FOOTNOTES:
[a] Though there are some that think Mountains to be a Deformity to the Earth, &c. yet if well considered, they will be found as much to conduce to the Beauty and Conveniency of the Universe, as any of the other Parts. Nature (saith Pliny) purposely framed them for many excellent Uses; partly to tame the Violence of greater Rivers, to strengthen certain Joints within the Veins and Bowels of the Earth, so break the Force of the Sea’s Inundation, and for the Safety of the Earth’s Inhabitants, whether Beasts or Men. That they make much for the Protection of Beasts, the Psalmist testifies, The highest Hills are a Refuge for the wild Goats, and the Rocks for Conies. The Kingly Prophet had likewise learnt the Safety of those by his own Experience, when he also was fain to make a Mountain his Refuge from the Fury of his Master Saul, who prosecuted him in the Wilderness. True indeed, such Places as these keep their Neighbours poor, as being most barren, but yet they preserve them safe, at being most strong; witness our unconquered Wales and Scotland.——Wherefore a good Author doth rightly call them Natures Bulwarks, cast up at God Almighty’s Charges, the Scorns and Curbs of victorious Armies; which made the Barbarians in Curtius so confident of their own Safety, &c. Bishop Wilkin’s World in the Moon, pag. 114.
[] Ray’s Wisdom of God, &c. pag. 251. Dissolution of the World, pag. 35.
[c] Theophrastus having reckoned up the Trees that delight most in the Hills, and others in the Valleys, observeth, Ἅπαντα δὲ ὅσα κοινὰ τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ τῶν πεδίων, μείζω μὲν καὶ καλλίω τῄ ὅψες τὰ ἐν τοῖς πεδιοις γινε ται. κρείττω δὲ χρήσες τῶν ξύλων καὶ τῶν καρπῶν, τὰ ὀρεινά. Theoph. Hist. Pl. l. 3. c. 4. Ἅπαντα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὀικείοις τόποις καλλίω γίνεται, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐυσθενεῖ·——Τὰ μὲν γαρ φιλει τοὺς ἐφίδρους καὶ ἑλώδεις.——Τὰ δὲ, τοὺς ἐυτκεπεῖς καὶ ἐυηλιους. Ib. l. 4. c. 1.
[d] Wisdom of God, p. 252.
[e] Ubi supra.
[f] Many have taken Notice, that some of the greatest Eminences of the World run generally East and West, of which take the late ingenious and learned Dr. Nichols’s Account, [Confer. with a Theist, Part 2. pag. 191.] To go no farther than our own Country, all our great Ridges of Hills in England run East and West; so do the Alps in Italy, and in some Measure the Pyrenees; so do the Mountains of the Moon in Africk, and so do Mount Taurus and Caucasus. This he saith is a wise Contrivance to prevent the Vapours, which would all run Northwards, and leave no Rains in the Mediterranean Countries.
[g] That the Generation of many of the Clouds is owing to the Hills, appears from the Observations of the ingenious and learned Dr. Joh. Jam. Scheuchzer of Zurich, and Mr. Joach. Frid. Creitlovius cited by him. They observed at Sun-rising, divers Clouds detached by the Heat of the Sun, from some of the Tops of the Alps, &c. upon all which their Observations, the Conclusion is, Mirati summam Creatoris sapientiam, qui & id quod paulò antè nulli nobis usui esse videbatur, maximis rebus destinaverat, adeóque ex illo tempore dubitare cœpi, num Nubes essent futura, si istiusmodi Montes & Petræ non darentur. Hypothesi hâc stante, elucesceret permagna utilitas, imò necessitas, quam Helviticæ Alpes non nobis tantùm accolis sed & vicinis aliis regionibus præstant, dispensando, quas gignunt Nubes, Ventos, Aquas. Scheuch. Iter. Alpin. 2. p. 20.
[h] Let us take here Ol. Mag. Observation of his Northern Mountains, Montes excelsi sunt, sed pro majori parte steriles, & aridi; in quibus ferè nil aliud pro incolarum commoditate & conservatione gignitur, quàm inexhausta pretiosorum Metallorum ubertas, quâ satìs opulenti, fertilesque sunt in omnibus vitæ necessariis, forsitan & superfluis aliunde si libet conquirendis, unanimique robore, ac viribus, ubi vis contra hæc naturæ dona intentata fuerit, defendendis. Acre enim genus hominum est, &c. Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 6. Præf. See also Sir Robert Sibbald’s Prodr. Nat. Hist. Scot. p. 47.
[] See [Book I. Chap. 3. Note (b).]
[k] Monsieur Blundel, related to the Parisian Academy, what Device the Inhabitants the lower Austria, (which is encompassed with the Mountains of Stiria) are wont to use to fill their Wells with Water. They dig in the Earth to the Depth of 25 and 20 Feet, till they come to an Argilla [clammy Earth]——which they bore through so deep, till the Waters break forcibly out; which Water it is probable comes from the neighbouring Mountains in subterraneous Chanels. And Cassinus observed, that in many Places of the Territory of Modena and Bologna in Italy, they make themselves Wells by the like Artifice, &c. By this Means the same Seig. Cassini made a Fountain at the Castle of Urbin, that cast up the Water five Foot high above the level of the Ground. Ray’s Disc. 1. pag. 40. ubi plura.
Upon Enquiry of some skilful Workmen, whose Business it is to dig Wells, &c. whether they had ever met with the like Case, as these in this Note, they told me they had met with it in Essex, where after they had dug to 50 Foot Depth, the Man in the Well observed the clayie Bottom to swell and begin to send out Water, and stamping with his Foot to stop the Water, he made way for so suddain and forcible a Flux of Water, that before he could get into his Bucket, he was above his Waste in Water; which soon ascended to 17 Feet height, and there stayed: And although they often with great Labour endeavoured to empty the Well, in order to finish their Work, yet they could never do it, but were forced to leave it as it was.
[l] As the Hills being higher, are naturally disposed to be drier than the Valleys; so kind Nature hath provided the greater Supplies of Moisture for them, such at least of them as do not ascend above the Clouds and Vapours. For, besides the Fountains continually watering them, they have more Dews and Rains commonly than the Valleys. They are more frequently covered with Fogs; and by retarding, stopping, or compressing the Clouds, or by their greater Colds condensing them, they have larger Quantities of Rain fall upon them. As I have found by actual Experience, in comparing my Observations with those of my late very curious and ingenious Correspondent, Richard Townley, Esq; of Lancashire, and some others, to be met with before, [Chap. 2. Note (a).] From which it appears, that above double the Quantity of Rain falleth in Lancashire, than doth at Upminster. The Reason of which is, because Lancashire hath more, and much higher Hills than Essex hath. See [Book II. Chap. 5. Note (e).]
[m] Accusandi sanè meâ sententiâ hìc sunt Sophistæ, qui cùm nondum invenire, neque exponere opera Naturæ queant, eam tamen inertiâ atque inscitiâ condemnant, &c. Galen. de Us. Part 1. l. 10. c. 9.
[n] Vide quàm iniqui sint divinorum munerum astimatores, etiam quidam professi sapientiam. Queruntur quòd non magnitudine corporis æquemus Elephantes, velocitate Cervos, levitate Aves, impetu Tauros; quòd solidior sit cutis Belluis, decentior Damis, densior Ursis, mollior Fibris; quòd sagacitate nos narium Canes vincant, quòd acie luminum Aquilæ, spatio ætatis Corvi, multa Animalia nandi facilitate. Et cùm quædam nè coire quidem in idem Natura patiatur, ut velocitatem corporis & vires pares animalibus habeamus; ex diversis & dissidentibus bonis Hominem non esse compositum, injuriam vocant; & in negligentes nostri Deos querimoniam jaciunt, quòd non bona valetudo, & vitiis inexpugnabilis data sit, quòd non futuri scientia. Vix sibi temperant quin eousque impudentiæ provehantur, ut Naturam oderint, quòd infra Deos sumus, quòd non in æquo illis stetimus. Seneca de Benef. l. 2. c. 29.
[o] Quanto satiùs est ad contemplationem tot tantorumque beneficiorum reverti, & agere gratias, quòd nos in hoc pulcherrimo domicilio voluerunt (Dii) secundos fortiri, quòd terrenis præfecerunt. Then having reckoned up many of the Privileges and Benefits, which the Gods, he saith, have conferred upon us, he concludes, Ita est: carissimos nos habuerunt Dii immortales, habentque. Et qui maximus tribui honos potuit, ab ipsis proximos collocaverunt. Magna accepimus, majora non cepimus. Senec. Ibid.
[p] Naturam maximè admiraberis, si omnia ejus opera perlustraris. Galen. de Us. Part. I. 11. conclus.
[q] Rom. ix. 20, 21.
[r] Neither are they [noxious Creatures] of less Use to amend our Minds, by teaching us Care and Diligence, and more Wit. And so much the more, the worse the Things are we see, and should avoid. Weezels, Kites, and other mischievous Animals, induce us to a Watchfulness: Thistles and Moles to good Husbandry; Lice oblige us to Cleanliness in our Bodies; Spiders in our Houses; and the Moth in our Clothes. The Deformity and Filthiness of Swine, make them the Beauty-Spot of the Animal Creation, and the Emblems of all Vice——The truth is, Things are hurtful to us only by Accident; that is, not of Necessity, but through our own Negligence or Mistake. Houses decay, Corn is blasted, and the Weevel breeds in Mault, soonest towards the South. Be it so, it is then our own Fault, if we use not the Means which Nature and Art have provided against these Inconveniencies. Grew’s Cosmol. c. 2. §. 49, 50.
Non est gemendus, nec gravi urgendus nece,
Virtute quisquis abstulit fatis iter.
Senec. Hercul. Oet. Act. 5. Car. 1833.
Nunquam Stygias fertur ad umbras
Inclyta virtus.
Id. Ibid. Car. 1982.
