agreement betwixt those Gospels and the Cambridge MS that he thinks them to be taken from the Greek of that Copy and this agreement he has shown in several particular Texts The Characters in that MS are many of them Gothic and Father Simon who thinks he has met with Greek Letters in the Latin Copy of the Second Part of this MS and Grounds an Argument upon it is undoubtedly mistaken for they are only Gothic Characters several of which have a great affinity with the Greek The Abbreviations are often the same in the Cambridge MS and Gothic Gospels and the Numbers express'd by Numeral Letters ÏŠ and γ̈ are sometimes pointed and ει for ι put down after the Gothic way and Eusebius's Canons are plac'd in the Margin in a rude manner without Marks of Distinction to make them useful with other Gothisms that might be observ'd did I design this for any more than a Hint or Specimen One thing is too observable to be passed over that whereas our Saviour's Genealogy in St. Luke is placed in Columns in the Gothic Gospels it is put down in the very same manner in the Cambridge MS which is the more remarkable because the rest of that MS is writ in long Lines and the Words run into one another From all which one would be apt to infer That this Copy was taken under the Goths that it is compounded of the Ancient and Modern Vulgar which were both of them in use in the Gothic Churches and particularly in Spain two or three Centuries after St. Ierome's Time tho' in many things it differs from them both as it needs must whilst it keeps so close to a Greek Copy much differing from any Copy either Printed or Manuscript that we now have It has been taken from a Copy fitted for Ecclesiastical use For that it has been taken from such a Copy appears from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Lessons markt in the Margin Rubric-wise and from the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes put at the end of a Lesson to denote the Conclusion of a Reading That these are the Marks of such Copies has been observ'd by Father Simon g Hist. N. T. Ch. 33. and he needed only have apply'd them to this Manuscript to have shewn it to have been taken from a Copy of this Nature I am so far satisfy'd of its having been taken from such a Copy that I once thought it to have been fitted for the Churches of the Greek Empire when both Greek and Latin were spoke there as they were from Constantine till after Iustinian in like manner as they yet have the Bible in two Tongues in such places where the People are of two Languages But I think I have reason to alter my Opinion What Father Simon further conjectures concerning the French MSS of St. Paul's Epistles being the Second Part of the Cambridge Copy is undoubtedly true of one of them For besides that in a Catalogue of the Books of the New Testament at the end of one of these MSS h Morin l. 1. Exerc. 2. c. 3. the Gospels are placed in the same order wherein they stand in the Cambridge Copy St. Iohn immediately after St. Matthew and the agreeableness in the Character betwixt the Cambridge and Benedictine Copy according to the Specimen of it we have in Mabillon i P. 347. There is a Fragment of St. Iohn's last Epistle betwixt St. Mark 's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles not altogether in the same hand but in a Version somewhat different from the present Vulgar which shows the Catholic Epistles have been there and that the Book was once intire bating only the Revelations that were not for some Ages so universally receiv'd in the Church If I have brought the Age of this MS too low or lessen'd its Authority too much I shall be ready to alter my Opinion upon better Reasons for I am not much concern'd for the Reputation of a Critic I hope I shall always have a due Concern for Religion and the Church and that my opinion should be true I think is the interest of both For this Copy differing so much from all others the less Authority we give it it will be able to do the less hurt I am sure they have set it too high who fetch it from Irenaeus or St. Hilary both which Fathers were Born before the Goths had Letters for that the Characters are Gothic I think I may be pretty positive For this Reason I shall never desire to see it Printed tho' a worthy Person seems to have that Design and a Scheme has been marked out to that purpose But I hope that Learned Body in whose Custody it is will have more regard to the Will of the Donor whose first Intention it certainly was that it should not k V. Bez. Epist. ad Acad. Can. be publish'd It s various Readings have been given us already in the Polyglott Bibles tho' not over accurately and sufficient care taken that it shall not In uno exemplo periclitari And what would the Critics have more Even Father Simon has procur'd a Copy from England tho' I much suspect it is no other than those various Readings The Father tells us Morinus had it from Iunius the Library-keeper of Cambridge by such a mistake l Hist. N. T. Ch. 30. as another Critic has given us a Magdeburgh College at Oxford But of this perhaps too much I will only offer one Criticism in order to wipe off a Blot from the English that has been unjustly cast upon the Nation either by the Author or Interpreter I have already said in another Chapter that Chalcocondylas does report of the Enlish that upon a Visit made to a Friend it is permitted the Stranger by way of Complement to Lie wâ—th his Neighbour's Wife This the Learned Interpreter of Chalcocondylas does plainly say and it stands so in the last Royal Edition of that Author But the Word in Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * which one would suspect was rather meant of Kyssing no doubt some wandring Greek had been in England and having observ'd our way of Kyssing our Neighbours Wives which might as well be let alone had reported it to Chalcocondylas in a Word of nearest affinity in the Greek and thereby given occasion to this Mistake This Account seems so probable that with Submission to the Critics I durst almost venture from thence to add one other Word to our Glossaries †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being a proper word for kyssing there can be no great doubt of the Correction I made nor needs the word be thrown into a Glossary any otherwise then as it seems to be there rendred from the English CHAP. XVII Of Oriental Learning Jewish and Arabian IT has been an old Question and much debated amongst Learned Men whether greater Profit or Inconvenience ariseth from reading the Jewish Books On the one hand it is alledg'd that the Hebrew Tongue and Jewish Rites and
perhaps this may be thought my fault and I may thereby have said worse things of my own and if in any other things I have contradicted them I have done it in so tender a manner as neither of them could blame were they yet both Living I have treated all Men with Decency and Respect except Mons. Le Clerc who has not deserv'd such Treatment I have seen little of Monsieur Perault and a considerable part both of his and Mr. Wotton's Books come not within my Account of Learning for I have nothing to say to Sculpture Painting Architecture Gardening Agriculture c. which I take to be more properly of Mechanical Consideration But if Learned Men will needs include these likewise within the compass of Learning it shall give me no disturbance The Bounds of Learning are of late wonderfully enlarged and for ougâ—t I know Mr. H's Trade Papers may pass in time for a Volume of Learning Not that there is any need of swelling the Account for Learning is already become so Voluminous that it begins to sink under its own weight Books crowd in daily and are heap'd upon Books and by the Mulâ—itude of them both distract our Minds and discourage our Endeavors Those that have been writ upon Aristotle are almost innumerable In a very few Centuries from Albertus Magnus till a short time after Luther there have been Twelve Thousand Authors that have either Commented upon his Books or follow'd him in his Opinions This we have from good Authority tho' the Author that reports and censures it had surely forgot that he himself has strengthen'd the Objection by publishing a gross Volume only to give an Account of Aristotle his Writings and Followers e V. Pr. Patric Discus Peripat â— 10. p. 145. Bas. Fol. But however their Number may be in the Old Philosophy I believe we may reckon by a modest Computation that since that time to ours we may have had double the Number of Authors in the New which tho' some may look upon as an Argument of Learned Times for my part I have quite different Thoughts of Things and must needs esteem it the great Mischief of the Age we live in and cannot but think we should have more Learning had we fewer Books I have notwithstanding adventur'd to throw in one to the Account but it is a very small one and writ with an honest design of lessening the Number I propose neither Credit nor Advantage for I hope to take effectual care to be in the Dark if I may do some little Service to Religion and no Disservice to Learning I have my End I am enclined to hope the Treatise may be of some use as an Historical Account in observing the Defects and marking the Faults that are to be avoided by Beginners and possibly it may afford some Hints to Wiser Men. As it is I offer it to the Public if it proves useful I shall havâ— much Satisfaction in my self and if otherwise I shall be very willing to be made a fresh Instance of that which I pretend to prove The Weakness of Humane Understanding CONTENTS Chap. 1. INtroduction P. 1 2. Of Languages 7 3. Of Grammar 19 4. Of Rhetoric and Eloquence 32 5. Of Logic 51 6. Of Moral Philosophy 64 7. Of Natural Philosophy 76 8. Of Astronomy 87 9 Of Metaphysics 99 10. Of History 106 11. Of Chronology 121 12. Of Geography 135 13. Of Civil Law 146 14. Of Canon Law 160 15. Of Physic 172 16. Of Critical Learning 187 17. Of Oriental Learning Iewish and Arabian 204 18. Of Scholiastic Learning 215 19. The Conclusion 228 20. The Appendix 239 Books Printed for A. Bosvile at the Dial against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street THe History of Portugal from the first Ages of the World to the late Revolution under King Iohn IV. in the Year 1640. Written in Spanish by Emanul de Faria â— Sousa Translated and continued down to the Year 1698. By Captain Iohn Stevens In 8 vo Letters of the Cardinal Duke de Richlieu great Minister of State to Lewis XIII of France wherein is contained several Secret Memoirs and Instructions relating to our late Civil Wars in England in particular as well as to the Affairs of Europe in general Never before Printed Translated from the French by Mr. Thomas Brown The Memoirs of the Count de Rocâ—fort containing an Account of what past most considerable under the Ministry of Cardinal Richlieu and Cardinal Mazarine Made English from the French The second Edition The Life of Cornelius Van Tromp Lieutenant Admiral of Holland and West-Friesland containing many remarkable Passages relating to the War between England and Holland The Christian Belief wherein is Asserted and Proved that as there is nothing in the Gospel contrary to Reason yet there are some Doctrines in it above Reason and these being necessarily enjoyn'd us to believe are properly called Mysteries in answer to a Book intituled Christianity not Mysterious The second Endition Price 2 s. The Ground and Foundation of Natural Religion discovered in the Principal Branches of it in opposition to the prevailing Notions of the Modern Scepticks and Latitudinarians With an Introduction concerning the necessity of reveal'd Religion These two last by Tho. Beconsal B. D. and Fellow of Brasen-Nose-College Oxford A Discourse of Conscience shewing what Conscience is and what are its Arts and Offices Publish'd â—hiefly for the benefit of the unlearned tho' it may also be usefull to others REFLECTIONS UPON LEARNING c. CHAP. I. SInce I first begun to think I have always had a mean opinion of two things Humane Understanding and Humane Will The weakness of the latter is a confessed thing we all of us feel it and most Men complain of it but I have scarce yet met with any that would own the weakness of his Understanding And yet they both spring from the same corrupt Fountain and the same cause that has derived Contagion upon the Will has spread Darkness upon the Understanding and however Men may please themselves with an opinion of their own Wisdom it is plain the wisest Men know little and they that are fullest of themselves and boast the highest do usually see least and are only wise for want of thinking We have had a mighty Controversie of late betwixt the Old and New Philosophers and great inquiry has been made whether the preference is to be given to the Ancient or Modern Learning For my part I will not venture to engage in so warm a Controversie but 't is some argument to me that we have not over much of the thing otherwise we should know better where to find it and if I would say any thing I should be of opinion that neither side has reason to boast What the Wisdom of the Ancients was is not so easily known at this distance by those Specimens of it that are left us it does not appear to have had any thing in it very extraordinary or which might not be attained to
sting in it as to deter most Men from its Commission Their Theses are Printed that were to be maintain'd by the Jesuits at Dijon the first of which is Peccatum Philosophicum seu morale est Actus humanus disconveniens naturae Rationali Rectae Rationi Theologicum vero mortale est transgressio libera legis Divinae Philosophicum quantumvis grave in illo qui Deum vel ignorat vel de Deo actu non cogitat est grave Peccatum sed non est offensa Dei neque Peccatum mortale dissolvens amicitiam Dei neque aeternâ poenâ dignum A Thesis indeed very favourable to the Heathen Philosophers but impossible to be reconciled to the Principles of the Gospel It has been reprinted at the Hague a Nouv. Her dans la moral Ala Haye 89. and sufficiently answered and expos'd by a good hand tho nothing can expose it more than naming it This is only one of their Casuistical Decisions a large Collection of which may be had in the Iesuits Morals b Morale des Ies. A Mons. 1667. which as represented by a Doctor of the Sorbonn and he quotes their own licensed Authors is such a System of Morality as the Heathen Philosophers would blush to own According to the Doctrine of that Morale how many sins are there that may be committed and what Duties that may not be evaded in some degree or under some distinction Their one Doctrine of Probability is a ground of as much liberty as an ordinary sinner can desire for if a Man may act upon a probable Opinion and an Opinion becomes then probable when it is supported by one Reason or maintained only by one Doctor c V. moâ—â—l p. 148 158. I will venture to affirm there are few things so hard in morality that have been defended by the loosest Moralists that have not been maintain'd by some of the Jesuits as cited in that Book And yet this is not the utmost liberty these nice Casuists and Indulgent Fathers have allow'd they go farther and where there are two probable Opinions a Man may act upon that which is less probable nay he may venture upon an Opinion that is only probably probable which is certainly as low a degree of probability as can well be imagin'd and I do not see how they can go lower unless they would allow a Man to act upon an Opinion that is improbable It might have been expected that where so many hard Opinions have been charg'd upon the Jesuits as have been produc'd in the Iesuits Morals they should say somewhat in their own defence Somewhat indeed they have said and one of the Pleas they insist upon most is that many of the same Opinions are maintain'd by the Scholemen some of whom were canoniz'd and their Books generally receiv'd in the Church of Rome But whatever Opinion they may have of such a defence it is nothing to us who bring the same charge against the Scholemen that we do against the Jesuits as far as they maintain the same Opinions and we think them the more dangerous if they have not only been defended by Jesuits but by such Men as by having been receiv'd into the Catalogue of Romish Saints have in a manner canonized their Opinions by being canoniz'd themselves and made their Church in some measure answerable for them Tho to do that Church right others of her Members have taken offence at such Doctrines particularly the Iansenists and among the Benedictines Father Mabillon tho otherwise reserv'd enough in his Censures yet where such loose Casuists come in his way cannot forbear giving them a lash and declaring it his Opinion that a Man may read Tully's Offices with more profit than he can do certain Casuists d Etud monast Par. 2. c. 7. which tho smart enough as coming from a modest humble Man yet another Frenchman has said a severer thing where he defines Morality as treated by the Casuists L' art de chichaner avec Dieu and indeed in their way of handling it looks liker an Art to ease Men from the Burden of rigorous Precepts by showing them the utmost bounds they may go without Sin than what it should be a direction for the ease of tender Consciences by shewing Men their duty in particular Cases To speak the whole matter in one word a good Conscience and an upright Man will see his duty with only a moderate share of Casuistical skill but into a perverse heart this sort of wisdom enters not It is usually some lust to be gratified or danger to be avoided which perverts the Judgment in practical Duties but were Men as much affraid of sin as they are of danger there would be few occasions of consulting our Casuists CHAP. VII Of Natural Philosophy PHysical knowledge taking in the whole Compass of Nature is too vast a subject to be comprehended by humane Mind it is an unexhaustible Mine wherein we may always dig and yet never come at the bottom For tho the things it treats of be material Objects and as such sensible and easie yet when we come to treat of them in a Philosophical manner they shun our Sense and are liable to equal difficulties with nicer matters There is nothing more common in nature than Matter and Motion or more easily distinguish'd but then we must understand them to be so only in their grosser meaning for if we speak of subtle Matter and intestine Motion they escape the nicest scrutiny of Sense And yet these are the secret Springs of most of the operations in nature and as for gross matter and visible motion they are rather of mechanical consideration A Philosophers business is to trace Nature in her inward Recesses and Latent Motions and how hid these are is best known to those who are most conversant in Philosophical Enquiries Such Men by looking deep into her and observing her in all her windings and mazes find matter enough for Wonder and reason to adore the Wisdom of God but at the same time only meet with mortification to their own Wisdom and are forc'd to confess that the ways of Nature like those of God are past Man's finding out Aristotle who has gone so far in his rational Enquiries has given us little insight into Physical Truths for having fram'd a Body of Physics out of his own Head all the various Phaenomena of Nature were to be suited to his Philosophy instead of his Philosophy's being drawn from Observations in Nature His reasoning which did well in Logics was somewhat out of place and misguided him here where he was rather to be led by Observation and where he does make observations they are usually unphilosophical and such as few Men could be ignorant of His four Elements are gross things and leave the understanding at the same pitch where it was and his three Principles do not advance it much higher his first Principle as he has explain'd it is unintelligible and the last of the three is
satisfaction It is that which satisfies and never satiates which the deeper it is look'd into pleaseth the more as containing new and hid Treasures by the opening whereof there always springs up in the mind fresh pleasure and new desire Whereas Humane Writings like all humane things cloy by their continuance and we can scarce read them the second time without irksomeness and oftentimes not without nauseating those fine things that please so wonderfully at the first reading The Sum of all is this we busie our selves in the search of Knowledge we tire out our Thoughts and wast our Spirits in this pursuit and afterwards flatter our selves with mighty Acquirements and fill the World with Volumes of our Discoveries Whereas would we take as much pains in discovering our Weakness and Defects as we spend time in Oftentation of our Knowledge we might with half the time and pains see enough to show us our Ignorance and might thereby learn truer Wisdom We frame to our selves New Theories of the World and pretend to measure the Heavens by our Mathematical Skill that is Indefinite Space by a Compass or Span whilst we know little of the Earth we tread on and every thing puzzles us that we meet with there We live upon the Earth and most Men think they rest upon it and yet it is a very difficult Question in Philosophy whether the Earth rests or moves and is it not very wonderful that we should be such strangers to the place of our Abode as to know nothing whether we rest there or travel a daily Circuit of some thousand Miles We rack our Inventions to find out Natural Reasons for a Deluge of Waters by fetching down Comets from above and cracking the Cortex of the Earth to furnish out sufficient stores for that purpose and yet from the Convexity of the Waters it is hard to account in the Course of Nature why there should not bea Deluge every day And perhaps Providence is the surest Bar that has set Bounds to the Waters which they shall not pass We are not only puzzled by things without us but we are strangers to our own Make and Frame for tho' we are convinced that we consist of Soul and Body yet no Man hitherto has sufficiently described the Union of these two or has been able to explain how Thought should move Matter Or how Matter should act upon Thought Nay the most Minute things in Nature if duly considered carry with them the greatest wonder and perplex us as much as things of greater bulk and show And yet we who know so little in the smallest matters talk of nothing less than New Theories of the World and vast Fields of Knowledge busying our selves in Natural Enquiries and flattering our selves with the wonderful Discoveries and mighty Improvements that have been made in Humane Learning a great part of which are purely imaginary and at the same time neglecting the only true and solid and satisfactory Knowledge Things that are obscure and intricate we pursue with eagerness whilst Divine Truths are usually disregarded only because they are easie and common Or if there be some of an higher nature they shall possibly be rejected because they are above or seemingly contrary to Reason whilst we admit several other things without scruple which are not reconcil able with Revelation tho Revealed Truths be certainly Divine and the other either no Truths at all or at the best only Humane This sort of Conduct is very preposterous for after all true Wisdom and satisfactory Knowledge is only to be had from Revelation and as to other Truths which are to be collected from Sense and Reason our Ignorance of them will always be so much greater than our Knowledge as there are a thousand things we are ignorant of to one thing that we throughly know APPENDIX WHilst I have been free in censuring others faults I ought to be ready to acknowledge my own I never doubted but I was as subject to them as other men tho upon a serious review of my Book I have not yet met with many and such as I thought material I have Corrected The great Objection that has been made by my Friends is rather a Defect than a Fault I am told by them my Conclusion is too Short and that I ought to have enlarg'd upon the necessity of Revelation This I am sensible of and freely own the Charge but have neither time nor opportunity now to redress it and besides the Argument has been so well and largely treated of by other Hands that little new can be said upon the Subject On the other side I have receiv'd Letters and Papers from several Hands which flatter me with an opinion that I have done somewhat well some of which it would have been an advantage both to my self and Book to have publish'd But I deny my self herein only make this small but grateful acknowledgment to the Worthy Persons from whom they came FINIS AN Answer to the Dissenters Pleas for Separation or an Abridgment of the London Cases wherein the Substance of those Books is digested into one short and plain Discourse By Tho. Bennet M. A. and Fellow of St. John's College in Cambrige Printed for A. Bosvile at the Sign of the Dial against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street Price 4 s.