316 ASTRO 
by the folar motion, will defcribe the length of time, whe¬ 
ther it be years, months, or days, which the fignificator 
will be in forming the arch of direction which produces 
the event, and which, if truly calculated, will generally 
correfpond with the prediction.” 
Although aftrology is now generally exploded, yet fo 
great has been the controverfy for and againlt its exigence 
in nature, that it has occafionally occupied the attention 
of the greateft and wifelt philofophers in every age and 
country; and many hundred volumes have been written 
on the fubjefct. We could not therefore conlider ourfelves 
jultified in pafling over its alfumed merits in filence, or of 
withholding from our readers the principles upon which 
it is founded. For the fame reafon we (hall conclude with 
the general obfervations of the above-mentioned author, 
who is the laft that has written in defence of this fcience. 
“ We may affirm, that all mankind have each of them, 
more or lefs, a certain (hare of w'ifdom, power, or wealth, 
wherewith they occupy in this life, and carry forward all 
their undertakings. Thus we fee Come men, by means of 
riches, cunning, or contrivance, grow mighty, and purpofe 
as if nothing could impede the full accomplifhment of their 
defigns; and yet we find there are two things which con¬ 
found the wifeff, and greateft, and proudeft, of them all, 
in the very fummit of their glory : thefe are, Time and 
Chance ; two mighty lords upon earth, which bring to 
pafs many ftrange and marvellous events. Time is that 
motion of ("pace which proceeded out of eternity when the 
world began, and holdeth on unto eternity, which is to 
fucceed at the world’s end. Out of this one long time are 
engendered infinite fpaces of time, of a great variety of 
forts; and thefe are either general or fpecial, and each of 
them either fortunate or unfortunate. There is a time for 
every purpofe under heaven : a time of pleafure, and ano¬ 
ther time of pain and grief; a time to rife, and a time to 
fall; a time to be born, and a time to die. (Eccl. iii. i, 2, 
&c.) There is a certain lucky time in man’s life, wherein 
if he go out to battle, though with but few men, yet he 
carrieth the victory; and there is another time wherein, 
though he go out with ever (o complete an army, yet (hall 
he gain notliing but difgrace. (Eccl. ix. 11.) So alfo there 
is a time when overtures of marriage (hall be fuccefsful, 
but a man’s defires anfwer it not; and again there is a 
time when defires of marriage (hall ftrongly urge, and all 
overtures prove ineffectual; but there is a time alfo when 
defires and overtures (hall exadfly correfpond, and fuit to¬ 
gether. In like manner there is a time when profperity 
and riches (hall offer themfelves, and be attained, w'hether 
a man deep or wake ; and by and by, though he purfue 
them with wings, yet fo unlucky a time occurs, as renders 
all his endeavours fruitlefs. Some men come into the 
world in a lucky hour, fo that, let them be wife or foolifh, 
they (hall be buoyed up on the wings of fate in all mat¬ 
ters of wealth or honour, and fucceed in all that they 
take to ; while wifer and better men, fmitten with an un¬ 
lucky time of birth, (hall be as undefervedly difparaged, 
and all their undertakings (hall prove unfuccefsful and 
unhappy. Some (hall be lucky in the van of their enter- 
prizes, and as unfortunate in their rear; others again con- 
trariwife. And thus time feems to mock and fport with 
the men of this life, and to advance, or counteract, all 
their (kill and contrivances, even to a degree infinitely be¬ 
yond whatever we could reafonably conceive or expeCt. 
And yet time of itfelf is but a dead thing, and a mere in- 
ftrument ; but the wheels of the heavens, turning upon 
it, imprint riddles-in its face, and carve and cut out the 
various (hapes of profperity and adverfity upon the minu¬ 
ted portion thereof. And wonderful it is to obferve, that 
a child, the moment it draws breath, becomes time-fmitten 
by the face of heaven, and receives an impreflion from 
the ftars therein, which, taking rife from the afcendant, 
fun, moon, and other principal fignificators, operate as the 
impreftors (land, and point out, as with the finger of God, 
the qaufes whence the fate and fortune of the new-born 
infant proceed; and, whether it comes before or at its full 
LOGY. 
time, or in what part of the world foever it is born, it 
matters not; for, as the nature of the fignificators are that 
afcend upon the horizon at the birth, fuch (hall certainly 
be the fortune of the native. This is a truth that will 
bear the mod minute enquiry, and will be found the ordi¬ 
nation of an all-wife and indulgent Providence, for the fpe- 
culation and improvement of his creature man. And thefe 
fignificators reprefent, as it were, a feries of curious knots, 
which untie by courfe ; and, as every knot unties, diffe¬ 
rent times feem to fly out, and perform their errands ; 
and of thefe, fometimes we may obferve two, or three, or 
more, lucky knots opening together, and at other times 
as many that are inaufpicious. Yet all times are beautiful 
in their feafons, if men could hit them ; but through the 
malignity of (in, and an intemperate purfuit of worldly 
pleafures, we often lofe the favourable time afforded us, 
of embracing the mod fubftantial happinefs. 
“ The fecond great lord over human inventions, is 
chance. And thefe chances proceed from a great variety 
of rare and fecret operations of heaven, which throw in 
the way of men thofe drange and fortuitous turns of for¬ 
tune that furpals all human forelight or conception. And 
yet there is really no fuch thing as chance in nature; but 
all thofe curious hits, that drike in between the caufe and 
its effeCt, we call chances, as bed fuiting human ideas, 
becaufe of the undefcribable properties of them. For in 
(huffling a pack of cards, or in cafting the dice, it feems 
to us a mere chance what cad (hould happen uppermod, 
or what card will go to the bottom of the pack ; and yet 
it is evident by experience, that there is a certain luck in 
nature, which preiides over all thefe adventures, fo that 
a man (hall either win or lofe in a methodical courfe. It 
alfo happens in the time of battle, and in every purfuit 
after wealth and honour, that chances fall in upon us, 
and turn the fcale by a fecret kind of fate, beyond all that 
could reafonably have been expended; and thus heaven 
breathes into all human actions an infinity of thefe chances, 
that overturn the wifdom, and power, and all the great- 
nefs, of man. Thefe chances are uniformly managed by 
a certain kind of luck, either good or bad, which drives 
the nail ; and this, by fome heavenly influence, that in- 
fufes a fecret virtue or poifon into our adtions, as courage 
into their hearts on one fide, or difmay on the other; and 
(kill into fome men’s heads to purfue the right courfe to 
be rich, or folly into others, whereby they run headlong 
to mifery and want; or elfe fortunateth or infortunateth 
by miftake of words, fignals, or acts, that turn to the bed 
or word advantage, by ftrange hits or mifcai riages ; and 
thus it happens that a (light miftake in battle begets an 
utter rout, after a vidtory made almoft complete, by the 
mere utterance of a wrong word, or (leering an improper 
courfe. But, which way foever it happens, the whole 
matter is wrought by a good or ill luck, and the hand of 
God is at the bottom of it ; not by any new-contrived adt, 
but by the fame regular courfe of nature ordained from 
the beginning of the world. 
“ Thus both Time and Chance are the fervants of na¬ 
ture, under whofe commands they (way the world, and 
worldly men ; but by her laws are both of them difpofed. 
Time meafures out the extent of men’s lives, and lets 
bounds how long they may live by ftrength of nature, and 
how much of that time diall be extenuated by means of 
fin ; and it alfo carves out limits to the particular fates of 
all mankind ; and Chance adts in obfervance of thofe li¬ 
mits, and brings about the good and bad fuccefs of every 
fate. And thus, by the fervice of Time and Chance, na¬ 
ture performs all her great and fecret operations, whether 
upon colledlive bodies, or places, or perfons. It may be 
thought ftrange that nature (hould bring forth men and 
women at a great didance of years, hours, and places, all 
deftined to die at one time, and by the fame manner of 
death, either by war, plague, peftilence, or diipwreck; 
and that time and chance (hould (hould pick them up, and 
draw them together, from a variety of different purfuits, 
to partake at laft in one and the fame deftruCtive fatfe. 
Yet 
