had his Reverence been a little more conversant in the Affairs of the Globe of the Moon he would have made no wonder at his finding Plato and Aristotle thereabouts since the first had effectually establish'd his Republick there and the second his Lyceum both which we see geographically describ'd in the Mapps of that Country by Father Grimaldus a Jesuit Cartes Selenographiques one of the Notablest Mathematicians of the Age. We have nothing of certainty as to Socrates's abode but 't is more than probable his ordinary Resort is in his belov'd Disciple Plato's Commonwealth After this little Entercourse as we were taking leave of these Gentlemen Socrates demanded what Friend it was we went so for to wait on Father Mersennus answer'd that it was Descartes Descartes reply'd Aristotle What that mad Blade that came from the other World above thirty years ago He that was made the Owl of all the Philosophers not able to endure him here and that forc't him to seek out for other Quarters Truly a very pretty Fellow that to have treated me so Bully-like and with that disdain I am told he did Me I say that have been the Tutour to the greatest Prince and greatest Conquerour that ever was Me to whose Honour Philippe and Olympias erected Statues Me that have taught Philosophy in Athens that have wrote so many Books and had a whole Regiment of Commentatours Me whose Words had pass'd so long for Oracle and the decisions of the Schools Me in fine that all the Philosophers plume them selves as having gain'd unto their Party and not willing nor indeed daring to confess I take the contrary side I would fain see that bold Merchant venture on the Benches I have seen his Books and pity ' em Would you guess said he turning hastily to Socrates and Plato what is the first step he would have his Wise men make in order to his safer conduct to the attainment of Truth He makes him doubt of every Thing and bids him take for false the most self-evident Proposition in the World that Two and Three are Five that the Whole is greater than its Part c. You know Gentlemen said he what work the World have made with him thereupon For my par't I 'd only ask the Gentleman one Question Does he suppose a Man can doubt of every thing or does he not If not Why makes he it the leading precepts of his Method For in point of Precept and Method 't is necessary they be such as can be put in Practice In Synopsi Medit. If he does suppose it how is it he more than once mantains in his Meditations and his Method that the arguments of the Scepticks which were next a kin to those he brings to fetter us in doubts were never capable of staggering one single person Rep. aux Inst de Gassend that was in his Senses as to those apparent Truths Does he think that those he has to deal with have lost their Senses Or does he imagine that the Arguments of the Scepticks would be more effectual in his Mouth or in his Writings than in theirs whose only Design for the generality was to torture and plague the other Sophists and to make themselves sport with those as should indeavour seriously to confute them But never dream'd of one Monsieur Descartes that should one time or other Martial their Sophisms in the Van of his Method But now supposing M. Descartes had induc'd me to doubt that Two and Three made Five and that the Whole was bigger than its Part I would fain know what Method he would take to rid me of this doubt and to replace me in the Statu quo of certainty where I was before This could not be done without the aid of another Proposition more evident than the other which must serve to convince me that what I began to doubt was undoubtedly not to be doubted of Now what is with him that high and mighty Proposition that must brandish its Light on all the rest and act the Sun among the other Stars Why I think therefore I am For says he 't is impossible to think unless I am Most admirably condluded And is it less impossible that Two and Three should not be Five that the Whole should not be bigger than its Part than 't is impossible I should be mistaken unless I think and that I should think unless I am If I could bring my Mind to doubt once of the two first Propositions should I be much pain'd to make question of the third Or if a Sceptick should be so impudent to deny me those need he be more to deny me this And should not I find my self equally impower'd to demonstrate to him all the three Descartes in that procedure pretends to silence a Sceptick that challenges him to demonstrate any thing or to shew him the evidence of a Proposition himself pretends to have made him doubt of The Sophist resolv'd to deny the evidence of the plainest Proposition baffles him And so will I telling him I stay in the maze of Doubt into which he led me and am like do to so since the Proposition he brings to expedite me thence is as blind and dark as those which he made me boggle at before But probably in pursuance of his humour you are charm'd with the wonderful progress he makes in his following Method Reflecting says my Great Philosopher upon that first Conlusion I think therefore I am I observe I am no other way assur'd of the certainty of it than by having a clear and distinct Idea of what I there affirm So that I can take it for a general Rule that whatever I can clearly and distinctly conceive is true But is this the peculiar of that favourite Proposition only I think therefore I am Supposing that Desoartes had left me in the capacity I was and where I must be still in spight of Fate as to the certainty of these Propositions Two and Three are five the Whole is bigger than its Part might not I make the same reflection on these Propositions as he makes on his And being not oblig'd to invent a Rule of Truth for the Gentlemen Scepticks but only for my self which I might make use of in forming all my Judgments might not I be allow'd to argue upon my Propositions as he does on his The reason why I am ascertain'd of these Propositions that is why I not only doubt not of them but perceive I cannot doubt of them if I would is that I have a clear and distinct perception of what I there affirm And seeing I have such an one can I still doubt whether I have or not When to have and to judge I have or rather to be sensible I have it is the self same act of the Understanding For in effect from thence it is from my own Conscience it is proceeds the impossibility of doubting of that Proposition two and three are five as well as of that other I think
years for the Prince of Philosophers What Obligation had you to take up arms against him Monsieur I reply'd I still preserve that Respect that Esteem and Friendship for you which I owe inviolable and I take it for a peculiar favour of Fortune to meet you here to make a fresh Protestation of them And I assure you that I am neither come in quality of a Spy or Enemy but if you please so to receive me of a Voyager 'T was purely curiosity that brought me hither by the way As to the concern of Philosophy I must acknowledge I am a little Sceptical in that Matter and know not at present what I am I am resolv'd to try all Sects before I am determin'd so that you may Sir look upon me as a Man of an uninterested Country and that contrives no Plot or Mischeivous Design against your Commonwealth These Gentlemen indeed are profess'd Cartesians but they are Philosophers and Men of Honour and have Esteem for Merit though it be on the contrary side and who hold that Liberty of Conscience in point of Philosophy is the unviolable Charter of all honest well bred Men But I pursued I am highly surpriz'd at the bustle and disturbance in this Country There 's no Spanish ' Town in Flanders so readily Alarm'd as yours What is' t you so much dread That which we so much dread said he is that Implacable Enemy of our Sovereign your Descartes who when on Earth did all imaginable towards the extirpating the Peripateticks and only desisted there as we are from good Hands inform'd to come to ruin them in this Country It is now more than thirty years so exact a Guard has been observ'd to prevent a Surprize consequent to the Advice we have had that in all this time he hath been forming a Party and gathering all the Forces possible in order to a Descent This is the Intelligence we have receiv'd from a Dutch Professor of Philosophy who acts here as Generalissimo in Aristotle's Absence But Descartes may come as soon as he pleases you see we are in a capacity to receive him Well Monsieur said I if that be all you may sleep secure Monsieur Descartes I assure you has no Design of an Invasion in his Head he 's a thousand Times farther off this Place than 't is from hence to Earth he is thinking of Building a New World above the Heavens he has invited us to see the Execution of his Grand Design and thither 't is we are going And to convince you of the Truth of what I say 't is but deputing when we part some Souls to bear us Company and they shall bring you an account of what they there shall see You rejoyce me mightily said he for we Peripateticks are tired with these long Fatigues but take it not ill that I execute my Orders and conduct you to the Governour of the Place according to the Custom That all Philosophers of a different Sect from ours arriving here give him an account what Project brought them hither we have used this Course but since Descartes has given us these Alarms So we took the Road that led to the Place convoyed with a Detachment of about fifty Souls Academiques for the most part and Collegians who look'd as if they did not wish us very well that Place was only a great Garden that represented the Lyceum in Athens where Aristotle used to teach his Scholars walking whence they derived the Name of Peripateticks 'T is of a great extent and very finely kept it is cut into abundance of Allies whereof the four greatest meet in the middle of the Garden at a round large Fountain whereon is raised a stately Pedestal of the most delicate Marble I ever saw on which stands the Statue of Alxander the Great crowned by Victory with Lawrels trampling under Foot Scepters and Crowns and Bucklers and broken Arms and the Treasures of Asia Four great Statues chained to the four Corners represent the Principal Nations Alexander conquered I found that Monument so like that of the Place des Victoires that I should have believed one had been the Pattern to the other had not I at the same Time made Reflection that the near Resemblance of those two Hero's might easily have furnished the Minds of both the Undertakers with the same Ideas All the Figures of the Monument no less than the other Statues in several Parts of the Garden as those of Philippus Olympias and many other illustrious Personages who formerly honoured Aristotle with their Friendship are of Silver for Silver is very cheap and common in the Globe of the Moon and it is probably for that Reason Chymists who always affect Mystery in their Words call that Metal by the Name of the Moon As we were admiring that noble Monument we were astonished to see all of a sudden four Water-Spouts rise from the four Angles of the Pedestal the largest and the highest that ever were they mounted at least four hundred Poles in heighth and they were brought from a River behind a neighbouring Mountain that was higher than the Wells of Domme in Auvergn over which the Water was carried by the admirable Contrivance of the Old Philosophy that in supposing the Horror of a Vacuum in Nature shew'd how with Pumps to fling Water infinitely high which Secret is unfortunately lost in our World for since the Time of Galileus we can raise Water no higher than three or four and thirty Foot We saw these Water Spouts on every Side the least of which exceeded the highest Trees that encompassed the Garden From the middle of the Garden we observed four Halls of different Figure and Architecture one at the End of each of the four Alleys We were conducted to the biggest of them which was of exquisite Beauty and Magnificence being of Gold Azure and Precious Stones On both Sides in the Intervals of the Windows was your Imbossed Work of Silver excellently carved but that made a Gallimawfry odd and humerous enough for on one Part on the Right-hand were represented the famous Exploits of Alexander the defeat of Darius near the City Arbela the Attack of Porus his Army the Passage of Granicus and the Taking of the City Tyre On the other were Triumphs of Aristotle over the rest of the Philosophers and the Extravagancies of those that went for Wisemen before his Time The first on the Left-hand exhibits Pythagoras doctrining his Disciples and presenting them with a sort of table-Table-Book wherein among others were written these three Precepts First That they were to hear him full five Years without speaking a Word to contradict him Secondly They must lend an attentive Ear especially in the Night to the Musick and Harmony of the Celestial Spheres which only Wisemen are priviledged to understand And Thirdly they must abstain from eating Beans The Second shews you Democritus laughing with Might and Main and Heraclitus weeping in warm Tears and a Troop of little Children hooping after them as after
the notice of a Bedel to come and answer to the Calumnies he was said to have written against Voetius In so much that his Friends advis'd him to be upon his Guard as being scarce secure in the place where he was though it was out of the Reach and Jurisdiction of Vtrecht Two Papers wherein M. Descartes mention'd Voetius one of which was the Letter he had wrote to Father Dinet were declared diffamatory Libels That Declaration was Printed and affix'd and sent to the principal Towns of the United Provinces If we may believe M. Descartes there was no less Design on Foot than the Banishing him all the Provinces by a Decree the loading him with prodigious Fines the burning his Books by the Hand of the common Hangman to which some said Voetius had resolv'd to make so great a Fire in burning of them as the Flame of it should enlighten all the Countries thereabouts In a word M. Descartes was forc'd to get clear of these Troubles to imploy the credit of his Friends and the Interest of the French Embassador that might hinder it from proceeding any farther These Quarrels were kept up many Years and M. Descartes foreseeing the Apologies he he design'd to have presented to the Magistrates of Leyden and Vtrecht to justifie himself and demand the reparation of his Honour would be ineffectual in the procuring such satisfaction as he pretended due to him thought often of leaving Holland where he found not the Repose he at first propos'd to himself The Letters he received from the Court of France at that time with the promise of a good Pension if he would come and live at Paris determin'd him to depart But the Troubles of the Kingdom unluckily stop'd the Career of his good Fortune Letters were sent him in Parchment curiously seal'd and full of the greatest Praises in the World But that was all nor had he his Letters gratis Never Parchment as he pleasantly says cost him so dear and was so unuseful as that Nothing could hinder him from returning to his beloved Holland without fear of falling afresh into the Hands of Voetius Schook and Revius But not long after the Queen of Sueden sent for him to Stockholm where 't is vulgarly said he dy'd What I have hitherto said of the difference of Voetius with M. Descartes has been taken for the most part out of the Letters of that Philosopher Voetius inform'd us in the Globe of the Moon of the other Particulars that concern'd himself to wit That after M. Descartes's Departure from Holland he grew reconcil'd to Regius the Physitian who in the Feast of Reconciliation as a Badge of the real Intentions of his future Friendship presented him with some of Descartes's Snush which he often made use of but especially to come to the Lyceum in the Moon that having highly merited of Aristotle by those famous Exploits manag'd against Regius and Descartes in the Defence of the Peripatetick Philosophy that Prince of Philosophers had offer'd him the Imploy we saw him in possession of that he nevertheless wav'd the accepting of it till understanding that Descartes's Soul left no Stone unturn'd to bring the Souls of these Parts over to him his Zeal for the Ancient Philosophy had wrought upon him to quit his Body in order to oppose the Designs of that dangerous Enemy This is that very Voetius that was formerly the Hero of Peripatecism in Holland Our Greeting notwithstanding was extraordinary civil on both Hands and after our mutual Compliments to each other he express'd the Joy he had to hear M. Descartes was hatching no ill Design upon the Lyceum of the Moon He confess'd likewise the Regret he had for urging that Philosopher heretofore so far But that his own Reputation in Holland was incompatible with Descartes's That if he had once permitted the new Philosophy to take Footing in the Vniversity of Vtrecht he must either have been oblig'd to learn it or hold his Tongue in all Disputes And he found much uneasiness to consent to one or the other That he was then too old to become Descartes's Scholar and that it was easily guess'd how ungrateful a Task it had been for an old Philosophy Professor to hear all his Decisions disputed without the Priviledg of defending them at least by way of Arguing for that Descartes having thrown out of Doors the Terms made use of in the Schools he had been oblig'd in all publick Acts to stand as a Person that was Deaf and Dumb He that had always been renown'd for his Subtilty and Penetration That he had observ'd in his Philosophy many good Things among abundance of others that seem'd somewhat hard And that having often discours'd Aristotle concerning that Philosophy they had both concluded it would not be impossible to make some Accommodation and if we were willing it would be no trouble to him to enter in a particular Conference thereupon We gladly embrac'd his Offer and after having order'd his Attendants to retire he spoke as follows You may easily see Gentlemen by the Rank I hold there I have a great share in the Favours of the Prince our Soveraign I have yet a greater in his Considence You will readily think so by one Profession he has made me and which I am well assur'd I may safely venture to make you in his Name It is this That his Interests are indeed closely united with the Interests of those Philosophers that write themselves Aristotelians but at the bottom they are no more the same than are their Sentiments in point of Philosophy But notwithstanding he hath hitherto dispens'd with the Promiscuous confounding of them The Pleasure and at once the Honour to see himself Marching at the Head of all the Philosophers in Europe that with an unanimous Consent attributed to him the Quality of their Prince was well worth the trouble of conniving at the diametrical Repugnance he saw in the reasoning of most of those who declar'd to be intirely his That division it self which was to be found among his most zealous Partisans who took it to be a greater Honour and made it of more Concernment to have ingag'd him on their side than Truth it self did not a little contribute to his Glory To see himself independently on Reason by the sole weight of his Authority made Umpire of all the disagreeing Philosophers to injoy peaceably the Priviledg of Infallibility among those that disputed it with Pope and Councils had something charming in it that induced him to think it best to be contented without being much concern'd at their taking or mistaking of his meaning seeing whatever they say he only by the Voice of both Parties was always in the right But since that M. Desoartes M. Gassendi and some others have thrown off the Yoak of his Authority and to justifie their Conduct have undertook and with Success enough to shew the Absurdity or the unsoundness of some Opinions of the Schools of which they pretend to make him
the Warantee because the best of his Disciples have awarded them unto him with an universal Consent He hath thought fit to declare himself on the first occasion and to intreat the Publick as also those Gentlemen the new Philosophers to do him Justice in that Particular He protests then to separate his Interest in many Articles from theirs that style themselves his Disciples He declares that in the Questions of the Schools many things go under his Name which are none of his as is for Instance that most Childish Notion of the Horror of a Vacuum That he himself hath certify'd and prov'd by Experience the Pressure of the Air which at this Day is made a Principle in the Physical Expilcation of such Phenomena's as have most alliance to the Question of a Vacuum That he is no ways the Father of an infinite little Beings introduc'd in the School Philosophy That his Writings have often been mis-interpreted and Men have commonly taken for Natural Beings what in his Idea were only Denominations and Metaphysical Attributes This Calm continu'd he with which I speak after that ungovernable Obstinacy you formerly knew me guilty of might stand for my Credentials as to you in Aristotle's Absence But I will farther add that since you meet him out of the Globe of the Moon he hath dispatch'd an Express in which he gives orders that if you pass'd this way I should not fail to inform you of his Thoughts and Intentions and to let you know that whatever Warmth appear'd in him in his Discourse against Descartes he would notwithstanding gladly hearken to some Accommodation with him Furthermore this is no unpremeditated Resolution The Expedient has been form'd and written long ago and the Fault will not be ours if you do not see it and take upon you the presenting it to Descartes if you so think convenient We return'd we most joyfully accepted it and that we thought our selves happy any ways to contribute to the Reconciliation of the two greatest Philosophers the World has known and the Reunion of two Parties that were at present the only considerable in Europe He took forthwith out of a Cabinet that was at the end of the Hall and where upon handsom Shelves stood a good sight of Books excellently bound and that look'd exactly like Books the new Philosophers have compos'd within this thirty or forty Years and that Aristotle and Voetius had undoubtedly read he took I say from a Cabinet a kind of Memoirs with this Title in Latin Words De Consensu Philosophiae Veteris Novae We have said I an Ingenious Man of our World that has wrote a Book with the same Inscription M. Du Hamel I my self have read it he replyed and a Man may easily see by the way it is wrote in the Author is well vers'd in all parts of Philosophy He is a Gentleman unbiassed as to one side or other is throughly acquainted with the Interests of each Party and therefore the fittest Person that I know to mediate in that Affair A preliminary Point is taken from his Preface which is much in the right on 't and whereto Aristotle and Descartes must forthwith accord that the Sect-Leaders of Philophy Neque omnia neque nihil viderunt With that he presented us the Project of Accommodation and desired us to read it at our leisure in our Voyage as also to take with us as we had offered at our Arrival some Aristotelian Souls to accompany us to Descartes's Place of Residence to the end he might know by them what that Philosopher had resolv'd upon the Propositions laid down in that Treaty We thanked him for the Honour he did us in intrusting us with so Important a Negotiation assured him we would do all that lay in us towards the facilitating its Success and after much Expression and Acknowledgment of his Civilities we beg'd his leave we might persue our Voyage since we had a vast way still to go and had spent many Hours in that we had pass'd already He conducted us out of the Lyceum and giving some Instructions to two Souls of the Country that seem'd Spirits of Note and Fashion ordered them to wait on us so made his Conge Designing to run over that whole Hemisphere of the Moon that is oppos'd to our Earth we kept on our Road to the North and leaving Democritus on the left we pass'd through Thales and drove on quite to Zoroaster from whence we made a double towards the West through desert Lands where we saw the ruins of some ancient Towns as of Atlas Cepheus Hermes without meeting Man Woman or Child till we came to the Lake of Dreams on whose Banks we found three separate Spirits with whom we were taken up one Moment in Discourse as we passed along We surprized the two first stoutly Cursing and Banning their Wives they had formerly in the World One of which was that Hermotimus mention'd by Tertullian and Pliny who leaving his Body abed to make a Ramble as his Custom was his Wife that did not love him slipt not the opportunity of calling up her Servants to whom she shewed not without tearing her Hair and playing the Mad-woman the Body of her Husband unsoul'd and breathless and carried the Humour on so well that the Body was burnt according to the custom of the Country before the Soul return'd who was from thenceforth forced to seek another Habitation The other Spirit was a Roman Senator whose Name was Lamia whose Wife had trickt out of the World by the same Project though a little more it had miscarried For as he related it The Soul being returned to look its Body where 't was left not finding it and seeing the Family Mourning begun to smell how the Matter stood It Posted presently to the place where was built the Funeral Pile to burn the Body and arriv'd there just as the Fire began to seize it The Soul thought it inconvenient to reunite her self with it for fear it might be obliged to be burnt alive she only mov'd its Tongue so as many of the Standers by heard these Words twice distinctly repeated I am not dead I am not dead But seeing the Masters of the Funeral Ceremonies who had undoubtedly received an Item from the Dame unconcerned as ' ere she left it to be burnt and came to fix in the Globe of the Moon The third whom we found two Leagues farther in a ghastly Grot was the famous John Duns Scotus commonly called Scot or the Subtil Doctor He has pass'd for a dead Man unto this day on which Account some have given out most ridiculous Stories and highly disadvantagious to the Reputation of so worthy a Person and which have still been well confuted But the truth is that he is not dead and that having by the subtilty of his Mind found out the Secret so many others have procured his Corps was taken for dead and was buried in the absence of his Soul which took Sanctuary in the Globe
first is that what is in it more choise and better than ordinary begins to be authoriz'd in the Schools of the most zealous Peripateticks who no longer oppose the Truth that you have infus'd into them but only so husband Aristotle's Stake as it may not be said that ever any Philosopher had a clearer View than he You know the Adventure of the last Age in France the wisest Heads of the Kingdom could do no otherwise than approve the greatest Part of the Regulations made in the Council of Trent notwithstanding there were Reasons that obstructed the adhereing to that Council on Discipline-account What was done The States of Blois made Ordinances exactly like a great Part of the Decrees of that Council Thus without admiting the Council they follow'd in effect the Purport of it The Peripateticks have in some sort transcrib'd the Conduct of those grave Politicians 'T is a Crime among them to be a Cartesian but 't is an Honour to make good Use of the best Part of M. Descartes And to compare the Fortune of your Doctrin with that of another that in our Days hath made such a Bustle in the World before the Propositions of Jansenius had been condemn'd at Rome his Followers highly complimented him upon them His was the Pure and Uncorrupt Doctrin that was copied from the great S. Augustin but they had no sooner been censur'd as Heretical but they vanish'd in a Trice and could not be found in Jansenius his Book No one could heartily believe they ever had been there and in Spight of Bulls of Popes and Ordinances of Bishops 't was reckon'd a Mortal Sin to sign a Condemnation of Propositions and a Form of Faith without the Distinction of De Jure de Facto The quite contrary happen'd in the Affair I am speaking of At first when the Cartesians made Mention of Subtil Matter and ridicul'd the Horror of a Vacuum talk'd of the Elastick Vertue of the Air the Pressure of its Columns and the manner of the Impression of Objects on our Senses Aristotle was brought to confront them with a quite contrary Doctrin Since that Time upon Examination of the Reasons on which your Propositions in those Instances depended they would not say that you were in the Right but many undertook to affirm That Aristotle had taught the greatest Part of that before you There hath been since discover'd in his Writings an Ethereal Matter the manner of Sensations by the Concussion of the Organs the Demonstration of the Gravity of the Air and the most delicate Truths of the Equilibrium of Liquors So instead of the Jansenists abandoning or seeming to abandon the Right and sheltering themselves under the Fact the Peripateticks fall on Possession of the Right by the Fact itself that is the Peripateticks now find in Aristotle what according to themselves had not been visible for these thirty Years On the contrary the Jansenists have lost Sight of the Propositions they had pointed to us heretofore themselves before they were condemn'd So that would you make any Abatements as I hope you will that I may make good my Promise I made Voetius your Old Friend in Holland we should see M. Descartes turn Peripatetick and Aristotle Cartesian The other Thing that is Matter of Consolation to you and that in Defiance to all the Efforts of your Enemies must encourage you to hope for the Immortality of Cartesianism is the uncontroulable Liberty that 's left to every one of Writing for and against it And that at this Day the most Solid and Ingenious Patron of the New Philosophy is a celebrated Father of the Oratory whose Books are in great Reputation He forthwith requir'd his Name and Character He is call'd said I Father Malebranche He 's a Man of an extraordinary piercing Judgment of profound Thought that has a wonderful Gift at methodizing his Reflections which he opens and displays in the neatest and most lively manner imaginable that knows however to give an Air of Truth and a probable Turn to the most extraordinary and abstracted Notions that is skill'd to the utmost Perfection in preparing the Mind of his Reader and interessing him in his own Thoughts In short he is the most charming Cartesian that I know His principal Work is called The Search of Truth and it is from that in particular that he hath been acknowledg'd for such as I have describ'd him Yet I cannot conceal from you a little Accident that may somewhat allay the Joy that News must excite in you which is That this Illustrious Champion of the New Philosophy has been sometime since at Variance with M. Arnauld whose Friend he had ever been before which made a kind of Civil War The Onset and Defence on both Sides is manag'd with Vigor and Courage each of them combate in their own way Volumes of five or six hundred Pages apiece are sent out by M. Arnauld in the turning of an Hand The other is less luxuriant but more strict and pressing He takes those Captains for his Precedent who only make use of some select Troops without any regard to Number that always march close and in good Order who let the Enemy wheel about as often as they please but are sure to break their Ranks whenever they see an Advantage Discourse is various concerning the Motives of that War M. Arnauld is the Aggressor The most resin'd Politicians who as you know never fail to make the best of their Talent on such Occasions say It is a Trick and Evasion of the Old Doctor who has several other such at command Some Years ago there appear'd two Books against him one was titul'd The Spirit of M. Arnauld wrote by a French Protestant Minister retir'd to Holland that 's a very roguish Book I must confess and full of Venom and Gall but he leaves M. Arnauld inextricably in the Briars he not only turns his own Weapons upon him but also against the Catholick Religion and concludes directly from the Principles and Practice of M. Arnauld that most of the Arguments he takes to be most forcible and Advantagious to the Catholick Religion are nul and insignificant are meer Shew and Out-side sit only to dazle the Eyes of the Ignorant and such as cannot penetrate to the Bottom of Things The other Book which was printed the first of the two but was not made publick till some time after was written by a Jesuite against a French Translation of the New Testament commonly call'd The Mons New Testament done by the Gentlemen du Port Royal and whereof M. Arnauld took upon him the Patronage and Defence That Book of the Jesuite is Solidly Scholar-like and Politely wrote He very pertinently comes over M. Arnauld on many Occasions and adds from time to time in those Places he challenges him to give an Answer to such and such a Point Notwithstanding those two Books found no Reply and no one could say they were unanswer'd because they were despised and did not deserve the
in case there should be a People that inrag'd at the heat and scorching of his Rays should sometime joyn to give him an innumerable flight of Arrows For these Arrows shot from the Earth against the Sun would fall in the circumference of his Vortex and in the midst of the Matter of the second Element which strugling all it can to get farther from the Centre of its Motion would constrain the Bodies less capable of Motion than it self to descend towards the Centre that is to say the Sun Now these Arrows would be Bodies far less capable of Motion than the Matter of the second Element therefore it would constrain them to fall towards the Sun Undoubtedly a very surprizing thing And now we may easily give a reason for the Experiment that Father Mersennus formerly assur'd M. Descartes he had made that in discharging a Musquet perpendicularly towards the Zenith Let. 3. Tom. 2. the Bullet never came down again for it must have infallibly been carried to the Sun According to this System when we have a mind to make a Voyage I do not say to the Globe of the Moon as did Cyrano de Bergerac but to the Sun it self it will be the easiest thing to be accomplish'd of a thousand We need but turn our Head perpendicularly towards the Sun then give a little Spring to put our selves in Motion and to make room for the Matter of the Solary Vortex that would come bounce against the Earth to give our Heels a hoise and this is all For according to the Principles of Descartes it would give us such a flirt as in a trice would dart us to that Luminary In short heavy Bodies would no longer make towards the Earth but all would be upon the gallop to the Sun What shall we say of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea which is one of the choisest places in all M. Descartes Philosophy and on which account there 's no one but ought to lament the Misfortune of the Vortex For by the assistance of that Vortex M. Descartes and M. Rohault speak Marvels upon that insearchable Phenomenon of Nature Which not only depends upon the Vortex it self but upon the very Figure of it which was made oval on purpose and singularly for it though probably it was not at first in the intention of the Philosopher For never did Tragick Poet better and more artificially prepare the Incidents of his Piece than M. Descartes has contriv'd his Conclusions It would surprize one to see in his deducing them that one word which he let fall careless by the way and one would think without Design should have been big with such an Infinity of Delicate Consequences A Man wonders in the third part of his Principles to see the figure of that Vortex which is no better grounded than the Vortex is it self But when in the fourth he sees the necessity M. Descartes had of it to explain the Flux and Reflux of the Sea he cannot choose but commend his Foresight and Precaution Not but that for all these pretty and specious Explications of the Phenomena of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea the Cartesian System may be demonstrated false in that very Particular We are convinc'd of this by those Reflections and Observations we have drawn from the best Mathematicians since M. Descartes's time They demonstrate by the Observations of the Distances of the Moon determin'd by her apparent Diameters that that Planet is as remote in many of her Conjunctions and Oppositions as in some of her Quadratures and as near in some of her Quadratures as in several Conjunctions and Oppositions Hence it is false that the Apogy of the Moon is always in her Quadratures and the Perigy in her Conjunctions and Oppositions Wherefore it cannot be suppos'd that the Moon being in Conjunction and Opposition is always in the little Diameter of the Elliptick Vortex and in her Quadratures always in the Great one And yet it is upon this only Supposition that M. Descartes explains and can explain the inequality of the Tides in the Conjunctions and Oppositions and in the Quadratures as also of those we see in the Equinoxes and Solstices Again if when the Moon pass'd our Meridian the pressure of the Air was remarkably so much stronger than in an other Hour of the Day it would be perceivable by the ordinary Experiments of Torricellus his Tube Yet this difference has never been observ'd though it must be very great We could still give many other weighty Reasons against this System But let it be how it will take away its Vortex and the Flux and Reflux must needs follow it Lastly according to M. Descartes it is the Celestial Matter of this Vortex that having more Motion than is necessary to turn in twenty four Hours time about the Earth imploys the remainder to diffuse it self all manner of ways and together with the Matter of the third and first Element causes that great variety of Effects and Bodies which we so much wonder at So the Vortex being ruin'd all goes to Wreck and Confusion and returns to its Native Chaos Wherefore it makes not only for the glory of M. Descartes but for the Interest of all Mankind to save this Vortex For what remains we protest we should be wonderful glad to see the Solution of the Difficulties we have propos'd against this and the other Points upon which we shall resign our selves intire and sincere Proselytes to Cartesianism But in answering us let no one think to put upon us nor quote a place in M. Descartes to convince us he has not contradicted it in another when 't is a plain and notorions Case That Wheedle might take with those that have but perfunctorily read his Works but must shew them the Contradiction in a clearer Light that shall take pains to compare the opposite places We farther desire succinct and neater Answers than the generality of those himself hath formerly given to those many Objections propos'd against his Metaphysicks Those very Answers raise in our Minds more Scruples than they cure And yet because they have been Printed set off and tinsell'd with High-strain'd Praises of the Author because he gives them a Magisterial and usually a disdainful Air and we never see any Replies affix'd to them many are habituated to reverence them as second Oracles wherewith he hath confirm'd and explain'd those former of his own pronouncing We shall not be such tame Asses as to be impos'd on by M. Descartes's Reputation and Authority no more than we would be Vassals to the esteem we have for some of his Disciples We praise and highly approve the Advice he gives those who are on the Inquest after Truth to beware of Prejudices and shall put in Practice These Monsieur are the chiefest of the things contain'd in my Peripatetick Memoir They added some few others by word of Mouth as for Instance That you would have been most horribly pester'd if any one would have track'd you
step by step in the fourth Part of your Book of Principles especially from Number 32. to 45. where you are so particular in posturing and disposing those parts of the third Element of which you form your Earth That there were many things there unsatisfactory to the Mind and that there was not a Page wherein it might not be reasonably again and again demanded why such a thing ought to be rather so than otherwise without your being able to give a tolerable Reason for it That they believ'd that piece of your Physicks was one of those that had most contributed to make your Philosophy pass with many for a perfect Fable ill-digested and not well hung together And that your Adversaries without troubling themselves to refute the Propositions that you make there the Discussion whereof must needs be very tedious had no more to do than to refer your Readers to the place to make them as ill-satisfied with you as can be wish'd They proceeded farther to say you us'd to attribute Properties to your Elements which you was sure to take away again when they were not for your purpose They gave me an Instance in the Matter of the first Element You attribute as a Property to that Matter a great facility of division and readiness to change its Figure so as easily to insinuate its self in every place and sill all sort of Space whatever But when 't is brought for the Explication of the Nature of the Loadstone that Propriety growing disadvantagious Descartes thinks fit to change it for a contrary There is occasion for a little Vortex of chamfer'd Matter round the Earth and about each particular Loadstone to give a Reason for the Qualities of that miraculous Stone These chamfer'd parts belong to the first Element Part 3. princip It formerly was nothing to them to accommodate themselves with the Figure of a Skrew to pass and repass betwixt the Globules of the second Element And now in issuing from the Earth or from a Loadstone the parts of Air are able to detain them Instead of breaking and proportioning themselves to the Figure of the Parts of Air and second Element mingled with it they flock and settle in heaps about the Earth and about the Loadstone where they constitute a Vortex Those that enter by the Southern Pole are incapable of passing by the Northern since their Figure can no longer be adapted to that Passage and they farther demanded upon that occasion how it was possible those Snail-work'd Parts confin'd and stopt thus in a definite Space having an intricate and confus'd Motion one amongst another approaching the Pole of the Earth or Magnet that was proportion'd to them could so conveniently turn themselves an end and present so cleverly their Point against the Pores in order to their entrance in those Bodies They pretended the contrary was more likely and that generally the parts would present themselves across and thereby make a Confusion capable of stopping all the rest and damming up the Pores of the Earth and Magnet so as to frustrate all those admirable Effects we see there They advanc'd one Paradox more which was a good Humour enough Hitherto said they the most rational Philosophers have acknowledg'd that no Physical Argument could be brought against Copernicus to prove the Earth was not turn'd about its Centre But M. Descartes who sides with that Astronomer in his Hypothesis has furnish'd us with a very conclusive one against that Motion His topping Principle is That every Body circularly mov'd attempts to wheel off the Centre of its Motion This Principle is true He thence concludes that the Earth turning on its Axle would fly in Pieces unless the Bodies of which it is compos'd were closely press'd and squeez'd against one another by the Matter of the second Element This Consequence is moreover evident in his System But now let us see if that pressure of the Matter of the second Element is strong enough to overpower the Effort which the Parts of the Earth make to disengage themselves and get further from their Centre This difficulty said they falls only on M. Descartes For the School-Opinion is so far from owning such a Propensity in the parts of the Earth to deviate from the Centre as to suppose a quality and inclination that naturally buckles them unto it Now upon comparing the pressure of Terrestrial Bodies one against another by the Matter of the second Element with the Effort Terrestrial Bodies make to get far off the Centre the Effort must surmount the pressure For the Effort is as great as the Motion that causes it and the Motion is very great indeed that can carry the Earth several Leagues each Minute and on the contrary Experience shews there needs but a very little Effort for the conquering the pressure since no greater is requisite than that a Child of four years old imploys in Walking to lift his Foot and separate it from the Ground whereto the pressure of the second Element did fasten it Wherefore it seems to be reasonably concluded That the Earth turns not on its Axis since if it did we should all be hurl'd in the Air pursuant to M. Descartes's Principle which yet at bottom is true in sound Philosophy Thus this System affords an excellent Argument against that of Copernicus They yet farther observ'd to me some peculiar Places and Points of your System of the greatest Importance which you advance as they pretend not only stript and naked of all Proof but against all Reason in the World they particularly intreated me to read considerately and without prepossession the second Number of the fourth Part of your Book of Principles where having explain'd how the Vortex of the Earth was destroy'd and how there grew round that cak'd and crusted Star a spacious Fleece of Air you not only plunge it a great depth in the Solary Vortex but also make that Sphere of Air keep pace and wait upon it thither and ever incompass it as it still descends They pretend that Supposition which you throw in Gratis and without all Confirmation is inconceivable and yet if it be false it were impossible at present to have Air about our Earth It is inconceivable say they For according to M. Descartes the Air is nothing but an heap of the Parts of the third Element exceeding small and very loose and disunited from each other and extraordinary obsequious to the Motions impress'd on them by the Globules of the second Element in which they swim But this being so how comes it to pass the Earth traversing those immense Spaces quite from its setting out at the brink of the Solary Vortex to the place in which it is should still so preserve all the Air about it How by the Principles of that Philosopher could that Mass of Air being far less solid than the Mass of Earth have the same Motion the same Determination and same Swiftness as the Earth How chance those little Parts so