Suppose A. B. C. equally skilful throw who should throw most for a certain Preferment and C. accidentally or by a secret Order of Fate casts 12 when A. cast only 8 and B. 10 is not C. upon his Investiture into his Office more honourable than A. and B. especially when they come bare-headed to petition such or such a Favour from him they are mad if they don't believe it and he deserves himself to be turn'd out of his Office that under-values it so far as not to execute it and keep up its Privileges To the last Instance we answer That Fate is not accountable to Persons whether it prefers or debases 'em but it expects in both conditions they make the best of its disposals and thus we conclude not at all doubting the favourable Suffrage of this Convention to confirm our Privileges and Dignity above the Order of Vegitables Major Part. The Rational the Rational Order Prolocutor Well Gentlemen withdraw there shall be an effectual Care for a Regulation of what 's amiss and as near as may be to a general Satisfaction and so depart in Peace DIALOGUE VI. Between Mercury a Pre-existent Spirit a Dead Man Charon and Hobbs Mercury STand back there I 'm in great haste a poor VVretch that lies strugling under the pangs of Separation cannot be loos'd till I hand him to Charon's Ferry Spirit Pray good Mercury hold a little I have one request to beg of you Merc. Speak Speak quickly VVhat is 't Sp. Only be my Guardian and let me wait upon you into the other VVorld thence to the Infernal Shades and so back again Merc. Indeed your Order has been very civil to me always when I past these Regions and tho' it will be some trouble to me yet your Request is granted take hold of that end of my Wand and keep close behind me Sp. VVhat strange Merc. Hush not a word we are now at our first Journeys end Ay that 's the Object see how Death has fixt his Eyes and sits triumphant upon his Lips So now I have eas'd him his Corps must be left to be lamented and buried by his Friends but he marches with us Sp. VVhere is he Deadmanâ— Here VVhat do ye design to do with me Merc. That last Office I do to all Mankind Conduct you to your last Aboad Holo Charon make haste and take this Fare Charon VVhat is he He smells of Parchment Subpoena's Injunctions c. VVas he not towards the Law Dead Yes I have beâ—n a Barrister Ch. Mercury I dare not take him with all that Luggage about him he 'll sink the Wherry Take away that Forgery Very well and that double Mortgage So and that Parcel of Replications Writs of Error c. Ay now we are light enough we 'll be over presently Dead VVhere am I now Merc. Amongst your Predecessors you are welcome to Shoar and so farewel Come along Comrade Sp Tarry a little he says something I wou'd fain know what Thoughts I shall entertain when I have left my Body Dead Amongst my Predecessors Then I 'll go seek out for Mr. Hâ—bbs to know the reason why I am thus cruelly treated when I follow'd his Rules so exactly Yonder he goes Hobbs Mr. Hobbs Hobs How I am continually plagu'd with my new Proselytes that lay all their Damnations at my door But I believe some on 'em put upon me I 'll question this new Comers Principles Do you know me Dead Yes to my Sorrow VVhat think you now of your Doctrine of Fatality Hobs VVhat Doctrine do ye mean Dead That every individual person is fated to all the Actions of his Life yea even the most minute and inconsiderable as for instance to get up at such a time of the Day to feed himself precisely at such an Hour and with such a certain number of bits to go over the Streets at so many Steps to VVhore and be Drunk at such a time to go to Prayers and be Melancholy at such a time to dispute against his Principles at such a time In short that all that we think say and act are necessarily predestin'd and run as links in an inevitable Chain of Causes VVhat think ye of the Reasons of this Hypothesis now That we are made up of two parts a Soul and a Body and that when these are conjoyn'd we must live necessarily as long as we do live and that so long as we do live we must necessarily have a mind which has its perception by the Senses That as this perception is necessary so is the choice that we make by it As for instance Something that is good or at least appears so to the perception offers it self and as such 't is impossible to refuse it as a proper Object to the mind as 't is also impossible after perception to choose an Evil as such and thus we are 〈◊〉 to VVhoâ—ing for those Arguments which our reason offers that we should refrain carry not along with 'em so great a good to our perception as those other reasons that induce us to it and as a great power necessarily commands a lâ—sser so the will necessarily chooses it as most agreeable to it and thus I refrain VVhoring when there appears a greater good to let it alone Thus I am fated to make so many steps in walking the length of my Chamber because to step so far at a step appears more agreeable to my Constitution Fancy c. than to step further or shorter and therefore as most agreeable it most inclines my will which therefore is necessitated to act accordingly As to the Body it depends necessarily upon the Mind for my Hand cannot move of it self unless I move it and if I move it it is necessitated to move and can't help it and thus Mr. Hobbs I 'm necessitated to be Damn'd because the way to it had more appearance of good in it than walking in another way and therefore I cou'd not but choose it Oh! what an Unhappy Wretch was I that was not fated to examine this Doctrine by the same Measures that I did all others truth is only known by falshood and falshood by truth black by white and white by black and every thing by its contrary What a Mysterious Riddle then is this Which is both and all one viz. Do or do not do 't is fated If I wou'd have done a thing and examin'd it 's contrary viz. cou'd not do it or vice versa then there had been fate in the case otherwise Hobbism or a new Riddle whose Solution had been Ruine in one World and Damnation in another What 's the meaning of Laws Rewards and Punishments For if I act what I must act Why am I bid to do so or forbid to do so If I rob my Neighbour Why shou'd a little superinduc'd Law take hold of me and not that great Law of Fatality preserve me since I act agreeable to it What injustice can I do when eternal Fate stands by me and warrants all my
Perception we judge and act But 't is not so with Spirits they have no Perception from divisible or sensible Objects for what by our Senses we know of Material Objects that they know from the Efâ—luviums of the Deity As for Instance God is the Cause of every Substance both as to its Matter and Form therefore God according to his Essence which is the Cause of all things is the Similitude of all things Hence Angels and Spirits when they look upon God do as in a Glass see and know all Material and Immaterial Objects and Things whatever when he pleases to communicate a Knowledge And thus it is that Departed Souls have Knowledge of things happening in this Life Body'd Spirit What 's the difference betwixt a Spirit 's Thoughts and Language since you say that their Language is like our Thoughts Vnbody'd Spirit I have already told you that as Men have their Perceptions by means of their Senses so Spirits have theirs from the immediate Emanations and Ideas of all things which they see originally in God This is the manner of their Perception and the making known this Perception by directing the Result of it to one another as Men do their Minds to themselves when they speak to themselves internally without Lip or Voice This I say is the Language of Spirits which is as different from their Perceptions as the Act of Receiving and Communicating is amongst Men. Body'd Spirit Whether do Spirits and Angels love 〈◊〉 are angry or pleas'd c. as Men are Unbâ—dy'd Spirit Not at all 't is inconsistent with their Nature these being Acts adapted to the Powers of the Sensitive Soul So that when Speech Love Hate Fear Courage Temperâ—nce c. are attributed to Angels or Spirits 't is an 〈◊〉 or a Condescention adapted to Humane Dialect To Love amongst Spirits is to wish Good to one another To rejâ—yce is to rest the Will in some good Habit Temperance is a Moderation of the Will according to the Rule of the Divine Will Fortitude is a firm and resolute Execution of the Divine Will And so of all other Concupiscible Powers Body'd Spirit Whether can several Spirits be in one placâ— at the same time Unbody'd Spirit I have already told you that Spirits know no such a thing as Place 't is as incongruous a Term to their Nature as Time is So that what you call Place is the same thing to them as no place and if so Spirits according to that Notion you have of Place may be Five Millions together in a Quartâ— Bottle and yet never a one fe there but 't is impossible to make you understand the munner how farther than by a dark Similitude Suppose Five Millions of Persons shou'd all desire at the same time to be upon the Top of the mâ—nument erected in Remembrance of the 〈◊〉 of the Fire of London Now thâ—se Five Millions to be there at the 〈…〉 without justling one another for â—oomâ— but thus only by Virtual Application of themselves thither I must be gone there 's a General Assâ—gnation of our Order to meet at the Musick of the Spheres and if my Place be found empty my Name will be dash'd out of the Catalogue upon a Suppâ—sition that â— am imbody'd Body'd Spirit Well I acknowledge my Obligations for this Favour Pray let me converse with you as oft as you can It won't be long but I shall put off this Clog and change Circumstances with you and then I 'll be as kind in informing you of such things as you will also forget when you come into a Body DIALOGUE XV. Betwixt Two Spirits about the Musick of the Spheres 1. Sp. I 'M weary with that drumming sort of Noise there 's nothing but an Eternal Din of one Tune o'er and o'er There 's better Musick ten to one every Bartholomew-Fair 2. Sp. Pray let me ask you one Question Is there any Musick better than the Original of all Musick 1. Sp. No. 2. Sp. Very well Then since these Musical Diastems and these harmonious Motions which proceed from the different Positions and Heighths of the Planets and the Correspondent Symmetry of the Heavens are the first Original of Musick all other Harmony which the lower World pretends to are but Imitations of this great Original So that those little tickling Fancies of Ionick Dorick Phrygian and other Measures are but a different way of Trial to come the nearest ours and if Mortality cou'd find out the true Spherical Musick they wou'd never seek farther nor alter it for any other because 't is impossible to desire or chuse an Imperfection when Perfection stands by But 't is no wonder the World below us think the Musick of the Spheres a Fable when one of our own Order shou'd undervalue it at such a rate But perhaps you are of the same Opinion as Mankind and these are only Words of Course because you have a mind to be upon the Ramble 1. Sp. Truly I am not very well satisfied whether I hear any thing or no. 2. Sp. Yes you hear but without Concern which makes me believe that you belong not to ours but to the Animal Order and in that Order you are design'd to animate an Ass which amongst all Creatures never heeds Musick You and all Mankind must grant that the Planets move and that Sound necessarily proceeds from Motion and that this Sound must either be sweet or harsh Now if a fix'd Observation of Numbers moderate the Motion it effects a Symphonous Harmony consonant to such a Motion but if it be not govern'd by Measures there proceeds an unpleasant Noise But in this admirable Structure of the Heavens there is nothing but setled Rules and Proportions curious Differences of Magnitude Celerity and Local Distances which are constantly circumagitated through the Etherial Orbs as in the following Figure 'T is this Systeme that all Musicians imitate and those that come the nearest it have made their Calculations from Arithmâ—tical Proportions in which this last Age has exceeded all former ones having now laid down Rules to reduce all Audibles into Visibles or Visibles into Audibles that is can give Directions for Building a House agreeable to the Measures of a Musical Câ—mpoâ—â—re or can play the Proportions of any â—ouse now built upon a Musical Instrument If Mankind â—earches a little deeper in the Musicâ—l 〈◊〉 they will find out a Device to imiâ—â—â—â— our 〈◊〉 Musick by a voluntary Self-Motion or frame Instruments that shall play themselves 1. Sp. Say you so Indeed the Novelty of that wou'd cost me many a Ramble 2. Sp. But why love Musick on Earth more than here 1. Sp. Because I find by my Heaviness I am grown so like a Body that I shall soon have such a Relation and you know 't is natural for all Beings to be affected with something like themselves However I 'll be sure if I can remember to inform the Lower World of the Reasonableness of Spherical Musick and what Measures they ought
but I 'm not so conceited and positive as to believe this the reason if you can give me a better But however I must beg the liberty to be positive in my next Cannon viz. Fifth Cannon That the cause of Winds flying backward and forward is the breathing of the World just as Mankind sucks breath in and out To prove this for I know you expect no less than a Demonstration I need not say you must consider for you do That there can be no Effect without a Cause no Motion without a Mover The Opinions that pass in this and the lower World too have not been enough examin'd viz. That the Sun Moon and Stars being Monstrous Bodies and continually upon the hurry 't is suppos'd that they moving drive the Winds along with 'em and that the difference of their Motions causes different Winds or an Agitation of the Air this and that way which is impossible because then we shou'd have no Westerly Winds most of the Erratick Stars moving Westward which hinder the Winds from coming that way besides all Southern and Nothern Winds wou'd be unnatural but we know that they are as common as Easterly Winds Nor wou'd the Rarification of Water as the Philosophers in the lower World Dream be enough to supply such great Winds and Hurricanes as sometimes happen for they only proceed immediately from the lungs of the World when it has catch'd cold or is dispos'd to Laugh or Whistle which makes the Air fly faster out I might add here instead of putting it into another Cannon That all Earthquakes proceed from the sighing of the World when 't is in a melancholy Humour for it raising up its Body as Man does his Breast when he sighs and being brittle where it has the fewest Ribs I mean Mines Quarries c. as vulgarly called the Buildings and Cities standing in those places tumble in into 's Bowels to secure themselves from a transport into the World of the Moon Well Gentlemen I hope 't is your Silence that gives Consent unto these Truths and not an Amazement at their Novelty In Confidence whereof I proceed to my Sixth Cannon viz. That Stars are the Bubbies of the World at which all Astrologers suck and that all that don't love Astrology were put out to Nurse and wein'd with grosser Dyet But I beg your Pardon Gentlemen I turn'd over a wrong Leaf this is your own received Principle therefore no need to prove it I meant thus That 't is as possible for an Ass to drink up the Moon as to cure Wounds by Sympathy Consist Ay indeed now you say something that is as much as to say 't is possible for an Ass to suck out one of the Eyes of the World for so you call'd it but just now but prav before you prove it prove a possibility that it may be proved Pr. Pray Gentlemen let me have fair play I mean the liberty of a Philosopher If I prove it I also prove a possibility of proving it Don't Consist Yes Pr. Very well To proceed then I am to tell you that my Correspondence from the other World is very good and creditable and 't is often found there that the Man travels in pains of Childbirth when the VVoman her self is Deliver'd without pain That if some sort of Leaves are rub'd whilst growing upon a Corn VVart c. that Corn or Wart shall die as the Leaf withers away Thus small ideal parts or fancy'd Representatives of what is real have the same Sympathetick Effect that a true Cause wou'd have when you come into the other World read Sir Kenelm Digby's Works in this kind Now those that can deny an Ass to have no Fancy deny themselves any But to be short and give you an Instance that is matter of Fact One of my Correspondents Ludov. vives gave me an account of a certain People that did imprison an Ass for drinking up the Moon the manner was thus The Ass being driven to the Water to drink the Moon shin'd very bright and reflected in the water just where the Ass drunk the Ass fancy'd strongly pull'd hard to draw in the Moon and it had the effect accordingly tho' some were so silly as to believe the Moon being in danger slipt out of sight behind a Cloud Hereupon the Ass was brought to the Bar to receive a Sentence according to his Deserts and as the Senate were gravely debating the matter one starts up a little wiser perhaps than the rest and made the short following Speech Gentlemen 'T is my private Opinion and I hope not unreasonably that 't is no trifling business for our Town to loose its Moon and I know but of one way to recover it again viz. by giving the Ass a strong Vomit to weaken his Fancy for 't is that that keeps the Moon a Prisoner in his Maw No says another I think it much better that the Ass be cut up and the Moon taken out of him in short they handled the Ass so severely that he had forgot his Supper and the Moon stole whole and undigested again into its own place against the next Night but ever after play'd at Bo-peep when she saw the Ass come near the Water Gentleman 't is all matter of Fact and as great a truth as my next Position Seventh Cannon That those Devils that were furthest pursu'd by Michael and his Angels viz. as far as the middle Region of the Air are all Taylors and cut out the Clouds into Shapes of Hogs Trees Ships Dromedaries c. on purpose to be talk'd on and wondered at by the ignorant Country People of the World below To prove which you may be pleas'd to remember the Prince of Wicked Angels fell by Pride in endeavouring to be like his Maker and when he was excluded and chased out of Heaven he cou'd not forget the Notion but wou'd yet be imitating and make the Representations of all Creatures in Clouds and Condens'd Bodies of Air I might if there was occasion to strengthen this Argument add that he has also his Oracles Miracles Sacrifices Priests in short above one half of the World his true and faithful Servents and all this because the old Notion of Imitation was so deeply rooted in his mind Now it being prov'd that the Prince of fallen Spirits does act so and so it follows that all the subordinate Mob have an Itch to imitate their Head it being a great truth Regis ad Exemplum totus Componitur Orbis Subjects will be imitating their King and Children their Parents let 'em act good or bad By Taylor and cutting out Clouds I mean only Metaphorically a shaping of Clouds and I shall think none of you Hereticks if you call 'em Carpenters or Statuaries Consist Well and the next Pr. That never any Spirit was sent into a Humane Body to joyn with it as its proper half or as a convenient residence but as into a Prison for Debt purely for Debt and not as is pretended for
Circuition by a Principle of Self-Motion which Nature at first communicated to it but 't is an Errour for the Moon is a Lifeless inanimate Mass and can no more move of it self than a Pewter-Dish can nor is it as some have concluded bowl'd along by Spirits amongst the rest of the Stars for then a swinging Gigantick Spirit wou'd sometimes throw it out of its due Cariere and make it rob or fall soul upon some of the other Planets No no such Caprices in Nature are not to be met with 'T is continually carry'd along by half a dozen Spirits in a large Lanthorn half of it transparent and the other half dark and these half dozen Spirits are reliev'd by another half dozen once in four and twenty hours The reason of its seeming Increase and Decrease is nothing else but the turning of the darker or brighter side of its Lanthorn more or less directly or obliquely towards the Globe of the Earth I can also assure you that there 's not one Star in the Heavens that moves of it self but what are carry'd along by Spirits plain Spirits not Intelligences as some Philosophers dream for there 's no such Beings There are many strange Opinions amongst Mankind about the Motion of the Heavenly Orbs A Spirit that left its Body in a Dream just when I came into the world of the Moon gave us some merry Tenets about it as that the Elements were divided into Spheres like the Films of an Onion and that such and such Stars mov'd in such and such Films Some again held That Stars were put upon Strings like Beads and push'd on by â—egions of Spirits Some wou'd have 'em half under and half over their Films and Chanels cut for 'em to roul along Some believe that the Film is transparent and that Stars are bowl'd along up em Some that they hang under their Films and that there 's a kind of a mucous Matter which makes 'em stick like Flies with the feet upwards to a Cieling but some believe there 's no such things as Spheres Films or Divisions of Elements but that they hang in the Air upon their own Centre whirling about like Boys Tops at Shrovetide Thus far the humane Spirit discover'd the wild Opinions of his Brethren 1 Sp. This is pleasant indeed but I believe I light on some Passages as remarkable You know that every Globe has its particular Aether which moves along with it and that there are indefinite Spaces Vacuums or Interstitiums betwixt the Planets if not the vertiginous motion of one Aether would justle with another You are also satisfy'd that the Globes of Mercury and Luna have either of 'em a Republick of Philosophical Souls that left their Bodies and yet retain their old Notions It was my chance to travel that way when there was a publick Dispute betwixt some late deceased Cartesians and some Peripateticks every Soul was arm'd Cap-a-pe with Dilemaes Propositions Objections c But the Dispute about Motion and innate Idea's was manag'd so warmly that they forgot their Footing which was upon the extremity of the Vortex and down they came sluttering into the indefinite Space or Vacuum I was telling you of Very well says a Peripatetick Soul this Fall is no Motion because there 's no Continuity of Matter to measure by and therefore I delie you all to prove a possibility of getting out again A Carteâ—ian Soul fell a laughing at such a Challenge and told him he ought to get a new Body and make Experiments and afterwards consider the Theory No says the Peripatetick it can't be done and therefore I 'll not offer to budge till I see a Demonstration of a possibility in Mood and Figure And as they were examining a certain Minor which was propos'd comes a Comet and with a Brush of its Tail scowr'd the Vacuum and dash'd the Disputants upon the Vortex again 2 Sp. And what became o' th' Cause then 1 Sp. It was put by till another Conference by reason of a black deformed Spirit that had had the Misfortune to leave its Body for a worse Place which came roaring and howling into the midst of the Cartesian Souls crying out Where 's the Spirit of Des-Cartes that pretended to prove a Deity by Innate Ideas when he shou'd have prov'd such Idea to be the Idea of a real Being 't was the weakness of this Argument that damn'd me Besides I 'm continually chous'd and hunted about by a company of snearing Devils that stigmatize me with the scandalous Character of a Cartesian Spirit pointing at me with their sooty Paws as I pass along Do ye see says one yonder Inhabitant of the Cartesian World See says another the Artist that preaches of a subtle Matter which forms the Liquidity of Bodies Pray says a Third will you go ask your Master what he means by the Sun 's forming a great Vertex of sluid Matter for the Stars to swim in And whether the Sun is both Agent and Patient in such a Formation If not of what pre-existent Matter he forms this fluid Matter Or whether he pretends to an immediate Creation of it out of nothing with a thousand sand more such puzzling Questions which doubles my damnation to solve ' em Now Mr. Des Cartes if you can keep up your Credit and mollifie my Plagues do it quickly Don't trouble me yet reply'd the Philosophical Spirit lest you spoil a new Notion that I left unfinished upon my Death-bed O says the Black Disciple that my Master shou'd study to damn People when they are dead I 'll warrant you 't is to find out the reason why Mercury is sometimes nearer the Earth than the Sun But pray by the way what 's the Use of this and a thousand more such Phaenomena's if Vertue be the proper Task of the Intellect if the business of a wise Man be not Talking but living Thus the poor Spirit troop'd off again without his Errand raâ—ling his invisible Chains and calling Philosophy Beelzebubism 1 Sp. This was a very strange Passage indeed and puts me in mind of half a dozen Philosophical Spirits which were huddled together and ty'd Muzzle to Muzzle in the Bastile of Mercury for pretending to find out a way to appear visible to Mortals without the assumption of Aerial Bodies or any other Vehicle as I pass'd by 'em there was one that had his Notion too setled to remove it by such a Treatment Courage said he Comrades I 'll procure a speedy Manumission from this Cage by appearing in this posture to the Inhabitants of every Globe and making 'em send Ambassadors to our Judges about us Say you so says one of 'em I pray make a Demonstration to us first how it may be done Thus reply'd the other The Representation of Things is not always confin'd to the ordinary Method of assuming the similitude of the thing seen into the Eye which necessarily supposes a Subject to be assumed but the visive power may exercise Ideas and Similitudes of
is the Eternal Mind who when he sees fitting will provide you a Body to act in 1 Sp. What do you mean For my part I believe you and I are both of us just now created but if you are pre-existent and it now is 5000 Years and more since the beginning of your Existence pray answer me How many Sons Adam had what part of the Year the World was made in but don't answer after the old Evasion viz. at all times of the Year but in what Sign the Sun was first placed 2 Sp. I have forgot now 't is so long since 1 Sp. I thought Reminiscence had been co-essential with or a part of the Nature of Spirits for according to the best Definitions the Soul is a Cogitative Faoulty Now if Thinking Disposing Meditating Examining Compounding Dividing Apprehending Joyning the Subject and the Attribute Affirming Denying Suspending c be the Function and Natural Acts of the Soul it is necessary that Memory be an essential Attribute of it for how is it possible to compare two things together unless we remember the First after we have examin'd the Second for to think of two Things at once is impossible and it is so granted by all that make a due distinction between a Finite and an Infinite Being being what comes nearest this Act is the quick distinction of Letters in Reading or the swift yet regular Motion of the Fingers in Musick Now since Reminiscence is co-essential with Souls an Argument may be drawn from hence to prove you degenerate if not a Non Existent 2 Sp. That I have a Being I 'm certain and this Converse with you demonstrates it 1 Sp. Come I 'll grant you for once that you are pre-existent if you 'll grant me that my Body which I 'm just now going into is also pre-existent and was created before Adam had a Being but I 'll ask for no Concessions which I 'll not first deserve by demonstration For I may prove my Body contemporary with Adam's altho' not visible till above 5000 Years after he was created 2 Sp. Pray how can that be 1 Sp. When Matter was created 't was a great Store-house of all other Beings that were to be created from it all which lay confusedly sleeping in their Chaos but of this Lump was Adam created and if so he himself was potentially in it before he had a specifick Being After his Creation he was maintain'd from the productions of Earth and Water by a destruction of or more properly through a conversion of their Natures into his Hence Adam's Children were only a Transmutation of other material Bodies or the Effect of Meat and Drink in new Figures which lay once in such and such Creatures and before that in the material Chaos we first spoke of Now since the Mechanism of Nature is order'd that it cannot be destroy'd unless by its Author but only transmuted or chang'd into other Matter as a Fire that burns part of it goes to Ashes part into Soot part into Air but yet is always somewhere or in some thing so that all the visible Changes we see are nothing else but a conversion of one Element into another backwards and forwards according to the adaptness and modifications of Agents and Patients This consider'd it will plainly appear that that Body which I am just now going into was the last year part of it growing in such a Crop of Corn part of it in such an Appleâ—tree part of it in such a River part of it in such an Ox Sheep Fowl c. and only by a proper Revolution of Particles under different Species so adaptly disposited that Nature found the Composition to fit one new distinct Species by it self and according to its Commission or first Settled Chain of Causes produc'd a humane Body fit for the Actuation and Conjunction of a Spirit Hence 't is manifest my Body was as soon in the Bosom of its Causes as Adam's and the last Body that shall be created as soon as mine Nay to go farther since from Eternity the great Creator did design to make a World from which my Body was to be produced I might say that my Body was from all Eternity designedly and potentially tho' actually in time which is the utmost that can be said of the Pre existence of Spirits And I defie every Spirit in the Universe to prove the least difference in Time betwixt the actual Commencement of the Existence of its Body and its self or that the Potentiality of both is not equal to wit eternal 1 Sp. This Argument wou'd hold if it cou'd be prov'd That the Soul is not so clogg'd and incapacitated in its Act of Reminiscence by coming into the Body but that it might easily recollect what has happen'd in its pre existent state For we have innumerable Instances of the Soul's being more incapacitated in its Functions one time than another in the same Body and this by Fits Distractions Diseases c. Which to me appears demonstrative that if the Indispositions of the Body which are only accidental hinder a regular operation of the Soul much more may the Body it self when first ty'd to and made coessential with it 2 Sp. We 'll grant much depends on the Body as to the Mode of Perception and action but not so very much as is suppos'd To mention that leisure time of Dreams When perhaps the Body and Soul have the least actual dependance one of another we shall find the habit of Reminiscence fresh at awaking again but to shew for once that the Soul does not forget what it acts when separate from the Body by reason of the Body's indisposition Consider the Cases of Trances Examinations of Witches c. what think ye of a Soul that has rambled out of the Body for two or three days together and when it has return'd and the Body reviv'd it has told of infallible Truths some hundred Miles distance where it self actually was This we have hundreds of creditable Instances to prove which consider'd does fully from the first presuppos'd consequence of Reminiscence destroy the Doctrine of Pre-existence 1 Sp Well I shall consider of it as soon as I have any leisure in the mean time Farewel 2 Sp. Farewel FINIS