Treatise of Divinity, Book 3 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IIII.
BY the name of Clouds and Waters above the Firmament, Gen. 1. We may understand all meteores both watery and fiery which were then created in their causes, and so by clouds and windes, Psal. 104. 3. must be understood all the meteors, the great works of God by which he sheweth himselfe & worketh in this lower Heaven.
They are called Meteors*Meteora à loco quia in sublimi regione pendent, Brierwood. because they are most of them generated aloft in the aire.
Zanchius saith there are foure sorts of Meteors, others make but 3. sorts.
1. Fiery,There are 3. sorts of Meteors, one of fire and hot, the other of aire or water and cold, the other mingled, which in the Supreame Region of the aire are so enflamed by the fire, that they are of a fiery nature, as Comets, Thunder.
2. Airy, which being begotten of dry vapours of the earth, come neare the nature of aire, as winds.
3. Waterie, which retaine the nature of the water, as snow and raine.
4. Earthly, which being begot of earthly vapours, are also digged out of the Earth, as metals, stones.
The efficient cause is God,Hee sendeth snow like wool. according to that of the Psalmist, haile, snow, ice, winde and storme doe his will.
The remote matter of the Meteors are Elements, the next matter are exhalations, which are two-fold, fumus et vapor, smoake is of a middle nature between earth and fire, vapour betweene water and aire. If it come from the earth or some sandy place, it is fumus a fume or kind of smoak,*Vapor est calidus & humidus, oriturque ex aere et aqua, exhalatio calida et sicca, oriturque ex igne & terra. Zab. if it come from the water or some watery place it is a vapour.
Vapours or exhallations are fumes raised from the water & earth by the heavenly bodies, into one of the 3. Regions of the aire, whence divers impressions are formed according to the quality and quantity of the exhalations.
Thunder is a sound heard out of a thick or close compacted Cloud, which sound is procured by reason of hot and dry exhalations shut within the cloud: which seeking to get out with great violence rendaLike chesnuts or egges breaking in the fire. the cloud, from whence proceedes the tumbling noise which we call Thunder.
The Earth sends out partly by its owne innate heate, and partly by the externall heate and attraction of the Sun, certain hot andbCum exhalatio Calida & sicca in nubibus ocurrit humidae & frigidae illam violenta eruptione perrumpit atque ex hac collisi…ne fragor oritur qui tonitrudicitur atque accensio & inflammatio exhalationis, quae fulgur nominatur. Arist. l. 2. Meteor. c. 2. & 8. dry steames, which the Philosopher calls exhalations: and these going up in some abundance, are at last enclosed within some thicke cloud, consisting of cold and moist vapours, which finding themselves straightned, do with violence seeke a vent, and breake through the sides or low part of the cloude. There is first a great conflict and combate there of the contrary qualities, a great rumbling and tumbling and striving of the exhalations within the cloud, untill it breake forth into a loud and fearfull cracke. Then the exhalation by its heate incensed in the strife, proves all on a flame as it comes in the aire, and that is Lightning.
Lastly the exhalation falling downe upon the earth is so violent, that sometimes it breakes trees, sometimes it singeth and burneth what it meetes mith, it kills men and living creatures, and in the most abundance of it, there is a Thunder bolt begotten through exceeding great heate, hardning the earthy parts of it.
God hath power over the Thunder.Job 37. 4. He commands it,1 Sam. 7. 10. 29. Psal. per tot. & 18. 1…. rules it, orders it, for time, place, manner of working and all circumstances, the Thunder in Egypt at the delivering of the Law proves this. Therefore in the Scripture it is called the voyce of God, and the fearefulnesse and terriblenesse thereof is made an argument of the exceeding greatnesse of God, that can at his pleasure destroy his enemies even by the chiding of his voyce;A winters thunder is a summers wonder. In Autumne or Spring are oftner meteor▪ seen then in the summer and winter except in such places where the Summer & Winter are of the temper of Spring & Autumne. in Egypt he smote them with haile, lightning, thunder and with stormy tempest.
At the delivering of the Law, mighty thunder-claps made way to the Lords appearance, and were his harbingers to tell of his comming, and prepare the hearts of the people with exceeding great awfulnesse and obedience to receive directions from him. The Lord puts down, Job 40. 9. with this question, Canst thou thunder with a voyce like God, speake terribly, and with as big and loud a voice as thou canst; and if thy voyce be answerable to loud thunder, either in terriblenesse or loudnesse, then will I confesse my selfe to be thy equall; and Elihu reasoned for God by consideration of this great worke.Job 37. 1▪ to 6.
David, Psal. 29. sheweth the greatnesse of God in the greatnesse of this mighty sound. But it pleaseth God to effect this worke, not immediately but mediately, using naturall and ordinary causes according to his owne good will and pleasure for the eff…cting thereof.
There doe arise from the ends of the earth as the Scripture speaks, that is, from all quarters of this inferiour part of the world, consisting of earth and water, certain steams or fumes partly drawn up thence by the heate and influence of the Sun and other Planets or constellations, partly breathed out of the earth by the naturall heate thereof. Whereof some are hot and moist, being as it were of a middle nature betwixt water and aire: some hot and dry being of a middle nature betwixt fire and aire as some Philosophers thinke, of which two, as of the matter, are brought forth these strange things which wee see in the aire, and among the rest, Thunder. Though thunder bee first in nature, being by the violent eruption it makes out of the cloud the cause of fulgurations, yet we see first the lightning before wee heare the Thunder, because of the swiftnesse of the fire above the aire, and because the eye is quicker in perceiving its object then the eare.
This is done for the benefit of the world,Plutarch in the life of Flaminius reporteth that there was such a noyse made by the Grecians after their liberty was restored, that the birds of the aire that flew over them were seen to fal down by reason that the aire divided by their cry, was made so thinue, that there was no strength in it to bear them up, therefore the thunder must needs rarifie & make thin the aire. that by shaking of the aire it might bee purged and made fit for the use of man and beast, being cleansed from those ill and pestilent vapours, which otherwise would make it too thicke, grosse, and unwholsome for our bodies, for this is one speciall end of winds, thunders, and the like vehement works that are in the aire, besides the particular work for which God assigneth them, and therefore with thunder likely is joyned much raine, because the cloud is dissolved at the same time, and sometimes violent winds and tempests, because the exhalation inflamed, snatcheth with it selfe such windy fumes as it meetes withall in the aire, and so by violent stirring the aire purgeth it, and openeth the parts of the earth by shaking and moving it.
1. We must turne all this to a spirituall use, viz. to instruct us in the feare of him that is Lord of Hoasis, who shews his greatnesse in these mighty deedes of his hand, to which purpose alwayes the Scripture speakes of it, exhorting the mighty to give unto the Lord glory and strength in regard of this.
2. We must observe God so in this and all his great works, as to cause our mindes to encrease in the knowledge of his excellencie, and our hearts in the love and feare of him. All his works are therefore exhorted to praise him, because wee by all should learn his praise and greatnesse. How able is God to destroy sinners, how quickely and in a moment can hee bring them to ruine! let him but speake to the thunder, haile, tempest, and they will beate downe and consume his adversaries before his face, ô then tremble before him.
3. We must learn to put our confidence in God, and boldly to promise our selves deliverance when he promiseth it.
God is wonderfull in making and ruling the clouds. This is a work wch God doth often alleadge in Scripture to prove his greatnesse,If it bee a great cloud it is called nubes, it but a little one, it is called nubecula. Job 37. 26. Hee bindes the waters in a garment, Prov. 30. 4. that is, makes the Clouds. How as it were by an even poysing of one part with the other God makes these Clouds to hover a great while over the earth before they bee dissolved, is a thing worthy admiration, and greatly surpasseth our knowledge,Ab obnubendo, operiendo coelum. Job 38. 34. Psal. 14. 78. and Prov. 8. 28. Psal. 104. 3. The cloud is water rarified drawn upward till it come to a cold place,The clouds are called the bottles of heaven, Job 38. 37. The windowes and flood-gates of heaven, Gen 7. 11. & Mal. 3. 10. the fountaines of the deep, Prov. 8. 28. & the watery roofe of Gods chambers, Psal. 104. 3. The pavilion, chariot, and treasure of the Lord, Psal. 18. 11. 2. Sam. 22. 12. swadling bands for the Sea, Job 38. 9. The cloud is a thicke & moist vapour drawne up from the earth by the heat of the Sun to the middle region of the aire, and by the coldnesse there further thickened, so that it hangeth, untill ether the weight or some resolution, cause it to fall downe. and then it is thicke, and drops downe.
They are but nine miles (say some) from the earth, but they are of unequall height, and are lower in Winter then in Summer, when the Sun hath the greater force, then they ascend higher, and in his smaller force they hang the lower.
Let us consider the causes of these clouds, and the uses of them.
The efficient causes are thought to be the heate & influence of the Sun and the Stars which doth rarifie the water, & draw thence the matter of the clouds, as you shall perceive, if you hold a wet cloath before the fire, that a thicke steame will come out of it, because the fire makes thin the thickness of the water, and turns it into a kind of moist vapour, and the earth hath some heate mixed with it through a certain quantity of fire that is dispersed in the bowels of it, which causeth such like steames to ascend out of it, and the coldnsse of the middle region doth condensate and thicken these steames or breaths, and turne them againe into water at length and at last to thicke clouds.
2. The matter is the steams that the waters and earth doe yeeld forth by this heate.
The uses of it are to make rain and snow, (snow is nothing but rain condensated & whi…ened by the excessive cold in the winter time as it is in descending) for the watering of the earth and making it fruitfull, or else for the excessive moistning of the earth to hinder the fruitfulnesse of it, if God see fit to punish. The earth without moysture cannot bring forth the fruit… that it should, and some parts of the earth have so little water neare them below, that they could not else be sufficiently moystened to the making of them fruitfull. God hath therefore commanded the Sunne among other offices to make the vapours ascend from the Sea and Earth, that he may powre it down again upon the forsaken wildernesse or other places, whether for punishment or otherwise.
Ob.
How can it be conceived, that the clouds above, being heavy with water, should not fall to the Earth, seeing every heavy thing naturally descendeth and tendeth down-ward.
Sol.
No man by wit or reason can resolve this doubt, but only from the word of God, which teacheth that it is by vertue of Gods Commandement given in the Creation, that the Cloudes fall not, Gen. 1. 6. Let the Firmament separate the waters from the waters:Mr. Perkins on Jude 12. by force of which commanding word the water hangeth in the clouds, and the clouds in the aire, and need no other supporters, Job 26. 7, 8. setting out the Majestie and greatnesse of God in his workes, here beginneth, that He hangeth the Earth upon nothing, be bindeth the waters in the Clouds, and the Cloud is not rent under them. Philosophie is too defective to yeeld the true reason of this great work of God which commonly attributeth too much to natura naturata, nature, and too little to natura naturans the God of nature.
Now we must here also blame our own carelesnesse and folly which forbeare to consider of this worke that hangs over our heads.Consectaries. The clouds are carried from place to place in our sight,Job 37. 11. to 17. and cover the Sun from us.Job 36. 32. They hinder the over-vehement heate of the Sunne from scorching the earth,Psalme 91. 1. and yet wee never thinke what strange things they be, and what a mercifull Creator is he that prepared them. Not seeing God in the workes of nature, shewes great stupidity, and should make us lament. Let us endeavour to revive the thoughts of God in our mindes by his workes. When wee see the clouds carried up and downe as wee doe sometimes one way sometimes another, swiftly, then let us set our heart a worke to thinke there goes Gods Coach as it were,Psalme 104. 3. here he rides above our heads to marke our way, and to reward or punish our good or bad courses with seasonable raine for our comfort, or excessive showers for our terrour. O seeke to him and labour to please him, that hee may not finde matter of anger & provocation against us.
When the Clouds either favour or chastise us, let us take notice of Gods hand in these either comfortable or discomfortable effects, and not impute it all to the course of nature.
By meanes of the Clouds God waters the earth, yea the drye wildernesse: without moysture there can be no fruitfulnesse, without Clouds no raine, without that no corne or grasse, and so no man or beast.
RaineaGreat raine is called nimbus, small raine imber. is as it were the melting of a Cloude turned into water, Psal. 104. 13.
It is a great work of God to make raine, and cause it fitly and seasonably to descend upon the earth.Amos 4. 8. It is a work often named in Scripture▪ Deut 11. 14. and 28. 12. Levit. 26. 4. Jer. 5. 24. It is noted in Job divers times 36. 27. He maketh small the drops of water. God propounds this worke to Job. as a demonstration of his greatnesse, Job 38. 25. 34. See Jer 30. 13. Psalm 137. 8. Now this work is the more to be observed in these respects.
1. The necessity of it in regard of the good it bringeth if it be seasonable and moderate, and the evill which followes the want, excesse or untimelinesse of it.
2. In regard of mans utter inability to procurebThough all men should unite all their wits, purses, & hands together, to make or to hinder one showr of raine, they are unable. Rich men; great, wise men, have not these waters at command: the lesse a creature can do to effect it, the more doth the greatness of God shine forth in it. or hinder it, as in the dayes of Noah, all the world could not hinder it, and in the dayes of Ahab none could procure it.
3. In regard of the greatnesse of the worke in the course of nature for the effecting of which, so many wonders concurre.
First, without this drinke afforded to the fields, we should soone finde the world pined and sterved, and man and beast consumed out of it for want of foode to eate. It is the cause of fruitfulnesse, and the want of it causeth barrennesse, and so destruction of all living creatures that are maintained by the encrease of the earth. As mischievous and terrible a thing as a famine is, so good and beneficiall a thing is raine which keepeth off famine.
Secondly, It procureth plenty of all necessaries, when the Heavens give their drops in fit time and measure, the earth also sends forth her off-spring in great store and fit season,In Egypt there is seldom rain, it is made fruitf…l by the inundation of Ni…us. & so both men and beasts enjoy all things according to their naturall desire, this so comfortable a thing as plenty is, so worthy a work of God, is the effect of raine, I meane raine in due season and proportion.
Lastly,In India raine is not so frequēt as with us. Jerome saith hee never saw rain there in the months of June & July: hence raine in harvest was there unusuall, Pro. 26. 1. 1 Sam. 12. 16. The greatnesse of the workes which must meet together for making and distributing of raine doth magnifie the worke. The Sunne by his heate drawes up moist steams & breath from the earth and water, these ascending to the middle region of the aire which is some-what colder then the lower, are again thickned and turne into water, and so drop downe by their owne heavinesse: by drops, not altogether as it were by cowles*as they do in the Ind… ▪ Verbum Dei comparatur pluviae, Deutr. 32. 2. Ideoque Hebraei uno verbo jorah & doctrinam & pluviam efferunt. Mollerus. full, partly from the height of place, from which they fall, which causeth the water to disperse it selfe into drops, and partly because it is by little and little not all at once thickned and turned into water, & so descends by little portions as it is thickned. So the Sunne and other starres, the earth, the water, windes, and all the frame of nature are put to great toile and paines as it were to make ready these Clouds, for from the end… of the earth are the waters drawn which make our showers.
God is the first efficient cause of raine, Gen. 2. 5. It is said there God had not caused it to raine, Job 5. 10. Jer. 14. 22. Zach. 10. 1. The materiall cause of it is a vapour ascending out of the earth. 3. the formall, by the force of the cold, the vapours are condensed into Clouds in the middle region of the aire. 4. The end of raine, to water the earth, Genes. 2. 6. which generation and use of raine David hath elegantly explained, Psal. 147. 8.
The cause of the Raine-bow is the light or beames of the Sun in a hollow and dewie cloud,Thaumantis filiam dixere Iridem Poetae; Colores ejus tam exacti, ut vix artificis possit exprimere manus. of a different proportion, right opposite to the Sun beames, by the reflection of which beames, and the divers mixture of the light and the shade, there is expressed as it were in a glasse the admirable Raine-bow.
We should be humbled for our unthankfulness and want of making due use of this merciemercy,Consectaries from the raine & Raine bow. the want of it would make us mutter, yet we praise not God nor serve him the better when we have it, Jer. 14. 22. intimating, without Gods omnipotencie working in and by them, they cannot doe it. If God actuate not the course of nature, nothing is done by it; let us have therefore our hearts and eyes fixed on him when wee behold raine,Job 5. 8, 9, 10. sometime it mizleth, gently descending, sometimes falls with greater drops, sometime with violence, this ariseth from the greater or lesse quantity of the vapour, and more or less heate or cold of the aire that thickneth or melteth, or from the greater or smaller distance of the cloud from the earth, or from the greater purity or grossenesse of the aire by reason of other concurring accidents; either we feele the benefit or the want of raine likely once every monethmonth· Let not a thing so admirable passe by us without heeding to bee made better by it. Want of moisture from above must produce praying,James 5. 17, 18. confessing,See Gen. 9. 13. turning, 1 Kings 8. 35. 36.
The colours that appear in the Rainbow are principally 3. 1. The Cerulean or watery colour, which notes the destroying of the world by water. 2. The grassie or greene colour which shewes that God doth preserve the world for the present. 3. The yellow or fiery colour, shewing the world shal be destroyed with fire.
Dew consists of a cold moist vapour which the Sun draweth into the aire, from whence when it is somewhat thickned through cold of the night, and also of the place (whether the Sun exhaled it) it falleth down in very small and indiscernable drops to the great refreshment of the earth.Hosea 14. 5. It falleth only morning aud evening.
Hath the raine a Father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose wombe came the raine and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendred it saith God to Job, Ch. 38. 28, 29.
A frost is dew congealed by overmuch cold. It differs from the dew, because the frost is made in a cold time and place, the dew in a temperate time; both of them are made when the weather is calme and not windy, and generated in the lowest region of the aire.
Haile and ice is the same thing, viz. water bound with cold, they differ onelyonly in figure, viz. that the hailestones are or bicular begotten of the little drops of raine falling,Valessus de sa…ra philosophia. but ice is made of water continued, whether it be congealed in rivers, or sea or fountaines, or pooles or any vessels whatsoever, and retaines the figure of the water congealed.
Though ice be not Chrystall, yet some say Chrystall is from ice; when ice is hardened into the nature of a stone it becomes Chrystall; more degrees of coldnesse, hardnesse, and clearenesse, give ice the denomination of Chrystall, and the name Chrystall imports so much, that is, water by cold contracted into ice; Plinie in his naturall Historie saith, the birth of it is from ice vehemently frozen.alib. 37. ch. 2 But Doctor Browne *lib. 2. chap. 1.in his enquiries into vulgar errours doubts of it.
The windes are also a great worke of God, he made and he ruleth the windsbPsal. 104. 24 and 135. 7.. They come not by chance, but by a particular power of God, causing them to be, and to be thus, hee brings them out of his treasures,It is a dry and hot fume ascending upward, & beaten backe againe by the coldne…se of the middle region, & some comes downeward againe sideling, with more or lesse violence, as the sume is larger, or subtiler, and the cold more or lesse. He caused the winds to serve him in Egypt to bring Froggs, and after Locusts, and then to remove the Locusts againe. He caused the winds to divide the red Sea that Israell might passe. Hee made the winds to bring quailes; and the winds are said to have wings for their swiftnesse, the nature of them is very abstruse.
The efficient causes of them are the Sunne, and starres, by their heate drawing up the thinnest and dryest fumes or exhalations, which by the cold of the middle region being beaten back againe,Ventus à violentia & vehementia nomen habet quod veniat abundè, & magna vi irruat in unum aliquem locum mag. Ph. doe slide obliquely with great violence through the ayre this way or that way. The effects of it are wonderfull, they sometimes carrie raine hither and thither, they make frost and they thaw, they are sometimes exceeding violent, and a man that sees their working can hardly satisfie himselfe in that which Philosophers speakes about their causes, the wind bloweth where it listeth, wee heare its sound but know not whence it commeth, nor whether it goeth. It is a thing which farre surpasseth our understanding to conceive fully the causes of it.Some think the Angells cause the windes to blew, Revel 7. 1. but that is but a conceire, Prov. 30. 4.Amos 4. 13.
They blow most ordinarily at the Spring and fall, for there is not so much wind in winter, because the earth is bound with cold, and so the vapour the matter of the wind cannot ascend; nor in summer because vapours are then raised up by the Sun, and it consumes them with his great heate.
These Winds alter the weather, some of them bringing raine, some drinesse,cThe profit of the wind. Dr. Fulke of meteors. some frost and snow, which are all necessary; there is also an universall commodity which riseth by the onelyonly moving of the ayre, which ayre if not continually stirred, would soone putrifie and infect all that breath upon the earth.
It serves to condemne our owne blindnesse that cannot see God in this great worke;It made Adam tremble when God came in the winde. the wind commeth downe unto us, it is neere us, we feele the blasts of it, and yet we feele not the power and greatnesse of God in it. When God doth so plainly, and so many waies discover himselfe to us, yet blind wretches we perceive him not. We are now to stirre up our mindes to the consideration of God in this his mighty worke. See him walking through the earth, and visiting it in the swift wings of this creature. It hath also an apt resemblance and image of God in it, 1. In the subtilnesse and invisible nature of it, the swiftnesse of the winde may note his omnipresence, who is said to ride on the wings of the winde. 2. In its powerfull motion & efficacie which no man can hinder or resist.1 Cor. 12. 11. 3. In the freedome of its motion, John 3. 7. 4. In the secresie of his working of mighty workes, the windes are invisible.
The consideration of the windes, leades us into our selves, and that
1. For humiliation; for who knoweth the nature of the winde, the place of the winde, the way of the winde, to see in it our owne vanity, Job 7. 7. Psal. 78. 39.
2. Instruction,Matth. 8. 26. shall so fierce a creature be at a becke,Jer. 18. 17. and shall not I? 2. See the miserable estate of wicked men, on whom destruction and feare shall come as a whirle-wind, Prov. 27. 18. They shall be as stubble or chaffe before the winde, Psal. 1.
Metalls*Metalla, i. e. foreign, that is, which is ingendred or bred about, or with some other thing, as gold about silver, and silv…r abo… brass. Plinis. l. 33. chap. 6. are minerall substances, susible and malleable. They are commonly distinguished into perfect and imperfect; perfect, because they have lesse impurity or heterogen…ity in them, as gold and silver: imperfect, because they are full of impurities, as iron, copper, tin and lead.
Gold of all metalls is the most solid, and therefore the most heavie. It will loose none of his substance neither by fire nor water, therefore it will not make broth more cordiall, being boyled in it. Silver is next in purity to gold, but it is inferiour unto it.
Precious stones (in Latine Gemmae) are esteemed for their rarity, or for some vertue fancied to be in them, or for their purenesse and transparentnesse.
The Psalmist declares the great worke of God in distinguishing the waters from the earth,Third dayes worke. and making Sea and dry land.Psal. 104. 89. The waters at the first did encompasse and cover the earth round about as it were a garment, and overflow the highest parts of it altogether,*It is called mare either frō the Latine Amarum, or the Chaldee marath signifying also bitter, because the Seawater is bitter and salt. For the use of man and all other living creatures God made a separation of the earth and water, causing the water to sinke down into huge hollow channells prepared to receive it, that so the dry land might appeare above it. so that no dry ground was seene or could be seene in the world, this was the first constitution of them as Moses relateth, Gen. 1. 2. The deepe was the whole Orbe of waters which inclosed the earth in themselves. But then God pleased to divide the waters from the earth, so as to make dry land appeare, and for that end. 1. He drave the waters into one place, spreading the earth over them, and founding it upon them, Psal. 104. v. 6. 7. God by his mighty power (compared there to a thundering voyce) did make the waters to gather together into the place that hee had appointed for them under the earth, and that by raising up hills and mountaines, and causing dales and valleyes, then God appointed the waters their bounds that they should still continue in these hollowes under the earth, and not returne to cover the earth, as else of their owne nature they would have done.
There are divers profitable questions about these things?
1. Whether the Sea would not naturally overflow the land, as it did at the first creation, were it not with-held within his bankes by divine power?
The answer is affirmative,We must consider the earth and waters. 1. absolutely, as they are Elements and solid bodies, so the water hath the higher place, being lighter. 2. In respect of the superficies of either, so the superficie of the earth is higher. Carp. Geog. If wee compare the Coasts and the neerest Sea, then the land is higher then the Sea: but if wee compare the land and the maine Sea, then the Sea is higher then the Land, and therefore the Sea is called Altum, where ships flye faster to the shore then from it. and the reason is evident, the water is lighter then the earth, and heavier things are apt to pierce through the light, and the light will take to themselves an higher place, and give way to the heavier things to descend through them; mixe a great deale of dirt and water, and let it stand a while and take its owne proper course, and the dirt will sinke to the bottome, leaving the water above it selfe. Aristotle and others say that the Sea is higher then the earth, and they can render no reason why it (being apt to runne abroad) should be kept from over-flowing the land, whence he proves Gods providence.
2. Whether there be more Sea or Land. The multitude of waters made by God at first did cover the earth, and inclose it round, the Sea therefore must needs be farre greater then the Earth. The Mapps shew it to be greater in quantity then the Earth.
3. Whether the deepnesse of the Sea*Carpenter in his 2d ▪ book of Geographie, c. 10. saith the perpendicular height of the highest mountaines seldome exceeds …en fur longs. doth exceed the height of the mountaines.See Sir Walter Raleighs Historie of the world, l. 1. c▪ 7 Sect. 11.
It was a great worke of God to make mountaine & vallies, hils & dales. The Scripture often mentions it, Pro. 8. 25. Psal. 65. 6. and 95. 4. and 90. 2. Psalm 104. 8. Amos 4. 13. Therfore are the mountaines exhorted to praise God, Psal. 146. 9. Esay 40. 12. Hee is said to have weighed the mountaines in scales and the hils in ballances, that is, to have poised them even, so that the earth might remain unmoveably in the parts of it as well as in the whole. The greatnesse of this worke appeares:
1. In the strangenesse and hiddennesse of it.
How should so heavy a thing as the earth thus heave up it selfe into so great ascents, to give place unto the waters under it? the immediate power of God is the cause of it, Ps. 24. 2. & 136. Psalm. It may bee some hills were made by the furie and violent motion of the waves of the waters of Noah's flood, but the most and greatest were created on the third day.
2. In the usefulnesse of it?
1. For beauty and ornament, it gives a more delightfull prospect to see hills and dales, then to looke upon all one even and flat piece of ground without any such risings.
2. It conduceth to the fruitfulnsse of the earth. The vales are much more fruitfull then if they were flats without hills, because of the dew and moysture that descendeth upon them, from the hills, and some things grow better upon the higher places, on the sides or tops of the mountaines.
3. Without these hills and mountaines there could not have been roome for the waters which before did swallow up the earth in its bowels, neither could the dry land have appeared.
4. Without such hills and dales there could not have beene rivers and springs running with so constant a course.
5. Hills and mountaines are the receptacles of the principall mines for metalls and quarries for all kinde of usefull stones, Deut. 8. 9. and 33. 15. They are for boundaries betwixt Countrey and countrey, Kingdome and Kingdome. We should tell our selves how admirable and usefull this kind of frame and scituation the earth is.
4. Whether*Insulae portiones terrae sunt oceano cinctae ortus varia habent principia. Emersere quaedam ex mari, a continenti av…lsae quaedam, aggesta nonnullis ortum dedit materia. Johnstoni Thaumato graphia naturalis. Islands came since the flood.
5. What is the cause of the saltnesse of the Sea.Duo maxima quae mari tribuuntur mira, salsedo & reciprocatio. Johnstoni Thaumat… graphia naturalis.
The water of the Sea is salt, not by nature but by accident. Aristotle refers the saltish quality of the Sea-water to the Sun as the chiefe cause, for it drawes up the thinner and fresher parts of the water, leaving the thicker and lower water to suffer adustion of the Sun-beames; and so consequently to become salt,De Origine Fontium, c. 8. & 9. See Plinies booke of natural history from ch. 97. to 100. two things chiefely concurre to the generation of saltishnesse, drowth & adustion. Our Uurine and excrements for the same reason are also salt, the purest part of our nourishment being employed in and upon the body. Lydiat attributes it to under-earth or rather under-sea fires of a bituminous nature, causing both the motion and saltnesse of the Sea. Aristotle affirmeth that the Sea in Summer, & toward the South is more salt then else-where, and is fresher toward the bottome then top.
The Sea is salt, 1. to keepe it from putrifaction, which is not necessary in the floods, because of their swift motion. 2. for the breeding and nourishing of great Fishes, being both hotter and thicker.
7. What is the cause of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea.
There have been many opinions of the cause of the ebbing and*It is called reciprocatio & aestus maris, because it is caused by a hot exhalation boiling in the Sea, or because the Sea suffers as if it boyled again with heate. flowing of the Sea. De quo plura pro ingeniis differentium, quam pro veritatis fide expressa.
Some say it is the breathing or blowing of the world, as Strabo, Albertus Magn. One said it was because the waters getting into certaine holes of the earth, were forced out again by Spirits remaining within the earth. Macrobius said it was by meeting the East & West Ocean. Cicero seems to ascribe it only to the power of God, others for the most part ascribe it to the various light or influences of the moone, which rules over all moist bodies.Brierwood de meteoris. Some attribute it to certaine subterranean or under-Sea fires. The final cause of the Seas motion is the preserving and purging of the waters, as the aire is purged by windes.
Coelius Rhodiginus (Antiq. lect. l. 29. c. 8.) writeth of Aristotle, that when he had studied long about it, at the last being weary, he dyed through tediousnesse of such an intricate doubt. Some say he drowned himselfe in Euripus, because hee could finde no reason why it had so various a fluxion and refluxion seven times a day at least, adding before that his praecipitation, quoniam Aristoteles non cepit Euripum, Euripus capiat Aristotelem. Since Aristotle could not comprehend Euripus, it should comprehend him. But Doctor Brown in his Enquiries*l. 7. ch. 13. seemes to doubt of the truth of this story.
Other questions there are concerning r…vers. What is the originall ofaSee Doctor Jorden of Bathes. ch. 3. springs and Rivers? what manner of motion the running of the rivers is? whether straight or circular.
As one part of the waters,Rivers are said to be ingendred in the hollow concavities of the earth, and derive both their birth and continuall sustenance from the aire; which penetrati…g the open chinks of the earth, & being congealed by the extream cold of that element, dissolves into water, as the aire in winter nights is melted in a pearly dew sticking on our glass windows. and the farre greater part is gathered into one place, and much of it hidden in the bowels of the earth, and there as it were imprisoned or treasured up by making the Sea and dry land so another part of them was appointed to runne up & down within the earth, and upon it in springs & rivers, which rivers are nothing but the assembling of the waters into divers great channells from the fountains and springs, which the Psalmist describeth by its matter and use or effect. He sendeth the springs into the valleyes which run along the hills, that is, He made the springs and fountaines to conveigh waters from place to place, the use of this is to give drinke unto the beasts, even to the wilde asses who quench their thirst there. There be many other uses of springs and rivers, but this is noted as the most manifest and evident. Another use is for the fowles, which have their habitation in the trees which grow neere and by meanes of these springs, & there they sit and sing. These spring bring up so much moisture to the upper parts of the earth as causeth trees to grow also for fowles to build and sing in. Some of the waters also were drawn up into the middle region of the world, & changed into Clouds, that so they may be dissolved and powred downe againe from thence upon the hills also and other places which cannot be watered by the Springs, that so the whole earth may be satisfied with the fruit of Gods works.
The Poets faigned that Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto divided the Universe, and that Neptune had the Sea for his part, which is called Neptunus either à nando from navigation, or a nubendo, from covering, because the Sea covers the earth: and Pontus; the nations about Pontus thought no Sea in the world like unto their owne, and doubted whether there were any other Sea but that, whence Pontus was used for the Sea in generall.
The Sea is a wide and spacious place,Doctor Halls Contemplation. Psal. 104. 25. The great deepe, the wombe of moisture, the well of fountains the great Pond of the world.
The reason of the greatnesse and widenesse of it is the multitude of waters which were made by God at the first, which because they did cover the earth and inclose it round, it must needs be farre greater then the earth,It must be large to containe so many creatures. and therefore when God saw fit to distinguish the dry land from the earth, must needs have very great ditches cut for it in the earth, and caverns made to hold it; & therefore the earth in Scripture is said to be spread out upon the Sea, because a great part of it is so in respect of the waters that are under it.
Again, the use the principall use of the Sea & waters therof was; that it might supply vapours for making of the clouds by the attraction of the Sunne and native heate of the Sea in respect of some fire which God hath mixed with the earth and waters,Amos 5. 8. and 9. 6. that they may be more fit to give life to living things.
Now if the superficies of the Sea were not very large and wide, the Sunne could not have power enough by its attractive heate and warmth, by which it doth attenuate & make thin the waters into vapours: which after the cold of the aire, when they come into the middle region of it, doth againe thicken and turne it into waters. I say the Sunne could not else have power to draw out of the Sea sufficient store of these vapours for watering of the earth with showers. So the multitude of the waters and the necessity of having much of them drawn up for raine required, that they should not have little receptacles, but one so great and spacious a receptacle which we call the Sea. Oceanus, the Ocean is that generall collection of all waters which environeth the world on every side. Mare the Sea is a part of the Ocean, to which we cannot come but by some streight.
In the Sea are innumerable creatures,Psal. 104. 25. 107. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. small and great, there walke the Shipps, there play the Leviathans. What living mountaines (such are the Whales, some of which have beene found 600.Dr. Halls Contemplat. foote long, and 360. foote broad) rowle up and downe in those fearfull billowes; for greatnesse of number, hugenesse of quantity, strangenesse of shapes, variety of fashions, neither aire nor earth can compare with the waters.
Another use of the Sea is,Psalm 104. that there goe the Ships, as the Prophet speakes in a kind of wonderment.
The whole art of Navigation is a strange art, the Lord sitted the Sea for this purpose, that it might be usefull to transport men from place to place, and other things from countrey to countrey. Men build moveable houses, and so goe through the waters on dry ground: they flye through the Sea by the helpe of windes gathered in fitly with sails, as birds do through the aire: and having learnt of birds to steere themselves in the Sea, they have an helme, at the which the Master sitting, doth turne about the whole bodie of his ship at his pleasure. The swiftnesse of the motion of a ship is strange, some say that with a strong winde they will goe as fast and faster then an arrow out of a bow. The Lord hath given understanding to man to frame a huge vessell of wood cut into s…t pieces, and to joyne it so close with pitch and rozin and other things mixt together, that it shall let in none or but a little water, and it shall carry a very great burden within, & yet will not sinke under water; and hath given wisedome also to man to make sailes to receive the strength of the winde, and cords to move them up and down at pleasure, and to make masts to hang on those sails, & hath given men a dexteterity to run up to the tops of these masts, by means of a cord framed in fashion of a ladder, that can but even amuze an ordinary beholder, and all this for a most excellent use, viz. of maintaining commerce betwixt Nation and Nation, and of conveighing things needfull from one place to another, that all places might enjoy the commodities one of another.
To this art of Navigation do Kingdoms owe most of their riches,1 Kings 19. 26 & 10. 22. delights and choise curiosities, a great part of Solomons riches came in this way; it is the easiest, safest, and quickest way of transportation of goods.
How obnoxious are we to God,Consectaries rom the Sea. therefore we should not be bold to offend him, how much danger do we stand in if he should let the waters take their own naturall course, and exalt themselves above the mountaines.
At the flood he gave leave to the great Deeps to break their bounds, and permitted the waters to take their own place, & the waters were some 7. yards higher then the tops of highest mountaines. He can doe as much now for the demonstration of his just wrath, for though He hath promised that the waters shall never overflow the whole earth, yet not that they shall never overflow England which stands also in the Sea.
2. Let us praise the goodnesse of God which preserveth the whole world alive by a kind of miracle, even by keeping the water from overflowing the earth. God would convince us that we live of his meere favour, and that his speciall power and goodnesse keeps us: the waters if they were left to their own naturall propensity would soone overwhelm the earth againe, but that God locked them up in the places provided for them. This worke is mentioned in divers places, Job 38. 8. and 26. 10. Psalme 37. 7. Prov. 8. 29. Jer. 5. 22.
First, it is absolutely needfull for the preservation of the lives of all things that live and breath out of the Sea.
2. It is a strange and hidden work, God effecteth it by some setled reason in the course of nature, but we cannot by searching find it out. Perhaps this may be it, the naturall motion of every heavy thing is toward the Center, and then it will rest when it hath attained to its own proper place. Now the earth is stretched over the flouds, and it may seeme that a great part of them doth fill the very bowells & concavity of the earth in the very place where the Center or middle point of it is seated.
Hence it is, that they will not be drawne up againe, nor follow the upper parts which tosse themselves up and downe, but rather pull down those rising graves againe, especially seeing it is most evident in nature by many experiments every day, that it is utterly impossible there should be any vacuum as they call it, any meere empty place in which nothing at all is contained, because that would divide the contiguity of things, and so cause that the world should bee no longer an orderly frame of divers things together: for the parts would not be contiguous and united together if such a vacuum should fall out, therefore water will ascend, aire will descend, and all things wil even loose their own nature, and doe quite contrary to their nature, rather then such a thing should be.
Now it may seeme the Lord hath hidden the water in the earth with such turnings and windings, some places in which it is, being larger some lesse large, that the larger places having no open vent for aire to succeed the water, cannot be so soone filled from below, as they would emptie themselves upward, and so there must needs be vacuity, if they should not returne back againe and stop their course, and therefore they must needs stop as it were in the midst of their carriere. And this also may seeme to be a great and principall cause of the fluxe and refluxe of the Sea, which if it were not, the waters having their course alwayes one way, must needs by little and little returne againe to cover the earth. If this be the cause (as is probable) it is wonderfull, that God should set such an inclination into all parts of the world, that they will suffer any crossing of their own particular natures, rather then not maintain the generall course of nature in the close joyning together of things: for if they might bee sundred one from another, at length the whole must needs be quite out of frame, and a generall confusion would follow.
We must even chide and reprove our selves for our extream stupidity that are so little (if ever a whit) affected with this worke so great in it selfe, and so behoofefull for our very life and being.
How are we daily and hourly preserved from the swelling waves: how comes it that in all this length of time the Sea hath not broken in upon us,See the history of Canutus in Cambden. and overtopped the earth? We doe not tell our selves of our debt to God for commanding the waves not to be so bold as to drowne us.
It may exhort us to feare him that hath appointed the Sands for a bound of the Sea, and will not let the waves prevaile over us for all their tossing and tumbling. He is of great power, and can over-rule so furious an Element, and feare not though the waters roare, and though the mountains were cast into the midst of the Sea.
This commends unto us Gods greatnesse who doth so infinitely surpasse the Seas greatnesse, and who hath made so much water for it, and it a place for so much water. Let us thinke of it in particular, and dwell a little upon it, that we may also know our nothingnesse. What a great thing is the Sea in it selfe considerd! What is this Island in comparison of the Sea, and yet we call it Great Brittaine? It must needs bee greater then the earth, for the waters did round about involve and encompasse the earth, what then is the whole globe of Earth and water, and yet that whole globe is a thing of nothing in comparison of heaven, and yet all that is nothing in comparison of God. O how great is hee, and how much to be admired? Great, not in quantity and extension of dimensions, but in perfection of Essence. How great is hee that is beyond Earth Sea and world and all more then these are beyond Nothing.
And let us a little compare our selves with this great and wide Sea. The Sea is but part of this Globe, yet hath in it water enough to drowne all the men that are in the world, if either it were suffered to overflow as once at Noah's flood, or else they were cast into it, so that all men are but a small trifling thing in comparison of this Sea, and then what am I must every one say to himselfe, and what compared to God the maker of the wide Sea and this wide world. Oh how nothing is man, am I my selfe among other men, and why am not I humble before God, why do I not cast downe and abase my selfe in his presence, and carry my selfe to him as becommeth so poore, meane, and small a creature, to so Infinite and great a Creator. Let us morally use the things wee see, else the naturall knowledge will doe us no good at all.
We may see in the Sea a map of the misery of mans life, it ebbeth and floweth, seldome is quiet, but after a little calm a tempest ariseth sodainly. So must I looke for stormes upon the sea of so troublesome a world.
For the great worke of Navigation, and so of transportation of things by Sea, and for the fitnesse of the Sea to that use wee must praise God, every man hath the benefit of it. By vertue of it wee have Pepper, Cloves and Mace, Figs and Raisms, Sacke and Wines of all sorts, Silkes and Velvets, and all the commodities of other Kingdomes distant a thousand of miles from us, and by this they have from us such commodities as our Land affords above theirs.
There is no art which helps more to inrich a Nation,The safety of this Kingdo…e consists much in its wooden walls. The … s. Navv exceedes all others in the world in beauty, strength, & safety. and to furnish it with things for State, pompe and delight. And yet how is it abused by Marriners, who behold Gods wonders in the Deepe, being the worst of men, and never good but in astorme, and when that is gone, as bad or worse then ever.
The materialls of a ship are wonderfull.
First, it is made of the strongest and durablest wood, the Oake and Cedar.*See Plinies natural history, l. 16. c. 40. Now it is a strange worke of God to make such a great tree out of the earth.
2. The nailes in it are made of iron, that the pieces may be closely compacted.
3. Tarre and pitch to stop every crevise, that no water or ayre might enter, this they learned of God himselfe, who bid Noah to plaister the Arke within and without with pitch.
4. Cords made of flaxe, a multitude of strange things concur to this worke.
What pitty is it that Souldiers & Marriners (as was said) who are sosubject to dangers,He that carries his life in his hand, must cary grace in his heart. Doctor Sibbs in his Epistle to Sir Ho ratio Vere prefixed before his Bruised reede. Qui nescit …rare discat navigare. & have such frequent experience of Gods goodnesse and mercy to them in their preservation, should generally be so prophane and forgetfull of God. For the Souldier it is an olde saying
Nulla fides pietasque viris qui castra sequuntur. And for the Marriuer nautarum vota is grown into a proverb.
In the third dayes worke were likewise created grass, herbs, plants and trees
The first is grasse, or greene herbe, which is that which of it selfe springs up without setting or sowing.
2. Herbe bearing seed,Latini distribuunt plantas in tr…agenera, herbam, fruticem, & arborem. Hebraei aliter in foreign Mercerus in rimum caput, Genes. 5. 11. that is, all herbs which are set or sowne, and encrease by mans industry.
The third, trees and plants, which are of a woody substance, which beare fruit and have their feede, which turnes to fruit in themselves.
God by his powerfull word,Voluit Deus per primam germinationem terrae non modo pastui animaniium, sed…etium immortalitati specie… consultum. Pareus. without any help of mans tillage, raine, or Sun, did make them immediately out of the earth, and every one perfect in their kinde, grasse and herbs, with flowers and seedes and trees with large bodies, branches, leaves and fruites, growing up suddenly, as it were in a moment by Gods word and power,
The great power of God appeares in this, Hee is able to worke above nature without meanes, the fruitfulnesse of the earth stands not in the labour of the Husband-man, but in the blessing of God. He also caused the earth to yeeld nourishment for such divers herbs and plants, yea herbs of contrary qualitie will grow and thrive close one by another, when those which are of a nearer nature will not do so.
The herbe was given at first for mans use as well as beasts, Gen. 1. 9. Psalm 104. 14. Herbs are one wonderfull worke of God. The greatnesse of the worke appeare…h in these particulars:
1. The variety of the kinds of herbs.
2. The variety of their uses, of their shapes and colours, and manner of production, and of their working & growth. Some come forth without seede, some have seede, some grow in one place, some in another, some are for foode, some for medicine, and some for both.
That out of the earth by the heate of one Sunne, with the moysture of one and the same water, there should proceede such infinite variety of things, so differing one from another, is a wonder; some are hot in operation, some cold, some in one degree, some in another, some will draw, some heal, some are sweete, some sowre, some bitter, some of middle tasts.
In the bowells of the earth the Lord created gold,Job 28. 1. 2. Ezek. 6. 16, 17. Joel 3. 5. Hag. 2. 8. Genes. 1. 11, 12. silver, precious stones, and the face of the earth above was beautified with grasse, herbs and trees, differing in nature, qualities, and operations.
Plants grow till they dye, whence they are called vegetables.
At the first,Vide Mercerum in primū caput Gen. v. 29. Before the flood both herbs & fruits of trees were so wholsome and good, as that man needed no other foode, after it the earth was so corrupted by the inū dation thereof, and mans body became so weakned, that hee stood in neede of more solid and nourishing meate, herbs were the ordinary meate of men, Gen. 1. 20. and they have continued ever since of necessary use, both for meat to maintain life, and for medicines to recover health.
Solomons wisedome and knowledge was such, that hee was able to set out the nature of all plants, from the highest Cedar to the lowest Mosse, 1 Kings 4. 33.
We must here condemne our stupidity and blindnesse of minde that are not provoked many times by this particular to magnifie the name of God. When a man hath occaslon to travell through a Close or ground, how great store of herbs seeth hee, whose nature, yea names he is ignorant of, yet admireth not God in them, nor confesseth his power and goodnesse.
Secondly, we are to lament the fruite of our sin, which hath made us blinde, there is nothing hurtfull to mans bodie, but some herb or other rightly applyed would cure it.
It is a great and worthy worke of God to make grasse on the earth*Gen. 1. 11, 13.. Psal. 104. 14, 15. and 147. 8. He maketh grasse to grow upon the mountaines. The omnipotent power of God was exercised to make this creature, else it could not have beene, and at his appointment it came forth. This is one of the benefits which God promiseth to his people upon their obedience, Deut. 11. 5. Zach. 10. 16. There are many things considerable in this work of making grasse.
1. The plenty,It is a Carpet upon the earth to adorne and beautifie it. store, and commonnesse of it: It groweth every where, and in abundance, covering the face of the earth, and hiding the dry and naked face thereof.
2. The colour of it. It is of a greene and some-what of a durke greene colour, which is neither over-light nor overdarke, but of an indifferent and middle nature, and so most fit to content and delight the eye, refresh & preserve the sight.
3. The usefulnesse of this creature for the Cattell, it is a soft covering to make the lodging of the poore beasts more easeful for them, even as it were a mattresse for them to lie upon. It hath a sweet iuyce and verdure in it by which it is pleasant to the tasts of the beasts, as any dainty meate can be to us, and is fit to nourish them to be turned to bloud and flesh, so to make them fat and well liking.
4. The wayes, meanes, and manner for bringing it forth for this use, the whole course of the Heauens, Sun, Moone, and Starres, which runne a large race daily with great swiftnesse, and the great workes done in the aire for producing divers Meteors, do tend in great part for the bringiug forth of this grasse. The grasse it selfe hath a life and vigour in the roote of it, by which it drawes from the earth that moisture which is agreeable to it, and disperseth it likewise.
1. Wee are dull and blinde, and behold not God in this great worke, when wee goe into the fields, and can scarce tread beside it: We do not consider Gods greatnesse and goodnesse in making so beneficiall a thing so common; Wee let this worke of God perish in respect of any spirituall use wee make of it, to make our soules the better.
2. Let us stirre up our selves to observe Gods hand in this worke with others, and confesse our debt to him, that gives us Commons and Pasture for all our Cattell.
Trees are certaine plants springing from a roote with a single Trunke or Stemme (for the most part) shooting up in height, and delineated with lims, sprigs or branches.
Leaves are ornamenta arboris, & munimentà fructus, they serve to grace the tree, make it pleasant to behold and defend the fruit from the injury of the weather.
The Philosopher saith, homo est arbor inversa: a man is a tree turned upside downe, for a tree hath his roote in the ground, & his branches spread above groūd, but a mans root is in his head, therein is the fountain of sense and motion, and there doth hee take in nou-rishment, but the arms and legs are branches of this tree, they spread downe-ward. The Psalmist compares a good man to a tree, Psal. 1. 3.
The Palme-tree growes in Egypt all along the shores of the red Sea.See rare things of a tree called Coco in Doctor Primrose on the Sac. p. 30. It is said to yeeld whatsoever is necessary to the life of man. The pith of it is an excellent sallet, better then an Artichoake, which in tast it much resembleth. Of the branches they make Bedsteds and Lattices, of the leaves, Baskets, Matts, Fannes, of the outward halfe of the Codde, cordage, of the inward, brushes.
It is the nature of this tree, though never so huge or ponderous a weight be put upon it,Rem miradam Arist. in 8…. problematum & Plutar. in 8…. Symposiacorum dicit. Si supra palmae (inquit) arboris lignum magna pondera imponas, ac tam graviter urgeas ut magnitudo oneris sustineri non queat, non deorsum palma cedit nec infra flectitur, sed, adversus pondus resurgit, & sursum nititur recurvaturquè. Aul. Gell. Noct. Att. l. 3. cap. 6. never to yeeld to the burden, but still to resist the heavinesse thereof, & to endeavour to lift & raise it selfe the more upward; for which cause it was given to Conquerours in token of Victory. Hence. figuratively it is used for the victory it selfe, plurimarum palmarum homo: and for the signe of it
—Palmaque nobilis,
Terrarum dominos evehit ad Deos.
Rev. 7. 9. With white robes in token of their innocencie, & palmes in their hands in token of their victory.
It is reported that the Armes of the Duke of Rhoan in France which are lozenges, are to bee seene in the wood or stones throughout all his Countrey, so that break a stone in the middle, or lop a bough of a tree, and one shall behold the graine thereof (by some secret cause in nature) diamonded or streaked in the fashion of a lozenge. Fullers prophane State, l. 5. c. 6.
It was a great worke of God in making all sorts of trees to proceed out of the earth, Psal. 104. 16, 17. The nature of the trees is wonderful in these respects principally:
First, the way and manner of their growing and being. An Oake comes from an acorne, an Apple-tree from a kernell. What a kinde of power and vertue is that which God hath put into a kernell being so small a thing, that it should pull to it selfe by an unknown vvay the juice of the earth, and should send some of it down-ward into little small strings as it were to fasten it selfe in the earth, and send some upward to spread it selfe above the ground; and yet it should distribute the moysture so fitly, as to grow in due proportion within the earth and without; that it should frame to it selfe a bodie and divers branches in such fashion, that it should b…d and put forth leaves, that it should cause a fruite to grow upon it, or seede and that in great numbers, every one of which is able to make another tree, and that tree to yeeld as much more.
2. The great variety of kinds of trees; we in our Countrey have divers Oakes, Elmes, Ashes, Beech-trees, Chesnut-trees, Sally, Willow, Maple, Syccamore, besides Apple and Peare-trees of divers kindes, Cherry-trees, Hazell, Walnut-trees. Some trees are of huge growth, as Oakes, Cedars, Elmes, some low as the Thorn, the nut. Some of one fashion, colour, making and manner of growth, some of another: this sheweth an exceeding great measure of wisedome in him that made them all.
The use of trees in the next place is manifold.
1. They serve for fruit: what great variety of fruit do they yeeld, what pleasant and wholsome fruit, what store and plenty of fruit. Some Summer fruit that will be gone quickly, some Winter fruit that will last most part of the year, and some all the yeare.
2. For building both by Land and Sea, to make us houses both strong and stately, warme, dry, and coole, under which we may rest our selves, in Summer free from scorching heate; in Winter and stormie times, free from pinching cold, & the injury of the weather. With wood also wee make floating and fleeting houses, with which wee may dwell upon the face of the waters, and passe through the deep Sea. as upon dry ground.
3. It yeeldeth fuell too, by which wee doe both prepare our food, and keepe our selves warme in the winter, and in the time of weaknesse and sicknesse. Had wee not something to burn, we could neither bake our bread, nor brew our beer, nor seeth our meate, nor rost it, nor at all make use of flesh, to eate it as now we doe.
4. For delight: How comfortable a shade doth a spreading Ash or Oake yeild in the hot Summer, how refreshing is it to man and beast.
How pleasant a place was Paradise, and what made it so, but the artificiall order, fashion, and growing of all sorts of trees fit for food and shadow.
Wee must observe our owne faultinesse with sorrow and humiliation,Corallaries. for that we have not observed more seriously and usefully this worke of God. Wee have perpetuall use of Timber and fuell: we eate much fruit from these trees, we reape the benefit of this work of God from time to time. We sit upon wood, we feed upon wood, we dwell under wood, under trees cut downe and fitted for our use: wee cannot step out of doors but our eyes are fixed upon some tree or other, great or small: but we take not notice of God in this worke, and praise his name that made all these trees.
Let us mend this fault, and stir up our selves to consider God in this worke, praise him for fruitfull trees, and all other kinds of trees. Let us acknowledge his power, wisdome, & goodnesse in them, & his exceeding bounty & tender care to man that hath so furnished the world with innumerable sorts of trees.
Let us bee carefull of preserving these workes of nature for our owne use and the use of Posterity, let us set and plant trees for*Serunt arbores, quae prosint alteri saeculo. Cicero. after ages.