Observations Natural and Moral, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. Whether the water or the fire be the more excellent Element.
2 Peter 3.7. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the ſame word are kept in ſtore, reſerved unto fire againſt the day of judgement, and perdition of ungodly men.
THere was a controverſie upon a time, betweene the fire and the water, Reaſons proving the water to be the more excellent elements.which of them were the more excellent element, and he who ſtood for the water alledged theſe reaſons.
Firſt, Reaſ. 1 the water is the moſt profitable element to man, and he ſtandeth moſt in need of it, at all times both in Sommer and Winter, by night and by day, & it is profitable both to ſicke and whole perſons, but the fire is many times hurtfull to man.
Secondly, Reaſ. 2 that which was found out ſince the beginning, and was not from the beginning, is not ſo neceſſary as that which was firſt from the beginning: Nature furniſhed that as ſimplie neceſſary; Art found out this but for ſuperfluous uſes, it can never be ſhewn that man wanted water, neither is there any amongſt the moſt excellent men, that are ſayd to be inventers of the water as Prometheus was of the fire; and the life of man was long without fire, but never without water.
Thirdly, Reaſ. 3 there are many people, that have not the uſe of fire, but there is no people in the world, but have the uſe of water, no man can live without water; but Diogenes never vſed fire, and many other creatures live without fire, and are nouriſhed onelyonly in the water: doe not the fiſh live in the ſea? beaſts upon raw fleſh and upon rootes? and no creature liveth without water.
Fourthly, Reaſon, 4 no creature liveth in the fire (for that of the Salamander is but a fable that it liveth in the fire, it deliteth to be neere the fire, for the coldneſſe of it) but the greateſt creatures and a multitude of diverſe kinde live in the water.
Fiftly, Reaſon, 5 that is thought to bee the moſt excellent element which ſtandeth in need of the leaſt preparation, but the fire hath need of much wood, and coale to nouriſh it, but the water is ſuch an element as it ſtandeth in neede of nothing to maintaine it, & nihilexira ſe deſiderat.
Sixtly, That element is judged, Reaſon, 6 moſt neceſſarie and profitable which may bee joyned with another, as the water admitteth the fire, for ye may heate it, but the fire never admitteth the water, ignis nuit quam humidus, aqua ſape calida.
Seventhly, there are foure elements, Reaſon, 7 and the water hath brought forth the ſea, which wee may terme the fift element becauſe it is as profitable to us as any of the reſt, for what commerce would men have touether without the ſea? it breedeth interchange and commerce amongſt Nations, and as Heraclitus ſayd, if wee wanted the Sunne, we ſhould live in perpetuall darkeneſſe, ſo we may ſay if, we wanted the ſea, we ſhould live like barbarous people and wild creatures.
Eightly, Reaſon, 8 when the heathen ſent their embaſſadors to any nation that they would have ſubdued to them, The manner how the heathen ſubdued other Nations.they deſired to them terram & aquam, and they in token of ſubjection ſent them water and earth becauſe all commandement is either by ſea or by land, and all poſſeſſions and riches are gotten out either of the ſea or land: and in the body of man, the water and the earth are the elements which prevaile moſt, when Darius ſent to the King of Scythia, Herodetus libre Scytha… rum.he deſired the King to ſend him water and earth, and when the King of Scythia had ſent him a Fowle, a Mouſe, and a Frog, and five arrowes; Darius interpreted the matter this wayes, that the Mouſe ſignified the earth, becauſe the Mouſe is bred in the earth, and liveth upon the ſame things which man doth; the frog to be the water, becauſe it liveth in the water, and the fowle to be his horſes, becauſe it is likeſt unto a horſe for ſwiftneſſe, and the five arrowes which hee ſent to him (for they were excellent archers) lignified that he would yeeid unto him, and deliver all his ſtrength and armour unto him, when they required the earth and water in token of ſubjection, this ſheweth the excellencie of the water above the fire.
We are baptized by water and not by fire. Reaſon, 9
In the creation when God created the foure elements, Reaſons proving the fire to be the more excellent element.the water and the earth, were but like the matter; the ayre and the fire like the forme, forming and faſhioning theſe dead and dull elements, for what were the water and the earth without the fire to cheriſh them? take heate from the water, it doth puttifie, as wee ſee in ſtanding waters, which wanting motion (which breedeth heat) putrifie and corrupt; but the running waters we call them living waters, becauſe the motion keepeth heat in them.
Take away heat from living creatures, Reaſon, 2 they die preſently; there is moyſture found in the creatures after they are dead but no heat, therefore water is not ſo neceſſarie as the fire, and in effect we may ſay, that death is nothing but a privation of heat.
Theſe things which have leaſt heate in them, Reaſon, 3 have leaſt perfect life, as we ſee in the body of man, the nailes and the hayre being fartheſt removed from the heart, and conſequently from heat, are moſt imperfect of all the parts of the body.
How neceſſary hath the uſe of fire beene for the finding out of all Arts and preſerving of them, Reaſ. 4 and therefore the heathen made Valcan the chiefe inventer of all arts, but the water hath no uſe in the invention of Arts, therefore not ſo excellent as the fire. Reaſ. 5
The Philoſopher ſayd that ſleepe tooke up the halfe of a mans life which is but a ſhort time, but if a man cannot ſleepe in the night, then the fire ſerveth with the light of it to make as it were a ſecond day to him, and taketh away the difference betwixt the day and the night. Reaſ. 6
That is the moſt excellent element which ſerveth for the temperature of the moſt excellent ſenſe, and this is ſeene moſt in the ſenſe of ſeeing, which is as it were a firie ſubſtance. This ſenſe is moſt profitable for us, to behold the workes of God.Anſwers to the objections.
And where it is objected that the water admitteth the fire to be joyned with it, Object. therefore it is moſt excellent.
When the water is hot and cureth us, Anſw. this proceedeth more from the heat than from the water, and this argueth rather an imperfection in the water than any deſert in the fire.
Where it is objected that ſome men live without fire, Object. and all the beaſts live without it.
Although they want the outward element, Anſw. yet they have aboundance of heat within them: what maketh the ſea more profitable than other waters? is it not the heate of it? And creatures doe not grow by humor onelyonly, but by hot humor, for the colder that the waters are the leſſe fruitfull they be.
Nothing liveth in the element of the fire, Object. as it doth in water.
The element of the fire in it ſelfe is ſo pure that compoſed bodies cannot live in it; Anſw. this argueth no defect in the element, but onelyonly the groſneſſe of compoſed bodies; and nothing liveth without the fire, for every thing that liketh hath the naturall heate to preſerve it.
But wee are baptized with water, and not with fire.
This proveth onelyonly the water to be the better element for this uſe, but it doth not prove ſimply that the water is the better element: the earth which is the baſeſt of all the elements, furniſheth bread and wine, for the ſacrament, yet this will not prove the earth to bee the beſt element.
The Aegyptians who held themſelves to be the moſt ancient people of the world and the moſt noble people, Diorodus Siculus verum antiq. lib. 2. cap. 1. Plutarchus in convivie ſeptem ſaptentum.contended with three diverſe nations; firſt, they contended with the Scythians for their antiquitie: ſecondly, with the Ethiopians for their wiſedome; thirdly, they contended with the Chaldeans for their God: the Aegyptians had the water for their god; and the Chaldaeans had the fire for their god, and the Chaldaeans ſayd that their God the fire was the more excellent god becauſe it was a part of the Sunne. Lib. 2. eccleſ. hiſt.And Rufinus ſaith that the Chaldeans went in the dayes of Conſtantine through many parts of the earth, to prove the excellencie of their god the fire, and their god burnt the reſt of the images, but when they came to Aegypt, and there appointed a day of triall for their gods, Vide Suidam in voce Canopus.the Aegyptians brought forth the huge image of Nilus which was hollow within, and filling it with water hored ſome holes in it, and cloſed them with wax artificially, that they could not be diſcerned. The Chaldeans ſet their god the fire round about the image, but the fire melting the wax, the water guſhed out in aboundance, and ſo quenched the Chaldeans God the fire: the Egyptians concluded, by this that the water their element was a more excellent goddeſſe than the fire; ſee how the blind heathen here had neither grace nor reaſon; they wanted grace forgetting the Creator to worſhip the creature; and then they wanted reaſon, for when the water is caſt upon the fire, the fire is not extinguiſhed but aſcendeth up to the owne element of it.
The concluſion of this: Concluſion. although both theſe elements be neceſſarie for the uſe of man, yet ſimply the fire is the more excellent element.