nor the Method they proposed to follow in order to execute it The best are those whose Design we can perceive in gross and where the Matter is not too far fetch'd altho' there is no Order in it They heap together a world of Materials to build as one wou'd think a fine Structure but afterwards they throw them one upon another without Order and any Rules of Architecture Thus 't is a difficult matter well to disentangle this confusion of Thoughts and to form a clear and continued Idea of their Sentiments which has in part proved the occasion of so many Disputes about their Doctrin It must be own'd that those that write or speak now a days have much more Method at least for the greatest part and 't is an undeniable Truth that in this respect we very much surpass the Ancients whatever the Admirers of Antiquity may pretend However there are abundance of People still in the World who never made any serious reflexion upon a Method to dispose their Reasons in such a manner as shall be proper to make their Discourse clear and concluding If they sometimes succeed in this 't is by meer hazard for they trespass oftner against the most essential Rules These Rules had continued as it were hidden among the Geometricians till the time of Descartes who first discover'd the great Use that might be made of them upon all occasions Since the Discoveries that have been made in our Age about them several Persons have enlarged and even rectified his Thoughts as we may see in the Logic of the Port-Royal and the †By F. Male Branche Search after Truth The same Matter has likewise been treated with care in a Latin †Logicae Joannis Clerici denuo edita anno 1698 Logic printed twice at Amsterdam within a few Years where the use that may be made of it in all sorts of Disquisitions is shown at large These Books are too common to want any transcribing here I will only say in general that these Rules teach us that we ought in the first place to have an exact knowledge of the Question we intend to handle and to express it without Ambiguity In the second place That we must divide it into its parts if it is composed of several Propositions Thirdly That we must range these Propositions in that Order that the most simple and most easie may march first Fourthly That the Propositions that follow ought to be deduced from the preceeding ones as far as is possible There are other particular Rules with which I shall not meddle here 'T is sufficient to remark that these general Rules are notoriously violated both in Discourses and in Writings We set ourselves to compose without knowing well what we are minded to treat of and after some division ill understood we say in each part what we think belongs to it without troubling ourselves in what Order we range it What is more several Persons who affect to be thought Wits take a pride in retailing their Thoughts without any manner of connexion and think it enough that each Thought in particular has a relation to the Subject they treat upon This is call'd Writing and Preaching by Thoughts and after this manner it is that a good part of the Treatises which compose the famous Collection of the Essays of Morality are written the drift and end of which we cannot comprehend but in a general way and whose Method is exceedingly embroil'd Altho' the Stile of them is pure and fine and there are abundance of noble independent Thoughts in 'em yet to speak freely what I think these Works taken in the Gross are full of nonsensical Stuff and Sophisms The reason of which in my Opinion is only this because those that composed them either did not know what a good Method was or at least did not know the importance of observing it In the mean time no Man can question the Excellence of the above-mention'd Rules if it were only because all the Truths of the Mathematicians depend upon them 'T is impossible to deny that the Order they prescribe is admirable both to enlighten the Mind and touch the Heart of reasonable Persons 'T is likewise as plain 't is extremely useful and convenient for those that write for by this means they form a Plan of what they should say with all the ease imaginable when once they are accustom'd to them They avoid impertinent Repetitions and the Pain of finding out independent Thoughts and afterwards of connecting them together by unnatural Transitions I own indeed that such as have not used to make themselves a Plan which they are to follow and have contracted a habitude of Speaking without one will find themselves shackled by it but those that reason â—ill don't love for the same reason the Rules of good Reasoning Does it therefore follow that they must not endeavour to reform themselves or that others must imitate them I know nothing that can be objected against this but some Opinions of the Rhetors They maintain for Instance †Quinil Lib. IV. c. 5. That it is not good to divide one's Matter with exactness because it seems too much studied and the generality of things are more agreeable when they appear to be invented on the sudden and deduced from the thing itself than when we believe the Orator meditated on them at home Pleraque gratiora si inventa subitò nec demo allata sed inter dicendum ex re ipsâ nata videantur To which I answer That this Remark may perhaps hold good in a Reply which an Advocate makes before the Judges where some things may seem to have been invented upon the Spot But on other Occasions when all the World knows we come prepared in what we write and order to be Printed this sort of a Cheat will not pass Muster Thus 't is plain that Quintilian made this Remark upon the account of the Advocates only for whose use principally he composed his Book of Institutions In this Occasion those that have a bad Cause to defend are often forced to make use of divers Artifices that are below the Eloquence I have been talking of which will only undertake the Defence of a good Cause Of this kind is the Artifice that the same Rhetor speaks of in the following Words Sometimes says he we must put false Dice upon the Judge and insinuate ourselves into his favour by several Artifices so that he may believe we have a different design from that we have in reality Now and then a Man is forced to propose something which 't is difficult to obtain and if the Judge foresees it he is afraid of it before we speak to the Point just as we see a wounded Man fears the Instruments of a Chirurgeon when he sees them before the Operation begins But if a Discourse happens to make some Impression upon a Judge who distrusts nothing and having had no Intimation of the Business is not upon his Guard
small Treatise concerning the Inspiration of the Sacred Writers which Mr. L. C. published not as if he approved of it but with great caution and only to engage Learned Men to write on that Subject He said so positively in several places And 't is for this reason that several Divines have examined that Subject in Latin French and English Mr. L. C. thinks himself concerned in their Answers tho' he might have complained that some of 'em observed no Rules of Equity or Sincerity not only with respect to the Doctrin contained in the Treatise concerning the Inspiration c. but also in reference to himself F. Simon who was warmly attackt in the Sentiments c. answered them with all the Passion and Animosity that could be expected from a Man who could alledge no good Reasons and he used all the injurious and unbecoming Words that he could think of on such an occasion He would also persuade the World that Dr. Allix heretofore Minister at Charenton and Mr. Aubert de Versé who is now in 1699. at Paris and has a Pension from the Clergy of France were the Authors of that Book and that Mr. Aubert in particular had written the Treatise concerning the Inspiration of the Sacred Authors A short time after in 1686. Mr. L. C. published a Defence of the Sentiments c. and throughly confuted F. Simon 's Chimerical Discoveries which have been laughed at since by every Body declaring to him That he would answer him no more tho' he should write never so many Books because he thought the Publick was so well acquainted with their Dispute as to be able to judge of it without being troubled any longer with F. Simon 's ill Reasonings and Disingenuity Indeed when a Man has said all that is necessary in order to clear and defend Truth he needs go no farther the Publick being not much concerned in the Reputation and personal Interests of private Men. 'T was in vain for F. Simon to cry out louder than he did before according to the custom of those who maintain a bad Cause Mr. L. C. despised alike his hard Words and his repeated Arguments In his Defence he says That what F. Simon publish'd concerning Dr. Allix and Mr. Aubert is a great Untruth They know very well that it is false and will not ascribe to themselves another Man's Work They have both written some Books whereby one may easily know that they have had no hand in the Sentiments c. nor in the Treatise concerning the Inspiration c. Whatever one may think of their Books they have done nothing like this either as to the Style the Method or the Matter I do not say this to wrong them or to praise any body but to confute F. Simon the more effectually They who have read the other Works of Mr. L. C. will easily believe that he needs not borrow any thing of either of 'em and that the Author of the Treatise concerning the Inspiration c. is quite another Person than those Gentlemen They would perhaps have done well to declare themselves that they have had no hand in that Book but since they have not done it I hope they will not take it ill if I do 't If they believe that their Reputation would be wrong'd by ascribing to them in part a Book wherein they have no hand they would be glad that I have said so here But if their Silence should arise from some other Cause which I will not dive into they cannot complain that the Publick should be informed of the truth of a Fact which might wrong Mr. L. C. who has as little need of them as they have of him Of the Judgment which some Divines have made of the Sentiments c. In the Year 1688. Matthias Honcamp Canon of Mentz published in Latin a Book Intituled An Examination of the Critical History of the Old Testament and of the Sentiments c. Mr. L. C. answered him in the X. Vol. of the Bibliotheque Vniverselle where he gives an ill Character of the Principles and Method of that Author who perhaps deserved to be treated more sharply In 1690. Mr. Maius Professor at Giessen published four Dissertations on the Holy Scripture wherein he undertook to refute F. Simon and the Author of the Sentiments c. The latter replied something in the XIX Vol. of the Bibliotheque Vniverselle where he shews That Mr. Maius ascribes to him some Opinions which he has not and that his Arguments are very weak and insignificant But because he writes chiefly against the Treatise concerning the Inspiration c. Mr. L. C. did not think himself obliged to Dispute about it either with Mr. Maius or any body else He could only have wished that that Author had been able to treat that Subject well and refute his Antagonist with good Reasons and not with hard Words and Arguments which prove nothing Equity required also that he should ascribe nothing to Mr. L. C. but what he acknowledges and publish no Romance about the Authors of the Sentiments c. and the Treatise concerning the Inspiration c. as he has done by bringing again Mr. Aubert upon the Stage This he may be sure of That Mr. L. C. has a greater and nobler Notion of the Divine Revelation than he himself seems to have as well as of Christian Charity and even natural Equity which he has very little observed in his Refutation He has also published some other Dissertations digested according to the Order of Common-Places wherein he likewise writes against Mr. L. C. after such a manner as will only impose upon some Young Students of Divinity in the Universities of Germany but will not please those who know what Charity and Equity require and are not Strangers to the Rules of Reasoning well Mr. L. C. might also complain that Mr. Maius took the pains to transcribe out of his Works the best Things he says concerning the Rolls of the ancient Hebrews against Dr. Isaac Vossius and F. Simon and concerning the Scribes against the latter He should at least have been just to Him of whose Labour he thought he could make a good use by ascribing to him only so much as he owns and drawing no odious Consequence against him I thought my self obliged to say thus much not to revenge Mr. L. C. for the wrong that Professor designed to do to his Reputation which must needs be very inconsiderable and only in Places where he would be ashamed to be very much Esteem'd knowing what sort of Men are Esteem'd there but to shew that he is with good Reason very little concern'd for what some German Divines have written against him 'T is their Duty to reflect on their own Conduct whereof they are not to give an account to some Divines of Wittemberg but to a Judge who has taught us other Rules of Equity by which we are to be judged by him Mr. L. C. beseeches that Supreme Judge that he would be
because Mr. Meibom complains of him though he has no ground for 't Next to Mr. Meibom the Journalists of Leipsick have committed the same fault at the end of their Acta c. June 1691. Mr. Juncker has also translated the Fault in his Treatise of Journals published at Leipsick about the same time And here I cannot but take notice of a thing which the Journalists of Leipsick affect to do with respect to Mr. L. C. and several others If an angry Author uses any injurious or disobliging Words against him they never fail to observe it as if the design of a Journal was to preserve the Memory of injurious Words which those who have used them are often ashamed of However if those Gentlemen intend thereby to cry down Books full of injurious Words and create a dislike of 'em they do well to take notice of such Passages But if they do it because they are well pleased with them or think they are essential to the Subject or because they are moved with the same Passion they can never be too much blamed for it They may when they please inform the Publick about it lest they should give occasion to entertain an ill Opinion of ' em Dr. Cave Canon of if Windsor was without doubt very well pleased with a Passage of Mr. Meibom against Mr. L. C. since he has lately inserted it in his Dissertation concerning Eusebius supposing that Mr. L. C. had censured the Collection of the Authors Rerum Germanicarum in the X Vol. of his Bibliotheque Herein Dr. Cave has committed two Faults one of which consists in approving of Mr. Meibom's Injustice and the other in designing to wrong Mr. L. C.'s Reputation by publishing a Passage of that Author who if he is an honest Man will make him Satisfaction very soon in the Journal of Leipsick or somewhere else Another Author has committed the same Fault I mean the Author of the Remarks on the Confession of Sancy which have been lately printed at Amsterdam One may see those Remarks on the II Chapter It cannot be said that all the of Volumes the Bibliotheque wore ascribed to Mr. L. C. because Mr. de la Crose was not so well known as he since the Name of the latter is to be seen in all the Volumes in which he had a Hand except in the Three First which are Anonymous and at the end of the Dedicatory Epistle of the XI Volume in question He that will censure any one must take care not to mistake one Man for another lest the Innocent should suffer for the Guilty Among those who have injustly complained of the Bibliotheque I must also reckon Mr. Poiret a Follower of Antoinette Bourignon who being exasperated with a little Jest †In the V. Vol. of the Biblioth upon his Divine O Economy did very much inveigh against Mr. L.C. not only in an opposite Extract which he caused to be inserted in the Republique des Lettres in 1687. but also some Years after in along Letter full of Bitterness and Malice which he published in 1692. at the end of his Book de Eruditione Solida c. without giving notice of it to the Bookseller who was very sorry for 't Mr. L. C. did not think himself obliged to answer it because Mr. Poiret is so well known to be a Chimerical Man that what he says of any one can do him no wrong The only thing that Mr. L. C. might be blamed for on this occasion is to have been contented with a slight Jest upon a Book which deserved a very sharp Censure because it ridicules Religion from the beginning to the end by changing it into a meer Fanaticism Mr. Poiret fancies that all the Fooleries of Mystical Men and all the Chimeras he is pleased to add to them must pass for Oracles whereas he should be ashamed to make it his Business to seduce the Simple with his ridiculous spiritual Notions None is imposed upon by the Fanatical Outside of Mystical Men but those that are disposed to deceive themselves and to mistake Chimeras for Religion instead of Morality and good Works which are grounded on the hope of another Life which the Gospel teaches us As for those who know how necessary it is to love one's Neighbour they will not be imposed upon by Mr. Poiret's Extatical Devotion which is not inconsistent with the greatest Malice His taking care to make an Apology for St. Augustin is a great Instance of his want of Sincerity For tho' he is far from being of that Father's Opinion concerning absolute Predestination and irresistible Grace yet he will justify him to make Mr. L. C. odious if he can Such is again the Sense he puts upon St. Augustin's Epistle to Vincentius He maintains that St. Augustin did not say in that Letter that 't is lawful to Persecute as if no Body could read the Works of that Father but he If Mr. Poiret does not care for Critical Learning which he seems to despise he should not meddle with what he understands not He 'll judge this is too hard a Censure but he justly deserves it and he must not think that Mr. L. C. will enter into the Lists with him He has a mind to pick Quarrels to make if it were possible some noise in the World and so put People upon buying his Books which no Body reads But Mr. L. C. will not give him occasion to write many Books If any Body has any time to lose let him read Mr. Poiret's Letter and compare it with Mr. L. C.'s Opinions for he is resolved to make no other Reply to Mr. Poiret Of Mr. L. C.'s Philosophical Works WHILST Mr. L. C. was writing his Bibliotheque he translated into Latin the last Books of Thomas Stanley's Philosophical History which contain the History of the Eastern Philosophy whereof he had publish'd an Extract in the VII Vol. of the Bibliotheque which pleased several People That Book was printed in 1690. Mr. L. C. having left off the laborious Work of the Bibliotheque Vniverselle applied himself to his Commentary on the Pentateuch as I shall say hereafter and in the mean time published his Logick his Ontology and his Pneumatology which were reprinted in 1697. He dedicated his Logick to the late Mr. Boyle but the Person who was to present him with a Copy could not do it because Mr. Boyle died in the mean time This is the reason why Mr. L. C. in his second Edition dedicated it to Mr. Locke to whom he had also dedicated his Ontology and Pneumatology The second Edition is incomparably better than the first especially for the Style which the Author has very much corrected There is at the end of his Logick a Dissertation de Argumento Theologico ex Invidia ducto which angry and passionate Divines should read over and over to make 'em leave off the Custom of using base and shameful Artifices to make those odious who will not blindly submit to their
in it Mr. Vander Waeyen knows it very well and I pray God forgive him for having so wilfully transgrest his most sacred Laws Of some other Books of Mr. L. C. and of his Adversaries NEXT to the Books I have mention'd Mr. L. C. published a short Abridgment of Vniversal History in the Year 1697. in 8. and Dr. Hammond's Paraphrase and Notes on the New Testament in 1698. in Folio and a Harmony of the Gospels in Greek and Latin in 1699. Those who have seen these two last Books and will think of the other which I have spoken of cannot doubt whatever Judgment they make of his Opinions but that he spends his time as well as he can and they will grant that a Man who is so busy in expounding Holy Scripture and serving the Publick the best way he can think of should deserve at least to dive quietly It is a shameful thing to publish new Libels every Day against a Man who makes no answer and whose Opinions are now so well known that 't is in vain for any Body to mis-represent them Some Divines will say that they don't look upon 'em to be Orthodox but they know very well that none but God is a Supreme Judge of true Orthodoxy as to speculative Doctrines and that all Men being equal in this respect they have no other Right but that of answering one another Civilly and with good Reasons They should be ashamed to use Lies and Calumnies to defame those who don 't so much as think of ' em But perhaps some who are not acquainted with the way and humour of Divines will wonder how so many People came to inveigh against Mr. L. C. and may suspect that it is his fault and that he has given occasion for it But they will be soon undeceived if they consider what I am going to say First they ought to remember that some Divines will presently break out into a violent Anger if any one is not of their Mind in every thing and scruples not to say that some of their Arguments are not convincing They will have the liberty of exclaiming against the Pope who is a greater Man than they but they cannot abide that others should not look upon them as Popes that is to say Infallible Men. How many Censures did Erasmus and Grotius undergo two incomparable Men who do more Honour to Holland than all the Cocceians will ever do They were obliged to write great Volumes in Folio to make their Apology in few Words but they should have written twenty times more had they been willing to confute at large the Vander Waeyens and the Benoits of their time And if any one would undertake now to make their Apology in due Form and answer all the Impertinences and Calumnies that have been vented against 'em after their Death it would perhaps require as many Volumes as there are in the last Edition of the Bibliotheca Patrum Secondly Those who might wonder at the great number of Mr. L. C.'s Adversaries must know that they ought to reckon but one in every Society for those Men are like Jays or Mag-pies that know but one Tune that is one of the same System which they are not allow'd to examine but must follow to avoid their Punishments wherewith Church-men who change their Mind are commonly threaten'd Mr. Poiret is the only Man who being of no Society may safely vent his Chimerical Notions and is as good as a whole Batalion of Lutherans against whom he has often signalized himself Thirdly Mr. L. C. has written a considerable number of Books and consequently may be allowed to give his Judgment concerning several Subjects relating to Critical Learning Philosophy and Divinity about which Men of Letters are wont to dispute so that 't is no wonder if many will contradict him since there are so many of a passionate Temper and contradicting Humour Lastly If to what has been said you joyn Envy and Jealously which are very common among Men of Learning you may easily apprehend that some of 'em are out of Humour because Mr. L. C's Works are not slighted Mr. Vander Waeyen gives us to understand in several places of his Libels that he has no kindness for those who buy them especially for the English He bitterly complains that Arminianism is got among the English but the Arminians cannot complain that Cocceianism is entertained by them To speak the Truth Mr. L. C. sets a greater value upon the Judgment of that Free and Learned Nation than upon all the slavish and careless Divines of the rest of Europe However he could rest satisfied with the Testimony of his Conscience and the certain hopes that God will protect Truth and those who maintain it in such a manner as is agreeable to the Precepts of the Gospel Whether Mr. L. C. must leave off his Studies to answer those who write against him Hitherto I have given an Account of Mr. L. C.'s Studies since he came to Holland Some Men would divert him from them and put him upon writing another sort of Books They have assaulted him sometime since as violently as they could They have not been sparing of odious Terms Lies and Calumnies to exasperate him and force him to answer them But he is not so imprudent as to grant 'em their Desire and lay aside the useful Subjects he is upon to be at the trouble of laying open their Malice and Ignorance The Publick knows well enough what sort of Men they are Indeed 't is in vain for an Author to set up for a zealous Man and to vail his Anger or Malice with the most specious Pretences for discerning Men will soon find out his Passion and as for others 't is no great Matter whether they judge right or wrong of it 'T is no new thing to see Divines transported with Anger and their Hatred has occasion'd a Proverb 'T is well that they are now to be feared no where but in Places where they are both Judges and Parties It was well observed by Mr. Menage †Menagiana vol. 2. p. 236. That Some Men are never refuted unless they be alive and that they are not confider-able enough after their death to oblige any Body to be at that trouble But there are some who deserve not to be refuted whether they be dead or alive I mean those who pick Quarrels for quarreling-sake or to be spoken of and can make no solid Objections It would be too great a Pleasure and Honour for them to see their Satyrs or Declamations answered I know some among those that wrote against Mr. L. C. who heartily with that he would in his turn write large Volumes against ' em They are not afraid of good and solid Arguments as it appears by their way of Reasoning and they are not ashamed to publish the most palpable Absurdities with the greatest confidence in the World But they are vexed when an Author takes no notice of their Books and if they can't
Book and they don't want Words when they are attack'd they think that they perfectly satisfie all Difficulties and answer all Objections Thus this sort of People fall foul upon every thing without Distinction which does not suit with their Passions in a vain Presumption that a Torrent of Words will effectually do their Business for them and that they shall never want a Supply I knew a Man of this Character who thought that Talking and Proving were the same thing so that after he had talked a great deal he fancied he brought abundance of Proofs and on the contrary that those that talk little prove nothing He perswaded himself that the World counts the Sentences in a Book just as they do Soldiers in an Army and that the more Ink a Man uses the more Reason he has on his side One may apply to this Man a Saying of †See Aulus Gell. L. 1. c. xv Salust Satis loquentiae sapientiae parum Words enough but little good Sense On the other hand those that are really Eloquent after they have form'd a clear Idea of the Propositions they intend to prove for this in short is the end of all Discourses whatever they are if they are reasonable make use only of those Proofs that appear the most simple the most direct and the most sensible and reject all the rest After this they adorn the Proofs they have chosen with all the Decorations that solid Eloquence uses to employ and of which I shall take occasion to discourse at the Conclusion of these Reflexions When they have a fertile Subject which deserves to be enlarged upon they talk the longer of it But if it is Barren and the thing in hand is not of that importance as to require a long Examination they soon dispatch it In a word they lengthen their Discourse according to the Nature of their Subject whereas others amplify theirs according to the extravagant Desire they have to talk much or to make a show of their pretended Eloquence The former talk when they have something to communicate which deserves to be heard and the latter never hold their Tongue but when no Body will do the Penance to listen to them The second Fault we may observe in those that are only Masters of a false Eloquence and which concerns the Choice of what is proper to be said is that they believe that if they are not allow'd to say every thing that comes into their head they are not however obliged to use no Arguments but such as are concluding They flatter themselves that the World ought to consider them as Persons of a nice Discernment if they employ no Reasonings that are palpably absur'd that shock the Imagination The slightest Appearances and the most incertain Probabilities serve their turn They perpetually confound the Possible with the Probable and the Probable with the True Their Discourses and Works are full of Reasonings of this Nature which wou'd no more endure the Test of Logic than a gilded Shilling wou'd endure the Touch-stone If we confine them to Syllogism and carefully consider their equivocal Expressions and their precarious Principles we shall find at first sight that they are nothing but pure Sophisms which are founded upon Ambiguities or Suppositions that cannot be defended We shall find that by Reasoning after this manner there is nothing which we cannot attack and nothing which we cannot prove We may meet abundance of Examples of this Nature in the Writings of the ancient Philosophers and Fathers of the Church especially when they Dispute or Reason upon the Old Testament In every Page we find Suppositions altogether uncertain and which 't is impossible to prove if once we deny them and Arguments that are wholly built upon the Ambiguity of some Words which they wou'd not give themselves the trouble to explain to have an occasion to Reason out of our sight It will be told me perhaps that I ought to talk more respectfully of the Fathers and that the consent of Antiquity for Reasoning in this manner is a sufficient Proof that it is warrantable and good But I have nothing to do here with Theological Doctrins wherein their Authority uses to be of weight Logic at present is the Business in debate which will not allow the Authority of Citations but only the strict Rules of Art Whoever violates them is to be tried before the Tribunal of Logicians tho' it were an Oecumenical Council confirmed by several others There is no Authority in the World that can make Arbitrary Laws for good Reasoning or change a Sophism into a true Syllogism or make a just Argument become a Sophism without altering something in it No Person has power to grant Immunities to the Prejudice of the Rights of Reason or to make any Exception in favour of any thing of this Nature We must either obey the Rules or undergo the Sentence The true Rhetoricians follow upon this occasion the Authority of the Philosophers or rather the inviolable Light of good Sense They maintain that when a Man is to prove any thing solidly he ought to employ no Reasonings but those that are solid If he will needs make use of probable Reasonings whatever he concludes from them cannot be more certain than the Proofs he brings All that he can make of them will only amount to a Probability Now as there are several Degrees of Probability a Man likewise ought to have a regard to that and to make slight Appearances go for no more than they are really worth In the Civil Law for Example there is no Authority which can make a bad Consequence go for a good one When any thing is to be proved by a Law or an Act we must plainly shew that the Terms of that Law or Act cannot be possibly understood in another sense Probability especially when it is slight serves only to spoil our Cause For the Advocate of the other side let him underhand his Profession never so little will not fail to observe that nothing concluding has been urged in the Case and the Judges demand solid Proofs and not simple Conjectures If any Man should be so ill-advised as to Reason at the Barr upon the Laws as Origene does upon the Bible he wou'd be hiss'd out of the Court and in a short time no Body wou'd retain him unless he intirely changed his Method Let People say what they please since the Fathers never had any such Privilege from Heaven as to be exempted from following the Laws of good Logic we lie under no Obligation to believe that those Reasonings are good in their Writings which wou'd be exploded any where else However in several parts of the World those that design for the Pulpit read them to model themselves upon their Eloquence and to use upon occasion their Words or their Arguments and as if they durst not employ the Rules of Logic to examin them by they learn by little and little to Reason just as they did and at last to
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
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