ANIMADVERSIONS ON THE REFLECTIONS UPON Dr. B's TRAVELS Printed in the Year 1688. ANIMADVERSIONS ON THE REFLECTIONS UPON Dr. B's TRAVELS WHEN we were made believe that Reflections upon Dr. B's Travels would quickly appear somewhat that was considerable was both promised and expected and even Dr. B's friends apprehended that in such a number of particulars with which he had filled his Letters some few might have been found that had been ill warranted For no body could have imagined that a Book which had been so much read and so well received should have been reflected on with so much malice and with so little judgment that after a Preface full of dull spite there should not have been one single Article among Fourscore and Two that are pickt out that should in the least shake the Credit in which the Book and its Author are held Some have fancied that either Dr. B. or the Printers of his Book have hired the Reflecter to this perfotmance for raising the credit of those Letters of Travels and for giving them the advantage of selling another Edition of them Sure such Reflections cannot possibly have any other effect If we had a party of men of our side that had learned to put in practise the Modesty and other Morals of the Jesuits one should have imagined that this Book might have been such an Imposture as was discovered about thirty years ago among the Iesuits at Paris who hearing of a severe book that was coming out against them from the Cabal of the Iansenists imployed one of their own Fathers to write a book which as it had the same Title so seemed to pursue the same design but was writ in so poor and contemptible a manner that it could have no effect but to render the party from which it was believed to come ridiculous and the Press wrought so hard that this mock-book prevented the true one so that upon its appearance and its passing for that which was expected the party was much deceived till a little time laid open the Imposture which had covered the Society with a just confusion if their being accustomed to such practices had not rendred them insensible of the shame that the discovery brought upon them So upon this occasion I staid a while to see if there might not be some foul play here though our side has no reason to be so much as suspected of such Legerdemain I confess I do not know what judgment to make of the Author or his Translator for as report and the Title-Page call him a Foreigner so the gross errors and the coarseness of the Stile are capable of no excuse but that of a Translator's being tied to his Author though a liberty of changing such Phrases as that his breath should fail and the most polite Nation of the English is practised by all that have a right notion of giving a true Translation I do not know which is the most polite Nation of the English I hope he does not mean the Irish and I am sure whatever that Nation is he is not of it His Helvetia Sorbierius and Amelottius Houssarus shew that the Translator knows not how these Names ought to be writ in English. There are some very few touches that look like Wit and that by consequence are so little of a thread with the whole that I am apt to believe these have been drop't in by a once famous Poet who as is said review'd it and perhaps he had some Remnants in his Common-place book of Wit that were not yet imployed by him so as he found that this book wanted garnishing extreamly he was so bountiful as to afford some but that was done so sparingly as not to exhaust his own stock which is now low Our Reflecter shews his good tast of Wit by giving us that gross Clinch of Asinitas set against Patavinitas as due to Asinius Pollio for reproaching Livy with the other and this he seems to think a flower His accusing of Plutarch of dullness and want of Spirit shews that his taste is as correct concerning the Authors whom he despises as concerning those whom he esteems and Dr. B. has no reason to be troubled to see himself attack't by a man that had the confidence to disparage the greatest of all the Ancient Authors in whose simplicity and seeming carelessness there is a beauty that far exceeds all the painting of a laboured Stile The other parts of the Preface shew how little he either understands books or men But as he seems not capable of correction so he is too Inconsiderable to need that a Warning should be given to the World for preventing the mischief that his Pen may do it This Essay is warning enough He warns us of his Choler against Dr. B. and thinks that he has used him severely which injury he says ought to be redressed But I dare say he cannot raise any choler in the Doctor or make him complain either of the injuries he does him or of his severe usage of him Such a Writer as he is can do injuries to none but himself He makes a fair parallel between Learning and Vertue and to shew us how well he knows the History of the last Age he gives us the Constable Momorancy for a pattern of great Vertue In conclusion he fancies Dr. B. is little concerned in the esteem that the World may have of his Vertue so long as he maintains the Character of a Learned Man but I do not know in which of the Doctor 's Actions or Writings he has discovered this to be sure our Reflecter has found nothing like it in these Letters of his Travels for though he pretends to say somewhat on those points which relate to Learning yet he has not mentioned any one thing that can in any manner lessen the opinion that any may have of the Doctor 's Vertue So that all this discourse is besides the malice of it absolutely impertinent He reckons up some who have writ of the Commonwealth of Venice among whom he names Amelotius Houssarus as the last which shews how little he knows the Books writ concerning that State since Mr. St. Didier a man of another sort of force as well as of greater probity who was Secretary to the Count of Avaux while he was Ambassador at Venice has given an account of that Commonwealth that is both more faithful and more exact than the other I do not love to tell personal things that may be to a third man's prejudice but since the Reflecter opposes his Houssarus to Dr. B. I must tell him that de la Houssarie is too well known in France to build much on his Credit the accidents of his Life have been too publick and his Attempt on the Memory of Mr. Ablancourt has been turned upon him in so vigorous and so severe a manner that few things will pass upon his Authority The Reflecter's calling an Extract drawn from a Record the Fable of the Monks of Bern is a
word to say for he touches on a very small number of those which are mentioned in those Contents which he produces The only reason I can imagine is because it is an easier thing for the Reflecter to Copy than to Compose so he found a shift to swell his Book Nine and Twenty Pages more by that means which in a Book of One Hundred and Sixty Four Pages was no small Article It was fit to make a show with a Book of some bigness since bulk makes an impression on some people yet these Gentlemen might have known by this time that how Implicite soever the multitude may be on their side yet on our side the World is not so tame but that people will both read and consider before they can be brought to believe especially a set of men who have entertained them with Imposture upon Imposture for some Years past I confess I believe few will be carried so far on this occasion as to read and consider these Reflections since the things appear so trivial at first view and with relation to the Doctor 's Travels it is of no small credit to them that he having adventured to publish so particular an account of many things so soon after he had seen them there has not been the least attempt made to discover the falshood of any one thing in that Book It was too much read in England for them to pretend that they despised it For though our Reflecter says that presently upon its appearing in England it was suppressed we all know the contrary and that no Book of that Nature has had in our time so great and so quick a Sale as it had The chief matters in it were of that Nature that if the Doctor had abused the World it had been easie to have discovered it in an authentical manner It is known that his Book has been seen in the chief Cities of Italy now above a Twelve-month and the Persons concerned have had it in their power to undeceive the World. It is also no Secret that any discovery that had been much to the Doctor 's prejudice would have been made a matter of no small merit and the things that he has told us of those parts were too sensible and have made too great an impression on the Nation to have been let alone so long if the clear Evidence of Truth had not maintained the Book hitherto But one would be tempted to think that the Reflecter thought it was necessary to give it a new lustre by making so feeble and so unsuccessful an attempt upon it It has gained Credit enough already and wanted not this addition but some men seem to lie under a Curse and in every thing that they undertake to work counter to the true Interest of their Cause which if it is bad of it self it is certainly in as bad hands and is managed as if its Enemies gave secret directions for every step that is made in it Dr. B. had given an account of that famous Silver Shield at Lions of Two and Twenty Pounds weight that seemed to represent that famous Action of Scipio in restoring a fair Captive to a Celtiberian Prince Upon this our Author bestows Three Reflections First He says Mr. Spon who has writ a Discourse concerning that piece of Plate calls it but One and Twenty Pounds Secondly The Doctor ought to have called it not simply a Shield but a Votive Shield since otherwise a Reader has great reason to doubt of it for no man can use a Shield of that weight for the defence of his Body And to beautifie this Reflection he cites some Authorities of the Ancients to prove that they had such Votive Shields and because a Print makes a deep Impression on weak People he gives us one Now the Reader must know that he cites not these from his own reading but though in other places he dares not tell us out of what Modern Author he drew his Quotations yet here he is so honest as to tell us that he gives his Authorities from Mr. Spon and Mr. Saumaise Thirdly He excepts to Dr. B's saying that the bas reliefs of this Shield seemed to represent Scipio's generous Action as if in this the Doctor claimed the Honour of this Conjecture and because the word seems was doubting our Author gives us one Citation out of Livy three Pages long containing an Account of Scipio's Action and another of Mr. Spon's and to all he gives us a Print of the Shield and so here ends his first Reflection But if the Doctor writ down in his table-Table-book Two and Twenty for One and Twenty here is no designed Error at least and I have been told by those who have seen the great Print of that Shield made by Mr. Mey its owner that it calls it at the bottom Two and Twenty Pounds weight 2. The Doctor choosing to write True English he could not call it a Votive Shield because Votive is not English. All Readers except such as our Reflecter must know that it was a Shield intended for a Memorial in some Temple and could not be intended for Defence And it is plain that Dr. B. knew that Mr. Spon had writ so learnedly of it that he thought fit only to name it and so he did not stay to explain it for he does not seem to be so much in love with Copying as the Reflecter is 3. The Account that the Doctor gives of that which is represented in it plainly shews that he rather goes in to the Opinion of others than that he pretends to give one of his own And if our Reflecter is angry at the Doctor 's reservedness in not being positive but saying only it seems he ought to know that though such men as he is are apt to determine very readily yet men of more Learning and Judgment bring themselves to an habit of speaking of most matters with a due reserve in their Expressions I acknowledge that Conjecture which Mr. Spon gives seems so well grounded that few things of that Nature are better But since History is so defective who knows but some other Roman General might in imitation of Scipio have done somewhat like that in Gaule the Memory of which is preserved in this Shield and this might have fallen out in Provence and so the Shield might have been found at Avignon I do not say that this is true but to be sure it is possible and therefore since there is no Inscription to be seen on the Plate it cannot be denied but that the Dr. writ with due caution when he said that it seemed to represent that Action So if our Author is not more successful in his following Reflections than in this First on which he bestows Ten Pages I do not see that the Reputation of the Doctor 's Learning or Vertue is like to suffer much by the attempt he has made upon it He reflects on the Doctor for saying that this Shield is Invaluable and yet
Colour which is the very thing that the Doctor said That it did not run through it unmixed as some Travellers had fondly imagined For through it imports from the one end of it to the other The Doctor had commended the real Charity of those in Zurich who took care of their Poor without building Magnificent Palaces for them which he represents as a Vanity that is too generally affected elsewhere And here the Reflecter flies out into great anger and thinks that no good man can pardon such Malignity Here is a common place on which he thought to shew his force and I dare say the poor man has done his best and so I leave him But as I had enough to do to read what he writ on this Head so I can assure him I will not venture on answering such stuff Dr. B gave us an account of some Lettters he saw at Zurich from England concerning the Disputes in the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Reign relating to the Habits of the Clergy in which it is said by some of the Bishops that Cranmer and Ridley intended to procure an Act for abolishing the Habits on which our Author bestows this Judicious Reflection That Cranmer died before Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown as if those Letters that were writ Ten years after his death might not have mentioned an Intention which he had though he died before he could execute it Our Author finds fault with the Doctor 's saying That the Observation which he made on the various readings of that Verse in St. Iohn's Epistle may may seem too Learned as if this were his setting an high value on his own Learning Yet since Books of Travels are writ for all sorts of Readers it seemed necessary to make some excuse for setting down some Observations that belonged more properly to a Treatise of Divinity But the malice of our Reflecter is too heavy and his Raillery is too dull to stand on either of them Our Author has a long Discourse concerning that Passage the meaning of which I do not understand It is certain from St. Ierome's Preface that he restored it having found it struck out in the Copies that the Arrians had vitiated and therefore those Bibles which have his Prefaces but have not that passage must owe that defect only to the negligence of the Copiers since if they copied his Bible truly they must have copied that passage which according to that Preface was certainly in it All our Author's Reflection seems to amount to this That St. Ierome was exact that so he might discover the Cheat of the Arrians but not that he had actually done it and so he seems to conclude that the passage was not in his Bible This is stuff worthy of our Author and I leave him the honour of it The Doctor had said Thus will I finish my Account of Zurich and three or four lines after that he ends his Letter in these words And so I will break off Here comes an heavy Reflection on the Doctor 's pride and haughtiness and his maintaining of falsities and that he neither believes nor desires that any other should credit what he says unless he twice repeat it But if one asks why so much wrath It amounts all to this that the Doctor first says he will finish his Account of Zurich and then that he will put an end to his Letter And this to him seemed so nauseous a Repetition that it stirred up all this Choler in him Certainly he is the tenderest stomached person that ever was But I leave him to the Physitians for such stuff as this shews how much he needs their help The Doctor dated his Letter from Zurich as he did the others from Millan Florence Rome and Nimeguâ—n at which our Author is extream uneasie For if you but tread hard near a sick man you discompose him quite He finds some passages in some of the Letters that shew that the Doctor had seen the places which are mentioned in his following Letters when he wrote the former And indeed if the Doctor had cast his Observations into so many Letters and had made the Dates only at pleasure I do not see any great mischief in it He might also have writ the Letters in those places from which he dates them and yet have added passages that belonged to the things which occurred to him in other places and I see no great hurt in all this The Doctor had mentioned the Switzers throwing off the Austrian and German Yoke upon which our Reflecter triumphs as if the Doctor had represented the Switzers as oppressed at the same time by Two Nations But though the Archdukes of Austria were their Immediate Lords yet they were likewise Members of the German Empire and the Switzers having not only shaken off the Tyranny of the Austrians but having likewise separated themselves from the German Empire and formed themselves into a Free and Independent Commonwealth the Doctor had not fully expressed that matter if he had not made mention of the German Yoke as well as of the Austrian And thus I have examined all that is Reflected on in the Doctor 's first Letter and have found that as every one of the Particulars is ill-grounded so if every one of them were acknowledged to be well grounded there is not one of them all that leaves the least Reflection on the Doctor 's Vertue and Sincerity the uttermost to which they can amount being to discover some neglect in the Doctor 's way of expressing himself But even in that I have made it clear that the Doctor writ with more exactness than at first view perhaps every Reader might imagine Dr. B. had said that the Remnants of St. Emerita's Veil which were shewed him at Coire that are pretended to have been saved out of the Fire looked as if the burning had not been a Month old at which the Reflecter laughs as very ridiculous since by this the Doctor seems to judge of Ashes how long ago they were burnt but the Doctor only speaks of the pieces of Linnen And certainly it is no hard thing by looking on a piece of Linnen-cloth that is burnt all about the edges to judge whether it seems fresh and lately burnt or not He concludes this Article after some coarse Raillery that he fears that it will be said both of him and the Doctor That too much Learning had made them both mad I dare say every body will be of opinion that he is not far from being mad But unless he gives other Proofs than appear in this Book I am very confident no body will ascribe the cause of it to too much Learning The Doctor had mentioned the Archdukes of Inchspruck upon which the Reflecter runs division according to his Talent of Raillery as if there were no such Archduke One should have expected that if the Reflecter knew any thing it should have appeared in matters that relate to Germany where the Branches