admire for scaling a Wall it may be say they he is moved by malice to murder some particular Enemy of his or he knows not of a Mine ready to spring under him Thus also when a Woman is prais'd for Chastity perhaps either it is for want of Opportunity Casta quam nemo rogavit or from some natural Defect in her Constitution as Frigidity and Flegm or else for fear of Conception and from an unwillingness to have her Reputation lie at the mercy of a loose young mans tonguâ—… Again say they if you see an Officer refuse a Bribe consider if he be not one of a plentiful Fortune that covets Vulgar applause more than a Superfluity of Riches Or consider whether the Bribe were not small and inconsiderable because many will hazard their Reputation for Pounds who will not for Pence Or observe whether the time was secret and convenient wherein the Bribe was offer'd or last of all whether it was not refus'd out of a prospect of some greater Advantage when he could not possibly receive both As the Banditi will let pass a single Passenger rather than by assaulting him miss the Booty of a whole Caravan In which cases their Honesty proceeds à metu non moribus Nor is there any thing more frequent than to see the wickedest of men highly to act Religion Zeal stands but Centry at the Gate of Sin Whilst all that have the Word pass freely in Thus in our late Civil Wars all the Villany which the Godly Party as they nam'd themselves committed was by them call'd the Work of the Lord and that Curse which the Scripture pronounces against them that do the Work of the Lord negligently they pronounced against all such as refused to assist them in cutting off their Sovâ—…reigns head So the Anabaptiâ—…ts of Germany chose rather to wrest the Sense of Gods holy Word than want a Text to justifie the Evil they committed For in the minority of their Power they had alway in their mouths that humble Sentence of our Saviours If men strike you on one cheek turn the other if they take your Cloak give them your Coat also But when they were grown an hundred thousand strong then they fell to doing the Work of the Lord diligently as they called it making Use of another of Christs sayings Blessed are the meek meaning themselves for they shall inherit the Earth and thus singing to the Lord a new Song they plunder'd all Germany Now these are they who do the greatest mischief to Religion These are they whom the Lord Bacon calls the greatest Atheists for that they are ever handling Holy things without feeling and these are they that in a perverted sense fulfill that saying of the Scriptures Godliness is great gain For by reason of their Impâ—…ety seeing they can expect to receive little Benefit from our Saviour in the next World they resolve to make what advantage they can of him in this Like Jugglers they carry only their coal of zeal in their Mouths not being heated themselves with what they go about to inflame others But as it addeth deformity to an Ape to be so like a man so the near resemblance that Hypocrisie bears to Religion renders it the more deformed By which you may see how little we can judge of Religion by outward appearance Now in such like cases when the searcher of hearts afflicts them in this Life we who see the outside only do foolishly question Divine Justice XXXVIII Another Reply which the Philosophers made to the aforesaid Objection was this That admitting the Vertues which men so highly extoll were not hypocritical but in earnest yet say the Philosophers for ought we know they are not in the ballance of Nature of such weight and Value as men esteem them but that it may fare with them as Coyn made of Copper or Leather which though by Proclamation it goes at a high rate in one Country it will not do so in another for want of intrinsick Value A wise Roman did not guess much amiss at the gifts that were most prevalent with Heaven when he declar'd to the Senate Non votis neque supplicationibus muliâ—…bribus auxilia Deorum parantur Vigilando Agendo benè consulendo prosperè omnia cedunt Ubi socordiae tete atque ignaâ—…iae tradideris nequicquam Deos implores By which excellent words he seems to mark out two above all other qualities of Mankind as the most prevalent with God to obtain his Blessing viz. Wisdom and Industry for without Wisdom Industry is but Labour in vain and without Industry Wisdom is but a bare thinking and thoughts though never so wise unless put in execution are but dreams which produce no real effect Therefore when Aesop's Clown having his Cart overthrown desir'd aid of Hercules to set it upright again the Daemon bids him set his shoulders to the Wheel and lift at it and then much might be done Also to the same purpose Lucian tells us that Iupiter being often troubled with the impertinent Requests and Petitions of Princes and Generals on both sides for Victory to prevent any further Trouble of that kind hath for the future decreed That whenever two Armies meet the greater number â—…hall overcome the smaller provided the Conduct Discipline and Courage of both be the same Furthermore says the Heathen if you observe the several kinds of misery among men and the Causes from which they proceed you shall for the most part find the want of Wisdom Industry or both to have been the cause As for instance when men are taken with horrid Diseases they usually come from an excess in eating or drinking or from such things as with a careful observation they might easily have perceived to be disagreeable with their health Some are put to death for siding with a weak Faction others are beggar'd by Gaming and spending beyond their Revenue or by not keeping a vigilant eye over it but leaving the managery thereof to careless or false Servants Again others have been ruin'd by being bound for their dear Brethren over a Glass of Wine among these may be reckoned Princes who are ever ruined by their Favourites unless the Prince has the good fortune to ruine them first being like Actaeon subject to be slain by their own Hounds These and a million of other follies produce the ruine of most men who still owe their fall to want of Wisdom Insomuch as the Ancients had an opinion that the Gods before they brought any calamity upon a man would first unwit him as to some particular occasion and then punish his oversight Perdere quos vult Iupiter hos priûs dementat Whereupon when Persons esteem'd pious and good natur'd are upon these or the like Errours cast into Prisons or other misfortunes the fear lest at another time the like may befall us breeds a compassion which takes more notice of the misery than the folly which occasision'd it Hereto some may rejoyn That they have observed several that for the
ANIMA MUNDI OR AN Historical Narration OF THE Opinions of the Ancients Concerning MAN'S SOUL After this Life According to unenlightned Nature By CHARLES BLOUNT Gent. Qui Iovem principem volunt falluntur nomine sed de unâ potestate consentiunt Min. Fel. London Printed and are to be sold by Will. Cademan at the Pope's Head in the Lower-walk of the New-Exchange in the Strand 1679. To the Reader MEthinks I already behold some haughty Pedant strutting and looking down from himself as from the Devils Mountain upon the Universe where amongst several other inferiour objects he happens at last to cast his eye upon this Treatise when after a quibble or two upon the Title he falls foul upon the Book it self damning it by the name of an Atheistical Heretical Pamphlet and to glorifie his own Zeal under the pretence of becoming a Champion for Truth summons Ignorance and Malice for his Seconds But such a Person understands not wherein the Nature of Atheism consists how conversant soever he may otherwise be in the Practice of it It were Atheism to say there is no God and so it were though less directly to deny his Providence or restrain it to some particulars and exclude it in reference to others Such are Atheists who maintain such Opinions as these and so are those Hereticks who erre in Fundamentals and continue obstinately in such errour 's But the ignorant Vulgar people whose Superstition is grounded upon the assimulating God with themselves are apt to think that every one they Hate are God Almighty's Enemies and that whosoever differs from them in Opinion though in never so trivial a matter are Atheists or Hereticks at least Not rightly considering the words of St. Peter That in every Nation he who feareth the Lord and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him And Minucius Felix says well to the same purpose He is the best Christian who makes the honestest man Heresie is an act of the Will rather than Understanding a Lye rather than a Mistake and thus St. Austin expresses it saying Errare possum Haereticus esse nolo Heresie and Schism says the ingenious Mr. Hales as commonly now used are two Theological Scare-Crows with which they who uphold a Party in Religion used to fright away such as making an enquiry into it are ready to relinquish and oppose it if it appear either erroneous or suspicious For as Plutarch reports of a Painter who having unskilfully painted a Cock drave away all the Cocks and Hens he could find that so the imperfection of his own Art might not appear by comparing it with Nature so Men for some ends not willing to admit of any fancy but their own endeavour to hinder all enquiries by way of Comparison that so their own deformity may not appear Therefore if any man blames me for comparing Christianity with Paganism it shews nothing but his unworthy distrust of the sufficiency of that Religion he professes There are two sorts of Iudges unto whom all Writers are obnoxious viz. the Ignorant and the Iudicious As for the Ignorant they are such men as I before was speaking of than whose Approbation I dread nothing more Simili simile gaudet is a maxim that holds true as well in all other things as Physick and there is nothing would make me have so ill an opinion of my self as to hear one of them commend me But the other Iudge viz. the man of Learning and Iudgment is the He I fear and before him only will I arraign my self Non-age is the general Plea for the First-fruits of Young men but that I disown for he that thinks himself old enough to write a Book can hardly excuse the folly that is in it by calling himself Child Nor have I ever seen a Piece that was written by one of 16 years of age which was fitting for one of 17 to read such Writings being commonly like Poems that were made by men when they were half drunk unintelligible to any persons but such as are in the same condition Therefore waving all such frivolous excuses I shall first disclose those things which are most liable to censure and then clear my self as well as I am able Perhaps there may be these three Exceptions taken against this Treatise viz. my numerous Quotations or Latine Sentences my rambling from my Subject and my uneloquent Stile First then as for my many Quotations whether in Latine or English the Nature of the discourse requires it Were it a bare Moral Essay wherein I made use of none but my own Fancy there to come in with a dixit autem Dominus or other such scraps of Latine were to render my self ridiculous But this being a discourse of other mens Opinions they would be thought my own though father'd upon the Ancient Heathens did I not cite my Authorities from the Authors themselves so that I am enforced to play the Pedant even in my own defence And yet notwithstanding I have had some Enemies who were so disingenuous as to cast that Reproach upon me when they saw this discourse but in Embryo so ridiculous as well as uncharitable were their Censures A man that with diligent search and care should collect together the Statues or Pictures of divers eminent Persons and expose them in some publick place to the view of all Spectators would not thereby procure to himself the repute of a good Painter or Statuary and yet certainly this Act of his were laudable and in some measure obliging but it would render him most immodestly arrogant if among the Pourtraictures of those eminent men he should erect his own Now this would be my case if while I present you with the conceptions of great Philosophers concerning the Infinite Being I should vent any part of my own inconsiderable fancy among theirs Wherefore expect it not for I neither have vanity nor ability sufficient to erect an Opinion of my own but acknowledge my self totally subdued under the commands of that Government whereto Providence hath assign d my Life Besides in this Tract is comprehended a Relation of various Sects contradictory the one to the other so as I cannot be said to hold them all Neither as I know of have I any where shew'd my self the least partial but if one had stronger Arguments to justifie their Opinion than the other blame not me who deliver them but recitativé and am as it were their Amanuensis without ever concerning my self with the intrinsick value of their Doctrines As to the second exception that charges me with rambling from my Subject if this be an errour it is an errour on the right hand wherein I am but better than my word Constancy is not so absolutely necessary in Authors as in Husbands And for my own part when I have my Pen in my hand and Subject in my head I look upon my self as mounted my Horse to ride a Iourney wherein although I design to reach such a Town by Night yet will I not deny my self
greatest part of their Lives have been unblest and poor who by their Neighbours have been ever esteem'd pious industrious and of good Understanding To which it is answered It doth not often happen to be so But whensoever it doth so fall out if we narrowly mark their courses of life it will not be difficult to perceive some notable foolish errours which like Maw-worms destroy a man without any great outward appearance of Evil. Or else peradventure if they would enter scrutiny with their own hearts they might find they had relied upon themselves or others more than upon that Almighty goodness which made and preserves all things being the only root of all prosperity who by this desertion having as much as in them lies cut themselves off from that root of Divine Providence they become like Boughs set in a Chimney which soon wither And last of all say they if Sicknesses and Afflictions are sent us because of our Sins what makes Brutes subject to the same These are the chief Arguments that I find any where recorded by the Heathens in defence of their wicked Opinions which are answer'd by the impulses of every mans own heart for the belief of a future state is implanted in every ones Nature and this appears as well by the progress of Idolatry and Superstition as of the true Religion For no Religion of what kind soever whether false or true could have gotten so general a possession in the hearts of men or have been so long entertain'd in the World had there not been in Nature some sense of a future Being which hath from the beginning made the generality of men so apt to receive Religious Instructions of any kind whatsoever without which foundation to work on even Solon Lyeurgus and Numa might soon have abrogated their own Laws in despair XXXIX But to proceed without any relation to the Souls future account I find by some of the wisest of the Ancients that they thought they could never have too high an opinion of Gods goodness or too base of mans wickedness whose Vices nevertheless since Nature doth nothing in vain they esteem'd not altogether unnecessary to the well-governing of Mankind For sayes one of them If from History or Experience you but observe any one Age you shall find it hath much the resemblance of a well-wrought piece of Tapestry wherein is represented some great Action as a Battel which must not wholly consist of Generals or Commanders but also of many common Souldiers some cutting of Throats others slain or wounded and trampled under Horses feet and yet notwithstanding these miserable wretches nay and the very Horses too are as skilfully wrought and made of as good Silk as the Generals themselves but the Truth and Harmony of the Story requires this great inequality of Particulars whose condition is fram'd with such regard to them as may best serve to compleat the whole Therefore sayes he in weighing the seeming unequal conditions of men in this Life it betrays a narrowness of Fancy as well as Injustice to judge of their Atomlike Merits or Demerits apart from the Universe wherein they have their portion And much to this Purpose Arnobius speaks XL. Now to recollect and conclude these Observations I cannot but wonder that the Heathens who being directed only by the Light of Nature and not acknowledging any future Reward or Punishment should be endowed with such Piety and Veneration toward God as in all their Writings it appears they had whose Providence though they doubted for the life to come yet they plainly perceived in this and Intitled him Deus Optimus Maximus Some indeed when they mentioned him chose rather to use the word Numen than Deus as unwilling to make him either Male or Female like one of themselves for they rever'd him as the Sole Infinite Eternal Preserver of all things XLI As for the manner of their Worship and the places wherein they celebrated their Heathenish Rites and Ceremonies that being a Subject unnecessary in this Discourse to trouble you with I shall only give you this short Account of it which I find already collected to my Hands by that Learned Satyrist Cornelius Agrippa As for the Gentiles saith he there were some very eminent for the Structures of their Temples but others there were who never made Use of any Of which number was Xerxes who is Reported to have burnt all the Temples about Asia at the request of his Magicians esteeming it no less than Impiety to inclose the Gods in Walls To the same purpose Zeno Cittious disputed in these words To build Churches and Temples saith he is no way necessary for nothing ought to be accounted Sacred by right or esteemed Holy which men themselves erect neither among the Persians of old nor among the Primitive Hebrews were there any Temples Dedicated to Divine Service till at last one was Founded by Solomon in which if any think God can be included he is reproved by the Prophet Isaiah Heaven is my Throne the Earth my Foot-stool therefore what is the House thou buildest for me and Stephen the Protomartyr adds Solomon built an House but the most High inhabits not in places made with Hands Also St. Paul himself exhorts the Athenians to the same effect telling them that God dwells not in Temples made with Hands for being the Lord of Heaven and Earth he is not served by mens hands he wants not their help Furthermore Origen in his Writings against Celsus saith that for a long time after Christ's Death there were no Churches built and so far goes Agrippa But I conceive that however the Pagans did some of them refrain from erecting Temples out of Superstition yet the Primitive Christians did it upon another account viz. the Persecutions wherewith they were then oppressed But afterward when they had gotten Kings for their Nursing-Fathers and Queens for their Nursing-Mothers to favour their Righteous Couse they either erected publick Houses commodious for Devotion or converted those Magnificent Structures the Stately Temples Dedicated to Juno Venus Apollo with the rest of their Gods and Goddesses to the Service of the true God and indeed most of the Christian Churches as the Musk-melon from the Dunghill were raised out of the filthy Corruption and Superstition of Paganism XLII The next thing I shall touch upon is the Politick Institution of the Heathen Ceremonies in times of their Publick Devotion There is nothing hath a greater Influence over the Generality of Mâ—…n especially the Vulgar than their Passions and over their Passions than Ceremonies which have a great Influence upon their minds What is the pleasure of a Lord Mayors Show Horse 〈◊〉 Play or the like but only the Pâ—…p and Solemnities wherewith they are attended Who would be ambitious of seeing the Lord Mayor without any Attendants Of seeing two Horses run against one another with no other Company but the Grooms that ride them Would any Person give Money and stay in a Croud for three or