is effected by the divine blessing , and is a singular testimony of god's care of the world. thus from the earth we prove there is a god in heaven : even from the grounds and fields refresh'd with rain , and thereby made fertile , we argue a divine benefactor . and now when i am speaking of the clouds i must not forget the rain-bow , which is a party-colour'd cloud , whose fine and gay paintings are the various reflection and refraction of the sun's beams in that watry substance . this gaudy mixture of light and shade arises naturally from the difference of the superficies of those parts that constitute the cloud , and therefore without doubt it appear'd before the deluge , though we find it not mention'd till afterwards , when it was appointed to be set in the skies as a sign of a * covenant between god and man : and ever since it hath continued ( and shall so to the last period of all things ) a visible token and assurance of god's good will to mankind . wherefore as often as we view this cloud , made so remarkable by the diversity of its colours , the variety of its tinctures , let us thence be confirm'd in our belief of a god , and look upon this beautiful spectacle as an illustrious symbol of the divine mercy and beneficence . or , to speak in the words of the wise son of sirach ; look upon the rainbow , and praise him that made it . very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof : it compasseth the heaven with a glorious circle , and the hands of the most high have bended it , ecclus. . . to the clouds belong thunder and lightning , and therefore may pertinently be spoken of here ; for when a cloud breaks asunder by reason of hot and dry , sulphureous and nitrous vapours enclos'd and compass'd about with cold ones , and so set on fire , and consequently extending themselves , and violently making their way , the noise caus'd by this rupture is that which we call thunder , and the flashing out of the fire is lightning . both which are comprehended in those words , psal. . . the voice of the lord divides the flames of fire . and the former of them is call'd the voice of the lord upon the waters , ver . . this is no other than his thundring in the clouds , which usually turn into rain when they are broken and scattered . and perhaps to this may refer ver . . the lord sitteth upon the floods , i. e. upon the clouds , which are justly stiled floods , because of the abundance of water contain'd in them . and as thunder is bred by fire and water in the clouds , so the effects of it are of the like nature , for lightning and rain generally accompany the thunder . wherefore we find this particularly taken notice of by the pious observers of providence : he maketh lightnings for the rain , psal. . . he maketh lightnings with rain , jer. . . and this is mentioned in iob . , . & . , . and not without great reason , for herein the goodness and mercy of god are seen , because rain is serviceable to connect and qualify the thunder , and by its moisture to prevent the hurt which otherwise might be done by the scorching flashes which attend it . who is not sensible that thunder is the more signal operation of a divine cause , and therefore is so frequently call'd god's voice ? as in exod. . . psal. . . & . . ier. . . yea , no less than seven times in the th psalm it is call'd the voice of the lord : which may not only signify a great and loud voice , ( for the voice or noise of thunder is such , especially in some regions of the world , as in some parts of africa , and in the southern countries of asia and america , where it is much more terrible than it is among us ; yea , as a * learned gentleman observes , it as much exceeds the thunder of these northern climes as the heat there exceeds that of these ) but it more particularly denotes the wonderful author of it , viz. the almighty being . which was the very apprehension of some men of the deepest philosophy among the gentiles . even they acknowledg'd this fierce meteor to be the effect of no less than an extraordinary and divine power . plutarch informs us , that some of the best philosophers made it the matter of their wonder and astonishment , that † flames should proceed from watry clouds , and that such a harsh noise should be the product of that soft matter . i find a great natural philosopher taking notice of the * falling down of the lightning from heaven as a wonderful thing , because fire naturally ascends . it seems he did not think that the motion of it downwards is sufficiently solved by the violence of the rupture , for else he would not have imputed it to a † divine virtue , as he doth . and more fully and expresly in another place he declares his mind thus , ‖ the effects of thunder , if you consider them well , are of that wonderful nature that we cannot possibly doubt but that there is a divine subtile power in them . and then he proceeds particularly to reckon up the strange phaenomena of this sort of meteor ; which indeed are very surprizing and amazing , and would be thought altogether incredible if several other writers of good note had not attested the same , and if at this very day we had not instances of the truth and reality of them . this naturalist adds further , that thunder is made partly to scare and affright the world : this terrible noise , saith he , was for this purpose , viz. ‖‖ that we might stand in awe of something above us . horace confesses that he felt this in himself , he acknowledges that this voice from heaven made him disown epicurus's notions , and repent of all his atheistical principles and practices : see lib. . ode . it is a very remarkable example , and i heartily wish that the wild sparks of this age , who are very well pleas'd with other parts of this author's writings , and are ambitious to imitate him , would seriously read and consider of this , and thence ( with their brother poet and pagan ) be induced to assert a god and providence in the world. it is not to be denied that sometimes by this dreadful sound god is pleased to rouze and alarm the careless part of mankind , and sometimes to give proof of his judicial and avenging power . moreover , by this is discovered his goodness to mankind , for this violent shaking of the air is of great use to us , because it corrects or dispels its noxious qualities , and renders it pure and wholesom . by means of this are convey'd to us showers of rain , which most seasonably cool that element as fast as the fulgurations heat and inflame it . then , as for the colder meteors , they have their proper use for which they are generated . snow is a dissolved cloud that is somewhat condens'd in its coming down , and therefore falls in light flakes , like the scatter'd pieces of a fleece ; whence it is said , he giveth snow like wool , psal. . . to which it is compared because of the configuration of its parts , and because of its whiteness and softness ; nay , i must add , because of its warmth . this last is thus express'd in few words by theophrastus , * the snow produces a fermentation in the earth by shutting in the heat upon it , which the earth takes into it self , and is thereby made strong and hearty . the husband-man who inters his seed in hopes of its rising again , delights to behold this winding-sheet upon it ; he rejoices to see it thus buried in woollen , because he knows that this is a safeguard to it , and shelters it from the winter-winds and storms : this keeps both the earth and the grain warm , and preserves the blade fresh and verdant ; and afterwards when it dissolves , it kindly moistens them , and is a preparative to a farther fermentation . hail is such another dissolved cloud as snow , but much more thickned and hardned by the lower region of the air as it comes down through it . the treasures of this congealed rain ( for so i may call it ) are mention'd by god himself , iob . . which he saith he hath reserved against the time of trouble , against the day of battel and war , ver . . then this weapon is brought forth , and is of singular use to punish offenders ; and accordingly we read that armies have been defeated by it , iosh. . . isa. . . frost and ice are other cold and watry impressions which god owns himself the author of ; iob . . by the breath of god ( i. e. by a cold sharp wind which he sendeth ) frost is given , and the breadth of the waters is straitned , is so contracted and congeal'd , that they flow not , they spread not themselves as usually . in very significant and apposite terms , but very briefly , this is described in ch . . . the waters are hid as with a stone , i. e. the waters in ponds and rivers , and in some parts of the sea , are covered with ice which is hard , and as 't were stony , and may be call'd a pavement of ice . that this and the like operations of the most high are of considerable use in the world ( beside what hath been mention'd before ) we gather from chap. . ver . . they are turned round about by his counsels , that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in all the earth : i. e. all the world over they are made use of in their several vicissitudes to effect the wise designs and purposes of god. and ver . . he causeth it to come , whether for correction ( i. e. the punishment of men ) or for his land , ( i. e. more universally for all creatures , particularly the ground or earth ) or for mercy ( i. e. in a way of blessing ) . it were easy to give instances of all these , for histories readily furnish us with them . so in another place of this book , ch . . v. . where the foregoing discourse had been concerning the clouds , rain , lightning , &c. it is said , by them he judgeth the people , i. e. to some they are made use of for punishment ; and he giveth meat in abundance , i. e. to others they are sent for good , for their real benefit and advantage , and more particularly they are someways instrumental towards the procuring of fruitfulness and plenty , call'd here meat . i had almost forgot to mention dew , which is of great advantage , especially in the eastern countries which are hot , and where little rain falls . it is by the singular care of the divine providence that they have very great dews , which are hugely beneficial to the earth . therefore you find these taken notice of as a particular largess of the divine goodness ; iob . . mic. . . and in several other places . thus much concerning the lower heavens or atmosphere , that is , the space between the ethereal heavens and the earth , and the several things which are observable in it , as the air , winds , clouds , &c. all which proclaim a wise , powerful , just and merciful deity . chap. v. the frame of the earth argues a godhead . a particular account of the torrid zone , and of the two temperate , and two frigid zones : especially the two latter are shew'd to be testimonies of divine providence . the present position of the earth is the same that it was at first , whatever the theorist ( who confutes himself ) suggests to the contrary . against him it is proved , that the shape of the earth at this day is not irregular and deformed ; and that the primitive earth was not destitute of hills and mountains . these are of considerable vse . the particular advantages of them are recounted , and thence the wise disposal of the creator is inferr'd . now let us pass to the earth , that part of the world where we are placed , where the visible footsteps of a godhead are easily to be traced . the frame of this spatious round , ( for this figure of it is proved from its shadow cast upon the moon in an eclipse , which shews that the earth and sea make one round body , for the shadow renders the true form of the body which causeth it ; ) the frame , i say , of this spatious globe is excellent and astonishing if we contemplate the hills , valleys , lakes , rivers , rocks , promontories , woods , islands , peninsula's , continents , of which 't is composed , the mixture of which renders it not only useful but beautiful . nature proceeds not always in the same track and path , but ( as philo observes ) * delights in the variety and diversity of its artificial works . and the wonderful skill and art of the author who framed them thus are to be admired . but more especially the diversity of the situation and position of the earth is remarkable . it was the wise contrivance of the creator to place it in that oblique posture that it is now in , it being most convenient for the good of mankind : he that made of one blood all nations of men , to dwell on all the face of the earth , hath determined the bounds of their habitation , acts . . hence there are different zones ( as they are call'd ) into which the earth is divided . there is first that which is call'd the torrid zone , because the influence of the sun is very vehement and active in this part of the world : but this is no hindrance to its being inhabited , as some of old vainly fancied . this is all that space of earth which is between the two tropicks . but there is a great latitude as to the inhabitants of this zone , for some of them live directly under the equator : and these only , of all the dwellers on the earth , have a right sphere , and always have an equinox , i. e. their days are exactly hours in length , and so are their nights , neither more nor less . they have the peculiar privilege to see both the poles at the same time : and all the fixed stars rise and set to them . they have summers and winters in a year , the sun going directly over their heads twice a year , i. e. when he is in aries and when he is in libra , so that their summers are then ; and their winters are when the sun is in cancer and capricorn . thus are situated some parts of the east indies , and some part of america , and the islands of sumatra . and though they are so liable to the perpendicular rays of the sun , yet by the special providence of heaven it happens that the inhabitants of these hot countries have cool briezes that constantly fan and refresh them in the afternoons , and their nights are both long and cool , which makes amends for the excessive heat of the day . other inhabitants of this zone are seated between the equinoctial and the tropicks , and these likewise have a double summer and winter , only their days and nights are more unequal than those under the equinoctial line . thus are situated the philippine and molucca islands , part of east india in asia , ethiopia in africk , mexico in the north of america , and peru , brasil , guinea in the south of it . and it is well known that there is not a more temperate region than peru in the world , the nights cold tempering the days heat , and rains being frequent , and cool winds blowing constantly . again , there are others of this zone that live right under the tropicks : these have but one summer and one winter in a year , and their situation is very convenient , and upon several accounts desirable . before i leave the torrid zone , i will take notice of a very remarkable thing which travellers of good credit inform us of , viz. that in most places belonging to it there are vast exhalations constantly from the earth , which are condens'd into moist vapours , and though they seldom fall in rain-showers yet they affect the region of the air which is under them , and render it very moist in the day-time , and in the night very cool and fresh . and this abundant mass of vapours caus'd by the excessive heat of those countries affords matter for dews , which are exceeding plentiful and copious , so that they serve instead of rain-waters , and are of great use for the fertility of the ground and plants . but secondly , there are temperate zones , which lie between the tropicks and the polar circles : the one between the tropick of cancer and the artick circle , the other between the tropick of capricorn and the antartick . it is the peculiar lot of the people that dwell in these parts of the world to have solstices and equinoxes in a year ; but one summer and one winter , and the sun is never vertical over their heads . they have an oblique sphere , as all have besides those that live under the equator . we in england are situate in this parallel ; so is all europe : yea the greatest part of the habitable world is in the northern temperate zone . it was the pleasure of the great founder of the world that this part of the earth should be the principal stage of action : it was his will and appointment that this should be the seat of the greater and better part of mankind . there are also two frigid zones , the one between the artick circle and the north pole , the other between the antartick circle and the south pole. the inhabitants are of three sorts , . those who live under either of the polar circles . those that inhabit under the artick circle have one summer and one winter in a year . when the sun is in cancer , their day is hours long , and they have no night : and when the sun is in capricorn their night is hours long . under this parallel are lapland , finmark , part of russia , iseland , &c. and here it might be observ'd , as a testimony of a singular providence , that these countries which are extreme cold are furnish'd with the largest wood , and the most and best furs . . those that dwell between the polar circles and the poles have sometimes continual day and no night . from the sun's being in cancer their day is in some places a month long , in others two ; and the farther they live toward the north the longer are their days , till you come under the north pole , where it is half a year long without night . in the other half of the year , beginning when the sun is in capricorn , the nights exceed proportionably , and last a month , two months , &c. in this part of the world is nova zembla , green-land , &c. . those that live right under the poles ; and these only ( of all the dwellers on the earth ) enjoy a day that continues six months compleat , which is succeeded with a night that lasts as long : so that they may be said to have but one day and one night in a year . by reason of this latter the countrey is so cold and dark that it is not inhabited in this part of the year . but as for the other places before-mention'd where there are long and cold winters , there is reason to believe that they are most sutable to the constitutions and tempers of the persons who inhabit them . the great disposer of all things placed such inhabitants there as were fit for that region , and no other : for they could not dwell in these countries where we inhabit , as we could not dwell there . so that the placing of those people in that dark , cold and frozen part of the world , is so far from being a detraction to divine providence , that it is a singular proof of it , and shews the wisdom of the world's maker , in a sutable choosing of places for persons according to their particular temperament and exigencies . and both with relation to these and the polar regions we may truly say that the excessive coldness of these parts is useful and serviceable for the good of others that are near to the sun , and have need sometimes of cooling . from these remote treasuries the winds are fetch'd for the rebuking of the scorching heats of summer ; of which we can give no natural and philosophical account , unless we derive them from these great store-houses . this acquaints us with the true cause of that excessive sharpness and rigour of the air which we feel sometimes , and that of a sudden . this solves the unexpected change of weather , yea sometimes the sudden and unlook'd for checking of pestilential diseases and infections which is known to happen . inconsiderate minds are apt to think that the regions that are seated under the poles are altogether useless , and thence perhaps may be tempted to question the divine conduct . but if we will consider those places , we shall find that they are as necessary as any parts of the world. it is true , they are for the most part unhabitable , but their being so makes others habitable , for these are the common receptacles of cold , whence it is dispersed by divine providence to those parts where it is wanting at any time , that is , when the sun's fierceness calls for a check . and several other ways those polar receptacles and nurseries of cold are serviceable , yea necessary for the welfare of the world. lastly , the wise framing and ordering of the sun's motion and progress ( of which i have spoken before ) necessarily infer this difference of places on the earth as to heat and cold. unless we will remove this luminary from its ecliptick , and thereby disorder the whole course of the world , and destroy the various succession of times and seasons which upholds mankind as well as all other creatures whatsoever ; we must be forced to confess that the several zones and climates ( tho differing so much in heat and cold ) are useful in the creation , and that the position of the globe of the earth is most wisely and discreetly ordered . the late theorist boldly contradicts this , and tells us that the situation of the earth is not the same now that it was before the deluge . it did not stand oblique to the sun , as it doth at present , whereby we have a great difference of seasons , as spring , summer , &c. but it had a right or parallel situation , insomuch that there was a continual equinox . and yet this person , who is so curious about the idea of his first earth , hath given it us with a very great blemish , yea much worse fault than any that he pretends to find in this present earth ; for they are his express words , * the paradisiacal earth had a torrid zone , which was vninhabitable . all this great portion of earth was burnt up and wither'd , and had no grass , tree or plant upon it , and so no creature could find any sustenance there . this is his fine paradisiacal earth , as he calls it . and yet it is worth our observing that he saith in another place in express terms , † all the earth is green , and a perpetual spring is over it all , meaning his paradisiacal earth . when he hath thus confuted himself , there is no need of any body else to do it . but we may grant him his theory , that there was a primitive earth of a different form from the present . it is partly true that the earth is not what it was , for there are the marks of sin and of the fall even on the earth , and we read of a curse denounced against it , gen. . . ( though he is pleas'd to turn that chapter into mere allegory , and thereby to null the main points of our religion ) : and afterwards by the violent irruptions of the flood it is most probable that the earth underwent some alteration . but what is this to the changing the very situation and posture of the earth ? how is it proved hence that the first earth had another situation to the sun , and had a perpetual equinox and spring ? these things are asserted by him , but no where proved . wherefore i look upon it as a precarious and groundless opinion . the variety of seasons before the flood may be gather'd from gen. . . i will not again curse the ground , nor smite any more every living thing as i have done . while the earth remaineth , seed-time and harvest , and cold and heat , and summer and winter , and day and night , shall not cease . as much as to say , though during the time of the deluge these alterations of the seasons were interrupted , and the sun's heat and light were as if they were not , because they could have no effect upon the earth as long as it lay under water , yet now having restored things to their pristine course and order , i assure you they shall continue so to the end of the world. thus it is included in these words , that there were the same vicissitudes of the year before the flood that there are now . and this appears to be a truth from what i have already shew'd , viz. that the present position and situation of the earth are very convenient , useful , and in some respects necessary : for there is a necessity of a vicissitude of seasons , and a variety or exchange of heat and cold , because the fruitfulness of the earth depends upon these ; and heat and cold generated in the air are the two hands of nature , ( as my lord bacon rightly saith ) by which she doth all her work. it is unreasonable to conceive an equality of these , and consequently an equal and unvariable temperature of the year before the deluge : which is thus lately represented by an admirable pen ; a man can hardly at first imagine what a train of ill consequences would follow from such a condition and posture of things : of which it would not be the least , that such a mediocrity of heat would deprive the world of the most beautiful and the most useful parts of all the whole creation ; and would be so far from exalting the earth to a more happy and paradisiacal state , that it would turn it to a general desolation , and a mere barren wilderness , to say no worse . such an heat would be too little for some sorts of vegetables , and too great for others . the more fine and tender plants , those which will not bear a degree of heat beyond that of april , would be all burnt up and destroy'd by it : whilest it could never reach the more lofty and robust , nor would there be near heat enough to ripen their fruits , and bring them to perfection . nothing would sute and hit all , and answer every end of nature but such a gradual increase and decrease of heat as now there is . he adds , that if he should descend to the animal world , the inconveniences there would be as many and as great as in the vegetable : and such a situation of the sun and earth as that which the theorist supposes , is so far from being preferrable to this which at present obtains , that this hath infinitely the advantage of it in all respects . thus the * learned dr. woodward . therefore the perpetual equinox of the theorist is but a fancy , and we have ground to assert that the situation of the earth is the same that it was at first , and that the year had the same seasons , changes and revolutions that it hath now , and that all these are attestations of the divine wisdom in making the world. the said theorist tells us also , that the earth had no inequalities on its surface at first , but was as smooth and plain as a die ( only this is square , and that was round ) . and as for the earth which we now have , he declares that there is no shape nor beauty in it , yea it is rude , indigested , irregular , monstrous . it is but the rubbish of what was before : in short , he saith , 't is nothing but ugliness and deformity . it seems , according to this gentleman , it is a chaos again . but all the wise heads in the world have had other apprehensions of it . the most accurate and nice judges of beauty never thought it was a deformed mishapen lump . they never dreamt that sea , and rocks , and mountains rendred it ugly and monstrous , as this author positively avers . they rather thought that the variety of mountains , plains and valleys , &c. makes it more grateful and comely than if it were all even : they thought that this diversity of its parts was ornamental . and so without doubt it is , and consequently the form of this present earth ( whatever this theorist suggests to the contrary ) is proportionable and comely . he shews that he is no judg of beauty , for according to him a flat face without a nose , forehead , cheeks , eyebrows , or any other protuberancies , would be handsom . so in the face of the earth he requires a perfect equality , which indeed would be a deformity . i deny not but by length of time some parts of the earth may be worn away , or broken in , and sunk down , &c. and so may look ragged and disorder'd : but he is very effeminate and nice if he will not bear with these reverend wrinkles , these lesser defects of pulchritude in our mother earth , which she hath contracted by her old age. but as to the main , she bears her years well , and keeps her pristine beauty . that mixture of risings and plains , of hills and dales , &c. which we discover in her , is an ornament , and renders her in the whole uniform and regular : and therefore 't is not to be question'd but that she was not without these at first . and particularly as for mountains , which he reckons among the monstrosities of this earth , and as the effect of the desolating flood , it is as evident as a plain place of scripture can make it , that the earth before the flood was not destitute of these ; for it it said , gen. . . the waters prevail'd exceedingly on the earth , and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered . and further yet , ver . . ( to make it yet plainer ) fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail , and the mountains were covered . therefore it is undeniable that the antediluvian earth had high hills and mountains , unless he will say that they were covered before they were . and if they were before the flood , it is not to be question'd that they were the product of the first creation , and were made by god himself . it is probable this is intimated from that epithet which is given them in gen. . . the everlasting hills . gnolam here signifies the antiquity of them , viz. that they were made at first , when the earth was created , and so are as it were perpetual or everlasting . however , if this be not meant , it is rashly said by a very * learned writer , that it is an idle adjection . which appears further from psal. . . before the mountains were brought forth , or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world : even from everlasting to everlasting thou art god. where we see that the production of the mountains , and the forming of the earth and the world are synchronical : which this writer denies by saying they were produced a long time afterwards . this is a psalm of moses , which makes it the more remarkable , for he that writ of the creation , and afterwards of the flood , and tells us the waters of it cover'd the highest hills and mountains , positively asserts here , that these hills and mountains were created at the same time with the earth and the world ; which confirms what he had said before . and that passage in prov. . . is very much to this purpose , before the mountains were settled , before the hills was i brought forth : for solomon is there describing the eternity of wisdom , and shewing that it existed before the creation of the world , and accordingly enumerates the principal works of the creation , as the depths , the sea , the fountains of water , the heavens , the clouds , the earth and its foundations , and among these mentions the mountains and hills , and asserts that before these and the other parts of the creation were produced , wisdom had an existence . whence any man of consistent thoughts would infer , that the mountains ( as well as the sea , the heavens , the fountains of water , &c. ) were part of the first creation ; for else they would not have been reckon'd up together with the rest as parts of it . we may conclude then , that those vast swelling protuberancies of the earth were of the same date with the world. though , when i say this , i do not deny but there might be some hills rais'd afterwards by the waters of the deluge in noah's time , which as they threw down some hills , so they made some others by casting up great heaps of earth . this i am not unwilling to grant as a thing probable , but what i have said before is certain . as to the manner of the production of the first hills and mountains , no man can be positive . it is likely they were rais'd by subterraneous fires and flatus's , saith * mr. ray ; but i rather think that the primitive elevation of the mountains was another thing , and that those fires were scarcely kindled , or set on work so easily . some have guessed they were thus caus'd , viz. whereas at first the waters and earth were both mix'd together , god soon after made a separation between them : and in order to the parting of them there were cavities and channels made in the earth to receive and convey the water : whence the earth which subsided and was depress'd in one place rose up in another , and caus'd the mountains . this is thought to be a rational account of the formation of these vast bodies : but whether it be exact or no , no man can certainly tell . but this we are sure of , that they existed at the first forming of all things , and were constituent parts of the primitive earth , which this writer's theory utterly denies , and saith it was all champain , plain and level . so that whilest he avoids speaking like an orator concerning the earth , ( which he is set against , he saith ) he cannot afford to speak truth , i. e. to acknowledg what the holy scripture it self attests in plain and intelligent terms concerning the original of mountains , viz. that they were a part of the first creation of the world. and being so , they are questionless of vse , for the great creator made nothing in vain . because we cannot possibly see how great the whole body of the earth is , therefore there are some parts of it purposely lifted up above the rest , to give us some intimation and knowledg of this huge globe whereon we stand . that body which is miles in diameter , and above in circumference , is as it were abbreviated by this means into lesser ones , some of three or four , some of ten or twelve , others of twenty or near thirty miles in height . by beholding these eminent and exalted parts we may guess at the gigantick proportions of the whole extended mass it self , and admire the divine providence which supports its weight and bulk . thus because the earth it self was hid from us ( excepting what is to be seen within the compass of our scant horizon ) by reason of its convex figure , and the shortness of our sight , it was fitting that some remembrances and representations , as 't were some maps of the whole , should be before our eyes : and these are the high hills and mountainous eminencies which we see , as caucasus , olympus , atlas , athos , aetna , hecla , teneriff , which are as 't were epitomes of the whole earth . again , these were design'd to be boundaries and limits of certain regions and countries . thus taurus , the biggest mountain in the world , divides all asia into two parts , the one northward , the other southward . the pyrenean hills separate the kingdoms of france and spain : the alpes part italy from france . and several other mountains are the natural barriers which god hath set between countries and nations , though daring and ambitious minds take no notice of it , and impatiently long to have such a miraculous power as to be able to remove these mountains , to take away these great land-marks and distinguishing limits . moreover , these parts of the earth , which as to outward view are generally fruitless and barren , and therefore may seem useless and unprofitable , contain great riches in them . some of the rabbins derive har ( the hebrew word for a mountain ) from harah , gravidam esse ; and they give this reason , because they are big with metals , and swell'd with the precious treasures that are lodg'd in their womb. these places are the proper receptacle of minerals and all sorts of fossiles that are useful to mankind . these bulky substances do not take up room to no purpose : these big-bellied bodies are pregnant with things of the greatest value and worth : within them are laid up the wealth of the world. but of this i shall say more when i come to speak of the subterraneous world. again , these places are fittest for the nourishing and producing of vegetables . there is no where else ( as hath been observed by botanists ) such variety of plants and herbs . further , these elevations of the earth are necessary for conveying water to us , for from hence by channels under ground are derived the springs of this element . they serve as alembicks to distil fresh water for the use of man and beasts : and their heights are serviceable to the more facile descent of the streams . nay , these streams could not flow unless the heads of them were thus mounted above the ordinary level of the earth . there was an absolute necessity therefore of these hills , that there might be a descent of these waters . if the earth were every where level and plain , there could be no running streams or rivers . more especially , in very hot countries these elevated parts of the earth are necessary to supply these springs , for on the sides of them those abundant vapours that are exhaled out of the earth are condensed , and turn'd into water , as is proved by a very * ingenious gentleman . and † another famous virtuoso , who hath written since , hath exceedingly confirm'd this truth , having with great perspicuity shew'd that mountains are the heads and sources of springs and rivers , and that there would have been no running streams on the face of the earth if there had not been these exaltations of the ground , for here the waters are condensed and discharged . accordingly he observes that those countries that are in the torrid zone , or near or under the line , where the heat is greatest , and consequently where there is the greatest need of water , are furnish'd with mountains answerable , i. e. such as for bigness and number surpass those of colder countries . this he therefore concludes to be the providential contrivance of heaven , and to be an argument of the divine conduct and wisdom . as for the highest mountains in the southern parts of the world , an * ingenious naturalist tells us , that there is very great use of them for repelling the vapours exhaled by the sun 's powerful beams in those hot regions , and for hindring their evagations northward : which he thinks is of great advantage . it might be added , that the high hills render the earth more convenient and useful for habitation ; for if it were all even and level , the houses would lie open to the winds and to the sun , whereas by this mixture there is a shelter from both . furthermore , this inequality of the earth is suted to the difference of those animals that live upon it , to some of whom the higher and mountainous places which are hot and dry are most agreeable , yea it is observ'd that they cannot live any where else ; and to others those regions that are depressed and are more cool , moist and shady , are most wholesom and delightful . and lastly , a * worthy writer is designing to prove that even the vulcano's or burning mountains ( as aetna , hecla , vesuvius , &c. which seem to be very noxious ) are of use to the places where they are , and to the earth it self , and to mankind , insomuch that they could not subsist without these , or without the agents whereby these firy eruptions are effected . thus from what hath been said it is abundantly evident that the mountains are a very considerable part of the creation , and are signal testimonies of god's bounty as well as of his power in his forming of the world. chap. vi. vegetables are next consider'd , and their different parts enumerated , and shew'd to be arguments of a divine contriver . their fragrancy , delightfulness , beauty . their various natures , kinds , properties . their vsefulness in respect of food . particular instances of some foreign plants , viz. the metla , the cocus-tree . they are serviceable for physick . the signature of some of them declares their properties , and is a divine impression . to the earth properly belong vegetables , i. e. trees , plants , herbs , flowers , and all fruits that are the natural product of them ; which , whether you consider their excellent make , or their great variety , or their known vsefulness , bear witness that they are the offspring of a wise parent . first , let us contemplate the curious and exact composure of these vegetative creatures . they consist of , . a root , by which they suck moisture , sap and nourishment from the earth , and from which also these are convey'd into all the parts of the tree or plant. . a trunk or body : or in herbs 't is call'd the stalk , which is remarkable for its distinct knots and ioints , which are at convenient distances , and were design'd to uphold and sustain the plant , for these joints strengthen the stalk . . a bark , which is for the preservation of the trunk . and this is lined with an inward skin , peel or rind . the barks of some trees especially are very remarkable , and particularly that of the cinamon tree is worth more than the whole body . . pith , ( medulla , cor ) by this the aliment is carried from the root to the other parts . it answers to the spinal marrow in animals . . branches , the extreme parts or limbs , and they answer to arms and legs in sensitive creatures . the lesser ones are surculi , twigs . . fibres or filaments , little hollow strings for carrying the alimental juice , or something of that nature to all places . . flowers , with their initial and progressive buds , blooms , blossoms . . fruit , in order to which all the other parts are . . seed , which is for the propagation of the species , and is admirable for its make ; for a microscope will inform us , that it contains the whole plant in it . all the different parts before-mention'd are to be found here shut up in a shell or husk : so that every seed is a plant epitomized . lastly leaves , which may perhaps seem to be a very inconsiderable part of vegetables , and might well be spared : but if we make enquiry into them , we shall find that they are for several uses . in respect of the flowers and fruit-trees to which they belong , they are a shelter and guard to defend them from the inconveniencies and injuries of the weather , viz. the insults of sharp and boisterous winds , the excessive fall of rain or hail , and the immoderate heat of the sun. leaves are likewise an ornament as well as a fence : and their great variety of work is worth the observation of the curious , for some are open and spread out , others are folded together , some are even and smooth , others are wrinkled or crumpled , or rough . others are either shining , or winged , or perforated , or threaded , or spotted , or full of veins , or hairy , or prickly , or flowry . some are round , some are triangular , some are oval : others are sharp-pointed , or forked , or cut and divided into several partitions , some of them into or . and as to the edges , some are plain , others are uneven ; and these latter are either indented , or waved , or engrailed , &c. or they look as if they were rent and torn . further , if we may give credit to malpighius , a very good author in this matter ( who is seconded by mr. ray who is another very good judg in the case ) leaves are for the concoction of the aliment derived to the trees . in respect of others they have their use also , for they afford a cool shade in summer : which in hot climates especially is unspeakably welcome , because , comfortable and refreshing , pleasant and delightful . i could add that in some places where there is abundance of trees , the leaves when they fall and are dry do for a little time serve poor folks for firing ; and i remember i have seen them rake them together for that purpose . or , if they be let alone upon the ground , they are a sort of compost , and do in some small measure improve the soil . now , can any thinking head entertain such a thought as this , that all these several parts , which have all a plain relation to one another , and have also a general reference to the good of mankind , for which we see they are useful , and wherein we may evidently see there is so much design and contrivance , were produced by mere chance , or ( which is the same ) by a blind operation of unintelligent matter ? no certainly , this cannot enter into the mind of a man that thinks and considers ; especially if he takes notice of what the excellent malpighius and others have demonstrated , viz. that there is not any part or function in animals but 't is answer'd by something of the like nature in plants . there are in this rank of creatures distinct organs and vessels for the managing of concoction , nutrition , procreation , &c. though they are in a different shape and guise from what they are in beasts and birds , and such like perfecter animals . this was not unknown to the antient stagarite , according to whom a plant or tree is a man invers'd : the root is the head and mouth , the trunk is the body , the bark is the skin , the pith is the heart , the fibres are in lieu of veins , arteries and nerves ; the boughs and branches are the arms and feet , and the leaves are the hair. but this old notion hath been lately improved and more than ever illustrated by that learned italian , who hath so highly merited of medicks and natural philosophy . to proceed , what excellent things doth the vegetable kingdom afford us ! who is not ravish'd with the excellent shape , colour and smell of the plants and flowers which a choice garden is stock'd with ? hence perhaps some of the grecians philosophized in the walks and gardens about their cities , and made their serious studies pleasurable by this means : besides that here was administred occasion enough for philosophy . here a man is as 't were transplanted into paradise again , and is inviron'd with innocent and harmless delights . so that 't is no wonder that one forsook his crown , and turn'd gardiner . he prefer'd botanicks before politicks ; or he reckon'd a florist's employment to be royal and princely , he counted a garden a kingdom , unriddling that of the poet , — inscripti nomina regum nascuntur flores . — indeed there are some of these that seem to be formed for sight and beauty only , or chiefly , as tulips , anemonies , &c. of which there is scarce any other use to be made . and that use is sufficient , for hereby they shew the more transcendent beauty of their maker . and as for the rest whose virtue and efficacy we are well acquainted with , even they are endowed with their pleasant and delightful colours on purpose to entertain the eyes of men , and thereby to affect their hearts with the sense of their munificent master , whose livery they wear . of these our saviour speaks in mat. . . telling us that they spin not , and yet they are very richly clothed , even with more than royal apparel , for solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these , ver . . hence it was that a pious man ( whose name is well known ) being invited by an honourable person to go and see a stately building , ( the master-piece of english architecture in those days , saith my author ) desired to be excused , and to sit still gazing on a flower which he had in his hand : for in this flower , saith he , i can see more of god than in all the beautiful buildings in the world. yea , here is not only most exquisite beauty to delight the eye , but here is a most fragrant smell to please nostrils and chear the brain . both which gifts and properties seem to be peculiarly bestowed upon flowers as a recompence of their frail nature , and sudden withering which they are incident to above all the other works of the creation . their excessive sweetness and their glorious variety of colours make amends as it were for their short life . their great number and variety are also worthy of our consideration . there are some plants that are of a lower and imperfect rank , as those which grow in the sea , viz. corals , ( some of which are red , some black , others white ) spunges , alga's , &c. and some on the land , as mushrooms , mosses , and several vegetable excrescencies . but the more perfect ones , such as have seed and flower , as they are the most numerous , so they are of the greatest virtue and use. these you will find rank'd in their several divisions , and distinctly and accurately set down by mr. ray in his history of plants . and yet so vast is the number of these vegetable bodies in the world that there are many more than you meet with in the exactest botanist . for there are plants peculiar to particular countries and regions , as is confessed ; and therefore in america and other parts of the world which are yet undiscovered , there is doubtless a considerable number of simples which we have no knowledg of . the difference of plants is very great in respect of the soil and air which so much differ , and from whence they derive their nature . and tho i cannot subscribe to the rabbins , who ( as we are * told ) very confidently assert that there is not an herb which grows on the earth that hath not its peculiar star to influence it , yet i doubt not but their difference is much caused by the peculiarity of that influx and virtue which they partake of from the heavenly bodies , i. e. from their various aspects and operations . they are commonly by the masters of medicks distinguish'd according to their degrees of heat ; some having a moderate warmth , corresponding to the natural heat of our bodies : others exceed the native temperate heat of a man , and accordingly as this excess prevails in them they are said to be hot in the d , d or th degree . some are strong and robust , others are very week and feeble , as vines , hops , &c. but this is to be remarked that such infirm plants are provided with tendrels to lay hold on or twine themselves about other trees , or poles , or any thing near them to sustain them . some make a distinction of sexes among plants , as the palm-tree , lavendar , speedwell or veronica , piony , fern , southern-wood , &c. but especially the palm-tree , which galen , as well as pliny and others , takes notice of . and they being male and female , thence follow love and wedlock ; and accordingly pliny tells us that if the female palm be far removed from the male , it becomes barren , and bears no fruit : and such is the conjugal affection between them that if the male hath the boughs broken , the female droops and withers . but though this be the dream of some amorous botanists , yet the most sober naturalists acknowledg , upon good philosophical accounts , that there is a correspondence between certain plants of the same species , and by their proximity or distance this is sometimes discern'd . and so among vegetables of a different species there is ( as some philosophers and physicians have observ'd ) a sympathy and antipathy : by which if they mean that some plants agree and grow well together , as the lilly and rose , vine and olive , rose and garlick , vine and elm ; and that others disagree in their natures , and will not grow and thrive by one another , as the vine and coleworts ( the former shuns the latter , and twines about every thing else but that : whence perhaps the old notion , viz. that coleworts are an enemy to drunkenness , and are good to prevent it , first had its rise ) , hemlock and rue , rose and onion , the vine and laurel . if this , i say , be all that they mean , that some vegetables prosper and others do not according to their position and situation to other plants , i do not see but that it is a rational assertion , and if the grounds of it were well examined and look'd into , they might yield matter for a devout and serious admiring of the works of god. there is such a thing as an agreement and consent between the natures of beings : there may be observ'd a mutual league and confederacy among them . and other things are at variance and discord , and there seems to be an open hatred and enmity between them● some have observed this in animals , as the toad and spider , the stork and bat , the elephant and hog , the lion and cock , &c. which maintain a mutual aversion to one another , from certain natural principles , as some learned enquirers have thought , tho this is rejected by others . it is further remarkable that plants of a contrary nature and most different quality receive nourishment from the same spot of earth : or ( which is equally admirable ) in that one spot of earth there are contrary nourishments , which those plants draw to them according to their several natures . this is a noble contemplation , and is worthy of our most accurate disquisitions . as to the difference and variety of the nature of the greater vegetables , and of their vse also ( which i am now coming to speak of ) they are thus in part represented by our english homer , as he is deservedly stiled , * the sailing pine , the cedar proud and tall , the vine-prop elm , the poplar never dry : the builder oak , sole king of forests all , the aspine good for staves , the cyprus funeral : the lawrel , meed of mighty conquerors and poets sage , the fir that weepeth still , the willow worn of forlorn paramours , the eugh obedient to the benders will : the birch for shafts , the sallow for the mill , the warlike beech , the ash for nothing ill , the fruitful olive , and the plantane round , the carver holme , &c. it is endless to go through the whole vegetable dominion , and assign the properties of every part of it . this is certain that vegetables are sundry ways beneficial to mankind . flax , cotton , hemp , with several others ( of which i may have occasion to mention some afterwards ) bear clothing . and who knows not the vsefulness of plants as they are serviceable to food and physick ? tho there are some trees ( and those the best in some respect ) as the oak , fir , elm , &c. which yield no fruit , or such as is very inconsiderable , the firmness and usefulness of their timber making amends in that kind , yet the greatest number of trees bear fruit , and yield some sort of food . the earth is yearly a teeming mother , from whose pregnant womb all sorts of fruits are produced for the nourishing and sustaining that numerous company and variety of creatures that live upon it : and this wonderful pregnancy and fruitfulness argue a god. whence we find this to be the religious language of the psalmist , he causeth the grass to grow for the cattle , and herb for the service of man : that he may bring forth food out of the earth . he giveth thence wine that maketh glad the heart of man , and bread which strengthneth man's heart . which was gratefully taken notice of long before by that pious observer of the works of nature , † as for the earth , saith he , out of it cometh bread , the support and staff of man's life . this is one of the most visible and sensible arguments of a deity that the world and particularly the earth affords us . we taste as well as see that there is a god , and that he is good. though there was a fruit at first which was forbid to be eaten , ( by not attending to which our first parents lost paradise ) yet now all are freely indulged to us , and there is no transgressing but by intemperance and unthankfulness . the cooler fruits of the summer ( of which there is great variety ) as they are for pleasure , so they are given on purpose by providence to temper and allay the heat of our bodies , and to cool and refresh the stomach in that season of the year . the warmer fruits , roots and herbs are in the winter , when they are most serviceable to the body . and even the former ones when they are laid up , and more digested and ripen'd by time , are useful then likewise . the american or indian plants far excel the europaean ones , as we learn from those who have given us an account of the coca , the hovia , the indian fig-tree , the tuna , the cacoa-nut , the cocus-tree , the metla . the last of these is thus admirably described by the immortal cowley . * the man that hath the metla may supply himself with almost all things he can want from metla's almost all-sufficient plant. her very tree is fruit : her leaves when young are wholesom food , for garments serve when strong . nor only so , but to make up the cloth they furnish you with thread and needle both . ( a thorn grows at the end of every leaf , which together with the stringy part joining to it is used as a needle and thread to sow withal . ) what though her native soil with drought is curs'd , cut but her bark , and you may slake your thirst. a sudden spring will in the wound appear , which through streight passes strain'd comes forth more clear . for liquorish palats honey thou dost bear , for those whose gust wants quickning , vinegar . but these are trifles , thou dost wine impart , that drives dull care and trouble from the heart . to all these gifts of luxury and wealth thou giv'st us soveraign medicines too for health . choice balm from thy concocted bark breaks forth . no antidote affords more present aid 'gainst doubly mortal wounds by pois'nous arrows made . of all the exotick plants or trees that we read of , the cocus-tree or indian palm-tree , ( as some call it ) is the most admirable and remarkable : for besides that it bears clusters of coco-nuts every month , it affordeth water , vinegar , oil , sugar : yea , it supplies the inhabitants with bread , wine , clothing ; for the pith of this tree serves for the first , the juice of it for the second , and the down of its leaves for the third . this tree alone is said to be sufficient to build , rig , and freight a ship. this alone is both vessel and cargo . some describe it thus , the body and branches of it yield timber for houses and ships : the large kernel is meat : the shell is big enough to make drinking cups : the rind affords materials for cables , sails , ropes , &c. the milky liquor in the nut makes good drink : and an admirable sweet oil is pressed from the kernel of it . mr. herbert hath thus deciphered it , * sometimes thou dost divide thy gifts to man , sometimes unite . the indian nut alone is clothing , meat and trencher , drink and kan , boat , cable , sail and needle all in one . or take it more largely in the words of mr. cowley's muse , what senseless miser by the gods abhorr'd would covet more than cocus doth afford ? house , garments , beds and boards , even while we dine , supplies both meats and dish , both cup and wine , oil , honey , milk the stomach to delight , and poinant sauce to whet the appetite . nor is her service to the land confin'd , for ships entire compos'd of her we find . sails , tackle , timber , cables , ribs and mast there with the vessel fitted up , at last with her own ware is freighted ; all she bears is cocus growth , except her mariners ; nor need we ev'n her mariners exclude who from the coco-nut have all their food . among the foreign plants we may reckon tobacco and coffee : the former is the product of the plantations in the west-indies , the latter grows on little trees or shrubs in the deserts of arabia , and scarcely any where else : and both are of great use at this day in the europaean parts , whether more for diversion than real benefit i will not now dispute . as to physick , the use of plants is notorious , as we may learn from every herbalist , and the common dispensatory . the roots , barks , fruits , seeds , flowers , tears , juices , rosins , balsams are particularly serviceable to medical purposes . it hath been observ'd and approved of by the most inquisitive naturalists , that plants are appropriated to particular parts of the body ; and though they may be serviceable for curing diseases of other parts , yet they are chiefly and more signally destined for the redress of such and such individual ones : thus piony , betony , rosemary , marjoram , &c. are appropriated to the head and brain : eye bright , clary , celandine , rue , &c. to the eyes : parsley , marshmallows , saxifrage , drop-wort , &c. to the reins and bladder : angelica , saffron , balm , buglosse , &c. to the heart : cardamom , pepper , ginger , nutmeg , &c. to the stomach : sebesten , iujube , lungwort , horehound , coltsfoot , &c. to the breast and lungs . there are other simples that are good against the distempers of the womb , as arach , mother-wort , birth-wort , &c. herbs available for ruptures are solomon's-seal , rupture-wort , &c. wound-herbs are st. iohn's-wort , sanicle , tutsan , self-heal , saracens consound , &c. and here i might mention what is asserted by several antient natural philosophers , viz. that the outward signature or impression which is on some plants shews their inward virtue ; and that from the resemblance which they have to the parts of a man's body we may gather their secret power , and know to what particular part they are appropriated . thus the squill and poppy are good against the head-ach , they themselves resembling a head. the * walnut hath upon its fruit the signature of the head and brain , and accordingly it is beneficial to them . which is taken notice of , and thus represented by the excellent cowley , in his fifth book of plants , nor can this head-like nut , shap'd like the brain within , be said that form by chance to gain , or caryon call'd by learned greeks in vain . for membranes soft as silk her kernel bind , whereof the inmost is of tenderest kind ; like † those which on the brain of man we find : all which are in a seam-join'd shell enclos'd , which of this brain the scull may be suppos'd . this very scull envelop'd is again in a green coat , his pericranion , lastly , that no objection may remain , to thwart her near alliance to the brain , she nourishes the hair , remembring how her self deform'd without her leaves doth show , on barren scalps she makes fresh honours grow . this natural stamp is observable on other vegetables : thus the leaves of balm resemble a heart : which signature shews it to be cordial , and a great refresher of that part . eye-bright hath the plain impress of the eye , and 't is with success made use of against the maladies of that part . kidney-beans , call'd so because they represent the kidnies , particularly affect those vessels . the multiplicity of joints and knots in the root of the herb call'd solomon's seal ( which is denoted by its greek name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) shews that it is available against ruptures , and that it joins and knits green wounds ; it doth close and seal them up as 't were , whence perhaps it hath its denomination . and liver-wort and other simples might be mentioned , which are medical for that part whose signature and resemblance they bear . some think this to be fanciful , but upon due consideration it will be found to be very serious and solid : for these marks and impressions are real things , and go along with the whole species , and are never alter'd . two very eminent persons ( to mention no more at present ) who were not guilty of indulging their fancy and imagination , and who were great enemies to vulgar errors and prepossessions , freely own the significancy of these external resemblances on the bodies of the plants . the one is the learned * hugh grotius , who among his arguments for a god and providence assigns this as one . the other is the famous dr. willis , who hath ( i remember ) these words in his pharmaceut . some things are found good against the iaundice by a similitude of substance , and as it were by a signature , viz. as being endowed with a yellow iuice , as rhubarb , yellow sanders , saffron , &c. these visible characteristicks of plants were impressed upon them by the singular favour and goodness of heaven , to let us understand by the bare looking upon them what they are useful for , to let us read in the colour , figure and proportion of them what their intrinsick nature is . in short , there is not the least plant , though never so contemptible and trodden under our feet , but was made for some use and purpose , as our late improvements in this study partly have discover'd , and as succeeding ages ( if they be not over-run with sloth and ignorance ) will further manifest to the world , and therein display the abundant goodness and benevolence of god to it . chap. vii . god is to be found in the subterraneous world. where are waters , fires , metals , minerals , to which latter belong earths , salts , sulphurs , stones both common and precious . the loadstone particularly considered , and the author's opinion concerning it . he disapproves of the total dissolution of the earth at the deluge , and gives his reason for it . his iudgment touching earth-quakes and trepidations of the earth . he invites the reader to reflect with great seriousness upon the late instance of this kind : and to that purpose offers some remarks upon it . which he closes with a devout address to heaven , to supplicate the averting of the manifestation of the divine displeasure in this kind for the future . if we descend into the subterraneous world ( as kircher stiles it ) * the deep places of the earth , as they are called by the psalmist , these also will supply us with arguments to the same excellent purpose . here we shall be transported with the contemplation of the strange make and composure of those various caverns that are hid from common eyes , those unseen rarities of the under-ground world : for what is unseen of this earth is most astonishing . here is a vast receptacle of waters , called by moses the fountains of the great deep , gen. . . this great collection or abyss of them is placed in the central parts of the earth , as dr. woodward hath probably asserted . here are millions of aqueducts to convey water from the sea. here are springs and fountains that supply the land with brooks and rivers . here are medical waters and baths for the relief of the diseased . here are also the vast treasures of fire , that is , that combustible matter wherein those subtile particles are shut up that engender fire ; and likewise here are magazines of actual fire , as appears from those volcano's , those firy eruptions which are taken notice of in several places . and that there is fire in the earth may be proved from this , that * the bottoms of the deeper mines are very sultry , and the stone and ores there are very sensibly hot , even in winter . here are lodged metals ( the terrestrial planets , as the chymists are pleas'd to call them ) gold ( the sovereign and chief of all , because of its transcendent purity , brightness , solidity and weight ) silver , steel ( which is but the harder part of iron ) copper , quicksilver , tin , lead . as for brass ( orichalcum , aes ) it is a mixt metal , viz. of copper and lapis calaminaris : pewter is a compound of tin and lead . the property of metals whereby they are distinguish'd from other terestrial bodies is , that they may be melted , and are malleable . especially pure gold is ductile above all other metals , for an ounce of it may be so extended by malleation , that it will take up ten acres , if dr. charleton may be credited . as for the use of metals , none is wholly ignorant of it : they were made for defence and war , for instruments to work with , for medicine , for ornament , for vessels to be used in eating and drinking , and all other services whatsoever , for money and coin ; and in a word , they are some way or other useful to all the necessary ends of a man's life , and consequently are testimonies of god's care and concern for the good of mankind . accordingly you will find that these metals are particularly taken notice of and mentioned by iob to prove the infinite power and wisdom of god. surely there is a vein for the silver , and a place for gold where they fine it . iron is taken out of the earth , and brass is molten out of the stone . job . , . here are the repositories not only of metals but minerals , ( for though by a general name all metals are called minerals , because they are dug out of the mines , yet in propriety of speech these are distinguish'd from them , because whereas metals are properly those bodies that are capable of being melted by the fire , and of being beaten or drawn out by the hammer , minerals have only one of these properties ) as antimony , litharg , verdigrise , minium or red-lead , cerusse or white-lead , black-lead , &c. and several other fossiles there are ( which if i seem not to range in their due order , i may be excused , for i have consulted at one time or other several writers on this subject , but they all differ from one another , they do not refer these minerals to the same heads ) as . those that are usually call'd earths , as terra , sigillata , lemnian , armenian , samian earths , and several others that are used in medicks . . salts , as common salt ( natural , not factitious ) salt gemem , salt armoniack , nitre or salt petre , allom , vitriol or coperas , &c. . sulphurs , as ambergrise ( a bituminous matter found sometimes on the sea-shore ) arsenick , orpiment , or yellow arsenick , napht , bitumen or asphalt , amber , iet or black-amber , stone-coal or pit-coal : concerning the last of which it might be observed with relation to our selves here in england , that the counties of the sharpest and piercingest air , and most troubled with cold winds , snow and frost ( as northumberland , cumberland , &c. ) have the greatest plenty of coals and at easy rates : which by the way is no contemptible instance of divine providence . of these sulphureous materials it is likely iob's words are to be understood , ch . . v. . where speaking of the earth , he saith , vnder it is turned up as it were fire , i. e. although the superficies of it shews nothing of this kind , but perhaps yields corn and other fruits , yet under it are such fossiles , as brimstone and other combustible matter , which contain fire in them , and so it is properly said [ as it were fire . ] . stones which are either common or rare . of the former sort there are dug out of the earth marble ( of which there are several kinds , black , white , greenish , yellow , red , the chief of which last is porphyrie ) alablastre , a kind of softer marble , free-stone , flint-stone , slate or tile-stone , whet-stone , lapis lydius or touch-stone , lime-stone , plaister-stone ( of which plaister of paris is made ) asbestine or incombustible stone , talk , pebles : and several stones used by physicians , as lapis lazuli or the azure-stone , blood-stone , iew-stone , aetites , nephritick-stone , &c. those stones which are rare and precious , are not ( as the vulgar ones ) made of the collection of small sands , but they are liquid consistencies or drops condens'd in the earth : they are such as these , the diamond or adamant , and the chrystal : the former of which as it is the most sparkling , so 't is the hardest of all stones ; wherefore by reason of its irresistible hardness it is used in cutting and working of other precious sones . both this and the chrystal are transparent , and void of all colour . the coloured ones are the carbuncle , red as fire : ruby , sparkling more than a carbuncle , and not so firy : beryl , a sea-green : opal , of all colours very delightful and beautiful : turcois , blew , white and green blended : topaz , golden colour , yet greenish : emerald , green : chrysolite , a lighter green : saphire , blew or skie-colour'd : hyacinth or iacinth , reddish , or red mixt with yellow : iasper , of several colours , green , purple , yellow , and the veins are of different colours : agate of diverse colours mixt : onix , called so because 't is of the colour of a man's nail : sardonix , compounded of an onyx and sardius : chalcedony , of a cloudy duskish colour : amethyst , of a violet colour , i. e. compounded of red and blew : cornelian or sardius , a languid blood-colour . all these rich gemms which are remarkable either for their transparency , or their colours , or their virtues , ( as expert jewellers and lapidaries know very well ) are lodged by a divine hand in the caverns of the earth as in a safe casket , and thence they are taken out to enrich and embelish mankind , and are illustrious tokens of the heavenly bounty and munificence , and therefore even the inspired writings frequently make mention of them . to the mineral kingdom belongs the load-stone , which hath a most amazing virtue to draw iron and steel to it : and as the masters of experiments tell us , being capp'd with steel , its atractive power is the more forcible . but it hath puzzled all mankind to assign a reason of it : for what hath been hitherto said by philosophick men seems to be altogether unsatisfactory . who can give credit to that romantick solution of the french phi●osopher ? the attraction of the load-stone , saith he , is caused by the communication of the striate particles which issue forth of the poles of the heavenly vortex , and find a fitter and better passage through the pores of the magnet and iron than any other bodies , and drive the air before them , and cause those two to meet together , and as 't were to salute one another . but , besides that this is not attraction but pulsion , it is a mere figment of that incomparably ingenious monsieur , who knew not how to solve this unaccountable phaenomenon , but by such philosophick jargon as this . and as for the load-stone's causing the needle , which is touched with it , to turn toward the north , there is this lame account given of it . the earth is a great magnet , and where there is most earth ( i. e. least mixed with sea ) as in the north part of the world , the load-stone looks that way , and with it the needle of the compass . others , to make it out plainer , fancy a vast company of quarries of load-stone in the northern part of the world , whereby this attraction is made , and whereby the magnetick needle tends towards the north as its beloved point . but this is fanciful rather than solid , and no man alive can make any certain proof of there being more load-stones in the northern part of the world than there are in the south , or either of the other two quarters of the earth . therefore i must needs declare that though i have an ear always open to any ingenious and probable resolution of a philosophick difficulty , yet i look upon the accounts that have hitherto been given of this phaenomenon to be futile and insignificant : and no man of considerate thoughts can acquiesce in them . and i further declare that i am throughly perswaded that this strange phaenomenon ( as well as some others , viz. that of gravity and levity , and the reciprocal motion of the sea ) is not to be solved by the principles of matter and motion , but that there is a supernatural cause to be assigned of it . i do verily believe that it was intended that this and such like prodigious occurrences should lead us directly to the acknowledgment of a supream and all-wise agent , to whom only we can attribute such strange effects , unless we miserably strain our reasons , and fancy causes where there are none . it is fit that among so may philosophick problems and difficulties as there are , there should be some few that cannot possibly be resolved by a recourse to natural causes ; that by this means the study of bodies ●ight not extinguish the notion and sense of an infinitely intelligent mind ; that philosophy might not shut god out of the world , but that on the contrary we might be forced to confess an immaterial and spiritual being , of immense understanding and wisdom . so here particularly we are gravell'd with the attraction of the load-stone , and if we speak freely and ingenuously , we must own that we know not how to render an account of it ; which without doubt was thus design'd by providence , that we might look up to the original founder of all beings , and acknowledg his superintendency and more immediate agency in this and some other strange events which we meet with in the world. here is a dull obscure stone that hath power to attract iron to it , which is denied to diamonds and sparkling jewels . this one dark and unpromising mineral is more serviceable to mankind , as to navigation which is so much improved by the invention of the nautick compass made useful by this magnetism , than all the precious stones and gemms which the earth so charily deposites in her bosom , and which being taken thence make such a goodly shew in the world with their lustre and brightness , and which really deserve our admiration , because they are borrowed from a divine light and glory . and thus i have in part shew'd ( for it was not my intention to insist largely on these things ) what are the wonders that are contain'd in the bowels of the earth , what are the treasures that lie hid under ground , and which are trampled upon every day . and i doubt not but they are disposed of and placed in the same order in which they were at the first creation . though i find it avouched lately by * one of a very philosophick genius , that the whole terraqueous globe was at the time of the deluge put into the condition that we now behold it in . he as well as the learned theorist holds the dissolution of the earth , but in a far different manner : for the theorist makes it the cause of the deluge , but his hypothesis is that the deluge was the cause of the earth's dissolution ; and that all metals and minerals , and whatever else is found in the globe of the earth , owe thei● present frame and constitution to the flood i crave leave to dissent from this learned author , for tho as to the main he has excellently performed his task of giving us a natural history of the earth , and hath certainly taken the right way to compile it , founding it upon continued observation and matter of fact , yet perhaps he hath gone too far in asserting the total dissolution of the earth , for according to my apprehension there is no need of maintaining this . it is my perswasion that it is not very congruous to the notion which we have of the divine wisdom and prudence to dissolve the whole frame of the earth , which was at first made with the utmost art and skill , and to make a new settlement of things in this globe . it is somewhat hard to adjust this to the wise and discreet management of heaven . it hath been objected by some , that the laws of gravity are not observ'd in this hypothesis , i. e. the weightiest and heaviest things do not subside lowest . metals are not always deepest in the earth , and next to the center , and yet they are heaviest : and sometimes the lightest bodies , as shells , bones of fishes , &c. are lowest of all , or at least are not placed according to the proportion of their weight : which shews that these bodies did not sink by virtue of their specifick gravity , which is the thing he asserts . but i confess i rather say this to provoke this learned author to make good his hypothesis in all particulars in this nature , than to contradict what he saith about it , for i have not duly examin'd the matter . tho the deluge was universal , and in a great measure rifled and disorder'd the uppermost parts of the earth , and displaced most of the bodies which it found there , and consequently made a very great change , yet at present i am not inclined to believe that there was ( as he expresses it ) a turning all things topsie-turvy , and unhinging the whole frame of the globe , and that ( as he speaks in another place ) the whole earth was taken all to pieces , and dissolved at the deluge , and afterwards framed anew . it will be hard to prove that massy stones and all other solid minerals and metals lost their solidity by the flood . if this were so , how comes it to pass that the shells ( which he often speaks of ) remain still ? why were they not dissolved ? and why were the particles of the teeth and bones of sea-animals ( which he likewise mentions ) not dissevered ? how came they to escape crushing in their falling down and subsiding , which he supposeth ? yea , how come they to be in the very same figure and shape that they had at first , and to have no alteration ? can we think that the constituent parts of such solid bodies as stones and metals were disjoined , and that their cohesion perfectly ceased , and yet that those lighter bodies of shells , &c. kept their consistency , and underwent no change at all ? this i think is scarcely possible to be solved . his main proof of this dissolution of the earth and the confusion that follow'd it , is the strata , the layers of stone , chalk , marl , gravel , coal , clay , &c. which he takes notice of . but i ask , why might not these be of primitive ordering ? why may we not hold that these strata were originally so disposed ? i do not hitherto see any thing that hinders our belief of this . and as for shells and trees , &c. that are found in the earth , they may be ( and i agree with him that they are ) a proof of the vniversal deluge , but they seem not to me to be an argument of that total dissolution of the earth which he asserts , that ransacking of nature , as he is pleased to call it . in short , i am inclined to believe that all those orderly sets or ranks of different sorts of earth , which are every where observable , were made by the almighty hand before the flood , yea most of them at the first production of the world. but if this curious author should afterwards make a full proof of what he hath propounded , yet still our main point is preserv'd entire ; for he grants , nay professedly avers and declares that this change of the earth * produced the most consummate and absolute order and beauty , and that it was for the universal good and happiness of the whole race of mankind that were to come after . and ( which is yet more ) he proves that * this change , this dissolution of the primitive earth , and the framing of another out of it , is a great and singular work and argument of providence , of counsel and sagacity , and he demonstrates in several particulars that it is the product of a reasoning and designing agent . we are come then at length to the grand matter which i was all along aiming at , viz. the proof of a deity from the make and disposal of the earth . thus that of the psalmist is evinced to be true , † the earth is full of thy riches , which he saith to convince us of the wisdom of god in the works of the creation . and now to close this part of my discourse , viz. concerning the earth , i will add a few words concerning earthquakes , which are occasioned by those spatious cavities and vaults , which i have asserted before to be within the bowels of the earth . some of the old philosophers imputed this motion to winds and vapours bred in these hollow places . others ascribe it to excessive waters got into the channels of the earth by reason of excessive rains , and agitated there in those vast caverns . it was the opinion of some of the antients , that this motion was the effect of the sea 's beating on the earth , and powerfully moving and shaking it : whence neptune had the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earth-shaker , and he was call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which words are of the same import . others think it is caused wholly by the subterraneous fires and sulphureous matter in those cavities . thus that admirable * observer of the works of nature , whom i have frequently cited , attributes this phaenomenon to the elevation of the water out of the great abyss ( which he supposes to be in the central part of the earth ) by the virtue of this under-ground fire . he hath a particular notion of this heat causing this commotion and disorder in the earth . but i conceive that all these are the causes at one time or other , nay it may be at the same time , of earthquakes strictly so call'd , and tremblings of the earth which are tendencies to them . the winds generated in the entrails of the earth , may by extending the parts in some places cause a tremour , or by a sudden violent eruption occasion a greater motion . so by the immoderate rains , or by inundations of the sea , the meatus of the earth may be washed and worn away , and other adjacent parts may give way and sink downwards , and thereby cause a motion above , if with a subsiding , in some of the extream parts . also the subterraneous sulphury matter ( of which there is great quantity ) being inflamed may produce these concussions by extraordinary rarefaction , which making more room must needs produce an unwonted motion , and sometimes a horrid noise . so that an earthquake may be said to be a kind of a subterranean thunder . this was pliny's notion of old , * non aliud est in terrâ tremor quàm in nube tonitru . thus he speaks because of the resemblance between the breaking of the earth and of the clouds , and the dreadful shock that accompanies both . but though earthquakes are thus resolved into physical causes , yet they are to be look'd upon as remarkable testimonies of the divine power and greatness . we cannot but own and reverence these when we consider the dreadful effects of these concussions . nay , it is hardly to be solved by any of the forementioned causes , how there can be a trembling of the earth at the same moment in places that are so vastly distant from one another . there was an universal shock almost all the world over in the emperor valentinian's time , about the year of our lord . in the year , there was a shaking of the earth in asia , hungary , germany , italy , france at the same time . in peru ( as acosta relates ) this tremor oftentimes reaches near six hundred miles from north to south . this must have an extraordinary cause , and that man must strain his philosophy who undertakes to give a satisfactory account of it from common principles and the natural efficacy of things . this unusual exertment of divine providence we of this nation ( as well as others ) have * lately felt with surprise and astonishment . and i hope it will be thought no digression if i here remind the reader to reflect upon it with great thoughtfulness and seriousness , and to consider and weigh the true nature and design of this amazing event . i know there are some persons that slight all such occurrences , and tell us that they are from natural causes , and therefore it is weakness and vanity to trouble our selves about them ; men of philosophy ( say they ) are acquainted with the spring and source of these accidents , and therefore are not possess'd with fear and dread , and cannot be perswaded that nature , acting in its own way , and according to its due laws , intends us any mischief . but the reply to these men is easy , for though i most willingly grant that earthquakes , and the lesser tendencies to them , as tremblings of the earth , are the product of natural causes , yet it is as true that the god of nature , when he is provoked by the sinful enormities of a people , may and oftentimes doth turn these natural effects into punishments and iudgments . so that both philosophy and divinity are concern'd here , and they are very well consistent . we may as naturalists search into the physical reasons of these events ; but then as we are students in religion we are bound to make a farther enquiry , and to take notice of the design of heaven in these great and wonderful effects that happen in the world. with philosophers and physitians we are ready to grant that scarcity and famine , plague and pestilence are naturally produced : and yet we are ascertain'd from the sacred and infallible records of scripture , that these were oftentimes inflicted by god on purpose as the recompence of mens heinous sins . so it is in the present case , ( which makes it very plain ) the motion and shaking of the earth are to be attributed to causes in nature , ( and i have before assigned what they are ) yet we must likewise acknowledg that there is a more than ordinary hand to be taken notice of in this matter : and as understanding and devout christians we are to observe what the purpose of divine providence is at such a time. pursuant to this i offer these brief remarks on that signal and stupendous dispensation . . the antients have thought that this was ever attended with something that was boding and ominous . thus socrates the ecclesiastical historian pronounces concerning the earthquake which happen'd in the days of the emperors valentinian and valens , that it was * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a certain sign of the shakings and convulsions which afterwards were in the christian churches . and i could produce other very grave writers who speak to the same effect with relation to earthquakes that were felt in other places . those commotions in the natural world are thought to foretel greater in the ecclesiastical and civil . . the holy scriptures have particularly taken notice of this as a sign of the divine anger , and as a forerunner of great evils and calamities . thou shalt be visited of the lord of hosts with earthquake , &c. isai. . . it was foretold by our blessed saviour , ( mat. . . ) that there should be great earthquakes in diverse places before the final overthrow of ierusalem . and you may observe that in the sacred writ great alterations , but especially those which are mischievous and destructive , are † express'd to us by earthquakes , by moving and shaking the earth , and such like terms . this is the stile and language of the old testament , yea and of the new , as is evident from several passages in the * book of the revelation . and therefore my assertion is not groundless when i say that this particular sort of prodigies generally foresignifies some remarkable evils and calamities . . let us observe and consider the number and frequency of this kind of events of late . above thirty cities and towns in italy and the adjoining parts have felt this dreadful motion within a few years . and they that converse with the history of modern occurrences , cannot but have informed themselves that there have been more terrible shakings of the earth in the space of these last ten years , than there were in above two ( i may say or ) hundred years before . this certainly deserves our most serious consideration , and may assure us that some very uncommon and extraordinary thing is portended by these frequent and repeated agitations of the earth under our feet . . and lastly , let us look upon this late trembling of that vast element under us as an act of divine judgment and mercy mixed together , ( for we may consider it under this double notion . ) first , let us view it as a iudgment , as a terrible threatning from heaven , as a token of god's anger and displeasure because of our multiplied offences and enormities , for this is the general character of this prodigious occurrence . let us see the divine hand stretched out against us , and let us speedily reform our lives , lest our continuing in our impenitence provoke the almighty to cut us off speedily . secondly , let us admire this late visitation as it hath a mixture of singular mercy with it . we have heard what hath been the deplorable condition of some other countries where earthquakes have happen'd . great numbers of people have been swallow'd up alive by the gaping ground , and have been buried in the bowels of the earth : and the circumstances of those that survived were unspeakably lamentable and miserable . it is the peculiar goodness of heaven to us that we have not met with the same severity , that this late concussion of the earth was not of that violent and furious nature , and that it proved not fatal and destructive to us . we are concern'd now to remember and practise that advice of our blessed lord , sin no more , lest a worse thing come unto you . i say a worse thing , for even to speak philosophically ( which some would have us to do in this affair ) if the sulphureous matter in that part of the earth which is under us ( or whatever else it is that is the cause of earthquakes ) be not quite spent or dissipated , or if its exhalations have not had vent through the subterraneous caverns and channels in some other place , ( it may be at a great distance from us ) there is some reason to fear an after-clap , a more fierce and vehement shock , with a rending of the earth , to make way for those sulphureous vapours . thus even on natural grounds it may be suspected that this gentle trepidation which we have felt will be follow'd with a more direful commotion , and that both we and our habitations may be interred in one common sepulcher . but to wave philosophy , i am sure according to divinity we have cause to fear that a worse thing will befal us , because we grow rather worse than better by all these things that happen to us . if the reader thinks fit , we will join in our devotion upon this occasion , and humbly revering the late stroke of the divine hand , supplicate that the omen may be happily prevented and averted . o thou eternal being , soveraign lord of heaven and earth ! vouchsafe , we beseech thee , that we may be fully sensible of this iudgment which thou hast threatned us with . thou who shewest thy self a god of power and vengeance , by making the earth to tremble under its inhabitants , put them into the like posture , and cause them to fear and stand in awe of thee , to acknowledg that they deserve to be utterly destroyed for their repeated transgressions and offences , and that it is from thine unspeakable patience and long-suffering , from thine infinite compassion and forbearance , that so prophane and wicked a people are not actually consumed . o blessed god , make this an effectual means to convince men of thy almighty power and soveraignty , of thy impartial iustice and severity , and that thou hast various ways of punishing offenders . thou canst make all the elements serviceable to this dreadful end. thou didst destroy the sinners of the old world with an inundation of water ; thou didst consume sodom and the neighbouring cities by fire : thou hast often by an infectious air brought a devouring pestilence on a people ; and thou hast also caused the earth to open its mouth and swallow up rebellious sinners . and this we might justly fear will be our lot from thine avenging hand . our crying sins and abominable practices have long since deserved that this sudden and terrible calamity should overtake us . and now if thou dost actually inflict it upon us , we must acknowledg thee to be iust and righteous , for there is no punishment too severe for us . but spare us , o thou merciful preserver of men , and deal not with us according to our demerits . enable us to call to mind that terrible , but loving warning which thou lately gavest us , and let our behaviour be sutable to it . let us with humble thankfulness acknowledg thy singular goodness and mercy to us . thou hast not dealt so with all people , for thou hast shaken the earth , and destroyed the inhabitants of it at the same time . but thou hast been favourable to vs , and hast only threatned us . o let this thy goodness and forbearance towards us lead us unto repentance , and firm resolves of vertuous living . do thou make us so deeply apprehensive of this extraordinary instance of thy long-suffering and clemency , that we may be effectually stirr'd up to render thanks unto thee our preserver and saviour , and to testify our thankfulness in a hearty abandoning of all our evil ways , and in turning unto thee our gracious god by amendment of life , that thou mayest never be provoked to renew the tokens of thy former displeasure , and to deal more severely with us than hitherto thou hast done . to this end be pleased to affect our hearts with the consideration of this late wonderful dispensation of thy providence towards us . add this to this great mercy and deliverance , that we may lay it to heart , that we may be made better by it , that we may really improve it for thy glory and our own welfare both here and hereafter . grant this , o heavenly father , for the merits of christ jesus our lord , to whom be glory to eternal ages . none , i think , but atheists will refuse to say amen to these oraisons : for they resolving all things into mere natural principles ( and by these they mean no other than chance or a casual hit of matter and motion ) will allow of no religious reflections on the events that are in the world. and i wish there were none that notwithstanding their disavowing the name of atheists as reproachful , imitate them too much in this . then we should have a happy mixture and conjunction of natural philosophy and religion ; then in all the works of nature we should acknowledg an intelligent and wise being that is the author and disposer of them . so much concerning the earth . chap. viii . the sea , with all its treasures and riches , is another evidence of an omnipotent and all-wise being . the several sentiments of writers concerning its ebbing and flowing are examined . the phaenomenon is resolv'd into a supernatural efficiency , and why . the saltness of the sea-waters is in order to the preserving them from putrefaction . the sea is kept within its bounds by an almighty arm. god's providence seen in making it both the source and receptacle of all waters . the theorist's conceit of the primitive earth's being without sea , refuted by scripture and reason . the great vsefulness of the sea in several respects . again , the sea furnishes us with abundant arguments for an invisible and almighty being . for what is the sea but that great heap of waters which was gather'd together by god's omnipotent fiat at the creation of the world ? for he was pleased to depress some parts of the earth , and make them lower than the others , and so the waters fell down thither by their own weight , and have ever since been contained within those hollow parts of the earth . these are call'd the waters under the earth in the second commandment , because they are in those receptacles that are below the surface of the earth , and which were made on purpose to receive and hold that element for the use and advantage of mankind and other animals . but from those discoveries that have been made concerning that vast element we may conclude that it encompasses the greatest part of the earth . africa is an island , or a peninsula at least : asia and europe make one peninsula : america consists of two vast islands . or take it according to * varenius's geography , who tells us that the four spatious continents of europe , asia , africa and america , are four great isles : and so is greenland , and that part of the world which is termed the southern or magellanick land. so that indeed this terrestrial globe is made up of islands , some greater and others less . or , speaking more generally , we may say that the whole earth seems to be but one great island . in this † great and wide sea ( as the psalmist rightly stiles it ) are things creeping innumerable : for the fishes of the sea are reckon'd among creeping animals , because they move on their bellies in the water , and because they are without legs and feet : and they are said to be innumerable because the water is the most prolifick of all the elements . it is emphatically said by the same religious observer , that here are not only small but great beasts , for there are generally greater animals in this watry element than on the earth , because of the abundant humidity which is procreative of a more than ordinary magnitude . but of these i am to treat distinctly afterwards , when i come to speak particularly of animate creatures . in the sea are not only fishes , but plants proper to that salt element ; of which sort is coral , which is a stony concretion in form of a shrub growing in the sea , and therefore is called by paracelsus the sea-tree . here is amber , a sulphureous rosin of the earth cast into the sea , and there concreted . there are pearls of a vast and almost incredible value taken out of the deep : so that what our saviour said of a merchant-man , mat. . . might be literally true , viz. that he sold all he had ( his whole estate ) to buy one pearl : for here god hath treasur'd up great riches in a small compass . but the sea it self is the richest mart in the world , god hath made the traffick on the ocean to be the greatest procurer of wealth and abundance . who admires not the singular hand of the almighty in the ebbing and flowing of this huge mass of waters ? twice in somewhat more than four and twenty hours there is a reciprocation of tides . six hours the sea flows , and as many hours it ordinarily ebbs . the cause of which strange and astonishing phaenomenon is differently assigned . not to attend to the stoicks , ( who holding the world to be an animal , fancied the breathing or sucking in of the sea-water and letting it out , as fishes do through their gills , made this rising and falling of it ) it is generally ascribed to the moon because it is known by experience that the sea swells when the moon is above the horizon , and so by degrees swells yet more till it comes to the very vertical point : and then when it declines , the sea flags . now , if it be thus , if the sea swells when the moon passes over the meridian , and presses the air and water ; and if the greatest swellings and flowings are at the equinoxes , because the moon then more directly and perpendicularly presses the earth ; and withal , if in full and new moons the motion of the sea towards the west be more vehement and impetuous than ordinary , because the moon is at such times nearer the earth , and so more forcibly presses the water , and thence causes a greater flux than usually ; if it be thus ( as we are told ) who can doubt whether the phaenomenon be not to be solv'd by this planet ? yes , there is some place for doubting , because ( as * varenius assures us ) it is not attested by the observation and experience of the world , that when the moon is vertical the tides are always highest , and on the contrary , that when she is at the opposite point it is always lowest water : which yet would necessarily happen if the moon were the total cause of the flux of the sea. and further , as there is not the greatest flux in some places when the moon is in its meridian , or at the time of its newness or fulness ; so it is true that in most parts of the mediterranean , and in the baltick sea , and on the northern shores of the pacifick sea , there is little or no swelling or flagging of the waters . it is true these seas do not lie so open to the moon as the ocean : yet notwithstanding this , they should have some considerable degrees of flux and reflux , but they have not . the same is observable in the euxine sea , and in the dead sea in asia ; nor is there any regular and due motion in the archipelago . yea , in the northern ocean beyond scotland , toward norway and green-land , the exaltation and depression of the waters are scarcely sensible . from which instances we may gather that the moon is not the compleat efficient of the agitation of the sea , for then all seas would be affected with its influence more or less . the most that we can say is , that where this reciprocal motion is , it depends only in part on the regency of the moon . kepler attributes it to a magnetick virtue in the moon , but he hath not had the fortune to gain any to his opinion . others therefore attempt to solve it another way : if the moon can't effect this reciprocation of the sea's motion , the sun shall . accordingly some imputed it to the sun 's raising of vapours and exhalations from the sea. this was an old opinion , for * plutarch tells us that it was held by aristotle and by heraclitus : but there seems to be little foundation for it , because exhalations are rais'd in all seas , lakes and great waters , but there is not a flux and reflux in them all , as hath been already observ'd . the younger † vossius holds that this motion is caus'd by that of the sun , which is from east to west , and such is the flux of the sea. and this seems to have been the opinion of pliny and ptolomy long before . but there is no ground at all for it , for the tides may as well be imputed to the stars as the sun , seeing they as well as this move from the east . again , 't is to be remembred that the sea moves from west to east in the ebbing , and yet the sun at the same time hath no such motion . but there are so many and easy objections ( and those unanswerable ) against this hypothesis , that it would be lost time to insist on this any further . but if neither sun nor moon can do the work , the earth must , according to galilaeus and dr. wallis , who make the motion of the earth the sole cause of the flux and reflux of the sea. but first they must prove that the earth moves : which will be a hard task , though 't is so modish a piece of philosophy among the moderns : and then they must render a reason why lakes , meres and rivers do not flow and ebb as well as the sea , at least why they do not move in some small measure , seeing they cannot but be affected somewhat with the agitation of the earth , as well as the broader waters . the learned * lydiat and some others search lower for the original of the sea's motion , and impute it to subterraneous fires . but this is very weak , for if those fires were able to give it motion , it would certainly give it heat also ; and the lower men dive , the warmer they would feel the waters to be : but i never heard of any man that pretended to prove this . wherefore the insufficiency and weakness of these several accounts given by learned men concerning the ebbing and flowing of the sea , encline me to resolve this phaenomenon wholly into a supernatural cause , viz. the power of god. lest this should be thought to be a piece of philosophical phanaticism , i will give the reader an account of what i say . i grant it is noble and worthy of our rational faculties to search into the natural causes of things , and philosophically to unravel the secrets of the most abstruse effects . but when we find our selves puzzled and non-pluss'd , and are not able to trace the effects to their physical causes , we ought to look up higher , and own the more signal finger of god. and this is our present case , we can't apprehend any second causes wholly interested in the matter that is before us : after all our searches we find that this wonderful phaenomenon is above the efficiency of natural agents : and 't is certain that it is worthy of the almighty creator that some should be so , and that for an excellent purpose , viz. that we should have some check to our inquisitions , that we should be sensible of the weakness and shallowness of our conceptions , that we should adore the creator himself , and that we might throughly be convinced that the divine power infinitely surpasses that of natural efficients . for these and other reasons which we know not of ( nor is it fit we should ) god sometimes acts absolutely and entirely without making use of the natural agency of second causes : he manages and performs the whole work himself without any concurrence of theirs . thus by an immediate act of his power he every day puts this vast abyss of waters into a vehement motion all the world over . and this exertment of power is accompanied with infinite goodness , for it is for the real advantage and welfare of the universe that this heap of waters is thus forcibly shaken by him . the alternate motion of the sea which is caused by this violent concussion , is for the preservation of that element , and the hindrance of its being corrupted . and i impute the saltness of these waters to this : for as for the reasons which some give of this particular property of the sea-water , as that it proceeds from the rocks of fossile salt which are at the bottom of the sea , and sometimes upon its shores , as some would make us believe ; or that it is the effect of the subterraneous bituminous fires , as lydiat conceits ; or that it is caused by the adustion of its particles by the sun , as aristotle thought , and the like ; i look upon them as very imperfect and unsatisfactory accounts . it is true it hath been observ'd that the ocean is salter in those places which belong to the torrid zone than in those that are near the poles , or under them ; but this seems not to proceed from the sun's heat , but from other causes . there is from the ocean near the equinoctial , a greater quantity of water evaporated than from the more remote seas , and this is dissolv'd into showers of fresh water which fall generally in those places which are at a great distance from the equinoctial , and qualify the saltness of those seas . besides , fewer rivers ( whose water is void of saltness ) discharge themselves into that part of the ocean which is near the equinoctial , than into that which is near the poles , and thence the former exceeds in this saline quality . these may be the reasons why the ocean between the tropicks is salter than in the temperate or frigid zones . i say further , if saltness were produced by heat , then there might be an experiment of turning fresh water into that which is salt , at least brackish , by fire : but this was never yet done . yea , i prove that saltness is not from the solar heat , because this on the contrary changes the nature of that water which is salt , and makes it fresh ; for the water that is by the heat of the sun exhaled from the sea , and turn'd into showers , ( as was intimated before ) is not salt. therefore the heat of the sun is not the cause of the salsitude of the waters . i am then of * varenius's mind in this , that these salt particles are coetaneous with the ocean it self , and therefore we ought no more to inquire into the original of them , than into the original and generation of the sea it self , or of the whole earth . but we may with some satisfaction rest in the final cause of this property , which is that it may be serviceable to the same end that the motion of this element is , viz. to preserve it from putrefaction . if the ocean were either stagnated , or had lost its saline quality , we should soon feel the dire effects of it : fishes would die , navigation would be impossible because of the corruption of that element , and the inhabitants of the whole earth would in a short time be infected and stifled with the noxious steams of it . here then we cannot but own , and with reverence admire the power , goodness and wisdom of the great founder of the world , that he was pleas'd thus to contrive the ocean for the good of mankind , and the service of the inhabitants of this lower world. and these divine attributes are no less observable in the bounding of this vast element . for though , it is true , it is lodg'd in the more depress'd parts of the earth , yet by its rapid and vehement motion it is naturally apt to fly out of its proper receptacles and channels ; and in many places it hath advanced it self and gained ground , and is now in a tendency to spread it self yet further , and to enlarge its dominions . but the overruling arm of heaven puts a stop to its career , and checks its enraged waves , and permits them to pass no further . this that pious sufferer acknowledg'd when he was describing the infinite and unsearchable power of god , * he hath compass'd the waters with bounds . the † hebrew verb here used is by buxtorf rendred circinavit , and then the elegancy of the expression is very considerable , he hath as with a pair of compasses exactly described the bounds of the sea : he hath with divine art and the most accurate skill and wisdom terminated the boisterous waves and raging billows of the ocean , he has shut it in with mountains , rocks and commodious shores. this is taken notice of by another inspired author , ‖ thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over , that they turn not again to cover the earth , and to overwhelm the inhabitants of it . especially those of the islands ( of which we are a part ) are concern'd to mention this with most thankful and hearty resentments . ** the lord reigneth , therefore ( as the same devout man saith ) let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof . if he were not lord and king , if he did not rule and govern the world , and particularly this impetuous element , if he did not mercifully restrain and confine it , it would unavoidably break in upon us and devour us . it was unsufferable presumption in xerxes to attempt to fetter the hellespont , it was saucy arrogance in king canu●e to charge the sea not to come in upon him . and it is but a fond superstition in the venetian to think to espouse the sea , and marry the adriatick on holy thursdays . it is the almighty providence of heaven only that can give laws and rules to the roaring waves . it is this only that can allay and moderate the deep when it boils like a pot : it is this alone that can curb and master its fury . so the almighty himself informs us , * he hath shut up the sea with doors ; and again , † he brake up for it his decreed place , and set bars and doors , and said , hitherto shalt thou come , but no further : and here shall thy proud waves be stayed . and farther proofs of this divine power we may take notice of in the deep , if we consider that god hath made this both the source or origine , and also the common receptacle of waters . fountains and springs arise not only from the great abyss of waters in the center of the earth , ( as a late ‖ worthy writer hath rendred very probable ) but from the ocean , i. e. from condens'd vapours or waters themselves sent up from the sea through the earth , and by the subterraneous fires exhaled up to hills and mountains , and thereby the cold condens'd into waters , which supply rivers , and are at last carried back to the sea. this admirable contrivance is , as i conceive , meant in psal. . . they ( i. e. the waters ) go up by the mountains , ( by advantage of rise they climb up through secret passages of the earth ) they go down by the valleys , ( they thence fall by their natural weight into those places where they are most profitable for the use of men ) and so at last into the place which thou hast founded for them , they return to the ocean their great repository . there is a continual circulation of water in the earth ( as of blood in the bodies of animals : ) it constantly flows from place to place , and never stands still . from the sea it passes to spring-heads through subterraneous channels ( and sometimes fish as well as water is convey'd in these passages , if they be of any considerable largeness ; whence by the way i think may be given an account of shell-fish and bones of other fish , which are sometimes found in digging deep in the ground : it is probable they came from the sea in these pipes under ground : ) from those spring-heads the water is derived to rivers ( tho i grant these are partly supplied by rains and snows , as when sudden inundations happen : ) and from the rivers there is a passage into the sea again , and thus the waters run round as blood in the veins and arteries of living creatures . and the circular motion of one is as necessary for the good of the world in general , as the other is for that of animals in particular . there is indeed a late ingenious writer that fancies the sea is a blemish to the world , and therefore he tells us that the first earth was without any such thing . but it is no wonder that he that dreams of an earth without clouds makes it wholly void of seas . yet this is to be wondred at that any man should aver with confidence that the antediluvian earth was without sea , when we read in gen. . . that god created great whales ; they must be whales on the dry land according to this author , for he allows no sea for them ; nay , when we expresly read that god gave adam dominion over the fish of the sea , gen. . , . only here again our wonder must cease when we remember what the author hath since divulged to the world , viz. that the first chapters of genesis are not to be understood in a literal , but an allegorical sense . so that according to this gentleman it was an allegorical sea ; and allegorical fishes too are spoken of by moses , or rather by god himself : and then there is as much reason to believe that the earth and the air with the cattel and fowl in them , which are mentioned in the same place , are allegorical , and he may as well say the whole world is so too . but it was unphilosophically done of him , as well as against scripture , to make the earth destitute of sea ; for if we rightly scan the nature of things , we must acknowledg that these two cannot be separated , because the great mass of earth cannot subsist without a proportionable measure of moisture , nor can the water be contain'd in a place unless the earth holds it . the water pervades all the parts , to be a kind of bond to them , that the earth may not crack , fall asunder and crumble into pieces . again , the water was made to give drink to every beast of the field , psal. . . and even to man himself , whose primitive refreshment it was . this must be derived mostly from the sea by the channels in the earth , ●or the rains and mists which this author supposes before the flood were not sufficient for this and all other purposes of this element . besides , it is an unintelligible mystery that there should be no clouds , and yet rain . likewise , the sea-water percolated by its passing through the earth , and at the same time mixing with it , was appointed by the great operator of the world to be serviceable to the fruitfulness of the earth , for without this ( as well as rain ) no plants , and consequently no fruits , and ( as the consequence of that ) scarcely any animals could be nourish'd . the world then must have been in a very miserable condition according to this learned author's theory , which locks up all the water of the world in the abyss , so that no body was the better for it . according to him it was well that the frame of the earth broke and fell down into the great deep , ( and how could it do otherwise when it was made so slight ? ) for from that dissolution the earth hath been eve● since universally water'd . so it seems the deluge was not so much a curse as a blessing ; for though the inhabitants that then were , perished by it , yet ever after we have found the benefit of it . indeed this author hath well husbanded the matter by his hypothesis , for it would have requir'd , he saith , eight oceans ( though several good mathematicians have not been of his mind ) to bring that universal flood on the world , but he hath done it with a far less quantity of this element . so that it is plain he is a good provident philosopher , and hath saved a great deal of water by his theory . but where god and nature are not sparing , why should we be ? and why doth the theorist imprison the whole element within the earth ? so that according to him there was no sea for above sixteen hundred years : or if there was any , it was a sea shut up and of no use . i have endeavoured to set it free , and that by good authority , even the divine law of the creation mention'd once and again in genesis . i have shew'd the necessity and usefulness of this great blessing to the world , and i will proceed to do so yet further . it cannot be denied that though the sea seems to be very bleak and chill , yet the influence of it is refreshing , yea warming . which minutius felix was sensible of , when speaking of the providence of god , which is so careful of the good of the universe , he tells us that * our britain is deficient as to the sun , but in way of recompence is recreated and comforted by the warmth of the sea which surrounds it . this tempers the cold and austerity of the winter , and gently warms those countries whose shores it washes . this secret was not unknown to tully , as is clear from that passage in his writings , † the seas being stirr'd with the winds are so warm , that a man may thence easily perceive that there is a certain heat contain'd in so great moisture ; for that warmth is not to be reckon'd as external and adventitious , but as rais'd from the inmost parts of the ocean by agitation . it was also designed by god that it should be useful for navigation , and consequently for travelling : for though the vast seas which are between countries seem to stop the traveller , yet by the help of ships a speedier passage is made than if he went on dry land. especially since the invention of the sea-map and compass we can visit the remotest parts of the world in a far shorter time than we could have done if there had been no seas . this the famous americus vespatius , columbus , magellan , and our own drake and cavendish could witness . in the next place , i might adjoin this , that the sea is of great use for setting limits and boundaries to several kingdoms and nations in the world. for by reason of the interposition of this they have an intire and separated dominion , because those parts of the sea which is next to them do as it were terminate and confine their jurisdiction : and those neighbouring waves are themselves part of it . for though the sea be in perpetual flux , and is not strictly and physically the same , yet it is so in respect of its channel and the shores it washes . a man may have a propriety in those things which are variable and transient : he hath a right to the air and light , and accordingly an action lieth in case of nusance , i. e. annoying the one , and obstructing the other . so it is with the waters of rivers , or of the sea : tho they are variable , yet they are subject to propriety . for ( as the learned in the law rightly tell us ) things may be common as to their use unto all , and yet they may be proper by right to one nation or person . thus such and such seas are appropriated to one certain kingdom or country , and so become the peculiar and distinct bounds of those places . and withal , they are a very good guard and fence , they are a strong and secure wall , especially if they surround the region . thus the sea is of singular use. moreover , let us call to mind what the pious psalmist saith , * they that go down to the sea in ships , that do business in great waters , these see the works of the lord and his wonders in the deep . they are entertain'd with variety of wonderful occurrences , which those at land are strangers to : on these prodigious mountains of waters they have a prospect of those admirable things which others cannot reach the sight of . and after all they are filled with admiration and astonishment , and must confess they cannot sufficiently † enter into the springs of the sea , and walk in the search of the depths , as god himself speaketh . lastly , notwithstanding what some fantastick men have conceited , these waters are a great ornament to the world. the poets , who are good judges in this case , and are own'd to have skill in determining what is beautiful and adorning , give their suffrage here , for 't is well known that in their descriptions of places they make use of this as an embelishment . to conclude , the earth and sea make one beautiful globe , and are a convincing demonstration of the wisdom of god in making and contriving the world , and that in such excellent variety . chap. ix . the wisdom and power of god are discern'd in the formation of living creatures that are four-footed : which are distinguish'd accordding to their hoofs , or their having or not having horns , or their chewing or not chewing the cud. their serviceableness in respect of food , and work or labour . instances of the latter sort. even creeping and groveling animals exalt their creator . fishes ( some of which are of a vaster magnitude than any other kinds of animals ) shew the distinguishing providence of god in the peculiar structure of their bodies , in order to the element they live in . fowls are purposely shaped and contrived for the particular use they were designed for . their food is sometimes extraord●narily provided for them : and sometimes they are supported without it . they are observable for their being musical , for their imitating man's voice , for their beautiful colours . birds of prey are generally solitary . the several incubations of these creatures afford matter of singular remark . the wonderful make and contrivance of their nests speaks a divine architect . we have spoken of the inanimate world : now i proceed to that which is animate , viz. those creatures which belong to the sensitive and animal kingdom . and in these , because they have organiz'd bodies , the more signal contrivance of divinity is seen . here chiefly the hand of an intelligent and divine author is discernable . especially if we consider the wonderful variety and diversity of this sort of beings : for they are either terrestrial , aquatile or aerial . the first are those living creatures which have their abode upon the earth , and they are either fourfooted or reptile . the former , which we generally call beasts , are either whole-hooft , i. e. such whose hoofs are whole and entire , and have no division at all , as the elephant , horse , ass , mule ; or that have divided hoofs , and they are of two sorts . first , such as are cloven into two parts only ; and they are either , . horned beasts , and chewing the cud , as the ox , cow , sheep , goat , stag , rhinoceros . concerning whom we may observe that the meat which is rudely and in hast eaten by them is convey'd back to the mouth again , there chew'd , and then swallow'd a second time . for these creatures want an upper set of teeth , and therefore rumination is given them to supply that defect : and they are furnish'd as it were with a double stomach , for they fetch back the meat which was before eaten and let down into one part of the stomach ; and they eat it again , and then send it more prepared to the other part or side of it . or , . they are without horns , and yet chew the cud , as the camel and dromedary : but as to teeth , there is this difference between this sort of animals and the other , that though they chew the cud , yet they have fore-teeth in the upper mandible . or . they neither have horns nor chew the cud , as the swine or hippotamus . secondly , there is another sort of four-footed animals with divided hoofs , viz. those that are claw-footed , i. e. whose hoofs are divided into more parts than two , as the lion , bear , wolf , fox , tigre , leopard or panther , dog , cat , mouse , hare , coney , ape . tho we cannot give an exact account or reason of this difference in animals , yet it is reasonable to believe that the diversity of their nature and shape is according to the different uses and ends for which they were made . particularly as to the difference of these beasts relating to their chewing or not chewing , the excellent * dr. glisson hath most divinely penetrated into this secret of nature , and hath discover'd the particular reasons of it , and therein manifested the wise design of the author of nature . and here i may be excused from saying any thing concerning the fabrick of animals , because that will be included in my discourse of the body of man , which as to the main and substantial parts differs not from those of other creatures . likewise , the great vsefulness of these animals is so well known that i need not much enlarge upon it . not to mention how serviceable they are for clothing , several of them are for food , whereby our lives are upheld : and this was a very merciful indulgence to mankind , especially after that great primitive malediction , gen. . , . which had so great influence on their bodies : and therefore these stood in need of some more than ordinary recruits , viz. the active and generous spirits which are produced by that nutriment which is caus'd by feeding on animals . others are for the service of man in those laborious works which are above his strength , and which could not possibly be performed without the assistance of these robust creatures . thus oxen and horses are of indispensable use in ploughing , and other employments in husbandry , without which there could be no prospect of a harvest , and consequently the whole staff of bread would be broken . the former of these two creatures were heretofore ( i. e. before the invention or frequent use of the stirring flail ) helpful in threshing or treading out the corn : and the latter were of old most eminently useful in ba●tel , as they are also at this day : to which purpose we have that excellent rhetorical description of this animal in iob . made by god himself . and besides , it is unspeakably serviceable in journeying and travelling , and in bearing and carrying those burdens which are too heavy for humane shoulders . this was antiently the work of mules and asses , and is so now in foreign countries . where also camels , which have a natural pack-saddle on their backs , shewing them to be beasts of burden , are very frequent , and are employ'd in those parts of the world in the like service . dromedaries , well known in india , arabia , africa , can travel a hundred miles a day with great burdens on their backs . and both these and camels are particularly prepared for it by the wise disposer and moderator of all things : for they can live without drink or days , and thereby are fitted for their long journeys in the deserts where there is no water . the elks in swedeland and livonia and the adjacent parts , are very swift beasts , and are used to draw or carry : they are much swifter than horses and of that bigness . the laplanders rain-deers serve them for all uses : they are animals proper to that country only . the great and mighty elephant was heretofore extreamly useful in war , ( as we read in q. curtius and other historians ) and did wonders . however , if we respect only his vast bulk and proportions , he is a visible and standing monument of the divine power . which is the meaning of what is said , iob . . he is the chief of the ways of god , he is reshith the beginning , the top , the head , the principal of all the living creatures made by god. here is as 't were a complication of animals , here are many beasts in one , and thence he hath his name or behemoth , i. e. as it were a plurality of beasts : for such his extraordinary greatness seems to include in it , and thereby sets forth the infinite power of his maker . and in the all other four-footed animals ( of which we are speaking ) there are some emanations of the celestial power and virtue to be discern'd . the fecundity of the divine goodness is seen in the various exertments of the animal life in these creatures , as the strength of the horse , the ox , &c. the fierceness of the lion , wolf , tigre , leopard ; the greediness of the swine ; the mildness of the ass and the sheep ; the salacity of the goat ; the swiftness of the camel and dromedary , of the horse , the hound , the hare , &c. the sagacity of the fox and ape ; the docible nature of the elephant ; the domestick faithfulness of the dog , and his love to his master ; and all the other different displayings of the sensitive nature in these beasts . for the indulgent creator would have all the various species of brutes enjoy their essence in the way which is most agreeable to them . the other sort of terrestrial animals are those that are call'd creeping things , as the groveling serpent , ( of which there are several kinds ) the slow-paced snail , adders , and snakes , and particularly the rattle-snake which makes a noise before it is seen , and so gives warning of its being near ; and abundance of other reptile animals which proceed from the same infinite source and author . for 't is certain that these despis'd creatures are as beautiful in their kind in the universe as angels and cherubims : and they according to their make and nature extol their creator as well as these . though we need not believe the mahometans when they tell us that at the time when abraham was cast into the fire by the chaldeans , the frogs came and spurted water out of their mouths upon him , ( for which reason these animals are in great esteem with them , and must not be kill'd ) yet we may join with them when they say that the coaxation of frogs is lauding of god. the meanest creature that creeps upon earth speaks a god , praises his name , and celebrates his honour ; for besides that its very being and life are the sole gift of an infinite and omnipotent author , it is someways useful and profitable in the world , and thereby conduces to the divine glory . the next rank of animals are those which live wholly in the waters , viz. in the sea or in rivers , as fishes . of living creatures these were the first that were made , then birds , and afterwards four-footed beasts , because they exceed one another in their make and qualities : for the creation was gradual , and proceeded from what was less perfect to that which was more . but though these aquatiles be inferiour to other animals , as being destitute of several bodily parts which the others have , yet in some respects they are equal to them , and as to their fruitfulness they exceed the greatest part of all other creatures . these and birds being ovi●arous have many young ones at a time , which is the effect of that blessing , be fruitful and multiply , gen. . . which ( as we may observe ) was particularly and peculiarly spoken to fish and fowl , though not exclusively of other creatures . indeed it was congruous to divine providence that there should be a very great number and plenty of fishes , because this sort of creatures ( above all the rest ) feed one upon another . of all animals these are of the vastest magnitude , as the whale , and all cetaceous fish. but especially whales , those mountanous fishes , those living islands , those hyperboles of nature , exceed all other watry animals in greatness . therefore the singular power and providence of god are set forth in the description of the leviathan , job . as well as in that of its brother at land the elephant , in the foregoing chapter . and there are other fishes of a very large size , as the ( crocodile ( which is so great that bochart fancies it to be meant by the leviathan : and a late * french author attempts to prove that there are no other dragons in nature but crocodiles ) the dolphin a great lover of men and musick , the tuny , the saw-fish , and several others , which together with the lesser inhabitants of this briny element give testimony to a deity . even these mute animals proclaim the divine power and wisdom . it is to be observ'd to this purpose that though fishes have some parts common to them with other animals , yet they have several that are proper and peculiar to their kind : which shews the distinguishing providence of god in the structure of their bodies , and making them serviceable to those ends which they were intended for . none of them , except the cetaceous kind , have any ears or ear-holes , yet they hear if several credible writers are to be believed : nay , it is plain from this , that those who go about to take them do it silently , for they find that noise affrights them from coming to the bait or net. fishes of the greater and more perfect kind have lungs and breath . but to those of the ordinary kind and size their gills serve instead of lungs , and with them they let in and out the water which is to them in lieu of air. others who have been very curious in their enquieries are of opinion that they take in and emit the air with their gills , and so these are of the same use to them that lungs are to quadrupeds ; and the blood passes in its circulation through the gills as in beasts through the lungs . for that fishes have a kind of respiration , and breathe thrô these organs , is not to be doubted , they say , whatever the aristotelians have said to the contrary . fishes have no eye-lids , as other animals have , and the reason is because they have no use of them . mr. ray hath shew'd that their bodies are purposely shaped for their more easy swimming . their fins answer to the * wings of birds , and cause their quick motion . yea some of them have such long and large fins that they serve them to fly with . not only † pliny mentions the sea-swallow and other sorts of fishes that fly above the water and hover in the air a considerable time , but ‖ rondeletius and our purchas make mention of them , and i do not see any reason to question their credit . this these fishes are able to do by the extraordinary strength of their fins . and the same parts ( though not so strong ) in others are the necessary instruments of their moving so nimbly . and so are their tails , which are as 't were the rudder to these vessels . and in most fishes there is an air-bladder which helps them to swim . and from other particulars which are mention'd in habieuticks , especially in those curious remarks on fishes made by the ingenious and inquisitive mr. willoughby , it is evident that an intellectual spirit is the author and contriver ( for there can be no other ) of these animals . having thus spoken of those creatures that live on the earth and in the waters , let us now in the next place take a survey of those whose habitation is in the air , or who have wings ; and so i take in even those whose abode is on land , as cocks , hens , tame geese , &c. or generally on the water , as ducks , and great numbers of wild-fowl ; for the original matter of fish and fowl being the same , ( for we read that they were both made out of the waters , gen. . . ) it is no wonder that some of these latter affect this element . particularly concerning water-fowl it may be observ'd that they are generally whole-footed , which structure of that part was designedly such that their feet might be a kind of oars in the water , and thereby promote their swimming . not only as to these but all other feather'd animals , we may observe with mr. ray , that the particular make of their bodies , the peculiar configuration of those parts which distinguish them from all other creatures , is adapted to the use of flying , which is a property bestow'd on this rank of creatures , and none besides . in order to this they are very light , and in order to their lightness they are of a hot temper , and very spirituous : they have large lungs to let in good quantities of air when they fly long and far . they have little sharp heads to cut the air , and make way for them ; they have small and slender legs of an inconsiderable weight , and their feet are made with a convenient breadth to shove the air. on all these accounts they are framed for their work , and are by their very make , agile , brisk and full of expedition . it seems to be a design of providence that they propagate by laying of eggs , because if they had brought forth their young ones alive , especially in considerable numbers , they must first have born them in their wombs , which would have been burdensom , and would have hindred their flying . and 't is particularly observable that the wing ( which is their proper glory ) is of a most astonishing fabrick , and that the strength of all fowls lies in this part chiefly : whence perhaps eber ala is from abar potens , robustus fuit , or abir fortis , robustus . the reader may consult that industrious and curious author before-mention'd ( who hath reduced all the feather'd tribe to their proper classes . ) he exactly * describes both the outward and inward parts of birds , and shews the peculiar use and end of their structure as 't is different from that of other animals : and he shews that they are furnish'd with parts according to the end they were made for , and that the frame of them is above the art of finite creatures . the eyes of birds generally excel those of other animals , for they flying at a good distance from the earth , it was requisite that they should be quick-sighted , that they might espy their food . because 't was not fitting for them to have teeth to chew their food , they have therefore a double stomach , or their meat is prepared both in their crops and in their gizards . it is first taken into the former , and there softned and macerated , and then it is sent to be perfectly digested in the latter which to that end is of a strong muscular substance . and that the meat may be throughly concocted , they take down pebbles and little stones to grind it : so in the ostrich's stomach are sometimes found stones , yea and iron . albertus magnus and aldrovandus testify on their knowledg that they have seen this animal swallow these , but either by vomition or excretion they ejected them . the provision which is made by the wise maker of all things for this sort of creatures , especially in the extremity of winter , when the ground is fast lock'd up with frost , or when all things are cover'd with snow a long time , is very wonderful . to which our saviour ( who was acquainted with the nature and condition of all beings ) refers when he saith , * behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not , neither do they reap , nor gather into barns : yet your heavenly father feedeth them . he in an extraordinary and sometimes inconceivable way provides food for them , without their taking any care about it . this one consideration , if it were pursued ( by the helps which we have from natural history , wherein the strange ways of furnishing these creatures with food are mention'd ) would lead us to a firm belief of god's providence . when our great instructor bids us consider the ravens , luke . . he acquaints us that there is something extraordinary in the provision made for those greedy devouring creatures . and he that was an eminent type of our lord had long before observ'd that god feedeth the young ravens , psal. . . the emphasis and force of which words may be learnt from mr. willoughby in his ornithologia , where he tells us that ravens newly hatch'd are not fed by the old ones , ( as the young ones of other birds are ) but are abandon'd by them for a time , and by the special provision of heaven are nourish'd with the yolk of the egg remaining in the belly after exclusion : for a good part of the yolk is received into the cavity of the belly in these birds when they are newly hatch'd , which being by degrees convey'd into the guts by a certain passage , serves to nourish the young ones newly excluded . and we shall be further perswaded of divine providence when we consider that many of the winged nation are maintain'd and supported a long time without food . swallows feed upon gnats and flies and other insects in the air ; which , when the weather begins to be cold , disappear , and therefore go away because there are no more of these insects to feed on . but how they fare in their travels is hard to tell , viz. whether they meet with some kind of food in those places to which they repair , or whether they subsist without any , which is most probable . for it hath been found that they immure themselves in holes , and lie there till the summer comes ; for 't is certain that several animals , as well as these , live some months without taking any food . and sennertus and other physicians give some examples of the like among men and women . this sort of creatures which i am now speaking of ( i mean birds in general ) are hot and dry , yet they drink but little , which goes into the habit of their bodies ; for they ( as fishes ) have no bladder to hold any urine , that their bodies may be the lighter , and be fitter to move in a fluid element , i. e. to fly or swim in the air. but these small drinkers are great singers : which that divine and inspired poet , who is so diligent an observer of all the works of the creation , takes notice of , psal. . . they sing among the branches , they take pleasure in frequenting of groves , they love to exercise their natural musick among trees , according to that description which virgil gives of them , aethera mulcebant cantu , lucóque volabant . one reason why they are more musical than other creatures , is because they are of a hotter complexion , and therefore require more breath and air to cool them , and consequently make more noise , and more variety of it . they are the male birds that sing most , whilest others are generally mute , for those are endued with a greater natural heat than these ; and moreover by the musick of their voice they charm their females , and allure them to their pleasure . and as these creatures sing naturally and without teaching , so some of them are taught to speak , or to imitate a man's voice and singing , which is from a peculiar conformation of those organs which are serviceable to the voice , and is in no other animals besides . in this they are pleasurable and delightful , and give a great diversion to mankind , which god was pleas'd to make one end of the creation . some of them are observable for the variety and beauty of the colours with which they are adorn'd . even these are arguments of a divine hand , or else god himself would not have mentioned his giving goodly wings ( or feathers ) unto the peacock among his other great and admirable works , iob . . how the generality of fowls are really profitable and advantageous in respect of food ( and that of the choicest kind ) is so well known that it need not be enlarg'd upon . and as for birds of prey ( which have their use likewise ) it is observ'd by a learned enquirer into these things , that generally they are not gregarious , i. e. they do not live and fly together in companies , which is by a singular providence , for should they come in flocks , and jointly set upon cattel , they would do a vast deal of mischief . if next we should speak of the several iucubations of volatile animals ( from the appearance of the punctum saliens , the little bloody capering spot , the first essay and rudiment of life , to the daily advances of it , and even to the time of the breaking their shells and coming forth , which are all accurately described by dr. harvy ) we should find very remarkable things to entertain our thoughts , and to cause us to acknowledg ( as that noble observer often doth ) an incorporeal and divine author of them . and it may be therein we might read lectures of our selves and our own origination , for it is no incredible paradox that all animals , yea even the whole race of mankind ( as well as castor and pollux were thought to be ) are of an egg. and the little sanguine point is the like in man that is in other creatures ; but whether its motion be dancing or trembling , whether it be a presage of joy or sorrow in our lives , is uncertain . the nests of birds are undeniable evidences of an over-ruling wisdom and prudence . these warm lodgings which they frame for themselves and their young ones are of all shapes . some are flat , some elevated : some round , some semicircular : some hanging , some lying : some horizontal , some perpendicular : some quite open above , some ceiled and closed wholly , some in part only : some are lined and matted as 't were : some seem to be plaister'd with great art. and it is remarkable that birds of the same kind make their nests always of the same materials , and lay'd in the same order and figure ; so that by the make of the nest we may certainly gather what bird 's nest it is . now , whence can this so neat , so commodious , so exact architecture proceed but from a divine director ? for these animals have of themselves no understanding of the means and the end , and of the subordination of one to the other : and yet they constantly act as if they perfectly understood these . wherefore unless we will assert them to be rational creatures , i.e. to be like our selves , which is to say that birds are men , we must confess that they are acted by an intelligent agent ; and thence it is that they erect , build , shape , and sometimes conceal their nests with unimitable art , contrivance and cunning ; and they hatch and bring up , and protect their young with indefatigable care and industry , and even with the danger of their lives . tho they are void of counsel and reason , yet by the direction of a supream guide they perpetually tend to those ends which they have no knowledg of . and it is observable further that when one of these creatures varies from the common instinct of nature , and shews no natural affection and tenderness in hatching or feeding its young , yet then there is provision made for them . the raven mention'd before doth sometimes leave her brood , yet you have heard how they are taken care of . the cuckow builds no nest , as other birds do , nor sits upon or hatches its own eggs , but finding the nest of some other bird , devours the eggs she there finds , and in the room thereof lays her own , and accordingly they are hatch'd by the other bird. the ostrich leaves her eggs in the earth ( job . . . ) in the lybian sands ; but there they are hatch'd and brought to maturity by the heat of the sun : and this seems to be a particular act of providence , because this great and heavy creature would crush the eggs with its weight . chap. x. in the smallness of insects is display'd the skill of the divine artificer . a flie is of a wonderful make. the omnipotent deity is discernable in a bee , and in a silk-worm . the ant is more largely consider'd , viz. as to its indefatigable industry and sagacity : both which are celebrated by all sorts of antient writers . the admirable artifice of the spider in making and hanging her web , and catching her prey . a flea is the workmanship of divinity . mites have organized bodies . to winged and flying animals belong insects which are an inferiour sort of them , as moths , beetles , hornets , wasps , gnats , flies , bees , silk-worms , ants. which , though they be small creatures , are big with wonders , and shew forth god's omnipotence and wisdom . for as apelles and protogenes two eminent painters of old were known by their subtile lines , and grew famous for them , so in this great table of the world the smallness of the strokes which are drawn argues the exquisite skill of the great limner . those are esteemed the skilfullest artificers that can shew most art in the least space and compass . the iliads shut up in a nut-shell were large testimonies of the artist's skill . ** callicrates the lacedemonian was much celebrated for making flies and the least insects in ivory . ** and myrmecides the milesian who was famous for the like art , declared that he employ'd more time in making a bee than the most unskilful workman did in building a house . and he was applauded for his expence of time and art , who under the shadow of a flie's wing exactly pourtraied a chariot and horses . thus is it with the works of nature and providence : the more minute they are , the more wonderful . nature is thrifty here , and shuts up much in a little room . it studieth to be compendious , and to epitomize its art. it is true , all things are equally possible and easy to the omnipotent maker and artist : yet if we consider the workmanship in it self , we shall conclude with pliny , that † nature never shews it self greater than in the least things . a gnat , if we barely respect the contractedness of its make and proportions , and the finess of its limbs and organs , is on that account more considerable than an ox. and a flie on the same consideration is more wonderful than an elephant . this little animal ( as well as that great one ) hath a snout or trunk wherewith it takes in all its food . it is studded from head to tail with silver and black armour : it hath a fuzzy kind of substance like little sponges wherewith the soles of its feet are lined , and this is filled with a viscous liquor which it can at pleasure squeeze out , and so glew it self to the place it walks on , especially when it walks with its back downwards , in an inverted position . besides these creatures have their legs slit at the end into toes or little claws , by which they lay hold on the rugosities and inequalities of bodies . and much more hath been discover'd by those modern glasses , which lay open even the minutest particles and atoms in bodies of the least size . there are the words of an * excellent divine and philosopher , the least flies , saith he , have the proportion of their members as just as those of other animals ; yea it seems that god hath given them more ornaments to recompense the smalness of their bodies : they have crowns , helmets and other curiosities on their heads which outdo the most luxuriant fancies of men ; and i may confidently aver that they who have never seen any thing but with their naked eye , have never beheld any thing so fine , so exact , and even so magnificent in the houses of the greatest princes , as what we discover with microscopes upon the head of a silly flie. the eye of a flie ( saith our christian philosopher , mr. boyl ) is a more curious piece of workmanship than the sun it self . another great searcher into nature tells us * that if a man would spend his whole life in the study of a poor flie , there would be such a confluence of so many wonderful and difficult things exhibited in it , that it would still leave much more undiscovered than the most singular wit ever yet attained . bees are creatures of singular use to mankind , whether we respect their honey or their wax . and because of their great serviceableness they are to be found not only in hot countries but those that are very cold. there are abundance of them in muscovy , there are whole forests of them in those parts , as modern authors assure us . these creatures are remarkable for the admirable structure of their bodies , which is made agreeable to the particular ends of their creation . they are notable for their great industry , toil and labour in gathering their honey , and for their as strangely sagacious and provident laying it up in their hives against winter . to which purpose they make their combs , and contrive their various cells in them with astonishing architecture , and they cover them with wax to keep the liquor from spilling . the seventy interpreters had so great an esteem of this creature for these excellent qualities , that they made bold , after what is said of the ant , prov. . . to add this , * go to the bee and learn how laborious it is , and how noble and gallant a work it exerciseth it self about , by whose labours both kings and meaner persons are furnish'd with a wholesom food . it is a lovely and glorious creature , and though it be but weak and feeble , yet it ought to have preheminence for its great wisdom . and though this be neither in the hebrew , chaldee , syriack or latin , yet you will find it mentioned by some of the † fathers as a memorable passage concerning this animal . now , no person of composed thoughts can deny that these propensities , these instincts , these actions which are so observable and wonderful in this insect , are the impression of god and no other . these creatures have also a kind of government and conduct : and , if we may credit * one that hath made it his business to enquire into the polity of them , it is a female monarchy . there is a queen , not a king of bees , as was thought heretofore by † the antients . however , this is unquestionable that they observe a very strict order and discipline , and there is both encouragement and correction when they see occasion . they prudently unite their forces , and work in common ; they jointly build their cells , and furnish their store-houses for future exigence , as virgil , rather like a natural philosophers than a poet , describes them in the last book of his georgicks . this is all from an omnipotent and all-wise deity , and cannot be otherwise : which ocasion'd some antient philosophers to think , ‖ esse apibus partem divinae mentis , — that these working and politick creatures had souls in them that were portions of the divine mind . so far were they from thinking ( with some of late ) that inert matter could do all this . again , the stupendous things which are related concerning the silk-worm , ( which i reckon among the flying insects , because , as you shall hear , after all its changings and shiftings it is a butterfly ) and are known to be really true , attest a more than natural principle and power . this insect is first produced of an egg , which comes to be a small worm or caterpillar , and feeds on mulberry leaves : being put into a box it spins it self all into a silken substance : then it dies , and afterwards lives again , and hath wings like a butterfly ; and then before it dies again , it lays eggs , which produce silkworms , and so the race of them is propagated . * and all these strange changes , these wonderful metamorphoses , are wrought in this insect in six months . it is to be observ'd also that it renews its life with the year , and not before things are ready for its sustenance . for it lies dead all winter long , and lives not till after the spring , i. e. when the mulberry-tree leaves are grown , which are its food . the egg enlivens accordingly as this tree blossoms . or , if these silkworms , were flies at first ( as a † late learned naturalist asserts , telling us that were only clothed with a certain skin or coat that hid their natural shape , which afterwards wore off ) yet the several steps and preparations to it are very remarkable and full of wonder . and then their making of silk out of their bellies , the putting it out with incredible swiftness , and drawing it so subtile , and to such a vast length , are as surprizing as any thing that hath been hitherto said . by reason of which excellent workmanship they are of far greater value than all the plants and canes from whence a great part of the silk of the east-indies and persia are derived . by this means this sorry contemptible animal , this winged worm is of such great use in the world ; by this means this little despicable insect becomes more profitable and serviceable to man than the vast elephant and prodigious whale . upon all which considerations this single creature is an unanswerable argument of an intelligent and wise contriver , from whom alone it could have power and as 't were wisdom to effect all these wondrous things . and such also is the ant or pismire , which i reckon among the winged insects because it hath ( as i have often observ'd ) wings in one part of the summer . this is a laborious and provident animal , and is represented as such by that inspired philosopher , prov. . . she provideth her meat in the summer , and gathereth her food in the harvest . in which words these two excellent properties of this animal are propounded to us , viz. her diligence and her wisdom . the first appears in that she provides her meat , she gathers her food . which is largely express'd in natural history , where we are told that these little labourers gather grains of corn in the fields , and with great pains and sweating bear them to their repositories which they have provided . the burdens they carry are many times greater than their bodies . they bear some of the smaller grains in their little mouths , and the greater ones they sometimes shove on with their feet , and sometimes lift with head and shoulders . they join in the work and help one another in carrying and drawing their burdens . if the grain be too big a load , they divide it : if it be dampish , they lay it out to dry in the sun and open air. if one of them that is not loaden meet another in one of their narrow paths , he will give him the way . nor length , nor roughness of the way , nor the most scorching heat of the sun make these little porters give over their work : nay at full moons they ply it hard all night . thus are they indefatigable in the gathering and providing of their food : and diligence is here commended to us under those expressions . secondly , the wisdom and prudence of these creatures are remarkable , which appear in taking the fittest seasons for labour , the summer and harvest , and in that which is implied in this , viz. providing for the future , laying up store against winter . here it is to be noted , that this is meant of this sort of insects in the eastern countries ; for an observing naturalist tells us , that he could never find that ants in england , or in these northern regions , store up grains of corn. therefore we must not judg concerning this creature from what we see at home : we must not question what authors have said of it , although we discern no such thing in it in our own country . i confess it is something hard to believe what herodotus saith , that the indian ants are as big as sheep , though busbequius ( a very credible author ) saith the same . but this is certain that the same species of animals differ very much according to the different climates and regions they are in : some qualities that are observ'd in the one are not in the other . thus , notwithstanding what we know concerning ants in this country , all natural historians unanimously report that in others they are great hoarders of corn , and thereby make provision for the winter . and they observe , that lest the corn they carry to their granaries should put forth and grow , they bite it at one end : and thence some think they have their name nemalah from namal praecidere , circumcidere , because they bite off the ends of grains or seeds to prevent their growth , though dr. brown in his vulgar errors saith this is no security against the growing of corn. but whether this be true or no , 't is certain that these industrious gatherers lay up their provision safe in their cells which they dig and make under ground , that they may be stock'd with food to serve them all winter . there are other instances of their wisdom in natural history : they dispose and manage their affairs in good order , they have among them the form of a well-govern'd common-wealth . yea pliny saith they have their set fairs and markets whither they come in great companies , and do as it were establish leagues of friendship , and converse with one another . they bury their dead , they teach the young to labour , and the idle they expel . they have generally three cells or houses ; in one they live , in the other they breed , and in the third they keep their corn. and to inhanse the wonderfulness of their transactions , solomon adjoins that they have no guide , overseer or ruler , they have not a particular lord or governour set over them , they are not under any one's command , as the bees are . they are reckon'd by aristotle among those animals that are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that have no governour , and yet they act as orderly as if they had . the wise man here advises the sluggard to go to this dumb teacher , who instructs not by voice but example , and he bids him consider her ways , i. e. ( according to the hebrew phrase , and indeed the stile of most nations ) her manners and way of living : unless you will chuse rather to embrace the interpretation of the learned bochart , who by ways understands the several paths and tracts of the ant. it is useful to consider , to observe how orderly and regular these creatures are in their passages , intercourses , and journies . it is worth our taking notice how busily they travel , and by the often trampling of their little feet wear a path even in hard flint-stones , how they disturb not one another in their walks , but ( as hath been said already ) courteously give way to one another , and help one another in their journies , how they bear one anothers burdens , and ease one another if they see any overloaded . thus consider their ways , saith solomon , and thereby learn to be wise , so wise as to follow their example of industry and wisdom , so wise as by this natural history to admire and own the creator , who hath given them this singular instinct . and not only solomon , but several philosophers , poets , orators , historians , fathers , have celebrated the industry and sagacity of the ant. * aristotle , † pliny , ‖ aelian , have given us a particular account of these : and the last of them is of opinion that these creatures have * a certain kind of divining sense . what words shall i use , saith † plutarch , to express sufficiently the diligence of the pismires ? it is a difficult task to give a perfect account of the whole oeconomy and apparatus of these creatures . there is not among all the great things of nature a sight of greater wonders than they . among the egyptians they were a symbol or hieroglyphick of knowledg and prudence . and so among the arabians they are a representative of the same vertues . the ant is mentioned by horace as an example of industry , ‖ parvula ( nam exemplo est ) magni formica laboris . and in respect of its providing against winter , it is said by him to be — haud ignara ac non incauta futuri . and its living in winter on what it had laid up in summer is thus expressed , — vtitur ante quaesitis sapiens . — virgil in his fourth aeneid describes them well , and so doth ovid in the th book of his metamorphosis . tully play'd the orator highly when he said , * that in the ant there is not only sense but mind , reason and memory . the best wits both sacred and profane have touch'd upon this subject . epiphanius in his physiologus hath several things concerning their industrious providence . and ( that you may see all persons conspiring in this theme ) the iewish doctors have an exhortation to prudence in these words , my son , take heed that the ant be not wiser than thee , whilst that provides her self food in the summer to serve her when the winter comes , and thou spendest all the day in sloth and idleness . thus the wisdom of this little insect is acknowledged and made use of by all sorts of persons : and we know it could not have this excellent property of it self , therefore it is an argument of divine wisdom acting in it . whether the cochinele is to be numbred among the volatile insects i am not certain , but we are inform'd from several modern relations , that it is a little animal ( for few , i think , will give credit to pomet , in his history of drugs , that it is a plant or grain ) bred on a little tree or shrub in the west-indies , and that whole gardens there are stock'd with it , which the people gather twice a year from the trees . they are of great use , for they yield an excellent colour , which is used in dying and painting : and they are also useful in a medical way , as being very cordial . and besides flying insects there are creeping ones ; and all small vermin are reckon'd in this number . even these are in their kind a proof of a god , yea and a very considerable one : for in these little animals we as plainly read the characters of a deity as in those of a larger volume . for these contain a great deal in a little ; and the lesser they are the more admirable is their frame , and consequently their author is on that account to be the more admired . how wonderfully artificial is the spider's web or house , as 't is call'd in the hebrew , iob . ? how curious is the architecture ? how fine and delicate a thread doth it spin ? how thin and soft a web doth it weave ? and therefore no meaner an author than aristotle tells us that spinning and weaving were first learn'd from the spider . thence with respect to this curious weaving or spinning it hath its greek name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and latin aranea , and french araigne , from the hebrew arag nevit , texuit , or arach textura : and 't is not improbable that our english word spider is but a corruption of spinner , for spinn is the german word for spider . and with this agrees that poetick fancy , that arachne an excellent spinster was by pallas turn'd into a spider . the web which this creature works and spins out of its bowels , is by it framed on purpose to be a net or trap to catch flies , which are a great part of her livelihood . and that you may be perswaded of the truth of what solomon saith , that the spider is one of those things which are exceeding wise , prov. . . you may observe that this web is with admirable art and subtilty fram'd by her for that very end . it is hung and fastned according to the rules of mathematicks , for the lines of it are drawn exactly from the center to the circumference , and back again from the circumference to the center with parallel distances . it is from the accuracy of this geometrick workmanship , that this cunning artist immediately feels the touching of its web by a fly , or any such other little insect , whereupon it forthwith seizes on it as prey . and that this may the more effectually be done , this hunter after he hath spread his net , cunningly hides himself in his covert , that the flies may not espy him . and if we may credit * one who hath been very conversant with this sort of creatures , this alone , of all animals , hath a multiplicity of eyes , and so its extrordinary sight as well as feeling fits it for its work , both which are a divine donation . some by the help of microscopes have discovered very remarkable things in the structure of lice and fleas ( for a true virtuoso hath glasses for these as well as for the stars ) . muffet and power tell us of the escalop'd protuberancies of the body of a louse , and the gantlet-work of all its parts . they tell us that the heads , bodies and limbs of fleas are of polish'd armour-work ; and , that we may not wonder how these puny creatures can frisk and curvet in their heavy armour , we must know that this is most artificially fastned and jointed with jemmars , which are so excellently contriv'd that they facilitate the nimble motion of all the parts . the reason why they are thus armed cap-a-pe , like cuirassers in war , is that they might not be hurt by the great leaps they take : to which purpose they have an excellent eye , the better to look before they leap . at their snouts is fix'd a proboscis or hollow trunk , by which they both punch the skin and suck the blood through it , leaving that central spot in the middle of the flea-biting where the proboscis or probe entred . and many other notable observations there are concerning this silly insect , from whence we may gather it is the workmanship of some divine hand . wherefore it was st. augustine's devout query , quis disposuit membra culicis & pulicis ? who hath disposed and set in order the several joints and members of a gnat or a flea ? who hath given them that excellent contexture of parts ? lastly , mites , nature's minimum quod sic , a thousand whereof do not weigh one single grain , are of a structure that is most strange and wonderful . those that have taken pains to search into these diminutive beings by the assistance of modern glasses , ( those spectacles whereby we may see to read the smallest hand of nature ) acquaint us that they have peculiar vessels to convey their spirits , and have parts and organs inservient to sensation , nutrition , motion , &c. here we may behold and admire in what narrow bounds , in how little a particle of matter life may be exerted , and exercise all its different functions . and all the men under heaven ( and i might add , all the angels in it ) are not able to give these powers of life and sense to any being , nor have they skill or ability to restore them to them when they are deprived of them . therefore here we discern the true source of life and of existence it self , even him who is so often call'd in a signal manner the living god. to conclude , as solomon saith of the ants , so we may say of all insects , they are a people not strong , prov. . . they are puny and feeble creatures , and some of them may seem to be altogether useless , and might very well be spared in the great heap of beings : if they where wholly destroy'd and all the brood of them annihilated , it may seem a courtesy to mankind , who are often pester'd with them . but this is the reasoning of ignorance and presumption , for it becomes us not to dislike the workmanship of heaven , be it never so little and weak : and we must remember that what it wants in bulk and strength is recompensed some other way . an insect is an argument of the divine wisdom as well as an animal of the first magnitude . even the pettiest creatures in some respect far surpass these . chap. xi . it is from a divine author that all animals are fashion'd and contrived in their parts and organs , in their senses and faculties , according to the employment , use and end for which they are serviceable . the natural propension in them to propagate their kind is from god. so is their sagacity . this latter is voted for reason by some writers ; who also attribute speech to them . it is proved that this is groundlesly asserted , and that reason is the sole prerogative of those beings that are capable of religion . to those who object the uselesness , nay hurtfulness of several animals , ( as if this were an argument against providence ) it is answered , . though we are not able to assign the vse of some creatures , yet it doth not follow thence that they are vseless . . the creatures which seem most vile are a foil to the rest . . there is something worthy of our observation in every one of them . . some of these are food for others . . most of them are useful to mankind in a medical way . the author's conjecture concerning the benefit of gnats , fleas , lice , flies , spiders . venomous creatures carry an antidote with them . . the most hurtful animals may be beneficial to man as crosses and afflictions are , which are welcome to the vertuous . . that they generally do so little harm , when they are able to do so much , is a manifestation of the divine care and providence . . the enjoyment of their essence is from the divine bounty , which none ought to repine at . . they are made use of by god sometimes to plague notorious offenders . lastly , that any creatures are noxious , proceeds from the sin of man , and the curse which followed it : wherefore we have no reason to complain of them , or to question the goodness and providence of god. the vast numbers and various kinds of insects are some proof of their vsefulness . all creatures are someways good , and made for some vse . though we do not see their vsefulness at present , after● ages may discover it . thus i have particularly instanced in the works of the creation , and have shew'd that the existence and providence of god are to be seen in them all . especially as to animals , this grand truth appears to be undeniable , viz. that they are all fram'd and shap'd exactly according to the several ends and uses they were designed for : which is an irrefragable evidence of an infinitely wise contriver and disposer . the hare and hart that are very fearful have swift feet to fly away : and the timorous dove hath swift wings . so the most fearful animals have the quickest hearing , as the hart and hare , the coney , &c. by this means nature takes care for their safety , that they may secure themselves by flight . to the boar that is fierce and pugnacious are given prominent tusks , to the lion teeth and paws of a peculiar make . beasts that have no other way to defend themselves are supplied with horns . those creatures which are for working or travelling , as oxen , horses , mules , asses , camels , dromedaries , have such hoofs as are capable of being shod , that they may thereby be the more serviceable to birds are given feathers , for the lightness of their flying , and also claws and beak as proper instruments in order to the foo● they live upon . and briefly , all animals a●● furnish'd with proper organs . fowls are fitted by the frame of their bodies to the element they converse in . so fishes are shaped purposely for the water , and beasts for the earth : and all the parts of these several animals are accommodated to their peculiar uses and purposes . * god hath given them particular figures and operations as to their bodies according to the indoles of their sensitive souls , as aristotle well said , if he be rightly quoted by one of the antients . their outward texture is fitted to their inward faculty and nature . there are certain reasons to be assign'd of every distinct frame of bodies in brutes . it is not without cause that they are thus and thus shap'd , and not otherwise : and whence is this but from a divine author ? also , the natural instinct which is in these creatures to propagate their kind , shews that it was from a higher power and principle , that is , such a one that is intelligent , and intends the good and preservation of the world. and providence is particularly seen in this , that animals that are shorter liv'd have a great many little ones , and produce them often , as dogs , swine , all birds and fishes ; the frequent production reparing the short living . but those creatures that live longer breed seldomer , and one at a time generally , as elephants , deers , horses , &c. and here 't is observable also , that the less perfect animals are soonest set up ; because they decline and make an end apace , therefore they begin sooner . and that sagacity which we have so often observ'd to be in brutes ( yea in the very insects ) is an evidence that they are the workmanship of a wise maker , and are guided by a wise director . besides what hath been said already , we might mention how the angry porcupine knows when it is his time to dart sorth his bristles to wound his adversary ; the ichneumon ( the rat of nilus ) takes the opportunity of the crocodile's gaping and leaps into his mouth , and thence descends into his belly , and so dispatches him : the iackal hunts always with the lion for part of his prey : and withal it is observable , that this latter cannot be without the assistance of the former , for he is neither swift nor quick-scented , and therefore is happily befriended by the iackal , who hath both these properties , and so he is a fit caterer for the other . therefore this may be the meaning of the psalmist , psal. . . the young lions roar after their prey , and seek their meat from god ; they seek it and procure it in this notable way , which is by the singular providence of god. this their natural way of getting their food is call'd seeking it from god , because he hath given them this particular instinct and sagacity . and several other strange expedients and methods which animals use in providing their food , making their dens and nests , avoiding things noxious and hurtful , and consulting their safety and welfare , &c. are palpable indications of that over-ruling wisdom which they are acted by . some have lash'd out too far here , and have from this consideration , viz. the great sagacity of brutes , attempted to prove that they are rational . plutarch hath a whole * treatise in favour of this . the pythagoreans held the same , and it was grounded on the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . democritus , empedocles , and other philosophers were of this opinion , as † stobaeus relates . and we learn from sextus empiricus that it was asserted of old , that ‖ no animal is irrational , but that they are all capable of understanding and science . porphyrius is very warm on the same argument , and makes it the grand foundation of his discourse concerning abstinence : for therefore he saith we ought to refrain from feeding on any sort of animals , because they are , like our selves , rational beings . justice extends to them as well as to those of our own kind , or rather they are of our own kind , and therefore we must be just to them , and consequently we must not take away their lives , for killing them is injuring them . and several other things he offers to prove this opinion . indeed , to give this author his due , he saith as much for the rationality of brutes as can possibly be suggested . nothing can be more ingenious and plausible than what he hath deliver'd , so that brutes are for ever oblig'd to him for his endeavours of this sort . nay , he and some others go further , telling us that they have not only reason but speech , and that as there are different species of brutes , so there are of languages too , in which they understand one another . and some philosophers of old , as melampus , tiresias , thales , apollonius tyanaeus , and pliny ( if a. gellius saith true of him ) pretended that they understood them : and porphyrius was so foolish as to believe it : and * sextus the emperick had the same thoughts . it is true , some brutes have a way of communicating with one another , i. e. by the noise they make they signify to one another their natural propensions and desires : thus hens hold some vocal correspondence with their young ones , &c. if this be all they mean by using a language , we acknowledg it ; but we cannot but add , that it is improper and absurd to call an inarticulate sound a language or speech . nor can brutes in general be said to have or use this , when it is found but in few of them , and especially when it is only an expression of their natural instincts , and not of any internal reason that they are owners of . had there been any such thing as the language of brutes , wer should have heard of it from the inquisitive augurs among the old romans . if there had been any such notion among the wisest of the pagans , most certainly they would have made divinations from this . but it appears that they had no such apprehension , and among all their ways of augury ( which was from what they could possibly observe in animals ) we have not a word of this ; we never read that any of their soothsayers pretended to prognosticate from the language of brute beasts . which plainly shews that this was a groundless odd fancy of a few men , and is no proof of the rationality of beasts , which is the thing they aim at . there were some iews likewise ( as well as pagans ) that held there is reason and understanding properly so call'd in beasts . philo was so deluded as to be of this number , and maimonides and some other rabbies follow'd him . yea , * one of the christian writers ( who was a novice in philosophy as well as divinity ) maintains the reasonableness of brutes , and holds that they use a language . and there are some moderns who almost forfeit their rational nature by pleading for that of brutes . but all persons void of prejudice and vain conceit exclude these creatures from partaking of reason strictly so call'd , and only acknowledg a bare semblance or shew of it in them . which is the very thing that the old stagirite long since asserted , * there is , saith he , another kind of prudence , art and wisdom in brutes : and in the same place he calls it an image or resemblance of prudence . as specious as it is , it is founded in these two , memory and sense . the quickness of both these produceth those actions in them which have some appearance of reason , some faint glimmerings of intellectual light. and let me add this , ( which gives the true account of this matter , and is a great argument of the divine prudence and management ) these creatures are endued with this wonderful excellency of memory and acuteness of their senses ( insomuch that they surpass man ) because they are destitute of reason which is man's prerogative . for reason is principally in order to religion , to the knowing and enjoying of god , and understanding the means in order to that end . the maker and governour of the universe hath wisely compensated the want of this in brutes by bestowing on them a transcendent sharpeness as to the other , especially the corporeal senses , which are more quick and apprehensive in them than in those of humane race . eagles and some other fowls are more quick-sighted than men. some sorts of dogs are note for their excellent smelling , ( though any considerate man may see that this excellent quality is not so much for themselves as for their masters , for the benefit and advantage of their owners ) yea most beasts have a wonderful acuteness and dexterity as to their outward senses above men , and that because god hath bestowed some better thing upon man , viz. a rational soul. in which respect it is said , he teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth , and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven , job . . therefore pliny and plutarch , who blame the conduct of nature because all creatures are armed but man , who comes helpless into the world , talk very unphilosophically , for they seem to forget that man hath reason , which is better than horns , shells , &c. they speak as if they were unacquainted with the excellent and noble nature of this faculty , which is far superiour to all that is in brutes , and shews the great and singular felicity of man , viz. that it consists not in the operations of the lower faculties , but in the perfections of the rational endowments . it remains now that i answer an objection , and then put a period to this part of my undertaking . it may be said , are there not many useless and superfluous animals in the world ? yea , is there not a great number of hurtful and mischievous creatures on the earth , and in the air , and 't is likely in the waters too ? how can a wise providence be proved from the existence of such creatures , as foxes , otters , weesels , pole-cats , rats and mice ? to what purpose could spiders , flies , fleas , lice , wasps , hornets , caterpillars ; or owls , kites , valtures ; or frogs , toads , serpents , vipers , scorpions be made ? doth not the troublesome existence of these creatures prove rather a carelessness in the divine management than a provident care of the world ? i answer , . though we cannot reach the final cause of some created things , though we know not the use of them , yet it follows not thence that they are of no use . there may be reasons that we do not know , why god made them : and there may be a reason why those reasons are not known to us . some persons will be asking a rational account of every thing in nature , but nothing is more unreasonable and impertinent than to demand this always . if it should be asked why the cock rather than any other fowl gives warning of the sun 's appearing , and crows before it rises ? a man may make a shift to find some answer , but i question whether it would carry any solid reason or weight with it . if it should be demanded why the people about the magellanick streights are white , and those about the cape of good hope are black , seeing both of them are under the same tropick , i believe it would be difficult to give such a solution as is satisfactory . if a man should be ask'd why bays or lawrel-leaves rather than others crackle in the fire ? i do not apprehend what answer he can return , unless he should give a witty one instead of a wise one , viz. that whilest other leaves burn silently , these being the antient rewards of victors , and used in loud triumphs , make a noise even in the flames , and personate fame's trumpet when they are expiring . and a hundred more questions might be ask'd which none can reply to with any satisfaction to himself or others . therefore a wise philosopher will not pretend to salve all things . this one would think might suffice in the present case , supposing that there were no reason to be assigned of god's making the foresaid creatures : but i shall very soon let you see that there is . it is true , if we could say of any animal , and prove it , that it was made to no purpose , then god's wisdom is impeached : for to make a thing to no end , design and purpose , is unworthy of the wise creator . but we can never prove that this or that creature was made to no end at all : for though we are ignorant of any end , yet there may be one . they may be of some use , though we are not able to assign it . nay we are sure they were made for some use because they were made by wisdom it self . but it is unreasonably required that all phaenomena should be solv'd , that we should know certainly the design of god in every thing . we ought modestly to enquire into the particular usefulness of things , why this or why that was made . what tho our shallow understandings cannot guess at the purpose and project of heaven ? must we therefore deny that there is any at all ? this is unpardonable folly and presumption if it be persisted in . therefore let us not be guilty of such language as this , it had been better that such or such a creature had not been made , for it is to no purpose , 't is of no use . this is a rash censuring of the almighty , this is carping at the works of god , yea this is charging god with folly , and consequently is no other than blasphemy . but , . we know the vses and ends of these very creatures against which the objection lies , and therefore it is groundless and of no force . for , . these creatures aforenamed are appointed of god to be a foil to the rest . when we see these troublesom and noxious animals , we have thence occasion given us to observe and admire , to value and praise god for those other parts of the creation which are every ways so beneficial to us , and are accompanied with no inconveniencies . we should not sufficiently prize these , nor be sensible how serviceable they are to us , if we did not sometimes behold the others , yea and feel part of some incommodity which goes along with them . the one are necessary to set off and commend the other : and this useful diversity and variety in the creatures are for the perfection and harmony of the world. this is the first positive reply to the objection . . these creatures , even those of them that are the meanest , set forth god's power and wisdom , and therefore are not useless . there is something very observable in every one of these ; their make , their rise , their shape , their contrivance , their particular instinct and operations administer abundant matter to us , whence we may certainly infer the reality and truth of these two divine attributes ; that is , we may gather from what we see in these creatures , that he that gave them their being is infinitely powerful and wise : for there are the plain tracks and marks of those divine excellencies in them . it is a high flight of a very philosophical man , the least fly * , saith he , discovers more the power and wisdom of god to those that attentively consider it , without being prejudiced by its smalness , than all that the astronomers know of the heavens . . that choice attribute of god , his goodness , is discover'd in these creatures , for they are of real benefit and advantage , and that on several accounts . first , they are beneficial to one another , for some of these mention'd in the objection are food to others . owls feed on frogs , rats and mice , and other vermin . flies and gnats and other insects are the chief sustenance of some fowls . in the eastern countries serpents are commonly fed upon by stags and harts . and if we were at leisure to search further into natural history , there might be more instances produced to this purpose . here then is a plain and direct use of these animals , and this use is for the good and advantage of their fellow-creatures . if god makes one creature to be meat for another , it is so far beneficial . again , these very creatures ( as mischievous as some of them are ) are really beneficial to us : for some parts of them are made use of in medicks , and with good success , as the learnedest physicians attest . a wolf is useful in physick , and so is an otter , and so are mice and moles . a fox's lungs are good for astmaticks , according to dioscorides , l. . c. . and his liver is useful for the like purpose , according to pliny , l. . c. . and celsus , l. . c. . the flesh of an hedg-hog is a remedy against the elephantiasis , dioscor . l. . c. . it s liver being dried is good against convulsions , saith the same writer ; and he tells us that it helps the diseases of the reins , in the same chapter . the blood of a weesel cures the leprosy aforementioned , call'd elephantiasis , plin. l. . c. . it is it self effectual against poison , dioscor . l. . c. . the ashes of it being drunk are available against the falling-sickness , plin. l. . c. . it s blood is good against this disease , dioscor . l. . c. . the very dung of several beasts is particularly mention'd among physicians as useful . toads dried and reduced to pouder , and otherwise prepared , have a medical virtue . earth-worms ( which are reckon'd by most as a useless sort of creatures ) are several ways made use of in physick . they knit and strengthen the nerves , dioscor . l. . c. . they cure sores and maladies in the ears , galen , l. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . they are used for the teeth , plin. l. . c. . and against the stone , l. . c. . and several other distempers . cantharides are useful against the jaundice , ●aith the great hippocrates , lib. de intern . affect . and for other purposes he mentions them . spiders were of virtue against fevers , especially tertians , dioscor . l. . c. . their web is useful in wounds , say dioscorides , galen , pliny . millepedes or hog-lice are often commended by the same persons for several uses . ant 's eggs are medicinal , plin. l. . c. ult . and l. . c. . nay , moths have their use , as pliny saith , l. . c. ult . a gnat burnt to pouder , and applied to a scab , kills it ; hildegard . phys. l. . i could produce a great number of modern authors who attest the medical use of most of these creatures , but i think it will not be expected here . as for those troublesom insects which i mention'd last , viz. gnats , this perhaps may be said with truth , that when they sting people , and so far do them harm , they may at the same time do them a courtesy ; for tho they leave some poinant atoms in their flesh , yet they , it is likely , suck out , and carry away with them those that are much worse , and would have proved hurtful to their bodies if they had not been exhausted by these disturbing animals . i confess i never read in any author that a flea hath any medical efficacy in it , yet there are five hundred books written in that faculty which i never perused , and so i am not certain but that some one of them may mention this insect as useful in a physical way . but suppose no such thing appears in any writer , yet we cannot thence conclude that it is wholly useless , because ( as i said before ) there may be uses of things which we are ignorant of . if i may conjecture , it is not improbable that both these and lice , which are reckon'd very incommodious , ( and are so ) may in a very great degree be serviceable sometimes to the body of man. who knows but that the former may be useful among poor people by a plentiful phlebotomy , and save them the charges of a lancet , and clear them of the worst of their blood gratis ? and it is not unreasonable to think that both these and the latter purge some bodies of particular ill humours , which they suck up and live upon : these vermine to which human bodies are incident , are as necessary perhaps to them at some times as some of those emunctories which god hath placed there to drain off superfluous choler , phlegm , &c. the like we may say as to toads and serpents , vipers , and other poisonous creatures in respect of the earth . they are made to lick up the putrified and malignant matter from it , and thereby to purge it of what might be hurtful to fruits and plants . this is the true reason why there are venomous creatures , and not that which pliny assigns , viz. that * our mother earth out of pity and compassion towards us brings forth poisons , that by them we may dispatch our selves out of this wretched life with an easy draught , without wounds or blood-shed . flies , of which sort of insects there is such a vast number , are serviceable , i conceive , to the meliorating of the air , for this is their food generally , and they suck in the worst part of this element , ( as we may gather from their hanging about any thing that is putrid and corrupt ) and so refine and purify it . the same is to be said of spiders , and some other insects . so ravens and some other creatures devour the carcases of beasts that are cast into the fields , for they feed upon carrion , and therein do great service , because by this means corrupted bodies and all manner of filth are taken out of the way , which otherwise would infect the air. thus they are of good use to the world. this is not the common apprehension of men ; especially if we speak of some of those insects before mentioned ; they are generally voted as useless in the world , as appears from that passage in plautus , * item genus est lenonium inter homines , me● quidem animo , vti muscae , culices , pedesque pulicesque odio & malo , & molestiae ; bono usui est is nulli . it was thought they were to no purpose , neither could be to any that is good ; but i hope the contrary is evident from what i have said . and it may be observed further in pursuance of what i am speaking of ( viz. the advantage that accrues to us even by the worst of animals ) that there is no venomous creature but carries its antidote with it : it hath something which will cure the poison it imparts . a scorpion's flesh applied to the wound made by it , heals it . dioscorid . l. . c. . though the viper's biting be poisonous , yet of it is made a most effectual remedy to hinder its being lethal . poison is expell'd by the fat of dragons , saith pliny , l. . c. . galen of old observ'd that the wounds that are inflicted by venomous creatures are cured by a pouder made of their flesh , or by some part of the flesh applied to or rubb'd upon the part affected . de theriacâ , cap. . the sting of the tarantula , tho it is not cured by this fly it self , yet it is by another sort of flies , cantharides . bapt. port. phyto , l. . c. . finally , under this head we may observe what naturalists have assured us of as a certain truth , that in those countries where there is great store of serpents , there are also growing such plants as are soveraign remedies against their venom : and there are more of them in those places than in any others . further , all those troublesome and hurtful animals above-mention'd are beneficial to man , because the mischiefs they do are for his good , i. e. he can make a good use of them . for hereby he hath a frequent opportunity of exercising his patience , of arming himself with contentment and humble resignation , of exerting his fortitude and self-denial , of allaying and moderating his inordinate delight , and pleasing himself in the creatures , which he is liable to . thus the worst animals are as serviceable and profitable as afflictions and distresses , which all the serious moralists as well as devout christians have voted to be of great and indispensible use in the life of man , and are tokens even of divine favour and goodness . besides , that some of those creatures above-named are able to do us so much hurt , and yet that they do so little , and so rarely , is an argument of divine goodness . that they are afraid of us and fly from us , when we are rather thinking of flying from them , is an evidence of that kind and watchful providence which attends us . tho god produced these creatures , yet we see that they are powerfully restrained , and their hurtful nature is check'd and kept in , which is a very observable but convincing proof of the heavenly benignity and mercy . lastly , god made these creatures ( as well as man ) to enjoy their essence and life , and therein to be partakers of his bounty and munificence . whilst every thing hath the fruition of its being , it is so far useful to it self : and this is an argument of the divine indulgence , and one reason of the production of things . god created all things that they might have their being ; wisd. . . and yet this is to be understood so , that they were all made for man , because he can and may one way or other make them useful to him . thus god's goodness is seen even in those animals which on some account are not good . . they set forth god's iustice , and for that reason are serviceable in the world. he is pleased to make use of them sometimes in the way of punishment . thus lice ● and flies were produced on purpose to plague the egyptians , exod. . , . * aristotle mentions the names of some that were kill'd with lice bred in their bodies . so sylla one of the roman dictators perished by the phthiriasis , saith † plutarch : and so died philip the second , king of spain , if we may credit very good historians , and the elder vossius among the test . some to whom lice prov'd mortal are reckon'd up by ‖ aldrovandus . hornets and wasps were dispatch'd by the divine avenger to expel the canaanites , exod. . . ios. . . wisd. . . locusts , caterpillars , canker-worms , palmer-worms , are threatned and inflicted as judgments on the disobedient israelites , ioel . . kings . . psal. . . & . . what mischief locusts did in some parts of italy , * livy and † pliny relate . the pestilence and mortality which they caused by their stink in several parts of africa is particularly set down by ‖ orosius , paulus diaconus , and others . and modern historians testify how mischievous they have been in dacia , pannonia , &c. herod the great ( as iosephus relates ) and herod agrippa ( as st. luke informs us ) were devour'd by worms or maggots . and this was partly the loathsom fate of antiochus ( as we read in mac. . . ) and of maximinus ( of whom eusebius speaks , eccl. hist. l. . c. . ) for their bowels being rotted and eaten with worms , they became a torment to themselves , and a plague to others by reason of the intolerable stench which proceeded from their putrified bodies . and other examples of such as were eaten up of this vermin you may see in aldrovandus , de insectis , l. . the inhabitants of the isles of the cyclades , and the people of troas were banish'd their country by mice , they covering the places with such multitudes . plin. l. . c. . and lib. . c. . iustin reports the same of the abderites : hist. l. . and other instances might be offered to prove that god makes use of sundry kinds of living creatures to plague notorious offenders . he therefore that complains of the existence of these in the world , complains that god hath ways and means of punishing the wicked when he pleases . and be the creatures never so hurtful , there is no reason for this complaint ; for the more harmful any one of them is , the more useful it is to the purposes of divine vengeance . but then we must remember that we occasion this , yea that at first we pull'd down a curse upon the creatures by our primitive apostacy from god. we rebell'd against heaven , and it is no wonder that they do so against us . we affronted the soveraign majesty , and therefore we justly meet with some that take his cause , and revenge it . in short , whatever noxious qualities are now discern'd in any of the creatures , they proceed not from god , but the sin of man , whereby they are corrupted . we have changed the nature of them , we made them hurtful , and therefore we have no reason to complain . but it is our duty to accept of the penalty of our delinquencies , and to make it useful ( as we well may ) to repentance , and our turning unto god. we may conclude then from all that hath been said , that god made none of the creatures in vain , but destined every one of them to some use . we may give our suffrage to that saying of the jews , there is nothing in the nature of things of which there may not be assigned a reason why it was created . it appears from what hath been suggested , that even insects , which are the imperfecter sort of animals , and may seem to be the most useless of any , are for purposes of a considerable nature . and it is to me very evident that god would not have made such variety of them ( as about * sixty kinds of flies , forty sorts of beetles , five and twenty several kinds of spiders , fifty different classes of canker or palmer-worms , an hundred sorts of butterflies ) unless they were good for something . and 't is observ'd by those that write concerning this particular rank of creatures , that all vegetables whatsoever , nay all animals both alive and dead produce their peculiar species of them : ( but how this is consistent with that late notion which some learned virtuoso's have broach'd , viz. that there is no such thing in nature as spontaneous or equivocal generation , i will not now dispute : only i will here offer my opinion , viz. that insects are produced both ways , by equivocal as well as univocal generation ; for i observe that the divine author of nature is pleased to act differently and variously ) and moreover they are different according to the diversity of place and country where they are bred . nay , that there may be a more speedy and plentiful procreation of them , they are generally hermaphrodites , and sustain the part of both sexes , as the worthy mr. ray hath observ'd . wherefore i question not but they are some way or other useful , for we must not think that these beings are multiplied in vain . and if we enlarge the horizon , and look upon nature in her several provinces and dominions , whether animate or inanimate , whether in the heavens , air , earth , or sea , whether mineral , vegetative , or sensitive ; if we survey the world and all the works of the creation , we shall find that they were made for excellent ends. in the close of every day 's creation that was the general epiphonema , god saw that it was good . and as this was said of every particular day 's work , so at last there is the like approbation and allowance of the whole frame of beings , * god saw every thing that he had made : and behold , it was very good ; good as it answer'd to the divine idea , and the will of the creator : good also , as it was destined to the use and service of man. all created beings have a goodness , not only that which is metaphysical , viz. in respect of their being and nature intrinsecally , but extrinsecally and relatively as they are useful to mankind some way or other . even those creatures that are harmful are really good for some ends , as we know and experience . and there may be a goodness in some of the creatures which as yet we do not see , but afterwards may display it self , and future ages may have the happiness to make these discoveries , though the past and present ones enjoy the good , but know it not . to shut up all ; no one part of the creation is superfluous and unprofitable : every thing hath its proper goodness . that is , in other terms , the whole world is full of god and of his providence . and yet i have not yet spoken of man , the top of all the visible creation , in whom the wonders of god's care and providence are chiefly manifested . but of him i will distinctly and professedly speak in my next essay . chap. xii . this argument which hath been used all along in this discourse to prove a deity and providence , was made use of in the old testament by job , and by david in several of his divine hymns , ( which are distinctly commented upon ) : by st. paul in the new testament , by the christian writers of the succeeding ages , by pagan philosophers and poets , whose memorable testimonies are cited . the proper inferences from the whole are these : . we are obliged to own a deity in the visible works of the creation . . we have hence incouragement to contemplate the creatures , and to study the works of nature . . by this contemplation and study we should be induced not only to acknowledg , but to worship , love and obey the omnipotent creator , and to devote our whole lives to his service and honour . but before i enter upon that , let us seriously weigh the worthiness of this subject which i have been insisting upon , and let us attend to the proper inferences which may be made from it . that the matter of this discourse may not seem to be unworthy of the reader 's serious thoughts , i desire him to consider that this is the argument which is used in the holy scriptures to prove a god , and to convince men of his glorious perfections . to begin with the writings of the old testament , iob argues from the frame of the world and all the creatures that are in it , ask now the beasts , and they shall teach thee : and the fowls of the air , and they shall tell thee . or speak to the earth , and it shall teach thee ; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee . who knoweth not in all th●se that the hand of the lord hath wrought this ? in whose hand is the soul of every living thing . the latter part of the th chapter of iob , and the th , th and th chapters throughout treat of the works of the creation , and thereby designedly evince the unlimited power and unsearchable wisdom of the almighty . how frequent is david on this theme , extolling god's providence in respect of the creatures , the heavens and earth , living and inanimate things ? he speaks like a true religious philosopher in the beginning of the th psalm , the heavens , saith he , declare the glory of god , and the firmament sheweth his handy work ; v. . he speaks of these inanimate things here , and in other places , as if they were endued with sense , reason and speech , and could really declare and shew god's power and glory ; but the meaning is , that they occasion others , who are endued with those faculties , to declare and set forth the divine praises . and hence the heavens ( of which he particularly speaks here ) are call'd the ministers of god's word by some of the antient * fathers . and it might be observ'd that shemesh , sol , is as much as minister , it being derived from the chaldee shamash , ministravit . day unto day uttereth speech , and night unto night sheweth knowledg , ver . . i. e. the vicissitude of days and nights made by the motion of the heavens declares god's providence , and instructs men in the knowledg of the creator . there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard , v. . i. e. though these heavenly bodies be speechless , though they silently roll about , and make no noise , yet they may truly be said to have a voice , and there is no nation or people in the world that do not hear it , and loudly proclaim the power and wisdom of god. for ( as he adds ) their line is gone out through all the world , and their words to the end of the world. in them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun , which is as a bridegroom , &c. his going forth is from the end of the heavens , &c. ver . , , . i. e. in the midst of the firmament is placed the royal mansion of the sun , who sets forth at one extreme point of the heavens , and passes through all parts till he comes back to the same point again , and so visits all climates of the earth : the remotest countries under heaven are sensible of the virtue and influence of his universal progress . and then the psalmist passes from the consideration of the heavens to the word of god. after he had spoken of the book of nature he proceeds to that of the law , thereby acquainting us that both set forth god's glory : the beauty and uniformity of the world ( and particularly of the heavenly bodies ) as well as the written word , give us an assurance of his infinite perfections and excellencies . again , in psal. . he is proved to be a great god , and a great king above all the reputed gods of the heathens , because in his hands are the deep places of the earth : the strength of the hills is his also . the sea is his , and he made it , and his hands formed the dry land ; v. , , . i. e. the fabrick of the world , all the admired treasures of heaven and earth , of sea and land , are unquestionable testimonies of his godhead . the psalmist doth not think ( whatever some fancy ) that the present state of the earth , sea and heavens is deformed and disordered : he praises and admires god in the contemplation of them . the whole th psalm is an elegant account of the works of the creation and of providence , for indeed it is impossible to separate these two : all things that we see in the world prove not only the being of a god , but that he rules them with wisdom and goodness . and this you may observe here , that this divine poet reckons up these works of god according to the mosaick method , i. e. in that order in which moses represents them to have been produced at first by god when he made the world. he first mentions light , which was the product of the first day , v. . then the heavens and firmament , and the angels ( the inhabitants of those upper regions of the world ) ver . , , . which were created on the second day : then the earth , sea , springs and rivers , plants , grass , herbs and trees , the third day's work , v. . &c. after that the sun and moon , v. . which were made on the fourth day ; and the fishes of the sea , which are the fifth day's production , v. , . with which he concludes , having supposed the creatures of the last day's work in what he had said before . the sum of all his philosophical and religious contemplations in this excellent hymn , is comprised in those words , o lord , how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all . he first acknowledges , and at the same time admires the wonderful variety of the works of the creation ; and thence he rationally infers and declares that an understanding and wise being was the author of them . from the serious consideration of the visible world his mind devoutly , but naturally , rises to a sense of the first and supreme cause of it . in the th psalm the same devout poet extols god from the particular consideration of the creatures of all ranks and sorts , first those in heaven , the angels , the sun , moon , stars and light , v. , . dly , those that be●ong to the waters , dragons ( which is a word ●hat here denotes all great fishes ) and all deeps wherein they dwell , v. . dly , those in ●he air , as the meteors , viz. fire ( i. e. thun●er and lightning ) hail , snow , vapour , stormy winds , v. . thly , on the earth , viz. . those ●hat are inanimate , as mountains , hills , ●ruitful trees , and timber-trees , among which the cedar is chief , and doth here represent all the rest , v. . . living creatures , and first those that are irrational , wild beasts , and all cattle , creeping things and flying fowl , v. . secondly , rational , mankind of what degree soever , kings and all people , ( i. e. their subjects ) princes , iudges , young and old of both sexes . in the th psalm , v. , , . the same subject , but more briefly , is treated of : and in psal. . v. , , , , . he gives a compendious but excellent description of this mundane system , and of the universal furniture of it , and thence excites men to adore and magnify the wise creator of all . and interspersedly in several other psalms ( some of which i have had occasion to mention before ) he falls upon this excellent theme , and admirably improves it to the purpose aforesaid . if we pass to the new testament , we shall there also find this argument used . from the fabrick of the world st. paul proves to the men of lystra , that there is a god , a living god , in contra distinction to the gentile gods , or idols rather . from the making of heaven and earth , the sea and all things that are therein , he argues the existence of an all-sufficient and self-subsistent being , acts . . and again , rom. . . the invisible things of god from ( i. e. ever since ) the creation of the world are clearly seen , being understood by the things that are made , even his eternal power and godhead , even those invisible things are clearly manifested by those visible works that he hath wrought . or perhaps the meaning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be from the consideration of the creation , from this alone the invisible things of the deity , viz. his power , wisdom and bounty are seen and proved . this way of proving the divinity by the works that are seen , is used by fathers and philosophers , by christians and gentiles , by sacred and prophane writers . * this world , saith a greek father , is the school of rational minds , and the nursery of that knowledg which we have of a god. † our own make , and that of the world wherein we live , are testimonies of a deity , saith tertullian . basil the great , gregory nazianzen and ambrose have written on the six days works , and have with a mighty fluency of stile pursued this argument . athanasius in his book against the gentiles very closely and solidly manges this sensible proof of a deity . cyprian discourses after this rate , ‖ that the times and seasons of the year , and the several elements are obsequious and serviceable to mankind ; that the winds blow , the springs and fountains flow , the corn and the vines come to maturity , and there is a plenty of all other fruits on the earth from the disposal of god : wherefore his existence is not to be doubted of by any rational person , yea by any one that hath the use of his senses . * theodoret hath well demonstrated the providence of god from the consideration of the several parts of the world. octavius in minutius felix hath a short , but a very witty and elegant oration , to prove a god and providence from the make and order of the upper and lower world. among the moderns i will mention only our divine mr. herbert in his poem , to which he gives the title of providence , where he excellently displayeth the wisdom of god in the works of the creation , in the several particular beings which are the product of it . it is an admirable and choice piece of divine rapture . the wisest heads among the gentiles as well as among christians , have prosecuted this theme , and have thought it to be of great force . much after the rate of the great apostle who tells us , god left not himself without witness , you may hear an antient philosopher speak , * it was fit ( saith he ) that god's works should witness concerning him : thus the sun , night and day , the air , the whole earth are witnesses : yea all the world bears testimony to him. and a noble platonist hath in most select and excellent words thus charactered the divine being , † he who hath disposed the heavens into their admirable order and harmony , who guides the chariots of the sun and moon , who is the master of the celestial quire , and by his voice and beck keeps time , that the musick of the stars be true , and those swift bodies keep their rounds exactly : he who is the great arbiter and disposer of the seasons of the year , who is the prudent dispenser of the winds , and brings them out of their treasures when he pleaseth ; he who shaped the vast sea , and formed the spatious earth , and furnish'd it with rivers : he who nourishes and ripens the fruits , and stocks the world with living creatures . tully in his second book of divination , proves a soveraign cause of all things from the admirable and exquisite composure of the world. * the beauty of this , saith he , and the order of the heavenly bodies , do even force us to acknowledg that there is an excellent and eternal nature , and that this is to be admired and adored by mankind . † whence comes it to pass , saith seneca , that there is such a multitude of grateful objects in the universe , which ravish our ears , eyes and minds ? whence is there such an abundance of things made as 't were to support our luxury ? for 't is evident that there is provision made not only for our necessities , but we are indulged even to delight and pleasures . this is from the riches of the divine being , and the overflowing bounty of his excellent nature . i will conclude with that of the poet , ‖ — cùm dispositi quaesissem foedera mundi , praescriptosque mari fines , annique meatus , et lucis noctisque vices , tunc omnia rebar consilio firmata dei. — when i had search'd into the world's great frame , and nature's leagues and combinations seen , how the vast ocean 's bounded , how the year runs its perpetual course , how night and day succeed each other , then i rightly judg'd that these and nature's universal laws were fix'd by counsel and a cause divine . thus you see what reason , scripture , and the sentiments of the wise agree in , viz. that what we behold in the world is a proof of a deity and providence . let us now seriously attend to all these , and thence gather what is our proper duty and concern on this occasion . . let us acknowledg this great truth , that the world is the product of a divine mind , and that all the ranks of the visible creation owe their being to this . plutarch saith rightly that * men had first of all the notion of a god from the beauty of the things that are seen in the world. but the pagans went too far here , and their contemplations of the world ended at last in their owning it to be a god. † it is meet , saith pliny , we should believe the world to be an eternal and immense numen , that had no beginning , and shall have no end. this strange creed of theirs was the foundation of idolatry , i. e. of worshipping the creatures . it gives an account of the egyptians and others paying reverence to mean and sordid animals , * vilia cur magnos aequent animalia divos . the stoicks indeed † held the world was god , but they were too wise to understand it in the gross sense : their meaning was that a divine spirit or mind pervades this world , and actuates all its parts , and preserves it in being and operation . this is the sense of cato's word in lucan , iupiter est quodcunque vides . which is of the same import with — iovis omnia plena : all things are replenish'd with the divine influence , every creature owes its subsistence , as it doth its being and original , to god. which is that very truth i am now reminding you of , and is every ways so reasonable and accountable . you may see god in the things he hath made . the impress of divinity is stamped on the creatures , as princes put their effigies on their coins . we find the idea of god , i. e. infinite goodness and wisdom reflected from the visible objects of nature . this i question not was the true meaning and intention of plato when he held the world was * a living creature , and that every thing in it is animated . i deny not that his followers ( if they may be call'd so ) took the world to be a real animal ; but as for the old gentleman himself , i am perswaded that by the soul of the world he would have us understand the order and harmony of it , as he plainly shews in his timaeus . its parts are as orderly and its motions are as regular and proportionable as if it were inspired with life , yea as if it were some intellectual animal . this exact order and regularity it received from that eternal mind who gave it its existence . god may truly be call'd the soul of the world. him let us acknowledg to be the author of this beautiful universe : whilst some deluded epicureans or platonists date its being and form from chance or necessity , let us ( with one of the antientest philosophers we read of ) confess that † the fabrick of the world is most beautiful because 't is god's voluntary workmanship . . be invited hence to study the works of nature , to contemplate the creatures , to meditate on the works of the lord , and the operation of his hands . the great god is set before our eyes in the world , and may be seen and taken notice of in every creature , like the picture or statue of some founder of a college set up in some eminent and noted place for all the society to behold it . god hath copied forth himself in the creation . the creatures are so many glasses wherein the divine glory is reflected , wherein the image of god is represented . think it then a noble and divine work to be employ'd in the contemplation of these . you that have time and leisure and helps proportionable , set some time apart for this study . take a survey of this huge pile of the world , consider well the various parts of it , scan its excellent structure . view first the lower rooms of this habitation , this spatious earth , which god hath given to the sons of men , with all the excellent furniture belonging to it , the different sorts of vegetables and animals it is provided with . let your thoughts descend into the subterraneous mines and treasures of inestimable value . go down into the deep seas , and there be astonish'd with the multiplied wonders of that place . then return again , and mount the upper stories of this divine habitation : entertain your selves with the wonders of the aerial and ethereal regions , converse with those immense globes of light and fire which adorn that part of the universe . exercise your thoughts with these and the other excellencies which this vast fabrick of the world will exhibit to you : which had its name given it by the greeks from its ornate figure and comely make. pythagoras is said to be the first that gave that denomination of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to this great frame of heaven and earth , as laertius and plutarch tell us : and the latter of these adds that it was stiled so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from the order which is in it . and the latins gave it the title of mundus upon the like account , viz. from its neatness , elegancy and beauty . this may allure us to the study of natural philosophy , and a survey of the structure of the world. for here we shall certainly meet with perfect order and ornament , even such as will conduct our thoughts to the divine author of them . if this be not the effect of our studies and enquiries , they are all in vain : for the knowing of the works of nature , and being able to count them , are not true philosophy , unless we gather a god from them . else iohn tradeskan would have been the best philosopher in his time ; and any man that can shew the rarities at gresham college would be as good as virtuoso as any of the fellows of the royal society . we must not think it enough to be acquainted with the works of the creation : we must advance yet higher . our skill in natural history must lead us to theology : by studying the composition and oeconomy of the world , which bears upon it all the characters of divine power , wisdom and goodness , we ought to be acquainted with god himself , to whom alone these attributes originally belong . and none ought to be discouraged here , for all persons , of what rank or quality soever , are in some measure concern'd in this employment , and may manage it with success . this should be an universal work ; nor indeed need they to be any great philosophers to do this . there is not much curious knowledg and observation required in the more general discharge of this duty . do but look abroad , and see what is before you , and if you have honest and sincere minds , and affectionate thoughts , you will make a good use of what you see , because you will presently behold god in the creatures . for the whole world is god's image : and therefore in its beautiful proportions , in its admirable composure you will soon discern his resemblance . you will behold the invisible things of god in the visible and outward shape of the world. you will with ease find that there is that in the creation which could proceed from none but an eternal and infinite spirit , from one that is omnipotent and omniscient . be conversant then in this great library , be students in this book of nature , which even he that runs may read : for the character is very plain and legible , and the contents of this large volume are easily undestood . read the godhead in the sun , moon and stars , in the air , earth and sea , but especially in the creatures of the animal kingdom , which are endued with sense and life : these are all written in capital letters . the devout st. anthony ( in ecclesiastical story ) was well vers'd in this great volume , though he was never guilty of any other learning : he used to say to the philosophers , this is my book and body of philosophy which i read , viz. the works which god hath made : here i can read the will of god and the words of heaven . such scholars you may all be , and that without any great labour and study , for the book is always before you , and wide open , and you may be always reading in it . and though these things are neglected and despised because they are common , ( as * philo observ'd ) yet know that they are of themselves admirable , and worthy of your continual thoughts , and they will be of great use to you . be convinced of this that 't is not below a christian man to observe and meditate upon the works of nature . the new creature doth not destroy the old , or make it useless . whilest you search into the works of god you will find god himself , and you will acknowledg the infinite understanding and wisdom of the maker of all things . for he hath made the earth by his power , he hath establish'd the world by his wisdom , and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion , jer. . . . and lastly , by acknowledging this substantial truth which i have been treating of , and by contemplating the upper and the lower world , let us be brought to glorify the omnipotent architect , to praise and worship him , to fear and serve him , and to dedicate our whole lives to him . if the heavens declare the glory of god , if those celestial lamps shew by their light their maker's beauty , and set forth his more resplendent glory , of which the sun and brightest stars are but shadows ; yea if the meanest and most obscure creatures do in their kind and measure celebrate his praises , if a gnat or a fly declare the power and wisdom of their maker , if even inamimate creatures sing te deum to him , then how much more are we obliged to praise and glorify him who have this example before us , and for whose sake all these things were made ? if all things every where be full of the deity , let not our mouths be empty of his praises . that the world is a temple , was the acknowledgment of the pagans . mundi magnum & versatile templum , was lucretius's language , though he was an atheist . but plutarch goes further , and tells us that this world is a most holy and divine temple . let us then dedicate it to god's service , and let us sing praises to him in his own temple . let us worship him in his own house , as * philo calls this world. let us perpetually extol the builder of it for the regular frame , excellent beauty and wise ordering of it . and let us not only with our tongues ( which are our glory ) laud and magnify this divine founder , but let us with all reverence serve and obey him , and be zealous of performing all homage to him in our lives . all creatures in their kind render some service to him , every thing pays him tribute : the sun with its officious heat and light , the moon and stars with their proper influences : the teeming earth with all its plants , flowers , fruits and animals , with all the treasures that lie lock'd up in its bowels : the water , the air , the fire , heat and cold , summer and winter do all obey him . let not man then only be defective in his duty , man who hath skill to use all these things unto rational and artificial ends , which no other creature can do . let him be brought by his contemplation of the visible world to a most affectionate devotion , and all the acts of a sincere religion . let him be led by the consideration of those divine perfections which the wondrous fabrick of the world discovers to be in god , unto an entire love of him , and an ardent desire to have intimate communion with him , and thereby to be rendred like unto him . who made these beautiful objects in the world but beauty it self ? all the glories of the universe are but the rays of that infinitely glorious light which is above . wherefore let us climb up by these sun-beams to the father of lights : let us by these glorious manifestations of god in the creatures make our access to the creator , * the framer and maker ; the father of all things , as plato often calls him . but let us rise higher than this philosopher , ( who yet was far exalted above all his brethren-philosophers ) let the creatures lead us to the blessed author of the new creation , christ iesus our only redeemer and saviour , the essential , eternal , incomprehensible wisdom , by whom god made the worlds , as the apostle expresly testifies , hebr. . . wherefore in god the father , and in jesus christ his only son our lord ( the same undivided and eternal godhead ) let all our knowledg and all our practice be terminated , for * of him , and through him , and to him are all things : to whom be glory for ever . amen . the end of the first part. the second part : wherein the existence and providence of god are proved from the admirable fabrick and contexture of man's body . chap. i. the body of man is more excellent and perfect than those of other creatures , as to its stature , and several of its organs and vessels . this singular and peculiar workmanship is elegantly express'd in psal. cxxxix . , , . which words are commented upon . in the first noble cavity , viz. the head , are observable , the skull with its sutures and its membranes , with which it is lined ; the brain , the face with its forehead , nostrils , cheeks , lips , chin , mouth , to which latter belong the palate , uvula , tongue , teeth : the wonderful contexture , particular vse and design of all which parts are distinctly set forth , and shew'd to be the effect of stupendous wisdom . the heavens and earth are the greater world , and man the lesser , according to the ancient distinction of the rabbins into gnolam gadol and gnolam caton ; which hath been since us'd by most writers . wherefore having spoken of the first , the greater and more spacious world , i will now proceed to speak of the second , man , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the microcosm , who is the abbreviature and compendium of all the classes of mundane beings , and participates of every thing that is found in nature . the two grand ingredients of this noble being , are a thinking substance and organiz'd matter . but it is the latter of these only which i design at present to treat of , for i undertake the proof of a deity from the visible and corporeal part of man only . and i choose to instance in man rather than any other living creature whatsoever , because he is the most perfect of all animals , the parts of his body are most exquisite and admirable . there is a peculiar formation of humane bodies even as to their external figure and shape . their difference from the bodies of fishes is most of all apparent : so as to birds , there is a very manifest difference in the fabrick between them and men. yea , though four-footed animals have most of the organs that man's body hath , yet this differs from them ( as well as from all other creatures ) in several respects . man's body is more excellent , as to its frame and make , than that of this sort of animals . there are those admirable things to be observed here that are not in them . man is of an erect stature and figure , which no other creature is of : and though it be boggled at by a * learned enquirer , yet he grants ( which is as much as he need to establish the erectness of man ) that his spine and thigh-bones are in right lines , whereas it is otherwise with the rest of animals . so that from this peculiar mark it is plain , that he is above other creatures , and is the prince of the creation . this singular configuration is no other than † a signature of royal dignity , as one of the ancients rightly said . this upright , stately , and majestick frame of body , shews that man was made to rule over the brutes , and that he was design'd for yet greater empire and government . this noble creature hath a head of a spherical form , which is almost proper to himself : and though his eyes seem to differ but little , viz. as to the external colour , from those of other animals , yet there is a greater variation as to the inward contexture of them . the interiour make of the eyes of birds and fishes is different from that of man , saith monsieur rohault , tract . phys. par . . cap. . a * learned artist of our own hath observ●d , that there are but six muscles in mens eyes , whereas there are eight in brutes , there being two added of peculiar use to them , because they hang their heads down : therefore one of these ( which he calls suspensorius ) is serviceable to keep the eye in a good situation , that it fall not out , and the other ( which he calls membranosus ) is useful to guard and hide the ball of the eye when beasts thrust in their heads among grass and hay . an undeniable argument of the care , wisdom , and providence of the creator , who fitted the parts of creatures to their special use and proper needs . and there are some other things in the eyes of brutes which are not to be found in those of men , as another * learned observer tells us . though † vesalius , that famous anatomist of the last age , pronounces the fabrick of man's brain and that of other animals to be alike , yet those who have lately handled the anatomick knife dissent from him , and assign some ( though no great ) difference between them . as to the quantity , 't is certain that man , for his proportion of body , hath more than any other creature ; for archangelus and bauhinus observe , that his brains weigh four pounds , sometimes five , and sometimes five and a half . and according to the abundance of brains man hath proportionably the largest head. it is , saith ‖ scaliger , the fifteenth part of his body , whereas that of some other animals is not above the fifth , sixth , or seventh . there are sundry other things in man's structure which are not found in brutes , as the particular conformation of the inward parts of the mouth , and other adjacent organs , whence speech is the sole prerogative of men , excepting a few apish birds which have some resemblance to man in some of those parts . again , the hands and fingers distinguish humane bodies from others ; for no brutes are furnish'd with these . no animal whatsoever hath a chin , but man , said pliny of old , and i do not see that there is reason to reject his observation . some beasts have the frame of their stomachs different from that of men , because they chew the cud , which he doth not ; ( for the chewing man at bristol , whom our philosophical transactions lately mentioned , and some other ruminating men in other countries , spoken of in the historical observations of physicians , are singular and extraordinary . ) the situation of the paps or teats in women is different from that in all other animals , who have them placed below their bellies ; but by an especial care and providence it is otherwise in women , who hold their infants in their arms , and so this proves most convenient for suckling them . the cone of the heart in man deflects to the left more than that of brutes ; and his pericardium sticks and is fastned to the diaphragm ; but 't is otherwise in those creatures . there is a visible unlikeness between humane and brutish bodies , as to the beard , abundance of hair on the head , and several other things relating not only to the outward figure , but the inward disposition of the organs and vessels . therefore i made choice of the body of man rather than of any other creature , to discover to you the transcendent wisdom and goodness of god in its fabrick . every thing is wrought with singular art and contrivance : the excellent workmanship speaks a more excellent author . this is that which the psalmist proclaims aloud to the world , when he saith , * he was fearfully and wonderfully made ; so made , that he could not but reverence and admire the divine maker . my substance , saith he , was not hid from thee , when i was made in secret , thou hadst the whole framing and shaping of me in the womb : i was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth : where he compares the make of his body in the womb to phrygionick work ; for the verb rakam which he here useth is acu pingere , to make artificial needlework and embroidery : and accordingly by this word in exod. xxvi . . xxxvi . . is exprest that curious working in needlework which was us'd in the hangings of the tabernacle : and in ezek. xvii . . it is made use of to signifie divers colours . thence rekamoth in psal. xlv . . is rayment of needlework , suppos'd to be fashion'd with diversity of figures and variety of colours , and therefore is rendred by the septuagint sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and by the v. latin , varietates , and vestes diversorum colorum . so that this very fully sets forth the wonderful and various formation of the foetus ; this emphatically expresses that diversity of art which is observable in the different members and parts of it . the body is the soul's vest , but it is of no ordinary make and contexture : it is admirably wrought and shaped with divers colours , and in various lineaments and proportions . symmachus comes nearest to the hebrew word , who renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , variegatus fui , i was artificially wrought with variety of curious work , skin , flesh , bones , nerves , arteries , &c. and the womb is here call'd the lowest parts of the earth , it being a modest expression used by the holy ghost to denote those secret and remote passages which are appropriated to conception and pregnation . and 't is very proper too because the earth was as it were the womb out of which man was taken at first : and ever since , among the writers of all ages the earth is stiled a mother . in these lower parts of the earth , in these dark and hidden recesses , i was by the divine care and wisdom curiously wrought , saith the psalmist . which he farther expresses in the next verse , thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect ( when i was but a mis-shapen embrio ) and in thy book all my members were written , ( thou by thy infinite wisdom hadst determin'd the particular configuration of all my parts , even before they were completely finish'd ) which in continuance were fashion'd , when as yet there were none of them , i. e. they were by a continued , gradual , and successive formation brought to this admirable shape which at first they had nothing of . thus this divine philosopher and prophet acknowledges that the formation and structure of his body was a strange and amazing work , such as none but god could be the author of ; and therefore if he should go no farther than his own original and primitive fashioning in the womb , he had sufficient ground to own and revere the stupendous wisdom of the almighty . man's body is a curious piece of workmanship , or ( in the stile of this divine writer ) of matchless tapestry , of unimitable embroidery , of most ravishing beauty and elegancy : the contemplation of which alone is able to lead us to a deity , an infinitely wise being , who gave it this exquisite shape . and this now i will particularly demonstrate to you , beginning with the highest and noblest region , the heaven of this lesser world , the head : for it was * aristotle's notion , that this answers to the heavens in the greater world. this is the most sublime and exalted , the most eminent and perspicuous part of this humane fabrick , the chiefest of all in use , and first in make ; for ( if we may argue from the formation of a chick to that of other animals ) the head and eyes are , according to the famous dr. harvey , the first rudiments that appear , and have any resemblance of the parts of a living body . in this noble cavity is lodg'd a most divine treasure , the brain , which , because it is so choice a viscus , and of so great worth and use , is safely enclos'd in a pan or skull . this tegument is call'd gulgoleth by the hebrews , from galgil sphaera , rotunditas , because of its round figure , which is most convenient for defence . the brain is as it were the kernel , and this is the shell that enwraps it : whence the french word teste ( which signifies the head or skull ) is perhaps from the latin testa , because this is as it were cerebri testa , cortex , putamen . and it may be i do not conjecture amiss if i say shell is the same with skull , only this is a corruption of that . that i may here display the wisdom of the infinitely wise artist in the contrivance of this globose and concave covering of the head , this habitation of the brain , or rather nature's helmet to defend it from all injuries , it is observable , that it is at first somewhat softish and spungy , that it might not by its hardness be offensive to the vterus in its passage , but might rather on occasion yield to compression . and again , it is remarkable , that it is joyn'd together by sutures , which are requisite at first , that the redundant humidity of the brain which is so copious in infants , may evaporate by those passages : and afterwards it hardens by degrees , and hath the firmness and solidity of other bones : but yet so as these dented fissures still remain , and thereby the parts of the cranium ( when there is occasion ) do more or less recede from one another . which is of great and singular advantage to it ; for first , by this means the cranium doth somewhat give way to blows and falls , and by not resisting them is the safer . secondly , it is for the more easie emission and dissipation of superfluous vapours and vicious humours through those seams . thirdly , hereby this hard covering is so qualified , that it is not too close and pressing upon the substance of the brain . fourthly , by reason of this it is that outward medicaments applied to the head become more effectual , because the vertue of them is convey'd through these chinks . for these reasons this head-piece , which was made to secure that noble part , was fastned together by these yielding toothings . and besides , it was the work of the infinitely wise framer to compose this covering of several bones , this being for the safety and security of it : for if it had been one bone , it would have been liable to be split and broken by a violent stroke or fall , and the brain thereby would have been the more injured : whereas now the fracture may happen to one bone , and proceed no farther , because it is stopp'd by the neighbouring suture , which secures the next part . nor is the brain compass'd and guarded only with this strong cap of bone , but under this it is cloathed with two * coats or membranes , † one somewhat hard and thick to keep it from being touched and hurt by the skull , the ‖ other thinner and finer , because it is the inmost caul , and next to the brain . such is the divine care and goodness in preserving and sheltering this first and choicest part of man with a triple vestment , or ( as i may call it ) a cap with a double lining , not to speak of the ** proper skin which encompasses the cranium , or of the hair which defends that , which are yet other coverings . this shews the great concernedness of heaven for us , and this acquaints us , that the brain is a very noble part , and is of special and singular use. which is the next thing i am to treat of , and thereby to discover farther the divine founder of this humane structure . †† the brain is the seat of the soul , and the source of life , the great laboratory of animal spirits , the spring and fountain of all * sense and motion ; for these are caused by those nimble and active spirits which are dispers'd through the whole body , and diffused into all the members of it in order to sensation and all the functions and exertments of life . these are those fine and exalted particles of matter that are the medium by which the soul acts on the body : that produce such great wonders in nature , and work such excellent effects and operations in us . now , the almighty operator hath made it the office of the brain to elaborate these spirits , and to send them thence by the nerves into the several parts of the body . and that this useful agent may be always set on work for the good of the whole body , god hath appointed the heart ( another strange and wonderful engine in us , which we shall distinctly speak of afterwards ) to yield a continual stock and supply of subtile vapours from its warm blood exhaled through the † iugular arteries into the ‖ midst of the brain and the vessels that environ the conarion : which , when they are there sufficiently sublimated and refined , are thence diffused with great force into the nervous chanels and the whole body . thus there is a continual correspondence and conformity between the brain and the heart : to which purpose it may be observ'd , that when the spirituous parts of the blood exhale up into the brain by the diastole of the heart , the brain is heaved up ; and when they cool by the hearts systole and the taking in of fresh air into the nostrils , it subsides . so that the brain hath its pulsation , and beats as the heart and arteries do , as hath been observ'd by physicians and chirurgeons in fractures of the cranium , who then had an opportunity of discerning this motion . and here , by the by , we might remark that the sides of the fore-part of the head are call'd tempora , i. e. times , in many languages , because they have a set and successive motion , like time : and the hours may be reckon'd by these temple-pulses as by a clock , for there are about of them hourly in a man of perfect health . thus by the contrivance of the heavenly artist the brain and heart keep time , and so the harmony of this divine machin , to which they belong , is preserv'd . but that we may be convinced that there is nothing here but mighty wonders , we are to observe that the brain , which is ( as hath been said ) the seat of sense and life , and the efficient of animal , i. e. the finest spirits , is it self the most dull , phlegmatick , and coldest part of the body . the substance of it is lax , spongy and porous , and is but a glandule , saith dr. wharton . it is made of soft pith and pulp , which is liable to be shatter'd and displaced . but the divine hand hath cast a net over it , and through it as 't were ; which holds the parts together , and hinders their dislocation . which strange contexture of innumerable little twisted strings and fibres ( as well as its matter ) shews it to be framed for some special use and design , which no other part of the body is made for , and it calls upon us to admire and adore the composer . next , the face or countenance , which is that fore-part of the head which is always bare and expos'd to view , is to be consider'd by us . the excellent features of it are the greatest discrimination between man and brutes : for either they have no face properly and strictly so call'd , or it looks not forward as man 's doth , who hath a body erect ( which no other creature hath ) and consequently a countenance of that posture . here the supreme creator's image is most especi●lly discern'd : this is a transcript of the heavenly spirit , this is the mirror of that divine soul which is within . and therefore this part of man is the chief subject of physiognomy , which so far as 't is natural and sober may contain some reality in it , and hath been approved of and practis'd by the wisest among the ancients , as pythagoras , aristotle , hippocrates , galen , and others . there are generally some external signs and marks in the visage which demonstrate the temper of the mind . from inspection of the constant and natural lineaments in the countenance we may sometimes guess at the soul. for god hath imprinted these characters there , that we may read the dispositions and inclinations of men in them . and the strange diversity of mens countenances is no contemptible argument of the wisdom and goodness of the creator in making them so wonderfully various . it is to be admir'd , that though all men have the same shape and figure of their faces , yet there are different strokes and lines in every one of them : sic & similes universi videmur , & inter se singuli dissimiles invenimur , as minutius felix speaks . if men were alike in face as sheep and some other animals , what a strange confusion would be in the world ? how many evils and mischiefs would follow upon it ? if the visage ( significantly call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fashion of the countenance , luke ix . . and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the particular appearance or form of the face , mat. xxviii . . ) were alike in all persons , parents could not know their children , husbands their wives , relations their kindred . magistrates could not discern the guilty , creditors could not know their debtors . so injustice , fraud , murder , bloodshed , adultery , incest , would reign among men , and yet there would be no way to discover and detect them . this must needs happen if one person could not be discern'd from another : which could not possibly be if they were all alike . and thus the society of men would have been broken , and there could have been no humane converse . it was therefore the work of divine and infinite reason , to make this great variety of faces which we see , to give men distinct lineaments , that so they might certainly be known one from another . this different shaping of humane countenances is a proof of an all-wise being , and one that had a regard to the good of mankind . but if we particularly survey the several parts which constitute this divine form in mens faces , we shall have yet a greater sense of this supreme disposer . the forehead is a singular ornament , full of grace and majesty : it is the index of joy or sorrow , of severity or mildness , of anger or being pleas'd , of shame or impudence : and in brief , if the roman orator spoke good sense , it is the door of the soul. the protuberancy of this part is useful , for it conveniently shades the eyes , it beats off the excess of light which would be troublesome and offensive , and be some hinderance to the sight . the nose or nostrils were made not only to contribute toward the beauty and comeliness of the countenance , but to be of great use and necessity . for their offices are first to draw in and let out the breath , they are the proper organ of respiration . again , they are extremely useful for the forming of the voice and speech , which we may observe are deficient when these parts are so . further , this is the instrument of smelling , furnish'd with * others on purpose to discharge that office. and i might mention this also , that it is serviceable to transmit odours to the brain for the refreshing of it . the nostrils are instrumental in anger ( which is a natural and lawful emotion if it be for just causes ) and the agitation of them discovers this passion , especially if they be contracted , as in some persons . which may give an account of that phrase used in the holy book , exod. xxxiv . . psal. lxxxvi . . erech appajim longus narium , as arias montanus renders it according to the letter ; but the septuagint translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , pagnin , tardus ad iram , and our english translators long-suffering . to which is opposed retzar appajim prov. xiv . . brevis naribus , as montanus renders it ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the seventy ; he that is soon angry , as our english version gives it according to the sense , though not the letter . but any observing man may see that the original refers to the use of the nostrils in those persons that are angry . and accordingly nothing is more common in the sacred stile of the old testament than the words aph and appajim , nasus , nares , for ira and iracundia . lastly , i have no more to say of this part , when i have added that it is for the excretion of the redundant humours of the brain , and thereby to purge it . thus the employments of this part are various , as indeed there is scarcely one single part of the body which hath not several and different uses ( as will appear from what we shall farther say ) which is a convincing demonstration of what i have undertaken to prove , viz. that the parts of man's body , and their use , argue a deity . the cheeks , the largest portion of the face , conduce to the beauty and perfection of it , and are the chief seat of blushing , the tincture of vertuous modesty . here are hung out the ruddy ensigns of shame : here bashfulness displays it self in a firy colour . the provoked and heated blood ascends hither to testifie the consciousness to some unbecoming act. this gives an account of burning shame , and shews , that though it be a vulgar way of speaking , yet it is founded on good reason . nay , it seems to be the language of the inspired prophet , who to express the utmost shame and confusion of persons , saith their faces are the faces of flames , isa. xiii . . the lips were made to be the cover of the mouth , gumms , and teeth , and to be a guard to these latter : they serve also for the forming of the voice , and help in speaking and pronouncing of words articulately : and moreover , in tasting they have their particular use . the chin , the prominency or fore-part of the under-jaw , is a peculiar grace and embelishment to the visage , and is that part which no animal is adorned with but man , as hath been before suggested . with the mouth ( that so visible and useful fore-door of this our humane habitation ) we take in food and drink : and that it may not only receive , but hold and contain the former of these till it be well masticated , it is hollow and capacious . with this also we take in and emit the air , to convey it to the lungs , and with this we form our speech . so that , considering the absolute necessity of this part , we cannot but think that pliny and others are fabulous when they tell us of people near the head of ganges in the indies who have no mouths . moreover , with this we eject spittle or any other superfluous humour that annoys that part . these are the distinct offices of this oral cavity . to which belongs the palate , i. e. the upper-part or roof of this concave place , and it is serviceable both for speaking and tasting . here is a * little red piece of spungy flesh ( hanging down from the palate into the mouth ) which is of no mean use , for it is someways serviceable to promote the modulation of the voice , it hinders the drink from regurgitating out of the mouth into the nostrils : and it stops the defluxion of humours from the palate on the larynx . when we consider this little part , we may call to mind what an inspired , man saith , and conclude that he speaks like a good natural philosopher , those parts of the body which seem to be more feeble , are necessary , cor. xii . . here is the tongue , the grand instrument of speech , which is a faculty that god hath vouchsafed to man alone , and therefore we are obliged to make use of it in celebrating the praises of our creator , who hath given it us on purpose to extol his infinite wisdom and providence in the structure and frame of our bodies , and particularly of this noble part , whereby we not only make known his perfections , but hold converse with our brethren in the world. we can never sufficiently admire the excellency and usefulness of this divine gift of speaking . and the variety of it , i. e. the difference of voice and speech in men is as remarkable as that of their countenances , of which i spoke before . this is of unconceivable advantage to mankind , and hinders that vast confusion and di●order which otherwise would happen . the tongue is likewise the organ of tasting ; and i might add , that it is helpful in transmitting the food into the stomach . and to all these purposes it was framed by heaven of a soft and pliable matter , that it might contract and dilate it self , as there is occasion . the teeth ( which are commonly , though not always , thirty two in those of perfect age and vigour ) may deserve our notice in the next place : the fabrick of which is such that we must be forced to confess it was the production of an extraordinary and supernatural agent , and one that consulted our good and benefit . for we cannot but observe , that the teeth are not all alike , but are of a different size and shape , according to the different use they were design'd for . first , there are four teeth above and four below which stand foremost in the jaws , and are very sharp , that they may cut and divide the meat at its coming into the mouth , or even before it comes into it , for these fore-teeth serve to bite or cut off a piece or morsel from any solid food which we are to take , and for this purpose these biters , these * cutters , are made with a very acute edge . also 't is observable , that these fore-teeth conduce to the speech as well as eating . next to these are placed another sort of teeth call'd the † dog-teeth , but more vulgarly the eye-teeth . there are two of them in the upper , and two in the lower jaw , or sometimes but two only , one on each side . these are more pointed than the former , and are deeper rooted , and consequently are stronger than they , because 't is their work to break the food . besides these there are the ‖ grinders , which are peculiarly fitted for their employment ; for after the meat hath been cut and broken by the other two sorts of teeth , these bruise and macerate it , and give it its last preparation for the stomach . there are generally ten of these in a jaw , and they are bigger , broader , and flatter than the rest , that they may perform their grinding the better . and because they are made use of most of all , and have the toughest work , therefore the provident maker furnish'd them with stronger hold-fasts than any of the teeth . these great iew-teeth ( as they were call'd ** of old as well as they are now ) have three or four roots or ●angs , because these only are used in chewing , which requires strength . †† one hath lately taken notice of divine providence in this , that the fabrick of the grinders is fitted to that kind of food which creatures feed upon : in men they are obtuse , because their meat is generally soft : in dogs and some other animals that live usually on harder food they are sharp , with several points : in those creatures that feed on grass and hay , or corn , they rise up with ridges , and answer to the inequalities of a mill-stone . and in other animals that feed on flesh as well as grass , they are of a middle nature , and fit for the mastication of both . this must be said , that most of the teeth ( as well as the * iaws in which they are set ) were designed for chewing : and it is certain , that a considerable time should be employ'd in this work ; for all solid meat we take should be chew'd well . we english are often negligent herein , from whence follow indigestion and other great inconveniences , as a † thinking writer hath observ'd . i will only take notice here in the close , that some are born with teeth , which is thought by some to be as ominous as it is strange : but this we are certain of , that it is an indication of more than ordinary strength and vigour of nature . m. curius dentatus ( who had his name on that account ) and papyrius carbo , are mention'd as examples of this by * pliny . and our king richard iii. was another instance of it : and it is said that a neighbouring prince ( who is a biter ) was born into the world with these weapons . chap. ii. the excellent fabrick of the ear , and the several parts and organs which contribute to the sense of hearing . the peculiar structure of the eyes ; where a large and full account is given of their humours , coats , muscles , of the eye-brows and eye-lids , and the hair belonging to both . the transcendent usefulness and convenient situation of this part of the body . the rare and artificial composition of the ear , and the organs that are serviceable to hearing , is next to be consider'd . who can so much as doubt whether an almighty power and an immense wisdom were concern'd in the texture of these parts when he observes that the ear consists of these three wonderful cavities ? . a large one call'd the tympanum or drum , because it , with the membrane over it , hath such a resemblance . in this are the four little bones which are call'd the hammer ( because 't is of that shape , ) the anvil ( something like it ) the stirrup , and the orbicular bone. . an other lesser cavity , stiled the labyrinth , which hath a hole in which the stapes is terminated . this labyrinth consists of four little round holes or caverns , into which the air is received and defecated , and sent to the cochlea . . then , the other cavity ( smaller than the former ) is this cochlea , call'd so because 't is in the figure of a snails shell . now , no man of any consistency of mind can think that all this artifice shew'd in the framing of these tortuous caverns and various meanders was the blind effect of matter and motion . no : here was design and contrivance : all this apparatus was to compleat and perfect the sense of hearing . the ear hath these curious and various hollows that the air and sound may be retain'd in them for some time , and not easily vanish thence , that so the hearing may be the more orderly and distinct . and even musick it self is beholding to the particular fabrication of this part of the body : for though the nature and essence of musical sounds depend upon the tremulous and uniform motion of the air and some other causes ( as an * ingenious person hath lately shew'd ) yet it is not to be doubted that these harmonious strokes are much beholding to the constitution of the organs of hearing , and the particular frame of the ear in some persons especially . by reason of these anfractres and ambages the sudden irruption of the air either very cold or hot cannot hurt the brain , nor can the excess of noise endamage it , for by this obliquity and crookedness of the passages the air is qualified and moderated . these are the reasons , without doubt , of this particular workmanship of the ear , the many windings and turnings of it . and as all these parts which i have mention'd are of absolute use and necessity , so the outward lobe or flap of the ear , that little soft and fleshy part , seems to have been made to be an ornament it self , and for the receiving of one : and accordingly we learn from the most authentick monuments of antiquity , that this was the first and earliest , as well as the most natural piece of finery that was used , especially by the fairer sex. the stupendous fabrick of the eyes invites us next to behold them , and therein to see a god. there are three celebrated humours ( as anatomists stile them ) or diaphanous liquors which this part of the body is famed for : the foremost of which is the watry one , call'd so because 't is a thin lympha , and void of all colour . this is placed in the fore-part of the eye , that the images of things may be first rudely formed here ; and thence more exactly delineated in the crystalline . which is the next , and is call'd so by reason of its transparency : its situation is in the middle or center of the eye . the third , which is the vitreous humour , is the remotest , being seated behind the watry and crystalline ones ; and being much bigger and of a greater consistency than these , it is useful somewhat to stop and terminate the visive species : and accordingly is conveniently placed at the bottom of the eye , nearest to the brain . these are the clear and pellucid casements of the body to let in light , and to transmit its beams in order to vision : for from the fit refraction of the luminous rays which pass through these different humours ( different not only as to their quantity but consistency ) the sight is made and promoted . so that , before we go any farther , we have enough to convince us that this particular make of the eye was from an intelligent and provident director , who fram'd the several parts of man's body to special and peculiar ends , and particularly design'd the eye to be the organ of sight . but these liquors which are found here , and which are as glasses and spectacles to the brain in order to seeing , would be wholly useless to this purpose if their transparency were not qualified and check'd , if there were not something ( like the foil in a looking-glass ) to unite and retain the visive forms in the eye . this therefore is done by certain membranes or tunicles , which more powerfully refract the rays of light , and are serviceable for the farther shaping and retaining the images of things ; and besides , they are serviceable to separate one humour from another , and to keep and preserve them in their proper places and particular apartments ; so that these liquid substances are steady and fixed . the first and outer most of all these coats is that * common one which covers all the eye , unless it be where a perforation is left for the ball or pupil . this is that skin which makes the white of the eye . the second hath its † name from its hardness , for ( as the learned dr. willis observes ) this being one of the upper coats of the eye , it was to be strong , and as a fence against injuries . and it is also called the horny tunicle , because it is of the colour of a thin bright piece of horn , viz. in the fore-part of it , but it is opacous behind . strictly speaking ( as another learned physician notes ) it is the foremost part of this skin which hath the epithet of corneous , and the hinder is properly the sclerotick . this membrane enfolds the whole eye , as the other before mention'd doth : only there is an aperture reserv'd for the pupil . the third is that which is call'd by anatomists the ‖ grapy , and also the choroides : or , to be exact , the anterior part only is that which should be call'd grapy . it is generally black in man , and therefore hath its name because it resembles the skin of a black grape when 't is press'd . however , the inward superficies of this membrane is black , to determine and fix the rays . it encloses the eye on all parts , the ball excepted , where 't is full of holes to let in the light. out of this coat are formed and produced the pupil ( known by the name of the ball or black of the eye ) and the iris , both which are very remarkable curiosities . the former is a round hole in the middle and fore-part of this vveous membrane , and it is so commodiously framed , that it is capable of being contracted or dilated ( and consequently of being lesser or bigger ) as occasion is , i. e. according to the difference of objects , or rather the difference of light which the eye receives into it when it beholds objects . in this apple of the eye ( for so also 't is most vulgarly call'd ) appears the little image of the person who looks upon it , whence 't is call'd by the hebrews ishon ( deut. xxxii . . a diminutive of ish ) virunculus , because the pourtraiture of a little man is seen here : and with the greeks it hath the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , puella , for the like reason , because one of the other sex may as well be seen in this looking-glass . accordingly it is likewise in hebrew call'd bath gnajin , the daughter of the eye , psal. xvii . . and among the latins pupilla , i. e. parva puella . though some criticks think they give it this name because it is a part that is tender and delicate . whence in the fore-named place 't is said , keep me as the apple of the eye : for this is a very choice part , and must be preserved and guarded with great care and circumspection . and behold yet farther the wonderful contrivance of that omniscient mind who framed this excellent part ! in this sable and dark spot of the eye is the sight placed ( whence 't is call'd the sight , ) or here at least the visive faculty is first exerted , though ( as you shall hear anon ) 't is perfected in the next membrane . this little obscure hole is the inlet to all our light. this indeed is worthy of the great creator , who in the first production of the world brought light out of darkness . this i may call nature's window in the body , at which the visive rays enter , and strike upon the crystalline humour , and from thence are refracted to the bottom of the eye , where the vision is consummated . this black circle which i am now speaking of , is environ'd with a bright iris or rainbow , so call'd because 't is of divers colours : though 't is true that in some creatures it is black , in some grey , in others blue , according as this uveous membrane is colour'd . this distinct part of the eye is of a peculiar make , it consisting of certain * nervous fibres ; which , like small hairs , issue from the pupil , like rayes from a light body , all in a circle . these , as d. willis rationally conjectures , are instrumental in the contraction or dilatation of the ball of the eye , and ( as he adds ) the main vigour and briskness of the eye are seated here . the fourth and last membrane ( for though some ophthalmists have talk'd of a fifth , viz. the aranea , yet our late anatomists , who have been more exact in their enquiry , assure us this is not to be found ) is the retina , so named because 't is fashioned like a net. though there were some preparations and initiations of sight in the pupil , yet this part must be judged the chief organ of it : for here the images of objects are pourtraied , and thence by the optick nerve represented to the brain to be examined and judged of by the soul. all the other coats ( as well as the humours ) were but serviceable to this : this is the principal seat as well as instrument of actual and compleat vision . and the particular situation and make of it were designed for this very purpose , for this is the farthest and inmost membrane , and is nearest of all to the optick nerve and brain : yea , 't is made out of the innumerable filaments of this very nerve , so that there is an immediate commerce with the brain . besides , all parts in the eye are convex but the retina , which is concave , and that purposely , that it may be fitter to receive and retain the visive rays , or rather the forms of them , and then transmit them to the common receptacle of sense . this is the curious frame and contexture of the eye , in respect of the several humours and tunicles with which it is furnished : and who espies not the deity through them ? it is granted that the antients and moderns agree not as to the particular solving the manner of sight . an * ingenious man , who hath been curious in anatomizing the eye , confesses ingenuously that it is by unknown ways that this exactness of sight is effected by these several organs and parts . but they all agree to admire the excellent and wonderful structure of the eye : they jointly acknowledge the aptitude of the several parts to reflect and refract the rays , and the fitness of the retina , especially to receive the impressions of light , and the admirable tone of the optick nerve . in brief , they are all astonish'd at the position and configuration ; the excellent texture and composition of this organ . let a late expert anatomist speak for all the rest , * if the fabrick of the eye be narrowly observ'd and consider'd , surely there is not a man living who will not be rapt into admiration of the infinite wisdom of the supreme deity , who in the structure of these organs was so much the more accurate , by how much the sense of seeing surpasses all the other senses in excellency and worth. though 't is impossible to tell the particular way how the sight is performed by the help of these several humours and membranes , yet we are certain it is done by them : of which we have this demonstration , that if any of these parts fail , if any of these innate liquors be deficient , or any of the coats vitiated , the sight is impaired , or wholly lost , as is evident in suffusions , strabism or squinting , the pin and web , cataracts , though perhaps the second of these may be caused , not only by the misplacing of the crystalline humour ( as 't is generally said ) but by some defect in the muscles . and this here might remind me to add something concerning the unparallell'd structure of the muscles which belong to the eye , and which are another argument of its divine workmanship . anatomists mention six , four of which are direct ; the first to lift it up , the second to move it down , a third to move it to the right , another to the left side : the other two turn the eye about , and serve for oblique glances . i propound this also to be considered , that the eye is made with a round prominency , that we may not only see things which are before us , but those which are on either side of us . which latter we could not possibly do if the eye were flat , and if it were not set out a little beyond the place where it is fixed . both which argue the providential care of heaven towards us . and because this part of the body is of extraordinary use and necessity , as well as of beauty and comeliness , the omniscient mind who framed it , hath taken especial care of its safety and preservation . this is observable in sundry particulars , as first , the eyes are lodged in two safe sockets , two strong boney cavities , where they are securely enclosed and defended from hurt . and likewise the impendent brow and the prominent nose save them from hard strokes and blows . moreover , there are eye-lids , to be a farther security and defence to them , which are to be closed at pleasure to prevent that danger which may accrue by too much light , or by dust , or smoke , &c. hence , if we may credit a good old grammarian , who was well skill'd in the derivation of words , the eyes in * latin have their denomination from this cover which god hath given them . the vpper lid especially is most remarkable , it being as a portcullis ( for to that anatomists generally compare it ) clapt down every night for the eyes safety , and at all other times when there is occasion for sleep : or whenever the eye is assaulted , this part is let down presently to secure it : ( i say presently , for its motion is with great expedition , and thence gnaphgnaphim is the word among the hebrews for palpebrae , from gnaph , celeriter se movere : and the doubling of that word denotes the quickness of the agitation , the suddenness of the vibration of this part. ) if plempius had not been purblind , as to his mind as well as eyes , he would not have blamed ( as * he doth ) the formation of this part of man which is so peculiarly contrived . this is the true reason of the fabrication of the eye-lids , and therefore fishes are destitute of them , because living in the water they are not so obnoxious to injuries and blows , or troublesome flies , or any thing that may hurt the eye ; and again , because these creatures sleep not , or very little . farther , observe that these eye-lids are fortified with stiff hair as with palisadoes against the incursion of flies and such like small bodies as i have mentioned before , which would molest this part. nay , 't is to be remark'd that this hair with which the eye-lids are edged and bordered , never grows longer than it is at first , but hath a certain dimension which it doth not exceed : whereas no other hair in the body doth the like . which is a palpable evidence of the divine care and particular disposal in this matter , viz. that these hairs may be a guard to the eye , and yet not in the least impede the sight , which they would certainly do if they grew long . and farther yet , we may take notice that these hairs are set thin , that they may not be any obstruction to the seeing . so that considering these wonderful circumstances , which visibly testifie the wisdom of the maker , we have reason to abhor and condemn that blasphemous passage of a * physitian of the last age , that if he had had the formation of the eye-lids of man , he would have contrived them quite otherwise . this is unreasonable and rash as well as impious , for we plainly see that this guard of the eye could not have been formed with greater wisdom and contrivance . moreover , above the eyes there is an arch of hairs called the hairs of the eye-brows , which were placed there for the ornament of the face , for unless these were a beauty , mahomet would not have promised his followers the converse in paradise with women whose eye-brows shall be as wide as the rain-bow . they were no less made for the preservation of the eyes , for these do in some measure keep off sweat from sliding down from the head or forehead into the eyes . so admirably fenced and guarded is this curious piece of workmanship by the celestial operator of it . this is the care he took of this part which is so noble and so useful , and is so valued by us . whence , * to pluck out the eye was an antient proverbial saying to express the loss of those things which were most dear and precious to us . our saviour hath spoken of this part in a most expressive and comprehensive manner , the light of the body is the eye , mat. . . this is the light or lamp ( for that is the true rendring of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) which directs and guides us in all the actions of the body , in all the affairs of life wherein corporal sense and motion are concerned . for , as † philo saith well , what the mind is in the soul , that the eye is in the body , for both of them see , the one intelligible , the other sensible things . yea , it is certain that the eye is the mirrour of the mind , there we may as 't were see the soul , there the inward affections and propensions of it , especially those of compassion and kindness discover themselves , whence by a good * eye is meant a benign , and by an * evil one an envious and covetous mind : and these are phrases used by the hebrew doctors and talmudists . we might farther take notice that this light was wisely placed in the uppermost and highest region of the body , as on a watch-tower , that thereby we may look about , and discern dangers afar off , and that by this means the eye might preside over the whole body and all the other senses . what the sun is to the great world , that the eye is to the lesser : it is the guide , light , life and cherisher of it . and finally , to put a period to our remarks on this head , as there is a double organ for the sense of hearing , so there is for this of seeing ; there is a pair of these glorious lights in the body , that if one fails , the other may supply its room . therefore we may justly look upon pliny's relation as fabulous where he talks of people of some parts of the world with but one eye ; for indeed , such is the goodness and liberality of our creator that there is not any animal monocular in the world. thus i have gone thro' the various parts which constitute the face or countenance , and i have only this one thing to add , which the lord bacon in his essays suggests to us , that a man shall see faces , which if you examine part by part , you shall find never a good one , and yet all together do well . which is a farther illustration of the divine art , wisdom and providence . so much for the face , which consists of several parts , and thence perhaps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( a word in the plural number ) is used among the hebrews to express it . chap. iii. the neck contains two passages or chanels of a very admirable contrivance , viz. the wind-pipe with its larynx and epiglottis , and the throat or gullet . the second or middle partition of the body , viz. the breast is also shewed to be the product of ●n omnipotent and intelligent operator . the particular vse and serviceableness of the lungs , and the peculiar composure of them in order to this . the proper office of the heart . its vessels for conveying of blood. the circulation of this noble liquor . the swiftness of its motion . the situation of the heart . the useful membrane which encloses it . the several vses of the diaphragm . i should now descend from the head to the next celebrated partition of man's body , and that is his * breast . but first we must take notice of the passage to it , the neck , that fair and streight isthmus which joyns these regions . this is the round pillar that sustains the head : this is the atlas that upholds that heavenly part : the inside of it is the throat , which is furnished with two most useful and admirably contrived cavities or pipes . the * first is that which is feared in the ●orepart of the neck , and is that vessel by which the air is taken and sucked in , and also breathed forth : and therefore this pipe leads to the lungs , yea , is inserted into them , and several † branches of it are spread through the mass of the lungs . besides , this is the principal instrument made use of in forming the voice , and questionless the peculiar composure of it , the admirable fabrick of its grisly rings was in order to this . the ‖ vppermost part of it is more particularly and signally instrumental to the speech and modulation of the voice : and it is to be observed that the all-wise contriver hath added a ** cover , ( which is a small flap or cartilaginous membrane , somewhat like a tongue , and thence hath its name ) to this head or top of the wind-pipe , that , when we are swallowing , none of the meat or drink may go down into this cavity . for so it is that what we eat and drink cannot be conveyed into the other passage the gullet ( of which i shall speak next ) but it must first pass over the uppermost end of this pipe : wherefore this flap covers this end when we swallow , and hinders the passing down of the meat and drink into the weasand . so that it appears hence , this little piece of flesh is of absolute necessity , and we can neither eat nor drink without it . can the most hardned atheist perswade himself that these things were by chance , or from mere matter moved ? indeed i can scarcely think that any man can entertain such thoughts . nay , it might be added , as farther remarkable , that this cover we have been speaking of , is not so close but some humid liquors ( as lohocs and the like lambitive medicines for distempers in the lungs and breast ) may be gently conveyed that way , and descend by the sides of the larynx unto the lungs , which still shews the art and wisdom of the contriver . the * second passage or pipe is that which is placed behind this cover , and the wind-pipe to which that belongs , and is seated next to the vertebrae of the neck . this is that by which we let down our meat and drink , and therefore leads directly to the stomach . as the forenamed cavity is the fistula of the lungs , so this is the tunnel of the stomach , and accordingly is adjoyned to the upper orifice of it , as that is to the lungs . both these vessels are of indispensable necessity : without the one we can neither breath nor speak , and without the other we cannot have any food or nourishment conveyed to us to support our natures . and it may be this latter as well as the former , is someways serviceable to the making of a vocal sound : for there are several instruments that concur to promoting the pronunciation , and rendring the sound articulate . thence the hebrews and others divide their letters into guttural , dental , labial , lingual , and others are denominated from the palat. and now , having observed what passages are into the breast , i will speak of that it self , that large and capacious venter , that middle region of man which contains all the parts between the neck and the midriff . and here we are to take notice of the divine workmanship in those two principal vessels which the breast contains , viz. the lungs and the heart . from the admirable structure and exact motions of the former a * pious physitian of our age takes occasion to admire ( though he saith he cannot do it enough ) the excellent artifice of the divine creator evidently adapted even unto mathematical rules , for here he plainly appears ( as he saith ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how duly and orderly do these bellows ( for so they are not improperly call'd ) discharge their office of attracting and emitting the air ? how faithfully do they serve to respiration , which is for the ventilating and cooling of the blood , or ( as others think ) for the attenuating and refining , the subtilizing and enkindling of it ? for by means of the subtilty of the air which is taken in , the heat in the heart is provoked and blown up into a vital flame . i will not here dispute whether the lungs follow and depend upon the motion of the breast and midriff , and are filled and moved as bellows are , because they are distended ; or whether ( as some of late contend ) they are dilated by the elastick force of the air rushing in , and so upon their extension follows the swelling of the diaphragm , and thereupon the motion of the thorax . this is inspiration : and then in expiration the diaphragm is contracted , and returns to its right figure , and the air is expelled . neither will i question , whether it be a collateral end of respiration to discharge and expel an excrementitious fluid out of the mass of blood , as * the excellent author whom i have formerly cited , thinks he can sufficiently prove . but this we are sure of ( laying aside all disputes ) that the lungs are the great instrument of breathing , and that they are absolutely requisite for the admiting of the air in order to the rouzing of the vital spirits , and quickning and maintaining the flame of life : for the sensitive soul is fed by air , as the body by food . and we are sure of this likewise , that they are necessary organs of speech and voice , of articulate and significant sounds . and we have no reason to doubt of this , that the great architect and framer of man's body hath particularly fitted and composed the lungs for these purposes , for they * are light , spongy and flexible , and full of hollow places , to hold the air , and convey it through hidden passages to all the body : and they are wide and capacious that the air may play in them , and have its full scope in the cavity of the thorax . and moreover , that they may be firm and steady and so perform their operations with the greater certainty and accuracy , they are on the back of them fastened to the spina , and thereby become fixed . this may convince us that they are the work of a supreme and primary cause , who is owner of infinite understanding , and doth all things with skill and counsel . wherefore that is an excellent spark of devotion in the talmud , at every breath that a man breatheth , he ought to praise god his creator . the other rich treasure in this chest is the heart , the fountain of natural heat , which it disperses over all the body by vertue of its peculiar office , which is to make blood , and to distribute it by the arteries into the parts . whether the so deservedly admired motion of the blood be from an infinite faculty ( as galen thought ) or from rarefaction which expands the heart ( as cartes determines ) or from the air taken into the lungs ( as mr. hobbes suggests ) or from the quantity or copiousness of the blood falling into the heart , which labors to expel it thence by a constriction of its fibres , whereby the cone of it is brought nearer to the basis ( as dr. charlton thinks ) i will not here dispute , but this we are certain of , that an intellectual spirit was the first cause and efficient of it : and any considerate man that takes notice of the wonderful make and figure of the heart , and of all the vessels subservient to it , cannot but acknowledg as much . therefore a * celebrated anatomist of our own , resolves the motion of them and of the blood into a divine and supernatural principle , not to be conceived and explained by us . we know that when the blood flows into the right ventricle of the heart , this is dilated ; and when it is thrust out thence , this is contracted ; but the true natural spring of this * double motion is hid from us . whether the motion of the heart depend upon the blood , or the motion of this depend on the heart ( because if it be a great muscle , as not only hippocrates and galen , but some modern philosophers and physitians have averred , it seems of it self to be made for motion , being actuated by spirits , and drawn by fibres ) it is not my business here to enquire , but this is the thing which ought to employ our thoughts and excite our devotion , that ( whatever second and natural causes may be assigned of this phaenomenon ) the supreme author and contriver of it is some intelligent substance , and it is impossible it should be otherwise . for the whole stupendous contexture of the heart and its double ventricle , with the four vessels in them , viz. two veins in the right , and two arteries in the left side , the former to convey the blood to the heart , the latter to carry it off , together with the various nerves , fibres , &c. is a work of understanding , prudence and judgment ; for all these parts have relation to one another , and are mutually helpful in their operations , and they all apparently conspire for the good and welfare of the body . who can sufficiently admire the circular conveyance of that noble liquor through the * greatest vein of the whole body ( into which all the other veins empty and disembogue their blood ) into the right ventricle of the heart , out of this into the lungs through a capacious artery ( falsly called a † vein ) which hath its original from the heart , and is divided into many branch●s which are dispersed through the lungs ; out of this parenchyma of the lungs into the left ventricle of the heart through a remarkable vein ( corruptly call'd an ‖ artery ) which hath its rise from the lungs , and is mixed with the branches of the aspera arteria , and the arterious vein ? and so when the blood is digested and perfected in both those ventricles of the heart and lungs , it is carried out of the left ventricle into the bigger sort of arteries through the ** great artery , which proceeding out of the heart disperses its branches through the whole body , and out of the lesser arteries ( not by anastomoses or inosculations , as some have thought , but ) through the substance of the flesh into the lesser , and then the greater veins , and thence thro' the vena cava into the right ventricle of the heart again , and so the circulation is made . or , the short is , that the heart hath on one side of it the vena cava , and on the other the arteria magna , both which great trunks have branches dispersed through all the body , even the extremest parts , and are continued to one another by capillary or small vessels , and so there is no interruption of the circular course of the blood , but it returns to the place from whence it first set out . these are the journeys of the blood , these are its several stages , these are the distinct chanels and vessels it moves through . thus by the heart and other passages , as 't were in a water-engine , it is carried in a constant course round : which is a sufficient evidence that these machines were at first made , and then set into motion by an omnipotent and wise being . and the speediness of this motion is as remarkable as the circulation it self : for from the pulses , which are the sensible moving and beating of the arteries , and are made as often as the blood rusheth out of the heart into these vessels , we may gather the swift career of this liquid substance . primrose is singular in his opinion , and reckons but seven hundred pulses in an hour : other physitians rise much higher , but with great inequality , they being more used to feel , than tell the pulses . harvey reckons two thousand , regius three thousand , bartholine about four thousand ; for according to the different temper and habit of the body the agitation of the blood varies , and consequently the circulation of it is finished sooner in some than in others . if we speak of what is commonly experienced in most persons that are healthful and well disposed in body , and are of a just stature , it is generally agreed that the heart usually gives in the space of an hour about three thousand strokes . the whole mass of blood ( which in a man's body who is adult , seldom exceeds twenty four pounds weight , or is less than fifteen ) passes through the heart and whole body six or seven times in an hour in some , oftner in others : yea , a late * learned and applauded physitian tells us , that in some persons all the blood passes through the body thirteen times in one hour . and he endeavours to shew exactly that the situation and structure of the heart are fitted for this swift motion , that the vessels are wonderfully made to distribute the blood through the body in so short a time , and to perform their whole circle and periodical revolution . this more particularly may be observed , that this noble mover is placed exactly in the middle of the breast ( and in a manner of the whole body ) that the influence of it may equally reach all parts : though indeed the pulse is more sensible on the left side , which is by reason of the left ventricle , wherein the vital spirits are elaborated , and where is situated the great artery that conveys them forth thence , both which are on the left . and besides , the cone or point of the heart deflects rather to the left side , to give way perhaps to the ascention of the midriff . that this choice vessel of the heart may be defended and preserved , it is encompassed with the lungs , which hang on both sides of it , and are call'd by some anatomists the hearts pillow . and add to this that this precious treasure is enclosed in a membranous covering , which is stiled the pericardium . as the heart is fastned to a part of the spina to keep it steady , so this capsula is fastned to the midriff , to keep it in its right situation , and also to defend it from injuries . and it is not to be omitted , that within this membrane there is a serum or thin liquor , which is placed here on purpose to keep the heart moist , and consequently to promote its motion : whereas if the outward superficies of the heart were depriv'd of this serous matter , it would ( it is probable ) through continual agitation and heat grow dry , and wrinkle , and be made unfit for motion . this lympha therefore is of great use , and ( as all the other things before mentioned ) convinces us that the fabrick of the heart was from an understanding mind , and could not be from any other . and after all , this may be observed ( which is very strange and wonderful ) that the heart is insensible , as * dr. harvey proves from one who had a fracture in his left side , so that this part was exposed to view , and was handled , but not perceived . so much for the heart , which is the lower heaven as 't were in this little world ; the head being the upper one , where the divine soul hath its throne . having viewed the middle cavity or partition of humane bodies , and having found it to be a structure worthy of its creator , i should now with religious admiration pass to the lowest region of the body , which answers to the earth in the sublunary world : but because this is separated from the foregoing region by a certain † cross bound called the diaphragm or midriff , we ought therefore to take notice of that first . this muscular partition lies over-thwart the lower part of the breast , and is sometimes known by the name of praecordia , because the heart touches it with its cone . through this fleshy skin the gullet descends : and to this part likewise the pericardium , the liver , spleen , stomach are all fastened , whence there is a communication between them and it . the use of this partition is to divide the vital parts from the natural ones , i. e. the heart and lungs from the stomach and other lower bowels ; as it was fit there should be a distance between these parts of so great difference in their nature and use , therefore this wall was made between them . again , it is useful to help the exoneration of the intestines , for by pressing these the faeces are more easily evacuated . but its chiefest use is for respiration , for by contracting it self it extends the breast , and by that extension is inspiration wrought : so by extending it self it contracts the breast , and by that means expiration is performed . thus it is , next to the lungs , ( which it immediately touches as well as the heart ) the principal instrument of free breathing . and besides these uses already mentioned , it is concluded by the most judicious searchers into the secrets of nature that this part of the body is useful for laughter , that innocent and healthful diversion of man's life if it be used lawfully and moderately : for this peculiar posture of the countenance , with that sonorous but inarticulate voice which attends it , is to be ascribed in great part of the shaking of the muscles of the diaphragm , caused by an agitation of the spirits dilating the heart , and consequently this part and the breast , which being moved , affect the muscles of the face , and cause this pleasant figure of it . hence , * one of our learnedest masters in physicks gives an account of this particular motion of the countenance from the peculiar frame of the midriff and the heart of man , which is different from that of all other animals . this is the reason why laughter is proper to man only . and the same inquisitive person takes notice that † the intercostal nerve is of a particular and unparallell'd composure in man , whence there is a wonderful consent between the praecordia and the parts of the mouth and face , insomuch that assoon as grief invades the breast , the face corresponds and is troubled . hence men , of all creatures , only weep as well as laugh . this we may entertain as a truth , whatever ‖ virgil or ** pliny suggest to the contrary , who tell us of weeping horses . but every moisture or distillation from the eyes , which is seen even in some brutes sometimes , is not to be call'd tears . †† homer who tells us of weeping horses ‡ , mentions speaking brutes of the same species ; he that gave them tears could give them humane speech . and the same ‖‖ poet talks of immortal horses that feed on ambrosia instead of oats , or any such ordinary provender . there is no creature , properly speaking , weeps but man , for this comes from that inward sense and perception which are not in irrational animals . this must be attributed to the particular make of their organs : and this particular make must be ascribed to the will and wisdom of the creator , who knew this was most suitable to humane nature . chap. iv. the frame of the third and lowest region of the body speaks a divine artist . the convenient position of the stomach . it s wonderful operation in the concocting of food . the diverse opinions of writers concerning the cause of it . the author 's particular sentiment . an account of the intestines , and of the proper vses of them . the several passages and conveyances of the chyle . the distinct offices of the liver , spleen , pancreas . how this lower partition of the body is guarded and secured . the mutual and necessary correspondence of the brain , heart and stomach , which are the principal contents of the three regions of the body . how by the nerves and animal spirits conveyed in them all motion and sensation are performed in humane bodies . i come now to speak of the lower region it self , ( which is the largest , i. e. the longest and broadest of the three divisions of the body ) the abdomen or belly , i. e. all that space in the body which reacheth from the lowest part of the breast to the fundament . here first the stomach deserves our consideration ; and that which we shall take notice of in the first place is its situation . by which i do not only mean its position immediately under the diaphragm ( which without doubt is for the best ) but i take notice that as the heart , the most useful part in the middle region of the body , is encompassed and kept safe by the lungs , so this which is most considerable in the lowest venter is seated between the liver and the spleen , that on the right , this on the left side of it , and is kept warm by both . the former especially ●herishes and comforts this part , and that is the reason why it is placed so contiguous to it . besides , the liver and spleen on both sides of the stomach guard and defend it from the ribs . nor is the pancreas or sweet bread a mere expl●●ive , to fill up the void places between the stomach , liver and spleen , but is as it were a pillow to the former of these ( as some anatomists have call'd it ) lest when it is full it should be hurt by the hardness of the vertebrae . this guard about it shews it was designed to be a vessel of great value . but the admirable operation of it doth much more discover it to be so : for after it hath taken in the food , it doth by means of that variety of fibres with which it is set about , enclose and wrap it up , and then betakes it self to concoction , a most amazing work , and such as speaks a divine author . the toughest and hardest meats are digested in three or four hours space , and turned into a soft pap , which could scarcely be effected in a pot over never so hot and fierce a fire ; and therefore the food is not concocted by the mere heat of the stomach , as the old philosophers thought , nor by any heat brought to the stomach from the heart , as des cartes and his followers positively determine . but whence this fermenting , acid , vellicating juice , which is the cause of this strange alteration of the meat , and turns it in so short a time into a whitish kind of substance like to cream , hath its original in the body , is not easie to tell . we have no assurance that this sharp corroding humour comes from the gastrick and meseraick arteries , as some think . nor can we prove that it is an acid menstruum derived to the stomach from the spleen , as others imagine ; yea , some think there is ground to believe the contrary , because there is no proper vessel to promote that commerce between them . but though herein they are mistaken , for the spleen is joyned to the stomach by a little meatus call'd vas breve , yet no man can certainly tell whether there be any such sharp liquor carried by this passage . and 't is known that dogs when they have their spleen cut out , are no less voracious , and concoct what they eat assoon as before . others hold that this stomachick ferment proceeds immediately from the blood , i. e. the salt humour in it : whence melancholick and hypocondriacal persons ( who abound with this saline liquor ) have oftentimes a boulimy : but there are objections levelled against this by some learned men , and they are not easily satisfi●d . some think that a pancreatick juice is the great promoter of this work. riolanus and other moderns impute it to the sour reliques of the chyle which remain in the stomach , and are turned into a leven . dr. willis refers it to a sulphureous acidity , and to the active spirits which issue from the stomachick nerves . the glandules at the bottom of the stomach afford a certain ferment , say others . the heat of the adjacent parenchyma the liver contributes much to it , saith dr. glisson . it is from a nitrous principle , say tilingius , and dr. mayow : which is in a manner the same with dr. willis's opinion . it is an odd notion of dr. harvey , that it is made by trituration . some have thought that the saliva which is mixed with the meat in the mouth is the great instrument of concoction : thus thinks diemerbroek , and i find that monsieur rohault is one that enclines this way ; but this kind of moisture is sometimes very defective in those that have a very sharp appetite , and digest their meat very quickly , and therefore i can't think that this is the aqua-fortis that dissolves the solidest food so quickly . this is all that we know in the matter , and are sure of , that , viz. it is a most stupendous fermentation that thus dissolves all the parts of the food , and turns them into that milky subsistence in so short a time . that whatever is taken into the stomack is consumed so suddenly , is a most strange , surprizing , and prodigious thing . any thoughtful man will grant this . yet i do not say this as if i questioned whether it is done by natural means or no , for ( to offer my opinion and sentiment in the point ) i hold that it is performed by the particular make and structure of this part of the body . it hath that individual substance , shape , contexture and formation whereby it is fitted for this use , viz. concoction : and the reason why no other vessel of the body doth or can discharge this office , is because it hath not parts thus adapted . and this is the general solution which i would give of the operation and function of any other vessel in the body , as the brain , lungs , heart , &c. when there are disputes about the particular manner of their executing their offices , i conceive the best answer is , that all that is done , is done by a peculiar and singular fabrication of the parts . god hath given them a particular turn and form , and thereby they effect such and such things . this is signally true of that part which i am now treating of , viz. the stomach . and though all is done here in a natural way , yet it was caused at first by a supernatural efficient , the supreme divine author of all things , who framed this vessel after this particular manner , and most wisely designed and contrived the operation and office of it in order to the nourishing and sustaining of the whole body . which will appear if we consider what becomes of the chyle , that milky juice into which the food is here dissolved . it is sent through the * lower orifice or mouth of the stomach into the guts , which are fitted and prepared on purpose to receive it , and to give it a farther and higher digestion . properly there is but one intestine , which hath divers names according to its divers parts or offices . that which immediately adheres to the bottom of the stomach hath its † name from its being thought to be in its full dimensions twelve fingers in length , though the expertest anatomists find it not half so long . this hath no windings , but descends streight from the pylorus , that the chyle may pass thence the better : and it hath a narrow cavity that it may pass by degrees , and not all together . the next ( for i will mention them all , because they have some particular service , though not very distinctly known to us ) is the * hungry one , so call'd because it is often empty , by reason of the abundance of lacteal veins that are there , which suck up the chyle . the † third is much larger than these two before mentioned , and is therefore capable of receiving more of the faeces , and of retaining them a longer time . here is the iliack passion . ( note that these three first intestines are generally known by the name of the small guts : ) the ‖ fourth is an obscure or blind appendix ( whence perhaps it hath its name ) of the intestine last mentioned , and of that which i shall name next ; for it rises out of the end of the one and the entrance of the other . it hath its peculiar use in the reception of the excrements , in preparing them for ejection , in correcting the flatus that proceeds from them , and in serving also as a ligament to fasten and uphold the peritonaeum . the ** fifth is the largest and thickest of all , and the chief receptacle for the faeces . here is the scene of the cholick pains , bred of winds and vapours which arise in this lower region of the little world. lastly , there is the ‡ streight one , so nominated because it directly tends to the anus : and here ( for there are wonders in every part of the body ) between the podex and the vesica is that so useful and excellently contrived * muscle , whereby untimely excretion is prevented and hindred ; the benefit of which cannot sufficiently be expressed . i may justly call it the key of the postern-gate of the body with which it is opened and shut as often as there is occasion , which is a thing not only of singular use and convenience , but of absolute necessity . and as for the more general use of the intestines , it is very observable and worthy of their author : for first they were designed to retain the nourishment a considerable time in order to its better fermentation and concoction : to which purpose they are made of a round , long and concave figure , that they may be more capacious and hold the chyle the longer time , and that they may be the fitter for motion . secondly , the intention of them was to separate what is brought into them , the useful parts from those that are of no use. thirdly , to convey and distribute the wholesome portion of the chyle into its proper receptacle for the nourishment of the body . fourthly , to expel the useless parts and sediment downwards . and though the other employments be more honourable , yet this is as necessary and admirable as they . to these ends their peristaltick motion was given them , which is singular and peculiar , and ordained for this very purpose and no other . by this motion ( which is compared usually to that of earth-worms , which move the parts of their bodies successively and gradually ) the pure , profitable and defecate parts of the chyle are separated from the excrementitious , and the faeces are by degrees depressed and carried off . that there should be this peculiar contrivance of these parts , and that they should have spiral fibres , peculiarly fitted for the employment they are designed to ( whilst other parts have fibres of a quite different nature ) shews whose workmanship it is . and the many turnings , foldings and crooked windings of these vessels were designedly framed by god for the promoting of these ends. hereby the chyle hath time to digest sufficiently , and to send laudable nourishment to the body : otherwise it would too soon be ejected and precipitated . if the intestines had not these windings , we should be always hungry , because the meat would slip out of the stomach too soon . therefore , when there hath been the contrary make of the guts , a perpetual appetite and voracity have been observed , of which see instances in riolan . anthrop . l. . and cabrol . observat. . nature doth not perform its work too fast , but leisurely and sedately by help of these meanders and anfractuous passages of the entrails . i have only this to observe further , that all the intestines are joyned together by the mesentery , that they may not be loose ; and they are also fastned to the vertebrae of the back . but because both the stomach and intestines were primarily intended for conveying and dispersing the useful and nutritive part of the food into the several parts of the body , i will proceed to shew you the manner of this particular conveyance and distribution , one of the greatest arguments of the divine contrivance of man's body that we can desire . the food , i. e. the major part of it being converted into chyle in the stomach , and afterwards , by the contraction of its fibres , detruded down into the guts , the more tenuious parts of it are directly conveyed to the lacteal veins , which are dispersed through the small guts and the mesentery . here is the first preparation of the chylous matter after its descent out of the stomach . then from these milky veins 't is carried to the common receptacle , which is of a membranous substance , and is placed at the root of the mesentery , and above the vertebrae of the loins , to which it is fastned ( though some have lately exploded this common receptacle of pecquet : ) from thence it ascends to the ductu● thoracicus ; and thence into the subclavian veins ( call'd so from the claviculae or chanel bones by which they pass ) and thence it flows into the upper trunck of the vena cava , where 't is mixed with the blood , and thence it runs directly into the right ventricle of the heart ( in its diastole ) where 't is turn'd into blood : and thence into the lungs ( by the heart's systole : ) thence into the left ventricle of the heart , whence passing through the aorta , or great artery , it is poured into the arteries of the whole body , and thence returns again by the veins : for the lesser veins bring it to the vena cava , and from thence ( as was said before ) into the right ventricle of the heart . or briefer thus , the prepared chyle , which is the nutritive part of the food , is carried to the heart by the veins , sent about by arteries , and goes back again by veins . this is the passage of it ; this is its constant circuit . however , though we may be mistaken in some of the chyliferous passages , yet as to the main , the progress is rightly stated ; and we cannot but acknowledge ( as the learnedest enquirers have done ) that the motion of this liquid matter from one place to another , is surprizing and amazing . the various stages of it , its sudden mounting and climbing up , even from the intestines to the thorax , its making way through so many different chanels , is all of it divine and heavenly mechanism . none can see and observe these things , but they must be confirmed in the belief of a god. and now i should say something particularly of the liver and spleen ( though i had occasion to mention them before , and observed they were a guard to the stomach , and on that account were of use : ) the former of these was said , by the ancients , to be the blood-making vessel , but now 't is otherwise agreed by the learned , viz. that the blood is made in the heart . wherefore they assign that part other offices , which yet are of no mean advantage to the body . dr. glisson is of opinion , that the liver is of the nature of a streiner , i. e. the blood and other humours are defecated as they pass through it . and moreover , he thinks that it promotes the fermentation of the blood running through it . but those who are perswaded that no chyle or blood is carried to the liver , because anatomists do not find any passage from the lacteal veins thither , assert that the chief employment of this part is to separate and prepare choler for the use of other parts of the body , and that the grosser part of it is derived by the gall-bladder and bilary passage ( which are in the hollow part of this viscus ) into the intestines to promote and facilitate the evacuation of the excrements out of those parts , which are thereby rendred fluid , and so fitter for motion : but the better and milder part of this juice is sent into the blood continually , and is very serviceable to augment its fermentation . i will not interpose here to examine or judge which of these opinions is most probable ; but any man of rational thoughts will determine that a part of the body which is of that bigness and consistency that the liver is of , was not placed there without good reason , and for some considerable end. then as to the spleen , it was thought by the ancients that its employment was to separate the melancholick part of the chyle , and to contain it in its particular cavity , ( as the gall-bladder is the receptacle of the yellow choler ) and after concoction of it , to transmit some of it to the entrails , some to the veins , and some to the stomach . others lately assign other offices of the spleen , but cannot well agree what they are . dr. glisson will have it to be useful for the preparing of his succus nutritius . others think it is serviceable for the gathering and dreining of a certain acid excrementitious juice . but the most probable function of it is to help and further the ferment of the blood , and to advance its due concoction in the body . it is certainly a necessary vessel in humane bodies , and cannot be taken out of them without real damage to them , though some other animals may make a shift to live without it after 't is cut out . or that a man may live without it , perhaps may not wholly be denied ; but yet 't is useful to the health of the body , for a thing may be useful though not absolutely necessary . hear therefore what a * person of understanding and judgment in these things hath said : the great architect , saith he , never made any thing in our bodies to no purpose . what man therefore in his right senses , can believe that so eminent and large a bowel as the spleen is , should be given in vain to men and beasts , without any necessity or use in order to life ? and so i doubt not but the pancreas or sweet-bread ( which is a glandulous substance seated under the back part of the stomach , at the bottom of it , and so is , as it were , its cushion to lean upon ) is of considerable use in the body . it is said by some , to send a juice to the stomach in order to the concoction . by others it is thought to afford a liquor to the guts for fermenting the chyle there . it is concluded by others to be a dreyner , viz. of some useless excrementitious humour that passes that way . thus physicians and anatomists disagree about it , some asserting one thing , some another . and here let me say this , with relation , not only to this part , but to those immediately before spoken of , that though we have not a particular or full knowledge of the use of them , yet we ought not to conclude thence that they are useless . but rather as one of the ancients said of heraclitus's writings , that what he understood of them was good , and he thence gathered that what he understood not was so too , the like we may in a resembling manner say of the parts of the body , we have a full proof concerning most of them that they are very useful , and there is reason to infer thence , that the rest are of the like nature , though we cannot give a particular and distinct account of them . and now i will shut up all that i have to say concerning this last and lowest region of the body , when i have observed to you , that this being the only partition that is not guarded with bones ( for the ribbs came no farther before than the diaphragm , ) there is other provision made for it , for it is in a special manner fenced and secured ( though not with bones , yet ) with several other coverings . as first , there is that skin which is called the * rim of the belly : this covers all the entrails , and not only defends them , but keeps them warm , and likewise keeps them together , and thereby prevents a rupture . there is another skin or membrane which wraps up the intestines , and that is the * cawl or kell : this is under the rim , and is not so large as that , but it is useful for the foresaid purposes , and also to keep the bowels glib by its fatness and moisture , ( not to speak here of its serviceableness to concoction , which might have been mentioned before , for when this part is corrupted and defective , digestion fails , of which see an example in the philosophical transactions , aug. . . furthermore , there is the mesentery in the middle of the entrails , which is another tye and security to these parts , for it laps them close together , and holds them in their right places , lest by the motion of the body they should be shaken and misplaced . thus the care of the almighty is every where seen . none can observe these parts but must confess that they were purposely framed by divine providence . there are other observable things yet behind in this region , but it was not my design to treat of all : and besides , i may , before i end this discourse , have occasion to speak of some of them . i hope i have already , in good measure , performed the task i undertook , i. e. given proof of the existence of a deity or divine intellect from the frame of humane bodies , by considering distinctly the three celebrated regions of them . the brain , the heart , the stomach are the chief wonders of these several apartments . the first elaborates the animal spirits , the second commutes the chyle into blood , which the third had before prepared and fermented . all things in the body depend on the mutual correspondence of these three . we owe it to the heart that the spirits never fail in the brain , and we are beholding to the brain that the motion of the heart never ceaseth : for all that force and vigour which are in this latter , are communicated to it by the brisk spirits flowing from the head. but then again , these must be made there , and continually supplied by sending forth of blood out of the heart to the brain . if one of these be interrupted , there follow apoplexies , lethargies , &c. if the other be suppressed , there are syncopes and lipothymies . and both these great operators , the heart and brain , are obliged to , and even depend upon the grand laboratory for the whole body the stomach , the kitchin where the food is prepared and dressed , for there can be no laudable spirits or blood without good chyle and well concocted . in these three chiefly consists our life , viz. that the meat be prepared in the stomach , that the finer and choicer part of it be transmitted to the heart and neighbouring vessels , there to be assimilated into blood , and lastly , that the purest and subtilest part of the blood be sent and extill'd to the brain , and there refined into animal spirits . these , these are the quintessence both of the chyle and the blood : they are the ultimate result of all the concoctions , they are the perfection of natures operations . by these volatile parts of the blood it is that both motion and sensation are performed in the body , and that after this wonderful manner , those subtile particles which by continual pulsation of the heart are hurried with the blood by the carotidal arteries up into the brain , are there by that laxe and boggy substance imbibed and separated from the blood , and thence are transmitted to all the parts of the body : which is done by the mediation of the spinal marrow ( i. e. the pith of the back bone , called the silver cord by solomon , eccles. . . and accordingly in the caldee , * chut is filum , funiculus , and also medulla spinae dorsi , because this descends like a white thread or cord. this i may call a label descending from the brain , and it is indeed an appendix of it , or the brain at length . ) and the nerves or sinews , which are originally planted in the brain , and the foresaid marrow of the back bone , are spread through the body on purpose to carry these fine subtile spirits from the brain into all the parts ; and there are seven pairs or conjugations of them for that use. because the parts belonging to the head are the most considerable , there are therefore six of these pairs appropriated to them . one couple constitutes the optick nerves , another appertains to the muscles of these parts , a third is proper to the ears , and three couples go to the tongue , and its adjacent parts . the remaining pair is divided into several small nerves that are inserted into the lungs , stomach , and other parts belonging to the second and third ventricle . bartholine assignes three pair more which have their rise also within the cranium . and he ( as well as the ancients ) reckons thirty pair that proceed from that part of the medulla which is in the vertebrae , and are distributed over the whole body . these , and the whole genus nervosum ( though they are useful for the fastning and linking of the parts of the body together , which is no inconsiderable use of them ) are more especially designed to be the organs of motion ; for this is caused by those active spirits ( before mentioned ) in these nerves , in concurrence always with the muscles , which are purposely framed for the promoting of it . for into these are inserted the nerves , which are the proper vehicles of the animal spirits , and bring them from the brain hither , and thereby produce motion : for the muscle swells by an influx of those spirits into it , and so moves the part or member . this action of the muscles is performed , not only by the nerves , but the fibres and tendons , which are of most exquisite contexture , insomuch that an * english philosopher avoucheth , that in the muscles there seems to be more geometry than in all the artificial engins in the world. all the motion of the body depends on these , which are so set one against another , that when one is contracted , it draws with it that part of the body which it is joyned to , so that the opposite muscle at the same time is extended : and at another time , if this muscle be contracted , the other necessarily is shrunk up and draws to it the part that is annexed . and the only reason why this muscle is thus affected rather than that which is opposed to it is , because the same quantity of spirits flows not from the brain to one that doth to the other . the short then is , that a gale , a current , a blast of animal spirits , is the spring of all voluntary motion and progression ; for though the limbs are moved by the muscles which slip up and down ) and these by the nerves , yet both are originally moved by those agile spirits . and sensation ( as well as motion ) is performed by these , for the feeling power is then exerted when the threads of the nerves , by occasion of the sensible objects which make some vibration on them , affect the brain . to which purpose these strings are spread over all the body , so that whenever any object touches them , either mediately or immediately , the brain presently discerns it , just as a spider feels the shaking of her web , if any thread of it be touched . thus the nerves and the spirits in them ( which are continually diffused ) are the cause and principle of all sense . this is the reason which perswades me to believe that the brain ( the chief and principal part of all the body ) is the seat of the soul. for where should we fix its throne , but in that place where there is the original of all sense and motion ? and this is the brain , which ( as you have heard ) is the source of all the nerves , and all spirits conveyed in them and to them . here then this great queen resides as in her palace , and these pure refined particles are her immediate instruments in all her functions , and particularly they are the means of sense and motion . wherefore we may infer ( as an * ingenious observer doth ) that the fabrick of our bodies was made in subserviency to the animal spirits , for the extraction , separation and depuration of which all the parts of the body were contrived and designed : as the chymical laboratory and all its furnaces , crucibles , stills , retorts , cucurbits , &c. were made by the artist for the making of his spirits and quintessences . and this is as much as if he had said , all was made for the soul , for this acts wholly by these spirits , and can do nothing without them . and 't is likely that there is a secret parcel of these which are the soul's vehicle , and whilst the other spirits ( as well as the blood ) circulate in the body , a certain number of these remain in the brain : or if they shift place , and circle with the rest , the soul supplies it self with fresh spirits . however , this is evident and unquestionable , that the soul acts in the body by mediation of these animal spirits , which are dispatched over all the body by the nerves . and though we feel pain or ease in the most extreme parts of our bodies , yet the sensation is in the brain properly . therefore * dr. willis ranks the gout , which infests the feet , among the diseases of the head , because the pain is felt by the nerves which are seated in the head. and upon this ground we may most philosophically assert , that in the brain are situated all the five senses , and that all the senses are feeling or touching , because they are all exerted by help of the nerves , which are originally seated in the brain . by the spirits which are communicated to these , the soul affects the body , i. e. moves it and makes it sensible . when these are dissipated and diminished , the body becomes languid and weary : when they are intercepted , it is stupid and senseless : when they are wholly stifled , it becomes dead . and all this depends upon what had been said before concerning the communication which is between the heart and the brain ; that is , the former sends arterial blood to make these spirits in the latter , and this latter returns this kindness to the former , by transmitting those spirits to it , whereby it is enabled to thrust the blood contained in it , into the arteries , and so it doth it self a kindness at the same time . the serious consideration of this friendly reciprocation of motion between these two , cannot be enough admired : and the contemplation of this and all the rest which hath been said on this subject , cannot but infuse into us a firm belief of a god-head , who hath thus wonderfully constituted the body , and hath rendred himself adorable from the consideration of those many excellencies which he hath furnished it with . chap. v. the several kinds of flesh , and how exactly fitted and placed in the body according to their several ses and purposes . why the hinder part of the cranium is so strong and thick . the admirable conformation and contrivance of the vertebrae of the neck and back . the particular structure of the hip-bones . the nature and vse of the ribs . how smiting under the fifth rib , sam. . . is to be understood . the peculiar configuration of the bones of the hands . the general vse of the bones , together with the marrow of the whole body . they are numerous . the nature and serviceableness of the gristles . a distinct enumeration of the several sinks and dreins which are made to carry off excrementitious humours . what is the immediate matter of the seed . what of the milk. the author interposes his opinion . the lymphatick vessels . the pores of the skin . there are some other things worth our notice ; which , because they were not properly reducible to any one region or venter ( some of them belonging , partly to one , and partly to another , and some appertaining to all ) i have left them to be spoken of in this place . i will therefore add a few remarks concerning the flesh , and the bones , and the several drains of the body , all which we shall find to be undeniable testimonies of the singular care and goodness of god in framing our bodies . first , it is not unworthy of consideration , that there is a fourfold sort of flesh. . that which is musculous , and is most properly flesh. this being solid and nervous , is made use of to cloth the bones , and to guard and secure the internal parts . this is a fence to keep them from being exposed to danger . and being flexible and soft , is further serviceable to shape the limbs and members , and give them a proportion and comeliness . it was given to plump and fill up the skin , and thereby to adorn and beautifie the body : and especially , to prevent or cure the disorders of a meager countenance , an hippocratick face . and it is not only for ornament , but ease and repose . this is a soft bed of it self , and makes discumbiture a delightful posture , and conciliates rest and sleep . and in the day-time , as well as in the night , it is commodious and easie , because it facilitates our sitting . where , by the way , i could observe that the hinder parts of man's body , which are for sitting , are covered with this sort of flesh more than any other part of the body , and more than the like parts are in any other animals whatsover : which was designedly done without doubt , because these parts are fitted for the posture of sitting , which no other creatures are capable of in that way . it is man only that sitteth , i. e. resteth his body upon the ischias : beasts having four legs , can stand upon them the better , and so support their bodies a long time without being wearied : but man wanting these supporters , requires rest , and these parts are excellently fitted for this end , i. e. they are round , fleshy , and very prominent , that they may be the fitter cushion for the body . the god of nature hath herein provided for our ease . . there is another sort of flesh , called parenchyma : though 't is but improperly said to be flesh , because it hath no muscles . yet this viscerose sort of flesh is most suitable ( which is the thing i would observe ) to those vessels and parts of the body which are composed of it , as the lungs , the liver , spleen , reins . it is a substance proper to these and no other parts , by reason of its laxness . . a membranous flesh , or fleshy skin , which is as agreeable to its kind as the rest are , it being adapted to a particular use and service in the body , which no other sort of fleshy substance could fit , because being clammy and glutinous , and sticking close , it is a suitable covering to wrap up other parts of the body in . of this therefore are composed the coats of the eye , the gullet , the guts , the bladder , the pleura or inward lining of the ribs , the pericardium , peritonaeum , amnios and chorion . . glandulous flesh , which is slippery and porous , on both which accounts it is fit for the purposes it is made use of in the body , viz. to move with ease , to imbibe excrementitious liquors , and to transmit them : of this sort are the kernels about the throat , paps , arm-holes , the groin , &c. thus this variety of carnous substances in the body is according to the different use of them , which establishes yet further the notion of a deity , a wise and provident creator who suits all things in the lesser , as well as in the greater world to their proper ends and uses : and it is a demonstration that humane bodies have plain impresses of divine wisdom upon them . as to the bones , they likewise are a worthy subject to treat of : for , as the philosopher of old said in another case , et hic dii sunt , here ( as in other parts of the body ) the divine workmanship is seen , it is evident that god is here , i. e. the heavenly power and wisdom are plainly discernible in the fabrick of these parts . i intend not to expatiate here by transcribing the common treatises of anatomy , and giving you a particular account of the whole compages of the bones , but i will only give a glance on some few of them . i have already mentioned the bony cap which is the outward cover of the brain , and is , as 't were , stitched together by its sutures of different forms : only here let me observe this , that because the * hinder part of the brain , where the animal spirits are bred , is of the greatest use , and is the chief source and original of the nerves , therefore the heavenly architect hath made the back part of the skull harder and stronger than the other parts of it , either that before , or on the top , or those on the sides . and there was another reason why this hinder part of the cranium should be thicker and stronger than the rest , because this is otherwise unfenced against casualties : for if a man falls upon his head backwards , there is nothing to help and defend him ; wherefore this part is fortified by nature . in the next place i will take notice of the commodious vertebrae of the neck , which are a great many little bones set together in such a manner that the neck may turn or bend this or that way with ease , whence without doubt , they had their denomination . moreover , it was with wisdom contrived , that the medulla of the brain being lengthned out , should be securely conveyed from the head through this guard of turning bones into those of the back ( to which it is joyned , ) which were made to be a larger case to hold the prolonged brain , or now i may call it the brains of the back . this spina ( call'd so perhaps because its back part is set with many little ragged sharp bones like thorns , but 't is vulgarly call'd the chine , which it may be , is a gross corruption of spine ) is so marvellously placed and framed by the divine disposer , that it is the most able and substantial ( as well as the greatest ) supporter of the whole bodily structure . the composure of it is admirably advantagious , because it is not one bone ( for then it would have been inflexible ) but it is a ridg of bones from the head to the hips , and consists of no less than vertebrae , which are made to bend , so that a man may conveniently stoop when there is occasion . again , this long ledg of bones is framed with continued interstices and apertures , out of which all the nerves , with their enclosed spirits proceed , and are spread into the several parts of the body for the strengthning and nourishing of it : whence ( as i conceive ) when these vertebrae are out of order and displaced , as in those bodies that are crooked the strength and growth are impeded . the rickets ( a disease of children , and if we may credit * dr. skinner known in the british isles only , and in no other part of the world ) hath its denomination from this part ( for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is spina dorsi ) because it is the chief scene of this distemper , as our dr. glisson determines . toward the lower and further part of these vertebrae are placed the hip or † huckle bones , which are two thick massy bones that are fastned to the os sacrum on both sides of it : and there is in these a most remarkable ‖ pan or cavity where these are joyned together , and into which the head of the thigh-bone is inserted , and therefore is called the hollow of the thigh , gen. . . ( which the angel forcibly put out of joint when he wrestled with iacob . ) skilful and observing anatomists speak very great things concerning the peculiar fabrication of these bones , concerning the strange commissures and junctures of them , the admirable locking of them in , that they may be both strong and useful . the bones of the thighs , legs and feet support the other bones which are above them , and therefore may justly be reckoned the basis , the moveable foundation of this humane building , and accordingly a singular and inconceivable care is taken in the fashioning of them , witness about bones in one foot. the ribs , those crooked bones which are the limits and boundaries of the thorax on the sides of it , are next to be mentioned . they were designed by the heavenly artificer to be a fence to this noble region of the body , and the viscera of it , viz. the heart and lungs : and the convex figure and flexure of them are not a little conducive to the safety of those parts which they environ . and perhaps , that is the moral intent of * the woman's being made of the man's rib , that she should be , in her capacity , a safeguard and protection to her husband , according to that primitive and emphatick epithet of a wife ( gen. . . ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as the lxx render it , and according to the v. lat. adjutorium : and pagnin and buxtorf translate it adjuvamen , auxilium ; which is suitable to that excellent character of a married woman , prov. . , . the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her , so that he shall have no need of spoil , i. e. of riches violently got . she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life . all men and women have ribs , on one side , and on the other . there are on each side seven greater ones ( and they are uppermost , and known by the name of legitimate ) which are all joyned to the * breast-bone . the other five lesser ( which are situated below these , and are called spurious ) are shorter on both sides , and do not reach so far as the middle of the breast . perhaps smiting under the fifth rib ( or in or about the fifth rib , for the praeposition el is of a large signification , as the learned know ) which is mentioned in † the old testament , may signifie that place in the body which is under or near the last of these spurious ribs , viz. the fifth , that broad place which reacheth as far as the bottom of the belly , and lies open to any blow , because it is not defended with bones , the reason of which is , because this part of the body admits not of it , there happening such a different and unequal distension of the stomach and intestines , according to the different times of eating or not eating . and other weighty reasons there are which have particular respect to the sexes , and may better be conceived than expressed . and that this is the true acception of the fifth rib i gather from sam. . . where 't is said , ioab smote amasa in the fifth rib , and immediately 't is added in the next clause , and he shed out his bowels to the ground . megni , the hebrew word here used , may relate to the viscera or intestines of the lower belly ; and especially the word shaphak , to pour forth , intimates that megni is meant of these , for the effusion of the bowels is properly meant of the guts , which are wont to gush forth when there is an incision made , as here in the present case by a sword. this part under the short ribs ( which were five , ) just above the belly , is the most eligible place for such a purpose , for here are no ribs or any other bones to resist or put by the stroke : and besides , it is probable the breast-plate or armour reached generally no farther than hither . this makes me inclinable to think , that this and the other places are to be interpreted concerning the fifth lesser rib , and not the fifth superior one ( as some expositors understand the words ) under which place the heart is situated , but is not so easily come at . i could mention also the wonderful multiplicity of the bones of the hands , those noted instruments of action . there are no less than of them in one of these members : and the variety of them as to figure , size and make is equally remarkable : for this great and marvellous diversity of them is wholly in order to the divers uses of this excellent limb. by that various shaping , placing , ordering and joyning together of so many little bones in this part of the body it is fitted for those ends which it was made for . hereby it is able to bend and turn it self as there is occasion , whence among the hebrews the hand is called ekeph , from akaph , incurvavit , flexit . hereby it is capable , not only to feel and handle , but to lay hold on things ; yea , hereby it is fitted for the most useful services of man's life , as building , husbandry , chirurgery ( which hath its name thence ) military actions , writing , painting , engraving , playing on musical instruments , and all or most of the necessary , as well as the recreative arts and employments of human life . therefore some criticks have thought that the latin manus comes from the chaldee , man an instrument , because it is so serviceable and useful , and is what the great philosopher calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . he tells us , and very truly , that the hands of men are arguments of their being the most sagacious and understanding creatures that were made , for these ( * saith he ) are instruments whereby we take things , and with these we make use of other instruments : and 't is a sign that man is capable of many arts , and can use many instruments to act with , that god hath given him hands , which are the most useful instruments of themselves . hence it is , that man , of all creatures only , hath hands . * galen talks after the same rate , concluding men to be the wisest of all animals , because they have this noble part bestowed upon them . it is well known that this ancient physician , who was of famed learning and skill , ( though of pagan principles ) was induced to acknowledg an infinite wise disposer and manager of all things from the very consideration of the admirable make of these parts , and he breaks out into a hymn upon that occasion , of which i may speak something afterwards . yet , after all that he and others have suggested concerning the usefulness of this organ , this must be said , that , as artificially as it is framed , it would be of little use if the fingers of it were not armed with nails : for these are necessary for preserving that fleshy part where they are placed , which is exceeding tender : they are useful for strengthning the parts themselves in their work , for making them capable of handling and dealing with hard and solid things , and for many particular services which this organ was made for . so that the very nails of our fingers point to a god. and as to the bones in general , this we are to observe , from another ancient and famous inspector into human bodies , that these parts * give a steadiness , a rectitude , and a shape to the body : they were more especially made to strengthen and confirm the corporeal fabrick , and therefore are more solid and substantial than any other parts . not to attend to the † talmudick fancy about the little bone luz ( as they call it ) at the end of the spina dorsi , that never putrifies when all the rest do in the grave ; by vertue of which incorruptible bone the whole body shall be restored and rise again : not to listen , i say , to such fantastick dreams , this we are assured of , that the bones are of a very firm and solid nature , and 't is certain that they last a long time , as hath been seen in graves and sepulchres . this solidity of them is intimated to us in the hebrew tongue , where gnetsem , os , is from gnatsam , robor avit : and this noun gnetsem is sometimes robur , substantia . wherefore both ‖ iews and ** arabians express decay and weakness by breaking and wasting the bones , and the contrary , by their †† flourishing . and besides , the firmness which these parts have of themselves , there is an addition to it by that strong connection , conjunction or articulation of them , which all anatomick observers speak of with admiration : and which the roman philosopher and orator long since took notice of , telling us that * their ioyntings and closures are wonderful , that they are purposely made for the stedfastness of the body , that they are fitted to be the boundaries of the several limbs , and that they are exactly accommodated to the motions and actions of the whole . again , the marrow of the bones , which is included in the larger cavities of the greater ones , and in the obscurer passages of those that are lesser , is of singular use , for ( as we are told by a † learned and religious physician ) this keeps the bones moist : if they were not , saith he , furnished with this unctuous humour , they would grow dry and brittle , and soon crack and break . and further , the joynts of the bones , by this moisture , are made glib and slippery : this oyl is useful to supple them and the ligaments , and thereby conduceth to the easiness of motion . i will not here enlarge on the peculiar rarities which an * ingenious person hath lately discovered in the particular structure of the bones , as the several plates of which they consist , lying one over another , their superficial cavities , their blood-vessels , &c. all which have their special uses and ends. that which is most obvious , and which none can doubt of is , that the bones were made by the all-wise being to sustain and support , to fasten and corroborate the whole body . and that they might do this the more effectually , their number is very great : there are in human bodies , if we reckon great and little , moveable and immoveable bones , no fewer of them than according to hippocrates and galen's arithmetick . and it seems this very number was receiv'd among the iews , for their rabins aver , that there are affirmative precepts in the law , just so many ( say they ) as there are bones in the body of man. riolanus will have us bate one of this number , but albertus magnus adds considerably to it , and reckons . some have fancifully reduced them to the number of the days in the year . but i find that the most skillful anatomists of late count above three hundred . leaving others to compute the precise number of them ; we are certain of this , that it is very considerable , and that they were all designed to render the body more stable , firm and steady . these are the posts and studs , or rather these are the pillars of this house of our bodies : these are props and supports of our fleshly tabernacle : these are the upholders and sustainers of this corporeal building . and that this was the main end of them appears from this , that most fishes , because they live in another sort of element which is soft and liquid , and hath no resistances made to it at any time , have no parts of such hard substance as bones , properly so called , but rather cartilages or gristles , which are more convenient and proper for the use of that sort of animals , which still convinces us of the universal wisdom and providence of god towards all his creatures . and further , as to this cartilagineous substance which i last mentioned , we may take notice how fitly it is made use of in human bodies , that is , in those parts where it is most useful . thus because it is serviceable for shaping and fashioning those places which are hollow , or which have a prominency above the rest , we see that the ears , the nose , the larynx , epiglottis , &c. are made of it : for this is not so stiff and hard as bone , but gives way , and therefore is not easily broken or hurt . because it is an useful medium for uniting of hard and soft parts together ( it being it self of a middle nature between them ) we continually find it among the ioints and the articulations of the members and limbs . we may observe that the ribs are at both ends of them tipp'd with this : and the breast-bone it self , to which the greatest part of the ribs are joyned , hath a mixture of this substance . yea , the lower part of it , which reaches to the diaphragm , and the mouth of the stomach , and defends them , is a perfect cartilage of a sword-fashion ( whence it hath its * name , ) i. e. it is sharp and pointed at the end like that weapon . if some great coward should chance to read this , perhaps it will make him tremble to think that there is a sword or dagger so near his heart . to proceed , it was necessary that the body which is daily contracting superfluous and noxious humours , should have some vessels and chanels on purpose to drain them away . and accordingly the divine wisdom , when it erected this house of flesh , made several sinks and drains to carry these off , and thereby to purge and clear the body . and yet this must be said , that some of them serve not chiefly to this end , but only by the by , as may be gathered from what was said when i had occasion to speak of them before . the nostrils are for the evacuation of a particular pituitous excrement that flows from the brain . the palate and mouth are for receiving and ejecting the spittle : though here i make a difference between the insipid spittle ( i mean that superfluous and viscid humour which troubles the mouth , and is useless , and proceeds from catarrhs and corruption of the saliva ) and the saliva it self which properly is not an excrement , for 't is of great use. it moistens the jaws and oesophagus , and the organs of speech , and makes them slippery , and thereby serviceable : it is useful to quench the thirst , it mixes it self with the food when it is masticated , and by its moisture fetches out the sapor of it : this salival humour promotes and facilitates the swallowing down of the meat , and it is a necessary preparation , and an initial fermentation in order to concoction . in the eyes the carunculae lachrymales are for the serous defluxion of tears which come from the arteries of the head into these places . and as weeping is contrary to laughter , so it is produced in a contrary way , for it is caused by the compression and contracting of the vessels , as the other by the dilatation of them . the ears are the evacuators of the bilious excrement that flows thither . that learned person whom i have so often mentioned , is of opinion , that the lungs are the grand emunctory of the body : and * he promises to prove , by several experiments , that there passes out of the body a greater quantity of fluid matter this way ( i. e. upwards , and through the lungs ) than there doth of urine by the kidneys , downwards . the gall-bladder in the hollow part of the liver , is the dreiner for choler , and the spleen is the proper sink for melancholy or black choler . the reins or kidnies are for the reception and excretion of the vrine , the watry part of the meat and drink , which is conveyed to them together with the blood from the emulgent arteries , but is here separated from the blood , and then conveyed from these parts to the vreters , and thence to the bladder , which is of singular use to receive , contain and hold it till it be replenished , and then it dischargeth it by the vrinary passage . though truly there may be some doubt whether all the vrine be an excrement of the blood : for it may be conceived improbable , that all the liquor a man drinks , goes through his heart . if he takes down mineral waters in great abundance , he evacuates them so speedily , that one can scarcely imagine that they went about that way . and when he drinks vast quantities of the strongest and hottest wines , one would think there should be a greater inflammation and commotion in that part , viz. by a mighty increase of the quantity of the blood , than is usually felt . this may prompt us to believe that liquor hath some other way to the reins , that some of it goes into the blood , and that other parts of it go more directly to the reins by some passage which is not yet discovered . the use also of the glandules or kernels , which are dispersed up and down the body , is to separate and strain the phlegmatick humours : for though 't is probable that some of them ( as dr. glisson hath observed ) are for nutrition ( as the t●ymus or great glandule of the thorax , the glandules of the mesentery ) yet 't is not to be questioned that others , and those the greatest part , are for secretion . such is the pituitary glandule in the brain , which receives the superfluous humours , and conveys them to the palate , nostrils , &c. such are the kernels behind the ears , and those about the throat and jaws ( called both by the learned and vulgar * the almonds of the ears , because they resemble them in figure , ) the kernels under the arm-pits , &c. also the seminal kernels , and more especially , the prostatae , which are proper emunctories for the seed , which is produced from a part of the arterious blood which is brought from the heart , out of the arteria magna , through the spermatick arteries into the parastatae , and there prepared . some hold that it is made wholly in these vessels ; but it is denied by others , who assert that 't is the proper office of the testicles . the middle opinion seems to be truest , viz. that this seminary matter is elaborated and made in these , and thence flows into the parastatae , which further prepare it by a particular secretion . some have thought that this is not the product of the blood , but of the succus nutritius which is carried in the nerves , and is derived from the brain and spinal marrow : and others reckon it to be a lacteous excrement . but still it is granted by these dissenting parties that the glandules before mentioned are made use of for the separating or preparing of this seminal liquor . there are also the * glandules belonging to the paps , where milk is made of the blood which is sent from the heart by the arteries into these parts , for the nourishing of young ones . though 't is true , others are of opinion that this lacteous excrement is not blanched blood , but part of the chyle conveyed to the breasts : but from what i shall immediately suggest , it will plainly appear that the old opinion is the most rational and eligible that of plutarch is undeniable , that * the admirable confection and dispensing of milk are sufficient to demonstate a providence , and a divine sollicitude and concern for mankind . who can be an atheist , i. e. deny an intelligent and provident disposer of the world , who observes that in the time of the pregnancy of women , that blood which had another chanel before , is now directed to nourish the foetus , and assoon as the time of gestation is over , i. e. assoon as the infant is born , the passage of the nourishment is again on a sudden changed , and it finds its way to the breasts and paps for nutrition of the infant ? the pores of the glandules , which we are speaking of , being then fitted to receive and alter the blood conveyed to them ; which , assoon as it ascends thither , is turned into that white juice called milk. this seems to be a clear evidence of the truth of the ancient doctrin , that milk is the more immediate product of blood. but yet i do not say this to exclude the modern opinion wholly , for in some persons perhaps ( who exceedingly abound with blood ) and at some times ( when the vessels are more peculiarly adapted and qualified ) the lacteous liquor may be made both ways . i take leave thus to interpose in the controversie , and to compromise it , because i observe that nature delights to vary in her operations , and to do her work more ways than one . i only here add , that milk is of a peculiar substance , or rather contains three kinds of liquid substance in it , serous , creamy , caseous , and hath a great nutritive vertue in it , and consequently , is not properly an excrement , though it be reckoned to be such by physicians in the laxer way of speaking . and so is that other which i last mentioned ; but in a strict sense they are both of them above the nature of excrements , i. e superfluous and useless humours of the body : for the one is for procreation , the other for nourishing the fruit of the womb. next , some late anatomists tell us of certain * pellucid vessels which carry a limpid liquor in them , and perhaps have their rise out of the glandules ( of which i spoke before ) that are every where dispersed about the body . bartholine , the first discoverer of them , thought they were designed to convey that thin transparent liquor to the chyle-bearing vessels ; and some have believed them to be spread up and down every where to moisten and cool the body : but ( as i have suggested before , that there are several uses of the same parts ) these lymphatick vessels may be likewise intended to be receptacles of superfluous serous excrements , and to be of the nature of common sewers to the body . besides all these , there are the pores of the skin , which are universal emunctories for sweat and perspiration . the skin is a kind of net-work , as the excellent malpighius represents it , who often view'd it in a microscope , and tells us that it appears in the form of a net , full of holes , by means of which our bodies are perspirable . perpetual exhalations and steams issue forth thence from the mass of blood , and thereby ill and offensive humours are thrown off and evacuated , which , if they were kept in , would be very destructive to the body , and become the fuel of most diseases . or if this be not performed with freedom and ease , diaphoreticks are seasonable to provoke this evaporation ; which could not be done unless there were these little invisible passages in the skin , these eyelet-holes and perforations , as 't were , all over it . * sanctorius was the first that found out the exact weight of insensib●● transpirations , and made and used a weighing chair for that purpose . he first discovered that more than half of what we eat and drink exhales by these imperceptible emanations . these vaporous excrements , though not seen , exceed in abundance all the other sensible excretions and purgations which i have been speaking of . lastly , the intestines , and the various foldings of them are , and were designed to be vents and evacuatories for the grosser and more offensive excrements , which are separated from the alimental parts of the chyle , and are thrust out of the body by siege : which , as sordid as it seems to be , is as necessary for the welfare , yea , i may add , the being of mankind as any of the offices and functions of the body that have been named in this discourse . thus you see , how by these divers sinks and conveyances , the useless parts are carried off , the ill humours are separated and drained , more especially , the blood is percolated and refined , and the whole body is scoured , cleared , and purified . this cannot be the result of chance , but argues design and contrivance . it was a divine director that disposed the several excrementitious faeces into their proper and peculiar receptacles , in order to the good plight and health of the body . thus in every part of this humane structure the footsteps of divine wisdom may be discovered . chap. vi. the wonderful formation of the foetus in the womb is an irrefragable argument of the divine wisdom and power . it is so acknowledged by david , solomon , hippocrates , harvey , glisson . whether the child , all the time of its close confinement , be nourished with blood or chyle , by the navel or by the mouth . as its living in the womb , so its safe coming forth thence is the effect of a divine conduct and providence . the secret parts are proofs of a wise and intelligent creator . a reflection on the whole . the body of man a temple . the great variety of workmanship in this structure . st. paul speaks like a natural philosopher . every thing in humane bodies shews wise forecast and design . tho' some of the hypotheses proceeded on in this part of the discourse , should prove faulty , yet the very things themselves will always remain arguments of the divine wisdom , power and goodness . the exact symmetry of man's body proved by several learned writers . the exquisiteness of this fabrick is made use of as an argument for the demonstration of a deity by david , job ( whose observable words are paraphrased upon , ) isaiah , the great apostle , the christian fathers , learned jews , gentile philosophers and physicians , several of the moderns , as bartholine , diemerbroek , harvey , glisson , willis , lower , boyl , ray. i have hitherto spoken nothing of the formation of man's body in the womb , which is far more astonishing than any thing that i have said yet . in respect of this the psalmist might well say , i am fearfully and wonderfully made , and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth . there is no account to be given of the stupendous operation of the vterus , unless we acknowledg a divine being . this is that puzzling problem which the wise man starts , how the bones grow in her that is with child ? eccles. . . where the bones , because they hold the whole body together , are put for the whole compages of all the parts and members of the body . how this is formed in the womb , how ( * as one of the ancients expresses it ) in a mere similary body ( such as the seed is ) such a variety of so great and excellent vertues should reside as to produce such a diversity of parts , and to prepare a convenient lodging for the soul , is a strange and unaccountable work. this seminal power , this architectonick vertue was so marvellous● that * hippocrates thought the seed was endued with understanding and reason . our immortal harvey hath this notion , that the functions of this and the brain are the same , and are therefore called conceptions , and are both immaterial ; and from this phantasm or idea , the lineaments and proportions of the f●etus are drawn , and are so commonly shaped like those of the parents and kindred , on whom the imagination is most fixed . but we must not surmise that this great man began to hobbize betimes , and dreamt of thinking matter , for any one that peruses his † book , will perceive that he ascribes not this power to the seed it self , but to something divine and celestial that acts thus in it . in several places of his exercitations , he acknowledges that by an extraordinary power of the supreme being , and not by its own natural vertue , it effects the fabrication of the body . since him the famous ‖ glisson hath spoken very profoundly of the nature and way of impregnation or formation of the foetus , and he owns it is impossible to solve this formative and prolifick vertue without having recourse to a divine and supernatural efficacy . in brief , we cannot describe the plastick faculty , we cannot give an account of the whole process of generation , which consists of conception , formation or the delineation of the several parts , and animation by infusing the soul ; but this we know , that it far surpasses all finite power . and without doubt monsieur des cartes , who was so thinking a philosopher , would never have ascribed this great work to mere mechanism , but that he was unawares betrayed into it by his solving of other things by mechanic principles : so that it would be expected that he should make an uniform piece of philosophy . and thence he was , as it were , forced to go through with his work that he had begun , and to maintain that all is done mechanically , even in the production of man. but that the foetus should live and be nourished in the womb , is as strange and stupendous , yea , and as unaccountable ( unless we acknowledg a divine hand that disposeth in this affair ) as its being conceived and formed there . it hath b●●n thought that all the time it resides in those dark caverns , it receives its aliment , i. e. the mothers blood by the navel , as fruits by the stalk receive their nourishment from the tree ; and that it is not nourished by the mouth , because , if it should open it , it would presently be choaked with the abundance of excrementitious liquor that the membranes wherein it is enclosed are replenished with . but others are of opinion , that the embryo is not nourished by the umbilical vessels , but by the mouth only , into which it sucks and receives a lacteal humour in which it swims : though unless there be a supernatural hand in it , this liquor may as well enter into the nostrils as the mouth : the little one thus sucking in milk in the womb , learns ( they say ) to suck the breasts assoon as born . and as it opened its mouth to suck , so it may do the same to breath ; which some have denied , but it is proved by the vagitus uterinus , attested by physicians , for a voice supposes air and respiration . this is the account which naturalists lately give of the nourishment of the foetus , and according to my judgment ( for i find both in theology and philosophy it is a safe way to tack opinions together , and thereby generally we come to have the whole truth ) it is not irreconcileable with the former opinion of taking in the nutriment by the navel ; for the young one may be fed partly by the mouth , and partly by the navel . the first perhaps is before the perfect delineation of the umbilical vessels , the second afterwards when there is a perfect formation of them . a * foreign physician enclines this way : but , so far as i am able to judg in the case , it is more likely that for the greatest part of the time the embryo is sustained both these ways , that is , the purer part of the liquor which is contained in the amnios is attracted by the umbilical vessels , but the more crass part which is milky and creamy , is sucked in by the mouth . so it is nourished both by the mothers blood and by chyle . thence 't is no wonder that feeding on a milky substance in the womb , it looks for it assoon as 't is born , and that we ever after are nourished by a lacteous consistency , viz. the chyle . thus the seemingly different opinions are reconciled , but both of them are amazing and astonishing , and the matters contained in them cannot be effected without an omnipotent guide . no more can the coming forth of the foetus be , i mean in an ordinary way , and without caesarean insection . unless we suppose a divine help and conduct , this little prisoner could never with safety break his bonds , and get loose from his durance , and make his way into this light. that it lived in its close confinement was wonderful , and that at last it comes alive into the world is so too . that this weakling was not stifled when it was there , and when it left that place , is equally wondrous . all we can say is , that this is owing to the marvellous care of the almighty , to the particular midwifery of heaven . accordingly , * galen admires the providence of god in the wonderful exclusion of the foetus . and so doth one of the most acute philosophers and physicians among the arabians , who acknowledges † that the separation or divulsion of the parts in order to the making way for the foetus , and the restoring of them afterwards to their right position , and that without any hurt , is to be reckoned as the work of the most high god. wherefore we find this signally taken notice of by the devout observer of the works of nature and providence , thou art he that took me out of the womb , psal. . . besides what has been said , the providence of god is observable in this , that man's body , as to its parts , shape and constitution is more serviceable for laborious work and business than that of the woman , because she was not designed to have her share so much in these as man. the breasts or paps of women being tender and very prominent , render them unfit for several employments ; therefore the amazons cut one off . if it were proper to recount several things relating to the particular temper and indispositions of that sex , it would thence appear , that the bodies of males are much stronger in their make , and thereby the divine providence and wisdom are discovered , in that the composition and frame of the sexes are according to the ends and uses they were particularly and distinctly intended for by the omnipotent creator . lastly , those parts of the body which modesty bids us conceal , lest chast minds and ears should be offended , are as great a proof of a wise and intelligent being as any of those that i have named and insisted upon . those secret parts are manifest indications of the divine prudence and goodness . here we may apply that of the apostle , those members of the body which we think to be less honourable , upon these we bestow more abundant honour : and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness . for our comely● parts have no need : but god hath tempered the body together , having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked , cor. . , . god himself hath transcendently honoured them by constituting them the organs of humane generation , whereby is produced this excellent and amazing fabrick of the body which i have been treating of , whereby mankind is propagated , and the species continued , whereby this world is peopled , and whereby inhabitants are provided for a better world. and all this argues great providence , wisdom and bounty , and is worthy of the divine author of all beings . to approach towards a conclusion , let us briefly reflect upon the whole , and stand amazed at the innumerable wonders which the body of man presents us with , and which are all of them demonstrations of a deity and a divine providence . when we see an excellent piece of architecture , as a beautiful temple , a stately palace , or some other notable structure , we with great delight dwell upon the several parts of it , and at last pronounce it to be the product of an excellent art and skill , of great project , counsel and contrivance : and no man of understanding doubts that it is so . have we not as great , yea greater reason to acknowledg that the body of man , that fair and stately fabrick , the several rooms and apartments of which i have been describing , is the effect of wisdom and skill , yea of that which is divine and supernatural , seeing we know full well that no humane art or finite power is able to erect such a building , nor the least part of it ? there is more understanding and exquisite invention , an exacter disposition , a more curious and accurate proportion of parts to be discerned in this magnificent structure than in the skilfullest piece of architecture in the world. let us then admire and adore the skill of the great and eternal geometrician , and let us reverence and applaud this divine workmanship , the master-piece of the whole creation . the body of man is called a temple , ioh. . . cor. . . and the admirable contrivance of it shews who was the maker and builder of it . the uppermost part of this humane edifice , that higher region where the soul is seated , is the holy of holies in this temple , and god himself may be said to dwell here . in this noble part is the sacred ark which contains the law of god : here is the oracle which god hath set up in us to instruct and inform us . the middle parts of the body are the sanctuary or holy place of this temple , where upon the altar of the heart , a continual intense is evaporated , and the two ventricles belonging to this choice part , are the lamps of oyl , the biolychnium which is ever burning and ever spending . the lower division of the body , with all the extreme parts that appertain to the whole , are the outward court of this sacred building , wherein the most remarkable thing is the stomach , the altar of holocausts which are offered every day incessantly , and where so many beasts are consumed . i need not speak of the reins and other vessels which in this temple supply the place of the laver : nor need i go further and enumerate the several offices , chambers , repositories , treasuries belonging to the whole structure , all which proclaim the wisdom of the omnipotent architect . the infinite loveliness and perfection of the divine artificer are shadowed forth by his lovely and compleat pourtraiture of them . who can sufficiently admire this when he beholds the variety of the structure , the diversity of the workmanship ? when he observes the parts and vessels in man of so different kinds , when he takes notice of the several offices and functions belonging to concoction and nutrition , and the elaboration of the blood ? when he views the strange conveyances , the greater and lesser chanels and conduits for the liquors and juices contained in it ? when he considers how this structure is supported with bones , guarded and fortified with limbs , cloathed and fashioned with flesh , strengthned with cartilages ( which are of a middle nature between bones and flesh ) warmed and beautified with fat , covered on the outside of all with a skin and vnder-skin , covered within with several membranes and tunicles , enlivened and actuated with spirits , supplied with these by the nerves , moved and set on work as by these , so by the muscles and tendons , furnished with blood by veins and arteries ( whether greater or capillary , ) joyned together with ligaments ( another sort of substance of a middle nature between a membrane and a cartilage ( wherewith the joynts of bones and the gristles are bound together ? thus ( as the apostle speaks like a natural philosopher , expressing the admirable dependence of one part of the body on another , for his words are a plain allusion to this ) the whole body being fitly joyned together ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) and compacted ( 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) by that which every ioint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part , maketh increase of the body , eph. . . and again , with reference to the natural head and body he saith , and that most significantly , — the head , from which all the body by ioynts and bands having nourishment ministred , and knit together , increaseth , col. . . which is a brief and summary account , not only of the sovereign influence of the head ( the fountain of spirits ) on the whole body , but of the harmonious connection of the several parts , of the close conjunction and agreement among themselves . by those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as this holy writer truly and properly stiles them ) those several iunctures and bands , the body is compacted , made fast and firm , and cannot be disordered easily by a violent motion : and yet at the same time it is by means of these rendred pliant and flexible . such is the various work of the divine and wise contriver , such are the mighty wonders that are interspersed through all the operations of the body . this therefore is the thing i urge , that in the make of all these parts of the body , there is observable , a design , an acting for some end : and this infallibly leads us to a god. it was madly and sottishly said by lucretius , * lumina nè facias oculorum clara creata , prospicere ut possimus , and much more to that purpose , the sum of which is this , that the eyes were not made to see , nor the ears to hear , nor the tongue to speak , nor the legs and feet to walk , but men having eyes , ears , &c. make use of them for seeing , hearing , &c. it were to be wish'd that this poet had not been englished by so fine a hand as he is , for by the extraordinary goodness of the verse , the badness of this epicurean's notions is ( i fear ) unhappily instilled into the minds of young gentlemen . though it is true also , that the extravagancy and absurdity of them are their own antidote , where there is a considerate reader . so that it may be said , the ingenious gentleman , who hath done this author into our language , hath exposed him as well as translated him . certainly no man can have the face to deny that the bodily parts have a correspondence with one another , and are mutually helpful in their offices , which could never have been unless they had been with wisdom fitted and accommodated for it . no man of tolerable understanding can deny that the eyes , ears , lungs , heart , stomach , &c. were made for those individual purposes of seeing , hearing , breathing , sanguification , concoction , &c. he that considers that the veins have certain valvulae of a peculiar texture , proper for promoting the course of the blood , and that the arteries have their convenient filaments for dispersing the spirituous parts of it , cannot but own that they were appointed for these very purposes . all this shews wise forecast and design , and consequently proves a supreme intelligence that actuates the world. say that i have not exactly and punctually explained the design and intent of providence in all the parts and vessels of the body which i have mentioned ; say that there be various and different opinions concerning the use of some of them , ( as will easily be granted ) yet we cannot possibly err as to this , that the most of them were designed for those very particular purposes which we have named : and as to the rest , there is some great and noble use for which they were made , and this is promoted and effected whether we know it or no. suppose some of those hypotheses i have proceeded on should be false ( as anatomy and physick are improved daily , and new discoveries are made ) yet this will no ways invalidate the design of my discourse , because , though some of these things in the body of man be solv'd by other principles and maxims , the things themselves will still be serviceable to shew the wisdom and providence of god. nay , perhaps they will be more strange and wonderful according to other hypotheses or principles than in that way which i have offered for the solution of them . whether bartholine's or sylvius's or willis's hypothesis be truest , it is not requisite to be ●ully satisfied . it is not necessary for us to know whether pecquet , or des cartes , or malpighius , or our own harvey , glisson , wharton or needham have given the best account of some functions of the body , for however they may differ , they agree in acknowledging the admirable contrivance of them . and from the things themselves which we have propounded it is apparent that the body hath animal , vital and natural powers in it , and that it is extremely fitted for the discharge of the several offices belonging to these , and that there are different vessels and parts made use of in order to it . and we see that all things are plainly contrived for the best , and for promoting the welfare of the body . this is that which i have been evincing , and this is enough to prove the great hand of god in the make and constitution of the whole . and as for the exact symmetry of all the parts taken and considered together , it hath been the subject of many wise heads , and will yet further conduce to my present design , which is to assert a deity from the configuration of man's body . they agree in this , that the proportions and dimensions of it are extraordinarily accurate and harmonious , and that the parts exactly answer to one another , both as to the longitude and latitude . it is so excellently proportioned , that , if we may credit * vitruvius , who was a good judg in this case , the measures of temples , ships and engines were taken from it . and in another place he saith , that every well-built house must be according to the proportion of the members of a well-figured man. it was long since observed by † two eminent writers of the church , that there were the same proportions in the fabrick of the ark , that there are in the body of man. so a ‖ curious person of this latter age takes notice , that this ancient structure was accommodated to the dimensions of humane bodies ; that is , its longitude was sixfold to its latitude , and tenfold to its profundity : and hereupon he takes occasion to declare , that there is such a harmony and symmetry of the members , that they all have an exact reference to one another : whence he infers ( and that rightly ) that there is something divine in the disposition of the parts of man's body . other learned pens , as cardan , mizaldus , gauricus , treat of this choice theme , the orderly and harmonious conformation of the parts . so do * iohannes baptista ricciolus and † albertus durerus , the latter of whom endeavours to prove that the whole art of limning and pourtraying is borrowed from the symmetrical proportions of the body . lucas de burgo and augustinus gallus on vitruvius insist upon these exact figures and delineations of the whole humane structure : they inculcate this , that there is a just and perfect conformity in our bodies , and particularly that the heighth of man is the same with his breadth , i. e. the space between head and feet , and between the hand stretched out is alike , as was long since observed by a ‖ learned naturalist . so man is of a quadrate figure : and yet , if you place him thus with his arms and hands stretched out , you 'll find that the figure of his body makes a perfect circle , the center whereof is his navel . here , if i may so say , we have found the quadrature of a circle , we may discern the symmetrical mechanism of the body . as we observed before ( when we had occasion to speak of the lungs and heart , and other parts of the body ) that the motions and operations of it are exact and geometrical , so now it is evident that the figure , shape and proportion of it , with the situation of all the various parts and organs are so too : and hereby they become the more subservient to one another , and mutually assist in the functions of life , sense and motion . this is no workmanship of humane skill , here is no automaton made by art , no daedalus's walking venus , no archytas's dove , no regiomontanus's eagle and fly. here is none of albertus magnus or frier bacon's speaking head , or paracelsus's artificial homuncle . here is nothing but what proceeds from a divine principle and art , and therefore cannot be reckoned among those mechanical inventions which have an external shew of sensation and life for a time , but are destitute of a vital spring . if all other arguments should be laid aside , yet this single one , from the fabrick and syntax of man's body is sufficient to evince the truth of a deity . this particular frame and constitution will extort a confession of the existence of an infinitely powerful , wise and beneficent being . and this is a topick which hath been constantly made use of by considerate men in all ages of the world. not only by the psalmist in that excellent hymn which i have so often quoted , but by him again in psal. . . thy hands have made me and fashioned me . which words it is probable , he borrowed from holy iob , whose writings were much ancienter than his , where he more than once argues from the structure of his own body ; thy hands ( saith he ) have made me and fashioned me together round about , iob . . thy hands , i. e. thy divine power hath elaborately and curiously formed me ( for the words are very expressive in the hebrew ) with flesh , muscles , nerves , &c. for these ( as the rabins observe ) are called gnatsabbim , from the verb gnatsab here used . and the other words are as observable , together round about , which expresses the formation of every part with the same elaborateness and exactness . the whole circumference of the body shews the divine art and care. he proceeds , v. . hast thou not poured me out as milk , and curdled me like cheese ? which is a modest and chast simile to set forth the conception in the womb , and to signifie how the tenuious and thicker parts of the seminal mass are separated , and turned by degrees into a fleshy substance . thou didst ( saith he ) in the first formation of me , temper my body with a most transcendent wisdom ; thou didst make some parts of it liquid resembling a milky substance ; but others thou wast pleased to make more firm and consistent , and as it were , to coagulate them , that by this solidity and compactness they might be able to contain and keep in the other more loose and fluid parts . he adds , v. . thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh ( as with an upper and an under garment ) and hast fenced me with bones and sinews : by this diversity of parts thou hast rendred my body fit for those excellent ends to which thou at first ordainedest it . this mightily convinced him of the power , as well as of the being of god , and therefore he again ( chap. . . ) acknowledges this very thing , viz. that god made him and fashioned him in the womb. the prophet isaiah often endeavours to confirm his countrymen in the steady belief of the almighty jehovah from this very consideration ; the lord made thee and formed thee from the womb , isaiah . , . . . &c. and in the sacred writings of the new testament this argument is not omitted , as is clear from what i alledged before out of the great apostle st. paul , from whose words we learn , that the merciful and indulgent creator hath , in the configuration of human bodies , consulted the necessities , yea , the health and delight of mankind . there is another excellent passage in this inspired author concerning the same subject , which i will here set down at length , that the reader may observe the philosophical genius of this accomplished man , who was as great a naturalist as he was a divine , and was perhaps as able to read a lecture of natural philosophy as of theology and christianity . the body , saith he , is not one member , but many . if the foot shall say , because i am not the hand , i am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? and if the ear shall say , because i am not the eye , i am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? if the whole body were an eye , where were the hearing ? if the whole were hearing , where were the smelling ? but now god hath set the members , every one of them in the body , as it hath pleased him ( i. e. ) they are disposed and ranked according to his infinite wisdom , ) &c. these are the weighty words of this incomparable naturalist , and the summ of them is , that the frame of all the parts and members of the body is suited exactly to the service , advantage , and welfare of the whole , and that this admirable disposing , fashioning and tempering of the body is an absolute proof of the divine skill and providence : though i grant that he applies these things to a far higher subject . the christian fathers and ancient writers of the church were wont to insist upon this theme . minutius felix , after he had been speaking of the peculiar providence of god in the erecting of human bodies , concludes at last , that * there is no one member appertaining to them but is both for necessity and comeliness . lactantius hath a book of the workmanship of god , wherein he descants on the body and all the parts of it , arguing a divinity and providence from them . † theodoret undertakes to prove the providence of god from the fabrick of man's body : and ‖ particularly from the consideration of the composition of man's hands . basil and gregory nazianzen have writ of the creation and formation of man : and the latter of these very elegantly calls the structure of the body , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the natural artificialness of it . iews , as well as christians , have owned this argument , else we should not have it among the sayings of the rabbins , that the body of man is a symbol of the divine precepts . which though they vainly make out , telling us , that the affirmative precepts are , and so many are the members of the body : the negative are , and so many are the nerves , yet 't is evident that they look upon the wonderful fabrick of the body as a testimony of a deity . philo the learned jew declares , that * the care of providence is manifest in every part of this contexture ; and particularly he instances in the erect figure of man , and thence pronounces that he alone of all the animals † is set in a select and eximious posture . the gentiles are not dissenting from the iews in this particular . galen , whom i had occasion to mention before , ‖ concluded there was a divine creator when he had considered the body of man , and discovered the particular frame of it . he acknowledgeth that the order , use and disposition of it is such , that there is nothing defective , nothing redundant in it . whereupon he religiously and devoutly sets forth the praises of the allmighty , and adores his wisdom and goodness . he proclaims to the world , that this divine being was pleased to adorn and beautifie things better than ever art could do it . and these acknowledgments he saith he makes , although he had done all he could that the excellent structure and composition of animals , and the reason of them might be ascribed to the bare mixture of the elements , rather than to god the maker of all . many of the greek philosophers have pitched upon this topick , stiling man * the greatest of all wonders , † the measure and standard of all creatures , and the perfection and complement of them . one of the most learned and sensible of the latin philosophers , i mean ‖ tully , hath largely proved from the several parts of man's body , that it is a divine fabrick . this is excellently performed also by some of our moderns , even of the last and of this present age : bartholine and isbrand de diemerbroek and other foreign physicians and anatomists ( be it spoken to their praise and honour ) have f●om their discoveries in this lesser world asserted the notion of an infinitely wise creator . at home we have several eminent persons of the same faculty , and other learned philosophers that have vouched the existence of a deity from the wonderful organization of the body of man , from the exquisite frame of the several parts fitted exactly to their several ends. the most celebrated dr. harvey in his book of generation and other treatises most devoutly owns a divine power , a heavenly wisdom in the formation of the parts of man , and frankly confesses that it cannot be otherwise solved . the learned and solid dr. glisson in his searches into some peculiar parts doth piously acknowledg the same , and from this very argument establishes the notion of an immaterial and intellectual being . who is more forward in admiring the divine omnipotency and contrivance in the several vessels and organs that man is constituted of , than the renowned dr. willis ? in all his writings he theologizes , and constantly resolves the operations and functions which we wonder at in men's bodies , into the care and wise disposal of an infinite and perfect intellect . dr. lower speaks like a divine when he treats of the heart , and preaches a god from the anatomy of it . the noble and famous mr. boyl , through all his philosophical writings , endeavours to discover a god in the works of nature , and successfully baffles atheism by the sole help of natural philosophy ; and particularly in some places by considerations drawn from what is observable in humane bodies . and the worthy mr. ray in his late treatise of the works of the creation , forgets not to argue against atheists from the same head. this may encourage those that have opportunity and ability to acquaint themselves with the structure of man's body , and to spend some time in the view and contemplation of this admirable composure . this will be an employment , not only diverting , but useful to them : by considering the configuration of their bodies they will happily advance the devotion of their minds : by searching into themselves they will find a god. for this is that which i have been all this time evincing ( and i hope i have , in some measure , accomplished it ) that man , the perfectest model of created excellency , is the representation of god ; that even in his outward form there are indelibly engraven the marks of divine power , wisdom and bounty ; that here are to be seen and admired the signal characters of the heavenly image , the very lineaments of a deity . chap. vii . an apology for physicians : wherein there is given an account why they commonly lie under the imputation of irreligion and atheism , viz. . from a vulgar prejudice which hath prevailed in the world , and that among gentiles , iews , christians . it had its first rise from that averseness which was justly shewed to those who were only pretenders to the art , and abused this noble profession . . this prejudice is partly nourished by the particular deportment of the persons of this faculty when they visit their patients . . it may perhaps , be increased by observing how seldom ( in respect of some others ) they appear in places of publick devotion . . it may be occasioned by their promiscuous converse . . they may , by some , be thought to have no religion , because they have so much philosophy . as for such of this faculty as really favour atheism in their speeches and practices , this is not to be imputed to their particular art and calling , for there are some very bad men of all professions . there are some footsteps of religion in the prescriptions of physicians . galen was in his way devout . modern physicians have been illustrious examples of christian piety and devotion , and great assertors and patrons of our holy religion . a physician , as such , is disposed to be a wise and a good man. i had , in the foregoing chapter , put a period to this discourse , but that a query , or you may call it an objection , came in my way , which i am willing to return some answer to , lest what i have said receive some prejudice and harm from it . it may be demanded why natural philosophers and students in physick , whose employment it is to search into the works of nature , to dive into all those things which appertain to the greater or lesser world , and who are well acquainted with those natural operations which are said to be found in both , are generally observed to have but a small portion of religion ? but more especially , the objection lies ( as some imagine ; how truly you shall hear afterwards ) against those philosophical men who chiefly study the nature of man's body , and scan all its parts , and have a very distinct knowledge of the excellent structure and composure of it . what is the reason ( say they ) that such great numbers of these persons have so little sense of a god in their lives ? why do some of them profess an indifferency as to religion , and scarcely acknowledge the author of it ? yea , why do some endeavour to expel both of them out of the world , and to introduce atheism , scepticism and prophaneness ? whence is it that these men see little or nothing of a divine being or providence in the works of nature , who yet one would think should discern these sooner than any others , because they are constantly conversing with such objects as are said to be visible and apparent proofs of a god , and of his stupendous wisdom ? may we not rather be inclined to believe that the matters before discoursed of are no arguments of the divinity , and that we wrongly infer from the parts of the world , or of man's body , that there is an infinitely wise author and contriver of them ? for if there were , what reason can be given why these learned and diligent enquirers into these matters are so far from evidencing it by their religious lives ; that on the contrary they confute it by their blasting of all religion , and laughing at the very notion of a deity ? i answer , though this among some may be the character of natural philosophers , and particularly of physicians , yet it doth not follow thence● that we are to believe it to be true . yea , it is certain that it is founded upon mistake , and is occasioned by a false representation of some matters which relate to the persons of that faculty . and to be particular , i conceive there are these following reasons why they , rather than others , lie under the imputation of atheism and irreligion . first , this proceeds from a common and vulgar opinion which hath prevailed in the world. they have been anciently struck at , and some severe common-wealth's men would not suffer them to be members of humane societies . plato was for banishing them out of his republick , and cato the censor was a deadly enemy to them . the old gentleman did not love to hear of sickness or death , or suppose any such thing . he could dispatch himself without physick if there were occasion . he had a present remedy against all diseases . he could , like his grand-son , cure himself with his sword. aesculapius's temple was without the city of rome , that it might appear thence , saith * pliny the elder , that the romans did not willingly , but of necessity , attribute any thing to physicians . indeed this author ( as is evident from that chapter where he thus speaks ) was most bitter ( on what account is hard to tell ) not only against physicians , but all medicks : but this is no reproach to them , for this writer , who gives too great occasion to his readers to think him to be an atheist , would not have been so severe against physicians if he had taken them to be such . it is certain that the unprejudiced and wise had other sentiments of them , and looked upon them as useful members of the community . nay , plato himself ( as we may be informed from his * writings ) seems to be against physicians in this respect only , that dissolute men were encouraged to live in debauchery and luxury , and to expose themselves to diseases , in assurance that they could be cured by these . for the like reason the old censor before named was a great enemy of physicians , and † would not have them brought from greece to rome . these statesmen and philosophers thought physick was a promoter of vice ; but a man would think these politick heads might have better secured their common-wealths against it by inflicting severe punishments on the vicious , than by expelling the ministers of health . but truly , if we narrowly examine the matter , we shall find that both these great men ( notwithstanding what pliny suggests ) had no antipathy against the professors of medicks barely considered , but only so far as they abused their profession . they were not against physicians , but pretenders to the art ( and who indeed is not against them ? ) who always did more harm than good. iulius caesar knew the worth of the former , that is , such as were men of art and skill , and accordingly * he made them free of the city of rome . but vulgar souls , who search not into the true nature of things , from the dislike which some considerable men had of the ill managers of this art , took up a disesteem of all the professors of it , and ranked them among the worst of men. and even the learned , to comply with the common notion , have sometimes inveighed against the sons of aesculapius , and a great many piquant sayings are found against them . the iewish masters are extremely forward to gratifie the people in this point , and are full of their sarcasms to this purpose ; but rabbi iuda outstrips● them all , who is positive that † the best of physicians go to hell. thither this circumcised doctor sends them to cure them of their disease of atheism , which he thinks they are all incident to , for there are no atheists in that place . among christians , as well as pagans and iews , this opinion hath taken place , and the religion of a physician is looked upon as a chymaera , and is turn'd into sport and ridicule . many verily think that their art makes them atheists , that when they commence in the faculty , they take an oath to abandon all that is pious , and that for the future they know and think of no other day of iudgment than that of their crisis on a disease . they are perswaded that what was said of some physicians of old is true of all in every age of the world , viz. * that they know nothing but what is perceived by sense , and attend only to the body , as if they were mere sensitive animals . whilst they go a simpling they are thought to be condemned to nebuchanezzar's fate , fields and grass , and so become brutish and sensual . they take the poetick fable to be truth , viz. that chiron , a noted physician , was half a man and half a horse , and they will allow the rest of that order to be no other than centaurs and monsters . all this proceeds from an old prejudice against them , which first began among the vulgar and such as have shallow apprehensions of things . it may be , they took offence at their language , which generally is not like that of other men. perhaps they disrelish'd their hard names both of diseases and medicines , and thought those could be no very good men who use a sort of conjuring , as they take this to be . or , it is likely their prejudice may arise from covetousness as well as ignorance , they would have a cheap health , and therefore they listen with great attention and concern to what is reported of the old romans , that after they had banished physicians , they six hundred years together preserved themselves found and in perfect health by eating only of coleworts or cabbage . some have an averseness to doctors ( as they call them ) because it is chargeable . nay , there are some fantastick folks that think these persons can cure a disease no other way than by killing the patient . the very colledg-dispensatory seems to them to be but the office for burial : and the aphotheeary's mortar rings the man's first peal . it is no wonder that such cabbage-eaters as these vote our artist to be a very bad man. again , this conceit may be nourished by the particular behaviour which is observed in them when they visit the sick . they ●eem to be regardless of their danger , and though they know that their case is deplorate , and even desperate , yet they remind them not of another state , and of preparing themselves for it . whence some are apt to gather , that they believe no such thing themselves . but this is a very uncharitable inference , and those that make it , consider not that the physician and the divine come to the sick on different accounts , and to discharge different offices . the latter is to take care of their immortal part , and to address himself to them accordingly : but the business of the former is to advise and administer what is proper for the restoring of their bodies to health ; and if they faithfully employ their care about this , they discharge their part. not but that it is to be wished that they would ( and i doubt not but some of them do , especially when there is no clergyman at hand ) as good men and fellow-christians apply themselves to their patients as they see occasion , and make use of this seasonable opportunity to discourse religiously to them , to admonish them concerning their former actions , to urge them to repent of the evil of them , to beg the divine pardon and favour , and to fit themselves for a better world , when they see they cannot keep them any longer in this . but yet discretion must go along with religion , and therefore , though they perceive that the poor clinick is incurable , yet they are not obliged to tell him so with their own mouths ; but it is better to commend this office to some of his friends and near relations . this is more seasonable and prudent than a personal application to him , for it doth not become the physician to doom his patient . and let us be cautious of censuring and dooming the physician . moreover , this may be one cause why they are voted to be irreligious , because they are not seen so often at the solemn places of devotion , they are not so frequent at the publick prayers and at sermons as other men. a physician oftentimes hath the character that horace gives of an epicurean , * parcus deorum cultor & infrequens . but if the law , which is grounded on good reason , excuses them in this case , i see no reason why we should not . their necessary avocations are a sufficient plea for them : yea , an act of mercy is preferrable to sacrifice . to save a man's life is an high act of charity , which is one of the most substantial ingredients of our religion . † to heal and to worship are expressed by the same word in the greek : and ‖ a healer and a priest are synonimous in the same language . i am sure we may here make good use of the criticism . a physician ● whilst he is conscientiously discharging his office , is accepted as if he were employed in divine worship , yea , as if he were an immediate minister of religion . therefore the cavil hath no ground , no more than that of the pharisees against our saviour , that he healed on the sabbath day . furthermore , this rank of men may perhaps incur the censure of irreligious , because their converse is so promiscuous , and they oftentimes are concerned in the worst company , i mean the worst that can be for religion , that is , some who are professed patrons of atheism , and whose practice is suitable to such a principle . it is true , if they frequently associate with such , and in hope of a fee , comply with them in their folly and madness , yea , if they do but so much as connive at these , they pay dear for their expected guineas . but if only in the way of their profession , they converse with such persons , that they may be serviceable to them , by preventing the maladies they fear , or curing those they labour under , i do not see cause to condemn them . the objection will lie as reasonably against divines who have the charge of souls , who if they will fulfil their ministry ( as the apostle advises ) and perform all the parts of their sacred function , must visit their flock , and hold converse , even with the worst , to reclaim and reform them : which is no more than what our lord did when he eat and drank with publicans and sinners . once more , some devout and well-meaning persons may think physicians have no religion because they have so much philosophy . they hear them talk so much of bodies , that they are ready to infer , they have no sense of the other part of man. whilest they solve things in a natural way , they are suspected to own no supernatural principle . but this is an erroneous ●urmise , for these things do not exclude one another . a man may be a philosopher and a christian : he may ( nay he must ) acknowledg a first cause , though he holds that there are secondary ones : divine and natural agents are not inconsistent . the discourse of a physician should savour of both these , especially the former , and then the observing world would have no cause to object against them the want of religion : then it would be seen that their excellent employment hath influence on their practice , and furnishes them with devout thoughts of god , and a firm belief of his infinite power and wisdom . thus you have my thoughts concerning the occasion of that calumny which physicians generally lie under i have endeavoured to take off those prejudices and censures which seem to reflect a scandal on that noble profession . but if it be further urged , that many of them are really such as they are reported to be , yet this doth not at all invalidate the proposition which i have asserted : for either we speak of physicians improperly so called , that is , ignorant quacks , &c. or those that are learned and well skilled in the faculty . as to the former , they deserve not the name of physicians ; and therefore , though it could be proved that some of these are atheists , yet it cannot be imputed to the faculty , because they are not properly of it . yea , i further grant that ignorance in medicks , as well as in all other learned arts , capacitates men for atheism . as for the latter , i. e. those who are skillful in this science , and merit the worthy title they bear , it is not to be denied that even some of these have procured to themselves the imputation of atheism and impiety by their prophane speeches and irreverent discourse about sacred matters , and by their scandalous and enormous actions . but what is this to the purpose , unless it can be proved that their being physicians makes them talk atheistically , and that the study of medicks is the cause of their prophaneness ? there are some professors of the law , and some in sacred orders whose lives are a reproach to their studies and calling : but did ever any man of correct thoughts lay the fault of this on the profession of law or divinity ? so it is in the present case , the faculty is not blameable : the persons we are speaking of are not made atheists by being students in physick , but being atheistically inclined before , they bring a scandal on the profession . their irreligion is not the effect of their searching into natural causes : they do not scruple a deity or divine providence ; because they have an insight into humane bodies , and all the operations of them , but this may be truly said , that their being debauched and wicked livers makes way for their atheistical notions and sentiments . but this is to be said further , that it is unreasonable and unjust to libel the whole faculty for the sake of a few ; for all unprejudiced men must own that there have been , and are as few of that profession ( considering the proportion of them ) as perhaps of any other that are regardless of sacred things . if a man looks into their dispensatories , he shall find that they have made use of god's name , and some of the saints , and of the most holy and venerable things even in their art. there are some footsteps of religion in several of the names which they have given to medical simples and some compounds . wood-sorrel hath been stiled by them allelujah : heartsease , an herb of the trinity ; ( though indeed * dr. brown saith , this is named from the figure of its leaves : ) angelica an herb of the holy ghost . mugwort hath been called saint iohn's girdle : other herbs have the name of saint iohn's-wort , and saint peter's-wort , and saint iames's-wort . cardamom-seeds are called grains of paradise : solomons's seal is scala coeli with them . another plant hath been christened herb of grace , and another holy or blessed thistle . and it is likely , our lady's thistle refers to the virgin mary . and our saviour's name is made use of to honour some vegetables : a kind of gromel is called , not only iob's tears , but lachrymae christi . wild clary hath the name of oculus christi : great spurge is called palma christi , and another manus christi . the apostles in general ( besides those before particularized ) have not been forgot by them ; for there is a medical oyntment that hath it denomination from them : and other medicaments are entituled holy , divine , and by the grace of god. it appears from this , that there have been some religious people of this profession , or else pretenders to it ; and then they were far from being open atheists . we see they have had some thoughts of god and religion , of christ iesus and heaven , and of things and persons that are sacred . not to mention the praises of st. luke , who was both a physician and an evangelist , and is the brightest glory of these artists ; there were many others ( whom i intend not to enumerate here ) who were very great devotionists , and shewd a mighty respect to god and religion . even galen ( though he unhappily reflects on moses and our saviour , being mislead by his pagan principles ) was in his way devout , and ( as you have heard ) broke out into a celebration of god's goodness , wisdom and power from the consideration of the structure of man's body . i have made mention of several of the moderns before , who , like true pious philosophers , often take occasion in their writings to remind the world of a supreme being , and to own and reverence his authority . i will here add concerning sennertus , that he not only shews himself every where in his works , a very religious physician , but he composed and published a book of meditations and prayers , which is a farther evidence of his piety . gesner , a physician of zurich , in his books of animals , takes notice of the all-wise maker , and quotes several passages out of the holy scriptures . bauhinus speaks very divinely when he discourses of the fabrick of the ears . that eminent physician of our age dr. willis gave as great proofs of his godliness as of his learning : he was as conversant in the practice of piety as in that of physick . whilest he lived he was a constant frequenter of the prayers of the church , and at his death he left a salary to maintain the offices of devotion for ever . and herein he was followed by the honourable mr. boyl , who , though he was no professed master of medicks , yet was skill'd in the art and in all natural philosophy which is so requisite to it : this excellent person , to give a lasting demonstration of his being highly concerned for religion , bequeath'd an honourable allowance for the maintaining of a perpetual theological lecture , wherein the christian religion is to be asserted and defended against its chiefest adversaries , and particularly and expresly his will is , that atheists should be attack'd with the utmost strength of argument . dr. woodward , a professed physician , speaks like a religious philosopher in his natural history of the earth , and owns the divine wisdom and contrivance . but i must forbear to mention the living . thus we see that this rank of students are disposed to be religious , and their employment leads them to it , because they are continually studying and contemplating the works of god. if you ask why the lives of such men are not always good ; yea , why they do not excel ? i ask you again ; why do not sextons and grave-makers live better than other people , seeing they converse with the dead , and are constantly reminded of mortality , and another world ? nay , you may as well ask why every individual clergy man is not transcendently good and vertuous , since their business and calling are in themselves conducive to it . the true cause of this is want of serious attention and due application . so it is here , a physician , as such , would naturally prove a good man , but then he must ●eriously and attentively lie under the influence of his principles , and suffer the virtue of them to take hold of him , and not willfully and stubbornly throw it off . for , though his calling is in it self an antidote against atheism , yet it will not have its effect if he takes a counter-potion . so then , if you should find that these artists have less religion than other men , it is not to be attributed to them because they are skill'd in their art , but because they abuse it . the short of all is , their searching into the works of nature is able to render them wise and knowing persons ; men of great insight and sagacity . whence , among the ancients apollo was the god of wisdom and medicks . and this may be signified in the consecrating of a serpent to aesculapius the god of physick . and this study also , if duly managed and applied , will make those that are conversant in it as good as they are wise : for physicks do naturally conduct to ethicks . a natural philosopher will be , if not otherwise hurt , a good moralist . his intimate conversing with matter and bodies will raise him to an apprehension of an all-wise spirit . though he deal in groveling vegetables , and stoops and bends to the earth to gather them ; yet , even this posture makes him more erect towards heaven , and exalts his mind to the author of nature . an anatomy lecture is a preparative to one of divinity : and whilest he views and considers the exactness of the humane fabrick , he is thence effectually provok'd to acknowledge , revere , and worship the divine architect . finis . errata . part i. page . line . read correct . p. . l. . r. stag●rit● p. . l. last but one r. there by . p. . l. . r. halieutic●● . p. . l. . for there r. they . p. . l. . r. noted . part ii. p. . l. last but one r. admitting . p. . l. . r. insite . p. . l. . insert perhaps before not . p. . l . r. colick . p. . l. . r. come . p. . l. . after manner make ( ; ) . p. . l. . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. . l. . blo● out ( ● ) . and some other literal faults require amendment . books written by the reverend mr. john edwards . an enquiry into several remarkable texts of the old and new testament , which contain some difficulty in them , with a probable resolution of them , in two volumes in o. a discourse concerning the authority , stile and , perfection of the books of the old and new testament , with a continued illustration of several difficult texts throughout the whole work , in three volumes in o. some thoughts concerning the several causes and occasions of atheism , especially in the present age , with some brief reflections on socinianism , and on a late book entituled the reasonableness of christianity as delivered in the scriptures . o. now in the press and will speedily be published . a discourse shewing the unreasonableness of a late writer's opinion concerning the necessity of only one article of christian faith : and of his other assertions in his late book of the reasonableness of christianity , and in his vindication of it . with a brief reply to another ( professed ) socinian writer . all sold by jonathan robinson at the golden lyon , and john wyat at the rose in st. paul's church-yard , . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e * aristotle , pliny , aelian , theophrastus , &c. † albertus magnus , gesner , aldrovandus , jonston , willoughby , ●ay , lister , &c. notes for div a -e * wisd. . . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . antonin . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de monarchiâ . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de placit . philosoph . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dissertat . . * tota hujus mundi concordia ex discordibus constar . nat. quaest. l. . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. clem. alex. admonit . ad gentes . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quaest. & resp. † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de plantat . noë . * theory of the earth , book . chap. . * de nat . deor. lib. . & lib. de officiis . † lord bacon , wisdom of the antients . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . just. mart. quaest. & resp. ad graec. † append . ad part . . eth. * opera philosoph . * essay concerning the notion of nature . * sol siderum princeps , cujus luce omnia vestiuntur . adv. gent. l. . c. . † job . . & . . * more nevoch . l. . c. . † problem● de creatione . ‖ cont. cels. l. . * laert. in epicuro & in heraclito . * in cratylo . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dicunt sidera 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , quòd semper in cursu sint . saturn . l. . c. . * in his aurora . * ovid. fast. l. . * kepler . epit. astron. copernic . l. . * dial. . † epit. astron. copern . lib. . ‖ lansberg progymnas . * geograph . * jos. . . † isa. . . * discourse concerning the stile of scripture . * de magnete , l. . c. . * psal. . , &c. * immortality of the soul , book . chap. . * lib. . sect. . cap. . usque ad finem sect. * mr. hook 's attempt to prove the motion of the earth . * d. burnet , theoria tellur . * plut. de isid. & osir. * ●uid cùm ordo temporum ac frugum stabili varietate distingultur ? nonne auctorem suum parentémque testatur ? ver ●●què cum suis floribus , & aestas cum suis messibus , & autumni maturitas grata , & hibernae olivitas necessaria , &c. minur . fel. in octav. † horat. ‖ dr. brown , vulg. er. l. . c. . * dr. brown , cyrus 's garden , ch . . * psal. . . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plut. de orac. defect . * sidus in tenebrarum remedium ab naturâ repertum . nat hist. l. . c. . * theory of the earth , book . chap. . * quanquam ad mundi cohaerentiam pertinent , tamen & spectaculum hominibus praebent : nulla enim est insatiabilior species , nulla pulchrior . de nat. deor. * ipse mundus quoties per noctem ignes suos fudit , & tantum stellarum innumerabilium refulsit , quem non intentum in se tenet ? le benefic . l. . c. . * manilius . * tanta dispositio , tanta in servandis ordinibus temporibusque constantia non potuit aut olim sine provido artifice oriri , aut constare tot seculis sine incolâ potente , aut in perpetuum gubernari sine perito & sciente rectore , quod ratio ipsa declarat . lactant. instit. l. . c. . † b. ricciol . almagest . nov. vol. . * dr. brown , cyrus ' s garden , ch . . * hist. of the world , chap. . sect. . † mr. herbert's poems . of providence . * psal. . . † vossius de theol. gentil . l. . c. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de monarch . † quid enim potest esse tam apertum tamque perspicuum , quùm coelum suspicimus , coelestiáque contemplari sumus , quàm esse ●liquod numen praestantissimae mentis quo haec reguntur ? de nar , ●eor . l. . * esse igitur deos ita perspicuum est , ut id qui neget vix eum sanae mentis exist●●mem . † mon. l. . c. . ‖ hist. hisp. * about a. d. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * jer. . ● . * archa●olog . philos. cap. . * tycho brahe in epist. * shamajim à sham ibi & majim aquae . † quid mirabilius aquis in coelis stantibus ? plin. nat. hist. l. . c. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. * deut. . . joel . . * cibus arborum imber . nat. hist. l. . c. . * gen. . . * dr. woodward , nat. hist. of the earth , part . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . sympos . l. . quaest . . * ignis suâ naturâ in verticem surgit , & si nihil illi prohibeat , ascendet : fulmen autem cadit eâdem necessitate , quâ excutitur . senec. nat. quaest. l. . c. . † nihil itaque dubii relinquitur quin divina illi virtus insit . ibid. ‖ mira fulminis , si intueri velis , opera sunt , nec quicquam dubii relinquentia quin divina insit illis & subtilis potentia . nat. quaest. l. . c. . ‖‖ u● supra nos aliquid timeremus . lib. . cap. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de plant. l. . c. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de vitâ mos. * theory of the earth , book . † chap. . * nat. hist. of the earth , part . * jo. cl●ric . comment . in loc . * of the primitive chaos . * mr. halley , philos. transact . † dr. woodward 's hist. of the earth , part . * mr. ray , of the primitive chaos . * dr. woodward , part . * mr. selden de dîs syr. * spencer's fairy queen . psal. . , . † job . . * plantar . lib. . * in the poem entituled providence . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 caput . † pia & dura mater . * de verit. christ. relig. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 psal. . . infima fundamenta vel penetralia terrae , quae sciri nequeunt nisi exquisitâ perscrutatione . buxtorf . * dr. woodward , nat. hist. of the earth , par. . * dr. woodward , nat. hist. of the earth , part . * part . * part . † psal. . . * dr. w. nat. hist. of the earth . * nat. hist. l. . c. . * september . . * eccl. hist. l. . c. . † job . . psal. . . & . . isa. . . joel . . * rev. . . & . . & . , . & . . * geogr. l. . † psal. . . * geograph . l. . * de plac. philos. l. . c. . † de motu marium . * de orig. ●ontium . * geograph . l. . c. . * job . . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. circino terminum aquae descripsit . buxt . lexic . ‖ psal. . . ** psal. . . * job . . † ver. , . ‖ dr. w. nat , hist● of the earth , part . * britannia sole deficitur , sed circumstantis maris ●epore recreatur . † de nat. deor. l. ● . * psal. . , . † job ● . ● . * lib. de ventric . & intestin . * panchot . m. d. * whence pinna is both a fin and a wing . † nat. hist. l. . c. , . ‖ de piscib . l. . c. . * domini willoughbaei ornitholog . lib. . * mat. . . ** aelian . hist. animal . ** aelian . hist. animal . † natura nusquam magis quàm in minimis est . nat. hist. l. . c. . * malebranch , search after truth , b. . ch . . * iudg hale 's contemplations . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. † clem. alex. strom. basil. homil. . in hexaem . * mr. butler . † aristotl . hist. an . l. . c. . senec. de clem. l. . c. . plin. l. . c. . ‖ virg. geor. . * see malpighius de bombyce , where he gives a particular account of its production , structure , food , growth , generation , and workmanship of making silk . † swammerdam de insect . * hist. animal . l. . c. . † nat. hist. l. . & . ‖ var. hist. l. . c. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † de solert . animal . ‖ sat. . * in formicâ non modò sensus , sed etiam mens , ratio , memoria . de nat. deor. l. . * dr. power . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . mich. glyc . annal. pars . * libr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † eclog. phys. ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pyrrh . hypot . l. . c. . * pyrrhon . hyporyp . l. . * lactantius de irâ dei , cap. . * hist. animal . l. . c. . * malebranch search after truth , book . chap. . * nat. hist. l. . c. . * curcul . act . . * hist. animal . l. ● . c. . † in sylla . ‖ de insect . l. . * lib. . † lib. . c. . ‖ lib. . c. . * aldrovand . de insect . dr. lister in hist. animal . * gen. . . * tertullian , origen , justin martyr , augustine . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † habet deus testimonia totum hoc quod sumus , & in quo sumus . cont. marcion . l. . c. . ‖ videmus dei ●●tu tempora obsequi , elementa famulari , spirare ventos , fon●es fluere , grandescere copias mes●ium , fructus mitescere vinea●um , exubera●e pomis arbusta , &c. * orat. & de providentia . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. heraclit . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . max. tyr. dissertat . . * esse praestantem aliquam aeternamque naturam , & eam suspiciendam adorandamque hominum generi , pulchritudo mundi ordoque rerum coelestium cogit confiteri . † unde h●●e innumerabilia oculos , aures , & animam mulcen●ia ? unde illa luxu●ia● quoque instruens copia ? neque n. necessitatibus ●●●●aminodo nostris provisum est ; usque in delicias 〈…〉 ‖ 〈◊〉 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de plac. philos. l. . c. . † numen esse mundum credi par est aeternum , immensum , neque genitum , neque interiturum unquam . nat. hist. l. . c. . * statius . † totum hoc quo continemur , & unum est , 〈◊〉 deus . sen. epist. . vis deum mundum ●ocare ? non faller●● ipse enim est totum quod vides . idem , quaest. nat. cap. . * in timaeo . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diog. laert. in thalete . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de vit. mos. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * rom. . . notes for div a -e * dr. brown vulg. err. book . ch. . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 greg. nyss. * dr. willis de anim. brut. cap. . * dr. briggs ophthalmograph . † de corp. hum . fabric . l. . c. . ‖ histor. animal . lib. . * psal. cxxxix . . * de mundo , cap. . * meninges . † dura mater . ‖ pia mater . ** pericranium . †† hic mentis est regimen . cic. tusc. . * hic habet sensus arcem , hic culmen altissimum . ibid. † carotides . ‖ plexus choroides . * os cribrosum , processus mamillares . * uvula . * incisores , or incisorii . † canini . ‖ molares . ** metalgnoth , prov. xxix . . prov. xxx . . †† c. havers ; m. d. * iaws , qu. chaws , from chawing or chewing : and this very word chaws is retain'd by our translators ezek. xxix . .xxxviii. . † mr. lock of education . * lib. . cap. . * dr. holder of the natural grounds of harmony . * adnata . † sclerotica . ‖ uvea . * processus ciliares . * w. bridg m. d. * isbrand de diemerbroesk anatome corp. hum. * oculi ab oculendo , i. e. tegendo . varr● . * ophthalmograph . * plempius in opthalmograph . * mat. . . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de op. mundi . * prov. . . . . mat. . . mark . . luke . . mat. . . * prov. . . . . mat. . . mark . . luke . . mat. . . * thorax . * aspera arteria , the wind-pipe , the weasand . † bronchia . ‖ larynx , the throtle . ** epiglottis . * oesophagus , or gulle● . * dr. willis pharmaceut . rational . * nat. hist. of the earth , part . * whence they are call'd lights , because considering their bulk they are the lightest parts of all the body . * dr. lower , de corde . * diastole and systole . * vena cava . † vena arteriosa . ‖ arteria venosa . ** arteria aorta . * dr. lower . tractat. de corde . * de generatione . † septum transversum . * dr. willis . de anatom . cerebri . † idem . de anim. brut. ‖ aen. ● . ** lib. . c. . †† il. . ‡ ill. . ‖‖ il. . * pylorus . † duodenum . * iejunum . † ileon . ‖ caecum . ** colon. ‡ rectum . * sphincter anûs * isbrand de diemerbrock . * peritonaeum● * omentum . * buxt . lex . chald. p. . * mr. ray's wisdom of god in the creation . * dr. power . * de scorbuto . * cerebellum . * onomatol . in verbo rickets . † coxendices . ‖ acetabulum is the latin word . by the greeks 't is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in which the hip-bone is turned , aristot. hist. animal . l. . c. . the hebrews call it caph , gen. . . * gen. . . * sternum . † sam. . . . . . . . . * aristot. de partib . animal . l. . c. . * de usu part● l. . c. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hippocrat . lib. de oss. nat . † beresh rab. ‖ psal. . . . . lam. . . ier. . . ** iob. . . †† iob . . psal. . . prov. . . . . * mirabiles commissuras habent , & ad stabilitatem aptas , & ad artus finiendos accommodatas , & ad motum & omnem corporis actionem . cic. de nat . deor. l. . † dr. willis , de scorbut● . * c. havers , m. d. * ensiformis . * nat. hist. of the earth . part . * amygdalae faucium . plin. tonsillae . * glandulae mamillares . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de amore prolis . * vasa lymphatica . * de med . stat. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . athen●g . de resur . mort . * lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † de generat . animal . ‖ de ventric . & intestin . * isbrand de diemerbroek . * de usu part . lib. . † avicenna . l. . tract . . cap. . * lib. . * lib. . c. . † augustin . de civ . dei. ambros. de arcâ noë . ‖ kircher de arcâ noë . * de geographiâ . † de symmetriâ , &c. ‖ quantum spacium hominis ● vestigio ad verticem , tantum esse passis manibus inter longissimos digitos observatum est . plin. l. . c. . * nihil in homine membrorum est quod non & necessitatis causâ sit , & decoris . † orat. . de providentiâ . ‖ orat. . de provid . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de plantat . noe. † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. ‖ de usis partium , lib. , , & . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plato . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pythag. ‖ de nat. deor. l. . * nat. hist. l. . c. . * de repub. l. . † plin. l. . c. . * sueton. in vit . iul. ●aes . † kidushin s●u de sponsalib . c. . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . psellus . * od. ● . l. . † 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , mederi , adorari . ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , idem . j. pollux in onomast . * vulg. err. l. . ch . . enchyridion physicæ restitutæ, or, the summary of physicks recovered wherein the true harmony of nature is explained, and many errours of the ancient philosophers, by canons and certain demonstrations, are clearly evidenced and evinced. espagne, jean d', - . this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a of text r in the english short title catalog (wing e a). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo a wing e a estc r ocm this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons . universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : ) enchyridion physicæ restitutæ, or, the summary of physicks recovered wherein the true harmony of nature is explained, and many errours of the ancient philosophers, by canons and certain demonstrations, are clearly evidenced and evinced. espagne, jean d', - . [ ], p. printed by w. bentley, and are to be sold by w. sheares ... and robert tutchein ..., london : . attributed by wing and nuc pre- imprints to d'espagne. reproduction of original in the harvard university library. eng soul -- early works to . physics -- early works to . nature -- early works to . a r (wing e a). civilwar no enchyridion physicæ restitutæ; or, the summary of physicks recovered. wherein the true harmonie of nature is explained, and many errours of espagnet, jean d' b the rate of defects per , words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than defects per , words. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images - robyn anspach sampled and proofread - robyn anspach text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion enchyridion physicae restitutae ; or , the summary of physicks recovered . wherein the true harmony of nature is explained , and many errours of the ancient philosophers , by canons and certain demonstrations , are clearly evidenced and evinced . london , printed by w. bentley , and are to be sold by w. sheares at the bible , and robert tutchein at the phenix , in the new-rents in s. pauls church-yard . . the authours epistle . to the honourers of natural light . after i had lately with-drawn my self from publick employments , & reprieved my soul from the dangerous attendants of a courtier's life , and had now ancor'd my thoughts in a blest retirement , i alwayes had resounding the eccho of that poetical passage in mine ears : here is the freedom the soul gains , enfranchiz'd from her golden chains . now began i to feel those thoughts of natural philosophie , alwayes fostered by me , though till now , as it were ill attended , to give a fresh and sprightly spring in my soul . i could not but upon their return , give them a wonted and merited well-come , that i might by the gain of this inward and natural light , repair my voluntarie ressignment of that outward and deceitfull splendour : besides , by this course , i had hopes to wipe off a publick guilt , for now did i apprehend the charge of a desertour of publick employments , and of the laws of my countrie likely to fall upon me , therefore lest this might issue a deep censure , i fled to that sanctuarie , the studie of the occult , and almost unsearchable laws and customes of nature in the universe , the common countrey of all , hoping a securitie in this studie , and a protection from this policie . for certainly civil constitutions will not decree any remarkable amercement upon him , who laying down the burden of those troubles , doth retire himself to the general service of the world . now was my soul rowling within it self thought concerning the sovereigntie , lawes , order , government , harmonie , effects , causes , yea , the unconceiveable riches of nature ; now indeed was i lost in admiration of these , which astonishment , though it be an evidence of ignorance , yet it is also an incentive to knowledge , for it causeth the soul to soar above , by which it is enkindled with a burning desire to know what it is , as yet ignorant of , though affected to . my soul being thus enflamed , brought several philosophical constitutions to a severe text , and upon the touch , assented not to their veritie , because nature did seem to dart some weak and waining light , as it were breaking forth upon the confine and border of a scarcely discerned truth , till at length , the light began so to rise , as to break through the encompassing fogs , and to break into my soul , whereby it was not onely made more resplendent , but also more confident , not onely to view the ground , but also to dig for the treasure . the first errours of the ancients , and which are the worst and radicall errours that came into my thoughts , were those concerning the principles of nature , concerning the first matter and that universal form , from which all things flow , concerning the number of the elements , their qualities , their opposition , scituation , reciprocation ; when i had seriously turned these within my thoughts , i layed hold of an opinion different from the current ; neither was the authoritie of ancient philosophers , nor their ingenious , but unsatisfactorie reasonings , able to divert my mind from that perpetual devotion , in which it stood to the light of nature . so now what i first admired , i now affected , yea , that love , which hath no weapons but fierie rayes , strook my soul into a flame , to enter into the most secret and sacred rooms of nature . but i was long in a suspensive dispute with my self , whether it were my dutie to communicate to you , the students of philosophie , those secrets i have found , suspicious lest it might prove a disgust to you , a danger to my self ; for i found experience the best counsellour to give me warning to be wise by the folly of others , and to learn to stand by their falls ; for i alwayes was musing how many had wrackt their credit by scribling , how our modern wits are close in their commendations , but lavish enough in their detraction of other mens labours , how attempting their souls are in fancying and fostering follies , how obstinate in the retaining a conceived truth ; yea , i considered it was not onely a project of difficultie , but also of danger , to pull up a received and an acknowledged opinion , and to implant a new and divers . but in this conflict , ( ye most ingenious assertours of natural light ) the victorie fell upon the love of you , and of truth , so that i was determined , that since those had been the motives to the disquisition of these truths , they should also be the incentives to their publication . yet let me have this boon granted , that if you will be competent or just judges , let not the swoln names of plato , aristotle , and of any other prime philosophers , be summoned as convicting witnesses ; or empannell'd as a condemning jury , but lay aside their nominal , though seemingly real authority , and bind not your souls to a continued credulity of their positions ; but preserve your souls free to your selves . in the reading of the learned monuments of former ages , let not the popular fancy of their general applause , bewitch you into a blind belief of all their notions . far be it from me to stain their credit , or detract from their learning , who alwayes had exhibited by me almost a divine adoration , there is no earthly glory competible to theirs : they were the men that first took infant philosophie into their arms , and nourished it up to so incredible a strength and stature , that those lofty souls seemed to have cut off from succeeding ages , the hope of an addition to their labours , and to an advancement of learning . yet as for the deep search of the winding creeks of nature , and for the exquisite knowledge of her concealed mysteries , the growing age of philosophie , even in its own judgement , did not comprehend them , these were brought forth by the fertile brains of future times , they brought to light obscurities , they polish'd rough-hewn principles , they propt up perplexities . so did knowledge get its accomplishment by age , and truth its perfection by time , which demonstrates the vigour of our present years , and that the number of things we know , is far less than of those of which we are ignorant . philosophy is not like a garment , as that age should wear it or worse it , and they that pretend a gray head to their errours , by this seek not so much to patronize it , as to discredit it . forbear i beseech you , by an unadvised censure , to condemn me without plea , if i shall seem to unsettle the boundaries of philosophy , be not angry , and accuse me as sacrilegious , but consider whether i do not aym at their settlement rather than otherwise ? whether i do not rather confirm than weaken her priviledges ? whether i do not rather honour than impayr her royalty ? upon which grounds i hope she will , as by way of requital , not deny me her assistance , as a buckler against the delusions of sophisters , and a breast-plate against the environed darts of either envy or ignorance . these beasts will bark , the first pining at anothers good , the second raging in its own clouds , both break into the cultivated gardens of knowledge , and the delightfull paradise of philosophy , and either snip or blast the endeavours of a more fortunate genius . these to no purpose strive to stop my course by their frights , i am seated above their highest reach ; as long as i can see the deity of truth , under her patronage i walk , i work secure . onely be you pleased to accept these sprinklings of my retirement , with the same soul it is presented , if any thing seem in it to disrellish , deal so gently as that you may seem rather not to comply , than wholly to refuse . i shall in the interim reach my end , if my pains shall cause you to fall upon greater attempts with better success . enchyridion physicae restitutae . or , a summary of the physicks recovered . the first rule . god is an eternal being , an infinite oneness , the radical principle of all things , whose essence is an incomprehensible light ; his power , omnipotency ; whose beck is an absolute act . he that dives deeper , is swallowed up in a trance and silence , and is lost in the abyss of unfathomed glory . . most of the ancients conceived the world from eternity to have been figured in its archetype , and original , which is god , who is all light : before the creation of the universe he was a book rowld up in himself , giving light onely to himself ; but , as it were , travailing with the birth of the world , he unfolded himself , and that work which lay hid in the womb of his own mind , was manifested by extending it to view , and so brought forth the idaeal-world , as it were in the transcript of that divine original , into an actual and material world . this is hinted by trisgmegist , when he says , that god changed his form , and that all things were in a sudden revealed and brought to light . for the world is nothing else but the disclosed image of an occult deity . this beginning of the world the ancients seem to have denoted by the birth of their pallas , out of the brain of their jupiter , by the mid-wiffery of vulcan , that is , by the help of divine fire or light . . the eternal parent of all things , not less wise in governing , than powerfull in creating , did so orderly dispose the whole organical frame of the world , that the highest are so intermixt with the lowest , and the lowest interchangeably and inconfusedly with the highest , and have an analogical likeness , so that the extreams of the whole work by a secret bond , have a fast coherence between themselves through insensible mediums , and all ●●●●gs do freely combine in an obedience to their supream ruler , and to the benefit of the inferiour nature , onely being subject to a dissolution at the will of him who gave them their constitution . wherefore it is well said of hermes , that whatsoever is below , hath an assimulation to somewhat above . he that transfers the sovereign order of the universe to any nature diverse from the nature of god , denies a god . for it cannot be just to conceive any other uncreated deity of nature , as the cause of the production or conservation of the seve●al individuals of this large frame of the world , besides that spirit of the ●ivine worker , which lay upon those first waters , and brought forth the seeds of all things , confusedly rowld ●n the first chaos , from their power into act , and wheeling them by 〈◊〉 perpetual alteration , doth mannage them geometrically by composition and resolution . . he that knows not the soul o● the world to be that spirit , the creatour and governour of the world , by its cont●●●ed infusion , o● its breathing upon the works of nature , and by its enlarged diffusio● through all things , giving to al● things a set , but secret motion according to their kind : he is wholly an ignaro of the laws of the universe for he that created , cannot but assume the power of ruling what is created , and it must be acknowledged , that all things have their creation , generation and conservation by the same spirit . . notwithstanding this , he thi● shall grant nature the honour of being the second universal cause attending on the first , and as it wer● an instrument moved by it , and 〈◊〉 giving , according to a material order , an immediate motion to ever● thing in the world , will not spe●● what disagrees with the opinion 〈◊〉 philosophers or divines , who 〈◊〉 that natura naturans : i. nature giving nature : this , natura naturata , nature made nature . . he that is verst in the secrets of nature , will acknowledge this second nature the attendant of the first , to be the spirit of the universe , or the quickening virtue of that light created in the beginning , and contracted into the body of the sun , and endowed with an hidden faecundity . zoroaster and heraclit called this the spirit of fire , the invisible fire , the soul of the world . . the order of nature is nothing else than a large rowl of the eternal laws , which being enacted by the highest sovereign , and recorded and written in various leaves to innumerable people of a various nature , by the auspicious power of which laws , the frame of the universe doth accomplish its motions , life and death always atttending on the margins of the last volume , and the other spaces being taken up by alternal motions . . the world is as it were a smithswork made orbicular , the links of the chain enclasping it , each the other , are the parts of the world , nature as it were deputed to sit in the middle , always present , and ever working , continually repairs the changes and motions of all things . . the whole world , as it hath its constitution from a three-fold nature , so hath it its distinction into a three-fold region , viz. the super-celestial , the celestial , the sub-celestial . the super-celestial is that which is otherwise termed the intelligible , it is altogether spiritual and immortal , having the nearest approch to the divine majesty . the celestial is seated in the middle , which having allotted to her the portion of the most perfect bodies , and being replenished with spirits , doth pour out by the conveyance of spiritual channels , numberless efficacies and vital breathings , not enduring a corruption , onely having attained its period subject to change . lastly , the sub-celestial , or elementary region , hath its assignment in the lowest portion of the world . this being wholly of a corporeal nature , doth enjoy spiritual gifts and benefits , ( the chief of which is in life ) by loan onely , and upon request , being as it were to repay heaven for it . in the bosom of this region there is no generation without corruption , no birth without death . . it is enacted and setled by the laws of the creation , that the lowest things should immediately be subservient to the middle , the middle to those above , these to the subpream rulers beck . this is the symmetry , the order of the whole universe . . it is the excepted priviledge alone of the creatour , as he created all things according as he pleased out of nothing , so to reduce what he hath created into nothing : for whatsoever being or substance hath an impress from him , cannot deny subjection to him , but is prohibited by natures law , to return to a non-entity . therefore trismegist did truly assert , that nothing in the world doth die , but pass into a change , for mixt bodies have their composition from the elements , which by natures rotation are again resolved into the elements . hence is this sequel , that by natures cost all 's cloth'd with what 's its own , nothing is lost . . the philosphers did believe a first matter to be of an elder birth to the elements , but this as it was ▪ but scarce apprehended by them , so was it as briefly , and as it were in the clouds , and obscurely handled by them , they made it void of qualities and accidents , yet the first subject of them without quantity , yet by which all things have their dimensions , endowed with simplicity , yet capable of contraries , without the reach of sensible knowledge , yet the basis of sensible , drawn out through all places , yet unperceiveable covetous of all forms , tenacious of none , the root of all bodies , yet not sensible but conceiveable , onely by an act of the intellect : lastly , nothing in act , all things in aptitude . so have they laid a fancy for the foundation of nature . . aristotle more wary , though he believed the eternity of the world , yet hinted a certain first and universal matter . in the discussion of this he used sobriety and ambiguity , alwayes avoiding its creeks and perplexities , so that he opined it better to conceive * one inseparable matter of all things , which yet hath a respective difference , from which , the first bodies with the rest , which are under sense , have their subsistence ; that this is the first principle of them , and not to be separated from them , † but always joyned with a repugnancie , always subject to contraries , from which the elements are produced . . the philosopher had been righter , if he had asserted that first matter free from the conflict of contraries , and disengaged from that pretended repugnancy , since there is no contrariety inherent in the very elements , but what is the result of the intention of their qualities , as we are informed by the daily experience of fire and water , in which , whatsoever opposition there is , ariseth from the heightening of their qualities . but in the proper and true elements , which couple in the generation of mixt bodies , those qualities which are in a remiss degree in them , are not repugnant each to other : for their temperature doth not admit a contrariety . . thales , heraclitus , and hesiodus accounted water the first matter of all things , to whose opinion the writer of the holy genesis seems to consent : this they call an abyss and water , by which i guess they understood not our ordinary water , but a kind of sume , or moist and dark vapour , roaving here and there , and driven in an uncertain motion without any certain order . . i am not at present able to lay down any positive determination concerning that first principle of things , since it being created in the dark , could never by mans invention be brought to light , therefore whatsoever the troup of philosophers and divines do opine , whether these things are so or no , the authour of nature alone knows , therefore pardon is to be allowed to him that in dark doctrines hits what is most likely . . some of the rabbines agreeing , conceived an ancient , but obscure and inexpressible principle , the matter of all improperly called hyl● , which is more properly termed not so much a body , as a large shadow , not a thing , but a dusky image of a thing , or the smoaky appearance of an entity , a most dark night , a covert of clouds , actually all nothing , potentially all things which cannot be found but in fancie , and understood in a dream . our imagination cannot exhibit to us this doubtfull principle , this depth of darkness , no more than our talk can through the ears imprint the knowledge of the sun into a man that was born blind . . the same men had an opinion that god brought forth and created the nearest approching matter of the elements and the world , to wit , that dark , formless , and indigested abyss out of that farthest principle : the scripture calls this mass sometimes earth void and emptie , sometimes waters , although actually it were neither , yet potentially and by way of assignment , it was both : we may give a propable guess that it was not unlike to a dark smoak or vapour ▪ in which was closed a stupifying spirit of cold and darkness . . the division of the higher waters from the lower , expressed in genesis , seems to be done by the severing the subtile from the thick , and as it were a thin spirit from that smoaky body ; there was needfull therefore of that lightsom spirit proceeding from the word of god . for light , which is a fiery spirit , by separating things of a diverse nature , did drive down the thicker darkness from the nearest and highest region , and uniting the matter of one and the same kind , being of a thin and a more spiritual substance , inflamed it as an unquencheable oyl , to burn before the throne of the divine majesty . this is the empyraean heaven , seated between the intellectual and material heaven , as the horizon and finitor of each , receiving spiritual endowments from that above , and deriving them down to the inferiour adjoyning middle heaven . . reason required that this dark abyss , or next matter of the world , should be watry and moist , that it be the better subject to be attenuated , and that by this flux of the matter by attenuation , the whole frame of the heavens and of the rest of the fabrick , might issue forth , and might be laid out in a continuous body . for it is the property of moisture to flow , and the continuity of every body is the effect of the moisture of it . for moisture is the glue and joyncture of elements and bodies . but fire acting upon moisture by heat , doth rarifie , for heat is the instrument of fire , by which it doth act two opposite works by one and the same labour , separating the moist nature from the earthy , & by rarifying that , condenseth this : so that by the separation of the things of a diverse , proceeds a congregation of things of the same nature . by this first principle of chymistry , the uncreated spirit , the artifex of the world , did distinguish the confused natures of things . . the architectonique spirit of the world began the work of creation from two universal principles ; the one formal , the other material , for otherwise what is the meaning of the words of the prophet , gen. . god created the heaven and the earth ? &c. unless that in the beginning of the information of the matter , he distinguished it into two chief principles , a formal and a material heaven and earth ; by the word earth , is to be understood that dark , and as yet unshaped mass of the waters and abyss , as is apparent by the subsequent words , ( the earth was void and without form , and darkness was upon the face of the depth , &c. ) which the creatour did shut in and comprise within the highest , to wit , the empyrean heaven , which is natures first formal , though farthest principle . . for the spirit of god , which is the brightness of the deity , being poured out upon the waters , that is , upon the moist and large surface of the depths , in the very moment of creation , light presently broke up , which in the twinkling of the eye , surprized the highest and more subtile part of the matter , and encompassed it as it were with a fringe , and border of light , as that lightening is which is darted from the east to the west , or like a flame which fires the smoak . so was the birth of the first day , but the lower portion of darkness devoid of light , continued night , and so the darkness had its division into day and night . . concerning that first heaven , that formal principle , it is not declared to have been void , empty , and wrapt in darkness , which is a sufficient evidence , that that heaven which was first spread out , was forthwith severed by the light from the subjacent dark mass , by reason of the nearness of the glory and majesty of god , and the presence of that lightsom spirit flowing from it . . there was therefore in the beginning two principles of all things created , one full of light , and bordering upon the spiritual nature , the other wholly corporeal and dark ; the first , that it might be the principle of motion , light , and heat ; the second , of a drowsie , dark , and cold being : the first active and masculine , the other the passive and feminine principle . on the part of the former comes a motion in the elementary world to generation , from whence proceeds life ; from the other part comes the motion to corruption , the principle of death . so that is the double fringe or border of the lower world . . but because love is extensive , and acts without from it self , the divine nature impatient of its solitude , and taken with its own beauty in the light already created , as in a mirrour , and earnestly desirous to enlarge it , and to multiply his image , commanded that light to be extended and propagated . then the light , the fiery spirit issuing from the divine understanding , and rowling it self in a circulation , began to work upon the nearest darkness , and having prevailed upon it , and sunk it down towards the centre , and there sprung forth the second day , and there was seen the second mansion of light , or the second heaven , comprizing all the airy region , in whose higher region are so many torches kindled and scattered : in the lower are seated the seven wandering stars according to their order , that they might , as so many presidents and rulers , give orders by their light , motion and influence to the subjacent nature . . and least any thing should be defective in this great work , already drawn out in the mind of god , the same spirit by his glittering and fiery sword beat off the banded darkness , and that shade that lay under him , and thrust it down into the centre of the abyss , so the lowest part of the heavens was enlightened , which we rightly term air , or the lowest heavens : then was the third day . but the darkness which at first did overcast the whole face of the abyss , being thrust down by the supervening light into the lowest region , was so thickened by reason of the straitness of the room , and the binding force of the cold , that it passed into a huge mass of a watry nature , the kernel and centre of the whole workmanship , as it were a dale and heap of darkness , being poiz'd in the middest of the waters , and bound up of the dregs and thick matter of the abyss , into a firm and dark body of earth . after this , upon the driving of the spirit , the waters fled from the surface of the earth , casting themselves about the borders of it , and there appeared drie land , that it might produce almost an infinite number of several sorts of plants , and receive as guests so many kinds of creatures , especially man the lord of all , and provide to them food , and to man a plentifull sufficiency of all conveniencies . the earth therefore and the water made one globe , by reason of whose thickness , the shadow , the image of the dark abyss , doth continually beset the whole region of the air bordering upon it , and opposite to the sun , for it shuns and flies the assayling light , and so in the assault is upon a continual retreat . . that light , which upon the conquest and destruction of the darkness , had seized upon and spread it self upon the parts of the abyss , it seemed best to the great creatour to contract into that most resplendent and illustrious for quantity and quality , for bigness and beauty , that globe of the sun , that as the light was more narrowly pent , so it might be more efficaciously powerfull , and might dart its beams with more vigour , as also that the created light , the nearest approching nature to the divine glory , proceeding from an uncreated unity , might through its unity be poured out upon the creatures . . from this glorious lamp of the world do all the other bodies borrow light ; for that dark shade which we sensibly perceive in the globe of the moon , by reason of the neighbouring earth , and the extension of her shadow , we may credibly guess the like to be in the other globous bodies , though not perceivable by reason of their distance . indeed the prime and most principal nature of sensibles , the fountain of light , ought to be one , from which these things below might receive the breath of life . whence is that true saying of the philosopher , the sun and man beget man . . it was not an improbable assertion of some of the philosophers , that the soul of the world was in the sun , and the sun in the centre of the whole . for the consideration of equity and nature seem to require , that the body of the sun should have an equal distance from the fountain and rise of created light , to wit , the empyrean heaven , and from the dark centre the earth , which are the extreams of the whole fabrick , whereby this lamp of the world , as a middle nature and joyner of both extreams , might have its scite in the middle , that it may the more commodiously receive the rich treasuries of all powers from the chief spring , and upon a like distance convey them to things below . . before the contraction of this light into the body of the sun , the earth spent an idle time in its solitude , looking for a male , that being impregnated by his copulation , it might bring forth all sorts of creatures , for as yet it had been delivered onely of abortives and embryoes , to wit , of vegetables onely . for the weak and faint heat of that scattered light , could not get the conquest of that moist and cold matter , nor put forth its virtue in any higher actings . . from the light therefore the elements , as well as the first matter , had their information , and so attained a joynt nature of light , and by kindred a fast friendship betwixt themselves , not according to the vulgar opinion , an hatred and quarrel ; they embrace each the other with a common bond of friendship , that they may joyn themselves to the making up of several mixed bodies , according to their several kinds . but the light of the sun being of a far greater power than this former , is the form of all forms , or the universal form which doth convey all natural forms in the work of generation , into the disposed matter and seeds of things . for every particular nature hath within it a spark of light , whose beams do in a secret māner attend with an active & motive power . . it was necessary that the entire portion of the first matter , allotted to this lower region , as well as the elements who did flow from it , should be seasoned from the beginning with a light tincture of that first light , whereby they might be the better fitted to receive that greater and more powerfull light in the information of mixt bodies . so fire with fire , water with water , light with light being homogeneous bodies , have a perfect union . . from the sight & efficacy of the sun , we may inferre that he is in the stead of an heart to the universe , for from him is life derived to all parts , for light is the chariot of life , yea , the fountain and next cause , and the souls of creatures are the beams of that heavenly light , which do breath life into them , exempting onely the soul of man , which is a ray of the super-celestial and uncreated light . . god hath imprinted in the sun a threefold image of his divinity , the first in his unity , for nature cannot away with a multiplicity of suns , no more than the deity can with a plurality of gods , that so one may be the spring of all . secondly , in its trinity , or his threefold office . for the sun , as gods vicegerent , doth dispense all the benefits of nature by light , motion , and heat : from hence is life , which is the supream and most accomplisht act of nature in this world , beyond which cannot go , unless backward . but from light and motion issues heat , as the third in the trinity proceeds from the first and the second person . lastly god , who is the eternal light , infinite , incomprehensible , could express and demonstrate himself to the world onely by light . let none therefore wonder , why the eternal sun did beautifie that most excellent draught of himself , which was his own making , that heavenly sun with so great endowments , for in him hath he pitcht his pavilion . . the sun is a transparent mirrour of the divine glory , which being seated above the sense & strength of material creatures , did frame this glass , by whose resplendency the beams of his eternal light might be communicated by reflection to all his works , and so should by this reflection be rendered discernable . for it is beyond the capacity of any mortal to have any immediate view of that divine light . this is the royal eye of the divinity which doth conferre by his presence , life , and liberty to his suppliants . . the last work of this great worker , and as it were the corolary and shutting of all , man enters 〈◊〉 summary of the worlds fabrick , 〈◊〉 small draught of the divine nature . the creatour deferred his making to a part of the sixth light , ●nd the last of all his working , that the rich furniture of nature , and ●ll endowments of things both above ●nd below , might bring their confluence to the humane nature as to another pandora . thus the things of the world being ordered , man wanted onely to be annexed as the perfection of all ; whereby nature , being now strengthened by a various light , might bring into his perfect temperature more refined elements , and that there might be the best clay for the forming of so exquisite a vessel . yea , the lower globe and the inhabitants of it did require such a governour , lest otherwise they might refuse his rule . upon the sixth day from the creation , the third day of the suns rising , did man rise out of the earth : by the time of his production , and the number of the days is shadowed forth a great mysterie . for as upon the fourth day of the creation the whole light of the heaven was gathered into the single bodie of the sun , and on the third day from the making of the sun , which was the sixth day from the beginning of the creation , the clay of the earth received the breath of life , and was formed into a living man the image of god : so on the fourth millenary day from the beginning of the world the uncreated sun , viz. the divine nature , infinite and never before comprehended within any bounds , was willing to be comprized , and in a manner shut into the cage of an humane bodie . upon the third day or millenarie ( for a thousand years with god are but as one day ) after the first rising of that sun , and about the end of the sixth day , to wit , of the millenarie from the creation , shall fall out the glorious resurrection of the humane nature in the second coming of that supream judge , which was also praesignified to us by his blessed resurrection on the third day . so did the prophet in his genesis roul up the secret age and destinie of the world . although the almightie , according to his pleasure , created the world , yet could have brought it out of darkness into light ( if his will had so been ) in a moment , and by a beck : for he said , and it was so . yet the order of creation of principles , and successively of the natures according to their times , was set in the mind of god , which order , rather than the work it self of creation , that sacred philosopher seems to describe in his genesis . there seems to have been in the beginning a threefold way of the information of the first matter . for in what portion of the matter there was an irrational lightsom form , and without proportion above the rest , as in the empyrean heaven , where the light first seized upon the matter , then the form having as it were an infinite virtue , did swallow up its matter , and translated it into a nature almost spiritual and free from any accident . but where the virtues of the form and matter did meet in an equal poyz and a just equallitie , according to which , the aetherial heaven , and the celestial bodies are informed , there the action of the light , whose force in acting is of greatest power , did proceed so far , that it did rescue its matter from all original blemishes , as also from the loathsom infection of corruption after a wonderfull sort , by illumination and attenuation , and this is to be accounted as a truly perfect information . the third way of informing the matter is , in which a weaker form remains , as it often happens , though after divers ways in this our elementarie region , in which the appetite of the matter , which is an evidence of weakness and imperfection , luxuriating , and lavishly springing in its basis and root , cannot be sufficiently satisfied , by the reason of its remotion and distance from its former principle , neither can this weakness be cured . hence the matter not being fully informed according to its desire , languisheth under the desire of a new form , which having attained , it doth bring to it , as to its husband , the dowrie , a large wardrobe of corruption and faults . this sullen , perverse wrangling and inconstant matter , doth always burn for new beds , greedily wooing all forms which it longs for if absent , hates , if present . by which it is evident , that the leaven of alteration and corruption , and at length the fatal venom of death do happen , not from the repugnancie of qualities , but from an infected matrix , and from the menstruous poyson of a dark matter , and this causeth it so to fall out both in elements and in the mixt bodies of this lower region : because the form weakned and insufficient by its defilement and imperfection , and being not of a just poiz and assize , could not purge it out in its first and radical union . this is confirmed by holy writ , in which we may observe our first parent was not created according to his matter immortal , but that he might be guarded from the tincture and corruption of the matter , and therefore god set in paradise a tree abounding with the fruit of life which he might make use of as his assertour & guardian from the frailty of his matter , and the bondage of death , from the presence and use of this he was sequestrated after his fatal fall , and final sentence . two there were therefore first principles of nature , before which were none , after which all , to wit the first matter , and its universal form , by the copulation of which issued the elements as second principles , which are nothing else but the first matter diversly informed ; out of the mixture of this is made the second matter , which is the nearest subject of accidents , and doth receive the various turns of generation and corruption . these are the degrees , this the order of the principles of nature . . those who annex to the matter and form , a third principle , viz. privation , do blast nature with a calumnie , far from whose purpose it is to admit a principle that shall go counter to her intention , but her end in generation being to obtain a form , to which privation is adverse , certainly this cannot be part of natures aim : they had spoken more to the purpose , if they had made love a principle of nature , for the matter being widowed in its form , covets eagerly the embracing of a new . but privation is the meer absence of a form , upon which ground the honourable title of being a principle of nature , is no way due to it , but rather to love , which is a mediatour betwixt that which desires , and that which is desired , betwixt what is beautifull , and what is deformed , betwixt matter and form . . corruption is far nearer than privation to the principle of generation , since that is a motion disposing the matter to generation by successive degrees of alteration ; but privation acts nothing , is of no work in generation , but corruption doth both promove and prepare the matter , that it may be put in a capacity of receiving the form , and as it were a mediatrix , doth act pander-like , that the matter may the more easily get a satisfaction for its lust , and by his help may the sooner obtain the copulation of a form : corruption therefore is the instrumental and necessary cause of generation . but privation is nothing else but a meer vacancy of an active and formal principle : and darkness was upon the face of the depths , to wit , of the uninformed and dark matter . . the harmony of the universe consists in the diverse and gradual information of the matter . for from the poized mixture of the first matter and its form , flows both the difference of the elements , and of the region of the world , which is briefly , but truly set out by hermes , when he said , that whatsoever is below , hath an assimulation with somewhat above . for things above and below , were made of the same matter and form , differencing onely in respect of their mixture , scite and perfection , in which the distinction of the parts of the world , and the latitude of all natures , are handled . . we must believe that the first matter , after it had received information from the light , and was distinguished by it into several things , did go wholly out of it self , and was transmitted into the elements , and that which was compounded by them , and was wholly exhausted in the consummation of the work of the universe , so that those things which were closed in her , being brought forth , and exposed to view , she began wholly to lie hid in them , and we must acknowledge it is not to be found in a separation from them . . nature hath left us a shadow of that ancient confused mass , or first matter in drie water , not wetting , which rising out of those impostumes of the earth or lakes , doth spring forth big with a manifold seed , being also volatile by reason of its lightness through its heat , from which being coupled with its male , he that can take out and separate , and joyn again ingeniously the intrinsecal elements , he may well boast that he hath gained the most precious secret of art and nature ; yea , a compendium or brief of the heavenly essence . . he that searcheth for the simple elements of bodies , separated from all mixture , takes a labour in vain , for they are unknown to the most piercing judgements of men , for our common elements are not the simple element , yea , they are inseparably mixed one with another . the earth , water , and air , may be more truly called the parts that perfect and compleat the universe , rather than elements , yet they may be rightly termed the matrix's of them . . the bodies of earth , water , and air , which are sensibly distinguished by their sphears , are different from the elements which nature maketh use of in the work of generation , and which make up mixt bodies , for these in their mixture in respect of their thinness , are not discernable , but are barr'd from the senses , until they conjoyn in a condensed matter and body . there never hath a creature been , whose principles were to be seen : but those things which fill up the inferiour globe of the universe , as too thick , impure , and indigested , are debarred from the right of perfect generation , for they are rather the shadows and figures of elements , than true elements . . those elements which forming nature makes use of in her mixtions , and in making bodies , although they are not to be found out before mixtion , yet in the finished work , and in the compleatly mixed body , because their parts have a correspondence proportionable with the parts of the world , and have a kind of analogie with them , we may call them by the same names , the more solid parts , earth ; the moister , water ; the more spiritual , air ; the inborn heat , nature's fire ; the hidden and essential virtues ; a man may safely term heavenly and astral natures , or the quint-essence , and so every mixed body may by this analogie triumph in the title of micro-cosme . . he that did appoint the first elements for the generation of bodies , alone knows how out of them to make all particulars , and to resolve them , being made , into them again . . let not them therefore refuse the light , who working about the elements of nature , either in the production of some body from them , or the resolution of some into them , create their own trouble , since these elements are onely subject to the dominion of nature , and delivered to her onely from their beginning , altogether unknown to all our art , and not compassible by our endeavours . . the element of nature may be termed the most simple portion of the first matter , distinguished by its peculiar difference and qualities , constituting a part of the essence in the material composition of mixt bodies . . by the elements of nature , are denoted the material principles , of which some have a greater purity and perfection than others , according to the greater power and virtue of that form that gives the compleatment . they are for the most part distinguished according to their rarity or density , so that those that are more thin , and approch nearer to a spiritual substance , are therefore the more pure and light , and so are the more fit for motion and action . . upon this ground it was that reverend antiquity did seign , that the whole empire of the world was divided between the three brothers , the sons of saturn as coheirs , because it acknowledged onely three elementary natures , or rather three parts of the universe . for by jupiter , the omnipotent , who shared heaven as his portion , armed with his treble-darted thunder-bolt , superiour to the rest of the brothers , what did those professours of mysteries understand , but that the heavens , being the region of heavenly bodies , do assume a priviledge of sovereignty over these inferiour beings . but they placed juno , wife to jupiter , to praeside over the lowest region of the heaven , or our air , because this region troubled with vapours , being moist and cold is as it were in a manner defiled and impure , and nearest approaching to a female temperament , as also because it is subjected to the orders of the higher regions , receive their effects , and communicates them to us , twisting it self with more condensed natures , and stooping them to the bent of heaven . but because male and female differ onely in sex , not in kind , therefore would they not have the air , or the lower heaven to be distinct in its essence and kind , as another element from the higher heaven , but onely diversified in place and by accidents . to neptune the god of the sea , they attributed a dominion over the waters . by pluto , the lord of the lower parts , abounding in wealth , they denoted the globe of the earth replenished with riches , with the desire of which the minds of men being inflamed , are bitterly tormented . so that those wise men admitted of three parts of the universe , or if you please , of three elements , because under the nature of heaven they comprized the name of fire , and therefore did they draw jupiter armed with his thunder . . we are schollars to experience in this , that all the bodies of mixt beings , have their analysis and resolution into drie and moist , and that all the excrements of creatures , are terminated by the same differences ; from whence it is clearly evident , that their bodies are made up onely of two sensible elements , in which notwithstanding the other are virtually and effectually . but air , or the element of the lower heaven , is not the object of our sense , because in respect of us it is a kind of spiritual being . the fire of nature , because it is the formal principle , cannot be wrought to any separation or comprehension by any destruction by way of resolution , nor by any art or artifice of man . for the nature of forms is not subjected to the censure of the senses , because of its spiritual being . . the earth is the thickest body of the universe , therefore is it accounted the heaviest and the centre of it , we must assert its nature contrary to the received opinion , to be accidentally drie , because it doth retain most of the close and dark nature of the first matter , but a shade and darkness are the coverts of cold , from whence they flie the light , and are diametrically opposite to it , but the earth , in respect of its extream density , is the mother of shade and darkness , hardly passable by light and heat , therefore roughly knit by an heightened cold . and for this reason black choller is to be esteemed the coldest humour of all , because it is under the power of the earth , the earth under saturns , who is accounted the authour of a cold and melancholick temperature . further , those things that are ingendered in the bowels of the earth , of the substance of the earth , as marble and stones are of a cold nature , although we must otherwise conceive of mettals , because they are rather of an airy nature , and have in them sparkles of the fire of nature , and a spirit of sulphur congealing their moist and cold matter . yet mercurie surpassing the rest in moisture and cold , is beholding to the earth for his coldness , and to the water for his moisture . it is otherwise with those things that are produced in the sea , as in amber and coral , and many other things that have their beings from the sea and fresh waters , which as it is apparent , are of a hot temper , so that we have this instruction both from reason and experience , that the greatest coldness is to be attributed to the earth , not to the water . . but driness doth agree to the earth accidentally onely , and in a remiss degree ; for it was created in the middest of the waters , and the order of beings required , that in respect of its gravity , being sunk in the waters , it should never separate from them ; but the creatour using his prerogative , having removed the waters , gave to it an open surface , that so there might be room made both for the creation of mixed beings , and for their habitation . the earth therefore was enfranchiz'd from its natural yoke of bondage and subjection to the waters , not by any order of nature , but by a priviledge of favour , that so having its face wipt , it might lift up a dry visage to the view of the heavens , and might partake of the welcome light of the world . . every cold and drie is averse from the faculty of generation , unless it be helped out by some eternal helps ; therefore it was the will of the supream authour of nature , to heat the cold womb of the earth with an heavenly fire , and adjoyned to the drie globe of the earth the moist nature of water , that so by the mixture of two generative causes , moist , and hot , the sterility of the earth might be helped , and that by the mediation of the concourse and mixture of all the elements , the earth might be made a natural vessel for fruitfull generation . therefore all elements , and all qualities are in the earth . . the body of the earth was rightly created by the great god of a spongeous nature , that so there might be a receptacle for air , showers , and heavenly influences , and also that the moist vapours being expelled by the force of inward heat , from the centre to the superficies , through the porous passages of the earth , might by a mean putrefaction corrupt the seeds of things , and so prepare for generation ; these being thus disposed , receive that enlivening and heavenly heat . for nature hath sunk in the depths a magnetick love , by the actings of which they draw down , and suck out the efficacy and virtue of things above , which do increase the strength of the information , and hasten the sweetness of vital air . . the heat that comes from the inwards of the earth , is moist and impure , and doth corrupt by reason of the tainted mixture of earth and water ; but the most pure and heavenly doth generate by excitation , dilatation , and furthering the inbred heat to life , even that inbred heat which is hidden in the seeds of things , and as natures secret closed in their centre . but because both these heats are of the same kind , they have a joynt and amicable operation in the act of generation , and are inseparably united , until they are brought forth to life and large vegetation . . water is of a middle nature , betwixt what is thick and what is of a thin nature , betwixt the earth and the air ; natures menstruum , a volatile body , flying and not enduring fire , drawn forth by a moderate heat into a vapour , assuming multiplyed shapes , more unstable than proteus . . the moist element is mercurie , which sometimes assuming the nature of a bodie , sometimes of a spirit , doth attract to himself by his revolutions , the virtues of superiour and inferiour beings , and as it were receiving their instructions , doth trade in commerce as their agent or factor , amongst the remotest natures of the universe , neither will he leave his trafficquing till all the elements of the corruptible nature receive their fixation and purgation by fire , and there issue upon it an universal sabbath . . water , being the nearest in nature to the first matter , doth easily receive her impress . the chaos , the ancient parent of all things , was a kind of subtile and dark vapour , a kind of a moist dark substance , like a thin smoak , from whose most subtile part the heavens are drawn forth into order , which a three-fold difference divides into a three-fold province ; to wit , the supream , which is the noblest , the middle which assumes the second place of dignity and honour , the lowest is inferiour to the other two both in scite and honour . the thicker substance of the matter went to the making of that watry heap , which is a middle nature . the thickest part , which is as it were the dregs of the whole mass sate down to the bottom , and was setled for the globe of the earth . the extremities of this artifice , to wit , the heaven and the earth , did recede more from the first state of their matter , and from their ancient shape ; the heaven in regard of its great rarity and levity , the earth in respect of its great density and gravity . but the water , which was a mean betwixt them , continued a nature more like the first formless abyss from whence it proceeds , so that with ease it turns it self by rarefaction into smoak or vapour , which is the image of the ancient hyle , or first matter . . moisture is more proper to water than coldness , because water is of a greater rarity , and more lightsom than earth , but those things which communicate most of light are farthest off from cold ; the mor●rarity there is in any thing , the nearer vicinity there is to light . wate● retained the symbole of moisture from the first matter the abyss , as the earth coldness . for the architect spirit of the world divided the more thick parts into those two nearly-allied natures . . coldness wooes driness , and invests it self with it where it is vigorously predominant by the constriction of moist beings , and by the desiccation of them , as is evident in snow , ice , and hayl . for it is the work of nature to bind and drie the water , than which nothing is more humid by the proper instrument of cold ; yea , the principal and common subject of heat and cold , is humidity , by both which it is so strongly assailed , till it be conquered : from whence it falls out , that in autumn so many drie leaves fall at the first cold , that the stalks of feeble plants upon the strength of winter , in the height of drought , are void of moisture , and drie away : the cold penetrating doth so scorch , and makes so furious an assult upon the vital humours : hence proceeds flaggy and withered age , at length death comes and cuts down all with his well-set sickle , and sweeps you into his general granary . how then can any one conceive cold to be friendly to moisture , and to be its inherent property ? since nature suffers not the elements to act against each other , lest they should destroy and oppose each the others powers , but an intense cold quickly would bring under a remiss and weak moisture , and would swallow it up all by a violent constriction : so that by this means one of the elements being lost , there would necessarily follow an imperfection in the work of the rest , and a deficiency in the generation of all things . it is therefore not suitable to the law of nature , to invest water with the property of being cold in the highest degree . . out of these solider natures of earth and water , doth nature extract her elements , by which she compacts vessels and corporeal organs : for out of the commixture of both is made a clay , which is the next matter of things in generation : for it is in stead of the chaos , in which virtually and confusedly are all elements . out of this clay was the first father of mankind created , and after all generation issued from it . in the generation of creatures , is a clay made of the seed and the menstruum , from whence proceeds the living creature . in the production of vegetables , the seeds do first fall into a subtile clay by putrefaction , and then are wrought up to a vegetable body . in the generation of mettals , there comes forth a clay from the perfect mixture of sulphur and mercury , and their resolution in a fat water , by which means the mettallick bodies are indurated by a long decoction . in the philosophical resolving of mettals , and in the creation of that philosophical secret , first is brought forth a clay out of the seed of both parents purged and mixed . . water is the base and root of all moistures , yea , it is moisture it self : from which all moist things receive their denomination , therefore water may be rightly defined the fountain of the moist element , or the spring of moisture , whose property it is to wet by its liquour . but those things are termed humid , which do in themselves according to a less or greater degree , contain a moisture , or a watry liquor . moisture is receivable of all qualities , so bloud and yellow choler are humours , endued with their own heat , although they have their foundation in the element of water . aqua-fortis and the like are empowered with a burning and a fiery nature . the burning water , and many other essences which are extracted from oyls and water , do abound in heat , although the root of them , which is water , be cold , because nature doth first imprint in a moist elemēt various resemblances and signatures of its powers , and doth in it en-root and infuse its principal and choice qualities . moisture is the first subject of nature , upon which her prime care is bestowed , her first charge layed out , by whose liquour it doth dilute and mingle various colours , and indelible tinctures : to it first do the spiritual qualities communicate themselves , in it first do they take up their being and actings . . the lower waters being divided into two , do occupy a double seat , for one part of them brimming the earth , doth lean on it as it were as its proper base , and with the earth makes but one globe : the other part flying upward , doth range up and down the region of the neighbour air , and there making to it self many masqued fancies of bodies , and various figures of several phantasms doth reave hither and thither , over-hanging the lower region . . always there is a great part of the waters that keep above , and being driven to and fro by the caroach of the wind , doth post over divers parts of the air , which was in this manner ordered from the day of the creation , by the enacting of the wisdom of god , that so the uncumbered and plain face of the earth , might be unmasked and fited for the generation of things . for the channels of the sea and rivers were not sufficient to receive the whole waters , but if all should break the confining bars of the heavens , and come tumbling down , it would not onely cover the plain face of the earth , but it may be , overtop the highest mountains . such an enloosening of the cataracts of heaven , we may guess , did occasion the old cataclysm or deluge . . water is not onely sublimated into a vapour by heat alone , neither is it onely bound up in a cloud by cold , but to both the virtues of the sun and the stars do contribute their aids , not onely by multiplying the vigours of the elements , but also by a kind of magnetick virtue , attracting and retaining a moisture much or less , according to their different position , and the diverse figure of heaven : from whence we observe the various ordering of years and times ; for indeed that mass of waters is not kept in , so poized onely by the solidation of cold or the air , but by the powerfull order and regiment of superiour bodies . . lest there might seem to divine justice a want of judgements for the execution of his wrath , he made that ocean which is poized over our heads , to be volatile or flying , and withal brought into his armoury those fiery darts , his thunder-bolts , that so the presumptuous sinners that cannot be won by love , might be wrought about by fear . . they are much out of the way , who do attribute to air moisture in the highest degree , upon this ground , because it is easily kept in within the bounds of another , but hardly within its own ; for this is the property of light and liquid bodies , not of moist , and so doth better agree with fire and heaven , which natures are more rarified , than with water and air : for bodies that are rarified , because they of their own will flow every where , cannot be comprized within their own bounds , and therefore stand in need of another . onely firm and solid bodies are kept in within their own compass and superficies , which cannot be done by those things that are of a subtile nature , because by reason of their thinness they melt and are fluid , and so less consistent . from whence this flows that the air is a body of greater rarity , but not of greater humidity . . the air from it self hath no quality intense and in the highest degree , but sometimes hath them upon loan else-where . the nature of air is a middle nature betwixt things below and above , and so doth with ease assume the qualities of those that border upon it , from whence it happens that its inferiour region , according to the diversity of times , hath a variety of temper , which inconstancy is occasioned by the changes of the neighbouring and thicker bodies of water and earth , whose state is easily altered by heat and cold . . the whole air is the heaven , the floor of the world , natures sieve , through which the virtues and influences of other bodies are transmitted : a middle nature it is that knits all the scattered natures of the universe together : a most thin smoak kindled by the fire of heaven , into a light , as it were an immortal flame : the subject of light , and shade of day and night , impatient of vacuity : the principal transparent : the easiest receiver of almost all qualities and effects , yet the constant retainer of none : a borderer upon the spiritual nature , therefore in the tracts concerning the mysteries of philosophers , it is called by the name of a spirit . . the lower region of the air is like unto the neck or higher part of an alembick , for through it the vapours climbing up , and being brought to the top , receive their condensation from cold , and being resolved into water , fall down by reason of their own weight . so nature through continued distillations by sublimation of the water , by cohobation , or by often drawing off the liquour being often poured on , the body doth rectifie and abound it . in these operations of nature , the earth is the vessel receiving . therefore the region of the air that is nearer to us , being bounded by the region of clouds , as by a vaulted chamber , is of a greater thickness and impurity than those regions above . . the middle region of the air is not that , in which is the gathering of the clouds , from whence are lightenings and thunders , which is onely the higher part of the lower region , and the border of it : but that which is above the clouds is to be stiled the middle region , whither the watry being , by reason of its gravity , cannot reach , yet whither sulphureous exhalations , disburthened of the load of their vapours , do climb up , and there by a motion , either of their own , or anothers , being kindled , burn . such are the flaming meteors of divers sorts , which are viewed in the middle region , whence we may guess , that it abounds with a hot and moist , though not a watry , yet a fat being , which is the food of fire . in this region is much peace and a good temperature , because it is not hurryed with the tempests of any wind , and onely the lighter excrements of the inferiour nature are sucked up hither . . the higher region near the moon is all airy , not fiery , as it hath been taken up , though falsely , in the schools . there is the peaceable habitation of the purest air , and as it borders upon the heavenly region , so it approcheth it in nature , for it is not defiled with the least ●mut of the lower abyss . there is a temperature in the highest , a purity but little inferiour to that of the neighbouring heaven . in this place to fancy a sphear of fire , is the shame of a philosopher , which breaking the laws of nature , would have long ere this ruined the fabrick of the universe . . the fire , as a fourth element of nature , was placed in the highest region of the air , as in its proper sphear , by the chief philosophers , being led by an argument , from order and by conjecture , rather than truth . for let no man fancy any other fire of nature than the celestial light , therefore the blessed philosopher in his genesis , makes no mention of fire , because he had before told of the creation of the light upon the first day , which is the genuine fire of nature , and truly he would else not have omitted fire , if it had been a principle of nature , having specified earth , water , and the fowls of the heavens . . let not any therefore fancy , unless sleeping , a region of fire burning next the moon , for the whole air would not be able to bear so great an abundance of intense fire , but it had long ago fed upon , and ruined the whole fabrick of the world , for whatsoever it falls upon it feeds upon and devours , being the designed ruin of the world and nature . . such a devourer of nature is not lodged as an element of nature , neither above the air , nor below the earth . onely he doth tyrannize in the kingdom of nature , either in the height of the air , or the depths of the earth , or else being kindled , upon the superficies of the earth . therefore lullius , a man of a raised wit , did justly account it amongst the gyants and tyrants of the world . it may also be termed to be an enemy to nature , because whatsoever is destructive to nature , is an adversary of nature . . our common fire is partly natural , partly artificial . it may be man borrowed it for the accommodation of life , and for his necessity , from the celestial , by an unition of the beams of it , and a multiplication of its vigour , or else by attrition or the collision of two bodies , the spirit of god suggesting the project to man . . the sovereign creatour of all things , did place the fiery spirit of a kindly heat in the globe of the sun to inspire light , and an enlivening heat to the rest of the bodies in the universe , wherefore many have thought him to be the heart of the whole fabrick , for from him springs the principle of all generation and life . he that searcheth for any other element of fire in the world , doth shut his own eyes against the sun . . the source therefore of the fire of nature , is seated in the sun , whose heat is always of an equality , and temperate in it self , though it be felt by us either greater or less , according to his appropinquation or distance , or according to his direct or oblique beams , or according to the scituation or nature of places . the sun hath been elevated by most philosophers , as the soul of the world , breathing in motion , and a faculty of generation to nature . . the sun is not the eye of the world , as some ancients termed it , but is the eye of the creatour of the world , by which he doth sensibly view his sensible creatures , by which he conveys to them the sweetly-affecting beams of his love , by which he renders himself viewable to them : for scarcely could a sensible nature have comprehended an insensible creatour , therefore he formed for himself , and us so noble a body roab'd in his own glory , whose rays , that nearest approach divinity , are spirit and life . . from that universal principle of life , all the in-bred heat of elements or mixed beings is derived , which hath gotten to be called by the name of fire , for wheresoever a free heat , a natural motion or life lodges , there nature hath hidden fire , as the principle of them , and the first mover of the elements , by which the sensible elements , or the portions of the world are elementated , and receive their animations , yet doth it cleave close to the womb of the earth , being bound up by the earths density and coldness , exciting an antiperistasis . . that fire of nature which is seated in mixt bodies , hath chosen the radical moisture , as its proper seat , the principal residence of which is in the heart ( although it be diffused through all the parts of the body ) as in the prime organ of life , and the centre of this little world , whence that prince of nature , as commanding from its castle , doth move concordantly all the faculties , and the rest of the organs , and doth in-breathe life to the humours of the mixed being , to the spirits , and finally to the whole elementary mass . and being the sun , and vicegerent of the sun doth act all in this little , that the sun doth in that large world . . as the sun , being in the middest of the rest of the planets , doth enlighten them with his light , replenish them with his influential virtues , beget an harmony of life by his enlivening spirit , so doth the solar spirit in the middle of the elementary nature , giveth it an influential light , and gathers the elements together in the work of generation and doth unite and enliven them . . the first agent in the world is the fire of nature , which being seated in the globe of the sun , doth diffuse that vivifical heat by means of his rays , through all the dominions of nature , working in the seeds a power of activity , and setling in them the principle of motion and action , at the removal of which all motion ceaseth , and also the faculty of life and action . . the heat of nature , and the light of nature , are really one and the same , for they have a continual and uniform effluence from the same fountain , i. the sun , but are distinguished by their office , for the heat is to penetrate into the most inward parts of nature , but light is to manifest , and open the outward parts : the office of heat is to move the occult natures of things , that of light , to set before the eyes sensible accidents : both of these is wrought by the rays of the sun . the sun therefore is the first organ of nature , by whose approach or distance , all the operations of nature are variously governed , intended , or remitted , by means of light and heat . . the second universal agent is that same light ; not so immediately issuing from the fountain , but reflected from solid bodies , inlightened by it as the heavenly , yea , the earth it self : for the light of the sun beating upon those bodies , gives a motion to their dispositions and faculties , and alters them , and diffuseth their several and different virtues by the reflection of his rays , through the whole frame of heaven and of our air : for by those rays , as by so many conveyances , are the various effects of several bodies dispersed every where for the benefit and harmony of nature , which are called by us influences . these are the true and first elements of nature , which because they are spiritual , do communicate themselves to us under some airy , or also some watry nature , to whose good act , as to the roots of the elements , we are beholding for the gift of every birth , and of all life . . love , styled by plato the eldest of the gods , was breath'd into nature , begotten by the divine spirit , and hath the place of a genius in her dispositions . in the first division of the world , betwixt the first brothers , she gave the judgement for the partitions of their families , and after had alwayes the praefecture in generation . . the god of nature did fix the first bond of love in the things of nature , between the first matter and the universal form , the heaven and the earth , light and darkness , plenty and poverty , beauty and deformity . the second degree of love from the first couple , which is as it were the loving embraces of the parents , issued into the elements , which having a fraternal tye to bind them , have divided betwixt them the whole right of nature . the third and last degree , is compleated in mixed bodies , which excites them by the in-born and in-bred sparkles of love , to a propagation and multiplication of their like . the divine love hath appointed this treble love-knot , as a kind of magical tye , that it might deliver it self by traduction into all and every part of his workmanship . love is the base of the universe , the cube of nature , and the fastening bond of things above and below . . let those avaunt therefore , who do attribute the concordant motions of nature to discord ; for nature is peaceable and pleasant in all her workings , yea , she is delightfully tickled in her actings . the very elements of things in their coition are wholly lost in love , that they may knit themselves together by their mutual embraces , and of many be made one . . let the academies stand up , and tell us how the first matter can be the first subject of contraries , and how love can lye amongst the brawlings and jarres of enmity ! or that eager appetite , which the prince of philosophers acknowledgeth residing in the heart of this matter , whereby it doth as earnestly lust for its form , as a man for a woman ? will not those enemies , constituting the seeds of beings and the mixt bodies , by their eternal food , at length force love and concord to yield to their ruine . . they that placed a lust between the matter and the form , and yet an hatred and repugnancy in the matter it self , and in the elements , in making these contraries , have made themselves so : for according to the dictates of their school , the soul in all things generated ( onely man excepted ) is brought forth out of the power and privy virtue of the matter : but how can this be without love ? if the matter radically doth lye under the dissentions of contraries , must not the form , which springs from her very root , feel the same portion ? nay , would it not be stifled by them in its first birth and cradle ? what man therefore that stood right in his wits , would acknowledge the rule of these bandetties , to be chief in the nuptials of love and nature , in the very juncture of the mixture of the elements , and of the information of the matter ? yea , who would expect an uniform , and not a monstrous issue from the heterogeneous seed of opposite parents ? . let therefore the philosopher surcease to place the cause of the alteration of elements , of the corruption and failing of mixt beings in the repugnancy of the elements , but rather lay the fault upon the penurious weakness of the first matter . for in the first chaos . 'twixt moist and drie there was no battel fought , nor any enmitie 'twixt cold and hot . it is indeed the vulgar conceit that there was , whereas onely two , no way contrary , of those four qualities , to wit , cold and moisture , agreed to the female , & the matter , and were in it : the other two , which are heat and drought , which are masculine and formal qualities , came forth out of the part of the informing light . and the earth was not called drie land before the drawing off the waters , and the coming on of the light being , which was first moist and covered with waters . . therefore certainly reason it self doth evidence , that those four qualities , which by the vulgar are accounted repugnant , are not extant in the first matter , unless after information . and lest she might endure some contrariety in its solitude , she had other diseases , to wit , darkness , confusion , deformity , coldness , & an indigested moisture , with an impotency , which are all evidences of a diseas'd and languishing body : therefore being infected from its creation with that corruption , it derived it down to its posterity , lodged in this lowest and weakest region of the elements . therefore it is not set down in genesis of that abyss of darkness , that it was very good , but reserv'd that gracefull elogie for the light , and for the rest that were created . . but who is there that hath the least dram of knowledge , will conceive that this contentious repugnancy did flow from the form into the matter , after the union of the four qualities in the matter being informed ? since it is essential to and the intent of the form , to adde a perfection to the matter , and compleatly to perfect it into an harmony and consent , and a temperament according to its ability . . the first contraries through opposing qualities , were light and darkness ; light hath two qualities heat and drougth ; darkness as many , cold and moisture , wholly opposite each to other , because of their intention . but after those two aged principles of nature came together , and the dark material and female principle was informed by the lightsom , formal and masculine principle , and impregnated by the light , the whole matter of the universe ; and all the regions thereof received this priviledge of light , though distinct in the degrees and differences : for that fiery tincture of the spirit of light left nothing unpierced , and the four qualities also at first being in their highest degree , were brought down to a remission in the informed matter , and so closing sweetly , contracted a fast friendship , and consented to a temperature : and so being made friendly , they were entered into the homogeneous family of the elements , that so there might nothing of repugnancy or enmity lurk in the generation of mixt bodies , whereby the pleasing motion of nature might be disturbed . . neither in nature are those four qualities contrary one to another , but onely divers and unlike one to another , neither do they ruin , but unite into a firm league one with another : so heat and cold in a remiss degree , do amicably agree and commix in one and the same subject , that a middle and temperate quality , to wit , a lukewarness might be produced . but if in the intense degree they couple not without a fight and combat , this proceeds from the excess and tyranny of the intension , which cannot endure two qualities equally heightened and adverse , to be partners and sharers of one and the same sovereignty , but there will fall out a tumult . but indeed nature casteth out intense qualities , as bastards and strangers . . let not therefore any fancy that nature admits fire intense into the family of her elements , for such a fire would be fit for destruction , not generation , would not be according to , but against nature , which avoids violent things , and delights in a temperature , in which is no fighting , no contrariety . for the rule of nature cannot away with the rage of a scorching heat , or a wasting cold , or the distemper of moist and drie , but doth pleasingly lye down in a composed temperature . let not any therefore search for the intense qualities in the elements of things ; he will find them in them either less or more remitted . . he is deceived therefore who says that hot and cold , moist and drie , are simple contraries . for the earth , which by aristotle is laid down as drie in the highest , should always quarrel with the air , which is said by him to be moist in the highest : also water that is cold in the highest , according to his opinion , should be opposite to fire , that is hot in the highest : and this repugnancy would inclose by force every one of the common elements , or every region of the world within the verge of its sphear , and by reason of this antipathie , would destroy all hospitality betwixt them . but we are convinced of the contrary , both by reason and experience . for ditches and all hollow places under the earth , yea , the very bowels and pores of the earth are replenished with air , and the intrinsical moisture of the earth , by which , as with their mothers milk , all vegetables are nourished , is nothing else but an hot and moist air , cleaving close to the earth , and handing it as a nursive and nourishing faculty : the pores of the earth are the dugs , and the airy moisture the milk , by which , she , the mother and nurse of things , doth nourish her off-springs , and give them growth . . they , who settle four elements in as many humours , do grant , that nature being moist , is receiveable , yea , is the subject of four elementary qualities : how then can they hold a contrariety in them , which they place in one and the same subject ? for though those four humours are distinguished by their respective differences , yet have they but one base , one common root to all , to wit , humour : for yellow choller which resembles fire , is no less an humour than flegm , which resembles water : and the same may be said of adust choller and bloud , although they do not absolutely , but comparatively confound the four elements in a moist being . . if there were any repugnancy in the qualities and elements of nature , the greatest would be betwixt hot and cold , and so betwixt water and fire , but the nature of these are not adversary , many generations which are under the waters , do evidence : for wheresoever there is any generation or life , there must be fire , as the nearest intrinsical , efficient , moving and altering cause of the matter for generation : hence men , beasts , and the fowls their being have , and ghastly monsters rowling on a wave ; a fiery vigour to their seeds is given , the homage for their birth is due to heaven . . there fore certainly he will be in the right , who shall acknowledge those four first qualities , inborn and essential to the things themselves , and to their elements , to be apt to a mixture by the direction of nature , and not contrary , for they are as it were four organs or instruments which nature makes use of in the perfecting of her alterations and generations . . nature sets up a potters trade , for she is wholly taken with making her matter circular , these four qualities are as the wheels , by which she doth by degrees and wisely inform her works through a circular and slow motion . . of those four wheels , two , viz , those of moist and drie , are most agreeable to the matter , because nature doth turn and work the matter between these two : those two qualities are nearest the matter , because more subject to be passive , and to a change . but the other two , to wit , of hot and cold , are more of action , because by their turns they alter and change the former ; these are passive , those active , & are as it were the active instruments of nature , working upon her passive matter . . let us therefore cast off that tenent of contraries , as contrary to natures concord , and dash out it with a pen of iron , with the good leave of learning , from the depraved table of philosophy , and let us in the room of it , inscribe the symbole of concord , which nature doth acknowledge of the same standing with her self , by whose help the delightfull copulation of actives with passives is procured in every generation . . those , who according to the flying opinion do stand for four elements contrary each to other , do necessarily introduce a fifth , as the knot or bond-tye of concord , as the peace-maker , otherwise they could not receive any perfect mixture , or any temperature in the work of generation , but without a rudder or a ruler would float a drift through the vast ocean of nature , never able to reach a port , or bring forth a birth : and so would they cheat the common genius of nature of her proper end . . for these four being acknowledged by reason of their repugnant qualities to keep up an eternal war betwixt themselves , cannot be united or appeased in the generation of mixt beings , but rather with their mutual conflict rushing in , will procure an abort , than a birth in nature , unless their contrary actings be composed to a peaceable love by the part of some fifth heavenly and tempering nature , which may introduce a temperature void of hot and cold , drie and moist . . that fifth element , as they call it , or heavenly and incorruptible spirit , springing from the light , motion , and virtue of the heavenly bodies upon these lower beings , and preparing the elements for motion and life , and stopping from ruin particular individuals , as far as their setledness will permit , hath merited the name of the salt nature , the tie of the elements , the spirit of the world , to be given it by the searchers of occult philosophie . . if there were any contrariety between the principles of things , certainly it was between light and darkness , by reason of their opposite qualities , but those qualities were tempered by the coition of both principles , and from the extreams became a middle temper , and such were they when they dislodged from the first , and went into the second principles or elements . the extreams are contrary each to other , onely by reason of the intension of their opposite qualities , but those things that spring from the mixture of these extreams are not ●dverse , because they are of a middle nature , and the ●fflux of the union of the two extreams , to wit , of light and darkness . . that out of the mixture of contraries , to wit , of light and darkness , do not come contraries forth but in a temperature , is plain by that of the kingly prophet , breaking forth into these words of the eternal light , he bowed the heavens and came down , and darkness was under his feet , &c. he made darkness his covert , his pavilion in the middest of it , &c. the very fountain of eternal light , that he might exhibit the brightnes of his infinite glory to mortal eyes , did wrap it up in a cloud and dark mask , and brought the darkness to the light , that he might make of the two extreams a moderate light , and so allay the splendour of so great a light , as was not to be gazed on without the ruin of the spectatour ; yea , philosophers do affirm , the rain-bow that was given by god as a sign and token of a covenant made with man , to be produced out of a mixture of light and darkness , that so that symbole of the temperature of gods wrath , existing out of contraries , might be tempered of various coherent and friendly colours . . those that have delivered that the earth , water , air and fire , in their sphears are distinct elements of the world , and are turned each into other , by mutual reciprocation , did but slightly look into the depths of nature ; for it is more safe to call them the compleating parts of nature , or the shops of the elements : for the elements of the world do not lye under our view or senses , as separated in their proper regions , but do lye hid and keep close in their wombs , till they come together in the generation of mixt bodies , and make up a body . but those parts of the world , as so far mutually different , can never have a conversion in them , neither can that one common quality , whereby those natures are linked together , beget such a change , that out of things of a diverse , should be formed a like nature , yea , that they should be turned into the same . . if those four elements asserted by them , do change and barter their rooms , natures and offices , all the compact frame of the world , devoted to a chance and motion , would be in a perpetual fluctuation , which we know is established by god in a certain and constant order and scite , and distinction of parts : for earth will quickly be made water , water air , air fire , and so backward , and by this the centre shall run out to circumference , and the circumference run into the centre , the farthest and the middle parts of the world , shall of their own accord remove out of their places , that so after a long time the order of nature shall be inverted , whilest the top and the bottom , and the bottom and the top change places , and clash together . he who doth fancy this so fair composure of a world , doth not deserve to have so fine a piece termed a world , but a chaos , an abyss , which nature , a friend to order , doth absolutely detest . . they which do say that those extream bodies of the lower world , earth and fire , ( supposing , not granting a sphear of fire ) are turned into each other , do wrong themselves and truth too . for their distant and repugnant natures do disagree from such a change , for the heightened cold , thickness , and gravity of the earth are so opposite to the same degree or heat , subtility , and levity in fire , that they can never be brought to change . besides , the earth , a fixed body , will not yield to fire , but slighteth its virtue , if we may believe the opinions of chymists and common experience , neither doth any thing flie out from it , but a fat and warry humour , both of them not natural to the earth : but if any thing is to be turned into elementary fire , it must necessarily be light and volatile , that it may be translated into its orb and nature . the earth therefore being most weighty , and so the centre of all , being most fixt , and so least volatile , how can it be turned into fire , and be carried up into the sphear of fire , or how can fre , the highest and lightest of all , be beaten down to be essentially united with the earth , contrary to the laws of nature ? it were a more easie conversion of water and fire , because they are nearer by one degree than earth and fire . they that believed , the exhalations from the region of the earth drawn up into the air , and because kindled there , to be earthie , and converted into the element of fire , are far out of the way of truth , for they are not earthie , but rather airie natures : for our air being moist , through the contagion of water lying in the drie bosom of the earth , gather a fatness , and by the consortship of the earth , doth temper the moist with the drie , but when it exhales through the pores and crevises of the earth being drawn by heat , or else the abundance of the matter forcing out , it breaks not forth out of its prison without a noise & crack , whence proceed earth-quakes and openings not without much ruin ; that exhalation , got loose , doth flie up into the region proper to light bodies , and there is set on fire , being digested by its errant motion and heat , more fully into a sulphureous matter . therefore that matter is not truly earthie , since it is neither ponderous nor cold , but because it is made fat and combustible by the concourse of hot , drie , and moist ; it may more properly be called the accidental food of fire , than the fire of nature , or the elementarie fire . that is a bastard , a spurious generation , which for that very reason ought not to have been placed amongst the natures , or been called by the names of elements ; therefore these firings are rightly called by aristotle , imperfectly-mixed things . the same we must conceive of the smoke of combustibles : for smoke being unctious , doth quickly take fire , which is nothing else but smoke kindled . fire feeds upon fat and unctious matter , but the fat moisture of the air is contempered with drought , whence we often may see a sulfureous matter , extrinsecally drie and terminated with drought , as our ordinarie sulfur , gun-powder , and the like ; which though they seem to be outwardly drie , do close within them a fat moisture , and upon the firing are resolved into it . and truly they slip to purpose , that have taken an opinion , seeing stones and heavie bodies sometimes generated in the air , and shot down thence by lightnings , thunders , and breaking of the clouds , that the fire turns to a stone , or is converted into earth , or have a conceit , that the earth is carried up thither . this is done far otherwise ; for that hardened matter was never fire or earth , nor proceeded from the orb of fire ( if there be any ) or from the bodie of the earth , but an unctious and viscous humour , in a manner clayish , shut up in a cloud as in a fornace , is so hardened and decocted , as an earthen vessel by the heat of the burning exhalations , that it turns a stone : hence proceed those darted thunder-bolts . such meteors as these are the wens , weaknesses , and diseases of nature , not elements . in the same , though after a slower manner , is the stone generated in the bodie out of flegm in the reins or bladder . for the microcosm hath also his meteors . the fire of nature is far different from our artificial or accidental fire . the fire of nature is double , either universal and particular , or individual . the universal is diffused through all the parts of the universe , doth sweetly excite and move the propensive virtues of the celestial bodies , doth impregnate and supply with engendering seed this globe of ours , designed for the generation of things ; doth infuse virtues into the seeds ; doth untwist the intangled power of nature ; mingles the elements ; informs the matter ; and finally doth unlock the secret of nature : but the fountain of it is in the sun , who as the heart of the world doth stream forth his enlivening heat as his love through all regions . but the particular fire of nature , is in-born and in-bred in every mixed bodie , and individual , which flows as a rivulet from that general , and doth work all things in this microcosm or little world man , according to an analogie with the sun in the macrocosm or greater world . but who is there that would not stile our common fire , being an opposite of all generation , living onely upon prey , subsisting upon the ruins of other beings , the destruction of life , deputing all things to ashes , rather a foe than a friend to nature , its enemie , not its inmate ; and rather the ruin than the raising of life ? but those fires that are bred in the airie region , are rather engendred by chance , than by any intention of nature . neither are those two bodies of the earth and water , situated next one to the other , convertible each into the other , but onely by reason of their neighbourhood are mingled together ; so that the water washeth the earth , and the earth thickens the water ; and hence is made clay , being a bodie of neither , but a middle betwixt both ; which if resolved by the force of fire , will separate it self into both these natures . the water flying out , the earth settles : neither will there be any conversion of each into the other , for that cannot be effected by that single common qualitie of cold , since the driness and moisture are not less powerful to resist , than the mutual consent of cold can bring them to a conversion . besides the driness and fixation of the earth , are quite opposite to the moist and volatile nature of the water , so there is but one qualitie agreeing to an alteration , and many disagreeings , which will prevail in the combate . besides , here is the help of nature always readie to conserve it self , and doth never incline , unless upon force and conquest to its ruin or change . we may guess the whole globe of the earth , not to be of a less settled nature than the heaven , the moon , or the stars ; for it , if it be the centre of the world , as it is generally received , then certainly the constancie is not less necessary to it than to the rest of the bodies of the world . besides the earth is the same without any essential immutation of what it was from the beginning , and what it will be to the end of ages . but if it did suffer any notable detriment by the universal deluge in the general , or any accidental in particular , as by some chasme , or by the breakings in of rivers , or the sea ; this falls out by the supream order of him that doth change at list , the laws of the whole and every region : or by the discordant harmonie of the world , or by some disease of some distempered nature , rather than by any propensiveness or viciousness of the earth . for all the bodies of the universe do lie under their burdens and diseases , although they be diversified according to the disagreement of nature , and difference of perfection , yet the accidents do not change the nature and constancie of them in respect of the whole . absolute constancie and impassibilitie do onely suit to god alone : but the heaven , water , earth , and the rest of the bodies of the universe shall stand firm , in regard of their essence to the designed period of their age . if any one of those four natures have a propensitie to conversion , it will be strongest in the mean qualities ; for water and air are joyned in greater affinitie between themselves than with the rest , or the others amongst themselves . for they seem not to differ so much in their qualities , as in the intension and remission of them , not so much naturally as accidentally . for since water doth by a right of nature challenge to it self moisture and coldness , it doth also communicate them to the lower region of the air by way of commerce , ( for air obtains no proper qualitie almost besides the highest tenuitie , yet capable of receiving the rest , therefore is it of an heavenly nature , being of it self most temperate , and not addict to any proper qualitie , doth readily receive and-despence the dispositions , influences , and virtues of the heavenly bodies . ) densitie and raritie , which in a remiss degree are of kin , seem to make the principal difference between water and our air ; for which reason god is said in genesis , to have separated the waters from the waters ; as if by reason of the unity of their nature , it seemed more truely to be a division of their situation , than a mutation in respect of their essence . yet these bordering natures , do not entertain any true and essential reciprocation , but onely according to some respect , not altogether changed , but after some manner ▪ and this change is acted in the lower region of the air , which is bound in by the cover of the clouds , and reacheth not the middle , much less the highest region . water being rarified into a vapour flies up , and is rather raised then turned into air ; and that vapour condensed doth resolve , and fall down again . the ancients , being led by the legerdemain of sence , more than the light of reason , conceived this circulation , and returning into it self of one and the same nature , to be the turning of nature into another : but it is found to be otherwise by those that have and use a sharp insight into the depths of nature . he is also deceived that shall call the air simply a thin vapour , because a vapour is a middle and imperfect bodie betwixt the two waters , those above , and these below , betwixt our water and air , yet it is neither of them , because although it rarifie , yet will it never be heightened to the great degree of the nobilitie of the air . it may be made a spurious but never a pure air : neither will the refined nature of the air be so depressed and fall from its puritie ▪ as to thicken into a vapour , cloud , or water . for the right of nature never got that first separation of the waters , which was really and actually done by that architect spirit , and that the established bounds of the parts of the world , which god hath sealed with an indelible signature , should either be blurred or removed by any new confusion . but those that dive deeper into things , will acknowledge the earth to be the womb of the world , the vessel of generation , the mother of a multiplied , and almost numberless issue , which being rescued in the beginning of the creation from the power of the covering waters , and priviledged to it self , was made and remained drie land ; and her bodie being condensed , sunk to the foundation and the centre of the whole , and spread out her lap as a parent to all vegetables , and all other creatures ; yet did she want moisture , whereby she might be made apt for a fruitful generation . gods providence set out a remedie for this exigence : therefore from the beginning was the water made volatile , that so it might be carried up in vapours , which being frozen by cold in this cloud , might by heat be thawed again into waters . by this master-piece of divine providence , was this exigence of the earth supplied , and that driness , which threatened barrenness , was tempered with a large moisture , and the womb of our mother conceived . therefore onely water hath the circulation , to the intent that it might moisten the bosom of the earth , or more truly it is distilled in the lower region of the air as in its alembick ; that so by often pouring in , and reiterated distillations , it being abounded , and having gotten virtues both from above and below , and endued with that celestial nectar , it might more effectually soften the bosom of the earth , and endue it with a prolifical virtue . the chief worker of all , who maketh use of the art of nature , hath added nothing superfluous to his work , nor left any thing defective in it . but the water being the menstruum of the world , doth cherish and contain in it the seeds of things and their elements ; but she having this circulation , the true and genuine elements of things which are in the earth , as in the matrix and vessel of generation ; and in the water , as in the menstruum , are also whirled about . in the vapour therefore , are the elements of the earth , the water , and the air , & have their sublimation , and exuberation with it . they are not the bodies of earth , water , and air , which have their proper sphears , and constitute the several regions of the world , but they are the very spiritual elements of nature , which lye hid and inhabit in them , out of which many bodies , as stones may be generated and excocted in the air . for where all the elements well mixt , do meet , as they do in a vapour , there bodies may be generated ; but when they find not a convenient matrix , as in the air , there are ingendered imperfect mixtures , not by reason of any fault in the mixture , but in the matrix . . the water being seated as middle , betwixt the earth and the air , doth trouble both it by its flowing , and always moving inconstancy , infesting the air with a black soote , and noisom vapours , and often drowning the earth by flouds ; causing tempests in the air , ruines to the earth , and corruption to both ; and it doth assault the region of the one with its levity , and of the other with its gravity ; and doth cross the order of nature , and the nature of times by its defect or excess , yea , doth shake all her borderers with her terrible claps and tumultuous ragings . her nature being altogether female ▪ the supream creatour seems to have bestowed her on the world in the nature of a woman , or a necessary evil , even so doth she arrogate all things as subject to her , and turns those things that were given her for a general good , to a publick ruin . finally , it is the scourge of divine justice , revenging nemeses , which being designed to the vengeance of sin , doth break out to punish , and sets the hopes and wealth of many the very roots of pride , under several shapes of judgements , the scoff and blast of the world . . the universal natures , the more thick they are , the more impure , the more endued with tenuity ; the more purity . the earth , because more thick than water , therefore is less noble , and so water than air ; and air than heaven : and so the highest region of the heavens is the most noble , because it is most subtile . for it is an undoubted truth , that spiritual natures are more excellent than corporeal , and the more bordering upon the spiritual natures , the more they draw nigh to perfection . . the foundation of generation and corruption is in moisture , for in both the travails of nature , moisture , of all the elements , is the first patient , receiving the first seal of the form . the natural spirits are easily united with it , because flowing from it , do lightly return to it , because the root of them , in that , and by that , are the rest of the elements mixed . the moist element hath its circulation no less in mixed and individual bodies , than in the world , both in the work of generation and of nutrition , for it was natures pleasure , that both these works should be performed by the same instruments of condensation and rarefaction , and by the same means , to wit , spirits . . the earth is the vessel of generation , water the menstruum of nature , containing in it the formal and seminal virtues , which it borrows from the sun , the male and the formal universal principle ; from him is derived into all things the influence of the fire of nature , and of formal spirits , in which are all things necessary for generation , the in-bred heat being wrapt up in the moist : therefore hippocrates did rightly affirm , that these two elements , fire and water , could do all , contained all things in them : for from them do issue two masculine qualities of hot and drie , from the other two more of cold and moist , being the female qualities , which so concurring and mixing , perfect the generation of mixed bodies . over those two principal elements , the two greater lights were set , the sun the authour of fire , and the moon the lady of moisture . . nature perfects the circulation of the volatile element , by a three-fold action or instrument , by sublimation , demission or refusion , and by decoction , which stand in need of a divers temperament . so doth the rightly ordered intention of nature , wandering through various motions , directeth her interrupted actions to their designed end , and attaineth the same mark , though it trades through divers wayes . sublimation is the conversion of a moist and a ponderous nature , into a light , or the exhalation of it into a vapour . the end and benefit of it is three-fold : first , that a gross and impure body might be mundefied by attenuation , and might by degrees be drawn off the dregs ; then that by sublimation it might gain the higher virtues , which continually flow down . lastly , that by such an evacuation the earth might be disburthened of its superfluous and loading humours , which seizing upon its passages , do hinder the action of the heat , and the free pass of the natural spirits , yea , do violently choak them . this drawing away of the superfluous moisture , takes away the cause of obstructions , and gives ease to the squeazy stomach of the earth , and makes it more fit for digestion . . but the moisture is sublimated by the impulsive operation of heat . for nature useth her fire as its proper instrument for rarefaction of moist bodies . therefore the vapours that generates clouds & rain , are most frequently drawn up in the fall and spring , because then the womb of the earth doth more abound with hot and moist ; now moisture is the material , and heat the efficient cause of exhalations . nature doth shew a kind of intense heat in sublimation , whilest it is bound in within the terms and latitude of temperature . . demission is the second wheel of nature ; in the work of circulation is the returning of the spirituous vapour into a gross and watry body : or the refusion of a rarefied and sublimated humour , being again condensed , and its descent into earth , that it may dilute it of its exuberant liquour , and suck it up by a sweet and celestial draught . . nature doth intend three things by irrigation . first , that it might not pour out , but by degrees distil its abundant humour , lest there fall out a gulf , and by the abundance of water , the passage for the vivifical spirit in the bowels of the earth be dammed up , and the intrinsecal heat of the earth be extinguished , for that wise and righteous governess doth dispense all her benefits in number , weight and measure . secondly , that it might distribute the humour by divers drops , and by a various manner , to wit , a rain sometimes larger , sometimes less , sometimes a dew , sometimes a hoar frost , sometimes pouring out a greater , sometimes a less plenty , that so it might water the earth according to its appetite or necessity , thirsting for more or less . thirdly , that these irrigations or waterings may be not continual , but by turns and betwixt other works ; for the sun doth in its course succeed the showers , and the showers in theirs the sun , the day the night , and the night the day . . the lightest cold or the departing heat , doth unloose and make fit to fall those vapours that are brought up into the middle region , and there frozen . for an immoderate heat doth dissipate and hinders their condensation , and an intense heat doth so knit and freeze them , that they cannot produce a humour that may be fit to fall down . . the last wheel or action of the circulation of nature , is decoction , which is nothing else but the digestion , ripening , and conversion into aliment of a crude humour instilled on the bosom of the earth . this seemeth to be the end and the scope of the others , because it is the release of their labour , and a receiving of the food , attained by the former labours . for that crude humour , by force of that internal heat , is chewed , concocted , and digested by it , being as it were without motion and in a trance , silently and without noise , moving that secret fire as the proper instrument of nature , that it may turn that crude liquour tempered with driness into a food . this is the compleat circle of nature , which she rowls round by various degrees of labour and heat . these three operations of nature are so knit together , and have such a relation each to the other , that the beginning of the one is the end of the other , and according to natures intention , they do in a necessary order succeed one another by turns . and the orders of these vicistitudes , are so interwoven and linkt together , as that combining to the good of the whole , they do in their operations prove serviceable each to other . yet nature is forcedly sometimes drawn out of her bounds and verges , and ranges in an uncertain path , especially in the guidance of the moist element , whose orders being interrupted do deceive , and they do easily as well as suffer wrong , by reason of the inconstancy of its volatile and flitting nature , as also by reason of the various disposition of the superiour bodies , which do bend these things below , especially moisture , and draw them from their setled track , according to the beck of the sovereign moderatour , who doth use them as organs and instruments to the motion of the frame of the universe . hence is raised the deceitfull and inconstant temperature of this our mansion , and the changed seasons of the year . so doth the womb of the earth , being diversly affected , bring forth either more plentifully or more sparingly , generous or castling births . so doth the bordering air being either pure or impure , produce either health or sickness , the moist nature rowling and tossing all things amongst us . the rule of our heavens is uncertain and deceitful to us , because things below receive their orders from things above , whose natures and affections are for the most part unknown to us , yet let the philosopher set always before his eyes the intention rather than the action of nature , the order rather than the disturbance of the order . we may observe the volubility or flittingness of the moist nature , not onely in the general harmony of the world , but also in the particular of mixed beings . for they are generated by the revolution of moisture , they are nourished and grow by drying , moistening , and digesting ; wherefore those three operations of nature are resembled to food , drink , and sleep , because meat answers to driness , drink to moisture , and sleep to concoction . lest man should dream fancies to himself , glory in divers priviledges , assume to himself as proper onely to him the name of microcosm , or the worlds lesser draught , because there are discernable in his material workmanship , an analogie of all the natural motions of the microcosm , or the larger volume of the world , let him consider that every creature , even a worm , that every plant , even the weed of the sea , is a lesser world , having in it an epitome of the greater . therefore let man seek for a world out of himself , and he shall find it every where , for there is one and the same first copy of all creatures , out of which were made infinite worlds of the same matter , yet in form differenced . let therefore man share humility and lowliness of spirit , and attribute to god glory and honour . the inferiour natures are leavened by the superiour : but the water not enduring delay , doth hast to meet the operations of the heavens , for the air , giving way to the vapour that flies up to it , receives it to lodge in the region of the clouds , as in a large hall , but ere it comes thither , its body being in a manner spiritualized , the moist being is divested of its ponderous nature , that so it might by this addition of agility , the sooner compass its desire , and enjoy the priviledge of an ambiguous nature . in the mean time the sun , the prince of the celestial quire , and the rest of the superiour natures , taking care of the inferiour , do instil by continual breathings enlivening spirits , as so many trilling rivulets from their most clear and pure fountains : but the vapours being thin , and so swimming in the air , or else bound up into a cloud , do most eagerly suck in in that spiritual nectar , and attract it to them by a magnetick virtue , and having received it , they grow big , and being impregnated and quickened with that ingendering seed , as being delivered of their burden , do freely fall down back into the lap of the earth in some dew , hoar frost , rain , or some other nature ; and this mother of the elements doth receive into her womb the returning moisture , and being quickened by this heavenly seed , sends forth in her due time innumerable issues , according to divers degrees , more or less generous , according to the goodness of the seed , or the disposition of the womb : and the inferiour waters also are made partakers of the benevolence of the superiour and celestial , because she goes with the earth to the making up of one and the same globe , and so they receive joynt and common benefits . but by the nature of water is the fermentation of the rest of the elements . but this ferment or leaven is a vivifical spirit , flowing down from the superiour natures upon these inferiour , without which the earth would be again void and empty . for it is the seed of life , without which neither man , nor any creature , nor any growing thing could enjoy the benefit of a generation or life ; for man lives not by bread alone , but especially by that heavenly food by air , to wit , by such a spirit so breathed in , and fermented . the three material elements being remote in the composition of things , do onely obey god and nature , and come not under the laws of art , or of humane invention : but there are three others that issue from the copulation of these , which being extracted by resolution , do sufficiently shew that they are the nearest in the composition of mixt beings , to wit , salt , sulphur , and mercury . and so it is manifested , that there is a trinity of elements , and a signature of the universal nature . these three last elements are the issue of a three-fold copulation of the three former , mercury of the mixture of earth and water , sulphur of the copulation of earth and air , salt produced out of the condensation of air and water , and there can be no more combinations of them named . the fire of nature is in all of them as their formal principle , the virtue of the celestial bodies contributing their influence and co-operation . neither are these latter produced out of any copulation of the former bodies , for mercury comes forth of an unctious earth and clear water well diluted and mixt . sulphur is generated of the most subtile and driest earth coupled with the moist air ; finally salt is congealed of salt and thick water , and crude air . it may be lawfull to affirm that democritus his opinion , that all bodies were composed out of atoms , is not far distant from truth : for both reason and experience do vindicate him from biting tongues , for the knowing philosopher would not wholly conceal , but would unfold in an obscure and dark term , the mixture of the elements , which that it might be agreeable to the intention of nature , must necessarily be done by the smallest , and by actually indivisible beings : other wise the elements could not combine into a continuous & natural body . experience teacheth us in the artifical resolution & composition of mixt beings , which are tryed by distillations , that the perfect mixtion of two or more bodies , is not done but in a subtile vapour . but nature doth make her mixtions far more subtile , and as it were spiritual , which we may safely believe was the opinion of democritus : for the grosseness of bodies is an impediment to mixtion , therefore the more any thing is attenuated , the more apt and fitted it is for mixtion . the three-fold degree of existence in mixt beings , doth offer to us three supream kinds of mixt beings , to wit , of minerals , vegetables , and of animal beings . natures law hath appointed a being for minerals in the earth , for vegetables in the earth and the water , for animals in the earth , water , and air ; yet to all the air is the principal food and foster of life . minerals , are thought simply not to have an existence or a life , although metals from minerals may be said to be endowed with a principal life , both because in their generation there is a kind of a copulation , and a commixiton of a double seed , male and female , viz. sulphure and mercurie , which two , by a long and multiplied circulation , are turned and purged , and being seasoned with the salt of nature , and fermented by it , and being perfectly mixed in a most subtile vapour , are formed into a clay or soft mass , the spirit of sulphure by degrees closing in the mercurie , at length that mass doth grow hard , and is confirmed to a metallick body . as also , because perfect mettals , especially do contain in them a principle of life , to wit , in-set fire infused from heaven , which being dulled by being bound in with the hard outside of the mettal , lies hid as void of motion , and as an enchanted treasure , till getting libertie by philosophical solution , and the subtile artifice of the work-man , it doth powerfully display its refined spirit and celestial soul , by a motion of vegetation , & in the issue , heightned to the sudden perfection of art & nature vegetables also are invested with a vegetative soul or spirit , they grow by a vegetative motion , and multiply● , yet want an animal sence and motion . their seeds are of an hermaphroditical nature , for every particular grain doth contain in it a fruitfull seed without copulation or mixture of a double seed , although in every kind , almost , of vegetables , experience sheweth , there are both sexes to be found . god also hath wrapt up in the seeds of vegetables , a secret spirit , the authour of generation ennobled with a special character , which is wholly celestial , and a ray of the heavenly light , void of corruption , in which is preserved the specifical form under the bodie of every individual subsistance , which being through corruption resolved & lost , that immortal spirit being called out by the vivifical and homogeneal heat of the sun , doth rise up in a new stalk , and doth bring into it the form of the fo●mer . animals , besides their existence and faculty of vegetation , do exceed in a sensitive soul , which is in them the principle of life and motion . therefore an animal , seated in the highest degree of things below , doth compleat the work of nature in her elementary kingdom , doth live properly , generate properly , and in it hath nature truly distinguished each sex , that from two , a third , to wit , their issue might be produced . so in the more perfect beings the most perfect symbole of the trinity is most apparent . man , the prince of all creatures , and of the lower world , is accounted the summary of universal nature : for his soul is an immortal ray of the divine light , his body is a beautified composure of the elements . the inward and unperceiveable faculties of the sense , by which man doth comprehend all things obvious , are altogether celestial , and as it were stars , giving the influence of knowledge of things ; the motions and perturbations of the mind , are as it were the winds & tempests , lightenings and thunders ; the meteors , which break forth in the aerial region of the spirit , do trouble the heart and the bloud . therefore was man deservedly called a microcosm , and the accomplisht draught of the universe . but not onely man , but even every living creature , yea , every plant is a microcosm . so is every grain or seed a chaos , in which are the seeds of the whole world compendiously bound up , out of which in its season a little world will spring . whatsoever beings of natnre have a perfect mixture and life , they have a body , spirit , and soul . the body is made of clay , in which are all things necessary for the matter of generation , for it is most agreeable to reason , that bodies should be made of two corporeal elements especially , viz. earth and water . the spirit is a small portion of the purest air , or the heaven , a middle nature betwixt the body and the soul , the knot and bond of both , the case of the soul , and the conduit of the more subtile and spiritual parts of the body . the soul or form of a mixt body , is a spark of the fire of nature , an undiscernable ray of celestial light , brought into act from the power of the seed , by the motion of generation , bound to an elementary body by the mediation of the spirit , giving its individual being to the mixt body , the nearest principle and the efficient cause of life . it acts according to the disposed matter , and the qualities of the organs . the nature or from of the soul , because it is altogether full of light in living creatures especially , hath so great a distance from the dark and earthy matter of bodies , that this is wholly irrational in respect of that , and this unproportionably more noble , and therefore is fastened by that strictest tye which nature makes use of in her works to the body , by reason of the disconveniency and distance , unless the conjunction and knot had been made by the virtue and efficacy of a peculiar and powerfull mean , therefore did the provident creatour assign a subtile mean , which is the aetherial spirit , which receives and retains the begotten from , and is the tye of it to the body , communicating in its nature with both . these things are to be conceived to be spoken of the celestial soul of natural things , not of the super-celestial and divine soul of man , which notwithstanding is according to the good pleasure of the creatour , brought into a consortship with the body of man by natural mediums . the specifical forms from the first day of the creation , were imprinted in the first individual and particular persons , by the character of the idaeal copie , and that diviue and indelible impress was according to the direction of the creatour , by the way of generation traduced to posterity , that so by the perpetual succession of particular individual natures , the priviledge of immortality might be continued in the kind . it cannot , nor must be conceived , that forms do generate in the matter their like , for to generate is the alone property of bodies , but by an harmonious motion of their organs , they do by them dispose the seminal matter for generation , and shut up in it a ray of light , or a secret spark of life , as a treasure : this is the office and priviledge of the form , as also to imprint its own specifical character on that vivifical spirit , wrapt up close in the seed , which in its set season , doth in the work of generation by the engendering heat , display it self into a soul , whether vegetative or animal , so that what was a formal and hidden spirit in the seed , is now a form in the mixt body . so that occult thing that was closed in the bosom of nature , is now made manifest , and brought forth from a power to an act . the form issues not forth onely out of the power and virtue of the seed , because there is an influence of celestial virtues in the generations of beings , which do heighten the efficacies of the matter , do multiply them , and as it were midwife it to groaning nature , yea , they do get into , and mixe themselves with , and bring in auxiliary strength to the formal and seminal spirit that is in the matter , which is also by its original , celestial . there do not onely meet in the generation of every mixt being , the corporeal elements , but also all the virtues , all the powers of nature in general , and these do contribute something of their own ; so are the parts of the universe bound up together , that they have an unanimous combination for life , and couple by a mutual affection . the natural forms of things though they are potentially in the seeds , yet are they neither of , nor generated by the substance of the lower elements , for they have their rise from a more noble spring , their original is from heaven , for their father is the sun , the heavenly nature the bond whereby these matters are knit together . the specifical forms of mixt beings have within themselves closed a dark kind of knowledge of their original , and are carried up by their own strength , and by a secret motion , like unto waters , to the height of their fountain head . so the soul of man being derived from the divine spring of the uncreated light , is reflected to the same by the sharp sight of his mind , and by the soaring contemplations of his soul , but the forms of other living creatures being taken out of the privy treasury of the heavens and the sun , do by the instinct of nature , and by a weak kind of reminiscency , glance back thither . hence we may observe the frequent prognosticks of several creatures concerning the courses of the sun , and the changes of the heavens . but the forms of vegetables , being for the most part airy and inspired from the lowest region of our air , therefore they are not able to extend or reach forth their power , or faculties beyond it , they do , according to their ability , lift up their heads into the air , as willing to visit their countrey , but they are stopped so , as that they are not able to pass the narrow confines of their bodies , wanting the sense and life of a soul , because there is so little of the suns virtue in them , as will not carry them above the motion of a vegetation . for in the order of creation , the vegetables were first before the sun , wherefore creatures are not equally indebted to him for their originals , and the aged principles of their life , but must acknowledge them received from the lightsom air , as a nearer agent . for the disposition of their matter was adjudged by nature as too weak to receive so sublime a form . but for stones , since they are not so much generated out of a true mixture of the elements , as from a concourse of earth and water , by an external force of heat and cold , they are decocted as an earthen work or vessel , therefore they are altogether senseless , having borrowed a feeble form from the dark and cold nature of the earth and water . concerning precious stones and gems , we must conceive otherwise , for they derive their forms from the chrystal fouutains of the heavens and the sun , and their bodies are the purest drops of a refined dew , engendered by celestial influences , and as it were the congealed tears of of heaven , whence they possess and contain many sublime virtues . but the matter of metals , because it is watry and earthy , and most compacted , by reason of the principal & subtile commixtion of weighty elements , is therefore heavy and exceedingly ponderous , and of it self capable of no motion : but because it is sublimated and mundefied by the wonderfull artifice of nature , in an earthy and stony matrix , as in a limbick , and its mixture is compleated in a most thin vapour , by reiterated distillations , that by reason of its exceeding subtility and exuberancy , the influential helps of the sun and the heavens , get in and mix with it , especially in the generation of perfect mettals ; for this cause , though they fetch their bodies from water and earth , yet nature performing the office of workman , doth so ingeniously make up the bodies , especially of a perfect mettal , that it delivers them to the heavenly deities , as those that deserve to be informed with the most eminent form . it is a work of long travail , but an absolute one , & heightned to the utmost of natures actings , in which heaven and earth seem rather to copulate , than to consent . but the formal spirits of mettals being bound up in a hard cover , do stick immoveable , till released of their bands by philosophical fire , they do produce by their heavenly seed in their matter , that noble son of the sun , and at length that quint-essence of admirable virtue , in which the heavens seem to lodge with , and come down to us . it was provided by the decree of the supream creatour , that a nature more noble should not degenerate into one less noble , or that one more eminent , into a nature that is more base , or that it should , abjuring its native priviledge of birth-right , come under a servile vassalage . superiour beings are coupled with these below , and those of greater power do communicate themselves with those of a less , that they may inform and compleat them by their emissary spirits , which notwithstanding in this do no way derogate from their stock or kind . nay , when they work themselves into the seeds of things , or also into mixed beings , they subject not themselves to a bondage , but do attain a new honour and priviledged power . for every mixt being of whatsoever kind it is , is a kind of an empire , yea the whole world , who hath a spiritual form of her own to rule her , whose office it is to have dominion over the organs and faculties of nature , yea over the whole frame , so that that , which being void and without distinction , did drift it rowling hither and thither in the vast ocean of nature , is now called to an empire . the formal act of the first matter , as also of the elements , doth inform nothing besides the verie principles of nature , therefore the specifical form doth constitute a perfect mixt being , neither is it to be thought to contain any more forms , since the very elements in their mixtion , have the charge of the fashioning , not of the informing of the bodie . it is most probable , that the virtue of multiplication , which lyes in the seeds of beings , doth not flow from the elementary matter as its efficient cause , but from a celestial form : for to multiply , is the most natural and proper action of light , for from one ray are almost an infinite number darted forth ; from whence it proceeds , that the sun , who is the fountain of immortal light , is also in nature the first efficient cause of generation and multiplication : that therefore every form receives a natural power of multiplication from the celestial light , is prov'd by this weighty argument , because it is lightfull and furnished with its native endowments , ergo multiplying ; it is lightfull , because it doth enlighten with its rays the sensitive and imaginative faculties in creatures , that so out of that double faculty , springs a double apprehension & knowledge of things ; an external by the senses , an internal by imagination ; but all knowledge is a light , as all ignorance is a darkness : but there peeps up some enlightening and lightsomness , when there is an apprehension of the images of things , and when that , which lay unknown in the dark , is now manifested by a light of knowledge , for it is onely by the good office of light , that obscure things receive a revelation . god did adde to man a third light , to wit , his understanding , by the help of which he attains by their causes , a far more perfect way of knowledge . all these things are produced by the operation of light , and of a perspicuity flowing out of an enlightened soul . this last action of light is onely proper to man , the two former are shared with beasts as well as by him , for their souls are also partakers of celestial light . therefore reason doth convince , that the virtue of multiplication in the individual beings of animals and vegetables , doth proceed from the souls multiplication of light , and that some rays of it are included in the seed with the aetherial spirit , until at length they are set upon the rising of the sun of life . light and darkness are the principles of life and death , for the rays of light are the forms of mixt beings , their bodies a dark abyss . by light all things live , yea light is life ; but those that loose their life , loose their light , and are hurried into their former darkness , in which they lay close and hidden , before they were drawn to light by the fatal wheel of predestination . the specifical forms of animals , as also of vegetables , are rational , though not after the manner of men , but after a property of their own , according to the virtues and impress of their nature . for they have their vital endowments , their cognizances , knowledge , and their predestinations . the vital endowments of vegetables , are an endeavour of generating the like , the multiplying virtues , nutritive , augmenting , motive and sensitive , and the like . but their knowledge is experienced by their wise fore-knowledge of times , their strict observation of change , as of the orders of nature , in a variety agreeable to the motion of the sun and heaven , in the fastening the roots , the erecting the stalk , spreading the branches , in the opening the leaves and the flowers , in the forming the fruit , in their beautifying , in their ripening , in the transmutations of elements into aliments , in the inspiring of a vivifical virtue into the seeds ; lastly , in constituting a various difference of nature and parts , according to the benign or malign concurrence of the sun or soil . that the souls of bruits are endowed with knowledge , is sufficiently , by their copulations and generations upon set times , their just distributions in the forming and nourishing of the parts of the individual beings , the distinct offices of those parts free from any confusion , the various motions of their souls , the nimble faculties of their senses , the secret spirits , harmoniously moving the members as organs , their proneness to discipline , their obsequious reverence to their masters , the presaging instinct of things to come ; in most a devout worship , an art in getting their provision , in choice of their raunges , providing their fence , their prudence in the avoiding dangers , and the rest actions so agreeable to knowledge and reason , bestowed upon them by nature . but nature in every individual , is nothing else but the form it self , which is the principle of motion , and rest of action , and life to it , in which it is , to which is committed the charge , direction and conservation of its body , as a ship to a pilot. but who will deny the certain predestination of times for the birth of things , unless he fancy a confusion and disorder in the nature of the universe , for she draws forth all those things out of her bosom , according to setled and fore-appointed order , for she had a prescript from her maker for the law of order , and the times of production ; their quickening , birth , life and death have their set times , and do fulfil their designed seasons ; those things that either this or that year receive their being , or return to darkness , are pre-ordained to it , which pre ordination , nature , gods vicegerent in the rule of the universe , doth fore-know by the suggestion of the divine spirit , that she might be ministerial to the compassing of it ; neither do those things casually fall out , but they have a necessary , though unknown cause , yet the grand ruler of all is not comprized within the law of necessity , but appoints all things , and changeth them according to his own will . he it is that decrees concerning all , even the least things , whose decrees want neither certainty nor order . therefore that order , that runs through the series and succession of things & times , hath the law of its necessity from the divine decrees . as all things which afterwards were actually produced and separated , in respect of their matter were potentially in the chaos , so all individuals before they come to light , are in the world in their matter and potentiality , and will in their time and order come forth and break into act , but when they fail and die , they return as rivers into the sea , into that general mass from whence they came , every nature recovering its proper region , and being to be brought again and again into natures shop ▪ are wrought into new beings upon her anvile . it may be this was that opinion of the pythagoreans , therefore exploded , because not comprehended concerning their tenet of transanimation . when the mixt body is dissolved , and the corruption of the frail elements come to a loss , the aetherial nature returns to its native home , and there is nothing left in the carkass but a perturbation and confusion of the elements , having lost their governour , then there reigns nothing but corruption , death , and darkness in the widowed matter , untill she through corruption be made fit for generation , and the virtue of heaven do again flow down into the matter thus disposed , and gathering and mingling the wandering elements , do re-kindle the weak light of a new form , which at length breaks forth , the forces of the elements being corroborated , and so compleats the new mixture . in that corruption which tends to generation , which is a corruption in the mean , and is done with the conservation of the specifical form potentially inherent in the seed or matter , that sublime spirit departs not , but being weak and impotent , is excited by external heat , and begins to move , and withal give motion to the matter , till at length it works more vigorously , and gives information to the perfectly mixed body . the elements as well as the aliments of nature , do begin their generation and nutrition , which are in most respects the same from corruption . for both must necessarily be putrified , and by putrefaction be resolved into a moist , and as it were a first matter , then is there made a chaos , in which are all things necessary for generation and nutrition . so doth the birth and repair of every microcosm bear with an analogical resemblance with the creation and conservation of the macrocosm . the insensible seeds of things , and those mixed bodies which are begot from them , do consist of a threefold nature , of a celestial , elementary , and mixt nature . the celestial is a ray of the light of the sun , endued with all heavenly vigour , the principle of action , motion , generation and life , by whose help the seeds , by their renewed vigour , do resemble the constant permanency of the stars , and being in a manner as so many immortal grafts of celestial plants , ingrafted upon corruptible nature , as upon a strange stock , do by a kind of an eternal succession , vindicate it from death : the elementary , corporeal and sensible portion , which in creatures is called the sperm , is the case and keeper of the seed , which putrifies and is corrupted , and generates an invisible seed . the radical moisture , or the ferment of nature , in which lyes the spirit , is a middle substance , coupling the celestial and elementary , in the material part answering the elements ; in the spiritual , the form . like the day-break , whose cheek being covered with a duskie light , doth knit together the two extreams of light and darkness , and being neither , doth hold forth a mixture of both . life is an harmonical act , proceeding from the copulation of the matter and the form , constituting the perfect being of an individual nature . death is the term or end of this act , the separation of the matter and form , and a resolution of the mixt body . these mixt bodies have the roots of their generation and life in heaven , from whence springs their causes and principles , whence also as inverted trees , they do suck their juice and aliment . neither is it suitable for the understanding , to be envassaled to the rule of the senses , which comprehend nothing but what is sensible . but the mind rangeth far abroad beyond the cloysters of the senses , and searcheth to a greater height , for the hunting out of the bounds of nature . the bodies are as it were the barks , the grosser parts of the elements the accidents of things , under which lye hid the pure and sprightly essences , which acknowledge not the subjection and censure of the senses , and which it was a necessity to cloth under a dark cloud , that they might pass from their heavenly , to their earthly province of the corporeal beings . the supream creatour of nature enacted this copulation of spirituals with corporeals , whereby his uncreated spirit communicating it self , first to the more spiritual and simple natures , might be conveyed through them , as by so many conduits , to corporeal beings , and in this manner diffusing it self gradually and orderly , through all the regions of the world , through all and every being , doth sustain all things by the divine presence , as also that by a sensible creature , the insensible creatour might be apprehended through corporeal and sensible resemblances . whatsoever lives either an animal or vegetable life , stands in need of food , that the natural spirits might be recruited , which do continually slide forth through the pores , and that so the loss of nature might have a successive repair . for the nourishing juice is made by the more succulent substance of the meat , whereby the parts and humours of the body are re-inforced . the radical moisture is renewed out of the purer portion of the humours , especially of the bloud , the celestial influence intermingling it self by respiration with it . living things have a two-fold nourishment , to wit , a corporeal and a spiritual , the former being of small avail to life without the latter . for vegetables do evidently referre the benefit of their increase and nourishment no less to the air and heaven , than to the earth : yea the earth it self , unless suckled with the milk of heaven , would quickly find her own breast to flag drie , this that holy diver into natures secrets , when he blessed joseph , doth thus express : blest be the lord for his earth , for the apples of heaven , for the dew , and for the deep that coucheth beneath , for the pleasant apples of the sun and of the moon , for the top of the everlasting mountains , for the fruits of the eternal hills , &c. by which mystical speech , the prophet fore-ensureth the earths plenty , by the abundant influence of the sun , moon , and of the rest of the celestial bodies . that spiritual diet , as far as it conduceth to the life of creatures , is acknowledged by every vulgar capacity , that sees the renewed respiration , and the frequent sucking in of the external air . for not onely according to the opinion of ordinary physicians , hath nature so workmanlike framed those bellows , bordering upon the heart to cool it , but also that by their continued fanning , they might breath in an aethereal air , and hand to it celestial spirits , that so by their recruits the vital spirits may be kept in repair , and be alwayes multiplied . philosophers do not onely call those spiritual natures , which being created without matter , are onely comprehended by the understanding , as the intelligencies , angels ▪ and devils are accounted to be : but also those that , which although they have their original from matter , yet in respect of their great tenuity & nobility , do not subject themselvs to the search of the senses , and nearer approching to spiritual beings , are rather under stood by reason , than found by sense such is the pure part of the air , such are the influencies of heavenly bodies , such the in-set fire and seminal virtues , such the vegetable spirits , such the animal , and the vital , and the like , in which consists the very nature of beings , than in grosser bodies . such like natures spring from heaven , and in relation to sensibles , do assume to themselves the name and right of spirits . it is suitable that we should give the fire of nature a place amongst the spiritual beings , for in it self it is not perceivable by any sense , but discovers it self onely in bodies , by heat and other effects and accidents . this is apparent in living creatures , into which by this unperceiveable fire , is infused a sensible heat , and that fire with the life stealing away , the elementary body or the carkass , yet the mixed being dissolved , remains sound and unhurt . in vegetables , because this fire is weaker , it doth elude the sense , and is not to be perceived by any heat . reason also convinceth , that our common fire is to be sorted amongst the spiritual , rather than corporeal beings . for if it were corporeal , it should have from it self a peculiar and inseparable body , no less than earth , water , or air , and the rest of the sensible natures , which do consist and are bounded within their proper bodies , which do exist in them and by them , which do act according to their virtues , and produce them to the senses . but fire hath not a peculiar and sensible body , lodgeth onely in anothers , for a coal is not fire , but wood fired , neither is the flame fire , but smoke inflamed ; finally , that robber onely feeds upon what is not his own , lives upon the prey , and is extinguished when this fails , having nothing in it self to feed it . besides , a body super-added to another body , doth augment the quantity of it , but this not found in fire put into wood or smoke , for the smoke or wood is no way increased by the accession of fire in their quantities , from which it is evident , that a fiery spirit rather than a body , doth invade the wood or smoke . a sword melted , the scabbard being untouch't , the bones shattered by the fiery bolt of thunder , and yet the flesh unhurt , do sufficiently argue the spiritual nature , even of that thundering fire . yet we must know that fire is not wholly immaterial , for it hath a matter , though a very subtile and light one , whereby it cleaves to the encompassing air , whereby it may be kept in by a more gross body . yet doth it rather deserve the name of a spirit , than of a body , because it hath not a sensible quantity , neither can it be comprehended , but when it is arrayed in another body . for light the original of it doth evince , that it ought to be seated amongst those things that are truly spiritual . there was no light but in god before the informing of the first matter , & the birth of the world . but when nature received her being , then began there a spiritual light to issue forth from the fiery spirit of god upon the matter , and there to settle as in its lamp , and this was the creation and original of light : that was the first act of the deity upon the matter ; the first copulation of the creatour with the creature , of a spirit with a body . therefore the first informing light , was a meer spirit , which did kindle with its fiery virtue , as with heat , the nearest matter , being exceedingly rarefied by its spiritual light , and so were the darkness converted to light . the heaven , being distinguished by the first light , although it be not material and fiery , yet is nevertheless invisible , because in respect of the matter , it is brought to the highest degree of tenuity , and in respect of its form , is endowed with spirituality . but the light that was scattered in the middle heaven , being bounded into a narrower compass , was cast into the globe of the sun , which was necessarily to be formed into a kind of a thick body , as it were into a smoke fit to be kindled , yet not combustible , that so it might be setled , being kindled by that immortal light , and be in the room of the general lamp of nature , or as a fiery mass . the light of the sun therefore is nothing else but a lightsome spirit , deriving its rise from the spirit of eternal light , gathered in , and inseparably cleaving to the body of the sun , and made sensible by reason of the thickness of the body , communicating to all the natures of the universe , light , and a manifold virtue : constituting the spirit of the world by its non-intermitted influence : and bound up in a body for the good and welfare of the corporeal nature . yet the sun-beams that are perceivable by our eyes , are not pure spirits , for issuing continually from the sun , have their progress , being clothed with the encompassing air . they are therefore nothing else but a continued flowing forth of the spirit of light , which springing forth as so many rivulets from their eternal fountain , and working themselves into the aetherial nature , as a flame into a most thin smoke , do over-spread the whole face of the universal world with their light . it is natural to light to flow continually from its fountain . we call those rays issuing forth , and mixing themselves with the airy nature , and they are the first actings of light in the sun , and the conveyance of it from the sun . for it is the property of a lightfull body , to act by it rays , and to send forth heat and light , and that might spread its light abroad by a darting forth , and multiplying of its beams . we do by light signifie both the first act of the lightsom body , as also a secondary lightsomness which floweth out from the former . the lamp being out , either for want of matter , or blown out by the wind , the fiery and lightsom spirit that kindled the lamp doth not perish , neither is it extinguished , as it commonly seems , but onely loosing what it feeds on , and being stript from it , is scattered in and vanisheth to air , which is the abyss and universal receptacle of all lights and spiritual natures of the material world : from whence we may learn , that the nature of this lightsomness is spiritual , and is derived from the spiritual fountain , not otherwise than natural forms from their matrix , which is the spirit of the universe , perpetually flowing from the sun , as from an eternal and immortal spring . for as the bodies of mixt beings in their making , do rise from the first matter , and the elements , and do gradually at their departure , slide into the same again , so the natural forms of individuals in their approch , do flow from the universal form ( which in the manner of a form of forms , doth inspire a formal virtue into the seeds ) and in their recess do again return into it . but that form is the spirit of the light of the universe , to which , as to their principle , and as to a nature of the same kind , do all single forms and sparks of light got loose from their tyes , return . so are all mixt beings resolved into their first principles , but these principles do return to that eternal spring of nature , as to their proper centre and peculiar countrey . but that spirit of the universe is from the sun , yet not the very light of the sun , conspicuous to us by reason of the presence of its body ; but that invisible spirit , which is continually dispersed by the beams of the sun , through the universal region of the air , and doth extend it self perpetually by communication through our heaven , yea , even to the centre of the earth , and that in the absence of the sun , and in the darkest night , pouring out all gifts for generation and life , through all the bodies of the universe . the divine love was not able to contain it self within it self , but did wholly go out of it self in the creation , by multiplication of it self , and pouring out himself wholly also in the conservation of creatures in themselves . light also , which is the exactest copie of the deity , doth also imitate the divine love : for it is not able to be comprized within its own lightsom body , but is diffused far and near for the good of other beings , by a strong multiplication of its beams , being not so much born for it self as for others , being as it were the token of divine love , communicating it self to its power , and reaching forth into the most remote places , unless it meet with a stop from a thick bodie . light also doth hold forth to us the infinite nature of god ; for the small light of a lamp or candle cannot , as long as it is fed , by all its continued effluence of rays , and by its infinite communication of its flames , be exhausted or diminished . as many beams so many streams flow from it . yet though it gives , though it diffuseth it self , although much be taken from it , yet is it not brought to nothing , neither receives loss , which is the alone property of a spiritual nature , and is altogether unappliable to a corporeal . so the intellectual endowments , as the understanding and knowledge of things , which are justly esteemed spiritual lights , are of the same kind , that though alwayes bestowed abroad , yet are preserved entire at home . therefore must we confess that there is something divine in light . the beams of a lightsom body , although they be of a spiritual nature , yet are they stopt by a thick body , because their conveyance is by means of the air , without which they are not perceivable by us , by which copulation also they are in a manner made corporeal , and therefore cannot pierce or enter into the bodies that are not porous . so spiritual things do act with us by some sensible mean , that so we may perceive them to act . but the lightsom body being absent , the beams also depart , neither do they part from his presence , because they immediately flow from him . but the air is without enlightened , not onely by the presence of a body of light , and of the beams from it , but also the body being gone , and the beams withdrawn , by a lightsom spirit flowing from them : as is clear in the darkest eclipse , or the heavens over-cast with the blackest clouds , or wrapt up in the mask of night , yea , the sun being sunk under the horizon : for that act of present light cannot proceed from the body of light , and its beams being absent , but from the access and presence of a spiritual light . a transparent body as glass , being pointed with the sun beams , doth gather them , and receives in it the image of the sun , and is made lightsom , & as it were a brief draught of the sun , which sends forth its beams on the farthest side opposite to the sun , from which the beams of the sun being refracted , by the concourse of the glass , seem to pass through the glass , which yet indeed they do not , for the rays by reason of the air that cleaves to them , are setled about the glass , the spirit of light onely passing forward , but by the beams which are darted out on the other side , are the beams of the sun , or of the glass being kindled by the sun-beams into a lightsom bodie . every transparent body , especially glass , is a medium of light , because it receives light into it , and having received it , doth communicate it to the air that is beyond it , not by the sending forth of lightsom air about it , which is repugnant to nature , but by another double way . first , because a transparent body yields to , and le ts pass the spirit of light , and doth send it forth abroad being received by it , which sent forth , gets into the adjoyning air , hence springs that plentifull light ; and besides , because that transparent medium is made by the benefit of the light , it receives not onely light in it self , but lightsom to others , and by the spirit of light , which is in love with transparent bodies , becomes as it were a lighted lamp . but now every lightsom body hath the priviledge and power to scatter its light , which is not granted to thick and dark bodies , unless by reflection . those which are the pure natures of mixt beings , are mearly spiritual , the bodies are as it were the barks and vessels , in which they are contained and kept . and not otherwise could those sublime natures , unless tied to the corporeal elements , and so bound in by their weight , pass this lower sea , and lodge in the centre of this abyss . they come subject to sense by their bodies , the bodies are moved and acted by them , so do they do interchangeable offices . this that secret of homers juno , whom jupiter let down with a weight at her heels . since the whole frame of the universe is but one onely body , one onely universal nature , consisting of many natures and bodies , bound together by their proper mediums and bonds , it should not be wondered at , that such parts & members are knit together by a strong , but secret tye , and do give a mutual assistance each to other , for they have not onely a mutual relation to , but also a communication with one the other , and these various natures do exercise a kind of a commerce , the extreams by the middle , the middle by the nearest . but this communication is performed by spirits sent forth : for all the parts of the world , all the individual natures of the world do abound in spirits ; many of which flowing forth , leave room and give way for those that flow in , and so is there by the continual ebbing out and flowing in of spirits , a continual reparation of the world , and of the natures thereof . this is the scale of general nature presented in a vision to the patriarch jacob , these are mercuries wings , by whose help being mistically termed by the ancients , the messenger of the gods , he was thought frequently to visit the coasts of the earth , and the courts of heaven . the active principles of every kind of vegetables or animals are spiritual , their bodies are the passive organs of the spirits , by which they exercise the faculties of the senses , and do by various actings put forth their powers , as the authours of actions , so that in the general life may be termed a concent of actions , or a continued act diversified by the multiplicitie of actions , flowing from a spiritual fountain , and brought forth by corporeal organs . it is the propertie of the spiritual nature to act , of the corporeal to be passive , where therefore there is a concourse of both , as in mixed bodies , that as the more noble doth act and rule this as passive doth obey . for the power of act is the priviledge of ruling , but the burden of being passive is the mark of being servile ; so the in-set fire in the seed , is the principle of generation and life , the highest operating spirit , the archaeus of nature , the orderer in the preparing and forming the matter in the mixtion and distribution of the elements . so doth the form in the mixt being exercise its rule at his will , as the fountain of all actions . so do the virtues of the heavenly beings dispose and seal all inferiour elements and corporeal matter . natural bodies which have an active vigour , and an occult cause of acting , do not , as is commonly thought , act alone by their qualities , but by secret spirits . for the fire doth not heat and burn by the single qualitie of heat , but by the continual flux of spirits and rayes . neither do the earth and water refrigerate or moisten by the alone qualities of cold and moist , but by their vapours and in-nate spirits sent forth , do affect the sense from without . neither do poysons onely by cold or hot qualities , but by malignant spirits bring death or infection sooner or later . concerning plants or herbs , we must judge alike , because their active virtues do not lie hid in their qualities , but in their essence , which nature hath made abundant in spirits , whose basis and principle powers are concerning spirituals , for the bodies are as the shadows or the investments of things , under which the invisible nature is hidden , but since qualities are the accidents of things , are not therefore able to constitute their essence , nor shew forth in their actings those wonderful virtues , but are onely as the in set instruments of actions & passions , which the working spirits , that are the workers of all actions make use of in their actings , but yet nature indures them not as principles and efficient causes of actions . the natural tinctures , odours and tasts of things are special and spiritual gifts of nature , with which it hath suitably inriched her beings , & which do not onely contribute to their ornament , or onely are inherent in them , as extrinsecal accidents , but also have an in-set and radical cause , and are not so much to be termed accidents , as demonstrative tokens of inward virtues , by which the occult and formal signatures of things discover themselves . rarefaction and condensation are the two instruments of nature , by which spirits are converted into bodies , and bodies into spirits , or also by which corporeal elements are changed into spiritual beings , and spiritual into corporeal ; for elements do suffer these changes in mixt bodies . so the earth doth minister spiritual food to the roots of vegetables , which being fed upon , doth go into the stalk , the bark , the boughs , the branches , the flowrs , and into the corporeal substance . the same is done by nature in animals . for the meat and drink , which they diet on , or at least the better part , is terminated into humours , and at length into spirits , which getting through the pores , and knit to the flesh , nerves , bones , and the rest of the parts of the bodie , do nourish and augment them , and do by the never-tired work of supply , repair decaying nature . so the spiritual and the portion of the purer substance , is curdled to the frothie bodie of seed . art the ape of nature , doth experience the like in her resolutions and compositions . the life of individuals is in a rational and strict union of the matter and form : but the knot of both natures , their tie and base lieth hid in the fortified embraces of the innate heat and fire , and the radical moisture . for that formal fire is an heavenly ray , which is united with the radical moisture , which is the purest and best digested portion of the matter , and as it were an oyl defaecated , exuberated , and turned as it were into a spiritual nature , by the organs of nature , as by so many alembicks . there is much of the radical moisture in the seed of things , in which , as in its food , is kept a celestial spark , which doth act all things necessarie to generation in a convenient matrix . but wheresoever there is a constant principle of heat , there is conceived to be a fire , because the natural principle of heat is his in which it is , a man may observe something immortal in the radical moisture , which doth neither vanish by death , nor consume by the force of the most violent fire , but remains unvanquished in the carkases and ashes of bodies burnt . there is a double moisture lies in every mixed being , to wit , an elementarie and a radical . the elementarie , being partly of an aeriall , parly of a watrie nature , yields not to fire , but flies away into a vapour or smoke , which being drawn forth , the bodie is resolved into ashes ; for by it , as by a glue , the elements in their mixture are knit together . but the radical moisture scorns the tyrannical assaults of common fire , but it neither dies in the martyrdom , nor flies away in the combat , but surviving the mixt bodie , doth stubbornly stick to its ashes , which is an evidence of its exact puritie . the experience of this radical moisture , hidden in the ashes , did teach a secret to the glas-makers , being ignorant of the nature of things , for by bringing glass out of ashes by the sharp point of their casting flames , they have made a hidden thing evident , beyond which , neither the strength of fire or art are able to stretch it . but the ashes must necessarily run , that there might be a continued quantitie , and a solid bodie made as glass is , which could not be otherwise , for there can be no flowing of any thing without moisture . therefore that moisture being inseparable from its matter , is at length brought to terminate into that noble and as it were aetherial transparent bodie . the extraction of salts out of ashes , in which is the chief virtue of mixt beings , the fertilitie of ground increased by the burning of stubble , and by ashes , doth evidence , that that moisture preserved free from fire , is the radical principal of generation , & the root of nature . although this virtue lies hid , solitarie and idle , till being received by the earth , the common matrix of natures principles , yet shew forth a hidden facultie convenient for generation and multiplication , as it is also accustomable in the seed of things . that radical balsame , is natures ferment or leaven , infecting the whole mass of the bodie . it is an indelible and multiplying tincture , for it pierceth and tingeth even the more loathsom excrements , which is evident by the frequent , although imperfect generation , that is made from out of them , as also by the frequent dunging of ground , which is known by the most unskilfull husbandmen , that so the languishing land may be set forward to pay its due , and that with an advantage to the expecting labourer . we may guess , that that root of nature , which survives the ruin of the mixt bodie , is a foot-step , and the purest and immortal portion of the first matter informed , and signed with the divine character of light . for that ancient matrimonie betwixt the first matter and its form , is not to be untied , from which copulation the other bodies drew their original . moreover , it was necessarie that this incorruptible base of corruptible things , and as it were the cube-root of them should lie hid , always remaining and immortal in the depth of bodies , that it might be constantly and perpetually a material principle , having a potentiality and aptitude to life , about which , as about an immoveable axle-tree , there might be a continual turning of the elements and things . and if we may have the liberty in dark things , to guess at what is most likely truth , that immortal substance is the foundation of the material world , and the ferment of its immortality , which the eternal measurer of all things hath fore-established to survive the day of the conflagration of all things , when the elements shall be purified by that refining fire , that so he might renew and repair out of this pure and ever-remaining matter , his work vindicated from original sin , and the taint of corruption . that this radical basis is not of the kind of special forms , is evident , because every individual hath its individual and singular form , which doth depart the body upon the dissolution of the mixt being , yet that radical principle remaining unextinguished , although it abide much weakened , and of little efficacy , by reason of the absence of the form , yet do those vital sparkles remain apt for the production of more debased and imperfect births , which production belongs not so much to nature , as to the matter in its birth ; this attempteth , but is not able to generate without a companion , by reason of the absence of the formal and specifical virtue . so the carkass of a man or an horse , by reason of the defect of seed is not capable for the generation of a man or an horse , but of loathed worms and other insects , from whence we may guess , that that feeble principle of life proceeds from the scarcity of the first matter , and rather to be of the family of the lower elements , than of the higher and celestial , yet that there is in it some of that tincture of light . for certainly that slight spark of that former light , which did in the beginning inform the dark matter of the lower abyss , may be sufficient for the generation of insects : for it doth work the matter by a confused and disordered motion , that it might bring forth the power into a feeble act , but the matter warmed by this spark , and as it were languishing , being corrupted rather by the fancy than the copulation of a male , doth rush into the lustfull act , and being unable to bring forth a just issue of nature , doth form loathsom phantasms , as worms , hornets , beetles , and the like , in the filthy excrements . therefore that radical moisture is the nearest and never-ceasing subject of generation and life , in which is first kindled the fire of nature , and the formal act in a well disposed and prepared matter . but in a confused and ill ordered matter , where that humour doth act the part of the male , it begets spurious and bastard births of nature , for that generation which is made without specifical seed , seems to be made rather by chance and default , than by the intention of nature , although in it seems to be a dark and confused kind of copulation of actives with passives , which is required also to the production of every , though imperfect , being . that radical ferment constantly abiding in the depth of mixt bodies , seem to be the band , seat and tye of that matrimony contracted between light and darkness , between the first matter and the universal form , finally of all the contraries : otherwise the matter and form , by reason of their repugnant natures , would not be knit together . but that dark unbridledness of the first matter and its averseness from light was tamed , and its hatred turned into love , by the good office of that lightsom tincture , which doth reconcile things repugnant . the inbred heat and the radical moisture are of a divers kind , for that is wholly spiritual and of the sun , this of a middle nature , betwixt a spiritual and a corporeal , both participating of an aethereal and elementary nature ; that is of the degree of things above , this of things below , in which was celebrated the first marriage of heaven & earth , by which also heaven hath its abode in the very centre of the earth . they are therefore deceived , that do confound the inbred heat and the radical moisture , for they differ no less than smoke and flame , the light of the sun and the air , sulphur and mercury : in mixt beings , the radical moisture is the seat and food of the inbred and celestial fire , its bond with the elementary body : but that power of fire is the form and soul of mixt beings . in seeds , that moisture is the immediate keeper and case of that spirit of fire inclosed in the seed , till it be set on to generation in a disposed matrix , by an adventitious heat . finally , that radical substance is vulcan's shop in every mixt being , the chimney in which is kept that immortal fire , which is the first mover of all the faculties in an individual nature . that radical moisture is the catholical balsam , the most precious elixar of nature , the mercury of life , having a perfect sublimation by nature , a dose of which is administered to every individual of her family , weighed to a just quantity by plenteous nature . they that have attained the happiness to fetch out this hidden treasure of nature , wrapt up close in the heart , and in the closets of natures birth , and can get it out of those close coverts of the elements , let him boast that he hath attained the chiefest staff and help of life , and a most precious treasure , the order of reason and of creation doth require , that the first copies of things , being first of all concealed in the celestial natures , were transmitted into inferiour beings : but in the first they are of a far greater perfection , both because of their greater tenuity and dignity , as also because of their neighbouring seats to the eternal being : but with us they are much meaner , because carved in a grosser and less valuable matter , and more distant from their eternal principle . there is nothing therefore printed in this lower margin of the world , which was not at first copied in the heavenly being : neither is there any particular kind of being of the inferiour natures , which doth not acknowledge the dominion of one superiour agreeable to it , and which it hath not the secret seal and signature of it . so do things below depend on things above . the world is a creature of an ambiguous nature , for it is of both sexes , the higher part , to wit , the celestial , is active and masculine ; the lower elementary nature , is the passive and feminine nature . the globe of the earth is the womb , in which the engendering seed of heaven is received and kept . from the masculine part proceed life and strength ; from the female part corruption and death do issue . since superiour and inferiour bodies have their original from the same principles , as from their parts , yet are they not such as have their equal lot : it is equal , that those things that have the honour of being nobler substances , and advanced to higher offices , should distribute to their brethren of a lower degree , being poor and in want , some of their wealth , and so provide for their life and conversation . for it was provided by the foresight of the deity , that since there was a necessity that the world should be made up of unequal natures , the more powerfull natures should aid the weaker , & hand help to the fainting natures . so love is the indissoluble knot of the parts of the universe . in this sublunary region , diseased nature sickens out of a defect of the proportion and temperament of the elements , either by reason of the quantity , or of the qualities , either out of a too great intension or remission , and so is there a dissonancy in natures musick , and a distemper in her bodies . therefore the consonancy of the elements , which riseth from a proportion , and constitutes their temperament , being gone , the matter and form of the whole mixt being hath a bad coherence ; nature is troubled and staggers with a perplexed confusion , and hence do first diseases , and then death assault disordering and falling nature . that discord of those principles , have either an intrinsecal and radical cause , as from a vicious seed , an evil generation , or age ; or an intrinsecal and accidental , as from a too great repletion or emptiness , from whence either an excess or defect in humours and spirits ; or from putrefaction , mortal poison , infection , grief , hurt , or some other impediment brought upon the organs of life with the like , which do hurt nature . the four radical qualities of the elements , are as so many harmonious tones of nature , not contrary but divers , and distant each from other by certain pauses , from whose rational difference , intension and remission , is made a perfect consent of nature , perceivable by the understanding , bearing an analogy to that vocal musick which is heard by the senses . sharp and flat in musick , though they are extreams , yet are not contraries in musick , they are the terms of those means , which lye betwixt them , and are composed and tempered after a divers manner by these two extreams . so heat and cold , driness and moisture , are the extream qualities in nature , yet not therefore contrary , but onely the bounds of the middle and interjacent qualities , from whose mixture and temperament , do the middle proceed . the motion of nature is continual and not tyred , no less in every part than in the whole . for she always acts , never idle , so that if she were but out of action for a moment , it would ruine the whole frame of the universe , which is addicted to a decree of a perpetual motion . for neither doth the setled earth , the calm sea , the quiet air , therefore altogether rest , because they are not seen to be moved , they rest no more than a sleeping man : that rest is a remission of action , not an omission or cessation . nature acts within , neither doth it ever desist its action or motion of the organs . even a very carkass hath a motion , to wit , of corruption : but living beings , though they are not acted by a local , yet are they by an organical motion . nature doth move the frame of the universe in a uniform and orderly motiō , yet so that wheels things unequal and unlike , by an unequal unlike motion . this unequality of the motion is required by a geometrical equity , and so all the motions of all the heavenly bodies , may be geometrically termed equal , considering the difference of the magnitude , distance , and nature of them . nature being no less powerfull than wise , in the informing and governing of her works , doth attain her certain end by many wanderings and windings , which is most evident in the births of the earth , for she handling the elements in an unequal temper , doth , especially in the winter , replenish the womb of the earth with a fruitfull seed , in the spring brings forth an easie birth , in the summer ripens the fruit , and in the autumn all fall . this diversity doth especially proceed from the approch and recess of the sun , appointed to this end by the creatour : for he hath destinated the sun to the rule of the elements , that by his various distance , inflection and reflection , they may have a divers and various temperament , and so there might be some help for nature , working divers things by divers means , and that she might perfect her changes , by the various changes of times . this variety of nature is worth the exactest thoughts of the most acute philosophers . the heavenly bodies , though not subject to that stain of alteration , do notwithstanding introduce manifold changes in the elementary region , and do inspire various affections by their divers propension , and the various motions of the planetick bodies , which do alter their site and distance between themselves , and also the figure of the heavens , which actions do diversly form and incline the pliable natures of the elements , and they never cease to ferment them by their continual influence . the whole substance of the heaven , hath parts continuous , though not contiguous ; let not any therefore fancie the world to be the works of art , which is the work of nature , which cannot endure any section into sphears and circles ; for they that first divided the aetherial region into many orbs and circles , did propose to themselves rather the easie teaching by it , than to shew the truth of the thing . for the divine nature being an unitie , is desirous of and endeavours unitie , and so avoideth multiplicitie : wherefore we must conceive she created not many heavens , separated by their matter and superficies , when one bodie , in respect of the continuitie of the matter , though distinct in the dignitie and virtue of the parts , might suffice . neither is this taken off by the motions of the stars in their courses and customs , which because we know not , we therefore make a fancied astrologie , and do too boldly bring the power of god under the weakness of man , though the continuitie of the heaven hinder not the motion of the stars , and there might be some help for mans reason to find out their orders , that there should be a first moveable above the heavens , by whose hurrying motion the lower heavens are turned about , is not an invention of the wisdom of god , but onely a fancied help for mans ignorance : for if we assign the principle of motion to that first mover , why do we denie it to the globe of heaven ? why should we fancie an external cause of motion , which may be all this time intrinsecal ? as this lowest province of the world is subject to the rule of the middle , so is the middle , viz. the aetherial to the highest and supercelestial for its priviledges and deputieship . for the empyrean heaven , and the quire of the intelligible beings , do inspire into the celestial orb those virtues , which they receive from the archetype , in order of succession , and do move those natures that lie nearest them , not without a concent , as the first organs of the material world : by which motion the inferiour bodies , being also moved , do exercise their turns , as so many dances to a set pace , and do borrow whatsoever is excellent from the superiour bodies . but intelligences are illuminated at hand , according to their orders from the mind of god , as from the spring of eternal light , by which illumination they are fed , as with an immortal food , and in it , as in a glass , do they read , receive the commands and will of the divine majestie , and by it are enkindled to an honourable obedience . this is the manner and union of the threefold nature of the universe , the knot and herculean bond of this union is the love of god . so in a ternarie is compleated the whole state of the world , whose creatour is by no means part of it , no otherwise than unitie is neither a number , nor the part of a number , although it constitutes all number , but is the principle and measure of number , neither is the musician or lutonist a part , but the authour of the concent . they which believe that an almost innumerable multitude of heavenly bodies , were created for the commoditie of the globe of the earth , and for her inhabitants , as to their proper end , are deceived , for reason will denie , that natures , so far more noble and transcendent , were enslaved to the service of more vile and low-born beings . is it not rather more likely , that every globe doth rather of it self make a peculiar world , and that so many worlds as feodaries to the eternal empire of a god , are diffused through the vast range of the heaven , and there do hang as bound each to the other by that common bond of the heaven , and that the whole large universe doth consist of those manifold natures ? these , though so far severed in nature and place , yet do joyn in a mutual love , so as to make up a perfect harmonie in the universe , the heaven is the common place of all , yet is it more pure about those more perfect beings , therefore it is of great tenuitie and almost spiritual , and so fils up the places between , that so it may the better receive the various affections of so many natures , and the secret virtues continually issuing from them , and having received them , it might swiftly communicate them to others , though far distant . for the heaven is natures conveyance , by the mediation of which , all the cities of nature do traffique one with another , and are made partakers of each the others wealth and store . so are they linked together by a most powerfull bond of friendship and nearness , as it were by some magnetick virtue . what hinders , but that we may reckon the globe of the earth , as well as the moon amongst the stars ? for both are naturally dark bodies , both do borrow light from the sun , both are solid bodies , and reflect the beams of the sun , both send forth spirits and virtues , both hang in their heaven or their air . but the doubt is , whether it moves or no . but to what end is her motion needfull ? why may not she also stand fixt amongst so many fixt bodies ? and it may be the moon hath her inhabitants , for it is not credible , that orbs of so immense and vast a compass , should be idle and useless , not inhabited by any creatures ; that their motions , actions , and travels should onely tend to the good of this lowest and most despicable globe : since god himself , not liking solitude , did go out of himself in the creation , and poured out himself upon the creatures , and gave them a law for multiplication . is it not more for gods glorie , to assert the intire fabrick of the whole universe to be like a great empire , graced with the various natures of many worlds , as with so many provinces or cities ? and that the worlds themselves are as so many habitations & tenements for innumerable citizens of divers kinds , and all created to set forth the superlative glorie of the great creatour . and who will not admire the sun as an immortal lamp , hanging up in the middle of the hall of the great lord , and enlightening all the corners & recesses of it , or else as the vicegerent of the divine majestie , infusing light , spirit and life into all the creatures of the world ? for it was fit that god , being altogether immaterial , should rule and order his material works by an organ , which should be of a middle and most excellent material being , which also ought to be full of vivifical spirits , and so to set over sensible things , a sensible monarch . this doctrine of many worlds is not repugnant to scripture , which doth onely relate to us the creation of our world , describing all things concerning the others in a mystical , rather than an open & clear way , onely touching at them , that so mens feeble souls , that had alreadie fallen , as too curious of knowledge , might rather sit and admire , than rise and understand . the clouding of this truth , this darkness of mans soul , was part of the punishment of sin , by which he fell from the pleasures of paradise , the delights of knowledge , the knowledge of nature and heavenly things , that so he that would stretch himself to a sinfull desire of a forbidden knowledge , might be nipt by a just deprivement of what was given : and so he having brought in a multiplication and confusion of knowledge , might be punished with the loss of that true knowledge , which was one of all things . that is the cherub , the guardian of the garden , he that hath his flaming faulcheon , striking blind the guiltie souls of men with the brightness of his light , and forcing us off from the secrets of nature , and the truth of the universe . the divine nature , although it be a most perfect unitie , yet seems to consist of , and to be perfected by two things , viz. understanding and will . by his understanding , he knows all things from eternitie ; by his will , he acts all ; and both he doth most absolutely . his knowledge and wisdom belong to his understanding : but his goodness , mercy , justice and the rest of those virtues , which are accounted moral with us , belong to his will ; yea so doth also gods omnipotencie , which is nothing else but his omnipotent will . the intelligible natures , viz. the angelical nature , and the soul of man , which are small draughts of the divine nature , have also these two faculties , according to their weight and measure . for in them the understanding is the organ of knowledge , the will of working , and beyond these can they not act . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a e- in pimand . in smarag . tab lucret. nu . . * cap. . l. . de ort . & interitu . † cap. & . de ort . & interitu de sariis philo's sopinion . the creation of the sun lucret. lib. . cap. . l. . de mat. aeneid . . psal. . lib. . de diaeia . deut. cap. . a confutation of atheism from the origin and frame of the world. part ii a sermon preached at st. martin's in the fields, november the th, : being the seventh of the lecture founded by the honourable robert boyle ... / by richard bentley ... bentley, richard, - . approx. kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from -bit group-iv tiff 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(eebo-tcp ; phase , no. a ) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set ) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, - ; : g, : ) a confutation of atheism from the origin and frame of the world. part ii a sermon preached at st. martin's in the fields, november the th, : being the seventh of the lecture founded by the honourable robert boyle ... / by richard bentley ... bentley, richard, - . boyle, robert, - . p. printed for h. mortlock ..., london : . appears on reel : as the seventh title in the author's the folly and unreasonableness of atheism, . reproduction of originals in the british library and the huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p using tcp tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between and available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the , texts created during phase of the project have been released into the public domain as of january . anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. % (or pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf- unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p , characters represented either as utf- unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng religion and science -- early works to . nature -- religious aspects -- early works to . christianity and atheism -- early works to . atheism -- controversial literature. atheism -- early works to . atheism -- sermons. sermons, english -- th century. - tcp assigned for keying and markup - spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images - jason colman sampled and proofread - jason colman text and markup reviewed and edited - pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a confutation of atheism from the origin and frame of the world . part ii. a sermon preached at st. martin's in the fields , november the th . . being the seventh of the lecture founded by the honourable robert boyle , esquire . by richard bentley , m. a. chaplain to the right reverend father in god , edward , lord bishop of worcester . london , printed for h. mortlock at the phoenix in st. paul's church-yard . . imprimatur . ra. barker , r mo in christo patriac d no d no johanni archiep. cantuar . à sacris domest . lambhith , novemb. . . acts xiv . , &c. that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living god , who made heaven and earth and the sea , and all things that are therein : who in times past suffer'd all nations to walk in their own ways . nevertheless , he left not himself without witness , in that he did good , and gave us rain from heaven , and fruitfull seasons , filling our hearts with food and gladness . when we first enter'd upon this topic , the demonstration of god's existence from the origin and frame of the world , we offer'd to prove four propositions . . that this present system of heaven and earth cannot possibly have subsisted from all eternity . . that matter consider'd generally , and abstractly from any particular form and concretion , cannot possibly have been eternal : or , if matter could be so ; yet motion cannot have coexisted with it eternally , as an inherent property and essential attribute of matter . these two we have already established in the preceding discourse ; we shall now shew in the third place , . that , though we should allow the atheists , that matter and motion may have been from everlasting ; yet if ( as they now suppose ) there were once no sun nor starrs nor earth nor planets ; but the particles , that now constitute them , were diffused in the mundane space in manner of a chaos without any concretion and coalition ; those dispersed particles could never of themselves by any kind of natural motion , whether call'd fortuitous or mechanical , have conven'd into this present or any other like frame of heaven and earth . i. and first as to that ordinary cant of illiterate and puny atheists , the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms , that compendious and easy dispatch of the most important and difficult affair , the formation of a world ; ( besides that in our next undertaking it will be refuted all along ) i shall now briefly dispatch it , from what hath been formerly said concerning the true notions of fortune and chance . whereby it is evident , that in the atheistical hypothesis of the world's production , fortuitous and mechanical must be the self-same thing . because fortune is no real entity nor physical essence , but a mere relative signification , denoting only this ; that such a thing said to fall out by fortune , was really effected by material and necessary causes ; but the person , with regard to whom it is called fortuitous , was ignorant of those causes or their tendencies , and did not design nor foresee such an effect . this is the only allowable and genuine notion of the word fortune . but thus to affirm , that the world was made fortuitously , is as much as to say , that before the world was made , there was some intelligent agent or spectator ; who designing to do something else , or expecting that something else would be done with the materials of the world , there were some occult and unknown motions and tendencies in matter , which mechanically formed the world beside his design or expectation . now the atheists , we may presume , will be loth to assert a fortuitous formation in this proper sense and meaning ; whereby they will make understanding to be older than heaven and earth . or if they should so assert it ; yet , unless they will affirm that the intelligent agent did dispose and direct the inanimate matter , ( which is what we would bring them to ) they must still leave their atoms to their mechanical affections ; not able to make one step toward the production of a world beyond the necessary laws of motion . it is plain then , that fortune , as to the matter before us , is but a synonymous word with nature and necessity . it remains that we examin the adequate meaning of chance ; which properly signifies , that all events called casual , among inanimate bodies , are mechanically and naturally produced according to the determinate figures and textures and motions of those bodies ; with this negation only , that those inanimate bodies are not conscious of their own operations , nor contrive and cast about how to bring such events to pass . so that thus to say , that the world was made casually by the concourse of atoms , is no more than to affirm , that the atoms composed the world mechanically and fatally ; only they were not sensible of it , nor studied and consider'd about so noble an undertaking . for if atoms formed the world according to the essential properties of bulk , figure and motion , they formed it mechanically ; and if they formed it mechanically without perception and design , they formed it casually . so that this negation of consciousness being all that the notion of chance can add to that of mechanism ; we , that do not dispute this matter with the atheists , nor believe that atoms ever acted by counsel and thought , may have leave to consider the several names of fortune and chance and nature and mechanism , as one and the same hypothesis . wherefore once for all to overthrow all possible explications which atheists have or may assign for the formation of the world , we will undertake to evince this following proposition : ii. that the atoms or particles which now constitute heaven and earth , being once separate and diffused in the mundane space , like the supposed chaos , could never without a god by their mechanical affections have convened into this present frame of things or any other like it . which that we may perform with the greater clearness and conviction ; it will be necessary , in a discourse about the formation of the world , to give you a brief account of some of the most principal and systematical phaenomena , that occurr in the world now that it is formed . ( . ) the most considerable phaenomenon belonging to terrestrial bodies is the general action of gravitation , whereby all known bodies in the vicinity of the earth do tend and press toward its center ; not only such as are sensibly and evidently heavy , but even those that are comparatively the lighted , and even in their proper place , and natural elements , ( as they usually speak ) as air gravitates even in air and water in water . this hath been demonstrated and experimentally proved beyond contradiction , by several ingenious persons of the present age , but by none so perspicuously and copiously and accurately , as by the honourable founder of this lecture in his incomparable treatises of the air and hydrostaticks . ( . ) now this is the constant property of gravitation ; that the weight of all bodies around the earth is ever proportional to the quantity of their matter : as for instance , a pound weight ( examin'd hydrostatically ) of all kinds of bodies , though of the most different forms and textures , doth always contain an equal quantity of solid mass or corporeal substance . this is the ancient doctrine of the epicurean physiology , then and since very probably indeed , but yet precariously asserted : but it is lately demonstrated and put beyond controversy by that very excellent and divine theorist mr. isaac newton , to whose most admirable sagacity and industry we shall frequently be obliged in this and the following discourse . i will not entertain this auditory with an account of the demonstration ; but referring the curious to the book it self for full satisfaction , i shall now proceed and build upon it as a truth solidly established , that all bodies weigh according to their matter ; provided only that the compared bodies be at equal distances from the center toward which they weigh . because the further they are removed from the center , the lighter they are : decreasing gradually and uniformly in weight , in a duplicate proportion to the increase of the distance . ( . ) now since gravity is found proportional to the quantity of matter , there is a manifest necessity of admitting a vacuum , another principal doctrine of the atomical philosophy . because if there were every-where an absolute plenitude and density without any empty pores and interstices between the particles of bodies , then all bodies of equal dimensions would contain an equal quantity of matter ; and consequently , as we have shewed before , would be equally ponderous : so that gold , copper , stone , wood , &c. would have all the same specifick weight ; which experience assures us they have not : neither would any of them descend in the air , as we all see they do ; because , if all space was full , even the air would be as dense and specifically as heavy as they . if it be said , that , though the difference of specifick gravity may proceed from variety of texture , the lighter bodies being of a more loose and porous composition , and the heavier more dense and compact ; yet an aethereal subtile matter , which is in a perpetual motion , may penetrate and pervade the minutest and inmost cavities of the closest bodies , and adapting it self to the figure of every pore , may adequately fill them ; and so prevent all vacuity , without increasing the weight : to this we answer ; that that subtile matter it self must be of the same substance and nature with all other matter , and therefore it also must weigh proportionally to its bulk ; and as much of it as at any time is comprehended within the pores of a particular body must gravitate jointly with that body : so that if the presence of this aethereal matter made an absolute fullness , all bodies of equal dimensions would be equally heavy : which being refuted by experience , it necessarily follows , that there is a vacuity ; and that ( notwithstanding some little objections full of cavil and sophistry ) mere and simple extension or space hath a quite different nature and notion from real body and impenetrable substance . ( . ) this therefore being established ; in the next place it's of great consequence to our present enquiry , if we can make a computation , how great is the whole summ of the void spaces in our system , and what proportion it bears to the corporeal substance . by many and accurate trials it manifestly appears , that refined gold , the most ponderous of known bodies , ( though even that must be allowed to be porous too , being dissoluble in mercury and aqua regis and other chymical liquors ; and being naturally a thing impossible , that the figures and sizes of its constituent particles should be so justly adapted , as to touch one another in every point , ) i say , gold is in specifick weight to common water as to ; and water to common air as to : so that gold is to air as to . whence it clearly appears , seeing matter and gravity are always commensurate , that ( though we should allow the texture of gold to be intirely close without any vacuity ) the ordinary air in which we live and respire is of so thin a composition , that parts of its dimensions are mere emptiness and nothing ; and the remaining one only material and real substance . but if gold it self be admitted , as it must be , for a porous concrete , the proportion of void to body in the texture of common air will be so much the greater . and thus it is in the lowest and densest region of the air near the surface of the earth , where the whole mass of air is in a state of violent compression , the inferior being press'd and constipated by the weight of all the incumbent . but , since the air is now certainly known to consist of elastick or springy particles , that have a continual tendency and endeavour to expand and display themselves ; and the dimensions , to which they expand themselves , to be reciprocally as the compression ; it follows , that the higher you ascend in it , where it is less and less compress'd by the superior air , the more and more it is rarefied . so that at the hight of a few miles from the surface of the earth , it is computed to have some million parts of empty space in its texture for one of solid matter . and at the hight of one terrestrial semid . ( not above miles ) the aether is of that wonderfull tenuity , that by an exact calculation , if a small sphere of common air of one inch diameter ( already parts nothing ) should be further expanded to the thinness of that aether , it would more than take up the vast orb of saturn , which is many million million times bigger than the whole globe of the earth . and yet the higher you ascend above that region , the rarefaction still gradually increases without stop or limit : so that , in a word , the whole concave of the firmament , except the sun and planets and their atmospheres , may be consider'd as a mere void . let us allow then , that all the matter of the system of our sun may be times as much as the whole mass of the earth ; and we appeal to astronomy , if we are not liberal enough and even prodigal in this concession . and let us suppose further , that the whole globe of the earth is intirely solid and compact without any void interstices ; notwithstanding what hath been shewed before , as to the texture of gold it self . now though we have made such ample allowances ; we shall find , notwithstanding , that the void space of our system is immensly bigger than all its corporeal mass . for , to proceed upon our supposition , that all the matter within the firmament is times bigger than the solid globe of the earth ; if we assume the diameter of the orbis magnus ( wherein the earth moves about the sun ) to be only times as big as the diameter of the earth ( though the latest and most accurate observations make it thrice ) and the diameter of the firmament to be only times as long as the diameter of the orbis magnus ( though it cannot possibly be less than that , but may be vastly and unspeakably bigger ) we must pronounce , after such large concessions on that side and such great abatements on ours , that the summ of empty spaces within the concave of the firmament is million million million times bigger than all the matter contain'd in it . now from hence we are enabled to form a right conception and imagination of the supposed chaos ; and then we may proceed to determin the controversy with more certainty and satisfaction ; whether a world like the present could possibly without a divine influence be formed in it or no ? ( . ) and first , because every fixt star is supposed by astronomers to be of the same nature with our sun ; and each may very possibly have planets about them , though by reason of their vast distance they be invisible to us : we will assume this reasonable supposition , that the same proportion of void space to matter , which is found in our sun's region within the sphere of the fixt starrs , may competently well hold in the whole mundane space . i am aware , that in this computation we must not assign the whole capacity of that sphere for the region of our sun ; but allow half of its diameter for the radii of the several regions of the next fixt starrs . so that diminishing our former number , as this last consideration requires ; we may safely affirm from certain and demonstrated principles , that the empty space of our solar region ( comprehending half of the diameter of the firmament ) is hundred thousand million million times more ample than all the corporeal substance in it . and we may fairly suppose , that the same proportion may hold through the whole extent of the universe . ( . ) and secondly as to the state or condition of matter before the world was a-making , which is compendiously exprest by the word chaos ; they must suppose , that either all the matter of our system was evenly or well-nigh evenly diffused through the region of the sun , this would represent a particular chaos : or all matter universally so spread through the whole mundane space ; which would truly exhibit a general chaos ; no part of the universe being rarer or denser than another . which is agreeable to the ancient description of it , that * the heavens and earth had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , one form , one texture and constitution : which could not be , unless all the mundane matter were uniformly and evenly diffused . 't is indifferent to our dispute , whether they suppose it to have continued a long time or very little in the state of diffusion . for if there was but one single moment in all past eternity , when matter was so diffused : we shall plainly and fully prove , that it could never have convened afterwards into the present frame and order of things . ( . ) it is evident from what we have newly proved , that in the supposition of such a chaos or such an even diffusion either of the whole mundane matter or that of our system ( for it matters not which they assume ) every single particle would have a sphere of void space around it hundred thousand million million times bigger than the dimensions of that particle . nay further , though the proportion already appear so immense ; yet every single particle would really be surrounded with a void sphere eight times as capacious as that newly mention'd ; its diameter being compounded of the diameter of the proper sphere , and the semi-diameters of the contiguous spheres of the neighbouring particles . from whence it appears , that every particle ( supposing them globular or not very oblong ) would be above nine million times their own length from any other particle . and moreover in the whole surface of this void sphere there can only twelve particles be evenly placed ( as the hypothesis requires ) that is , at equal distances from the central one and each other . so that if the matter of our system or of the universe was equally dispersed , like the supposed chaos ; the result and issue would be , not only that every atom would be many million times its own length distant from any other : but if any one should be moved mechanically ( without direction or attraction ) to the limit of that distance ; 't is above a hundred million millions odds to an unit , that it would not strike upon any other atom , but glide through an empty interval without any contact . ( . ) 't is true , that while i calculate these measures , i suppose all the particles of matter to be at absolute rest among themselves , and situated in an exact and mathematical evenness ; neither of which is likely to be allowed by our adversaries , who not admitting the former , but asserting the eternity of motion , will consequently deny the latter also : because in the very moment that motion is admitted in the chaos , such an exact evenness cannot possibly be preserved . but this i do , not to draw any argument against them from the universal rest or accurately equal diffusion of matter ; but only that i may better demonstrate the great rarity and tenuity of their imaginary chaos , and reduce it to computation . which computation will hold with exactness enough , though we allow the particles of the chaos to be variously moved , and to differ something in size and figure and situation . for if some particles should approach nearer each other than in the former proportion ; with respect to some other particles they would be as much remoter . so that notwithstanding a small diversity of their positions and distances , the whole aggregate of matter , as long as it retain'd the name and nature of chaos , would retain well-nigh an uniform tenuity of texture , and may be consider'd as an homogeneous fluid . as several portions of the same sort of water are reckon'd to be of the same specifick gravity ; though it be naturally impossible that every particle and pore of it , consider'd geometrically , should have equal sizes and dimensions . we have now represented the true scheme and condition of the chaos ; how all the particles would be disunited ; and what vast intervals of empty space would lye between each . to form a system therefore , 't is necessary that these squander'd atoms should convene and unite into great and compact masses , like the bodies of the earth and planets . without such a coalition the diffused chaos must have continued and reign'd to all eternity . but how could particles so widely dispersed combine into that closeness of texture ? our adversaries can have only these two ways of accounting for it . either by the common motion of matter , proceeding from external impulse and conflict ( without attraction ) by which every body moves uniformly in a direct line according to the determination of the impelling force . for , they may say , the atoms of the chaos being variously moved according to this catholic law , must needs knock and interfere ; by which means some that have convenient figures for mutual coherence might chance to stick together , and others might join to those , and so by degrees such huge masses might be formed , as afterwards became suns and planets : or there might arise some vertiginous motions or whirlpools in the matter of the chaos ; whereby the atoms might be thrust and crowded to the middle of those whirlpools , and there constipate one another into great solid globes , such as now appear in the world. or secondly by mutual gravitation or attraction . for they may assert , that matter hath inherently and essentially such an intrinseck energy , whereby it incessantly tends to unite it self to all other matter : so that several particles placed in a void space at any distance whatsoever would without any external impulse spontaneously convene and unite together . and thus the atoms of the chaos , though never so widely diffused , might by this innate property of attraction soon assemble themselves into great sphaerical masses , and constitute systems like the present heaven and earth . this is all that can be proposed by atheists , as an efficient cause of a world. for as to the epicurean theory , of atoms descending down an infinite space by an inherent principle of gravitation , which tends not toward other matter , but toward a vacuum or nothing ; and verging from the perpendicular * no body knows why nor when nor where ; 't is such miserable absurd stuff , so repugnant to it self , and so contrary to the known phaenomena of nature ( yet it contented supine unthinking atheists for a thousand years together ) that we will not now honour it with a special refutation . but what it hath common with the other explications , we will fully confute together with them in these three propositions . ( . ) that by common motion ( without attraction ) the dissever'd particles of the chaos could never make the world ; could never convene into such great compact masses , as the planets now are ; nor either acquire or continue such motions , as the planets now have . ( . ) that such a mutual gravitation or spontaneous attraction can neither be inherent and essential to matter ; nor ever supervene to it , unless impress'd and infused into it by a divine power . ( . ) that though we should allow such attraction to be natural and essential to all matter ; yet the atoms of a chaos could never so convene by it , as to form the present system : or if they could form it , it could neither acquire such motions , nor continue permanent in this state , without the power and providence of a divine being . i. and first , that by common motion the matter of chaos could never convene into such masses , as the planets now are . any man , that considers the spacious void intervals of the chaos , how immense they are in proportion to the bulk of the atoms , will hardly induce himself to believe , that particles so widely disseminated could ever throng and crowd one another into a close and compact texture . he will rather conclude , that those few that should happen to clash , might rebound after the collision ; or if they cohered , yet by the next conflict with other atoms might be separated again , and so on in an eternal vicissitude of fast and loose , without ever consociating into the huge condense bodies of planets ; some of whose particles upon this supposition must have travell'd many millions of leagues through the gloomy regions of chaos , to place themselves where they now are . but then how rarely would there be any clashing at all ? how very rarely in comparison to the number of atoms ? the whole multitude of them , generally speaking , might freely move and rove for ever with very little occurring or interfering . let us conceive two of the nearest particles according to our former calculation ; or rather let us try the same proportions in another example , that will come easier to the imagination . let us suppose two ships , fitted with durable timber and rigging , but without pilot or mariners , to be placed in the vast atlantick or the pacifique ocean , as far asunder as may be . how many thousand years might expire , before those solitary vessels should happen to strike one against the other ? but let us imagin the space yet more ample , even the whole face of the earth to be covered with sea , and the two ships to be placed in the opposite poles : might not they now move long enough without any danger of clashing ? and yet i find , that the two nearest atoms in our evenly diffused chaos have ten thousand times less proportion to the two void circular planes around them , than our two ships would have to the whole surface of the deluge . let us assume then another deluge ten thousand times larger than noah's . is it not now utterly incredible , that our two vessels , placed there antipodes to each other , should ever happen to concur ? and yet let me add , that the ships would move in one and the same surface ; and consequently must needs encounter , when they either advance towards one another in direct lines , or meet in the intersection of cross ones ; but the atoms may not only fly side-ways , but over likewise and under each other : which makes it many million times more improbable , that they should interfere than the ships , even in the last and unlikeliest instance . but they may say , though the odds indeed be unspeakable that the atoms do not convene in any set number of trials , yet in an infinite succession of them may not such a combination possibly happen ? but let them consider , that the improbability of casual hits is never diminished by repetition of trials ; they are as unlikely to fall out at the thousandth as at the first . so that in a matter of mere chance , when there is so many millions odds against any assignable experiment ; 't is in vain to expect it should ever succeed , even in endless duration . but though we should concede it to be simply possible , that the matter of chaos might convene into great masses , like planets : yet it 's absolutely impossible , that those masses should acquire such revolutions about the sun. let us suppose any one of those masses to be the present earth . now the annual revolution of the earth must proceed ( in this hypothesis ) either from the summ and result of the several motions of all the particles that formed the earth , or from a new impulse from some external matter , after it was formed . the former is apparently absurd , because the particles that form'd the round earth must needs convene from all points and quarters toward the middle , and would generally tend toward its center ; which would make the whole compound to rest in a poise : or at least that overplus of motion , which the particles of one hemisphere could have above the other , would be very small and inconsiderable ; too feeble and languid to propell so vast and ponderous a body with that prodigious velocity . and secondly , 't is impossible , that any external matter should impell that compound mass , after it was formed . 't is manifest , that nothing else could impell it , unless the aethereal matter be supposed to be carried about the sun like a vortex or whirlpool , as a vehicle to convey it and the rest of the planets . but this is refuted from what we have shewn above , that those spaces of the aether may be reckon'd a mere void , the whole quantity of their matter scarce amounting to the weight of a grain . 't is refuted also from matter of fact in the motion of comets ; which , as often as they are visible to us , are in the region of our planets ; and there are observed to move , some in quite contrary courses to theirs , and some in cross and oblique ones , in planes inclined to the plane of the ecliptick in all kinds of angles : which firmly evinces , that the regions of the aether are empty and free , and neither resist nor assist the revolutions of planets . but moreover there could not possibly arise in the chaos any vortices or whirlpools at all ; either to form the globes of the planets , or to revolve them when formed . 't is acknowledged by all , that inanimate unactive matter moves always in a streight line , nor ever reflects in an angle , nor bends in a circle ( which is a continual reflexion ) unless either by some external impulse , that may divert it from the direct motion , or by an intrinsec principle of gravity or attraction , that may make it describe a curve line about the attracting body . but this latter cause is not now supposed : and the former could never beget whirlpools in a chaos of so great a laxity and thinness . for 't is matter of certain experience and universally allowed , that all bodies moved circularly have a perpetual endeavour to recede from the center , and every moment would fly out in right lines , if they were not violently restrain'd and kept in by contiguous matter . but there is no such restraint in a chaos , no want of empty room there ; no possibility of effecting one single revolution in way of a vortex , which necessarily requires either an absolute fulness of matter , or a pretty close constipation and mutual contact of its particles . and for the same reason 't is evident , that the planets could not continue their revolutions about the sun ; though they could possibly acquire them . for to drive and carry the planets in such orbs as they now describe , that aethereal matter must be compact and dense , as dense as the very planets themselves : otherwise they would certainly fly out in spiral lines to the very circumference of the vortex . but we have often inculcated , that the wide tracts of the aether may be reputed as a mere extended void . so that there is nothing ( in this hypothesis ) that can retain and bind the planets in their orbs for one single moment ; but they would immediately desert them and the neighbourhood of the sun , and vanish away in tangents to their several circles into the abyss of mundane space . ii. secondly we affirm , that mutual gravitation or spontaneous attraction cannot possibly be innate and essential to matter . by attraction we do not here understand what is improperly , though vulgarly , called so , in the operations of drawing , sucking , pumping , &c. which is really pulsion and trusion ; and belongs to that common motion , which we have already shewn to be insufficient for the formation of a world. but we now mean ( as we have explain'd it before ) such a power and quality , whereby all parcels of matter would mutually attract or mutually tend and press to all others ; so that ( for instance ) two distant atoms in vacuo would spontaneously convene together without the impulse of external bodies . now we say , if our atheists suppose this power to be inherent and essential to matter ; they overthrow their own hypothesis : there could never be a chaos at all upon these terms , but the present form of our system must have continued from all eternity ; against their own supposition , and what we have proved in our last . for if they affirm , that there might be a chaos notwithstanding innate gravity ; then let them assign any period though never so remote , when the diffused matter might convene . they must confess , that before that assigned period matter had existed eternally , inseparably endued with this principle of attraction ; and yet had never attracted nor convened before , during that infinite duration : which is so monstrous an absurdity , as even they will blush to be charged with . but some perhaps may imagin , that a former system might be dissolved and reduced to a chaos , from which the present system might have its original , as that former had from another , and so on : new systems having grown out of old ones in infinite vicissitudes from all past eternity . but we say , that in the supposition of innate gravity no system at all could be dissolved . for how is it possible , that the matter of solid masses like earth and planets and starrs should fly up from their centers against its inherent principle of mutual attraction , and diffuse it self in a chaos ? this is absurder than the other : that only supposed innate gravity not to be exerted ; this makes it to be defeated , and to act contrary to its own nature . so that upon all accounts this essential power of gravitation or attraction is irreconcilable with the atheist's own doctrine of a chaos . and secondly 't is repugnant to common sense and reason . 't is utterly unconceivable , that inanimate brute matter ( without the mediation of some immaterial being ) should operate upon and affect other matter without mutual contact ; that distant bodies should act upon each other through a vacuum without the intervention of something else by and through which the action may be conveyed from one to the other . we will not obscure and perplex with multitude of words , what is so clear and evident by its own light , and must needs be allowed by all , that have any competent use of thinking , and are initiated into , i do not say the mysteries , but the plainest principles of philosophy . now mutual gravitation or attraction ( in our present acception of the words ) is the same thing with this ; 't is an operation or vertue or influence of distant bodies upon each other through an empty interval , without any effluvia or exhalations or other corporeal medium to convey and transmit it . this power therefore cannot be innate and essential to matter . and if it be not essential ; it is consequently most manifest ( seeing it doth not depend upon motion or rest or figure or position of parts , which are all the ways that matter can diversify it self ) that it could never supervene to it , unless impress'd and infused into it by an immaterial and divine power . we have proved , that a power of mutual gravitation , without contact or impulse , can in no-wise be attributed to mere matter : or if it could ; we shall presently shew , that it would be wholly unable to form the world out of chaos . but by the way ; what if it be made appear , that there is really such a power of gravity perpetually acting in the constitution of the present system ? this would be a new and invincible argument for the being of god : being a direct and positive proof , that an immaterial living mind doth inform and actuate the dead matter , and support the frame of the world. i will lay before you some certain phaenomena of nature ; and leave it to your consideration from what principle they can proceed . 't is demonstrated , that the sun , moon and all the planets do reciprocally gravitate one toward another : that the gravitating power of each of these is exactly proportional to their matter , and arises from the several gravitations or attractions of every individual particle that compose the whole mass : that all matter near the surface of the earth , for example , doth not only gravitate downwards , but upwards also and side-ways and toward all imaginable points ; though the tendency downwards be praedominant and alone discernible , because of the greatness and nearness of the attracting body , the earth : that every particle of the whole system doth attract and is attracted by all the rest , all operating upon all : that this vniversal attraction or gravitation is an incessant , regular and uniform action by certain and established laws according to quantity of matter and longitude of distance : that it cannot be destroyed nor impair'd nor augmented by any thing , neither by motion nor rest , nor situation nor posture , nor alteration of form , nor diversity of medium : that it is not a magnetical power , nor the effect of a vortical motion ; those common attempts toward the explication of gravity : these things , i say , are fully demonstrated , as matters of fact , by that very ingenious author , whom we cited before . now how is it possible that these things should be effected by any material and mechanical agent ? we have evinced , that mere matter cannot operate upon matter without mutual contact . it remains then , that these phaenomena are produced either by the intervention of air or aether or other such medium , that communicates the impulse from one body to another ; or by effluvia and spirits that are emitted from the one , and pervene to the other . we can conceive no other way of performing them mechanically . but what impulse or agitation can be propagated through the aether from one particle entombed and wedged in the very center of the earth to another in the center of saturn ? yet even those two particles do reciprocally affect each other with the same force and vigour , as they would do at the same distance in any other situation imaginable . and because the impulse from this particle is not directed to that only ; but to all the rest in the universe , to all quatters and regions , at once invariably and incessantly : to do this mechanically ; the same physical point of matter must move all manner of ways equally and constantly in the same instant and moment ; which is flatly impossible . but if this particle cannot propagate motion ; much less can it send out effluvia to all points without intermission or variation ; such multitudes of effluvia as to lay hold on every atom in the universe without missing of one . nay every single particle of the very effluvia ( seeing they also attract and gravitate ) must in this supposition emit other secondary effluvia all the world over ; and those others still emit more , and so in infinitum . now if these things be repugnant to human reason ; we have great reason to affirm , that universal gravitation , a thing certainly existent in nature , is above all mechanism and material causes , and proceeds from a higher principle , a divine energy and impression . iii. thirdly we affirm ; that , though we should allow , that reciprocal attraction is essential to matter ; yet the atoms of a chaos could never so convene by it , as to form the present system ; or if they could form it , yet it could neither acquire these revolutions , nor subsist in the present condition , without the conservation and providence of a divine being . ( . ) for first , if the matter of the universe , and consequently the space through which it 's diffused , be supposed to be finite ( and i think it might be demonstrated to be so ; but that we have already exceeded the just measures of a sermon ) then , since every single particle hath an innate gravitation toward all others , proportionated by matter and distance : it evidently appears , that the outward atoms of the chaos would necessarily tend inwards and descend from all quarters toward the middle of the whole space ( for in respect to every atom there would lie through the middle the greatest quantity of matter and the most vigorous attraction ) and would there form and constitute one huge sphaerical mass ; which would be the only body in the universe . it is plain therefore , that upon this supposition the matter of the chaos could never compose such divided and different masses , as the starrs and planets of the present world. but allowing our adversaries , that the planets might be composed : yet however they could not possibly acquire such revolutions in circular orbs , or ( which is all one to our present purpose ) in ellipses very little eccentric . for let them assign any place where the planets were formed . was it nearer to the sun , than the present distances are ? but that is notoriously absurd : for then they must have ascended from the place of their formation , against the essential property of mutual attraction . or were each formed in the same orbs , in which they now move ? but then they must have moved from the point of rest , in an horizontal line without any inclination or descent . now there is no natural cause , neither innate gravity nor impulse of external matter , that could beget such a motion . for gravity alone must have carried them downwards to the vicinity of the sun. and that the ambient aether is too liquid and empty , to impell them horizontally with that prodigious celerity , we have sufficiently proved before . or were they made in some higher regions of the heavens ; and from thence descended by their essential gravity , till they all arrived at their respective orbs ; each with its present degree of velocity , acquired by the fall ? but then why did they not continue their descent , till they were contiguous to the sun ; whither both mutual attraction and impetus carried them ? what natural agent could turn them aside , could impell them so strongly with a transverse side-blow against that tremendous weight and rapidity , when whole worlds are a falling ? but though we should suppose , that by some cross attraction or other they might acquire an obliquity of descent , so as to miss the body of the sun , and to fall on one side of it : then indeed the force of their fall would carry them quite beyond it ; and so they might fetch a compass about it , and then return and ascend by the same steps and degrees of motion and velocity , with which they descended before . such an eccentric motion as this , much after the manner that comets revolve about the sun , they might possibly acquire by their innate principle of gravity : but circular revolutions in concentric orbs about the sun or other central body could in no-wise be attain'd without the power of the divine arm. for the case of the planetary motions is this . let us conceive all the planets to be formed or constituted with their centers in their several orbs ; and at once to be impress'd on them this gravitating energy toward all other matter , and a transverse impulse of a just quantity in each , projecting them directly in tangents to those orbs. the compound motion , which arises from this gravitation and projection together , describes the present revolutions of the primary planets about the sun , and of the secondary about those : the gravity prohibiting , that they cannot recede from the centers of their motions ; and the transverse impulse with-holding , that they cannot approach to them . now although gravity could be innate ( which we have proved that it cannot be ) yet certainly this projected , this transverse and violent motion can only be ascribed to the right hand of the most high god , creator of heaven and earth . but finally , though we grant , that these circular revolutions could be naturally attained ; or , if they will , that this very individual world in its present posture and motion was actually formed out of chaos by mechanical causes : yet it requires a divine power and providence to have conserved it so long in the present state and condition . we have shewed , that there is a transverse impulse impress'd upon the planets , which retains them in their several orbs , that they be not drawn down by their gravitating powers toward the sun or other central bodies . gravity we understand to be a constant energy or faculty ( which god hath infused into matter ) perpetually acting by certain measures and ( naturally ) inviolable laws ; i say , a faculty and power : for we cannot conceive that the act of gravitation of this present moment can propagate it self or produce that of the next . but 't is otherwise as to the transverse motion ; which ( by reason of the inactivity of matter and its inability to change its present state either of moving or resting ) would from one single impulse continue for ever equal and uniform , unless changed by the resistence of occurring bodies or by a gravitating power ; so that the planets , since they move horizontally ( whereby gravity doth not affect their swiftness ) and through the liquid and unresisting spaces of the heavens ( where either no bodies at all or inconsiderable ones do occur ) may preserve the same velocity which the first impulse imprest upon them , not only for five or six thousand years , but many millions of millions . it appears then , that if there was but one vast sun in the universe , and all the rest were planets , revolving around him in concentric orbs , at convenient distances : such a system as that would very long endure ; could it but naturally have a principle of mutual attraction , and be once actually put into circular motions . but the frame of the present world hath a quite different structure : here 's an innumerable multitude of fixt starrs or suns ; all of which are demonstrated ( and supposed also by our adversaries ) to have mutual attraction : or if they have not ; even not to have it is an equal proof of a divine being , that hath so arbitrarily indued matter with a power of gravity not essential to it , and hath confined its action to the matter of its own solar system : i say , all the fixt starrs have a principle of mutual gravitation ; and yet they are neither revolved about a common center , nor have any transverse impulse nor any thing else to restrain them from approaching toward each other , as their gravitating powers incite them . now what natural cause can overcome nature it self ? what is it that holds and keeps them in fixed stations and intervals against an incessant and inherent tendency to desert them ? nothing could hinder , but that the outward starrs with their systems of planets must necessarily have descended toward the middlemost system of the universe , whither all would be the most strongly attracted from all parts of a finite space . it is evident therefore that the present frame of sun and fixt starrs could not possibly subsist without the providence of that almighty deity , who spake the word and they were made , who commanded and they were created ; who hath made them fast for ever and ever , and hath given them a law , which shall not be broken . ( . ) and secondly in the supposition of an infinite chaos , 't is hard indeed to determin , what would follow in this imaginary case from an innate principle of gravity . but to hasten to a conclusion , we will grant for the present , that the diffused matter might convene into an infinite number of great masses at great distances from one another , like the starrs and planets of this visible part of the world. but then it is impossible , that the planets should naturally attain these circular revolutions , either by intrinsec gravitation or the impulse of ambient bodies . it is plain , here is no difference as to this ; whether the world be infinite or finite : so that the same arguments that we have used before , may be equally urged in this supposition . and though we should concede , that these revolutions might be acquired , and that all were settled and constituted in the present state and posture of things ; yet , we say , the continuance of this frame and order for so long a duration as the known ages of the world must necessarily infer the existence of god. for though the universe was infinite , the fixt starrs could not be fixed , but would naturally convene together , and confound system with system : for , all mutually attracting , every one would move whither it was most powerfully drawn . this , they may say , is indubitable in the case of a finite world , where some systems must needs be outmost , and therefore be drawn toward the middle : but when infinite systems succeed one another through an infinite space , and none is either inward or outward ; may not all the systems be situated in an accurate poise ; and , because equally attracted on all sides , remain fixed and unmoved ? but to this we reply ; that unless the very mathematical center of gravity of every system be placed and fixed in the very mathematical center of the attractive power of all the rest ; they cannot be evenly attracted on all sides , but must preponderate some way or other . now he that considers , what a mathematical center is , and that quantity is infinitly divisible ; will never be persuaded , that such an universal equilibrium arising from the coincidence of infinite centers can naturally be acquired or maintain'd . if they say ; that upon the supposition of infinite matter , every system would be infinitly , and therefore equally attracted on all sides ; and consequently would rest in an exact equilibrium , be the center of its gravity in what position soever : this will overthrow their very hypothesis ; at this rate in an infinite chaos nothing at all could be formed ; no particles could convene by mutual attraction ; for every one there must have infinite matter around it , and therefore must rest for ever being evenly balanced between infinite attractions . even the planets upon this principle must gravitate no more toward the sun , than any other way : so that they would not revolve in curve lines , but fly away in direct tangents , till they struck against other planets or starrs in some remote regions of the infinite space . an equal attraction on all sides of all matter is just equal to no attraction at all : and by this means all the motion in the universe must proceed from external impulse alone ; which we have proved before to be an incompetent cause for the formation of a world. and now , o thou almighty and eternal creator , having consider'd the heavens the work of thy fingers , the moon and the starrs which thou hast ordained , with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify thy glorious name , evermore praising thee and saying ; holy , holy , holy , lord god of hosts , heaven and earth are full of thy glory : glory be to thee , o lord most high. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a -e serm. v. p. , . serm. v. p. , . mr. boyle's physicom . exp. of air. hydrostat . paradoxes . lucret. lib. . newton philos . natur. princ. math. lib. . prop. . mr. boyle of air and porosity of bodies . mr. boyle ibid. newton philos . nat. principia . math. p. . * diod. sicul. lib. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . apoll. rhodius lib. . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * lucret. nec regione loci certa , nec tempore certo . serm. v. p. . newton ibidem p. . vide serm. vi. & serm. viii . newton philosophiae naturalis princ. math. lib. iii. psal . . psal . .