The Wonderful Workmanship of the World, Discourse · Chapter 13
The xiii. Chapter. whether this worlde bee ſphericall and rounde.
S.
I Remember althinges which you hauehave hetherto confirmed, to wit, that this world is ſubſtantiall, not a ſhadowe: that it is one, not many: and finally, that it is a certeine finite maſſe & comprehenſion and not infinite: and thereunto adde alſo the reſidue.
M,
Firſt, this is wount to bee demaunded, what is the forme of this worlde, and ſpecially of this body, with in the compaſſe whereof all theſe thinges are conteyned: for that ſome will hauehave it to bee ſphericall or rounde, as Ariſtotle: otherſome of the facion and likeneſſe of the figure Icoſaidron rownde compaſſinge with a greate manye of Angles or Corners heere and there in the top, as Plato: Others, plaine and flat, like a ſkin ſtretched foorth abroode, as S. Baſill: others giuegive it other formes, and thoſe alſo diuerſe, as the Greeke writer Cleomides reporteth in his title of ye contemplation of circles.
S.
Is there any of thoſe opinions true?
M.
God he knoweth. Wee, who in no place of his woord doe reade theſe matters plainely determined (vnleſſe parhaps ſome man will alleag that which is written in Iob the 22. Chapter, and 14. verſe: and there is mention alſo made of the ſphere of the earth in Iſay the 40. chapter and 22. verſe: and in S. Iames the 3. chapter and 6. verſe, to the ende hee might prooue that thys worlde, and alſo the outmoſt heauen, are rounde like a circle or a wheele) doe oftentimes fall & are drawne into contrarie opinions. Uerily, that the worlde is rounde, it ſeemeth vntounto mee much the more probable, by that which is written, as I hauehave ſaide in Iob the the 20. chapter, and 14. verſe: and in Eccleſ. the 24. chapter, and 8. verſe: both for that it is the moſt beutifull and wideſt forme of all other, by whiche it was needefull that a compaſſe which ſhoulde conteyne in the boſome thereof ſo many thinges, ſhoulde bee framed: alſo for that the principall, and as it were the partes of the whole in reſpecte of this worlde as are heauen, water, & earth, are by our ſenſes themſelues perceiued to bee ſphericall and rounde, vntounto whiche it is credible that the compaſſe of the whole worlde is ſemblable. Howe bee it, I can affirme nothinge certeinly therof, ſince although wee admit that this part whiche is neereſt vntounto vsus, & the lowermoſt of the circūference of the high heauen which wee beehold, and which enuironeth althing, be bending, holow, & round notwithſtandinge it maye bee imagined that the farthermoſte and highermoſte parte of the ſame circū ference is of ſome other forme: and I knowe ther bee ſome that hauehave ſaide that the vttermoſte and farthermoſt part of heauen is ſhaped like a bell.
S.
But in the Prophecic of Iſay, it is ſaid, that heauen is ſtretched foorthe, and ſprede abroade like a webbe or a curteine, Iſay the 40. chapter, and 22. verſe: wherevnto alſo accordeth that which is written in the 104. Pſalme, and 2. verſe, wherfore, it is like to a plaine, whiche fourme is quite contrarie to a circle. For a circle turneth about alwayes in his owne rowmeth.
M▪
Uerily, both the places which you hauehave alleaged, declareth not the forme, but the vttermoſt top or ende of world, which therfore is ſaid by God ſo to be ſtretched abroad and to couer the earth, both that men may the more commodiouſly dwell vnderunder it, as it were vnderunder a moſt beutifull and wide rough (whereof it commeth that wee French men call all ſuch couerings, heauen, and in our countrey language, vn ciell) and alſo to the intente that this is a veile beeinge ſprede beefore mens eies, they maye bee reſtrayned from the ouercurious and deepe entring into and ſearchinge after the ſecretes and miſteries of God.
S.
But ſince ye ſame holy Scripture hath plainly diſtinguiſhed the higher place frō the lower in this worlde, as in Iſay the 55. chapter, the 9. and 10. verſes, it cannot then ſeeme to bee ſphericall or round. For in a circle no part can bee called high or lowe, foraſmuch as all lines which are drawne from the center to the circumference are equall, and the circumference it ſelfe which way ſoeuer it ſtande, is alwaye vpwarde and in the higher place.
M.
Of this wee will ſpeake afterwarde, and that more at large. But nowe to ſet downe ſo much as ſhall bee ſufficient to take all doubt out of your minde, vnderſtande thus much: That by the rules of the mathematicians there bee indeede, and are noted theſe poſitions of the higher and lower place, and that they are indeede diſtinguiſhed one from an other. For the middle of the circle which they call the center, is the lower place and downewarde: and the circumference (which is the vpper line, which beeinge hollowe, and meetyng togither, conteineth the whole rounde ſpace within the circle) is the higher place, and vpwarde: ſo that in that theſe poſitions and kindes of places and differences are found in the world, you may conclude that which you would, to wit, that the whole receite of this worlde is not ſphericall and rounde.