respect for Truth in general and love a Philosophical Sincerity are obliged to use such a Method and they that are so disposed are better convinced than others of the narrowness of their Knowledge think more modestly of themselves and can more easily bear to be contradicted On the contrary those who distinguish not what is doubtful from what is certain fancy they know much more than they do and being proud of their pretended Knowledge they maintain with the same assurance the most uncertain Things and those which they are most sure of From thence arise a great many hot Disputes about Things which no body knows and wherein they are perhaps mistaken on both sides From thence also arise all the Evils which attend long Disputes Those who are used to distinguish their Conjectures from what they are able to prove may more easily attain to a solid and certain knowledge of Truth than those who believe they know what they know not and so give over the search of that which they think they have already found They substitute an imaginary Knowledge in the room of a real one and so rest satisfied with Phantoms instead of real Things and as they boldly take up Things that have but a slight probability so they are afraid on the contrary to be deceived by Demonstrations and shun them as carefully as they ought to shun Falshood But those who believe not that they know what they know not and are not conceited of their own Merits will be ready to embrace Truth which way soever it comes That which I most wonder at is That some Men are so Conceited that they speak as if they were persuaded that Truth depends not so much on Things themselves as on the manner of defending it One would think they believe That if they stoutly maintain an Opinion it acquires thereby a greater degree of certainty and at last happens to be true Should we grant say they That such a Thing is true we must then give up our Principles 'T is therefore better to argue against it without troubling our Selves whether it be true or not and never to give ground like the Man who being no longer able to reply to what was objected against his Opinion cried out with great Anger If what I say be not true it should be true Of Morery's Dictionary BUT to return to Mr. L. C.'s Studies at the very same time that his Philosophical Works were Composed Printed for the first time and Reprinted he was taken up with the tedious Revision of a Book which gave him a great deal of trouble Some Booksellers of Holland having a mind to Print Morery's Dictionary proposed to him in 1689. to Revise it which he undertook to do supposing That because that Dictionary had been Printed five times in France it wanted but few Corrections But having gone about that Work he soon perceived that he had had a better Opinion of Mr. Morery than he deserved He perceived too late that the Revision of that Dictionary would be a laborious Work of no great Honour and less Profit But he was obliged to go thro' when he had begun One may see what he said about it in the XIV Vol. of the Bibliotheque Vniverselle and in the Preface before the Holland Editions He has in three several Revisions corrected a prodigious number of Faults especially in the Articles which concern ancient History and after a frequent Perusing and a long Examination he found that Mr. Morery was a Man of so little Learning and Exactness that one cannot rely on any thing that he says He that would throughly examine his Dictionary should have almost all the Books which he made use of and it would take up as much time as would be sufficient to make a New one So that Mr. L. C. was forced to pass over a great many Things for want of Books and Time Besides to speak the Truth there are a great many Articles in that Dictionary which deserve not to be corrected by a Man who can spend his Time better Of what use would it be to make a laborious Enquiry concerning so many wretched Authors whom Morery mentions He that began that Work should have been Exact since he undertook it Nevertheless there has been Three Editions of that Dictionary in Holland from the Year 1690. to the Year 1698. and about Seven Thousand Copies have been Sold Perhaps so large a Book did never Sell so well before Indeed it is necessary to a great many People who cannot have Libraries nor read the Original Authors and are contented with a general Knowledge of Things The last Edition of Holland is much more Exact than the other but it is not true That the Publick can now rely upon it as the Booksellers have inserted in the Advertisement of this VIII Edition without Mr. L. C's Knowledge 'T is true That it is more accurate than the former but he that will know something exactly must necessarily have recourse to the Original Authors I hear in 1699. that there is a new Edition of it coming out at Paris and I doubt not but that they have corrected several Faults in the Articles which concern the Modern Authors because they have at Paris all the Books necessary for it the Tenth Part of which cannot be had in Holland because those Books Sell not very well there Of Mr. L. C.'s Commentary on the Pentateuch Mr. L. C. having applied himself chiefly to the Study of the Holy Scripture designed a great while ago to write a Commentary on the Old Testament but being not Master of his Time and Studies he could not do it before he left off writing the Bibliotheque Vniverselle To give a Specimen of his Design he published in 1690. in one Sheet in Quarto the Prophet Obadiah translated by him with a Paraphrase and a Critical Commentary He imparted that Specimen to his Friends and sent it every where to know what the Publick thought of such an Undertaking and having their Approbation he willingly undertook that Work which tho' very great and laborious did not frighten him because he always took great delight in that Study Besides he was persuaded that If he should succeed in his Design it would prove very useful to the Publick He published therefore his Commentary on Genesis in 1693. with a Paraphrase and Critical Notes as he had done the Prophet Obadiah And because he designed his Book for the use of all those who apply themselves to the Study of the Holy Scripture of what Sect or Party soever they be he abstained from all manner of Controversie and enquired only into the Literal Sense without drawing any Theological Consequences from it which might offend any Christian Society He searched Truth as impartially as if he had been the first who undertook such a Work He agrees in most Things with the most Learned Interpreters but he thinks he has made many new Discoveries concerning Things themselves and the manner
or read them can possibly be deceived They go to their Journey 's end in the straitest and plainest Road and their whole Discourse conspires if I may use the Expression to prove the same thing The Auditor or the Reader on his side perfectly well comprehending what he had a mind to demonstrate and the Proofs he brings to support it finds himself satisfied and instructed so that he is never deceived upon the same Subject so long as he remembers what he has heard or read The ill Effects of false Rhetoric THE Defects I have remarked in false Eloquence are at least in part the occasion of several Disorders we see in the World which nothing but true Rhetoric can remedy The first is that such People as suffer themselves to be born away by a multitude of Words by false Reasons or Thoughts that make nothing to the Subject in hand are over-whelm'd indeed with the noise of the Words and the great number of the Thoughts but they understand not a syllable of the Matter Altho' they fancy they are much better'd by a Discourse of this nature which they have heard or read yet they cannot tell what it contains nor reduce it to certain clear and continued Heads Every thing is confused every thing is turned upside down in their Minds and as Connexion and Order are of excellent use to the Memory which otherwise is apt to be disorder'd and to lose what it has learnt these Gentlemen soon forget what they have read or heard The second Disorder which this pretended Eloquence produceth is that those People that are accustom'd to it come to lose their Tast and Judgment insensibly and at last find themselves utterly uncapable of judging what ought to be said and what omitted what is good and what is bad reasoning what is to the purpose and what not They are no longer able to separate what is treated of from what makes nothing to the Subject nor to discern the Proofs that are brought to bring about ones Ends from what is introduced meerly for Show and Ornament or for the sake of some resemblance The third Disorder is that if the End of the Discourse be to correct the Faults of the Readers and Auditors the multitude of impertinent Words the weakness of the Reasonings and the judicious Choice of the Thoughts produce but very sorry Effects As we are perswaded without knowing why or wherefore and have no clear and continued Principles to preserve ourselves from Errour and to regulate our Conduct aright our Manners will infalliby derive an unhappy Tincture from the disorder of our Minds we do Good and Evil without discerning them so distinctly as we ought to do and our Lives become a perpetual mixture of a little Virtue and a great deal of Vice We know the general Rules of Good and Evil confusedly and we apply them almost by meer accident to the particular Actions of Life Let us suppose on the contrary that by some Miracle or other it so fell out in some Kingdom or Republic that they had no public Orator the Reader will soon perceive that I mean our Preachers here nor so much as one Writer that exactly observ'd the Rules above-mention'd of good Rhetoric I don't in the least question but that we should soon behold a considerable change in their Discourses and in their Lives The publick Assemblies wou'd be excellent Schools for the Heart and Mind to take a true cast in We should not learn the Trick there to pay ourselves with a parcel of insignificant words we shou'd say nothing but what was to the purpose and reason justly upon the Opinions of Religion and upon Morality and this Knowledge wou'd loon diffuse itself all over our Lives and Actions We should no longer see such vast numbers of People that only do Good by meer accident almost and only avoid Evil by meer good luck by reason of their confused and uncertain Lights by which they regulate their Conduct But we must needs own if we will speak out the truth as we ought to do in a Matter of so great importance that we for the most part see ten Orators that are proper to do Mischief for one that is capable to edifie us solidly so that we ought not to wonder if the uncertain Multitude blunder and grope their way at mid-day without knowing what Road they should take or implicitely follow the first Man they meet Of Disposition II. THIS is enough to be said upon the Article of Invention which is the most important part of Rhetoric and the foundation of all the rest since 't is necessary we know what we ought to say before we think how to range and express it Nevertheless 't is of very great consequence to dispose the matter we have found out by Meditation in a right order because the disposition is of infinite use to make others rightly understand what we intend to say and to make them perceive the force of the Proofs which we alledge The Rhetors lay down good general Precepts concerning the disposition of a Discourse in regard to the Order we ought to observe between the parts which compose it and what we ought to follow in each of these parts I find nothing to censure in them as for what they teach upon this Head and am of Opinion that those that speak in public wou'd do very well to read over from time to time the Precepts of the Masters of this Art the greatest part of which are founded upon good Sense But there is one thing wanting in them which is of that consideration that without it all their Precepts signifie just nothing 'T is this that they say almost nothing about the essential ordering of the Thoughts among one another in each part of the Discourse and which is absolutely necessary whether it be to avoid Repetions or to instruct more easily and to convince the Reader or Auditor This Order is not only necessary in those Discourses which we pronounce without publishing them in Print but principally in Books of what nature soever they be However one may justly say that nothing has been more neglected not only by the ancient Orators but especially by the Philosophers the greatest part of whose Discourses is a mere Confusion and Chaos Plutarch for instance among the Greeks and Seneca among the Latins have written with the greatest Confusion in the World The ecclesiastical Authors have imitated them in this particular We see both the one and the other frequently begin to treat of a Subject without taking the least care to state the Question in Terms clear and without equivocation and then on they gallop without knowing from whence they set out or whither they are going till such time as their Imagination is perfectly founder'd and they can run no longer Read their Treatises and Discourses over and over again and you will find a vast number of them wherein you can neither comprehend the principal Design they drive at
it may be possible for the Person that speaks to believe very little of what he says that he only chose this Subject to get himself some Reputation by treating of it eloquently Besides when we are heartily affected by any thing and nothing but Nature talks we use in our Discourses no far-fetch'd Ornaments of Rhetoric but only such as arise from the Subject without our thinking on them The same thing may be observed in Tragedy itself when it is rightly composed Et †Horat. de Arte Poet. v. 95. Tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri Telephus Peleus cùm pauper exsul uterque Projicit ampullas sesquipedalia verba Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querelâ Even the Tragic Poets sometimes express Grief in common Language Telephus and Peleus when they lye under the Hardships of Poverty and Banishment wholly throw aside affected Expressions and big rumbling Words if they have a mind to interest the Spectator in their Complaints The Reason of this is because we cannot be touched but by the natural representation of a Passion and that all Affectation shocks us I am perswaded that a simple plain Discourse provided it be naturally delivered moves those Auditors that have a true Taste more feelingly than the tallest Metaphors and that even upon Paper it is much more affecting than one that is penn'd in a more sublime Stile However I confess that there are cerain occasions on which we are indispensably obliged to rise above the vulgar Stile as for instance when we are to praise or condemn any thing when we wou'd excite Admiration or Hatred in short when our Subject is of a more elevated Character than what happens daily On such an occasion the Reader or Auditor is very well pleas'd that we should have recourse to Rhetorical Ornaments As it is not so much our Business at such a time to instruct as to delight him or to excite in him Passions more turbulent than Pity he is satisfied with these Decorations nay what is more he expects them so that it we disappoint him we make him despise us and no longer attend to what we say He thinks it but requisite that he that speaks or writes to entertain him should be well prepared before-hand and tell him nothing but that which does not frequently fall into every Body's Head When the Occasion is extraordinary or when the Subject is naturally sublime we expect a Stile of the same Dignity that transports that ravishes that governs and turns our Souls abou◠as it pleases This is the sublime Stile concerning which Longinus has written a Treatise which is in every Body's Hands especially since it has been †By Mr. Boileau translated into French I will not dwell any longer upon these two latter sorts of Stiles which are or ought to be properly the Stile of Sermons if we except those places in them where we only explain the Matter before us without drawing any Consequences from it or making any application to the Auditors 'T is sufficient to say That those that aspire to this Eloquence cannot too often read over those Passages in the celebrated Masters of this Art where 't is handled An infinite number of People confound the sublime Stile with Fustian and think they ravish all the World with Admiration when they lose themselves in the Clouds and are laugh'd and ridicul'd by all Men of a true Palat. The reason of this is because they don't enough consider the Rules of this Art and don 't know that we ought to expres s ourselves in magnificent Terms only about those things that are Sublime in their own Nature Objections against what has been said SOME Objections which at first sight seem to have something in them may be railed against what I have asserted relating to Eloquence As for instance That several of the Ancients whom I have accused of having committed very gross Faults against the Rules and several of the Moderns whom I have imitated did pats in their own time and still pass in ours for Models of Eloquence in the Opinions of a vast number of People that understand Rhetoric and are by no means to be call'd Men of an ill Relish One may go yet farther and urge That we behold every Day Books received with great Applause and that we hear with Admiration several Discourses wherein scarce any of the above-mention'd Rules are observ'd As Eloquence will these Gentlemen pretend is only for those whom we have to do with so soon as we have found out the Mystery to please and to affect them in Speaking or Writing we have Title enough to set up for Men of Eloquence Indeed if the establish'd Rules of Rhetoric which are for the generality of them supported by the Authority of the most famous Rhetors were arbitrary Laws and founded rather upon the usage of some Language which depends upon the Caprice of the Multitude than upon Reason which never changes I confess that one might confront them with Examples and counterballance the Authority they have got by the Reputation of those who have violated them But as they are built upon everlasting Foundations we can only conclude that the Taste of those Gentlemen who first admired those that neglected these Laws was a depraved Taste and that if there are any Men of Wit who continue still to praise the vicious Rhetoric of the past Ages they only follow the Custom in it without consulting their Reason and repeat without examination what had been told them from their Infancy We cannot make the Fathers and Philosophers who lived after Jesus Christ pass for just Reasoners nor for methodical Authors but as they were the most ingenious Men of their times nay and sometimes formidable by their Authority and by their Cabals they were excessively praised in their own and the succeeding Ages which yet were darker and more ignorant than their own These Praises have been handed down like a Tradition to us and we are only the Echos if I may so express myself of the most barbarous and gross Centuries without being at the pains to examine whether what we say after them be true or not We daily commend merely out of custom several Works which we should have been asham'd to have written ourselves and which in truth we cou'd not write in this Age without drawing the contempt of all the World upon us That which still keeps up this Language which at the bottom is not sincere is that every Man cites the Fathers in Theological Controversies and desires to have them of his own side yet this cou'd not be done with any Advantage if People were generally perswaded that they were bad Orators and yet worse Logicians Thus we set as high a value on them as we are able without being satisfied of their Merit to make use of their Authority in Time and Place against those who have declared against those Opinions which we suppose to have been favour'd by the Fathers Were
doing better than they The Republic of Letters is at last become a Country of Reason and Light and not of Authority and implicit Faith as it has been but too long Multitudes pass no longer there for Arguments and all Cabals are silenced There is no Divine or Humane Law which prohibits us to bring the Art of writing History to Perfection as we have endeavour'd to bring to Perfection the other Arts and Sciences As a Philosoper is not to be excused now a-days if he speaks obscurely or supposes incertain things for certain after the Example of Aristotle and other ancient Philosophers who have committed the same Faults So the Example of Herodotus or Livy is no manner of Protection to those that imitate their Defects and Vices If we commend them it must always be remembred that these Commendations are paid to what is good in them as the Purity and Elegance of their Style but by no means to their Faults and Imperfections Besides we ought to consider that we esteem them in part because we have no other Monuments left but theirs and that we don't believe them but when we have no just Reason to contradict them or for the sake of the Probability of their Narrations or because we have no Testimony more ancient and more exact than theirs to correct them We believe in short the Gross of the History but we remain in suspence as to the Circumstances The Case being thus if there are great inconveniences in making no Citations neither the Example of the Ancients nor their Imitators is enough to cover from Censure such as have omitted to do it We therefore maintain that if a Man avoids to quote his Vouchers the reason of it is because he wou'd not have any one to examine the History as he relates it by comparing the Narration with that of other Historians who writ before him For what way is there to examine what any Author says in case he cites no one in particular unless we had every Book that he consulted and had carefully read them and preserv'd them in our Memory Not one Man in a thousand is capable of it and not one Man in a thousand has all the Books which he ought to have for this purpose But besides this we have always a just Pretence to think that we are impos'd upon for it may so happen that the Author whom we read has follow'd some Historian whom those who have an interest to examine the History have not by them or else have not read him or lastly have forgotten him But tho' we dare not immediately charge that Historian with Falsehood who has not made his Citations so neither dare we rely upon him As by following this Method 't is easie for a Man to sham a Romance upon the World without fear of discovery and to give his History whatever Turn he pleases the suspicious Reader does not know where to take his Word and immediately throws aside a Book on which he cannot safety depend It has been affirmed that a Modern Historian who has compos'd a very large History concerning the Troubles of Religion took this course that he might with more safety invent what might make for his side and satisfie the Facts that displeased him For my part I never examined him and therefore can say nothing to this Business but I must confess that the Method he has follow'd makes him suspected of all that has been laid to his Charge and that he has no other way to justifie himself but by fairly producing his Witnesses otherwise he will never answer the Objections and Complaints that have been made against his Books and which without question have come to his Ears before now Besides this they maintain that the Precaution which some Writers have taken to place the Authors whom they follow'd at the Head of their History is altogether insignificant unless they had cited the particular Places because that it is liable to almost all the Inconveniences which we complain'd of in those who don 't cite at all In effect 't is a very difficult matter to know what Historian a Man may have follow'd in every Fact even tho' he had them all But they carry the Matter farther and say That oftentimes this pompous Catalogue of Authors is only made for Ostentation and that the Compiler of it perhaps never saw the Covers of half the Books he puts in his Muster-Roll 'T is certain that nothing is so easie as to compose a great List of Historians whom we never beheld and to place them boldly at the Head of a History but supposing it compos'd with never so much sincerity yet still it depends upon the Reader whether he will believe it or no. There is only one thing I know of which can pardon this in an Historian and that is our being assured of his Veracity For this reason it is that we don't think the worse of Thuanus for having used this Conduct Those evident Marks of Sincerity and Moderation which he shews all along have made us forgive him this Fault altho' we don't forgive it in such People as Varillas whose Passion and Romancing Genius are conspicuous in every Line of his Works Of Truth II. THE second thing we require of an Historian is that after he has taken all poffible care to instruct himself in the Truth to have the Courage to declare it without being byass'd Who is it but must know that the principal Law of History is that it dare to utter nothing which is false and that it dare to speak all the truth that it may not give the least Umbrage that it is influenced either by Affection or Prejudice These in short are its Foundations that are known by all the World †Cicero Lib. II. de Oratore c. 15. Quis nescit primam esse Historiae legem nequid falsi dicere audeat deinde nequid veri non audeat ne qua suspicio gratiae sit in scribendo nequa simultatis Haec scilicet fundamenta nota suns omnibus But in order to observe this Law which is without dispute essential to History a Man before he sets himself down to Write ought entirely to disengage himself from all sorts of Passions and Prepossessions without which he will certainly suppress or disguise the Truth nay and publish a thousand Lies either on purpose or else for want of taking due heed 'T is impossible to say any thing upon this Article more vehement or more solid or more necessary than what Lucian has said in that Treatise where he teaches us in what manner a History ought to be written I will here set down some of his words and will follow d' Ablancourt's Translation altho' it only expresses the Author's Meaning and has retrench'd a great deal from the Original Above all says he we ought not to be devoted to any Party for we must not do like that Painter who painted a Monarch de profil because he had only one Eye We
repulse the Injuries of their Neighbours without endeavouring to enlarge their Territories If at any time they blame their Ambition and Injustice as they do sometimes 't is nothing if compared with the Praises they bestow on them when they mention their Victories The Christian Religion having given us more exact and compleat Notions of Justice than the Heathens commonly had several Christian Historians have spoken of the Ambition of the ancient Conquerors in Terms more agreeable to the immutable Law of Justice than the Heathen Historians ever did I confess that the ancient Philosophers have said a great many things on this Point which are almost as sound as what has been said by Christians but it was only the Philosophers that spoke so and the Historians had no great Regard to their Opinions An †H. Grotius Incomparable Author hath the first shewn in this XVII Century what are not only the Laws of Peace but also of War and has so clearly taught what Nations owe to one another that it can no longer be doubted whether making War out of meer Ambition be not perfect Robbing and Murdering That great Man has reduced into an Art and methodically proved the Truths which were dispersed in several Authors on this Matter and has confirmed them with many Examples and Quotations So that if any Historian will give the Title of Just and Pious to any Prince who made or will hereafter make War out of Ambition he ought not to take it ill if he is accounted a base and shameful Flatterer A Prince who has reduced several Provinces to an extream Misery and Poverty and destroyed several Millions of People out of meer Ambition and without being provoked will never be look'd upon as a good Man unless Paganism should prevail again or Machiavelism should become every-where the Religion in fashion The Heathens praised much the Clemency of Julius Caesar to whom what I have said might have been justly objected because he spared the Lives of many of his Fellow-Citizens who had fought against him to preserve the Liberty of their Country and at last submitted to his Tyranny But no Historian worthy of that Name can hereafter cry up the Clemency of those who have done or will do any such thing Princes who little think of the Miseries which a War brings on their Subjects and Neighbours or are not moved with the Calamities and Tears of an infinte number of innocent and unfortunate Families or the great Blood-shed which attends a long War will never be cried up as Merciful and Just but by such Men as have scarce any Notion of those Virtues or by Flatterers whom no Body can bear with but they who dare not contradict ' em This is what I had to say concerning History If I have spoken somwhat freely let no Body find fault with me for it but rather with the Matter itself which admits of no Palliation I know very well that this Discourse and the like will not hinder Historians from Flattering and Lying but I suppose those Gentlemen will not take it ill if one speaks sometimes the Truth CHAP. IV. Of the Decay of Humane Learning and the Causes of it THERE is without doubt a Decay in the Common-wealth of Learning in several Respects but I shall only mention that which concerns Philology 'T is certain we have not seen for a long time in any part of Europe any Men who equal the illustrious Criticks who lived in the last Century and the beginning of this For Example We see no Body who equals in Learning Application of Mind and Bulk as well as Number of Books Joseph Scaliger Justus Lipsius Isaac Casaubon Claudius Salmasius Hugo Grotius John Meursius John Selden and a great many others whom I need not name because they are known to every Body I have a due Esteem for many learned Men of my Acquaintance but I am persuaded that none of them will complain if I say that I know none who equals those great Men in Learning We have seen nothing for a long time that can be compared with their Works I have enquired into the Reasons of it and I think I have found some satisfactory ones Some of them concern those who should favour the Study of Humane Learning but do it not and some concern them that profess that Study and bring Contempt upon it I shall instance upon some few to which the Reader may add his own and what he has observed by his Experience The Difficulties of that Study I. TO begin with the latter I mean that which can be objected to the Men of Learning The first Reason why few Men have applied themselves to the Study of Humane Learning and consequently why fewer still have had an extraordinary Success in it is that they who were learned in that sort of Science did not care to make it easie to others Because most of them attained to the Learning they had not by a short and methodical Way but by a vast Reading and a prodigious Labour they did not at all care to facilitate to others the means of acquiring that Learning Having if I may so say got with much ado to the top of the Rock thro' steep and thorny Ways they thought it just that others should undergo the same Toil if they would attain to the same degree of Learning But because there are few Men whose Genius is so bent to the Study of Humane Learning as to resolve upon taking so much Pains to get the Knowledge of it 't is no wonder if most Men have been discouraged almost from the Beginning and if a great Knowledge of that sort of Learning is so scarce at present Perhaps it will be askt What those learned Men of the first Rank should have done to facilitate that Study besides what they have done I answer that there are two-sorts of Books which may serve to acquire that sort of Knowledge which have been wanting ever since the Study of Humane Learning hath been in Vogue Of Critical Notes upon the Latin Authors THE first Books we want are good Editions of all the Greek and Latin Authors not only correct but also illustrated with all necessary Notes to make them more Intelligible But to come to Particulars I begin with the Latin Authors and I say that the learned Men I have mentioned or others like them should have given us at least all the good Latin Authors not only revised upon such ancient Manuscripts as we have but also illustrated with short clear and methodical Notes on all the difficult Places and such as were not above the Capacity of young Men and might serve those who have made some Progress Whereas the learned Men I spoke of have been most times contented to publish Authors with meer critical Notes about the true Reading to which if they have added any thing for the understanding of the Expressions Opinions or Customs they have done it only upon some few places to make a shew of their
sudden and yield every-where to the Carelesness of those who mind only the present Time and care as little for the Time past as for the Time to come But a great many learned Men having embraced the Protestant Religion and proclaimed every-where That the Knowledge of Humane Learning had open'd a Way to the Understanding of Holy Scripture and Church-History so that the best Way to know the Errors and Abuses which wanted a Reformation was to Learn throughly the ancient Tongues the Party who had no mind to make any Alteration in the Practices or Opinions of the latter Ages began to suspect those who so much cried up Humane Learning and so by degrees neglected to promote it All Favours were only bestowed upon the zealous Defenders of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy and Learning which had been so much admired before was look'd upon by degrees as a thing which might do it more Harm than Good Thus Italy and Spain ceased almost to produce any thing of that kind and the Libraries became useless Ornaments for the Inhabitants of those Countries That Dislike of Humane Learning spread as a Contagion in the neighbouring Countries and even in those where they should be of quite another Opinion 'T is reported that a great Minister of State who was altogether a Stranger to Learning used to call those who profest it Seditious Persons in all likelyhood because they are the Men who have most insisted upon the Authority of the Laws Justice and Equity Indeed in the Countries where Machiavelism prevails the Notions of the Ancients concerning those things do not at all agree with the ungovernable Passions of a Supreme Power And this I think is one of the Reasons which are very Prejudicial to Learning in some Countries Thus the Defenders of the Supreme Authority of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy on the one side and the Defenders of the Arbitrary Power of Temporal Princes on the other have been of Opinion that the Reading of the ancient Heathen or Christian Writers was so far from being necessary that it was believed for some time it were much better on the contrary that the Republican Notions of the Grecians and Romans should be forgotten and that the Opinions of the ancient Christians both in the East and West which do not agree with the Modern Doctrine and Interests should be covered with the Vail of an unintelligible Language They have lookt for Men who would obey without any Reply and make it their Business to Maintain and Encrease the Spiritual and Temporal Power without any regard to the Notions which Men had in former Times Soldiers who have no Principles nor Sense of Virtue and Clergy-men who are blind Slaves to the present Power and examine nothing and execute with the utmost Rigour whatever Orders they receive are look'd upon as the most unmoveable Pillars of the Church and State and they who quote ancient Authors and whose Principles are independent on the Will of Princes can have no Hearing Some Reasons to cultivate Humane Learning anew BUT in the Countries where they make it their Business to have no Laws but such as are founded upon natural Equity they need not fear that the Republican Antiquity should contradict 'em and therefore they should encourage those who endeavour to give the Knowledge of it They who are not afraid to find any thing in the original Works of Ecclesiastical Writers that may be prejudicial to the Notions of Religion and Virtue which Holy Scripture affords should omit nothing to encnourage Men to enquire after Truth The better it is known the greater the Authority of the Laws will be and Justice more flourishing Tho' properly speaking Humane Learning includes only the Knowledge of ancient Languages and what is necessary to know Antiquity yet it puts us in a condition of knowing things themselves by furnishing us with the means of Conversing as it were with a great many learned Men both Heathen and Christians So that it has a strict Connexion with all the Knowledge we can get by the Reading of ancient Authors And the Desire of Knowing what they who lived before us believed said or did as much as it can be Known cannot be satisfied without such a Learning The Knowledge of Dead Languages is as it were an Interpreter whom we carry along with us to Travel if I may so say in an Intelligible World which exists only in Books written in Languages that are not spoken at present Without such an Interpreter 't is impossible to know what past in it And as great Princes have Interpreters of several Languages to treat with Strangers so we must keep up that Knowledge and make in as common as it can possibly be unless we give over the Thoughts of knowing what past in former Times These general Reasons and several particular ones which I pass by should engage Princes to encourage the Study of Humane Learning and they who apply themselves to it should use their utmost endeavours to make it Easie and Pleasant to those whose Favours can make it flourish again more than ever it did I do not pretend to have shewn all the ways that can be taken in order to it 'T is enough for me that I have pointed at some of the chief and given occasion to think of it to those whom it most concerns CHAP. V. Of the Decay of some States THERE are some States which do manifestly Decay in respect of Arts and Strength There is no need I should name them and shew their Weakness particularly Every Body knows it but every Body knows not how they come to be weakned The better to understand the Reasons of the Decay of a State it is necessary to know what can make it flourish since it falls to Decay because it wants that which could put it in a flouishing Condition There are chiefly three things which can make a State Happy at Home and Dreaded Abroad The first is a great number of Inhabitants The second The Revenues of the State which ought to be great without oppressing the People And the third is The Union of the several Members of the State who ought to contribute to the publick Good Where-ever those things are to be found it may be said there is Peace and Happiness unless a very violent Storm raised by a greater Power should fall upon such a State and where-ever they are wanting one may certainly affirm that the State will fall to Decay if the Disorder last never so little But I must come to Particulars and prove each of those three things at large First It cannot be doubted but that the number of the Inhabitants does so much contribute to the Greatness of a State that without it any State will be Poor Weak and in Danger if the Neighbouring-Countries are better stock'd with Inhabitants The better a Country is Peopled the more Industrious are the Inhabitants every one striving to Maintain himself as well as he can which very much encreases Trade brings in Money
whom the Laws authorize avoid Sin and persevere in the Faith I thought fit to set down that Passage at large because supposing that a Man in the same Circumstances should be enclined to live as he did till he heard of the Gospel the difficulty of getting out of that Trouble together with the long Habit he has contracted determines him to believe that the Gospel is false not by any Reasons but because if it were true he must presently Condemn himself and change his Inclinations and manner of Life whatever Difficulty and Danger there may be in it The Jews in our Saviour's time were almost in the same Circumstances by reason of Divorces and Polygamy They who having divorced their Wives had Married several times or had many Wives at one time and besides were inclined to that sort of Life were apt to believe that the Doctrine of Christ was false by reason of their Inclinations and the difficulty of Changing their Lives 'T is for this Reason at least in part that Christ and his Apostles told the Jews as well as the Gentiles That to become his Disciples they must be born again become new Men and forsake their nearest Relations when they could no longer live with them according to the Precepts of the Gospel And this was without doubt one of the great Reasons of the Obstinacy of the Jews It was a hard thing for them not only to renounce their Inclinations which prompted them to change their Wives and to have many at one time but also to confess that they had lived in Adultery and that several of their Children were Illegitimate Their Children could also hardly endure to be call'd Children of Adulterers and to see their Fathers forsake their Mothers Which caused very great Divisions in the Families of the Jews and perhaps Christ alludes partly to those Disorders when he says That he †Luke XII 51. is not come to give Peace on Earth but rather Division and when he describes the nearest Relations so cruelly divided From henceforth there shall be five in one House divided three against two and two against three The Father shall be divided against the Son and the Son against the Father the Mother against the Daughter and the Daughter against the Mother the Mother-in-law against her Daughter-in-law and the Daughter-in-law against her Mother-in-law They who thought of those ill Consequences and had no great Piety could not resolve to embrace a Doctrine which the most honest Men in the Jewish Nation could not receive without defaming themselves and falling out with their nearest Kindred Such a Passion and many other hindred them from perceiving the Beauty and Truth of the Gospel which presently shines to the Eyes of those who are not prepossest with the like Passions It would be no difficult thing to make an application of that Truth to many Christians who live in gross Errors still notwithstanding all the Light of our Age. But 't is better that every Body should do it himself provided he takes care not to be in the same Case with those he censures CHAP. VIII Of Praises and Censures THERE is nothing more Equivocal than Praises and Censures and no Esteem or Contempt can scarce be grounded on either of them To mention but one sort of Praises the Divines of the same Party praise one another out of so many ill Motives that one can lay no Stress upon it They do it commonly out of a great Conceit of their own Notions and only because of the Resemblance of their Opinions In such a case what can one inferr from such Praises but that they who Praise one another are of the same Party and maintain the same Truths or the same Errors Men will often Praise a Book out of Flattery to please the Author of it who is in a great Station has great Revenues a great Authority and some other Qualities which have no Relation with his Book But such Praises would soon cease if that Man should lose his Imployments his Authority his Revenues c. Some will Praise a Book because they understand not the Matter it treats of and admire what they do not apprehend Others do it out of Complaisance without having any Reason for 't but that they see others do it 'T is therefore to no purpose to talk of Approbations of Books or other like Praises and cry up a Man's Reputation which is only grounded on such deceitful Praises However it must be confest that in some Cases Praises may be of some Weight viz. when Men of Parts Praise and Esteem those that are of a contrary Party especially when 't is not their Interest to do so but on the contrary they expose themselves by doing it A Roman Catholick Divine is in such a case when he Praises a Protestant Writer It may be said then of those who are so praised That none but honest Men Praise them as Aristotle said in an Elegy he composed in the Praise of Plato that he had erected an Altar to that Philosopher Whom ill Men were not allow'd to Praise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Few Praises of that Nature are better than whole Volumes of Approbations of Men of the same Party or who can be suspected of Ignorance and Passion The contrary ought to be said of Disadvantageous Judgments or Censures When Men inveigh against others who are of different Opinions and of a contrary Party what can one conclude from it Nothing but that they have different Opinions and are of a different Party Men blame out of Envy or thro' some other Passion what they would Praise if their Passions should cease They inveigh for Example against those who are of another Party to set up for Zealots and to get some Reputation and because they may safely give up themselves to the most shameful Anger under pretence of Zeal and vent a thousand Calumnies without being punished for it they deliberately take part in Quarrels wherein they neither observe the Rules of Christian Charity nor Natural Equity Then the Censures they pass upon their Neighbours shew only that they Envy and Hate 'em and have a mind to raise themselves by wounding their Reputation And if Men could see the Hearts of other Men as they can hear and read their Words they would often see in the Souls of those who speak or write so angrily a secret Esteem for those of whom they speak Ill which Envy and Hatred endeavour in vain to Stifle When some Men blame others out of Ignorance or to imitate those who do the like as Ignorant and Unjust Men commonly do what can one conclude from it but that Dogs never bark alone where there are other Animals of the same kind What can one say therefore of those who to wrong another Man take care to collect all the Slanders and reviling Words of those who have abused him If any one to let the Publick Know what they ought to think of Samuel Maresius heretofore
Catholick Church are comprehended under the Name of Hereticks and liable to the Laws which have been enacted against them Haereticorum vocabulo continentur latis adversùs eos sanctionibus debent succumbere qui vel levi argumento à judicio Catholicae Religionis tramite detecti fuerint deviare One needs only read the V. Title of the XVI Book of the Theodosian Code against the Hereticks to see that as it was then the Custom to bestow excessive Praise so they excessively blamed those they did not love The Hereticks are call'd there not only Men fond of erroneous Opinions and obstinate but also Distracted Mad Prophane Perfidious Detestable and Sacrilegious Men who have wickedly conspired against the Deity c. Jacobus Gothofredus has collected all those reviling Words and placed them before the Title I have mention'd Tho' it be as clear as Noon Day-light that the Praises and Censures of that time are most of them strained and excessive yet several People who read the Writings of that Age take no notice of it and the ancient Customs having been changed in these latter Ages they fancy that all those who are styled Saints in those ancient Writings which was only a Title of Honour bestowed upon all Bishops and Priests are really Saints in such a Sense as that Word is now understood that is to say that they enjoy the Glory of Heaven and may be safely prayed to as the Church of Rome holds as being Mediators between God and Men. From whence it follows that their Writings ought to be infinitely more esteem'd than those of the Modern tho' the latter are composed with greater accuracy and according to all the Rules of Art For who durst believe that such Men reasoned ill and wrote carelesly They also conclude from it that Men who are prayed to could be guilty of no dangerous Error and that their Lives ought to be the Pattern of ours Thus they Canonize them together with their Errors and Vices to which they were as subject as those who live now An Order that has one of those Saints for its Patron is always very zealous in the Defence of his Opinions and manner of Life And because those great Saints condemn'd and persecuted as much as they could those who receded from their Opinions they who admire their Writings revile in their imitation and persecute those who differ from them This will always be as long as the Praises and Censures of the Ancient are approved of without any examination instead of comparing them with the unchangeable Rule of Reason and the Gospel CHAP. IX That it is a very difficult thing to Judge without Passion EVERY Body says That an Author who writes with Passion is not to be trusted and it cannot be denied but that it is a very true Maxim and very useful to those who follow It. But to know whether an Author writes with Passion or no one ought to free one self from Passion Otherwise a Man will deceive himself moue than he can be deceived by the most interested Author because every Body mistrusts himself less than others He that will free himself from his Passions must know that he is subject to them for he cannot get rid of a Habit which he thinks he has not contracted But what must one do to know it Men deceive themselves every Day and believe they keep within the Bounds of Moderation and Equity I confess that when we are actually agitated with a Passion we are not capable of judging well of ourselves but there is scarce any Passion but what has some Intervals Then the general Light of Reason and Equity which we have acquired by Study and Experience shines in our Minds because they cease to be fill'd with Fumes of Passions We must then improve that Time take a sound Resolution and form such Maxims as we will always observe as Physicians make use of the Intervals that are between Fits to cure those who are sick of a Fever If they don't prevent new Fits they will at least lessen the Violence of them In like manner some Reflections made whilst the Mind is calm do often prevent violent Passions or at least lessen them in a great measure He who often makes such Reflections will sooner perceive the Effects of 'em as the effects of Remedies are better known when they have been reiterated But there is this difference between a Fever and our Passions that we often recover of the former without using any Remedies whereas we cannot get rid of our Passions without reflecting on then and reiterating our Reflections If a Man therefore never Reflects he is past recovery In some cases every thing contributes to keep up our Passions and hinder us from Reflecting on the State we are in This may be observ'd in what is call'd Zeal for Religion in the Sects that are most remote from Truth That Zeal is nothing else but a vehement Desire of setting up One's Opinions by any means The Divines of those false Religions cry it up as a Virtue without which one cannot be acceptable to God and look upon Peace and Toleration as a detestable Vice Every Body hears this Doctrine from his tender Years reads it in all their Books and sees it practised by the most esteem'd Persons The Zealots get a great Reputation in their Party and obtain all the Rewards but the Admirers of peaceable Equity get nothing by it but Trouble and Contempt Ask therefore no more how it comes to pass that so marry People ire deceived and imposed upon You will say that you easily apprehend that it it is now very difficult to preserve one's self from the Illusions of Passions but that you cannot conceive how rational Men could establish Doctrines so contrary to Truth I answer That Men in Authority who sincerely believed some false Doctrines might have enacted some Laws and introduced some Customs as were fit to Authorize a false as well as a true Doctrine and then it proved a difficult thing to go against the Stream Some Impostors and Politicians might also have had a hand in it so that at last the Assertors of a false Doctrin proved so fond of it that it was a very hard matter to overcome their Prejudices Thus the most ridiculous Opinions of the Heathens and Mahometans were introduced at first and afterwards kept up by such means as I have mention'd Those Nations blindly believe whatever their Writers and Priests tell 'em without being aware that those Men getting their Livelyhood by those erroneous Doctrines will not fail to maintain a Party under whose Ruins they would infallibly sink Would to God they were the only Men whose Interest it is to maintain Errors and oppress the Truth Would to God that none but they were deceived by their own and other Men's Passions But it is a general Evil which in all likelyhood will last as long as there are Men in this World However we must endeavour to oppose it lest it should
excessively encrease CHAP. X. Of Mr. Le Clec 's Works NO Body can give a better Account or the Works and Studies of Mr. Le Clerc than I And since it is necessary that the Publick should be inform'd of it because of those who wrote against him I 'll say what I know of it Humane Learning Philosophy and Divinity with their Dependences have been his chief Studies and he has equally applied himself to them from his younger Years so as one of those Sciences succeeded the other by turns according to the Circumstances he was in He does the same still and 't is likely he 'll continue to do so the rest of his Life I cannot tell whether he has well succeeded or no in the Works he has published concerning those three Sciences You know the reason of it But I can tell you with all the Sincerity I am capable of that I am persuaded he searched Truth with great Application without having any other Design but to find it First in what concerns the Christian Religion and then about several Points which concern Divinity Philosophy Church-History and Humane Learning As for the Christian Religion I know not only by what he has written concerning it but also by what he has discoursed on several Occasions that he is fully persuaded of the Truth of it not out of Custom or Weakness or because one may somtimes get something by feigning to be persuaded of it as it seems many do but out of Reason and upon Examination Few Men have more meditated on the Christian Religion than he has done and perhaps there is not one Divine who has a greater Notion of God and Christianity than he has He can't abide that weak or doubtful Arguments should be used in their Defence out of Policy because they work on the Minds of the People and Ignorant Men. He thinks that Men thereby equal Divine Revelation with false Religions which are kept up by such a Method for want of a better Whereas no other Arguments ought to be made use of for the Proof of the Christian Religion but such as are proper to it and wholly distinguish it from Falshood which cannot be defended with the same Arms. He affirms That whoever doubts of the truth of Christianity has not a true Notion of it or cannot Reason well or desires to indulge his Passions But to see the Christian Religion in its due Light he thinks it ought to be considered as it was in its beginning without mixing any Human Doctrin or any Explication of unintelligible Things with it Those Explications and Human Doctrins are as he thinks the cause of most Disputes and Errors not to mention a thousand other Evils which they have occasioned Wherefore he speaks of 'em with as much Contempt as he admires what God has revealed to us by Christ and his Apostles Mr. Vander Waeyen a Cocceian Divine will notwithstanding deprive him of the Title of a Divine in two Libels he wrote against him But he troubles himself so little with it that on the contrary he would be very sorry to be accounted a great Divine by such a Man as that Professor of Franeker Mr. L. C. professes himself to be a Christian and does nothing that contradicts his Profession but he would not be a Divine of Mr. Vander Waeyen's Stamp and he is not the only Man of that Opinion There are very few Reformed Divines but despise that sort of Divinity Mr. Spanheim Professor in the University of Leyden with whom the Professor of Franeker is not at all to be compared has spoken his Mind plainly enough on this Matter and Mr. Vander Waeyen's Indignation against him has not prejudiced his Reputation in the least Mr. L. C. beseeches God That he would teach Mr. Vander Waeyen what the Title of a Divine requires of them who bear it and will not dishonour it Tho' he had early studied the Philosophy of Descartes he follows only his general Principles which he admires and thinks that the only reason why Descartes did not keep to them when he came to Particulars is That he made too much haste desiring to publish a complete System before he died I 'll tell you more of it when I come to Discourse of Mr. L. C s. Philosophical Works The general design of 'em is to form the Minds of Young Men and open them a Way to the search of Truth even in the most important Things For the Author is of Opinion That the true Method of Philosophizing is of very great use to establish the Truth of the Christian Religion and shew the excellency and necessity of its Precepts He thinks that a Man must not part with his Reason or stifle its Light to perceive the Beauty of Christianity Such a Method seems to him to be the infallible way of establishing all manner of Errors On the contrary the better a Man Reasons the more he 'll be convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion The Study of Languages and Human Learning has taken up part of his Life and is still his greatest Diversion He is persuaded that it is of great use for the understanding of Holy Scripture as it appears by his Works He also believes That that sort of Study is very useful to improve Men's Minds and moderate their Passions if at the same time the Study of Philosophy be joyned with it for they must never be divided A Man enables himself thereby to make his own what he finds in Ancient Authors that deserves it without being in danger of admiring their Faults as it is commonly done by such Criticks as only cultivate their Memory That Reading enables one not only to express his Thoughts agreeably and elegantly but also more clearly and distinctly provided it be attenedd with good Logical Rules which must never be neglected and which the Criticks are most times Strangers to Mr. L. C. is of Opinion That if the three Sciences I have mention'd were joyned together the Knowledge which depends on them would very much encrease and consequently Virtue and Honesty would not be so scarce as they are for he maintains that Ignorance is the Mother of Vice and that true Learning is the Fountain of the most solid Virtue If Divines I say were also good Philosophers there would arise a great Advantage from it they would lay aside all pitiful and childish Arguments which their Books are full of and which they often vent as Articles of Faith whereby they do a great prejudice to Religion They would not betray it without being aware of it by saying that Men must renounce the most certain Knowledge of their Reason to embrace if They would propose their Thoughts in a much clearer and better Order and convince the Minds of their Readers or Hearers after such a manner as would influence their Lives The whole Body of Divinity would be reduced into Maxims or necessary Consequences drawn from them and the necessity thereof would soon appear in order to live
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
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
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
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