1Starry Orb: “And indeed in my opinion this Authour very
pertinently queſtioneth and asketh: To what end, and
for whoſe ſake are ſuch huge machines made? Were they
produced for the Earth, for an inconſiderable point? And
why ſo remote? To the end they might ſeem ſo very ſmall,
and might have no influence at all upon the Earth? To
what purpoſe is ſuch a needleſſe monſtrous ^{*} immenſity
tween them and Saturn? All thoſe aſſertions fall to the
ground that are not upheld by probable reaſons.”
pertinently queſtioneth and asketh: To what end, and
for whoſe ſake are ſuch huge machines made? Were they
produced for the Earth, for an inconſiderable point? And
why ſo remote? To the end they might ſeem ſo very ſmall,
and might have no influence at all upon the Earth? To
what purpoſe is ſuch a needleſſe monſtrous ^{*} immenſity
tween them and Saturn? All thoſe aſſertions fall to the
ground that are not upheld by probable reaſons.”
Inſtances of the
Authour of the
Concluſions by way
of interrogation.
Authour of the
Concluſions by way
of interrogation.
Or Gulph.
SALV. I conceive by the queſtions which this perſon asketh,
that one may collect, that in caſe the Heavens, the Stars, and
the quantity of their diſtances and magnitudes which he hath
hitherto held, be let alone, (although he never certainly fancied
to himſelf any conceivable magnitude thereof) he perfectly
cerns and comprehends the benefits that flow from thence to the
Earth, which is no longer an inconſiderable thing; nor are they
any longer ſo remote as to appear ſo very ſmall, but big enough to
be able to operate on the Earth; and that the diſtance between
them and Saturn is very well proportioned, and that he, for all
theſe things, hath very probable reaſons; of which I would
ly have heard ſome one: but being that in theſe few words he
confounds and contradicts himſelf, it maketh me think that he
is very poor and ill furniſhed with thoſe probable reaſons, and
that thoſe which he calls reaſons, are rather fallacies, or dreams
of an over-weening fancy. For I ask of him, whether theſe
leſtial bodies truly operate on the Earth, and whether for the
working of thoſe effects they were produced of ſuch and ſuch
magnitudes, and diſpoſed at ſuch and ſuch diſtances, or elſe
whether they have nothing at all to do with Terrene mattets. If
they have nothing to do with the Earth; it is a great folly for us
that are Earth-born, to offer to make our ſelves arbitrators of
their magnitudes, and regulators of their local diſpoſitions,
ing that we are altogether ignorant of their whole buſineſſe and
concerns; but if he ſhall ſay that they do operate, and that they
are directed to this end, he doth affirm the ſame thing which a
little before he denied, and praiſeth that which even now he
condemned, in that he ſaid, that the Celeſtial bodies ſituate ſo
far remote as that they appear very ſmall, cannot have any
fluence at all upon the Earth. But, good Sir, in the Starry Sphere
pre-eſtabliſhed at its preſent diſtance, and which you did
knowledg to be in your judgment, well proportioned to have an
influence upon theſe Terrene bodies, many ſtars appear very
ſmall, and an hundred times as many more are wholly inviſible
unto us (which is an appearing yet leſſe than very ſmall)
therefore it is neceſſary that (contradicting your ſelf) you do
that one may collect, that in caſe the Heavens, the Stars, and
the quantity of their diſtances and magnitudes which he hath
hitherto held, be let alone, (although he never certainly fancied
to himſelf any conceivable magnitude thereof) he perfectly
cerns and comprehends the benefits that flow from thence to the
Earth, which is no longer an inconſiderable thing; nor are they
any longer ſo remote as to appear ſo very ſmall, but big enough to
be able to operate on the Earth; and that the diſtance between
them and Saturn is very well proportioned, and that he, for all
theſe things, hath very probable reaſons; of which I would
ly have heard ſome one: but being that in theſe few words he
confounds and contradicts himſelf, it maketh me think that he
is very poor and ill furniſhed with thoſe probable reaſons, and
that thoſe which he calls reaſons, are rather fallacies, or dreams
of an over-weening fancy. For I ask of him, whether theſe
leſtial bodies truly operate on the Earth, and whether for the
working of thoſe effects they were produced of ſuch and ſuch
magnitudes, and diſpoſed at ſuch and ſuch diſtances, or elſe
whether they have nothing at all to do with Terrene mattets. If
they have nothing to do with the Earth; it is a great folly for us
that are Earth-born, to offer to make our ſelves arbitrators of
their magnitudes, and regulators of their local diſpoſitions,
ing that we are altogether ignorant of their whole buſineſſe and
concerns; but if he ſhall ſay that they do operate, and that they
are directed to this end, he doth affirm the ſame thing which a
little before he denied, and praiſeth that which even now he
condemned, in that he ſaid, that the Celeſtial bodies ſituate ſo
far remote as that they appear very ſmall, cannot have any
fluence at all upon the Earth. But, good Sir, in the Starry Sphere
pre-eſtabliſhed at its preſent diſtance, and which you did
knowledg to be in your judgment, well proportioned to have an
influence upon theſe Terrene bodies, many ſtars appear very
ſmall, and an hundred times as many more are wholly inviſible
unto us (which is an appearing yet leſſe than very ſmall)
therefore it is neceſſary that (contradicting your ſelf) you do