Book I.

things might ferve for ule, and tend to that end they were ordained. tie pan. Whereof Ariflotle feems to fpeak wifely in thefe very words : There Ani.l.i. is nothing in Nature fo fmall or contemptible^ that way not make men in fome things to wonder at it. And what men report that Hierachm Tare minus faid, when he turned afide into a Bakers hopfe ; Enter , here are the Godsalfo • the fame miift we fuppofeof Natures works. For in the fmalleft works of Nature the Diety fhines forth., and all things are good and bcautifull. For this is an adjunct to the works of Nature, thathbthing is done rafhly or by chance, but for a cer¬ tain end. And as when, we talk of Houfes magnificently built, we fpeak not of the Lime, or of Bricks, or Wood, and the other matc- ■jn Exam- rials> hut of thef^rm .and iBape, and ftruftureof the Edifices, and pie from for what purpofef they were built ^ fo he that fearcheth into the midingi. worjcs 0f Nature, he difeourfeth not of the matter, but of the form and of the whole fubftance, and finally the ufe and profit So the body was made for the Soul, but the limbs for the offices they are to perform conveniently, and to fulfill their fun&ions. ufe &End But Man was brought upon the ftage of this world for Gods caufe^ Man vp as who ought to take pfeafure in him, and acknowledge his bounty, created, may repofe himfelf in God, truft in him, and reft upon him. In therefore fo great multitude and variety of Things cxifting, we muft not onely admire the force of Nature and Efficience, but his Majefty and Immcnfity from whom all things are produced and do proceed, and by whofe bounty the works of Nature fubfift, and are kept from corruption. Which confideration doth fomewhat raife ou*minds, otherwifetoo much faftned to the ground, and brings us t foTemifi and acknowledge God.. For though God be invifiblc, yetfby' the be ° referred things created, asSt. Paul teftifieth, and from the world fo vVbndcf- to God. fully created, and fo wifely governed, he maybe both perceived r°f?‘ V. anc* und6rftood. And, as Cicero faith,By the memory of things,fub- tilty of Invention, and quicknefle of motion, and by the exceeding beauty of Vertue we know the force of the Mind,though we cannot how God fee it with our eyes ; fo we perceive God, and that eternal Mind h known clearly by the works he hath made, and effe&ually do we appre¬ hend his force and influence ; for his vertue is diffufed through all Aft. n.i things, and gives heat, fpirit and life to all things. Sr. Vaul preached learnedly at Athens of this matter, from the lentences of Aratu$y which Lucan exprefted elegantly, lib. 9.
~~ we all are held in God , and though no noife
Be heard we do hiswilf he needs no voice.
God is in Sea and Land and Ayr andShy what would vee more , all is the Diety.
What ere we fee , or where fo ere we go ,
We wufl fee God whether we will or no.
I • J ** •• f*v ' ► , ^ f * L l * **
Who then would not love him, whofe forces he manifeftly per¬ ceives, with whofe benefits he is abundantly replenished ?
If we do moftjuftly honour and admire Emperours and Princes^
-• ... and
Chap. i.
Of Nature'^ Gods Instrument.
3
and we cfteem them highly, andprefent them with great prefents, asm- bccaufe they do govern thofe Kingdomesthey got without blood iti great equity, becaufe they have Magiftrates unblamcable, who in of £mpe- executing their offices and publike charges, take great care and m:rs' pains, whereby they may hold all men in their duties, and all things may be kept peaceably, and the Commonwealth not rent by any Civil broils or feditions ; how much more ought we to ad¬ mire and adore God, who without any care or bufincfle, or pains,
Governs fo vaft and large an Empire of the World by his will ? To this belongs that of *Af>ulenu> a man that was far from our Religion, but he drew it from the Hebrew Fountains; That which the Pilot a simile, and Steer-man is in a Galley, a Coach-man in his Coach, the Chora- gw in adting Comedies,the Precentor inDances,the matter of Games at all Games, a Confulamongft Citizens, a Captain in an Army, a Companion in undertaking or repelling dangers • that, is God, in the world : but that it feems to be a toilfome thing, and full of in¬ numerable cares, to be the chief in any office ; but the cate of his Empire is neither troublefome nor burdenfome unto God. Yeti AUxauft would not have Phyfitians my adverfaries, or that Philofophcrs tvorfo mud fhould be offended, that in aliening the dignity of Nature, I refer \eQr$7*A her to the Fountain, and her firft original, for by this means all ° things are reduced to their firft being, and to the Archetype of all Nature. And though the word Nature be of large extent, andeve- ry man at his pleafure may invent fecundary definitions; yet they are all reduced to one : So,by the Phyfitians,
Nature is the imbred and infet quality in things.
Nature is the mixture and temper of the four Elements. I
Nature isthe force and propenfion of every ones mind.
Nature with Philofophcrs is thebeginningof motion and reft.
Nature is that which gives the form to every thing with its fpeci- ficall difference.
Nature is the force and efficient caufe, and the conferving imbred The proper caufe of the whole World, and the parts thereof 5 Nature (to fpeak definition more neerly) is the order and ferious of Gods works which obeys his °*^UTe' power, his words and commands, and borrows forces from him :
The principall caufe and original of all thefe deferiptions, and as many as learned men may invent, proceeds from that eternall mind, as fromamoft plentifull Fountain. It behoves all men to know this, and much concerns them to obferve, and to fatten it well in their minds, that fo the chief Work-matter may be better known to us all, andhismajefty and immenfity may be feen by us. For the fight of things and contemplation of nature will dtaw contempts brutifhmen that arefarttomtheknowledgof God intoa very great tiono/Na - admiration of his divinity, if they have any fpark of found tinder- tme rai{etJ? ftanding. For the nature of things which is vaft and diffufed all ™qGoT, ' over, far and near, when it doth every where prefent it felf to our eye and mind, it doth wonderfully affedf a man, and directs him into an exceeding great love and adoration of the maker of it. For i£ a man would mind and confider ferioufly what beauty and come-
D 2 linefie
•
4
'All was c/eatedfor mans dfe*
Vto'vttb ,c. ultt
'The pralfe
•f Con- rade Gek ncr.
ih A
Of Nature,
linefle there is of things created proceeding one from the other, and how artificially, and skillfully, all things are made and builded, and fhall fee that all things were created tor the neceflary ufes, and pleafure, and commodity of man, who would not be affected \vith them, or not honour and adore their maker, who would have all things be onely for mans fake, and to continue in a pcrpetuall order and fenes * not without admirable fucceffion in tbeir propagation > The excellency of nature made thefe things 5 As befides others, that Antony, he (that by reafon ofthofe fierce laws ofprofeription againft Chriftians, and rage of perfccution, which in all ages increafeth and grows new in fierceneffe, He went into the wildernefle and dwelt in folitary, vaft, inacccffiblc defarts, where Tyrants could not purfue him; who delighted himfelf onely in the contemplation of Nature, and natural things. That when one asked him (for he was courteous to all, and would refufe to anfwer none, asfometefty people do; wherefore he had fo few, and almoft no books : He is laid to have anfwered 5 that the fpe&acles of this world did fo much fatisfiehis mind and refrefh him, that they afforded him fuch do¬ cuments and precepts how to lead his life, that they were in the place of many books, and he did not much hand in need of them lometimes the moft pleafant reading of Books will glut a man, that the mind grows weary with tedioufneffe of reading; but the con¬ templation of nature brings fuch variety of delights and pleafures, that there arifeth from thence no loathing or tedioufnefie. Curious Writers will adorn their bboks and Commentaries with the Co¬ lours and paintings of Rhetoriques and gallant words : But Nature the In ft rument and Minifter of the greateft Work-maftcr, which is effectual and oppofite to work any thing, doth feed and refrefh our minds and eyes, not with any borrowed , but with natural variety. 1 or who is able to exprefte or unfold the cunning of Nature, her work and induftry, and the fpecies of Plants, Flowers, Animals, Creeping things, Fifties, Birds, and all their conditions, forces and efrebts ? What Artificer or Work-mafter though he be excellent, can by imitating, attain to thofe forms and ihapes which are eve¬ ry where evident, and men behold every moment? Art imitates Nature, and the induftry of man can draw and carve to the life • So Conrade Gefner , a man of hidden learning, and unwearied pains,* took fo much care in writing the Hiftory of all living Creatures, and things that breathe, to whom I give the Garland before all others : So many more in their deferiptions of Plants, and expref- fing their forms, have deferved very well ; But as all this is plaufi- ble and popular, and to imitate Nature is praife worthy, fo it doth reprefent all living creatures in dumb ftiews without life, taft, fa¬ vour or fmell, and void of all vertue. For the inanimate nature of things, is not filent or without a tongue, but lively, cheerfull, up¬ right, that will fet forth it felf, and lweetly allure thefenfes, fo that it will much move him that contemplates of* it, it will teach him many things, and will draw him on with her invitations, fo that the beholder will never be idle, or reft in that alone, but will from
hence
Chap. i.
Of Jgatart, Gods Inflrument.
5
hence elevate his mind to him, by whole force all chefe things Hand and con fill. So that in the things we plainly fee, we mull not onely look upon the Excellent workmanlhip of Nature that is to be imi- The Nature tated, but we muft behold the Majefty, Amplitude, Glory, Splendor, °f. ‘tings Magnificence of God, and the good will of a raoft bountifull Father c™d?ust0 unto Mankind. The Elements, Heavens, rifing and letting of the wh Stars, changes of day and night, the four parts of the years that com- prehend the two Equinoxes, in Spring and Autumn ; and the two by the w- Solfticesin Summer and Winter, by the revolution whereof plants ^cfe ^ fade and tail, and at their times come forth and revive again, as ’ they fhew and point at many things, fo they lhew the refurredion from death to life, whereby bodies in their appointed time fhall be perfedly reftored to life again.
David, that moft admired the works of God, did wonderfully ex¬ toll this admirable face of Nature, and aferibes it, as we ought, to the Work-mafter, and he doth with exceeding praifes adorn his works that are feen both in Heaven above, and in the Earth beneath, and followes them with juft commendations; fothat by his intent and fixed contemplation of them, he was compelled to cry ou t,How p/4/.io3; wonder full are thy Works, O Lord 1 thou hafi made all things in reifdome , the Earth is filed with the plenty thereof. This confideration of Na¬ ture feemed profitable to the very Heathens, and pleafant to their minds, who had a very fmall knowledge of Divine things : fo T ully t. 4* in Academics : I think not fit, that natural queftions are ever to be banifhed ; for it is the very food of our Souls and Mind to contem¬ plate the works of Nature; for we are made more attentive, and we defpife tranfitory fading things, faftning our minds on heavenly things. The very learching out of things begets delight , and the mind is fill’d and affeded with great delight.But whatloever Nature rufcui. j, hath produced, not onely of living creatures , but of plants that grow on the Earth, is the moft perfed in its own kind. Whereof fome arc very low, and grow not high above ground ; fome rife very high, others are alwayes green ; others again in winter are fpoyled of their beautiful leafs, but with the Spring’s heat they bud forth vlverfiiy of again, and grow into branches. Nor is there any thing that hath vlantSi not fuch an imbred property of reviving, but that from the feed fwclling forth it will produce flowers or fruit or berries, and will bring them to perfed maturity by the Suns heat, and endow them with fome healthful effed. Alfo in Animals who want reafon, yet • have fenfe, the force and Inclination of Nature may be perceived, creatures for fome are waterCreaturcs that can fwim,fome are Birds to flye in in- the open Ayr, fome creep, others go,fome wander alone,othcrs fly in Mature! flocks, as the Stares do,Linnets,Chafinches,Sparrows,Pigeons;fome are by nature fierce &: favge, others are gentle and tame, as all kinds hens and birds fed up at houfe. But Man to whom all thefc things vfal, 2, are made fubjed, hath obtain’d fomething far beyond them ; for Hcb- xi > befidehis gift of fpeaking, he hath reafon, a Mind and foul parra- .*• king of a heavenly and a divine nature. For the mind of Man was taken out of the divine Mind>andcan be compared to nothing but
God,
6
Mans Worth and Excellency,