to what is said of all sides and what Enemies report one of another to heap together all that is published in several Languages of both the Parties and especially the public Acts And lastly To compare all these different Reports with abundance of care By this means he comes to be convinced that there are certain incontestable matters of Fact in which all the World are a greed but that there are several Circumstances of which a Man cannot be certain by reason of all the great variety of Reports An Historian ought to pass over these doubtful Matters in general terms for fear of deceiving his Reader by a Relation which he cannot warrant In order to collect his Materials well 't is requisite that he should be skill'd in several Languages that he shou'd know the form of Government of those places whose History he writes as also their Interests that he be acquainted with the Genius of the People and their Forces that he be not ignorant of the Situation of Places and above all this that he be laborious attentive and diligent have a good Discernment a solid Judgment and a sincere Mind If one of these Qualifications be wanting 't is enough to make an Author uncapable of succeeding For Instance we have seen some Years ago several Histories publish'd in France wherein are related abundance of matters of Fact and other things relating to England and Holland A Man will at first sight observe that many of these Authors were not in a Capacity to consult the Writings and Relations that were daily published in these two places and that they were intirely ignorant of their manner of Government and their Forces as well as of the Genius of their People He will likewise find that the Difference of Opinions concerning the Principles of Religion and Politics has made them take things quite otherwise than they were I don 't at all question but that on the other side great Faults have been committed in relation to France especially by those who do not understand French or never were in France or suffer'd themselves to be too much influenced by a Spirit of Partiality It must however be said that the Government of France and all that belongs to it is more easie to be understood by Strangers than the Affairs of Strangers by French Men. Sometimes though we are furnish'd with all the necessary Assistances to know the truth of a Fact Negligence makes us commit abominable Mistakes Thus Vittorio Siri in his †Tom. ◠p. 665. Memorie Recondite speaks of the Night in which Lewis the XIV was born Quattro hore spese il Re in quel colloquio si che l'hora trovatasi troppo tarda per ritornare quella notte nevosissima correndo il mese di Decembre à Grobois convenne per forzosa necessità dormire à Parige rimasto il letto del Re à Grobois la Regina colla cena li fece parte del suo notte fortunatissima per la Francia perche per un intrecciamento di circostance si stupende s'infantò il Dolfino c. Not to take notice of the nonsensical Bombast in these words which might suffer a little perhaps too thro' the Fault of the Printer Siri might easily have known that Lewis the XIV was not born in December but September and not at Paris but at St. Germain en Laye So gross a Mistake as this must needs be the effect of an inexcusable Negligence Some have been of Opinion that the Example alledged out of Siri is not well chosen but see what the Author has said about it in the Nouvelles de la Republiquae des Lettres of this present Year in September Perhaps it will be told me that I require so many things in an Historian to judge him only capable of informing himself as to matters of Fact for which he has occasion that there are but very few who in my Opinion ought to be suffer'd to write History I own it and further add that I look upon it to be the most difficult Task in the World if a Man wou'd acquit himself in it as he ought But then the Advantages that those who are now living and those that come after us may reap from a good History are so great we ought not to expect it from an ordinary Man It will still be objected perhaps that suppose an able Man such as I have described had done all that lay in his power to inform himself of the Truth he wou'd still be at a loss to find out the Springs and Motives of several very considerable Actions because the Persons concerned in them are obliged in Interest to keep 'em concealed and that without this Knowledge a History will resemble a Body without a Soul all whose Movements appear to be forced To this I answer That by diverse indisputable Matters of Fact and by the General Knowledge we have of the Interests and Designs of the several Powers that are mentioned there we may clearly enough know the General Motives that set them in Action and which are undoubtedly the most important and as it were the principal Wheels which move the whole Machine whose Motion is there described As for the others which we cannot penetrate into we must either let them alone and else relate them in a doubting manner An Historian is not oblig'd to recount every thing and to advance nothing but what he is positively certain of He is only oblig'd not to relate any thing that is false for true and not warrant any thing that is incertain What I have said concerns the History of the present Age or what happens during the Life of the Historian When we undertake an History in which we cannot instruct ourselves from the Mouths of ocular Witnesses who are all dead either lately or a long while ago all we can do is to consult the Writings that are remaining whether they be Public or Private and for this end we must take the same care and have the same Knowledge and Qualifications which I have already mention'd in respect of Witnesses and Modern Writings Above all we ought to bring with us a great stock of Discernment for this sort of Reading that we may not be surprized by Relations stuff'd with lies or too passionately written The ancient Greek and Latin Historians that have attempted to write the History of the remotest Times or at least of the Ages which immediately preceded theirs have often observ'd this Maxim very religiously altho' I cannot deny that several of them have neglected it When they speak of the fabulous Times they give us the History of them for no more than they are worth that is to say for a Narration where among some true Matters of Fact there are an infinite number of Lies When they come down to the History of those Ages of which they had certain Monuments extant they took a great deal of Pains to distinguish between the true and the false Of this we
PARRHASIANA OR THOUGHTS UPON Several Subjects AS CRITICISM HISTORY MORALITY AND POLITICS By Monsieur Le Clerk under the feigned Name of Theodorus Parrhasi Done into English by **** London Printed for A. and J. Churchil at the Black Swan in Pater-Noster-Row MDCC THE PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR 'T IS an Observation made long ago That the World is pleased with Miscellany Thoughts upon several Subjects as appears not only by the kind reception the Thoughts of Monsieur Paschal and Monsieur de la Bruyere's Characters have found but likewise by the Scaligerana Perroniana Sorberiana Valesiana Menagiana c. some of which have seen several Editions This gave me Encouragement to set down in Paper several Reflexions which I had made upon very different Subjects and now to venture them abroad I have not divided the Thoughts into several * This was our Author's Modesty However for the ease of the English Reader we have divided it into Chap. Chapters but only by some Marginal Notes because I never pretended to give any thing finished upon any of the Matters I treat of However I may affirm that generally speaking they are better connected than any of those I have mentioned above If I had so thought fit I cou'd have swell'd each of them into several little Tracts by making a few Additions to them and some of them I might have distinguished by Chapters But before I cou'd bring them to this Regularity I must of necessity say many Things which have been deliver'd by others in so exact and perspicuous a manner that there was no occasion to repeat them after them My Design was only to touch upon those Things which to the best of my Knowledge were never said before or if they have been were not so fully handled and supported as now you find them For Instance there are several compleat Treatises of Rhetorick and the Art of writing History to which a Man may have recourse in order to form in his Mind an exact Idea of these Sciences but I never read or saw any of those Matters so fully handled as they deserve And therefore the Reader may if he pleases join what I have said concerning them as a Supplement to those Treatises of Rhetorick and History that are extant or else furnish himself out of others what is deficient in mine The principal Thing I aim'd at in this Collection of different Thoughts was to say something that might be serviceable to the present Age I leave it to the Reader to judge whether the Advertisements I give him are well grounded For my part I am persuaded that there was a necessity of saying something like it that Men of Parts may improve these Hints and inlarge upon at their leisure Perhaps it may be objected that there is too great a Freedom in my Thoughts and Expressions but unless I am mistaken they can find nothing which in the least offends against Religion and Good Manners No Man living is more persuaded of the Truth and Importance of both these things than my self and I should never engage so heartily as to defend them against those that attack them The Obedience that is due to Sovereigns and Magistrates is not at all violated by this Liberty and 't is no hard matter to be persuaded of this Truth in the Country where I live Since there is not a Man here that has not reason to bless the Gentleness of the Government and of its excellent Maxims one of the chief of which is To suffer all that are Subjects to it to speak freely so long as they obey the Civil Laws In effect let Men carry Liberty as high as they please provided this Liberty be accompanied by a Love of Justice and of Order it will only better discover the excellence of this Government and oblige those that live under it to obey it with more cheefulness As for the rest the Liberty I have taken in this Collection was never intended to create any Quarrels I have only made use of it to speak general Truths which I never apply but to Authors dead long ago If any Persons of the same Character are now alive 't is no fault of mine It wou'd be impossible ever to Censure any Irregularities if a Man were to stay till there were none to be found to whom his Censure might be applied 'T is sufficient that he has no particular Views and designs no such matter At the end of this Collection I have only endeavoured to defend the Writings of a certain Author in whom I am interessed and if I have answer'd the Calumnies of his Adversaries somewhat sharply I may safely say that it was not till after several of them had for a long time abused his Silence and vented their Malice in the most injurious manner that could be We use to suffer him who defends himself to speak in a higher Tone than those that attack his Innocence and the World passes by several Things in him which are not pardon'd in the Aggressors But I here declare that I have express'd my self with much more Tenderness than those who have fallen foul upon the Party whom I defend and those that have read their Libels will make no question of it I have not enter'd here into any Matter but only contented my self to touch some Matters of Fact till I have a proper opportunity to explain these Matters as far as I see convenient In the mean time the Publick ought not to be surprized that the Person whom I here defend has return'd no other Answer to those who had a Mind to quarrel with him He has been and still is taken up in some Occupations that appear more useful to him and consequently such as he ought more to mind There are several honest and discerning Judges that will not be wanting to espouse his Party till such time as he defends himself if ever he thinks it necessary If he 's capable of doing the Publick any Service either in discovering or supporting any one Truth which is of general Importance they are more obliged to him in my Opinion than if he had formally convicted his Adversaries of a thousand false Reasonings and a thousand Calumnies As he is ready to sacrifice his private Resentments to the public Advantage 't is but reasonable the Public should do him Justice without his importuning them upon that score Lately Publish'd THE Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian In fifteen Books The first Five contain the Antiquities of Egypt Asia Africa Greece the Islands and Europe The last Ten an historical Account of the Affairs of the Persians Grecians Macedonians and other Parts of the World To which are added The fragments of Diodorus that are found in the Bibliotheca of Photius Together with those Publish'd by H. Valesius L. Rhodomannus and F. Vrsinus Made English by G. Booth of the City of Chester Esq in Folio Three Discourses of Happiness Virtue and Liberty Collected from the Works of the Learn'd Gassendi by Monsieur
nor the Method they proposed to follow in order to execute it The best are those whose Design we can perceive in gross and where the Matter is not too far fetch'd altho' there is no Order in it They heap together a world of Materials to build as one wou'd think a fine Structure but afterwards they throw them one upon another without Order and any Rules of Architecture Thus 't is a difficult matter well to disentangle this confusion of Thoughts and to form a clear and continued Idea of their Sentiments which has in part proved the occasion of so many Disputes about their Doctrin It must be own'd that those that write or speak now a days have much more Method at least for the greatest part and 't is an undeniable Truth that in this respect we very much surpass the Ancients whatever the Admirers of Antiquity may pretend However there are abundance of People still in the World who never made any serious reflexion upon a Method to dispose their Reasons in such a manner as shall be proper to make their Discourse clear and concluding If they sometimes succeed in this 't is by meer hazard for they trespass oftner against the most essential Rules These Rules had continued as it were hidden among the Geometricians till the time of Descartes who first discover'd the great Use that might be made of them upon all occasions Since the Discoveries that have been made in our Age about them several Persons have enlarged and even rectified his Thoughts as we may see in the Logic of the Port-Royal and the †By F. Male Branche Search after Truth The same Matter has likewise been treated with care in a Latin †Logicae Joannis Clerici denuo edita anno 1698 Logic printed twice at Amsterdam within a few Years where the use that may be made of it in all sorts of Disquisitions is shown at large These Books are too common to want any transcribing here I will only say in general that these Rules teach us that we ought in the first place to have an exact knowledge of the Question we intend to handle and to express it without Ambiguity In the second place That we must divide it into its parts if it is composed of several Propositions Thirdly That we must range these Propositions in that Order that the most simple and most easie may march first Fourthly That the Propositions that follow ought to be deduced from the preceeding ones as far as is possible There are other particular Rules with which I shall not meddle here 'T is sufficient to remark that these general Rules are notoriously violated both in Discourses and in Writings We set ourselves to compose without knowing well what we are minded to treat of and after some division ill understood we say in each part what we think belongs to it without troubling ourselves in what Order we range it What is more several Persons who affect to be thought Wits take a pride in retailing their Thoughts without any manner of connexion and think it enough that each Thought in particular has a relation to the Subject they treat upon This is call'd Writing and Preaching by Thoughts and after this manner it is that a good part of the Treatises which compose the famous Collection of the Essays of Morality are written the drift and end of which we cannot comprehend but in a general way and whose Method is exceedingly embroil'd Altho' the Stile of them is pure and fine and there are abundance of noble independent Thoughts in 'em yet to speak freely what I think these Works taken in the Gross are full of nonsensical Stuff and Sophisms The reason of which in my Opinion is only this because those that composed them either did not know what a good Method was or at least did not know the importance of observing it In the mean time no Man can question the Excellence of the above-mention'd Rules if it were only because all the Truths of the Mathematicians depend upon them 'T is impossible to deny that the Order they prescribe is admirable both to enlighten the Mind and touch the Heart of reasonable Persons 'T is likewise as plain 't is extremely useful and convenient for those that write for by this means they form a Plan of what they should say with all the ease imaginable when once they are accustom'd to them They avoid impertinent Repetitions and the Pain of finding out independent Thoughts and afterwards of connecting them together by unnatural Transitions I own indeed that such as have not used to make themselves a Plan which they are to follow and have contracted a habitude of Speaking without one will find themselves shackled by it but those that reason â—ill don't love for the same reason the Rules of good Reasoning Does it therefore follow that they must not endeavour to reform themselves or that others must imitate them I know nothing that can be objected against this but some Opinions of the Rhetors They maintain for Instance †Quinil Lib. IV. c. 5. That it is not good to divide one's Matter with exactness because it seems too much studied and the generality of things are more agreeable when they appear to be invented on the sudden and deduced from the thing itself than when we believe the Orator meditated on them at home Pleraque gratiora si inventa subitò nec demo allata sed inter dicendum ex re ipsâ nata videantur To which I answer That this Remark may perhaps hold good in a Reply which an Advocate makes before the Judges where some things may seem to have been invented upon the Spot But on other Occasions when all the World knows we come prepared in what we write and order to be Printed this sort of a Cheat will not pass Muster Thus 't is plain that Quintilian made this Remark upon the account of the Advocates only for whose use principally he composed his Book of Institutions In this Occasion those that have a bad Cause to defend are often forced to make use of divers Artifices that are below the Eloquence I have been talking of which will only undertake the Defence of a good Cause Of this kind is the Artifice that the same Rhetor speaks of in the following Words Sometimes says he we must put false Dice upon the Judge and insinuate ourselves into his favour by several Artifices so that he may believe we have a different design from that we have in reality Now and then a Man is forced to propose something which 't is difficult to obtain and if the Judge foresees it he is afraid of it before we speak to the Point just as we see a wounded Man fears the Instruments of a Chirurgeon when he sees them before the Operation begins But if a Discourse happens to make some Impression upon a Judge who distrusts nothing and having had no Intimation of the Business is not upon his Guard
no longer wrought and that the Holiness of the Lives of these public Orators is not so very extraordinary 't is but reasonable that in order to attract our Attention they should employ not the secular Arm as is the practise of some Countries but all that may serve to enlighten and touch reasonable Men and sometimes even those that are a little too delicate I am afraid I have said too much upon this sort of Eloquence but must we always dissemble either out of fearfulness or interest those Truths that wou'd be of infinite Use if one Day we shou'd listen to them If all those that might profit themselves by it neglect to do it perhaps some one may do it and be follow'd by some others Quintilian after having spoken scurvily enough of the Orators of his time concludes That it is better to omit these sorts of things for fear of offending more People by reproving what is bad than we oblige them by giving them good Advice †Lib. IV. c. 2. Haec omittamus ne minùs gratiae praecipiendo recta quam offensae reprehendendo prava mereamur But when should we speak Truth tho' the most important in the World if we were to stay till it wou'd make us Friends among the generality of Mankind Perhaps never CHAP. III. Of History and the Defference between the Modern and Ancient Historians NOTHING is so entertaining and instructive as History when it is well written and on the contrary nothing more infamous and hurtful when it is not written as it ought to be that is to say when it delivers Lies instead of Truth nay even when it dissembles it The former supplies us with what we want in Experience which is always shut up in narrow bounds by faithfully relating all that happen'd before us by which we may reap as great Benefit as if we had actually seen them On the other hand the latter instructs us in nothing because it reports things otherwise than they fell out and indeed than they commonly do fall out The first represents a Man such as he is with his good and bad Qualities with his laudable Actions and those that deserve Censure The second describes him such as the Historian wishes him to have been whether bad or good or rather it substitutes a Phantome in his place As a true and sincere History proposes the Advantage of the Reader by discovering Truth to him So that which is false and disguised has no other end but the Profit of the Historian who hopes to get something by lying or by dissembling what he knows Four things in my Opinion are requisite to make a good Historian and without them we cannot expect any thing considerable from him The first is To be well Instructed in what he attempts to Relate The second To be capable of Saying without any Disguise what he believes to be true The third To know how to Relate what he knows And lastly the fourth To be able to form a true Judgment of the Events he reports and of the Men who contributed to bring them about It will not be amiss to make some Reflexions upon these four things a general Knowledge of which may enable us to judge whether a History be good or bad Of the Matter of History I. A MAN may be instructed two several ways in what he relates when he writes the History of his own time that is to say either by himself or others He is instructed by himself in what he saw and what he managed the consequence of which he observed himself But it must be confessed that this does not go very far since that absolutely speaking he cou'd do but very few things by himself and cou'd be present but in one place at a time That which others do they relate to us just as they themselves think sit especially if there were but few Witnesses of their Actions or if these Witnesses are dead or dare not contradict them They either take care not to speak of the Faults they committed or else they strangely disguise them If any Disadvantageous Accident befalls them they attribute it either to the Malice of others or to ill Fortune but never to their own Indiscretion He that questions this needs only cast his Eyes upon the Memoirs which abundance of illustrious Persons have composed of their own Life and there he will every-where find enough to justifie my Assertion These are not Historians who speak of themselves without Passion They are rather Advocates that plead their own Cause or that make their own Apology before Posterity as well as before those who lived in their own time What has been said of these Memoirs the same and perhaps much worse we may say of the Reports that have been made to Princes and Generals concerning Matters that were transacted in those places where they were not This occasion'd Asinius Pollio to say That the Memoirs of Caesar for so we ought to call his Commentaries in English were written with little Care and with too little regard to the Truth because he too easily believed the greatest part of what was related to him about the Actions of other Men and has unfaithfully reported what he himself did either out of Design or thro' defect of Memory †Sueton. in Jul. Caesare c. 56. Pollio Asinius parùm diligentèr parúmque integrâ veritate compositos Caesaris Commentarios putat cùm pleraque quae per alios erant gesta temerè crediderit quae per se vel consulto vel etiam memoriâ lapsus perperam ediderit It is not to be doubted but that those that afterwards writ Memoirs in imitation of him have been guilty of the same Practice Cicero in one of his †Ad Fam. Lib. V. Epist 12. Letters wherein he testifies an extraordinary desire to see the History of his Consulship written by Lucceius says merrily that if this Historian refused him this favour he wou'd write it himself after the Example of several Persons before him But as you know well enough continues he there are Inconveniences in this manner of Writing Because a Man is obliged to speak of himself with too much reservedness when he comes to recount any thing that deserves Commendation and to omit whatever is to be found fault with Sed quod te non fugit haec sunt in hoc genere vitia ut verecundiùs de se ipsi scribant necesse est siquid est laudandum et praetereant suquid fortè reprehendendum est The Case being thus we must not expect to learn the whole truth exactly either from Princes or their Ministers or their Generals even tho' we might ask them any Questions we desir'd to be inform'd in and they were inclin'd fairly to answer them which however but very rarely happens What course then shall an Historian take to inform himself of the Truth For my part I see no other way for him than to enquire of all the People he can to listen
sudden and yield every-where to the Carelesness of those who mind only the present Time and care as little for the Time past as for the Time to come But a great many learned Men having embraced the Protestant Religion and proclaimed every-where That the Knowledge of Humane Learning had open'd a Way to the Understanding of Holy Scripture and Church-History so that the best Way to know the Errors and Abuses which wanted a Reformation was to Learn throughly the ancient Tongues the Party who had no mind to make any Alteration in the Practices or Opinions of the latter Ages began to suspect those who so much cried up Humane Learning and so by degrees neglected to promote it All Favours were only bestowed upon the zealous Defenders of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy and Learning which had been so much admired before was look'd upon by degrees as a thing which might do it more Harm than Good Thus Italy and Spain ceased almost to produce any thing of that kind and the Libraries became useless Ornaments for the Inhabitants of those Countries That Dislike of Humane Learning spread as a Contagion in the neighbouring Countries and even in those where they should be of quite another Opinion 'T is reported that a great Minister of State who was altogether a Stranger to Learning used to call those who profest it Seditious Persons in all likelyhood because they are the Men who have most insisted upon the Authority of the Laws Justice and Equity Indeed in the Countries where Machiavelism prevails the Notions of the Ancients concerning those things do not at all agree with the ungovernable Passions of a Supreme Power And this I think is one of the Reasons which are very Prejudicial to Learning in some Countries Thus the Defenders of the Supreme Authority of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy on the one side and the Defenders of the Arbitrary Power of Temporal Princes on the other have been of Opinion that the Reading of the ancient Heathen or Christian Writers was so far from being necessary that it was believed for some time it were much better on the contrary that the Republican Notions of the Grecians and Romans should be forgotten and that the Opinions of the ancient Christians both in the East and West which do not agree with the Modern Doctrine and Interests should be covered with the Vail of an unintelligible Language They have lookt for Men who would obey without any Reply and make it their Business to Maintain and Encrease the Spiritual and Temporal Power without any regard to the Notions which Men had in former Times Soldiers who have no Principles nor Sense of Virtue and Clergy-men who are blind Slaves to the present Power and examine nothing and execute with the utmost Rigour whatever Orders they receive are look'd upon as the most unmoveable Pillars of the Church and State and they who quote ancient Authors and whose Principles are independent on the Will of Princes can have no Hearing Some Reasons to cultivate Humane Learning anew BUT in the Countries where they make it their Business to have no Laws but such as are founded upon natural Equity they need not fear that the Republican Antiquity should contradict 'em and therefore they should encourage those who endeavour to give the Knowledge of it They who are not afraid to find any thing in the original Works of Ecclesiastical Writers that may be prejudicial to the Notions of Religion and Virtue which Holy Scripture affords should omit nothing to encnourage Men to enquire after Truth The better it is known the greater the Authority of the Laws will be and Justice more flourishing Tho' properly speaking Humane Learning includes only the Knowledge of ancient Languages and what is necessary to know Antiquity yet it puts us in a condition of knowing things themselves by furnishing us with the means of Conversing as it were with a great many learned Men both Heathen and Christians So that it has a strict Connexion with all the Knowledge we can get by the Reading of ancient Authors And the Desire of Knowing what they who lived before us believed said or did as much as it can be Known cannot be satisfied without such a Learning The Knowledge of Dead Languages is as it were an Interpreter whom we carry along with us to Travel if I may so say in an Intelligible World which exists only in Books written in Languages that are not spoken at present Without such an Interpreter 't is impossible to know what past in it And as great Princes have Interpreters of several Languages to treat with Strangers so we must keep up that Knowledge and make in as common as it can possibly be unless we give over the Thoughts of knowing what past in former Times These general Reasons and several particular ones which I pass by should engage Princes to encourage the Study of Humane Learning and they who apply themselves to it should use their utmost endeavours to make it Easie and Pleasant to those whose Favours can make it flourish again more than ever it did I do not pretend to have shewn all the ways that can be taken in order to it 'T is enough for me that I have pointed at some of the chief and given occasion to think of it to those whom it most concerns CHAP. V. Of the Decay of some States THERE are some States which do manifestly Decay in respect of Arts and Strength There is no need I should name them and shew their Weakness particularly Every Body knows it but every Body knows not how they come to be weakned The better to understand the Reasons of the Decay of a State it is necessary to know what can make it flourish since it falls to Decay because it wants that which could put it in a flouishing Condition There are chiefly three things which can make a State Happy at Home and Dreaded Abroad The first is a great number of Inhabitants The second The Revenues of the State which ought to be great without oppressing the People And the third is The Union of the several Members of the State who ought to contribute to the publick Good Where-ever those things are to be found it may be said there is Peace and Happiness unless a very violent Storm raised by a greater Power should fall upon such a State and where-ever they are wanting one may certainly affirm that the State will fall to Decay if the Disorder last never so little But I must come to Particulars and prove each of those three things at large First It cannot be doubted but that the number of the Inhabitants does so much contribute to the Greatness of a State that without it any State will be Poor Weak and in Danger if the Neighbouring-Countries are better stock'd with Inhabitants The better a Country is Peopled the more Industrious are the Inhabitants every one striving to Maintain himself as well as he can which very much encreases Trade brings in Money
Happily in this present World and be acceptable to Him who placed Men on Earth for a short time to make 'em Happy after Death if they will observe his Laws which are very beneficial to them during this Life If Divines understanding Revelation as they should and making a good use of Reason were besides so Skill'd in Human Learning as to be able to read all sorts of Ecclesiastical and Prophane Authors in the Original Languages so many Materials joyned together and rectified by the invariable Rules of Revelation and Reason and beautified with all the solid Ornaments of a true Eloquence so many Materials I say would have a great influence on the Hearts and Minds of Men. Solid Thoughts being attended with the Order and Light which Philosophy affords and set off with all the Ornaments which Reason allows of would insinuate themselves into the Minds of the most Obstinate Men and Charm those who have a good Judgment and an upright Heart I will not say That we see now the quite contrary because Things which should be inseparable are now divided This I leave to the Judgment of those who are skill'd in those Sciences Mr. L. C. believes That the Famous Hugo Grotius whose Writings are above Envy joyned together the three Sciences I have mention'd For if he did not fully understand the Art of thinking well because the Philosophy of his Time was still full of Darkness he supplied that defect in great measure by the strength of his Reason If he shewed so much Sense and Judgment without the help of Art what would he not have done if he had been throughly acquainted as we have been since with the Art of Reasoning and ranging one's Thoughts in a good Order Suppose there were now in Holland many such Men as Grotius or more Learned than he was a thing not impossible if Men studied as they should how great an influence would their Learning have not only in the Vnited Provinces but also over all Europe Then indeed we might hope for such a general Reformation of all Sciences as would be worthy of Him who has given us Knowledge to make a good use of it Mr. L. C. has intimated several times That so noble an Idea has often Charm'd him and afforded him a thousand agreeable Reveries If the World never sees any thing answerable to it they at least who are Skill'd in those Things may innocently busie themselves about Thoughts which fill the Mind with Admiration for God and the Christian Religion and inspire the desire of knowing and teaching Truth without Anger and Animosity against those who are ignorant of it If Philosophers were also Divines and well versed in Human Learning how solid and sublime would their Thoughts appear How useful should we find their Principles As they would take out of Revelation what is wanting to Reason so they would by degrees dispose the Minds of those who learn Philosophy to take the right side in Matters of Religion and would shew 'em on all occasions the Excellency of the Light of Reason And as the Philosophy of the Schools which succeeded the wretched Rhetorick of the foregoing Ages made an end of corrupting Men's Minds and disfiguring Religion so a sound Philosophy would kindle again the Light of Reason which was extinguished only to introduce a thousand Errors and would dispose Men to perceive all the Beauties of the Gospel If the Discourses of Philosophers were full of useful Examples taken out of Ecclesiastical and Prophane Authors to which the Rules of the Art of Reasoning should be applied such a Method of teaching would make one apprehend the use of Philosophy which is otherwise altogether confined within the Walls of an Auditory and so becomes Contemptible I confess That most Philosophical Matters are not very susceptible of Ornaments but it is certain that if they can be exprest in proper Terms and such as agree with the use of the Language they are exprest in as much as possible they become thereby much clearer and more pleasant to every Body and consequently more useful because Men are more attentive to what they understand and like than to such Things as can hardly be understood and have I know not what that displeases tho' they are good in themselves This has been observed in France since they began there to Philosophize in French Some Books full of the most abstruse Philosophical Enquiries have been read by many People with Delight and Profit because they are well written and are free from the barbarous Terms of the Schools One might have seen the happy Effects of it if the Inhabitants of that Country were not unwilling to be undeceived To come now to the Study of Languages and Human Learning it is certain That if those who apply themselves to it would Study Philosophy and Divinity at the same time they would be much more useful to the Publick That Study concerns Things of the greatest Moment since the knowledge of the Scripture and Ecclesiastical History depends as much on it as on the knowledge of the Things themselves A great many new Discoveries might be made still in those Sciences which would raise and enlighten one's Mind and inspire it with a greater respect for the Divine Revelation Instead of which most of our Criticks grow Old in the Study of Grammatical Trifles which are of very little use and wherein one may be mistaken without any danger If they were also Skill'd in Philosophy they would judge much better of the Ancients than they do and give us a more exact Notion of them whereby we might be enabled to imitate them in what is good and avoid what is not so They would order their Thoughts so as to avoid Error and enlighten the Minds of their Readers For want of such a Method they oftener admire the Faults of the Ancients than what deserves their Admiration because they seldom have any certain Criteriums whereby they may distinguish True from False and what deserves to be esteem'd from what does not When they have a mind to Communicate their Thoughts it proves often a confused heap of indigested Learning which can hardly be reduced into any Order and is full of False Reasonings This is partly the reason why that sort of Study is so much despised and why so many People fancy that it is almost inconsistent with good Sense and Reason Mr. Vander Waeyen who in all likelihood never troubled himself much with Philosophy and Human Learning having first of all applied himself to the common Divinity of the Reformed and then to that of Cocceius seems to be angry because others Study the Sciences I have been speaking of and calls Mr. L. C. as it were out of Contempt Critico-Philosophus tho' he Complements him sometimes Indeed it is much more easie to say any thing that comes into one's Mind concerning the Sense of the Prophecies as when they boldly affirm that the Reformed are meant by Juda and the Lutherans by Ephraim in the
Prophets than to prove every thing exactly by Critical and Philosophical Arguments If Mr. Vander Waeyen is very well contented to be ignorant of those Sciences no Body can help it but he must not take it ill if others value them If the use that is made of the knowledge of ancient Authors may be often justly blamed one might find out several ways of setting up again that Science by a better Method as I have already said here and elsewhere But 't is more proper here to Discourse of Mr. L. C's Works in particular after I have laid down his general Notions of the Method of Studying and of the use of the Sciences he applies himself to Of the Quaestiones Sacrae BEING arrived in Holland in the Year 1683. he published the Year following a Book Intituled Davidis Stephani Clerici Quaestiones Sacrae which are Critical Discourses on some Subjects taken for the most part out of the Scripture He added to them some Notes of his own wherein he scruples not to contradict his Uncle and Father when he thinks they are mistaken being of Opinion that Truth is to be preferred to the strictest Ties of Blood He published that Book not only to honour the Memory of his Uncle and Father who had a great Skill in the Eastern Languages and Human Learning and whose Lives he prefixed to that Book but also to serve the Publick which can never be done but by telling the Truth He did not think it inconsistent with the Respect he owed to the Memory of two Men so nearly related to him if he shewed that they were fallible like other Men. Notwithstanding most of his Remarks do only clear or confirm what is contained in those Dissertations Another Volume of those two Brothers was published in 1682. and printed by Wetstein in Octavo But Mr. L. C. added nothing of his own to it but a Preface It contains some Speeches on several Subjects and a Computus Ecclesiasticus of David le Clerc with some Poetical Pieces of the same and some Dissertations of Stephen le Clerc upon some Places of several Prophane Authors Of his Entretiens de Theologie TOWARDS the end of the same Year 1684. Mr. L. C. published a Book of a Friend of his Intituled Entretiens sur diverses matieres de Theologie in Twelves and because it was too small a Book he added a second Part to it made up of five Dialogues The three First treat of the Extent of our Metaphysical Knowledge and its use in Religion and contain several Examples whereby it clearly appears That Metaphysicians have often obscured Divinity and started a thousand Difficulties by reasoning about Things of which they had no Ideas The Authors thinks that we must not extend the use of the Faculties we have received of God beyond the Bounds he has prescribed to them unless we will fall into infinite Errors and believes that as our Senses teach us no more of Bodies than what is necessary for the Preservation of our Lives so the Light of Reason is of no farther use to us than to make us obey the Laws of God and to lead us to the Supream Felicity So that God having bestowed Knowledge on us only to that intent when we will launch out beyond the Bounds of that Knowledge and what necessarily depends on it we run the hazard of wandering and falling into many Doubts which we cannot resolve as the Author shews at large The Fourth Dialogue contains an Examination of several Places of Scripture which Metaphysicians make an ill use of Most of those Passages are taken out of the Writings of the Author of The Search after Truth but there are several Things which are common to him and other Metaphysicians The Design of those Four Dialogues is to shew that in Matters of Religion we must keep to Revelation and not fancy that we have compleat and adequate Ideas of the Things contained in it and that we may draw infinite Consequences from them If Divines had kept themselves within those Bounds without adding any Thing to the Doctrins contained in the Scripture and inventing New Terms as if they were more convenient than those which the Holy Writers made use of perhaps the World had not seen the Fourth Part of the Heresies which have been broach'd from the Apostles to this time and the Christian Theology would be much more Beautiful and more conducing to Piety The Fifth Dialogue contains an Explication of the IX X XI Chapters of the Epistle to the Romans taken chiefly out of the Paraphrase of Dr. Hammond who is now better known in Foreign Countries since Mr. L. C. published his Works in Latin as I shall say hereafter Those Dialogues are the First Book that he published in French and one may see in it the Three Sciences I have discoursed of Divinity Philosophy and Critical Learning concurring to inspire the Reader with Pious and Reasonable Opinions concerning Religion and Morality For he utterly dissents from those who cry down Reason that they may vent without being contradicted a thousand Things which really reflect on God and Religion One may see what he says about it towards the End of the Third Dialogue Reason and Revelation never quarrel with one another and if we see the contrary in School-Divinity 't is because what they call Reason or Revelation is often a meer Phantom substituted in their room as those who can consult the Scripture and who reason closely will easily perceive Of the Sentimens sur l'Histoire Critique c. IN the Year 1685. Mr. L. C. published another French Book in Octavo Entituled Sentimens de quelques Theologiens de Hollande sur l'Histoire Critique du Vieux Testament composée par R. Simon That Book is writ by way of Letters wherein Mr. L. C. sets down the Opinions of several Persons concerning the Critical History of the Old Testament by Father Simon and gives an Account of the Conversations of some Friends discoursing with great Freedom of Father Simon 's Book and some Subjects relating to it When we discourse with some Persons whom we do not mistrust we believe that we may boldly say what we think especially if we propose our Thoughts as meer Conjectures because we pretend not to maintain them as our settled Opinion and scruple not to give them up when after a more serious Consideration those Conjectures appear not to us probable enough to be defended This has been done by Mr. L. C. in that Book wherein he has advanced some Conjectures of his own and of his Friends without ever pretending to maintain them but as Conjectures which are not destitute of Probability and not as his settled Opinion as if he believed they could be clearly proved A Digression concerning Conjectures IT is certain that there are several degrees of Likelihood and Certainty in Men's Opinions It be confest that the Things we believe are not equally clear whatever the ancient Stoick Philosophers might say to the
Divine Revelation in general and the Christian Religion in particular than his Adversary 'T is in vain for Mr. Vander Wacyen to call Impious and Prophane some Passages of the Treatise concerning the Inspiration of the Sacred Writers The Publick knows very well that Mr. L. C. does not own himself to be the Author of that Treatise and that there is scarce any thing in it but what was said before by Grotius whose Works have been so often reprinted and who is look'd upon as the most excellent Interpeter of the New Testament Mr. Vander Waeyen should have written against him and he would without doubt have done it were it not that the meer Name of Grotius will weigh down all the malice of his Adversaries But Mr. L. C. will do well to publish a Latin Book wherein he 'll examine some Questions which Mr. Vander Waeyen has only entangled For instance Whether Philo took out of Moses what he says concerning the Logos Whether the Platonicks meant the Word by it Whether Plato took out of the Old Testament that he says concerning the three Principles c. He may shew by the by that Mr. Vander Waeyen has but slightly studied that Matter and that it had been more for his Honour not to meddle with it He may also easily prove that he cited Philo with great Sincerity and Exactness and that his Adversary shews no Sincerity in what he says on that point But the Professor of Franeker must not be too impatient He ought to be contented now that he has fully vented his Spleen against Mr. L. C. As for Mr. Van Limborch he has so perfectly confuted Mr. Vander Waeyen's Objections and so well satisfied the Publick in that matter that it would be needless to do it again after him The things which the latter has collected against the Remonstrants are so inconsiderable and confused and shew so much Anger that every Body may be sensible of it Mr. Vander Waeyen's Accusations are so unjudicious and he is so well known by reason of his Quarrels and passionate Carriage towards other Reformed Divines that he can do them no prejudice He has encreased the Reputation of those against whom he wrote at the cost of his own I 'll Instance upon Mr. Spanheim †See Frid. Spanbemii Ep. ad Amicum Ed. Vltrajecti 1684. pag. 71. seq Mr. Vander Waeyen was so ridiculous as to teach him how to confound the Degrees of Longitude and Latitude and to laugh at him because he had said that the New World reaches above 180. Degrees He could not forbear saying with a magisterial Air That Mr. Spanheim spoke very ignorantly ignorantissimegrave and that Geographers reckon only 180. Degrees from one Pole to the other as if Mr. Spanhiem had meant Degrees of Latitude Mr. Vander Waeyen's Dissertation being printed and published the late Mr. Anselaar a Minister at Amsterdam gave him notice of his Blunder but it was too late Mr. Spanheim and several others had already got some Copies of it and that Passage was only mended in those which remained in the Bookseller's Hands Mr. Van Limborch hinted by the by at that gross Mistake to oblige Mr. Vander Waeyen to be more modest and reserved in censuring others †Vid. Discus p. 68. But he feigns to know nothing of it whereas he should make a good use of such a warning to leave off insulting so proudly those who are not of his Mind We may learn from thence that Boldness and Confidence in speaking prove not that a Man is sure of what he says Mr. Vander Waeyen affords us an instance of it for he has committed a childish Fault at the very same time that he was insulting and laughing at Mr. Spanheim without any reason for it 'T is a piece of Craft which has been practised a thousand times and tho' the Fallacy lacy of it has been detected as many times yet the common People are still deceived by it †Juvenal Sat. XIII v. 109. And a great boldness in defending a bad Cause is look'd upon by many as a sign that a Man trusts the goodness of his Cause Nam cùm magna malae superest audacia causae Creditur à multis fiducia Mr. Van Limborch must not trouble himself with what the Professor of Franeker thinks of his Works A Man who is well pleased with precarious Explications of Prophecies and fills his Head with so many Chimaeras cannot but dislike good and methodical Explications of the Holy Scripture and such as are grouded on the clear sense of the Words and Grammatical Rules But all those who are acquainted with the Principles of the Reformers and know that in matters of Religion every thing must be proved by the Scripture literally expounded without any mixture of Humane Doctrines will always set a great value on Mr. Van Limborch's Books whatever Allegorical Divines may think of ' em However I believe as well as Mr. Vander Waeyen that Knowledge shall be encreased among Christians but it will not be by substituting in the room of Reason and Critical Rules the wandering Fancy of those who expound the Holy Scripture as they do the Chiming of Bells God on the contrary will make use of Reason and Critical Learning which are now cultivated more than ever to produce that Change The Divines of the Church of England are much esteem'd because they Reason better and make better use of the Knowledge of Languages than others do in many other Countries 'T is true that Mr. Vander Waeyen has no Kindness for them because they cannot abide the Cocceian Explications of Holy Scripture but approve of those of Grotius and other like Interpreters But how can they help it They must as well as so many other Reformed Divines patiently bear the misfortune of not pleasing him Of the Treatise concerning the Causes of Unbelief NEXT to the Commentary on the Pentateuch Mr. L. C. published his French Treatise concerning the Causes of Vnbelief wherein he examines the Motives and general Reasons which induce Unbelievers to reject the Christian Religion He published it in 1696. and promised to translate it into Latin and to add some Notes in confirmation of what he says He is so persuaded that the better a Man reasons the better he may be convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion and the Beauty of its Morality that he constantly says in that Book that Men fall into Unbelief for want of reasoning well Nay †B. 2. Ch. VI. n. IV. he affirms that whoever says we must renounce Reason to believe Religion betrays it for assoon as we lay aside the Light of Reason we can apprehend nothing in Revelation and are not able to understand the Proofs it is grounded upon which suppose that we can reason He thinks that those who have cried down Reason designed to deceive the People and make 'em believe any thing But on the other side Mr. L. C. believes not that we ought to have clear