believe that they doubted of its Authority This Mr. Clark published a Book intituled Anti-Nicaenismus in 1694. and died soon after If to what I have said you add the Preface of the Notes on the beginning of St. John's Gospel you may know why Mr. L. C. published that little Book at that time Mr. Benoit a Minister at Delft thought sit to write against it in a Dissertation printed at Rotterdam in 1696. Mr. L. C. did not answer it and will not do it for the same Reason which hindred him from answering several others viz. because he believed that the Reader was able to judge of that Dispute by comparing those two Books without the help of a Reply I don't know whether Mr. Benoit took it ill for he desired that his Book should make a noise in the World However he thought fit to reflect upon Mr. L. C. a great while after in the Libels he wrote against Mr. Jaquelot and Mr. Le Vassor tho' Mr. L. C. was not concerned in that Quarrel Mr. Benoit was in hopes that Mr. L. C. would presently take up the Cudgel and that his Book which no Body would buy would by that means sell the better But he was mistaken and Mr. L. C. was as little moved with his Libels as he was with his Dissertation and would make no Reply out of Prudence and Contempt for such Disputes The first Reason he had for it is that 't is needless to write Books in order to explain what every Body understands 'T is true that Mr. Benoit speaks as if he understood it not but let him read again the Passage he wrote against and then he may answer himself Mr. L. C.'s second Reason for not answering him is that the Indignation which most French Refugees have expressed against his Libels and the Satisfaction he has been obliged to make after he had endeavoured to stir up the People against two of his Brethren have so humbled him that there is no need any Body else should do it Instead of writing against those who don't meddle with him he should answer the Complaints of several of his Country-men who openly charge him with want of Sincerity in his History which many People look upon as a Book fitter to Defame than Honour the Party His crying down People as Hereticks will not put an end to their Complaints On the contrary he will perhaps force some great Persons to publish what they heard him say some Years ago They remember very well that he profest himself at that time to be a moderate Man The next Year 1697. Mr. Vander Waeyen published his Dissertation concerning the Logos which I have already mention'd and that it might sell the better added to it a Book of Stephen Rittangelius who had been a Jew and turned Christian wherein he endeavours to prove that the Chaldee Paraphrasts meant by the Word of God the same thing that St. John did For my part I don't believe it and in my Opinion Rittangelius has very ill confuted his Adversary but this is not the Question in hand Mr. Vander Waeyen being not contented to confute Mr. L. C. omits nothing to make him odious He had a great while before acquainted the World that he was about a Dissertation wherein he would prove that Mr. L. C. had not faithfully cited Philo. Mr. Van Limborch Mr. L. C.'s Collegue hearing of it undertook to compare all the Passages of Philo quoted by Mr. L. C. in his Notes on the beginning of St. John's Gospel and finding that he had truly cited them he told some Body of it who acquainted Mr. Vander Waeyen with it Whereupon Mr. Vander Waeyen inveighed so furiously against him as to accuse him of a base Calumny Mr. L. C. was at that time so busy about a Book which is lately come out and of which I shall speak hereafter that he could not answer Mr. Vander Waeyen but Mr. Van Limborch did it with great moderation and so as to stop the mouth of any other Man but him A Cocceian Divine who for several Years has been used to Quarrel does not easily blush tho' he be clearly convinced or at least his inward Shame is not to be seen in his Writings But there is one thing in them which is very visible viz. a great Confusion whereby it plainly appears that he knows not what he says tho' he makes as great a bustle as he can This one may observe in Mr. Vander Waeyen's Reply intituled Responsionis Limborgianae Discussio which from the beginning to the end is an exact Picture of an Angry Man As for the matter of it it is a confused heap of usesless Quotations and pitiful Arguments without any Connexion and Order and sometimes the Reader is at a loss to find any sense in it His Dissertation concerning the Logos is no better but because he took a little more time to compose it he seems to be more sedate whereas he is quite out of his Senses in the other When a Man takes such a course the Dispute is at an end for to what purpose should any one answer him Were he convinced of Calumny a hundred times one after another he would go on still without minding what the Publick will think of it For Instance Mr. Vander Waeyen having accused Mr. Van Limborch of want of Sincerity and having been convinced of it himself as clearly as that two and two make four says notwithstanding with his wonted Boldness †Discus p. 48. that the Remostrants shew a greater moderation to I know not whom than to the Reformed as if the Books of the former were not full of Protestations whereby it appears that they are ready to live in the same Communion with the Reformed provided their Opinions be tolerated But whilst they require from the Remonstrants that they suppress or renounce their Opinions when at the same time they canonize and preach up such Doctrines as the Remonstrants believe to be erroneous how can the latter re-unite themselves with a good Conscience A re-union whereby a Man suppresses what he thinks to be true to give place to what he believes to be false if there was nothing else is unworthy of a pious Man and there is not one honest Man among the Reformed who would approve of such a Re-union with the Lutherans Mr. Vander Waeyen cannot be ignorant of the Sentiments of the Remonstrants on this Matter since they are known even to Children in the Vnited Provinces What signifies it to dispute with a Man who is positive and confident about the most uncertain things and scruples not to deny what is as clear as Noon-day Besides the Publick is not at all concern'd in personal Disputes and will not read Books that contain nothing else Mr. L. C. should therefore lose his time if he took the Pains to confute the Calumnies and injurious Words of that Professor of Franeker especially if it be considered that he has exprest in his Works a greater respect for
Prophets than to prove every thing exactly by Critical and Philosophical Arguments If Mr. Vander Waeyen is very well contented to be ignorant of those Sciences no Body can help it but he must not take it ill if others value them If the use that is made of the knowledge of ancient Authors may be often justly blamed one might find out several ways of setting up again that Science by a better Method as I have already said here and elsewhere But 't is more proper here to Discourse of Mr. L. C's Works in particular after I have laid down his general Notions of the Method of Studying and of the use of the Sciences he applies himself to Of the Quaestiones Sacrae BEING arrived in Holland in the Year 1683. he published the Year following a Book Intituled Davidis Stephani Clerici Quaestiones Sacrae which are Critical Discourses on some Subjects taken for the most part out of the Scripture He added to them some Notes of his own wherein he scruples not to contradict his Uncle and Father when he thinks they are mistaken being of Opinion that Truth is to be preferred to the strictest Ties of Blood He published that Book not only to honour the Memory of his Uncle and Father who had a great Skill in the Eastern Languages and Human Learning and whose Lives he prefixed to that Book but also to serve the Publick which can never be done but by telling the Truth He did not think it inconsistent with the Respect he owed to the Memory of two Men so nearly related to him if he shewed that they were fallible like other Men. Notwithstanding most of his Remarks do only clear or confirm what is contained in those Dissertations Another Volume of those two Brothers was published in 1682. and printed by Wetstein in Octavo But Mr. L. C. added nothing of his own to it but a Preface It contains some Speeches on several Subjects and a Computus Ecclesiasticus of David le Clerc with some Poetical Pieces of the same and some Dissertations of Stephen le Clerc upon some Places of several Prophane Authors Of his Entretiens de Theologie TOWARDS the end of the same Year 1684. Mr. L. C. published a Book of a Friend of his Intituled Entretiens sur diverses matieres de Theologie in Twelves and because it was too small a Book he added a second Part to it made up of five Dialogues The three First treat of the Extent of our Metaphysical Knowledge and its use in Religion and contain several Examples whereby it clearly appears That Metaphysicians have often obscured Divinity and started a thousand Difficulties by reasoning about Things of which they had no Ideas The Authors thinks that we must not extend the use of the Faculties we have received of God beyond the Bounds he has prescribed to them unless we will fall into infinite Errors and believes that as our Senses teach us no more of Bodies than what is necessary for the Preservation of our Lives so the Light of Reason is of no farther use to us than to make us obey the Laws of God and to lead us to the Supream Felicity So that God having bestowed Knowledge on us only to that intent when we will launch out beyond the Bounds of that Knowledge and what necessarily depends on it we run the hazard of wandering and falling into many Doubts which we cannot resolve as the Author shews at large The Fourth Dialogue contains an Examination of several Places of Scripture which Metaphysicians make an ill use of Most of those Passages are taken out of the Writings of the Author of The Search after Truth but there are several Things which are common to him and other Metaphysicians The Design of those Four Dialogues is to shew that in Matters of Religion we must keep to Revelation and not fancy that we have compleat and adequate Ideas of the Things contained in it and that we may draw infinite Consequences from them If Divines had kept themselves within those Bounds without adding any Thing to the Doctrins contained in the Scripture and inventing New Terms as if they were more convenient than those which the Holy Writers made use of perhaps the World had not seen the Fourth Part of the Heresies which have been broach'd from the Apostles to this time and the Christian Theology would be much more Beautiful and more conducing to Piety The Fifth Dialogue contains an Explication of the IX X XI Chapters of the Epistle to the Romans taken chiefly out of the Paraphrase of Dr. Hammond who is now better known in Foreign Countries since Mr. L. C. published his Works in Latin as I shall say hereafter Those Dialogues are the First Book that he published in French and one may see in it the Three Sciences I have discoursed of Divinity Philosophy and Critical Learning concurring to inspire the Reader with Pious and Reasonable Opinions concerning Religion and Morality For he utterly dissents from those who cry down Reason that they may vent without being contradicted a thousand Things which really reflect on God and Religion One may see what he says about it towards the End of the Third Dialogue Reason and Revelation never quarrel with one another and if we see the contrary in School-Divinity 't is because what they call Reason or Revelation is often a meer Phantom substituted in their room as those who can consult the Scripture and who reason closely will easily perceive Of the Sentimens sur l'Histoire Critique c. IN the Year 1685. Mr. L. C. published another French Book in Octavo Entituled Sentimens de quelques Theologiens de Hollande sur l'Histoire Critique du Vieux Testament composée par R. Simon That Book is writ by way of Letters wherein Mr. L. C. sets down the Opinions of several Persons concerning the Critical History of the Old Testament by Father Simon and gives an Account of the Conversations of some Friends discoursing with great Freedom of Father Simon 's Book and some Subjects relating to it When we discourse with some Persons whom we do not mistrust we believe that we may boldly say what we think especially if we propose our Thoughts as meer Conjectures because we pretend not to maintain them as our settled Opinion and scruple not to give them up when after a more serious Consideration those Conjectures appear not to us probable enough to be defended This has been done by Mr. L. C. in that Book wherein he has advanced some Conjectures of his own and of his Friends without ever pretending to maintain them but as Conjectures which are not destitute of Probability and not as his settled Opinion as if he believed they could be clearly proved A Digression concerning Conjectures IT is certain that there are several degrees of Likelihood and Certainty in Men's Opinions It be confest that the Things we believe are not equally clear whatever the ancient Stoick Philosophers might say to the
Divine Revelation in general and the Christian Religion in particular than his Adversary 'T is in vain for Mr. Vander Wacyen to call Impious and Prophane some Passages of the Treatise concerning the Inspiration of the Sacred Writers The Publick knows very well that Mr. L. C. does not own himself to be the Author of that Treatise and that there is scarce any thing in it but what was said before by Grotius whose Works have been so often reprinted and who is look'd upon as the most excellent Interpeter of the New Testament Mr. Vander Waeyen should have written against him and he would without doubt have done it were it not that the meer Name of Grotius will weigh down all the malice of his Adversaries But Mr. L. C. will do well to publish a Latin Book wherein he 'll examine some Questions which Mr. Vander Waeyen has only entangled For instance Whether Philo took out of Moses what he says concerning the Logos Whether the Platonicks meant the Word by it Whether Plato took out of the Old Testament that he says concerning the three Principles c. He may shew by the by that Mr. Vander Waeyen has but slightly studied that Matter and that it had been more for his Honour not to meddle with it He may also easily prove that he cited Philo with great Sincerity and Exactness and that his Adversary shews no Sincerity in what he says on that point But the Professor of Franeker must not be too impatient He ought to be contented now that he has fully vented his Spleen against Mr. L. C. As for Mr. Van Limborch he has so perfectly confuted Mr. Vander Waeyen's Objections and so well satisfied the Publick in that matter that it would be needless to do it again after him The things which the latter has collected against the Remonstrants are so inconsiderable and confused and shew so much Anger that every Body may be sensible of it Mr. Vander Waeyen's Accusations are so unjudicious and he is so well known by reason of his Quarrels and passionate Carriage towards other Reformed Divines that he can do them no prejudice He has encreased the Reputation of those against whom he wrote at the cost of his own I 'll Instance upon Mr. Spanheim †See Frid. Spanbemii Ep. ad Amicum Ed. Vltrajecti 1684. pag. 71. seq Mr. Vander Waeyen was so ridiculous as to teach him how to confound the Degrees of Longitude and Latitude and to laugh at him because he had said that the New World reaches above 180. Degrees He could not forbear saying with a magisterial Air That Mr. Spanheim spoke very ignorantly ignorantissimegrave and that Geographers reckon only 180. Degrees from one Pole to the other as if Mr. Spanhiem had meant Degrees of Latitude Mr. Vander Waeyen's Dissertation being printed and published the late Mr. Anselaar a Minister at Amsterdam gave him notice of his Blunder but it was too late Mr. Spanheim and several others had already got some Copies of it and that Passage was only mended in those which remained in the Bookseller's Hands Mr. Van Limborch hinted by the by at that gross Mistake to oblige Mr. Vander Waeyen to be more modest and reserved in censuring others †Vid. Discus p. 68. But he feigns to know nothing of it whereas he should make a good use of such a warning to leave off insulting so proudly those who are not of his Mind We may learn from thence that Boldness and Confidence in speaking prove not that a Man is sure of what he says Mr. Vander Waeyen affords us an instance of it for he has committed a childish Fault at the very same time that he was insulting and laughing at Mr. Spanheim without any reason for it 'T is a piece of Craft which has been practised a thousand times and tho' the Fallacy lacy of it has been detected as many times yet the common People are still deceived by it †Juvenal Sat. XIII v. 109. And a great boldness in defending a bad Cause is look'd upon by many as a sign that a Man trusts the goodness of his Cause Nam cùm magna malae superest audacia causae Creditur à multis fiducia Mr. Van Limborch must not trouble himself with what the Professor of Franeker thinks of his Works A Man who is well pleased with precarious Explications of Prophecies and fills his Head with so many Chimaeras cannot but dislike good and methodical Explications of the Holy Scripture and such as are grouded on the clear sense of the Words and Grammatical Rules But all those who are acquainted with the Principles of the Reformers and know that in matters of Religion every thing must be proved by the Scripture literally expounded without any mixture of Humane Doctrines will always set a great value on Mr. Van Limborch's Books whatever Allegorical Divines may think of ' em However I believe as well as Mr. Vander Waeyen that Knowledge shall be encreased among Christians but it will not be by substituting in the room of Reason and Critical Rules the wandering Fancy of those who expound the Holy Scripture as they do the Chiming of Bells God on the contrary will make use of Reason and Critical Learning which are now cultivated more than ever to produce that Change The Divines of the Church of England are much esteem'd because they Reason better and make better use of the Knowledge of Languages than others do in many other Countries 'T is true that Mr. Vander Waeyen has no Kindness for them because they cannot abide the Cocceian Explications of Holy Scripture but approve of those of Grotius and other like Interpreters But how can they help it They must as well as so many other Reformed Divines patiently bear the misfortune of not pleasing him Of the Treatise concerning the Causes of Unbelief NEXT to the Commentary on the Pentateuch Mr. L. C. published his French Treatise concerning the Causes of Vnbelief wherein he examines the Motives and general Reasons which induce Unbelievers to reject the Christian Religion He published it in 1696. and promised to translate it into Latin and to add some Notes in confirmation of what he says He is so persuaded that the better a Man reasons the better he may be convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion and the Beauty of its Morality that he constantly says in that Book that Men fall into Unbelief for want of reasoning well Nay †B. 2. Ch. VI. n. IV. he affirms that whoever says we must renounce Reason to believe Religion betrays it for assoon as we lay aside the Light of Reason we can apprehend nothing in Revelation and are not able to understand the Proofs it is grounded upon which suppose that we can reason He thinks that those who have cried down Reason designed to deceive the People and make 'em believe any thing But on the other side Mr. L. C. believes not that we ought to have clear
Poets is the pleasant Cadence of their Verse which flatters our Ears after the same manner as Music does When an Air pleases us we never consider the Words as we find it by experience at an Opera which we are not able to read with any tolerable patience but when 't is represented on the Theatre we hear it with admiration As Music charms our Ears by striking them differently at several certain measur'd times by never passing all on the sudden from one extreme Tone to another which is quite opposite to it by carrying no Tone too high for fear of shocking our Ears but by employing Tones that are proportion'd to our Organs and lastly by making us hear the same Cadences in the same Order more than once After the same manner the Poets by using Syllables of a certain quantity I speak of the Latines and Greeks in certain places by choosing Words of an agreeable Sound by breaking their Course which wou'd otherwise seem harsh with Caesuras and by making us feel this Harmony some time after fill our Ears so deliciously that they obtain our Favour for a world of false Thoughts To be convinced of the truth of this Assertion a Man need only set the finest Passages of the Poets in the natural order of Construction and he will find nothing in them to please him Altho' we may there discover Disjecti membra Poetae to use Horace's Expression 't is all of it nothing but a cold heap of great Words Let us take for Instance the beginning of Simon 's Speech in the second Book of the Aeneis which is assuredly the most artificial Speech that can be made and Charms every one that reads it Equidem Rex fâ—â—t â—bor tibi cuncta quaecunque sucrint vera neque negaâ—â—o nâ—e de gente Argolicâ Hoc primum nec si improba fortuna finxit Sinonem miserum finget etiam vaâ—â—â—â— mendacémque Here indeed is a Latin Discourse however it does not come up to the Majesty of Verse I will not give any more Instances of this Nature because every Man may try this Experiment in any place he thinks fit to single out 'T is likewise easie to transpose after the same manner the description of Aeolus's Den and the Reader will soon perceive that the Cadence of the Verse serves very much to help it off The Inconveniences of Poetry HOWEVER there 's one thing to be observ'd in relation to Verse which is That if the Poets have some Advantage over those that write in Prose by reason of their Cadence there are several Inconveniences which they cannot always avoid For Instance They cannot say all they have a mind to say neither do they say it in that manner as they cou'd wish they are forc'd to convert the Order of the Words tho' never so much against their Inclination they frequently say that which they wou'd not say and clog their Discourse with superfluous Epithets and sometimes forced ones to fill up the Measure of their Verse There are abundance of noble significant Words that cannot stand in some sorts of Poetry especially the Heroic so that they are often forced to lay aside good Thoughts that come into their Head because Words that are necessary to express them fully cannot come into the Verse If the Poet is not resolved to part with his Thought he must employ other Words that are not proper and often invert them strangely to make up his Measure 'T is true indeed that in this respect we are apt to do the Poets Justice enough in favour of their Cadence since we have been so complaisant as to bestow the Name of Figures upon real Faults of Discourse according to the Observation of Quintilian †Lib. 1. c. 8. Poetis quia plerumque metro servire coguntur adeò ignoscitur ut vitia ipsa aliis in carmine appellationibus nominantur Metaplasmos enim Schematismos Schemata vocamus laudem virtutis necessitati damus We are so favourable to the Poets because they are confin'd to measure that even Vices in Verse go under other Names We call them Metaplasms and Figures and praise that as a Beauty which was the meer effect of Necessity But there is nothing so inconvenient as when being at a loss how to fill up a Verse which is well begun they are obliged to end it ill Nothing is more common in Homer and Hesiod than these Botches of a word or more to stop up the Gap Nay we find whole Verses and Expressions that return every moment upon us rather to serve for Passevolans if I may be allow'd so to speak and to make up the number than for any real Necessity What they might very well express in one word or two they frequently employ a whole Verse to do it in and sometimes more and all this to no other purpose than to make the Discourse more insipid and tiresome Had I written this Book in Latin I wou'd have cited Examples enough to justifie this Assertion in the mean time I appeal for the truth of it to all those that have read these Poets with a mind disengaged from the Prejudices of the Grammarians 'T is very probable that the Reason why Virgil who has avoided these Faults more carefully than the above-mention'd Greek Poets left some imperfect Verses in his Aeneis was only because he cou'd not at first fill them up without making some Botches or at least some useless Repetitions There are some Passages in his life relating to this Affair which deserve our Observation However he cou'd not avoid and that very often to use several Words and Expressions that only serve to fill up the Measure Thus in the first Book of his Aeneis having assign'd a little before the Reasons why Juno was so implacable an Adversary to Aeneas he repeats it again about the fortieth Verse Aeternum servans sub pectore vulnus Carrying an eternal Wound in her Soul Take away these words and you maim the Verse indeed but not the Sense A little lower Juno promises Deiopeia for a Wife to Aeolus in these Words Connubio jungam stabili propriámque dicabo Omnes let tecum meritis pro talibus annos Exigat pulchrâ faciat to prole parentem I will give her you in Marriage for ever that she may pass her Days with you and make you the Father of fine Children There 's nothing more belongs to the Sense than these Words Connubio jungam quae pulcrâ faciat to prole parentem I will give her you in Marriage that she may bring you fine Children whatever the Interpreters have said upon this place Jupiter as he is telling Venus what the Fortune wou'd be of Aeneas's Posterity to let her know that Ascanius wou'd Reign thirty Years thus expresses himself v. 271. At puer Ascanius cui nunc cognomen Iulo Additur Ilus erat dum res stetit Ilia Regno Trignta magnos volvendis mensibus orbes Imperio explebit But young Ascanius who is
Book and they don't want Words when they are attack'd they think that they perfectly satisfie all Difficulties and answer all Objections Thus this sort of People fall foul upon every thing without Distinction which does not suit with their Passions in a vain Presumption that a Torrent of Words will effectually do their Business for them and that they shall never want a Supply I knew a Man of this Character who thought that Talking and Proving were the same thing so that after he had talked a great deal he fancied he brought abundance of Proofs and on the contrary that those that talk little prove nothing He perswaded himself that the World counts the Sentences in a Book just as they do Soldiers in an Army and that the more Ink a Man uses the more Reason he has on his side One may apply to this Man a Saying of †See Aulus Gell. L. 1. c. xv Salust Satis loquentiae sapientiae parum Words enough but little good Sense On the other hand those that are really Eloquent after they have form'd a clear Idea of the Propositions they intend to prove for this in short is the end of all Discourses whatever they are if they are reasonable make use only of those Proofs that appear the most simple the most direct and the most sensible and reject all the rest After this they adorn the Proofs they have chosen with all the Decorations that solid Eloquence uses to employ and of which I shall take occasion to discourse at the Conclusion of these Reflexions When they have a fertile Subject which deserves to be enlarged upon they talk the longer of it But if it is Barren and the thing in hand is not of that importance as to require a long Examination they soon dispatch it In a word they lengthen their Discourse according to the Nature of their Subject whereas others amplify theirs according to the extravagant Desire they have to talk much or to make a show of their pretended Eloquence The former talk when they have something to communicate which deserves to be heard and the latter never hold their Tongue but when no Body will do the Penance to listen to them The second Fault we may observe in those that are only Masters of a false Eloquence and which concerns the Choice of what is proper to be said is that they believe that if they are not allow'd to say every thing that comes into their head they are not however obliged to use no Arguments but such as are concluding They flatter themselves that the World ought to consider them as Persons of a nice Discernment if they employ no Reasonings that are palpably absur'd that shock the Imagination The slightest Appearances and the most incertain Probabilities serve their turn They perpetually confound the Possible with the Probable and the Probable with the True Their Discourses and Works are full of Reasonings of this Nature which wou'd no more endure the Test of Logic than a gilded Shilling wou'd endure the Touch-stone If we confine them to Syllogism and carefully consider their equivocal Expressions and their precarious Principles we shall find at first sight that they are nothing but pure Sophisms which are founded upon Ambiguities or Suppositions that cannot be defended We shall find that by Reasoning after this manner there is nothing which we cannot attack and nothing which we cannot prove We may meet abundance of Examples of this Nature in the Writings of the ancient Philosophers and Fathers of the Church especially when they Dispute or Reason upon the Old Testament In every Page we find Suppositions altogether uncertain and which 't is impossible to prove if once we deny them and Arguments that are wholly built upon the Ambiguity of some Words which they wou'd not give themselves the trouble to explain to have an occasion to Reason out of our sight It will be told me perhaps that I ought to talk more respectfully of the Fathers and that the consent of Antiquity for Reasoning in this manner is a sufficient Proof that it is warrantable and good But I have nothing to do here with Theological Doctrins wherein their Authority uses to be of weight Logic at present is the Business in debate which will not allow the Authority of Citations but only the strict Rules of Art Whoever violates them is to be tried before the Tribunal of Logicians tho' it were an Oecumenical Council confirmed by several others There is no Authority in the World that can make Arbitrary Laws for good Reasoning or change a Sophism into a true Syllogism or make a just Argument become a Sophism without altering something in it No Person has power to grant Immunities to the Prejudice of the Rights of Reason or to make any Exception in favour of any thing of this Nature We must either obey the Rules or undergo the Sentence The true Rhetoricians follow upon this occasion the Authority of the Philosophers or rather the inviolable Light of good Sense They maintain that when a Man is to prove any thing solidly he ought to employ no Reasonings but those that are solid If he will needs make use of probable Reasonings whatever he concludes from them cannot be more certain than the Proofs he brings All that he can make of them will only amount to a Probability Now as there are several Degrees of Probability a Man likewise ought to have a regard to that and to make slight Appearances go for no more than they are really worth In the Civil Law for Example there is no Authority which can make a bad Consequence go for a good one When any thing is to be proved by a Law or an Act we must plainly shew that the Terms of that Law or Act cannot be possibly understood in another sense Probability especially when it is slight serves only to spoil our Cause For the Advocate of the other side let him underhand his Profession never so little will not fail to observe that nothing concluding has been urged in the Case and the Judges demand solid Proofs and not simple Conjectures If any Man should be so ill-advised as to Reason at the Barr upon the Laws as Origene does upon the Bible he wou'd be hiss'd out of the Court and in a short time no Body wou'd retain him unless he intirely changed his Method Let People say what they please since the Fathers never had any such Privilege from Heaven as to be exempted from following the Laws of good Logic we lie under no Obligation to believe that those Reasonings are good in their Writings which wou'd be exploded any where else However in several parts of the World those that design for the Pulpit read them to model themselves upon their Eloquence and to use upon occasion their Words or their Arguments and as if they durst not employ the Rules of Logic to examin them by they learn by little and little to Reason just as they did and at last to
to be known Quintilian rightly said †Instit Lib. 1. c. 1. Si quid discere satis non est ideo necesse non est What is not sufficient to make one Learned is notwithstanding necessary And such are the Principles of Grammar which he speaks of But I would alto invert his Thought Thus Siquid dicere necesse est ideo satis non est Tho' a Science be necessary yet we must not fancy that it is sufficient to make one Learned It were much better to Praise the ancient Authors and the means of understanding them less than they deserve and that those who study them should find in 'em more than they expected than to Praise them so much that they who read them may justly complain they were deceived And then they will not only abate of those excessive Praises but the Discontent which arises from their having been deceived will make 'em apt to deprive that Science of the Praises it justly deserves How many Men are there who having applied themselves for example to the Reading of Aristotle because of the great Encomiums bestowed on him left it off with a great Contempt for that Philosopher because they had not found in him the tenth part of what they were told whereas had that Author been moderately praised they would have read his Works with great satisfaction because of the great variety of the Subjects he treats of and the occasion he gives to think of several things which perhaps no Body would think of if he had not read 'em not to mention the Knowledge of the Opinions of many other Philosophers which he furnishes his Reader with It requires some Pains application of Mind and Sagacity to make a more than ordinary Improvement in Humane Learning The Reading of good critical Books is both pleasant and useful no Body doubts of it But the Knowledge of Words ought not to be preferred to the Knowledge of Things which is the Fault of some Humanists who despise all other Sciences and fancy they ought to be placed in the first Rank of Learned Men Thus they raise against themselves those who profess other Sciences and they draw Contempt on their Learning which would be esteem'd if they spoke modestly of it Personal Faults of the Humanists III. But that which is worse and makes Humane Learning much more Contemptible is that many of those who have very much applied themselves to it shew by their own Example that that Science which they so excessively Praise produces not the Effects one might have expected after so many Praises When we hear any of those Gentlemen say in a very elegant Latin Style and prove by the Testimony of all the Greek and Roman Authors that the Study of Humane Learning will far better than any other Science make a Man judicious exact and discerning soften his Manners and take away his Wildress and Rusticity when I say we hear so many Encomiums and look for the admirable Effects of that Science in its Panegyrists we are strangely surprised to find often the quite contrary One can hardly imagine but that if it could really produce so happy a Change in Men it would chiefly be observed in those who profess it and when one sees there is nothing of it all those Praises seem to be groundless some Men of that Profession who cannot be rankt among the Vulgar do often Reason very pitifully and know not how to order well their Thoughts they load their Memory with a vast number of Words and very few Things they are full of a ridiculous Pride which makes 'em decide every thing with a magisterial Air which wise Men cannot endure they bite every Body quarrel with one another for Trifles and give one another the foulest Language in a word instead of that charming Politeness which they say is only to be found in the ancient Writers we see nothing in them but a Pedantry which can be endured no where but amongst Scholars It would require a whole Volume if I would enlarge upon the several Faults of the Humanists asmuch as it were necessary to draw a full Picture of them But there is no need to enlarge upon those Faults whereof we see every day but too many Examples and I neither design to defame that Trade not those who profess it All that I could with is that those who know themselves to be guilty of Faults which make their Profession contemptible would seriously mend them and endeavour to get the Affection of honest Men by a contrary Method Who could forbear loving Humane Learning if those who have most applied themselves to it did reason With more exactness and clearness than others if they displaid before their Readers not only an elegant Latin Style but such things as are above the Capacity of the Common People and useful to be known if they shewed as much Modesty as reading and never boldly decided any thing but what may be evidently proved if they exceeded other Men in good Nature and Condescension for one another and never defended themselves or attack'd others but with Reasons without Bitterness and Animosity Lastly if they shewed in their Manners as much Politeness as is to be seen in the Style of good Authors Who could forbear cherishing such Men and bestowing upon them as many Favours as one could If we could see such a Change there would be no farther occasion to complain of the Contempt which Humane Learning and those who profess it commonly lye under for certainly it were impossible they should not be valued Some morose Humanists will perhaps say That 't is ill done of me to censure after that manner those of his Profession since it is certain that those who apply themselves to other Sciences as Divines and Philosophers do no less scandalize the World by not living according to their Profession But I do not intend to excuse or defend those of whom I say nothing and ought not to speak in this place It is enough for me that I have said nothing of those whom I have mention'd but what is confirm'd by a daily experience If other Men are guilty of the same Faults with us ours are not less real and we ate no less bound to mend them than if others were free from them especially when those Faults are so prejudicial to a Science and to those who profess it I have heard of a rich Man who had no tincture of Humane Learning that having heard it very much praised by a Friend of his who besides that Knowledge had all the Qualifications necessary to gain esteem he resolved to carry his Son to a famous University and to spare no cost for his Education But having very good natural Parts and having been told too that Scholarship makes one very often Pedantick and Proud he would go himself and spend some time in that University together with his Son to make choice of a good Professor under whose care he might improve without being infected with
contrary who believed that their Wise Man never conjectured and that whatever he believed could be demonstrated Neither yet is every thing uncertain as the Academians held and there is an infinite number of Things which can be demonstrated or rendred very likely as Mr. L. C. has shewn at large in the second Part of his Logick We ought to speak more or less affirmatively according to the several degrees of Likelihood or Certainty As it would be ridiculous to speak doubtfully of a clear Mathematical Proposition so it would not be less absurd to propose a Conjecture as a Demonstration Men have always been allowed to Conjecture and say what seem'd to them to be probable but upon condition that they should remember that their Conjectures were not certain Truths Reason therefore teaches a Man to act differently when any Body writes against a Conjecture which he has published or when he perceives that they write against a clear Truth out of Malice or Obstinacy If any one shews that a Conjecture may be false the Author of that Conjecture must not take it ill because a Conjecture is an Opinion wherein one may be mistaken And if after a more careful Examination he thinks that his Conjecture is less probable than it seem'd to be at first he ought to look upon it with greater Indifferency and even give it up if he finds out something better A Man must never be positive in Things which cannot at all be demonstrated so as to embrace or defend as certain what is only probable This Mr. L. C. thought he might very well do with respect to the Conjecture which is to be found in the VI. Letter of the Sentiments concerning the Compiler of the Pentateuch who as he thought might have been an Honest Israelite who collected all the Writings of Moses and added to them some other Facts taken out of some ancient and creditable Books for the use of the Samaritans about the time of the Captivity As he always call'd that Opinion a Conjecture so he never defended it but as such and thought not himself obliged to maintain it as a thing he was sure of against those who opposed it Nay he shewed some Years after as I shall say in its due place that tho' there are some Passages in the Pentateuch which are later than Moses yet that can be no reason against his being the Author of it He was so much the more willing to give up that Conjecture because it is one of those Complex Conjectures if I may so speak wherein too many uncertain Things are supposed every one of which being possibly false it follows from thence that such a Conjecture is not probable enough to serve as a Principle for the Explication of the Pentateuch For the more doubtful Things there are in a Conjecture the more uncertain it is and the more danger there is in supposing it to draw Consequences from it 'T is with Conjectures as 't is with Accounts made up of several Sums If you make an uncertain Supposition concerning the value of one of those Sums in case you mistake you mistake but in one particular but the more uncertain Suppositions you make the more doubtful will the Account be and liable to more Errors What must a Man therefore do in such a Case He must Conjecture as little as he can and draw few Consequences from what he has Conjectured that he may be mistaken as little as may be if he is in an Error If Learned Men had always done this we might have had a more real and solid knowledge of many Things than we have and could better distinguish what is certain from what is uncertain whereas when Conjectures are confounded with certainties we think we know many Things which we really know not For Example Joseph Scaliger who was a very Learned Man mixed so many Conjectures in his Book de Emendations Temporum with what he might have undeniably proved and drew so many Consequences from them that a great part of his Chronology is become thereby very suspicious if not false as the famous Dionysius Petavius pretends I know a Man of great Learning who has published several Learned Books about Ecclesiastical History and the Opinions of the ancient Christians but he is so full of Conjectures some of which are grounded upon ethers that his Arguments are seldom cogent and convince few judicious and attentive Readers 'T is much better to say nothing of doubtful Things or at least to draw no Consequences from them and run the hazard of appearing less knowing than to vent too many Uncertainties But it is a common Fault among Men of Parts After they have wearied themselves in searching after fugitive Truth they make to themselves a Phantom of their own Conjectures which they substitute in its place lest they should seem to have altogether lost their time Then to maintain that Phantom they make other Conjectures especially when they are hard put to it and so by degrees instead of solid Truths they vent only Dreams to those that hear them When they think they have much contributed to the discovery of Truths unknown before their time they often remove them farther from Men's sight like Turnus in Virgil's Aeneids who the more he followed Aeneas's Spectrum the farther he went from the place where the Enemies stood I think one might make a very useful Treatise concerning the Art of Conjecturing which would be reduced into Maxims the chief whereof are the following 1. Every Conjecture must be probable 2. It ought to be as simple as possible 3. No Consequences must be drawn from it 4. One must speak of it doubtfully as of a thing not certain 5. No Body should think himself obliged in Honour to defend it nor scruple to give it up 6. He who thinks himself obliged to maintain it must not have recourse to new Suppositions The usefulness of those Maxims might be shewn by very good Reasons and several Examples taken out of the Writings of Philosophers and Criticks who have neglected them and have therefore committed great Errors and maintained the most uncertain Things in the World with such a Heat and Confidence as is only to be used in the defence of a certain Truth Several People stand in need of these Remarks to learn to be less positive about Things they are not certain of and not to wonder if any one yields up a Conjecture which he never took for a certain Truth They who have little thought of the several degrees of Probability are wont to speak of every thing with an equal assurance and maintain with Obstinacy whatever they say without distinguishing what can be maintained from that which cannot But this ought not to be the practice of those who can reason well and who love the Truth to which they must consequently sacrifice all their Conjectures Of the Treatise concerning the Inspiration of the Sacred Writers THE XI and XII Letters of the Sentiments c. contain a
because Mr. Meibom complains of him though he has no ground for 't Next to Mr. Meibom the Journalists of Leipsick have committed the same fault at the end of their Acta c. June 1691. Mr. Juncker has also translated the Fault in his Treatise of Journals published at Leipsick about the same time And here I cannot but take notice of a thing which the Journalists of Leipsick affect to do with respect to Mr. L. C. and several others If an angry Author uses any injurious or disobliging Words against him they never fail to observe it as if the design of a Journal was to preserve the Memory of injurious Words which those who have used them are often ashamed of However if those Gentlemen intend thereby to cry down Books full of injurious Words and create a dislike of 'em they do well to take notice of such Passages But if they do it because they are well pleased with them or think they are essential to the Subject or because they are moved with the same Passion they can never be too much blamed for it They may when they please inform the Publick about it lest they should give occasion to entertain an ill Opinion of ' em Dr. Cave Canon of if Windsor was without doubt very well pleased with a Passage of Mr. Meibom against Mr. L. C. since he has lately inserted it in his Dissertation concerning Eusebius supposing that Mr. L. C. had censured the Collection of the Authors Rerum Germanicarum in the X Vol. of his Bibliotheque Herein Dr. Cave has committed two Faults one of which consists in approving of Mr. Meibom's Injustice and the other in designing to wrong Mr. L. C.'s Reputation by publishing a Passage of that Author who if he is an honest Man will make him Satisfaction very soon in the Journal of Leipsick or somewhere else Another Author has committed the same Fault I mean the Author of the Remarks on the Confession of Sancy which have been lately printed at Amsterdam One may see those Remarks on the II Chapter It cannot be said that all the of Volumes the Bibliotheque wore ascribed to Mr. L. C. because Mr. de la Crose was not so well known as he since the Name of the latter is to be seen in all the Volumes in which he had a Hand except in the Three First which are Anonymous and at the end of the Dedicatory Epistle of the XI Volume in question He that will censure any one must take care not to mistake one Man for another lest the Innocent should suffer for the Guilty Among those who have injustly complained of the Bibliotheque I must also reckon Mr. Poiret a Follower of Antoinette Bourignon who being exasperated with a little Jest †In the V. Vol. of the Biblioth upon his Divine O Economy did very much inveigh against Mr. L.C. not only in an opposite Extract which he caused to be inserted in the Republique des Lettres in 1687. but also some Years after in along Letter full of Bitterness and Malice which he published in 1692. at the end of his Book de Eruditione Solida c. without giving notice of it to the Bookseller who was very sorry for 't Mr. L. C. did not think himself obliged to answer it because Mr. Poiret is so well known to be a Chimerical Man that what he says of any one can do him no wrong The only thing that Mr. L. C. might be blamed for on this occasion is to have been contented with a slight Jest upon a Book which deserved a very sharp Censure because it ridicules Religion from the beginning to the end by changing it into a meer Fanaticism Mr. Poiret fancies that all the Fooleries of Mystical Men and all the Chimeras he is pleased to add to them must pass for Oracles whereas he should be ashamed to make it his Business to seduce the Simple with his ridiculous spiritual Notions None is imposed upon by the Fanatical Outside of Mystical Men but those that are disposed to deceive themselves and to mistake Chimeras for Religion instead of Morality and good Works which are grounded on the hope of another Life which the Gospel teaches us As for those who know how necessary it is to love one's Neighbour they will not be imposed upon by Mr. Poiret's Extatical Devotion which is not inconsistent with the greatest Malice His taking care to make an Apology for St. Augustin is a great Instance of his want of Sincerity For tho' he is far from being of that Father's Opinion concerning absolute Predestination and irresistible Grace yet he will justify him to make Mr. L. C. odious if he can Such is again the Sense he puts upon St. Augustin's Epistle to Vincentius He maintains that St. Augustin did not say in that Letter that 't is lawful to Persecute as if no Body could read the Works of that Father but he If Mr. Poiret does not care for Critical Learning which he seems to despise he should not meddle with what he understands not He 'll judge this is too hard a Censure but he justly deserves it and he must not think that Mr. L. C. will enter into the Lists with him He has a mind to pick Quarrels to make if it were possible some noise in the World and so put People upon buying his Books which no Body reads But Mr. L. C. will not give him occasion to write many Books If any Body has any time to lose let him read Mr. Poiret's Letter and compare it with Mr. L. C.'s Opinions for he is resolved to make no other Reply to Mr. Poiret Of Mr. L. C.'s Philosophical Works WHILST Mr. L. C. was writing his Bibliotheque he translated into Latin the last Books of Thomas Stanley's Philosophical History which contain the History of the Eastern Philosophy whereof he had publish'd an Extract in the VII Vol. of the Bibliotheque which pleased several People That Book was printed in 1690. Mr. L. C. having left off the laborious Work of the Bibliotheque Vniverselle applied himself to his Commentary on the Pentateuch as I shall say hereafter and in the mean time published his Logick his Ontology and his Pneumatology which were reprinted in 1697. He dedicated his Logick to the late Mr. Boyle but the Person who was to present him with a Copy could not do it because Mr. Boyle died in the mean time This is the reason why Mr. L. C. in his second Edition dedicated it to Mr. Locke to whom he had also dedicated his Ontology and Pneumatology The second Edition is incomparably better than the first especially for the Style which the Author has very much corrected There is at the end of his Logick a Dissertation de Argumento Theologico ex Invidia ducto which angry and passionate Divines should read over and over to make 'em leave off the Custom of using base and shameful Artifices to make those odious who will not blindly submit to their
of those Sciences and how much they help one another Mr. L. C. expresses as much Sincerity and Fairness in this Work as in all his other Books He dissembles no Truth because in the Judgment of some it may be prejudicial He believes that Dissimulation in Matters of moment is of a most dangerous Consequence and that those who practise it have no great love for Truth and know not how to defend it He can't abide that any one should boast of having Truth on his side and fear at the same time that it will be destroyed by another Truth as if two True Propositions could be contrary to one another In effect when the Unbelievers perceive that a Truth is concealed and a Falshood substituted in its place they never fail to exclaim against such a Pious Fraud and so to bring all the rest into Suspicion 'T is in vain for any one to say that nevertheless he maintains Truth for 't is plain that such a Man does not assert it because he loves and is clearly convinced of it but out of an ill Principle since he maintains a Falshood which he thinks to be useful in the Defence of Truth with the same Confidence and much greater Heat than he is used to maintain Truth it self It is a scandalous Conduct which shews the fâ—ctious Humour of a Man who only regards what is useful to him and could maintain Mahometism in Asia with as great a Zeal as he maintains Christianity in Europe Such a Man knows not what Truth and Falshood are since he believes that the one stands in need of the other and he dishonours Truth by acting as if he were afraid it should destroy it self Such are the Proceedings of some Ignorant Zealots who wrangle as much as they can about some various Readings which Mr. L. C. mentions in the 3d Part of his Ars Critica Sect. III. c. 8. c. 14. A certain English Anonymous Author who styles himself Master of Arts in the Vniversity of Cambridge has maliciously censured Mr. L. C.'s Ars Critica out of the same Principle But Mr. L. C. has already confuted him in a Latin Letter which has been translated into English and is printed before his Additions to Dr. Hammond's Notes on the New Testament I shall speak no more of that Libel because that Letter will be shortly publish'd in Latin Mr. Vander Waeyen who endeavours to find fault with all the Books of Mr. L. C. has likewise censured some Passages of his Ars Critica For instance he blames †Diss de voc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 164. p. 167. him for having said that the Efficacious and Irresistible Grace taught by St. Augustin is a Thing of which we have no Idea and undertakes †to tell us what it is but he does it so odly that what he says confirms Mr. L. C.'s Opinion Ille actus they are Mr. Vander Waeyen's Words qui conversionis primus est totus tantus quantus liberé exseritur ab eo qui se convertit totus ille actus praestar divina cura providentia gratia ut exseratur adhibitis iis praedicationis seu verbi docendi mediis quae omnes agnoscimus Totus ille actus est Dei est hominis est mediorum effectus qualibet earum causarum operante suo modo ordine GRATIA autem dicitur tum Dei voluntas cujus virtute sistitur effectus qui effectus habet rationem boni citra demeritum praestiti Tum effectus ipse qui multiplex est c. First It is not true That when St. Augustin spoke of the inward and irresistible help which he thought God bestowed on Men for their Conversion he meant thereby the effect of Grace or Conversion it self Secondly I will freely own That Mr. L. C. is to blame for saying that the Word Grace is very obscure if any one that understands Philosophy or Divinity will sincerely affirm that he clearly apprehends Mr. Vander Waeyen's meaning in the Words which I have just now quoted For my part I have no Idea of an Action which irresistibly forces a Man to Will and yet leaves him at liberty not to Will But our Cocceian Divine accuses Mr. L. C. of acknowledging an irresistible Grace in that place of his Ars Critica †Part 2. § 1. C. 4. n. 11. wherein he shews what 's meant by these Words to open the Heart Mr. L. C. maintains That there is no Emphasis in them and that when 't is said Act. xvi 14. That the Lord opened the Heart of Lydia that she attended unto the Things that were spoken of Paul the meaning of it is only That it came to pass by God's Providence that Lydia heard attentively St. Paul whatever means God was pleased to use to that end Because nothing happens in the World without the Divine Providence and we are beholden to God for every Thing St. Luke said That God opened the Heart of Lydia without any Design of teaching us thereby that such a Grace as St. Augustin speaks of wrought efficaciously at that very moment on the Mind of that Woman One may see what Mr. L. C. said in that place of his Ars Critica ' Tis. plain he spoke there of no irresistible Grace Nay to speak in a strict Sense the Conversion of Lydia is not mention'd in that place but only her attention to what St. Paul said which proved afterwards the cause of her Conversion St. Luke says nothing of it because he supposes that to be attentive to the Gospel and to believe it are two Things which commonly go together Those who are not strongly prepossess d against the Gospel and have no Vices that are inconsistent with it need only be attentive to acknowledge love and obey it The Jews themselves used such an Expression as Ludovicus Cappellus has observed on Luke xxiv 45. But the present Question is not about the Thing it self but only about what Mr. L. C. said in his Ars Critica Mr. Vander Waeyen maintains That Mr. L. C. acknowledges in the same Book as well as he that the ancient Jews meant by the Word the same thing with the Christians Let us see what Grounds Mr. Vander Waeyen has for this Assertion Mr. L. C. has a Chapter in his Ars Critica concerning the Language of Sects which often seem to agree but yet denote quite different Things tho' they use the same Expressions He gives a remarkable Instance of it in this Proposition There is but One God The ancient Jews meant by it That there is but one Divine Substance in Number as all Christians understand it now But St. Athanasius and other Consubstantialists if I may so call 'em used the same Words in a quite different Sense only to denote That there was but one Specifick Divine Essence tho' they acknowledged Three Equal and Co-eternal Substances This has been proved by many Learned Men of this Age and amongst others by Dr. Cudworth in his Intellectual System which
Mr. Vander Waeyen commends and is really a very Learned Work tho' it contains a Doctrin very different from his This being so Mr. L. C. says That by reason of that Ambiguity of Words it may be as Grotius thought that those who seem'd to agree were not of the same Opinion and that by degrees tho' they used the same Words they put another Signification upon them He adds That this might so much the more easily happen as to the Question concerning the Vnity of God because the Christians of the latter Times believed that the Fathers of the Church were of the same Opinion with the Jews who acknowledged a Numerical Vnity of the Divine Essence But as the Consubstantialists entertained a different Opinion under the cover of the same Words which the Jews used and they durst not part with So now our Divines make use of the Terms consecrated by the Fathers but they seem to put another Signification upon ' em Verùm uti Homoousiani sub iisdem verbis quibus Hebraei utebantur aliam abscondebant sententiam cùm non auderent ab iis discedere Ita nostri hodie Theologi à Patribus verba quidem consecrata retinent sed alias iis subjicere potestates videntur How does it appear now That Mr. L. C. grants that the ancient Jews meant by the Word the same thing that St. John did Nevertheless Mr. Vander Waeyen says so positively as if no Body but himself could read a Book whereof above Two thousand Copies have already been Sold. Who will believe him when he cites Books less known and accuses others of Disingenuity Our Cocceian Divine continues to find fault with Mr. L. C. in several places of his Rapsodies but there is no need I should lose my time in confuting him Let him read a Book of Episcopius which he wrote if I mistake not against a Professor of a neighbouring University and intituled Vedelius Rapsodus It contains very good Advice which Mr. Vander Waeyen should follow By what has been said one may judge of the remaining part of his Book and be satisfied that no Body can rely on what he says and believe him upon his word If any one will take the pains to read his Dissertation let him look for the Passages which he writes against and compare them with his Answers and then give his Judgment about it I should tire the Reader 's Patience and have an ill Opinion of him should I shew at large how many ill Reasonings and impertinent Quotations and how much Disingenuity there is in those Dissertations This has has been clearly made out in respect of several Points and those who know the long Disputes he has had with other Reformed Divines are well enough acquainted with his Genius and manner of Writing However I must say something still about the conclusion of his Dissertation concerning the Logos He says That he has done nothing out of Hatred or thro' any ill Passion But I cannot apprehend what might be the cause of so many passionate and angry Expressions Lies and Calumnies unless it were Hatred and some other like Passion Certainly these are not the Fruits of Christian Charity nor the Effects of any Zeal for Truth since Zeal for Truth has nothing to do with Lies and Calumnies He adds That he did not propose to himself as his chief Aim to reclaim Mr. L. C. I believe it for 't is manifest that his chief Aim is to Quarrel and give himself up to his prevailing Passion and then to prejudice Mr. L. C.'s Reputation by all the means he can think of 'T is in vain for him to deny it since God and Men judge of our Words by our Actions and not of our Actions by our Words However he says That he very much wishes he might reclaim Mr. L. C. and that he heartily prays that God would do it But what would he reclaim Mr. L. C. from Would he bring him to the State that he himself is in and of which he should make haste to get out by begging God's Pardon for having had so many Quarrels with so many honest Men without any reason for it and for having endeavoured to blemish their Reputation by his Calumnies He upbraids Mr. L. C. with His Prejudices his manner of Philosophizing and rejecting the true Key of Knowledge the Mystery of the Father and Son Let the Publick judge who of them two is more blinded with Prejudices and whose Method of Philosophizing is more agreeable to Piety and Reason I don't know what he means by the Mystery of the Father and Son but I guess he understands by it Cocceius's new Method of explaining the Covenant of Grace which Mr. L. C. does not believe no more than the other Reformed Divines He is very willing to leave that Key of Knowledge to Mr. Vander Waeyen and those who like it Other Christians believe that it is a proper Instrument to barr Men from the true Knowledge of Holy Scripture and Mr. L. C. is of that Opinion But if they mean by it the Divinity of the Son his Distinction from the Father and the Redemption of Mankind Mr. L. C. is better convinced of 'em than the most zealous Cocceians but he can't abide that any one should add to those Doctrines any thing that is not contained in Scripture Our Professor of Franeker seems to be angry because Mr. L. C.'s Writings are esteem'd and he says that the reason why they are valued is Because they favour Prophane Men that is to say those who laugh at Cocceianism for whoever despises it can expect no Quarter from Mr. Vander Waeyen as being a prophane and an impious Man c. Such is the Language of those godly conceited Divines who place Religion in Chimerical Speculations which they endeavour to confound with the Doctrines revealed in the Holy Scriptures as 't is practis'd by Mr. Vander Waeyen and Mr. Poiret who are good Friends when they are concern'd to defend Fanaticism in general for as soon as a Man abandons Reason he must necessarily fall into Fanaticism but will prove cruel Enemies when the Question shall be Whether John Cocceius's Fanaticism is to be preferr'd to that of Antoinette Bourignon or vice versâ 'T would be a good sport to hear 'em discourse together with their usual Moderation of their Explications of the Revelations Purgatory Predestination c Mr. Poiret would then cease to be clarissimus and would be obscurissimus Tenebrio to say no worse and God knows what noble Epithets he would in his turn bestow on the Doctor of Franeker The latter says That Mr. L. C. is one of those Men who reduce Religion to a few Heads concerning the Knowledge of God and some practical Moral Duties in order to live quietly in this World But Mr. L. C. neither lessens nor encreases the Articles of Faith he takes 'em out of Holy Scripture such as they are without making any alteration in them As for Morality he approves of no Remisness