Four great liars, striving who shall win the silver whetstone Also, a resolution to…Foure great lyers, striuing who shall win the siluer whetstone Also, a resolution to…

The third Reason, the want of experience.

IF our Prognosticators have any means to foretell things to come, they have those means either without experience, ⟨image 26⟩or with experience: If they have them without experience, then must thou account all which they do to be foolish dreams & deceit. For all kind of human learning which is profitable, & hath use in the life of man, is taken from often observations, and experience. If it be said that they have their directions in Prognosticating from experience, and that of all times, I will convince them thus. True experience of the causes of things is an often observing of the effects of the same causes, with this ground that they can proceed from no other thing. The Physician saith Rhubarb doth purge choler. Well: how knoweth he this? he hath often tried this, and that in old men, young men, children: and hath found, that in the bodies of all men, the cause of purging this humour, could be ascribed to nothing else. Wherefore he may peremptorily conclude, Rhubarb purgeth choler. Our Prognosticators, in the heavens, can have no such experience. For they can not observe often the same position of stars in the ⟨image 26⟩heaven. The order and cause of the fixed stars and Planets, which we find in the heavens this day, the next day will be changed, and never the like again. They will say, in deed although the same position of the whole heaven never happen, yet the same conjunctions of notable stars, the same visinges and settings, and the same constellations of the chiefest stars are marked often. I say again, that when these Eclipses and great conjunctions happen, the rest of the stars being otherwise affected then they were before, & having new positions, may either increase and diminish their effects, or else hinder them, and quite take them away. As we see when the Sun casting his beams into a chamber, the light of candles▪ and torches, and fires do make it shine dim, yet these being absent, it will shine bright. Again, they are not able to say that constellations, which they have marked, are causes of those effects which follow, as wars, diseases, distempered weather, earthquakes,