they had not strong Reasons of doubting that they were a good Warrant of Justice or Unjustice The Objection that is founded upon the Supposition that it is the Devil who holds Witches Suspended upon the Surface of the Water is miserable for it is against all the light of a good Reason that the Devil should employ his Forces to betray Creatures which are the most devoted unto him and to make Judges Triumph over his Subjects who have a Design to send them into the fire It is say they because God forceth there Proud Spirits to Act against their proper interest But besides that they say this without forming a distinct Idea of the manner wherewith these Spirits may be forced to produce certain Actions Who seeth but a constraint of this nature ought not to hinder Magistrates to verifie by the Experience of Water if a Woman be a Witch seeing that whether God Acteth therein by his immediate Vertue or forces the Devils to work this Prodigie it is still his wise and admirable Providence which would make use of this means to teach Judges what they know not These Two Objections which are the best of all being ruined it seems that the only means to refute this practice is to make the foundation of these Proofs suspicious of falshood but as the Author strives only against those that agree with him in the fact there is nothing to be feared on that side We must do him this justice that he is not of those who have precipitately recourse to the Essay of Immersion he will have men recourse to it but upon very probable Indices of Sorcerie and he gives thereupon very good Counsels to the Judges chiefly exhorting them to take heed that the Hangman acquit himself faithfully of his duty for without it there would happen great abuses in this matter because the persons which are cast into the water being sometimes very innocent do not swim and then the Hangman ought to be active to draw them out for fear they should be drowned But if he is too hasty he may save the guilty because there are Witches which being immediately descended a little under water would soon come up again of themselves and would manifest thereby their crime whilest they pass for innocent if the Hangman doth not give them time to come up again It may also be that a Woman which weigheth not much may have motions which swell up some Muscels to form a perfect Equilibrium betwixt her weight and that of the water The Emotion and Tonick movement of the Muscels would perhaps soon cease and then this Woman would sink and would justifie herself But if she be judged according to the effect of the Equilibrium where she is in at the first Moment she is lost with all her Innocence There are then many things to be observed and apparently it is one of the best difficulties that may be made against this proof The Author hath heard say that there are certain Countries where the Women who are suspected of Witchcraft are weighed in a Ballance and saith they have experienced that Witches of the greatest and thickest Stature weigh no more than about 15 pounds He brings several proofs of his sentiment which are good enough considering the quality of the matter This is not the less convincing that the Judges must not be refused this Essay of the Immersion seeing it is so difficult to assure themselves of the truth by the Testimony of the Accomplices for saith he a Witch that accuseth another Grounds very often but upon that She imagineth to have seen her at the Caterwauling or meeting of Witches And what assurance can one take upon such imagination which might have been deluded by the evil Spirit as the Author shews in the fourth Chapter Besides it being known by the Deposition of several of these Wretches that Witches of quality walk nor dance at that Assignation but in a mask whence it followeth that they are known but by their Mien and Stature and other signs very suspicious A strange thing is that in the Books of Pagans where so much is spoken of Witchcrafts no Women are found which are thought to go to the Assignation Is not it because the Devil changes customs and manners according to the diversity of times and places The Author answers very largely to the objections of his Adversaries but sometimes he saith things which have not the least solidity as when he supposes that the Water of all the Elements is subject to the Devils power and where uncertain facts may be best discovered because of the Exorcisms and Consecrations whereof Water is commonly the Subject in the Administration of Baptism He finisheth his Book with a very devout Oration which he believes the Judges ought to make to God before they make use of the Proof The Author of the Treatises is called Herman Neuwalds he refutes a Letter which is seen here and which was written at Langow in the County of Lippa the 4 th October 1583 by Adolphus Scribanius who assures that a few days before he had seen Women accused of Witchcraft cast three times into the Water in presence of a multitude of People which sunk no more than a bit of Wood. He cites divers Authors which have spoken of this proof and after having expounded this Phenomen in supposing that as soon as a person makes agreement with the Devil he is so possessed with him that he contracts a great lightness by the habitation of a Being so light and volatil as he concludes he is that the use of this proof is very lawful The Treatise which refutes this Letter is curious enough many things are related there touching the Origin Practice and Abrogation of the proofs by a hot Iron by cold Water hot Water c. In it also are related several Traditions of the Common People which regard the mark of Wizards the Feast of Loup-Garous of Livonia and divers superstitious means or Magick to discover Wizards and to Divine The pretended lightness communicated to Witches by the Volatility of the Spirit which possesseth their body And tho' it 's maintained against the Physician Wier that these Women are worthy the utmost punishment yet the Tryal of Immersion is not approved of any other besides him It were to be desired that now there are great Philosophers in the World some one would give a good Treatise upon Witchcrafts It 's supposed as a constant Principle that as soon as Wizards and Magicians have been seized by the Authority of Justice the Devil cannot do the least thing for their deliverance and yet in other occasions he makes a hundred Actions more difficult than the breaking open a door They are constrained to admit of a hundred other silly qualities Men should profoundly reason upon all this And seeing this Age is the true time of Systems something should be found out touching the Commerce which may be betwixt the Devil and Man There is no Philosophy more proper
tibi solus Sed ubi tres Ecclesia est licet Laici c. Grotius took the part of Mr. Rigaut his Friend and then printed a small Dissertation de Coenae administratione ubi Pastores non sunt It is in the third Tome of his Theological Works We may also see an Abridgment thereof in a Letter to Salmatius which is 260. of the 1. p. where our Author testifies he was of Erasmus's opinion to wit that in the Primitive times the Faithful consecrated the Bread and Wine and communicated together there being often no Priest in the Company See the Letter of Erasmus to Cuthbert Tonstar l. xxvi Epist. Grotius seems to have much respect for Christian Antiquity as may be seen by all his works and by this place of the Letter 191. of the 2. p. Perhaps those who are of Voetius 's opinion will think it will be a Socinianism to make the principal part of Religion consist in the observation of the precepts of Iesus Christ. But I see that the Christians of the first Ages the Assemblies the Doctors Martyrs have been of this Iudgment that there are few things which we ought necessarily to know and that as to the rest God Iudgeth us according to the obedience we have rendered to him The same also appears by a Conversation that Grotius had with the Prince of Condé in 1639. and whereof he gives an account to Chancellor Oxenstiern in Letter 1108. of the 1. p. He relates to this Suedish Lord that the Prince had given him a visit that they had discoursed of several things and that this Prince had approved his Opinions that in this Age one may attribute to himself the Name of a Christian and the Surname of Catholick the Scripture must be believed interpreted not according to the particular Judgment of each one which hath caused Seditions Schisms and often Wars but according to the universal and perpetual consent of the Ancient Churches which we find in the Writings of several excellent men and chiefly in the Symbols and Acts of the true Ecumenick Councils which were held before the Schism of the Eastern and the Western Churches and which the Emperors and all the Churches have approved of That moreover we must abstain from calumniating any one to leave off the Spirit of Parties to endeavour the Unity of the Church such as Jesus Christ hath ordained and the Apostles have founded and to hold for our Brothers to wit for Christians and Catholicks all those who are in these opinions although those who rule over the Churches have separated themselves from the External Communion Haec omnia Princeps sibi dicebat probari sapientissimis quos cognosset hominibus Not that Grotius was very much conceited with the antiquity he believed as some are that the Ceremonies which it hath constantly kept to are all of Divine Right Thus he speaks to Mr. des Condés about Confirmation and Imposition of hands Let. 329. 1. p. I have found by reading that the imposition of hands was a Jewish Ceremony which was introduced not by any Divine Law but by Custom every time that any Body prayed God for another For the Jews prayed God that his Power should accompany that Man as the hands which were put upon his Head and which were the Symbol of the Divine Power were united to him Jesus Christ followed this Custom as several others of the Synagogue whether Children were to be Blessed or the sick were to be Cured in joining Prayer to this Ceremony It is according to this Custom and not consequent to any Precept that the Apostles laid their hands on those to whom they conferred the Gift of the Holy Ghost by Prayer Thus it was that not only Priests used the same when they received any into their Body as it appears by the Example of Timothy 1 Tim. iv 15. But the Apostles themselves received anew the imposition of Hands when they engaged into any new design Acts xiii 2 So if at every time that hands were imposed a Sacrament was conferred we shall find Sacraments in all the Prayers which have been made for any one which is contrary to the true Signification of the word and to the use of the Ancients It 's from this Ceremony continueth our Author which was not ordained by God but which hath of it self been introduced amongst the Jews and Christians that sprung the Sacraments of Confirmation of Ordination and Penitence of Extream Unction and even of Marriage for the Ancient Churches laid their hands on those who were Married as the Abyssins this day do The Baptism of Christians adds he consisted in times past in immersion only as that of the Jews who baptized all those who embraced their Religion It appears not that any laid hands on those who were baptized but those who had the Gift of conferring the Holy Ghost This hath been introduced rather in honour of Bishops to persuade the People that they had succeeded to the Rights of the Apostles In the second Age and the following divers Ceremonies were added to Baptism by allusion to some passages in Scripture according to the Custom of the Ancients who expressed themselves not only by Words but also by Signs and Symbols It is for that that they made those who were baptized to tast of Hony and Milk But it was thought fit to represent particularly by these Symbols that those who believe in Jesus Christ receive in their Soul the same Graces which Jesus Christ made the sick feel which he cured in their Body or that those who make profession of believing in him feel the Eyes of their Soul to open as well as the Ears of their Heart that they are cured of all their spiritual maladies and that the Devil hath no further Power over them Therefore Exorcisms were made use of and the term of Epphata be opened also of Spittle of Oyl whereof Jesus Christ and the Apostles made use of in curing corporal maladies Posterity was not content with this 'T was thought it ought to be made apparent that Christians are Kings and Priests in anointing with a more odoriferous oyl This Unction was joined to Baptism as it is yet with the Greeks and as it hath been a long time in the Latin Church The Priests who baptized administred it as well as the Bishops the Bishop according to the Testimony of St. Ierome and St. Augustine differing from the Priest only in this that the Bishop had the sole right of Ordaining Priests Our Author after having made these Remarks gives his Sentiment concerning a Canon of a 1. Council of Orange which caused then great disputes betwixt Mr. de S. Cyran and F. Sirmond and maintains that the latter had well cited and understood it tho' his Adversary accused him of falshood Grotius believes that this Canon gives the Power to Priests to administer the Chrisme and orders that it should be administred but once Nullus Ministrorum qui baptizandi recepit officium sine Chrismate
in his Historical Dissertations p. 45 c. fol. IV. Bom after that takes another turn to Answer the Question of Episcopius touching the Institution of a Soveraign Judge over Controversies who succeeded the Apostles He asks of him a formal passage Wherein Iesus Christ hath ordered the Apostles that if there arose Disputes in the Church they should Convocate a Synod and make Decisions thereupon to which the Faithful should be obliged in Conscience to submit There is no appearance adds he that the Apostles should do it if they had not believed this Action conformable to the Will of their Master nor that the Primitive Church should so soon imitate them if the Apostles had ordered nothing thereupon It must then be that either the Institution of Synods is an Apostolical Tradition or that it is an inseparable Sequel of the Ministery and Promises that Iesus Christ hath made to those who exercise it I am always with you until the end of the World and other Passages which tho they are at every moment in the mouth of Catholicks seem not the stronger for that to Protestants Episcopius confesseth that Iesus Christ hath commanded no where his Disciples to convocate Synods and that notwithstanding they have done it He adds That according to their Example Ecclesiastical Assemblies may be held but that it followeth not that these Assemblies where none less than the Holy Ghost presides have as much Authority as the Apostolick ones The reason hereof is that the Authority of the Apostolick Synods depended not so much on the consent and conformity of their Opinions as on the quality of their persons and of the Authority which God had clothed them with by the Revelations he had made unto them and the Orders he had given them This will appear evident if we take notice of the conduct of the Apostles When they have an express command from God they expect not the Resolutions of a Synod for to act and St. Peter understood no sooner the meaning of the Vision which he had had but he went to Cornelius But when they speak of their own head they say I advise you 1 Cor. vii 25. On these occasions they took advice of one another Sometime they agreed not as it happened to Paul and Barnabas Act. xv 39. But commonly the spirit of Mildness and Peace which fill'd them and which shewed them all the Principles and all the Consequences of the Gospel brought them mutually to consult each other So that their actions being thus conducted by the Spirit of God they could say It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us But tho it was granted that the Convocation of Synods is of a divine Institution doth it follow that all the Synods and Councils which have been held after the Apostles have made good Decisions A Catholick denyes it and if he is asked the reason He must of necessity answer that what distinguisheth true Synods from false ones is that there have been some which have had all the Conditions necessary for a true Synod and have made good Decisions and the others wanting these Conditions have been but Conciliabula But how can it be known that these Conditions are assured marks of the Truth of Synods seeing that there is not one which is not equivocate according to some Doctors of the Roman Church And how can one tell what Synod hath them Will it be known by its Decisions But they should be examined and so to deny the Principle to wit that it might have pronounced a definitive Sentence Is it enough to assure it lawful that it be general Yes for the Gallican Church which receives the Council of Basil but not for Italy It must besides be confirmed by the Pope but who hath given him this Right Is it a Priviledge of the Successors of St. Peter How have they obtained it and whence comes it that the Bishops of Antioch who have succeeded this Apostle as well as those of Rome have had no share in it After all what needs there any trouble to prove the Authority of Synods when People are of the sentiment of Bom and the Iesuites And seeing that St. Peter and his Successours are the Soveraign Judges of Controversies what need is there of these Ecumenick Assemblies convocated with so much difficulty and Expences It 's not enough to interrogate this infallible Judge and to receive his Decisions as Oracles from Heaven The Passages which the Catholick alledgeth here in his behalf and the Answers which he hath made to those of the Protestants have been so often repeated that tho Episcopius refutes them sufficiently after a new manner we notwithstanding do not think it worth while to stop at them We shall only relate the manner wherewith our Professour translates the famous passage of the First Epistle to Timothy III. 15 16. because it is not common and that it destroyeth at once all the proofs which the Roman Church could draw thence Episcopius having proved against his Adversary as an illiterate Person that the Division of the Canonical Books into Chapters and Verses is not of the Sacred Writers and that it is not they who have put the Points and Comma's thereto he sheweth him that it is much more natural and more conformable to the aim of the Apostle to point this place otherwise than the common Copies are And to Translate it thus I have written this unto you That if I delay to come you may know how Men ought to behave themselves in the House of God which is the Church of the living God The stay and prop of Truth and the Mystery of Piety is certainly great God manifested in the Flesh c. When there is want of clear Reasons and convincing Arguments people are constrained to have recourse to Prejudices to Comparisons and to the Reasons of Convenience Therefore the Roman Catholicks say incessantly to us That God who well knew that there would arise Disputes in the Church upon Matters of Faith as there are Processes formed amongst Citizens of one State touching the Goods which they possess ought to establish a Judge who should be consulted at all times and who might instruct us in the true sense of Scripture in contested places and thus end the Differences It seemeth that Iesus Christ otherwise would not have taken care enough of his Church and the faithful who compose it seeing he would not have given them means of assuring themselves perfectly that the Doctrine which appears most conformable to Scripture is true if they might be in doubt as to several Articles of Faith and that what they should most determinately believe thereupon could not pass but for a a greater likelihood of Truth It must be granted that there would be nothing better understood nor more commodious than a Judge of this nature There would be no more need for one to break his Head in examining all things and to seek for truth it should be all found and People would go to Heaven
Term Consubstantial when as they freely acknowledg'd the Divinity of the Son of God He approved not of the Disputes at that time upon the Subject of the Hypostasis because he look'd upon those that received Three into the Trinity and those that admitted but of one to be of the same Opinion and only to differ in the manner of Expressing St. Basil was not so moderate for accoding to his Opinion those were Sabellians that said the Father and Son were two in Thought and one in Substance The Demi-Arians or Homoiousians that was those that would not acknowledge that the Son was Consubstantial with the Father and that said nevertheless that he was like him in all things c. the same in Substance were no more Hereticks than those that maintan'd the Three Hypostases in the Judgment of St. Basil St. Hilary of Poictiers of Philaster and even of Saint Athanasius who confesses in his Book of the Synods that Basil of Ancyra and those of his Party differed from those who made a Profession of Consubstantiality as to the name only Some of these Demi Arians are placed in the number of Saints in divers Martyrologies as Euseb. of Caesarea and Euseb. of Emissa and Pope Liberius also being a Catholick receiv'd them into his Communion St. Hilary of Poictiers although a great Defender of the Nicene Faith was not free from Error for to Answer to the Objections that the Arians drew from such passages of Scripture as proved that Jesus Christ was subject to fear sorrow and grief he fell into such an Opinion as made the Humanity of our Saviour a Fantom he maintained that Jesus Christ sustained not really either Fear or Grief but that these Passions were only represented in him To explain what the Son of God says of himself That he was ignorant of the day of Iudgment Mark 13. He says it ought not to be understood in the Letter as if Jesus Christ had been effectively ignorant of this Day but in this Sense that he knew it not to discover it to Man He had an other very very particular Error that he advanced in the Twentieth Canon upon St. Matthew that Moses and Elias should come with Jesus Christ near the time of Iudgment and that they should be put to death by Antichrist contrary to the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews for he says that Jesus Christ being rais'd from death shall dye no more He was of the Opinion also that Predestination was subsequent to Merit and that the Divinity of Jesus Christ was separated from his Humanity in the time of his death As to the rest the Roman Catholicks which complain that some Protestant Refugees have spoken too freely of those that have deprived them of their Goods and reduced them to the utmost Misery may read what St. Hilary says of Constantius That neither he nor the Bishops of his time received the thousandth part of the evil Treatments that the Reformed have suffered Mr. du Pin thinks the Errors of Optatus of Milan small and pardonable although he believed that Hereticks ought to be Rebaptized and seems to give Free-Will the Power not only of willing and beginning a good Action but also of advancing in the way of Salvation without the Assistance of the Grace of Jesus Christ. He approves not however of the Allegorical manner whereby this Bishop explains many Passages of Scripture giving them a very distant sense from what they naturally have and applying them to such things as they have no Relation to This defect says our Author that might be suffered in a Sermon appears intolerable in a Treatise of Controversie where all the Proofs ought to be strong and convincing But Optatus had to do with Enemies that did the same and who abused Passages of Scripture to injure the Church and give Praises to their own Sect. After having complain'd of the loss of Apollinarius's Works the most Learned of all the Christians Authors in Humanity this Loss is attributed to his Errors or rather the Zeal of the Catholicks which have had such an Horror to the Books of Hereticks that they have not even preserv'd those that regarded not their Heresie and that might have been useful to the Church Wherefore continues du Pin we have almost no Books of the Ancient Hereticks remaining Many Men believe that the Disputes with the Heterodox have been the Cause of the Catholicks inventing Solutions which have afterwards pass'd into Opinions such is the Doctrin of the Infallibility of the Church which was not regarded till towards Luther's time Some in this Rank place Original Sin which begun in the Seventh Age to be more acknowledg'd than before according to Mr. du Pin. They speak also more of Grace than they did in the preceding Ages and notwithstanding much was always attributed to Free Will It 's surprising that Titus of Bostres whose Arguments are solid and subtil had not recourse in his Treatise against the Manicheans to Original Sin which he might have made use of as a general Solution to almost all their Difficulties For we may easily apprehend why Man is inclined to evil why he suffers why he is subject to hunger to grief sickness miseries and to death it self where once we have admitted Original Sin Neither doth this Author speak of the Grace of Iesus Christ and he seems to have supposed that Man can of himself as well do good as evil The Disciples of St. Augustin will not find Dydimuss of Alexandria much more Orthodox since he maintains that Predestination is nothing else but the Choice which God hath made of those that he foresaw would believe in Jesus Christ and would Act according to it He likewise believed with his Master Origen that the Incarnation of the Son of God was beneficial to Angels as well as to Men and that it took away the Guilt of their Transgressions As to the Sentiment of the Eternity of Spirits he speaks on 't without condemning or approving it In Truth it would be absurd and impious to fix Eternity to any other Being than God if by this word was understood an Absolute Eternity or Existence by it self but if we suppose that the Souls of Men were Spirits created a long time since which have offended God and which he sends into mortal Bodies there to do Penance for their Faults this Hypothesis perhaps would be instrumental to discover many Difficulties in Divinity which have hitherto appeared Unexplicable All the World hath heard of the Catechumens of the Ancient Church that few well know what they were 1. When an Infidel presented himself to be admitted into the number of Christians they begun to instruct him in private but he was not suffered to enter into the Church nor to assist at publick Exhortations 2. Afterward when he was believed to be well undeceived of his old Errors he was permitted to go to the Church but only to hear Sermons
profound a Silence that they are not permitted to ease themselves by Complaints and Tears There are Two Inquisitors at Goa he which is call'd the Grand Inquisitor is always a Secular Priest and the other is a Dominican Monk The Huissiars are Persons of the Chiefest Quality who think it a Glory to be of the Noble Function and have no other Recompence than the Honour of serving so holy a Tribunal Afterwards he Relates the particular Formalities he observed there He says t is no wonder that such Men as only Examine the outside and appearances of things should be deceived in Favour of the Integerity of this Jurisdiction For they make a great shew of Justice and Humanity There must be Seven Witnesses to Convict the Accused and if the Criminal Confesses he 's guilty he is acquitted of his Fact for the Confession and obtains the Favour of being Suspended to the Secular Power But in Reality they violate all the Laws of Justice and Charity never suffering him to see the Witnesses that accuse him nor is he never permitted to reproach them with it They persist in the Desiring him to confess the Crime that he is supposed guilty of and almost force him by this detestable Maxim that is amongst 'em we will rather burn thee as guilty than suffer it to be thought that we have imprisoned thee unjustly Thus the Inquisition is always in the Right and cannot Err which infatuates the People and makes them believe that the Holy Spirit presides over all their Actions for the Miserable Victims of the S. Office Reciprocally accuse one another to make others alike guilty of their imaginary Crimes so by Consequence a Man may be very innocent and have Forty or Fifty Witnesses against him In short the Goods of those that are punished with Death and those that escape it by Confession are equally Confiscated since they are all reputed guilty Nevertheless that which is very particular is that these pretended Offenders from whom by Torture they very often force a Confession are also obliged to Declare publickly that they used much Clemency towards ' em If a Man pleases himself after being escaped from their hands with endeavouring to justify himself he shall never more have forgiveness and on the Contrary he that will live securely is forc'd to tell the World his Goods were most justly Confiscated He is not therefore permitted to discover the least thought of his Heart This is certainly an imitating the Cruelty of Caligula who after he had caused the Sons of a Roman Knight to be Stabâ—'d command the Father to Sup with him and to add to his Grief the punishment of Imprisoning him Perijsset says Seneca nisi carnisici Conviva placuisset Those that they treat most rigorously are the Iews which were chased by Ferdinand and Isabella and fled for refuge into Portugal They force them to turn Christians and altho' they have been there near two Ages they still call 'em New Christians by way of contempt The scandal of Heresie or Judaism is never defaced for Rome always preserves her Suspicions and Distrusts It looks very suspiciously as if she was not well perswaded of the force and evidence of the reasons she makes use of since she distrusts the sincerity of those Converts she has made Be it how it will yet these new Christians have not got the good opinion of the Inquisitors and Suspicions in respect to them are more severely punished than a real Crime in another But to return to what personally regards our Author he says that after being a long time shut up in the dark Lodgings of the Holy Inquisition he was permitted Audience He prostrated himself at the feet of the Inquisitor by this humble posture and his tears to prevail upon him But this obdurate Judge having commanded him to rise up conjured him coldly by the Bowels of the Mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ to confess his crime He with a good courage recited all we have related and alledged the Council of Trent to justifie himself about Images He observ'd only that the Inquisitor appeared surprized and that he was so ignorant he never heard that Council mentioned before But they sent him back without making any explanation of the Crimes he was guilty of He was carried three or four times back to the same Audience and the same desires were reiterated to make him confess without further clearing of the Matter so that at last he abandoned himself to Despair through the slowness and cruelty of these dumb Proceedings and resolved to put a Period to his Life To effect which he feigned himself sick and said he wanted bleeding they let him Blood and assoon as he was alone he again opened his Vein and had bled to death if the Keeper had not entred who instead of having that Compassion which such a sight ought to have produced chain'd up his Flands and his Neck What redoubled his discontents was those that served him with what he had never spoke to him that by all manner of Circumstances they might encrease his Terror As to what they call the Acts of Faith which are the days wherein they condemn the Guilty and absolve the Innocent they come but once in two or three years so he expected that time with much impatience He was however very much surprized when at Midnight a Keeper brought him a suit of black Cloth streaked with white and roughly commanded him to put it on he doubted not but it was to be the preparation to his punishment Thus after many efforts being fill'd with mortal Apprehensions he took the Habit two hours after he was brought out and conducted under a Gallery where was a doleful sight there he saw 200 of his miserable Companions set in order against a Wall to whom they did not so much as permit the use of their Eyes They were not all cloathed after the same manner For their Habits were different according to the nature of their Crime and Condemnation those that are destined to fire have Garments whereon the Picture of the Sufferer is laid upon fire-brands with flames and Devils all about him As they were ignorant of the formalities of the holy office so there might be observ'd in their Faces the divers motions of fear shame and grief wherewith they were inspir'd For it seems 't is a part of their Ingenuity to forget nothing that may add to their fear As soon as the day appear'd the miserable Wretches were conducted to the Church holding in their Hands a yellow Wax Candle for the Act of Faith where every one received his Judgment After two years Imprisonment our Author was condemned to serve five years in the Gallies with Confiscation of his Goods those who were to be burnt were given up to the Secular power by the holy Inquisition with instant prayer to use them with Clemency or at least if they thought them worthy of Death that it might be without effusion of Blood The secular Justice doubts
doth it dance on Easter-day v. 1. n. 16. q. 2. Superstition the meaning of the Word v. 1. n. 16. q. 8. Sound no Substance v. 1. n. 20. q. 15. Straight Stick in Water appears crooked v. 1. n. 20. q. 19. Storks never found but in Common-wealths v. 1. n. 21. q. 2. Small-pox why so many marked with 'em v. 1. n. 21. q. 3. Solomons Temple why not reckon'd among the wonders of the World v. 1. n. 21. q. 5. Satyrs or Sermons most successful v. 1. n. 22. q. 12. Sexes whether ever chang'd v. 1. n. 23. q. 2. Sherlock whether Dean of St. Pauls v. 1. n. 24. q. 2. Saints Bodies which arose with our Saviour v. 1. n. 25. q. 4. Salvation of Cain Eli and Sampson v. 1. n. 25. q. 5. Sin of felo de se it 's Nature v. 1. n. 25. q. 6. Snail the cause of it's Shell v. 1. n. 25. q. 9. Salamander whether it lives in the Fire v. 1. n. 26. q. 1. Soul whether knows all things v. 1. n. 26. q. 11. Samuel whether he or the Devil c. v. 1. n. 27. q. 1. Sabbath how chang'd v. 1. n. 27. q. 2. Souls of good Men where immediately after death v. 1. n. 28. q. 3. Souls when separate can they assume a Body v. 1. n. 28. q. 4. Shuterkin whence it proceeds v. 1. n. 29. q. 2. Scriptures how know we'em to be the Word of God v. 1. n. 30. q. 7. Sence of the Words when we differ v. 1. n. 30. q. 8. Serpents whether they were real c. v. 2. n. 1. q. 9. Soul in what part of the Body it is v. 2. n. 1. q. 13. Sight from whence proceeds v. 2. n. 1. q. 17. Sun how it comes to shine on the Wall v. 2. n. 2. q. 5. Substance Corporeal and spiritual how act v. 2. n. 2. q. 9. Spirits by what means do they speak v. 2. n. 2. q. 9. Saul went into the Cave c. the meaning v. 2. n. 5. q. 7. Scripture why it forbids Linsy Woolsey v. 2. n. 5. q. 12. Senses which of 'em can we best spare v. 2. n. 5. q. 16. Soul immortal whether breath'd into Adam c. v. 2. n. 5. q. 17. Small Pox the Cause of ' em v. 2. n. 5. q. 18. Spell what is it and whether Lawful v. 2 n. 6. q. 2. Sleep how to make one Wakeful v. 2. n. 6. q. 4. Soul how is it in the Body v. 2. n. 7 q. 2. Souls going out of our Bodies whether c. v. 2. n. 7. q. 3. Soul seeing 't is immaterial whether c. v. 2. n. 7. q. 4. Souls when separation do they knows the affairs of earth v. 2. n. 7. q. 5. Souls separate how do they know one another v. 2. n. 7. q. 6. Souls departed have they present Ioy or Torment v. 2. n. 7. q. 7. Souls departed where go they v. 2. n. 7. q. 8. Souls has a man three viz. the Supream c. v. 2. n. 7. q. 9. Souls where remain till the last day v. 2. n. 7. q. 10. Souls what have the Philosophers said of ' em v. 2. n. 7. q 11. Soul how it's Vnion with the Body v. 2. n. 7. q. 12. Stone in a Toads-head Swan sings at Death v. 2. n. 7. q. 13. Snow whether white or black v. 2. n. 8. q. 3. Sun why looking on it causes sneezing v. 2. n. 8. q. 6. Skeleton a strange Relation of it v. 2. n. 9. q. 1. Sin whether it might be ordain'd v. 2. n. 10. q. 1. Sin whether not ordain'd v. 2. n. 10. q 2. Saviour how did he eat the Passover v. 2. n 11. q. 3. Spirits Astral what is it v. 2. n. 12. q. 3. Sensitive Plants why emit their Operations v. 2. n. 15. q. 5. Salamander whether any such Creature v. 2. n. 15. q. 9. Soul of Man whether by Tradâ—ction or Infusion v. 2. n. 16. q. 5. Smoke what becomes of it v. 2. n. 17. q. 6. Sounds why ascend v. 2. n. 17. q. 8. Sun what matter is it made of v. 2. n. 18. q. 3. Speech and Voice from whence proceeds v. 2. n. 18. q 10. Saturn whether he be Noah v. 2. n. 18. q. 12. Step if Persons can walk far in it v. 2. n. 20. q. 2. Sure to one three years and now sure to v. 2. n. 20. q. 9. Several Questions about the Soul all answer'd in one v. 2. n. 22. q. 1. Sciences whether the Practick or Theory preferable v. 2. n. 22. q. 3. Smoke and Fire a Wager Lâ—id about it v. 2. n. 23. q. 1. Solomons Bounty to the Queen of Sheba v. 2. n. 23. q. 12. Stone cast into the Waters its figures why such v. 2. n. 24. q. 8. Scripture whether retrieved by Esdras v. 2 n. 25. q. 2. Synod of Dort had they Truth on their side v. 2. n. 26. q. 2. Sermon any reason for the clamour against it v. 2. n. 26. q. 6. Soul when it leaves the Body where goes it v. 2. n. 26. q. 7. Saviour and the Thief on the Cross v. 2. n. 27. q. 5. Sodom's overthrow v. 2. n. 27. q. 6. Saviour his Humane and Divine Nature v. 2. n. 27. q. 9. Snake when cut into Pieces v. 2. n. 27. q. 16. State of the Sun Moon c. at the last day v. 2. n. 28. q. 1. Sea how comes it not to overflow the World v. 2. n. 28. q. 6. Silk-worm how it lives v. 2. n. 28. q. 7. Spiritual Substance whether distinct parts v. 2. n. 29. q. 4. Soul it 's seat v. 2. n 29. q. 5. Souldiers who has most v. 2. n. 29. q. 12. Serpent how could he speak with mans Voice v. 2. n. 29. q. 15. Scripture and prophane History why they differ v. 2. n. 30. q. 7. Superstition of abstaining from Flesh v. 2. n. 30. q. 12. Sun where does it set v. 3. n. 1. q. 4. Spider how does it Poison a fly v. 3. n. 1. q. 5. Singing Psalms why not used v. 3. n. 6. q. 4. Sea Water why Salt v. 3. n. 6. q. 7. Souls whether all equally happy v. 3. n. 8. q. 5. Soul of a Child quick in the Womb v. 3 n. 8. q. 6. Shooting at Sea why heard at a distance v. 3. n. 9. q. 6. Soul after what manner it enters into the Body v. 3. n. 9. q. 7. Shell fish why the shell apply'd to the Ear v. 3. n. 9. q. 11. Sermon of one hour why seems longer than two v. 3. n. 11. q. 8. Shoot right why they wink with one Eye v. 3. n. 12. q. 5. Self-dislike whether Wisdom v. 3. n. 12. q. 7. Sences which can we best spare v. 3. n. 14. q. 1. Self-Murther for a Mistress whether Lawful v. 3. n. 16. q. 2. Socinian Heresie when broach't v. 3. n. 18. q. 4. Spring how visible v. 3. n. 19. q 5. Stones on Salisbury Plain v. 3. n. 19. q. 6. Sky is it of any Colour v. 3. n. 22. q. 5. Sacrament
of some Member of the Body 2. Such as purge out some particular Humour as it is believed 3. Such as ease or cure certain Distempers tho' we do not know how they operate It 's in this last Sense that the Author takes this way of Speaking Then he goes on and proves that there are Specificks against those which deny that there are any after which he makes it his Business to shew That this agrees very well with those that give Mechanick and Sensible Reasons of the Effects of insensible Particles Here are his chief Reasons to prove that the first are mistaken 1. Because Gallen and all the ancient Physitians and an infinite number of the Modern have constantly assured it And tho' in Matters of Philosophy Authority ought not to be made use of yet great Prejudices are derived hence in favour of Specificks because they are things whereof the fore-mentioned might have had many Experiences Besides this there is no more reason to deny that there are Specifick Remedies than there is to deny that there are Poysons that cause certain Diseases and Symptoms These Poysons act in such small quantities that their Effect cannot be attributed to any sensible cause much less to the first second or third Qualities speaking like a Physitian which they themselves cannot explain clearly It 's well known what terrible Symptoms the biting of a Viper causes tho' perhaps a Pin's-head is a hundred times bigger than the quantity of Venom that it casts in the Wound And Mr. Boyle relates as strange an Example which he says he has learned of an Occulist It is of a Man into whose Eye a Spider let fall a small drop of Liquor which without causing any sensible Pain took away his Sight immediately If there are Poysons which produce in so short a time certain Effects and whereof we cannot understand the Cause it is not improbable but there may be Remedies that may work after the same manner and it is what Experience shews clearly The biting of a Scorpion is quickly cured in putting some of the Oyl of Scorpion or bruising the Body of the Scorpion on the Wound There are Serpents in America which make a noise with their Tayl and for that reason are called Rattle Snakes their biting is very dangerous but is happily cured by an Herb which is for that reason called Serpentaria in that Country Moreover the Kinkina is a Specifick against Agues and especially against the Quartan It 's true they say that Specificks which are taken in small quantities will lose their force by the digestion of the Stomach and that if any Particle has any Vertue left that this Vertue is so little that it is quite insignificant but there is no necessity of a great deal of Matter to act with the greatest Violence It 's true that the Smell of Civet or Musk produces strange Symptoms in Hysterical Fits which are immediately cured by other Smells as of that of Sal Armoniac c. and yet the Particles that cause the Smell and ascend to the Nostrils are not perhaps the hundredth nor the thousandth part of a Grain The Crocus Metallorum makes a great quantity of Emetick Wine without the least diminution of its Weight Quick-Silver communicates to Water by infusion a Vertue against Worms without changing its Taste or Colour and without losing or diminishing its own Weight Mr. Boyle applies himself after this to prove That the Opinion of those that are for Specifick Remedies does agree well enough with the System of insensible Particles in giving a Sensible and Mechanical Explication of the manner that Specificks do Work First of all he supposes a Principle which he has proved in another Work and which is of the greatest Importance that can be both in Natural Philosophy and Physick which is That the Body of a living Man is not to be looked upon as a simple Structure consisting of a lump of Flesh Blood Bones Fat Nerves Veins and Arteries but as an admirable Machine wherein the solid Liquid and spirituous Bodies are disposed with so much Art for the uses they are destined to that the Effect of any Remedy upon Man's Body is not so much to be judged of in relation to the intrinsick Vertue of the Remedy it self as to what comes of the mutual action of the parts of this living Machine in one another and of their position if one may properly speak so when they are once put in Motion This being so one may perceive that according to Mr. Boyle Specificks work sometimes in disposing the Matter which causes the Distemper so that this Matter may be divided with the proper Excrements or be vented by insensible Transpiration As for Example The Blood impregnated with certain Particles may become a proper Menstruum to dissolve the morbifick Matter as Water impregnated with Sal Armoniac is proper to dissolve Brass and Iron and all such Menstruums act by their Figure Bigness or Solidity or by some other such like sensible Property which is manifestly included in our Notion of a Body and not by certain sensible Qualities of their Humidity and Acidity An infinite number of Experiences persuade us that this is so for whereas cold Water dissolves the White of an Egg which the Spirit of Vinegar of Salt or the Oyl of Vitreal coagulates the Spirit of Urine dissolves in a trice the filings of Brass which the Spirit of Vinegar does but slowly and on the contrary the Spirit of Vinegar dissolves Crabs Eyes in a moment upon which the Spirit of Piss had no Effect at all Quick-Silver which is insipid dissolves Gold which Aqua fortis leaves entire and on the contrary Quick-Silver cannot dissolve Iron which Aqua fortis does easily Common Oyl that cannot dissolve a very Egg-Shell dissolves Brimstone which is more than Aqua fortis can do If there was nothing but Humidity and Acidity required for the dissolution of Bodies Aqua fortis and Aqua regalis would be universal Dissolvers whose Force few Bodies could resist They wou'd dissolve all such as are not extraordinary Solid Whereas the quite contrary happens because Dissolvers act by the figure of their Particles it is not always proper to disunite the Particles of all sorts of Bodies Mr. Boyle concludes That since Specificks may work in the same manner in our Bodies that it follows That the Opinion of those who admit them is not at all contrary to our Modern Philosophy Nor does he only place among Specificks such as are taken inwardly but also external Medicines which are applied to the Arms or hung about the Neck as Camphyre Amber-greece c. for these Bodies work by the little Particles that dis-engage themselves from them and enter our Bodies by the Pores 2. Specificks may act in mortifying Humours that are too acid or that are hurtful by some other Excess and they mortifie by the different Figures of their Particles as Alcalis mortifies Acids or in covering the mortified Parts with a kind of cover
It 's thus that Cinnaber dulls the Spirit of Vinegar and that quick Lime destroys the acidity of Aqua fortis and Calamine that of the Spirit of Nitre and Salt the Particles of these Acids engaging themselves in those that mortifie them 3. They sometimes precipitate a peccant Matter which may happen otherwise than by the combat of Acids and Alcalies as when after the dissolution of Siver by Aqua fortis the Silver falls to the bottom when a piece of Brass is dipped in the dissolution and it is so that Mr. Boyle sweetens a very stinking Water and makes it very clear by means of a Body which he does not name that only precipitates a certain kind of Mud which being taken away leaves the Water without the least ill Smell and what is very remarkable is That this precipitant is neither Bitter nor Acid nor Urinous 4. They may straiten the Heart or part affected in joyning themselves to them and in lancing the morbifick Matter and casting it out of the Body or in strengthening the Fibres of the distempered Part or dilating the Pores or irritating the infirm part as Cantharides do the Bladder tho' it does not irritate other parts that are quite as tender And the Example of Ostecolla is mentioned as an experienced Specifick Remedy to engender a thick Skin over broken Bones 5. Sometimes they correct the Disorders of the Blood as when they quicken its motion with Cordials or correct its bad consistency in thickning or attenuating it according as the Sick need it 6. They may unite to this peccant Matter and alter its Nature so much that it will not have the same sensible Qualities and make it cease to be hurtful and dispose it to that so as it might be easily carryed off as when the Spirit of Wine and Aqua fortis are mix'd together of these two violent Liquors is made a third which is Sweet It is thus that Mr. Boyle reconciles the ancient Opinion concerning Specifick Remedies with the Mechanical Explications that our Modern Philosophers will have and the Effects of Nature He cites all along a great number of Experiences which could not be mentioned here without transcribing almost a whole Dissertation wherein all is useful and where the abundance of the Matter answers very well the Solidness of the Discourse The second Dissertation of the Benefit of simple Remedies is an Advice to Physitians wherein the Author exhorts them not to use other but simple Remedies or at least very few Compounds and to observe this Method as much as they can possibly These are his Reasons for it In the first place it is easier to guess what Effect a simple Remedy will produce than a compounded one for Compositions change so much the nature of Medicines that it is not easie to foresee the Effect A Glass of Antimony dissolved in the Spirit of Vinegar does not Purge or cause Vomiting but very seldom unprepared Antimony which some take without either being Purged or Vomited by it if it be mix'd either with Salt-Petre or Tartar it becomes a violent Purgative and causes great Vomiting and mixed with Tartar becomes Diaphoretick and sometimes Diuretick In the second place simple Remedies are the surest but what made them lose part of their Reputation and their Use is That those who have writ of them applied themselves wholly to speak of their Vertues and good Qualities without mentioning in the least the Evil they do on certain Occasions which makes People not to be able to foresee always their Effect when mixed with other Ingredients Mr. Boyle was acquainted with a Person of Quality whom Hony disordered almost as much as Poyson would have done Worm-wood which is very wholsom for a great many is found by Experience to annoy the Sight of others and there are an infinite of such simple Remedies which are not always wholsom In the third place one may take a greater Dose of a simple Remedy when it is taken alone it does not cause so much distast nor inconveniency to the Stomach Whâ—at Rye Barley and Oats are all nourishing but if there were Bread made of these four Grains for a Sick Man it would not be so good as Bread made of Wheat only If one had a mind to make Strong Waters that should recover People from Sounding Fits in small quantity he would not mix the Spirit of Wine with new Wine or such as did not purifie it self by Working nor would he mix it with strong Beer It is affirmed that Gum Arabick is very excellent against the Heat of Urine but if it be mixed in a little Quantity among other Ingredients it will do nothing but if it be given alone and to the Weight of a Drachm it will produce great Effects The Juice of Wild Thyme or Mother Thyme is admirable for Children's Coughs and the Infusion of the Herb called Paronychia foliis rutaceis or Whitlow Grass dissipates the Swelling of the King 's Evil. In the fourth place all other things being equal 't is easier to find simple Remedies than such as are made of many Ingredients Mr. Boyle shews some of these Remedies that are easie to be had and serve to cure very desperate Distempers Linseed Oyl is excellent to ripen pluritick Imposthumes that of Turpentine to stop the Blood in Wounds and conduceth infinitely to their Cure and cures Gangreens Oyl of Nuts is good against the Stone as Spanish Soap is against the Jaundise In fine one may draw from the use of simple Remedies a more perfect Knowledg of the true Effects than of such Remedies as are used now It is very hard to know the Vertue of each Drug when there are many mix'd together since it is not easie to know it when each Ingredient is examined by it self The Soyl the Clymate the Seasons and many other Circumstances cause a very great change The Author has experienced that some Seeds which are used in Physick yield an acid Spirit when distill'd at one time of the year and an Urinous when distill'd at another time Mr. Boyle pretends that the most part of these Arguments used in favour of simple Remedies which are now mentioned ought to be applied to Chimick Preparations which tho' simple enough produce admirable Effects What is particular in these Remedies is That the change of Operation may supply the place of Composition According to the different preparations of Antimony it is Vomitative Purgative Diaphoretick and Diuretick c. and if one did mix two or three such like Things and that it were done dexterously one might make far better Remedies than are compos'd with much Ostentation and with a great number of Drugs The Spirit of Vinegar corrects the Emetick and purging Vertue of the Glass of Antimony much better than all the Cordials Elixirs and other difficult preparations Quick-Silver makes such a considerable change in the Corrosive Sublimate that of a most violent Poyson it becomes a very good Remedy and among other Vertues may be of great