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<DATE>2011-06-01</DATE>
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<NAME>Lauren Proux</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>JUDICIALL ASTROLOGIE, Judicially Condemned.</P>
<P>UPON A SURVEY and EXAMINATION Of S^r: CHRISTOPHER HEYDONS <HI>Apology for it,</HI> In An&s;wer to M^r^. CHAMBERS.</P>
<P>And of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI>'s <HI>Morologie</HI> in his pretended Reply (called <HI>Lux veritatis</HI>) to Doctour NATHANAEL HOMES his <HI>Demonologie.</HI></P>
<P>Together with the Te&s;timonies of M^r^. <HI>W. Perkins</HI> Re&s;olution to the Countrey-man; M^r^. <HI>John Miltons</HI> Figure-Ca&s;ter; and D^r^. <HI>Homes</HI> his demonologie, all here exhibited again&s;t it,</P>
<P>Seconded and backed by
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Evident Scripture.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Apparent Rea&s;on.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Authority of Councils.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Ju&s;tice of Laws.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Arguments of Fathers, School-men, and Modern Learned men.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. Conce&s;&s;ions of <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> &amp;c. friends of A&s;trology.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. And the wicked practi&s;es of A&s;trologers them&s;elves.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>ISA. 47.13.</HI></BIBL>
<P>Let now the <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> the <HI>Star-gazers,</HI> the <HI>Monethly-Progno&s;ticatours</HI> &s;tand up and &s;ave thee from tho&s;e things that &s;hall come upon thee. Behold, they &s;hall be as &s;tubble, the fire &s;hall burn them; they &s;hall not deliver them&s;elves.</P></Q>
<P>LONDON, Printed by <HI>Roger Daniel</HI> for <HI>Jo&s;eph Blaik-locke,</HI> in <HI>Ivie-lane.</HI> 1652.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<HEAD>To the Chri&s;tian Reader.</HEAD>
<P>_SInce the <HI>Sunne of Righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e</HI> aro&s;e from the <HI>Sea</HI> of <HI>Bestiall per&s;ecution,</HI> and the <HI>Kingdome of patience</HI> (Revel. 1.9.) became a <HI>Kingdome of power,</HI> wherein the <HI>Lamb</HI> begins to reign, who <HI>is over all God ble&s;&s;ed</HI> for evermore, we may ea&s;ily perceive the clouds of <HI>bla&s;phemous opinions,</HI> and <HI>diabolicall practi&s;es</HI> ari&s;e daily, from the <HI>Bottomle&s;s pit;</HI> labouring to eclip&s;e his glory; e&s;pecially from the judgement, and practi&s;e of tho&s;e &s;ubtill <HI>Engineirs of Satan</HI> the ASTROLO|GERS, who&s;e religion is the &s;ame with <HI>Jacob Beh|mens,</HI> the <HI>German-Conjurer,</HI> as appears by Ma&s;ter <HI>Lil|ly's</HI> recommending his Works &s;o highly for <HI>Go&s;pel light,</HI> in one of his <HI>Almanacks.</HI> They talk much of <HI>Chri&s;t:</HI> But what is THEIR <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> but the <HI>appearance of God in every Creature;</HI> a Dog, or a Cat, by con&s;equence; as <HI>Bothomly,</HI> in his <HI>dark and light &s;ide of God</HI> (lately burn|ed by publick command) mo&s;t bla&s;phemou&s;ly avouched. They talk much of <HI>&s;elf-denial.</HI> But what is that think you? Not the denial of <HI>inordinate affections,</HI> but of the <HI>eternitie of humane bodyes</HI> as Ma&s;ter L. preacher of O. T. in F. (who is rejected for a notorions H. yet rants in <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI>) affirmes &s;aying (as they all hold) <HI>what&s;oever had a beginning, &s;hall have an end.</HI> laying the body of our Ble&s;&s;ed Saviour, and of all the Saints, equall with the bea&s;ts that peri&s;h. They bla&s;pheme the <HI>holy-Gho&s;t,</HI> &s;aying that the <HI>&s;pirituall knowledge of Christ in the fle&s;h,</HI> by which he is <HI>ju&s;tified</HI> (1 Tim. 3.16.) is carnall; per|verting that &s;aying of the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> that <HI>he knew not Chri&s;t after the fle&s;h,</HI> as if he had <HI>denyed him in the fle&s;h.</HI> When as there is a large difference, between <HI>knowing of Chri&s;t
<PB REF="3">IN the fle&s;h,</HI> and <HI>AFTER the fle&s;h,</HI> or <HI>ACCORDING to the fle&s;h,</HI> that is, <HI>Judaicall admini&s;trations,</HI> or <HI>humane wi&s;dome,</HI> which is not according to the Word. This is that <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> 1 John 4.1, 2, 3, that <HI>Spirituall wickedne&s;&s;e,</HI> which (becau&s;e <HI>Rome</HI> works according to humane <HI>Traditi|on</HI>) hath left the foundation, and gotten <HI>another Chri&s;t.</HI> This is that &s;inne of <HI>Turker,</HI> who are now under a <HI>vial,</HI> yet ac|knowledge Chri&s;t to be <GAP DESC="foreign">, that is, the <HI>breath of God;</HI> denying his <HI>humane body</HI> to have &s;uffered, but a <HI>Jew</HI> in his &s;tead; and &s;ay, <HI>Mahomet</HI> is above him. This opinion produceth diabolicall practi&s;es, as Sodomy, Witchcraft, and JUDICIAL ASTROLOGIE (which may be done by the <HI>Hebrew Characters</HI> as well as by the <HI>Starrs,</HI> onley 'tis not &s;o cleanly a conveiance, as <HI>&s;ome have confe&s;&s;ed</HI>). Hence are the <HI>entire-profe&s;&s;ours</HI> thereof given up to vild affections; and their very rea&s;on is diffe|rent from that of naturall morall men. The <HI>diabolicall communion</HI> they have in the <HI>Spirit of Antichri&s;t,</HI> with each other, makes them &s;o confederate that a <HI>&s;aucie boy,</HI> as if the devil had annointed him with brim&s;tone, for his un|natural itch, not to be conver&s;ed with by Chri&s;tians, writes &s;o learnedly again&s;t the grave&s;t Doctours, and Pillars of the Church, of <HI>Je&s;us Christ.</HI> And hence is it, that Ma&s;ter <HI>Lilly</HI> boa&s;ts in his Almanack, that a boy of &s;eventeen years of age, &s;hall &s;hortly tran&s;cend the able&s;t Divines in Chri&s;t|endome, in preaching by THEIR <HI>Spirit.</HI> Hence it is that <HI>Jacob Behmen</HI> commends the <HI>Lilly</HI> of the wonders, and he HIM; like <HI>Nemo</HI> and <HI>Vulcanus</HI> viz. <HI>hic laudat ver&s;us illius, ille &s;uos (Martiall.)</HI> though they never &s;aw each other. Hence they <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;huffle in their abomi|nations <GAP DESC="foreign"> (2 Pet. 2.1.) like jugglers, into the minds of people; who being taken with admiration at the &s;ucce&s;s of their ambiguous Progno&s;tications (like that of the Ora|cle of <HI>Apollo, Aio te Eacidem Romanos vincere po&s;&s;e</HI>) run after them to their own de&s;truction.</P>
<P>You that fear the Lord, and are built upon our <HI>Scri|pture-Chri&s;t,</HI>
<PB REF="3">let me intreat you, 1. To take heed of fel|low&s;hip with them e&s;pecially in &s;pirituall things. <HI>What fellow&s;hip hath Chri&s;t with Belial, light with darkne&s;&s;e?</HI> 2. Go not to them for Coun&s;ell; for &s;o you de&s;ert God as <HI>Saul,</HI> when he went to <HI>Endor.</HI> For which cau&s;e the Lord doth &s;ignify in his word his &s;pecial di&s;plea&s;ure again&s;t him. 3. Remember that of Deut. 13.1, 2, 3. God <HI>permits their Predictions to come to pa&s;&s;e, on purpo&s;e to try you.</HI> 4. Take heed of &s;tumbling at the way of Chri&s;ts power in our Ar|my, for the&s;e mens being friends to this pre&s;ent govern|ment. For it is prophe&s;ied by the Scriptures, that <HI>they &s;hall ari&s;e from among us</HI> (Act. 20.30.) that &s;hall &s;peak <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Herefie mu&s;t be for the manife&s;tation of the ap|proved.</HI> 2 Cor. 11.19.</P>
<P>I commend you all, dear brethren in the Lord, to the protection of the Almighty, and to the MAN <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> whom the Lord hath appointed to judge the world in righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e (Act. 17.31.); praying with all prayer, and Supplication in his &s;pirit, that <HI>you may follow the Lamb whither&s;oever he goes:</HI> and that &s;ince <HI>judgement doth begin to turn to righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e,</HI> the upright in heart may follow it: and that the Lord would tread down <HI>Sa|tan, Witchcraft,</HI> &amp;c. under our feet; and according to his promi&s;e (Zech. 13.2.) <HI>cau&s;e all the FALSE-PROPHETS</HI> and <HI>&V;NCLEAN-SPIRITS to pa&s;&s;e out of the land;</HI> which is the prayer of</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>Fournace</HI> <DATE><HI>Novemb.</HI> 15. 1651.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Yours in Chri&s;t Je&s;us <HI>WILLIAM ROVVLAND.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="survey">
<PB REF="4">
<PB N="1" REF="4">
<HEAD>JUDICIALL ASTROLOGIE Judicially Condemned.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="preface">
<HEAD>A word by way of Preface.</HEAD>
<P>_AS the Husband-man fir&s;t chops off, and kicks a&s;ide the bru&s;h and rubbi&s;h that he may with his Axe come at the root of the Oke; &s;o mu&s;t I deal with <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey;</HI> wholy|ing in the way, mu&s;t be fir&s;t &s;purned a&s;ide before I can come to Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher,</HI> as <HI>Will.</HI> hath order|ed his Method.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="survey of Ramsey's opinions">
<HEAD>THE SURVEY &amp; EXAMINATION of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI>'s EPISTLES, and the foul Language of his Book.</HEAD>
<P>THe <HI>Doctour</HI> hath &s;poken &s;o much, and to &s;o good purpo&s;e, in his <HI>Demonologie</HI> again&s;t <HI>Judiciall A&s;trologie,</HI> and <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> &s;o little to it, whereby to enervate any thing of that Treati&s;e (it &s;till &s;tanding as an impregnable Bullwark) that as to him, there is little left for me to &s;ay, unle&s;&s;e it be to tell <HI>W. Ram&s;ey &s;o much;</HI> and to reprove him for his <HI>ill handling the Que&s;tion;</HI> that deceived &s;ouls may be reduced.</P>
<P>Poor <HI>Will.</HI> it &s;eems by his Pamphlet, he was di&s;tracted when he penn'd it. For he confe&s;&s;eth in his Epi&s;tle to <HI>All Well-willers</HI> &amp;c. that he was more <HI>perplexed, and trou|bled at that in&s;tant of time his Treati&s;e was penn'd, then all his life.</HI> So he. O &s;trange di&s;temper! and as &s;trange a phanta&s;ie, that counts the time of his penning of eleven
<PB N="2" REF="5">&s;heets, but at the rate of an in&s;tant. He confe&s;&s;eth fur|ther <HI>(ibid.)</HI> that his <HI>Genius was weak;</HI> and that <HI>he went, or ran from hou&s;e to hou&s;e, and made it where ever he came.</HI> By which words, I profe&s;&s;e I do really &s;u&s;pect, <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> went about to his Brethren <HI>A&s;trologie</HI>-fa|vourers, to beg, or borrow &s;ome <HI>Latine, Greek,</HI> and <HI>He|brew;</HI> but lo&s;t &s;ome of it as he went home. See anon whether I &s;peak not really true. Out of all let the judi|cious Reader make the <HI>Cri&s;is</HI> of the mans Cranie. Col|late his <HI>Epi&s;tle to the Reader,</HI> with his Book, and you &s;hall &s;ee &s;utable fits and feits. Where (poor man) he &s;innes grievou&s;ly, &s;ometimes in his <HI>raving,</HI> and &s;ometimes in his <HI>mopi&s;h</HI> melancholick fits.</P>
<P>In his <HI>raving,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ira furor Inevis e&s;t. <HI>Hor.</HI></NOTE> he mi&s;erably fomes at the mouth, with the froth and &s;pittle of <HI>Malicious, Fool, Ignorant, Knave, Babling Prie&s;ts, Wretch,</HI> &amp;c. &s;ome of which he drivels and &s;lavers on M. <HI>Raunce</HI> (for writing again&s;t Judiciall A&s;trologie) the re&s;t on the <HI>Doctour,</HI> and all Mini&s;ters without di&s;tinction. He is &s;o bold a <HI>youth</HI> in his Title page as to &s;tile him&s;elf <HI>Gent.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I am in|formed that in compa|ri&s;on he is but a Boy.</NOTE> which I &s;hould have con|&s;trued <HI>Gentile-man,</HI> or at lea&s;t <HI>Gentle-man,</HI> but that his language is the language of a <HI>Pea&s;ant</HI> or <HI>Boore;</HI> unle&s;&s;e the A&s;trologer excu&s;e him&s;elf, that he was then under the powerful influences of the Con&s;tellations, <HI>Canis major mi|nor, Taurus, Aries, Lupus, Leo, Scorpius, Serpens, Dra|co,</HI> &amp;c. Never any in their &s;ober witts, have accounted D. <HI>Homes ignorant,</HI> or <HI>fool.</HI> And of <HI>malice</HI> again&s;t <HI>A|&s;trologers,</HI> the Doctour mu&s;t needs be free, in that he pro|fe&s;&s;eth that the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> never did him (that he knows) any per&s;onall wrong afore the penning of his <HI>Demonologie,</HI> whereby to kindle any malice again&s;t them in his brea&s;t, and to vent it in that Book. His Treati&s;e of <HI>Demonologie</HI> fairly te&s;tifies for him, wherein he doth &s;o|berly handle the que&s;tion of the unlawfulne&s;&s;e of <HI>Judi|ciall A&s;trologie;</HI> touching upon no mans per&s;on. And there al&s;o profe&s;&s;eth his love to the true <HI>Mathematicks,</HI>
<PB N="3" REF="5">even as with great delight he &s;tudied them in the Univer|&s;itie. And further, I can a&s;&s;ure the Reader that he calls God to witne&s;&s;e, that meer pre&s;&s;ures of con&s;cience, to di&s;charge his faithfullne&s;&s;e to Chri&s;t (as he is a <HI>Teacher</HI> to one of his Churches) in declaring again&s;t &s;inne and errour, for the pre&s;ervation, or reduction of poor &s;ouls, made him write. But as was the manner of the times in the reign of <HI>Arminiani&s;me</HI> in England, to que&s;tion any mans learning, though the able&s;t Scholar, if he &s;pake a|gain&s;t their <HI>Tenets;</HI> &s;o now are the manners of <HI>A&s;trolo|gers,</HI> to call their betters every way by the names of <HI>fools, ignorant,</HI> &amp;c. if they do not &s;ing to their tune but contrary. You &s;hall hear by and by <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> de|&s;pi&s;e <HI>Fathers, School-men, Councills,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">See his book. c. 2. p. 38.</NOTE> &amp;c. that &s;peak the lea&s;t word again&s;t <HI>A&s;trologie.</HI></P>
<P>When <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> is in his <HI>mopi&s;h</HI> fits, I cannot, I ingenuou&s;ly confe&s;&s;e, either gather that he &s;ayes any thing at all to the <HI>Head</HI> he propounds; or what it is he would have &s;aid: For in&s;tance, let the Reader con&s;ider well that head, chap. 1. &s;ect. 6. p. 33. <HI>A&s;trologie profitable for health.</HI> Nor can I reconcile <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> with <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey,</HI> there is &s;uch contradiction in his words. For page 11. line 25. <HI>me thinks</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>Doctour Homes be|ing a wi&s;e man,</HI> (the phra&s;e &s;ignifies an <HI>habituall</HI> wi&s;e|dome, as tis &s;poken without <HI>limitation</HI> and &s;o left univer|&s;all) yet in the very next page, but twenty three lines af|ter, he calls Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> a <HI>fool.</HI> If he &s;ay the Do|ctour was a fool in condemning <HI>A&s;trologie;</HI> then <HI>W. R.</HI> further like one <HI>impos</HI> contradicts him&s;elf. For in his <HI>Epi|&s;tle to the Reader</HI> parag. the third, he confe&s;&s;eth, that of his knowledge <HI>many Di&s;creet Gentlemen would &s;ome|times condemn A&s;trologie.</HI></P>
<P>Finally this Epi&s;tle, and his whole book compared to|gether will &s;ufficiently argue, that the man was mi&s;erably lo&s;t in his rea&s;on when he pen'd it. For what are tho&s;e <HI>A&s;trologicall</HI> predictions that <HI>D. Homes</HI> levels his <HI>Demo|nologie</HI>
<PB N="4" REF="6">again&s;t, but of &s;uch things, as which either <HI>they them&s;elves are</HI> (as to us) <HI>accidentall, as the &s;ucce&s;&s;e of bu|&s;ine&s;&s;es, or their cau&s;es are internall, as mens wills, and free choi&s;e, as to undertake a journey, build,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>or not.</HI> Thus D. <HI>Homes</HI> in his very entrance upon the point of A&s;trology; chap. 1. &sect;. 1. and &sect;. 2. And in the very next page, <HI>viz.</HI> 112. he allows <HI>conjecturing, and of things whereof any naturall rea&s;on can be yielded;</HI> as (&s;aith he, quoting and con&s;enting with D. <HI>Willet</HI> &amp;c.) <HI>there are naturall &s;ignes in the &s;imple bodies, as the hea|vens and air, of the alteration of weather, as into winds, or rain, &amp;c. as al&s;o in compound bodies, either vegetable, of &s;ea&s;ons to &s;et plants, or trees; or in humane bodies of convenient time to let blood, or purge. The&s;e are imme|diate effects in nature, of the Cele&s;tiall bodies. There are al&s;o mediate effects, as Comets, which &s;hew &s;iccity, heat, and combu&s;tion; &s;o the Crow cryes again&s;t rain, be|cau&s;e the clammy moy&s;ture of the air affects and afflicts him in the clinging of his feathers,</HI> &amp;c. But the <HI>Doctour</HI> doth there deny &s;igns of <HI>humane events.</HI> So al&s;o in page 160. of his <HI>Demonologie</HI> he opens his he art wide to &s;hew what he means by the <HI>A&s;trology</HI> again&s;t which he rai&s;eth his battery of rea&s;on, <HI>viz.</HI> again&s;t <HI>&s;uch an Art or Science</HI> (as <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> would have it called) <HI>that undertakes to predict and foretell what &s;hall befall MEN, and CI|TIES, and COMMON-WEALTHS, in relation to H&V;MANE affairs, ARBITRARY actings, SPONTANEO&V;S and voluntary tran&s;actions, that depend upon the movings of mens wills.</HI> To the &s;ame ef|fect the <HI>Doctour</HI> &s;peaks in his 113, 165, 167, pages of his <HI>Demonologie.</HI> And therefore it is WILL. RAM|SEYS ILL CUSTOME OF TELLING UN|TRUTH (to call it no wor&s;e, though ju&s;tly I might) to &s;ay, the <HI>Doctour or other Antagoni&s;ts to Judiciall A&s;tro|logie know not, or do not ponere what they mean, when they &s;peak again&s;t Judiciall A&s;trologie.</HI> The Doctour as
<PB N="5" REF="6">clearly, as if written with Sun-beams, doth often inculcate what he allows, and what he di&s;allows, as even but now hath been plainly declared;<NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;tate of the que&s;ti|on.</NOTE> adding oft in his <HI>Demono|logie,</HI> that all <HI>Naturall Predictions</HI> (which the <HI>A&s;trolo|gers</HI> would cram in to their <HI>Judiciall A&s;trologie,</HI> with contradiction enough) is to be called, and con&s;idered in a way of Art or Science, either as METEOROLOGIE, or PHYSIOLOGIE, or pure ASTRONOMIE according to the nature of the &s;ubject under con&s;ide|ration.</P>
<P>Thus you have heard the Doctour as plain (as they &s;ay) as a Pack-&s;taff; now let us hear what tho&s;e predi|ctions are that <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> is plea&s;ed in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader to di&s;avow or grant. Which are the very &s;ame that the Doctour denyes or grants, and <HI>William</HI> &s;peaks them in higher words then the Doctour. I will give them unto you in his own words. His heads upon a ju&s;t particular account are &s;ix. 1. Saith he, the <HI>rules</HI> of A&s;trologie <HI>doth</HI> (&s;o <HI>W. Ram&s;ey</HI> is plea&s;ed to joyn a Nown plurall and Verb &s;ingular together; but this is a &s;mall matter with him, who after is mi&s;erably out in his <HI>Latine, Greek</HI> and <HI>Hebrew.</HI> But for pre&s;ent, I was forced to touch his Engli&s;h upon who&s;e &s;core it lyes, becau&s;e I promi&s;ed to give you his mind in his own words) I &s;ay, <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> &s;aith in the fir&s;t place, <Q>that the rules of A&s;trology doth not meddle with <HI>vain contingencies;</HI> or &s;uch as have an indifferent re&s;pect to the oppo&s;ites, as depending upon unknown, or indeter|minate cau&s;es, which may happen one way or other. 2. <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Mans will</HI> is not &s;ubject to the influence of the &s;tars; neither hath A&s;trology to do with it, but accidentally &s;o farre as the &s;oul with the faculties thereof follow the temperature of the body,</Q> which (the friends of A&s;trology them&s;elves acknow|ledge) is impeded and altered &s;o many wayes, as that A&s;trologicall predictions of <HI>man</HI> come to nothing. See
<PB N="6" REF="7">the Doctours <HI>Demonologie</HI> chap. 10. &sect;. 4. 3. <Q>Nei|ther doth A&s;trologie meddle with the <HI>Providence of God.</HI> 4. Or &s;hew cau&s;e of <HI>miracles.</HI> 5. Or med|dles with the <HI>&s;ecrets</HI> of God, for they are pa&s;t finding out. A&s;trologers are but men that contemplate <HI>natu|rall cau&s;es.</HI> 6. A&s;trologie or the influence of &s;tars have no <HI>fatall nece&s;&s;ity,</HI> except &s;ome <HI>contingency</HI> be mixt therewith; for this were to deny the providence of God.</Q> Thus <HI>W. Ram&s;ey;</HI> whereof the la&s;t is delivered with that wonderfull <HI>contradiction</HI> of <HI>fatall nece&s;&s;ity</HI> and <HI>contin|gency.</HI></P>
<P>But you have them as he gives them.</P>
<P>Now let the Reader that hath a mind to under&s;tand the right, compare the Doctours, and <HI>W. R.</HI> his &s;tateing of the Que&s;tion together, and he &s;hall find tho&s;e &s;ix things afore &s;aid, &s;et down by <HI>William</HI> in that his <HI>Epi|&s;tle to the Reader,</HI> fully to agree with the Doctours Te|net in the main. Therefore <HI>W. R.</HI> in his great warfare in his en&s;uing Pamphlet again&s;t the <HI>Doctours Demonologie,</HI> either as a di&s;tracted man departs from his own princi|ples; or el&s;e plainly fights again&s;t him&s;elf; let <HI>William</HI> take his choy&s;e.</P>
<P>And if he be like &s;ome of his brethren he will choo&s;e the former. For however they &s;tate the que&s;tion in <HI>words,</HI> I am &s;ure they practi&s;e in <HI>deeds</HI> quite contrary; underta|king to know by the &s;tarres <HI>who, and where are the Theeves and &s;tollen goods of &s;uch, and &s;uch a robbery; the cattle and Drovers that carried them away, from &s;uch and &s;uch a ground, at &s;uch a time;</HI> and the like feits; and the&s;e they practi&s;e for money. Yea they are bold to predict the <HI>events of warres, the &s;ucce&s;&s;es of marriages, and thou&s;ands</HI> of &s;uch meer <HI>humane</HI> events, which the Scripture pronounceth uncertain to us. <HI>The battle is not to the &s;trong, nor the race to the &s;wift. Promotion cometh not from the Ea&s;t</HI> (&s;tarres) <HI>nor the VVe&s;t</HI> (&s;tarres) &amp;c. but all fall out as Gods providence di&s;po&s;eth. Yet tho&s;e A|&s;trologers
<PB N="7" REF="7">will boldly undertake to predict &s;uch things, as their <HI>Almanacks and A&s;trologicall Predictions,</HI> &amp;c. do te&s;tifie. By which writings they gain credit and cu|&s;tome of mi&s;erable &s;educed &s;ouls, to fee them and feed them with money for meer impo&s;tures, as many of their Clients do daily complain; &s;aying, <HI>the A&s;trologers had their money</HI> (not forbearing to name the men and the money,) <HI>but they were never the neerer to find that they promi&s;ed them.</HI> But if this were all that A&s;trologers did do, it were not &s;o intolerable. But they have practi&s;ed &s;ome things that are not to be indured in any Common|wealth, <HI>viz. to di&s;&s;wade men of quality from marrying worthy Gentlewomen, u&s;ing lies for their arguments,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">An into|lerable practi&s;e of A&s;tro|logers.</NOTE> <HI>forge|ing tho&s;e things of the Gentlewomen, to di&s;inable their per|&s;ons, and to reproch them in their repute, as are not fit here to be named; but at due time and place &s;hall be made good before any Court of Ju&s;tice by undenyable proof. And at the rate of</HI> Will. Ram&s;ey's <HI>&s;ounding the Trumpet, the battle is likely &s;peedily to begin.</HI></P>
<P>And <HI>William Ram&s;ey</HI> him&s;elf, for all his &s;tateing of the que&s;tion afore&s;aid, undertakes to predict many <HI>hu|mane events (quite without the &s;phere of the &s;tate of his que&s;tion) in his di&s;cour&s;e of the Eclip&s;e of the Sun at the</HI> end of his rayling reply to <HI>D. Homes his Demonologie.</HI> Among&s;t the re&s;t he predicts,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In the la&s;t page &s;ave one.</NOTE> that <HI>before that Eclip&s;e hath fini&s;hed its effects, Mini&s;ters &s;hall be in le&s;&s;e e&s;teem, then they would fain per&s;wade the vulgar, concerning the &s;tu|dents in A&s;trology.</HI> Whatever the <HI>Epithets</HI> be he gives to <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> there; he intends not them for <HI>di&s;tinction,</HI> but for <HI>agnomination</HI> to them all, good as well as bad, or el&s;e he would not lay the cau&s;e of that prediction to be the <HI>Mini&s;ters oppo&s;ing Astrologers,</HI> and upbraid Doctour <HI>Homes.</HI></P>
<P>And let me tell thee <HI>William</HI> a prophe&s;ie out of the Word of God again&s;t Judiciall A&s;trologers,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A Pro|phecy a|gain&s;t A&s;trolo|gers.</NOTE> that as <HI>Aarons</HI> rod &s;wallowed up the <HI>Enchanters</HI> rods (Exod.
<PB N="8" REF="8">7.12); <HI>Balaam</HI> was killed when the <HI>Prie&s;ts and Le|vites</HI> of the Lord were pre&s;erved (Numb. 13.22.); <HI>Daniel the Prophet</HI> is pre&s;erved and honoured, when &s;en|tence of death was pronounced again&s;t the <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> (Dan. 2. ver&s;. 2.14.27.28. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> to the end of the chapter): and the per&s;ons having <HI>familiar &s;pirits,</HI> and the <HI>Diviners,</HI> and Exorci&s;ts, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> fell before the <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> (<HI>Acts</HI> chap. 8. chap. 19. <HI>&amp;c.</HI>): So the&s;e la&s;t and great|e&s;t &s;ort of wicked men, that lead poor &s;ouls from God to the Devill, from his word to their circles and figures &s;hall (without repentance) according to all the prophe|cies of the old Te&s;tament again&s;t <HI>A&s;trologers, Magici|ans, Enchanters, Sorcerers,</HI> &amp;c. quoted in the <HI>Doctours Demonologie,</HI> peri&s;h with Antichri&s;t and all Chri&s;ts ene|mies at the great de&s;truction of the wicked near approch|ing, for making way for the Saints Triumph a while on earth over all their enemies, <HI>Revel.</HI> 21.8. &amp; 22.15. Now <HI>William,</HI> and thy brethren, runne your cour&s;e in <HI>Ju|diciall A&s;trology,</HI> according to your wonted manner of practi&s;e at your perill; and venture it whither your <HI>Ec|lip&s;e,</HI> or the light of our <HI>Sun</HI> (the word of God) will prophe&s;ie more truly.</P>
<P>I wonder in what &s;tarre or con&s;tellation, or their po|&s;tures <HI>William</HI> could reade this goodly change, that godly Mini&s;ters mu&s;t be di&s;countenanced, and lying A&s;trologers (as the Scripture calls them) &s;hall be advanced? His telling me there of &Moon; to a &quadrine; of &Saturn; <HI>&amp;c.</HI> with many the like anticks, figures, gibberi&s;h and cantings, is le&s;&s;e, is wor&s;e then nothing, unle&s;&s;e he could demon&s;trate to me (for that's the honour of a <HI>true Mathematician</HI> to de|mon&s;trate mo&s;t potently) by <HI>rea&s;on,</HI> why &s;uch po&s;tures and features of &s;tarres and con&s;tellations mu&s;t needs pre-&s;igni|fie &s;uch and &s;uch events,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Demon|strationes Mathe|maticae <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> po|t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;&s;i|mae.</NOTE> of which the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> &s;o con|fidently predict. To tell me of <HI>Traditions,</HI> that of old time for many generations upon &s;uch &s;igns, &s;uch events have come to pa&s;&s;e; is no more (if <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> &s;ay true
<PB N="9" REF="8">in that) then what <HI>Conjurers</HI> teach and practi&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> draw &s;uch and &s;uch circles, making the&s;e and tho&s;e figures, with u&s;ing of this po&s;ture and that form of words and the &s;pirit will ri&s;e at command; which, though true, is called by the con&s;ent of all good men, <HI>conjuring,</HI> and is diabolicall, becau&s;e there can be no naturall rea&s;on given of it, nor a divine rule to ju&s;tifie it. The application in a due proportion is obvious.</P>
<P>If thus therefore <HI>Judiciall A&s;trologers</HI> (as ye call them) do con&s;tantly in their practi&s;e tran&s;gre&s;&s;e again&s;t <HI>W. Ram&s;ey's</HI> &s;tateing the que&s;tion (in his &s;aid Epi&s;tle be|fore his Chri&s;tian <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology,</HI> as with a &s;trong contradiction in <HI>adjecto</HI> he calls it) <HI>William</HI> hath little rea&s;on to weary the readers eyes and ears with irk&s;ome and nau&s;eous repetition of that common rule (liable e|nough to exception) <HI>Abu&s;e &s;hould not take away the u&s;e;</HI> or that in&s;tance, <HI>Here&s;ies crept into Religion, &s;hould not put away Religion.</HI> We have a Bible for our Religion; no Scripture for <HI>Judiciall A&s;trologie,</HI> as before &s;tated. And other <HI>A&s;trology</HI> (if they will have it &s;o called) that is <HI>naturall,</HI> not meddling with the &s;ix particulars afore&s;aid (as <HI>W. R.</HI> re&s;olved the que&s;tion) will get them little cre|dit (the meer Naturall Philo&s;opher will tell as much), and gain them le&s;&s;e money. You heard afore by <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> of him&s;elf and others, and by Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins,</HI> and M. <HI>Brigges</HI> (in the <HI>Doctours</HI> Treati&s;e of <HI>Demonologie</HI>) that <HI>A&s;trology</HI> hath an innate tendency further, and be|yond an immoration within the bounds of <HI>Naturalls,</HI> and therefore they repented of their &s;tudies in that way. For that which con&s;tantly ends in unlawful practi&s;e, argues the principles to be naught. If a thing were once of good u&s;e, but now of none, but of much abu&s;e, that's warrant for lawfull &s;tate-powers to remove it; and <HI>Hezekiah's breaking in pieces the brazen Serpent will ju&s;tifie it.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kings 18.4.</NOTE> So that in <HI>things not nece&s;&s;ary, the rule is, Abu&s;e mu&s;t take away the u&s;e.</HI> Yea in nece&s;&s;ary things, <HI>Paul would not eat
<PB N="10" REF="9">fle&s;h, rather then offend his brother,</HI> as <HI>A&s;trologie</HI> doth the generality of true godly men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The judge|ments of God hang o|ver a na|tion for the &s;ins of A&s;tro|logers &amp; their cli|ents, a State permit|ting.</NOTE> fearing that it will ha&s;ten judgement on the Nation; as <HI>Saul</HI> at la&s;t favour|ing &s;uch kind a-&s;tuff, brought him&s;elf and the nation to great ruine: If <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> can not, as tho&s;e among the Egyptians (when I&s;rael was in Egypt,) and tho&s;e among the Chaldeans (Judah being captivated in Babylon) and tho&s;e in the Roman Empire (in the time of the ten Per|&s;ecutions) cau&s;e per&s;ecution, (as their practi&s;e hath been by te&s;timony of hi&s;tories) yet their own impieties by that very Art, and their &s;educing poor &s;ouls from fear, and faith in God, do greatly threaten a common calami|ty, e&s;pecially if connived at by the State. So the Pro|phet, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 2.6. <HI>Therefore thou ha&s;t for&s;aken thy people the hou&s;e of Jacob, becau&s;e they be repleni&s;hed from the Ea&s;t with Sooth&s;ayers like the Phili&s;tims.</HI> How home this reacheth <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> hath been di&s;cu&s;&s;ed in the Do|ctours <HI>Demonologie:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Daemo|nol. c. 10. &sect;. 3. p. 124, 125.</NOTE> Little therefore can be ju&s;tly &s;poken for <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology,</HI> more then to &s;ay 'tis all <HI>dro&s;&s;e,</HI> 'tis all <HI>abu&s;e,</HI> 'tis all (as <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith) <HI>A great Errour.</HI></P>
<P>Yet <HI>W. Ram&s;ey</HI> will make an E&s;&s;ay to ju&s;tifie <HI>Judi|ciall A&s;trology</HI> (if he can) but in &s;uch a dialect as would make a wi&s;e man the rather believe that the <HI>Art</HI> is of the Devill, becau&s;e the Arti&s;ts in their defence of it &s;peak the language of the <HI>Devill. Not Evil &s;peakers, or &s;landerers,</HI> are &s;aith the Apo&s;tle <HI>Devils,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.11. where the Greek is <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>id e&s;t, Not devils;</HI> and 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.3. fal&s;e accu&s;ers, the Greek is <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Devils.</HI> See the like phra&s;e, <HI>Tit.</HI> 2.3. So <HI>VV. R.</HI> here. So &s;ome others in their Almanacks or Progno&s;tications. But my purpo&s;e concerning <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI>'s language (at once for all, to quit my hands of his <HI>words,</HI> and be free for his <HI>matter</HI>) is this.</P>
<P N="1">1. I &s;hall mo&s;t willingly give the day and Garland for railing and reviling <HI>gratis</HI> to <HI>VV. Ram&s;ey.</HI> It may be
<PB N="11" REF="9">the poor mi&s;erable creature can &s;peak no other language; he knowing no more then what his <HI>Phy&s;icall</HI> and <HI>A&s;tro|logicall</HI> profe&s;&s;ion teach him, which &s;avour no other. And if he be a <HI>Scot</HI> (as &s;ome judge by his name) then 'tis proper for him to be infinite proud and opprobrious where he dreams he may domineer. He thinks (to u&s;e <HI>Vir|gils</HI> phra&s;e) <HI>ARIETE CREBRO,</HI> as with the battery of the <HI>Ramshead.</HI> rather to force the fort of the Do|ctours <HI>Demonologie,</HI> then to winne it by the art and rea|&s;on of School Polemicalls. Rather (as <HI>Alexander M.</HI>) to <HI>cut</HI> the <HI>Gordian knot</HI> then <HI>&s;olve</HI> it;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Quint. Curt. de vita A|lex.</NOTE> thereby (as he &s;aid) to delude the Oracle, in ca&s;e he could not fulfill it. Doth <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> dream that he onely hath the wit to jeer, or the &s;ole liberty to rail in print? or doth he dote that he is a man of that compo&s;ure of per&s;on and parts, that he is &s;hot-free from all darts of Rhetorick? Could I but match him in profanene&s;&s;e of &s;pirit, and er|rour in judgement, I could repay him home neer from all the Topicks of Rhetorick <HI>Cicero</HI> u&s;eth in his invective o|rations. But (as <HI>Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> &s;aid) <HI>I fear &s;in.</HI> Yet he might, e&s;pecially pretending to predictions, have progno|&s;ticated to him&s;elf that <HI>IF THE DOCTO&V;R SCOR|NED TO ANSVVER, HIM,</HI> &s;ome body el&s;e might &s;hew <HI>VVilliam</HI> his <HI>folly, lea&s;t</HI> (as <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;aith) <HI>he &s;hould be wi&s;e in his own conceit:</HI> And might (like a wi&s;e man) with &s;oft words, but with arguments of &s;teel en|deavour to convince <HI>VVilliam</HI> of the viciou&s;ne&s;&s;e of <HI>A|&s;trology,</HI> which God and all good men generally dete&s;t. That <HI>VVilliam</HI> hath not taken the like &s;ober, mode&s;t, &s;e|rious way to defend his art, it hath got him nothing. It is to prudent men the &s;ign of a bad cau&s;e, that needs to be defended with bad words; which perhaps, may rai&s;e a great du&s;t, and ca&s;t a fogg before the eyes of men parti|ally pa&s;&s;ionate; but do loo&s;e with men of a pure judge|ment in the credit of the cau&s;e.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall al&s;o pa&s;&s;e over (as not regarding) his &s;illy
<PB N="12" REF="10">je&s;ts and jears (unworthy nameing) &s;avouring of a light and &s;light &s;pirit in him, as if &s;ome <HI>PEG&mdash;A&mdash;RAMSEY</HI> guided his pen not <HI>VV. R. Gentleman.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. For his lifting and labouring to confute the <HI>Do|ctour,</HI> puffing blowing, and panting (as if almo&s;t out of breath,) fetching his wind with <HI>As I hope, and I be|lieve, and I do think</HI> (&s;o often repeated) <HI>I have confuted the Doctour;</HI> with his calling a main (as he recovers his breath) to the Reader, in his <HI>Nota, Nota, Nota bene,</HI> to attend; I pitty both the <HI>man,</HI> and the <HI>Reader</HI> that follows him; that he &s;hould be &s;o clamoured by him to run to fee (in compari&s;on) a NOTHING. Whether I &s;peak truly, let the &s;equell prove. And had it not been to tell the Reader &s;o, e&s;pecially young men in danger to be led away with A&s;trologicall impo&s;tures, I &s;hould never ac|counted <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> worthy any thing that might be called a <HI>Reply, Survey,</HI> or <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And therefore I was loath <HI>Doctour Homes</HI> &s;hould &s;o much di&s;grace him&s;elf, and credit <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> as to have his name in print to any paper to him. For 'tis wittily ob&s;erved by the Heathen,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ovid. l. <HI>13.</HI> Fab. <HI>1</HI></NOTE> that it was too much honour to <HI>&V;ly&s;&s;es,</HI> being a Coward, that he might contend, but in words, with gal|lant, valiant <HI>Ajax</HI> for the Armour of <HI>Achilles.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Galenum non pa|r&ugrave;m er|ra&s;&s;e pu|to qui The&s;&s;alu~, dum no|men ejus proterit, Aliquem e&s;&s;e docu|erit, &amp; cujus ra|tionem haberet. Cardan. de vita propria cap. <HI>16.</HI></NOTE> And it was the judgement of the great <HI>CARDAN&V;S</HI> one of <HI>VVilliam's</HI> profe&s;&s;ion both wayes, that famous <HI>GALEN</HI> (<HI>VVilliam's</HI> Ma&s;ter) did much erre in &s;o often mentioning in his writings his frivolous Antagoni&s;t <HI>The&s;&s;alus;</HI> for by that (&s;aith <HI>Cardanus</HI>) <HI>Galen</HI> did teach men to think that <HI>The&s;&s;alus</HI> was <HI>&s;ome body,</HI> and at all regarded by <HI>Galen.</HI></P>
<P>Let not <HI>VVilliam</HI> or his adherents puff at this, as if but flouri&s;hes; but attend the &s;hort Surveyes of his chapters and &s;ections, and then &s;ee whether rea&s;on can cry him up, for wit, hone&s;ty, or learning.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="Ramsey's chapter">
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="13" REF="10">
<HEAD>The Survey of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey's</HI> 1. Section of his 1. Chapter.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">The Definition of A&s;trology.<NOTE PLACE="marg">W. R. his 1. Section</NOTE></HEAD>
<P>_THat the Reader may the better judge of the controver&s;ie between Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> and my &s;elf, I think be&s;t here before I enter upon any part of his di&s;cour&s;e, to &s;et down what this art of <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology</HI> is, which I undertake to defend. <HI>Ptolomy lib.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 1. Of his Quadripartite, defines it thus, <HI>A&s;trology</HI> is that art (joyning it with <HI>A|&s;tronomy,</HI> as making no difference between them, though M. <HI>Homes</HI> and other adver&s;aries thereunto do) <HI>which teacheth by the motions, Configurations and Influences of the Signs, Stars and Cele&s;tiall Planets, to judge and progno&s;ticate of the naturall effects and mutations to come, in the Elements and inferiour and Elementary bodies.</HI> And who &s;o takes <HI>A&s;trologie</HI> to be any other thing, is altoge|ther ignorant of the Art, or guilty of inveterate malice in traducing &s;o noble and admirable a &s;cience, e&s;teemed and allowed of in all ages, and that in great reverence and honour, as well as the Students thereof (as in its due place &s;hall be made to appear) by the chiefe&s;t and no|ble&s;t of the people. Though Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> would fain per&s;uade the vulgar and ignorant &s;ort of people that it is a Doctrine of Devils, and unlawfull, which &s;hall in its due place be made to appear (as al&s;o the re&s;t of his weak arguments and cavils,) that they are meerly ma|licious, ignorant, weak, and incon&s;i&s;tent with rea&s;on or the thing in que&s;tion; which that he may not be igno|rant of, as al&s;o for the better under&s;tanding of the Rea|der,
<PB N="14" REF="11">I do here more plainly rehear&s;e by way of Quere; <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, whether <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> or foretelling, or Progno|&s;ticating by the Stars, be a lawfull Art, free from all Dia|bolicall practi&s;es and devices.</P>
<P>Secondly, Whether <HI>A&s;trology</HI> may not lawfully be &s;tudied and practi&s;ed, by the be&s;t of Gods people, with|out offence in the lea&s;t, either to the law of God, or man (if they concurre with the rules of the Scripture) which is the full matter in controver&s;ie, and to be in this follow|ing di&s;cour&s;e di&s;cu&s;&s;ed, handled and cleared; and if &s;o, then certainly the malicious ignorant condemners of this <HI>Noble and mo&s;t profitable Art &s;tudied by mortals,</HI> (as in its due place &s;hall appear) ought to be &s;everely puni&s;hed, and that with exemplary infliction, that po&s;terity may take warning how they condemn what they are ignorant of; and likewi&s;e be encouraged to apply their minds to the contemplation and knowledge of all Arts and Sciences, e&s;pecially this mo&s;t heavenly and divine &s;tudy of <HI>A&s;tro|logy,</HI> or the language of the Stars.</P>
<P>Now you have heard the di&s;tinction of <HI>A&s;trology</HI> the &s;ubject intended, by it you may not onely &s;ee the cau&s;es which concurre to the con&s;titution of the nature of the Art, but al&s;o the finall cau&s;e, whereunto all the precepts of the Art are to be referred; &s;eeing then the knowledge of the effects of the Stars in the Elements and their bo|dies, dependeth of the motions, Configurations, and Influences of the Cele&s;tiall bodies, <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> or <HI>A&s;tro|logy</HI> (for by the learned, there is made no di&s;tinction be|tween them as &s;everall Arts, but generally conclude them (as indeed they are) one and the &s;ame Art) is divided into two parts, the fir&s;t &s;peculative or theoricall, which con|&s;i&s;teth in the knowledge of the heavenly motions; the other part is that which con&s;i&s;teth in the effects and pro|perties of the former motions, and without this <HI>(viz. A|&s;trology)</HI> the other is meerly vain and of no u&s;e, or to none
<PB N="15" REF="11">or little purpo&s;e; the former, <HI>viz. Astronomy</HI> furni&s;heth the <HI>Astrologer</HI> with matter and &s;tuff wherein to exerci&s;e him&s;elf; the other, <HI>viz. Astrologie</HI> di&s;po&s;eth the matter, and accordingly judgeth as the ca&s;e doth require, and therefore to be e&s;teemed the more noble part of this Science.</P>
<P>Thus <HI>VV. Ram&s;ey.</HI></P>
<P>SURVEY. Behold here <HI>VV. R.</HI> at the very fir&s;t, begins his Pamphlet with 3 gro&s;s UNTRUTHS. For,<NOTE PLACE="marg">If Will. Ram&s;ey begins with 3. <HI>great un|truths,</HI> in his en|trance, how &s;hal we be|lieve him in the re&s;t of his Pam|phlet<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"></NOTE> 1. there is no &s;uch <HI>definition</HI> as he affirms, nor any thing in form of a definition, in relation to <HI>Astrologie</HI> in that place of <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> as his eyes can witne&s;s, who of purpo&s;e read the Preface and fir&s;t Chapter once and again in two &s;eve|rall Editions. 2. <HI>Ptolomy</HI> doth there (contrary to <HI>VVilliam Ram&s;ey's</HI> a&s;&s;ertion) put a wide difference be|tween <HI>Astronomy,</HI> and <HI>Astrologie.</HI> For he begins that his Book thus: <HI>There are two things, O Syrus, &s;peciall and most chief, by which are made Astrological Predicti|ons. ONE, which is fir&s;t in order and power, where|by we apprehend at all times the motions of the Sun and Moon and other Starrs, and their po&s;tures among&s;t them|&s;elves, or towards the Earth. The OTHER is that, whereby we con&s;ider by the natural qualities of the Starrs the changes that are wrought in Bodies that are congruous to tho&s;e po&s;tures. And of the&s;e doctrines, the FORMER hath its proper Art, albeit the end of the SECOND be not added unto it, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>In which words mo&s;t evidently, <HI>Ptolomy</HI> di&s;tingui&s;h|eth <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> from <HI>A&s;trologie</HI> of the neare&s;t kinde, <HI>viz. Natural;</HI> in &s;o much that he &s;aith, <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> is a per|fect Art without <HI>that A&s;trologie.</HI> Yea, and (as it follows there,) we have this into the bargain, that <HI>Ptolomy</HI> doth &s;undry wayes, and with &s;everall rea&s;ons in that Treati&s;e &s;hew the <HI>uncertainty</HI> and <HI>imperfection</HI> of <HI>A&s;trologie;</HI> but cries up the <HI>certainty</HI> and <HI>perfection</HI> of <HI>A&s;tronomy.</HI> 3. The Learned (contrary to <HI>VV. R.</HI> fal&s;e a&s;&s;ertion) do
<PB N="16" REF="12">make a di&s;tinction between <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> and <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology,</HI> as &s;everall Arts. For they thus di&s;tingui&s;h. OU|RANOSCOPIE, or URANOLOGIE, or OURANOGRA|PHIE (the <HI>genus</HI>) is either <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> or <HI>A&s;trology,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Al&s;ted. Eneycl. l. 11. p. 1. c. 1. p. 4. c. 1.</NOTE> (the <HI>&s;pecies.</HI>) <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> is concerning the <HI>motion and mea&s;ure of the Stars. A&s;trologie</HI> handles of the <HI>effects of the Stars;</HI> called al&s;o <HI>Progno&s;ticall,</HI> or Judiciall A&s;trologie.</P>
<P>Adde to the&s;e three untruths, the impertinencies or equivocations of <HI>W. R.</HI> in this his 1. Section; who having defined <HI>Naturall</HI> A&s;trology, he puts quercs of the law|full &s;tudy of, and Progno&s;ticating by <HI>A&s;trologie.</HI> By which if means <HI>Naturall;</HI> he is extremely imperti|nent. For the <HI>Doctour</HI> allows it (as I have &s;hewed) onely he would have it called by another name, as a part of another Science. If he means <HI>Judiciall;</HI> then he plainly equivocates, defining one kind, but pro&s;ecutes an|other.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, <HI>VV. R.</HI> is what he was at fir&s;t, an avoucher of <HI>untruths,</HI> &s;o he began, and &s;o he concludes the Section; &s;aying, <HI>That A&s;tronomy is meerly vain, and of no u&s;e without A&s;trologie:</HI> Which is mo&s;t fal&s;e as his own <HI>Pto|lomy</HI> witne&s;&s;ed afore; and renowned <HI>Keckerman</HI> is his <HI>&s;econd;</HI> who wrote a famous Sy&s;tem of <HI>A&s;tronomy,</HI> de|claring the excellent u&s;e thereof, without handling of any A&s;trologie at all: w^c^h <HI>A&s;tronomy</HI> for me to commend here, by the enumeration of its excellencies in particular were to carry water to the &s;ea; or hold a candle to the Sun. I therefore leave all pure <HI>A&s;tronomers, Chronologers, Geo|graphers, Navigatours,</HI> &amp;c. to decry the fal&s;e A&s;&s;ertion of <HI>VV. R.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>W. R. his <HI>SECT. II.</HI> In an&s;wer to &s;ome cavils of M. <HI>Homes</HI> his, wherein he denyeth <HI>A&s;trology</HI> to be warranted by Scri|pture, proved to be erroneous and fal&s;e.</HEAD>
<P>Having thus painted forth the matter and form of the
<PB N="17" REF="12">thing intended to be in&s;i&s;ted on, I come now to &s;hew you what M. <HI>Homes</HI> his utmo&s;t power and malice again&s;t it is: and fir&s;t his blind zeal begins to &s;hew it &s;elf, in per|&s;uading the Reader it is condemned by the Scripture, and no wi&s;e thereby tolerated; his words are, <HI>It is no where allowed in the Scripture, under the notion of</HI> A&s;trology, <HI>but every where &s;poken again&s;t as we &s;hall &s;ee afterward:</HI> and all that he can &s;hew us and make us &s;ee, is but &s;ix places of Scripture,<MILESTONE N="A"> which is far from being worthy of the Title of a generall condemnation, when there is none but knows the extent of the Scripture to con&s;i&s;t of many half dozen Chapters, nay of Books, <HI>Ergo,</HI> not every where condemned; and tho&s;e places neither, but imagi|ned by him to condemn <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> when indeed they &s;erve no whit at all for his purpo&s;e, as in its due place &s;hall be made appear. But by the way,<MILESTONE N="B"> is it every where condemned? doth not the King and Prophet <HI>David</HI> &s;ay, <HI>The heavens declare the glory of God, P&s;al.</HI> 19.1? and in another place, <HI>The language of the &s;tars,</HI> (which is the &s;ignification of the word <HI>A&s;trology</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> the lan|guage of the &s;tars; and is it not allowed any where in Scripture under the notion of <HI>A&s;trology?</HI>) <HI>Is heard over all the earth, or the uttermo&s;t parts thereof, P&s;al.</HI> 19.3? as if he had &s;aid, there is no part free from the power of their influences; for their power hath a generall extent o|ver all Nations, Kingdoms, Countreys, Provinces, and Languages. I pray, <HI>who can re&s;train the &s;weet influences of the</HI> Pleiades? <HI>Job</HI> 38.31. <HI>And did not the &s;tars in their cour&s;es fight again&s;t</HI> Si&s;era? <HI>Judg.</HI> 5.20. One of the&s;e places had been enough to have convinced him of great wickedne&s;&s;e, in denying the Scripture doth any where allow of A&s;trology; for if he never read the&s;e places, then he is wicked, and no le&s;&s;e then wilfully wic|ked, to conclude what he under&s;tands not; if he hath per|u&s;ed them, then mo&s;t malicious to &s;peak again&s;t truth; I may even as well &s;ay diabolically wicked, and that he
<PB N="18" REF="13">teacheth rather the Doctrine of Devils, for the Devils Doctrine is fal&s;hood; and if he preacheth &s;uch gro&s;s lyes as the&s;e, he is the Devils Preacher, and not A&s;trologers: neither is A&s;trology a Doctrine of Devils (as &s;hall he made clear to him before the clo&s;ure of my Di&s;cour&s;e) as he in his 160. <HI>page line</HI> 21. is plea&s;ed to terme it. So then, now I hope the Reader doth clearly &s;ee, the&s;e his fir&s;t words of his Di&s;cour&s;e, to be meerly envious, &s;lan|derous, and malicious, or (at the be&s;t) mo&s;t ignorant; for it will puzzle all his brains, and M. <HI>Raunces,</HI> nay and all that dare or will take their parts, to make any one of tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages of Scripture (he brings to confute or con|demn A&s;trology) to &s;erve in the lea&s;t for his turn, as in its due place &s;hall be cleared.</P>
<P>Then &s;aith M. <HI>Homes, As other things that are natu|ral, which are brought to countenance</HI> A&s;trology, <HI>are not tolerated by the</HI> Encyclopaedia, <HI>and general order and Seats of all Arts and Sciences within their own Spheres, to be accounted</HI> A&s;trology. For in&s;tance, Fir&s;t, (&s;aith he) <HI>Some urge that we know the Tides of the Sea, by the &s;tate of &Moon;, and Tempe&s;ts by other Stars.</HI> which I am confident M. <HI>Homes</HI> cannot deny, but he will render him&s;elf more ridiculous then already, which he endeavours to do thus; <HI>The&s;e and of the like nature, are properly handled in that part of natural Philo&s;ophy, which we call</HI> Meteorology; <HI>and &s;o likewi&s;e are all fiery Meteors, Comets, &amp;c. and &s;o by con&s;equence are made an integrall part of Phy&s;icks: for if you will &s;ay, becau&s;e of their external efficient cau&s;e.</HI> viz. <HI>the Starrs, they are to be handled as a part of</HI> A&s;trology, <HI>by the &s;ame rea&s;on there will be left no &s;uch Science as natural Philo&s;ophy, becau&s;e all inferiour Bo|dies below the Moon (as &s;aith the great Philo&s;opher</HI> Ari|&s;totle) <HI>depend upon the &s;uperiour Cele&s;tial bodies of the Heavens.</HI> In all which he doth but &s;hew his great mi&s;take in the ground of A&s;trology, and his envie thereto; for how can M. <HI>Homes</HI> prove this is a meer urging, or an opi|nion
<PB N="19" REF="13">of &s;ome, that the &Moon; is the cau&s;e of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea; or that it is rather to be attributed to that part of natural Philo&s;ophy, which is called <HI>Meteo|rologie,</HI> and &s;o con&s;equently to be a part of Phy&s;icks; when all the World knows, that hath any experience or under&s;tanding in A&s;trology, that he is as far from hitting the mark, as if he had mi&s;t the Butt.</P>
<P>Wherefore for his better in&s;truction, (for I &s;ee he is not &s;o well ver&s;t in A&s;trology as he pretendeth, or as one that is to condemn it &s;hould be) I will make it appear to him, that the &Moon; is the ab&s;olute cau&s;e of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea; and this is the opinion of all or mo&s;t knowing and learned Writers, both in this Art and other Sciences; and not onely &s;o, but it is &s;o clear to all the Learned, that his great Friend <HI>Picus Mirandula,</HI> which was a &s;tronger Champion (or at lea&s;t more knowing in the Art then he) again&s;t A&s;trology, doth confe&s;s the &Moon; to be the po&s;itive and &s;ole cau&s;e thereof.</P>
<P>And thus, if he have any under&s;tanding in the Art (as by his writing, I mu&s;t confe&s;s (as I now but &s;aid) I &s;ee none) let him take the true time of the Seas flowing fir&s;t, and then ob&s;erve in what part of Heaven the &Moon; is acci|dentally placed by her violent diurn motion, and he &s;hall finde it to flow till &s;he come to an ab&s;olute &quadrine; a&s;pect of the place &s;he was in at the fir&s;t beginning to flow; and then will continue ebbing till &s;he come to the direct &opposition; or oppo&s;ite place in the Heavens <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Still let him ob&s;erve exactly when &s;he comes to the &quadrine; or &opposition; of the place of her fir&s;t beginning, and he &s;hall never err in this point. This is &s;ufficiently well known to the learned Practitioners, and the &s;ons of Art: yet note that &Sun; and other Starrs may ha&s;ten, hinder, and alter the &Moon; influence, as he may &s;ee at &conjunction; and &opposition; of &Sun;, or the Change and Full; in Spring-tides, and Neap-tides, at quarters and half-quarters. I would he had not been ignorant of this, and then perhaps, (this being the beginning of his di&s;cour&s;e) he had not undertook
<PB N="20" REF="14">to lay Pen to Paper again&s;t this mo&s;t heavenly, mo&s;t ad|mirable, and mo&s;t contemplative, delectable Study and Science of the Stars and Cele&s;tial Bodies. So by this time he clearly &s;ees how incon&s;iderate and ra&s;h this his &s;ophi&s;tical and fa&s;e argument is.</P>
<P>Secondly, &s;aith M. <HI>Homes, Others &s;ay that by Astrolo|gie we know Eclip&s;es and Changes of the Moon; but we &s;ay Astronomy doth challenge this as belonging to it, &amp;c.</HI> My an&s;wer is, that I &s;ay, (what ever he telleth me others may or do &s;ay) he cannot but know that tho&s;e that &s;ay &s;o are not ver&s;ed therein, and are ignorant.</P>
<P>And thirdly, &s;aith he, <HI>If any one urge that Astrolo|gie handles of the Qualities and Effects of the Stars,</HI> we reply, <HI>that &s;o doth Astronomy, of their Qualities, name|ly, of their light and colour, and natural Philo&s;ophy of their Effects, in watery, aiery, and fiery Meteors:</HI> as much as to &s;ay, A&s;trology is no Science at all, but will give its property to another Study; if this be not &s;lander|ous and malicious, let the weake&s;t in the world judge: he might as well then all this while have called it, Natural Philo&s;ophy, as A&s;trologie. And then he tels us, if we admit of the Title <HI>Alsted gives to Astrologie,</HI> viz. <HI>A|&s;trologia planetaria,</HI> or Planetary A&s;trology, and of Doctor <HI>VVillets</HI> Titles, <HI>viz. Astromancy &amp; Genethliaca;</HI> then &s;aith he for conclu&s;ion by all ob&s;erve, <HI>that there is no place left for Astrologie:</HI> by which he clearly renders him&s;elf the mo&s;t malicious of all <HI>wretches,</HI> to deny that Art, which above 298. of the mo&s;t wi&s;e of all Ages have &s;tudied and practi&s;ed (their names you &s;hall have hereafter in its place;) both before and &s;ince Chri&s;ts time; who&s;e antiquity may be derived from our fir&s;t fa|ther <HI>Adam:</HI> maintained by Princes and Kings; reveren|ced by that greate&s;t of Worthies, <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great; and not condemned by any of the Fathers; or the pra|ctice thereof prohibited by the Church, farther then that they &s;hould not hereby be drawn from the &s;tudy of Di|vinity,
<PB N="21" REF="14">as you &s;hall &s;ee by and by. M. <HI>Homes</HI> me thinks being <HI>a wi&s;e man,</HI> &s;hould not write again&s;t, (and that in &s;uch a zealous manner) a thing which is not in <HI>rerum na|tura,</HI> or in <HI>po&s;&s;e,</HI> as in his fir&s;t Section of his tenth Cha|pter, he &s;tudies to make A&s;trologie appear; to what purpo&s;e then are all his arguments again&s;t A&s;trologie, when he will not admit of any &s;uch thing in the world? what doth he write again&s;t then? and why doth he &s;o much condemn the &s;tudents thereof? Becau&s;e he knows not the validity thereof; becau&s;e he knows not the rules and fundamentals thereof; becau&s;e indeed he is altogether ignorant of the &s;ame; and let him not be an|gry I plainly tell him &s;o, (plain dealing is be&s;t among friends) for if he did, he would have been &s;o far from writing or &s;peaking again&s;t it, that he would have been more furious and hot with any one &s;hould have con|demned it. then I am with him.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Railers are cal|led Dia|bolicall, yea De|vils. 1 Tim. 3.11. 2 Tim. 3.3. Tim. 2 3. as we &s;hewed afore.</NOTE></P>
<P>SURVEY. One would wonder to hear <HI>VV. Ram&s;ey</HI> thus rail, and call the Doctour <HI>diabolicall, &amp;c.</HI> when as the Doctour in his Treati&s;e, gave no mans per&s;on the lea&s;t ill word. Therefore whether of the twain appears to be more <HI>diabolicall,</HI> let the Reader judge. And 'tis as great a wonder to &s;ee the <HI>Doctours</HI> Treati&s;e of <HI>Astrology</HI> &s;o orderly dige&s;ted into Sections, and <HI>VVilliam Ram&s;ey</HI> to &s;o leap from the one to the other, as if he were confound|ed in his apprehen&s;ion; or el&s;e that he would fain rather coo&s;en the Reader, then clear the controver&s;ie. But to the matter.</P>
<P>To that marked with <HI>(A)</HI> we &s;ay, It is enough to make it a &s;peech of truth, and a true confutation of A&s;tro|logie; that where&s;oever the Scriptures mention A&s;trolo|gie, there the Scriptures al&s;o di&s;allow it: which they di&s;|allow in more then &s;ix places of Scripture, or <HI>&s;even,</HI> as the Doctour hath ob&s;erved (if <HI>VVilliam</HI> reckons right) al|though the Doctour reduced them all to &s;even heads.</P>
<P>To that at the letter <HI>(B)</HI> it is &s;o weak a proof of a
<PB N="22" REF="15">Scripture allowance of A&s;trology, that it is not worthy the an&s;wering; onely I am willing to make <HI>W. Ram&s;ey</HI> &s;ee it, if I can. For the <HI>Heavens declare the glory of God</HI> (as 'tis pre&s;ently there expounded) as they are Gods <HI>Handy-work.</HI> But the inference of <HI>William;</HI> The Hea|vens declare Gods glory, therefore A&s;trology is lawfull, is &s;o ridiculous as that with the bare naming of it, it is confuted. For <HI>THE LANG&V;AGE OF THE STARS</HI> which <HI>William</HI> &s;aith, is in <HI>another place,</HI> I am &s;ure is <HI>IN NO PLACE OF CANONICAL SCRIPT&V;RE.</HI> For <HI>Williams</HI> Expo&s;ition on <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19.3. it mu&s;t give place to the Apo&s;tles, <HI>Rom.</HI> 10.18. <HI>viz.</HI> of <HI>Preaching the Go&s;pel,</HI> not of A&s;trology. For the <HI>Pleiades</HI> in <HI>Job;</HI> they are an&s;wered after. The fighting of the <HI>Stars again&s;t Si&s;era, Jud.</HI> 5.20. <HI>Junius</HI> ex|pounds to be the Windes, Rains, Hails, Tempe&s;ts, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> cau&s;ed by the heavenly Bodies, to the di&s;comfiting and routing <HI>Si&s;era's</HI> Army (compare <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 10.11. <HI>Exod.</HI> 9.23.) which makes nothing for <HI>Judicial A&s;trologie.</HI> Thus with a touch it appears, that <HI>William Ram&s;ey</HI> is deceived in his conclu&s;ion to the &s;aid proofs, <HI>that one of them were enough to convince, &amp;c.</HI> For, nor one, nor all, nor an hun|dred &s;uch, are in any &s;hew &s;ufficient to convince a pru|dent man of the lawfulne&s;s of <HI>Judicial Astrologie.</HI> And therefore <HI>his hope</HI> (as he pre&s;ently adds) <HI>that by them the Reader doth clearly &s;ee that the Doctours words were meerly envious, &amp;c.</HI> is <HI>Williams</HI> meer dream.</P>
<P>To that of W. <HI>Ram&s;ey</HI> marked with <HI>(C)</HI> and from thence to the end of this Section, we need onely &s;ay thus. That <HI>William</HI> is toyling at the <HI>Labour in vain,</HI> to &s;hew the Doctour that <HI>the Moon is the cau&s;e of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea;</HI> who knew it afore ever <HI>William</HI> did, and it is granted by him in his <HI>Demonologie,</HI> (if <HI>William</HI> will &s;ee) onely he &s;aith, other Sciences &s;hew that, with|out the help of <HI>Judicial A&s;trologie.</HI></P>
<PB N="23" REF="15">
<P>And to that audaciou&s;ne&s;s of <HI>William Ram&s;ey</HI> daring to &s;ay in the face of all learned men (that &s;hall &s;ee his Pamphlet) <HI>That tho&s;e that &s;ay we know Eclip&s;es, and Changes of the Moon by A&s;tronomy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">A mo&s;t gro&s;&s;e bold un|truth of <HI>W.</HI> R. a|bout the funda|mentals of A&s;tro|nomy.</NOTE> <HI>as challenging that to belong to it, are NOT VERSED THEREIN, and are IGNORANT, &amp;c.</HI> I will onely &s;ay, that it &s;hews &s;uch ignorance, or wor&s;e in W. <HI>Ram&s;ey,</HI> as for civilities &s;ake I will not call it by its true name. Doth not famous <HI>Keckerman</HI> in his Sy&s;tem of <HI>A&s;tronomy,</HI> as an integrall part of the body of A&s;tronomy handle the <HI>Eclip&s;es</HI> of the Sun, in his <HI>Sy&s;t. A&s;tron. lib.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 13. very large|ly? And doth he not likewi&s;e of the Eclip&s;es and Chan|ges of the Moon, in the &s;ame Book, 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 14. more largely? And doth not the renowned A&s;tronomer <HI>Al|&s;ted</HI> do the &s;ame in his Sy&s;tem of A&s;tronomy, very large|ly; <HI>&V;RANOSCOP. lib.</HI> 11. <HI>par.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 5. <HI>cap.</HI> 12. <HI>cap.</HI> 13. <HI>cap.</HI> 14. with Diagrams, Figures, Pictures to pre&s;ent them to the eye, as well as with Theorems to pre&s;ent them to the ear? For how po&s;&s;ibly can an A&s;tronomer do his work, to handle of the <HI>mea&s;ures</HI> and <HI>motions</HI> of the Starrs (which is of the definition, and &s;o of the e&s;&s;ence of A&s;tronomy) and not handle of the Eclip&s;es and chan|ged po&s;tures and A&s;pects of the Planets, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>For W. <HI>Ram&s;ey</HI> and others quoting of Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heyden,</HI> we &s;hall after in a more convenient place in our Survey, &s;hew all men that will peru&s;e this Survey, how they and Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher,</HI> are gro&s;sly mi&s;taken.</P>
<P>I need add no more but the reprinting of the Do|ctours 1. <HI>Section</HI> of <HI>A&s;trologie</HI> word for word, as a full an&s;wer to the la&s;t part of this Section of W.<HI>R.</HI> from <HI>(C)</HI> to the end; and it will clear and confirm any of the things by me &s;poken afore; which is to a &s;yllable (if the <HI>Printer</HI> fail not) as it here followeth.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="Homes' section">
<PB N="24" REF="16">
<HEAD><HI>A Repetition of Doctour</HI> Homes <HI>his SECTION I.</HI> Of the nature of A&s;trology in &s;ome di&s;tinctions, de&s;criptions, and ob&s;ervations.</HEAD>
<P>IF I &s;hould di&s;tingui&s;h of <HI>A&s;trology</HI> as <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> doth, calling it, <HI>A&s;trologia Judiciaria,</HI> that is, <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology,</HI> as Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins,</HI> and Ma&s;ter <HI>Geree</HI> call it; or &s;hould I di&s;tingui&s;h as Doctour <HI>VVillet,</HI> that this Art is partly <HI>Theorical,</HI> partly <HI>Practical,</HI> and the <HI>practical</HI> is partly <HI>allowed,</HI> and partly <HI>rejected;</HI> as if hereby we would &s;eparate and &s;et apart for lawfull u&s;e, the <HI>name</HI> and <HI>thing of any kind of A&s;trology;</HI> 'tis of our indul|gence, and more then we need to do. For keeping to our terms, either fir&s;t to the term <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> it is no where allowed in the Scripture, under that notion, but every where &s;poken again&s;t, as we &s;hall &s;ee afterward. As o|ther things that are naturall, which are brought to coun|tenance A&s;trology, are not tolerated by the <HI>Encyclopaediae,</HI> and generall order, and &s;eats of all Arts and Sciences, within their own &s;phears, to be accounted A&s;trology.</P>
<P>For in&s;tance; fir&s;t, &s;ome urge that we know the <HI>Tides of the Sea by the &s;tate of the Moon;</HI> and <HI>tempe&s;ts by o|ther Stars,</HI> &amp;c. But the&s;e, and of the like nature, &s;ay we, are properly handled in that part of <HI>natural Philo&s;ophy</HI> which we call <HI>Meteorology;</HI> as al&s;o are all fiery Meteors, Comets, &amp;c. of all which the e&s;&s;entiall internall cau&s;es, <HI>matter</HI> and <HI>form,</HI> and one externall, namely the <HI>end,</HI> be|long thereunto, are there handled, and thereby are made an integral part of <HI>Phy&s;icks.</HI> For if you will &s;ay, be|cau&s;e of their externall efficient cau&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> the Stars, they are to be handled as a part of <HI>A&s;trology:</HI> by the &s;ame rea&s;on there will be left no &s;uch Science as <HI>naturall Philo&s;ophy,</HI> becau&s;e all inferiour bodies below the Moon
<PB N="25" REF="16">(as &s;aith the great Philo&s;opher <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI>) depend upon the &s;uperiour Cele&s;tiall bodies of the Heavens.</P>
<P>Secondly, Others &s;ay, that by A&s;trology we know <HI>Eclip&s;es,</HI> and changes of the Moon: But &s;ay we, <HI>A&s;tro|nomy</HI> doth challenge this, who&s;e proper work is to teach us the Sphears, Planets, and nominated fixed Stars, with their motions, mea&s;ures, di&s;tances, conjunctions and op|po&s;itions; whence ari&s;e Eclip&s;es of the Sun, or Stars, and changes of the Moon. I give but a touch upon &s;ome particulars, as an hint to under&s;tanding men to conceive of the re&s;t. Thirdly, If any urge that A&s;trology han|dles of the <HI>qualities</HI> and <HI>effects</HI> of the Stars: We reply, that &s;o doth A&s;tronomy of <HI>their qualities;</HI> namely, of their light and colour; and naturall Philo&s;ophy of their <HI>effects</HI> in watery, aiery, and fiery Meteors.</P>
<P>Or &s;econdly, if we admit of another term, or title which <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> gives to <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> calling it, <HI>A&s;trologiae Planetaria, i. e.</HI> Planetary A&s;trology; then we de|mand what becomes of almo&s;t all the Sy&s;tem of pretend|ed A&s;trology, if its ground work be founded mainly on the Planets, the main part of A&s;tronomy? What then becomes of the notions about the tenth Orb, the twelve hou&s;es of the Heavens, the twelve Signs, with hundreds more of &s;uch kind of knacks wherewith they are wont to build up A&s;trology?</P>
<P>Or thirdly, If we entertain tho&s;e other terms and ti|tles that <HI>Al&s;ted,</HI> and Doctour <HI>Willet,</HI> &amp;c. give to A|&s;trology, calling it <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>A&s;tromancy,</HI> and <HI>Genethliaca,</HI> that is, The <HI>calculatrix of Nativities,</HI> or <HI>Magick;</HI> all the&s;e are di&s;gracefull terms; and &s;o un|u&s;efull to in&s;inuate a lawfull A&s;trology. By all ob&s;erve, that there is no place left for A&s;trology; but it is as meer a phanta&s;ie as Palme&s;try.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="26" REF="17">
<HEAD>W.R. his <HI>SECT. III.</HI> Proving A&s;trologie to be an Art.</HEAD>
<P><HI>ARi&s;totle, lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 2. <HI>Phy&s;.</HI> affirmeth that A&s;tro|logy is <HI>Scientiamedia,</HI> a Science between the Ma|thematicks and natural Philo&s;ophy, for the Principles are meerly Mathematical, and in practice are applyed to &s;en&s;ible matter as the Phy&s;ical &s;ubject thereof: moreover he ranks it al&s;o among&s;t the Liberal Sciences; and annex|eth it to Philo&s;ophy in &s;uch a &s;ort, that he &s;eemeth indiffe|rent to u&s;e the name of a Philo&s;opher and an A&s;trologer for the &s;ame. So likewi&s;e <HI>Averro&euml;s</HI> in his Commentary on the 12. of the <HI>Metaphy&s;icks,</HI> text 44. &s;peaking con|cerning the power of the heavenly bodies, in the procreati|on and con&s;ervation of all worldly things, and in their mutual con&s;ent, and a&s;&s;i&s;ting one another in their mutual operations, he re&s;embleth them to good Governours in a Common-wealth, that joyntly concur in one unanimous con&s;ent for ordering the &s;ame: His words are, <HI>Di&s;po&s;itio in juvamento corporum coele&s;tium ad invicem in creando en|tia, quae &s;unt h&icirc;c, &amp; con&s;ervando ea, e&s;t &s;icut di&s;po&s;itio re|gentium bonorum, qui juvant &s;e adinvicem in regendo bo|nam eivitatem.</HI> And in his Commentary on the &s;econd Book of Phy&s;icks, his &s;econd Chapter, &s;heweth that natu|ral Philo&s;ophy and A&s;trology have one and the &s;ame &s;ub|ject, and yet are di&s;tingui&s;hed by a divers con&s;ideration. And in the third of the <HI>Metaph. Comment.</HI> 7. he affirmeth the knowledge of the Starrs to be a Mathematical Art; and &s;o it hath ever in all ages by the mo&s;t learned Philo&s;o|phers been e&s;teemed. I believe M. <HI>Homes</HI> nor no man el&s;e that knoweth any thing, will deny that it is one of the Li|beral Sciences, &amp; if he will condemn it as none, he mu&s;t be content to lo&s;e one of them, which were to render him&s;elf
<PB N="27" REF="17">the eighth wi&s;e man; what Science I pray will he place in the room of it, &s;ince he thus indeavours to excommuni|cate it, for he tels us it is as meer a phan&s;ie as <HI>Palme&s;try?</HI> and yet <HI>Galen</HI> (one of his learned that he brings to con|demn A&s;trology with the word <HI>Sophi&s;ticum,</HI> that it is <HI>Sophi&s;ticall,</HI> page. 115. l. 11.) as Phy&s;itians them|&s;elves report, teacheth to know the temperature of the body by the palm of the hand; and his rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the mind commonly followeth the con&s;titution of the bo|dy; thus you may &s;ee how he carpeth and catcheth at any thing that he thinks will make in the lea&s;t, for his turn; as al&s;o of <HI>Al&s;ted</HI>'s and Doctour <HI>VVillets</HI> Titles of A|&s;trology; when the que&s;tion is, whether either of them knew the common rules of the Art.</P>
<P>SURVEY. This borrowed Axe borrowed of Sir <HI>Chri|&s;topher</HI> is dull: tis mo&s;t true, that that of <HI>Astrology</HI> which hath any <HI>truth</HI> of BEING, is a <HI>Science</HI> not an Art; but is to be referred to other Sciences, and to be called by their name, according to the matter handled; as hath been often cleared in the Doctours <HI>Demonology.</HI> And if it be a <HI>Science,</HI> how then can it be an <HI>Art?</HI> The learned know they are Species logically oppo&s;ite. Let <HI>VVilliam</HI> therefore learn it, afore he believe this gro&s;&s;e <HI>non-&s;equi|tur</HI> to be good <HI>viz.</HI> Tis a <HI>Science, ergo</HI> 'tis an <HI>Art.</HI> And if <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> doth &s;ay (for I can believe <HI>VVilliam</HI> in no|thing but what I &s;ee, we have found him &s;o often tardy in notorious untruths) that <HI>Astrology</HI> is <HI>Scientia Media,</HI> and <HI>VVilliam</HI> will (as he doth) expound it, to be <HI>A Science between the Mathematicks and Naturall Phi|lo&s;ophy;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sect. <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"></HI></NOTE> how then doth <HI>VVilliam Ram&s;ey</HI> agree with him&s;elf afore, where he will have A&s;tronomy and A&s;tro|logy to be all one? For all liberall Arti&s;ts do know that A&s;tronomy is of the pure Mathematicks. But <HI>VVilliam</HI> con&s;ents that A&s;trology is a <HI>Middle thing</HI> between the Mathematicks and <HI>Naturall Philo&s;ophy.</HI> But in this <HI>VVilliam</HI> goes on as he began to TELL UNTRUTHS;
<PB N="28" REF="18">for there are no &s;uch words in <HI>Ari&s;t. Phy&s;. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 2. in three &s;everall editions in Greek and Latine, which I carefully read over; and &s;ome of them twice over. But this I got and <HI>William</HI> hath lo&s;t by it, in my reading that Chapter. <HI>viz.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;aith <HI>Arist. ibid.</HI>) <GAP DESC="foreign"> (alii <GAP DESC="foreign"><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Sed o|mnes in|terpretes <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">trovis modo legentes, reddunt Mathe|matica|rum &s;ci|entiarum vel. facul|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">atum.</NOTE>) <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>i. e.</HI> tho&s;e mathematicall di&s;ciplines or Sciences that are more the <HI>Phy&s;icks,</HI> or nearer to <HI>Naturall Philo&s;ophy</HI> are the <HI>Opticks, Mu&s;ick,</HI> and <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> Let W. <HI>Ram.</HI> therefore cea&s;e his anger again&s;t the <HI>Doctour,</HI> for &s;aying A&s;trology <HI>viz.</HI> that which can be owned, <HI>viz. naturall,</HI> is in many re&s;pects to be referred to Phy&s;icks, and to be called proportionably by the name of &s;ome parts of it, as <HI>Meteorology,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>That which W. <HI>R.</HI> affirms out of <HI>Averroes</HI> on the twelfth of <HI>Metaph.</HI> is nothing to <HI>Williams</HI> purpo&s;e. Nor that on the &s;econd of <HI>Phy&s;icks;</HI> but rather <HI>again&s;t, viz.</HI> for us touching the onene&s;&s;e of Phy&s;icks and allow|able A&s;trology; more ju&s;tly therefore called <HI>Naturall A&s;trology,</HI> if it mu&s;t have any thing of the word A|&s;trology in its name. For as for the <HI>Judiciall,</HI> 'tis in the corrupt phanta&s;ie of men and devils (according to the Scripture) rather then in <HI>nature.</HI> Nor is that on the 3. of Metaphy&s;. to <HI>Williams</HI> purpo&s;e. We allow the know|ledge of the &s;tars to be a Mathematicall Art, or rather a Science; yet we allow not <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology</HI> to be a lawfull Science. But do give that honour to <HI>A&s;tronomy.</HI></P>
<P>But <HI>cui bono,</HI> to what purpo&s;e is all this wa&s;te of <HI>Wil|liams words?</HI> For if all were yielded that <HI>William</HI> &s;peaks to prove <HI>A&s;trology</HI> to be a Science, yet doth it not infer that any <HI>A&s;trology</HI> is a di&s;tinct Science, much le&s;&s;e <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology</HI> to be any thing at all in <HI>rerum natura.</HI></P>
<P>From W. <HI>R.</HI> endeavour to ju&s;tifie <HI>Palme&s;try;</HI> by his confe&s;&s;ion he had received it by a <HI>report</HI> from the Phy&s;i|cians that, <HI>Galen</HI> did teach to know the temperature of the body by the palm of the hand, I inferre 1. (as I afore
<PB N="29" REF="18">&s;u&s;pected) that <HI>VVilliam</HI> borrows his be&s;t Feathers (that make any better &s;hew then railing) from other Fowles. 2. That I feel <HI>VV. Ram&s;ey's</HI> Pul&s;e, that he neither hath read much his Ma&s;ter <HI>Galen,</HI> nor under&s;tands the mean|ing of &s;uch a &s;peech, as that it &s;ignifies no more but that by the Pul&s;e, or by the heat, drine&s;s, coldne&s;s, or moi&s;ture of the Palmes may be di&s;cerned the temper of the Body, without Palme&s;tries canting upon the Lines of the Hands.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, <HI>VVilliam Ram&s;eys</HI> que&s;tioning Doctor <HI>VVillets</HI> and Doctor <HI>Alsteds</HI> knowledge of the common Rules of <HI>Astrologie,</HI> RENDERS HIM SO IGNO|RANT NOW, IN MY EYES, THAT I BEGIN TO REPENT I HAVE GONE SO FAR IN ANSWERING SO WORTHLESS A MAN, WHO KNOWS NOT THAT WHICH ALL INDIFFERENTLY LEARNED MEN DO KNOW, <HI>viz.</HI> that Doctour <HI>VVillet</HI> in his learn|ed Que&s;tions on the <HI>Pentateuch,</HI> and <HI>Daniel,</HI> touching A&s;trologie, and Doctour <HI>Alsted</HI> in his learned <HI>Ency|clopaedia</HI> of 27 Arts and Sciences, and particularly his <HI>System</HI> of A&s;trologie do manife&s;t to the World, that they were not ignorant of the utmo&s;t of A&s;trologie.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>W. R. his <HI>SECT. IV.</HI> Proving the lawfulne&s;s of Astrologie, being not impugned by the Scripture, nor Councils; but allowed of by the wi&s;est and greatest men.</HEAD>
<P>VVHat hath already above been &s;aid, is clear to any judicious impartial eye, that this Art is lawfull, where I &s;ay, <HI>The Heavens declare the Glory of God, &amp;c.</HI> But to clear it more plainly, the P&s;almi&s;t in his very next words &s;aith, <HI>The Firmament &s;heweth the works
<PB N="30" REF="19">of his hands, P&s;alm.</HI> 19.1. which is clear to me is meant thereby that he effecteth by them, (and no o|ther thing) (though I mu&s;t confe&s;s there are divers in|terpretations thereof) my rea&s;on is, that otherwi&s;e, every thing which is created doth declare the handy work of God; I believe Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> will finde <HI>Aquinas</HI> and <HI>Hierome</HI> of my opinion: He hath heard al&s;o, that there is no &s;peech nor &s;anguage, where the voice of the Starrs are not heard, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19.3. which may &s;erve here again very well for the purpo&s;e in hand; and to &s;peak more plainly, that God doth not prohibit mortals from the &s;tudy of them; you may &s;ee how the holy Gho&s;t by <HI>Stephen,</HI> in the 7. of the <HI>Acts, ver&s;.</HI> 22. &s;peaking in the commendation of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> giveth him (over and above the commendation that was afore&s;aid) that he was learned <HI>in all the wi&s;edom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds,</HI> which is clear to any rational man, that if it had been any wi&s;e &s;infull, dia|bolical, or odious in the &s;ight of God, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> would not have applied his &s;tudy thereunto; or at lea&s;t, it would never have been recorded in his prai&s;e. I might in&s;tance here <HI>Daniel, Solomon,</HI> and others, but this is &s;o clear, that to in&s;i&s;t longer hereon, were but vain, &s;ince there is no one place in the Scripture that can be &s;hown to &s;peak po|&s;itively again&s;t A&s;trology, or the &s;tudy thereof, more then to remember us not to give the glory of the Creatour to the Creature, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as in the an&s;wer to his divine proofs &s;hall appear. Wherefore then &s;ince it is warrantable and lawfull out of the Scripture to &s;tudy this Art, nay and as we &s;ee by experience, warranted by God, in the &s;hewing of blazing Starrs to A&s;trologers onely (not to the vulgar and proficient in other Arts) to forewarn the people of the danger and puni&s;hment to come; and if it were not &s;o he might as well &s;hew &s;ignes on earth to the illiterate, by common vulgar things; as in heaven to the learned A&s;trologer, who onely can judge of the effects. Where|fore
<PB N="31" REF="19">then I &s;ay, of nece&s;&s;ity the Art mu&s;t be allowed of by Councils, being the wi&s;er &s;ort of people, e&s;pecially by the godlier &s;ort of Councils, who&s;e acts and determinati|ons will be grounded on piety and the Word of God, and if otherwi&s;e; I value not what their cen&s;ure is; for they are but men and (guided by their own rea&s;ons and opini|ons) are but frail &s;ubject to infirmity and errour, <HI>Huma|num e&s;t errare.</HI> He cannot but know al&s;o that even the pal|pable&s;t truths have been condemned by Councils, either for &s;ome &s;elf-intere&s;t, or for abu&s;e of the thing condemn|ed; as for in&s;tance, the <HI>Bacaran</HI> Councils (as well as the Roman Senate) hath condemned A&s;trologers, but how? not becau&s;e they were Students in that heavenly Science, but for tru&s;ting in A&s;trology; (and who is &s;o &s;uper&s;titious, may not lawfully be termed an A&s;trologer, for A&s;trolo|gers are in no &s;ort hereof guilty) the words of the Coun|cil is in the <HI>Cap.</HI> 9. of <HI>Bacaran</HI> Councils, <HI>Si quis animas, &amp; corpora humana fatalibus &s;tellis credit ad&s;tringi, &s;icut pagani &amp; Pri&s;cillianus dixerunt, anathema &s;it, Who &s;o tru&s;teth in the fatal nece&s;&s;ity of the Stars, as the Heathens and Pri&s;cilliani&s;ts do or &s;ay, let him be accur&s;t.</HI> To al which, there is no A&s;trologer, but will willingly conde|&s;cend; for by this, is not A&s;trology nor A&s;trologers in the lea&s;t condemned, but the abu&s;e of the Art, to give that to it, which properly belongs to God the Creatour of the&s;e heavenly bodies; the decree is again&s;t tho&s;e that tru&s;t in them, or believe a fatal nece&s;&s;ity, not that &s;tudy the knowledge of them, and make a true u&s;e of them. So likewi&s;e the Council or Parliament in <HI>England,</HI> made a Law again&s;t tho&s;e that multiplied Gold and Silver, why? not becau&s;e they condemned that heavenly revelation, or practi&s;e of the <HI>mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed Stone of the Philo&s;ophers,</HI> but they forbad the multiplication of Gold and Silver, in that they thought it too great a trea&s;ure for any private &s;ub|ject, and to prevent rebellion, commotions and in&s;urrecti|ons in the Common-wealth, like wi&s;e Pilots &s;itting at the
<PB N="32" REF="20">Stern, did &s;tudy to prevent the Storm which was likely otherwi&s;e to &s;hipwrack the &s;afety thereof. So that I &s;ay then, there is no Council, (if they have any &s;park of Re|ligion, Learning or Policy) that will &s;hew them&s;elves &s;o ridiculous, as to decree any thing in the lea&s;t, again&s;t ei|ther A&s;trologers or A&s;trology, taking it as it is in it &s;elf, and not abu&s;ed; which is not the fault in the Art, but the Arti&s;t in going beyond the Art; for if under the colour of A&s;trology, I &s;tudy Necromancy, is A&s;trology therefore to be condemned as unlawfull, becau&s;e together with it I &s;tudy unlawfull Arts? No &s;ure, &s;ince this is a thing &s;o far different; therefore it is good to put the Saddle on the right Hor&s;e.</P>
<P>And this my argument is thus confimed, for that in former ages, both the greate&s;t and wi&s;e&s;t &s;ort of people were Practitioners and Students in A&s;trology; as fir&s;t we may &s;ee by the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> among&s;t whom it was not law|full for any man to take the function of Prie&s;thood on him, except he were an A&s;trologer; nor could any be cho|&s;en King, except he were of the Colledge of Prie&s;ts. And <HI>Rhodiginus</HI> reporteth that for the prevention of Trea&s;on, there was none born within that Kingdom, who&s;e Nati|vity was not brought to the King to be judged on. And <HI>Dion</HI> recordeth the &s;ame to be practi&s;ed by <HI>Tiberius;</HI> and we &s;ee in <HI>Daniel,</HI> that the Monarchs of <HI>Babylon</HI> attempted nothing of importance, without fir&s;t asking coun&s;el of the <HI>Chaldeans.</HI> And the Kings of <HI>Lacedaemonia</HI> had none in their Councils neither were any &s;uffered to &s;it, but who were A&s;trologers: and al&s;o among the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> none was ad|mitted to the Crown, but who were excellently skilled in A&s;trology; nay, to this day there is no King but hath his Mathematician about him. So then, it is cleared, that there is no Council but what is ignorant of Art and Religion, that will condemn or decree any thing again&s;t A&s;trology, and how it hath been e&s;teemed among&s;t the wi&s;e&s;t and great|e&s;t of the people. And that ye may be the better confirm|ed
<PB N="33" REF="20">in what hath been already &s;aid; I will give the names of mo&s;t of the chiefe&s;t Patriarks, Fathers, Kings, Empe|rours, and Philo&s;ophers, (according as that worthy and noble Sir <HI>Christopher Heyden</HI> &s;ets them down at the latter end of his Book, in defence of Judicial A&s;trology) that have been Students in this noble Art.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>ASTRONOMERS and ASTROLOGERS from ADAM.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 <HI>Adam,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Seth,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Enoch,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>Kenan,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>5 <HI>Mahalaleel,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>6 <HI>Jared,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>7 <HI>Henoch,</HI> &amp;c.</ITEM>
<ITEM>In all about 200.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>SURVEY. 1. The Title of this Section doth ex|tremely cheat the Reader, whiles he believes to finde W. <HI>R.</HI> di&s;cour&s;e following it, to make it good; which it doth no more do, then Chalk proves Chee&s;e to be Chee&s;e.</P>
<P>To his vain repetition, abu&s;ing the &s;acred Word of God in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 19. hath been &s;poken afore; onely <HI>William</HI> adds a confutation of him&s;elf; <HI>that all the Creation &s;hew the handy-work of God.</HI> And therefore by <HI>Williams</HI> own con&s;equence, all the World &s;hould be the proper &s;ubject but of one Di&s;cipline, <HI>viz.</HI> of <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>His BELIEF that <HI>Aquinas</HI> and <HI>Hierome</HI> is of his opinion. 1. Begets in me a belief of a report that was brought to me by a godly Scholar that hath &s;ome ac|quaintance with &s;ome of <HI>Williams</HI> way, but upon ano|ther account, THAT <HI>William</HI> was helped by &s;ome of his Brethren or their Teachers in his <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> (un|chri&s;tian-like) <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> 2. Begets a belief in me that <HI>William</HI> cannot tell <HI>where,</HI> or <HI>what,</HI> either <HI>Aquinas</HI> or <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;peaks for Judicial A&s;trology. For W. <HI>R. af|firmeth</HI> nothing, <HI>quotes</HI> nothing, either of the <HI>place,</HI> or
<PB N="34" REF="21">their <HI>words.</HI> The Doctour hath not &s;o dealt with W. <HI>R.</HI> and his Brethren. 3. That <HI>William</HI> mi&s;took his infor|mation, or his informers mi&s;took. For <HI>Aquinas</HI> hath no|thing at all, and <HI>Hierome</HI> &s;aith nothing for A&s;trology, upon the P&s;alms. But this I can a&s;&s;ure <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> that <HI>Aquinas</HI> in his <HI>Summes</HI> hath much again&s;t A&s;trolo|gy. And it were ju&s;t to bid him and his Prompters go look it, becau&s;e they deal &s;o unfairly with the Doctour, and jugglingly with the Reader, either in <HI>non-quoting,</HI> or in quoting <HI>Non-ens.</HI> But to clear mine integrity to the Reader; it is in <HI>Aquinas</HI> 2 <HI>a.</HI> 2 <HI>ae. Qu.</HI> 95. where <HI>Aquinas</HI> putting the Que&s;tion whether <HI>the divination that is made by the Starrs be unlawfull?</HI> 1. He &s;aith, <HI>SED CON|TRAEST, quod Augu&s;tinus, &amp;c.</HI> That is, <HI>That of</HI> Au&s;tin <HI>is again&s;t the lawfulne&s;s of Divina|tion by Starrs;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Illos <HI>Planetarios</HI> quos <HI>Mathematicos</HI> vocant, con|&s;ulere non de&s;idebam; &amp; quod tamen Chri&s;tiana, &amp; vera pietas expellit, &amp; <HI>damnat.</HI></NOTE> In 4. Confe&s;&s;. <Q><HI>I did not</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Au&s;tin</HI>) <HI>de&s;i&s;t con&s;ulting with the PLANETARIES,</HI></Q> <HI>whom they call MATHEMATICIANS, &amp;c. which thing neverthele&s;s Chri&s;tian, and true piety expelleth,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Conclu&s;io.</HI> Contingen|tium, &amp; ca&s;ualium per certitudinem divinatio &s;u|per&s;titio&s;a &amp; illicica e&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>and condemneth.</HI> 2. <HI>Aquinas</HI> his CONCLUSION is, <Q><HI>To divine by the di&s;po&s;ition of heaven|ly bodies, as by a certainty, touching con|tingent and ca&s;ual things is &s;uper&s;titious, and unlaw|full, &amp;c.</HI></Q> 3. In his RESPONDEO<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Re&s;pondeo,</HI> dicendum qu&ograve;d &s;icut dictum e&s;t, di|vinationi quae ex opinione fal&s; &amp; vana procedit, in|gerit properatio; daemo|nis, ut hominum animos implicet vanitati, aut fal|fitati. Van&acirc; autem aut fals&acirc; opinione utitur, &s;i quis ex con&s;ideratione &s;tellarum, futura velit praecognoicere, quae per cas praecogno&s;ci non po&s;|&s;unt. P&s;t ergo con&s;ideran|dum, quid per coele&s;tium corporum in&s;pectionem de futuris po&s;&s;unt pra|cogno&s;ci. Et de his qui|dem quae ex nece&s;&s;itate e|veniunt, mani&s;ellum e&s;t qu&ograve;d per confider: tionem &s;i ellarum po&s;&s;unt prae|cogno&s;ci, &s;icut A&s;trologi praenanciant Eclip&s;es fu|turas. Non po&s;&s;ent di&s;po|&s;itiones &amp; motus corpo|rum coele&s;tium reduci in unam cau&s;am communem quae &s;it corporali, Po&s;&s;unt autem reduci in unam cau|&s;am communem quae e&s;t providentia divina. Sed ali&acirc; ratione di&s;ponuntur <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> divina providentia mo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">us &amp; &s;itus coele&s;tium corpo|rum, &amp; ali&acirc; ratione even|tus contingentium futuro|rum; quia illa di&s;ponuntur &s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">cum<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">&ugrave;m rationem nece&s;|&s;itatis, ut &s;emper &amp; co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">em modo proveniant; h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">c au|tem &s;ecund&ugrave;m rationem contingentiae, ut variabili|ter contingant. Unde non pote&s;t e&s;&s;e, qu&ograve;d ex in&s;pe|ctione &s;yderum accipiatur praecognitio futurorum, ni|&s;i &s;inut ex cau&s;is praeco|gno&s;cuntur effectur. Du|plices autem effectus &s;ub|trahuntur cau&s;alitati coe|le&s;tium corporum. 1. qui|dem omnes effectus per accidens contingentes, &s;ive in rebus humanis, &s;ive in rebus naturalibus. Quia, ut probatur 6. Metaph|ens per accidens non ha|bet cau&s;am, &amp; praecipu&egrave; natualem, cuju&s;modi e&s;t vi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">tus coele&s;tium corpo|rum. Quia quod per acci|dens fit, neque e&s;t ens pro|pri&egrave;, neque unum, &s;ieut qu&ograve;d lapide cadente fiat Terraemotus. Haec enim, &amp; huju&s;modi non &s;unt &s;im|pliciter unum, &s;ed &s;impli|citer multa. Operatio au|tem naturae &s;emper termi|natur ad aliquid unum, &s;i|cut &amp; procedit ab uno principio, quod e&s;t forma rei naturalis. 2. Autem &s;ubtrahuntur cau&s;alitati coele&s;tium corporum actus liberi arbitrii, quod e&s;t fa|cultas voluntatis &amp; ratio|nis. Intellectus enim &s;ive ratio, non e&s;t corpus, nee actus corporis organici, &amp; per con&s;equens, nec vo|luntas quae e&s;t in ratione, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> patet per Philo&s;ophum in 3. de anim. Nullum autem corpus pote&s;t im|primere in iem incorpore|am. Unde impo&s;&s;ibile e&s;t, qu&ograve;d corpora coele&s;tia di|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ect&egrave; imprimant in intel|lectum &amp; voluntatem. Hoc enim e&s;&s;et ponere in|tellectum non differre &agrave; &s;en&s;u. Unde corpora coele|&s;tia non po&s;&s;unt e&s;&s;e per &s;e, cau&s;a operationum li|beri arbitrii, po&s;&s;unt ta|men ad hoc di&s;po&s;itiv&egrave; inclinare in quamum im|primunt in corpus huma|num, &amp; per con&s;equens, in vires &s;en&s;itivas, quae &s;unt actus corporalium orga|norum, quae inclinant ad humanos actus. Quia ta|men vires &s;en&s;itivae obedi|unt rationi, ut pater per Philo&s;ophum 3. de Anim. &amp; 1. Ethic. nulla nece&s;&s;i|pas ex hoc, libero arbitrio imponitur, &s;ed contra in|clinationem coele&s;tium corporum homo pote&s;t per rationem operati Si quis ergo CONSIDE|RATIONE ASTRO|NUM UTATUR AD PRAECOGNOSCEN|DOS FUTUROS CA|SURALES, VEL FOR|TUITOS EVENTUS, AUT ETIAM AD COGNOSCENDUM PER CERTITUDI|MEM FUTURA O<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">E|RA HOMINUM, pro|cedit hoc ex fal&s;a &amp; vana opinione. ET SIC OPE|RATIO DAE MONIS SE IMMISCET. Unde erit divinatio SU|PERSTITIOSA &amp; illicita.</NOTE> upon that Conclu&s;ion he enlargeth much again&s;t Judicial A&s;trology; the &s;umm whereof (to give it you in his own words) is this. <Q><HI>DICEND&V;M quod &amp;c. i. e. We mu&s;t &s;ay,</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Aquinas</HI>) <HI>as hath been &s;aid afore</HI> (Art. 1.2.) <HI>the operation of the Devil doth pour in it &s;elf into that divination which proceeds from a fal&s;e and vain opinion, to the end that he may inwrap the mindes of men in vanity or fal&s;ehood. And if any
<PB N="35" REF="21">man will fore-know future things by the con&s;ideration of the Starrs, which by them cannot be fore known, he is the man that follows a vain, and fal&s;e opini|on. Therefore we mu&s;t con&s;ider, what of future things may be fore-known by in|&s;pection into the Starrs. And indeed as concerning tho&s;e things which come to pa&s;s by nece&s;&s;ity, it is manifest that they may be fore-known by con&s;ideration of the Stars; as Astrologers do foretell Eclip&s;es. The di&s;po&s;itions and motions of the hea|venly Bodies, cannot be reduced unto one common cau&s;e which is natural; but may be reduced unto one common cau&s;e, which is divine providence. But the motions and &s;ituations of the heavenly bodies are by divine providence di&s;po&s;ed one way, and the events of future contingencies ano|ther; becau&s;e, the former are di&s;po&s;ed according to the manner of nece&s;&s;ity, that they always come to pa&s;s, and after the &s;ame manner. But the later, after the way of contingency, that they happen va|riou&s;ly. From whence it cannot be, that the foreknowledge of future things can be ta|ken by in&s;pection into the Starrs, other|wi&s;e then as effects are fore-known by their cau&s;es. Now there are two &s;orts of effects that are exempted from the efficacy of the celestial bodies.</HI> 1. <HI>All effects that happen by accident, whether in hu|mane, or natural things: becau&s;e as 'tis proved in the &s;ixth of Metaphy&s;icks, an entity by accident hath no cau&s;e, e&s;pecially natural, &s;uch as is the vertue of heaven|ly
<PB N="36" REF="22">bodies. Becau&s;e that which is by acci|dent is neither an entity properly, nor an onene&s;s; as for example, whiles a &s;tone is falling there is an Earthquake,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>For the&s;e and the like things are not &s;imply one, but ab&s;olutely many. Now the operation of Nature is always terminated unto &s;ome one thing, even as it doth flow from one principle, which is the natural form of the thing.</HI> 2. <HI>The acts of free will (which is a faculty of the will and rea&s;on) are exempted from the efficacy of the heavenly bodies. For the intellect, or rea&s;on is nei|ther a body, nor the act of a corporeal or|gan, and by con&s;equence, neither is the will, which is within the rea&s;on; as ap|pears by the Philo&s;opher in his third Book of the &s;oul. Now no bodily thing can make an impre&s;&s;ion upon an incorporeal thing, Whence it follows, that IT IS IM|POSSIBLE THAT THE HEA|VENLY BODIES CAN DI|RECTLY MAKE AN IM|PRESS &V;PON THE &V;N|DERSTANDING AND THE WILL. For this were to make the under|&s;tanding not to differ from &s;en&s;e. From whence it follows, that the heavenly bodies cannot be a cau&s;e</HI> per &s;e <HI>of the actings of free will, yet may they di&s;po&s;ingly incline to this, &s;o farr as they impre&s;s upon mans body, and by con&s;equence, upon the &s;en&s;i|tive powers, which are acts of the corpo|ral organs, which incline to humane acts. Yet becau&s;e THE SENSITIVE POWERS ARE OBEDIENT
<PB N="37" REF="22">TO REASON (as appears by the Philo&s;opher in his</HI> 3. <HI>book of the &s;oul, and in his</HI> 1. <HI>book of Manners</HI>) NO NE|CESSITY HEREBY IS IM|POSED UPON THE SPON|TANEOUS WILL, BUT A MAN CAN ACT CONTRA|RY TO THE INCLINATI|ON OF THE CELESTIAL BODIES, BY THE POWER OF HIS REASON. <HI>Therefore,</HI> IF ANY MAN <HI>&s;hall make u&s;e of the</HI> CONSIDERATION OF THE STARRS <HI>to foreknow</HI> CASUAL, <HI>or</HI> CONTINGENT EVENTS, <HI>or al&s;o to know with certainty the</HI> FU|TURE WORKS OF MEN, <HI>this proceedeth from a fal&s;e and vain opinion, and &s;o the</HI> OPERA|TION OF THE DEVIL INTER|MINGLES IT SELF, <HI>from whence the divination is</HI> SUPERSTITIOUS AND UNLAWFULL.</Q> Thus farr <HI>Aquinas;</HI> on whom commenting we have learned, and profound <HI>Caje|tan</HI> to boot. <HI>Et ex his patet</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Cajetan</HI>) <HI>quomodo in|telligendum est, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <Q><HI>By the&s;e it is apparent, how we must understand</HI></Q> that cele&s;tial bodies are not over-ruling our elections or free chu&s;ings, and voluntary acts, and how the con&s;ultation of A&s;trologers about the Nativities of men, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are condemned. For if the&s;e things be applied for a certainty of knowledge of contin|gencies; or (which is the &s;ame thing) if we mu&s;t u&s;e &s;uch a figure of the Nativity, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as a law, they are diabolical and condemned. And this <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> intends in his fourth book of his Confe&s;&s;ions. But if they be onely to attain a con|jecture of natural inclinations, they are not evil. With all know, that albeit &s;ome truth may be had out of tho&s;e things, yet THE WAY OR MANNER
<PB N="38" REF="23">
<Q>OF THE CONJECTURE IS SO WEAK THAT IT IS SCARCELY A CON|JECTURE. And this becau&s;e of humane igno|rance, <HI>of the greate&s;t of Cau&s;es,</HI> both <HI>Cele&s;tial</HI> and <HI>next Cau&s;es.</HI> For the <HI>whole</HI> of that <HI>we know in the&s;e kinde of the things, doth not de&s;erve to be called A Part (how &s;mall &s;oever) of tho&s;e things we are ignorant of concerning the &s;ame as in relation to us and &s;till daily are &s;o ignorant untill the whole compleat cour&s;e of heavenly bodies be once gone over.</HI></Q> Becau&s;e the Starrs are <HI>unknown</HI> to us, how they are one towards another, and their moti|on is not compleated untill &s;ix and thirty thou&s;and years be over. <Q>I &s;ay that <HI>daily there is a new &s;ituation of the &s;tarry Heaven,</HI> which &s;ituation yet <HI>hath never been con|&s;idered,</HI> unto which <HI>the Planets and Starrs</HI> being re|ferred, who <HI>can tell what cau&s;ality they are clothed with, or how they cau&s;e, change, or destroy.</HI> I mention not the <HI>Calculation of Motions, becau&s;e perhaps it is impo&s;&s;ible to have In&s;truments exactly to know the ri&s;ing and &s;etting of Starrs, as I hear it from the A&s;trologers them&s;elves.</HI></Q></P>
<P>As for W.<HI>R.</HI> alleadging <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Daniel,</HI> he de|&s;erves rather a <HI>Ferula,</HI> then an an&s;wer, becau&s;e the Do|ctour hath fully an&s;wered that tho&s;e Saints were not judi|ciary A&s;trologers; &s;o that <HI>William</HI> could not here give us any &s;olid reply.</P>
<P><HI>William Ram&s;ey's</HI> proof in this Section, that Ju|diciary A&s;trology is not condemned by the Word of God, is onely his pa&s;&s;ing his Word for it, which is worth nothing, for how unable he is to keep his Word will appear after. His alleadging that God &s;hews Bla|zing Starrs onely to A&s;trologers is a <HI>gro&s;s untruth,</HI> confu|ted by thou&s;ands of the vulgar yet alive in <HI>England,</HI> who &s;aw the Blazing Starr many nights, that appeared afore the <HI>Swedi&s;h</HI> Warrs in <HI>Germany.</HI> For what hinders, but Shepheards, Sailers, Watchmen, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> illiterates &s;hould
<PB N="39" REF="23">perceive that which is obvious to the common eyes of mankinde; and di&s;tingui&s;h a Comet from a Starr by his nearne&s;s, motion, and his feather or long tail.</P>
<P>And ju&s;t as <HI>William</HI> proves here Judicial A&s;trology not to be condemned by the Word of God; ju&s;t &s;o (and no wi&s;elier) doth he prove it not impugned by Councils; namely by bare facing it down with a bold forehead (whiles that <HI>Councils</HI> to the contrary are in his &s;ight) <HI>that of nece&s;&s;ity</HI> the Art mu&s;t be allowed by Councils, yet in the &s;ame place profe&s;&s;eth his contempt of Councils, if they be not of his minde. Is this <HI>Williams</HI> proof of the lawfulne&s;s of A&s;trology by Councils? To one of tho&s;e Councils alleadged by the Doctour (for he alleadged two in his Demonology, and might have done more) <HI>Will.</HI> can &s;ay nothing. To the other he hoped he could;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>W. Ram.</HI> is &s;hame|fully out in his LATIN. See be|fore in this Section at *</NOTE> but hath mi&s;erably di&s;graced him&s;elf in <HI>not con&s;truing a plain piece of Latin right.</HI> For the words of the Council, as <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> reports them, <HI>Si quis animas, &amp; corpora humana fatal, bus &s;tellis credit adstringi, &s;icut Pagani, &amp; Pri&s;cillianus dixerunt, Anathema &s;it;</HI> are according to true Grammar, thus to be rendered; <HI>If any one doth be|leive the Souls and Bodies of Men to be bound to, or nece&s;&s;itated by fatal Starrs, as the Pagans and the Pri|&s;cill<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ani&s;ts do let him be accur&s;ed.</HI> So that if you compare <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> interpretation with this, which is clo&s;e ac|cording to the Latin, you &s;hall finde that he did not onely leave out &s;omething, becau&s;e it might prejudice him; but (which is the thing I mainly in&s;i&s;t upon) he doth interpret the Latin mo&s;t fal&s;ely in the main thing; which condemns any with <HI>Anathema,</HI> that &s;hall believe <HI>that the Starrs have a nece&s;&s;itating power over mens Bodies and Souls;</HI> which in plain Engli&s;h is, <HI>to believe the A&s;trologers to &s;ay true, who in their practi&s;e, &s;o teach, and by that undertake to predict humane events by their Judicial A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>For the <HI>Philo&s;ophers Stone,</HI> he hath little cau&s;e to call it <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> &s;eeing the attempts about it have undone <HI>Will.
<PB N="40" REF="24">Ram&s;eys</HI> father,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Te&s;tis <HI>M.</HI> Rowl. <HI>Mini|&s;ter.</HI></NOTE> who lies in Pri&s;on by it. Though the late King bore with his father defeating him of his expectati|on, and of &s;cores of pounds, yet other men will not, can|not bear &s;uch wrongs. Nor hath <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> &s;o ble&s;&s;ed him&s;elf with his father skill, and the Philo&s;ophers Stone, as to enrich them&s;elves, and deliver him.</P>
<P>To his large alleadging the honour and antiquity of A&s;trology, a brief an&s;wer will &s;erve; <HI>viz.</HI> 1. That till <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> or his a&s;&s;ociates do produce &s;ome true Chri&s;tians, whiles &s;uch, to have been practi&s;ers of Judi|cial A&s;trology, all his in&s;tances amount but to the Pro|verb, <HI>Ask my Fellows whether I be a Thief:</HI> or to a &s;elf contradiction. For the A&s;trologers W.<HI>R.</HI> W.L. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> when they &s;ee their advantage, inveigh again&s;t godly and learned Mini&s;ters, with the name of <HI>Prie&s;ts;</HI> and <HI>H.H. Vox coelorum,</HI> in the behalf of A&s;trology &s;aith, the <HI>Roman</HI> Laws again&s;t <HI>Mathematicians</HI> and <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> did mean <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> and yet now the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> and the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> mu&s;t be alleadged for the honour of <HI>Judicial A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. If <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> doth not here intend a difference between <HI>A&s;tronomers</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> (contrary to his Tenet afore) in that he puts both names in the Title to his Catalogue; yet he thinks learned men may put that difference; &s;o that if any of them &s;hould whip him for his fal&s;e Scrowl, proving many of them no A&s;trologers; yet they may be found A&s;tronomers.</P>
<P N="3">3. W. <HI>Ram.</HI> Catalogue of them from <HI>Adam, &amp;c.</HI> is ridiculous. We have no &s;uch thing in the Bible; and there|fore can know no &s;uch thing. For <HI>Greek Homer</HI> the Poet is the anciente&s;t humane Authour that is extant. The man flouri&s;hed about 911. years afore Chri&s;t. The onely Au|thour pretended, of the greate&s;t antiquity, <HI>viz.</HI> concern|ing things &s;o ancient as the beginning of the <HI>Empire of Babylon,</HI> and of <HI>Ninus</HI> the fir&s;t Emperour thereof, is one <HI>Bero&s;us;</HI> of who&s;e writings (&s;aith learned <HI>Sleidan</HI>)
<PB N="41" REF="24">almo&s;t all men make a doubt, and think them counterfeit. The mo&s;t judicious and true Chronologer, leaves out <HI>Be|ro&s;us. Helvicus</HI> puts him in <HI>ad annum Mundi</HI> 3690.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. 7. cap. 37.</NOTE> which is but about 281. years afore Chri&s;t, which is but ye&s;terday in compari&s;on of <HI>Adam, Seth, Enoch. Pliny</HI> &s;aith, this <HI>Bero&s;us</HI> was an <HI>A&s;trologer.</HI> And of the true, and forged <HI>Bero&s;us</HI> learned <HI>Ge&s;ner</HI> in his <HI>Bibliotheck</HI> writes thus, <HI>There are extant in our age five Books of Aniquities, a&s;cribed to Bero&s;us,</HI> but all the more learned judge they are not of <HI>Bero&s;us, but feigned by I know not what Fabler, and &s;et forth in</HI> Bero&s;us <HI>his name.</HI> To this famous <HI>Pezelius</HI> on <HI>Sleidan</HI> adds. <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> (&s;aith he) cites the Hi&s;tories of <HI>Bero&s;us, l.</HI> 1. <HI>con. App. &amp; Athenaeus l.</HI> 14. The genuine <HI>Bero&s;us</HI> peri&s;hed. There remains the Fictions of <HI>Annius Viterbien&s;is</HI> a Monk; neither are the fragments of <HI>Meta&s;then</HI> and <HI>Manethon</HI> of a better me|tall.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>W.R. his <HI>SECT. V.</HI> Demon&s;trating the antiquity of A&s;trology.</HEAD>
<P>VVE have &s;een already how A&s;trology hath been proved lawfull by the Scripture and rea&s;on, not condemned by Councils, but admired and honoured in all ages, by the wi&s;e&s;t of the ancients; we come now to &s;hew its antiquity, and from whence it had its fir&s;t original: Concerning this point, there hath been much controver&s;ie among&s;t Writers, but mo&s;t hold, that it was fir&s;t revealed to man in the infancy of the World by God; <HI>Ari|&s;totle</HI> deriveth it from the <HI>Egyptians, Tully</HI> from the <HI>A&s;&s;yrians,</HI> others from the <HI>Sidonians, Chaldeans, Per&s;i|ans, Indians, Arabians,</HI> and <HI>Greeks;</HI> but however it is mo&s;t certain, if we will believe the anciente&s;t Hi&s;toriogra|phers, that the Prie&s;ts and Kings among&s;t the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> among the <HI>Babylonians,</HI> the <HI>Magicians</HI> a|mong
<PB N="42" REF="25">the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> the <HI>Gymno&s;ophists</HI> among the <HI>Indians,</HI> the chief Philo&s;ophers of <HI>Greece</HI> and <HI>Italy,</HI> and the <HI>Druides</HI> of <HI>France</HI> were all A&s;trologers, and e&s;teemed by tho&s;e Nations for the wi&s;e&s;t men. But <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> in his An|tiquities, <HI>lib.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 2. deriveth it from <HI>Adam</HI> and <HI>Seth:</HI> and that they taught it to their po&s;terity, and that <HI>Seth</HI> was &s;o well skilled therein, that fore&s;eeing thereby the de&s;truction of the World, fir&s;t by Water, then by Fire, lea&s;t the knowledge &s;hould peri&s;h by the Flood, engra|ved it in two Pillers, the one of Stone, the other of Brick; and he farther witne&s;&s;eth <HI>that of Stone to remain in</HI> Syria <HI>in his own time;</HI> and in the 3. Chapter of the &s;ame Book, he affirmeth, that man lived &s;o long before the Flood (by the permi&s;&s;ion of God) to learn Arts and Sciences, e&s;pe|cially naming A&s;trologie and Geometry, the which (&s;aith he) <HI>Edi&s;cere non potui&s;&s;ent, ni&s;i &s;excentis viverent annis,</HI> could not be learned under &s;ix hundred years time, for the&s;e are Studies that require much experience, and parti|cular ob&s;ervation, which could not be done on an in&s;tant. Again in his eighth Chapter of the &s;ame fir&s;t Book of his Antiquities, he further affirmeth, that <HI>Abraham</HI> having learned this knowledge in <HI>Chaldea</HI> being the place of his birth, when he came into <HI>Egypt,</HI> he fir&s;t taught the <HI>Egyp|tians</HI> the knowledge of A&s;trologie and Arithmetick and &s;ince the <HI>Egyptians</HI> have been mo&s;t exqui&s;ite therein, &s;o that &s;ome Hi&s;torians have believed <HI>Atlas</HI> King of <HI>Egypt</HI> to be the fir&s;t inventer thereof, others have thought <HI>He|noch</HI> and <HI>Atlas</HI> to be both one, but mo&s;t Hi&s;toriographers hold <HI>Atlas</HI> to be after the Flood. And that A&s;trology is derived from <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P>SURVEY.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Antiqui|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">as &s;ine retitate e&s;t vetu|&s;tas er|roris.</NOTE> Were it not that the Reader might &s;u&s;pect my leaping over &s;omething that were con&s;iderable, I would have left out this Section, it being a vain Tauto|logy. We have already an&s;wered to the antiquity of A&s;trology; and in particular to <HI>Jo&s;ephus.</HI> The Fathers rule is excellent, <HI>Antiquity without verity is the ancient|ne&s;s
<PB N="43" REF="25">of Errour.</HI> All that are here reckoned up to counte|nance <HI>Astrology</HI> were either the <HI>worst of men,</HI> viz. <HI>Hea|thens,</HI> or diabolical <HI>Magicians,</HI> or <HI>Idolaters;</HI> or both, or all (as were the <HI>Druides,</HI> whom &s;ome ancient Au|thours call <HI>Magos,</HI> others <HI>idolalatras</HI>) or the mo&s;t uncer|tain, if not the fooli&s;he&s;t of <HI>Traditions</HI> (as that of the <HI>two Pillars</HI>) of which <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> hath &s;tore, and therefore not to be regarded in what he &s;aith of &s;uch ancient times of <HI>Abraham,</HI> as we have given &s;ufficient rea&s;on in the Survey of the former Section; or <HI>&s;elf-contradictions;</HI> as that a man could not learn A&s;trology under &s;ix hundred years, yet now <HI>William,</HI> and <HI>William,</HI> and I know not who will pretend great skill in it at half &s;ixty: or <HI>Ridi|cles;</HI> For naming <HI>Adam</HI> to be an A&s;trologer he might well think, the Reader would judge if he was an A&s;tro|loger he was &s;o after the Devil had given him the fall; and if there were a derivation of A&s;trology from him as &s;uch, it was in the traduction of &s;in. For conclu&s;ion of this Section; let me deal truly, &s;eriou&s;ly, and plainly with <HI>William,</HI> that it is brought to me by good hands from his own Brethren in A&s;trology that they <HI>&s;et him on work,</HI> becau&s;e he was one of the <HI>&s;illy</HI> mean ones among them, thereby to di&s;grace the Doctour. But I will &s;ay what others &s;ay, that <HI>William</HI> hath but blown upon the Que&s;tion. Demonology &s;tands like a Ca&s;tle of Steel. The A&s;trologers have laid their heads, and prompt|ed <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> but nothing is done but the di&s;gracing of their own cau&s;e.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>W.R. his <HI>SECT. VI.</HI> That Astrology is the most profitable Study reveated under the Sun to mortals.</HEAD>
<P>WHich I &s;hall indeavour to make clear thus; fir&s;t, that it is mo&s;t profitable for the knowledge
<PB N="44" REF="26">of <HI>Moral Philo&s;ophy, viz.</HI> of our &s;elves and others. Se|condly, for <HI>Natural Philo&s;ophy.</HI> Thirdly, for <HI>Phy&s;ick.</HI> Fourthly, for <HI>Health.</HI> Fifthly, for <HI>Husbandry.</HI> Sixthly, for giving a rea&s;on for <HI>Climacterical</HI> years (which other Arts cannot) and other things. Seventhly, and la&s;tly, for <HI>Military Di&s;cipline.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that it is mo&s;t profitable for the knowledge of Moral Philo&s;ophy, M. <HI>Homes</HI> will not deny (if he know any thing in the Art,) that the con&s;titution of the body, and the di&s;po&s;ition of the minde is by A&s;trology known; &s;o that hereby we receive a double benefit, <HI>viz.</HI> Fir&s;t, ad|monition to refrain what may prove noxious and hurt|full to our health. Secondly, encouragement to apply our &s;elves to that whereunto we are born apt by nature; be&s;ides we may al&s;o be warned hereby of what may cau&s;e the minde by ill government to offend others. And for felicity the chief end of Moral Philo&s;ophy; no Art or Science can compare with A&s;trology, for it teacheth a man what pertains to the goods of the body and minde, and &s;o al&s;o to moderate the unruly affections, who&s;e violence carri|eth away the minde from that golden mean wherein ver|tue dwels and keeps her place; &s;o likewi&s;e in the external goods, it re&s;olveth a man what hopes or likelihood by his own indu&s;try, or otherwi&s;e he hath to attain to the riches of this world; and al&s;o teacheth him how to increa&s;e the &s;ame, by what means, at what time, and in what place it wil be be&s;t for him, or mo&s;t profitable to this intent or pur|po&s;e. So that then ye &s;ee A&s;trology to comprehend more in one part, then all the Arts in the World put together, in any or all parts.</P>
<P>Secondly, for Natural Philo&s;ophy, it bringeth no le&s;s help hereunto, then to the former, for hereby the Philo&s;o|pher cometh to know God the upholder, and immoveable Greatour of all things, by the con&s;tant inchangeable mo|tion of the Heavens; and the corruption and generation of all things, by the motion of &Sun;, &Moon; and other Planets
<PB N="45" REF="26">in the Zodiack; and that there is a certain prefixt time of every ones life that is born, allotted by the Starrs, and that this is divers according to the nature of every Con|&s;tellation, and the mea&s;ure of every proper revolution; as al&s;o the rea&s;on of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, by the motion of &Moon;. He comes al&s;o by A&s;trology to know the ri&s;ing of Meteors, the motion of Comets, and innurnerable other things, much conducing to the fur|therance of his knowledge, experience, and skill. But this is &s;o clear, I ha&s;ten to what is further to be &s;aid in the prai&s;e and utility of A&s;trology, lea&s;t I &s;pend too much time in confuting &s;uch weak &s;tuff, as is this di&s;cour&s;e of M. <HI>Homes,</HI> again&s;t &s;o apparent a noble and excellent Art.</P>
<P>Thirdly, for Phy&s;ick; for all that knows any thing in A&s;trology, can acquaint M. <HI>Homes,</HI> as al&s;o his great friend <HI>Galen</HI> (as mo&s;t fal&s;ely he accu&s;es him (in his 115. <HI>page</HI>) to condemn A&s;trology as Sophi&s;tical, when indeed he him&s;elf appears no other at the be&s;t, to wrong &s;o wor|thy a man,) That he that &s;hall admini&s;ter Phy&s;ick when the Sun comes to the Equinoctial points, or in the Cani|cular or Dog-dayes and the like, knows very little in the one or the other, <HI>viz.</HI> Phy&s;ick or A&s;trology; and is ra|ther to be accounted a fool then a Phy&s;ician; and further, <HI>Galen</HI> admoni&s;heth men not to tru&s;t them&s;elves with that Phy&s;ician that is not ver&s;ed in A&s;trology; and <HI>Hip|pocates</HI> al&s;o &s;aith, that that Phy&s;ician which is ignorant in A&s;trology, is not fully, nor can he be perfectly known in his Art; for without A&s;trology, he &s;hall never be able to give Phy&s;ick &s;afely, <HI>viz.</HI> when to purge by evacuation or vomit, or Phlebotomy, or for what humours, or in what quantity, neither can he know or come to the under|&s;tanding of the chief Piller of his Art, <HI>viz.</HI> the true cau&s;e of the Malady without it, neither with it, (if well learned therein) can he err: Be&s;ides <HI>Galen</HI> further affirm|eth, that Phy&s;ick given at un&s;ea&s;onable times, doth not
<PB N="46" REF="27">onely little avail or help, but oftentimes prove very hurt|full, even to the endangering of the life of the Patient; and that the&s;e times are onely to be known and judged by the Starrs. <HI>Fernelius</HI> (a learned Phy&s;ician) doth here|unto al&s;o conde&s;cend, as al&s;o <HI>Ficinus;</HI> for there is nothing more certain, then that A&s;trology doth plainly deliver Rules for all the parts of Phy&s;ick above&s;aid, (which M. <HI>Homes</HI> I am confident (if any whit read therein) dare not but confe&s;s) and not onely &s;o, but al&s;o teacheth the critical dayes, without which they cannot be known with any certainty; wherefore it is, that tho&s;e Phy&s;icians igno|rant in A&s;trology, conclude the &s;eventh and fourteenth dayes to be dangerous, when mo&s;t times they are deceived, and &s;o con&s;equently apply contrary Remedies to their Patients, much to their prejudice, if not ab&s;olute de&s;tructi|on: the rea&s;on is, the &Moon; by her various motion cometh &s;ometimes &s;ooner, and &s;ometimes later, to her &quadrine; and &opposition; or quadrat and oppo&s;ite part of the place &s;he was in at the beginning of the Di&s;ea&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> Sometimes &s;he comes to her &quadrine; in &s;even dayes, &s;ometimes not till the eighth or ninth day, other times at the &s;ixth day; and to her &opposition; &s;ometimes at the fourteenth day, &s;ometimes at the thir|teenth, other times not till the &s;ixteenth day. I would fain now M. <HI>Homes,</HI> you would &s;hew what Art in the whole earth, is more beneficial to Phy&s;ick, then A&s;trologie <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but I ha&s;ten to the remaining proofs.</P>
<P>Fourthly, for Health, which none but the mo&s;t ignorant and malicious will deny, &s;ince the con&s;titution of the bo|dy is the onely ground, wi&s;e Phy&s;icians go upon, and look fir&s;t to; that that foundation being laid, they may then fall to the rebuilding of the Patient, otherwi&s;e (as you have heard) de&s;truction (like a hou&s;e founded on the &s;and) is to be expected. Then con&s;equently the mo&s;t en|vious cannot but confe&s;s and acknowledge it to be the mo&s;t profitable thing for our health under the Sun. Wherefore then let us &s;ee whether the Husbandman will
<PB N="47" REF="27">acknowledge it to be beneficial to him in the way of li|ving, <HI>viz.</HI> Husbandry.</P>
<P>Fifthly, Husbandry, and fir&s;t let me ask him, whether he lops his Trees from the time the Sun declines from our Horizon, till he again re-enters the equinoctial point? or if he knows not (if he &s;hould) that it will not grow again? or whether he u&s;e to &s;ow Pea&s;e in the increa&s;e of &Moon;? or if &s;o, whether they will then ever leave blooming or blo&s;&s;oming? or whether therefore he doth not ob&s;erve and remember to &s;et them in the wain, or decrea&s;e of &Moon;. Nay, it is reported of the women in the North, both of <HI>Eng|land</HI> and <HI>Scotland,</HI> that they diligently ob&s;erve a time of the Moon to &s;et their Egges, that they may all come to good; and furthermore, let me ask the Husband-man, whether he ob&s;erveth not a time to graff, and prune his Trees? but this is &s;o common, that to &s;pend more time hereunto were to no purpo&s;e.</P>
<P>Sixthly, for rendring a rea&s;on for Climacterical years, it happening by the profection of the Planets and Horo|&s;cope, a&s;cendant or fir&s;t Hou&s;e (as ye may call it) to the &opposition; or &quadrine; a&s;pects or their places in Nativities, or by the moti|on of &Saturn; if he have power in the Nativity, for <HI>Ptolomy</HI> and the wi&s;e&s;t in this Art, give &Saturn; as much power in the decree of &s;everall years, as the Sun hath in moneths, or the &Moon; in dayes; and if his cour&s;e be ob&s;erved, it will be found fini&s;hed much about the &s;ame number of years, as the Moons is in dayes; and further, that &Saturn; in every &s;even years comes either to &quadrine; or &opposition; of his place in the <HI>Radix</HI> of Nativities. And further know, that if there be no danger (as we finde by experience) of &s;ome mens lives, at the&s;e years, they have either &s;ome of the beneficial Planets in their eighth Hou&s;e, or the direction of the a&s;cendant, or Aphetical places are free from all impediment and af|fliction, of the interficient and malignant Con&s;tella|tions.</P>
<P>Seventhly, and la&s;tly, for Military Di&s;cipline, Hi&s;tory
<PB N="48" REF="28">is full of Examples herein, and for brevities &s;ake (becau&s;e I will ha&s;ten to conclude this fir&s;t Chapter, that I may proceed to M. <HI>Homes</HI> his &s;econd Section) I will here con|tent my &s;elf with this one, which the Indian Hi&s;tories &s;hew forth unto us; which is, that <HI>Columbus</HI> having the Art of A&s;trology, and being in a &s;traight for want of Vi|ctual, together with the whole Army of the King of <HI>Spain, Ferdinand;</HI> and fore&s;eeing an Eclip&s;e of the &Moon; within few dayes to happen; threatned the Indians he would &s;end infinite Plagues among&s;t them, if they &s;peedi|ly relieved them not; in token whereof they &s;hould at &s;uch a time &s;ee the &Moon; light taken from them, which they at fir&s;t &s;lighted, but when they &s;aw according to the for|mer words, that the Moon began to be darkned and grew &s;o more and more, and being ignorant of the cau&s;e there|of, did not onely &s;end them the Victual they formerly re|tained from them, but al&s;o threw them&s;elves at <HI>Colum|bus</HI> feet, asking forgivene&s;s: So then ye have had (as brief as may be) &s;hewn unto you, <HI>what Astrology is, that it is an Art, and a lawfull Art, allowed of by Scri|pture, the antiquity of it, and the utility of it;</HI> there is it may be &s;ome Arts, that may be beneficial or helpfull to another; but you &s;ee both po&s;itively and conclu&s;ively, that A&s;trology is generally helpfull to all Arts and Sci|ences; nay, what other Study in the whole World in this point is like it, or able to compare with it?</P>
<P>SURVEY. <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> in his Title might well have excepted <HI>Divinity</HI> and <HI>Religion</HI> (if he hath any) and have di&s;tingui&s;hed of <HI>Astrology.</HI> For &s;ure the Art pre|tending to tell that the <HI>Thieves that committed the Rob|bery about</HI> Brainsford <HI>the last Summer, that &s;uch a way the womans Cows were gone. That Mi&s;tris&mdash;his Sweet-heart would prove a Shrew, with infinite the like (that may be produced in time)</HI> do not at all conduce to <HI>Natural Philo&s;ophy, Phy&s;ick, &amp;c.</HI> which <HI>VVilliam</HI> reckons up.</P>
<PB N="49" REF="28">
<P>Its ill a &s;igne by <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey's</HI> manners that <HI>Astro|logy</HI> is profitable for <HI>Morality</HI> (unle&s;s <HI>VVilliam</HI> will de|ny he hath any A&s;trology.) And therefore nor our <HI>Phi|lo&s;ophers,</HI> nor <HI>Aristotle</HI> the Prince of them mixed any directions out of A&s;trology, in their Moral Philo&s;ophy. As for the <HI>di&s;po&s;ition of the minde VVilliam</HI> a&s;&s;ured us in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader. That the will of man is not &s;ubject to the influence of the Starrs. And learned <HI>Huet</HI> in his <HI>EXAM. INGEN.</HI> tells us a readier way then by Starrs. And of the body, we know the temper, farr better by experience of the effect, then by conjectu|rals from cau&s;es, if Starrs were any certain cau&s;e. But <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey's Ptolomy</HI> in his fir&s;t Book tells us among other cau&s;es of the uncertainty of A&s;trologicall Predicti|ons, <HI>That though bodies are affected by the Starrs, yet the &s;eed of generation may alter the ca&s;e.</HI></P>
<P>As for the predicting <HI>what hope a man may have, by his own industry, or otherways to get goods,</HI> it doth little tend to Moral Philo&s;ophy, and doth le&s;s appertain to A&s;trology, if <HI>VVilliam</HI> be an hone&s;t man of his word, in his particulars he layes down in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader before enumerated of <HI>Natural Philo&s;ophy,</HI> I have &s;everal times &s;hewed <HI>VVilliam,</HI> that the <HI>thing</HI> of natural A&s;tro|logy is a <HI>part; judicial,</HI> non-ens, or wor&s;e.</P>
<P>And without either, thou&s;ands of people that are no A&s;trologers, or Philo&s;ophers excellently well know God to be the Creator and upholder of all things; whiles Phi|lo&s;ophers and A&s;trologers have turned Athei&s;ts, or wor&s;e, <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.</P>
<P>To &s;ay, <HI>the Starrs alot every mans prefixed time of life,</HI> is to intrench upon Gods <HI>Decree</HI> and <HI>Providence,</HI> and to avouch a <HI>fatal nece&s;&s;ity</HI> in the influence of the Starrs; with which <HI>VVilliam</HI> promi&s;ed us in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader his <HI>Astrology</HI> &s;hould not meddle.</P>
<P>His great Preamble of the u&s;efulne&s;s of <HI>Astrology</HI> for <HI>Phy&s;ick</HI> amounts to thus much upon experience;</P>
<PB N="50" REF="29">
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That there are in this Nation many Chri&s;tian learn|ed and &s;uccesfull <HI>Phy&s;icians,</HI> who are neither well-skill'd, nor well-will'd to <HI>VV.R.</HI> his A&s;trology. If need be we can give him their names.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That the matter of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> his <HI>Judicial</HI> A&s;trology being <HI>humane</HI> events; as whether a man <HI>&s;hall be rich,</HI> and, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> as before he expre&s;&s;ed, and his Bre|threns writings and practi&s;e do te&s;tifie; the <HI>natural judge|ment</HI> upon mens bodies is quite hereto general from it.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That thou&s;ands of Engli&s;h men, yea, the mo&s;t of the common people, that are no Phy&s;icians, do well <HI>know;</HI> yea, <HI>feel</HI> (without the help of <HI>Ram&s;eyan</HI> A&s;trolo|gy) that the <HI>Canicular</HI> dayes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> are not the be&s;t times for taking Phy&s;ick, unle&s;s upon great extremity; and therefore are no <HI>Fools.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>His great clattering together of the names of <HI>Hippo|crates, Galen, Fernelius,</HI> and <HI>Ficinus,</HI> is but a Scar-crow to &s;care &s;illy birds, I mean weak-headed Youths from the truth, and a juggle to conjure them into his Circles by Charmes they cannot under&s;tand. For <HI>William</HI> (accord|ing to his manner of unfair dealing) doth neither quote their <HI>words,</HI> nor the <HI>place</HI> where they &s;o &s;peak, as he inti|mates. And though we have hunted after him, and beat the thickets, yet we can finde no &s;uch thing.</P>
<P>But this we finde.</P>
<P N="1">1. That <HI>Hippocrates</HI> &s;aith of <HI>A&s;tronomy,</HI> (nothing of <HI>A&s;trology</HI>) that it is not altogether unu&s;efull for the facul|ty of Phy&s;ick.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign"> (as his Dialect i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">) <GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> But how doth he there make it out? Sure|ly onely thus; <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Hippocrates</HI>) <HI>together with the times of the year, the ventricles of men receive a change;</HI> and &s;o goes on of the <HI>difference in health the vari|ety of windes may make.</HI> Now judge, under&s;tanding Read|er, how little this makes for <HI>Judicial A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Gallen</HI> the Commentary upon him (to omit the <HI>Sophi&s;ticum</HI> quoted by <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> in <HI>A&s;trology</HI> that doth &s;o much anger <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI>) &s;aith onely this to that point,
<PB N="51" REF="29"><HI>Coelum in his verbis, &amp;c. i. e. Hippocrates in the&s;e words doth put Heaven as the cau&s;e of all vulgar di&s;ea&s;es: yet,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">De Ae~ere locis, &amp; Aliquis. Sect. 3. &amp; differt; inquit Xeno|phon, <GAP DESC="foreign">: Galen in 1. l. Hip. de mor|bis vul|garibus.</NOTE> &s;aith <HI>Gallen,</HI> (correcting his Ma&s;ter) <HI>&s;ometimes the drinking of corrupt water may cau&s;e an univer&s;al di&s;ea&s;e.</HI> And then goes on to di&s;cour&s;e <HI>of the &s;everall di&s;ea&s;es that befall men in the four quarters of the years, di&s;tingui&s;hing tho&s;e quarters by the ri&s;ing and &s;etting of &s;everall Starrs or Con&s;tellations proper to them.</HI> Which is all the hint we have in <HI>Gallen</HI> to the point in hand. 'Tis true the Index puts high titles, and great empha&s;is on the&s;e places. But you &s;ee here what the matter is upon true account.</P>
<P N="3">3. 'Tis true, that <HI>Fernelius</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Purae &s;implicis&abque; pe|&s;tilentiae cau&s;a, &amp;c. i. e.</HI> The cau&s;e of the meer and &s;im|ple Pe&s;tilence is the configutation of the Heavens by their vertue. But withall he pre&s;ently avoucheth, <HI>Quae neque temporum mutatione, neque ulla manife&s;t&acirc; qualitate, &s;ed &s;olo eventu deprehendi pote&s;t. i.e. That that efficacy of the Heavens cannot be di&s;cerned, either by the change of times, or by any manife&s;t quality, but meerly by the event.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Williams</HI> quoting of <HI>Ficinus</HI> was to him (to u&s;e an A&s;trological phra&s;e for their u&s;e, though not approved by me) mo&s;t <HI>unlucky</HI> of all the re&s;t. For he though pro|fe&s;&s;ing him&s;elf a Phy&s;ician doth bang Judicial A&s;trology all over his va&s;t works. I &s;hall here give but a touch. In his book, <HI>in Plotin. cap.</HI> 2. the title of the &s;econd <HI>Para|graph</HI> or <HI>Head</HI> is, <HI>That for many cau&s;es the judgement concerning future things is mo&s;t difficult.</HI> And then begins his di&s;cour&s;e thus, <HI>Quod autem nec homo, nec daemon, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>that neither man nor devil is able by the &s;ole in|&s;pection of the Heavens to &s;ee the le&s;&s;er matters accurre among us, &amp;c.</HI> which he there proves &s;trongly by many rea&s;ons; too long for me to epitomi&s;e in this intended breif <HI>Survey.</HI></P>
<P>Now let the ob&s;ervant Reader judge what <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath got by tho&s;e names he &s;o rattled together. From
<PB N="52" REF="30">them all not &s;uch a word as <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> much le&s;s <HI>Judi|cial.</HI> Lea&s;t of all any inference that if there be a con&s;ide|ration of the Heavens for &s;ickne&s;s, Phy&s;ick, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that therefore they can tell me where is my lo&s;t Cow; who was the Thief that robbed me.</P>
<P>By this, my &s;oul loathes the &s;illy weakne&s;s of the re&s;t in this Section, and &s;hall kick it off for naught. By expe|rience we all know any ob&s;ervable effect of the Moon; as all men, Phy&s;icians, or others, are often enough de|ceived in judging the <HI>Cri&s;is</HI> meerly by that Planet; by rea&s;on that the different natures of the Patients, and va|rious change of Windes and Weathers (to which <HI>Hippo|crates</HI> a&s;cribes much) <HI>&amp;c.</HI> do much alter the ca&s;e.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hipp. lib. 3. Aphor. 5</NOTE></P>
<P>And <HI>Will. Ram&s;eys</HI> notion upon <HI>Health</HI> is to me <HI>non|ens</HI> or <HI>non &s;en&s;e,</HI> as I have touched afore. For <HI>Husbandry,</HI> the <HI>Clownes</HI> can tell more then the <HI>Astrologer:</HI> as pre|&s;ently he doth intimately confe&s;s that he learned <HI>Hen|hou&s;wifry</HI> of the Northern women, not they from the <HI>Astrologer.</HI></P>
<P>A very &s;utable ob&s;ervation, to u&s;her in his <HI>Fable</HI> of the <HI>Climacterical years;</HI> unle&s;s he mean that which we have by experience, that every &s;eventh year a man that ob&s;erves &s;hall finde a great change in his body, in regard of di|et, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> otherwi&s;e that Scripture a&s;&s;ures us that every man by Gods decree hath an <HI>appointed time.</HI> And for conclu&s;ion <HI>William</HI> tells us a Tale of <HI>Columbus, &amp;c.</HI> which the <HI>Astronomer</HI> (without A&s;trology) can do; onely, if he be hone&s;t, he cannot <HI>tell a Lie to get Victu|als, or Money.</HI> But the &s;tory and the practi&s;e is tolerable enough in the opinion and practi&s;e of divers A&s;trologers about <HI>London, &amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="Ramsey's chapter">
<PB N="53" REF="30">
<HEAD>W.R. his <HI>CHAP. II.</HI></HEAD>
<P>I Am come now to Mr. <HI>Homes</HI> his &s;econd Section, wherein we &s;hall &s;ee how he vents his malice mo&s;t in|vectively all along again&s;t A&s;trology, thinking he bring|eth the learned to condemn it; but what are the learned Schoolmen, or great Philo&s;ophers to me, or their &s;ayings in this matter, further then they have truth and rea&s;on on their &s;ide? If they follow their own opinions and con|ceits without &s;ound rea&s;on and warrant, I &s;ee no warrant or rea&s;on why I &s;hould regard either them, their words or quoters.</P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>W.R. <HI>his</HI> SECT. I. Wherein is further &s;hewn the legality of A&s;trology,</HEAD>
<P>HIs fir&s;t learned man (then) he begins with is <HI>To|&s;tatus,</HI> who he &s;aith in his Commentary on <HI>Levit.</HI> 19. <HI>Quae&s;t.</HI> 28.29 <HI>&amp;c.</HI> hath the&s;e words, the which Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ves him <HI>viz. Of things which are (as to us) accidental as the &s;ucce&s;s of bu&s;ine&s;s, or their cau&s;es internal, as mens will and free choice, as to undertake a journey, or to build or not build; predictions are not onely uncertain but &s;uperstitious: and the &s;ame is to be &s;aid of casting of Nativities by the conjunction of the Planets;</HI> But if he had con&s;idered what rea&s;on or ground <HI>To&s;tatus</HI> hath for the&s;e words, he had never thus laid them open; and I much wonder he being a <HI>Divine,</HI> he had not fir&s;t him&s;elf con&s;idered and weighed the Text, which that he may now do, I will here &s;et it down: <HI>Regard not them that have familiar &s;pirits, neither &s;eek after wizards to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God. Levit.</HI> 19.31. Where we clearly &s;ee there is no part of the Text, once in the lea&s;t mentioneth or meaneth <HI>Astrology;</HI> it is again&s;t the &s;eeking after tho&s;e that have familiar Spirits and Wi|zards.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="54" REF="31">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. II.</HI> Wherein is &s;hewn that the Stars are Signes and Cau&s;es.</HEAD>
<P>HE then brings Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> in the&s;e words, <HI>All manner of conjecturing (which &s;aith he is meant by A&s;trology) is not unlawfull, whereof any Natural or Di|vine cau&s;e can be yielded; as first there be Natural Signes in the Heavens and Air, as of the alteration of weather, of windes, of rain, &amp;c.</HI> This doth no whit hurt A&s;trolo|gy; mark but the words, <HI>all manner of conjecturing is not unlawfull, &amp;c.</HI> and &s;aith M. <HI>Homes, &s;ee he calleth it</HI> (meaning A&s;trology) <HI>but conjecturing onely;</HI> but doth M. <HI>Homes</HI> conjecture it to be no other? if he do, it is his ignorance. But let me not forget my &s;elf, and &s;pend too much time about him. It hath been already &s;hewn, that the Starrs have the applau&s;e of power on the natural things of this world, as al&s;o the great <HI>Ptolomy</HI> (who&s;e word in this ca&s;e I believe will be taken before Doctour <HI>Willets</HI> or M. <HI>Homes</HI> his) gives his word for it; be&s;ides experience al&s;o as above &s;hewed; (and you know <HI>Expe|rientia docet:</HI>) there is no more to be &s;aid, but that A&s;tro|logy is not (as Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> &s;aith) unlawfnll; neither doth he in any wi&s;e condemn it, for in his following words he tells us, <HI>There are natural Signes in the Heavens and Air, which cau&s;e rain, winde, &amp;c.</HI> The cau&s;e of which, is no other then the influence of the Starrs, which if he deny, all Writers on this Art are contracted, as al&s;o the Scripture to boot; if then this be not a &s;trong Argument, let him&s;elf judge.</P>
<P>But to clear this point more fully: What, &s;aith Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes,</HI> is the cau&s;e of Rain, alteration of Air, and the like? If his Ma&s;ter, Doctour <HI>Willet,</HI> did not the&s;e words &s;hew it. me thinks he &s;hould not have left the Reader un&s;atisfied; and not onely &s;o, but have proved the Starrs to have no influence thereon, nor to be cau&s;es
<PB N="55" REF="31">of the&s;e alterations, and then his argument had been good. But they are cau&s;es; And fir&s;t let me give you <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> judgement herein, who plainly tells us, <HI>The Stars are for &s;igns and &s;ea&s;ons, Gen.</HI> 1.14. which M. <HI>Homes</HI> will &s;ay is fulfilled in the words following, <HI>viz. And God made two great lights, the one to rule the day, the other to rule the night, Gen.</HI> 1.16. To which then I an&s;wer, by way of Quere, to what end then are the&s;e invincible, irre&s;i&s;table and innumerable ho&s;ts of Heaven? were they made for no other u&s;e then to gaze on? the Sun and Moon will &s;ufficiently &s;erve our turn for matter of light, if we look no further into their u&s;es; but the Scripture further putteth this matter quite out of doubt if we will believe Gods own word, <HI>Job</HI> 28.31. For he &s;peaking of his Omnipotent power, asketh his &s;ervant <HI>Job,</HI> whe|ther he, or any one el&s;e <HI>Can re&s;train the influence of the Pleiades, or loo&s;e the bands of Orion:</HI> On which words <HI>S. Au&s;tin</HI> on <HI>Job,</HI> referreth all men to the &s;tudy of A&s;tro|logy, for the under&s;tanding of that place; and not onely &s;o, but &s;hews us that under the&s;e two con&s;tellations, the Lord doth comprehend the influence of all the Cele&s;tiall ho&s;t, figuratively expre&s;&s;ing <HI>pars pro toto;</HI> and to &s;hew you by experience the verity hereof, if you will neither believe S. <HI>Augu&s;tine, Mo&s;es,</HI> nor <HI>God him&s;elf,</HI> except you &s;ee and feel; (not to in&s;i&s;t long on this point, which is cleared by &s;uch &s;trong and invincible witne&s;&s;es, one whereof is able to be &s;ufficient te&s;timony again&s;t all Ma|&s;ter <HI>Homes his learned Judges and condemners of A&s;tro|logy,</HI>) for confirming and clearing hereof, then I might here again in&s;tance that palpable experience we have of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, by the influence of the Moon (as above&s;aid); but to manife&s;t it yet further, let him call to mind the increa&s;e and decrea&s;e of Shel-fi&s;h, the mutation and variation of times, and innumerable o|ther effects of the Stars, which (if time and convenien|cy would permit) migh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> recorded, and let him then
<PB N="56" REF="32">&s;tudy the cau&s;e hereof, and he will then without doubt be of another tenet; let him ob&s;erve al&s;o when &Saturn; and &Sun; is in &quadrine; or &opposition; or when &Mars; and <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> is in &quadrine; or &opposition; or &Jupit; and &Merc; are &s;o po&s;ited, and let him tell me then, what altera|tions they produce in the air both by Rain, Snow, Wind, Tempe&s;ts Thundering and Lightning, and the like, ac|cording to their &s;everall po&s;itions, the nature of &s;igns and hou&s;es and man&s;ions they are in; (which if he be not alto|gether ignorant of the Art, he may daily &s;ee) The&s;e and the like effects, are mo&s;t vulgarly known by expe|rience, &s;o that therefore he might even as well have con|fe&s;&s;ed tho&s;e &s;igns he &s;peaketh of, to be the Stars, and cau|&s;es their influence, &s;ince he doth not nor cannot &s;hew me any other thing they are, without wronging and &s;lander|ing the Art, and contradicting the mo&s;t learned therein, as al&s;o the Father <HI>S. Au&s;tine Mo&s;es,</HI> nay and GOD him&s;elf. D. <HI>Homes</HI> might as well then have left out that other addition of Doctour <HI>Willets,</HI> where he &s;aith, <HI>That the Stars have not the &s;ame influence in Summer, and in Winter, Spring and Autumn, and &s;o con&s;equently will conclude them Fir&s;t not to be &s;igns</HI> (contradicting <HI>Mo|&s;es,</HI> and the word of God, <HI>Gen.</HI> 1.14. as afore&s;aid;) Secondly, <HI>Nor cau&s;es, Quia ex unitate cau&s;ae &s;equere|tur &s;imilitudo effect&ucirc;s, Of the &s;ame cau&s;e there &s;hould follow the &s;ame effect; but there followeth not the &s;ame effect from the &s;ame &s;igns, appears by experience.</HI> As much to &s;ay, the Stars are neither cau&s;es nor &s;igns, be|cau&s;e they produce not fruits in Winter, as well as in Sum|mer, or becau&s;e they cau&s;e not &s;now in Summer, or Buds and Blo&s;&s;oms in Winter. O rare cavill! but &s;ince he is already by what is above&s;aid, confuted; I &s;hall here adde nothing but this, that &s;ince the que&s;tion is, whether they are cau&s;es and &s;igns, becau&s;e that pa&s;&s;age in the fir&s;t of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> manifelts they are &s;igns, I will (if he will be con|vinced by the word of God) here give him to know they are al&s;o cau&s;es; <HI>I will hear the heavens, and the heavens
<PB N="57" REF="32">&s;hall hear the earth, and the earth, the corn and the wine, &amp;c. Ho&s;.</HI> 2.2. And in another place, the increa&s;e of the earth is referred to the <HI>Influence of the Sun and the Moon, Deut.</HI> 33.14. By all which we may clearly &s;ee (unle&s;s blinded with malice and wilfulne&s;s) that they are both &s;ignes and cau&s;es, of all our earthly injoyments and hap|pine&s;&s;es; <HI>Et &s;i Scriptura, &amp; ip&s;e Deus nobi&s;cum, quis contranos.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. III.</HI> Wherein his allegations against the ground of the Art are condemned; and his bringing S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> and <HI>Galen</HI> again&s;t it, proved fallacious.</HEAD>
<P>SEeing then it is mo&s;t clearly &s;o, that the Stars are &s;ignes and cau&s;es as above&s;aid, what need the&s;e envious car|pers or malicious gain&s;ayers of the truth be heeded or re|garded? but let the&s;e perver&s;e rags of paper peri&s;h with them&s;elves, not worthy the lea&s;t remembrance. And in|deed had it not been rightly to in&s;orm the vulgar, and to make them &s;ee, that high language &s;erveth not to con|demn truth, I had buried both them and their filthy rags in perpetual oblivion; but I hope &s;ince they mu&s;t be re|membred, it will be but for their di&s;grace, not chronicled for their worthine&s;s, but perpetual infamy.</P>
<P>But this is not all, he comes next to condemn A&s;trolo|gy by <HI>Keckerman,</HI> and that with as weak <HI>Arguments</HI> as he did the re&s;t: <HI>Keckerman,</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>a mo&s;t learned Philo&s;opher, and Chri&s;tian, although he favours &s;ome things which men now a dayes call part of Astrology, did not in all his two great Volumes in fol. of Arts and Scien|ces Jet forth any Astrology.</HI> A wi&s;e &s;tory indeed; becau&s;e <HI>Keckerman</HI> writeth not of <HI>Astrology,</HI> therefore there is no &s;uch thing: but if <HI>Keckerman</HI> hath not, yet as wi&s;e and as learned, and greater Philo&s;ophers have, as if the
<PB N="58" REF="33">being of A&s;trology depended on his writing hereof,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Look the &s;econd Chapter of this Treati&s;e.</NOTE> or it were a whit farther from being an heavenly Science and a lawfull Art, becau&s;e he omitteth it: fine Logick and rare rea&s;on, if rightly under&s;tood, and the depth there|of throughly &s;earched! becau&s;e <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> knew not the rea&s;on of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, therefore no body el&s;e doth, neither is there &s;uch a thing in Na|ture; and becau&s;e <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> writeth not of the Creation of Angels; <HI>Ergo,</HI> there is none: O profound and in|vincible rea&s;on! But to proceed, (he &s;aith) he is &s;ure he hath the&s;e words again&s;t it, <HI>Manent tamen, &amp;c. The Starrs abide, as of other &s;ublunary effects, &s;o of effects in man, the common and remote cau&s;e, which many wayes may be hindred, not onely by the fir&s;t cau&s;e, God, but al&s;o by particular cau&s;es, partly in the Heavens, partly in the Air and other Elements; &s;o that the Predictions of A&s;trologers are with ifs and ands, &amp;c.</HI> which is as much to the purpo&s;e as comes ju&s;t to nothing; for fir&s;t, that God can alter the cour&s;e of the Starrs, there is no A&s;trologer but will confe&s;&s;e (but whether he will or no, or ordinarily u&s;es &s;o to do, is the que&s;tion) &s;o that Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> gets little by this querk, &s;ince he affirmeth nothing that any A&s;trologer will deny. But if Ma&s;ter <HI>Keckerman</HI> maketh it not appear what particular cau&s;es hinder the effects of the Stars, me thinks for the &s;trength of his argument Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> &s;hould have done it; for it &s;tandeth not with any rea|&s;on, that &s;ubordinate cau&s;es as are the Air and o|ther Elements, &s;hould predominate or rule over the fir&s;t moving Cau&s;es, <HI>viz.</HI> the Starrs; this the weak|e&s;t capacity that under&s;tands the Art will affirm, and you have but now heard that the effects of the Starrs cau&s;e alteration and mutation of the Air, as we al&s;o daily &s;ee by experience; and therefore his A&s;|&s;ertion, that the Principles of A&s;trology are not con|firmed on true Principles, is here al&s;o condemned
<PB N="59" REF="33">as erronious, fal&s;e and malicious; for we &s;ee A&s;trologers &s;eldome fail in their judgements, except when they &s;werve from the rules of Art: wherefore <HI>Al&s;teds</HI> a&s;&s;ertion al&s;o is here no le&s;&s;e &s;imple then the re&s;t, who &s;aith, <HI>A&s;trologers are al&s;o often deceived;</HI> and what then? becau&s;e a man that never was at <HI>London,</HI> mi&s;&s;eth his way, once or twice, &s;hall he conclude there is no &s;uch place? &s;ure it &s;hould rather teach him to ob&s;erve diligently his roade, and not turn on the right hand nor the left; and if the A&s;trolo|gers would as warily ob&s;erve their rules, this objection of the ignorant had never been thought on. But Ma|&s;ter <HI>Homes,</HI> is Divinity fal&s;e and no wi&s;e to be heeded, becau&s;e there is &s;o many errours and &s;chi&s;ms crept into the Church? or becau&s;e every one attaineth not to a full perfection of the Spirit? or becau&s;e <HI>humanum e&s;t errare,</HI> man is frail and &s;ubject to failings? no &s;ure, ex|perience, rea&s;on and truth teacheth us to the contrary. Wherefore he might very well have omitted the&s;e &s;len|der rea&s;ons, as al&s;o that place of <HI>Galen,</HI> where he &s;aith, <HI>&s;ophi&s;ticum e&s;t, it is &s;ophi&s;ticall:</HI> but how? not as ha|ving no verity therein, but in the &s;uper&s;titious abu&s;e thereof, for you &s;ee clearly in the <HI>fir&s;t Chapter of his Treati&s;e,</HI> Galen <HI>holdeth that man a fool, rather then a Phy&s;ician, that is not an A&s;trologer:</HI> and in all his works hath A&s;trology in great e&s;teem and applau&s;e, and moreover te&s;tifieth his own practice hereof, e&s;peci|ally, <HI>lib.</HI> 3. <HI>de diebus decret. cap.</HI> 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. and the like. So he brings Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> to condemn it thus in the&s;e words, in his Treati&s;e <HI>De Doctrina Chri&s;tiana, lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 21, 22. <HI>e&s;t magnus error, magna dementia, et &s;uper&s;titio: Astrology is a great errour, madne&s;&s;e, and &s;uperstition;</HI> it is clear that Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> here &s;peaketh of the &s;uper&s;titious u&s;e thereof, as in attributing fatall nece&s;&s;ity thereto, and in too much tru&s;ting and confiding therein, as may appear by what you have already heard <HI>S. Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith of it; but to clear
<PB N="60" REF="34">it more fully,<NOTE PLACE="marg">L. 5. c. 4. &amp; 1.20. c. 6. contra Fau&s;tum Manich.</NOTE> S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> confe&s;&s;eth that before his con|ver&s;ion, he followed the here&s;ies of the <HI>Manichees,</HI> who maintained the &s;tars to be adored and prayed unto, and therefore to reclaim the multitude, which went thus a whoring after the wayes of the Heathen, this good man u&s;eth the&s;e words to recall them, and unite them to the belief of God: But I hope M. <HI>Homes</HI> will not &s;ay that A&s;trologers are thus &s;uper&s;titious and wicked; he that &s;aith A&s;trology (as I &s;aid before) is any other thing then what is delivered by <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> in the &s;econd page of this Treati&s;e, knoweth not what A&s;trology is; Neither will he affirm I hope, that S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> condemns <HI>A&s;tro|logy,</HI> but the &s;uper&s;titious abu&s;e thereof which is clear, for he delivereth five opinions concerning de&s;tiny.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that by de&s;tiny is under&s;tood <HI>the providence, will and power of God,</HI> and therefore he warneth the A&s;trolo|gers, that they continue their opinions, but correct their tongues,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1.5. c. 1. De Civ. Pei.</NOTE> for through cu&s;tome of &s;peech the vulgar com|monly under&s;tood nothing by the word <HI>fate</HI> or <HI>de&s;tiny,</HI> but the inevitable power of the Stars.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is quite contrary to the former, <HI>a&s;cribing all to the ab&s;olute power of the Stars, without the will of God:</HI> But this opinion derogating from the omnipotent power of God, and his providence in all our actions, he &s;aith ought to be rejected, not onely by tho&s;e that pro|fe&s;&s;e the true Religion, but which &s;erve or wor&s;hip any gods at all, though never &s;o fal&s;e.</P>
<P>The third <HI>&s;o attributeth to the decrees of the Stars, that yet they believe them to have this power in &s;uch &s;ort derived unto them from God, that thereby they can, and do determine of us and our actions as they will them&s;elves:</HI> which opinion he thinketh is very wrongfully held of hea|ven, to maintain &s;uch wickedne&s;&s;e to be, as it were, inact|ed in that mo&s;t &s;hining Senate, that were the like acted in any Court or State on earth, it were worthy to be &s;ub|verted.</P>
<PB N="61" REF="34">
<P>The fourth opinion is, <HI>That the Stars have neither power nor will to operate on us at their own plea&s;ures, but as they do nece&s;&s;arily execute that which God impo&s;eth upon them;</HI> which Saint <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> accounteth more into|lerable then the other, for that it teacheth us to conceive that of God, which they hold unworthy to im|pute unto the Starrs, again&s;t &s;uch he &s;ufficiently de|clareth.</P>
<P>The&s;e opinions, Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> renounceth, as they rather utterly deny the power and providence of God; or, as they impute ab&s;olute rule and dominion of the Stars immediately over the will of man nece&s;&s;ari|rily inforcing us in all our actions; or as they throw all our &s;innes upon God, while&s;t they make him by the Stars inevitably to inforce us to evil: wherefore had Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> (as it had befit a learned man) fir&s;t ex|amined his Authours with good ob&s;ervation and delibe|ration, and not &s;o readily taken hold on every thing he finds delivered by others, that he imagineth will &s;erve for his turn; I'm confident, he had not thus incon&s;ide|rately alledged Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> again&s;t <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> for (as I defined before in the &s;econd page, what <HI>A&s;trology</HI> is, &s;o the &s;ame) <HI>Ptolomy</HI> confe&s;&s;eth <HI>the Stars not to have any fatality, as working by or with a fatall nece&s;&s;ity on the will or &s;oul of man as much as S. Au&s;tine him|&s;elf;</HI> giving them no farther operation in the&s;e matters, then the mo&s;t Orthodox and Learned Divines do.</P>
<P>The fifth opinion is, <HI>Which neither e&s;teemeth the Stars of their own wils, (as if they were living &s;ouls) to decree future events, nor nece&s;&s;arily to u&s;urp power over minds, but onely to &s;ignifie the inclinations of the ele|ments, and of all things compounded of them.</HI></P>
<P>Now that Saint <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> meant not &s;uch A&s;trologers as deny <HI>nece&s;&s;ity</HI> (as Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> would fain per|&s;uade the vulgar to believe;) but onely a&s;cribe power unto the Starrs to work upon &s;ublunary bodies; is
<PB N="62" REF="35">evident by his words, <HI>Non u&s;que quaque ab&s;urd&egrave; dici po&s;&s;it, ad&s;olas corporum differentias, afflatus quo&s;dam valere &s;idereos, &s;icut in &s;olaribus acce&s;sibus, &amp; rece&s;|&s;ibus; videmus etiam ip&s;ius anni tempora variari &amp; luna|ribus incrementis, et decrementis augeri et minui quae|dam genera rerum; &s;icut Echinos, et conchas, et mira|biles ae&s;tus oceani, non autem, et animi voluntates po&s;iti|onibus &s;iderum &s;ubdi:</HI> where we &s;ee nothing exempted from &s;ubjection to the Stars that is bodily, but onely our <HI>&s;pirituall part.</HI> And he a&s;cribeth not this power to the Stars in generall, as that their &s;pecificall virtues are not po&s;&s;ible to be known to man, for he concurreth with A|&s;trologers, that the quality of &Saturn; is cold, &amp;c, as you may further &s;ee at the beginning of this Chapter. So that you may &s;ee how fal&s;ly and injuriou&s;ly he brings in Saint <HI>Au|gu&s;tine</HI> again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>VV. R. his <HI>SECT. IV.</HI> Wherein A&s;trology is defended again&s;t his al|legations, from Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins</HI> his words.</HEAD>
<P>MA&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> comes then to tell us Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins</HI> a learned man and famous, writ a Treati&s;e a|gain&s;t it: &s;o did <HI>Melancthon,</HI> a greater Scholler then he, and as knowing a Divine, write as much and more for it, then he ever did again&s;t it; what if I &s;hould tell him of &s;ome that have writ again&s;t the Scripture, is the Word of God therefore fal&s;e and to be rejected? he &s;aith Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins</HI> calls it <HI>profanene&s;&s;e,</HI> and <HI>idola|try;</HI> but let the Reader &s;eriou&s;ly and diligently but ob&s;erve what hath been here already &s;aid, and he can|not but under&s;tand Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins</HI> &s;pake onely again&s;t the abu&s;e of the Art, not as it is in its &s;elf; again&s;t the &s;uper&s;titious confidence and tru&s;t in the Starrs, not the learching and &s;tudying of the influences and effects of the
<PB N="63" REF="35">Stars on Elementary bodies; and as much as this comes to, all that &s;tudy the Art will confe&s;&s;e, <HI>Ergo</HI> M. <HI>Homes</HI> is mi&s;taken to think by the&s;e words of M. <HI>Perkins</HI> to con|demn <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> &s;ince he &s;aith no more then all <HI>A&s;trolo|gers</HI> them&s;elves will &s;ay. Wherefore not to dwell longer here, we come now to his eighth learned man which con|demns <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> which he tells us is M. <HI>Geree</HI> who hath (&s;aith he) written a Treati&s;e again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> I could if need were, cite as many, and more that have written again&s;t the Divine Word of God, then he can make appear hath written again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> &s;hall any man be therefore &s;o impudently wicked to conclude, the word of God is not true, or not to be credited? no &s;ure, this were altogether as impudently wicked as M. <HI>Homes</HI> his &s;equel or conclu&s;ion is ridiculous, &s;ophi|&s;ticall and envious. M. <HI>Chambers</HI> al&s;o writ a book a|gain&s;t <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> which I wonder he remembred not al&s;o, but that learned Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heyden</HI> return|ed him &s;uch a repul&s;e, as that none of the Antagoni&s;ts or ill wi&s;hers to the Art, ever dur&s;t undertake to give a reply thereunto; for he doth not onely refute Ma|&s;ter <HI>Chambers,</HI> but al&s;o <HI>Picus Mirandula, Melton, Perkins,</HI> and <HI>Geree</HI> to boot; wherefore I referr all tho&s;e that would be further re&s;olved herein, and de&s;ire to di&s;|cern between truth and fal&s;hood, to the peru&s;all of the di&s;cour&s;e it &s;elf, it being a piece of that exqui&s;ite wit and learning, that none can be able to &s;urpa&s;&s;e it, if (in the whole World) be worthy to compare with it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>W. R. his <HI>SECT. V.</HI> Wherein his cavilling M. <HI>Briggs,</HI> and others, are convinced.</HEAD>
<P>VVE now come to hear what he can tell us of learned M. <HI>Briggs,</HI> again&s;t A&s;trology, which
<PB N="64" REF="36">is briefly thus much, <HI>That after an earne&s;t de&s;ire to at|tain the perfection thereof, he &s;eriou&s;ly applyed him&s;elf unto the &s;tudy, but in conclu&s;ion, when he thought to have had joy of his wearied labours, he was &s;atisfied with nothing but uncertainty, and meeting an other A|&s;trologer, told him how he had been deceived in the rules of the Art, who (for his comfort) concluded al&s;o as he did, that there was no certaincy therein, upon which he left off further &s;tudying thereof.</HI> Now I would very fain know of any man (which &s;hall be all the an&s;wer I &s;hall give to this &s;ophi&s;ticall cavill) whether by the&s;e words A&s;trology be convinced as uncertain, becau&s;e Ma&s;ter <HI>Briggs</HI> and another, (or &s;uppo&s;e half a dozen more) could find no certainty therein; when <HI>Ptolomy, Galen, Hippocrates,</HI> Saint <HI>Au&s;tine,</HI> and thou&s;ands more, found not onely certainty therein, but concluded and agreed that it was the mo&s;t beneficiall and plea&s;ant Art under the Sun: and whereas he cites <HI>Phavorinus</HI> again&s;t A&s;trology in the&s;e words, <HI>Aut adver&s;a eventura dicunt, &amp;c.</HI> which is, <HI>They foretell either things of pro&s;perity or adver&s;ity; if of pro&s;perity, and they fail, then thou&s;halt be pro&s;perous or happy in hoping for that good, if of ad|ver&s;ity, and hit not right, then thou wert mi&s;erable in fearing in vain; &amp;c.</HI> which agrees with what he &s;aith M. <HI>Briggs</HI> would undertake to do, <HI>viz. To prove the rules of A&s;trology contradictory, viz.</HI> It &s;hall be &s;o, and it &s;hall not be &s;o, which is the meere&s;t cavill of all the re&s;t, to &s;ay, <HI>Ergo,</HI> A&s;trology is uncertain. I will un|dertake then a greater matter then M. <HI>Briggs,</HI> for let there be what Art or Science that M. <HI>Homes</HI> can devi&s;e nominated (though never &s;o true) I will undertake to &s;peak as much, nay and with more proof again&s;t it, then all the&s;e his learned men hath done in this <HI>his character of the pre&s;ent times;</HI> (he forgot to put in tho&s;e that deny the truth; nay, and not onely &s;o, but &s;ophi&s;tically and maliciou&s;ly maintain it to their utmo&s;t indeavours, think|ing
<PB N="65" REF="36">the citing of S. <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> to be proof enough to ter|rifie the Reader from undertaking this &s;tudy, or conti|nuing therein, not ob&s;erving the words of his Authour, and together with the <HI>Fathers</HI> to include the <HI>Councils;</HI> but tels us not how and upon what grounds and rea&s;ons they di&s;allowed of the Art, le&s;t then his malice be di&s;covered.) Wherefore let me then for a conclu&s;ion, as well to this Chapter, as his cavils, ask him the&s;e two que&s;tions; whether a man may not (if enviou&s;ly di&s;po&s;ed) &s;peak again&s;t the mo&s;t manife&s;t truths, nay again&s;t the very word of God, and wre&s;t the Scripture to their own in|clinations and intentions? And &s;econdly, if he be proved hereof guilty, in the next Chapter, to wre&s;t the Scripture &s;en&s;e to confute A&s;trology; whether he be not more fit to be brought under the la&s;h of the Law, then A&s;trolo|gers? So have you <HI>his learned men</HI> again&s;t A&s;trology confuted; we come now to the main point of all, <HI>viz.</HI> Whether A&s;trology be condemned by the word of God?</P>
<P>SURVEY. Thus with large patience have we gi|ven long leave to <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> to &s;peak thus much together, without interruption; &s;aving onely, that in his meer impertinencies, and &s;ome unmannerly jeerings and railings, the&s;e <HI>Sections</HI> of his are made by the Re-Prin|ter, in part to keep &s;ilence. But to the matter. What a huge company of <HI>Levers</HI> in one place doth he bring to break an <HI>Egg!</HI> What a many of <HI>Candles</HI> doth he light up, in another place, to &s;hew us that the <HI>Sun &s;hines;</HI> which we &s;aw and acknowledged afore he lighted them up! He hath &s;hot a great many &s;harp words, and with much virulency; but at Rovers, &s;o that he doth not onely mi&s;&s;e the mark, but al&s;o not hit the Butt. Did the <HI>Doctour</HI> in|tend in the lea&s;t his Quotation of Authours that have been again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> in a way of <HI>argument</HI> or <HI>proof?</HI> His words in the very beginning of his &s;econd Section (which <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> hath all this while &s;o puddered
<PB N="66" REF="37">him&s;elf to confute) &s;hew <HI>William</HI> the contrary, if he had been willing to &s;ee. <HI>Becau&s;e</HI> (&s;aith the Doctour) <HI>the Astrologers give out, that there is no body again&s;t this Astrology but one</HI> Perkins, <HI>or &s;ome one or two more, men not acquainted with Art; or in the like &s;lighting &s;peeches; it will be very convenient to quicken your atten|tions, as to a point con&s;iderable, by &s;etting before you the judgement of &s;everall learned men touching A&s;trology.</HI> Indeed if I do here but reprint that &s;econd Section of the Doctour, which <HI>Will.</HI> pretends to confute, it will be a &s;ufficient confutation of all the&s;e five Sections of <HI>Willi|am</HI>'s &s;econd Chapter.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="Homes' section">
<HEAD>D. H. his <HI>SECT. II.</HI> Of the Opinions of the Learned touching A&s;trology.</HEAD>
<P>BEcau&s;e the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> give out that there is no bo|dy again&s;t this A&s;trologie, but one <HI>Perkins,</HI> or &s;ome one or two more, men not acquainted with Art; or in the like &s;lighting &s;peeches; it will be very convenient to quicken your attention, as to a point con&s;iderable, by &s;et|ting before you the judgement of &s;everall Learned men touching A&s;trology, with their rea&s;ons. <HI>To&s;tatus,</HI> a great learned School-man hath a great deal again&s;t it, in his Commentary on <HI>Levit.</HI> 19. <HI>Qu.</HI> 28, 29. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Do|ctour <HI>Willet</HI> gives us the &s;umm of <HI>To&s;tatus,</HI> and his own judgement thus. <Q>Of things which are (as to us) <HI>acci|dentall,</HI> as the <HI>&s;ucce&s;&s;e</HI> of <HI>bu&s;ine&s;&s;es,</HI> or their <HI>cau&s;es in|ternall,</HI> as mens <HI>will</HI> and free choife, as to <HI>undertake a journey,</HI> or to <HI>build,</HI> or not to build; predictions are not onely <HI>uncertain</HI> but <HI>&s;uper&s;titious:</HI> And the &s;ame is to be &s;aid of <HI>ca&s;ting Nativities by the conjunction of Planets.</HI> So Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> on <HI>Levit.</HI> 19. in his 41. <HI>Qu.</HI></Q> the head whereof is, <HI>The Vanity of A&s;trologers,</HI> quoting of, and referring us to <HI>To&s;tatus.</HI> The &s;ame Do|ctour,
<PB N="67" REF="37"><HI>Willet</HI> on the &s;ame Chapter, in his 32. <HI>Qu.</HI> hath this di&s;cour&s;e: <Q>All manner of CONJECTURING (&s;ee he cals it but <HI>Conjecturing</HI>) is not unlawful, whereof any <HI>naturall</HI> or <HI>divine Cau&s;e</HI> can be <HI>yielded:</HI> As fir&s;t, there are naturall &s;ignes in the Heavens and air, as of the alteration of weather, of winds, of rain, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And in compound bodies, as in &s;etting, and planting of Trees; and in humane bodies, as when tis good to let blood, to purge, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The&s;e are <HI>immediate</HI> effects in nature of Cele&s;tiall bodies: There are al&s;o <HI>mediate</HI> effects, as Comets which &s;hew &s;iccity and combu&s;tions, and &s;o many portend Wars, which is cau&s;ed by wrath among men, which cometh of &s;iccity and heat: So the Crow cryes again&s;t rain, becau&s;e the moi&s;ture of the air affects his feathers: And the Dolphin again&s;t a tempe&s;t &s;wims aloft, becau&s;e the Sand in the bottome is &s;tirred. For the&s;e creatures that are led onely by &s;en&s;e, have a quicker feeling of &s;uch naturall accidents, then man hath, who is mo&s;t occupied in the u&s;e and exerci&s;e of rea&s;on: For, <HI>Attentio ad operationes &s;e|cund&ugrave;m rationem, &amp;c,</HI> that is, <HI>The attending upon the operations of rea&s;on, doth take away the attention to the operation of nature:</HI> And therefore FOOLS and SIM|PLE per&s;ons, that are LEAST GUIDED by rea&s;on, are more &s;en&s;ible of naturall things then WISE men.</Q></P>
<P><Q>Again, there are <HI>divine and extraordinary &s;igns</HI> * which God &s;peaks of, that &s;hall be for &s;igns at &s;uch a time, or of &s;uch a thing. As <HI>Matth.</HI> 24.29. And the Dove de&s;cending on Chri&s;t, <HI>Matth.</HI> 3.16. But there is no <HI>Judiciary A&s;trology</HI> in all the&s;e.</Q></P>
<P>Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> adds on the &s;ame Chapter, <HI>Qu.</HI> 33. (to give it you in a word) thus; <Q>Signs ob&s;erved by men, of humane events, cannot be &s;igns; fir&s;t, becau&s;e <HI>Ex varietate cau&s;ae variatur cau&s;atum:</HI> The Stars have not the &s;ame influence in Summer, and in Win|ter, Spring, and Autumn. Secondly, <HI>Ex unitate cau|&s;ae
<PB N="68" REF="38">&s;equeretur &s;imilitudo effect&ucirc;s:</HI> Of the &s;ame cau&s;e there &s;hould be the &s;ame effects. But there follows not the &s;ame effect after the &s;ame &s;igns,</Q> as appears by ex|perience. Thirdly, <HI>Keckerman</HI> a mo&s;t learned Philo|&s;opher, and a Chri&s;tian, although he favours &s;ome things, which men now a dayes call part of A&s;trology, did not in all his two great Volumes of Arts and Sciences in <HI>Fo|lio,</HI> &s;et forth any <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> but in his Works hath the&s;e pa&s;&s;ages again&s;t it, to this effect: <Q><HI>Manent tamen &amp;c.</HI> The Stars abide, as of other &s;ublunary effects, &s;o of ef|fects in man, the COMMON and REMOTE <HI>Cau&s;es</HI> which many wayes may be hindred, not onely by the fir&s;t cau&s;e, GOD, but al&s;o by particular cau&s;es, partly in the HEAVENS, partly in the AIR, and other ELE|MENTS; &s;o that the PREDICTIONS OF ASTROLOGIE, are with IFFS and ANDS. So that it follows not, this man is born under an un|happy Star, therefore he hath a dull wit.</Q> So <HI>Kecker|man, System. Phy&s;. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 3. <HI>De Motu Cocli.</HI> The &s;ame <HI>Keckerman</HI> in another place hath the&s;e words. <HI>Di|&s;ciplina A&s;trologica, &amp;c.</HI> <Q>The Di&s;cipline of A&s;trolo|gie about the Predictions by Heavenly bodies, or Stars, <HI>is not yet confirmed upon true principles;</HI> there|fore no marvell if that part of A&s;trology, which is conver&s;ant about the predictions of Comets, <HI>doth re&s;t upon mo&s;t uncertain principles.</HI> It is granted to <HI>A&s;tro|nomy</HI> to u&s;e &s;uch Hypothe&s;es, or arguments, or princi|ples which are not in nature, but are conceived onely by a kind of &s;imilitude: But <HI>A&s;trology</HI> may not u&s;e &s;uch Hypothe&s;es. The A&s;trologers a&s;&s;ign &s;everal Coun|tries and Cities, to &s;everall Cele&s;tiall Signs; <HI>But of Cities plainly, no rea&s;on at all appears.</HI></Q> So Keckerman Sy&s;t. Phy&s;. lib. 6. <HI>cap.</HI> 5. <HI>De Cometis in genere.</HI></P>
<P>Fourthly, <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> the great Philo&s;opher of the&s;e times, and a Chri&s;tian, &s;ets forth a thing he calls A&s;trology; but &s;ee his faithfulne&s;&s;e in this; <HI>A&s;trologia</HI> (&s;aith he)
<PB N="69" REF="38"><HI>vitio,</HI> &amp;c. A&s;trology by the vice of man <HI>hath more vanity in it then A&s;tronomy.</HI> A&s;trology becau&s;e of our <HI>imbecility is conjecturall.</HI> And he adds. <HI>A&s;trologers are often deceived.:</HI> and therefore we do rightly (&s;aith he) pronounce the <HI>divinatory part of A&s;trology</HI> to be but <HI>Conjecturall.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, The great <HI>Galen</HI> &s;aith of A&s;trology, <HI>Sophi&s;ticum e&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> Tis a &s;ophi&s;ticall thing; <HI>Contrary to experience.</HI></P>
<P>Sixthly, So famous a man as was S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> famous for learning and godline&s;&s;e in his time, having been addicted to <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> afterwards repents of it, and renounceth it, in his Treati&s;e, <HI>De doctr. Chri&s;tiana, lib</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 21. <HI>in fine, &amp; initio capitis</HI> 22. His words are the&s;e. It is <HI>Mag|nus error, &amp; magna dementia, &s;uper&s;titio &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>A&s;trology is a great errour, a great madne&s;&s;e, a &s;uper|&s;tition ea&s;ily refelled.</HI></P>
<P>Saint <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> brings in another, on <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 63. as <HI>a pe|nitent renouncing this Art, Pagani&s;me and Judai&s;me:</HI> For we know that the Scriptures do much forbid it to the <HI>Jews,</HI> as the evill of the <HI>Heathens,</HI> as we &s;hall &s;ee plen|tifully afterwards.</P>
<P>Seventhly, Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins,</HI> famous for learning and godline&s;&s;e, as his Works &s;hew, hath not only a Trea|ti&s;e again&s;t A&s;trology (though once much addicted to it) but al&s;o gives us his <HI>repentance and renouncing of it</HI> in his <HI>Preface</HI> to the Reader before his <HI>re&s;olution to the Coun|trey-man.</HI> His words are the&s;e: <Q>I have long &s;tudied this Art, and was never quiet till I had &s;een all the &s;ecrets of it, but at length it plea&s;ed God to lay before me the PROPHANENESSE of it; nay I dare boldly &s;ay, the IDOLATRY, although it be covered with fair and golden &s;hews: Therefore that which I &s;peak with grief, I de&s;ire thee to note with &s;ome attention <HI>&amp;c.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Eighthly, Ma&s;ter <HI>Geree,</HI> known to me to be a godly and learned man (being Collegians in the Univer&s;ity) hath a learned Treati&s;e again&s;t A&s;trology (which if men read
<PB N="70" REF="39">well, they dare not, if they have any truth of grace, give them&s;elves to A&s;trology) His Treati&s;e is called <HI>A&s;trolo|gia-Ma&s;tix</HI> common to be had for a &s;mall matter.</P>
<P>Ninthly, Ma&s;ter <HI>Geree</HI> avoucheth Ma&s;ter <HI>Brigs</HI> &s;ome|times <HI>Geometry</HI> Reader at <HI>Oxford</HI> an eminent godly man (a man I my &s;elf knew well, and have been at his Le|ctures) and a man for his skill in <HI>Mathematicks,</HI> I think I may &s;ay (&s;aith Ma&s;ter <HI>Geree</HI>) that he was &s;econd to none. Of this Ma&s;ter <HI>Brigs,</HI> Ma&s;ter <HI>Geree</HI> gives us this account: This loving Friend of mine (&s;aith Ma&s;ter <HI>Ge|ree</HI>) upon a que&s;tion moved to him by me, touch|ing <HI>Judiciall Astrology,</HI> told me this remarkable Story of him&s;elf; When he came to <HI>Cambridge</HI> fir&s;t, he thought it a fine thing to be of <HI>Gods Coun&s;ell,</HI> to fore|know &s;ecrets, and re&s;olved to have that knowledge, what labour &s;oever it co&s;t him; and &s;o early applyed him&s;elf to the &s;tudy of the <HI>Mathematicks,</HI> beginning with <HI>Arithmetick</HI> and &s;o to <HI>Geometry,</HI> and <HI>A&s;tronomy;</HI> and to lay a good foundation he left none of the&s;e Arts, till he had attained exactne&s;&s;e in them: The foundation thus layd, he then applyed him&s;elf to his main &s;cope, the &s;earch of <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology;</HI> but there he found his expectation fru&s;trate; THERE WAS NO CERTAIN|TY in the rules thereof. When he had tyred his body and wits in vain, he was much dejected with the fru&s;trating of his expectation: At la&s;t he repaired to a man in <HI>Cam|bridge,</HI> famous in that Art, and a <HI>practitioner in Pro|gno&s;tications by it:</HI> to him he made his moan what pains he had taken to be expert in <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and how the un|certainty of the rules of that Art did now defeat his hopes: The <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> reply was, that THE RULES OF THAT ART WERE UNCERTAIN INDEED, NEI|THER WAS THERE ANY CURE FOR IT: whereup|on Ma&s;ter <HI>Brigs</HI> relinqui&s;ht that &s;tudy. And he did then affirm to me, that <HI>he would undertake to the skilfull|e&s;t A&s;trologer in the VVorld, that let him &s;et down any
<PB N="71" REF="39">conclu&s;ion touching any man or State, yea or</HI> WEATHER, <HI>and he would prove it</HI> CONTRADICTORILY; that is, <HI>Both that it would fall out &s;o, and that it would not fall out &s;o, from their own Rules and Principles;</HI> whence (&s;aith he) you may &s;ee apparently that there can be no <HI>certainty</HI> in the rules of that Art. He further added, that his opinion was; <HI>To tho&s;e that addicted them&s;elves to the practi&s;es of Divining A&s;trology, the Devill did at fir&s;t &s;ecretly lend his a&s;&s;i&s;tance;</HI> and at length, <HI>gra|datim</HI> (that is gradually) <HI>did</HI> (unle&s;&s;e God prevented) <HI>entice them into contract.</HI></P>
<P>Tenthly, <HI>Dominicus Nanus, Barthol. Amantius, Franci&s;c. Tortius, Jo&s;eph Langius;</HI> have gathered the&s;e collections touching A&s;trology: <HI>A&s;trologia,</HI> &amp;c. A&s;tro|logy is the <HI>Speech of Stars</HI> (<GAP DESC="foreign">,) But <HI>A&s;tro|nomy</HI> is (<GAP DESC="foreign">,) the <HI>Law</HI> of the Stars; as a|&s;cribing more certainty to A&s;tronomy then to A&s;trology. This A&s;trology is &s;aid to be invented by <HI>Atlanta,</HI> King of <HI>Mauritanie,</HI> witne&s;&s;e <HI>Pliny, l.</HI> 7. <HI>of his Naturall Hi&s;tory;</HI> which if true, is no commendation of A&s;tro|logy. <HI>Contemplantur A&s;tronomi,</HI> &amp;c. that the A&s;trono|mers contemplate the Stars, not as <HI>Judiciary A&s;trolo|gers</HI> and Chaldeans, condemned by the Prophers, but that by the &s;ituation of them, they may &s;et forth the &s;et, or &s;tanding times of dayes, moneths, and years; the Edip&s;es of the Sun and Moon and other things mo&s;t worthy to be known, and mo&s;t profitable for the life of man. The vanity of Judiciary A&s;trology, innumerable wife men of Old. and in our Age have di&s;allowed. See what God pronounceth of A&s;trologers by <HI>Mo&s;es Deut.</HI> 18.10. <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 44. <HI>Jer.</HI> 10. <HI>Phavorinus</HI> in <HI>A. Gell. lib.</HI> 14. <HI>cap.</HI> 1. was wont to reprove <HI>Judiciary A&s;trologers</HI> with this Dilemma; <HI>Aut adver&s;a eventura dicunt.</HI> &amp;c. that is, Either they foretell that things of <HI>adver&s;ity</HI> &s;hall come to pa&s;&s;e; or tho&s;e of <HI>pro&s;perity:</HI> If they &s;ay pro|&s;perous things, and do fru&s;trate or deceive men, then
<PB N="72" REF="40"><HI>thou &s;halt be mi&s;erable in hoping in vain:</HI> If they &s;ay things of adver&s;ity and do lye; then thou &s;halt be mi&s;e|rable in fearing in vain and without cau&s;e. If <HI>true</HI> things an&s;wer to their Predictions, but are not pro&s;perous things, from thence forward thou art mi&s;erable in thy <HI>mind</HI> be|fore thou art &s;o in the <HI>event.</HI> If they promi&s;e <HI>happy things,</HI> and they come to pa&s;&s;e, then plainly two inconvenien|cies will attend; namely, both the expectation of them in &s;u&s;pence of hope will weary thee; and the hope thou had&s;t, will now deflowre, or take away the grace and beauty of the future fruit of joy. <HI>Therefore by no means may we u&s;e tho&s;e kind of men who pre&s;age future things. Andr. Alciat. Emblem. cap.</HI> 3.
<Q><L>Icare per &s;uperos qui, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></L>
<L>Exemplo ut doceas dogmata certa tuo.</L>
<L>A&s;trologus caveat quicquam praedicere; praeceps</L>
<L>Nam cadet impo&s;tor dum &s;uper a&s;tra volat.</L></Q> <HI>i. e.</HI> As <HI>Icarus</HI> flying too high, melted his waxed wings and fell; &s;o the Impo&s;tour A&s;trologer, by flying above the Stars. <HI>A&s;trology judiciary, or divinatory, is to be exploded with all its Patrons. So Epiphanius</HI> di&s;puting again&s;t the <HI>Phari&s;ees</HI> and <HI>Manichees. So Ba&s;il. Hex. Hom.</HI> 1. and 6. <HI>So Chry&s;o&s;tome</HI> on <HI>Gen. Hom.</HI> 5. and 6. and on <HI>Matth. Hom.</HI> 6. Surely <HI>S. Augu&s;tine</HI> who had pro&s;pered in the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e of A&s;trology, after in his confe&s;&s;ions, <HI>lib.</HI> 4. <HI>cap.</HI> 3. <HI>lib.</HI> 5. <HI>cap.</HI> 3. and 7. and <HI>lib.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 6. <HI>De Doctrina Chri&s;tiana, lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 21.22. 23. <HI>De Civitate Dei, lib.</HI> 5. <HI>initio u&s;que ad cap.</HI> 8. <HI>Con|tra Academ. lib.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 7. one while doth <HI>grievou&s;ly complain</HI> that he was deceived, in attributing any thing to that Art; another while he doth <HI>&s;harply inveigh again&s;t it, and the Profe&s;&s;ours thereof.</HI> Likewi&s;e it is forbidden more then once in the <HI>Councils,</HI> as in <HI>Concil. Toletan.</HI> 1. <HI>Can.</HI> 21. <HI>Concilio Barracen&s;. cap.</HI> 9.10.26. <HI>qu.</HI> 2.3.4.</P>
<P>Thus, and thus far the <HI>Doctours</HI> Section, word for
<PB N="73" REF="40">word. Now let the prudent Reader judge whether <HI>Wil|liams</HI> five Sections have confuted this; or this them; or at lea&s;t, un&s;haken by them. So that I need add but little as to the &s;ub&s;tance; but onely briefly to animadvert upon <HI>Will.</HI> and to illu&s;trate &s;ome brief expre&s;&s;ions or in|timations of the <HI>Doctour.</HI></P>
<P>Not to &s;tay upon that mo&s;t <HI>improper &s;peech of Will.</HI> in his &s;econd Chapter, to charge the <HI>Doctour</HI> with <HI>malice</HI> again&s;t <HI>things;</HI> as with <HI>malice</HI> again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology</HI> (Ma|lice is of a per&s;on again&s;t a <HI>per&s;on</HI>); let the Reader one|ly note there, with a glance, how profe&s;&s;edly <HI>Will.</HI> doth &s;light Learned men, if they do not &s;peak &s;o as having truch and rea&s;on on their &s;ide; <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey being J&V;DGE.</HI> For that's the <HI>Genuine</HI> re&s;ult of his &s;peech. And by con&s;equence, if all the Learned men in the world be&s;ide A&s;trologers, &s;hould condemn A&s;trology, <HI>Will.</HI> would &s;light them (as he doth in his Book) becau&s;e he judgeth them not to &s;peak according to truth and rea&s;on.</P>
<P>To <HI>W. R.</HI> his fir&s;t Section of his &s;econd Chapter, a word will &s;erve; <HI>viz.</HI> onely to intreat <HI>Will.</HI> that &s;o calls on others for con&s;ideration, that he him&s;elf would con|&s;ider that <HI>To&s;tatus,</HI> or Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> doth not educe tho&s;e words at (<HI>A</HI>) out of the text <HI>Levit.</HI> 19. But are <HI>his liberty of expatiating, upon unlawfull Arts in gene|rall; and therein to declare his judgement concerning un|lawfull predictions. To&s;tatus</HI> and Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> had more wit then to take a text of <HI>Familiar Spirits,</HI> to con|fute <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> Though &s;ome <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> are not free from <HI>Familiarity</HI> with &s;uch. And <HI>B. C.</HI> proves an im|plicite complyance. Thus much onely hath given &s;uch a blow to <HI>Will. Ram&s;eys</HI> fir&s;t Section, that the whole Fa|brick of it falls to the ground in the eyes of them that will under&s;tand.</P>
<P>To his &s;econd Section; and fir&s;t to that <HI>Will.</HI> &s;aith and &s;o labours to prove that <HI>Stars</HI> are <HI>Cau&s;es;</HI> the <HI>Doctour</HI> denies it not, though that man of va&s;t learning <HI>Mar&s;.
<PB N="74" REF="41">Ficinus</HI> a famous Platonick Philo&s;opher in his works hath a Tract again&s;t it. 2. To <HI>Williams</HI> catching at the word <HI>CONJECTV RING of and concerning things which are naturall cau&s;es, as of alteration of weather, &amp;c.</HI> experience daily and evidently doth tell all men that have eyes to read Almanacks, and to &s;ee the weather; that how naturall and nece&s;&s;ary &s;oever the <HI>cau&s;es</HI> may be, the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> predictions of it are but conjecturing, and daily prove fal&s;e. Yet neither Doctour <HI>Willet</HI> nor Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> do move the que&s;tion, touching the <HI>thing</HI> which (commonly) is called <HI>Naturall</HI> Aftrology. And therefore as they do not ju&s;tifie <HI>Judiciall;</HI> &s;o they do not condemn <HI>naturall.</HI> touching <HI>weather,</HI> &amp;c. and therefore <HI>Will.</HI> is at the <HI>Labour-in-vain;</HI> uttering no|thing again&s;t the <HI>Doctour</HI> for me to take cognizance of, till he mentions S. <HI>Austins referring us</HI> (as <HI>Will.</HI> &s;aith) <HI>to the &s;tudy of Astrology,</HI> in his Annotations on <HI>Job.</HI> chapter 38. v. 31. But how <HI>untruly</HI> W. R. <HI>reports Saint Austine,</HI> let S. <HI>Au&s;tines</HI> words te&s;tifie; which are, <HI>In|tellexi&s;ti nexus Pleiades?</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Num &amp; A&s;trologia per|&s;crutenda e&s;t ad cogno&s;cendum proprietates i&s;torum Sy|derum, ut hunc locum intelligere po&s;simus? Miror et &s;i hoc congruit &s;ermoni no&s;tro.</HI> &amp;c. Where S. <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> asks the que&s;tion whether we need &s;earch <HI>A&s;trology</HI> to under|&s;tand that place? And wonders if that &s;hould agree to his &s;peech el&s;ewhere. And in the conclu&s;ion interprets the place, of <HI>morall</HI> not <HI>naturall</HI> things. <HI>Omnium</HI> (&s;aith S. <HI>Austine) it a &s;yderum nomine, omnes in eccle&s;ia ta|les intelligend: &s;unt qui conver&s;ationem habent in coelis,</HI> &amp;c. But the Doctour is not again&s;t the <HI>thing</HI> of naturall A&s;trology: but, 'tis <HI>judiciall</HI> A&s;trology, and the <HI>calling</HI> of predicting of naturall effects by naturall cau&s;es by the <HI>name</HI> of A&s;trology that the Doctour is again&s;t; and therefore <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> in his di&s;cour&s;e of the <HI>ebbing</HI> and <HI>flowing of the Sea, of thunder, rain, &s;now,</HI> &amp;c. is again at the <HI>Labour-in-vain;</HI> or at a combat with his own
<PB N="75" REF="41">&s;hadow; and &s;o goes on to the end of the &s;econd Section; For <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> mi&s;erably mi&s;takes, to &s;ay, Doctour <HI>VVillet denyed the Stars to be &s;igns or cau&s;es,</HI> as to <HI>natu|rall effects</HI> (which the Doctour expre&s;ly granted a little afore); and as meanly doth <HI>VVill.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Viz. Ex</HI> varierate cau&s;ae, &amp;c. <HI>and Ex</HI> uni|tate cau|&s;ae, &amp;c.</NOTE> go off of Doctour <HI>VVillets Two mighty rea&s;ons</HI> again&s;t &s;igns of <HI>humane</HI> e|vents, and &s;peaks not one pertinent word to them. Let the Reader compare and judge in the thing.</P>
<Q>Quem penes arbitrium e&s;t, et vis et norma loquendi.</Q>
<P>To <HI>VVill. R.</HI> third <HI>Section,</HI> being a great body with little &s;oul in it (as was Doctour <HI>Ames</HI> his Character of <HI>Bellarmines</HI> works <HI>(Moles ab&s;que nervis)</HI> I need not add much to the &s;ub&s;tance of what D. <HI>Homes</HI> hath &s;ay|ed. For let me but tell <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey.</HI> that he hath not fairly repeated <HI>Doctour Homes</HI> touching <HI>Keckerman,</HI> and he mu&s;t needs be <HI>non-plus't</HI> in his quibble. It was the fault of the <HI>Devil</HI> he quoted not the whole period of the Scripture he alleadged. And certainly the <HI>Astrologer</HI> is not blamele&s;&s;e in his curt quoting the <HI>Doctour,</HI> who&s;e words you may &s;ee afore are, <HI>That Keckerman a mo&s;t learned Philo&s;opher, and a Chri&s;tian, although he fa|vours &s;ome things, which men now a dayes call A&s;trolo|logy, did not in all his two great volumes in folio of the Arts and Sciences, &s;et forth any A&s;trology, BVT IN HIS VVORKS HATH THESE PASSAGES AGAINST IT,</HI> &amp;c. Now this la&s;t clau&s;e here in capitall letters are left out by <HI>VVilliam Ram&s;ey</HI> to the immediate ruine of all he &s;aith, till he come to <HI>MA|NENT TAMEN</HI> a fre&s;h matter. Yea if that Ca|pitall clau&s;e had not been in, it had been good Logick and rea&s;on to &s;ay what the Doctour concludes; That <HI>Kec|kerman</HI> handling of purpo&s;e of the main body of Arts and Sciences, and among them all, the reall <HI>Mathema|ticks,</HI> and leaving out A&s;trology, doth &s;hew, that <HI>Kecker|man</HI> was rather again&s;t then for A&s;trology. Or that <HI>Kec|kerman</HI> did think there was no &s;uch lawfull Science.
<PB N="76" REF="42">Even as if <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> of purpo&s;e had &s;et him&s;elf to handle all Pneumatology, <HI>i.e. a Sy&s;tem of Spirits and Souls,</HI> and handling of the Souls of Animals, and of the Souls or Spirits of men, and of the Holy &s;pirit, had quite left out the doctrine of Angels, it would well have inferred there were no Angels. But the whole Bible is not a Sy&s;tem, but a graduall di&s;covery of truths, (according to the growth of the Church) with explications, and repetitions. And though <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> included the creation of the <HI>Angels</HI> in the creation of the <HI>Heavens</HI> (as <HI>Will.</HI> Cou&s;in-<HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> acutely well ob|&s;erves in his <HI>Enchiridion Phy&s;icae re&s;titutae</HI>), but expre&s;|&s;eth them not (that as Divines ob&s;erve, the &s;ons of men might not dream the concurrence of Angels in the Crea|tion) till <HI>Gen.</HI> 18. and afterwards much, that was e|nough to clear it; <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> owned the being and Doctrine of Angels. But <HI>Keckerman</HI> from fir&s;t to la&s;t doth not approve of the thing and doctrine of Judiciall A&s;trolo|gy. Now for <HI>VVil.</HI> an&s;wer to <HI>Keckerman</HI>'s <HI>MA|NENT TAMEN</HI> &amp;c. <HI>i.e. The Stars abide,</HI> &amp;c. unto <HI>Cometis in genere,</HI> which you have here in&s;erted out of the <HI>Doctours Demologie</HI> word for word; let the under&s;tanding Reader judge, 1. Whether <HI>VVill. Ram|&s;ey</HI> hath confuted it! 2. Whether the Doctour by the rule of rea&s;on or Art was bound to argue out <HI>Kecker|mans</HI> a&s;&s;ertions; &s;eeing he alledgeth him onely as a particular example of one learned man among others, that was again&s;t A&s;trology! 3. Whether <HI>VVill.</HI> doth not evidently contradict him&s;elf in &s;aying, <HI>That the words of Keckerman are as much as comes to nothing;</HI> and yet pre&s;ently labours, <HI>but in vain,</HI> to confute them. For <HI>Keckerman</HI> doth not &s;ay, <HI>That the inferiour &s;econd cau&s;es are predominant and rule over the fir&s;t, and &s;u|periour;</HI> &s;o as to alter them in <HI>them&s;elves;</HI> but that they may be <HI>hindred by them.</HI> Which is no other, but what all Philo&s;ophy, and univer&s;all experience will confe&s;&s;e.
<PB N="77" REF="42">And <HI>VVilliam</HI> him&s;elf confe&s;&s;eth in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader, <HI>That with the nece&s;sity of the influence of the Stars &s;ome contingency may be mixt,</HI> &amp;c. And his Bre|thren in A&s;trology do u&s;ually &s;o excu&s;e their mi&s;takes in predictions; <HI>viz. That &s;o the Stars promi&s;ed or threa|tened, but &s;econd cau&s;es hindred, or altered the ca&s;e.</HI> La&s;tly, <HI>VVilliam</HI>'s own dear <HI>Ptolomy</HI> &s;o often by him called upon, doth a&s;&s;ert as much.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cl. Ptel. Predict. A&s;tron. lib. 1. c. 1.</NOTE> <HI>Deinde Regionum di|ver&s;itas non exigua di&s;crimina in na&s;centibus efficit, etiam cum eadem &s;int &s;emina, ut hominum; et cum ea|dem coeli con&s;titntio e&s;t, tamen magna e&s;t in diver&s;is re|gionibus di&s;similitudo, quod ad corpora, et animos atti|net. i.e.</HI> in &s;umme, and in a word, <HI>The difference in men both in body and mind may be great by rea&s;on of the diver&s;itie of countreys though the &s;eed of birth and the constitution of the Heavens may be the &s;ame.</HI> But I do ill thus farre to pur&s;ue a fly. For how &s;imply doth <HI>VVill.</HI> an&s;wer <HI>Keckermans</HI> grand conclu&s;ions upon the pre|mi&s;&s;es! <HI>viz.</HI> <Q>That the predictions of A&s;trology are with Ifs and Ands; <HI>and that</HI> A&s;trology is not yet confirmed upon true Principles; <HI>and that</HI> A&s;trology conver&s;ant about Comets, doth re&s;t upon mo&s;t uncertain Principles. <HI>And la&s;tly,</HI> That there is no rea&s;on appears why A&s;trologers &s;hould a&s;&s;ign &s;everall Cities to &s;eve|rall Signs.</Q> Of all which Conclu&s;ions a&s;&s;erted by <HI>Kec|kerman, VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> gives no other confutation, but like that of Doctour <HI>K.</HI> confuting <HI>B.</HI> with <HI>B.</HI> THOU LYEST. <HI>VVilliam Ram&s;ey</HI> in like manner here re|plyes, <HI>The a&s;&s;ertion that the principles of</HI> A&s;trology <HI>are not confirmed upon true Principles:</HI> is <HI>here condemned as erronious, fal&s;e and malicious:</HI> which <HI>VVill.</HI> utters, as if he &s;ate <HI>Prolocutour</HI> in &s;ome Papal Council. And that the Popes FIATUR mu&s;t go for good, when they tel'd him he &s;hould have &s;aid FIAT. And as &s;imply almo&s;t doth <HI>VVill.</HI> confute <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> for &s;aying <HI>A&s;trologers are of|ten deceived.</HI> (of the re&s;t of <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> afore expre&s;t again&s;t
<PB N="78" REF="43">A&s;trology <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> takes no notice) I &s;ay, he con|futes him &s;imply; for it many profe&s;&s;ed Mariners or Ar|ti&s;ts endeavour to finde <HI>Terra incognita,</HI> or the <HI>Judicial Astrology&mdash;&V;topia,</HI> and cannot finde it, 'twere better for them to go more certain Voyages. And though many Errours may creep into Profe&s;&s;ours (of which <HI>VVill.</HI> Ju|dicial A&s;trology is one, now at he Triall) yet there is no uncertainty in the <HI>Bible.</HI> But in <HI>VVilliams</HI> A&s;trological Bible, <HI>viz.</HI> in <HI>Ptolomy, de praedict. A&s;tro</HI> is much uncer|tainty, and there, even there confe&s;t by the Authour. <HI>Hu|manum e&s;t errare,</HI> &s;aith <HI>Will.</HI> But though it be &s;o in &s;ud|dain words, and ra&s;h acts <HI>&amp;c.</HI> yet learned men have prudently fixt a Rule, that <HI>Arts and Sciences are not tobe compo&s;ed of uncertainties. No not of &s;ingle certain|ties becau&s;e infinite. Scire,</HI> &s;ay they, <HI>e&s;t per cau&s;as &s;cire. Wills A&s;trology</HI> mu&s;t have been a <HI>Science</HI> if any thing. But <HI>Ptolomy</HI> affirmes <HI>(ibid) an uncertainty in it by rea&s;on of the contrariety of cau&s;es.</HI> As for that <HI>Sophisticum</HI> of <HI>Galen,</HI> I &s;aid afore it was quoted out of <HI>Alsted:</HI> and I do charge <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> with a <HI>Sophi&s;ticum</HI> out of <HI>Galen,</HI> That a man is rather a Fool than a Phy&s;ician, that is not an <HI>A&s;trologer.</HI> For, fir&s;t, experience te&s;tifies that there have been and are many famous &s;ucce&s;sfull Phy&s;icians that are nothing in Judicial A&s;trology. And &s;econdly on the other &s;ide, though <HI>Will.</HI> pretend much skill in <HI>A&s;tro|logy,</HI> yet is he not famous for <HI>Phy&s;ick,</HI> or <HI>freedom from folly,</HI> as his Book (now under con&s;ideration) doth amply te&s;tifie. Yea, the next pa&s;&s;age of this Section te&s;tifies. For he never would have mentioned <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> at all; or that place of <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> if he would not have the &s;hame of A&s;trology ript up, and expo&s;ed to open contempt. But &s;eeing <HI>Will.</HI> is &s;o imprudent, or impudent, or both, to pretend that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> is a friend to A&s;trology; <HI>William</HI> &s;hall now have his belly full of <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> afore we part. <HI>Au&s;tin's</HI> words at length, in his &s;econd Book of Chri&s;ti|an Doctrine, <HI>cap.</HI> 22. <HI>&amp;</HI> 23. are the&s;e; <Q><HI>Sed ex ea nota|tione
<PB N="79" REF="43">&s;yderum, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>But to undertake to foretell the manners, acts, and events of men from their births, is a great Errour, and a great madne&s;s. And even with them that have learned the&s;e things (to be unlearned) i, without all doubt, this &s;uper&s;tition confuted. For the Con&s;tellations, as they call them, is a not ation of Starrs, how they were, when he was born concerning whom tho&s;e mi&s;erable wretches are con&s;ulted, by them that are more mi&s;erable. But it may be that &s;ome TVVINNES are &s;o immediatly poured out of the womb, that no inter|vall of time between them can be apprehended and no|ted in the numbers of Con&s;tellations. From whence it is of nece&s;&s;ity that &s;ome TWINNES must have the &s;elf &s;ame Con&s;tellations; when as of the things they do or &s;uffer there are not the &s;ame events, but for the mo&s;t part are &s;o different, that the one lives mo&s;t happily, the the other mo&s;t unhappily; as we &s;ee in</HI> Jacob <HI>and</HI> E&s;au. <HI>Neither doth it appertain to the matter, for them to &s;ay, that that &s;ame lea&s;t and narrowe&s;t moment of time, which di&s;tingui&s;heth the birth of Twins is of great con|&s;equence in the nature of things, and the rapacious &s;wiftne&s;s of the Heavens. For though I &s;hould grant, in many things that to be of con&s;equence, yet cannot the Mathematician finde among the Con&s;tellations by what ob&s;ervations or con&s;idertions of them he profe&s;&s;eth to foretel de&s;tinies. Therfore opinionatings, or conjecturings by certain &s;ignes of things taught by humane pre&s;ump|tion are to be referred to the &s;ame as certain COM|PACTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH DEVILS. For hence it is, that men greedy of evil things, by a certain occult divine judgement are deli|vered up to be illuded and deceived according to the merits of their lu&s;ts, the deluding Angels coozening and deceiving them.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Thus <HI>Austin</HI> in the place afore&s;aid, gives A&s;trology a terrible Broad-&s;ide, how ever <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> would
<PB N="80" REF="44">mince the matter. And how untruly he minceth it, let the upright Reader judge by comparing <HI>VVillams</HI> fla&s;h and glo&s;s, with the Text and words of <HI>Austin</HI> him&s;elf. From which <HI>William</HI> flies, and declines the giving of due &s;a|tisfaction to them, and mo&s;t impudently and impertinent|ly tells us Stories of <HI>Austin</HI> again&s;t <HI>Faustus,</HI> and of <HI>Aug. de Givitate Dei.</HI> Ju&s;t as if a man &s;hould be called to an&s;wer at <HI>London</HI> upon an Action touching Chee&s;e; but he runs to <HI>York,</HI> and pleads to the matter of Chalk: However we mu&s;t follow the Offender, till he be ferreted out of all his hiding places, and taken. If it were as <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> reports of <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> again&s;t <HI>Fau&s;tus;</HI> yet <HI>Au&s;tin's</HI> judgement after his conver&s;ion is to be preferred afore his practi&s;e afore his conver&s;ion. And what&s;oever the <HI>occa&s;ion</HI> was of <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> &s;peaking tho&s;e words (as 'tis clear in the &s;aid place, there is no mention of <HI>Mani|chees,</HI> or of <HI>adoration of Starrs</HI>) the Que&s;tion is whether <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> did not &s;eriou&s;ly and po&s;itively &s;peak tho&s;e words (which is the intent of Doctour <HI>Homes</HI>) <HI>viz. That A|&s;trological predicting or foretelling of events from the Births of men is a great errour and madne&s;s?</HI> And whe|ther it be not now under con&s;ideration, that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> all along his Works was of the &s;ame minde, and that ju&s;tly, again&s;t <HI>Judicial A&s;trology,</HI> <Q>be it but as <HI>Ptolomy</HI> &s;ets it forth,</Q> wherein he affirmes for it (which is bad enough and too bad)? And particularly for <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> again&s;t <HI>Fau|&s;tus, William R.</HI> doth <HI>mo&s;t abominably abu&s;e him.</HI> For in his fifth Booth, <HI>cap.</HI> 4. or 20. Book <HI>cap.</HI> 6. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath not one word of his being a <HI>Manichee,</HI> or of his Conver&s;ion or non-conver&s;ion, or of the occa&s;ion of tho&s;e words. So all <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> quotations of <HI>Aug. de Civi|tate Dei</HI> to make the Reader (that hath not <HI>Au&s;tin</HI>) to believe the contrary, doth but ju&s;tly lay open <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> juggling, the &s;hame of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and the glory of <HI>Truth. Will. Ram.</HI> quotation of that fifth Book of <HI>Aug. de Civitate Dei, cap.</HI> 1. &s;hall be judge; and I will give
<PB N="81" REF="44">it you according to the Engli&s;h Tran&s;lation of <HI>Aug. de Civitate Dei,</HI> (commonly to be had) that the Reader may &s;ee, if he plea&s;e, whether I deal truly with him or no? To omit <HI>Au&s;tin's</HI> Preamble, he fals upon the que&s;ti|on, word for word thus, <Q><HI>The God of Heaven by his onely providence di&s;po&s;eth of the Kingdoms of the earth, which if any man will &s;ay is &s;wayed by fate, and mean by that fate,</HI> the will of God, <HI>he may</HI> hold his opinion &s;till, <HI>but yet</HI> he mu&s;t a mend his &s;peech; <HI>for why did he not learn this of him that taught him, what fate was? The ordinary custome of this hath made men imagine fate to be A POVVER OF THE STARS &s;o, or &s;o placed,</HI> in Nativities, <HI>or</HI> conceptions; <HI>which &s;ome do &s;eparate from the determination of God, and other &s;ome do affirm to depend wholly thereupon. But tho&s;e that hold that the Starrs do manage our actions, or our pa&s;&s;ions, good or ill without Gods appointment are to be &s;ilenced, and not to be heard, be they of the true Religion or be they bond &s;laves to idolatry, of what &s;ort &s;oever; for what doth this opinion but flatly exclude all Deity? Again&s;t this opinion we profe&s;s not any di&s;puta|tion, but onely again&s;t tho&s;e that calumniate Christian Religion in defence of their imaginary gods. As for tho&s;e that make the&s;e operations of the &s;tars in good or bad</HI> to depend upon Gods will, <HI>if they &s;ay they have this power given them from him to u&s;e according to</HI> their own wills, they do Heaven much wrong, in imagining that any wicked acts or in juries are decreed in &s;o glorious a Se|nate, and &s;uch as if any earthly City had but in&s;tituted, the whole generation of man would have con&s;pired the &s;ubver&s;ion of it. <HI>And what part hath God left him in this di&s;po&s;ing of humane affairs, if they be &s;wayed by</HI> a nece&s;&s;icy from the Starrs, <HI>whereas he is the Lord of men and Starrs?</HI> If they <HI>do not &s;ay that the Starrs are cau&s;es of the&s;e wicked acts, through a power that God hath given them, but that they effect them by his</HI> ex|pre&s;s
<PB N="82" REF="45">command; is this fit to be imagined for true of God, that is unworthy to be held true of the Starrs? <HI>But if the Starrs be &s;aid to</HI> po tend <HI>this onely,</HI> and not to procure it, <HI>and that their po&s;itions be but</HI> Signes <HI>not</HI> Cau&s;es <HI>of &s;uch effects (for &s;o hold many great Scho|lars, though the A&s;trologians u&s;e not to &s;ay</HI> Mars <HI>in &s;uch a Hou&s;e</HI> SIGNIFIETH this or that, no but MAKETH <HI>the childe born a</HI> Homicide, <HI>to grant them this</HI> Errour <HI>of &s;peech, (which they wu&s;t learn to</HI> reform <HI>of the Philo&s;ophers in all their pre&s;ages,</HI> derived <HI>from the Stars po&s;itions: (how cometh it to pa&s;s that they could never &s;hew the rea&s;on of that diver&s;ity of life, actions, fortune, profe&s;&s;ion, art, honour, and &s;uch</HI> hu|mane <HI>accidents, that hath befallen TVVINNES? Nor of &s;uch a great difference, both in tho&s;e afore&s;aid cour&s;es, and in their death that in this ca&s;e many</HI> &s;tran|gers <HI>have come nearer them</HI> in their cour&s;es of life, then the one hath done to the other, <HI>be notwithstanding</HI> born both within a little &s;pace of time, <HI>the one of the other, and</HI> conceived both in one in&s;tant, <HI>and from</HI> one act of <HI>generation.</HI></Q> Thus <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> in <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> quoted place to a word. Now let the Reader having all <HI>Au&s;tin's</HI> words in this Chapter at once before his eye, judge whe|ther he be not ab&s;olutely again&s;t all judicial A&s;trology di&s;puting again&s;t it (as the Analy&s;is and method of the Chapter plainly manife&s;ts) in a way of <HI>Dilemma's</HI> under all divi&s;ions, di&s;tinctions, and notions; and becau&s;e not to be admitted in this or that, or t'other way, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> there|fore not to be admitted at all. And comes up clo&s;e a|gain&s;t Judicial A&s;trology to explain he means that by the in&s;tance of Twinnes, the &s;ame in conception, and birth, yet exceeding different in life and death. But let me not forget one pa&s;&s;age wherein <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> doth extremely abule <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> and the Reader; and it is that noted with *** in his third Section afore&s;aid, here now under the hammer; the right reading of which words are tho&s;e
<PB N="83" REF="45">words noted by us with &dagger; &s;o that contrary to <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> report and fal&s;ification, <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> is far from encouraging A&s;trolgers to continue in their opinions. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith onely <HI>that</HI> if any man means by <HI>fate</HI> the <HI>will of God,</HI> that &s;wayeth all things, he may hold this his opinion (&s;peaking in the &s;ingular number) but yet he mu&s;t mend his phra&s;e of &s;peech. So that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> doth not mention A&s;trologers, or if he meant them, yet doth he not &s;ay, they may hold their opinions (in the Plural Number) much le&s;s their A&s;trological opinions. Then <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> would be <HI>heautonti|moroumenos,</HI> a fighter again&s;t him&s;elf, a &s;elf-vexer. But for all this, <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> will not leave <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;o, nor will I the while leave him. For all that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> hath &s;aid <HI>de Civitate Dei, lib.</HI> 5. <HI>cap.</HI> 1. and his pro&s;ecuting his great argum ent from Twinnes, <HI>ibid. cap.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 4. and the head and &s;umm of his fifth Chapter is, <HI>How the Ma|thematicians may be convicted of PROFESSING VANITR;</HI> and therefore farr from concurring with A&s;trologers, as <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> would make us believe in his marginal note; yet <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hopes to collect out of <HI>Au&s;tin's</HI> &s;ixth Chapter of the &s;ame Book &s;omething to favour A&s;trology, <HI>Non u&s;que quaque ab&s;urd&egrave; dici po&s;&s;it,</HI> (&s;aith <HI>William,</HI> picking a Dai&s;ie here and there, and then &s;tripping off the leaves of gra&s;s about it, I mean his ill tran&s;lating) <HI>Where we &s;ee</HI> &s;aith <HI>Will. Ram. nothing is ex|empted from &s;ubjection to the Starrs that is bodily, but onely our &s;piritual part, &amp;c.</HI> and &s;o <HI>William</HI> goes on, concluding this his third Section with a mighty outcry again&s;t the <HI>Doctour,</HI> for (as <HI>William</HI> &s;aith) his <HI>fal&s;e</HI> and <HI>injurious</HI> bringing of S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> again&s;t A&s;trology, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But Reader have patience ere thou judge&s;t, till I have been at the pains to tran&s;cribe the whole &s;ixth Chapter of <HI>Aug. de Civitate Dei</HI> as near as I can to a &s;illable, as 'tis in the common Engli&s;h Tran&s;lation for thy better a&s;&s;u|rance of the Doctours truth, which is thus;</P>
<P><Q>It often falleth out (<HI>&s;aith</HI> Au&s;tin) notwith&s;tanding
<PB N="84" REF="46">that in the&s;e concurrences, and unions of times, Con|ception, and Con&s;tellation, the children conceived are the one a male, the other a female. I know two Twinnes of divers Sexes both of them alive, and Iu&s;ty at this day. They are as like in favour one to another, as their difference of &s;ex can permit; but in their fa|&s;hion and order of life, <HI>&s;o unlike, that</HI> (be&s;ides the actions which mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity di&s;tingui&s;h between men and women) he is continually in warr, in the office of a <HI>Count,</HI> and never cometh home; &s;he continually in her Countrey, where &s;he was born, and never goeth abroad. Nay, which is more incredible, (re|&s;pecting the powers of the Starrs, and not the wills of God and men) he is a married man, and &s;he is an holy virgin; he hath many children, and &s;he was never mar|ried. <HI>O but their HOROSCOPES had a great &s;way in all things.</HI> Tu&s;h, I have &s;hewn the power of that to be ju&s;t nothing already. I but what &s;oever it doth it is there in the nativity that mu&s;t do it. What and not in the conception, wherein it is manife&s;t, that there is but one generative act concurrent? For natures power is &s;uch, that a woman having once conceived cannot &s;e|cond any conception, untill &s;he be delivered of the fir&s;t. And therefore it is nece&s;&s;ary, that the Twinnes con|ception fall both in one moment. Were their divers HOROSCOPES (think you) the cau&s;e that in their birth, he became a man-childe, and &s;he a woman? Wherefore &s;ince it is no &s;uch ab&s;urdity to &s;ay, that there are &s;ome Planetary influences that have effect onely upon diver&s;ity of formes in bodies, as we &s;ee the altera|tion of the year by the Suns acce&s;s, and departure; and divers things to decrea&s;e and increa&s;e, ju&s;t as the Moon doth (Crabs for example, and all &s;hell-fi&s;hes be|&s;ides the wonderfull cour&s;e of the Sea) but that the minde of man is not &s;ubject to any of the&s;e powers of the Starrs; tho&s;e Arti&s;ts now de&s;iring to binde our
<PB N="85" REF="46">acts unto this we &s;ee them free from, do &s;hew us plain|ly; that <HI>the effects of the Starrs have no power &s;o much as upon our bodies.</HI> For what is &s;o pertinent unto the body as the &s;ex thereof? And yet we &s;ee that two Twinnes of divers &s;exes may be conceived both under one Con&s;teilation. Wherefore what FONDER AF|FECTION can there be, then to &s;ay, <HI>That that figure of Heaven which was one in the conception of them both, had not power to keep the &s;i&s;ter from differing in &s;ex from her brother, with whom &s;he had one Con&s;tel|lation,</HI> and yet that that fign of Heaven which ruled at their nativity had power to make her differ &s;o farr from him in her virgins &s;anctimony.</Q> Thus <HI>Au&s;tin.</HI> And now for &s;hame let <HI>Will.</HI> hold his outcries again&s;t Doctour <HI>Homes,</HI> for that the Doctour &s;aid <HI>Au&s;tin was again&s;t A&s;trology.</HI> And for &s;hame let <HI>William</HI> endeavour no more to gull his Reader with pretence that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> is for A&s;trology. The Battle grows hot; <HI>Will.</HI> is not able to bear the Shock. And if yet he, or his followers have not enough of <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> let them turn to the Doctours Section of <HI>An&s;wers to Objections,</HI> and his an&s;wr to the <HI>la&s;t Objection</HI> brought out out of <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> where twelve places out of <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> are alleadged, which vehemently conte&s;t again&s;t A&s;trology,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dormo|nolog. cap. 10. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">t. 5.</NOTE> be&s;ides others in the fir&s;t Secti|on of the Doctours tenth Chapter again&s;t A&s;trology. Now where is <HI>Williams</HI> boa&s;t and cry of <HI>victoria,</HI> that Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> did <HI>fal&s;ely</HI> bring <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> again&s;t A&s;tro|logy? Go <HI>Will.</HI> off the Stage for &s;hame.</P>
<P><HI>Will. Ram&s;ey's</HI> fourth Section hath an&s;wered &s;o little, or rather nothing (worthy to be called an an&s;wer) to Do|ctour <HI>Homes</HI> his faithfull Allegation of M. <HI>Perkins, Bridges,</HI> and <HI>Geree,</HI> in the Doctours &s;econd Section be|fore in&s;erted, which the Reader may now by the help of this <HI>Survey</HI> compare together; and may &s;ee more (if he plea&s;e) of M. <HI>Perkins</HI> in his Treati&s;e of <HI>Witchcraft,</HI> and of M. <HI>Geree</HI> in his <HI>A&s;irologico-Ma&s;tix,</HI> and in him of
<PB N="86" REF="47">M. <HI>Buidges</HI> (all commonly to be had) I &s;ay <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath &s;aid &s;o little or rather nothing in form of an an&s;wer to the Doctour concerning the&s;e worthy men, that I need add but very little at all.</P>
<Q>Sufficit exiguo &s;trigilatio curta caballo.</Q>
<P N="1">1. To <HI>Melanchton</HI> the Doctour an&s;wers in his fifth Section of confutation of Objections. <HI>Paragraph.</HI> 2.</P>
<P>Secondly, to <HI>Will.</HI> cur&s;ed compari&s;on of A&s;trology and the Scriptures together by the injury done to <HI>the&s;e</HI> to &s;helter <HI>that</HI> from ju&s;tice (&s;o oft repeated in his <HI>Lux V.</HI>) we an&s;wer, that a good man never wrote again&s;t the Word of God, (if &s;ome bad ones have, &s;ince the reign of A&s;trology) but generally all good men write again&s;t A&s;trology. It hath been &s;ealed to thou&s;ands of thou&s;ands by the holy Spirit of God that the &s;acred Scriptures are the Word of God (notwith&s;tanding the diabolical op|po&s;ition of &s;ome bad men) but A&s;trology is &s;u&s;pected, yea and a&s;&s;erted by many godly men, that is from, by or with the Devil in its predictions, or the Devil in, with, or by them; choo&s;e you whether. So Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> hath cleared it out of M. <HI>Bridges,</HI> M. <HI>Perkins,</HI> (who a&s;|&s;erts other learned men up to the Apo&s;tles times of the &s;ame minde) and S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> who in his 5. <HI>Tom. C.</HI> 291. <HI>Edit. Ba&s;il. Frob. A.D.</HI> 1565. &s;aith plainly, that <HI>The An&s;wers of A&s;trologers are from evil Spirits.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. To that <HI>William</HI> di&s;tingui&s;heth of M. <HI>Perkins</HI> Treati&s;e of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> let M. <HI>Perkins</HI> his Treati&s;e an|&s;wer; which to any that &s;hall view it, will quickly make it appear that he wholly bends him&s;elf by all manner of means to prove <HI>all Judicial A&s;trology</HI> to be altogether impious and unlawfull.</P>
<P N="4">4. For Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heyden's</HI> an&s;wer to M. <HI>Cham|bers &amp;c.</HI> it will be taken into con&s;ideration anon. Had not <HI>William</HI> &s;o crackt of it and reprinted it in this his Book now under con&s;ideration, the fame thereof (as great as <HI>William</HI> proclaimes to be) had not made it known to
<PB N="87" REF="47">the Anti-a&s;trologer; but at <HI>William's</HI> incitation it may by and by receive a due an&s;wer.</P>
<P>To <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey's</HI> fifth Section touching M. <HI>Bridges,</HI> that of the Doctours &s;econd Section, before in&s;erted is re|ply enough; for <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath upon the matter &s;aid nothing to it, but onely told his Reader mo&s;t <HI>impudently two bouncing untruths,</HI> I might (but for re&s;pect to my own civility) call it wor&s;e. &dagger; <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey's</HI> fir&s;t <HI>&V;n|truth</HI> here is, <Q>that <HI>Ptolomy, Galen, Hippocrates,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Menti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">i eft contrae mentem <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> ire. Aug.</NOTE> S. <HI>Au|&s;tin,</HI> and thou&s;ands more found not onely a <HI>Certainty</HI> in A&s;trology, but concluded and agreed that it was the mo&s;t <HI>bene&s;icial</HI> Art under the Sun.</Q> For it hath been written as with Sun-beams, for evidence, that <HI>Austin</HI> is <HI>totally and univer&s;ally against Judicial Astrology over all his works.</HI> That <HI>Galen,</HI> and <HI>Hippocrates</HI> onely &s;pake a little to <HI>A&s;tronomy.</HI> And that <HI>Ptolomy</HI> in his <HI>A&s;tr. Praedict. lib.</HI> 1. doth grant that many ways Judicial A&s;trology is <HI>uncertain.</HI> For <HI>William's thou&s;ands more, of his fellow Impo&s;tours,</HI> they are <HI>Anonymi,</HI> and &s;o cannot have the honour to be called by their names; if it were true there were &s;uch and &s;o many. But I have found <HI>Will.</HI> &s;o often tardy with untruths, that he is not to be believed in any thing of this nature upon his own word. <HI>Williams</HI> other bouncing <HI>utruth</HI> (if by <HI>undertaking</HI> he means <HI>performing</HI>) is this, <HI>That</HI> William <HI>will undertake to &s;peak as much, nay and with more proof again&s;t any Art or Science the Doctour can devi&s;e to nominate (though never &s;o true) then all his learned men</HI> in his Character of the pre&s;ent times again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> For I &s;uppo&s;e that was the &s;en&s;e he intended, or el&s;e 'tis non-&s;en&s;e. For I confe&s;s the man hath left it in print (if the Printer did not wrong him) with a <HI>&s;emi-circle</HI> (I mean half a <HI>Parenthe&s;is</HI>) and <HI>he forgot,</HI> and then flies I know not whether, as if ju&s;t then in &s;peaking that <HI>loud and lewd untruth</HI> he had <HI>lo&s;t his wits in a pa&s;&s;ion,</HI> or had been confounded in his intel|lectuals by the ju&s;t judgement of God. Turn back
<PB N="88" REF="48">Reader, and reade him at ** and &s;ee whether I wrong him! And if that be the &s;en&s;e he intended, then he carries a mo&s;t fal&s;e tongue and an impudent forehead in his A&s;tro|logical head. For he may &s;ooner eat his fingers then with <HI>good proof</HI> &s;peak again&s;t <HI>Geometry, Arithmetick</HI> and di|vers other Sciences of the <HI>Mathematicks;</HI> who&s;e de|mon&s;trations are infallible (as the <HI>Maxim</HI> is) and appa|rantly to &s;en&s;e. And for the re&s;t of Liberal Sciences, their <HI>Principles</HI> are unmovable; and their bodies unque&s;tion|able, whether they be Arts and Sciences? But <HI>Williams A&s;trology</HI> is que&s;tioned in the very Fundamentals of what is e&s;&s;entially proper to it, (as the A&s;trologers lay claim) <HI>viz.</HI> in the Theorems and Canons of predicting and Progno&s;tications. Yea, the very Sy&s;tem may ju&s;tly be que&s;tioned (as the Doctour hath hinted) whether there be any &s;uch thing, as <HI>Judicial A&s;trology;</HI> or any <HI>A&s;trology</HI> as di&s;tinct from other Sciences. For clearly <HI>Natural A&s;trology</HI> (if we may indulge that name) is according to &s;everall matters and their con&s;iderations, parts of other Sciences, unto which it is to be referred for its <HI>being.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="Ramsey's chapter">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>CHAP. III.</HI> Wherein the Doctours divine proofs again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> are examined and confuted.</HEAD>
<P>BUt before I begin, I &s;hall de&s;ire the Reader to have a &s;pecial care to remember what A&s;trology is, which is now in controver&s;ie, and either to be confuted and condemned, or defended and cleared; the definition whereof you have at the beginning of the fir&s;t Chapter, for otherwi&s;e our pains and arguments are but frivolous on either &s;ide; wherefore I commend M. <HI>Homes</HI> in that he did not fir&s;t &s;et down the &s;tate of his que&s;tion, before he began to con&s;ute it; but thinking <HI>pleno ore,</HI> to condemn
<PB N="89" REF="48">A&s;trology, will be enough to &s;care the Reader from the &s;tudy thereof, leaving him to con&s;ider what it is he con|demns, although he be altogether ignorant of the &s;ame; and &s;o his words may have the more force, and take the deeper impre&s;&s;ion in the Readers heart to believe what he would fain, and as much as in himlies, &s;tudies to main|rain.</P>
<P>SURVEY. Before we hear <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> any further, &s;omething mu&s;t be &s;aid to this general of his third Chap|ter, in two particulars. 1. To joyn i&s;&s;ue with <HI>William,</HI> to intreat the Reader to remember <HI>what A&s;trology</HI> is now in controver&s;ie, <HI>viz.</HI> That &s;ame <HI>Judicial A&s;trology</HI> whereby men undertake to foretell humane events. For as <HI>Ptolomy</HI> (whence <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> definition is pretended to be collected) confe&s;&s;eth (ibidem) <Q><HI>Multi quae&s;tus caus&acirc;, alias divinationes venditant nomine &amp; dignitate hujus Artis, ac vulgo imponunt multa praedicentes quae non &s;ignificantur naturalibus cau&s;is. i.e.</HI> Many A&s;tro|logers foretell many things which are not &s;ignified by natural cau&s;es, &s;elling their predictions (under the name of A&s;trological) for money, making the common peo|to believe them.</Q> And <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> in this his <HI>Chri&s;tian Judicial A&s;trology</HI> profe&s;&s;eth by the help of A&s;trology to foretell whether <HI>a man may be rich, Cap.</HI> 1. <HI>Sect.</HI> 6. Whether a Woman that came to him &s;hould have <HI>her money due to her from the Parliament;</HI> the Gentleman have his <HI>from his uncle,</HI> and where the <HI>womans Husband</HI> was that came to <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> to inquire of him, <HI>Cap.</HI> 4. <HI>Sect.</HI> 3. And &s;o others of them predict in their <HI>Books of Progno&s;tications,</HI> and practi&s;e in their <HI>Chambers</HI> of the like humane events. 2. To joyn with <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> in commending D. <HI>Homes</HI> in that he &s;pake again&s;t A&s;tro|logy in general, under that <HI>name,</HI> for that the Scripture &s;o doth, without any di&s;tinction; and Art doth ju&s;tifie it; that there is no <HI>Judicial A&s;irology;</HI> no di&s;tinct Art of <HI>Natural A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="90" REF="49">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. I.</HI> Wherein the Drs fir&s;t Scripture proof, viz. <HI>Deut. 18.10.</HI> is convinced and cleared, no wi&s;e to condemn <HI>ASTROLOGIE.</HI></HEAD>
<P>COncerning his fir&s;t proof, <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10. I have for|merly in my <HI>Reply</HI> to <HI>Raunces</HI> Declaration again&s;t A&s;trology &s;aid &s;aid &s;omething and referred the Reader, to the learned Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heydon,</HI> to be further &s;ati&s;|fied in the re&s;t of his divine proofs, in his an&s;wer to M. <HI>Chamber,</HI> and that &s;o learned a piece may not be kept from the knowledge of the vulgar, under the cloud of &s;i|lence, I will here along in the confutation of M. <HI>Homes</HI> his divine proofs, u&s;e his very arguments and word (as near as I can) again&s;t the &s;ame places alleadged by M. <HI>Chamber.</HI></P>
<P>His fir&s;t proof then is <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10. <HI>There &s;hall not be found among you any one that u&s;eth Divination, or an ob|&s;erver of times;</HI> which words &s;aith he, by the common con&s;ent of the learned of all &s;orts, <HI>Signifie A&s;trology and A&s;trologers;</HI> and for the which &s;ins, the Nations were driven out before the Children of <HI>I&s;rael:</HI> Now that you &s;hall &s;ee how far M. <HI>Homes</HI> is mi&s;taken to think hereby to per&s;wade the world again&s;t A&s;trology I will give you that learned Gentlemans words again&s;t M. <HI>Chamber</HI> hereon, where he &s;aith, <Q><HI>Picus</HI> urgeth that <HI>Achinas</HI> under&s;tand|eth the word in the Original, to fignifie &s;uch, as ob&s;erve lucky and unlucky houres, which our Engli&s;h tran&s;late, <HI>A regarder of times,</HI> and <HI>Tremelius, Planetarius,</HI> and and from hence they think they have pregnant evidence to condemn A&s;trology by this Law.</Q></P>
<P>I may reckon up here al&s;o M. <HI>Homes</HI> his <HI>Mercer, R. Kimchy,</HI> and <HI>Schindler,</HI> who, &s;aith he, take the words in the wor&s;t &s;en&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> The curious and Diabolical Arts,
<PB N="91" REF="49">as <HI>Magi</HI> of the <HI>Egyptians, Ergo,</HI> &s;aith M. <HI>Homes,</HI> A&s;trology is not lawfull. But to proceed with Sir <HI>Chri&s;to|pher Heydon's</HI> di&s;cour&s;e hereon, &s;aith he, <Q>But notwith|&s;tanding all this, I will make it appear, that the&s;e Tran&s;lations are of &s;mall force, and being admitted, little or nothing impeach this Art.</Q></P>
<P><Q>And fir&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">[A]</NOTE> I incounter them with the authority of Church, even from the time of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> untill they wrote, being wholly again&s;t them. For to begin with the <HI>Septuagint,</HI> They have tran&s;lated the word <HI>Gnomen,</HI> in this place <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifieth <HI>Augurare,</HI> or to divine by the voice and flying of Birds; S. <HI>Hierome</HI> and the vulgar expounded it, of &s;uch as divine by ob|&s;ervation by Dreams. <HI>Pagnine</HI> in his Tran&s;lation inter|preteth it <HI>Hariolus,</HI> by a general name, or &s;uch a one, as divineth at the Altar by Sacrifices. <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> u&s;eth the word <HI>Prae&s;tigiator,</HI> that is a Jugler or Cofi|ner, that with Legerdemain deceiveth the eye-&s;ight.</Q> (See that that is al&s;o confe&s;&s;ed by M. <HI>Homes</HI> him&s;elf) <Q>So that be&s;ides all antiquity, and con&s;ent of the whole Church again&s;t him, we &s;ee that divers men have di|verfly interpreted this word; and therefore I leave it to the judgement of the Reader, whether we are to give credit to the new Expo&s;itours, rather then to the ancient and learned <HI>Hebrews</HI> them&s;elves, who be&s;t under&s;tood their own Language, or to the common under&s;tanding of the Fathers and the Church, even from the fir&s;t, untill the&s;e men (which hath been long &s;ince) expounded it otherwi&s;e then all that had gone before them.</Q> And now to come to the Engli&s;h Tran&s;lation, as we have it expre&s;|&s;ed in our Engli&s;h Bibles; &s;ee with what rea&s;on and &s;ound arguments M. <HI>Homes</HI> is &s;ilenced, who is not onely thus mi&s;taken in the &s;ignification of the word, but mo&s;t &s;landerou&s;ly intrudeth A&s;trologers with, or at lea&s;t makes them the &s;ame with Wizards, and tho&s;e that have &s;amiliar &s;pirits; For, &s;aith he, &s;o that indeed (as 'tis in
<PB N="92" REF="50"><HI>Lev.</HI> 20.6.) to follow &s;uch kinde of Arts, (&s;peaking be|fore of Divination, by ob&s;ervation of times, and juggling which he all along concludes to be A&s;trology, as his Inter|preters there have it) <HI>Is to go a whoring (&s;piritually) from Chri&s;t, and God will (&s;aith he) &s;et his face again&s;t &s;uch, and cut off &s;uch from among his people, weighty rea&s;ons again&s;t A&s;trology</HI> (&s;aith he).</P>
<P>The &s;ame Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heydon</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">[B]</NOTE> <Q>Concerning our Engli&s;h Tran&s;latours, I finde they rather leave us in doubts, then re&s;olved; for whereas here they take the word <HI>Gnomen</HI> for <HI>a regarder of times,</HI> in other places they interpret it otherwayes, as in 2 <HI>Chron. cap.</HI> 33. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 6. for Witchcraft, and in the 5. of <HI>Micah.</HI> For <HI>South-&s;ayers.</HI> So that in this incon&s;tancy to them|&s;lves, they mu&s;t either give better rea&s;on (then any thing I know they are able) why in this place of <HI>Deut.</HI> it &s;hould not be intepeted as well a <HI>Witch,</HI> or a <HI>South|&s;ayer,</HI> as a <HI>Regarder of times,</HI> or el&s;e &s;uch a regarder of times, as makes his election by Witchcraft and South|&s;aying, and not by <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> Again, &s;uppo&s;e the word be admitted,<NOTE PLACE="marg">[C]</NOTE> as the Engli&s;h tran&s;late it; yet neither is all regarding of time prohibited, neither doth it prove that regarding of time by A&s;trology is unlawfull, For <HI>Solomon</HI> (the wi&s;e&s;t of men) &s;aith, <HI>That the heart of the wi&s;e man knows time, and that to every purpo&s;e there is a time, as to plant, to pluck up, to &s;lay, to heal, to break down, to build, to weep, to laugh, &amp;c. which none but the fool neglecteth.</HI></Q> As in <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes</HI> farther in the third Chapter, and more at large: <Q>and he that ob|&s;erveth not time, but &s;hall laugh when he &s;hould weep, and &s;ow when he &s;hould reap, is un&s;ea&s;onable and ma|keth him&s;elf ridiculous. Wherefore if this be the true interpretation or &s;ignification of the word, he mu&s;t &s;peak again&s;t that &s;uper&s;titious ob&s;ervation of times, which the Heathen u&s;ed, and that &s;uper&s;titious people at pre&s;ent do u&s;e;</Q> the very &s;ame I may &s;ay to M. <HI>Homes.</HI></P>
<PB N="93" REF="50">
<P>But in an&s;wer to M. <HI>Homes</HI> his Expo&s;itours, take the interpretation of the word <HI>Gnonan,</HI> as the &s;ame Sir <HI>Chri|&s;topher Heydon</HI> delivers it by M. <HI>Edward Lively,</HI> Pro|fe&s;&s;our of the <HI>Hebrew</HI> in <HI>Cambridge</HI> to Queen <HI>Eliza|beth:</HI> who was &s;olicited by Sir <HI>Christopher Heydon</HI> to deliver his opinion and judgement of the <HI>Hebrew</HI> word, becau&s;e it was objected by M. <HI>Chamber,</HI> that <HI>Tremelius</HI> did interpret it <HI>Planetarius,</HI> wherefore for the Readers better &s;atisfaction, I have here delivered it <HI>verbatim</HI> as that worthy Knight hath it.</P>
<P><Q>I have looked in all the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Scripture, wherein that word is u&s;ed, examining as well the judgements of the <HI>Hebrew Scoliastes</HI> in their Commentaries, as al&s;o many of the be&s;t Tran&s;lations, <HI>Caldee, Greek,</HI> and <HI>La|tine,</HI> among whom for the &s;ignification of that word, I finde this general agreement, that it &s;ignifieth an un|lawfull and forbidden Art of South-&s;aying, or Jug|gling, or Sorcery, or Witchcraft; but touching the cer|tain and &s;pecial kinde thereof, there is &s;uch di&s;&s;ention and di&s;agteement among them, as that there is great diver&s;ity of opinions, but none cometh to <HI>Tremelius</HI> his minde, for a planetary, (<HI>or of M.</HI> Homes <HI>his</HI> Arabrick ver&s;ions, which it &s;eems he is loath, or at lea&s;t a&s;hamed to nominate.</Q></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. II.</HI> Wherein the Drs &s;econd proof is refelled, <HI>viz.</HI> E&s;ay. <HI>2.6.</HI></HEAD>
<P>ANd if &s;o, then I may with more confidence affirm his &s;econd pa&s;&s;age of Scripture to the le&s;s material in all re&s;pects, for the blinde&s;t of people may clearly &s;ee. it doth no whit &s;o much as either hint or mean <HI>Astrology,</HI> E&s;ay 2.6. <HI>Therefore thou hast for&s;aken thy people, the hou&s;e of</HI> Jacob, <HI>becau&s;e they are repleni&s;hed from the Ea&s;t, and are Sooth-&s;ayeers like the Philistims;</HI> where
<PB N="94" REF="51">is A&s;trology in all this? The Text tells us. God had for|&s;aken his people, becau&s;e they were <HI>South-&s;ayers.</HI> but as for their being A&s;trologers, I &s;ee nothing mentioned. But let us &s;ee but how he tugs to bring this farr fetcht argu|ment or proof to &s;erve his turn; he &s;hews us fir&s;t that the word clearly &s;ignifieth South &s;ayers, which is enough a|lone to refell all the arguments therein let them &s;ay what they will to the contrary, <HI>Vatablus</HI> in his <HI>Notes</HI> (&s;aith he) rendreth it Diviners; and <HI>Junius, Praestigiatores,</HI> that is, (&s;aith he) that make &s;hew of that they cannot do: you have heard <HI>Junius</HI> opinion but now, but what of this? <HI>Vacablus</HI> &s;aith, the word imports Diviners, mu&s;t this con|&s;equently and infallibly be A&s;trologers, why not Necro|mancers, Auguries, Inchanters, Sorcerers, Auru&s;picers? Do not all the&s;e divine? but I need not in&s;i&s;t longer here|on; for, he an&s;wers this point in his following words him|&s;elf, The Septuagint (&s;aith he) rendreth it <GAP DESC="foreign">, (&s;aith <HI>Budeus</HI>) &s;aith he. A kinde of fore-telling: as <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;aith they) &s;ignifieth Divination, and generally the <HI>Cal|dee, Syriack, Arabick; Arias Montanus, &amp;c.</HI> ren|ders it Augurers or Auguries, <HI>Ergo,</HI> not A&s;trologers; but &s;aith he, farther becau&s;e antiquities tell us that that the Augurers did divine as well by the A&s;pects of the Heavens as by flying Birds; Authours of late times com|monly u&s;e that word to expre&s;s Divination in general: O brave rea&s;on! becau&s;e for brevities &s;ake in Oration, or the like, Authours as he calleth them) perhaps u&s;e this word, therefore he will u&s;e it (being as he confe&s;&s;eth him|&s;elf general) to condemn particularly <HI>Astrology?</HI> and becau&s;e the Text &s;peaketh again&s;t Augurers, and they know the A&s;pects of the Planets, therefore, it al&s;o con|demneth A&s;trology? All that believe &s;hall be &s;aved (&s;aith the Scripture) it is clear the Devils believe and tremble, <HI>Ergo,</HI> I &s;hall conclude them not damned? rare Logick indeed!</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="95" REF="51">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECTION III.</HI> Wherein his third Text is convinced, <HI>viz. E&s;ay 44.25.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THirdly, he produceth the 44. Chapter of <HI>E&s;ay, v.</HI> 25, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> I am the Lord thy Redeemer, which do fru|&s;trate the &s;ignes of <HI>Wizards,</HI> making the <HI>South-&s;ayers</HI> mad, foiling their wi&s;e men, and making their skill fooli&s;h. This is to as little purpo&s;e brought to condemn A&s;trology, as it is weakne&s;s in him to alleadge it or af|firm it. How can M. <HI>Homes,</HI> or any one living, prove <HI>Astrology</HI> to be &s;ignified by any of the&s;e names, when it is clear (as above&s;aid) it dependeth meerly on the natu|ral influences and effects of the Starrs? which is not to foretell by the flying or voice of Birds, ob&s;ervation of the intrails of Bea&s;ts, and the like; nor indeed is it properly to be termed Divination, for to divine is, or doth not naturally &s;ignifie the foretelling of future events by natu|ral cau&s;es, but by &s;ome divine in&s;tinct.</P>
<P>But to come to the words in the Text, which he would needs inforce again&s;t A&s;trology; the &s;ame Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heydon,</HI> further faith upon the&s;e words. <Q>That they are purpo&s;ely uttercd to advance the omnipotency of God, &s;o greatly dimini&s;hed by Idolatry, but to imagine that God would &s;et forth the greatne&s;s of his power, by op|popo&s;ing the &s;ame again&s;t that, which in it &s;elf is fruit|le&s;s, infirm, and of no force at all, were not onely again&s;t &s;en&s;e, but in truth to fru&s;trate the words and meaning of God him&s;elf; wherefore it doth nece&s;&s;arily follow, that &s;o long as it plea&s;eth him to &s;uffer the cour&s;e of nature to proceed without interruption. <HI>A&s;trological &s;ignes mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed effectual,</HI> and not to be fru&s;tra|ted but by miracle, and by his omnipotent power, to which that the Starrs are &s;ubject, all our A&s;trologers do confe&s;s, and none but an Athei&s;t will deny. For as
<PB N="96" REF="52">God is the Creatour of all things &s;o is he the fir&s;t cau&s;e of all cau&s;es, to whom all cau&s;es are but his in&s;tru|ments; and therefore as the in&s;trument worketh not of it &s;elf, but when it is imployed by the hand of the Artificer, &s;o the Heavens being Gods in&s;truments, do not exerci&s;e their force upon the&s;e inferiour things, but as God doth u&s;e their Mini&s;tery in the Government of the world.</Q> And this he &s;aith is taught us by the Prophet <HI>Ho&s;ea,</HI> (as above&s;aid) <HI>Chap.</HI> 2.21, 22. where (&s;aith he) he &s;aith, <Q>not &s;imply <HI>the heavens &s;hall hear the earth,</HI> but fir&s;t, <HI>I will hear the heavens,</HI> to &s;hew them the power the heavens have over the earth, and that it dependeth on God. In which &s;en&s;e, the Scripture &s;aith al&s;o, <HI>God worketh all in all things, and that we live, move, and have our being in him.</HI> And therefore whether we re|&s;pect the natural cour&s;e of things, or tho&s;e accidents which happen be&s;ides the order of nature, we are to ac|knowledge it to be the &s;upereminent power of God, as the fir&s;t cau&s;e of every thing, which neverthele&s;s can be no impeachment to A&s;trology, becau&s;e God doth go|vern ordinately, and therefore &s;eldom perverteth or di&s;turbeth that order, whereby in his eternal provi|dence, he doth govern his Workman&s;hip.</Q></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. IV.</HI> Wherein he &s;aith the Doctour fourth proof is refelled, <HI>viz. E&s;ay 47.12, 13, 14.</HI></HEAD>
<P>FOurthly, he brings the 47. of <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> 12, 13, 14. Stand now with thine inchantments, and with the multitude of thy Sorceries, Let now the A&s;trologers, the Star-ga|zers, the monethly Progno&s;ticatours, &s;tand up and &s;ave thee. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Behold they &s;hall be as &s;tubble, the fire &s;hall burn them, they &s;hall not deliver them&s;elves, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> This very place (as I would have the Reader ob&s;erve) is
<PB N="97" REF="52">enough to confute his former injury to A&s;trologers, in reckoning them no other then <HI>South-&s;ayers, Wizards, Sorcerers,</HI> and the like, when he &s;ees clearly the Lord here makes a particular di&s;tinction between the one and the other; for you &s;ee, A&s;trologers, Monethly Progno&s;tica|tours, Sorceries, and Inchanters paicicularly named.</P>
<P>But to come now to the clearing of the Text which he thinks doth ab&s;olutely &s;trike the fatal blow to A&s;trology; inferring from thence, that A&s;trology is oppo&s;ite to confi|dence in God, and that A&s;trologers are much of the &s;ame abomination, with Inchanters and South-&s;ayers, and that they are to be derided, and no wi&s;e to be tru&s;ted in <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But as I &s;aid before, the wit of man is not able to an&s;wer the&s;e his vain wre&s;ts and interpretations of the Scriptures, better then by that honourable Gentleman Sir <HI>Christopher Heydon,</HI> I here give you, as he hath it in his &s;econd Chapter, in an&s;wer to M. <HI>Chamber</HI> bringing in the &s;ame place of Scripture, and indeed with the &s;ame conclu&s;ions as doth M. <HI>Homes.</HI> <Q>I will not deny that, becau&s;e God and his Prophets were not believed by the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> (who repo&s;ed in their Magicians, South-&s;ayers, and Mathematicians) the Prophet here in a &s;corning <HI>Sar|ca&s;mus,</HI> biddeth them &s;ave their Empire from ruine, therein contemning their Power, and not their Predicti|ons, and expre&s;ly noting that it &s;hall not be in them to &s;ave them&s;elves from the judgements to come. This I do plainly acknowledge, although were I di&s;po&s;ed to &s;tand upon all advantages with M. <HI>Chamber,</HI> &s;ith both <HI>Vatablus,</HI> and M. <HI>Calvin</HI> in their Commentaries, confe&s;s that word <HI>Chabar</HI> doth indifferently &s;ignifie &s;uch ob&s;ervers of Heaven as were Inchanters thereof; I could ea&s;ily avoid him as not di&s;puting <HI>ad idem,</HI> &s;ith not A&s;trologers &s;imply, but &s;uch as withall joyned <HI>Ma|gick,</HI> &s;eems here to be mentioned. And it is manife&s;t by the example of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> and of <HI>Balaam</HI> and <HI>Balack,</HI> that though they were A&s;trolo|gers,
<PB N="98" REF="53">yet they repo&s;ed their &s;afety again&s;t God and his people, onely in their Magical power, by which (as their Poets and others report) they profe&s;s them&s;elves able to pull the Moon and the Starrs out of Heaven, and &s;o doth <HI>Diodorus Siculus</HI> te&s;tific, <HI>Lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 8. that though they were cunning in A&s;trology, yet they did onely prevent the cvils which they did fore-&s;ee, by In|chantments and Charmes. For in truth. <HI>A&s;trology</HI> pro|fe&s;&s;eth onely to fore &s;ee natural mutations and accidents, and not power to prevent and &s;ave. But to return to that which he mo&s;t expects, I will admit as much as M. <HI>Chamber</HI> him&s;elf can de&s;ire, that the Prophet here de|rideth the <HI>tru&s;t</HI> which was put in the <HI>skill</HI> of <HI>A&s;trolo|gers</HI> (which is indeed M. <HI>Homes</HI> his chief drift al&s;o) now let him frame his argument, and he &s;hall never be able to bring the propo&s;ition of this Chapter (which is, That Chri&s;tianity and A&s;trology cannot &s;tand toge|ther) (which indeed is M. <HI>Homes</HI> his argument al&s;o, concluding A&s;trology, to be oppo&s;ite to confidence in God) within this conclu&s;ion. For it followeth not, that becau&s;e upon &s;ome circum&s;tance a thing may be derided, that it is unlawfull. If this were any con&s;equence, then becau&s;e confidences in Princes, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.16. in Riches, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 52. in Hor&s;es and Chariots, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 31. in Cities, <HI>Jer.</HI> 5. in Phy&s;icians, 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 16. in Negotiation or Trade of Merchandi&s;e. In the la&s;t ver&s;e of this &s;ame Chapter of <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> (where the &s;ame words and phra&s;e are u&s;ed again&s;t Merchants, that before were u&s;ed a|gain&s;t Ob&s;ervers of Heaven, or A&s;trologers, as <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> and <HI>Tremelius</HI> tran&s;late it) is prohibited, derided, and puni&s;hed; we mu&s;t hold the <HI>permi&s;&s;ion of Princes, Riches, Hor&s;es, Chariots, Cities, Phy&s;icians,</HI> and <HI>Merchants,</HI> to be again&s;t Chri&s;tianity, and unlaw|full. He ought therefore fir&s;t to have di&s;tingui&s;hed of the tru&s;t that is here derided, and not thus to deceive by any <HI>elench, &acirc; dicto &s;ecund&ugrave;m quid ad dictum &s;implici|ter,</HI>
<PB N="99" REF="53">as if all tru&s;t were taken away, becau&s;e &s;ome tru&s;t is derided. For in the&s;e places, and the like, onely &s;uch a tru&s;t as excludeth confidence in God is under&s;tood, and no other. As in our ca&s;e, where notwith&s;tanding God by his Prophets threatned the de&s;truction of the <HI>Baby|loni&s;h</HI> Monarchy, it was not believed; but the&s;e Hea|then pre&s;uming rather upon their own power and skill, in contempt of God broke forth, as appeareth ver&s;e 10. into the&s;e bla&s;phemous &s;peeches, <HI>None &s;eeth me. Qua&s;i dicat</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Tremelius</HI>) <HI>ne deus quidem novit rationes meas; Nay God him&s;elf knoweth not my wayes;</HI> and again, <HI>I am and none el&s;e;</HI> and ver&s;e 7. <HI>I &s;hall not &s;it as a widow, nor &s;hall not know the lo&s;s of Children:</HI> Thus denying both God and his power; while they pre&s;ume upon their own. But is this heatheni&s;h pre|&s;umption and confidence to be imputed as a fault to A&s;trology? or is it not truly to be reputed the impiety of the Profe&s;&s;ours, and others, with whom the Prophet dealeth? who denying that to God which is due, and a&s;cribing more then they ought to the Starrs, and their own knowledge and power, do that which A&s;trology never taught them, and therefore is not guilty of their ungodline&s;s. He ought then to make a difference be|tween the Heathen, with whom the Prophet hath to do, and Chri&s;tians again&s;t whom he writeth; for though it be true that Chri&s;tian A&s;trologers do monethly progno|&s;ticate, as is mentioned in the Text, by the con&s;ideration of the Starrs; yet is he not able to tax any of them with that derogation from God, or impiety, which is here derided. For to place confidence in Starrs, as in di|vine cau&s;es and powers, is one thing, and to e&s;teem them but as &s;ubordinate and &s;econd cau&s;es in nature, is ano|ther; the one maketh them Gods, the other but Gods in&s;truments, which (as our A&s;trologers do acknowledge with one con&s;ent) it is in his power to alter, as be&s;t plea&s;eth his divine will; and therefore they are very farr
<PB N="100" REF="54">from that heatheni&s;h pre&s;umption and confidence here taxed, whereby ye may &s;ee, <HI>that the tru&s;t may be repro|ved, yet the Art unchecked.</HI> For I omit here to &s;hew, that monethly Progno&s;tications grounded upon ob&s;er|vation, deduced from cau&s;es in nature, have ever been permitted and &s;uffered, in all well ordered and Chri&s;tian Common-wealths, &s;o farr as I know; and that not one|ly the <HI>Fathers,</HI> and tho&s;e later Divines by me before re|membred, but even M. <HI>Calvin</HI> him&s;elf, in his admoni|tion, with others (that attribute as little as they may to this Art) do allow thereof, &s;o farr forth as they extend to the &s;tate of the <HI>weather,</HI> of <HI>health, plague, plenty, dearth,</HI> and to the direction of the <HI>Phy&s;ician,</HI> when to <HI>purge</HI> by <HI>Pill.</HI> when by <HI>Potion,</HI> when by <HI>letting of bloud;</HI> this being as farr as our Progno&s;tications pro|ceed; which neverthele&s;s would not have been &s;uffered, if God by his holy Prophet had &s;hewed any dete&s;tation thereof, or reproved the &s;ame as unlawfull, and unchri|&s;tian. Wherefore when the&s;e adver&s;aries condemn the Art for the abu&s;es of Arti&s;ts, it is clear that they do but play the Sophi&s;ters, deceiving by a plain fallacy, <HI>ab ac|cidente.</HI> And la&s;tly, if it be con&s;idered what S. <HI>Hie|rome, Hugo, Aquinas, Lyra, Haymo,</HI> and other ancient Expo&s;itours, have written upon the Text, it is mo&s;t cer|tain, that not one of them is &s;o &s;harp &s;ighted as to e&s;py out any thing in this place that may prejudicat A&s;trolo|gy, but they all defend the &s;ame as fully as my &s;elf.</Q> Wherefore if in this place of Scripture M. <HI>Homes</HI> be not as farr mi&s;taken as in all the re&s;t of his foregoing Cavils, and maketh not him&s;elf appear to the eyes of the world to be a meer Sophi&s;ter, let the impartial judge.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="111" REF="54">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. V.</HI> Wherein his fifth proof is proved weak, as to his purpo&s;e, viz. <HI>Jer. 10.2, 3.</HI></HEAD>
<P>F<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="3 letters">ly, he &s;trives to condemn <HI>A&s;trology</HI> by the 10. of <HI>Jer. v.</HI> 2, 3. but to as little purpo&s;e as in all the re&s;t; the words are, <HI>Learn not the way of the Heathen, and be not di&s;mayed at the Signes of Heaven, for the Heathen are di&s;mayed at them, &amp;c.</HI> whereupon he inferreth. <HI>A&s;trology not to be lawfull,</HI> (becau&s;e as he thinks God here by the Prophet prohibiteth the <HI>Jews</HI> to give credit to Star-gazers) but as I &s;aid before, <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> do not make the Starrs gods, but Gods in&s;truments; <HI>Not in the lea&s;t attributing fatal nece&s;&s;ity to be in their power:</HI> wherefore then con&s;equently he argueth not again&s;t, nor contradicteth, nor condemneth <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> by the&s;e his Cavils, &s;ince they are as far from being as guilty thereof as him&s;elf; nay, and I believe more. But for the farther clearing of the Text, and the manife&s;ting of M. <HI>Homes</HI> his mi&s;take, if not wilfull malice, let us hear what the &s;ame Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heydon</HI> &s;aith in an&s;wer to the &s;ame place of Scripture alleadged by M. <HI>Chamber</HI> al&s;o to con|demn <HI>A&s;trology:</HI> <Q>Whereupon M. <HI>Chamber</HI> inferreth, that the Prophet willeth the <HI>Jews</HI> to give no credit to the Star-gazers, (and M. <HI>Homes,</HI> tru&s;t or confidence, <HI>p.</HI> 134. oppo&s;ite to the confidence and comfort in God:) But &s;ure he that maketh this collection out of the&s;e words of the Text, never (I think) either gazed or looked upon them with half an eye: for the Prophet prohibiteth fear; M. <HI>Chamber,</HI> credit; (M. <HI>Homes,</HI> tru&s;t or confidence;) again, the Prophet &s;peaketh of the Starrs them&s;elves; M. <HI>Chamber,</HI> of the per&s;ons that ob&s;erve them; (&s;o M. <HI>Homes</HI> al&s;o) wherefore what difference there is between the one and the other, &s;o farr
<PB N="102" REF="55">ought we to be from giving M. <HI>Chambers</HI> a&s;&s;ertion any credit (and how &s;hall M. <HI>Homes</HI> his then take?</Q></P>
<P><Q>For if he will truly inform the Reader, he knoweth there is nothing prohibited in the&s;e words, but that the <HI>Jews &s;hould not learn the way of the Heathen;</HI> which when he wre&s;teth again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> he doth both &s;hew him&s;elf to be out of the way, and to &s;eek to &s;educe o|thers, for to the <HI>creature,</HI> as in the&s;e words, <HI>Fear not the &s;ignes of Heaven;</HI> where the word <HI>Fear</HI> is not &s;imply under&s;tood <HI>but for Religious reverence, and Divine wor|&s;hip:</HI> for that it is often taken in this &s;en&s;e, is no novelty to tho&s;e that are acquainted with the &s;peech and phra&s;e of the holy Gho&s;t: as for example <HI>E&s;ay cap.</HI> 29. <HI>v.</HI> 13. <HI>And their fear toward me was taught by the precept of men: where fear is</HI> (by Chri&s;t him&s;elf, alleadging this place of the Prophet, <HI>Matth.</HI> 15. <HI>v.</HI> 9.) expounded for <HI>wor&s;hip,</HI> &s;aying, <HI>in vain they wor&s;hip me, teaching for Doctrines mens traditions:</HI> as likewi&s;e the very &s;ame word is u&s;ed in other places, for the idolatrous wor&s;hip exhibited to fal&s;e gods: as 2 <HI>Kings cap.</HI> 17. <HI>v.</HI> 7. <HI>when the children of I&s;rael &s;inned &amp;c.</HI> it is &s;aid, <HI>they feared other gods.</HI> I could confirm this by infinite like te&s;timo|nies, were it not &s;uperfluous in &s;o clear a ca&s;e: But to prove that the Prophet even here, under this word, like|wi&s;e revoketh the <HI>Jews</HI> from wor&s;hipping the heavenly bodies, is yet more evident by the words following: for after he hath in the two next ver&s;es expre&s;&s;ed the vain cu&s;tomes of the Heathen, in erecting and adoring cho&s;e images which they wor&s;hipped; he likewi&s;e re|&s;traineth them from this &s;econd Idolatry <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. in the very &s;ame phra&s;e that he did at the fir&s;t: <HI>Fear them not, for they &s;tand up as the Palm-tree, but they &s;peak not, &amp;c.</HI> whereby there is no colour of wrangling left to him, that di&s;po&s;eth not him&s;elf to be ob&s;tinately per|ver&s;e: but of force it mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed, that the <HI>Jews</HI> are here onely forbidden to imitate the Heathen in both the&s;e kindes of Idolatry.</Q></P>
<PB N="103" REF="55">
<P>["To confirm this more fully, by the con&s;ideration of other places: the Scripture giveth us plentifull te&s;timony, that the <HI>Jews</HI> did follow the Heathen in their Idolatry to the Starrs, but are never reprehended for learning <HI>Astro|logy</HI> of them: wherefore the Prophet <HI>Amos cap.</HI> 5. pro|phe&s;ied to them long before, even this captivity wherein the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were held in <HI>Jeremies</HI> time, <HI>becau&s;e they had born</HI> (that is wor&s;hipped) <HI>the Images of Siccuth and Chiun. Abenezra</HI> and with him <HI>Montanus,</HI> under|&s;tanding the Planet <HI>Saturn</HI> by <HI>Chiun:</HI> and S. <HI>Hierome</HI> expounding the word <HI>Coeab,</HI> thinketh it to be <HI>Venus</HI> whom even the <HI>Saracens</HI> in his time did wor&s;hip: but S. <HI>Luke Acts</HI> 7. <HI>v.</HI> 42, <HI>&amp;</HI> 43. following the <HI>Greek</HI> doth explain <HI>Amos,</HI> and &s;aith, <HI>then God turned him&s;elf away, and gave them up to &s;erve the ho&s;t of Heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: and you took up the tabernacle of</HI> Moloch, <HI>and the Star of your God</HI> Remphaim, <HI>figures which you made to wor&s;hip them, therefore I will carry you away beyond Babylon:</HI> and therefore not unaptly have &s;ome Expo&s;itours conceived the Images by which the Prophet doth here exprobrate the Heathen, to have been the images of the <HI>Signes,</HI> and that not without rea&s;on; becau&s;e that after the Prophet hath re&s;trained them from this heatheni&s;h fear of the Signes, immediately he giveth this rea&s;on, <HI>For the cu&s;tomes of the people are vain:</HI> and declaring wherein, he addeth, <HI>For one cutteth down a tree in the Forre&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> which &s;hould want &s;en&s;e, if this ver&s;e depended not on the former: thus al&s;o 2 <HI>Kings cap.</HI> 17. <HI>v.</HI> 15, 16. the Hi&s;tory &s;aith, <HI>they followed the Heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they &s;hould not do like them.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="104" REF="56">
<HEAD>W. R. <HI>his</HI> SECT. VI. <HI>Wherein</HI> (as he pretends) the Doctours <HI>&s;ixth proof is re|felled, viz.</HI> Dan. 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. hath nothing in it, but words, being left of Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> unto him&s;elf; and therefore his Section is not worth the &s;etting down, as I dare be judged by the learned of his own judge|ment.</HEAD>
<P>SURVEY. Thus with <HI>long-&s;uffering</HI> have we wait|ed in &s;ilence, and quietly permitted <HI>William Ram&s;ey</HI> to tell out his <HI>Tale.</HI> But I mu&s;t confe&s;s, had not the mo&s;t of that he hath &s;aid, been the words of Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Hey|den.</HI> or <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that was wi&s;er then him&s;elf, I do not know how po&s;&s;ibly I could have born with him thus farr. For let any wi&s;e man judge, whether whiles he &s;peaks, he be not like <HI>Davus i&s;te</HI> in the <HI>Comedy viz. qui interturbat omnia.</HI> Yet though he hath <HI>borrowed</HI> all the &s;trength he could, herein is his unhappine&s;s, that Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> wrote long &s;ince; and &s;o his an&s;wers do not charge home to repell the impre&s;&s;ions the <HI>Doctour,</HI> made upon the Squadrant of <HI>Judicial A&s;trologers.</HI> For let but an im|partial eye compare what the <HI>Doctour</HI> hath &s;aid in his third <HI>Section</HI> (which is the Troop again&s;t which the for|mer Brigade hath fought all this while) and it will appear that all this while to an an inch it hath fixedly &s;tood its ground; which for the clearer manife&s;ting of what I have &s;aid, I have here <HI>verbatim</HI> in&s;erted him.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="Homes' section">
<PB N="105" REF="56">
<HEAD>The Doctours <HI>SECT. III.</HI> The condemnation of A&s;trology by the word of God, in &s;everall places of Scripture.</HEAD>
<P>THe fir&s;t place is in <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10, 11. <HI>There &s;hall not be</HI> found <HI>among you</HI> any one <HI>that u&s;eth</HI> Divination, <HI>or an</HI> ob&s;erver of times. An ill thing that it mu&s;t not be <HI>found among them,</HI> not in <HI>any one Man or woman</HI> of all the <HI>Nation:</HI> Ju&s;t as 'tis &s;aid the name <HI>Baali, Ho&s;.</HI> 2.16, 17. mu&s;t be removed, not &s;ounded, becau&s;e Idolaters u&s;ed it, though of the &s;ame &s;ignification with <HI>I&s;hi,</HI> there appointed, <HI>i. e. My Lord,</HI> or <HI>My Husband:</HI> and as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 5.3. of covetou&s;ne&s;s, <HI>Let it not be once named among Chri&s;tians.</HI> So the Prophet <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> here, as from God, chargeth that there mu&s;t not be <HI>any one</HI> among them that <HI>u&s;eth Divination, or is an ob&s;erver of times:</HI> both which words by common con&s;ent of the Learned of all &s;orts, &s;ignifie A&s;trology, and A&s;trologers. The fir&s;t word <GAP DESC="foreign"> which by our Tran&s;latours is render|ed, one that <HI>u&s;eth Divination</HI> (the phra&s;e indeed is &s;trong and emphatical, <GAP DESC="foreign"> that is, <HI>Divining Divinati|ons</HI>) is, as <HI>Mercer</HI> affirmeth, taken for the mo&s;t part in an ill &s;en&s;e; and a&s;&s;erteth out of the <HI>Hebrew, R. Kimchi,</HI> that it containeth every <HI>Art</HI> which is u&s;ed to foreknow things future. <HI>Shindler</HI> affirmeth to the &s;ame purpo&s;e, that in an evil &s;en&s;e it comprehends <HI>all things</HI> which are done, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>i. e.</HI> by any curious diabolical Art, as the <HI>Magi</HI> of <HI>Egypt.</HI> And <HI>Elias</HI> &s;aith that it &s;ignifies to divine things; which is attributed to <HI>Balaam</HI> (&s;ee <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 13.) who be|cau&s;e he could not cur&s;e from ob&s;ervation of the natural Starrs, but was forced to ble&s;s; he yet expre&s;t him&s;elf in his own Dialect, <HI>A&s;trologically,</HI> of a <HI>&s;piritual Starr</HI> that &s;hould ari&s;e out of <HI>Jacob. Avenzara,</HI> they &s;ay, an A&s;trologer affirmeth that this word is a common name to
<PB N="106" REF="57">all Diviners, but more proper to A&s;trologers. La&s;tly, The <HI>Arabian</HI> Ver&s;ion of this 18. of <HI>Deut. v.</HI> 10. renders our word, <HI>He that exerci&s;eth A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;econd word in this 18. of <HI>Deut. ver&s;.</HI> 10, <GAP DESC="foreign"> which our Tran&s;latours render, <HI>An ob&s;erver of times,</HI> is diver&s;ly taken; but all clo&s;e to &s;ignifie a prohibition of <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> The &s;umm of what the learned <HI>Hebrews</HI> &s;ay (who mu&s;t needs be&s;t under&s;tand their own Language) in brief is this <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>prae&s;tigiari</HI> (whence is our <GAP DESC="foreign">) <HI>Aben Ezra</HI> will have to be derived of <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>A Cloud,</HI> as to <HI>fore|tell by the Clouds;</HI> that it will be well or ill to do, or at|tempt this or that upon this or that day. <HI>R. Solomon</HI> de|rives it from <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Time,</HI> as to &s;ignifie <HI>ob&s;ervation of times.</HI> The wi&s;e Ancients derived it from <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>An eye,</HI> and &s;o <GAP DESC="foreign"> to &s;ignifie him <HI>that dazles the eyes of the beholder,</HI> that he may &s;ee fal&s;hood in &s;tead of that which is true. Their words are <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that is, The wi&s;e men &s;ay, <GAP DESC="foreign"> is he who <HI>holdeth the eyes. R. Akiva</HI> &s;aith, it is he which <HI>computeth times and houres;</HI> &s;aying, It is good to go forth to day; to morrow it is good to ne|gociate, <HI>&amp;c. Sanedrim, cap.</HI> 7. <HI>fol.</HI> 65.2. Of the&s;e <HI>Kim|chi, in Lib. Radicum,</HI> maketh mention. In the later Ety|mology are &s;ignified <HI>Curious A&s;trologers,</HI> determining by the di&s;po&s;ition and operation of the Starrs, certain dayes to be dayes of good, merry, and pro&s;perous things: Others to be dayes of evil, &s;ad, and adver&s;e things: Thus the learned <HI>Hebrews.</HI> The <HI>Chaldee</HI> renders the &s;aid two words; the fir&s;t, <HI>Divineth Divination;</HI> the &s;econd, <HI>Ob|&s;erveth houres,</HI> which is proper to A&s;trologers. Note fur|ther, for the clearing of this fir&s;t place of <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10. that both our fore&s;aid <HI>Hebrew</HI> words are u&s;ed again by <HI>Mo&s;es, ver&s;.</HI> 4. (and in the &s;ame manner tran&s;lated by our la&s;t <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;latours: where again the <HI>Arabick</HI> Ver&s;ion renders <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Astrologers.</HI>) And <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> adds the&s;e five &s;trong arguments again&s;t the &s;aid Art of A&s;tro|logical and other unlawfull Predictions.</P>
<PB N="107" REF="57">
<P>Fir&s;t, that all &s;uch are <HI>an abomination to the Lord, ver&s;.</HI> 12.</P>
<P>Secondly, that &s;uch Arts being u&s;ed by the <HI>Canaanites, God did drive them out before the I&s;raelites,</HI> Ver&s;. 12.</P>
<P>Thirdly, that unle&s;s men ca&s;t away the u&s;e of the &s;aid Arts, they cannot <HI>be perfect;</HI> that is, upright and &s;incere <HI>with God,</HI> Ver&s;. 13.</P>
<P>Fourthly, that godly men mu&s;t <HI>differ from</HI> Canaanites <HI>and Heathens, in the abandoning &s;uch Arts,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>God hath forbid his people the u&s;e of them.</HI> Ver&s;. 14.</P>
<P>Fifthly, that in&s;tead of &s;uch ways of prediction the Lord rai&s;eth up Chri&s;t the great Prophet, (<HI>ver&s;.</HI> 15. compare <HI>Acts</HI> 3.23.) to foretell unto them what is meet for them to fore-know: &s;o that onely Chri&s;t. and they to whom he gives the divinely in&s;pired gift of Prophe&s;ie, mu&s;t fore|tell things to come: No Art may undertake it; for it is oppo&s;ite to Chri&s;t, and pre&s;umes upon that which be|longs onely to divine Prophe&s;ie. So that indeed (as 'tis in <HI>Lev.</HI> 20.6.) to follow &s;uch kinde of Arts, <HI>is to go a who|ring</HI> (&s;piritually) <HI>from Chri&s;t;</HI> and God will (as 'tis &s;aid there) &s;et <HI>his face again&s;t &s;uch, and cut off &s;uch a &s;oul from among his people:</HI> weighty rea&s;ons again&s;t A&s;tro|logy, without any intimation from God of any di&s;tincti|on or limitation.</P>
<P>The &s;econd place again&s;t A&s;trology, is <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 2.6. <HI>Therefore thou ha&s;t for&s;aken thy people, the hou&s;e of</HI> Ja|cob, <HI>becau&s;e they be repleni&s;hed from the Ea&s;t, and are South-&s;ayers like the Phili&s;tims.</HI> The word <GAP DESC="foreign"> here rendered <HI>South-&s;ayers,</HI> is rendered by <HI>Vatablus</HI> in his Notes, <HI>Diviners;</HI> by <HI>Junius, Prae&s;tigiatores;</HI> that is, that make &s;hew of that they cannot do. <HI>Greek, viz. Septuagint,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> that is (&s;aith <HI>Budeus, &amp;c.</HI>) A kinde of foretelling: as <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;ay they) &s;ignifieth <HI>Di|vination.</HI> And generally the <HI>Chaldee, Syriack, Arabick, Arias Montanus, &amp;c.</HI> render it <HI>Augurers,</HI> or <HI>Auguries,</HI> which by rea&s;on of the antiquity of the word, and be|cau&s;e
<PB N="108" REF="58">antiquities tell us that the <HI>Augurers</HI> divine as well by the a&s;pect of Heaven as by flying of Birds; Authours of later times commonly u&s;e that word to expre&s;s <HI>Divi|nation in general.</HI></P>
<P>But to come clo&s;er to the word; Learned <HI>Arias Mon|tanus</HI> doth (as well as I) derive our word from <GAP DESC="foreign"> that is, <HI>Time;</HI> yea &s;o doth <HI>R Solomon</HI> derive <GAP DESC="foreign"> or <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;ame word in de&s;cent or &s;ub&s;tance) of who&s;e &s;ignifying A&s;trology or A&s;trologers ye heard afore abundantly.</P>
<P>The intimations of the &s;infulne&s;s and prohibition of this Divination, in this &s;econd of <HI>I&s;ai</HI> are. Fir&s;t, that the <HI>Jews</HI> therein to the di&s;plea&s;ure of God, imitated the Heathens, and uncircumci&s;ed out-ca&s;ts; as tho&s;e in the <HI>East,</HI> that is, the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and the <HI>Philistime.</HI> Se|condly, in that the holy Gho&s;t puts &s;uch a &s;ingular note on this &s;in: He &s;aith not they are <HI>Swearers, unrighte|ous, &amp;c.</HI> like the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Phili&s;tims;</HI> but they are <HI>Diviners, like tho&s;e</HI> of the <HI>East,</HI> even <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> or like the <HI>Philistims.</HI> Thirdly that with a <HI>&s;hril and &s;trong Empha&s;is</HI> the Prophet tells the <HI>Jews,</HI> though con&s;idered in their highe&s;t notion, as the <HI>Hou&s;e of</HI> Jacob, and <HI>Gods people; Therefore</HI> for their A&s;trology, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> God had <HI>for|&s;aken,</HI> or ca&s;t down, or &s;ent them away into Captivity: that is, had pa&s;t an irrevocable &s;entence &s;o to do.</P>
<P>The third place of Scripture again&s;t it, is <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 44.24, 25, 26. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord thy Redeemer and he that formed thee from the womb. I am the Lord that maketh all things, that &s;tretcheth forth the Heavens alone &amp;c. that frustrateth the tokens of the lyars and maketh Di|viners mad, that turneth wi&s;e men backward and maketh their knowledge fooli&s;h; that confirmeth the word of his &s;ervants, and performeth the coun&s;el of his me&s;&s;engers.</HI> Mark by the way (afore we &s;can the words in the Origi|nal) the <HI>Geneva Notes,</HI> in the Magin of our greater <HI>En|gli&s;h</HI> Bibles. Namely, <HI>He armeth them</HI> (&s;ay tho&s;e Notes) <HI>against the South &s;ayers of</HI> Babylon, <HI>which would have
<PB N="109" REF="58">born them in hand, that they</HI> knew by the Starrs, <HI>that God would not deliver them, and that</HI> Babylon <HI>&s;hould &s;tand.</HI></P>
<P>But let us come more particularly to the words. Fir&s;t, 'tis evident here is mention of <HI>Diviners,</HI> a word in our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> generally taken in an ill &s;en&s;e, to &s;ignifie tho&s;e that by unlawfull Arts undertake to foretell future things. And the <HI>Chaldee, Syriack. Arabick Greek,</HI> and <HI>Ancient Latine,</HI> and that of <HI>Vatablus</HI> and <HI>Junius,</HI> render the Text in part, by <HI>Diviners,</HI> and <HI>Divinations.</HI> And <HI>Vatablus</HI> in his Notes upon this place, &s;aith, <HI>Mendacium,</HI> that is, of <HI>Lyars,</HI> is in <HI>Hebrew</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> that is, of <HI>Astrologers.</HI> And <HI>Junius</HI> in his Notes on this place, faith, <HI>Signa men|dacium &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>The &s;ignes of the Lyars,</HI> of which &s;ee following in the 47. of <HI>I&s;ai ver&s;.</HI> 10. and &s;o forward to <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 14. And &s;ure enough there in <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 47.10. A&s;tro|logers expre&s;ly, and under &s;everall other names, and no|tions al&s;o are bitterly inveighed again&s;t, as we &s;hall &s;ee after, in the particular &s;canning of that place. Let us add to all, a little more particular &s;ifting of the words of this 44. of <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 25. <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Lyars</HI> is of <GAP DESC="foreign"> He feigned, lyed, and by <GAP DESC="foreign"> in <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 44.25. are under&s;tood (as <HI>Buxtorfe,</HI> and <HI>R. Solomon</HI> and <HI>R. David</HI> affirm) <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>In|&s;picientes astra, Astrologi,</HI> that is, Gazers upon the Starrs, A&s;trologers. And for the other word in the 44. of <HI>I&s;ai, viz.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> that you have here rendered in <HI>Engli&s;h, Diviners;</HI> we &s;canned it afore in <HI>Deut.</HI> 18. &s;hewing you how the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> yea, the A&s;trologer him&s;elf confe&s;&s;eth that it &s;ignifies <HI>Astrologers.</HI> The intimations again&s;t A&s;trology in this Text are, fi-&s;t, that it &s;eems prejudicial to Gods <HI>Creation,</HI> and <HI>Redemption,</HI> and <HI>Providence.</HI> For when God would here comfort his people again&s;t A&s;tro|logers Predictions, threatning evil to them, the Lord that is mo&s;t wi&s;e, to order his words, begins with this pre|face; <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, that maketh all things, and
<PB N="110" REF="59">that &s;tretcheth forth the Heavens, and &s;preadeth abroad the Earth:</HI> Intending plainly thus much; Fear not <HI>bond|age</HI> under evil men and things, as the A&s;trologers threat|en, for I am thy <HI>Redeemer,</HI> that redeems thee from troubles, in &s;pite of all A&s;trology. Fear not tho&s;e A&s;tro|logical <HI>Genethliacos,</HI> that is, <HI>Casters of Nativities;</HI> for I formed thee <HI>from the womb:</HI> Fear not their Predicti|ons by the <HI>Starrs</HI> and <HI>Heavens,</HI> for I <HI>&s;pread</HI> and <HI>rowl them</HI> as I plea&s;e: Fear not their predicted evils, <HI>for I make all things, and &s;pread the Earth as I plea&s;e.</HI> So that God pleads the&s;e of his <HI>Creation, Redemption,</HI> and <HI>pro|vidential pre&s;ervation,</HI> again&s;t the A&s;trologers that oppo&s;e the&s;e by rai&s;ing fal&s;e fears from their lying Arts in the hearts of his people. The &s;econd intimation is, that God doth <HI>call,</HI> and can and will <HI>make</HI> tho&s;e A&s;trologers and Diviners, <HI>Lyars,</HI> and <HI>mad men:</HI> all their predictions &s;hall prove but <HI>Lyes</HI> and <HI>madne&s;s;</HI> and turn their pretended knowledge into <HI>fooli&s;hne&s;s.</HI> Thirdly, that the Lord will confirm the <HI>word</HI> of his <HI>Servants,</HI> and the <HI>coun&s;el</HI> of his <HI>Me&s;&s;engers;</HI> that is, the Prophe&s;ies of his Prophets, in oppofition to all A&s;trologers. A&s;trology oppo&s;eth the Word, but that &s;hall overflow it.</P>
<P>The fourth place again&s;t A&s;trology is, <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 47.12, 13, 14. It is &s;poken to <HI>Babylon, v.</HI> 1. The words are the&s;e, <HI>Stand now with thine</HI> Inchantments, <HI>and with the multi|tude of thy</HI> Sorceries, <HI>wherein thou ha&s;t laboured from thy youth, if &s;o be thou &s;halt be able to profit, if &s;o be thou mai&s;t prevail: Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy coun&s;els; let now the</HI> A&s;trologers, <HI>the</HI> Star-gazers, <HI>the</HI> Monethly Progno&s;ticatours <HI>&s;tand up and &s;ave thee from the&s;e things that &s;hall come upon thee: Behold, they &s;hall be as &s;tubble, the fire &s;hall burn them, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>We &s;ee in the general, if we reade but according to the <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> how <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> under all names and titles are inveighed again&s;t by God him&s;elf, and in a holy way of divine taunting of them: The Original al&s;o is very full
<PB N="111" REF="59">and home to the &s;ame effect: the fir&s;t word or name in the 13. <HI>Ver&s;e,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> which our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> renders <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> is al&s;o by the ancient <HI>Greek Septuagint</HI> rendered <GAP DESC="foreign">, and by <HI>Junius</HI> al&s;o <HI>A&s;trologi,</HI> that is, A&s;trologers who&s;e bu&s;ine&s;s according to the <HI>He|brew,</HI> is, <HI>to view and behold the Heavens for Predictions:</HI> For the <HI>Hebrew</HI> word <GAP DESC="foreign"> in his prime and native &s;igni|fication &s;ignifies to play the A&s;trologer. <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;aith <HI>Pag|nin,</HI> and <HI>Schindler,</HI> is the Root whence comes <GAP DESC="foreign"> an A&s;trologer, <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 47.13. Let not the A&s;trologers of Hea|ven, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;tand up and &s;ave thee; and this is the righter rendering of the word. The <HI>Hebrew</HI> Doctours al&s;o ex|pound it A&s;trologers. <HI>R. Kimchi</HI> doth derive it from the <HI>Arabian</HI> Language, in which <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Alhabram,</HI> &s;igni|fies the <HI>Deci&s;ion of a matter;</HI> as (&s;aith he) the A&s;trolo|gers are &s;o called, who decide and determine things by the pre&s;cript of the Starrs. And to put the matter out of doubt, that the Lord means A&s;trologers, he u&s;eth another word, by which he gives them a &s;econd name, to wit, <GAP DESC="foreign"> is Gazers <HI>in</HI> the Starrs. A&s;tronomers look <HI>upon</HI> the Starrs, to know their <HI>colour, di&s;tance, motion;</HI> but A&s;trologers (&s;aith the Lord) gaze <HI>in,</HI> or <HI>into</HI> the Starrs; that is, their bu&s;ine&s;s is to know the influence and predictions by Starrs, as they pretend. The <HI>Chaldee Tar|gum</HI> doth al&s;o &s;o render it; namely. <GAP DESC="foreign"> Gazers <HI>in</HI> or <HI>into</HI> the Starrs: and their third name <GAP DESC="foreign"> which our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> renders <HI>Monethly Progno&s;tica|tours: Vatablus</HI> renders, <HI>Tho&s;e who declare what &s;hall come to pa&s;s every &s;everal moneth.</HI> The <HI>Arabian</HI> Ver&s;ion of this Ver&s;e renders them all three thus. <HI>Let them ari&s;e and deliver thee, who pre&s;age future things by the Starrs of Heaven; who contemplate the Starrs, and foretell thee what event &s;hall be to thee.</HI> All (you &s;ee) amounts to this, that without fail, A&s;trologers are here &s;poken again&s;t. And how.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, as <HI>oppo&s;its to confidence in God:</HI> as our Notes on
<PB N="112" REF="60">the Bible affirm in the&s;e words. [He derideth <HI>(&s;ay they)</HI> their vain confidence, that put their tru&s;t in any thing but in God, condemning al&s;o &s;uch Sciences which &s;erve to no u&s;e, but to delude the people, and to bring them from de|pending on God.</P>
<P>Secondly, as of the &s;ame rank, and much of the &s;ame abomination with Inchanters and Sorcerers. <HI>Babylon</HI> u&s;eth both; and as we heard afore, from them that went farr in A&s;trology; that A&s;trologers that u&s;ually hit any thing right, cannot do it but by help from the Devil.</P>
<P>Thirdly, as a thing to be <HI>derided,</HI> that any man &s;hould undertake to pre&s;age good, when 'tis the coun&s;el of God to bring evil upon a people.</P>
<P>Fourthly, as <HI>a ju&s;t thing with God</HI> to &s;end &s;uch to their A&s;trologers in the day of evil of judgement on them, to &s;ee if they can deliver them.</P>
<P>Fifthly, as that God <HI>will the rather bring irre&s;i&s;tible judgement</HI> on a people that be&s;ides their evils, do believe A&s;trologers that they &s;hall do well.</P>
<P>Sixthly, that in the day of calamity, e&s;pecially A&s;tro|logers, and tho&s;e that believed them &s;hall fall by the hot|te&s;t fury of the judgement.</P>
<P>The fifth place of Scripture again&s;t A&s;trology is <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.2, 3. <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord, Learn not the way of the Heathen, and be not di&s;mayed at the Signes of Heaven, for the Heathen are di&s;mayed at them. For the customes of the people are vain.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>a &s;ign or token,</HI> doth &s;ome|times and e&s;pecially when joyned with Heaven, &s;ignifies a prodigious, portentous, ominous &s;ign. The word is the &s;ame, and the intent of the Text the &s;ame, as in <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 44.24, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> (afore di&s;cu&s;&s;ed) <HI>that frustrateth the Tokens, or &s;ignes of the Lyars.</HI> The <HI>Geneva</HI> on our Bibles on the word <HI>[Signes]</HI> &s;ay thus; [God forbiddeth his people to give credit or fear the Con&s;tellations and Conjunctions of Starrs and Planets, which have no power of them&s;elves, but are governed by him; and their &s;ecret motions and
<PB N="113" REF="60">influences are not known to man, and therefore there can be no certain judgement thereof. <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.9.] And the &s;ame <HI>Geneva</HI> Notes on the word <HI>[Cu&s;tomes]</HI> &s;ay thus; [Meaning (&s;ay they) not onely the ob&s;ervation of the Starrs, but their Laws and Ceremonies, whereby they confirm their Idolatry] &s;o the <HI>Geneva</HI> Notes. I quote them and others the more, that ye may &s;ee, not onely mine, but the judgement of the generality of the godly and learned touching A&s;trology. I add, as A&s;trology and Idolatry are conjoyned here in the prohibition, &s;o al&s;o was it in the practi&s;e of men: for they idolatrou&s;ly made Gods of the Starrs, as of <HI>Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, &amp;c.</HI> as the names of our week-dayes do unhappily to this day &s;ignifie. And they al&s;o did a&s;trologically u&s;e them to foretell by. And indeed in Prediction by them they made gods of them. For future things are in Gods hands, and not for us to know till he will make them known by his Word; or perform them, <HI>Acts</HI> 1.7. The <HI>Chaldee</HI> Pa|raphra&s;e renders that of the Text of <HI>Signes</HI> thus; <HI>And be not afraid of the Signes that are put in Heaven:</HI> which mu&s;t needs fignifie the <HI>Starrs:</HI> and the <HI>Hebrew</HI> word for <HI>fear</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies to ca&s;t down upon the earth with fear; which mu&s;t intimate rather a <HI>fear</HI> of <HI>evil &s;igni|fications,</HI> then of <HI>adoration.</HI> The intimations again&s;t A&s;trology here, are,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, that it is the <HI>way of the Heathen.</HI> Now we, whom God hath with &s;o much co&s;t and care di&s;tingui&s;h|ed from the World, mu&s;t not imitate the World, <HI>Matth.</HI> 6.32. <HI>Rom.</HI> 12.2.</P>
<P>Secondly, that the <HI>Cu&s;tomes of the people</HI> in that and other things, are vain; and 'tis not for Gods people to run after vain things but rather as a &s;ign of their repentance to do as <HI>Solomon Eccle&s;.</HI> 1.2. and <HI>Paul. Phil.</HI> 3.7, 8.</P>
<P N="3">3. That the regarding of &s;uch things cau&s;eth in men <HI>an evil fear,</HI> oppo&s;ite to their confidence and comfort in God: &s;o the Prophet intimates in exhorting them not <HI>to fear them.</HI></P>
<PB N="114" REF="61">
<P>Fourthly, that to fear any A&s;trology or &s;ignes <HI>&amp;c.</HI> is an <HI>heatheni&s;h thing:</HI> We do not as Believers, but as Hea|thens. Godly men, yea all men that profe&s;s the true God, ought to go to that God, and to him onely to know the hidden things that are future. For it is the priviledge of God onely, to foretell &s;uch things to come, either by him|&s;elf or by his &s;pirit extraordinarily in his Prophets; and therefore not communicated to Starrs: and what&s;oever we &s;et up, as imagining they are able to predict &s;uch fu|ture things, we advance up into the place of God, which are not Gods; as is manife&s;t by this very thing, that they cannot really and truly predict &s;uch things: and therefore to go to any thing to know &s;uch things to come, but to God him&s;elf, is to do as Heathens that &s;et up fal&s;e gods, and not as men that acknowledge the true God. All this is fully and plainly held &s;orth to us in <HI>I&s;ai</HI> 41.21.22, 23, 24. In <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 10. to 21. the Lord having prophe&s;ied and foretol&aacute; good things to come to pa&s;s for his people, he in a holy manner thus taunteth all other things that are &s;et up by men in which they put confidence, as if they were Gods to declare hidden things <HI>pa&s;t,</HI> or <HI>to come;</HI> ver&s;e 21. <HI>&amp;c. Produce your cau&s;e &s;aith the Lord bring forth your &s;trong rea&s;ons &s;aith the King of</HI> Jacob; <HI>let them hring forth, and &s;hew us what &s;hall happen. Let them &s;hew the former things what they be, that we may con&s;ider them, and know the later end of them, or declare to us things to come: Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know ye are Gods, &amp;c. Behold ye are of no|thing.</HI></P>
<P>We do not count it incon&s;iderable to our bu&s;ine&s;s to di&s;cu&s;s here what is the thing mainly meant in this place; as whether <HI>Idolatry</HI> or <HI>Astrology</HI> (&s;ure enough in A&s;tro|logy by them that confide in it for Predictions, there is <HI>Idolatry</HI> enough, as this Text &s;ufficiently intimateth) but we attend the Argument to confute it <HI>viz.</HI> becau&s;e it can|not <HI>foretell things to come; becau&s;e that is Gods Preroga|tive
<PB N="115" REF="61">alone:</HI> and therefore nor <HI>Idols</HI> nor <HI>Stacrs;</HI> neither <HI>Idols</HI> nor <HI>Starrs;</HI> neither <HI>Idolatry</HI> nor <HI>Astrology</HI> can predict things to come: for as <HI>Idolatry</HI> is but <HI>vanity,</HI> as 'tis oft called in Scripture: as <HI>the vanites of the Nations, or Gentiles &amp;c.</HI> So A&s;trology is a <HI>lye, Jer.</HI> 60.35.36. <HI>A Sword is upon the</HI> Chadeans, <HI>&amp;c. and upon her Princes and upon her wi&s;e men: a Sword is upon the Ly|ars, and they &s;hall dote.</HI> Upon which word learned <HI>Bux|torf</HI> (<HI>ad vocem</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> (which is the word in the 50. of <HI>Je|remy,</HI> onely an emphatical article is prefixed, <GAP DESC="foreign">) &s;ignifies <HI>Lyes</HI> and <HI>Lyars, I&s;aiah</HI> 44.25. by which under|&s;tand <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Gazers upon the Starrs, A&s;trologers,</HI> according to <HI>Rabbi Solomon:</HI> and &s;o under&s;tand that, <HI>Jer.</HI> 50.36. <HI>Rabbi David</HI> on the &s;ame; and the <HI>Chaldee</HI> Paraphra&s;e renders <GAP DESC="foreign"> by <GAP DESC="foreign"> oft times; which <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;ignifies Foretellers: but <HI>Jer.</HI> 50.36. the <HI>Chaldee</HI> renders <GAP DESC="foreign"> by <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Diviners:</HI> The re&s;ult of all is this; Fir&s;t, A&s;trologers are by God him&s;elf called <HI>Lyars:</HI> Secondly, they that &s;eek to them for Predictions are Ido|laters, therein making them gods: Thirdly, that God hath expre&s;t &s;o much again&s;t both; both again&s;t the A&s;trologer and his Clients, becau&s;e God will vindicate his own priviledge, that he alone is the God of truth that can truly <HI>foretell things to come.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ixth place is <HI>Dan.</HI> 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Nebuchad|nezzar <HI>dreamed dreams; and the King commanded to call the</HI> Magicians, <HI>and the</HI> A&s;trologers, <HI>and the</HI> Sorce|rers, <HI>&amp;c. to &s;hew the King his dreams: Then &s;pake they to the King in the</HI> Syriack, <HI>tell thy Servants the dream, and we will &s;hew the interpretation. The King an&s;wered; The thing is gone from me, if ye will not make known to me the dream with the interpretation thereof, ye &s;hall be out in pieces, &amp;c. They an&s;wered again, Tell us the dream, and we will &s;hew the interpretation thereof. The King an&s;wered, If ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you, for ye have prepared</HI>
<PB N="116" REF="62">Lying, <HI>&amp;c. Tell me the dream and I &s;hall know that ye can &s;hew the interpretation thereof. Then the</HI> Chalde|ans <HI>an&s;wered, &amp;c. There is not a man upon the earth that can &s;hew the Kings matter: there is no King, &amp;c. that asked &s;uch things at any Magician or A&s;trologer, &amp;c.</HI> But as it follows in the Story, <HI>God revealed the dream, and the interpretation thereof to the King: then the King an&s;wered unto</HI> Daniel, <HI>and &s;aid, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of Gods, and a Lord of Kings, and a revealer of &s;ecrets.</HI></P>
<P>In all which we have the&s;e particulars again&s;t Arolo|gers: Fir&s;t, that the <HI>Magicians</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> and the <HI>Sorcerers</HI> are put together, as Arti&s;ts of the &s;ame kinde. Secondly, that they them&s;elves did confe&s;&s;edly &s;o name and number up them&s;elves. Thirdly, that all the&s;e laying their heads and hearts, and Arts together, and that to &s;ave their lives could not finde out that Dream of the King. Fourthly, that the King calls them Lyars. Fifthly, the King gives a rea&s;on; namely, that if they could cer|tainly by any Art, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> tell the interpretation of his Dream, they might al&s;o tell his Dream. Sixthly, that by a ju&s;t judgement of God, ruine is pronounced by the King, again&s;t the&s;e as Deceivers. Seventhly, they thought that becau&s;e they could not tell this Dream, that therefore no man on earth el&s;e could; and that therefore the King was unrea&s;onable to require of them to tell it; intimating &s;trongly their incomparable ability and confidence in their wicked Arts, that what po&s;&s;ibly could be done in that nature, by any, could be done by them. Eighthly, that God according to his Prerogative could reveal it to <HI>Da|niel;</HI> and &s;o confuted the Lyes of the A&s;trologers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Ninthly, that the heathen King was hereby throughly convinced, that there was no God like the true God, whom <HI>Daniel</HI> and all godly men do wor&s;hip.</P>
<P>Seventhly and la&s;tly, Note the word [Magician] and [Magick] (&s;o oft u&s;ed in <HI>Daniel,</HI> and joyned there with
<PB N="117" REF="62">A&s;trologers and A&s;trology) is by the vote of the Learned generally taken in the New Te&s;tament in the wor&s;e &s;en&s;e. <HI>Matth.</HI> 2. oft. <HI>Acts</HI> 8. <HI>Acts</HI> 13. And as oft as <HI>A&s;haphim</HI> is mentioned in <HI>Daniel,</HI> the <HI>Septuagint</HI> con|&s;tantly expounds it by the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> Magicians. Now <HI>A&s;haphim</HI> &s;ay the learned Criticks, &s;ignifies A&s;trologers, and tho&s;e which ob&s;erve the Starrs in the morning or e|vening twylight. And though <GAP DESC="foreign"> may in the general &s;ignifie Wi&s;e, yet becau&s;e tho&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign"> were among the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Egyptians,</HI> &s;uch as u&s;ed devili&s;h Arts; it is taken in an ill &s;en&s;e; as of that brood (afore they repent|ed) mentioned, <HI>Acts</HI> 19.18, 19, 20. <HI>Many of them which u&s;ed curious Arts brought their Books together to be burned before all men, and counted the price of them fifty thou&s;and pieces of Silver.</HI> The mo&s;t of the&s;e Books (in mo&s;t probability) were A&s;trological Books, for Divina|tion; becau&s;e, fir&s;t, the Arts are called <HI>Curious Arts;</HI> curious in the Rules and Principles above common means of knowledge, and curious in their end and u&s;e, to predict things that were not to be known ordinarily. Secondly; they were Book-arts, which are chiefly of A&s;trology; few, if any, are written of Sorcery, Necromancy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but come down from Generation to Generation by Tra|dition. Thirdly, their price great, <HI>viz.</HI> Six thou&s;and two hundred and fifty pounds Sterling, which imports al&s;o A&s;trological Books, becau&s;e none others of unlawfull and finfull Arts (as they all are here intimated) are &s;o much valued, as A&s;trological Books. Fourthly, its a thing ap|parently known to men acquainted with antiquity, that the&s;e <HI>Ephe&s;ians</HI> were greatly addicted to A&s;trology and Book-magick. Therefore the <HI>Syriack</HI> and <HI>Arabick</HI> ren|der <HI>Curious Arts</HI> by Magick. All which &s;orts of Arts are condemned under the name of Sorceries, <HI>Revel.</HI> 21.8. as tho&s;e which &s;hall abound in the la&s;t times, afore the fall of Antichri&s;t, as by wofull experience we do al|ready finde.</P>
<PB N="118" REF="63">
<P>To the&s;e things out of <HI>Daniel,</HI> and the New Te&s;ta|ment, I might add much, both of Antiquities and Criti|ci&s;mes of Languages, to &s;trengthen our A&s;&s;ertion; but the conveniencies of this little Volume con&s;trains me to con|tract my &s;elf.</P>
<P>SURVEY. Now that the Reader hath had pre&s;ent|ed before his eye what <HI>William</HI> and his Champion Sir <HI>Christopher</HI> on the one part, and what Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> on the other part have &s;aid, I can with more ea&s;e and bre|vity explain the impertinency and in&s;ufficiency of what hath been attempted again&s;t the Doctour.</P>
<P>To <HI>Williams</HI> fir&s;t Section, and fir&s;t to the Paragraph noted with <HI>[A]</HI> I an&s;wer that the Replier, W. <HI>R.</HI> or Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heyden</HI> is not as good as his word in his very fir&s;t entrance of the Li&s;ts: For fir&s;t he &s;aith nothing at all to the word <HI>Diviner.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Will, Ram&s;ey</HI> brings us fal&s;e <HI>Hebrew</HI> and fal<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">e <HI>Greek,</HI> to ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">n|tain his fal&s;e opinion, his fal&s;e interpretati|on of <HI>Latin</HI> you had afore.</NOTE> Secondly, to the word <HI>Ob&s;erver of times</HI> (which is given us in fal&s;e <HI>Hebrew;</HI> for the word is not <GAP DESC="foreign"> but <GAP DESC="foreign"> not <HI>Gnonen,</HI> or to write it rightlier <HI>Onen</HI> but <HI>Menonen;</HI> and al&s;o in fal&s;e <HI>Greek,</HI> for there is no &s;uch word in the <HI>Septuagint.</HI> The neare&s;t that is is <GAP DESC="foreign"> but that is wide from the word <HI>William</HI> brings, and is not applied to <HI>Meonen,</HI> but is the la&s;t word &s;ave one in the Ver&s;e) I &s;ay to the word <HI>Ob&s;erver of times, Will. Ram.</HI> or Sir <HI>Christopher Heydon</HI> doth not bring the judgement of the Church from <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> time and downward. But the Church hath been again&s;t them, rendering the Text again&s;t A&s;trology. So the Church in <HI>I&s;rael;</HI> &s;o the Church of the <HI>Jews;</HI> &s;o the <HI>Greek</HI> Churches; and &s;o the Churches formerly in <HI>Syria</HI> and <HI>Arabia.</HI></P>
<P>Fir&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Becau&s;e W.Ram. his great ignorance tell, D. <HI>Homes,</HI> that he the &s;aid Doctour quotes <HI>Arabick,</HI> but tells not his Authour, as if he were a&s;hamed; therefore to inform <HI>Will.</HI> when I fir&s;t quote either the five Books of Mo&s;es in <HI>Samaritan,</HI> or the Bible in <HI>Chaldee, Syriack,</HI> or <HI>Arabick,</HI> I will give him a touch of aptiquity of each, Now fir&s;t for the <HI>Samaritan, Ex hoc fu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">te Hebraeo (<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">quit Guid. Mich. le Jay) Samaritanus Tex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">s ducit originem, non &agrave; di|vi&s;ione religionis, &s;ed <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> Colonia Cuthaeorum, quae in Samaream venerat, &s;ed&eacute;&s;que decem Tribuum &s;ub Salmana&s;ara depor|tarum,</HI> 2. <HI>Regum, c.</HI> 17. <HI>Anno Ho&s;ts,</HI> 9. <HI>po&s;t legem Mo&s;is</HI> 776. <HI>Mun|d<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> 3228. <HI>vide <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">lur. a|pud Hieron. in Pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">fa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">. lib. Reg. &amp; epist. ad G<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">alat. c.</HI> 3.</NOTE> for the Church in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> the <HI>Samaritan Pente|teuch</HI> hath it <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;o I am fain to write it becau&s;e the
<PB N="119" REF="63">Printer hath no <HI>Samaritan</HI> Letters) which more evidently is of <GAP DESC="foreign"> a <HI>Cloud,</HI> or <GAP DESC="foreign"> Time, and is u&s;ed to &s;ignifie an Ob&s;erver of Times. The <HI>Samaritan ver&s;ion</HI> (which again I am forced to give the Reader in <HI>Hebrew</HI> Letters) is <GAP DESC="foreign"> which &s;ignifies one that by drawing lines exerci&s;eth Prediction, or fore-telling, accord|ingly upon the meaning of the word, the Learn|ed quote and alleadge <HI>Herodot. Postquam (in|quit Herodotus) artes. ommbus legibus vetitas, exereere coeperint in tantum, aucta e&s;t eorum vanitas, ut non &s;ol&ugrave;m ob&s;ervatione &s;yderum futura praedicere &amp;c. profiterentur.</HI> Thus of the Church in <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> or the &s;eat of the ten Tribes.</P>
<P>Secondly, for the &s;en&s;e of the Church of the <HI>Jews</HI> give of the word, <HI>viz.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chaldaeus coatextus, ce|leberrima inter Judaeos Par-phra&s;is, hine de|&s;ump&s;it origine~, quod &agrave; cap<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">vitate Babylonic<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> exolevi&s;&s;et Ling<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">a He|bratca neque eam ana|pliu intelligerent. G. M. l. J.</NOTE> the two Tribes called <HI>Judah;</HI> 1. their <HI>Chaldee Targum</HI> ren|ders it <GAP DESC="foreign"> (near to the <HI>Hebrew</HI>) which the <HI>Latine</HI> Tran&s;lation interprets <HI>Qui ob&s;ervet ho|ras.</HI> that is, <HI>An ob&s;erver of times.</HI> 2. Their <HI>Hebrew Talmud,</HI> and Rabbinical Tracts &s;ay thus on the word, <HI>The&s;e ob&s;ervers of times were &s;uch as did appoint times for the doing of things, &s;aying, Such a day is good, Such a day is naught; Such a day is fit for to do &s;uch a work; Such a year or moneth is evil for &s;uch a thing. It is unlawfull</HI> (&s;ay the Rabbins there) <HI>to ob&s;erve times, though one do no work, but make it known. They are lyes, which fools imagine to be true, and to be the words of wi&s;e men. Maim. in Treat. of Idol. Cap.</HI> 11. <HI>Sect.</HI> 8.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the Churches formerly in <HI>Syria;</HI> do render the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> by a <HI>Periphra&s;is,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Of the <HI>Syriack</HI> Tran&s;|lation of the Scriptures &s;ome think that the <HI>Pentateuch</HI> of <HI>Mo&s;es. &amp;c.</HI> to the end of <HI>Can|ticles</HI> were tran&s;lated in <HI>Solomon's</HI> time, at the reque&s;t of King <HI>Hiram</HI> of <HI>Tire.</HI> And all the re&s;t or ab&s;o|lutely all (&s;ay others) that after in the time of the Captivity of the ren Tribes; and after that in the time of the Apo&s;tles (&s;ay others) the re was a <HI>Syriack</HI> Tran&s;lation made. Thus <HI>Je&s;udad Syrus</HI> and <HI>Greg. Bar. Hebr. Syir in Syro. Arab-Morim. &amp; alii.</HI></NOTE> or circumlocution, de&s;cribing rather the Antick, or &s;trange ge&s;ture or behaviour or manner of work|ing in his unlawfull Art, then the kinde of the Arti&s;t him&s;elf; but they render the former word Diviner (<GAP DESC="foreign">) by exerci&s;ing Predictions or
<PB N="120" REF="64">foretelling, which is the immediate and native &s;ignification of the <HI>Syr.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>Fourthly, for the Churches in<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">Arabicum conte<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">tum omnes Orientales eccle|&s;iae magnoper&egrave; veneran|tur. Guid. Mich. 1. J. Sed hinc maximam mutuantur cenamenda|tionem quod <HI>S.</HI> Hier orzi|mi &s;aecu&s;o, quidam &egrave; &s;acris libris h&acirc;c lingu&acirc; &s;cripti reperirentur, quorum auxilio librum Job. in &s;eptingentis ferm&egrave; &amp; octingent<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> ver&s;ibus, re<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">litust.</NOTE> <HI>Arabia</HI> (mentioned in the New Te&s;tament) they render the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> Text, by the word <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Munaggim,</HI> that is an <HI>A&s;trologer.</HI></P>
<P>Fifthly, the <HI>Greek</HI> Churches in their Tran&s;lation (of who&s;e great antiquity divers hundred of years afore Chri&s;t, and after him quoted by the Apo&s;tles I need not &s;peak, being well known) do render our <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;o &s;mall Editions of the <HI>Sept.</HI> that I have &s;een, which are more then one or two); which<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">Bib. M. Gal <HI>7.</HI> Lin|guar.</NOTE> one Tran&s;lation renders, (I know not why unle&s;s in relation to the &s;peeches of A&s;trologers) <HI>Qni verba ob&s;ervet, i. e.</HI> That ob&s;erveth words.<NOTE N="&Dagger;" PLACE="marg">Editie Pari&s;. Sept. cum Aqu. Sym. &amp; Theod.</NOTE> Another <HI>Divinationes ob&s;ervans. i.e.</HI> An ob&s;erver of Divinations; to which let me add my mite; <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;aith <HI>He&s;ych,</HI> is Divinati|on. And <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;aith <HI>Bud, &amp;c.</HI> &s;ignifies <HI>Divinaculos con&s;ulo,</HI> to con&s;ult with Diviners. So <GAP DESC="foreign"> &s;aith <HI>Lucian,</HI> is <HI>Ominatio vaticinii genus.</HI> So then <HI>Will.</HI> and Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> are quite out in their <HI>Greek,</HI> and quite be|&s;ide the Authrity of the <HI>Church,</HI> unle&s;s by the old <HI>Latine</HI> Tran&s;lation they mean the <HI>Popi&s;h Church;</HI> which is not worthy to be reckoned in the Balance again&s;t the fore|mentioned Churches&mdash;Be&s;ides all them, the Prote&s;tant Churches in <HI>France</HI> in their <HI>French</HI> Tran&s;lations, both former and later render the word by <HI>Progno&s;tiqueux,</HI> that is, a Progno&s;ticator, which is a name that <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> do willingly take upon them in their Books. So that we need not regard the Tran&s;lations of particular men, unle&s;s it be
<PB N="121" REF="64">to give a word or <HI>item</HI> that <HI>Will.</HI> and Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> had no rea&s;on to put &s;o much weight upon <HI>Hierom.</HI> The Vulgar, <HI>Paguni</HI> and <HI>Montanus.</HI> For 1. <HI>Hierom, ali&agrave;s</HI> the Vulgar (for they were all one at the fir&s;t, till &s;ome late <HI>Interpolator</HI> corruptly made a difference) they both render it, <HI>Qui ob&s;ervet &s;omnia at que auguria,</HI> he that ob|&s;erveth Dreams and Auguries, putting two Nouns under one Verb with a Copulative, <HI>viz.</HI> Dreams and Augu|ries, both which are in the A&s;trologer, or el&s;e he would not &s;o dote and tell us Tales. But if he ob&s;erve either, he is here condemned.<NOTE PLACE="marg">See the <HI>Roman</HI> Anti|quities of <HI>Augury.</HI></NOTE> Who but an Ignorant knows not, that the <HI>Augurers</HI> did progno&s;ti|cate from the A&s;pect of the Heavens, as well as by the flying of Birds (as the Doctour before hinted). And therefore <HI>Auguro</HI> or <HI>Auguror</HI> is commonly u&s;ed, (as the common Dictionaries will &s;hew <HI>Will. &amp;c.</HI>) in general to &s;ignifie to divine, to conjecture, to foretell, to &s;urmi&s;e what will be, to &s;uppo&s;e, or gue&s;s. And for tho&s;e that are more learned then <HI>Will.</HI> worthy of learned quo|tations; they may know that <HI>Augurium ratio e&s;t, &amp; conjectura futuri;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vid. Calv. Bud. Alex. ab Alex. Var. &amp;c.</NOTE> &s;umitur autem lati&ugrave;s pro quavis divinatione, &s;ive conjectur&acirc;, i.e.</HI> in a word, to &s;ignifie [any foretelling].<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vad. ejus Lexic. Juri|dict.</HI> and the learned Authours he quotes.</NOTE> And that learned <HI>J. Calvin</HI> hath the&s;e words, <HI>Augures &s;imiles &s;unt impo&s;toribus, qui Mathematico|rum liberali nomine ad umbrantes &s;uas ineptias, profiten|tur &s;e fata cuju&s;que n&ocirc;&s;&s;e, natalitias &s;yderum ob&s;ervatio|nes. i.e.</HI> Augures or Augurers are like to Impo&s;tours, who covering their fooleries over with the name of Ma|thematicians, as if of a Liberal Art, do profe&s;s that they know every mans Fate, and the Nativity-ob&s;ervations of Starrs. But &s;aith he pre&s;ently, <HI>Maleficorum appellatio|ne, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <Q><HI>Constantius</HI> e&s;tabli&s;hed by Law &s;uch foretelling Mathematicians, that they were contained under the name of evil doers, forbidding any to con&s;ult with them. And where or under what Title in the
<PB N="122" REF="65">Law are they forbidden? Why &s;aith he.</Q> <HI>L. Nem.</HI> 5. <HI>C. de Malef. &amp; Mathem.</HI> So then the Civil Law al&s;o is again&s;t Divining Mathematicians. The <HI>Roman</HI> Empe|rours edicted again&s;t them more then once;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Compare with this the Doctours Epi&s;tle to his Demonol.</NOTE> and do make them and Augures to be all as one.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>Pagnin</HI> and <HI>Arias Montanus</HI> (for they are both one and the &s;ame Book, and have the &s;ame word; <HI>Will.</HI> and Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> needed not to have multiplied this and the other quotation into four to make a &s;hew to knowing men) they both render the word by <HI>Prae&s;tigia|tor.</HI> But what hath <HI>Will.</HI> got by this? If it were as he tells his Tale, that it &s;ignified onely a Coo&s;ener, have the ancient <HI>Roman</HI> Laws (but now mentioned) or the dayly complaints of the Clients in the City of <HI>London</HI> &s;et the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> free from that? But let us tell all the truth: <HI>Prae&s;tigiator</HI> (&s;aith a learned Etymologi&s;t) <HI>&agrave; prae &amp; &s;ti|ge quia quaedam &s;tigialia facta, prae, id e&s;t, ante faciunt. i. e.</HI> in a word <HI>Prae&s;tigiator</HI> hath (&s;aith he) his name from doing devili&s;h Feats. <Q>As <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;aith, (as the Doctour &s;hewed in the Demonolog.) A&s;trologers have their An&s;wers from his Devil.</Q> Add to this, that <HI>Guich.</HI> &s;aith, <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&s;ignificat Prae&s;tigigiatorem, qui computat tempora, &amp; horas;</HI> making the <HI>Prae&s;tigiator</HI> and the <HI>A&s;trologer</HI> all one. Now for <HI>Will.</HI> interpo&s;ing that Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> [confe&s;&s;ed]; he doth not tell you di&s;tinctly what he con|fe&s;&s;ed; but I will tell you, <GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;aith the Doctour) <Q>which our Taan&s;latours render AN OBSERVER OF TIMES is diver&s;ly taken, but ALL CLOSE to &s;igni&s;ie a PROHIBITION of A&s;trology.</Q> This is the Doctours confe&s;&s;ion. There is nothing more in this Paragraph <HI>[A]</HI> worthy to be touched: Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> and <HI>Will.</HI> Triumphs come to nothing. And <HI>Will.</HI> is needle&s;ly angry with the Doctour for comparing <HI>A&s;tro|logers</HI> with Wizards, if he doth both con&s;ider that the word is but the old <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> wi&s;e or wi&s;er. So that if <HI>A&s;trological Will.</HI> be loth to be called <HI>wi&s;e,</HI> or would not
<PB N="123" REF="65">have Wizard to be taken according to the common u&s;e of the word, <HI>viz.</HI> to &s;ignifie one that in an unlawfull way foretells things to come, which God hath or doth not re|veal, but by divine prophe&s;ying he is either not wi&s;e, or not ju&s;t, or neither.</P>
<P>To the Paragraph di&s;tingui&s;hed with <HI>[B]</HI> touching the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;lation, in brief thus; that though there was one <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;lation in Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> time that renders in 2 <HI>Chron.</HI> 33.6. <GAP DESC="foreign"> He <HI>gave him&s;elf to witch|craft;</HI> yet there was then al&s;o another excellent <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;lation (more ancient) extant to this day, that ren|ders the &s;ame, [He ob&s;erved di&s;mal Dayes] and our la&s;t <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;lation, which was (if I do not much mi&s;|take) extant al&s;o in Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> time, He ob&s;erved times. So here are two for one. But if perhaps &s;ome one place may render it of Witchcraft or South&s;aying, it is but putting a more general word which comprehends the &s;pecial, and al&s;o &s;till keeps the <HI>A&s;trologer</HI> within its Circle, under the la&s;h. For whence is Witch but from the ancient <HI>Briti&s;h</HI> word [Wits] as if he &s;hould Witchcraft, the skill of Wits; or from the <HI>Dutch</HI> (the true Mother of our an|cient <HI>Engli&s;h Wiichelen</HI> or <HI>Wiechelen</HI> to foretell. And what doth South&s;aying fignifie, but (as is pretended) to &s;ay truth, as our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> phra&s;e of a&s;&s;everation, not yet quite worne out doth te&s;tifie, <HI>viz.</HI> In good &s;ooth it is &s;o. <HI>i. e.</HI> In good truth it is &s;o. Now <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> pretend to a great deal of wit, and craft or skill and in prediction, and according (as they will &s;ay) to truth. Therefore &s;o farr they will own the names, or at lea&s;t the thing under tho&s;e names. But whereas the&s;e words are commonly u&s;ed in an evil &s;en&s;e, and therefore accompanied with the words of an ill &s;ignification, all to &s;ignifie evil Arts, and unlawfull Predictions, they are not much wide that u&s;e Witchcraft or South&s;aying to &s;ignifie <HI>Judicial A&s;trology.</HI> E&s;pecially &s;eeing oftentimes (as the Doctour &s;hewed out of <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> expre&s;ly, and out of <HI>Ptolomy</HI> intimatedly) <HI>Judicial
<PB N="124" REF="66">A&s;trology</HI> doth degenerate into, or is accompanied with <HI>witchcraft,</HI> or <HI>&s;ooth&s;aying.</HI> If this will not convince <HI>William,</HI> or the Reader, we will adde a little Sy&s;tem of the my&s;tery of iniquity of ancient A&s;trology, as <HI>J. G. M. A. in his Notes and Ob&s;ervations upon &s;ome pa&s;&s;a|ges of Scripture</HI> hath collected them;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ptolem. Centiloq. Verb. <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> which to &s;ave la|bour, and for adding ones vote more again&s;t A&s;trolo|gy, I will give it you in his own words as near as the Printer can follow.</P>
<P>1 Sam. 6.5. <HI>Wherefore ye &s;hall make Images of your Emrods and Images of your Mice that marre the Land, and ye &s;hall give glory unto the God of I&s;rael: per|adventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your Gods, and from off your Land.</HI> When the <HI>Ark</HI> was taken Captive and detained by the profane Phili|&s;tines, <HI>the hand of God was &s;ore upon them, and &s;mote them with Haemorhoids &amp; ebullierunt villae &amp; agri in medio Regionis illius, &amp; nati &s;unt mures, &amp; facta e&s;t confu&s;io mortis magna in Civitate.</HI> So the <HI>vulgar</HI> addeth, the ancient <HI>Greek copies</HI> have it not. The <HI>later</HI> agree not, &s;ome <HI>Hebrew Copies</HI> acknowledge it not, &s;aith <HI>Mendoza,</HI> as if there were any that did? 'Tis found indeed in the <HI>Dras,</HI> as <HI>Chimhi</HI> hath ob&s;erved. And it cannot be de|nyed to the Romani&s;ts but that it &s;eemeth to be wanting, but by no means to be &s;upplyed. 'Twere better the Ark &s;hould &s;hake &s;till, then that <HI>&V;zziah</HI> &s;hould hold it up. How&s;oevr 'tis true that there was a plague of <HI>Mice</HI> as well as of <HI>Haemorrhoids.</HI> Concerning which the <HI>A&s;tro|logers</HI> being con&s;ulted gave coun&s;ell that there &s;hould be made five <HI>golden Images of the Mice,</HI> and as many of the <HI>di&s;ea&s;e</HI> to give <HI>glory to the God of I&s;rael.</HI> The num|ber was according to the number of their Lords, but for the thing it &s;elf the expo&s;itours how&s;oever pa&s;&s;e lightly over it, or &s;top the mouth of the letter with a my&s;tery, perceiving no more of the naturall &s;ence, then a bare tre&s;|pa&s;&s;e offering, but wondering withall and not without
<PB N="125" REF="66">cau&s;e, what glory could accrew to the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> from &s;uch a homely pre&s;ent as the counterfeit of a Mou&s;e, or that which is wor&s;e. A thing which the holy Gho&s;t here vouch&s;afed not to call by its own name, for the <HI>Keri</HI> is <HI>Tehorecem, Anorum Ve&s;trorum.</HI> But the meaning of the Images is <HI>Stoichioticall,</HI> and to be given out of the <HI>Tele&s;maticall Traditions.</HI></P>
<P><GAP DESC="foreign"> (&s;aith <HI>Ptolomy</HI> in the <GAP DESC="foreign">) <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>id e&s;t, the generable and corruptible forms</HI> are affected by the <HI>Cele&s;tiall,</HI> which <HI>therefore the Tali&s;mans</HI> make u&s;e of <HI>by ob&s;erving the entrance of the &s;tars into them.</HI></P>
<P>The meaning is (&s;aith <HI>Hali Aben Rhodoan</HI>) or as the <HI>Hebrew</HI> tran&s;lation, <HI>(Abu Giafar)</HI> that the forms of things here below are <HI>an&s;wered</HI> with the like figurations above, and that the Cele&s;tiall forms have a ruling influ|ence upon the &s;ublunary, for example, the <HI>Scorpion</HI> and <HI>Serpent</HI> in heaven upon tho&s;e in earth. Therefore the <HI>Sa|pientes imaginum in&s;peciebant quando planeta de &s;ub ra|diis &s;olis egrediebatur, &amp; ingrediebatur hos vultus, eumque in a&s;cendente ponebant, &amp; vultum quem intra|bant &s;culpebant in Lapide, et mi&s;cebant cum eo alia ad haec nece&s;&s;aria, faciebantque cum eo ex aptatione velde|structione quod volebant,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Ob&s;erved when a planet was out of his Combu&s;tion, and entered into any of the&s;e forms, then placing the planet in the Horo&s;cope they engra|ved the form upon a &s;tone, then adding what el&s;e was ne|ce&s;&s;ary they fitted it to pre&s;ervation or de&s;truction, as they plea&s;ed,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>The&s;e conceipts the Greeks termed <GAP DESC="foreign">, other|wi&s;e <GAP DESC="foreign">, from whence the Arabick <HI>Tali&s;math.</HI> The <HI>Chaldeans</HI> from the word in the Text <HI>T&s;almanija,</HI> Images. An experiment of the force is &s;et down by <HI>Hali</HI> upon his own knowledge practi&s;ed upon a <HI>Saracens</HI> &s;er|vant <HI>in diebus Camorchae Kegis.</HI> The &s;ervant had been
<PB N="126" REF="67">&s;tung with a <HI>Scorpion</HI> and was cured by his ma&s;ter with a <HI>&s;tone of this kind</HI> engraven upon with the figure of a <HI>Scorpion.</HI> And the <HI>Saracen</HI> &s;aid, that the figure was cut when the Moon was in the <HI>&s;ign Scorpio,</HI> and that the &s;ign was in one of the four Angles.</P>
<P>The mightie&s;t in operation of this &s;ort was <HI>Apolloni|us Tyaneus,</HI> a man of that note in the Heathen ballance, that <HI>Hierocles</HI> the <HI>Stoick</HI> put him into the Scale with Chri&s;t him&s;elf, nay he accounted him the better man of the two, but which is &s;ufficiently returned upon him by <HI>Eu&s;ebius Pamph. Cont. Hteroclem.</HI></P>
<P>But the <HI>performances</HI> of this man had &s;uch appearan|ces of wonder, that they extorted this doubt from the Orthodox them&s;elves,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ju&s;tin. Martyt R. &s;ad Orthod, que&s;t. <HI>24. 245.</HI></NOTE> <GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. <HI>If God be the Creatour and Lord of the World, how comes it to pa&s;&s;e that Apollonius his Tali&s;mes have &s;o much o|ver-rul'd the cour&s;e of things, for we &s;ee that they al&s;o have &s;tilled the waves of the Sea, and the raging of the winds, and prevailed again&s;t the noy&s;ome flies and incur&s;i|ons of wilde bea&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>And though <HI>Philostratus</HI> in that large <HI>Legend</HI> of his life hath no memory of the&s;e things, yet they are con&s;tant|ly a&s;cribed unto this name by <HI>Codin. Cedren. He&s;ychius. Olympiodorus,</HI> the Greek <HI>M&s;.</HI> cited by <HI>Leunclavius.</HI> The <HI>Chronicon Alexandrinum</HI> and <HI>John Txetzes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jo&s;eph. Scalig. Ep. <HI>180.</HI></NOTE> <HI>C.</HI> 60. of his third <HI>Cbiliad. qu&ograve;d omnino legendum</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Scaliger</HI>) <HI>&s;iquidem horum</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>notitiam habere placet, et &s;an&egrave; lectio non injucunda. Nam in illo capite Apollonius &s;cul|ptur&acirc; Culicum et Ciconiarum culices Antiochiam, Ci|conias Byzantium ingredi prohibuit.</HI></P>
<P>But a fuller Tradition of this matter I &s;hall here &s;et down out of <HI>Domninus</HI> cited by <HI>Joannes Aretiochenus Melala</HI> in the tenth Book of his Chronography.</P>
<PB N="127" REF="67">
<P><GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P><HI>In the &s;ame times of the Reign of Domitian, flouri|&s;hed the mo&s;t learned</HI> Apollonius Tyaneus, <HI>who got him|&s;elf a great name by travelling about and making Te|le&s;mes in all places where he came for the Cities and the Countreys. From</HI> Rome <HI>he went to</HI> Byzantium, <HI>and entring into that City of</HI> Byzus (<HI>now more happily called</HI> Con&s;tantinople) <HI>he made there al&s;o many Tele&s;mes at the in&s;tance of the Citizens, as that again&s;t the &s;torks, a|gain&s;t the river Lycus which pa&s;&s;eth by through the mid|dle of the City, that again&s;t the Tortoi&s;es, that again&s;t the Hor&s;es, and other &s;trange things. Then afterward leaving</HI> Byzantium, <HI>he went and did the like in other Ci|ties. From</HI> Tyanis <HI>he came into</HI> Syria, <HI>and &s;o to</HI> Anti|och <HI>the great, where al&s;o he was de&s;ired by the chief men of the City to make &s;uch Tele&s;ms as they had need of. And he made one again&s;t the Northern wind, and &s;et it up upon the East part of the City.</HI></P>
<P>The Authour goeth on, and at large de&s;cribeth <HI>Apol|lonius</HI> his charms again&s;t the gnats and Scorpions, adding moreover that <HI>Apollonius</HI> walking upon a day with the chief men of the City, to ob&s;erve the &s;ituation of the place, happened upon a ruinous pillar, and inquiring in|to
<PB N="128" REF="68">to the purpo&s;e of that, the Citizens related unto him, that in the dayes of <HI>Caius Cae&s;ar</HI> when the City had been &s;haken with an Earth-quake,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Johan. Antioc. M&s;. in Arch. Ba|rocion Bib. Bod.</NOTE> <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>One Debborius a Tali&s;man to prevent the falling of the City in ca&s;e an earthquake &s;hould happen again, &s;et up this pillar, and up|on that a marble Pectorall in&s;cribed</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>but which in proce&s;&s;e of time had been con&s;umed by light|ning,</HI> &amp;c. The Citizens therefore were earne&s;t with him, to &s;et up a new Tele&s;me, but <HI>Apollonius</HI> fetching a deep &s;igh <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>refu&s;ed to make any further Tele&s;mes against the Earth quakes;</HI> but the Citizens being urgent upon him, he took writing Tables and foretold as followeth. <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P><HI>And thou mi&s;erable City of</HI> Antioch <HI>&s;hall &s;uffer twice, and a third time &s;hall come upon thee, wherein thou &s;halt be con&s;umed by fire even in that part by which Orontes runneth. And it may be thou &s;halt &s;uffer yet once more.</HI></P>
<P>This written, he delivered the Tables to the Citizens, and departed into <HI>Scleucia,</HI> and from thence into <HI>Ae|gypt,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>But the mo&s;t concerning <HI>Tele&s;me</HI> to the matter in hand is that again&s;t the Scorpions, <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>Apollonius
<PB N="129" REF="68">cau&s;ed an Image of a Scorpion to be molten in bra&s;&s;e, and &s;et it up upon a little pillar in the mid&s;t of the city of</HI> Antioch, <HI>and the Scorpions vani&s;hed out of all their coa&s;ts.</HI></P>
<P>A like Tele&s;me to this was &s;et up at <HI>Hempts</HI> a City of <HI>Syria Apamea,</HI> that which <HI>Ptolomy</HI> calleth <GAP DESC="foreign">.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Geograp. Nubien, Clim. <HI>3.</HI> p. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> In the middle of this, &s;aith an <HI>Arabick</HI> Geographer, a &s;tone there is &s;et up in a wall having upon it the figure of a Scorpion, and when any one is bitten he bringeth <HI>clay</HI> and <HI>taketh out the figure,</HI> which having applyed to the place affected, <HI>he is immediately cured.</HI></P>
<P>In the nether Region of Grand <HI>Cairo</HI> the Crocodiles were harmele&s;&s;e, in the upper they de&s;troyed the Inhabi|tants.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Card. de &s;ubt. l. <HI>9.</HI> Scal. ex|ercit. <HI>196.</HI> Num. <HI>6.</HI> Joan. Bod. ma. daemon. l. <HI>3.</HI> c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> To provide again&s;t this, the <HI>Tali&s;mans</HI> ca&s;t a lea|den Crocodile, which written upon with an Aegyptian charm they buried in the foundation of a Temple. This for a long time defended the people but when at the com|mand of <HI>Achmet Ben Tolon</HI> the Caliph, the <HI>leaden Image</HI> was melted, the Crocodiles returned to their own malice again.</P>
<P>The <GAP DESC="foreign"> or fortune of <HI>Byzantium</HI> &s;tood with one foot in a &s;hip of bra&s;&s;e, the <HI>Statue</HI> concerned the generall Genius of the whole City. The Ship was a <HI>Tele&s;me</HI> erected again&s;t the dangers of that tempe&s;tu|ous Sea, and while it &s;tood entire &s;tilled the rage, but &s;ome parts thereof being (none knew how) broken off and conveyed away, the Sea began to be as unruly as be|fore. The cau&s;e whereof being curiou&s;ly enquired after and di&s;covered, the broken pieces were &s;ollicitou&s;ly &s;earched, found out and put together again, and forth|with the winds and &s;eas obeyed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zonar. Anna Tom. <HI>3.</HI> in Ana&s;.</NOTE></P>
<P><GAP DESC="foreign">,
<PB N="130" REF="69"><HI>id e&s;t,</HI> And that it might be certainly known that this indeed was the cau&s;e why the &s;hips could not &s;afely arrive, the pieces of the bra&s;&s;e were again taken away. Thenceforth what&s;oever ve&s;&s;els toucht upon the Coa&s;t were driven back by the violence of the winds. This confirm'd them in opinion that the breaking of the bra&s;en &s;hip was that which hindred their Carriages from coming up to the City. They therefore cau&s;ed the &s;hip to be mo&s;t carefully repaired.</P>
<P>The&s;e <HI>con&s;ecrations</HI> (for &s;o al&s;o they are called) were more u&s;ually but not onely practi&s;ed in the Ea&s;t. For <HI>Gre|gory</HI> of <HI>Tours</HI> reporteth, that at the repairing of a Bridge in <HI>Paris,</HI> there was found the Images of a <HI>Serpent</HI> and <HI>Dormou&s;e</HI> in bra&s;&s;e, and that at the taking away of the&s;e, the Serpents and Mice came up in great number. More might be added of the <HI>Serpentina columna,</HI> and the <HI>Statua Eque&s;tris ahenea,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Leunola. pande&s;t. hi&s;t. Tur. N. <HI>130.</HI></NOTE> &s;et up (this latter) again&s;t the Plague in Con&s;tantinople, the de&s;truction whereof hath been followed with fearfull and <HI>periodicall mor|talities.</HI> But enough hath been &s;aid, <HI>Mizaldus</HI> may be &s;een,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mizald. Cent. M&s;. Gaff. cu|riojitez innoyes &s;ur la &s;culpture Talifm. des per&s;. c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> and the late Authour of the Curio&s;ities.</P>
<P>If we draw all up, the &s;umme will be the Ancient Rite of Averruncation, That in ca&s;e a City or Countrey &s;hould be infe&s;ted with any plague either of di&s;ea&s;e or no|xious Creature, the Tali&s;mans were con&s;ulted and de&s;i|red to erect an Image of the plague under a certain Influ|ence of Cele&s;tiall Configuration.</P>
<P>And this I &s;ay was the cau&s;e why the Phili&s;tin A&s;tro|logers gave coun&s;ell that golden Images &s;hould be made of the <HI>Haemorrhoids,</HI> and the Mice that marred the Land, to give glory to the God of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P>The Tele&s;me again&s;t the Mice according to <HI>Paracel|&s;us</HI> is to have this manner of Con&s;ecration.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aachid. mag. l. <HI>3.</HI> p. <HI>131.</HI> e|dit. Lat. germ. p. <HI>102.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Make an Iron Mou&s;e under the conjunction of Saturn and Mars, and in the Hou&s;e of Jupiter. Imprint upon the belly</HI> Al|bamatatox,
<PB N="131" REF="69">&amp;c. <HI>Then place the Tele&s;me in the middle of the hou&s;e, and the Vermin &s;hall instantly leave the place.</HI> More then &s;o he promi&s;eth. Take a live Mou&s;e and tye it to the Iron Image, and it &s;hall dye immediately. But I undertake not that the <HI>golden mice</HI> were &s;o ceremoniou&s;ly con&s;ecrated; yet that they had a Tele&s;maticall way of <HI>pre|paration</HI> an&s;werable to the beginnings and mediocrity of the Art, my own rea&s;on, and above that the weight of <HI>Maimon's</HI> words induce me to conclude.</P>
<P><HI>I &s;ay</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>of that of Samuel concerning the Images of the Haemorrhoides,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">More Nevich. <HI>P. 1.</HI> c. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> <HI>that they were &s;o called not &s;o much from their externall form, as from a &s;ecret influence within, remediall again&s;t the plague in the hin|der parts.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> had perceived that this God had been plea&s;ed with the <HI>Bra&s;en Serpent,</HI> which <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the <HI>Tali&s;man</HI> (&s;o they would account him) &s;et up upon a pole in the wilderne&s;&s;e, <HI>Numb.</HI> 21.8. And I need not &s;tick to affirm, that the Bra&s;en Serpent again&s;t the fiery Serpents was the fir&s;t occa&s;ion (I &s;ay not given) but ta|ken, of all the&s;e Tele&s;maticall practices.</P>
<P>And thus al&s;o we may come to know (See <HI>Plinie lib.</HI> 10. <HI>c.</HI> 27. <HI>Cyrenaici</HI> Achorum: <HI>Deum mu&s;carum mul|titudine pe&s;tilentiam inferente, invocant.</HI> Why the God of <HI>Ekron</HI> was called by the name of <HI>Baal-zebub,</HI> that is, <GAP DESC="foreign"> (as the Lxx) or the Fly-God. The Greek Copies of the Evangeli&s;ts for the mo&s;t part reade <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Beelzeboul-Deus</HI> or <HI>Belus Stercoreus.</HI> So the <HI>Printed Arabick</HI> and the Hebrew <HI>Tran&s;lation</HI> of Saint <HI>Mat.</HI> But I pre&s;ume not originally. And &s;o Saint <HI>Hi|erome</HI> ob&s;erved, for &s;eeing the Idiome of <HI>Zebul</HI> is Syri|ack, it would have been expected, that that Paraphra&s;e &s;hould not have read as it doth, (and undoubtedly ought) <HI>Beelzebub.</HI></P>
<P>But for the rea&s;on, if any could be given, <HI>Scaliger</HI> was likely to give as good as another, and yet his rea&s;on
<PB N="132" REF="70">is, that the Scripture put this name upon the God of <HI>Ek|ron</HI> by way of <HI>deri&s;ion, qu&ograve;d in Templo Hiero&s;olymitano Mu&s;cae carnes victimarum non liguriebant, quum tamen Gentium fana &agrave; mu&s;cis infe&s;tarentur propter nidorem vi|ctimarum.</HI></P>
<P>True indeed it is out of the <HI>Pirke Avoth,</HI> that a Fly was never &s;een in the <HI>Slaughter-hou&s;e</HI> of the Temple. And 'twas a priviledge of the Jewi&s;h Sacrifices above tho&s;e of the Heathen. But that therefore the God of <HI>Ek|ron</HI> &s;hould be called the Fly-God, is a rea&s;on below that mans &s;agacity. He was properly &s;o called as the mo&s;t learned <HI>Selden.</HI> But for the cau&s;e he confe&s;&s;eth. <HI>Nequeo dicere,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Syntag. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>6.</HI></NOTE> <HI>nec mihi quis alius opinor &s;atis pote&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>But the <HI>Ekronitis</HI> were pe&s;tered with noi&s;ome Flyes; To avert this Nu&s;ance the A&s;trologers &s;et up the <HI>Image</HI> of a Fly <HI>Tele&s;matically</HI> endued; the people finding the benefit of this <GAP DESC="foreign">, made it a God. The <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> them&s;elves did as much to the <HI>Bra&s;en Serpent.</HI></P>
<P>Thus farre <HI>J. G.</HI> and the learned Antiquities in him. Judge now whether A&s;trology be not Demonologicall, Diabolicall, Devili&s;h!</P>
<P>To the <HI>Paragraph</HI> noted with (C) we &s;ay, that if the word <HI>be admitted as in the Engli&s;h,</HI> with the judge|ments of &s;o many Churches, and in &s;o many languages and rea&s;ons upon it as hath been declared, the intent of the Text mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily be to condemn <HI>judiciall A&s;tro|gie.</HI> And the allegation of <HI>Solomon</HI> in <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes</HI> con|cerning a <HI>prudentiall ob&s;erving</HI> of <HI>pre&s;ent providences and times</HI> allotted by God for men to lay hold on, if w&s;ie, is a meer impertinency, as to predictions of future times, by A&s;trology. And the <HI>di&s;tinction</HI> annext is in|deed a <HI>generall Epithite</HI> or name of all Judiciall A&s;tro|logy, that tis all <HI>Heatheni&s;h,</HI> and <HI>&s;uper&s;titious</HI> as hath been, and will be more made to appear. <HI>Williams</HI> large quotation of Sir <HI>Ch.</HI> his alleadging Ma&s;ter <HI>E. Lively</HI> Profe&s;&s;our of Hebrew, &amp;c. amounts in reality but to
<PB N="133" REF="70">this: fir&s;t, that M. <HI>Lively</HI> ingenuou&s;ly <HI>confe&s;&s;eth, that among the diver&s;ities of men, and their opinions, there is</HI> general agreement <HI>that the word &s;ignifieth an</HI> unlawfull <HI>and</HI> forbidden Art, <HI>as &s;uppo&s;e of South&s;aying juggling, witchcraft &amp;c.</HI> which how &s;ufficiently they comprehend <HI>Astrology</HI> I did but now declare; and how when divers words to &s;ignifie divers unlawfull Arts of unlawfull Progno&s;tication, come together, that which neare&s;t &s;igni|fie the manner, matter, and means of A&s;trological <HI>Pre|diction,</HI> mu&s;t needs there &s;ignifie <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> the Doctour hath &s;ufficiently declared. Secondly, <Q><HI>That M.</HI> Lively <HI>acknowledgeth the word is taken to &s;ignifie &s;uch as take upon them to define times of good and bad luck:</HI></Q> which is the dayly practi&s;e of our A&s;trologers in the&s;e times. Thirdly, that yet M. <HI>Lively</HI> doth not confe&s;s all the truth, either of the readings of the Learned, or the Rea&s;ons in Text, to prove the word &s;ignifies A&s;trology, which the Doctour clearly produceth. It was too common in Sir <HI>Christopher's</HI> time, for a Profe&s;&s;our of the Univer&s;ities too much to plea&s;e Courtiers and great men: of which if M. <HI>Lively</HI> were free (as my Charity would willingly think) yet he could but produce his own reading, and Books then known to him. We have had the <HI>Samaritan, Syriack</HI> and <HI>Arabick</HI> Tran&s;lations of the Bible brought over &s;ince. Thirdly, for M. <HI>Lively's</HI> oppo&s;ing <HI>Tremelius,</HI> a mo&s;t learned Chri&s;tian <HI>Jew,</HI> whom the learned World admire to this day, I mu&s;t ju&s;tly undervalue him to great <HI>Tremelius:</HI> and if <HI>Tremelius</HI> according to the nature and circum&s;tances of the place doth &s;ometimes render the word <HI>Praestigiatores,</HI> that is, as M. <HI>Lively</HI> calls them, Jugglers, that word (as the Doctour hath &s;hewed) doth very conveniently comprehend the A&s;trologer. <Q>As for <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey's Ignoramus,</HI> that Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> quotes <HI>Arabick ver&s;ions,</HI></Q> <HI>which it &s;eems he is loath or a&s;hamed to name;</HI> I &s;end <HI>Will.</HI> to <HI>Paul's</HI> Church-yard to the Book-&s;ellers, who will inform him of the known
<PB N="134" REF="71">Book, and fame of the Bible in <HI>Arabick.</HI> The re&s;ult of <HI>Will.</HI> and Sir <HI>Christophers</HI> &s;truggle upon this 18. of <HI>Deut.</HI> 10. that they are content that Witchcraft, South|&s;aying Juggling or (at the lea&s;t) <HI>Super&s;titious</HI> and <HI>hea|theni&s;h ob&s;ervation of times.</HI> or any thing el&s;e &s;hould be there under&s;tood, but not <HI>Astrology.</HI> But that <HI>Astrology</HI> mu&s;t be there meant, the Doctour hath &s;ufficiently di&s;|cu&s;&s;ed afore, and I have now added my two mites. And that <HI>Judicial Astrology</HI> is not free from all kinde of Witchcraft, South&s;aying, and Juggling; but guilty of <HI>Superstition,</HI> Devili&s;ine, Heatheni&s;me, and profanene&s;s, let M. W. <HI>Perkins,</HI> and M. <HI>J. Melton</HI> &s;peak; who&s;e own arguments, and in their own words you &s;hall have ancn, all to this very tune afore&s;aid.</P>
<P>To <HI>Will Ram&s;ey's</HI> &s;econd Section touching the &s;econd of <HI>I&s;ay v.</HI> 6. we need not &s;ay much, becau&s;e his u&s;ual man|ner of Jigs and Jeares he hath &s;aid little, yea indeed no|thing at all, to the main &s;trength of the place, which was urged by the Doctour. If <HI>Will.</HI> do hope it yet let it not be, that the Reader forget what Doctour <HI>Homes</HI> urged from that place, now the Copy of it is afore pre&s;ented to his eye, <HI>viz.</HI> <Q><HI>Authours of late times commonly u&s;e the word to expre&s;s Divination in general. But to come clo|&s;er to the word, learned</HI> Arias Montanus <HI>doth, as well as I, derive our word from</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>time; yea &s;o doth</HI> R. Solomon <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>or</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>(&s;ame word in &s;ub&s;tance and de|&s;cent) of who&s;e &s;ignifying A&s;trology ye heard afore a|bundantly.</HI></Q> So the Doctour. To all which <HI>Will.</HI> &s;aith, upon the matter, nothing; nor hath he or his Sir <HI>Chri&s;to|pher</HI> clawd off (as we &s;ay) what was di&s;cu&s;&s;ed on <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.10. to which the Doctour referred us to better under|&s;tand this. If the <HI>Hebrew</HI> word is derived of <HI>Time,</HI> then in its native &s;ignification it doth more then barely &s;ignifie <HI>Divination</HI> in general; it &s;pecially relates to <HI>A&s;trology</HI> that undertakes to predict touching humane affairs, by or from the <HI>times</HI> or turnings of the Heavens. And &s;eeing
<PB N="135" REF="71"><HI>William</HI> is &s;o peremptory, he &s;hall now have the proper idiom of the Syriack <GAP DESC="foreign"> in <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 2.6. who&s;e <HI>&s;peci|all</HI> &s;ignification is <HI>by experience and inqui&s;ition to</HI> omi|nate and fore-tell; which is the character of the preten|ded skill of A&s;trology. And <HI>Williams brave rea&s;on</HI> is a <HI>weak rea&s;on</HI> that ponderating Tran&s;latours &s;hould u&s;e words for <HI>brevity of oration.</HI> Tis true indeed that it is their wi&s;edome as farre as the word will bear, to give the mo&s;t comprchen&s;ive &s;ignification, becau&s;e the mind of the <HI>holy &s;pirit</HI> is &s;uch. But every generall comprehends the particulars, as he that &s;aith <HI>William Ram&s;ey</HI> to be an animal &s;aith true; he that &s;aith he is an ignorant man, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> &s;aith he is an animal; <HI>ergo,</HI> he that &s;aith he is an ignorant man &s;aith true. This is better logick, then <HI>Wil|liams</HI> endeavour to make the Scriptures oppo&s;ite to them|&s;elves. Where the <HI>word</HI> &s;aith, <HI>He that believeth &s;hall be &s;aved.</HI> the circum&s;tances of the place &s;hew the meaning to be of ju&s;tifying faith in Chri&s;t, who&s;e property is, &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, <HI>to work by love.</HI> But by the Devils be|lieving, Saint <HI>James</HI> plainly &s;ignifies &s;uch a faith as works not by love. And therefore if <HI>Williams</HI> or any mans faith hath no love; it is no better then the Devils faith. Thats true Logick, and according to the mind of S. <HI>James.</HI> Be&s;ide all this, note that <HI>W. R.</HI> &s;aith nothing to the Doctours rea&s;on from the word EAST, proving thereby <HI>Chaldeans</HI> or <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> to be there meant. We add here nothing touching the aptne&s;&s;e of the word Sooth-&s;aying to &s;ignifie A&s;trologicall predicting, becau&s;e before di&s;cu&s;&s;ed.</P>
<P>To <HI>W. R.</HI> his third. Section touching <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 44.25. and in it to Sir <HI>Chri&s;toph.</HI> rea&s;on I will &s;ay nothing; be|cau&s;e the Doctours exercitation upon the words (&s;et down afore in his <HI>Demonologie</HI>) &s;tands &s;till as a wall of Bra&s;&s;e. <HI>William</HI> hath onely alleadged a fragment of the text, and in a different Tran&s;lation from the Doctour, and our be&s;t tran&s;lation. And Sir <HI>Chr.</HI> rea&s;on, <HI>viz. that A&s;tro|logicall
<PB N="136" REF="72">&s;ignes mu&s;t be confe&s;&s;ed effectuall, and not to be fru&s;trated but by miracle; &amp;c.</HI> is a mo&s;t unwarrantable &s;peech; contradicted by many friends to A&s;trology, and by <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> him&s;elf in &s;everall expre&s;&s;ions in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader. Therefore I have nothing to do here; but to pa&s;&s;e hence to the fourth Section of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> on <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 47.12, 13, 14. In an&s;wer to which if the Reader will be plea&s;ed but to turn back and read the <HI>Doctours</HI> &s;hort di&s;cour&s;e upon that 47 of <HI>I&s;ay,</HI> he will find that there is little need I &s;hould &s;peak much to <HI>Will.</HI> and Sir <HI>Chr.</HI> words here. Briefly therefore. 1. <HI>Willi|am</HI> here <HI>confe&s;&s;eth</HI> that the Lord here <HI>with particular di|&s;tinction,</HI> names <HI>Astrologers, Starre-Gazers</HI> and <HI>Monethly Progno&s;ticatours.</HI> whereby he gives faire way that this Text may have its full blow at the <HI>head of A|&s;trology.</HI> 2. That <HI>Will.</HI> doth think that in the judge|ment of &s;ome, this text may &s;eem to give a fatall blow to A&s;trology, yet &s;aith never a word him&s;elf, to &s;tave it off. 3. He calls in Sir <HI>Christopher</HI> to &s;peak for him; in who&s;e words there are &s;everall great mi&s;takes. For 1. <HI>Vatablus</HI> hath nothing at all in his Commentary on that 47. of <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 12, 13, 14. touching <HI>Chabar.</HI> 2. Sir <HI>Chri&s;to|pher</HI> urging of <HI>Chabar</HI> and <HI>Calvin,</HI> is again&s;t him&s;elf and his cau&s;e. For <HI>Chabar</HI> is in the 12. ver&s;e, to &s;ignifie <HI>en|chantments;</HI> and therefore by Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> argument, there al&s;o <HI>A&s;trology</HI> is forbidden (as well as <HI>v.</HI> 13.) and &s;o al&s;o contrary to <HI>W. R.</HI> &s;truggle, <HI>enchantment goes a|long with Astrology.</HI> 3. In that critici&s;me on <HI>Chabar, Calvin</HI> is greatly again&s;t Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> A&s;trology, <HI>Cal|vin</HI> on ver&s;e 13. <HI>STENT N&V;NC. H&icirc;c per&s;picimus quos poti&s;&s;im&ugrave;m con&s;iliarios intelligat Propheta; nempe divinatores illos, qui vano &s;cientiae nomine &s;e&s;e populo venditabant, qua&s;i futura omnia tenerent ex ASTRO|R&V;M CONSPECT&V;. Sed de J&V;DICIARIA ISTA ASTROLOGIA, &amp; ejus VANITATE pri&ugrave;s diximus. Si quis objiciat, i&s;torum non fui&s;&s;e peri|cula
<PB N="137" REF="72">cula, quae impendebant amoliri; re&s;pondeo horum monitu idfacturos fui&s;&s;e Babylonios, &s;i cladem praevidi&s;&s;ent. C&ugrave;m non praeviderint, &s;equitur VANISSIMAM ip&s;orum e&s;&s;e APIEM Fru&s;t&agrave; ver&ograve; nonnulli obtendunt in&s;ci|tiamartis, non artem ip&s;am exagitari &agrave; prophet&acirc;. Allo|quitur enim Chaldaeos, &agrave; quibus haec &s;oientia profecta e&s;t. Suls&egrave; autem dicit, coclos ab ip&s;is &s;ociari; quia perinde proferunt &s;ua decreta, ac &s;i &s;tellarum colligatione, &amp; complexu, constrictum tenerent humanum genus. Quan|quam &s;i quis malit incant ores vertere, &s;en&s;us non male; &amp; verbum <GAP DESC="foreign"> utrunque &s;ignificat. Et&s;i ver&ograve; A&s;tro|rum ordinem &s;peculari per &s;e malum non e&s;t, longius quam liceat prorumpere dicit propheta, qui ob&s;curos re|rum event us inde colligunt, ac videtur obliqu&egrave; &s;pecula|tores i&s;tos opponere prophetis, quo magis dete&s;tabiles red|dat: quia divinas omnes praedictiones extinguant, &amp;c.</HI> So that by this of <HI>Calvin</HI> touching <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>William</HI> and Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> are &s;hot with their own Bowe. Wherein <HI>Calvin</HI> doth declare that this place doth not onely con|demn Judiciall A&s;trology, as <HI>oppo&s;ite to confidence in God</HI> but al&s;o as <HI>oppo&s;ite to divine prophecying,</HI> as being an <HI>Art of very vanity</HI> in it &s;elf; As an are that would pretend by the &s;tars to know future events, yet could not fore know to fore-admoni&s;h of the judgements that were coming. And that the Prophet doth not reprove onely the ignorance of the art as &s;ome would pretend, but <HI>the Art of A&s;trology it &s;elf, in that the Prophet &s;peaks to the Chaldeans from whom this Science &s;prung. As a pre&s;umptuous art that would bear men in hand, as if they held all man-kind by the colligation and complex of &s;tars,</HI> &amp;c. As likewi&s;e the Doctour before &s;hewed that a ma|ny evils in all <HI>Judiciary A&s;trology</HI> are here forbidden. So that if <HI>di&s;obedience to Gods word and Chri&s;tianity,</HI> can|not &s;tand together, then <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology and Chri|stianity cannot &s;tand together,</HI> what tale &s;oever Sir <HI>Chr.</HI> or <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> tells us to the contrary &mdash; For 1. tho&s;e in|&s;tances
<PB N="138" REF="73">touching <HI>Princes, Riches, hor&s;es, Phy&s;iciaus,</HI> &amp;c. the Scripture expre&s;ly forbiddeth onely <HI>confidence,</HI> &amp;c. in them; but el&s;ewhere commends the u&s;e of them. But doth not &s;o &s;peak of A&s;trology; but every where it men|tions it, condemns the thing &mdash; 2. That of <HI>Merchants</HI> in the la&s;t ver&s;e of that of <HI>I&s;ay</HI> with <HI>Tremilius and Ari|as Montan,</HI> on it; it comes all to <HI>nothing; there is no &s;uch thing;</HI> unle&s;&s;e they mean <HI>labora&s;ti a pueriti&acirc;,</HI> is in 12. ver&s;e and la&s;t ver&s;e, which were but a <HI>childi&s;h labour</HI> to take off the edge and dint of that mighty Text in ver&s;e 13. again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> I am &s;ure <HI>Junius</HI> hath the&s;e words on that 37. of <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 13. <HI>Emphatica demon&s;tratio,</HI> &amp;c. that is, <HI>This</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Junius</HI>) <HI>is an emphaticall de|mon&s;tration of the vanity which is in all Chaldaeans and Mathematicians,</HI> &amp;c. So that we argue <HI>ad dictum &s;impliciter,</HI> that <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology</HI> is ab&s;olutely for|bidden; becau&s;e &s;o here; and where&s;oever the Scripture names it, it gives it never a good word. 3. That that on ver&s;e 10. <HI>None &s;eeth;</HI> with <HI>Tremilius</HI> his <HI>Qua&s;i dicat</HI> is a meer impertinency: becau&s;e there <HI>one</HI> &s;inne is con|demned, here in ver&s;e 13. <HI>another.</HI> 4. To the di&s;tin|ction they would have put between <HI>Heathens</HI> and <HI>Chri|&s;tians,</HI> is a vain motion, when <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> follow the &s;innes of <HI>Heathens</HI> and become as bad, or wor&s;e then they, &s;inning again&s;t greater light; God reproves both alike, and the <HI>one</HI> and &s;ame word of God to be to the end of the world, is intended again&s;t all; as we may &s;ee in the <HI>Prophets</HI> and <HI>Apo&s;tles</HI> application of the Scri|ptures, from the beginning of the Bible to the end. 5. The di&s;tinction of making <HI>&s;tars cau&s;es,</HI> and <HI>&s;ubordinate in|&s;truments,</HI> comes to nothing, as in <HI>Logick,</HI> (for <HI>in&s;tru|ments</HI> are <HI>cau&s;es</HI>) &s;o in the pre&s;ent di&s;pute about <HI>Judici|all A&s;trology.</HI> For <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> tels us but now, that Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> &s;hould tell us that &s;trange untruth, that <HI>the influences of the Stars cannot be altered without a miracle.</HI> Which if it were true; the A&s;trologers confi|dence
<PB N="139" REF="73">in the &s;tars is very great. And our relick from their fatall nece&s;&s;ity very &s;mall, by the word <HI>&s;ubordination.</HI> But <HI>Keckerman</HI> (as the Doctour &s;hewed) demon&s;tra|teth that the influence of &s;tars may be altered by many petty naturall cau&s;es below. 6. Tis untrue that all well ordered and Chri&s;tian Common-wealths have <HI>permitted</HI> and &s;uffered Judiciall A&s;trologicall progno&s;tications; (which is the que&s;tion in hand, and that which <HI>W. R.</HI> pro|fe&s;&s;eth in this his <HI>Lux Veritatis;</HI> witne&s;&s;e his three Schemes or figures). The <HI>Romane</HI> Common wealth forbids it in a law. See the Doctours Epi&s;tle afore his Demonology &mdash; And again (as I have &s;hewed afore) it was forbidden in a law by <HI>Constantius. l. Nemo. c.</HI> 5. <HI>de Malef. &amp; Mathem.</HI> And &s;ome of the Kings of <HI>France</HI> have que&s;tioned <HI>Astrologers.</HI> And the Epi&s;tle before Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers Heydens A&s;trologicall di&s;cour&s;e</HI> confe&s;&s;eth, that in the times of the Kings of England, that di&s;cour&s;e would not be permitted to be printed. Be&s;ides &s;ome of <HI>Williams</HI> brethren in A&s;trology have been que|&s;tioned for their predictions, as they them&s;elves can be&s;t inform him. And la&s;tly, if any times or places have not puni&s;hed &s;uch, tis but their <HI>permi&s;&s;ion</HI> and <HI>&s;ufferance</HI> (as the objectours words are) which is of <HI>unlawfull things,</HI> properly. 7. Tis untrue that the <HI>Fathers</HI> or <HI>Calvin</HI> do allow Judiciall A&s;trology (as hath been cleared by the Doctour and my &s;elf) or that the A&s;trologers med|dle not but with weather, health, plagues, <HI>&amp;c. William,</HI> and the yearly Books we have &s;hew the contrary. 8. For calling Ma&s;ter <HI>Chamhers,</HI> the Doctour, or any other Anti-a&s;trologer by the name of <HI>Sophi&s;ter,</HI> it mu&s;t be re|torted. He is a <HI>Sophi&s;ter</HI> indeed, that alleadgeth <HI>A|quinas</HI> on <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 47. for <HI>Judiciall A&s;trology,</HI> when <HI>Aquinas</HI> hath no Commentary on <HI>I&s;ay,</HI> and in his &s;ummes, he is again&s;t it, as I have afore largely &s;hew|ed. He is a <HI>Sophi&s;ter</HI> that will &s;ay, that will al&s;o &s;ay <HI>Haymo</HI> on <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 47. is for it; when he is flatly again&s;t
<PB N="140" REF="74">it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Let <HI>Will.</HI> &s;ee his Au|thour u&s;ing Aug<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">es for A&s;trologies before h m. <HI>Cicero</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Ac. gurari pro divicure u|&s;u pimu. Cic. de div li.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Stentz</HI>] (&s;aith <HI>Haymo</HI> on the place) <HI>Augu|res coeli hoc e&s;t A&s;trologi; qui vulg&ograve; Mathe|matici appellantur. Qui contemplabantur &s;y|dera] &amp; ex a&s;trorum cur&s;u, lap&s;u&abque; res huma|nas arbitrabantur gubernari, &amp; regi, &amp; &s;up|putabant men&s;es] dicendo hoc erit i&s;to, vel illo men&s;e vel anno, &amp;c.</HI> not a word <HI>for,</HI> but all <HI>again&s;t</HI> A&s;trology. Finding this fal&s;hood in two Quotations, I thought it not worth the while to look into the other two (being not at hand, when I &s;hould have peru&s;ed them) being loath to fling away my precious time upon flamms. Thus briefly have I touched upon the&s;e eight particulars (be&s;ide my fir&s;t intent) lea&s;t onely the fluency of Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> Oration &s;hould have carried away the minde of them that love not to go down the &s;tream. Now let <HI>Will.</HI> as <HI>Job</HI> &s;aid to his Objectours, <HI>Mock on,</HI> and crack. Great is the truth, and it will prevail.</P>
<P>To <HI>VV.</HI> his fifth Sect. of Ch. 39. touching <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.2.3. I do an&s;wer, that in this Section al&s;o <HI>VVill.</HI> hath yet his Spokes-man Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> to &s;peak for him. Sir <HI>Chri|&s;topher</HI> di&s;putes, and <HI>Will. (more &s;uo)</HI> railes. But neither of them &s;peak any thing to the <HI>Hebrew</HI> or <HI>Chaldee</HI> of the Text; or to the <HI>Geneva</HI> Notes once, or the Rea&s;ons, and deductions from it, again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> all which are to good purpo&s;e pre&s;&s;ed by the Doctour. See afore <HI>VVill.</HI> &s;aith, The <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> do not in the lea&s;t attribute fatal nece&s;&s;ity to the power of the Starrs. But Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> a&s;&s;erted (as we heard afore) that their power cannot be al|tered without a miracle. And <HI>Will.</HI> all along avoucheth the certainty of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and with many high epithes of a mo&s;t divine, mo&s;t heavenly Art, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> with &s;everall in|&s;tances of his Diagrams of Figures. Put all together, and it can &s;pell no le&s;s then that (in their opinion) the Stars hold forth a nece&s;&s;ity of certainty in the <HI>power</HI> of the ope|rations. And though the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> confe&s;s the Starrs to be Gods in&s;truments (as the <HI>Jews</HI> did) yet may they
<PB N="141" REF="74">by confidence in their effects deifie and idolize them, as did the <HI>Jews</HI> in &s;ome of tho&s;e places alleadged after by Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher.</HI> The Papi&s;ts confe&s;s their images to be in them&s;elves, but creatures; and therefore a&s;&s;ert they wor&s;hip not the images, but God in or through them. But the orthodox Chri&s;tian World do generally and ju&s;t|ly condemn them guilty of Idolatry by the &s;econd Com|mandment, forbidding any Image to be made in relation to divine Wor&s;hip. The <HI>Jews Exod.</HI> 32. could not po&s;&s;i|bly be &s;o &s;tupid as to think that the molten Calf made of their own ear-rings could be a real Deity. They de&s;ired <HI>Aaron</HI> to make it, <HI>v.</HI> 1. and that Idol to go before them in &s;tead of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> who had been long ab&s;ent, that (as they &s;aid) <HI>they knew not what was become of him. v.</HI> 1. And the Proclamation, <HI>ver&s;.</HI> 5. of keeping a fea&s;t in relation to it, was expre&s;s thus, <HI>To morrow is</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>i.e. A Solemnity or Fea&s;t to</HI> Jehovah: yet the Apo&s;tle 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.7. expre&s;ly calls their re&s;pect to God in, through, or by that image, by the name of <HI>Idolatry,</HI> &s;aith he, <HI>Be ye not Idolaters as were &s;ome of them, as it is written:</HI> (mean|ing in <HI>Exod.</HI> 32.6.) <HI>The People &s;ate down to eat and drink and ro&s;e up to play.</HI> The Doctour in his exercitation upon this place of <HI>Jeremy,</HI> (pre&s;ented to the Reader a|fore did effectually urge that the &s;cope of it was to a&s;&s;ert that tho&s;e that go to the Starrs to fore-know future hu|mane events do therein make them Gods; in attributing to them thereby, prophe&s;ying, which is peculiar to God, either immediately by oracle, or mediately by his extra|ordinary in&s;piration in the Prophets. To which as I &s;aid, <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath an&s;wered nothing. But I will leave <HI>Williams</HI> triflings, and come to Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher,</HI> who ar|gues like a Gentleman, and a Scholar (for who&s;e &s;ake this Survey is carried on thus farr; for without him <HI>Will.</HI> had lain &s;o naked that he would of him&s;elf &s;oon have &s;terved, or beaten him&s;elf with &s;triving unto death. All that Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> &s;aith is but two things. Fir&s;t, that this place
<PB N="142" REF="75">&s;peaketh of things, <HI>viz.</HI> Starrs, not of per&s;ons, <HI>viz. Starr-gazers.</HI> Secondly, That adoration of Starrs is here forbidden, not <HI>A&s;trological Predictions</HI> by them.</P>
<P>To the fir&s;t, my Reply is, <HI>Per&s;ons, viz.</HI> Gazers upon Starrs are here meant: for Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> confe&s;&s;eth per|&s;ons adoring or wor&s;hipping the Starrs are here repro|ved; which adoration could not be without gazing or looking on the Starrs. But as the adoration of them that have wor&s;hipped the Starrs mu&s;t needs begin from the be|holding the glory of them, or el&s;e they wor&s;hipped they knew not what, &s;o their wor&s;hip was acted by looking up|on them: <HI>Job</HI> 26.27. <HI>If I beheeld the Sun when it &s;hi|ned, or the Moon walking in brightne&s;s my heart hath been &s;ecretly enticed or my mouth hath ki&s;&s;ed mine hand.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, it is at the beginning and ending of this Text of <HI>Jeremy, Learn not the way of the heathen, and the cu&s;tomes of the People are vain.</HI> Therefore <HI>Per&s;ons</HI> acting in relation to Starrs mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily here be under&s;tood. To the two particulars of Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher,</HI> that here is forbidden <HI>Divine wor&s;hip</HI> of Starrs, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> not A&s;trological contemplation and Prediction of and by them; I &s;ay that Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> fir&s;t Rea&s;on that <HI>fear</HI> is often u&s;ed to &s;ignifie <HI>wor&s;hip,</HI> is too weak for his de&s;ign here: for fir&s;t, when <HI>fear</HI> is put with its <HI>object,</HI> unle&s;s the object named be the true God or Idol, it doth not (that I know) &s;igni|fie <HI>wor&s;hip:</HI> as <HI>fear</HI> not <HI>them that kill the body, Matth.</HI> 10.28. Give <HI>fear</HI> to <HI>whom</HI> fear is due. <HI>Rom.</HI> 13.7. Ye &s;hall <HI>fear</HI> every man his <HI>Mother: Lev.</HI> 19.3. <HI>Fear</HI> not the <HI>People</HI> of the Land: <HI>Numb.</HI> 14.9. with hundreds more of in&s;tances; where <HI>fear</HI> doth not at all &s;ignifie di|vine wor&s;hip. But &s;econdly, (which is farr more con&s;i|derable) Sir <HI>Christopher</HI> is extremely mi&s;taken in the <HI>He|brew</HI> word, that in <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 29.13. &s;ignifieth <HI>fear,</HI> how dif|ferent it is from the word in <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.2. Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heydon</HI> extremely mi&s;taks the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Text; yea, mo&s;t incon&s;iderately runs away with a notion in his own head,
<PB N="143" REF="75">that he regards not the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Text. For this of <HI>Jeremy,</HI> in both the old Tran&s;lations is, <HI>Be not afraid for the &s;ignes of Heaven; the heathen be afraid of &s;uch.</HI> And in our la&s;t <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Tran&s;lation it is, <HI>Be not di&s;mayed.</HI> All mo&s;t &s;utable to the force of the <HI>Hebrew</HI> word <GAP DESC="foreign">, which (as the Doctour you &s;ee afore admoni&s;hed) &s;ignifies <HI>to ca&s;t down upon the earth with fear, which mu&s;t intimate ra|ther a fear of evil &s;ignifications, then of Adoration.</HI> And therefore <HI>W.R.</HI> is infinitely more to be blamed &amp; &s;hamed, that would not take warning, but own the allegation of Text with &s;o palpable a gro&s;s mi&s;take. For was there ever &s;uch a phra&s;e extant, or imaginable, that to be <HI>afraid</HI> or to be <HI>di&s;mayed</HI> &s;hould &s;ignifie <HI>wor&s;hip?</HI> That <HI>con&s;ternation &amp; throwing or ca&s;ting a man down with horror</HI> (as rightly <HI>Arias</HI> renders our word by <HI>con&s;ternari</HI>) &s;hould &s;ignifie <HI>divine adoration?</HI> But there is more then that to be con&s;i|dered, which lies in the <HI>phra&s;e,</HI> (be&s;ides the &s;ingle word) <HI>viz.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>A &s;ignis coclorum ne con|&s;ternemini</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Quod consterncntur Gen|tes ab iis.</HI> which fully imports that here is meant a <HI>pa&s;&s;ive &s;urpri&s;al or po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion with fear (Timor occupat artus)</HI> by rea&s;on of the direfull a&s;pects of the Stars in the opinion of tho&s;e that gaze after them; not an <HI>active fear</HI> (as <GAP DESC="foreign"> in <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 29.13.) to <HI>reverence</HI> and <HI>wor&s;hip</HI> (as 'tis interpreted <HI>Matth.</HI> 15.9.) you &s;ee then clearly that the Scene and face of Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> argument is changed, now the vizard is taken away, and the paint rubb'd off. To Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> &s;econd rea&s;on, I &s;ay, fir&s;t, he hath well prompted me, to tell his Client <HI>Will.</HI> that in that fifth ver&s;e of this tenth of <HI>Jeremy,</HI> where idolatrous fear, or wor&s;hip of <HI>images</HI> is forbidden the phra&s;e is altered, according to our &s;en&s;e afore, <HI>viz.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> Fear not with an <HI>active fear in a way of wor&s;hip</HI> of them, or <HI>&s;et|ting them up in your hearts for gods;</HI> and not <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Be not di&s;mayed or amazed;</HI> as the phra&s;e is in 2. <HI>ver&s;.</HI> of <HI>fearing the &s;ignes of heaven.</HI> 2. The Authours of the
<PB N="144" REF="76"><HI>Geneva</HI> Notes were not engaged in any <HI>wrangling</HI> (as Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> phra&s;e is of them that yield not to him) yet you heard afore in the Doctours Exercitation the place pre&s;ented to you, how tho&s;e Notes interpret the &s;e|cond <HI>ver&s;.</HI> of the Conjunctions and influences of the Stars, and their Ceremonies or Laws to make a judge|ment by them. Nor was <HI>Calvin</HI> moved by any, or di&s;po|&s;ed to wrangle, when he wrote his Commentary on <HI>Jere|miah;</HI> yet he largely (beyond his wont) doth interpret this &s;econd <HI>ver&s;.</HI> of the tenth Chapter of <HI>Judicial A&s;tro|logy,</HI> to the value of near one whole leaf. or half &s;heet in <HI>folio,</HI> in which he hath &s;ome &s;trong and &s;tinging pa&s;&s;ages again&s;t it. <HI>Ne metuatis, vel ne expave&s;catis &s;ignis coele|&s;tibus:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The opinion of <HI>Caloin</HI> again&s;t A&s;trology grounded on <HI>Jer.</HI> 10.2. with his rea&s;ons.</NOTE> <HI>hoc e&s;t ne fortunam, &amp;c. i. e.</HI> <Q>Be not afraid, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that is, let not men feign to them|&s;elves good or ill fortune, by the po&s;ition, or a&s;pect of the Stars. If the Stars do pre&s;age to us good or ill fortune, we have cau&s;e to be afraid of them. But the Prophet calls them here <HI>Signes</HI> in an im|proper &s;en&s;e; becau&s;e he hath no re&s;pect to their true original, but accommodateth his &s;peech to tho&s;e perver&s;e Errours which then prevailed. And we mu&s;t remember, what I touched afore that the <HI>Egyptians</HI> and <HI>Chaldeans</HI> were given to that A&s;trology, which at this day we call <HI>Judicial,</HI> or <HI>Judiciary.</HI> For the bare name, in it &s;elf it may be ea&s;ily admitted, but long &s;ince. <HI>By wicked Knaves it was made a prophane thing.</HI> For that Art was adulterated among the <HI>Chaldeans.</HI> That therefore the minde of the Prophet may be certainly clear to us, let that Principle &s;tand fixed, that the Sun and the Moon the re&s;t of the Planets, and the fixed Stars which are in the Firmament, are Signes. But withall here mu&s;t be noted the relation. Wherefore would then God have the Sun and the Moon to be for Signes. Namely, that the cour&s;e of the Moon might perfect one moneth, the cour&s;e of the Sun, one year, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Again, the Sun as it
<PB N="145" REF="76">hath re&s;pect to the twelve Signes one while it makes Spring, another while Summer, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and other things blonging to the <HI>Order of Nature.</HI> But who&s;oever will &s;tretch out the&s;e Signes beyond that, doth utterly con|found the order propounded of God. Even as formerly when the <HI>Egyptians</HI> and <HI>Chaldeans</HI> would &s;ware higher then rea&s;on did bear, they would conjecture by the po&s;i|tion of the Stars, <HI>What &s;hould be the events of all Nations.</HI> After that they dur&s;t de&s;cend to all particular men. Hence &s;prung the <HI>Nativity-ca&s;ters.</HI> Therefore they fir&s;t began to philo&s;ophize more &s;ubtilly, that the Sun when it was under &s;uch a Sign, it portended the ru|ine of the onely childe; happy events to another. But the&s;e things are <HI>without the bound of the accu&s;tomed cour&s;e of Nature.</HI> For in&s;tance, to be Summerand Win|ter, this is natural and ordinary; but that <HI>warr is moved</HI> by one Nation again&s;t another, this is not of the ac|cu&s;tomed cour&s;e of Nature, nor from thence, but from the ambition and covetou&s;ne&s;s of men. Indeed a &s;ecret providence of God over-ruleth; but we &s;peak of cau|&s;es which may be weighed and comprehended by us as falling under &s;en&s;e. Albeit this al&s;o is to be noted, <HI>The cour&s;e of the Stars of them&s;elves have no matter of moment.</HI> For we &s;ee how God varieth times; we have not equal Winters or Summers neither is there a con&s;tant temper: no year but is unlike to the former; and the third unlike to the &s;econd, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Sometimes the air will &s;eem temperate, yet the Plague will de&s;troy: Sometimes there cannot be found a rea&s;on why the year &s;hould bring &s;carcity, and yet men may be pined. So that God according to his own good plea&s;ure tempers the world otherwi&s;e then any the acute&s;t is able to di|vine by Stars. <HI>But they that will tran&s;cend the bounds that God hath &s;et will al&s;o conjecture by the Stars whe|ther war &s;hould be in that countrey, or peace in another.</HI> They therefore that will collect by the Stars the things
<PB N="146" REF="77">that are be&s;ide the cour&s;e of Nature, they &s;urely mingle Heaven and Earth together. Neither is there any doubt, but that the Prophet cha&s;ti&s;eth this <HI>madne&s;s,</HI> whiles he forbids the <HI>Jews</HI> to <HI>attend</HI> unto the <HI>Signes</HI> of Heaven, as to be <HI>afraid</HI> of them. But withall the rea&s;on is to be attended why the Prophet &s;o grievou&s;ly con|demneth that <HI>Fear</HI> which reigned among the Heathens, to wit, becau&s;e where this opinion prevailed, <HI>That all events of things depend upon the Stars, the fear of God is taken away faith is extingui&s;hed, &amp;c.</HI> For all <HI>A&s;tro|logers</HI> who fal&s;ely u&s;urp that name to them&s;elves, I &s;ay, <HI>tho&s;e Knaves,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lat. Ne|bulones i&s;tos di|co.</NOTE> who for their Impo&s;tures pretend the name of <HI>Judiciary</HI> or <HI>Judicial A&s;trology,</HI> do conclude that a Judgement, or determination, or Progno&s;tick, touching the life of man ought to be made by the <HI>Ho|ro&s;cope;</HI> as if both fortunes depended on the Stars. If therefore any man be born at this hour, according to their opinion, that condition &s;hall abide him; &s;o toge|ther they feign a fate, to wit, &s;ome nece&s;&s;ity which may hold a man bound to the rule of the Sun, and Moon, and Stars. For one born when the Sun was in the tail of &s;uch a Sign, or when it was in the head of another, this Nativity portends &s;uch or &s;uch a fortune; this man &s;hall be of a &s;hort life, the other of a longer. At length they al&s;o gather to them&s;elves more boldne&s;s, and will pronounce concerning every day, &s;uch an event waits upon this expedition, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> After that, when or where the Nativity cannot be brought into con&s;ideration, they &s;ubject all man-kinde to the nece&s;&s;ity of the Stars; behold if thou undertake any Expedition, this or that day, it &s;hall be well with thee; but if thou ha&s;ten afore noon, ill &s;ucce&s;s attends thee. So therefore they divine of the whole life of man, and each &s;ingle action; when as God would not have the Conftellations and Stars to be for Signes to this end or u&s;e. Now, as I &s;aid, hence it follows, God doth not govern as to reign; &s;o faith is
<PB N="147" REF="77">extingui&s;hed, and all duties of piety are reduced to no|thing. For who&s;oever is per&s;waded that he is bound by this nece&s;&s;ity, that becau&s;e &s;uch is the Horo&s;cope, he mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily peri&s;h in that hour, and al&s;o nece&s;&s;arily peri&s;h by this kinde of death, he therefore being thus per&s;waded, will he call upon God? Will he commend his life to him? Again, if any adver&s;ity befall him, will he impute it to his &s;ins? Will he acknowledge that he is called unto judgement by God? Or if it be pro&s;pe|rous with him, will he be excited to &s;ing prai&s;es to God? We <HI>&s;ee therefore how this Divination extin|gui&s;heth all Godline&s;s;</HI> becau&s;e there will be no faith; and then no acknowledgement of puni&s;hments, no ac|knowledgement of the benefits of God, no indu&s;try in praying, <HI>If once that diabolical Errour hath po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed</HI> or <HI>&s;urprized our mindes,</HI> that we are <HI>&s;ubject to the Stars, &s;uch is our Nativity,</HI> and further <HI>that the Stars</HI> each <HI>&s;ingle day</HI> and <HI>moment</HI> portend &s;ome kinde of <HI>death.</HI> This therefore we ought chiefly to think upon when the Prophet forbiddeth the <HI>Jews to be afraid of the Signes of Heaven.</HI> Neither is there any doubt but that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> did predict that a <HI>new Empire was promi&s;ed unto them;</HI> &s;o terrified the poor <HI>Jews,</HI> far well to us. For &s;o the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> &s;pake among the <HI>Chaldeans.</HI> And then on the other part, the <HI>Egyptians</HI> &s;aw this to be foretold by the po&s;ition of the Stars: &s;o it was that the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;unck as &s;piritle&s;s or un&s;ouled. And &s;o it came not into their mindes that God had &s;o often, and &s;o many years threatened them by his Prophets, whiles they cea&s;ed not to provoke his anger again&s;t them&s;elves. The judgement then of God they counted as nothing; and yet the mean while this did a&s;toni&s;h them that the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> had di&s;cerned by the Stars that there would be &s;ome change. By this time we ap|prehend the minde of the Prophet, where he &s;aith, <HI>We must not be afraid of the Stars.</HI> I know how many at
<PB N="148" REF="78">this day are <HI>fooli&s;hly curious,</HI> and therefore &s;ome way given to <HI>Judicial Astrology;</HI> and this <HI>Dotage</HI> hath violently curried away &s;ome men otherwi&s;e pious, and very learned. But we &s;ee what here God pronounceth by his &s;ervant.</Q> And I wonder that &s;ome men are &s;o addicted to the Stars, who too too philo&s;ophically &s;peak of free will. Thus <HI>Calvin,</HI> whom I have repre&s;ent|ed largely, and yet have brought you but part of what he &s;aith. So you have heard a mo&s;t pious and learned man, uningaged from any <HI>wrangling,</HI> clear this Text to &s;ignifie <HI>Judicial Astrology.</HI></P>
<P>Sir <HI>Chri&s;tophers</HI> third Rea&s;on, that the <HI>Jews</HI> wor&s;hip|ing of Stars is here meant (not <HI>A&s;trology</HI>) becau&s;e other Scriptures mention &s;uch their wor&s;hipping of the Stars, comes in ju&s;t account, to no more but this, that becau&s;e the <HI>Jews</HI> are guilty of other &s;ins, reproved in other Scri|ptures therefore they are admoni&s;hed of no other &s;in, but of the very &s;ame here, which connexion is as far wide as the Texts alleadged by Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> are divided in the <HI>Bible</HI> from this of <HI>Jeremiah.</HI> All that Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI> hath of any weight to pretend a piecing up of &s;uch a co|herence is (noted with) or this of <HI>Jer.</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 3. <HI>The cu&s;tomes of the people are vain, for one cutteth down a tree in the forre&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> which (&s;aith Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher</HI>) <HI>&s;hould want &s;en&s;e, if this ver&s;e depended not on the former.</HI> But the Doctour hath very well anticipated this Objecti|on in his third Section, in his Paragraph on the fifth Scri|pture, that all <HI>Judicial A&s;trology</HI> includes con&s;equential|ly an <HI>Idolatry,</HI> yea, and an <HI>internal idolatrous heart|wor&s;hip of Stars;</HI> as hath been largely cleared by <HI>Calvin;</HI> Note further that, <HI>Learn not the</HI> way <HI>of the heathen;</HI> (<HI>v.</HI> 2.) is (&s;aith <HI>Calvin</HI>) <HI>Praeceptum generale;</HI> the Gene|ral of the prohibition. The particulars are two. Fir&s;t, the forbidding of <HI>Judicial A&s;trology,</HI> containing heart-Ido|latry; fearing with that fear, that thing and therein; which is due onely to God, <HI>v.</HI> 2. The &s;econd is forbid|ding
<PB N="149" REF="78">Idolomany, <HI>Idoloxoyie,</HI> containing outward corpo|ral wor&s;hip of Images; <HI>v.</HI> 3. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> But how doth that &s;ame <HI>For</HI> in the third <HI>ver&s;.</HI> come logically in? An&s;wer, Fir&s;t, the Prophet thereby takes them off of <HI>the wayes of the heathen</HI> in one gro&s;s practi&s;e, <HI>viz. Astrology,</HI> by proclaiming and in&s;tancing the vanity of the Heathens in another thing that is more gro&s;s and palpably vain; <HI>viz.</HI> in making and corporally wor&s;hipping material Images. Secondly, <HI>Calvin</HI> makes up the matter of the particle <HI>For,</HI> thus; <HI>Videtur propheta abrumpere, &amp;c. i. e.</HI> <Q>The Prophet &s;eems abruptly to break the &s;entence, and to rea&s;on unaptly. For he had &s;aid in the former Ver&s;e, <HI>Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not afraid of the Signes of the Heavens, FOR or BECA&V;SE the cu&s;tomes o&s; the people are vain. FOR one cutteth a Tree, &amp;c.</HI> The Prophet therefore &s;eems to make his tran&s;ition to Idols, as if he had forgot him&s;elf. But we mu&s;t mark that the <HI>Jews</HI> were affected with that ancient per&s;wa&s;ion, that, to wit, the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Egyptians</HI> boa&s;ted that they were the onely wi&s;e men; and had procured to them&s;elves that fame among all Nations. For we &s;ee al&s;o that profane Writers when they &s;peak of the ri&s;e of all Sciences, they attribute it to the <HI>Chal|deans</HI> and <HI>Egyptians.</HI> For among them 'tis &s;aid, was born or &s;prang up A&s;trology, and all Liberal Sciences. There is no doubt therefore but that the <HI>Jews</HI> would a&s;&s;cribe &s;o much authority to the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> and <HI>Egypti|ans,</HI> that their mindes being &s;ei&s;ed upon are po&s;&s;e&s;t with that prejudice they would &s;ee nothing. Therefore the Propher &s;haketh out of them, this negligence, and de|mon&s;trateth that they were fooli&s;h, notwith&s;tanding they would be the onely wi&s;e men and account others in compari&s;on of them to be barbarous and &s;illy. Now therefore we &s;ee why the Prophet knitteth on idolatry with that fal&s;e and adulterate <HI>A&s;trology</HI> of which afore.</Q> So <HI>Calvin.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="Ramsey's chapter">
<PB N="150" REF="79">
<HEAD>W. R. his <HI>CHAP. IV.</HI> Wherein he affirmeth that the Doctours rea&s;ons and ar|guments again&s;t A&s;trology, is particularly examined and condemned, neither to con&s;ist with rea&s;on or truth.</HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD>VV. R. his <HI>SECT. I.</HI> VVherein, as he &s;aith, the Doctours fore-fold rea&s;on is convinced.</HEAD>
<P>HIs fir&s;t rea&s;on then is, (to prove A&s;trology is fal&s;e) that <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> them&s;elves confe&s;&s;e, <HI>that either the prudence of amortall wi&s;e man, or the piety of a god|ly man, or the tutelarity of Angels, or the providence of God, over-ruling all things, may prevent their predicti|ons. VVhereupon he concludes that</HI> A&s;trology is fal&s;e; <HI>for &s;aith he, what humane providence cannot do grace can; if not, Angels may; and where all fail, providence doth or|der according to the mind of God, &amp;c.</HI> To an&s;wer this his mo&s;t weak cavil, I &s;hall begin with what he &s;ets down la&s;t, viz. <HI>The providence of God over-ruling all things,</HI> which he &s;aith him&s;elf (as well as the other three clau|&s;es) is the conce&s;&s;ion of <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> them&s;elves, and if &s;o, I would demand then what advantage he hath here|by, again&s;t A&s;trology; when he can &s;ay no more again&s;t it, then what the Practitioners in the Art do confe&s;&s;e them&s;elves? <HI>there is certainly none but wretched A|thei&s;ts, that will deny, that God hath not an over-ruling, and re&s;training power over all things,</HI> as well cele&s;tiall, as terre&s;triall; but whether his will and plea&s;ure be to <HI>alter the~ir naturall cour&s;es,</HI> is a que&s;tion, but he hath heard that <HI>Ptolomy</HI> him&s;elf, nay and all A&s;trologers in
<PB N="151" REF="79">generall, do attribute nothing (farther then naturall things, which are in &s;ublunary elementary bodies) to the power and influence of the Stars; He weakly there|fore inferres the Stars not to have power, becau&s;e God can alter, or is able to alter their motions, influences and effects. I demand then whether A&s;trology be <HI>Dia|bolicall, Idolatrous, the Doctrine or Language of the Devils, or wicked,</HI> as the&s;e two <HI>&s;eeming zealous blades,</HI> mo&s;t fal&s;ely, maliciou&s;ly, incon&s;iderately, and ignorantly traduce it? and then I demand, &s;ince as the Philo&s;opher &s;aith, ignorance is the enemy of all good learning, whe|ther they de&s;erve not exemplary puni&s;hment, to condemn &s;o noble, &s;o profitable to the Common-wealth, &s;o excel|lent, &s;o divine, and &s;o plea&s;ing a &s;tudy, as A&s;trology is teaching and traducing their vile ignorance to the world; and truly as one of them mo&s;t wi&s;ely &s;aid, if he &s;hould make appear what he knoweth of &s;ome A&s;trologers, the Parliament would make a Law again&s;t it, as &s;ometimes was done in the Senate of <HI>Rome;</HI> but would he becon|tent all Divines &s;hould be &s;ilenced, becau&s;e &s;ome are Knaves, and prate non-&s;en&s;e, and &s;o con&s;equently con|clude no verity or truth in <HI>Divinity?</HI> Truly might I be worthy to advi&s;e that High Court; in the &s;tead of con|demning and prohibiting this mo&s;t worthy &s;tudy, they would do well to prohibit all &s;uch Pamphleters, which without either fear or wit, undertake to condemn what they are ignorant of; and that none &s;hould be &s;uffered to condemn, or fal&s;ely undertake to traduce any Art or Science what&s;oever, without fir&s;t before the publi&s;hing of their writings, to make appear to the world, that they are throughly ver&s;t and read in the Art they undertake to condemn. <HI>The verity whereof, as al&s;o its legality, I dare undertake to defend, not onely again&s;t what they can &s;ay again&s;t it; but al&s;o all the Divines in</HI> England <HI>(put together to help them) can imagine or contrive to &s;ay.</HI> But to return to our bu&s;ine&s;&s;e in hand, Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> on
<PB N="152" REF="80">his fore-fold argument, brings this conclu&s;ion, <HI>that God worketh not by the &s;tars as &s;ecundary cau&s;es, but</HI> Eph. 1.11. <HI>he ruleth all things after the coun&s;ell of his di|vine will.</HI> If becau&s;e God ruleth all things after the coun|&s;ell of his own will; he worketh not by cau&s;es: then, to what purpo&s;e I pray you are Armies, and the &s;ucce&s;&s;e &s;ometimes this way, &s;ometimes that, till in conclu&s;ion the victory is fully obtained on one &s;ide or other? will he &s;ay, (notwith&s;tanding the various &s;ucce&s;&s;e of the bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e in time of the war) that it was not concluded in the coun&s;ell of Gods own will, that the victory &s;hould be given on that &s;ide?</P>
<P>SURVEY. Now what will this youngling do to go on high-lone, Sir <HI>Christopher</HI> having left him: and what &s;hall I do with this <HI>Junior-Sophi&s;ter,</HI> his modera|tour being gone? For, from hence forward there is no|thing almo&s;t to be found in him alone, but as at fir&s;t; <HI>viz.</HI> either <HI>Creten&s;ian</HI> untruths, or <HI>Thra&s;onicall</HI> vapourings, or <HI>&s;ophi&s;ticall</HI> impertinencies, or <HI>&s;elf-contradictions.</HI> For that at <HI>(A)</HI> is <HI>VVils.</HI> UNTRUTH. For Doctonr <HI>Homes</HI> &s;aid not <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> but the <HI>Friends of A&s;tro|logy.</HI> For &s;uch onely were they that &s;pake to the Doctour. That at <HI>(B)</HI> is al&s;o <HI>VVill.</HI> UNTRUTH, For the Doctours conclu&s;ion is there in that Argument, <HI>That there is no certrinty in predictions from the &s;tarres.</HI> That at <HI>(C)</HI> is <HI>VVill.</HI> &s;ophi&s;ticall IMPERTINENCY. For though A&s;trologers <HI>confe&s;&s;e</HI> one thing in words, yet they profe&s;&s;e clean another in the practi&s;e of their Art (as they call it) as we have heard by comparing <HI>VV. R.</HI> Epi&s;tles and his Book together, and &s;hall &s;ee more pre|&s;ently. That al&s;o at <HI>(D)</HI> is a meer CONTRADI|CTION of him&s;elf. For he confe&s;&s;eth at <HI>(C)</HI> for him|&s;elf, and all A&s;trologers that they grant that the <HI>provi|dence of God over-ruling all things, may prevent the pre|dictions of Starres,</HI> &amp;c. of the particulars at <HI>(A)</HI> and
<PB N="153" REF="80">yet now at <HI>(D)</HI> makes it a que&s;tion whether his plea|&s;ure and will be to alter their naturall cour&s;es. That at <HI>(E)</HI> touching <HI>Ptolomy</HI> &amp;c. of A&s;trologers, attributing nothing to the power of Stars farther then naturall things; is <HI>VV. R.</HI> gro&s;&s;e untruth. For <HI>VVill.</HI> undertakes by vir|tue of &s;tars to predict other matters, in his Schemes fi|gures <HI>&amp;c.</HI> in this his Pamphlet, and at the end of his di&s;|cour&s;e about the <HI>Eclyp&s;e.</HI> And <HI>Ptolomy</HI> &s;aith in his <HI>Qua|drip.</HI> lib. 1. cap. 1. <HI>that by the &s;tars may be foretold</HI> mo|res animi tales, &amp; tales eventus &s;ecuturas, &amp;c. <HI>id est,</HI> the <HI>manners of mens minds,</HI> and <HI>their events;</HI> with infinite more to the &s;ame tune, if worth the hearing. That al&s;o at <HI>(F)</HI> is <HI>VV. R.</HI> UNTRUTH and <HI>impertinency.</HI> For the Doctour confe&s;&s;eth the <HI>thing</HI> they call naturall <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and therefore the <HI>power of stars;</HI> who though he a&s;&s;erts that God alters their effects, is far from infer|ing that therefore they <HI>have nopower at all.</HI> To clear all this the better, &s;ee the <HI>Doctours Daemonol.</HI> chap. 10. Sect. 4. (which is that <HI>VV. R.</HI> here would have con|futed) word for word, Section 4. <Q><HI>Conteining rea&s;ons or arguments against A&s;trology. The fir&s;t is from the conce&s;&s;ion of the <HI>friends of A&s;trology.</HI> They grant that either of the&s;e foure may prevent the predictions of A&s;trology; namely, either the prudence of a mo|rall wi&s;e man, or the piety of a godly mun, or the tu|tellarity of Angel, or the providence of God, over|ruling all things; much more all four concurring may anticipate. Now the&s;e four &s;wallow up, and gripe within their &s;phereall things, e&s;peciall arbitrary things: what humane prudence cannot do, grace can; if not, Angels may: and where all fail, providence doth order according to the mind of God, <HI>who worketh</HI> All <HI>things according to the coun&s;ell of his own will, Ephi&s;.</HI> 1.11. Tis &s;aid, <HI>All things;</HI> for, <HI>not a Sparrow falls to the ground without his will. And all the hairs of our head are numbred, Math.</HI> 10.29, 30. Which our
<PB N="154" REF="81">Saviour &s;peaks to comfort Believers again&s;t bodily dangers, and corporall cau&s;es of fears. And on the o|ther &s;ide, tis not &s;aid in that <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.11. <HI>He work|eth all things according to the</HI> Stars; which are <HI>vi&s;ible</HI> things, and <HI>naturall nece&s;&s;ary cau&s;es;</HI> but according to the <HI>coun&s;ell</HI> (which is &s;ecret and invi&s;ible) <HI>of his own will</HI> (which is arbitrary and free.) And to expre&s;&s;e it more &s;ignificantly and emphatically, that God doth not rule by a deputation committed to Stars, e&s;pecial|ly in things either humane and arbitrary, or &s;pirituall; tis &s;aid he <HI>ruleth all things after the coun&s;ell of his</HI> own Will. Which being &s;et over again&s;t the many &s;oar invectives the Lord makes again&s;t A&s;trologicall ob&s;ervers of the Stars demon&s;trate &s;ufficiently to them that will under&s;tand, that there is no certainty in pre|dictions from the Stars. This argument might be much enlarged to good purpo&s;e; but a word to the wi&s;e is &s;uf|ficient.</HI></Q></P>
<P>Thus far the Doctour. By which it appears not onely that <HI>VV. R.</HI> did mo&s;t fal&s;ely report him; but al&s;o that <HI>VVil.</HI> did never rightly apprehend the dint of the Do|ctours argument from <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.11. which was, that &s;ee|ing all <HI>humane future</HI> events were ordered according to Gods own <HI>&s;ecret</HI> will: that therefore we could not by vi&s;ion of Stars, or in&s;pection into con&s;tellations find <HI>vi&s;ible &s;igns</HI> of &s;uch <HI>humane future</HI> events, which before their fulfilling are <HI>hidden</HI> in the <HI>&s;ecret</HI> coun&s;ell of God. And therefore <HI>VVilliams</HI> quibbles on <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1. are meer|ly impertinent, &s;hooting at a Butt the Doctour never &s;et up. As his frequent compari&s;on of A&s;trology and A|&s;trologers, with divinity and Divines; is gro&s;&s;e enough of it &s;elf, to render it &s;elfe odious without a confutation. Divinity is the Judge of A&s;trology, therefore the offen|der at the Barre mu&s;t not compare with it. And <HI>Calvin</HI> (we heard afore) called <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> KNAVES, that pretended <HI>A&s;trology</HI> for their <HI>Knavery;</HI> but if any Di|vines
<PB N="155" REF="81">be Knaves, it is not as they are Divines. And there|fore if <HI>VVilliam</HI> had his wi&s;h, I believe few A&s;trology-books, much le&s;&s;e his <HI>Fu&s;tiano-bumba&s;tico-cretian-ru|buli&s;ticall</HI> would ever attein the honour of the Pre&s;&s;e. For <HI>VVilliam</HI> (poore pa&s;&s;ionate ignorant young fellow) is an unfit peece, the Lord knows, to write confutations; and more unfit to give coun&s;ell to a <HI>Parliament,</HI> and in a my&s;tery of iniquity wherein he is a party. Tis true he doth <GAP DESC="foreign"> bellow out his high <HI>Thro&s;onicall</HI> Braggs <HI>verbis &s;e&s;quipedalibus</HI> without mea&s;ure, <HI>That he dares to undertake to defend A&s;trology again&s;t all the divines in England put together.</HI> But &s;uch an expre&s;&s;ion (if he meant not onely to <HI>dare</HI> but to <HI>do it</HI>) never came out of the mouth of one that was a Scholar indeed, and mo|rally in his &s;ober wits, upon any di&s;pute what&s;oever. But if he mean to <HI>dare to undertake it,</HI> but not <HI>to do it.</HI> Then I confe&s;&s;e I am brought in part to believe him, by that &s;tory of the man, that did <HI>dare to undertake</HI> to take his flight from the top of <HI>Paul</HI>'s Steeple, and to fly; though <HI>he did it not,</HI> but fell down and brake his neck, But I may not forget to &s;atisfie the Reader in one thing; how neatly <HI>VV. R.</HI> calls &s;ome of his A&s;trologicall Bre|thren (whom he cries up in this Pamphlet) by the name of <HI>Knaves.</HI> For the A&s;trologicall mi&s;demeanours de&s;er|ving a law of the Parliament again&s;t that Art, were com|mitted by his admired A&s;trologicall friend.</P>
<P>To tho&s;e interrogatories at <HI>(G)</HI> whether A&s;trology, be <HI>Diabolicall, Idolatrous, Knavery,</HI> de&s;erving a law to be enacted in England again&s;t it, &amp;c. Ma&s;ter <HI>John Mel|ton</HI> &s;hall an&s;wer in his book called the <HI>Figure Ca&s;ter,</HI> which is as follows.</P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="Milton's text">
<PB N="156" REF="82">
<ARGUMENT>
<LIST>
<ITEM>The intent of the Authour in this Work is fir&s;t to confute all FIGURE-CASTERS, by the
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Divine Law,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Imperial Law,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Canon Law;</HI> by</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Philo&s;ophy,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Common&s;en&s;e,</HI> and</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Rea&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>Secondly, to overthrow the ab&s;urd Opinions of many.
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Philo&s;ophers,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>A&s;tronomers,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Geographers,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Co&s;mographers.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>Thirdly, to unfold the dark and ab&s;tru&s;e An&s;wers of the
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Delphian,</HI> rather devili&s;h</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Oracles.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>Fourthly, and la&s;tly, to &s;hew the Sympathy and Corre|&s;pondency that is between the Rogui&s;h Conjurers, and <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Impo&s;tours, in their
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Ceremonies,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Super&s;titious,</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Deceits,</HI> and</ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Cou&s;enages.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
</ARGUMENT>
<PB N="157" REF="82">
<HEAD><HI>MELTONS</HI> Figure-Caster.</HEAD>
<P>IT was about the Heart of Summer, (when the Cele&s;ti|al Dog belcht from his burning Galls infectious Di&s;|ea&s;es to poy&s;on frail Mortality) that I walked into a Friends Garden of mine, no far di&s;tant from this &s;umptu|ous (but &s;infull) City, to &s;cent the fre&s;h and cool Air, that did breathe on tho&s;e &s;weet-&s;melling flowers. But I no &s;ooner entred into this <HI>Microco&s;m</HI> of &s;weetne&s;s, but the amenity neatne&s;s, elegance, and &s;plendour of the Place did &s;o tickle and delight my &s;en&s;es, that I thought it rather a cele&s;tial Paradi&s;e, then a terre&s;trial Garden.</P>
<P>But, as I was wondering at this Place worthy of won|der, this exta&s;ie of my admiration was broken off by the occa&s;ion of a noi&s;e I heard not far from me, which at the fir&s;t was but like the &s;oft breathing of a winde, &s;ighing from the pregnant entrails of the Earth, but by degrees it began to re&s;emble a Tempe&s;t, &s;ailing aloft in the Air. When it drew nigher me, I perceived this lowdne&s;s to be engendred by the ever-moving Tongues of &s;ome twenty Women, that came talking and walking down an Alley (neighbouring very nigh me) and all of them talking to|gether; &s;o that although I had an itching de&s;ire to under|&s;tand, and an attentive ear to hear the &s;ubject of their Di&s;cour&s;e, yet it was as po&s;&s;ible for me to know what they did talk, as to make them leave talking. In the Rere of the&s;e I perceived an ancient Man (on who&s;e head the hand of Age had &s;nowed white hairs) come with a grave pace after them; whom I intreated, if it lay within the reach of his knowledge, to re&s;olve me what the cau&s;e was &s;o many people, and mo&s;t of them Women, &s;hould flock together, or what bu&s;ine&s;s they &s;hould have in &s;uch a re|mote and by place as that was, &s;o early in the Morning?
<PB N="158" REF="83">This old Father without any pievi&s;hne&s;s (which is a pa&s;&s;i|on incident to Age) fir&s;t &s;miled in my face, then took me by the hand, and began to open the my&s;tery of their meeting, and his own being there, in this manner.</P>
<P>Son, &s;aid he (for &s;o I may properly call thee, becau&s;e Smoothne&s;s and Alacrity, the Characters of Youth, &s;it on thy unwrinkled forhead) the&s;e Women your eyes did lately take notice of, are Creatures &s;o ignorantly ob&s;tinate, that neither the milde intreaty of a Friend can per&s;wade them from their Follies, nor the bad report of an Enemy di&s;&s;wade them from their perver&s;ne&s;s. The party to whom they come, is a Bird, of who&s;e kinde I think there are but few living, for he profe&s;&s;eth him&s;elf to be a Wi&s;e|man; and the cau&s;e of their coming, is to be re&s;olved ei|ther of Money, Silver-&s;poons, Rings, Gowns, Plate, or Linnen they have lo&s;t; &s;ome, to know how many Chil|dren they &s;hall have; &s;ome, how many Husbands, and which &s;hall love them be&s;t; others, about other bu&s;ine&s;s; but in general, all of them to know &s;omething, which in|deed at la&s;t comes to nothing. And I my &s;elf (like an Ho|ly-day Fool) have been there at the lea&s;t half a &s;core times, onely to give my money away, to be laught at. Yet I have words enough; for he will promi&s;e more then twenty Courtiers, talk more for half a Piece then half a &s;core Lawyers, and lie more then twenty Chronologers: yet with &s;ome trick or eva&s;ion, he will come clearly off, without being &s;u&s;pected for an Impo&s;tour, e&s;pecially if he have &s;ome man in hand he thinks he dare work on, as he hath done me for example.</P>
<P>For going to the Cro&s;s one Sunday morning to hear a Sermon, &s;ome <HI>Mercurian</HI> and nimble-finger'd Pick|pocket, that had more minde of my Pur&s;e then the Prea|cher, gelt it of &s;ixteen pound; &s;o that I went home light|er by two Stone then I went out. After I had fretted much, and to no purpo&s;e, I u&s;ed all the means I could to recover my lo&s;s, as by feeing the Keepers of <HI>Newgate,</HI>
<PB N="159" REF="83">who know which of that Law are appointed to filch in every part of the City; yet &s;till I came home a greater loo&s;er then I went out: for always being in hope to finde that which I lo&s;t, I lo&s;t more, by bribring one Knave to di&s;cover another. At the la&s;t, it was my bad fortune to meet with an old Woman, that put a greater confidence in the <HI>Jews Caballs,</HI> and <HI>Thalmud,</HI> the <HI>Shepheards Ka|lendar,</HI> and Books of <HI>Palme&s;try,</HI> then any part of the <HI>Bible;</HI> who advi&s;ed me to repair to Doctour <HI>P. C.</HI> in <HI>Moor-fields,</HI> at the upper end of this Alley, and if Art could help me to it again, I &s;hould be &s;ure to hear of it. This draught of good News this old Woman gave me, to quench the thir&s;t of my de&s;ire, which I drank in at mine ears as greedily as a man &s;ick of a burning Feaver will the coole&s;t Julips: &s;o giving this old Piece of Super&s;tition a <HI>Te&s;ter</HI> for her News, I in&s;tantly went to Ma&s;ter Doctour. Who perceiving me to be one that loved Gold well (be|cau&s;e Age mo&s;t commonly is covetous) thought the bet|ter to work upon me, as he did; for his Doctour&s;hip had the Art to hold me in hand three Weeks; in which time, he made the &s;ixteen pounds I lo&s;t, twenty: and when all came to a period, he told me, that he had laboured hard for me, and at the la&s;t, by his no &s;mall indu&s;try and pains, had found out the Thief that had my Money, but he was fled into the <HI>Low-countries,</HI> becau&s;e there were many Warrants out to apprehend him for many Thefts and Burglaries he had committed; and if it plea&s;ed me to take &s;hipping, and &s;ail thither, I &s;hould be &s;ure to finde him at the <HI>Labour in vain</HI> in <HI>Breda.</HI> But this comfort went as cold to my heart, as the Sentence of Death to a man that &s;tands arreigned at the Barr; for I had rather go five thou&s;and miles by Land, then five miles by Sea, and if it had been a hundred pounds I had lo&s;t, I would rather have given as much more, then hazard my &s;elf by Water. Yet how&s;oever I may doubt, nay truly re&s;olve my &s;elf, that he hath palpably cheated me: yet it was im|po&s;&s;ible
<PB N="160" REF="84">to finde him a Lyar, except I meant to take more pains about it, then it was worth. Therefore as patiently as I am able, I am going home again, purpo&s;ing here|after to take heed of two Pick-pockets; the one the Diver that met with me in <HI>Pauls</HI> Church-yard, the other the Doctour in <HI>Moor-fields,</HI> that robb'd me as well as the fir&s;t, who in my minde hath de&s;erved, for his artificial Cheating, the Pillory, as well as the other did the Gal|lows, for Stealing.</P>
<P>He no &s;ooner had delivered me this Relation, but he ha&s;ted away from me: therefore &s;eeing he was &s;o impor|tunate to be gone, I onely &s;hewed my &s;elf gratefull in thanking him for his kindne&s;s; &s;o he went homewards, and I into my Garden. But now my minde was quite tran&s;ported from the &s;weetne&s;s of that Place, and onely fixt on the &s;ubtilty of the Doctour, and his politick an|&s;wer to the old man about the recovery of his money; &s;o that I could not be at quiet with my &s;elf, while I was truly re&s;olved of the Art of this Star-gazer. Therefore on a morning which was as calm as I could wi&s;h my thoughts now were, I put on a Sute of cour&s;e Northern Dozens, with all accoutrements that were mo&s;t &s;utable to that homeline&s;s, and with all expeditition went to Ma&s;ter Doctour, and ha&s;tily knocking at his Wor&s;hips door, there came running down the &s;tairs with a nimble dexteri|ty (the little <HI>Mephi&s;topheles</HI>) his Boy, demanding with whom I would &s;peak; to whom, in a broad <HI>Somer&s;et&s;hire</HI> language, I an&s;wered, With Ma&s;ter Doctour, upon an earne&s;t bu&s;ine&s;s. Upon the delivery of this Me&s;&s;age, this young Spirit, like exhaled Dew, nimbly flew away from me, who upon an in&s;tant, like a fla&s;h of Lightning, was in my bo&s;ome again before I could perceive him; and then, without any more Interrogatories, ma&s;halled me up into his Ma&s;ters Study, who &s;ate in this manner following:</P>
<P>Before a &s;quare Table, covered with green Carpet, on which lay a huge Book in <HI>Folio,</HI> wide open, full of &s;trange
<PB N="161" REF="84">Characters, &s;uch as the <HI>Egyptians</HI> and <HI>Chaldeans</HI> were ne|ver guilty of; not far from that a &s;ilver Wand, a Surplus, a watering Pot, with all the &s;uper&s;titious or rather feigned In&s;truments of his cou&s;ening Art. And to put a fairer co|lour on his black and foul Science, on his Head he had a four-corner'd Cap, on his Back a fair Gown (but made of a &s;trange fa&s;hion) on his right hand he held an A&s;trolabe, in his left a Mathematical Gla&s;s. At the fir&s;t view, there was no man that came to him (if he were of any fa&s;hion) could offer him for his advice le&s;s then a <HI>Jacobus,</HI> and the meane&s;t half a Piece, although he peradventure (rather then have nothing) would be contented with a brace of Two-pences. I no &s;ooner came into his Study, but I did him the reverence belonging to his Doctour&s;hip, and &s;tood as long bare to him, as a poor Countrey Client that &s;ues <HI>in form&acirc; Pauperis,</HI> will to his hungry Lawyer. At the la&s;t, with the expence of many a Leg, and May it plea&s;e your Wor&s;hip, I told him that the cau&s;e of my coming was, that having lately lo&s;t at the <HI>Kings Bench</HI> Bar in <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter</HI> Hall a Chain of Gold of three hun|dred Links, therefore I came to his Doctour&s;hip, having been informed, that his Art could bring it to light again: &s;o putting my hand into my Leather Pouch, I grea&s;ed his ever-dry Palmes with an Angel; who no &s;ooner had a feeling of my bounty, but he began to be more liberal to me of his Tongue. And while I &s;tood leaning on my Staff, he delivered his Emperick-like Oration.</P>
<P>Hone&s;t Friend, the lo&s;s you have &s;u&s;tained,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The <HI>Fi|gure. ca&s;ters</HI> Oration?</NOTE> is &s;o great that I make no doubt, what you now have given, or here|after &s;hall give, will nor come forced or wrackt from you, but voluntary and free. For it is wi&s;edom in Man to ad|venture &s;mall things to regain greater, where there is a po&s;&s;ibility of obtaining. He is not worthy of Money, that will not &s;eek after it, and he cannot truly judge, how to value &s;o precious a Metall as Gold, that is not &s;tung with the lo&s;s of it. Therefore Sir, your care de&s;erves a
<PB N="162" REF="85">redre&s;s, and this Book (meaning his <HI>Ephemerides</HI>) with my Art and indu&s;try, &s;hall be the in&s;trumental Cau&s;es to make you happy in the recovery of that which is worthy both of my Care and your Co&s;t. And to put you in &s;ome hope, if that Man that had your Chain lives either with|in the Horizon of <HI>England, France, Spain, Italy,</HI> or the <HI>Low-countries,</HI> I will undertake to &s;hew you him, and in what place, and what company he is in. There is not a Spirit, either of the Fire, Air, Earth, or Water, but I have at my command as readily as any Gallant hath his Page or Foot-boy: I can conjure them all together, and make them trot up and down the City, leaving not a Pick|pockets, Gilts, Lifts, Decoys, or Divers Ho&s;e un&s;urveyed.</P>
<P>Look here Sir, (with that, he advanced his Mathema|tical Gla&s;s) with this In&s;trument, fir&s;t devi&s;ed by that learned Man in our Art, <HI>Hermes Tre&s;megi&s;tus,</HI> other|wi&s;e called <HI>Mercury,</HI> I can &s;ee all things done in <HI>Chri|&s;tendom.</HI> If in the day time I look in it, I will as ea&s;ily &s;ee what is done in the City, as the Sun. There cannot a withered-faced Lady paint her decayed Countenance at her Chamber-window, and &s;et a fair glo&s;s on it with her <HI>Fucu&s;&s;es</HI> and <HI>Italian</HI> Tinctures, but I &s;ee her as perfectly as her &s;he Secretary her Chamber-maid. There cannot a Counter-book-keeper and a Con&s;table &s;hare a poor mans Fees, that the Night before was brought into Pri|&s;on (becau&s;e he would not give the blinking Beadle or beg|ging Watch-man a Te&s;ter) but I &s;ee it as ea&s;ily as their Fellow, the Bawd-like Door-keeper. There cannot a Ju&s;ti|ces Clerk, that it may be is more Ju&s;tice then his Ma&s;ter, take a Bribe of a noted Cut-pur&s;e, who&s;e name perad|venture &s;tands at lea&s;t twenty &s;everal times upon record in <HI>Newgate</HI> Book, but I perceive it as well as the Doxy that brought it him. In the Night-time, if I &s;tand with this In&s;trument in in my hand, I can &s;ee what is done in the City as well as the Man in the Moon. There cannot a Drunkard come reeling out of a Tavern at twelve a clock
<PB N="163" REF="85">at Night, but he is as manife&s;t before me, as the Drawer that beat him out of Doors after he had &s;pent all his Mo|ney. I can &s;ee the commanding Con&s;table and the drow&s;ie Watch fit nodding on a Stall, while a company of Roar|ing Boys, <HI>alias</HI> Brothers of the Sword, come by fir&s;t &s;wearing them awake, then out of their Authority, who in &s;pight of their teeth will crave leave to pa&s;s by them. There cannot a Trade&s;mans Puritanical Wife ri&s;e early in a Morning, under the pretence of hearing a Lecture, but I know whether &s;he goes as well as the Fore-man of her Shop that u&s;hers her. Nay Sir, I have &s;een the Pope go in his <HI>Pontificalibus</HI> with his whole Heard of Cardi|nals to S. <HI>Peters</HI> Church in <HI>Rome,</HI> as often as any Citi|zen hath &s;een the right honourable the Lord <HI>Mayor</HI> go to <HI>Pauls Cro&s;s</HI> in <HI>London.</HI> As for <HI>Pre&s;ter Jack,</HI> the great <HI>Mogul,</HI> the Sophy of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and the great <HI>Turk</HI> I can &s;ee them as often as <HI>I</HI> do my Boy, that is never from my el|bow. And all this is done by <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> by &s;acred <HI>A&s;tro|logy,</HI> divine <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> the Art of Arts, the Science of Sciences, for it is the ancient, the mo&s;t authentick, the mo&s;t excellent Art in the World. For old father <HI>Adam</HI> was both an <HI>Astronomer</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologer; Abraham</HI> and all the Patriarks: Nay, <HI>I</HI> will a&s;ture you, the Stu|dents of our Art have been famous in all Countries; for <HI>Porphyrius</HI> and <HI>Apuleius</HI> derive the Original of <HI>Magick</HI> from the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> although <HI>Suidas</HI> will have it from the <HI>Magu&s;eans,</HI> and from them he cals them <HI>Ma|gi;</HI> the <HI>Latins</HI> call us Wi&s;e-men, the <HI>Grecians,</HI> Philo|&s;ophers; the <HI>Indians, Gymno&s;ophi&s;ts;</HI> the <HI>Egyptians,</HI> Prie&s;ts; the <HI>Cabali&s;ts,</HI> Prophets; the <HI>Babylonians</HI> and <HI>A&s;&s;yrians, Chaldeans;</HI> the <HI>Frenchmen, Bards:</HI> And many excellent and eminen: men have flouri&s;hed in this Knowledge; as <HI>Zoroa&s;ter</HI> the &s;on of <HI>Aroma&s;ius,</HI> who laugh'd when he was born, among the <HI>Per&s;ians; Numa Pompilius,</HI> among the <HI>Romans; The shion,</HI> among the <HI>Gymno&s;ophi&s;ts; Hermes,</HI> among the <HI>Egyptians; Buda,</HI>
<PB N="164" REF="86">among the <HI>Babylonians; Zamolxis,</HI> among the <HI>Thra|cians;</HI> and <HI>Abbaris,</HI> among the <HI>Hyperboreans.</HI> A thou|&s;and more be&s;ide the&s;e, were excellent <HI>A&s;trologers;</HI> as <HI>Ptolomeus,</HI> whom &s;ome (though very Fools in their Opi|nion) hold to be the fir&s;t <HI>A&s;tronomer</HI> that ever was: then <HI>Me&s;&s;ahala, Aboafar, Abenragel, Alchibichius, Albu|mazar, Abraham, Avenezra, Algazel, Hermes Tre&s;|migi&s;tus, Aratus, Higinus,</HI> and <HI>Thebit;</HI> after whom, did ari&s;e <HI>Maternus,</HI> that famous Mathematian: then, <HI>Georgius Purbachius;</HI> after whom followed <HI>Johannes de Monte Regio, Alphon&s;us</HI> King of <HI>Ca&s;tile,</HI> as his Tables can te&s;tifie. Was not broad-&s;houldered <HI>Atlas,</HI> that was bigger then the great Porter, an admirable <HI>A&s;tronomer</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologer?</HI> Was not <HI>Erra Pater</HI> (whom I had al|mo&s;t forgot) a rare Fellow at <HI>A&s;tronomy?</HI> Yes, as this his Table can te&s;tifie. What think you Sir, was not this learned Arti&s;t deeply read in the large-leav'd Book of Heaven? Do not you think he could learnedly di&s;cour&s;e of the Poles, Spheres, Orbes, Circumferences, Circles, Centres, Diameters, the Zodiack, the Zenith, the Artick, the Antartick Poles, <HI>Tropicus Capricorni,</HI> and <HI>Tropicus Cancri?</HI> He was as well acquainted with the Twelve Signes in Heaven, as any Trade&s;man with tho&s;e in <HI>Cheap|&s;ide,</HI> and run over the Nature of the &s;even Planets as nimbly as the <HI>French</HI> Vaulter over the Ropes. And I my &s;elf, (but that I know this kinde of Learning is out of your Element) could di&s;cour&s;e to you what a &s;ullen fel|low <HI>Saturn</HI> is, (on whom the permanent continuation of all things depend) what a joviall fellow <HI>Jupiter</HI> (on whom the fecundity of Agent Cau&s;es rely) what a quar|relling Swa&s;h-buckler <HI>Mars</HI> (on whom the &s;wift expe|dition of any thing to the effect doth hang) what a hot fellow <HI>Sol</HI> (whom all Agent Cau&s;es follow) what a wan|ton Wench <HI>Venus</HI> (on whom the fecundity of all Material Cau&s;es look after) what a merry fellow <HI>Mercury</HI> (in whom a manifold vertue doth flouri&s;h) and what a mad
<PB N="165" REF="86">La&s;s <HI>Luna</HI> (on whom the increa&s;e and decrea&s;e of humane things con&s;i&s;t.) For know, that the rich and golden Har|ve&s;t that I have gathered out of the &s;weet and fruitfull Fields of many learned mens Works, and carefully hoord|ed up in the Garner of my brea&s;t, hath made me full and copious in my knowledge; &s;o that there is no Art and Science, but I am as deeply and profoundly read in, as tho&s;e that have taken the Wor&s;hipfull Degree of Do|ctour. I am &s;o good at Phy&s;ick, that every morning I have whole Troops of mad men, and others, &s;ick of <HI>Sar|pegoes, Gouts, Epilep&s;ies, Feavers,</HI> and many others la|bouring under as dangerous Di&s;ea&s;es as the&s;e, &s;end their Urine to me, &s;o that never Doctour was &s;o famous: for when Medicine will not prevail, and that neither <HI>Galen, Paracel&s;us, Avecin, Hyppocrates,</HI> nor all the Heirs of <HI>Ae&s;culapius</HI> can cure them; I have a Spirit that will fright any Di&s;ea&s;e from the mo&s;t dangerous and over-&s;pent Patient. My skill in Alchymy is &s;o great, that I can turn any thing that is brought to me into as perfect Gold as ever came out of the <HI>Indies.</HI> Frier <HI>Bacon</HI> was an A&s;s, Doctour <HI>Fau&s;tus</HI> a Fool, <HI>Ripley</HI> an Emperick, and <HI>Kelly</HI> a Coxcomb to me; they were not worthy to blow my Bel|lows, or look to my Stills, while I work for the Philo&s;o|phers Stone. But for <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> I can do that none of my Profe&s;&s;ion be&s;ides my &s;elf, could ever reach unto: for there is nothing lo&s;t but I can finde again; nothing in hazard of lo&s;ing but I can pre&s;erve &s;afe &amp; &s;ure; I have given Trade&s;|men Spirits, that have kept their Shops as faithfully, as if they had twenty Journeymen continually in it. There is not a part of the Body, but I can give a Spirit to keep it &s;afe &amp; &s;ound. Therefore Sir, to conclude, a&s;&s;ure your &s;elf, that if all my Spirits &amp; mine own endeavours can do you a plea&s;ure (as you need not doubt of my Art) you &s;hal not fail of your Chain: &s;o merrily return to your Lodging a|gain, and repair to me to morrow morning, 30, Minutes after 6. and always remember to admire at the wonderfull power of &s;acred, divine and heavenly <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<PB N="166" REF="87">
<P><TABLE>
<HEAD>A Table made by the learned A&s;tronomer <HI>Erra Pater,</HI> &s;hewing, that the Twelve Signes and Seven Planets have as great a Predomination over all Trades, and Callings, which are the Members of the Body of a Common|wealth, as over the Body of Man.</HEAD>
<ROW>
<CELL>&nbsp;</CELL>
<CELL>&Saturn; <HI>Saturn</HI></CELL>
<CELL>&Jupit; <HI>Jupiter</HI></CELL>
<CELL>&Mars; <HI>Mars</HI></CELL>
<CELL>&Sun; <HI>Sol</HI></CELL>
<CELL>&Venus; <HI>Venus</HI></CELL>
<CELL>&Merc; <HI>Mercury</HI></CELL>
<CELL>&Moon; <HI>Luna</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Aries; <HI>Aries;</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Gold&s;miths</CELL>
<CELL>Haberda&s;hers</CELL>
<CELL>Merchants</CELL>
<CELL>Mercers</CELL>
<CELL>Drapers</CELL>
<CELL>Vininers</CELL>
<CELL>Horners</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Taurus; <HI>Taurus</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Butchers</CELL>
<CELL>Graliers</CELL>
<CELL>Cooks</CELL>
<CELL>Drud&s;ters</CELL>
<CELL>Tobacco men</CELL>
<CELL>Players</CELL>
<CELL>Fidlers</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Gemini; <HI>Gemini</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Serjeants</CELL>
<CELL>Bailies</CELL>
<CELL>High-way men</CELL>
<CELL>Lifts</CELL>
<CELL>Cut-puries</CELL>
<CELL>Gilts</CELL>
<CELL>Decoys</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Cancer; <HI>Cancer</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Brewers</CELL>
<CELL>Draymen</CELL>
<CELL>Porters</CELL>
<CELL>Tap&s;ters</CELL>
<CELL>Ho&s;tlers</CELL>
<CELL>Con&s;tables</CELL>
<CELL>Beadles</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Leo; <HI>Leo</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Roaring Boys</CELL>
<CELL>Young Gal|lants</CELL>
<CELL>Courtiers</CELL>
<CELL>Cutlers</CELL>
<CELL>Fencers</CELL>
<CELL>Armorers</CELL>
<CELL>Brothers of the Sword</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Virgo; <HI>Virgo</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Semp&s;ters</CELL>
<CELL>Laundre&s;&s;es</CELL>
<CELL>Chamber|maids</CELL>
<CELL>Tyre-women</CELL>
<CELL>Waiting Gen|tlewomen</CELL>
<CELL>Flax maids</CELL>
<CELL>Tobacco-women</CELL>
</ROW>
<PB N="167" REF="87">
<ROW>
<CELL>&Libra; <HI>Libra</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Grocers</CELL>
<CELL>Chandlors</CELL>
<CELL>Chee&s;mon|gers</CELL>
<CELL>Silkmen</CELL>
<CELL>Apothecaries</CELL>
<CELL>Pewterers</CELL>
<CELL>Plummers.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Scorp; <HI>Scorpio</HI></CELL>
<CELL>U&s;urers</CELL>
<CELL>Brokets</CELL>
<CELL>Informers</CELL>
<CELL>Promoters</CELL>
<CELL>Petty-foggers</CELL>
<CELL>Sumners</CELL>
<CELL>Jaylors</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Sagitt; <HI>Sagittarius</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Fletchers</CELL>
<CELL>Gunners</CELL>
<CELL>Scriveners</CELL>
<CELL>Smiths</CELL>
<CELL>Bra&s;iers</CELL>
<CELL>Iremongers</CELL>
<CELL>Turners</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Capri; <HI>Capricornus</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Drug&s;ters</CELL>
<CELL>Milliners</CELL>
<CELL>Coach-ma|kers</CELL>
<CELL>Jewellers</CELL>
<CELL>Stone-cutters</CELL>
<CELL>Painters</CELL>
<CELL>Shoomakers</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Aquar; <HI>Aquarius</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Watermen</CELL>
<CELL>Water-bearers</CELL>
<CELL>Cloth-workers</CELL>
<CELL>Bakers</CELL>
<CELL>Salters</CELL>
<CELL>Sadlers</CELL>
<CELL>Barbers</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>&Pisces; <HI>Pi&s;ces</HI></CELL>
<CELL>Oy&s;ter-wives</CELL>
<CELL>Fi&s;hmongers</CELL>
<CELL>Fruiterers</CELL>
<CELL>Ho&s;iers</CELL>
<CELL>Gold-finders</CELL>
<CELL>Taylors</CELL>
<CELL>Pla&s;terers</CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
<PB N="168" REF="88">
<P><HI>When he had made an end I gave this An&s;wer to the <HI>Figure-ca&s;ter,</HI> and the Confutation of it.</HI></P>
<P>SIr, if you every day &s;hould trouble your &s;elf, or ra|ther tho&s;e that hear you, with the&s;e long-winded Exerci&s;es, you had need eat great &s;tore of Lycoris: and if you lye &s;o much to every man, as you have done to me, you had be&s;t learn of <HI>Symonides</HI> the Art of Memory; for the&s;e two things are mo&s;t requi&s;ite for tho&s;e that talk and lye &s;o much as you do. You have made a large A&s;trological di&s;cour&s;e, onely to make me a Fool, and prove your&s;elf a Knave; for cunningly in your <HI>Exordium</HI> you hearten me on to cheat my &s;elf: for doth not a man palpably cou&s;en him&s;elf, when he gives money to a Knave, that fir&s;t cheats him before his face, then laughs at him behinde his back; which is the true cu&s;tome of all <HI>Figure-ca&s;ters,</HI> of who&s;e faculty you profe&s;s to be.</P>
<P>As for your In&s;truments, as your Mathematical Gla&s;s, with which you can do Wonders, your &s;ilver Wand, Watering Pot, four-corner'd Cap, are but meer &s;uper&s;ti|tious Ornaments, either borrowed from the <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Ro|mans.</HI> And it is a que&s;tion, whether the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Prei&s;ts had the&s;e from the Rogui&s;h Conjurers, or the Conjurers from them: for ju&s;t &s;uch Ceremonies and Exorci&s;mes the Conjurers u&s;e upon their invocation of Devils, the Papi&s;ts do in their Invocations; for they exorci&s;e and conjure their Salt, that it may not lo&s;e the &s;avour, and their Wa|ter, which the ignorant people gape for as greedily as a Raven will for cool air in the mid&s;t of <HI>July,</HI> and this they call Holy Water: then they conjure their Oyl, their Balm, their Herbs, and Plants, that they may have the virtue and influence to heal the &s;ick and di&s;ea&s;ed: they conjure their Candles, that they may not burn blue; and Bees, that they pro&s;per, and not &s;ting any holy or religi|ous Frier, when he dares adventure his bald Crown nigh
<PB N="169" REF="88">one of their Hives. What is the Chri&s;tening of Bels, Altars, Pilgrimages, Proce&s;&s;ions, Images, Holy A&s;hes, Holy Pace Eggs, Flames, Palmes, and Palm-boughs, Albs, Copes, and Maniples, Ve&s;timents, Miters, Staves, Fools, and Friers Hoods, Shells, and Bells, Paxes, licking of rotten Bones, creeping to wooden Images and Cro&s;&s;es, &s;having of Crowns, and a thou&s;and of the like Antick Tricks, but flat Sorcery and Witchcraft? And do not all the&s;e Fooleries agree with the Conjurers Rogueries? Who always ob&s;erve the Time of the Moon before they &s;et their Figure; and when they have &s;et their Figure, and &s;pread their Circle, fir&s;t exorci&s;e the Wine and Wa|ter which they &s;prinkle on their Circle, then mumble in an unknown Language: Do they not cro&s;s and exorci&s;e their Surplus, their &s;ilver Wand, Gown, Cap, and every In|&s;trument they u&s;e about their black and damnable Art? Nay, they cro&s;s the place whereon the &s;tand, becau&s;e they think the Devil hath no power to come into it, when they have ble&s;t it: therefore I cannot be per&s;waded, but you had your Ceremonies from the Papi&s;ts, who fir&s;t had them from the <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Pagans,</HI> or they from you, for you both cou&s;en the poor blinded people after one manner; fir&s;t, of their Souls, by drawing them to Super&s;tition. Secondly, of their E&s;tates, by defrauding them of their Money: for which cau&s;e, both of you have devi&s;ed the&s;e Ceremonies. Thus much for your In&s;truments. Now for your Authours you pile up on the neck of each other, I hold not lawfull to be &s;tudied to an ill intent; and for mo&s;t of them, I hold Athei&s;ts, and Fellows, who&s;e Works ought rather to be burnt, for being &s;tuft full of Bla&s;phemy, then to be read for our in&s;truction, or know|ledge, as hereafter I will &s;hew you. As for <HI>Adam, Abraham,</HI> or any of the twelve Patriarks skill in Con|juration, Figure-ca&s;ting, or rai&s;ing a Spirit, as you &s;ay, I am &s;ure they practi&s;ed none. And for you knowledge in <HI>A&s;tronomy,</HI> this is my opinion of you, that you have as
<PB N="170" REF="89">much skill of the Poles in Heaven, as you have of the Poles of <HI>Pauls</HI> Steeple. Your skill in Phy&s;ick &s;hall by no means make me (if I chance to fall &s;ick) chu&s;e you for my Doctour, except I am weary of my life; for I &s;hall be in more danger of Death by taking your Potions, then I &s;hall be of the Di&s;ea&s;e. But indeed, for a Man that de|&s;ires pre&s;ent Cure, <HI>I</HI> think you are excellent for, becau&s;e <HI>I</HI> make no doubt, that you will hold him long in hand: and in this you and all other <HI>Medica&s;ters</HI> and Dog-leaches are happy, becau&s;e the Sun doth always behold your good &s;ucce&s;s, and the Earth covers all your igno|rances. It is a common &s;aying,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Plin. l. <HI>29</HI> c, <HI>1.</HI> Talis Me|dicus est Dedecus.</NOTE> <HI>Nullum medicum e&s;&s;e pe|ritum ni&s;i triginta homines ad orcum dimi&s;erit:</HI> That it is impo&s;&s;ible for any Phy&s;ician to be skilfull, except he hath killed his thirty men. But for your part I dare &s;wear, if you &s;hould kill three hundred (as it may be it comes &s;omething nigh that number, becau&s;e you have been a long Practitioner) you would &s;till remain but a Quack-&s;alving Phy&s;ician; one, that it may be hath &s;ome little faint glimmering of the Practick, but nothing of the Theory of this mo&s;t learned and deep Art: for being &s;o illiterate as you are, how can you, (neither under&s;tand|ing the <HI>Greek</HI> or <HI>Latin</HI> Tongues, in which the grounds of Phy&s;ick were fir&s;t writ) be &s;o famous as you report your &s;elf to be? Yet there is one thing in your large Oration, that you would make a Man believe you have &s;ome skill in Phy&s;ick, becau&s;e you &s;ay, that whole Troops of mad men come to you; in this a man may believe you; for if men were not mad, and &s;tark out of their wits, they would never come to you for your advice. There is no|thing you have &s;poken, that <HI>I</HI> can per&s;wade my &s;elf you have &s;aid true, but in this, in profe&s;&s;ing your &s;elf an Al|chymi&s;t: for <HI>I</HI> dare undertake, that if a man bring you a Cart-load of Bra&s;s, Iron, or Pewter, you can, in the time a man will go either into <HI>Long-lane,</HI> or <HI>Hounds-ditch,</HI> turn it into as good Gold, as is in the riche&s;t U&s;urers clo&s;e
<PB N="171" REF="89">&s;hut Pouch in the City. But for the Philo&s;ophers Stone, <HI>I</HI> think you can finde out the Quadrature of the Circle, or a new way to the <HI>Ea&s;t Indies,</HI> as &s;oon as finde out that: if you can finde it out for others, why cannot you as well for your &s;elves? By this a man may perceive the Roguery of all Alchymi&s;ts, and the true nature of their Art, which indeed is an Art without Art, who&s;e begin|ning is, &s;toutly to lye, and who&s;e end is, mi&s;erably to beg. And to conclude, all the&s;e Gold engendring <HI>Chymi&s;ts,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Libaviue. Era&s;mus.</NOTE> are <HI>Archymi&s;ts,</HI> rather <HI>Lechymi&s;ts,</HI> and make all tho&s;e that follow them, <HI>Lachrymi&s;ts.</HI> For your Art in giving men Flyes and Spirits to expell all ill luck from them; I think it as ea&s;ie to be done, and to as much purpo&s;e, as the Licence and Power Pope <HI>Paul</HI> the third gave to <HI>Se|rona Maria O&s;orio,</HI> and twelve of her Bloud, who by the virtue of a pair of conjured Beads, could be forgiven the third part of their &s;ins, if they &s;aid but one <HI>Pater noster,</HI> although it was &s;aid without Devotion. Al&s;o your Spirits for all Trades, and to cure all Di&s;ea&s;es, and to defend every part of the Body, is as pretty and queint a Deceit, as that of the <HI>Romi&s;h</HI> Religion; who will fell any Vocation a Saint, to keep, defend, and pro&s;per it: For they hold, that S. <HI>Hugh</HI> and S. <HI>Eu&s;tace</HI> guard Hun|ters from perils and dangers, that the Stag or Buck may not hit them on the Head with their Horns; S. <HI>Martin</HI> and S. <HI>&V;rban</HI> guard all Ale-knights, Tavern-hunters, and Drunkards from falling into the Kennell, as they go reeling to their Lodgings; S. <HI>Chri&s;pine</HI> and <HI>Chri&s;pinus</HI> defend all Shoomakers; S. <HI>Arnold</HI> pre&s;erves Millers; S. <HI>Stephen</HI> Weavers.</P>
<P>It may-be (Sir) at the fir&s;t you &s;uppo&s;ed me to be (be|cau&s;e of my plain Countrey Habit) a Woodcock fit for your Sprindge: but to be plain with you Sir, your Wor|&s;hip is deceived of me, for I can perceive you to be an ar|rant Knave; for your Tricks are &s;o thin and &s;leight, that a man of a very dim under&s;tanding may &s;ee clean through
<PB N="172" REF="90">them. Your Di&s;cour&s;e is neither knit together with the Nerves of Under&s;tanding, Wit, Art, Judgement, or Di&s;|cretion, it hath no reality or e&s;&s;ence in it: but you huddle a company of A&s;tronomical words together, wanting both coherence, method, and congruity; you pour out whole Dictionaries of &s;trange words, talk as though you could repeat <HI>Dutch Gallobelgicus,</HI> or <HI>Engli&s;h Hollings|head</HI> without Book, and lye as if you had held <HI>Herodo|tus</HI> Pen while he writ the Nine Mu&s;es. To tell you true Sir, I came not hither to finde out a Chain (for indeed I have lo&s;t none) but fir&s;t to finde out, then to expre&s;s your Roguery: therefore I think, if you had been a true Wi|zard, it were impo&s;&s;ible I &s;hould put a Trick upon you, that is &s;o excellent at the mo&s;t cou&s;ening, cheating, and conycatching Art of <HI>A&s;trology.</HI> I perceive by your &s;wearing, I am very tedious to you: but good Sir be pa|tient, for I have given your Tongue an uncontroulable li|berty, to &s;peak in the defence of your Art, that hath been &s;o bene&s;icial to you: therefore I hope you will give me leave (if not, I now will be &s;o bold as to take it) to &s;peak in the di&s;prai&s;e of it, becau&s;e it hath been &s;o prejudicial to many. If Figure-ca&s;ting be an Art, or Science, why is it not a Liberal Science as well as all the other? Or why is it not &s;tudied as freely and as lawfully as the re&s;t, but that the Profe&s;&s;our of it is forced to flie into &s;uch by-places, dark corners, and Garden-allies as the&s;e? If you are a&s;hamed to &s;hew the Rea&s;ons, I will not, but truly re|veal them; which are, either becau&s;e the general eye of the World may not take notice of the foolery of tho&s;e people, and &s;o give them warning, or that the Roguery of you that entice them may not be apparent, and &s;o you come to a de&s;erved puni&s;hment: Or that you may be thought more famous in the opinion of the ignorant, who &s;uppo&s;e that &s;uch melancholly places be&s;t &s;uit with &s;uch as &s;tudy the&s;e Arts. This may appear by the cunning Man on the <HI>Bank-&s;ide,</HI> Mother <HI>Broughton</HI> in <HI>Chick-lane,</HI>
<PB N="173" REF="90">young Ma&s;ter <HI>Olive</HI> in <HI>Turnbole-&s;treet,</HI> the &s;hag-hair'd Wizard in <HI>Pepper Alley,</HI> the Chirurgion with the Bag|pipe Cheek, Doctour <HI>Foreman</HI> at <HI>Lambeth,</HI> and you here in <HI>Moor-fields,</HI> and many &s;uch Impo&s;tours, that like the Birds of Wonder, flie the light of the City.</P>
<P>Again, there is no Art or Science, but the definition &s;hews the excellency of it. <HI>Grammar</HI> is the Science of &s;peaking and writing truly, the Fountain and Original of all Arts. <HI>Logick</HI> the Art of Arts, the Science of Sciences, that makes way for the beginning of all Methodes, and an Art that by di&s;puting findes out the Truth. <HI>Rhetorick</HI> is an Art teaching to &s;peak elegantly, by Tropes and Fi|gures. <HI>Arithmatick</HI> is the Doctrine of Numbers. <HI>Mu|&s;ick</HI> the harmonious faculty of weighing the differences of Sounds by &s;en&s;e and Rea&s;on. <HI>Geometry</HI> the Di&s;cipline of immoveable Greatne&s;&s;es, and the contemplative de&s;cri|ption of Forms. <HI>Astronomy</HI> a certain Law and Rule, con&s;idering the Motion of &s;uperiour Bodies. <HI>Philo&s;ophy</HI> the knowledge of Divine and Humane things, joyned with the &s;tudy of living well. <HI>Phy&s;ick</HI> the Art of curing and healing the &s;ick and di&s;ea&s;ed.</P>
<P>But for your <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> your &s;acred <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> your divine <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> I never read, that any Divine, Father, or Preacher ever gave any commendable de&s;cription of it: indeed, &s;ome of that wi&s;e Sect you profe&s;s your &s;elf to be of, have endeavoured to illu&s;trate and beautifie, with one of who&s;e Authority I will not allow of, becau&s;e Divinity (the Queen and Mi&s;tre&s;s of the Arts) doth de|ny it. Therefore, becau&s;e there is no true de&s;cription of this Art, if the Students of it will think them&s;elves be|holding to me, I will furni&s;h them with one.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>A new and true De&s;cription of ASTROLOGY.</HEAD>
<P><HI>AStrology is an Art, whereby cunning Knaves cheat plain hone&s;t men, that teacheth both the Theory and Practick of clo&s;e Cou&s;enage, a Science in&s;tructing all the
<PB N="174" REF="91">Students of it to lie as often as they &s;peak, and to be be|lieved no oftner then they hold their Tongues; that tells truth as often as Bawds go to Church, Witches or Whores &s;ay their Prayers, or never but when the</HI> Engli&s;h <HI>Nones and the</HI> Greek <HI>Calends meet together.</HI></P>
<P>This is the true De&s;cription of your Art. Now the virtue and power of your Art, is to calculate Deaths and Nativities, ca&s;t Figures, finde out things that it may be were never lo&s;t, gives Fools Flies to win if they can at Ordinaries, and more of the like, which I will not nominate, becau&s;e it will be trouble&s;ome to my &s;elf, and tedious to your Doctour&s;hip (whom I perceive to be as full of Frets, as a Mu&s;ician) all which I will prove to be unlawfull, to the di&s;grace of all the damna|ble and diabolical Students in that Art: and if I do not artificially confute and confound all tho&s;e that can rai&s;e a Spirit, and ca&s;t a Figure, and all other <HI>Mountebanks, Em|perick,</HI> and <HI>Impo&s;to&s;tours,</HI> &s;uch as you are that pretend to do it; then let them boldly and confidently &s;ay, I am but a meer Fre&s;h-man, and no true Ma&s;ter in my Art.</P>
<P>Some Principles, conducing to the perfect Science and knowledge of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> handle the Natures and the Parts of the <HI>Zodiack;</HI> others, the Qualities of the <HI>Pla|nets;</HI> &s;ome the Dimen&s;ions and ab&s;tru&s;e &s;ignifications of the Hou&s;es. The <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> them&s;elves divide the <HI>Zo|diack</HI> into twelve Parts or Signes, having every part con|&s;i&s;ting of thirty Degrees of Longitude, and twelve of Latitude. In the&s;e pretty Inventions they &s;hew them&s;elves <HI>Poets</HI> as well as <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> in feigning &s;o neatly: for can any of them make me beleive there are twelve Signes to be &s;een in Heaven as vi&s;ibly as tho&s;e on the Earth, or that there are any &s;uch Creatures in Heaven, as the crook|horn'd <HI>Ram,</HI> the goring <HI>Bull,</HI> the poy&s;on-&s;pitting <HI>Scor|pion,</HI> any lecherous <HI>Crab-fi&s;h,</HI> uncon&s;cionable <HI>Scales,</HI> roar|ing <HI>Lion,</HI> or hot-rained <HI>Goat?</HI> Can any of you make me believe there is &s;uch a Wilderne&s;s of wilde Bea&s;ts as the&s;e?
<PB N="175" REF="91">it may be indeed there is <HI>Virgo,</HI> becau&s;e &s;he is &s;eldome &s;een on the Earth; but for the angry <HI>Bear,</HI> &s;narling <HI>Dog,</HI> ve|nomous <HI>Dragon,</HI> greedy <HI>Vultur,</HI> hi&s;&s;ing Snake, horrible <HI>Hydra,</HI> fearfull Hare, or Man-loving <HI>Dolphin</HI> to be in Heauen, I never will believe it: how&s;oever I have heard a plain Countrey fellow &s;tand in defence of it, that if there were no &s;uch things in <HI>Heaven,</HI> &s;uch <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> as <HI>Alma|nack-makers</HI> would never put them forth in <HI>Print.</HI> But I will laugh at their ignorance, and &s;coff at all <HI>weather|wi&s;e Wizards</HI> with <HI>Bion</HI> the <HI>Philo&s;opher,</HI> that held tho&s;e <HI>A&s;tronomers</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> ridiculous, that cannot &s;ee Fi&s;hes &s;wim in the Sea, yet affirm they have &s;een them in <HI>Heaven:</HI> Or deride them, as <HI>Diogenes</HI> did.</P>
<P>The &s;ame <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> hearing a <HI>Star-catcher</HI> make a long, and (as he thought) a learned Di&s;cour&s;e about the <HI>Cele&s;tial Signes,</HI> askt him if he ever were there, he knew them &s;o well, or ever had any hope to come thither, he did lye &s;o much? For is it po&s;&s;ible (&s;aith he) that you can truly know what is in <HI>Heaven,</HI> or what is done there, when in your ab&s;ence, you cannot &s;ee or know what is done at home? But the&s;e are onely Je&s;ts put upon them, not Arguments to confute them: but I will prove there are no &s;uch things in <HI>Heaven</HI> as the&s;e they talk, and &s;hew the Rea&s;on why they feign &s;uch things to be in <HI>Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>As the diver&s;ities of the <HI>Circles</HI> de&s;cribed in the <HI>Spheres</HI> are meerly imaginary: &s;o the divi&s;ion of the <HI>Zo|diack</HI> is not material, or of the fir&s;t <HI>Creation,</HI> but onely feigned by the will and arbitrement of <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> that thereby they may know the <HI>Beginnings</HI> and the <HI>End</HI> of the <HI>Heavens motion.</HI> And the rea&s;on that they divide the <HI>Zodiack</HI> into <HI>twelve Signes,</HI> neither more or le&s;s, and that every <HI>Sign</HI> is divided into thirty <HI>Degrees,</HI> and every <HI>Degree</HI> into &s;ixty <HI>Minutes;</HI> is becau&s;e this <HI>Number</HI> is mo&s;t fit for <HI>Calculations,</HI> as the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> them&s;elves do witne&s;s: as <HI>Hales Avenradon</HI> on the Expo&s;ition of <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> and <HI>Abraham Avenozra</HI> in his Book of
<PB N="176" REF="92"><HI>Astrological Rea&s;ons,</HI> &s;o that they might, if it had plea&s;ed them, have divided the <HI>Zodiack</HI> into more or fewer parts, but they would not: which Divi&s;ion is clean contrary to the Doctrine of the <HI>Caldeans,</HI> for they teach, that there are not <HI>twelve Signes</HI> but <HI>eleven Images,</HI> &s;o couple <HI>Libra</HI> and <HI>Scorpio</HI> together.</P>
<P>A man cannot alleadge a &s;tronger Rea&s;on not to be|lieve the&s;e <HI>Astrologers</HI> and artle&s;s <HI>Empericks,</HI> then the &s;trange opinions they hold, and to hear how &s;toutly mo&s;t of them will defend the gro&s;s ab&s;urdities of many <HI>Philo|&s;ophers</HI> and <HI>Astronomers:</HI> For do you not think <HI>Eu|doxus</HI> and <HI>Aratus</HI> were mad when they would boldly affirm,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de Civ. Dei.</NOTE> that they knew how many Stars were in <HI>Heaven,</HI> and the <HI>Names</HI> and <HI>Operation</HI> of them all? Were not the ancient <HI>A&s;tronomers</HI> out of their wits, that held the Stars were &s;tuck on the Roof of <HI>Heaven,</HI> no otherwi&s;e then artificial Stars on the top of &s;ome &s;umptuous build|ing? Was it not a foundne&s;s in that <HI>Epicure,</HI> that did cer|tainly believe, that when the Stars did &s;hine in the Night that then they were but kindled of God, and when they did vani&s;h away, by the approach of the Day, that then they were quencht by him? As if we would &s;ay, when we &s;ee a man, then he is born; but when he is out of our &s;ight, then he is dead. What an ab&s;urdity was it in <HI>Ori|gen,</HI> to affirm that the <HI>Sun</HI> and the <HI>Moon,</HI> and the re&s;t of the Stars, were living Creatures, being capable both of our Vices and Virtues? grounding his wak argument up|on the words of <HI>Job,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Laectant. coufur. hanc opi|nionem. in lib. <HI>1.</HI> In&s;t. c. <HI>5.</HI></NOTE> who &s;aid; That the Stars were not pure in in the &s;ight of God: which was not meant, or &s;poken, as they were rationable Creatures, but as they were glorious Stars, and of a mo&s;t excellent and full brightne&s;s, who although they were never &s;o tralucent and bright, yet they were but dim in the &s;ight of their Maker. Therefore in my minde, what <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> or <HI>Astronomers</HI> &s;oever they be, that think Stars rationable Creatures, are worthy to be accounted mo&s;t unrea&s;onable
<PB N="177" REF="92">and &s;en&s;le&s;s them&s;elves. What a vanity was it in that <HI>Astronomer,</HI> that held, that <HI>Stars</HI> had their motion from them&s;elves? which is mo&s;t ab&s;urd: for if a Star is moved by it &s;elf, then Nature is defective, which never gave any Figure or Organ to any Star for &s;uch a Motion. But Nature never was defective in any thing, doth not abound in &s;uperfluous things, or doth any thing in vain: Therefore we mu&s;t conclude, no Star hath the motion from it &s;elf, but hath it from God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Motue Stella. rum.</NOTE> that is the true prime <HI>Motor</HI> all the wi&s;e and learned <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> have &s;o much talked of. What an Errour is it in &s;ome again, that doubt whether the World be Spherical, or round, or not? which doubt is mo&s;t vain and idle: for this &s;en&s;ible World was made according to the example and &s;imili|tude of the <HI>Intellectual,</HI> the <HI>Arch Type</HI> and <HI>Idea</HI> of the <HI>Divine Minde;</HI> in which is neither <HI>Beginning</HI> nor <HI>End,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Boetius. de con&s;o|lat. lib. <HI>3.</HI> Plato, &amp; Mercus, rius Tre&s;|megi&s;tus.</NOTE> &s;uch as you may perceive in a <HI>Spherical Figure.</HI> Again, it may be argued mathematically thus, that it is a fit thing for that Body that contains within it all things, &s;hould have the mo&s;t capable Figure, which is is <HI>Spherical.</HI></P>
<P>Was it not a great over&s;ight in <HI>Cicero, Plato,</HI> and ma|ny other <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> to believe, that there is a <HI>mu&s;ical con&s;ent</HI> and <HI>&s;ound</HI> wrought by the ordinary motion of the <HI>Stars</HI> and <HI>Planets?</HI> which cannot be:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. lib. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> for the <HI>cele&s;tial</HI> and &s;uperiour part of <HI>Heaven</HI> hath no <HI>Air</HI> in it, without which there can be no &s;ound made; neither do <HI>cele&s;tial Bodies,</HI> while they move in their <HI>Spheres,</HI> touch any hard or har&s;h thing, as the <HI>Finger</HI> doth the <HI>Lute</HI> or <HI>Harp,</HI> which is the cau&s;e of &s;uch <HI>mu&s;ical</HI> and <HI>harmonious Ra|ptures.</HI> Al&s;o to what purpo&s;e was it in many Writers, to hold a difference whereabout the middle of the <HI>Earth</HI> &s;hould be? But I fear I have erred too far out of the path I am bound to follow: therefore I will come into it again.</P>
<P>There cannot be a greater argument of the fal&s;ene&s;s of <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> then the leadly <HI>Antypathy</HI> that is between
<PB N="178" REF="93">them concerning the Art it &s;elf; for &s;ome of them hold, that the <HI>Degrees, Planets, Qualities, Apparances, Ends, Exaltations,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Diver&s;ita|tis qual|tatum &amp; influenti|arum Coe|li ab ef|fectihu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> cogno|cuntur.</NOTE> and <HI>Fallings,</HI> they attribute to the <HI>Planets,</HI> may be attained to by the diligent ob&s;ervation of the Ef|fects of the <HI>Heavens,</HI> who by degrees may come to the knowledge of the <HI>Cau&s;es:</HI> for they think, that in the be|ginning of the world God gave Men &s;o long Lives, that they might give their Mindes to Speculation, whereby they might finde out <HI>A&s;tronomy, A&s;trology,</HI> and &s;uch Arts and Sciences, which require a long, large, and exact experience. In this I believe they &s;ay true: for &s;ome &s;ay (it is a &s;in to bely the Devil) by long ob&s;ervation they may learn many Experiments concerning <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> yet, if by meer experience they had attained to the Principles, then not once, but often, they &s;hould have ob&s;erved the &s;ame Con&s;tellation, which is oppo&s;ite to the Tenent of mo&s;t of them, who hold, that the &s;ame Con&s;tellation can|not appear wholly again, unle&s;s it be after the revolution of many thou&s;and years: and if they could perceive them &s;ooner, yet doth it not &s;uffice to ob&s;erve the &s;ame particular Con&s;tellation, becau&s;e &s;eeing the influence of no Star tends upward, it is decreed by <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> that it is uncertain whether the experimental effect is to be a&s;cribed to this or that <HI>Planet,</HI> unle&s;s by chance it be to the Sun or Moon, which are often propo&s;ed to us in operation, when oftentimes they are the influence of a le&s;&s;er <HI>Star,</HI> al|though farther from us. For another Con&s;tellation in &s;upe|riour parts doth vary, hinder, and dimini&s;h the operation of <HI>Heaven</HI> in inferiour parts, the di&s;po&s;ition of the mat|ter. But &s;uppo&s;e the influences of Con&s;tellations may be under&s;tood, yet they are not &s;ufficiently made manife&s;t, as may appear to him that reades the many doubts that ari&s;e about <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> concerning the Motion of the <HI>Stars,</HI> the <HI>Firmament,</HI> and the <HI>Planets.</HI> Some grant, that there is a <HI>Heaven</HI> above the <HI>Firmament:</HI> &s;ome late Writers make u&s;e of and practi&s;e another <HI>Heaven;</HI> the <HI>Chalde|ans</HI>
<PB N="179" REF="93">and <HI>Egyptians</HI> one Motion, that is to &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Stella|rum fixa|rum mo|tus tri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> plex.</NOTE> diurnal to the <HI>Stars: Ptolomy</HI> adds a &s;econd, which is from the <HI>East</HI> to the <HI>We&s;t; Thebit</HI> a third, which is from the <HI>North</HI> to the <HI>South:</HI> but they all vary about the <HI>time.</HI> And won|der not, if they vary about the fixt <HI>Star,</HI> &s;eeing they differ about the Motion of the <HI>Sun</HI> and the <HI>Moon,</HI> for the pre|ci&s;e knowledge of the <HI>Solar Year:</HI> and it is needle&s;s to re|port, how much they differ about the declination of the <HI>Sun.</HI> Therefore, why &s;hould any man believe them, when their Writings and Opinions differ &s;o far from one ano|ther? for it is certain, that if <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> be deceived but in one <HI>Degree,</HI> in taking an <HI>hour,</HI> they err likewi&s;e in the Divi&s;ion of the <HI>Hou&s;es;</HI> for the <HI>Degree</HI> will change the <HI>Sign:</HI> then is it nece&s;&s;ary that their experiments are deceit|full. The <HI>Chaldeans</HI> (the mo&s;t anciente&s;t <HI>A&s;trologers</HI>) differ from the opinion of the <HI>Egyptians;</HI> for the <HI>Egypti|ans</HI> divide the <HI>Zodiack</HI> into <HI>twelve Signes,</HI> but the <HI>Chal|deans</HI> into <HI>eleven Images.</HI> Again, &s;ome of them di&s;agree in their <HI>Degrees:</HI> &s;ome of them will have this <HI>Planet</HI> placed in this <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> another in the third, fourth, fifth, or fixth. Thus is there &s;uch a deadly enmity between the&s;e <HI>heavenly Doctours,</HI> that like &s;o many <HI>Ma&s;ters of the no|ble Science of Defence,</HI> they &s;trive to break the head of each others Reputation, and &s;tand at defiance with each other. For when <HI>Ptolomy</HI> hath his <HI>Jacobs</HI> Staff in his hand, he thought him&s;elf as skilfull at it as <HI>Turner</HI> was at his <HI>Rapier</HI> and <HI>Dagger,</HI> and was a&s;&s;ured, that <HI>Hermes Tre&s;megi&s;tus</HI> dur&s;t not &s;tand up again&s;t him. When <HI>Alchibicius</HI> had got hold of his <HI>A&s;trolabe,</HI> he was as &s;afe as <HI>Robin the Devil</HI> with his <HI>Sword</HI> and <HI>Target,</HI> and dur&s;t progno&s;ticate, that neither <HI>Albumazar</HI> nor <HI>Abo|azar</HI> dur&s;t challenge him. When <HI>Abraham Haly,</HI> or <HI>Thebit,</HI> were peeping through their <HI>Pro&s;pective Gla&s;&s;es,</HI> they did believe, that neither <HI>Avenozra</HI> nor <HI>Algazel</HI> dur&s;t look them in the face. Nay, do but look into the humours of our Modern <HI>Calculatours,</HI> and you &s;hall
<PB N="180" REF="94">finde them rail one again&s;t another as bitterly as <HI>Na&s;h</HI> again&s;t <HI>Harvy;</HI> and why is all this? but becau&s;e they condemn each other for lying; when <HI>Heaven</HI> and <HI>Earth, God</HI> and <HI>Man,</HI> know, that he that lyeth the &s;eldome&s;t, doth lie very often. Some of them will progno&s;ticate, that on &s;uch a day very infallibly there &s;hall be <HI>Rain,</HI> when it is a <HI>thou&s;and pound</HI> to a <HI>Farthing token,</HI> but all the <HI>People</HI> dwelling in that <HI>Meridian</HI> his <HI>Almanack</HI> was cal|culated for, but will finde them Lyars. Yet, how&s;oever they do often mi&s;s in their Prediction, when they foretell of the di&s;po&s;ition of the <HI>weather,</HI> of <HI>war,</HI> of <HI>&s;ickne&s;s,</HI> of the <HI>change of Times,</HI> and of <HI>Laws;</HI> yet I cannot deny altogether, but that futures may be &s;een by the Contem|plation of <HI>Heaven.</HI> For there is none can doubt, but that God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ari&s;t. lib. Metere. rum, &amp; de Gene|ratione.</NOTE> the great Architect of this vi&s;ible and invi&s;ible World, infu&s;ed a manifold virtue and operation in the <HI>Heavens:</HI> but that many of the&s;e Qualities are &s;ecret, and occult, the kingly Prophet <HI>David</HI> telleth us, &s;aying; God numbreth the multitude of <HI>Stars,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Corpora inferiora &s;ubjiciun|tur &s;upe|riorum &amp; influen|tiis.</NOTE> and impo&s;eth &s;e|verall Names unto them. Therefore it is manife&s;t, that things are named according to their properties, which none but he that made them, can perfectly and di&s;tinctly under&s;tand. Yet many <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> by their Speculation knew and ob&s;erved the general influence of <HI>Heaven,</HI> by their <HI>Motion, Heat,</HI> and <HI>Light:</HI> which made <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> af|firm, that this <HI>Elementary World</HI> is contiguous to <HI>Heaven,</HI> and that the <HI>Sun,</HI> under the <HI>oblique Circle,</HI> or the <HI>Zodi|ack</HI> cau&s;eth <HI>Generations.</HI> Which is not ab&s;urd to affirm: for certainly, the thick and gro&s;s <HI>Bodies</HI> are governed by the thin, and that the influences of the <HI>Stars</HI> do rule the differences of <HI>Bodies;</HI> as in the <HI>Suns</HI> ri&s;ing or &s;etting, we &s;ee the times of the year do vary, and by the increa&s;e and decrea&s;e of the <HI>Moon,</HI> &s;ome Creatures are augmented and dimini&s;hed; as <HI>Shell-fi&s;h,</HI> at the wonderfull flux and re|flux of the <HI>Sea.</HI> But to be of the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> opinion, that the <HI>Stars</HI> have a power over the Will of <HI>Man,</HI> I ne|ver
<PB N="181" REF="94">will believe; for the <HI>Mind</HI> cannot be &s;ubject to the Po|&s;ition of any <HI>Star:</HI> nor is it at all times true, that the dif|ferences of <HI>Bodies</HI> are cau&s;ed by the influence of <HI>Heaven:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sexus di|ver&s;itas.</NOTE> for two <HI>Twins</HI> of divers <HI>Sexes</HI> may be conceived in the &s;ame in&s;tant a <HI>Man</HI> and a <HI>Woman.</HI> And though many hold, that there may be a general influence into <HI>Bodies,</HI> yet not into the faculties of the <HI>Soul</HI> or <HI>Minde;</HI> for a <HI>cor|poral &s;ub&s;tance</HI> cannot cau&s;e an <HI>operation</HI> in a <HI>&s;piritual e&s;&s;ence.</HI> But the Rea&s;on that many <HI>Astrologers</HI> and <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> err in their <HI>opinion</HI> (although there be an influence in the <HI>Stars</HI> concerning the <HI>fertility</HI> of the <HI>year,</HI> of <HI>pe&s;tilence,</HI> of <HI>war,</HI> of <HI>thunder, hail, rain,</HI> fair or foul <HI>weather</HI>) is, becau&s;e they do not keep them&s;elves within the compa&s;s of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> but thir&s;ty after <HI>vain-glory,</HI> go beyond their <HI>limits,</HI> thinking to pre&s;age that by the <HI>Stars,</HI> which po&s;&s;ibly they cannot do. Again, mo&s;t <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> informer Ages held divers opinions concerning the <HI>Prin|ciples</HI> of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and they (though but <HI>Pupils</HI> in this <HI>Art</HI>) pre&s;ume to come in with their <HI>opinions,</HI> becau&s;e they would be thought Ma&s;ters of their <HI>Art:</HI> and although oftentimes they hit upon the di&s;po&s;ition of the <HI>weather,</HI> and <HI>future things,</HI> by the ob&s;ervation of the <HI>Heavens;</HI> yet at all times, concerning the di&s;po&s;ition of the <HI>Corn</HI> e&s;pecially, they cannot chu&s;e but err, becau&s;e the four parts of the <HI>year</HI> are &s;o different in <HI>quality,</HI> &s;o that it is impo&s;|&s;ible, but that the exce&s;s of the <HI>heat</HI> in one part of the <HI>year,</HI> and the exce&s;s of <HI>cold</HI> in the other doth di&s;temper the <HI>Soil.</HI> Concerning the <HI>Predictions</HI> of <HI>Di&s;ea&s;es,</HI> they may the ea&s;ie&s;t tell: for by the corruption of the <HI>Air, Phy&s;ick</HI> teacheth us, many <HI>Infections</HI> may putrifie the <HI>Brain.</HI> This onely &s;hall &s;uffice for <HI>A&s;trologers.</HI> Now I will come to the <HI>Art</HI> it &s;elf, whereby they can calculate <HI>Deaths</HI> and <HI>Nativities,</HI> tell <HI>Fortunes,</HI> either good or bad: which they fetch as far as from the <HI>twelve Hou&s;es</HI> they have built in <HI>Heaven.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB N="182" REF="95">
<HEAD>The &s;ignification of the twelve Hou&s;es of Heaven.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e <HI>twelve Hou&s;es</HI> are the Tenements mo&s;t com|monly &s;uch <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> as you your &s;elf do let out to &s;imple people, whereby they purcha&s;e to them&s;elves much Money, and to their Tenants much &s;orrow. And to tell truth, the&s;e <HI>twelve Signes,</HI> placed in their <HI>twelve Hou&s;es,</HI> are like a <HI>Jury</HI> that &s;it upon the <HI>life</HI> &amp; <HI>death</HI> of <HI>Mortality.</HI> By the di&s;po&s;ition of the fir&s;t <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> by the <HI>Planets</HI> and <HI>Stars</HI> fixt in it, by the <HI>natures</HI> and divers <HI>effects</HI> that are wrought by them, many <HI>wonders</HI> are di&s;covered: as to know of what condition he &s;hall be of, either as <HI>liberal</HI> as an <HI>Aldermans</HI> Son and Heir, or as <HI>penurious</HI> as the <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Catch-pole, that will feed his <HI>Dogs</HI> with <HI>Rabbets</HI> in <HI>Lent,</HI> while he &s;its eating a piece of <HI>poor John:</HI> it can tell of what <HI>Vocation</HI> or <HI>Calling</HI> a Man &s;hall be of, either a Stubble-bearded <HI>Barri&s;ter,</HI> and wrangle &s;toutly and loudly at the <HI>Bar;</HI> or whether he &s;hall be a <HI>Souldier,</HI> and fight bravely, if a man do but &s;corn for to pledge him a deep Health unto&s;ome of his White-Frier Mi&s;tre&s;&s;es, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>By the &s;econd <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> you can foretell of the pro&s;perity or adver&s;ity of him that is born: whether he &s;hall be a rich <HI>Citizen,</HI> and break three or four &s;everall times of &s;et purpo&s;e, either of &s;et purpo&s;e to cou&s;en the World, or out of meer poverty; whether he &s;hall be an <HI>Heir,</HI> and inhe|rit his Fathers vices as well as his riches; or whether he &s;hall be a <HI>Marchant,</HI> and loo&s;e his Goods on &s;alt Seas, or have them drown'd in the <HI>Canaries</HI> of &s;ome Tavern.</P>
<P>By the third <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> you can judge of the &s;ecre&s;ie of the Con&s;cience, whether it be good or bad toward God, or Man. In my Con&s;cience they err from the truth at the lea&s;t a thou&s;and <HI>Dutch</HI> Miles, becau&s;e the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t</HI> tells us, that <HI>No mar knows whether he de&s;erves Hate or Love;</HI> &s;o that by this we may perceive that the &s;ecrets of the Con&s;cience are onely known to God. Therefore this mad|ne&s;s
<PB N="183" REF="95">of the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> is not onely to be confuted, but burnt for an Here&s;ie. Be&s;ides this wickedne&s;s, they hold there are two mo&s;t fortunate <HI>Planets</HI> above all the re&s;t; which are <HI>Venus</HI> and <HI>Jupiter,</HI> and that <HI>Venus</HI> gives the felicity of this life, and <HI>Jupiter</HI> of the life to come, which I utterly di&s;allow of: for if a man follow &s;uch a wanton Wench as <HI>Venus</HI> is, he &s;hall in &s;mall time lie &s;weating in &s;ome Ho&s;pital, or groaning in &s;ome <HI>Barber Chirurgions</HI> hou&s;e, which I think can be no great felicity; and he that follows the humour of joviall <HI>Jupiter,</HI> &s;hall finde, and quickly know, that it de&s;erves that place which is contrary to <HI>Immortality.</HI> So that by the a&s;&s;ertion of the&s;e <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> who&s;oever is born when <HI>Venus</HI> reigns &s;hall live in this World mo&s;t plea&s;antly, in &s;pite of ill Fortune: and when <HI>Jupiter</HI> reigns, he &s;hall live in the World to come, although he live never &s;o wickedly, for you make no exception, but indefinitely &s;ay, They &s;hall.</P>
<P><HI>Maternus</HI> was as mad, or rather as wicked as the re&s;t, who writes and affirms, <HI>that when</HI> Saturn <HI>is placed in</HI> Leo, <HI>men live long, who&s;e Souls afterward &s;hall go to God.</HI> Mark but how con&s;idently and arrogantly he &s;peaks this, which I will confute with the words of our <HI>Saviour,</HI> who &s;aith; <HI>Who&s;oever will enter into the Kingdom of God, mu&s;t keep his Commandments.</HI> And not who&s;oever will enter into the Kingdom of God mu&s;t be born when <HI>Sa|turn</HI> is in <HI>Leo. Albumaezar</HI> al&s;o is as devili&s;h as the re&s;t, heaping impiety on impiety; affirming that <HI>he that prays to God in the hour which the</HI> Moon <HI>with the</HI> Head <HI>of the</HI> Dragon <HI>is joyned to</HI> Jupiter, <HI>&s;hall obtain what&s;oever he asketh.</HI> If this &s;acrilegious Foolery is true, why do not the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> them&s;elves ob&s;erve this hour, that they may pray that they may never more err, or that they may ob|tain &s;o much Riches that they never after may be forced to &s;et their Lies to &s;ale, or that they may live no more on the four-penny reward of &s;ome Suburb-&s;inner, for ca&s;ting her hot water; or the &s;ix-penny gratuity of &s;ome old Maid
<PB N="184" REF="96">&s;ervant that would be loath to die a Virgin: or they may pray that they never more &s;ell their good Fortunes to <HI>Oy|&s;ter-wives</HI> and <HI>Butter-women</HI> for grea&s;ie two-pences? But by this <HI>Argument</HI> that you cannot follow that you pre&s;cribe to others, <HI>a man may &s;mell your Roguery to be as rank as a Mountain-goat.</HI></P>
<P>By the fourth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you will judge of the <HI>e&s;&s;ence</HI> of the <HI>Childe</HI> that is born, how long it &s;hall <HI>live,</HI> and how <HI>well;</HI> if it &s;hall be as long-lived as a <HI>Raven,</HI> or <HI>Stag,</HI> or as &s;hort-lived as a <HI>Goat,</HI> or <HI>Cock-Sparrow.</HI></P>
<P>By the fifth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you can judge, how he &s;hall <HI>live,</HI> and affect his <HI>Parents,</HI> whether he &s;hall love his <HI>Father</HI> better then his <HI>Mother,</HI> or his <HI>Mother</HI> then his <HI>Father. Ptolomy</HI> thinks you may judge by the tenth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> but <HI>Malleus ab A&s;cendente.</HI></P>
<P>By the &s;ixth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you will know of what <HI>Profe&s;&s;ion</HI> it &s;hall be of, either a <HI>Fool</HI> or a <HI>Phy&s;ician,</HI> a <HI>Para&s;ite</HI> or a <HI>Courtier,</HI> a <HI>Beggar</HI> or an <HI>Alchymist,</HI> a <HI>mad man</HI> or a <HI>Mu&s;ician,</HI> a <HI>Thief</HI> or a <HI>Tailor.</HI></P>
<P>By the &s;eventh <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you will judge what <HI>Wife</HI> he &s;hall have, either a delicate young plump <HI>Helena,</HI> that looks as merry as <HI>May,</HI> and as jocund as <HI>June;</HI> or an old decrepit <HI>Lamia,</HI> that is as fro&s;ty as <HI>February,</HI> and as dull as <HI>December;</HI> whether &s;he &s;hall be as mute as a <HI>Fi&s;h,</HI> or have a <HI>Tongue</HI> as loud as a <HI>Fi&s;h-wife.</HI></P>
<P>By the eighth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you will judge how unfortunate|ly a <HI>man</HI> will <HI>die,</HI> either on the <HI>water,</HI> like a <HI>Pyrate,</HI> or in the <HI>water,</HI> like a <HI>Fi&s;h,</HI> or on a <HI>Tree</HI> like a <HI>High-way-man,</HI> or on the <HI>Bough</HI> like a <HI>Bird:</HI> whether he &s;hall be <HI>&s;terv'd</HI> to <HI>Death</HI> in a <HI>Pri&s;on,</HI> like &s;ome <HI>Prodigal;</HI> or in &s;ome <HI>Bur|dello,</HI> like a <HI>French Mon&s;ieur,</HI> or a <HI>Spani&s;h Don,</HI> who&s;e <HI>Bones</HI> the <HI>Neapolitan Dog</HI> hath pickt &s;o clean, that they would &s;erve well &s;ome <HI>Gilder</HI> to burni&s;h with.</P>
<P>By the ninth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you can judge, whether he &s;hall be a <HI>Traveller,</HI> as famous as our <HI>Engli&s;h Coriate</HI> or out|landi&s;h <HI>Peter Columbus;</HI> what fortue he &s;hall have in his <HI>Travell,</HI> what <HI>Fa&s;hions</HI> he &s;hall wear.</P>
<PB N="185" REF="96">
<P>By the tenth <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you can judge of the &s;tate of the <HI>Mother.</HI></P>
<P>By the eleventh <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> you can judge of what <HI>Com|plexion</HI> he &s;hall be <HI>Sanguine, Chollerick, Phlegmatick,</HI> or <HI>Melancholly,</HI> or what <HI>hair</HI> he &s;hall be of, of a <HI>brown</HI> or <HI>Abraham</HI> colour, as the <HI>Engli&s;h;</HI> of a <HI>yellow,</HI> as the <HI>Dane; flaxen,</HI> as the <HI>Iri&s;h;</HI> or <HI>black,</HI> as the <HI>Spaniard.</HI></P>
<P>The twelfth and la&s;t <HI>Hou&s;e,</HI> where he &s;hall dwell, and what <HI>Neighbours</HI> he &s;hall have.</P>
<P>Thus have I run over the <HI>twelve Cele&s;tial Hou&s;es,</HI> whereby you can infallibly foretell of our good or bad <HI>Fortunes,</HI> according to the <HI>nature</HI> and <HI>influence</HI> of that <HI>Planet</HI> that reigned at our <HI>births,</HI> in which you are mo&s;t lamentably deceived: for you &s;ay, <HI>There is no man born but he is born either under an Au&s;pitious or Malevolent Star, and according to that Planets influence he is born, under, he &s;hall thrive and pro&s;per;</HI> al&s;o you &s;ay, that <HI>eve|ry Planet bath but one influence, either good or bad.</HI> Now that this is fal&s;e I in&s;tantly will prove. I have heard of two <HI>Bretbren</HI> that were <HI>Twins;</HI> now there is no <HI>Astro|loger</HI> will deny, but that the&s;e <HI>Brethren</HI> were born un|der one <HI>Constellation,</HI> becau&s;e they were <HI>born</HI> within the &s;pace of one <HI>Minute,</HI> and being <HI>born</HI> under a <HI>malevolent Star,</HI> they mu&s;t be both <HI>unfortunate;</HI> and under a <HI>&s;miling</HI> and <HI>luckie Star, happy.</HI> But not long after the <HI>birth</HI> of the&s;e <HI>Twins,</HI> there was a <HI>Fortune-teller</HI> did <HI>calculate</HI> their <HI>Nativities,</HI> and told the <HI>Parents</HI> of the&s;e <HI>Children</HI> that they &s;hould both be <HI>fortunate,</HI> becau&s;e he perceived they were <HI>born</HI> under a <HI>fortunate Planet,</HI> which proved contra|ry to his <HI>predictions:</HI> for the&s;e wanting means belike to &s;upply their Wants, being come to mens E&s;tates, did a|gain&s;t &s;ome <HI>good Time,</HI> (although they had no <HI>Lands</HI> or <HI>Tenements</HI> of their own) take up other mens <HI>Rents</HI> either on <HI>Newmarket-heath</HI> or <HI>Salisbury-plain;</HI> who for tho&s;e Facts, to be &s;hort, were taken, carried before a <HI>Ju&s;tice,</HI> by him committed to <HI>Pri&s;on,</HI> the next <HI>Sizes</HI> were brought
<PB N="186" REF="97">to their <HI>Triall, convicted, condemned,</HI> and <HI>judged</HI> to be <HI>hanged.</HI> Now all this while their <HI>fortunes</HI> were equal, but contrary to the <HI>prediction</HI> of the <HI>A&s;trologer;</HI> but belike the <HI>Star</HI> that reigned at their <HI>births</HI> had a double <HI>influ|ence,</HI> which is contrary to your <HI>Writings,</HI> for when the&s;e <HI>Brethren</HI> were brought to the place of <HI>Execution,</HI> and rea|dy to be <HI>turned off,</HI> there came a <HI>Reprieve</HI> for the young|e&s;t, who was carried back again to <HI>pri&s;on,</HI> had his <HI>pardon,</HI> and afterward became an <HI>hone&s;t man;</HI> but the <HI>elde&s;t</HI> with the lo&s;s of his <HI>Life</HI> &s;atisfied the <HI>Law.</HI></P>
<P>There was another <HI>A&s;trologer</HI> did divine, that one <HI>Donello Forobo&s;co</HI> a notorious <HI>Thief</HI> &s;hould be <HI>hanged,</HI> which did come &s;omething nigh his <HI>prediction,</HI> for he be|ing a hungry <HI>Lazarello de Tormes,</HI> robb'd <HI>Market-wo|men,</HI> and <HI>Countrey people</HI> of <HI>Chees-cakes,</HI> and <HI>Butter|milk,</HI> for which Fact he was <HI>apprehended</HI> and <HI>condemned</HI> to be <HI>hanged;</HI> &s;o coming to the <HI>Gallows,</HI> he &s;tudied how he might e&s;cape that <HI>Destiny;</HI> at the la&s;t, &s;eeing his time, he flung <HI>Ginny-Pepper</HI> in the <HI>Hangman's</HI> eys as he came to put the Nooze over his Neck, lept off the Ladder, and &s;hewed him&s;elf a very nimble Foot-man, for he ran a|way, making toward the Sea, which was nigh the place of <HI>Execution,</HI> and endeavouring to &s;wim to &s;ave him&s;elf from tho&s;e that pur&s;ued him, the <HI>Cramp</HI> took him in the great <HI>Toe:</HI> and &s;o, whereas by the Law of Nations, and the opinion of the <HI>Astrologer</HI> he &s;hould have been hang|ed, he was mo&s;t unfortunately drowned: and thus the&s;e learned <HI>Astrologers</HI> were deceived.</P>
<P>It &s;tands to great rea&s;on, that the&s;e <HI>Arti&s;ts</HI> cannot at all times tell other mens <HI>fortunes,</HI> when they cannot fore|tell of their own good or bad luck: for there was an <HI>A&s;trologer</HI> made a <HI>prediction</HI> of <HI>Henry</HI> the &s;evenths <HI>Death,</HI> (but &s;ome attribute this to <HI>Alphon&s;us</HI> King of <HI>Arragon</HI>) and that &s;hould <HI>die</HI> on &s;uch a year. The King hearing of the <HI>South-&s;ayer,</HI> &s;ent for him, and askt him if he were an <HI>A&s;trologer,</HI> and could tell <HI>fortunes,</HI> to whom
<PB N="187" REF="97">he an&s;wered, <HI>Yes.</HI> The King again askt him, if he never did fore&s;ee by his <HI>Art</HI> that there was imminent Danger, that much about that time &s;hould hang over his head, meaning the <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> to whom he an&s;wered, <HI>No.</HI> Then the King replied, <HI>Thou art a fooli&s;h Figure-caster, for I am more skilfull then thou art; for as &s;oon as I &s;aw thee, I in&s;tantly prophe&s;ied thou &s;houldst be in pri&s;on before night, which thou &s;halt finde true:</HI> &s;o the King in|&s;tantly &s;ent him thither. But he had not been long in cu|&s;tody, but the King &s;ent for him again, to know, if he could ca&s;t a <HI>figure</HI> truly, to know <HI>how long he &s;hould be in pri&s;on;</HI> to whom he &s;till an&s;wered, <HI>No.</HI> Then the King &s;aid, <HI>Thou art an illiterate fellow, that neither can fore|tell of either good or bad luck that &s;hall befall thy &s;elf; therefor I will conclude, thou can&s;t not foretell of mine.</HI> So forthwith &s;et him at liberty, giving him many di&s;|gracefull words. Yet how&s;oever the&s;e <HI>Examples</HI> touch the <HI>Reputation</HI> of tho&s;e that profe&s;s your <HI>Art;</HI> yet I will not infallibly &s;ay, that &s;uch things were never done, al|though it be not ordinary to do them; for it is almo&s;t in|credible to believe, yet I per&s;wade my &s;elf that it is true what <HI>Zonoras</HI> declareth, that the day before <HI>Julian</HI> the <HI>Apostata</HI> died, a certain man lying in a &s;olitary place by him&s;elf, &s;aw a heap of <HI>Stars</HI> in the <HI>Element,</HI> which he &s;aid, did expre&s;s the&s;e words, <HI>Hodie</HI> Julianus <HI>in</HI> Per&s;ia <HI>oc|ciditur.</HI> That <HI>this day</HI> Julian <HI>the</HI> Apo&s;tata <HI>is &s;lain in Per&s;ia.</HI> And the time being afterwards noted, it was per|fectly known that he died that day. But this I take to be an extraordinary <HI>Revelation.</HI></P>
<P>Another <HI>A&s;trologer</HI> did foretell a <HI>Prelate,</HI> an Acquain|tance of his, that <HI>he &s;hould have a great fall.</HI> Therefore the <HI>Prelate,</HI> that he might be more &s;afe (knowing the <HI>Astrologer</HI> to be a learned Man) would never go higher then the lowe&s;t Room of his Hou&s;e; would never dine, or &s;up, but &s;it on the ground; when he went to Bed, would lie on the ground; hoping by this warine&s;s, to change the
<PB N="188" REF="98"><HI>po&s;ition</HI> of the <HI>Star</HI> that did threaten him: but it was in vain for a while after News was brought him, that he was <HI>depo&s;ed of his Bi&s;hoprick:</HI> who in&s;tantly cried out, <HI>Now the A&s;trologers prediction is come to pa&s;s, for indeed I can fall no lower.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Byron, Mar&s;hall</HI> of <HI>France,</HI> was told by a <HI>Wizard,</HI> that a <HI>Burgundian</HI> &s;hould be the death of him: upon which <HI>prediction</HI> he gave expre&s;s Command, that <HI>not a man of that Nation &s;hould come nigh him:</HI> but all would not help, for he found the <HI>prediction</HI> true, by the <HI>lo&s;s</HI> of his <HI>head,</HI> which a <HI>Burgundian</HI> cut off, that was his <HI>Execu|tioner.</HI> The&s;e two la&s;t &s;eem to &s;avour &s;omewhat of the <HI>Devils</HI> &s;ubtleties, and the <HI>A&s;trologers Amphibologies.</HI></P>
<P>There was another <HI>Wizard</HI> (as it was reported to me by a learned and rare <HI>Scholar,</HI> as we were di&s;cour&s;ing a|bout <HI>A&s;trology</HI>) that &s;ome tweuty years before his <HI>Death</HI> told <HI>Cuffe</HI> our <HI>Countreyman,</HI> and a mo&s;t excellent <HI>Gre|cian,</HI> that <HI>he &s;hould come to an untimely end:</HI> at which, <HI>Cuffe</HI> laughed, and in a &s;coffing manner intreated the <HI>Astrologer</HI> to &s;hew him in what manner he &s;hould come to his end: who condi&s;cended to him, and calling for <HI>Cards,</HI> intreated <HI>Cuffe</HI> to draw out of the <HI>Pack</HI> three, which plea&s;ed him; who did &s;o, and drew three <HI>Knaves:</HI> who (by the <HI>Wizards</HI> direction) laid them on the <HI>Table</HI> again with their <HI>faces</HI> downwards, and then told him, if he de&s;ired to &s;ee the &s;umm of his bad <HI>fortunes</HI> reckoned up, to take up tho&s;e <HI>Cards,</HI> one after the other, and look on the <HI>in&s;ide of them,</HI> and he &s;hould be truly re&s;olved of his <HI>future fortunes. Cuffe</HI> did as he was pre&s;cribed, and fir&s;t took up the <HI>fir&s;t Card,</HI> and looking on it, he &s;aw the <HI>portraiture</HI> of him&s;elf, <HI>Cap &agrave; Pe,</HI> having men compa&s;&s;ing him about with <HI>Bills</HI> and <HI>Halberds:</HI> then he took up the <HI>&s;econd Card,</HI> and there &s;aw the <HI>Judge</HI> that &s;ate upon him: at la&s;t, he took up the <HI>la&s;t Card,</HI> and &s;aw <HI>Tybourn,</HI> the place of his <HI>Executiou,</HI> and the <HI>hangman,</HI> at which he then laughed heartily; but many years after, being <HI>condemned
<PB N="189" REF="98">for Trea&s;on,</HI> he rememembred the <HI>fatal prediction</HI> of the <HI>Wizard,</HI> and before his <HI>death</HI> revealed it to &s;ome of his <HI>friends.</HI> If this be true, it was more then <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and no better then flat <HI>Sorcery</HI> or <HI>Conjuring,</HI> which is devi|li&s;h.</P>
<P>There was another (with whom I will end) that was told by a <HI>Scholar,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Anoni|mus.</NOTE> that <HI>he &s;hould have his brains beaten out:</HI> but he was &s;o wary of him&s;elf, that he would not lie in a Hou&s;e for fear the Roof &s;hould fall on his Head, re|&s;olving to lie in a <HI>Tent;</HI> but that Re&s;olution la&s;ted not long, for he dur&s;t not tru&s;t him&s;elf there, for fear the great <HI>pole,</HI> that went cro&s;s over it, &s;hould knock him on the head: then he re&s;olved to lie under &s;ome <HI>Tree,</HI> but then he feared, if he &s;hould fall a&s;leep in a windy night, the <HI>Tree</HI> might fall on him. He dur&s;t not go into any Town, lea&s;t a Tile &s;hould crack his Crown: &s;o that what place &s;oever he went into, he &s;till was very wary of him&s;elf. At the la&s;t, as he was walking in a hot Summers day in the Fields, he was forced to put off his Hat, and having a <HI>bald head,</HI> a &s;trange <HI>bird</HI> that was in the <HI>Element</HI> having an <HI>Oi&s;ter</HI> in her <HI>Claw,</HI> thinking it to be &s;ome <HI>white Stone,</HI> let it fall on his <HI>head,</HI> and &s;o beat out his <HI>brains.</HI> Thus for all his care and providence, he came to his <HI>untimely end,</HI> and fulfilled the <HI>prediction</HI> of the <HI>A&s;trologer,</HI> or rather <HI>Conjurer,</HI> if the <HI>Tale</HI> be true, which I &s;carce believe.</P>
<P>Thus Sir, you &s;ee, I will not &s;o much di&s;parage your <HI>black Art,</HI> as to &s;ay, that <HI>you cannot foretell of things to come, calculate Nativities,</HI> or <HI>do &s;trange things,</HI> though not by it, but by the help of the <HI>Devil,</HI> who abu&s;eth you: but I &s;ay, <HI>they ought not to be done,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jerom in Com. &s;uper pre-phetam Sophoniam.</NOTE> becau&s;e as S. <HI>Jcrome</HI> &s;aith, <HI>You lift up your &s;elf again&s;t the knowledge of God, giving your &s;elves to a feigned Art, imputing every Accident that happens in a Year or an Age,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Greg. in Hom. Epiphaniae accepia occa&s;ione ab appa|ritione Stellae quam Mag<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> viderunt in Oriente Nate Domino contra Matheresati|cos, oratiouem texons.</NOTE> <HI>to the ri&s;ing or &s;etting of Stars, thinking that humane af|fairs are managed by the cour&s;e and falling
<PB N="190" REF="99">of the Stars,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ambro&s;. in 4. lib. Hexa. August</NOTE> <HI>and while you promi&s;e health to others, you are ignor ant of your own puni&s;hments.</HI> Again he &s;aith, that <HI>to &s;eek out the cour&s;e of the Stars, and the events that fol|low them, is the &s;candal of</HI> Egypt, <HI>and plain Idolatry.</HI> S. <HI>Ambro&s;e</HI> &s;aith. <HI>He that thinks to expre&s;s the &s;everall qualities of Nativities, and will tell what di&s;po&s;ition the Childe &s;hall be of as &s;oon as it is born, is both a villanous and vain man, becau&s;e it is mo&s;t wicked and impo&s;&s;ible to do.</HI> S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith that <HI>the&s;e A&s;trologers and South-&s;ayers hold, that all things good or bad happen by fortune, which is both wicked and heatheni&s;h: for the</HI> Gentiles <HI>cal|led</HI> Fortuna, Dea, <HI>or a divine power, not con&s;idering any mans merits, but gave Riches to one, and mi&s;ery to ano|ther.</HI> And the better to expre&s;s her, they made her <HI>Image</HI> according to the form of a <HI>Woman,</HI> &s;itting in the middle of a <HI>Wheel,</HI> always turning it, having the right &s;ide of her <HI>face</HI> bright, the left ob&s;cure, yet both blinde; &s;hewing, that tho&s;e &s;he favoured, were merry and jocund, but tho&s;e &s;he hated, di&s;content and melancholly. Her blind|ne&s;s &s;hewed the indifference both of the good and bad: by the <HI>Wheel,</HI> they did &s;hew the prodigious change of this uncon&s;tant <HI>Godde&s;s,</HI> which is impious, and again&s;t all <HI>Chri&s;tian Faith:</HI> for we ought to con&s;ider, that all the ill that happens to us have their original from our &s;ins, and all the benefits and good that come to us, from the mercies of God, and not from this or that <HI>malevolent</HI> or <HI>&s;miling Star,</HI> or from the <HI>frown</HI> and <HI>&s;mile</HI> of <HI>Fortune.</HI></P>
<P>But if you will have the&s;e <HI>Accidents</HI> good, or bad, that happen in the minute of an hour, and &s;ometimes in larger and le&s;&s;er di&s;tances of time to <HI>Foxtune,</HI> &s;he is very predominant among us, and like one of the mo&s;t power|fulle&s;t <HI>Planets reignes</HI> and <HI>rules</HI> over our <HI>Nativities</HI> and <HI>Affairs.</HI> For it is &s;ome mens <HI>fortune</HI> to be <HI>Citizens,</HI> &s;ome again to be <HI>Cuckolds;</HI> &s;ome mens <HI>fortune</HI> to be <HI>Courties,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Flatterers;</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Scholars,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Fools;</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Lawyers,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Knaves;</HI> &s;ome to
<PB N="191" REF="99">be <HI>&V;&s;urers,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Devils;</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Captains,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Cowards;</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Beggars,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Alchymi&s;ts;</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Heirs,</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>Fools;</HI> &s;ome to be <HI>younger brothers,</HI> and &s;ome to be <HI>wi&s;emen.</HI> Again, it hath been many a <HI>Gallants</HI> good <HI>fortune,</HI> to have a <HI>brave Sute of Clothes</HI> on his back in the morning, yet it hath been his <HI>bad fortune</HI> to have them in the <HI>Lumbard</HI> before night. It hath been many <HI>hone&s;t mens good fortune</HI> to have a <HI>fair VVife,</HI> yet it hath been his <HI>bad fortune,</HI> not to know <HI>truly</HI> how many <HI>Children</HI> he hath had by her of his <HI>own getting.</HI> It hath been many a <HI>roaring Boys good fortune,</HI> as they &s;ay, <HI>to kill his Enemy in the field,</HI> yet it hath been his <HI>bad fortune</HI> to be <HI>hanged</HI> for it the next <HI>Se&s;&s;ions.</HI></P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee your <HI>Godde&s;s Fortune</HI> hath a great <HI>predo|minance</HI> over this <HI>lower world</HI> the <HI>Earth:</HI> yet how&s;oever I will not believe the&s;e things <HI>happen</HI> by <HI>fortune,</HI> and the <HI>meer influence</HI> of the <HI>Stars;</HI> therefore let all men avoid them, for this opinion cau&s;eth many to affirm there is <HI>no God.</HI> S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> will not allow of your <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> but calleth it a <HI>meer vanity;</HI> and tho&s;e that profe&s;s it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. contia Mathe|maticos in capitu|lo quinio &amp; in fine capitis.</NOTE> <HI>Ene|mies of the Truth:</HI> he &s;aith, that <HI>the Devil fir&s;t found out this Art, and tho&s;e that are curious in it are Enemies to God, becau&s;e it breeds many &s;uper&s;titious Opinions in Men and VVomen, e&s;pecially the anciente&s;t, which they hold as Canonical, and as lawfull to be ob&s;erved and followed as any part of Scripture, of which I will reckon up &s;ome.</HI></P>
<P>S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> calleth your <HI>Art,</HI> a <HI>Sacrilegious Foolery an unlearned Learning,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Lab. 2. de doctrina Christi|ana.</NOTE> <HI>and a kinde of Fornication with the Soul.</HI> S. <HI>Jerome</HI> makes mention that Pope <HI>Alexan|der</HI> the third, finding a <HI>Prie&s;t</HI> that found out a <HI>Thief</HI> that had robb'd the <HI>Church,</HI> by the in&s;pection into his <HI>A&s;tro|lobe,</HI> &s;u&s;pended him from his <HI>Order</HI> for that Fact for a year together, &s;aying, <HI>it was a mo&s;t heynous &s;in for a man of his Order, to exerci&s;e &s;uch an unlawfull Study, al|though it were for the good of the Church.</HI></P>
<P>Thus Sir, you &s;ee your <HI>Art</HI> is forbidden concerning
<PB N="192" REF="100">telling of <HI>fortunes,</HI> or finding out things that are lo&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And in forbidding the practi&s;e of this <HI>Art,</HI> is al&s;o inclu|ded all tho&s;e for whom it is practi&s;ed; for many people in the&s;e days cannot break his Shinnes, have his No&s;e bleed, lo&s;e a Game at Cards, hear a Dog howl, or a Cat wawl, but in&s;tantly they will run to the <HI>Calculatour,</HI> and have him turn over his <HI>Ephemerides,</HI> and his <HI>annual Calendars,</HI> flu&s;t full of Lies and &s;uper&s;titious Ob&s;ervations. I will ccun&s;ell all tho&s;e therefore, that would know their <HI>for|tunes,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Calenda|rium ve|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">m &amp; perpeiu|um.</NOTE> to look to that <HI>everla&s;ting Calendar,</HI> the <HI>&s;acred Bible,</HI> for the <HI>A&s;trology</HI> they &s;hall learn there, never tels fal&s;e, but will certifie them, that the cau&s;e of their <HI>ill for|tunes</HI> is their &s;ins; and the <HI>good,</HI> the Mercies of God: that will tell them of the nature of <HI>Summer,</HI> that is of their <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> and <HI>Salvation,</HI> and the true condition of <HI>VVinter,</HI> that is <HI>Death</HI> and <HI>Damnation.</HI> If they &s;tudy this <HI>Book,</HI> they will quickly learn to be excellent <HI>Calcula|tours,</HI> and learn what will become of them if they do <HI>ill,</HI> and what if they live <HI>well,</HI> it will tell them the <HI>Cau&s;es</HI> and the <HI>Cures</HI> of every <HI>Di&s;ea&s;e</HI> that doth infect the <HI>Soul.</HI> Yet for all this, it is the true condition, rather &s;uper&s;tition of the <HI>world,</HI> to put their confidence rather in <HI>A&s;trologi|cal fallacies,</HI> then in the <HI>Holy Gho&s;ts verities,</HI> drawing from the <HI>Stars</HI> the <HI>Events</HI> of <HI>future contingencies,</HI> a&s;cri|bing what good &s;oever befals us to the <HI>influence</HI> of &s;ome lucky <HI>Planet,</HI> and not to Gods Mercies; and what mi&s;|chief &s;oever to the <HI>po&s;ition</HI> of &s;ome <HI>malevolent Star,</HI> and not to our &s;ins, we put our confidence in <HI>Astrologers, Stars~,</HI> and <HI>Planets</HI> for a few experiences, and never hate for their innumerable fallacies: but this is e&s;pecially heredita|ry to Women, becau&s;e by &s;ucce&s;&s;ion it came from their Mother <HI>Eve,</HI> who by her vice of curio&s;ity or levity, or admirable facility rather then fatuity, was deceived by the <HI>Serpent,</HI> in defiring to know <HI>future things,</HI> which folly de|&s;cends naturally to Women, who will rather believe a <HI>Mathematician</HI> then a <HI>Divine;</HI> &s;o that the&s;e <HI>Calcula|tours</HI>
<PB N="193" REF="100">if among a hundred Errours they happen but upon one Truth, then without any &s;u&s;pition they may lie a thou&s;and times after, yet the&s;e fooli&s;h, credulous,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Franci&s;. Peirar.</NOTE> and <HI>Ap|ple-eating</HI> Women will believe them.</P>
<P><HI>Seba&s;tian</HI> that writ bitterly again&s;t <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>it is an Art against the Law of God, and full of deceit and villany.</HI> For, &s;aith he, <HI>Go to any Doctour of the Ma|thematicks, an tell him thou ha&s;t had very ill luck all thy life time, and de&s;ire him to tell thee under what Planet thou wert born, and no doubt his An&s;wer will be that thou wert born either under malitious</HI> Mars; <HI>or that</HI> Saturn <HI>was Apo&s;tolical and Retrograde: when you have been with him, then go to another, and tell him that you have had very good fortune, and de&s;ire him to tell thee what Star reigned at thy birth, and it will be very &s;trange, if he do not tell thee as the fir&s;t did, either under</HI> Mars <HI>or</HI> Saturn; <HI>who to prove him&s;elf an Arti&s;t, will turn over huge Volumes, by which he will &s;hew, that it is noce&s;&s;ary that you mu&s;t have good fortune, being born under tho&s;e Stars the fir&s;t &s;aid were ill, and in a Circle drawn together in every part, by which he will take divers and &s;undry oc|ca&s;ions to &s;peak any thing.</HI> Now if they chance to mi&s;s any thing in their <HI>predictions,</HI> they have a pretty eva&s;ion to &s;hun the &s;u&s;pition of <HI>Lying,</HI> which they draw from the interrogatory part of <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>The opinion of <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> is, when the minde of Man is &s;purred to the de&s;ire of knowing any thing; that &s;uddenly it cannot be done by election, or con&s;ultation, but the <HI>influence</HI> of the <HI>Con&s;tellation</HI> that hour con&s;i&s;ting in <HI>Heaven.</HI> And when any man con&s;ults with an <HI>A&s;trolo|ger,</HI> by a <HI>figure</HI> in <HI>Heaven</HI> the hour of <HI>interrogation</HI> being found out, the <HI>A&s;trologer</HI> can an&s;wer truly of any thing &s;ought for, or demanded: As whether an ab&s;ent Friend be alive or dead; if a <HI>Legate</HI> or <HI>Me&s;&s;enger,</HI> that is &s;ent into any <HI>Countrey,</HI> &s;hall return home again &s;afe and well, and whether he will di&s;patch that matter he went about pro|&s;perou&s;ly
<PB N="194" REF="101">and an innumerable many of other things, that humane curio&s;ity doth doubt of: to which &s;ometimes they may an&s;wer truly, although they often lie, and are never found fault with for it; for they have found out a way, whereby they can &s;ufficiently excu&s;e them&s;elves to tho&s;e that are ignorant and &s;imple in the&s;e things. For they &s;ay, that <HI>if any man, being doubtfull of any thing, doth with a natural motion and radical intention ask them any thing, that then they can re&s;olve them of any Que&s;tion they ask.</HI> Now if they mi&s;s, and cannot an&s;wer directly and truly to what was propounded to them, then they &s;ay, that he that askt that Que&s;tion, did it not with any natural moti|on, or any firm or radical intention to be re&s;olved, but onely to try their <HI>Art.</HI> Thus oftentimes they deceive, and are deceived in their An&s;wers; not by the defect that is in their <HI>Art,</HI> but by the levity of him that did ask the Que&s;ti|on: and thus they excu&s;e them&s;elves: which are meer Tricks for Eva&s;ion, and haue no ground at all from Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>But I admire what Excu&s;e the <HI>Egyptian</HI> and <HI>Chaldean A&s;trologers</HI> could finde,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Chaldaei A&s;trologi Nobu|chodono&s;or &s;omnium dicere nequierunt.</NOTE> when among &s;uch an infinite number of them, not one of them could truly an&s;wer touching the Dreams of <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and <HI>Nabuchadnezzar,</HI> when <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI> could an&s;wer di|rectly?<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aegyptiaci Divinatores &s;omnium Pharaonis dicere non potuerunt.</NOTE> Do you think this was done by any in&s;pection, or peeping into an <HI>A&s;trolobe,</HI> or ob&s;erving any <HI>Constellation?</HI> No: for it was done by the revelation of Almighty God; therefore it was pa&s;t the <HI>Rules</HI> of your <HI>Art.</HI> There is another neat Delu&s;ion, whereby they bene|fit them&s;elves very much; which is, by the ob&s;ervations of the <HI>Heavens</HI> to know, if it be fit or convenient for a man to travell, or do any other bu&s;ine&s;s in: which is mo&s;t &s;u|per&s;titious and diabolical. For they will not have a man eat, drink, be merry, take Phy&s;ick, or travell, marry, joyn friend&s;hip, &s;end forth a Me&s;&s;enger, buy, &s;ell, put on new Clothes, begin the <HI>Alchymi&s;ts</HI> work, &s;et Boyes to
<PB N="195" REF="101">School, go to Law, hawk, hunt, fi&s;h, or go to the Bathe, but they will have them to do it under &s;ome <HI>Con&s;tellation,</HI> and will &s;et forth <HI>Rules</HI> when to do the&s;e things, and when not. If they can do the&s;e things, I wonder they do not &s;et forth a <HI>Rule,</HI> and chu&s;e an Hour and <HI>Con&s;tellation,</HI> under which a man may die well, and avoid Hell-fire, and en|joy the Joys of Heaven: but I think their <HI>Art</HI> hath no|thing to do with this. Yet I will not deny, but that the <HI>in|fluences</HI> of the <HI>Stars</HI> have an operation in the differences of Bodies: for what is more belonging to the Body, then to exerci&s;e <HI>Husbandry,</HI> to cut down <HI>Timber</HI> for <HI>Building,</HI> while it is not too full of <HI>Sap,</HI> and to ob&s;erve the <HI>Times</HI> and <HI>Sea&s;ons</HI> when they &s;hould be done. But tho&s;e ob&s;er|vers of <HI>Time</HI> are to be laught at, that will not go out of their <HI>hou&s;e</HI> before they have had coun&s;el of their <HI>Al|manack,</HI> and will rather have their <HI>hou&s;e</HI> fall on their heads, then &s;tir, if they note &s;ome natural effect about the motion of the <HI>Air,</HI> which they &s;uppo&s;e will vary the lucky bla&s;ts of the <HI>Stars,</HI> that will not <HI>marry,</HI> or <HI>traffick,</HI> or do the like, but under &s;ome <HI>Con&s;tellation.</HI> The&s;e &s;ure are no <HI>Christians:</HI> becau&s;e faithfull men ought not to doubt, that <HI>Divine Providence,</HI> from any part of the World, or from any time what&s;oever, is ab&s;ent.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Canonica inhibitio <HI>26.</HI> q. c. <HI>7.</HI> Divina Provi|dentia.</NOTE> There|fore we &s;hould not impute any <HI>&s;ecular bu&s;ine&s;s</HI> to the power of the <HI>Stars,</HI> but to know, that all things are di&s;po&s;ed by the arbitrement of the King of Kings. The <HI>Chri&s;tian Faith</HI> is violated, when &s;o like a <HI>Pagan</HI> and <HI>Apostata</HI> any man doth ob&s;erve tho&s;e Days which are called <HI>Aegyptiaci,</HI> or the <HI>Calends</HI> of <HI>January,</HI> or any Moneth, or Day, or Time, or Year, either to travell, marry, or to do any thing in: for who&s;oever he be that be|lieves the&s;e things, hath erred from the <HI>Christian Faith</HI> and <HI>Bapti&s;me.</HI> S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his <HI>Enchiridion</HI> &s;aith, that <HI>it is a great offence for any man, to ob&s;erve the time and cour&s;e of the Moon, when they plant any Trees or &s;ow any Corn:</HI> for he &s;aith, <HI>None puts any tru&s;t in them, but
<PB N="196" REF="102">they that wor&s;hip them; thinking, that the po&s;ition of &s;ome Star ought to have an influence in them according to tho&s;e things they believe concerning the Nativities of men.</HI> This me thinks, is mo&s;t &s;imple and ridiculous; for thus I will argue again&s;t them. If this be true which they hold, that <HI>it is good to &s;ow Corn under &s;uch a tuckie Con|&s;tellation,</HI> what is the rea&s;on then, that after the Corn that is &s;cattered on the Earth by the laborious hands of the <HI>Husbandman,</HI> that after &s;o much Grain is come up toge|ther, look green together, ripen together, and fit for the Sickle, that &s;ome of it is bla&s;ted, &s;ome quite choak'd up, &s;ome devoured by <HI>Birds,</HI> &s;ome by <HI>Beasts,</HI> &s;ome trodden down, and &s;ome of the Ears pluck from their &s;talks by men that come by that Field they grow in? How comes it to pa&s;s then I &s;ay, that &s;ome of this &s;hould go &s;afely into <HI>Barn,</HI> and &s;ome of it again be devoured and &s;poiled? which me thinks, &s;hould not be, if the &s;ame Con&s;tellation under which it was &s;own had but one influence, which &s;hould be good, and not a &s;econd, which was bad.</P>
<P>But I will now let the&s;e things pa&s;s (becau&s;e I make no doubt but I have &s;trongly confuted them) and come to the la&s;t, but the wicked part of <HI>Astrology;</HI> which concerns the making of <HI>A&s;trological Images,</HI> and to what purpo&s;e they are made: where I will &s;hew, they have no force or virtue from any <HI>Star</HI> or <HI>Con&s;tellation,</HI> but that the <HI>Devil</HI> worketh about them, and in them, cau&s;ing them to be made under a <HI>Con&s;tellation,</HI> that the impiety of their <HI>Ido|latry</HI> may the more &s;ecretly be hid.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<HEAD>The vanity of A&s;trologers about their Images.</HEAD>
<P>THe <HI>Fabrick</HI> of <HI>A&s;trological images</HI> are made under a certain <HI>Con&s;tellation,</HI> either to avoid hurtfull things, or to intice profitable things, for to divers u&s;es they are made. Some are made for the de&s;truction of &s;ome things: as if you would remove a <HI>Scorpion</HI> from a place, you
<PB N="197" REF="102">mu&s;t carve the Figure of &s;ome <HI>Scorpion</HI> either in Stone, Wood, or Iron, under &s;ome convenient Con&s;tellation, and in&s;cribe on it an effectual Name, &s;ignifying the Name of the thing that is to be avoided, and the Name of the <HI>Sign a&s;cending,</HI> and of the like in divers parts of the <HI>image,</HI> with many other Ob&s;ervations, which for brevity &s;ake I will now let pa&s;s. For a contrary effect, you mu&s;t have a contrary Con&s;tellation, and a contrary Operation, as in the like <HI>images,</HI> pertaining to <HI>Love, Enmity, Health,</HI> or the like. And although there are many Effects cau&s;ed by the&s;e <HI>images,</HI> as experience teacheth us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Non vir|ius ima|ginis &s;ed operatio daemonis producit effectum.</NOTE> yet they are mi&s;e|rably deceived, that think it done by the virtue of any Con&s;tellation, when it is done by the meer operation of the <HI>Devil:</HI> For not the virtue of the <HI>image,</HI> but the ope|ration of the <HI>Devil,</HI> worketh the Effect. And learned <HI>Averrois</HI> writing again&s;t <HI>Algazel</HI> the <HI>A&s;trologer,</HI> &s;aith, that <HI>the&s;e images have no virtue from the Stars, becau&s;e artificial things are not capable of any influence, neither are they any cau&s;e of a natural operation: for Quality is in the Predicament of Actio.</HI> An <HI>image</HI> therefore made of any earthly &s;ub&s;tance, is nothing but a ma&s;&s;ie <HI>Effigies,</HI> and capable of no Action. And in like manner, tho&s;e <HI>images</HI> that are buried in the mid&s;t of the place where their Operations are expected, are contrary to natural Rea&s;on. And other things that are ob&s;erved in them, &s;hew as great vanity: as, when &s;ome mens Names mu&s;t be with the left hand, &s;ome with the right; &s;ome <HI>images</HI> mu&s;t be buried with their faces upwards, &s;ome with their feet upwards: which are all &s;ignes rather of a <HI>Compact</HI> with the <HI>Devil,</HI> then any other natural cau&s;e; as in the <HI>Negro|mantick images</HI> of <HI>Angels,</HI> or rather of their <HI>in&s;cription</HI> of <HI>Devils,</HI> and other unknown <HI>Names</HI> and <HI>Characters.</HI> Al&s;o, the u&s;e of their <HI>Suffumigations</HI> and <HI>invocations</HI> are &s;ignes of a <HI>Compact</HI> and <HI>League</HI> with the <HI>Devil.</HI></P>
<P>The prodigious impiety of the <HI>Dominick Friers</HI> in the Fabrick of the&s;e <HI>images,</HI> would make a <HI>Hi&s;tory</HI> bigger
<PB N="198" REF="103">then the <HI>Iliads:</HI> for they have made by their <HI>Magical</HI> tricks <HI>weeping Statues,</HI> by which they wrought many <HI>Miracles,</HI> which they learnt of the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> of the <HI>Idols</HI> of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> who have deceived many, as may appear by the <HI>Alexandrian Statues,</HI> de&s;troyed by the <HI>Chri&s;ti|ans:</HI> for when they overthrew the <HI>Phane</HI> of <HI>Syrapis,</HI> there were <HI>images</HI> found both of <HI>Wood</HI> and <HI>Bra&s;s,</HI> who&s;e inward parts were made hollow, and with in&s;truments were fa&s;te|ned to the <HI>Roofs</HI> of their <HI>Churches</HI> and <HI>Temples,</HI> from whence they &s;pake. And &s;ince the time of <HI>Popery,</HI> there have been found in <HI>Churches images</HI> that have had <HI>Eyes</HI> put in by Art, that would <HI>weep,</HI> and let <HI>Drops</HI> of <HI>Bloud</HI> trickle down their <HI>faces,</HI> &s;weat <HI>bloud,</HI> and would <HI>twinckle</HI> with their <HI>Eyes</HI> to the <HI>People,</HI> by the help of <HI>instruments,</HI> and would <HI>wrythe</HI> their <HI>heads</HI> and <HI>Necks</HI> backward and forward, according to the will of the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> that invent|ed them, to beguile the <HI>People,</HI> and inrich <HI>them&s;elves.</HI> The&s;e <HI>Puppets</HI> had no <HI>Tongues,</HI> but onely <HI>moved</HI> and <HI>&s;tirred,</HI> making &s;ignes to the <HI>People,</HI> many of which, the <HI>Cardinals</HI> erected, adorned, and commended, to in&s;truct the <HI>People:</HI> which were nothing but <HI>Deceits</HI> and Tricks of the&s;e <HI>holy</HI> and <HI>religious Fathers,</HI> &s;till to detain the <HI>people</HI> in ignorance, and that they &s;hould not &s;mell out their Kna|very. Al&s;o, many of the&s;e Scab-&s;hin <HI>Friers</HI> (when any rich man <HI>died,</HI> that had left their <HI>Abbies</HI> and <HI>Mona&s;teries</HI> nothing to feed their fat Guts with) would place &s;ome of their <HI>Accomplices</HI> in a <HI>Vault</HI> they had made of purpo&s;e un|der the dead mans Tomb; &s;o that when any of his <HI>Sons</HI> or <HI>Kindred</HI> came (as the Cu&s;tome in tho&s;e Times was) <HI>to pray for the &s;oul of their decea&s;ed Father, or Kin&s;man,</HI> they &s;hould hear a <HI>dreadfull voice</HI> under the <HI>Sepulcher,</HI> telling him, <HI>it was the Spirit of him that was but lately buried there, and that his Soul could never be at rest, while &s;uch</HI> (the <HI>Friers</HI> had mo&s;t minde to) <HI>were given to the Mo|na&s;tery:</HI> &s;o that the blinde <HI>people</HI> believing this to be the Spirit of their <HI>father,</HI> or <HI>Kin&s;man,</HI> would in&s;tantly go
<PB N="199" REF="103">home, and confirm tho&s;e <HI>Lands</HI> on their <HI>Mona&s;tery.</HI> Thus <HI>poor Souls,</HI> they were often deluded by &s;uch <HI>counterfeit Voices</HI> of &s;ome &s;ubtle <HI>Frier,</HI> or as knavi&s;h a Companion of their <HI>Fraternity.</HI> Therefore if there be any in the&s;e Days (e&s;pecially <HI>old Men</HI> and <HI>Women</HI>) that believe the <HI>Souls</HI> or <HI>Spirits</HI> of the <HI>Dead</HI> walk, let them but reade the <HI>Scriptures,</HI> and they &s;hall finde it to be mo&s;t fal&s;e: for that affirms, that <HI>the Souls of the Good instantly go to Heaven, and of the Bad to Hell;</HI> therefore their <HI>Spirits</HI> cannot wander. Again, the <HI>Soul</HI> that is in <HI>Heaven</HI> mindes no earthly matter; and it was never known, that any <HI>Soul</HI> ever returned out of <HI>Hell;</HI> for the <HI>Poets</HI> them&s;elves &s;ay,</P>
<Q>Nullus reditnrus ab Orco.</Q>
<P>But the&s;e <HI>images</HI> and Tricks of the <HI>Friers</HI> do but re|&s;emble the <HI>&s;tatues</HI> of <HI>Negromancers,</HI> made with great toil and labour. For <HI>Frier Bacon</HI> was many years, before he could make his <HI>Head</HI> &s;peak. And the <HI>image</HI> of <HI>Alber|tus Magnus</HI> was to be wondered at, which he made in the full and perfect &s;hape of a Man, who with the <HI>wheels</HI> and other <HI>Engines</HI> that he had cunningly and artificially wrought in it, made it &s;peak and pronounce words as di|&s;tinctly, as if they did proceed from a Man indued with Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on. This Statue, when <HI>Thomas Aquinas</HI> was &s;ent into his Chamber, where it lay hid. heard it &s;peak very articulately; which when he heard, then looking for it, and finding it, and viewing it very &s;eriou&s;ly, at la&s;t &s;truck it with a Club, and brake it all to pieces. Which when <HI>Albertus</HI> heard and &s;aw, he cried out, and &s;aid; <HI>Thomas,</HI> thou ha&s;t de&s;troyed the Work of thirty years la|bour and pains. Now can any man judge, that either <HI>Ba|con</HI> or <HI>Albertus</HI> made the&s;e under any Con&s;tellation, or that it &s;pake by the influence of any Star? if they do, they are wretchedly deceived: for it was either by a material Engine, or the <HI>Devil</HI> that &s;pake within them, brought into them by their Art. Therefore we may per|&s;wade our &s;elves, that all the&s;e <HI>images,</HI> made by the Art
<PB N="200" REF="104">either of a <HI>Frier</HI> or <HI>Negromancer,</HI> are unlawfull to be made of them, or u&s;ed of any other. But if we mu&s;t al|low any <HI>&s;tatue</HI> or <HI>image,</HI> they mu&s;t be tho&s;e of <HI>Pa&s;quil</HI> and <HI>Morphirius,</HI> on who&s;e brea&s;ts were no Lie-Bills, as the <HI>Popes</HI> called them,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phil. Camp. Medita Cent.</NOTE> but True-Bills of their Villanies. <HI>&s;tatues</HI> were of &s;tone, and the <HI>Ver&s;es</HI> carved on their brea&s;ts, were bitter and Satyrical, &s;harply reviling the <HI>Sorcery, Sodomitry, Simony, Ince&s;t, Murther, Witch|craft, Poy&s;oning,</HI> and <HI>Sacriledge</HI> of the <HI>Popes</HI> and <HI>Cardi|nals</HI> whereupon the <HI>Gentlemen</HI> of <HI>Rome</HI> wittily &s;aid, that <HI>it was not lawfull for men to &s;peak there vices, the &s;tones did proclaim them.</HI> But <HI>Pope Adrian</HI> would have taken an order, and have them flung into <HI>Tyber,</HI> if <HI>Sue&s;&s;anus</HI> the <HI>Legate</HI> of <HI>Charles</HI> the <HI>Emperour</HI> who favoured them, had not prevented him; who &s;aid to his <HI>Holine&s;s,</HI> that <HI>if they were flung into</HI> Tyber, <HI>the</HI> Crocodiles <HI>and</HI> Rats, <HI>and other monstrous Serpents would catch them, and &s;ing them.</HI> To which An&s;wer &s;ome report, the <HI>holy Father</HI> &s;tood as mute as one of his <HI>Cardinals</HI> Mules: but &s;ome report, that he began to be angry at <HI>Sue&s;&s;anus</HI> An&s;wer, and in a rage &s;uddenly &s;aid, that he <HI>would have them burnt,</HI> to whom the <HI>Legate</HI> wittily replied again, &s;aying, <HI>If you burn the&s;e images, their A&s;hes will not be blown through the City, but into other Countries, &s;o that the people will take occa&s;ion to celebrate and reverence tho&s;e A&s;hes for the writing &s;ake, and &s;o it will come to pa&s;s, that they being di&s;per&s;ed through the world, the &s;ins of</HI> Rome <HI>will generally be known to all Nations.</HI> At this &s;econd An&s;wer, his <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> was more perplexed then before, and &s;eeing he could do no good, either by Drowning or Burning, he bid them <HI>&s;tand in the Devils Name.</HI> But I have made too long a Digre&s;&s;ion, therefore I will return again to our <HI>Negromancers,</HI> and now I have &s;poken of their <HI>images,</HI> I will breifly and plainly lay open the vi|perous <HI>Generation</HI> of <HI>Negromancy,</HI> which are <HI>Idolatry, Divination,</HI> and <HI>vain ob&s;ervation,</HI> with all the <HI>helli&s;h brood</HI> that proceeds from them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="part">
<PB N="201" REF="104">
<HEAD>The damnable Offspring of Negromancy.</HEAD>
<P>I <HI>Dolatry</HI> is a <HI>divine wor&s;hip,</HI> attributed to <HI>idols,</HI> which <HI>idols</HI> are <HI>&s;tatues</HI> or <HI>images,</HI> which the <HI>Gentiles</HI> wor|&s;hipped with <HI>divine honour,</HI> believing there was &s;ome <HI>Di|vinity</HI> in them, by rea&s;on of their An&s;wers and wonder|full Effects the <HI>Devil</HI> wrought in them. Such were the <HI>images</HI> of <HI>Hermes Tre&s;megistus,</HI> otherwi&s;e called <HI>Mer|cury,</HI> in which they did believe, that by a kinde of <HI>Art</HI> the Souls of <HI>Devils</HI> and <HI>Angels</HI> were included, under a certain Con&s;tellation, which <HI>Divinity</HI> and <HI>Natural Phi|lo&s;ophy</HI> doth reprehend: for they hold that a <HI>Spirit</HI> cannot po&s;&s;ibly be <HI>vegitable,</HI> or can &s;ub&s;tantially inform artificial Bodies. <HI>For the Soul,</HI> as <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> &s;aith,<NOTE PLACE="marg">De Ani|ma.</NOTE> <HI>is an Act of a natural Body, not artificial:</HI> for a man cannot by any mat|ter, as Herbs, Wood, Stone, Words, or Con&s;tellation, expell a good or bad <HI>Spirit,</HI> or being call'd, that it can come pre&s;ently, and dwell in an <HI>idol;</HI> becau&s;e corporal things cannot by any natural order have any operation in incorporal things. There have been &s;ome of the <HI>Gentiles</HI> that have not onely attributed <HI>divine honour</HI> to <HI>&s;tatues</HI> and <HI>images,</HI> but believed them to be Gods, for &s;ome vir|tue, or magnitude of their Acts the&s;e <HI>&s;tatues</HI> repre&s;ented; as to <HI>Jupiter, Hercules, Venus,</HI> and the re&s;t, and other Mon&s;ters of this kinde. Al&s;o they did not onely honour corporal, but incorporal things, as <HI>intelligences, Angels,</HI> and the <HI>&s;ouls</HI> of <HI>heavenly bodies,</HI> which they call <HI>Aeria Animalia,</HI> and they did not &s;eparate the Souls of men from divine honour, which is mo&s;t devili&s;h. This kinde of <HI>idolatry</HI> at the&s;e daies is u&s;ed among our <HI>Antagom&s;is</HI> the <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> for they pray to <HI>Iron, Wood Gold, Silver,</HI> and <HI>wood|en images,</HI> that have neither <HI>&s;ight, feeling, &s;en&s;e, life,</HI> or <HI>ope|ration</HI> in them, &amp; have as &s;mall <HI>influence</HI> in them after they are made, either by the <HI>Carver,</HI> or <HI>Gold-&s;miths</HI> hand, as they had when they fir&s;t were in a ma&s;&s;ie lump, either in the <HI>Tree</HI> or <HI>Mine.</HI></P>
<PB N="202" REF="105">
<P>The &s;econd <HI>Daughter</HI> of <HI>Super&s;tition</HI> is <HI>Divination,</HI> by which our <HI>Astrologers</HI> mi&s;erably labour to know of <HI>future</HI> things,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. <HI>8.</HI> E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ym.</NOTE> either good or bad. <HI>The&s;e are they (I &s;ido|rus</HI> &s;aith) <HI>report them&s;elves to be full of Divination, who by craft and device foretell of things to come, by the ef|fects which proceed upon nece&s;&s;ity from Cau&s;es, unle&s;s they are e&s;pecially hindred of God, certainly proceeding from the cau&s;e of Nature:</HI> as the <HI>Eclip&s;e</HI> of the <HI>Sun</HI> and the <HI>Moon,</HI> and the Effects which proceed from the&s;e Cau&s;es may be foretold of by as probable conjecture, as well as a <HI>Mariner</HI> may foretell of a Storm, that will ari&s;e by a dark Cloud, that is either before or behinde him. Have not many <HI>old women</HI> told by the unhappy conditions of a <HI>Boy,</HI> that <HI>he would be hang'd,</HI> and hath it not fallen out right? Have not many grave <HI>Matrons</HI> foretold, that <HI>young wanton La&s;&s;es would prowe Wag tails,</HI> and hath it not come to pa&s;s? Have not many men by the damnable Tricks they have &s;een in <HI>Catchpoles,</HI> foretold, that <HI>they would prove Knaves,</HI> and hath it not been true? Yet the&s;e are but meer Conjectures. Again, <HI>Astrologers</HI> boa&s;t <HI>they can divine,</HI> which is mo&s;t fal&s;e; for the <HI>Prophets</HI> them|&s;elves foretelling of <HI>future</HI> things <HI>by Revelation of God,</HI> did not <HI>divine</HI> but <HI>prophe&s;ie;</HI> for <HI>Divination</HI> is always ta|ken in the wor&s;t part, becau&s;e in it the operation of the <HI>Devil</HI> doth always come.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> For <HI>Bonaventure</HI> &s;aith, <HI>to ask coun&s;el of the Devil is a great mi&s;chief.</HI> The <HI>&s;pecies</HI> of <HI>Divination</HI> by which they can fortell of <HI>future</HI> things are many. Sometimes they do it by plain invocation of the <HI>Devil,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Pr &s;ti|t z<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">m.</NOTE> who with their execrable <HI>Exorci&s;mes, Conjura|tions, Characters,</HI> and <HI>Figures,</HI> and divers other <HI>Ceremo|nies,</HI> and to &s;peak more truly, Sacrifices at divers times do call the <HI>Devil</HI> to give them An&s;wers, who by divers manners and forms appear to them, who as &s;ubtlely and deceitfully doth an&s;wer to tho&s;e Que&s;tions propounded to them, as may appear by the&s;e Examples. Pope <HI>Sylve&s;ter</HI> the &s;econd, that with &s;mall Learning had attained to his
<PB N="203" REF="105"><HI>Pontificalibus,</HI> being greedy long to enjoy that <HI>Sea,</HI> by this devili&s;h kinde of Conjuration rai&s;ed up the <HI>Devil,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Papa Pa|ter. Polyd. Virg. l. <HI>5.</HI> de rerum inven|tione.</NOTE> and ask this Coun&s;el <HI>how long he &s;hould live.</HI> To whom the <HI>Devil</HI> an&s;wered, that <HI>if he did take heed of</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>he &s;hould live a long time.</HI> Pope <HI>Silvester</HI> now thought him&s;elf long lived, becau&s;e he determined never to &s;ee <HI>Jeru&s;alem:</HI> but four years after he came to his Pallace of <HI>Sanctae Crucis,</HI> he lay in a Chamber unknown to him&s;elf, called <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> then in&s;tantly being mindfull of the <HI>Devils</HI> An&s;wer, he &s;aid, <HI>that he &s;hould,</HI> as he did not <HI>live long after.</HI> Al&s;o <HI>Alexander</HI> the &s;ixth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gui<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">c.</NOTE> whom the <HI>Devil</HI> did help to his <HI>Popedome,</HI> promi&s;ing him that he &s;hould live <HI>Decem &amp; Octo</HI> in his <HI>Popedome,</HI> upon Compo&s;ition that <HI>he &s;hould be his after that time was expired.</HI> Now the&s;e Numbers were over generally expounded of <HI>Ale|xander</HI> touching his <HI>Years,</HI> for he &s;uppo&s;ed the <HI>Devil</HI> meant by Nine and Ten, <HI>Nineteen Years,</HI> when the <HI>Devil</HI> meant but <HI>Nine Years</HI> and <HI>Ten Moneths,</HI> which was much about the time he came to claim his Right of the <HI>holy Father.</HI> Al&s;o <HI>Albertus Scotus</HI> doubting of his <HI>for|tunes,</HI> rai&s;ed up the <HI>Devil,</HI> and asked him,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lord of</HI> Placeny tia.</NOTE> concerning the &s;ecurity of him&s;elf and his &s;tate, to whom the <HI>Devil</HI> thus &s;ubtilly and intricately an&s;wered, <HI>Domine &s;tes &s;ecu|rus, inimici tui &s;uaviter intrabunt terram, &amp; &s;ubjicientur Domuitui;</HI> which as the words now lie, bear this inter|pretation in <HI>Engli&s;h. Sir, you &s;hall &s;tand &s;ecure, thy Ene|mies &s;hall peaceably enter into thy Kingdom, but &s;hall be &s;ubject to thy hou&s;e.</HI> Therefore he did hope well of this An&s;wer, and made no doubt of the <HI>Victory;</HI> but the <HI>De|vil</HI> did not promi&s;e him the <HI>Victory,</HI> but the <HI>Overthrow</HI> and meant thus, <HI>Domi ne &s;tes &s;ecurus,</HI> &s;o did divide the word <HI>Domine</HI> into <HI>Domi ne,</HI> again, <HI>inimici tui &s;ua vi ter intrabunt terram, &s;ubjicient ur,</HI> that is, <HI>ignem Domui tui;</HI> &s;o the <HI>Devil</HI> did expound it, thus any man el&s;e would do the <HI>&s;yllables,</HI> being &s;o divided and cut a pieces. <HI>Thou &s;halt not &s;tand &s;ecure at home, thy Enemies three times</HI> <GAP DESC="missing" EXTENT="1 span">
<PB N="204" REF="106"><HI>their Forces &s;hall enter upon thy Land, and &s;hall over|come with fire;</HI> and &s;o was <HI>Albertus</HI> deluded. Al&s;o the <HI>Oracles</HI> of <HI>Apollo</HI> were but meer <HI>Witchcrafts</HI> and delu&s;i|ons of the <HI>Devil,</HI> giving An&s;wers from a hollow place of the <HI>Temple,</HI> after the <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> had &s;acrificed to him, who did mo&s;t commonly &s;peak nothing but <HI>Amphibologias no|do&s;as &amp; flexiloqua re&s;pon&s;a,</HI> deceiving many that came to it, becau&s;e his An&s;wer did &s;till include a double &s;en&s;e: &s;o that if a man did reade over all <HI>Chry&s;ippus</HI> Volumes, con|cerning the <HI>Oracle</HI> of <HI>Apollo,</HI> he &s;hould not finde one An|&s;wer but did include a twofold meaning, of which I think it not impertinent to remember two or three of them.</P>
<P><HI>Francis Petrach</HI> maketh mention in his <HI>Morals,</HI> that <HI>Nero</HI> asking coun&s;el of <HI>Apollo</HI> at <HI>Delphos,</HI> de&s;iring to know how long he &s;hould live; this An&s;wer was made him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib. de Mora.</NOTE> that <HI>if he did take heed of &s;eventy three years, he &s;hould live a long time.</HI> When <HI>Nero</HI> did hear this An|&s;wer, &s;uch a &s;ecurity did rock him a &s;leep, that fearing no|thing, he did glut him&s;elf in delight, becau&s;e he thought he &s;hould not die before the prefixed time of the <HI>Oracle,</HI> &s;o that his minde was ravi&s;hed down the &s;wift Torrent of an in&s;olent vanity and vain in&s;olency, pampering him&s;elf with high Diet, Mu&s;ick, and delights that plea&s;e his Sen&s;es, but being in the Meridian of his happine&s;s, in a minute he was flung down into the Dungeon of Di&s;grace, for he heard the popular Voice cur&s;e the Name of <HI>Nero,</HI> and celebrate the Name of <HI>Galba,</HI> by whom he was di|&s;ceptered, and who at that time was ju&s;t &s;eventy and three Years of Age. But one of the prettie&s;t Tricks the Devil plaied by his Oracle, <HI>Valerius Maximus</HI> makes mention of; for he reporteth, that a Sophi&s;ter to make him&s;elf merry, came to laugh at the Oracle of <HI>Apollo</HI> in <HI>Delphos,</HI> and askt him if he &s;hould finde his Hor&s;e he had lo&s;t. To whom the Oracle an&s;wered, that he &s;hould finde his Hor&s;e again, but if he did not take heed, he would take him &s;uch a kick, that would break his Neck. At this
<PB N="205" REF="106">An&s;wer of the Oracle, the Sophi&s;ter went away laughing, becau&s;e it promi&s;ed him to finde a Hor&s;e he never lo&s;t. But as he travelled into his own Countrey, he fell into the hands of King <HI>Attalus,</HI> to whom in former Time he had done &s;ome wrong, and was commanded by him to be &s;et upon a Stone, called <HI>Equus,</HI> a Hor&s;e, from whence he was flung headlong down, and brake his Neck; fulfilling the Oracle of <HI>Apollo.</HI> Thus much for the Devil &amp; his Oracles,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cui no|men erat Equi.</NOTE> which always were &s;ome &s;uch cunning Delu&s;ions, who&s;e end was commonly mi&s;chief. Sometimes you dodiuine by Dreams, and that is called <HI>per &s;omnia. Natural Philo&s;ophy</HI> and <HI>Divinity</HI> do manife&s;t the cau&s;e of Dreams;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Somni|um.</NOTE> Dreams &s;ometime proceed fro~ the fulne&s;s or emptine&s;s of the Belly, &s;ometimes by illu&s;ion, &s;ometimes by revelation, and &s;ome|times by cogitation and revelation. Al&s;o, the divers ha|bitudes of the Body doth admini&s;ter divers cau&s;es of Dreams; &s;o that melancholly men often dream of hor|rible and fearfull &s;hapes and forms of Devils. Chollerick men, of cutting Throats, of Quarrels, of Stratagems, and firing of Cities. Phlegmatick men often dream that they are in fear of drowning, and &s;ometimes dream a &s;weeter Dream then this, that they are eating Honey, which is cau&s;ed by the Phlegme which is naturally &s;weet, di&s;tilling to the pallate of the mouth.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Incubus morbus noctu qui|e&s;centes infe&s;tans quum &s;ci|l cet externa quadam vis quie&s;centes videtur evadera &amp; viluti &s;uo pondere pre&s;&s;os gravare. Na&s;ciiur hoc mor|bigenus copia vaporum ex|voraeuaie &amp; cruditate <GAP DESC="foreign"> caput redundantium.</NOTE> The Sanguine Complexion, from the abundance of Bloud cau&s;eth men to dream of the <HI>Incu|bus,</HI> which Phy&s;icians hold is the cau&s;e of a future <HI>Apoplexy:</HI> And that is the rea&s;on that many ignorant people that are of Sanguine Complexion, and feed on Fle&s;h, Eggs, Veal, and drink Wine, and &s;uch like, which cau&s;eth Bloud, that believe that in their Sleeps they often feel the Night-mare, or an <HI>Incubus,</HI> which is nothing el&s;e but a Di&s;ea&s;e ari&s;ing of Vapours, di&s;turbing tho&s;e that are at repo&s;e in the night, who&s;e external force doth &s;eem to evade their &s;en&s;es, and to pre&s;s their Bodies with their ponderous
<PB N="206" REF="107">weight, and this is the rea&s;on that <HI>Phy&s;icians</HI> hold that the <HI>Incubus</HI> is a &s;ign of future <HI>Apoplexy,</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>Apoplexy</HI> is a &s;tupefaction of the Nerves in the whole Body, with a privation of the &s;en&s;e and motion.</P>
<P>Again,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Apoplexia. &s;tupefactio ner|vorum totiue corporis cum privatione &s;en&s;us, &amp; motus, a verbo Graeco, <GAP DESC="foreign">, quod e&s;t percutio aitonitum reddo.</NOTE> &s;ome hold that the cau&s;e of <HI>dreams</HI> ari&s;e from the bu&s;ine&s;s and affairs a man is mo&s;t imploied in the day time, &s;o that the im|pre&s;&s;ion of them &s;ticking in the Table of the Fanta&s;ie, makes a man <HI>dream</HI> of tho&s;e things in the Night which he hath done in the Day. as for example: Men given to drink much, often <HI>dream</HI> that they are in the bottom of &s;ome Noblemans Seller, drinking Healths. And men according to their Employ|ments <HI>dream</HI> of their bu&s;ine&s;s over Night. Your <HI>Lawyer</HI> he <HI>dreams</HI> of <HI>Angels,</HI> a mo&s;t ble&s;&s;ed <HI>dream,</HI> and if he chance to talk in his &s;leep, it is mo&s;t commonly of <HI>De|murs, Habeas Corpu&s;&s;es, Sci&s;&s;eraries, Writs, Latitats,</HI> and <HI>Procidendoes.</HI> The <HI>Phy&s;ician</HI> he dreams of a great Plague, and if he talks, it is of nothing but Purgations, Vomits, Gli&s;ters, and Pills. I knew a <HI>Player</HI> dream'd that his Brains were beaten out with the Cork of a Groat Bottle of <HI>Ale,</HI> and as he was &s;peaking the <HI>Prologue</HI> it hi&s;t at him, becau&s;e he &s;pake it &s;o &s;curvily. The <HI>Cutpur&s;e</HI> and <HI>Catchpole</HI> mo&s;t commonly dream of a <HI>Michaelmas Term,</HI> for that is their be&s;t time to pick Pockets and cheat in; and &s;o of all the re&s;t according to their Employ|ments: therefore this makes me not of <HI>Simonides</HI> opinion, who held that all Dreams are &s;ent from God, which all hone&s;t men will deny, becau&s;e they know that God is not Authour of any ill. Again, Dogs and Kine dream, e&s;pe|cially when they have lo&s;t their Whelps and Calves, who &s;uddenly will wake out of their &s;leeps, and howling and lowing into divers places to finde them. Nor mu&s;t we be|lieve the&s;e <HI>Negromancers</HI> in their devili&s;h work of work|ing in our Fanta&s;ies by Dreams, that they can do any thing that is true, as when they cau&s;e us to dream of Gold,
<PB N="207" REF="107">or Silver, and we chance to finde it in&s;tantly, to affirm with many old Women that all Dreams are true, for this is but a Trick of the <HI>Devil</HI> to bring us into <HI>Super&s;tition:</HI> which Trick is not much unlike that he hath put upon the <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> making them believe that at the &s;ight of the <HI>Cro&s;s</HI> he cannot be quiet, but mu&s;t flie away from it; but there is no true <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> will think that the <HI>Devil</HI> is a|fraid of a piece of Wood, Gold, or Silver, but flies from the <HI>Cro&s;s</HI> of purpo&s;e to draw them into the <HI>Super&s;tition</HI> of adoring the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> and kneeling to it in &s;tead of ado|ring him that once hung on the <HI>Cro&s;s:</HI> for although it be a <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> yet it hath no more virtue and influence in it then when it was a piece of Wood, Stone, or Silver. Thus then you &s;ee we mu&s;t tru&s;t to no Dreams, except they come by the in&s;piration of God and the Holy Gho&s;t; of which God &s;pake in the 12. of <HI>Numbers. I will &s;peak to him in a Dream,</HI> this was now by a good <HI>Angel,</HI> that God warned <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> to flie into <HI>Egypt.</HI> And oftentimes God &s;uffereth the <HI>evil Angel</HI> to delude the mindes of men, &s;o that many times they have been banquetting with gallant Ladies, and by the fanta&s;tical illu&s;ion of the <HI>De|vil,</HI> think that they have been in the company of divers Women that rid on the backs of <HI>Cats, Dogs, Hogs,</HI> or that they have been &s;ailing on the main Sea in Ships no bigger then Egg-&s;hells; and that in the peace of mid|night they have travelled through many parts of the World. Holy <HI>Job</HI> prayeth again&s;t &s;uch illu&s;ions, &s;aying, <HI>Thou doe&s;t terrifie me by dreams, and doe&s;t &s;hake me with horrour by vi&s;ions.</HI> There are many <HI>Monks</HI> as the <HI>Golden Legend</HI> te&s;tifies, that report this of their holy <HI>S. Domini|cus,</HI> that <HI>his Mother before he was born dream'd that &s;he bare a huge Dog in her womb, holding a burning fire|brand in his mouth, who entering into the world &s;et it on fire.</HI> This Dream the holy <HI>Monks</HI> did thus expound; that the Vi&s;ion was not vain, &s;eeing <HI>Preachers</HI> in the <HI>Scriptures</HI> are called <HI>dogs.</HI> But I will give them a truer
<PB N="208" REF="108">Expo&s;ition then this, not &s;paring their holy <HI>Order.</HI> It was certain that this <HI>Dominick</HI> was the Authour of one of the four <HI>Mendicant Orders,</HI> and the fir&s;t that found out the burning and firing of the <HI>Profe&s;&s;ours</HI> of the <HI>Go&s;pel.</HI> Therefore his imitatours have peculiarly challenged to them&s;elves the <HI>Inqui&s;ition</HI> and many other &s;uch places, to exerci&s;e their Fire and Sword. And &s;o by this was &s;ignifi|ed the burning <HI>Fire-brand Dominicus</HI> held in his mouth; by which an infinite company of godly men were con&s;u|med into A&s;hes. Thus by this <HI>dream</HI> did the <HI>devil</HI> delude <HI>Dominicus</HI> Mother, and many more that did belive the interpretation of it by the <HI>Monks.</HI> But in general, <HI>dreams</HI> are not to be believed, for they are mo&s;t wicked and odi|ous in the &s;ight of God, that think &s;o; as may appear in the 19. of <HI>Leviticus, Deut.</HI> 23. <HI>ibid.</HI> 18. <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;t.</HI> 24. and many other places of the <HI>Scripture.</HI> Thus much for your <HI>divination</HI> by <HI>dreams.</HI> Sometimes they do <HI>divine</HI> by a <HI>Spirit;</HI> and that is called <HI>Pythoni&s;&s;a.</HI> Sometimes they an&s;wer to that they are called for by divers Figures, <HI>Men</HI> or <HI>Women</HI> &s;et in poli&s;h'd &s;tone, Iron, Bra&s;s, Steel, Gla&s;s, or the Nails of ones hand; and this is called by the gene|ral Name of <HI>Geomancy:</HI> And mo&s;t commonly to &s;uch as the&s;e, they chu&s;e out <HI>Women</HI> and <HI>Children.</HI> And I my &s;elf have known many old Women <HI>old dog</HI> at this kinde of <HI>divination;</HI> who hold, that <HI>if the Nails of the hand grow yellow, it is a great &s;ign of ill luck;</HI> and that <HI>&s;pecks are the true &s;ignes of future ill luck.</HI> If the&s;e Appariti|ors appear in the Water, then it is called <HI>Hydromancy.</HI> The&s;e I have heard are very incident to <HI>Catch-poles, Eum-bailies,</HI> and the like, when they are duck'd under Water at a high Tide at one of the <HI>Temples.</HI> If the&s;e Apparitions are in the Air, then it is called <HI>Aeromancy.</HI> If in the Fire, <HI>Pyromancy.</HI> If by the Bowels of Bea&s;ts, offered up on Altars to the <HI>devil,</HI> it is called <HI>Aru&s;picium.</HI> But if by Incantations, the <HI>devil</HI> &s;eems to ri&s;e and an&s;wer to Que&s;tions propounded to them, then it is called <HI>Ne|gromancy.</HI>
<PB N="209" REF="108">In this wor&s;t Super&s;tition, Bloud is al&s;o u&s;ed; and the Rea&s;on <HI>I&s;idorus</HI> gives, is this <HI>becau&s;e he de&s;ireth divine wor&s;hip;</HI> for in the <HI>old Law,</HI> Bloud was offered up to God. If by the chattering of Birds, or by the voice of any other Creatures, they foretell of things to come, it is called <HI>Augury.</HI> This kinde of <HI>divination</HI> is mo&s;t bla&s;|phemous, odious, and again&s;t the honour of God: For they fain, that with a divine in&s;tinct, Birds, and Fowls, with their Motions, Chatterings, Croakings, Winding, or fore-right &s;lying portend either good or bad luck: which the <HI>Ethnicks</HI> them&s;elves did laugh at, and contemn. For <HI>Hector</HI> in <HI>Homer</HI> &s;harply reproved <HI>Polydamantus,</HI> who delaied his fight, expecting an <HI>Augury;</HI> to whom <HI>Hector</HI> &s;aid, <HI>&V;num e&s;&s;e Augurium optimum, Patriam fortiter de|fendere: There is one Augury which is the be&s;t, &s;toutly to defend thy Countrey.</HI> Al&s;o this kinde of <HI>divination</HI> was very frequent among the <HI>Jews,</HI> and was laugh'd at, and cro&s;t by that learned and couragious <HI>Jew, Mo&s;&s;olamus;</HI> who being in the Wars, was told by an <HI>Astrologer,</HI> that <HI>he &s;hould march no farther, untill he had received an Augury from the next Bird he &s;hould &s;ee come flying over his Army.</HI> But the <HI>Jew</HI> &s;corn'd the help of the Bird, and laugh'd at the skill of the <HI>South-&s;ayer,</HI> in&s;tantly taking his Bow in his hand, and as the Bird came croaking over the Army, &s;lew it, then &s;pake the&s;e words, <HI>Doe&s;t thou think thou &s;uperstitious South-&s;ayer, that this Bird, ignorant of her own &s;afety, could tell of the event of our Wars?</HI> If it could have foretold of things to come, it would never have come nigh this place, to be &s;lain of <HI>Mo&s;&s;olanus</HI> the <HI>Jew.</HI> If they foretell of things to come, by the moving of divers Members of Bea&s;ts; then it is called <HI>Au&s;picium.</HI> Al&s;o, when a man &s;peaks any thing to another without any intention, and as it were in je&s;t: as to &s;ay, <HI>He will be hang'd, drown'd, kill'd,</HI> or the like; if this come to pa&s;s, then they call it <HI>Omen.</HI> If they foretell of things that &s;hall happen by &s;ignes that they &s;ee in the Lines of a mans
<PB N="210" REF="109">hand; then it is called <HI>Chyromancy.</HI> This Art many old Women are learnedly experienced in, and will tell any Man or Woman, for meat, drink, or money, what &s;hall befall them. If they foretell of any thing that &s;hall hap|pen by the &s;ignes they &s;ee in the &s;houlder-blades of Bea&s;ts, then it is called <HI>Spatalmancia.</HI> There is al&s;o another kinde of <HI>divination,</HI> which is by Lots: which Lots are made, by drawing out points of an uncertain number, with their Faces turned towards the Moon, with other Ob&s;ervations to as little purpo&s;e as this. The <HI>Dutchmen</HI> are very skilfull at this, and have cou&s;ened the <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> of infinite Ma&s;&s;es of Money, by their &s;elling of Papers; &s;o that there was not one among forty, though he came ne|ver &s;o merry to the Lottery, but he &s;hould be &s;ure to go away Blank. Thus Sir, have I laid forth the Brood of divination; now I will come to the Ob&s;ervations. It is a di&s;putable Que&s;tion, whether by words or deeds the De|vil will be compelled by <HI>Negromancers,</HI> or whether being called by them, they come, becau&s;e of &s;ome League that is between them? If Devils appear, forced by <HI>Negro|mantick witchcrafts,</HI> why do not <HI>Negromancers</HI> make them come again&s;t their wills? which &s;ure they cannot; which is a &s;ign, that there is a League and Covenant con|cluded between the Devil &amp; Conjurers either manife&s;t or occult, why el&s;e do <HI>Negromancers</HI> dedicate their Books to the chief Devils, who&s;e Name they often u&s;e, but onely to make a Covenant with the Devil, that when they call them by tho&s;e Names, Charmes, Characters, Exor|ci&s;mes, and the like, they may appear them&s;elves, or &s;end &s;ome of their inferiour Devils as &s;oon as they hear them. The&s;e then are approved &s;ignes and marks of a Cove|nant: and that the Spirits may &s;hew them&s;elves to have a geater power, &s;ometimes they &s;eem very unwilling to come, either becau&s;e they would make the inchanter more zealous, or that he may delude &s;imple people: <HI>for he is a Lyar, and the Father of Lyes.</HI> And now I hope it will
<PB N="211" REF="109">not be impertinent to confute the Opinion of many, who will not believe, that there are any devils but tho&s;e that are in Hell: but I am per&s;waded, that in every corner there is a Spirit. I proceed a little further, to &s;hew, why under a certain Con&s;tellation at certain times. and in cer|tain terrible places, Apparitions appear rather to Women and Children, rather then to Men. Such matters as Con|jurers u&s;e, do not compell Devils, but rather are &s;ignes of a League compacted between them. For as S. <HI>Augu|&s;tine</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The devils take their habitations in bodies, that God, not them&s;elves, created; and are delighted in &s;eve|rall bodies for variety &s;ake, not as creatures with Ali|ment, but as &s;pirits with &s;ignes, which &s;ignes are delecta|ble in variety; as &s;ometimes by Stones, Herbs, Wood, li|ving creatures, Ver&s;es, and Rites; and men are often de|lighted with the&s;e things.</HI> Which the Devil perceiving, &s;educe them either by &s;ubtle or crafty means, or by Appa|rances, in fawning and Friend-&s;eeming &s;hews, or beauti|full and amiable &s;hapes; as they have appeared to &s;ome men in the Forms of <HI>Lamiae,</HI> which are but meer <HI>Phan|ta&s;ma's</HI> of fair women appearing in that beautious &s;hape, feigning them&s;elves to be in love with young men, who have been &s;o often conver&s;ant with them, that at the la&s;t they have brought them to de&s;truction. But I think there are few <HI>Lamiae</HI> in the&s;e days appear, except they be &s;ub|&s;tantial ones, which are Whores, who well may be com|pared to the&s;e midnight delu&s;ions; For they will profe&s;s love, and never leave a man, while they have brought him to &s;ome Ho&s;pitall. Neither could the Devil do the&s;e things, but that he prieth into the heart of man, and then feeds them with that which mo&s;t delights them. <HI>Thomas</HI> of <HI>Aquin</HI> teacheth, that by the&s;e corporal things they can the more ea&s;ily bring to effect that to which they are called, and they de&s;ire this, that their Art might be held more admirable: and for this ca&s;e, being called under any Con&s;tellation, they rather will appear, But why to Vir|gins,
<PB N="212" REF="110">Children, and &s;uch weak Creatures do &s;uch Appea|rances &s;hew them&s;elves more then to others, but that they may bring them into an opinion of their Divinity, and that pre&s;tigious Witchcrafts and delu&s;ions may &s;oone&s;t tempt them that have the weake&s;t Faith? And to make them afraid, they appear in the Night, as it were in hollow Caves and Caverns of the Earth, De&s;arts, dark and &s;oli|tary Chambers, whereby the fear of the&s;e melancholly places, and the un&s;ea&s;onable time of the appearance of the Devil, may the more terrifie them. Thus the policy of the Devil &s;till works on the weake&s;t and &s;illie&s;t kinde of people.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Avec. <HI>6.</HI> de Nat.</NOTE> <HI>Avecin</HI> &s;hews how the Sen&s;es may be deluded. The general means is this; <HI>Spirits work nothing</HI> extra nos, <HI>without us; for it is ea&s;ie for Spirits to make many bodies of the Air, which earthly bodies may wonder at.</HI> For <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> reports a pretty piece of <HI>Magick</HI> performed by a <HI>Roman</HI> Prie&s;t (who had it not out of any place of the <HI>Scripture</HI> I am &s;ure) that invited a company of La|dies to a Banquet,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In Epi|cureo.</NOTE> bidding them bring good &s;tomacks with them. The Ladies came, were welcommed by him, entertained by delicate Mu&s;ick, and were &s;eated at the la&s;t at the Table according to their Births. There were &s;uch variety of rare and &s;trange Di&s;hes, that they thought that others, not their own Nation, did furni&s;h their Ta|ble: they eat well, drunk well, and were merry; and which is better then a piece of Chee&s;e, Pippins, or Carro|ways, to clo&s;e up the mouth of the &s;tomack after Supper, they were welcome. When this Fea&s;t, rather this Fa&s;t was ended, and (which is not very u&s;uall with Courtiers) Grace being &s;aid, they rendred the Prie&s;t hearty Thanks for their Banquet, and went home. But they had not been there at the mo&s;t half an hour, but their &s;tomacks began to call upon them for meat, for they were all as hungry as if they had eat nothing at the Banquet: therefore did much wonder at them&s;elves, that they &s;hould have &s;uch a great de&s;ire to meat, &s;eeing they did but newly come from
<PB N="213" REF="110">&s;uch a royal Entertainment. But this queint delu&s;ion the Prie&s;t afterward revealed to them: For although he in|vited them to a Fea&s;t, yet they had never a bit of meat; For his Art did delude both the Eye, that thought it &s;aw &s;uch things, and the Pallat, that &s;eemed to ta&s;te tho&s;e deli|cates. I my &s;elf have &s;een a Fellow, that would make people believe, that they &s;aw <HI>Orange trees</HI> &s;pring out of his <HI>Forehead,</HI> having Birds &s;it and &s;ing on the Boughs, which in an in&s;tant would vani&s;h away again. This Fel|low was at <HI>Cambridge</HI> drinking at the <HI>Dolphin,</HI> and made a <HI>Drawer</HI> that fill'd him bad <HI>Wine,</HI> believe, that <HI>he would geld him, if he would not bring him of the best Claret in the Cellar:</HI> which the Drawer laugh'd at, and the more to cro&s;s him, fetch of the wor&s;t he could finde. This Juggler &s;wore <HI>he would be even with him before it be long;</HI> but the Drawer went away laughing, bidding him <HI>do his wor&s;t.</HI> But the Conceit came at the la&s;t, like a Je&s;t in the la&s;t Lines of an <HI>Epigram;</HI> for when the Drawer le&s;t thought of it, as he was running down &s;tairs to fetch Wine, he felt &s;omething trickle down his Thighes, at the fir&s;t thinking it had been &s;ome Wine he had &s;pilt on his Breeches, but put|ting his Hands into his Ho&s;e, he pull'd them out bloudy again; &s;o that he came running up &s;tairs, and with a wide mouth came roaring into the Room where we were drink|ing, crying, <HI>the lame man had gelt him, and that he was utterly undone.</HI> At the fir&s;t this <HI>Vox exclamantis</HI> did beget &s;uch a Laughter in us, that we were not able to &s;peak to him; but yet at the la&s;t, by giving the Fellow good words, and good Wine, he made him a perfect man again. This was but deceiving of the Sen&s;es, and &s;o not done, or if done, the work of the Devil.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Lib <HI>9.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Rhodoginus</HI> makes mention of one <HI>Syreneus,</HI> that would run his Hor&s;e a &s;traws breadth a Mile together, and make him amble, cur|vet, trot, pace, and gallop within the compa&s;s of a Bu&s;hel. <HI>Martin Berrhaus</HI> reports, that he &s;aw a Dancer carry two men on his &s;houlders, two on his arms, and one upon
<PB N="214" REF="111">his neck, yet would dance and vaunt with &s;uch agility, that a Baboon with his drinking-gla&s;&s;e could not tumble nimbler.</P>
<P><HI>Rhodoginus</HI> and <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> makes mention of an <HI>Indian,</HI> that by a trick he had learnt of a Witch,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>l.</HI> 12. <HI>c.</HI> 40</NOTE> would &s;hoot through the narrow circumference of a &s;mall Hoop-ring, &s;tanding a furlong off.</P>
<P><HI>Julius Pi&s;carius</HI> reports,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Quiuti. l. <HI>2.</HI> c. <HI>2.</HI></NOTE> that a Dice-player (who commanded, that after he was dead, his skin &s;hould be made a Cafpet for Game&s;ters to play on, his bones Dice to play with, and Tre&s;&s;els for &s;tooles to &s;it on) by a Ma|gicall trick he had, would cheat the mo&s;t cheating&s;t Game&s;ter.</P>
<P>Therefore, if the&s;e that are but <HI>Mataotechnia,</HI> vain imitations of Art, &s;eem &s;o wonderfull to people beholding them on Stages and Theaters: how le&s;&s;e miraculous is it, if the devil by Elements can make &s;tranger apparences, or by &s;ecret in&s;pirations delude the &s;en&s;e, by framing the Phanta&s;mes of Images, by which he will deceive men running,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Phanta&s;.</NOTE> &s;leeping, or walking?</P>
<P>Why may not the&s;e Spirits be turned into as many &s;hapes as <HI>Diomedes</HI> companions were, that were in the I&s;land called <HI>Diomede,</HI> not far from the mountain <HI>Gar|ganus,</HI> that is in <HI>Apulea?</HI> Why not as well as <HI>&V;ly&s;&s;es</HI> companions, that were turned into bea&s;ts, and whom <HI>Circes</HI> the famous Sorcere&s;&s;e inchanted? Why not as well as the <HI>Arcadians,</HI> that were turned into Wolves? Why may not there be a tran&s;mutation in the&s;e incorpo|reall &s;pirits, as in the&s;e terre&s;triall bodies? And why may not there be as &s;trange <HI>Metamorpho&s;is</HI> in the&s;e dayes, as there was in the dayes of <HI>Ovid</HI> and <HI>Varro?</HI> nay I will &s;tand to it, that in the&s;e dayes there are as marvellous changes and more true, for I have known a Gallant that at the age of fiveteen, hath been a pregnant witty youth, but before twenty he hath been turned into a right <HI>A&s;i|nego.</HI> There have been many Citizens that have been very
<PB N="215" REF="111">hand&s;ome per&s;onable men in the morning, who before the Exchange hath been done, have been turned into mon&s;trous bea&s;ts. There are many trade&s;men that at their fir&s;t &s;etting up have been very hone&s;t men, but after the third or fourth breaking, have been turnd into mo&s;t fearful Sergeants. I have known many that have been accounted wi&s;e fellows in the Univer&s;ity, that have no &s;ooner peept into the Temples, or one of the Innes of Court, but have been transformed in|to mon&s;trous A&s;&s;es. Then &s;eeing there is &s;uch a tran&s;mu|tation in earthly bodies, why &s;hould we think it &s;o &s;trange and rare in incorporeall &s;pirits? Yet the&s;e and the like are not recited as if they were true, but to &s;hew how the &s;en&s;es may be deluded. and the like may appear by tho&s;e women that oftentimes are per&s;waded that they are riding on the backs of bea&s;ts. Yet for all this, I will not grant there is any virtue in the words or charms of a Negromancer to rai&s;e up the&s;e forms. Al&s;o there is no virtue in tho&s;e cere|moniall Exorci&s;ms, with which Prie&s;ts exorci&s;e Wine, Salt, Water, and the like, which I will manife&s;tly &s;hew you. Fir&s;t, in re&s;pect of the Matter, for the Matter is but Aire, or Water, or Ink; which can have no virtue in them, for by that rea&s;on, every &s;ub&s;tance of the like kind &s;hould have the &s;ame virtue. Secondly, in re&s;pect of the Accidentall Form, which is nothing el&s;e but a configuration of divers Characters, either in writing or &s;peaking, for Phylo&s;ophy teacheth that Accidentall forms have no Action of them|&s;elves. Thirdly, in re&s;pect of the thing &s;ignified, as the word fire to burn this paper, or the word Death to kill this Man, or the word God, to &s;ave this Soul, or to rai&s;e up any dead body; which cannot be: for the name of God cannot do it. But God mu&s;t be invocated by true Faith, whereby he is often plea&s;ed to grant our reque&s;ts. But Conjurers and A&s;trologers u&s;e the name of God in another kind, and other Ceremonies, which rather drive away divine Grace and Virtue then procure it, and &s;o much the more they &s;in, by how much the more they take
<PB N="216" REF="112">the name of God in vain, and to the wor&s;hip of the De|vill. Therefore to conclude this Treati&s;e of Divination, I will prove both by the Divine, Imperiall, and Canon Law, that it is not lawfull to be u&s;ed.</P>
<P>The Divine Law &s;aith: <HI>Thou &s;halt not &s;uffer &s;uch Ma|lefactours to live.</HI> A man or a woman in whom the Spi|rit of Divination is found, let them dye the death: Let them be &s;toned to death, and let their bloods be upon their own heads. Al&s;o the Holy Gho&s;t in another place &s;aith: Let that Soul that is inclined to South&s;ayers be &s;lain in the mid&s;t of the people. The Imperiall Law commands, that they &s;hould be beheaded, or be put to any kind of puni&s;h|ment the Judge &s;hall think mo&s;t convenient and fitting.</P>
<P>The third daughter of Super&s;tition is vain Ob&s;ervati|tion, which teacheth to know future things either good or bad, as to tell whether a man condemned to be hanged, &s;hall dye that death or no, which is but a meer roguery and cheating. For this notorious Art, is nothing but a vain &s;uper&s;tition,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Canen exira de &s;ortilegiis partosum. Ars no|toria.</NOTE> nay indeed a mo&s;t notorious piece of Rogue|ry, working by Figures, Characters, and unknown names al&s;o containing many &s;peeches, concluding in them &s;trange and unknown &s;ignifications, which a man mu&s;t learn and repeate, alwayes ob&s;erving a continency in his Diet, and &s;ometimes to puni&s;h and macerate him&s;elf, would not do ami&s;&s;e, if he mean to attain to the perfect knowledge of this &s;cience,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Que&s;t. <HI>96.</HI> Art. <HI>1.</HI></NOTE> which <HI>Thomas Aquinas quae&s;t.</HI> 96. <HI>art.</HI> I doth utterly deny: For, he &s;aith, he that doth u&s;e this, can attain to no &s;uch kind of knowledge, and that the De|vil invoked by it, cannot infu&s;e any knowledge, or illumi|nate the intellect, although he is able to deliver the rudi|ments of &s;ome kind of Art; for the devil doth onely work to infatuate and befoole them that exerci&s;e or &s;tudy it. Nor is it available for any Doctour in this Art, to pro|duce the Examples of <HI>Daniel</HI> and his fellows, who ab|&s;taining from meat and drink, came to &s;uch a perfect know|ledge; for they did not ab&s;tain from tho&s;e meats by the
<PB N="217" REF="112">vain ob&s;ervation of this notorious Art, but lea&s;t that they &s;hould be defiled with the meat of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which was forbidden them by God: therefore not without de|&s;ert they were indued with knowledge above the re&s;t. And <HI>Solomon</HI> begging knowledge of God to govern his people, did obtain it of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t.</HI> Other vain Ob|&s;ervations of this Art, divine <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> hath learnedly confuted. <HI>Lib.</HI> 2. <HI>de Doctrina Chri&s;tiana.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q>
<P>Thus farr <HI>Milton.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. II.</HI> of <HI>CHAP. IV.</HI> wherein he &s;aith, the Doctours Objection touching the di|ver&s;ity of Twins, is refelled. As al&s;o &s;ome other quirks against A&s;trology examined and convinced.</HEAD>
<P>HIs &s;econd Argument or Rea&s;on <HI>again&s;t A&s;trology</HI> is,<MILESTONE N="A"> &s;aith he, <HI>from clear experience in Twins conceived at the &s;ame in&s;tant, and born in the &s;ame hour or le&s;s.</HI> Now M. <HI>Homes</HI> had done well to have made this <HI>his clear experience,</HI> as clear to his Reader, by demon&s;tration or example, and not to content him&s;elf with his bare word, this is but one Doctours opinion; but will he &s;ay,<MILESTONE N="B"> that all Twins are conceived at the very &s;ame in&s;tant of time? Sure he will not; but admit &s;ome are, yet will he not affirm they are therefore born in the &s;ame in&s;tant of time; I will appeal to any one of di&s;cretion and under|&s;tanding in &s;uch matters, if it hold with rea&s;on, that two Children &s;hould be <HI>born both together;</HI><MILESTONE N="C"> and to make it more clear, that all Twins are not conceived at one and the &s;ame in&s;tant of time, I refer him to the peru&s;al of <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI><MILESTONE N="D"> <HI>Pliny, Cardanus, Dodoneus, &amp;c.</HI> But let me ask him what he thinketh of the Story of <HI>Procone&s;ia,</HI> who as the &s;tory goes, lying with her Ma&s;ter, and his Man her Fellow|&s;ervant, both in one day; conceived by both,<MILESTONE N="C"> and brought forth one Childe like the Ma&s;ter, and the other like the
<PB N="218" REF="113">Man. Wherefore the fir&s;t part of his Argument is not a|vailable; neither (upon good con&s;ideration) will his fol|lowing words; <MILESTONE N="F"> for he confe&s;&s;es him&s;elf that the neare&s;t time of their Birth is, in the &s;ame hour or le&s;s, when all that knows any thing in A&s;trology, knows that four mi|nutes of time in the Birth, gives near upon a years time in directions; <MILESTONE N="G"> wherefore certainly when he made &s;uch clear experience in the Birth of Twins, they were not born in the &s;ame in&s;tant, but at lea&s;t four and four and four mi|nutes difference, for the neare&s;t time he confe&s;&s;es, may be <HI>&s;omewhat le&s;s then an hour;</HI><MILESTONE N="H"> which certainly mu&s;t breed very much difference indeed; wherefore except he could have proved that they were born both at an in&s;tant, or give us an example of any &s;uch that he hath made <HI>clear experience of,</HI><MILESTONE N="I"> his Argument and Rea&s;on is a meer <HI>&s;ophi|&s;tical</HI> Cavil. And whereas he alleadgeth, that <HI>Pharez</HI> and <HI>Zara</HI> did put forth them&s;elves interchangeably in one hour; but how he can prove it was in one hour, is I be|lieve too hard a Task for him to do, he having no War|rant therefore, from the Word of God. But all this is no|thing to the point, for though <HI>Zarah</HI> put forth his hand fir&s;t, and for di&s;tinction had a red Thread tied about it, yet he plucked it back again, and <HI>Pharez</HI> was born before him, <HI>Gen.</HI> 38. <HI>v.</HI> 29. He brings the Example of <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au</HI> to condemn A&s;trology,<MILESTONE N="K"> which is far weaker: For all that is acquainted with that &s;tory in the Scripture, knows that <HI>E&s;au</HI> was born fir&s;t, and after him came his Brother <HI>Jacob;</HI> and that this is clear, the Scripture fur|ther &s;aith, <HI>The Younger &s;hall &s;erve the Elder, Ergo,</HI> they were not born at one in&s;tant of time, and therefore I may very well conclude, that this Cavil &s;erveth no whit to the condemnation of A&s;trology; &s;ince for ought he can prove to the contrary, (or any one can tell) they were born ma|ny hours di&s;tant, and &s;o con&s;equently they mu&s;t needs have &s;everall Significatours at their Birth, which will cau&s;e ve|ry much diver&s;ity of manners, fortunes, form, and &s;hape,
<PB N="219" REF="113"><HI>&amp;c.</HI> But if he will tell me there was &s;o &s;mall difference in the time, as that <HI>Jacob</HI> had hold on his Brothers heel; I &s;ay, that yet notwith&s;tanding, doth this prove them to be born at one and the &s;ame time; but that there was &s;o much time betwixt their Births, as may cau&s;e much difference in mo&s;t matters of their Lives: but admit this Objection, any under&s;tanding man knows it could no wi&s;e &s;tand ei|ther with the &s;afety of the Mother or Childe, that he &s;hould be thus born with one hand before all the body. And again, &s;ince it is no wi&s;e po&s;&s;ible in nature, that Twins &s;hould be born both at the &s;ame in&s;tant of time; this his frivolous Cavil is of no u&s;e, unfitly brought for the mat|ter in que&s;tion; and altogether incon&s;i&s;tent with rea&s;on.</P>
<P>But this by the way; we come to his example of <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au,</HI> which he &s;aith, by rea&s;on of their Differences, confuteth <HI>A&s;trology:</HI> but if he could prove all the dif|ference that po&s;&s;ibly could be imagined, yet is not this a &s;ufficient ground for him to condemn <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> &s;ith it hath nothing to do with <HI>Divine providence,</HI><MILESTONE N="L"> or matters be|yond the <HI>common cour&s;e of Nature;</HI> which may evidently appear, that this Birth of <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au</HI> is, by the &s;tory of their Conception, which you may &s;ee was ab&s;olutely a thing beyond the power of Nature; for their Mother <HI>Rebecca</HI> (the Scripture telleth us) was barren: where|fore this being &s;o, this I &s;ay alone, is enough to &s;ilence all that he can &s;ay again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology,</HI><MILESTONE N="M"> by this Example of <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au.</HI> But &s;ure, notwith&s;tanding, if one &s;hould particularly examine their lives, one &s;hould <HI>hardly finde &s;uch great difference</HI> between them as could ju&s;tly be al|lead ged to condemn A&s;trology; <MILESTONE N="N"> for if we look to their <HI>qualities,</HI> they were both <HI>Princes,</HI> if to the number of their <HI>Wives</HI> and <HI>Children,</HI> look into the Antiquities of the <HI>Jews,</HI> viz. <HI>Philo,</HI> and you will finde their Children were alike in number <HI>within one,</HI> and we know that <HI>Jacob</HI> had <HI>Leah, Rachel, Billa,</HI> and <HI>Zilpah,</HI> to his Wives, four: and <HI>E&s;an, Bath&s;hemah, Mahalah, Adah,</HI> and <HI>Aholiba|mach,</HI>
<PB N="220" REF="114">four: al&s;o, if we again look to their <HI>Riches</HI> or Wealth,<MILESTONE N="O"> they were both &s;o abundantly wealthy, as that <HI>one Country was not able to contain them both:</HI> but if any one &s;ay, they differed in the matter of their <HI>birth-right:</HI> I an&s;wer,<MILESTONE N="P"> that this &s;imple Objection is of no validity; for, <HI>A&s;trology</HI> is not to decide or premon&s;trate, or foreknow the cau&s;e of Divine matters, <HI>neither the &s;ecret will</HI> of God, which that this was Gods &s;ecret will, there is none but knows; <MILESTONE N="Q"> for, as he was cho&s;en to be the root or founda|tion of God's people; &s;o by the obtaining of the birth-right of his Brother, did clearly premon&s;trate, both this his Election, and the power of his Seed, to exceed the power of the others Seed, being the Elder: And here I may al&s;o add, <HI>they were both roots and foundations of two great Nations:</HI> but as this maketh neither <HI>for,</HI> nor <HI>again&s;t A&s;trology, It may be</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>they will reade us a Lecture of difference from magnitudes and motions,</HI> which An&s;wer I mu&s;t confe&s;s &s;utes ju&s;t well enough with the Que&s;tion,<MILESTONE N="R"> neither of them both being fully to any purpo&s;e; but to be farther &s;atisfied herein, let him look <HI>Ptolomy, lib.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 7. of his <HI>Quadripartite,</HI> where he &s;hall be clearly taught the Rea&s;ons of Differences in Twins, and convinced of his erroneous Cavil, that they are born at the &s;ame in&s;tant of time; it is not from magnitudes or motions, though &s;omewhat might be &s;aid thereon, and that &s;o much, as that I believe would trouble him to an&s;wer; <MILESTONE N="S"> but let that pa&s;s, and hear how he que&s;ti|ons and an&s;wers for and again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology, if &s;o</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>if the &Moon; be le&s;s then the Earth according to</HI> Kecker|man <HI>at lea&s;t twenty times, and the re&s;t of the Planets be|low the &Sun;, as &Venus; twenty &s;even times le&s;s then the Earth, and &Merc; twenty two times, how then &s;hall the&s;e at any po|&s;ture, at one and the &s;ame time effect or &s;ignifie any thing to all the world?</HI> It is the opinion indeed (and with very much rea&s;on) of all the <HI>Mathematicians</HI> and <HI>A&s;trolo|gers</HI> that ever writ, that the&s;e three Planets under the <HI>Sun</HI>
<PB N="221" REF="114">are le&s;s then the Earth, but among&s;t the mo&s;t learned of them there is much di&s;pute of the certain magnitude there|of; but how equivalent this Quirk is again&s;t <HI>Astrology</HI> is wonderfull! A Candle is not able to give light to a Bowl,<MILESTONE N="T"> or any thing as big as a Peck, becau&s;e it is &s;o much bigger then the Candle; when we know and commonly &s;ee that it will give light to a great &s;pacious Room, a thou|&s;and times bigger then it &s;elf; we know and &s;ee, that the influence of a Planet extends it &s;elf ten thou&s;and times be|yond its vi&s;ible light to our &s;ight; but to come clo&s;er to the matter, hath not the &Moon;, &Merc; and &Venus;, their &sextile;, &quadrine;, &trine; <HI>dexter</HI> and <HI>&s;ini&s;ter,</HI> and &conjunction;, to all and every part or ut|mo&s;t parts of the Heavens (that are millions of times bigger then both them and the Earth) according to their &s;everall motions? And hath not the&s;e A&s;pects as much power and influence, as a perpendicular &conjunction;? and whereas he asketh, <HI>what is the difference of Natures in Twins? when the &s;uperiour Planets are proportionably bigger then the Earth,</HI> but &s;ure he never read that part of <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> which I before cited, concerning the &s;everall Significatours in Twins, which is the onely cau&s;e and rea&s;on that can be given for his frivolous Quirk: but as he que&s;tions to bring his bald Arguments about, &s;o he an&s;wers his own Que&s;ti|ons in hopes to confirm them; <HI>If</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>this is becau&s;e of the &s;wift external violent motion of the Stars; why then I again demand how the Stars can have time to make any di&s;tinct impre&s;&s;ion by any particular influence on one born, e&s;pecially on one who perhaps may lie in the mouth of the womb partly born, partly unborn; for a quarter or half an hour, or many hours; when the motion of the Zodiack is &s;ixty times &s;ixty miles in an hour, which is &s;ixty miles compleat in one minute.</HI></P>
<P>But to an&s;wer to this weak Cavil, I &s;hall &s;ay no more, but that though the Heavens be &s;o &s;wift, yet in compari|&s;on of us it is not &s;o much as an inch is to ten thou&s;and Miles; for we &s;ee by daily experience, that the &Sun; (who is
<PB N="222" REF="115">al&s;o by the &s;ame violence (contrary to his own natural cour&s;e) carried in like manner) doth not as to us move at all in two or three hours; <MILESTONE N="V"> for mark how &s;mall a thing in a Diall gives this &s;ixty Miles in a minute; &s;o that this doth no whit at all hinder the influence of the Stars, if they &s;hould be hurried ten times &s;wifter; for this great cour&s;e is in relation to the circumference of the Heavens, not of the Earth: be&s;ides we know that tho&s;e Signes that are of longer a&s;cen&s;ions, as are &Cancer;, &Leo;, &Virgo;, &Libra;, &Scorp;, &Sagitt;, are &s;ome|times an hour and a half, nay, perhaps two hours a&s;cend|ing or in the fir&s;t Hou&s;e, and &s;o con&s;equently may be in any Hou&s;e.</P>
<P>And for his <HI>long continuance of the Infant in the mouth of the womb,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">VV</NOTE> this may &s;omewhat refell, but there is no A&s;trologer that will take that part of a Birth, or the be|ginning of the Mothers Travell, to be the Ground or <HI>Radix</HI> of the Infants <HI>Nativity;</HI> but that <HI>in&s;tant</HI> in which He or She is <HI>perfectly &s;eperated from the womb, and entred the elementary world,</HI> &s;ince no man can pro|perly call that a Birth, which is but half expelled, or but half perfected, when al&s;o &s;ometimes the Infant may draw back again.</P>
<P>Saith he, <HI>If A&s;trologers will plead any thing to help them&s;elves herein from the &s;lowne&s;s of other motions of the Stars, that are natural to them,</HI> viz. <HI>that the fixed Stars, move with &s;o &s;low a motion from North to South back a|gain, as that their cour&s;es are not fini&s;hed in le&s;s then &s;even thou&s;and years;</HI> Now I would very fain know of any ra|tional man, how this An&s;wer of his in the behalf of A&s;tro|logers, is able to avail them a ru&s;h, or him&s;elf in his pur|po&s;e,<MILESTONE N="X"> &s;ince they are al&s;o hurried with the like violence a|fore&s;aid, every twenty four hours once about the Earth? But as all the&s;e his Quirks are brought into his advantage (as he thinks,) &s;o the advantage he &s;trives to gain hereby, he may brag of, as much as of the former; for all this his gain is but the opportunity of this Que&s;tion, <HI>viz. How
<PB N="223" REF="115">then can any age &s;ince the beginning of the world have experience, what the conjunction of the Stars may pro|duce?</HI> This is a great Conque&s;t indeed, but how &s;lender an Arti&s;t he herein renders him&s;elf, let the judicious judge, &s;ince it is mo&s;t certain that the&s;e &s;tars we call fixed, <HI>move not at all; Ergo,</HI> are nominated fixed, for they move unanimou&s;ly together in their &s;phere, which is about &s;even thou&s;and years fini&s;hing its cour&s;e, <HI>not the Stars;</HI> but &s;uppo&s;e they do move, yet they move not by &s;everal motions, as the one being &s;lower or &s;wifter then another, for they are all alike di&s;tant each from other continually, and if the&s;e come not to a&s;pect nor conjunction of the Pla|nets; yet the <HI>Planets come to configuration with them,</HI> as <HI>Saturn</HI> commeth in configuration of them once in 29. years &s;ome odd moneths and dayes; <HI>Jupiter</HI> in twelve years, <HI>Mars</HI> in three years, <HI>Sol</HI> in one year or twelve moneths, <HI>Venus</HI> and <HI>Mercury</HI> in the like time or there abouts, the <HI>Moon</HI> in twenty eight dayes and &s;ome odd houres. I hope then <HI>this experience</HI> may be learned in a far &s;horter time then &s;even or eight thou&s;and years; and &s;ince the&s;e is &s;o apparently and vulgarly known, it is &s;uf|ficient ground for any one to take the exact po&s;ition of the heavens, either in Twinns births or any others, with|out the errour that the&s;e motions he &s;peaketh of can cau&s;e, which indeed is none at all.</P>
<P>SURVEY. The annexing of the <HI>Doctours</HI> &s;econd Argument will be a &s;ufficient reply to the&s;e extravagan|cies of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey.</HI> The <HI>Doctours</HI> &s;econd Argument was word for word, thus.</P>
<P>The &s;econd Argument is from cleer experience of Twins conceived at the &s;ame <HI>in&s;tant,</HI> and born in the &s;ame <HI>houre,</HI> or le&s;&s;e, and it may be, put forth them&s;elves in part, at the womb interchangeably in that houre, (as <HI>Pharez.</HI> and <HI>Zara</HI> did, <HI>Gen.</HI> 38.) yet before God put any diffe|rence by any inward change by grace, the Twinns may be
<PB N="224" REF="116">of an apparent va&s;t difference of complexion as we &s;ee in <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au.</HI> And <HI>experience</HI> knowes of other Twins, either both naturall or both &s;pirituall, that far different events in the world have befallen them. Where then is the certainty of Star-predictions? Where is the verity of A&s;trology? It may be they will reade us a lecture of dif|ference from magnitudes and motions of Stars; that &s;ome are bigger then the earth &s;ome le&s;&s;er; again, that &s;ome fi|ni&s;h &s;ome motions in 24. hours; others not other moti|ons in &s;o many &s;cores of years, or more. But if this be their defence, the matter of predicting A&s;trology is there|by made to be more incredible. For if (as they &s;ay with <HI>Keckerman</HI>) the Moon be le&s;&s;e then the earth, at lea&s;t twenty times, and the re&s;t of the Planets below the Sunne proportionably, as <HI>Venus</HI> twenty &s;even times le&s;&s;e then the earth, and <HI>Mercury</HI> twenty two; how then &s;hall the&s;e at any po&s;ture, at any one and the &s;ame time, effect or &s;i|gnifie any thing to all the world? For all the A&s;trologers in the World will undertake to progno&s;ticate from the&s;e Planets upon all men on Earth, born at one and the &s;ame houre. If the Sunne as they confe&s;&s;e, be about an hun|dred and &s;ixty times bigger then the Earth; and all the Planets above the Sun proportionably; as that <HI>Saturn</HI> is four&s;core and eleven times bigger then the Earth; <HI>Jupiter</HI> four&s;core and fifteen times; <HI>Mars</HI> one time bigger, with one third; how then is it that there is difference of na|tures and events in thou&s;ands born at the &s;ame hour, and e&s;pecially n Twins, as we &s;aid afore. If they &s;ay that this is becau&s;e of the &s;wift externall violent motion of all the Stars <HI>Planets,</HI> and <HI>Fixed;</HI> that they are hurryed round the Earth by the fir&s;t moveable from Ea&s;t to We&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> in twenty four hours; which is to run &s;ixty times &s;ixty miles in every houre, then we demand how can the Stars have time to make any di&s;tinct impre&s;&s;ion by any particular in|fluence on one houre, c&s;pecially on one who perhaps may lie in the mouth of the womb, partly born, partly un|born,
<PB N="225" REF="116">&s;ometimes in the head and foreparts, &s;ometimes in the hinder parts, for a quarter or half an houre, or many hours. Or what A&s;trologer upon the &s;wiftne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e motions, and the &s;lowne&s;&s;e of the birth, which cannot be born in an in&s;tant, but at be&s;t gradually, &s;hall be able to progno&s;ticate punctually that &s;uch Stars, with &s;uch in|flnence, did &s;o complexionate &s;uch an Infant at &s;uch a <HI>Mi|nute</HI> of time? For by the computation afore&s;aid, the Stars run in the &s;aid motion, in every minute of the houre &s;ixty Miles. If A&s;trologers will plead any thing to help them&s;elves herein, from the &s;lowne&s;&s;e of other motions of the Stars, that are naturall, and internall to them; as that all the <HI>fixed Stars</HI> (which are known by their twinck|ling to our &s;ight) move from North to South (as they &s;ay, &s;o <HI>Al&s;ted</HI>) in three thou&s;and five hundred years, and back again in three thou&s;and five hundred years, &s;o that they fini&s;h not that motion under &s;even thou&s;and years; how then can any Age &s;ince the beginning of the World have experience what the Conjunction of the Stars may produce? So for the motions of the &s;even <HI>Pla|nets:</HI> If they &s;ay (as <HI>Keckerman, &amp;c.</HI> affirm) that the Sun hath three Orbs: Fir&s;t, that in which the Sun it &s;elf is fixed, and is the middle Orb, and is excentricall to the World; that is, The World, or Earth is not ju&s;t in the middle of it; by rea&s;on whereof the Sun is &s;ometimes in the <HI>Perige,</HI> namely nearer the Earth for &s;ome moneths; and &s;ometimes in the <HI>Apoge,</HI> to wit, more remote from the Earth, for other moneths. And in this <HI>Eccentrick</HI> Orb the Sun moves, as they &s;ay, according to the &s;ucce&s;|&s;ion of the twelve Signs from We&s;t to Ea&s;t, not fini&s;hing that motion under three hundred &s;ixty five dayes, and a|bout &s;ix hours. And withall as they a&s;&s;ert, that by rea|&s;on of this Orb the Sun moves as in relation to the centre of the earth, one while &s;wifter, another while &s;lower; that is to &s;ay, it moves &s;lower whiles it is on the <HI>Northern</HI> part of the World, lingering there an hundred eighty &s;ix
<PB N="226" REF="117">dayes, eight hours, and twelve minutes; but runs &s;wift|er on the <HI>Southern</HI> part of the World, di&s;patching its race in an hundred &s;eventy eight dayes, one and twenty hours, and twelve minutes; and &s;o &s;tay es longer with &s;ome of the Signs (as they &s;ay) and le&s;&s;e while with others. And that &s;econdly, The Sun hath, as they &s;ay, a <HI>&s;upreme</HI> Orb contiguou&s;ly adjoyned above to the afore&s;aid Orb. Thirdly, an <HI>inferiour</HI> Orb, in like manner adjoyned be|neath to the &s;aid middle Orb, both partly Concentrick, partly Eccentrick (the u&s;e of which two Orbs, as held forth by A&s;tronomers, I &s;hall not here &s;tay to relate.) And the motion of tho&s;e two extreme Orbs, is, as they confe&s;&s;e, very &s;low, &s;o that they fini&s;h not their cour&s;e, which is like &s;ome motion of the eighth Sphear, under fourty nine thou&s;and of years (as <HI>Keckerman</HI> affirms.) All which makes me again demand, how any men could ever attain to a certain experience of Conjunctions of Stars, &s;eeing this number of fourty nine thou&s;and extends it &s;elf to an age above &s;even times older then the creation of the Stars.</P>
<P>It would be two tedious to recite all the &s;everall Orbs and motions of all the other Planets, according to the common opinion; as, that the <HI>Moon</HI> hath five Orbs, &s;ome of which move &s;wifter then tho&s;e of the Sun, put|ting her twice every moneth in her <HI>Apoge</HI> or exaltation, and twice in her <HI>Perige</HI> or de&s;cention, with differences in both, that in the &s;ame <HI>Apoge</HI> it is &s;ometimes higher and &s;ometimes lower, and &s;o in the &s;ame <HI>Perige;</HI> and hath one motion that is not fini&s;hed under eighteen years, &s;even moneths, and about twelve hours.</P>
<P>That <HI>Saturn</HI> hath a motion who&s;e cour&s;e takes up thir|ty years; <HI>Jupiter</HI> one of twelve, <HI>Mars</HI> one of two, <HI>Ve|nus</HI> of one. And <HI>Mercuries</HI> motion (as <HI>Ceckerman</HI> af|firms) <HI>Est admodum varius imo magna parte adhuc in|cognitus;</HI> that is, <HI>It is wonderfull various, yea for the mo&s;t part yet unknown.</HI> Now lay all the&s;e varieties and
<PB N="227" REF="117">uncertainties together, and then judge what certainty of experience there can be had of the conjunctions of Stars, ju&s;t &s;o long and &s;o much, as to make &s;uch a &s;ure impre&s;&s;i|on of &s;uch influences and efficacies on men in the birth, as may duly and truly progno&s;ticate, that &s;o &s;hall &s;uch a man be, and do; but &s;o another, e&s;pecially in <HI>Twinnes.</HI> Thus the Doctours &s;econd Argument. By which it is apparent that <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> did neither rightly take, nor truly report the dint of the Doctours Argument, but runnes out into many extravagancies; which notwith|&s;tanding, for the better clearing the coa&s;ts round about the Argument, we will a little take into con&s;ideration.</P>
<P>To that at <HI>(A)</HI> about the Doctours not bringing of an <HI>Example</HI> touching Twins; we &s;ay, that the Doctour did bring examples; See the Doctour &s;econd Argument (afore in&s;erted) at the mark (**); which if need be might be named; though he then forbare in civility to the per&s;ons and their generations.</P>
<P>To that he adds of <HI>one Doctours opinion;</HI> it is &s;ufficient for me to &s;hew <HI>Will.</HI> fal&s;e tongue, by minding the Reader that <HI>Doctour Homes</HI> did &s;hew <HI>Doctour Au&s;tins</HI> opinion touching <HI>Twinns,</HI> that the con&s;ideration of the diver&s;ity of them, born &s;o near at the &s;ame time is a great Argu|ment again&s;t A&s;trology; as is to be &s;een in the <HI>Doctours Demonology</HI> Chap. 10. Sect. 5.</P>
<P>At the end of that Section, in an&s;wer to the Ob|jection, that <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;hould &s;ay <HI>A&s;trologia per&s;crutanda e&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> in&s;erted after in this Treati&s;e. See al&s;o in this Chapter following. And if it hath not been enough to give <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey Austin</HI> by <HI>retale,</HI> yet by this time in this <HI>Reply</HI> he is given him in <HI>whole-&s;ale,</HI> with his large di&s;cour&s;e upon that Argument of <HI>Twinns,</HI> again&s;t A&s;tro|logy, (in an&s;wer to <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> Sect. 3. of chap. 2.) the &s;aid <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> will have his belly full of two <HI>Do|ctours opinions,</HI> jumping in the &s;ame truth.</P>
<P>In that at <HI>(B)</HI> in a&s;&s;erting that Twinns are not con|ceived
<PB N="228" REF="118">at the &s;ame in&s;tant of time, and his <HI>&V;topian</HI> Quo|tations of <HI>Ari&s;totle, Pliny, Cardan, Dodon</HI> at <HI>(D.)</HI> in tending to make us believe what he could not &s;hew, <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> &s;hews his ignorance, though he pretends to be a Phy&s;ician (a &s;ucking one). For in rea&s;on the <HI>formative</HI> part of the womb mu&s;t needs be mo&s;t tenaciou&s;ly &s;hut up for cheri&s;hing the conception as &s;oon as the <HI>&s;emen</HI> is cla&s;p|ed within it. And ancient experienced Phy&s;icians have demon&s;trated it to the eye by corporeall diagrammes. Add the authority of that univer&s;all great Scholar in all Arts, Sciences, and Divinity, <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> and the learned whome he quotes. <HI>Po&s;&s;idonius</HI> a Stoick (&s;aith <HI>Au&s;tin de Civit. Dei cap.</HI> 2.) and one much affected to A&s;trology, <Q>laboureth to prove that the two Brethren whom <HI>Hippo|crates</HI> &s;uppo&s;ed to be twinns, by the &s;amene&s;&s;e of their di&s;ea&s;es, at the &s;ame time, were both not onely <HI>born, but al&s;o conceived under one and the &s;ame con&s;tellation,</HI></Q> which mu&s;t needs be in the &s;ame moment, or el&s;e the con|&s;tellation is altered, in regard of the &s;wift motion of the heavens, running (as the A&s;trologers confe&s;&s;e) &s;ixty miles in a minute of an houre. And <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> in his &s;ixth cha|pter &s;aith expres&s;ly and peremptorily, <HI>That it is mani|fe&s;t, that in conception there is but one generative act con|current. For natures power is &s;uch, that a woman ha|ving once conceived, cannot</HI> Second <HI>any conception, untill &s;he be delivered of the child. And therefore it is nece&s;&s;a|ry that the Twinns conception fall both in one moment.</HI></P>
<P>To that at <HI>(C)</HI> and <HI>(K)</HI> of <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> contend|ing that <HI>Twinns are not born together, or at the &s;ame in|&s;tant;</HI> it will be &s;ufficient to &s;ay, no man did affirm it, and therefore <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> doth but fight with his own phanta&s;ie.</P>
<P>For <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> his <HI>Legend</HI> of <HI>Procone&s;ia,</HI> at <HI>(E)</HI> it comes to nothing, if we dare believe Learned pious <HI>Au|&s;tin,</HI> afore <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> his ignorance. <HI>Au&s;tins</HI> very words are the&s;e, <HI>de Civ. Dei, l.</HI> 5. <HI>c.</HI> 2. <Q>Twins cannot po&s;|&s;ibly
<PB N="229" REF="118">have diver&s;itie of Fathers.</Q> And learned <HI>Lemnius</HI> a Phy&s;ician, &s;hews other rea&s;ons of the different faces of children of the &s;ame Father,</P>
<P>To that at <HI>(F. G. H.)</HI> of the difference of a few minutes, and the impo&s;&s;ibility of the &s;ame <HI>in&s;tant</HI> to fi|ni&s;h the birth of Twinns, as if the <HI>Doctour</HI> had forgot that all <HI>Locomotive motion is in time; Au&s;tin</HI> &s;hall an|&s;wer; <HI>Aug. de Civ. Dei, l.</HI> 5. <HI>c.</HI> 2, <HI>&amp;</HI> 3. who&s;e very words are the&s;e <Q>Neither <HI>Po&s;&s;idonius,</HI> nor any Patron of this Fate in the Stars, can tell what to &s;ay in this ca&s;e of Twinns, if he will not illude the &s;imple, and ignorant, with a di&s;cour&s;e of that they know not. For, that they talk of the <HI>Space of Time,</HI> between that point they call the <HI>Horo&s;cope</HI> in both the <HI>Twins Nativities;</HI> it is either not &s;o &s;ignificant, as the diver&s;ity of will, acts, manners and fortunes of the Twinns born do require; or el&s;e it is more &s;ignificant then their difference of honours, &s;tate, nobility, or meanne&s;&s;e will permit; both which diver&s;ities they place onely in the figure of Nativities. And if they &s;hould be both born ere the Horo&s;cope were fully varied, then would I require a <HI>&V;nity</HI> in each particular of their fortunes, which cannot be found in any two Twinns that ever yet were born. But if the <HI>Horo&s;cope</HI> be changed, ere both be born, then for this diver&s;itie I will require a difference of Fathers, which Twinns cannot po&s;&s;ibly have. Fru&s;trate therefore is that notable fiction of the Potters wheel, which <HI>Nigidius</HI> (they &s;ay) an&s;wered one that plunged him in this con|trover&s;ie, whereupon he was called the <HI>Potter.</HI> Turn|ing a Potters wheel twi&s;e, or thri&s;e about as fa&s;t as he could, he took ink, and in the turning made two marks (as it &s;eemed) in one place of the wheels edge, and then &s;taying the wheel, the marks were found far a&s;un|der one from another upon the edge of the wheel: Even &s;o (&s;aith he) in the &s;wift cour&s;e of heaven, though one child be born after another in as &s;hort a time as I gave
<PB N="230" REF="119">the&s;e two marks; yet in the heavens will be pa&s;&s;ed a great &s;pace, And that (quoth he) is the cau&s;e of the di|ver&s;ity of conditions, and fortunes betwixt two Twins. here is a figment now farr more brittle then the pots that were made by the wheel. For if there be thus much power in heaven (and yet cannot be comprehnnded by the con&s;tellations) that one of the Twins may be an heir, and inherit, and not the other; how dare tho&s;e A&s;tro|logians give &s;uch pre&s;ages unto others that are not Twins, when, as they are included in tho&s;e &s;ecret points in Nativities, which none can comprehend? But if they &s;ay they do progno&s;ticate this to others, becau&s;e they know it belongeth unto the known, and di&s;cerned &s;paces that pa&s;&s;e in Nativities, and that tho&s;e moments that may come between the births of two Twins, do but con|cern &s;light things, and &s;uch as the A&s;trologian u&s;eth not to be troubled with: For no man will ask the calcula|tour, when he &s;honld &s;it, walk, or dine?</Q> how can this be &s;aid, when we &s;hew &s;uch diver&s;ity, in the manners, &s;tates, actions, and fortunes of two Twins.</P>
<P>To that at <HI>[I]</HI> touching <HI>Pharez</HI> and <HI>Zara,</HI> the reply is ea&s;y and home: that what &s;pace &s;oever was between their births, and which &s;oever was born fir&s;t; yet being they did in part interchangeably put forth them&s;elves at the womb, which was the expo&s;ing of them&s;elves to the influence of the heavens according to the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> doctrin, (putting &s;o much weight upon mens births) as likewi&s;e <HI>Jacobs</HI> continued &s;ucce&s;&s;ive birth after <HI>E&s;au; Jacobs</HI> hand holding <HI>E&s;au's</HI> heel; &s;o that the fir&s;t is not wholly born, till the other be born in part, is argument enough, to prove that the A&s;pect of Con&s;tellations upon the birth of &s;uch Twinnes, is exceeding uncertain; and &s;o the A&s;trologicall prediction as groundle&s;s. Which <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> doth notably argue out, (which may &s;erve for a full an&s;wer to <HI>W. Ram.</HI> his frabble about <HI>Jacob</HI> and <HI>E&s;au</HI>) thus:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug. de Civi. at. Der lib. <HI>4.</HI></NOTE> <Q>In the ancient memory of our forefathers (to
<PB N="231" REF="119">&s;peak of them of note) were two Twinnes born, &s;o near together, that the &s;econd held the fir&s;t by the heel; yet in their lives, manners, and actions, was &s;uch di&s;paritie, that that very difference made them enemies, one to another. I mean not this, that the one &s;at when the other &s;tood; nor that the one &s;lept, when the other waked; the&s;e belong to tho&s;e fir&s;t marks and moments, which they cannot comprehend, who erect tho&s;e figures of nativi|ty for the A&s;trologers to judge upon. One of them bound him&s;ef to &s;erve for wages, the other &s;erved not at all: the one was loved by his mother, &s;o was not the o|ther: the one lo&s;t his honour, and inheritance (a matter of great moment among them) the other obtained it. And how great a difference was there in their marriag|es, wives, children, and goods?</Q> Exceeding much. Thus <HI>Au&s;tin,</HI> whom we have rea&s;on to believe farr before fal&s;e tongu'd <HI>W. Ram.</HI> [at <HI>L. M. N. O. P. R.</HI>] or his <HI>Forged Philo</HI> (as the learned call him) whom <HI>W.R.</HI> there quotes; or his <HI>Ptolomy</HI> quoted at <HI>[S]</HI> At <HI>[T] Wil. Ram.</HI> con&s;uteth him&s;elf. For if as a Candie being le&s;&s;e then a Bowl, cannot &s;hine light round about that Bowl, &s;o the Planets that are le&s;s then the Earth, cannot &s;hine round it; how then, can they pour down any influence at the &s;ame minute on the whole round of the Earth, in which many thou&s;ands of infants are born, who&s;e nativities all A&s;tro|logers will ca&s;t, and from them all, undertake to predict? And for his intimation that the <HI>dexter</HI> and <HI>&s;inister,</HI> that is, the <HI>oblique</HI> and <HI>indirect</HI> A&s;pects of Starrs have as much power and influence, as tho&s;e that are <HI>direct</HI> and <HI>perpen|dicular;</HI> it is contrary to plain &s;ence. For the &s;un doth not &s;o enlighten or heat with its oblique a&s;pect, as when it is perpe ndicular over us. And the Moon comes to her lo&s;s of light, and to be of le&s;s operation, by the oblique a&s;pect of the &s;un on it, and of it on the Sunne; in compari&s;on of the Moon at full; ut which time (as <HI>Wil.</HI> confe&s;t afore) the powerof the Moon is greater on things below,</P>
<PB N="232" REF="120">
<P>But becau&s;e there hath been &s;uch oft mention of <HI>A&s;tra|logical influences:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">The dan|gerou&s;|ne&s;s of A&s;trogi|call do|ctrins and in|fluences.</NOTE> let us enquire of the <HI>Astrologers</HI> them|&s;elves, what the&s;e <HI>influences</HI> are. For by their vote, they &s;eem to be no le&s;s then a part of Magic and <HI>Incarnation,</HI> or the appertenance thereof. <HI>Agrippa</HI> in his book of <HI>Oc|cult Philo&s;ophy</HI> tels us, that <Q><HI>Omnia inferiora e&s;&s;e</HI> Idea|ta <HI>a &s;uperioribus</HI> Ideis <HI>&amp;c.</HI> that is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">H. Cor. Agri. Oc. Phil. I. 1. c. 11.</NOTE> That all inferiour bodies are <HI>Ideated</HI> or exemplified with inferiour <HI>Idea's,</HI> by the &s;uperiour <HI>idea's.</HI> An <HI>Idea</HI> is a form above bodies, &s;ouls, minds, and to be but one &s;imple, part immutable, indivi&s;ible, incorporeal, and incorporeal, and eternal. And that the nature of all <HI>Idea's</HI> is the &s;ame. They &s;ay that <HI>Idea's</HI> are <HI>fir&s;t</HI> in God him&s;elf, by way of cau&s;e, and that they are di&s;tingui&s;hed among them&s;elves, by &s;ome relative con&s;iderations onely, le&s;t what&s;oever is in the world, &s;hould be one thing without any variety; and that they agree in e&s;&s;ence, le&s;t God &s;hould be a compound e&s;&s;ence. In the <HI>&s;econd</HI> place, they place them in the very Intelligible it &s;elf, that is, in the <HI>Soul of the world,</HI> differing the one from the other by ab&s;olute formes. So that all the <HI>Idea's</HI> in God indeed are but one forme; but in the &s;oul of the wold, they are many. They are placed in the minds of all other things: whe|ther they be joyned to the body, or &s;eparated from the body, by a cetain participation, and now by degrees are di&s;tingui&s;hed more and more. They are placed in nature, as certain &s;mall &s;eeds of formes infu&s;ed by the <HI>I|dea's.</HI> And la&s;tly they place them in matter as &s;ha|dowes.</Q> Hereunto may be added, <Q>that in the &s;oul of the world, there be as many Scienciall Formes of things, as <HI>Idca's</HI> in the mind of God, by which Formes &s;he did in the Heavens, above the Starrs, frame to her &s;elf &s;hapes al&s;o, and &s;tamped upon all the&s;e &s;ome properties; Therefore, on the&s;e &s;tarres, &s;haps, and properties, all vir|tues of inferiour &s;pecies, as al&s;o their properties do depend: &s;o that every; &s;pecies hath it's cele&s;tiall &s;hape or figure
<PB N="233" REF="120">that is &s;utable to it, from which al&s;o proceeds a wonderful power of operating, which proper gift it receives fromit's own <HI>Idea,</HI> through the &s;eminal formes of the &s;oul of the world. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The &s;ame <HI>Agrippa</HI> in the &s;ame book, <HI>cap.</HI> 13. hath the&s;e words <HI>Provenit ergo virtus prim&ograve; ab</HI> Ideis <HI>&amp;c.</HI> i.e. The form therfore and virtue of things come's fir&s;t from the <HI>Idea's,</HI> then from the ruling and governing <HI>Intelligences,</HI> then from the A&s;pects of the <HI>Heavens</HI> di&s;po&s;ing, and La&s;tly from the tempers of the <HI>Elements</HI> di&s;po&s;ed, an&s;wering the influences of the hea|vens, by which the elements them&s;elves are ordered, or di&s;po&s;ed. The&s;e kinds of operations therefore are per|formed in the&s;e inferiour things, by expre&s;s formes, and in the heavens by di&s;po&s;ing virtues, in Intelligencies, by mediating rules, in the originall cau&s;e by <HI>Idea's,</HI> and ex|emplary formes, all which mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity agree in the execution of the effect, and virtue of every thing.</Q> And the &s;ame <HI>Agroppa</HI> in the &s;ame Treati&s;e <HI>lib.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 53. (who&s;e title is, <HI>That no divination without A&s;trology is perfect</HI>) writes thus. <Q>We have &s;poken (&s;aith <HI>Agrippa</HI>) in the foregoing Chapters, of diver&s;e kinds of divinati|ons, but this is to be noted, that all the&s;e require the u&s;e, and rules of A&s;trology, as a key mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary for the knowledge of all Secrets, and <HI>That all kinde of divinati|ons what&s;oever, have their root and foundation in Astro|logy, &s;o as without it they are of little or no u&s;e.</HI> There|fore whether the <HI>Phy&s;iognomi&s;ts</HI> look upon the body, or countenance, or forehead, or head, or the <HI>South&s;ayer</HI> &s;erch|eth by <HI>Dreams</HI> or <HI>Au&s;picy,</HI> that the judgement may be right the figure of heaven is al&s;o to be enquired into <HI>&amp;c.</HI></Q> And in his next chapter, he &s;heweth how <HI>A&s;trology</HI> con|curs to help <HI>divination</HI> by <HI>lotts.</HI> He that will have more of this, let him read <HI>Cornelius Agrippa his occult philo&s;ophy,</HI> of which we have here given you a ta&s;t: by which you may evidently perceive the <HI>diabolicalne&s;s of Judiciall A&s;trolo|gy</HI> and the abominable meaning of <HI>Judiciall A&s;trologicall
<PB N="234" REF="121">influencies.</HI> And therfore we had little need affore to be|&s;tow the pains to an&s;wer <HI>W. Ram.</HI> about the &s;ignification of the words, Augurate, inchant, witchcraft, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> when <HI>Cornelius Agrippa</HI> one of <HI>Wil. Ram.</HI> A&s;trologicall tribe openly confe&s;&s;eth that A&s;trology concurs to All Divinati|ons of what Sort &s;oever.</P>
<P>But to go on with W. <HI>R.</HI> &s;illy di&s;cour&s;e at <HI>[T]</HI> whereas (&s;aith <HI>Wil.</HI>) the Doctour asketh what is the difference of natures in Twinnes, when the &s;uperiour places are propor|tionably bigger then the earth, but &s;ure he never read that part of <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> concerning the &s;everal &s;ignificato rs in Twins which is the cau&s;e of his frivolous Quirck.</P>
<P>Now Reader, is this an an&s;wer to the Doctous. I pray thee read afore, that marked with &dtristar; (where the Do|ctours words do fitlyer put the que&s;tion that <HI>W. Ram.</HI> here reports) and then judge. Surely thou maye&s;t ea&s;ily con|clude that as W. <HI>Ram.</HI> cau&s;e is a&s;trologicall <HI>Inchaut|ment;</HI> &s;o his defence is ba&s;e <HI>jugling.</HI> He tels us the Do|ctour hath not read <HI>Ptolomy;</HI> and before, at <HI>[S]</HI> he tels us that <HI>Ptolomy l.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 7. <HI>of his Quadripartit.</HI> &s;hews us the rea&s;ons of the differences of <HI>Twins.</HI> But nor here nor there doth he produce a line out of <HI>Ptolomy</HI> to convince the Doctour, or to clear the mind of the Reader. He tels the Doctour afore quoting the words of <HI>Keckerman</HI> and <HI>&amp;c,</HI> he &s;hould have made good the matter of tho&s;e quota|tions: But W. <HI>Ram.</HI> here neither gives us the words of his quotations, nor his own applications, that we might have an hint to what to give an an&s;wer. And therefore I mu&s;t pa&s;s from this, leaving onely a &s;tory with <HI>William;</HI> but I think I mu&s;t be fain to apply it for him. One <HI>M^r^. F. C.</HI> of <HI>H.</HI> in <HI>Hartford-&s;hier,</HI> a <HI>rich Gentleman,</HI> and a <HI>Schollar</HI> of much <HI>reading,</HI> but greatly <HI>affected</HI> with a <HI>re|tired life,</HI> was wont to &s;ay unto me; <Q>I might (&s;aid he) have been a <HI>Ju&s;tice of Peace,</HI> and have had offenders brought afore me, and when I had wanted wit, what to do with them, I might have bound them over to the
<PB N="235" REF="121"><HI>Quarter-Se&s;&s;ions.</HI></Q> So <HI>W. Ram.</HI> undertakes to be a judge in this great Que&s;tion of Judiciall A&s;trology, (too heavy for his infant &s;houlders) and when he finds he wants wit what to an&s;wer to many objections, then he referres the <HI>Reader</HI> to <HI>Ptolomy,</HI> or to Sir <HI>Chri&s;topher Heyden.</HI></P>
<P>To that at <HI>[V] Will.</HI> &s;hall an&s;wer <HI>Will.</HI> here he &s;aith, <HI>though the heavens be &s;o &s;wift, yet in compari&s;on of us it is not &s;o much as an inch to ten thou&s;and Miles:</HI> and backs it with a <HI>lie</HI> apparently again&s;t &s;en&s;e, viz. <HI>we may &s;ee</HI> (&s;aith W. R.) <HI>that the Sun doth as to us move at all in two or three hours.</HI> And but a little afore at [F] quite contrary he hath the&s;e words, All that know any thing in A&s;trology, know that four minutes of time in the Birth, gives near up|on a years time in directions. Let them reconcile <HI>this</HI> with <HI>that,</HI> who can. 'Tis no help for <HI>Will.</HI> to talk of <HI>Quo|ad nos, as to us,</HI> when he is to an&s;wer <HI>quoad rem</HI> to the nature of the thing.</P>
<P><HI>Romae Tybur amat, vento &s;us Tybure Romam.</HI> He &s;hoggles in the &s;ocket of his principles: when he is non-plu&s;&s;ed with the &s;wifne&s;&s;e of the heavens: then <HI>to us</HI> their motion is but <HI>&s;low, viz.</HI> not &s;o much as an <HI>inch to ten thou&s;and miles:</HI> (which is a gro&s;&s;e untruth. For according to our ordinary &s;un-dials on walls, and towres, the &s;un runnes a degree, that is three thou&s;and &s;ix hundred miles in an hour, which is an inch upon the Dial.) And when <HI>Ill-Will</HI> is confounded with the &s;lowne&s;s of the mo|tion of others of the heavens, then <HI>four minutes difference of time, gives near a years time in direction:</HI> Which is al&s;o a gro&s;s untruth <HI>quoad veritatem rei,</HI> if we &s;peak ac|cording to the truth of the thing, and not according to the Diabolicall traditions, received by Judiciall A&s;trolo|gers. For not any of the Planets, much le&s;s the fixed Starrs, do fini&s;h their daily motions in four or four hund|red minutes, as we heard but now; but in each hour con|teyning &s;ixty minutes, run three thou&s;and &s;ix hundred miles. And none but the Moon wholly fini&s;heth any other
<PB N="236" REF="122">motion, in a Moneth. And in every minute, the whole con&s;tellation of all the Starres, is quite different, the hea|vens running in their daily motion in each minute, &s;ixty miles. Therefore &s;trong mu&s;t the principles of Judiciall A&s;trology be, that lay the &s;tre&s;s of their certainty of their A&s;trologicall predictions upon the A&s;pect of the heavens; yet will <HI>now</HI> (&s;uppo&s;e at this <HI>pre &s;ent minute</HI>) progno&s;ticate from an a&s;pect that is pa&s;&s;ed three minutes after, that is, is gone nine&s;core miles off; for W. <HI>Ram.</HI> (if we follow his words) takes in four minutes, into one and the &s;ame con&s;ideration. And who can truly tell the exact time of his Birth &s;o near as four, or fourteen minutes? And though the great &s;wiftne&s;s of the Heavens were (as <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> &s;aith) in relation to the circumference of the Hea|vens, and not of the Earth: why then doth <HI>Will.</HI> and his Fellow A&s;trologers con&s;ider their motion &s;uch as it is in re|lation to earthly Bodies here below? Why do they di&s;tin|gui&s;h of their Motions by minutes? Do they not confe&s;s (that which they cannot deny) that every half, yea quarter of a minute, by the Conjunction of other Stars (how &s;low &s;oever the A&s;cen&s;ions of &s;ome may be) there is a new, &s;pecifically different beam of influence, radiated up|on the Earth, all taking their circular turns to dart their efficacy, though upon the &s;ame Centre-point, if the Earth aad its Bodies were &s;o &s;mall? So that let the Heavens be never &s;o &s;wift, their varieties of influences doth touch by turn the things below. Onely here is the Knot (which the Doctour put) not yet &s;olved; how &s;uch &s;uddain touches of influences, coming on, and going off, as in a moment, &s;hould make any change on the Complexions of men on Earth, &s;o as to &s;pecificate them to &s;uch a temper by pro|portion to the temper of the Heavens at &s;uch a minute, if the temper of the Con&s;tellation of the Heavens at that minute could po&s;&s;ibly be known?</P>
<P>To <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> [in&s;tant] of &s;eperation of the Infant from the Womb, to be the <HI>Radix</HI> of the Infants Nativi|ty;
<PB N="237" REF="122">we need &s;ay no more: but 1. That locomotive moti|on is the <HI>time,</HI> not in an in&s;tant, <HI>Tempus e&s;t men&s;ura mo|tus. Ari&s;t.</HI> 2. That if a minute is in rea&s;on (as hath been argued) too &s;hort, by rea&s;on of the &s;wift motions of the Heavens, to make, or make known any &s;pecifical different impre&s;&s;ion upon the Infant, how then &s;hall an in&s;tant (that is too &s;mall to be any part of time) be long enough to be the <HI>Radix</HI> of a Progno&s;tication from the Nativity.</P>
<P>To <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> his <HI>[I would fain know, the non-mo|ving of the fixed Stars, and the Planets con&s;iguration with them]</HI> noted with <HI>[X, Y, Z]</HI> a few words will &s;erve. He needed not have been &s;o <HI>fain to know,</HI> if he had ob|&s;erved the <HI>Doctours</HI> Argument afore; or to have put the <HI>Quere,</HI> he would <HI>fain know,</HI> if like an Arti&s;t he had given the Doctour a Logical di&s;tinct An&s;wer. His poor &s;ug|ge&s;tion of the fixed Stars motion, once round the Earth. every four and twenty hours, adds nothing but confu&s;ion to the &s;olution of the Argument, to A&s;trological Predicti|ons, and to <HI>William</HI> his own words. For pre&s;ently at <HI>[Y]</HI> he &s;aith, <HI>that the Stars we call fixed, move not at all, &amp;c.</HI> Surly <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> would fain tell us &s;ome News if he could: but we cannot gather up any thing but Contra|dictions. For 1. do not the Planets as well move in and together with their Spheres, as well as the fixed in theirs. 2. If the eighth Sphere be about &s;even thou&s;and years fi|ni&s;hing its cour&s;e, then of nece&s;&s;ity &s;o long are the Stars fixed in that Sphere, fini&s;hing their cour&s;e. 3. That if &s;ome Planets and &s;ome fixed Stars &s;hould come into con|figuration in le&s;s then &s;even thou&s;and years, yet perpetual|ly in every minute many other Stars &s;ucce&s;&s;ively inter|mingle them&s;elves &s;o, that a di&s;tinct and certain Progno|&s;tick, or experience touching humane Events cannot be ga|thered from any po&s;ture of the Heavens.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="Ramsey's section">
<PB N="238" REF="123">
<HEAD><HI>W. R.</HI> his <HI>SECT. III.</HI> of <HI>CHAP. IV.</HI> Wherein the Doctour indeavours to prove A&s;trology of no truth or certainty, as al&s;o its Rules and principles, are them&s;elves of le&s;s truth, or ground, nay and indeed &s;en&s;le&s;s.</HEAD>
<P>HIs third Argument again&s;t A&s;trology is, to prove the <HI>Maximes, Theorems, Axiomes,</HI> and <HI>Canons</HI> of the <HI>Art,</HI> incon&s;i&s;tent with truth or foundation; but fir&s;t he denieth ab&s;olutely any &s;uch (<HI>viz.</HI> Ground or Princi|ples) at all to be in the Rules of A&s;trology, but with what apparent fal&s;ehood, that is done, &s;hall appear to the World by the&s;e Examples following, being &s;ome few Que&s;tions and Re&s;olutions, which by my own experience I can again&s;t all malicious Adver&s;aries affirm to be mo&s;t punctually true; wherefore I have thought good here to divulge them to the World, that &s;uch envious Carpers at this mo&s;t true Art, may be for ever &s;ilenced, or at lea&s;t that their perver&s;ne&s;s may be apparently and vulgarly known in their colours; but &s;ee how in veterately they tra|duce it, notwith&s;tanding millions of the like Examples, which they know not otherwi&s;e what to &s;ay for them|&s;elves, unanimou&s;ly (this &s;urpa&s;&s;ing the natural capacities of their profound judgements, when they &s;o clearly &s;ee them&s;elves by experience convinced) they pre&s;ently &s;ay, <HI>It is impo&s;&s;ible this &s;hould be true! Sure this is very &s;trange? Nay, I am confident this could not be done by Art! this is a plain dealing with the Devil!</HI> It is Witchcraft! and the like &s;imple and malicious Cen&s;ures, or rather Scandals hereon,<MILESTONE N="X"> but to the bu&s;ine&s;s intended. Where <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> draws three Schemes or Figures. One to &s;hew a Gentle|man, <HI>whether he &s;hould receive &s;ome Money from his &V;n|cle which he expected.</HI> The &s;econd, to re&s;olve a Gentle|woman (that &s;aid no A&s;trologer would undertake to re|&s;olve
<PB N="239" REF="123">an <HI>unbelieving Quaerent</HI>) <HI>whether &s;he &s;hould receive any Money from the Parliament?</HI> The third, to re&s;olve an <HI>incredulous Gentlewoman</HI> al&s;o: <HI>viz. Where her Hu&s;|band was, and when he would return?</HI> And in all the&s;e <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> &s;aith the Progno&s;tications proved true. And he brings them to confure the <HI>Doctour's</HI> third Argument. For be&s;ides the&s;e, all the re&s;t in this his third Section, hath no &s;hew of an An&s;wer; and therefore not worthy the tran&s;cribing, or reprinting.</P>
<P>SURVEY. We will give you in An&s;wer to this Section.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. The Doctour's third Argument word for word.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. We will &s;hew you <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> juggling in the &s;aid Schemes or Figures.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. We will give you Proofs that under A&s;trology is couched the <HI>A&s;&s;istance of the Devil;</HI> and the Quaerents or Con&s;ultours <HI>confidence</HI> in that diabolical Art, as ne|ce&s;&s;arily concarring to have a true Prediction.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. The &s;umm, or main Heads of <HI>M. Perkins Re&s;olu|tion to the Countryman;</HI> &s;hewing the wickedne&s;s of A&s;tro|logy.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P N="1">1. <HI>The Doctonr's third Argument.</HI> The third Argument. All Rules of Sciences &amp; Arts (by the fundamental Po&s;ition of Arti&s;ts) are <HI>Axiomes, Maxims, Theorems, Canons, &amp;c.</HI> that is, Mo&s;t worthy, and mo&s;t &s;pecial Principles, I experiments, or Rules, for their verity and certainty. But &s;uch are not the Rules of A&s;trology. Fir&s;t, becau&s;e of the for &s;aid various varieties and uncer|tainties of Stars, both in their <HI>own</HI> motions, and in compari&s;on with <HI>others,</HI> Secondly, becau&s;e no man knoweth the particular qualities or e&s;&s;icacies of all the Stars. No Arti&s;t yet ever undertook to &s;peak of more then the &s;even <HI>Planets,</HI> and &s;ome few nominated <HI>Fixed Stars</HI> of &s;ome few &s;everal magmtudes; leaving out milli|ons that are neither named nor knewn. Yea Thirdly, thou|&s;ands of Stars cannot be so much as &s;een a minute toge|ther;
<PB N="240" REF="124">as the <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> confe&s;s in their Di&s;cour&s;e of <HI>Via lactea,</HI> the <HI>Milkie way</HI> in the Heavens, to be &s;een in a mo&s;t &s;tarry Night, e&s;peciall in Winter. Fourthly, becau&s;e all the Stars do &s;hine upon the Earth at once, joyntly and promi&s;cuou&s;ly; &s;o that they that are under them cannot by any Rule from Nature know what influences &s;hall be predominant in their Effects. Fifthly, they have more time to alter the Complexions of young People from the Cradle to Manhood, carried and walking abroad. I &s;ay, to alter their Complexion by radiation and influence; then to &s;tamp an unchangeable impre&s;&s;ion up|on them in the &s;ecret Chamber of their Birth; as we &s;ee many natural Men and Women, not differenced by grace, much altered from Melancholly to chearfulne&s;s <HI>&amp;c.</HI> So that if &s;ome Stars in one Po&s;ition, in an in&s;tant at Birth have a power to imprint; other Stars, and perhaps more prevalent, have likewi&s;e a power to blot out that in many years, and to in&s;till a new one. Sixthly, there are many Cau&s;es below between us and the Stars to alter the influ|ence of the Stars, or interrupt their native operation; as the various Complexion of the Air, diver&s;ity of Windes, the different po&s;tures and &s;ituations of men, as &s;ometimes under a direct, &s;ometimes under an oblique radiation, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Seventhly, A&s;trologers depend on Clocks and Dials, to know the po&s;ture of the Heavens at the hour of their progno&s;ticating; which Dials and Clocks often are fal&s;e, which may make a wide difference in a minute, in which, as we heard, &s;ome motions of the Heavens run &s;ixty Miles. Eighthly the A&s;trologer cannot be able to allow exactly for the <HI>exaltation</HI> in the <HI>Apoge</HI> and <HI>de&s;cen&s;ion</HI> in the <HI>Perige</HI> of the Planets, with their &s;wifter motion in the <HI>one</HI> then in the <HI>other,</HI> &s;o as <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">o determine ju&s;tly how much po|wer of prevalence they may be in their influences at &s;uch changes. Ninthly, man can never certainly conclude of a particular Event from a Cau&s;e that is mo&s;t univer&s;al, mo&s;t remote, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">o but a partial Cau&s;e of the thing pre|dicted.
<PB N="241" REF="124">But the Stars are no other but &s;uch a kinde of cau&s;e of mens Complexions and Actions; and there&s;ore are no &s;ure Grounds of Prediction concerning the future affairs of men. The Parents Complexion, divine Di&s;pen&s;a|tions, occa&s;ions, and opportunities among men, and a mans own obedience or di&s;obedience to God, have far more influence into man to di&s;po&s;e him to be, or do this or that, then all the myriads of Stars. Tenthly, A&s;trology contending for &s;uch a power of Stars over the Soul of man (which is the Principle of all Actions) infers as if the Soul of Man were <HI>ex traduce,</HI> generated by the Pa|rents.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, contrary to many Scriptures, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 102.18. <HI>The people that &s;hall be Created &s;hall prai&s;e the Lord. Eccle&s;.</HI> 12.7. <HI>The &s;pirit returns to God that gave it, whiles the Body returns to Earth. Hebr.</HI> 12.9. <HI>VVe have had Fa|thers of our fle&s;h which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; &s;hall we not much rather be in &s;ubjection unto the Father of Spirits?</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, contrary to the <HI>Rules of Art.</HI> Rea&s;on, and Experience, <HI>Coelum non agit in animam, &amp;c.</HI> The Hea|vens cannot act directly upon the Soul; nor can a mans Body complexionate, alter, or ma&s;ter his natural &s;pirit. So that the <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>intelligere,</HI> and <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>velle,</HI> the Acts of Rea&s;on and Will do not depend on Sen&s;e. For in &s;leep, we have &s;trong Actings of Rea&s;on: and when awake, in the time of deepe&s;t rational meditations, the Sen&s;es are u&s;ele&s;s, and their Acts &s;u&s;pended, as if we did neither &s;ee nor hear.</P>
<P N="2">2. Will. Ram. <HI>his juggling in his Figures.</HI></P>
<P>It is well worth our ob&s;ervation to &s;ee <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> juggling in the&s;e his <HI>Schemes</HI> or <HI>Figures,</HI> compared with his <HI>Epistle to the Reader,</HI> and &s;ome Pa&s;&s;ages in his Book. In that <HI>Epistle</HI> he hath the&s;e particulars: 1. <HI>That Astrology doth not meddle with Contingences.</HI> 2. <HI>Mans will is not &s;ubject to the influence of Stars.</HI> 3. <HI>Neither doth A&s;trology meddle with the providence of God.</HI> In his
<PB N="242" REF="125">fir&s;t Chapter, Section, he defines A&s;trology <HI>to be that which teacheth to progno&s;ticate by the Stars of Natural Effects, &amp;c.</HI> But here by his Figures in this Section, he un|dertakes to tell of Events purely <HI>humane,</HI> and altogether depending on <HI>God's providence</HI> in the acting of <HI>Man's will;</HI> viz. <HI>whether the Gentleman &s;hould receive his Money from his &V;ncle; the Gentlewoman receive hers from the Parliament; &amp; the other woman know where her Husband was, and when &s;he &s;hould &s;ee him again?</HI> Now let all the World judge whether A&s;trologers do not juggle with us; profe&s;&s;ing one thing, but practi&s;ing another, in the way of their pretended Art?</P>
<P N="3">3. <HI>Proofs of the concurrence of</HI> wicked Magick, <HI>or In|chantment, and of mans</HI> confidence or de&s;ire, <HI>and con&s;e|quently of the</HI> Devils <HI>a&s;&s;i&s;tance with and in</HI> Judicial A&s;tro|logical <HI>predictions.</HI></P>
<P><HI>H.C. Agrippa</HI> an <HI>Astrologer,</HI> in his &s;econd Book of <HI>Occult Philo&s;ophy: cap.</HI> 60. hath the&s;e words, <HI>Non ab ali&acirc; caus&acirc;, qu&agrave;m &agrave; coele&s;ti, terrem orbis virtutes prove|munt. Hinc Magus, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <Q>The virtues of the terrene Orb. proceed from no other cau&s;e then cele&s;tial. Hence the Magician that will work by them u&s;eth a cunning Invocation of the Superiours, with my&s;terious words, and a certain kinde of witty Expre&s;&s;ion, drawing the one to the other, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Hence &s;aith <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> in the &s;ixth Book of his <HI>Mi&s;tical Philo&s;ophy,</HI> that when any one by binding or bewitching, doth call upon the Sun, or other Stars, praying them to be helpfull to the thing de|&s;ired, the Sun, and other Stars do not hear his words, but are moved after a certain manner by a certain Con|junction, and mutual <HI>&s;eries,</HI> whereby the parts of the World are mutually &s;ubordinate the one to the other, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></Q> And though the &s;aid <HI>Agrippa</HI> did in &s;ome &s;hew <HI>re|tract</HI> &s;ome of his devili&s;h Inchamments, or Super&s;titions; yet in that <HI>Retraction</HI> he retracteth not this, but there af|firmeth it, <HI>viz. Magna cum A&s;trologia &s;ic conjuncta,
<PB N="243" REF="125">atque cognita e&s;t, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>That Magick and A&s;trolo|gy are &s;o conjoyned, and of near kin, that he that pro|fe&s;&s;eth Magick without A&s;trology, doth nothing, but wholly errs from the way.</HI></P>
<P>The Book named the <HI>Centiloquy</HI> a&s;&s;erteth, that No <HI>A&s;trologer is able by meer Art, without the help of a fa|miliar Spirit,</HI> to foretell any particular Event.</P>
<P><HI>Ficinus</HI> proveth, that <HI>Judicial A&s;trological predictions are managed not by Art, but by in&s;tinct.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Jamblicus</HI> boldly affirmeth, <HI>(Lib. de My&s;t.) Est im|po&s;&s;ibile judicare certos, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>It is impo&s;&s;ible to judge of certain Events, when as we cannot comprehend the concurrence of all Cau&s;es, unle&s;s we attain it by in&s;pi|ration, &amp;c.</HI> and di&s;puting again&s;t <HI>Porphyry,</HI> &s;aith, that <HI>The Lord of the Figure is a Devil.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Philostratus</HI> writing the life of <HI>Apollonius lib.</HI> 3. <HI>c.</HI> 13. (the mo&s;t famous <HI>Magician</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologer</HI>) &s;aith, that <HI>Arcanas libationes per quas Astrologicam facultatem, &amp;c.</HI> that is, <HI>Jarchas</HI> (the chief of the <HI>Indian</HI> Wizards called <HI>Brachmanae</HI>) did privately communicate to <HI>Apollo|nius</HI> the &s;ecret &s;acrificings by which they did finde out the A&s;trological faculty, and skill of divining.</P>
<P>Touching <HI>elevation</HI> of <HI>minde</HI> (either in confidence or de&s;ire) hear <HI>Cornelius Agrippa</HI> in his &s;econd Book of <HI>Oc|cult Philo&s;ophy.</HI> and his 22. Chapter, <HI>Nihil materiales, &amp;c.</HI> that is, Material Numbers and Figures can do no|thing in the My&s;teries of hid things, but repre&s;entatively, by formal Numbers and Figures, as they are governed, and <HI>informed,</HI> by Intelligences, and divine Numerations, which unite the extremes of the matter, and &s;pirit to the will of the <HI>Elevated Soul,</HI> receiving through <HI>great affecti|on</HI> by the cele&s;tial power of the Operatour, a Power from God applied through the Soul of the Univer&s;e, and ob&s;er|vation of cele&s;tial Con&s;tellations, to a matter fit for a Form, the <HI>mediums</HI> being di&s;po&s;ed by the skill and indu|&s;try of <HI>Magicians.</HI> And in the &s;ame Book, Chapter 54.
<PB N="244" REF="126">the &s;ame <HI>Agrippa</HI> hath the&s;e words, Now, that there is in Man's Soul a &s;ufficient power and virtue to direct &s;uch kindes of Lots (of Divination) it is hence manife&s;t, be|cau&s;e there is in our Soul a divine virtue, and &s;imilitude, and apprehen&s;ion, and power of all things, and all things have a natural obedience to it, and of nece&s;&s;ity have a mo|tion and efficacy to that which the Soul de&s;ires with a <HI>&s;trong de&s;ire;</HI> and all the virtues, and operations of the natural, and artificial things, obey it when it is carried forth into the <HI>Exce&s;s of De&s;ire,</HI> and then all Lots of what kinde &s;oever are a&s;&s;i&s;ting to the appetite of &s;uch a minde, and acquire to them&s;elves wonderfull virtues of pa&s;&s;ages, as from that, &s;o from the <HI>Cele&s;tial Opportunity</HI> in that hour in which the exce&s;s of &s;uch a like <HI>Appetite</HI> doth mo&s;t of all <HI>exceed</HI> in it. And this is that ground and foundation of all <HI>A&s;trological</HI> Que&s;tions, wherefore the minde being <HI>elevated</HI> into the exce&s;s of any de&s;ire, taketh of it &s;elf an hour and opportunity mo&s;t convenient and efficacious, on which the figure of Heaven being made, the A&s;trologer may then judge in it, and plainly know concerning that which any one de&s;ires, and is inqui&s;itive to know.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee how the Mathematicians them&s;elves ca&s;t great Blots and Blurrs upon <HI>Judicial A&s;trology;</HI> and that in relation to the particulars afore mentioned, <HI>viz.</HI> of the concurrence of Magick, of the de&s;ires and confidence of Clients and Actours, and of the Devil him&s;elf. And therefore well may all ingenious men for ever be a&s;hamed to &s;peak in the behalf of <HI>Judicial A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Hear what Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins</HI> &s;aith, concerning the un|lawfulne&s;s of A&s;trology in his Book intituled his <HI>Re&s;olu|tion to the Countryman.</HI></P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="Perkins' text">
<PB N="245" REF="126">
<HEAD>A Re&s;olution to the Countrey-man, proving it unlawfull for him to buy or u&s;e our yearly Pro|gnostications by <HI>W.P.</HI></HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>Not conve|nient to have Pro|gno&s;ticati|ons Rea|&s;ons:
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Concern|ing the buy|er.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Immoderate care, joyn|ed with di&s;tru&s;t in God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Contempt of the provi|dence of God, in not reverently regarding it.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Con|cerning the ma|ker
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. His unabi|lity in Pro|gno&s;ticating proved
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. By the true end of the hea|vens.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. By want of good experi|ence.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. By ignorance of particular cau&s;es.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. His manifold untruths.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. His impieties and profane &s;peeches, and actions, not &s;eeming a Chri&s;tian.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. His tricks of deceit.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<PB N="246" REF="127">
<P>GOod Reader, I have thought it convenient (for &s;ome &s;peciall cau&s;es) in this &s;hort Treati&s;e, to di&s;clo&s;e <Q>a part of my mind unto thee, concerning the making of <HI>Progno&s;tications,</HI> and if it might be, to per&s;wade thee, not to &s;pend thy money in buying any of them. <HI>I have long &s;tudied this Art, and was never quiet untill I had &s;een all the &s;ecrets of the &s;ame:</HI> but at the length, it plea&s;ed God to lay before me, the <HI>profanene&s;&s;e</HI> of it, nay, I dare boldly &s;ay <HI>Idolatry</HI> although it be <HI>covered with fair and golden &s;hews.</HI> Wherefore, that which I will &s;peak with grief, the &s;ame I would de&s;ire thee to mark with &s;ome attention. My rea&s;on &s;hall partly con|cern thee, partly the <HI>Progno&s;ticatour</HI> him&s;elf.</Q></P>
<P N="1">1. Fir&s;t <HI>on thy behalf.</HI> I rea&s;on thus.</P>
<P N="1">1. As a man doth &s;ee the ble&s;&s;ings of God upon him, &s;o he mu&s;t al&s;o labour with a carefull diligence to main|tain the &s;tore of this life. But becau&s;e the affection of man is caryed headlong unto a greedy covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e; this de|fire of overmuch carping and careing, mu&s;t be bridled with two &s;trong bitts. Fir&s;t, all our care mu&s;t extend it &s;elf no further, then the pre&s;ent day. Secondly, in care|ing we mu&s;t not tru&s;t unto our &s;elves, but &s;ix all our con|fidence in the mercy and providence of God who ble&s;&s;eth all, and without who&s;e goodne&s;&s;e, nothing can come to pa&s;&s;e, do what we will.</P>
<P N="1">1. As touching the fir&s;t, we have the direction of our Saviour Chri&s;t: who teacheth us to pray on this wi&s;e. Matth. 6.11. <HI>Give us this day our daily bread,</HI> where|by we are given to under&s;tand, that we are onely to &s;eek for the pre&s;ent time, re&s;ting with this per&s;wa&s;ion, that he which hath ble&s;&s;ed us this day, will al&s;o to morrow, and the next day &s;hew his like goodne&s;&s;e unto us. Again, in the &s;ame place, our Saviour Chri&s;t &s;peaketh on this wi&s;e. Matth. chap. 6. v. 34. <HI>Care not then for the morrow: for the morrow &s;hall care for it &s;elf: the day
<PB N="247" REF="127">hath enough with his own grief.</HI> By this welearn, that God will provide for every day all things nece&s;&s;ary, though we do not encrea&s;e the pre&s;ent grief, with caring and ca&s;ting in our heads how we &s;hall live in the time to come. Now tell me what is the cau&s;e that thou year|ly do&s;t buy a <HI>Progno&s;tication,</HI> and one of tho&s;e, which tell the &s;trange&s;t things: Is it becau&s;e thou ha&s;t a de|light to reade the &s;tyle of <HI>Progno&s;tications?</HI> Or becau&s;e thou woulde&s;t learn to <HI>Progno&s;ticate?</HI> Or becau&s;e the pictures and Characters which they make, delight thy mind? it were folly to be per&s;waded of this, &s;eeing the very cau&s;e it &s;elf is manife&s;t. Thy whole de&s;ire is to fill thy coffers, and to heap up wealth, thou art afraid le&s;t thou &s;halt become poor, therefore thou greedily buye&s;t thee <HI>Progno&s;tications,</HI> and continually &s;earche&s;t all the cor|ners of them, to &s;ee the &s;tate of the year to come, even thus in mind rea&s;oning with thy &s;elf. <Q>I can never be qui|et, nor take my &s;leep, untill &s;uch time as I have known the &s;tate of the year en&s;uing, that I may frame my bu&s;i|ne&s;&s;e accordingly: This next year there will be much rain, it will rot corn upon the ground, it will be &s;poiled, I will keep my corn untill the next year following: I find that corn will be dear about half a year hence, I will not &s;ell my corn now, but keep it, that I may have plenty of money for it, and &s;ufficient be&s;ide, to maintain my hou&s;e: the &s;ea and land is calm and quiet this year, the next year many &s;hipwracks and troubles in many coun|treys will fall, now I will fraught my &s;hips that then I may be quiet.</Q> The&s;e imaginations are lively arguments of thy diffidence, and de&s;pair in the goodne&s;&s;e and loving kindne&s;&s;e of God. If thou fear God, love God, put thy whole tru&s;t in God, thou art content to refer thy whole pre&s;ervation unto the hands of God: now, the&s;e proling and ranging conceits of the time to come, argue that either thou never thinke&s;t on God, or at the lea&s;t per&s;wade&s;t thy &s;elf, that either he will not, or cannot help thee. Wherefore
<PB N="248" REF="128">&s;eeing the having of <HI>Progno&s;tications,</HI> cometh of <HI>&s;o wicked cau&s;es,</HI> as is the greedy de&s;ire of pro&s;perity, and wealth, and argueth &s;ome kind of diffidence in God: when thou reade&s;t the&s;e my words, examine thine own heart, if thou find my &s;ayings true (as certainly thou &s;halt) never here|after de&s;ire to know the &s;tate of the year before-hand, ex|cept it be for the &s;ea&s;ons of the year, which I am per&s;wa|ded, <HI>thou may&s;t in &s;ome part, without any skill, even by thine own experience.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Concerning the contempt of Gods providence, thus much I &s;ay. The <HI>Progno&s;ticatour,</HI> if he be asked whe|ther he confe&s;&s;e the <HI>providence of God,</HI> he will with all his heart <HI>confe&s;&s;e</HI> it: but by <HI>his deeds he doth deny it,</HI> for all the things what&s;oever, which can happen in a whole year, he attributeth them to the <HI>&s;tars,</HI> and &s;o he publi&s;heth his predictions, alwayes mentioning &s;tars, never, or very &s;len|derly, making any &s;ignification of the <HI>power, and ju&s;tice, mercy, and everlasting wi&s;dome of God.</HI> And &s;urely, even for the very paring of thy nails, for the cutting of thy hair, for the putting on of thy &s;hooes, for taking a journey two or three miles from thine hou&s;e, for obtaining at Gods hands thy reque&s;t, for making thy bargain with thy neigh|bour, for all thine actions be they never &s;o &s;mall: the&s;e wi&s;e men (if thou wilt ask their advi&s;e) will give thee coun|&s;ell from the &s;tars. Now when the&s;e their irreligious predi|ctions &s;hall be had in thy bo&s;ome, and read of thee daily, thou being a man unlearned and worldly given, never hea|ring any mention of the &s;peciall providence, and hand of God in every thing, but long di&s;cour&s;es of the virtues of Planets, and &s;igns, doe&s;t never think upon the wonderfull and mo&s;t infinite power of God, working after a &s;peciall manner in every matter, but are drawn &s;traight wayes in|to an admiration of the <HI>A&s;trologer,</HI> and a great fear of the con&s;tellations of heaven. An experience of this I found in thee, about two years ago. A learned man (yet in this ca&s;e far deceived) wrote <HI>an Astrologicall di&s;cour&s;e of the
<PB N="249" REF="128">conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn,</HI> wherein he &s;hewed of great alteration in every thing to fall. At this thou wa&s;t &s;ore aga&s;t, thy mind was incumbred with fett|ling thy goods to &s;et them in order again&s;t that day: thy &s;ong for half a year was nothing el&s;e, but, the conjunction the conjunction: the day being come, what &s;taring was there and gazing into heaven, to &s;ee the meeting of tho&s;e two Planets: Now all this while, where was Gods pro|vidence? where was that tru&s;t and rejoycing in him? Wherefore me thinketh that in a Chri&s;tian Common|wealth, tho&s;e onely books &s;hould be publi&s;hed for thy u&s;e, which might beat into thy head, and make thee every houre and moment to think on the providence of God: Contrarywi&s;e, to tell thee the means which God doth u&s;e, to thunder out the a&s;pects and con&s;tellations of &s;tars, and &s;eldome to mention of his providence, maketh thee to fear, and admire, and love the means, quite forgetting the work of God in the means. <HI>This fault was very rife a|mongst the I&s;raelites, who came yearly unto A&s;trologers and wi&s;e men:</HI> Wherefore that which is &s;poken by <HI>Jere|my</HI> chap. 10. v. 12. unto them, is al&s;o &s;poken unto thee. <HI>Hear ye the word of the Lord, that he &s;peaketh unto you, O hou&s;e of I&s;rael: Thus &s;aith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not afraid for the &s;igns of hea|ven, though the heathen be afraid of &s;uch:</HI> In like &s;ort, God forbiddeth his people of <HI>England</HI> to give credit, or fear the con&s;tellations and conjunctions of Stars and Pla|nets which have <HI>no power of them&s;elves,</HI> but are governed by him, and their &s;ecret motions and influences are <HI>not known to man,</HI> and therefore there can be no certain judge|ment thereof. If thou wilt not hear and follow this which I &s;ay, &s;ee what will en&s;ue. Thou &s;ee&s;t that the greate&s;t matters which the&s;e <HI>Diviners</HI> and <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> fore|tell, fall out flat otherwi&s;e then they &s;ay, to their <HI>perpetuall &s;hame.</HI> Truely I am per&s;waded, that it is the judgement of God upon them (although they cannot &s;ee it) who
<PB N="250" REF="129">maketh them, when they think they are <HI>mo&s;t wi&s;e, to be mo&s;t fools.</HI> For &s;o the Lord u&s;ed the wi&s;e men and <HI>A&s;tro|logers of Chaldea,</HI> as he &s;peaketh by his Prophet <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> chap. 44. v. 24. <HI>I am the Lord that made all things, that &s;pread out the heavens alone and &s;tretch out the earth by my &s;elf, I de&s;troy the tokens of Sooth&s;ayers, and make them that conjecture fools, and turn their wi&s;e men back|ward, and make their knowledge fooli&s;hne&s;&s;e.</HI> Do&s;t thou then O carele&s;&s;e and mi&s;erable man, think to e&s;cape the &s;ame, or greater puni&s;hment being a cau&s;e of this fault, for if none de&s;ired to know what is to come, none would bu&s;ie them&s;elves in that vanity. Wherefore reade the word of God in the 18. of <HI>Deut.</HI> ver&s;e 9. <HI>When thou &s;halt come</HI> (&s;aith the &s;pirit of God) <HI>into the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou &s;halt not learn to do after the a|bominations of tho&s;e nations.</HI> In the words following <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> numbreth nine abominations.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>As
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>To make his child go through the fire.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>To u&s;e witchcraft.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>To regard times,</HI> this is thy fault.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>To mark the flying of fouls.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>5. <HI>To be a Sorcerer.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>To be a Charmer.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>7. <HI>To coun&s;ell with Spirits.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>8. <HI>To be a Sooth&s;ayer.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>9. <HI>To ask coun&s;ell at the dead.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>All the&s;e horrible abominations being rehear&s;ed, mark what followeth. <HI>Deut.</HI> 18.9. <HI>For all that do &s;uch things are an abomination unto the Lord,</HI> and becau&s;e of their a|bominations, the Lord thy God doth ca&s;t them out be|fore thee: now &s;eeing mo&s;t of the&s;e abominations, and e|&s;pecially the <HI>third is u&s;ed of us,</HI> why &s;hould we not fear the like judgements upon us, unle&s;&s;e we will repent, and that with &s;peed.</P>
<PB N="251" REF="129">
<P N="2">2. The rea&s;ons which concern the <HI>Prognosticatour,</HI> and may avail to the per&s;wading of thee, not to buy any more of their unprofitable books, as the&s;e which follow, Fir&s;t, their <HI>unability</HI> in <HI>Prognosticating:</HI> Secondly, their <HI>manife&s;t untruths:</HI> Thirdly, their <HI>impieties:</HI> Fourthly, their <HI>tricks of deceit.</HI> What? can they not foretell that which is to come? can they not make conjectures of that which is like to en&s;ue? No &s;urely. And I will u&s;e argu|ments to confirm it unto thee.</P>
<P>The true u&s;e of the heavens con&s;i&s;teth in many points. 1. To declare the glory of God. <HI>The heavens</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Da|vid,</HI> P&s;al. 19.2.) <HI>declare the glory of God, and the fir|mament &s;heweth the work of his hands.</HI> It is an Alphabet written in great Letters, in which is de&s;cribed the maje|&s;tie of God, and that by the&s;e four &s;peciall points: Fir&s;t, the Maje&s;ty of the work it &s;elf. 2. The infinite multitude of Stars. 3. By the wonderfull variety of Stars. 4. By the greatne&s;&s;e of the Stars.</P>
<P N="2">2. Secondly, it maketh &s;inners and wicked men inexcu|&s;able before the judgement &s;eat of God. <HI>Rom.</HI> 1.20. <HI>For the invi&s;ible things of him</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Paul</HI>) <HI>that is, his eternall power, and God-head are &s;een by the creation of the world being con&s;iaered in his works, to the intent that they &s;hould be without excu&s;e.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Thirdly, they &s;erve to the appointment of times, as day, night, moneth, year, which are both mea&s;ured and de&s;cribed by the cour&s;e of the Sun, and Moon, and other Stars. <HI>Gen.</HI> 1.14. And &s;o the fea&s;t of the I&s;raelites, and the computation of the yeare in our Church, dependeth thereupon, and without them there would be great confu|&s;ion both in the common wealth and Church.</P>
<P N="4">4. Fourthly, they &s;erve to be &s;igns, that is to foretell things to come. And they are &s;igns either of <HI>extraordi|nary</HI> things, or things which be <HI>ordinary.</HI> When they are &s;igns of extraordinary things, then there is and appeareth in them &s;ome extraordinary work of God: as appeareth
<PB N="252" REF="130">in the&s;e examples which follow. At the &s;uffering of Chri&s;t, not onely <HI>the vail of the temple rent, and the dead ro&s;e forth of their graves, Matth.</HI> 27. but al&s;o the Sun was wholly eclip&s;ed, the Moon being in the full. At which &s;ight, <HI>Dyoni&s;ius Areopagita,</HI> a good <HI>A&s;tronomer</HI> &s;pake the&s;e words: <HI>Either the frame of the world is de&s;troyed, or the God of nature &s;uffereth.</HI> The Prophet <HI>Ezek.</HI> cha. 32. v. 78. being commanded to prophecy the de&s;truction of <HI>Egypt.</HI> he fir&s;t putteth down &s;uch extraordinary &s;igns: Be|fore the &s;econd coming of our Saviour Chri&s;t, there &s;hall be &s;igns in the Sun and Moon, and in the Stars. La&s;tly, the extraordinary going back of the Sun &s;ignified the length|ning of the life of King <HI>Ezekias.</HI> Secondly, the Stars are &s;igns of generall things, which happen ordinarily every year in nature among us.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>As of</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>Approching and de|clining of</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. <HI>The Spring.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Summer.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Harve&s;t.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>Winter.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
<ITEM>2. <HI>Ordinary weather in the&s;e quarters.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. <HI>Ebbing and flowing of the Sea.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4. <HI>Sea&s;ons of</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>5. <HI>Plowing.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>6. <HI>Sowing.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>7. <HI>Setting.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>8. <HI>Planting.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>9. <HI>Cutting.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>10. <HI>Felling.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>11. <HI>Reaping.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>I &s;ay <HI>generall,</HI> becau&s;e the <HI>particular e&s;tate and affairs of men can in no wi&s;e be fore-&s;ignified by the &s;tars.</HI> I &s;ay <HI>ordinary,</HI> becau&s;e the things which fall out &s;eldome, and are be&s;ides the common cour&s;e of nature, as plenty of all things, famine, plague, war; ever&s;ions of King|domes, <HI>&amp;c. Do not depend upon the Stars.</HI> For the
<PB N="253" REF="130">confirming of this, I have three rea&s;ons: Fir&s;t, in the 1. of <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> v. 14, 15. God &s;aith, <HI>that he made the lights to be &s;igns,</HI> and yet the &s;ame God in the 47. of <HI>E|&s;ay</HI> v. 13.14. &s;aith, <HI>he will de&s;troy the &s;igns of them which divine:</HI> flatly forbidding us to u&s;e Stars, as means to judge of any thing to come, &s;aving onely of tho&s;e, of which they are expre&s;ly made &s;igns of God in the creati|on: all which are put down before. Secondly, this is manife&s;t by the order of the creation: <HI>Gen.</HI> 1.12.14. <HI>The third day God created upon the earth hearbs and trees, and the earth brought forth fruits and was fertile: the fourth day God commanded lights to be made in the fir|mament of heaven, to &s;eparate the day and the night, and to be for &s;igns and for &s;ea&s;ons, and dayes, and moneths, and then it was &s;o, and then God &s;aw it was good.</HI> Out of which I gather that it cannot be a &s;ign cau&s;ing famine, or plenty and fertilene&s;&s;e, becau&s;e fertility went before the creation of the ho&s;t of heaven. Al&s;o of warres, and plagues, and the particular e&s;tates of men, they can be no &s;igns, becau&s;e man was not yet created, and yet even then they were &s;igns. Some will &s;ay they were no &s;igns of tho&s;e matters in the creation, but now they may be, and are: No, for the works which God created, he now pre&s;er|veth, neither increa&s;ing, nor dimini&s;hing any thing in them. <HI>Philo Judaeus</HI> in his book <HI>de opificio mundi,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>he was per&s;waded that God fore&s;eeing the minds of men, given to &s;earch &s;trange matters to come, did in this order create the heavens, to confute and di&s;prove their imagina|tions.</HI> Thirdly the Heavens and Stars were made for the u&s;e of man, and man is their end, &s;o that it is ab&s;urd to imagine they have any force in the affairs of man. Now then <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> if they will fore&s;hew of &s;trange things to come: they mu&s;t undo the work of their Creatour, and give unto it new u&s;es, otherwi&s;e they &s;hall not be able to Progno&s;ticate as they yearly do.</P>
<PB N="254" REF="131">
<P>The providence of God is his decree by which he ap|pointeth how every thing &s;hall come to pa&s;s. The conti|nuall execution of this decree is ordinarily by meanes, but often without meanes, The means which God u&s;eth are either generall or &s;peciall. Generall are the&s;e by which he governeth all the whole world, and every particular thing, which concerneth this life: unto this kind are referred &s;pi|rituall creatures, called Angels, by whom the Philo&s;o|phers &s;ay the heavens are governed, and we &s;ee that whole Kingdomes, Provinces, and Citties have been kept and defended by them, as al&s;o con&s;umed and de&s;troyed. A|gain, the &s;tarrs and heavenly bodies are u&s;ed of God to govern and order things here below, as it is the 19. <HI>P&s;al. Nothing is hid from the beat of the &s;unne.</HI> And by the Pro|phet <HI>Ho&s;ea.</HI> the Lord &s;peaketh thus <HI>I will hear the hea|vens, the heavens &s;hall hear the earth, the earth &s;hall hear the corn, the corn &s;hall hear I&s;rael,</HI> But this in&s;trument is <HI>onely a generall</HI> in&s;trument, and hath his work in <HI>ordi|nary</HI> matters of <HI>nature.</HI> Be&s;ide the&s;e means, there be many other by which God ruleth the world. In the beginning he &s;et <HI>man</HI> over the whole world, that he might have rule over fi&s;hes, fouls, and bea&s;ts, and al things els. He apointed <HI>hu&s;|bands</HI> to govern their wives, he &s;et the <HI>first-born</HI> before their brethren, as <HI>Cain</HI> before <HI>Abel:</HI> Princes over Ci|ties, Kingdomes, Common-wealths, and therefore by rea&s;on of their dignity calleth them Gods. There be <HI>Governours</HI> of Families, <HI>Fathers</HI> over their Children, <HI>Ma&s;ters</HI> over their Servants. Yet God hath more near care in pre&s;erving and governing his cho&s;en, as ap|peareth in the 43. of <HI>E&s;ay. Thus &s;aith the Lord God that created thee. O</HI> Jacob: <HI>and he that formed thee O</HI> I&s;rael: <HI>fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by my name. thou art mine: when thou pa&s;|&s;e&s;t through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the flouds, that they do not overflow thee, When thou walke&s;t thorough the very fire, thou &s;halt not be burnt,
<PB N="255" REF="131">neither &s;hall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the holy one of I &s;rael thy Saviour.</HI> This is al&s;o ma|nife&s;t by that Sympathy which is in the Lord, when his children are afflicted as appeareth by the 11. of <HI>Zechariah He which toucheth you, toucheth the appleof mine eye,</HI> And in the 9. of the <HI>Acts, Saul Saul, why per&s;ecute&s;t thou me,</HI> that is, <HI>my elect.</HI> Wherefore therebe al&s;o &s;peciall means by which he more carefully governeth the elact. As be Angels whom <HI>Paul</HI> to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> calleth <HI>Mini&s;tring &s;pirits:</HI> it is certain they defend every one of the elect particularly. Hitherto may be referred the preaching of the Word of God, the mini&s;tring of the Sacraments.</P>
<P>All the&s;e means God's provid ence u&s;eth, fir&s;t that he might &s;hew his goodne&s;&s;e towards us: &s;econdly, that he might be known to be the Lord over all, thirdly, that we might be thankfull, becau&s;e he not onely him&s;elf governeth us, but al&s;o maketh his creatures to &s;erve our turns. But this mu&s;t be noted (as I &s;aid before) that in all the&s;e &s;econ|dary cau&s;es, be&s;ide their naturall work, which God hath given them, there is al&s;o the &s;peciall work of God his &s;peciall hand &s;hewed. God worketh not by &s;econd cau&s;es, as Magi&s;trates govern their Common Wealths by their inferiour officers. For they &s;o govern by them, that they do nothing or very little them&s;elves; and peradventure, never know what is done. God governeth not the world &s;o, but in every particular work, he hath his particular &s;troke. That the thunder burneth, moveth, hurteth, it is the generall providence of God: but that it burneth, or hurteth this or that man, on this or that part, in this or that manner, it is the &s;pecial providence of the &s;ame God. The Lord hath &s;hewed his &s;peciall providence in one ex|cellent example. If <HI>the hatchet</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>fall forth of the hand of him which loppeth the tree, and kill a man in the way, I the Lord have killed him,</HI> God al&s;o governeth the world immediately, and his providence worketh without means, and many things he bringeth to pa&s;s a|gain&s;t
<PB N="256" REF="132">all means, which is manife&s;t by that of <HI>Matthew, Man liveth not by bread onely, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.</HI></P>
<P>Now to come to our <HI>Prognosticatours,</HI> and <HI>Moon-pro|phets,</HI> how &s;hall they be able to know what will come to pa&s;s hereafter? For fir&s;t, the Heavens being onely one particular In&s;trument of Gods providence, among&s;t many, they cannot certainly and truly &s;ay, this thing or that thing proceedeth from the Heavens. Secondly, they can|not determine whether God in extraordinary matters, as Plague, Famine, Barrenne&s;s, di&s;tempered Weather, Earthquakes, Wars, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Doth work immediately, or with means: if with means, they cannot determine, whe|ther the Heavens, or Angels, or men, or any other things be the means of his providence. Thirdly, if they were able to know what the Heaven worketh naturally, yet they were never the better; for God be&s;ide the power of the Heavens hath in all things his particular working provi|dence, altering, and framing, and bending as Wax his In|&s;truments to his good will.</P>
<P><HI>The third Rea&s;on the want of experience.</HI></P>
<P>If our <HI>Progno&s;ticators</HI> have any means to foretell things to come, they have tho&s;e means either without experience, or with experience: if they have them without experience, then mu&s;t thou account all which they do to be fooli&s;h Dreams, and deceit. For all kinde of humane Learning which is profitable, and hath u&s;e in the Life of Man, is taken from often ob&s;ervations, and experience. If it be &s;aid, that they have their Directions in <HI>prognosticating</HI> from experience, and that of all times; I will convince them thus: True experience of the Cau&s;es of Things is an often ob&s;erving of the Effects of the &s;ame Cau&s;es, with this Ground, that they can proceed from no other thing. The <HI>Phy&s;ician</HI> &s;aith <HI>Rheubarde,</HI> doth purge Choller. Well, how knoweth he this? he hath often tried this, and that in old men, young men, children: and hath found,
<PB N="257" REF="132">that in the Bodies of all Men, the Cau&s;e of purging this Humour, could be a&s;cribed to nothing el&s;e. Wherefore he may peremptorily conclude, <HI>Rheubarde</HI> purgeth Choller. Our <HI>Prognosticatours,</HI> in the Heavens can have no &s;uch experience. For they cannot ob&s;erve often the &s;ame po&s;iti|on of Stars in the Heaven. The order and cau&s;e of the fixed Stars and Planets, which we finde in the Heavens this day, the next day will be changed, <HI>and never the like again.</HI> They will &s;ay, in deed, although the &s;ame po&s;ition of the whole Heaven never happen, yet the &s;ame Con|junctions of notable Stars, the &s;ame Ri&s;ings and Settings, and the &s;ame Con&s;tellations of the chiefe&s;t Stars are marked often. I &s;ay again, that when the&s;e Eclip&s;es and great Conjunctions happen the re&s;t of the Stars being o|therwi&s;e affected then they were before, and having new Po&s;itions, may either increa&s;e or dimini&s;h their Effects, or el&s;e hinder them, and quite take them away. As we &s;ee when the <HI>Sun</HI> ca&s;ting his beams into a Chamber, the light of Candles, and Torches, and Fires do make it &s;hine dim, yet the&s;e being ab&s;ent it will &s;hine bright. Again, they are not able to &s;ay, that Con&s;tellations, which they have marked, are Cau&s;es of tho&s;e Effects which follow, as Wars, Di&s;ea&s;es, di&s;tempered Weather, Earthquakes, Fa|mine, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> For in tho&s;e things which happen together, the one is not the cau&s;e of the other. When <HI>Nero</HI> played up|on his Harp, <HI>Rome</HI> was on fire; yet <HI>Nero's</HI> playing on the Harp was no Cau&s;e of the burning of <HI>Rome.</HI> Al&s;o the&s;e Effects may have other Cau&s;es in the Heaven, then tho&s;e which they mark, and they may come immediately from God, they may come onely from the will of man: where|fore &s;eeing that they cannot a&s;&s;ure them&s;elves that tho&s;e Eclip&s;es, and Conjunctions are the Works of &s;uch Effects upon Earth, and they cannot have often Ob&s;ervations of the cour&s;e of Heaven, their Rules of Predictions are feign|ed and &s;uppo&s;ed, and not built upon true experience. Let a man which knoweth not one Herb, take all kindes of
<PB N="258" REF="133">Herbs, and put them into a great Ve&s;&s;el, yet &s;o, that there be more of &s;ome Herbs, and le&s;s of other &s;ome; let him beat them all together, and make a compound virtue of all their virtues; Can he now tell the nature and ope|ration of every particular Herb? Can he divide and &s;ever by any help the virtue of one Herb from another? No indeed. The &s;ame thing may be &s;aid of the Stars of Hea|ven; all their Lights, and all their influences (as they term it) are in the lower Bodies: more plainly, every earthly Body hath in it all the &s;ecret powers, and working of every particular Star: &s;o that they make (as it were) a compound operation ri&s;ing of all, or of the mo&s;t of their virtues joyned together? for the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> hold, that although the Light may be hindred by the thickne&s;s of the Body, yet the heavenly influence pierceth through all. Therefore they are not able to &s;ever, and learn the nature of the&s;e Stars, except they can &s;top the influence of what Stars they li&s;t, and bring them into what compa&s;s they will. Yet thus much I will grant them, that they may have a little knowledge of the virtue of the <HI>Sun,</HI> and <HI>Moon,</HI> and &s;ome other Stars: as we &s;ee tho&s;e Herbs in the former compo&s;ition, who&s;e virtues be the chiefe&s;t, though not fully, yet &s;omewhat do repre&s;ent their nature, and &s;hew them&s;elves above the re&s;t. But what is this to the purpo&s;e? If I confe&s;s the operations of the <HI>Sun</HI> and <HI>Moon.</HI> If I &s;hall grant that <HI>Saturn</HI> is in nature cold and dry, <HI>Jupiter</HI> warm and moi&s;t, <HI>Mars</HI> hot and dry, <HI>Venus</HI> cold and moi&s;t, <HI>Mercury</HI> in nature mixt, the notable fixed Stars in the <HI>Zodiack</HI> to be of the nature of the Planets, and to have manife&s;t operations, as the ri&s;ing of the <HI>Dog</HI> to make heat and tempe&s;tuous Seas, the ri&s;ing of <HI>Ar|cturus</HI> to make rain and &s;howres, <HI>Pleiades</HI> to be of the na|ture of <HI>Mars,</HI> and the <HI>Moon, &amp;c.</HI> what will all this &s;uf|fice to make a <HI>Prognostication?</HI> for &s;eeing all &s;tars have their own powers, and peradventure al&s;o the lea&s;t &s;tars, which we make no account of, have great Effects among&s;t
<PB N="259" REF="133">us (as one Grain of <HI>Musk</HI> in the <HI>Apothecaries</HI> &s;hop ma|keth a greater &s;mel then all other Powders, be they never &s;o many) nothing will the knowledg of the operation of &s;ome &s;tars prevail, the re&s;t being not known and never regarded. They wil &s;ay, they have &s;ome experience, but yet imperfect. I have &s;hewed how they have no true experience at all: and their imperfect experience maketh them perfect Liars.</P>
<P><HI>The fourth Rea&s;on, the ignorance of Cau&s;es.</HI></P>
<P>A man which will judge rightly of any matter by the Cau&s;es, mu&s;t not onely con&s;ider the <HI>common</HI> Cau&s;es, but he mu&s;t al&s;o with them confer the <HI>particular</HI> Cau&s;es of all things which happen among&s;t us, &s;o he &s;hall judge aright. In Heaven the &s;tars be common Cau&s;es of all things a|mong&s;t us, becau&s;e they &s;hew their virtue on every matter, one way or other. The &s;ame things have their peculiar efficients, and matters, and forms, by which, and not by the Heavens, they are made that, what&s;oever they are. The&s;e proper Cau&s;es, becau&s;e their natures be unknown unto us, I cannot &s;ee how the <HI>Progno&s;ticatour</HI> is able to foretell any thing to come, in good and convenient man|ner, laying a&s;ide all deceiving, and forging of untruths. To make this more plain, I will u&s;e this &s;imilitude, Sup|po&s;e an Hen to &s;it upon many Eggs, &s;ome of her own, &s;ome of divers other Fowls; &s;he impartoth her heat e|qually unto them; at the length &s;he hatcheth, and &s;ome of her Chickens are Cocks, &s;ome Hens, &s;ome Crows, &s;ome Partridges, &s;ome Doves, &s;ome black, &s;ome white. &s;ome like and live, &s;ome die, &s;ome are killed of the Kite, &s;ome are ro&s;ted. No man (I think) will profe&s;s &s;o much skill, as to &s;ay, that he by the con&s;idering of the Hen and her heat which is a common Cau&s;e of the Chickens, and all that befalleth them, is able to tell, why of this Egg came a Patridge, of that a Crow, why this Egg had no Chicken, why that had a dead Chicken, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> except he do therewith all adjoyn the con&s;ideration of the particular Effects. The Heaven is as it were a Hen, fo&s;tring under
<PB N="260" REF="134">her Wings all earthly things, imparting his virtue and heat unto all. Can our <HI>Progno&s;ticatour,</HI> by the <HI>erecting</HI> of <HI>Figures,</HI> by con&s;idering the <HI>Di&s;po&s;ition of every Planet in their Hou&s;es,</HI> and the &s;ignifications of every thing, judge, why this man is wealthy, that man a Begger, why this Noble-man dieth this Year, none the next Year, why it is naught to travell this way good to travell that way, why the&s;e Di&s;ea&s;es abound, and not other why Corn &s;hall be dear this Quarter, not the next, why this Week is fair and temperate, that Week, that Moneth un&s;ea&s;onable and tempe&s;tuous. Tiuly, it is a thing <HI>flat impo&s;&s;ible.</HI> They mu&s;t hereun to adjoyn the particular nature of the Coun|trey, the particular Cau&s;es both in mens mindes and bo|dies, as, education, place, hone&s;ty, birth, bloud, &s;ickne&s;s, health, &s;trength, weakne&s;s, meat, drink, liberty of minde, learning, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and all other &s;peciall circum&s;tances; which they never do, as we may &s;ee in their <HI>Progno&s;tications:</HI> and if they would do it, yet they could not. Wherefore I mu&s;t needs &s;ay this, that their folly is great in publi&s;hing their <HI>Progno&s;tications:</HI> and thou al&s;o greatly to be bla|med, which by thy greedy de&s;ire give&s;t them great occa&s;ion to be unprofitably occupied.</P>
<P>To &s;hew more briefly and plainly of their unability in <HI>progno&s;ticating, Ho&s;.</HI> 2. although I grant the Stars have great force, yet I &s;ay they cannot judge of things to come. And there be &s;ix Impediments.</P>
<P>The fir&s;t Impediment is, imbecility of wit, for as mans eye from the Earth beholding the Heavens and the Stars, perceiveth them not in their ju&s;t quantity, but as very &s;mal Lights: for indeed the <HI>Sun</HI> is a hundred and three&s;core and &s;ix times bigger then the Earth, <HI>Saturn</HI> ninety times, <HI>Ju|piter</HI> ninety and five, <HI>Mars</HI> one and an half, the <HI>Moon</HI> is the thirty and ninth part of the Earth: the bigge&s;t fixed Stars contain the Earth an hundred and &s;even times, the Stars of the &s;econd magnitude ninety, the third &s;eventy times, the fourth magnitude fifty and four times, the fifth
<PB N="261" REF="134">magnitude thirty and five times, the &s;ixth magnitude eighteen times. So the weakne&s;s of mans under&s;tanding is not able to conceive and learn the things which the Hea|vens do bring to pa&s;s on Earth.</P>
<P>The 2d Impediment, the infinite number of Stars, which no doubtall have great power, although we do not finde it. For the <HI>Progno&s;ticatour</HI> onely maketh one thou&s;and twenty and eight Stars, and of the&s;e he taketh onely heed unto a very few: which is as though a man &s;hould judge the power of an Army, by the power of one or two Souldiers and Captains, not by the power of the whole company.</P>
<P>The third Impediment, is the infinite varieties of the vir|tues of Stars, and the parts of Heaven, which <HI>A&s;trolo|gers</HI> grant to be: yet they do not know them. As touching the nature of the Fixed Stars, they know no|thing but by colour, which is red, leady, white, pale, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> re&s;embling &s;ome Planet. And becau&s;e they know not the virtue of all Stars, and every part of Heaven, they are not able to judge any thing but to their own &s;hame, no more then the <HI>Phy&s;ician</HI> is able to know the nature of the compound Medicine without the knowing of every Sim|ple.</P>
<P>The fourth Impediment, the manifold and daily change of the Motions, Po&s;itions, and Configurations of the Stars: for if a man could tell both the number and nature of Stars, yet the variety of Po&s;itions breedeth Trouble, and hindreth right judgement: becau&s;e by this means the powers of Stars are increa&s;ed, dimini&s;hed, and changed. And the&s;e Rules which &s;erved for ancient times to foretell things, will not &s;erve us, becau&s;e all the Fixed Stars have changed their places, and the reft are daily changed.</P>
<P>The fifth Impediment, the infinite variety of inferiour things, which do hinder, pervert, change, receive, or not receive the virtue and Predictions of Stars as the nature of the Soil, the di&s;po&s;ition natural of Air, orders and
<PB N="262" REF="135">Con&s;titutions of the Common-wealth, occa&s;ions, educa|tion, in&s;titution, kindes of meat and drink, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;ixth Impediment, the will of man, which freely in common matters chu&s;eth this and refu&s;eth that. There are many things which are cau&s;ed without any work of Stars, onely by the will of man, and &s;tudy, as we &s;ee in <HI>Socrates, Demosthenes,</HI> and other, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>Thus much &s;hall &s;uffice to &s;hew that they cannot <HI>progno&s;ticate</HI> of things in&s;uing; now follow their ma|nifold untruths, and mo&s;t fal&s;e Rules. In di&s;clo&s;ing them I will keep the &s;ame order they u&s;e in their <HI>Alma|nacks.</HI></P>
<P>In the fir&s;t or &s;econd leaf of their Books thou &s;halt finde a Picture of Man's Body with the twelve Signes round about it they call it the <HI>Anatomy of Man's Body,</HI> &s;hew|ing how the twelve Signes have Government of the &s;ame, for the <HI>Moon</HI> or any other Significatour of any thing be|ing in the Sign, they &s;ay, that it is dangerous to box, to &s;ear that part, or to let bloud in it, which is &s;ubject to the dominion of that Sign, All the&s;e are nothing but vain Fa|bles, as I will manife&s;tly prove.</P>
<P N="1">1. Whereas they call it an <HI>Anatomy,</HI> me thinks, it is a butcherly <HI>Anatomy;</HI> nay, that of the Butchers is far bet|ter, for they joyn Head and Appurtenance together; the&s;e men being &s;paring give <HI>Aries</HI> the Head, <HI>Leo</HI> and <HI>Cancer</HI> the Heart and Lungs, As for the Liver, I know not which Sign hath it, peradventure in old time men had no Livers. At the <HI>Anatomy</HI> of a Carrian, Crows deal friendly, for every one hath &s;omewhat; but in the divi&s;ion of Man's Body, Signes play foul play, for <HI>Capricorn</HI> hath got no|thing but a pair of Knees. It is like that the Signes &s;cram|bling for their portions, <HI>Capricorn</HI> being &s;low got no|thing, hereupon compa&s;&s;ion being had, there was a ga|thering made, and <HI>Sagittarius</HI> gave the lower part of the Thigh, <HI>Aquarius</HI> the higher part of the Legg which both together make the Knee. But to deliver thee without all
<PB N="263" REF="135">doubt, mark the&s;e rea&s;ons which follow. I. The &s;igns cannot have any &s;uch dominion over mans body: I make it manife&s;t thus. There is no corporall heaven in deed above the firmament, yet becau&s;e the firmament or eighth Sphear hath many motions, to give rea&s;ons to tho&s;e moti|ons, the A&s;tronomers have feigned two heavens above the firmament, the Chri&s;taline heaven, and the fir&s;t move|able or tenth Sphear, which they divide into twelve parts, which parts they call &s;igns. Now, I pray you tell me,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The 12. Signs feigned.</NOTE> is it po&s;&s;ible to conceive that an imagined part of any imagined heaven void of all &s;tars, &s;hall either have in it &s;elf, or give unto other Stars power to govern the parts of mans body? More rea&s;onable was that man, who be|ing asked what was the cau&s;e of the &s;ands in <HI>Sandwitch</HI> haven, he an&s;wered the building up of <HI>Tenterton</HI> Steeple. Secondly the government of the Signs in the body is not taken from experience in nature, but feigned long ago by &s;ome drow&s;ie pate, and now becau&s;e it hath a cloak of an|tiquity, it is allowed. More naturall was this kinde of way, that hot &s;igns &s;hould govern hot parts, cold &s;igns cold parts, earthly &s;igns earthly parts. So Aries &s;hould govern the heart and the vitall bloud, not the head, and the re&s;t of the &s;igns tho&s;e parts which are of their nature and di&s;po&s;ition. Thirdly great experience of many men daily confuteth this rule. For many learned Phy&s;icians, and ex|pert Chirurgians have by infinite examples found, that if a man be let bloud in the &s;ign, or lanched, or boxed, or &s;eared, no harm en&s;ueth, nay they have given te&s;timony that the patients have found even then great comfort. Wherefore let not the&s;e things trouble thy mind any more, but let them be numbred even among&s;t vain and unprofi|table fables.</P>
<P N="2">2. Next after followeth Elections of dayes and hours, nece&s;&s;ary for all matters as followeth.</P>
<PB N="264" REF="136">
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Speciall dayes to</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Prepare humours.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Let bloud.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Purge with Vomit.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Purge with Electuaries.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Purge with Potions.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Purge with Pills.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Cut hair.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Comfort the virtue Attractive.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Comfort the virtue Digestive.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Comfort the virtue Retentive.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Comfort the virtue Expul&s;ive.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Bathe.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Put children to School.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Travell.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Marry.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hunt, Hauke, Fi&s;h.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Plant.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Geld Cattell.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Lay foundations.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Here, I pray thee, mark their naughty dealings, how they abu&s;e thy ignorance, to make them&s;elves skilfull, and to do more then they can do. For, if the judgements of the be&s;t <HI>Astrologers</HI> may be taken, certainly mo&s;t of the&s;e elections cannot be pre&s;cribed to thee, unle&s;&s;e they know before hand the figure of thy Nativity. For all Ele|ction, which concern thy per&s;on, mu&s;t be moderated (to &s;peak as plainly as their toyes will &s;uffer me) by the di|rection of the root of thy Nativity, and by the monethly and diurnall progre&s;&s;ions of thy pre&s;ent Revolution. If any of the&s;e pretend &s;ome evill, the particular election may be a means to increa&s;e, and to bring it to pa&s;&s;e. For example, &s;uppo&s;e thou being a man toward marriage, in the Almanack thou finde&s;t a good day noted by the <HI>Pro|gno&s;ticatour</HI>
<PB N="265" REF="136">to marry in: thou take&s;t thy opportunity: after a while, thou art weary of thy life: the fir&s;t day of thy marriage was the la&s;t day of thy joy. What is the cau&s;e of this? All the Planets which were &s;ignifiers of thy marriage in thy nativity, were then evilly affe|cted, and peradventure al&s;o, at the fir&s;t thou wa&s;t born, they received &s;ome di&s;grace. So then thou maye&s;t lay all blame, partly upon thy &s;elf for believing and partly upon the Progna&s;ticatour, who deceived thee. But to come unto particulars, the elections of dayes to purge the body with any kind of purgation, and to comfort the &s;ame, are mo&s;t rediculous. Why do they not al&s;o pre&s;cribe hours of eating meat? Why do they not ap|point the kinds of meats and drinks, which we mu&s;t eat and u&s;e daily? If thou &s;ee that God doth daily ble&s;&s;e the enterpri&s;es of tho&s;e Phy&s;icians, which never regard tho&s;e elections in mini&s;tring to their patients: never e&s;teem of them, let them go as lyes to the Devil from whence they came. Concerning the elections of dayes to &s;owe, to &s;ett, to plant, to lop, they are al&s;o fooli&s;h: the gene|rall ob&s;ervation of the &s;ea&s;on of the year, in which the&s;e things are to be done is &s;ufficient. And S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his book <HI>de civitate Dei</HI> laugheth at the folly of them, which choo&s;e particular dayes to do their husbandry, as though &s;ome certain po&s;itions of &s;tars had &s;ome &s;peciall influence to the things which are &s;own then. His rea&s;on is, becau&s;e many grains of corn being ca&s;t into the ground to|gether, &s;pringing up together, and riping all at one time: yet &s;ome of them are bla&s;ted, &s;ome are eaten of birds, &s;ome are trodden down under foot, &s;ome &s;tand and are never touched. The re&s;t of the elections, and e&s;pecially that of laying foundations is mo&s;t ab&s;urd. They &s;ay, that if an hou&s;e, a city, a town have his foundation when the &s;tars be well affected, the inhabitants &s;hall have pro|&s;perous and quiet living: if when the &s;tarres be evil di&s;po&s;ed, then trouble and di&s;quietne&s;&s;e. They have no ex|perience
<PB N="266" REF="137">of this, but that onely which is mo&s;t fal&s;e, for they know not the foundations of cities and towns, nei|ther the po&s;itions of the Stars when they were built. Let <HI>Rome</HI> and <HI>Venice</HI> be examples, becau&s;e the&s;e are mo&s;t al|ledged of A&s;trologers, the time in which they were built is uncertain, and the Planets are fal&s;ly &s;et in the figure of the foundation of <HI>Rome,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Mercury</HI> is contrary to the <HI>Sun,</HI> a thing flat impo&s;&s;ible. Again the folly of this is thus manife&s;t, that an hou&s;e, or city, or common-wealth may remain, the people being gone, as it is in the time of plague, and bani&s;hment, and conque&s;ts of Princes: And the inhabitants al&s;o may be &s;afe and remain, the building quite ran&s;umed, and beaten down, as we may &s;ee in <HI>Car|thage,</HI> the people and common-wealth remained, the Citie quite defaced. That all elections are unlawfull, Saint <HI>Augustine</HI> wrighting unto <HI>Januarius,</HI> proveth it forth of the fourth to the <HI>Galathians,</HI> by the&s;e words: <HI>Ye ob&s;erve moneths and times and years</HI> (Therefore &s;aith he) <HI>let us not ob&s;erve dayes, and years, and moneths, and times, le&s;t we hear this of the Apo&s;tles: I am afraid le&s;t</HI> I <HI>have taken labour in vain with you:</HI> for he rebuketh them which &s;ay, I will not go, becau&s;e the Moon is thus or thus moved, or I will take my journey that I may have good &s;ucce&s;&s;e, becau&s;e there is &s;uch a po&s;ition of Stars: I will not do my bu&s;ine&s;&s;e this moneth, becau&s;e &s;uch a Star governeth this moneth: or I will do my bu&s;ine&s;&s;e this moneth becau&s;e &s;uch a Star ruleth. How then &s;hall a man do, not to break the word of God? Art thou a man that de&s;ire&s;t to lead a Chri&s;tian life? Then take the example of <HI>Paul, Rom.</HI> 1.10. as a pattern to govern all the actions of thy life: <HI>without cea&s;ing</HI> (&s;aith he) I <HI>make mention of you in my prayers: be&s;eeching that by &s;ome means, one time or other</HI> I <HI>might have pro&s;erous journey by the will of God to come unto you.</HI> So thou if thou ha&s;t any bu&s;ine&s;&s;e in hand, any journey to take, any thing to buy or &s;ell, or any other matter: never
<PB N="267" REF="137">regard the con&s;tellations of Heaven, commit thy &s;elf to the onely providence of God, in whom thou ha&s;t thy life, and motion, and being, who directeth all thy &s;teps: pray unto him privately with thy &s;elf to ble&s;&s;e thee and all thy actions, that they may tend to his glory, thy wel|fare: thou &s;halt find that all thy enterpri&s;es will have bet|ter &s;ucce&s;&s;e, then if the whole hoa&s;t of heaven, and all the Progno&s;ticatours of England had promi&s;ed never &s;o much pro&s;perity. Now let us &s;hew their ab&s;urd folly in Pro|gno&s;ticating of the &s;tate of the yeare: of which their pre|dictions are either generall for the whole yeare, or &s;peciall for every day. In their generall predictions are con&s;idered either the grounds of them or the matters which they fore|tell. Their grounds are e&s;pecially two. 1. The figure of the revolution of the yeare, erected when the Sun entreth the fir&s;t minute of Aries. 2. The figure cele&s;tiall for the time of the Eclip&s;e of the Sun and Moon: for upon the&s;e twain, &s;ay they, dependeth the whole &s;tate of the yeare. In their cele&s;tiall figures they con&s;ider the erecting of them, and the finding of the Lord of the figure. The erecting of the figure, containeth very many ab&s;urdities.</P>
<P N="1">1. They follow that way, which <HI>Regiomontanus</HI> did invent, never as yet proved by any experience, and flatly differing from tho&s;e wayes which of ancient A&s;trologers were u&s;ed: and were invented by <HI>Gazulus</HI> and <HI>Campa|nus.</HI> Nay oftentimes it maketh the Planet or fixed Star to &s;ignifie a flat contrary thing to that which the&s;e two o|ther do.</P>
<P N="2">2. The ca&s;ting of the heavens into twelve parts, &s;igni|fying twelve di&s;tinct kind of matters is ridiculous, becau&s;e it being imagined, and void of &s;tars, can have no force. Yet (&s;ome will &s;ay) other &s;tars being in tho&s;e places may have and &s;ignifie &s;uch or &s;uch effects. I an&s;wer, that if Starres of divers natures coming to &s;uch an hou&s;e al|wayes &s;ignifying &s;ome one kind of thing, then the hou&s;e mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity give &s;ome force unto the Planet: and
<PB N="268" REF="138">&s;o it &s;hall have not onely an augmenting, but al&s;o an ef|fectually working power, which A&s;trologers deny, and no rea&s;on can prove.</P>
<P N="3">3. They make the twelfth and eleventh hou&s;es being higher above the horizon then the fir&s;t, to be of le&s;&s;e force then it: and the fourth hou&s;e to be of greater power then any above the Horizon not Cardivall: and the end of the ninth to be more in power then the beginning of the eleventh hou&s;e: all which are again&s;t rea&s;on, becau&s;e a Planet the more perpendicular his beams are, the more is his force. They an&s;wer, although the force of the light be greater, yet the &s;ecret influence is le&s;&s;e, and the fir&s;t hou&s;e hath more forcible influence then the twelfth or ele|venth. If the influence be &s;ecret how can they know it? again, they can by no good experience &s;hew that tho&s;e hou&s;es have more influence then the re&s;t: this influence maketh again&s;t them. I &s;ay they cannot progno&s;ticate becau&s;e they know not one &s;tars virtue. For whereas they &s;ay, that the Sunne, and Moon and Planets have mo&s;t force. I an&s;wer that it is by rea&s;on of their light, not their influence, which is &s;mall, and there is far greater in the &s;malle&s;t fixed Stars. So that the fixed Stars al|though they have no light, or very &s;mall light per|ceived, yet they have mo&s;t influence. And &s;o the&s;e men mu&s;t needs dream becau&s;e they judge by wrong cau&s;es. Well, their figure being framed and di&s;tingui&s;hed with fair characters, then go they on to find the Lord of the figure, that is, that Planet which hath mo&s;t dignitie in the figure.</P>
<PB N="269" REF="138">
<P>The dignities of the Planets, are found out by the&s;e means e&s;pecially
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Hou&s;es of Planets.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. Exaltation.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. Triplicity.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. Terms.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. Stars.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. Hou&s;es.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. Freene&s;&s;e from Combu&s;tion.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. Directions.</ITEM>
<ITEM>9. Velocity of cour&s;e.</ITEM>
<ITEM>10. Sazimi.</ITEM>
<ITEM>11. Some a&s;pects of other Pla|nets,</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The&s;e toyes be &s;o fooli&s;h that a rea&s;onable man would not vouch&s;afe to refute them: yet a word or twain. If the hou&s;es of the Planets &s;hall be batter|ed and puld down, all the re&s;t of their wor&s;hip and di|gnity will lye in the du&s;t. Aries and Scorpius are ap|pointed the hou&s;es of Mars, Taurus and Libra the hou&s;es of Venus, Gemini and Virgo the hou&s;es of Mercury: Cancer the hou&s;e of the Moon, Leo the hou&s;e of the Sunne, Sagittarius and Pi&s;ces the hou&s;es of Jupiter, Aquarius and Capricornus the hou&s;es of Saturn. What rea&s;on do they give of this? Leo and Cancer, &s;ay they, are the hou&s;es of the Sun and Moon, becau&s;e they re&s;emble the nature of the&s;e Planets, and becau&s;e they come mo&s;t near our heads: &s;uch rea&s;on they give of the re&s;t. What feeble grounds are the&s;e: As in the North part of the World Cancer and Leo re&s;emble the nature of the Sunne: &s;o in the South part, in the con|trary Climats, Capricornus and Aquarius do re&s;emble their natures. Al&s;o in every countrey &s;ome divers &s;igns be either verticall, or el&s;e come near the top of the countrey; and &s;o all &s;igns &s;hall be the hou&s;es of the Sun and Moon. Now then, the Sun being di&s;placed, I cannot find how the re&s;t of the Planets can keep their hold. To
<PB N="270" REF="139">go further, the exaltations of <HI>Planets</HI> in like manner are the very dreams. They &s;uppo&s;e <HI>Exaltations</HI> be tho&s;e degrees in which the <HI>Planets</HI> were in the beginning of the world. But why &s;hould tho&s;e places give more force then any o|ther? And if they could give more force, yet they have fal&s;ly a&s;&s;igned them. For the <HI>Sun</HI> was not in <HI>Aries</HI> when it was created of God, but was placed in <HI>Libra,</HI> which I prove by this rea&s;on. God created Man and Bea&s;t in per|fect age, giving unto them all kinds of fruits being then ripe, &s;o that in the beginning was the time of the year, which we call Harve&s;t. Now, becau&s;e God never after|ward changed the Sea&s;ons, and we find that in the time of ripene&s;&s;e the <HI>Sunne</HI> is alwayes in <HI>Libra,</HI> we mu&s;t needs al&s;o &s;ay that his place in the creation was in <HI>Libra.</HI> In the 23. of <HI>Exodus</HI> God commandeth that the Fea&s;t of Tabernacles &s;hould be celebrated in the end of the year when the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> had gathered their fruits out of the fields. Wherefore it mu&s;t needs be that Harve&s;t was in the beginning of the yeare (the beginning and ending being both together) and &s;o by count|ing backwards we &s;hall finde that the <HI>Sunne</HI> was in <HI>Libra</HI> in the beginning of the World. To this agre|eth <HI>Jo&s;ephus de antiquitate</HI> Lib. 1. cap. 3. <HI>Rabbi Eleazar</HI> upon <HI>Gene&s;is</HI> and <HI>Rabbi, Abraham; Aben, E&s;ra</HI> upon the 7. of <HI>Daniel.</HI></P>
<P>The re&s;t of the dignities of the <HI>Planets</HI> con&s;i&s;t of prin|ciples more weak then water. Fir&s;t, what is more un|rea&s;onable to a rea&s;onable man then this, that &s;wift moti|on &s;hould give unto a <HI>Planet</HI> two dignities, and &s;low mo|tion two debilities,: it &s;eemeth to be plain contrary. For a &s;wift cour&s;e hindereth the force of the <HI>Planet,</HI> a flow cour&s;e helpeth the &s;ame: and the &s;tations of any <HI>Planet</HI> make an effectuall and &s;en&s;ible operation. A cole of fire in a mans hand if it be &s;haken about very much, it heateth very little, if it be &s;haken more &s;lowly, it heateth more: but if it ly &s;till, it burneth violently. Be&s;ide this, al&s;o
<PB N="271" REF="139">experience confirmeth my A&s;&s;ertion. In the year of our Lord 1513. the <HI>Sun</HI> entering into <HI>Pi&s;ces</HI> was almo&s;t in <HI>Trine A&s;pect</HI> with <HI>Saturn</HI> &s;tationary, a little while after, there was a great Fro&s;t and Snow continuing many dayes: and when <HI>Saturn</HI> began again to be direct, the Weather was indifferent warm. In the year 1518. In <HI>April Jupiter</HI> almo&s;t <HI>in &s;ecunda &s;tatione</HI> beholding <HI>Saturn in &s;tatione prima</HI> cau&s;ed a great heat, con&s;idering the time of the year. In the year 1520. <HI>Saturn</HI> (as I &s;aid before) being &s;tationary made &s;uch a cold, that &s;poiled the Grapes, and made Wine dear. Upon the&s;e Examples, and many other I may conclude, that the work and influence of Pla|nets, is mo&s;t felt when they are &s;tationary; becau&s;e their virtue is fixed (as it were) in one place by rea&s;on of the &s;low motion.</P>
<P><HI>Combustion</HI> is in like &s;ort a feigned thing, What rea&s;on can <HI>Astrologers</HI> give, why it &s;hould give unto a &s;tar 5 debi|lities? They talk how that experience teacheth them, that Planets being under the beams of the <HI>Sun</HI> do lo&s;e a great, nay (&s;ome &s;ay) all their force. It is a manife&s;t untruth. For, <HI>Mercury</HI> being of the nature of that Planet with which he is conjoyned, if he go from conjunction with <HI>Saturn</HI> unto the <HI>Sun,</HI> he getteth no debilities thereby, but rather lo&s;ing the feeble and unfortunate nature of <HI>Saturn,</HI> recei|veth a more &s;trong and fortunate nature of the <HI>Sun.</HI> If any man &s;ay again&s;t me that <HI>Mercury</HI> combu&s;t hath no force, he deceiveth him&s;elf. For if he be not hindered, he naturally will cau&s;e Windes, being combu&s;t he not onely engendreth Windes, but cau&s;eth tempe&s;tuous Windes and foul Weather. In <HI>Aries, Taurus, Cancer,</HI> he maketh Tempe&s;ts; in <HI>Virgo,</HI> and <HI>Scorpius,</HI> raging Seas; in <HI>Sagittari|us, Capricornus, Aquarius</HI> and <HI>Pi&s;ces,</HI> Rain and Snow. Again, when many days together there hath been fair wea|ther, the <HI>Sun</HI> if it come to be in conjunction or any other A&s;pect with <HI>Saturn</HI> maketh very foul Weather, and therefore the A&s;pects of the <HI>Sun</HI> and <HI>Jupiter</HI> are called,
<PB N="272" REF="140"><HI>Apertiones portarum per pluvia.</HI> This could not come to pa&s;s if <HI>Saturn</HI> had his force dimini&s;hed by the beams of the <HI>Sun.</HI> A Planet al&s;o being in <HI>Cazimi,</HI> that is, being within &s;ixteen minutes of the <HI>Sun's</HI> middle hath thereby five Dignities, which cannot well be, if that Combu&s;tion give five Debilities. For the Planet is in the middle of his Combu&s;tion, and the <HI>Sun</HI> ca&s;teth his beams and force very vehemently upon it. The&s;e Suns &s;hew how ab&s;urd a dream Combu&s;tion is: yet if it were a good and &s;ound principle of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and gave unto every Planet five Debilities, yet it could not be proved, that liberty from Combu&s;tion &s;hould give five Dignities, being onely a meer ab&s;ence and privation of the other. <HI>Magnes</HI> at the pre&s;ence of the <HI>Adamant,</HI> is hindred from drawing Iron: yet if the <HI>Adamant</HI> be away, the attractive virtue of the <HI>Magnes</HI> is not increa&s;ed. Here I might with ea&s;e confute the tripli|cities of Planets, Directions, A&s;pects, Applications, Pre|ventions, Refrenations, with many &s;uch like; but my in|tent at this time is onely to &s;hew thee &s;ome untruths of our <HI>Progno&s;ticatours.</HI></P>
<P>Thus much of the Grounds of their <HI>Predictions,</HI> now follow the matters of which they <HI>progno&s;ticate,</HI> and they are very many: nay, there is no matter almo&s;t, of which they will not give their verdict: but how they do this I will briefly make it manife&s;t unto thee, that their Lies and their unchri&s;tian dealing may be more loathed of thee.</P>
<P N="1">1. They foretell of Comets, Earthquakes, Famines, and Plagues, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but they do it as the blinde man which ca&s;teth his &s;taff he knoweth not where. No man as yet ever knew the true Cau&s;es of the&s;e. As for Comets and Blazing &s;tars, they do not ri&s;e of the influence of any &s;tars, neither are they any earthly things, but are in Hea|ven, mo&s;t commonly far above the <HI>Moon</HI> as by <HI>Geome|trical</HI> and <HI>A&s;tronomical</HI> Demon&s;trations may be proved: how this cometh to pa&s;s the Lord onely knoweth. And &s;urely they do thee great injury, that when as no doubt,
<PB N="273" REF="140">God doth lighten them, and &s;end the re&s;t extraordinarily, as threatning tokens of his &s;ore di&s;plea&s;ure, yet they will rock thee a&s;leep in the Cradle of &s;ecurity, by telling that &s;uch tokens came from the ordinary cour&s;e of the Hea|vens.</P>
<P N="2">2. They foretell all things which happen in civil affairs among&s;t men, as the&s;e which follow: As,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Love and hatred of Kinsfolk.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Marriages.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Increa&s;e of Farmes and Livings.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Injuries and Quarrels.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Rai&s;ing of Rents.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Exacting of Sub&s;idies by Officers.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Fal&s;e Rumours.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Impri&s;onments.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Hard intreating of Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Per&s;ons.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Buying &s;elling, undermining.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>The &s;tudying of Sciences.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Friends fall out for Tri&s;les.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Solemn progre&s;&s;es.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Favour of Noblemen.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Men &s;hall fall, Body, and Goods into the Princes hands.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Merchandi&s;e unprofitable, &amp;c.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The&s;e and &s;uch like proceed onely from the will of man: the Con&s;tellations of &s;tars are neither &s;ignes nor Cau&s;es of them. Some will &s;ay <HI>Non imponere nece&s;&s;itatem, &s;ed incli|nare Stellas,</HI> that is, That &s;tars do not con&s;train, but onely incline the mindes of men: a mo&s;t wicked &s;aying, al|though mo&s;t commonly &s;poken of, and defended. For the inclining of the will of man is onely the work of God, as the holy Scriptures do teach us, <HI>The heart of man</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Solomon) purpo&s;eth his ways, but the Lord directeth his &s;teps:</HI> Prov. 1.6, 9. <HI>O Lord</HI> (&s;aith <HI>Jeremy</HI> the Prophet) <HI>that the way of man, is not in him&s;elf, neither is it in man to walk, and direct his &s;teps:</HI> Jer. 10.23. He &s;peaketh this, becau&s;e that <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> purpo&s;ed to have made
<PB N="274" REF="141">war again&s;t the <HI>Moabites</HI> and <HI>Amonites,</HI> but hearing of <HI>Zedekiahs</HI> Rebellion he turned his power to go again&s;t <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> therefore the Prophet &s;aith, that whereas he had otherwi&s;e purpo&s;ed, yet this was the Lords inclination and direction. Again, in the <HI>Proverbs</HI> we reade this; <HI>that the heart of the King is in the hands of the Lord, as the Rivers of water he directeth it whether he will. Prov.</HI> 21.1 It will be &s;aid, that although God properly and immedi|ately inclineth the will of man: yet al&s;o &s;ome &s;mall inclina|tion mu&s;t be given unto the Stars, and that immediately. For &s;ay &s;ome,
<LIST>
<ITEM>Con&s;tellations work upon the Elements by the four fir&s;t qualities.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Elements work upon, and alter the compound Bodies and humours.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Compound Bodies by their qualities change the Sen&s;es.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The Sen&s;es being altered, the under&s;tanding is altered.</ITEM>
<ITEM>The under&s;tanding la&s;tly altereth, and inclineth the will of man.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Therefore Con&s;tellations incline the will.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>This Rea&s;on is not much unlike that which the drunk|en man maketh, &s;erving as well for the defence of his Vice, as the former for approving of truth in Divination.</P>
<Q><L>He which drinketh well, &s;leepeth well:</L>
<L>He which &s;leepeth well, thinketh no harm:</L>
<L>He which thinketh no harm is a good man:</L>
<L>Therefore he which drinketh well is a good man.</L></Q>
<P>The deceits and untruths which be in their Rea&s;ons, are very many.</P>
<P N="1">1. The &s;tars work upon mens bodies, yet &s;o that the na|ture of the Countrey and Soil, the Meats and Drinks have mo&s;t commonly greater force. Why are the bodies of Gentlemen of <HI>England</HI> and poor labouring men of di|vers di&s;po&s;itions? Are they not both in one Countrey? Do not the Stars &s;hew their force in them alike? Yes truly, but the kinde of life and diet prevaileth. In the &s;ame Re|gion
<PB N="275" REF="141">why are they, which dwell upon hills, of other temperatures then they, which dwell upon plain and cham|pion ground? why do not the &s;ame influences of Starrs make them of like natures? is it not becau&s;e the nature of the &s;oil prevaileth: So then, when as there be many cau&s;es effectuall, and differing in altering mens bodies, to build an argument upon one cau&s;e is mo&s;t unrea&s;onable.</P>
<P N="2">2. The &s;tarrs work upon the Elements earth, water, air, by making heat, cold, moi&s;ture, drine&s;s. The ele|ments, how work they on mens bodies: They will al&s;o &s;ay by making heat, cold, moi&s;ture, drine&s;&s;e: which is mo&s;t untrue: for the hotter and dryer the Elements be, the colder and moi&s;ture by nature are mens bodies. Ac|cording to the &s;aying of <HI>Empedocles:</HI> Nature placed a hot Body in a cold Countrey, and a cold Body in a hot Countrey.</P>
<P N="3">3. The <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> &s;ay that all cau&s;es are either <HI>per &s;e</HI> or <HI>per accidens,</HI> Now the heavens being cau&s;es of the al|teration of the &s;en&s;es <HI>per accidens,</HI> they mu&s;t not be cau&s;es of the inclination of the will, either <HI>per &s;e</HI> or <HI>per accidens,</HI> but <HI>per accidentis, accidens,</HI> which is mo&s;t ridiculous,</P>
<P N="4">4. This long chain by which they link the will of man to the &s;tarrs, if it &s;hall be applied unto particulars it mu&s;t needs break: for the actions of the will is buying, &s;elling, travailing, lying, heaping up wealth, murdering, &s;preading of fals ruomrs, offering of di&s;courte&s;ies, hating of kinsfolks, and &s;uch like, which our Heaven-gazers foretell, have no coherent with the fir&s;t qualities, heat, cold, moi&s;ture, dri|ne&s;&s;e: neither can they any way proceed from them, and therefore the &s;tars cannot be cau&s;es of them, for they work onely by the&s;e qualities.</P>
<P N="5">5. This rea&s;on is nothing to their purpo&s;e: for becau&s;e they grant that a man may freely re&s;i&s;t the inclination of the &s;tarrs, and he may hinder that, unto which the &s;tarrs bend his will, how dare they pre&s;ume to &s;ay this or that will come to pa&s;s. The heathen men gave up them&s;elves to
<PB N="276" REF="142">their own lu&s;ts and vanities and followed every little and vain inclination: and of them, in this order, did ancient <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> among them divine that this or that time, &s;uch actions, &s;uch vices, &s;uch enterpri&s;es, &s;uch affaires &s;hould be among them. In like manner our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> wi&s;e men, &s;peak of us as though we were bea&s;ts, not rea&s;onable men, as though we never heard the ble&s;&s;ed Go&s;pel of God, never ta&s;ted of the grace of God, never learned what is good and what is bad, never laboured to &s;ubdue our lu&s;ts and affections, alwayes turned too and fro with the bla&s;t of any influence, working very &s;lenderly in us.</P>
<P>Thus much of Civil Affaires. They make mention al&s;o yearly of the di&s;ea&s;es which &s;hall reign: but the way which they follow, is taken forth of the barren and uncertain rules of the old <HI>A&s;trologers,</HI> who do &s;o a&s;cribe unto every Planet certain Di&s;ea&s;es, that if need &s;hall re|quite, they may referre the &s;ame di&s;ea&s;e unto any &s;igni|catours, as in the Plague, the putrefaction of humours is attributed unto <HI>Jupiter;</HI> the &s;harp Feaver unto <HI>Mars,</HI> the madne&s;&s;e which followeth unto <HI>Mercury,</HI> the whole Plague unto <HI>Mars.</HI> In the Pluri&s;ie the inflammation of the bloud between the skin called <HI>Pluritis,</HI> and the ribbs is attributed unto <HI>Jupiter,</HI> the &s;uppuration of the Bloud unto <HI>Saturn,</HI> and the whole Pluri&s;ie unto <HI>Jupiter,</HI> In the Jaundies the inflammation and corruption of hu|mours, unto <HI>Jupiter,</HI> the yelow humour in the gaul, unto <HI>Mars,</HI> the ob&s;truction of the parts unto <HI>Saturn</HI> the whole Jaundies being white, unto <HI>Mars,</HI> blak, unto <HI>Saturn.</HI> And &s;o in every di&s;ea&s;e, they u&s;e this incon&s;tancy and ambigu|ity in <HI>Progno&s;ticating.</HI> It is a rule among the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> that if the Planets &s;ignifiers of di&s;ea&s;es be well affected, then there &s;hall be no di&s;ea&s;es but health: if they be evilly affected, then di&s;ea&s;es follow. Our <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> never mark this rule but how&s;oever the Planets be affected they &s;traightwayes pronounce that &s;uch di&s;ea&s;es &s;hall reign. For example the la&s;t winter quarter, it was &s;aid by one of
<PB N="277" REF="142">them, that the di&s;ea&s;es which &s;hould afflict mens bodies were rheums, coughs, cold lasks, &s;welling of the face and throat, falling of the Colmel, &s;ore eyes, deafne&s;s, the &s;tone, gout, drop&s;ie, green-&s;ickne&s;s. madne&s;s, quartern feavers. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And all the Planets, &s;ignifiers of di&s;ea&s;es in the quar|ter were indifferent well affected: wherfore thou ha&s;t not one cau&s;e to fear their threatnings, but rather to be &s;orry for their continuall deceits, wi&s;hing them minds that they may one day &s;ee their own folly.</P>
<P>Concerning the time when the con&s;tellations take their effects, our <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> &s;ay that &s;ome take their ef|fects, the &s;ame year, &s;ome not the &s;ame year but long after, as great Conjunctions and Eclip&s;es, for they &s;ay if the Moon be eclip&s;ed one hour, &s;he worketh her effect a moneth after, if two hours, two moneths after: and the Sunn for every hour it is eclip&s;ed taketh his effect an whole year after. Truely this rule which they follow, mu&s;t needs be again&s;t all rea&s;on. For why &s;hould not all con|junctions and oppo&s;itions of the Sunne and Moon di&s;|&s;erre their effects as well as tho&s;e conjuctions and oppo|&s;itions in which the Sunne and Moon is eclip&s;ed? if they &s;how forth their power immediatly after, why &s;hould not the&s;e al&s;o do the &s;ame? Moreover the Epigno&s;ticall <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> who have conferred the cour&s;e of the heavens, with Hi&s;tories, &s;hew very manife&s;tly, that Eclip&s;es do not deferr the time of working their &s;pite upon the Earth.</P>
<P>In the year of our Lord 1419, the Sunne was Ecli|p&s;ed in <HI>Aries,</HI> and pre&s;ently after &s;hewed all his force. There was a great &s;edition in <HI>Prague</HI> that year: In <HI>Paris</HI> an uprore between them of the Citty and the Univer&s;ity, and two thou&s;and Schollars were &s;lain, then al&s;o <HI>Wenze|&s;laus</HI> King of <HI>Bohemia</HI> being in a great Pal&s;ie dyed. In the year 1524. There was a conjunction of <HI>Saturn</HI> and <HI>Jupiter</HI> in <HI>Scorpius</HI> and al&s;o a great eclip&s;e of the Sunne in June, which took their effects the &s;ame year: <HI>Charles</HI> King of <HI>France</HI> driven forth of his Countrey: warre be|tween
<PB N="278" REF="143"><HI>Danes</HI> and the men of <HI>Sle&s;wick.</HI> There was a great plague in <HI>Germany,</HI> Civil di&s;&s;ention among&s;t the Princes of the Empire, and them which took the part of <HI>John Hu&s;&s;e.</HI> 1452. An eclip&s;e of the Sunne in <HI>Sagit|tarius,</HI> his effects began pre&s;ently, and la&s;ted a great while: Even then <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> was taken by the <HI>Turke.</HI> The <HI>Hungarians</HI> and <HI>Bohemians</HI> be&s;ieged <HI>Frederick</HI> the Em|perour. 1473. the 27. of April: the Sunne was eclip&s;ed in <HI>Taurus Mars</HI> being in <HI>Aries</HI> and <HI>Jupiter</HI> in <HI>Sagittari|us.</HI> The &s;ame year in Summer was &s;uch heat and drine&s;s of weather, that woods even withered, and one might wade over deep rivers. In the years of our Lord. 1476. 1460. 1469. 1486. 1502. 1518. And many years after their were both great conjunctions, and &s;trange ecli|p&s;es, which took their effects pre&s;ently, not one, or two, or three years after (as our heaven-gazers bear them in hard). All the&s;e examples which I bring again&s;t them, I have not feigned, but taken forth of tho&s;e books which they have in greate&s;t e&s;timation, and could, if need &s;hould &s;erve, bring an hundred more, all to &s;hew their lies when as they commonly &s;ay thus, <Q>There &s;hall be an Eclip&s;e this year, marry I will not here determine his effects, but re&s;erve them to be declared in my <HI>Pro|gno&s;tication</HI> one year or two years hence, when it will take place.</Q></P>
<P>To know where the effects of the &s;tarrs &s;hall take place, they have appointed unto every &s;igne certain coun|tryes, as over <HI>Europe</HI> they have &s;et the fiery <HI>Triplicitie,</HI> o|ver the Orientall and North parts of the <HI>A&s;ia</HI> the airy <HI>Triplicity:</HI> the watery <HI>Triplicity</HI> over <HI>Africa,</HI> over the South parts of the <HI>A&s;ia</HI> the earthy <HI>Triplicity:</HI> and &s;o every peculiar &s;igne hath his dominion over &s;ome parts of tho&s;e. Now therefore, when a conjunction or eclip&s;e is in any of the&s;e &s;ignes the Cities and Countryes &s;ubject unto them feel the force of that con&s;tellation e&s;pecially. This is a mo&s;t manife&s;t untruth and may be confuted by many rea|&s;ons.
<PB N="279" REF="143">1. The nature of the &s;igns is not the &s;ame now as it was in times pa&s;t and by the confe&s;&s;ion of the be&s;t learn|ed have other effects. now, then they had in the days of King <HI>Ptolomy:</HI> yet we &s;ee the nature of Countryes and people to remain the &s;ame &s;till, as may be &s;een by read|ing <HI>Tacitus, Plime, Ca&s;ar, Strabo.</HI> 2. <HI>America</HI> which is half the world, hath no &s;igns appointed over it: why? it was found out of late. True it is, but this is an argu|ment that the Rules of <HI>Astrology,</HI> are ab&s;urd, and were the bare inventions and imaginations of idle brains, For, there is no doubt, but that <HI>America</HI> his parts and I lands as Bre&s;ilea, Peru, Pari, Terra Florida, Java Major, Java Minor, Puloana, Pavilonga, Subath, Ma&s;&s;ana, Mattan, Juvacana, Cozumella Jamaica <HI>&amp;c.</HI> have felt the force of the&s;e Con&s;tellations, which they attribute to &s;ome parts of the old world. Becau&s;e the&s;e Countreys be a|bout the middle <HI>Zone,</HI> and have both Planets and &s;igns full over them, and therefore if the Starrs threaten any &s;trange thing to come, they mu&s;t e&s;pecially feel it. 3. Experience the cau&s;e of all acts is again&s;t them, as is manife&s;t in the&s;e examples. 47. years before the Nati|vity of our Saviour Chri&s;t there was a Conjunction of the higher Planets in <HI>Scorpius.</HI> and then was civil warre between <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI> and <HI>Pompey:</HI> And the change of the Empire was in <HI>Europe.</HI> But according to the in&s;titution of <HI>Astrologers</HI> all the&s;e troubles &s;hould have been in <HI>A|frick,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Scorpius</HI> hath his dominion there. In the year of our Lord. 34. there was a great Conjunction of Planets in <HI>Leo,</HI> and then (faith one very prophanely) was the Go&s;pel preached through the world, But if he make this Conjunction to be a &s;ign of the preaching of the Go&s;pel, then it &s;hould more have been preached in the parts of <HI>Europe</HI> then <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> which is not true. In the years of our Lord. 331. and 1127. There were great Conjunctions in <HI>Virgo,</HI> and yet the Countryes &s;ub|ject to this &s;ign&s;elt no harm, but <HI>Italy</HI> was troubled with
<PB N="280" REF="144">the <HI>Popes</HI> &s;uper&s;titions, and <HI>Arrius</HI> his here&s;ie broach|ed. There was a meeting of Planets in <HI>Sagittarius.</HI> 73. years after <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> when as <HI>Otho, Galba, vitel|lius,</HI> and <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> troubled the <HI>Romane</HI> Empire, yet there was no where more grievous warres then in <HI>Pa|le&s;tine,</HI> and no greater &s;laughter then of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who are &s;ubject unto <HI>Scorpius</HI> and not unto <HI>Sagittarius,</HI> In the year 1464. a Conjunction of higher Planers was in <HI>Pi&s;|ces,</HI> under who&s;e dominion, although <HI>Europe</HI> be not plac|ed, yet it mo&s;t felt the &s;mart by troubles and civil warrs. So 1576. and 1577. Two eclip&s;es of the Sun, the one in <HI>Leo,</HI> the other in <HI>Capricorn,</HI> took their effects in <HI>Ger|many:</HI> when as <HI>Leo</HI> and <HI>Capricorn</HI> do not rule that Countrey. It is vain to &s;hew the ab&s;urdity of this rule by more examples, the&s;e &s;hall be &s;ufficient.</P>
<P>This &s;hall &s;uffice to have &s;poken of their generall <HI>Pre|dictions,</HI> now follow their &s;peciall determinations of the &s;tate and temperance of the weather, wherein I will &s;et forth fir&s;t of all a mo&s;t manife&s;t and ab&s;urd contradicti|on, which mo&s;t of them make, and that is this. They u&s;e (as I have &s;aid) to &s;et down their judgements of the whole quarter, that it &s;hould be either moi&s;t, hot, cold, or dry: afterward judging particularly they di&s;prove by par|ticular dayes that which they &s;aid before. In the year of our Lord. 1581. one &s;aid that in the Autumn quarter &s;hould be a great drought, yet I peru&s;ing his particular judements upon the dayes of the quarter, I find it &s;hould have plenty of rain. In the year la&s;t pa&s;t another &s;aid, the &s;ummer &s;hould be &s;o hot and dry that wells and rivers &s;hould be dried up, and fi&s;hes be &s;carce, and Cattel dy for want of water: yea the &s;ame party in his particular judgement of the weather, maketh 20. dayes of the &s;ame quarter, at the lea&s;t rain and mi&s;ling, and 30. other either temperate or very cold.</P>
<P>In one word, the judgements which are &s;et down, of the weather, they are more tolerable then the re&s;t: yet as long as the wold endureth, no man &s;hall be able to
<PB N="281" REF="144"><HI>progno&s;ticate</HI> truely what weather &s;hall be in every day of the year. The cau&s;es of this I have &s;et down before, and need not now to repeat. Wherefore they might leave of any longer to bu&s;ie them&s;elves in this kind. And it &s;hall be &s;ufficient for thee, leading a chri&s;tian life, to know the generall and ordinary e&s;tate of the parts and &s;ea&s;ons of the year.</P>
<P><HI>The third Rea&s;on Impieties.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides all this the impious &s;peeches and ungodly pra|cti&s;es. which the&s;e men u&s;e, might move a chri&s;tian man to loath ther <HI>Predictions.</HI> Fir&s;t, yearly &s;ome of them do foretell whether men &s;hall &s;tudy and imbrace, or forget and neglect true Religion. What a filthie and diveli&s;h thing is this, not to be &s;uffered in a Common-wealth where the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t is preached. Every man na|turally is the child of wrath, the unpro&s;itable &s;ervant, dead in all kind of &s;inne, his under&s;tanding is enmity a|gain&s;t God, his affections are tebellious again&s;t his will: none doeth good, no not one: not one hath any facul|ty to receive or keep true Religion: we are as &s;aws in the hands of God, as the Propher <HI>E&s;ay</HI> &s;peaketh: how then become we religious? by the onely work of God. <HI>No man can come to me</HI> (&s;aith Chri&s;t) <HI>except the Father draw him.</HI> And as God draweth us fir&s;t unto true Rehgi|on, &s;o he al&s;o maketh us continue in the profe&s;&s;ing of the &s;ame, as S. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>he which hath begun a good work in you, will fini&s;h the &s;ame &amp;c.</HI> By what means doth God do this? by the outward preaching of the law and the Go&s;pel, and by the inward working of his holy &s;pirit: o|ther means the Scripture never mentioneth. On the contra|ry part, if any man refu&s;e the Grace of God, and will not imbrace the true Religion, it proceedeth from the hardne&s;s of his own heart, and wilfull rebllion. Seing therefore <HI>the rebellion of man cometh from his own will, and the imbracing of true godline&s;s from God alone</HI> 2. Corinth. 4.34. Why date they pre&s;ume without great impietie
<PB N="282" REF="145">to adjoyn the Con&s;tellations as Adjuvants either unto Man or God in this divine work. Again, the&s;e Predicti|ons are very perillous, for if a man be wickedly given, they hinder him from the acknowledging of his &s;in, be|cau&s;e they make him lay par: of his faults upon the &s;tars, when as all indeed come from his own &s;oul: and if a man be a penitent &s;inner, and feel the Grace of God; yet be|ing weak in faith and con&s;cience, they make him not to put his whole tru&s;t in God, and to love him with all his &s;oul, with all his &s;trength, but allure him in &s;ome part to attri|bute that unto the &s;tars which is the onely work of God, and not of any Creature.</P>
<P N="2">2 They u&s;e to foretell what Vices &s;hall reign, as in the&s;e Examples: As,
<LIST>
<ITEM>There &s;hall be much unlawfull and &s;ecret whoredome.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Great robbing by High-ways &s;ides.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Wanton and young women &s;hall &s;it in their Ladies laps, by rea&s;on of their Godde&s;&s;es well placing.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Many &s;hall u&s;e deceit and cou&s;ening.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>By the&s;e and &s;uch like, lewd and di&s;&s;olute people, take occa&s;ions, and are &s;tirred up to live profanely, and to fol|low tho&s;e vices unto which, the lu&s;ts of their nature carry them.</P>
<P><HI>The fourth rea&s;on tricks of deceit.</HI></P>
<P>A Juggler which taketh upon him to do &s;trange things mu&s;t u&s;e many &s;lights, lea&s;t if the &s;tander by &s;hall &s;ee his Tricks of <HI>legerdemain</HI> he be de&s;cried, and all his former cunning turn to his &s;hame. Our <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> under|&s;tanding this, have thought it convenient to u&s;e in their kinde &s;ome tricks of deceiving Juglers, I can call them by no better name, for &s;o they are indeed. Fir&s;t, publi&s;h|ing their Predictions in thy behalf, they u&s;e &s;uch ab&s;urd, unknown, and in&s;olent words, as (I think) never the like were read or heard among&s;t us in <HI>England:</HI> as are the&s;e which follow:
<PB N="283" REF="145">
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 <HI>A Progno&s;tication A&s;trologically calculated for the Pole Artick for &s;uch a City who&s;e longitude and latitude is thus.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>2 <HI>Quartil Revolution.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3 <HI>Rectified for the motions and A&s;pects of the Me|ridian and Elevation.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>4 <HI>Capricorn in quality cold and dry, melancholly, in ta&s;te bitter, nocturnal, feminine, meridional, of the earth|ly Trigon.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>5 <HI>Mercuriali&s;ts, Joviali&s;ts, Martiali&s;ts. Hiema Sol&s;tice Ae&s;tival, Verval, Autumnal.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>6 <HI>Pars torturae coupled with the Dragons tail.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>7 <HI>Taurus a Sign of the earthly Trigoni&s;me, naturally cold in the Sign Horo&s;cope; and Virgo of the &s;ame &s;tamp the &s;ign of the prevention preceding.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>8 <HI>A &s;ign of the &s;ame triangularity Jupiter Lord of this Revolution re&s;ident with Venus in domicilio deor&s;um ab Angulo cadente.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>9 <HI>Planets retrograge.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>10 <HI>Cardivalor a &s;uccedent po&s;ition.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>11 <HI>Lunary defect.</HI> In his Dodecatimorian.</ITEM>
<ITEM>12 <HI>Names of &s;trange Authours;</HI></ITEM>
</LIST> Proclus, Alchin|dus, Me&s;&s;ahala, Zael, Albohazen Haly, Albumacer, Al|bubater, Guido, Bonetus, Hi&s;paleu&s;is, Firmius, Abra|ham, Avenezra, Tri&s;megi&s;tus; <HI>with many other wondrous Doctours, having a great deal of &s;mall learning, and be|ing far born, as in</HI> Caldea, Per&s;ia, Arabia, Jury.</P>
<P N="1">1 Thou wilt &s;ay, What means all this? Here is great Learning no doubt, it pa&s;&s;eth my capacity: who would not have an <HI>Almanack,</HI> if it were for nothing but for this, to &s;ee and hear how profound our <HI>Progno&s;ticatours</HI> are? Thou far deceive&s;t thy &s;elf; for they perceiving well, that their Deceits and Lies may be &s;oon e&s;pied, have invented &s;trange terms to colour them, and to ca&s;t a my&s;te before thine eyes, that thou mai&s;t not &s;ee their naughty dealing.
<PB N="284" REF="146">For any man the more true and hone&s;t he thinketh his matter, the more de&s;irous is he to &s;peak plainly to the un|der&s;tanding of all.</P>
<P N="2">2 It was a point of the Knavery of the Devil, other|wi&s;e called <HI>Apollo,</HI> as the Heathen men asked his coun&s;el, to an&s;wer doubtfully, becau&s;e when as he was ignorant of the Event, yet would not, but &s;eem to know, as in this An&s;wer.</P>
<P><HI>I tell thee <HI>Pyrrhus</HI> the <HI>Romans</HI> may conquer.</HI></P>
<P>It is under&s;tood two ways, either that <HI>Aeacides</HI> might vanqui&s;h the <HI>Romans,</HI> or the <HI>Romans Aeacides.</HI> Our <HI>Prognosticatours</HI> have cho&s;en a very good Patern to fol|low, their dealing with thee is the like: when they doubt and cannot tell what to <HI>progno&s;ticate,</HI> then they u&s;e two ways of foretelling, either to &s;peak that which is true eve|ry way, or that which is true every year. For the fir&s;t, a|mong&s;t many Examples, I will put one or two that thou mai&s;t &s;ee their dealing in true, not forged Examples.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 The conjunction of <HI>Mars</HI> and <HI>Saturn</HI> threaten Wars, but <HI>Jupiter</HI> will mitigate the &s;ame; as a man &s;hould &s;ay, the <HI>Progno&s;ticatour</HI> telleth true, except he tell a Lie.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 1585 We &s;hall have a very dry Winter, if perad|venture any flouds and &s;tore of Rain do fall, they &s;hall proceed of former Cau&s;es.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3 This Summer quarter is like to be for the greate&s;t part dry and hot, yet it is neither to be too hot, nor too cold, but indifferent.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 Neither fair, nor foul, both together.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5 Fair and calm, but little mi&s;ling.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6 Clouds portending Rain and Snow.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>Examples of tho&s;e Predictions, which may agree to every year are common with them as the&s;e.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1 This year Artificers mu&s;t take heed of too much &s;training their Backs.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2 Take heed of venturing in &s;lippery places boldly in building.</ITEM>
<PB N="285" REF="146">
<ITEM>3 Old men &s;hall die.</ITEM>
<ITEM>4 Death of Sheep and other Cattel, this year &s;hall be.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5 Sundry Di&s;ea&s;es are like to reign among&s;t many which will &s;weep away many.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6 Fal&s;e Rumours, Impri&s;onments, Tortures.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7 Brethren and Si&s;ters &s;hall love one another.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8 Sundry men and women &s;hall be trouble with pains in the Eyes.</ITEM>
<ITEM>9 Much &s;trife among&s;t men and women.</ITEM>
<ITEM>10 Small love among&s;t Kinsfolks.</ITEM>
<ITEM>11 Much unlawfull Lu&s;t, this year, and &s;ecret Forni|cation.</ITEM>
<ITEM>12 Some Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Per&s;on &s;hall be in trouble, and &s;ome Nobleman &s;hall die, this is ever at one place or other.</ITEM>
<ITEM>13 Many &s;hip-wrecks, and other &s;tirs on the Seas.</ITEM>
<ITEM>14 Many &s;hall addict them&s;elves to the &s;tudy of <HI>Ne|cromancy.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></Q>
<P>Thus far M. <HI>Perkins.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="Homes' section">
<HEAD><HI>SECT. IV.</HI> of <HI>CHAP. IV.</HI> Wherein the Doctour thinketh the ground of the Art whol|ly &s;haken and overthrown, by affirming it meerly imagi|nary, <HI>viz.</HI> the ninth and tenth Sphere, and in them the <HI>Zodiack,</HI> therein proveth and &s;heweth his own ignor ance the more apparently manife&s;t.</HEAD>
<P>BUt what doth this &s;o phi&s;tical Cavil avail him, to the &s;ubver&s;ion of the verity or certainty of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> when the motions and Effects of the &s;tars are known? but even as well may he condemn the Rules, and Precepts of all Arts, which are al&s;o gathered by experience and Rea&s;on, as <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> becau&s;e the &s;ignes of the <HI>Zodiack</HI> are devi&s;ed by men; but the rea&s;on they attribute the&s;e Names, as <HI>Aries, Taurus, Gemini,</HI> and the like, to the
<PB N="286" REF="147">Con&s;tellations of the Heaven, is by rea&s;on of their forms and particular virtues, expre&s;&s;ed under the&s;e figures; for <HI>Ptolomy</HI> hath delivered the nature of the particular &s;tars in them by them&s;elves, as al&s;o their <HI>particular Complexi|ons</HI> and <HI>efficacies,</HI> as al&s;o the <HI>Hou&s;es, exaltations, triplici|ties, terms,</HI> and <HI>faces,</HI> and other <HI>Dignities,</HI> of the &s;ignes, as they follow the nature of the Planets: and &s;ince the&s;e are known, to what end are all the&s;e his Cavils, whether there be a ninth or tenth Sphere? for let there be none at all (as he &s;aith) nor any think called a Zodiack (as he would fain per&s;wade the World) yet &s;ince clear experi|ence and practice evinceth him, as al&s;o demon&s;tration that there are &s;uch Con&s;tellations (call them what you will) his &s;ophi&s;tical weak Argument will no wi&s;e &s;erve his turn; for I may as well deny there is a <HI>Dog</HI> a <HI>Bear,</HI> both le&s;&s;er and bigger, a <HI>Swan,</HI> a <HI>Crown,</HI> a <HI>Waggoner,</HI> and the like; as he denieth there is not a <HI>Bull,</HI> a <HI>Ram</HI> or a <HI>Lion</HI> in the Heavens, when it is not de&s;ired literally (by any A&s;trolo|ger) to be under&s;tood: &dtristar; that not proved.</P>
<P>SURVEY. Fir&s;t, that men may &s;ee whether <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath not been impertinent in his An&s;wer, we will in|&s;ert the Doctours third Argument.</P>
<P>The fourth and la&s;t Argument (&s;aith the Doctour) a|gain&s;t A&s;trology that I &s;hall urge, pa&s;&s;ing by innumerable others, is, that a main part of the <HI>Ba&s;is,</HI> and bot|tome, on which A&s;trologers build the &s;tructure of their Art of Prediction is but meet imagination: for there is no &s;uch thing as the tenth or ninth Sphere: and therefore the Zodiack placed by A&s;trologers in them is but a dreamed Fiction. Yea, and one of the <HI>quondam</HI> great A&s;trologers (M. P.) will dare to &s;ay, that <Q>the twelve Signes, bound|ed (as they &s;uppo&s;e) within the dimen&s;ions of &s;uch a thing as a Zodiack; namely, the &s;ignes of <HI>Aries, Tau|rus, Gemini, &amp;c.</HI> that is, a <HI>Ram,</HI> a <HI>Bull, &amp;c.</HI> (feigned to have power over the twelve parts of Man's Body) are onely twelve imaginary Signes; for in the Heavens
<PB N="287" REF="147">(&s;aith he) there is no &s;uch matter as a <HI>Ram,</HI> a <HI>Bull, &amp;c.</HI> And how (&s;aith he) can it &s;tand with rea&s;on, that in a Firmament, <HI>feigned</HI> by <HI>Poets,</HI> and <HI>Philo&s;ophers,</HI> a <HI>for|ged</HI> Sign (which indeed is nothing) &s;hould have any power and operation in the Bodies of men. Again, the very order of Government of the&s;e Signes in Man's bo|dy, is found and without &s;hew of rea&s;on: for according to this Platform, when the Moon cometh into the fir&s;t Sign <HI>Aries,</HI> &s;he ruleth in the head; and when &s;he com|eth into the &s;econd Sign <HI>Taurus,</HI> &s;he ruleth in the Neck; and &s;o de&s;cends down from part to part, ruling two, in &s;ome three dayes, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Where ob&s;erve (&s;aith he) that the Moon is made to rule in the cold and moi&s;t parts, when &s;he is in the hot and dry Signes; whereas in rea|&s;on, a more con&s;onant order were this, that when the Moon were in hot and dry Signes, as in <HI>Aries, Leo,</HI> and <HI>Sagittarius,</HI> &s;he &s;hould rule in hot and dry parts of the body; and when &s;he is in cold and moi&s;t Signes, &s;he &s;hould rule in the cold and moi&s;t parts of the Body; and &s;o &s;till govern tho&s;e parts which in temperature come neare&s;t to the Signes wherein the Moon is. Be&s;ide this, &s;ome learned Phy&s;icians have upon experience con|fe&s;&s;ed, that <HI>the ob&s;ervation of the Sign is nothing mate|rial</HI> and that there is no danger in it, for gelding of Cat|tell, or letting of bloud. And the vanity of the old con|ceit and imagination of them that have put much in the Signes, appears in the common practice of men, who commonly upon <HI>Stevens</HI> day u&s;e to let bloud, be the Sign where it will. The truth is (&s;aith he) the Sign in its own nature is neither way available, being but a <HI>phan|ta&s;ie,</HI> grounded upon <HI>&s;uppo&s;ed</HI> premi&s;es, and therefore ought to be rejected as meer <HI>Vanity.</HI></Q> Thus far he.</P>
<P>Now let me add &s;ome particulars &s;uiting to what he hath &s;aid to illu&s;trate the &s;ame; and &s;o I &s;hall not onely confirm him, but al&s;o what I affirmed my &s;elf in the be|ginning of this Argument.</P>
<PB N="288" REF="148">
<P>Fir&s;t, touching tho&s;e <HI>feigned Firmaments,</HI> or Heavens, called the ninth and tenth Heavens; be&s;ides that the an|cient famous A&s;tronomers, <HI>Plato, Ari&s;totle Hipparchus,</HI> and many others, knew no &s;uch thing; &s;en&s;e al&s;o doth e|vince that we can be &s;ure of no more but eight: For we &s;ee di&s;tinctly the &s;even Planets, Sun, Moon, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and their &s;everal motions in twenty four hours, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And we can perceive the eighth Heaven of the fixed &s;tars (known by their twinkling) to move in one motion, round the Earth in 24. hours; becau&s;e we can &s;ee the heels of the le&s;&s;er <HI>Northern Bear;</HI> adjacent to the North Pole, to be down|ward towards the Earth in the Evening, and to be upward in the Morning. But we have no &s;ure ground to conclude that there are more Heavens, either the <HI>Chry&s;tall Ninth,</HI> or the <HI>first moving Tenth.</HI> The grand rea&s;on brought to prove them from the two other motions of the eighth Hea|ven of fixed &s;tars be&s;ide that from <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> to <HI>We&s;t</HI> in twenty four hours, as that the eighth Heaven of fixed &s;tars moves from <HI>We&s;t</HI> to <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> coming to be in the &s;ame po&s;ture as when they began that motion, by the end of forty nine thou&s;and years: and that the &s;ame eighth Heaven hath another motion from <HI>South</HI> to <HI>North,</HI> and thence to <HI>South</HI> again, which proce&s;s and rece&s;s is a fini&s;hing &s;even thou|&s;and years; and therefore that that motion of the eighth Heaven, from <HI>East</HI> to <HI>West</HI> in 24. hours, mu&s;t needs be <HI>violent,</HI> as forced from &s;ome <HI>tenth</HI> Heaven, naturally &s;o moving; and that from <HI>We&s;t</HI> to <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> in forty nine thou|&s;and years, mu&s;t be al&s;o violent, as forced from &s;ome ninth Heaven, naturally &s;o moving; and the la&s;t motion of the eighth Heaven, <HI>viz.</HI> From <HI>South</HI> to <HI>North,</HI> and back a|gain in &s;even thou&s;and years to be the natural, peculiar, in|nate motion of that eighth Heaven; &s;eeing that (as they forme the Argument) one &s;imple &s;ingle moveable body can have but one natural motion; I &s;ay; this Argument doth not evince my rea&s;on in the lea&s;t, to believe the exi|&s;tence and being of the ninth and tenth Heaven: for God
<PB N="289" REF="148">that by his Word at the beginning &s;aid to the Earth, <HI>Stand thou &s;till,</HI> and to the Sea, <HI>Move thou continually,</HI> with &s;everall motions, as of flowing and reflowing, twice every twenty four hours, and they obey his voice to this day; the &s;ame God commanding the eighth Heaven to run from <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> to <HI>West</HI> every twenty four hours; and with|all to linger and &s;linck back every day a little from <HI>We&s;t</HI> to <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> (as &s;uppo&s;e with the A&s;tronomer) as much as comes to one Degree, or &s;ixty miles in an hundred years (which is about three quarters of a mile in one year and half a quarter) and al&s;o to roul forward from <HI>South</HI> to <HI>North,</HI> and back again from <HI>North</HI> to <HI>South,</HI> &s;o gradually till in &s;even hundred years it is as it was, cannot chu&s;e but obey the voice of God; and &s;o move without cea&s;ing. And (to throw away Traditions in Philo&s;ophy as well as in Divi|nity) 'tis a readier way and &s;urer, to &s;ay, God command|ed the Heavens &s;o to move at fir&s;t Creation, and they o|bey; then to &s;ay, <HI>Primus motor</HI> God moves the Angels, or Intelligences, they move a tenth Heaven, and a tenth Heaven moves the other Heavens. And to the clau&s;e of one natural body, we &s;ay, that there is hardly any natural motion, without &s;ome violent, as the Philo&s;ophers calls violent: for if Fire a&s;cends, no more of the flame a&s;cends in a pure natural motion, but that which a&s;cends in the Mathematical indivi&s;ible Line in the point of the <HI>Pyra|mis,</HI> pointing at the Centre-point of the Earth, to its cor|re&s;pondent point in the Sphere of the lowe&s;t Heaven. In|deed if the Pyramical form of the flame were turned up|&s;ide down, then all the flakes of flame might &s;eem to take their natural order proportionable from one Centre-point in the Earth, to their &s;everal corre&s;pondent points in the Sphere of the lowe&s;t Heaven.</P>
<P>So of any heavy Body, Stone, or Bowl, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> falling down from &s;ome high places to the Earth, no more of it moves naturally, then the very middle of it tending down|ward in a Mathematical &s;trait Line to the Centre-point of
<PB N="290" REF="149">the Earth; the corners of &s;uch a &s;tone, or the circumfe|rence of that Bowl, falling not with the like natural mo|tion, becau&s;e there is but one univer&s;al Centre-point in the middle of the Earth, to an&s;wer to all downward motions; which is the Phy&s;ical demon&s;trative rea&s;on why naturally the Earth is round, the heavy parts more pre&s;&s;ing to the general Centre-point, the lighter le&s;&s;er.</P>
<P>So the Water in its motion in a River, it naturally tends downward, yet de&s;ires not to be &s;o low as the Centre of the Earth: and the mean while it tends progreffively forward; and in this progre&s;&s;ive motion, no more is pre|ci&s;ely natural, but what proceeds in a &s;trait Line: for the Water hath no minde of it &s;elf to go out of its Line; that being out of its way, and be&s;ides its de&s;ign. So that either we mu&s;t &s;ay, one man may have many natural mo|tions, or we mu&s;t no more feign more Heavens then eight, to move the re&s;t, in their &s;everal motions, then we dare feign more Elements then four, to manage the &s;everal mo|tions that are in each one of them.</P>
<P>Secondly, touching the imaginary Sphere the Zodiack, this mu&s;t needs be an infallible Conclu&s;ion, &s;o far as the Heaven or Firmament of the Zodiack is feigned, &s;o far of nece&s;&s;ity mu&s;t the Zodiack &s;uppo&s;ed in that Heaven or Firmament be a meer feigned thing. (We heard afore, that mo&s;t learned Philo&s;opher and A&s;tronomer <HI>Kecker|man</HI> lay it down for a &s;ure Rule; that A&s;tronomers may make, and u&s;e <HI>Hypothe&s;es,</HI> that is, Suppo&s;itions, but A&s;trologers may not.) But the ninth or tenth Sphere or Heaven are feigned, therefore the Zodiack imagined in them is al&s;o &s;eigned. 'Tis worth the while to hear <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> (which is to our purpo&s;e) what he &s;aith concerning the Zodiack, the Zodiack (&s;aith he) of the fir&s;t Mover (that is the tenth Heaven) is <HI>imaginary,</HI> of the eighth Sphere real. The imaginary is primarily and <HI>originally</HI> in the Mover, or tenth Heaven, in the inferiour Spheres it is &s;e|condarily <HI>conceited.</HI> The Real changeth its &s;ituation; the
<PB N="291" REF="149"><HI>imaginary</HI> doth not. The &s;ignes al&s;o of the real Zodiack, are wonderfull <HI>unequal,</HI> but in the <HI>imaginary</HI> equal. In Accounts the imaginary Zodiack is more commodious; but not &s;o in Predictions. Thus you &s;ee how much <HI>fiction</HI> there is about the Zodiack; and more honour a&s;cribed to the feigned then to the real.</P>
<P>Thirdly, touching the twelve imaginary Signes; there is no &s;uch formes of &s;tars, as of them&s;elves &s;eem &s;uch. Compare <HI>Taurus</HI> and <HI>Aries;</HI> and <HI>Aries</HI> lying under <HI>Ba|laena.</HI> Tradition and Globes tell us &s;uch things, but the &s;tars of them&s;elves could never make us &s;o imagine. See the Cele&s;tial Globe.</P>
<P>Fourthly, touching the di&s;orderly placing of the hot dry Signes in parts that are not hot and dry: Nore that <HI>Al&s;ted</HI> a learned Philo&s;opher, and was al&s;o an A&s;trologer, (at lea&s;t in opinion) affirms in his Sy&s;tem, or Treati&s;e of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> that the twelve Signes are divided into four <HI>Trigonos,</HI> that is Ternions. or Three. <HI>In primo trigono &s;unt &s;ignaignea, videlicet, Aries, Leo, &amp; Sagittarius: In his dominantur calor &amp; &s;iccitas, quae dominantur cholerae &amp; &s;apori amaro:</HI> that is, In the fir&s;t Ternion are the fiery Signes. <HI>Aries</HI> the Ram, <HI>Leo</HI> the Lion, and <HI>Sagittarius</HI> the Archer. In the&s;e Signes are predominant heat and dri|ne&s;s, which have dominion and rule over Choller, and bit|terne&s;s: &s;o <HI>Al&s;ted, Vrano&s;c. Par.</HI> 4. <HI>Cap.</HI> 4. Now that the&s;e Signes are thus affigned to have dominion; <HI>Aries</HI> on the <HI>head,</HI> and <HI>Leo</HI> on the <HI>heart,</HI> and <HI>Sagittarius</HI> on the <HI>Reins</HI> and <HI>Loyns,</HI> your A&s;trologers &s;hew you in your ordinary and common <HI>Almanacks.</HI> But your Philo&s;ophers and Phy&s;icians will a&s;&s;ure us upon &s;trong rea&s;on, that a man hath the colde&s;t Brain, and moi&s;te&s;t Heart, and humid'&s;t Reins.</P>
<P>Fifthly, touching the imagined Signes, and their &s;up|po&s;ed dominion over the parts of Man's Body, this would be taken into con&s;ideration, that the Traditions about them is &s;uch a Fiction in the eyes of &s;ome A&s;trologers, that
<PB N="292" REF="150">&s;ome of them omit them in their Almanacks, others ex|pre&s;ly deride them. So that which goes under the name of Ma&s;ter <HI>Pond:</HI>
<Q><L>Should I but dare to omit the Anatomy,</L>
<L>Which long enough hath gull'd my Countrey Friend:</L>
<L>He with contempt would &s;traight refu&s;e to buy</L>
<L>This Book; and 'tis no <HI>Almanack</HI> contend:</L>
<L>Ask him its u&s;e, hee'll &s;ay he cannot tell;</L>
<L>No more can I; yet &s;ince he love'st &s;o well,</L>
<L>I le let it &s;tand, becau&s;e my Book &s;hall &s;ell.</L></Q></P>
<P>And for my part, I have of purpo&s;e tried the experiment of letting Bloud in that part where the Sign hath been (as the Almanacks pre&s;cribe) with good &s;ucce&s;s. Thus the Doctour, which <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath in no mea&s;ure an&s;wered, neither in quantity nor quality, either to M. <HI>Perkins,</HI> or <HI>Al&s;ted,</HI> nor to the <HI>Doctour. Will Ram.</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Let there be no ninth or tenth Sphere.</HI> Then we ask what becomes of the <HI>Ba&s;is</HI> of A&s;trology, &s;eeing the Zodiack (&s;uppo&s;ed in them <HI>originally unchangeably,</HI> and <HI>equally</HI>) is thereby ta|ken away. <HI>ret</HI> &s;aith <HI>Will. Ram. the &s;aid twelve Signes or Con&s;tellations are there, call them</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>what you will.</HI> But we have &s;hewed <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> that <HI>they are not there;</HI> there is no &s;uch Configurations. And therefore the Effects of &s;uch Con&s;tellations <HI>as &s;uch</HI> mu&s;t needs be <HI>non|ens,</HI> as the Effects of any &s;tars for the mo&s;t are <HI>in|cognita,</HI> and <HI>Will. Ram.</HI> hath not demon&s;trated to the contrary; but onely <HI>Verba dare.</HI> And play'd the Dictator not Confutor; or as if he had been rather Je&s;ter on the Stage at <HI>Technogamia,</HI> then a Juridical Advocate at the diyorce of A&s;trology.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="Ramsey's chapter">
<PB N="293" REF="150">
<HEAD>W. R. his <HI>CHAP. V.</HI> Wherein the Doctours confutation of the objections that are brought for A&s;trology is <HI>(he &s;aith)</HI> examined and refuted.</HEAD>
<P>THere remains nothing more to be an&s;wered of Ma&s;ter <HI>Homes</HI> his di&s;cour&s;e but his confutations of the ob|jections that are brought for A&s;trology, which indeed is already refelled in what hath been already &s;aid; having con&s;ideration to the definition of A&s;trology, and the Te|nents of A&s;trologers: but becau&s;e I wil not give him occa&s;i|on to carp or brag of my leaving him here, I &s;hall go along with him in every particular of his remaining cavils; that &s;o the Reader may &s;ee on what &s;mall grounds he builds up his tower of oppo&s;ition again&s;t A&s;trology, and what &s;mall rea&s;on he hath to carp thereat.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t he &s;aith <HI>Melancthon</HI> &s;tandeth not for A&s;trology; but you have heard before how he al&s;o thus fal&s;ely abu|&s;ed S. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> and <HI>Galen;</HI> but admit neither of all the&s;e were one jot for it, but po&s;itively again&s;t it; yet wil not this (if granted) make a whit again&s;t A&s;trology; &s;ince he will not deny but the&s;e are men, and <HI>humanum e&s;t errare, man is &s;ubject to frailty and errour,</HI> and there|fore is not A&s;trology ab&s;olutely condemned hereby; &s;ince already you have heard it no wi&s;e condemned by the word of God, but the effects of the Stars clearly thereby manife&s;ted; yet for the an&s;wer of this his delu&s;ive quirk. I &s;hall onely &s;end him to <HI>Melancthon</HI> to be better peru&s;ed (which here to clear would be too too tedious) and then he will not thus incon&s;iderately wrong him, as the other two S. <HI>Augustin</HI> and <HI>Galen,</HI> the rea&s;on whereof was al|&s;o a negligent peru&s;all of them.</P>
<P>Secondly, ro gain-&s;ay (as he thinks) A&s;trology, he &s;aith, <HI>that &s;ome make a great matter of the Star that
<PB N="294" REF="151">was &s;een at the birth of Chri&s;t:</HI> But I an&s;wer, that this appearance of this Starre maketh neither for nor again&s;t A&s;trology.</P>
<P>But to come to the objections Logicall, which he &s;aith are brought in defence of A&s;trology and his an&s;wers, the fir&s;t is, that <HI>God made the Stars to be &s;igns,</HI> Gen. 1.14. <HI>therefore the knowledge of the &s;ignification of the&s;e &s;igns are lawfull:</HI> his an&s;wer is, <HI>God made them to be &s;igns of naturall effects or events, not of arbitrary and morall, that depend on mans will.</HI> Wherefore here fir&s;t the Rea|der may take notice that M. <HI>Homes</HI> doth now (contrary to what he hath all this while denyed) con&s;e&s;&s;e the Stars to be &s;igns of naturall effects and events, and whereas he denies them to be &s;igns of arbitrary and morall events de|pending on the will, he gaineth little of the A&s;trologer, who (as you have already heard) acknowledgeth the &s;ame.</P>
<P>To handle here every particular objection and his an|&s;wers hereon, would be too tedious, and indeed but vain, and to little purpo&s;e, &s;ince he can &s;ay no more then what hath been already (if rightly under&s;tood) an&s;wered: for to in&s;i&s;t upon every vain quillet were an <HI>Herculean la|bour,</HI> and to render my &s;elf more weak then the propoun|ders or authours thereof; wherefore I conclude.</P>
<P>SURVEY. A full an&s;wer to this fifth Chapter will be to &s;hew you</P>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="Homes' section">
<HEAD>The Doctours <HI>SECT. V.</HI> Confuting the Objections that are brought in the be|half of A&s;trology.</HEAD>
<P>I will not be &s;o &s;evere (unprovoked) as to take publick cognizance of, and to name to the world, the Authours Books, Predictions, or Practi&s;es that have apologized for,
<PB N="295" REF="151">and acted in A&s;trology; becau&s;e of other good learn|ing in them (which I reverence); though in their <HI>Astro|logicalls,</HI> I know they have exceedingly erred. If any will be violently impertinent, <HI>Viis &amp; modis,</HI> by all means to lay low others per&s;ons or parts, thereby to advance their mi&s;takes, the <HI>Defendent</HI> then is bound to tell <HI>All the Truth,</HI> which can be made good by &s;ub&s;tantiall witne&s;&s;es, and te&s;timony. That which I have in my eye to do, is onely to give a light touch, and pointing with the finger upon &s;ome few things that are mo&s;t &s;peciou&s;ly pretended to be Patronages of A&s;trology.</P>
<P>And becau&s;e &s;ome are more <HI>Oratorious,</HI> others more <HI>Logicall.</HI> I &s;hall &s;uit my language to theirs. And to the fir&s;t I mu&s;t &s;ay, it appears by what hath been &s;aid in the precedent Treati&s;e, that <HI>The Heavens</HI> yet never &s;pake the <HI>Language</HI> of A&s;trology, &s;o as the mo&s;t learned in the World (afore named) could ever under&s;tand. And to rhetoricate high in the behalf of <HI>Astronomy;</HI> or to kick down low them that &s;light it, is wide from the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e in hand touching <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> who&s;e va&s;t difference from the other was afore &s;ufficiently, though briefly, intima|ted: And though he &s;hould own it, that <HI>Pleyades, Ar|cturus, Orion,</HI> and <HI>other Stars</HI> (mentioned in Scripture, and allowed therein to be lawfully mentioned by us) have &s;tampt in them by creation a power of <HI>Influences,</HI> where|by accordingly they <HI>Operate</HI> on &s;ublunary Bodies; men knowing in &s;ome mea&s;ure tho&s;e influences, &s;o that they lawfully <HI>Predict according to the known nature and qua|lity</HI> of tho&s;e influences; yet will it not thence follow that there is any &s;uch thing allowed as <HI>Judiciary A&s;trology,</HI> to predict and foretell what &s;hall befall men, and Cities, and Common-wealths, in relation to <HI>humane</HI> affairs, <HI>ar|bitrary</HI> actings, and <HI>Spontaneous voluntary</HI> tran&s;actions that depend immediately upon the movings of the <HI>will</HI> of man. All that would naturally follow from tho&s;e <HI>indefi|nite</HI> premi&s;es (if granted) would be onely a particular
<PB N="296" REF="152">conclu&s;ion, that therefore in &s;ome things men may be able in a lawfull way probably to predict &s;ome kinds of events, as that <HI>whether</HI> there &s;hall be, or perhaps whether it will be an <HI>healthy</HI> or <HI>&s;ickly time</HI> for men or bea&s;ts, or &s;uch like <HI>naturall</HI> effects of the naturall influences of Stars. Which if men can attain at times of the year to &s;ee <HI>di&s;tinctly</HI> in their ju&s;t po&s;itions, exaltations and conjunctions, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and have had experience of the operations of their influences; they may perhaps &s;ometimes blunder right, that &s;o wea|ther, health, or &s;ickne&s;&s;e, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> may follow as they conje|ctured. But all this, and if we could name an hundred more <HI>naturall effects,</HI> would not &s;atisfie the <HI>A&s;trologer,</HI> or his Clients; nor keep up the reputation of the one, or an&s;wer the expectation of the other. They ordinarily come to the <HI>Astrologer</HI> with the&s;e Queries? <Q>Such a time I was <HI>born,</HI> after what manner &s;hall my <HI>life and death be?</HI> Thither I intend to go, and &s;o and &s;o to do, what &s;hall be the &s;ucce&s;&s;e? Such a night I was robbed, what <HI>manner of per&s;on</HI> was the Thief, and <HI>where, or how may I find him?</HI></Q> Such a thing I lo&s;t at &s;uch a time, how may I <HI>get it again?</HI> I am <HI>loved</HI> and <HI>do love</HI> &s;everall per&s;ons in a way of marriage which may I take as <HI>luckie,</HI> which refu&s;e as <HI>unluckie?</HI> with infinite the like Que&s;tions, and many more &s;tranger then the&s;e. To which if the <HI>A|&s;trologer</HI> make no an&s;wer, the reforters de&s;pi&s;e him. If he doth not undertake to give a po&s;itive an&s;wer to &s;uch inte|rogatories, then I mu&s;t ask him what Scripture, or rea&s;on doth teach, or <HI>allow</HI> &s;uch a kind of <HI>A&s;trology?</HI> The Hea|then <HI>Romane Senate</HI> (without direction from <HI>Mo&s;es, Deut.</HI> 18. whom they knew not, or acknowledged not) made laws again&s;t <HI>Vaticinatores;</HI> that is, <HI>Tho&s;e that would foretell things</HI> (<HI>as &V;lpian</HI> in his <HI>&s;eventh</HI> Book, <HI>De officio procon&s;ulis,</HI> tells us) And if <HI>Gellius</HI> doth think that the common people under&s;tood by that name the <HI>Chaldae|ans (A. Gell. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>Noct. Art.</HI>) this doth not conclude that the learned <HI>Legi&s;lators</HI> &s;o under&s;tood it. And if they
<PB N="297" REF="152">did, the &s;u&s;pition is yet unremoved, whether all <HI>Astrologi|call Predictours</HI> of <HI>humane</HI> events and <HI>arbitrary</HI> tran&s;a|ctions are not of the &s;ame bran with the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Fore|tellers? And therefore <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Prophers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> con|demning A&s;trology, condemn all without limitation, or di|&s;tinction: &s;o that we have no warrant to take <HI>mans</HI> word again&s;t <HI>Gods</HI> word; but to refu&s;e their di&s;tinction of <HI>law|full</HI> and unlawfull A&s;trology. For all <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> that is properly A&s;trology in the opinion of A&s;trologers (and not <HI>A&s;tronomy, Phy&s;iology or Meteorology &amp;c.</HI>) that is, to predict the effects afore&s;aid, is <HI>unlawfull, &s;uper&s;titious, fal&s;e, abominable, &amp;c.</HI> And &s;o are we to under&s;tand tho&s;e <HI>Epithites</HI> or aditionall titles of A&s;trology, in divine, and humane pious Writers. For they do no more intimare a lawful <HI>A&s;trology</HI> then in the common expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>Turpe vitium filthy or uncomely vice</HI> doth intimate that any vice is not filthy but comely. So that A&s;trology was not here|tofore before the time of <HI>Ptolomy</HI> and <HI>An. Pius,</HI> unlawfull, onely becau&s;e then the Art was imperfect, and its pro|gno&s;tication <HI>uncertain;</HI> but becau&s;e for many other and greater rea&s;ons (as we heard afore) did God condemn it in his word the <HI>imperfection</HI> and <HI>uncertainty</HI> al&s;o &s;till e&s;&s;enti|ally adhearing to it, as learned A&s;trologicall <HI>Al&s;ted,</HI> but of the other day, and others more a&s;&s;ert; before mentioned &s;ufficiently. <HI>Melancthon,</HI> they &s;ay, teacheth us, how nece&s;|&s;ary <HI>Astrology is.</HI> Could I have found it by peru&s;all of all his works, I &s;hould have thought &s;o too; but with the &s;ame labour &s;inding the <HI>contrary,</HI> I mu&s;t rather believe what I <HI>&s;ee,</HI> then what I <HI>hear.</HI> He &s;peaks again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology</HI> in his Commentary on <HI>Gen. c.</HI> 1. upon the words, <HI>Videre quod &s;it bonum, &amp;c.</HI> it is in the beginning of his Works (and therefore one would think he would not afterwards &s;o gro&s;ly contradict him&s;elf: His words again&s;t A&s;trolo|gy in that place are, <HI>Primum hic ob&s;ervabis, vanum e&s;&s;e Commentum Philo&s;ophorum, quod de ordine cau&s;arum. &amp; de fluxu &s;yderum prodiderunt. Nam ante a&s;tra conduntur
<PB N="298" REF="153">plantae, quas poti&s;&s;imum na&s;ci, et &s;ervari virtute &s;yderum exi&s;timaverunt.</HI> That is, Fir&s;t thou &s;halt ob&s;erve here that the <HI>Fiction</HI> which the Philo&s;ophers have &s;et forth concern|ing the order of cau&s;es and the <HI>Influence</HI> of Stars is <HI>Vain.</HI> For the Plants which they have imagined to be created and nouri&s;hed by the virtue of the Stars, were created a|fore the Stars: &s;o <HI>Melancthon.</HI> And I much &s;u&s;pect that the originall pretenders of <HI>Melancthon</HI> for <HI>A|&s;trology,</HI> mi&s;took by a negligent view of his words on the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Colo&s;&s;ians, c.</HI> 2, which are the&s;e, <HI>Medicina comprehendit</HI> Phy&s;iologiam <HI>&amp;</HI> A&s;tronomiam. <HI>Sunt enim in mendendo, temporum di&s;crimina quaedam &s;ervanda. E&s;t autem &amp; alia</HI> A&s;tronomiae <HI>utilitas, qu&ograve;d oportet habere civilium negotiorum caus&acirc; certam anni et men&s;ium de|&s;criptionem, &amp;c, Nece&s;&s;aria est et altera philo&s;ophiae pars quae</HI> Morum Praecepta Tradit, &amp; quae Leges Regenda|rum Civium Peperit. In which words <HI>Melancthon</HI> &s;peaks &s;omething of the u&s;efulne&s;&s;e of A&s;tronomy; of <HI>Phy&s;iology</HI> (or <HI>Phy&s;icks;</HI> that is, <HI>Naturall Phylo&s;ophy:</HI>) of <HI>Ethicks;</HI> that is, <HI>Morall Phylo&s;ophy,</HI> to teach men externall good manners; and of <HI>Politicks;</HI> that is, touching the civill government of cities, and Common-wealths: But not a word of the <HI>name</HI> or <HI>thing</HI> of <HI>A&s;trology;</HI> and therefore I thought it not worth while to tran&s;late this la&s;t place. Tis &s;ufficient for us, that <HI>Melancthon</HI> doth appear ra|ther again&s;t <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>We have confe&s;t afore, that many &s;trange things have, and may be done by the <HI>Opticks</HI> (the Art of &s;ee|ing) and &s;everall other Arts; as the &s;ame may be grant|ed to <HI>Staticks</HI> (of Ponderations) &amp;c, So that <HI>Ignoramus</HI> would think them to be <HI>Juggling,</HI> or &amp;c. We honour all true <HI>Art</HI> and <HI>Artifices,</HI> of which the Arti&s;t (at lea&s;t) can give from <HI>nature, justi&s;&s;imam rationem,</HI> a due account and cau&s;e. But this doth not countenance, in the lea&s;t, the <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> and <HI>A&s;trologicall Feits</HI> we &s;peak of. A friend of <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> to patronage it, makes great u&s;e
<PB N="299" REF="153">of that place in <HI>Job,</HI> chap. 38. v. 31. which our Engli&s;h Tran&s;latours thus render, <HI>Canst thou refrain,</HI> or <HI>bind the &s;weet influence of the Pleiades,</HI> &amp;c. And from this one word <HI>Influences,</HI> draws forth great conclu&s;ions for A&s;tro|logicall predictions. But fir&s;t note, that in the Hebrew (the &s;ole judge of the right reading of the Text) there is no &s;uch word as <HI>Influences</HI> or <HI>Sweet,</HI> but onely <GAP DESC="foreign"> that is, The <HI>Plea&s;ures, Delights,</HI> or <HI>Delicacies;</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> of <HI>Virgiliae,</HI> or <HI>Pleiades,</HI> In the <HI>Syriack</HI> and <HI>Arabick,</HI> there is le&s;&s;e; mentioning onely the <HI>Face</HI> of <HI>Pleiades.</HI> And in <HI>Hieroms</HI> Latine tran&s;lation as little, namely, <HI>The &s;hi|ning Stars Pleiades.</HI> In the <HI>Chaldee</HI> le&s;&s;e yet, for it nei|ther names <HI>Pleiades,</HI> nor <HI>influence,</HI> nor any effect of any virtue upon the &s;ublunary bodies, but mentions onely the motions of Stars, thus, <HI>Wilt thou bind Orion with Chains, and loo&s;e the Cords that draw Arcturus?</HI> And to the &s;ame tune the Greek Tran&s;lation of the Septua|gint, <GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. That is, <HI>Ha&s;t thou compo|&s;ed the bond of Pleiades,</HI> and <HI>hast thou opened the fence, or enclo&s;ure of Orion.</HI> Secondly note, that whatever intimation of <HI>influence</HI> any A&s;trologer can draw from this Text, it will prove but a naturall influence upon Plants, and naturall bodies, to further their naturall ef|fects, nothing tending to Predictions of voluntary act|ings, and humane events of men, as men, as that &s;ame friend of A&s;trology hath ingeniou&s;ly confe&s;&s;ed enough to this purpo&s;e. <Q>Although (&s;aith he) <HI>All things</HI> are governed by the <HI>influence</HI> of the Heavens, yet <HI>Many</HI> eminent things do <HI>Happen</HI> in the <HI>Aire,</HI> and in the <HI>Body</HI> of man, who&s;e Originall cau&s;e is from the virtue of the Heavens. As &s;ometimes the influence is helped for|ward through <HI>Diabolicall</HI> and wicked <HI>inchantments,</HI> &s;o oftentimes <HI>God is plea&s;ed to hinder</HI> the influentiall virtues of the Heavens at the prayers of the Faithfull. It is &s;ure that &s;o much credit is not to be given to &s;uch <HI>Signs</HI> as the vulgar and credulous A&s;trologer doth ima|gine;
<PB N="300" REF="154">neither is there virtue and power altogether to be rejected. Influences though they de&s;cend on man, &amp;c. yet they do not <HI>Compell,</HI> through any nece&s;&s;ity: For the <HI>free</HI> mind of man is not &s;ubjected, and as it were, en&s;laved to any <HI>Po&s;ition</HI> of the <HI>Starres;</HI> For <HI>Sapiens dominabitur Astris;</HI></Q> that is, <HI>A wi&s;e man &s;hall rule over the Stars.</HI> Thus farre the great Friend of <HI>Astrology,</HI> if not an <HI>A&s;trologer.</HI> In which, I much commend him for his ingenuous and candid dealing. For according to this declaration, there can be no due, true, and lawfull prediction of humane things by the Starres: Though we grant <HI>Meteorologicall effects;</HI> yet this inferrs nothing for rationall events. But our lover of <HI>A&s;trology</HI> afore quoted, allows not in his glo&s;&s;e on <HI>Luke</HI> chap. 12. ver&s;. 54. a certainty of effects of Starres in <HI>Meteorologicals;</HI> How then &s;hall we in <HI>Arbitraries?</HI> Nor will the di&s;tinctions that &s;ome make, help up the credit of judiciary, or divinatory predicting A&s;trology. <Q>They &s;ay there is a threefold Progno&s;tication, or Divi|nation; namely, Super&s;titious, Supernaturall, natural: And Super&s;titious is either Heatheni&s;h, or Oraculous.</Q></P>
<P>Not to &s;pend time about the form of the&s;e di&s;tincti|ons, either to note the low deba&s;ing, Scripturele&s;&s;e, and unworthy phra&s;es of Supernaturall Progno&s;tication, or Divination, whereby to &s;ignifie the wonderfull Predi|ctions of the extraordinarily in&s;pired Prophets; or to &s;hew that the terms of the di&s;tinctions, <HI>Coincidere,</HI> are not di&s;tinct; Super&s;titious, and Supernaturall being both above nature. God &s;o acting in the Supernaturall, and Satan in the &s;uper&s;titious, and Heatheni&s;h and Oracu|lous all one; tho&s;e Oracles they mention of <HI>Apollo</HI> &amp;c. belonging to the Heathen. I &s;ay not to &s;pend time about words; I &s;hall briefly &s;peak to the thing; namely, That by the Arguments, the Scriptures u&s;e and urge again&s;t A&s;trology in generall, without the lea&s;t di&s;tingui&s;hing in favour of any kind of A&s;trology, properly &s;o called; it
<PB N="301" REF="154">appears that all A&s;trology is Super&s;titious, Heatheni&s;h, &amp;c. To tell us of the effects of <HI>Starres</HI> in Meteors, Ele|ments, Plants, &amp;c. is onely to <HI>Phy&s;iology,</HI> or <HI>Meteoro|logy.</HI> To di&s;cour&s;e further, <Q>as to &s;ay the effect of the Stars is a voluntary action, by which the principall effi|cient God, is Helped, A&s;&s;i&s;ted, and Furthered, in pro|ducing the effect, as the Ma&s;ter Builder is helped by his &s;ervants to build an Hou&s;e, is not onely an unwar|rantable, but a mo&s;t &s;infull,</Q> I had almo&s;t &s;aid, a bla&s;|phemous &s;peech. That God that can do all things immedi|ately of him&s;elf (as we &s;ee in the Creation, and miracu|lous operations) when he u&s;eth any of the Creatures in producing any effects, <HI>He A&s;&s;i&s;teth them,</HI> not <HI>they Him.</HI> And we find not in the Scriptures that he u|&s;ed any Creatures to predict Voluntary actions, but his Prophers.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e that will defend <HI>A&s;trologicall predictions,</HI> by a di&s;tinction between <HI>Non illicitium,</HI> and <HI>Licitum,</HI> that though A&s;trologicall predictions are not <HI>lawfull;</HI> yet they are not <HI>unlawfull,</HI> do not con&s;ider that <HI>lawfull</HI> and <HI>unlawfull</HI> are immediate contraries; &s;o that what&s;oever cannot be truly a&s;&s;erted to be lawfull, is unlawfull. And as weak is their defence to pre&s;ume to &s;ay that A&s;trologi|call predictions are no where in the Word of God for|bidden; either explicitely or implicitely: For not with|&s;tanding their &s;uperficiall glo&s;&s;es (not worth a particular an&s;wer) on two or three Scriptures that are again&s;t them, whereby to abate their edge, and to &s;ave the head of A|&s;trology from wounding; it hath been abundantly afore demon&s;trated out of many Scriptures, that A&s;trology, in|definitely, without exception is condemned by the Word of God. To whiffle off the dint of any Scripture, ex|pre&s;ly di&s;liking A&s;trology (as I&s;a. 47.13. &amp;c.) with the di&s;tinction that their &s;uper&s;titious, or Heatheni&s;h A|&s;trology is forbidden, not lawfull A&s;trology; hath been already an&s;wered: That all A&s;trology, properly &s;o called,
<PB N="302" REF="155">is condemned in the Word of God, by &s;uch and the like <HI>Epithites,</HI> of <HI>&s;uper&s;titious, heatheni&s;h, &amp;c.</HI> as all <HI>vice</HI> is condemned by the names of <HI>filthy,</HI> uncomely, (&amp;c.) vice. And tho&s;e terms added to A&s;trology, of <HI>&s;uper&s;titious, heatheni&s;h,</HI> &amp;c. are of the very dint of the Arguments in many places of Scripture, whereby the holy Gho&s;t intends to render all A&s;trology odious.</P>
<P>For the great matter that &s;ome would make of the mention of a Starre (<HI>Matth.</HI> 2.2.) appearing at Chri&s;ts birth, &amp;c. whereby to countenance A&s;trology; I &s;hall an&s;wer briefly (becau&s;e the Pre&s;&s;e calls upon me to &s;hut up.) Either we mu&s;t con&s;ider this Starre <HI>&s;ingly,</HI> or <HI>conjunctively:</HI> If &s;ingly, then if this was a reall Starre, it was either ordinary, or extraordinary: If ordinary, namely, made and &s;ettled in its being in the fir&s;t creation, and ever &s;ince common in appearance, how &s;hould it of its &s;elf &s;ignifie Chri&s;ts birth an effect, once onely to be, from the beginning to the end of the World? It is unpo&s;|&s;ible that a common cau&s;e, or &s;ign, of it &s;elf can be a &s;ure demon&s;tration of a new &s;ingle &s;ingular effect, never to be but once. If it was an extraordinary &s;tarre, then ei|ther &s;o it being newly created; which inferrs that God did not create all things in the beginning, no not all kinds of things; for the Starrs, &s;ay the Philo&s;ophers upon the ground of their different natures, do <HI>Differre &s;pecie.</HI> dif|fer in kind. If extraordinary onely in appearance, now, and not afore appearing, how &s;hould it of it &s;elf teach any A&s;trologer the &s;aid event, who mainly pretends expe|rience? If it were a &s;eeming &s;tarre; that is, a <HI>Comet,</HI> or Blazing &s;tar: Fir&s;t, that rather pre&s;ageth death, then birth, by rea&s;on of the noy&s;ome and filthy fumes and exhalations of which it is compounded, and being on fire diffu&s;eth them into the air in which the Sons of men are enwrapped. Secondly, Then, this &s;tarre belongs ra|ther to <HI>Metereologie</HI> (a part of naturall Philo&s;ophy) then to A&s;trology. If we con&s;ider this Starre <HI>conjunctively;</HI>
<PB N="303" REF="155">namely, together with propheticall explanations upon it (as the &s;tarres in <HI>Joel</HI> 2. And <HI>Matth.</HI> 24.) then the con&s;ideration of this &s;tarre was more Theologicall then A&s;trologicall. And this is &s;uppo&s;ed by the Learned, both ancient and modern, that the wi&s;e men of the Ea&s;t took into con&s;ideration the &s;ignification of this &s;tarre by the help of Scriptures, either immediately coming to their view (being Ea&s;tern neighbours of the Jews) or medi|ately by the hands of them that had their glo&s;&s;es (of &s;uch a thing to come) out of the Scriptures. Tis put upon <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome,</HI> <Q>that he affirms that in the Ea&s;t in a City called <HI>Seth,</HI> near the Ocean there was a &s;ociety of men, twelve in number, &s;tudients in A&s;trology; who learning out of <HI>Balaams</HI> prophecy, <HI>Numb.</HI> 24.17. that &s;uch a &s;tarre was to appear, gave them&s;elves from yeare to yeare to ob&s;erve the heavens, and to wait for the appearing of it: and for continuation of that ob&s;ervation throughout ma|ny ages till it did appear, did at the death of any of the twelve, choo&s;e another in his room; by which at la&s;t they &s;aw this &s;tarre.</Q> <HI>Calcidius</HI> likewi&s;e a <HI>Platonick</HI> Philo&s;opher flouri&s;hing in the time of Chri&s;ts birth, wri|ting upon <HI>Plato</HI> his <HI>Timeus,</HI> concerning divers Stars and their wonderfull effects, faith thus, There is a more holy and divine hi&s;tory (meaning the Scriptures) which re|ports <Q>that by the appearing of a certain extraordinary Starre, not di&s;ea&s;es and death were fore&s;hown, but the venerable de&s;cent of God for mans &s;alvation; which Starre was ob&s;erved by the Chaldaeans, who wor&s;hiped God, new born and become man, and offered him gifts.</Q> So far <HI>Calcidius.</HI> And whereas in Hebrew, that prophecie of Balaam runnes thus. <HI>There &s;hall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Plant</HI> or <HI>Branch</HI> &s;hall ri&s;e out of I&s;rael (ac|cording to which <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> and <HI>Jeremiah</HI> Prophecy, <HI>I&s;ay</HI> 11.1. <HI>Jer.</HI> 23.5. and 3.15.) the <HI>Greek</HI> of the Septu|agint (who wrote about 300. years afore Chri&s;t) tran|&s;lates <HI>Star</HI> by <GAP DESC="foreign"> a Star, but <HI>Plant</HI> or <HI>Branch</HI> (which our
<PB N="304" REF="156">Tran&s;latours render <HI>Scepter</HI> (the Septuagint tran&s;late by <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>Man;</HI> which the <HI>vulgar latine</HI> followes. So that the learned Ea&s;tern people, by their knowledge of the <HI>Hebrew,</HI> and of &s;o ancient a <HI>Greek</HI> Tran&s;lation, might compound a due &s;en&s;e out of the&s;e two, <HI>that a &s;tarr &s;hould ari&s;e to &s;ignifie the birth of a mo&s;t eminent man to be born of the bloud of Jacob or I&s;rael.</HI> La&s;tly, the Ancient <HI>Sibills</HI> (who wrote long before <HI>Chri&s;t;</HI> Some as anciently as the <HI>Babilonian</HI> captivitie; &s;ome men|tioned by <HI>Virgil,</HI> who flouri&s;hed above fourtie years afore the Birth of Chri&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI>) do in their way, fore|tell of Chri&s;t, and &s;ometimes in an <HI>A&s;trologicall</HI> Phra&s;e,
<Q><L>Jam redit &amp; virgo redeunt Saturnia regna:</L>
<L>Jam nova progenies coelo demittitur alto.</L></Q></P>
<P>The&s;e Sibylls were &s;o well known in the Ea&s;tern world, that from <HI>them</HI> (how ever they came by it) they might have &s;ome hints of this Sarr and it's pointing at Chri&s;t. The&s;e things being &s;o; 'tis plain, not the Starr of it &s;elfe <HI>A&s;trologically,</HI> but the <HI>Theologicall</HI> pre-expo&s;iti|ons of that Starr did cau&s;e men to under&s;tand, at the ap|pearance thereof that Chri&s;t was to be born. 'Tis well confe&s;t by &s;ome, whom they cry up to be for their A&s;trolo|gicall way, <Q>That both Nature and Art may beat a &s;tand in &s;pirituall things, e&s;pecially concerning Chri&s;t, which as the Apo&s;tle witne&s;&s;eth are very my&s;terious, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.4. 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 3.16. The wi&s;emen hoping well of the Jews, as Gods peculiar people, go to <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and con&s;ult with them. The&s;e <HI>wi&s;e men</HI> came to Chri&s;t by a <HI>guidance</HI> of a Starr, which may ju&s;tly blame the <HI>unwi&s;e,</HI> who a&s;cribe their not coming to Chri&s;t to fatal nece&s;&s;itie, or the influ|ences of Starrs; as <HI>Tertullian</HI> hath it, <HI>Deonerant &s;eip&s;os, &amp; malae mentis impetus vel fato vel a&s;tris imputant.</HI> As <HI>Au&s;tine</HI> hath to one &s;ame purpo&s;e, <HI>Fal&s;o ds &s;tellarum influxu conqueruntur mortales, quod peccatum adeo vo|untarum; e&s;t quod &s;i non voluntarium non e&s;t peccatum;</HI>
<PB N="305" REF="156">that is, mortall men fal&s;ly complain of the <HI>influence of the &s;tarrs;</HI> that &s;inne is &s;o <HI>voluntary,</HI> for if it be <HI>not vo|luntary,</HI> it is not &s;in. Did we re&s;i&s;t by grace our corru|ptions, we &s;hould deceive the A&s;trologers, by ruling over the Starrs. The highe&s;t God can, and doth oft cro&s;s the cour&s;e of Nature, and often produceth that which could not be foretold by the ob&s;ervation of the Starrs. And therefore men &s;hould <GAP DESC="foreign">, not to think beyond that we may wi&s;ely think, to be wi&s;e to &s;obriety. Certainly to foretell contingences is the property of God him&s;elf.</Q></P>
<P>Thus farr for an&s;wer to the <HI>Oratours</HI> for <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>Next we will give a &s;hort reply to them that are more <HI>Logicall.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Ob.</HI> God made the &s;tars to be <HI>&s;igns Gen.</HI> 1.14. therefore the knowledge of the &s;ignification of tho&s;e &s;igns is lawfull.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> God made them to be &s;ignes of naturall effects or events; not of <HI>arbitrary</HI> and <HI>morall,</HI> that depend on mans will, on which the &s;tarrs have no power. <HI>Corpus non agit in animam.</HI> A body cannot act upon the &s;pirit of a man, no more then a materiall &s;word can wound an An|gel. Again the &s;tarrs are not &s;ignes to us of all naturall e|vents, as to wit, not of naturall <HI>contingences</HI> (to us con|tingent) as the lighting of a Crow near us, or, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but of all naturall <HI>nece&s;&s;aries</HI> known by apparent common ex|perience. As that of <HI>Solomon;</HI> when they cau&s;e a <HI>North wind; it drives away rain,</HI> &amp;c. And that of our Savi|our <HI>Mat.</HI> 16.3. &s;peaking according to the common ex|perience men had. <HI>when the skie is red in the Evening, ye &s;ay it will be fair weather. But when the skie is red and lowring in the Morning, it will be foul weather.</HI> Further, The &s;tarrs may be &s;igns in regard of their <HI>motions,</HI> be|longing meerly to pure <HI>A&s;tronomy,</HI> as when there will be an eclip&s;e; though they &s;hould never be &s;igns of any events in regard of their influences or qualitative Virtues.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> The Starrs are cau&s;es of many things here be|low.
<PB N="306" REF="157">But it cannot be unlawfull to ob&s;erve Cau&s;es how they produce their effects, <HI>Scire e&s;t per cau&s;as &s;cire.</HI> All true knowledge is by the Cau&s;es. And therefore, <HI>Felix qui poterit rerum cogno&s;cere cau&s;as,</HI> He is happy that knows the Cau&s;es of Things.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> 1. We &s;aid but now, the motions of the Stars cau&s;e Eclip&s;es; &s;ometimes of the Moon by the interpo&s;iti|on of the Earth exactly between it and the Sun; &s;ome|times of the Sun by the direct interpo&s;ition of the Moon between us and the Body of the Sun, which the <HI>A&s;trono|mer</HI> (though he never knew the lea&s;t of the inward influ|ential qualities of any of the Stars) can predict. And therefore all this doth add nothing at all to countenance <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>Secondly, we demand what Cau&s;es are the Stars? Not particular Cau&s;es of particular Events, but general com|mon Cau&s;es that work in common, and alike upon all things. Now no man can divine of a particular Event by a general Cau&s;e, unle&s;s he know the particular Cau&s;es &s;ub|ordinate and their particular virtues. Some give this in|&s;tance, that a man cannot, by &s;etting many &s;orts of Eggs under a Hen, foretell what will be hatch'd, by the meer &s;itting of the Hen in common upon them all; unle&s;s al&s;o he know the particular qualities of tho&s;e Eggs; &s;o from the &s;tars, being common Cau&s;es no man can foretell Events, unle&s;s he knew the kindes and qualities of Cau&s;es and Things &s;ubordinate to them.</P>
<P><HI>Object.</HI> Experience &s;hews that <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> &s;ometimes hit right.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> To this M. <HI>Perkins,</HI> and other pious learn|ed men, and with appeal to many others, and of tho&s;e of as great Antiquity as the Times of the Apo&s;tles; gives this An&s;wer, and with great confidence; that <Q>in this there is a <HI>&s;ecret Magick</HI> at lea&s;t; if not an open Covenant with the Devil; he making &s;up|ply what is wanting in the virtue of &s;tars, and Rules
<PB N="307" REF="157">of <HI>Astrology.</HI></Q> And &s;ay they, this is the judgement of <Q>tho&s;e that have known this Art.</Q> So farr they. Con&s;o|nant to which we referr the Reader to what before was confe&s;t by <HI>Ma&s;ter Bridges,</HI> S. <HI>Astin</HI> and <HI>others,</HI> he makes mention of. Which is the more confirmed; becau&s;e if the <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> client comes <HI>tempting</HI> him and not <HI>con|fiding</HI> in him; that is, in his skill, he can do nothing, but if he can admire the Arti&s;t, and rely upon his skill, then he can an&s;wer his de&s;ires. And this is confe&s;t by them that have been great <HI>A&s;trologers</HI> but now repenting have left it, whom if need be, I can name.</P>
<P><HI>Obj. Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI> were greatly skild in this Art. For of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> 'tis &s;aid, <HI>Acts</HI> 7.22. That <HI>he was learned in all the</HI> Wi&s;dome of the Fgyptians. And of <HI>Daniel,</HI> cap. 1.17.20. <HI>That he had skill in all Learning and wi&s;dome of the</HI> Chaldeans.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> If they had practi&s;ed it in their yonger years, it doth neither follow nor appear in the Bible, that they continued to practi&s;e it. For we are &s;ure at mans e&s;tate they were precious Godly men. Secondly, It is &s;aid, they had <HI>skill,</HI> not, that they <HI>practi&s;ed</HI> it. They might have <HI>skill,</HI> and to u&s;e it as S. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> Ma&s;ter <HI>Perkins,</HI> and Ma|&s;ter <HI>Bridges</HI> &amp;c. to abhor and te&s;tifie again&s;tche evil of it.</P>
<P>Thirdly, It is plain that <HI>Moy&s;es</HI> was oppo&s;ite to the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Magicians, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and by his skill conquered and &s;hamed them, and convinced them, that the <HI>finger of God was in what Moy&s;es did.</HI> And of <HI>Daniel</HI> it is &s;aid, that he was in skill <HI>ten times</HI> Better <HI>then all the A&s;trologers or Magicians that were in all Nebuchadnezzars Realm,</HI> Dan, 1.20. Therfor his skill mu&s;t needs be divine, and a|bove <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> We &s;ee and feel that the Sun and Moon and other Stars have great powe on the air, and &s;o by it on the bodies of men, as appears even by this, that in &s;ome weathers we are more chearfull, in &s;ome more Melancholy; in &s;ome more healthy, in others more &s;ickly.</P>
<PB N="308" REF="158">
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> All this is nothing at all to A&s;trologicall predi|ction of <HI>naturall contingents;</HI> much le&s;&s;e of <HI>voluntary moralls.</HI> Nor can we tell &s;o much in many naturall things, as to which Starr to attribute which effect &s;eeing they all at once co-operate: As a man in a juce, extracted mixtly out of &s;everall hearbs pounded together, and &s;trained, cannot by all his &s;en&s;es di&s;tingui&s;h the virtues of the&s;e acu|ratly, much le&s;&s;e foretell which (being medicinably ap|plyed) &s;hall operate mo&s;t, and what peculiar effect it &s;hall produce; lea&s;t of all if this compound juice mu&s;t be mingled with &s;ome other liquors, as the operative qualities of the Starrs are mingled with the qualities of the Elements; of them <HI>above,</HI> in their radiation afore they reach to us; and of them <HI>beneath</HI> by exhalation of them, and reflection of the beams of the Stars, which is a &s;econd mixture, and &s;o a further confounding of hu|mane under&s;tanding how to judge of them what they will effect.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> Sol &amp; Luna, <HI>po&s;t</HI> Deum <HI>omnium viventium vita &s;unt:</HI> Herm. Tri&s;m. The <HI>Sun</HI> and the <HI>Moon,</HI> next under <HI>God</HI> are the life of all living creatures.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;.</HI> If they be the life of <HI>all</HI> living creatures, then no more of <HI>men</HI> then of <HI>Bea&s;ts,</HI> or <HI>plants.</HI> What is this then to the acting of their <HI>under&s;tandings</HI> and <HI>wills</HI> where|in they are di&s;tingui&s;hed from, and &s;ublimated above all corporall things, who&s;e <HI>formes</HI> are <HI>(materiales) mate|riall,</HI> not &s;pirituall. Food is the cau&s;e of mans life, yet that hath no influence upon the &s;oul. The &s;oul of man acts pure, yea pure&s;t rea&s;on when the body is as dead by deep &s;leep, Therefore all this objection makes nothing &s;o <HI>A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Phil. Jud. de Mund. Opif.</HI> Movings and Earthquakes proceed from the concu&s;&s;ions of the Heavens. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> becau&s;e the Starrs are made for <HI>Signse.</HI></P>
<PB N="309" REF="158">
<P>This objection out of <HI>Forged Philo</HI> (as learned <HI>Broughton</HI> calls him) is nothing for the prai&s;e of <HI>A&s;tro|logy.</HI> In <HI>Meteorology</HI> are handled <HI>Earthquakes.</HI> They are pa&s;&s;ions of the <HI>Earth,</HI> not of men, the Earth hath a fit of the Wind, and makes it in part, to tumble for ea&s;e, till it belcheth it up again. If the <HI>attractive</HI> Starrs, that at le&s;t, draw <HI>light</HI> things upward, are become <HI>depul&s;ive</HI> to make the Air de&s;cend; I wonder 'tis not &s;o &s;aid in all the body of Philo&s;ophy? And if any thing be a&s;cribed to the Starrs in the <HI>a&s;cent</HI> of that <HI>Earthquake-ayre,</HI> 'tis needle&s;&s;e; for it would as &s;urely a&s;cend of its own levi|tating qualitie (as &s;oon as the Earth gives way) with|out the help of the Starrs, as without them, water de&s;|cend.</P>
<P>If Starrs be &s;aid <HI>mediately</HI> to cau&s;e Earthquakes (I know not how;) their Ho&s;ts and Myriads, be&s;pangled over the Heavens, &s;urrounding the Earth, operate in <HI>common,</HI> as well as <HI>con&s;tantly;</HI> and the Earthquakes are &s;o <HI>&s;eldome in time,</HI> and &s;o particular to petty <HI>places,</HI> in compari&s;on of the <HI>&V;niver&s;e,</HI> that no ju&s;t rea&s;on can pre|dict this event by them. to &s;ay, that becau&s;e the Starrs are &s;ignes of <HI>&s;ome</HI> things; as of Day and Night, Heat and Cold, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which are <HI>naturall;</HI> therefore they are &s;ignes of <HI>all</HI> or <HI>mo&s;t</HI> things, even of <HI>Contingences, Arbitra|ries,</HI> and <HI>Moralities,</HI> and to a ground of <HI>prediction,</HI> of &s;uch; is &s;uch a gro&s;&s;e <HI>Non-&s;equitur,</HI> that no man that hath and u&s;eth rea&s;on, will, or can beleeve it.</P>
<P><HI>Obj.</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>&amp;c. Clem. Alex. Strom.</HI> 1.6. <HI>Demtcritus</HI> fore|told many things, by the ob&s;ervation of things <HI>above;</HI> and it was called <HI>Wi&s;dome.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> By what things <HI>above?</HI> For there are &s;ome Elements above, and in them many ayrie, fieri, and wa|tery <HI>Meteors</HI> as well as <HI>Starrs.</HI> If by the <HI>Starrs,</HI> then <HI>what things</HI> did he foretell? If that in <HI>Clemens Alex|andrinus,</HI> That <HI>Starrs are In&s;trumetts of Time:</HI> Or
<PB N="310" REF="159">that of <HI>Thales Mile&s;ius,</HI> to foretell Eclip&s;es of the Sun, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> or finde out <HI>&V;r&s;a minor,</HI> or the like &s;tars, to direct the <HI>Mariner</HI> in <HI>Navigation;</HI> the&s;e belong not to <HI>A&s;tro|logy,</HI> but to <HI>Phy&s;iology,</HI> and <HI>Astronomy.</HI> Nor do they conduce to Predictions of <HI>humane</HI> Actings. If he fore|told any thing (being a Heathen) which is not clearly pre|vi&s;ible by Nature or Rea&s;on, his <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>wi&s;edom,</HI> was fal&s;ely &s;o called. But to do him lawfull right, as far as we can know; He was (&s;aith the Story) an <HI>A&s;tronomer,</HI> which produceth nothing for the honour of <HI>A&s;tro|logy.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Object. Augu&s;tine</HI> &s;aith, <HI>A&s;trologia per&s;crutanda e&s;t ad cogno&s;cendum proprietates istorum &s;yderum, ut hunc locum intelligere po&s;&s;imus,</HI> that is, A&s;trology is to be &s;earched into, to know the properties of tho&s;e &s;tars, that we may be able to under&s;tand this place: therefore in the judgement of <HI>Augustin,</HI> there is a lawfull u&s;e of A&s;tro|logy.</P>
<P><HI>An&s;w.</HI> This place in <HI>Augustin</HI> can import no more but this, that &s;ome place of Scripture, &s;peaking of &s;ome &s;tars; the knowledge of the qualities of tho&s;e &s;tars would further the fuller under&s;tanding of that place of Scrip|ture: but what makes this to predicting A&s;trology, more then <HI>Meal, Leaven, &amp;c.</HI> (<HI>Matth.</HI> 13.) or the precious Stones, a <HI>Ja&s;per,</HI> and <HI>Sardine,</HI> and <HI>Emerald,</HI> (<HI>Revel.</HI> 4.) who&s;e properties well under&s;tood, help more fully to know the meaning of tho&s;e Scriptures? Surely, <HI>Augu|&s;tine</HI> never intended in that Expre&s;&s;ion if any &s;uch be in his Works, to advance A&s;trology or A&s;tronomy, or the Con&s;ideration of &s;tars and Con&s;tellations for under&s;tand|ing of the Scriptures, or any other good u&s;e: for in his Works, <HI>Edit. Ba&s;il per Frob. Anno Domini</HI> 1569. he hath the&s;e Expre&s;&s;ions, oppo&s;ite to any &s;uch intent.</P>
<P><HI>A&s;tronomia par&ugrave;m aui nihil commodat Scripturae, Aug. Tom.</HI> 3. <HI>Col.</HI> 38. that is, A&s;tronomy little profits or lends to the Scripture.</P>
<PB N="311" REF="159">
<P><HI>Syderum cognitio par&ugrave;m utilis Scripturae, Aug. Tom.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 38. that is, The knowledge of the Stars, or Con|&s;tellations is little profit to the Scripture.</P>
<P><HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his <HI>tom.</HI> 1. <HI>cap.</HI> 761. <HI>tom.</HI> 8. <HI>cap.</HI> 197. &s;peaks again&s;t, <HI>A&s;trologos &amp; eorum curio&s;itates,</HI> A&s;tro|logers and their Curio&s;ities.</P>
<P>In his 1. <HI>tom. cap.</HI> 90,100,102,126,418. He dete&s;ts <HI>the vanity of A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>In his 4. <HI>tom.cap.</HI> 742. He pronounceth that, <HI>A&s;trologi veritat is inimici</HI> A&s;trologers are Enemies of the Truth.</P>
<P>In his 5. <HI>tom.cap.</HI> 279, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> he abundantly di&s;putes of <HI>the uncertainty of A&s;trology.</HI></P>
<P>And in his 5. <HI>tom.cap.</HI> 291. <HI>Augu&s;tin</HI> hath this terri|ble &s;peech again&s;t A&s;trologers; namely, <HI>A&s;trologorum re&s;pon&s;a ex malis e&s;&s;e &s;piritibus;</HI> that is, That the An&s;wers of A&s;trologers are from or by evil Spirits.</P>
<P>And in his 8. <HI>tom.cap.</HI> 165. <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> affirmeth, that <HI>A&s;trology is not nece&s;&s;ary to this life, A&s;trologia huic vitae non e&s;t nece&s;&s;aria.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his 10. <HI>tom. cap.</HI> 525. &s;heweth the vani|ty of A&s;trologers.</P>
<P>And in his 8. <HI>tom.cap.</HI> 197. is his <HI>Invective again&s;t the new A&s;trologers.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in his fifth Book, <HI>De civitate Dei, Cap.</HI> 1. (to which &s;ome give this Title, <HI>Contra A&s;trologorum in|eptias, ide&s;t,</HI> Again&s;t the Fooleries of A&s;trologers, <HI>Jo. Cri&s;p.</HI> hath the&s;e words, <HI>Illi ver&ograve; qui po&s;itionem &s;tellarum quodammodo decernentium qualis qui&s;que &s;it, &amp; quid ei proveniat boni, quid ve mali accidat, ex Dei voluntate &s;u&s;pendunt, &s;i ea&s;dem &s;tellas putant habere hanc pote&s;ta|tem traditam &s;ibi &agrave; &s;umma illius pote&s;tate, &amp;c. id e&s;t,</HI> <Q>As for tho&s;e that make the&s;e operations of the &s;tars in good or bad, to depend upon God's will, if they &s;ay, that they have this power given them from him, to u&s;e according to their own wills, they do Heaven much wrong; in imagining that any wicked Acts or Injuries
<PB N="312" REF="160">are decreed in &s;o glorious a <HI>Senate,</HI> and &s;uch as if any earthly City had but in&s;tituted, the whole generation of man would have con&s;pired the &s;ubver&s;ion of it. And what part hath God left him in this di&s;po&s;ing of hu|mane affairs, if they be &s;wayed by a nece&s;&s;ity from the &s;tars, whereas he is the Lord of &s;tars, and of men? If they do not &s;ay that the &s;tars are <HI>Cau&s;es</HI> of the&s;e wicked Acts, through a power that God hath given them, bu that they <HI>effect them by his expre&s;s command,</HI> is this fit to be imagined for true of God, that is unworthy to be held true of the &s;tars? But if the &s;tars be &s;aid to <HI>portend</HI> this onely, and not <HI>procure</HI> it, and that their Po&s;itions be but &s;ignes, not Cau&s;es of &s;uch Effects (for &s;o hold ma|ny learned men;) Truly the A&s;trologians u&s;e not to &s;ay, <HI>Mars</HI> in &s;uch a Hou&s;e &s;ignifieth this or that; no but ma|kech the childe born an Homicide. But to grant them this errour of &s;peech <HI>&amp;c.</HI> how cometh it to pa&s;s, that they could never &s;hew the rea&s;on of that diver&s;ity of life, actions, &s;tate, profe&s;&s;ion, art honour, and &s;uch humane accidents, that have befallen two Twins? Nor of &s;uch a great difference both in the things afore&s;aid, and in their death, that in this ca&s;e many &s;trangers have come nearer them in their cour&s;e of life, then the one hath done to the other, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Upon which words at * <HI>Era&s;mus</HI> of him&s;elf, and out of <HI>Firmicus,</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Mars</HI> is a &s;tar bloudy, fiery, and violent: Being in the &s;eventh Hou&s;e &s;aith <HI>Firmicus, lib.</HI> 3.) in a Partile a&s;pect with the Horo&s;cope (that is in the We&s;t) doth pre&s;age; that is, <HI>maketh</HI> men Murtherers, wicked, and heinous.</Q></P>
<P><HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> in the &s;ame Book, <HI>Cap.</HI> 7. hath to this pur|po&s;e, <HI>Jam illud quis ferat quod in eligendis diebus, novae quaedam &s;uis actibus fata moliuntur? Non erat videlicet ille ita natus, ut haberet admirabilem filium, &s;ed it a po|tius ut contemtibilem gigneret, &amp; ideo vir doctus elegit horam qu&agrave; mi&s;ceretur uxori. Fecit ergo fatum quod non habebat, &s;ed ex ip&s;i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> fato cepit e&s;&s;e fatale, quod in ejus
<PB N="313" REF="160">nativitate non fuerat. O &s;tultitiam &s;ingularem! Eligitur dies ut ducatur uxor, credo propterea, quia pote&s;t in diem non bonum, ni&s;i elegatur incurri &amp; infeliciter duci. &V;bi est ergo quod na&s;centi jam &s;ydera decreverunt? An pote&s;t homo quod ei jam con&s;titutum e&s;t, diei electione mutare, &amp; quod ip&s;e in eligendo die con&s;tituerit non poterit ab alia potestate mutari? &amp;c.</HI> that is, <Q>But who can indure this Foolery of theirs, to invent a new de&s;tiny for every acti|on that a man undertaketh? That wi&s;e man afore&s;aid, it &s;eems, was not born to have an admirable Son, but ra|ther a contemptible one; and therefore elected he his hour wherein to beget a worthy one: &s;o thus did he work him&s;elf a de&s;tiny more then his &s;tars portended, and made that a part of his Fate, which was not &s;igni|fied in his Nativity. O &s;ingular fondne&s;s! A day mu&s;t not be cho&s;en for Marriage, becau&s;e otherwi&s;e one might light on an unlucky day, and &s;o make an ill Marriage. But where then is the de&s;tiny of your Nativity? Can a man change what his fate hath appointed, by chu&s;ing this day or that, and cannot the Fate of that day which he chu&s;eth be altered by another Fate? Again, if men alone of all the Creatures on Earth, be under the &s;tarry power, why do they chu&s;e days to plant, and days to &s;ow, and &s;o forth; days to tame Cattle, days to put to Males for increa&s;e of Oxen, or Hor&s;es, and &s;uch like? If the election of tho&s;e days be good, becau&s;e the &s;tars have dominion in all earthly Bodies living, Creatures and Plants, according as the times do change; let them but con&s;ider how many Creatures have original from one and the &s;ame in&s;tant, and yet have &s;uch divers ends, as he that but noteth, will deaide tho&s;e Ob&s;ervations, as Childrens Toyes. For what Sot will &s;ay, that all Herbs, Trees, Bea&s;ts, Birds, Serpents, Worms, and Fi&s;hes, have each one a particular moment of time to be brought forth in? Yet men do u&s;e for trying of the Ma|thematicians skill, to bring them the figures of the Births
<PB N="314" REF="161">of Bea&s;ts, which they have for this end diligently ob|ob&s;erved at home; and him they hold the mo&s;t skillfull Mathematician that can &s;ay by the figure, this portend|eth the Birth of a Bea&s;t, and not of a Man, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></Q> Thus far <HI>Augu&s;tine,</HI> out of whom I might have quoted much more; but they that li&s;t, may in his Works ea&s;ily finde it of them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee evidently, even by this of the Doctour, that <HI>Will. Ram&s;ey</HI> hath given no real An&s;wer to him, where he &s;eems to give an An&s;wer, as 1. Touching <HI>Me|lancton.</HI> 2. Touching <HI>Au&s;tin.</HI> 3. Touching the Doctours deniall of the natural Effects of the &s;tars, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> there <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey</HI> tells us notorious untruths, as hath been mo&s;t evidently demon&s;trated by the precedent Treati&s;e. Of the &s;ame brain are tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages of <HI>VVill. Ram&s;ey,</HI> touching the &s;tar that appeared at <HI>Chri&s;t's</HI> Birth; and of his yielding that &s;tars are not &s;ignes of arbitrary Events, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> For his Crew do mightily cry up that Book as the Friend of their <HI>A&s;trology,</HI> wherein that &s;tar is handled. And <HI>VVilliam</HI> in this his <HI>Lux</HI> hath &s;tood for arbitrary Effects of &s;tars, and hath by figures &s;hew'd his practi&s;e therein, as hath been abundantly demon&s;trated. And therefore <HI>VVill. Ram.</HI> doth plainly juggle with his Read|er, and play <HI>Legerdemain</HI> (as they &s;ay) or <HI>Bo-peep</HI> (as Children &s;peak) For in the beginning of his Book he lays down a definition of A&s;trology, by the natural Effects of Stars; with &s;ome Glo&s;&s;es to the &s;ame effect in his Epi&s;tle to the Reader, (to which if he had adhered, there had been no Controver&s;ie between us) but when he comes up|on the Stage of Di&s;pute in his Book, he changeth his Ha|bit; untill again he be quite &s;tript by his Opponent; and then he runs to his definition again. And when he is fer|retted, that he cannot tell where to be, he puts <HI>Queries,</HI> that when he cannot fairly <HI>win,</HI> he may fouly <HI>beg</HI> the Que&s;tion. But that will not be granted.</P>
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