Wilkins, John, A discovery of a new world : or a discourse tending to prove, that 'tis probable there may be another Habitable World in the Moon ; with a discourse concerning the Probability of a Passage thither; unto which is added, a discourse concerning a New Planet, tending to prove, that 'tis probable our earth is one of the Planets
page |< < (96) of 370 > >|
    <echo version="1.0RC">
      <text xml:lang="en" type="free">
        <div xml:id="echoid-div274" type="section" level="1" n="60">
          <p>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4123" xml:space="preserve">
              <pb o="96" file="0276" n="276" rhead="That the Eartb may be a Planet."/>
            extenſion, to that diſtance from whence
              <lb/>
            there does not appear any ſenſible difference
              <lb/>
            in its quantity. </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4124" xml:space="preserve">So that when I ſee a Bird
              <lb/>
            flying ſuch a height in the Air, that my be-
              <lb/>
            ing nearer unto it, or farther from it, by
              <lb/>
            ten or twenty Foot, does not make it ſeem
              <lb/>
            unto my Eyes either bigger or leſs; </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4125" xml:space="preserve">then I
              <lb/>
            may conclude, that the Bird muſt needs be
              <lb/>
            either ten or twenty foot thick: </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4126" xml:space="preserve">Or when I
              <lb/>
            ſee the Body of a Tree that may be half a
              <lb/>
            mile from me, and perceive that my ap-
              <lb/>
            proaching nearer to it, by thirty or forty
              <lb/>
            paces, does not ſenſibly make any different
              <lb/>
            appearance, I may then infer, that the Tree
              <lb/>
            is forty paces thick; </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4127" xml:space="preserve">with many the like ab-
              <lb/>
            furd Conſequences, that would follow from
              <lb/>
            that Foundation upon which this Argument
              <lb/>
            is bottom'd.</s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4128" xml:space="preserve"/>
          </p>
          <p>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4129" xml:space="preserve">To the third, I anſwer: </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4130" xml:space="preserve">’Tis too much
              <lb/>
            preſumption, to conclude that to be ſuper-
              <lb/>
            fluous, the uſefulneſs of which we do not
              <lb/>
            underſtand. </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4131" xml:space="preserve">There be many ſecret Ends in
              <lb/>
            theſe great Works of Providence, which
              <lb/>
            humane Wiſdom cannot reach unto; </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4132" xml:space="preserve">and
              <lb/>
            as Solomon ſpeaks of thoſe things that are
              <lb/>
            under the Sun, ſo may we alſo of thoſe
              <lb/>
            things that are above it, That no Man can
              <lb/>
            find out the Work of God, for though a Man
              <lb/>
              <note position="left" xlink:label="note-0276-01" xlink:href="note-0276-01a" xml:space="preserve">Eccl.8.17.</note>
            labour to ſeek it out; </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4133" xml:space="preserve">Yea, further, Though a
              <lb/>
            wiſe Man think to know it, yet ſball be not be
              <lb/>
            able to find it. </s>
            <s xml:id="echoid-s4134" xml:space="preserve">He that hath moſt inſight in-
              <lb/>
            to the Works of Nature, is not able to give
              <lb/>
            a ſatisfying reaſon, why the Planets or Stars
              <lb/>
            ſhould be placed juſt at this particular </s>
          </p>
        </div>
      </text>
    </echo>