Ashes of a Tree called The Fig-tree of Adams which renders it as White as the Silk of Palestine and the 3d is the manner wherewith Indico is prepared but that 's too common to be further noted He pretends that the Relations which have been given to us hitherto of the Tunquin are not very exact He corrects them in his Fourth Part which is a Relation of this Countrey in which he remarks amongst other singular and curious things two sorts of Dainties amongst the Tunquinois which are far from ours The first is that of the Batt which in Tunquin are neither smaller nor less delicate than our Pullets and the second is of the Nests of certain Birds which are of the bigness of our Swallows which being a kind of Gum melteth in luke-warm-Water and is made use of in all the Dainties and Sawces which are made for Flesh and Fish and communicates to the Flesh which is seasoned thereby such a good Tast that these Nests seem to be composed of all the Aromaticks which are found in the East The manner whereby the Tunquinois do preserve Eggs two or three years together deserves to be observed They throw Salt into the water and as soon as the Pickle is done which is known when the Egg swims on the top of the Water they throw Ashes into this Pickle until it is made as it were a kind of Paste Then they inclose each Egg in a great Leaf of an herb which resembles the Leaves of our Beet They put them afterwards into great Pots of Earth which they cover well and thus they Preserve them for two or three years As the other Relations speak of the Goodness of the Air of Government Religion and several other things of Tunquin it would be useless to speak of them here In fine the latter part of this Work is the History of the Conduct of the Hollanders in Asia Those who would know the particulars will take the pains to read it in this Original and we shall be satisfied to speak here of some Remarks which Mr. Tavernier makes therein by the by as that of the ordinary Muscade Nut which being preserved inebriates more than Wine though one should eat but one whether at the beginning middle or end of ones Meal He saith that the quantity of Elephants Teeth which are found along the Coast of Mozambique is so great that they make Palisadoes thereof about Gardens so that they may be said to have a Cloister of Ivory In fine the last Remark is that of a pleasant but filthy Counterpoison In the Isle of Iava the Soldiers have accustomed to Poyson their Darts c. with a Poison so strong that all those who are struck therewith dye suddenly The only remedy which prevents it is that every one having dryed some of his own Excrements and having reduced them into Powder puts a few thereof into a Glass of Water and presently swallows it as soon as he feels himself wounded By this means they feel no ill effect of the Poyson If this Remedy is as Soveraign as they say this Secrecy deserves well to be known DISSERTATIONS of Mr. Burman at Rotterdam 1688. in Quarto THE Posthume Works of Great men are like Children half formed who cause more shame than honour to their Fathers As Superstition hath Consecrated the Hairs and Bones of Saints the respect and love Men have for the Learned brings them to let Posterity participate of their most imperfect Essays It is true that there were in the Closet of Salmatius Treatises upon the Warfare of the Romans and upon Plants which deserved a better lot than what they have hitherto met withal But on the other side Men do Print some Scaligerana and Petroniana which should for ever had remained in the Closet of those who had them Howbeit here are the Dissertations of Mr. Burman Professor in Divinity in the Academy of Vtrect where he died some years ago He became famous chiefly in binding his Divinity with the Philosophy of Descartes and in keeping a kind of Medium between the ordinary Hypotheses of the Divines of Holland and the Opinions of Cameron The Four first Dissertations are to prove Providence The Pagans who were so wise as to acknowledge a God had much ado to believe that this same God presided over all the events Some have denyed it openly and as if they were afraid to trouble the Repose of this Infinite Being or to oppress him under too great a number of Occupations they have excused him from taking knowledge of what was done on Earth If there are Gods who govern the World whence do evils come said Epicurus It was also believed that all events depended upon a certain Chain of second-Second-causes which dragged the very Gods after them In fine Fortune hath been substituted in the room of Providence The Romans naturally haughty never received any disgrace from Fortune without taking their Revenge on her by a great number of abuses Clement of Alexandria reproacheth them that they had made an Altar to this Goddess in a place which was the receptacle of all the filths of Rome Will ye take vengeance on your Gods saith he unto them Or do you believe that the ill smell annoyeth them not as the good ones cannot rejoyce them otherwise they could not suffer the odour of the grease which is burned in Sacrifices nor the smoke of Frankincense which blindeth and blackeneth them This Temple whereof Clement of Alexandria speaks is undoubtedly the same which Pliny speaks of for the detested Fortune This Fortune was every moment called blind perfidious unconstant Notwithstanding these very Romans did put it instead of Providence rendred unto it Divine Honours and had dedicated several Temples in their City There was one of these Goddesses which was called Primogenita because she was considered as the Principle of all things and the source of all Goodness There was another which was represented with Paps to mark her abundance In fine there was one to whom young folks render'd Homage when they began to have a Beard The Platonicks were the wisest of all Philosophers for by walking in the steps of their Master who was the first Inventer of the Term Providence amongst the Greeks they acknowledged that there was a God who presided over second Causes The Iews jealous of the Glory of their Nation have pretended that the Cares of God had a respect to them only whilst they abandoned all other People of the World to the Course of Nature to the Influences of the Stars or to the Malice of Devils The wisest of the Rabbins believe that most Animals deserve not the looks of Divinity But that which is more astonishing is that St. Ierome was found to be of the same opinion without mentioning a great number of Philosophers and Divines who to extend the liberty of Man maintain That God cannot foresee all events The necessity of a Providence is proved which extends its self generally over all Creatures because God ought to
Judges that were not suspected of Partiality and desired them to go to the places where these Judges should be with the Informations they had taken against Athanasius The Bishops of the East would not hearken to it whereupon those of the West received Athanasius Marcellus and other Bishops of their Party into their Communion Those of the East were extreamly affronted at it there were many Complaints on each side and at last the two Emperours Constantius and Constantine agreed to call a General Council at Sardis to decide this Difference There went Bishops to it from all parts but the Western Bishops were willing that the deposed Bishops should be admitted to the Communion and take place in the Council the Eastern would not suffer it and withdrew to Philippopolis where they protested against the Proceedings of Sardis as contrary to the Canons of Nice The Bishops of the West notwithstanding continued their Session and made new Canons to justifie their Conduct The Eastern Bishops complained that the Discipline established at Nice was manifestly violated and the Western Bishops said That there was Injustice done to the deposed Bishops that Athanasius had not been heard in Aegypt and that it was just that all the Bishops of the Empire should re-examine this Affair The Bishops of Sardis had no respect to the reasons of their Brethren they renounced not the Communion of Athanasius and made divers Canons the chief of which are the III. the IV. the V. which concern the Revisal of the Causes of Bishops In the third they declared that the causes should first come before the Bishops of the Province and if one of the Parties was grieved by the Sentence he should be granted a Revision Our Author makes divers Remarks upon two Canons of the Council of Antioch to which its commonly believed that that of the Council of Sardis has some affinity which we have spoken of our Author discovers the Irregularities of the Councils of Antioch and Tyre He also remarks that to obtain the Revision of an Ecclesiastial cause an Address was made to the Emperor who convocated a greater number of Bishops to make this new Examination The Council of Sardis made an Innovation in this for it seems that it took away as much as it could the Right of reviewing these sorts of Causes from the Emperor to give it to Iulius Bishop of Rome in honour to St. Peter He might by the Authority of this Council if he thought fit Convocate the Bishops of the Province to revise the Process and to add Assistant Judges to them as the Emperor used to do Besides this the Fourth Canon enjoyn'd that no Bishop should enter into a vacant Bishoprick by the deposition of him who was in it nor should undertake to Examin a-new a Process until the Bishop of Rome had pronounced his Sentence thereupon The Fifth Canon signifies That if he judges the Cause worthy of Revising it belongs to him to send Letters to the Neighbouring Bishops to re-examine but if he thinks it not fit the Judgment pronounced shall stand This is the Power which the Council of Sardis grants to the Pope upon which our Author makes these Remarks 1. That there was somewhat new in this Authority without which these Canons would have been useless Thus de Marca and he who published the Works of Pope Leo have established this Power of the Pope upon the Canons of the Council of Sardis But an Authority given by a particular Council in certain Circumstances as appears by the name of Iulius which is inserted in the Canon cannot extend it self to the following Ages upon the whole this Authority has changed nature so much that now it passeth for an Absolute and Supream Power founded upon a Divine Right and not upon the Acts of one Council 2. These Canons do not give this Bishop the Right of receiving Appeals in quality of Head of the Church but transport only unto him the Right of a Revision which the Emperor enjoyed before It is a great question if the Council of Sardis had the Power of so doing but there is a great likelihood that the Protection which Constantius granted the Arian Party engaged it thereunto 3. These Canons cannot justifie the conduct of those who should carry Causes to Rome by way of Appeal because they return the second Examination to the Bishops of the Province 4. The Council of Sardis it self took knowledge of a Cause which had been decided by the Bishop of Rome 5. This Council could not be justified by the antient Canons in that it received Marcellus to the Communion he who before had been Condemned for Heresie as also afterwards even by Athanasius himself 6. The Decrees of this Assembly were not universally received as it appeared by the Contestations of the Bishops of Africk against that of Rome seeing the first knew nothing of it some years after as our Author sheweth IV. Arianism being spread every where and afterwards Pelagius and Celestius being gone out of England the Clergy of this Isle were accus'd of having been Arians and Pelagians in those Ages Our Author undertakes to justifie them from these suspicions and afterwards describes the Publick Service of the British Churches But as the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of England afford no great matter he hath supplyed them by digressions He immediately refutes I know not what Modern Author who hath been mistaken in some facts concerning the History of Arianism since the Council of Nice at which we shall not make a stay After that there is an Abridgment of this History until the Council of Rimini The Arians being condemned at Nice and vainly opposing the term of Consubstantial thought they could not better save themselves than by yielding to the times They also suffered themselves to be condemned by the Council and to be Banished by the Emperor Arius with Theones and Secondus his Friends Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nice Chief Heads of the Arian Faction Signed as the rest yet without changing their Opinion Afterwards they in like manner endeavoured to hide themselves under Equivocations The Circumstances of this History may be seen as Dr. Stillingfleet relates them in the Tenth Tome of the Vniversal Bibliotheque p. 447. and the following ones Yet there are these differences that our Bishop is larger in Reflections drawn from St. Athanasius concerning the Address of the Arians who expressed themselves almost as the Orthodox of that time to deceive the simple Moreover the Relation which we have cited was not made on design to justifie the Orthodox and to get those of the Arians Condemned but to give an Idea of these confusions without taking any Party whereas the design of our Author is to inform the Publick against the Arians without reprehending any thing whatever in the conduct of their Adversaries And our Author hath not applyed himself so much to the order of years which he doth not mark as hath been done in the Life of Eusebius of Caesarea
It 's thus that Cinnaber dulls the Spirit of Vinegar and that quick Lime destroys the acidity of Aqua fortis and Calamine that of the Spirit of Nitre and Salt the Particles of these Acids engaging themselves in those that mortifie them 3. They sometimes precipitate a peccant Matter which may happen otherwise than by the combat of Acids and Alcalies as when after the dissolution of Siver by Aqua fortis the Silver falls to the bottom when a piece of Brass is dipped in the dissolution and it is so that Mr. Boyle sweetens a very stinking Water and makes it very clear by means of a Body which he does not name that only precipitates a certain kind of Mud which being taken away leaves the Water without the least ill Smell and what is very remarkable is That this precipitant is neither Bitter nor Acid nor Urinous 4. They may straiten the Heart or part affected in joyning themselves to them and in lancing the morbifick Matter and casting it out of the Body or in strengthening the Fibres of the distempered Part or dilating the Pores or irritating the infirm part as Cantharides do the Bladder tho' it does not irritate other parts that are quite as tender And the Example of Ostecolla is mentioned as an experienced Specifick Remedy to engender a thick Skin over broken Bones 5. Sometimes they correct the Disorders of the Blood as when they quicken its motion with Cordials or correct its bad consistency in thickning or attenuating it according as the Sick need it 6. They may unite to this peccant Matter and alter its Nature so much that it will not have the same sensible Qualities and make it cease to be hurtful and dispose it to that so as it might be easily carryed off as when the Spirit of Wine and Aqua fortis are mix'd together of these two violent Liquors is made a third which is Sweet It is thus that Mr. Boyle reconciles the ancient Opinion concerning Specifick Remedies with the Mechanical Explications that our Modern Philosophers will have and the Effects of Nature He cites all along a great number of Experiences which could not be mentioned here without transcribing almost a whole Dissertation wherein all is useful and where the abundance of the Matter answers very well the Solidness of the Discourse The second Dissertation of the Benefit of simple Remedies is an Advice to Physitians wherein the Author exhorts them not to use other but simple Remedies or at least very few Compounds and to observe this Method as much as they can possibly These are his Reasons for it In the first place it is easier to guess what Effect a simple Remedy will produce than a compounded one for Compositions change so much the nature of Medicines that it is not easie to foresee the Effect A Glass of Antimony dissolved in the Spirit of Vinegar does not Purge or cause Vomiting but very seldom unprepared Antimony which some take without either being Purged or Vomited by it if it be mix'd either with Salt-Petre or Tartar it becomes a violent Purgative and causes great Vomiting and mixed with Tartar becomes Diaphoretick and sometimes Diuretick In the second place simple Remedies are the surest but what made them lose part of their Reputation and their Use is That those who have writ of them applied themselves wholly to speak of their Vertues and good Qualities without mentioning in the least the Evil they do on certain Occasions which makes People not to be able to foresee always their Effect when mixed with other Ingredients Mr. Boyle was acquainted with a Person of Quality whom Hony disordered almost as much as Poyson would have done Worm-wood which is very wholsom for a great many is found by Experience to annoy the Sight of others and there are an infinite of such simple Remedies which are not always wholsom In the third place one may take a greater Dose of a simple Remedy when it is taken alone it does not cause so much distast nor inconveniency to the Stomach Whâ—at Rye Barley and Oats are all nourishing but if there were Bread made of these four Grains for a Sick Man it would not be so good as Bread made of Wheat only If one had a mind to make Strong Waters that should recover People from Sounding Fits in small quantity he would not mix the Spirit of Wine with new Wine or such as did not purifie it self by Working nor would he mix it with strong Beer It is affirmed that Gum Arabick is very excellent against the Heat of Urine but if it be mixed in a little Quantity among other Ingredients it will do nothing but if it be given alone and to the Weight of a Drachm it will produce great Effects The Juice of Wild Thyme or Mother Thyme is admirable for Children's Coughs and the Infusion of the Herb called Paronychia foliis rutaceis or Whitlow Grass dissipates the Swelling of the King 's Evil. In the fourth place all other things being equal 't is easier to find simple Remedies than such as are made of many Ingredients Mr. Boyle shews some of these Remedies that are easie to be had and serve to cure very desperate Distempers Linseed Oyl is excellent to ripen pluritick Imposthumes that of Turpentine to stop the Blood in Wounds and conduceth infinitely to their Cure and cures Gangreens Oyl of Nuts is good against the Stone as Spanish Soap is against the Jaundise In fine one may draw from the use of simple Remedies a more perfect Knowledg of the true Effects than of such Remedies as are used now It is very hard to know the Vertue of each Drug when there are many mix'd together since it is not easie to know it when each Ingredient is examined by it self The Soyl the Clymate the Seasons and many other Circumstances cause a very great change The Author has experienced that some Seeds which are used in Physick yield an acid Spirit when distill'd at one time of the year and an Urinous when distill'd at another time Mr. Boyle pretends that the most part of these Arguments used in favour of simple Remedies which are now mentioned ought to be applied to Chimick Preparations which tho' simple enough produce admirable Effects What is particular in these Remedies is That the change of Operation may supply the place of Composition According to the different preparations of Antimony it is Vomitative Purgative Diaphoretick and Diuretick c. and if one did mix two or three such like Things and that it were done dexterously one might make far better Remedies than are compos'd with much Ostentation and with a great number of Drugs The Spirit of Vinegar corrects the Emetick and purging Vertue of the Glass of Antimony much better than all the Cordials Elixirs and other difficult preparations Quick-Silver makes such a considerable change in the Corrosive Sublimate that of a most violent Poyson it becomes a very good Remedy and among other Vertues may be of great
The three last kinds particularly are very pernicious and not only deceive Men by Fantoms and Illusions but also sometimes even enter into ' em Those of the Water causing Shipwrecks such as are under the Earth and who fly the Light often possess Men causing Epilepses and Frensies The Terrestrial and Aereal Spirits precipitate Men into unlawful Passions and deceive them by appearances They act saith Psellus by disturbing our Imaginations entertaining us without any Voice or Noise Those which speak to us afar off must raise a Voice to move our Ears but such as are near may make us hear by speaking very low but those which can possess our Brain make us understand without any Noise tracing certain Objects into our Imaginations without affecting our Ears That is that Souls separated from Mortal Bodies entertain themselves without Voice or Words They make their Bodies what they please and assume what Forms most agreeable unto 'em some enter into Beasts not that they hate them but because the Natural Heat of Animals please them as well as the Humidity they meet with there for their ordinary Habitations are cold and dry Places The Subterreanean Spirits cause those Persons to speak which they possess and make use of their Mouths to give out their pretended Oracles Those which fly the Light render their Patients Deaf and Dumb and often make them fall into Soundings All have not the same Extent of Power but it 's diminish'd much according to the degrees I have observ'd The Demons that fly the Light have the least of all They transfer themselves so much the more diversly as their Power is less or more It 's believ'd that from one of these Transformations proceeded what the Greeks relate of Proteus the Nexeiades Naides and other Nymphs The Chaldeans fanci'd the Demons suffer'd when they hurt their Bodies altho' the Wound was cur'd again immediately for their Bodies are like the Water the parts whereof are no sooner separated but they joyn again in a Moment We may see by these Particulars of the Chaldaick Divinity that their Thoughts concerning Good and Evil were not very different from the Opinion of the Hebrews For Example in respect to the Good they had divers Orders of them As Angels Arch-Angels Thrones Dominations Principalities and Powers which are spoken of in the New Testament The Hebrews as well as the Chaldeans gave Kingdoms and certain Extents of the Earth to the Government of Angels as appears by Daniel And like to them they plac'd the Evil Spirits in the Air from when they are call'd Powers of the Air Princes of this World that is of the sublunary World Princes of Darknesâ— that is this extended Darkness which we inhabit The Hebrews also determin'd the ordinary abode of the Divinity to be above the fix'd Stars and represented God dwelling in an inaccessible Light environ'd with Ministers which they call'd as the Chaldeans did Angels of Light They acknowledg'd three Heavens or three Worlds so the Chaldeans divided the Universe into the Terrestrial Ethereal and Empyreal As for the Evil Angels it s well known that the Iews believed divers Orders and that they formerly attributed unto them the cause of many Diseases as is evident by the great number of the Demoniacks which is spoken of in the Evangelists where also several other things may be observed concerning Demons which agrees not ill with the Doctrin of the Chaldeans According to the Conjectures of some learn'd Men the Iews receiv'd these Opinions and some resembling ones from them in the Babilonian Captivity All that can be objected against this supposition is that perhaps the Chaldean Oracles whereof we have spoken were always suspected by the Iews and Christians and that the Explication of Plethon and Psellus were not true This may be particularly opposed to this last authority because he is said to have learnt from a converted Chaldean what we have related of the Chaldaick Divinity But for the Oracles we shall afterwards shew the Reasons why our Author believes they were not Supposititious and as for the Doctrin it may easily be prov'd that the Greek Philosophers who made Voyages into the East brought Opinions from thence perfectly like the Chaldeans As may be demonstrated without much trouble in respect to Pythagoras Plato III. To return again to our Author he afterwards gives an Abridgment of the Astronomy and Physicks of the Chaldeans As the Heavens in that Country are very rarely troubled with Mists or Clouds so the Learned applyed themselves to Astronomy which they pretend to have invented But if what Diodorus of Sicily says is true they were not so expert in the Art as the Greeks were after they 'd learnt the Principles of ' em Because the Chaldeans gave very ill Reasons for the Eclipses of the Sun and durst not predict nor reduce them to certain Periods For Astrology or Apotelesmaticks that is to say the Art of prediction wherein it was more easie to impose upon the Credulous if they attributed it only to their Knowledg and boasted to have read such and such Events in the Stars Mr. Stanly gives here an Abridgment of their Doctrin drawn from Diodorus of Sicily and fom Sextus Empiricus They believed there was a great Sympathy between the Stars and what inhabits the Earth so that Terrestrial Bodies depended upon the Course and Vertue of the Celestial They joyn the Planets sixt Stars and Signs of the Zodiack together And maintain that our whole life had a dependence thereon and that nothing happened to us whereof they were not the Cause The Chaldeans placed twelve Gods in the Zodiack to each of which they assign'd a Month and a Sign of the Zodiack They said also that there were twenty four Constellations one half whereof was in the Northern Hemisphere and the other in the Southern The twelve which appear'd upon our Hemisphere presided over the living and the twelve which were invisible over the Dead They call'd these last the Iudges of all things But they had a great regard to the Planets the unequal course whereof according to their Opinion caused the inequality of Life They much observed their rising and setting and their Colour c. and pretended to predict all things by that Under the Planets they held there were thirty Stars which they call'd the Counsellers of the Gods Whereof one half that was under the Earth presided over what passed therein and the other half that was above regarded what was done in Heaven and upon the Earth Every tenth day one of the Superior Gods went to relate to those below what was done above and they made use of the same Conveniency on the other side These Stars had these regulated Motions according to the Eternal Revolutions In our Author are the particulars of their Opinion concerning the divisions of the Zodiack with the agreement they thought it had with the Planets from their Aspects and with their manner of drawing Horoscopes Besides the Art of foretelling by the
willing yet to impart to you an Invention that I find new which they make use of to blow the Fire in the Brass Forges of Friouli near Rome It is the Water which bloweth the Fire not in moving the Bellows as is commonly done but by making a Wind. There is a River from whence proceeds a Fall of Water which is received into a Tub out of the Side of this Tub comes a Pipe like the Nose of a Pair of Bellows on the upper-side of the Pipe there is a Hole with a Stopple to stop or unstop it at pleasure the Tub empties itself under Ground when the Hole in the Pipe is stopped at its Mouth comes out incessantly a great Wind and when the Mouth of it is stopped the Wind comes out with such Violence by the unstopped Hole in the Top of the Pipe that I believe it would make a Ball leap as that does of Frescati An Extract of an English Iournal containing Instructions for those who take great Voyages upon the Sea THE Design of the Royal Society being according to its Establishment to apply it self to the Search of Nature and conformably unto the Observations made upon divers Phoenomenas and the effects thereof which were observed by 'em to compose a Natural History that might serve for a Foundation to establish a solid and profitable Philosophy they have from Time to Time given Orders to divers of their Members not only to labour after the Search of Remarkable Things which they might meet with in Foreign Countries but also to give some Instructions for Private Men who should have the same Curiosity It is for this End that considering the great Advantages which might be drawn from Voyages that shall be made for the future into all Parts of the World Mr. Rooke was heretofore chosen and charged with the Care of giving some Advice to those who go to the East or West Indies the better to enable them to make such Remarks as might contribute to the Accomplishment of their Design After which they desired the Mariners to keep an exact Register of these Observations which at their Return they should give two Copies of one to the High Admiral and the other to Trinity-House to be revised by the Royal Society Therefore Mr. Rooke before he dyed acquitting himself of his Commission and having made up a Memorial according to the Order which he had received thereupon it was thought fit to publish it and to give a Copy thereof to all the Mariners in the ensuing Form I. To observe the Declination of the Compass or the Variation of the Needle to the Meridian marking as exactly as possible the Place wherein the Observation shall be made and the Method which shall be used to make it II. That they should carry with them Needles of a good Temper and well-touched with a Load-Stone and to remark after the same manner the Inclination of the Needle III. To observe carefully the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea in as many Places as they are able with all the Ordinary and Extraordinary Accidents of the Tide as what is the prefix'd Time of its Ebbing and Flowing in the Rivers or Promontories or Capes what way the Current of the Water takes what perpendicular Distance there is betwixt the highest and lowest Tide what Day of the Moon and what Time of the Year falleth out the highest or lowest Tide so of the other Accidents which may be observed in the Tides chiefly near the Ports and about the Isles IV. To make Draughts and Descriptions of the Aspect of the Coasts Promontories of the Isles and Ports marking the Approaches and Distances as exactly as possible V. To Sound and Observe the Depth of the Coasts Ports and other such like Places near the Shore as they shall think fit VI. To endeavour to know the Nature of the Earth which is at the Bottom of the Sea and to sound it after all the ways to know if it be Mud Sand or Rock VII To make a Memorandum of all the Changes of Winds and Tides which happen at every Hour of Day and Night marking the Point or the Place whence the Wind comes and if it be strong or weak as also the Rains Hails Snow and such like Things with the precise Time of their beginning and continuance but chiefly to have a great Care to remark regular Winds in what Degree of Longitude and Latitude they begin at first where or when they cease or change and become stronger or weaker and by how much which ought to be done as exactly as possible VIII To observe and put in Writing all the extraordinary Meteors such as are Lightnings Thunders Comets and false Fires always remarking the Place and Time of their Apparition and Duration IX To carry about them good Ballances and Viols that contain near a Pint and have a very narrow Neck which shall be filled with Sea-Water in different Degrees of Latitude as shall be thought convenient and to remark carefully the Heaviness of the Viol full of Water taken at each Time and especially the Degree of Latitude and the Day of the Month. An Extract of an English Iournal containing some Observations made by Mr. Boyle and taken from one of his Letters about the Baroscope and the manner of Weighing the Air. I Shall make no Difficulty to say That I have hitherto found nothing that presages more certainly and makes known so exactly the Changes of the Time which happen after a long and constant serenity than the Baroscope I know not also whether in the most clear and serene Climates this Instrument might not be absolutely infallible for in these Northern Isles the Clouds are so little and discharge sometimes so suddenly that often the Weight of the whole Atmosphere of the Air receives thereby so small an Alteration that we are deceived therein and cannot find out the true Causes of the Constancy or Change of Air Therefore I should desire to see some good Kalendar or Journal made at Tangiers or in some other of our Northern Places or meridional ones of America At least I can affirm That after having tryed all sorts of Hydroscopes whereof I have a great Quantity and observed carefully the sweating of Marble and as many other famous Prognosticks as I have heard spoken of I have at last found out That there is none which comes near the Excellency of the Barometer to signifie the Changes of the Times which are to happen 2. To confirm what I have advanced I am willing here to give some Remarks which I have made The Weather appeared extreamly charged the fourth of last Ianuary but yet more on the seventh and it remained the following Days so gloomy that all the World believed certainly that we should have Rain nevertheless I observed then That the Mercury of my Baroscope did not fall down and that notwithstanding the Mists which sometime appeared pretty Thick and some Drops of Rain which fell it remained very high which made me
the History of those Times and the Pretexts that animated the Gentiles against the Christians These Pretexts were of that nature sometimes that they shewed more Negligence than Malice As for Decius it is confessed that though he had very good Qualities and was very Mild nevertheless he suffered himself to be possessed with much Hatred against the Church but not to that degree as to have caused so great a Slaughter as is attributed to him Mr. Dodwell adhering to St. Cyprian the most he can Remarks that when he perceived that the People of Carthage sought to expose him to the Lions he retired in hopes that his absence would appease the Tumult A great Arguments against some Brain-sick-fellow that would have People dare the Orders of a Prince as soon as he meddles with the Privileges of Religion and think it was never lawful for a Pastor to yield to the Storm ' St Cyprian's Flight was followed with two kinds of Persecutions for until the Proconsul came the Magistrates of Towns having no Power to condemn to Death contented themselves with Banishing and Imprisoning and nevertheless forced a great many to abjure their Religion When the Proconsul came he tried to reduce the Faithful without making use of the most rigorous Punishments but seeing them firm he exercised the utmost Cruelties There were then many martyr'd until other Cares or seeing the little benefit of such Cruelties he grew less violent although Mr. Dowdell does not think their number very great that Sealed the Truth of their Religion with their Blood nor does he much value the Life of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus because it was writ more than a hundred Years after his Death upon hear-say the most Fertile Subject of Fables and Hyperboles in the World After this he runs over the time that past between the Persecution of Decius and that of Licinius for as for Iulian the Apostate it 's well known that he was not Cruel and he finds great abatements to be made in every Place in the Computations of Martyrologies He here gives a great insight into many things especially concerning the Emperor Dioclesian and his Collegues He does not forget to note one thing that favours him much which is that in the greatest heat of the Persecution there were no Martyrs for Orders were given to Torment the Christians after such a manner that none might dye that they might brag of their Clemency and take from the Christians the Crown of Martyrdom as Lactantius elegantly expresses it The Author observes that the Persecutors Stroke came after a thousand Artifices used before which is but little credited by those Pagan Emperors for their Violences are represented to have been so brutish that they had not the honesty to cover them with any Pretext This Dissertation ends with a Remark that will perhaps displease a great many which is that Anniversaries and Honours done to the Memory of Martyrs were borrowed from the Apotheoses of Paganism The Twelfth Dissertation treats of the Courage of Martyrs which was so admirable whether the nature of the Torments they endured were considered or the Age and Sex of a part of them that suffered that People may desire to know whence that Constancy proceeded It is well known that the Spirit of God was the chief Cause of it but some may wish to be inform'd if there were no Motives whereby the natural Strength managed by a Divine Providence might contribute to it Therefore Mr. Dowdell curiously examines it and proposes a great number of Motives the chief whereof follow here He says that the Primitive Christians led so austere a Life and that they so much accustomed their Bodies to hard Exercises that they could easily resolve to undergo Punishments the Thoughts whereof would make a Man tremble that had been brought up tenderly in Pleasures and upon this he alledges the Undauntedness and Patience of the Lacedemonians which without doubt proceeded from the Austerity of their Discipline He might have added what was said by a Voluptuous Man who was witness of their mean Fare that he would wonder no more why they so boldly dared Dangers as if he would say that their Condition was so hard that it would not seem strange that they should prefer a glorious Death to it The Author says that though Christians were too well instructed to be governed by the desire of Glory yet it was strange if the Honour that was shewn to the Memories of Martyrs and also to them that were but Confessors did not make some Impression on their Souls It is true that the Fathers did not disapprove of their having a sense of the Honour that redounded to the whole Body when any part thereof suffered for a good Cause Moreover he says that the Testimony of a good Conscience and the certainty they were in of an Eternal Felicity gave them great boldness against Torments and even against Death it self But as it is certain that the Christians chiefly contemn'd that Death that was joined to a Crown of Martyrdom for sometimes a common Death would not be so pleasing to them so we must of necessity examin the Reasons for this particular kind of Death the Author concludes them to consist much in the Opinions which the first Ages had that Martyrs would go directly to the Abode of the Blessed without stopping at the Receptacle of Common Souls there to expect the end of the World without needing the Fire that 's to consume the World to complete the Purification of their Souls and because this Fire was believed more insupportable than the most cruel Pains of Martyrdom this Opinion much supported them It was thought likewise that the Privilege granted to all Saints of obtaining by their Prayers a shortning of the time destin'd for the Sufferings of the Church belonged after a more eminent manner to the Martyrs so that they were looked on to be the chief Cause of the Anticipation of the Chastisement of the Wicked and of Recompencing the Good by the Reign of a thousand Years And they believed that the first Resurrection would happen in that Reign that it would be only for the Just and that the Martyrs would be very advantageously distinguished for they lookt upon it to be so far off as we do the Glory of Paradise they were perswaded that the Reign of a thousand Years at hand so that all these Hope 's prevailed much with them towards a desire or Martyrdom I do not speak of the degrees of Glory that was assigned the Martyrs to all Eternity and which much surpassed the Glory of other Just Men. In fine they were of opinion that all Faults were obliterated by Martyrdom and that it was a Propitiatory Sacrifice not only for the Martyr but also for all such as had fallen and were recieved into Peace by him before his Death The Author explains how that does not derogate from the infinite Value of the Death of Jesus Christ and lest he should be accused for not making the
is transferred by reason of Inconvenience of so many Printers that were forc'd to be employ'd upon 't the only difference in these two Tomes is that the Extracts of the Fathers of the Fourth Age which are in the second Volume are longer and consequently more exact than those in the first He begins with Eusebius of Caesarea whom his Ecclesiastick History hath rendred so celebrated of whom he gives a very dissinterested Judgment Pag. 19. Although he found no difficulty in the Council of Nice to acknowledge the Son of God was from all Eternity and that he absolutely rejected the Impiety of Arius who said that he was Created out of nothing and that there was a time when he was not yet he always found it hard to believe the Term Consubstantial that is to confess that the Son is of the same Substance with the Father and after he had received it he gave such a Sense of it as establish'd not the Equality of the Son with the Father since he speaks thus in a Letter that he writ to his Church to give it an account of his Conduct When we say that the Son is Consubstantial with the Father we Mean only that the Son hath no resemblance with the Creatures which were made by him and that he is perfectly one with the Father by whom he was begotten not of another Hypostasis or Substance When we would justifie Eusebius in respect to the Divinity of the Son it is more difficult to defend what he says of the Holy Ghost For he affirms not only in his Books of the Preparation and Evangelick Demonstration but also in his third Book of Ecclesiastick Divinity that he is not the true God The holy Spirit is not God nor the Son of God because he has not taken his Original from the Father as the Son has being in the number of such things as are made by the Son This shews says Mr. du Pin that Socrates Sozomenes and and some Modern Authors have been mistaken in excusing him entirely whereas on the other side 't is a very great Injustice to call him an Arian and even the head of them as St. Ierom does His Judgment upon other points of Religion appears very Orthodox to the Author and in respect to his Person he says he was very much dissinterested very sincere loved Peace Truth and Religion He authoris'd no new Form of Faith he no way endeavour'd to injure Athanasius nor to ruin those of his Party He wisht only to be able to accommodate and unite both Parties I doubt not adds Mr. du Pin that so many good Qualities was the Cause of placing him in the number of the Saints in the Martyrologies of Usard of Adon and in some ancient Offices of the French Churches It is true he continued not long in the peaceable Possession of this quality of Saint But it would be in my opinion a very great boldness to judge him absolutely unworthy of it The second Author in this second Volume is the Emperor Constantine whose pretended Donation he rejects as well as the false Acts attribubuted to Pope Sylvester because nothing to him seems more fabulous If Constantine was the first Christian Emperor he was also the first that made Edicts against the Hereticks But he did well in not pushing things to that Extremity as his Predecessors have carried them to It is true that he sent Arius into Exile and the two Bishops that had taken his part in the Council of Nice and that he caused all these Hereticks Books to be burnt But he afterwards recall'd him and banished St. Athanasius to Treves He made also an Edict in the Year CCCXX against the Donatists by which he commanded those Churches they possess'd to be taken from them but the Year following he moderated the Rigor of it permitting those who were exiled to return to their Country their to live in rest and reserv'd to God the Vengeance of their Crimes This alteration of his Conduct sufficiently shews that this Prince on these occasions acted not according to his own Reason but according to the different Motions that inspired the Court Bishops who made him the Instrument to execute their Passions He was not of himself inclin'd to persecute Men for Opinions in Religion for the 27th of September the CCCXXX Year he granted the Patriarchs of the Iews an Exemption from publick Charges In the Month of May Anno Dom. CCCXXVI he made an Edict to forbid the admitting into the Clergy Rich Persons or such as were Children to the Ministers of State The occasion of this Edict was because many Persons entred themselves amongst the Clergy to be exempt from publick Charge which was a great Oppression to the Poor And Constantine thought it very reasonable that the Rich should support the burthensom Charges of the Age and that the Poor should be supported by the Riches of the Church Grotius M. Ludolf and others have observed the Disputes of the Eutychians and Nestorians were not really such as they were imagined for many Ages Mr. du Pin is not very far from this Opinion since he says p. 80. that the Eastern People always applyed themselves more particularly to observe the distinction between the two Natures of Iesus Christ than their intimate Union whereas the Egyptians speak more of their Union than Distinction Which has been since the Cause of great Contestations that they have had amongst themselves upon the Mystery of the Incarnation As the Life of St. Athanasius is one of the most remarkable of the Fourth Age for the variety both of his good and bad Fortune so Mr. du Pin relates it more at large It 's plain that from the time of this Father Persons were very much inclin'd to the Exterior parts of Religion since two of the greatest Crimes which the Arians accused St. Athanasius of were breaking of a Chalice and Celebrating the Mysteries in a Church that was not Consecrated We may also observe after these Authors that the Communion was then given to the Laicks under both kinds that there were Women which vowed Virginity which were not Cloister'd up that there were Priests and Bishops married that the Monks might quit their State and take a Wife That it was not permitted to make new Articles of Faith and that even the Ecumenick Councils were only Witnesses of the Faith of their Age whereas they authoritatively judged of such things as regarded Discipline Thus the Bishops of Nice said well in appointing a Day for the Celebration of Easter It pleases us we will have it so But they express'd themselves quite otherwise in respect to the Consubstantiality of the Word since after having given their Opinions upon it they content themselves with adding Such is the Faith of the Catholick Church As for the rest although St. Athanasius was an Ardent Defender of this Council he was not for having those treated as Hereticks which could not without difficulty make use of the
subject could bear II. After these Sermons of which we have spoke there is a small work Intituled a brief exposition of the Lords Prayer and the Decalogue with the Doctrine of the Sacraments these treaties have been already published in Twelves they are extreamly short but one may there find the Lords Prayer and the ten Commandments explained in a good and correct method yet there is almost nothing essential which is forgot Altho the Author took pains for the Vulgar yet he did not omit to cite in the Margin the Fathers and Heathen Authors where he found it for his purpose as when he expounded these words in the Lords Prayer thy Will be done c. he cites Epictetus Plato Antoninus and Seneca Epictetus says in his Enchiridion if God will have it so let it be so and Plato in his Dialogue Intituled Citron affirms that Socrates being in Prison pass'd the time whilst he tarried there as one that resigned himself to God in every thing which should happen to him The Emperor Antoninus says that we must chearfully receive every thing that happens to us and the words of Seneca are no less remarkable Ego Secundum Naturam vivo si totum me illi dedo optimum est Deum quo auctore cuncta proveniunt sine murmuratione comitari c. hic est magnus Animus qui se Deo tradidit I live according to Nature when I resign my self entirely to him nor is there any thing better than to follow without murmuring that God that is the cause of every thing It belongs only to great Souls to commit themselves wholly to God Mr. Barrow in the beginning of his Exposition of the Decalogue says it seems at first sight That it rather contains the Laws of the Iewish State than their Moral Precepts since there 's nothing spoke of the manner how we ought to live in regard of our selves as to the Continency Sobriety or Devotion and which we owe towards God as to Prayer Thanksgiving Confession of sins c. It seems to have a particular respect to the Jews who were a chosen people and that God govern'd them after a more peculiar manner than other Nations in giving 'em Laws for every particular thing which was only accommodated to the State of the Israelites to whom God only made himself known and that so this Law does not oblige all Nations in that especial sense wherein it was given by the Holy Ghost After this he gives divers Reasons for which we yet ought to have the Decalogue in the greatest Veneration and to observe it exactly except the 4th Commandment which doth not oblige the observation of Christians in this that it is Ceremonial no more than the first Patriarchs who also were not the less pleasing to God notwithstanding the testimony of Iustin and St. Ireneus but Reason it self dictates that it is necessary to set some time apart in which we may more particularly apply our selves to Divine Service and in which Servants may rest themselves from Labour 't is this the Heathens themselves observed witness Plato who says that the Gods are touch'd with pity towards Men and because of the Labour which they are obliged to he permits 'em some repose and days of rest Legum Conditores says Seneca festos instituerunt dies ut ad hilaritatem homines publicè cogerentur tanquam necessarium laboribus Mr. Barrow says nothing of the Sacraments since there is enough spoken of them by the most able Protestant Divines In the beginning there is one thing worthy of remark Besides other Washings which he speaks of he shews that it was a Custom amongst the Jews that those who were dedicated to God were exhorted to repentance for transgressing the Law and were wash'd in publick Testimony that they should change their Life He maintained this assertion upon the success which the Baptism of St. Iohn the Baptist had for it wou'd have been without doubt rejected as an Innovated Ceremony in a time when the Jews had such an extravagant respect to their own Traditions that they wou'd have opposed it if not upheld upon an Antient Custom If this is so one might also conjecture that the Lustrations of the Heathens gave birth to this extraordinary Baptism for 't is well known that those who had committed some Crimes were to be washed by some publick person and even by Princes themselves whereof we find an infinite number of Examples in the most Antient History of the Greeks III. The third piece which is in this Volume is a Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy to which is added a Discourse concerning the Vnity of the Church There has been already published in quarto in 1679. by Dr. Tillotson to whom the Author had committed the Care of the Impression at his death the first Testimony in a small Preface He believes that Dr. Barrow has omitted nothing essential or what might be of any consequence in this Controversie he believes that there is enough to decide for ever all the difficulties and to disswade all wise men of either Party from writing any more upon this Subject We shall remark in few words the method of his Treatise to the end that we may have a general Idea of what is contained in it we have at the first sight a preface wherein the Author relates the different sentiments of the Doctors of the Roman Church touching the Authority of the Pope which some make Inferiour to that of the Councils whilst others are of a contrary perswasion yet he briefly gives us the History of the Original and progress of the Papal Power Mr. Barrow having remarked that all that is said on this Power can only be founded upon seven suppositions he divides his Work into seven parts and examines them one after another these are the suppositions 1. That St. Peter received from Iesus Christ the Preheminence amongst the Apostles and had given to him an Authority and Sovereign Iurisdiction over the rest 2. That the rights and advantages of this Soveraignty were not personal but might be transmitted to others and left to their Successors 3. That St. Peter was the Bishop of Rome 4. That St. Peter continued to be Bishop of Rome after he had left Judea and that he remained so till his death 5. That 't is from thence that the priviledges of the Pope do come as Successor to St. Peter to wit Vniversal Iurisdiction over the whole Church of Iesus Christ. 6. That the Popes have effectually enjoy'd this Power and have exercised it without discontinuations from St. Peter till now 7. That this Power could not be lost nor be lessened by any means whatsoever The Author admits that St. Peter might be the first of the Apostles in regard of personal qualities esteem and reputation but he questions his precedency in order or dignity It appears too great a vanity for a man that had the Vertue and Humility of St. Peter He supposes it is very probable
Antient People from whence Colonies have fill'd all the World as we are taught by the oldest Histories that remain amongst us It 's true also that to this hath been added a thousand Extravagancies touching the Nature of the Divine Being and the manner of Worship done to him But 't is thus that Judaism was corrupted by the Jewish Doctors and the Christian Religion by that of the Christians which have innovated so many Changes that it was hardly known for some Ages Is it not false say they that these two Religions came from Moses and Jesus Christ The same thing hath happen'd to the first Tradition and Aristotle hath believ'd that in effect it was thus his words are too remarkable to be omitted The most profound Antiquity hath left to future Ages under hidden Fables the belief that there were Gods and that the Divinity was displayed in all the Works of Nature There 's added afterwards That these Fables teach us to perswade the People and render 'em more obedient to the Laws for the good of the State although some say that the Gods resemble Men Animals and other things If we keep to those things only which were spoke of in the beginning to wit that the Gods were the Original of Nature there would be nothing said that is unworthy of the Divinity There is some likelihood that the Sciences having been often found out and as often lost these Opinions were preserved until now as the other Doctrines of the Antients Thus we may distinguish the Opinions of our Fathers from those who lived first upon the Earth 'T would be difficult to make a better proof of a matter of fact and some have even dared to say That in Physicks there is rarely proved an existence of one Cause by a great number of effects which are so great in number so divers so sensible and so certain The harmony which is between the parts of the Universe which conspire all to the same end and always keep the same order shews that this Divinity known to all Mankind is one in Number and the same in Concord as may be seen in a State between persons of different humours which live under the same Laws Thus it appears in the March of an Army which obeys its General and thus the Order and Regularity which is seen in a House proves 't was built by one Architect only This all the World acknowledgeth in spite of the great number of Gods the Heathens have made for they themselves confess'd a Supreme Divinity to whom all others were to submit themselves as the Poets even call him The Father the King the Most High the Greatest the Most Excellent of the Gods c. This much Philosophers have acknowledged which say that even all names that are call'd upon by the People shewed but one Divinity only Quoties voles saith Seneca tibi licet aliter tunc Auctorem rerum nostrarum compellare Tot appellationes ejus esse possunt quot Munera hunc Liberum patrem Herculem ac Mercurium nostri putant c. omnia ejusdem Dei nomina sunt variè utentis sua potestate Sophocles says very often in a Tragedy that is lost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. In truth there is a God and there is but one who hath made the Heaven the Earth the Sea and the Winds nevertheless there are many Mortals who by strange Illusions make Statues and Gods of Stone of Brass of Gold and Ivory to give them speedy deliverance from their evils they offer Sacrifices and consecrate Festivals vainly imagining that Piety consists in Ceremonies Thus Marcillius Ficinus who translated Plato into Latin and who was willing to renew the old Platonick Tenets believes amongst several more that men were offended because they found in Plato the name of God in the Plural Number but this Philosopher did only mean subalternate Gods or Angels that those says he which are not surprized with the number of Angels are not at all astonish'd with the number of Gods because in Plato so many Gods import no more than so many Angels and so many Saints Dr. Barrow concludes upon the whole that the Universal consent of all Nations does very well prove that there is a God and we cannot doubt but that it is very reasonable One may understand by this that the Sermons of this Author are rather treatises or exact dissertations than pure harangues to please a multitude If we were not resolved to keep within the bounds of an unbyassed Historian we might say that there never was a Preacher comparable to this Author but our particular suffrage or rather that of all England ought not to be a president to all Europe The Life of the most Reverend Father in God James Usher late Lord Arch-Bishop of Armagh Primate and Metropolitan of all Ireland with a Collection of 300 Letters which he writ to the most illustrious men of his time for Piety and Learning and some he received from England and other parts Published from the Original by Richard Parr after his Death to whom he had given the Care of his Papers London Sold by Nathaniel Ranew 1686. in Folio THIS Volume is composed of two Parts whereof the one contains the Life of the famous Vsher written by Parr Doctor of Divinity and the other a Collection of divers Letters that this Illustrious Arch-Bishop hath written to several Learned Men of his Time with some of their Answers 1. There have been already seen several Abridgments of the Life of Vsher but as those who compos'd them had not a memory sufficient for the Work so they have given nothing to the Publick but what was very imperfect 'T was this made Dr. Parr undertake to publish what he knew of this Prelate to whom he was Chaplain thirteen years from 1642 to 1655 he knew him throughly in that time and learn'd many circumstances of his Life which those were Ignorant of who lived at a greater distance Dr. Parr hath also received much assistance from the Papers of Vsher which among others fell into his hands and from the Conversations that he hath had with Mr. Tyrrel his Grandson a Gentleman of an extraordinary merit The Primate of Ireland was Universally esteem'd during his Life and his works are still in so great a reputation that men will not be sorry to see here a little Abridgment of his History Iames Vsher was born at Dublin the fourth of Ianuary 1580. his Fathers name was Arnold and was one of the six Clerks of the Chancery The Family of the Vshers is very Antient altho' the right name is not Vsher but Nevil but one of the Ancestors of our Archbishop chang'd it into that of Vsher because he was Usher to King Iohn who ascended the Throne of England 1199. our Prelate had from his Infancy an extraordinary passion for Learning Two Scotch Gentlemen who advis'd him in his studies entertain'd him with much care The one was nam'd Iames Fullerton the
per voi e dovevate far la per voi e non per altri We thought that the Reader would be glad to learn the Adventures both of an History and an Author who have made so much noise And therefore shall proceed to the Work it self What had been Printed at London contained but the Antient and Modern State of Great Britain It is to be had entire without any thing cut off in the two First Volumes of this Edition except the Author thought it more expedient to reserve for the Fifth Volume any thing which was Historical The First Volume contains eleven Books whereof the First gives a brief account of the History and Religion of England whilst it had been possessed by divers Princes and bore the Name of Britannia to wit unto Egbert who reduced it altogether under his Power and gave it the Name of England or of Anglia at the end of the Eighth Age. There are in this First Book divers things very curious concerning the Druides and the Gods who were adored in England before the Faith had been planted in it The Author describes in the Second Book the Greatness the Situation the Provinces the Rivers the Cities the Bishopricks the Inhabitants the Fertility the Merchandises the Negotiations and the Buildings of England The Third Book is employed altogether upon the Description of the Famous City of London Here there is more exactness than in the very Writings of some English who have given the Publick the state of this Famous City and that of the whole Kingdom There is according to the supputation of Mr. Leti near Four hundred fifty thousand Souls in London and about Six Millions in the whole Kingdom The Fourth speaks of the Government and Priviledges of the same City as well as of the Factions which do divide it The Sixth describes the Humour of the English and the Application they have to Religion and to the Observation of the Laws of the Country The Seventh is a Continuation of the same subject and a description of the Laws and divers Customs of England The Eighth speaks of the strangers who are in that Country and chiefly of the French Protestants who have fled thither some time since In this is the Declaration of the King of France importing That the Children of those of the R. P. R. may convert at seven Years accompanied with political and very curious Reflections In the Ninth Book the Author describes the Three States of England the Clergy the Nobility and the People but particularly the first It contains the number and names of the Bishops of this time the manner of consecrating them their Revenues c. The Tenth speaks of the State of Roman Catholicks in England of their number of their Exercises of the Endeavours to bring in again their Religion of the Missions of Fryars and of the Complaints they make of Protestants The Author adds the Answer of the Protestants to these Complaints and shews by the Catholick Authors the Designs of the Court of Rome upon England and of the Intrigues it makes use of to bring it under its Yoke The last Book of this Volume contains the Policy of the Court of England and its Maxims of State The Second Volume is composed of Eight Books whereof the two first do treat of the Religion and different Parties which divide it Therein are to be seen the Disputes of the Conformists and of the Non-Conformists the Opinions of the Quakers of Anabaptists c. The Fourth contains the Foundations and the Rights of the Monarchy of England the Revenues of the King and other Particulars of this nature There are several things in this place which cannot be found elsewhere The fifth describes the Government of England the King's Council the Parliament and the divers Tribunals of Justice of this Kingdom Herein are the Reasons why Parliaments have opposed in so many Rencounters the Designs of King's which Strangers are commonly ignorant of The sixth speaks of the particular Government of Cities and of Countries as also of the Posts of Governours of Places of the Garisons and of the Land Forces and Sea Forces of England The seventh is a Description of the Court and the King's Officers and of the Royal Family The last speaks of the strange Ministers who are at London of the manner wherewith they receive Ambassadours there Residents Envoys c. and of the Priviledges they enjoy Here is the Description of those who were in England whilst the Author lived here He tells very frankly their good or ill Qualities and this is not a little useful to judge of their Negotiations and to know why the one succeeds without pains in his Designs whilst the other stumbles every where It were to be wished that all the Histories which we have were thus circumstantiated For as there would be much more pleasure in reading them so we might also profit thereby much more than we do We should know not only the Events but also the secret Causes the Intrigues and the means which have contributed to the great Revolutions and it is what may profitably instruct us What signifieth it to know in general that a certain thing hath happened in a certain Year if we do not know how and wherefore It is the Conduct of Men which serveth us for an Example and an Instruction and not the simple Events which of themselves are of no use to us But where are there Men so couragious as to write without Flattery the History of their Time Where are there Princes who are so just as to suffer that their Truths should be told to their Faces Where are there even Ministers of State who would permit that their Defects should be divulged during their Life Nevertheless it is but then that it can be well done for if in the time wherein things are fresh more than one half is forgotten much more are the following Ages deprived of the knowledge of a thousand particular Facts which have produced great Affairs The Author having thus described the State of the Kingdom in the two first Volumes takes up again in the three others the sequel of the History of England from Egbert and continues it unto M DC Lxxxii He hath disposed his Work after this manner that after having made all the Essential Remarks of the History of England in the two first Volumes he should not be obliged in the following to interrupt the course of his Narration The third Volume contains Six Books whereof the last is destined to the Life of Henry the VIII The fourth Volume is composed of Five Books the first whereof includes the Reign of Edward and of Mary and the Second that of their Sister Elizabeth In the Third the Author after he begins the History of King Iames who reunited the Three Kingdoms makes a Description of Ireland and Scotland and speaks of their Ancient and Modern State after which in the Fourth Book he composes the History of the Reign of King Iames wherein
St. Ioseph who made choice of St. Ann for their Patroness they afterwards established themselves in France under the protection of Ann of Austria Regent of the Kingdom So that it was in our times that the Grand-father and Grand-mother of Iesus Christ were brought into remembrance and I hope his great Grand-father and his Father will be soon deisy'd especially if the principle lay'd by the Maidens of St. Ioseph in this work be followed for if one must make his address to the Blessed Virgin because Iesus Christ cannot refuse her any thing and if we must address our selves to Ann the Mother of Mary to have the Daughters Favour then we must go back to great Grand-mother and so on to the rest BOOKS concerning the Exposition of M. de Meaux his Doctrine I. An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England upon the Articles that M. de Meaux heretofore Bishop of Condom has Explained in his Exposition of the Catholick Doctrine with the History of this Book Quarto 1686. II. Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrin of the Church of England against M. de Meaux and his Apologists Objections Quarto 1686. III. A Second Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrin of the Church of England against M. de Meaux and his Apologists new Objections Quarto At London Sold by R. Chiswell 1688. IF it be useful in Civil Life to know them that give us advice and the secret motives that make them act such an examination cannot be of less advantage for our Spiritual conduct in the different ways shewn to Christians by the Doctors of divers Societies if Prejudices and Obstinacy do not damn at least it cannot be deny'd but they are very dangerous but when Learned Divines whose imagination is neither overheated with Dispute nor with the Opinion of a particular Party and does endeavour to call into doubts the most constant practices and publick customs there is reason to suspect that they have imbib'd no less odious Principles than Head-strongness and Prejudice If the Roman Church ever had Judicious and moderate Controvertists they were the Iansenists and M. de Meaux and some English that in these times have imitated the former so that if there be want of sincerity in the proceedings of these Gentlemen it is a strong presumption against the Defenders of Rome and no weak proof that its Doctrin cannot be maintained but by indirect courses These Reflections were necessary to shew the usefulness of the Modern History of Controversies as well in France as in England which Dr. Wake gives in his Preface of these Three Works and whereof we design to give a more than ordinary exact Abridgment here because there are remarkable circumstances known to very few I. All the World knows now that the Extirpation of all the Hugonots of France was resolved on even from the Pyrenean Peace and there are some that believed it was one of the secret Conditions of that Peace The difficulty was to put that Decree in execution without raising a Civil War and without alarming the Protestant Princes The Politicians took very just measures to weaken insensibly the Reformed of that Kingdom and either lull asleep or set at variance the Forreign Powers of their Communion There is none ignorant of the success but it would have been more happy if the Divines employed to maintain Rome's Cause had sped as well as the Coyners of Propositions and Inventers of Decrees And nevertheless it might be said that the Roman Catholick Doctors were not in the fault that things did not go on better and that it was not for want of incapacity that they persuaded no body The first that endeavoured to give a new turn to Controversies was M. Arnaud whose very Name is praised enough It is well known that this eminent Man who was a Philosopher a Mathematician well read in the Fathers and as well acquainted with Scripture has had several remarkable victories over the Adversaries of his own Communion yet with all his great qualities all that he did in his perpetuity of the belief of the Roman Catholick Religion touching the Lord's Supper was to repeat over and over that Transubstantiation being now the common Doctrine of the Church it follow'd that there never was any other Belief because it cannot be comprehended how all Christians should have agreed to change their Opinion which had it happened the certain time should be marked wherein the Universal Church had varied in this Point and when and how each particular Church came to Corrupt the Antient Doctrine It is very strange that after so many proofs of matter of Fact which M. Aubertinus alledged out of the Belief of the Holy Fathers that an Argument purely Metaphysical should make so much noise and be so much applauded by the Roman Communion It 's almost a certain sign of the weakness of a Cause to see the maintainers of it blinded with the least Sophism and Triumph in their fancy for the least appearance of Truth There wanted no great strength to ruin these imaginary Trophies The Protestants had no harder task than to shew that this reason supposed no error could be brought into the World nor embraced by a numerous Society The beginning of Idolatry is disputed upon and nothing yet decided Some will have it that it began by the adoration of Stars others from the deifying dead Men and then say they Statues were erected for Kings for the Benefactors of the People for Law-makers and for the Inventors of Sciences and Arts. And this to reduce People to the practice of Vertue and to do it the better they spoke of their Ancestors and proposed their Examples their Actions were spoken of in high Terms and their Soul placed in Heaven near the Divinity they thought they would not be idle there but that God would give them some considerable office there because they had acquitted themselves so well of the Employments they had upon Earth The common sort of People generally much taken with Figures and great Words it may be conceived a higher Idea of those excellent Persons than their first Authors designed and Priests observing that these Opinions made People more devout and brought themselves Riches made the People to pass insensibly from a Respect to a Religious Veneration And hence Idolatry was rais'd by little and little to its height now must we infer from hence that it is not a pernicious Error and that it was from the beginning of the World because the precise time cannot be marked in which People begun to adore the Stars nor tell who the first Hero was that had Divine Honors rendred to him and yet the Argument would be as concluding as Mr. Arnaud's Many Learned Men have Writ much of the Antient and Modern Idolatry and have shewn its various progress One can tell very near what time the Saturnalia were Instituted and the Mysteries of Ceres and Corpus Christi-Day and that of St. Ann. And at what time the Temple of Ephesus
The Bishop of Worcester maintains that the Pope could not convocate Councils but within the extent of the suburbicary Provinces tho' he denyes not but on certain singular occasions other Bishops have not been invited to these Councils as when Aurelian permitted the Bishops of Italy to assemble at Rome for the Affair of Paul of Samosatus But the Bishops of the Diocess of Italy who acknowledged the Bishop of Milan as chief thought themselves not obliged to be at the Patriarchal Councils of Rome And that which is remarkable is that one of these Councils was of Sentiments very different from him who then was upon the Patriarchal See of this City concerning the Ordination of Maximus to be Bishop of Constantinople Damasus writ twice to Constantinople with much fervour for the deposing of Maximus But St. Ambrose and the Bishops of his Diocess in a Synodical Letter to Theodosius justified the Ordination of Maximus and disapproved the Election of Gregory and Nectairus The Defenders of the pretensions of the Bishop of Rome are asked If this Council acknowledged the Patriarchal Power of this Bishop Mr. Schelstrate saith after Father Lupus That the Power of the Pope gave him the Right of deciding all things consulting only the Bishops who could do nothing without him If that is true it must be granted That the Italick Diocess was without the limits of the Patriarchate of Rome seeing the Bishops of this Diocess sent their Advices to the Emperor without having any respect to the Sentiments of Damasus Dr. Stillingfleet sheweth the independancy of the same Bishops in respect to Rome by the Example of the Council of Capua where St. Ambrose presided without asking so much as the Advice of the Bishop of Rome To prove that the Pope had the Right of calling the Bishops of all the West to all his Patriarchal Councils Mr. Schelstrate relates some Examples of Bishops amongst the Gauls and Great Britain who were at some Roman Councils But he is answered That it is no wonder that some should be found in extraordinary Rencounters and that it doth not follow from thence that the Pope was Patriarch of all the West no more than that Councils of Western Bishops being held at Milan Arles Rimini Sardis and elsewhere prov'd That the Bishops of these Cities were their Patriarchs It ought to be shewn That the Pope convocated the Bishops of the West by vertue of his Patriarchal Authority There was also a great Difference amongst the Councils assembled for the Vnity of Faith and the Discipline of divers Diocesses and the Provincial or Patriarchal Synods câ—nvocated at a certain time to appear before the Metropolitan or the Patriarch This is seen in the Diurnus Romanus where the Bishops of Rome oblige themselves to be present at the Councils of this City assembled at certain times as Garnier sheweth He saith it was thrice a year but no more for the Suburbicary Churches which had no other Primate but the Bishop of Rome The last of the Patriarchal Rights was to receive Appeals of the Provinces of the Patriarchship By these Appeals we must not understand the free Choice that parties can make for one to be an Arbitrator of their Differences but Juridical Appeals from an inferiour Tribunal to a higher one It hath oft fallen out that Bishops have been chosen Arbitrators of a common approbation to make others agree or that Bishops intermedled in the Differences of others without pretending to end them with Authority Our Author brings an Example of a Council of the Italick Diocess who medled with a dissention at Constantinople whereof we have already made mention But to this is opposed That the Bishops of Rome have several times sent Legates throughout all the West to examine the causes of the Bishops and to make Report of â—em For the Letters of the Popes to the Bishops of Thessalonica which are in the Roman Collection are cited to prove this But we have already taken notice what Dr. Stillingfleet's Answer is to that He adds here that the Origine of these pretensions was from this That the Council of Sardis being exasperated against the Eastern Bishops gave the Bishop of Rome the liberty to re-examine some Causes in divers Provinces He took the occasion from thence of sending Legates and that was one of the first steps by which he ascended to so great a Power in the West A Doctor of Sorbone who writ some years ago de antiquis majoribus Episcoporum causis alloweth That in the space of CCCXLVII Years viz. about the time of the Council of Sardis no Example of a Cause can be produced which was referred to Rome by the Bishops who were the Judges thereof It is besides Objected That the Council of Arles attributes to the Pope majores Dioeceses but it hath been seen by the Government of this Council which has been spoken of that it was far from acknowledging the Bishop of Rome for Superiour Besides there are reasons to believe that the place where these words are has been corrupted and tho' it was not so this may signifie another thing except this Bishop had a Diocess more large than his Brethren Dr. Stillingfleet refutes some more Reasons of Mr. Schelstrate of small consequence and relates some places of the Letters of Pope Leo where he presses hard the Canons of Nice against the usurpations of the Patriarch of Constantinople and maintains it was not lawful for any to violate or to reveal the Decrees of this Council from whence it 's concluded that the Churches of England are in no wise obliged according to the Discipline of the first Ages to submit to the Pope After having ended this Controversie our Prelate sheweth there is a great likelyhood that some Bishops of England were at the Council of Sardis But thence an occasion is taken to say that the British Churches having received the Council of Sardis they are obliged to acknowledge the Pope for the Patriarch of the West seeing this Council hath established the Appeals to the Bishop of Rome To see if this Objection be of any force Dr. Stillingfleet examines the Design and the Proceedings of this Council as follows Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria had been deposed by two Synods of Eastern Bishops for some Crimes of which he was accused He could not hope to have this Judgment reverst in the East because the Arian Party was very strong there he made his Address to the Bishops of the West and particularly to Iulius Bishop of Rome as to the Chief He desired that his Process might be reverst and shewed by Letters of divers Bishops of Aegypt that he had not been heard according to the Forms neither at Tyre nor Antioch because of the violence of the Faction of Eusebius Thereupon Iulius having communicated his Design to his Brethren the Bishops of the West writ in their name and his own to the Eastern Bishops That it was just to examine this Cause by
Christ the Sins which were committed before his coming and which he bore by his patience and that God hath declared in the Gospel how much he loves Justice since he has pardoned Sinners after that his Son their Surety had expiated their Crimes and has even pardoned those which sinn'd before his coming It was objected to Mr. Alting that the sense he gave to the term Paresis was unknown to all Greece He answers to this it is the Custom with the Writers of the New Testament to give Hebrew Significations to Greek Words and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers to the Hegnebbir of the Hebrews nor is it strange that St. Paul has taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Transport To confirm his Opinion the Author brings many Examples of a very extraordinary Signification of the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for which answering to that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chi In Hebrew is employed for although in the following passages Iohn 4.44 Two days after Iesus returned into Galilee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altho' Iesus had testified himself that no Prophet would be well received in his own Country Rom. 5.7 One would scarce die for a just Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 altho' for a good Man some wou'd even dare to die There are infinite Examples of these Hebraisms Thus the passage of St. Iohn 8.25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which has given so much trouble to the Interpreters is a phrase of the Rabbins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lebitchilla tascher ani omer Lachem I am really what I tell you The same Apostle doth not commonly take the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Greek sense but in a signification which the Rabbins give to their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beparhesia which signifies Publickly 50 27 42 44 52. In the 45.50 Mr. Alting proves the necessity of studying the Hebrew Tongue against a Professor who durst maintain in his Publick Lessons that that Tongue was not necessary for Ministers nor for Students in Divinity because St. Augustine and all the Doctors of his time were ignorant of it except St. Ierome who drew upon himself the hatred of all his Contemporaries The same Author writing against the Jew Athias p. 4. according to the citation of Mr. Alting Libros veteris Testamenti partem Bibliorum inutilem dixit potiorem vero sanctiorem novi Testamenti libros that is the Books of the Old Testament are the unprofitable Part of the Bible but that those of the New Testament are the most holy and most considerable Mr. Perizonius designing to refute Spinosa consulted Mr. Alting upon some difficulties which our Professor resolves in his 59. and 50. The first relates to the Authors of the Canon of the Old Testament and 't is asked whether it was Esdras Mr. Alting saith That 't is commonly believed upon the Testimony of Buxtorf who assures us in his Tyberiade That the Members of the great Synagogue assembled to bring into one Body the Canonical Books and that Esdras presided in that Assembly and that the three last Prophets were there accompanied with Mordocheus But Gans David remarks that Simeon the Just who is said to have been the last of the Assembly of this great Synagogue lived eight Generations after Ioshuah Son to Iosadack Add to this that there is no likelyhood that Malachy was Contemporary with Esdras since he doth not speak of the rebuilding of the Temple nor return of the Iews and that he chiefly sticks to reprehend the Priests who corrupted the Law by their Interpretations So that this Prophet seems to have lived about the time of Hillel when the Sect of the Pharisees began to flourish and their Traditions to be in Vogue Parker has remarked that the Fathers of the Church pass'd for Apostolical Traditions customs established by long use whereof the first Author was not known and to which they had a mind to give some Authority The same Remark may be made concerning the Iews There were amongst them Institutions whereof the Authors were uncertain which they attributed to the Members of the great Synagogue and made them come from inspired Men which were but Traditions of the Pharisees The Members of the Synagogue never lived in the same time nor in the same place and that consequently there never hath been such an one It is an invention of the Sticklers for Tradition to give some likelihood to their System The second difficulty regards the numbering of Iews who returned from Babylon to Ierusalem Esdras and Nehemiah agree in a Total Sum which was 42360. but when we our selves will muster up the number of each Family there will be only found 29818 in Esdras and 31089 in Nehemiah There is yet this thing remarkable that Nehemiah mentions 1765 Persons which are not in Esdras and that Esdras has 494 whereof Nehemiah doth not all speak The Difference that seems to make it impossible to reconcile these two Authors is what makes them agree for if you add the Over-plus of Esdras to the number of Nehemiah and the Surplus of Nehemiah to that of Esdras the same Number will come of them both Which being substracted from 42360 there remains 10777. which were not mentioned perhaps because they lost their Genealogical Books being of the Posterity of the Priests Chabaja Cotzi Barzillai or of the Israelites of the Ten Tribes In the sixtieth Letter our Author makes the History of the Canon of the Old Testament Moses saith he committed the keeping of his Books to the Levites Deut. 31.25 and the following and created them as 't were Doctors of the People Deut. xxxiii 10 And it seems that Malacby alludes to this charge Ch. 2. vers 4 5 6 7. Yet these Doctors did not much increase this Bibliotheque until the time of David The Prince assisted with some Prophets divided the Priests and Levites into divers Classes who were to serve by turns But this Order was the cause of a great confusion amongst the holy Levites whereof none took care but when his turn was come Thence proceeds the disorder which is remarked in the Collection of the Psalms David gave them to the Levites who were in their Week according as he composed them each Classis kept those which had been remitted to it In fine there was a Collection made joyning together what each Classis had received without having regard to the Order or time in which they were Written The same thing sometimes hapened in regard to the Sermons of the Prophets Habac. 2.2 which having been intrusted to divers Priests were gathered according to this Method and put into the number of the Sacred Books As in the time of Malachy they began to have too much esteem for Traditions and to attribute unto them an Authority which weakned that of the Sacred Writings this Prophet discover'd the Imposition of the Levites who gave way to these Traditions because it augmented their credit He prohibited for the future that any Writing whatever should be put
called it the Dauphine Island in 1665. The Description that is here made of it gives a very pleasing Idea of the same whereas the Orange-Trees and Trees covered with Flowers like the Jasmin of Spain by their mixture form natural Arbours which surpass all the Regularity of Art It produceth all sorts of Animals and particularly Chameleons whereof Naturalists have so variously spoken The Author assures us that they take by the eyes the colour of the Objects upon which they stay The Cloathing of the Inhabitants is Fantastick enough and their Past-times gross and barbarous He observeth nevertheless a singular Ceremony amongst them which is that the Master of the House offers the Fairest of his Women to the Pleasure of those that come to Visit him It is an Incivility and even a kind of Shame to make any Excuses The Woman on her part is grieved when her Beauty acquireth only Looks The People of the Country are of a Large Size they have a Proud Gate and can Dissemble as well as the most refined Nations Their Blackness is unalterable and proceedeth not from the heat of the Sun The Cause is chiefly in their Blood for the French there are Born as White as at Paris The Author shews that these Black Women have the advantage of having a constant Beauty because it hath not those inequalities and paleness of White Faces which renders our Beauties variable Marriage is there accompanied with no manner of Ceremonies The Virgins make none unhappy and each takes a certain number of Women according to his Fortune or his Quality There are no Temples seen in the Isle and Circumcision which is in use amongst them makes us judge that the Iews or Mahometans have left there some footsteps of their Religion They Adore an Oly which is a kind of a Cricket that they nourish with great care When one Reproches them that they prostrate themselves before a vile Animal they Answer very seriously That through it they respect the Author and it being necessary to have some Object to fix the Mind on the lowest best represents the Homage which they owe to the true and Soveraign Being The Beginnings of the Company was not Prosperous at Madagascar The Jealousie of Command divided the French and that which hasted their Ruin in the Island was that the Catholick Zeal came in for a share A Missioner willing to Convert Dian Manangue the most Valiant and full of Spirit of all the Princes of the Insulars without staying for the tediousness of Reasons and Persuasion made use of Force and Menaces Dian Manangue that had been drawn into the Dauphin-Fort under pretence of a Deliberation of War perceiving the violent designs that were formed against his Person very cunningly feign'd to yield himself and set a day apart to be Baptized He returned very full of Trouble and meditated the Cruel Tragedy that he Executed some days after For he Poysoned the Missioner who went to him to perform the Ceremony and Marching at the Head of a small Army being Clothed with the Surplis of the Missioner and wearing the Square Cap upon his Head in an Insulting manner routed the French and forc'd them to shut themselves up within the Walls of the Fort Dauphin Their Affairs were never since re-established On the contrary Dian Manangue having raised the Chief Men of Madagascar drove away almost all the French and those that were left were forced to abandon this Isle which might have served as the Center for the Commerce to the Indies The Company not being dismayed at these Ill successes went further into the Indies and took Measures how to establish themselves at Suratte This Puissant City is under the Obedience of the Great Mogul and there are Inhabitants of all the Countries of the World It is the Magazin of the Indies and Asia and perhaps the Chief City in the World for Traffick The Author makes some Remarks upon the Manners of the First Inhabitants of the Country and Affirms a thing that without doubt will find many Incredulous Readers That there are many Hermophrodites at Suratte who with Womens Cloaths wear Mens Turbants for distinctions and to shew all the World they have the advantage of both Sexes The Women for Decency and Honour are obliged to Burn themselves with the Body of their Husbands and give them after their Death this sad Mark of their Love Yet they ask permission of the Governor who Grants it only according as he thinks fit They seem to believe that Old Women Ask it with all their Hearts and they are permitted to Sacrifice their Sorrowful Remainder according to Custom As for the Young they are Commanded to be Comforted and are acquitted for some Extraordinary Shew of Grief In short the Company hath not made such progresses as answered what might be expected from a Puissant Kingdom and the Cares that had been taken to render it Flourishing Of Nature it self Or an Ingenuous Disquisition into the received Notions of Nature In a Letter to a Friend By the Honourable R. Boyle Esq Fellow of the Royal Society In Twelves at London ONE may see in the second Part of our Bibliotheque an extract of a Book taken from the English Journal All the Matters which are treated on in this Work are well digested but there is one thing wanting to render it conformable to our Method that is to make an Abridgment of one of the Matters and also to give an Idea of it and of the Author himself but Mr. Boyle having lately done us the Honour to send it to us we shall now supply the Defect and set apart the eighth Section for it After having explain'd by other Causes in the preceding Sections the greatest part of the effects which we attributed to Nature we shall here shew that though some of these Phaenomena's which some would have Nature to produce could not be explain'd by Mechanick Principles yet it follows not that we must have recourse to an Imaginary Cause which is express'd by that confus'd word Nature which gives us not to understand after what manner these effects are produced and to shew that this pretended Principle of all Motions and of all bodily Operations is a Chimera we demand of all Naturalists If it is a Substance or an Accident If they answer that it is an Accident we continue to demand What kind of Accident it is and how it is possible that an Accident by it self and separate can produce Effects so different and extraordinary If they say it is a Substance we ask of them What sort of Substance Created or Increated Corporal or Spiritual And as they shew which Side they incline so they lose themselves in such Absurdities as they cannot disengage themselves from Mr. Boyle has not contented himself to maintain this System with so many Reasons but he also ends this Section by shewing that 't is not less profitable than true 1. Because it seems to destroy the Opinion of those Heathen Philosophers who would
of all Bodies by the pressure of the Ether hath omitted two â—hings of great Importance 1. He hath not considered that how great soever the pressure of a flued Ambient may be if there is nothing else to keep joyned the parts of Bodies though they cannot be distant the one from the other perpendicularly nevertheless we may demonstrate that the one may be pushed off the other as easily as if there was no pressure at all The experience of two polished Marbles put upon one another which the pressure of the Atmosphere hold in this state sheweth to the Eye what I would say seeing they can be very easily separated in pushing them on one side whereas they cannot be so perpendicularly 2. He hath no regard to the Particles of the Ether which being themselves Particles of Bodies formed of other Particles ought to have something that may hold them united which cannot come of themselves for it is as difficult to conceive how the parts of the least Moth of matter stay united one to the other as those of the greatest Masses But without that it is as difficult to conceive a Body as a Spirit a thing extended as a thing that thinketh But suppose the notion of the Mind is more or less obscure than that of the Body it 's certain we do not receive it by any other way than that whereby we receive the notion of the Body For even as after having received by our Senses the Ideas of Solidity Extent Motion and Rest we form to our selves the Idea of the Body in supposing that these four things are inherent in an unknown Substance So in joyning together the simple Ideas that we have formed in reflecting upon the operations of our own Minds which every day we feel in our selves as to think to understand to will to know and to be able to move Bodies In joyning I say these Ideas and supposing that these operations of our Mind and all others coexist in a certain Substance which we likewise do not know we come to have an Idea of the Beings which we call Spirits The Ideas that we have of the Intellect and of the power formed by the Reflection which we have made upon that which passeth in our selves joyned to that Duration and all that augmented by the Idea that we have of Infinity gives us the Idea of the supream Being that we call God To convince our selves that all the Complex Ideas contain nothing but what the simple Ideas do which come to us by Sensation or Reflection we only need to think on the different sorts of Minds which are existent or might exist For though it were likely that there are more different kinds of Spiritual Beings in ascending from us to God than there of Material in descending from us to Nought because we are at a distance more great from the Infinite Perfection than from the lowest degree of the Being nevertheless it 's certain that we cannot conceive any difference between the divers natures of Angels saving different degrees of Intellect and of Power which are but divers Modifications of two simple Ideas formed by Reflection upon that which passeth in our selves As to what concerneth the Ideas that we have of natural Substances it is evident that they are only Combinations of simple Ideas which we have acknowledged to exist together by Sensation for Example What is the Idea of Gold but a certain bright Colour a certain degree of Weight of Malleability of Fusibility and perhaps as the Chymists speak of Fixation or of other simple Ideas that our Mind uniteth as coexistent all along in the same Substance This Complex Idea includeth more or less simple Ideas according as he that maketh this Conjunction is more or less exact in the Observations he hath made touching Gold Such are our Ideas of the different kinds of Substances which are nothing else than different Combinations of the simple Ideas which come to us by Sensation and Reflection and which we suppose coexistent in I know not what Substance 24. There is yet another sort of the Ideas of Substances where the Mind joineth together divers Substances distinct and maketh but one Idea thereof Thus an Army composed of 10000 Men and a Flock of several hundreds of Sheep is as well one only Idea as that of one Man or one Sheep I call these Ideas collective Ideas of Substances and they deserve our Observation tho' it were for nothing else but to shew the Power that the Mind hath of re-uniting in one only Idea things in themselves very different and distant the one from the other To satisfie fully those that may have some difficulty upon this Subject we need but simply to name the Vniverse and to remark that this word signifieth but one only Idea be it never so compounded 25 26 27. Besides the Ideas whether Simple or Complex that the Mind hath of things considered in themselves it hath others that it formeth of the Comparison that it maketh of these things betwixt themselves and which are called Relatives A Relative therefore is the consideration of a thing that marketh or includeth in it self the consideration of another Seeing all our Ideas may be considered in as much as they lead our Thoughts to something else it followeth that all simple and complex Ideas may serve for the foundation of a Relative And whatever Extent those Ideas may have that are Relatives it may be seen how they draw their Origin from Reflection and Sensation seeing they have no other foundation than the Ideas that come to us from thence It 's needless I should enlarge upon every sort of Relatives to shew it I shall only mark that a Relative supposeth two Ideas or things really separated the one from the other or at least considered as distinct We do not always regard these two things or these two Ideas which is the cause why we pass over divers Terms for Signs of absolute Ideas which are effectively Relatives For Example great and old are Terms as Relative as more great and more old though it is not always believed When we say that Peter is older than John these two Persons are compared in the Idea of Duration and we would say that the one hath more than the other And when we say that Iohn is old his Duration is compared with that which we look upon as the ordinary Extent of the Life of Men. Hence it cometh that we should be offended to hear one say That a Diamond or the Sun are old because we have no Idea of the length of an ordinary Duration that belongeth to them So we have no Idea to which we may compare it as we have in respect to the things which we commonly call old There is a great deal of these Terms which under an absolute Form or Termination hide a relative Idea and to examin nearly our Ideas they are in a great part a Relative This is what I briefly conceive of the different sorts of
their Sentiments but there are very few whose Writings are come to our Hands besides the Titles of Works which have been published upon this Subject by Aetius Anaxilides Antigonus Antisthens Aristocles Aristoxenes Callimachus Clitomachus Diocles Heraclides Hermippus Idomeneus Nicandre Panaetius Paphiras Sotion and Theodorus There remains only three entire Works on the History of Philosophy viz. Diogenes Laertes upon the Old Eunapius upon the New and an alphabetical Abridgment of Hesychius de Milet upon both together 'T is an hard Task to form a compleat History out of these three Authors who have not spoken of all the Celebrated Philosophers of Greece and who have not mentioned every thing that might be said even of those Lives which themselves have chosen to write upon nor have they once mentioned the Eastern Philosophy to which the Greeks have according to their own Confession been indebted for all their Knowledg Mr. Stanley Nephew of the famous Marsham Author of the Aegyptiac Canon has undertaken to supply the defect as far as is possible by collecting out of ancient Writtings all that he cou'd find touching the Lives and Opinions of the ancient Philosophers and joyning 'em to the Collections of those three Authors we have already mentioned Our Author treats of the Philosophy of the Caldeans Persians and Sabeans the History of Egypt is only wanting to compleat the Eastern Philosophy but he wou'd not meddle with that since his Uncle whom we have spoke of has largly handled it in his Aegyptiac Canon This Work is divided into 14 Parts in every one of which our Author treats of some Sect whereof he makes an History and explains their Opinions The 1. treats of the Seven Sags of Sosiades who collected their Precepts and of Anacharsis The 2. treats of the Ionick Sect whereof Anaximandre was the Chief The 3. of Socrates and his Followers The 4. of the Cyreneick Megarick Elian and Eretrian Sects which had but few Followers The 5. of the Ancient and New Academy The 6. of the Peripateticks The 7. of the Cinics of which he relates Nine whereof Antisthenes was the first The 8. of Zenon and other Stoics The 9. of the Italic Sect to which Pythagoras gave place The 10. of Heraclitus the Ephesian Philosopher whose Writings were so obscure that he had no Followers The 11. of Zenophares Parmenides Melisses Zenon of Elea Democrites Putagores and of Anarchus The 12. of Sceptic Philosophers The 13. of the Epicureans The 14. and 15. following of the Caldean Persian and Sabean Philosophy which we shall be more large on but to be more particular in these we have named especially the 12 Sects of which we shall begin with the Ionic whereof Thales his Scholar Anaximenos was the Chief Therefore we shall speak in the first place of Thales who first deserved the Name of Wise in Greece Cities had as honourable a Quarrel for him as that which fell out about Homer for they disputed of the Honour of having given birth to him Herodotus saith that he was a Phoenician but Plutarch wou'd have it that not one of the seven Wise Men should be born in Greece and the most common Opinion is that he was of Milot He would never Marry because without it Life is divided by a sufficient number of Cares without entring into a Bond which draweth so many Sorrows after it His Principle was That Water is a Matter whose first Cause formed all Things and he figured to himself this great Universe as a floating Vessel upon the Extent of Waters He believed there was a God who had given Motion to every thing in Nature and who animated the whole Machine According to him there were two sorts of Souls and his Sentiments thereupon were so obscure that he gave a Soul to Amber and the Loadstone To him it is that the Glory of the first Elements of Geometry is due and the Invention of measuring the Pyramides of Egypt by their Shadow He it was that made the division of the five Zones and that first gave natural Reasons for the Eclypses which so lone a time passed for fatal Signs of the Anger of Heaven They also add That he foretold that which ended the War betwixt the Lydians and Medians For these People frighted at this Accident believed that the Sun would no more give Light to their Battles and lay'd down their Arms. He found out very fine Sciences for the Phoenicians and among others the Art of Writing which is pretended to be an Invention of this People as Mr. Brebaeuf hath so pompously expressed in his Translation of Lucan He was one day asked What Recompense he would have for his rare Discoveries And he declared with the Gravity of Wise Men That he expected but that of taking share of it with the Publick Another asked him What was most strong in Nature He answered Necessity 'T is a hard Law more powerful than Reason which draggeth with Violence and Rapidity He lived in the 35 Olympiad which answers as I take it to the year of the World 3310. I. Anaxander who began the Stoic Sect was Disciple to Thales tho' he admitted not of the Principles of his Master he never cleared well his Sentiments They pretend that he discovered the obliquity of the Zodiack Mr. De Saumaise contests with him about Clocks and maintains that Hours were not in use till a long time after II. Socrates was the Head of the second Sect and the first that cultivated Morality that part of Philosophy so necessary for the ruling our Manners He was the Son of a Statuary of Athens but he raised himself above his Birth by the Beauty of his Genius He had an Opinion of God very pure and withstood with all his Might the Plurality of Gods It was in effect the principal Accusation that his Enemies formed against him and we may say that he was one of the first Martyrs for the Vnity of God Wherefore some Fathers of the Church have believed that he is saved And learned Erasmus saith very pleasantly That at every time he read the fine end of this Philosopher he was ready to cry out St. Socrates pray to God for us So he dyed with a Tranquility which marked the Calmness of his Soul and the Empire of his Reason over his Passions Notwithstanding some have said That he being by Honour engaged not to fear Death he out-braved it valiantly that the Emotion he inwardly feit might not outwardly appear He was very much laughed at by Aristophanes upon the Theatre of Athens and he dyed in the 88 Olympiad to wit in the year of the World 3522. III. Aristippus was the Head of that which is called Cyrenaick and Disciple to Socrates He would have the Soveraign Good to consist in Pleasure and he led his Life upon these Sentiments for he passed it in Delights and Pastimes He fell in Love with that famous Lais who would sell so dear one Nights Lodging to Demosthenes So being one day Imbarqued to go to
see her and seeing the Ship terribly tossed by foul Weather he gave up himself to Lamentations and Complaints As an Amorous Design conducted him perhaps he would have greived less to dye at his Return Howbeit the Pilot less frighted began to make him Remonstrances and to propose himself as an Example of Firmness which made this Philosopher ashamed But Aristippus scornfully answered him Thou hazardest but a vile and mercenary Soul but I hazard a Soul of the first Degree and a Life accompanied with Prosperities He acknowledged but two Passions as two great Springs which give Motion to all the rest Grief and Pleasure and these two Passions are diversified in all Men according to their Temperaments He would reject the Tranquility of the Soul so much boasted of by other Philosophers as an Imaginary good 'T was according to him a tedious Indolence Doth it not seem that he had Reason For what is there more Languishing than to wish for nothing and even to fear nothing The Passions do spread a certain Fire over all the Actions which render them more lively and more acceptable In a word nothing was so offensive to the Gust of this Philosopher than that austere Vertue which makes the Soveraign Good to consist in the privation of Evil and in a certain Firmness which deserveth but the Name of Insensibility IV. Plato was the Head of the Academists who have drawn their Name from the place he first established his School Some relate That his Mother conceived him by strength of Imagination because she had looked on a Statue of Apollo with too much Curiosity Others have said That as Women often had the Art to make their Husbands believe that Gods were willing to accompany with Mortals the Mother of Plato failed not to make her self Honour by a Visit from Apollo in her Husbands Mind That is to say he was a Young Man as handsom as Apollo Howbeâ—t it 's most certain he was of a most Illustrious Birth and as he had not much hardship of Fortune his Heart was thereby the more peaceable and his Conduct the more vertuous After having sometime heard Socrates he travailed every where to hear the most famous Orators It 's presum'd that he had much Light out of the Books of Moses therefore he was named the Athenian Moses and that he was the Inventer of the Dialogue But Mr. Stanley maintains that he only refined it because it was then very dry and insipid he conceived the Earth to be of a round Figure he found out that it was necessary there should be Antipodes and invented the Name of it He distinguished the Elements which Thales had confounded and was the first that made use of the Term Providence He said that God was an Eternal Principle ineffable and the immoveable source of Truth And that which caused this great Veneration which Men had for him in the first Ages of Christianity is That he attributed to God a Son whose Power reached over all Creatures He added That God had formed the World of a Matter before confused but Eternal and setled this fine order in the Elements Yet he gave the World a Soul which from the Centre reaches unto Extremities Finally he held That as Man was the Master-piece of the Works of God so he had taken a particular care to form him He furnished him with the five Senses to procure him Pleasures and to defend him from exteriour Bodies and hath placed the Soul in the Brains as upon the Throne to rule over the Senses and Passions He was persuaded that the Soul was Immortal Free Independent and yet submitted to the necessity of Fatâ— which the Pagans would not exempt Iupiter himself from He is upbraided with his Amours and an Epigram so much talked of for a young Man he loved It was Homicide in his Opinion to embrace an old Woman because she was but as a Ground that was barren and cou'd make no Return Yet they say that he becoming amorous of an old Woman pushed Gallantry so far as to tell her That Love as in an Ambuscade had hid it self under her Wrinkles Mr. Sarazin said more justly That old Women were the Graves of Love The Genius of Plato was clear and polite He surpriseth the Mind by an Eloquent Stile and â—n Abounding Imagination to which he gave himself sometimes too much V. Neither the Birth nor the Education of Aristotle the Head of the Peripaticks were altogether so happy as those of Plato his Master Mr. Stanley notwithstanding justifies his Memory from the Reproaches that were cast on him of having been reduced to sell Medicines and of following the Trade of an Empyrick in the City of Athens He is also charged with having a Hand in the Conspiration of Antipater against Alexander the Great and of having so much Love for Pythias his Wife that he made Sacrifices to her as to the Goddess Ceres If our Author may be believed they are all Calumnies wherewith any great Man might be blackned He denies not but that he was eager and enterprizing so as to raise a great Party against Plato and he relates as a piece of History very suspicious that he cryed out dying Cause of Causes have pity on me He it was that perfected Logick and formed Syllogisms in including an Argument in proper Terms But Modern Philosophy is so like it that 't is not necessary to expound his Tenets and Opinions All the World knoweth how different the Fortune of this Philosopher was His Adventures have been so various that it 's a hard thing to comprehend that so different Judgments have been given on the same Men. He saw himself in a manner raised unto the Clouds and afterwards precipitated into the lowest Stations According to the Relation of Baronius the Aetians were excommunicated for having made their Disciples to read him Yet he is come into so high a degree of respect with Men that Doctor Ramus was banish'd by the King's Declaration for having written against him Boileau jeers at the Understanding of our Age in which a thousand People think that without Aristotle Reason can do nothing and good Sense is Madness VI. Aristhenes was another of Socrates's Branches and one of his most able Disciples he was the Head of the Sect of the Cynicks which Diogenes his Disciple hath rendred so famous The Origin of the Name of Cynick does not a little perplex Men Mr. Stanley thinks it comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of the place where Antisthenes held his School and where a Dog had brought a piece of Victim â—hat was Sacrificed Others have believed That it came from the hot and biting Humour of these Philosophers because commonly Satyricks are compared to Dogs that bark at all the World Diogenes was named the Prince of this Sect and made so much noise by the sigularity of his Maxims that Alexander had the curiosity of seeing him Yet how great Glory soever Antiquity would have for this Philosopher he can be
Hermias Simplicius Damascius Synesius Olimpiodorus Nicephorus and from Arnobius so that he augmented them unto the number of 324. He reduced them likewise under certain Heads and put them into Latin in 1593. Otton Heurnius Translated and Published them also in his Book Entituled Philosophia Barbarica in 1619. but under a pretext of putting them into better Latin and making a following Discourse upon them he corrupted the Sense of ' em He was laughed at for adding Fragments drawn from different Authors which had no Relation to each other Thus Heurnius spoil'd what Patricius had well done altho' this last did not take sufficient care to publish them correctly but wholly neglected the Measure of the Verse even without observing except in the beginning the Authors from whence he had taken them so that it was not easie to re-establish them Mr. Stanley has mentioned some which are Translated into English and also adds his Conjectures upon such Places as are corrupted Some of these Oracles appear'd so obscure and intricate that they seem'd absurd But we ought to consider that Psellus and Plethon have explain'd many which without that wou'd not have appear'd more reasonable and those that find them good may very rationally presume that those they understand not have not less reason to be supposed so This made some believe they might publish them among the rest without diminishing the high Esteem which was formerly had of the Wisdom of the Chaldeans And 't is this also engaged the Author to Translate the Commentaries of Psellus and Plethon into English These Oracles are placed under eleven Titles the five first whereof regard the Supream and Subaltern God and the rest the World Man and the Sacrifices To make the Reader sensible of the Eastern Stile of these Fragments I shall relate some here as exactly as I can For Example what they say of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the second Being Light is born of the Father 'T is it only that has drawn the chief of the Spirit in great abunance to the Paternal Power The Paternal Spirit having conceiv'd its Works disperses through the whole an ardent Love to the end that all Things loving one another they might subsist for a time without any Restriction The Consequences of the Fathers Thoughts were not discovered to the Eyes of all things because the Elements of the World subsist being preserved by Love It might by thinking give Intelligence of its Father to each Source and Principle It is the limits of the Proâ—oundness of its Father and the Source of intellectual Things It goes not out from but continues in the Paternal Depth and in his Sanctuary by a silence wholly Divine c. Another Being is also spoken of in these Terms Vnder two Spirits is the quickning source of Souls and the Artist who himself made the World being all Fire cloath'd with Fire preserving the most refin'd part of his Fire to qualifie the Sources of Vnion It 's easily discern'd by this That the Stile of these Oracles bears no resemblance to that of the Greek Poets nor to that of the Oracles of Delphos There 's a kind of Light and Obscurity very particular Besides it 's easily seen that there 's neither the Sentiments of the Platonicks nor those of the Iews but I know not what something very singular which has entirely the Air of the Original as will be more easily granted by those that read the Interpretations of Plethon and Psellus A Disquisition about the Final Causes of Natural Things wherein is examin'd if there be any and with what Precaution a Naturalist ought to admit thereof By Mr. Boyle Fellow of the Royal Society With an Appendix wherein are some uncommon Remarks touching sore Eyes By the same Author London 1688. in Octavo p. 274. MR. Boyle composed this Work several years since at the Entreaty of Mr. Oldenburgh Secretary to the Royal Society It remained among the Author's Papers until 88. when he Publish'd it without adding to it any new Remarks which he might have drawn from the Discoveries that have been made in Anatomy since it was composed because he believed that what he had said was sufficient to decide the Questions which are proposed It is undoubtedly of a great Consequence to know if the Final Causes of Natural Things can be found that is to say to know why Bodies are formed after a certain manner and upon what design they are dispos'd in certain Places If in this there was a design and we should neglect to inform our selves thereof we run the risk of not rendring unto the Author the Honour due for that Reason and of not drawing from those Beings the Uses which we should both in regard to Philosophy and Religion If there was no design in all this it is very profitable to know it that we may not lose our time in vainly seeking for the same Epicurus denyed there were any in the Thought he had That all Things were formed by chance and Descartes hath maintained That it was impossible to know any of the ends of God unless he had himself revealed them to us Mr. Boyle undertakes not here directly to refute Epicurus he applieth himself solely to Descartes whose Opinion cannot nevertheless be refuted without destroying at the same time that of Epicurus To proceed more Methodically he hath divided his Work into four Sections in each of which he examins a particular Question after which he concludes That the Disquisition of Final Causes ought not altogether to be banish'd from Physick tho' in this there must be certain Precautions used which he observes I. The first question is if generally speaking Physitians can know the end and design of corporal Beings If Descartes affirmed simply that we cannot know all the ends which God proposed to himself in the Creation of the World or that we ought not to imagin that they all relate to Man Mr. Boyle would not undertake to refute him But as Descartes speaks in General Terms it s maintained that his Opinion is false taking him without exceptions The Reason of it is that suppose God is an intelligent Being and that some of the things he hath made be perfectly proper to produce a certain considerable effect and that they produce it necessarily we ought to judge that God who hath foreseen this effect hath produced his Work at least partly for that Reason So when the admirable disposition of the Eye is considered and the effect it produceth to wit Vision there is nothing more reasonable than to say that the Eye was made for to see tho it may be it was made for some other end which we know not So also the Sun which is according to Descartes disposed in a proper place to illuminate all the Planets that turn in its Vortex and which unavoidably produceth this effect has been undoubtedly created partly to give us Light and Heat It cannot be said here that all the ends of God are hidden
in his Wisdom because that would be to allow that we have no Testimony of his Works which should teach us that God is Wise. Yet this is no impediment to Physitians seeking out the mechanical reasons of these effects as nothing hinders but that we may say a Clock hath been made to shew the Hours and to expound at the same time mechanically how its Wheels and its Springs produce this effect Thus Descartes himself after having said that the Immutability of God requires there should be always a like quantity of Motion in matter sheweth how that may suffice to render a Reason of natural effects Altho Mr. Boyle is not of that Number who believe that Descartes had a design to favour Atheism since he finds his proof of the Existence of God to be conclusive he maintains that to say none of the ends which he proposed to himself can be known is to deny that we can see his Wisdom and Goodness in the Creatures and consequently to take from Mankind the proof of the Existence of God which is drawn from the order of the Universe It is moreover to take from Men one of the greatest Reasons which they have of blessing and admiring the supream Being For in fine according to Descartes God perhaps proposed to himself in the Creation none of these admirable effects which are observed in the Universe and if we enjoy any good therein it doth not teach us that he design'd to do us any So that we cannot from thence conclude that God is either wise or a benefactor to us and we have no Reason from thence to admire and praise him II. The second Question is in these Terms Suppose we should affirmatively answer to the first whether the ends of God can be considered in all sorts of Bodies or only in some To resolve this Query we must divide Bodies into inanimate and animate The most considerable inanimate Bodies are the Sun and Stars When we consider their Motions so regulate and so necessary to the Earth And on the other hand we suppose with Descartes that they were produced by an intelligent Being why should we not believe that we may place the use we draw from them amongst the Causes for which this Being created them But there is much wanting in inanimate Bodies to render them as perfect as animate Bodies The Disposition of our Muscle is much more admirable than that of the Celestial Orbs and the Eye of a Fly includes a thousand times more Art than the Body of the Sun Tho there is no absurdity to think that Stones Metals and other Bodies of this Nature are made for the use of Man their inward Disposition is so simple that it might be believed they were formed by the Simple Rules of Motion even as we see that the Cristallizations and Sublimations of Chymistries produce effects sufficiently wonderful But there is no comparison betwixt these sorts of things and Animals as Mr. Boyle proves at large for not to enter into an examination of the entire Bodies of Animals he chiefly applies himself to the structure of the Eye by which it s clearly seen that it was made for to see And this not only in regard to the Eye of Man that it may be proved but we may besides observe particular Dispositions in those of other Animals which render this truth very plain Frogs for example besides what their Eyes have common with ours have also a Membrane or Gristle wherewith they cover them without it's hindering their sight for tho this Membrane is very strong it is transparent and may pass for a kind of Horny Movable These Animals living not only in Water but also upon the Water side where there are often Shrubs and Bull-Rushes and moving themselves by Leaps if they had not these Fenses to their Eyes they would be in danger of putting them out at all times It may be observ'd by holding a Frog so that it cannot turn his Head if one strives to put out it's Eyes 't will soon be perceiv'd that at the very instant it will cover them with this Membrane and that as soon as the danger is over the Frog will draw it back without trouble The same thing is found in several small Birds who Fly and hop in thick Trees and Bushes whose Thorns might easily put out their Eyes without an Horny substance wherewith they cover them We know that Men and the most part of four Footed Beasts and Birds have divers Muscles by means of which they turn their Eyes where they please according to the occasion they have for ' em Flies on the contrary have none but in recompense have on their Eyes which are convex enough a great number of little Eminences capable of receiving the Rays which come from all Parts These Inequalities are particularly observed in the Eyes of Flies which fly upon Flesh by making use of a good Microscope Altho' Bees and other great Flies have immoveable Eyes yet the same thing is not seen in them To these Remarks may be opposed That the Eyes of Men being the most perfect the Eyes of all Animals should resemble it Mr. Boyle answers to that first That since divers Organs of Animals are perfectly well disposed for the Uses for which they are destined we ought to believe at least that it may be the same with Organs whose Structure and Use are not well known to us Secondly we ought not to consider the Eye after an abstract manner and simply as the Instrument of Vision but as the Organ of a certain Animal to whom it ought to serve in certain Circumstances And this far from doing any wrong to the Creator of the Universe renders him on the contrary much Honour if we consider that in the infinite variety of Animals which he hath produced he hath given them such Eyes as were needful to preserve themselves in such places of the Earth as they live in and to nourish themselves after the manner that 's most natural to ' em Thus tho divers Beasts as Horses Oxen and some others have a seventh Muscle to turn their Eyes besides the six which they have common with Men we must not conclude that their Eyes are more perfect than those of Man or that they have any superfluous part For these Animals having their Head stooping to seek out the Forage they eat could not have their Eyes turn'd downwards so long to the ground without great Weariness if they had not this seventh Muscle which serves them for that purpose But Men having no need thereof such another Muscle would but trouble them On the contrary it ought not to be thought that Animals whose Eyes have not all that is observ'd in that of Men are destitute of any part that may be necessary for them Moles for Example have Eyes so little that it is commonly believ'd they have none although those who have made a Dissertation of them have found they had Eyes But being obliged to remain in
a Tempest of its Cannons which are plac'd very low which cannot be done in other Ships 3. When it is calm the Ship will go with Oars betwixt these two little ones beneath the Platform Besides the Oars which may be used without-Side as it happeneth every Day to others 4. Because this Ship will be equally proper to serve in War or Merchandise And as it will be lighter than others it is very useful to carry News to any Place that they have occasion to convey it to Relieve a Besieged Place or go to spy out the Enemy and even in Battle it will have many Advantages as easily may be imagined That which is the most feared in this Vessel is breaking asunder For in fine a considerable Space being betwixt the two Vessels whereof the Ship is composed it is feared the Waves which meet there with great Force will separate them But as this Objection was made as soon as the Structure of this Ship was proposed he that undertook it hath as he says taken such Care to provide against this Accident that he thinks it is the least thing to be feared And certainly if there is no secret Cause that retards its Course or renders its Navigation more perilous there is no apparent Reason which hinders the succeeding of the Enterprise In this Case a great many things must be changed in Naval Architecture which hath been hitherto observed And Wits will have Subject enough to exercise themselves in the Disquisition of the Causes of the Motion which will meet in the Agitation of this Ship An Extract of two Letters one written from London and the other from the Hague concerning the Vse of Pendulums to find out the Longitude upon the Sea BEfore I give the Extract of these two Letters we must say two or three Words of the Longitude in favour of those who are not well acquainted with these kinds of Subjects One of the greatest Philosophers of these latter Ages has observed That of all Arts Navigation is the most Perfect and that which can receive the least Addition Yet nevertheless there are many Defects observed in it The chief is That Pilots having lost sight of the Land and knowing not where they are run the hazard of loosing themselves for if the Compass and the height observed teach at what Distance they are from the North and South and that so the Latitude is easily distinguished yet no means could hitherto be invented by which the Longitude could be precisely known viz. what Distance one is from the East or West Nevertheless seeing it would be impossible to Navigate if there was not at least an imperfect Knowledge thereof Pilots are reduced to make a Journal from Hour to Hour to mark what Wind they have made use of and observe the Violence and Impetuosity of Currents through which they have passed Therefore they hold a very exact Register of these things and afterwards computing their Journals they judge by the Estimation of the Way which they have gone towards the East or West and thus they conjecture at what Distance they are from it But as this manner is very uncertain and that the best Pilots agree but very seldom in their Reckoning they often lose themselves in Places against Rocks which they think themselves very far from So that it may be judged of what consequence it would be to discover a certain Means to find out the Longitude seeing after that the Place may be precisely known in what part of the Sea soever one is and so we might Sail in great Security This is what Mr. Huggens hath found out by means of the Pendulum All the World knows its Exactness that it fails not one Moment And as soon as it appeared it was not doubted but it would serve to find out the Longitude provided a means could be invented of carrying it on the Sea without its losing any thing of the Regularity of its Motion For suppose this exactness it is certain that if in parting from the Port the Pendulum's adjusted to the Hour it is in the Port from which the Longitude and Latitude is known when one is on the Main Sea it will be easie to know by the Sun or the Stars the Hour of the Day at the Place where one is and in comparing this Hour with the Hour it was at the Port whence one parted as it is given by the Pendulum the Longitude will be found without Trouble For as it is known how many Degrees of Longitude the Sun makes in one Hour one may infallibly determine by the Difference of the Hours how far one is towards the East or West and then to judge by the Map of the Distance of the Place where one is from all the other Places which are marked in the Map An Extract of a Letter written from London January 1665. CAptain Holmes is at last arrived and the Relation he made us of the Experiment of the Pendulums makes us confident they will succeed He parted from the Isle of St. Thomas which is under the Line accompanied with four Vessels He was obliged to gain the Wind proper for his Return toward the West and to sail six hundred Leagues without changing his Road After which finding the Wind favourable he drew towards the Coasts of Africk directly to North-North-East But as he had made about four or five hundred Leagues upon this Rumb the Pilots of the three Ships which were under his Conduct fearing they should lack Water before they arrived at the Place intended proposed to him to go and take Water in at the Barbados Hereupon this Captain having assembled them and made them bring their Journals they found themselves distant in their Reckoning from his one eighty Leagues the other one hundred and the other one hundred and twenty for this Captain judged by the Pendulums that he was not much more than thirty Leagues from the Isle of Fuego which is one of those of the Green-Cape which these Pilots judged then to be very far off And because he had an entire Confidence in these Clocks he maintained that they should continue their Road and the next Day in the Morning the Isle appeared according to his Expectation An Extract of a Letter written from the Hague the fifth of February 1665. CAptain Holmes at his Return hath given such Relations concerning the Usefulness of Pendulums as surpassed my Expectation I did not imagine that the Clocks of this first Construction would succeed so well and I reserved my chief Hope for the New But seeing those have already been so successful and that the others are more exact I have the more reason to believe that the Invention of the Longitude will be in its utmost Perfection Nevertheless I shall inform you concerning what you desired to know of the manner wherewith the Gentlemen of the States received my Proposition when I asked them for the Priviledge of New Clocks and such a settled Price on the Invention in case of Success
the Earth it must fall not being able to keep up being pointed at the end like a Sugar-loaf and the wooden Bowl being rais'd up by the Water will make its Ring to disengage from the small Iron Spike and then it will ascend with such proportion of swiftness as I believe to be unknown Thus without other Artifice one may it seems do the same thing supposing the bottom was firm and that there should be no Vessel As for the other Invention of drawing Water from the bottom of the Sea it is so darkly expounded that it can scarcely be understood one must guess that there were Pails at the two Handles that they were moveable and made like a Spring But without all this ado I have done the same thing before now with a Brasen Pump of about a foot long which I let fall into the Sea with a Cord and which had the same effect as your Pail with its Lead and all its Apparel for the lower Pipes opened themselves in descending and shut themselves in ascending and brought up Water from the bottom of the Sea But I have always found this Water Salt for five or six Fathom deep having made no Experiment lower And certainly if Experience and good Physicks were consulted the Sea should be more Salt in the bottom than at the Surface seeing the Salt being more heavy than the Water it wou'd stay at the bottom and the lightest and sweetest wou'd always rise uppermost as we see by the Rain by Lembicks and by all sorts of Evaporations and I do not believe that one can doubt of this For the Authority of Iohn Hugh van Linschoten a Hollander which says in Chap. 6. of his Voyages that writ in his own Tongue not in English That in the Isle of Baharem which is in the Persian Gulph there is fresh Water found four or five Fathom below the Salt We shou'd doubt this to be Matter of Fact had it not been related by this Author For he knows it not by Experience and relates it by Hear-say as he doth many other false Things were it nothing but what he saith of the Tomb of Mahomet whom he pretends to be in a Coffin of Iron suspended in the Air by a Vault of Stones made of Loadstone which all the World knows to be false But tho' fresh Water shou'd be found at the bottom of the Sea near the Isle of Baharem four or five Fathom under the Salt Water it follows not that one should find it elsewhere For the cause related by Texeira in his Relation De los Reyes de Harmuz where he saith That the Isle of Baharem hath much Water whereof the best is that of certain Wells very deep in the midst of the Isle and that there are great Veins of pure and fresh Water which spring in the next Sea where the Divers go for it above three Fathoms or thereabouts and that they are of Opinion these Fountains were in times past in fiâ—m Ground pretty far from the Sea which hath since covered them So you see that it is a Fact altogether particular from which we ought to not conclude That under 4 or 5 Fathoms of Salt-Water there is commonly sweet Water found but only by such Causes or by the Springing up of some Rivers which are lost under Ground and come out into the Sea by Subterranean Chanels which are sometimes to be found An Extract of an English Iournal Communicated by Mr. Hook how to cause a Plano-convex Glass of a small Sphere to retort the Rays of the Sun upon a Focus of a greater distance than its Convexity requires TAKE two Glasses whereof the one is perfectly flat on both sides the other of one side only and Convex of the other of what Sphere soever so that the flat Glass may be a little larger than the other Afterwards take a Ring of Brass made very round in which you must cement these two so that their Superficies may be exactly parallel and the Convex side of the Planeconvex Glass may be turned inward yet without its touching the flat Superficies of the other Glass Being thus well cemented in the Ring all round pour into a little hole that must be at the brim of the Brass-ring some Oyl of Turpentine Spirit of Wine Salt and acid Liquors c. and having filled the empty Space which is betwixt the two Glasses stop this hole with a Vice and according to the different refraction of the Liquors put betwixt the two Glasses the Focus of this Prospective shall become either longer or shorter Mr. Hook adds That he wish'd he had examined a Tryal among several which may be made upon the possibility of making a Glass wrought in a little Sphere to serve a Prospective of a very great length tho' for fear of promising too much he ought to add That among the Spherick Objects those which are greatest and whose Matter hath a greater Refraction are the best It 's long since that Mr. Hook proposed to Mr. Azout this Problem to lengthen the Focus of Prospectives Mr. Azout gave them a general Solution of it for every length given by the disposition of a second Glass whose Figure he determined as may be seen in his Letters printed by I. Cusson and whereof mention was formerly made in the French Journals But Mr. Hook having inform'd him that the Invention which he had found was very different from what was before thought upon Mr. Picard very understanding in these sorts of Matters proposed about five Months ago the means of lengthning the Focus of Prospectives by Liquors after the same manner as hath been seen in the Journal of England Notwithstanding the Glory of this Invention is always due unto Mr. Hook who hath had the first Thought thereof It 's true there will not be much use drawn from it yet it is very Fine and Curious An Extract of a Letter written from Oxford May 12. 1666. by Mr. Wallis and inserted in the Iournal of England about a Visit to a dead Body struck with Thunder THERE was here a frightful Thunder the 10 of May wherewith two Scholars who were alone in a Boat without a Water-man were unhapily struck and cast out of the Boat into the Water One of them was killed out-right and tho' he was taken out of the Water where he scarcely stayed one Moment yet there appear'd no mark of Life Sense or Motion in him The other was very well yet fallen down in the Boat without being able any way to help himself and as immoveable as a Stake but there appeared no Wound in his Body and all the harm he had was that he remained so troubled in himself that he could not remember how he fell into the Water and whether it was the Thunder or some Lightning which was the cause He remained in this State the Night following and I know not what became of him since As for him who dyed as soon as he was drawn up we endeavoured to bring him to
it the best I could in the Night to my great Microscope and then to another that was less but I could not find any Light by the means of these Instruments neither in this Bit nor in any of the Drops of Water which shined before and which I had put into Glasses The tenth of May I examined a little Bit of this Fish with my great Telescope at the brightest Beams of the Sun which shined most of the preceeding Night but we remarked nothing considerable It s Surface seemed whitish and dry with deep Inequalities and the rest as well as I thought they saw a Vapor rather obscure than luminous which raised from this Fish after the manner of small Dust and small Sparkles which were almost imperceptible notwithstanding we are very certain of having seen them for we reckoned them and we all agreed in their Number their Order and their Place yet I am not so assured of this Vapour whereof I have spoken but that I am afraid the Light of the Sun deceived us and that this Vapour was the Dust of the Air. Having made Trial in the Day with a great Microscope upon this Bit we examined it at Night but it gave no more Light whether it was looked upon with Glasses or otherwise Seeing it was dry I thought that by wetting it with Spittle and handling it I could make it shine a little which also happened but this Lustre lasted not long and besides there were seen some small Sparkles which disappeared immediately We perceived them with our Eyes without making Use of Spectacles The Fishes as yet had no ill Smell and had not lost their Savour according to the Judgment even of the most delicate Palates therefore I caused two to be kept to make other Experiments two or three Days afterwards when they should begin to be corrupted hoping to find more Light therein but I found nothing of what I expected neither in stirring the Water nor in drawing out the Fishes An Extract of an English Iournal containing divers Experiments about Petrification THough there hath been already much written of the manner how Stones are formed notwithstanding we have not as yet a perfect History therefore the Curious ought to apply themselves to this matter to perfect it and to discover the Cause of this Transmutation for besides other Advantages which might be drawn from this Knowledg it would be of great Use to hinder a Stone from generating in Human Body or to dissolve it when it is formed To this End there has already been given in divers Places of the English Journal several Relations touching this Matter as the History of a Monstrous Calf which was found in the Belly of its Dam laid upon a great Stone which weighed more than twenty Pounds As also that a certain sandy Earth in England converts into a Stone such Wood as is put therein although there is no petrifying Spring in it There is also mention made of two Stones which were found in the left Ventricle of the Earl of Belcarras one of which was of the bigness of an Almond and the other was one Inch broad and two in length Mr. Boyle relates in his Essay of Firmness several such Histories upon which he makes very curious Reflections There are also several other Examples in the Micrography of Mr. Hook and in the Book of Helmont entituled De Lithiasi where among other things he relates what Pareus saith of a Child petrified that was to be seen formerly at Paris and which served for a Whetting Stone to him that kept it There might several other Histories be added still more surprizing if they were suspected as that of an entire Company of Men and of a Company of Beasts which according to the Relation of Aventius and Purchas were converted into a Stone and what Acosta speaks of a Company of Spanish Cavaliers to whom a like Accident happened Dr. Beale tells us upon this Subject That there was an Inspection about the Time of Easter into the Matrix of a Woman whence a Stone was drawn which she carried for eight or nine Years with unsufferable Torments of which she was since entirely well cured He assures That he hath seen the Stone and that having then weighed it in excellent Ballances he found it weighed near four Ounces but that its Weight is since a great deal diminished and is become very Light for a Stone of the Bigness He adds That it is of a whitish Colour a little clearer than that of Ashes He believes it is not much different from that which Scaliger speaketh of and after him Mr. Boyle in his Essay of Firmness which being exposed to the Air became like Plaister as much in Consistence as Colour It hath no considerable unevennesses and its Figure is almost Oval but one of the Ends is not so much like a Hen's Egg as the other which is bigger and more obtuse than that of a Goose-Egg This Stone is now given to the Royal Society with the Certificate of the Chirurgeon who made the Operation and of several credible Persons who were present thereat Micrographia or some Philosophical Descriptions of minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Enquiries thereupon by R. Hook Fellow of the Royal Society in Fol. Lond. ONE of the greatest Obstacles which is in the Progress of Natural Science is that the Ancients being entirely taken up to perfect Reason have neglected the Knowledg of the Senses having rather chosen to guess the most part of things than to see them Notwithstanding as the Soul knoweth nothing but by the Interposition of the Organs of the Body the Operations of the Senses serve not less to acquire a perfect Knowledg of Nature than those of the Mind and they are even more necessary that the Wisdom of God being infinitly above the Reach of our Imagination it is more easie to know what it hath done than to imagine what he hath been willing to make To remedy this Defect the Moderns having endeavoured to perfect the Operation of the Senses particularly that of Sight which is the most necessary of all as it is the noblest have invented two kinds of Glasses the Telescope to draw near the Objects which are invisible because of their Distance and the Microscope to magnifie those which are imperceptible because of their Smalness And with these two Instruments they have discovered more things in a few Years than the Ancients had done with all their Reasons for the Course of many Ages By this means all Nature has appeared New unto us For the Telescope hath shewed us in the Firmament new Motions new Stars and new Meteors And the Microscope hath discovered unto us upon the Earth a little World altogether new and hath made us perceive in each thing an infinity of small Creatures which are not less admirable than all those which have been known hitherto The Ingenious Mr. Hook having made several curious Observations with both the one and the other of these
Post-Talmudical Rabbies It is therefore of the greatest moment to discover the improbability and absurdity of this Novel Opinion which so directly tends to the Overthrow of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures And though some of the Patrons of it do not themselves reject the Bible yet they well know others of them do on this Account So that we must defend the Divine Original of the Points as we desire to maintain the Divine Authority of the Bible And so much for the weight and moment of the Matter in controversie Secondly As to the seasonableness of debating this Controversie at this time there are Six Circumstances that in Conjunction attending it do render it seasonable The First is the Place of it that it is brougâ—t home to our own door We concern not our selves with the Controversies of Foreign Countreys but our own Nation is the Stage where this Opinion of the Novelty of the Points hath been more publickly espoused than would have been suffered in any other Protestant State And therefore Secondly It doth not creep in corners as in other places but hath received the publick Approbation of the Nation so far as to be solemnly espoused in the English Polyglott Bible Wherein Thirdly We have not faint Motions of it but powerful and mighty Efforts by the most Learned among them And this Fourthly is attended with answerable success the generality of the springing Youth embracing it And Fifthly Yet not content with this Victory Success and Credit in England the Patrons of it have of late put forth their greatest strength afresh for the promoting of their Cause in the Vindiciae of Ludovicus Capellus lately published in Answer to Buxtorf de Origine Punctorum And Sixthly Notwithstanding this Opposition to the Truth by the great Champion for the Novelty of the Points and its suitable Success yet there has been no Answer returned to this Treatise as yet that we hear of And it is fit it should be Answered lest this Vindiciae do as much mischief as the former Treatise entituled Arcanum Punctationis Revelatum whereof this last is a Defence that being justly accountable for the Success this Opinion hath had in England as by a brief Narrative of the Rise Progress and Issue of this Controversie amongst us will appear Which in short is this One Elius Lovita a learned Grammaâ—ian and Iew about the beginning of the Reformation fell upon this Conceit That certain Jews 〈◊〉 Tiberias A. D. 500. placed the Points as they had received them by Oral Tradition This he defendeth in his Masoret Hammasoret Preface 3 d. But herein he is contrary to all the Jews either in his time or before or after him And therefore he was answered by them as in particular by R. Sam. Areâ—â—olti in his Arugath Habbosem c. 26. And also by F. Azarias in his Meor Enaim in Imre Birtah cap. 59. And out of the Rabbins by Buxtorfius the Elder in his Thesaurus Grammaticus Print ed in 1609. And in his Tiberias 1620. Thus amongst the Jews the Errour ended where it began even in Elias himself none being left of his Opinion amongst them But it will not so end with Christians several Reformers whether moved by the Authority of Elias the famous Doctor and Master of the Hebrew Tongue of their time or else it may be at first not well examining of it embraced it This Advantage the Papists lay hold on with both Hands for they find their Accounts in it and improve it accordingâ—y Amongst Protestants Ludovicus Capellus becomes the main and greatest Champion for the Novelty of the Points and ex professo defends the same in his Treatise entituled Arcanum Punctationis Revelatum published by Erpenius the Author for some Reasons concealing his own Name at the first This Book was fully Answered and the Truth amply defended by Buxtorf the Younger in his Treatise entituled De Punctorum Origine Antiquitate published A. D. 1648. But at length in the Prolegomena to the Biblia Polyglotta we have this Opinion of Capellus which did but slily creep before publickly owned by Dr. Walton the Compiler of that Bible and defended with Capellus's Arguments whereby Capellus is deservedly answerable for the Success of this Opinion by its Station in the Polyglott Bible upon his Shoulders Hereupon Dr. I. O. writes some Considerations on the Prolegomena aforesaid and by the way Answers the Heads of Arguments brought for the Novelty of the Points But hereunto Dr. Walton returns a Reply entituled The Considerator Considered A. D. 1659. But in the Year 1661. Dr. I. O. in his Treatise De Natura Theologiae doth concisely defend his Opinion of the Divine Original of the Points The like doth Mr. William Cooper defend the Antiquity of the Points in his Domus Masaicae Clavis 1673 And so doth Wasmuth in his Vindiciae S. Hebraeae Scripturae 1664. And thus stood the Cause for some time until now at last Ludovicus Capellus his Vindiciae comes out in Answer to Buxtorf's Treatise De Origine Punctorum as also his former Treatise Arcanum Punctationis Revelatum is reprinted with it together with other Critical Discourses in a large Folio published A. D. 1689. and dedicated to the then Archbishop of Canterbury the rest of the Bishops and all the Clergy of the Church of England By which Dedication is made as bold a Challenge and earnest Invitation to the Defence of the Truth in Controversie as could well he made and together with the foregoing Considerations render it seasonable at this time as the weight and moment of the Subject do make the present Defence thereof necessary Thirdly As to the Method of the ensuing Discourse we have divided the same into Two Parts In the First Part we examine the Evidences for the Opinion that the Points were invented A. D. 500. Or since that time by the Masorites of Tiberias or Others and discover the Improbability thereof In the Second Part we Prove and Maintain the Antiquity and Divine Original of the Shapes of the Points Vowels and Accents against the Cavils and Objections of Capellus and Others But the First of the Two is what we begin withall for several Reasons First Because we are in Possession of the present Punctation as being of Divine Original and have peaceably enjoyed it in all Ages to this time all Translations amongst us being taken out of it 'T is our Inheritance and therefore unfit to call the Antiquity of the Points into question until we first see sufficient Evidence or at least great Probality that they were a Novel Invention Which if of so late date may be more easily proved than what was a Thousand Years before that time And the Rejecting or Answering of the Arguments for their Novel Invention is a Proof of their Antiquity and Divine Original for the Points were placed either since A. D. 500. or between the time of Ezra and A. D. 500. or else by the time of Ezra But we shall here prove in the First place
not Hebrew And as to the Opinion of many Modern Divines both Papist and Protestant about the Novelty of the Points there is no cause to wonder at it For 1. For the Papists 't is their great Interest to have the Bible rendred unmeet to be a perfect Rule of Faith that some necessity thereby might be supposed for the Infallibility of their Pope and 't is no marvel if they embrace this Advantage And as to Protestants 't is known the Authority of Elias the Great if not Only Master of the Hebrew Tongue of their time was very greatly esteemed among them And how easie is it for so great a Master to instill his own Notions into the Minds of those that depend upon his Instruction He lived with Paulus Eligius for some time and when some few Eminent Men among the Christians are at first infected with such an Opinion not at first it may be well considering the Consequences that do attend it jow readily do Others who esteem them for Leaders in that kind of Learning follow them without duly examining the Merits of the Cause as is the practice of most Scholars that do not penetrate very far into a particular part of Learning to embrace the common Notions about it without examining of the them But moreover whilst these very Divines themselves together with all Christian States Nations and Churches do follow the Hebrew Bible as it is at present Pointed and publickly embrace those Translations of the Bible into the Vulgar Tongue of each Nation as are taken either from the Original Hebrew Bible as it is Pointed or from those Translations that are so translated or pretended so to be which is the present state of Affairs throughout Christendom We have an ample full and sufficient Testimony of all Christian States Churches and People Learned and Unlearned for the Antiquity and Divine Authority of the Points For though some Protestant Divines deny the Antiquity of the Shapes they all own the Divine Authority of the Sounds of the Points and thereby follow the Punctation But the generality of Protestants own the Antiquity of the Shapes as well as the Sounds of the Points And that this is the publick professed Opinion of all or most of the Protestant Universities Colledges Doctors of Divinity and Professors of the Hebrew Tongue in most of the Protestant States and Churches beyond Sea is proved by a large Collection of their several Suffrages and Judgments about the Antiquity of the Points lately delivered and Printed by Matthias Wasmuth in the end of his Treatise entituled Vindiciae Hebraeae Scripterae c. adversus Impia Imperita multorum prejudicia imprimis contra Capelli Vossii F. Waltoni Autoris Operis Anglicani Polyglotton Assertiones falsissimas pariter as pernitiosas So that we have herein the full and ample Testimony of the Christian States and Churches of all Ages and Places as well as of all the Jews for the Antiquity of the Points § 3. Now the strength of this Argument lyes in this That the Hebrew Bible as it is Pointed is become the peaceable Possession Treasure and Inheritance of the Church and People of God by Prescription It hath always in all Ages been enjoyed and under the Conduct and Guidance of it they have safely arrived at Glory when all others wandered in darkness who have been totally without it or some Translations taken from it or from those that were so taken as is the LXX the Syriack Vulgar Latine and all others only some more and some less truly and exactly Hereupon we have sufficient ground to acquiesce in it and all that can be desired of us is That when any accuse it of being a Novelty we fairly examine what Evidence they can produce to prove their Charge This we have done at large in the FIRST PART and shewed the Accusations and Charges brought in against the Antiquity of the Points are all False altogether Improbable in every respect and on several accounts Impossible That all the Evidence is totally silent in what it is brought to testifie and witnesseth to the quite contrary of what 't is brought to prove declaring the Antiquity instead of the Novelty of the Points So that hereby the Antiquity of the Points appears with the greater lustre having passed the Fire of Tryal and Examination Nay Dr. Walton himself confesseth Considerator Considered pag. 208. the Text was generally so read by the Christian Church as it is now as appears both by the Hebrew Copies among them and by the Comments and Expositions and Translations of the ancient Writers of the Church And indeed our Debate is not with any Protestants about the Divine Authority of the Punctation directly for they universally own it even those who suppose that the Shapes of the Points were first invented by the Masorites of Tiberias A. D. 500. The Hebrew Bible as it is Pointed is enjoyed and owned by all Jews universally even Elias Levita himself and by all Christians too a few Papists only excepted to be the only Standard whereby all Translations and Doctrins are to be tried unless what Capellus and Vossius hold to the contrary And we have already proved in the Prooemium and in Chap. 8. of the First Part and elsewhere That the Opinion of those who suppose the Shapes of the Points to be first invented A. D. 500. by the Masorites is utterly inconsistent with their own Opinion of the Antiquity and Divine Authority of the Sound and Force of the Points it being impossible to preserve the true Sound until that time without the Shapes of them So that we must either reject the Punctation and then we have neither Standard nor Bible left us or else we must own the Antiquity of the Shapes as well as the Sounds of the Points Vowels and Accents as all the Jews and the generality of Christians acknowledge And so much for the Testimony of Jews and Christians for the Antiquity of the Points together with Answers to the several Objections that are made thereunto The Second Part of the Second Part of this Discourse WHEREIN The Reasons of Jews and Christians for the Antiquity of the Points are Stated and the Objections against them Answered CHAP. IV. §. 1. The First Reason for the Antiquity of the Points stated and maintained That the Vowels are oft expressed in the Bible by the Punctation only and yet are so essential to Speech that all Languages are constrained to express them in one shape or other §. 2. The Objection That the Bible may be read without Points because the Rabbininical Commentaries the Mishna the Talmuds and the Oriental Tongues may be so read and the Greek without Accents Answered The Bible oft expresseth the Vowels only by the Points which the Rabbins and other Tongues express by the Vowel Letters §. 3. As is evinced by several Instances §. 4. And the Argument thereby proved § 1. WE proceed in the next place to Artificial Arguments or Reasons And these are of Two
Condemning through Passion or Prejudice those who are not of his Religion for he takes the part of the Jews against the number of Ancient and Modern Christian Doctors who have accus'd him of corrupting the Texts of the Bible A List of these Accusers may be seen in the Exercitationes Biblicae of Father Morin cap. 2 3 And in the Treatise Leon de Castre a Spanish Divine upon the Translations of the Bible which he hath placed before his Commentaries on the Bible Mr. Vossius is of this Opinion I mean he speaks very much against the Jews as if they had maliciously altered the Hebrew Text through a hatred to the Christian Religion But the Author thinks himself oblig'd to do them more Justice he maintains that the Fathers of the Church complain not so much of the Alterations of the Text as of the bad Interpretations that the Jews give to the Words of the Scripture or of the Version of Aquilla of Theodocian and Semachus that the Jews were accustom'd to oppose to that of the Seventy Interpreters He proves his Pretension by the same Passages of the Fathers as Leon de Castre and Father Morin have cited in this he hath almost copied the other word for word He adds That in Matter of Criticisms the Authority of the Fathers is nothing near of so great a consequence as in Matters of Faith And says very plainly That many among them did not understand the Hebrew Tongue enough to be able to judge whether the Jews had falsified the Original of the Old Testament or not He answers to the Passages of Origin and St. Ierom and tells us we should judge of their Genius and manner of Writing He also refutes the Reasons of Mr. Vossius and shews among other things that the Testimony of Iustin Martyr is not very considerable in this Point both because he did not understand Hebrew and because he was often abused in Matter of Fact which destroys the Proof which they would bring for his Testimony after this manner That he would have been sacrific'd to publick Ridicule if he had accus'd the Iews of a Crime whereof they were not guilty The Author believes therefore that the Jews did not alter the Scripture upon any Deliberation or through Malice to the Christians but that the Defects which were found in their Copies ought to be imputed to the same Causes which have produc'd so much difference between the Manuscripts of the Greek and Roman Authors He referrs to the Treatise of Scioppius de Arte Critica and shows by a passage of the Book that Leo Allatius compos'd against the pretended Antiquities of the Hetruria of Inghiramimus how easie it was for the Copiests to take one Letter for another and by this means alter the sence of an Author such an Instance there is in a Book where if they had put Orbis instead of Vrbis it wou'd have been the Cause of many New Opinions or many Learned Dissertations and of many Difficulties that would have made the Learned Doctors sweat There are some Copiests who not taking sufficient Care of any one Letter create a thousand Disputes to the succeeding Ages of whom it may be properly said They prepar'd Scourges for Posterity The Author relates an Example of some Errors that Copiests have Committed It was believed for many Ages that Dagobert King of France forc'd a Nun from her Cloyster to marry him but Father Sermon and young Mounsieur Vellois and some others having found in the old Manuscripts of Fredigair Nantechildem unam ex puellis DE MINISTERIO accipiens Reginam sublimavit whereas these words were ill quoted by Aimoion Nanthildem unam ex puellis DE MONASTERIO in matrimonium accipiens sublimavit have sav'd the Reputation of this Prince upon a Fact sufficiently scandalous which was much spoken of by Authors As to the rest the Author maintains those cannot be accus'd of a malicious deprivation which take a Passage in the sence that is most favourable to 'em when the words are equivocal We owe to our selves this Justice as we are Christians of not accusing our selves of falsifying the Scriptures when we explain it to our advantage in places where what precedes and what follows does not necessarily determine us to the sense which is against us What the Author says afterwards about the Samaritan Bible which only comprehended the five Books of Moses because when they separated themselves from the Jews they had then only publish'd this part of the Scriprure that I say and what he adds of the Learning of the same Samaritans and of the Paraphrases of the Bible is very Curious they had Paraphrases in Chaldaick Greek and Arabick according as those Languages became common among 'em for as in the Synagogues the Law was alwayes read in Hebrew both among the Samaritans as well as among the Iews so it was necessary to have a Paraphrase of the Scripture in another Language when the Hebrew was only among the Learned from whence he concludes contrary to the Paradoxes of Mr. Mallet that Moses compos'd the Scripture in a vulgar Tongue and makes the same remarks upon the Paraphrases of the Jews to wit that they were a remedy against the Ignorance of the Hebrew Tongues the most ancient of the Chaldaicks among whom he principally esteems those of Ionathan and Avonculus there are others in Arabick Persian in the modern Greek and in Spanish this was first Printed at Ferrara in the Year 1553. and elsewhere in the Year 1630. The Author believes that the Jews of Alexandria made use of the LXX for the same reason that produc'd the Paraphrases to wit because they did not understand Hebrew and because the Greek Tongue was become their proper Language He nevertheless speaks of this Version but in treating of that which is made use of by the Christians He remarks that the Fathers have said almost nothing of this Version which was borrow'd from a Roman falsly a Tributary to Aristeus and he imagines that the Reasons why they call'd it the Version of the LXX was because 't was undertaken by the Order of the great Sanhedrim and approv'd by the seventy two Senators which Compos'd it or because the Jews being willing to reconcile it with greater Authority they attributed it to this Honourable Senate as they did many other things which is no impediment adds he but that a Version as ancient as that and as much honoured by the Apostles ought to be considerable We are only to shun the excess of those who by the Example of Mr. Vossius acknowledge not the other to be authentick or such as prefer it to the Hebrew Text Masius and Eugubinus are not of this Number for they have spoken of this Work with much Contempt Eugubinus observes many Faults in it but sometimes his Censures are not over just St. Ierom is as much deceiv'd sometimes in Criticizing upon the LXX as Piersorius hath show'd in the Preface to the Version Printed at Cambridge An. Dom.
hath Entituled thus because of the variety of the Matters which he treats of therein He sheweth there the Conformity amongst divers Opinions of Pagan Philosophers and those of the Jews and Christians he censureth the Errors of Pagan Philosophy he Maintains and Expounds Christianity he refutes Hereticks and manages every thing with much Learning But he scarcely observes any Order as he confesseth himself at the end of the Seventh Book He goeth from one thing to another without forming any draught of what he is to say and without having any other design but to gather all that he had learned by Study and Meditation upon the Subjects which came into his Head His Stile in this last Work is harder than that of the two preceding where notwithstanding there is more Affectation than Elegance and Neatness He pretends that he had a Reason for so doing But there are two great Inconveniencies in this Method the first is that the want of Order causes that Men are not only ignorant of the force of the most solid Proofs but also makes the Author too guilty of great Tautology and heap up an infinity of Arguments which conclude nothing The Second is that the negligence of the Stile often renders ones meaning unintelligible for it is not Elegance only which is a want but Perspicuity it self cannot be found in it And any affected Obscurity in hard Matters such as Clement treateth of is by so much the more to be blamed as it is not very intelligible in matters which are more clear in their own Nature though we neatly express them As we ought to speak only to be understood there is nothing that can excuse an Author for not speaking clearly but an absolute weakness of better expressing himself and in effect we find our selves naturally inclined to believe that those whose Stile is obscure have not a clear Mind and that they speak thus only because they do not more clearly conceive the things they treat of It is true we may censure the affected Ornaments of a sought Eloquence but Clearness cannot be reckoned amongst these Ornaments We must confess that there are very few Fathers in whose Writings the same thing may not be observed which is in Clement The greatest part in excusing their not being Eloquent strive as much as they can to appear so after their manner as may be seen by a thousand Tracts and Metaphorical Expressions which are not very natural wherewith their Writings are full there being but a few who have thought that the greatest Care which a Writer ought to take is to produce in the Mind of his Reader clear Ideas of what he saith making use of proper terms and such as cannot be equivocal There is besides an Homily of Clement Entituled Who is the Rich that is Saved It was Printed in Greek and Latin by Combefis at Paris 1672. and at Oxford in 1683. with divers other Greek and Latin Fragments Those who had the Care of the German Edition whereof we have read the Title were to blame for not joyning it to the other Works of St. Clement which would have rendred their Edition Commendable which without that is scarcely so as those who make use of it will find We have been contented to follow the Edition of Paris of 1641 without adding any thing whatever to it excepting new Faults At the end of the Volume is found an Abridgment of the Doctrin of Theodotus and of the Doctrin which was called Easter in the time of Valentinus They are nothing scarcely but Interpretations upon Holy Writ which 't is thought have been drawn from the eight Books of the Hypotyposes of Clement of Alexandria as we have already remarked Eusebius teacheth us that he had interpreted Scripture in an Abridgment of this Work without admitting saith he the contested Writings as the Epistle of St. Jude and other Catholicks the Epistle of St. Barnaby the Apocalypse of St. Peter and the Epistle to the Hebrews which he assureth to be St. Paul 's c. Photius who had seen this Work witnesseth that the design also was to Expound Scripture but he accuseth the Author of upholding that Matter is Eternal That the different Forms which it receiveth are sent to it by virtue of I know not what Decrees that the Son is of the number of created things that there were several Worlds before Adam that Eve was formed out of him after an other manner than Scripture saith that Angels having had concern with Women had Children by them that Reason was not made Flesh though it seemed so to Men that there are two Reasons of the Father the least of which hath appeared to Men and was made Flesh. If we had these Books we might perhaps know more clearly that these are but some Platonick Tenets some of which Photius has ill understood because of the Equivocation of the Terms and others did not pass in Clement's time for Impieties as they have since Systems of Divinity were formed amongst Christians In the first Ages where none were followed in Schools and nothing was Expounded to young People as at this time every one plaid the Philosoper as well as he could upon the matters of Speculation and expounded the Speculative Tenets according to the Philosophy he had learned Excepting some Sentiments which for the noise they had made or for some other Reasons had been condemn'd by the Bishops their Opinions were so extremely free If any doubt of it he might be convinced thereof by the strange Opinions which some amongst the Fathers had who are put in the number of the Orthodox and who have not been reprehended in their time We may find divers Examples hereof in the 4 th Chap. in the Book of Dailleus of the Use of the Fathers which in spight of the Panegyrists of Antiquity will be always look'd upon by those who know it as a good Book Such is for Example the Opinion of St. Hilary who believ'd that Jesus Christ felt no grief whilst his Body was torn But Photius suspects that Hereticks have corrupted the Works of Clement and Ruffinus had the same thought as appears by his Apology for Origen which is in the Fourth Tome of the Works of St. Ierom. Yet if there was only what Photius cites there would be no reason to believe that there was a great Corruption though it cannot absolutely be denied The Reason of this whatever this Learned Patriarch saith of it is that these same Sentiments well understood are found in the other Works of Clement and are conformable to the Principles which he followeth every where 1. He approves very clearly of the Opinion of Heraclitus who believed that the Matter of the World is Eternal and even shews that he had an Esteem for him because he distinguished the Matter of the World from its Form the first whereof is unmoveable and the second subject to change As to the Reasons for which the Matter receives certain Forms Photius knew no more of them than
retake that Shield which by their Apostacy they lost that so they may be armed not against the Church which grieves at their Misery but against their Adversary the Devil a modest Petition a bashful Supplication a necessary Humility and an Industrious Patience will be advantageous to them let them express their Grief by their Tears and their Sorrow and Shame for their Crimes by their Groans Ep. 31. ap Cypr. Tertullian in a like manner describes one in this State by lying in Sackcloth and Ashes by having a squalid Body and a dejected Soul by Fasting Praying Weeping Groaning and roaring night and day by throwing himself at the Clergies feet and kneeling before the Faithful begging and desiring their Prayers and Pardon If the Criminals Repentance was thought real he was admitted to part of the Service but not to all for a long time some two three five ten Years and some even to their Lives end On the day appointed for Absolution â—he came cover'd with Sackcloth and Ashes throwing himself at the Feet of the Clergy and Laity and with Tears in his Eyes begging their Pardon and Forgiveness confest his Fault and received Absolution by the Bishops putting his hand upon his Head and blessing him and then he was looked upon as a true Church-Member again 8. In the Eighth Chap. he comes to shew the Independency that Churches had one of another as to Superiority or Preheminence which concludes very strongly against the Usurpations of the See of Rome he Cites the Decree of the African Synod Apud Cyp. Ep. 55. § 16. Pag. 142. That every ones Cause should be heard where the Crime was committed because that to every Pastor was committed a particular Portion of Christ's Flock which he was particularly to rule and govern and to render an Account thereof unto the Lord. Yet he shews there was such a Dependence and Correspondence betwixt one another Cypr. Ep. 67. § 6. Pag. 199. Although they were many Pastors yet they were but one Flock and they ought to congregate and cherish all the Sheep which Christ redeemed by his own Blood and Passion And a little after We ought all of us to take care of the Body of the whole Church whose Members are distended through various Provinces Apud Cypr. Ep. 30. § 4. Pag. 67. Our Auâ—hor treats next of Provincial Synods which he proves were a Convocation of Bishops Presbyters Deacons and deputed Laimen who often met to advise about Eccâ—esiastical Affairs and reguâ—ate what should appear amiss He shews that this Convocation was usually every Year Per singulos annos in unum Conveniamus Apud Cyprian Ep. 75. § 3. Pag. 23â— In these Assemblies they chose out of the gravest and most renowned Bishops two to be Arbitrators and Moderators Apud Euseb Lib 5. Cap. 23. Pag. â—90 The Decrees that they made were binding and who ever broke them came under the Ecclesiastick Censure 9. In the Ninth Chap. our Author treats of the Unity of the Church Here he shews that the Unity of the Church consisted not in an Uniformity of Rites and Usages but every Church was at its own liberty to follow its own particular Customs Iren. apud Euseb. Lib. 5. Cap. 24. P. 193. In some Churches they fasted one day in others two in some more and in others forty hours but yet they still retained Peace and Concord the diversity of their commending the Unity of their Faith And a little after the same Father They retained Peace and Love and for the diversity of such Customs none were ever cast out of the Communion of the Church Also Firmilius apud Cyprian Ep. 75. § 5. Pag. 237. That in most Provinces their Rites were varied according to the Diversities of Names and Places and that for this no one ever departed from the Peace and Unity of the Catholick Church 'T would be well if this Primitive Union was well considered on by such as keep up the Dissentions amongst us at this day they will certainly have a severe Account to make one day to the Prince of Peace nor will their Ignorance excuse them in not making a due distinction betwixt the Fundamentals of Religion and mere Circumstances Our Author proceeds to shew what condescentions there were amongst them from Iustin Martyr who speaking of those Jewish Converts who adhered to the Mosaical Rites says That if they did this only through their Weakness and Imbecillity and did not perswade other Christians to the observance of the same Iudaical Customs that he would receive them into Church-fellowship and Communion Dialog cum Tryphon Pag. 266. After this our Author shews how the whole Churches censur'd such as were Authors of Divisions about the different Observation of Easter Baptizing Hereticks c. and afterwards he brings in Irenaeus saying That at the last day Christ shall judge those who cause Schisms who are inhuman not having the fear of God but preferring their own advantage before the Unity of the Church who for trivial and slight Causes rend and divide the great and glorious Body of Christ and as much as in them lies destroy it who speak Peace but make War truly straining at a Gnat but swallowing a Camel Lib. 4. Cap. 62. Pag. 292. Here our Authors defines Schism according to the Primitive Fathers to be an unnecessary causeless Separation from their lawful Pastor or Parish Church So that who ever separates upon such a Ground is a Schismatick then he comes to lay down such measures as the Primitive Christians did make use of for Separation from their Bishop 1 Apostacy from the Faith 2 Or when a Bishop renounc'd the Christian Faith and through fear of Persecution embrac'd the Heathenish Idolatries as was done in the Case of Martialis and Basilides two Spanish Bishops 3 ly When the Bishops Life was scandalous and wicked he gives Instances of all of them yet he brings in Origen against this last Opinion his words are these Origen Hom. 7. in Ezek. He that hath a care of his Soul will not be scandaliz'd at my Faults who am his Bishop but considering my Doctrin and finding it agreeable to the Churches Faith from me indeed he will be averse but he will receive my Doctrin according to the Precept of the Lord which saith The Scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses his Chair whatever therefore they say unto you hear and do but according to their Work do not for they say and do not The Scripture is of me who teach what is good and do the contrary and sit upon the Chair of Moses as a Scribe or Pharisee the Precept is to thee O People if thou canst not accuse me of false Doctrin or Heretical Opinions but only beholdest my wicked and sinful Life but do those things which I speak After having mentioned this Father's Opinion he adds that whether Irenaeus or an African Synod or Origen deserves most Credit he leaves it to the Learned to judge but however our Author gives his own Opinion that they
Term Consubstantial when as they freely acknowledg'd the Divinity of the Son of God He approved not of the Disputes at that time upon the Subject of the Hypostasis because he look'd upon those that received Three into the Trinity and those that admitted but of one to be of the same Opinion and only to differ in the manner of Expressing St. Basil was not so moderate for accoding to his Opinion those were Sabellians that said the Father and Son were two in Thought and one in Substance The Demi-Arians or Homoiousians that was those that would not acknowledge that the Son was Consubstantial with the Father and that said nevertheless that he was like him in all things c. the same in Substance were no more Hereticks than those that maintan'd the Three Hypostases in the Judgment of St. Basil St. Hilary of Poictiers of Philaster and even of Saint Athanasius who confesses in his Book of the Synods that Basil of Ancyra and those of his Party differed from those who made a Profession of Consubstantiality as to the name only Some of these Demi Arians are placed in the number of Saints in divers Martyrologies as Euseb. of Caesarea and Euseb. of Emissa and Pope Liberius also being a Catholick receiv'd them into his Communion St. Hilary of Poictiers although a great Defender of the Nicene Faith was not free from Error for to Answer to the Objections that the Arians drew from such passages of Scripture as proved that Jesus Christ was subject to fear sorrow and grief he fell into such an Opinion as made the Humanity of our Saviour a Fantom he maintained that Jesus Christ sustained not really either Fear or Grief but that these Passions were only represented in him To explain what the Son of God says of himself That he was ignorant of the day of Iudgment Mark 13. He says it ought not to be understood in the Letter as if Jesus Christ had been effectively ignorant of this Day but in this Sense that he knew it not to discover it to Man He had an other very very particular Error that he advanced in the Twentieth Canon upon St. Matthew that Moses and Elias should come with Jesus Christ near the time of Iudgment and that they should be put to death by Antichrist contrary to the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews for he says that Jesus Christ being rais'd from death shall dye no more He was of the Opinion also that Predestination was subsequent to Merit and that the Divinity of Jesus Christ was separated from his Humanity in the time of his death As to the rest the Roman Catholicks which complain that some Protestant Refugees have spoken too freely of those that have deprived them of their Goods and reduced them to the utmost Misery may read what St. Hilary says of Constantius That neither he nor the Bishops of his time received the thousandth part of the evil Treatments that the Reformed have suffered Mr. du Pin thinks the Errors of Optatus of Milan small and pardonable although he believed that Hereticks ought to be Rebaptized and seems to give Free-Will the Power not only of willing and beginning a good Action but also of advancing in the way of Salvation without the Assistance of the Grace of Jesus Christ. He approves not however of the Allegorical manner whereby this Bishop explains many Passages of Scripture giving them a very distant sense from what they naturally have and applying them to such things as they have no Relation to This defect says our Author that might be suffered in a Sermon appears intolerable in a Treatise of Controversie where all the Proofs ought to be strong and convincing But Optatus had to do with Enemies that did the same and who abused Passages of Scripture to injure the Church and give Praises to their own Sect. After having complain'd of the loss of Apollinarius's Works the most Learned of all the Christians Authors in Humanity this Loss is attributed to his Errors or rather the Zeal of the Catholicks which have had such an Horror to the Books of Hereticks that they have not even preserv'd those that regarded not their Heresie and that might have been useful to the Church Wherefore continues du Pin we have almost no Books of the Ancient Hereticks remaining Many Men believe that the Disputes with the Heterodox have been the Cause of the Catholicks inventing Solutions which have afterwards pass'd into Opinions such is the Doctrin of the Infallibility of the Church which was not regarded till towards Luther's time Some in this Rank place Original Sin which begun in the Seventh Age to be more acknowledg'd than before according to Mr. du Pin. They speak also more of Grace than they did in the preceding Ages and notwithstanding much was always attributed to Free Will It 's surprising that Titus of Bostres whose Arguments are solid and subtil had not recourse in his Treatise against the Manicheans to Original Sin which he might have made use of as a general Solution to almost all their Difficulties For we may easily apprehend why Man is inclined to evil why he suffers why he is subject to hunger to grief sickness miseries and to death it self where once we have admitted Original Sin Neither doth this Author speak of the Grace of Iesus Christ and he seems to have supposed that Man can of himself as well do good as evil The Disciples of St. Augustin will not find Dydimuss of Alexandria much more Orthodox since he maintains that Predestination is nothing else but the Choice which God hath made of those that he foresaw would believe in Jesus Christ and would Act according to it He likewise believed with his Master Origen that the Incarnation of the Son of God was beneficial to Angels as well as to Men and that it took away the Guilt of their Transgressions As to the Sentiment of the Eternity of Spirits he speaks on 't without condemning or approving it In Truth it would be absurd and impious to fix Eternity to any other Being than God if by this word was understood an Absolute Eternity or Existence by it self but if we suppose that the Souls of Men were Spirits created a long time since which have offended God and which he sends into mortal Bodies there to do Penance for their Faults this Hypothesis perhaps would be instrumental to discover many Difficulties in Divinity which have hitherto appeared Unexplicable All the World hath heard of the Catechumens of the Ancient Church that few well know what they were 1. When an Infidel presented himself to be admitted into the number of Christians they begun to instruct him in private but he was not suffered to enter into the Church nor to assist at publick Exhortations 2. Afterward when he was believed to be well undeceived of his old Errors he was permitted to go to the Church but only to hear Sermons
Hazard will make no answer at all both because the Judgment of many Lawyers and Divines determined it beneath him and because he sees his Adversaries abhorred by the Catholicks and even refuted by the Hereticks to prove which he alledges what we said of the First Factum and makes Observations thereon which are not so just as those that are made here of his two Letters the two Articles of our Nouvelles which concern the First Factum are inserted in these Factums and may be well enough understood by the Reader without our Commentary If Father Hazard imitated M. Arnaud he would fairly have shewn the model of Retractation which was propos'd to him for Mr. Arnaud understanding that Mr. Southwell an English Protestant had complained how unjustly he had been dealt with in the Apology of the Catholicks upon the account of Coleman's Tryal presently offered him any fitting satisfaction and as soon as he had seen the proofs of Mr. Southwell's Innocency he writ to him in the most honest and obliging way in the World for the reparation of his Honour and that the matter might become publick he desired one of his Friends to print all that passed in clearing this matter It was done according to his Wishes since a second addition has been Printed for the first part of the Apology of the Catholicks in which addition are the Letters about M. Arnaud writ upon this Subject those which M. Southwell has answered and what justifies the innocence of this last This will not be the least glorious action in the Life of M. Arnaud when the History is finished The Life of Gaius Clinius Mecenas Written by the Illustrious James Maria Ceuni At Rome Printed by Francis de Lazari 1684. THose that honour Men of Letters with their Protection and marks of their Liberality receive thereby so many praises that it makes many Authors to be suspected of Partiality for People imagine that it is not so much the acknowledgment which makes them to be Panegyrists as the design of obtaining the sweet Dew of Gifts and to induce others to the same liberality by the hopes of a fine Elogium Howbeit Meibomius was very reasonable to wonder that before him none had taken pains about the Life of Mecenas Every one knoweth that this Favourite of Augustus protected fine Wits after an honourable manner that his Name is become that of all the Patrons of the Muses and yet during many Ages his History hath been forgotten Meibomius had already put the last hand to the Life of this Favourite when they shewed him that which Martin Rizo had done in the Spanish Language but this Reading would not let him believe that he had not been preceded by any Author Indeed the Spanish Work hath more the looks of a Romance than of a true History and it is but a weaving of Anachronisms and imaginary Suppositions even to relate the passionate Compliments which the Gallant of Terentia Wife to Mecenas us'd on the Festival Day The Book of Caesar Caperali and that of the Doctor Ceuni are quite of another nature The last is divided into two parts whereof the one reacheth from the Life of Mecenas until after the Battle of Actium and the other unto his Death The Observations put in this Work render it curious and diverting Many things concerning Gardens and the Houses of Mecenas are â—ention'd fine Wits which he honoured with his Friendship and the reasons which hindered Ovid to make mention of him in his Verses There is also seen the Answer to the Invectives of Seneca the Catalogue of the Works of Mecenas the Fragments that remain with us and some Notes that expound the most difficult Places Tractatus duo singulares de Examine Sagarum c. Two Singular Treatises of the Tryal of Witches cast upon cold Water in which the Beginning of this Tryal its nature and truth is curiously sought into and divers Questions out of the Writings of Divines Physicians and Philosophers are most Learnedly and Pleasantly resolved At Francfort and Lipsia at the Costs of Henry Greutzius 1686 in 4to THE first of the two Treatises that is given us here was made by one of the Magistrates of Bonn in the Country of Cologne to justifie the Practice of some Judges of Germany who for a long time make use of the proof of Water when they have a mind to try if a Woman is a Witch All her Cloaths are taken off her right Hand is tied to her left Foot and the left Hand with the right Foot then she is cast into Water and if she doth not sink under water she is believed guilty and is burned Great Wits which examine but by halves what they deny are not incumbred with this Objection they say that they are all Chimeras and that there must be no belief given to such Stories but those that penetrate into things with an extream exactness before they affirm or deny them are incomparably more irresolute upon a fact so strange as this on the one hand they have difficulty to comprehend why this proof availeth ' not but in certain places and why if it be certain all the Tribunals of the World do not make use of it when they have occasion Besides their knowing that the proof of a hot Iron that of boyling Water and some others made use of in times past in divers places to discover where the unjustice or justice of an accusation subsists and that they have been condemned by the Church because without doubt they perceived there was illusion in all this and that Knaveries were intermixed which often times did oppress Innocence and justified Criminals However it is our Author pretends that this Tryal of Witches is lawful His name is Rickius and speaks very bad Latine Perhaps he was a better Citizen than a Wit He at first proposeth to himself a great number of Objections which usually are made against the practice he maintaineth and which are for the most part weakness it self The best of all is that God must not be tempted and that this is to tempt him to commit the decision of a Process to a most Signal Miracle of his Providence But this Objection would not be considerable if we were assured that the proof whereof we speak hath never fail'd for we should have reason to believe in that case God hath established the immersion of People Confederate with the Devil as an occasional cause of the discovery of this Plot in engaging himself to hinder the natural effect of heaviness An Experience constantly reiterated would be a revelation significative enough of this Institution of God so that without tempting him we might have recourse to it when it would be necessary There are an hundred examples in Scripture which shew that God hath not disapproved that Signs should be required of him and Prodigies to be well assured of a matter and we must hold as undoubtful that the Church would never have condemned the proofs of Hot iron if
Heideggerus who believes the Sacred Author calls such Animals clean as nature hath no aversion to and those unclean which are only fed upon thro' necessity such as are Crocodiles Serpents Crows and the like But he decides nothing in this place He afterwards examins this famous Question Whether it was permitted to eat of the flesh of Beasts before the Flood He maintains the affirmative and endeavours to prove it in translating the 30 vers of the first Chapter of Genesis quite contrary to the common way of Interpreters He pretends that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lamed of the Hebrews is not always the sign of the Dative that it often signifies also with together and that in repeating the Verb and case of the preceding Verse the Translation may be made thus I have given you also every beast of the Field and every fowl of the Firmament every creeping thing in which there is a living Soul and every herb of the Field to feed upon To this question Mr. Majus adds another which is not less curious viz. if the prohibiting of eating Blood yet subsists He is for the negative and strives to shew the abolishment of it in spight of powerful Adversaries whom he opposes as Grotius Salmatius De Courcelles Gerard Vossius Blondel c. In the 6. Ch. of the same Book is the discussion of some Questions of this Nature concerning the Animals which God brought before Adam and the names he gave them It is asked if there were of all sorts there and how much time was requisit for Elephants and all the Animals formed in another Continent to come from the remotest parts of America or Indies to do homage to our first Father It is answered that tho' an Author expresseth himself after a very general manner it is still a natural equity not to press his expressions beyond the limits in which the circumstances of the Discourse restrains them That the terms cannot be understood of all the Animals of the Earth and all the Fowls of the Firmament but of those of Mesopotamia which were about the places where Adam had been Created That there is no contradiction that God who produced Frogs and Lice of Egypt made Bears come forth against the Children who jeered the Prophet and sent Lyons against the Samaritans should bring so many Animals to Adam The Knowledg and Judgment of the first Man is much insisted upon and it s pretended that he gave all Animals Names which express very well their Natures because this supposition is the Foundation of all the Etymologies which are sought for in the rest The First Book begins with Elephants and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schenhabbim 1 King 10.22 gives an occasion to our Author to enter into the matter This word is commonly translated by those of Ivory or Elephants Teeth Indeed the term of Schen signifies Teeth Bochart pretends that the Ancient Hebrews called Elephanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kahabim because they are of a brown colour and that Schenhabim was made by a Syncope of Schenkahabim Mr. Majus saith to this 1. That this retrenchment seems very hard 2. That there are Elephants quit black and even white 3. That there is a Daguesch in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Sheweth that b must be redoubled and that we must say Schenhabbim and not Schenhabim Therefore he proposes another Etymology which seems more likely to be true he believes that it was spoken in the Singular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hab an Elephant taken from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hababb to make a noise with teeth to gnash them which is yet used amongst the Arabians Even as the Latins have called this Animal Barrâ—s from Barrire We know that it is the Indians who first undertook to Tame Elephants and Pliny gives us the manner But our Modern Travellers relate it a little different Elephants newly taken must have Four Months Apprenticeship before they will know how to bend their Knees and before they are in a way of serving in Military expeditions they are lead to drink twice a day two tamed Elephants are the Conductors of the Flock they do before those which are not tamed all the actions which their Masters have taught them and when the wild ones will not obey the Tamed ones punish them for it with great blows of Teeth As Oxen are of the most robust Animals that are the Hebrews call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abbirim from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abhir or Abbir Strong and Powerfull This Name is likewise given to GOD and the Celestial Spirits and therefore it 's commonly Translated Ps. 78.25 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lechem Abhirim The Bread of Angels But as Abhirim is also said of Persons who surpass in Force and Power the Author believes that it may well be Translated the Bread of the Powerful or great Lords as it should be said in High Dutch Herren Brod white and delicate Bread upon which Persons of Quality commonly do Feed The labour of Oxen is one of the Principal Causes of the Fertility of the Land that is according to Mr. Majus which hath given place to the Fable of the Horn of Abundance of Amalthea which he derives from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amal to work where as Bochart brings Amalthea from the Phenician Amalthea a Nurse If what is related on the credit of Iohn Albert of Mandeslo is true we must confess that the Climat may cause great changes in the Constitution of Animals This Traveller affirms that the Oxen of the Indies are as light as ours are heavy that being coupled to a Chariot they are lead where one will in putting a Rope betwixt their Nostrils and that they draw it with so much force that he himself made Six Leagues in Germany with such carriage in four hours Besides Oxen are not every where so miserable as in Europe There are Countries as the Kingdom of Bengal in the State of the Great Mogul where Divine Honours are rendred unto them where it is prohibited to kill them and where they are Enterred with more Pomp and Magnificence than Men. At Calicut there is a Holy Water made of the Ashes of a burned Cow The Women sprinkle it upon their Moveables and Houses and the King and Priests do wash therein their whole Bodies before they enter into the Temple and take their Meals The Sacrifice of the Heifers is well expounded in this Chapter and Burnt Offerings of Beeves of the Proverbs and Laws of the Scripture which have been made upon the occasion of these Animals Bochart brings the Name of Camel Camelus from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gamel which signifies to wean and to render because saith he this Animal remembers a long time the evil which hath been done him and saileth not to render it The Author is of the same opinion with Bochart in regard of the Origen of the Word but he cannot approve the reason which this Learned
A.B. Tillotson's necessity of frequent Communion 2 Suppl p. 28. Tobacco Questions about it 2 Suppl p. 29. Tollius's mad Wisdom or Chimical promises 4 Suppl p. 6. Travelling whether necessary 2 suppl p 28. †TAvernier's collections of several Relations p. 106. Themistius 33 Orations p. 118. Transactions of the Royal Society Extracts of several Lâ—tters English Iournals Registers and Experiments from p. 208 to p. 321. Tentamen Porologicum p. 236. Treatise of the Loadstone p. 237. Travels of Mars or the art of war divided into 3 parts p. 307. Treatise of the excellency of Marriage of its necessity and of the means of living happy therein whâ—re is an Apology made for Women against the calumnies of men p. 415. Treatise of the Trial of Witches wherein diverse questions relating to this subject are most learnedly and pleasantly resolved p. 427. V. * VAcuum whether any v. 1. n. 4. q. 8. Vnmarried persons whether lawful to cohabit v. 1. n. 5. q. 3. Virgin let a man know she loves him v. 1. n. 13. q. 15. Vertue Theorick and Practical the difference v. 1. n. 14. q. 8. Vndertaking rash how to shun the reproach v. 1. n. 17. q. 22. Vnion Prebyterians and Independants v. 1. n. 19. q. 1. Vnicorn whether there be any v. 1. n. 20. q. 3. Virgil whether impossible to make better verses than his v. 1. n. 21. q. 8. Viols two tuned in Vnison v. 1. n 22 q. 18. Vrine its Motion in Water v. 1. n. 23. q. 8. Vipers its venom where it consists v. 2. n. 8. q 4. Vsurper who is the greatest v. 2. n. 12. q. 4. Utrum Androgyna c. v. 2. n. 17. q. 11. Vertue whether it consists in intention v. 2. n. 17. q. 15. Virtue to an ill man or Vice to a good man which hardest v. 2. n. 23. q. 4. Vault why colder in Summer than Winter v. 2. n. 24. q. 17. Vnion is it desired by the Dissenters v. 2. n. 26. q. 5. Vrine why emitted by putting the hand in cold Water v. 2. n. 29. q. 8. Vacuum what are we to think of it v. 3. n. 1. q. 6. Vow never to marry whether lawful v. 3. n. 8. q. â— Vnruly wife how to reclaim her v. 3. n. 131.1 Vnion of Soul and Body how is it v. 3. n. 1â— q. 11 Vertue and Goodness is it any defence against misery â— 3. n. 18. q. 1. Vnjust steward why did the Lord commend him v. 3. n. 26. q. 2. Vâ—â—dois have they maintain'd the Christian Râ—â—gion v. 4. n. 2. q. 1. Vow to relinquish suddenly an employ is it sâ—sul v. 4. n. 8. q. 2. Variegation in Plants as Holly c. be â— defect v. 4. n. 9. q. 5â— Vnbaptiz'd Infants what becomes of â—â— v. 4. n. 14. q. 6. Voice calling a Woman who soon aftâ—â— died v. 4. n. 15. q. 3. Venomous Creature why not live iâ— Ireland v. 5. n. 7. q. 6. Verses on pain and pleasure c. v. 5. n. 11. q. 4. Vrim and Thummim their meaning v. 5. n. 15. q. 6. Vniversity instructions to â— Youth going there v. 5. n. 29. q. 2. ‖ VAudois the History of 'em 2 Suppl p. 19. Vaudois a further History of 'em 3 Suppl p. 36. Voâ—age into the World of Descartes 3 Suppl p. 3. Vicious Liver desirous to reclaim 5 Suppl q. 7. p. 13. Vsury a vindication of it 5 Suppl p. 26. †Usher Bishops Lifâ— with a Collection of 300 Letters published from the Original p. 21. His Antiquities of the Brittish Churches p. 31. and p. 65. His succession and state of the Christian Churches p. 37. Vindication of the Church of England p. 122. Vossius book of Observations p. 476. W. * WIfe whither she may beat her Husband v. 1. n. 2. q. 7. Weeping and Laughing whence proceeds v. 1. n. 3. q. 5 Witches whither there be any v. 1. n 3. q 6. What two Numbers are those v. 1. n. 5. q. 5. Words express things v. 1. n. 6. q. 2. Wind whence it has its force v. 1. n. 8. q. 5. Weapons which most serviceable Gun or Bow v. 1. n. 11. q. 5. Womans Condition in Marriage worse than Mans v 1. n. 13. q. 6. Woman believ'd when she says she will not marry v. 1. n. 13. q. 11. Wind its causes and whether they go v. 1. n. 14. q. 10. Woman with Childs longing the Reason of marking c. v. 1. n. 15. q. 2. Works deâ—raded thro' Malice or Ignorance c. v. 1 n. 15. q. 13. Weeping on the Wedding night from what it proceeds v. 1. n. 16. q. 3. Wounds an experiment about them v. 1. n. 17. q. 3. Womens Voice shriller than Mens v. 1. n. 17. q. 6. Women whether proper to be learned v. 1. n. 18. q. 3. Women supposed to have no Souls v. 1. n. 18. q 7. Women an Army of 'em do more then Men v. 1. n. 18. q 8. Whores common ones seldom have Children v. 1. n. 18. q. 10. Wood a Petrifaction of it how effected v. 1. n. 19. q. 2. Water spring hot in Winter v. 1. n. 20. q. 14. Wife that forsakes her Husband v. 1. n. 21. q. 15. Wood rotten why shine in the dark v. 1. n. 22. q. 17. Wine was its use unknown v. 1. n. 24. q. 5. World what was it made of v. n. 24. q. 7. Woman taken in Adultery v. 1. n. 30. q. 3. Words in 1 Joh. 5.7 why only Marginal noted v. 1. n. 3. q. 6. Wagers where had the Observator his Story of 'em v. 2. n. 2. q. 6. Women if meer Machines v. â—â— â— q. 4. Women whether not Banter'd into a belief of being Angels v. 2. n. 3. q. 5. Women whether Wiser than Men v. 2. n. 3. q. 11. Women whether they have Souls v. 2. n. 3. q. 11. Waâ— whether better to carry it v. 2. n. 5. q. 4. Water or Earth which the coldest Element v. 2. n. 11. q. 6. Women when bad why worse than Men v. 2. n. 13. q. 11. Word Culprit the meaning of it v. 2. n. 15. q. 6. Wife taking for the Maid v. 2. n. 15. q. 7. Wives a form of Prayer for 'em v. 2. n. 16. q. 1. World does it hang upon nothing v. 2. n. 18. q. 6. World what quarter of the Year it began v. 2. n. 18. q. 7. Wagers about King William v. 2. n. 23. q. 15. Wheels of eighteen Inches c. v. 2. n. 24. q. 1. Wound when it s proves incurable v. 2. n. 27. q. 15. Witches how they contract their Bodies v. 2. n. 28. q. 4. Wits why generally the greatest Sots v. 2. n. 28. q. 8. Woman plagued with an ill Husband v. 3. n. 4. q. 2. Wife doubly married whose is she v. 3. n. 4. q. 13. Worlds are there more than one v. 3. n. 6. q. 2. Women why fondeâ— of those Men that slight ' em v. 3 n. 13. q. 9. Witchcrafts and other Possessions whither Credited v. 3. n. 17. q. 1. Word of God to resolve