yet notwithstanding it hath, in a more espe cial manner, relation to that grand symptom, that doth moft certainly attend this condition; which is called, tremor artuum, the continual and unavoidable trembling of the hands and Now, forafmuch as the laft age of man is eminently above all others he paffeth, the cold and the dry; it must needs incline him, and at last most certainly caft him into this distemper.

arms.

For these two qualities, and, for aught I understand, thefe alone, are the natural fathers of this trembling child. If we remember how going abroad in a bitter cold morning, how drinking a great deal of cold water, or fwimming in the water; if we know how the use of poppies, henbane, opium, the cold fit of an ague, and other cold things, will eafily fet us a shaking; if we confider that long fastings, great evacuations, efpecially venereal, which do moft dry the nerves, violent heat in fe vers, fluxing by the ufe of quickfilver, immoderate sweatings in hot houses, or elsehow, do cause the same diftemper; we shall be induced chiefly to attribute this terrible symp tom, to these two deadly enemies of a well tempered conftitution, coldness and drinefs; which are so contrary to the inftruments of voluntary motion, whose life and vigour confifts in radical heat and moisture; that they take off their strength, and render them un

able

able to perform their duties, making them fo weak, that even the weight of the member they are to move, is now their equal antagonist; for they going about to move the member as they ufually had done, are refifted with equal force by the weight of that member, which causeth as it were a continual combat between the strength of the mover, and the weight of the moved, fo that the limb is always drawn one way by that, and another way by this, which causeth a perpetual trembling of the keepers of the house; which is reckoned here as the firft, and indeed is one of the most remarkable fymptoms upon the body of man in this decrepit state.

The Strong men shall bow themselves.

Having before treated of the infirmities of the fuperior limbs, he comes now to those of the inferior; the keepers of the house being the hands, the ftrong men can be no other than the feet; now as the hand was divided before, fo alfo is the anatomical foot, containing not only tarfum, metatarsum, and phalanges digitorum, but alfo femur, tibiam, and extremum pedem; and as before I fhewed, the beginning of the hand was to be accounted from the fcapula, fo here I must also tell you, that the beginning of the foot is from the os ilium. And those muscles which are inferted into the thigh, and have their use for the motion there

of; notwiehstanding their origination may be either from the back, (inwardly as the chief flector the psoas, or outwardly as the first extendor, gloutaus major) or from the os ilium (as most others movers of the thigh have) ought all to be accounted into the number of the strong men. And if we well confider the true nature of progreffive motion, and firm ftation on the ground, we shall foon conclude, that the inftruments of them both (which are none other than those we are treating of) are the best demonstrators of human strength, and may more aptly than any other parts of the body be called the strong men. And this we may also have confirmed in the holy writings. of God; the ftrength of the legs, as the inftruments of motion, feem to be expreffed by the prophet, when he faith, He delighteth not in the strength of the horse, he taketh not pleaJure in the legs of a man, Pfal. cxlvii. 10. their ftrength, as they are the inftruments of firm ftation, is excellently expreffed by the spouse, when the faith concerning her beloved; his legs are as pillars of marble, Cant. v. 15. And as they are the inftruments of both, you have them notified in the ftory of Peter's curing the lame man, Acts iii. wherein (as if the use of legs (both for standing and walking) and Arength were convertible terms, fignifying the same thing;) we have his cure once expreffed by thefe words; immediately his feet and his ancle bones received ftrength, and he leaping up, stood

and

and walked, ver. 7, 8. and presently after only by the word ftrength; his name, through faith in his name, bath made this man firong, ver. 16. I fhall give but once inftance more, and that most remarkable, having in it the great wifdom of God to exprefs this thing; and that is the touch of the hollow of Jacob's thigh, Gen. xxxi. 25. when God would intimate to Jacob, his own weakness, and his inability to wrestle, and to prevail with God and man by his own ftrength; he fmites him in the thigh. Thus he dealt alfo with Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 3. who left he should be puffed up with his vifions and revelations of the Lord, (having been taken up to the third heaven, and fo much fpiritualized, that it was hard to say, whether he was in the body or out of the body) he had such a direct contrary infirmity laid upon him, that it might fufficiently take off all other men from acmiring him, and himself from being lifted up beyond what he ought to be; Left any man should think of me above what he feeth me to be, and that he heareth of me, and left I fhould be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of fatan to buffet me, left I should be exalted above measure, ver. 6, 7. all occafion of glorying in his fpirituality was abundantly taken away, when he had a continual memento of his carnal weakness, a thorn in the flesh. And thus alfo may Jacob, and all Jacob's children, for

ever, be taken off from boafting in their own ftrength from his prevailing with God and man; fince ever after he bare that most certain symptom of human weakness, halting on his thigh, for when this part is once rendered unserviceable, there can be no more ftrength to contend.

And the perfect conqueft that Sampfon got over the Philistines, whereby they were unable any more to refift, is expreffed, He fmote them hip and thigh, Judg. xv. 8. Befide, the counfel which is given to Jofbuah is worth our obferving to this purpose, whereby he is taught to make the horses of the many kings he fhould fuddenly fubdue, for evermore unferviceable, and yet to fave their lives; Thou fhalt hough their horfes, and burn their chariots with fire, Joth. xi. 6. Whereby we may understand, that if the back finew of an horse's hind leg (wherein the great ftrength of these parts lieth) be cut in funder, he is made altogether as unfit for fervice in the war, as the chariots that are burnt. I might further yet confirm this truth by an anatomical enarration of the feveral compounding parts of these. limbs; but forafmuch as I did that before, in. the treating of the fuperior artus, I may the better omit it here; because there is a very great fimilitude between these parts and thofe fpoken of before; and what was there faid of them, as unto the parts, and alfo unto the