Bolesover That place then said the Empress I desire to see Alas replied the Duchess it is but a naked House and uncloath'd of all Furniture However said the Empress I may see the manner of its structure and building That you may replied the Duchess and as they were thus discoursing the Duke came out of the House into the Court to see his Horses of Manage whom when the Duchess's Soul perceived she was so overjoyed that her Aereal Vehicle became so splendorous as if it had been enlightned by the Sun by which we may perceive that the passions of Souls or Spirits can alter their bodily Vehicles Then these two Ladies Spirits went close to him but he could not perceive them and after the Empress had observed that Art of Mannage she was much pleased with it and commended it as a noble pastime and an exercise fit and proper for noble and heroick Persons But when the Duke was gone into the house again those two Souls followed him where the Empress observing that he went to the exercise of the Sword and was such an excellent and unparallel'd Master thereof she was as much pleased with that exercise as she was with the former But the Duchess's soul being troubled that her dear Lord and Husband used such a violent exercise before meat for fear of overheating himself without any consideration of the Empress's Soul left her AEreal Vehicle and entred into her Lord. The Empress's Soul perceiving this did the like And then the Duke had three Souls in one Body and had there been but some such Souls more the Duke would have been like the Grand-Signior in his Seraglio onely it would have been a Platonick Seraglio But the Duke's Soul being wise honest witty complaisant and noble afforded such delight and pleasure to the Empress's Soul by his conversation that these two souls became enamoured of each other which the Duchess's soul perceiving grew jealous at first but then considering that no Adultery could be committed amongst Platonick Lovers and that Platonism was Divine as being derived from Divine Plato cast forth of her mind that Idea of Jealousie Then the Conversation of these three souls was so pleasant that it cannot be expressed for the Duke's Soul entertained the Empress's Soul with Scenes Songs Musick witty Discourses pleasant Recreations and all kinds of harmless sports so that the time passed away faster than they expected At last a Spirit came and told the Empress That although neither the Emperor nor any of his Subjects knew that her Soul was absent yet the Emperor's Soul was so sad and melancholy for want of His own beloved Soul that all the Imperial Court took notice of it Wherefore he advised the Empress's Soul to return into the Blazing-world into her own Body she left there which both the Duke's and Duchess's Soul was very sorry for and wished that if it had been possible the Empress's Soul might have stayed a longer time with them but seeing it could not be otherwise they pacified themselves But before the Empress returned into the Blazing-world the Duchess desired a Favour of her to wit That she would be pleased to make an Agreement between her Noble Lord and Fortune Why said the Empress are they Enemies Yes answered the Duchess and they have been so ever since I have been his Wife nay I have heard my Lord say That she hath crossed him in all things ever since he could remember I am sorry for that replied the Empress but I cannot discourse with Fortune without the help of an Immaterial Spirit and that cannot be done in this V Vorld for I have no Fly nor Bird-men here to send into the Region of the Air where for the most part their Habitations are The Duchess said she would entreat her Lord to send an Attorney or Lawyer to plead his Cause Fortune will bribe them replied the Empress and so the Duke may chance to be cast Wherefore the best way will be for the Duke to chuse a Friend on his side and let Fortune chuse another and try whether by this means it be possible to compose the Difference The Duchess said They will never come to an agreement unless there be a Judg or Umpire to decide the Case A Judg replied the Empress is easie to be had but to get an Impartial Judg is a thing so difficult that I doubt we shall hardly find one for there is none to be had neither in Nature nor in Hell but onely from Heaven and how to get such a Divine and Celestial Judg I cannot tell Nevertheless if you will go along with me into the Blazing-world I 'le try what may be done 'T is my duty said the Duchess to wait on your Majesty and I shall most willingly do it for I have no other interest to consider Then the Duchess spake to the Duke concerning the difference between him and Fortune and how it was her desire that they might be friends The Duke answered That for his part he had always with great industry sought her friendship but as yet he could never obtain it for she had always been his Enemy However said he I 'le try and send my two Friends Prudence and Honesty to plead my Cause Then these two Friends went with the Duchess and the Empress into the Blazing-World for it is to be observed that they are somewhat like Spirits because they are Immaterial although their actions are corporeal and after their arrival there when the Empress had refreshed her self and rejoiced with the Emperor she sent her Fly-men for some of the Spirits and desired their assistance to compose the difference between Fortune and the Duke of Newcastle But they told her Majesty That Fortune was so inconstant that although she would perhaps promise to hear their Cause pleaded yet it was a thousand to one whether she would ever have the patience to do it Nevertheless upon Her Majestie 's request they tried their utmost and at last prevailed with Fortune so far that she chose Folly and Rashness for her Friends but they could not agree in chusing a Judg until at last with much ado they concluded that Truth should hear and decide the cause Thus all being prepared and the time appointed both the Empress and Duchess's Soul went to hear them plead and when all the Immaterial Company was met Fortune standing upon a Golden-Globe made this following Speech Noble Friends We are met here to hear a Cause pleaded concerning the difference between the Duke of Newcastle and my self and though I am willing upon the perswasions of the Ambassadors of the Empress the Immaterial Spirits to yield to it yet it had been fit the Duke's Soul should be present also to speak for her self but since she is not here I shall declare my self to his Wife and his Friends as also to my Friends especially the Empress to whom I shall chiefly direct my Speech First I desire your Imperial Majesty may know that this Duke who
Blazing-World lived and reigned most happily and blessedly and received oftentimes Visits from the Immaterial Spirits who gave her Intelligence of all such things as she desired to know and they were able to inform her of One time they told her how the World she came from was imbroiled in a great War and that most parts or Nations thereof made War against that Kingdom which was her Native Country where all her Friends and Relations did live at which the Empress was extreamly troubled insomuch that the Emperor perceived her grief by her tears and examining the cause thereof she told him that she had received Intelligence from the Spirits that that part of the World she came from which was her native Country was like to be destroyed by numerous Enemies that made War against it The Emperor being very sensible of this ill news especially of the Trouble it caused to the Empress endeavoured to comfort her as much as possibly he could and told her that she might have all the assistance which the Blazing-World was able to afford She answered That if there were any possibility of transporting Forces out of the Blazing-World into the World she came from she would not fear so much the ruin thereof but said she there being no probability of effecting any such thing I know not how to shew my readiness to serve my Native Country The Emperor asked Whether those Spirits that gave her Intelligence of this War could not with all their Power and Forces assist her against those Enemies She answered That Spirits could not arm themselves nor make any use of Artificial Arms or Weapons for their Vehicles were Natural Bodies not Artificial Besides said she the violent and strong actions of war will never agree with Immaterial Spirits for Immaterial Spirits cannot fight nor make Trenches Fortifications and the like But said the Emperor their Vehicles can especially if those Vehicles be mens Bodies they may be serviceable in all the actions of War Alas replied the Empress that will never do for first said she it will be difficult to get so many dead Bodies for their Vehicles as to make up a whole Army much more to make many Armies to fight with so many several Nations nay if this could be yet it is not possible to get so many dead and undissolved Bodies in one Nation and for transporting them out of other Nations it would be a thing of great difficulty and improbability But put the case said she all these difficulties could be overcome yet there is one obstruction or hindrance which can no ways be avoided For although those dead and undissolved Bodies did all die in one minute of time yet before they could Rendezvouze and be put into a posture of War to make a great and formidable Army they would stink and dissolve and when they came to a fight they would moulder into dust and ashes and so leave the purer Immaterial Spirits naked nay were it also possible that those dead bodies could be preserved from stinking and dissolving yet the Souls of such Bodies would not suffer Immaterial Spirits to rule and order them but they would enter and govern them themselves as being the right owners thereof which would produce a War between those Immaterial Souls and the Immaterial Spirits in Material Bodies all which would hinder them from doing any service in the actions of War against the Enemies of my Native Countrey You speak Reason said the Emperor and I wish with all my Soul I could advise any manner or way that you might be able to assist it but you having told me of your dear Platonick Friend the Duchess of Newcastle and of her good and profitable Counsels I would desire you to send for her Soul and conferr with her about this business The Empress was very glad of this motion of the Emperor and immediately sent for the Soul of the said Duchess which in a minute waited on her Majesty Then the Empress declared to her the grievance and sadness of her mind and how much she was troubled and afflicted at the News brought her by the Immaterial Spirits desiring the Duchess if possible to assist her with the best Counsels she could that she might shew the greatness of her love and affection which she bore to her Native Countrey Whereupon the Duchess promised her Majesty to do what lay in her power and since it was a business of great Importance she desired some time to consider of it for said she Great Affairs require deep Considerations which the Empress willingly allowed her And after the Duchess had considered some little time she desired the Empress to send some of her Syrens or Mear-men to see what passages they could find out of the Blazing-World into the World she came from for said she if there be a passage for a Ship to come out of that World into this then certainly there may also a Ship pass thorow the same passage out of this World into that Hereupon the Mear-or Fish-men were sent out who being many in number employ'd all their industry and did swim several ways at last having found out the passage they returned to the Empress and told her That as their Blazing World had but one Emperor one Government one Religion and one Language so there was but one Passage into that World which was so little that no Vessel bigger than a Packet-Boat could go thorow neither was that Passage always open but sometimes quite frozen up At which Relation both the Empress and Duchess seemed somewhat troubled fearing that this would perhaps be an hindrance or obstruction to their Design At last the Duchess desired the Empress to send for her Ship-wrights and all her Architects which were Giants who being called the Duchess told them how some in her own World had been so ingenious as to contrive Ships that could swim under Water and asked Whether they could do the like The Giants answered They had never heard of that Invention nevertheless they would try what might be done by Art and spare no labour or industry to find it out In the mean time while both the Empress and Duchess were in a serious Counsel after many debates the Duchess desired but a few Ships to transport some of the Bird Worm-and Bear-men Alas said the Empress What can such sorts of Men do in the other World especially so few They will be soon destroyed for a Musket will destroy numbers of Birds at one shot The Duchess said I desire your Majesty will have but a little patience and relie upon my advice and you shall not fail to save your own Native Country and in a manner become Mistress of all that World you came from The Empress who loved the Duchess as her own Soul did so the Giants returned soon after and told her Majesty that they had found out the Art which the Duchess had mentioned to make such Ships as could swim under water which the Empress and Duchess were
suddenly resolve what answer to send the Empress at which she grew angry insomuch that she resolved to return into her Blazing-World without giving any assistance to her Country-men but the Duchess of Newcastle intreated her Majesty to abate her passion for said she Great Councels are most commonly slow because many men have many several Opinions besides every Councellor striving to be the wisest makes long speeches and raise many doubts which cause retardments If I had long-speeched Councellors replied the Empress I would hang them by reason they give more Words then Advice The Duchess answered That her Majesty should not be angry but consider the differences of that and her Blazing-World for said she they are not both alike but there are grosser and duller understandings in this than in the Blazing-World At last a Messenger came out who returned the Empress thanks for her kind proffer but desired withal to know from whence she came and how and in what manner her assistance could be serviceable to them The Empress answered That she was not bound to tell them whence she came but as for the manner of her assistance I will appear said she to your Navy in a splendorous Light surrounded with Fire The Messenger asked at what time they should expect her coming I 'le be with you answered the Empress about one of the Clock at night With this report the Messenger returned which made both the poor Councellors and Sea-men much afraid but yet they longed for the time to behold this strange sight The appointed hour being come the Empress appear'd with Garments made of the Star-stone and was born or supported above the Water upon the Fish-mens heads and backs so that she seemed to walk upon the face of the Water and the Bird and Fish-men carried the Fire-stone lighted both in the Air and above the Waters Which sight when her Country-men perceived at a distance their hearts began to tremble but coming something nearer she left her Torches and appeared onely in her Garments of Light like an Angel or some Deity and all kneeled down before her and worshipped her with all submission and reverence But the Empress would not come nearer than at such a distance where her voice might be generally heard by reason she would not have that any of her Accoustrements should be perceived but the splendor thereof and when she was come so near that her voice could be heard and understood by all she made this following Speech Dear Country-men for so you are although you know me not I being a Native of this Kingdom and hearing that most part of this World had resolved to make Warr against it and sought to destroy it at least to weaken its Naval Force and Power have made a Voyage out of another World to lend you my assistance against your Enemies I come not to make bargains with you or to regard my own Interest more than your Safety but I intend to make you the most powerful Nation of this World and therefore I have chosen rather to quit my own Tranquility Riches and Pleasure than suffer you to be ruined and destroyed All the Return I desire is but your grateful acknowledgment and to declare my Power Love and Loyalty to my Native Country for although I am now a Great and Absolute Princess and Empress of a whole World yet I acknowledg that once I was a Subject of this Kingdom which is but a small part of this World and therefore I will have you undoubtedly believe that I shall destroy all your Enemies before this following Night I mean those which trouble you by Sea and if you have any by Land assure your self I shall also give you my assistance against them and make you triumph over all that seek your Ruine and Destruction Upon this Declaration of the Empress when both the General and all the Commanders in their several Ships had return'd their humble and hearty Thanks to Her Majesty for so great a favour to them she took her leave and departed to her own Ships But good Lord what several Opinions and Judgments did this produce in the minds of her Country-men some said she was an Angel others she was a Sorceress some believed her a Goddess others said the Devil deluded them in the shape of a fine Lady The morning after when the Navies were to fight the Empress appear'd upon the face of the Waters dress'd in her Imperial Robes which were all of Diamonds and Carbuncles in one hand she held a Buckler made of one intire Carbuncle and in the other hand a Spear of one intire Diamond on her head she had a Cap of Diamonds and just upon the top of the Crown was a Starr made of the Starr-stone mentioned heretofore and a Half-Moon made of the same Stone was placed on her forehead all her other Garments were of several sorts of precious Jewels and having given her Fish-men directions how to destroy the Enemies of her Native Country she proceeded to effect her design The Fish-men were to carry the Fire-stones in cases of Diamonds for the Diamonds in the Blazing-World are in splendor so far beyond the Diamonds of this World as Peble-stones are to the best sort of this Worlds Diamonds and to uncase or uncover those Fire-stones no sooner but when they were just under the Enemis Ships or close at their sides and then to wet them and set their Ships on fire which was no sooner done but all the Enemie's Fleet was of a Flaming fire and coming to the place where the Powder was it streight blew them up so that all the several Navies of the Enemies were destroyed in a short time which when her Country-men did see they all cried out with one voice That she was an Angel sent from God to deliver them out of the hands of their Enemies Neither would she return into the Blazing-World until she had forced all the rest of that World to submit to that same Nation In the mean time the General of all their Naval Forces sent to their Soveraign to acquaint him with their miraculous Delivery and Conquest and with the Empress's design of making him the most powerful Monarch of all that World After a short time the Empress sent her self to the Soveraign of that Nation to know in what she could be serviceable to him who returning her many thanks both for her assistance against his Enemies and her kind proffer to do him further service for the good and benefit of his Nations for he was King over several Kingdoms sent her word that although she did partly destroy his Enemies by Sea yet they were so powerful that they did hinder the Trade and Traffick of his Dominions To which the Empress returned this answer That she would burn and sink all those Ships that would not pay him Tribute and forthwith sent to all the Neighbouring Nations who had any Traffick by Sea desiring them to pay Tribute to the King and Soveraign of
made them so thick They answered That the thicker the Walls were the warmer were they in Winter and cooler in Summer for their thickness kept out both Cold and Heat Lastly she asked Why they Arched their Roofs and made so many Pillars They replied That Arches and Pillars did not onely grace a Building very much and caused it to appear Magnificent but made it also firm and lasting The Empress was very well satisfied with their answers and after some time when she thought that her new founded societies of the Vertuoso's had made a good progress in the several Employments she had put them upon she caused a Convocation first of the Bird-men and commanded them to give her a true relation of the two Coelestial Bodies viz. the Sun and Moon which they did with all the obedience and faithfulness befitting their duty The Sun as much as they could observe they related to be a firm or solid Stone of a vast bigness of colour yellowish and of an extraordinary splendor But the Moon they said was of a whitish colour and although she looked dim in the presence of the Sun yet had she her own light and was a shining body of her self as might be perceived by her vigorous appearance in Moon-shiny-nights the difference onely betwixt her own and the Sun's light was that the Sun did strike his beams in a direct line but the Moon never respected the Centre of their World in a right line but her Centre was always excentrical The Spots both in the Sun and Moon as far as they were able to perceive they affirmed to be nothing else but flaws and stains of their stony Bodies Concerning the heat of the Sun they were not of one opinion some would have the Sun hot in it self alledging an old Tradition that it should at some time break asunder and burn the Heavens and consume this world into hot Embers which said they could not be done if the Sun were not fiery of it self Others again said This opinion could not stand with reason for Fire being a destroyer of all things the Sun-stone after this manner would burn up all the near adjoining Bodies Besides said they Fire cannot subsist without fuel and the Sun-stone having nothing to feed on would in a short time consume it self wherefore they thought it more probable that the Sun was not actually hot but onely by the reflection of its light so that its heat was an effect of its light both being immaterial But this opinion again was laught at by others and rejected as ridiculous who thought it impossible that one immaterial should produce another and believed that both the light and heat of the Sun proceeded from a swift Circular motion of the AEthereal Globules which by their striking upon the Optick nerve caused light and their motion produced heat But neither would this opinion hold for said some then it would follow that the sight of Animals is the cause of light and that were there no eyes there would be no light which was against all sense and reason Thus they argued concerning the heat and light of the Sun but which is remarkable none did say that the Sun was a Globous fluid body and had a swift Circular motion but all agreed It was fixt and firm like a Center and therefore they generally called it the Sun-stone Then the Empress asked them the reason Why the Sun and Moon did often appear in different postures or shapes as sometimes magnified sometimes diminished sometimes elevated otherwhiles depressed now thrown to the right and then to the left To which some of the Bird-men answered That it proceeded from the various degrees of heat and cold which are found in the Air from whence did follow a differing density and rarity and likewise from the vapours that are interposed whereof those that ascend are higher and less dense then the ambient air but those which descend are heavier and more dense But others did with more probability affirm that it was nothing else but the various patterns of the Air for like as Painters do not copy out one and the same original just alike at all times so said they do several parts of the Air make different patterns of the luminous Bodies of the Sun and Moon which patterns as several copies the sensitive motions do figure out in the substance of our eyes This answer the Empress liked much better then the former and enquired further What opinion they had of those Creatures that are called the motes of the Sun To which they answered That they were nothing else but streams of very small rare and transparent particles through which the Sun was represented as through a glass for if they were not transparent said they they would eclipse the light of the Sun and if not rare and of an airy substance they would hinder Flies from flying in the Air at least retard their flying motion Nevertheless although they were thinner then the thinnest vapour yet were they not so thin as the body of air or else they would not be perceptible by animal sight Then the Empress asked Whether they were living Creatures They answered Yes Because they did encrease and decrease and were nourished by the presence and starved by the absence of the Sun Having thus finished their discourse of the Sun and Moon the Empress desired to know what Stars there were besides But they answer'd that they could perceive in that World none other but Blazing Stars and from thence it had the name that it was called the Blazing-World and these Blazing-Stars said they were such solid firm and shining bodies as the Sun and Moon not of a Globular but of several sorts of figures some had tails and some other kinds of shapes After this The Empress asked them What kind of substance or creature the Air was The Bird-men answered That they could have no other perception of the Air but by their own Respiration For said they some bodies are onely subject to touch others onely to sight and others onely to smell but some are subject to none of our exterior Senses For Nature is so full of variety that our weak Senses cannot perceive all the various sorts of her Creatures neither is there any one object perceptible by all our Senses no more then several objects are by one sense I believe you replied the Empress but if you can give no account of the Air said she you will hardly be able to inform me how Wind is made for they say that Wind is nothing but motion of the Air. The Bird-men answer'd That they observed Wind to be more dense then Air and therefore subject to the sense of Touch but what properly Wind was and the manner how it was made they could not exactly tell some said it was caused by the Clouds falling on each other and others that it was produced of a hot and dry exhalation which ascending was driven down again by the coldness of the Air that is
their foreknowledg was onely a prudent and subtile Observation made by comparing of things or actions past with those that are present and that Remembrance was nothing else but a Repetition of things or actions past Then the Empress asked the Spirits Whether there was a threefold Cabbala They answered d ee and Kelly made but a two-fold Cabbala to wit of the Old and New Testament but others might not onely make two or three but threescore Cabbala's if they pleased The Empress asked Whether it was a Traditional or meerly a Scriptural or whether it was a Literal Philosophical or Moral Cabbala Some answered they did believe it meerly Traditional others Scriptural some Literal and some Metaphorical but the truth is said they 't was partly one and partly the other as partly a Traditional partly a Scriptural partly Literal partly Metaphorical The Empress asked further Whether the Cabbala was a work onely of Natural Reason or of Divine Inspiration Many said the Spirits that write Cabbala's pretend to Divine Inspirations but whether it be so or not it does not belong to us to judg onely this we must needs confess that it is a work which requires a good wit and a strong Faith but not Natural Reason for though Natural Reason is most perswasive yet Faith is the chief that is required in Cabbalists But said the Empress Is there not Divine Reason as well as there is Natural No answered they for there is but a Divine Faith and as for Reason it is onely Natural but you Mortals are so puzled about this Divine Faith and Natural Reason that you do not know well how to distinguish them but confound them both which is the cause you have so many divine Philosophers who make a Gallimafry both of Reason and Faith Then she asked Whether pure Natural Philosophers were Cabbalists They answered No but onely your Mystical or Divine Philosophers such as study beyond Sense and Reason She enquired further Whether there was any Cabbala in God or whether God was full of Idea's They answered There could be nothing in God nor could God be full of any thing either forms or figures but of himself for God is the Perfection of all things and an Unexpressible Being beyond the conception of any Creature either Natural or Supernatural Then I pray inform me said the Empress Whether the Jews Cabbala or any other consist in Numbers The Spirits answered No for Numbers are odd and different and would make a disagreement in the Cabbala But said she again Is it a sin then not to know or understand the Cabbala God is so merciful answered they and so just that he will never damn the ignorant and save onely those that pretend to know him and his secret Counsels by their Cabbala's but he loves those that adore and worship him with fear and reverence and with a pure heart She asked further which of these two Cabbala's was most approved the Natural or Theological The Theological answered they is mystical and belongs onely to Faith but the Natural belongs to Reason Then she asked them Whether Divine Faith was made out of Reason No answered they for Faith proceeds onely from a Divine saving Grace which is a peculiar Gift of God How comes it then replied she that Men even those that are of several opinions have Faith more or less A Natural Belief answered they is not a Divine Faith But proceeded the Empress How are you sure that God cannot be known The several Opinions you Mortals have of God answered they are sufficient witnesses thereof Well then replied the Empress leaving this inquisitive knowledg of God I pray inform me whether you Spirits give motion to Natural Bodies No answered they but on the contrary Natural material bodies give Spirits motion for we Spirits being incorporeal have no motion but from our Corporeal Vehicles so that we move by the help of our Bodies and not the Bodies by our help for pure Spirits are immovable If this be so replied the Empress How comes it then that you can move so suddenly at a vast distance They answered That some sorts of matter were more pure rare and consequently more light and agil then others and this was the reason of their quick and sudden motions Then the Empress asked them Whether they could speak without a body or bodily organs No said they nor could we have any bodily sense but onely knowledg She asked Whether they could have Knowledg without Body Not a Natural answered they but a Supernatural Knowledg which is a far better Knowledg then a Natural Then she asked them Whether they had a General or Universal Knowledg They answered Single or particular created Spirits have not for not any Creature but God Himself can have an absolute and perfect knowledg of all things The Empress asked them further Whether Spirits had inward and outward parts No answered they for parts onely belong to bodies not to Spirits Again she asked them Whether their Vehicles were living Bodies They are Self-moving Bodies answered they and therefore they must needs be living for nothing can move it self without it hath life Then said she it must necessarily follow that this living Self-moving Body gives motion to the Spirit and not the Spirit motion to the Body as its Vehicle You say very true answered they and we told you this before Then the Empress asked them Of what forms of Matter those Vehicles were They said they were of several different forms some gross and dense and others more pure rare and subtil If you be not Material said the Empress how can you be Generators of all Creatures We are no more answered they the Generators of material Creatures then they are the Generators of us Spirits Then she asked Whether they did leave their Vehicles No answered they for we being incorporeal cannot leave or quit them but our Vehicles do change into several forms and figures according as occasion requires Then the Empress desired the Spirits to tell her Whether Man was a little World They answered That if a Fly or Worm was a little World then Man was so too She asked again Whether our Fore-fathers had been as wise as Men were at present and had understood sense and reason as well as they did now They answered That in former Ages they had been as wise as they are in this present nay wiser for said they many in this age do think their Fore-fathers have been Fools by which they prove themselves to be such The Empress asked further Whether there was any Plastick power in Nature Truly said the Spirits Plastick power is a hard word signifies no more then the power of the corporeal figurative motions of Nature After this the Empress desired the Spirits to inform her where the Paradise was Whether it was in the midst of the World as a Centre of pleasure or Whether it was the whole World or a peculiar World by it self as a World of Life and not of