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were once retired to an inaccessible mountain; that when Alexander's legate had brought them to a parley, and persuading them to yield, told them of his master's victories, what seas and wildernesses he had passed; they replied, that all that might be, but could Alexander fly too? Over the seas he might have ships, and over the land horses, but he must have wings before he could get up thither, Such safety did those barbarous nations conceive in the mountains whereunto they were retired. Certainly then such useful parts were not the effect of man's sin, or produced by the world's curse, the flood; but rather at the first created by the goodness and providence of the Almighty.

This truth is usually concluded from these and the like arguments.

1. Because the scripture itself, in the description of that general deluge, tells us, it overflowed the highest mountains.

2. Because Moses who writ long after the flood, does yet give the same description of places and rivers, as they had before; which could not well have been if this had made so strange an alteration.

3. It is evident that the trees did stand as before. For otherwise, Noah could not so well have concluded, that the waters were abated, from this reason, because the dove brought an olive leaf in her mouth, when she was sent forth a second time: whereas had the trees been rooted up, she might have taken it the first time, from one of them as it was floating on the top of the waters. Now if the motion of the water was not so violent as to subvert the trees, much less was it able to cast up such vast heaps as the mountains.

4. When the scripture doth set forth unto us the power and immensity of God by the variety or usefulness of the creatures which he hath made; amongst the rest it doth often mention the mountains. Psal. civ. 8. item, cviii. 9 Isa. xl. 12. And therefore it is probable they were created Unto this I might add that in other places,

at the first.

divine wisdom in shewing of its own antiquity; saith that he was from the beginning, before the earth or the mountains were brought forth*.

5. If we may trust the relations of antiquity †, there were many monuments left undefaced after the flood.

So that if I intend to prove that the moon is such a habitable world as this is; it is requisite that I shew it to have the same conveniences of habitation as this hath. And here if some Rabbi or Chymic were to handle the point, they would first prove it out of scripture, from that place in Moses his blessing, where he speaks of the ancient mountains and lasting hills, Deut. 33. m

hy for having immediately before mentioned those blessings which should happen unto Joseph by the influence of the moon, he does presently exegetically iterate them, in blessing him with the chief things of the ancient mountains and lasting hills; you may also see the same expression used in Jacob's blessing of Joseph ‡.

But however we may deal pro or con in philosophy, yet we must not be too bold with divine truths, or bring scripture to patronize any fancy of our own; though, (perhaps) it be a truth. I am not of their mind, who think it a good course to confirm philosophical secrets from the letter of the scripture, or by abusing some obscure text in it. Methinks it favours too much of that melancholy humour of the chymics, who, aiming in all their studies at the making of gold, do persuade themselves, that the most learned and subtile of the ancient authors, in all their obscure places do mean some such sense as may make to their purpose. And hence it is that they derive such strange mysteries from the fables of the poets; and can tell you what great secret it was, that antiquity did hide under the fiction of Jupiter being turned into a shower of gold: of Mercury's being made the interpreter of the Gods: of the Moon's descending to the earth for the love

*Prov. viii. 25. Psal. xc. 2. Gen. xlix. 26.

Joseph. Ant. 1. 1. cap. 3.

VOL. I.

F

of Endymion: with such ridiculous interpretations of these and the like fables, which any reasonable considering man cannot conceive to proceed from any but such as are distracted. No less fantastical in this kind are the Jewish Rabbies; amongst whom, is not any opinion, whether in nature or policy, whether true or false, but some of them, by a cabalistical interpretation can father it upon a dark place of scripture, or (if need be) upon a text that is clean contrary. There being not any absurdity so gross and incredible, for which these abusers of the text, will not find out an argument. Whereas, it is the more natural way, and should be observed in all controversies, to apply unto every thing the proper proofs of it; and when we deal with philosophical truths, to keep ourselves within the bounds of human reason and authority.

But this by the way. For the better proof of this proposition, I might here cite the testimony of Diodorus, who thought the moon to be full of rugged places, velut terrestribus tumulis superciliosam; but he erred much in some circumstances of this opinion, especially where he says, there is an island amongst the Hyperboreans, wherein those hills may to the eye be plainly discovered; and for this reason Cælius* calls him a fabulous writer. But you may see more express authority for the proof of this in the opinions of Anaxagoras and Democritus †, who held that this planet was full of champion grounds, mountains and vallies. And this seemed likewise probable unto Augustinus Nisus, whose words are these: Forsitan non est remotum dicere lunæ partes esse diversas, veluti sunt partes terræ, quarum aliæ sunt vallosa, aliæ montosæ, ex quarum differentia effici potest facies illa lunæ, nec est rationi dissonum, nam luna est corpus imperfecte sphæricum, cum sit corpus ab ultimo cœlo elongatum, ut supra dixit Aristoteles. "Perhaps, it would not be amiss to say that the "" parts of the moon were divers, as the parts of this

*Lect. aut. l. 1. c. 15. De Cœlo. 1. 2. part. 49.

+ Plut. de plac. I, 2. c. 25.

66

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"earth, whereof some are vallies, and some mountains; "from the difference of which, some spots in the moon may proceed; nor is this against reason; for that pla"net cannot be perfectly spherical, since it is so remote a body from the first orb, as Aristotle had said before." You may see this truth assented unto by Blancanus the Jesuit*, and by him confirmed with divers reasons. Keplar hath observed in the moon's eclipses, that the division of her enlightened part from the shaded, was made by a crooked unequal line †, of which there cannot be any probable cause conceived, unless it did arise from the ruggedness of that planet; for it cannot at all be produced from the shade of any mountains here upon earth; because these would be so lessened before they could reach so high in a conical shadow, that they would not be at all sensible unto us (as might easily be demonstrated); nor can it be conceived what reason of this difference there should be in the sun. Wherefore there being no other body that hath any thing to do in eclipses, we must necessarily conclude, that it is caused by a variety of parts in the moon itself;' and what can these be but its gibbosities? now if you should ask a reason why there should be such a multitude of these in that planet, the same Keplar shall jest you out an answer. Supposing (saith he) that those inhabitants are bigger than any of us, in the same proportion as their days are longer than ours, viz. by fifteen times; it may be, for want of stones to erect such vast houses as were requisite for their bodies, they are fain to dig great and round hollows in the earth 1, where they may both procure water for their thirst, and turning about with the shade, may avoid those great heats which otherwise they would be liable unto. Or if you will give Cæsar la Galla leave to guess in the same manner, he would rather think that those thirsty nations cast up so many and so

* De Mundi fab. par. 3. C. 4. Kep. appen. Selenogra.

↑ Astron. Opt. c. 6. num. 9.

great heaps of earth in digging of their wine cellars; but this only by the way.

I shall next produce the eye-witness of Galilæus *, on which I most of all depend for the proof of this proposisition; when he beheld the new moon through his perspective, it appeared to him under a rugged and spotted figure, seeming to have the darker and enlightened parts divided by a tortuous line, having some parcels of light at a good distance from the other; and this difference is so remarkable, that you may easily perceive it through one of those ordinary perspectives, which are commonly sold amongst us; but for your better apprehending of what I deliver, I will set down the figure as I find it in Galilaeus.

[graphic][merged small]

Suppose B C B to represent the appearance of the Moon's body being in a sextile, you may see some brighter parts separated at a pretty distance from the other, which can be nothing else but a reflection of the sun-beams upon some parts that are higher than the rest; and those obscure gibbosities which stand out towards the enlightened parts,

* Nuncius Sydereus.

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