197That the Moon may be a World.
ſhould have Trave@ed thither alſo, if there had
been any Inhabitants; eſpecially ſince he did ex-
preſly command them to go & Teach all Nations,
and Preach the Goſpel through the whole World,
and therefore he thinks, that as there are no
11Mat. 28. 16. Men, ſo neither are there Seas, or Rivers, or any
other conveniency for Habitation. ’Tis com-
monly related of one Virgliius, that he was Ex-
22Aventinus
Annal Boi-
orum lib. 3 communicated and Condemned for a Heretick
by Zachary Biſhop of Rome, becauſe he was
not of the ſame Opinion. But Baronius ſays,
becauſe he thought there was another habita-
33Annal Ec-
cleſ. A. D.
748. ble World within ours. However, you may
well enough diſcern in theſe examples, how
confident many of theſe great Scholars were
in ſo groſs an Error, how unlikely, what in-
credible thing it ſeemed to them, that there
ſhould be any Antipodes: and yet now this
Truth is as certain and plain, as Senſe or De-
monſtration can make it. This then which I
now deliver, is not to be rejected, though it
may ſeem to contradict the common Opinion.
been any Inhabitants; eſpecially ſince he did ex-
preſly command them to go & Teach all Nations,
and Preach the Goſpel through the whole World,
and therefore he thinks, that as there are no
11Mat. 28. 16. Men, ſo neither are there Seas, or Rivers, or any
other conveniency for Habitation. ’Tis com-
monly related of one Virgliius, that he was Ex-
22Aventinus
Annal Boi-
orum lib. 3 communicated and Condemned for a Heretick
by Zachary Biſhop of Rome, becauſe he was
not of the ſame Opinion. But Baronius ſays,
becauſe he thought there was another habita-
33Annal Ec-
cleſ. A. D.
748. ble World within ours. However, you may
well enough diſcern in theſe examples, how
confident many of theſe great Scholars were
in ſo groſs an Error, how unlikely, what in-
credible thing it ſeemed to them, that there
ſhould be any Antipodes: and yet now this
Truth is as certain and plain, as Senſe or De-
monſtration can make it. This then which I
now deliver, is not to be rejected, though it
may ſeem to contradict the common Opinion.
2.
Groſs abſurdities have been entertained
by general conſent. I might Inſtance in many
remarkable examples, but I will only ſpeak
of the ſuppoſed Labour of the Moon in her
Eclipſes, becauſe this is neareſt to the chieſ
matter in hand, and was received as a common
Opinion amongſt many of the Antients, inſo-
much that from hence they ſtiled the Eclipſes
by the name of πὰθη Paſſions, or in the Phraſe
of the Poets
by general conſent. I might Inſtance in many
remarkable examples, but I will only ſpeak
of the ſuppoſed Labour of the Moon in her
Eclipſes, becauſe this is neareſt to the chieſ
matter in hand, and was received as a common
Opinion amongſt many of the Antients, inſo-
much that from hence they ſtiled the Eclipſes
by the name of πὰθη Paſſions, or in the Phraſe
of the Poets
Solis lunæq; labores.
And therefore Plutarch ſpeaking of a