Book I. Tib^ Temple ^/Wifdome. i^t

the fame manner : and ifit fliould work rather upon Gold which is figured, then upon that which is plain 5 this Aftion would feem to proceed, rather from the Eledion of the Heavens, then froiii any other caufc. In a word, the Vertue which is attri- buted to this Figure, can neither be Natural, nor Artificial : Not Natural, becaufe it proceeds from within; muchlefs is it Artificial j becaufe it is not communicated unto it by the Artificer: it niuft therefore neceflarily proceed from fome other Caufe.
The Learned anfwer of Gideottiis to thefe Ob jefti- ons is this. Non Enim in hue re mutatio ffeciei requiri* \ tur^ nee proprietas auri immutatur^ ttec uUd C riorum Ele- I Gio inter venit^ nee ah Artifice viiiUafan^ndi datur^ nee ImagOy lit Imago, quicquam Efficit^Scc. fed principiun^ ' AdioHis ac Paljionis affert^ ut B. Thomas, Magnufqiie : Albertw tejiantur ; non ut Figura^ & Imago, Matbema^ I ticc animadverfa. 'j fed ut effieit aliam in re figi^rata pra^ \ farationem^ qu£ Cdleftem adionem fine difficultate varij^ I modisaccipiat. And afterwards explaining, how it ; comes to pafs, that among the diverfe kinds of Fi- ; gu res that are under the Heavens^fome are more na« tiiraKy apt to receive the influences,then others are; He brings in the fame inftance of Looking-glafles ; ^mong which thofc that are hollow, receive the beams of the Sun, info full a meafure, as that they burne 5 and others receive them fcarcely at all. So the diverfity of Hilb, and Valiies, is thecaufeofa greater either heat, or coldnefs. VVc may alfo here ^id an inftance in pieces of Ice, which the Sun can- not fo eafily meic and diffolve, if they be plain, and fmooch i but very eaiily, if they be uneven, and rough. Which hath given occalion to fome to fay, i that painted figures are nothing fo proper to the ? ' " I 2 fubjcft
Ij3 The Temple g/VVirdomc. Book!.
fubjcft we treat of, as Graven, and Carved are : which is mo I true. As for Gold, although the figure change not the Species of it 5 yet notwithftau- ding it renders it more Apt, and proper for fuch an aftion : asvvatcr^ cold, and hot, though it be ftill thtizmt Species^ yet the one will boyl our meat, when the other will not. Which ma^cs Galeottus to conclude, inthefc termes : Kequiritur ergo^ inu^ nius & ejufdem fpecin rebuff cerium Culture tempera- tnentum^ut varietur effed us.
It hath alfo been obje6led,againft Francifcm Kueuf, who undertook the defence of this Kind of Sculp- ture, after Galeottus^ that if it be indued with fuch wonderful Vertues,Man's workmanfhip (hould then have more power, then God*s: feeing that the Graved figure of a Lion fhould be able to cure the Tainof thcReins 5 which a living L;on could not do. To this he anfwers,and that very pertinently, that, that which Man does, is as well the work of God, as that which God himfelf does-, feeing that weaiebut his inftruments; and that all our Aftions, according (o the Apoftle, are in him, and depend on him. Bcfide?, we fomcimes fee, that that which hath beencompofed by man, proves to be of grea*- tervertue, then that which God hath (imply crea- ted :as, for Fxample, Treacle is of more Soveraigive Vertue a£;ainft Poyfon, then any limpie, that the Naturaiifts have yet found out.
Tho e,who have diligently examined the choiceft J)arts of the learning ofthc Ancients,haveobfcrved, that there is nothing that is moreabfurd,in Appea- Tance^then the figures of theCeleftialConftcllations. What a confufed thing is if,(fay they) that in thofe places, which are deftmed to be the place of abode for the bleffed Spirits only, there (hould be Jodgtd
fuch