Composition still marching away and other succeeding in their rooms if nothing in us were fix'd and immutable we should not only find it difficult to remember the Observations of our former Life but be apt to forget what we our selves were in time past or if Memory be only fading Motion like that which we discern upon the Surface of Water after a Stone is thrown into it 〈◊〉 is impossible to imagine by what Preservatives this feeble Trembling should continue so long as we know we can remember For many years after this Motion must needs have ceas'd we find the Phantasms of things long before past as fresh as if they had but newly happened I will not trouble you Synthnescon said Aristander continuing his Discourse with any more Arguments concerning this Matter The Actions which I have nam'd do prove the Soul to be an Incorporeal Substance it being evident to any Ingenuous Philosopher that no Contexture of Atoms is capable of such Operations and that it is impossible they should be produc'd only by the Motion of Matter agitated But I would adde this to what I have said already That though I do really believe that the foremention'd Arguments are in themselves certain Truths and do sufficiently prove the Immortality of our Souls yet I think God hath given us a higher assurance concerning this Article of Faith then any thing which I have mention'd I mean that our Immortality is better demonstrated from the Resurrection and Ascension of our Saviour then by any Apodeictical Proofs drawn from other Topicks All are not prepar'd for Philosophical Arguments because many of them are subtile and so above the reach of weak Capacities neither are they of force to uphold a Belief in those who understand them no longer then they do carefully attend to the Coherence of every Demonstration Our Saviour rising from the Grave and appearing in the same Body in which he was Crucified both after his Resurrection to many of his Friends upon Earth and after his Ascension to one of his Apostles from Heaven gave sufficient notice that he had overcome the Power of that Death which he suffer'd upon the Cross and by the truth of his glorious Existence exhibited an evident Testimony of the Soul 's Incorruptibility And I must tell you Synthnescon that the conviction which we receive from this Argument doth so far transcend the satisfaction which we find in all others which have been produc'd for the Determination of this Question that Christian Religion may be truly said to have the Glory of giving a just Demonstration of the Life to come and a clear Assurance of the Immortal Happiness of our future state Here Synthnescon reply'd I cannot but acknowledge it Aristander as a very great Obligation that you are pleas'd to allow us the benefit of your Conversation especially at this time when your Repose is necessary to your Health and if it were not for continuing a disturbance I should beseech you to deliver me by your excellent Discourse from the vexation of some Objections which molest my Faith and with which I find my self more troubled because this Article is very Important I understand very well said Aristander that a freedom from Company would contribute nothing to the Restauration of my Health and I assure you that I do not think that those few Hours of my Life which yet remain can be better imployed then in this sort of Conversation and therefore you have a fair leave to propound your scruples Synthnescon accepting this courteous offer began thus I find it difficult to think that the Soul is any Immaterial Substance because I cannot imagine how it should be joyn'd to this Body I can hardly believe that there is any such strange sort of Glue which is able to fasten together two such different Natures It seems to be an odde Marriage wherein so subtile a Principle as you make the Soul should desire to espouse to it self dull Matter and yet if it would contract such an Union it cannot because it would pass through Matter by reason of its all-penetrating nature and so be unable to take such fast hold as to make a Whole consisting of those two Parts which you call Soul and Body I rather phansie an Identity of things exprest by those two names then an Union of distinct parts and suppose the Soul and Body are rather One then United because the Soul which you magnifie so much for its innate Power is not able to perform those noble Operations for which you pronounce it an Immaterial Substance when the Body is distemper'd by Excess of Meats or Drinks or indispos'd by Diseases and old Age. Who is able to discourse rationally when he is drunk The Extravagancies of Mad-men are notorious the Operations of the Intellect wholly cease in Lethargies and Apoplexies and I am apt to argue that as the Soul suffers an Infancy when the Body is young grows more vigorous in riper years becomes decrepid in old Age and is sick with the Body so it also dies with it This Belief receives Confirmation from that which is observable in the manner by which Death seizeth upon us for dying persons feel themselves perish by Degrees they lose one Faculty after another Speech Memory Sight and Hearing And as the particular Senses which are proper to every Organ are taken away by the Prevalency of a Disease so I suppose that whatsoever it is which you call Soul must needs be destroy'd by Death Besides this if there be a Soul it is Divisible and therefore not Immortal as may be perceiv'd in the Motion which continues in the several Parts of a Body when the Whole is cut into pieces What can be the reason of that Agitation but that the Soul being commensurate with the Whole is divided into every Part and so moves them 〈◊〉 while and after some time perisheth being only a mortal Vigour of warm Spirits If it did escape these dangers as you pretend it doth I know not to what purpose it should then be continued in Being for it cannot act out of the Body and having no Operations it must needs be condemn'd to an unhappy Dulness in a most afflicting Solitude It can neither hear Musical Sounds nor see the Beautiful World nor discourse nor converse with others and therefore it is rational to suppose that it doth not Exist at all I must adde also that what you call Soul in us seems to understand that dark Fate which awaits it in Death and that this sad Presage makes men afraid to die If the Soul were an Immortal Spirit able to subsist of it self it should rejoyce to leave this Body and it would find no reason to be enamour'd with it if it be destinated to an Immortal Happiness as you say it is in the Separate state I have heard some say too that if there be any such state 〈◊〉 seems very strange that none of those Millions of Souls which are gone into the other World should return
signifying a thankful consent to a motion which contain'd so much Civility they ended the Conferences of that Night In the Morning Phronesia rising something earlier then ordinary though she was never late in bed having prepar'd all things necessary for their Journey conducted her friends towards Sophrosyne with such a convenient Equipage that they easily perceived that true 〈◊〉 extends it self to all things They came in a little time to the borders which were adorn'd with plenty of ancient Trees and having travail'd a little way through the 〈◊〉 Woods they came to old Sophron's Seate His house was built with the plain stone of the Country not adorn'd with Pillars of forreign Marble or rich Columns of Corinthian Brasse nor furnish'd with the over-worn Statues of such as had nothing else by which they could be remembred neither were the Rooms furnish'd with stately beds of Ivory or golden Goblets in stead of the trouble of such dangerous household-stuffe they had plain Utensils and were serv'd in Earthen Vessels were content with a little and form'd their desires according to the proportions of true Necessity One of Sophron's Sons for old Sophron was dead that had in nothing degenerated from his Father met them in one of his Walks and conducted them into his House where they found all things appointed with respect to a decent Soberness and saw that they were as far from Sordidness as from a luxurious Delicacy After usual salutations and civil entertainment perform'd after the manner of Sophrosyne Bentivolio according to his custom enter'd upon discourses sutable unto his design and acquainted Sophron that as amongst the many singular Courtesies done to them by Phronesia they esteem'd it a great honour to be accompanied by her to his house so he desired Sophron to favour him and his Friends with the knowledg of their Manners and the reasons of their Discipline which they had heard to be the most conformable to Humane Nature of any in the World I have nothing to say replied the Modest Sophron in praise of our Customs in comparison of others but what they are you shall soon know Since the Roots of Immortality wither'd in Paradise Life hath not been purchasable in Fee-simple and therefore our Ancestors took thought how they might improve their Time during their Lease and perceiving that they were to enjoy it in joynt-Tenancy with the Body they took what care they could to make it least cumbersome to the Soul that the Spirit might be more content to dwell with it and more able to accomplish its actions without disturbance from such a dull Companion The chief thing which they found advantageous to these purposes was an universal Temperance and this they esteem'd necessary to their Design both because some in a very short time forfeit their Lease of life by the neglect of Moderation and though a longer space was allowed to them they foolishly shorten it and scarce out live the time of a Gourd and others so disenable themselves by the Effects of Intemperance that they live to as small purpose as if they had never been born and in the close die as unwillingly as a Beast catch'd in a snare Health is our Pleasure and our Riches Content with competent Portions We emulate nothing but the Simplicity of our Ancestors we think that we then enjoy our Body as we should when we keep it subservient to a thoughtful Soul We look upon it as an Inne where we are to sojourne a few dayes and provide such accommodations as are proportionable to the stay which we are to make but our principall Employment is to prepare our selves for the estate which awaites us at Home and to do such things here as will prove beneficial to us when we come thither All that we desire by the way is a healthful Chearfullnesse and a serviceable Temper and these we obtain and secure by denying satisfaction to all unreasonable Appetites which as we have observed wheresoever they are indulg'd destroy those who are so foolish as to be in love with them If the Instances be lawful in which men please themselves we wonder why they transgresse their Bounds for then they displease and since God hath commanded us not to passe the limits which he hath set we esteem it most unworthy to offend because he never forbids till the Excess hurt us When men chuse unlawful instances we are astonish'd at their brutishness because the allow'd are better besides that they leave no gall in the Conscience If men pretend a joy in such freedoms as they fancy and then rifle to themselves we think they are sufficiently punish'd for their boldness by the sad dyscrasies of their wrong'd bodies as the Surfets of Gluttony the Vomits of unmeasur'd Drinking the Crudities of indigested Varieties which are the Rootes of afflictive Diseases unclean effects of bestial Lust dishonorable Sickness sleepless nights disturb'd Dreams and untimely Death besides what is to be expected in another World Whilst we see such things to be the necessary consequences of a dissolute life we please our selves in a sober preservation of our bodily Comforts and what we have we enjoy without the checks of a discontented Soul ours must needs be far from reproching the Pleasures which it help'd us to procure we preserve and recover the Body by the Soul a discreet observation of our Constitutions is our chief Physick Whilst a Holy Soul dwells in a healthful Body it hath an Antepast of their future and better Conjunction The Sensitive part is apt to be mistaken and frequently makes the Soul suffer for its Errors and therefore we keep a strict watch upon its Tentations lest it exceed due Proportions in the Quantity of Meats and Drinks or be too curious as to the Qualities of either As we avoid Excesse so we are carefull to use things which administer proper Nourishment and of those we think our selves well provided if we have such as secure our End the End of Eating and Drinking is Health and the End of Health the employment of Soul and Body in worthy actions We are not troubled with the incivility of offering great measures of drink by way of Complement we esteem it no great Courtesie in any man to invite us to drown our selves either in Water or Wine It is a great abuse of good nature to please another with our own hurt and no lesse folly to pretend a regard to some friends Health and at the same time to despise our own We care not for delicate Odours sweet Herbs are enough and in stead of curious Meats and Drinks we chuse those which have a less troublesome preparation and give more natural satisfaction Yet we are not ignorant that there are different Tempers of Body and Uses of Life and therefore we can tell how to allow that to others which we take not to our selves but we are wary also to distinguish between the true Infirmity of a weak Stomach and the Curiosities of a fantastical Palate Hunger
some Vapours extracted out of their Graves by the Stars which represent the shapes which they had when they were alive The potent Stars collecting it seems Vapours out of their cloths too for they appear many times in the same Habit which they us'd to wear But it is easie for him to swallow such small matters who esteems Angels in general but Phantasms or wild Imaginations of sick Brains and by Good Angels would have us to understand nothing but our Friends such as are of our Opinion observe our Humour or applaud what we say So an Archangel is a Parasite or a Carrier which brings good news in a Letter Departed Souls he interprets Shadows that is such as fall from our Bodies when we walk in the Sun and says that the Anguish which is call'd Remorse of Conscience is inflicted by those and that they are the most proper Ministers of that punishment because they must needs be conscious to all our Mis-doings having accompanied us in all places Devils he reputes either Fictions of terrified Souls which hurt only such as make them by their own Fears or else Wicked men that is such as are not of our Mind and sometimes any thing which hurts us as Diseases Sometime he says he could be more content to believe that there are Angels in the received sense but that the Assertours of that Doctrine do not allow Angellesses He doth not value Eternal Blessedness esteeming the Beatifick Vision an unintelligible Notion and instead of a clearer knowledge of God and all things accompanied with an incomparable Joy he says the Kingdom of Heaven signifies only a state of Civil Government like to that which the Jews had before they made Saul their King He tells us that the Souls of Good men do not ascend into Heaven or enjoy any knowledge but die with the Body but that they shall rise again and then be as Adam was before he sinn'd He under stands by the pains of Hell that Wicked men shall die as others do and lie without any sense in the Grave till the day of Judgment and when they rise again shall be tormented by seeing themselves more unhappy then others that is they shall be forc'd to eat drink marry and beget Children as they did before and then die again Here 〈◊〉 made a pause and begg'd pardon for the Length of his Narration in these words I am afraid Bentivolio and Amyntor that I have wearied you both with a prolix Story of Antitheus his Theology but as I hope that Obedience to your Commands will serve for an Excuse of my offence so I make no doubt but that though the matter of my Discourse hath been displeasing because it gives notice of a Wicked 〈◊〉 yet it is the less considerable because that which is design'd is impossible For though the Engine which I have describ'd be fram'd with an Intention to throw Religion off the Hinges yet it is no more able to doe it then to pull Humane Nature up by the Roots You might have spar'd this excuse Philalethes said Bentivolio but that you can omit nothing in your Conversation which you judge Civil but if your own Weariness be not the true meaning of your Complement we desire to be acquainted with some few of those Principles by which 〈◊〉 pretends to have glorified Natural Philosophy It is but a small labour answer'd Philalethes and if it were greater I should willingly undertake it at your Command Antitheus to make the foremention'd Engine more strong hath fortified it with some assistances which he pretends to have receiv'd from Natural Philosophy though indeed they are only a few false Opinions which he had bestow'd upon it in hope to borrow them as he should have occasion to use them that is to 〈◊〉 Philosophy to serve his Design against Theology turning the sound Principles of sober Discourses into bold Paradoxes and fitting extravagant Fancies which are apt to take with vain Souls not only to oppose true Notions but to lay Foundations of Atheism in his Disciples minds at once endeavouring to supplant true Reason in those whom he teacheth to misunderstand Nature and to disserve God's Interest with such as know not the difference between Jargon and Philosophy One of his Fundamental Notions is That the World was made by a fortuitous concourse of stragling Atoms or in plainer Terms that it is Eternal and was alwayes such as it is now or not much unlike to it the common Principles of all things which did eternally exist of themselves being often 〈◊〉 into feveral Forms by a continued succession of various Motions By which Artifice all Dependance upon a Deity is rejected and the World instructed to acknowledge no first Cause For he was afraid that if he should confess that the World was not Eternal he would also be forc'd to acknowledge that the Supreme Deity determin'd it to begin at his pleasure The World thus constituted he calls Nature and sometimes dignifies it with the Name of God not meaning that Omnipotent Wisdom which being distinguish'd from all created Beings derives from himself to them what they are in their particular kinds but the Nature of things connex'd by several Links of Essence which make the World to be what it is which is but a more dull Expression of the Doctrine of Atoms and depends upon the Ignorance of this Truth that Nature is God's Work that is the Method of Divine Art plac'd in the Essences of things by which they are led orderly to their particular Ends and so is only the effect of his All powerful Goodness or the proper Nature which he hath bestow'd upon everything He looks upon Incorporeal substances as I told you before as things to be hiss'd out of the consideration of Philosophers and in correspondence with that brave supposition asserts That the Soul is nothing distinct from the Body but only a few Atoms put together by chance in a certain Order and that Death is a dissolution of that Contexture and a Resolution of the Soul into small particles of fine Dust. But because of some who have diligently consider'd those rare Operations in which Humane Nature doth manifest it self to be some better thing he says that all those Acts are capable of explication by Corporeal Motion He affirms Sense to be nothing but the local Motion of certain parts in the Body and that Motion and Sensation which is the Perception of Motion are both one that is a Bell hears it self sound He defines Reason to be only a Motion of the exteriour Organs of the Body caused by an Impression of the Object and propagated by a succession of Agitations to the inward parts that is the In-side of a Base-viol is made to understand Musick by him that draws a Bow over the strings which are fastned upon the Out-side and is a Living creature all the while it is play'd upon poor Musicians never dreaming that they have such a power bestow'd upon them that their Instruments understand
disobeying it by Suffering They are also highly useful to the Good not so much to hinder them from doing that which is not Just as that they may not be wrong'd by the Vicious who are deterr'd from hurting them with violent actions by the fear of those Penalties which are annex'd to them That which you objected concerning the different Apprehensions which men have of Good and Evil doth not infringe the real Distinction which is between them or prove that this difference is not known naturally more then it is possible that the Whole should be no bigger then the Part because some have been or may yet be found who doubt whether it is or no. Neither is it any wonder that some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Opinions because there are Multitudes of various Examples in the World and many follow the worst being usually so slothful that they will not take pains to examine which is the best 〈◊〉 and Vice as you say are confounded in most mens actions but that doth not prove that they are not Eternally distinguish'd in their Notions or that it is not natural for Humane Nature to love Vertue since some make themselves sick through Intemperance though nothing is more natural then the desire of Health and some put out their Eyes which are so tenderly regarded by Mankind This Argument is of no force unless you think these are good Conclusions That there are no good Laws in Civil Societies because men do sometimes Rebel That there are no good Principles because the Inconsiderate offer Violence to them and That there is no Use of sober Reason in the World because some are Distracted That any should say as your last Objection supposes That God might if he please alter these essential Notions of Good and Evil is so monstrously extravagant that I cannot but wonder at the Ignorance or Impudence of those who dare speak this blasphemous Falshood At their Impudence in asserting that which supposes it to be no Absurdity for God if he please to make it Good that his Creatures should not acknowledge him which is a horrid Contradiction or at their Ignorance whilst they foolishly affirm that which overthrows all Religion For if we receive this Principle That there is not any thing Indispensably Good or that the Divine Will is not regulated by it they have undermin'd our Faith and taken away all foundation of Hope leaving us as far as in them lies unassured but that God may if he will condemn us for yielding Obedience to him and that it is Just too if he doe it notwithstanding he hath declar'd the contrary When Aristander had proceeded so far he desir'd all the Company except 〈◊〉 that they would please to withdraw for a while into the next Room for his Chirurgeons were come to dress his Wounds Which when they had open'd Well said Aristander how is it We cannot promise much said the Chirurgeons as to your Recovery for we are afraid we shall not be able to prevent a Gangrene Aristander perceiving in their Countenances that by the Rules of their Art they discern'd more Danger then they did express to him desir'd that his Friends might be call'd in They return'd and when they had enquir'd concerning the state of his Body I have receiv'd said Aristander no unwelcome news for Happiness can never come too soon I have alwayes made the Belief of my Soul's Immortality one of the chief Principles of my Actions for whilst I consider'd its nature and perceiv'd that it would not fail to subsist after my Body having a Duration assign'd to it commensurate to Eternity I could not but understand how contemptible that short space of time is which God hath allotted to our Continuance in this lower World in respect of that which is to succeed it and thereupon I infert'd that the Happiness which we enjoy in this state is not comparable to that which awaits us after our separation from this Flesh and consequently that it is an Essential part of true Prudence to be infinitely more sollicitous that we may be happy hereafter then to avoid any present Inconveniences And since I know that there is no way to that Felicity which I hope for but by Death and remember that Death is a very short passage to it I should be untrue to my Principles and abandon my best hopes if I were unwilling to die I perceive said Synthnescon making a Reply to Aristander's Discourse that your Courage is the last Friend that will take leave of you and I cannot but approve your love of an Opinion which is so pleasant that some of those who were not sure that it was true have profess'd that they would never suffer themselves to be perswaded against it whilst they live I grant that the right Government of our Life depends upon true Principles and that we cannot attain Happiness by the Consequences of false Opinions and I must acknowledge that the Principle which you have mention'd is very noble and worthily fit to have a Directive Influence upon the whole course of our present life if we were assur'd of its Truth But I have been told that we have no Soul distinct from the Body and that what we call by that name is only a Contemperation of Corporeal Humours and a Connexion of those Integral Parts of which the Body doth consist and that when this vigorous Crasis is destroy'd by mortal Sickness and the Bodily frame taken in pieces by Death then that which you call Soul ceaseth to be as Musical Harmony vanisheth with Sound and can no more subsist after Death then a Figure is able to remain after the dissolution of Figurated matter Some express themselves thus That all the Soul which we have is compos'd of Material Principles and resolv'd into them by Death that is our Spirit is nothing but a knot of united Atoms and that Death by discomposing the Contexture doth dissipate us into loose Particles I know very well said Aristander that some are not willing to think that the Soul doth exist after Death and have taken great pains to object as much as they can against its Immortality But I have been told by men wiser then these Dissenters that Humane Souls are Immaterial Substances and therefore incapable of that Dissolution which the Body suffers by Death it being a known Principle in true Philosophy That the Corruption of Material Subjects is brought to pass only by a separation of conjoyn'd Parts that is by Division which belongs only to Bodies whose essential property is Quantity That the Soul is in no danger of such Dissolution I have good reason to think by those grounds of hope which I find in my own Experience I am now old and yet I perceive my self to be the same that I was fifty years ago I have worn away many Bodies since I was young and therefore this same I which remains still must be a Soul and that Immaterial I cannot but believe that if I had nothing in my self distinct from
this corruptible Body or that if Death had any wedge able to cleave my Soul I should have seen some Chip fall from it yesterday when my Arm was sawn off and have felt my Soul grown less then it was before I did not I am the same I still and I do not doubt but I should be so if the other Arm were cut off and after that my Feet and then the rest of those Parts which constitute this Bodily Frame Having this sensible assurance I take the more Confidence to believe that I shall eternally exist in this Rational Nature which now makes me my self I know some say that Immaterial Beings if there are any may be Mortal though not by Separation of Parts yet some other way unknown to us I suppose they mean Annihilation To which I answer that though I cannot but acknowledge God may if he will destroy what he hath made and at his pleasure take away that Being which is deriv'd from his Power yet I think it Absurd to suppose that he doth Annihilate Souls because it is contrary to that Method which he observes in other parts of the Universe nothing of which doth so perish And I must esteem it too great a Boldness for any man to affirm that we are reduc'd to Nothing by Death because he doth not know whither we go If he say that the Soul is of that nature that it can have no Being out of the Body he falls upon the fore-mention'd Rock and must say that it is Annihilated by Separation for else it will exist out of the Body But because by your Objections you seem rather to imagine that the Soul is nothing really distinct from the Corporeal Substance I will make no further enquiry whether Immaterial things can perish but rather endeavour to shew you sufficient Cause to believe that Humane Souls are Incorporeal You cannot but know Synthnescon that this Word Soul and others correspondent to it in different Languages hath been long us'd in the World and I take it for granted that it signifies something and suppose that none will venture to affirm that those learned Persons who made use of it in their Writings did intend to signifie nothing by it but a Body or though some may judge them highly mistaken in thinking it had any other true meaning yet as I doubt not but the Venerable Ancients knew very well what they said so I think it may easily be prov'd that the Notion of an Immaterial Substance distinct from the Body which they intended to express by it is natural and true That the Soul is not a Temperament of Corporeal Humours is manifest in this that it is neither a Good nor a Bad Contemperation If it be a healthful Temperament only then we have no Soul when we are Sick if an unhealthful then we are dead when we are Well Besides if the Soul were only a Crasis of the Body it would be capable of no Distempers but by a fit of the Gout the pain of the Stone the heat of a Fever or some other sickness depending upon indispos'd Matter Whereas it is manifest that it hath many Diseases which arise not from Dilatation or Compression of the Matter Obstruction or Inflammation of the Humours or Solution of Continuity The Troubles of Conscience which arise from Moral Causes being no more capable of being remov'd by a Physician 's Receipt then the Gout can be cur'd with a Moral Lecture The Soul is not a Contexture of Material Parts for that is nothing really distinct from the whole Body but that the Soul is not the Body Part of it or any Corporeal thing we have many good assurances Those who would know what others are do rationally seek a satisfaction of their Desire by conversing with them and such as would know what they themselves are must converse with themselves It is necessary to observe this Method for there is no other way to come to the Knowledge of our Souls Since the Essences of all things are veil'd we must endeavour to know them by their Operations for the Forms of things are only intelligible by the Properties which are peculiar to their respective Natures and these distinct Properties reveal themselves only by different Operations Whilst we are intent upon this Contemplation we shall find in our selves the Acts of an Intellectual Essence which upon strict Examination will appear to be of such an excellent Nature that they transcend the finest Modifications and exceed the most subtile Motions of Bodies Those who acknowledge nothing but Material Beings in the World and make our Sensation the effect of Motion do also grant that our highest Perceptions rise but to Imagination which operates only by Corporeal Phantasms that is Images fram'd in the Brain according to those various Impressions which are made upon the Organs of Sense by the Impulses of external Objects If therefore we can make it appear that we have in our selves the Notions of things which were never capable of Sensible Representation we may justly conclude that we have a higher Mode of Perception then Imagination and consequently are ennobled with an Immaterial Principle of Knowledge That we are acquainted with many things of which we cannot have notice by the help of any Sensible Images is manifest in that we understand the Logical Notion of Causes Effects other mutual Respects of things and Universality in that we have cognizance of Mathematical Terms as Proportions of Figures Symmetry of Magnitudes Bredth abstracted from Depth Inequality and Distance in that we find also in our Souls the Perception of Moral Congruities and Repugnancies the Knowledge of Good and Evil the Nature of Vertue Principles of Justice the Decencies of Gratitude Deliberation and Liberty of Will To these I might adde the Species of Reason of Infinite Space Eternal Duration and the Notion of Perception it self we discern also Theological Truths shining there as the lively Idea of God pourtrayed in his Divine Attributes and the sense of our Dependence upon him These things have no Signatures in Matter are no Sensible Objects nor Phantasms of Corporeal Beings deriv'd through our Senses or excited in us by the Impresses of Bodily Motion and therefore we ought to conclude that the Incorporeal Idea's by which we know these things are Congenial to our Souls and also to rest assured that they are Immaterial If the Soul were only a few thick Curds inclos'd with a Bony Skull and all things without us be only Bodies it is no more possible that any knock of dull Matter should be able to beat the subtile Notion of a Deity into our Heads then it is to make an Intelligent Posset of Sack and Milk What sort of Glass is that in which you can hope to represent to our Eyes Comparisons Similitudes and Dissimilitudes If the Soul were Corporeal it could no more be sensible by an external Motion that it is a Being which Understands Reasons and Discourses then an Artist can make a Looking-glass
over the Body since we are not brutishly affected with every Passion which is rais'd in it by the Motion of Spirituous bloud nor carried to Action according to those Provocations which are transmitted into the Phancie from the Impulse of External Objects By which Experiment the Soul proves it self to be of an Immaterial Nature for though it hath an actual Sensation of a fleshly Delight yet by a noble Act of the Rational Will it chuseth a good which is contrary to fleshly Pleasure and which no Corporeal Faculty is able so much as to apprehend By this which I have said it is manifest that the Soul though it be not one with the Body may be capable of those Advantages and Disturbances which you mention'd and being distinct in Essence from the Body with which it is closely united may receive considerable hinderances in its Operations from the Indisposition of the Animal Spirits in Sickness and old Age and from the Confusion of Phantasms when the Bloud is drench'd too much in Wine or swell'd with gross Humours and the Brain clouded with Melancholick Fumes and the Phancie deprav'd with black Vapours the Soul remaining untouch'd in the vigour of her Intellectual Faculty only hinder'd by the Distemper of those Instruments which she is forc'd to use in this Conjunct State So that the Inconveniences which you objected do no more prove that the Soul is weakned in her own Nature then we can conclude our Foot to be lame because we halt when one Shoe hath an higher heel then the other It is not to be expected that whilst the Soul is under such disadvantages she should perform her usual Actions as well as at other times more then that an Artist should express his best Skill with a bad Tool But that the Essential Faculties receive no damage in themselves appears by those regular Operations which she doth again exert when the Body is restor'd to its proper Usefulness by the recovery of Health by returning to a sober Temper by awakening from Sleep and victory over Apoplectical Distempers Besides this we have great reason to think our Souls Immortal notwithstanding what happens to us in Sleep since though they are then secluded from Converse with External Objects they do frequently and for ought we know alwayes Act neither do the sufferings of Mad-men weaken our Faith since though they have extravagant Phancies yet they Apprehend which no Material thing can doe Your Argument taken from that which Dying persons feel would signifie something if we should take for truth whatsoever you have a mind to say We know not what Sensation is in the Souls of Dying persons in that moment when they leave the Body We must grant that which is easie to be experimented that when the Vital Heat is suffocated by Putrefied bloud or exhausted by old Age the Members of the Body will receive no Influence from the Soul and the Immortal Spirit will then go away as Birds flie voluntarily out of old Nests or is forc'd out of an unfit lodging which afterward will decay by the absence of the former Inhabitant But that doth no more prove that the Soul perisheth then it is true that a Tenant dies because he is turn'd out of his house by his Landlord You added I remember that the Soul is not put out but cut in pieces sometimes and so must needs die To prove this you urge the Motion which remains in the Divided parts of a Body But you will perceive that this is a very weak Argument if you consider that the Activity of the Animal Spirits can easily move the Divided parts till by that Motion they are dissipated but it doth not give us any just occasion to think that the Soul is divided since it was prov'd before that it is Immaterial and this Phaenomenon is otherwise fairly salvable the Soul having a power to withdraw it self intirely into one part or to go away from the whole as it pleaseth without suffering any prejudice by the Division of the bodily Members Whereas you phansie that if the Soul should subsist in the Separate state it would be unhappy being depriv'd of all the Organs of bodily Sense and so render'd unable to understand or doe any thing I crave leave to tell you that though many of our present Faculties must needs be buried in a kind of Sleep by Death and though the particular description of the Future state in which our Souls shall be after their Separation from the Body doth by many degrees transcend the capacity of our Reason and that God hath not supply'd that Defect with the clearness of Revelation yet being fully satisfied as to the Existence of our Souls after Death by the fore-mention'd Arguments I am not displeas'd that the Happiness of my Future state is so great that I cannot now comprehend it and as I trust the Goodness of God for my Felicity so I leave the Manner of making me happy to his Wisdom not doubting but he will bestow upon the Soul or awake out of it Faculties suiteable to that condition And since the Soul is an Intelligent Principle and contains in it self a power of universal Perception by which it now understands what is represented by the Organs of Sense so when it is destitute of these Instruments it may well enough perceive after some more transcendent manner in a degree proportionable to that which we attribute to God and Angels He who made our Souls can easily give them when they are out of these Bodies the Species of all things which will concern us to know if we did not understand them before or to remember if we did That because they cannot act as they do now therefore they shall be able to doe nothing at all is an Argument no better then this A man cannot sing because his Lute is broke A Country Clown doth scarce understand any other use of his Hands then to plow to dig to sow to reap or to thrash but he would be laugh'd at if he should affirm that there were no other besides these for we know to what excellent Imployments they are put by Lutenists Painters and other Artists And we may rationally think that there are noble Operations in the other State of which this Principle is capable since it doth declare an admirable Capacity at present and so there is no fear that we shall be idle in the other World That disconsolate Solitude which you talk'd of is as little to bedreaded for the Ethereal Regions must needs be so well Peopled that we cannot easily be alone and the Companions to which Good Souls will then be gather'd are so desirable that they will have no great mind to return hither Whereas you said that if Souls be Immortal it is strange that they are unwilling to leave the Body and that if they be destinated to a happy condition it is impossible but they should rejoyce in the near approches of that Felicity to which Death doth transport them I
must desire you to remember that this World is possess'd by two sorts of Inhabitants Good men and Bad. Bad men do not desire to leave their Bodies neither is there any reason why they should for though their Souls are Immortal by Nature yet they must be unhappy by the appointment of Justice They deny there is any Future state and heartily wish that there were none because they know that they have no share of Felicity in it They are afraid to die lest they should be punish'd So Malefactors are unwilling to leave the Prison because then they are carried to Execution But this is no Argument against the Immortality of the Soul or the Naturalness of those Desires which we have of it since we know that men do sometimes make the Life which they enjoy in this World undesirable though Naturally it is very dear unto them Good men are not only willing to resign this Life but some have most passionately desir'd that they might History doth supply us with various Instances of Excellent Persons who have esteem'd the time of their Dissolution the Epoche of a better Nativity and have protested to their Friends an absolute unwillingness to run the course of their Terrene Life over again and these not Calamitous persons wearied with the Miseries of the World who like vex'd Gamesters throw up their Cards not because they have no mind to play any more but because their Game is bad No Synthnescon such as have enjoy'd all the Delights of this present World and they have had such a clear Presage of their Future Bliss that they complain'd of Death only for those Delays by which they thought themselves kept from the Possession of Immortal Joyes It is true that Naturally we have an unacceptable Sense of our Dissolution which proceeds partly from the long and intimate Commerce which we have had with the Body and is one of the most considerable Imperfections which we contract by the Incorporation of our Souls and is highly increas'd in all who have plung'd themselves deep into the love of Sensual Pleasures prevails much in Melancholick Tempers and shakes weak Believers who have not taken pains to know the reason of their Faith or to prepare themselves for the Future state which they pretend to believe But as it is fit that we should willingly stay in the Body till our work be finish'd so the difficulties which attend our Departure from hence are easily conquerable by all Good men who are usually so far from fearing Death as a considerable Enemy that they do many times court it as a serviceable Friend That which you suggested against the Reality of a Future Life from the not returning of the Dead to give us Information concerning it hath been often urg'd but for the most part insolently and alwayes falsly Will not men believe what is true except they be told by such Messengers as they require We know not what Laws are appointed to such as are remov'd into the other World but we may reasonably think that they cannot go whither they please or doe what they will Must blessed Souls leave their repose to inform those concerning Truth who are such Infidels that they will not believe their Saviour If the Damn'd Spirits be suppos'd to have so much Charity which is very unlikely yet how is it possible that they should shake off their Chains of Darkness and break out of their Prisons to come into the Regions of Light to preach Immortality You ought to remember Synthnescon that God hath indulg'd our weakness and sent many from the other World to give us notice of the certainty of a Future state the Saviour of Men being the chief Instance of this Favour who appear'd in Life after he was Crucified and shew'd himself to many hundred Witnesses whose Testimony is beyond all exception But to make an end of this Discourse I grant as you said in your last words that notwithstanding all the Satisfaction which God hath offer'd in this particular by the Demonstrations of Reason and the Confirmations of his Holy Gospel Infidels do still pretend want of assurance as to the truth of a Future life and having objected the obscure notice of what they shall be hereafter think they have sufficiently warranted their present Sensuality against all just Reproof and by a Philosophy fit for Beasts conclude that because they have no Souls they ought to indulge their Bodies in their most brutish Appetites But the defect of their Discourse is manifest in this that they judge themselves to be rare discerners of Truth because they do not believe it that they have great Wits because they are able to make Sophistical Cavils against that which they have scarce ever took into their thoughts but with a purpose to oppose it and esteem themselves wise in running the greatest hazard in the world though they have not spent much time in weighing the flightness of those Reasons for which they doe so nor have consider'd with a just seriousness how infinitely the solid Happiness of an Immortal state doth exceed those fleshly Pleasures which they hold upon uncertain terms the longest Date of their Fruition which is possible being only a very short Life Here let me tell you Synthnescon one thing which hath been observ'd by many wise men That seeing the Credibility of an Immortal state doth exceed all the Probability of their bold Conjectures by as many degrees as the Bliss of Heaven transcends the vain Pleasures of a Sensual life it must needs be some extravagant love of such Liberties as are inconsistent with other Articles of Faith which are joyn'd with this of Immortality and which are repugnant to those Consequences that follow from this Principle which makes them so boldly to expose themselves to the danger of an Eternal Misery by Unbelief It is a known Rule That such as live Viciously will endeavour to believe Falsly and therefore I would advise you in stead of a busie pursuit of needless Arguments to seek a confirm'd sense of the Truth of the Soul's Immortality by living conformably to those Innate Principles of Vertue which shine in serene Spirits and to await that clear Assurance which is darted into Holy Minds with those heavenly Rayes of Divine Light which do frequently appear in all purg'd Souls And when you enjoy your Faculties in a pacate temper think with your self whether it be probable that the most good God will ever quench or dissatisfie those sincere Desires which his Goodness hath produc'd in his true Friends and which makes them not only to know but to love their Immortality not only to believe but to delight in their Faith hoping to enjoy God after Death more then before Those who find their Souls enamour'd with the Divine Goodness are not only prepar'd for the Celestial Joyes of which that holy temper of Soul can never be destitute but have also an intrinsecal Assurance from the Principle it self being enabled by the Power of it
up of Outsides not reproving those who would have God serv'd with Bodily instances for so he ought to be as is declar ' d in the IV. Book but those who neglect the Spirit of Religion For a Good man as Hierocles saies most excellently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Offers himself for a Sacrifice makes his own Soul the Image of God and prepares his Mind and makes it a fit Temple for the reception of Divine Light 131 Idiopathy from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It denotes mens particular Affections peculiar Tempers Inclinations and Persuasions with which they are so inamour'd that many times with much Passion and little Reason they condemn others that are not prone to sympathize with them 171 Inganna Craft See Forzario 31 Irene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peace a Virgin which towards the further end of the Holy Rode presents the Travailers with Garlands of Amaranth Peace and Tranquillity are the fruits of Perseverance in a good course of Life 280 K KAlobulus a Good Counsellour from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 32 Kenapistis Vain Faith from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at large described in the III. Book 115 Kiskildrivium an insignificant word used by Erasmus in one of his Epistles and is of as much sense in Speech as Transubstantiation is in Religion 166 Krimatophobus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fear of Judgement an inseparable Companion of Hypocrisy 155 L LAbargurus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that greedily receives Money and will do nothing without it The name of a Corrupt Judge 32 Lampromelan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 partly bright partly dark So is Death which is represented by the River so call'd Book IV. for it is dark as it obscures the Bodily Life and bright as it draws the Curtains of Eternal Light which shines upon good Souls in the other World 281 Lerocritus a Judge of Trifles from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that is zealously busy about little arts and things 156 Lestrygon The Lestrygones were a barbarous sort of People which Thucydides lib. 6. saies he knew not whence they came nor whither they went They infested Sicily and Campania in Italy Homer in Odyss 10. tells us how they us'd Vlysses and his Companions 25 Leucas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a white Rock or Promontory of Epirus not far from Actium from which Lovers us'd to throw themselves that they might be freed from the madness of impotent Love They fail'd not of their Cure for they commonly broke their necks Of this Ausonius in his Cupido cruci adfixus makes mention Et de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leucate minatur 〈◊〉 Lesbiacis Sappho 〈◊〉 sagittis of whom Menander in Stobaeus lib. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 87 Logomachia Controversy about Words by which true Philosophy is made onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a vain noise and 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vain talk as Saint Paul saith 160 Lusingha Flattery 80 Lymanter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Destroyer 155 M MAngibella a good Eater 83 Mantimanes a Mad Prophet 139 Mataeoponus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Labour in vain 156 Megabronchus one that hath a great Throat from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 105 Megalophron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly one that hath a Great Mind but here it signifies one that hath high Thoughts concerning himself and doth much relish his own Worth 195 Melita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Care 179 Metamelusa from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that takes thought afterward and signifies in the II. Book Late Repentance 91 Metanoea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Repentance Change of Mind Second thoughts 199 Miasmasarkos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Defilement of the Flesh with bodily Sin which the Ranters Modern Gnosticks have patroniz'd as a more rais'd strain of Religion as their Predecessors of old 168 Microcheires from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Smallhanded The old name of Polyglotta which had much Religious Talk but few Good Deeds 114 Misokalon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that hates Goodness 59 Moira 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fate Destiny to which Hypocrites are apt falsely to attribute their Wickedness which ariseth from the choice of their own Wills and is confirm'd by many voluntary Acts. 153 Morophila from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that loves foolishly as some Parents do their Children whilst they take much care of their Bodily accomplishments but neglect to perfect their Souls with Vertue 92 Morosophus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a half-witted man one that hath some Wit which is in a Fool 's keeping and of which he maketh a perverse use 123 Morpheolus from Morpheus the Minister of Sleep an Attendant upon Luxury whom I have described in a particolour'd Mantle according to that form 〈◊〉 Habit in which Philostratus in Amphiar saith he was painted of old 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a careless garb having a white garment upon a black one to signifie as he thought the Vicissitudes of Night and Day which follow one another at no great distance for except those which dwell near the Poles that of Homer is applicable to all the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 83 N NArcissus One that was in love with his own Shadow It is but a common Story but it is too pertinent where it is applied for as Philostratus saith in his Icones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He 〈◊〉 over the Spring taking pleasure in the contemplation of his own Beauty What else do they who spend their time between the Comb and the Glass as 〈◊〉 saies 80 Narke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cramp-fish which benums the hands of those that touch it Here it signifies Dull Sloth which throws the Powers of the Soul into a heavy kind of Sleep and makes it unactive 178 Nemesia and Nemesis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Indignation and Revenge 42.66 Neurospasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Puppets or things which though they seem to act of themselves are only moved by unseen Wires or Strings 148 Nicomachus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that Conquers in fight In the IV. Book he represents a Good man vanquishing all sorts of spiritual and fleshly Tentation 178 Nynhapanta from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All at present One that tempted Nicomachus with the Pleasures of this present World 178 O ODax form 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Tooth It signifies in the III. Book the sharp Remorse of an Evil Conscience 155 Oictirmon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Merciful person 15 Ommelion from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Eye and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sun a Sun like Eye or
that Apiston doth believe it And since you are fallible as you confesse you are you ought not to be so much offended with a good man that thinks you are deceived in something where your selves do not deny but that you may If he dissent from your determinations no doubt but he thinks all necessary Truths are determin'd long ago both for you and him infallibly and he is not so much to blame for refusing assent to your fallible desinitions as you are for making new additions being neither divinely warranted nor infallibly guided to do it You know you differ from many others in the world that think themselves highly wrong'd in the neglect therefore good Sir for the future be perswaded to suffer it patiently that others do not in all things agree with you That Apiston is very tolerable in other respects appears from that Character which you have given of the Temper of his spirit and the Excellency of his Conversation by which it may be perceiv'd he is one of Wisdom and Modesty in his Carriage towards others and unblameable in regard of his proper Accomplishments and though you may have receiv'd misreport concerning him you ought not much to value that if you consider the general inclination which is in men to disparage such as differ from them thinking that a worth will accrue to their own Opinion from a creditable disrepute cast upon the persons of the Dissenters and you may commonly observe it that they can easily wink at grosse Faults in themselves though they are alwaies quick-sighted as to the least of others Whilst Panaretus was speaking these words they came to a place where two wayes met and Megabronchus being weary of the discourse especially because he could not answer it he told them his way was to the left hand and having resolved which way soever they went he would go no further with them he made a rude haste from their Company They took the right hand as they were directed by Eupathus and came in a short space of time to Apiston's house He was walking up and down in a serious Meditation concerning some Discourses which he had lately heard in Vanasembla wherein he thought the Goodness of God to be greatly misreported and his Creatures taught to put very little confidence in him to wit that he cared but for a few of his Creatures but did eternally hate the rest As he was giving thanks to God for making him partaker of a better knowledge of him by which he was saved from blasphemous hatred and Hellish despaire his Meditations were broke off by the arrival of Urania and Panaretus He accosted them so as they might easily discern he had some doubts concerning them by his Countenance but that they might not impute his strangeness to Incivility he told them that he made no question but they knew the times to be such that they required a great wariness in those that would not be abused Though he had no particular causes of Suspicion but that they made their 〈◊〉 with a Courteous Intention yet he desired to know whence they came They answer'd From Eupathus He is my Friend indeed replied 〈◊〉 and some that have understood of our intimate Acquaintance have made use of his name to deceive me in some things wherein I had not been abus'd but for the credit I gave to that pretended Recommendation and therefore I must desire some further assurance besides your bare words that you came from thence Upon that Urania pull'd out of her bosom where she had kept it all that day the Tablet which Eupathus gave them Apiston having read the Symbol immediately saluted them in most friendly manner brought them into his house and gave them such entertainment as men usually bestow upon those whom they love unfeignedly Panaretus and Urania abundantly satisfied concerning the reality of their Welcome desired him to give them some account of the reasons of that change which they manifestly perceiv'd in his Countenance and deportment to them after the receiving of the Tablet Apiston told them that there were in that Country and in divers parts of the world a certain company of plain honest men that desired nothing so much as to revive true Charity and to maintain those few sparks of it which are yet unquench'd by Covetousnesse Malice and Hypocrisie and that though they did abhor to divide themselves from mankind by a sort of Conspiracy combining against their friendship yet they found it necessary to have some private signe by which they might be known in forreine parts to such as having never seen their faces before might by this token be assured that they were their Friends and so supply them with advise or money or such assistances as the businesses which they were employed in might require The reason of this necessity is said he because many that are incomparably good are sometimes very poor and being in strange Countries might be in danger of perishing by reason of that Uncharitableness which prevailes in the world and hath so hardned the hearts of the Rich that they will not relieve even those whom they believe to be in want and might know to be such as do well deserve supplies Besides some of our Friends are sometimes engaged in such undertakings that require more assistance then one or two or twenty can contribute and we want conveniency of transmitting such things into other places as are of necessary use but by this means these defects are made up none refusing either to give credit to him that carries it or to bestow their help in such waies as they find to be best to accomplish these Vertuous designs which are undertaken for the Universall good of Mankind Panaretus much pleas'd with the device demanded of him who was the first Author of it Pythagoras said Apiston and in Imitation of the Vertuous example of those excellent Philosophers which by obedience to his Precepts reviv'd Charity to the Admiration and Envy of the World we have amongst some more of their laudable Customs embrac'd this We have had some Experience quoth Urania that it is not unuseful but do you think Apiston that the Pythagoreans did accomplish such effects as you mention by it There is no doubt of that said Apiston and if you will have the patience to hear it I will relate you a Story out of an Authentick Author which will give you plentiful assurance of what I said There was a poor Pythagorean who having travailed a great way on foot by reason of the heat of the weather and the length of his Journey fell into a violent Fever He lay at a publick Inne where no body knew him and having not provided money sufficient for such Accidents he began to be destitute of Necessaries which the Host understanding supplyed him out of meer Compassion of his sad Case When the Disease had gone so far that Death was now at hand the Sick man call'd for a Writing-Table which means was only left
what they should be order'd to perform though it were never so Necessary or Excellent Tuphlecon had taken notice of this Temper and fitted it with such conformable Lawes that it was no hard matter to procure obedience to his Government for he never commanded any thing but what he was sure they were willing to do they were unwilling to do nothing at all perfect Idlenesse did not agree with their Fancy but they would have the instances of their Obedience easie and the Materials of which they made their Oblations such as should not cost them much Tuphlecon by a sordid correspondence had utterly perverted the state of their Spirits for by appointing them mean things far below the excellency of true Perfective duties he debas'd their Souls and they took as much Joy in these worthless strawes as if they had been the services of just Spirits made perfect and they judg'd themselves worthy of no lesse acceptation then 〈◊〉 and took all those for Fools which ventur'd to reprove the vanity of their minds or endeavoured to show them that they were governed by false measures of Religion and that they had indiscreetly left out of their Obedience such Rules as were most necessary to secure the Interest of their Souls either by improving them in that Goodnesse of which this present state is capable or by ascertaining their Eternal Welfare But whatsoever was said was of no value with those who had determind'd it to be enough for them that their Instructions pleas'd them whether they would save them or no. The Kenapistians having thus repos'd their hopes of Security upon false Principles contented themselves with a Form of Religion and neglected the Indispensablenesse of a Holy life The Severities of Godliness were ridiculous among them and the practise of Charity arbitrary they reckon'd the Examples of the Primitive times inimitable and concluded the Desire of Goodness sufficient to Salvation In Theoprepia they love what these do but profess and do what these only say Flesh is allowed its Dominion over the Spirit Envy and Hatred have banish'd Love and they have devis'd a new way to go to Heaven without peace of Conscience which they endeavour to quiet by neglect of Examination Or if by chance they find they are not conformable in Disposition or Practiseto Holy Rules yet they excuse the business by alleging That Sin is inconquerable in this mortal body That Obedience is impossible That the Best things which we do are Splendid Sins and the Worst are but Sins They repent as often as they please nay they believe if they do but repent at the hour of death it serves the turn for the sins of their whole life and notwithstanding the greatest causes of Despair they may believe and be safe for ever By these Principles the Kenapistians grew extreme low in their Conversation and if they had lived among such as make a just estimation of things they would have forc'd them to think either that Religion is a pitiful business in it self or else that these were Hypocrites and did profess it only for a show However the Kenapistians enjoy'd a great deal of ease and freed themselves from scrupulous enquiries and the strict performance of indispensable duties having made such things unnecessary by false Rules They kept their Covetousness untouch'd because the publick orders made no great matter of Charity and because they took not good Works for the only way to Heaven They made sufficient amends for the Wrongs they did if they were sorry for them because Restitution was no Fundamental Article of their Creed and how bad soever they were they thought themselves excus'd if they did accuse themselves stoutly and it was abundance of Mortification with them to complain sometimes of their unruly Appetites and to revile their Passions because they would not be bridled The Example of Tuphlecon who framed his Life according to the same Rules made them love him infinitely for under his peaceable government they were obliged only to talk of their Duties and enjoy their Liberty But this fair day began to be clouded by Tuphlecon's sickness which I must confesse I expected a great while before for though he put the best side outward yet I observ'd him to be very weak and that he went constantly with a very slow pace which he us'd not so much for State as to hide his Infirmity which grew at last to that height that he could dissemble it no longer His disease was very sharp some call it Brygmodonton it is much of the same nature with that pain which is known by the name of Remorse of Conscience Those that are troubled with it seem to feel a Worm in their Heart When he had been gnaw'd thus a while his Countenance grew wan those which knew not what he ail'd would have guess'd that he was haunted every night with an Evil Spirit His Voice being grown so low that one could scarce discern what he said he was suppos'd to be very near the grave Whilst he lay in this miserable condition an old friend of his call'd Colax whom he intirely loved having heard of his Case brought him some Medicines which he compos'd according to such odde Receipts as he had transcrib'd out of two or three foolish Books which he borrowed of Tuphlecon The Effect show'd their Invalidity for he receiv'd not the least Benefit by them You may guess the Worth of the Compositions by the Nature of the Ingredients of which they consisted Ananke Peirasmus Pathos Hylotes Adunaton and Moira And as he administred his Cordials he told Tuphlecon to comfort him that he ought not to break his Heart for invincible Infirmities and such he esteemed all his Sins That God was obliged to excuse our disobedience because of the naturalnesse of Sin and that he needed not to doubt of pardon for such faults as he was forc'd to commit by the irresistible power of Tentation That God doth not exact Perfection of us because it is Impossible That he needed not trouble himself that he was so bad since God had predestinated him to be no better and in short that he might make one Answer to all Objections even of Hypocrisie it self That Christ had been obedient for him Yes said Tuphlecon with a quick and passionate reply And I fear that he will be saved for me too Away Colax this is no time for Flatteries my eyes are too open I see the uselesness of Lies and I find now that which hath been said long ago to be too true That about the time of Death the sense of God begins to awaken in men I have put too much confidence in thy false friendship I have talk'd often of that word Faith and pleas'd my self with the Name but am destitute of the Vertue which indeed I never knew in the right notion that small pretence which I can make to it is only a faint resemblance of the word misunderstood To night I have examin'd the false Jewel upon which I
into Religion men will be apt to take it for an old-wivestale or a fabulous Superstition invented by brain sick men and those that are initiated into your mysteries being taught to believe any thing will as easily believe nothing and by being religious after this fashion will be effectually disposed to Atheisme for when they examine their Faith they will find that in truth they only believe for fear or professe that they do for worldly regards but that they have no reason for what they hold Ingenuous men are govern'd by the Divine light which shines in their Souls by which they know that God cannot do that which implies a Contradiction and upon the same ground they assure themselves that there was never any such Feast You affirm unreasonably that the Body of your King which is but One may be in divers places at once that it may be a thousand miles remov'd from me and yet but the distance of a hand-bredth at the same time and so you make the same distance greater and less then it self For if he be corporally present with me at his Feast and after the same manner with another at a thousand miles distance from me the same Longitude will be shorter then it self You deny not but his Body is in Heaven and you affirm it to be in a Chappel upon Earth at the same time so that if you draw a line from the same point of my Hand to the same point of the King's Body which is the same line because it is a straight line between the same terms the distance will be but a yard long and yet reach many hundreds of miles which is a plain Contradiction Your Monster hath another head also no lesse deformed then this for your Transubstantiation doth suppose one Body may penetrate another whenas all the world have confess'd it to be the nature of Bodily substance to be Impenetrable and ever since that Propriety was stamp'd upon its Essence by the Creator each Material Substance doth stoutly and irresistibly keep it self from being penetrated by another So that whilst you report that the Viands were transubstantiated into the Flesh and Bloud of your King you would make people believe that either he had no true Body when he made that Feast or at least that he hath not now You say to make the wonder the greater That the whole masse of your King's Bloud is in each drop of Wine and that every Crum of Bread is converted into the whole Body not one Crum into the head and another into the feet and so the Whole is thrust into every Part which doth necessarily infer a Penetration of Matter which can no more reasonably be affirm'd then Contradictions can possibly be reconcil'd This Contradiction is swell'd with another for whilst you allow the Convertiblenesse of one Body into another without the destruction or augmentation of each other you grant leave for an absurd Inference which is That Body may be without Space or which is all one Extension for Space is Extension Since therefore the Essential property of a Body is Extension into Longitude Latitude and Profundity your Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation are confounded with this absurdity That a Body may be without Space and that Extension may be not extended Therefore Gentlemen since our Master's Body is in Heaven and that he hath told us he will not return to Earth till he come to restore this miserable world and hath appointed us to commemorate the love of his death by the renewall of his holy Feast where each dish is a Symbol of better things then any fleshly eye can see let us receive the benefits of his Divine presence by an humble Faith without this quarrelsome dispute for the bold determination of the manner of his being there So shall we who are now divided by that which was appointed to unite us become again a holy Synaxis and in stead of offering a ridiculous sacrifice we shall celebrate an acceptable Eucharist When Erotidius had sate down Lucanius rose up with an intention to speak further concerning Erotidius his Arguments but Therulus netled with the former discourse prevented him saying Hold thy tongue Vain Man thou wilt consent to his silly talk dost thou not see him so ignorant of the Nature of Faith that he will not believe Contradictions After those words he went out of the Room saying I will talk no more with such Asses Bellarmo took the opportunity to wave an answer with pretence of great wrath and went away to the chief Governor of Exosemnon to give him an account of what had pass'd How he reported the discourse I know not but in recompence of his ill-bestow'd Zeal in such a pitiful cause he received a Red Hat As soon as they were gone Erotidius guessing Lucanius to be inwardly vex'd as far as outward Looks are significations of the Mind ask'd him the reason of those immorall passions which had been entertain'd that day by such as boast themselves to be Christians and look down from the high battlements of Spirituality as they call it upon the Holinesse of Morality as a poor low thing pretending in their own more rais'd spirit transcendently to contain whatsoever is good in it as the Reasonable Soul doth the Sensitive Faculties adding withall that such irregular expressions would not be kept secret but be improv'd to the greatest disgrace whilst they were divulg'd by such adversaries as they had who were not so heedlesse as not to make use of such fair pretences of accusation To this Lucanius answer'd not without a fretful peevishnesse that he understood no great reason for such carriage only he knew that by a just though most dismal Judgment they were predestinated to these distempers so rising up with that cholerick haste that he overturn'd his Chair he went away Erotidius sitting still in a posture of extreme grief pull'd his hat over his eyes and wept heartily whilst the teares ran down both his cheeks so fast as if each tear had been pursued by his fellow and that one eye vied drops with the other Urania taking notice of his passion came near and demanded the reason of his sorrow Alas Madam said Erotidius I would gladly with these waters quench the unchristian heates which you saw just now kindled and to these teares I would willingly adde my Bloud if by that I could wash away the guilt of these foul distempers Come Erotidius said Urania grieve no more you have done your best be patient till they repent of their follies Come along with me and I will carry you where you shall hear other matters discours'd after another manner Now she intended to conduct him with her Company to Theoprepia into the sweet vales of Sophrosyne where divers Virtuoso's did daily meet and with most excellent Understanding discourse upon the most profitable things knowable As they were leaving the Room a company of illiterate fellowes but more fierce then the former would needs renew the Disputation and
and Thrist are our best Sauces and we are not so lavish in the expence of them but that we still keep some to rellish our next meale and therefore though we have dined or supped we rise not without some Appetite To what purpose should a man for so poor a gain as a sick dullness endeavour to eate as much as he can Sometimes we have moderate Feasts but they are alwaies proportion'd to the just considerations of the Number and Quality of our Company and those who are entertain'd do then more especially mind their Rules knowing that their Vertue is under a Tryal and though we allow a greater measure of time for Converse and Chearfulnesse is not prohibited yet we so order the matter that we may not indispose our selves for what we have to do by sitting too long and do both deceive our palate with the best Discourse which we are able to furnish at the Table and cause the Cloth to be taken away when we perceive the Company have eaten and drunk enough I must confess that we are more strict in these Observations because by this means we endeavour to way lay an inconvenience which others accelerate by Excesse in meats and drinks for by that one sort of Intemperance ministers to another and of the latter we are more afraid then the former because it is more dishonourable but if they were equall we would be loath that any thing should make our Bodie so disobedient to the Government of our Soul that it should be provoked by its own negligence to lustful Sympathies and be destroy'd by the Beast which it could have master'd if it had not fed it too high The Pleasures of Abstinence have a rare gust being sweetn'd with subservience to Chastity by which we preserve the Honour and Strength of our Bodies And since the best of Spirits who is the Love of all Noble Souls doth ever refuse the Mansion which is disgrac'd with bodily Uncleanness and doth most of all abhor to be lodg'd with 〈◊〉 therefore we do so far abandon the use of alldishonest Pleasures that we keep the very thoughts of them from desiling our Minds and esteem those which are with just limitations allow'd to be then strictly forbidden when they are not joyn'd with abundance of Temperance and hallow'd with a great deal of Modesty We are more easily defended from the danger of these Pollutions when we come to riper yeares because our Wise Parents took great care that the Modesty of our young Natures might not be ravish'd with evil Examples light 〈◊〉 obscene Books or wanton Pictures and that the unspottedness of our Virgin-life might not be stain'd with bad Company lascivious Dances or the mischiefs which constantly attend upon an Idle life Idleness is esteem'd with us no better then it deserves that is an Ignoble thing and those who know not nor will practise some good Art are accounted uselesse members of the Creation For other particulars wherein we have no set Rules we guide our selves by the best Examples and incline to that part which is most severe to the Flesh keeping in all things a decorum with the Prudence of universal Moderation But that I am afraid to be troublesome to your patience I would tell you also that we do more heedfully observe the Orders of our Ancestors because we have heard and know it to be true that the Divine spark which is plac'd in the constitution of our Souls can scarce be discern'd where it is when it is 〈◊〉 with an Atmosphere of bodily Fumes and that it is alwaies unfitted for its highest operations when it is clogg'd with turbulent Passions Converse with God is the top of our Joy and we cannot ascend to him but in a serene Calm of Soul no more then we can see the Sun when it is 〈◊〉 up in thick Cloudes We do not desire to be buried alive which misery we should think to befall us if the Eye of our Soul were darken'd to the sight of our best Good the gust of our present and future Happiness dull'd and the hopes and desires of Immortality choak'd in us and the power of the Soul by which it lifts it self up to the attainment of celestial life depress'd or extinguish'd And since we find that an immoderate resentment of fleshly Pleasures doth perversely aime at such dishonourable Ends we abandon it being so far in love with the Dignity of Humane Nature that we scorn to degenerate into Brutes through such mean perswasions but we subjugate our Fleshly part to advance the honour and liberty of our Minds having observ'd that men of the best-govern'd Affections have ever attain'd the greatest excellencies of Judgement Whilst vve content our selves vvith a Frugal vvay of life vve provide fevvel for charity and redeem something to bestovv upon such as vvant from lavish entertainments superfluous variety of gay Clothes and multitudes of needlesse Houses In short To the prudent Institutions of our good Father vve ovve an excellent Health an agile Body unhurt Senses quiet Sleeps a peaceful Soul serene Contemplations a symmetry of Passions freedom from shameful Lust and violent Anger preparations for Heaven and a happy Death after a contented Life from vvhich vve part vvith little trouble of Body but vvhose remembrance is so acceptable to our Mind that if we were to live it over again we should repeate it according to the same Rules When Sophron had finish'd his Discourse he desir'd them to walk into a little Grove which joyn'd to his Garden and there by an ocular demonstration he show'd them what pleasure may be found in a Little and by what way Wise men make the half more then the whole for with Herbs Roots Fruits Milk Honey Bread and the native Wine which he call'd by another Name he made a Feast which was a Practise upon his former Rules But this first part of the Entertainment was far exceeded by that which follow'd which was a rare Discourse manag'd by two young Ladies of which I shall give an account by and by It may be some Reader will wonder why I do so much magnifie this sort of Entertainment and because I have mention'd it divers times I will now give the reason of that Theoprepian Custom You must know that although the Theoprepians did frequently retire themselves to Contemplation and Piety and had appointed select Places remov'd out of the Noise of the Tumultuous world as fittest for Education yet they were not ignorant of those Advantages which may be had in Converse with others and it was received as a common Opinion amongst them That Ingenious Conference is one of the most pleasant sorts of Recreation and a most profitable as well as delectable exercise of our Natures since by this means every one doth teach and learn and by a free Communication of Souls in a lively and vigorous way of Knowledg enjoy a delight as far above that which is attainable in lonesome life as an excellent Song of many Parts is
worst enemy yet being desirous to perform a due requital for such a one they are willing to dy But I will conclude my Discourse lest by multiplying words I should be thought to suspect the Evidence of the Truth which I defend for such a dark business that it cannot be easily demonstrated and through tediousness of Speech concerning Charity forget my Argument and uncivilly abuse the courteous Patience of those Noble Auditors who have to me more then sufficiently discover'd the power of Love in that they could so long bear with my Infirmities Euergesia having finish'd her Discourse with a generall approbation which reveal'd it self in all their Countenances Urania desired Philothea to succeed her which she did with a modest Smile after this manner If I were able to form rais'd notions in my mind most Excellent Auditors and to clothe them with the beauty of Rhetorical Language I should think my self happy in this present opportunity having received a Subject which no low thoughts can reach and honour'd with Company which deserve the best of Discourses The discouragements which rise from my Imperfections do chiefly amaze me knowing that I can speak nothing that will 〈◊〉 the silence of your Attention I should undoubtedly hold my peace but that I know that those who are most able to do excellently themselves are most ready to pardon the failings of others and that they make not their Deserts the measures of their Acceptances and that I am assured by the experience of a happy acquaintance with your Vertues that you will take in good part what is offer'd with Humility though it fall extremely short of what you might have justly expected My Argument doth afford me some Comfort because it will be its own praise and doth contein so many refulgent perfections that to recite them is Eloquence and though I am not able to perform that in a manner answerable unto their worth yet I make bold to hope that I shall be excus'd in that defect because even Praise is not asham'd to confess its self poor of Encomiums for so rich a Subject Divine Love is the Exaltation of Humane Nature to the Top of all possible Perfection the Soul rais'd to the possession of its utmost Felicity By Celestial Love we receive the fruition of our chief Good Whilst the Soul is enamour'd with God it exerciseth its most noble Faculty upon the best Object What I have asserted concerning the Object is without the jurisdiction of doubtful disputation all other things being in comparison of God both as little in Quantity as a Drop to the Sea and as inferiour in true Worth as painted Fire is in respect of the real Sun All other good things are but little Pictures made to represent some small parts of this Universal Goodness Momentany perswasions of ill-bestowed Affections of which they are soon deserted having not rootes sufficient to uphold their own Loveliness which is soon wither'd by the Sun that produced it like the Flowers in Summer Concerning the Priority of the Faculty some Question is made though I know none that pretends Rivalry with Love but Knowledg but how unjustly it doth so I shall soon demonstrate There are but Two things which I can guesse by which our Faculties exalt their Worth the Excellency of their Operations or the Nobleness of the Object As to the Dignity of the Object no allegation can be made to put a difference between them because God is the same to both the First Truth is the First Good God is the most Knowable and most Lovely thing in the world excess of Knowablenesse following the Greatnesse of his Essence as Infinite Amiablenesse doth shine in the Goodnesse of his Nature Here Knowledg and Love are reconcil'd both conspiring in a strict Union joyntly to Adore so Worthy an Object We must give judgement then concerning the Meliority of these Powers by the Operations which they produce and they must stand or fall in the reputation of their Excellency as they rise higher in their Applications towards the most Supreme Object And here I think the difference is so visible that there is no Comparison between them for Love is admitted to a nearer approach to God then Knowledg and by the liberty of that access is demonstrated to be a more Sacred thing Knowledg is but a look upon God at a distance which is allow'd to such as are far enough remov'd from all Glory but Love is an Union with him Love takes it for its Definition to be the Union of the Lover with the Object loved Holy Love ties up the life of the Soul in God with the perfect bond of celestial Amity and it knows no death or destruction but Separation from its beloved God nor can endure to be absent from him And as he alwaies loves again for his Love is a great part of his Goodness or rather continues his Love by which this Affection was first produced in the Soul they cleave together by the close inhesions of Reciprocal Affection So that they are no Hyperboles which an intimate Friend of the Prince of Lovers us'd when he said He that dwells in Love dwells in God and he in him by a mutual inhabitation and his reason is strictly conclusive For God is Love Holy Lovers by this affection have such a Complacency in God that they live in him more then in themselves and are so naturaliz'd to his Conversation that they can be no where without him and do passionately reject all things as hindrances of their Happiness which do offer to keep him out of their Hearts But how far short doth Knowledg come of such a Bliss Where Knowledg ends Love begins perceiving it hath gone but a little way What is it barely to discover that there is such a thing as God or Philosophically to contemplate his natural Persections What am I the richer for understanding that there are Silver Mines in the Indies what the Mind understands only by Knowledg the Soul enjoys by Love and so is made happy How little Excellency doth arise from lonesome Apprehensions is manifest in that Forlorn Spirits remain Devils still though they know God because they do not love him too It s true Love makes use of Knowledg in the accomplishment of this sacred Union because it is naturally impossible to love that which we do not know or to place a strong Affection upon that whereof we are but uncertainly inform'd But what preferment doth Knowledg receive by this more then the Honour of an Instrument I deny not Knowledg to be the handmaid of Love for so she is and therefore receives respect because of the Relation which she bears to such a Noble Mistresse in her Illustrious company she is alwaies honoured as all are that serve where she doth but when she hath dismiss'd her self from that attendance and is met alone she is like a Cypher without Figures is of small regard and is many times corrupted with very dishonourable practises Of what small
imprison'd and either to revenge their Brother's death for he died upon the Rack to gratifie Antitheus or out of hatred to my person as a Lover of Alethion they came hither in hope to have murther'd me They laid their design thus One of my Brother's Servants for what cause I cannot tell remain'd in the City and those Assasinates taking notice of it corrupted him I suppose with Money to come to my house yesternight to tell me that two of my Brother's friends would be in this place to day about the time when I first saw you to impart some Secrets to me which did highly concern us both and therefore did earnestly desire me to give them a meeting I knowing that the Messenger was my Brother's servant and that those whom he nam'd were his most true friends supposing that he brought no Letters because it was not safe to write believed him and came but not without Arms of which I soon found the Necessity As I alighted from my Horse they made towards me with Swords which they had hid under their Coats and gave me a wound for a Salutation Turning upon them for my defence I had the good fortune to kill one of them and wound the other which when I perceiv'd I desir'd him to desist and let me know for what Injury which they had receiv'd from me they sought reparation by this highest sort of Revenge But his Malice had made him so greedy of my Death that by silence and continuing to fight I saw that if he could not kill me he would live no longer Nay then said I you shall be pleas'd and as you came so you shall go together With a very few blows I sent him after his fellow-Murtherer But as these Villains have suffered more punishment for their wicked attempt then I desired to have inflicted upon them if it had pleas'd God otherwise to have delivered me from their Malice so I think my self well appay'd for the hazard I have run and nothing disappointed of my Expectation since the Message is verified in a sense which they never intended by this fortunate Encounter Now let me entreat you to go along with me and when we come to my House I will tell you the story of the Prince and desire your advice concerning the course which we are to take for it is a perplexed season Bentivolio whose Prudence was alwayes awake stopping Philalethes said Sir we are strangers and do not know what Constructions may be made upon any Accident happening at our Arrival in such a Juncture of time therefore if you please our servants shall throw those wretched Carkases into that old Cole-pit lest some Foresters finding the dead Bodies give notice to the Country which will make a general Alarm and it may be trouble us all with an impertinent Hue-and-Cry Philalethes approv'd the Counsel and as soon as they had put it in Execution they betook themselves to their Horses When they came to his house Bentivolio told Philalethes that the first expression of his Regard to them should be to search his own wounds Upon the first inspection he found them not dangerous and having quickly dress'd them his Lady entertain'd her unexpected Guests with a short Collation yet they thought it long because it was some hinderance to the accomplishment of Philalethes his promise to tell them what was become of the Prince which when the cloth was taken away he fulfilled after this manner I understand by the discourse which we had in the Wood that you have heard of the death of Anaxagathus who broke his heart with the Grief which seiz'd upon him when he heard the news of his Son's Death of which he would never be convinc'd but that himself was the principal Author The day after Anaxagathus was dead Antitheus the Venemous Root upon which our Calamity grows sent Dogmapornes one of his Confederates to the Castle where the Prince was imprison'd with order to kill him privately and throw him over the Rock that so his Body being afterward taken out of the River might make good the Report which they had spread abroad before concerning the manner of his Death which by that means they foretold much after the Custom of Evil Spirits which give Intelligence before-hand to Witches and other their Correspondents of such mischiefs as they resolve to doe When Dogmapornes was gone Antitheus and the rest of his Accomplices began to deliberate what was next to be done for the setling of the Kingdom They determin'd presently to proclaim Antitheus King as being apparently the next Heir to the Crown and commanded upon pain of Death that none but the Souldiers of his own Guard should appear in Arms nor that the Citizens should meet in any Assembly upon pain of Treason and secured such as they knew to be Alethion's friends This I learn'd from one of my servants who escap'd out of the City by night Dogmapornes made all possible haste to his Castle to Execute the wicked Commandment of Antitheus and kill'd some horses by the way but when he came there he found himself utterly disappointed for the Prince was gone the day before How it came to pass I will acquaint you for my Brother not being able to conceal from me such happy news longer then the time which the Messenger requir'd for his Journey to bring it sent one of his friends to me who was able to inform me perfectly for he waited upon the Prince during all the time of his Imprisonment heard his Discourses and knew the manner of his Escape You must understand that the Prince was chiefly intrusted to the Custody of two Persons Apronaeus who was Lieutenant of the Castle and Diaporon who commanded a Troop of Horse under Dogmapornes Diaporon attended continually upon the Prince Apronaeus came only sometimes to see that he was in safety Diaporon was of a nature very averse to Malice and though he had not the greatest parts nor could make a perfect judgment of things by his own Ability yet his temper was not impregnably fortified against good Reason As he had at the first no disaffected resentments of the Prince's Person for he had never disobliged him so in a short time he fell into a great Admiration of his Vertues and perceiving him not to be afflicted with what he suffered he concluded in himself that the Prince had no Demerits upon which Punishment could take hold He saw a smooth Serenity in his Looks a great Contentedness in his Speeches an undisturb'd Equality in all his Conversation He heard him often assert his own Innocence but without any other Expressions except of pity for his abus'd Father The affection which this Deportment produc'd in Diaporon's breast possibly augmented with some surmises of unworthy Contrivances against the Prince in a short time grew so strong that it made him heartily with that he might be so happy as to work his Deliverance As he was musing one day how he might accomplish such a hard Attempt
glad of the Errand to come and tell Atheists of their Errour and reprove them for speaking against their Existence With such foolish Arguments they have perswaded poor Philedones to believe that all Felicity is in Pleasure and that only to be measur'd by the Belly and with the help of Gastrimargus Cantharus and Aphrodisius whom he hath made Purveyours for his inordinate Appetites he is so improv'd in Luxury that he will not eat without a Deaths-Head hung over the Table nor drink but in a Priapus and will have none to present his Ambrosia but a Ganymede He repents of nothing but the Time which when he was young he lost in serious Studies and to signifie to the World that he is a real Convert he hath declar'd that he will have no Remembrance after Death but a Monument made after the fashion of that Statue which Sardanapalus had at Anchiala and this Epitaph upon his Tomb HERE LIES ALL PHILEDONES Psychopannyx creates his Companions some disturbance for he contends that the Soul is a substance distinct from the Body and shall awake again though it sleep a while in the state of Separation being not able to live out of the Body but because he was in some doubt whether the Soul having snor'd many hundreds or thousands of years without so much as any Dream of Life or Sense will not afterwards be unable to know it self again they were content to take him into their Company as an Honest Heretick but of late Udemellon hath made him much more acceptable for as the only way to make him hope to escape the Punishment of a Wicked Life he hath perswaded him to be of his Opinion That there is no Judgment to come and that the Resurrection is a mere Fable Asynetus is one whose part in this Infernal Tragedy is with a scurrilous boldness to traduce the notion of Conscience and he hath acted it so to the Life that those which have seen him have imagin'd that he hath often stab'd that tender part of his Soul But some that know his Constitution say that such a callous Matter is grown round about his heart that no Dagger will pierce it He doth teach Men to take off the sense of Sin by committing it often that is to contract an Habitual Impenitency by a frequent Repetition of Wicked Actions and to rifle the Native Modesty of their Souls by adding greater Crimes to smaller Sins herein following the damn'd Example of those Traitours who make it their Excuse for committing the highest Villanies that they have already done such as can be defended by no other Means He hath utterly spoil'd a young Gentleman call'd Saprobius whom he hath made a miserable Spectacle of a Vicious Life Sin hath done its utmost upon him having now left him nothing but a despairing Soul in a putrid Body I look at him as irrecoverably lost because he is mortified to all sense of Ingenuous Principles by which means he hath broken off from himself those Handles by which God doth take hold of us and seems to have murther'd those friendly Guardians which God hath appointed to reduce such as think to free themselves from their Obedience by a rebellious Flight Medenarete is a She-Philosopher and so in many respects acceptable to Antitheus Her Opinions are very conformable to Saprobius his Practices She esteems Vertue nothing but Words Laws the Opinions of Men in Power She denies that there are any Eternal Rules of Righteousness which took their Original only from God or that there are any Indispensable Principles of Good and Evil or that God hath written any Laws upon Humane Nature in any other sense but that Vertue and Vice are determinable by the Customs of divers Countries and Holy Rules variable according to different Fancies of several Ages or Persons That Religious Constitutions are only founded in the Wills of Princes and Piety supported by the Credulity of the Ignorant Vulgar and the Obedience of such as are forc'd to doe what they are commanded She doth boldly affirm that it is only a Rustick Bashfulness or else a Cowardly Fear that hinders Men and Women from saying or doing any thing when they are out of the reach of the Law and that what is abhorr'd by all the World as most Evil would become Good if it pleas'd those who have Authority to determine so and that what is generally embrac'd as naturally Good because it agrees with the Common Principles of all Mankind would become Evil and ought to be rejected as Wicked if the Laws of Men did appoint so This is that brave Medenarete with whom Antitheus is infinitely inamour'd What Astromant is is you may partly guesse by those wild Notions of Fantastical Astrology of which you have heard something in the Prince's Discourse with Diaporon His Custom is to tell strange Stories and to pretend an extraordinary Ability to doe great Matters by reason of his peculiar acquaintance with the Stars which he esteems the principal Ability of a Physician and absolutely necessary to one that hopes to be successful Thaumaturgus is a Jack-pudding to the Mountebank and goes along in his Company much-what with the same Grace that the Monkey doth with the Bears I will not trouble you with any longer Description of him you will quickly hear of him in Polistherion Anopheles is an intimate friend of Astromantis he is wholly taken up with making of Talismans i.e. useless Images imboss'd or ingraven in Stone Wood or Metall under certain Constellations made to represent some Celestial Planet or Conjunction of Stars that is bearing the Figure of those living Creatures which are describ'd in the Heavens and especially in the Zodiack which hath its name from them These being thus compos'd as he saith receive a Power from above for the Stars being much taken with the Resemblance of their Figures send down potent Influences upon those small pieces of Stone Wood or Metall which they not only retain themselves but are also able to impart to other Matters of the same Figure as to a piece of Clay or Wax taking an Impression from them His Talismans thus made doe as he would make us to believe in a natural and constant way strange Wonders as for Example They drive away Serpents and Rats from Cities cure those which are bitten by mad Dogs or stung by Scorpions chase away hurtful Insects out of Fields as Locusts and Caterpillars and deliver people from the Pestilence and all Contagions of the Air nothing of all this depending upon any Conversation with Spirits which he esteems Fancies Thus as he says he hath reviv'd the old Art by which the Jews made Teraphims and the Arabians and Egyptians fram'd Statues according to the Rules of Astrology and Natural Magick and having fetch'd down the Spirits of the Stars imprison'd them in these Shrines much after the same manner that Daemons are said to be included in Humane Bodies by which means their Talismans of Brasse and Stone do move and speak and
were assured that they had the happiness to entertain one of the bravest persons in the World though they knew not that he 〈◊〉 call'd Alethion The Governour was but young and had either not been in the Wars of Theromachia where Alethion did nobly assist Theosebius or else had forgotten the features of his face and other Characters of his person But the Prince thinking it a necessary piece of just Civility to let him know whom he had obliged told him his Name Alethion resolving to stay here one day both to see the City and to return his acknowledgments to the Philadelphians sent one of his Gentlemen to Theosebius to give notice of his arrival in Theoprepia and to 〈◊〉 that he would wait upon him at his Court when He should please to give him leave This Messenger carried news so unexpectedly good that it was above the faith of those who heard it The King would have punished him as an Impostor if he had not produced a Letter written by Alethion whose hand he very well knew Theosebius immediately communicated this news to Phronesia and Agape who were at that time together lamenting the unfortunate Death of Alethion of which they had heard two dayes before This contrary report brought so sudden an alteration upon their Passions that had not Incredulity stopt the working of their spirits for a while and made this cross motion more gentle it had wrought some such dangerous effect upon their health especially in Agape as frozen people find when they are hastily removed out of cold snow to an hot fire But when they were not only assured that Alethion was alive by reading his Letter but understood also at how small a distance he was absent from them they could not but permit themselves to a pleasing Transport of Affection and antedated the joyes of his Presence with the contentment which they took in the knowledge of his Safety and revenged themselves upon their Grief by increasing the sweetness of their present satisfaction with the remembrance of their former tears Theosebius sent presently for Lysander the General of his Army and having acquainted him that the Prince of Theriagene was arrived at Philadelphia he commanded him to go thither immediately and taking his Coach and Life-Guard to conduct him with all care and honour to Phronesia Alethion having received this noble invitation by Lysander rose up early the next morning and before it was twelve of the clock came to Kepanactus one of the King's Houses which was within a League of Phronesia where Theosebius intended to dine with the Prince of Theriagene When Alethion was now about a quarter of a mile from Kepanactus Lysander's Lieutenant retiring from the head of his Troop came to the Coach side and acquainted his General that Theosebius at a very small distance was upon his march towards them Alethion impatient of any further delay stept out of the Coach and went speedily to the first rank of the Guard where Theosebius seeing him attended by Lysander and his own Servants alighted from his horse hastning to imbrace one who had already opened his arms for him and assoon as he could obtain a power to speak from the vehemency of his passions saluted him in these Words Most Dear Prince the joyes which the sight of you produce in my Soul are so great that I am not able to let you know them they are too big for words That delightful original from whence they are derived is such an unexpected Felicity that I can scarce think you here though I see you Most Excellent Prince replied Alethion I alwayes made my self believe that I had lodged you in the best place of my Soul and I have now received an infallible proof that I was not mistaken since in your own name you have exprest the thoughts which I formed there Although I know I can never equal your noble Love with worthy Affection yet I am sure my joy exceeds all that was ever produced by the encounter of any other friends But is it you Alethion said Theosebius interrupting him My Dearest Brother is it you And are you come from the grave to revive those who were ready to die of grief for your Death You might very truly think that I was not alive replied Alethion for I esteem'd it a cruel death to be so long separated from you my Dearest Theosebius And now I am restor'd to life now I live whilst I see my self so near to the King of Theoprepia We can never be too near said Theosebius and then renewed his imbraces which Alethion receiv'd and made reciprocal with such passionate endearments that all the Company fixt in a delightful amazement were forc'd to shed tears in sympathy with such a moving sight While the Princes were thus lockt in each others arms the Queen's Coach came up and Phronesia with the young Princess perceiving that Theosebius had made a stop alighted to come towards them which put Alethion into new raptures of joy For Theosebius took him by the left hand and presenting him to the Queen and Agape said Dear Mother and Sister receive the best of Princes and our Dearest friend Alethion It is possible to imagine something of those Passions which were rais'd by this second encounter But all that I am able to relate would be so far short of that which was then experimented that I think I can doe them right only by Silence Who can expresse the Ecstatical joyes which possessed the mind of Phronesia when she now receiv'd a Prince from death who saved her Son's life How could she love him too much who thought he did never love Theosebius enough Agape could not but be transported more then the rest because she seem'd to her self to have the greatest share in this happiness How welcome this confirmation of Alethion's life was to that fair Princesse none but she her self can tell who had lamented his supposed death with so many tears that never was any real death deplor'd with more Though her modesty would not give leave that she should make the deep sense of her Soul publick yet she forc'd her self to make those significations of affection which Alethion took for more then ordinary good will And as he was best able to make a judgment of such indications so she the more confidently allowed her self to give them because she was assured of their approbation to whom she was accountable for her carriage The true Friends of both the Princes could not but take their parts in this solemn Joy which flow'd from the happiness of those who were dearer to them then themselves And the felicity which attended this accident was so general that no by-stander thought himself unconcern'd in it As many little rivulets fill'd with a land-floud and meeting in some wider chanel swell the waters which they find there into so great a River that they overflow their usual bounds and uniting those little rills with themselves carry them all along in one mighty stream
it an hour before Antitheus divided his Army into two Bodies the Mercenaries of Theriagene and his Auxiliary Theomachians Being attended with his Life-Guard he led the Theriagenians himself whom he plac'd in the right Wing having assign'd the chief Commands to Dogmapornes who was his Lieutenant-General Philedones Pasenantius Autautus Antholkes Antigraphus Udemellon and the rest of his Confidents He chose all his under-Officers out of those whom he esteem'd most true to him His Confederate Theomachians being plac'd in the left Wing were led by their General Theostyges Those who were most of Note in the Army and chiefly look'd upon as Persons upon whose Conduct and Valour the Success of the Fight depended were Archicacus Misagathus Anosius Adicus Anaedes Androphonus Asemnus Aneleemon and Anecestus The Theoprepian Army was commanded by Theosebes for after a loving Contention which lasted a good while between the two Kings before they could determine who should give Orders and Command with a single Power each of them offering that Honour to the other and both refusing it with an equal Modesty Alethion conjuring Theosebes by the Love which had brought him into Theriagene to command his own Army and to give him leave to fight by his side Theosebes was forc'd to accept that Authority The Army which consisted of six thousand Foot and four thousand Horse was divided into two Bodies one commanded by Theosebes himself who was accompanied with the Prince of Theriagene Bentivolio and Misopseudes who desir'd the Honour to fight by him The other was put under the Obedience of Lysander to whom Panaretus Philalethes and Nicomachus joyn'd themselves every particular Regiment being led by such Commanders as inspir'd their Followers with Courage As soon as the Day began to appear the Warlike Trumpets sounding from all parts of the Camp rais'd the Souldiers to the Battel of which they were so impatiently desirous that many prevented the rising of the Sun and put on their Arms whilst it was yet dark and rousing that Warlike humour which had lien asleep since the Fight against Theromachia they gave a clear Evidence that they had not forgot the Art which they had not for a long time practis'd When they were drawn up into a regular Order in the place appointed for the Fight Theosebes and Alethion riding by the Head of every Regiment shew'd themselves to the Souldiers whom they found so inflam'd by the sight of their Enemies that they had more need to command them to make a stand then incite them to go forward The Princes said not much to them because they perceiv'd their Courage already heightned infinitely above the necessities of Exhortation However this Action was not in vain for their Hearts were kindled with a more vigorous 〈◊〉 by the Presence of their own King and the sight of the Wrong'd Prince whose Restauration they were now to attempt Those of Theriagene were destitute of a just Cause and so could not have that assistance which Valour never refuseth to take from a serene Conscience yet they appear'd with a desperate Boldness and felt in their Hearts all those Motions which Anger Hatred Hope and Desire could raise Nay they seem'd to encrease their Courage with Fear for knowing what they had done they assured themselves of the greatest Punishments if they should be conquer'd and therefore heightned their Resolutions of killing those who if they liv'd would in a little time become their Judges Both Armies having made themselves ready to march the Trumpets were commanded to give the last Signal and they resounding from the Banks of the River and multiplying their noises with the Echo's of the Wood made a delightful Terrour The two Forlorns of Horse sent from each Party gave the first Charge and laid many Men upon the ground and their Horses by them But Aristander who commanded the Theoprepians with an irresistible Force pressing upon those of Theriagene made them retreat to their Army with the loss of half their men Then the main Bodies of both Armies advanc'd towards each other and seconded what was begun with the Engagement of their whole Forces The Commanders of both sides were the first in this Charge and made a dreadful Salutation with the mutual exchange of Blows and Wounds but being encompast by their Souldiers they were forc'd to leave off their single Combats and oppose the joynt Fury of their numerous Enemies Now it was that Death began to appear with a dismal Face and to shew the awful Greatness of her Mortal Power in the Horrours of Slaughter and Confusion Alethion having espied Dogmapornes thundred upon him with a loud cry saying Now I will requite you for writing Letters for me and riding up to him with an astonishing Presence ran him through the Body and perceiving that Antholkes came up with an eager desire to revenge his Death or else to die with him Yes said the Prince he can have no fitter Companion in his Torments then you who have assisted his Sin and as he spake these words gave Antholkes leave to take his death from the point of his Sword upon which he ran himself precipitantly aiming an ineffectual Blow at Alethion's Head Philedones at the same time was thrown upon the ground by Theosebes Antitheus fought disguis'd the Fears which were created by his guilty Conscience making him flie to that mean sort of Refuge But Bentivolio having discover'd him by some token broke through those who stood in his way and leaving bloudy marks of his Passage rode up to him and gave him a blow upon the Head which would have cleft his Skull if it had not been guarded with an Helmet which was made for a more worthy Person however it made him bow down low upon his Horse's neck and his Body beginning to leave the Saddle Bentivolio prevented his Fall for he pull'd him from his Horse and carrying him before him upon the Bow of his Saddle gave him in Custody to Axiarchus one of Theosebes his Captains who knowing the Importance of his Charge plac'd him disarm'd in the middle of his Troop and watch'd him so diligently that he made his escape impossible Autautus and Proselenus did in vain endeavour his Rescue for they were both kill'd one by Theosebes and the other by Misopseudes who receiv'd a Wound in his Breast by a thrust of Proselenus his Sword Those in the left Wing did things equal to the right Lysander charg'd Theostyges the General of the Theomachians and after a few blows given with an unexpressible Courage Theostyges receiv'd one in his Neck which made it unable to support his Head and as he listed up his Hand to strike again tumbled under his Horse's Feet He was accompanied in his Death by Androphonus and Aneleemon who fell by the same hand Anosius being fiercely charg'd by Kalodoxus lost his Life with his Head which Kalodoxus cut off Sympathus Charistion and Pasiphilus signalized themselves by the Death of Misagathus Adicus Asemnus and some others who seem'd to be
your selves more then others and to be less angry 〈◊〉 others then your selves Understand your Concerns your selves and when you are forc'd to ask Advice take heed that the Person whom you consult have no Interest in your Affair for that will warp his Counsel to your prejudice Overcome all those Apprehensions which you are ready to entertain from the doubtfulness of Publick Accidents by Faith in God's Providence and secure your selves against the Disturbance which may arise from any thing which happens in your private Affairs by remembring that you shall have need of Patience as long as you stay in the World Be alwayes true to your Conscience and the good Testimony of that will secure your Peace against the most malicious Calumny Be constant in the Observance of all Vertuous Rules and when your Goodness is become Habitual it will be a Torment for you to Sin Contradict not your Principles at any time in hope to make an Excuse Company was never appointed as a Toleration for Vice and in Solitude it is a Baseness not to reverence your self so far as to make you ashamed to doe that which is evil in your own Presence What you understand to be your Duty doe remembring that Knowledge without Practice doth us no more good then Indigested Meat and that the vain Renewall of ineffectual Purposes is the sign of a Contemptible Spirit When you find a convenient Opportunity to promote your Happiness in any Instance make use of it and do not believe that being slighted it will alwayes come when you are pleas'd to call for it When you begin to be weary of any laborious Attendance to which you are engag'd by Vertue quicken your Industry with the Hopes of that vast Reward which is promis'd to the Diligence of Good men in the Presence of their Saviour and when you find your work hard pray to that good Spirit which is alwayes ready to assist all sincere Endeavours Think often that when the Judge of the World shall appear many will be condemn'd and take heed lest you be of that Number And now because my Death approches I will make an End of my Discourse I know Dear Children that you have a great Love for me and that you think your selves not a little oblig'd to me for the Care which I have taken of you since you were born and therefore let me tell you that you shall express your affectionate Gratitude in a way most acceptable to me if you conform your Lives both to those Principles and those other Counsels which upon various occasions you have receiv'd from me Those Children which imitate the Vertuous Examples which have been given them by their Parents and yield obedience to those Excellent Rules which their Love endeavouring to secure their Happiness prescrib'd to them do more honour their Ancestors then if they celebrated their Funerals with the most pompous Obsequies and endeavour'd to keep their Memories fresh with Anniversary Feasts Honour me thus my Sons and then after my Death I shall live in you I do the more earnestly require this sort of Thankfulness from you because I can assure you that I never took any great content in looking upon my self as a Father but that I hoped to leave Children in the World which would become Examples of pious Vertue when I am gone Thus did the good Aristander discipline Callistus and Hilarion with the same Temper which was in old Cato when he read Lectures to his Son and with the Affection which great Tully express'd when he wrote his noble Epistles to young Cicero And now Death which had hover'd about him a good while made his nearest approach and allow'd him only time to resign his Soul to his Maker with a pious Prayer after which Aristander took a chearful leave of the World Within a few dayes the Gentleman who was sent into Theoprepia return'd and brought word that the Queen the Princess and their Companions had arriv'd safe at Hipponyx but being unwilling to make any long stay there were now come within a day's Journey of Polistherium The next Morning Alethion Theosebes and their Attendants went out of the City to give them that Honourable Reception which was due to the Quality of their Friends and which their own high Affections commanded them to perform Having met them at Callicarpus a place where Alethion had appointed to dine it is not to be imagin'd what excessive Joy possess'd their Souls but the Testimonies which they gave of their mutual Sentiments were so expressive that they signified it to be as great as it is possible for Humane Nature to experiment It is not easie to repeat the Discourses which pass'd amongst those Noble Friends at this happy Encounter but they were all correspondent to the greatness of their Affections and the Extraordinary Occasion of their Meeting The Queen-Mother of Theoprepia took both the Princes into her Arms at once being transported with a Rapture of Joy to see Theosebes in safety and Alethion in his Kingdom and having given breath to her Passion with a thankful Apostrophe which she made to God she dismiss'd them from her affectionate Embraces Alethion went to-wards Agape and she seeing the Prince whom she tenderly lov'd and for whose Happiness she had made a thousand Prayers threw her self into his Arms and express'd her Endearments in Tears Theosebes and Alethion seeing Urania the Excellent Sister of those two Incomparable Brothers to whose Friendship and Valour they were both much engag'd pay'd her that Respect which was due to her own Vertue and the Obligations which were laid upon them by two whom she lov'd as much as her self Bentivolio and Panaretus perform'd their humble Salutes to the Queen and Princess and were receiv'd by them with Acknowledgments suitable to their Merit Urania embrac'd her Brothers and they her with such a passionate Tenderness that it suspended their power of Discourse their Silence did plainly signifie that the Satisfaction of their Minds was too big for words The rest of the Company entertain'd one another with all the affectionate Expressions that Love and Civility was able to make The two Kings conducted the Queen the Princess and the other Ladies to the House which was made ready for their Entertainment and after Dinner accompanied them to Polistherium and being willing to gratifie the Love of the People who did earnestly desire to see these Illustrious Strangers they rode through the Streets of the City on Horse-back which bestow'd an extraordinary Contentment upon all Beholders there being none who saw King Alethion who did not find themselves sensibly concern'd in the Alteration of his Fortune and who did not pay a great Reverence to the Presence of the King and those Princesses who had receiv'd him with so much Friendship in the time of his Banishment Here the Reader may possibly expect that I should proceed to relate that which happen'd in Theriagene after this peaceful Victory but I can only acquaint him that I have
Erotocleus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Glory of Love 27 Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thanksgiving by which name the Greek Church did properly express the nature of our Lord's Supper that Sacrament being appointed to make a thankful and honourable Commemoration of our Saviour's Death 165 Eudaemon a good Genius one that makes men Rich who is the only Good Angel whom the Covetous acknowledge 15 b Euergesia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beneficence the twin-Sister of Philothea or the Love of God 259 Euesto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quiet State I have us'd this word partly to signifie that tranquillity which is necessary for Philosophical Contemplations partly to express the happy Repose of wise and good men 24 b Eugenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Person of a Noble Descent and an Ingenuous Disposition 180 b Eumenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benign 118 Eupathes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who is easily affected with things of a gentle Disposition 77 Euphranor from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that laughs at the Follies of the World 18 b Euphron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a pleasant good-natur'd Person who both enjoys himself and makes others chearful 295 b Eupistia from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Good Faith which is describ'd Book 4. 201 Eupistus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a true believer a Faithful Person 202 Euprepes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comely or Decent In the Third Book it signifies one who was not inamour'd with the gaudy outsides of Exosemnon yet 〈◊〉 the baseness of Pseudenthea 131 Euprosopon from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that sets a fair face upon things 150 Eusebia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piety 201 Euthanatus a Good Death the happy close of a good Life 281 Euthymia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of mind the Portion of Vertuous Souls 46 b Exetazon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that examins or tries things It is here put for Inquiry and is therefore call'd Apiston's File because by Ingenuous Examination and diligent Search we find out Truth 103 * Exorcista 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Conjurer Those who desire to see more such Pranks or think those very strange which I have related concerning Exorcista may be satisfied if they will reade a Book call'd Tres Energumenae Belgicae where they will soon perceive whether I or the Exosemnians have abus'd the Popish Exorcisms 139 Exosemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outwardly Venerable which all grant that Church to be upon whom that name is bestow'd 133 F A True Faith describ'd 201 The sad Consequences of a false Faith 150 The Agreement of Faith and Reason 203 A Father's last Advice to his Sons 376 b Forts Esprits Courageous Spirits a Title which the French Deists bestow'd upon themselves after they had so confirm'd their Infidelity that they were able to disbelieve all things 161 b Forzario a Violent Person who makes Power his Law The Husband of Inganna Craft for Power associates it self with Cunning the better to accomplish its Designs 31 G GAlenepsyches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A calm of Soul Tranquillity of Spirit one of those three invaluable Jewels which a true Lover of God doth possesse 239 A Garden describ'd 1 b Gastrimargus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Insatiable Eater 152 b Gelosia Jealousie 2 Geron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Old man 32 b Glycypicron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bitter-Sweet as all terrene pleasures are 18 b * Gnosticks from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge an unclean Sect of Hereticks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Epiphanius calls them who gave themselves this Name prerending that they only were dignified with the Knowledge of Truth though theirs if ever any in the World was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge falsly so call'd as St. Paul said Their Opinions were most absurd and their Practices abominable See 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Plotin one of the best Platonists and possibly a Christian wrote against them Ennead 2. Lib. 9. See Pansophia and Achamoth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy self I have call'd the Governour of Tapinophrosyne by this name because the knowledge of ones self is the Natural Root of Humility 195 * God Arguments of his Existence 188 b A Description of the Divine Nature 189 b Of the Connate Idea of God ibid. In what sense the Notion of God is 〈◊〉 to our Souls 191 b That God is as knowable as other things and how 194. 195. b. which Des-Cartes hath well express'd in these words Quamvis enim 〈◊〉 Dei perfectiones non comprehendamus quia 〈◊〉 est de Natura Infiniti ut à nobis qui sumus 〈◊〉 non comprehendatur nibilominus tamen ipsas 〈◊〉 distinctiùs quà m ullas res corporeas intelligere possumus quia cogitationem 〈◊〉 magis implent suntque simpliciores nec limitationibus ullis obscurantur Princip Phil. Parte primâ It is an unreasonable demand to require that he should shew himself as we please So Eurip. in Baceh Pen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. ` Do you say that you have seen God plainly as he is No but as he is pleas'd to shew himself we must not appoint him in what manner he will be seen The naked essence of all things is hid from us much more that of God which I suppose to be suggested in the Inscription which was put upon the Temple of Isis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good men alwayes happy 80 b Grapton 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Written the Revelation of the Divine Will committed to writing See Empsychon 103 False Guardians reprov'd 55 Gynaeceus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Womanish it denotes a man imprudently Uxorious 63 Gynaepicria from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Womanish bitterness or feeble peevishness 2 H HAdes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Invisible state of the other World which sensual persons do not love to hear of 23 b Hamartolus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sinner 199 Happiness describ'd 83 b. and afterwards in Aristander's Speech Harpagus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rapacious the servant of Plutopenes Covetonsness is usually attended with Rapine 24 〈◊〉 one that doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-Interest which disturbs the common Happiness of the World 167 Hedonia from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pleasure the name of the Voluptuous Queen of Piacenza 79 Hemicalus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 half good one who is perswaded in a small measure to be Vertuous 251 Hermagathus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good Mercury or happy Messenger 11 Hesychia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tranquillity 159 Hierographon from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy Scripture 206 Hieromimus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who makes an affectate Imitation of holy things His Principles his Design his Confutation you have Book 6. beginning pag. 297 b Hilarion from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chearful 341 b Hypocrites false Pleas for their sins
who greedily receives money and will doe nothing without it The name of a corrupt Judge 32 Lady A good Lady pictur'd 3 b Lampromeld 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 partly bright partly dark Death represented by a River so call'd Book 4. for it is dark as it obscures the bodily Life and bright as it draws the Curtains of Eternal Light which shines upon Good Souls in the other World 281 Law of Nature See Nature Lerocritus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Judge of Trifles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who is zealonsly busie about little things 156 Lestocharis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Charity of Robbers 15 b Lestrygon The Lestrygones were a barbarous sort of people which Thucydides lib. 6. says he knew not whence they came not whether they went They infested Sicily and Campania in Italy Homer in Odyss 10. tells us how they us'd Ulysses and his Companions 25 Leucas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a white Rock or Promontory of Epirus not far from Actium from which vain Lovers us'd to throw themselves that they might be freed from the madness of impotent Passion They seldom fail'd of their Cure for they commonly broke their necks Et de 〈◊〉 saltum Leucate minatur Mascula Lesbiacis Sappho peritura sagittis Auson And Menander in Stobaeus lib. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 87 Logomachia Controversie about words by which Philosophy is made only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a vain noise of words and Divinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vain talk as St. Paul saith 160 Loxias 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Name bestow'd upon Apollo because his Answers were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oblique double ambiguous 298 b The Love of God defin'd and prais'd in Philothea's Speech 265 A Lover of God describ'd 237 Lunia the Country of the Moon concerning which Lucian makes a pleasant story in his Book de ratione scrib Ver. Hist. 230 b Lusingha Flattery 80 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Destroyer 155 Lysander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that delivers men from slavery 288 b M MAngibella a good Eater 83 Mantimanss a mad Prophet 139 Marriage defended 97 * Marriage of 〈◊〉 and Agape c. which I have written in the close of the Sixth Book is not to be understood in a common sense neither would I have any 〈◊〉 think that if I had proceeded further in that Narrative I would have written a story of vulgar Love No no I meant what I have said not of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the common Venus as Plotin calls her but of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heavenly and intended by the Marriage of Theosebes Vrania to signifie the Union of Wisdom and Piety by that of Alethion and Agape the Conjunction of Truth and Love by that of Nicomachus and Arete the happy 〈◊〉 of Vertue which is the Reward of constant Endeavour by that of Bentivolio and Theonee the charitable sympathy of divine Goodness with the Afflicted by that of Panaretus and Irene the Holy Peace which our Saviour the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will make when he hath conquer'd all Enmity to his Excellent Rules and destroyed whatsoever doth oppose that happy Tranquillity which his Gospel will bestow upon the World when it is obeyed See Plotin Enn. 6.lib.9 Mataeogenes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Ignoble person who sets his mind onely upon Wealth 9 b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Labour in vain 156 Medenarete 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who esteems Vertue to be nothing See the opinion explain'd 156 b And confuted 344 b Megabronchus one that hath a great throat from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 105 Megalophron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly one who hath a Great Mind but here it signifies one who hath high Thoughts concerning himself and doth much rellish his own worth 195 Meleta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Care 179 Metamelusa from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who takes thought afterward It signifies in the Second Book late Repentance 91 Metanoea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Change of mind second Thoughts 199 Miasmasarkus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Defilement of the Flesh with bodily sin which the Ranters modern Gnosticks have patroniz'd as a more rais'd strain of Religion as their Predecessours did of old 168 Microcheires from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Smallhanded The old name of Polyglotta which had much Religious Talk but few good Deeds 114 Misagathus an Hater of good men 333 b Misokalon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who hates Goodness 59 Misoplanus one that hates Cheaters takes pains to discover their Frauds and to unseduce the deceiv'd 305 b Misopseudes a hater of Falshood 67 b Moira 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fate Destiny to which Hypocrites are apt falsly to attribute their wickedness which ariseth from the choice of their own Wills and is confirm'd by many Voluntary Actions 153 Monogrammus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Picture rudely delineated Monogrammi dicuntur homines pertenues decolores Nonius So Lucilius vix vivo homini monogrammo So Gassendus who took so much pains to doe honour to 〈◊〉 Monogrammi dicuntur Dii instar hominum macie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 metaphor a ducta à Pictura qui 〈◊〉 coloribui quasi corporentur lineis quibusdam 〈◊〉 antur conficientibus eam picturae speciem quam prisci Latini dixerunt sublestam c. Tully calls these Gods Deos adumbratos Lib. 1. de Natura Deor. I find not fault with Epicurus so much for that he said they had not Corpora sed quasi corpora which Tully gives us leave to call Nonsense but because he made God with his Description not Deum sed quasi Deum which is rude Blasphemy 112 b Moralazon a proud Fool. 297 b Morogelon one that laughs at the Follies of the World 18 b Moronesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Island of Fools 14 b Morophila one that loves foolishly as many Parents do their Children whilst they take much care of their Bodily Accomplishments but neglect to perfect their Souls with Vertue 92 Morosophus an Half-witted man one who hath a little wit but makes a foolish use of it 123 Morpheolus from Morpheus the Minister of Sleep an Attendant upon Luxury whom I have describ'd in a particolour'd Mantle according to that form of Habit in which 〈◊〉 in Amphiar saith he was painted of old 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a careless garb having a white garment upon a black one to signifie as he thought the Vicissitudes of Night and Day which follow one another at no great distance for except those who dwell near the Poles that of Homer is applicable to all the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 83 N NArcissus one in love with his own shadow It is a common story but too pertinent where I have applied it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉