of Homer in his Mouth whose hollow Noise proclaim'd I know not what about Fell Acheron gloomy Caves cragged impending Rocks and pitchy Darkness yet he is far from setting aside that great restraint of secret dishonesty the apprehension of being in a worse State for it hereafter Of this we have a manifest Testimony in what follows Our excellent Author having run over several philosophical Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul seeks to credit his Discourse by a very remarkable account of the Words and Actions of dying Socrates His talibus adductus Socrates nec Patronum quaesivit ad judicium Capitis nec judicibus supplex fuit adhibuitque liberam contumaciam a magnitudine animi duetam non a superbia supremo Vitae die de hoc ipso multa disseruit paucis antè diebus cum facile possit educi ex custodiâ noluit cum pent in manu jam mortiferum illud teneret poculum loâ—utut ita est ut non ad mortem trudi verum in eoelum videretur ascendere Ita enim censebat itaque disseruit duas esse vias duplicesque cursus animorum â— corpore excedentium nam qui se humanis vitiis contaminâssent se totos libidinibus dedissent quibus caecati velut domesticis vitiis atque flagitiis se inquinâssent vel in Rempublicam violandam frandes inexpiabiles concepissent iis devium quoddam iter esse seclusum a Concilio Deorum qui autem se integros castosque servassent quibusque fuisset minima cum corporibus contagio seseque ab his semper sevocâssent essentque in corporibus humanis vitam imitati Deorum his ad illos a quibus essent profecti reditum facilem patere Socrates by these and the like Arguments perswaded neither demanded to have Council allow'd him when his Life was so nearly concern'd nor with humble deference courted the favour of his Judges but us'd a free and undaunted Boldness before them which proceeded not from Vanity and Pride but from the just greatness of his Mind Also he discours'd of this very thing viz. the immortality of the Soul on the day he died And a few days before when he might easily have bin convey'd out of Prison by his Friends he refus'd When he was just ready to take the deadly Hemloc-potion in his hand it appear'd by his Discourse that he did not look upon himself as a Criminal going to suffer a violent Death but as a just Man ascending up to Heaven Such was his Perswasion and therefore he declar'd that when Souls depart out of the Body there lay two ways before them they who defil'd themselves with Vices common to Men who gave themselves wholly up to lustful Passions and Affections by which being blinded Dishonesty became familiar and habitual to them or who by conspiring against the Laws and Liberties of their Country had contracted an inexpiable Guilt all of this sort took a by way secluded and fenc'd off from the happy Assembly of the Gods but they whose wiser care had preserv'd themselves pure and virtuous whose Minds were never poison'd with corporeal Pleasures but always restrain'd their Affections from such Objects and while in the Body liv'd the Life of Gods all they after Death took the road leading to the good Gods whence they came By this it plainly appears that Tully believ'd a future State such a future State in which there was a good and a bad that to be enjoy'd this to be suffer'd by Men according to what they do in the Body so little is the difference between this honest Pagan Theist and a sober Christian and perhaps if things were equally weigh'd it might appear much one and the same thing to all the Purposes of Virtue whether wicked Men shall hereafter find a Hell to punish their Misdeeds or carry it with them But if I should leave my last Citation thus and pass on to something else I doubt not but one or other of my Adversaries who are now and then kindly visiting and freely objecting against me would tax me of disingenuity and dissembling of designedly over-looking that which makes against me and I know nothing is got to a good Cause by such a Conduct therefore I will read on and consider what may be made of those words which seem not of a piece with the rest Itaque commemorat ut Cygni qui non sine causâ Apollini dicati sunt sed quòd ab eo divinationem habere videantur quâ providentes quid in morte boni sit cum cantu voluptate moriantur sic omnibus bonis doctis esse faciendum nec vero de hoc quisquam dubitare possit nisi idem nobis accideret diligenter de animo cogitantibus quod iis saepe usu venit qui acriter oculis deficientem solem intuerentur ut aspectum omnino amitterent Sic mentis acies seipsam intuens nonnunquam hebescit ob eamque causam contemplandi diligentiam amittimus Itaque dubitans circumspectans haesitans multa adversa revertens tanquam ratis in mari immenso nostra vehitur Oratio Therefore He Socrates remarks that as Swans not without reason sacred to Apollo from whom they have the Gift of Divination foreseeing the good there is in death dy with Joy and Singing So should the Virtuous and the Wise Men of good Sense and Learning do of this there is no doubt to be made unless that should befal us thoughtfully considering the nature of the Soul which commonly happens to them who gaze on the Sun in Eclipse till they can see no longer for so the Sight of the Mind turn'd upon it self and intently examining its own Nature grows dim by which means we lose all the expected fruit of our diligent Contemplation So while I my self doubt and look round the thing in question while I demur and consider once and again what may be said pro and con my Discourse is like a floating Vessel tost to and fro in the wide Sea I must confess that from this Passage one might be apt to imagine that Tully even in the most serious matter was a little addicted to the Academic wanton Rhetorical Way of talking all that came into his thoughts what side soever of the Question was serv'd or prejudic'd by it he had giv'n occasion to be suspected of this Vanity once before N. 49. Praeclarum autem nescio quid adepti sunt qui didicerunt se cum tempus mortis venisset totos esse perituros quod ut ita sit nihil enim pugno quid habet ista res aut laetabile aut gloriosum They have discover'd a worthy Secret indeed who have learn'd that when they die they must wholly perish and be no more which to suppose it true for I dispute not against it what have they rejoice at and be proud of But now I answer 1 st That perhaps there is more of a Rhetorical Apophasis than Academic Scepticism in both these Passages Tully delights much
into the mouth of a third Person against whom he disputes Now I must observe to my Acquaintance that these two Passages which he has quoted as Testimonies that Tully disbeliev'd the Immortality of the Soul and consequently a future State are not spoken by Tully as from himself but are the words which he puts into the Mouth of a third Person against whom he disputes which I prove thus Tully makes his way to the first of his Tusculan Questions concerning the contempt of Death by giving an account how he came to exercise himself in weighty Philosophical Questions then he tells his Friend Brutus to whom he writes that this was the method which he took Ponere jubebam de quo quis audire vellet id aut sedens aut ambulans disputabam itaque dierum quinque Scholas ut Graeci appellant in totidem libros contuli fiebat autem ita ut cùm is qui audire vellet dixisset quid sibi videretur tum ego contradicerem I bid him i. e. the Person with whom he confer'd to set down that Point or Question concerning which he would gladly hear and then sitting or as I walk'd I discuss'd the same So the Schola's as the Greeks call them the Conferences of five days I disposed into five Books and thus were the Conferences manag'd when he that desir'd to hear the Question discuss'd had said what he thought good then I on the other side spake my Mind From these words in the Preface to the first Dialogue it is beyond controversy plain that the words spoken by Atticus or the Hearer as are those objected against me represent not the Mind of Tully but what Marcus the other fictitious Name in the Dialogue replies that and that only can fairly be charg'd on him which being very material I crave leave to set before the Reader some remarkable Portions of it N. 27. Vnum illud erat insitum priscis illis quos Cascos appellat Ennius esse in morte sensum neque excessu vitae sic deleri hominem ut funditus interiret idque cùm multis aliis rebus tum è pontificio jure ceremoniis sepulchrorum intelligi licet quas maximis ingeniis praediti nec tanta cura coluissent nec violatas tam inexpiabili religione sanxissent nisi haesisset in eorum mentibus mortem non interitum esse omnia tollentem atque delentem sed quandam quasi migrationem commutationémque vitae quae in claris viris foeminis Dux in coelum soleret esse in caeteris humi retineretur permaneret tamen It was with those Antients whom Ennius calls Casci as a natural Sentiment that Death did not bereave a Man of all Sense nor make an utter end of him which among other things appears from Pontifical Laws and from Sepulchral Rites which Men of the best sense had never so carefully observ'd nor enforc'd with so fatal Penalty but that it was a settled Principle with them That Death was not the end of all things but a certain removal as it were and change of one Life for another by means of which famous Men and Women were translated into Heaven others left below but still left in Existence N. 30. Firmissimum hoc afferri videtur cur Deos esse credamus quòd nulla gens tam fera nemo omnium tam sit immanis cujus mentem non imbuerit Deorum opinio Multi de Diis prava sentiunt omnes tamen esse vim naturam divinam arbitrantur Nec vero id collocutio hominum auc consensus efficit non institutis opinio est confirmata non legibus Omni autem in re consensio omnium gentium lex Naturae putanda est This seems a strong Argument why we should believe the Being of Gods because there is no Nation so wild no Man so savage whose Mind is not indued with an Opinion of Gods Many Men have an unworthy Opinion of Gods but all judg that there is a Nature and Power Divine and this is not the effect of Conference and friendly Agreement it is not owing to Customs or Laws but that thing whatever it is which has the consent of all Nations is to be deem'd a Law of Nature N. 31. Maximum vero argumentum est naturam ipsam de immortalitate animorum tacitam judicare quod omnibus curae sunt maximè quidem quae post mortem futura sunt But 't is a very great Argument that Nature it self gives a silent Verdict for the Immortality of the Soul because all Men are concern'd most highly concern'd about what shall be hereafter N. 33. Nemo unquam sine magna spe immortalitatis se pro patria offerret ad mortem Licuit esse otioso Themistocli licuit Epaminondae licuit ne vetera externa quaeram mihi sed nescio quomodo inhaeret in mentibus quasi saeculorum quoddam augurium futurorum idque in maximis ingeniis altissimisque animis existit maximè apparet facillimè quo quidem dempto quis tam esset amens qui semper in laboribus periculis viveret None ever without a strong hope of Immortality would venture his Life to save his Country Themistocles might have liv'd at ease so might Epaminondas and not to hunt after old and foreign Examples so might I my self but that I know now not how there is inherent in our Minds a certain foreboding of a Life to come and that same foreboding is most busy and does most plainly appear in Men of the best Wits and most discerning Minds which Notion being set aside Who would be so mad as to live in continual Labours and Dangers He pursues this point by taking notice what respect several Orders of Men Poets Mechanicks Philosophers have to this Notion and then has these words Sed ut Deos esse natura opinamur qualesque sint ratione cognoscimus sic permanere animos arbitramur consensu nationum omnium qua in sede maneant qualesque sint ratione discendum est cujus ignoratio finxit inferos easabque formidines quas tu contemnere non sine causa videbare But as by nature we are inclin'd to think that there are Gods and by reason learn what to think of them So by the consent of all Nations we are mov'd to believe that Souls remain after Death in what place they remain and what nature they are of 't is Reason must teach us the ignorance of which thing viz. the nature of the Soul invented the Inferi and those Bugbears which you not without cause seem to despise Here again Tully owning his Belief of a future State discovers that his Thoughts concerning it were widely different from the Fancies of Poets and dreams of Priests but tho he was free from the Errors which they had introduc'd into natural Religion and above the imaginary Fears which he says were wont to afright Women and Children especially when a pale Ghost was brought on the Stage with a dreadful Verse
in this Figure Apophasis which promises not to mention those things which are most industriously mention'd and offer'd to the Hearers consideration In the latter of these Passages he says that he would not dispute against them who pretended to have discover'd that Death was the end of all things and yet in the very next words he does dispute against them and that sufficiently to the declaration of his own Opinion upon the Question if not to the conviction of his Adversaries N. 49. Nec tamen mihi sane quicquam occurrit cur non Pythagorae sit Platonis vera sententia And yet I know no reason but that the opinion of Pythagoras and Plato may be true which was for the Immortality of the Soul And a little after Neque aliud est quidquam cur incredibilis his animorum videatur aeternitas nisi quod nequeunt qualis animus sit vacans corpore intelligere cogitatione comprehendere Nor is there any thing else in the case why they his Adversaries could not believe the Immortality of the Soul but because they can't conceive how the Soul can subsist without the Body and think and by thinking understand and yet they understand nothing of the nature of the Soul in the Body Much more to the same purpose follows 2 dly As to that Reflection which Tully makes after the account which he had given of Socrates viz. That his Discourse was like a floating Vessel toss'd to and fro in the wide Sea I answer That notwithstanding this Comparison suppos'd to savour so much of the old academic Uncertainty he continues his Discourse perswading to the practice of Virtue and to the contempt of Death because of the Advantages which good Men should find thereby hereafter And 3 dly What is still more He always brings in Atticus the other Person in the Dialogue as convinc'd by what he offers and fully satisfied concerning the Truth of the Immortality of the Soul by which the Orator enforces what he says concerning the Contempt of Death and the Practice of Virtue 4 ly To put this matter out of controversy and make it incontestably manifest that Tully was not such a Sceptic in the Question concerning the Immortality of the Soul as one or two of my Acquaintance contend at the latter end of a set Speech which Plato puts into the Mouth of dying Socrates N. 99. Sed tempus est jam hinc abire me vos ut vitam agatis Vtrum autem sit melius Dii immortales sciunt hominem quidem scire arbitror neminem But 't is now time that I go hence and die do you my Friends live on but which of the two is best that only the Gods know I am of the mind that no Man living does Upon these words the Orator has this Reflection Etsi quod praeter Deos negat scire quenquam id scit ipse utrum melius nam dixit ante sed suum illud nihil ut affirmet tenet ad extremum Tho that which he says none but the Gods know he himself knows well he knows which is better he had before declar'd which is better but that way of his that way afterwards call'd Academic of determining nothing he holds to the end Here Tully plainly reproves that foolish Philosophical Humour which obtain'd so much of talking off and on in matters of moment and declares it as his opinion that however Socrates in his last words did seem to play fast and loose yet he was in his own mind sufficiently convinc'd of the Immortality of the Soul and the future State on which account it was better for injur'd good Men to die than to live I hope this labour to prove that Tully did not disbelieve the Immortality of the Soul consequently nor a future State may not seem to the Reader tedious or impertinent for if it could be made out that the wisest of the Heathens rejected these Notions and never us'd them as Arguments to encourage Virtue and restrain Vice it would be a prejudice against my Discourse who have endeavour'd to gain some Credibility to these Notions from the Principles of natural Reason It would be a prejudice I say against not an utter subversion of my Discourse for my Adversaries must show where I have argued wrong and not tell me of great Authorities against me if they mean utterly to subvert it But if when they object great Authorities against me which I acknowledg to be a Prejudice for how can I hope to see farther than such a Man as Tully I give a fair Answer and make it appear that the Citations which are objected against me are by my Adversaries mistaken and misapplied and that the same if rightly consider'd are so far from contradicting that they favour the Doctrines which I defend by the acknowledg'd Principles of natural Reason then I think I have been all this while strengthning those Doctrines not spending my time in an impertinent Labour I have this to say further for my self I have not only answer'd the Objections which have been offer'd by my learned Acquaintances but I have also accounted for those Difficulties which I my self chanc'd to meet with while I read those Tracts of the great Orator whence their Objections were taken For I will never contend for any Opinion against which I know of an Objection which appears so considerable that it is the interest of the Opinion to have the Objection pass'd over without any notice taken of it If I could not have solv'd those Difficulties which I my self chanc'd to meet with I would have given up the Authority of Tully tho the Objections of my Adversaries were not of strength sufficient to oblige me to it In pleading a Cause at the Bar in our Courts of Judicature the Lawyer will answer what he can but to be sure start no Objection against his Client which is not easily answer'd and possibly sometimes he may win the day by taking no notice of some Circumstances which the Adversary oversees but in our Disputes concerning Philosophical Truths a Man must leave no Objection without Reply for these Causes are try'd over and over again every day and he that takes no notice of a considerable Objection will be found out by one or other and suppos'd to have silently pass'd it by as being conscious of the weakness of his Cause and unable to answer it Again in answering I have answer'd fairly I have not by a cheating Translation or otherwise misrepresented the Author to serve the ends of my Discourse which is a method but too frequent with them who dispute for Religious Opinions but thereby they do their Cause be it good or bad a great disservice for a bad Cause by dissembling Artifices is render'd more odious in the eyes of all prudent Men who search diligently into the nature of things and a good Cause by such poor methods is brought under deserv'd suspicion I will give one instance of this which shall not be an invidious one from