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Show ThefirftBooke ofthefirstpare Verfers, | Guar.z.$3 Faittari ngGadeoxOrchard filled withPlans and ees, oh moft excellent kinds,pleafant to behold, and (withall)goo Ema tes a :Pests thatParadife was aterteftriallGarden, garnifhed with Enis eNe me me ac and.tafte. And tomake it moreplaine, and to take away all opiniona Allegaticn 1 Verfe to. Exech.27-23. conftrution, he affirmeth that itwas watered and beautified a # iver 5, expreffing alfothe Region, out of whichthis Riner fprang, which hee. caller pagans and that Hedenis alfoa Countrie neere vato Charan in Mefopotamia, Ezechie witneffeth. Butto all thefe. Cabalifts, which draw the Truth and Storie Allegories, Epiphanindanfwer eth in thefe wordes : St Paradifus of the Scri ptures into non eftfenfibstis, woncft etiam fons, finoncft fons, non eit flumen, finon eitflumen, nonfant guatnorprincipia, non fi Pifon, non Gehon, nen Tigris, nee Euphrates, zon eftficus, non folia, non commedi t Eva de arbore, noneit AD AM, non[unt homines, fed veritas iamfabula elt, Co omniaad Altegorias remocantur : If Paradife bee not fenfible, then there was nofountaine, and then no riner, if noriner, then nofuch foure heads or branches, and then not anyfuch riner as Pifon, or Gehon, Tigris, or Enphrates, nofuchfig-tree, orfruit, orleaues, Ev.x then did wotcate ofthefruit, neither was there any A D AM, or-any man, the truth was but afable, and all things eiteeta are called backe into Allegories. \Wordes to the fame effecthath S, Hierome vpon DANIx L: Contite/cant corum deliramenta,guivmbras C imagines in veritatefequentes, ipfam comantur ewertere veritatem, vt Paradifum cp flumina, & arbores patext Allegoria Lr gibus fedebere [ubruere ; Let the dotage of thembee (lent, who fehowing fhadowe s and x0 images inthe Truth, endeuonrtofubuert the Truth itSelfe,and thinke that they ought $0 bring Paradife,and the Riners andthe Trees under the Rules of Allegorie. Furthermore, by the continuation and order of the Storie is the place made more manifeft. For, God gaue Adam free libertie to eate of cuery Tree of the-Garden,(the Tree of knowledge excepted which Trees Mofes inthe ninth verfe faith that they were goodto eat; meaning thefruit which they bare.Befides,God left all beafts teddamto be named, which hee had formerly made ; and thefe beafts were neither in the third Heauen, norneere the Circle of: the Moone, norbeafts in imaginat ion:. for ifal! thefe things were Enigmaticall or Myfticall, the fame mighta lfo all things. And Esechiel,{peaking ofthe glory ofthe Affyrianbee faid of the creation of Kings, vfeththis {peech: Exech.31.9. All the Trees of Eden, which werei ct n the Garden of God, ennied him 3 Which proueth both Eden,and Paradifé therin {eated, to be terreftriall: for the Pro hets made no imaginary comparifons. But Me/es wrote plainely,and ina fimple ftile,fit for the capacities ofignorant men, and hee was morelarge and precife in the any otherplace ofScripture ; of purpofe to take awayaldefcriptionof Paradsfe, than in l {cruple from the incredulitie offuture ages, whomheknew(out of the of Prophecie)to bee aptto fabulous ine uentions, andthat if hee had notdefcribedgift both it ftood ftom Canaan,many of the ynbeleeuing the Region and the Riuers, and how Iftaelites and others after them, would haue mifconftrued this Storie ofMankinde. Andis it likely, there would haue been fo often mention made of Pay adifé in the Scriptures, if the fame had beene an #opia °40 For we findethat the Valley , wherein Sodomeand Gomorrha ftood, (fometimes called Pentapolis, ofthe fiue principal Cities Gent 3, 10. vanaturall finne purchafed) compared totherin) was before the deftruéion (which their the Paradife ofthe Lord, andlike to the of Egypt toward Zoar: Inlike manner Land was Ifrael before the Babylonianis wafted it: which proueth refembled to the Paradifeof G.o pd, plainly,that Paradifeit felfe exceeded in beauty andfertility, andthat thefe places had comparedto afeate andfoyle of farre exceedin but a refemblance thereof: being g excellency. Belides, whence had Homer his inuention of Alcinous Gardens » 3S luflin Martyr n0teth, but out of A¢o/es his defcription e the World. ne e Cuar3§-4.Snes of the Hitory ofeer ey out of it;and that the fame afterwards ‘was dinided‘itito foure branches'; together with Kingdomes ofHawila and Cufb,and that all thef@ ward from Cawaan,orthe the dre Fatt Deferts ofthe Amorites, where Mofes wrote; I then conceiue, that there is no manthat will doubt,but'that fuch a place theré'was; And yetI doe not exclude the Allegoricall fenfe ofthe Scripture: "for afwellin this there Were many firo gures of Chrift,as in all thé old Teftament throughout notwithftanding. And' tothis purpofe (faith Saint : the Storie being direély ‘true Aueu/ineTres fant de Paradifa generales' fententie: vna cf corum, Gui tantu mmiodd corporaliter Paradifum intelligt ‘wolunt : alia eor win, gat [piritualiter tantiim (id eft) Ecclefiame :tertia Corum, Gui vtrog. modo Paradifiuws accipiunt, (that is) There are three opinions of Paradife : theone of thofe men, which will hane it altezerher corporall:-a fecon d ofthofe, which conicine it altegether fpivituall, andto be a fleure ofthe Church :the third Of thofe whith take it ix bot Jenfes "which third opinion S. Augufline approucth, and of which suides giueth this allowable iudgement : Qaemadmodum hemsfenfibilis, co tte ligibil is final conditus erat: fic? huius fandifsinaam nemus, fenfibil fitiul & intellizibile, o duplici [peste eft preditum, : piv, a6 (thatis) Aswan was created at onetime both fenfible andint Uigible : fo was this holy Grone *~ or Garden'to be taken both wayes,and endued with 4 doahle forme. "7 aPy asl Fer erat eernums, placidigqne tepentib us anys Mulcebant Zephyri natos finefemine flore s. Theioyfull Spring dideuer laft, sweete flow. rea ed ayaa And Zephyrusi did breede Sweete flowers byhy his ether with Ppthagoras and Plato, and theit Secta- . "al f oat ri ciculI ousthan there \Gehow, Nilws, whichenricheth Eeypt, andtheflée two Riuers fo farre diftant,as (except allthe\Wor ld: were Parad:/2) thele ftreames can no way be:comprized therein ysif the birthand workes,and death of our Sauiour , ¥ veréfaid to hanebeene ne fuch Countrey.of hich no.man ever heard tell,and that his Miracles had bin derformed inthe Ayre sor no place:certainly knowne Laflure my felfé, that the Chriftian Re ligion wouldh cen but.aflender roote'in the mindes ‘of men : for times aha ace are ap proue s of worldly actions: Chird] Y5lf we Inould 1 r siue placeto the iudgemient'offome Writers vpon this ¢ OF Geaejes¢though Secon¢ ° orherwife for their do€rine in generall,they are worthy ofhocucrence) Iday thar ther -isno fableamong the Grecians or Epyptians more +, f0r Who would ibeleeue thatrhere were a pie ce of the World fo'fet by ic to bang inthe Aire vnderthe circle oftheMoone" or who fo dol le,that tromthencethe foure rivers of Ganges, Nils, Enphrate s, and Ty is E vntjandr un vnder all the Oceanyatidrife vpagainc in this our habt *2 able. And itis manife ft, tha t Orpheus, Oud, One obit O€ another, and Linus, Pindarus, Hefiodus, and Homer, and after him, all thefe tog a portoffucha place v:and befides;what maketh this (cate ofParas 4i/¢ 10 much difpated and: doubted of, but the conccit that Pifbon' fhould be Ganges: which watereththe Eaft Jndiasand Ug, 44a lumégrcm c Without the helpe offgentle blaft, eed. = eee §, LV. Whyit (bould be needfallte intreate diligently ofthe piace of Paradifeo, Bp. Veit may be obieded; tharit is needleffe; anda kindofcuriofitieto enquire fo B diligentlyafterthis place of Paradi fe,and that the knowledge thereof is oflitt le orno vie. To which Eanfwer,that thereis nothi ng written'inthe Scripture, but for our inftruction; andifthe truth of the Storie be neceffarie,then bythe placeproued, the fameis alfo made more apparent. For if wee fhould conceiue that Paradife 3° werenoton the ] arth,but. lifted vp)as high as.the Moone; or. that it were beyond allthe Oceas,andin no part ofthe know ne World, from Whence Adam was faidit o wade through th Sea,& thenceto haue comein to /ude #,(out ofdoubt)there would be few menjathe World,that would Siueany credit vnto it. Forwhat could feeme more of Paradife? Gex.2.and whence are their praifes ofthe Elizian fields, but out of theftorie of Paradif e? to which alia appertaine thofe 50 Verfes of thé Golden Agein Ouid: Ouid. Metamla ah Secatours,did greatly enrich theirinuentions, by venting he ftolne Tteafiircs of Dic uine Letters;altered by prophaneé additions,anddif guife if they had bin'conceiued out of theirowne {peculatio d by poetical! conuertions, as ns and contemplations, But befides all thefe teftimoniesifWe find what Region Heder or Eden was 3if wee proue the Riuerthatran CPL OY "bles t 10fe place wherethey are now found ¢ Which] ftany man thinke, neto the worltthele ate Peter Coméflors ow n words ht aution locus (Serre ce maristrattaa B0ftra habitabili Zona fecretus,' ad leu this, vt ole ym attingat,cre (clvat 1S) If ts 4 oft pleafant plate, [euere + [Totpur ha- 4192 tradhofLand t f & Seajchewates fo that Ff i reacherh to theglobe ofthe Nioon. 8s cephas spon this place \ writethiin this manner: Donde hoc quog : velpon[ti at fg ; Mins, Baradifuze muliafulinsiere pofitu + fis, ted by pant, m effe righont; atfy hat hofra exter terra, cay fer wrt |
