ILLUSTRATION.

I. THat there was a Begining of the World (besides the Divine Authority of the Text) is as Rationaly De­monstrable, as it is Sensibly evident, That there is a Heaven and Earth: for it is also evident, that they are Bodys, Ex­tended by Part beyond Part, and therefore Finite, or bounded with Extremitys of that Extension (which we call First, or Begin­ing; and Last, or End; becaus we may begin to measure at one, and end at the other) for that very Extension which renders them Bodys by Extending Part beyond Part, doth also Terminate them, that is, Extend them so far, and no farther. Thus the whole Bo­dy of the World hath two great Parts; Heaven, and Earth. And whatsoever hath Parts is Finite, becaus every Part is Finite or Li­mited to a Proportion not so great as the Whole, otherwise it should not be a Part of the Whole. And as one Part is Finite, so are all the Parts of the Whole, becaus they are all Parts. And so Consequently is the Whole; becaus it is equal to all the Parts; otherwise it should not be the Whole of all the Parts therof. And thus Heaven, which is one Part of the whole Body of the World, is a less Whole in it self; becaus it is the whole Heaven. And so likewise Earth, which is the other Part of the whole Body of the World, is also a less Whole in it self; becaus it is the whole Earth. Now either of these two less Wholes is Finite in it self; becaus it is only a Part of the whole Body of the World: and be­caus both these less Wholes are Finite, therefore the whole Body [Page 17] of the World is also Finite, though it be a greater Whole: for there is no Greater nor Less in Infinite, which is Infinitely be­yond any Proportion, and without any Parts whatsoever; becaus a greater Whole is that which hath greater Parts, or more equal Parts; and a less Whole is that which hath less Parts, or fewer equal Parts. And since whatsoever hath Parts is Finite, therfore what­soever hath greater or more, or less, or fewer Parts, is also Finite, and cannot be Infinite. Again every Part is such a certain Proportion of the Whole as it is, otherwise it should not be such a Part therof; and therefore hath such a certein Measure of it self, whereby it is such a certein Proportion as it is, and not greater nor less. And as all the Proportions of all the Parts, are the Whole Pro­portion of the Whole; so all the Measures of all the Parts, are the whole Measure of the Whole. And whatsoever is Mensura­ble is Finite; becaus it is Mensurable, and not Immens. Where­fore the whole Body of the World is Finite, as well as Heaven, and Earth, or any less Part, or the least Particle therof whatso­ever; wherof there is the same reason: Otherwise the Whole should be greater then all the Parts, or the Parts greater, or more, then they are, which is Impossible. And the contrary ther­of So Mathematicaly true, and evident according to Common Sentence, (that every Part is less then the Whole, and the Whole greater then any Part, and equal to all the Parts therof) that it cannot be further proved by any thing more evident then it self. Wherefore this Conclusion is most true and evident; Omne Sec­tile est Finitum.

II. Now as Corporeal Quantity, which is Consistent, and hath Part beyond Part, is therefore Finite; So also Time, which is Successive and hath Part after Part, is also Finite. And though Part beyond Part may be Inverted, and the First become Last, or the Last First; or Circulated, and the Begining United to the End (and so every Consistent Quantity is Finite, becaus it hath such Parts) Yet Part after Part Succeed and follow one ano­ther in a most direct Line, and by Such an Immutable Law and Or­der, as can neither be Inverted, nor Circulated: otherwise there should not be Part after Part; which must necessarily be in Tem­porary Succession: for Past can never be Present, nor Present Future, nor all together. Wherefore Time cannot possibly be [Page 18] Circular: for in a Circle all the Parts must Consist together; as in Circular Motion all the Parts must Move together. Though probably the Opinion of the Eternity of the World was groun­ded on some such Imaginary Circulation of Time, and Revoluti­on of Platonical Years. Whereas though all things measured by Time might be supposed to return again into the same State in all other respects, yet Time it self can never return to be the Same; becaus it is as Impossible to recall Past, as to anticipate Future. So that where there is such a fixed Priority and Posteriority runing still forward in a most Direct and Immutable Succession of Part after Part, which is Finite, there must necessarily be a Finite and Fixed First, or Begining; and Last, or End; according to the Fixed Order and Succession of the Parts. And as certein­ly as this Present Instant is now the Last or End of all Time Past, or Present, which hath hitherto Actualy Existed, or doth Ex­ist; so certeinly there was some determinate Instant, which was the first or Begining therof. And so this Conclusion also is most true and evident; Ubi Prius & Posterius, ibi Primum et Postre­mum.

III. Lastly as Bodys and Time, so Number or Quantity Dis­crete, which hath Part Discreted and severed from Part, is al­so Finite in it self; and doth most Discernibly manifest the Fi­nite Nature, both of Bodys, as in the Scale; and also of Time, as in the Dial: whereby their Continuous Parts being Arith­meticaly Divided into Numerable Proportions are rendred most apparently Numerable and Finite. And so also this Conclusion is most true and evident Nullum Multiplex est Innumerum. From all which Conclusions drawn from every kind of Quantity, Cor­poreal, Successive, and Discrete, it most Necessarily follows, That whatsoever is Quantitative is Finite▪ for it must be grant­ed under the highest pain of Contradiction, That Actualy Men­surable cannot be Actualy Immense, nor Temporary Eternal, nor Numerable Innumerable.

IIII. Nor is this plain Probation concerned in those more Cu­rious Disquisitions, Whether Quantity be any Real thing in it self, or only a Mode, or Relative Respect (or I know not what others pleas to term it) Since it is most evidently the Geometrical, [Page 19] Chronical, or Arithmetical, Measure of all Quantitative things, which are within the Virge therof, and Measurable by it. Nor of what Parts it doth Consist, or how it is Divisible into them; since it is most evident that it hath Parts. Nor yet whether any Whole Quantity hath Physical Parts; since it is most evident that it hath Mathematical Parts, and is Divisible into them. And though I shall heerafter inquire into all these, yet I will neither now pre­vent my Self, nor intangle this Probation (which as it is most firm and solid in it self, so I desire to render it most clear and free from all Impertinencys) with any such Curiositys. Nor do I begg any therof before hand; but only insist upon these most reasonable and undeniable Postulations, That an Inch is the twelfth Part of a Foot, not more nor less; and a Foot twelve Inches, not more nor less. That an Hour is the fower and twentieth Part of a Day, not more nor less; and a Day fower and twenty Hours, not more nor less. That an Unit is the hundredth Part of a Century, not more nor less; and a Century an hundred Units, not more nor less. Or yet more plainly, That an Inch is an Inch, a Foot a Foot, an Hour an Hour, a Day a Day, an Unit an Unit, and a Century a Cen­tury. And so any greater, or less, Part, or Whole whatsoever; which are all Identical Propositions, and neither need, nor are indeed capable of Probation. Nor are these Sections of Conti­nuitys only Imaginations, or the Institutions of Reason; but Rea­litys in Nature. And so God Created the Heaven and the Earth distinct Parts of the whole Body of the World, and made the Evening and Morning a distinct Day, and consequently the Cardi­nal Numerations therof. And he made the Heaven to be above, or without, the Earth; and the Earth to be beneath, or within, the Heaven: and the First day to be before the Second, and the Se­cond before the Third; and consequently the Ordinal Numerati­ons therof. And heerin I suppose no Human Reason or Sens will or can dissent from Divine Authority; becaus these are things also Rationaly, and Sensibly, evident in themselvs: however some may doubt or dispute what I have evidently proved heerby, That there was a Begining of the World. Nor do I labor, or care to prove, when that determinate Begining was (which I leav to Chronologists) but only that there was such a Begining whenso­ever it was, which sufficeth my present Intention.

[Page 20]V. For as in a great Wast or Common, though only the learned Artist can give an exact account of all the Acres, Rodes, and Perches therof; yet every Vulgar Ey can discern that it is Measu­rable and Finite, and can estimate it more or less. And as every Traveler, though he hath not an Itinerary to instruct him in the just Distances between one City, or Country, and another, yet knows that there is a certein Space between them, otherwise such, and so many Paces, could never bring him from one to the other: so though it be the Work of Geometricians and Astrono­mers to measure Heaven and Earth; yet we all know that the Earth on which we tread hath a Surface, and a Diameter, which are Fi­nite; because the Surface on which we tread doth end and termi­nate it self under our feet; and that doth also determinate the Di­ameter, which is Proportionable unto it: and because the Diame­ter is Finite, therefore also the Circumference which must be Pro­portionable therunto is Finite. And so is every Sphere of the World, Air, Aether, and any higher Heaven, or whatsoever we can Imagine to be the utmost Circumference of the whole World: for to whatsoever Circumference our Imagination can extend it self, it can only be Proportionably greater then the Circumference of the Earth, which it encompasseth; and must also have a Diame­ter proportionable to it self: both which evidently prove it to be Finite, as well as the Earth; becaus there is no Greater nor Less in Infinite, as I have already proved.

VI. And so though we may dispute the Nativity, or certein Be­gining of the World; yet it is most evident and indisputable that it had a Begining: for none can deny it to be this Day, or Hour, or the like, one Day, or Hour, or the like, elder then it was the last; and so backward as far as he pleaseth: therefore he must al­so confess, that there was some First Day, Hour, and the like, and consequently some First Instant, and Begining therof: for the Du­ration and Age of every thing must necessarily be computed from a Begining or Nativity; otherwise it should be incapable of any Addition or Succession (which is apparently in all time) becaus it already exceedeth all Number: for Precedency of Part before Part without any Begining renders the Precedent Parts Innumerable, and consequently incapable of any Succession or Addition.

[Page 21]VII. So also in Number there must necessarily be a First, and no Number can precede an Unit; though you may still add to it, and possibly multiply it to any Summ Imaginable; which yet being once Stated will be found as Numerable as a Single Unit; becaus it is only the Addition of so many Units: for as a Day, or Hour, or any other Part of Time Actualy Past, is only a Day, or Hour, or such Part of Time as it is, and not greater, nor less; so every Day, or Hour, or other Part of Time whatsoever, is only One Day, or Hour, or One such Part of Time as it is, and not more, nor fewer: and therefore so many Days, or Hours, or other Parts of Time as are Actualy Past, are only so many Ones as they are, and not more, nor fewer; which though never so many must ne­cessarily be all Numerable, by Addition of so many Ones as they are, and not more, nor fewer. And consequently all Time Actu­aly Past, which may be Numbred by them, is Numerable and Fi­nite: and therefore had a Begining; becaus the Number therof is Ordinal or Successive; wherof there must be a First. Thus if we should compute the whole Age of the World according to the particular Ages, or Secula, of Men or Brutes; or if you pleas according to the Revolutions of Platonical years; yet there must necessarily have been a First, Second, and Third Seculum, or Re­volution, or so many as we will suppose to have been Actualy Past and Precedent, and not more, nor fewer, nor other then Succes­sive. All which summed up together will be found as Finite as a single Unit, and must have a First, and Last, aswel as One and One Ordinaly and Successively. Nor indeed can we Rationaly Imagin any Time whatsoever Actualy Past and Precedent, not to be Actu­aly Finite. And if it cannot be otherwise in Imagination, much less in Reality.

VIII. Yet the World might Possibly have Existed before it did Exist, or Actualy was; and as long before as you pleas to Ima­gin; and so it may still be continued Perpetualy in Possibility; which yet will be alway Possible, and can never be Actual: for no such Precedent, or Subsequent Perpetuity, ever was, or shall be, nor can reasonably be Imagined to be Actual. Neither is it properly a Possible Perpetuity, but rather a Perpetual Possibili [...]y of such a supposed Precedency, or Subsequent Futurity, which [Page 22] can never be Actual; otherwise it should not be Perpetualy Pos­sible: for as Possible, while it is Possible, cannot be Actual; otherwise it should not be Possible, but Actual: so Perpetualy Possible can never be Actual; becaus then it should ceas to be Perpetualy Possible. As it is said of Corporeal Quantity, that it is alway Divisible into alway Divisibles; ever Possibly, but never Actualy: becaus if it should once be Actualy Divided into all its Divisibles, then it should ceas to be alway Divisible (which is a most true and evident Ratiocination, supposing such a Perpetual Divisibility therof, wherof I shall heerafter discours) But no Possibility whatsoever, either Precedent, or Subsequent, doth mi­litate against this present Discours concerning the Actual Existence of the World.

IX. This Perpetual Possibility in Futurity is the Duration of Im­mortal Spirits; which though it may not seem to be the same with Time in a restrained sens (as Time may be distinguished from Du­ration) yet is the same with it in a general sens. And so the Soul of Man, both in this Mortal Life, and also in his Immortal Life heerafter, shall continue to be under the same Duration; though his Time may be restrained to this Mortal Life, which hath an End, and is computed according to the Chronology of the Hours, Days, and Years therof: and so we commonly distinguish between Tem­poral, and Eternal or Everlasting. Thus Plato makes all Time to be the Measure of Duration according to the Motion of the Hea­venly Bodys, which divide it into such Parts or Sections therof: and therupon, I suppose, grounded his Opinion of the Circular Revolutions of Time, like the Circular Motions of the Heavens. But as Duration was Coetaneous with the first Chaos (for there was an Evening before any Morning, or Illumination of the Aether; and three several Days before the Sun and Stars) so the same Du­ration shall continue when they shall be dissolved, and when Time, in that sens, shall be no more. And yet in all the Perpetual Possi­bility of this Duration, so farr as it shall ever heerafter become Actual, it shall likewise be Actualy Finite, as I have already proved. Wheras Proper Eternity is neither in any Precedent, nor Subse­quent Possibility; but always Actual, and alway Present, or one Perpetual Instant: which is Divine, Infinite, and Incomprehensible, and of another nature, Infinitely and Incomprehensibly Different [Page 23] from any Finite Duration, Actual, or Possible, whatsoever; which it doth Comprehend, but not in any maner Confound, or Cha [...]ge the Temporary nature therof; as I shall shew in the next Section.

X. Wherfore I Conclude upon the whole precedent matter, That every Quantity, that hath Existed or doth Actualy Exist, is Actualy Finite. And so is every Quantitative thing measured thereby. And that no Imagination, nor Possibility it Self, can make it to be otherwise. Because all Quantity and Quantitative things have Parts, and all Parts are Finite, and therefore whatsoever hath Parts is Finite, and whatsoever is Finite, is Terminated or bounded with Extremitys, or First, or Begining; and Last, or End; Respectively ac­cording to the Parts: otherwise it should not be Finite. And particu­larly, that time and Duration (which is Successive) and all Tem­porary and Durable things, had a Realy Precedent and fixed First or Begining. Now that the force of this most Cogent Argument may not be lost or spent in so large a Dilatation, I will briefly Summ it up in these few and short Propositions, which I shall pre­sent to any Man of Reason most strictly to examin, and consider whether he can deny any one of them, or the Consequence of them all, without forfeiture of his Rationality.

I. That every Day is One Day, and of no more nor greater Num­ber, nor Duration.

II. That Yesterday was One Day, Actualy Past, and Precedent to this Day; and so all the Days Actualy Past and Precedent one unto a­nother.

III. That the whole Number and Duration of all the One Days Ac­tualy Past, and Precedent, is as Finite (or bounded with first, or Begin­ing; and Last, or End) as of any One Day.

IV. Therefore there was a First or Begining of the whole Duration of all the One Days, Actualy Past, and Precedent, aswel as of the parti­cular Duration of any One Day.

Wherefore I Conclude according to that right and true Sen­tence, Vim inferunt Humano Intellectui qui Mundum affirmant Infini­tum ex Finitis Partibus Constantem.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. WE have proved that Heaven and Earth, and Con­sequently the whole World, had a Begining of Being from Absolute Not being, or was Created; becaus it is Finite. Wherefore the Creator of all Finites must necessarily be Infinite: for if he were Finite, he must also be Created by another, and so Infinitely. But there can be no such Process Infinite, becaus it is Successive from one to another, and therefore must be finite, as I have already proved.

II. But becaus our Understanding also is Finite, and not Infi­nite; therefore the proper Object thereof must be Finite, and not Infinite: and all the knowledg we can have of Infinite is only from and by Finite. Now we have discovered Finite to be Partial; that is, either a Part or a Whole having Parts. And so indeed not on­ly all Quantity, and Quantitative things, wherof we have dis­c [...]ursed [...], but also all Qualitys, and Qualitative things, are Fi­nite, becaus they have certein Degrees of themselvs, which are their Respective Parts, or Proportions. And also all Substances or Created Entitys whatsoever either have Parts, or are them­selvs Parts of the Univers. And the Univers it self is only the [Page 25] Whole of all those Parts whatsoever; and Consequently Finite· Wherefore Infinite must neither be any Part, or Degree, nor a­ny Whole having Parts, or Degrees; otherwise it should not be Infinite, but Finite. Also Infinite, becaus it hath no Parts, or Degrees, in it self, is not Partialy, or Gradualy, what it is; but Infinitely without any Parts, or Degrees, One, and All, in i [...] self, and Infinitely comprehending all Finites: for if it were more then One, or less then All, it should be Partial, or Gra­dual; becaus More, or Less, are Partial, or Gradual, and con­sequently Finite. Thus Infinite doth Transcend Finite, not Fi­nitely, by any Parts, or Degrees whatsoever; but Infinitely, according to its own Nature, which is Infinite. Wherefore also Finite cannot be any the least Part, or Degree of Infinite; for then the Whole also should be Finite. And Infinite doth not on­ly Infinitely Transcend Finite; but is also Infinitely Different from it, without any Part, or Degree of Difference. And so though it doth Comprehend all Finites (as we say, Infinite Be­ing doth Comprehend all Finite Beings, Infinite Immensity all Finite Bodys, Infinite Eternity all Finite Time, and Infinite Uni­ty all Finite Numbers) Yet it doth also Comprehend them Infi­nitely, according to its own Infinite Nature, that is, Incompre­hensibly as to our Finite Understanding; and Inconfusedly as to the Finite Nature of the Things themselvs: and so God is the only true Transcendent and Eminent Caus neither Confounded, nor Compounded with them; nor such as doth Contradict, Alter, or Interfere with them, in any kind or maner whatsoever. And wheras Infinite and Finite do thus Consist together, and yet In­finitely Differ, we must alway reserv the Notions therof under most Different and Distinct Considerations, and not Confound them one with another in our Understandings, which are not Confounded in themselves; otherwise we shall thereby also Con­found our own Understandings, and disturb any right Apprehen­sion, either of Infinite, or Finite. Thus is Infinite both the In­finite Affirmation of all Being, and Welbeing; and the Infinite Negation of all Notbeing, and Ilbeing: which Negation being double, is only the Infinite Affirmation of it self.

III. As Infinite is Infinitely Affirmative, so Absolute Nothing is Not-finitely Negative, or the Notfinite Negation of all that [Page 26] is Affirmative. And any Affirmation of it self, as that Nonentity is Nonentity, and the like, is only the Notfinite Negation of it self. Wherefore Absolute Nothing is so purely Null, that as Plato rightly saith, it is altogether Ineffable, and Incomprehen­sible, and not capable of any Name or Notion, but what is bor­rowed from thing, or Being, wherof it is the Notfinite Negati­on: and therefore I rather chuse to term it Notfinite, to restrain it to the Negative Signification of it self, which purely is not; then Infinite, which hath also an Affirmative Signification of what it is in it self Infinitely, and wherof Notfinite is the adequate Ne­gation, and [...]s Notfinitely Notfinite as Infinite is Infinitely Infi­nite.

IV. But Infinite is either Proper, or Improper. Properly Infinite is only God; who as he is Infinitely One admitts only [...]n Iden­tical Predication of Himself, or That God is God, for Quicquid est in Deo est Deus. And yet as he is Infinitely All, and the Transcendency of all Finite Perfections which are many and se­veral; so there is Improperly Infinite, which may Improperly be Predicated of him severally according to our Finite Understan­ding, and his Infinite Condescension thereunto. And such are all those Partial and Distinguishing Notions which we frame of him. As that he is Entity, Immensity, Eternity, Unity, and the like: Whereby we render that which is Infinite, and Infinitely One in Himself, and with Himself, Partial, and Several, and Con­sequently Improperly Infinite; but not Properly Finite: for though thereby we render that which is Infinitely One in Himself, Many in our Understanding; Yet we also acknowledg him to be Infinite Entity, Infinite Immensity, Infinite Eternity, and Infinite Unity, and not More, or Less. Again more Improperly Infinite is that which is Properly Finite in it self, but Improperly Infinite in re­spect of God who is Infinite; as Sin (which is committed against him) is therefore by Divines said to be Infinite: and so indeed is every Creature in respect of him, who is the Infinite Crea­ting Caus, and Being of the Being therof. But most Impro­perly Infinite are such things as are only Indefinite unto us, or exceed our Finite Understanding. So we say that the Globe of Heaven and Earth which is Finite in it self, is Immens, and the World Eternal, and the Dust of the Earth Innumerable, and the [Page 27] like: And so we term a Circle Figuratively and Hieroglyphi­ [...]aly Infinite, and the like.

V. Also Notfinite is either Proper or Improper. Properly Notfinite is only Absolute Nothing, wherof there can be no o­ther Proper Predication then that it is not; or Nothing is No­thing. Improperly Notfinite is either that in it self, wherof we frame some Partial and Distinguishing Notions; as Nonentity, Vacuity, Nontime, Nullity, and the like; which are only Par­ticular and Respective Negations of that wherof Absolute No­thing is the Absolute Negation. Also there are other more Im­proper Notfinites, answerable to such Improper Infinites, which we have before Specified.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. HAving proved that there was Actualy such a Begining of the Being of Heaven and Earth, and of all things therin, from Absolute Not-being; and consequent­ly a Creation; I need not now to prove the Possibility therof; becaus it Actualy was. Yet farther to confirm it, I shall proceed [Page 28] to examin and refute the Grand Argument against the Possibility therof, Ex Nihilo Nihil fit. Absolute Impossibility is that which no Power can Possibly reduce into Act or Actual Being; Wherefore whatsoever may be so reduced is Possible to Infinite Power, which should not be Infinite, if any Affirmative Act should be Impossible unto it: for then it should be Limited by Somthing Possible which it cannot Act, and consequently be Finite. Thus Infinite Power must Necessarily be Omnipote [...]t or able to Act all things, except Contradictions, which are only the Negati­ons of it self, and consequently infer a Notfinite Impotence. And not to be able to Act such Negations is a double Negation; which as I have said, is only the Affirmation of it self. So God cannot Contradict Himself; either in Essence, as not to be God, or not to be Infinite, which is the same; or in Operation, as to make the same Thing to Be and Not be Absolutely; for then he should undo what he doth. And so God cannot make Ab­solute Nothing or Notbeing to Be; for then it should Be and Not be Absolutely, which is an Absolute Contradiction. Nei­ther can he Convert Absolute Nothing into Somthing, or Ex­tract Somthing out of Absolute Nothing; for then it should not be Absolute Nothing, out of which there is Nothing which may be so Converted, Extracted, or Made, in any kind or maner whatsoever.

II. So that if to Create were any of these Operations, as the Objection doth import, then it should be confessedly Impossible. And I suppose some such Misapprehension hath been the ground of that Error. Wheras Creation rightly understood is only a Causing Finite Being to be from Absolute Notbeing, as the Ne­gative Term, from which it doth Commence; and not of which or out of which it is Made in any kind or maner whatsoever. Now becaus Absolute Nothing or Notbeing is only a Negative Term or pure Negation, it can neither resist Creation, nor contribute any thing to, or toward it; becaus it is Absolute Nothing.

III. And becaus Absolute Nothing cannot resist in the least, therefore Creation is Infinitely Possible to Infinite Power; be­cause there is Nothing to resist it. And also becaus whatsoever [Page 29] is Possible to Infinite Power, is Infinitely Possible to it; and not Partialy, or Gradualy; becaus Infinite hath no Parts, or De­grees. Nor doth the Creation of Finite Being Contradict, or Alter, Augment, or Diminish, Infinite Being, or Notfinite Not being. And so the present Finite Being which is Created (as we have already shewed) doth not Contradict, Alter, Augment or D [...]minish, either of them, which are Eternaly the same in themselvs.

IIII. But because Absolute Notbeing cannot contribute any thing to, or toward, Creation, therefore it is Impossible to any Finite Power: for Absolute Nothing doth afford no Matter, Principle Preparation, Inclination, Capacity, or any Somthing whatsoever; wherupon, or whereby, Finite Power may begin to work; and where there is no Begining, there cannot Possi­bly be any Progress, or Perfection therof by any Finite Pow­er; but only by Infinite Power, which can Create Being, and the very Begining therof from Absolute Notbeing. Also all Finite Power it self before it was Created was absolutely Null; and so had no Power in it Self to Create it self, or any other Being, from Absolute Notbeing. Nor could God himself De­legate this Infinite Power to Angels or Daemons, or any Rab­binical or Platonical Subcreators; which must be either To­taly, or Partialy, not Totaly; for then God should ceas to have or be Infinite Power in Himself, and consequently to be God; which is an Infinite Contradiction, nor Partialy; for Infinite hath no Parts. Certeinly no Angel, nor Man, the chief of Natural Operators, did ever arrogate unto himself a Creating Power. Nor have we any Instances of Creation in the whole History of Nature, among all those Monstrous Relations, which the Writers therof have inserted. Nor hath any Poetical Fan­sy ever Invented or Imagined a Metamorphosis of Being from Notbeing. Much less hath any Philosophy ascribed this Crea­ting Power to Nature her self; but rather denieth a Creation; and yet to solv it, is forced to substitute an Impossible Eternity of Finite Nature; and certein Fictitious Powers, Eminences, and Equivocal Causalitys, which I shall also examin heeraf­ter.

[Page 30]V. As Creation is a Causing to be from Notbeing, so Annihi­lation is a Causing Not to be from Being; which is most Possible to the Infinite Creator; becaus it is only the withdrawing his own Infinite Power, whereby he doth continualy Caus the Creature to Be; but Impossible to any Finite Power; becaus it cannot resist the Infinite Creating Power, which doth so con­tinualy Cause the Creature to Be. And as there can be no An­nihilation by any Finite Power; So we never read of any by Infinite Power: Nor probably will God ever Annihilate any thing which he hath Immediately Created; for he doth nothing in vain, but continueth and reserveth all things, which he hath made by Proper Creation, for his own Everlasting Glory.

VI. Thus to Caus to Be or Continue to Be from Absolute Notbeing is Proper Creation. But there are also Improper Cre­ations, which do not produce or preserv any Being from Abso­lute Notbeing: but only alter the Created Being in such a Su­pernatural maner as is beyond all Natural Generation, or any other Natural Power of the Creature: which being Finite, and no more then it is; as it cannot Create without Infinite Power, which it hath not; so neither can it Act any thing beyond that Finite Power which it hath. And thus, though it is the Opinion of Divines that God Originaly Created nothing after the Begin­ing, except Souls of Men (or Angels if they were not Origi­naly Created in and with their Heaven) by Proper Creation; Yet God is said to Create in all the Six days, and expressly in the Fifth day to Create great Whales (though it be also said that the Waters Produced them aswell as others) by Improper Crea­tion, which was his Immediate Ordination of the whole Frame and Cours of Nature, and Original Generation of them all: which the several Creatures in their First Chaos (before their Active Qualitys and Mist Forms were Produced, and all other previous and requisite Matters Powers and Instruments were prepared and adapted by God) could not perform in or by them­selvs, nor Generate others, untill they were so fitted and in­structed, and the Divine Blessing of Multiplication added ther­unto, as I shall shew heerafter: and therefore all those Works of the Six Days, which did Succeed the Original and Proper [Page 31] Creation in the Begining, were Improper Creations. So also all Positive Miracles, which are Preternatu [...]al, or beside the Natural Course and Order, are Improper Creations.

VII. Proper Annihilation is a Causing any Being not to be Ab­solutely: and improper Annihilation only a Preternatural Altera­tion therof. And as God in Positive Miracles doth work be­yond Natural Power, so in other Privative Miracles he doth obstruct and suspend it. As in causing Iron to swim by suspending the Gravity therof; or fire not to burn, by Suspending the Heat therof, and the like.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. WE have heer a brief Description and Map of the World, and of the whole Globe of the Matter therof, from the utmost Circumference to the inmost Center, which was all Created in the Begining: for nei­ther do we read, nor can we reasonably suppose, that any new [Page 32] Matter was Created afterward. Nor was it Created in the ve­ry Begining only Matter, or one Homogeneous Mass therof; but one Body, expressly distinguished into several Heterogeneous Members, Celestial, and Terrestrial; or Heaven, and Earth. Nor was the Heaven and Earth thus only Different in Nature, in their First Creation, but also Distinct and separate in their Situations, and not Confounded together, but Created such several Members of the great Body of the World. And as the Heaven is named before the Earth, so were the Celestial Bodys above or without the Terrestrial, incompassing them as now they do: for neither do we read, nor can we reasonably suppose, that there was any other Separation or Disposition of the Ce­lestial Bodys afterward; as is expresly mentioned of the Ter­restrial, or Terraqueous Globe▪ wherof▪ and of all their seve­ral Situations, I shall further discours heerafter.

II. The word Heaven, Hebra [...]caly is Heavens, not only Gram­maticaly (as the word God in this Text) but Phisicaly, and in the nature of the thing it self. And so generaly the Hebrews di­stribute Heaven into three several Heavens of three several Na­tures. Wherof the highest is also called the Third Heaven; be­caus it is Utmost and the last above us, and encompasseth both the others; and this I shall therefore call the Superaether. The midst, or Second, is the Aether, or Starry Heaven. The lowest or First, is the Air which Immediately encompasseth the Ter­raqueous Globe. And these are all the Celestial Spheres wher­of we read, and therefore I can acknowledg no more however Astronomers have pleased to multiply them. These three Hea­vens are thus built one upon another, and all upon the Terra­queous Globe, which is the Habitation of all Corporeal Ani­mals: as Amos elegantly expresseth it, He that builded the Storys of the Heavens, and founded his Troop on the Earth. Of all the three Heavens the Third, which is the Supreme, is most Pro­perly Heaven; and therefore also is called the Heaven of Heavens, by way of Excellency, and so is specialy called the Temple of the most high God; and is the Native Region and Province of Blessed Angels, or Caelum Angelicum; and shall be the Everlasting Habitation of the Spirits of Just Men, or Sedes Beatorum. Wherof we have no farther discover [...], then only that [Page 33] it was Created together with the other two Heavens; and so is Comprehended u [...]der one Common Name with them: and pro­bably because it was made Perfect in the Begining or first In­stant of the Creation therof, and so must continue for ever, without any Elementary Mistion, Generation, or Corruption; therefore we have no other account therof among all the Works of the Six Days; wherein the Elements, and whole Elementtary Nature, and the Cours of Generation, and Corrupti on therin, was Set in order. And accordingly I observ, that wheras the other two Elementary Heavens, Aether, and Air, are called Expansa and Firmaments, this Superaether is never so ter­med; but only Heaven, probably becaus it is not capable of Expansion or Compression. But as the Divine Wisedom hath conceled any farther notice therof, and also given us very lit­tle Knowledg of the nature of Angels, the proper Inhabitants therof, as Impertinent for us to know in this present State; so I shall not presume farther to inquire therinto, or discours ther­of: and indeed if the Hebraical Word Heavens be dualy ren­dred, it must be intended only of Aether, and Air.

III. As the Aether and Air are Elementary, and both of them He [...]erogeneous from the Superaether, and every of them one from another; So are all of them from the Earth, and Terra­queous Globe. And as Heaven generaly Comprehendeth all the three Heavens, so heer also Earth Comprehendeth both Earth, and Water; which were afterward formed into one Terraqueous Globe: and by that general Name in this Text is not only to be Understood Earth particularly (which was not so termed untill the Third Day, and then also is called Dry Land) nor the Ter­raqueous Globe such as it was made afterward; but the Orb of Earth and the Water above it, which is also mentioned after­ward. Thus we have a Discovery of what was Created in the Begining; that is, Superaether, which is also Superelementary and Aether, Air, Water, Earth, which are the fower Elements; as God the Creator hath declared, and Moses reveled them unto us, both in this Text, and in the Context, whom I shall be­liev before all Athens, or any Modern Conceptions whatsoever; and shall accordingly prove them heerafter. And now upon this Subject Matter proceed to discours; and first enter upon such [Page 34] Philosophical Consyderations therof as may concern them all, and all Creatures Generaly; and so according to the order of this History of the Creation Expatiate into more Particular Con­templations of their several Natures afterward. The first and most Universal Consyderation of Heaven and Earth, and of all Creatures whatsoever, is that they are Entitys; for since Crea­tion is of Being from Absolute Nothing, whatsoever is Created must necessarily Be; otherwise it should not be Created. So that an Entity is any Thing that Is, which I confess, is no more in effect, then that an Entity is Entity: whose Subject and Praejudicate, Genu [...] and Difference, is, and must necessarily be the same; becaus it is the same Genus Generalissimum of all Things without any Specifical Difference. And heer I must also premise that in every Perfect and Proper Definition of any Specifical, or more Particular Thing, the Specifical or particular Diffe­rences therof must be Identical; becaus the Specifical or par­ticular Essence or Entity is the only true Specifical or Parti­cular Difference of every thing. But becaus we cannot know Essences as they are in themselvs, therefore we declare things by their Propertys, which is rather Description then Definiti­on. As in the Common Instance, Homo est Animal Rationale, Rationality is not the true Specifical Difference of Humanity, though it be most Proper to Man; becaus it is not his Specifical Essence; and therefore doth not Define the Humanity it self. Nor doth it indeed Comprehend all the Properties therof, as Ri­sibility, and the like; but only Describe it by one Proper Fa­culty. So that the most Proper Definitions are only Vocabu­larys and Nomenclatures, which yet are of good use to explain one Term by another; whereby we may avoid all needless Cap­tion and Contention about Terms, and when the Thing inten­ded thereby is clearly understood, it shall suffice me. And I have now made this Digressive Parenthesis, to save my Self the whole labor of Defining, and the expectation of any who o­therwise perhaps might exact it of me: but I shall use as clear and pregnant Declarations or Descriptions as the Thing will afford. Thus I affirm Created Entity to be a Creature, or whatsoever is Created which is also Convertible with it. Again becaus the Created World doth Consist of several Heterogene­ous and different Entitys and Natures (into which Differences [Page 35] we must also inquire) I affirm such a Different Entity to be whatsoever God hath Created Different in Nature from another: for as whatsoever he hath Created must Necessarily Be; so what­soever he hath Created Different must necessarily Differ. Now heer we must Consyder a Difference which Scholemen have made of Entity it Self; which is, that it is either Entity Real, or Enti­ty of Reason: Entity Real is in the Thing it Self and Nature ther­of; as Heaven, and Earth, and all things therin; Entity of Rea­son is in our Reason or Mind; as the whole Poetical World, and all things therin; Hircocervs, Hippocentaurs, and the like; which are therefore also called Entitys; becaus our very Imaginations and Fictions therof are Creatures, and Entitative, though the Imagi­nary Figments themselvs are as it were our Creatures, and Ob­jectively Nothings. And so also there are Entitys of Sens, as all Deceptions of the Senses: for though there be no such Objects, yet there is Realy and truly such a Sensation, as well as when the Objects are Real and true, as I shall shew heerafter. Now as Entitys Real and of Reason are both Entitative, So there is such a Diversity of Entity it Self, Respectively, and Improperly: But as Entitys of Reason are Objectively Nonentitative, So also there is Absolutely and Properly no Difference, but a plain Contradi­ction between them, and Real Entity; as a Number, and a Null or Cyphar, do not Properly Differ, but Contradict one another becaus one is, and the other is not. Wherefore all Real and true Difference must be between things that are truly Real; and again whatsoever things are Real may Realy Differ from others in the Things themselvs and Natures therof. So that Real Difference is not only Corporeal, or of things wherof there is or may be a Lo­cal Separation, but also of any other Thing or Entity, though not Separated or Separable Localy: for though Entity it self be only Generical, yet there are also Specifical and Particular Es­sences, and Differences. Thus an Angel in a Body, and the Body, are Realy Different Specificaly in the Things themselvs, and Natures therof; though not Localy Separated, yet as truly as when they are Localy Separated. So that their Difference is not only from their several Localitys, but from their several Specifical Natures. So also the Soul, and Body of Man, are now Different, though not yet Separated, but only Separable by [Page 36] Death; and shall be Different after the Resurrection, when they shall be Inseparable, as well as after Death and before the Resurrection, when they shall be Localy Separated: and So Hea­ven, and Earth, also Differ, not only becaus they are Lo [...]aly Se­parated, but also becaus they are Heaven, and Earth; that is, Several Natures Specificaly Different. Also there may be an In­dividual Difference where there is no Specifical Difference, as in a Legion of Angels, or Men; Lastly there is a Numerical Dif­ference where there is no Individual Difference; as all the Mem­bers of a Body are so many as they are Numericaly, but yet do not Differ Individualy: otherwise it should not be one Body, or Individual Composition therof, but so many several Individuals, as there are Members. But whatsoever doth Differ in any other kind, doth also Differ Numericaly; becaus Number, or Quantity Discrete, is Comprehensive of all Differences, Diversitys, or Discretions whatsoever. And now I shall Conclude that whatso­ever God hath Created, and is in Nature and Not only in our Reason or Mind, Realy is: and whatsoever God hath Created Different, and doth Differ in Nature, and not only in our Rea­son or Mind, is Realy Different: which I suppose None can De­ny, and according to these Undeniable Rules I shall proceed.

VI, The first Real Difference of Entity is that it is either Substance, or Accident. And now (becaus I know I must fight out my way by Inches against all Sceptical Disputers) I shall proceed as clearly and firmly as I can. And first I shall explain my Terms. By Substance I intend an Entity Naturaly Subsisting in it Self, and from which other Accidental Entitys do Naturaly Flow, and Subsist therin. By Accident I intend an Entity which doth Naturaly Flow from and Subsist in a Substance. So that Sub­stance is both the Original Fountain, and Continual Foundation of any Accident, Cujus Esse est Inesse, which some cavill against, becaus they do not Understand it; though it is very true, and rightly said of an Accident, that it is the Accident of a Substance and in respect of the Substance: as it may be also said of Sub­stance in respect of Accidents, Cujus Esse est Subesse. But as all particular Substances, Matter, and Forms, have their own Speci­fical Essences or Entitys, So also have all particular Accidents [Page 37] Extension, Figure, Density, Gravity, Motion, Heat, Light, and the rest. Also though all Accidents do Originaly Subsist in their Substances; yet Derivatively one Accident may Subsist in ano­ther; as Figure in Extension, Gravity in Density; and [...] Im [...]mediately, and the others Mediately, in Matter. [...] Several Accidents may Subsist Immediately in the [...] as Extension and Density in Matter, which is one [...] Sub­stance. And one Accident doth so Subsist in [...] if it be a particular Product, Property, or Affection therof; as Figure is of Extension, or Gravity of Density, and the like. Now Accidents are therefore so called; becaus they are Adventitious to the Sub­stance, wherof the Specifical Essence, as I have said, is in it Self, and doth not consist in any, or all the Accidents therof; nor is, or can be Altered, or made More or Less, by the Variations ther­of; and also becaus Accidents in themselvs do sometimes Actualy Exist, Appear, and Exert their Operations; and sometimes only Subsist Potentialy, and are Latent and Quiescent in their Sub­stances: as may evidently appear by all the several Variations of Accidents, the Substance remaining the same; becaus it doth al­way Subsist in it Self; and therfore always is Actualy what it is in it Self: for if it should be Potential, then the Potentiality therof not Actualy Subsisting in it Self, should Subsist in another; and Consequently be an Accident, and not a Substance. And thus every Entity which is Created, and cannot be Annihilated, must necessarily alway Subsist either in it Self, or in another Actualy, or Potentialy; But becaus Accidents Affect, and indeed Perfect the Substance, therefore they are also called Affections; Now that there are Substances, I Suppose, none will Deny who acknow­ledg any Actual Entitys: and that there are Accidents, none can deny who hath the use of his Senses; wherof all Sensible Acci­dents are the Proper Objects: and Objects of Intellect are only understood by Objects of Sens. So that indeed all our Conversa­tion is Immediately with and by Accidents; and we neither know Essences of Accidents, nor Substances, otherwise then by their Actual Phaenomena, or Appearances: Nor can Substances Ope­rate any thing without the Actual Operations, of Accidents. Wher efore that I may not fight as beating the Air, nor Contend for that which will and must be yielded, I shall more directly [Page 38] oppugn that wherin I conceiv the greatest strength of opposition to ly, and accordingly address my Self to prove that Accidents are Realy Different from their Substances: whereby I shall also prove that both Substances and Accidents Realy are; becaus any Real Difference is only between Real Entitys. Now as I have said be­fore God in the Begining Created Heaven and Earth, and all other their Primitive Entitys therin, which yet did not then all Actualy Exist, Appear, and Operate: for it is said expresly, that there was yet no Light in the Heaven, but Darkness was upon the face of the Deep; and of the Earth that it was without form and void: and if they had been otherwise Created in the Begining, all the ensuing Works of God in the Six Days had been needless and Superfluous. Wheras Elementary Substances and the Essen­ces of their Accidents in their Potentialitys being Created toge­ther in the Begining, the work of the Three first Days was to Produce their Accidents out of Potentiality into Act; as I shall particularly shew heerafter. And though this was not Properly Creation of any New Entity from Nonentity; yet as it was the Production of the Actualitys of the Accidents, and not of the Substance [...] of the Elements, it plainly Discovers a Real Difference between Substances, and Accidents. Certeinly as it was the Pro­duction of Several Actualitys therof in several Days, it declares the Accidents so severaly Actuated to be several and Different in themselvs; and much more all of them to be Different from the Substances, from which they all Differ more Genericaly, and consequently more then one from another. Again if Substances and Accidents did not Realy Differ, then no Accidents of the same Substance should Realy Differ one from another, but all should be one and the same with themselvs, as well as with their Substance: For as the Mathematical Rule is most true, That if each of two Lines be Equal to a third, one of them must necessarily be Equal to the other. So if each of two Entitys, could be one and the same with a third, the one must Necessarily be one and the same with the other: and so if Extension, Figure, Density, Gra­vity, Motion, Heat, Light, and the rest, and all the Several Vari­ations therof, were one and the same with the Aethereal Substance, then they must also be one and the same in themselvs: Yea if they were only Accidents of the Matter, as some affirm all Contrary [Page 39] Qualitys, Heat and Cold, and the rest must be one and the same with the Matter; which is most Absurd and Irrational: for then Heat should be Cold, and Cold Heat, and the like. Also if we Consyder the Continual Sensible Variations of Accidents, and their Productions out of Potentiality into Actuality, and Re­ductions from Actuality to Potentiality, whereby they so often Appear and Disappear unto us, and their Desultory and Exile Na­ture (which to some scarcely seems to be Real) we may not Ima­gin them to be Realy the same with their Substances, which Sub­sist in themselvs, and are Fixed, Solid, and Substantial Entitys; and therefore always are Actual, and never Potential, as I shall par­ticularly shew heerafter in all the ensuing Discourses. Wherefore I Conclude that Since there are such Substantial, and Acciden­tal Entitys, and that they Differ one from another, in Nature, and not only in our Mind and Reason; that they both Realy are; and that Accidents Realy Differ from Substances, and also one from another.

VII. Substance is either Matter, or Forms; (for I must use that Common Term untill I can substitute another) And becaus, as I have said, we know Substances only Intelligibly, by their Sensible Accidents, I shall accordingly by them declare what I intend by Matter, and what by Forms, Matter is known by Cor­poreal Quantity, which is the Proper Accident therof. And this Quantity is either Extension, and the Products or Proper­tys therof, Figure, Porosity, and the like; or Density and the Products or Propertys therof, Gravity, Corporeal Motion, and the like. Also Matter hath a Common Receptivity of Forms, and is Passively apt to be Consubstantiated with them, and is as the Body therof, being in it Self one Homogeneous and Uniform Moles, or Mass; and is also the Passive Subject of all its own Cor­poreal Variations, which are Superinduced in it by the various Activitys of Forms. Whence it is rightly called Materia, which the Forms, as Architects, do severaly Mold and Fashion into fit Bodys for themselvs. And therefore I Describe Matter to be One Passive Substantial Entity or Common Body of Forms. A­gain Forms are known by their Qualitys, which are Generaly Active, as Heat, Cold, Moisture, Drines, and the like; and are [Page 40] not only Various, and Innumerable to us, but also many of them Contrary one to another: whereby I know their Substantial Forms also to be Several, Heterogeneous, and Difform: wherof some are apt to Consubstantiate themselvs Subordinately with the Passive Matter, which they as Spirits, do Actively Inform or InSpirit, as all Inferior Forms or Spirits; and some do not Consubstanti­ate but only Inform it; as the Human Spirit; and some neither Consubstantiate nor Inform it, as Angels: and though all Exist in it, yet none Subsist in it, as Accidents do in Substances; And so these Forms are Several Active Substantial Entitys or Spirits. And I shall henceforth generally call them Spirits; Wherby I do not intend Spirit Grammaticaly, that is Breath; nor yet with Physi­cians, and others, those Igneous Aereous, Aqueous, and Terreous, Natural, Vital, or Animal Spirits, which indeed are only such Qualitys of the Elementary Spirits; but Substantial Spirits Di­stinct or Different from the Matter, as I have before discoursed them. And so there are not only Angelical Spirits which Exist Separate from the Matter Naturaly, though in it Localy, and Hu­man Spirits which are also Immaterial, and such as may so Exist se­parately, as well as Angelical, and yet are apt to Inform or In­Spirit the Human Body wherwith they are Composited, But also Material Spirit [...], which cannot so Exist Separately, or as Separate Substances without the Matter, and therefore are called Material, though they are in themselvs neither Matter nor Homogeneous with the Matter as I shall shew heerafter. And so the Wiseman mentioneth The Spirit of a Beast that goeth downward to the Earth, as well as the Spirit of Man that goeth upward. And so also there are Vegetative Spirits, and the Spirit of the Heaven (as the Au­thor of Esdras saith of the Firmament) and of all the Elements, (which are more Properly Material becaus they Immediately Consubstantiate Matter) that is, such Active Substantial Entitys, as I have before Described. And there are also Accidental Spirits or Spiritual Activitys Powers, and Virtues mentioned in Scripture. Which yet are no Substantial Spirits, but Subsist in them. And I suppose this general Name Spirit doth better express all simple Substantial Activitys (which were Immediately Created by God, as well as Matter, and can never be Annihilated or Altered as they are in themselvs, any more then Matter it Self) then Forms [Page 41] by which they are commonly exprest as well as Form [...] Mistorum. And therefore I do not term them Forms, (but I rather reserv Form to express that which is otherwise called Formae Misti, or Compositi, by which I intend only the Generative Complexion and Compagination of those simple Created Spirits and Matter which are Ingenerable and Incorruptible in themselvs; and wherof Ge­neration and Corruption are only the Confabrication, or Demo­lition; as I shall shew heerafter: and consequently every Form [...] Misti, or Compositi is Generable and Corruptible: and so these Forms are as far Different from the others (which I therefore term Spirits) as they are from Matter; and are called Substan­tial only becaus they are the Complexions of the others, which are Substances as also Material Spirits are so called only becaus they are so Un [...]ted to the Matter, as I said before. Having thus explained my Terms, I shall proceed (as before concerning Sub­stances and Accidents) to prove that Matter and these simple Created Spirits Realy Differ, whereby I shall also prove that there Realy are both such Matter and Such Spirits. And wheras it is now generaly granted that there are such Angelical and Human Spirits Realy Different from Matter (for which, I suppose, we may thank Christianity) I shall accept i [...]; and apply my Self only to prove the same of the rest; and then I presume no Hea­then can deny it of the others. Now in our present History of the Creation it is said that the Water brought forth Fishes after their Kinds, and Fowls after their Kinds, and the Earth Beasts after their Kinds, and Creeping things after their Kinds. Where­by it appears that these Creatures were of Several Kinds, and He­terogeneous one from another, and Consequently all of them from the Matter; which being one Homogeneous Substance in it Self can never Produce any Heterogeneous Substances; and therefore all this Heterogeneity must necessarily be from some o­ther Substantial Principles; that is, their Spirits: which were Created thus Specificaly Heterogeneous one from another, and all of them more Genericaly Heterogeneous from the Common Mat­ter. And so it is also expresly said concerning Vegetatives; and must be reasonably understood of Heaven, and Earth, and all the Elements: for the Matter of them all being one and the same could not Constitute and Denominate them Heaven, or Earth, neither could they be so Denominated from their own Proper [Page 42] Qualitys, which were not yet Actualy Produced, but afterward in the Three first Days. Wherfore there were such several He­terogeneous Substantial Principles (which I call Elementary Spi­rits) Created in the Begining and then Actualy Subsisting in and with the Matter, which did so Denominate the Heaven and Earth, and the rest. And if they together with the Matter could not Produce their own Proper Qualitys, without such a Supernatural, though Improper Creation; much less could the Matter of it Self Produce any Such Substantial Spirits, and Activitys, farr more excellent then it Self. Again if Accidents of the same Substance being Several must therefore Realy Differ from the Substance, as I have before proved, then certeinly Accidents of Several Substances, which are not only Several, but also Contra­ry, do necessarily prove that they can not proceed from one and the same Substantial Principle, such as Matter is: for then the same Nature should destroy it self by its own Natural Contrari­etys. And though in Mist Bodys which are Composed of all the Elements there be the Substantial Principles of Contrary Qualitys, Heat, Cold, Moisture, Driness, and the like Mist and Contemperated together, or though the same thing may Produce Contrary Effects in Several Subjects, as Motion may excite Heat in Fire and Cold in Air, or the same Faculty may exercise Contrary Actions toward Contrary Objects; as the Will or Appetite doth Affect that which is Pleasant, and Disaffect that which is Displeasant; Yet Matter, which is one and the same, cannot Produce Contrary Activitys, and Exercise Contrary Operations in it Self, which destroy one another, and so consequently should Corrupt it self by such Contrary Qualitys. Wherefore all Generation and Cor­ruption, and all Menstrua, and the like, do plainly prove that there are Several Substantial Principles of Such Contrary Qua­litys, not only Realy Different from the Matter, but also Dif­form one from another. And therefore, unless we affirm Heat, Cold, Moisture, Driness, and all other Contrary Qualitys, and Consequently Ae [...]her, Air, Water, Earth, Vegetatives and Sen­sitives to be all one and the same and not Different; and thereby Confound Heaven and Earth, and all things therin, and our own Notions therof, we must Necessarily grant that there are such Several Accidental Qualitys, and also such Substantial [Page 43] Principles therof, Different one from another, and consequently all from the Matter. And this may appear most clearly by many Sensible Distinctions and Differences between them, which I shall now only generaly mention, and heerafter more particularly discover in the ensuing Discourses. As that Matter hath Pondus, and the Products therof which Spirits have not: but there are Active Potentiae of Spirits and all the various Operations and Ef­fects therof, which Matter hath not: And the Pondus of Matter tendeth from the Circumference to the Center, but the Potentia of Spirits from the Center to the Circumference. And Matter being only one Homogeneous Body hath only one Center; but Spirits being Many and Several have every one of them in their Composita a several Center. Also all Matter is Continuous; be­caus it is one Homogeneous Body; but the Contiguity of several Bodys is only from the several Spirits. Also Matter tendeth Na­turaly to Rest, but Spirits intend their Acts and Exercises to the Utmost. Also Matter hath only Different Degrees of More or Less; but Spirits have their Actively Contrary Qualitys, and the like. Now though I cannot Sensibly Produce and Present such a Genius of things or Spirit, as it is in it Self; not only be­caus it is a Spirit, but also becaus it is a Substance; which as I have said that it is only Intelligible (as none can discover Pure Matter, or Materia prima, as it is in it Self, but both may be discerned by their Sensible Accidents, wherof the Accidents of Spirits, which are Proper Sensibles, are more Sensible then of Matter, which are only common Sensibles and Sensed by the others) so I have proved Matter and Spirits by their Different Accidents to be several Substantial Principles, and Realy Different one from another. And though none can affirm that there is any Matter Separate from Spirits; yet it is granted that there are Spirits Se­parate from Matter, as Angels. Nor may it seem strange that two such Substances should be Consubstantiated into one, since there is no Matter without some Spirit to Diversify it; and it is also granted that there is a Spirit of Man which doth Inform or Inspirit his Body; and not only Possess it as an Angel. Where­fore certeinly Material Spirits which are Connatural may also Consubstantiate the Matter. And we must understand that as all Created Entitys are Creatures, or Created by God; so they are [Page 44] United into one Genus of their Common Entity; which though it be Metaphysical, yet it is not only a Notional, but a Real Uni­versality of them all; whereby they are so Realy United and accordingly have some Physical Communion one with another, and all Conspire together against Nonentity. And so Matter and Spirits though very Different Entitys; yet because they are all Entitys, either Consubstantiate one another, as all Material Spirits, which cannot be Separate, nor Exert or Exercise their Qualitys or Operations without the Instrumentality of their Ma­terial Bodys, or otherwise Inform and Inspirit them, as the Imma­terial Spirit of Man: which may be Separate, or not Separate from the Body therof, and Exert and Exercise some Qualitys and Operations by the Instrumentality therof, and some without it, as I shall shew heerafter; or at least as Angels, who though they be purely Immaterial Spirits, and have no such Consubstan­tial nor Compositive Union with the Matter, nor do Inform or Inspirit it, nor Operate by any Instrumentality therof; but are in that respect wholy Separate from it, yet have this Communion with it, that they are Localy in it, where they are and do Move from one Part or Place therof to another, and more or less sud­denly and easily, and can not Move beyond the Universal Body therof; for then they might Wander in Notfinite and Endless Inanity, which as I have said is Pure Nonentity. And though Extension and Local Motion be Properly of the Matter, yet Ma­terial Spirits by their Conjunct State and Consubstantiation are Coextended with it, and all others are Conteined in it, and in this or that Part therof, and Move from this or that Place therof, according to the several Spheres of their own Substantial Acti­vitys; whether they be more United unto it by a Conjunct Con­substantiation, as Material Spirits; which are in the Matter like Inherent Light in the Lucid Body, and in so much therof as it doth Inherently Illuminate, or less and without any such Con­junct Consubstantiation, as the Human Spirit, which is in the Matter as Light in the Diaphanous Air which it requires to Illu­minate; or otherwise as Angels, which are in it as Magnetical Ema­nations in any Medium. And accordingly Material Spirits are most Powerful in their Center, but Immaterial Intirely Equal in their whole Sphere. Now wheras some affirm that Substantial [Page 45] Spirits, and all their Spiritual Qualitys, are only Various Mo­tions of the Matter; I shall according to my maner first endea­vour to Understand, what is or may be Intended by the Moti­on of the Matter; which certeinly can not be any Substantial Activity in it Self Distinct from the Matter; for then we might agree in the Thing, and should not differ about Terms: where­fore Motion of the Matter must be only an Accidental Affection therof, (like Extension and the rest whereby matter Extends it Self) and so in Effect Motion of the M [...]tter is only Matter Moving it Self; Wheras it Naturaly tends to Rest, and Moves only in order therunto, as I shall shew heerafter; and this Moving must be only Local, becaus it is of the Matter from one Part or Place therof to another. But as I have shewed, that there are other Dif­ferences of things besides Local Separation; So there are other Motions, besides Local Motion; as every Mutation from one State to another, in Generation, Corruption, and the like; and i [...] Intellection, and Volition, there may be such Spiritual Motions, without any Local Motion whatsoever, wheras Local Motion is only a Transition or passing from one Part or Place of the Matter to another, as I shall also shew heerafter: And now I may safely affirm that such Local Motion is only Local Motion, and neither more nor less, nor other: for as this Iden­tical Proposition is most true, That Local Motion is Local Mo­tion: So the Predicate therof being Adaequate to the Subject, it can be neither more nor less, nor other then the Subject. Now that this Local Motion which Properly belongeth to the Matter is an Instrument not only of Matter, but also of all Ma­terial Spirits (becaus they are Material, or Conjunct with the Matter in their Consubstantiation, and also in their Operation, as well as Extension, Figure, and the rest) I easily grant: but must wholy deny that Aether, Air, Water, Earth, or any other Substan­tial Spirits; Heat, Cold, Moisture, Driness, Vegetation, Sensation, and innumerable other Spiritual Qualitys are only Local Moti­ons, one way, or other, or any way whatsoever: for then Local Motion should not be only an Instrumental Causality or Effect, of all those Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys, but the very Essence and Formality, or Formal Caus therof; which is most Uncouth and Inconceivable: for they are Formaly every one of them Such [Page 46] as they are in themselves; as well as the Matter is Matter in it Self, without any Actual Motion: and so also Extension is For­maly Extension in it Self, and may Exist and be Such, without any Actual Motion: and Figure is Formaly Figure in it Self, and may Exist, and be Such, without any Actual Motion: and so any other Accidents of Matter: much more Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys: which I shall now very plainly prove. In the Begining God Created the Heaven and the Earth; and not only Matter and Motion: nor could Matter by Motion Diversify it Self in the Begining into Hea­ven and Earth; that is, as I have before explained them, Super­aether, Aether, Air, Water, and Earth: for no local Motion can be in an instant; but the Begining was only the First Instant, otherwise it should not be the First or Begining: Wheras Local Motion being from Place to Place, which are several Terms, must necessarily be in several Instants: and most Probably there was no Local or any such Natural Motion in the first Chaos, but only the Spirit of God Supernaturaly Moved on the face of the Waters. Also if several Local Motions were the Formalitys or Formal Beings of all Spirits, and Spiritual Qualitys, then they should not be before nor after, nor any longer, then the Local Motion doth continue: for the Formality of any thing is the very Specifical Being therof; (as Wind which is indeed only Aer Motus continues no longer then the Motion) and Nothing can be without the Specifical Being of it Self; otherwise it should not be what it is. Wherefore I suppose I may set this down as another Infallible Canon (according to which also I may safely proceed) that Whatsoever Actualy Exists without somthing which doth not then also Actualy Exist, must Realy differ from it; otherwise the same thing should Actualy Exist, and not Exist at the same time, which is Contradictory, and Impossible. And thus as I have proved Substances, which did Actualy Exist in the Begining, to differ Realy from Accidents, which did not then Actualy Exist; So particularly Spiritual Substances and their Qualitys, which do or may Actualy Exist without any Actual Local Motion, must necessarily be Realy Different from it. And this is most Sensibly Evident that they may so Exist, and be, without any Local Motion; and when they are in Local Motion, are Com­monly rather Causes therof, then Caused by it; and so they Caus [Page 47] Motion in the very Matter, which of it self would Perpetualy Rest in the Center, and due Position of it Self, as I have said, and shall heerafter prove, and is Disturbed and Moved by the Potentiae of Spirits, which alter the Natural Position, Figure, Density, and Gravity therof: and Properly it hath no Natural Motion of it Self, but only to restore it Self unto Rest. Nor can the Mat­ter, and Motion, and any or all the other Accidents or Variations therof, Formaly Caus the Spirits, or Spiritual Qualitys: but are only Instruments, and fit Bodies therof, which they form for themselves. Take Wax, and Move it this Way, or that Way; or Mold it into this, or that Figure; or Discind it into any Threads or Corpuscles, or Mechanicaly Vary the Matter therof how you will; yet it will still be Wax, as well as every part of Water is Water; Unless there be also some new Generation, or Corruption, therof by Spirits, and Spiritual Qualitys, as I shall shew heerafter. Wherefore that which some call Texture, whether Extrinsecal, as Figure, Porosity, or plain Interweaving of Threads or Filaments, and the like; or Intrinsecal, as Density and Rarity, (which indeed are the only true Intrinsecal Textures of Bodys and yet are wholy denied by our Textorian Philosophers) as well as Local Motion, is only Instrumental, and no Formal Caus, or Being, of any Spirit or Spiritual Quality. And so take Common Water and Spirit of Wine, Vitriol, or any stronger Spirits; and setting them in their several Vessels one by another, Inspect them with a Microscope; and see if you can discern any such Proportionable and Consyderable Difference of their Ex­tension, Figure, Density, Gravity, Local Motion, or any Cor­poreal Texture whatsoever, as there is of their Spirits, and Spiri­tual Qualitys. Or take any Aethereous Globules, or Materia Subtilis, Emittent, Transmittent, or Remittent (if you can tell where to find it) or the most Subtile and Pure Air, which may be had on the Top of the highest Mountain, and which is Common Matter as well as any other, and putting this Matter into any Windgun, Airpump, or Expansor, or any such Torcular, or other Rack of Nature whatsoever, or applying to it any Chymical Fire, or Heat, or Salt and Snow, or what you will, and vex it how you will; and try if you can force it to Confess it Self to be any other thing then Air, or Extort from it all, or any of these Spi­ritual [Page 48] Diversifications, or such as may be Effected by the like Experiments made of Vapor, Water, or Earth, or any parcel or part of the Terraqueous Globe, and Cortex therof. Which God having made to be the Native Countrey, and Region of Animals, hath also Impregnated with such Material Spirits, and their Spi­ritual Qualitys, which he did first Produce, and still may be Produced ou [...] of them. Wherefore since Matter and Spirits do thus Differ, not only in our Mind and Reason, but in their own Natures, I Conclude them both Realy to Be, and Realy to Differ one from the other: and not to be only Matter and the Mo­tions therof.

VIII. Accidents are either Common, or Proper; Common Accidents are such as were Concreated, and Actualy Existed to­gether with the Substances in the Begining, and without which no Substances, or any Created Entity whatsoever, can Actualy Exist: as all Quantitys; whether discrete, as Number: for every Creature that is whatsoever it be, must also be Numerable. Or Suc­cessive as Duration: for every Creature that is, whatsoever must also be Durable, or Temporary. Or Consistent, as Extension; which though is be in it Self Proper to Matter, yet as the Matter of the whole World is a Common Matter, so as I have shewed, it doth Coextend or Contein all Spirits, and every Creature that is in Heaven or Earth must necessarily be Localy therin, that is, in the Universal Body of the Matter, or Vbi therof, and in some Part or Place therof; that is, it must be there where it is, and no where els at the same Time. Proper Accidents are such as Originaly Flow from, and Subsist in their Proper Substances: as Consistent Quantity, Extension, Figure, Density and the rest in Matter; and Spiritual Qualitys in Spirits. Again these Simple Accidents may be either Compounded together, or Several; and yet mutualy Relating one to another, and Such Relations may also be Real; as First and Last in Successive Quantity, or Time: for they Realy are Such in the Successive Nature therof; which otherwise should not be Successive; and are not only Notional, such as First or Last in Consistent Quantity, or Extension; for they are not Realy such in the Consistent Nature therof; becaus it is Consistent altoge­ther; and so the First may be Last, or the Last First, according [Page 49] to our Notion and Institution therof. Also there are other more Complex Relations which may likewise be Real; either Mathe­matical; as a Triangle and three several Lines are different things, or Physical, as Beauty, which is a Relative Conformity of seve­rall Lineaments and Colors to the Physical Law therof. Or Mo­ral, as Virtue; which is a Relative Conformity of Actions, Modes and Circumstances to the Moral Law therof. Or Theolo­gical, as Piety; which is a Relative Conformity of Actions Modes and Circumstances to the Theological Law therof, and the like: which being more Complex, are also more Curious and Excel­lent; and the Relative Conformitys therof are Not only Real, but also the Excellencys and Perfections of those Realitys wherin they Relatively and Realy Subsist. And this Relative Reality, though i [...] doth Subsist in the particular Entitys wherof they are the Relati­ons, yet doth Consist in the very Relative Conformity therof: for their particular Entitys being Inverted, will vary them, as a Triangle may so be made a Zeta or Pi, or render that which was Beautiful Deformed, and that which was Virtuous Vitious, and that which was Pious, Impious. And heer I shall Conclude with this ge­neral Observation, That though Substances Excell in Entity, becaus they Subsist in themselvs; yet Accidents Excell in Bonity, becaus they Perfect their Substances. For such indeed was that great Difference between the first Chaos and the six Days Works Per­fected therin.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. WE have heer a farther Explication in the Text it­self of the Heaven and Earth Created in the Be­gining. Wherof it is again said, That there was an Earth, Comprehending also the Water, as I have before shewed. And the Water is heer called Deep; which generaly in the He­brew Style signifys Deep Water, or Sea (and heer the Element of Water) like Altum and Profundum in the Latin. Also the Waters are expresly mentioned in the following Sentence. But Earth and Water were not first Created such a Terraqueons [Page 51] Globe as now they are, and were afterward so Divided and Dis­posed in the Third Day, and then first made to be such an Ocean of Waters and Dry Land both appearing together, and compo­sing one Surface and Circumference of their common Globe; for that was the very Work of the Third Day. Wheras the Psal­mist saith of this first Creation of the Earth, Thou covered'st it with the Deep as with a Garment. And the same is implied heer in these words, And Darkness was upon the face of the Deep; that is, of the Waters, which first covered the Earth; and not Im­mediately upon the face of the Earth, which was then covered with the Waters. Also the Darkness, which was the Antecedent Privation of Light, doth imply the Informity and Inanity, both of Aether, which is the Elementary Fountain of Light, and of Air, which is the Vehicle therof to the Terraqueous Globe; and that as the Water was Created above the Earth, so they above the Waters: for it is said the Darkness which was then in them was upon, or above the Waters. And so God saith to Iob concer­ning the Sea, When I made the Cloud (that is the Dark Air) the Garment therof and thick Darkness a swadling Band for it. And so also was the Aether, from which the Light was afterward Emit­ted through the Air to the Terraqueous Globe, above the Air. And this Situation of the Elements may plainly appear by the Order of the Succeeding Creation: wherin the Aether, which is highest and next to the Superaether (which as I have said proba­bly was perfected in the Begining) was first furnished with Light, and then the Air with Vapors, and lastly the Terraqueous Globe with Vegetatives, in the Three first Days. And so again the Ae­ther with Starrs, and then the Air and Water with Fowls and Fi­shes, and lastly the Earth with Beasts, in the Three last Days. Also I collect from this Original Situation of the Elements that their Several Bodys of Matter were Proportionable and Conform­able therunto; that is, the Matter of Earth was most Dens, and consequently most Grave, and therefore Lowest; the Matter of the Water less Dens, and consequently less Grave, and there­fore above the Earth; the Matter of the Air more Rare, and consequently more Light, and therefore above the Water; the Matter of the Aether more Rare, and consequently more Light, and therefore above all the other Elements, and next to the Su­peraether [Page 52] which is most Rare, as a fit Habitation for pure Spirits. And that as every Element had its Proper Body of Matter, so also its Proper Elementary Substantial Spirit Pure, and Unmist in the first Creation therof. And it was the Work of the Spirit of God Moving upon the face of the Waters to Prepare and Pre­dispose them by fit Mistion and Temperature of them all; and thereby to Produce their Proper Qualitys out of their Potentiali­tys into Act, Gradualy and Successively. And that their Potential Qualitys, and also all other Simple and Primitive Substantial Spi­rits, not only Elementary, but in and with them Vegetative and Sensitive, and all their Potential Qualitys, were Created in the Begining together with the Matter: that is, Vegetative Spirits, and Sensitive Spirits of Beasts in the Earth and of Fishes in the Water: for so it is said, Let the Earth bring forth Grass, &c. and again, Let the Earth bring forth the Living Creature after his Kind, &c. and so also, Let the Waters bring forth abundantly the Moving Creature that hath Life, &c. which plainly implys, that these Spirits were in them before, otherwise they could not so bring them forth. And they were then Latent in those Ele­ments Respectively, which are Predominant in their Compo­sita.

II. Thus was the Inferior Globe of these fower Elements first Created, Inform, and Inane; which is more Emphaticaly exprest in the Original Language then can be rendred in any other. The Author of the Wisedom of Solomon calleth it Matter without Form: that is, without any Corporeal Formosity, or any Mistion or For­ma Misti as they term it. Both Greeks and Latines generaly call it Chaos; and have preserved the Historical Tradition therof, which they received from Antiquity. But they seem also to Comprehend in their Chaos the Superaether as well as all the Ele­ments, or otherwise to have had no knowledg therof. Also they Confound all together in one Congeries: and thence have fansied that the fower Elements had their Actual Qualitys Existing ther­in in their highest Degrees, and that there was Extreme Discord and Enmity among them. And so Empedocles and others make Lis and Amor Original Causes of all things; which were after­ward Comtempered therin: and the Poet accordingly;

But upon the Review of our Divine History, as I find no farther mention of the Superaether in any of the Works of the Six Days, and therefore conceiv it to have been Perfected in the Begining and first Creation therof, (for so it is said of it; Whose Builder and Maker is God, that is more Immediately and only by a Pro­per Creation therof, without any Mediate Preparation Pre­disposition and Mistion, as of the Elements and Elementary Na­tures, and so that it was no part of this Elementary Chaos which was afterward Perfected in the Six Days) so also I rather con­ceiv that there was only Imperfection in the first Chaos; and that all the first Elements were first Created in their several Situati­ons in Rest and Peace without any such Discordant Confusion, which is reserved for the last Dissolution and Gehenna. And the Hebraical words, Inform, and Inane, seem rather to infer such an Emptiness and Privation, then any Positive Contrariety of Qualitys then Actualy Existing in it: and it is said expresly, that there was Darkness, or Purae Tenebrae, therin, without any Light; and so probably no Heat; which if it had been Actualy Exist­ing in such Extremity therof might have prevailed over the rest, as it shall in the last Conflagration; or at least would have cau­sed the Vapors to ascend from the Waters before the Second Day; if the Air had all been so prepared by Mistion and the Actual Qualitys therof: But probably there were no such other Qua­litys then Actualy Existing: for if not Heat, then consequently not Cold, which is the Contrary therof. And the Earth is not Denominated Dry untill the Third Day; and if there were be­fore no Driness, then consequently no Moisture; and so of the rest. And the Author of Esdras saith, There was Silence on eve­ry side, without any Sibilation or Tumult of Heat and Cold or the like. And though not only Matter, but the Created Substan­tial Spirits of the fower Elements and others, did then so Actu­aly Exist in the Begining when they were first Created, and the Heavens or Aether, and Air, and Earth, or Water and Earth, were thereby then so Denominated; as I have already shewed; yet their first Simple Qualitys, Heat, Cold, Moisture, Drines, [Page 54] and others, which are Accidents, and Subsist in their Substances and were then also Created first in their Potentiality; did not Actualy Exist, but were afterward Produced out of their Poten­tiality into Act in the Six Days. And the Elements, though Cre­ated Pure and Unmist severaly in themselvs, and separately in their own Spheres, yet were Miscible, and their Natural Per­fection was to be Mist; and so it was accordingly performed af­terward: and by that very M [...]stion and Temperature their Pro­per Qualitys were Produced out of Potentiality into Act, which otherwise could not Actualy Exist severaly by reason of their own Vehemence and Extremity. And certeinly there are such Con­trary Qualitys, which are not only Degrees or More or Less of the same Mist Quality (as there are Degrees of Corporeal Quantity) which very Contrariety by a fit Mistion and Tem­perature doth mutualy Qualify them, and so Produce them by Degrees out of their Potentiality in Generation; and the Excess of either of them doth again destroy the other in Corruption; and thereby also would destroy itself if it were not so Tempered by the Contrary. And I thus judg therof, becaus otherwise there could be no Mistion or Temperature of Contrary Quali­tys in their Actual Extremitys, which would destroy one another: but they are not so Actualy Contrary in their Potentialitys (be­caus then they are only Potential) whereby they are easily Mist at first, and so proceed by degrees to be both Actuated toge­ther in their mutual Mistion and Temperature. And this Order of Generation and Corruption is the very Cours of Nature that was ordeined in the Six Days. And as in the Begining none of these Qualitys did Actualy Exist in their own Vehemence and Extremity, so never since can either of such Contrary Quali­tys Actualy Exist without the other which should so Temper and Qualify it. Also all Secondary Q [...]alitys which are Compoun­ded of such first Simple Qualitys cannot possibly Exist without such Composition and Mistion, becaus their Compound Nature is to be Mist of others. But though the first Chaos was thus Inform and Inane, without any such particular Figures of Bodys, or Spiritual Qualitys, or any such Substantial or Accidental Mi­stion or Composition; yet as the Matter and several Elementary Spirits were severaly Consubstantiated therin, whereby they were [Page 55] then Actualy Heaven and Earth, though not such as afterward, and as now they are; So also we may not conceiv them to have been without any Actual Accidents whatsoever; for they must necessarily have those Common Accidents which were Concre­ated with them, wherof I have formerly discoursed, Actualy Ex­isting; becaus no Created Substance whatsoever can Exist or Be without them, and the matter had the general Accidents ther­of Actualy Existing in it. And of these and the Products ther­of both Common and Proper to Matter, as they were Concrea­ted with it, or wherof it was capable, I shall now proceed to dis­cours.

III. And first I shall consyder Quantity generaly: which though it be severaly and Specificaly Threefold, Number, Time, and Extension; yet all of them are Genericaly One, or that which we by one common Name call Quantity: and they are so One, not only Nominaly or Notionaly, but Realy and Physicaly; as shall appear by the Real and Physical Analogy and Confedera­cy that is between them; which as it is most Proportionable and Regular in itself, so if it were rightly consydered in all Statike Machins or Engines, any Artist might thereby without the trou­ble and charge of Experiment set down in his Mind or Paper be­fore hand what the Effect and Execution will be: and all par­ticular Errors in that Art proceed from the Universal Error or Ignorance heerof. As one saith of their various Essays of a Per­petual Motion; that they have all proved vain and ineffectual, Non rite observatis Proportionibus: for what is gained by one Quantity will be lost by others: as what is gained by Distances from the Center, Multiplication of unequal Wheels, and the like, is again lost in the Total Summ of the whole Account of Proportions, in Time, Number, longer, or more Circumvolu­tions, a [...]d the like; which at last cast up together will amount to no more then a Balance, or Aequipondium: and these several ways are only several Variations of the Quantitys; which [...]et may be very useful and advantagious, accordingly as we have more or less Weight or Power, or more or less Time, and the rest, to imploy and lay out in the Operation. Such are the Roma­na Statera, or French Beam, the Leaver, the Skrew, the P [...]l­ley, [Page 56] the Snake Wheel, Cranes, and the like. And the common Culinary Jack may plainly discover the use and advantage therof, in Diminishing the Burden of the Weight by Multiplication of the Distances and Revolutions; as if the Weight were divided into so many several Parts or less Weights as it hath such Pro­portions in the Whole, and one of them only were to be Mo­ved at one Distance and by one Revolution. Or the Burden of the Weight in a contrary way may be Multiplied by Diminishing the Distances and Revolutions. Or there may be a delivery of all at once, as in Catapults, Balists, and the like. And of all these the whole Account will ever be Equal, as I have said (allow­ing only for Frictions and Attritions, and the like) And this wonderful Analogy of Quantity is not only thus useful in Me­chanical Practice, but also in Philosophical Contemplation; which I shall now accordingly Improve. And becaus, as I have for­merly observed, Number is the Discerner of both the other Quantitys, and most Discernible in it self, I shall heer begin with it; and thereby endeavor to Explicate the most Indiscerni­ble Mysteries of Time and Extension: though I esteem no Quan­tity Mystical, or Cabalistical, in Virtue, or Signification; but only intend such Natural Mystery's therin as are Incomprehensi­ble to us and our Reason.

IIII. The first Principle of Number is an Unit, which is U­nity in it self, and Disunity from others; wherof all Number doth consist: but it is no Number in it self, being only an Im­perfect Principle therof: for all Number is Quantity Discrete, and such Discretion must necessarily be of more then One: Yet all other Numbers are only so many Ones, but One is most In­tirely and Individualy One in it self, having both the same Root and Square. And it is Analogous to an Instant, or Point, but Different from both, and each of them one from another. For an Unit may either severaly Exist, as in one Instant; or Coexist, as in many Points, but an Instant can only Exist severaly and Successively; for Past, Present, and Future, cannot be other­wise then several and Successive; and a Point can only Coexist, for it cannot be otherwise then in a Body which is Consistent. Also as all Number is only so many Ones, becaus it is Discrete; [Page 57] so it is only so many several Ones Discreted one from another: Yet as it is so many Ones Discretely, so it may be also one Many Complexively, which yet is not Properly One, or a Unit; for that cannot be Divided or Discreted, nor hath any Halvs, Quar­ters, or other Fractions whatsoever, which are indeed so many Ones in themselvs, wherof a Proper Unit is not capable, but any Number is only one Many Complexively, which is an Improper Unit, and Properly many Ones; and may therefore be so Divided and Discreted. So that indeed there is no Fraction or Surd in Number rightly consydered in itself, but only in Time, or Exten­sion, or other things Numbred thereby: as Weight, Money, and the like; wherof if any can give the Intire Proportions, he hath also the Complete Number, resulting from the thing itself. Thus of all these three Concreated Surveiors of Nature, which we call Quantitys, Number is the most Perfect and Regular, and there­fore Arithmetike is also most Perfect and Regular, wholy com­posed of Rules, and not, like Geometry, of Innumerable Pro­blems and Propositions, which are only as several Accounts of so many particular Sums. And indeed it is so Regular and Com­plete, that I know not what may be added to it farther, except perhaps some more special Rules for greater facility and expedi­tion, wherof I may heerafter occasionaly give some other In­stances, and shall now only mention for an Example the common Instance of the Changes of any Number used in Bells, Anagramms, or the like. Wherof there is this special Rule: Multiply the Product of the last Number Multiplied by the next Simple Num­ber, As Once One is One; Two Ones are Two; Three Twos are Six; Fower Sixes are Twenty fower; Five Twenty fowers are One Hundred and twenty; Six One Hundred and twentys are Seaven Hundred and twenty; and so Indefinitely: and such alway will be the Changes therof. The Reason wherof is very plain and evident; which is, that S [...]x will make Six several Fives by Changing or setting aside one every time, and so consequently it conteins the Six several Products of Five Multiplied as aforesaid; and so the rest one of another. Certeinly Arithmetike is not only most Regular in it self; but also most Useful in other Arts: becaus Number is the Measure of all Finite things which God hath Crea­ted to be Measured thereby, even Time and Extension itself, [Page 58] (and so is Time of Extension, but not contrarily) and so there is great Use therof in Chronology and Geometry: and it is indeed the most excellent Mathematical Science, though we have gene­raly appropriated the very Name of Mathesis to Geometry; be­caus it doth more exercise Human Wit, which is better pleased with Curious Difficultys, then that which is more plain and facile, though no less true and evident.

V. The first Principle of Time or Duration is an Instant, which is only the very Present while it Actualy is, and so excludes both Past and Future, which cannot possibly Exist together with it; and yet as it passeth away continualy maketh a Successi­on of Instants, and that Succession is Time or Duration. But eve­ry Instant doth severaly Exist in itself, and is not Successive, and consequently no Time or Duration; as an Unit is no Number: for Succession is of one after another, and therefore of more then One, but an Instant is only One. And so the Begining or First Instant did necessarily Exist severaly; for there was none before it, otherwise it should not have been the Begining; and the Next Instant was after it, otherwise it should not have been the Next: and there is the same Reason of all the Instants which have been since, or ever shall be. Whereby we may Apprehend the Nature therof, though we can never Comprehend it, being swifter then any Thought which might Comprehend it. And becaus Instants are of so Minute a Nature, therefore they are not only Incom­prehensible, but also Innumerable to us, and though in other re­spects Analogous to Units and Points, yet therefore not so Discern­ible as Units; and almost as Incomprehensible as Points, wherof I shall discours in the next Paragraph. And yet certeinly there are such Instants severaly Existing as well as Units, for all Time or Duration is composed of them, as well as Number of Units. And we may not deny any thing that Realy is in Nature, and which we can Apprehend, though we cannot Comprehend it. And in­deed we may deny Time and Duration itself as well as Instants, wherof it is apparently Composed, becaus it is only the Succes­sion of several Instants, which do and must necessarily Exist seve­raly; and therefore not only Realy are, but are Realy several in th [...]mselves; becaus only the Present Instant now Actualy is, as I [Page 59] have shewed, and yet what they are, or how Time or Duration is Composed of them, doth f [...]rr exceed all Human Reason, and the ut­most Comprehension therof.

VI. The first Principle of Extension is a Point; which is only an Indivisible Atom, and no Extension in itself; becaus Extension is of Part beyond Part, but an Indivisible hath no Parts, otherwise it should be Divisible into them. And becaus it is the Principle of Extension, which is Quantity Consistent, therefore it must also Consist, or Coexist, and cannot Exist severaly. And so though it be Analogous to Units and Instants in other respects, yet by reason therof it is more Incomprehensible, not only then Units, but also then Instants; becaus Instants do Exist severaly, and therefore may be truly Apprehended as several, and by themselvs; but Points only Coexist, and therefore may not be truly Apprehended as several, or by the [...]selvs, but only as Consistent with others in Corporeal Extension, and so are wholy Indemonstrable. Nor is a Point the only Indemonstrable thing in Mathematical Science, but the very Caus and Ground of the Indemonstrability of all other Asymmetra or Incommensurabilitys. And to Demonstrate this Indemonstrability I shall offer this Proposition, To reduce three square Inches (or any Talia qualia) to a Square, or indeed any others wherof there is no Square Root; which I suppose can never be Squared by any Division or Subdivision whatso­ever. Yet I have a Rule whereby to reduce the Three Square Inches to a Square wanting only one Portion still less and less Indefinitely, which is this; First I consider the next Square to Three which is Four Inches, wherof Two is the Square Roo [...]; and then I place the three Inches Rectangularly, or in the form of a Rectangular Gnomon, so as to leav a Vacant Space which should be supplied by a Fourth Inch: and I consyder the Propor­tion between this Vacant Space to be supplied, and the two Lateral Inches or Complements on each side of it from which I must borrow to supply it, which is as One to Two; and then to make a Medium between the Suppliers and Supplied I add Two more to those former Two, in all Fower; and I multiply Fower by Fower, which make Sixteen: and accordingly I divide each of the two Lateral Inches or Complements into Sixteen Portions; [Page 60] that is, Fower Rows of fower such Portions, in each Lateral Inch; and then borrow one of these fower Rows from each of them; that is, two Rows of fower such Portions, in all Eight such Portions, to supply the Vacant Space or Gnomon; whereby there will remain now Three Rows, and therof only three such Porti­ons on either side of the Lateral Lines of the Complements, and each of the whole Rectangular Latera will be One Inch and Three quarters in length; according to which the Vacant Space or Gno­mon now remaining is to be supplied; and therefore I Multiply Three by Three, which make Nine such Portions to be supplied, and I have only, as I said, Eight such Portions to supply them; and so there will now remain a Vacant Space or Gnomon of one such Portion, which, as I said, is the Sixteenth part of an Inch. Again, I consyder the Proportion between this second Vacant Space or Gnomon, which is now to be supplied, and both the two upper Lateral Rows or Complements therof, from which I must borrow to supply it, wherof each doth now contein Six such Porti­ons; that is, Fower which were in it before, and Two added to it, in supplying the first Vacant Space or Gnomon, and wherof the second Vacant Space or Gnomon was to be the third: so now I have Six and Six such Portions, in all Twelv; to which, as before, I add Two, in all Fourteen; and I Multiply Fourteen by Fourteen, which make one hundred ninety six; and so I divide each of these last Portions into one hundred ninety six less Portions; that is, Four­teen Rows of fourteen such less Portions of each of the former greater Portions; and then I borrow one whole Row therof from each side; that is, Six and Six, in all Twelv fourteen such Portions, which make one hundred sixty eight, to supply this second Vacant Space or Gnomon, wherof there wil now remain Thirteen such less Portions on either side of the Lateral Lines of the Complements; and each of the whole Rectangular Latera will be One Inch and three quarters, wanting a fourteenth part of a quarter in length, according to which this second Vacant Space or Gnomon is now to be supplied: and therefore I Multiply Thirteen by Thirteen, which make one hundred sixty nine such less Portions; and I have on­ly, as I said, one hundred sixty eight such Portions to supply it. And so there will now remain a third Vacant Space or Gnomon of one such less Portion, which, as I have said, is the one hundred [Page 61] ninety sixth part of of a sixteenth part of an Inch, that is the three thousand one hundred thirty sixth part of an Inch, wherof the Square Root is Fifty six, which is fourteen fowers; wheras the Square Root before was only one fower; which is a very great De­creas of the Vacant Space or Gnomon. And according to this Rule the Vacant Space shall still decreas Proportionably, Toties Quoties, and yet a less Vacant Space still remain, and the Square never be Completed. And this Rule is grounded upon another special Rule in Arithmetike; which is, That if of any three Successive Num­bers the greatest be Multiplied by the least, it will produce one less then the Midle Number Multiplied by itself. And heer it is made such by adding alway Two to the Complements according to this Rule. As before in these Examples, Fower Multiplied by Two made Eight, which was one less then Three Multiplied by Three, which made Nine. And so again Fourteen Multiplied by Twelv made one hundred sixty eight, which was one less then Thirteen Multiplied by Thirteen, which made one hundred sixty nine. And becaus some may suppose that though such Squares can never be Comple [...]ed by this Rule, yet it may possibly be done some other way, (which I am confident cannot be, and that none by any other can come neerer to it then by this Rule) yet for their farther sa­tisfaction heerin I shall offer them several other confessed Asym­metra. As the Proportion between any Diagonial Line and the Lateral Line of the same Square. And I have another Rule whereby also such an Asymmetry may be reduced to one Portion still less and less Indefinitely, and yet shall never be Completed: which is this, First I consyder of what other Square the Diagonial Line of the Square given would be a Lateral Line. As for ex­ample; if the Square given be Fower Inches, wherof the Square Root is Two, I add that which is the only Square Root before it, and that is One; and then I say, One and Two make Three, which Square Root Three being Squared makes Nine Inches, and Nine is doubly as much as Fower, more One. Now I know that the L [...] ­teral Line of a Square which conteins doubly as many Inches as the Square given is the Diagonial Line of the Square given. And so I say, the Diagonial Line of the Square of fower Inches which was the Square given is Three Inches in length, Disquaring one from the Square of Nine Inche [...]. Again I add together both the Num­bers [Page 62] of each of the former Square Roots which were Two and Three in all Five, which must be the next Square Root according to this Rule: and then let the Square therof be given which is Twenty five. Now to find the Diagonial Line therof I again add to Five the first Square Root of the first Square given, which was Two, in all Seaven; which Square Root being Squared makes Fourty nine; and Fourty nine is doubly as much as Twenty five, less one. And so of Five and Seaven, which make Twelv; and Five and Twelv which make Seaventeen, and the rest according to the aforesaid Rule Indefinitely; wherof the Disproportion will be Interchangably One more, and One less. And the Reason of this Rule is, that wheras the Diagonial Line of any Square alway makes a Lateral Line of another Square conteining doubly as much as the former, there is no such Square Root wherof the Square doth contein doubly as much of the Square of any other Square Root whatsoever. And so the Proportion between any Line of an Equi­lateral Triangle and the Perpendicular Line therof will ever be Asymmetrous, becaus there is no Square Root of three Fourths of any Square, which is the Proportion between them. But the most known and common Instance of this kind is the Quadrature of the Circle, which though as the rest may still be reduced to a Propor­tion less and less Indefinitely, yet can never be Completed: Curtae n [...]scio quid semper abest rei. Now it is most evident that though these Proportions can never be thus Completed Mathematicaly, yet they are all Physicaly Complete in themselvs, as well as any others. And particularly that there is a Complete and Perfect Proportion between any Circle and such a Square wherof the Di­ameter of the Circle is the Lateral Line, that is of the Square Ex­cribed; for apparently there is a certein Proportion between the Perimeter and Diameter of the Circle, and so consequently between the Circle and such a Diametrical Square, as I may so call it; be­caus the Diameter of the Circle is the Lateral Line therof. Which Proportion though it can never be known nor expressed in Rati­onal Number, yet we know according to common Rule, That if you Multiply half the Perimeter by half the Diameter of the same Circle, that is, if you suppose a Rectangular Parallogramm so made that the Length shall be equal to half the Perimeter of the Circle, and the Breadth equal to half the Diameter of the same [Page 63] Circle, the Product or Rectangle so made will be equal to such a Circle: and so if you Multiply a quarter of the Perimeter by the whole Diameter, or a quarter of the Diam [...]ter by the whole Po­rimeter, which are tantamount. And thus you may measure the Arch Quadrant, or Semiquadrant, or more or less part of the Circle, as well as any Triangle; for so you measure only within the Angles, and to the Angles, and therefore the Angles which make the Excrescential Superficies beyond the Circularity can make no difference in the one more then in the other. And from all these consyderations of a Circle I find the Regular Proportion or Analogy between any Circle and the Square therof Excribed to be this; That as the Perimeter of the Circle is in Proportion to the Perimeter of the Square, so are the Square Inches of the Circle in Proportion to the Square Inches of the Square. Now that all this very large and tedious Discours may not seem Impertinent, I shall make that Improvement therof which I intended; and from it draw these Consectarys. First that Mathematicaly, or accord­ing to our Mathematical Science, Extension is and must necessa­rily be supposed to be Divisible into alway Divisibles; becaus by such Mathematical Rules, as before, I can Divide and Subdivide it Indefinitely. Next that Physicaly, and in its own Nature, Ex­tension is not, nor cannot be possibly Divided into alway Divisibles; Becaus, if there could be any such Physical Division and Subdivi­sion therof Perpetualy, then such Proportions should never be Physicaly Completed. Lastly, that since there is Actualy such a Physical Completion, which, as I have shewed, can never be ef­fected by Divisibles or any Extended Parts of Extension, there­fore it must necessarily be by somwhat not Divisible, but Indivisi­ble and not Extended in itself. And heer I suppose we may a while make a Stand, and gaze with Admiration and Amazement at these wonderful M [...]sterys, which have hitherto puzled, and will still puzle the greatest Wits of the World: neither shall I pre­sume to absolv them; but only offer what seemeth to me most pro­bable. Certainly, Vero nihil verius; for all Verity is one and the same in itself, and with itself, and cannot Contradict itself. Wherefore that which is Mathematicaly true cannot be Physicaly fals; and that which is Physicaly true cannot be Mathematicaly fals; but one or other of these ways of Demonstration must be fallacious. [Page 64] And for mine own part I shall rather believ Nature, which is the Art and Institution of God, then any Mathematical Art or Insti­t [...]t [...]on of Mankind. And I must suspect our own Mathematical Art to be fallacious heerin, and the fallacy to ly in this; that be­caus we can easily discern Extension which is Divisible, but can­not discern Indivisible Points, we indifferently apply our Mathe­matical Rules of Division and Subdivision both to Divisible Exten­sion and also to Indivisible Points, not knowing where to stop, nor being able to discern between them; and so go on Perpetualy ac­co [...]ding to such Mathematical Supposition, though there be no such Perpetual Process in Nature. Which is as if we should so pro­ceed beyond an Unit, and divide it into Halvs, Quarters, and the like. Or as if becaus I can Divide fower Angels into two Twos, and again Subdivide each Two into two Ones, which I may truly do; I should also therefore proceed to Divide each one Angel into Halvs, and Q [...]arters, and the like Perpetualy, which I may not likewise do; becaus each Angel is Indivisible in himself, and in his own Nature, and hath no such Halvs, or Quarters; and yet Arithmeticaly I might so go on to Divide and Number, if I did not know the Angelical Nature to be Indivisible. And though we know a Point to be Indivisible, yet becaus it is so Indiscernible that we know not where to find it out, we go on still so to Divide and Subdivide perpetualy according to our Mathematical Rules. And thus though it may be maintained by way of Argument that Quantitas est Divisibilis in semper Divisibilia, yet it is Invincibly confuted by a contrary Argument drawn from that very Perpe­tual Divisibility of the Quantity, that is, the Impossibility therof; and on this I chiefly insist; For if there were any such Possibility of Perpetual Division therof Physicaly and in Nature, though I easily grant it might never be actualy Future (as many Possibles shall never be Actualy in any future Time) yet I can never admit that there can be any Possibility of that which yet cannot Possibly be Actual, which they must affirm who hold the Contrary Positi­on; and so indeed they very freely acknowledg, that it is so alway Potentialy or Possibly, but can never Actualy. But as Futurity of that which never Actualy shall be, is a plain Contradiction; so Possibility of that which never Actualy can be, is equaly Contra­dictory: for as Future, or Shall be, and Shall not be; so Possible, [Page 65] or Can be, and Can not be, are Contradictory Terms. And all Possibility is the Possibility of being Actualy, and not of being Possibly or Possibility of Possibility, which is Childish and Nuga­tory, and only a Reduplication in Terms of the same Thing in itself. Nor is it only Contradictory in Terms, but also in the Thing itself: For we do not now discours of Quantity Succes­sive, wherin there may be a Perpetual Possibility of Succeeding Futurity; but of Quantity Consistent, wherof all the Divisible Parts, and Indivisible Points, do and must necessarily Consist and Coexist Actualy together in the same Present Instant, and not in several Future and Successive Instants. Nor do we now discours Mechanicaly, or of any such Mechanical Division of a Body into less Wholes, or of the Possibility of such Actual Se­paration of the Parts from the Whole Localy, but of the Actual Extension of Part beyond Part, according to the Nature of Cor­poreal Quantity as it is in itself, and the Mathematical Division of the Parts in the Whole Extensively: And so whatsoever, or howsoever many the Parts of that Extension given be, they are already and in the Present Instant Actualy what and so many a [...] they are, and cannot be greater or more then they are. And I suppose no Mathematician doth contemplate the Local Divisibi­lity, which is Possible, but only the Extensive Division of the Parts, which is Actual in the Whole; wherin only they are such Mathematical Parts; wheras being Localy Divided from the Whole they become less Wholes in themselvs. And so such Possibility is not at all to be regarded in this present Discours, but only the Actuality whatsoever it is; and then the Position thus rightly explained doth amount to this, That the Extensive Parts Actualy in the Whole are Actualy Innumerable▪ not only to us, or by any our Mathematical Division or Subdivision, which I have already granted; but also Physicaly, and in their own Nature, which is Impossible. For then the least Extensive Whole should be equal to the greatest; because both have equaly In­numerable Parts in themselvs; for Innumerable can neither be more nor less then Innumerable. Nor will it be evaded by say­ing that the greater Whole hath Innumerable greater Parts, and the less Innumerable less Parts; for Innumerable Parts, though never so small will suffice to make any Whole whatsoever, though [Page 66] never so great; becaus Innumerable is Innumerable; and doth not only afford whatsoever may be wanting, but can never be spent or exhausted. And becaus every least Part hath some Ex­tension, and Measure therof; therefore the Whole of such In­numerable Parts must also be Immensurable which (as Archimedes hath demonstrated in his Psammites) is both Rationaly Impos­sible, and Mathematicaly Fals. But whatsoever Notion Mathe­maticians may have of such Divisibility into less and less Parts Perpetualy, yet certeinly none can deny the gross Whole of any Corporeal Extension given (whatsoever the Extent therof may be) to be Mensurable, and Finite; otherwise it could not be given, nor indeed Actualy be, as I have formerly Demonstrated. And I am very secure of that Argument and of the clearnes and firmnes therof; however men may determin concerning this other Question, which I have also prosecuted for a farther Discovery of Truth. And I must heer observe that not only Extension, but also Time, and Number, and whatsoever hath Parts; yea all Qualitys, and whatsoever hath Degrees; and all that is in any kind susceptible of More and Less, may as well be affirmed to be thus Divisible into alway Divisibles. And so wheras Physi­cians make several Degrees of the fower first Qualitys, and Mu­sicians of Musical Notes, and the Like, I can again Divide and Subdivide them Indefinitely aswell as Extension; and Demon­strate that there are the like Imperceptible Minims therin. And heer again we may stand and admire the Divine Wisedom and Goodnes, which hath so Plainly manifested unto us those Wholes, and greater Portions of Wholes, that are of any Use and Con­cernment, and without which Scales, Dials, and all Mathema­tical Instruments, and all Medicinal Compositions, and Gamu [...]hs, and the like; and all Symmetry, Temperature, and Harmony, had been unknown and unserviceable to Mankind: and also accuse the Vanity of our own Human Witt, which doth so Ambiti­ously affect to know and Curiously to pry into those very Mi­nute things, whose Usefulnes is as little as their Proportion; and which God, to humble our Mathematical Pride, hath purposely conceled from us; and yet because they are so Indiscernible, therefore we more affect to Discerne them. For mine own part, as I am satisfied in knowing that there is a Circumference of the [Page 67] whole Globe of the World, though I know not how large it may be; so also in knowing that there are such Physical Points, though I know not their Minute and most Exile Nature. Yet I do also conceiv that as Extension is Terminated by Po [...]nts, so the Divisibility therof doth Terminate in Points, and that the [...]e are such Physical Points as well as Physical Instants, and P [...]ysi­cal Instants as well as Physical Units, though they be not equaly Discernible by us (and that Points are Points, and not only Notes, or Nothings, as some do affirm) And there is no Objection against the one, which may not also be armed and intended against the other, by such Dividing and Subdividing Perpetualy, even beyond Points, Instants, and Units themselvs, into Halvs, Quar­ters, and the like. And such indeed is the common Objection, Of how many Points is the least Corpuscle composed? It may be as well demanded. Of how many Instants is the least Minute of Time composed? which none can tell: though we can easily tell of how many Units, Two, which is the least Number, is composed. And I demand of such Curious Objectors, Of how many Extensive Parts or Portions the least Corpuscle is compo­sed? which themselvs affirm to be Innumerable; though I deny it of Parts, and dare not affirm it of Points; because it is Im­possible: but only assert, that neither they can know of how many Parts, nor I of how many Points any Corpuscle is com­posed. And this I suppose to be a sufficient Answer to such a Question (for such it is rather then an Objection) But for far­ther satisfaction, I shall consyder a least Corpuscle, which must be Globular aswell as the great Body of the whole World; (be­caus all Angles are Protuberant and render the Superficies un­necessarily greater) and yet no Mathematician ever did, or ever can, assigne the whole Proportion in fact and consequently not all the particular Portions of any Globe or Circle. Also every Corpuscle, though never so litle, yet is a Body, having Longi­tude, Latitude, and Profundity; in all which the Points must Consist and Coexist, and they also in the whole Body, otherwise it should not be a Body: wheras though we know that a Body is composed of Longitude, Latitude, and Profundity, yet we know not of how many Long, Late, or Profund Lines, it is composed; becaus though they Realy are, and are Realy dif­ferent [Page 68] in Nature, yet they so Corporealy Consist and Coexist that they can not be Localy separated, but only in and with the Corpuscles or Body. And so though Points Realy are, and are Realy Different in Nature, yet they also so Corporealy Consist and Coexist, that they can not be Localy Separated, but only in and with the Corpuscles or Bodys: and so though Mathematicaly we may consyder them in their several Na­tures, yet we may not therefore consyder them in separate Ex­istences. Whereas generaly all the Objections are drawn from the Supposition of Points Separate, or at least of Points Coexisting only in Longitude, and the like, (which are only Imperfect Principles of Extension, as well as Points.) But I have shewed that Entitys may Realy Differ, though they are not Localy Separate, or Separable: and if they grant me Points so Coexisting, not only in Longitude, but also in Latitude and Profundity, and the whole Corporeity of a Corpuscle or Body (as they must, becaus they do so Realy Coexist, and can not other­wise Exist in Nature) I can by that one Concession solv all their Objections, which otherwise may seem as Unanswerable, as Points are Incomprehensible; being grounded upon the very Incom­prehensible Nature therof. And if they will not grant me that which is Physicaly and Realy true in itself, but argue upon fals or feigned Suppositions, I shall not much care to Answer them; otherwise then I should him who would argue upon a Suppositi­on of Coexisting Instants, Past, Present, and Future; by telling him plainly, that there is no such thing in Nature: and yet there are Physical Instants Existing severaly; and so, though there is not any single Point in Nature Existing severaly, yet there are Points Coexisting in a Body. And I suppose that from this Fundamental Fallacy all the Fallacity of their Objections doth arise. But he who will rightly Philosophise, or Theo­logise, must be very careful that in the Contemplation of such things as are Incomprehensible, or Infinite, though he may frame Comprehensive or Finite Notions therof as Scaffolds whereby to build, yet he may not build upon them; but must again take them down, and reduce all such Subsidiary Notions or Suppositions to the very Nature of the thing it self, which is Incomprehensible, or Infinite.

[Page 69]VII. Thus though there be Realy in Nature Points, Lines, and Superficies, yet the Supposition of any such several Existence therof, as we may Mathematicaly feigne and frame to our selvs (and as some have supposed the whole-Body of the World to have been made by the Casual Concurrence of such Atoms or Points) is only Notional in our Reason and Mind, and not Real or in the Nature of Extension itself, wherof the least Minim is more then one single Point, yea it conteins in it Points Innumerable to us. And as there is no such several Point, so also no several Line in Nature: for the least Hair of the least Mite hath not onl [...] Longi­tude, but also Latitude; becaus it hath several Sides; and one Side therof is not the other, nor all one and the same with the Longitude. And so there is no several Superficies in Nature, ha­ving both Longitude and Latitude without any Profundity; for the thinest Plate of Muscovy Glass hath a double Superficies above, and beneath, and also others in the very Edges therof. Where­fore not only Points, but also Longitude, Latitude, and Profun­dity do necessarily Consist and Coexist together; and all these make a Complete Extension or Consistence of any Body. Now every Body, becaus it hath Longitude Latitude and Profun­dity, must have some Figure which is the particular Shape or Mo­dule of the Extension therof, Resulting from, and Subsisting in that Extension (as a particular Property therof) Immediately, and Mediately in and by it in the Substantial Matter. Yet Figure Realy Differs from Extension; becaus there may be several Fi­gures of the Same Extension of the Matter which (as Statuarys say of their Materia, Wood, Stone, Wax, and the like) is capable of all Figures, Faces, or Forms whatsoever. The first and most simple Figure, and which indeed is most Proper to the Matter, is a Globe. And therefore this is the Universal Figure, and all other Particular Figures, as I have said, are only the Protube­rances and Enormitys therof, though never so Symmetrical and Conformable in themselvs. And the Globular Figure is such, becaus it is most Intire and Uniting, wherof all others are only some unnecessary Excesses, or Defects; and therefore also it is most Capacious; as may plainly appear by varying the Perime­ter of any Circle (which hath nothing Excrescential or Excessive [Page 70] in itself) from the Circular Regularity therof, into any Angu­lar Figure whatsoever, for so if you Inflect it into an Isoperimetri­cal Equilateral Triangle, the Area therof will be less then that of the Circle, as Six to almost Ten: and if you I [...]flect i [...] into an Isoperimetrical Square (as Carpenters do in measuring T [...]m [...]er) it will be as Eleaven to almost Fourteen (which is their G [...]t Mea­sure, and the true gain and advantage therof more then of such a a Square.) And so Proportionably if you Inflect it into any other Equilateral Polygon, though I doubt all will be found Incommen­surable as well as the former. But yet I observ a Proportion or Analogy between the Circle and such a Square made of the Perimeter therof, or, as I may so call it, the Isoperimetrical Square therof, and the Square Excribed, which I have before termed the Diametrical Square therof; that is, As the Area of the Isoperimetrical Square of the Circle is, as I have said, in Proportion to the Area of the Circle as Eleaven to almost Four­teen, so the Area of the Circle is in Proportion to the Area of the Diametrical Square therof, as almost Eleaven to Fourteen. And though I conceiv that every Regular Figure is Perfect in its own kind, and none other so Perfect as it, in that Respect, and there­fore Asymmetrous; yet I also conceiv that the Asymmetry or Dis­proportion between a Circle and a Square is rather from the Square, which is more Imperfect Comparatively, then from the Circle, which is Absolutely the most Perfect Figure in itself: and though we commonly, as Carpenters, and other Mechanical Measurers, do rather Measure by the Square and Cube, then by the Circle and Globe, yet God and Nature work by them most Perfectly and Exactly; and so have made the World to be of the most Perfect Figure, which is Globular or Circular in the whole Superficies th [...]rof, not by Molding, Carving, or Casting, or any such Mechanical or Violent Formation therof, but by Na­tural Principles Created in itself. For the whole Body therof being one Homogeneous and common Matter doth Naturaly Incline and Adhere to itself, having nothing Corporeal besides itself to which it may otherwise Incline or Adhere, or which may hinder or di­vert it from Uniting or flowing together into one most Intire Bo­dy in it self; which, as I have said, must be Globular, becaus a Body can not possibly be in a less Space or more United then in a [Page 71] Globe. And this Union doth best preserv and fortify its own Internal Entity in itself, and so against External Nonentity. Wherefore also all Material Spirits, which are Heterogeneous Substances, do thus Unite and fortify their own Specifical Na­tures against Ambient Heterogeneous Enemies, by casting them­selvs, and thereby their Bodys, which they Consubstantiate and Act, into particular Globules as much as they can; which may ap­pear by Bubbles in Water, Sparks of Steel, Shot of Lead melted, Mercurial Globules, and many such Instances. And if the Uni­versal Body of the World be a Globe (as all men generaly sup­pose, and therefore call it Orbis, or the Globe) then also proba­bly it is a most Perfect and Exact Globe; and not like the Ter­raqueous Globe, which by the Consistence of the Earth and Hete­rogeneity of Earth and Water is full of Hills and Vales, Shores and Seas: but as if the Water did again cover all the Earth, and there were no Agitation therof (as it was in the Chaos, as I have shewed) it would certeinly be a most smooth Aequor, having a Perfectly Spherical Superficies of its own Body, becaus it is Fluid; so much more we ought to conceiv that the Superaether, which is Highest, and therefore most Rare, and probably most Fluid, is most Perfectly Spherical, and also becaus it must Unite together, as I shall shew heerafter. And if there be such an Exact Cir­cumference of the Utmost Body of the World, then there must also be as Exact a Center corresponding to that Circumference, which must be a Physical Point; for as the Physical Circumfe­rence must be in every Part therof Utmost, so the Center must be answerably Inmost, and therefore must be a single Point, not Ex­tended, nor having any Part beyond Part, because any two cannot be Inmost or Midst; for that must be something that is One, what­soever it is: and I do not intend by this Physical Point any such least Corpuscle, as is commonly supposed, for that also hath Part beyond Part, but a very Point as it is in Nature, not Existing severaly, and according to Mathematical consyderation therof, but Coexisting in a Body Physicaly, as I have before declared: and such a Point is also the Copula of all Consistent and Coexistent Extension, and doth Terminate both the Utmost Superficies, and this Inmost Center. And as it doth thus Terminate Extension, so also Motion of Bodys; so that Naturaly they Move not above the [Page 72] Utmost Circumference, or below the Inmost Center, as I shall shew heerafter. Now a Globe, as it is the Figure of the least Corpuscle, so it is Potentialy conteined in every other Figure, and as it is the Figure of the great Body of the World, doth con­tein in it Actualy all other Figures; Which like Extension, from which they flow, are not only Points, nor Lines, which have many Points, nor any Superficies having many Lines (as a Picture which hath only several Symmetrical Lineaments) but the Complete Longitude, Latitude, and Profundity of Bodys; without which there can not be the Figure of any Body which must be Long, Late, and Profund.

VIII. Pores are only Superficial Concavitys in the Figure of any Body: wherefore there must be a Body, otherwise there cannot be any Co [...]cavitys therof; and there must be some Concavitys, otherwise there should be no Pores. But whe­ther there be any other Body to fill these Concavitys, or not; yet the Body itself which is Porous is a Body, as well as the Bo­dy of the whole World is a Body, having a Superficial Convexity of itself, though there be none other Body without it. Or if it be filled with another Body, then that also which fills it is a Body, and is not the same Body, nor Spiritualy Homogeneous with it. Wherefore there were no Pores in the first Created Matter before the Intermistion of Heterogeneous Elements; for if the Body fil­ling were Homogeneous with the Body that is filled, then both should be Continuous, and one Intire Body without any Such Concavitys, and consequently without any Pores. As if an empty Honycomb were all filled with Bees Wax, it should no longer be a Comb, but an Intire Mass or Cake of Wax. Also though Pores be Partial Discontinuitys of the Body Porous, yet it must be partly Continuous; for if the Honycomb be cut into little pieces, and they laid asunder, the Spaces between them all are not Properly Pores of one Body, but Intervals betweeen several less Bodys; and so also the Interstices of a Sive, or Silk, or the like, are no Pores, becaus the Parts or Threads therof are only Contiguous, and not Continuous. And the Porous Body must be Consistent, ha­ving such Vascula in the Concavitys therof as may contein the Bo­dy that fills them, which must be Fluid: As if an Honycomb be [Page 73] filled with Air it is Porous, but if it were filled with Tallow, or any thing equaly Consistent, it should not Properly be said to be Porous, more then any Inameld Work, or the like: much less are Fluid Bodys said to be Porous, though they have many Consistent Corpuscles in them; as Muddy Water, and the like. And though the Porous Body be generaly more Dens, becaus it must be Con­sistent; yet it sufficeth that it be Consistent, though it be more Rare; as an Honycomb filled with Mercury. And this I suppose is that which is intended by Porosity, and which I have more large­ly explained, becaus there is so much discours therof among Phi­losophers, especialy such who when they can give no better ac­count of Nature, resort to Pores as their Latibula and Subterfuges: wheras, as I have said, Porosity is nothing but only particular Su­perficial Figure, or Concavity of the Body; whether the Pores be greater or less, Vasa or Vascula; as Cells of an Honycomb, or the least Holes in the Wax; and they do not in the least alter the Nature of the Porous Body consydered in itself: as Wax is not alter­ed in its own Nature by being Molded into any Shape or Effigies whatsoever. And indeed unless we admit a Vacuity ther [...] are no Pores in Matter consydered in itself; becaus if they be filled with any other Body, whatsoever that Body is, yet being also Matter there is an Intire Continuity of both, which are one Homogene­ous Body of Matter in itself. As the Terraqueous Globe is one Intire Globe, though it be partly Earth and partly Water, which are several Bodys as they are Earth and Water, but only one Bo­dy as they are Matter: for all Discontinuity, and consequently all Porosity, is from Heterogeneity; which is not of the Matter (for that is one common Substance) but from the several Spirits. And I suppose that all Fluid Bodys are also Imporous, becaus their Parts may flow together: and so some more Consistent Bo­dys may also be Imporous; as Glass, Gemms, Marble, and the like.

IX. I shall next consyder Density and Rarity: which, as I have said, do Immediately flow from, and Subsist in the Substance of the Matter, and not Mediately in and by Extension, like Figure, or Po­rosity: for the Matter itself may be more Dens, or more Rare, though the Extension be the same; not only in Extent, but also in the [Page 74] very Figure, and Porosity, as I shall shew herea [...]ter. But as all Different Extension is only More, or Less, which are the Degrees therof; so is D [...]nsi [...]y also More, or Less, becaus all Matter hath some Density, as well as Extension: and More doth Comparatively Denominate a Body Dens, and Less Rare; which yet are only De­grees of the same Positive Density; which plainly is an Affecti­on of the Matter, and so Density, Rarity, Gravity, and Levity no Qualitys of Forms or Spirits, as hath been supposed. Wherefore as Matter is only Comparatively more or less Dens, so all Matter is in itself either more o [...] less Dens within the same Ex [...]ension; other­wise there should be no such D [...]fference of the Density or Rarity therof: for Porosity (which some as I have said make to be a Sub­terfuge and Evasion heerof) is altogether Impertinent to Density or Rarity, bec [...]us the Question is not concerning any Complex Density or Rarity of Several Bodys joined together in one Com­plex Body; that is, both the Body Porous, and the Body filling the Pores; but of either of them singly and simply consydered in itself: and certeinly either of them hath M [...]tter, and all Mat­ter, as I have said, hath some Density, otherwise it should not be Matter; and the only Question is, whether there be any such Matter which is Comparatively more Dens or more Rare then any other Matter simply in itself? And wheras generaly Porous Bodys that are filled are more Dens, and Bodys which fill the Pores more Rare, as I have shewed, it plainly appears by Porosity itself, whereby they seek to solv Density and Rarity, that they also are such in their several Simple Bodys so consydered in them­selvs: otherwise becaus a Brass or Iron Kettle set upright with the Concavity therof above the Water will swim in Water (the Complex Extension both of the Vessel and of the Air, which fills that one great Pore of the Cavity, being in the whole more Rare, and consequently more Light, then the same Proportionable Ex­tension of Water) we might therefore affirm that the Brass or Iron in itself is not more Dens, and consequently more Heavy then the Water, nor the Air more Rare, and consequently more L [...]ght then the Brass or Iron; nor any of them more Dens, or more Rare, and consequently not more Heavy, or more Light, then another, simply considered in themselvs: which if they be, as certeinly they are, then there is also such Density and Rarity both of the [Page 75] Matter of any Porous Body, and of that which fills the Pores▪ simply consydered in themselvs. And indeed if we should consyder Density and Rarity only Complexively and not Simply, there should be no Density and Rarity in the World (which would take away the very Subject of the Question) for the whole World being one Complex Body, though it consist of many particular Bodys, more Dens, and more Rare Simply in themselvs, yet is all Equi­dens Complexively; becaus it is all one Complex Body. Where­fore either there is no Density or Rarity in the World; or if there be, the difference therof must be in the different Simple Bodys, and particular Ma [...]ter itself. Also to inquire farther into this Poro­sity, which is assigned to be the Formal Caus of Rarity; we will again consyder the Reason therof: which must be this, that a more Porous Body is therefore more Rare becaus the Pores are filled with more Rare Matter, unles we pleas to admitt a Vacuity therin (which is another Subterfuge of this Question) but now we will consyder it as filled with some other Matter; which if it be Equidens, will make the whole Complex Body Equidens; and therefore necessarily must be more Rare, to make the Porous Body more Rare: and then I demand, Why is that Matter more Rare which so fills it? and according to the same Reason it must likewise be, becaus that Matter is a Body more Porous and the Pores therof filled with another matter more Rare, then itself, and so Infinitely; which is both Irrational, and Impossible: for suppose the Pores of any Terreous Body to be filled with Water, and any Pores of that with Air, and any Pores of that with Ae­ther, and any Pores of that with Superae [...]hereous Matter; yet we must at last stop somwhere, and confess, either that the last Mat­ter is more Rare in itself, which will destroy the Reason assigned, or otherwise, that the Pores therof are not filled, but that the last Porous Body hath only Interspersed Vacuitys. And so indeed whosoever doth deny Density and Rarity of the Matter in itself, if he be true to his own Reason, must hold an Absolute Vacuum in Nature; wherof I shall discours heerafter, not esteeming this sufficient occasion, nor any present Discours therof pertinent to the Question; which is, as I have said, concerning the Density or Rarity of the Matter in itself, whether Porous, or not Porous, or whether the Pores therof be filled, or not filled. Now if there be such a different Density and Rarity of the Matter itself, [Page 76] then there may be Condensation and Rarefaction of the Matter itself. And becaus this is the greater Question, and doth also contein the other, I shall solemnly argue it according to my maner. Certeinly there is no such fixed Standard of Density in the Matter itself, and in the Nature therof, that it could not Possibly be more or less Dens, or that God could not have Crea­ted the Matter more or less Dens, becaus there is no Contra­diction in it; for it should be Matter, whether more less Dens; and if God might as he pleased have Created the whole Matter more or less Dens, then he could also Create one part of the Matter more Dens, and another less Dens: and so indeed he hath; for he Created both Heaven and Earth; wherof the Heaven and Heavenly Bodys are less Dens, and more Rare; and the Earth and Earthly Bodys more Dens and less Rare. And if he could Create one Body more Dens, and another more Rare, then he can also caus the Dens Body to become more Rare, or the Rare to become more Dens: and so also he hath; for he made the Water which is more Dens to Ascend in Vapors, which are more Rare; otherwise they could not so Ascend into the Air: and again the Vapors which are more Rare, to Descend in Mi [...]ts and Rains, which are more Dens, otherwise they could not so De­scend through the Air. Also I prove it by the Products of Den­sity and Rarity, which are Gravity and Levity, and their very Motions of Descent and Ascent, according to the Hydrostatical Rule of Archimedes, and all others since him, That more Matter of less Extension will sink through less Matter of more Extension if it be Fluid. And this is the very Formality of Density that it is the Affection of more Matter being of less Extension; and of Rarity, that it is of less Matter being of more Extension. And if there be Density and Rarity, then also Condensation and Rare­faction of Bodys: as I have shewed; and which may be confirm­ed by many Sensible Experiments, wherof I shall mention only two, one of Condensation, and the other of Rarefaction. The first is the Impregnating of Common Water with Salt. Take a Glass Wine-bottle, and first put into it as much Salt as the Water may Imbibe, and then fill it up with Water, and stop it with a Cork, so as no Water may come forth; and being so stop'd stir it up and down by moving the Glass-Bottle until the Water be per­fectly [Page 77] Impregnated with the Salt, and so made Brine; and when you let it rest again, you shall find that the Brine, which now conteins both the Water & the Salt, will not fill the Bottle as before, but Sub­side in the Neck almost to the Belly: which doth plainly shew a Consyderable Condensation, or the same Matter of less Extension then it was before. The other shall be the common Instance of Gun­powder fired in a Gun loaded with a Bullet; which will be violently discharged by the sudden and great Rarefaction of so small a Body of Powder into so large a Body of Flame, or the same Matter of more Extension then it was before, which therefore requireth a larger Place according to the inlarged Extension therof, and explodeth the Bullet, or breaketh the Gun, to attein it; though the Flame be a very Fluid and Corporealy Infirm Body, and hath little or no Consistence in itself; and therefore also hath litle or no Porosity in it self; and if it were Porous, would rather close the Pores thereof, or return again into them by such a strong Compression, then exclude such a Solid Body as the Bullet, or break the Gun. Nor is it from any Spiritual or Active Power of the Fire, which sometimes doth not fire all the Powder; and a Windgun by Compression of Air, without any Fire, doth the like Execution. Much less is it from any Imaginary Aethereous Matter penetrating the Gun; for unles We also fansy some Imaginary Valvs, that Aethereous Matter would be far more easily forced back again, then extrude the Bul­let, or sooner break the Gun in the Entry therof then in the Re­treat. Also Glass suddenly Heated breaks by the sudden Expan­sion; and so cooled, by the Contraction. By these, and many like Experiments, it plainly appears that there is such Conden­sation and Rarefaction of Matter itself, as I have before described; which yet some obstinately deny, and either will not or cannot understand it through a preconceived Error that Matter and Exten­sion are one and the same thing; which if it were true, I con­fess it impossible, that there should be any such Condensation or Rarefaction of the same Matter in itself; for then the Extension also must be the same, and consequently there could be no such Condensation or Rarefaction, which are Variations of the Ex­tension of the same Matter: otherwise the Extension therof should be the same and not the same, which is Contradictory. Where­fore such Condensation and Rarefaction do plainly prove it Im­possible [Page 78] that Matter and Extension should be one and the same thing. But, as I have before shewed, so heerby it most evidently appeareth, that Matter is a Substance, and Extension an Acci­dent. And though no Matter can be without some Actual Exten­sion, yet that being an Accident Subsisting in the Matter, there is a Potentiality therof to be sometimes Actualy more, and sometimes Actualy less, the Matter remain [...]ng the same. Nor is there any Penetration of several Extensions, but only the Extension is there­by Varied, whether it be Inlarged, or Contracted. And so I do not affirm that there can be two Extensions of one Individual Bo­dy when the same Matter is Contracted into itself by Condens [...]ti­on, nor yet two several Bodys having only one Extension when it is Inlarged in itself by Rarefaction. Nor yet do I conce [...]v▪ that though there be such a Potentiality of more or less Extension in the same Matter that it is Boundless, or that therefore it can be Always Extended more or less, Infinitely (for More or Less as I have said is Finite, and can never be made Infinite) but as in all other things, so in this God hath set certein Natural Bounds and Limits, unknown to us, which Extension itself cannot transgress. And I shall heer farther observ, that these Variations of Extension are ei­ther Condensation and Rarefaction by Natural Generation, which do continue; becaus they are so caused by the Spirit Superin­ducing them in the Matter, and so continuing them; as in the Accension of Gunpowder, and the like: or Compression and Di­latation by Violent forcing of the requisite Body of Matter and Spirit itself, which therefore do not continue longer then the force lasteth, that so conteineth the Matter in that Extension; as in the Windgun, and the like: and that which we call Elasticity of the Air, wherof I shall discours heerafter, is only a Motion or Nisus to Restitution from such Violent Compression or Dila­tation: and such Motion may be not only of the Figure, as in bending a Bow, or the like; but of the Extension itself, as in the former Experiments. And so there may be a Violent Com­pression or Dilatation of the Extension of a Body according to the Particular Nature therof, which yet may be a Natu­ral Condensation or Rarefaction according to Universal Nature, as when Air doth Expand itself Ne detur Vacuum, as I shall shew heerafter, and when it can Expand itself no farther, it [Page 79] will also there stop and not break asunder, Ne detur Va­cuum.

X. Gravity and Levity are, as I have said, the Products of Density and Rarity, in which they Immediately Subsist, and Me­diately in the Matter; as Figure doth in Extension, and by it in the Matter. Wherefore also, as Rarity is only a less Degree of Density, so is Levity of Gravity; and all Matter whether more or less Dens, yet becaus it hath necessarily some Density, it hath also some Gravity Proportionable therunto. Thus it is said, that there is The Weight for the Wind or Air as well as the Water, and not only Air, but also Aethereal and Superaethereal Matter hath Weight in itself either Actualy or Potentialy; for if more Mat­ter Weigh more, becaus it is more Matter, and less Matter Weigh less, becaus it is less Matter, then all Matter must Weigh, becaus it is Matter: And thus Pondus is of the Matter, and Potentia of Spirits, as I have said: and becaus more Matter of less Extension is more Dens, therefore it is also more Grave; and becaus less Matter of more Extension is less Dens, or Rare, therefore it is also more Light: which plainly appears by Sinking or Swimming, as I have shewed. And more Grave Sinketh downward rather then Riseth upward through more Light, becaus it is more Dens, and Light more Rare: for all Matter tendeth first to Union with itself, and therefore it tends to the Center of itself, which is the Inmost Point within itself. And this Tendence we call Downward, which is indeed rather Inward. And as more Matter of the same Ex­tension tendeth more swiftly to this Center, and therefore also is alway most forward, becaus it is more Dens, and consequently more strong in its kind, that is, more Ponderous; so for the same Reason it tendeth most strongly, and therefore passeth through more Light, which is more Rare, and consequently more Weak, unless it be also Consistent, which is from a Spiri­tual Quality, as I shall shew heerafter. And Globular Bodys of Matter though Equidens and Equiponderous, yet becaus, as I have said, that Figure is most United in itself, do therefore Move faster then Angular, or any Bodys Equiponderous, but of more Superficial Figures, through the same Medium. And now I shall discover the wonderful Mystery of Divine Geometry in [Page 80] the Proportionable Locality of all Particular Bodys between the Center and Circumference of the Universal Body or Globe of the World: for as the Center or Inmost Point is the least, and the Circumference or Utmost Superficies therof the largest; so all the Spheres between these two as they are neerer to the Center, are less, and larger as they are neerer to the Circumference. Where­fore it is most Proper, and Geometricaly Proportionable, that more Matter of a less Extension, which is more Dens, should be in a less Sphere, which doth best suffice to contein it; and less Matter of more Extension, which is more Rare, should be in a larger Sphere which is more fitt to contein it. And thus the Globe of Earth and Water, which is most Dens, is seated in the Inmost Orb of the World, which is least; and the Air, which is more Rare, in a Sphere next above it, which is more large; and the Aether, which is yet more Rare, in the next above that, which is still more large; and the Superaether, which is most Rare, in the the uppermost, which is largest. And this most Proper and Con­natural Situation of the Terraqueous Globe, and of all the Spheres doth rightly constitute both the Circumfere [...]ce, and the Center, of the whole World, and the most Symmetrical Chorus of all the Bodys therof, as I shall shew heerafter. And certeinly as there is but one Circumference of the whole Body therof, so also but one Center; for those two do mutualy Relate one to the other: as there can be but one Circumference and one Center in any one Body. Now that all this Body is Matter we all grant, and I suppose no Materialist will, or can deny it. Also it must be granted (as I have shewed of Density and Rarity) that Gra­vity or Pondus is the Proper Affection of the Matter, and not of Spirits, (becaus it Subsists in the Density of the Matter) and that more Dens and Grave Bodys Naturaly do sink through more Rare and Light. And that Sinking is to this Universal Center of all the Matter, which is Lowest, and Inmost, as the Circumference is Highest, and Utmost. Wherefore if any Particular Body, which is and must be a Part of this Universal Body of Matter, be more Dens, and consequently more Grave, it must Naturaly sink through any other Bodys beneath it, which are more Rare, and conse­quently more Light, toward this Universal Center of the whole Body of Matter, which is the Center of the whole Body of the [Page 81] World, and consequently of all Particular Bodys, which are only Parts therof; and no Parts of any such Particular Bodys, which are also Matter as well as their whole Bodys, can sink Inwardly to any Center of Gravity in themselvs, as to any such Parti­cular Center: for then they should Ascend in departing from the Universal Center of Extension which is exactly Centrum Gravium, to which all tend. And though more Dens and Heavy Bodys may sometimes Ascend to prevent Vacuity, yet that is not as to any such Particular Center, but only to fill the Universal Globe when more Rare cannot succeed, as I shall shew heerafter: Or if they be supported by any Consistent Body, though more Rare, that is only a Fulciment, and Tanquam a Natural Center unto them. Wherefore as all Pondus is of the Matter, and Matter only one Homogeneous Body in itself, so there can be but one Center of the Pondus therof; though as Potentiae are of the Spirits, and they are several and Heterogeneous, so there may be several Spiritual Centers therof, (which are all of another Nature, and very farr Different from this one Universal Center of Matter) and though they be Radicaly most Dens and Strong in those several Centers, yet their Motion tendeth Outward, every way, from the Center to the Circumference of their Particular Sphere of Activity, and not as the Matter Inward, or only Downward, from the Circumfe­rence to the Center of Rest: becaus Spirits are Active and Energeti­cal, but Matter Passive and Torpid, as I have shewed. And now I shall proceed to prove this Center of the Universal Body of the Matter of the whole World, which as I have said, is also both the Center of the Extension & of the Gravity therof, to which all tend, or the Universal Center, to be in the Earth, which will also com­prehend that other Question concerning the Center of the whole World. Certeinly this is the constant Language of Scripture; and so it is said, that the Waters which covered the Earth were Beneath, and the Vapors in the Air, Above: and the Royal Phi­losopher saith expresly, The Heaven for High [...], and the Earth for Depth: and I suppose none can shew any one Expression in the whole Bible, which may seem in the least to color or favor the contrary Opinion. And the Reason therof is as apparent (which I have before sufficiently declared) that Earth being most Dens, and conseque [...]tly most Grave, and Gravity being one and the same Affection of all Matter, and having but one princi­pal [Page 82] Motion, which is Direct, must therefore tend to one and the same Term, which cannot be Outward, or Upward; for then Grave Bodys should Ascend; but must necessarily be Inward, or Downward, which therefore must be to one Inmost Point or Cen­ter of that Gravity. And I shall confirm this Motion of Descent by clearing a common mistake concerning the Ascent of Rare or Light Bodys: for as all Dens and Heavy Bodys do Descend, so also do Rare Proportionably; becaus they are only less Heavy, as I have said. As if a Pound Weight be put into one Scale, and two Pounds into the other, which will caus its one Scale to Descend, and thereby the other to Ascend; yet apparently the Pound Weight is also Heavy, becaus it weighs one Pound, though the two Pounds be more Heavy, and so caus that Scale Proportiona­bly to Descend, and the other to Ascend. Thus the Motion of Ascent of Rare Bodys is indeed rather a being Moved, and their Ascent only a Violent Elevation by more Dens and Heavy Bodys, which crowding more strongly or swiftly to or toward the Cen­ter do Elevate and Extrude the more Rare and Light from it. Also Earth only is Consistent, and cannot be prevented in the Descent therof by any other Bodys which might be Fulciments unto it, as it may be to others; and all this doth Sensibly appear by any Terreous Body Descending through Water, and through Air, and so it would also through Aether, if it were in it, not particularly as to its Proper Element, by any Potentia of the Elementary Spirit therof, but generaly as to the Universal Center of all Matter, by the greater Density and Pondus therof. For so if a Hole were made in the Earth from the Surface therof to the Center, Water would De­scend thereby to it, as well as Earth, & if there were neither Earth, nor Water therin, Air would Descend likewise; and so if their were neither Earth, Water, nor Air, Ae [...]her or Superaether would De­scend likewise: though some pleas to phansy otherwise, and would make all the Planetary Orbs so many Worlds of themselvs having their own Proper Centers, not respecting this Universal Center of the whole World to which all tend, but only consyder it as the Universal Center of Extension (wheras, as I have said, the Gravity or Pondus of the Matter is an Universal Affection of the Matter Subsisting in it, as well as Extension) which Absurdity they have Excogitated only to defend some others, which I shall also dis­prove heerafter. And though I might, if I pleas, believ a Travel­ler [Page 83] who hath been in Africa concerning any Monster; therin, yet certeinly I should not much believ him who had never been there himself. Neither can I more believ any such Assertors con­cerning Aether (which being so Remote is commonly made Am­pliss [...]us fingendi Campus) but shall proceed in the known and beaten Road of Scripture, Reason, and Sens, so far as they extend, and as we can know, or judg thereby; and leaving these fansys of vain men to themselvs shall heer inquire into a more solid and true Secret of Nature, and such as deservs a more Curious Search: which is this, That as God hath placed all the Spheres in their most Proper and Connatural Situations by such Di­rective Principles in themselvs and Symmetry of Nature, so in that Natural Position the whole Vast and Indefinite Body of the World, and all the Inconceivable Weight of the whole Matter therof doth support itself thereby, withal Facility and Suavity, without any suspending Funicles above, or under-propping Columns beneath, and so without any Force or Pressure whatsoever. For though when any Particular Body or Part of the Universal Body therof is Dislocated and removed from its Proper Station and Na­tural Situation therin (which is when any more Dens Bodys are above others more Rare) they then Move or Press toward their Proper Place by their own Gravity and Motion of Descent, being thereby Actuated to reduce them therunto (as the Magnetical Virtue doth Move the Body therof being displaced towards the Poles of the Earth) yet when they have atteined it, their Motion, which was Actuated before for that end, being now useles and needles is again reduced to Potentiality, and they then neither Move nor Press Actualy any more, or any farther, nor have any Actual Nisus therunto; but having obteined their End are thence­forth in Peace and Rest; and their very Gravity is also suspended, and reduced to Potentiality, as the Magnetical Needle doth Rest in the North Point: which plainly shews what I said before, that though Gravity flow Immediately from Density, and Subsist in it, and Motion of Descent in the Gravity, yet they are Realy Diffe­rent; becaus though the Body continue to be the same, and hath the same Density Actualy both when it is out, and when it is in its Pro­per Place, yet when it is our, it hath Actual Gravity and Gravita­tion, and when it is in it, only Potential. And thus neither the Superaether doth Press upon the Aether, nor that upon the Air, [Page 84] nor that upon the Water, nor that upon the Earth, nor the Earth upon itself; becaus they are already in their Proper Places; and therefore tend no farther: for the more Dens Bodys are Natural Fulciments and so farr Centers to the more Rare. And so the Pro­per Place of any Body is when being more Rare it is above more Dens, or being more Dens beneath more Rare, as I have said; or also being among Equidens, whether above, or beneath any other parts therof, yet it is in its Proper Place; becaus it hath such a Natural Fulciment or Center sufficient for it, and there are none more Rare beneath it, through which it may or ought to Move according to this Statike Law of Nature; but the other Equidens Parts whether above, or beneath it, are also in their Proper Sphere, which is the Proper Place of them all, and they can not otherwise be all in one and the same Point. Again I shall observ, that these Spheres being all Rotund, that Spherical Ro­ [...]undity must be filled, and so the Sphere Completed to render it the Proper Place of those Bodys wherof it is the Sphere, other­wise the Bodys will flow or fall every way to fill the Sphere, or any Chasm therin; becaus the lower parts of that Chasm will be beneath, or neerer to the Center of the World then the others; wherefore being Equidens, they will all contend for one Equality or Spherical Community of Situation, which must Equaly relate to the Center, and Circumference of the World. Also heerby it appears that these Spherical greater Bodys do not Move to the Center, nor respect it in Regular Cylinders, as less particular Bo­dys, Plummets, or Bullets falling through the Air, which seem to us to Descend in a most Directly Perpendicular Line, and serv for Measures therof well enough, becaus any such requisite Py­ramidal Confirmity therof to the Center is not discernible by rea­son of their smalnes, (as smooth Water in a Pond seems to us Ex­actly Plane, and that Planities therof servs well enough to make a Water level) wheras any Quadrant, or Semiquadrant, or the like of those Proportionable greater Bodys respect the Center as Pyramids Inverted with their Cones Downward, and Bases Up­ward, which is their Exact Conformity therunto, and the way of their Gravitation and Motion of Descent; as we may easily un­derstand, if we duly consyder the Relation of any Circumference to the Center. And therefore such Quadrants, and Semiqua­drants, do not Superpend, nor consequently Superincumb, in such [Page 85] their Pyramidal Bases beyond their Cones. Yet I do not con­ceiv of such Proper Places and Spheres that they are Magical Circles, or any such Phantastical Houses as Astronomers fansy to be in Heaven, but only, as I have said, Proper Localitys of the whole Body of Matter and Extension of such several Spherical Bodys according to the more or less Density and Gravity therof. Much less do I conceiv that the Center hath any such Magical Vir­tue or Attractive Power, nor that it is any Cavity, or the like, but on­ly a Term which is the Midst, and Inmost Point, and consequent­ly the Lowest of the whole Body of the Matter of the World Immovable and Inalterable, and relating to the Circumference ther­of, that is the Utmost Superficies of the Superaether, which is Ingene­rable, Incorruptible, and Invariable, being the Universal Bound and Limit of Nature, and of all Bodys, and of the whole Matter and Extension therof. Having thus premised, I shall now examin the Pressure of the Atmosphere, which is so confidently asserted by some, though evidently there be no such thing, nor can there be any Rational Supposition therof, without a supposed Dislocati­on of the Body of the World, and offering Violence to Nature, as I shall now prove. God Created the Heaven and the Earth, and no­thing beyond or without them; wherefore certeinly they Press upon nothing, or do not Press Outwardly becaus there is no Out­ward thing to support them, or on which rhey might Press; but only they tend to Union Inwardly. And as the several Spheri­cal Bodys of the Elements do not Press upon the Superaether, nor one upon another Outwardly, so neither Inwardly, as Iob saith, He hangeth the Earth upon nothing, that is, it doth not hang or Press at all either Outwardly, wherof he spake before, He stretcheth out the North which is the most Terreous part of the Globe over the empty place, that is, the Air (as a Vessel is said to be Comparatively empty when it is filled only with Air) no [...] yet Inwardly, for it hangs upon nothing besides itself on which it might so Press, and it doth not Press upon itself, the whole Bo­dy and all the Parts therof being in their Proper Place, as I have said. And heer again, I must clear one Vulgar and common Error, which may be the caus of the contrary Apprehension, that is, That the Earth, and consequently the whole Globe of the World doth Press upon the Center every way, as upon a Founda­tion, that bears it up; or as two Bodys of equal Spiritual Strength [Page 86] or Potentia Pressing one against another with all their Power, by such mutual Encounter and Resistance do forcible fix and setle each other Immovably in some midle Point between them: wher­as though there be such particular Combats between Contrary Qualitys, and the like Opponents in Nature, and so there are also particular Dislocations of Members in the Body therof, yet generaly the whole Structure of the Body of the World (and so of the Atmosphere) is so Composed that there is no such Pres­sure, which Properly is not Nature but Violence, and the De­scent of Heavy Bodys every way to the Center is only as to a Point, or Term, which they do not desire to pass, and therefore do not Press beyond it; and becaus Violence doth not long continue, there is therefore an Innate Principle of Motion in Bodys to re­duce them to their Proper Place, whereby they may obtein that Rest which Nature Intendeth, and Abhorreth all such Pressure, Pain, or Burden. And heerin the Pondus of Matter and Potentiae of Spirits do manifestly Differ; for wheras generaly the Pow­ers of Spirits Act to the utmost, Incessantly, and without any Rest, becaus they are Qualitys of Active Principles (and so the Heavenly Bodys Move Indesinently) the Weight of Matter which is a Passive Principle affecteth Rest, and only tendeth unto it, and when and where it obteineth it, then and there it Resteth, and the Actual Weight and Motion therof is thereby again re­duced to Potentiality, as I have said. And I can not conceiv any Reason nor frame any Notion in mine own Mind why, or how the Body of the World should Press rather or more Inwardly then it doth Outwardly, which is not at all. And if we could suppose any such Pressure, it must be either every way; which would accordingly Press and Squeez or only downward, and then every one of the Terricolae should be Pressed Downward with a Proportionable Pyramid of the whole Body of the World so In­verted as I have shewed, and according to Mathematical Rule in­larging itself from his Head or Back or Hand on which it doth so superpend as the Cone, to the Utmost Circumference of the Superaether as the Basis: for it is all Matter, and there is no Con­sistent Body Intervening to prevent that Pressure, and so if one part of that Pyramid Press, all must Press: and if we compute the Inestimable Burden therof, it will be found Insupportable, and at the Atmosphere also to be so Comprest in itself, as would render [Page 87] it no Atmosphere, or fit place of Breathing. But let us descend farther and consyder the midle Point of the Earth and Center of the whole World; certeinly no Poet can Imagin such an Atlas, or Hercules, as might so bear the whole Burden of the whole Body of the World being farr greater then of the Heavens only, which they feigned them to bear up (though indeed the Ima­ginary Pressure therof be the greater Fiction.) And I ap­peal to the common Experience of all men, who with their own Hands can feel no such Pressure of the Atmosphere; (wheras it should Press the Area of the Hand Proportionably as much as 29 Inches of Mercury) and of every Diver, who can testifie the Nonpressure of the Deepest Water lying upon him: and whoso­ever will not accept these for Experiments, but seek to evade them I know not how, he doth plainly thereby Invalidate the Testimo­ny of all Experiment, and render it as Sceptical as some would make both Reason and Faith, since none can be more Sensible and Notorious then this which is by feeling, the Fundamental and least Fallible Sens: But I shall plainly clear by a whole Galaxy of Expe­riments, which I shall therefore collect into this one S [...]atike Rule, That in any Body Internaly Consistent in itself, or made Externaly to Consist together, the more Rare Parts therof, being duly placed above the more Dens, do not Actualy Weigh or Press the more Dens Parts below them, nor the Equidens Parts one another Per­pendicularly. Whereby it shall plainly appear how a Particular Body so disposed is a Module of the Universal Body of the World in this particular respect. Thus in the highest Column of Tim­ber, or Stone, or Coloss of Brass, or Pyramid of Brick, Perpen­dicularly Erected, (as they ought to be) no one Part therof doth Press another, supposing them all to be Equidens, (or only so farr Proportionably as they are not so Equidens) for otherwise all must Press the very lowest and thinest Physical Area therof, and then let all the Incumbent Weight be computed and com­pared with that Area, and the Strength therof, and I suppose the Impossibility of such a vast Weight and Pressure, to be born by by such a slender Fulciment will easily be granted; when we see a whole Brick to be broken and battered only by a Cart-wheel going over it. Again let us consyder other Bodys sometimes Actualy Fluid, and sometimes Consistent; as a Firkin, or any larger Cask of Butter, Tallow, or the like; if it be uncased, and the [Page 88] Upper and Lateral Parts of the Cask taken off from the Mass of Butter, or Tallow; yet it shall stand as firm as it did before, though there is at least an half hundred Weight Incumbent upon the Area therof. Wheras if you lay an Equal Plate of Lead or any more Dens Body, of the same Weight upon a thicker Area of the Butter, or Tallow, it will not be able to bear it, but be squeezed Outward; becaus the Equidensity and Equiconsistency of all the Parts of its own Body make them all to be at Rest, but the great­er Density of the Lead doth Press them; and so if the Cylinder of Butter or Tallow were much higher, yet the upper Parts would not Press the neather until the Weight therof did overcome the Consistence, as the Lead doth by its Unequal Density. And if the Butter and Tallow were Melted and Fluid in the Cask, and then should be uncased, as before, they would Press and flow every way; but yet while they are conteined Externaly within the Cask, no Part therof doth Weigh or Press another. So in a Ci­stern of Water, while it hath no Vent, no one Part of the Water doth Weigh or Press another, nor would Oil, or the like, upon the Water, Press it. But though the Parts in these and the like Cases do not Weigh, or Press one another, yet the Whole Body whether Internaly or Externaly Consistent doth Weigh and Press the next Body beneath it, not Continuous and Consistent with it, or not Equidens. And so a Man bearing the Firkin or Cask doth feel the whole Weight therof, becaus the Parts Weigh accor­ding to the Whole; and so the Whole doth Press another Bo­dy, though the Parts of the same Body in such Cases do not Press one another. As a Pale of Water upon a Mans Head doth Weigh and Press according to the Whole, thougha Fish in the bottom of the Pale under the Water doth not feel any Weight or Pressure therof; becaus the Fish is as a Part therof, and within the Pale, which is the External Term of the Consistence therof; and the Body of the Fish Equidens, or therabout, with the Body of the Water. But if a Body Naturaly Consistent be not Erected Per­pendicularly, as if a Column of Timber be held Obliquely, then the upper Parts therof do Weigh and Press Obliquely, according to the Obliquity therof; and so if any of the upper Parts do Super­pend, they also do Superincumb-Proportionably. As if a Pyra­mid Inverted (and be greater then the Pyramidal Proportion which I before mentioned) or a piece of Timber laid Transversly over [Page 89] the Top of another. Which I conceiv also to be the true Reason of the Proportionable Overweight and Advantage by Distances from the Center. But if a Fluid Body broader above then be­neath, be in a Vessel of that Figure, yet the upper Parts being Equi­dens do not Press the lower, becaus they all Rest together upon the Consistent Vessel, and only Press upon it. Again, if the Stopcock of a Cistern, or Gutt of a Water-mill, be opened, where­by the Water hath a Vent, then the Parts above that Vent, being not supported by the Consistence, and in Motion do Press one upon another Proportionably, and issue forth with a force Proportion­able therunto. And any Parts which Move do accordingly Press, though there may be a Pressure without Actual Motion by an Actual Nisus or Endeavour therof, As a Burden upon a Mans Shoulders doth Press upon them, though it doth not Move or Sink farther into them, and so a Weight hanging and not Moving Downward doth Press as well as when it doth Move.

XI. This is, as I conceiv, the State of the Matter, which was created One Universal Body in the Begining, Extended in itself through its whole Body, and having all its Parts beyond Parts, and so continuing Universaly in the Successive Duration therof, that as the Whole cannot be Extended more or less, so no Part therof can be Divelled and Separated from all the others, and thereby be made another several Body, or less World in itself; nor is any Part therof Annihilated, whereby it should be Dimi­nished, nor any new Part Created, whereby It should be Augment­ed; but as it remains the same Universaly in the Whole Sub­stance, so also in the Universal Affections therof, though they were first Generaly, and still may be Particularly Varied, ac­cording to the several Degrees therof which were Potentialy in itself. And yet the whole Body therof still is and must be the same, having the same Orbicular Figure, and the same Total Den­sity and Gravity; becaus the whole Matter therof is the same, neither more, nor less, then it was, being all Bounded with the same Circumference and Center; and so as one Elementary Part is made more Dens, or Grave, another is made more Rare, or Light. And all are Bounded with the Superaether, which is Su­perelementary, and immutable. And as this Universal State therof can not be Varied so it hath Universal Rest in itself, which is in­deed [Page 90] this Universal Status therof, and can not be Varied by any such Universal Motus which might Move the whole World. Also there is a General Status or Rest, which is the Station or Position of the Great and General Bodys therof, as they were first Created in the Begining, and afterward Ordered in Six Days; that is, of the Superaether, Aether, Air, Water, and Earth, which can not be Varied Generaly; though Particular Elementary Bodys are, or may be Particularly Varied, by Generation or Corruption: where­by the Extension, Figure, Density, or Gravity therof, are so Al­tered. And yet in these Particular Variations therof the Mat­ter doth alway observ the Universal and General Law of itself, and of the Locality of its own Body, and of all the Parts therof, by conteining all within the same Circumference and Center; and if any Elementary Part become more, or less, Dens in itself, by Altering the Particular Station therof where it was before, and re­moving it to the General Station, and so if it be Violently Remov'd out of it, restoring it by a Natural Motion or Nisus of Restitution and Return therunto. Thus there is a double State or Rest of Matter, that is, either Universaly of Union, or Generaly of fit Station and Position therin; and as the Union is of Extension, so both the Rest and Motion to Union do, as I suppose, subsist in Ex­tension: and as the Rest and Motion to Station is to the Center of Gravity, so they both Subsist in Density; which is also Analogous: for as Matter tends to Union with itself and hath thereby some Density in itself; so Dens, or more Matter of less Extension tends to more close Union or more Inwardly within itself. And this Union is the Foundation of the Universal Rest or Aquiescence therof in itself, which it first and most Naturaly affecteth; and of the other of Station which is next unto it, as being Convenient and Conformable to the other. And both these Rests when they are Disturbed are Recovered by that other Subservient Principle in itself, which is the Natural Motion therof. And this Motion is not Actively Contrary to Rest, as Heat to Cold; and the like Contrary Active Quality; for Rest is not Active, but rather Pri­vative or a Not moving in respect to Motion, and only a Positive Acquiescence of the Matter itself, Subsisting in it; as also Motion doth Move unto Rest as another Assistant or Auxiliary Affection therof, and Subordinate unto Rest: (as Verticity is not Contrary, but Subordinate to Polarity, serving only to reduce Magnetike [Page 91] Bodys to that fixed Position, which is the Polar Rest therof.) Which Rest Bodys do most Naturaly affect, but being Dislocated or Disturbed, cannot attein it without Motion. And therefore Rest and Motion seem to some to be Contrary, becaus though Motion be to Rest, yet it is in itself Motion, and not Rest, and indeed it is Analogous to that which Moraly is termed Invita Voluntas. As when a man goeth a Journey, not willingly in respect of the Journey, and yet willingly in respect to Rest at Home: but as this Rest of Matter is Acquiescence in the Natural Union and Station therof, so Disunion or Dislocation are more Contrary therunto, which yet are not Contrary to the Rest itself, and are rather Pri­vations of the Union and Station wherin Rest doth Acquiesce. Nor are any Different Local Motions, Upward, and Downward, and the like, Properly Contrary; but only Localy Advers, or Op­posite; for they may be both from the same Principle of Motion to prevent Vacuity, and tend to the same Union of the Matter; though they may Vary the Station therof; becaus the Station, which is of Convenience, is also Subordinate to the Union, which is of Necessity. But to affirm that Bodys of Matter are in them­selvs Indifferent to Motion or Rest, and so being once put into Motion would Move alway if there were no Obex or Impediment, is most contrary to the very Nature of Matter, which would never Move itself if it were not first Removed by others; and of Motion itself, which is only to reduce it to Rest; and to all Sens: for we feel our own Bodys (and so do all other Bodys) as they are Bodys to affect Rest, and return unto it assoon as they may: though while they are Moved by the Active Spirits they can not Rest in them­selvs; but Distinctly consydered in themselvs as Bodys, they are only Passive; and so indeed Naturaly apt to be Moved by the Spi­rits, but not to Move themselvs; and Torpid, having no Activity in themselvs, whereby to resist the Spirits or Potentiae therof, but only a Dull Pondus or Heavines. And that Natural Affection of Union or Station which is in themselvs is not any such Power or Strength as the Consistence of the Earth, wherof I shall dis­cours heerafter, but only a Stupid Acquiescence in itself. And that very Motion, whereby they preserv their Union, or recover their Station, is only an Infirmity, that is an Inclination unto, and Recumbence of one Body upon another, for a mutual Support; or a Succumbence or Sinking and Falling Downward, for want [Page 92] of such Support: which are all Symptoms of Weaknes, and not of any Strength. And all the Motion of Matter is only Local and not Active or Operative in itself, like the Motions of Spirits, but as an Instrument of their Spiritual Qualitys, as I have said. Nor is Local Motion strictly consydered as such in itself either the Acti­on of the Mover, or Passion of the Moved, nor both the Action and Passion of any Automatous Mover and Moved; but the very Moving, or Transition from one Place to another. And thus, Eo, Curro, Fugio, Volo, and the like Words of Local Motion, are all of a Neutral Signification, neither Active, nor Passive. And though therupon doth ensue a Variation of the Distance of the Body Moving from or toward all other Bodys in the World, yet its own Motion consydered in itself is only a Variation of its own Locality; and that Body itself only so Moveth, and none other Body is thereby Moved besides itself, (unles it be also Impelled or At­tracted by it otherwise) but Resteth in its own former Locality which it had in the great Body of the World. Otherwise when any one particular Body Moveth, all other particular Bodys in the whole World, and all Parts of Bodys which are thereby Distanced more or less from it, or toward it, or this way, or that way, ac­cording to the Motion of that one Body Moved, should likewise be Moved thereby. And so if Matter and Motion were the Na­tural Principles of Generation and Corruption, as some affirm, then by such Motion of any particular Body (which is a Part of the Matter) and of all the Parts and Particles therin, and consequently the Generation and Corruption therof by such Motion, all other particular Bodys, and all the Parts and Particles therof, should be conformably Moved, and consequently so Generated and Cor­rupted; which doth confound their own Principles. Oportet esse memorem. But I do acknowledg that as the Body is the Subject Matter, so also that the Local Motion of the Parts and Particles therof is very Instrumental in Generation and Corruption by Spirits, which are the Movers, Operators, and Architects therof, whereby they make fitt Seat and Officines for themselves; wher­as otherwise the Body or Matter hath in itself only that Principle of Local Motion, which is to Union and Station, as I have shew­ed: and though Spirits may Vary the Station, yet they can never Vary the Union of Bodys, becaus they are also within the same Vbi of the Circumference of the Universal Body of the World, and [Page 93] the whole Extension therof, which therefore they may not break; or transgress; and they Inhabit in several Stations therof, accor­ding to the Nature of those Bodys which they require; or if they require no Body, as Angels, they may indeed pass through the whole Globe, but can not go beyond it, as I have shewed. But Rest and Motion to this Union and Station are, as I have said, Affections of the Matter Subsisting in it Mediately, but Immedi­ately in the other Proper Affections therof; that is, Rest is the Acquiescence of Matter in that Union and Station, and Motion the Tendence of it therunto. Now from this Union or Unition is the Adhesion of Matter which is more Naturaly and Necessarily effected thereby, then by or with any Adamantine Chains or Li­gaments whatsoever: for so Nature alway worketh her own Works by her own Natural and Internal Principles, and needeth no such Artificial or Mechanical Hooks and Clasps, and I know not what Intangling, rather then Uniting Figures, which some have vainly Excogitated. Wheras the very Homogeneity of the Matter Inclineth it of itself to Union with itself; and Disconti­nuity is only from Heterogeneous Spirits, as I have shewed, which make several Heterogeneous Composita, that are therefore Spiritualy Continuous only in themselvs, and Contiguous one with another; and yet even in them all, the Matter is still Conti­nuous to and with itself, as it was before, and so continues to be one Universal Body of the whole World. Nor is this Motion to Union so Powerful in Spirits as it is in Matter, becaus it is not so Necessary in them: yet any Homogeneous Composita are not so easily Discontinued or Severed, as Heterogeneous; and therefore have also their Motions of Restitution; and some, as Magnets, do not only Incline, but notably attein this Unition of their Spiritual Homogeneity, wherof I shall Discours heerafter: And now will proceed farther to inquire into the Degrees of the Motion of Matter, and of the Velocity therof. I have said before, that more Matter of less Extension or any Dens Body Moves more swiftly; which is one Internal Cause of the Velocity therof: And so also the more or longer it Moves, it Moves more Swiftly; which is another Internal Cause therof: and it is not only from the External Motion of Restitution in the Air, above, or be­hind the Bullet, or other Body falling through it, which did Impell and Violently Dimove it, and so when the Bullet is past [Page 94] through that Part of the Air, which was so Impelled and Dimoved, it returns smartly again by that Motion of Restitution behind, and upon the Bullet, which may give the Bullet some small Impuls, and so caus it to Move somewhat faster; and then the Bullet Moving faster, Impells and Dimoves the next part of the Air more forcibly, which accordingly increaseth the Motion of the Restitution ther­of, and so causeth the Increments of the Velocity of the Motion of the Bullet. And the Bullet in Descending also Impells and summoves that part of the Air which is beneath, and before it, and that part the next; and so prepares a way, or Vortex, for itself, whereby it may more easily, and consequently more swiftly, De­scend. But, though it be true, that either Addition of Force, or Subtraction of Impediment, may Accelerate Motion, and heer per­haps both together do concurr, and may somewhat conduce ther­unto; yet I am not so Curious as others, to apprehend, either, or both of these, to be sufficient and the only Causes of so consyde­rable an Effect, as the notable Increas of Velocity of Motion in such Descending Body [...]; but rather ascribe it to the Internal and Proper Nature of the Motion itself; which being capable of such Degrees in itself (as well as Density in which it doth Subsist) and while the Body was in Rest was only in Potentiality, and no Actu­al Motion, till it began to Move; and as it then begins to Actuate itself, so the longer it continues, it doth still Actuate itself more and more by Degrees in the Natural Motion therof to the Center. And there is no such Increment of Velocity in the Weigh [...] of a Clock moving Sensim: Nor is there any Attractive Virtue in the Center itself, as I have said, becaus that is only a Point wherin such Virtue can not Subsist, and only a Term of Locality Downward which God hath Immovably fixed and ordeined so to be, as the Circumference is Upward, and it doth no more Attract Downward then the other doth Upward. And any Equal Weight in the same Medium, whether it be placed in a higher, or a lower part therof, Weighs and Moves Equaly, first; and according to the continuance of the Motion, so are the Degrees of Velocity. Nor is it from the Magnetike Virtue of the Earth, for such Mo­tions are Proportionably Equal, as I suppose throughout, and not Per Gradu [...], but Per Saltum, as I shall shew heerafter: and I know no Difference heerin, between a B [...]llet of Lead, and a Bul­let of Steel, or Magnet, so Descending. And the common Ob­servation [Page 95] that Natural Motions are Swifter, and V [...]olent Slower toward their End, is not generaly true of all, but only of the Matter: for the Planetary Motions are Natural, but Equal. Which Instance may well prove what I said formerly, That Spiritual Motions are for Motion and Action; but Motion of the Matter is only to Rest; and therefore Slow when the Body is first Removed from its Rest, any Remotion from which it Disaffecteth, and Swifter as it draweth neerer to the next place of Rest, which it Affecteth. Also this plainly sheweth that Motion of Desc [...]nt is Realy Different from all the former Affections of the Matter, becaus it so Varieth itself, though they continue the same. Now it is also observable that according to the Increas of the Swiftness of the Motion, so is also the Strength of Percussion: for Swiftnes is a Conspissation, or as I may so say Condensation of the Mo­tion, and all Conde [...]sation being an Union doth fortifie. Again, as Motion is an Advantage of Percussion, so it is also of Pene­tration; becaus Penetration is by Percussion; and a Swifter and Stronger Percussion maketh a Swifter and Stronger Penetration: which is observable in Bows, Balists, Catapults, and the like; wherin the quick and smart Delivery maketh the great Percussion and Penetration; and Time is very consyderable heerin; for if the Percussion be so Strong and Swift, that the Body Percussed hath not requisite Time to Resist, it pierceth through it, as if i [...] were only a Medium; as a Bullet shot Directly through a Bord, or Glass, maketh only a round Hole in it; wheras the same Strength, not so Swift, would make it first Bend and Cleav, or Break, which shew a Partial Resistance. And so if the Percussion be more Swift then Strong, whereby it hath not requisite Time to Penetrate, it will be more Resisted; as a Bullet shot Obliquely will Reflect from Water, or as they say Graze; as also Oister­shells (wherwith Boys use to make Ducks and Drakes as they call them) wheras in more time they would Sink into the Water. Also all Motions of Percussion or Penetration are Violent as to the Body Percussed or Penetrated, though the other may Move Naturaly, as a Bullet falling through Air, or Water, Naturaly Downward, doth Violently Percuss and Penetrate the Air or Wa­ter, which is thereby Dislocated, and Violently Elevated, as I have said: and it seems to me that even that Motion of the Bullet is also as it were Violent in respect of the Place of Rest from which [Page 96] the Bullet first Moveth, which maketh it to be so Slow at first; and only N [...]tural in respect to the next Place of Rest to which it Mo­veth, which maketh it so Swift at last, as I have said: but the Bul­let shot is first put into Motion by the External Impression, and that Motion being wholy Violent is Swiftest at first, and Slowest at last. And yet the Motion continueth Proportionably accor­ding to the Impression, though that last no longer then the very Contact, and is Discontinued with it. Nor can I conceiv that that there is any Continuation therof, or Magical Line of Mo­tion, between such a Mover and Moved, as some have fansied: for the Impression, being an Accident, must necessarily Subsist in its own Substance, and can not Migrate into another, nor is the Po­tentia which maketh the Impression Emanant, but Inherent. Certeinly this is a Mystery in Nature, and I know no Instance which doth more seemingly prove a Migration of Accidents, and I suppose the disproving heerof will very much confirm the con­trary Truth. Now, as I have said before, the Matter having Na­turaly in itself Motion is putt into it, and the Motion Actuated by any Violent Impression; as well as by Natural Tendence to Uni­on or Station: and that which is most wonderful heerin is, that the External Impression doth not only Actuate the Motion at first, but Divert the Natural Tendence therof Downward, and Direct it another way. But as I have said, there is in Matter not only a Motion to Station which is Downward; but also to Union, which is generaly Directed by the other Downward, but may be any way; as sometimes it is Upward: and this Motion which is most Natural and Principal, is also the Universal Motion of Mat­ter; and being Diverted, and Directed Violently, by the External Impression, doth carry the Body that way, yet so as it doth only Divert, and not destroy it, or the other Notion of Descent, which more Particylarly is to Station, and that is Particularly also Natural, whereby the Body hath still a Nisus and Inclination that way. And the Diversion of the Motion being Violent is, as I have also said, Strongest at first, and the Natural Weakest; and so the Violent Diversion doth overcome the Natural Moti­on of Descent, and Proportionably Divert it, as in Flying or Swimming; and while it doth Totaly prevail against the Motion of Descent, carrieth the Body in a Direct Line and Level any other way, though with some Decrement of the force: so that a [Page 97] Bullet shot out of a Gun doth not Move with an Equal Force so long as it flys Levell, as may appear by the Unequal Execution that it doth at a neerer or farther Distance within that Levell, and so doth Decreas by Proportionable Degrees: or if it be short Perpendicularly Upward it will Decreas in Swiftnes and Strength till it return again Downward, which is the very Difference be­tween such Violent and Natural Motions heerin. And as Rest and Motion are seemingly Contrary, and yet Motion is indeed Subor­dinate, and Subservient to Rest, so is the Natural Motion to this Violent Diversion so long as it is Predominant over it. All which I shall manifestly approve by the common Experiment of a Ball Re­bounding from a Paviment of Stone. Certeinly the Ball first falls Perpendicularly upon the Paviment by its own Natural Motion of Descent, which being greater then is sufficient to carry it to its next Place of Rest, and being stop'd by the Stone, is Reflected Up­ward, and that is a Motion Diametricaly Opposite to the former, and is by reason of that Diversion and Direction, which it re­ceiveth from the Paviment Externaly, and yet not by any Con­tinued Impression therof, but only from its own Natural Motion Actuated in itself, and so Diverted and Directed thereby. For the Paviment of Stone, being Consistent and Quiescent, can add no­thing to it, nor make any such Impression upon the Ball; as an Hand may by throwing or beating it back; or a Racket by the Springi­nes of the Strings, first yielding, and then Repercussing it; nor is there any such Springines in the Ball which falleth upon the Pavi­ment, and there is the same Motion of a Marble, or the like most Consistent, and not Springy or yielding Globules. But both the Direct and Reflex Motion are from the Ball or Marble them­selvs, and the Motion therof, as the Emanation of Rays, which are Naturaly Reflexive, aswell as Emanant. And as the Bullet, [...]o also the Ball, or Marble, by their own Natural Motion so D [...] ­verted, do by Degrees prevail against that Violent Diversion, and at last attein their Natural Rest. And I suppose, that if an Hole were made through the Body and Center of the Earth, and a Bullet drop'd in it, the Bullet would pass beyond the Center forward and backward, like a Pendulum, or Needle by its own Motion Actuated in itself, and so by Degrees return to it. Now if the Ball or Marble fall by a Diagonial Declivity, as from a Penthous, Roof, or Hill, or the like; then, becaus it half Rest­eth, [Page 98] and half Moveth, that Motion acquireth only half the In­crements, or Degrees of Velocity, and may describe a Quadrant of a Proportionable Cycloid in the Descent afterward upon the Paviment; and as I suppose a Granado shot from a Mortarpiece Diagonialy doth from the Angle of Inclination, or Zenith, de­scribe such a Quadrant between the Perpendicular and Arch of the Circle: which I leav to the Curious more Exactly to deter­min. And there is the like Reason of the Semicircular Vibrations of the Pendulum: wherof the Center of Extension is the Point where the Line hangs, and whereby the Pendulum is Produced to the Extremity of the Semidiametrical Plane, where the Arch ther­of begineth Downward, and then is let go, but cannot Descend Perpendicularly Downward, becaus the Line which is suspended at the Center doth stop it, and so Divert and Direct its own Mo­tion of Descent accordingly to describe almost a Semicircle half about that Center, which it plainly doth, without any External Impression or Reflexion from any other Body, but only by its own Natural Motion so Diverted and Directed; and by Proporti­onable Decrements, as is aforesaid; (as the Needle of the Com­pass doth also so Move Horizontaly by a greater Motion of Ver­ticity then is sufficient to reduce it to the Pole) and so at last the Natural Motion prevailing against the Violent Diversion, it Rest­eth Perpendicularly upon the Nadir of the Arch which it descri­beth, and is Correspondent to the Center of the Perpendicular Line. And probably such Decrements of Violently Diverted Motions are Proportionable to the Increments of Natural Motion▪ And perhaps Motions of Restitution, which are Spiritual and from the Potentia of Spirits, are heerin Analogous to the Natural Motion of Matter: and so a Spring of Steel beat one way seems to make one Vibration almost as much the other way; and the many V [...]brations in the Torricellian Experiment are from such Causes. It may be also inquired, whether there are such Increments of the Natural Motion to Union Upward aswell as to Station Downward, as whether a Bullet which is suck'd up by a mans Breath through a longer Musket barrel doth Ascend more Swiftly and more Strongly, then if it were shorter; or Per Saltum, like the Mo­tion of Magnets? for it is by the Sucking and Expanding of the Included Air thereby, which when it is so far Expanded, that the Retractive Potentia therof is more Praepotent then the Pondus of [Page 99] the Bullet, and the Air being still suck'd the Bullet doth by the other Motion of Matter to Union, as Naturaly follow it to pre­vent Vacuity (which I shall shew heerafter) as if it did Descend by the Motion to Station, or at least equaly as swiftly at last as at first like Aether. And I shall now observ one thing more in such Diverted Motions (which I have before intimated) that if the Im­petus or Force therof, which is so Actuated, be greater then can be spent in carrying the Body Moved forward by reason of the Resistance of the Medium, or otherwise; then it not only so carry's it Directly, but the Excess therof doth also Move the Body Cir­cularly. Thus a Bullet or Arrow discharged Violently from a Gun or Bow, besides the Direct Motion therof, Moves also Circularly. And so in a Whirlpitt which hath a Vent at the Bot [...]om, whereby all the Parts of the Water above it are putt in Motion, as I have shewed, and yet can not all Descend and issue out together, there­fore they Move Round, as also Water in a Boiling Pott: and so in the common Experiment of Water Ascending from a Basin, wherin a Flaming Candle or Charcoal kindled at one end is Per­pendicularly fixed above the Water, and then an Urinal, or the like Vessel Inverted over it into the Water in the Basin, the Wa­ter will Move Round in the Basin when it begins to Ascend into the Urinal, as may appear by any Motes swimming in the Superfi­cies of the Water. And so I conceiv it to be a general Rule, That if a Body in Actual Motion, so farr as it can not, according to the Actual Motion therof Move Directly, the Parts therof will Move Circularly. Now becaus all Circular Motion of the same Body, and in the same Place hath to some seemed so very Wonderful and Inexplicable; I shall heer endeavor to explain it, and grant that which is the very caus of their Wonderment, that is, that all Local Motion is, and necessarily must be, Progressive; becaus it is from Place to Place: but we must also consyder, that such a Circular Motion is Immediately of the Parts, as of the aforesaid Motes in the Water, and accordingly of all the Parts of the Water, Circularly, and consequently of the Whole, Medi­ately thereby: and so the Parts Move Progressively, and Succes­sively, from their several Positions and Places in the Whole, which they have in their own Body, as well as their own Body hath in the Body of the whole World, East, West, North, and South, which is the very Nature of Place, as I shall shew heerafter: [Page 100] and consequently by them the Whole Moves Circularly also in its Place, wherin it was, and still is; but only is Localy Varied or Moved according to that Variation and Motion of the Parts being itself in the who [...]e where it was before: and certeinly all the Parts may aswell Move so Simultaneously in Time, and Suc­cessively and Orderly in Place, as the Motes; and the Motion of the Whole doth thereupon as Naturaly and Necessarily ensue: And so a Planet Moves about its own Axis Immediately by the Parts therof, and it Moves about the Sun Immediately by the Whole as a Part of that Circle which it describes Progressively, though in a Line Perpetualy Curv, And in such Motion of a Fluid Body any way, the Parts therof do so farr forth Weigh, Press, or Move, one another: as a Diver shall find in any Vortex or Stream, if he oppose himself against the Current therof, but not in any Pro­gressive Motion of the Whole as when he swims along with it, which is a Sensible Difference. And this may help also to salv another Difficulty, which hath been esteemed Incomprehensible. How a Body Moving Circularly should Move Round in the Cir­cumferential Parts therof in the same Space of Time as in the Cen­trical; since the Circumferential describe larger Circles, and Move through a greater Space or Distance of Place then the Cen­trical, and yet both by the same Pondus or Potentia. Wherin we must consyder that the Pondus or Potentia being Equaly applied to the whole Consistent Body Moved is distributed Equaly to all the Parts, but doth Unequaly Move them according to their Unequal Distances from the Center, whereby the Circumferential being Proportionably more Moved by their Equal share therof, accor­ding to those Distances, do Move Swifter, or through Proporti­onably larger Circumferences though Simultaneously in the same Space of T [...]me, which is an Equality in Inequality; and both are Proportionable to the Nature of the Consistent Body so Moved thereby, and the Distance of the Circumferences therof from the Center. Also there is a Motion of the Whole partly Progressive, and partly Circular, As when a Coach or Cartwheel in going for­ward Moveth Round. And hence hath arose another Problem. How such a larger and a less Wheel being both fixed upon the same Axis should Move upon lower and higher Planes with Equal Circumvolutions. Which needeth no such Solution as the former, becaus it is a plain Fallacy: for in such a Position and [Page 101] Motion the larger Wheel Moves Round by Perfect Circumvoluti­ons, and the less Wheel partly Slides along (as well as Moves Round) so farr as to equal the Circumvolutions of the larger Wheel: for indeed otherwise it were Impossible that one Circum­volution of a less Wheel should Equaly run over so much of the Planes, being both of the same Longitude, as of a larger, becaus their Circumferences are not Equal. And this Fallacy may sensi­bly appear by not fixing, but putting both the Wheels loos upon the same Axis; and then you may plainly perceiv the Exact Dif­ference of the Circumvolutions Proportionably according to the Difference of the Circumferences.

XII. Local Motion, as I have said, is Transition from Place to Place; and doth therefore import Place; which is Relative, and not only the Position of a Body in its own Extension other­wise then as the Parts therof are in their Respective Places in the Whole. And therefore no Body is said to be Localy in itself, or in its own Whole Positively, but only Relatively: as we do not say England is in England. Wherefore also the whole Body of the World is not Properly in a Place, but in its own Position and Extension, which is not Properly a Place Positively in itself, but only Relatively to all the Parts therof, and without it there is no other Body, in respect wherof it may be said to be in such a Place. Nor is Place the Superficies of other Bodys Am­bient; for not only the whole Body, but every Part within the Superficies of itself is also in a Place, which, as I have said, it Va­rieth in a Circular Motion of the Whole, and yet the Whole is in the same Place and Vicinity of Bodys: and so is also every Point therof in a Place according to its own Proper Nature, that is, as it doth Coexist with others, and so Commove with them; so it is also Collocated with them, though not severaly by itself alone: wherefore also the Superficies of its own Body is not the Place therof, nor indeed can it be so many several Places: but as Ex­tension hath Part beyond Part, which therefore is not one and the same Position of every one Part severaly in itself, becaus eve­ry one hath a several Position in itself; so the Place therof is the Relation of one to the other in the Whole, or as it is Beyond, farther, or neerer, heer, there, and the like; which is not only a Notional Relation, as First and Last in Extension, but Real; be­caus [Page 102] Extension hath Realy Part beyond Part, as well as Time hath Realy Part after Part, as I have formerly shewed. And so Circumference and Center are Real Relations of Extension, and there are Real Advantages of more or less Distance of any Parts from the Center, as I have said. Now according to this Real Re­lation, a Body is said to be in such a Place or Part of the whole Bo­dy of the World, and not in another: And if the whole Globe of the World were a Magnet, it should have a North and South Pole in respect of its own Parts, and so all the other Points of the Utmost, or any other Inner Circumference therof, though there be no Body beyond it to which they may so Point. And so England is said to be in such a Part of the World, and not in another; and London in such a Part of England; and not in another; and so of any less Bodys, as the Parts therof are Relatively Distant more or less from the other Parts of that Body, or of the whole Body of the World, or their Situation any way Varied. Again, as there are such Real Places, so also certein Real Stages and Posts, which God hath Realy fixed in the World, as the Circumference and Center of the whole Body of the World, according to which any Part or Particular Body therof is said to be Higher, or Lower; that is, more Outward or Inward, and two Poles of the Earth wher­of the Axis doth Intersect the Center by one determinate Line ending in two certein Points, and so directing it, and thereby de­termining North and South, and consequently all the Points of the Compass. And so there are also two Opposite Circumvolutions of Aether and Aethereous Bodys, which Denominate East, and West, in all such Circumvolutions, one way, or other, as I shall shew heerafter. And according to these Real Differences I suppose all the several Localitys and Motions of any other Bodys in the World, (which may be as Various as all Mathematical Figures) may be Determined and Denominated. Also becaus all Spirits whether Material or Immaterial are within the whole Body of the World which no one of them can Possess, or fill, or be Coextended with it all; therefore they are in some Definite Place, or Vbi therof, and not in another, according to that Proper Place of the Matter which they Possess; though Matter itself be only in such a Pro­per Place Circumscriptively and Extensively, becaus it only hath Extension of itself; and Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys by being Localy therin do acquire such a Definitive Coextension therwith [Page 103] and thereby; which Coextension is the Commune Vinculum of Matter and of all Spirits, whereby such are Immaterial, and do not Consubstantiate Matter, nor Inhere in it in Staetu Conjuncto, [...]s Angels, Magnetical Virtue Emanant, and the like, yet are in it and in some certein Vbi thereof (though in Statu Separato), as­well as the others: and their Coextension is the same, though there be not the same Consubstantiation, or Inhesion as I have shewed: and the other which we call Material are indeed no more Matter, nor Material, then Angelical Spirits; but only so termed by way of Distinction from such their Consubstantiation and Inhe­sion being in themselvs truly Spirits in Bodys (as I have therefore so called them all by one general Name) as well as Angels out of Bo­dys, (as Inherent Magnetical Virtue is a Spiritual Quality, as well as Emanant) and though they be indeed Inferior and less Spiri­tual Kinds of Spirits then Immaterial in many other respects, and therefore so distinguished, as I have said; yet they are all of the same Universal Kind, or Genus of Spirits; and so as much Contradi­stinguished from Matter: & therefore are no more Matter nor Ma­terial in that sens one then another. Which I shall again and again desire Materialists to consyder, and remind; and rightly to under­stand these Terms of Material and Immaterial Spirits, as I have explained them, and to judg therof according to [...]he Things them­selvs, and not of Things according to mistaken Terms, or other­wise to waiv the Terms wholy, and call Matter Body, and every such Form or Substantial Activity Spirit, whether Conjunct, or Sepa­rate; and so to apprehend them rightly in our Minds, as they are in their own Nature. Wheras some, who have not so cleared these Terms and Notions to themselvs, either affirm all Spirits to be Matter, or that there are only Material Spirits. And I begg of every Christian Philosopher, who believeth that there are An­gelical Spirits, and Spirits of Men after Death, thus Separate from the Matter, only as freely and fairly to Contemplate them in his Mind, as he doth the Matter; and Spiritual Qualitys, as he doth the Corporeal Quantity, and so prepare himself to be a fitt Judg of what I shall prove unto him beyond any Postulation; and I hope that thereby every Materialist may so Purifie and Spiritualise his own Immaterial Mind, which is now too farr Im­mersed and Ingaged in the Matter, that he may also himself clearly discern Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys by his own Spiritual [Page 104] Light beyond all my Probations: wheras some, becaus they do not Distinguish between Extension and Coextension, therefore Confound Bodys and Spirits, and so, becaus they do not distin­guish between Extension and Matter, therefore Confound Sub­stances and Accidents, and becaus they do not distinguish between Extension and Vacuity, therefore Confound Entity and Nonen­tity. And though they will not allow Spirits to be in the Body of Matter, and the Coextension therof to be their Ubi, yet they can Suppose Matter itself and the very Extension therof to be in some other Vbi, or somthing which they call Space, and which must either be another Extension without a Body, or the same, or Nothing: though, as Position is only a particular Consideration or Notion of Extension (as the Body or any Part therof is in its own Extension) so Space is only another Particular Consyderation or Notion of Extension, as the Body or any Part therof is in so much of that Extension: and neither of them are Realy any Things in themselvs Absolutely, as Extension, or Relatively, as Place; and though these are such particular Notions of Somthing Real, that is of Extension: yet Vacuity consydered in itself as no Extension of Matter can not be so much as any Notion whatsoever of any thing Real: for then it should be Space which Realy is the same with Extension of Matter, wherof it is only such a particular Noti­on: Wherefore they must conceiv it to be another Extension with­out Matter; or, as I may so say, another Imaginary Extension of Extension, or that wherin both the Matter and also Extension therof is; and so we may proceed Infinitely: but all such Process Infinite is most Contrary to Finite Nature and to all Philosophy; becaus, as I have said, it is only the vaine Reduplication in Terms of the same Thing in itself. Now if Matter and Extension were one and same, then Matter needeth none other such Imaginary Extension, or Vacuous Space, wherin it may be Extended, becaus it is Extended in itself, otherwise it should not also be Extension: or if Matter be the Substance, and Extension the Proper and In­separable Accident and Affection therof, then also it needeth none other such Imaginary Extension, or Vacuous Space wherin it may be Extended; becaus it is Extended by its own Extension. Wherefore Vacuity is neither Matter, nor Extension, nor any Real Relation, nor Notion therof, nor indeed any Thing, or Entity whatsoever, but meerly Nothing or Nonentity, wherof it is only a [Page 105] particular Consyderation or Notion; as Nullity or a Cyphar is of Number, or Nontime of Time; and the like Improper Not­finites, wherof I have formerly discoursed. Nor is it any Priva­tive founded in Positives, which thereby Complexively may be Consydered, and seem to be Somthing, but a particular Negative, and the very Negation of that which is the Respective Affirmative Being, that is, both of Matter and Extension: and so it is neither Long, nor Short; Broad, nor Narrow; High, nor Low: having no Longitude, Latitude, or Profundity; otherwise it should be the same with Extension; which we all acknowledg, and should not differ about Terms: but as consydered severaly from it, it is Nothing, and Notfinite, and so consydering it I need not disprove it, for it plainly proves itself not to be; being only a Negation, which is its own Denial of what any would Affirm or Imagine it to be: and so Vacuum est Non ens, or Vacuum Non est, or Non est Vacuum, are tantamount. Yet becaus some are so fond of it, that not only like Lovers they feign it to be that which it is not, but I think would almost like Paracelsians Create it to Be by their own Imagination therof, I shall briefly argue against it. And certeinly there is no such Vacuity, becaus God himself never Created it, nor indeed can he; becaus it is a Nonentity, which is not Creable, but, as I have before shewed, the very Negative Term from which Creation doth commence, and which doth necessarily Caus that to Be which it Creates; becaus Being is the other Af­firmative Term of Creation, which is from Not being to Being. And wheras it is commonly demanded, Whether God could not Possibly have Created two or more Worlds having Such a Space or Distance one from another, or one Part of this World having such a Space or Distance from another? I answer, He might; if he did also Creute such a Space or Distance (which as I have shewed, is Realy Extension) without any Body or Matter, which I suppose they who ask the Question, and any Materialists them­selvs will not so easily grant, and they who affirm the Extension itself to be one and the same with the Matter, wherof it is the Extension, must by granting it, deny it, and so Contradict themselvs: for then that Extensive Space or Distance must also be Matter. The Philosophers Reason against Vacuity, That then two Body [...] should not be together, and yet no other Body, nor consequently any Extension or Extensive Space therof, nor indeed any Thing, [Page 106] which may Disterminate them, be between them; is so very true and Cogent, that I profess to dispute no farther with him who shall deny it, until he can shew me the Fallacy, or Infirmity, therof. Sensible Experiments against it are manifold; and there is such a Constellation therof in the whole Sphere of the Universal Nature, that I shall collect them all into one Statike Rule, that is, no Weight nor Power can wholy Remove any Body out of the present Place therof (though it may Rarefy or Expand it and so Exue part therof) unles another Body may Succeed: and if it do so Remove any Body, another doth Naturaly and so must Necessarily Suc­ceed. As let Air be suck'd out of a Bladder the Sides therof will Proportionably Approach, and at last Close together; and if by an Airpump or Expansor the Operation should be so Strong as exceed the Consistence and Strength of the Glass, such an Exucti­on would also break the very Receiver. Now certeinly there is no other Caus or Reason of the Adhesion of the Air to the Blad­der, or Glass (which are Heterogeneous, and therefore Disconti­nuous Spiritualy) but only the Continuity of Matter and Motion therof to Union, as I have said: which is to prevent Vacuity, or any Discontinuity of the Universal Matter. So in a Siphon, though the overweight of Water in the longer Leg be requisite, yet the Motion of Descent by the Gravity doth not otherwise Caus so great a weight of Water in the shorter Leg to Ascend then only by its own Natural Decession whereby the other doth as Naturaly Succeed, as may appear if any Ai [...] be lett in at the top of the Siphon ▪ And it is not as when a Preponderous Weight or Prepotent Power at one end of a Rope draws up a less Weight tied to the other end therof: for as Air is not so fastned to the Bladder or Glass which are Heterogeneous, so neither Water to Water, though Homo­geneous, becaus Water is a Fluid Body, and hath no such Con­sistence as will endure any such drawing, but only such a small and weak Consistence, as I shall shew heerafter. But one part therof in the Siphon is so United to another by this Natural and most Indissoluble Ligament of Adhesion and Union of Matter to Matter, so that for the Necessary Completion of the Universal Body therof, so great a Weigh [...] of Water doth Succeed, other­wise Water in the Siphon might run at any hight if the over­weight were the only Caus. And Air Rarefied by Flame in a Glass, though much Lighter, Draweth up Water, which is Hea­vier, [Page 107] by being again Condensated in itself by Cold after the Ex­tinction of the Flame or Fire, whereby it occupys a less Space; and the Water doth Succeed it, and Ascend as Naturaly to pre­vent the Vacuity as it doth Descend in a Whirlpitt; Yea as I have shewed this Motion to Union is most Natural and Predomi­nant, even over Motion to Station, and no Body can Move any way in the whole Orb of Matter by any Private Motion whatsoever, unles the Universal Body therof be first Completed. And there­fore the whole Body of the World is, and must be, as I have said, Orbicular; not only becaus the Superaether is most Rare, and there­fore I suppose most Fluid: and all Fluidity doth Naturaly Con­globate, as I have before shewed: but though we should suppose it most Dens, and Firm or Consistent, yet it must be Perfectly Globous; becaus that is the Proper and only Perfect Figure of Union, to which this most Natural Motion to Union of the M [...]t­ter must reduce it: and as it would reduce the Bladder or Glass, or any other most Consistent Bodys to Perfect Union Inwardly if the Air could be wholy Exucted, and no other Body within it; so it would also Outwardly, to a most Perfect Globular Figure, if there were no Body without it; becaus God hath Created in it a Principle of most Perfect Union which is Globular. Now as all Sens doth militate against Vacuity, so I know no Sensible Experiment which hath ever yet been offered to prove it, but such as when Vacuists themselvs have farther consydered it, they have at last found therin some Plenitude, which they did not dis­cern at first: and I very much wonder how ever any man first fansied such a Vacuity other then as a Notion of such a part [...]cular Notfinite, or Negation of any Extension, whenas Mankind hath never yet so Imagined any of the rest, as any such Nullity in Number; or Nontime; either Coacervate, which is as if an Hi­story should thus begin, In the 6954^th year before the Begin­ing of the World: or Interspersed; which is as if we should af­firm some Nontime or Nonday between Sunday and Munday, or the like. Having thus Consydered Matter as it is in itself, with the Corporeal Quantity or Extension, and other Accidents or Affections therof, whereby only we can know it, as we may Spi­rits by their Spiritual Qualitys; let us now so Review it simply as it is in itself, with all the Accidents or Affections therof, and severaly and distinctly from any Spirit or Spiritual Quality what­soever, [Page 108] wherof I shall discours heerafter, and see if we can make of itself alone, or with all its own Apparatus, any such Spirit or Spiritual Quality, as some would Produce out of it, and the Atoms or Corpuscles therof: wheras it is in itself only one Uni­versal Homogeneous and most Intire Body, which though it hath Aggregate Atoms and Corpuscles in its own whole, Mathematica­ly, yet there are indeed no such Segregate Atoms or Corpuscles therof Physicaly as they do Imagin, nor can any such Possibly be without Intervening Vacuity, which we have sufficiently disproved. And therefore the Antient Atomists did also hold Vacuity, and so their Doctrine, though most fals, yet was more Consistent in it­self, then the other of our Modern Corpuscularians, who affirm Segregate Corpuscles of Matter, and yet no Vacuity, but other Matter Intervening, which is a plain Contradiction or Matter Se­gregate, and not Segregate: and that Segregation therof which they pretend is only the Discontinuity of the Bodys of several Composita by their Individual Spirits, which are Heterogeneous, and not by the Matter, which is one Homogeneous and Continu­ous Body in itself, as I have said; and even Heterogeneous Compo­sita, which are Spiritualy Discontinuous, are yet Materialy as Con­tinuous, as Homogeneous: And so polished Metall and Marble, Drops of Water and Glass, Brick and Mortar, cannot be Divelled or Discontinued, unles Air or other Matter may Succeed to prevent Vacuity, and supply the Continuity of the whole Body of Matter and Extension therof; which is Absolutely Necessary: and the Spiritual Continuity of any Compositum, which is Gene­rable and Corruptible, is only Respectively Requisite for the preservation therof, and whereby it doth Continue its own Body, as much, and as long as it can, and defend itself from other Am­bient Bodys, which do Besiege and Assalt the Spiritual Qualitys therof, with their Heterogeneous Spiritual Qualitys; and by the Menstruous Power therof enter and Corrupt it if they can: wheras if there be any Discontinuity in the Matter of the Bodily Compositum, the next Ambient Bodys, whatsoever they be, do and must Immediately Succeed to Complete the Great Body of Matter, which can suffer no Discontinuity, as I have shewed. And yet we will afford them such Materials as they would have, that is, supposed Segregate Atoms or Corpuscles, and then let them Com­pose and Confabricate them as they please into any Body, having [Page 109] Longitude, Latitude, and Profundity; that is, Corporeal Exten­sion; yet certeinly this will be only Matter so Extended, and no other thing whatsoever, either Aether, or Air, or Water, or Earth, or Tree, or Brute, or Man, or Angel. And this Exten­sion of the Matter itself will only, as I have said, be Orbicular, for though all other Figures be in Extension Potentialy, yet any Variation from this most Homogeneous Figure of Union is by the Heterogeneity of Spirits, and the Plastike Virtue therof, which as the Architect or Statuary doth superinduce them, by Varying that one Universal Figure of the Matter. And yet we will also allow them, without any Spirits or Spiritual Q [...]alitys, to Mold the Matter into what Figure they please; which will be none other then Matter so Figured and Effigiated, and only as so many Statues of Elements, Vegetatives, Sensitives, and Intel­ligences, but not the Things themselvs. Also though all Matter be Equidens in itself, and consequently Equigrave, and the Va­riations therof only superinduced in it by the Spirits, and are therefore by some termed Qualitys, yet we will allow them to Densify or Rarify, Gravitate, or Levitate, those Statues as they pleas; which will be made thereby no other then they were be­fore; but only more Dens, or Rare, Grave, or Light. And lastly, though all Matter doth Naturaly affect Rest, and all the Natural Motion therof is only to Rest, as I have shewed, when it is at any time Violently Removed and Dislocated by Spirits or Disturbed by their Spiritual Operations; yet we will also allow them all the Motions of Matter, that is only Local Motions; and then let them either Move their whole Statues or any Parts, Cor­puscles, or Atoms therof, this way, or that way, or every way, as they please; and make them as Automatous as they can sup­pose them to be Moved by or with any such Local Motions: yet as the whole Statues Moving Upward, or Downward, Progressively or Circularly, and the like, will only be Statues; so every one of their Parts, Corpuscles, or Atoms, so Moving therin, will be only such Parts, Corpuscles, or Atoms therof, as they were before; and so consequently the Whole also the same as it was before; only with such Variations of the Local Motion of the Matter or Parts therof, and of other Affections of the Matter, as of Gravity Levity Density and Rarity producing those Vari­ous Motions, or of Figure and Extension produced thereby, but [Page 110] still the Statues will be only Matter, having such or such Exten­sion, Figure, Density, Rarity, Gravity, Motion, or Rest, and the like Affections of Matter: which are Formaly in themselvs and all together only such as they are, and render the Matter only such or such a Statue: but can induce no Spirits and Spiri­tual Qualitys; Heat, Cold, Moisture, Drines, Vegetation, Sensa­tion, and Intellection; which, as I have said, are formaly in themselves other things farr Different from Matter, and any or all the Affections therof: and so I shall more particularly prove them to be in my following Discourses: though I have already acknowledged, that as Matter is the Body of Spirits, so all the Affections therof are the instruments of Spiritual Qualitys and their Operations, and so as I have said before (though now I have admitted it to be otherwise only by way of Supposition) they are superinduced in the Matter by the Spirit, to make it a fitt Hous and Work hous for itself, and then they both dwell and Work therin; and so Spirits are Instrumental to Matter, and Matter to Spirits. But yet as when I see a Ship sailing upon the Sea, and steering her Cours according to the Art of Navigation, with her Sails spread, Tackling, and Rudder, and the rest of her Furni­ture rightly Instructed and Gubernated, I may not therefore conceiv that she can thus perform the Voiage of herself, and by all those Instrumentalitys, but that as she was first thus rigged and fitted by men, so she hath still men abord who thus guide her, though I may not see them upon the Deck; So when I Con­template the Active Operations of the several Composita, I know that the Rude and Common Matter could never so [...]ffigiate and Diversify itself, but that the Spirits did so Prepare it for themselvs, and that they still do Act it and Operate in it. Also I acknow­ledg, that therefore there is not only some Correspondence and Analogy between all Created Nature as it is one Univers and Re­publike; but more or less between all the several Creatures, as I have observed, to be between all Quantitys: and so there is also between all the Affections of Matter among themselvs, and like­wise between Matter, and the Affections therof, and Spirits, and their Spiritual Qualitys, which are all conteined within the same Extension of the whole Body of Matter, and the several Figures therof are the Hieroglyphical Images of the Various Spirits, and may have some kind of Signature therof: and so Condensation is [Page 111] Analogous to Intension, and Rarity to Remission of Qualitys, and Pondus to Potentia, and the rest; but especialy Motion is Analo­gous to the very Activity of Spirits; and yet as Matter and Spirit, so all Material and Spiritual Accidents are Genericaly Different, and particularly Local Motion from the Active and Generative or Corruptive Motion of Elementary Spirits; and much more from Vegetation, Sensation, and Intellection, which are Motions of a farr other Nature, as I shall shew heerafter. Again, as Matter and Material Accidents are not, nor can not be Formaly the very Spi­rits, and Spiritual Qualitys, so neither are they Potentialy as others have supposed, and so would Educe them all out of I know not what Potentia Materiae, and some Christian Philosophers in com­pliance therwith have supposed the first Chaos to be only such a Materia Prima; though God saith expresly that in the very Begin­ing he Created Heaven and Earth, Comprehending Superaether and all the fower Elements, as I have said; and that the Matter had not only, as a Materia Prima, the first and common Affecti­ons therof, that is, one Extension, one Orbicular Figure, Equi­density, and Equigravity, and the like, but particular Diversifica­tions, and Variations of Spheres, of several Figures, Densitys, and Gravitys, and the like: and the Superaether then probably was Created Perfect, and adorned with all the Furniture therof, what­soever it is: and the Elements were Created in such a maner as did Denominate them Aethereal, and Aereal Heavens, Earth, and Wa­ter, (yea the very Heavens and the very Earth, as some have Criti­caly observed) though Inform, and Inane, and without Motion, which is Secondary and Subordinate to Rest, and wherof there was no Need nor Use before Generation and Corruption were Or­deined afterward in the Six Days. Of all which I shall now pro­ceed to discours.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. GOd, who in the Begining, or very first Instant, Created Heaven and Earth, could also have Perfected them, and all Creatures therin, in the very same Instant; as most probably he did so Perfect the Superaether, and Angelical Na­ture, which are the highest Sphere, and highest Nature, for the manifestation of his Infinite Power; yet also to manifest his Infi­nite Liberty and Absolute Sovereignty over Created Being, and the Subordination and Subjection therof to himself; and how the Creatures, as they could not Caus themselvs to Be from Notbeing, so also after they had a Being, could not of themselvs Perfect them­selvs, nor attein any farther Degree of Welbeing without him and his Creating Causality, did first let this Elementary World ly in the Chaos therof, and afterward, in such a Space of Time as seem­ed fitt to his Divine Wisedom, that is, in Six several Days, pro­ceed Gradualy and Orderly to Perfect them. And though the [Page 113] first Creation, which was from Absolute Notbeing to Being, must therefore have been in an Instant; becaus there is only one Affir­mative Term therof, that is, Being; which must necessarily be in the same Instant assoon as it was; yet all these Works of the Six Days which were Productions from Potentiality to Actuality, or Original Generations from not such a Being to such a Being (which are several Affirmative Terms of Being, and the first only Negative of such a Being, which yet implys Being) was Gradu­aly in Time, according to Natural Generation, and the Process and Cours therof, which was then Instituted, as I shall shew heer­after. And this Original Generation was another Improper Crea­tion, and P [...]rfective of the Primitive and Proper Creation; and such as could not be per [...]ormed by Nature, until the Natural Cours therof was sett in Order by the Divine Spirit: who, before it was so Produced, and until it was Perfected, did from the Begining Effectively Move, or Incubate in, or up [...]n, the Created Chaos; (as it were hatching the Eg [...], or Embryo, therof) in the midst of all the Elements: that is, upon, or above, the Face of the Waters, and Earth beneath them; and under the Aereal, and Aehereal Hea­vens: Preparing and Predisposing them for the Production of all their Apparatus, and Inhabitants, out of their first Created Po­tent [...]alitys Latent in the first Chaos, into their Actualitys in the Six Days: And all those Productions were also the Immediate Works of the same Divine Power, as it is said, God said Let there be Light; and so of the rest; which were not t [...]e same Creations with the first, for that had been Vain and Superfl [...]ous; nor in the same maner, for that was in the Begining, or first Insta [...]t; but these in Six several Days, Gradualy, and Orderly, according to the Natural Process of Generation which was then fi [...]st Instituted, as I have said: and wherin, as all their Primitive En [...]itys were first Created in the Chaos, and then Prepared and Predisposed by the Divine Spirit; so every Production in every one of the Six Days was Previous and Preparatory in Nature to and for the Succeeding Productions, as I a [...]so shall shew heerafter. A [...]d Angels, probably being Create [...] Perfect in and with their Superae her in the Begin­ing (though they mig [...]t be Spectators) yet neither did Operate, nor Assist, in this Improper Creation; which though Improper in re­spect of the former, yet is only Proper to God himself, who is expressly said so to Create in all the Six Days, as well as in the Be­gining. [Page 114] But I presume rather, that as God made all things for himself, and the manifestation of his own Glory to his Intellective Creatures, Angels, and Men, so Angels were Created in the Begin­ing, in and with their Native Region of the Highest Heaven, that they, who can Intuitively behold all things, and needed no Crea­ted Light to Inspect the Dark Chaos (and so I suppose, the whole World and Frame of Nature is Transparent to them) might Contemplate all the Works of God in the Improper Creations of the Inferior Elementary World; which was to be the Region of Man, as he, who is the other Intelligence, was made last, to Re­view (as God himself afterward did) all the Works which he had made, and to celebrate that Sabbath of Rest which God Instituted, and as it is said, made for him. And as the Divine Spirit was the only Creator, and Angelical Spirits no Subcreators; so much less was there, or is there, any such Archaus Faber, or Plastes, Demiurgus, or Demogorgon, or I know not what Fictitious Opera­tors, which some have substituted. And though there be, as I have said, one Universal Body of Matter, or Corpus Mundi; yet there is not therefore one Universal Spirit, or Anima Mundi, as others have fansied: for then all had been Perfected in the Begin­ing, both the whole Body, and Spirit of the World; and all Na­tural Generation and Corruption had commenced from thence, and should so have continued; and there had needed no such far­ther several Creations in the Six several Days, for setting in Order the several Courses therof; from which they did Originaly com­mence, and so have continued: Wheras though the Matter be one Homogeneous Body, yet the Spirits are many and several, and their Spiritual Qualitys Contrary one unto another, which cannot pro­ceed from one and the same Principle; but plainly discover several Spiritual Principles therof: as I have shewed. And though they are United together in one Compositum, as in a Beast, or the like; yet they remain several Spirits in their own Natures, as they were before, Elementary, Vegetative, and Sensitive Spirits; and were not, nor are not, made one Universal Spirit of that one Compositum; much less is there any such Universal Spirit of all the several Composita in the whole Body of the World. And more apparent­ly in Man, besides all these, there is also an Intellective Spirit, which is farr different from all, or any of these. So that Physi­caly there is no such Universal Spirit, which is only one in Nature, [Page 115] as Matter is one, whereby the whole Body and Spirit of the World should be one Individuum, but only Metaphysicaly, and Gene­ricaly, as there is one Univers, and as Spirit is another Active Principle, or Substantial Activity, and so common to all Spirits, (though Specificaly Heterogeneous in themselvs) wherin they all agree, and which doth Subsist in them all, as a Real Relation of all their Substances so agreeing and Relating, which yet are so Heterogeneous and several in themselvs; but not as any Total Substance in itself, like Matter, and wherof they are all only so many Parts, like the Particular Bodys of Matter. Neither is there any such Potentia Materiae which may be the Universal Prin­ciple of all Spirits; nor are they only Diversifications of the Matter, or of any, or all the Affections therof, as I have shewed. And there are Immaterial Spirits of Angels, and Men, Separate, or Separable, from the Matter (otherwise, then as they are in the Ubi of the Universal Body therof, which is only a Locality, or Local Circumstance, and not the Formality of their Spiritual Na­ture) and so neither is Consubstantiation of the Matter the For­mality of Spirits, which we therefore call Material, (as we call some Animals Corporeal) and might as well for the same Reason call their Bodys of Matter Spiritual as it is said There is a Spiritual Body, and yet even these are Spirits Genericaly as well as Angels, though they are Farr Inferior to them Specificaly; becaus Spi­rits are Specificaly Heterogeneous, and may thus differ; though Matter be Homogeneous, and only one and the same. Nor in­deed is there or can there be any such Potentia, either of Matter, or Spirits, whereby they may Produce any Substance; which is never Potential, but always Actual: because it alway Subsisteth in itself, and therefore cannot be Produced out of Potentiality into Actuality; (but only by Mistion or Union in a Substantial Compositum) not like Accidents, which may be Potential; becaus they can Subsist in their Substances, when they are not Actualy in themselvs, nor are they like the S [...]bstantial Composita, which are Poten [...]ialy in their several Substantial Princ [...]ples, wherin they Subsist, and Actuated by their Composition. And so in the Con­substantiation of Matter and Spirit, the Matter doth no more Produce the Spirit, then the Spirit doth the Matter; as also in Accidental Composition of several Accidents, one Accident doth not Produce the Essence of another. Thus the true Potentia of [Page 116] the Matter is only the Power of Producing its Proper Accidents, or Affections, out of its own Substance; as Spirits also do theirs out of their own Substances: And yet though the General Acci­dents, or Affections, of Matter be Produced out of itself, the Particular D [...]versifications therof Instrumentaly are Superinduced by the Spirits, as I have shewed: whereas an Immaterial Spirit, as an Angel, Produceth his own Accidents, or Affections, not only out of his Substance but by it alone, and without any Matter; And Matter, which is otherwise more rightly said to be Receptive of all Spirits Extrinsecaly, is not therefore Productive of them Intrinsecaly. Nor indeed could both Matter and Spirits Produce either themselvs, or one another, or their own Accidents or Affections, or any Thing whatsoever, Properly without a Proper Creation, nor Improperly out of their Chaos of Potentiality, with­out out an Improper Creation; nor do any Substances now Produce any Accidents, or Substantial or Accidental Composita Naturaly, or by Natural Generation and Corruption, otherwise then by the Successive Power and Virtue of the first Institution therof, and Divine Benediction by the Spirit of God; who so Created them, both by a Proper and Improper Creation, as I have shewed; whereby the Cours of Nature, and of all Natural Generation and Corruption, doth continue accordingly. But this Original Generation, which was a Secondary and Improper Creation, did commence from the First and Proper Creation, by the Su­pernatural Preparation and Predisposition of the Chaos by the Divine Spirit: and as it was not Immediately from Nonentity, so neither from Corruption; becaus there was yet no such Ge­nerated Compositum which might be Corrupted; but there were only the Simple Essences of Substances and Accidents Created in the Begining in the Chaos of their Potentiality, and Produced in­to Actuality afterward, wheras Natural Generation doth alway commence from Corruption of some former Compositum; which if it should still remain as it was before Generated, there could not be any new Generation of another; and therefore it doth neces­sarily require and presuppose such a Corruption therof.

II. Thus the Potentia of Matter, or Spirits, is only the Power of Educing somthing Subsisting in themselvs, and apt to proceed and flow from them, out of Potentiality into Actuality; as I have [Page 117] often said, and shall now prove, when I have first explained my Terms. By Actuality I suppose we easily understand the Extrin­sical Existence of any Essence; wherefore there must also be an Intrinsecal Essence, or Entity, wherof that is the Existence, and wh [...]ch without that Actual Existence doth not Actu [...]ly Exist, and when it doth so Actualy Exist, is therefore said to be in Actua­lity; and when it doth not, in Potentiality; becaus it is an Es­sence or Entity in itself whether it doth also Exist, or not Exist: which Essence, or Entity, while it doth not Actualy Exist, doth al­way Subsi [...]t in some others; and therefore alway is Essentialy, though not Existentialy. And when the Essence is Produced out of that Potentiality into the Actuality, then there is a Generation therof; and when again that Actuality is Reduced into the Potentiality, then there is a Corruption therof, But Simple Substances which subsist in themselvs, therefore always are Actualy in themselvs; and are Ingenerable, and Incorruptible: Thus in the Begining there was not only the Matter, nor only the Spirit of the Superaether, A­ctualy Subsisting, but also of Aether, Air, Water, and Earth; which did so Denominate those first Elementary Composita of the Matter and their several Spirits, the Heavens, and the Earth, as I have shew­ed. And so there were also in them, and with them, all the Sub­stantial Simple Vegetative, and Sensitive Spirits, Subsisting Actu­aly in themselvs; though there were yet no such Mist Composita of the Elements themselvs as afterward which might Denominate them Stone, Metall, and the like; nor any Composition of the Ele­mentary Spirits with the Vegetative, or of Elementary and Vegeta­tive with Sensitive, which might so Denominate them Trees, Beasts, and the like; untill such Composita were Produced in the Six Days afterward. And so also there were all the Intrinsecal Created Essences, or Entitys, of Simple Accidents, aswell as Sub­stances, which were also Created together in the Begining, in and with their Substances, though only the Universal Accidents of Matter, Extension, Orbicular Figure, Density, Rest, and the like, did then Actualy and Extrinsecaly Exist in the Matter; and there were yet none of those Particular Variations therof, which were afterward superinduced by the Spiritual Qualitys of Spirits; becaus those Spiritual Accidents did not yet Exist themselvs: and so not only Substantial Composita, but also such Simple Ac­cidents were in their Chaos of Potentiality. As there was no Actual [Page 118] Light, but Darknes; and so of the rest: but yet the Intrinse­cal Essence or Entity of Light, and the Rest, was in the Chaos P [...] ­tentialy; which is therefore termed Inform, and Ina [...]e, becaus they were not yet in it Actualy and Extrinsecaly, but were after­ward so Produced in the Six Days. And all the Previous and Re­quisite Principles, Substantial, or Accidental, wherin any of their Produced Composita did Subsist Mediately, or Imme [...]iately, were first Produced themselves; without which the other could not have been Produced: as Mist Elements before Vegetative Composita, and Vegetatives before Sensitive Composita. And so doth the Natural Generation and Corruption, bot [...] Su [...]stant [...]al, and Accidental, still continue; as doth plainly appear by all Gene­rative Mistion and Composition, and production thereby of the Composita, which are so Confabricated Naturaly, aswell as Artifi­cialy. As a Hous is Potentialy in all the Materials before it be built, and every particular Figure in the Extension of the Materi­als before it is framed: and when it is so Prepared and E [...]ected it may be said to be Artificialy Generated; and when it is Demo­lished to be Corrupted; the Materials, like Substances, still re­maining the same, and the whole Compositum, and every Figure therof, being first Potentialy and afterward Actualy therin; and so again Reduced from Actuality to Potentiality by Demolition: and there is no other Difference heerin between them, but only that Natural Generation and Corruption are Intrinsecal Con­substant [...]ations or Compositions of Proper Principles of Na­ture, which are both the Materials and Architect therof, and Artificial Generation and Corruption are Extrinsecal; which only can be, by Application and Apposition of the Intrinsecal Principles of Nature, so applied and conjoined by the Archite­cture of Art. And as all these Mistions, Compositions, Figures, and Virtues, which were afterward Produced in the Six Days, were Potentialy in this first General Chaos; so every thing now in the Cours of any Generation, or Corruption, while it is in Potenti­ality, is so farr forth in the Particular Chaos therof; and when it is Actuated, is Produced out of it: and there is no other difference heerin between them, but that the first Production was by the Su­pernatural Power of the Divine Spirit, and the others by the Power of Instituted Nature, or Application of Art: so that this Poten­tiality is not Relative to Essence, or Entity; as if it were only a [Page 119] Possibility of something, which yet hath no Essence, or Entity, in any maner whatsoever; but only to Actuality of the Essence, or Entity, therof, which is not yet in such a maner as Potentialy it may be, not only by Divine Power, which may Create it Pro­perly, or Improperly, but according to the ordinary Cours of Nature, or Art, which may so Generate it Naturaly, or Artifici­aly. And so the Existence itself or this Realy Dif [...]erent maner of Being is an Entity, Potentialy in the Essence before it Exists, and Actualy when it doth Actualy Exist. And whatsoever is not so Actualy Existent must necessarily Be before in the Essence therof Potentialy; otherwise it could never be Produced, or made Actu­aly to Exist by any Power of Nature, or Art. And these Es­sences, or Entitys, which are yet in their Chaos of Potentiality, do then Actualy Exist, when, as I may so say, they come forth upon the Stage of Nature, and there Appear, and Act, or might so Appear, and would so Act, if there were no Violent Impediment; as Accidents, which are the Emissarys and Instruments of Spirits, do Exist, when they are Actualy so Emitted and Instructed, and consequently Actuated, whereby the Spirits of Sensible Composita do Immediately Act or Operate upon our Senses, or Sensitive Fa­cultys; which are also Accidents, and thereby Mediately upon our Substantial Spirits: and yet there may be such a Violent Im­pediment whereby like Substantial Spirits which always Exist, though sometimes Latent, they may not so Appear, and Act, un­to, or upon us, though they Exist Actualy in themselvs; as a Picture under a Curtain, or the like. And so there may be also an Erupturi­ent Endeavour, which we call Nisus, when they can not Appear, and Act, as otherwise they might, and would, by reason of some more immediate Obstruction (like Retention by any Spontaneous Power with some Strife and Difficulty) which plainly shews them to be so far Actual; becaus there is no Actual Contention of or between any Accidents, while they are in Potentiality, though their Essen­tial Natures be most Contrary one to another. And I conceiv that all Mistion, and Contemperature, of Contrary Qualitys, is first begun, while they are in the Chaos of their several Poten­tialitys; as they were so Prepared and Predisposed by the Di­vine Spirit in the Universal Chaos, as I have before shewed, and then there being no Actual Contrariety between them, they are easily Mist at first, and so by Degrees, are more and more Actu­aly [Page 120] Mist, as their Contrary Essences are more and more Actu­ated and Produced into Existence by a mutual Contemperation, and Gradual Process therof. Thus I have more largely explained what I intend by Actuality and Potentiality; becaus the right Understanding therof is, as I conceiv, and shall shew heerafter, the Fundamental Knowledg of the whole Doctrine of Genera­tion and Corruption. And now I shall proceed to prove it ac­cordingly: It is said of the first Chaos, that it was Inform, and and Inane, without any of those Actual Mistions, Compositions, Fi­gures, and Virtues which were afterward Produced in the Six Days; wherof all the Essence or Entity was Created in the Be­gining; and which to Produce were the several Works therof: but there were all the Simple Essences and Entitys therof Poten­tialy in that Chaos, otherwise they had not been Created in the Begining, nor had it been such a Chaos therof, Inform, and In­ane, in respect of those Essenses, which it had in itself Potentialy, and ought to have Actualy also Existent, but yet had not, and which were afterward Produced into their several Actualitys, and Existences, in the Six Days; wherin there was no Proper Creation of any new Essence or Entity (but only of the Spirit of Man as I shall shew afterward) and the Improper Creations therin were only the Productions of these Potentialitys into their Actualitys by the supernatural Power of the Divine Spirit, which was the Original Institution of Natural Generation and Corrup­tion, as I have often inculcated, and shall now declare by a more particular Enumeration. Thus in the first Day Light was Pro­duced out of Aether (wherin it was Potentialy before) by the Mistion therof, into Actuality; and there was no new Creation of the Essence or Entity therof: and therfore it is said, Sit, or Ex­ista [...] Lux; as it is also said elsewhere, God who commanded the Light to shine out of Darknes, or to be Produced out of the Dark Aether, like Fu [...]us Accensus: and so probably Heat, and other Aethereal Qualitys, were then Produced. Also i [...] the Second Day Vapors, which were no new Created Substances, or Essences, but only Water Rarified, did Ascend out of the Water into the Air; and the Qualitys of the Air, or Expansum, were Probably then Produced by the Mistion therof. And in the Third Day the Waters and Earth were Distributed, and Disposed, and Drines, Moisture, and Probably the other Qualitys therof Produced by [Page 121] the Mistions therof. And in the Fourth Day the Sun and Moon and Starrs were made of the Aethereal Substance, and so pro­bably all the Qualitys therof Produced. And in the Fifth Day the Water is said to bring forth or Produce Fishes; and so also Fowls were Produced accordingly. And in the Sixth Day the Earth is said to Produce Beasts, which could not be so Produced in their Composita, unles they were there before in all their Simple Essences, or Entitys, which were all Created in the Begining. And in these Six Days there were both Compositions and Mistions, or Formae Mistorum, and also Simple Substantial Spirits which were before Created in the Begining were then Produced, as is expressly Interpreted afterward of them all, and their Improper Creation or Making, that he Rested from all his Works which God Created, and made; or Originaly, Created to Make, that is, Created in the Begining to Make or Perfect afterward in the Six Days. And the Apostle like a Divine Philosopher doth also so Interpret it, Through Faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which do Appear: that is, the Secula or Generations were so Framed and Ordered by God in the First Institution therof, that in all Successive Generations no­thing should be made of any former Phaenomena, or things which do Appear, by any Transpeciation or Conversion therof into other Es­sences or Entitys, but of their own Essences or Entitys, which he Immediately Created in the Begining, and in their first Chaos of Po­tentiality, wherin they then were not any such Actual Phaenomena, or Appearances, but were made to be such afterward, and so still continue to be Generated out of their Potentiality into Actuali­ty. Which as every Christian understandeth by Faith, according to this Divine History of the Creation, and first Chaos; so also any Heathen, who wisely consydereth the same Cours of Successive Generation and Corruption, must acknowledg to be according to Natural Reason, and Sen [...]. And as the first Universal Chaos, so every Particular Successive Chaos, is Hebraicaly called Gods Treasury, or Storehous, out of which he Produceth or bringeth forth all things Generable, or Corruptible, Expending and Em­ploying them in their Appearances and Operations, which is their Actual Use and Office: and so we read of his Treasures of Rain, Snow, Hail, Wind, and the like. And the Author of Esdras saith particularly of the Light, which was first so Produced: Then [Page 122] commandedst thou a fair Light to come forth of thy Treasures, that thy Work might Appear; that is, to Exist Actualy, which before was Latent in the Chaos of Potentiality. And certeinly no Suc­cessive Generation in the Present Cours of Nature can be a greater Work then those Primitive Generations, which were the Immediate Works of God, and Improper Creations. Wheras if Natural Generation should be any other then the Production of Created Essences into their Actual Existences, or Corruption then such Reduction therof, they should be Proper Creation and Annihilation: For if any new Essence or Entity whatsoever, which was not before, should be Caused to Be by Generation, then it must be Properly Created; and if that which was before be Caused Not to be by Corruption, then it must be Properly Annihilated. Nor doth it suffice to say, that Generation or Corrup­tion are not of any Simple Substances, either Matter, or Spirits, but only of Composita, and Accidents, or Modes, or whatsoever they pleas to call them; for whatsoever they are, or howsoever Exile, or Desultory their Nature may be, yet they are Real, and Entitative Somthings, not only in our Reason, but in Nature, as I have shewed: and indeed otherwise Generation and Corruption should be no Real Alterations; but the things Generated or Cor­rupted should be Realy the same as they were before; and so we should deny all Generation and Corruption: wheras they Realy are, and do Produce Real Alterations, or some new thing Actualy, which was before only Pontentialy; as every Compositum, whe­ther Substantial, as any Elementary Substance by Mistion of the fower Elements, or Accidental, as Green by Mistion of Blew and Yellow, and the like. Also this doth Sensibly appear in and by all Generations and Corruptions whatsoever: as of all Substantial Composita, wherof there is only such a Composition; otherwise they should not be Composita: and certeinly the Simple Substances were before Actualy Subsisting in themselvs, other­wise they should not be Substances; and so likewise were the Simple Essences of Accidental Composita; as of Green, wherof certeinly the Blew and Yellow were before Actualy Existent, and the Green Potentialy in both. And so of more Simple Accidents Produced out of their Potentiality into their Actuality: Whe­ther of the Matter, as this or that Particular Extension, Figure, Density, and the rest; which are Produced Actualy, yet were [Page 123] before Potentialy in Universal Extension, Figure, Density, and the rest; otherwise they could not be so Produced; nor can they be Produced into more Actualy then they were be­fore Potentialy. Or of the Spirits; as Light, and Heat, Pro­duced out of Calx viva, Thunderclowds, Haystacks, Firecanes, or any other Inflammable Bodys whatsoever, were before in the Substantial Fire therof Potentialy; otherwise they could not be so Produced; nor can they be Produced into more Actualy then they were before Potentialy. And so we commonly say of Spices, Wines, and the like; that they are Cold Actualy, but Hott Po­tentialy. And so Vegetatives Produce many Qualitys Actualy in Summer, which were Potentialy Latent in them in Winter: and Sensitives such in their more Adult State, which were Potentialy in them while they were Embryons. And this is the very Natural Cours of Generation and Corruption, and of all the mutual Reci­procations therof; whereby Generatio unius est Corruptio alterius, and Corruptio unius est Generatio alterius; which is the Rota, or Figline Wheel of Nature, turning about in the perpetual Revolutions and Conversions therof by such Production and Reduction, as I have before declared. Between which two doth always intercede Privation; as it was Antecedent in the first Chaos, which being In­form, and Inane, was the Universal Privation of all those Actual Existences which were afterward Produced in the Six Days; for so Existence is capable of Privation, but Essence only of Negation. But Privation is not any such Positive Principle in Generation or Corruption as Matter and Spirit, which are the Simple Substances whereby the Compositum is Consubstantiated, becaus it is only Pri­vative: nor as the Essences of Accidents in their Potentiality, which are Positive Entitys; but only the very Potentiality therof; which as it Relates to Actuality, is called Potentiality, and as it Relates to Existence, Privation. Thus both Matter, and Spirit, or Form, and also Privation, are all Comprehended in the Chaos. And from this Dark Chaos of Potentiality by the Revelation of the same Di­vine Spirit, (which first Moved in it, and brought forth Light out of Darknes) we may discover the Magnum Arcanum, or Grand Secret, of Natural Generation and Corruption; and plainly per­ceiv how all the Phaenomena were therin no such Phaenomena as since they are, but first Created Potentialy, and then Produced into their Actualitys, and Appearances, Originaly in the Six Days, and [Page 124] since Successively in all the Secula therof. Wheras all Human Phi­losophy, being ignorant heerof, hath groped in the Darknes of se­veral Imaginary Notions, which the several Sects therof have In­vented to themselvs, and so in stead of this Chaos and Creation have supposed an Eternity, and Selfsufficiency of Matter, and the Potentia therof, or Matter and Motion, Equivocal Generations, Transpeciations, and the like; and though Anaxagoras in his Ho­moeomeria hath approached somwhat neerer to the Truth, yet his Conception therof is very gross and rude, and like the rest, sup­poseth that also to have been Eternal. And now, though I have so largely explained and fully proved this Doctrine of Natural Generation and Corruption; yet becaus I conceiv it to be so Fundamental, and therefore very requisite that we should most clearly and familiarly understand it, and discern this Divine Light; and that I may produce it out of the dark Crepuscula and Con­fused Notions of the antient Philosophers, who have partly ac­knowledged it in their Potentialitys, Eminences, and Homoeomeria, and the like; and again obscured it with the denial of a Creati­on; I shall now summ up together the Effect of all I have said before. That God in the Begining Created all Essences of any Generable and Corruptible things either in their Actualitys, or Potentialitys, and all the Real Modalitys therof whatsoever where­by they were made Generable and Corruptible, and indeed every thing of them or in them that is Entitative in any kind or maner whatsoever; that is, all the Simple Substances of Matter and Spi­rits; Elementary, Vegetative, and Sensitive, which Subfist in themselves, in their own Actualitys, which therefore in themselvs are Ingenerable and Incorruptible. But wheras they of the same Classis may be Mist together, when they are so Mist, they all be­come one Mistum, which is the Thing Generated, and Realy is another Somthing Different from them; but Actualy Subsisting in them, which therefore was before Potentialy in them; that is, in their Power to Produce it, and in its own Potentiality to be Pro­duced out of them; and the Form therof is, that which I there­fore call Forma Misti; as of Stones, Metalls, Mules, and the like: and if they be of several Classes which cannot be Mist, yet they may be Composited together; as indeed there is no Mis [...]ion without some such Composition; for so the very Elementary Mista are Composited with the Matter, and Vegetatives with [Page 125] them, and the like; and therefore the Form therof may be more rightly termed Forma Compositi. And as this Forma Misti, or Com­positi, is thus Generable or Corruptible, becaus it doth Subsist in the Simple Substances, and so may be Produced out of them wher­in it was Potentialy; and then it is Generated, and in its Actu­ality; or Reduced again from it into its Potentiality, and so Cor­rupted: so also Simple Accidents, which clearly were Created in and with their Simple Substances, as Extension, Figure, Density, Rest, and the like, in and with the Matter; becaus they also Sub­sist not in themselvs, but in their Substances, they may be so Al­tered and Varied by Generation and Corruption, as to be Pro­duced out of their Potentiality into Actuality, and Reduced from their Actuality to Potentiality again: thus Heat and Cold, and the like, do sometimes Actualy Exist, and sometimes do not, but are in their Potentialitys: and so also they may be Mist or Compo­sited, as Tepor, and the like: and all such Accidental Mist or Composited Forms Subsist Immediately in one another, and all of them Mediately or Immediately in their Substances. And this is that which I intend; wherin I can not conceiv how any, who doth not deny a Creation, can differ in the Thing, but only about Terms; concerning which I must assign one Distinction, the want wherof I suppose hath much hindred the right understanding of the thing itself; that is, between this Potentiality, which we all mention generaly, but more strictly is to be restrained only to things Generable and Corruptible, whose Simple Essences were be­fore Created, as I have shewed, in their Potentialitys; and Possi­bility, which may be also of any thing Creable or Annihilable: For though Possibility is not nor can not be Infinite, (becaus there can be no other Infinite besides God, who always Actualy is; nor Notfinite, becaus there can be no other Notfinite besides Nonen­tity, which always Actualy is not) yet it is Properly Indefinite, and as boundless as Infinite Omnipotence, which only can not Create another Infinite; and not such an Improperly Indefinite, as the Dust of the Earth, and the like, which I formerly menti­oned. But it is to be distinguished from Potentiality, as that which hath no maner of being in Nature, neither Actualy, nor yet Potentialy; for then it should not be only Possible, or Cre­able, which is yet in Notfinite Nonentity, and only may be Caused to Be by Infinite Entity or Divine Omnipotence; wheras whatso­ever [Page 126] is in Natural Potentiality was Created in the Begining, and may be Produced into Actuality by the Finite Power of Natural Generation. Wherefore I conclude, that whatsoever is in Natural Potentiality is Entitative, even while it is Potential: becaus other­wise Generation and Corruption should either be Creation and Annihilation, which is Impossible; or no Real Alterations, which is most fals. But Divine Philosophy, which is only true and sa­tisfactory, doth lead us back from the present Cours of Natural Generation and Corruption to the Original Institution therof in the Six Days, and from thence to this first Chaos of Potentialitys, and from thence to the Creation, and so terminates in one Infinite Creator of all things Actual or Potential.

III. Thus Generation rightly understood is and must be always Univocal; that is, not only of the same Name, but also Unige­nous, or of the very same Nature. But we must distinguish between the Generation itself, which I now Intend, whereby any thing is Formaly Caused, or Intrinsecaly Generated in itself, and the Ge­nerator, or Extrinsecal Efficient Caus, which indeed may be either Equivocal, as when an Hors and Ass beget a Mule, and the like; as well as it may also be Univocal in that respect, as when Horses be­get an Hors, and Asses beget an Ass, and the like: Yet in both these the Generation itself is Univocal with itself; becaus it is, as I have shewed, only the Production of somthing out of its Essence into its Existence, which is most Unigenous; becaus the Existence Pro­duced is only the Existence of the Essence therof, which was Crea­ted by God with a Potentiality of Existence, and cannot be Annihila­ted by Generation, but is only Altered thereby, being so Pro­duced into the Actuality of that which it was before Potentialy in itself; and so it is only its own Existence of its own Essence; then which nothing can be more Univocal, or Unigenous. But the Generator, only as an Extrinsecal Agent or Efficient, doth collect and concoct the Seed, Preparing and Predisposing it for the Gene­ration, and then deciding and casting it forth from it self, or conteining it in itself, as some other thing besides itself, and its own Individuality, as it is said of Vegetatives, Cujus Semen seipsum Se­minet; and so a Beast doth contein the Faetus in its Womb, cherish­ing and fostering it as a Fowl doth an Egg Excluded; and a Fowl doth hatch Eggs by Incubation and the Heat of its own Body; as [Page 127] Eggs of Fishes are cherished and fostered by the Heat of the Sun in the Water, or as Seeds of Vegetatives in the Earth; which are no more more then is performed by Egyptian Ovens, or Italian Capons: but the Seeds by their own Plastical Virtue and Power do Effigiate, Compose, and Generate, themselvs Intrinsecaly, ac­cording to their own Species, and Individual Nature. And thus Horses and Asses Generate Mules Equivocaly, no otherwise then Horses begett Horses, and Asses Univocaly, by an Extrinse­cal and Instrumental Causality, which is like the Spear that wounded the pregnant Sow in the Spectaculum, whereby she brought forth Pigs, and in some Generations, as of Sound, this Instrumen­tality is Necessary. Only Univocal Generators are more Proper, and more Natural and Efficacious, Efficients then Equivocal; and even some Equivocal Generators as they are more Homoeogeneous are also more Instrumental then others; but always the Generation itself, or Production of the Essence into the Existence of the thing Generated, is most Univocal; and is not, nor can not be Equivocal by Transpeciation, or any Transmutation, ór Conversion of one Essence into another, but only of the same Essence into Existence, for as it is most true, Ex Nihilo Nihil fit, by any such Conversion of Nothing into Somthing, which is Impossible, as I have shewed; so, Nihil dat quod non habet, is also as true and tantamount. And yet they who Deny the one can Affirm the other, with the Addition of Fictitious Eminences, and Transcendent Potentiae, or Creations by the Finite Power of Natural Generation instead of the true Chaos, and Creation by the Infinite Power of a Divine Creator, who is indeed the only true Eminent Caus. Nor do any of their Instances prove any such Equivocal Generation in itself, but clearly disprove it. So when an Hors and Ass beget a Mule, that Generation is as Conformable to the Mist Seeds of both Pa­rents, as when Horses beget Horses and Asses beget Asses. Only that Instance affordeth this farther discovery, that the Seed of the Female Hors doth Contribute to the Generation, aswell as the Seed of the Male Ass; becaus the Mule is of a Species Mist of both. And the Burning Glass proves the Sun to be Actualy Hott; which yet some deny, and so from one Falsity would prove another. But their most common Instance of Conversion of Water into Air, and so Reciprocaly, is very fond; for the Water is not Converted in­to Air, but only Rarefied in itself, and then we call it Vapor; [Page 128] which Differs as much from Air, as Air doth from Aether or Aethe­real Matter, as they term it, which I shall shew heerafter to be very Different.

IV. I shall now inquire generaly into the Maner, Method, or Process of Natural Generation and Corruption, and how they are performed. All Generated Substances, or Substantial Composita, are as I have said, Composed of Matter and Spirits. Wherefore in their Substantial Generation there must first be Matter, and a requisite Body therof, which though it may be Rarefied, or Densified, yet can not be Augmented, or Diminished, without a new Creation, or Annihilation; which is beyond the Finite Power of Natural Generation and Corruption. And as there must be such a Body of Matter, so also Spirit, and such Spirits Subordinate or Coordinate as are Requisite according to the Law of Nature, and of the particular Compositum. Also the Matter and the several Material Spirits must Consubstantiate one another, that is, Sensitive Vegeta­tive and Vegetative Elementary and they the Matter being all Im­perfect in themselvs, which can not otherwise be Generated; but the Human Spirit being a Perfect Substance in itself, is only Com­posited; Also Coordinate Spirits of the same Classis may be Mist to­gether, as the Elements must always be so Mist; which appears by the Mistion of their Qualitys as in Tepor and the like: wheras Gra­vity, Heat, Plastical Virtue, and the like are not so Mist in Con­substantiation. And as in Original, so also in Successive Generation the Composition and Mistion must be such as doth Produce the re­quisite Accidents both of Matter, and Spirits into their Actualitys: without which their Substances cannot Act, nor Appear to us, but are unto us, as if they were not, and as in their first Chaos, Us [...]les, and Ineffectual. And this is carefully to be observed by Chymis [...]s, and Physicians, and all such Operators; that there be not only requi­site Matter, and Spirits, Ingredient in their Compositions; but also such a fitt Mistion Internaly, and such Instrumental Causali­tys Externaly, as may Evoke and Actuate the Accidents or Affecti­ons therof, without which they will not Operate or Appear; and whereby their Operations and Appearances will be very strangely and suddenly Altered, as I have said of Wine, and Spices, which are Actualy Cold to the Touch, but Hott to the Tast; and so some may be Cold to the Tast, which will afterward become Hott by [Page 129] farther Concoction in the Stomack, and the like. Now this Uni­on or Local Mistion of Matter and Spirits must not only be per mi­nima Corpuscula, but per omnia Puncta, though Maceration and Comminution are indeed Degrees therof, and Preparatory to Mi­stion, and every Compositum being Macerated and Comminuted is thereby Prepared for Corruption, and so for a new Generation; according to that general Maxim in Nature, that Union doth for­tify, and Disunion weaken; not only Proportionably, according to the respective Parts, but in the Whole. And so the more the Maceration and Comminution is into less and less Particles, the more Preparation is there for a new Generation, which is by Per­fect Mistion, or Adunation, and not by Aggregation only; be­caus without such Adunation there is no Generative Composi­tion, nor indeed any Mistion, but a Local Separation, and con­sequently no Compositum Generated, either Substantial, (for so a Mule must be Perfectly Mist and Composed of an Equine and Asinine Substance, otherwise it should consist of Indefinite Equine and Asinine Particles, which should not be a Perfect Mule, but a greater Monster then any Poetical Hippocentaur, or Hirco­cerv, (which is only half of one Kind, and half of another) or Accidental, as of Contrary Qualitys, Heat, and Cold, and the like, wherof there can be no Contemperature without such a Mistion; for such Qualitys are not like Passive Affections of Mat­ter having only Degrees in themselvs, as Density, and Rarity, Gravity, and Levity, and the like, but being also Active in their own Nature would Naturaly Act to the utmost, and be most Intens in themselvs, if they were not either Violently Obstructed by some Contrarietys or Impediments, which by their Nisus they also endeavor to overcome and break through, or Contemperated by a Natural Mistion of their Contrary Qualitys per omnia in and by the Primitive Generation therof out of their Potentiality into Actuality by Degrees; and which is their Natural Remis­sion. For their Temperature must be by a Perfect Union of both whereby neither hath any Advantage over or against the other, by being in the least Disunited, or having any private Sphere of Activity in itself, for then it fights against the other to the utmost, as Fire and Water, and the like: which if it were so in their Composition there should never be any Natu­ral and Continuing Contemperature thereby, but the most Tem­perate [Page 130] Flesh should have only so many several Pricks, or Needles, of Intens Heat, and Intense Cold, which would be rather a double Torture, then any gratefull Temperature. And so Lu­cretius his Meadow of Flowers, though at a distance, through the Infirmity of Sight, it may represent one Confused Color, yet Sensibly hath so many several and distinct Colors: and so dry Powders of Blew and Yellow being very finely Pulverisated and M [...]xt together by a close Aggregation may appear Confusedly Greenish; which is only the same Infirmity of Sight, and may be rectified by a Microscope: wheras Nature is certeinly Natu­ral, that is, most Genuine, and Real, in all her Operations, and not, as such Uncouth Opinions would render her, only External Violence, and Imposture. And as there must be such a Local Union of Spirits per omnia Puncta of the Body of Matter to Con­substantiate it and Appropriate it as a Particular Body for itself, which otherwise could not be so Consubstantiated per omnia; so the proper Union or Mistion of Spirits among themselvs though it be Coextensively per omnia, yet if it be not also Spiritual, that is Spiritualy Contemperated, and Coadunated, the Generation will be Imperfect, and either Momentany, or Meteorical. As if Cloth or Paper be wetted with Water, though there be a no­table Imbibition therof by the Cloth or Paper, yet they are not Perfectly Impregnated, and so there is no Perfect Generation; but they seem still to remain Cloth, or Paper, and Water, seve­raly and distinctly in their own Natures; and not to be Mist, in­to one Compositum: and yet that Imbibition is an Inception therof, so that when they are Perfectly Separated again by Ex­iccation, and Evaporation, the Vapor which is a very Subtle and Intenerating Menstruum, as I shall shew heerafter, doth Evoke and carry away with it some of the Spirit of the Cloth, or Paper, Mist with it. But Oiled Paper seemeth to have a far­ther Degree of Imbibition, and is not so easily Separable, and is like Staining with Colorate Corpuscles, Liqued that are so Im­bibed, which is of a midle kind between Mingling of dry Colors and Dying in Grain. And there is a Perfect Coextension or Lo­cal Union per omnia of Emanant Colors, which yet is not Com­plete Generation, becaus their Substantial Spirits are not Localy United, though the Emanant Qualitys are Localy Mist per omnia; as if Rays of Light be Transmitted through a Blew and through [Page 131] a Yellow Glass so as they Intersect and are thereby Localy Mist per omnia, there will be a Green Generated by that Intersection; or if you hold the two Glasses Partly one over the other against the Sun where they are Single they will appear Blew, and Yel­low, and where Double a very Orient and Smaragdine Green: and yet these being Emanant Rays, belonging to their several Inherent Q [...]alitys, must necessarily remain several; and only make a Local and Temporary Compositum of the several Ema­nant Qualitys, while they are so Localy United per omnia. And this Generation or Corruption is Instantaneous and without any Gradual Process; for in the same Instant when the Blew and Yel­low Rays are United, a Green is thus Generated thereby, and when they are Disunited it is Corrupted: And so some more Perfect Generations, which are not only Material and Local, but Spiritual Compositions; as of Sounds, Magnetical Virtue, Life, and the like: but there are in some others Inceptions, and seve­ral Successions, from the Primitive Corruption to the Ultimate and Complete Generation, which Chymists therefore call a Pro­cess: and again generaly according to the Process of Generation so is the Process of Corruption; yet if the Extrinsecal Genera­tor or Corrupter be more Prepotent, it may Generate or Cor­rupt more strongly and suddenly and also more, durably though some Compositae do require more Time and will not be Generated, as such, in less Time, or by more Prepotent Generators; as Fire doth strongly and suddenly Generate and Corrupt generaly any Elementary Composita, being the most Active Element, yet some will not be so Generated by the Torrid Power therof, but in more Time by a Calefactive and Gentle Heat, in Baths, Hors­dung, hott Sands, and the like. And in all Generations, which are not Momentany (as that of Emanant Colors, and the like) there are first Inceptions, and Embryons therof, and so more and more Perfect Composita by Degrees, in every Instant of the Process therof, which if it be produced to the Perfection of the Species, is Perfect, and otherwise more or less Meteorical and Im­perfect. But though Local Union only doth not make a Perfect Generation of the Compositum; which therefore is as suddenly Se­parable, as it is Miscible, yet no perfect Generation can be without such a Local Union per omnia, as well as Spiritual Uni­tion, as I have said: and such a Generated Compositum as is by [Page 132] both is not easily Separable, or Corruptible. And I desire that trial may be farther made heerof, whether any Substances so Separable were ever so Generated and Spiritualy Impregnated per omnia; (as Metall Corroded or dissolved by Aqua fortis which will again return into its own Body, and perhaps was only Com­minuted and made more Fusile, but never Impregnated by the Aqua fortis) which commonly appears by Alteration of the Den­sity of the Body. But Flame which is a most Momentany Sub­stantial Compositum, as I shall shew heerafter, is a more Perfect Production of the Actual Fire out of the Potentiality of the Fiery Vapour, and so seems continualy to be Corrupted and pass away with every Individual part of the Fume. And I suppose Brine to be a Perfect Compositum of Water and Salt, which can not be Praecipitated, nor Percolated, or the like. And it appears plainly that they are so Mist per omnia by the former Experi­ment of their Condensation, which can not Possibly be only by Aggregation or Allocation. Nor can they be sever'd by any Fil­tration, though never so Subtle and Powerfull, as may be tried by Mint, Willow, or the like sett in a Glass of Brine, which will draw up both the Water and Salt together; and though by the Vegetative Power and Plastical Virtue therof it will after­ward Excern and Expume the Salt a while, yet it will be soon overcome and killd by it, as Salt doth generaly kill all Ve­getatives (except some Seaweeds which require and retein a Saltnes in themselves) if it be too strong, though a little Saltness, and such as the Plastick Virtue can overcome and subordinate to itself, may excite Vegetation both in the Earth and Seeds. Thus as Matter is Consubstantiated with Elemen­tary Spirits, and they one with another, so also with Vegeta­tives, and they with Sensitives; and so certeinly Vegetatives; might be Mist one with another, as well as Sensitives are in a Mule and the like, which are more Intire and Indivisible in them­selvs, and not so Miscible as Vegetative Spirits, as I shall shew heerafter: though they are none of them Properly Indivisible like Immaterial Spirits, becaus they are Material and do Imme­diately or Meditately Consubstantiate the Matter, which is Divi­sible. But probably none of these Spirits are necessarily Ingaged in any Particular Body or part of Matter nor Confined unto it, but only Conteined within the Universal Body therof, as I have [Page 133] said; becaus no Matter, which is equaly Indifferent to all Spirits, and Receptive therof, is so mutualy Ingaged to them. Yet as Elementary Spirits do require a several Density or Rarity of their Bodily Composita (which they Form for themselvs according to re­quisite Degrees of Density and Rarity, though generaly with­out any Regular or Symmetrical Figures) So Vegetative Spirits have a Plastike Virtue whereby they do also Regularly and Sym­metricaly Effigiate their own Bodys, and the Bodys of Sensitives whereunto they are subordinate, and make them more Organi­cal, as fitt Officines, and Instruments for those more Regular and Oeconomical Spirits (which Oeconomy is only Potential, and not Actual, untill Generation.) And then, becaus they are also very Vehement and Operative Spirits, and like Culinary Fire would soon be Extinguished, they require a constant Fuel and Nutriment; yet that Nutriment is not like the Fomes of Flame, which is only Fumus Accensus, and so the Individuality of the Flame is continualy changed with the Individuality of the Fume, but a subordinate Nutriment of Vegetative Spirits by Elemen­tary, and of Sensitive by Vegetative; which are so Subordinate one unto another, as I shall shew heerafter. And the Composi­tum, Vegetative, or Sensitive (which, as I have said, is more In­tire and Indivisible, as it is also more Oeconomical) remains the same in its Oeconomical Individuality till it be corrupted: other­wise a Tree, as an Oak, or the like, should be like Theseus his Ship, at last not the same which it was at first; and so an old Beast should not Remember what he did when he was young, if he should not continue Individualy the same. But though the more Excremental Parts as Leavs, Flowers, Hairs, Nails, and the like do often decay, and are as often renewed, and the more Integral Parts less, as Pith, Bark, Flesh, and the Like; and the more Noble and Constituent Parts least, as Root Wood, the Skeleton, Veins; Arterys, Nervs, Intestines, and Organs; yet certainly the Individual Predominant Spirit Vegetative or Sensi­tive, which Denominates the Compositum, and renders it Indivi­dual, doth remain untill the Dissolution therof. The Excess of Nutriment is turned into Augment of all those Parts, and per­haps of the Spirit itself, which as it may be Mist with other He­terogeneous Spirits, as in a Mule; so may also Unite with more of its own Homogeneous Spirit, and be Augmented thereby, untill [Page 134] it attein its Acme. Nor is there Properly any Consistent State without any Growth or Decay, as in a Square; but when the Growth ends the Decay begins, though more like the Ascent and Descent of an Arch, then of an Isosceles; that is, most at first and last, and least in the midst. The Excess of Nutriment and Aug­ment doth Generate other Individuals of the same Species, and though Generation be during Nutrition, and Nutrition during Augmentation, if the Nutriment be Copious, and the Actual Vir­tue of the Spirit Vigorous, which can Concoct to all those De­grees, and accordingly Decide what is requisite for those several Uses; yet if otherwise a Beast or Tree be Penuriously Nourished, it will be Dwarfed, or very little Augmented, and Generate less; becaus Nutrition is First and most Necessary for the Individual Compositum, Augmentation Next and Less, and Generation Last and Least. And indeed Nutrition and Augmentation, are, as other Subordinate Generations, for the Preservation and Growth of the Individual Compositum; and for the other, which is therefore more specialy called Generation, becaus it is Coordinate and Specifical, for the Propagation of another like Individual Compositum; which is by Collecting and Composing another Specifical Spirit and Bo­dy into the Epitome of the Seed, which, as I have said, by its own Intrinsecal Virtue doth Intrinsecaly Generate itself, and so becomes another Compositum in itself, Effigiating its own Body, and Nourishing and Augmenting it, and afterward also Generating another by the Plastike Virtue therof, and other Internal Spiritual Powers, which God first Created in and with the Spirits in the Be­gining, and were afterward Actuated and sett in Order by the Di­vine Spirit, who was the Supernatural and Universal Protoplastes of them all, as I have shewed. And so they still continue in their Successive Generations and Corruptions; wherin, though the Spi­rits and Spiritual Qualitys be the chief Operators and Archi­tects, yet the Matter is the Body, and all the Accidents, and Af­fections therof are accordingly Instrumental therin: and so are also all Common Accidents; as Number, wherof the chief Instru­mentality is Unity, which doth Fortify and reduce several Principles into one Compositum Oeconomy and Individuality. Nor indeed can I conceiv any other Power to be in Number, which is only so many Units; and the very Multiplication therof or Duality is rather Instrumental in Corruption then in Generation. Also Time [Page 135] is very requisite in the Process of Generation,, as I have shewed. And so likewise Extension; for no Body either Elementary, or Vegetative, or Sensitive, can possibly be only a Point; which can not Exist severaly, And though every Part or Particle of Water be Water, and the like, yet Organical Bodys must have several Organs, or so many Members or less Corpuscles wherof the Whole must be Composed; and that according to the Species therof must be of some requisite Magnitude; for though Oaks and less Trees may be of several S [...]zes, yet none of them can be so small as some Herbs, and Grass; and so though there be Dogs of very Different Bignes, yet none can be so little as a Mite, or some almost Ato­mical Animals. Also Figure is very Instrumental heerin, as well as in Mechanical Tools, or in the Body of an Army; where the Globus, or Orbicular Figure, is for Safety round about, the Square Phalanx for Strength, the Cuneus or Wedg to make Impressions, and the like. And so they and others are also requisite in Nature and Natural Operations, especialy in Organical Composita which require Bodys fitt for such Operations, of Various Figures, and most Symmetricaly Composed. And no Art of Statuary, or Painter, can so farr Imitate them as to endure the Criticism of a Microscope. And the whole Feature and Beauty of Organical Bodys is only the Symmetrical Conformity of their Various Figures. Porosity serveth for Excerning, and thereby for Preservation of the Compo­situm, and also for Corruption by more easie admission of any Dis­solvent or Menstruum, being a Partial Comminution or Dissolu­tion of the Body in itself, as Perfect Continuity doth fortify. And therefore also Density doth Preserv, not only in Proportion to the Parts, but in the Whole, as it is more United in itself and in all the Parts therof: and hath Proportionably more of the Spirit, and more United. And as Maceration doth weaken, so also Rarefa­ction. And every Specifical Spirit doth require a Body of a Pro­per Density or Rarity, wherof there are Innumerable Degrees, and it can hardly be supposed that any two Bodys of Spirits Speci­ficaly Different are of the same Degree of Density exactly, but either more or less. And as the Compositum is Varied by a new Predominating Spirit, so the Density or Rarity of the Body therof is Varied likewise: as may appear by Impregnating, and Super­impregnating, and the like. And so likewise Gravity and Levity and the Motion therof to Station, but especialy the Principal Mo­tion [Page 136] to Union or Contact, are very Instrumental in Generation and Corruption, as appears by the Local Union of Emanant Rays. Yet Matter and all these Various Affections therof are no Formal Cau­salitys of Spirits, or Spiritual Qualitys, or of the whole Composita Consubstantiated and fitted thereby, as I have shewed. But when the Compositum is thus Composed M [...]terialy and Spiritualy, and In­vested and Instructed with all the requisite Accidents, both of the Matter, and Spirits, then is the Generation therof Perfected, and then it doth Appear and Operate, being thus Produced out of Po­tentiality into Actuality with all the Furniture therof, and so con­tinues Naturaly untill it be again Corrupted. And so were the Original Composita Produced by the Divine Spirit in the Six Days, and have ever since, and still do continue according to that Insti­tuted Cours of Nature; From which when God himself doth Vary, it is Miraculous, and when Nature doth Aberr, it is Monstrous: and yet even those particular Monstrositys are generaly Comprehend­ed within this Universal Law of Generation and Corruption; as all Equivocal Productions, and the like; being otherwise gene­raly Conformable therunto, as I have shewed. And as Nature doth only work by those Ingenerable and Incorruptible Princi­ples, Powers, and Virtues, which God first Created in the Begin­ing, and then sett in Order in the Six Days; so Art can only work by Application of these Natural Principles, Powers, and Virtues, which is also Monstrous and Disorderly in respect of the Constant Cours of Nature that was Produced in the Six Days, though it be according to the Nature of Intellectives, and Sensitives, being External Operators, so Ingeniously and Artificialy to Apply them, by their Natural Wit and Art, which is somthing more Divine, and more like to the Operation of the Divine Spirit, even thus by Disordering to Order and Improve Nature for their own Use and Service. But neither Nature, nor Art, can work Miracles, much less Create, or Annihilate, any thing. Nor hath God him­self ever since Created any new thing Generable and Corruptible, nor ever wrought any such Miracles, or added any thing to the Chaos, o [...] Elementary World, which he first Created in the Be­gining, and Made in the Six Days, as I have shewed, and then Rested from all that Work of such Improper Creation. Nor pro­bably will he ever Annihilate any thing therof, more then of Su­peraether, or the Intelligences; though the first Chaos may after­ward [Page 137] become an everlasting Gehenna, and many present Actualitys be for ever Reduced into Potentiality. However the Created Es­sences shall remain Eternaly for the Eternal manifestation of the same Divine Glory: as the Wise man hath said, I know that what­so [...]ver God doth shall be for ever; Nothing can be putt unto it, nor any thing taken from it.

V. Now as the Divine Sp [...]rit did thus Prepare and Predispose the Chaos, and out of it Produce the whole Frame and Cours of Na [...]ural Generation and Corruption, so I shall from the Review therof Deduce the whole Scale and Order of all Generable and Corruptible Natures. Wherof Matter is the Lowest, which is the Common Body of all such Spirits as do Consubstantiate it, Imme­diately, or Mediately, and Mansion of others which do only Inha­bit it. And no Matter can be without some Spirit Consubstantiating it, being only an Imperfect Substance in itself, and therefore in the Begining had a Superaethereal Spirit to Consubstantiate the Super­aethereal Body of Matter, whence it is Denominated Heaven, as well as Aether and Air, and therefore also Superaether, though it be not Elementary yet is of the same Classis, becaus it doth Im­mediately Consubstantiate the Matter, as well as Elementary. But though the Matter can not be without some Material Spirit so Con­substantiating it, yet, as I said, they are not Ingaged to any par­ticular Matter but may Remove from one part of Matter to another, as Matter may from one Place to another in the Universal Body therof; and clearly Immaterial Spirits, which do not Consubstan­tiate the Matter, need no Consubstantiation by it, and may be in this or that Extension of the Matter, but can not pass beyond it into any Imaginary Inanity, or Nonentity; becaus they also are Entitys; and within one and the same Universal Province and Law therof. Much less can any Matter wander beyond the Utmost Li­mits of itself which is the Circumferential Superficies of the Highest Orb therof, beyond which it can not Ascend, as it can not Descend below the Center. Wherefore that Fansy of Lucretius is very Fu­tile and Vain, that if an Arrow were shott forth beyond that Cir­cumference it would fly forward Perpetualy; for then it must al­ways Ascend from the Center of the World, and never attein any other Center of Rest; which is most contrary to the Law of Mo­tion to Station; and also might Exist, Localy beyond the Univer­sal [Page 138] Extension of the whole Body of the World, and be another less World or Univers in itself, which is most contrary to the Law of Motion to Union; whereby, as I have said, the whole Body of Matter is Naturaly Constituted such an Orbicular Body, by such a Perfect Circumference and Center, and is not Protuberant in any Part of itself or other then a most exact Globe, becaus that is the most United Figure, wherunto the most Universal Law of Uni­on doth Oblige the whole Matter therof: and even Spirits them­selvs do Exist only within the Universal Coextension and Locality; becaus beyond it there is no Place, or Ubi, or Entity, wherin they may Possibly Exist; for as they have no Extension of themselvs, so also no Place, or Vbi, whatsoever, but only in the Extension and Body of Matter, wherof, and wherin, they are Such Active and Operative Substances and Spirits. The next in this Scale of Na­ture are the fower Elements; Aether, Air, Water, and Earth; which none can deny to be, and I shall now prove them to be Ele­ments, when I have first explained the Term, which will plainly Elucidate the Thing: and I shall do it Exemplarily by Matter it­self, which is indeed the most Common Element, or Praeelement therof, and Immediately Consubstantiated by them, and the Su­peraetheral Spirit: and so Matter is their first Body, or Element, which is the true Notion of an Element; and so I intend it to be a Natural Substratum of some other Superior and more Active Sub­stance, and which may be so Composited or United with it, as a Bo­dy with a Spirit but not that the Spirit is Produced out of any Po­tentia, or Equivocal Causality therof, which I have already s [...]ffi­ciently refuted; or that it is Generated thereby more then the Body is Generated by the Spirit; but that both are Composited or United Naturaly together in [...]o one Compositum, which is the very Generation therof. And these fower Elements are commonly so called in respect of the Superior Spirits, wherof they, with the Matter, become a Second Matter, or Prepared Body therof, as the Matter was of them, for they only, and the Superaethereal Spirit, can Immediately Inform the Matter, and the Superior Spirits only Mediately by them, and so one by another, according to their Classes and Ranks in the Scale of Nature, as I shall now shew. And though any one Elementary Spirit might Consubstantiate the Mat­ter in the first Chaos, as well as the Superaethereal Spirit, yet until they were all Prepared and Predisposed by the Divine Spirit, and [Page 139] fitly Mist together in the Three first Days, no Vegetative or other Superior Spirit could be Produced, or Inform any one of them a­lone, and also the Matter; becaus not any one of them alone together with the Matter is a fitt Body of the Superior Spirits, more then the Superaether, which is Superelementary, and no such Elementary Body of any other Spirit whatsoever. But these Fower Ele­ments must be all Mist together as they were in the Three first Days, and never since were, nor shall be, untill the Dissolution of the World, wholy Unmist and Separate, as they were in the first Chaos; though that Mistion is and must be Varied by continual Ge­neration and Corruption, to make them more particularly fitt Bo­dys for the several Superior Spirits, wherof probably every Spe­cies doth require a Various Mistion, aswell as some Variation of the Figure and Density of the Matter, which is so Varied by the Various Mistion of these Elementary Spirits. Now that they are fower such Elements as I have described, doth plainly appear by their Denominations in the first Chaos, and their orderly Pre­paration in the Three first Days, for the Production of the Superior Spirits, Vegetative, and Sensitive; which I shall more fully dis­cover in my ensuing Discourses therof. And as I have proved that they are not only Matte [...], nor any Diversifications therof; but do so diversify the Matter, as their Body for themselvs; (and much less are they Produced out of any Potentia of the Matter) so also are the Superiour Spirits no Diversifications of them, but do so Diversify them for themselvs in their Various Mistions. By all which precedent Discourses I have sufficiently proved that there are such Inferior Substances and Spirits which are the Bodys or Elements of the Superior, otherwise all Material Spirits should only be Matter, or they should be without their Bodys, and con­sequently Immaterial: wherefore if they have such Bodys, and yet are not the same with those Bodys, then plainly they are the Spi­rits, or more Active and Operative Substances which Inform or In­spirit those Bodys, and Reside, and Operate therin, as their Do­micils, and Officines; which I therefore call their Element or Subordinate, and Preparatory Substance, or Elementary Principle, of the Compositum, which together with the Predominant Spirit therof doth Constitute it such a Compositum as it is: by which Com­position and Constitution it is Generated, and so Denominated by the Predominant Spirit therof to be of this or that Classis in the [Page 140] Scale of Nature. And this is all that I intend by Element gene­raly; and whosoever frames any other Notion therof, may there­by doubt and dispute it, and fight with his own shadow; though more particularly we call these first and lowest Spirits which Im­mediately Consubstantiate the Matter Elementary, and so the fower Elements; becaus they are the first and lowest of Spirits, and the first Elements therof. And sensibly in all Dissolutions of any Ma­terial Composita, as we may still deprehend Matter, which is the Praeelement of all others, so also these fower Elements, which can not now Naturaly Exist Pure, as they did in the first Chaos, though we call them this or that Element, as any of them is more Predomi­nant. And so in the Carcass of any Beast, when it is dead, yet there may be still some other Spirits remaining, but most apparently the Elementary; and so in the Trunk of a dead Tree, or Timber, or the like: and there is not only one, but all Fower, which also do always remain in all Chymical Separations whatsoever; so that the Caput Mortuum is not only Matter, or only one Element, as in the first Chao [...], nor their Spirits, as they term them, only Spirits, but also Corporeal Matter, and all the fower Elements, and having some Various Mistion therof, whereby any Caput Mortuum still differs notably from others, and any such Chymical Spirit from others; which could not be if they were most Simple Substances in themselvs, or Matter, and only one Spirit, which would make only one Compositum therof, not Specificaly Different from others. Nor is it Possible for any Art, or any Power of Nature (according to the present State therof which was first Instituted by God) to Separate these fower Elements one from another; though they are and may be Variously Mist one with another, as also it is not Pos­sible to destroy their fower great Elementary Bodys, Ae [...]her, Air, Water, an [...] Earth, in the whole; which though they are also Mist one with another, (and so Denominated from the Predomination of every one severaly in those general Bodys) yet that Predomi­nation of their Elementary Spirit is so notable, and their vast Bo­dys so notorious, that they do Ocularly declare to every Ey their fower Elementary Natures, and also that they are the Common Elements, and Prepared Bodys of all Superior Spirits, within this Elementary Orb, which they wholy divide among themselvs, and are the great Storehouses and Stocks of Nature, from which all Elementary Bodys were borrowed, and to which the Inferior do [Page 141] return again. And accordingly they are as fower several Provinces, Variously Inhabited and Furnished with all the Composita, Starrs, Vapors, and Meteors, Fishes, Beasts, and the like, and Situated according to the Predominance of their proper Elementary Bodys, and requisite Station therof in several Spheres one above another, so as no Planetical Orbs are. And heer I must also observ from my Text, that there are only fower such Elements, and no more (nor any such several Kinds of them, or of any of them; as is expressly said of Vegetatives, and Sensitives, as I shall shew heer­after.) And therefore we have no mention of Stones, Metalls, and the like, in this History of the Creation, as of several Elementary Kinds, becaus they are only several Composita of these fower Ele­ments. Wherefore we must also understand that there are not only fower first Qualitys of these fower first Elements, as some have supposed, which could never make so many and so very Different Sorts of Elementary Composita, as there are in Nature; nor yet may we assigne to any one Element besides its own Proper first Quality some other Social Quality of another Element in a more Remiss Degree, as to Ae [...]her or Fire besides Heat Intens, Drines Remiss: for no Spirit whatsoever hath any Proper Spiritual Qua­lity of another Spirit either Intens or Remiss; of and in itself, be­caus every such Spiritual Substance is a Proper Spirit in itself, and hath its own Proper Qualitys Differing Specificaly, (besides such as are Genericaly Common to the same Genus) whereby only we know it to be what it is; and thus, unles we should affirm Aether, or Fire, to be also Earth, we can not assigne any Drines to it, as any Proper Quality Subsisting in it, and flowing from it; and certeinly it is no Affection of the Matter, as Extension, Fi­gure, Density, Gravity, Motion, or the like, which may be Com­mon to Spirits in respect of their Bodys: Also if it were a Pro­per Quality of any other Spirit it should not be Remiss, but most Intens; for every such Spirit Naturaly Acts to the utmost, and there is nothing in itself to hinder it, becaus no Nature doth Ob­struct or Restrain its own Operations, unles it be Spontaneous (for that indeed is an Effect of Spontaneity) nor doth Heat Natu­raly hinder Drines, but should rather Advance and Assist it, as all Qualitys of the same Spirit are generaly Assistant one to another; and so indeed may the Accidents of several Substances, as of Mat­ter and Spirits, be Analogous, and of several Spirits, Homoeoge­neous; [Page 142] though they be not Homogeneous, as I shall shew heerafter: and thus Drines is more Concordant with Heat then with Cold, which is Contrary to Heat; though neither of them be any Proper Qualitys of the same Spirit of Aether, or Fire, but of other Ele­ments: nor doth Heat Properly or Directly Dry more then Moi­sten, but only Consequentialy, as I shall also shew heerafter. But they who can affirm all the Elementary Spirits to be Educed out of the Potentia of Matter, and that one Element may be Transpeciated or Converted into another, may also affirm what they pleas of their Qualitys, and transfer them from one to another: which Suzugy of Qualitys they have also Invented, as they suppose to Recon­cile and Mediate between Contrary Qualitys; though they be not any Degrees of either of them, but Proper Qualitys in them­selvs, and Accidents of other Substantial Spirits: nor doth that Contrariety of Qualitys need any such Mediation, being Produced by Degrees out of their Potentialitys, which are not Contrary Actualy, or otherwise Mist by Degrees into their Actual Contem­perature. The Ignorance of which Doctrine of the Chaos, and the Potentialitys therof, and the Imaginary Supposition of such a Po­tentia of the Matter, out of which not only Existences, but the very Essences both of Accidents, and also Substances, may be Educed, by Equivocal Causalitys, Transpeciations, and such new kinds of Creation, and Annihilation, as men have pleased to In­vent, instead of the true Creation, and Chaos, which God hath Made, and Revealed to us, hath been the Fundamental Error, and Root of all the Consequential Absurditys. But yet while they thus Grope in the Dark, they Catch at some Shadows of Truth; as plainly their Potentia doth allude to the Doctrine of Potentialitys, and is Substituted instead therof: and so this Supposition of seve­ral Different Qualitys in the same Substance doth partly Intimate another great Mystery in Nature, which I shall now discover and unfold; that is, That indeed there are several Qualitys also Crea­ted Essentialy in one and the same Substance, Proper to itself, and so subsisting in it, and flowing from it, as I have already declared concerning Matter and the Affections therof; not only Mediately, as Figure from Extension, and Gravity from Density, and the like, (which are only several and Realy distinct Products or Propertys of the same Qualitys) but as others Immediately Subsisting in, and flowing from it; as Extension, and Density, which are not such [Page 143] several Propertys one of another, for so the same Orbicular or Cu­bical Extension and Figure may be either Dens or Rare, Grave or Ligh [...], and the same Density or Rarity, Gravity or Levity, may be of any Extension or Figure whatsoever; and they are not con­cerned otherwise one in another, but only as they are Social Qua­litys of the same Substance: so as every Extension or Figure must have some Density, and all Density some Extension and Figure In­definitely. And thus in the Aether there is not only Heat, but also Light, and Planetary or Circular Motion, and perhaps several other Principles of Influential Virtues and Qualitys not only proceeding one from another, as Particular Propertys, but Immediately Sub­sisting in, and flowing from the Ae [...]hereal Substance; and so Cold, and some Active Principle of Sound, and others, in Air; Moi­sture and some Active Principles of Odor, and Sapor, and others, in Water; Drines, Opacity, Consistence, and Magnetike Polari­ty, and others, in Earth: as certeinly we all know that there are such Various Virtues in Vegetative and Sensitive Spirits. Of all which I shall Discours heerafter, and now only observ that of these, and the Various Mistures and Temperatures therof, all the Ele­mentary Composita, like so many Arithmetical Changes, are Com­pounded, which therefore are not mentioned in this History of the Creation; becaus they are only Compounded of such other Simple Essences before mentioned, and not of any new Essence Created in the Begining, and not before mentioned, as Vegetative, and Sensitive Spirits, and the particular Sydereous Spirits: wheras all Sulphureous, Mercurial, Saline, Sanguineous, Bilious, Phlegma­tike, Oleous, Saxeous, Vitreous, Ligneous, Carneous, Coriaceous, Osseous, Corneous, and many other such Elementary Q [...]alitys, are not Simple in themselvs, but Compounded of others, which are such, and were the first Created Essences, and Principles ther­of. And if we could Investigate and find out all those Simple Qualitys (wherof very many are still Occult to us) none of these Compound Qualitys could be any longer Occult. And yet many Cu­rious and Chymical Wits, becaus they will not freely acknowledg their own, which yet indeed is Human Ignorance, and Common to us all, will also Substitute as Simple Principles, such Compound Qualitys of Sal, Sulphur, and Mercury, though others among themselvs not satisfied heerwith do also assigne many more of the rest; and yet none of them all are Principles or Simple Essences, [Page 144] but only Compounds, and Decompounds of others, or one of another. And the last Chymical Separation that can be made, Sen­sibly will be only a Reduction to the fower first Elements, that is, to somthing wher [...]n one of them is most Predominant, as in their fower great Elementary Bodys; though like them they can never be Perfectly Unmist and Separated. Thus Sulphur is as Fire, Predominant in the Composition therof, Mercury as Water, and Sal as Earth; but becaus Air is the most Insensible of all Elements, therefore they have not observed it among the rest in their Separa­tions, nor in this or any other of their Distributions: so that if we should wholy trust to Chymists, we might even lose one of the fower Elements; though they are to be commended heerin that they have not assigned or set up Mercury Volant, which is only a Vapor, instead of it. Also like Air there are many other Simple Es­sences of Elementary Qualitys, which in their Mistion with others do not Sensibly so betray themselvs, as those which they call the fower first Qualitys, and yet Philosophers have found out the Sent of some of them, as Opacity, Magnetical Virtue, and the like; which I shall endeavour to prosecute and promote as farr as I may in some previous Essays, and so recommend the more Curious Search therof unto others, as one of the greatest Desiderata in Philosophy: and now proceed farther. As Elements are the Second Matter, or Prepared Body of Vegetatives, so are they also of Sen­sitives, as a Third Matter, or Prepared Body therof; and so Sen­sitives do Comprehend Subordinately in their Composition Vege­tatives Immediately, and Mediately the Elementary Spirits, and by them more Mediately the Matter, and Vegetatives Immediately the Elementary Spirits, and Mediately the Matter, and Elementary Spirits Immediately the Matter; but not Convertibly; nor are any of the Superior Educed out of the Potentia of the Inferior, becaus they are Superior, but only Subordinate them unto themselves, as I haue said. And as Elementary Spirits require several Diversifi­cations of the Matter to make fitt Bodys therof for themselvs, and accordingly diversifie it by their own Architecture, so do Vegeta­tive Spirits both it and the Elementary Bodys, and so Effigiate it, and Temper them, for their own Proper Use, as I have said. And I suppose all Plastike Virtue to be from these Inferior Spirits; that is, Inorganical from Elementary, and Organical from Vege­tative: and though the Sensitive Spirits do Predominate and may [Page 145] Govern them, yet that is in another and higher maner by Sponta­ [...]eous Perception and Appetite, as Living Souls; and their Pla­stike Virtue is of a Mechanike and another more Vital Kind, that is, Artificial and I [...]genious: and so that they are not Architects of their own Bodys, as hath been supposed by others, but of their Cells, Nests, Houses, and the like Artificial Habitations: for if a Beast first Live the Life of a Plant, then certeinly the Sensitive Spirit, which doth not yet Live and Operate doth not Fabricate the Curious Structure of its own Embryonical Body. Also all Sen­sitive Operations are with Sensation, that is, Perception and Ap­petite; but we do not so Sens the daily Concoction, Nutrition, and A [...]gmentation of our own Bodys, nor Formation of Seed therin; and therefore it is not the Proper Work of the Sensitive Spirit, but of the Vegetative, which is apparently Plastical in it­self, and Forms its own Body Organicaly, as in Trees, Herbs, and Grass, nor hath any one Spirit in itself the Proper Qualitys of another. And though Elementary Spirits are Definitely Fower and no more, yet these Vegetative and also Sensitive Spirits, are Inde­finite; and it is so said of them, that they were brought forth after their kinds Indefinitely, and so all these Species of Beasts and Fowls were preserved in the Ark, and can not be Multiplied, nor shall be Diminished. Nor are there only such several Spirits of Trees, Herbs, Grass, and of every Species of them, which by a Proper Plastical Virtue Created in and with them by God do severaly Ef­figiate their Proper Bodys, and the Organism therof, but also Pro­per Subordinate Vegetative Spirits of Fishes, Fowls, and Beasts, and of every Species of them, which doth so Effig [...]ate their Pro­per Bodys, and the Organism therof: Yet as the Vegetative Spi­rits are not also Elementary, nor do, nor indeed can, contein the Contrary Qualitys therof in themselvs, so neither do Sensitive contein in themselvs Vegetative and their Facultys, though they are Compounded with their several and Proper Vegetative Spirits which Organise their Sensitive Bodys, and which I suppose can not be so Organised by the same Plastike Virtue of any T [...]ee, Herb, or Grass, which is Proper to the Spirit therof, and would only make it to be of that Shape and Substance. And co [...]seq [...]ently I conceiv that there is also a Proper Mi [...]tion and Temperature of the Ele­mentary Spirits and Qualitys, which is so Subordinate and Sub [...]er­vient to the Sensitive Spirit, and that they are all Consubstanti­ated [Page 146] together in and with the Matter in the Sensitive Compositum. And lastly, a Proper Sensitive Body thus Prepared is a fourth Mat­ter or Body, of the Intellective Spirit of Man; and the Body of Adam, into which God first Inspired his Human Spirit, was such, and more then a Statue of Clay, as is commonly supposed. And this Spirit of Man thus Inspired is of another and farr Different Kind from all the former, which were not Inspired into, but Edu­ced out of the Inferior Bodys therof; nor is it so Consubstantia­ted with them as Material Spirits, becaus it is Immaterial, and a Perfect Substance in itself, which needeth no such Consubstantia­tion, but like an Angelical Spirit can also live and Operate Sepa­rately. Nor yet doth it only Possess a Body as an Angel may; but hath a Natural Union and Composition with it, and doth Na­turaly Inspirit or Inform it, that is, Live, and Operate in it as in a fit [...] Domicil and Officine in this Conjunct State; and Predominate and Govern it, as a Master in a Ship. All which I shall more particularly declare heerafter, having now generaly treated therof only to dis­cover and describe this Scale of Nature, as God did first Erect it, a [...]d as it still stan [...]eth, whose Basis is the Matter, and whose Acme the Intellective Spirit; wherin Man also is Coordinate with the Im­material and Separate Spirits of Angels. And so all Created Na­ture is not only Localy but Politicaly United, that is, all Coordi­nate, except Angelical and Human Spirits, may be properly Mist, but Subordinate, except Angels, only Composited together, but not Confounded, either by Transpeciation of one Species into ano­ther, or Production of one out of another, as some have sup­posed; nor, by Midle Natures, or Participles, as they call them, partaking of the Natures of several Classes, which is more Mon­strous and Anomalous then the Generation of Mules, and the like, which are only of one and the same Classis, though of two Con­fused Species therin; but every one is in itself either Spirit, or not Spirit, as all Elementary, and other Material Spirits; Vegetative, or Not Vegetative, as Moss and the like; Sensitive, or not Sensi­tive, as all Plantanimals, Intellective, or not Intellective, as Idi­ots, Lunatiks, or other Human Monsters: though there be such Compositions and Subordinations Classes and Hosts of them all, and of one unto and with another, as I have declared; and as Moses hath concluded this History of the Creation, Thus the Heavens and Earth were Finished, and all the Hosts of them.

[Page 147]VI. And yet some, who will not so understand it, seem to deny any such Scale and Order of Nature, and any such Oeconomy and Polity therof; becaus they also deny those very Natural Principles, Powers, and Virtues, which God hath Immediately Created, and Imprinted therin; since they can Educe no such things from the rude Matter, nor indeed doth any such Wisdom or Will appear to be Actively in any Inferior Natures which are neither Sensitive, or Intellective; nor yet doth it proceed from the Sensitive, and Intellective Facultys in the Superior Natures, nor is it in the Uni­versal Nature of them all, and therefore they laugh at all such Ex­pressions, as that Nature intendeth the Best, Affecteth Union, Ab­horreth Vacuity, and the like: and I suppose no man so void of of Sens and Intellect as to conceiv it capable therof, but when we see and must acknowledg such Analogous Effects therin, we must ascribe them to some Analogous Causalitys, and express them by such Analogous Expressions, which is all that is Intended thereby; that is, that God hath so Ordered, Compaginated, and as the Apostle saith, Catartis [...]d, Nature, that it doth Naturaly Caus the same Effects, and indeed more Powerful and Political, then our Intel­lective and all the Sensitive Spirits therin can Caus and Produce. And that God doth not so Caus these wonderful Effects Immedi­ately by himself as he doth Supernaturaly Conserv all things which he hath Created, Upholding them by the same Word of his Pow­er; but Mediately by Natural Principles, Powers and Virtues, which he who is Infinitely Powerful and Wise, so Immediately first Created and Imprinted in Nature, and thus sett it in Order in the Six Days, whereby it doth and shall so continue in itself untill the last Dissolution therof, to Caus and Produce such Effects; which certeinly as none can deny them Realy to be such, so unles he ascribe them unto the Immediate Power and Wisdom of God him­self, and so only to such a Continued Creation without any other Natural Causation (wheras he saith, he Rested from all these Works which he had thus made and set in Order in the Six Days) he must acknowledg them to be also Natural and Created Causalitys then Produced and Actuated, (which indeed were the very Works of all the Six Days) becaus ever since there are manifestly such Effects, and therefore there must necessarily be some Causes therof, either Supernatural or Natural; for such Order, Oeconomy and Polity can not be reasonably supposed to be Casual, becaus it is, not only [Page 148] most Regular, but also most Constant (which yet Epicurus, who was more Rational and true to his own Principles, did affirm) but must be either, as some others affirm, by such Immediate Divine Causation, which doth render all Philosophy (which is the Study of Nature and Natural Causes and Effects) Vain and Impertinent: Or otherwise it must be by such Natural Principles, Powers, and Virtues, as we have: as I have declared and proved to have been so Created and Instituted; and this indeed is that which we call N [...]ture, Subsisting in all the Particular Natures, which do Parti­cularly so Concurr and Cooperate therin; not the [...] any such Active Wisdom or Will in themselvs, but by the [...] [...] Natural Principles, Powers, and Virtues, which God, who Crea [...]d and Im­printed them severaly and Particularly, did also so Coordinate and Direct Relatively and Maturely one toward another as that they should so Concurr and Cooperate to the Universal Good, Safety, and Beauty of one another, and of them all, and consequently of this Universal Nature. As an Artist who makes a Clock or Watch, or the like, so frames the Wheels and Parts therof, and so setts them together, and so applys the Weight or Springe therunto, that they shall all Cooperate and Complete the Engine, for that Use, and the Production of that Effect, which he had Designed: and as Art, which is the Nature of Man, doth thus work by Artificial and External Application of Natural and Internal Principles, Powers, and Virtues, so doth Nature, which is the Art of God, Act and Effect the like, and more Curious Engines, who [...] by them, Naturaly and Internaly: whereby not only the Weight or Springe, but also the very Plastical Figuration, Gravity, Motion, and mutual Ap­plication, is so Caused and Produced, though without any such Artificial Wisedom, or Will, in any Automatous Compositum, more then in the Clock or Watch itself, but by Created Impressions in the one Naturaly and Intrinsecaly as the others are so Effected by Violent and Extrinsecal Application of that which is Natural in it­self. And yet they who can affirm Sensation, and perhaps Intelle­ction itself, to be only Motions of the Matter, might also, if they pleased, ascribe therunto Sens and Intellect, (as some have af­firmed Elementary Natures to be Sensitive) which would not only satisfy their Doubt heerin, but also confirm their Opinion of the other, though both be equaly Fals, and most contrary to all Sens, and Intellect. And this acknowledged and agreed want [Page 149] of any such Wisedom and Will in Nature, which yet doth Pro­duce such undeniable Effects, doth most Sensibly and Intelligibly prove a most Wise, and Willing, First Caus, that is, God, who, as I have already proved, that he Created all things out of Nothing in the Begining by his Infinite Power, so he also both Created them in their first Chaos, and afterward Ordered them in the Six Days, and so Catartised the whole Frame of Nature with such Poli­ty and Oeconomy, as doth Invincibly prove his Creating Wisedom, and Will, by these Created Effects therof, which are so Naturaly Produced by Nature, as it is Gods Creature, Artifice, and Engine; and yet itself hath neither Wisedom, nor Will Actively, as Intel­ligent Creatures have in themselves. And thus the rude Matter which of all others hath least therof, yet hath thus Naturaly in it­self Motion to Union, and also to Station, and thereby doth Natu­raly cast the whole Body therof into a Perfect Orb, which is the most United, Uniform, and Capacious Figure; which also every Particular Body therof doth Affect and Endeavor as farr as it can, and doth Place all the Particular Bodys in their due Position. And if Matter may Act thus Politicaly without any Policy in itself, Why may not also Material Spirits, which are more Spiritual and Active, have their Particular Plastical Vertues, whereby they may also Effigiate their Bodys in fitt and requisite Figures for themselvs, Inorganicaly, or Organicaly, and Oeconomicaly, though they have no Oeconomical Wisedom, or Will, in themselvs. And even in Sensitives the same Effects are Produced without their Senti­ment, and so [...]et Man, who Comprehends all these Inferior Na­tures in himself, consyder his own Body; and whether he doth Caus and Order the Introduction of his Finger to Union, or the Falling down of his Body through the Air to Station, or can hin­der them with all his Sens, and Intellect, or whether therewith and thereby he doth Plasticaly Figurate and Effigiate all his Mem­bers, or can add a Cubit to his Stature, or doth so perform those most Curious and Chymical Works of Nutrition, Augmentation, Sanguification, Seminification, and the like. And this Polity and Oeconomy is not Proper to any one Nature, but is Particularly in every one, and Universaly in all, which are not only Subordi­nate, but do accordingly Communicate one with another. Thus every Individual Nature is a Compositum of more or less Princi­ples or Parts, and more or less Oeconomicaly Composed, and Or­dered, [Page 150] according to the Particular Nature and Orb therof, which is heerin a Module of the great Orb of the Univers. So also all Speci­fical Natures, which are Homogeneous, do Comply and Consort together and open their Bodys one to another, and so also Gene­rate one another, and there is some Accord, though less among Homaeogeneous, and as we say, Par Pari; and there are certein Analogys and Confederacys between Heterogeneous; yea even Advers and Contrary Natures do thus Conspire together for the Common Good, as Rest and Motion to Union, which may be Up­ward, and to Station which is downward, and so Heat and Cold, Moisture and Drines, do all make a fitt Temperature for all Ele­mentary, as well as Vegetative, and Sensitive Composita. And their own Proper Qualitys can not Actualy Exist without such Tempe­rature of and with the rest; which is their Political Perfection, though the others be their own Proper and Private Perfections. and therefore in the Chaos, though the Elementary Spirits did then accordingly Constitute the Matter of their Fower great Bodys by requisite Proportions of Extension, Spherical, and Globular Figures, Density, Rarity, and their several Stations, and the like; yet they could not Actualy Produce their own Heat, Cold, Moisture, Dri­nes, and their other Active Qualitys, before they were Prepared and Predisposed by the Divine Spirit with fitt Mistions and Con­temperations; nor could they, or can they, yet Exist in their ut­most Vehemence and Intension, without such Contemperation (which as I have said is most wonderfully Produced by Degrees out of their Potentialitys into such Mist and Contemperate Actu­alitys, more Naturaly then by their Actual Extremitys, which Violently Oppugn one another, and thereby endeavor to destroy one another) and Such Actual Concertation and Oppugnation, which at last doth destroy one or both of them; as Flame, which is almost continualy Incensed and Extinguished, and the like: and yet these Contrary Qualitys of the Elementary Spirits are thus Naturaly Miscible, wheras the Proper Accidents or Affections of any Substances of Different Classes are not nor can not be so M [...]st in their Consubstantiated Composita. As in a Sensitive Compositum the Extension, Figure, Density, Gravity, Motion, and the like Affe­ctions of the M [...]tter are not so Mist with any of the Spiritual Qua­litys; though they are United or Composited in the whole Compo­situm. Nor the Elementary Qualitys with the Vegetative, nor [Page 151] the Vegetative with the Sensitive, but as their Substances are of several Classes, which can not be so Mist as they of the same Classis, though Composed together, so they continue several in themselvs, though they mutualy Contribute and Cooperate in the whole, be­caus they Subsist in their own several Substances. And becaus Individual and Specifical Natures do thus Confederate, therefore there is also such a Polity and Oeconomy of the Universal Nature which doth Subsist in them all; and not only a Scale of Degrees, wherof I discoursed before, but a Republike of all the Cives and Societys therof. And as Beauty, Virtue, Piety, and their Sym­metrical and Conformable Excellencys, are the most Excellent things in Nature, so is this Polity, and Oeconomy, the Strength, Goodnes, and Glory therof. Wherefore as he is no very good Anatomist, who though he may know all the several Members, Parts, and Particles, of the Body as they are in themselvs, yet know­eth nothing De Usu Partium, and the whole Composition, Co­operation, and Benefits therof; so he is no good Philosopher, who though he could know all the Atoms, and Corpuscles of Matter, and all Spirits, and Substances, and all their Accidents, and Af­fections, and the very Essences both of Substances, and Accidents; as well as their Existences, severaly, as they are in themselvs, yet knoweth not, or rather will not know any thing of their Mutual Union, Analogy, Confederacy, Cooperation, Oeconomy, and Polity, and all the Benefits and Advantages therof, which God hath Created in and with this Republike of Entitys, which we call Nature; and so Nature doth accordingly Effect, not only for his own Use and Service, but also for his Contemplation; whereby he doth neither acknowledg God to be the God of Na­ture, nor indeed Nature to be Nature, nor her Mundus any Mun­dus, and so renders his own Philosophy no Philosophy; which are such Absurditys, that I doubt he who only reads this Discours, may esteem it Idle and Superfluous, but if he also read their Dis­courses, he will find that they have made it Necessary. And I rather fear that all this, and much more that may be said, will not be sufficient to convince them, whose Delicate Witts are grown so Wanton, that they can not be pleased with any thing unles it be some Curious Novelty, and Ingenious Error, and so much delight to wander in the wild Labyrinth therof; that they care not to be brought out of it; where I shall therefore leav them to them­selvs, [Page 152] and proceed in the beaten Path of Common and Solid Truth, which God hath sett out and Reve [...]led in this History of Crea­tion, wherin he hath shewed us how it was his very Counsel and Designe, thus to sett the whole Frame of Nature in Order in the Six Days, whereby he did Perfect it, and distinguish it from the first Chaos; and as he did Proclaim the Particular Goodnes of his Par­ticular Works in their several Days, wherin they were so Or­dered, so when the whole System therof was finished, God saw every thing which he had Made, and behold it was Very Good: which Valde and the Emphatical Addition therof plainly shews another Entity and Bonity of Universal Nature, Subsisting in all the Particular Natures besides their Particular Entitys and Boni­tys, which were before declared. And this is the Law and Or­der and Oeconomy of the whole Houshold and Family of Nature, which indeed is Nature, and was thus Setled and Fixed in the whole Series and Cours therof, and so still Continued by virtue of the Divine Benediction in all Successive Generation and Corrupti­on; as the Psalmist saith, He Commanded and they were Created, He hath Stablished them for ever and ever, He hath made a Decree which shall not pass: whereby all things are thus Constituted and United into one great Compositum of the Univers, wherin they are all ei­ther Coordinate, and Inservient, or Subordinate, and Subservient one unto another. And particularly this whole Visible World unto Man, as I shall shew heerafter, and Men and Angels Imme­diately unto God, the Author, and End, of the whole Creation.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. HAving before discovered and declared the General Sy­stem of Nature, I sh [...]ll now more Particularly discours of the several Kinds of Creatu [...]es as they were in the Six Days; [Page 154] wherof Aether is the First (being that Firmament of Heaven men­tioned in the Fourth Day, and so made before) which is Supreme of all the Elements, and next to Superaether (which is Superelemen­tary, as I have said, and probably was Perfected when it was Created in the Begining) and yet Aether hath been esteemed to be the very Highest and Utmost Sphere of the whole World by Hea­then, who made it to be their Superaether, or Caelum Daemoniac [...]m, wherin they placed all their chief Idols, which were the Planets and Starrs therof; being indeed not only the Highest, but also the the Greatest, and most Glorious, of all Spectable Creatures. And some of their Philosophers induced therunto, or in compliance with the Popular Religion, did not only deny the Aether to be Ele­mentary, and Igneous; but also seemed to doubt whether the very Matter therof were Common and Homogeneous with Elementary Matter; as certeinly it must be, if it be M [...]tter, (which is one most Common and Homogeneous Substance in itself, and only Diversi­fied according to the several Accidents and Affections therof, that are indeed Common to all Matter) and it must be Matter, other­wise it could not be a Body. And so is also the very Superaether, and all Bodys whatsoever. But the Matter and Body of Ae [...]her is most Rare of all the Elements, becaus the Spirit therof doth so Require it, and Caus it to be; and therefore, as I have said, it is Highest of all Elements, though not so Rare as the Superaether, which is therefore the Highest of all Bodys. And so Rarity of Matter, becaus it hath less Matter in the same Extension, hath therefore some fitnes and Analogy to a more Spiritual Substance, and is as it were a more Spiritual Body, as more gross Spirits are more Material: and this chief Elementary Spirit of Aether requi­reth a more Rare Matter then the rest, and so also doth Culinary Fire Rarefy, as I shall shew heerafter; but yet, as I have said, the most Rare Matter is Matter, as well as the most Dens, and not Spirit, but of another Different Classis. And as the Body therof is very Rare, so also it is very Fluid, though Rarity and Fluidity be not one and the same, more then Density and Consistence; yet as Density is Analogous to Consistence, so is Rarity to Inconsistence or Fluidity. And therefore an Adamantine, Golden, Brazen, or Specular Aether, or Planets therin, are rather Poetical, then Phi­losophical. And wheras Elihu saith, Hast thou with him spread out the Sky, which is strong, and as a molten Looking Glass, or Speculum? [Page 155] The word Sky, also signifieth Upper Clouds in the Original, and if it were to be rendred Sky, might be aswell understood of the Air, which is an Expansum, and spread out, as well as Aether; and that very Expansion seems to imply no Con­sistence in either of them: and the Comparison is not of a Consistent, but a Molten or Fusile Speculum, such as Water or the like: Now plainly the Text intendeth the Upper Clouds, wherof the precedent Discours is in the Context, and which being Anhydrous do so Reflect the Light, like such a Molten Looking Glass. And yet Translators render Expan­sum (as it is Originaly) Firmament, in favor and compliance with Graecian Philosophy; wheras certeinly the Air, which is also termed Expansum as well as Aether, is not Solid or Firm. And the Reason assigned why the Aether should be Solid and Firm is more Vain then the Hypothesis; which is, becaus it Moves one way, and the Planets therin another way, and therefore there must be Seaven Spheres of them, and an Eighth of the Fixed Starrs, and to these is since added a Ninth, and a Tenth, which must be the Pri­mum Mobile, to solv these Phaenomena. Wheras in the First Day there was only one Circumvolution of the whole Aether, one and the same way, to make Day and Night, and so untill the Fourth Day; and then we do not read of any such Division therof into Spheres, as of the Disposition of the Water and Earth into a Ter­raqueous Globe, but only of the Creation of the Starrs. Nor is this Supposition of Aethereal Spheres any Solution of the several Advers Motions; for perhaps the slower Motions of the Fixed Star [...]s (as they are therefore so termed Comparatively) which are also Advers to the Motion of the Aether may be as several, and then they must also allow as many several Spheres for every one of them, and so for any of the Planetary Satellites about another Planet. Also the Circumvolution of them by the Primum Mo­bile must be either by a Corporeal and External Impu [...]s, and then they must Cohere to it like the Circular Spheres of an Onion (which is the usual Comparison) which Cohesion will also make the Circumvolution Conjunct and one and the same way; as if you turn an Onion so about: otherwise if they do not so Cohere, no Motion of the Inferior Spheres will be Caused by the Circumvo­lution of the Superior or Primum Mobile, as if you turn a Wheel about an Axis without any Contact; much less can it Move all [Page 156] the others so many several ways; Or it must be by some Spiritual Potentia which must be either of another Spirit, and so Infinitely; or of itself, as indeed it is, and then the several Planets and Starrs may also aswell have such several Potentiae in themselvs, as the Pri­mum Mobile, and so many several Spheres Moving themselvs and their several Planets in them by such several and Advers Moti­ons: Also firmnes or Consistence is a Proper Quality of Earth, as I shall shew heerafter, and not of Aether; and though the Aether be Mist with all the other Elements in some small Proportion, yet the Consistence which it ha [...]h thereby is very Inconsyderable, and less then of Air, and Water (which yet are Denominated Fluid Bodys, and not Consistent) and is rather like the Terrene Opacity therof, which doth not fix any Color in Aether, nor Reflect like Earth, or Water, though very much Assisted by the vast Profundity therof, which is somwhat Analogous to Opacity, as well as Den­sity; as may appear by Deep Water which seems more Black, and Specular, then Shallow. The Spirit of Aether is Fire, as the very Name therof doth Import; which also plainly declareth the common Opinion of the Antient Graecians (though they who deny the Thing would also elude the Etymology.) And so the Persia [...]s, who worshipped the Sun, therefore Consecrated Fire, and used it in their Mysterious Ceremonys. And all Language, both Sa­cred, and Profane, hath ever stiled the Sun Hott, which all Sens doth likewise attest, (though this also and any thing whatsoever will be evaded by a resolved Error:) and instead therof Fire is placed in a new Invented Sphere or Province, which it must have in Conformity to the great B [...]dys of the other Elements, and which is termed, Concavum Lunae, or Caelum Incognitum. All which Absurditys were only Philosophical Inventions to preserv the Idolatrous Reverence and Religion of H [...]aven, which is now together with them to be Exploded by Christianity. Nor do I suppose Ae [...]hereal and Culinary Fire to be several Elements Gene­ricaly Different, becaus they have the same Proper Qualitys, Heat, Light, and others; though they may perhaps D [...]ffer more Specifi­caly; becaus Aether hath other Proper Qualitys, as Circular Motion, and Infl [...]ential Virtues, which may not be in the other, or at least not Actualy; as the E [...]e [...]entary Earth hath Magnetical Virtue, wh [...]ch is not Actualy in all Terrene Bodys: and there is certeinly a grea [...]er Mistion of the other Elements in Culinary [Page 157] Fire, which renders it more Impure then Aethereal. But there is Heat very notably in Aether, which is Instrumental in the Rapid Mo­tion therof; for Heat being a most Active Quality is also very Motive; I know not whether any Actual Heat can [...]e without Actu­al Motion; though Heat be not only Motion, nor Motion Heat, as I shall shew heerafter. And this Motion of Aethereal Heat must necessarily be Circular, becaus, as I have shewed, if there be more Motion then the Body Moving can Exercise and Expend Directly, it will Move it Circularly; and Aether can not Move any other way; for being more Rare then Air, it will not Move Downward into it, and being more Dens then Superaether, which is also Superelementary and most Heterogeneous, it can not Move Upward into it; but being already in its own Proper Sphere, and Station, it Moves only in it, which must be Circularly; and there­fore also it Move [...] Perpetualy, becaus it is Moved by its own Pro­per Potentia, which is alway Actual in itself, and not Corrupted or Obstructed by any other; and it therefore Moves Equaly, becaus there is none other Causality to make any Increments or Decre­ments therof. And it is by a Spiritual Q [...]ality in itself which is not to Rest as the Motion of Matter. Nor is it Invaded by the Supe [...]ae [...]her; and it is Defended from the Ambient Air by that Rapid Motion, which affordeth no Time requisite for the Air to Operate upon it: and therefore it is more Ingenerable, and In­corrupt [...]ble, then the Inferior Elements, and probably doth not Emitt a [...]y of its own Matter: and yet by its Emissary Rays is itself the greatest Operator of them all, and doth Generate and Cor­rupt them; and so generaly all Superior Elements do most Ope­rate upon the Inferior, and the Inferior less upon the Superior. Nor doth it need any Fuel, becaus it is not continualy Incensed, and Extinguished, like Flame, whose Individuality is therefore Varied as Successively as the F [...]me, but Ae [...]her hath its own Spi­ritual Potentia always Actual in i [...]self, whic [...] is not Corrupted nor O [...]structe [...] by any other [...]. But I conceiv that the Regularity of the Aet [...]ere [...]l Circ [...]mvolution Exactly in every Day Natural is from a Special Quality which was also Actu [...]ted therin in this first Day and so continu [...]th, and is a Natural Motion therof An [...]ogous to the V [...]rricity of the M [...]net, whereby it reduceth [...]tself to the Regularity of [...]ts Polar Position. And this I colle [...]t from the Text, wherin [...] said, that God so made Day and Night the [...]in: [Page 158] and though the Proper Aethereal Virtue according to that gene­ral Power therof doth so carry it about with a Perfect Regulari­ty, yet since it hath been Accursed and Blasted as well as Earth for the Sin of Man there are many particular Alterations, Ge­nerations, and Corruptions, appearing in it, such as Maculae, Comets, and the like; as I shall shew heerafter, which plainly prove both that it was Mist with the other Elements, and was a Generated Compositum in the first Perfection therof, and that now it is Imperfect: and yet the Diurnal Motion therof is still as Re­gular as before, as well as the constant and Immovable Position of the Earth: and therefore most probably there is some other Special Quality which doth Preserv it in that Regularity, as Ver­ticity doth the Earth and Magnets in their Polar Positions. And as this Element is most Active and Operative, so God, who doth nothing in vain, and is stiled The God of Order, and not of Confu­sion, did therefore first Perfect it, and Produce the Active Qua­litys therof, as the Chymical Instruments of Nature, whereby it was first sett on work; and so at last when he shall Dissolv this whole Elementary World, it shall be by Fire, both Aethereal, and Culinary, Congregated and Condensated (as before the Foun­tains of the great Deep were broken up, and also the Cataracts of Heaven opened) and shall thereby again Melt down this whole Inferior Globe, if I may so speak, with a Deluge of Fire, as he did formerly overflow the Terraqueous Globe, with a Deluge of Water; wherof he hath thus farr declared unto us the ma­ner, but not the Time; for Of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man, no not the Angels in Heaven; nor may we compute it by any Motions of the Heavenly Bodys, or of any of them; for this Dissolution not being Natural, but Violent, doth therefore attend no Natural Causality, but may be at one Time as well as another.

II. The Spirit of Aether being Fire, the most Proper Qualitys therof are apparently Heat, and Light; which are neither one and the same in themselvs, nor do Immediately Subsist or Proceed in, or from one another, but both in and from the Substantial Spirit. For apparently one may be Actualy without the other, as Heat without Light, in Fume; and if there be not also Light without Heat, as in the Gloworm, and other such Bodys, yet certeinly [Page 159] the Actual Heat is not Proportionable to the Actual Light ther­of: and heer in the Text Light only is Named, and not Heat, though they are partly Synonymous in their Original Etymology, and ve­ry Congenerous and Social Qualitys in Nature, Proceeding from the same Substantial Spirit. But I can not conceiv Drines, as I have said, to be any Second Quality Proceeding from Heat, nor indeed very Symbolical or Homaeogeneous with it, but rather another Collateral Quality of Earth, and Indifferent between Heat, and Cold; for Vapors, Oils, and the like, which are very Moist Bodys, are more Inflammable then Salts, and Ashes, which are very Dry, and all Heat doth Melt or prepare for Fu­sion, which doth Actuate Moisture; wherefore all Consistent Bo­dys generaly are Actualy Cold, and Actualy Dry, or at least, In­different to either Heat, or Cold, to be Actuated in them. But the Proper Action of Heat is to Heat, or Univocaly to Generate or Produce Heat out of other Inflammable Bodys; which thereby it doth also Move, becaus as I have said, it requires a most Rare Body, and so when Heat begins to be Actuated, it begins to Rare­fy the Body Heated, which being an Expansion therof, necessa­rily causeth some Local Motion: and so it Melteth and prepareth for Fusion by Rarefaction, and even Iron Heated doth Swell before it Melt; and in order therunto it doth Convell and Corrode the Parts of the Bodys, as may appear by the Operation of Aqua for­tis in Dissolution of Metalls: and as it thus Operateth in respect of Corporeal Rarefaction, or Comminution, which is Preparato­ry therunto, so it is Spiritualy Active in itself, and Causeth Mo­tion, as a fitt and Analogous Instrument therof, aswell as in its own Aether, as I have shewed; though that be probably as Rare as it can Naturaly be, becaus it is the most Rare Element, and can not be more Rarefied by any other Elementary Quality, and hath already Produced the greatest Rarity that it can in itself. But though Motion be such a notable Instrument of Heat, as generaly it is also of all the Operations of Material Spirits upon the Mat­ter, yet neither Heat nor any others are only Motion, as I have formerly shewed generaly, and shall now shew particularly con­cerning Heat, which is not so much Caused Originaly by Motion, as it is a Caus therof, though the Generator may Generate Heat, which was Potentialy before in the Body wherin it is Actuated, by Motion, as I have said, Mediately, but more Immediately by [Page 160] Rarefaction; and its own Aethereal Motion is Caused by its own Na­tural Heat, and not Heat by Motion: for so Light and Heat were Created in it first, at least in order of Nature, be [...]ore there was any such Motion or Circumvolut [...]on of the Aether, which followed ther­upon, and whereby God D [...]vided the D [...]rnal Light from the No­cturnal Darknes; and so made Day and Ni [...]t Artificial. Also if Motion be Formaly Heat, and Heat Motion, then Cold which is the Contrary therof m [...]st be Rest, and Rest Col [...]; which it is not; for it doth both Expand Ice, and also Compress Water in the Sealed Weather Glass; and certeinly Expansion and Compression are not without M [...]tion, becaus they Vary the Extension, and consequently the Locality of Bodys so Expanded or Comprest. Nor are Motion and Rest Contrary Actively, but only Advers Localy; for Rest is not Active, and there [...]ore Motion cannot be Active [...]y Contrary to Rest; a [...] I have shewed: but Heat and Cold are both Active, and Activ [...]y Contrary. And if any can sup­pose that Heat is a Motion one way, and Cold another way, I de­sire them to assigne the different Local Motions of these, or any other Spiritual Qualitys, which they never yet have done, nor indeed can do, becaus they are no such Motions Naturaly. Cer­teinly Heat and Cold, which are most Contrary Qualitys, require answerably Contrary Motions: but as there is no such Contra­riety between Rest and Motion, so neither is there in Motion it­self, wherof there is only a Local Opposition, as I have said: for Motion is only one and the same Principle, from which no such Active Contrariety can Possibly proceed: though it may be an Indifferent Instrument of Contrary Agents, as of Heat, and Cold. Again, Heat and Cold may be M [...]st together into one Tempera­ture, which we call Tepor, and that is both Hott and Cold, though Mist, and more Remiss thereby; wheras Opposite Motions can not be so Mist, for if Heat should be by Local Motion one way, and Cold by it another way (which though not Properly Contrary, yet must be Diametricaly Opposite and Advers) then one such Mo­tion must necessarily stay and stop the other, mutualy, whereby there should be no Motion at all, and consequently neither Heat nor Cold: and this Tepor is, as I have said, per omnia, and not only per minima, much less by any Imaginary Parallel, or Meridional Lines, or the like, which yet must Intersect, and thereby also the Moving Parts must stay and stop one another: and I suppose if [Page 161] Mathematical Philosophers would pleas to reconsyder Local Mo­tion according to Mathematical Rules, they would easily disco­ver the Vanity of any such Hypotheses. But as Heat doth thus Caus Motion by Rarefaction, Segregation, Corrosion, and Com­minution, of some Parts, so consequently by Condensation, and Congregation of others; and so it is said to Segregate Heterogene­ous, and Congregate Homogeneous Parts; becaus, when the whole Body is Rarefied and in Fusion, the Homogeneous Parts Naturaly Congregate themselvs, and the Heterogeneous are there­by Segregated. And so in making of Salt the Vapors go one way and fly Upward, and thereby the Salt goeth together another way, and Sinks Downward. Also thus though Heat doth Immediate­ly Rarefy, it may Mediately Condensate; and as it doth Immedi­ately Melt, so also Mediately Constipate; as by Rarefying the Water, and Melting it more into Vapor, it Condensates and Con­stipates the Salt, and more notably in Syrups, Tarr, and the like, which will be boiled into a Gumm, or Pitch, or into a Consistence beyond them. And so it may have many other such Collateral and Consequential Operations and Effects. But there is not only Heat Inherent in the Igneous Body; for plainly it heats at a very great distance, which must be by Heat Emanant, becaus all Ope­ration is by Contact; for as there is no Vacuity between Enti­tys, so neither in Operations, between the Operator and Ope­rated: and that there is such Emanation both of Heat and Light I shall plainly shew heerafter, and also now observ, that there is another wonderfull Property of Emanant Heat, which is Attra­ction, and this is indeed the chief End of the Emanation therof, by which it doth not only heat at a distance, but also draw other Bodys to it, whereby it may more neerly and more strongly Operate upon them by its Inherent Quality from which the Ema­nant floweth forth, as I shall also plainly shew heerafter concern­ing Electricity. And such an Attractive Heat is that which is called Vital, whereby Animals Nourish themselvs, Attracting their Fomes, or Materia Nutritiva, by this Heat, and then Fir­menting, Concocting, Congregating, Segregating, and Exercising all the other Properties therof in order to their Nutrition. Also to this purpose there is a double Power, or rather several Degrees of Heat, wherof one is Calefactive, and more Moderate, and Tem­perate, which Generates, Nourishes and Fosters, as the Te [...] of [Page 162] the Spring, Incubation of Fowls, and the like; and the other Caustike, and more Intens and Torrid; which Corrupts, Destroys, and Burns, as in all Incendia. But certeinly Heat itself is Gene­rated only by Production out of Potentiality into Actuality, as I have said, either Univocaly by Fire alone; as when Wood burns in the Fire, and the like; or Equivocaly, which may be by many other Equivocal Causes, whereby the Potential Heat may be freed and delivered out of its Chaos, and Prison of Potentiality. And so it is Generated by Motion, as by Collision of a Flint and Steel, or by rubbing of Firecanes, wherin one may smell the Fire before any such Collision or rubbing, which was ready to break forth, and is freed by such Commotion, and the Fiery Vapors or Corpuscles thereby discharged; and so by Contrition, as Coachwheels will sometimes be fired; and generaly all Terrene Bodies Rubbed do heat, becaus, as Earth hath the greatest and grossest Mistion with all the other Elements, so it hath commonly a notable Portion of Fire in it. And it plainly appears that the Motion is only Instru­mental heerin, becaus other things do thus also Equivocaly Ge­nerate Heat; as Water cast upon Quick-lime, and Vapor in Thun­der-clouds, Hay-stacks, and the like: and it likewise appears that they do only thus Equivocaly and Instrumentaly Generate or Pro­duce it, because the Flame therof afterward will be Extinguished by Water, or blown out by Motion like any other Fire. Nor may we wonder much at the large quantity of Fiery Flame which is thus Produced out of a little Wood, or Gunpowder, or the like, when we consyder [...]he great Rarefaction of Water into Vapor, and the Vapor of Fume, which Incensed is Flame, is yet more Rare­fied; as may appear by the very quick and direct Ascent therof, while it is in Flame, through the Ambient Air; wheras afterwards it Ascends more slowly and in rowling Volumes, or Cincinni of Smoak. And indeed we hardly perceiv or can conceiv how sud­denly the Individual Flame passeth away, and is Altered and Re [...]novated. Certeinly Ignes Fatui, Stellae Cadentes, and the like, Continue much longer in their Individualitys; which is through their more Temperate and Generative Heat, wheras the Fire of Flame is more Caustike and Corruptive, and both Generates and Corrupts so suddenly. But Fire in Iron Candent (which is not Iron and Fire Individualy several, nor Fire only in the Pores of the Iron, as hath been supposed any more then in Fume) for so [Page 163] Glass which is Imporous will also be Candent; but, as I have said, the Fire wherewith the Earth of the Iron is Mist, and which was before in it Potentialy, being now Actuated, doth Appear and Operate in it; and becaus it doth Emitt none or very little of the Fiery Vapor or Fume, therefore doth not Flame, or very little, and so reteineth the same Individual Fire Actualy in itself much longer; which may be so Actuated in it again, and again; becaus the Fire therof is more fixed in the Mistion, and less Volatile: wheras if a very strong Coal, as of the best Oak, or Birch, or the like, be Incensed and Inflamed very long in a Furnace, (which it will endure and yet come out Whole and Firm) though it may be made Candent again, yet it will not so kindle nor burn afterward, as it did before the Fiery Vapor therof was Emitted and Volatilised. And wheras some have Projected to make Fire Perpetual, I esteem it Possible if the same Individual Fire could alway be continued in A [...]tuality in the same Body, as in Iron, or Gold, or the like (as it is in the Sun, and Aethereal Bodys) but not Practicable (other­wise then as in our new Iron Harths, which do not only Reflect, but also add the Actual Heat of the Iron;) becaus the other Ele­ments, which are Predominant in the Mistion therof, and Ambi­ent about it, do always Oppugn it, a [...] though, while it is in Act, it doth notably prevail against them all, yet at length they Over­come and Extinguish it by their Density, or Cold; and if Nature had not armed them all against it, there would be a present Con­flagration of them. And so Perpetual Fire would make a Perpe­tual Motion, which is Possible, and not only Actual in Aether, but also in Water, and yet not found to be Practicable by Art. Al­so Fire is Corrupted by its own Vehemence; for by Rarefying the Body wherin it is, it Dilates and weakens itself; and lieth more open to the Air, which thereby hath greater Advantage, and Power over it, nor indeed can any of these Contrary Qualitys Exist in their utmost Intension and Extremity, which is contrary to the Common Law of Nature, and their own Particular Na­ture is to be Mist in Contemperature, or at least to Oppugn others; and if either that Mistion, or Combat ceaseth, their Acti­vity also ceaseth; and so they return into their Potentiality, as I have before shewed. But Fire as it is a Hott Spirit may be overcome with Cold, as Flame by the Ambient Air; and as it requireth a Rare Body, so it is Opprest or Choaked by [...]ore Dens Bodys, as Water, which doth not Extinguish Fire by Cold, [Page 164] (though it hath some Actual Cold in it) so much as by the Fluid Density therof, which Insinuateth into, and Invadeth all the Fiery Body; and so Water Actualy Heated will quench Fire as well as Actualy Cold; for that Actual Cold is very soon & easily overcome by the Fire: and W [...]rm Water is somwhat more Rare Vaporous and Insinuative, and by the Actual Heat the Fiery Body is more opened unto it (as Univocal Spirits do generaly open their Bodys one unto another) whereby it doth as well or better prevail against it then Cold Water. Also warm Liquors Tinge or Dy better then Cold by their Insinuation, but Clammy, as Milk, and the like do most notably Suffocate Fire, yet if the Fire be not by such Insinuation Penetrated, but only covered with some Continuous Bodys it will not be Suffocated, because its own Body is the same, and not Altered thereby; and therefore Iron Candent in a Box continues hott almost as long as it would out of it, wheras Flame which is only a Fiery Vapor is soon putt out by an Extinguisher; which returns the Vapor upon itself, and so stifles the Flame: And if Coals of Fire be covered with some Ashes, the Fire in the Body so covered doth long continue, though the Flame Emitted be presently Ex­tinguished thereby. And therefore it is to be observed, that as Fume is a Niggard, becaus it is not Incensed, so Flame which is so continualy Emitted, is a great Waster of Fuel, and of the Actu­al Heat therof, which still passeth way; and becaus it Ascends, doth less Diffuse the Heat, but is therefore fitter for Boiling; for it being a Fluid and Subtile Vapor, doth embrace other Bo­dys with the Inherent Heat therof, which is much stronger then Emanant Proportionably, and by such Insinuative Penetration it doth better Melt Brass, and such other Metalls, that are more Penetrable by it, and more easily Fusible in themselvs; wheras Iron is so Robust Contumacious and Consistent in itself, that it doth not yield much to Flame, but is to be Melted by the Contact of Inherent Fire of Charcoal, and the like. Again, if Fire can overcome its Enemy wholy, then it is more Augmented by the Po­tential Fire therof, which it Univocaly Generateth and Produceth also into the same Actuality with itself; as Water cast in a small Proportion upon a very Ardent Fire doth increas it, and Assist it (as Smiths commonly find by such Practice) and I suppose Fire may be made so Intens, as to burn and spend the very Fume and Fuligo of the Fuel. Also there is apparently an Antiperistasis be­tween [Page 165] such Contrary Qualitys (though some pleas to deny it by a greater Antiperistasis of Contradiction) which doth Excite them mutualy, but especialy the Victor, which is commonly Fire; and this is the very Nature of their Contrariety, which, as I have said, Marcet sine Adversario, and the Conqueror is both Conti­nued in his Actual [...]ty, and Increased in his Activity, by the Com­bat. And that I may not seem to speak Metaphoricaly; I shall plainly shew that there is Realy such an Intentional Conflict in these Inferior Natures, though neither Sensitive, nor Intelle­ctive in themselvs. For thus is this Combat between Heat and Cold Managed, as it were, in a formed Batell; wherin first they draw out their Forces to their Frontires, not only their Emanant, but also their Inherent Powers, and not Circumferentialy after their ordinary maner, but Purposely and Directly, to that Part, and toward that Point, where the greatest Opposition is; and wheras otherwise their greatest Power is generaly in their Cen­ter, where it may best Unite and Fortify itself, (for the same Po­litike Reason to Preserv and Defend itself) it doth now Issue forth to the very Confines of its own Body, and there Encounter the Contrary Quality which would destroy it. As in a Boiling Pott the Bottom therof which is next to the Fire is most Cold, so as you may safely feel it with your Hand; and so it is observed that the Vital Heat is Internaly greater in Winter then in Summer: for Contrary Qualitys not Mist but Actuated in several Substances do thus Resist one another, as Homogeneous Qualitys do Evoke and open their Bodys one to another, and are more ready to U­nite and Combine together. And where one Contrary Quality doth begin to prevail against the other, that Retireth back again to its Center where it is strongest, as Heat to the Stomack. And so in Vesse [...]s of Beer frozen, and, as some say of Sack. But if one prevail so farr against the other as to Rout and Profligate it, then it flys away in Vapor, or such Fugitive Corpuscles fitt to retein i [...] as in Flames, and Dissolutions, and the like. Now wheras it is said that the Motion of Fire is upward toward its own Element, though it be true that generaly it is so, yet I do not conceiv that to be the Reason therof, becaus Local Motion Upward, or Downward, is Immediately of the Matter and Body, and not of the Spirit; and therefore Aether is Uppermost, Becaus it hath a most Rare Body, and so Flame Ascends Upward, becaus it is Vapor Accensed, which [Page 166] by that Accension is also more Rarefied; and wheras that is Proper­ly Culinary Fire (wherin anyother Element may be Predominant in the Mistion therof) Vapor or Water Rarefied is the most fitt Body to retein it in its Actuality; for Air, though as Rare, yet hath a Proper Quality Contrary to Heat, that is Cold, as I shall shew heerafter; wheras the Moisture of Vapor is Indifferent, as I have said, and therefore it exhibiteth a most Lucid and Subtile Fire, and such as is most like to Aethereal: but if the Fire be Actuated in a more Aqueous or Terrene Body it doth, and necessarily must, De­scend; and Aurum Fulminans Incensed flys every way, with the se­verall Bodys more Rare, or more Dens, that are Segregated and Di­spelled by the Explosion.

III. The other Quality of Aether is Light; which as it is most Glorious in itself, and doth Actuate the Visibility of all this Spe­ctable World, so by the Spiritual Analogy therof, it doth not only discover the Nature of other Elementary Qualitys, but also of Ve­getative and Sensitive Qualitys, and the very Substances of Spirits in some respects, Symbolicaly and Hieroglyphicaly; so as I can not conceiv a fitter representation therof to Sens then Emanan [...] Light, which is more, as I have said in Statu Separato then Inherent, and more Visible then Magnetike Virtue: and though Light be not it self a Substance, but an Accident, yet Accidents are Real Entitys aswell as Substances, and have as Real Propertys, and Real Coextension; which may be, according to their Nature, Analo­gous to the like Propertys of Substances. And as Heat is the most Chymical Instrument in Nature, (and therefore some Chymists have stiled themselvs Philosophers by Fire) so Light is a most Phi­losophical Instrument; and a more exact Study of Optike, Diop­trike, and Catoptrike (that is, of Physical rather then Mathemati­cal) might render us Philosophers by Light; wherefore as I re­commend the more Curious and particular Inquisition therof to others; so I shall now generaly and occasionaly heerafter make some Philosophical Observations therupon in my ensuing Di­scourses. But though Light be such a Conspicuous and Consyde­rable Quality, yet I do not therefore suppose it to be any Sub­stance, much less a Body, or having any Corporeity in itself; and shall prove it to be no more a Corporeal Substance then Heat; and yet I do not remember that ever any hath affirmed Heat to [Page 167] be any such Substance, though Heat and Light be very Homogene­ous and Analogous, and which is yet more strange, not Inherent Light, but only Emanant is thus esteemed Corporeal, though In­herent be farr more like to such a Substance then Emanant: but becaus Inherent is already in a Body, we look upon it and the Body in Gross, and so take them both together; wheras Emanant is Emit­ted out of the Body, and is not Inherent in any other Body, and therefore some suppose it to be a Bodily Substance in itself; becaus they do not distinguish between Substances, and Accidents, whose Difference nothing can more discover unto us then this Emanant Quality, which is so far Different from the Substance that it is even Localy Separated from it, though Originaly and Continualy Radica­ted and Subsisting in it. I have already shewed that the whole Work of the Six Days was no Creation of any new Elementary Entitys, ei­ther Substances, or Accidents, but only a Production of Substantial Composita, or of the Actualitys of Accidents out of their Potentiali­tys; and such, & none other, was this Production of Light in the First Day, as I have also more particularly shewed in my former Enume­ration of all the Six Days Works: wheras the Substantial Aether was one of the Heavens expressly mentioned to have been Created in the Begining, and so the Air was another, and both were then totaly Dark, and afterward Illuminated by this Production of Light out of Darknes, as a Lamp is now Lighted by Successive Ge­neration, or Production of Light, as an Accident out of the Po­tentiality therof into Actuality; which also declareth the Origi­nal Generation therof to have been none other; though Incension seem to be as like to a Creation, and Extinction to Annihilation, as any other Instances I know in N [...]ture. Also the first Light was only Inherent in the Aether, or Emanant from that Part therof wherin it was Inherent into other parts of it, but not into the Air which was not yet Expanded or made Diaphanous and fitt to Trans­mitt it, still in the Chaos of itself as well as Water, and Earth, un­till the Second Day: for if the Light, then also the Heat of Aether, should have been Emanant into it, and that should have been Transmitted to the Water, and so caused the Vapors to Ascend in the First Day; which plainly was not, untill the Second Day. Wherefore if this Light were a Substance in the Air and Water, and not only an Emanant Quality, flowing from the Inherent Light of Aether, then either God must have Created more parts [Page 168] of that Luminous Substance in the Air and Water in the Second and Third Days, which is Fals; or Produce it out of them as he did before out of Aether: and so we must affirm the Air and Water to be Inherently Luminous in themselvs, which they are not; other­wise there should be no Day and Night Artificial in them, as there is; or they must produce out of themselves a new Substance, which was not in them before, that is, Create it, which is Impos­sible: wherefore it must necessarily be only such an Emanan [...] Quality of Aether, as I have declared of the Inherent Aethereal Light Produced in the First Day, and then flowing into other Parts of the Aether, which was Prepared and Perfected in the First Day, and afterward into the Air and Water in the Second and Third Day, when they were Prepared and Perfected, and thereby made Diaphanous and the Obstruction of their Informity and Inanity removed. And the very maner and way of Emana­tion, being a Transition Localy from the Inherent Quality, which is Localy in the Substance, into the Diaphanous Body, which is Localy Distant from it, doth plainly prove it to be an Accident, or Accidental Quality both Realy and Localy Different from the Inherent Light, and also from the Lucid Substance; becaus it is Originaly and Continualy Radicated in the Inherent Light Im­mediately, and Mediately in the Lucid Substance, wherin it doth Subsist and not in the Diaphanous Body, into which it is Emanant; nor is it any Part therof, nor Mist, or in any kind Congenerous with it, which doth plainly shew Emanant Light, and all other such Ema­nant things not only to be Accidents, and of an Inferior and Dif­ferent Nature from Substances, but also from Inherent Qualitys; for though Emanant Qualitys do Spiritualy according to their Spi­ritual Nature Subsist in their Lucid Substance by the Mediation of their Inherent Qualitys, yet Coextensively and Localy they Exist in the Diaphanous Body; wherin they do not so Subsist, as in the Lucid Body, neither do they so subsist in them­selvs, but are Instantly Removed with the Lucid Body; wherefore they are neither Substances in themselvs, nor Mist with the Diapha­nous Body wherin they Localy are, but do not Spiritualy Subsist. And conformable heerunto are all the Phaenomenae and Sensible Experiments of Emanant Light, for so it is Moved and Altered in the very Locality therof according to any Local Alteration of the Inherent Light, and Lucid Substance, and not according to any [Page 169] Local Alteration of the Diaphanous Body; though it be Localy in it, as an Ub [...], only Definitively, that is, where it is, and in so much therof as it is, and not elsewhere, nor in any more Place then it is; but not Circumscriptively, and much less Subsistentialy, as it is in the Lucid Body, to which nothing doth Unite it, but such a Spiritual Subsistence therin. And this Locality therof in another Body Coextensively doth Sensibly represent the Coextension of Spirits in Matter. And as it is never Actualy in the Inherent Quality of Light or Substance of the Lucid Body, becaus it is Emanant out of them both, so it is never Potentialy in the Diaphanous Body, as it is such, becaus as such it is only Diaphanous or fitt to Receiv it into itself, as Matter doth Spirits; (which it may also represent unto us.) And itself is sometimes Actualy, and sometimes Potentialy, Produced and Re­duced by a most Momentaneous Generation, for if the Lucid Body be in a Diaphanous Body, the Emanant Light will be as Actual as the Inherent; and if it be Obnubilated with an Opacous Body, it is in the same Moment Reduced to Potentiality, which also sensibly discovereth Actuality and Potentiality. And so in a Mo­ment it passeth from Heaven to Earth, though I do not affirm, or conceiv, that Motion to be Instantaneous which is through so vast a Space, (wheras no Motion can be through any Space or Ex­tension, which hath Part beyond Part, though it be never so lit­tle, Properly in an Instant; becaus it is from one Part or Term to another; as I have said) yet it is so Momentaneous, that to us it is as it were Instantaneous, so as no Mathematical Science, or Hu­man Wit whatsoever, can perceiv, and assigne any Difference: and yet we must acknowledg that it is vastly Different in itself, which is also another very wonderfull Contemplation, if it be Curiously consydered, and may well be Reposited among the other Mathematical Mysterys which I have formerly mentioned. Cer­teinly there is not, nor Possibly can be, any Physical Discrimina­tion or Dissection therof▪ as of a Body or Bodily Substance; for it is Impossible by any other the quickest Motion in Nature of any Opacous Body Interposed to cutt off any Part of a Ray, or to prevent the Reflection therof; which also Sensibly proves it not on­ly to be no Corporeal Substance, but of another Nature farr Diffe­rent from it, and also Different from Inherent Light, for it doth not thereby Return or Recoil into it, but Reflect itsel [...], and continue still in its Actual Emanation, though in another way; to preserv it­self [Page 170] in its own Different Actuality, as every thing Naturaly doth; and this also shews the Specifical Oeconomy of such Different Natures: and that Accidents can not be Annihilated more then Substances, or Matter itself: (and consequently not Crea­ted) and therefore a Ray of Light can not Possibly be Dissected, for then it neither Subsisting Actualy, nor Potentialy, in the Dia­phanous Body, wheri [...] it doth Localy Exist; but in the Inherent Light and Lucid Substance, as I have said, if it could be Dissect­ed and cutt off from them, it could neither Subsist in itself, nor in the Diaphanous or Lucid Body, nor in any other, Actu­aly nor Potentialy, nor in any maner whatsoever, and so should not only Vanish or Disappear to us, but totally Pe­rish, and not be any thing, either Actualy, or Potentialy, or in any maner whatsoever, and consequently be Annihilated: wher­as if the Inherent Light be Obnubilated it returns into it, and into its Potentiality therin, out of which it will as suddenly proceed and flow forth again into Actuality, when the Obstruction is removed: or if the Inherent Light be Extinct, it also is Reduced thereby in­to its Potentiality, as well as Emanant Light, and so both into their Potentialitys in the Substantial Spirit, wherin their Acci­dental Essences do Originaly Subsist; nor doth either Inherent or Emanant Light add [...]ny Material Density or Gravity to the Lucid Body, for no Spiritual Qualitys though never so much Conspissa­ted Spiritualy (and though as I have said such Spiritual Conspis­sation be Analogous to Material Condensation) do add any Gra­vity to the Body; as an Iron Candent which is very Fervid and Lucid, yet is not Heavier then when it is Cold; nor is the Air, un­les it be also Condensated in the very Body therof, more Grave by Night then by Day, or in Summer then in Winter: and there­fore Planets do not fall through Aether, though they have more Inherent Heat and Light: Much less is any Body Heavier when it hath more Heat and Light Emanant in it: and the same may be Curiously tried by any Opacous Body poised in Water, which will not rise by any sudden admission of the greatest or most Spiss Light into the Water, though it will afterward Sink by Heat, which is not becaus the Heat doth Levitate, or Light Gravitate, the Wa­ter, by Impregnating it with any more Rare, or Dens, Matter in themselvs; but Heat doth Spiritualy Rarefy the Water itself, and so consequentialy Levitate it, wheras Light doth neither Levitate, [Page 171] nor Gravitate it: and yet if it were Matter Impregnating the Water, or Penetrating the supposed Pores of any Diaphanous Bo­dy, it should thereby Gravitate; but indeed there is no such Pe­netration of Pores by Emanant Light; which certeinly is not a Body, becaus though it be not Mist with it, yet it Penetrateth the very Diaphanous Body itself per omnia Punctae, for turn an Equa­ly Diaphanous Globule against the Light which way you pleas, it will be Equaly as Diaphanous one way as another; which could not be if the Rays did pass only through Pores, as some suppose; unles we should also suppose it to be all Pores, and consequently no such Globulous Body. Also this is most apparently contrary to all the Laws of Refraction, which are always in Direct Lines from one Point to another within the Diaphanous Body itself, and by most Regular Inflections, as I shall shew heerafter, and not through any such Porous Meanders and Diverticles: and indeed Diaphanous Bodys, as Aether itself, through which the Sun doth Eradiate, are of all others least Porous; and if the Light did only Penetrate through some more Rare Matter in these Pores, then that being therefore Diaphanous, it must Penetrate through the very Bo­dily Matter therof, which no Body can do, or through other Pores of that Porous Matter, and so Infinitely, as I have shewed, or through Interspersed Vacuitys, which is as Impossible as the other; and if it were Possible, yet it should be no Diaphaneity, but only a plain Phaneity; as when we look through a Sive, or Silk, we do not therefore say that the Sive or Silk is Diaphanous, as the Air; and the Air could not be so Totaly Diaphanous as it is, unles it were a Diaphanous Body throughout in the whole, and not only in the Pores therof. And as several Specifical Qualitys may be in the same Place per omnia, as Heat, and Light, so also several Indivi­dual Lights Emanant, which must necessarily D [...]ffer Individualy; becaus they Subsist in several Lights Inherent, to which they be­long, and to their several Lucid Bodys, and which doth also appear by the several Shadows that they cast, which being several Priva­tives, do evidently prove the Positives to be several. So if the fower Walls of a Room be painted with fower several Colors, Black, White, Blew, and Yellow, though the Rays of Light Re­flected from them Penetrate one another per omnia, becaus they fill the whole Room, whereby the several Colors may be seen in every Point therof, yet we see them several and Distinct, and not [Page 172] Mist or Confounded. By all which it plainly appears that Lo­cal Union per omnia is no Perfect Generative M [...]stion, and much less Aggregation. Also when Rays Intersect one another in the same Point, and are Decussated and Inverted, yet being after­ward Reflected, whereby they become Objective to the Sight, they represent their several Colors Inverted. But if they be Co­lorate themselvs, being Tinged by passing through several Painted Glasses, and be so Reflected Objectively in their Local Union, they represent a Mist Color, as I have formerly shewed; though that be only a Local, and no Perfect Union; becaus they are still several Individuals belonging to their Individualy several Inhe­rent Qualitys, and Substances; and therefore are not United into one Proper or Perfect Compositum, but only become Objectively such to the Sight; and when the Rays of Light are Incolorous themselvs, becaus they are not Objective, but Vehicular, as in the whole Room, though they be then also Localy United, yet they do not represent any Mist Color, but their several Colors, otherwise we could not see them Distinctly: and the Image therof will never be so Confounded in the Focus by such their Intersection, but that being Reflected they still appear several. And thus as Light, and other Spiritual Qualitys, so also several Spirits or Spiritu­al Substances may be together in the same Place, and Penetrate one another per omnia, as well as they do the Matter in Consubstantiati­on; becaus, as I have said, they are only in such an Ubi Definitively, which is Common to them all, and not Proper to any of them, as Circumscriptive Extension is to the Matter; but therefore several Bodys Unmist, and of several Extensions can not Possibly be in the same Place; which, as I have before observed, is one of the grand Differences between Bodys and their Extension; and Spirits and their Spiritual Qualitys, and the Coextension therof, and doth plainly prove Emanant Light to be such a Spiritual Quality; be­caus apparently Several L [...]ghts are in the same Vli, wheras Bodys can not so be therin. And so also the Motion therof is not only Dif­ferent, but Advers to that of the Matter, which is from the Cir­cumference to the Center, wheras this is most evidently from the Center to the Circumference, otherwise it should not be Ema­nant. And now I shall farther discours of the Emanation, Tran­sition, and Retreat of Light, which are all such Spiritual Moti­ons, as shall plainly discover them to be farr Different from the [Page 173] Motions of Matter, or any Affections therof, and also most won­derfull in their own Spiritual Nature. And first, the Emanation therof is very Consyderable and Admirable, as I have before de­scribed it, Subsisting in one Substance, and Existing in another, and heerin more Admirable then the very Inherent Light, which doth Immediately Subsist in the same Substantial Spirit therof, and doth Exist alway Localy with it in the same Body: but becaus these most Active and Energetical Qualitys of the first and most excellent Element, Heat, and Light, are thus Originaly Inherent and Confined to the Body of their Substantial Spirit, and no Ope­ration can be at any Distance, but only by Immediate Contact of Substances, or Qualitys; therefore they are Armed and Instructed with these Emissarys, which they send forth through all their Sphere of Activity, which perhaps may be as large as the whole Elementary Globe, but as the Inherent Qualitys are strongest in their own Center, wherin they are most United; so they are the Centers of Emanant, from which they proceed, and wherun­to they return again; and these Emanant Qualitys are Proporti­onably Stronger, or Weaker, as they are neerer, or farther from the Inherent Qualitys: but in the very Confines between them both, and from which they are first Emanant, they are much Weaker, then Inherent, which Subsist Immediately in the Spirit, and these in them. As suppose an Iron Candent Equilateraly Triangular, wherof the Center is Exactly that Point which is also the Center of a Circle Circumscribed about such a Triangle, in a third part of the Perpendicular Line, above the Basis; yet if you touch the Candent Iron at any Angle it shall Burn more, then if you place your Finger in any midle Point of the Cir [...]le, so Circumscribed between the Angles; though all the Points of a Circle be Equidi­stant from the Center, becaus at the Angles you feel the Inherent Qual [...]ty of the Candent Iron itself, and in the other Points only the Emanant Quality therof. Also I must observ that though we call these Emanations, Eradiations, and so describe them by Rays or Radii, or as the Poets stile them Spicula, or Crines, as so many several Darts, or as the Spokes of a Wheel, or Hairs of an Head, Discontinued between themselvs more and more as they proceed farther from the Nave, or Skull, though Originaly Con­tinued in the Root of them all, that is, in the Inherent Quality (and so I shall make use of this Common Term) yet Properly there are [Page 174] no such several Rays therof, nor are they at all Discontinued, but fill their whole Sphere Continuously and Completely in every Part and Point therof, and we only Metaphoricaly fansy and de­scribe them by such an Eradiation, as we Mathematicaly in a Con­tinuous Extension Imagin Lines passing from one and the same Center to every Point of the Circumference, which are Indefinite and Innumerable, and therefore it can not Realy be so in Nature, unles an Unit and Number almost Innumerable should be Equal, which is Contradictory, as I have shewed. But as they are only Extension, so the true Emanation is not any such Eradiation, but one Continuous Flux from the Inherent Q [...]ality through the whole Sphere unto the Circumference therof. And I suppose it to be a Perfect Sphere alway, though not Equaly, Lucid, and that it is not any Spheroid, although the Lucid Body may be of any other Figure, as the Triangular Iron Candent, and the like; and so it seemeth that the Halo of a Candle in a Mist or Foggy Vapor is Orbicular, though the Flame be Pyramidal; which therefore Painters so represent; as also the Halo about the Head of a Di­vus. But this Halo about a Candle, and Barr about the Moon, and the like, are as it were midle Spheres between the Inherent Light and Utmost Sphere of the Emanant Light, Caused by the Ob­struction and Partial Repercussion from the Mists and Foggs about the Luminary, whereby the Rays are partly Reflected which make the Halo, and Partly Transmitted (at in a Comet) which make the Utmost Sphere of the Activity therof. Yet these Ima­ginary Radii of Emanant Light are as Direct Lines, as the Imagi­nary Lines of a Mathematical Circle from the Center to the Cir­cumference: and if they be Interrupted or Offended by any other Body Refracting or Reflecting them, as often as they are so Interrupted or Offended, they are Inflected and also pass from any such point of Inflection to another in Direct Lines. And that which so Interrupteth and Offendeth their Emanation is somthing Contrary therunto, as Cold is Contrary to Heat: and that can be no Privative, as Darknes which Light alway overcomes; for such Contrariety is between Positives; nor any thing which is not Active in itself, as Density, or any other Affection of the Mat­ter, which as they are not thus Actively Contrary to Heat, so neither to Light, or to any other Spiritual Qualitys whatsoever, though according to the Universal Polity and Consociation of Na­ture, [Page 175] they may be more or less Symbolical, or Asymbolical. And particularly Density is thus a Symbolical Affection of the Matter with that which is Contrary to Light, as Rarity is with it, and other Qualitys of Aether; which, as I have said, requireth a very Rare Body: and so Density is a Corporeal Affection Requisite and Ana­logous to the one, and Rarity to the other: but as there may be less Inherent Light in a more Rare Body then in a more Dens; as in the Flame of Spirit of Wine, then of Pitch, which certeinly is a more Dens and Fuliginous Fume, then the other; so more of Ema­nant Light in a more Dens Body; as Glass is more Diaphanous then thick Water through which it will sink, and yet is more Opacous. Wherefore there is somthing besides Density that is Contrary to Light, which hath been well observed by others, and acquired a Name whereby it may be known, and is called Opacity, which is a Quality of Earth; as I shall shew heerafter. And this is one of the other Qualitys of the Elements, besides those commonly called the Fower First Qualitys, which are to be Consydered and Regarded by Philosophers, as well as them; and as we may not Invent any new fictitious Qualitys, which God hath not Created, so neither may we lose any of them which he hath made to be in Nature, nor Confound any Simple Qualitys with Compound, nor Compound with Simple, which God Created in the Begining be­fore there was any such Composition: and though indeed Entia non sunt multiplicanda sine Necess [...]ate, yet whatsoever God hath Created Necessarily is, becaus he hath Created it, and therefore it is; and whatsoever is, is Necessarily while it is, and none can Annihilate the Entity therof, by any Finite Power of Nature, and much less by Opinion and Fansy. For at it is said of the Divine Word, so we must also Consyder and Discours of the World as it is; and none can Add to it, or Diminish from it. And God in his Infinite Wisedom did so Create the Heavens and the Earth in the Begining with all their Various Furniture of several Simple Essences, becaus as it is his Infinite Perfection to be One in Himself, so it is also the Perfection of Finite Nature to be Ma­ny in One, whereby all the Various Perfections therof are Vari­ously Expressed, which could not be only by One. Wherefore I shall sett the same Bound to my self, which God himself hath sett in Nature, neither to go beyond the Begining of the World, nor any thing which he Created therin, nor to fall short therof, or [Page 176] fear to affirm these Original Entitys to be such, becaus God who is the First Caus hath so Created them, without seeking any far­ther Caus or Reason therof; or to deny any Natural Mistions or Compositions to be any such Simple Principles or Original Es­sences though he hath also joined them together, with others, so that we can not sett them asunder Localy by any Chymical Separation. And such an Original Quality I find expressly Light to have been, Produced into Actuality in the First Day, which lay hid before in the Dark Chaos of Potentiality; and by the same Reason I know that Opacity was also Produced together with Light, and Mist with it in the Mistion of Aether, with Earth, as well as with the other Elements: becaus there is neither Pura Lux, nor Purae Tene [...]rae Actualy in Nature, neither can I conceiv that any such Actual Qualitys can Exist Naturaly in their greatest Intension and Extre­mity; and therefore probably might not so Actualy Exist in the Chaos, before their Mistion, and Contemperation, which seems to be as Necessary to their Existence, as the present Mistions of the fower Elements, according to the first Works of God in the Six Days, and Original Institution and Law of Generation, and so must continue as long as any Successive Generation and Corruption, and present Cours of Nature. And this Opacity is a Terrene Qua­lity, wherunto the Density therof is Assistant; and so Earth itself is most Opacous, and Water less, yet having some Opacity that causeth Refraction, which is a Partial Reflection; and so Air, and Aether, and all Diaphanous Bodys; for there is no Pure Diaphanei­ty without any Opacity. And this Opacity doth not only Reflect, and Refract; but is also Mist with Light in Colors, and in Light itself, which hath some Desultory Color, and is not simply Visible of itself, as I shall shew heerafter: Thus the more fixed Q [...]alitys of Earth do fix the more Agile and Volatile Qualitys of the rest of the Elements, being as an Alloy to Metall which makes it more Malleable. And so particularly is Terrene Opacity to Aethereal Light; for as Owls can not see by Daylight, so the strongest Sight could not see the Pure Light, nor can it Exist in its own Sim­ple Vehemence without the M [...]sture of Opacity. And these Ele­mentary Mistions are the Natural Perfections of the Simple Sub­stances, and Accidents; which do therefore require it, as well as Matter and Material Spirits do Consubstantiation, as I have shew­ed. Now Diaphaneity being only a less Degree of Opacity as [Page 177] Rarity is of Density, it is also Partly Opacous, and therefore, as I have said, doth Refr [...]ct, which is a Partial Reflection, or rather Inflection of the Rays from their own Natural Direction; and there is no Diaphanous Body which doth not Refract more or less, and none that doth Refract, but doth also Reflect. But in all Re­fraction and Reflection the Perpendicular Rays pass through the Diaphanous Body Perpendicularly, and all Emanations Immedi­ately are Perpendicular, and neither A Perpendiculo, nor Ad Per­pendiculum, as in Refraction, or Reflection; which, as we com­monly Intend by those Terms, are always Oblique Lines. Where­fore I suppose that the Rays of any Lucid Body are not so Re­fracted in the Immediate Medium wherin it is, as of the Sun in the Aether, or of the Flame of a Candle in the Air; for, as I have said, the Flux or Eradiation of the Rays therof issues forth Immediately from the Inherent Light in most direct Rays, and so they must Circumferentialy every way Penetrate their Immediate Medium with all their Rays Directly, and not Obliquely, as well as the Perpendicular Ray doth any Diaphanous Body which doth Refract the rest. But we must also observ, that as Opacity doth caus Refraction and Reflexion of the Rays, so the Density of Di­aphanous Bodys doth Ampliate or Distend the Rays of Expansion, whereby it also weakens them: So I conceiv that Refraction and Reflection are, when the Rays having passed their Immediate Me­dium, do meet with another Medium of a Diaphanous Body be­ing of Unequal Opacity, as Air is in Respect of Aether, and Wa­ter of Air, and the like; and as often as the Medium is so Varied, there may be so many Inflections of the Rays from every Point of the Variation therof, as I have said; and according to that Une­qual Opacity so is the Refraction, or Reflection, greater, or less. And which is most wonderfull, and truly Spiritual, the Inherent Light is not less Lucid in itself by all the Rays which it doth Emitt; becaus, as I have said, they are Different Entitys in them­selvs, and when they are Emitted Actualy, are only Produced ou [...] of their Potentiality in the Inherent Light, wherin they subsist, and from which they flow forth into their Actuality: nor is it more Lucid when they return into it again; becaus they only re­turn from their own Actuality into their own Potentiality. And thus the Inherent Light, having such a Potentia of Producing the Emanant Rays therof, like an Inexhaustible Fountain, doth not only [Page 178] send them forth to Complete the Sphere of the Activity therof, but if they be Refracted, or Reflected, or do Converge, or Di­verge, or however they be Disordered, yet still fills the Sphere, as before, so farr as it is not hindered by any Interposing Opa­city. Also even these Emanant Rays have other Secondary Rays Inherent in them, and which they do likewise Emitt to fill the Sphere, as well, and as farr as they can, where themselvs can not approach; as the Crepuscula are such Secondary Rays of the Prin­cipal Solar Rays, when they Decline by the Suns setting and sink­ing beneath the Horizon; and so Rays that pass into the Foramen of a Dark Room make it more Luminous by their Secondary Rays then otherwise it would be, and without which the Principal Rays themselvs could not be seen, though the Secondary are much weaker, and less Lucid; whereby the others, which are notably more Lucid, are seen Objectively. But as I have said the Ema­nant Rays are never Actual in the Lucid Body, becaus they are always Emanant in their Actuality, and all the Light in the Lucid Body is Inherent; nor is it Properly any Actual Nisus of the Ema­manant Rays in the Lucid Body to Produce themselvs, but of the Inherent Light to Produce and bring them forth, as the Lucid Substance doth the Inherent Light: and therefore Emanant Rays never Intersect, or Penetrate, the Lucid Body in their Ema [...]ati­ons, Refractions, or Reflections; becaus they never Actualy Ex­ist in it, for then they should be Inherent. And now I shall discover a farther Mystery of Light Emanant; whereby I shall shew not only how the Motion therof is farr Different from the Motion of Matter, but how it is a Political and Intentional Motion, as I may so term it, Effectively, for the Preservation and Orderly Position of itself. Thus Emanant Rays first pass into their Immediate Medium in Direct Lines or Rays Circumferentialy, as I have said; and where they are first Interrupted in that Cours, and thereby Offended, all the Collateral Rays, so farr as they may, without Intersecting their own Lucid Body (which would Reduce them into Potentiality in the Inherent Light) do Incline on either side to Assist that Perpendicular Ray that is first Interrupted: As if the Superficies of any Opacous Speculum be Convex, the first Ray that is Interrupted thereby is that which is most Directly Opposite to the Vmbo, or Summit therof; becaus that is the neerest Point of the Speculum to the Opposite Lucid Body, and the Collateral [Page 179] Rays on both sides do therefore Incline thitherward as farr as they may to Assist it; which is the very Reason why the Image Refle­cted from such a Speculum appears Proportionably less, becaus the Rays by such Inclination do Converge more together; and if many such Specula be placed together in one Table, as Baby Glasses, and the like, there will be as many Images of the same Face; becaus, as I have said, the Inherent Light doth always Emitt Emanant Rays, enough to fill the Sphere, whether they Converge, or Di­verge, or however they be Disturbed or Disordered in their Ema­nation: and accordingly every one of these Images will be Pro­portionably less, if the Convexity of the Specula be the same, or greater, as they are more, or less Convex. And the farther the Face is drawn back from any such Speculum, or the Speculum from it, the less Proportionably will the Image appear, according to the Mathematical Proportion of such a Pyramidal Figure, wherof the Face is the Basis, and the Speculum the Cone: for though the violent Motions of Refraction or Reflection do much vary from Mathematical Rules and the common Motion of Matter, yet the Natural Motion of Emanation from the Lucid Body into the Im­mediate Medium, and after Refraction, or Reflection from Point to Point, is Exactly Mathematical, and the Foundation of Catop­trike, as the other is of Dioptrike. But though the Object and Convex Speculum be never so farr Distanced, yet the Image will never be Contracted into a Point, (whereby it should become no Image) becaus the Perpendicular Ray which is Midst, and hath also some Latitude, will alway keep the Collateral Rays asun­der; so that though they Intersect, and Invert themselvs, ye [...] the Perpendicular Ray will alway be Midst: for that is never Re­fracted, but only Distended. And if the Speculum be Concav [...] then becaus the first Rays which are Interrupted, are they [...] are next to the Limbus, or Brim, therof; therefore the Col [...] Rays every way Incline to Assist them both without, a [...]d [...] it: and so being Reflected back again from the Limbus i [...]to [...] Concavity of the Fundus, or Bottom, make the Image to be In­verted. And in a Foramen, which is as a Concave Specu [...]um [...]h­out any Fundus or Bottom beyond it, therefore t [...]e Rays no [...] being Reflected from the Sides, but only from the Limbus, pass forward toward their own Focus, where they Intersect, and are also Inverted by such Decussation therof, and the farther the Object [Page 180] is drawn back from the Foramen, or the Foramen from it, the Fo­cus is neerer to the Foramen, and the Image is less, then when the Focus is farther, and the Object and Foramen neerer. But it is alway least next to the Focus, wheresoever that is. And so also through a Lens, or any open Convex Glass. Now this Motion thus Interrupted and Disturbed is not Mathematical, but very di­vers from it: for if the Base of any Pyramid or Isosceles made of Wires Inserted in a Foramen be Inlarged by any farther Production therof according to the same Figure, yet the Cone will be where it was before, becaus the Pyramid or Isosceles is only Produced from the same Point Contracted; whereas if the Base of the Object be either way Inlarged, the Cone or Focus shall still be neerer and neerer to the Foramen; and yet the Foramen is still the same, and fil­led with Rays, whether the Base of the Object be farther, or neer­er, greater, or less; but when it is farther there are more Rays of the Object Inlarged Proportionably, which Converge more toward the Limbus of the Foramen, and they being more Inflected thereby Intersect sooner, and neerer to it Proportionably according to the Longinquity, and Length of the Rays; as if the Wires were so Decussated through the Foramen, and then were Distended and farther Separated at their other Ends without the Foramen, the more they are Distended the sooner they Converge and Intersect within it: Also where there is such Interruption of Bodys in their Motion; yet their Inflection is not like that of Emanant Rays; nor is it Refracted the same way but farr otherwise; as if a Bullet be shott Obliquely into Water, which doth Divert the Motion ther­of, it doth I [...]flect Outwardly A Perpendiculo, more, or less, ac­cording to the forcible Penetration therof, but never Inwardly or within the same Oblique Line Produced; wheras such Refraction is always Inwardly Ad Perpendiculum, more, or less, as the Diapha­nous Body doth Refract more, or less; which are Opposite Moti­ons, and Ocularly Declare not only a Difference, but also an Op­position, between these two Motions, and shew the Different Na­tures of Matter, and Spirits, and of all Material, and Spiritual Accidents and Affections; and there are plainly as D [...]fferent Rea­sons therof: for the Bullet itself is a Body, which tending to the Center is Diverted by the Water, that is another Body of Matter below it, which it cannot Penetrate, and will not be so suddenly Re­moved, as I have shewed; but doth therefore Inflect it in the Water [Page 181] Proportionably, as it would make it to Graze or Reflect in the Air, which is more Rare: wheras Emanant Light being no Body, but a Spiritual and Active Quality, whose Motion is Circumferentialy from the Center, and which can Penetrate, and is not hindred by a Diaphanous Body, as it is a Body, but only as it is partly Opa­cous, (which is another Spiritual Quality Actively Contrary to it) doth not only pass through it, as it is Diaphanous, but as farr as it can doth also Decline from its own Motion to Assist any other Rays interrupted by it, (as in the former Examples) toward which ac­cordingly the rest do Converge and Incline as farr as they may: and thus Spiritual Qualitys can Vary their Motion (which other­wise also is Mathematical) either to Encounter a Contrary Quality, or to Assist one another: and this is from the same Political Prin­ciple in Nature of Preserving itself both in its Universal Entity, and in its Specifical Homogeneity, and also in its Individuality; whereby it plainly appears that there is such an Universal Nature, and also such Specifical, and Individual Natures, becaus there are such Real Unions and Confederacys, and such Real Effects therof. And thus Emanant Rays are Refracted in Diaphanous, or Reflected by Opacous Bodys; and do Converge, both in Convex, and Con­cave, Superficies, toward the Vmbo or toward the Limbus: and though the Image in one be Erected, and in the other Inverted, yet in both it is Proportionably less; which doth plainly shew the Convergence of the Rays, in the Image: and if the Superficies be Lenticular, and not so Orbicular, whereby it is as it were Semi­convex and Semiconcave (as one Bank is also half of the Vally) there may be a double Image Reflected, wherof one shall be Erect, and the other Invers: yet they shall both be Proportionably less, as before: And if the Speculum be Plane, it Reflects almost Equa­ly, unles the Lucid Body be Orbicular; as a full Moon, which in a Looking Glass appears somwhat less; becaus the lowest Ray of her Lucid Orb is somwhat neerer to the Speculum then the rest, and therefore first Interrupted. And when the Rays have Penetrated the Diaphanous Body, though they are Refracted according to their Points of Incidence, and Inflection, and are so Directed thereby, yet they pass through it in Direct Lines, as I have said, from Point to Point, untill they meet with somthing of Different Diaphaneity therin, which as another Medium will again Inflect them, and so when they go forth by the other Opposite Superficies Convex, Concave, or [Page 182] Plane, into another Medium, they have another Point of Excidence, as I may so call it, and another Inflection thereby more, or less, as that other Superficies is Figured, or the Medium is more, or less, Diaphanous: and so they Incline to the Rays first Interrupted, or last Ingaged either in the lower Vmbo of a Convex, or Limbus of a Concave, or Indifferently of a Plane. But if they afterward In­tersect, yet the Focus will never be a Point; becaus, as I said be­fore of an Image, the Perpendicular Ray doth alway caus some Latitude therof. And this I conceiv to be the Cours of Emanation of Rays of Light, which Naturaly is Circumferential, and when it is Interrupted, doth thus Converge as farr as it may, though it be also said to Diverge as in the Concave Speculum, becaus the Rays which so Converge to assist the Interrupted Rays one way, do indeed Di­verge from others the other way; and the whole Limbus so Inter­rupting them they so Converge to every Point therof. And now as I have shewed the Motion of Emanant Light to be very Different from Corporeal Motion of Matter, so I shall also shew that any Light is not only Motion, or Puls of the Diaphanum, or som­thing of that kind, which others have affirmed it to be, whereby I suppose they Intend also a Corporeal Motion, which I have al­ready disproved; but yet as I have particularly discoursed of the Motion of Heat, so I shall now also of Light; and cer­teinly if Heat be a Motion, and Light also a Motion, they may not be one and the same Motion; for then Heat should be Light, and Light Heat; and so we should not need to argue any farther par­ticularly concerning Light, having argued it already against Heat: but I do acknowledg them to be several and Different Qualitys of Aether, and desire such who affirm them to be Motions to assigne their several and Different Local Motions, which if they be seve­ral and Different, must Impede and Obstruct one another, as I have said; for Heat and Light are Localy United per omnia, and therefore their Local Motions must be also per omnia, as a Sun­beam or Flame are very Lucid, and very Hott per omnia. And now let any such satisfie themselvs how the same Body, in the same Place, and the same Time, can Possibly Move by several Motions per omnia Puncta. Again, if the Motion of Light consydered di­stinctly by itself be only a Corporeal Puls, then it must be so Im­pelled by some other Corporeal Mover, and then they must also assigne some particular Motions and Impressions of the Body Mo­ving, [Page 183] whereby it doth so Impell the Body Moved, as to Generate Light; otherwise any Body that Moves the Diaphanum in any maner might, as well as the Sun, thereby Generate Light; and Collision of Icicles should Generate it and Heat, as well as of Flint and Steel. Also let them shew what Connatural Analogy there is between these two very Different Motions of Circulation, and Collision, which yet do both Generate Light. But I suppose I may fully satisfy them with one Consyderation, which is, that the Motion of Emanant Light is so Swift and Momentaneous, that there is no Corporeal Mover in Nature which may Move the Diaphanum so swiftly, certeinly the Motion of the Sun is Comparatively, as Rest and Sloth in respect therof, and therefore can not Generate Light by his Impulses; becaus the Pulses Caused thereby can not be Swifter then the first Impressions. And though it be true that any Consistent Body, though never so long being Moved in any Part or Point, is Moved in the Whole, almost Instantaneously and Simultaneously, becaus it is Consistent; yet Air, which is the great Diaphanum and Vehicle of Light, is not Consistent, but Fluid; and so is Aether; as I have before shewed: and a Ship sailing in Water, which is more Consistent then either of them, doth not Move it many Leuks; as a Stone thrown into a Calm Sea will not make Circles therin many Miles: much less can the Circumgyra­tion, or any other Motion of the Sun, Caus such Pulses in all the vast Aether, Air, and Water, and wheresoever there is any Aethe­real Light. Nor doth every Motion of one Body in another make a Commotion and Puls therin: as a most smooth Globe turning round in Air or Water doth not Impell much, nor make any great Friction or Attrition, but only slideth by the Ambient Body; and the more Swiftly it so Moveth, the less Commotion it maketh in any other Body; or as an Intire and Solid Bullet flying in the Air maketh litle or no Nois, which is only made by Commotion, as I shall shew heerafter. Wherefore if the Sun thus Move most Swiftly in a Fluid Aether, both Circularly, and Progressively, he maketh litle or no Commotion or Impuls, (as manifestly [...]e maketh no Sound or Nois by such Motion therin) and certeinly none in the Air or Water, wherin yet manifestly there is Light. Again, though the Emanation itself be a Motion in itself, yet it causeth no Conti­nued Commotion in the Diaphanum; as when it Moveth through Glass, which is a very Consistent Body, and would easily discover [Page 184] any such Motion or Tremor; yet I suppose any such Motion therin by the Irradiation of Light can never be discerned with any M [...] ­croscope; however certeinly when the Motion of Emanation ceaseth, and the Emanant Light hath filled all the Sphere therof, it Moveth no more but atteineth its Rest; and so is neither Moved itself, nor doth Move the Diaphanum, and yet it is Light still, as it it was before; and so the Motion therof is only the very E [...]a­nation, which is Instrumental in Diffusing the Light, and Caused by the Spiritual Quality therof, and not the Light by it, which is another thing, and of another Nature very farr Different from it. Also Light Moveth through a more Dens Diaphanum as well as it doth through a more Rare, & is not so Resisted by Density, or Con­sistence as Bodys are in their Motion, but only by Opacity which is Contrary to it; and that doth Refract or Reflect it as swiftly, and when it is Perpendicularly Reflected back into itself, there is ano­ther Motion therof or Reduplication of itself Directly Opposite to the Emanation in the same Perpendicular Line, and at the same Time per omnia, which could not be if it were any such Corporeal Motion; and yet the Light is not Obstructed or stop'd, but very much Augmented, as well as the Heat, by such Reduplication therof.

IV. Having discovered such a Quality in Nature as Opacity, which is Contrary to Light, though it be not so Conspicuous, and therefore is not so much regarded, but denied or neglected by o­thers, as many such Antiqualitys, as I may so call them, are, becaus they are not so Agile and Active as their Contrary Qualitys, but are for Contemperation & Fixation therof; I shall now proceed to con­syder this Opacity in the Mistion therof with Light, whereby it doth so Contemper, and Fix it, and whereby also we may very plainly discover it. For as the Mistion of the fower Elements doth Pro­duce so many Various Quintessential Composita by the Production and Actuation of perhaps more then fower several Qualitys in eve­ry one of them, and Variation of them, and their several Degrees, according to that Arithmetical Rule of Changes, which I formerly mentioned, so particularly the very Mistion of Light and Opaci­ty, and the Various Degrees therof, Produce many notable Va­riations. And so not only Color generaly is Produced by the ge­neral Mistion therof, but all particular Colors by the particular [Page 185] Variations therof. And first as I have shewed Light itself could not Exist without some Opacity, and much less be Visible without it, any more then Opacity without Light; and therefore Light Objective and Visible doth always appear in some Color or other, whether it be Direct, as in the Sun, which is a Radiant Yellow, and in the Moon, which is White, and the Aether, which is Blew, or of some such Colors; or Reflex, as in the Rainbow, wherin all those Simple and other Mist Colors do appear; and though Light which is not Objective doth cast a Brightnes, and Darknes a Sha­dow, and thereby may Intend or Remit [...] Colors, yet they Caus not any Color, more then Colors them, which yet cast some such Proportionable Brightnes, or Sadnes, as Rooms Painted White, or Black; but the Light of the Sun Reflected from Water is Yel­low, and the Moon White, and the Aether Blew, (which also ma­keth Seas and Hills at a distance in Sude Weather to appear Blew­ish) though, as I have said, Density and Profundity are also in that Aethereal Blewnes Analogous, and somwhat Assistant, to Ter­rene Opacity, as Rarity and Tenuity are to the Aethereal Bright­nes. But if the Common Light (though that also have some small Misture of Opacity) were Visible in itself without Opacity, we should see nothing besides it, as we can not well see through Flame which is Objective Light; wheras Light doth render all things Visible, and more Visible by the greater Illustration therof; and so it is said to be Actus Diaphani, rendring it Actualy Perspi­cuous, which was Potentialy such before in itself; and so also it doth Actuate the Visibility of Fixed Colors, but not the Colors themselvs which are Fixed by Mistion Internaly in themselvs; and doth Externaly Illustrate them exceedingly by any greater Bright­nes therof. But Light passing through Painted Glass is by the Uni­on therewith, and Direct Species of the Colors also passing through it, with the Direct Rays of Light, Imperfectly Tinged; as the Yellow and Blew of the two several Painted Glasses is by the Lo­cal Union therof; and such Tinged Rays of Light being Reflect­ed are Visibly Colorous; becaus they were Tinged before by their Passage and Penetration through the Body of the Diaphanous Glass: and so being Localy United with the Inherent Color of the Glass, the Emanant Color or Species and the Light Emanant after­ward continues to be so United, whereby the Light becomes Co­lorous; as when we look through a Painted Glass and Inherent [Page 186] Color therof against the Light Transmitted through it, we there­by see the Color most plainly, becaus that being Inherent is stro [...]ger then the Emanant Light; but the Rays of Emanant Light being somwhat stronger then the Emamant Color or Species Re­flected on a Wall after such Transmission through a Painted Glass Window, we do not perceiv the Reflected Colors to be altogether so deep or strong as in the Glass when we look through it. And if the Emanant Light be not Radiant it is not Colorous, or if it be not first United with the Inherent Light in the Colorate Body then it is not Colored at all, as in the Reflection of Light from a Colored Wall: and so also if it be only Reflected from the Outward Superficies of the Painted Glass, and not Transmitted through it, so that the Wall or Glass is the Object of our Sight, and the Common Light serveth only to Actuate the Visibility therof, and is not Colorous and Objective in itself, or in its own Rays; and yet if they be Conspissated by passing through a Fora­men or Lens, or by R [...]flection, or the like, they become more Visible; as Aether also is by Profundity: Or if a Glass be Specu­lar, whereby the Emanant Rays of Light and Species of Colors Pe­netrate into the Profundity therof, and then are Reflected, they be­come Objective, becaus the Superficies of the Glass doth not Ter­minate the Sight; and the Emanant Rays and Species Penetrating together into it, and being so Reflected from the Opacous Fundus therof are thereby rendred Objective, as if they were Inherent in the Speculum Reflexively, as well as they appear Directly Vi­sible when we look through an Incolorous Glass, and see any Co­lored Object beyond it: and so also in the Superficies of any Adi­aphanous Speculum, as Steel or other polished Metall (that doth not Suffocate the Rays by any Unequal Porosity and Scabrities, which doth confound the Image) they are as Visible almost as the Speculum itself; and yet also we see the Metall with the Image Reflected; becaus it is Localy United in the same Superficies, which being only of one Color (as Black Marble, Brass, and the like) doth not Confound the Image, but only add a Tincture ther­unto; wheras if it were first Picturated itself, it would prevail over the Reflected Image, which is only Reflected and not Directly Emanant from the Superficies therof, as its own Colors are, which are therefore more strong and prevalent then it. And the Ob­ject doth not appear beyond it, becaus the Rays do not Penetrate [Page 187] the Profundity. And these Local Unions of Light and Opacity, or of Light and Colors, which are partly Opacous, being Spiri­tualy only External though Localy Internal Unions per omnia, do not Produce a Perfect Mistion or Generation, as I have shewed, and therefore are Momentany being Lo [...]aly United in one Moment, which is their Imperfect Generation, and Disunited in another, which is their Corruption. And such is the Momentaneous Ge­neration and Corruption of some Colors which are therefore truly called Desultory, but wheras they are called Apparent, I can also admitt it in respect of the general Nature of Color which is to make Objects to Appear at Distance, by the Contact of their Emanant Species; and so indeed all Colors may be termed Appa­rent; but any such Distinction as is by some made between Colors themselvs, Real, or Apparent, as though some Colors were not Real, I can not admit; and though some affirm only Fixed Colors to be Real, and others deny even the Reality of them, I must affirm both Fixed and Desultory to be Real, according to my Rule, which I have formerly sett down; and so certeinly they are both Realy in Nature, and Real Objects of our Sens, and not only in our Mind and Reason; like the Fantastical Species of Colors which Melan­cholike and Madmen do Imaginate and Contemplate, and which are the only Apparent Colors that I know (becaus they are only Species and Images therof and no Real Colors in themselvs) unles we also acknowledg all Mankind to be as Fantastical, as some such indeed are, and the Assertors of this Opinion make themselvs to be, and none to have any true and Real Sens and Sight: for let these Desultory Colors in the same Position, and with all the same Cir­cumstances, be Inspected by a thousand Sane Men one after another, and they shall all give in the same Verdict of them, which shews that they are Realy such in their own Nature, and there is not, nor can there be, in any Man any other Sensation therof: wheras any Infirmity of Sens may be rectified by a rectified Sensa­tion, as I shall shew heerafter; and though they were only Phan­tasms, as the others in Imagination, yet they should be Real Phan­tasms, or Entia Sensationis, as I have said. Thus let the Yellow and Blew Glasses be always laid over one another and not re­moved, and you shall alway see a Green through them against the Sun, by that Local Union, as well as of any Green Produced by a Spiritual Union of both those Colors, by dying, or the like: and [Page 188] though as their Generation is Momentany, so their Corruption may also be, yet you may continue them as long time as you pleas to continue the Local Union. And so also more Fixed Colors made by several Infusions of Chymical Spirits may be almost as Momentaneously Generated and Corrupted, and yet if any Chymist shall therefore deny such Fixed Colors to be Real, I desire him to reconsyder Flame, which is as Momentaneously Generated and Corrupted in the Successive Individualitys therof every Moment, and I suppose he will not deny Flame to be Real, (which is the chief Instrument of his Art) and Sound certeinly is a Real Sensible, and yet never fixed but Desultory. But the true Difference between them is, as I have said, that Desultory Co­lors are Generated only by Local Union Extrinsecaly, and Fixed Colors by Spiritual Mistion Intrinsecaly; and therefore Desultory Colors, wherof External Light is one Principle, as in the Prism, Iris, Pigeons Neck, and the like, have not only their Visibility, but also their very Coloration Actuated by the External Light; as in the Yellow & Blew Glasses laid over one another, which yet are not made Green without the Transmission of the Light through both: so that indeed all Desultory Colors are Actuated by External Light, but Fixed Colors are Actualy in themselvs what they are, with­out any External Light, which doth only Actuate the Visibility thereof whereby they Appear to our Sight by drawing forth the Visible Sp [...]cies which it doth Actuate, as I shall shew heerafter; but as a Picture under a Curtain, and many such other things may Actualy be in themselvs, though they do not Appear to our Senses, so are Fixed Colors in the Dark, by the Internal Mistion of their own Lucidity and Opacity, which seems to me to be very Evident by Reason, becaus they are Realy such Mistions of Light and Opa­city in themselvs Internaly, and so are Colors in themselvs with­out any External Light, though not Visible to us without it: and also to Sens, by the known Experiment of White which in the same Homogeneous Body, Cloth, Paper, or the like, will not be so soon fired by the Burning Glass as if it be Black, though there be no other Imaginable Difference but only of the Colors, and that Difference is Intrinsecaly in themselvs, and though it is true that the Sun beams Transmitted through the Burning Glass do convey Light as well as Heat, yet I do not conceiv the Light to be Consyderable heerin, or if it be, it is one and the same in it­self [Page 189] as it doth Actuate the Visibility of both the Colors Exter­naly, but I suppose that as it doth pass together in the same Ema­nant Rays with the Heat, and so meet with the Internal Light of the White, the Whitenes, which is more Lucid in itself doth, as all Homogeneous Natures, Univocaly Conspire with it and Dilate itself therewith, which is called a Segregation of Rays, where­by the Heat in the same Rays is also Diffused, and so Weakned, and therefore can not Operate so Intens [...]y upon it, as it doth upon Black; which hath most Opacity in itself, that is Contrary unto Light, and doth Congregate the Rays therof, that Oppugn it, and consequently the Heat, which thereby doth Operate more Intensly upon it; and so it is farr more easily Incensed; and accordingly as Colors are more White and Luminous, or Black and Opacous, so they do more or less Segregate or Congregate the Rays of Light, and consequently of Heat: wherefore there is in all Color such an Internal Light, which is in the Mistion of the other Elements, as well as Heat in Fume, which is a kind of Culinary Fire, and so I may call this, Culinary Light; which if it be not Perfectly Fixed with Opaci­ty, as in Flame, and the like, makes only Imperfect and Meteorical Colors; yet not such as are so Desultory as the others that are only by Local Union, and if it be Perfectly Fixed, as in other Colorate Bodys, doth Generate more Fixed Colors: And as there are these two Principles of Colors, that is the Agile Light, and Opacity which doth Fix it, so there are only those two Original Colors, White wherin Light is Predominant, and Black wherin Opacity is Pre­dominant; concerning which last I have one Observation, that as all Desultory Colors are, as I have said, Caused by External Light; so among all those Desultory Colors, Black, wherin Opacity is Predominant, was never seen in any Prism, Iris, or Pigeons Neck, or the like; becaus Opacity, which doth Fix Color, as I have said, is most Contrary to their Desultory Nature; and yet wher­as Diers say White is no Color in their Sens, becaus it will take any other Color, others Philosophicaly speaking, say, that Black is no Color, though it will not take any other Color, and generaly that all Colors are only Apparitions and Spectres, who, as though they could Create and Annihilate what they pleas, will Add to and Diminish from Natures Inventory as they list. And thus they make all Colors to be only certein Desultory Variati­ons of the External Light upon the Superficies of Bodys, and the Ob­ject [Page 190] of the most Noble Sens to be only a fictitious Imposture, affirm­ing Black to be from the Suffocation of the Rays by an Unequal and Porous Superficies, and White the Contrary, and so all other Intermediate Colors only more or less such Suffocations of the Rays; which is most Sensibly fals, if we may believ our own Eys; for Snow is most Porous, and yet most White, Jett polished least Porous, and yet most Black; and so Painted Glass is either White or Black, and yet the Rays Penetrate more through the White then the Black, and both of them are apparently White and Black in themselvs before, and without any such Penetration; and so Bodys of a like Surface are Indifferently either White or Black; as polished Marble, Skins of Europaeans, and Ethiopians, and the like. All which may also Chymicaly be Demonstrated by the Generation of Colors in Flame; which though they are as Mo­mentaneous as the Flame, yet are no otherwise Desultory then the Flame itself, as I have said; wherin, when the Fomes therof, as the Wax, or Tallow of a Candle, is first Incensed, there is before it be Inflamed or below the Flame a manifest Black, and so in the Fuligo, and assoon as it is Inflamed a Blew, and in the purest Flame, a White, and in that which is in the Cuspis, a Yellow, and if it be very Fuliginous, Red, (which is also very manifest in the Ro­bust Fire of the Wike) whereby it plainly appears that Black is from a Terrene Quality in the Fomes, and Fuligo; and White from the Aethereal Quality of the Flame: wherof I call the one Opacity, and the other Light; though both of these be Mist toge­ther, as all the Elements and their Contrary Qualitys are; but Opacity is notably Predominant in Black, and Light in White, and all other Simple Colors are only Gradual Predominations of either of them; as Blew of less Opacity and more Light then Black; and Yellow of less Light and more Opacity then White; and I suppose Red to be a more Intens and CondensYellow, or per­haps of a midle Degree between Yellow and Blew, as seems by Local Union of any Fuligo with Yellow which renders it more Reddish; but certeinly it is not Mist of both, for that is a Com­pound Color, which is Green, as Gray is of Black and White; and so all other Compounds, and Decompounds, which Painters, and Diers, make of these Simple Colors. And as these Meteori­cal Colors, so also all other more Perfect Generations of Fixed Colors are by Actuating the Internal Lucidity or Opacity therof, [Page 191] more, or less: and their Corruption by Reducing it into Potenti­ality. As the most White Wood by Actuating the Fuliginous Opa­city therof in Charking becomes a Black Coal; and when that Fuligo is Emitted by Burning, it becomes again a Whitish Ash, or Grey, Mist of both.

V. The Antecedent Darknes, which was in the first Chaos, was the Pure Evening therof, before any Light, which was Created after it; and therefore Light, rather then Heat, is particularly mentioned in the Work of this First Day; becaus thereby this, and all Successive Days, were made and Divided into Day and Night Artificial; as it followeth therupon, And God Divided the Light from the Darkness, &c. And so in this whole History of the Creation (which is as the Decalog, and the like, very Compendi­ous, and Comprehensive) though only some more General or Prin­cipal things be mentioned, yet all others that are Coordinate and Connatural must also be Intended: and certeinly there never was any System of the World declared and described either more tru­ly, or in a more short Epitome. Now wheras the Antecedent Darknes did continue for some Time on the face of the Deep, wher­in the Spirit of God Moved upon it, it may be Curiously Inquired, how long that Space of Time was, wherin the Antecedent Dark­nes was and continued, before the first Light was Created? but as Divine Wisedom doth not regard Human Curiosity, nor attend to satisfy it, so I esteem it Impertinent, though I may discours it Hu­manitus. However I must conceiv, as I have said, that the Spirit of God did not only Move or Incubate on the first Chaos to Prepare and Predispose it before and untill the Light was Created, but Conformably untill all the other Original Creatures in all the Six Days were Produced, and the whole Creation and Cours of Na­ture finished: for they were all Supernatural and the Immediate Works of God. And concerning the particular Space of Time be­tween the General and Proper Creation or Begining, and the first Improper Creation of Light, I conceiv it probably to have been Twelv Hours, and somwhat more, and that there was neither any Diurnal, nor any Nocturnal Light, during that Time: For so the Computation of all the Six Days is by Evening and Morning aswell as of the First; and the Evening and Morning made the First Pro­per Day Natural, which most probably was Equinoctial, and was [Page 192] afterward Divided into Day and Night Artificial; and the Even­ing is alway sett before the Morning, as it was before it in Time, but the Day before the Night, as it is before it in Nature; be­caus the Day Artificial was first so made by Dividing the Light from the Darknes, that is, into a Diurnal, and Nocturnal Light, and so God saith, I form the Light and Create Darknes, as he did in the First Day Originaly; wheras Pure Darknes is not Creable, but the Night which is called Dark Comparatively. Wherefore as this Improper Creation in the Six Days was Original Generati­on, wherunto all Successive is Conformable, so I suppose that as the whole Day, according to the Diurnal Cours of the Aether then first putt into Motion, and so still continuing is fower and twenty Hours and somwhat more; so the two Halvs therof, or first Even­ing and Morning must be supposed to have been also of the same Duration, and each of them Equal, as well as the Second and Third, before the Sun and Moon were Created. Nor can I con­ceiv how there could be any such Day and Night Artificial in the First Day, as since; becaus they were then first so Created after the first Evening was ended; but could not Possibly be before they were so Created: And when Light was Created it was Morn­ing in all the Aether in respect of the Precedent Evening, and so there was never since any such Evening and Morning, as made the first Day Natural: becaus there is no such Pure Darknes, but only Comparative Darknes, whereby Night was made after the Even­ing was ended, by the first Creation of Light, which was the first Morning; and God in that Morning did afterward Divide the Light into a Diurnal and Nocturnal Proportion therof, whereby he made Day and Night Artificial. And thus, though Time was Created in the Begining, from whence also the most Proper Na­tural Day did Commence, yet the Artificial was Created in that First Natural Day; and the Day Natural according to the Cours of the Sun in the Fourth Day, and the two Parts of that Day which we commonly but more Improperly call Day Natural, that is, Night and Day are not always Equal with the Parts of all other Days: wheras the two Parts of the Proper Day Natural, that is, the Evening and Morning being Computed from the Begining are always Equal and each of them Twelv Hours and somwhat more. And becaus the Parts of the Solar or Improper Day Na­tural, except Equinoctial, are Unequal, therefore the Whole may [Page 193] be sooner as in Summer, or later as in Winter; but the Proper Natural Day is never sooner or later, becaus it is the Succession of Fower and Twenty Hours Daily from the first Fower and Twenty Hours, and Begining of the first Day Natural: and so all the Six Days both before and after the Sun and Moon were made to Rule the Day and Night, and also the Seaventh or Sabbath are Computed accordingly. Wherefore becaus this Day is most Even Exact and Invariable according to Time, God also appointed it, and not the Improper Day Natural, to be the Measure of Time in Sacris, and so it is said from Even to Even shall ye cele [...]rate your Sabbath, and not from Night to Night, and though the later Iews did not so observ it; yet Ab Initio non fuit sic. But both the Day and Time of the Christian Sabbath which is appointed for us Gentiles in all Parts of the Earth, is, and must be Altered by the Resurre­ction of Christ, which if it should begin as the former at Evening, as some would have it, then it should begin before the Resurrecti­on; for unless that were also some Time after the Begining of the Evening Christ should not have laid in the Grave three Days Sy­nechdochicaly, as most certainly he did, and though it be expressly declared when the Creation was finished and God first Rested, that is, at the end of the Sixth Evening and Morning or Proper Day Natural; yet it is not so expressed or ascerteined when Christ Rose again, but only that he Rose very early in the Morning of the Third Day, that is, the Solar, or Improperly Natural. Now as there was not only a Proper Natural Day, but also a Division therin of the Light from the Comparative Darknes, and so Day and Night Artificial made thereby in the First Day Originaly, and Successively in the Second and Third Day, before the Sun or Moon were made to Rule them, more particularly, as I shall shew heer­after; so certeinly there must have been some Circumrotation of the Aether, and of the Light Inherent therin in the Precedent Days; for if the Light were Equaly in all the Aether, then there should have been Equaly all Day in all the Ae [...]her; and there could not be such Day in one Hemisphere and Night in the other without a Circumrotation of the Aether and of the Light, wheras there was such a Division of the Light, as made Day and Night Artificial therin, and this Day and Night were then Originaly made, and were such as they have ever since been S [...]ccessively by the Diurnal Cours of the Aether, (except only the more Spe­cial Variations therof by the Proper Courses of the Sun and Moon [Page 194] which were ma [...]e thereby, and are Annual and Menstruous, but not Diurnal) which must necessarily be by the Circumgyration of the whole Aether, and of the Light therof in one Hemisphere, as the Sun now is so carried about by the Aether Diurnaly. Certeinly the Earth, Water, or Air, or any of them could not so Move in this First Day, becaus they were not yet Improperly Created, or so Made, as it is said of the Air that God Made or fitted the Fir­mament therof, or Expansum, in the Second Day, (though they were Properly Created in the Begining in their several Bodys and Spheres) but were then all in Rest, and only the Spirit of God Moved among them, and as the Irregular Winds, and the Regu­lar Courses of the Tides and of the Sun, Moon and Starrs were not before, or untill those other Elementary Bodys were Improperly Created, so neither was there any Motion of the Earth; wherof if we could suppose any such Motion, yet we may not reasonably suppose it to have been before the Third Day, and Improper Creation of the Earth therin; concerning which I shall Discours heerafter, and now only add one other Observation; that as the Sun, though farr less then one Hemisphere of the Aether, yet maketh Day therin by his Emanant Rays, so probably the Diurnal Light in this First Day did not fill one whole Hemisphere, but only some such part therof, as according to the Vigor and Extent of the Emanant Rays therof did make Day Artificial in one Hemi­sphere, and perhaps with some such Crepuscula, as the Sun now doth make, for we may well conceiv, that First Day and Night to have been Analogous to every Day since in all the general Cir­cumstances therof (besides only such as are more specialy superin­duced in the Variations of sooner, or later, more, or less, by the Courses of the Sun and Moon) wheras if that Diurnal Light Inhe­rent should have filled one whole Hemisphere, the Emanant Rays therof would have extended much farther, and the Inherent Light should have been Hemispherical, which is not Conformable to the Natural Figure therof: and therefore I rather conceiv, that it was a Particular Globe Glomus or Confluvium collected from the Light, which was first Generaly and Diffusively Created in the whole Aether, and that which was left in the common Body therof is therefore Comparatively called Darknes; and though it were not strictly such Darknes, as was in the Chaos, yet the Ex­pression is not therefore Popular, so as some would make all the Philosophical Expressions in Scripture to be but Necessarily to be [Page 195] so understood, for there are no Purae Tenebrae in the whole Elemen­tary Nature, and in the Superaether there is either a Superaethereal Light, or neither Light, nor Darknes; for where there is not, nor Na­turaly ought to be any Positive, there is no Privative, which is found­ed in the Positive, & is only the Privation therof; as in a Stone there is neither Sight nor Blindnes: wherefore after the first Creation of Light, that Darknes must necessarily be understood of Compa­rative Darknes only; and this is the Natural Darknes which God Created, and is also sufficiently so explained in the ensuing words, And the Darknes he called Night, which hath its Nocturnal Light: whereby it is expressly and most exactly Distinguished from a Pure Privation of Light, such as was Antecedently in the Chaos, wher­in there was neither Day nor Night. And heer again Cavillation, which is endles, may proceed to term these Expressions, God Said, or Called, and the like, Popular; though as the others, so these also are most Necessary; for indeed nothing can be Properly spo­ken of God, either as he is in Essence, or in Operation, and there can be no Expression more apposite, then that the Creatures are Verba Mentis Divinae. And heer I must affirm of this whole History of Creation that it is not Popular, as some would have it, and thereby render it Insignificant unto all others, as well as to them­selvs; whereby they have lost the Benefit of so great a Treasure, which hath been a Chaos to this Day, and is still hid from the Wise and Prudent; or rather they thus hide it from themselvs: though I am confident that neither themselvs, nor any other, can ever declare or describe such a System of the World in more brief or less Popular Expressions. Wherefore I term it a Histo­ry, that is, of Matter of Fact; which hath only such apt Expres­sions as serv to declare and describe the Matter of Fact, and there­fore certeinly are not Popular; otherwise we may call all the Sacred History of Adam and Eve, of Noah, of Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob, and of all the Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings, and Governors, and of Christ and his Apostles, Popular; and reject all the Matters of Fact Recorded both in the Old, and New Testament, and our very Creed; which should be most Irreligious and also Irrational. Thus when God saith, In the Begining he Created the Heaven and the Earth; shall any say, he did not, and so of the rest? And if any may be so Irreligious as to deny the Verity of the Fact, yet he may not be so Irrational as to deny the Veracity of the Expressi­ons, [Page 196] or to affirm that the Scripture doth not say, that In the Begin­ing God Created the Heaven and the Earth, and so of the rest. But that we may not frame any Popular Notion of what we intend by a Popular Expression, and so Confound our Discours therof, as I have hitherto strictly examined other Terms and Expressions, so I shall also now examin this very Expression of an Expression. And I acknowledg generaly all Language to be Popular; becaus Words are no Natural Signatures, but only Instituted Tesserae, or Symbola of Things, Coined by Men, and so made to pass Current among themselvs. And since the Confusion of Languages every National Language is more particularly Popular, or peculiar to the People of that Nation; and the same Word may signify one Thing in one Tong, and another in another; as Nay in English hath a Contrary Signification in Greek. Wherefore I acknow­ledg also that there is such Popularity in the Hebrew Tong, and also many Idiotisms therof, as well as in others; but I suppose this is not the Popularity Intended; for then we should also Inva­lidate all Language as well as this, and all Books as well as the Bible. Also there are certein General Propertys and Modificati­ons of all Human Language, as well as several Idiotisms of Parti­cular Languages. As that which is spoken Respectively of any Thing, or in one Respect, according to that which is the Subject Matter of the present Discours, can not reasonably by any Ratio­nal Men in any Language be Interpreted Absolutely, or in all Re­spects whatsoever. And so again, as I have before noted, that which no Human Language can Properly Express may not rea­sonably by any Rational Men be Interpreted Properly, and the like; which if we should not allow, we should destroy all Hu­man Discours; and otherwise then so, I know not one Popular Ex­pression in this whole History of the Creation; and such Populari­ty also is, and must be, in any other History of Matter of Fact: and therefore this can be no reason why any should regard it less then any other Philosophical Discourses whatsoever. Where­fore they must rather Intend by Popular Expressions such as are ac­cording to false Apprehensions of Common People, or Decepti­ons of Sens, and the like; and I suppose, they can not shew any one such in all this Narration, and indeed it is great Impiety to conceiv that there should be any such in it, which doth so Histori­caly and Intentionaly declare and describe the Genesis of the [Page 197] World: though in other parts of the Scripture, which are not so Historical and Intentional, I also acknowledg that there are all the Varietys of Human Language, and so there are many Ex­pressions which are spoke, as we say Rotunde, and so indeed Popu­larly for common Use, and such as are allowed in all Arts and Scien­ces, even Mathematical; and many Figurative Expressions, yea Hyperbolical and Ironical, in some more Poetical and Rhetorical parts therof; which yet may as easily be discerned as in any ordinary Discours: but certeinly the Divine Verity doth not any where offer any thing of Falsity or Deception, but Expresseth most In­fallible Truth in the common Language of Mankind, and particu­larly according to those Tongs, wherin it is writ; and most Wisely Ordereth and Varieth the Expressions according to the Occasion and Intention therof: and so heer concerning the Genesis of the World it speak [...]th not only most truly, but also as Narra­tively, and as Philosophicaly as any Philosopher whatsoever: and therefore none may justly neglect it upon any such pre [...]ension of Popularity; neither do I suppose that to be the very reason therof, as is pretended, but rather that it speaketh too Expressly and Exactly those things which are Contrary to the Private Opi­nions of such Pretenders, who, becaus they can not Evade the Divine Authority therof, would Elude it, by supposing that it neither doth, nor can, speak any thing against their own pre­conceived Opinions: and therefore as they esteem all the World of Mankind besides themselvs Popular, and to be in a Po­pular Error; so they most Profanely and Presumptuously Inter­pret Scripture itself rather according to Common Errors, as they suppose, then will endure it to Contradict their own greater Er­rors, which yet they will maintein as Oraculous: and I find this Humor to prevail not only with such who do wholy exclude Scri­pture from all Philosophical Discourses; but also in many Com­mentators, who rather correct Moses by Heathenish Philosophers, in any such Points as are not Articles of our Creed (as the Crea­tion, and the like) then them by Moses in their Timid and Partial Explications: yea even Translators, who should strictly embrace the very Letter of the Text, yet do thus Warp and Incline as farr as they may in their very Expressions, as I have observed: and I know not how among them all this Divine Philosophy hath hitherto been Rejected, Neglected, or Abused; whereby Mankind ha [...]h received [Page 198] litle more satisfaction from it then from any other Human Philo­sophy; though it be the only Standard of Truth, and the first Sen­tence therof, In the Begining, &c. the very Alpha of all Divine Let­ters, and the Foundation of all that Divinity, and Morality, or our whole Duty toward God and Man that is conteined in the whole Scripture: whereby it plainly appears how firm a Connexion there is between Theology, Morality, and Natural Philosophy; and of what Consequence and Concernment, according to Divine Wisdom, a right and sound Knowledg therof is both in Church, and State: and I dare affirm that there never was extant in the World any other Writing that hath more firmly and plainly laid the Foundations of these three most Noble and Profitable Sci­ences: and as it is my Designe to Demonstrate it even in Natural Philosophy, (which perhaps men may least expect,) so I may sup­pose, if I shall perform and obtein this, they will easily grant it of the others: And I hope, though I may fall short of mine own Intention and their Satisfaction, yet I shall discover so much Light therof, that others will begin to believ that more may be derived from this Fountain, and so proceed to perfect what I have begun. Certeinly whatsoever is in this Sacred History, is Truth, and all that Truth is Fundamental, wherupon Human Rea­son (to which God hath left the rest for the Exercitation and Im­provement therof) may proceed to build; but other Foundati­on then this can no Man lay. And though the Divine Spirit in Inditing it did not intend to satisfy the more Curious and Imper­tinent, yet such things as no Memory of Man hath otherwise Pre­served and Delivered, nor our Reason and Judgment could have Retrived, are heer clearly Reveled, and faithfully Recorded. As not only that there was a Creation and a Begining, but how many Thousand Years since, and all the Succeeding Chronology of the World, and the whole Order and Process of Created Nature, how it was first Ordained and Instituted in Six several Days, and the like: and as all Christian Historians have rectified the Fabu­lous Chronology of Pagans by the former, so should Christian Philosophers their Contradictory and Unsatisfactory Philosophy by the latter. But again on the other hand we must carefully avoid all Cabalistical and Allegorical Interpretations therof, and satisfy our selvs with the plain and simple Sens of the Text, according to the Subject Matter therof, and Context of Scripture. And thus [Page 199] wheras the Rabbins from those former Expressions, God said, and God called it, and the like, have asserted the Hebrew Lan­guage, wherin this History of the Creation was writ by Moses, and the Names of Day, Night, Heaven, Sea, Earth, and the like, which are said thus to be Named by God, to be therefore the Primitive Language Instituted by God, and Original of all others, I dare not so affirm, though I otherwise grant it to be the most antient of all Languages now Extant, becaus that Book is the most antient of all Books now Extant. But God is also said to call the Starrs by their Names, though all of them be not Expressed: for their Names to him who is the Creator of all things are their Created Natures, by which he knows them Immediately and Essentialy, and so he speaks by Real Language, or by his Works, which, as I have said, are the Extrinsecal and Artificial Words of the Di­vine Mind, and his Word is only a Comment therupon, and so the Heaven and Earth were Denominated by their Created Na­tures; and when he made Day and Night, he so denominated them by making them to be such. And heerin Divine Language and Human Differ; for wheras Adam afterward gave Names unto the Creatures, he only Verbaly called them by some Instituted Names, Expressive of such Natures as God had made them; but did no [...], nor could Realy make them to be such. And the Primi­tive Language, whatsoever it was, may rather be referred to him; for it is Mans Creature, and of Human Institution; and possibly he might speak that Language: and so it is said, Adam called his wife Chevah, and she her son Sheth. However it is certein they both spake some Language, which also declares the great Perfection of their Created Witt, which could so soon frame such a Common Language whereby they understood one another, and that must be Primitive, becaus they were the first Man and Woman. And if God afterward spake unto them Vocaly and Humanitus, he also spake their Language, by which they might understand him: And it is expressly said that God brought the Beasts and Fowls to Adam, To see what he would Call them: And whatsoever Adam Called every Living Creature, that was the Name therof. And Adam gave Names to all Catell, and to the Fouls of the Air, and to every Beast of the Field: so that plainly all these Names were Instituted Originaly by Adam, and not by God himself Immediately, who is said to bring them unto him, To see what he would Call them; that [Page 200] is, to Exercise his Human Facultys both of Speech and Reason: and accordingly Adam did give to every one his Specifical Name, and that was the Name therof. Therefore wheras they make the Divine Institution of the Hebrew Language to be the Foundation of their Cabal, that very Foundation is too Cabalistical, and re­mains to be proved: and perhaps though that Language generaly were Primitive, yet the Dialect therof, as of all others, might be much Altered before the Confusion, but especialy after it, and most probably it was first spoken without the Character, which they also make to be Cabalistical. And there are some such Criticks who accuse the Hebrew Language itself of many Defects; where­fore certe [...]nly it was not Immediately from God, all whose Imme­diate Works are most Perfect; but from Man; and if from Adam in Paradise Originaly, hath been since much altered and corrupt­ed. Therefore as, I conceiv, there is nothing Mystical or Caba­listical in Numbers, so neither in Letters or Figures, or any other Quantitys; and as there is only a plain Signature of the Notion rather then of the Thing in any such Literal Characters, so also in Words which are only Sounds. And so the Names which Adam gave, did signify only Notionaly and Intellectualy; whereby al­so it appears, that he had a most Perfect Philosophical Contempla­tion and Inspection of their Natures, according to his most Perfect Reason and Natural Understanding: which God, who had Crea­ted his Intellective Spirit, and given him Dominion thereby over all Sensitive and Inferior Natures, brought these most Curious and D [...]fficult Pieces of Nature, and in the very next Classis therof to himself, purposely to Exercise and Discover to himself: And though some, who think themselvs Wiser then Adam, deny even this to him, and very Presumptuously Arrogate to themselvs more Knowledg of Nature by some Artificial Advantages, as of the Telescope and Microscope, and the like, then ever Adam had in Paradise; I will not deny but that they may have more Sensati­on thereby then he Actualy had, but yet I suppose both his Un­derstanding to have been farr more Telescopical, and also his Witt more Microscopical then ours; and that Potentialy he was able to have Contrived all such Artificial Advantages whatsoever as well as Language, if he had any such need therof, since they are only the Applications of certein Natural Causalitys which were then most Perfect, and wherof he had a most Perfect In­tellection [Page 201] according to his Perfect Human Nature in that Con­junct State therof wherin he was Created. But yet I do not conceiv that he did know, or could even then know such things as are Naturaly in themselvs Indemonstrable and Incomprehen­sible to any Human Reason, as Mathematical Points, and other Asymmetra, which yet are the very least and lowest of Entitys; becaus, as I have shewed, they are Demonstrably Indemonstra­ble, and were purposely so secreted by God for the Humiliation of Man in his most Perfect State, and for the Admiration of himself Seen in his meanest Workmanship: for as there is still left in Nature Veritas in Profundo, for the Exercise of Human Rea­son and Study, and it is Sloth and Idlenes in us not to D [...]gg and Search for it; so there is also Veritas in Abysso, which is In­scrutable, and it is Folly in any to Inquire farther into it. And so there are many things which we may Apprehend, That they are, but can never Comprehend, What they are: and when we once come to know that we can know no more of them, we have arrived to the utmost Bound of Human Knowledg; and there we must Acquiesce, and not Affect Contradictions, to know Omne Scibile & non Scibile; which is a Madnes beyond the Tentation of Adam, who knew that he could know no more then he did as Man in his present State, and therefore Aspired to be as the Gods, knowing Good and Evill. And though some term such a Prudent Ignorance and Sober Acquiescence, Ignorantiae Asylum; yet it is indeed rather Scientiae Adytum, wherin Humble and Pious Minds Adore and Admire their Creator, who is both Infinite in his Es­sence, and Incomprehensible in his Operations.

VI. Now let us Prais the Infinite Iehovah; Immens, and In­comprehensible; Eternal, and Necessary; One, and Universal Being, and Welbeing in Himself. Who most f [...]eely overflowing in the Creation of this Finite World, as a Transient Effect of himself, first Caused it to Start forth from Absolute Notbeing in­to Being, and afterward Invested the Naked Being of the Chaos with a Perfect Welbeing in Six Days. Which thereby was made to be a Finite Somthing in itself, but as Nothing in his Infinity; Mensurable in itself, but as Nothing in his Immensity; Tempora­ry in itself, but as Nothing in his Eternity; Numerable in itself, but as Nothing in his Unity; who still comprehends all Creatures [Page 202] in their Essences, as he did before in their Possibilitys. And as the World was Created by him without itself, so it would again be Annihilated of itself, without his Continued Creation. Who hath built this great City of the Univers for himself, and for the Majesty of his Kingdom; and hath Created all his Subjects therin by his own Immediate Power, and doth Govern them all, and all their Subordinations for his own Supreme Glory. Who hath made the Utmost and Highest Sphere therof to be his Holy Temple; Ingenerable, and Incorruptible: whose Roof and Cover is the Su­perficies of the Universal Globe, Circularly Including all Created Entity within itself, and Excluding all Nonentity from itself. And the Immovable Foundations therof are Arched over the whole Elementary World; wherof the Vast Aether, and Highest Con­vexity therof, is less then the lowest Concavity of the Superaether; and the whole Aethereal Sphere is the great Partition between it and the Immortal Inhabitants therof, and the Mortal Inhabitants of the Inferior Globe; Disterminating them not only by its Im­mens Superiority and Profundity, but also by its most Rapid Mo­tion; and Defending itself from all their Assalts and Encounters, while it Predominateth over them all: Whose Heat as a true Ar­chaeus Fab [...]r, or Vulcan, from which nothing is hid, Generateth and Corrupteth them; either like a Phaebus, Fostering and Nou­rishing them in the more Temperate Zone; or like a Phaeton, Burning and Consuming them in the Torrid Zone therof. And therefore is farthest Removed from them, and Diverted by its own Perpetual Motion, and Tempered by the Mediation of the Frigid Air, or Drowned with the Clammy Water, or Impri­soned in the Consistent Earth, untill at last this Firstborn and Strength of Nature shall Destroy them all with an Universal Con­flagration, and turn the very Original Chaos into an Everlasting Gehenn [...]. Also Light, the other of those Aethereal Gemini, is as Amiable, at Heat is Powerfull; Actuating all the Visible Beau­tys of Nature, and is farr more Beautifull in itself; Discover­ing all that is between us in any of the other Elements and its own Profundity; Adorning Culinary Fire with a Golden Flam­meum: so that Infants newly born are ravished with the Lustre, and fix their Eys on the Beauty therof, and all Domestical and Savage Beasts both Love and Dread the Majesty therof. Which opening the Shopwindows of the World setts forth all the [Page 203] Wares therof with no fals Lights; Inriching Gold itself with its Brightnes, and Irradiating Jewells with its Rays. Which maketh Day by its desired Presence, and Night by its deplored Absence. And is in itself the most Excellent Sensible of the most Excellent Sens, and the Visible Hieroglyphike of Invisible Spirits; and of all other Elementary Natures affordeth most both of Contemplation and Conversation to Sensitive and Intellective Animals.

ILLUSTRATION.

1. THe Air is the next Element to Aether, and seemeth to be Continuous with it, becaus it is also Diaphanous, and do [...]h not Terminate the Sight. And so it is called Firmament or [Page 205] Expansum, as well as the Aether, and also Heaven, as well as the Superaether. And becaus it is the next and Immediate Heaven to us, therefore the general Name of Heaven is according to Hebraical Etymology most Proper and Peculiar to it, though the Superaether be the most Stupendous Excellent Heaven in its own Nature, as I have said. And as we generaly call all that is above us Heaven, so in that respect this is the First Heaven, Aether the Second, and Superaether the Third. But it is in itself very Dif­ferent from both them above it, and also from Water, and Earth below it; and as Different from all the other Elements, as they are generaly one from another, becaus they are several Elements; though particularly as they are neerer in Situation, so also in Nature one to another. And Air is of a Midle Nature between Aether and Water, as Water is between Air and Earth; and so consydered with the Aethereal Rays Emanant into it may be called an Aeriaethereous Sphere, and with the Vapors and the Effluvia therof Ascending into it an Aquaereous Sphere, as Water and Earth are a Terraqueous Globe. And though becaus it hath Spi­ritualy less Sensible Qualitys then Aether, and a less Dens or Gross Body then Water (so that any Vessel filled with it is Compara­t [...]vely said to be Empty, and Poeticaly it is called the Inane, a [...] Chymists in their most Curious Separations can not well discern it) yet God who Created it hath discovered it to be a particular Element, and one of the three Heavens, and the Fowls of that Heaven feel and find it to be such in their flying therin; and though it be in Rarity next to Ae [...]her, yet both of them have some Density, and a Proportionable Weight, as I have said. Also though it be farr more Rare then Water which is supposed to be about a thousand times more Dens then the Atmosphere ac­cording to the Common Temper therof, and may be many times more Dens then Air Rarefied or Expanded; yet perhaps as Wa­ter and Earth do more agree in Density, so also Air and Aether (which are both called Expansa) in Rarity. But as Air is thus Rare, so it is not only capable of Compression more then Water, but also of Dilatation or Expansion more then Aether; which Expansion therof is now made famous by the Name of Elast [...]city, wherof I shall purposely treat afterward, and therefore not now prevent my self. As Astronomers have devifed several Spheres and Regions in the Aether, so have others also in the Air; wheras [Page 206] indeed they have both only their own Proper Regions, which are several, becaus they are both of several Density and Rarity, and of several Elementary Natures; and so with the other two Divide the whole Elementary Globe into their fower several Provinces, as I have shewed; and if any could shew us any such Division Cor­poreal, and Spiritual, or either of them, in the Aether or Air them­selvs, they should Prove what they Say, and not only Say what they Imagin. But though no Colorable Caus be offered to make such Partitions in Aether, except the Various Motions of the Sydereous Bodys, which Move in the Aether, and are Moved with the Aether, and need no such Proper Spheres, as I have shewed; yet there is a more Sensible Pretension to prove Three several Regions in the Air, which will be also found to be like them in the Aether, only in Notion, and not in Nature: for wheras they assigne the First Region to be and extend so farr as the Emanant Rays of Aether are Reflected from the Earth, the Midle to be where that Refle­ction endeth, and wherin the Meteors are, and the Third above them, and so Immediately Contiguous to the Aether; I find no such Partition therof, neither in the Text, nor in Nature. For them­selvs do not apprehend the First Region to be many Miles high, (nor indeed can it be of any great Hight, if it be below all Mete­ors, Vapors, Dews, and the like, which continualy Ascend into it from the Terraqueous Globe, and are not very high) but cer­teinly the Rays are Reflected much farther then any hath yet as­signed the utmost Hight of the whole Air to be. It is reported that the Pike of Teneriff, and some such other Eminences of the Earth, may be seen at the Distance of about three Degrees from them, which can not be by the Direct Rays therof, being no Lucid Bodys, and therefore must be by the Reflected Rays of Aether, which are Reflected so farr through the Air; otherwise there could be no Vision of the Object at such a Distance: though indeed Re­flection be farr shorter then Direct Emanation, (and perhaps there may be some such Proportions therof, as there are of the De­scent and Reflected Motion of any Ball or Stone from a Paviment.) And therefore we can not see so farr by the Reflected Rays of a Candle in the Night, as we may see the Candle itself by the Direct Rays therof. Now Heat is a Congenerous Quality of Light, and E­manant with it in the same Aethereal Rays, as appears by the B [...]rn­ing Glass; and though the Heat of the Sun beams doth Penetrate farther into the Earth, then the Light therof, becaus it is not re­sisted [Page 207] by the Opacity therof, which is not Contrary therunto, but to Light, and is only hindered by the Density, and so may not be Reflected altogether so much, becaus it Penetrates more (which also proves Heat and Light to be several Qualitys) yet cer­teinly Heat can not so farr fall short of the Light, but rather there is some Degree of Heat Reflected with the Light unto the very Aether, though Proportionably less; and then, according to their own assignment, there is but one Region of the Air. Again the Vapors of Water are said to Ascend above the Airy Expansum In­definitely, which may be to the utmost Hight therof, as well as all over it: and as there are Bright and Dry Clouds above the Moist, and Stellae Cadentes, and Comets, and the like, above them, so pro­bably other Tenuious and Invisible Vapors above them; and then also, according to their own assignment, there is but one Region of the Air; and they who assigne must prove that there are not any Meteors or Vapors above their Second Region assigned, which they can never do. But the truth is, that though the Aethereal Rays be Reflected from Earth to Aether, yet that Reflection both of Light and Heat, as all others, is stronger and longer as it is neerer, and weaker and shorter as it is farther from the Body Re­flecting; as well as Emanation is stronger as it is neerer, and weak­er as it is farther from the Body of the Inherent Quality which doth Emitt it: and so the Reflection of the Aethereal Rays from the Terraqueous Globe back again to the Ae [...]her is Gradual, and of different Degrees; and thereby doth Produce Different De­grees of Vapors, and several sorts of Meteors in several parts of the Air; and accordingly they attein several Situations therin; and by the Variation of many Circumstantial Causalitys the same Meteors poised therin almost as Glass Bubbles in Water are some­times higher, and sometimes lower, and have no such Planetary Position in themselvs, as Starrs in Aether: nor is the Air so Inva­riable as it. The Spirit of Air is not Exprest by any known Name, and I know not therefore well how to Express it, unles we should call it, Aura: or the like. And indeed Philosophers generaly have so much attended the Gross Matter, and so litle regarded Sub­tile Spirits, that they have not so much as found out any Vocabu [...]a of the very Elementary Spirits, except only Fire, which is most Sensible both by the Heat and Light therof; though all the other Spirits be also Substantial Activitys, and have their Sensible Qua­litys; [Page 208] which yet hath not been Determined concerning all the Elements, what are their first Proper Qualitys, as I shall heerafter shew, and particularly prove Cold to be the Proper Quality of Air▪ as Heat is of Aether. Also Air hath apparently another Quality which is Sound, and that is very Sensible, almost as much as Light; but is not so much consydered, becaus it is not so Permanent; and indeed Sound is farr more Desultory then Color, as I have said, for though Desultory Color is not, and can not be, Fixed as an Image can not be fixed on a Speculum (which if it could be, would Excuse and Exceed the Art of any Painter) yet it may be Conti­nued in the same Po [...]ition as long as you pleas: wheras Sound is alway Transient and Fugitive, as I shall shew heerafter, and can not be Continued one Moment, but is still in Succession, like Flame, and almost like the very Instants of Time. And yet as all the other Heavens are Hebraicaly Denominated from this first Hea­ven, Air, so also all Spirits from the Spirit therof, almost in all Languages. Air hath also a Mistion with all the other Elements as well as Aether, and perhaps more, as Water hath more then it, and Earth most of them all: and so it hath more of the Terrene Qualitys then Aether, and less then Water, as it hath more Re­fracting Opacity then the one, and less then the other; and so also more Consistence, then the one, and less then the other; and therefore is probably less Fluid then Aether, as it is apparently more Fluid then Water.

II. The Aether, as I have said, is most Rare, and probably can not be more Rarefied then it is in its own Element; and so the Earth most Dens, and can not be more Densified. And though I know not whether Aether may be more Densified, yet certeinly Earth may be very much Rarefied, as in Soot, Camphire, Salts Volatilised, and the like. But Water is most notably capable of Rarefaction into Vapors, and they are as much Condensated again into Waters, though I suppose it can not be so much Violently Expanded or Comprest, and that Air can not be so much Con­densated or Rarefied as it may be Comprest or Expanded. And of all other Elements Air is most capable of Compression as in the Windgun, and of Expansion as in the Airpump: (which from thence may be rightly termed the Expansor) and from this Com­pression and Expansion therof there follows a Natural Motus or [Page 209] Nisus ad Restitutionem, or Resilience, which is now Superscribed with a new Title of Elasticity, though the Term properly signify rather Abaction or Pulsion then any such Return or Restitution, as is or ought to be Intended thereby, and in plain English is better termed Springines, which is more Proper to Compression then Ex­pansion; though as it is Confusedly used for both, I am forced also so to use it, only for more clearnes and distinction I shall rather ascribe Elasticity to Fluid Bodys, as Air, and the like, and Springines to Con­sistent, as Steel, and the like. But heer I must Remind what I have formerly Observed, that there is a very great Difference between Rarefaction and Condensation which are Spiritual, and by Intrinse­cal Generation, and Expansion and Compression which are Corpo­real, & by Extrinsecal Violence: which Difference doth most plain­ly appear by this very Elasticity: for no Elasticity and Motion or Nisus to Restitution doth ensue from the former, becaus they are so Intrinsecaly Altered by Natural Generation; whereby the Predo­minant Spirit having in the Generation reduced the Body to a fit Rarity or Density for itself, doth so continue it as long as it doth Predominate; but only from the latter, when only the Body is by any External Violence so Expanded or Comprest, and the Predo­mination of the Spirit not Varied by Corruption, and therefore it reteineth still such an Actual Nisus; which, when the External Vi­olence is removed, becomes a Motus ad Restitutionem. And yet both the former and the latter are generaly Confounded together, which hath so much Confounded the right Knowledg and Under­standing therof: but being thus clearly Explained and Distinguish­ed, will very much facilitate and clear our Discours therof. And this may evidently appear in all the Experiments of Rarefaction and Condensation, or of Expansion and Compression. As first in the Sealed Weather-glass, which is the true Thermometer without any Communication with the External Air, and accordingly with the Variation of the Density or Rarity of the Body therof; from which it is defended by being so Sealed, and is only Varied in it­self by Heat or Cold, which are Spiritual Qualitys, Penetrating the Glass, or Operating upon it by their Emanant Contact, and consequently upon the Water, or any other Liquor within it (which whatsoever it be, we will generaly call Water) and if Cold have no Emanant Rays like Heat, yet it may, as I have shewed, Generate Univocaly a Potential Cold in the Glass, and so thereby [Page 210] also in the Water by Producing the Potential Cold therof into Actuality (as also Sound which is another Quality of Air Mist in the Compositum therof may be so Produced, as I shall shew heer­after.) And therefore the Water in the Sealed Weather-glass doth not Fall in Hotter Weather, nor Rise in Colder, as in the Open Weather-glass, but Contrarily Rise in Hotter, and Fall in Colder Weather; becaus the Included Water being Intrinsecaly Rarefied by the Heat doth Extrinsecaly Compress the Air, which also would itself be Rarefied, and hath therefore an Intrinsecal Nisus ther­unto in itself; but yet is Comprest Violently by the Water, which is more Dens and Robust in itself, and the Air more Rare and Tender in itself; and so again the Included Water being Intrin­secaly Condensated by Cold, doth Extrinsecaly Expand the Air, which also would of itself be so Condensated, and hath therefore an Intrinsecal Nisus therunto in itself; but yet is expanded Vio­lently by the Water which is Condensated, and being more Pre­potent, as I have said, doth so Expand and draw down the Air to fill the Space which it hath left, Ne detur Vacuum. Also if the Sealed Weather-glass be carried up to the Top of the highest Steeple or Hill, where the External Air is much more Rare then at the Bottom, yet the Water will not suddenly Fall, as in an Open Weather-glass; becaus the Water and Air in the Sealed Weather-glass have no such Communication with the External Air, and the Corporeal Rarity or Density therof; but is only Rarefied or Condensated by Internal Heat, or Cold; and that can not so suddenly be Produced in it as to make any such Variations: wher­as in the Open Weather-glass; becaus it is Open, the External Air doth Corporealy Communicate with the Included Air, and so by Mingling with it doth suddenly Vary the Rarity or Density therof, as Vinegar Mingled with thick Ink, or the like: And therefore the Included Air is suddenly Varied, and sooner by the Rarity or Density of the External Air, then by the Heat or Cold therof, which require more Time Univocaly to Generate Heat or Cold in the Included Air, whereby it may be Rarefied or Con­densated in itself: wheras if the External Air be Actualy more Rare, though more Cold (from other Circumstantial Causalitys, as in clear frosty Weather, or the like) the Included Air in the Open Weather-glass will also be more Rare; becaus, as I have shew­ed, it doth Communicate and Mingle with it; and so if it be more [Page 211] Dens, though more Hott; as in a Minepitt, the Included Air will be also more Dens, for the same Reason; and consequently the Water will Fall in the former, and Rise in the latter Experiment, so that the Open Weather-glass is indeed rather a Pycnometer, as I may call it. Also in the common Experiment of drawing up Water in an Urinal or other Vessel by Flame, or heating the Ves­sel, assoon as the Actual Flame, which did Actualy Rarefy it, is Extinct, the Air is again Condensated, and the Water will ascend suddenly, (or more slowly if it be heated,) and afterward so Mingle with the External Air, and Participate of the Rarity or Density therof, like any other such Pycnometer; for so it stands at that Hight wherunto it hath Ascended, and will be Varied af­terward as in any Open Weather-glass by applying Heat to the outside of the Glass, which will make it to Fall, and when that is abated to Rise again, and not stand afterward as low as it Fell, as it doth at that Hight which it atteined by the Calefaction be­fore. And it is consyderable in this Experiment, that the Air is Rarefied so notably in the Glass by Flame or Fire within the Glass, together with all the Fume therof; and yet the Rare­faction of both, which is Proportionably as much in Extension as the Water which Ascendeth afterward, doth not Depress it be­low the Stagnum therof in the Basin; wherefore certeinly it must pass out of the Glass, (whose Neck is filled and closed with the Water therin equaly with the Levell of the Water in the Basin, as the Top of the Torricellian Tube is with the Mercury that is in it) by some such ways and passages, as I shall heerafter disco­ver and declare concerning the Torricellian Experiment. And it doth not depress the Water below the Stagnum therof in the Ba­sin, as Air Rarefied within an Open Weatherglass doth the Water therin below the Standard therof; becaus in this Experiment the Wa­ter not having yet Ascended above the Levell therof in the Basin, doth not Superpend, nor hath any such Nisus to Return down­ward or descend, as in the Open Weather-glass, or Torricellian Tube, wherin the Cylinder of Water, or Mercury, doth so Su­perpend upon and above the Stagnum, and therefore hath such a Nisus of Returning again Downward, as I shall also shew after­ward. And so also in this Experiment, after the Water hath Ascended in the Glass, and hath thereby such a Nisus of Re­turning Downward again, if the Air above it within the Glass [Page 212] be then Rarefied again by heating, or the like, the Water will fall as well as in any other Open Weather-glass, as I have shewed. And the true Reason heerof is not from any Natural Springe of the Air, or Abaction or Pulsion outwardly, as I before noted; becaus the Expansion is Violent and beyond the Natural Density of the Common Air, and the Restitution to it Inwardly Natural; as of bent Steel to its own Natural Figure: for that which is more Constant and Proper is Natural, and the other Violent. Where­fore also the [...]r [...]e Reason why in this or any other Open Weather-glass, the Water doth not Return to its Levell (unles the Air with­in the Glass be Rarefied so farr) though it otherwise might, (not being Imprisoned, as in the Sealed Weather-glass) is, becaus this Elasticity of the Air Expanded by the Weight of the Descending Water doth [...]eep it from Descending any farther then itself will be Expanded by the Weight therof: for so in the Tube of Water or Mercury Inverted, as they Descend, they thereby Expand the Air more, and they Weigh less; and so at length they both come to an Aequilibrium, between the Potentia of this Elasticity of the Air and Pondus of Water or Mercury; and then they both stand at that Hight; which we therefore call the Standard: and though the Included Air doth, as I have said, somwhat Communicate with the External Air; yet not so freely, but that it is still farr more Expanded by the Weight: And as the Included Air will be part­ly Rarefied or Densified according to the Proportion of the Ra­rity or Density of the External Air; so by the Expansion therof it may be farther Expanded, and by the Compression therof Com­prest; which Produceth the like Effects therof in the Standard, but from a Contrary Reason: for though by Expansion of the Ex­ternal Air the Included Air and Water or Mercury will Fall, and by the Compression therof Rise, yet that is not from any such In­trinsecal Potentia as of Rarefaction and Condensation, but from the Extrinsecal V [...]olence of Expansion and Compression drawing the Air and Water Outwardly toward that End wherunto it is applied, which is the Stagnum, whereby they must necessarily follow that way, and so Descend in Expansion, by drawing it up more the same way Outwardly or Upwardly from the Stagnum; and it must as necessarily Ascend by Compression. And so in the Air­pump or Expansor the Torricellian Tube and Stagnum being placed therin, by the Operation therof; which doth notably Ex­pand [Page 213] the Air Outwardly in the Receiver wherin it is placed, the Mercury in the Stagnum is thereby drawn Outwardly Upward, and consequently it must Descend Inwardly Downward in the Tube (as that Engine is said to draw up a very great Weight) and yet it Proportionably also draws the Included Air at the other End, though not so freely, and therefore not so strongly, nor can so Communicate with it as the Rarefaction of the External Air doth not so freely Communicate with the Inte [...]nal Air, as I have said. And this I conceiv to be the true Reason of the Torricellian Experiment, and also of the Paschalian Experiment, which are the same Proportionably according to the Different Weight of Mer­cury and Water, and both of them Differ from the Common Open Weather-glass only in this, that they are Erected to the Highest Standard, which can be made of any such Experiments, wheras the Weather-glass is only a Partial Experiment; as when the Tor­ricellian Tube is shorter then the Standard, yet the Mercury will stand at that Hight: but a Pump doth Correspond with the Pascha­lian Experiment, if it be as High; for the Water will not so stand therin above the Standard, though by Forcers and Buckets below the Standard, and the like, it may be raised higher, as the Waterwork at London-bridg; and I know a Pump neer the place where I dwell, which servs an hous with Water pumped up about fifty feet high, by making two Pump posts, wherof the lower is about two Inches Bore, and the upper about five with Poles, and a Bucket in it, and two Valvs at the Bottom of the Bucket and top of the lower Post. Also the Siphon, as to this Purpose, is only a double Pump or double Tube Inverted. But the great Wonder­ment concerning the Torricellian Experiment hath been, how the Air should come into the Tube, and Ascend above the Mercurial Cy­linder; which first seemed so Impossible, as that it was generaly Proclaimed to be a Sensible Instance of Vacuity; though it doth as Sensibly Disprove it by the very S [...]andard of the Mercury in the Tube, which therefore doth not Descend to its Levell in the Stagnum to prevent Vacuity; and also by Expansion of Bladder, and by the Light which appears in the Tube above the Mercurial Cylin­der; which some say is a Body itself, but certeinly, though it be only an Emanant Quality, it can not Possibly Exist without a D [...]apha­nous Body, as Inherent Light can not Subsist without a Lucid Bo­dy. [Page 214] Others therefore suppose it to be Materia Subtilis, or Aethe­reous Corpuscles, or somthing they know not what, which yet they will affirm upon all such occasions to fill Pores or Vacuitys ra­ther then acknowledg the Truth and Evidence of the most Sen­sible Experiments: but though Aether doth send forth Emanant Rays every way, yet by its own Rapid Motion Circularly it prevents any such Excursions of its Substantial Corpuscles, or Effluvia, as cer­teinly would long since have Exhausted it, and made it no Aether, unles they can also find a way to Reciprocate and Restore them again, like Vapors to the Sea. But plainly and simply all that is above the Mercurial Cylinder in the Tube is only Common Air Expanded, as I have said; and may appear by all the Phaenomena therof. As by the Vibrations and Subsiliences of the Mercury in the Tube when being stop'd with the Finger it is Inverted and set [...] in the Stagnum, which are not like the Undulations of the Surface of the Mercury in the Stagnum when it is afterward Moved, but farr different, and more Busy and Tumultuous, as you may easily perceiv, if after the Mercury is setled at the Standard, you so Move it by Jogging, which will caus a common Undulation, but no such Commotion as before; and so if you fill a Torricellian Tube half full with Water, and then stop it with your Finger, and Invert it; you shall see the Air heaving and striving in like man­ner to pass through the Water, and bearing up part therof be­fore it to the top of the Tube; till at last the Air setleth above, and the Water beneath: and so if you leave some Air in the Tor­ricellian Tube with theMercury, or some Watery Bubbles (which commonly remain lurking in it whether you will or no) you shall see almost the same Vibrations and Subsiliences, and that is mani­festly Included Air or Water, becaus they were so left in it before. But for a farther Evidence heerof, take another Tube close at one End, and of such a convenient Length and Bore, as that the Torricellian Tube may freely move and play in it (whence I shall call th [...]s other the Extratorricellian Tube) and setting it with the Close End Downward, place the Torricellian Tube so like­wise with some small Supporter in the Extratorricellian Tube, that the Open End of the Torricellian Tube may be almost as high as the Open End of the Extratorricellian Tube, and then fill the Torricellian Tube so standing in the Extratorricellian Tube with Mercury; and afterward stop the Open End of the Extratorri­cellian [Page 215] Tube carefully with a Cork, or the like, and then suddenly Invert both together, and the Mercury will stand in the Torri­cellian Tube above the hight of the Standard; wheras if it were any thing but part of the Air Included in the Extratorricellian Tube, which by the Descent and Weight of the Mercury in the Stagnum Comprest, it should in this Extratorricellian Experiment stand at the same Hight as in the common Torricellian Experi­ment, which yet it doth not; but above it, becaus a very litle of the Air, so very much Expanded, doth suffice to fill the small Space above the Mercurial Cylinder in the Torricellian Tube, in this Experiment, and to suspend the Mercury, and therefore when so much of the Mercury as before filled that Space doth after the Inversion Re [...]tagnate in the Extratorricellian Tube, the rest of Air which was Included therin is thereby Proportionably Com­prest, and by the Elastical Potentia of that Compression bears up the Mercury and Cylinder therof somwhat higher then in the Torricellian Experiment; which doth Concurr with what I said before, concerning the drawing down of the Mercurial Cylinder by Expansion of the Included Air in the Receiver of the Airpump or Expansor; for so contrarily the Compression of the like In­cluded Air in this Experiment doth bear it upward; (and plainly ap­pears to be stronger then any pretended Pressure of the Atmo­sphere). And this may further appear if you open the first Close End of the Extratorricellian Tube, for then the Included Air therin so Comprest will issue forth with a litle Poppysm, which is a manifest sig [...]e of the Compression of Air; and then the Mer­curial Cylinder will fall down to the usual Standard. And yet more Visibly if you carefully close the first Closed End of the Extratorricellian Tube with a litle piece of Bladder, when both the Tubes are Inverted as before the Bladder will apparently strutt, and stiffly rise up, and not be born down by the Atmo­sphere, as hath been supposed; and then the Mercurial Cylinder will not stand altogether so high as before, but proportionably low­er, according to the more Space gained by the strutting of the Blad­der. And if the Torricellian Tube be Open at both Ends, and you stop one with your Finger beneath, and then it be filled with Mercury, and so you Invert it with your other hand, and place it in the Stagnum, it will notably Introsuct your Finger (which by the Inversion will then be above it) in stead of Air, becaus it is [Page 216] next to the Mercurial Cylinder, and Weight therof; and yet it will also Introsuct Air below it to fill the Space above it; and all such Introsuctions are manifest Symptoms of Air Expanded, and not of any Vacuity, which as it can not Extrude, so neither can it Introsuct any Body, nor doth need any Body to succeed, as Plenitude doth; but those forcible Introsuctions are from that Elastical Potentia of a Body Expanded, which is to Restore itself to its own Natural Density, and other Successions of any Body against the Natural Motion therof are, as I have shewed, only to prevent Vacuity. Nor is such Introsuction any Pressure of the Atmosphere above the Finger, but most Sensibly only a Torture beneath it. Wherefore it is sufficiently evident that the Space above the Mercurial Cylinder is filled only with Expanded Air, which they who deny, do thereby shutt their Eyes against a very Curious Improvement which otherwise they might make therof by Inquiring farther how very subtily and strangely the Air doth pass into the Torricellian Tube so prepossessed with the Mercury. Which I shall now also consyder. And I can easily grant to others and my self, that it doth not nor, can it Possibly pass and Pene­trate through the Extensive Body of the Glass or Mercury, be­caus itself is also an Extensive Body, and two such severaly Ex­tensive Bodys can not be in the same Place (which, as I have said, is only Extension in Relation to the Substance of the Body itself, which thereby is in such a Position and Place as it is, (in respect of all other Bodys in the Univers) nor can there be any such Penetra­tion of Extensions, or two Extensions in the same Vbi, becaus it is the Position of the Extensions, and so there can not be two Positions of one and the same Extension, though by Condensation and Ra­refaction, Compression and Expansion the Extension itself may be Varied, the Matter being the same, as I have formerly shewed, and doth plainly appear by these and all other Instances therof. Also I conceiv that neither the Glass which is a very Imporous Body, nor the Mercury which is Fluid hath any such Pores in it­self through which the Air might pass without Penetration; but that the very great Force and Violence of the Introsuction, which I have before discovered, doth make Temporary Pores, or ra­ther some pervious Passages, which are those very close and In­discernible Strainers through which the Air doth pass in the Body of the Mercury itself into the Tube, and thereby is so very [Page 217] much Expanded. As when Boys blow through a Q [...]ill, or Cane, into Water, wherin there are no Pores before, yet the Force and Violence of that Blast doth make such Temporary Passages, whereby their Breath passeth through the Body therof in mani­fest Bubbles: so when a Drawer fills his Wine, out of a Pott held very high into a Glass below, some Air between is by the Fall dashed into the Wine, and appears therin in very small Cor­puscles, (which he therefore calls Nitts) and again Ascend in small Bubbles standing on the Surface of the Wine: and so in the common Experiment of Tobacco taken through a close Vessell almost filled with Water, whereby the Fume of the Tobacco shall pass from the Pipe, through the Water, to the Mouth of him who so Introsucts it, which is very like the Introsuction of the Air through the Mercury by the Weight therof; and though the same Body doth Introsuct through itself in the Torricellian Ex­periment, which is also consyderable, wheras in all the others the Operation is by another; yet I do not apprehend this Diver­sity to make any Difference in the Reason of the thing itself: for so as there be a sufficient Force thus to Introsuct, it is all one whether it be by the Force of the same Body, or of another, or whether it be by a Potentia, or Pondus, and the Mercury, in the Torricellian Experiment, is putt into such a Posture, as it can not Descend with all the Weight therof, unles it first make way for another Body, that is, the Air, so to pass through it, and to suc­ceed it, Ne detur Vacuum; which it doth, as I have said, by the very Weight therof, and so the Air passeth through it, though not without very much Resistance and Commotion, either by In­discernible Bubbles, or some such Passages. And being so Intro­sucted by the Overweight of the Mercury, and to Prevent Va­cuity the Weight of the Mercurial Cylinder below it is as if there were an Introsuctive Potentia above it, which might be sufficient so to Introsuct Air through it, as the Breath of a Man is suffici­ent to Introsuct it through a litle Body of Water, wheras the Pondus of the Mercurial Cylinder is farr greater then the Potentia of any Mans Breath. And the Mercurial Cylinder by the Weight therof doth very hardly Introduce the Air through or between the Body therof, and may be sett in such a quiet Posture as it will not so Operate, untill it be Jogged, and begin to Fall; and when it doth Operate the Passages through the Body therof are [Page 218] opened with great Reluctance and Commotion; as Water by the Weight therof doth so open its own Body to let out Bubbles with an Ebullition and Undulation in itself; and so the Mercurial Cy­linder plainly discovereth a very notable Commotion by the Ebul­lition and Undulation in the Surface and Top therof, which is to me a most plain Evidence of Air passing through it the same way, as it doth through Water; and so indeed it doth pass through Water in the Paschalian Experiment: and if any may yet conceiv a Diffe­rence between Bubbles which are first forced into the Water, and so must necessarily pass out again, or Fume Introsucted by ano­ther, and Air Introduced by the Water or Mercury itself, and the Overweight therof, let him try and satisfy himself with the other Experiment of filling a Torricellian Tube almost full with Water or Mercury, and then stopping it with his Finger (or if he pleas Hermeticaly sealing it) suddenly Invert it, and he shall find that there will be both the same Phaenomena Proportionably of the Commotions, and the same Effect at last of the Air Ascen­ding above the Cylinder of Water or Mercury, and of that Sub­siding beneath it: and, as I have said before, that the Space above the Mercurial Cylinder is and can be filled with nothing but the Air, so Included before in it; so in all these or in any other such Experiments, the Air passeth into the Glass as it doth out of it in the former Experiment, and though the Air be Included in the same Tube with the Mercury in the Torricellian Experi­ment, yet in this last mentioned Experiment, when the Tube is Inverted, it is thereby placed beneath, and without it (though the Air were before in the Tube) as well as any External Air; and must some way or other pass to Ascend above and within the Mercury, which plainly it doth by the Weight and Pressure of the Mercurial Cylinder itself; and so the Air Included in the Tube with the Mercury when the Tube is Inverted is by the Weight of the Mercury first Comprest beneath, and by litle and litle Transmitted through the Mercury into the Space above it, where­by it is Expanded above, and then again Reduced to its former Density, which fills the same Space above, as it did beneath. And though I sometimes conceived that the External Air might in the Torricellian Tube and Experiment pass between the Glass and the Mercury, (as generaly Air will, if it can, pass that way; be­caus those two Bodys are only Contiguous and not Continuous, [Page 219] as the Water is in itself; and so probably some Air doth so pass in the Torricellian Experiment) yet certainly it passeth also be­tween or through the very Body of the Mercury by those secret Passages which it so maketh, as may appear by the Commotion in the whole Cylinder, and more plainly by filling the Extra­torricellian Tube with Water or Oil, so as when both the Tubes are Inverted, the Water or Oil shall stand above the Tor­ricellian Tube, and every way Encompass and Drown both Tube and Mercury itself; and then let the first Closed End be opened at the Top of the Extratorricellian Tube Inverted, and the Mer­curial Cylinder will Subside to a Proportionable Standard (ac­counting also for the Overweight of Water or Oil) as in the first Experiment, wherin only Air was left in the Extratorricellian Tube. Wherefore I apprehend it so to pass through pervious Pas­sages of the Water or Oil, and also of the Mercury, and that the Proportionable Weight of Water in the Paschalian Experiment is Equivalent to the Weight of the Mercurial Cylinder, and doth Ex­pand the Air Percolated through it as much: and so the Air which is so Expanded, when it is above the Cylinder by that Elastical Poten­tia therof doth Suspend the like Weight either of Water, or Mer­cury below it; which after they come to an Aequipotentia of the one, and Aequipondium of the other, Equaly and Mutualy Cor­responding one with another there and then rest and setle in their Standard, without any more Commotions and Vibrations. And though the Mercurial Tube be never so Long, yet the Over­weight of the Cylinder will have the same Operation and Effect Proportionably; And so I suppose, that if the Stagnum of the Mercury were never so Deep, and the Torricellian Tube were plunged in it with the Orifice downward, and any Air left in it, or not, and then drawn upward to any Hight whatsoever, yet it shall never be raised above the Standard, nor shall the Air be ever the more Expanded, though there may be several Degrees of the Expansion therof beneath the Standard. And the Torri­cellian Experiment when it is finished, is also a Weather-glass, and will Rise and Fall as well as a common Pycnometer, (but somwhat otherwise, and not so much in Measure) by Communication of the External Air with the Internal in the Torricellian Tube, as well as any other open Weather-glass; and I therefore conceiv, that the pervious Passages between the Glass and Mercury, and per­haps [Page 220] also in the Body of the Mercury still stand open to the Sub­tile and Imperceptible Air therin, and which doth still Inter­vene between the Internal and External Air, whereby they so Communicate one with another; And some have observed litle No [...]ches or Inequalitys of the Surface of the Mercurial Cylinder at the hight of the Standard after the Torricellian Experiment is finished, which seemeth to be a Perceptible symptom heerof. And thus I suppose that there is the same Reason Proportionably of the Weather-glass, Pumps, Siphons, the Paschalian, and Torricel­lian Experiments, and the like, from the Expansion by the Weight of Water or Mercury and Elastical Potentia of the Air itself, by Retraction and not by Pulsion, or any Pressure therof, which they do no more prove, then they did prove the preconceived Opi­nion of Vacuity; and yet Men are so Fond of their own Fansys that they would perswade not only other Men, but also Nature and Experiments themselves, to be of their Opinion, and thus have very Confidently Inscribed on the Torricellian Experiment the Title of a Barometer; supposing the Atmosphere to press down the Stagnum, and so to raise the Mercurial Cylinder in the Tube to the Standard therof; wheras in the Extratorricellian Experiment after the First Closed End is opened and the Atmosphere admitted the Mercurial Cylinder doth Subside; and so certeinly the whole Pressure therof can not be so much as the Potentia of the litle Compression of Air in the Extratorricellian Tube before mention­ed. Thus the Torricellian Experiment is grown famous only by certein Errors affixed to it, rather then by any Sensible Truth gained thereby, more then formerly; it being in itself, only the utmost Extent of a Weather-glass, and Epitome of a Pump.

III. The First or Principal Quality of Air is Cold, as Heat is of Aether, which being Contrary do Mutualy Temper one ano­ther; and thereby also preserve the Body of Water, that it should not be wholy Resolved into Vapors by the Emanant Heat of Ae­ther, nor Congeled into Ice by the Contact of the Cold Air, and both of them do extend the benefits of that Temperature to the Earth, and all the Vegetatives and Animals therin. But be­caus some deny Air to be Cold, before I proceed any farther, I shall prove it. I know not that ever any denied or doubted Heat [Page 221] to be the Proper Quality of Aether or Fire, which also t [...]e Text doth imply, becaus it is Synonymous and Connatural to Light, and belongs to the same Element, though Light be only mentioned for all the other Qualitys of Aether from another special Rea­son, which I have already declared. And expressly Drines is the Proper Quality of Earth, which is therefore in the Text Em [...] ­nently called the Arida; (and so also our Saviour calls it in the Go­spell) that is, the Primum Aridum. Wherefore either Air, or Water must be the Primum Frigidum; but Water is apparently most Moist, and so is every where termed in Scripture, and by all Mankind (except some Philosophers) And that Air is most Cold was the antient Opinion of Pythagora [...], and afterward of the Stoikes, and may be proved by that very Argument whereby the Peripatetikes would establish the contrary Opinion, which is their Syzygy of the Elements, and their Fower First Qualitys; for they say Air is most Moist, and therefore Water is most Cold, and so prove one Error by another; wheras by the very same In­duction I prove Air to be most Cold; becaus that which themselvs assigne to be most Moist, that is, Vapor, is plainly Water Rare­fied, and not Air, nor like it in any thing, but only in Corpo­real Rarity, which is very different from all Spiritual Qualitys; and that Vapor is Water, and not Air I shall evidently prove heerafter. Also it doth very Sensibly appear by Wind or the Motion of Air, which Cooleth, and if it be not Vaporous, but Pure and Clear Air, though most Cold, it drieth rather then Moistneth: though, as I have said before of Heat, Drines, or Moisture, are not Congenerous with either, but Indifferent be­tween both it and Cold, and may accompany one or other, ac­cording to Circumstantial Causalytys. But when Air is most Va­porous, it is commonly most Tepid; as appears by South Winds, and the Surface of Water, which is next to the Air, and is soon­est and most Congeled; wheras Subterraneous Springs are never Congeled, like Suba [...]reous Rivers; but are rather observed to be Warmer in Winter, and Cooler in Summer, though per­haps not Positively, but Comparatively; and probably Earth hath more Misture of Aether, and Water of Air, and so Ice which is Congeled, and Actualy most Cold, is Actualy most Ae­reous; whereby, as they say, it is more Expanded, but Properly Rarefied: Yet Water hath generaly some Actual Cold in it, as [Page 222] may appear by Washing, and especialy by Laving or Waving the Hand in it, which Motion doth more Actuate the Cold of Wa­ter, as Winds do Actuate the Cold of Air: though as Heat in a Burning Glass doth not Instantly Burn, so Cold which is less Active, may not suddenly Cool; and being Mingled with Vapor in all the Atmosphere, the Air is thereby Tempered, and doth Cool less: and from many such Circumstantial Causalitys the Acti­vity therof may be much abated. And though it be generaly Actuated by Motion, yet it is not therefore Motion, as I have said of Heat, and therin also proved Cold not to be either Rest, or Motion formaly in itself: and though Heat generaly caus some Motion, yet Cold may be without any Sensible Motion; as in Ice, wherof the whole Body, and all the Parts therof per om­nia, are Consistent and Immote. And there may be a very nota­ble Motion and Commotion, without any notable Variation of Heat or Cold, as if the Torricellian Tube be filled almost with Mercury or Water and some Air left in it, and then stop'd with your finger, and suddenly Inverted, as I before mentioned, you shall observ a very notable Commotion in the Ascent of the In­cluded Air through the Body of the Water or Mercury, almost like the Commotion that appears in the Dissolution of Metalls by Aqua fortis; and yet no notable Variation of Heat, or Cold; which plainly shews that the notable Heat in the other is not from the Mo­tion, but rather the Motion from the Heat, as heer it is from the Weight: and so Motion being a Common Instrument both of Bodys and Spirits, is Caused by any of them, and sometimes doth Caus them Equivocaly; but is not Univocaly in itself any other thing then Motion, as I have shewed before generaly, and shall still proceed to shew particularly in every thing which may Colorably be su­spected to be only Motion. Now though Aether and Air be the more Active E [...]ements, and Water and Earth less Active; and con­sequently the Proper Qualitys of Aether and Air, which are Heat and Cold, more Operative, and of Water and Earth, which are Moisture and Drines, less Operative; yet they also again Differ among themselvs; and so Cold is less Operative then Heat, and Drines then Moisture. Thus Heat by Contact, or otherwise so Intens as to prevail against Cold, doth sooner overcome it then Cold Heat; as Fire Warms the Ambient Air almost Insta­ntly; but the Ambient Air doth not so suddenly Extinguish Fire in [Page 223] Iron Candent: and though it prevail so farr against Flame as to to destroy the Individuality, yet it can not prevent the Successive Generation therof. Nor did the English or Dutch, who Win­ter'd in Groenland, or Nova Zembla, find their Fires or Lights to go out in the Coldest Seasons. And in their Antiperist [...]sis and Conflict, Cold doth more Excite and Provoke the Potential Heat, then Heat doth Cold; for so it makes Flesh to Burn and Blister, and Nive perustus is no such Improper Phrase: but when the Cold overcomes the Heat, it Mortifys and causeth Gangre­nation; which is sometimes prevented by applying a more Moderate Cold, as of Snow, or the like; which doth not Pro­fligate, but rather Excite and Recover the Internal Heat again. Thus though the Proper Effects of Heat be to heat, and of Cold to cool, yet by Antiperistasis they may Produce Con­trary Effects, which pilanly shews that there is such Antiperistas [...]s in Nature, and not only in Notion. Also from other Circum­stantial Causalitys they may Produce other Collateral and Conse­quential Effects, as I have already observed of Heat. But wher­as Heat first Rarefieth and then Condensateth, contrarily Cold first Condensateth, as Water in the Sealed VVeather-glass by the Frigefactive Power therof, and so also in any Open Water; and then Rarefieth by the Congelative Power therof, as in Ice. And as Metalls Swell and are Dilated by Heat in and before Fu­sion, and Contracted again by Cold, so Ice is Dilated by Con­glaciation and Contracted again by Melting. And wheras Cold doth not Conglaciate Bodys Actualy Cold which have much Po­tential Heat in them, as Sack is hardly Congeled, and so some very Hott Spirits, and Oils, and the like; it plainly proves Generation to be only the Production out of Potentiality into Actuality. Al­so Cold may thus not only Congregate Heterogeneo [...]s things by Conglaciation, which doth Constipate them in the Consistence therof, but also Segregate them, as Saltwater frozen is more Insi­pid, and I suppose that which is not frozen is thereby rendred more Briny. And thus also it may Segregate Homogeneous things, as Stone [...], and the like; which may Crack and Break with Cold, as well as Heat: but I esteem this to be rather a Discontinuation, then a Segregation. And so generaly it renders Bodys more Fra­gile; as Ice, or Petrified Bodys, Glass, and most notably Steel suddenly Cooled; and so any Iron is more Britle in Frosty Wea­ther; [Page 224] and Physicians observ the like of Bones of Animals. Thus also Cold is a Dissolvent as well as Heat, and doth caus Vitrifi­cation and Crystallisation sometimes suddenly; and I suppose might Effect more by long and Mature Generation, if it were tried; for though it is not so strong and quick a Generator as Heat, yet as a weaker Magnetical Virtue by long continuance doth Produce Magnetism in other Bodys; and Violent Tension of a Springe of Steel, if it be long continued will by Degrees over­come the Elastical Potentia therof, and make the very Spirit to Conform to that Figure of the Body; so there are many neglect­ed Operators in Nature, which though more weak and dull may in longer time Produce very notable Effects.

IV. As Aether Produceth Color, so doth Air Sound; which yet as the other seemeth to me to be no Simple, but a Mist Quali­ty. And though it hath been antiently observed that Color is Mist of Light and Opacity, yet no notice hath been taken of any such Misture in Sound, which is the great Instrument of Human Speech and Discours, and yet there is none of those other Sensi­bles, whose Intrinsecal Nature is less known unto us. And I I find it very difficult farther to explain any thing therof, becaus I want even Common Terms, and words whereby to express my Conceptions. I have already proposed generaly, that as Earth hath some Proper Qualitys, as Consistence, and Magnetical Vir­tue, whereby to Fix itself; so it hath also other Connatural Qua­litys in itself, whereby it doth Fix the more Agile Qualitys of the other three Fluid Elements, which also require their Contrary Qualitys, wherewith to be Mist and Contemperated, as well as the fower First Qualitys. And thus we have discovered Opa­city to be a Simple Quality Contrary to Light, and that by the Mi­stion therof Color is Produced. And that as Light is an Aethe­real Quality, so Opacity is a Terrene Quality; as plainly the Earth is most Opacous, and there are no Fixed Colors without some Terreity, and the most Fixed are in such Bodys as are also Consistent. But yet I fear to seem too Curious and Novell in asserting any such Analogy in Sound; however, as I have promi­sed, I shall adventure, and make a farther Essay therof. And accord­ing to the best Musical Terms that I know, shall call the two Sim­ple Contrary Qualitys, which I conceiv to be the Principles of [Page 225] Sound Acutum and Grave, or Shrill and Flatt: wherof Shrilnes is the Aereal, and more Agile Quality; and Flatnes the Terrene, and more Fixative Quality: or if we will accept of Latin Terms Ana­logical to Light and Colors, we may call a Sound or Voice wherin Shrilnes doth Predominate, Vox Clara; and wherin Flat­nes, Vox Fusca: but as Pure Light or Pure Opacity are not Visible, so I suppose Pure Shrilnes, or Pure Flatnes, are not Audible, nor indeed that they can Actualy Exist in their own Simple Extremi­tys. And as Light is not the least Degree of Opacity, nor Opa­city of Light, but Different and Contrary Qualitys; so that which I intend by Acutum and Grave, and their Shrilnes and Flatnes is no Degree; as Tones or the several Not es of the Gamut, and the like, but Contrary and Different Qualitys. Yet I also observ one general Difference of Degrees between Color and Sound, that is, as all Fixed Colors have a notable Degree of Terreity, which fixeth them, and Desultory Colors less; so Sound, which is only Desultory and Momentaneous Individualy, as I have said, requires a less share of Terreity then Desultory Color, though it be commonly Produced by Collision of Terrene Bodys Origi­naly. And as Fire Produced by Collision Originaly may fire a whole Train of Gunpowder Successively, so doth the Original Collision Produce Sound, that is afterward Continued by its own Spiritual Quality, which is alway Potentialy in all the Air, and Actuated by such Collision of the Air, which hath also, as I have said, some Earth in the Mistion therof, as well as the other Elements (and as we may see Terreous Motes and Corpuscles to float therin). And it is so Produced Instrumentaly and Equivo­caly by Motion, or rather Commotion; for as the Original In­strument therof is Collision, so the Immediate Caus of any Sound is the Tremor, which is only caused by Commotion. Wherefore Aether and Planets though most Swift Movers, yet becaus they Move in Fluid Ambient Bodys most Equaly, and thereby make no Commotion therof, therefore also they make no Sound, or Nois, or Pythagorean Musike: yea Aqueous or Terreous Bodys so Moving in Air, make litle or no Sound; as a Stella Cadens, Snow, Rain, Hail, in the fall before they come to the Earth: so a Round and Smooth Bullet, that is not hollow, shott from a Gun makes no Proportionable Nois, becaus by the swift Moti­on therof it preventeth the Resistance of the Air, as I have [Page 226] said, and so maketh litle or no Commotion therin; wheras a Rod, or Whip, by a Smart Percussion of the Air Resisting it, and thereby suffering a Commotion, maketh a notable Sound; and especialy Thunder, which suddenly breaking out of the Cloudy Meteor teareth it asunder, every way, and dasheth it upon the Air, and by sudden Expansion of the Inflamed Light­ning maketh such a Terrible Report (like the Flame of Gun­powder out of a Gun) and so fluid Bodys by mutual Resistance, and by the sudden Impuls that will not suffer them to Mingle peaceably, make a Violent Commotion, and Produce Sound; as Water suddenly dashed against Water; wheras in a gentle Flux and Mixture it makes litle or no Commotion, or Sound. But to Continue the Sound, there must be a Continued Tremor in the Solid Body, as Bells, Strings, and the like: and where there is no such Tremor Originaly by Commotion, there is no Sound, as I have said; as in Collition of Wooll; and if it be not Continued the Sound ceaseth; as by stopping a Bell. But any Tremor of a Body in the outward Superficies therof, may so caus the Sound to be heard without the Body; as is reported of the Aetites, and of a Bell of Gold being Closed round with a Stone, or Clapper, within it; and so Commotion under Water, which makes a Tre­mor also in the Superficies therof, may caus a Sound to be heard in the Air; though also Water and Ice, Glass, and the like Ter­raqueous Composita have much Air, as well as Earth, in their Mistions and so may be Proportionably capable of Sound, which is Mist of the two Simple Qualitys, Proper to Air, and Earth. And though this Tremor is the most Notable and Immediate In­strument of Sound, yet the Multiplication of the Sound in the Air is, as I have said, only of the Spiritual Quality itself so first Actuated thereby without any more Commotion. And indeed Sound doth not caus any such Undulation or Waveing therof up and down, like Circles in a Pond, as hath been supposed. Much less is Sound or Voice, though Articulate, any figuration of the Air, or Carving therof into Characters, like written Letters; for then we could not hear two several Sounds together, as we may if they be very Dissonant; as of a Voice and of a Musical Instrument; or any one Sound of one of the Voices in Consort by attending more to it then to others: and certeinly several Auditors may so attend to, and hear several Voices: for the [Page 227] Figure of the one Intersecting the other would thereby Disfigure and Deface one another. Nor could an Echo then return any Articulate Voice, when the Figured Air is dashed against a Con­cave Bank or Wall, unless the Bank or Wall had also such Orga­nical Parts, whereby to Figurate it again, and so Return it: but only the Air as I have said, having the sound Actuated in it, and being Reverberated, doth Return it with the Sound in it; which is by a Stop therof, as it may also be Diverted by Wind. And in an Echo we only Hear the last Word Because it is last, for the precedent Words by that Stop being overtaken by the following are somwhat drowned, as the last is not. Nor do great Winds or Wafts of the Air caus Proportionable Sounds, unles they Collide the Air against Trees or Houses, or the like, whereby they caus such a Tremor in it; wheras the Motion or Undulation of the Air in itself, causeth neither Tremor, nor Sound. And the Sound or Voice is Continualy Propagated in the Air by the first Sound or Voice Actuated in it: and so doth pass away continualy; and as it i [...] said, Nescit Vox missa reverti; nor can the same Voice (otherwise then by an Echo) be heard twice by one man, unles he could fly away Faster then it, and hear it again, as another man doth at a farther Distance, which is Impossible: for it is very swift, though not like Emanant Light of Lightning, which is seen before we hear the Thunder­clap, and if we estimate the distance of the Thunder cloud and different Space of Time, between the first Sight of the Flash, and Hearing of the Clap, we may partly judg of their different Velocitys. Also Sound is very Longinquous, though not so farr as Light Emanant: Broad sides in a late Naval Batell have been heard an hundred Miles from the Place. Nor is Sound Ema­nant, but always Inherent, though never Immanent, but Tran­sient, and therefore hath no Refraction, nor Reflection of itself; but as the Air (in which it is Inherent) is only Moved by the Wind, which yet doth not wholy Divert it; becaus it is so sud­denly Propagated in the Air, and Penetrateth and passeth away more swiftly, then the Body of the Air can Move in itself by any Corporeal Motion: and it is Reflected in an Echo only by the Reverberation of the Air itself; otherwise it terminateth and abateth itself by less and less Degrees. And yet while it continues, it is not Spent, or Exhausted by Hearing, as Odors, [Page 228] and Sapors, which are more Gross, and more Immersed in the Vapors, and Liquors, therof; but a whole Army of Soldiers may all Hear the Oration of their General: which also plainly sheweth it not to be any Figurative, or Corporeal thing, but a most wonderfull Spiritual Quality; which successively and by Innumerable Propagated Individualitys so conveys itself to the very Organ of Hearing, yet not corporealy striking upon the Tympanum therof; as Anatomists generaly suppose, and so also call some Internal Parts of the Ear by such Significant Names, Incus and Malleus; for plainly in Hearing we do not Perceiv any the least Commotion or Tremor, but only the Spiritual Qua­lity itself, which is the Proper Sensible and Object of the Sens; and if we feel any Commotion, as in discharging a Gun neer to the Ear, that is only the Waft of Air which the Ear feels, as any other Part of the Body also may by the Sens of Feeling, but doth Hear only the Vehement Sensible of Sound by the Sens of Hearing. Nor yet are there any Rays of Sound as of Light, so to convey unto the Sense the Image therof, and so several Images to several mens Senses; but only the same Spiritual Qua­lity is so propagated per omnia; which is very Admirable and Curious, and deserving more Notice and Consyderation then Philosophy hath hitherto bestowed upon it. Also several Sounds do Penetrate one another per omnia, so as to Convey the whole Sound in every Point of the Air, and to every Ear within the Sphere therof, and not Confound any of them so being Inhe­rent in the Air, which yet is not only Directed by the Breath of the Speaker, and the like, but also Diverted by Winds, and Reflected by Echo's: and several Sounds seem somwhat to hinder and Interrupt one another, if that be not rather an Infirmity of the Sens, then any Confusion of the Sensible Qualitys, as the Ey can not so distinctly See several Visibles, though certeinly the Images therof do not Confound one another. And as Spi­ritual Magnitude, or Ampliation by Multiplication of several Parts into one Total, doth, as I have observed, Augment the whole beyond the Proportions of the Particulars; so many Sounds together are Heard farther then any one of them Singly; as a whole Broadside, or Cry of Hounds; like a great Moun­tain, which is farther Visible in the Whole then any Part alone could be Seen. And Sound reflected at a great Distance is heard [Page 229] better then Directly, but best neer to the Reflection (like Re­flected Rays of Heat or Light) becaus though the Reflection doth not make any new figuration of the Sound or Voice, yet it doth Return and Reduplicate it so Generating itself Succes­sively in the Air, as I have shewed. But the greatest Mystery and Incognitum is, how the Air which plainly is not Configu­rated or Effigiated by Sound or Voice, but only putt into such or such a Tremor by the first Collision therof, whereby the Sound or Voice is first Actuated and Specificated Equivocaly, should afterward Univocaly Generate it in itself Successively without any more Collision Commotion or Tremor in itself. For there seemeth to be none such afterward in the Air; as you may try by a Flame of a Candle or the least Feather hung by a Thread in an upper Chamber, and let the greatest Sound, or Noise, be made under the Chamber window in the open Air, so as the Chamber be not shaken, nor the Waft of Air come toward it, but go the other way from it; which, as I have said, doth not at all concern the Sound: and then observe whether there be any Motion or Tremor in the Flame or Feather, more then would be without any such Sound or Nois: certeinly it will not be in any maner Proportionable to the greatnes of the Sound or Nois, as it should be if it were the very Sound or Nois. But I shall not Penetrate any farther into this very Cu­rious Secret of Nature, nor Pronounce what Sound is Particu­larly; only Affirming it generaly to be a Spiritual Quality, and not any Corporeal Motion, though it be alway first Equivocaly Generated by Motion, which is therefore so Concom [...]tant and Instrumental in it, and perhaps more Necessarily Antecedent then in Heat, or any other Quality whatsoever. Yet we must carefully Distinguish, as I have said, between the very Essence and Formality of any thing, and any most necessary Instru­mentality therof whatsoever; otherwise we should know no Difference between our own Bodys and Spirits in this Conjunct State therof. And whosoever will not so Distinguish between the Spiritual Quality of Sound (which is a Proper Sensible and the first Collision Motion and Tremor which is only the Equi­vocal Generator therof, though alway necessarily requisite as an Instrument, and yet, in itself hardly so much as a Common Sensible, nor Perceptible in and with the Sound by the same [Page 230] Sens of Hearing) seemeth to me to be like unto him who affirmed that he could play upon the Organs, and upon farther Examina­tion it was found that he could only blow the Bellows. Where­fore that we may better consyder all together, and carry on this great question concerning Motion throughout, we will Re­collect what we have said before, and now also add this unto the rest; And so suppose, as we may very well, the same Air to be per omnia Tepid, that is Hott, and Cold, and also Lumi­nous, and now also Sonorous, at the same Time, yea to have many Visible Images and Audible Sounds Penetrating one ano­ther, and all that Body of Air wherin they are in every point therof; and if any Human Invention can find out and assigne so many several motions, as all these and some more, which I shall heerafter also add in one Body per omnia Puncta therof, and in the same Instant, he may perhaps also Move me from my pre­sent Judgment and contrary Opinion.

V. The Aery Expansum, which was made to be the Common Passage between the Aether and Terraqueous Globe Transmitting Ae [...]hereous Rays Downward, and Aqueous Vapors Upward, hath no Proper and Fixed Inhabitants in itself, but only Vapors or Waters above, and Meteors, which Move up and down, like Birds flying in it; wheras the Aether hath Starrs, and the Ter­raqueous Globe is the Native Country and Region of Various Elementary Composita, Vegetatives, Sensitives, and of Man him­self. Nor can I conceive that all these Unnecessary and Deform­ed Meteors, which now appear in the Air, were so in it when it was first made, or before the Fall of Man; for whose sake, not only Earth, but all the Elements were Accursed; and that Curs hath produced many Sensitive Anomala; and not only Bri­ars and Thorns, but also Inundations, Meteors, Comets, and all the Imperfections Monsters and Anomala of Nature, which was first made Perfect and truly Natural: and we only read of Vapors then in the Air which are the Natural Effluvia of Water, (as Rays are the Emanations of Aether) and most wonderfull M [...]nstrua, Vehicles of Spirits, and Instruments of Nature; and it is said expressly that the Excess therof, which is Rain, and which otherwise may seem most Needfull, and least Noxious, was not then in the Air, and that, God had not yet caused it to Rain upon [Page 231] the Earth, which was Watered only with Vapors and that, There went up a Mist from the Earth, and Watered the whole face of the Ground; and so also supplied the Fountains Springs and Rivers of Fresh Water. Wherefore, as I have before Ingaged, I shall now plainly prove Vapor to be only Water Rarefied, and not Air. It is expressly so termed in the Text, Waters above, in respect of the other Elementary Water or Waters beneath. And it is Demonstrable that it is so, becaus it hath all the Propertys of Water, and none of Air, except only the Cor­poreal and Common Affection of Rarity; but as Air if it be never so much Rarefied or Expanded, yet doth not there­fore ceas to be Air, so neither Water Rarefied into Vapor, to be Water. Also it is not, as I have said, so Cold as Air, but ra­ther Tepid; nor so Diaphanous, but Refracts more; nor so Sonorous, for any Voice is better and farther heard in Sude and Serene Weather, then in Mists and Foggs; and it is confessed by all that it Moistens more then Air, which is the true Proper­ty of Water. And we have most Sensible Experiment int he rea­dy Return therof into Water, as well as the Efflux therof from Water, which is only by Condensation and Rarefaction, and no Transpeciation. Certeinly we may as well affirm Ice to be Earth, as Vapor Air. Nor are all those Bubbles which appear in Expansion of Fluid Bodys always Air, as is supposed, but commonly Vapor; and therefore have a greater aptitude to be Imbibed by Dry Bodys, and to Insinuate themselves into them more then into Pores, into which Air doth more readily enter; and they stick longer to Glass, Stone, Metalls, and the like, then Air; and Moisten more; with many such Symptoms, where­by they may be Discerned, being in themselves of very Dif­ferent Natures. And we must also Distinguish between Vapors themselves, which are either Produced by the more gentle and Calefactive Power of Heat, and were, as I have said, so made in this Second Day, and readily Return again into Water; as in Rain, or any Distillation, and still continue Actualy Moist; and these Vapors are also more Fluid, and only Conglomerate toge­ther with litle Consistence in more Dark Mi [...]ts and Foggs in the Air, such as we see to rise from Rivers and Vallys in a Morning, or Evening; yet they are not Common Elementary Water or Waters beneath, but Waters above; which therefore [Page 232] are so easily Trasmuted, Neither are Clouds any Cisterns, Mem­branes, or Sponges, conteining Rain; for indeed Rain-water is such a Ponderous Body as could not Possibly be Suspended in the Air, but would fall down in Cataracts, and destroy the Terricolae; wheras these Vapors being suddenly Rarefied by Heat, and as suddenly Condensated again by Cold, or Comprest by Wind, do accordingly Descend leasurely in greater or less Drops, and the main Body therof is in the mean time carried about to Water a greater Space of Ground; and so Dews, which are Vapors not drawn up so forcibly, nor so high, (commonly by the Nocturnal Tepor,) soon fall down again upon Trees and Herbs, and are there collected and hang in Drops. And if the Air be very Cold, whereby these Moist Vapors are Congela­ted, then accordingly they either fall in Hail (as Icicles, and Stiriae in some Cold Caverns of the Earth) and by their very Stillicidation and Agitation are formed into such Corpuscular Figures, which could not be, if they had ever been one Intire Body of Ice in the Air. And if the Cold be not so Intens, and the Vapors much Agitated before and in their Congelation, then they are turned into Snow, which is only frozen Spume, and being a Lighter Body is therefore longer Suspended in the Air, and there Congeled in whole Lumps as appears plainly in the Alps, but falling lower in our lower Regions breaks into Flakes. And Dews which do not Ascend higher are turned into Frosts. Or there is another kind of Vapor Produced by the more Violent and Caustike Power of Heat, and which is Burnt and Adust thereby, and therefore we call it, Fume, or Smoak; which is more Desiccated and Consistent, and hath such Ter­rene Qualitys, wherwith Water is Mist, Actuated in it; and so will continue longer, and is rather Actualy Dry then Moist. And there are some such Dry Mists lower in Summer; and they portend Dry Weather commonly; And of these Fumes are the Bright Clouds (which indeed are more Properly Clouds, and have a particular Name in Hebrew) Composed; and they are usualy higher in the Air then the others, being so raised by the greater Heat, and so the Sky is also Exprest by their Name. And more moist Thunderclouds which are of the other kind and usualy Resolved into Rain are lower then these Bright Clouds, and many times go one way while the others go another way. [Page 233] But I suppose that these Bright Clouds (which are therefore so called becaus they do more Equaly Reflect the Sun beams like a Molten Speculum as hath been said) commonly are not Re­solved into Rain, and therefore are termed Clouds without Water, but that according to the Hebraical Etymology by farther Con­coction and Condensation or Compression and the Agitation of the Air they are at length broken and Comminuted into those litle Bodys or Pulviscles which we call Motes, and are Visibly seen in Sun beams, and continue so in the Air floating up and down longer then any dust of the Earth (or, as the Poet calleth it, Cloud of Dust) which almost as suddenly falleth as it riseth; Wheras these being more Fuliginous and Light do wander up and down much longer; though at length they also Descend and Subside on the Earth, otherwise they should clogg and choak the Atmosphere; which yet is usualy replenished with them, and we drink them in continualy as Horses do Mudd the Water to thicken it; And so Fishes Introsuct Air, which con­trarily doth Temper their more Dens Drink and make it more Thin, and which they suck in and through the Water, as I have shewed in the Torricellian Experiment, and when they would suck it in more freely come toward the Top of the Water, whereby the Air in the Introsuction therof passeth through a less Strainer, and they cannot long Live without some Intro­suction of Air; as appears in Ponds frozen, wherin we use to break Holes in the Ice for that purpose; and accordingly the Fishes come to them, even to the very Top of the Water, to Refresh themselves with the fresh Air, which they there Intro­suct, and are so greedy of it, or sick for want of it, that they are easily taken: though also several sorts of Fishes require se­veraly more Rare or more Dens Drink, as River fish will be stifled with Mudding the Water, and Seafish grow faint in fresh Water, and the like. And indeed our Atmosphere is not nor may not be pure Air, as is found by them who have been in the Tops of the Andes, and by the Experiments of Birds and Beasts in the Airpump or expansor, which are almost Exanima­ted thereby; and also by the Tension and Elastici [...]y of the Air which is able to draw up Mercury in the Stagnum, and very consyderable Weights: And Breathing is not only Spiration, but Reciprocaly Inspiration or Drinking in of Air; And there is much [Page 234] more Inspired then Respired, which is the Atmospherical Drink, and perhaps some kind of Aliment of the Spirits, but very much Va­por is Excreted by Perspiration. And there is very great Difference of the Atmosphere in several Habitations, Higher, or Lower; as may appear by the Pycnometer. But I conceive generaly that such a Temper of the Atmosphere, as was in the first Expan­sum, is most desirable and healthfull; which, whatsoever it might be otherwise, was rather Mingled with Vapor or Waters above then with Fume; And it is requisite in an Healthfull Air also that Excrementitious Vapors as well as Fumes, which con­tinualy Ascend into the Air, be Purged and Dispersed continu­aly by Wind, or some Agitation of Open Air, and therefore Close Rooms are very Offensive, and almost Stifle the Breath, especialy if they be Vaporous as newly Plasterd, or With a Charcoal Fire in them, which strangely Alters the Air by a sud­den and vehement Rarefaction; And because the Water doth most evaporate, therefore there is a chief Consyderation to be had therof, whether it be Pure, or Moorish or Brackish; for Salt also will be Volatilised, as I have said; and because the Earth doth also Evaporate, and not only the Vapors therin, but Rare­fied Corpuscles of Earth do also Ascend with the Vapors, Con­syderation is to be had therof; as whether it be Sandy or Chal­ky, which Emitt least or best Corpuscles, or Fenny or Slimy, which are worst. So that in the Situation of Houses there is also regard to be had of the Soil, and of the Atmosphere, which is an Aliment, or at least a great and continual Instrument of Life, and must be Consydered as some part of Houskeeping. The Wind which Purifys the Atmosphere is rightly termed Aer Mo­tus, (as the same Hebrew word signifys both) and I easily grant it to be no special Quality in itself, but only Motion and Agitation of the Air which is a very Fluid and Mobile Body, and is Moved Variously by the Vapors Variously Ascending into it, and other Meteors in it, and such Circumstantial Causalitys, more or less Condensating or Rarefying it, and which render the Weather-cock as Unstable as the Weather-glass. And where the Motion begins, it drives forward the Parts of the Mobile Body of the Air one upon another; and where they find any Vent or Passage, they being in Motion flow thither, like Water; whereby in some places there are more Constant Etesiae, and Tradewinds, as they [Page 235] call them, like Vento's or Ventiducts made by Art; and this was one of Columbus his Arguments that there was more Earth. And as the Winds are thus caused by Vapors, so the Southern parts of the World being more Watery, are therefore, as I have said, more Tepid or Warm, and Rainy or Misty; and the Northern parts being more Terreous, and Emitting more of the Terreitys, therefore the Northwind is contrarily more Cold and Dry. And the Sun in the Diurnal Motion of the Aether being carried from East to West, and so better Concocting the Vapors which he hath before raised and passed over in such his Diurnal Cours, there­fore generaly Eastern Winds are also more Cold and Dry, and Western Warmer and Moister; and some Winds are observed to Rise and Fall with the Rising and Setting of the Sun. But if any Wind or Weather be so Copious and Durable as to be carried about the whole Terraqueous Globe, then the same Wind may be of a Contrary Temper from the same Caus; and so many times Rains come from the North and East; and commonly they are very great, becaus they are so Copious and Durable; and so in Africa, and other hot Climes, there are Infrequent Rains, but when they happen they are Excessive, becaus the Sun doth very Copiously rais Vapors, and if it happen by any Circumstantial Causality that he can not Concremate and Desiccate them as much, they all turn into Rain. And so the Hot Meteor of a Thunder-cloud draws very Copious and Dark Vapors, which, when the Heat breaks forth in Lightning, are presently Resolved into Rain: though otherwise, when there are few other such Vapors in the Air neer to it, there are also dry Lightnings without any great Nois; becaus they are not Exploded out of such Clouds as the others: and Thunder-clouds may go against the Wind, as we say; becaus they are Moved and Impelled by their own Heat, and by their great Commotion after the Explosion of the Lightning they commonly turn the Wind. And Concurrent Causes may Move and Impell the Mobile Air every way, and when it cannot Move fast enough Progressively, then, as I have said, it must Move Circularly; whereby it becomes a Turbo or Whirlwind, which I conceive rather to be such, then all the Winds blowing against one another. Ignes fatui are Inflamed Exhalations, more Lu­cid, and less Fiery, having some Fatt and Viscous Corpuscles of Earth in their Misture; and arise generaly from such Soils. [Page 236] And if they be more Igneous, and more Rarefied thereby, they are better Concocted, and Ascend higher, and become Stellae Cadentes, and the l [...]ke, which fall down again when that Heat is Extinct. But these Fiery Meteors which last longer, are not comparably Igneous like Fulgur or Lightning, which having a most Rare and Subtile Fomes, and being also pent in and Condensated in the Cloud, when it breaks forth, doth not only make a Terrible Nois by the sudden Collision of the Cloud every way against the Air, but also by that sudden Eruption, as well as by the Spiritual Power therof, doth wonderful Execution, and is strangely Influential; and I suppose of all Culinary Fire is most like to Aethereal; but I cannot conceiv that it can so Calcine any part of the Cloud as to forge a Fulm [...]n, Thunderbolt, or Stone; though I acknowledg that there is much Earth also in it; wherof as well as of the Water, some Insects, as Tadpols, and others are found to be Produced after Rain. All which Violent and Excessive Meteors are, as I have said, general Effects of the Divine Curs; and so Thunder is called the Voice of God; and ought to be regarded: but I do not apprehend these general Ef­fects to be any such special Prodigys and Portents, as some would have them to be. The Iris, and the like, are Properly no Meteors, but only Reflections of the Sun-beams from a Vaporous Cloud like a Prism, being also more Opacous then the Bright Clouds. And I doubt not but that there were Rainbows before the Deluge, (though not before the Fall) as well as Lambs before the Pass-over, Water and Bread and Wine before Baptism and the Lords Supper: for all such Sacramental Elements are in themselvs Natural, and only su­pernaturaly Instituted to be Symbolical Signes; and so was the Rain­bow, which signifys Sunshine after Rain, and doth very fitly de­clare the Covenant that God made with Noah; that as he and his Family were then saved from the Deluge, so it should never after come upon his Posterity: and as God said, I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting Covenant between God and every Living Creature of all flesh that is upon the Earth, so should we, when we be­hold this his Bow in the Clouds, thankfully remember his wonder­ful Deliverance; both that which is past, wherin we all who were then in the loins of Noah's Sons were preserved, and also future; concerning which God hath given us such an everlasting Cove­nant, and this Signe therof.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. THe Water which is Elementary and more properly such, and wherof Vapor and Ice are only Various, is next to Air above it, both in Situation, and Nature, as may appear by Va­por, and to Earth beneath it, as may appear by Ice. And though Earth and Water were in this Third Day made, and still are, one Terraqueous Globe; yet as they were Created in the Begining, so they still are several and different Elements; aswell as Air and Ae [...]her are several and d [...]fferent Heavens. And though they are thus Composed into one Globe, yet they have their several Pro­vinces therin, as well as the others, though not in the same maner or Figure. And so it is said not only that Dry Land did appear, which was before covered with the Sphere of Water, as that was [Page 239] with Air, and Air with Aether, but also that there was a gathering together of the Waters into one place, generaly, wherunto all Rivers do run, though branched out into several Canale [...]: and though standing Ponds, Lakes, and perhaps some Gulphs or Seas, as the Caspian Sea, may not communicate with the Ocean, yet they are also Confluvia, and Seas, and so termed distributively af­terward, and all of them distinguished from the Waters which first covered the Earth all over; wheras now the main Ocean co­vereth and compasseth it about only in one place. And as these Waters beneath flow from the Earth, so they are still above it; as the Waters above floating in the Air, are also said to be above or upon it (for so the word signifies upon or above, and so Fowl are said to fly above, or upon the Heavens) and as they are thus di­stinguished from Waters beneath, so are also those Waters above the Earth from Waters beneath the Earth, that is, Subterraneous Fountains, or depths of the Seas: for neither are any Waters under the whole Earth, which is most Dens, and consequently lowest; nor above any of the whole Heavens, Superaether, Aether, or Air itself, which are more Rare, and consequently Higher, as I have shewed: but these Expressions concerning the Vapors and Fountains are Respective, according to the Subject Matter, and not to be understood Absolutely; and they do indicate several Regions of the Waters, wheras we have no such indication of any several Re­gions in the Air or Aether, as I have observed. Also though the Evaporation of Waters by Heat be Natural, and only Supernatu­raly produced by God in the Second Day, as his other Works of Improper Creation were in other Days; yet this Distribution of Earth and Waters in the Terraq [...]eous Globe therof, which was so Composed in this Third Day, seems more Extraordinary, and Ar­tificial, and such as doth most plainly declare the Immediate Ope­ration of God in this, and all the other Days: for by what Na­tural Power could the Earth and Isles be raised above the Waters? or the Mountains and Vallys be so ordered and Indented? or who could cast those great Banks of the Shores, and cut those vast Chanells of the Seas and Rivers, or say unto them, thither shall ye go and no farther? which therefore God is said Originaly to do by Line and Levell; as in Waterworks, we so set them out that they may run to their Levell this way or that way in the Cutts prepared for them. And though men may make such less alte­rations [Page 240] therin, and some greater have been made by accidental Breaches and Inundations, yet as God saith, I brake up for it my Decreed place (or as it is Originaly, established my Decree upon it) and sett Barrs and D [...]ors, so generaly and in the main it con­tinues the same: and since that Great and Universal Deluge, yet Cosmographers can still find out those Seas, Rivers, and Isles, which Moses declareth to have been before it. And thus the Divine Psalmist describeth both the Proper and Improper Crea­tion of Waters and Earth, Thou coveredst it with the Deep, as with a Garment; the Waters stood above the Mountains. At thy rebuke they fled, at the Voice of thy Thunder they hasted away. They go up by the Mountains, they go down by the Vallys, unto the place that thou hast founded for them. Thou hast sett a Bound that they might not pass, that they turn not again to cover the Earth, and so proceeds to shew the great Usefulness therof, which there­by God prepared both for Vegetatives and Sensitives in the whole Oecumene or Habitable Earth. But though the Earth generaly is thus raised above the Waters, not only in the Mountains and Sum­mits therof, but in its whole Campus, which lys above the Levell of the Waters; yet the Water, in its own Province, is above the Earth, on which it flows; and so the Earth is very elegantly ex­pressed standing out of the Water, and in the Water. And wheras it is said that God founded it upon (or above) the Seas, and esta­blished it upon (or above) the Flouds; it is very true and proper according to the Subject Matter, wherof the Psalmist there speaks; that is, of the Oecumene or Habitable Earth, as it was so raised above the Waters, which before were above it; and thereby was made fru [...]tfull and Habitable: which the precedent Context doth plainly declare, The Earth is the Lords and the fulnes therof, the World and all that dwell therin: nor do I apprehend that the whole World of Spheres, Aereal, Aethereal, and Superaethereal, is there intended; though the Author of Esdras saith also, that the Hea­vens are founded upon the Waters: but I rather conceiv that by World is there meant Orbis Terrae, as it is usually so taken Hebrai­caly, and in all other Languages, because the Earth is our present World; and so more restrictively we say the Christian World, and the like. But how farr the Waters are beneath the Levell or Campus of the Earth is not particularly expressed; yet we read of a great Deep or Ocean, and of Fountains therof or [Page 241] therin; (as we so say Fons. Blundusii, and the like) not that there is, besides the Ocean, any Fountain therof beneath it, which feeds and supplys it; for it is called the Deep, becaus it is the deepest of all Waters: and so Fountains and Depths of Waters are used indifferently, as it is said, A Land of Brooks of Water, of Fountains, and Depths, that spring out of Vallys and Hills: and both are said to be under the Earth; wherefore becaus Rain and Waters in those dry Countrys were accounted great Blessings, Iacob blesseth Ioseph with Blessings of Heaven above, and Blessings of the deep that lieth under, which Moses also repeateth: nor is it said that there is a Deep, and also Fountains therof, beneath, and besides it, but they are alway termed the Fountains of the Deep, not only in respect of itself, but also of all Vapors, Rain and Ri­vers, wherof the Deep or Sea is the Fountain; to which that ex­pression seems to refer, for so they are joined together, as it is said, that there were the Fountains of the Great Deep broken up, and the Windows of Heaven were opened: and indeed they are so made to be Fountains one unto another mutualy and reciprocaly, as I shall shew heerafter: and in the Deluge, the Conflux of all the Waters was gathered together, to cover the whole Earth, not as it did at first equaly cover the whole Surface therof, but the Canales, Campus, and highest Hills, as they then stood and conti­nued: fifteen Cubits did the Waters prevail, and the Mountains were covered. Whereby we may partly estimate the quantity of the whole Body of Waters, which yet may be Rarefied or Condensated more or less: nor can we exactly tell what is the Proportion of the Surface of the Waters to the Surface of Dry Land in the whole Terraqueous Globe. The Author of Esdras saith, Vpon the Third Day thou didst command that the Waters should be gathered in the Seaventh part of the Earth; Six parts h [...]st thou dried up; which might probably also have encouraged Columbus in his happy con­fidence of more Earth then was discovered before him, and accor­ding to this account there should still be much Terra Incognita. The Density of the Body of Air more then of Water hath been ob­served to be as about a Thousand to One, and yet Waters beneath are Rarefied into Vapors or Waters above, which are as Rare as Air itself; for Vapors and Fumes do not ascend into the Air by Impulsion of one part after another, as Water may be squirted upward out of a Syringe, or as they are called Pillars of Smoak in [Page 242] respect of the Figure therof; but if a Titi [...] or Brand be held downward in the open Air, yet the Smoak therof will ascend up­ward, or remain suspended: and perhaps some Vaporous Mete­ors are Indefinitely in the Air or any Region therof, even the highest Surface, and so said to be upon it, as I have shewed. And I shall heer observ, that as Vapors, or Waters above, were so made by special Creation in the Second Day, so they are of speci­al Use and Consideration, being a very Subtile and Spirituous Effluvium, and a notable Instrument of Nature, and also a Men­struum carrying forth with it not only part of the Body, but also much of the Spirit: and this is indeed that which Chymists com­monly call, Spirit, as it so carrieth forth the Spiritual Qualitys with itself; being a very fitt Vehicle therof: whence some have fansied a Conversion and Transpeciation in itself, which I have already refuted: but certeinly it causeth a very great Alteration of the Bodys out of which it is emitted, and Translation of the Spirits therof; being not so Dens or Consistent as Earth, nor as Water out of which it is produced; and almost as Rare as Air and Aether: and so Intercedeth and Mediateth between all the Elements, and doth Evoke the Spirits therof; as is commonly observed of the firmest Timber, that if it be often Wett and Dry again, it soon Rotts; which also takes away the State of Hay, as Husbandmen say, in their Chymical expression therof. Yea, I suppose, that what is intended by the famous Chymical Term of Fermentation is only the Operation of a Hott Spirit on a Moist, Intrinsecaly within the Body therof, by Vaporation; which plainly discovers itself accordingly by some Turgescence and Ebullition; and where­by the Benigne and Homogeneous Spirits are better Concocted and more equaly Distributed, which doth exceedingly Meliorate and Maturate; and the more Maligne and Heterogeneous do Eva­porate, or otherwise the Spirits being in agitation, by any In­temperate Excess, or Defect, become more Corrupt and Putrid. Thus Heat and Moisture Operating and Fermenting within Bodys produce all Elementary Generation and Corruption, and are thereby also very subservient to Vegetation, and Vivification. Now as I said before of Air, so the very Spirit of Water is unknown to us, nor have we any apt Vocabulum therof; or if we had, yet we could not thereby know the Substantial Spi­rit itself, or the Nature therof; but only by those Acci­dents [Page 243] or Spiritual Qualitys, wherof I shall now proceed to di­scours.

II. The first or principal Quality of Water is Moisture, as I have already proved: and indeed, unless Water be Moist, I neither know what is Water, nor what is Moisture. And I sup­pose that Elementary Water is most Moist, that is, it doth Moisten most strongly, though Vapor, being more Rare and Subtile, may sooner penetrate; as Fixed Fire doth certeinly Heat most, though Volatile Flame doth most penetrate: and yet when Vapor hath thus penetrated, it doth most Moisten by being Condensated again into Water: but Vapor may be also Adusted and turned in­to Smoak, which is Actualy Dry, as I have shewed, and that can­not be supposed of Water Immediately, untill it be first turned into Vapor. And Oil seemeth to Moisten more then Elemen­tary Water, becaus it is more Unctuous, and Evaporateth less, whereby it reteins the Moisture longer; as a boiling pot of Wa­ter being covered, doth retein the Vapor and Moisture more then uncovered, and therefore that Water is longer in boiling away, and so is Oil then Water; thus though pure Water doth, as I said, Moisten most, becaus Moisture is the Proper Quality ther­of, and all others Moisten only by participation of Water; yet it doth also Evaporate most, whereby it becomes Vapor and Water above, which is also another Proper Quality therof, and there­by drys away soonest. Also though it moisten most, yet in Wash­ing it may be advantaged by other Bodys; as pure Water doth not Rens or Scowr so well, as if it be mingled with Earthy particles of Chalk, Marl, Bran, or the like, which render it more Ab­stersive, and make it, as Huswives say, bear Soap better; becaus those Terreous Corpuscles do Imbibe Unctuous Bodys better then Water, and thereby reconcile them together, yet not without heating, beating, laving, or the like: and so Water and Milk mingle together, the Oleous parts of the Butyrum being reconciled to the Water by the Serum; wheras Butter itself, Oil, Turpentine, Mercury, and the like, will not so easily mingle with Water; be­caus they are not so Aqueous; which appears by their less Eva­poration: nor will Water easily mingle with Vapor, while they continue such; because God hath so vastly differenced them in their Creation, that they shall be either Waters beneath, or Wa­ters [Page 244] above; whose different Density is as a Thousand to One, and they can hardly continue in any of those thousand Degrees between them, though they pass from one to the other by them all; as may appear by the Motion of Water boiling in a pott, which first is scarcely seen to Move, and then Simpers, as they say, and so boils up more and more, though they will continue in some Degrees be­yond that proportion, as Meteors in any Region of the Air. And Evaporation is such a notable Property of Water, and Symptom of the Aqueous Nature, that I suppose all Elementary Water, if it be not frozen with Cold, will Evaporate always with any De­gree of Heat, or Tep [...]r; as certeinly it will in a Cold Still; though proportionably less with less, and more with more Heat: and so even those winds, which we call Cold from that Predominant Qua­lity, do Dry notably, by carrying away the Vapors, which even then do arise, whereby others may more freely succeed, (as I said concerning the boiling pott, and so it may be observed in Saltworks, or the like.) But though such more Heterogene [...]u [...] and less Aqueous Bodys, as Butter, Oil, Turpentine, and the like, will not easily mingle with Water, or other such Bodys; nor become Continuous with them: yet if they be Fluid, they may be notably Contiguous, becaus they can conjoin themselves to every part and pore therof; and do notably Cohere to and with Consistent Bodys by their own Unctuous Glutinosity: yea, even Water itself, though neither Unctuous, nor Glutinous, so will Co­here; and so would Mercury also, if the Weight therof did not oversway it. And, I suppose, the Experiment of the Capillar Tube to be from this Cohesion and the Homogeneity of Water, and another Conjunct Reason (which I shall assigne afterward) for I know no such Spiritual Homogeneity between Water and Glass, which is rather Terreous (though Poets call Water Vitreous) but as I have shewed the whole Body of Matter is Homogeneous in itself, and Continuous with itself, though Spirits may be Hetero­geneous, and by their Heterogeneity Discontinue their Bodys of Matter; therefore, as when by reason of their Consistence, or otherwise, they cannot perfectly close together, other Bodys do and must Intervene, to prevent Vacuity; so when themselvs can so close, they also in like maner prevent it themselvs, and so need no [...], but rather exclude the Intervention of any other Bodys by their own Praepossession; whether such Contiguous Bodys be Ho­mogeneous, [Page 245] or Heterogeneous; becaus they are all Bodys of Matter, whatsoever their Spirits may be: and so polished Metalls will Cohere to Marble, aswell as Metall to Metall, or Marble to Marble: and thus Water being Naturaly as Smooth, and of as equal a Surface, as any Glass can be made Artificialy, and being Conti­guous to the Capillar Glass, doth notably Cohere, as it will to any Smooth Glass, so that it can very hardly be shaken off by swinging, or the like; though it will more easily slide by its own Weight or Pondus, as polished Marbles will one from another be­ing moved by any Potentia, whereby Air may succeed at the Edges therof; though otherwise they will not be pulled one from another Parpendicularly with less Power then if they were so farr Imperfectly Continuous: and so according to the proportionable Weight of the Water in the Capillar Tube, it doth descend and depart from its Contiguity. And thus the Inside of the Tube of Glass, (which is therefore Capillar, becaus the Cavity therof is not much bigger then an Hair) being Madefied, either by other Water, or by the Vapor of that Water wherin it stands (which as I have said doth always Evaporate, if it be not obstructed) Made­fying the Glass by Degrees, though very slowly, and in much longer time, and the Glass being either way Madefied with Wa­ter in the Inside therof, which, as I said, sticks so closely to the Consistent Body therof, and reaching down to the Water wherin it stands, and which is Homogeneous with it, both the Waters do mingle, and would flow together, as all Aqueous Bodys Naturaly do; and becaus the Water in which it stands being Stagnant, and having no Actual Weight, cannot draw the other down to itself being so strongly Coherent to the Inside of the Glass, as I have shewed that upper Water according to the strength of the Cohe­sion draws up th [...] lower Water to itself, so long, and so high, untill [...]he Weight of the Water so drawn up doth oversway it; and accordingly it lifts up and keeps suspended a proportionable Cy­linder of Water, higher, or lower, as the Cavity of the Tube is less, or greater; and becaus that Cylinder of Water is supported, as I said, by the Cohesion to the Sides of the Tube, which is therefore strongest at the Sides, the Water so supported is there highest, and so less, and less, and lowest in the midst; whereby the Surface of the Cylinder becomes Concave: wheras Mercury will not so ascend by reason of its over-weight, which, as I have said, [Page 246] doth prevail against any such Cohesion with Glass; and therefore also if the Capillar Tube be sett in it, the Surface within the Orifice therof will not be Concave, but Convex; becaus by the Orifice of the Tube, the Mercury, which is a farr more Consistent Body then Water, is deprest most at the Sides, and so thereby less, and less, and therefore is highest in the midst. Also Water hath some Consistence in it from the Terreity, that is in the Mi­stion therof; and this is the other Concurrent Reason which I before intimated; for if it were wholy Consistent, as Earth; or Fluid, as Aether, the Experiment would not Succeed; but by the partial Consistence therof, it doth also somwhat Rope, as we say, or hang together, and so by the Homogeneity of the Water in the Tube, and that wherin it stands, meeting and mingling together, and being apt to flow together one way or other, the Water in the Tube, having the advantage of Cohesion, and Prevalence therof above the Weight of the Water in which it stands, doth so farr draw it up, untill they both become Equipollent, and then there they stand. And thus if you fill a Glass Cruet almost to the top with Water, and then incline it toward the Nose therof, so as the Water may run farther into it then when it stood erected Perpendicularly, and then very gently revers it, and erect it a­gain Perpendicularly as before; the Water will stand in the Nose proportionably above the Levell therof in the Neck of the Cruet, as it will in the Capillar Tube; and both are from the same Con­current Reasons, which I have declared. Nor do we discover the Symptoms of any other Motions of the Water afterward, or any farther advantage gained by such Elevation therof, neither will it so run in a Siphon higher, or more swiftly, then it would do otherwise. And though the Subsilience of the Water in the Capillar Tube be very quick, and per Saltum, (as generaly such Motions are) yet it is not very strong, as you may perceiv, if you stop the upper Orifice of the Tube with your Finger, which will hinder the Ascent therof, becaus it hath not sufficient strength to Compress the Included Air. But this Experiment plainly dis­covers the Continuity of Matter, and Spiritual Appetite of Uni­on, that is between Homogeneous Natures, especialy Elementary, being next to Matter, which can never be Disunited from itself, as Material Spirits and their Bodys may be; which yet being Actu­aly United, will flow together, if they may, and cannot be so [Page 247] easily Divelled, as Heterogeneous. And it shews that there is some Earthy Consistence, even in Water; which appears also in Bubbles, that are as Skins of Water including Air; and as the Heterogeneous Air doth Conglobate within, which makes the Bubble Spherical, so it doth thereby resist the Air without. Also not only thicker Liquors, but even standing Water hath some such Skin upon it; so that a Needle very gently laid upon it will not sink so fast at first, as when it hath broken through that Skin: And so we see such Cobwebs on the ground, as Husbandmen call them; but this Terreity most notably appears in Vapor Adust, or Fume, which turns into a Soot in Chimnys not only as Motes, but in larger Pulviscles; and so in Conglaciation of Ice, which discover plainly a Misture of Drines and Consistence, that are Earthy Qualitys, with the Moisture of Water: Also we may ob­serv how in Filtratio [...] Water ascends, as in the Capillar Tube, but by many Steps and Degrees; and then descends by the Over­weight, as in the Siphon; and as it would in the Capillar Tube so made, and posited, and then madefied; but not other­wise.

III. Though I suppose there may be several other Simple Qualitys both of Air, and Water, besides the First, as they are called, that is, Cold of Air, and Moisture of Water, as well as Light and others, besides Heat, in Aether; and Consistence and others, besides Drines, in Earth; yet becaus they are not so ob­vious, I shall not now hunt after them farther then I meet with them in such Sensibles, wherin I conceiv Water and some Simple Quality therof to be Predominant, as I have before observed of Color, and Sound. Now these Aqueous Sensibles are Odors, and Sapors; and as God divided the Waters into Water beneath, and above, or Gross Water, and Subtile Vapor; so these two se­veral Sensibles are severaly Inherent in them, that is, Odor in the Vapor and Effluvium, and Sapor in the Grosser Water. And yet Odor is more Gross then Sound, as Sound is then Color, and neither Transient as Sound, nor Emanant as Color, but more Fix­ed and Inherent in the Odorous Effluvium; and is accordingly varied and carried away with it: and as the Vapor is more Dens, or Rare, so generaly is the Odor more Gross, or Fine: and as the Vapor, so the Odor, is more Dens and Gross, as it is more neer [Page 248] to the Aqueous Body; and more Rare and Fine as it is farther Effluent from it, and more Dispersed thereby: and yet there is a very longinquous Efflux and Waft of Odors in such diffusion of Vapors; as is sensibly perceived by the Sent of Heaths of Rosemary very far at Sea, and by the Convolation of Ravens and Vulturs to Carcasses very farr distant. Also as Odors are of an Aqueous nature, so there is a very quick and permanent Adhe­sion therof to Moist Bodys; for so the Sent of an Hares or Deers Foot continues long on the Moist ground in every Vestigium therof, though they run very swiftly over it; which could not be so deteined without the Subtile Vapor, in which it is Inherent, and which sticketh to the ground; and is not so easily discharged as a Cloud of Breath from a D [...]sh of Pewter, or Silver, or such other Bodys which are less Moist: yet as the Subtile Effluvium of Odorous Vapors is emitted from the Body which is the Fountain ther [...]f, so that Body itself also is Odorous, having its own In­herent Odor, and may be sented by the Odorous Vapors as they pass out of it into the Nostrills; and though Drines may Predo­minate in it, yet if it be not so Dry, or such a Caput Mortuum as doth amitt no Vapors, which very few Bodys do; it may have a Sent, and that very strong and vehement; [...]s Spices, and the like; becaus such Vapors are also more strong, and there is a Terreous Quality, as well as Aqueous, wherof Odor is Compounded, as I shall afterward shew: but commonly the Odorous Evapora­tion is more Actuated and produced by Moisture; as Flowers and Herbs after Rain smell more sweetly: and Dry or Unctuous Per­fumes, by Infrication of the Powder, or Imbibition of the Oil or Butter, are more strong and durable▪ becaus thereby there is an Incorporation of the very Odorous Bodys, which are the Foun­tains of the Odors, as I said: and generaly all Dissolutions, ei­ther by Maceration Externaly, or Putrefaction Internaly, where­by the Vapors are more freely Emitted, and the Odors Actuated, do caus greater Sents: also long restraint of the Actual Vapors and Odors, as in close Vessels, or Rooms, when they are first opened cause stronger Smells, becaus they are so Copious. Now as Odor is a Proper Sensible in itself, so it is also Previous to Sapor, and Smelling, as it were, a Pregustator of the Sens of Tast; be­caus Odor and Sapor, as I said, are Connatural Qualitys chiefly Sub­sisting in the same Element of Water; though they are very diffe­rent [Page 249] in themselvs, as Heat and Light are in Aether, and perhaps more, becaus they are not Simple, but Compounded with other Terreous Qualitys, and require such several Bodys of their own Element, as Waters above, and beneath; and certeinly they must so differ, becaus they are several Sensibles of several Senses, which also very sensibly proves Heat and Light to be Realy D [...]fferent, becaus Heat is an Object of Tact, and Light of Sight. Thus there may be more Odor, or more pleasing or displeasing, then Sapor; and so convertibly, in the same Body; but such as are of fetid Sapors have also commonly fetid Odors, and pleasing Sapors no displeasing Odors. And I suppose that vehement and strong O­dors or Vapors in any Body do indicate and declare it to be some notable Pharmacum, especialy if they be such as are not very grateful to the Senses, which declare it to be not of any Dietical, or ordinary, but extraordinary Use and Virtue. Now as it is evi­dent, that Actual Odors are Immediately Inherent in Vaporous Effluvia, which the very Organ of Smelling, that is, the Mammil­lary Processes, do sufficiently attest, being situated above the Nares, through which, as Tonells, those Vapors do pass; so it is as apparent that Sapors do Inhere in the Watery Juice of the Sa­pid Body, becaus if that be expressed, it becomes Insipid and the expressed Juyce more Sapid, as Wine, Cider, Perry, Gravy or Juice of Fleshmeat, and the like. And it also appears to me that Odors or Sapors are no Simple Qualitys of Water only, (as Sound and Color are not of Air, or Aether only) but that they are all Mist with some Terreous Simple Qualitys, which are unknown to us, what they are, and yet we may also know, that they are not Odorous or Saporous in themselvs; becaus Elementary Water, or Earth, do not either Smell, or Tast much; as Lucidity and Opacity are not much seen of themselvs, and indeed not without the advantage of Conspissation or some small Mistion, or the like: but, as I confess, I first derived this Notion from the antient Phi­losophers, who have discovered Lucidum and Opacum to be the Principles of Color, which I have thus farr improved and pro­duced to the other three Sensibles, Sound, Odor, and Sapor, that is, all the proper Sensibles, except the fower first Qualitys (which are also in themselvs Simple, and Mist to be made Sensible, be­ing too strong and vehement in their own Elementary Bodys) and they are indeed Social, and perhaps Auxiliary Qualitys, with all [Page 250] and every the Simple Qualitys of the other Sensibles; as their Proper Sens, which is Tact, is the Fundamental Sens of all the other Senses, as I shall shew heerafter: so I fear to seem too Cu­rious and Novell heerin to others, and also doubt, lest by putting too much of this new Wine into old bottles I should offend others; having not any Current Vocabula whereby to express the very Names of these Principles, nor Authority enough to Coin them; yet I shall generaly express my Sentiment; of the more Active and Aqueous Principle both of Odor, and Sapor, which I call Acidum or Sharp, as also of the Terreous Principle therof, which I shall call Fatuum or Vapid; and so leav it to others more par­ticularly to distribute them. And so I conceiv, that according­ly in Chymical Separation the Vaporous Spirits or Effluxes are more Acid, and the Caput Mortuum more Fatuous and Stupid; and in Natural Generation and the Process therof, the Succus of Fruits, and the like, is first Acid, or more Acerb; and afterward more Sweet, then Strong or Rancid; and at last Vapid: wherin the more Active Quality first prevailing in the Fermentation, doth Actu­ate some such Acid Humor, which makes the Fruit, or the like, more Acid and Poinant, and then by expens of the eagernes therof, by Evaporation, and a more equal Distribution in the Con­coction of both Qualitys, it becomes more grateful to the Sens, or Sweet; and as that Temperature begins again to be dissolved, more Rancid; and at last when the Active Quality is wholy emit­ted in the Effluvia, or Consopited and overcome by the Terre­ous, Vapid. Thus also the Mouth, which tasteth Meat, hath judged therof,

And therefore generaly elder men delight more in such Acid and Poinant Sapors; becaus their Sens of Tasting is more Weak, and as I may so say, Insipid in itself; and children in Sweet-meats, which are of a more equal Temper, and consequently more suitable to their more exact Sensation▪ There is an old Pro­blem, whether Odors do Nourish? which I suppose may easily be resolved, that they do not, nor cannot Nourish, as Odors; for so Sapors, as Sapors, do not Nourish; becaus they are only Spi­ritual [Page 251] Qualitys, and no Materia Nutritiva; nor can they Migrate out of their Bodys; nor do they so much Nourish in and with their Bodys, as Condite Meats and D [...]inks, wherin they In­here; and there are many other Qualitys; which are neither so Odorous nor Saporous, and yet more Nutritive and Assimi­lative. But as Sapor doth most properly commend Meats and Drinks to the Appetite (which greatly conduceth to Nourish­ment, and so there is sometimes a better Concoction and Nutri­tion of and by that which is more gratefull to the Tast, though less wholesome in itself, then of that which is more wholesome, and less grateful according to the the Consent and Confederacy of Nature, especialy if the Delectation and Aversation be extraor­dinary, as in Longing or Loathing) so next to Sapor, Odor also, which is very Homogeneous with it, as I have said, doth by a pleasing Fragrancy excite the Appetite; and so, though more remotely, may Musike at a Feast, as Siracides observeth; and the Color of Wine when it looketh Red, and sparkleth in the Glass, as Solomon observeth: but these are only Sympathetical Exhilara­tions and Provocations of the Sensitive Imagination and Appetite, (which yet conduce to Vegetative Nutrition, and plainly shew the Subordination therof and Combination between them) and so Physicians generaly prescribe Mirth at Meals; as he also adviseth, Eat thy Bread with Ioy, and drink thy Wine with a Merry heart. But the greater Question is, whether Vapors as Vapors, and par­ticularly, Odorous, may Nourish? and then they are to be con­sydered, either as they may pass into the Brain, and so certeinly they may Intoxicate, as some find by Sents of Winecellars, Fumes of Tobacco, and the like; yea, sweet Perfumes, if strong and ve­hement, may caus Headach; and it hath been credibly reported that some have been Poisoned by Venemous Sents: wherefore i [...] will be very hard to conceiv, that the Animal Spirits may not as well be refreshed and cherished by benigne Vapors, as by maligne thus distempered: or as they pass by Introsuction or Inspiration into the Lungs, and so seem to be not only for Refrigeration; but since there is more Inspired continualy then Respired, it may deserv farther Inquisition, whether the rest doth not pass out of the Lungs by the Heart into the Arterys, and therebyserv both for Purification and Attenuation of the Bloud, and also for Nu­trition? for though I conceiv Elementary Fire or Air alone not [Page 252] to be Nutritive, yet I know not why Vapors may not Nourish as well as Drink, since they are only Water Rarefied: and there is not only Air, but also much Vapor in the Atmosphere wherin we breath, and which we continualy suck in by such Inspiration: and if that be too pure an Air, and not sufficiently Vaporous, as in the Andes; or if the Vapors be more Adusted by Fire of Charcoal, or the like; or Corrupted by much breathing in a close Room, or the like; we feel great want of a more Nutritive as well as Refrigerative Air: and plainly the Birth or Foetus while it it in the Mothers Womb, and is Nourished by her, hath no Use of the Lungs, nor Inspiration thereby; but assoon as it is brought forth, it needeth this Breath of Life, as it is termed, as well as any other Nourishment, and cannot live, as before, without it; though there was before the same Motion and Heat of the Heart, which did need as much Refrigeration as afterward: and though it may seem very strange that Vapor thus passing Immediately from the Lungs by the other passages through the Heart into the Ar­terys, and not like other Meat and Drink first into the Stomack, should Nourish, without any more Process of Concoction, yet it may be also consydered how much sooner Drink in an empty Stomack is Concocted then Meat; and whether Vapor, which is so much more Rare and Fusile then Drink, need any such Process, and may not by the Heat and Mot [...]on of the Bloud be Concocted and Mist with it; which is all that I intend by this kind of Nu­trition; and so I refer it to the Judgment of learned Physicians; who if they shall judg it to be so, will also judg the Atmosphere to be of such consequence as I formerly intimated.

IV. All the Rivers run into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full. Vnto the place from whence the Rivers came, thither they return again, as the wise Philosopher saith, most truly and Philosophicaly, according to the Divine History of the Creation of Waters beneath, and Wa­ters above, and the mutual Reciprocation therof; though perhaps not according to Popular Understanding: for indeed the Popularity, which some weak and shallow Wits impute to Scripture, is rather in their own Apprehensions, then in the Expressions, wherin Scripture is alway Consonant, & the Truth therof Consistent with itself; and so we are to Interpret them accordingly, and to reduce them all to the System of the World, which is Intentionaly reveled and declared [Page 253] unto us in this Divine History of the Genesis therof: and then we sh [...]ll neither, as some, place Waters below the Earth, becaus Springs are termed Subterraneous, or above the Aether, yea the Superaether, becaus the same word signifieth both Air and Hea­vens; and so make them to possess both the Center and Circum­ference of the whole World: nor conceiv that Rivers flow from the Ocean only by Subterraneous passages, and so flow thither again in their Canales: whenas there is not any mention made of Rivers in all the Six Days Works; but only of Waters above and Waters beneath, which were first gathered into Seas: though I doubt not but that Rivers were also made afterward in the Third Day; yet first by Waters above, or Vapors, and in the same Or­der of Nature wherin they are still continued; that is, by the descent of Vapors first raised from the Seas into the Earth; and therefore only Vapors or Waters above, and Seas or Waters be­neath, are heer mentioned: and so afterward we read that There went up a Mist from the Earth, and watered the whole face of the Ground, before we read of the fower Rivers that encompassed Eden about, and were also fed and continued by it: and the Vapors thus descending into the Spongy Earth, where they meet with Stones, or other such Bodys less apt to Imbibe them, do stand in Drops, as they do on Marble (which Poets call the Tears of Niobe) and those Drops gathering together in Fluxes make at first litle Rills, and they afterward Rivulets and Rivers, which run again into the Sea, and so the Rivers were made, and are still conti­nued; and this, and no other, is the Cours of the Waters, as the Psalmist affirmeth, They go up by the Mountains, they go down by the Vallys, unto the place which thou hast founded for them, and so we read of Windows of Heaven, aswell as of Fountains of the Deep, and the Author of Esdras calleth them also, Springs above the Firmament: for so indeed they are Mutualy and Reciprocaly Fountains each to other. And this plainly is proved by the fresh­nes of Rivers, which may not be imputed to any such Percolation through the Earth, whereby it hath formerly been supposed that Salt might be Separated from Water, but is now found to be other­wise: I have tried it by so strict a Percolation, that only a Drop or two of Brine have been Excerned in a whole Days time, and yet they were so Briny, that I could perceiv very little or no difference; and all Saltmen find Evaporation to be the most easy [Page 254] and natural way of making Salt, which therefore certeinly is the way of Nature, in so great an Evaporation, as apparently makes all Rainwater fresh, and consequently all Riverwater. Nor are Salt Springs from the Sea Immediately, or Mediately, but from Salt Mines in the Earth, l [...]ke other N [...]trous, Bitumineous, or Iron Springs; and the like; though I also acknowledg, that Salt may be Volatilised, as Chymists say, and which doth very sensibly ap­pear to us who dwell neer to the Sea, where Woods on that side toward the Sea are blasted thereby, and Iron Nails and Window Barrs rotted (as Iron will swell and be corrupted by lying long in Saltwater) yet these Vapors of the Sea go not farr, nor are such Experiments therof found at any great distance; much less can they make Salt Springs in the Inland, where also fresh Springs [...]low very neer to them: but they are both first from Vapors, and then the Salt Springs are made Salt by runing through Salt Mines. And lastly, I shall approve it by a plain Experiment which I received from a very Credible Person, whose Hous standing at the bottom of a declive Hill, and wanting Water, he caused a large Trench to be digged down the side therof, and many other less Trenches branching out of it both ways, and then filled them all with Pebble Stones, and again covered them over with the Earth; and found Water to flow at the bottom of the main Trench, through a Pipe laid to receiv it: which is only by Artificial ap­plication of the same Natural Causalitys. And when I had re­ported this to a Noble Lord, he confirmed it with another Ob­servation which himself had made, in certein Quillets or litle Quagmires, which have Water springing and standing in them; by causing them to be searched, and the ground to be digged un­der them, where he found Beds of Stone: (which might also give occasion to the Poets to feign Rivers powring their Waters out of Stony Urns) Nor indeed is it Imaginable that Rivers and Springs should otherwise come from the Sea, whose highest Watermark is farr below the Springs; as is well known to such who live neer to the higher Shores of the Sea: and so also is attested by such who have gone up the Pike of T [...]neriff, wherin they found a Spring farr above the Sea: wheras Water, while it is such, cannot ascend above its Levell; for then it should rise above it­self: becaus it is all one Equidens and Fluid Body. And Springs rise first out of the Earth in very small Sources, and not from [Page 255] any such Subterraneous Rivers, as some have supposed, flowing in great Canales under the Earth, and Impelled by I know not what Subterraneous Vapors, like Bloud in the Veins. But though all Water will run to its Levell, yet if it be not also some way Im­pelled, it will run very slowly, and so swell and mingle by de­grees as it can hardly be perceived to run: wherefore it is ob­served in such Cutts and Aqueducts, that if about a foot Fall be not allowed for every Mile, there will be a very litle Current of the Water, wheras Rivers run very swiftly, and some of them with a very Rapid Current; which must be by a farr greater Fall: and therefore the Springs or Sources of all great Rivers must be farr within Land, and also fall from much higher ground; as the Author of Esdr [...] saith, That the Flowds might powr down from the Rocks. Having thus farr consydered the Cours of Waters from the Sea into the Air by Evaporation, and from thence to the Earth, and from the Mountains or higher ground therof to the Seas again, which is the first and great Reciprocation therof, whereby they are such Mutual Fountains each to other, I shall now farther consyder that which we commonly call the Floud and Ebb, or Tides of Seas and Rivers, which is also another Mu­tual Reciprocation of Waters; for so the Floud of the Seas is the Ebb of the Rivers, and the Ebb of the Rivers the Floud of the Seas, not Circularly, as the other, but only describing a very small Segment, or part of an Arch, like a Pendulum. Now be­caus so many several Hypotheses therof have been offered by others, and scarcely any two agree together, I shall also present my Hy­pothesis among the rest, not going out of my way, nor farr from the Text to produce it; which is this. As I suppose, that Rivers run from the higher parts of the Earth, so also that the Main Ocean into which they run is some lower part of the Cortex therof, which is the fittest Alveus to receiv it; and therefore it is called the Deep: and though I know not how deep the Fun­dus therof is, yet certeinly it must be farr deeper then any of the Narrow Seas, which run into it, otherwise they could not so run into it; and the Narrow Seas must also be deeper then the Ri­vers which run into them: and they not only run one into ano­ther, but with such a force and Current as doth plainly declare a proportionable Fall. And while the Rivers so run into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full; and all these Waters certeinly do [Page 256] not sink into the Earth below the Fundus, or into any vast Bara­thrum therof, which would long since have been filled, but ap­parently they Flow and Reflow continualy: nor are they Imbibed by the Shores, or Absorbed by Evaporation, which is continualy according to that Reciprocation of Waters and Vapors that I before described, and any Inequality therof can make very litle or no difference in this case. Also we know that Water Impel­ling Water by Fall or Force, if it hath no Vent or farther Pas­sage, will caus the Water so Impelled to rise before it; becaus the Impuls driving it forward, and consequently hindring it from flowing back, when and where it is stop'd, must caus it to rise and swell. Thus the Rivers runing forcibly with such an Im­puls into the Narrow Seas, and they into the Ocean, beyond which they do not, nor cannot pass, do certeinly caus it to rise and swell toward the Midle by such Motive Impuls and Current of all the Rivers and Narrow Seas on every side therof; and then when it hath so raised the Pondus of the Water somwhat a­bove the Levell of the Ocean, and so farr, as it can rais it no higher; when that prevails against the Impuls, and the Water of the Ocean begins to fall again, it will drive all the Water be­tween (being a Voluble and Undulating Body) as fast and as farr back again; becaus it was Equivalent to the Impuls which so raised it: whereby the Water between the highest Watermark of the Ocean (to which it did so rise and swell, and from which by reason of the greatest Pondus therof it began to fall back) and the highest Watermark of the Rivers, to which it can so fall back, reflows into the Narrow Seas and Rivers accordingly: that is, a­bove the Levell in the Rivers, as it before proportionably rose above the Levell of the Ocean: becaus, as I said, it is a Rowl­ing and Fluctuating Motion, which will ever be Reciprocaly higher at each end, like the shorter Vibrations of a Pendulum: and it doth not rais it so high as the Springs, from which the Fall of the Rivers first began; becaus the Fluctuation doth not reach so farr, forward, or backward; and probably so much Water as is beyond the highest Watermark of the Rivers in the Canales therof, and from thence to the Springs, is by Evapo­ration continualy Exhausted from the Sea; which returning to the Earth doth serv continualy to supply the Rivers, though more or less, according to the Operation of the Aether and [Page 257] Planets, especialy the Moon, which caus and regulate the Eva­poration; but generaly so as the Sea is never full, nor the Ri­vers empty: and by this Constant supply of the Springs and Ri­vers there is accordingly a Constant Fall of the Waters one way, and an answerable Return therof by the Pondus of the Wa­ter of the Ocean so raised thereby, as I have shewed, the other way: as if we suppose a Pendulum having a Constant and almost equal Im­puls added to it one way, and so Impelling it in every Vibration, it will certeinly so return by its own Pondus and thereby Constantly and Equaly Vibrate. And this I conceiv to be the account of Tides generaly; though there are many particular Variations therof, both Ordinary, as the Menstruous; and Extraordinary, as Annual, and Casual: and I suppose the Menstruous, and indeed the Diurnal Variation of the Tides therin, to be from the Moon; not that they do follow her Cours, which is from West to East, for so plainly they do not, the Flux and Reflux being from all Shores to the Ocean, and back again: but as I conceiv, that as the Sun raiseth those Dry Vapors or Fumes, wherof I before dis­coursed, by his vehement Heat; and which caus no such Increas of Waters, as I before mentioned; so the Moon by her more mo­derate Heat principaly raiseth those Moist Vapors, which so re­turn into Waters, and caus the Increas therof: and this Influence of the Moon is sufficiently known in many other Instances, but most eminently in Tides, which accordingly observ her two Apogaea ▪ when she is farthest from the Earth, and her Heat then most mo­derate; and so the Tides are then highest when she is New in her first Apogaeum, and Full in her Second, every Month, and so propor­tionably every Day between them. Thus I have briefly delivered my Conception of this great Arcanum; which I shall leav to be farther examined by others, especialy the most expert Naviga­tors; and desire them to try it by these Criteria: Whether the Tides do not Impell the Main Ocean from both the opposite Shores at the same time? as most probably they should; becaus the Im­puls of the Rivers and Narrow Seas will not last so farr, and so long, as to drive the Water from one Shore to another cross the whole Ocean, nor perhaps very farr into it; but rather by driving it from both the advers Shores at the same time they make the Ocean to rise and swell a litle toward the midle; as if several men with Brooms, or the like, at the two ends of some long Chanell, [Page 258] should sweep the Water therin forward both ways, following close after one another, it will thereby be Impelled, rising and swelling toward the midle; and when they ceas, by its own Weight, fall and return both ways back again. Again whether Tides be not less, and less, toward the midle of the Ocean, and about the midle, perhaps Imperceptible, from which the Rivers and Narrow Seas Impelling it are farthest, and so their Impuls more, and more, abated; and the Water driven before them still rising and swelling, the Weight therof is increased; which at length makes the Return therof back again into the Narrow Seas and Rivers? Also whether there be any Perceptible Tide in Nar­row Seas and Rivers between such Tracts of Land which are most longinquous and farthest from the Ocean? or whether they are not proportionably less, and less, as they are farther from it in any Parallel of the Earth? becaus the Pondus of the Water rising and swelling therin, as I have shewed, and thereby returning the Waters back again, doth abate by degrees, and may not reach so farr as such longinquous Seas and Rivers. Lastly, I desire it may once be ascerteined by them, whether indeed there be any such Circumterranean Tide, or Cours of the Main Ocean from East to West, as is commonly supposed? which certeinly is con­trary to the Cours of the Moon, nor do I find any ground or rea­son in my Hypothesis, that might induce me to affirm it; nor can the supposed Motion of the Earth solv all the Tides every way. And this Circumterranean Sea is the Main Ocean that I intend, and which, as I conceiv, is chiefly intended by the Congregation and gathering together of Waters, mentioned in the Creation therof, to and from which the Rivers thus flow and reflow, and though it cannot return to cover the Earth, as it did in the first Chaos, or since in the Deluge, yet as a Fascia it still envi­roneth it round about, and is the great Province of Elementary Water. Extraordinary Tides are not so consyderable, being Va­rious and Casual; and as they proceed from no such constant and certein Causes, so they have no such certein and constant Courses. The Annual Tides are observed by us in our Southern Coast to be generaly greater about November, and February; and accordingly we observ that about November, when the Heat of the Summer is past, and the Earth is filled first with Water, the Springs begin to rise, as we say, in Fountains, Wells, and [Page 259] Ponds, and apparently are seen to peez, as we term it, out of the Banks into Ditches▪ [...]nd to run more freely in Rivers; and so again about February, (which is commonly said to fill the Dike) after the Earth hath been bound with Frosts, and is fully thawed, and the Waters begin to run more freely, whereby they caus such an Impuls therof; which proceeds from such more general Conflu­via, and sudden Fluxes; and so sudden Inundations may caus some Temporary Tides in some places, but the Universal Deluge was Immediately by the Divine Power, and Providence, as God saith therof, Behold I, even I, do bring a Floud of Waters upon the Earth: which whether it were by producing all the Moisture in the Pores of the Spongy Earth (which certeinly if it were all gather­ed together would make another great Sea) and making it Miracu­lously to flow upon the Surface of the Earth instead of being im­bibed by it, as it is now a constant Fountain to supply the Rivers, and Seas Naturaly, (and so may be conceived to be these Foun­tains of the great Deep which were broken up) and by resolving all the Vapors and Fumes in the Air into Cataracts of Rain, and so also opening those Windows or Floudgates of Heaven, or o­therwise, I will not presume to determin; becaus it was Miracu­lous, and Preternatural. But there are some litle Tides and Eu­ripi, so very strange and wonderful, as have puzled the greatest Philosophers, and I know no Colorable reason or account, which any have ever yet given therof; nor am I such an Oedipus, as to unfold these Ridles of Nature, which though they seem to be her ludicrous Disports and Galliards, yet certeinly are accor­ding to some Harmonious Measures, of answerable Causalitys; though we may not hear them or do not hearken to them. Con­cerning which I shall only relate an Experiment, of which I must freely say, — Non inventa reperta est: for I confess I re­ceived it from another, who declared to me the Matter of Fact that he had done it, but was not pleased to revele the Secret how it was done, which yet after I had found out he acknow­ledged unto me to be the same. The Invention was to make a Waterdial, wherin the Water should rise and fall every twelv hours, in this maner. Let there be a Font or Basin of the Dial made with a Hole at the bottom, and let there be a Pipe open at each end, wherof one end must be applied to a Subterraneous Spring, or the like Flux of Water, and the other end closed to [Page 260] the Hole in the bottom of the Basin, so as the Water may descend from the Spring (being as high as the top of the Basin) to the Hole in the bottom, and through it reascend in the Basin in twelv Hours: and as it so ascends by degrees every hour de­scribe Lines in that side within the Basin: And at the twelfth and last Line make another Hole in the other side of the Basin, and let a Siphon be inserted toward the top of the Basin, and closed to it, so as the Water in the Basin may fill the shorter Leg therof hanging down to the very bottom of the Basin, and just turn over at the Vertex of the Siphon: and the Cavity of this Siphon must be doubly as capacious as the Cavity of the former Pipe, so as to convey away doubly as much Water in the same time by the longer Leg therof out of the Basin, as ran into it through the Pipe; whereby though it continue still to run through the Pipe from the Spring, yet the Cavity of the Pipe being only half so capacious as the Cavity of the Siphon, it can run in only half so fast by the Pipe as it runs out by the Siphon; which will be sett on runing by the Water ascending into the shorter Leg therof within the Basin, when it rises to the Line of the twelfth hour, and there turns over at the Vertex into the longer Leg without the Basin, and that will carry it away doubly as fast, untill the Siphon be emptied; and conse­quently caus the Water to descend in other like twelv hours: which must also be noted by Lines described on the other side of the Basin: and when the Siphon is empty it will ceas runing; and then the Water runing through the Pipe only will ascend into the Basin in other twelv hours, as before, and so conti­nualy. But becaus it is somwhat Curious and difficult exactly to make the Cavity of the Siphon doubly as capacious as the Ca­vity of the Pipe, a Stopcock may be inserted into one, or both of them, whereby the just proportion of Water in them may be ac­cordingly regulated. Now, though I can neither affirm, nor do I know, that there are any such Fonts, Urns, or Caverns, in the Earth, so disposed as in this Experiment, whereby the Euripi are caused, yet I know that it may possibly be so; and if not, yet I am assured that both this and any other Regularitys in Elementary Nature, wherin there is neither Plastes, nor Artist, must be by some answerable Causalitys; which I leav to others more particu­larly to Investigate.

[Page 261]V. The Earth which is last and lowest of all the Elements hath a most Dens Body of Matter, though the least Active Spirit; and so every Element hath a less De [...]s or Gross Body of Matter accordingly as the Spirit therof is more Active; and Vegetative Spirits are less Immersed in the Matter then Elementary, and only by the Mediation of them; and Sensitive less then Vegetative, and only by the Mediation of them, and Elementary; and Intel­lective, which we therefore call Immaterial, not at all, as I shall shew heerafter. Now as Ae [...]her is the most Rare of all the Elements, and so as I suppose the Body therof cannot be made more Rare by any other Elementary Spirit, becaus there is none other that is more Active, and which may more Rarefy it; so Earth is most Dens, and as I suppose the Body therof cannot be made more Dens by any other Elementary Spirit, becaus there is none other less Active which may more Condensate it then it doth itself: for as these Elementary Spirits do require more or less Rare or Dens Bodys, so they do Naturaly and most Effectualy caus them; and thus the most Rare Ae [...]her, which is Utmost, and the most Dens Earth, which is Inmost, do contein and bound the two o­ther more Variable Elements, Air, and Water, between them, as I have shewed. The Rarity of Aether is altogether unknown to us; but if it be, as I suppose it, more Rare then the most Rarefied or Expanded Air, and the very common Air be a thou­sand times more Rare then Water, and that fourteen times more Rare then Mercury, and the Elementary Earth (wherof we know not the utmost Density, as we know not the Rarity of Aether) yet more dens then it or Gold, (which is said to be nineteen times heavier then Water) or any other Cortical Earths whatsoever, then certeinly there is a vast Disproportion of Density and Rarity between the Bodys of Aether and Earth: and yet though Earth be most Dens, Aether is not most Rare, nor do we know, or can assigne how much more Rare Superaether may be then it; which will Multiply the Disproportion exceedingly more, wherof though we can give no just account; yet heerby we plainly perceiv how strangely Matter may be Densefied, or Rarefied; and consequent­ly what vast or Innumerable Pores, or Spaces, they must assigne, who will still contend that Rarity is only from Porosity, or Va­cuity. As in Water, so also in Earth, there are two distinct [Page 262] Regions, not only Mathematicaly such, as some have made, both in Aether, and Air, where they are not; but Physicaly such; and yet they have not found them out where they are: for as there are Waters above, and beneath, so there is manifestly both a Cortex of the Earth, wherin there are not only many other Com­posita, and many sorts of Earths, Metalls, Minerals, Stones, Chalk, Clay, Marl, Loam, Sand, and several others, which thereby disco­ver and declare it not to be the very Elementary Earth, but also Water flowing in the Canales therof and imbibed by all this Spongy Cortex, whence it is denominated Terraqueous, and is almost as much Elementary Water, as Earth: nor is any part therof in it­self so purely Elementary Earth, as the Ocean is Elementary Water; wherefore there is most probably another Elementary and Subco [...]tical Earth, (or as it is said, Foundations of the Earth) which though we know not where it begins, and the Cortex ends, yet I presume it to be below any the lowest Fundus of the Water, or descent of Rain or Dew; otherwise it should not be the Elemen­tary Earth, which seems to be intimated by that expression of the Psalmist, Then the Chanells of Waters were seen, the Foundations of the World were discovered. Nor may we reasonably conceiv that there are below the Cortex any such hid Treasures of Metalls, Minerals, or the like, as there are in it; since they can never be searched or digged out by any Industry of Men or Beasts, wheras God and Na­ture made nothing in vain. But that which doth most confirm me in this Opinion, is the most Ingenious Invention of the Inclinatory or Dipping Needle, as they call it; for most evidently that varys its Position respectively, as it is neerer to, or farther from, ei­ther of the Poles of the Earth, and not according to the Poles of the World: which very sensibly discovers that there is such a Subcortical Earth; and also that it is Magnetical: for though there be Rocks of Magnets in the Cortex, yet this Inclinatory Needle, as I shall call it, doth not so Incline unto them, but generaly to the Poles of the Earth, as to one great Magnet, and exactly so as a Needle carried about a round Magnet or Terrella doth Incline itself in all the Points of the Circumference, as I shall shew heerafter: and this also shews that the Elementary and Magnetike Earth is Globu­lar, as well as the Terrella; otherwise any Eminences therin would vary the Inclination, as well as in the Terrella. Yet I do not con­ceiv that this Elementary Body of the Subcortical Earth, which I [Page 263] call Magnetical, is of the same kind with any Cortical Magnets; as they are not of the same kind with Iron Stone, or Mine, though both have a Magnetike Quality: but rather that it is farr more Dens then them, as I have said, as it is also farr more Con­sistent then Gold. Nor is it vain or useless (as other Terreous Composita below the Cortex should be) but very proper and re­quilite in every respect: for as by the most solid Consistence therof it becomes the Foundation, and Basis of the Cortex (as they are therefore termed Strong Foundations and Pillars of the Earth) and indeed of all the Superior Spheres, and of the whole Body of the Universal Globe; so by its Magnetical Polarity it doth continue its own Body in one Immovable Position, as I shall shew heerafter: and most probably it hath no Pores where­by it may be penetrated, convelled, or comminuted by any others, or one part therof severed from another; and so many Bodys in the Cortex, Marble, Glass, Gemms are Imporous, as I have shewed, much more this most Dens, Compact, and Ada­mantine Body of the Elementary Earth. And though some Planets and the Starrs may be greater Orbs then it; yet they are not such Foundations and Pillars of the World, nor is there any other such Centrical Orb relating to the Circumfe­rential Orb, or whole Globe of the World, besides the Earth; which therefore also is called Orbis, and the World, whereof it is an Epitome; and all the Superior parts of the Globe of the World are only Concave Spheres. Thus though Earth be most Base and Brute of all the Elements, yet it hath also its proper Excellency and Glory, having the greatest Bodily perfection of the Density of the Matter, to which it doth most approxi­mate; and the Spirit therof hath the greatest Stability and Fix [...] ­tive Strength, though the least Activity: and as I have obser­ved, it hath also such Qualitys in itself, whereby in Mistion it doth Fix almost all the more Agile Qualitys of the other Elements: and the Cortex therof hath the greatest Mistion with them all, and the greatest Variety of Composita, being the Native Country and Region of all Vegetatives, and of Beasts, the best of Sensi­tives; yea the Manor hous and Demesnes of Man, as it is said, The Earth hath he given to the children of Men: and becaus this whole Spectable World, which Moses describeth, was made for him, and all the other Elements are as it were his Roialties, [Page 264] therefore they all point to the Earth, as the Circumference doth to the Center, and are Inservient to it, as that is to Man.

VI. The First or Principal Quality of Earth is Drines; as I have shewed, which is contrary to Moisture, as Cold is to Heat. But as the Earth is the most Brute and Dull Element, so are also the Qualitys therof like unto itself; and it is heerin most Analo­gous to the Passive Matter, though it be in itself a Spiritual Sub­stance Genericaly different from Matter, as well as any others: for there are such Analogys in Nature, not only beeween Spi­rits, but also between them and Matter, as they are all Entitys, and Substantial parts of the Univers, though several Classical Na­tures differ Classicaly, and Specifical Specificaly, and Individual Individualy; and these Differences are their proper Bonitys, whereby they excell all others, though otherwise generaly Su­perior to them, as Matter is better Matter then any Spirit, and so Earth is better Earth then Aether; though the Spirit of Aether o­therwise be Superior to the Spirit of Air, and of Air to Water, and of Water to Earth, according to the Order of the Elements which God hath declared, in the Creation therof. And according­ly the Spiritual Qualitys of Aether are more Active and Power­full then of Air, and of Air then of Water, and of Water then of Earth. Yet; as I said, Drines is an Active Quality, and Actively contrary to Moisture, and not any less Degree ther­of, and much less only a Privation of Moisture; and though Moisture doth more notably Operate in and upon it, as Heat doth upon Cold; and if it be weakned by Comminution into Dust, or Ashes, and the like, it seems not much to Resist, but ra­ther to Imbibe Moisture, and almost to be Receptive of it; as Matter is of Spirits; yet there is some Mutual Operation, as well as Active Contrariety between them; and so Earth itself is called Dry Land, and contradistinguished from Water in the Terra­queous Globe of them both: and it is known accordingly to Operate by Drines, both to Physicians in their Desiccating Em­plastra, and to Mechanikes in their Cementations; and that De­siccation is not only by Evaporation or Exclusion of the Moisture, but also by Mistion of both, and Predomination, and Prevalence of the Drines over Moisture; for so in the utmost Adustion of [Page 265] Ashes, or any Terra damnata, there is Water, and consequently Moisture in the Mistion therof, which yet is not Actual, but re­duced to Potentiality by Driness: and apparently in Congelation of Ice, Glew, Metalls, and the like, there is Water, and so Moi­sture Potentialy, which is again Actuated by Fusion, but is not Actual before they be melted. And, as I said, Moisture, and so Drines, are Indifferent between the other two Qualitys, Heat, and Cold, and they between Moisture, and Drines, and they are no Secondary Qualitys each of other, but Operate only by them­selvs Univocaly and Efficiently; for as Heat only doth heat, and Cold cool, and Moisture moisten, so Drines, and no other Quality but that, doth properly dry; though Equivocaly or Instrumen­taly either Heat, or Cold, may dry, as I have shewed. And as I have observed of Heat, that being the most Active and Pre­dominant of all the Elementary Qualitys, it hath also the most Confinements, Imprisonments, and Restraints, and seve­ral ways of Reducing it into Potentiality, as I have formerly shewed, farr more then Cold, which thereby hath such ad­vantage against it; so hath Drines against Moisture by the very Cession therof; for though Drines cannot easily Profligate it, yet is it Naturaly so very Fugitive of itself, that it is still Flying a­way; wheras Drines is more Fixed, and much assisted therin by its own Connatural Quality of Consistence; so that there is not any Body Dry, which is not Consistent, nor Moist that is not Fluid: and yet Consistence is a several and distinct Quality, both from Moisture, and Drines; becaus they are Actively contrary one unto another; but neither of them to Consistence, nor Consistence to them.

VII. As Drines and Consistence are not one and the same Qua­lity of Earth; besides which there are also many other Qualitys therof, as Magnetike Virtue, and the like; and so Heat, and Light, of Aether, besides many other Qualitys therof, as Planeta­ry Virtue, and the like; so likewise are there several Qualitys of Air besides Cold, and of Water besides Moisture, which though unknown to us what they are particularly, yet do generaly appear in the many various Mistions of all the Elementary Bodys; and that want of a more particular knowledg therof is a chief caus and reason why we know so litle of Elementary Mistions: wherefore I [Page 266] have begun to pry into them, and advanced some few steps to­ward them, to shew the way to others; and though I may by some be judged to be too Curious heerin, yet I am confident that there are such other Qualitys of every Element, besides those which are commonly called First, and that I have sufficiently made it to appear that they are such as do not, like Second Qua­litys, subsist Immediately in the First, and Mediately by them in the Substantial Spirit, but every one of them Immediately therin, as well as another: and so I conceiv Consistence or Firmnes and Drines only to be Connatural Qualitys of the same Element of Earth, and that Consistence doth Immediately Subsist in the Ele­mentary Spirit therof, and not in Drines; as Fluidity is not from the other Q [...]alitys, but rather from the Matter, for so indeed all the other Elements are Fluid; and Consistence is a proper and more particular Property of Earth alone; which hath no Con­trary, as Drines hath, nor doth contrarily oppose any one Q [...]a­lity of the other Elements; but only is that whereby the Ele­mentary Spirit of Earth doth render its own Body Firm and So­lid, so as no other Elementary Spirit, not having any such Q [...]a­lity, can Confirm or Consolidate its own Body, which therefore remains Fluid and Weak, as the Matter itself. And this Terrene Consistence as it is not only Drines, nor any Second Q [...]ality ther­of; so much less is it Density (for so Mercury is Dens but not Consistent) though that also be assistant to it, as well as Drines; for Density, as I have shewed, is not any Active or Spiritual Q [...]a­lity, but only an Affection of Matter itself, superinduced or varied by the Densefaction of Spirits, and Spiritual Qualitys; as Fi­gure, which is plainly an Affection of the Matter, is superin­duced and varied by the Spiritual Q [...]alitys: and therefore Den­sity and Consistence are as different, as Matter and Spirits, wherin they do respectively Subsist: and as I have thus distinguished Con­sistence from other Qualitys or Affections of the Spirit and Mat­ter of Earth, that thereby we may more discern it, so I shall now shew that it is a Spiritual Quality, and particularly what it is; becaus I do not find it to be sufficiently explained by others; and becaus indeed it is a very Noble Quality of Earth, and of great Mechanical Use: for it is not only a Compaction and Con­solidation of all the parts of the Earthy Body, but, as it is also termed, a Firmnes or Stability of the whole Body therof, both [Page 267] which I comprehend under the name of Consistence; whereby I also intend that Strength and Rigor of the Consistent Body, which though it be no such Vigor or Force whereby it can Move other Bodys, like the Angelical Powers, nor its own Bo­dy, as Material Spirits, nor yet like the Motion of Matter to Uni­on or Station, (whereby indeed Matter Moves itself, but with­out any Activity or Strength, only by a Recumbence or Succum­bence, as I have shewed) and so Fluidity is only an Inconsistence therof, or Falling every way, without any Consistent Strength, or Stability holding it together; whereby it doth plainly appear that such Motion of the Matter, as well as of Fluid Bodys, is not from any Spiritual Activity or Vigor, but contrarily from Infirmity and Weaknes of the Bodys themselvs: yet Consi­stence doth Spiritualy and Actively Unite and Contein all the parts therof, and also Arrect and Fortify the whole Body, having a proper Center therin, as all Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys have, without any respect to the Center of Matter; which, as I have shewed, is the Universal Center of the whole Body of the World: and so a Timberlogg floating upon Water, or suspended in the Air farr enough from that Universal Center, yet hath in itself a Center of its own Consistence, where it is strongest, and is most hardly Bent or Broken, and from which it proportionably extendeth that Strength or Rigor through all the parts therof unto the Extre­mitys, and so this Consistence therof is Mechanicaly useful to make it a Boat, or Beam of a Balance, which though it be suspended in the more Rare Air only at the Center, yet by this Strength and Rigor all the other parts therof being so Consistent in the whole (though otherwise hanging freely in the same Air) are Arrect­ed and upheld from falling or bending downward, as otherwise they would; and though the parts therof weigh most toward the Extremitys, becaus Gravity is an Affection of the Matter, and therefore weighs most downward in the Extremitys, which are farthest from the Center of the Consistent Strength, which is a Spiritual Quality; yet that is strongest in the Center, which is most opposite, and farthest distant from the Extremitys; and plainly shews that Consistence is not Density, nor Gravity, which Subsisteth in Density, and that any bowing downward in the Ex­tremitys is rather from the Fluidity of the Matter, whereby all the parts of that Wooden Balance would flow downward, like [Page 268] Water, if they were not so upheld by Terrene Consistence. Nor doth Matter Move from, but toward the Center; wheras Consi­stence, as all other Spiritual Qualitys, issueth forth from the Center to the Extremitys, though it be stronger in the Center then in the Extremitys; which Matter is not, as it is Matter; for it is not more Heavy, nor doth it Move more strongly, or rather swiftly as it is neerer to the Center, by reason of the Center; but by reason of the longinquity of the Motion; which would be the same, whether the Body Move in such a Space, and through the same Medium, farther from, or neerer to the Center; and so the Weight of a Clock doth not Weigh more, or Move faster when it is almost down, then at first. Also Consistence, which is a firm Union of all the Parts in the Whole, may be such to the Parts in their Private Whole, as Station of Matter is to itself in the Publike Whole therof: for so it keepeth the Parts of any Fluid Body within a Consistent Vessel in Rest, as I have formerly shewed; becaus the Consistence is a Fulciment, which is quasi a Center unto them, and wherupon they rest as well as in the N [...]tu­ral Station of a more Rare above any more Dens Body, or as they would if they were Immediately next to the Center. Again, Consistence, which is a Spiritual and Active Quality only for the Fixation of its own Body, hath, as I said, no Contrary; being heerin like to Magnetical Virtue, which is for the Polar Positi­on of the Body: for Fluidity, as I said, is only an Inconsistence and Infirmity of the Matter, which is not a Contrary, but a Ne­gation of Consistence: and though there be an Universal Union and Coherence of the Matter to and with itself in the Whole, yet there is also such a Mobility of the Parts therof within that Whole, that they will easily be removed, and flow any way, unles they be made to Consist by this Spiritual Quality of Earth; and no other Elementary Body doth Consist by any other Quality of the Spirit therof, but only by this Spiritual Quality of the Earth that is in the Mistion therof: and accordingly Water, which hath more of Earth in the Mistion therof, doth Consist more then Air, and Air then Aether, as I have shewed: and so Terrene Bodys do more Consist as they are less Mist with the other Elements. Nor is the Incoherence of many Terreous Corpuscles, Fluidity, though it seem to be Complexively such; for every Corpuscle therof Simply is Consistent in itself, (as I have before observed of Po­rosity) and so though there be many Sands in an heap, yet every [Page 269] one of them in itself is as Consistent as a Sandstone, and Dusts of Steel, or Brass, as the Steel or Brass itself: and though by Commo­tion therof there may be a Motion every way like the Motion of Fluid Bodys, yet that is not from the Consistent Corpuscles, or any of them in themselvs, but from [...]he Interspersed Fluidity of Air; as if there be Innumerable Terreous Motes in Water, un­les they be Mist and made into a Past, the Water in itself is not thereby made more Consistent. But Bodys which have a Con­sistence in themselvs, and have also other Fluid Bodys Interspersed, are made more to Consist in and with themselvs, by exclusion of the Fluid Bodys out of their Pores; as a Cable being stretched very stiffly will be made to Consist almost as much as Wood, and so is used by Funambuli; for by stretching the Air is excluded, and the Pores are drawn together and Contracted: and a Wett Ca­ble will be farr more stiff of itself, and not so easily stretched as a Dry; becaus, as I said, Water hath more Consistence then Air, and is not so easily excluded or squeezed out of the Pores; also it is more Imbibed, and thereby more Mist with the Terreous Body of the Cable, then Air, and therefore not so easily Extru­ded. But heer I must observ, that as it is a general Rule and Canon of Nature, that in all Spiritual Powers and Operat [...]ons Union doth fortify, so it is most sensibly evident in Consistence; which though it be the same in every Corpuscle, as in any equal Part of a greater Body of the same nature (as it is in a Pindust as well as in such a small Part of the greater Body of Brass from which the Dust was decided, as I before shewed) yet all the Parts of the greate [...] [...] being united together do proportion­ably more fortify themselvs, and the whole Body is thereby made more strong in every equal Part therof, then the Corpuscle decided from it: and it were more then a Curiosity, and of great Mechanical Use, to find out the Increment of the Strength of Con­sistence according to the Majoration of Consistent Bodys: for certeinly the Total of the Strength of the greater will be found to be more then the Addition of so many Units, as there are Parts in it equal to the Corpuscle decided from it. As a Barr of Wood one Inch square will bear about eight times so much Weight, as if it be equaly divided into fower quarters, any one of those fower quarters will bear; though that hath a fourth part of the whole Magnitude of the other: whereby it appears that the Increment [Page 270] of the Consistent Strength therof is about doubly as much as the proportion of the Magnitude; though I do not conceiv that it al­way so doubles, but that where the disproportion is greater of the Magnitude, it will be greater also of the Increment, and where less, less. As suppose the Barr of Wood an Inch Square and a yard long, and being equaly supported by Fulciments at the Ex­tremitys to bear two hundred pounds Weight hanging at the Center therof, and a Barr of a fourth part of the Magnitude therof to bear a quarter of one hundred pounds Weight, so that the greater Barr bears eight times as much as the less Barr, which yet hath a fourth part of the Magnitude therof; then also suppose another Barr two Inches square, which hath fower times the Mag­nitude of the Barr an Inch Square, the Increment of the Strength therof must proportionably be doubled in respect of that, as the Increment of the Strength of that was in respect of the other, and consequently, if the Barr of an Inch square did bear two hundred, as I supposed, the Barr two Inches square must be supposed to bear sixteen hundred pounds Weight; that is, fower two hundreds doubled, as the Barr an Inch square did bear two hundred; that is, fower quarters of one hundred doubled: now the proporti­ons of Magnitudes between these three Barrs are, as I said, of the least to the midst as one to fower, and to the greatest as one to sixteen; and the Increment of the midst in respect of the least is as eight to one, which is doubly fower; and of the greatest in respect of the least, as sixty fower to one, which is fower times sixteen. Also it may be tried in Barrs of other Figures; as of round Barrs of an Inch Diameter, and [...]angular Barrs of an Inch Perpendicular, and any other Regular, or Irregular Poly­gons: as a Barr half square and half flatt, or an Inch one way, and half an Inch the other way, and how much it will bear one way, and how much the other way, and the like: and I shall pro­pound it to be examined by Mathematicians and Mechanikes, whether in all cases the Increment of the Strength of the greater Consistent Bodys be not proportionably according to the Incre­ment of the Superficies of the less Bodys? as the midle Barr be­ing an Inch Square, the fower Lateral Superficies therof made only fower Inches; wheras every one of the fower least Barrs being half an Inch square, the fower Lateral Superficies therof made two Inches; and so of all the fower least Barrs, whose whole [Page 271] Magnitude is equal to the midle Barr of an Inch square, eight Inches; wheras the fower Lateral Superficies of the midle Barr made on [...] Inches, as I said, and so of the other; wherin the Decrement of the Superficies therof is double, and also the Increment of the Strength of the Consistence therof double: Now though there be, as I have shewed, an Increment of the Velocity of Motion, and accordingly of the Gravitation or De­scent, and Percussion of a Scale or other Body, by the Pondus of the Matter (whereby the Increment of Velocity may be tried) yet that is by several Degrees Successively Actuated, wheras the Increment of Consistent Strength is present and Simultaneous. And heerin may plainly appear another difference between Mat­ter and the Affections therof, and Spirits and their Spiritual Qua­litys: for though Matter by Union doth fortify and defend it­self in the Whole against any Nonentity, as I have said; becaus the Extension therof, being Quantity Consistent (which is the only Consistence of Matter) must Consist together through the whole Quantity of the Universal Body therof, as the Extension of any Particular Body must Consist and be Continued through all the Parts therof; otherwise it should not be the same Extension as it is: and therefore though one Part may be removed from one Place in the whole Body of the World to another, yet ano­ther Part must necessarily succeed, to Continue the whole Exten­sion therof, and thereby to render the same whole Body Com­plete and Intire, and the whole Extension therof Consistent: ye [...] the Union of Part to Part, though never so many, doth not make any Increment of the whole Extension above the Total of all the Proportions of all the Parts; and so an hundred several Weights of one pound of Lead, being melted or otherwise uni­ted together, will not weigh in all more then one hundred pounds; or if the same Matter in a greater Extension be Con­densated into a less Extension, it weighs only according to the Mass of the whole Matter, and not according to the Extension; and therefore is the same, whether the Extension be greater, or less; though as it is so much Matter in a less Extension, it will penetrate and sink through an equal portion of Matter in a greater Extension, as I have shewed: but yet doth not by such Conden­sation acquire any greater Gravity in itself, then proportionable to the whole Body of the Matter; as we say, that a pound of [Page 272] Feathers is as heavy as a pound of Lead; though the Lead will press down the Feathers, and not the Feathers [...], in re­spect to one another and their due Station and [...] the Uni­versal Body of Matter, as I have declared: whereas this Ter­reous Consistence being a Spiritual Quality gaineth an Increment of Strength in itself by such Physical Union above the proportions of all the Parts United or added together Arithmeticaly; and so Fire of so many equal Parts United together Physicaly into one Body will heat and burn more then so many several Sparks equal to those Parts, as being United or added together Arithmeticaly will amount to an equal Total. Also a Wire of Iron may be made so small and so long as that it will not bear its own weight at the Extremitys, and Glass so Capillar, as may be wound about the finger, though Glass be very fragile. And though I conceiv Hardnes and Softnes to be only different Sensibilitys of Consi­stence or the degrees therof, as more Consistent doth more resist the Touch, and less less; yet Fragility and Ductility are different kinds of Consistence itself: for Consistence hath both a Strength and Rigor of the whole Body, which Fragility also hath, and Ductility hath not; and likewise a Spiritual Cohesion and Te­nacity of all the parts therof, which Ductility hath, and Fra­gility hath not so perfectly as proper Consistence: and therefore Fragile Bodys, as Glass, are easily Broken, but will not so ea­sily Bend; and Ductile Bodys, as Wax, will easily Bend, but are not so easily Broken: nor indeed do I conceiv any Body to be properly Consistent, and such as will neither Break nor Bend, ex­cept only the Subcortical Earth, which is Elementary, and hath the proper Qualitys therof in their greatest Actuality; as Aether hath Heat, and Light: wheras other Cortical Bodys, though most Rigid, as Iron, and the like, may be Broken, or Bent; yea by Fusion become Ductile and Fluid: so that Ductility is partly from Moisture; and is only an imperfect Consistence, which though it be not the same with Drines, is very much assisted by it, as I have shewed. Also Fragile Bodys of less Crassitude may Bend more, as I said before of very slender Glass; becaus there is less Di­stortion, that is, less Expansion in the outward Convexity, and Compression in the inward Concavity of the Arch, or Angle, that it makes in Bending: and the very Bending before it Breaks shews that there is some Ductility in it, which is an Imperfection [Page 273] of Consistence: and this doth plainly appear in Glass heated, which is farr more Ductile, and molten, which is Fusile: whence also it hath that other Imperfection therof, that is, Fragility, which it be­trays when it is cooled: but I conceiv that Fragility is a less Im­perfection of Consistence then Ductility; becaus that appears in Actual Drines, and this in Actual Moisture. And Fragile Bodys, though somwhat Flexile, yet, if they be not over-bent, will re­turn again very smartly to their Position, which we call Springi­nes, and will not stand bent, as we say, as Ductile, unles the Rigor (which is properly every way, as it were, by so many Ra­dii from the Center to the Circumference) be overcome by long continuance. And this Springines is only a Return to the Posi­tion of the Consistent Body; (and not as Elastical Potentia, which is to the Density or Rarity of more Fluid Bodys) according to that Natural Rigor, or Temper of Bodys, which the Spirits re­quire, and caus to be in them, and from which they are Vio­lently diverted, and therefore so suddenly and forcibly return unto it again, if the Violence do not continue so long as to caus the very Spirit to conform unto that Figure, as I have shewed, though it will hardly conform to that Temper, in Elastical Bo­dys: as also Vegetative and Sensitive Spirits will hardly conform to Inorganical Figures. Now Consistence being not a Compound, but Simple Quality of Earth, therefore it doth contein Earthy Bodys together, if they be Continuous, though very various and different Composita; for so it conteins both the Subcortical, and Cortical Earth, and all the Rocks, Mountains, and Eminences therof, as one Compages: and so Brick, and Mortar when it is dri­ed, do not only Adhere, as Water and Glass, but Cohere and Consist together; becaus though they be several Composita or Mi­sta of all the Elements, yet their Consistence is common to them all, as they are Earthy Bodys: as Matter doth therefore so Unite it­self in all the Bodys of various Composita in the World: I have seen an old Brick Chimny undermined and pulled down to fall like a Pillar of Timber without any Breaking; which consequently had one Center of Consistence, that did contein all the Earthy parts therof together, as a Needle hath, which is half Silver and half Steel; and as the whole Body of Matter hath one Center, to which it all tendeth, though varied into the several Bodys of In­numerable Composita.

[Page 274]VIII. As Siccity and Consistence are not one and the same Quality of Earth, so much less Consistence and Magnetical Virtue, though that require a Consistence, as Consistence doth Siccity: but, as I have said, Consistence doth only Contein and Arrect the Parts in the whole Body generaly and indifferently every way; wheras Magnetical Virtue doth Direct it particularly in one Rela­tive Place or Position, (which we call Polar) unto North and South; whereby the Difference between Positive Extension in its own Vbi and Relative Place may plainly appear: for a Magnet is in its own Ubi as any other Body, but besides it hath such a Re­lative Position, which is Polar, whereby the Polar Points therof, North, and South, are so Directed as that they will not be placed otherwise, and so thereby consequently all the other Points and Parts therof in the Whole, though the Whole be only in its own Vbi, as any other Body. Also Consistence is without any Motion, for it is the same whether the Body Move, or not; but Magnetical Virtue hath a Verticity to reduce it to its Polar Position. Again Consistence is Orbicular, as the Strength of a Wooden Wheel is equal at the Extremity of every Radius, being equidistant from the Center; but Magnetical Virtue is much stronger at the Poles then at the Extremitys of the Aequator, as I shall shew heeraf­ter; and indeed otherwise it should not be so Polar, or North, and South, more then East, and West. Also Consistence hath no Emanation like Magnetical Virtue; and there are many such other Differences. But yet, as I said, Consistence is an Auxiliary Qua­lity therof, being both Connatural Qualitys of the same Ele­ment. And so the Elementary Earth probably is most Consistent, and most Magnetical: and the Magnet-Stone is also very Con­sistent, and so is Iron Mine, and especialy Iron, and Steel, which are the Extractions therof: and I know not whether there might not be some such Extraction of the Magnet Stone more Magnetical then the Stone or Mine therof: but certeinly the Elementary Earth is farr more Magnetical then any other Magnet, becaus it is Elementary; and also becaus it is so vastly great, whereby there is a proportionable Increment of the Virtue: and this is proved by the very strong Emanations therof which penetrate the whole Cortex of the Earth; as appears by the Inclinatory Needle; for Magnetical Virtue, like Consistence, hath no Contrary; becaus [Page 275] it is only for Direction and Position of its own Body: though Density, as well as Longinquity, may hinder, or abate it, as they do any other Spiritual Powers whatsoever, but not repell, and re­flect it. Also the Magnetike Earth by the Emanations therof doth Excite and Actuate the Potential Polarity which is in some Cortical Bodys; as Iron Barrs, which have stood long in a Polar Position, or Iron, and as some say Brick-earth, heated and laid to cool North and South; which is not by any communication of the Magnetical Virtue of the Earth, (for no Accident can so Mi­grate out of its own Substance, wherin it doth Subsist, into ano­ther) but, according to the Doctrine of Potentiality, which I have formerly delivered, by Univocal Generation or Production of the Magnetical Virtue Potentialy being and Subsisting in those less and weaker Magnets into their Actuality. Also if the Vir­tue of them or the Magnet Stone be Actual, and they laid in a Position not Polar, as suppose East and West, yet if they ly so long, the Magnetike Virtue of the Earth will Predominate, and vary that Polarity to its own North and South, which is very observable; and as it sheweth that the Earth is the great Mag­net, which in time can so over-rule all these less Magnets; so also that these less Magnets, or Terrellae, are such Individualy in themselvs, becaus while they are laid in that Position East and West, which is not Polar, yet they retein their own Individual Polarity, in such a Position as is opposite to the Polarity of the Earth; and though the Earth will at last over-rule them, or if they were freely suspended in the Air they would Naturaly con­form themselvs to the Poles of the Earth, yet while they are so Violently laid in an opposite Position, they still retein their own Individual Center, Axis, Poles, and Aequator, apparently distinct, and opposite to those of the Earth; and in that Position will turn another less Magnet freely suspended within the Orb therof from the Pol [...] of the Earth to their own Poles. Now tha [...] the Earth itself doth never vary its own Polarity, we may sensi­bly perceiv by these Terrellae, and their Natural Polarity, and Verticity; as by the Directory, but especialy by the Inclina­tory Needle, which being carried about the Earth always In­clines the Southern Pole therof more toward the Northern, as it is neerer to it, and the Northern Pole therof toward the Southern Pole of the Earth, as it is neerer to it, and so accordingly [Page 276] changes its Poles and Perpendicularity (whence I suppose it is also called the Dipping Needle) and which plainly proveth that the Polar Virtue is not from any North Starr, as some have fan­sied; for the Southern Polarity is not only a Consequence of the Northern, nor that of it, but both are equaly Polar in themselvs; and the Needle accordingly changeth the Inclination of both its Poles; which also the Directory Needle doth, as farr as it can, by a litle bowing down of its Poles toward one of the Poles of the Earth. Nor is the Polarity from both Northern and Southern Effluvia, as others affirm, which cannot penetrate Glass, as Magnetical Virtue doth; for neither is there any penetration of several Bodys, nor is Glass Porous, nor yet Fluid, as Water, or Air, or the like, wherin we may suppose a Cession to any such Imperceptible Cor­puscles; which are only the Spawn of Epicurus his Atoms, and can never be perceived by Sens in any greater or less Bodys so to pass; nor are any Phaenomena themselvs, and yet are Introduced to solv the Phaenomena: and though they be supposed to be so Im­perceptibly Minute, yet must not only Move litle Needles, but also contein the vast Magnetike Earth in its constant Polar Posi­tion, against all the furious assalts of Air and Water, and the con­joined force of their Storms and Tempests, being such as could ea­sily divert these Corporeal Effluvia, and so prevent their I [...]pe­t [...]; which yet must be supposed to be the same in a Calm or in a Storm, becaus the Magnetike Operations are the same. Where­fore plainly it is a Spiritual Quality Subsisting in the Substantial Spirit of the Magnet, and both Inherent in it, and Emanant from it, like Light, though in another maner, as I shall shew heer­after, and it doth only require Consistence and Drines as Social Qualitys of the same Element, as Light doth Heat; and also Density of the Matter, as they do Rarity; and by the want therof may be Corrupted, as well as they; and so Magnets by Rust, Contusion, and the like, may lose their Act [...]al Virtue, not becaus they are contrary unto it, but becaus they disorder the Bo­dy therof, as Wounds do Vegetative and Sensitive Bodys. Cer­teinly the Magnetical Virtue in a Needle is not from any Northern and Southern Atoms or Corpuscles, for plainly it is Excited by another Magnet Actualy, being what it is Potentialy before in it­self: which evidently appears by the very quick and sudden Actu­ation therof, almost like Heat, and Light, or Sound, and the like; [Page 277] though it will last longer in the State of Actuality then they, be­caus it hath no Contrary to oppugn and Corrupt it, like them: and yet rubbing it with another Magnet the contrary way doth assoon reduce it to Potentiality, by drawing it from its Polar Lon­gitude, and destroying the Axis thereof; (and nothing doth more approve the Doctrine of Potentiality then such Experi­ments) The Magnetical Virtue and Motions therof are most evi­dently discovered by the Magnetical Needle carried about a round Terrella; for at the Aequator it doth apply itself Lateraly to the Magnetical Terrella and Parallel to the Axis, becaus the Aequator of the Magnet, or Terrella, doth equaly attract the Aequator of the Needle, as also the Poles of the Magnet do the Poles of the Needle, when it is so applied to either of them. And when it hath passed the Aequator, the Correspondent Pole of the Needle begins to Incline, and to point to the Correspo [...] ­dent Pole of the Magnet, and so more and more, untill it be Perpendicularly Erected at the very Pole; And it is half Erected, and makes a right Angle with the midle of the Axis of the Magnet, though I suppose not exactly in the midst therof, unless we estimate it according to the Oval Arch of the Magnetike Virtue: yet becaus after it hath passed the very Aequator of the Magnet, it doth no longer apply itself Lateraly, having both its Poles equidistant from the Magnet, but presently begins to touch the Magnet obliquely with one Pole pointing to the Correspondent Pole of the Magnet, I also suppose, that either Pole of the Magnet doth not attract beyond its own Hemisphere, Northern, or Southern; (but the Magnet beng Polar doth attract Circumferentialy from the Center) for otherwise it should still caus the Needle to apply itself to the Magnet with some part of the Side therof, though less, and less, and not touch it Immediately with the Pole, untill it be Erected Perpendicularly at the Correspondent Pole of the Magnet; as if two Chords were fastned to the two Poles or ends of the Needle, and drawn through Hooks or Staples fixed at each Pole of the Magnet, and so the Needle by them drawn beyond the Aequator therof, by pulling in one Chord, and letting out the other; yet it should still apply part of the Side therof to the Magnet, though less, and less, as I shewed: but I refer this Hypothesis to more Curious trial and examination. Also it may be tried, how much less the Attractive Power of the Aequator is then of the Poles: [Page 278] for certeinly the Magnetical Virtue is not equaly Orbicular, but rather Oval, (and that perhaps may discover it, as I before inti­mated) though we call it an Orb, and it may be so; as there is an Orb of the Emanation of Light from an Elliptical, or other Inorbicular Lucid Body, and yet the Power therof is not equaly Orbicular, as I have shewed: for though the Circumferential Extension from the Center be equal, yet the Circumferential Power in that Extension may be unequal: however it is evident in Magnets that though they be Orbicular, yet their Vir­tue is Oval; and so in their Orbs of Magnetical Emanations, the Virtue is greater at the Poles, and neerer to them pro­portionably, and less at the Aequator, and neerer to it propro­tionably. And not only the Center, but also the Poles are very Points; as may appear by two Needles placed at one of the Poles, which will thrust one against another to attein the very Polar Point, which doth most strongly attract them; and there­fore Divaricate at their other ends: as they must according to Statike Law; for there can be no Angular Point of two several Lines concurring in it, without a Divergence of the two Lines from it. Now in this Circular cours of the Needle about the round Magnet it is very observable, that if it be moved about it at a distance, it doth observ the Poles and Aequator of the Orb of the Emanant, and not the Inherent Virtue therof, in the Magnet it self, though the Emanant Virtue be not C [...]rporeal (nor indeed the Inherent) as the Magnetike Body is: which I have already proved in discoursing of Emanant Light, and may appear more manifestly by Magnetike Emanations, which pene­trate not only Imporous Glass, but any other Bodys whatsoever. Now wheras it is a general Magnetike Rule, that the Correspon­dent Pole of one Magnet to another is of a contrary Denomi­nation, as of North to South, and South to North, the Magnets are accordingly found to Conform themselvs, and the less Magnet will turn about itself so to apply its Correspondent Pole unto the other: which is no Flight of each others Poles, as some have supposed, but a Concordance, and Conformity according to the Magnetike Law of their Nature: and it doth so, not only by Contact of the greater Magnet, but at any distance within the Emanant Orb therof; becaus as the Inherent and Emanant Vir­tue of the same Magnet make one Intire Orb of the Magnetical [Page 279] Virtue therof, though of several and unequal Powers; so also doth the less Magnet endeavour thus to Conform itself within the Orb of the greater Magnet. And it may be tried, whether, as two several Lights in the same place do Colluminate, so these two Magnetike Virtues being so placed together do Co­operate by their Emanant Virtues. Also if one and the same Magnet be divided into several Magnets, the Individual Pola­rity of the Whole will be doubled; and accordingly as they are made by the Dissection two less Wholes, so they will also have two Individualy less Magnetike Virtues; and according to the Dis­section so will the Polarity of each of them be: for if the Mag­net be dissected by a Line cutting the Axis and Parallel to the Aequator, then the Poles, Center, Axis and Aequator, are only doubled; that is, the former Northern Pole in the one, and Sou­thern Pole in the other, still remain, and where the Dissection is, there is a new Southern Pole opposite to the former Northern Pole, and a new Northern Pole opposite to the former Southern Pole, and the Axis is divided into two, and the former Center and Aequator are also changed into two new Centers and Aequa­tors conformable to the Position of these double Poles: but if the Magnet be dissected by a Line cutting the Aequator and Paral­lel to the Axis, then the Continuity remaining untill the Dis­section be finished, (which doth end toward one of the Poles) it is as if Wax were so divided by a Dissection almost throughout, but did stick together only at one end; and then the two branches therof produced and erected one above another, and after the upper part wholy severed from the neather, whereby that last Dissection doth not cutt the Aequator, as the first did, but the Axis, by a Line Parallel to the Aequator, as in the former In­stance: and if we could suppose the Magnet to be so produced and erected Corporealy, and then wholy severed, there would be one Pole at the end of the greater part of the Magnet, which we will suppose to continue in the same Position as it was before; and the other part, which is first divided, and then supposed to be so produced and erected above it, must necessarily have ano­ther Pole opposite therunto, and consequently to that which it­self had before when it was conjoined to the other; and so when it is wholy severed, that part seems to acquire two new Poles of contrary Denominations to the other, though indeed [Page 280] the reason therof be only the same, as of the former Experi­ment; and they are all only Correspondences, according to the Magnetike Law; whereby, as I said, North doth Correspond to South, and South to North: and so every Point of th [...] Axis be­tween the North Pole and the Center is Southern in respect of it, though it be within the Northern Hemisphere of the whole Magnet; as England is Southern in respect of the North Pole, or Gr [...]enland, though Northern in respect of the Aequator, or Ae­thiopia, and so likewise every Point between the South Pole and Center is Southern; and thus if the Magnet be divided by a Line cutting the Axis in any Point, the Correspondence of the Poles still remains, and if it cut the Aequator, yet in effect it is the same at last, as I have shewed by the Instance of Wax so dissect­ed, and then produced and erected, and afterward severed: and though this be not so effected Corporealy in the dissection of a Magnet, yet the Spiritual Virtue therof being dissected at one end, and continued at the other, doth so produce itself, and run through the whole Body, that the part dissected will Correspond Magneticaly with that part from which it is last severed, whe­ther, according to the Dissection, it be requisite that it be of the same, or of a contrary Denomination. And heerby we may plainly perceiv the Real Individuality of any Elementary Com­positum, while it is Continuous in itself and Discontinued from others, and the Individual Oeconomy therof in itself; for so the Magnet, while it is one, hath but one Center, Axis, Poles, and Aequator; and assoon as it is Discontinued, the two Parts have each of them all the same Apparatus which is doubled, and so even Elementary Spirits have their Oeconomy, and are Confor­ted by Majoration and Consociation, as I have shewed. And these two Elements, Aether, and Earth, have not only their Inhe­rent Qualitys, but also Emanant; becaus they are most remote, and therefore their Emanations are their Emissarys, whereby to operate at distance; wheras Water, and Air, have their Efflu­via: but I know not whether they also have any such Emanant Qualitys (which deservs farther Inquisition) for Water, and Air may otherwise Operate at distance; that is, Water by Vapors, and Air by its own Body, which enters into any Pores of other Bodys, or may be Introsucted through them by their Cession, if they be Fluid, as Bubbles are through Water. These two Ema­nant [Page 281] Qualitys of Aether, and Earth, are Analogous in some respects: for both Subsist in their Inherent Qualitys, and Bodys, and from them pass Localy into other Bodys; and perhaps they may both Co­operate within the same Orb, though only Loc [...]ly United, and not Spiritualy Mist together; but the Polarity of the less Magnet is not varied presently by being placed within the Orb of a greater, or by the Earth itself, nor can Cooperate, if it do not Conform unto the greater Magnet, at the Aequator, or either of the Poles therof, as the Needle to the round Terrella, but ly in another Position, East and West, or the like; for then I rather suppose that they hinder one a­nother, and attract severaly, more or less, according to their several Virtues, untill the greater Magnet can alter the Inherent Polarity of the less; and consequently the Emanation therof. Also they differ in many other things, as in that which I have mentioned, that the Emanant Orb of a round Magnets Body is not of equal Cir­cumferential Power, like the Luminous Orb of a Starr, or other such Orbicular Lucid Body; which plainly proves Magnetical Virtue and Planetary to be very different; and that Magnetical Virtue having no Contrary, like Light, or Heat, is not Re­fracted, or Reflected; and so the Radii therof cannot be conspis­sated and Intended, as the Sunbeams by a Burning glass. And though they do both attract, yet their Attraction is also very different: for Magnets do only attract such other Bodys that are either Actualy or Potentialy Magnetical, and wherof the Poten­tiality is first Actuated by them: so that it is indeed rather a Con­cours or mutual Embrace of both, then Attraction of one by the other, like the Attraction of Heat; and Heat may attract cold Bodys as well as hott; for though Cold be contrary to Heat, yet it is not contrary to the Attractive Virtue therof, which doth attract a cold Body, as it is a Body generaly, whether hott or cold; and is hindred only by the Gravity therof, which is al­so some Remora to Magnetike Attraction, though both that, and Heat, if they can once overcome the Gravity of the Body at­tracted, do attract with a very quick and smart Motion by their Emanant Rays; and the Magnet very notably, so that an Iron wheel, or Steel Pendulum, will either be wholy staid by a Magnet, and suspended like the Inclinatory Needle; or otherwise Move as freely, as if it were out of the Orb therof by its own Gravity: for though Motion of Matter is per Gradum, yet Spiritual Moti­ons [Page 282] are per Saltum; and so are Motions by Elastical Potentia, as a Bullet Sucked up in the Barrell of a Musket by a mans breath staieth so long as the Gravity therof can resist the Elasti­city of the Air Expanded by the Exuction, and then being over­come, leaps up very suddenly and violently; and, as I suppose, equaly, like the Planetary Motion of the Ae [...]her. The Attraction of Heat is either by the Inherent Quality therof, which though our new Philosophers deride, yet it is most evident, not only by the Attractive Power of the Vital Heat in Sensitive Bodys In­ternaly, but also Externaly of the Heat of Wooll, raw Silk, hott Spices, Tobacco, and many Medicaments, which do notably draw; and it may be also very strong, yea stronger then the draught of Hors, or Ox, as all workmen in Furnaces and Saltworks can at­test. And this Attraction of Inherent Heat may be not only Imme­diately by Contact, but also Mediately by the Emanation ther­of, as in the former Instances: but if the Inherent Heat be not constant, and Fixed, as if it be excited by a litle rubbing, or otherwise, so as it is ready to return again suddenly into its Potentiality, then it attracteth not constantly, but suddenly in a special maner, which is called Electricity, and appears by such rubbing of Electrum or Amber, Jett, hard Wax, and some Stones: and is somwhat like to Elasticity, but from another reason; for that is only by violent Expansion of a Body, which the Spirit therof again reducing to its former Density, doth thereby draw other Bodys after it to avoid Vacuity, as I have said: wheras Electricity is by the sudden Generation of Heat, which accor­dingly emitteth its Emanant Rays, and then this sudden Cale­faction as suddenly ceasing, and the Inherent Heat returning into its Potentiality, the Emanant Rays, which do Subsist in it, must also return into it, and in their Retreat or Resilience, which, as I have shewed, is very sudden and momentaneous, bring back with them small Bodys within the Orb therof, whose Gravity doth not hinder and prevail against the Spiritual Potentia therof: wheras a more Constant and Fixed Heat, though it may otherwise draw more strongly and durably, yet doth not attract so Electricaly; as may appear by hard Wax melted, which will not attract so Ele­ctricaly, as if it be only rubbed, and not melted: nor doth the Heat of Flame attract Electricaly, though it be very sudden and momentaneous; becaus it as suddenly passeth away in the Fume [Page 283] and Body therof; but yet the Successive Fire therof in the Candle or Wood doth attract, like Inherent Heat; And heerby it plainly appears that Emanant Rays do Subsist in, and flow from the In­herent Quality in the Substance, becaus they do thus return to it again; and that even Emanant Accidents, though they flow forth out of their Substances, yet do not Migrate into others, be­caus they do thus return to them again. And now upon this oc­casion, and more fully to explain this very strange Electrical Motion, as I have before discoursed of the Motion of Matter to Union, or Station, Recumbence, or Succumbence, (which though Local Motions, are only such as leaning to, or falling on, without any Active Power or Strength) so I shall now discours of the Motions of Spirits, which are properly Active and Vigo­rous, and truly Spiritual: and such are the Motions of Elemen­tary Spirits, which are the very lowest Classis of all Substantial Activitys. Thus Heat and Moisture Rarefy their own Bodys of Matter, as may appear in Fusion; and Cold and Drines Con­densate them again, when they return to their Consistence: and in all these Variations of the Density or Rarity of their Bodys, there is a Local Motion of the Matter itself Intrinsecaly in the Body therof, otherwise there should be no such Rarefa­ction and Condensation; and the Motion of the Matter therin is only Passive, but the Motive Potentia of the Spirit, which by its Qualitys doth so Intrinsecaly Distend and Contract its own Body, is properly Active, as well as when it doth Extrinsecaly Expand or Compress another Body; which it may do consequentialy by Rarefying or Condensating its own Body: for so Fire by Rare­fying the Powder into Flame and Fume doth explode a Bullet; and though when it Densefieth its own Body the next commonly succeeds by Motion of the Matter to prevent Vacuity, yet this notable Instance of Electricity and all other Attractions by Heat shew also how it may attract another Body, not only by Con­cursion, as two Magnets mutualy meet one another, but by plain drawing without any Corporeal Instruments, and Imm [...] ­diately by its own Spiritual Power, which Spirits have in them­selvs, as plainly appears by the Motive Power of Angels, who are purely Immaterial, and yet most swiftly Move themselvs, and most strongly other Bodys; as our Saviors Body was so carried up to the Pinnacle of the Temple: and ye [...] according to that [Page 284] Universal Oeconomy of Nature and Combination of all the Scale therof, as Angels cannot Move so soon through a greater Space as a less, so I suppose also that they cannot Move so easily through a more Dens Body as a more Rare (as I have also observed of the Magnetike Virtue) nor Move a more Heavy Body as easily as a more L [...]ght: and though they are the most Excellent and Potent Spirits, and so among other Titles called Powers, yet their Motive Power plainly declares how a Spirit may Immediately Move a Body of Matter, and that Materialists strangely err, who suppose that Matter can only be Moved by Matter, or Bodys by Bodys: for indeed Spirits, which are Substantial Activitys, are made purposely to Act and Move the Matter: and so all other Inferior Spirits, though less Potent, may Move it less Powerfully, according to their several Natures and Orders; that is, Mate­rial Spirits Move it more Materialy, and one by another; as Sen­sitive by the mediation of Vegetative, and Vegetative by the me­diation of Elementary, according to the Scale of Nature, as I shall shew heerafter; but Elementary, which immediately Consub­stantiate the Matter, may Immediately Move it, as I have before shewed, both Intrinsecaly, and Extrinsecaly, with very forcible and violent Motions: as in Thunder, Shooting in a Gun, and Rarefaction of Water into Vapors; whereby very great Executi­on may be done, yea, as great as by firing of Gunpowder, which indeed is only Rarefaction by Incension; and yet without Incen­sion, if the Rarefaction be as much and as sudden, it hath the same Effect, becaus there is one and the same Caus of both; that is, the Rarefaction itself, whether it be one way, or other: and yet it is very consyderable, wherefore since the Vaporous Body is also capable of Compression as well as Rarefaction, the Bullet in the Gun should not again Compress the Flame into its former Extension, rather then be itself exploded by the Rarefaction, or, if it cannot be clearly expelled, why the very Gun itself should rather be broken; since Air is strangely Comprest in a Wind­gun by less Strength: but I conceiv the reason therof to be both the greatness of the Dilatation, which certeinly is more proportionably then the Compression; for the Air is never Com­prest so much in the Windgun as to break it, and also the sud­dennes, whereby the force therof coming all at once (like the delivery of weighty Stones, Arrows, or the like out of Catapults, and [Page 285] Balists) doth all together prevail over the resistance, which in longer time and by degrees might prevail against it: and thus if the Rarefaction of Vapor be very great and very sudden, the Execution will be very forcible and quick, and if less, less pro­portionably: nor can I conceiv any other caus of those vast Erup­tions, and Ejaculations of whole Torrents of such massy Mat­ter from Mount Aetna to so great a distance, but only the great, sudden, and continual Rarefaction of Vapors happening in some fitt Caverns therof. Also the Planetary Motions of those vast Orbs in such rapid and perpetual courses is very wonderful: which yet are only Elementary. Thus Magnetical, Electrical, and Planetary Motions are indeed by such Natural Magike as I have described; and though I also acknowledg that Emanations may be at the greatest distances, and Effluvia may pass very farr, yet I cannot conceiv how any Sympathetical Operations can Na­turaly have an equal Effect at the farthest distance as at the neer­est, since no Emanations, Effluvia, nor Angels themselvs, do, or can so Operate. Now Effluvia, as I have said, are of Inherent Qualitys, as odorous, or others, in and with their Vaporous Bo­dys, and not like Emanations, which are only of Emanant Quali­tys, and which, though weaker then Inherent, yet are more Spiri­tual and Separate from the Matter; and may be easily distinguish­ed from the others; for they penetrate the very Bodys, wheras Effluvia only pierce and enter into the Pores therof; also Emanant Qualitys are never Exhausted, but always (while they are in Act and not obstructed) fill their whole Sphere; nor do they weigh, or by their Emanation make their Substantial Bodys to be Lighter; wheras Effluvia, though they may be very Rare and Subtile, yet do proportionably diminish their Bodys, and accordingly make them to weigh somwhat less, unless they be also continualy renewed. There is also a great Cohesion and Continuation of Homogene­ous Bodys, which I have formerly observed, though few of them do so attract or concurr as Magnets. It is said, that Gold doth attract the Fume of Mercury, and workmen use to hold a piece of Gold in their mouths to receiv it, which will be notably silver'd thereby; but that may be only by so much of the Fume as doth happen to fall upon the Gold, as Dew upon leavs of Trees or Herbs; yet certeinly when the Mercury doth so fall upon the Gold, it doth notably retein it, being, as I suppose, very Homogeneous [Page 286] with it, and that there is much Mercury in the Composition of Gold, and so fixed in it, as that no Fume therof will again be emitted by any Operation of the most Intens Fire, though never so long continued: but there is also some other predominant Principle in the Composition therof, which apparently renders it heavier then Mercury; though probably Mercury be one Prin­ciple in the Composition of all Metalls (except perhaps of Iron which is Magnetical, and will not be Corroded by it.) There is also a Fume emitted in melting Lead somwhat like that of Mer­cury, very hurtfull to workmen, and which doth strangely allure Cats, as a sweet Poison, and thereby kill them. But I shall not proceed to discours of Metalls, and Minerals, and the like, which I conceiv to be Composita, and the Spirits therof no Simple Sub­stances, Created in the Begining, but that they are Mist of such several Simple and Created Principles; and therefore not menti­oned in all the Six Days works, though they and all other per­fect Mista were then also Improperly Created; and so we read of Gold, Bdellium, and Onyx: but this general System mention­eth only such grand Mista, as Elements, and Planets, which in the Whole are Ingenerable, and Incorruptible, and therefore are particularly mentioned, as they were so specialy Created.

IX. The Earth, being such as I have described, doth plainly declate itself to be Immovable, that is, not apt to Move itself, (if possible to be Moved by any others) Yet there are some, who not by any Natural Power, nor by Faith, but Fansy, can remove, not only Mountains, but the whole Earth; not by heaping and raising it up to Heaven, as the Poets report of the Giants; but, as if they had obtained the Victory for it, can place it among those Idol Gods, Saturn, Iupiter, Mars, and others; which I shall now disprove, having already shewed how the Earth is one whole Element in itself Naturaly, and only Localy United with Water in the surface therof, and so made one Terraqueous Globe in this Third Day; but not with the Aery Expansum, which was made in the Second Day; and how in the First Day the Ae­ther was made to Move about the Earth with the Light therin, Diurnaly, which made Day and Night; and that the Earth was not made to Move about it, but remained in its Chaos, untill this Third Day. Wherunto I shall add one Text more as a Comment [Page 287] upon the other, being part of that Divine Hymn of Creation, Who laid the Foundations of the Earth (or founded the Earth upon its Basis) that it cannot be Moved. And so where it is said, The World also is stablished that it cannot be Moved, it is to be under­stood of this Orbis Terrae particularly, as I have shewed; or if any may conceiv otherwise, then it shews that the Circumferential Superaether, as well as the Centrical Earth, is Immovable; like the Roof, and Foundation, of an Hous, which are both Im­movable; though other Bodys Move and are Moved therin be­tween them: and though the Roof also may be supposed to be Mobile (as some very great Amphitheaters have been turned about) yet the Foundation must be Immobile; otherwise it should not be such a Foundation: and so it is expressly said, that the Earth is so founded upon her Bases, that it may not be Moved. Now as the Earth hath no Heat, Planetary Virt [...]e, or the like Active, and Motive Qualitys, which might Move it, as Aether; so it hath such as serv to found and fix it, which are therefore called the Bases therof, and Pillars of the Earth; whence it is also by others rightly termed Bruta tellus. Thus, as I have shew­ed, it is the most Dens of all Bodys, and consequently most Grave; and therefore possesseth the Center of the World, to which it is united, as to another thing, by its own Gravity; wherefore as the Universal Center is Immobile, otherwise it should not be such a Center, so the Gravity of the Earth doth Indissolubly unite it thereunto, unless there can be assigned any other Body in Nature more Grave then it, which might extrude it. Again, as by its own Gravity it is thus united to the Center, so by its own Consistence it doth unite all its Parts together, whereby they will not, nor cannot, Move in the Whole, as Motes in Water: and though it should be supposed to have more Consistent Parts one way then another, yet becaus they are all Consistent, they do not flow every way to fill the Sphere, but all weigh Perpen­dicularly downward upon the same Center, without any Fluctu­ation, Trepidation, or Inclination any other way. And to keep it from being Moved in the Whole about the Center any way, it hath Magnetical Virtue to fix it in one determinate Polar Posi­tion, North and South; so that it can neither be Moved out of its Place, nor in its Place, but is wholy Immobile. And becaus this Magnetical Virtue of the Earth is the only colorable Caus offered [Page 288] to prove it Motive, (and so the Planets are also said to be Mag­nets, and both confounded together, which are most different in Nature) I shall now more largely disprove that Assertion, and thereby plainly prove the Earth not to Move. I have granted the Earth to be Magnetical, and I do also grant the Aether to be Planetary; and shall observ a wonderfull Analogy between them; that is, that the Poles of the Earth do so Correspond with the Poles of the Aether, that if the Magnetical Axis of the Earth were produced, it would Intersect the Poles of the Ae [...]her, so as it should seem to Move round upon, and about them; for so the Poles of the Earth are North and South, and the Motion of the Aether East and West; but though both Earth and Aether have their Axis, Poles, Aequator, and Meridian, and the rest, not only Mathematicaly, but Physicaly, as I shall shew heerafter, yet they are not Univocal, as some suppose, becaus they have the same Names, but Equivocal in Nature, and Physicaly different; for the Earth hath them all for Fixation and Rest, and the Aether to direct the Motion therof, as I shall now shew. I suppose, we all agree, that the Verticity of a Magnet is a Motion from Pole to Pole, that is, from North to South, or from South to North, Me­ridionaly according to the Magnetike Axis therof, and not from East to West, or from West to East, about the Axis, and accor­ding to the Aequator therof; and also, that if the Earth did Move Diurnaly, it must Move from East to West, or West to East, be­caus it is so Illuminated. Now I say, that no Magnet doth, or can so Move, but only from North to South, or from South to North, as may be tried by any Magnet, or Terrella, which hath Verticity: Wherefore they greatly err who affirm any such Mo­tion of the Earth, or of any Magnet about its Axis; for indeed, if it should so Move about its Axis, according to the Aequator, it could not also Move from Pole to Pole, according to the Meri­dian, as I shall also shew heerafter. Nor did the Antients so express the Earth to Move about its Axis, but Circa Medium, or about its Center; which yet, as I have shewed, it cannot do Diurnaly, be­caus that Motion is according to the Aequator. Again, Verti­city which is the only Motion of one and the same Magnet by it­self is not Circular, but only from Pole to Pole Semicircularly; and Concursion of one Magnet to another is not Circular, but Directly Progressive; and therefore it may not be Imagined, that [Page 289] the Earth, or Planets, do so Magneticaly Move one about ano­ther, as I shall shew heerafter. And though the Verticity of the Earth be Potentialy in it, yet it never is, nor shall be Actual; for unless it could be Moved from its Polar Position, there is no need nor use therof: and such Potentialitys, though they be ne­ver reduced into Act▪ are not vain, becaus they are Hypothetical, and first suppose a violence, which Nature abhorreth: and so Su­peraether, as it is Matter, hath Motion as well as all other Bodys Potentialy, but never Actualy: and so the whole Earth hath also Gravity, and the like. And as I have now disproved this pretended Motion of the Earth, by the Magnetical virtue therof, so I know no other Caus assigned of such a rapid Motion therof as must be supposed, that is, about fifteen Miles every Minute Diurnaly, and almost fifty Annualy; and the D [...]stance between our Accesses, and Recesses to, or from the fixed Starrs, should be about eight Mil­lions of Miles (which is a large stride) and yet we perceiv no dif­ference therof, as we do of Mars, who is placed in the fifth Sphere. Nor is there any difference of a Bullet shott from a Gun East, or West, as there should be very consyderably according to this common Calculation, and so of a Bullet drop'd from a a Steeple: but they say, the Bullet also is a Terrella, and Moves with the Motion of the Earth; and would prove it by the falla­cious Experiment of an Arrow shot upright from a Ship sailing, and falling down again in the same place: but then if the Stee­ple also were removed, as much as the Ship saileth, the Bullet dropped from it should follow it, which certeinly is not according to the Motion of the Earth, or Terrella: and therefore to defend this they have invented another wors Absurdity: That there is, I know not what, Magical Line of Motion still continuing and in­terceding between the Mover and Moved, after the Impression past, and Contact discontinued: but neither doth the Arrow fly­ing spin any such Corporeal Thread or Line, like a Spider; nor the Archer shooting emitt any such Spiritual Radius, like Ema­nant Heat, which may so direct the Motion. Certeinly a Par­thian, who shoots flying, or a Ship sailing, do not draw back the Arrow or Bullet after them; nor will Stones so fall into the hand of a Boy playing at Checkstone, without any answerable Mo­tion therof, whereby to catch them. Neither is there any such [Page 290] Magnetical Stake reaching from the Subcortical Earth, through the Cortex, Water, and Air, and, as some say, to the Moon; for Magnetical Virtue hath no such long or strong Orb, like Light, or Heat; as no particular Magnet, or Terrella, doth Eradiate like a Candle, or Spark of Fire. Or if it should, yet it could not Move Magneticaly any other Body, that is not Magnetical, or indeed that is not Consistent; as a Stake in a Pond cannot direct the Motion of the Water in it, or Air above it; becaus they are Fluid and not Consistent. Certeinly Birds in the Air, though more Consistent, are not Magnetical; and though a Bullet of Iron be Consistent, and Magnetical, Potentialy, yet if it be not so Actualy, the former Experiments will be the same, as if it were; and if it have the Magnetical Virtue therof Actualy excited in itself, then it is a Terrella in itself, and consequently, if the Earth, which is the great Magnet, Move round, so should every such Terrella, which it doth not, as may be tried by any such round Bul­let, or Magnet, placed upon its Axis in the most exact Aequi­librium: wheras every part of Water, severed from the Element therof, is Water, having all the Propertys therof; and so should every such Magnet be a Terrella, as indeed they call it, having all the Magnetical Propertys therof: and some Magnetical Do­ctors do therefore affirm, very falsly, that a Terrella so placed will Move round like the Earth; who thereby, very truly, ac­knowledg this Consequence; that if the Earth so Move, the Terrella must also so Move; wherefore since the Terrella doth not so Move, neither doth the Earth so Move: and though a Bullet flying when it is shot from a Gun, by that Violent Motion, doth also Move round, as I have formerly shewed from another reason; yet that may be any other way as well as the same way with the supposed Motion of the Earth; and the Bullet drop'd from a Steeple, and so falling downward, by a Natural Mo­tion, doth not, as I suppose, Move round, or not the same way with the supposed Motion of the Earth. Thus every less Mag­net, not being one and the same with the Earth, but Indivi­dualy such in itself, and having its own Poles, Axis, Center, and Aequator, as well as the Earth, (as may appear if it be laid East and West, in which Position it will a long time retein its own Po­larity, not only different, but advers to the Polarity of the Earth, [Page 291] which is North and South) by its own Immobility doth also Sen­sibly prove the Immobility of the Earth. And yet we must be­liev all the Motions therof, which some Philosophers very con­fidently Suppose, and vehemently Impose upon us, maugre all our own Faith, Reason, and Sens; becaus they tell us Scripture is Popular, Reason Ancipitous, and Sens Fallacious; and so all other men must be governed only by the Magistery of their Fan­sys, which, whatsoever it may be to themselvs, is certeinly no more to others then they can prove by Scripture, Reason, and Sens; in which there is no Fallacy, but only in our Apprehen­sions, which are indeed our Infirmitys, and ought to be rectified and corrected by other right Ratiocinations and Sensations, and not by other Imaginations. Thus wheras I have granted that sup­posing the Earth to Move constantly and equaly, though never so swiftly, if we were also carried on it, we should not feel it to Move; becaus we our selvs do not Move, and yet I say, that our Bodys, being also in the Air, should feel themselvs Moved against the Air, though never so calm, but especialy when the Wind bloweth the other way against the pretended Motion of the Earth, which certeinly could not be Insensible; but, as I rather suppose, Intolerable; if their Imagination did not also Summove the Air for us, by supposing both Water and Air to be parts of the great Magnet, the Earth; which is as contrary to all Sens as the other: this Insensibility or Deception of Sens ought to be rectified by other right Sensations, and not by such other Imaginations and Insensibilitys. Again, according to the very Analogy of Decepti­on, as the Sens senseth falsly in one case, so it doth likewise in all like cases, becaus there is the same reason therof: And now also I will examin the supposed Motion of the Earth according to this Analogy of that Deception, which they so strongly urge for it, and I shall only change that Vers (which is their usual Tex) accordingly ‘Provehimur Terra, Coelum Stella (que) recedunt:’ and so as a Man in a Ship sailing by the Shore seems to see the Earth and Towns to Move, which do not, and doth not feel him­self to be Moved, as indeed he is, if he were so Moved by the Motion of the Earth, which must be two hundred times more swiftly then any Ship doth sail, he should seem to see the Moon and Planets to Move Visibly, which he doth not: and though [Page 292] against this is objected the greater distance of the Moon and Starrs [...] yet that is recompensed by their greater Magnitude, which ren­ders them Visible proportionably according to the distance; and by the farr greater and swifter Motion: and so let the Man in the Ship sailing with full Sail, though against the pretended Motion of the Earth, behold the Moon and Starrs Transversly, and ob­serv whether they do not seem to Move, otherwise then when he standeth on the Earth, or when the Ship, wherin he is, doth not sail. There is one who saith that both the Earth and also the Aether do Move; becaus, as he supposeth, while one Moveth from the other, the other also Moveth from it; and so that it is all one and the same, whether we affirm the Earth or Aether to Move; whereby he can solv this very Phaenomenon of their Motion either way, which I have already re [...]uted; and I know none be­sides himself that did ever maintein it; but generaly others affirm the Earth to Move, and Aether not to Move; becaus they suppose all the consequent Phaenomena may be solved either way: who if they can find out any Error, which they think is Tenible, though it be not Truth, they affect and embrace it rather then Truth, and can pleas themselvs in amusing the World therewith, which is a ve­ry Falsarious and Disingenuous Humor, and more proper to Juglers and Impost [...]rs then Philosophers. And becaus I scarcely know any Opinion wherin they more exercise this Art, then this of the Motion of the Earth, as I have already disproved it, so I shall also heerafter prove the Motion of the Aether and Sun, and therin shew how all the Phaenomena can only be solved thereby; and shall now proceed to refute that other grand Error, which is in­deed more Fundamental and Universal, that is, their Doctrine of Matter and Motion. Wherefore having discoursed of the Terraqueous Globe, I shall review it, and consyder whether only Matter and Motion could produce the Spirits and Spiri­tual Qualitys therof; certeinly not Moisture, which is the same whether the Water be Stagnant, or Fluent; nor Drines which is generaly Consistent, and so of the rest (which to prosecute parti­cularly were supervacaneous) but I will now only alter the Scene, and transfer it from Air and Aether to Water; and suppose it to be Tepid, that is, partly Hott, and partly Cold, and also Lumi­nous, as it is Diaphanous, and we will admitt it Sonorous and Saporous, and if you pleas, Odorous; besides Moisture, and the [Page 293] other Simple Qualitys therof; all which may be in the same Instant per omnia Puncta of the Water: and if all these which are so Specificaly different in their own Nature, could be only so many several Motions of the same Matter, and we might Mi­croscopicaly behold them, we should see a most strange Moorish dance, not only of every dancing Corpuscle, but, even in every Joint and Point therof, so many several different and advers ways as must be assigned to make all their several Natures Specifical, and Individual, Simple, and Compound, which is indeed Impossi­ble, and so ridiculous, as needeth no farther refutation. Again, once more we will alter the Scene from Water to Earth; which becaus I have affirmed to be Immovable in the whole Body of the Matter therof, and also the Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys therof to be least Active, I will likewise inquire into one thing more, which I doubt our new Philosophers had forgott, and that is, whether as Motion in others, so also Rest in the Matter of Earth may not produce the Spirit and Spiritual Qualitys therof, as Dri­nes, and others? which though they be indeed less Active then others, yet they are Active and Motive in themselvs: and so Con­sistence though it be most like the Rest of Matter, yet hath a Strength and Center therof, very different from that of the Mat­ter, which also of itself is Fluid, as I have shewed: and Magnetike Virtue, though it affect Polar Rest, yet hath also an Intrinsecal Motion of Verticity in itself to restore it unto it. Nor can all the Terreous Qualitys be only less Active Motions of the Mat­ter, becaus they are all in the same Instant per omnia Puncta in the same Matter, and cannot be so made severaly by one and the same Motion of the Matter, nor can there be so many several Motions therof together, whether more or less Active; wheras all the Terreous Qualitys may be Actualy together in the same Matter, as I have before sufficiently declared of all the other Ele­ments, and their Spirits and Spiritual Qualitys; and I now shall conclude, that even Elementary Spirits and Q [...]alitys are som­what more, and other, then either Mater and Motion, or Matter and Rest.

X. As Matter is Subordinate to the Elementary Spirits, which do Immediately Consubstantiate it, so are they with the Matter to Vegetative Spirits, as I have shewed in the Scale of Nature: [Page 294] and so Vegetatives were not produced untill the Elements were all Perfected, becaus Vegetatives require an Elementary Mistion of them all, and indeed, a proper Mistion therof, which every Spirit ordereth and governeth, both as Subordinate and Subservi­ent to itself; but they are not governed by the special Influence of any Planet or Starr, as the Rabbins say, there is not a Starr in Heaven which doth not point to an Herb on Earth, and bid it grow; for as the Globe of Light in the First Day sufficed to make Day and Night, so also the Heat therof was sufficient for Vegetation; as may plainly appear, in that Vegetatives were pro­duced before the Sun, Moon, or Starrs, (and so also Metalls, though others ascribe the Production therof to Planets) which yet are more particularly Inservient and Beneficial to them; as they do also more particularly vary Days and Nights, and all the Seasons of the Year. But Vegetatives were, and still are produced out of the Earth, or Terraqueous Globe, as it is moistned with Water; for the Earth is the Region both of Vegetatives, and Sensitives, and also of Man: and so it is said, The Earth brought forth Grass, &c. and it is observed that the first Produxit is of Vegetatives; for the Elements which Im­mediately Consubstantiate the Matter were not produced, but so Created in, and with it, in the Begining, whereby they were then Denominated Heavens and Earth, and so are Inseparably united unto it, though they were afterward Perfected in their Mistions, and production of their Qualitys thereby, as I have shewed; and so there is no Produxit of Planets, becaus they also are Elementary: wheras, though Vegetative Spirits were Created in the Begining, as it is said, God made every Plant of the field before it was in the Earth, and every Herb before it grew; yet they were only Latent in their Elements, and not produced, before the Elements were Perfected in their Mistions and Qualitys; which was previous and requisite to their production, as they also were to the production of Sensitives, as I shall shew heer­after: and though Vegetatives are of a farr higher and more excellent nature then Elements, yet they were Created in this same Third Day, wherin Earth and Water were Perfected, and were pregnant and parturient of them, and they ready to be pro­duced, to shew the Continuation of the Work of Creation by God, who never Rested untill the last Instant of the Sixth Day, as I shall shew heerafter, and also the Combination of the Su­perior [Page 295] Natures with the Inferior; as Man also was Created in the same last Day with Beasts: yet neither could the Elements so Perfected, (and much less Matter) so produce them, nor they produce themselvs, as the Earth now brings them forth, and they Generate others, untill God said, Let the Earth bring forth Grass, &c. or as it is Originaly, Germinet germen; which imports another way of special production, then the Mistion of Elements, that is, by Germination or growing out of the Earth, so as no Elementary Mista are brought forth, and therefore plainly Stones, Metalls, Minerals, and the like, do not Vegetate; for they are neither Grass, Herbs, nor Trees, nor of any such Kind, but only Elementary Composita, and Classicaly Inferior to Vege­tatives (and so also are the Planets and Starrs, as I shall shew heerafter) nor are they of any midle nature between Elementary and Vegetative, becaus there are no such Participia in the Scale of Nature; and though Elementary Spirits are so farr forth Plastical, as to superinduce a requisite Density or Rarity in their Bodys of Matter, and some Regular Figuration, as Orbi­cular, and sometimes perhaps Angular; yet they do not Organise them, and make such Members, and Joints, and the whole Com­pages therof, as the Bodys of Vegetatives certeinly; they have no Vegetative Nutrition, Augmentation, and Generation, though they may seem to Grow by Accretion, as Fire doth Generate Fire Univocaly in Bodys pregnant therwith; nor do they grow or sprout of the Earth; or as it is said, upon the Earth, as Ger­mens; but abide in their Element. Also Vegetatives commonly grow out of them, as well as out of Earth, and not only Moss, and Ivy, and the like, but great Trees are seen to grow out of Stones, Rooting into them, and as I suppose, cleaving them asun­der, if perhaps the Seeds did not first fall into such clefts; other­wise it is a Noble Instance of the Predominant Potentia of Vege­tative Spirits over Elementary: for the Root of the Tree is a farr softer Body then the Stone, and therefore cannot cleav it by any Corporeal, but only by a Spiritual Power: wheras I have seen a Birch grow out of an Oak, and not cleav it; which, as I suppose, was produced first by a Seed falling into the Crown of the Oak, where was some Earth, wherin it first Rooted itself, and so grew to be another Individual and Intire Tree in itself; and not like a Branch Ingraffed into another Tree, having one and the [Page 296] same common Root: and wheras all Vegetatives have Roots, cer­teinly no Metalls, or Starrs, or the like, have any; and Stones are only Poeticaly termed Vive, when they are in their proper Beds, but neither Live, nor Vegetate, any more then when they are out of them. And indeed though Vegetatives do Vegetate, yet they do not properly Live, as I shall shew heerafter, but all their Operations, though farr above Elementary, are as farr be­low Sensitive; and are as Subordinate to Sensitive Spirits, as Ele­mentary are to them: but as Elementary are Mist one with ano­ther, and Composited only with the Matter, so Vegetatives are Composited with them, and are the first kind of Spirits that are Composited with other Spirits; and therefore are first said to be produced, as I have shewed. And as Elementary Composita are variously Mist among themselvs, and by their various Qualitys, (which are many more then only one First with a Second Qua­lity of another Element attending it, as some have very falsly sup­posed, in every one of them) and by all the Changes therof, in their Compositions, and Decompositions, as I have observed, whereby Glass, Stones, Metalls, Minerals, and such like only Ele­mentary things, are Generated; so, as I said, there are Ligneous, and other Elementary Mista, properly Subordinate unto Vegeta­tives, and most probably some proper Mistion to every Species ther­of, as there is a proper Vegetative Spirit Subordinate to every Sensi­tive Species: for certeinly the proper Plastical Virtue of any Grass, Herb, or Tree, which doth accordingly Organise and Effigiate it, cannot Organise and Effigiate another Specificaly different from it, and much less any Sensitive Body, which yet is so Organised and Ef­figiated by a Vegetative Spirit, as I shall shew heerafter: nor indeed can the proper Q [...]alitys of one Spirit Subsist in another; which to affirm, as some do, is more absurd then Migration of Accidents, as it is more to produce any thing Originaly out of itself, then being first produced by another to receiv and entertein it into it­self: nor yet hath any Superior Spirit Eminently, as they say, in itself the proper Qualitys of any Inferior Spirit, becaus they are proper to the other; which though Inferior, yet hath also its own proper excellencys, whereby it is known to be, and in­deed is what it is; and so Vegetative Spirits only do Vegetate, as well as Sensitive only Sens, and Intellective only understand. Thus though there are fower Elements, and no more, of which all the [Page 297] various Elementary Mista are made, yet Vegetative Spirits are Indefinite, and so it is Indefinitely said of them, that they were brought forth after their Kinds; and perhaps Vegetative Spirits are more various then any others, becaus they are also Subordi­nate to every Sensitive Species, wheras there is only one Sensi­tive Spirit so Subordinate to Intellective, that is, to the Spirit of Man. But though the Species of Vegetatives are not enumerated, yet there are three Genera therof mentioned, Grass, Herbs, and Trees, if the same Word Germen may also signify Gramen, and be not only a general Name of all Vegetatives, which then must be subdivided only into Herbs, and Trees, (as they only are menti­oned afterward to be for food of Man) but as it is often rendred Grass, so I rather conceiv it in the largest sens: certeinly it is not only a Tender Blade, for they were all made Perfect and Mature; and wheras Herbs are said to have Seed, and Trees Fruit, if there is Grass also, which hath neither Fruit, nor Seed, I conceiv it ought so to be intended therof. Yet I do not sup­pose Mold, or the like, to be any perfect Vegetatives, Immedi­ately Created by God, but rather Meteorical Vegetative Compo­sita, and only Imperfect Rudiments of Vegetation; and so likewise the Excrescences of Vegetatives, as Jews Ear, Sponk, Agarike, and the like, which are somwhat like Wens in Sensitives; as there are such Anomala of any Material Spirits, which are Generable and Corruptible, though neither of Matter, nor Immaterial Spi­rits, which are Ingenerable and Incorruptible. And thus I sup­pose Vegetatives growing in Water, as Duckweed, and the like, to be Anomalous; for it is said of perfect Vegetatives in their Creation, Let the Earth bring them forth; and so they were said to be upon the Earth, and not upon the Water: and as all Grass hath a Root, so I conceiv any Vegetative which hath no Root, to be Anomalous. Also Moss, and Sponge, which is a kind of Seamoss, are Imperfect Grass; but that which we commonly call Grass, having a Root, Leaf, and Spire of Grass, is, as I suppose, the first perfect Vegetative. And I shall consyder first the Root, which is a Bulbous Substance, and hath generaly more of the Ve­getative Virtue in it then the Blade of Grass, or Calamus of Herbs, or solid Trunk of a Tree, being also Esculent and Medicinal; and is in itself the Mouth of Vegetatives sett Downward in the Earth, wheras the Mouths of Sensitives are Upward, and not fixed to their [Page 298] Element, but more discontinued, becaus Sensitive Spirits are not so united to the Matter as Vegetative, nor Vegetative as Elemen­tary. Also though the Root be the Mouth, and partly as the Sto­mach of Vegetatives, yet the upper parts of Plants above the Earth do likewise perform the Concoction, as may appear by a Cion, which doth over-rule the Stock heerin; and the Conco­ction in the Root is for Nourishment of itself, and perhaps pre­paratory for the upper parts, as that of the Oak is for Ivy, or Mistleto; for properly Plants have no Stomach, or such a com­mon Coquine, as Sensitives; though as they have a more special and proper Elementary Mistion which they order and govern for themselves, as I said, so consequently a Radical Heat, Moi­sture, and those other Q [...]alitys, with a certein Proportion and Acme therof, to which they grow up, and then decay again, as well as Sensitives▪ but these seem not to be so Powerfull and Operative in themselvs, as the Vital Heat, and the like, in Sen­sitives, and are much assisted by external Heat, and the like, and therefore grow most in hotter and moister weather: and this Woodmen observ in their situation to the Sun and Winds, and notably in cutting Wood in the Spring, that as the Air is more hott, or cold, and the Wind changeth from South to North, the Sap will rise and fall again, as Water in a Weatherglass: but it riseth in hotter, and falleth in colder weather, and not contrarily, as it doth in the Weatherglass, becaus it is not ruled by any such Expansion, and Elastical Potentia, as I have shewed of the open Weatherglass, but only by Rarefaction of the Juyce itself, which plainly causeth it to ascend through the Pores or Cavitys of the Plant, like Vapor in the Air: nor are the in­ward parts of Vegetatives so Actualy hott, as of Sensitives, whose Concoction is generaly best performed, when the Ambient Air is more Cold, and not as of Vegetatives, when it is more hott. Yet the upper parts of Plants seem also to Attract by their Heat, though not so much as Sensitives. It is a Curiosity much affe­cted to make Equivocal Plants and Fruits, which cannot be so well effected as in Sensitives, whose Seeds are Fluid, and more easily Mist; though I conceiv the most probable way to be by some Unition of their Seeds, and especialy such as are Homo­geneous, or more Homoeogeneous, as Mules are commonly Generated by the Mistion of Equine and Asinine Seeds: also it [Page 299] may be tried by Unition of their Roots, but then care must be had in slitting and dividing them; for Gardiners say there is a Centrical part of the Root, which if it be pricked through with a Pin, it will never grow; as there is an Apex or Gemma which Ants bite off in Seeds. The Leaf or Blade of Grass, which is only an Ornament of other Plants, is the Body therof above ground, and is more Esculent then Leavs of Trees; but both Blades and Leavs are generaly Green, which is a most equaly Mist, and therefore most gratefull and inoffen­sive Color, and so most fitt for their common Covering; and they plainly shew, how Green is Mist of Blew and Yellow, for when the Blew, which is more Opacous, and Subsists in the stronger Juice, decays, together with it the Leavs turn Yel­low, and fall. The next Rank is of Herbs, which besides Leavs have a Stalk to exalt and support them, interceding between the Root and the Leavs; and that is generaly an hollow Cala­mus, not so strong and Ligneous as the Trunks of Trees, but more Stramineous, and first only a Blade of Grass, and not any Sur­culus, and it is commonly strengthned by Joints and Knotts, which also serv, as Val [...]s, to retein the Vaporous Sap ascend­ing in them; and besides Leavs they have commonly Flowers▪ and are so denominated Flores. And of this kind the lowest is such Grass as hath Seeds and a Flower, or Efflorescence, as Corn, before it be perfect Seed; and the Seed is commonly in the Flow­er, which is a more delicate kind of Leaf, and composed of more refined and concocted Sap, having also generaly more Co­lor or Odor, or both; but very rarely is Green, to distinguish it from common Leavs; and hardly ever Black of itself, though Leavs and Flowers are often made so by Adustion, as when Dews falling on them are adusted by a Torrid heat, they turn Blackish, wheras ordinary Vegetation is by a more moderate Tepor: and yet there are Blackberrys, and such like Fruits, which are first of some other Color, and by an high Concoction are made Blackish to the sight; but their Juice doth hardly Denigrate, or Dy Black, like perfect Adustion; as Mossy Wood charked will be throughly Black, both in the Wood, Bark, and Moss: The Seed is of an higher nature then the Flower, not only more Esculent and Medicinal generaly, but also conteining ano­ther Individual Spirit of the same Species in itself, whereby the [Page 300] Plant doth Univocaly Generate after its Kind, as I have shew­ed. The Third sort is of all other perfect Vegetatives, which are neither of the others; and they are described to be Lig­neous, as the Original word imports, that is, Arboreous; and though some of them, as Vines, Brambles, and the like, be less Ligneous, and need other Trees to support them, yet themselvs also are Trees, according to this general distribution of Plants, and we do not call them Herbs; as Terrene Reptiles are Beasts, and not Fishes. And all Trees grow up first from softer Sur [...]uli, which af [...]erward may become so firm, that they are not only Ligneous, but seem almost to be Saxeous, as Lignum vita, Ebo­ny, Brasile wood, and the like Trees of a more strong and Terreous Juice. I have seen Oaken wood digged out of the Sea Beach (where formerly the Tree had grown, and was over­thrown and overwhelmed by Inundations, after long lying in the Salt Juice therof) as hard and firm as the beforemention­ed. Corall also, which is a Frutex of the Rocks, is very hard, when it is out of the Water; and perhaps not so very tender under it as is commonly reported; though when the thick Juice therof is desiccated, it is most Lapideous. And I suppose some such cold and gross Juice is the caus of Petrification; not so much by Conglaciation, as by reduction of a fitt Juice in the Body therof to such a Consistence; and plainly Stones of Fruits are so denominated from their almost Saxeous hardnes. where­by they become such Caskets for Seeds, which are Natures Gemms; and yet we cannot conceiv their Induration to be any Conglaciation, but rather Desiccation; for Earth and Water are most Congenerous Elements, and as they are composed into one Terraqueous Globe, so they have a greater Intermistion: and as Metalls may become Fluid by Fusion, so may these Succi be Indurated and fixed by Drines and Consistence; though as Heat is assistant in the one, so may Cold be in the other. But Trunks of Trees, though not hollow as Stalks of Herbs, have their Porous passages through which the Sap doth ascend, and commonly by the most Spongy part therof, that is, the Pith, which is formed by the Bubbling and Spumeous Vapor ascend­ing in it, and is fixed by degrees; as may be seen by Birds Quills, which have litle Bladders left in the Cavitys therof, though their Pith is more Constipated in the Feather. And [Page 301] there is observed to be some such hollownes in Hairs; and both Feathers and Hairs are Vegetatives, though Subordinate parts of Sensitive Bodys; and yet they have neither Seed, nor Root properly, becaus they are not properly Individuals in themselvs, but parts of others; and so they are Analogous to Leavs and Flowers, and of as Beautifull and more strong Co­lors, and many of them perfectly Black. Also the Sap doth not only ascend through the Pith, but notably between the Wood and the Bark; and in the ascent is Concocted into Wood every year, as may appear by the Circles therof very visibly in more sappy Trees, as Willow, Ash, Birch, and the like, where­by, knowing the several years growth therof, you may com­pute the Gain or Loss, according to the proportion of the Ma­jority of the latter Circles, and Interest of the yearly Rents precedent: and the Sap may also rise between these Circles, and through the very Pores of the Wood, as Bloud in Sensi­tive Bodys may Transudat [...] through the Flesh; for the Tree will sprout, and shoot forth, every where; and hollow Trees without any Pith may bear Fruit: and indeed the Bark or Skin, which is outward, is more requisite to the Vegetation of the Tree, then the Pith or Medulla, which is inward: and as it will hardly Live, as they term it, without a Bark, so if that be bound, it will not thrive, which therefore is cured by cutting: for, as I said, Vegetative Spirits in Plants being much assisted by the Temperature of External Qualitys (as also by Internal in Ani­mals) are as easily hurt by the Distemperature therof, from which the Bark servs to defend it; and as it so defends the Body of the Tree, it thereby suffers much weather-beating and adu­stion in itself, which makes it so Rugous and harsh. And becaus the External Heat draws the Sap outward, as well as up­ward, therefore the Pith is commonly Insipid, but the Bark very strong and Stiptike, as may appear by Tan; and so is the Wood itself more then Pith, as appears by the Salivous Oil of Oaken wood which issueth out at the ends in burning, and is very Astringent and Desiccating: so also the Rinds of some Fruits, as Orenges, Lemons, Citrons, and the like, are very Spirituous and Sapid; but then that Pith, which is next to them, is very Insipid. There is another Character of Trees, which is their Fruit; not particularly of every Kind of them, for all [Page 302] are not Frugiferous, but generaly, becaus most of them are such, and others which are not so, yet being Ligneous, and other­wise like unto them (and so not to be accounted Herbs, or Grass) are therefore also Trees: and they are generaly thus described, becaus this was the chief end of Vegetatives, to be food for Sensitives; and the Fruits are most Esculent, wherin also, as in Flowers of Herbs, the Seeds of Trees are conteined more Imme­diately, as it is so said, whose Seed is in it. All Plants grow out of the Earth Perpendicularly, and so the Earth doth nourish them: and thus all Grounds bear only according to the Plane or Levell therof, and not according to any Convex or Concave Superficies: as a Park may be Impaled with as few Pales, though the ground be rising and Indented, as if it were plain and Poll; becaus all the Pales stand Perpendicularly, though it require more Rail proportionably, becaus the Rail runs Horizontaly ac­cording to the Superficies, and yet we thus measure and purchase Lands, which bring forth the other way. And heer I shall ob­serv, that wheras it is said, The Earth brought forth Grass, and Herb yielding Seed after his Kind, and the Tree yielding Fruit, whose Seed was in itself, God in these Six Days made them and all other things in their Acme of Perfection, as well as Adam in his Adult State, and so every way Good; for thus Vegetatives were made not only Complete in themselves, but pregnant with their Seeds, and ready to propagate others; and to this Indivi­dual Perfection of Vegetatives and Sensitives was added the Di­vine Benediction, Increas and Multiply; according to the Kind Specificaly: and so God having sett in order Original Gene­ration by Improper Creation, as I have shewed, transmitted it to the Successive Generations of Nature. And wheras it is a common Problem whether any Poisonous Vegetatives, or other­wise Noxious, as Briars, and Thorns, were before the Fall and Curs? I suppose by Analogy of Nature, that as then, though there could be no Elementary Qualitys Actualy Existing in their Extremitys, yet they were very Intens and Predominant in their own Elementary Bodys; as the Q [...]alitys of Fire in Aether, and of Water in the Sea, which might destroy Sensitive Animals, if they should be Localy in them; wheras they were so ordered, that they were very Gratefull and Usefull to them; so also that [...]here were Vegetatives in the same Excessive degrees of Qua­litys, [Page 303] as now, which we therefore call Poisons in respect to Animals, though they be indeed Eminences of Nature in them­selvs; and so also Briars, and Thorns, and such others, as are no Anomalous but Perfect Plants: but I suppose that Animals were preserved from Poisons by a Natural Abhorrence, and Discretion, having all their most exact Senses, and Bodily Tem­peraments, which would not accept of any other food then what was suitable therunto; and so they might also avoid Briars, and Thorns, and the like, as they pleased; whose Berrys are also food for Fowls: but I also suppose that there was no such Excessive Quantity therof, as since; and that this was the import of that Curs of the Earth, Thorns and Thistles it shall bring forth: that is, wheras before of itself it brought forth abundantly all sorts of Vegetative food for Man and Beasts, and such Poisonous Herbs, and Noxious Plants, as rarely as it doth now good Fruits; so then vice versa it should bring forth abundantly Weeds, Thorns, and Thistles, and the like. Thus I have briefly and generaly discoursed of Vegetatives, as before of the fower Ele­ments, according to this Divine History, which is an Universal System of the World, both in the Proper and Improper Creati­on therof: nor do I intend any particular Historys of them, as Solomon spake of them all, from the Ceder of Lebanon to the Hysop that is on the wall. But heer, before I conclude, I shall again desire any who will rightly consyder the Nature of Vege­tatives, to try whether they also may be made only by Matter and Motion, without their own proper Plastical Spirits, which the Earth did bring forth; and as I have observed the fower Ele­ments were before perfected and prepared in order therunto, without which the Matter alone, as so consydered in itself (though indeed it can never be without the Consubstantiation of Elementary or the Superaethereal Spirit) hath no Automatous Mo­tion of itself, nor, when it is dislocated, any other then to Uni­on and Station, as I have shewed, which is only to recover its due Rest and Position; and therefore certeinly it cannot also Move from Rest, which is Naturaly contrary therunto, (as Verti­city is to Polar Position, and therefore cannot be from it) nor hath it any such Plastical Virtue of itself which may guide the Motions therof, but would be only Equidens and Orbicular; wheras Plastical Formation of all Vegetative Bodys, and much [Page 304] more of the Bodys of Sensitives, is constantly so Symmetrical Organical and Curious according to every Kind, and Species, and the successive Propagation therof, and they so very various and different, that he who will not believ Divine Authority, nor Natural Reason heerin, may satisfy himself by his own Sensation, and making use of his Microscope Inspect the most admira­ble Structure and Mechanism of the least Vegetative, or Sen­sitive, which is composed farr otherwise, and beyond the most admired workmanship of any Bezaleel, Daedalus, Apelles, or Ar­ [...]hytas, and all the Mechanical Borcherys of Art (which yet is all that some will allow to Nature itself) and when he shall have consydered the most exact and Mathematical Conformitys of the one, and Enormitys of the other (which also shews that Mathe­matical Exactnes is not, nor cannot be, of Common Use) he may easily judg with himself, that since the Intellective Spirit of the most Ingenious Man cannot effect the like, certeinly it must either still be Immediately Digitus Dei, and so deny this whole History of Creation in the Six Days, and all the Works of God therin, whereby he did sett in order the Cours of Nature, and conse­quently deny all Created Nature; or otherwise acknowledg it to be the continual Succession of the same Natural Causalitys, which also lead us back again to the Acknowledgment and Ado­ration of the Supernatural Creator, who is the only Author and Institutor therof.

XI. Wherefore let us prais the great Creator of Heaven and Earth, as for the Aethereal, so also for the Aereal Heaven, and for the Water, and the Earth. And heer we must sing his praises in Consort for them all together, as it is once said of them all, that they were Good; though they be in themselvs several Ele­ments, and were perfected in two several Days. Nor is the Goodnes of Vegetatives, which is another Classis of Creatures, though also perfected in the last of these two Days, pronounced of them, which were before declared Good; but becaus these three Inferior Elements, Air, Water, and Earth, being separa­ted from the Aether by the rapid Motion, and Circumvolution therof about them, and more conjunct among themselvs, were not perfected one without the other; and the Water (which is the midle Element, and contributed to the Perfection both of the Air, [Page 305] and of the Earth, by ascending in Vapors into the Air, and de­scending itself into the Canales and P [...]res of the Earth) was no [...] perfected untill this last Day; nor in that alone, but in both these two Days; therefore this Proclamation of their Goodnes and Perfection was reserved for the Consummation of the whole Work of both the Days, and then Relatively to be distributed to all the three Elements, which were so perfected therin: and so they now continue to be Severaly, and also Mutualy Good. And the Aether, which was before made Good in itself, yet had not been. Good to others without the Goodnes of the Air; whose Refrigerating Cold doth Temper the vehement Heat, and Re­fracting Pellucidity the Lucidity of all the Aethereal Lumina­rys; whereby not only as a common Thorough-fare, but also as a Cooperator therin, it both adapts and conveys the Aethereal Blessings of Rays above, and also the Spirituous Vapors of the Waters beneath (which as an Al [...]mbic, it distills and refunds) to the Terraqueous Globe. Nor is it only thus Concurrent with Aether, and Water, and the Influences therof, but hath in itself the Ven­tos of Winds, both to Cool and Purify the Atmosphere, and all the Organs of those admirable Sounds, which it doth propagate continualy and successively, and which as so many Cursores or swift Messengers make their Reports through the whole Sphere therof, and all the Surface of the Earth: and so is made to be the Cym­bal of Nature, which with its Inchanting Musike ravisheth or af­frighteth, all Sensitive Spirits; and whereby Men Discours and Convers one with another, and in Sacred Hymns render their gratefull praises of the whole Creation to the Divine Creator: Also the Atmosphere therof is the very Breath and Life of Ani­mals. Neither doth the more Dens Water intercept all the Bene­fits of Aether, and Air, but partly transmitt them to the Earth, which it contempers with its own Moisture, and is as the Bloud Circulating through the Veins and Arterys therof by constant Re­ciprocations; conveying Nutriment to all the Cortical Body ther­of, being both the Inexhaustible Fountain of Drink to all Sensi­tives, and also conditing their Meats with most gratefull Sapors, and perfuming them with varietys of most delicate Odors. And though both these Elements of Air, and Water, seem very Weak and Infirm, in comparison of the Rapid Aether, and Robust Earth; yet being provoked and armed to execute Divine Revenge, they [Page 306] so mutualy assist and fortify one another, with unusual and unex­pected Rage, that Conflagrations, and Earthquakes, do not much exceed their furious Herricans, and violent Inundations. The Earth, though last and lowest of all the Elements, is not only their most Dens and Consistent Fulciment, and Center of their Situation, but also of all their Offices and Services Circumferentialy tend­ing unto it; being the Foundation of the whole Univers, and another Orb in itself, and Epitome of the great Globe; wherof all the rest are only Concave Spheres, having only some particular Orbs in themselvs; and on which all those Luminous Orbs cast their smiling Aspects, and the Sun Illustrateth all the other Lu­minarys, that so they together with himself may give Light unto it: which the nimble Air fanneth and refrigerateth with the Wings of Wind, and watereth the great Garden therof with D [...]ws and Rains: and the officious Water runeth up and down to wash the face of the dusty Cortex, and to bath and supple all the Limbs therof; and also floweth forward and backward to carry and re­carry the greatest Burdens from Shore to Shore. Thus all the other more Active Elements, as so many Circumsistent Servitors, in their several Courses and Orders, minister unto Earth; which sitting still and resting in itself receiveth all their Homages and Tributes, not Moving, nor being Moved with all their Disor­ders and Confusions; but founded on the Solid Base of its own Density and Gravity, and strengthned by its own Consistence, and fixed by its own Polarity doth also by its other Q [...]alitys fix all the more subtile and volatile Elementary Spirits. Which covereth its own Nakednes with the Daedalous Embroidery of Leavs and Flowers, and enricheth itself, not only with the Stock of all the hid Treasures of Jewells, Metalls, and Minerals; but also with all the Rents and Revenues of Annual Fruits and Profits both pro­ducing and mainteining all Vegetatives, and the chief of Sensitive Animals, yea, Man himself, whose Body is also formed of the Con­generous Dust; and so the Earth, which is given to the children of Men, is the Stage of this great Amphitheater of the World, wherin all the present Affairs therof are transacted; and as all the other Elements are now subservient therunto, so heerafter also the Superaether, or Heaven of Heavens, shall be the everlasting Mansion of Blessed Souls.

And now again let us tune our praises to an higher Note, and [Page 307] bless God for the Creation of Vegetatives, Grass, Herbs, and Trees: and let us contemplate their several Kinds, and Virtues, which yet are Innumerable and Unknown to us; their Curious Formations, and Oeconomical Administrations; the careless Com­lines of their Leavs, and Beautys of their Flowers; the general conformity of their Greennes to our Sight, and the delightfull va­rietys of all their other Colors: how wonderfully they Compose, Nourish, and Augment their own Bodys, and Generate others; and having neither Sens, nor Intellect in themselvs, yet by their own Innate Plastical Virtues perform such works, as no Sens, or Intel­lect, can Imitate, or sufficiently Admire. The Microscopical per­fection wherof doth exactly correspond with the most Critical Sens, and Organical usefulnes with the most Political Intellect. And as God in the Begining Immediately Created the Heavens and the Eart [...], and the great Building of the whole World, so they Mediately build all the Domicils, and Officines, of their own, and all Superior Bodys, as the Architects therof, and Vulcans of all their Organs and Instruments: and are themselvs, together with the Subordinate Elements and Matter, the Immediate Bodys of all Sensitive Spirits, wherin they Reside, and Operate: and both Dress and Digest for them all their Nutriment, wherof a great part is of the same Vegetative Nature, which affordeth not only Salads for delight, but solid food for strongest Animals, Horses, Bulls, and the great Behemoth; furnishing also Mans Ta­ble with Wine, that maketh glad the Heart of Man, and Oil to make his Face to shine, and Bread which strengthneth Mans Heart. Re­newing the Annual Fruits of the Earth as fast as all the Animals can devour them; which in Mans better State were his sole Diet, and since he tasted of their only forbidden Fruit, are his Physick, or Natures Tree of Life for healing of the Nations.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. WE now proceed to discours of the Second Part of Crea­tion; wherin, when God had before perfected and prepared all the [...]ower Elements, and planted the Earth, which was the last, with Vegetatives, which he produced out of it, he began now to Introduce into them all their more Locomotive Inhabi­tants: and to shew the Connexion of both these two Parts of Creation, it is again said of the first Created Light, Sit, or Fiat Luminaria, wherunto, as I suppose, the Singular Number doth re­ferr, and that it must be so understood, Lux fiat Luminaria, for it is afterward Sint or Fiant Pluraly. And I also observ, that wheras it is said of all the other Days Works, when they were finished and perfected, generaly, God saw that it was Good; it is said of that first Created Light more particularly, God saw the Light that it was Good; though also afterward in the same Day he divided the Light from the Darkness: but as I have before observed of the three Inferior Elements, Air, Water, and Earth, that it is not said, God saw that it was Good, untill they were all [Page 310] perfected, and the whole Work finished; so though Day and Night Artificial were made generaly by the division of the Light from the Darknes in the First Day Natural, yet becaus they were also to be more particularly distinguished by the Luminarys, and to be so ruled by the two great Lights expressly made for that purpose, that is, the Sun to rule the Day, and the Moon to rule the Night, therefore the Goodnes is not pronounced of Day and Night in the First Day, but in this Fourth Day, wherin the whole perfection therof was consummated: so accurately exact is God the Author of Nature, and Scripture, both in his Opera­tion, and Expressions. And though the common Light, and Day and Night thereby, in Aether, and the ascent of Vapors in Air, and eduction of Earth above the Waters, and madefaction ther­of by them, was sufficient for the product [...]on of Vegetatives, which therupon were Immediately produced, as I have shewed; yet before the Introduction of Fishes and Fowls into the Water, and Air; and Beasts and Man into Earth; it was requisite that the Aether, which Sensitive Animals only can behold, and by the Ligh [...] therof all other Spectable things, should be made perfect and complete, and adorned with all the various Luminarys, [...] in their various Positions, and runing their several Courses, and so ordered and disposed as might best serv both for the Sen­sation of Sensitive Animals, and Contemplation of Intellective Man. And though these Luminarys were made after Vegetatives, yet they are not therefore Vegetative, or of a Superior Nature above Vegetatives, as Vegetatives are above all that were made before them, and as Man the chief of all was made last; for though indeed this Order is observed in each of the Parts of the Creation; and so the Creatures made in the last were respective­ly more excell ent, then they which were made in the first Part therof; yet the Luminarys, which were made in the first of the last three Days, are much Inferior to Vegetatives, which were made in the last of the three first Days; for they are Elemen­tary, and of the Elementary Classis, though chief Composita of the chief Element, Aether: but all Elements and Elementary things are Classicaly below Vegetatives; and though Planets have Lo­comotion out of their places, which Vegetatives have not, but only in their places, being all Rooted in the Earth; yet Loco­motion is also in the Matter, when it is dislocated, and indeed [Page 311] no Material Spirit can so elevate their Bodys and caus them to ascend, as Matter doth necessarily to Union, and to prevent V [...] ­cu [...]ty, as I have shewed: and much less are the Planets Sensi­tive, or Intellective in themselv [...], or any such Deitys or Daemons, as the Idolatry of Heathens made them▪ and their Philosophy durst not contradict; nor yet Moved by Intelligences or Angels, as the Rabbins and Scholemen suppose: for they can be only External Movers therof, wheras Planets Move by their own Na­tural Power, and Intrinsecal Virtue, like the Verticity of Mag­nets, and are not Moved like Studds fixed in solid Spheres, as I have proved, and as the Eccentrical Motions of the Planets therin do thereby plainly disprove; and therefore others affirm them to be Magnets, and the Earth, which is the great Magnet, to be a Pla­net; but certeinly Aether and Earth are two different Elements, having different Elementary Spirits, wherin the same Qualitys cannot Subsist, as I have shewed; and so the Aether cannot be Magnetical, nor the Earth Planetary, unles we can also make the Aether to be Terrestrial, and the Earth Aethereal; wheras Heaven and Earth are generaly contradistinguished in the Begining, and particularly Aether and Earth were made two several Elements in two several Days: and Aether being, as I have shewed, Fluid, cannot possibly be Magnetical, which requires a very solid Con­sistence; certeinly the whole Aether, which is a Concave Sphere, cannot be so Magnetical as Earth, which is an Orbicular Globe; for it cannot have an Axis, and consequently Magnetical Poles; as if a Ring of Iron be touched with a Loadstone, it will have only one Pole: and though the Aethereal Planets be Orbs, yet they also are Fluid: and Sensibly all Aethereal Motions are Circular and Perpetual; wheras Magnetical Verticity is only Polar, or to a Pole, and not round about the Center, nor about an Axis, like Motion of Planets, but to the Poles therof, when by Trepidati­on it passeth beyond them; and so Moving its own Axis the same way, that is, Meridionaly, and not according to the Aequator of its own Body, as I have shewed: wheras if Earth, and Water, and Air, as they say, and also Aether, and the Planets, were all Magnetical, they should make one Magnetical Orb, and all Move one and the same way; which plainly they do not: or if otherwise one be Moved about another, as they say the Moon is about the Earth, it should observ the Magnetike Law, which it [Page 312] doth not, as I shall heerafter demonstrate of the Moon. Thus the Magnetical Planetary Motions are very different, and indeed oppo­site in their very Natures, and Ends; for Planetary Virtue makes the Planets to abhorr all Rest, and Magnetical Verticity is to reduce Magnets to their Polar Rest. Wherefore we may not confound them, though they are both Elementary Motions, and not only Motions of the Matter, or only by the Pondus therof, as the Flux and Reflux of Water; nor by Impuls, like Winds in the Air, wherof I have formerly discoursed; nor yet any Vegeta­tive, Sensitive, or Intellective Motions, wherof I shall discours heerafter: as indeed all things are Motive or Mobile one way or other within the whole Globe of the World, and the Circumfe­rential Superaether, and Centrical Earth are only Immobile: and as we are Sensibly satisfied concerning Magnetical Verticity, so thereby we may conceiv of these other Planetary Virtues, which God produced in this Fourth Day in the Planets, as he did be­fore the Magnetical Virtue in the Earth and Magnets. Whereby also it plainly appears that Motion is not only of the Matter, but also that Elementary Spirits may have a Motive and Dire­ctive Power in themselvs, as well as any other Superior Spirits; and from their different kinds and ways of Motion we may collect the very different Motive Powers and Virtues of the several Movers: wherof Matter is most general, and only tending unto a State of Rest in the whole Body therof, and Center of itself; wheras Mag­nets have a more particular Position of their Bodys, which is Polar Rest, North and South, and a Verticity particularly to reduce them to it; and Planets have their several and various Positions, and Courses, and an answerable Planetary Virtue, which so setts them, and Moves them, and makes them to abhorr all Rest, and Ve­getative Spirits are more Plastical, but Involuntary, and Sensitive Spontaneous or Voluntary Movers, and more indifferent either to Motion or Rest. And thus as Magnetical Bodys may Move from Pole to Pole Semicircularly by their Magnetical Verticity, so we may very well conceiv how also Planets may Move Cir­cularly, which is only a continuation of Motion through the whole Circle, whereby also they may so Move Perpetualy; and as the Needle doth leap to the Loadstone by the Magne­tical Virtue Actuated in itself, which Motion is Progressively Locomotive, so may also Planets by their Planetary Virtue, [Page 313] which is always Actual in them, Move Progressively in the Cir­cles which they describe; but though the Magnetical Virtue which setts the Magnetical Body in one determinate Polar Position may be removed, as I have shewed, and pass from that part of the Magnet wherin it now seats itself, and which thereby becomes Polar, unto any other part therof, and so render that Polar, as may be sensibly seen in any Terrella, (whereby it is plainly proved that the Magnetical Virtue is a Spiritual Quality, which can so re­move itself from any part of the Body of the Matter to another, and not any fixed Affection of the Matter itself) yet Planetary Virtue, being seated in the whole Orbicular Body of the Planet, doth not, nor can it, so remove itself; becaus it always posses­seth the whole Body, not Polarly, or Ovaly, but Orbicularly; or at least it is therefore not to be discerned so to vary its own Situation in the Planetary Body. Now, as God in the First Day did Actuate that proper Aethereal Virtue, which also may be termed Planetary, causing it thereby to Move about the Inferior Globe from East to West in fower and twenty hours or therabout, whereby he made Day and Night, which could not otherwise be, without such a Circumgyration of the Aether, and of the Globe of Light therin, as now the Aether doth still Move with all the Planets and Starrs in it, (whose Planetary Virtue is diversified into several other Motions, which yet are all only Planetary Motion Gene­ricaly; as if, wheras the Polar Position of the Magnetike Earth is only North and South, God should have diversified it in other Magnets or Terrellae, and made some East and West, and so to any other Points) so it is also said that in this Fourth Day he made Lights in the Firmament of Heaven to divide the Day from the Night; that is, to caus more particular Variations therof, longer, or shorter, sooner, or later, and the like; which must be by their Planetary Virtues Actuated in them, whereby they Move respectively in the Aether, as the Aether doth about the Inferior Globe; and so they were not only for Days, but also for Years, Months, and the like, which, though more or less then the Solar Year, are the respective Years of their particular Pla­nets, Lunar, Jovial, or the like, as we commonly call them. And so God made not only the two great Lights to rule the Day and the Night, (that is, the Sun and Moon as both Scripture and Nature do declare) but it is said, He made the Starrs also. And [Page 314] God sett them in the Firmament of Heaven, so as to perform these several Offices by all their various Courses. Thus I conceiv that the Aether having the Planetary Virtue therof Actuated in it in the First Day, when God said, Let there be Light, a great part of that Aethereal Light was divided from the common Light of Aether, which was left and still is in the whole Body ther­of, though not so Visible to us; and that Globe of Light, as it was generaly Connatural with the Aethereal Light, being in one He­mispere of Aether, was carried about Diurnaly by it and with it, and not any other way by any special Planetary Virtue in it­self, which was not Actuated before this Fourth Day; but that this common Globe of Light so divided, and wherof we have no other account, was the Chaos of the Potentialitys of all the Plane­tary Virtues, which were afterward educed out of it; and that then they were not only Moved in and with the common Aether Diurnaly, but by their own special Planetary Virtues Predomi­nant in them, and directing every one of them to Move accor­ding to their several Courses; for though Locomotive Virtue be common to Aether, and all Aethereal Bodys, yet the Motion of Aether from East to West Diurnaly was by a proper Planetary Virtue, as I have said, Actuated in it, when God so divided it from that Globe of Light (which is eminently called Light and made Day; and so mutualy that Globe of Light) from the rest of the Aether, and Aethereal Light, (which is Comparatively cal­led Darknes, becaus it made only Night, as I have shewed) And so this particular Chaos of all the Planetary Potentiality [...] being so divided from the common Aether, and not having any Plane­tary Virtue Actuated therin, was carried about in and with the common Aether in the three First Days; and then it was again divided into all the particular Planets, and all their particular Planetary Virtues were respectively Actuated therin, and by those special Planetary Virtues they perform all their several Plane­tary Motions and Courses. Nor is it less wonderfull, if we right­ly consyder it, how they Move in their several Zodiaks; being indeed no such Gemmeous Studds, or Bullae, fixed in the Aether, as some have imagined; for both the Aether, and they also, be­ing Aethereal Bodys, are Fluid; nor do they Fly, or swim therin, by any Spontaneous Power, like Fowls in the Air, and Fishes in the Sea, becaus they are not Spontaneous: but they are all [Page 315] Aetheruli, as I may so term them; and so their Original Globe of Light was only such a particular Portion of the common Body of Aether, not differing from the rest, but only as it was more Lucid; for so it is said of the formation therof, that God divided the Light from the Darknes, in the Aether, but not any part of the Aether from the Light; or the Light from it: nor is the Body of the Sun, or any Planet, more Condensated, as I have shewed; though they shall heerafter sink through the Fluid Aether to the Air and Earth at the Last Day, when they shall be discomposed and disordered, wheras now they are Connaturaly adapted to the Aethereal Heaven: and so it is said of the Light; Fiat Luminaria in Expanso, and they are all equaly Expanded in it; but their Light is farr more Conspissated, as it was in their Original Globus: and yet such Conspissation of a Spiritual Qua­lity doth not make the Lucid Body to be more Dens or Grave, which also proves Light not to be Corporeal, but a Spiritual Quality, as I have said: and indeed, as all Heat doth Naturaly Rarefy, so should they be rather made more Rare and Light thereby, but that Aethereal Bodys are already as Rare as any Elementary Power can make them to be; and yet though we may easily conceiv them, being Equirare with the common Bo­dy of Aether, to be poised therin, as Glass Bubbles in Water: it is also to be consydered, why, or how, they should still Move in their Regular Circularitys, and not to be diverted or removed, as such Glass Bubbles may very easily be: and we have the true account heerof in the Text, Posuit, he sett them so at first, and so they are still continued, not by an Immediate Manutenence; as he doth not Move them by an Immediate Manuduction, but by the same Planetary Virtue Actuated in them, and causing them Naturaly so to Move in their own Zodiaks. Now becaus, as I have observed, there is no Produxit of any of these Planets, as there was before of Vegetatives, and afterward of Sensitives; and indeed, becaus there was such a Globe of Light decided be­fore from the Aether, which was the common Chaos of them all, and wherof they were so many particular Decisions, I conceiv that they were so many several Composita made therof, whereby they are all thus different, and several one from another, as they are all from the Planetary Aether, (as it is said God divided be­tween their Light and the other Aethereal Light) and that every [Page 316] one of them is a Specificaly different Compositum in itself: and that every Individual Planet is such a Phoenix in its kind, that it is also a whole Species in itself: wherefore it is said that God particularly made, not only the two great Lights, but the Starrs also, and so it is said, There is one Glory of the Sun, and another of the Moon, and another Glory of the Starrs; for one Starr differ­eth from another Starr in Glory. And therefore their Creation is thus specialy mentioned, and was the whole Work of this Fourth Day, and so I conceiv, there are no such Aethereal Compositae, as Stones, Metalls, Minerals, are Terrestrial Composita, and wherof no such special Creation is mentioned, as I have observed; but neither that there is a Simple Spirit of every one of them, Crea­ted in the Begining by a Proper Creation. And I conceiv that these vast Individua, which are also so many Species in themselvs, made Immediately by God, as I said, can neither be Naturaly diminished, nor multiplied, as Comets, which are Anomalous, may be: for so the Starrs are said to be for ever, and it is said of God their Creator and Preserver, He telleth the number of the Starrs, he cal­leth them all by their Names, though Supernaturaly and Miracu­lously he may compose a new Starr, as probably that which ap­peared at our Saviours Birth was such an extraordinary Starr, and so is specialy called, His Starr; which yet did not continue, but, after it had performed the End for which it was made, was again dissolved: for otherwise the Ordinances of Heaven, which are said to be Unchangeable, should be changed, and the Constel­lations therof disordered. And though the Starrs be every one such a several Species, yet there is also a Combination of them all generaly, as they are all one Host, and of some more specialy, which are called Constellations, and are not only such in Name, but also described to be such in Nature: so wheras it is heer said, that God made the greater Light, that is, the Sun, to rule the Day, and the less, that is, the Moon, to rule the Night, the Psalmist saith, To him that made great Lights, &c. The Sun to rule by Day, &c. The Moon and Starrs to rule by Night, &c. where he divideth the Moon and all the Starrs, as a Separate Constellation from the Sun alone, and attributeth unto them their several Offices to rule by Day, and by Night; for though all the Starrs do not attend the Moon every Night, yet they do by turns; and therefore she alone is said to rule the Night, be­caus [Page 317] she doth so every Night, more or less: and though, as I said, the common Aethereal Light divided from the whole Globe of Light, (which was the Stellant Light, and wherof the Planets and Starrs were all made afterward) did make the first Night, as that Globe of Light did the first Day; and that Nocturnal Light is therefore called Darknes Comparatively, which had neither Moon nor Starr in it, yet in order to Sensitives, who need more Nocturnal Light, the Moon and Starrs, or a great part of them, were ad­ded in this Fourth Day, to rule the Night; whereof therefore there is also such an Additional Expression, To rule over the Day, and over the Night, and to divide the Light from the Darknes. Thus also more specialy there are said to be Courses of the Starrs, and many of their Constellations particularly named, and their Cooperations denoted, Canst thou bind the sweet Influences of Pleiades, or loos the Bonds of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazza­roth in his season? or, Canst thou guide Arcturus with his Sons? Now wheras some have Curiously inquired in what time of the Year the World was Created; which the Poets fansy to have been in the Spring, becaus that indeed is the time of Renovation; and the Rabbins in the Autumn, becaus then all Fruits, and the like, are in their Perfection, as they were first Created; certeinly neither of their Computations can be true of the very first Creation in the Be­gining, for then there was no Year, nor any Commencement ther­of; but only Day and Night generaly in the three first Days; and in the Fourth Day, the Planets were made for Days, and for Years; and then they must also calculate their Computation for the Meri­dian of Paradise; otherwise, when it was Spring in one part of the Earth, it was Autumn in the other; as it is now to us and our Anti­podes. But such is our Human Vanity, that we will Curiously pry into those things, which God hath thought fitt to Concele, and yet not acquiesce in those things, which he hath pleased to Revele.

II. In the History of the Creation of the Planets and Starrs it is farther said of them, that God sett them in the Firmament of Hea­ven to give Light upon the Earth. Wherefore certeinly they are all Lucid, not only as all Aether is in itself, but so as to give Light upon the Earth, otherwise they could not so give Light upon it; and so certeinly the Earth is not Lucid in itself, other­wise [Page 318] it should not need to be Illuminated by these Heavenly Lu­minarys. Thus as the Apostle saith, There are Bodys Celestial, and Bodys Terrestrial; but the Glory of the Celestial is one, and the Glory of the Terrestrial is another; and so neither are the Planets any Magnets, nor the Earth a Planet, but, as several Elementary Na­tures, they differ Genericaly, and have their several Generical Glorys, that is, their different Goodness described and expressed in the History of their Creation, severaly in several Days: and which also evidently appeareth in Nature, as may satisfy any, ex­cept such who being confounded in their own Understandings can also confound Heaven and Earth, which differ farr more and otherwise then the Aether and Planets differ one from another; for they are Bodys Terrestrial, and Bodys Celestial, wheras these are all Genericaly Bodys Celestial, though they also Specificaly differ one from another in Glory: And of all these Celestial Bodys the Sun is incomparably most Glorious; who, as I ob­served, alone is opposed to the Moon and all the Starrs, and also preferred before them all; for they with his Solar Illu­strations and Secundary Light only make Night in the backside of the Earth, which is but as the Shadow of his Diurnal Pre­sence, and therefore is still called, Darknes: and so he is said to rule by Day, and they to rule by Night. Whose darting Rays penetrate through all the Spectable World, and are bounded only by the two common Bounds of Nature, Superaether, and Earth; and in all the Elementary World there is Nihil simile, aut secundum. Wherefore Heathen generaly worshiped him as a God, who yet in the Scale of Nature is farr Inferior to the Vegetative Deitys of Egypt: but they who place him in the Center of the World, and fasten him to it, though otherwise they almost Idolise him, yet heerby they even deprive him of that true Glory which God and Scripture ascribe unto him: and therefore, as I promised, and becaus it is so pertinacious a Controversy, I shall now again prove the Earth not to Move about the Sun, but the Sun and Aether about the Earth; and that the Glory of the Celestial Bodys is to Move about the Terrestrial, and to bestow their Influences upon them, and of the Terrestrial to Rest, and receiv all their Benefits. Thus the Text saith expressly, God made the Luminarys to give Light upon the Earth, whereby they Rule Day and Night, and [Page 319] all the Seasons; and therefore they are called Ordinances of Heaven, and not of the Earth; as God saith, Knowest thou the Ordinances of Heaven? Canst thou sett the Dominion therof on the Earth? Now where the Rule and Dominion is, there is also the Motion and Action, whereby it is exercised; and so thereby the Planets are said to divide the Light from the Darknes, which the Earth should rather do, if it did Move about the Sun, and the Sun should only minister, and as it were hold a Candle to the Earth Moving about it: and it is also said in the First Day, that God himself so divided the Light from the Darknes before Sun or Moon were made, and thereby made Day and Night: and as the Sun doth now divide the Diurnal Light from the Nocturnal Darknes by his Light, so doth the Moon divide the Nocturnal Darknes from the Diurnal Light by her Light, and so she was made to rule the Night, as well as the Sun to rule the Day; which certeinly she doth by her Motion about the Earth, and therefore so doth also the Sun by his Motion about the Earth: wherefore Ioshua, who was the Disciple and next Suc­cessor of our Divine Philosopher Moses, saith Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou Moon in the vally of Ajalon. Which conjunction of Sun and Moon had been very incongruous, if the Sun did not Move as well as the Moon Diurnaly, as he doth also Annualy, and she Menstrualy; but Ioshua should rather have said, Earth and Moon stand still, or only Sun stand thou still; for so he had spoke either properly and truly, or Popularly, as they term it, that is, falsly: wheras it is most absurd to conceiv him to speak both properly and Popularly, truly and falsly, at the same time, and in the same words. And wheras they say this was only Popular speaking, they thereby do acknowledg that Mankind was antiently of this Opinion before Pythagoras, Leucippus, and other Graecian Wits fansied the contrary, and therefore propounded it as their Novell Invention; though I am not satisfied that they affirmed any more then the Diurnal Mo­tion of the Earth about its own Center, to save, as they supposed, the vast Aether so great a labor; but I conceiv that they allow­ed the Sun also to Move Annualy, aswell as the Moon Menstrualy: wheras our new Philosophers (whose Inventions are only Addi­tions, and their Additions some greater Absurditys) will Move the Earth, not only Diurnaly, but also Annualy; which is both [Page] contrary to Reason and Sens, as I shall shew heerafter, and also most contradictory to Scripture, the Authority wherof no Chri­stian should contemn, much less oppose; and that saith expressly, The Sun stood still, and the Moon staid: and though it is true, that the Sun doth not Move Diurnaly by his own Planetary Vir­tue, as he doth about his Axis, and Annualy; but is carried about by the Diurnal Motion of the Aether, which so Moves by its own Planetary Virtue, as I have shewed; yet even so the Sun Moves to­gether with the Aether Diurnaly; for Motion being, as I said, only a Transition from Place to Place, though the Sun doth not so change his Place in the Aether by the Diurnal Motion therof, yet he doth in and with the Aether thereby change his Place in the whole Body of the World, and consequently Move; as Rare Bodys do Move Localy in ascending upward, though they are Moved Virtualy by the elevation of more Dens Bodys, as I have shewed: and so also the Sun, and Moon, and Starrs, and Aether itself, staid in all their Motions, according to the Context. So the Sun stood still in the midst of Heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole Day; whereby, as Siracides interpreteth it, One Day was as long as two: and afterward the whole Chorus of Heaven proceeded to Move again according to all the several Motions therof, as it did before: and certeinly the other is Maledicta expositio quae corrumpit Textum, and destroieth the very Literal meaning of such an Historical and Memorable Matter of Fact: and though I hope such Interpreters of Scripture may be true Believers of Matters of Faith, yet the wild Liberty of such Interpretati­ons doth so farr render Scripture no Scripture, by an acknow­ledgment only of the Letter, which they dare not deny, and yet by denying the Sens, which they will not admitt. Wherefore plainly I will proceed to deal with them as I would with Hea­then, or any others, that is, by Reason and Sens: Now, wher­as they affirm three Motions of the Earth, I will accordingly ex­amin them, and first clearly explain them, becaus I doubt they are not sufficiently understood; nor indeed the very Doctrine of Motion generaly; which some make only to be Remotion or Distancing of one Body from another, and so confound the Mo­tion of one Body with the Rest of others, as I formerly observed; and others confound opposite Motions from East to West, and from West to East; and generaly all confound Locomotive Acti­on [Page 321] and Passion, which are very different, that is, one a Moving, and the other a being Moved, as I said, the Sun Moveth Actively in his Annual Motion, and Passively in his Diurnal Motion; and though both these be only Motions or Transitions in themselvs, yet clearly one is an Active Motion, and the other a Passive Mo­tion; which though they may not differ as Motions, yet do so dif­fer as they are Active or Passive; and as they confound Motions, so also the Terms of Barocenter and Center, and Poles, Axis, and Aequator, and the like, as I have shewed, which are Aequivocal Names according to the several Natures of the Things wherof they are expressed; for so they may be either only Mathematical, as all these may be painted and described on any Globe of Wood, or Stone, or the like, Indifferently, becaus there are no such things Physicaly in the Bodys therof; or also Physical, either in Terrestrial Bodys, as Magnets, wherin the Magnetical Virtue doth caus them all to be Physicaly to fix the Magnetical Body accor­dingly in one determinate Polar Position; or in Celestial Bodys, as Planets, wherin the Planetary Virtue doth caus them also to be Physicaly to Move the Planetary Body accordingly in such a determinate Cours, as I have formerly shewed, and shall now upon this occasion clearly discover; whereby we may no longer confound ourselvs with such confused Notions concerning things which are so different and distinct in their own Natures, and whereby the Truth itself shall evidently appear. And I shall make the Body of any man himself to be the Diagramm, and suppose him to throw a Bowl from him, certeinly while the Bowl Moveth from him he doth not Move from the Bowl, be­caus he standeth still in the same place and at the same distance from the Jack or mark, toward which the Bowl runeth, and which doth not stay in the same place where it was, and so cer­teinly if the Sun Move about the Earth, the Earth doth not Move about it. Again, I will suppose his Right hand to be East, and his Left West, and his Face before, and his Back Behind; and so let him throw the Bowl with his Right hand forward, or before his Face, toward his Left hand; this, as I have supposed, is as a Motion from East to West: but if he be an Ehud, or Scaevola, let him throw the Bowl with his Left hand forward, or before his Face, toward his Right hand, and then this, as I have supposed, will be Motion from West to East, which certeinly is an opposite [Page 322] Motion to the other; for so if two several Bowls were thrown at the same time by two several men, as before, in the same Line, they would meet and oppose one another: but if the first Right-handed man, after he had thrown the Bowl from his Right hand before his Face to his Left hand, should with his Left hand pro­ceed to throw it behind his Back to his Right hand again; though this be from Left to Right, yet it is still from East to West, and not opposite to the former Motion; becaus that was before the Face, and this is behind the Back, and so only a continuation of the former Motion, and the Circle that it describes: and if two several men should in the same Line so throw one Bowl before his Face to his Left hand, and another behind his Back to his Right hand, yet they should never meet, nor oppose, but follow one another: and so the Sun Moveth about the Earth from East to West, and not from West to East, but Diurnaly. B [...]t now we will also suppose the Earth Moving about the Sun to be as the Bowl, or a Globe, and to have correspondent Points descri­bed on it, wherof the East shall be India, the West Spain, the Forepart Aethiopia, and the Backpart Guiana, according to such their Position and Illumination by the Sun, which as we supposed before, to be as the Bowl, so now we will suppose to be as the Body; and we all know, and agree, that the Earth is Daily Illu­minated in India before it is Illuminated in Aethiopia, and in Aethiopia before Spain, and in Spain before Guiana, and so from East to West: wherefore India, or the East part of the Earth, being next to the Sun, whereby it m [...]y be Illuminated, we must also suppose the Sun Illuminating it to be West, becaus it is op­posite to it; and then the Earth being in the same Position in it­self (as certeinly it must be, whether it Move about the Sun, or the Sun about it) that is, having Aethiopia as its forepart, and Gu [...] ­ana its Backpart, as before, and without any Inversion of the Poles, or making Aethiopia, which was the Forepart, to be the Back­part, and Guiana, which was the Backpart, to be the Forepart, it must Move itself Diurnaly from West to East, that is from a West Point of the Vbi of the Sun toward an East Point therof, whereby Aethiopia being the Forepart must be next Illuminated, as before, and not Guiana. Thus also in the Annual Motion of the Sun about the Earth, it Moves in the Zodiak from Aries to Cancer ▪ and from Cancer to Libra, and from Libra to Capricorn; or [Page 323] from West to East, that is, from Spain, or the West Point of the Earth, toward the East, by Aethiopia; and not by Guiana, which is from East to West, as I have shewed: Now, if we suppose the Earth, as the Bowl, to Move about the Sun, as the Body An­nualy, and the Sun to be in the Center, and the Earth in the Z [...]d [...]ak, keeping the same Position as before, that is, having Aethiopia as the Forepart, and Guiana as the Backpart, we must suppose an East Point in the Vbi of the Sun, opposite to Spain, or the West Point in the Earth, and then the Earth must Move from that East Point to the West, whereby Aethiopia may be next opposite to the Sun, and not Guiana; for as East is Relatively opposite to West, and West to East, so the Correspondent Points of the Sun and Earth must be Relatively East and West, and opposite one to another; and so consequently must their Motions be Relatively opposite: and however we may call East West, or West East, or that which is Relatively East in respect of one Body, may be West in respect of another, yet in the same respect it cannot be both East and West; nor the same Motion in the same respect both from East to West, and from West to East; but as such, they must necessarily be different and opposite. Thus by fixing fower such Correspondent Points in the Body or Ubi of a Globe or Circle, we may fix our apprehensions of the Position, or Motion therof. And though thus farr I acknowledg that the Phaenomena generaly may be solved, if either we should suppose the Sun to Move about the Earth from West to East, or the Earth about the Sun from East to West Diurnaly, supposing also Aethiopia to be the Backpart, and Guiana to be Forepart, which are as different and opposite Positions one way, as East and West are the other way; yet certeinly the particular Phaenomenon of that Position cannot be solved both ways, becaus it is only one way, and not the other: for though we may call the Forepart the Backpart, or the Backpart the Forepart, or they may be so in other Rela­tive respects, (which plainly proves Place to be such a Relative Position, as I have shewed) yet they cannot be so in one and the same respect: wheras certeinly the Real Position of each of the Bodys of the Sun and Earth, whatsoever it be, is one and the same, and not different and opposite to itself; but the Position of one is Relatively different and opposite to the Position of the other: and so consequently are there Motions. Thus also I [Page 324] grant, that though the Sun, which, I say, Moves from West to East Annualy about the Earth, should Realy Move about it from East to West without any supposed variation of the Position therof, whereby the Sun, proceeding from Libra to Cancer, should first Illuminate India, or the East, and next Aethiopia, or the Forepart, and not Guiana, or the Backpart, yet the Phaenomena generaly might be thereby solved, and there should be the like Aequinoxes, Solstices, and all other intermediate Illuminations, throughout the Year, in all the Earth; but this particular Phae­nomenon can not be solved thereby; for since we know that India is first Illuminated, and Guiana next Annualy, by the Sun passing from Spain to Aethiopia, and so to India and Guiana, India can­not be first Illuminated, and Aethiopia next; becaus such diffe­rent and opposite ways of Illumination cannot be without diffe­rent and opposite Motions of the Illuminator, that is, of the Sun about the Earth; and such different and opposite Motions cannot be at the same time in the same Bo [...]y of the Sun, and in the same Relative respect to the Body of the Earth. And so it may be, though we suppose the Earth to Move Annualy about the Sun one way or other. Thus wheras it is said, that whe­ther the Sun Move about the Earth, or the Earth about the Sun one way or other, the Phaenomena will be the same, it is true generaly of such as are Relatively the same one way or other, (as it is so in all such Relations) but not of such particular Phaenomena in themselvs Positively, which must be only such as they are, and cannot be otherwise. But this I only premise, and do not insist upon either of these two Motions Diurnal, or An­nual; becaus, as we do affirm two Active Motions in the Sun, that is, one about his own Axis, and the other in his Zodiak or Circle which he describes, and which is his Annual Motion; and though indeed the other be not his own Diurnal Motion Actively, but the Motion of the Aether, yet we cannot deny, that it may be sup­posed that there are two such Motions in the Earth, which therin may be Annual and Diurnal Actively; and both these Motions must be supposed, becaus though the Sun cannot Illuminate the Globe of the Earth standing still, and only by turning about his own Axis, but must be Moved about by the Aether Diurnaly; nor otherwise then by describing a Circle about it Annualy; yet the Globe of the Earth may be Illuminated by the Motion of the [Page 325] Earth itself about its own Center toward the Sun standing still; but the great Criterion, as I conceiv, is, that wheras only two Motions are ascribed to the Sun, and a third to the Aether, which is another Body Moving also the Sun in and with itself, whether the Earth alone can have all these three Motions in itself, as it must have to solv the Phaenomenon of the very Motion therof. And now I shall first prove this third Motion to be Necessary, and afterward to be both Absurd, and Impossible; lest having shewed the Absurdity and Impossibility any may afterward deny or doubt the Necessity therof. And heer again I shall make himself that denieth or doubteth it to be the Diagramm; and let him place a Terrestrial Globe, how he pleaseth, on one of his hands, supposing it to turn round also of itself about, according to its own Aequator, like the supposed Diurnal Motion therof with either Pole toward his Body, as if the Earth were in Can­cer, or Capricorn, and suppose his Body to be the Sun, and so let him turn his hand with the Globe on it from the Right part of his Body toward the Left, or from East to West, like the supposed Annual Motion of the Earth in the Zodiak therof, without any third Motion to Incline the Poles one way or other; and then the same Pole therof, which was Inward or next to the Body, or S [...]n, will still be so, and it will not be varied by either of the other two Motions; and so only that Hemisphere, whether Ar­ctike, or Antarctike, should be Illuminated, both Diurnaly, and Annualy, and not the other at any time, which is manifestly fals: wherefore to solv this there must Necessarily be a third Motion supposed to Incline it, which I shall therefore call Incli­natory; and which he may also add to the other two, by turn­ing the Pole that is toward his Body with his other hand, (while he turneth the Globe, as before, from Right to Left, or from East to West,) equaly the other way, that is, from Left to Right, or from West to East, according to the Meridian of the Globe; which though the same way from West to East, is another Motion, Annualy, and not Diurnaly; nor according to the Aequator therof, like the suppo­sed Diurnal Motion, and opposite to the Annual Motion; and by this third Inclinatory Motion the other Pole will also be turned to­ward the Body or Sun, and consequently the other Hemisphere also Illuminated, but without such Inclination the Phaenomena cannot be solved. And now I shall shew the Absurdity of such a [Page 326] supposed third Motion of the Earth, if it were Possible in Nature. We all agree that the Earth is Magnetical, or that like every Magnet, or Terrella it hath two Poles or Polar Points, exactly North and South, without any the least Inclination or Variation in themselvs, either toward East, or West; and nothing els can make the Earth, which is the great Magnet so to Incline or vary from the Polarity therof, which is according to its own Natural Position; though less Magnets may be Inclined or varied by great­er, or by being fixed in a contrary Position. Now as these two Polar Points must be Correspondent to two such Points in the Body of the Superaether, if that be Immovable, as we suppose, or in the Vbi therof, in the Position of the Whole, though the Parts may Move round therin; so also to two like Points in the Aether, which, if the Axis of the Earth were produced beyond the Poles therof through the Aether to the utmost Circumference of the Globe of the World, it must Intersect, and so Terminate in two such Points in the utmost Superficies of the Superaether: though these two Points or Poles of the Superaether may be only Mathematical; and however some deny that there are two such Physical Points or Poles of Aether to direct the Motion therof, as I have shewed, yet generaly it is conceived that there is some Physical Correspondence between them, and the Poles of the Earth; and therefore some assigne the Influence therof, or of some Northstarr about the North Pole, to be the Caus of the Polarity of the Earth; and others ascribe it to some Northern and Southern Atoms, flowing and reflowing thence forward and backward, I know not how; and every Astronomer tells us that there are such Poles, Axis, and Aequator of the Aether. All which Opinions, whether true or fals, presuppose such Poles or Points in the Aether, and that they some way or other Corre­spond with the Poles of the Earth, which this Hypothesis of the Inclinatory Motion of the Earth doth deny, and suppose only a Northern and Southern Hemisphere of the Aether, to which the respective Poles in the Earth may point and Correspond in every Part and Point therof, according to such an Inclinatory Mo­tion; whereby if an Axis were produced beyond the Poles of the Earth to the Aethereal Hemispheres, each Pole so produced would vary through all the sixteen Points or more of each He­misphere; as a Directory Needle doth, when it is Moved vio­lently [Page 327] from North to South, vary each of the Poles therof through the sixteen Points or more of each side of the Compass: but as the Terrella or Needle doth not Naturaly so vary in the least maner from the North and South Points, wherin only it resteth, so it is most Absurd to affirm that the whole Magneti­cal Earth doth so vary, or hath any other Position then exactly North and South: for, as I have before shewed, though the Body of a Magnet may indeed be so varied, and that part which was Northern become Southern, by the Magnetical Virtue re­moving in it; yet the Magnetical Virtue itself is alway and on­ly Polar, that is, exactly North and South, and cannot be other­wise, for then it should ceas to be Magnetical, which must also be Polar Naturaly: and the Magnetical Virtue of the great Mag­net the Earth is Inalterable by any greater Power in Nature, which might remove it, as appears by the Inclinatory Needle, which alway conformably Inclines to the same two Points of the Body of the Earth, which are also the two Poles of the Magne­tical Virtue therof. But now I shall prove this Inclinatory Motion of the Earth to be Inconsistent with the Diurnal Mo­tion therof, and therefore Impossible: for it is about its own Center according to the Meridian of its own Body, as the other is also about its own Center according to the Aequator of its own Body; which two Motions of the same Body at the same time are Inconsistent, and consequently Impossible. I have already shew­ed how a Body at the same time may Move about its own. Axis according to the Parts, and also Progressively according to the Whole; as a Cart-wheel Moveth runing down a hill; or any Planet Moving about its own Axis, and also Progressively in the Circle that it describes: and so also the Motion therof about its Axis may be one way, as from East to West, and the Progressive Motion the other way, as from West to East; as sup­pose an undershot Wheel runing down a declive Chanel of Wa­ter, which shall also carry it about its own Axis one way, while it runs down the other way: and so the handle of a Q [...]ern may be Moved Progressively one way, and yet Directed or Inclined about its own Axis the other way, or a Turbo, or Top, sett up by the Right hand drawing back the Scutica, or Slash, wound about it, is turned about its own Axis back again from the Left hand to the Right hand; and yet it may be also whip'd Progressively [Page 328] from the Right hand to the Left hand: And the Satellites about a principal Planet do describe Hemitrochoids, as I may so term them, whereby it most evidently appears, that they are not, nor can they possibly be so Moved by the Spheres, for it is not only by a Circular, but a Progressive Motion; so as if while by the Axis a Quernstone were drawn forward Circularly, by the Handle it should be also Moved round about the Axis; the Handle would describe such an Hemitrochoid about the Axis. Also I grant that three, or more, several Motions may be in the same Body at the same time, by several Movers: as suppose a Ship sailing round, and describing a Circle Zodiacaly, like the Annual Moti­on of the Earth; and a Globe Moving in the Ship about its own Axis according to the Aequator therof, like the Diurnal Motion of the Earth; and a Fly Moving upon the Globe according to the Meridian therof, like the Inclinatory Motion therof; the Fly doth not only so Move upon the Globe, but is also Moved by the Globe according to the Motion therof, and the Globe, and consequently the Fly, by the Ship according to the Motion therof: and so there may be in the same Body at the same time as many several Motions as you pleas; for the Body doth not Move itself Actively according to all these Motions, but is also Moved Passively by others; which is as great a difference, as there is between Action and Passion, as I have shewed. Now, though I grant, that there may be an Active Motion of the Body itself according to the Parts about its own Axis, and according to the Whole Progressively, either in a Direct, or Circular Pro­gression, yet I deny that the same Body at the same time can Actively Move itself any more then these two several ways; as that while it Moves about its Center one way, it can also Move about its Center any other way, or that while it Moves Progres­sively, according to any Line, Direct, or Circular, one way, it can Move Progressively according to any other Line another way: which plainly is as Impossible, as that the same Body at the same time should be in several Places; for so indeed it must be, either according to the Parts, if it could so Move about its Center, for then the same Part must be in or upon several Points at the same time; or according to the Whole, if it could so Move Progres­sively; for then the Whole must be in or upon several Lines at the same time: and it may be tried by a round Bullet of Iron [Page 329] or Lead marked with the two Poles, and an Aequator, and Meridian, and then place it on a declive Bord on either of the Poles, and it will run round according to the Meridian, from Pole to Pole, by the Gravity therof; but if by the Prepotence of your hand you sett it up like a Top according to the Aequator, with one Pole on the Bord, as before, yet it will not run round, as before, ac­cording to the Meridian from Pole to Pole, but slide down turn­ing round according to the Aequator only upon that one Pole, becaus it cannot Move both ways at the same time, though it doth Move about its Axis according to the Aequator by the Impressed Motion, and Progressively downward by the Gravity at the same time; but as it cannot then Possibly Move Progressively any other way then downward, or in or upon any other Line at the same time then as it doth then Move: so neither can it Move about its Axis any other then one and the same way that it doth Move at the same time. And so, as I have shewed, though there may be supposed a Diurnal Motion of the Earth about its own Center according to the Aequator, and an Annual Motion Pro­gressively in the Zodiak or Circle that it describes, yet there cannot also be a third Inclinatory Motion about the Center accor­ding to the Meridian; becaus there cannot be two Motions about several Axes therof according to the Meridian and Aequator, or about the Center of itself, as I said: especialy since the Diurnal Motion of the Earth must be about the Axis according to the Aequator, and the Inclinatory about the Center according to the Meridian, not only thus severaly, but one Diurnaly, and the other Annualy, as I have said; (whereby it should Move both slower and faster about its own Cen [...]er at the same time, which is Impos­sible, otherwise then by an Epicyclicous Motion, as I shewed in a Quern) and that this is an Amechanon, I appeal to any Me­chanike, or to any who shall Mechanicaly try, to make a Terre­strial Globe so to Move the three several supposed ways, or in­deed any two several ways about any two several Axes of its own Body at the same time (as certeinly none can Move by two several Progressive Motions at the same time) without several Movers, as is aforesaid: so that though all the Relative Phaenomena of Aether or Earth may be solved by the Motion of either of them, yet the three supposed Motions of the Earth itself cannot be solved: wheras the Motion of the Sun about his Axis, and also Progres­sively [Page 330] in the Zodiak Annualy, and his being Moved and carried about Diurnaly by the Aether, which is another Mover; and so of Venus and Mercury Moving about him, as any other Satellites about other Planets, Progressively, and being also Moved and carried about Diurnaly with him by the Aether, are easily solved Primo Intuitu, and according to the plainnes and facility of Na­ture, without such Inconceivable, and Impossible, Inclining, and Distorting of the Earth or their Brains, as others have vainly done, and can never approve, unless they also find out some other Mover to carry about the Earth, as the Aether doth the Sun; which certeinly may not be the Aether, becaus they affirm it to be Immovable; nor the Air, nor Water, which have no such Diurnal Motions themselvs. Wherefore though Scripture, and the Verdict of all Mankind generaly besides themselvs, were sufficient to turn the Balance and determin against such an Hypothesis, wherof they can never be satisfied, that it is so, but only suppose that it may be so; yet consydering that I have to deal with such Empirical Phi­losophers, who make Sens alone to be both their Text and To­pikes, I have doubly and thus largely proved it against them that it is not, nor cannot be so; and though this last Ratiocination be also a Sensation, or a Mathematical and Mechanical Demon­stration, yet I shall add one Sensible Experiment more, which is agreed by all, and that is the Motion of the Sun about its own Axis by his own Planetary Power; whereby it plainly appears to be Actively Motive in itself, and as a Wheel that may be Moved round by another Passively, may by the same Passive Motion be also Moved Progressively, (and so all Coaches and Carts are Moved or drawn by Beasts) so the Sun may, and doth, by the same Planetary Virtue, whereby he Moveth himself about his Axis, Move also Progressively in the Zodiak (though not in like maner, or by such proportionable Circumvolutions) by his own Motive Power, which apparently he hath in himself: and so the Moon also Moveth about the Earth, and the Satellites about a principal Planet, and other Planets about the Sun; which plainly shews that these Aetheruli are Motive, and so indeed are all the rest, and Aether itself; wheras Magnets, or Terrellae, as I have shewed, though they have Verticity, yet cannot thereby Move once round about their Center, nor at all about their Magnetical Axes; and though they have a Magnetical Concursion, yet one of them [Page 331] cannot thereby Move once round about the other, by the Mag­netical Virtue of one or both of them. Wherefore the Earth is only a Magne [...], which cannot Move round by its own Magnetical Virtue, and the Aether, and Aetheruli, Planets, which do so Move round by such several Motions perpetualy: and therefore we ought to ascribe these Motions to Aether, and not to Earth; be­caus the Motion of either may solv the Phaenomen [...]; and most Sensi­bly and confessedly the Aetheruli are so Motive, and the Terrellae are not; and so the Motion of the Aether and Aetheruli doth suf­ficiently solv them without any Motion of the Earth: and wheras others would therefore ascribe Motion to the Earth, becaus the Motion of that alone may suffice without the several Motions of all the Aether, and so many Aetheruli, they plainly contradict the Text (which saith, God sett them in the Firmanent of Heaven to give Light upon the Earth, (that is, that both the Firmament of Hea­ven, and all the Luminarys therin, thus by Moving about this one Terraqueous Globe, might give Light upon it by their Rays passing through the Diaphanous Air unto it, as so many Lines from the Circumference to the Center) and also the Reason of their very Nature, which is most Motive of all the Elementary Bodys, and likewise Sens itself, which discovers them to be Mobile. Others suppose the Earth should be more Mobile, becaus it is less then most of the Luminarys, (which I believ was the first occa­sion of this Error) but they consyder not also, that it hath the least Motive Virtue, which in the Aethereal Bodys is more proporti­onable to their Bulk; and so the Sun is fitly compared to a Strong man, or Giant, runing his Race, which he can do more swiftly then the Dull and Dwarfish Earth. But their grand Argument, and that which they esteem their most beautifull Helena, (though it be as fals and adulterine) is the Orderly and Circumferential Situation of the Planets in their Spheres about the Sun as the Cen­ter; wherof they make the Earth to be one: but heer again the Moon doth break the Chorus; becaus she Moves about the Earth, and not about the Sun, as the rest, and so the Sun with them also about the Earth; and therefore it is said, that God made these two great Lights, to rule the Day and Night upon the Earth (as they principaly so Move about the Earth, and all others about the Sun) and they; and all the others, were sett by him in such Posit [...]ons, and to run such Courses, whereby they might be most [Page 332] serviceable to the Earth: nor are there any such several Spheres in the Aether, as I have shewed; but the true Spheres of the Ele­mentary Globe are most Orderly and Circumferentialy situated about the Terraqueous Globe▪ as the Center of them all; with­out any Eccentricitys, Epicyclicitys, Hemitrochoids, or the like: and so the Air doth encompass it, and the Aether the Air, and the Superaether the Aether: and thus Spheres properly and most conformably relate to their inmost Orb, and not all, or any one Orb in the Aether to the Orb of the Earth: for so one Orb doth not relate unto another, nor can Convex Orbs so comply, as Con­cave Spheres, with any Orb; nor can they otherwise be Centers either of Gravity, or Extension, one to another; becaus there can be but one Center to which all Gravia do tend, as I have shewed; and Orbs applied one to another make the greatest Chasms between them in their Extension. And thus there is the greatest Conformity both of the Situation of the Elementary Bo­dys, according to their more or less Density, downward; and of the Elementary Spirits therin, according to their more or less Activity, upward; wheras if the Sun should be supposed to be, or have, the Center of the World in himself, he must also be sup­posed to be the most Dens and Dull of all Elementary Bodys, who is the most Glorious and Active of all Elementary Opera­tors: and as he, and the Moon, so also all the Starrs, were made to divide the Day from the Night, and to be for Signs, and for Seasons, and for Days, and for Years, which is accordingly per­formed by their due and determinate Situations; which however they may appear unto us, yet by their very various Positions, yea their Eccentricitys, and the like, they do so produce those varie­tys of Seasons, and their Annos Saturni, Iovis, and others; and observ such Orderly Courses, as if we did rightly understand them, we should easily conceiv, and confess, that it would be a great Monstrosity in any of them to be placed otherwise. Thus the Sun, who doth chiefly excell, and exceed, all the others in the two principal Aethereal Qualitys, Heat, and Light, is seated at such a distance, as doth best afford to the Terraqueous Globe a fi [...]t Temperature therof, and doth Move and is Moved in such Courses, whereby, though he be but one Luminary, yet his Heat is so distributed and communicated to all the Globe, that there is no Zone Inhabitable, as was antiently supposed; and so also his [Page 333] Light in all the Parallels therof, that in the whole Year, though not every Day, one hath as much of his Principal Light as ano­ther; and they which are farthest from the Aequator, and neerer to the Pole, are also recompensed with more of his Secondary Light, and have longer Crepusculae.

III. God made two great Lights, the greater Light to rule the Day, and the lesser Light to rule the Night: that is, the Sun to rule the Day, and the Moon to rule the Night: and wheras they are said to be great Lights, that is no such Popular Expression as some would have it; for as it is said, so indeed they are great Positively, though not greater Comparatively then all the others, or so as the Sun is said to be greater then the Moon, nor are they termed great Starrs, but great Lights, or Luminarys; and so in­deed they are greater then any others: and this is the very sens and meaning of the Expression, according to the Subject Matter, which is immediately subjoined, the greater Light to rule the Day, and the lesser Light to Rule the Night: and as they were all made to give Light upon the Earth, so certeinly these two give most Light upon it, the Sun by Day, and the Moon by Night; and to stop the mouths of all such Cavillers, it is O [...]iginaly, not the Greater and Lesser Lights, but the Great Light and the Litle Light; and so indeed they are: and as they are specialy named, so their special differences from the rest are very consyderable; not only of the Sun, which are sufficiently noted and acknow­ledged, but also of the Moon; as her not Moving about her Axis, her Epicyclicitys, Apogaea, and the like: and though the Sun is the Illuminator of them all, yet he ruleth Day alone by his own Di­urnal Light; wheras the Starrs attend and assist the Moon in their Courses and Orders while she ruleth the Night by the Conjuncti­on of their Nocturnal Light: but that which is most notable, is her Moving so often Immediately and only about the Earth, and never about the Sun also, like others; and it being the very End of the Creation of all the Luminarys to give Light upon the Earth, this shews her to be another Principal Planet in that respect, which is the chief End of them all, as well as the Sun; and so indeed the Sun and Moon do caus more Variations, and greater Effects in the Earth, then all the Planets and Starrs besides; yet as I deny the Earth to be a Planet, so I do not conceiv that the Moon is any [Page 334] more a Satelles, or Appendix, of the Earth▪ then the Sun; though she doth Move about it, as the Satellites seem to do about their principal Planets; which is not by any Magnetical Emanations of the principal Planets so carrying them abou [...], but by their own Pla­netary Virtues so Moving themselvs; nor do they Realy Move about them Circularly as they should, if they were so Moved by them, but by such Hemitrochoids which they describe, as I have shew­ed, while the principal Planet Moves in a Line cutting the Perpen­dicular therof in the midst between the Basis and the Zenith; whereby they are sometimes below them, and sometimes above them, and sometimes on the one side, and sometimes on the other, and so may seem to Move Circularly: which is no Magnetical Motion, as I shall now shew; and yet they who can solv the Phaenomena by affirming whatsoever they pleas, will join not only three Elements, which are the very true and real Dividers and Sharers of the whole Elementary Globe, according to their very different Natures, Spirits, and Spiritual Qualitys, and also more or less Densitys of their several Bodys, (which are farr more evident and consyderable Distinctions and Heterogeneitys then any great­er or less Quantity of Matter, which as such is always Homo­geneous) but also the Moon itself, which is a consydera [...]le part of the fourth Element, Aether, into one Magnetical Correspon­dence and Combination: Wherefore, as I have proved that the Earth is no Planet, or Moon; so I will now also prove that the Moon is no Magnet, or Earth: and this I hope may also serv to disprove any such supposition of any of the other Planets, which are of the same Aethereal nature with the Moon, and as different from the Earth. Certeinly we thus read that the Earth and all the Elements were made and perfected before any Planets or S [...]arrs; which afterward in this Fourth Day were made to give Light upon the Earth, and not the Earth upon them, or any of them; and God placed them all in their several Positions about their Centrical Orb, the Earth, and the other Elementary Spheres about it, before there were any Positions or Motions of the Pla­nets; and he made Dry Land and Seas in the Terraqueous Globe, but not in the Moon, or any of them; and so the Earth, and Wa­ters, and not they, brought forth Grass, Herbs, and F [...]shes, and Fowls, and Beasts. And though Superaether, and Angels, be farther removed from us then the Aether, and Aetheruli; yet we [Page 335] have some Conusance of them, and some Communion with them, declared in Scripture; but not of any Inhabitants, or s [...]ch other things in the Moon, or any other Planets: so that if we will yet oppose Ipse Dixit to Deus Creavit, we must say, that not God, but Man, made this World in the Moon: and they who can so Create in it Earth, and Seas, ought also to make therin Vegeta­tives, yea Sensitive, and Intellective Inhabitants: for since we heer on Earth, where God hath founded his Troop, and made his Plantation both of Vegetatives, and Animals, have no Use nor Inspection therof, it must conformably have its own proper Inha­bitants to use and enjoy it, otherwise it should be so made in vain. Again, the Moon cannot be any such Magnet as the Earth, which appears plainly by her Motions so often about the Earth, without Moving once about her own Axis, for such are not Magnetical, nor in any respect like unto [...]he Motion of any Terrella about the Earth, or Needle about a Terrella, which maketh two Revolutions about its own Axis, while it Moveth once round about the other, (like one Wheel with Teeth so Moving about another) whereby also the South Pole therof doth alway comply with the Noth Pole of the other, and the North Pole with the South Pole of the other, and so all the other Intermediate Points: and if we say that the Moon hath any other Magnetical Virtue different from that of the Earth, which doth so regulate her own Motions, I grant that both the Moon and all the others, have such proper Spe­cifical Virtues, as I have shewed, and which I Genericaly call Planetary; and though others may more Genericaly call them all Magnetical, yet I must affirm them Subalternately to differ, as I have said, and shewed that the Poles, Axis, and Aequator, of Aether do from them in the Earth, though they be both so Denominated Equivocaly. Also it is Sensibly evident that the Moon is not an Earth, nor the Earth a Moon; becaus the Moon is Luminous, but the Earth Opacous, though very much Illustrated by the Sun; which becaus it is denied, and will also concern all the other Starrs, therefore I more willingly undertake to prove it; though it be only a Superfoetation of the former Error. It is expressly said, that God made two great Lights, that is, the Sun, and the Moon: wherefore the Moon is a Light or Lumi­nary as well as the Sun; and greater or less Light doth not de­ny, but affirm, the less to be a Light as well as the greater: [Page 336] and so they are both termed Synonymously and Univocaly Lumi­naria; and not the Sun Luminare, and the Moon Speculare, as some men would make her to be: and so it is said generaly of them and of all the other Planets, and Starrs, Let there be Lights in the Firmament of Heaven; and so indeed is the whole Aether both Calid and Luminous, though yet less then the Moon or Starrs, becaus Heat and Light are the common Aethereal Qualitys, though there may be farr more in one Aethereal Body then ano­ther, becaus their Composita are Specificaly different; but as they are all more Genericaly Aethereal, so they must all have their Generical Qualitys, without which they should not be Generi­caly what they are; as well as all Vegetatives, and Sensi­tives, though they differ Specificaly one from another in their S [...]mple Substances, and so have their Specificaly different Spi­rits, and Spiritual Qualitys, yet must also have such as are Ge­nericaly Vegetative and Sensitive; otherwise they should not be what they are, Vegetatives, or Sensitives: and thus indeed they make the Moon to be a Terrella, and not Aethereal; which they may as well affirm of the Sun, and all the Aetheruli, and Aether itself, and so make it to be no Aether. And wheras we Sensibly see the Moon to shine, the Question is, whether she sh [...]ne by her own Light, or only by the Solar Rays Reflected from the Earth, whereby the Earth should give Light upon her? which I have before refuted: nor can it be so according to Optike Law, if we consyder the very great distance between the Earth and Moon: for though Direct Rays pass from the Center Circum­ferentialy to the utmost Sphere of their Activity, as the Solar Rays so Illuminate the Earth, and the whole opposite Hemisphere; yet Reflex Rays are much shorter, though very Vivid and quick, becaus they are so Reduplicated and Conspissated, like the Horns of a Snail when they are touched; and they are proportionably stronger as they are neerer to the Reflecting Angle or Point; as we see a Candle much farther by the Direct Rays then any Ob­ject Illuminated thereby by the Reflex Rays therof, and the neerer we are to the Object, we see it better. And so, though it is said, that the Pike of Teneriff may be seen at the distance of two or three Degrees (as any Eminences of the Earth may be seen so farr as a Line drawn from the Summit therof will be Tangent upon the Globe of the Earth, and perhaps somwhat farther [Page 337] by the advantage of Refraction, which may suffice to render an Object Visible about such a distance as three Degrees); yet at the first Degree it will be seen very Dull and Obtuse; and much more at the Second; and he that can see it at the third, Aut videt, aut vidisse putat, — though he look upon it at Sunrising or setting, when the Rays are most Directly Reflected, or with a Telescope, (which doth Magnify rather then Prolong the Reflected Rays); or though the Object be of the greatest Magnitude, as the Alps, or Apennine, or Rock of Lisbon, and the like; which yet will ne­ver be seen very Lucid or Colorate, but Confused like a Cloud, or Fume; (yea, though it be Specular) at so great a distance: wheras plainly we see the Moon walking in Brightnes, as it is said of her, with our naked Ey, yea, her very F [...]gure and Spotts. Nor is it only by Reflection of the Solar Rays from the Moon herself, though that be neerer to the Truth, being only by a single Reflection, wheras the other must be double, first from the Earth to the Moon, and then from the Moon back again to us on the Earth; wherefore to find out the Mystery of so clear a Phaenome­non, we must consyder the Moon in her own Native Light, which is so great in herself, that thereby she is also Visible unto us, in an Eclips, in her whole Disk, and that part of her Disk, which is not Illustrated by the Sun, is Visible sometimes, or with some advantages: and wheras this Visibility is imputed to the Secon­dary Light of the Sun, I have shewed that an Object cannot be so farr seen by his Principal Light Reflected, and much less by any Secondary Light. Wherefore certeinly she hath some Light in herself, and such as is farr greater then the common Light of Aether; becaus she may be so seen thereby in the Aether; and yet this Light is farr less Lucid or Visible then when and where she is Illustrated by the Principal Solar Light: which to explain, we must consyder, that she also is Aethereal and Connatural with the Sun; and so was made one of those Lumina­rys, which were Created in the Firmament of Heaven, and sett there to give Light upon the Earth, not only generaly, as all the rest of the vulgar Starrs, but more specia [...]y and principaly, as she is so called the Queen of Heaven: and so we must con­ceiv that they all had not only their own Native Light produced in themselvs, but also adapted so as to Colluminate together, and give Light upon the Earth, as it is so said of them all together, [Page 338] as well as particularly of the Sun, to rule the Day, and of the Moon to rule the Night: and thus they were made one general Constellation, or Host of Heaven, wherof the Sun, who was made to rule the Day (which is called Light, and in respect wherof the Night and all the Nocturnal L [...]ght is Comparatively termed D [...]rknes, not only as they were so Divided and Deno­minated in the First Day, before there were any Moon or Starrs to rule the Night, but now also again in this Fourth Day, wherin the Luminarys were made to rule over the Day, and over the Night, and to divide the Light from the Darknes) was made also to be Fountain of Light, generaly as the Ocean, and the rest as Rivers or Streams of Light; and as all the Luminarys, and Con­stellations, have their Influences, so every other Planet, and Starr, and the whole Aether, had their own Native Light more or less Actualy produced in themselvs; and likewise an aptitude or Potentiality of production of a greater Lucidity and Emana­tion therof, as well as of their Influences, by the Sun, whereby they also might give Light upon the Earth. And thus, as I have observed, Univocal Generators do most Effectualy Generate and produce, as Heat is so said to draw forth Heat; and particularly Colors, which are composed, as I said, of Lucidity and Opacity, though they be Inherent in the Colorate Bodys, wherin they are so Mist, and do Subsist; yet being so Mist with Opacity, their Lucidity is thereby also so Imprisoned or fixed and confined to the Colorate Body, that it is only Actualy Inherent therin, and cannot issue forth in Emanan [...] Rays, whereby it becomes Visible unto us, until it be Evoked, Excited, and Assisted, by the Ex­ternal Light: and the more Lucid the Color is, as White, and the like, the more it is so produced; as Whites are best Marks at a distance, and a White Horse a better Mark or Guide in a dark Night then a Black; and the more Light or Rays therof are cast upon any Colorate Object, the more are the Visible Species therof produced; wheras Culinary Lucid Bodys, which of themselvs do Emitt their own Rays, are not Assisted, but ra­ther have their Visibility Obscured by External Light; especi­aly if it be greater; as a Candle in the Sun, and so the Starrs and Moon itself above the Horizon before Sun rising, or setting, are not so Visible as afterward, as Water doth quench the flame of an Haystack, which it before Incensed. Wherefore I thus [Page 339] conceiv, that the Native Light of the Moon, being not a Culi­nary, but an Aethereal Light, Inherent in the Moon itself, is like Color, yet farr more Lucid, and so farr more Evoked, Excited, and Assisted, by the Solar Light; as a White Color is thereby rendred more Visible then Black: and that the Inherent Light of the Moon, and External Light of the Sun so concurring by their more Connatural Homogeneitys, do produce and draw forth themselvs together to so great a distance, and with so great a Splendor; and though the Sun doth so produce the Inherent Light of the Moon Positively by his Principal Rays, when they are both above the Horizon, yet the Moon doth not then appear so Visible and Splendid, becaus Comparatively she is thereby made farr less Visible and Splendid then he is in himself: for certeinly this Lucidity cannot be only from Reflection of the Solar Rays, whe­ther we suppose the Moon to be Cortical, having Earth and Seas, like the Terraqueous Globe, which Sensibly doth not Re­flect very farr; or specular, which may Reflect farther, becaus the Rays penetrate less and more Splendidly, in a fitt Position to the Ey, being Reflected thereby more equaly; but it must be also by some Inherent Light which is in the Moon itself, that is so Collustrated by the Solar Light, and by the Connatural Quality therof: nor is it to be Imagined that the highest Planets, and Starrs which are at the farthest distance, and yet Emitt such a Splendid and Vivid Light, should so shine only by the Refle­ction of the Solar Light. Now, though there are Spotts in the midle, and seeming Gibbi in the Circumference of the Moon, (which I rather conceiv so to appear by such Intervenient Spotts therin) yet this may not be from any Concavitys in the Body of the Moon, and the unequal Reflection of the Solar Light thereby; for there are Spotts also in the Sun, whereby his con­version about his Axis is noted, and yet he shines by his own Light: but I suppose them to be only less Luminous parts, and such defects of their Native and Inherent Light, as I doubt much, whether they were so Created in this Fourth Day: and though Earth which is a Consistent Body may have such Constant Emi­nences, and Water some Temporary Waves, yet it hath been ob­served that as Flame of a Candle, which is somwhat more Rare, is rendred Pyramidal by Compression of the Ambient Air, so if it be defended by another Intermediate Flame, as of Spirit of [Page 340] Wine Inflamed, or the like, it will Conglobate within that Flame. And wheras Saturn is commonly represented Oval, it is said by a very curious Inspector, that indeed he appears so if you behold him through a less Telescope, but if through a larger, you may discern two litle Aetheruli on each side of him, and very neerly distant from him, which make him so to appear when they are beheld together with him Confusedly and Indistinctly. Though I shall not determine this, or how they might be Composed and Constituted by the Divine Creator: certeinly all the Planets do not Move in exact Circles, but some of them describe Circles In­dented with such Hemitrochoids, as I have shewed: but it shall suffice to have proved that the Moon, and consequently the Starrs have their own Inherent Light as well as the Sun, though perhaps not Emanant without his Coll [...]tration; and so plainly they have their several Influences, and every one its own Plane­tary V [...]rtue Inherent in themselvs, which Moves their own Bo­dys, becaus there are such various and several Motions therof, which therefore must be caused by various and several Motive Virtues. The Moon, as I have said, doth not Move about her own Axis, but she doth Move very notably and rapidly in her Zodiak Progressively; and, if we compute that Motion according to all her Revolutions, perhaps as fast as the Sun; which are the two swiftest Movers Progressively. And the Moon, as she is neer­est to us, so probably she is least Calid and Lucid; wherefore her chief Influence is observed to be over Moisture; not that she is Moist in herself, which is a Quality of Water; but as the Sun doth by his Heat draw up Vapors, and also Desiccate or Concremate them, whereby they do not presently return again into Water, but turn into Dry Exhalations, Clouds, and Motes, wheras more Moist Vapors and Mists commonly rise when the Sun is sett, and in the colder Night; so the Moon by a more Moderate and Insensible Tepor doth draw up more gross Vapors, which presently return into Dews and Water, and chiefly when she is in her Apogaea, (as I have said formerly of Tides which are then highest) whereby the Vapors are not drawn up so high, but the Water (which, as I have observed, doth Naturaly Evapo­rate, and again return to Water) by her less Heat is less Desic­cated and Suspended; and so the Vapors are lower, and sooner return into Water again: for though Internal Heat in the Water [Page 341] itself, by Rarefying it, doth help Evaporation, yet any greater External Heat doth reduce the Moisture of the Vapors which it raiseth to Potentiality in Fume, which is prevented by the less Heat of the Moon; and [...]y this, or some other way unknown to us, the Moon doth very notably Predominate over Moisture; And thus, as Heat and Moisture are the chief Instruments in Elementary Generations, wherin Cold serveth to temper Heat, and Drines to fix Moisture, so these two chief Luminarys do most notably Predominate over them, that is, the Sun over Heat, and the Moon over Moisture, as well as the Sun doth rule the Day, and the Moon the Night.

IV. Besides these two there are five other Principal Planets, as they are termed, to distinguish them from the other Starrs, which are contrarily termed Fixed; though heer they are all comprehended under the common Name of Starrs, and so indeed they are in Nature; though men taking more no­tice of the Planets, as neerest to us, and most sensible by us, have formerly Deified them, and still dote upon them, and so have assigned them their several Spheres, and only one Eighth Sphere for all the rest, which are Innumerably more; and yet among the Planets themselvs there are found out some Satellites, and perhaps more may be found out heerafter, though we know them not yet, as others before us did not know these: and wheras men also have fansied such several Regions of Aethereal Spheres as are not to be found in Nature, so also such an Or­derly and Uniform Position of the Aetheruli therin, as is indeed contrary to the very End and Intention of these Luminarys, which, as I have shewed, was for the greatest Variety of Sea­sons and Influences, and that could not be without their various Positions and Motions; which I do rather suppose to be so very various and difform, that like the Motions of F [...]sh, Fowl, and Beasts, not any one of them is like to any other, but every one most Regular in its kind, as I have observed of Mathema­tical Figures, that is, the Circle, and all Regular Polygons, which therefore are Asymmetrous; and so are the Aetheruli, becaus they are all several Specifical Natures, purposely Created to express such Varietys, and Conform in their very Difformi­tys. Certeinly their Positions are all very different and distant, [Page 332] [...] [Page 333] [...] [Page 344] the next to them is the Menstrual Motion of the Moon, which maketh Months, and that also is Incommensurable with either of them; according to which, besides the Sabbath Day (which was made for Man, or Mankind generaly; and so Instituted first in Pa­rad [...]se, and is still kept and observed by virtue of that first Command, and only the Circumstance of Time varied, whereby it is exalted from a Rest of Creation to a Rest of Redemption) and also the An­nual Feasts, and Jubiles, according to the Motion of the Sun, there were also Monthly Feasts in the New Moons, and the like, according to the Cours of the Moon, appointed by God for the Iews. And becaus, as we cannot work according to Mathematical Exactnes, so also we cannot know Astronomical scrupulosity; therefore the Priests were to blow with the Trumpets, as it is said, In the Day of your gladnes, and in your Solemn Days, and in the Beginings of your Months, to call the Assemblys, and give notice to the Peo­ple when they should begin them. And so also there were Weights and Measures of the Sanctuary, or there reposited as Sacred things; as it is said, A just Weight and Balance are the Lords: and therefore the Standards therof were kept by the Priests: but certeinly these Measures could not Commensurate that which is Naturaly Incommensurable: and so it is supposed, that wheras it is said of the Lavacre or Brasen Sea, that it was Ten Cubits from Brim to Brim, or from Lip to Lip, round in Com­pass, and a Line of Thirty Cubits did compass it about, that it was so not Exactly, but Rotunde, according to the common Mechani­cal Account: which becaus more Curious Mathematicians will not accept; and therupon insult over Scripture; and from this one Expression would prove all others therin to be Popular, and themselvs to be the only Exact men; I shall heer farther ex­amin it; and desire them to reconsyder how it was a Vessel ha­ving Brims, or Lips; and so is said to be Ten Cubits from Lip to Lip Inclusively, as A Capite ad Calcem is also so rendred In­clusively, — Talos a Vertice pulcher ad imos: and the Compass of the Body of the Vessel itself was under the Lips Exclusively; as it followeth, and under the Brim of it round about Knops compas­sing it, ten in a Cubit, compassing the Sea round about: whereby al­so we may understand what was the particular Breadth of the Brim or Lip; that is, almost a quarter of a Cubit (but never according to Mathematical Exactnes) and therefore the Measure [Page 335] therof is not otherwise particularly mentioned; as it is of the Body, that the Thicknes of it was an Hands breadth. But I shall leav these Disquisitions to more learned Criticks, who, if they pleas to understand Scripture, not according to such Maligne, but Benigne Interpretations, shall find therin not only Verity, but the greatest Curiositys couched in the most Mysterious Ex­pressions: and so I profess, and hope to shew through this whole D [...]scours, that when Scripture and Nature are throughly examined and sifted to the utmost, they will be found to be most Con­cordant, one with another; and all Scripture, as well as Nature, with itself.

V. Though, as I have shewed, there are no new Starrs Crea­ted, nor any Annihilated, as some affirm of the Pleiades, or Seaven Starrs, as they are commonly called; but as Ovid observed of them in his time, ‘Quae septem dici, sex tamen esse solent;’ so long before him in Scripture they are called only by the Name of their Constellation, and no where Numericaly Seaven, as Translators render them; yet since the Heavens as well as the Earth were cursed for Mans sake, there are also some Anomala and Meteors in Aether; and such as are not like the Starr of our Savior, which was made by a Miraculous production; but Monstrous and Prodigious; wherof the Antients make mention, as that which appeared at the death of Iulius Caesar, to celebrate his Exit, as the other did our Saviors Intrat; which was some extraordinary Comet in the Aether, where they denied any Co­mets to be, and affirmed it Ingenerable and Incorrptible, both in the whole, and in every part therof; wheras now plainly there are found to be in it both Maculae, and Comets: and the Ma­culae are such Luminous Flocci as are either Aethereal Effluvia of the Luminarys, or perhaps sometimes Confluvia of the Aethereal Matter, and of which, as I suppose, the Comets are Composed, as Aereal Meteors are of Vapors: but there is no mention of any such in the Six Days Works, which were all Good and Per­fect; though, as I have shewed, there was in the first Day a Con­fluvim of the Aethereal Light, which was afterward in this Fourth Day divided and formed into the several Luminarys, and which was the Goodnes and Perfection therof. But as all Aether is [Page] [Page 344] [...] [Page 335] [...] [Page 336] Motive and Planetary, and every Luminary therin hath a pro­per Specifical Compositum and Qualitys, as well as it is Generi­caly Aethereal; so I suppose these Redundances and Excre­scences therof, being Composed of several parts of them, have accordingly Mist Bodys, and Planetary Qualitys, whereby they perform their odd Motions, and Courses; and when this Mete­orical Composition is dissolved, then they disappear and ceas. And there are not only such Maculae contiualy in Aether, which do not alway Conglobate into Comets, but very often less Comets not so much observed by us, or not on Land, as Sea­men say they see them at Sea: but such as are greater, and per­haps more Concocted, are by us commonly called Blazing Starrs; which indeed are no true Starrs, but only Stellae fatuae, (as I may call them, alluding to the like Meteors in the Air, which we call Ignes fatui) and yet differing from Stellae cadentes ther­in, which are so called from their falling again to the Earth; being Composed of Culinary Flame; wheras Comets being Composed of Aethereal Substance, when they are Corrupted, are resolved into it again; and they differ from the true Starrs, in that they are so Composed and Dissolved only by Meteorical Gene­ration and Corruption, and not by any Improper Creation, as the others: and though they also be Illustrated by the Sun, and thereby have a notable Eman [...]nt Light, yet they are farr more Dull and Obtuse; so that as the Sun is the Universal Illustrator of all this Spectable World, he doth more or less Illustrate every Spectable thing, as it hath more or less of the Connatural Lucidity in it; and thus the Terreous Opacity, which is contrary to Light, doth Reflect, Refract, and Distend it, as I have formerly shew­ed; and Black, which hath most Opacity in it, doth ingage the Light in the Encounter, and more detein it thereby; Also though the Solar Rays be not Ingaged, as I said before, in the Opa­cous Body, nor partly deteined, as in Reflection from the Opa­cous Fundus of a Diaphanous Body, as of a Jewell, Looking-glass, or the like; but may be otherwise Reflected from any Polite Body, as a Steel Speculum, or the like; yet they are thereby Retunded, and their Reflection much abated: and the strongest and farthest Reflection, or rather Collustration is, as I said before, when the Solar Rays meet with such Lucidity, as is more Aethereal and Connatural unto themselvs: for indeed that [Page 337] is not so properly a Reflection or Repuls, as an Influxion and Con­currence, like a great Stream that falls into the Chanell of a less, and so both flow together. Now the Inherent Light of Comets be­ing not only Aethereal, but Meteorical, and more Heterogeneous, the Solar Rays do not so Collustrate and Colluminate with it, as with the perfect Luminarys: and this also proves to me that there is such an Inherent Light in all the other Aetheruli themselvs, becaus the Sun doth accordingly Collustrate and Colluminate with them proportionably to their own Light in several maners and degrees; as in the Fixed Starrs, in the other Planets less, and in the Co­mets yet less; but least with the Inherent Light of Aether itself. And perhaps the Solar Rays are tinged and varied, by being so Mist with the Stellant in their Emanations, which he causeth thereby, and whereby they appear so very different: certeinly the Inherent Light of Starrs is much greater and stronger then of Comets, which the Sun partly penetrateth, as he doth a Glo­bule of Glass; for a stronger Light Inherent doth Terminate and not Transmitt the Solar Rays, as we cannot see through a greater Flame of Light, as we may partly through a less, as through the Flame of Spirit of Wine, or the like; though any other such Light makes Objects to appear very strange and ghastly, as the Efflam­mation of Furnaces, and the like. Now the Solar Rays which are thus Transmitted, but not so freely, through the Comet, as through the Aether, by that Offence and Interruption do, as I have shewed, Converge, and so go out at the farther Vmbo more sharp and comprest, and then again dilate themselvs, which is their Cauda, in the more Rare Medium of the Aether, like Comprest Vapors which so issue out of an Aeolipile; and they are always in that part which is avers from the Sun: wheras the Moon, though she hath Spotts, which are less Luminous then her other parts, yet doth not Transmitt the Solar Rays through them; which shews even those Spotts to have more Inherent Light in them then Comets, though they may not seem to us so Lucid Compa­paratively, in respect of her other more Luminous parts. Also Comets are Globular as well as any other Luminarys, and they are not only carried about by the Aether as well as Starrs, but have their own Altitudes, and proper Courses, as they happen to be placed in the Aether in their Generative Composition, according to which they also Move by their Mist Planetary Virtue; as God first sett [Page 338] the Starrs in their Stations and Orders, according to which they perform their Courses by their several Planetary Virtues. And thus indeed according to Statike Law, if any Body Move in ano­ther by any stronger Spiritual Potentia then the Pondus of its Body would caus it to Sink or Swim in the other, it will neither Sink nor Swim, but Move Progressively according to the Moving Po­tentia: as a Man so swims in Water by fitly Moving his Body with a stronger Potentia then the Pondus of his Body in that Me­dium would caus it to Sink; and so also a Bird flys in the Air: and though I conceiv the Starrs to be Fluid as well as the Aether, and Aether as well as the other Expansum of Air, yet I also ac­knowledg, that if they were Dens and Terreous Bodys, yet some of them, as the Sun and Moon, and others, might notwithstanding so Move in the Rare Aether, by their very rapid Motions, ac­cording to their own several Courses, and so perhaps, not Sink in it: though otherwise, I say, that no Body whatsoever, Mag­netical, Planetary, or Sensitive, can Move itself without a Fulci­ment to keep it from sinking; which Invincibly proves that the Earth cannot so Move, unless, it being most Consistent, Dens, and Heavy, could by any Planetary Virtue in itself be so supposed to Move in the most Rare and Fluid Aether, as that it should not Sink therin, by supposing also such a rapid Motion therof Annu­aly, as must be admitted according to the Zodiak, and Circle, which it is said to describe, and which according to the Phaeno­mena one way or other, must be the same with that wherin the Sun doth Realy Move; whereby that Motion will be found to be, as I said, almost fifty Miles in a Minute; and then un­less we can also suppose that the Earth would sink and fall so fast through the Aether in the very first Degree of the Velocity of the Motion of Descent, which must be swifter then the afore­said Motion, it will not so fall or sink: which to estimate more exactly I leav to the Curious. But wheras Judicial Astrolo­gers pretend to foretell by the Starrs, and especialy by Comets the Fates and Fortunes of Men, yea, their very Imaginations, Affections, and Inclinations, and, which is yet more, Divine Counsels and Intentions, it is certeinly most Unchristian and In­tolerable: for Originaly God made the Starrs to be for Signes, and for Seasons, and for Days, and for Years, which is there­fore so Emphaticaly repeated; not as Ostents or Portents, wher­of [Page 339] there could be no use in that State of Perfection, but for Signification and Indication, as well as Causation, of Seasons, Days, and Years, which were certein, constant, and orderly, when there were yet no Meteors in Earth, or Air, and much less any Changes, Confusions, and Disorders, in the Superior Natures; nor did they then portend that greatest Change, and most Dire Event that ever was, or shall be in the World, which was the fall of Angels and Men; otherwise themselvs might ea­sily have forseen it: wherefore certeinly they were not first Created to signify any such Contingencys, but only Natural Fu­turitys: and now wheras they affirm, that the Starrs do by their Influences govern the Bodily Humors, and by them the Minds and Spirits of Men, let them shew us the Experiment of that, which they make to be the Foundation of their Art, and (as it is said of Thales) foretell what will be dear next year: wheras their Prognostications of any such Contingent things in their yearly Almanaks are generaly as fals as true; though I grant, as our Savior saith, that such who are weatherwise may proba­bly foretell what shall so ensue the next Day, or some such short time after: In the Evening ye say it will be fair weather, for the Sky is red; and in the Morning it will be foul weather to day, for the Sky is red and lowring. Thus also they represent Eclipses as very Prodigious things, which yet they know are most Na­tural, otherwise they could not so foretell them; and if Man had still continued in Paradise, they must naturaly have been; yea, it were the greater Monster and Prodigy, if they should not so con­stantly happen. And though Comets, which are Extraordinary, may produce Extraordinary Effects, as other Meteors, Thunders, Earthquakes, and the like, and are sure Signes of what is past, tha [...] is, the Fall of Man, which hath been the Caus and Occasion ther­of, and so are to be regarded; and may be also Extraordinary Ostents of Gods future Judgments; yet it is also as true, that we cannot read this Hand-writing on the Wall of Heaven without a Supernatural Revelation or Indigitation; as the Magi were dire­cted by Angels, (of whom it is also said they were warned in a Dream) otherwise by all their Art they could never have found out the very Town, yea the very Hous in the Town, yea the very Place in the Hous where the Child lay, and over which the Starr is said to have stood: so neither could the most Curious or Caba­listical [Page 340] Judgment of any Man have foretold the Retrocession of Hezekiah's Sicknes by the Retrogradation of the Sun ten Degrees on the Dial of Ahaz: and the Signes in Heaven and Earth at our Saviors Death probably were as Miraculous as the Starr at his Birth; and that Darknes no common Eclips of any Luminary, but an Obtenebration of the Aether itself over all that Land, as the Earthquake was also therin; and all the Signification therof was plainly declared by his present Suffering, which made the Cen­turion cry out, Truly this was the Son of God! Wherefore, though I honor Natural Astronomy, and only wish that it were rectified according to this D [...]vine Rule of Scripture, (as I would also glad­ly be corrected by it in any mistakes of the Natural Phaenomena, or any Expressions therof) so with the Scripture and all Christianity I must conclude against all such Judicial Astrology, as an Hea­thenish Artifice, wherof we are expressly forewarned, that we should not be dismaied at the Signes of Heaven, for the Heathen are dismaied at them: and Let now the Astrologers, the Starrgazers, the Monthly Prognosticators stand up, and shew how they can maintein the Veracity of their Art against the Divine Verity. And now I shall return again to such Materialists, who though they cannot af­firm, that becaus a whole Body is Moved up or down, this way or that way, therefore it ceaseth to be the same, yet can suppose, that if the parts in the Body be Moved in such a maner, as neither they nor we can discern them, there being a new Corporeal Texture, Schematism, and Mechanism therof, it shall therfore ac­quire a new Individual Spirit and Spiritual Qualitys, by such Lo­cal Motion, as it doth by Physical Generation and Corruption; which may be best Experimented in the vast Body of Aether, wherin there are also so many Orbs continualy Moving so many several ways, and yet they do not therefore ceas to be the same Aether, and the same Orbs, that they were before: and so will any other Compositum be the same, though the Parts in it Move this way, or that way, or any way whatsoever, unless there be a new Gene­ration to alter it; otherwise only the Figure and Situation of the Parts in the Whole will be altered, but not the Physical Nature of the Whole, or Parts: and so though their Hypothesis be of less Corpuscles, and not of such great Bodys, (which, as they propound the others, becaus they are Indiscernible, so I propound these, becaus they are more discernible) for the reason will be the same [Page 341] in these Elementary Natures, though the Parts be never so mi­nute; as every part of Water is Water, though it be never so small, and though it be Moved any way whatsoever: and so sup­pose the Parts of any one Orb to Move in the Orb, as all the Orbs do in the Aether, they will no more alter the Orb, then the Orbs do the Aether: and if Matter and Motion cannot thus make or alter Elementary Natures, which are Inferior, much less any others that are Superior: and I suppose, that the Superaether is altoge­ther Immovable, both in the Whole, and in all the Parts therof. Wherefore, since this and all the other Heavens are so Stupen­dous, (that as some suppose, they are therefore so Named) let us not conceiv, that we, or any Angel, could Mechanicaly form those Glorious Bodys by any the most curious Artifice, and much less by our own Imaginations: but acknowledg the Divine Creation, and Original Institution of Aether, and all the Luminarys therin, which have been from this Begining therof, and so shall continue and persevere untill the dissolution of this present Elementary World, Ingenerable and Incorruptible in the Whole, though not in all the Parts therof.

VI. Now let us prais the Father of Lights for all the Lumina­rys of Heaven, the Sun, and Moon, and Starrs; which the Heathen World formerly adored, and which we ought all to admire, and to adore him who is the Creator therof; whose G [...]ory the Heavens declare, and the Firmament his handiwork: which, though we be­hold them according to their seeming Aspects, yet we perceiv not their Real Magnitudes, and Altitudes; and much less their wonder­full Motions, and I [...]fluences: and though they are but small Porti­ons of one Element, yet are many of them greater then any other, and some of them then all the rest: whose Positions are higher above us then the Center of the Univers is beneath us; and whose Motions are without any Rest, and yet swifter then of any other Bodys, and stronger then of Spontaneous Spirits. And they are all such Locomotive Automata in themselvs, and every one Moved by his own proper Power, going on in his own Path, both distant and different from another, but never from itself either in Space, or Time: which are the grand Horologes of Nature, without any Weight, Springe, or Pendulum, and yet farr more constant and cer­tein, not only marking and dividing by Lines and Numbers, but [Page 342] making Day and Night, and all the Seasons in the Year, and such long Secula and Revolutions, as probably shall never attein any Natural Period, but be Violently prevented by the Final Confla­gration; which shall be effected by their own Aether and Element of Fire, and all these Firebrands therof, who as they were Super­naturaly Generated, so shall also be Supernaturaly Corrupted. And yet while this Elementary Globe doth stand, it is Preserved and Governed by their Progresses and Circuits about the Inferior Orb; who as they pass along scatter the Missilia of their various Influences. And though they being a very great Multitude, to us seem to be in a continual Rout, yet every one of them marcheth in his own Rank and File, and they are all severaly distributed into Troops and Partys of Constellations, and the whole Host of them formeth one most Orderly and Powerfull Militia, wherof Sol is the great General and Imperator; who himself alone is able to conquer all the Inferior World, not only by encountring it with his Victorious Presence, which would burn up all before him, but by his very Flight and Absence, which would otherwise destroy them, through their own Indigence and want of his Vital Heat: who as the true Adonis brings along with him in his Accesses all the Fruits of the Year, and Foetus of Animals, and again carrieth away all that is Annual in his Recesses: who is Sponsus Naturae, As a Bridegroom coming out of his Chamber, and rejoicing as a strong man to run his Race. His going forth is from the end of the Heaven, and his Circuit to the ends therof. And there is nothing hid from the Heat therof.

ILLUSTRATION.

I. WE now ascend into the Region of Life, which is not only above all Elementary and Vegetative Nature, but also so farr different from them as the same Living Animal is from its own Dead Carcass: and though I have termed them all generaly Spirits, whereby I intend only Substantial Activitys, though they do not breath and Live, as Sensitives, and the Soul of Man, which [...]herefore, to distinguish from others, I shall only call Souls or Psy­ch [...], and so Hebraicaly they only are termed Living Spirits or Souls: though as the Poets termed Water, Stone, Turf, and the like Vive, so both they and Philosophers conceived that Vegetatives did indeed Live; as appears by their Fabulous Transmigrations of Animals into Flowers, and Trees, and their Anima Vegetativa; wheras Scripture thus speaketh only Metaphoricaly, when it men­tioneth Living Water, Stone, Bread, and the like; or that Trees and Corn Dy: and I shall never differ about Terms, but only contend, that Elementary or Vegetative Spirits are also Substantial Spirits, (which Expression they, who also call them Vive, may very well al­low) but I also affirm, that they do not Live as these Living Spirits; nor have any Perception or Appe [...]ite (which is properly and truly Life, as I shall shew heerafter) to defend my self and all my Expressi­ons from the Opinion of them, who either affirm both Vegetatives and Elements, yea, Matter itself, to be Sensitive; becaus they have such Affections, Inclinations, and Principles Created toge­ther with their Substances, and Imprinted in them by God, ac­cording to which they Act and Operate, and produce such Ef­fects Naturaly, as Sensitives do Ingeniously, Spontaneously, and [Page 345] Artificialy, with Perception and Appetite, Knowing, Affecting, and Intending, what they do, which those Inferior Natures do not, nor cannot, becaus they have no such Perception, nor Ap­petite properly and truly, though Metaphoricaly they are also ascribed unto them in respect to such Effects: and also of ot hers who, becaus these Inferior Natures have not any such Perception or Appetite, therefore deny them to have any such Natural Principles so Created or Imprinted in them, whereby, accor­ding to their several Natures thus Originaly Instituted and set [...] in order, they proceed to Act; and conceiv that only the Spirit of God Immediately doth still Move on them all, as on the first Chaos; and so by Matter and Motion only doth Generate and Cor­rupt all such Inferior things; which he did first Institute and set [...] in order in the fower first Days, and all their Original Generati­ons and Corruptions, as well as the others in the two last Days: otherwise all the Works of those former Days, which were also in preparation to the latter, had been vain and supervacaneous; which I have sufficiently refuted; and shall now proceed to dis­cours of Sensitives, which indeed are farr more Noble Natures, and as I said, so much Superior to the other, that heer God is said again to Create, in giving Life, or causing that, which though it was the same Spirit in itself latent in the Chaos, and had Poten­tialy Life in itself, yet did not before Live. Now to Live Actu­aly; and thus to rais from Death to Life is a most Miracu­lous Work, and most like to a Proper Creation, not only in the suddennes therof, as Incension, (for certeinly nothing can Live, and not Live in the same Instant) but in the Excellency therof, whereby the Animal is as it were raised up from the Grave, and out of that dead Sleep, wherin the Body or Carcass of all the Inferior Natures, wherof it is Constituted, did before ly. And this is Eminently spoken of Whales the greatest of all such Ani­mals, though of the lowest Kind therof, that is, of Fishes: for as in the same Vegetative Classis there are three general Kinds mentioned, Grass, Herbs, and Trees; so also in this Classis of Sensitives, Fishes, Fowls, and Beasts. And as the Elementary Bodys of Sensitives are farr more Organical then of Vegetatives, as fitt Instruments of their more Operative Spirits, so also their very Vegetative Spirits, which in their Compositions are Subor­dinate unto them, are more Excellent, and have a more Curious [Page 346] Nutrition and Augmentation, and most notably another maner of Generation: for wheras it is said of Vegetatives, Cujus Semen seipsum seminet, heer is added a special Blessing of Procreation to Sensitives; and Perfect Animals, such as God Created, do not grow out of the Water, nor out of the Earth, as some Vegetatives; nor only by Putrefaction, and the like, as many Anomalous Sensitives; but are Generated by Conjunct Procreation: and they are made of two several Sexes; as is expressed of all such as entred into Noah's Ark, that they were Male and Female; and therefore a Phoenix, which is only of one Sex, is such as was not to be found there, and indeed only a Poetical Creature; and the Male and Female Piony made such only by the Gardiners Fansy: for certeinly they do not propagate by any Conjunct Procrea­tion. But the Sensitive Spirit itself, and the Living Powers ther­of, are farr above any Vegetative Spirit, or the Facultys ther­of. For as the Matter is so Divisible, that it is as it were alway Divisible, and every Part and Particle therof will still be the same Homogeneous-Matter in all respects; so Elementary Spirits, which do Immediately Consubstantiate it; are therefore most Material, or United to it, and Coextended with it, and if they be so Divided with it, yet, as I have said, every Part and Particle of Earth will be Earth, and of Water Water, and so of the rest ge­neraly; though in some respects, as I observed of Terreous Con­sistence, there may be a difference between Majority and Minority of their Bodys: and Vegetatives, though every least Part or Par­ticle of their Organical Bodys be not a sufficient Domicil and Officine for their Spirits, becaus they are Organical; yet the Branch or Twig of many Trees being sett, will Radicate and Grow, reteining therin a sufficient Portion of their Divisible Spirit to erect a new Oeconomy, and form itself into another Individual Tree, as well as the Root and Stem: but if Sensitives be so Di­vided, whereby the Principal Parts therof, as the Head, Heart, or the like, have their Organism destroied, they cannot Live; and any other Part Divided from them will not Live long; as an Eel cut in pieces: and yet as Fishes are of the lowest Kind of Sensitives, so generaly after such Dissection they Live longest: I have seen a Tench slitt and Exenterated to leap in the Pan where it was fried; and Fowls will not Live so long as they, nor Beasts as Fowls, as a Chicken after the Head is wrung off Moves itself [Page 347] both longer and stronger then a Beast Decollated, which shews the more Indivisibility of their Spirits. But, as I said, the grand difference between Sensitive and any Inferior Spirits is their Per­ception and Appetite: for so, though Elementary and Vegetative Spirits also Move their Bodys, yet only Sensitives Move them with Apprehension and Spontaneity, this way, and that way, and every way, as they pleas; and so, though their Motive Powers may not be so strong, yet they are Living, and more Spiritual: and thus they Feed, and Generate, and Act all their Sensitive Operations Sensitively; otherwise they should not be Sensitives. Yet according to the Degrees of Sensitives in their own Classis, so also is their Locomotion: and thus Fishes, which are the very lowest Kind therof, are Originaly termed Reptiles; as their Swim­ing is indeed a kind of Creeping, or Sliding: and so an Eel swims in Water as a Snake Creeps on Land; and though other Fishes in Swiming shoot forth Directly, and make no Curv Lines, yet they only Slide in a more Direct maner; and their Bodys are of a Direct and Oblong Figure for that purpose, being born up, and partly carried, upon an Equidens Fulciment of Wa­ter: but there are also Testaceous Fishes, which are Gradient, having Claws and Legs for that purpose, like Beasts; and if they Swim, it is also like the Swiming of Beasts: yet that Motion is another kind of Creeping; and they are more Tardigradous, and Multipedous, as generaly more Infirm Bodys are, which need so many Fulciments: and Shelfishes which have no Claws nor Legs, as Oisters, Muscles, and the like, are most Infirm, and, as I suppose, Imperfect Animals: but they are no Plantanimals, as o­thers term them; for plainly they are Sensitive; and therefore of the Sensitive Classis, and so to be Denominated; which appears by their Flesh, and by opening and shutting their shells accor­dingly as they Sensitively Affect or Disaffect any thing, and many other such Indications of Sens: and though they Continue in their places, yet they are not Rooted in them, nor do Cohere therun­to, like Vegetatives; becaus all Sensitives, as I said, are less Uni­ted to the Elementary Matter, both Internaly, and Externaly, then Vegetatives: and that which is called the Sensitive Plant, is not properly and truly Sensitive, but only fansied to be such, as I said of the Piony: and so the Oatbeard, Marigold, Heliotropium, and the like, may as well be said to be Sensitive: wheras clearly their Mo­tions [Page 348] are without any Perception or Appetite, and only by Ele­mentary Rarefaction and Condensation of their Bodys, or by some kind of Vegetative Expansion and Compression, as I shall shew afterward. As Fishes are expressly said to be produced out of the Waters wherin their Spirits were before latent, so they require a Body Aqueous, wherin they Reside and Operate; and they were accordingly formed of the Water, as it was then Mist with the other Elements, and thereby prepared for such produ­ctions and formations: and though some may wonder, as I have formerly, at this strange formation of the Bodys of Fishes, how their Flesh, and Bones, which are Firm and Consistent, (though not so much as of Fowls, and Beasts,) should be made of Fluid Water, which could not be Transmuted into Earth, since there is no such Transpeciation, as I have before proved; yet heer al­so we may see how these Mysterys of Scripture and Nature do Consist and Correspond together: for so it is found by Experi­ment, that some Trees, and Fruits, as Willows, Pumpions, and the like, may be as much Augmented thereby: and so the whole Sensitive Body is still formed of Bloud: for every Mistum con­teineth all the Elements, and their Virtues; and there is in Wa­ter, or Bloud, also sufficient Matter (and so drink, if not so Nu­tritive, yet may be as Augmentative as Meat; as appears in such who drink much, and eat litle) and Sensitive Bodys, as of Tad­pols, may be formed of Water, and if we consyder the Mistion of all the fower Elements, and the Doctrine of Potentialitys (which I have before deduced from the Chaos of all these Potentialitys) and already approved by many other Instances, (as also it may be clearly confirmed heerby) we may understand how, as I have said, it is indeed the Clavis of all Generation and Corruption: for thus all the Terraqueous Composita are Terraqueous, having also some Mi­sture, though less, of Air, and Aether, in them; and so in their Generation or Corruption, if the Terreous Qualitys be Actuated, they appear to be, and so indeed Actualy are, Terreous Bodys, and have a proportionable Firmnes or Consistence, which, as I said, is a Terreous Quality; as Smoak is turned into Soot, and the like: and if the Aqueous Qualitys be Actuated, and the Ter­reous reduced to their Potentiality, then the same Bodys will be no longer Firm and Consistent Actualy, but Fluid; as in Fusion and Corrosion of Metalls, whereby it is said, that even Gold it­self [Page 349] may be reduced to an Oil, or to some such Aqueous Body, and others affirm the like of any Terreous Bodys whatsoever: and so though Aereous Qualitys, according to the less Misture of that Element in Terraqueous Bodys, are not so easily and com­monly Actuated, yet thereby, or by Vapor, or both, Camphire, and Salts, may be Volatilised; (as Meteors may be in the Air, like Amurca, o [...] Mudder, standing in the top of Water): yea, by Actuating the Aethereous Qualitys therin, the Terraqueous Body may seem to be all Fire; as Iron Candent, Pitch, Wax, Tallow, Oil, Spirit of Wine, and the like, Inflamed. But the Bodys of Fishes are not so Terreous as to Sink to the bottom, nor so Aere­ous as to Swim and float above the Water, being most fitly poised, and prepared for their Moving in their Native Element, Water. As the Spirits of Fishes are Sensitive, so the more Perfect have all Senses, except Hearing, which some deny, and also that they have any Auditory Nervs: certeinly they do not hear themselvs, becaus they are generaly M [...]te; and yet I rather conceiv that they have also the Sens of Hearing, becaus they have the more excel­lent Sens of Seing, though perhaps their Hearing may be very Dull, as their Element of Water is no very fitt Medium of Sound. Yet Oisters, and such Imperfect Fishes, have neither of these Scien­tifical Senses, Seing, or Hearing; but only Feeling, and Tasting, and perhaps Smelling, which, as I have said, is Concomitant and Assistant to Tast; though the distinct Organs of any Sens are not discernible in them, nor any Brain or Heart, but they seem to be one Lump, with something like a Bloud in it, which all Sensitives have, and also, as I suppose, something Analogous to the Organs in more perfect Animals, of such Senses as they have; and so of Imagination, and Appetite, which are the common Sensitive Fountains of all the Sen­ses, and wherin they Subsist, (though they have no Imagina­tive Ingeny) as I shall shew afterward, and therefore no Sensitive can be without them, and consequently not without some apt Organs therof. And heer I must observ, that as every Specifical Nature is most excellent in its own Specifical Difference, becaus it is the very Specifical Difference therof; so in the same Clas­sis the lower Species may have some Inferior Qualitys more Ex­cellent, or at least more Vehement and Notorious then the Supe­rior. Thus Fishes are generaly more Voracious, and less Vale­tudinary, then other Sensitives, and Augment vastly, and Pro­create [Page 350] abundantly, especialy such as Generate by Ejection and Superinjection of their Seeds, and not by Copulation, as is re­ported of Whales; and their Fecundity is expressly mentioned in the Text, that the Waters brought them forth abundantly, and so again Emphaticaly repeated: and therefore I do not conceiv, as some, that this Difference happened by the Deluge, which indeed did not concern Fishes, becaus it is so intimated in their very Creation. But in all these and many other Piscine Quali­tys and Facultys the Whale, and such other grand Animals of the Sea, do excell; and such Thynni, Balaenae, and immania Cete, are therefore called Sea-monsters, not becaus they are Anomalous, but from their vast and terrible Greatnes; and the chief of them, which is supposed to be the Whale, is termed Leviathan, whom God himself hath largely described elsewhere, and saith of him, Vpon all the Earth there is not his like, he is King over all the children of Pride, I suppose, in respect of his great Bulk and Strength gene­raly; though his strength in proportion to his Bulk be not so great as of many Terrestrial Animals, especialy the Elephant, which is also termed Behemoth, and who in that respect is said to be Chief of the ways of God. But Fowls are of the least Bodily Magnitude, though their Spirits be of an higher Kind then Fishes, and yet more allied to them then to Beasts, and therefore made in the same Day with them; and so it is also observed that their Brains are more Conformable to the Brains of Fishes, and the Brains of Beasts to the Brain of Man. The Bodys of Fowls are less, becaus the Air in which they were made to fly, is a more Rare and weaker Fulciment then Water, though otherwise their flying is Analogous to Swiming, and such a kind of Sliding or Creeping, and their Wings and the Motion therof to Fins and the Motion therof: and as they were not produced out of the Air, nor their Bodys formed of it, (for, as I said, all Animals as well as Vegetatives are Terraqueous) so neither of the Wa­ter, as Fishes; for it is not so said of them, but as it is Origi­naly, Let Fowls fly in the Firmament of Heaven: and the other words following, and every winged Fowl after his Kind seem ra­ther to refer to Gods Creation of them both in that Day, then particularly to their Creation out of the Waters: and it is said afterward of them, as well as of Beasts, And out of the Ground God formed every Beast of the Earth, and every Fowl of the Air: but wheras [Page 351] plainly it is said that Fishes were produced out of Water, and Beasts out of the Earth, and neither is so before particularly ex­pressed of Fowls; I suppose they were made of some more equa­ly Mist Terraqueous Substance, wherin neither Water did so much Predominate, as in the Bodys of Fishes, nor Earth, as in the Bodys of Beasts: and accordingly the Bodys of Fowls are of a midle Substance, not so Tender as of Fishes, nor yet so Fi m and Solid as of Beasts. But Fowls, though they be generaly Oviparous as well as Fishes, yet also Procreate by Copulation, and not by Exclusion of the Seed Immediately, as Vegetatives, and as Fishes generaly are Procreated; nor yet by Gestation in the Womb untill there be a Formation of the Foetus, as Beasts; which is a more perfect Birth, and proper to Superior Animals. Certeinly they excell Fishes in their Spiritual Facultys of Sens, and Imagination, as in their Singing, Nidification, and the like; as they are Inferior to Beasts in Imaginative Ingeny, and Act generaly. And wheras there are some flying Fishes, as they are commonly called, so indeed they are not Fowls, but Fishes, which generaly live in the Water, as others, and only fly above it so long as their Wings are wett, which maketh them to be more stiff and strong, as Sails are stifned by wetting: and so Water­fowls are not Fishes, but Fowls, that generaly fly in the Air, though they can also dive in the Water, and continue there so long as their Breath lasteth, as we say; and so Otters, and the like Amphibia, are Beasts, and no Fishes: and though there be Aquatical Insects, which afterward prove Flys, yet this is no Tran­speciation, but the Worm, both in Earth, and Water, is only the Embryo, or Inception, of such flying Insects, as the Vegetative Embryo is of a Sensitive Animal.

II. Having thus farr discoursed of these two Kinds of Sensi­tives, Fishes, and Fowls, generaly, according to my Intention, which is only to Elucidate the general System of the World, as God himself hath declared it unto us in this Divine History of Creation, and to conferr Scripture and Nature together, I shall now proceed to discours of Sensation in the same general maner, having already declared what I intend thereby; that is, a Life with Imaginative Perception, and Spontaneous Appetite, where­by the Animal doth not only Act and Ope [...]ate, as all other Inferior [Page 352] Natures, but Perceivs what it doth, and Consents to do it; and so also Contemplates, and accordingly Affects, or Disaffects the Object, about which it is conversant, and Exerciseth its Opera­tions: which is a Double Operation, and not such a Simple, Im­perceptive, and Involuntary, or Non Spontaneous kind of Ope­ration, as there is in other Inferior Agents; but also with a Sen­sitive Enjoyment therof, and of itself, and its own Operations, in a Living maner by Perception and Appetite, as I said, which are the proper Facultys of the Sensitive Spirit, and that denominateth the Animal Sensitive; becaus Sensitive Spirits wherof Perception and Appetite are the proper Facultys are of an higher Classis, and farr other Nature then the other Subordinate Spirits Vege­tative and Elementary, and the Matter, which they so Subordinate to themselvs, according to that Scale of Nature, as I have for­merly shewed: and as according to that Scale, Sensitive Spirits are Sensitive in themselvs, and Subordinate the others Immediate­ly, or Mediately, according to the several Degrees therof, to them­selvs; so also their Operations are either such as they can Act and Exercise of themselvs, and by their own Intrinsecal Power, or such as they only Command and Govern, but are Executed and Performed by the Inferior Spirits, Vegetative, and Elementary; but how the Sensitive Spirit doth thus Command and Govern the Vegetative Spirit, and that the Elementary, and the like, is not so easily Intelligible, becaus these several Natures are Classicaly different; and therefore also though the Sensitive Spirit Perceiveth what it doth, as I said, generaly; becaus it is Sensitive, yet it Per­ceiveth not how any Vegetative or Elementary Operations are done and performed by those Subordinate Spirits in its own Com­positum; becaus they are not Sensitive, nor can they, or the Sen­sitive Spirit by them, Perceiv what they do, or how the Work is done, farther then as it may have some Sensation therof in itself; which is a manifest Evidence to me, that there are such several Spirits Classicaly distinct, and which, as I have said, are never Mist together in the same Sensitive, or Intellective, Compositum, becaus there are evidently in it such distinct and different Ope­rations; wherof some are Sensible and Perceptible, and others are not: concerning which I shall discours heerafter, and now Inquire into these Mysterys of Sensation, which though they be performed within us, yet are less obvious then other things [Page 353] without us: as any may better see how a Chick is formed in the Egg, then how Augmentation is performed within his own Body. Also the higher any Nature is, the more Excellent, and Curious, and Difficult it is to be understood; And being now entred into this Region of Life, I am very conscious in what a dark Adytum I am, and how litle Light others do afford me; but — dabi [...] Deus his quo (que) finem. Wherefore grounding my self upon his Word, I shall proceed. It is said, The Life of all Flesh is the Bloud therof, or as it is in the precedent words, the Bloud of it is for the Life therof. And heer we shall see again how Scri­pture and Nature do mutualy Interpret one another. And I shall first collect from these words, that all Flesh, that is, all Sensitive and Living Bodys, have a Bloud, or something Analo­gous of whatsoever Color or Crassitude it may be; and that this Bloud is not only the Aliment or Nutriment, but the very Ru­diment of the Life therof, and indeed of the Flesh itself, and all other Parts of the Body Potentialy; as every thing is Nourished by that wherof it is Constituted: and thus it is well observed, that in the Formation of the Foetus, there is a Bubble of Vital Liquor, which first Moves, and so forms itself and its own Coat or Canale, by a Vital Heat Operating upon it; whereby, in the Fermentation therof, the more Pure and Subtile parts are Con­gregated in and toward the midle, and the more Gross and Viscid are Seg [...]egated and amandated to the outsides; and there, as Milk heated, when it begins to cool, hath a litle Skin in the Superficies, so this Congenerous Liquor, which is the Rudiment of Bloud, and also of Milk, doth begin thereby to form a ten­der Tunicle, or Vein, for itself, wherin, as in a Canale, it also begins to flow: and afterward the Heart and all the Sensitive Body is formed thereby: and as it doth thus Constitute the Bo­dy, so also it doth Nourish it; and for that purpose passeth through the Heart into the Arterys, into which it is Impelled by the Systole or Contraction of the Muscular Heart, and Puls therof, (which is continued, though less and less, in and through all the Arterys) and through them passeth into the Flesh, and Veins, and so into the Heart Circularly: which, most true and very Curious Observation was not understood by the Antients, nor easily admitted by Moderns; becaus the Passage therof, without the help of Anastomases, is so hard to be conceived; [Page 354] but as all Truth which is founded in Nature, and not only in No­tion, though never so Difficult and Inexplicable, when it is once offered to Mankind, will work out its own way (wheras Error, though never so Plausible, will soon be confuted by it, when they are Committed and set [...] together) so hath this Truth pre­vailed, and must prevail, becaus it is Truth: and I thus expli­cate it to my self. I suppose the Veins and A [...]tery▪ to be se­veral Canales, not runing one into another at one end, but at the other meeting at the Heart, as at a Watermill, which re­ceiveth the Bloud out of the Vina Cava, as one of the Canales, and dischargeth it at last into the Aorta, as into the other Ca­nale; and the Flesh to be as a very Spongy ground, between these two Canales: I say the Water discharged from the Mill will flow in one Canale with a Puls, less and less, according to the Strokes of the Wheel; which we will also suppose to be so distinctly and equaly caused by every Spoke therof; and be­caus it cannot freely pass in that Canale where it hath no farther Passage and Vent, and may soak into the Spongy Earth between it and the other Canale, it will so soak into them; and also sup­posing it, being in that Canale, to be raised higher (by any En­gine or otherwise) it will then flow in that Canale to the Mill back again, where it hath a Passage and Vent; as, though Wa­ter will not easily flow of itself, but be deteined in a Sponge full of it, unles it be prest, or more Water come to the Sponge; yet it will flow together freely in any Ca [...]ale where it hath a Fall, or any other Impuls; which though in this Scheme must be supposed, yet is so Realy effected by the Natural Pow­er of the Living Body, as I shall shew▪ [...]rafter. Again, as the Bloud by this Circulation and [...] therof doth pass into and Nourish all the parts of the Body continualy, (which are Potentialy in the Bloud) and is the Nutriment of the Life therof; so also it is the Instrument of all its Living or Sensitive Operations: for from the Heart it passeth not only into the Aorta, but also into the Carotides, and so to the Brain, wherin it is again purified and rectified, and from the Brain discharged into the Nervs, wherin, as well as in the Brain itself, it is the Instrument of all Sensation, both Perceptive, and Motive: and this Nerval Succus is also that, which I call Bloud, accor­ding to Scripture, which doth not distinguish it into Venal, [Page 355] Arterial, and Nerval Bloud, but Comprehends all under one common Name, Bloud; becaus it is indeed one Continuous Flux, as the Ocean is one, though where it flows into several Seas it acquireth several Names. Having thus premised and stated the Phaenomena, I come now unto the grand Difficulty, how all Sen­sitive Operations are, or can be, so curiously and wonderfully effected by the Spirits Elementary, Vegetative, and Sensitive. And first, as I formerly said, I conceiv that there is a proper Ele­mentary Mistion, which is Subordinate to every Vegetative Spirit, as well as a proper Vegetative Spirit, which is Subordinate to every Sensitive Spirit; and in this Mistion we commonly take notice of two Elementary Qualitys, which are indeed most notable, that is Heat, and Moisture, and which we do therefore Eminently call In­nate, Vital, and Radical; but certeinly we cannot conceiv that the Heat is without any allay of Cold, or the Moisture of Dri­nes; for then they should be so Vehement and Excessive, that they should not be Vital and Radical, but Mortal and Final: wherefore there must be such a Temperament of all these fower Qualitys, and consequently a Mistion of the fower Elements, and Elementary Spirits, wherin they do Subsist; and as these fower Qualitys are susceptible of More and Less, and thereby of many va­rious Degrees, so according to the Arithmetical Rule of Changes the various Mistions therof, besides other Simple Elementary Qualitys, may be Innumerable unto us. Now the Vegetative Spirit▪ to which t [...]e Elementary are Immediately Subordinate, doth Collect and Contemper for itself a proper Mistion, and fitt Temperament therof, such as Naturaly it requireth; that is, such as God himself, when he had first prepared the Elements, and after them Vegetatives▪ [...]n making of Sensitives in this Fifth Day, did then Collect and Contemper for the Vegetative, and so pre­pared and instructed the Vegetative for the Sensitive Spirit, ac­cording to every Kind and Species therof; which was, as I have shewed, the Original Generation or production therof, and first Institution of all Generation and Corruption, according to which all Successive Generation doth and ever shall continue un­to the End and Corruption of this whole Elementary World. And this proper Mistion is not only the Crasis, but also the Crisis of the Life of the Animal: for as it is Subordinate to the Vegetative Spirit, it is Oeconomical, and such as doth according to the Ori­ginal [Page 356] Rectitude and Temper therof Naturaly Increas to an Acme, and from thence Decreas again to a Period; unless it be Violent­ly disturbed or altered; which is the true caus of all Diseases (which we therefore call Distempers) but if there be no such Violence offered unto it, then the Sensitive Animal doth continue from the Birth untill the Death, or Dissolution therof, (like a Lamp which goes out only for want of Oil) in sound and perfect Health, yet with such Degrees and Variations from one Stage therof unto another, as I have formerly shewed: and though ac­cording to the State of this Original Temperament the Thread of one Animals Life, as we call it, may be stronger or longer then of another, yet I conceiv it is always according to this first Vital or Radical Mistion or Temperament, in which the Constitution of every Sensitive Body is founded; and though Augment and De­crement, as well as Nutrition, be of the Vegetative Spirit, yet it is also by this Elementary Mistion, which that doth Subordinate to itself, but cannot alter any Primigeneous Error therin, which is Naturaly in it, though both Nature and Art may Cure Violent Accidents; and though Nature doth of herself always intend the Best, as she did obtein it in this first Creation, when all things were made Good and Perfect, yet being now blasted, there is al­way some Error, more or less, appearing therin; and especialy since the Floud, wherin the Secula were Abbreviated Extraordi­narily by a farther Curs and Punishment of Sin: and yet also be­fore, there were Natural Bounds sett by God in the very Princi­ples of Generation itself, as well as he hath sett Bounds to the Matter and Body of the World. Now, wheras I say, that in Generation this proper Elementary Mistion and the Temperament therof is Governed by the Vegetative Spirit, I do not intend there­fore that the Vegetative Spirit is first produced; for as in the first Creation, so still the Elementary Spirits are before the Vege­tative; but I say that the Vegetative Spirit, which then begins to be produced, doth by and with the proper Mistion of the Elementary Spirits so begin to Operate and Contemper them; and is, as I conceiv, that Operator or Motor therin, which is called Punctus saliens, and the Architect of the Body, and which being also Oeconomical and Periodical in itself, doth according­ly Govern the proper Mistion as Subordinate to itself. And wheras not only Elementary, but also in and with them Vegeta­tive, [Page 357] and Sensitive Spirits, are Confounded and Coagulated in their Chaos, without any Actual Oeconomy, or Individual Com­positum, all the Potential Principles therof are collected in the Seed, and prepared by the Generator; not only in Herbs, and Trees, which is sensibly Evident, and acknowledged by all, but also in all Sensitive Generation of Fishes, Fowls, and Beasts, which is denied or doubted by some; wheras almost every where in Scripture, not only the Foetus of Beasts, but also Children are termed the Seed of the Man, as well as of the Woman; and so were said to have been in the Loins of the Man, as well as to be in the Womb of the Woman: nor can the Woman Na­turaly Generate without the Man, any more then the Man with­out the Woman: And wheras it is Curiously observed, that no Seed appears in the Womb after Copulation, this indeed shews the way of Impregnation not to be, as hath been supposed, by the gross Matter of the Seed, appearing there as in the cold Air, but that it is more Colliquated Attracted and Imbibed, whereby the Womb is Imbued therwith, and so also with the Womans own Seed, and thereby she is Fecundated; and so is the Egg or Seed of the Hen by the Seed of the Cock; which, I conceiv, appears Sensibly by the Procreation of Fishes, wher­in the Seed of the Female being Ejected is Imbued by the Milky Seed of the Male Superinjected (and so is the Seed of Man said to be powred out as Milk) and also by the Wombs of other Sensitives, which thereby become more replete, moist, and lu­bricous; (as the Womb of the Earth is by Rain) and so the Fe­male is said to Conceiv the Seed of the Male: and as the Bloud is the Life, or for the Life of the Generator, as I said, so the Seed is a Decision and farther Concoction therof in the Testi­cles; that is, not only of the Venal, and Arterial, but also of the Nerval Bloud; as sensibly appears by Evacuation therof, which very much affects the Brain; when Pythagoras called it Stilla Cerebri; and Castration doth Effeminate and strangely alter the Habit of the whole Body. Nor is it more difficult to conceiv how the Seed should so Imbue the Substance of the Womb In­ternaly, and Impregnate it, and thereby the Egg, then how the Bloud Venal, Arterial, and perhaps also the Nerval, (as it seem­eth by the Seed) should Penetrate and Invigorate the Flesh, and other Parenchymes, and the whole Body. And heerby we may [Page 358] understand how fallacious Sens and Experiment is, and not to be trusted alone, without the Harmonious Concurrence of Faith and Reason, even in Sensible things; for thus if we go never so litle beyond the very Sensation itself we may soon be deceived, and unless we be very accurate, our Sens may deceiv itself in the very Sensible Phaenomenon. The Sensitive Spirit, as I suppose, is not produced assoon as the Vegetative, to which the Elementary are Immediately Subordinate, and therefore untill that be produced in some Embryonical Inception, there will be only an Elemen­tary Mass: but the Vegetative Spirit begining to come forth out of its Chaos, in and with the fitt Mistion which it requires and Governs, there appears something like a Life, which yet is only Vegeta­tive; and though the Sensitive Spirit be also then latent in the same Chaos, and be ready to issue forth assoon as the Organical Bo­dy is Completed in all the Constituent parts therof, though at first more Rudely and Embryonicaly; yet untill then, it doth not truly Live, nor Operate Sensitively with Perception and Appe­tite; which is therefore called, The time of Life; and accor­dingly, as is supposed, was the Judgment of Life or Death, for striking a Woman with Child, whereby she miscarried: but, as I said before, there is first an Operation of the Vegetative Spirit and Organisation of the Body; and so not only the Vital Heat doth Move the Liquor, by Rarefying and Impelling it, but there is also the Punctus Saliens, Regulating that Motion, and the Bo­dy Moved, by its Plastical Virtue; as when the Glass is heated in the Furnace, and thereby in Fusion and Motion, the Glass-man by blowing doth Effigiate it as he pleaseth, whereby he doth also Move it this way, and that way, according to his Art: and so doth the Vegetative Spirit Move that Rudimental Liquor Naturaly by its own Plastical Virtue, whereby it doth Effigiate the whole Bo­dy, which cannot be without Motion: and so the Systole and Dia­stole of the Heart indeed are not Elementary Motions, but Vege­tative; for Heat, the chief Elementary Mover, doth not Con­tract, which is the Motion of the Systole of the Heart, but Ex­pand, which is needles therin, for the Diastole is the Natural Ex­pansion of the Heart itself. Also it is Regular and Reciprocal, such as scarcely any Elementary Motion is of itself: for so though the Motion of Tides be Elementary, and also partly of the Mat­ter, and Pondus therof, in the Fall of the Water, first one way, [Page 359] and then another, as I have shewed; yet it is Regulated by the Cours of the Moon, which itself also (as all Motions of Aethereal Bodys) is indeed Regular, but not Reciprocal; and I suppose these, and such like are Critical Symptoms of Vegetative Motions; and so, as I have said, Elementary Motion of itself is of Rare­faction and Condensation, and not of Expansion and Contraction, wheras there is a Contraction of the Heart in the Systole; though, as before, I conceiv the Heat of the Bloud and Elementary Mo­tion therof by Rarefaction and Impuls to be Subordinate and Sub­servient therunto, and that thereby the Puls is more Vehement, and the Bloud in the Veins Impelled; otherwise without any such Natural Instrument to rais it, (like Water by an Engine) as I have shewed, I do not well see how it can ascend in the Veins, but rather that both Concurrent Motions are needfull and requi­site to caus the whole Bloud in a Mans Body to Circulate about twelv times in an hour, as it doth continualy; and plainly in Ex­ercise and Contention, whereby the Body and Bloud is heated, the Puls is more quick, and less when it is Chilled with Cold: (and so Moisture applied to the Heart taken out makes it to Move again). And clearly these are no Sensitive Motions, becaus we do not sens them, as we do Expulsion and Retention, which are Vegetative by Expansion and Compression, as well as Sensitive, and Spontaneous or Voluntary, and so farr we may perceiv the Operation, but we know not how the Vegetative Spirit doth Ex­pand or Contract by its own Specifike Power: and so the Sen­sitive, yea the Intellective Spirit of Man, though it doth Perceiv whatsoever it doth itself, and how it Commandeth the Inferior Spirits, yet doth not Perceiv how they do Obey and Perform; as, though I do very well Perceiv that I do See, Hear, Move, or the like, yet I know not how these Operations are Performed in me by Vegetative, and Elementary Instrumentalitys, wherof the first and most common is Bloud, but Immediately and Principaly the Ner­val Bloud, or Succus. Now wheras Physicians say, that there are three sorts of Spirits, Natural, Vital, and Animal, (which I confess I do not so well understand, or that there are any such Spirituous Corpuscles in the Bloud which do Invigorate it) I conceiv rather that it hath itself, and in its own Substance, all those Qualitys which they attribute unto such Corpuscles; and which I shall so call Animal Spirits, or Spiritual Qualitys, very [Page 360] Pure and Powerfull, and the most Refined of any thing that is Elementary; and I suppose that they are so Prepared by the Vegetative Spirit, and are the most Immediate Instruments of the Sensitive Soul in all its Sensations; and so, as the Stoiks say, Vincula Animae & Corporis, whereby there is such mutual Con­versation between them: for certeinly by their Instrumentality we See, Hear, Imagin, Affect, and Move the Body Sensitively with Perception and Appetite: and so we find that the Brain, wherin they chiefly Reside, works, and grows hott, and that they are Ex­hausted, and must be at least every Night Recruited by Sleep; wherefore since plainly there are such Animal Spirits, or Spiri­tual Qualitys, Subsisting in the Nerval Bloud, or Succus, I will ad­venture to inquire farther into them. And, as I said, this Nerval Bloud, which hath passed through the Heart, and was there once before Refined and Subtilised, doth ascend into the Brain, and there is again Refined and Purified by the Concoctive Faculty of the Vegetative Spirit in another maner, and for other uses and purposes: wherefore the Brain is not so Calid, nor Motive, but more Cool, Moist, and Moderate, wherin the Vegetative Spirit doth Temper this Arterial Bloud, Percolating it through the Mae­androus Passages therof, and so Qualifying, and Concocting it, and producing the Animal Spirits, or Qualitys therin, for the service of the Sensitive Soul; as it doth Temper and Digest the other Bloud, for Nutrition, and Augmentation of the Sensitive Body, and for Generation, and other such Inferior and Subor­dinate Uses: and from the Brain, as the Fountain, this Nerval Succus is diffused into the Spina, and Nervs, as the Streams: be­ing indeed of a wonderfull Purity, and Vigor, whereby it hath not only Potentialy the Species of Sensibles (as Extension hath all Figures in itself Potentialy) which the Sensitive Spirit can call forth and Elicit; but also a very great Strength, which the Sen­sitive Spirit likewise Governs, like a well managed Hors, how and when it pleaseth. And certeinly these are the most Spiritual Extra­ctions, Powers, and Virtues, of Elementary Spirits, and the most Sub­tile and Sudden Artifices of Vegetative Spirits, and most like to Sensitive and Intellective Notions and Motions: and therefore the Immediate and most apt Instruments of those higher Spirits, and of their Operations; and which plainly discover the Combi­nation between Superior and Inferior Spirits, as I shall shew heer­after. [Page 361] And though I doubt, that heerin I may seem Novell and Curious, yet I shall shew how farr I satisfy my self concerning them, wherof I do thus conceiv; that this Nerval Bloud, or Suc­cus, is, as I said, a most Refined Elementary Substance, prepared by the Vegetative Spirit for these Uses and Services of the Sensi­tive Spirit; and that as in the fower Elements, and their Mistion, there are Potentialy all Sensible Qualitys, which are variously Actuated therin, and many of them very Momentaneously, as Light, Colors, Sounds, and the like, and so also Magnetike Virtue, and such other more Subtile and Pure Q [...]alitys; and also their Irradiations and Species Abstracted thereby as Colorate Species by Light, and the like: so the Vegetative Spirit, at the Com­mand of the Sensitive, doth by another more Spiritual and Pla­stical Virtue Actuate these Spiritual Qualitys, as it doth Cor­poreal Figure, and the like Affections of the Matter, and more Gross Elementary Qualitys, in Effigiating the Body, and produ­cing that proper Mistion of the Elements, which it requires and Subordinates to itself; and also doth Extract some other Internal Emanations and Species therof, more Subtile and Pure then the External Emanations and Species of Colors, and the like, though not so Vivid and Permanent, but like Spectres and Ghosts of the deceased; both which the Sensitive Spirit doth also Irradiate, and thereby the Imagination Internaly Contemplates them, when the Sensible Object is present, and also when the External Species depart and are absent. Like unto a Man, who beholding his na­tural Face in a Glass, for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and streightway forgetteth what maner of Man he was: where are ex­pressed or intimated, all the several Degrees of Purification and Sublimation of the Species; that is, both the Immediate Species Emanant from the Colorate Face to the Speculum, and the Re­flection of the Image or Picture therof to the Ey of the Man beholding himself thereby, which I call External, and which when he goeth his way and departeth from them, do also depart from him; and so he forgetteth them, but still he hath some Internal Vision therof in his Imagination, which is by another Internal Species, as the Type of the former, or an Vmbra, and as it were an Apparition, which very suddenly appeareth and disappeareth, so that a man Comparatively is said to forgett what he before beheld. Now certeinly the External Species, either Direct, or Reflex, which are Emanant from the Face, and Reflected [Page 362] from the Glass, when the Man goeth his way and departeth from the Speculum, do no longer continue in his Ey, or Optike Nervs; for it was the Species of the Colorate Superfi [...]ies of his Face, which is Emanant Directly outward, and was Reflected toward the Ey only by the Glass; and when he removes his Ey from the Glass, that Reflection to the Ey ceaseth, and then it is as if any other Directly Visible Object were removed from the Ey, whereby also the Species Emanant from it, and Subsisting in it, are removed, and so the Vision ceaseth: and yet there is such another Internal Vision by the Imagination, as I have shewed, and every Man may sensibly perceiv in himself; though, as the Scripture very Curiously intima­teth, he hath a weaker and shorter representation of his own Face, wherof he beholdeth only the Reflected Image in a Glass, then of the Face of his Wife or Child, which he beholdeth Directly and more Immediately. Now certeinly the Imagination cannot so be­hold Internaly without some Internal Species, as the Ey cannot see External Objects without such an such an External Species: and this Internal Species is not any such Image of the External, as that which appears in the Speculum by Reflection is of the Di­rect Species, but another thing Separate from it, when the Object, and all the Emanant and Reflected Species therof Subsisting in it, are absent and wholy removed; and of another Nature farr dif­ferent from the former; and more spiritual and Phanstatical, and Transient as Thought; nor can it Subsist in the Imagina­tion itself, which is a Sensitive Spirit; becaus this is the Species of some Sensible Quality, which is Elementary; and so are all the Species therof, whether External, or Internal; nor is it so Actuated and produced as they, by any such External Irradia­tion, as Color, or by any such Motion as Sound, and the like; but only at the Command of the Imagination, which being a Faculty of the Sensitive Spirit, and such Contemplation of Ex­ternal Sensibles by these Internal Species not being performed without them, nor by any Intrinsecal and Specifike Power of the Imagination alone: therefore it must be, as I conceiv, by the Mediation of the Vegetative Spirit, which first prepares this Elementary Substance, or Succus, wherin they Subsist Po­tentialy, and when the Imagination calls for them, doth Actu­ate and produce them; and so when the Imagination doth Ani­madvert, it doth Irradiate them by its own Light, as I may so term it, which is yet more Spiritual, and Sensitive; and thereby [Page 363] doth so Contemplate all Sensibles in such litle Types and Images (wherin they are Pictured in Small) and so very Subtile and Spiri­tual, which is indeed very admirable: and so also is Sensation by the External Species, which in the Ey and Optike Nervs are very strangely Contracted and Subtilised, as I shall shew heerafter. And now proceed from these Spiritual Species, which are the In­struments of Imagination or Speculation, to consyder those Spi­ritual Potestates, which are the Instruments of Appetite, and Spontaneous Motions; and these also may be in the same Nervs, and Nervous Succus, together with the others, for so all the Nervs are generaly Tactive as well as Motive; and this suffici­ently convinceth me that they are neither of them any such litle Corporeitys, as is supposed, which cannot probably be together in such litle Cavitys without disturbing and disordering one another; wheras clearly such Spiritual Qualitys may so Subsist together in the same place and not to be Confounded, or Mist (as two Lights) and so though they be Heterogeneous and of different Natures; as Light and Heat (which heerin are somwhat Analogous to these two Spiritual Qualitys in the Nervs; that is, the Perceptive are as Light, and the Motive as Hea [...]) yet they may well consist to­gether. And as the Species, which are the Instruments of Per­ception are, as I said, of an Elementary Nature, so more mani­festly are the Motive Spirits, which are sensibly excited by Heat, and dejected by Cold, though they be both in themselvs farr more Spiritual and Aethereal then these common Culinary Qualitys of Light and Heat; for, as I have said, these Motive Spirits are such and so prepared, that they Move not at all; but are in their Potentiality as the others, untill the Appetitive Faculty of the Sen­sitive Spirit Command them; and then the Vegetative Spirit, which by its Plastical Virtue did prepare them for this purpose, doth Immediately Actuate and produce them; and so they, like Gun­powder Incensed, suddenly and strongly Move the Body; and yet no more or any other parts therof, nor in any other maner, then according to the Imperium of the Sensitive Spirit, and the Specifike Power therof; which is the first Mover itself; and doth so Move them, as the Imagination doth Contemplate the Species Actuated and produced by the Vegetative Spirit; though the Motion of the Body be Immediately by the Vegetative Spirit, and Motive Animal Spirits themselvs; as the Immediate Repre­sentation [Page 364] is by the Species: and so I conceiv that the Sensitive Appetite also Moveth these Motive Spirits, not as a Coachman doth Exhort his Horses only with his Voice, but as he Governeth them with the Reins, whereby he guideth the Coach, and causeth it to go this way, or that way as he pleaseth, though it be Imme­diately drawn and Moved by the Horses, as the Body is by the Vegetative and Animal Spirits: and this is the Gubernation that I intend, whereby the Superior Spirits thus Govern the Inferior, that is, not only by a bare Imperium or Command, but a Spiri­tual and Superior Motion, which I call, Gubernatio, or Guiding, respectively according to the several Natures of the Motions; but alway according to its own Nature, and the Specifike Powers therof, that is, Spiritualy, and Sensitively with Perception and Appetite, and not without them. Thus when the Sensitive Spi­rit would Imagin, it Commandeth that such Internal Species be Actuated and Produced, which it also, as it were, dictateth and calleth for what it would have, and itself also Irradiateth and Contemplateth them; and though, as I have shewed, they are indeed of an Elementary Nature, Prepared, Actuated, and pro­duced, by the Vegetative Spirit, yet the Performance is so Con­sentaneous, that we are apt to think, that our Imagination doth Create all its Phantasms in itself, and of itself; (as Poets are so Poeticaly termed Makers). And so when it would Move the Body it not only commandeth that the Motive Spirits be Actuated and produced, or that, as I said, the Horses be made ready, but it also by a Superior Motive Power Guideth and Governeth them so Spontaneously, that we are apt to think that our very Soul doth Move the Body Immediately by its own Impuls of the Ap­petite and Will, and without any such Instrumentality of our Vegetative, or Elementary, Motive Spirits; which yet we must acknowledg, since we plainly perceiv, that if there be any defect in them, the Operations of the Soul are also defective; yea ma­ny other very Curious Artifices and Motions of these Inferior Spirits in our own Bodys, (that is, such as be not so Immediately Subservient to the Sensitive Operations of the Imagination and Appetite) are performed without the Imagination or Appetite; as Nutrition, the Motion of the Heart, and the like; which we therefore call Involuntary, becaus therin the Vegetative and Ele­mentary Spirits do not Ordinarily attend the Command of the [Page 365] Sensitive Spirit, nor are Governed thereby. Yet also, as they are such proper Inferior Spirits Subordinate unto it, and Conjunct with it in the same Compositum, so there is, as I said, and shall now shew, a very notable Combination between them; which may plainly appear by many Extraordinary Effects, and such as may strangely vary and alter them: thus, as I have formerly observed, Mirth helps Digestion, and is as it were the Nurs of Nutrition, wher­as the Sorrow of the World worketh Death: and these Sensitive Affe­ctions not only caus several Motions of the Bloud, and Alterations therin, but also in the very Systole and Diastole, and Palpitations of the Heart; and, which is yet more Notable, in the very Ge­neration of another Individuum: and not only the Motive Power of the Appetite, but also the Imagination itself doth strangely Operate heerin; as we commonly say, Conceit may do much; that is, concerning any thing which is Internal, either in our Mind, or Body, yea in the very Foetus, while it is in the Womb, and Nourished by the Parent, and is yet as it were some part of the Compositum therof; especialy while it is more Young and Ten­der, and more capable of such Impressions; but chiefly in the very Act of Generation (which Iacob knew, or was Supernaturaly taught and assisted by the Angel, who appeared to him) for as it grows more Perfect in itself, and is neerer to Exclusion, it be­comes more Separate from the Parent, and another Compositum in itself, and more firm and strong, and so less capable of Impres­sions by another: and thus I conceiv, that the Imagination or Ap­petite of the Father doth not Operate upon the Foetus in the Womb of the Mother, nor of an Hen upon an Egg Excluded, whiles she Incubates, and is hatching it. But the most wonderfull thing is, how the proper Vegetative Spirit of any Sensitive Ani­mal, by the Command or Intimation, of the Sensitive Imagination and Appetite, so Fansying and Affecting some other Vegetative thing, should Actuate and produce in the Foetus, not only Signa­tures therof, but also somewhat of the same Vegetative Nature: as I have been very credibly informed of a Person, whom I well knew, and have often seen the Mole on his Chin, which was said to have been caused by a Cherry thrown at his Mother, while she was Pregnant of him, in a Frolike among Ladys who were then eating Cherries; that every year in the Season when Cherry trees begin to budd, the Mole began to budd, as I may say, and [Page 366] so ripen more, and at last putt forth some little Tufts, and be very angry and troublesome; and then again, as the Season of Cher­ [...]ys departed, to decreas likewise, and be less sensible; whereby it did plainly discover something of the Cerasine Nature, Inocu­lated as it were into the Body of a Man. Wherof I know no other account to be given, but only this Combination and Co­operation of the Sensitive and Vegetative Spirit: and though, as I have shewed, there is no Universal Spirit, or Anima Mundi, from which such particular Spirits may be derived and produced in any Bodys whatsoever; yet it is truly enough said, Omnia Ani­marum sunt plena, if it be rightly understood; that is, as in the first Chaos the Spirits were latent in their proper Elements, out of which they were produced in the Six Days, so still there are Aethereal, and Aereal, Spirits in Aether, and Air, out of which Comets, and the like Aethereal, or Aereal, Meteors may be pro­duced; and so the Terraqueous Globe, or the Cortex therof, is Pregnant not only with the Elementary Spirits of Water, and Earth, but also of Vegetative and Sensitive Spirits, which while they are therin, as in their Chaos, are dispersed and diffused, and so Confounded as in a Coagulum, Inane, and Inform, that is, without any Oeconomy, or Inviduality, which is afterward Actu­ated and acquired by Successive Generation still producing them according to the Archetypes or Protoplasta of Original Genera­tion Instituted in their first Improper Creations, as I have often mentioned: and though they cannot always attein their Regular Perfections according to the Law of Nature, yet there may be several Degrees therof to which they may arrive, and so their productions be more or less Anomalous or Monstrous, by reason of many Obstructions and Defects: wherof the greatest is the general Curs of Nature for the Sin of Man; so that now indeed, both he, and all this Spectable World, which was given unto him, and all things therin, have some Monstrosity in them; and there is now none of them exactly Perfect according to the first Instituted Law of Nature, but all are Heterocliticaly Redundant, or Deficient: and though we take less notice of others, yet some are so mishapen, that we Eminently term them Monsters; and others such Imperfect Inceptions, that we hardly discern any thing of the Specifike Nature therin: and such I conceiv this Cerasine Meteor, as I may so term it, in the Body of Man to [Page 367] be; whose Cerasine Spirit, though the Compositum therof was Corrupted by Eating and Conversion into the Nutriment of the Mother, and consequently of the Child in the Womb, yet was latent in the new Compositum Generated by that Corruption; and that by the Imperium and Impression of the Mothers Imagi­nation and Appetite working on her proper Vegetative Spirit, and that on its own Nutriment, the Cerasine Spirit was Equivo­caly, and very Rudely and Imperfectly produced; For thus, as I have said, the Vegetative Spirit doth Actuate and produce Ele­mentary Mistion, Qualitys, and Species, as Subordinate and Sub­servient to itself, though Classicaly different; and so it may also Imperfectly produce another Vegetative Spirit, which is of the same Classis with itself, as well as one Spirit of the same Classis may, be Mist with another; and thus I conceiv, that as there apparent­ly is an Individual Oeconomy in every particular Compositum, so also a Specifical and Classical Polity, Subordination, and Combination of several Natures, especialy in the same Composi­tum: and that thus the Sensitive Spirit by its own Specifike Fa­cultys doth Command and Govern its own proper Vegetative Spirit, which also by its own Specifike Powers doth Serv and Obey it; and likewise Order and Govern the proper Elementary Mistion that it requireth, which accordingly doth Serv and Obey it Naturaly, with all Suavity and Facility: And thus as the Ima­gination doth more Spiritualy and Sensitively Irradiate the Spe­cies, whereby it doth Perceptively Contemplate them; so the Appetite doth also Sensitively enliven the Spirits, whereby it doth Spontaneously Guide and Govern them without any Violence or Reluctance; unless their happen some D [...]stemper and Dis­order among them: and I suppose, that as there are these Con­federacys and Combinations between Spirits, according to the Scale of Nature and Oeconomy therof, so also there is a Subor­dinate Approximation, though no Participation, Communication, or Confusion, of their different Natures; and that the proper Vegetative Spirit of any Sensitive Animal is farr more Excellent and Spiritual then of any Grass, Herb, or Tree; and of Supe­rior Sensitives more then of Inferior; as of Fowls more then of Fishes, and of Beasts then Fowls, and of Man then any others: and so also that the proper Elementary Mistion which is Subor­dinate to Vegetatives, is more Excellent and Spiritual then any [Page 368] other Elementary Mistum; and of Superior Vegetatives more then of Inferior, and so of the Vegetative Bloud which is the In­strument of Sensitive Life, as I have shewed, then any others whatsoever.

III. Having thus largely discoursed of this very Curious and Mysterious way of Sensation generaly, whereby to make way for the Explication of the several Kinds of particular Sensations, I shall now also proceed to discours therof, and thereby to Confirm this general Doctrine of Sensation. The Senses are par­ticularly Five; though they all Subsist in the Imagination, which is seated in the Brain, as I shall shew heerafter, but they are rightly thus di [...]inguished, becaus they are Realy several in them­selvs; for Oisters, and some such Imperfect Sensitives, have some of them, and not others, which they want not only Actualy, but also Potentialy; so that an Oister may be no more termed Blind, or Deaf, then a Stone: and thus, though in every Clas­sis all the several Species of that Classis have such Generical Spi­rits and Qualitys, as Denominate and make them to be of that Classis; as Oisters have Sensation generaly, and therefore are Sen­sitive Animals Genericaly as well as Beasts, or any most Excellent Sensitive; yet their proper Sensation is Specifical, and Specifi­caly different; as every Grass, Herb, and Tree, is Vegetative, and yet every one of them, and every kind therof, hath a pro­per Specifical Spirit, and Qualitys; as apparently they have their Specifical Plastical Virtues, which do so severaly Effigiate them, and the like: and so also have Sensitives, so farr as they are spe­cificaly different, their several ways or maners of Sensation, as may also appear by the several Formation, Quantity, and Qua­lity, or Temper of their Brains, and Organs; as the Eys of some Insects are not Movable, and then they are Multocular, as well as many of them Multipedous; and Biocular Animals have also their Eys of several Figures, and Coats, and Temperatures; and thus there are some such Generical Differences which vary the Classis; and they are greatest and widest, as Intellective, Sensi­tive, Vegetative, and Elementary; and some that vary the Species more or less Subalternately, as Fishes, Fowls, and Beasts; and of Fishes, Oisters, and Whales: and accordingly their Speci­fical Differences are more or less, but all less then Classicaly [Page 369] Generical; and some that only vary the Individuality, as the particular Individuality and Oeconomy of every Compositum; among which also there may be More or Less of the same Specifical Qualitys, but such as doth not vary the Species, and therefore is least of all; as Myopes do not see in such maner as others of the same Species, and yet their Sight is Specificaly the same with other mens Sight. And thus, as I have said, nothing of any one Classis doth, or can, partake of that which makes a Classical Dif­ference in others; for then they should not Classicaly Differ, nor any of one Species of the Proper Specifical Difference of another, nor any one Individuum of the Individuality of another, otherwise they should not so Differ; nor of the Differences of their Spirits and Qualitys, whereby only we can know them, otherwise we could not so know them, nor affirm them to Differ: but contrarily every Individuum doth partake of the Specifical Difference, and every Species of the Classical Difference therof; otherwise they should not be of the same Species, or Classis. And thus the Senses are more Genericaly Five, and may be more Spe­cificaly as many as there are several Species of Sensitives, as well as they are Individualy as many as there are several Sensitive Individua. And wheras they are so said to be Fivefold accor­ding to their Fivefold several Organs, that is, their External Organs, Eys, Ears, and the like, which also the Scripture doth often mention as such, generaly and Comprehensively (as it doth deliver almost all things of Natural Philosophy in that general maner, according to the first System therof, and leav Particulars to our farther Search and Study); yet if we farther Inquire in­to them, we shall find that the Nervs, and Brain, and Elemen­tary Qualitys, or Animal Spirits therin, and the Proper Vege­tative Spirit, and Virtues therof, are also Internal Organs, that is, Instruments of Sensation, as well as Eys, and Ears, and the like Corporeal Organs, which are External: and indeed the several Organs do not make the Senses several, but rather the several Senses do require such several Organs: for the Corporeal Organ of Tact is the whole Body, or all the Nervs, which are Tactive, and every Organ of the fower other Senses must have Tact or Feeling, which is the Sens of all Senses, as the Organ therof is the Organ of all their Organs; and so is the Object therof, which we there­fore call the fower first Qualitys (though otherwise they are [Page 370] not first more then others, as I have shewed); and wheras the Objects of all the other Senses are Compounded of some such other first Qualitys, and probably cannot Exist without some fitt Mistion of these fower first Qualitys also, as Subordinately and Fundamentaly requisite in their Composition, though they are not Immediately Compounded therof: so likewise the Ob­ject of this Sens, as it is in itself, is not all, or any of these fower first Qualitys severaly, but a Mistion or Composition of them, as well as the Objects of all the other Senses are Mist and Compounded of their several Principles: for indeed any of these fower First and Simple Qualitys are too Veheme