suspected places viz. the Roman Libraries in quorum MSS. certum est pleraque eorum quae Curiae Romanae placitis adversabantur esse erasa aut omissa It is certain that almost every thing which was contrary to the Maxims of the Roman Court was either taken away or omitted in the Manuscripts of their Libraries I shall speak more fully to the last Dissertation of Mr. Du Pin where he pretends to prove that neither Pope nor Church have any power either direct or indirect over the Temporalties of Kings 1. Because our Lord exercised no Temporal Jurisdiction 2. That all the power that he gave to his Apostles was only to publish the Gospel'Baptize to Bind and Unbind Sinners to Celebrate the Eucharist to separate the Wicked from the Church and Establish a Discipline 3. Because Christ and his Apostles forbid the Church to exercise any Temporal Authority 4. That according to the opinions of the Ancient Popes and Holy Fathers the power of the Church extended no farther than Spiritual Affairs 5. Because the Primitive Church exercised over its Members only the pain of Deposition and Excommunication for when She desired to put an end to her Rebellions by Penalties and Exiles She had recourse to a Secular power Mr. Du Pin adds that if in the following Ages the Church had the power of Condemning to Temporal punishments it was by the Concession of Princes To prove this first he shews that Jesus Christ suffered not his Apostles to make use of the Sword or to wish for fire from Heaven upon those that resisted them Secondly he relates a hundred fine passages of the Fathers who say very positively that Religion ought to constrain no one These are the same passages that the Refugees alledge to the French Converters to shew them the great difference between the Maxims of the first Ages and these Dragooning Missioners who compell'd the Protestants to Sign another Confession of Faith But what use wou'd Mr. Du Pin make of this Does not he see that M. Schelstrate will answer him 't is a mocking of the World to refer 'em to such Maxims as the Fathers themselves laughed at when instead of suffering Persecution they were in a Condition of making others suffer Does not he see that if these Maxims were good the Clergy of France cou'd not justify the Approbation which he has given of the Conduct he maintains In a word these Maxims are perfect Burlesk if the Church can have recourse to a Secular power forcibly to constrain Hereticks to enter into its Communion Common sense plainly says that if Jesus Christ forbid his Church to use Violence he has also forbidden their desiring such Assistance from Kings and if he had permitted them to compel Persons by the Intervening of Kings he has not command them in case of Necessity to make use of all the power they can furnish themselves with I mean by the credit they may have with the Multitude But all this is inconclusive Thus Mr. Schelstrate ruins his Adversaries if we come to Arguments ad hominem But it s true the proofs of Mr. Du Pin considered abstractedly are very solid I mean those which I have already spoken of and those that he founds upon the Nature of the Royal Power for he plainly shews by Scripture and the Fathers that it depends upon God Almighty that its only justifiable in him and that the Church is only obliged to suffer with patience where Princes abuse their Power These Maxims were so evident to the Holy Fathers that St. Ambrose who durst not abandon them in retaining a Church contrary to the Orders of the Emperour nevertheless he set a great value upon himself because he practised no other Resistance than that of Sighs and Tears See how Witty Men are mistaken if they are not Orthodox in their Actions they are at least so in their Words The Answering these Objections it seems Mr. Du Pin has found much difficulty in for altho' he proves very evidently the opinion that he wou'd refute is New yet he cannot Demonstrate it to his Antagonists because they may maintain that they are Truths that have continued a long time undiscovered and now are made manifest to the Church The Mystery of Transubstantiation is of this Number since M. Allix has shewn us that before the Council of Trent it was strongly rejected This is therefore indeed what was never revealed as an Article of Faith till the 16 th Age. Why may not they also say that the Power of the Church over the Temporalties of Kings is another Truth that lay undiscovered till Gregory the Seventh This is a little perplexing but the Council of Constance the Terrible Shield of the French Church is yet more difficult I shall only speak a little to that of all the Learned Disputes of the Author against Cardinal Bellarmin who to prove that the Temporalties of Moriarchs ought to submit to the Tribunals of the Church has Collected in one Piece all matter of Fact that he has found in Ecclesiastick History and the Old Testament with all the Reasons that his great Wit and Learning cou'd furnish him with From whence it appears that we may learn a thousand curious things in the answer of Mr. Du Pin to this Famous Cardinal We find many places in the Acts of the Council of Constance where it attributes to the Church the Right of Deposing Princes but we shall content our selves with relating the words of the 14 th Session where 't is Decreed that all those who observe not its determinations shall be eternally Infamous and deprived of all Dignity Estate Honour Charge and Benefice Ecclesiastical and Civil altho it should even be a King an Emperor a Cardinal or a Pope The Council of Basil Decreed the same thing Mr. Du Pin answers to that 1. That 't is a Menace without effect 2. That we may understand it shou'd be done only with the consent of Princes and by their Voluntary Submission 3. That as it was done in a time when the general Opinion attributed to the Church any power over Kings so these Decrees were rash 4. That these Councils determined it not in Form since they did not examin it but spoke only according to the General Style of the Prelates of that time so that this cannot be a Decision made Conciliariter It wou'd be needless to tell the Reader that these Answers neither taken together nor separately can any way injure this Decree from whence it follows either that the Church has a Right to depose Soveraigns or that it has made a very false Decision I say Decision fâ—r 't is as impossible to make a Decree without defining the the Doctrin which is the Insparable foundation of this Decree as it is to declare this particular Proposition for an Article of Faith We ought to believe St. Peter because he was inspired of God without declaring this General Proâ—osition as an Article of Faith we must believe all those that speak by the
per voi e dovevate far la per voi e non per altri We thought that the Reader would be glad to learn the Adventures both of an History and an Author who have made so much noise And therefore shall proceed to the Work it self What had been Printed at London contained but the Antient and Modern State of Great Britain It is to be had entire without any thing cut off in the two First Volumes of this Edition except the Author thought it more expedient to reserve for the Fifth Volume any thing which was Historical The First Volume contains eleven Books whereof the First gives a brief account of the History and Religion of England whilst it had been possessed by divers Princes and bore the Name of Britannia to wit unto Egbert who reduced it altogether under his Power and gave it the Name of England or of Anglia at the end of the Eighth Age. There are in this First Book divers things very curious concerning the Druides and the Gods who were adored in England before the Faith had been planted in it The Author describes in the Second Book the Greatness the Situation the Provinces the Rivers the Cities the Bishopricks the Inhabitants the Fertility the Merchandises the Negotiations and the Buildings of England The Third Book is employed altogether upon the Description of the Famous City of London Here there is more exactness than in the very Writings of some English who have given the Publick the state of this Famous City and that of the whole Kingdom There is according to the supputation of Mr. Leti near Four hundred fifty thousand Souls in London and about Six Millions in the whole Kingdom The Fourth speaks of the Government and Priviledges of the same City as well as of the Factions which do divide it The Sixth describes the Humour of the English and the Application they have to Religion and to the Observation of the Laws of the Country The Seventh is a Continuation of the same subject and a description of the Laws and divers Customs of England The Eighth speaks of the strangers who are in that Country and chiefly of the French Protestants who have fled thither some time since In this is the Declaration of the King of France importing That the Children of those of the R. P. R. may convert at seven Years accompanied with political and very curious Reflections In the Ninth Book the Author describes the Three States of England the Clergy the Nobility and the People but particularly the first It contains the number and names of the Bishops of this time the manner of consecrating them their Revenues c. The Tenth speaks of the State of Roman Catholicks in England of their number of their Exercises of the Endeavours to bring in again their Religion of the Missions of Fryars and of the Complaints they make of Protestants The Author adds the Answer of the Protestants to these Complaints and shews by the Catholick Authors the Designs of the Court of Rome upon England and of the Intrigues it makes use of to bring it under its Yoke The last Book of this Volume contains the Policy of the Court of England and its Maxims of State The Second Volume is composed of Eight Books whereof the two first do treat of the Religion and different Parties which divide it Therein are to be seen the Disputes of the Conformists and of the Non-Conformists the Opinions of the Quakers of Anabaptists c. The Fourth contains the Foundations and the Rights of the Monarchy of England the Revenues of the King and other Particulars of this nature There are several things in this place which cannot be found elsewhere The fifth describes the Government of England the King's Council the Parliament and the divers Tribunals of Justice of this Kingdom Herein are the Reasons why Parliaments have opposed in so many Rencounters the Designs of King's which Strangers are commonly ignorant of The sixth speaks of the particular Government of Cities and of Countries as also of the Posts of Governours of Places of the Garisons and of the Land Forces and Sea Forces of England The seventh is a Description of the Court and the King's Officers and of the Royal Family The last speaks of the strange Ministers who are at London of the manner wherewith they receive Ambassadours there Residents Envoys c. and of the Priviledges they enjoy Here is the Description of those who were in England whilst the Author lived here He tells very frankly their good or ill Qualities and this is not a little useful to judge of their Negotiations and to know why the one succeeds without pains in his Designs whilst the other stumbles every where It were to be wished that all the Histories which we have were thus circumstantiated For as there would be much more pleasure in reading them so we might also profit thereby much more than we do We should know not only the Events but also the secret Causes the Intrigues and the means which have contributed to the great Revolutions and it is what may profitably instruct us What signifieth it to know in general that a certain thing hath happened in a certain Year if we do not know how and wherefore It is the Conduct of Men which serveth us for an Example and an Instruction and not the simple Events which of themselves are of no use to us But where are there Men so couragious as to write without Flattery the History of their Time Where are there Princes who are so just as to suffer that their Truths should be told to their Faces Where are there even Ministers of State who would permit that their Defects should be divulged during their Life Nevertheless it is but then that it can be well done for if in the time wherein things are fresh more than one half is forgotten much more are the following Ages deprived of the knowledge of a thousand particular Facts which have produced great Affairs The Author having thus described the State of the Kingdom in the two first Volumes takes up again in the three others the sequel of the History of England from Egbert and continues it unto M DC Lxxxii He hath disposed his Work after this manner that after having made all the Essential Remarks of the History of England in the two first Volumes he should not be obliged in the following to interrupt the course of his Narration The third Volume contains Six Books whereof the last is destined to the Life of Henry the VIII The fourth Volume is composed of Five Books the first whereof includes the Reign of Edward and of Mary and the Second that of their Sister Elizabeth In the Third the Author after he begins the History of King Iames who reunited the Three Kingdoms makes a Description of Ireland and Scotland and speaks of their Ancient and Modern State after which in the Fourth Book he composes the History of the Reign of King Iames wherein
upon the perpetuity of the Faith of the Church concerning the Eucharist and concerning Bertram in particular his Work intituled Ratramne otherwise Bertram the Priest of the Body and Blood of the Lord printed in Latin and French with an Advertisement wherein in shewn that this Author is a witness not suspicious of the Faith of the Church in the ninth Age at Roan in 12. But the efforts that a great number of Learned men made against the new Tenets which were introducing in that time were unprofitable Whereas those Tenets were too advantageous to the Court of Rome not to maintain them with all their might It lacked but one thing only which was to diminish the power of Emperors to whom they were submitted until then It worked powerfully therein and begun by publishing Suppositious pieces in vertue of which the Popes pretended that the Soveraignty of Rome and Italy belonged to them and that they had an universal Jurisdiction over all the Bishops of the World to that purpose tended the false Donation of Constantine to Pope Sylvester and the Epistles attributed to the first Bishops of Rome of which Blondel and several other learned men have shewn the falshood Notwithstanding the manners of the People Monks and Clergy were in the utmost corruption and a horrible account is given us of the depravation of the tenth Age drawn as well from the writings of modern Catholicks as from the Authors of that time The conduct of the whole Clergy from the Bishops of Rome with the least degree of Priests and Monks was so far from the duties which the Gospel prescribes us that there have been few Ages whilst Europe continued in Paganism more corrupt than that was This is so known that it 's needless to make a further stop thereat and those who would be instructed throughly in it may only consult Vsher and the Authors whom he cites The eleventh Age is in like manner described and they assure us that the year M. after the Birth of our Lord was afflicted with divers Prodigies besides War the Plague and Famine which ravaged Europe a long-time as it appears by the testimony of divers Authors which may be read in Vsher. In that time they reckoned amongst Prodigies the Comets and Eclipses and the Historians a little while after describe them to us in such frightful terms as if we never had seen any we should tremble for fear in reading what they say thereof But when once one hath a wounded imagination nothing ordinary and common is seen all is great and wonderful and we see even that which never was such as was perhaps the Dragon whereof Glaber Rodolphus speaks in his 11. book c. 8. The Saturday night before Christmasday was seen in the Air saith he a surprizing Prodigy a frightful Dragon which was all Shining with Light and which went from the North to the South The evils of that time and the reports of these prodigies true or false made it to be believed that the time was come in which Antichrist was to appear after that the Dragon should be untied This was probably enough grounded upon what is said in the Apocalypse that the Dragon was to be chained during a thousand years and then let loose These thousand years were reckoned from the Birth of our Lord by which the Devil had begun to lose his Power until that time This calculation was not new seeing it is found conformable to that of St. Hippolita's Martyr of St. Cyril and Chrisostome It appeared without doubt more just and better grounded so that they expected from day to day the coming of Antichrist and end of the World Many People made a difficulty to undertake any considerable business and even of re-establishing the Churches which were destroyed fearing they should work for Antichrist Lastly when they saw it did not come they were perswaded that they did not well understand the Propheâ—y and went about rebuilding the Churches and to live as before Richard Victorinus of Scotland who upon the relation of Iohn Major his Compatriot is the first who maintain'd that the Holy Virgin was exempted from Original Sin saith in his Commentary upon the xx Chap. of the Apocalypse that as to the Letter the thousand years were already accomplished a long time since but that it could not be known when Antichrist would come nor when the Serpent would be unloos'd Thus it is that the Interpreters of Prophecies which they understand not never miss of a back door to escape at when the event sheweth that they are mistaken There is a great likelihood that our age will furnish us with some examples of this truth As it 's desired in great evils to know if they shall last long those who of late have arrived to a great many Protestant Churches have made a great many to covet a knowledge of the time to come some thought they foresaw it in the obscurity of the Praedictions of the Apocalypse and have foretold it with sufficient boldness tho' they agree not amongst themselves no more than those who undertook to do the same thing the eleventh and twelfth age Glaber Rodolph saith that in effect the Devil was let loose in 1000 because one Vilgard who taught Grammar at Ravenna and some others had essayed in that time to re-establish Paganism But this event appears too inconsiderable to apply unto him what is said in the Apocalypse of the Dragon who was to be loos'd Also our Archbishop believes that Antichrist was not to be be looked for out of Rome and that the Devil was enough at liberty whilst in the Pontifical Chair sate a Magician such as was Sylvester II. if the Authors of that time may be believed and whilst great errours were brought into the Church as the infinite Power of Popes Transubstantiation and Prayers for the Dead And it is observ'd that Berengarius Wickliff and his Disciples have maintained that from that time this Prophecy of the Apocalypse begun to be accomplished There have been notwithstanding some who have believed that the thousand years were to begin at the Ascension of our Lord as Iohn Purvey saith and Wickliff seems not far from this thought in a place of his Trialogue which Vsher cites Some persons had already been of this opinion in the time of St. Augustin as he testifies in his City of God l. XVIII c. 53. But these people speak with more precaution than the others for they did not positively say that the World would end 1000 years after the Ascension of Jesus Christ but only that it might be that there were but a thousand years from this term unto his last coming annos mille ab Ascensione Domini usque ad ultimum ejus adventum compleri posse One of the new Interpreters of the Apocalypse hath said the same with much prudence that the present Persecution may end in three years and a half God if he will saith he elsewhere can reckon the three years and half of the death of
make God the Soul of the World and who would imagine that the Soul of Man is part of his Substance this is a Sentiment which those who make an exterior Profession of Christianity have renewed in our days under other Names and which Mr. Boyle stiles wicked pretending that their God is very different to that of the Iews and Christians The second Use which the Author draws from his Method is to justifie Providence and the Divine Wisdom against Atheists who pretend that all things happen by pure Chance or Necessity because of certain Events which they look upon as Imperfections and Disorders such as Earthquakes Innundations Volcanos the Plague c. which he explains according to his own Principles I. God being one perfect free Being who created the World as a pure effect of his Bounty when there was no Being besides himself there could be no Bounds put to his Works by any other Power nor could he receive Laws of any Creature II. And as the Divine Intellect infinitely surpasseth ours in Extension and Penetration we must believe that God created the World and form'd its different Motions for various ends some to serve for Corporal Creatures and some for Spiritual ones those which are discovered to us to exercise our Reason and those which are hidden from us to make us adore the unsearchable depth of his Wisdom III. We have Reason to think that this Infinite perfect Being has stamp'd his Works with a Character in which we may discover his Divine Wisdom this Character is the Production of a great number of things by a small number of Principles simple uniform and worthy his Perfections IV. According to these Suppositions God having duly established among other parts of the World universal and constant Laws and which should be conformable to the ends he proposed to himself in creating them did dispose of things in such a manner that the universal Laws should not contribute to the good of particular Beings but so long as these particular Beings should agree with the simplicity and uniformity of these Laws and with the designs of God Thus laying aside Miracles and Events wherein God acts after a particular manner one might reasonably say that the infinite Wisdom to whom all things are present having weigh'd all the Consequences of these Laws and all their connexions in all their Circumstances he always thought fit to prefer Miracles and other Cases excepted the universal Laws to the particular ones the principal ends to the Subalternate and the uniform Methods to an Inconstant Administration He thinks not fit to change these simple and pure Laws to prevent what Men call Irregularities as Earthquakes Innundations Flux and Refluxes of the Sea the Eclypses of the Sun and Moon c. V. He adds That what appears Irregular to us in comparing the Designs of God with what we know may be a very wise Method to find out these other ends which are unknown to us and 't is very just to have this thought of God since in those Works of his which we know least we see clearly so much Order and so much Wisdom we should have at least in this search as much Equity as a Man of a good understanding wou'd have when he judges of a Book that treats of many Heads and which is written in divers Languages and Characters whereof he understands but a part if what he understands there pleases him he imagines he should not be dissatisfied with what he does not if he could find out the sense Thus it must certainly be confessed That the Eye was made to see since all the parts thereof are so composed that they concur to form the Organs of the the Eye VI. This Administration of God which discovers unto us clearly some of his ends and hides others from us is worthy of his Wisdom and adapted to our Wants for it convinces us of two Important Truths That we are of our selves but Imperfection and Darkness and that 'T is God which is the Light of our Minds In fine Mr. Boyle believes that there may be drawn from this System this Use which is of great consequence in Religion to wit To look upon God as the only Governor of the World and to attribute to him the great variety of Effects which are falsly assigned to a Chimera of Nature An Extract of a Book Entituled A Philosophical Essay upon Human Understanding wherein is shewn the Extension of certain Knowledge and the manner of attaining to it By Mr. Lock BOOK I. IN my Thoughts upon Human Vnderstanding I have endeavoured to prove That the Mind of Man is at first like a Tabula rasa a blank Paper without Ideas and Knowledge but as this was to destroy the prejudice of some Philosophers so I was persuaded that in a small Abridgment of my Principles I ought to pass by all preliminary Disputes which compose the first Book I intend to shew in the following Discourses the Source from whence we draw all Ideas which happen in our Reasonings and the manner how BOOK II. The Intellect being suppos'd void of all sorts of Natural Ideas comes to receive them by degrees as Experience offers them to it If we will observe them we shall find that they all come from two Sources to wit from Sensation and Reflection 1. It 's evident that the outward Objects in striking our Senses give divers Ideas to our Minds that they had not before Thus it is that we have the Ideas of Red Blew Sweet Bitter and all the rest that are produced in us by Sensation I believe that these Ideas of Sensation are the first Ideas of the Thought and that until such time as the outward Objects have furnished to the Mind these Ideas I do not see that there is any Thought 2. The Mind in attending upon its proper Operations which regard the Ideas that happen to it by Sensation comes to have Ideas of these same Operations which are in it And this is the other Source of our Ideas that I call Reflection by whose means we have our Ideas of Thinking Willing Reasoning Doubting Resolving c. It s from these two Principles that all the Ideas come to us that we have and I believe I may boldly say that our Mind hath absolutely no other Ideas but those which our Senses do present to it and the Ideas that it hath of its proper Operations received by the Senses This clearly appeareth by those that are born Deaf or Blind It followeth Secondly That if we could suppose a Man that had been always destitute of all his Senses he would have no Idea because he never would have an Idea of Sensation the exteriour Objects having no way to produce any in him but by the means of his Senses nor an Idea of Reflection because of the want of all manner of Sensation which is that that exciteth first in him these Operations of his Mind which are the Objects of his Reflection For there being in the Mind no
to have an Idea as clear of the 763 years of the Iulian period which prâ—ceed the beginning of the World as of the 763 years that are since past By this power which the Mind hath to extend and repeat the Idea of the Duration as often as it pleaseth without ever coming to the end it formeth to it self the Idea of Eternity So likewise in the power of still extending the Idea of Space it findeth the Idea of Immensity as we have already shewn 15. All the Objects as well of Sensation as Reflection furnish us with the Idea of Numbers For we reckon our Thoughts and the actions of our Mind as easily as of Bodies and their Qualities Having formed the Idea of Unity we only need to repeat it or to add several thereof together to make what product of Numbers we shall think fit 16. As the Mind never can come to the end of these additions and that it findeth in it self the Power of always adding more according to what proportion it pleaseth to make so we come thereby to form the Idea of Infinite which whether it be applied to Space or to Duration seemeth to be nothing else than this Infinity of Numbers with this difference only that in the subject of Numbers when we begin by the Unity we are at the extremity of one line which we may continue to Infinity on the other side But in the Duration we extend the Infinity of Numbers or Additions on two sides in regard of the Duration past and in regard of that which is to come As for Space we find our selves as plac'd in a Center whence we may add from all Parts Leagues or Diameters of the Earth or of the Orbis magnus with this Infinity of Numbers which can never fail us Thus we form the Idea of Infinite by Additions which always leave an unfathomable multitude of Unities when it concerneth Numbers and we have no positive Idea that comprehends Infinity I cannot relate at large in the briefness I have propos'd the proofs I have thereof but let every one examin his own Thoughts and let him see if he has other Ideas of Infinite than those I mentioned I shall only say that if we did put any distinction betwixt the Idea of an infinite Number and that of the Infinity of Numbers it would help to clear the Idea that we have of Infinity We can have the Idea of the Infinity of Numbers but we cannot have that of an infinite Number The reason of that is that the Idea of Infinite consisteth in an innexhaustible Remainder which never can enter into a positive Idea and the Mind in this Remainder which is always beyond its positive Idea be it never so great can always go further by the repetition of Ideas of the same kind or whatever greatness it pleaseth It suffices here to have shewn how the Idea of Infinite is formed of simple Ideas which draw their beginning from Sensation and Reflection 17. Although Solidity is a simple Idea which we must constantly receive from a Body and even so simple that it is not capable of any Modification because every part of a Body which has no Pores is equally solid nevertheless it being that which distinguisheth the Idea of a Body from the Idea of Space I shall again come to consider it after I have examined that of Space that it may the better be seen how these two simple Ideas so different in themselves do form a Complex Idea of a Body This simple Idea is also called Impenetrability and though this Name marks the same Idea as that of Solidity I thought it was necessary here to make use of this latter because a positive Name agreeth better with a positive Idea than a Name that is only Negative 18. Compositions formed of divers Ideas of the same sort are those that I call simple Moods It is not only Numbers of Extent and Duration that can form these Compositions but also all other simple Ideas in which are considered divers degrees whereof all that may therein be distinguished form distinct Ideas Several of these Ideas joyned together make a simple Mood Thus divers Notes of Musick that compose one only Tune or divers degrees of a Colour which make but one Idea are likewise simple Moods But these Combinations being not of any great use there are but a very few that have Names excepting those of Motion as to Slide to Roul to Turn round to Crawl to Walk to Run to Dance to Leap to Leap over 19. The Ideas of Reflection have also their simple Moods Recollection Attention Meditation and a hundred others that may be named are but divers Moods of Thought But I shall only examin a few of them here which are of a very great Importance 20. Among the simple Ideas that come to us by Sensation and Reflection those of Pleasure and Grief are not least considerable They are to us of an infinite Consequence and often accompany our other Sensations and our other Thoughts As there are but few Sensations of the Body which carry not with them some Pleasure or some Grief there are likewise few Thoughts that are so indifferent to us as not to give us some Joy or some Sorrow I comprise all under the Names of Pleasure and Grief whether Satisfaction and Joy Sorrow and Irksomness c. which our Mind resents since they come from without or from some inward Thought Every thing that is a proper Cause to continue and augment Pleasure in us or to diminish and shorten any Grief is called Good and the contrary we call Evil. It 's upon this Good and this Evil that run all our Passions and the Reflections that our Mind hath made thereupon produce in us the Ideas of the Passions Thus any one reflecting upon the Thought he hath of Pleasure which something present or absent may produce in him is the Idea that we call Love For when any saith in Autumn there are Raisons and in the Spring there are none that he Loves them he would say nothing else but that the taste of Raisons doth give him delight The Existence and Prosperity of our Children and Friends affording us constantly Delight we say we love them constantly On the contrary the thought of Sorrow which a thing present or absent may produce in us is that which we call Hatred The Irksomness we feel when a thing is absent which would give us Pleasure if it were present is that which is called Desire which is more or less great according as this Longing augmenteth or diminisheth Ioy is a Pleasure that the Soul feeleth when it considers as certain the Possession of a good Present or to come Thus a Man half dead feeleth Joy when Succour arriveth to him even before he receiveth the Effect thereof We are in possession of a Good when we have it so in our Power that we may enjoy it when we please A Father to whom the prosperity of his Children giveth Joy is in
not the Agreement or Disagreement of Coexistance but respecting other Relations more easy to be discovered than that of Coexistence we are capable of making further Progresses To augment this knowledg we must establish in our Mind clear and constant Ideas with their Names or Signs and after that exactly consider their Connections their Agreements and their Dependencies As to know if we could not find some Method as profitable in regard to the other Moods as Algebra in regard to the Ideas of quantity to discover their Relations 'T is they that cannot be determined aforehand yet we ought never to despair of it Notwithstanding I doubt not but Morality may be brought to a much greater degree of Certainty than it hath been hitherto if after having applied the Term of Morality to clear and constant Ideas we examin them freely and without prejudice 13. Knowledg is not innate nor presents not it self always to our Intellect We must often bring in our Searches both Application and Study and 't is that which depends upon our Will but when we have examined some Ideas with their Agreements and Disagreements by all Means that we have and with all the exactness whereof we are capable it depends not upon our Will to know or not to know the Truths that concern these Ideas 14. Our knowledg extending not it self to every thing that belongs to us we supply it by what we call judgment by which our Mind concludes that Ideas agree or disagree to wit that a Proposition is true or false without having an evidence that may produce a certain knowledg 15. The foundation upon which we receive these Propositions as true is what we call probability and the manner wherewith the Mind receives these Propositions is that which is called Consent Belief or Opinion that which consisteth to receive an Opinion as true without having a certain knowledg that it is so effectively Here are the foundations of probability 1. The conformity of something with that which we know or with our Experience 2. The Testimony of others founded upon what they know or what they have experienced 16. In this Chapter we treat of the different degrees of Assurance or of Doubt which depend upon these two things diversified by Circumstances that concur with others or that counterbalance them but they are in too great a number for to be noted in particulars in this Extract 17. Errour is not the failure of knowledg but a fault of judgment which causeth Men to give their consent to things that are not true The causes ares 1. Want of proofs such as may or may not be had 2. The little ability Men have to make use thereof 3. The want of Will to make use thereof 4. The false rules of probability which may be reduced to these 4. Doubtless Opinions supposed as Principles Hypotheses received unruly Passions and Authority 18. Reasoning by which we know Demonstrations and probabilities hath as it seems to me four parts The first consists in discovery of proofs The second in ranging them in such order as is necessary to find the truth The third in clear perception or an evident connection of Ideas in each part of the Consequence The fourth in carrying strait Judgment and drawing a just conclusion from the whole It appeareth by this that Syllogism is not the great instrument of Reason that is serveth but in the third part and only to shew to others that the connection of two Ideas or rather of two Words by the interposition of a third one is good or bad But it is not at all subservient to Reason when it seeks for some new knowledg or would discover some unknow Truth and the proofs upon which it is grounded which is the principal use which we ought to make of Reason and not to Triumph in Dispute or to reduce to silence those that would be Litigious 19. Some Men oppose so often Faith to Reason that if we knew not distinctly their limits we should run a hazard to entangle our selves in our Searches about matters of Religion The Subject of reasoning is Propositions which we may know by the natural use of our Faculties and which are drawn from Ideas that we have by Sensation by Reflection The matters of Faith are those which are discovered to us by a Supernatural Revelation If we carefully consider the distinct Principles of these two things we shall know in what Faith excludeth Reason or imposeth Silence to it and in what we ought to hearken to Reason as a lawful Judge of a matter 1. A Proposition which we pretend to have received by an original and immediate Revelation cannot be admitted as an undoubted matter of Faith if it be contrary to the clear and evident Principles of our natural Knowledges because that though God cannot lie notwithstanding it 's impossible that a Man to whom the Revelation is made should know it comes from God with more certainty than he knows the truth of these Principles of Reason 2. But an original Revelation can impose Silence upon Reason in a Proposition wherein Reason giveth but a probable assurance because the assurance that we have that this Revelation comes from God is clearer than the thing that is most probable 3. If it cannot be granted that original Revelation may contradict our clear and evident natural Knowledg it can yet be less granted to what we know by Tradition only because that although that which God reveals cannot be called in Question nevertheless he to whom the Revelation hath not been immediately made but who holds it from the Relation of other Men can never know that God hath made this Revelation nor that he understands well the Words in which they are proposed to him nor even that he ever had read or heard this Proposition which we suppose to be revealed to another with as much certainty as he knoweth the truths of Reason which are evident by themselves It hath been revealed That the Trumpet shall sound and the Dead shall rise but I see not how those that hold that Revelation only is the object of Faith can say that it is a matter of Faith and not of Reason to believe that this Proposition is a Revelation if it be not revealed that such a Proposition advanced by such a Man is a Revelation The Question recurs to wit Whether I understand this Proposition in its true Sense 20. In fine conformable to these Principles I conclude in dividing the Sciences into three kinds The first which I call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the knowledg of Things whether Spiritual or Corporal or some of their Proprieties in their true Nature We propose in this no other end than simple Speculation The second which I name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contains the Rules of all our Operations comprehends the things that are in our power and chiefly that which belongs to the conduct of our Manners This second Science proposeth the action for its end The third to which
Hermias Simplicius Damascius Synesius Olimpiodorus Nicephorus and from Arnobius so that he augmented them unto the number of 324. He reduced them likewise under certain Heads and put them into Latin in 1593. Otton Heurnius Translated and Published them also in his Book Entituled Philosophia Barbarica in 1619. but under a pretext of putting them into better Latin and making a following Discourse upon them he corrupted the Sense of ' em He was laughed at for adding Fragments drawn from different Authors which had no Relation to each other Thus Heurnius spoil'd what Patricius had well done altho' this last did not take sufficient care to publish them correctly but wholly neglected the Measure of the Verse even without observing except in the beginning the Authors from whence he had taken them so that it was not easie to re-establish them Mr. Stanley has mentioned some which are Translated into English and also adds his Conjectures upon such Places as are corrupted Some of these Oracles appear'd so obscure and intricate that they seem'd absurd But we ought to consider that Psellus and Plethon have explain'd many which without that wou'd not have appear'd more reasonable and those that find them good may very rationally presume that those they understand not have not less reason to be supposed so This made some believe they might publish them among the rest without diminishing the high Esteem which was formerly had of the Wisdom of the Chaldeans And 't is this also engaged the Author to Translate the Commentaries of Psellus and Plethon into English These Oracles are placed under eleven Titles the five first whereof regard the Supream and Subaltern God and the rest the World Man and the Sacrifices To make the Reader sensible of the Eastern Stile of these Fragments I shall relate some here as exactly as I can For Example what they say of the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the second Being Light is born of the Father 'T is it only that has drawn the chief of the Spirit in great abunance to the Paternal Power The Paternal Spirit having conceiv'd its Works disperses through the whole an ardent Love to the end that all Things loving one another they might subsist for a time without any Restriction The Consequences of the Fathers Thoughts were not discovered to the Eyes of all things because the Elements of the World subsist being preserved by Love It might by thinking give Intelligence of its Father to each Source and Principle It is the limits of the Proâ—oundness of its Father and the Source of intellectual Things It goes not out from but continues in the Paternal Depth and in his Sanctuary by a silence wholly Divine c. Another Being is also spoken of in these Terms Vnder two Spirits is the quickning source of Souls and the Artist who himself made the World being all Fire cloath'd with Fire preserving the most refin'd part of his Fire to qualifie the Sources of Vnion It 's easily discern'd by this That the Stile of these Oracles bears no resemblance to that of the Greek Poets nor to that of the Oracles of Delphos There 's a kind of Light and Obscurity very particular Besides it 's easily seen that there 's neither the Sentiments of the Platonicks nor those of the Iews but I know not what something very singular which has entirely the Air of the Original as will be more easily granted by those that read the Interpretations of Plethon and Psellus A Disquisition about the Final Causes of Natural Things wherein is examin'd if there be any and with what Precaution a Naturalist ought to admit thereof By Mr. Boyle Fellow of the Royal Society With an Appendix wherein are some uncommon Remarks touching sore Eyes By the same Author London 1688. in Octavo p. 274. MR. Boyle composed this Work several years since at the Entreaty of Mr. Oldenburgh Secretary to the Royal Society It remained among the Author's Papers until 88. when he Publish'd it without adding to it any new Remarks which he might have drawn from the Discoveries that have been made in Anatomy since it was composed because he believed that what he had said was sufficient to decide the Questions which are proposed It is undoubtedly of a great Consequence to know if the Final Causes of Natural Things can be found that is to say to know why Bodies are formed after a certain manner and upon what design they are dispos'd in certain Places If in this there was a design and we should neglect to inform our selves thereof we run the risk of not rendring unto the Author the Honour due for that Reason and of not drawing from those Beings the Uses which we should both in regard to Philosophy and Religion If there was no design in all this it is very profitable to know it that we may not lose our time in vainly seeking for the same Epicurus denyed there were any in the Thought he had That all Things were formed by chance and Descartes hath maintained That it was impossible to know any of the ends of God unless he had himself revealed them to us Mr. Boyle undertakes not here directly to refute Epicurus he applieth himself solely to Descartes whose Opinion cannot nevertheless be refuted without destroying at the same time that of Epicurus To proceed more Methodically he hath divided his Work into four Sections in each of which he examins a particular Question after which he concludes That the Disquisition of Final Causes ought not altogether to be banish'd from Physick tho' in this there must be certain Precautions used which he observes I. The first question is if generally speaking Physitians can know the end and design of corporal Beings If Descartes affirmed simply that we cannot know all the ends which God proposed to himself in the Creation of the World or that we ought not to imagin that they all relate to Man Mr. Boyle would not undertake to refute him But as Descartes speaks in General Terms it s maintained that his Opinion is false taking him without exceptions The Reason of it is that suppose God is an intelligent Being and that some of the things he hath made be perfectly proper to produce a certain considerable effect and that they produce it necessarily we ought to judge that God who hath foreseen this effect hath produced his Work at least partly for that Reason So when the admirable disposition of the Eye is considered and the effect it produceth to wit Vision there is nothing more reasonable than to say that the Eye was made for to see tho it may be it was made for some other end which we know not So also the Sun which is according to Descartes disposed in a proper place to illuminate all the Planets that turn in its Vortex and which unavoidably produceth this effect has been undoubtedly created partly to give us Light and Heat It cannot be said here that all the ends of God are hidden
the Ground they needed not great Eyes which would be in danger of receiving Injury It is known that the Camelion among several remarkable Things which it hath in its Eyes can move them independently the one from the other so that he can look with the one on what is before him and with the other on what is behind to see with one what is above and with the other what is below c. Therefore he is a sloathful Animal which lives upon Trees or Shrubs where Flies are nourished which he can see coming what side soever they are Fishes have a Crystalline Humour almost Spherical because the Water in which they live causing in the Sun-beams a Refraction much greater than the Air they would see nothing in the Water if the Convexity of the Crystalline Humour caused not a Refraction in the Light great enough to reunite these Beams in the bottom of the Eye Mr. Boyle is persuaded that those who might have Time and Means to examine after the same manner the Eyes of a greater number of Animals would without difficulty observe that they have them so disposed as that the Places wherein they keep and their manner of Living require it Besides this he makes a Remark upon the form of the Eye-ball of some Animals which serves to confirm his Thought which is That altho' Horses Oxen and divers other Creatures have a long Ball as well as Cats yet in the first it is placed transversely and extends from the right to the left Whereas in Cats it is situate perpendicularly A Friend of Mr. Boyles well skil'd in Opticks conjectured upon this Observation that the reason of this is That Horses and Oxen seeking their Food upon the Ground can thus receive more easily the Images of the Forage which presents it self to them from divers Parts in their transversal Ball As Cats living upon Mice and Rats which run along the Walls can more easily observe them by the perpendicular situation of their Balls than if it was otherwise disposed Thus this variety of Dispositions in the Eyes of Animals is far from giving us any disadvantageous Idea of him that hath produced them we cannot but admire his Power and Wisdom For it cannot be doubted but that a Mechanist who makes a great number of Machines is of a greater Capacity than another who could make but one sort There is even much likelihood according to Mr. Boyle considering Things but as a simple Philosopher that the Author of the Universe hath produced so great a variety of Animals but to let intelligent Creatures see his Power and his Wisdom Therefore doth Revelation teach us that this was one of the Designs of God in the Creation of the World as Mr. Boyle shews from p. 78. unto the end of the Section But before that he makes some Remarks upon that which is called Chance which deserves our Observation As to the corporeal World it 's easily believed that nothing falls out in it by Chance but all by the Rules of Motion when any free Intelligence comes in for a share But because we consider certain parts of the World as being particularly govern'd by the Divinity or at least by what others call Nature and as being destined to certain ends if it happens that by the Intervention of some other Causes which we foresee not the things in Question produce a contrary Effect to that which we believe they were destin'd we are accustom'd to say That this Effect is produced by Chance Thus Chance is nothing else but an Idea of our making and which only subsisteth in our Brains There is therefore no Reason to wonder why the Philosophers which lived before Aristotle have not put Chance among Natural Causes as we learn of Aristotle himself who justly reprehends them because of this pretended Omission Those who favour Epicurus are used to bring for Examples Things that are formed by Chance of certain Stones whose Structure is admirable as the Astroites But besides what we have said of Chance it s answered that Learned Men have of late maintain'd with likelihood enough That curious Stones of this Nature are really Animals petrify'd by some Moisture in which they have lain But by supposing that these sorts of Stones are formed in the Ground it might be said without advancing any Absurdity That there are Seminal Principles in some of the Fossils whose disposition is most composed not to mention that there is no Comparison betwixt this Disposition and that of Animals We ought in it not only to consider the solid parts but also the Liquors the Spirits the Digestions the Secretions the Regulations and Motions of the whole Body and tho' it were allowed that the Stones which we speak of are formed by Chance it could not be infer'd that Animals are thus formed for if a Smith shall give a certain Shape to a piece of Iron without thinking of it yet it cannot be concluded that this Smith can without thinking make a Clock III. The third Question is If it may be said that a Being destitute of Intelligence acteth for some end and in what Sense it may be said It 's said that a Being tends to certain ends in two Senses The one is when the Agent knoweth a certain end and that he acts purposely to arrive at it The other when the action of the near cause is directed to this end yet by an Intelligent Cause more distant It 's evident that we cannot say in the first of these Senses that any Cause destitute of Intelligence acteth in order to some end therefore it must be the second To which the Sentiment of Mr. Boyle has Relation which is That God having proposed to himself certain ends hath produced a World proper for the producing such ends For Example an able Mechanist who proposeth to himself to make a Mill to turn round and to raise Hammers to forge Iron by the means of Water he forms thereof an Idea which he afterwards executes and whose Execution produces the Effect he had proposed to himself Even so God having proposed to himself certain ends hath created the World so that he inevitably comes at it that way Mr. Boyle admonishes here That if he hath said any Thing by the bye against the common Opinion That all the Material World was made for Man he thinks only that this Question ought not to be decided after a too Dogmatick or Exclusive Manner Altho' the Reasons which are brought to shew that all the World and particularly the vast Extent in which the fixed Stars are placed was not made for Man alone yet it appeared to him more probable than those which favour the contrary Opinion notwithstanding he willingly granteth that among the ends which the Author of Nature proposed to himself in divers of his Works as Plants Animals Metals c. he had a Design to produce them for the use of Man and that this perhaps was his principal Design He hath even an inclination to believe
that there being a great many Things made for our use and which notwithstanding we do not know and that the Things whereof we actually make use may have other uses which are besides unknown to us Libertines have long since objected That if other Animals had been made for Man they would not come into the World in a better State than he Whereas there are several produced in a condition of defending themselves from the Injury of the Air and of seeking their livelihood without the help of another To these slight Advantages is opposed that of Reason which hath enabled Men to form Societies and to become Masters of all other Animals by their Policy This Reason evinces That Man is more excellent than the whole Globe of the World or an Extent of much greater Matter without Intelligence So that do but look upon the outside of Things with regard only to the littleness of the Body of Man deny that the Earth and some of the Coelestial Bodies were made for him because they are infinitely greater and because an Intelligence such as the Soul of Man is much more excellent than all these Bodies Mr. Boyle moreover draweth from this Consideration an important Consequence which is That tho' Man receives no use from some distant parts of his Body he can nevertheless receive a very great one in regard of the Intelligence which animates it which raiseth it self by the consideration of the more distant Objects to the knowledg of their Author and acknowledgeth in a thousand ways his Power and his Wisdom and also renders him the Homage that is due unto him Why should we not believe that among the ends of God in producing these vast Bodies which their excessive distance hath not robbed from our Sight he hath proposed to make himself known to the innumerable Intelligences which he hath covered with Human Bodies This is the most probable Inference that Men have ever made thereof as Mr. Boyle sheweth But if we will yet consider Man as covered with a Body we must take heed of committing a gross Fault whereinto we fall by Imagining That nothing can go under the notion of having been made for Man but that which all Men have always made use of we ought to look upon Man from his Origin upon this Earth until his Dissolution he changes Habitation as does a Family which in divers times makes use of divers things altho' none of his Members do immediately participate of these Uses Thus an Infinity of Things whence much Profit is drawn of late have notwithstanding been made for Man tho' he made no use of them some Ages before us We may see particularly Examples thereof in the Original IV. The fourth Question is to know With what Precaution Physicians ought to make use of the Supposition of Final Causes Thence two sorts of Consequences may be drawn the one relates to the Author of Nature as when from the constant use of a thing it is concluded that it was made for that So after having acknowledg'd the use of Eyes we ascend to the Creator by saying that in creating the Eyes he had a Design to make a Machine as proper to produce that which we call Vision The other Consequences conclude from the Supposition of certain ends That Bodies ought to be disposed after a certain manner because otherwise they would not be proper to produce the Effect for which they are created Mr. Boyle reduces what he has to say upon this Question to five Propositions upon which he makes divers Remarks which are briefly there as also some of the most considerable Reflections which are made upon them 1. As for Coelestial Bodies in general it is Folly to conclude any thing about their Nature from the Supposition that God hath produced them for the use of Man Those who say That the Earth being the Place which Man Inhabits and the Sun having been created to light this Earth it follows from thence That the Sun turns round the Earth and not the Earth about the Sun against the Rules we have related They suppose that the only end which God proposed to himself in creating the Sun is to light the Earth and tho' that was so their Consequence may be denyed As to what regards the fixt Stars whereof some are so distant that there is no use of the Telescope to discern them it is yet more rash to suppose that they were only produced for our Earth tho' we do not deny but that we may draw from them both Moral and and Physical Uses It would be also a meer Presumption to conclude from thence that they are disposed after such a certain manner because that would seem more commodious for the use of the pretended King of the Universe It is much more reasonable to think that God might have proposed Ends which we see not in the Symmetry of the World Can it be said that the Angels which are more excellent Beings than we are take no share therein and that God in creating it had no regard to them On the contrary it 's well known that several Divines have conjectured with Mr. Boyle That the Angels were created before the Material World that they might render God the Praises due to him for the Creation of the Universe It may be these Intelligences perceive at first sight in this part of the Heaven what we discover only with difficulty by the Telescope and in other Bodies which we know not a profound Wisdom and as admirable Ends as those which we observe in Bodies which are nearest and most known to us To descend from Heaven upon Earth tho' it is very rationally believed that God made for the use of Man Metals and Minerals being such Things as he can procure there would be no Reason to believe that that which is round the Center of the Earth more than fifteen hundred Leagues below our Feet is made for us and even only for that end There could never yet a thousand Steps be dugg into a strait Line nor is there any appearance that the Industry of Men shou'd ever find the means to peirce the Earth Diametrically for a Mile and without that they can neither see nor apply to their use what it hides in its Centre We may notwithstanding judge by the knowledg we have of some other parts of the World that what the Earth includeth in its Bulk may contribute something to the Order and Symmetry of its Vortex wherein it is placed It might also be said that there are divers Things in the World which were produced not for themselves or upon a Design of immediately receiving some Benefit but because they were necessary Subjects of what God had directly designed to create So God it may be is the remote cause of Eclypses but yet they are a necessary Series of the Motion of the Planets and he did not think but that this Motion should be changed to avoid Eclypses 2. It is permitted to a
appears to be the lightest a little Wax to render the Needle in Aequilibrio and for the augmenting or diminishing the weight of the Wax as they are nearer or more distant from the Line where the Needle hath no need of Wax to keep it in Aequilibrio The Author gives some Methods to find out how many degrees the Needle is inclined and observes that in Countries that are 49 or 50 degrees of Elevation the Needle is enclin'd to the Horison about 70 Degrees 11. The Power of the Loadstone may be augmented or diminished by divers means which the Author observes but if it is entirely lost it cannot be re-established 12. In fine altho' the Needle always turns one of its ends towards the North 't is observed that they often decline in some degrees towards the East or the West 'T was above a hundred years that it declined six degrees towards the East sixty years after its Declination was hardly one degree of the same side Mr. De la Hire of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Royal Professor in the Mathematicks observed at Paris towards the end of the year 1684. that it declined four Degrees ten Minutes North-West Now it declines there but a little more than one Degree 2. These are the Experiments which he relates concerning the Loadstone here follow the chief Generals by which he explains all these Effects 1. That the Earth is made after such a manner that out of its Poles continually issues a very subtle Matter both impalpable and invisible which circulates within and about it self till it re-enters by the opposite Pole to that which it went out of and passes by parallel Pores ito its Axis 2. That the Pores by which this Matter passes are furnished with certain Particles like small Hairs which are so disposed as easily permits this Matter to pass over after a certain manner but which stands upright and stops the Pores if the Matter presents it self to pass over after a contrary manner 3. That each Loadstone hath two Poles like the Earth and is disposed after the same manner as it is Those who have any knowledg of the manner whereby the Cartesians apply their Supposition of an effluvious Matter to the effects of the Loadstone may without any trouble apply the Principle of the Author to the Phoenomena's that have any relation thereto and those who are not sufficiently acquainted with this Matter to be able of ' emselves to make an Application of this Principle may in less than two hours time read all that the Author hath said of it As the Chapters of the second part answer to that of the first so Things are there more at large explain'd than in the first with an addition of divers new Experiments concerning the same things For Example there is in the XIII Chapter the particular manner of arming the Loadstone that is the furnishing each of its Poles with a little plate of Iron to augment the force thereof From this place also may be learnt something of the Configuration of the insensible parts of Iron and Steel The Author observes that when the Iron is forged the little parts whereof it is composed dispose themselves at length and range themselves like little Needles all of the same manner the length of the Iron and that they must take the Armour of the Loadstone in such a manner that the length of its little parts answer to the extremity of the Armour which must lift up the other Iron that they shall present unto it The Author having made one after this manner and taken an other and applyed it directly contrary that is in which the little parts were travers'd found that the first rais'd up a fourth part heavier than the other He also observed that a Blade of Iron which is not soak'd in Water breaks very difficultly and when it is broken the place where it breaks look'd upon with a Microscope appears like the small points of Needles which pierce the Hand with the least touch The other on the contrary adds the Author is easily broke and the broken place resembles little Balls or Cubes and is not sharp at all He afterwards gives Philosophical Reasons thereof which is best read in the Original As the declination and varation of the Loadstone can only be perceived by the means of a Meridional Line so the Author hath in the XV Chapter given six different manners of tracing it The first is to cut a Body of a Tree that has been much exposed to the Wind and the Sun horizontally and to observe in what place the Excentrick Circles are closest and the place where they are the most distant one from the other The last notes the South and the first the North. But as one cannot always rely upon this Experiment so he only relates it by the by and says also that those who concern themselves with Agriculture ought to observe it and that when they transplant a Tree care must be taken to place it in the same Situation as it was in before in respect to the North and South The three following ways of finding out the Meridional Line are done by the Points of the Shadow The fifth manner is practised by two Shadows of a Threed raised perpendiculy and taken with two equal Lights from the Sun And in fine he shews how the Meridional Line may be found by two equal Heights of two Stars He finishes this Work by the Description of some Curious Machines made with the Loadstone and those who desire to know more thereof he sends them to Bettinus Kirker Schotus and some others that have treated of this Matter I shall say no more of this Book only that the Author endeavoured to proportion it to the Capacity of all sorts of Persons He has not taken it for granted that every one that reads his Book should be a Physician or Geometer on the contrary he has endeavoured to render himself Intelligible to those even that are Ignorant both of Physick and Geometry 100. An Extract of an English Iournal containing an Estimation of the quantity of Vapours that the Heat of the Sun exhales from the Sea By Edmond Halley THE quantity of Vapours that the Earth is charged with is very considerable since the Rains and Snows fall sometimes in so great an abundance that 't is observed that this Water descending from the Intervals which the Particles of the Air leave among themselves make a very sensible part of the Weight of the Atmosphere But no Person that I know of has examined to the purpose the proportion that is between the Sea and these Vapours which are the original not only of Rains but also of Fountains This Search is nevertheless one of the most necessary of that part of Philosophy that treats of Meteors and deserves to be examined by the Royal Society I believe none will be sorry to know the manner how I essay'd to determine the quantity of Vapours which are exhaled by Heat
extraordinary Assistance of the Holy Ghost intervene oftner in Martyrdom he shews at length that the hopes of this inward Grace that so often miraculously assisted the Martyrs gave Courage to the Faithful His last Dissertation fully shews that the ancient Church looked upon Martyrdom as upon a Second Baptism We might draw several Remarks from it if this Article were drawn at length and for this Reason we will say nothing of the Appendix of this Work where are the Fasts of the Greeks and Latins Pieces for the most part that were never Printed and that have a long Discourse before them full of Historick and Chronologick Learning The Author has publish'd a Discourse lately upon a dark Passage of the Exhortation to Chastity where Tertullian seems to affirm that all Christians are Priests and may in case of necessity Consecrate Mr. Rigaut understanding the Passage in this same sense was refuted by Mr. de Aubespine and found it very convenient not to fall out with Bishops But the Learned Grotius that had not the same Reasons to dissemble did not acknowledge this Prelates Reasons to be valid He shews a Dissertation Published in 1638 that Tertullian had done very ill if he had not believed Laicks had power to administer the Eucharist and endeavouring to establish this Opinion upon Tradition he allarmed all the Traditioners therefore it was thought that nothing ought to be neglected that might prevent the Consequences of this dangerous Sentiment Father Petau for this end spared neither Study nor Meditation to answer Grotius but Mr. Dowdell fearing that the Jesuit did not sufficiently shew the essential distinction of Priests and lest the Divinity of Episcopacy should be exposed to any Intrenchments has taken the Field with all his Learning to encounter with Mr. Grotius He tells us many fine things upon the Antiquities of the Church it is with Reason that the English are cajol'd by him upon this Science for in such Points as they have the same Advantages with Rome they furnish her with great Assistance but they pay themselves well on other accounts The Title of this new Book is De jure Laicorum Sacerdotali ex Sententia Tertulliani aliorumque veterum Dissertatio adversus Anonymum dissertatorem de Coenae administratione ubi Pastores non sunt ab Henrico Dodwello A. M. Dubliniens Londini Impensis Benj. Took 1685. in Octavo There is added Grotius's Discourse that of Father Petau and the answer which Clopemburg made to the first upon the Question If it be always necessary to Communicate with some one of the Christian Societies The Works of Clemens Alexandrinus in Greek and Latin according to the accurate Corrections of Dr. Hensii with brief Additions c. at the end of Dr. Heinsius To which is added the Ancient and Modern Annotations Collected by the Industry of Frid. Sylburgius The Ninth Edition at Paris 1641. Cologne 1688. In Fol. THough there are but few who can read the Fathers in the original Languages there is a very great number of Persons whom it concerns to have some Idea of their Lives and Writings because of the use made thereof now in Controversies which divide Christians The Roman Catholick Doctors forget nothing to perswade the People that the Fathers have been of their Sentiments thinking that it was insufferable to reject a Doctrin upheld by the Suffrage of the most part of the Fathers When they cite a Passage which they think conformable to their Thoughts they miss not to urge it as a holy Father hath very well said else if we oppose any other words to them from which they cannot well get free they answer that it was but his particular Opinion and reject it as an Error The most part of Protestants establish the Consent of the Fathers not as a Principle of their Faith though some of them make not much another use thereof in citing than the Roman Catholicks do Hence it cometh that in the Ecclesiastical Histories of both Parties the Places of the Fathers are carefully remarked which appear proper for the Opinions and Practices which are this day received amongst us and only mention by the by what we think defective in their Conduct and Doctrin As we are perswaded that the Fathers particularly those of the first Ages received all those Opinions which now we look upon as Essential so we think we ought to praise them and to excuse as much as possible the defects which are in their Writings or in their Lives so that their Panegyrick or Apology is insensibly made with much more Passion than their History Hence those who read Works of this nature are perswaded that the Ancients were Men of consummate Knowledge and of an extraordinary Purity of Manners Hence it is concluded that if any were abused there must needs be great reason for it and that there was no danger either of their Relations or the Confutations of the Opinions of Hereticks It is thought they ought to be imitated in their way of Reasoning and Acting without taking much heed whether they are conformable to the Precepts of the Gospel Thus it happeneth that there is no History of the first Ages sufficiently faithful and that these Histories are not used as they should be They are far from flattering themselves of being able to remedy an Evil which is so naturaliz'd as this and this Work is not composed upon that design but at least we think our selves obliged to keep off as much as possible from the ways of those who give passionate Panegyricks of them to the Publick which expects uninterested Histories This Method was attempted in the History of Pelagianism and we shall endeavour to do it yet in the Life of Clement which we now come to relate in a few words Titus Flavius Clemens famous for his Knowledge towards the end of the Second Age was born at Athens according to some Authors who believe they can reconcile this Opinion with that of those who make him to be of Alexandria in saying that Athens was the place of his Birth but that the long Abode he made at Alexandria gave him the name of Alexandrinus His Stile nevertheless though pretty full of Figures is often obscure and entangled and has not much of the Neatness and Elegancy of the Athenian Accademies Howbeit it is certain he began his Studies in Greece he continued them in Asia and ended his days in Egypt It appears he was not satisfied to be instructed by one Master but travelled much to hear several and thus to form to himself a more exact and universal Idea of the Christian Religion as well as to acquire more knowledge in Human Sciences His Masters had been themselves Disciples of the Apostles or had conversed with the Disciples of these Holy Men as appears by what he speaks thereof himself though he expresseth not himself altogether distinctly He saith that his ruder Writings are an Image and Representation of the lively and animated Discourses of happy and truly worthy Men whom he