Plutarch as from one of them doth answer O but these things are laid to our charge wrongfully the basest of the world generally would be accounted honest if they knew how what is that to the purpose replieth Plutarch whether true or no The question is not now whether deservedly or undeservedly whether truly or falsly but what reputation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you have in the world For who doth not see that if a man which was proved before of Epicurus and his adherents place happiness or part of happiness in a good name and become whether justly or unjustly infamous he doth thereby undoubtedly lose some part of his happiness Therefore saith Plutarch arguing from their own suppositions and opinions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reputation and not truth or true desert is the thing we here enquire into And indeed had Plutarch upon this their answer gone about by good proofs and evidences which elsewhere he doth plentifully to make good that what was laid to their charge Atheism c. was very true and real as it was generally believed he had in that wronged his cause and made an unseasonable digression since it was nothing at all to the question proposed what man Epicurus had been really or what his followers were or had been but what fame 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they had in the world And could Gassendus grounding upon the ambiguity of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and concealing the occasion and the coherence a notorious kind of jugling and falsification could Gassendus I say from these words infer that as Plutarch's acknowledgment that what he had written of Epicurus was all in compliance to opinion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not according to truth Or did not Gassendus more probably rely so much upon the favour of the times and those that did set him on work that he thought any argument that had but any slender appearance of truth or probability if but favouring Atheism and sensuality would pass currently enough and get him fame and good will to boot BUT we have not done Plutarch in the same book a little before doth mention that famous Letter mentioned by so many of Epicurus when upon his death-bed by which he makes himself a notable stout man who in such extremities of bodily pains as he doth express could enjoy himself with such peace and tranquillity of mind In which peace and tranquillity to preserve him that which by his own words and acknowledgment as set out by Plutarch did most conduce was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the remembrance of those according to the propriety of the words fleshly pleasures he had formerly enjoyed This Plutarch thinks very strange and almost incredible wicked varlet as though he intended with his last bloud to seal the truth of his abominable doctrine But here Gassendus doth insult At hic Plutarchus c. But Plutarch to the end that he might more effectually traduce Epicurus hath depraved and changed the words c. who can excuse Plutarch if guilty of so great a crime or Gassendus if it prove an arrant falsehood and calumny The question is whether Epicurus wrote 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as before exhibited and translated or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The remembrance of our former discourses and reasonings as exhibited by Diog. Laertius and translated by Cicero II. De sinibus memoria rationum inventorumque nostrorum And this Gassendus thinks is enough himself I doubt did not think so he had read Cicero better than so to prove Plutarch a falsary I must acknowledge that Cicero's translation is a great evidence for that reading exhibited by Laertius But had Gassendus looked further into Cicero or rather ingenuously told us all that he knew Vna eademque manus vulnus opemque he would have told us that as the reading exhibited by Laertius is found in Cicero so that exhibited by Plutarch in the same Cicero more than once I am sure as particularly V. Tuscul Sed una se dicit recordatione acquiescere praeteritarum voluptatum and again in the same book from whence that other reading is produced more punctually and emphatically sed vobis speaking to men of that Sect voluptatum perceptarum recordatio beatam vitam facit quidem corpore according to the proper signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perceptarum And this enough I think to acquit Plutarch from all suspition of any falsification what can be said for Gâ—ssendus to acquit him of false and injurious dealing except this that it was for so good an end as to promote Atheism or Epicurism I profess I know not Well it must needs be that either in Cicero's time both those readings were in the Text of that Letter which may be thought the more probable because Câ—cero in the same book or place takes notice of both or that there were two different Copies of that one Lâ—tter and that Cicero made use of either reading as he saw occasion This is certain to which I will add as to me not improbable though I will not affirm it that some of Epicurus his friends or disciples when that letter came first abroad being much ashamed of those words exhibited by Plutarch did make that alteration of the reading exhibited by Laertius which probably that reading I mean never came to Plutarch his knowledge But see the force of conscience sometimes let a man resolve against it never so much After Gassendus had charged Plutarch with two such foul crimes the one of conforming himself to the opinions of the vulgar to take away an honest and worthy mans good name against his own conscience the other of adulterating writings of purpose that he might have some ground to calumniate what could be said more of the arrantest rogue of the world yet at last a sudden qualm takes him Ne Plutarchum accusare videar lest I may be thought to accuse Plutarch saith he and so doth end whether pricked in his conscience because he knew he had accused him falsly as I rather believe or ashamed of his own inconstancy that he had commended one so highly whom afterwards he had charged with the greatest baseness and dishonesty that can be laid to any mans charge for either or for both let the Reader judge but a fit man observe we that by the way to make a Saint of a rogue that could make a rogue to serve his turn of such an incomparable person according to his own testimony in the beginning of the Chapters And as he hath dealt with Plutarch in this just so in effect by false glosses and interpretations doth he deal with Galen in the next Chapter Galen no Stoick but a true lover of vertue and sound reason and upon that score a mortal enemy of Epicurus his phrensies and leud doctrine and let me add one and so Plutarch and Cicero who was better able to judge what was falsly adscribed to Epicurus what not than a hundred such as
the Reader must excuse me where after I had been some days upon some information concerning a Gentlewoman that had some relation to the house though not then in the house who was said to live without meat I made bold to ask my friend a noble Knight the Master of the house what he knew of it His answer was that she had been his house-keeper one month he said as I remember and sat at his table every day but had never seen her eat This did set an edge upon my desire and curiosity to enquire further This Gentlewoman had married one of his Sons who lived and kept house by himself there also have I been kindly entertained more than once not many miles off He was a Scholar and a very ingenuous Gentleman and one who himself was as curious to understand as much of nature as by ordinary study and curiosity can be attained His answer was that ever since some years I am sure she had been his wife he never did observe her to eat otherwise than that sometimes once in a week perchance in handling of dishes she would seize hastily upon some one bit which her phancy more than her stomack was tempted with I make no question but if faithful observations were duly made which was the way in ancient times of all that hapneth extraordinarily in this one Country of England we should not need be beholding to strangers so much or at least would find less cause in many things to reject and contemn their relations as incredible and fabulous Sure I am in most books that I have read to understand what is not ordinary in the cause of nature I find England often named where I can find or hear of no English-man to attest In this very particular I am now upon I have read of some I am sure reported to have lived in England without either meat or drink I know not how long of whom I have read nothing in English Histories But I shall not trouble my self to find where having said enough to satisfie them who have not by some solemn vow or resolution made themselves impenetrable to reason Yet the story of an English-woman or maid that lived I think twenty years without eating written by Roger Bacon the Reader may find if he please in the Collection before mentioned for the truth whereof though I doubt not the possibility except otherwise confirmed I will not engage But whereas he doth fetch the cause from Heaven or Heavenly influences if he be in the right in that this example will not so properly concern us who pretend in this particular to nothing but natural causes I know there be also who ascribe it to the Devil neither will I deny the possibility of such a thing However when natural causes may clear the business except some unnatural circumstances as sometimes it doth happen perswade to the contrary much better it is to let the Devil alone than to fly to him for satisfaction BUT to return to our relations I have said it before and say it again No man I think that will take the pains to read the books I have mentioned with all the particulars which they contain but will what ever opinion he was of before acknowledge himself satisfied of the truth as to matter of fact As to possibility in point of nature I will not be so peremptory though I acknowledge my self very fully satisfied by those learned Tractates that have been set out about it that it may be Now that any women most to whom this hath happened should after long sickness fall to this and so continue dull heavy consumptive in their bodies and some without motion and so after some years die though strange even so yet I do not see much to admire but that it should so happen unto any who nevertheless for some years have continued fresh and vigorous with a good colour and without any abatement of flesh without or any other notable alteration and have returned in time to eating and drinking again as other folks as I think it happened to her that was kept by Maximilian's order is that I most wonder at and wherein we might with more probability suspect a supernatural cause though herein also I submit to better judgments and believe as they do that it may be naturally The matter is fully discussed by Sennertus also a man of so much authority with me and with all men I think whom new discoveries have not so besotted as to think nothing right but what is new that he alone might go a great way to perswade me Marcellus Donatus also De Med. Hist mirab lib. 4. c. 12. is very full upon it and hath many instances this among the rest That a certain Priest did live 40. years in Rome with Air only as by the keeping of Pope Leo and divers Princes and the Narration and Testimony of Hermol Barbarus is most certain HOWEVER I am not so addicted to any cause that I would allow of any indirect ways to maintain it To prove the possibility among other arguments and instances that are used I shall here take notice of one and what I have to except against it not hence to infer against the cause it self any thing for which there is no just reason this being but a remote and inconsiderable proof in comparison of so many more pregnant and direct evidences but to take this occasion by the way to shew how testimonies should be examined before we yield much to their authority It is alledged by more than one that there is a people in the North about Mascovia who constantly from such a day in November to such a day in April following hide in Caves of the Earth and continue all that time without any food but sleep Now that this was averr'd to Henry the III. King of France when in Polonia by men of great quality who lived in or about those Countries and might easily know the certainty with great asseveration this indeed I believe and is of great weight with me though I would not upon no greater evidence press or perswade any other to work somewhat towards a belief Sennertus I find dares not peremptorily affirm it for a truth or much trust to it for an evidence as having much greater and more wonderful things which no man he saith can question to prove the possibility of living without eating or drinking Yet it doth appear by his words though he feared it would multis fabulo sum videri by many be slighted as a fable yet that himself did much more incline to believe it than not And there be other relations of those Northern people believed I see by sundry grave and learned men which to be compared might seem every whit as strange and incredible But because I do not make it my business here to undertake for the truth of it as I before professed nor have any intention to entertain my Reader with strange relations more than shall be
certain This makes me very much to suspect if not affirm that it is but a tale I have read of women too somewhere who upon such occasions use to cast up salt in the air which is more probable but with what success or upon what ground I can give no account BUT if after all this not yet fully satisfied with such instances as the old known world hath afforded we will take the pains to search the Records of the new world there we shall meet with Seneca's case very punctually the bloud of men offered unto Devils their Gods to preserve their Corn and other fruits from Hail-storms and Tempests Witness Petrus Martyr Mediolanensis De Insulis nuper inventis whose testimony not to seek further we may rest upon as a very credible witness BUT to proceed and so to end this particular which Seneca gave us the occasion of That Devils can raise storms and tempests if God permit by their own power and skill when they please they that believe the History of Job will make no great question and if Devils Witches also by his power as all that have written of Witches who believe there be such averr and give many instances As for rain mentioned by Seneca though his words sound otherwise to me than to any by whom I find him quoted let the Reader judge by what I have said of it before as the dotage of antiquity as of Hail so of Rain I find none that have written of Witches and believe them but determine it affirmatively that the Devil hath the power of that also God permitting when he will To pass by ordinary instances Dion Cassius a very serious Historian hath a relation of plenty of rain in time of greatest necessity by which a Roman Army was as it were miraculously preserved procured by Magick Which with Baronius I should be very inclinable to believe to have been done by the prayers of Christians as under Aurelius Antoninus acknowledged even by Heathen writers it once happened But that the Chronology will not I doubt agree Christianity was not so ancient in those parts I believe We have now gone through all the particulars of Seneca's relation I shall only add I do not believe that Cleonae for the word is differently written by the scituation of the place was more subject to Hail than any other place but the Devil by some chance of opportunity having once got this superstition there established he would be sure they should not want occasion to continue it which must be by frequent Hail threatned and probably he did so order it of purpose in the air that they might easily see without any Conjuring for it when a storm was coming IN the next place I shall take notice of a relation in Philostratus an Author though fabulous in those things that concerned his main design to make a God of a Magician yet for some strange relations once supposed false now approved true well deserving to be read and his conceit or Comment upon the relation The Relation is this how Apollonius being in Prison by Domitian's command and one of his legs fettered Damis that attended him began to be much out of heart and doubtful of the issue Whereupon Apollonius to revive him shewed him his leg out of the fetters and when Damis had sufficiently viewed it loose and free of his own accord he put it into the fetters or stocks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 again Whereupon Damis doth infer that surely because he did it with such ease without any previous prayer or sacrifice that he must be more than a man Now that this might probably be done by Apollonius we may believe since he did much more afterwards which by Christian Fathers and Historians is acknowledged when being brought out of prison as a criminal to the Court hall or place of Judgment Domitian being present he vanished out of sight and was at the same time seen far from the place but not in prison any more The relation then admitted or supposed what is Philostratus his descant upon it The simpler sort saith he ascribe such things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Witchcraft or Magick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is not as the Latin interpreter though not much amiss to the sense Quas ad plurimas rerum humanarum proficere arbitrantur and so they judge of many other things that happen in the world among men He goes on The publick wrestlers and fencers out of a greediness to be victorious they have a recourse unto this Witchcraft or Magick but the truth is they are not at all the better for it when they have done but if by chance or providence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so is the word often taken as I have shewed elsewhere by some examples to which many more may be added they happen to prevail wretched men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bereaving themselves of the praise ascribe it to the arts And in case they be worsted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes here I do not understand till some body tell me I shall make bold to read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet will they not mistrust the art Fool will they say for had I but offered such a sacrifice or burnt such incense I could not have missed of the victory And so he goes on that it is so with Merchants and Lovers and how they suffer themselves to be cheated by these Sophisters as he calls them They that will read this Author may not trust to the Latin Translation no nor to the Greek Text as now printed I wish some body had undertaken the printing of it in my time they might have had it more correct and intelligible in many places than it is in any Edition I have seen But to the business He would not have it thought that Spells and Charms can do any thing there was a reason for it He knew Apollonius did deal in such things as could not be ascribed to natural causes so that he could not avoid the suspition of a Magician if there were any such thing as Magick Now if once granted that all who pretended to such things were but impostors and could do nothing really then it must of necessity follow that Apollonius what he did did by the finger of God and was a divine man Though we deny not but there have always been and are now in England I believe not a few London especially Morlins and others who have a way to cheat and abuse silly people whether rich or poor I call them so that are so easily caught making them believe they can do great things whereas in very deed all they do except they deal by the Devil as Apollonius did is but cozenage and delusion yet this discourse of Philostratus notwithstanding if we search the Records of Antiquity we shall find that in those days and before as it was very ordinary for them who did strive for victories publickly either in the Circus by
is no easie thing such is the infirmity even of the best of men to get him out of it But Valesius hath been and his reasons fully answered and confuted by more it may be but by one I know very learned and judicious and with so much respect and moderation as that Valesius I think himself would have thought himself had he read him rather beholding to him than otherwise of whom also I should not be afraid or think it any discredit such an opinion I have of his real worth and learning to borrow some instances in such a case more to be resolved by instances that is experience than any thing else But that my curiosity hath been such in this particular that I think without pride or bragging be it spoken I could have furnished him Which I may say also of what he hath written of and upon Josephus his place before examined very accurately and learnedly let the Reader upon comparing judge as he shall please But I have not yet though before I have upon another occasion named the man It is Doctor Reynolds Royal Professor in Oxford when he lived and the book his learned Praelectiones before named also A pity it is as he doth complain himself more than once that the condition of those Praelectiones was such that he was forced oftentimes to repeat the same things which is able to make those that have not patience nor know how to value such ware to be soon weary His chiefest instances besides Fernelius and Matthiolus their opinions in the case upon certain proof and experience are the first Baptista Mantuanus a known Physician in his notes or observations upon Avicen which he doth call Lectiones whose words are Ego mihi credite vidi meis oculis c. that is My self with mine eyes you may believe me have seen it a certain man who when he had made a circle cumque signaret and drawn some characters about it and uttered some words he did call together above a hundred Serpents So he This indeed Montanus doth not relate to the same end that I do to prove that there be supernatural operations by the intervention of Devils and Spirits but he to prove the strength of imagination For he was it seems of the opinion of some Enthusiasts Arabs as Avicenna and some others embraced by some professing Christianity also who did ascribe so much to the strength of imagination as if Rain and Thunder and even Earthquakes might be caused by it Certainly they that did believe this really had a very strong imagination How comes it to pass they never did none of those miracles But for a further resolution or refutation of this if any desire it I refer them to learned Fyenus his excellent Treatise De viribus Imaginationis well worth the reading written in the old Aristotelean way though he do Aristotle some wrong unwillingly I believe when he doth say that Aristotle he believeth did write of the strength of the imagination no were but Problem l. 10. c. 12. a great mistake But to our purpose Remigius his relation which is not in Reynolds is more strange and not less credible I think I have seen a man saith he who from all the neighbourhood or confines would draw Serpents into the fire which was inclosed within a Magical Circle and when one of them bigger than the rest would not be brought in upon repetition of the Charms before used he was forced and so into the fire he did yield himself with the rest and with it was compassed So Remigius By this what Pliny meant by his cogique in poenas may be understood But I must conceal nothing from my Reader They that should see my Remigius would easily believe that I have read him over more than once by my noting and scribling in most pages of it Yet at this time I must confess I could not find this passage where I thought it most probable it would be found And that which makes me somewhat suspitious is that I find much of this relation set out with more florish as acted elsewhere which I confess is very possible that what the Devil hath done in one place he may do in another And this I find in an Author who professeth to have travelled the greatest part of Europe to satisfie his curiosity and to speak truth for the bigness I have not read stranger things in all kinds in any book but this of Serpents he doth relate from others of what credit I know not he doth not say he did see them himself And therefore the Reader may suspend his belief as to this particular relation if he please till he or I have found it in Remigius Yet withal I must say that the same Author but now spoken of though he doth not attest this relation of Serpents as a thing seen by himself yet another he doth Vidimus his word which in point of the creatures charmed is as different as Serpents are from Flies in all other things have much affinity Hercules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the title of the book one Joh. Exnestus Burggravius the Author these two particulars of Serpents and Flies page 68. and 77. My Author for Remigius is one that calls himself Philippus Ludwigus Elich in his Daemonomagia who is very full of quotations out of good books I confess but otherwise whether sober or no when he wrote he is so full of extravagancies I do not know But again Remigius and Burggravius their relations agree very well but that they do not agree in the place which is no argument against the truth some may think it a confirmation of their relations because as I said before it is very possible the same thing in substance might be acted as most other things are in different places But Delrio in whom though diligent and copious enough I find none of these nor a word of Valesius he hath an example which he calls celebre exemplum as known unto all men that seek after these things and uncontrollable so I understand him but of a quite contrary event for there the Magician was kill'd by the Serpent who last appeared who probably might be the Devil himself but enough of this MY next instance in Reynolds also or testimony is of Andreas Masius that excellent Commentator and learned Divine who being intreated by Wierius to explain unto him the true notions of the Hebrew words wherewith all kind of Witchcraft is expressed in the Scriptures when he comes to the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth incantare or to inchant he doth add Et ego vidi c. I also have seen them who with words or charms could stop wild beasts and force them to await the stroak of the dart who also could force that domestick beastly creature which we call a Rat as soon as seen amazed and astonished to stand still as it were immovable until not by any deceit or ambushes but only stretching their hands
into English They are out of his book De Magistro which in a Socratical way that is by way of Dialogues doth comprehend divers curious speculations concerning the end or use of speech St. Augustin one of the two speakers taking upon him to be the Magister and Adeodatus the other speaker made to be the disciple This Adeodatus after much arguing to and fro having often been compelled by force of argument to confess that true which he thought false and on the contrary that false which he thought otherwise of before being grown at the last more cautious what he denied or assented unto he is commended for it by St. Augustin in these words I am well pleased with your doubting as it is a sign to me of a mind or disposition not inclinable to rashness than which such a disposition nothing doth more conduce to setledness or tranquillity of mind For how can we avoid trouble of mind when those things which through too great facility of assent or Credulity we had yielded as true by opposite arguments begin to totter and at last are extorted from us against our wills So that as it is but reasonable to yield assent unto those things which we have throughly considered and perfectly understand so to embrace that we know not as though we knew it and understood it is no less dangerous For the danger is that when we have been often beaten off from those things which we conceived once most firm and solid we fall at last into such a hatred or jealous suspition of reason that we shall not think fit or safe to yield assent unto any truth though never so perspicuous and apparent So St. Augustin there Though he speak properly of belief and unbelief in matters of opinions determinable by reason only and we of belief and unbelief in matters of fact only determinable not by reason but by experience yet his words are very applicable to our purpose one great ground of Incredulity and that which doth most justifie it to the world is groundless Credulity BUT on the other side to go on where we began with St. Augustin's rule besides what is against the faith or doth imply manifest contradiction to me I confess nothing is incredible I see so many things with mine eyes and many more I read of in them that have collected and set out Nature's Wonders in several kinds all miraculous to me because though I see the thing plainly and undeniably yet I comprehend not the reason and those that have attempted to find it I speak it of many natural things as the Load-stone and the like are either ridiculously come off as Pomponatius and the like or have still left the matter in great obscurity and their reasons liable to many objections and again I see or believe upon good attestation so many strange effects of the power with God's permission of Devils and Spirits so many to sight and for any reason that we can give miraculous operations that I know not what it is besides what I have before mentioned without good and mature consideration that I can think incredible or impossible Yet I know that the Devils power allow him to the utmost of what can rationally be allowed to a created Spirit is limited and that he cannot do many things What those things are that he cannot is disputed and argued by many to whom I willingly subscribe But he can so imitate and counterfeit that we shall find it a very hard task to distinguish between the reality of that which he cannot and the resemblance which he doth offer unto our eyes He cannot create substances he cannot create men or women nor the least creature I believe that hath its Beeing by generation but he may cast before our eyes such shapes of those things which he cannot create or so work upon our phancy that it shall create them unto us so vigorously so seemingly that he may attain his ends by those counterfeits as effectually perchance as if all were in good earnest what it appears to our deluded eyes So that the most satisfactory limitation I can find or think of of his power is that he can do no more than what God doth permit who hath reserved to himself the Sovereignty of the worlds government and will not suffer them that trust to him and depend of him in the least degree to suffer by him more than what may be for his own glory and their further good if they patiently submit and their faith and confidence hold to the last Whereâ—n I am so confident and so much confirmed even by those strange effects of the Devils power which I have read and believe that it never yet entred into my heart to fear any thing of him more than his temptations against which Christ hath taught me daily to pray But of this more by and by Upon these grounds Miranda naturae Nature's wonders first for which no satisfactory reason can be found collected as many or most hitherto known by divers but if diligently sought daily to be multiplied and secondly the power of the Devil which though not so great now as it was before Christ yet great enough still to cause admiration I know not well I say what to account incredible Could one man trusting to the strength of his wit and the efficacy of his art not without some ground as some learned professors of the art have taken upon them to maintain which I meddle not with speak so proudly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 find me but a place where I may stand conveniently at a convenient distance from the earth it self I suppose his meaning was and I will move the whole earth and could the same man do things in the sight of many which were then generally thought impossible and now to many more incredible and how shall we limit the power of Spirits in knowledge and experience so far exceeding that of mens when God doth permit Yet for all this I do not deny but it is limitted as I said before because it is both against faith and against reason to believe that God will permit them to do many things though not so easie precisely to determine what those things are and much harder to discern what is real and what is counterfeit among the works of so skilful juglers Not easily to believe then what otherwise is acknowledged very possible nor yet absolutely to reject as incredible what to ordinary sense and reason may seem impossible but to consider how attested and not to dispute against clear evidence that 's our first rule or observation OUR second shall be In the relation of strange things whether natural or supernatural to know the temper of the relator if it can be known and what interest he had or might probably be supposed to have had in the relation to have it believed Again whether he profess to have seen it himself or take it upon the credit of others and whether a man by his
profession in a capacity probable to judge of the truth of those things to which he doth bear witness Every one of these particulars would require a particular consideration but that I would not be too long or tedious To make application of this to those witnesses or the chiefest I have produced and made use of I can give no account of their temper by their life or actions they were not nor could be known unto me that way But he was not altogether out who said Loquere ut te videam though subject to many exceptions I know yet ordinarily a man may give some guess at a mans temper in point of seriousness or lightness by his writings Cardan was a learned man and one that was well acquainted with the world of great experience I make no question But he was a man ventosi ingenii self-conceited beyond measure and as covetous of popular applause never spake man more truly than he that first past that censure on him Any man of ordinary judgment may quickly perceive it by his writings A man that did affect to tell strange things that cause wonder that he might be wondred at and admired by them that did believe him And indeed he doth tell more strange things of himself and his father and some other relations of his than a man shall likely meet with any where else But he was not only ventosus as censured by others but also mendacissimus a notable lyar as acknowledged and proved by his great friend Nodaeus and by his confession of himself according to his horoscope Nugax religionis contemptor maledicus impurus calumniator c. all which the same Nodaeus doth acknowledge most true of him SOME man may wonder this by the way what made Nodaeus who otherwise doth most ridiculously exalt him to acknowledge so much truth but there was a reason Cardanus and Nodaeus were not of one Religion in point of Spirits of whom though Cardanus tells many strange stories which I believe from such a convicted lyar are false yet among so many it is possible some might be true But whether false or true Nodaeus as all or most that are of that perswasion admirers of Epicurus c. could not indure to hear of them In that particular he doth cast dirt upon him and makes him the vilest man that ever was In others if you will believe him Cardanus was an incomparable man This in another age might have been thought a contradiction and Nodaeus himself censured for a man of no judgment at all if not worse But he knew what times he wrote in and how men stood affected Neither did his judgment herein deceive him which in a more sober age if God will be so merciful may cause no small wonder Well Cardan for one was a learned man of great experience but I say by Nodaeus his leave this mendacissimus doth spoil all I think they that trust him deserve to be deceived and I doubt many stand not upon that so much so they may be thought some body because they read Cardan I KNOW not any I have made use of but so far as may be guessed by their writings were sober and serious men and so accounted by those known unto me who mention them in their writings They were all or most of them learned Physicians and therefore best able to judge of those things which they wrote of and attested How it should advantage either the credit of their Art and profession which to preserve made Galen so unwilling a long time as before observed before he would acknowledge the efficacy of charms and incantations or their particular profit in their practice to acknowledge and of their own accord publish and proclaim the efficacy of supernatural means for cures c. such as we have made choice of too for instances no man I think can imagine how it might impair it is very apparent The best reward of their ingenuity from the greater number or those sapientissimi in Seneca they could expect is to be accounted either lyars or idiots Lastly Remigius excepted of whom some question may be made because he saith vidi hominem he saw the man he doth not say he saw the thing which yet may be true enough for any thing he saith all the rest expresly profess to have seen with their eyes what they relate Vair indeed doth not mention his eyes but he hath those circumstances which he doth attest which as I say there amount to a vidimus or cecular attestation BUT then thirdly Seneca saith oculis nihil fallacius and doth give some instances His instances are true yet I cannot allow of his inference We must trust to our eyes in most things to our ears and other senses else we shall not know what to trust to However it is very true in some cases our eyes our ears and other senses may deceive us and that relation may be suspected which is grounded upon two eyes or ears only though the witness be granted an honest discerning man I could mention many things that have hapned unto my self in that kind but one thing that hath made most impression I shall make bold to relate It is not many years but it was some time before our happy restoration My Son the only I have or then had and I had rid some twenty or thirty miles that day and came to the house of a worthy Gentlewoman of some relation by marriage where I had been often kindly entertained In the night about midnight I then guessed my said Son and I lying together and both fast asleep I was suddenly awakened by the report of a Gun or Pistolet as I then thought discharged under the bed It shook the bed I am sure Being somewhat terrified I awakened my bed-fellow asked him whether he had heard nothing told him what I had heard and felt He was scarce awake when a second blow was heard and the bed as before which did put him in such a fright that I forgat mine own and wholly applied my self to put him out of it and to keep him in his right wits Thus busie it was not long before a third blow and still the bed as before I would have risen but that he did so closely embrace me that I durst not leave him neither was he willing to let me go It was an hour at least after that third and last blow before I could get him to sleep and before day I also fell asleep In the morning being up before me I bid him look under the bed which he did but not so carefully as one possest with other apprehensions about the cause as he might have done I charged him not to speak to any until my self had first acquainted the Mistress of the house whom I knew an understanding discreet Gentlewoman It was about dinner-time before she came down to the Parlour and then as soberly as I could none being present but two of her daughters vertuous Gentlewomen I first
objection let me first answer it lest I forget it It is very true that this age beyond former ages hath brought forth such things which they that have seen and believe may in a manner think nothing incredible But first all men are not of one temper And then what we have seen posterity must believe upon relation and there will be a time when what we know to be true because we have seen it to many may seem so strange that they will if not deny yet doubt the truth of it In a word therefore whatever our luck may be it is our desire that more than one age or some that are not yet born may reap the benefit of what we write Now to Epicurus FIRST for his life of which more afterwards But we will suppose him for a time to have been a sober temperate man or rather his life to have been sober and temperate externally For it is a true observation both of Philosophers and Divines that not the outward actions barely is that that can denominate a man truly sober and temperate or just and righteous and the like but the opinions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from which those actions do proceed So nevertheless that we who do not see the hearts of others judge charitably of all men by their actions which we see except themselves reveal their hearts and make open profession of their opinions Epicurus his opinion did very much engage him to a sober temperate life who as he did acknowledge no humane felicity I know what I say and shall make it good before I have done present or future but in bodily pleasure so knew well enough and to that end hath many specious profitable memento's and advices to others of his crew that the right and sober management of such pleasures was the way to enjoy them long and to make them more pleasing at the very time Besides I would ask if the Devil have a design to infect men with some impious execrable doctrine will he chuse if he have choice an open riotous lend man to be his instrument or a sober man in shew at least if he can have him Which makes me remember what I find in the Margents of a Lucretius which once belonged to a very learned and judicious man Over against those words at the beginning of the fourth book Deus ille fuit Deus inclute Memmi c. he writes Epicurus Deus judicio Lucretii meo Diaboli 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nequissimus that is Epicurus in Lucretius his judgment a God in my judgment a wicked Proctor or Minister of the Devil Let us therefore in the first place look into his opinions out of his own writings whereof no question can be made First that the world Heaven and Earth came to what it is not by any Providence but by a casual jumbling of atomes I need not comment upon that some men I believe would be well pleased to have them in childrens Catechisms instead of somewhat else that doth not so well please them that Sun and Moon were not intended either for light or for any other use for the benefit of men nor the eyes made to see or the ear to hear or the feet for motion but all by chance without any fore-cast of providence This is horrible and there is more of it But by the way that the Sun and Moon were but just so big and every Star as they appeared unto us and our eyes There is no impiety in this perchance some will say but I pray hath not this man well deserved that his Philosophy should be inquired into with so much care and diligence But we go on That what men call right and wrong justice and injustice vertue and vice were but fancies and empty sounds nothing truly real and worthy our pursuit but what was pleasant and delightful which also was profitable Is not this impious can any thing be more Was he a man or a monster a Devil that could harbour such thoughts and take such pains to seduce others to the same perswasion But I know it will be said Did not the same man explain himself that by pleasure he did understand chiefly a vertuous life without which there could be no true pleasure And again Doth not the same though he acknowledged no Divine Providence yet acknowledge and profess to believe that there is a God and that he thought it very convenient that God whether one or more for the excellency of his nature should be reverenced and worshipped by men But I beseech you can any man be so foolish so sottish himself or so far presume upon the ignorance and simplicity of others as to plead this for Epicurus in good earnest What is before objected to him is written and maintained by him very positively without any exception or qualification in divers of his writings as shall be more fully declared afterwards But Epicurus knew what had hapned to other professed Atheists before him it did concern him no less than his life not to deny positively the being of a God or Gods But what Gods I pray did he acknowledge How doth he describe them Homunculis similes lineamentis duntaxat extremis non habitu solido c. that is Like men and no men having all the members of a mans body but not the use of any in the shape and outward appearance but not substance of a body So Cicero out of him who though he liked not his Philosophy yet did much favour his person and never or seldom speaks of him but very tenderly not so much for his sake I believe as for theirs some of his best friends that were of that Sect. Neither could he mistake him or misreport him than whom no man of those times was better versed in the writings of Greek Philosophers Seneca also who did study to the utmost of his power to acquit Epicurus and to advance the credit of his sentences not without some respect to himself probably whereof more afterwards yet when he speaks of his God what a creature doth he make of it Epicurus saith he did disarm his God as from all manner of weapons so from all kind of power too and that no man might have any cause to fear him he hath thrown him far out of the world Extra mundum for which some Editions metum others motum which Lipsius would have metam but mundum the right certainly confirmed by what followeth In medio intervallo hujus alterius coeli desertus sine animali sine homine sine re ruinas mundorum c. as also by the same expression in another place Alius illos extra mundum suum projicit out of the world both Terrestrial and Celestial as he doth explain himself afterwards Nulla illi nec tribuendi nec nocendi materia est Non exaudiens vota nec nostri curiosus c. De benef 4. cap. 18. Any man that reads that whole passage may easily see that Seneca doth but make
of his God and his pretended worship I shall acknowledge my self very much deceived who not only think so of the place but am also very confident that Gassendus thought no otherwise of it himself whatever he was willing his well-affected Reader to the cause should think of it But absurdity be it so or no I make nothing of that in comparison of the impiety For besides many pregnant testimonies of the Old Testament where among other things we shall find that that which doth not profit is the periphrasis of an Idol and so Epicurus his God not a God but an Idol upon that account how shall we excuse St. Paul who every where almost layeth it for a ground of his exhortations to Godliness and Piety that Religion is profitable For therefore we both labour and suffer c. For as much as you know that your labour is not in vain and for the hope that is layed up for you in Heaven c. and looking for the blessed hope c. and the end of your faith the salvation of your souls and for he had a respect unto the recompence of the reward And yet more positively He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder c. and how Christ himself What doth it profit c. for your reward is great in Heaven and the like And what is it that the Deists as they call themselves such Deists as Epicurus was who pretend that they believe a God and that they worship him not for any fear or hope of reward which they exclaim against as servile worship witness their wicked Catechism in Verse set out and refuted by Mersenius but for his goodness in that he suffers men to live as they will and do what they will and takes no notice and for the excellency of his nature what is it I say that they more uphold themselves with or intice others more effectually by than this wicked and abominable but to weak carnal men very plausible plea and pretence THAT Gassendus himself was an Atheist really I would be loath to say I hope not He hath written against some of Epicurus his opinions But in discharge of my duty to God and religion I shall say and my conscience doth oblige me that had he had the advice of all the Atheists that ever were had he advised with Hell it self he could not have lighted upon a more destructive way to all religion and piety to all goodness and vertue than this of Epicurus his filial fear or love of God For what inference will carnal men in such an age as this especially will or can make of it but this that they may believe as Epicurus believed no God I will not say though it be true enough but no providence no conscience no difference of good or evil in nature of what is just or what is not I might add and live as Epicurus lived but I will only say believe as Epicurus believed and yet flatter and comfort themselves that they are religious nay more religious than many nay most Christians accounted religious are Was there ever a more wicked and pernicious device The Reader will excuse me if in all this discourse I have dealt with Gassendus somewhat roundly more than I would have done with a man of his learning and whom I believe to have been a civil man besides a particular respect I have to him for laying open the vanity and falsity of Des Cartes and his Philosophy some part of it at least which I think was a very good work and may prove very useful when once that malignant humor of innovating which doth now so greatly prevail will wax more cold and remiss I wish he had not had so much of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in him as Galen calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I believe was the chief thing that did put him upon this Vnchristian project of magnifying Epicurus Wherein how much he went against his conscience we need not appeal to God who is the only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any man may quickly find it by his book who shall but look into it any man I say that hath not according to the current of the times more affection for Epicurus than the truth But what if any man shall reply for Gassendus that all this may be and yet Gassendus not so much in fault who doth in the same book openly profess that whatsoever he had said or should say for Epicurus was but Exercitationis gratia Absit alia mente id praestem quam exercitationis gratia his own words that is God forbid I should do it to any other intention but by way of exercise or exercitation only And why not as fâ—ee for him to praise Epicurus as others have done â—he quartan Ague the Gouâ— an Asse a Louse and thâ—â— Monster of men as described by Homer 〈◊〉 Had he rested there it had been better and more justiâ—â—able Upon the same grounds for ought I know a man â—hough I should not commend it might write the prâ—isâ—â— of the Devil For many things might be spoken oâ— the excellâ—ncy of his nature as he is a Spirit a good Spirit by his first creation then his improvement by his experience since that time his wonderfâ—◠〈◊〉 and projects from time to time to bring himself into credit among men and if a man would say thâ—â—oâ—â— of his love to men he tempted our first Parents 〈…〉 mâ—ght be the occasion of a further good unto them in 〈◊〉 and by Christ and therefore to be honoured and worshipped by men were it but for the conceit and in very deed somewhat I think to that purpose hath been said by some ancient Hereticks and novelty of the opinion there would be some I make no question but would embrace it But Gassendus goes on and when he comes to that as indeed he was bound or he had had no thanks that he did it bona fide though ready to recant when better informed yet this bona fide doth spoil all But whatever himself thought or knew what amends can he make to such who some good Christians I make no question and learned enough perchance to have found out his jugling had they but suspected him upon his credit without any farther disquisition have espoused his cause and think it no disparagement to Christianity if Christians indeed to speak with honour and respect of that monster of men and spiteful enemy of God and all Godliness I HAVE been somewhat long upon this subject of Epicurus somewhat longer perchance than some would have wished But I shall not apologize I have not forgotten that Credulity and Incredulity in Civil affairs which doth include the judgments as well as actions of men is my subject And truly of all things of that nature this age hath produced this of Epicurus seems to me and I believe to many others the most prodigious and incredible Not that any one man for
some men can never attain unto though they be taught by reason of some accidental defect But for more clearness because it is to our purpose to instance in somewhat that hath more affinity There is no man I think where Dogs are but are acquainted more or less with their nature and conditions Of all creatures generally they love and know their masters best this is common to them all more or less to be loving naturally But what if I should tell a story of one or more Dogs that loved their masters so well that they would needs die with them Would it be a good argument that it must be a fable because all Dogs do it not Lipsius hath one of a Dog of his own house that loved his mistress so well that when she died and he saw her dead run into the Garden digged himself a hole and there ended soon after his life Haec tota familia nostra teste sunt gesta He doth appeal to all his family who were present and saw it for the truth of it Scaliger hath another in his Exercitations against Cardan every whit as strange What if I should tell of Dogs that have pursued the murderers of their Masters so constantly so vigorously that notice being taken publickly it came at last by order of justice to a duel or combat wherein the murderers being overcome by the Dogs they confessed the crime We have the story of one in Scaliger and out of Scaliger in Lipsius the History of another out of St. Ambrose Giraldus Cambrensis in his Itinerary doth transcribe So he professeth But if faithfully then the Editions we have of St. Ambrose that which I have not at this time I am sure are defective For the latter part of the Duel is there wanting And indeed the story seems to me but imperfect as it ends there no sense I think can be made of the words to bring the relation to an end without which it is not probable that St. Ambrose would have left it But if for persecutus as printed in my Ambrose set out by Erasmus at Bazil Anno Dom. 1567. we read it as I find it in an old Manuscript I have perpessus some end may be made of it though not so full or so clear as in Giraldus I wish I were in better case were it but for St. Ambrose's sake to look into it For I shrewdly suspect because I have known it done in many books long ago that some who were scandalized at the story as absurd or impossible as many things through meer ignorance to the prejudice of truth are often suspected did cut off St. Ambrose his relation with those words of their own devising Itaque quod erat difficilius ultionem persecutus est so printed but perpessus certainly as in my Manuscript to make any sense of it quia defensionem praestare non potuit which words are not in Giraldus I hope if not already done though unknown to me some body will take the pains who is better able than I am at this time or ever like to be HOW many more strange things from good Authors or certain experience even of our times might be added which if a man should deny because all Dogs do not so or not one of a thousand or a million or scarce one in an age how ridiculous were it I remember when I lived in Sussex I heard of one Dog there of another when in Sommerset but in another kind from persons of credit I make no question of the truth which nevertheless I might live fifty years longer and not hear the like Great pity it is that no memory is kept of such rare accidents whereof besides the improvement of the knowledge of nature good use might be made upon several occasions Did we understand the nature of Dolphins perfectly we might give a reason probably how some come to do so and so sometimes and how sutable it is to their nature and yet how through the defect of some one circumstance or more in themselves or the party they would pitch upon or some circumstance of time they come to do it no oftner though much oftner I believe than is generally known or for want of good records remembred But upon Boys all stories do agree that they commonly pitch upon such and that they are some of the kind at least great lovers of musick Which doth make well for Arion's case THIS objection therefore that it is not natural to Dolphins because all Dolphins do it not or that we read of very few who have done or reported to have done the like rejected as invalid and weak in Arion's case I should rather object how a Boy or Man could sit a Dolphin I will not say playing upon an instrument for there is no need of that but sit him or ride him for a considerable time through so many waves and not be washed off or drowned To me it doth seem very strange to another it may be not so much But if we suppose the Sea as some Seas are known to be ordinarily or at some times of the year very still and calm then there 's no further question as to this And indeed Pliny tells us of one of these Dolphin-riders who being surprised by a tempest was drowned which the Dolphin but I warrant it no further to the Reader than he shall like his authority apprehending himself the cause of did end his life upon the Land for grief Another question would be how a Boy can sit a Dolphin without danger and whether a Dolphin be naturally shaped for that use Pliny indeed doth express in the relation of his first story that the Dolphin had the providence pâ—nnae aculeos velut vagina condere and Apion writing of the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Aelianus tells the story of another such Boy who riding a Dolphin did unadvisedly run his belly against the thorns or prickles of his back-fin whereof he died and the Dolphin after him for grief Had I ever seen a Dolphin I could judge better or had I at this time either Gesnerus or Rondeletius or could any where so far from all Libraries that I can call Libraries but mine own and that a sorrowful one too at this time a remnant of a Library rather than Library come to the sight of either I have the pictures of Dolphins in some books but they do not satisfie me I FIND in the books of a very learned man which I have out of Rondeletius that a Dolphin hath no prickles in his back who thereupon doth infer that therefore Apion did impose and might as well in the whole story as in that particular But that is somewhat a hard judgment by his favour I believe Rondeletius that they have none ordinarily But as the Camels of some Countries differ from the Camels of others by the number of their bunches as Pliny and some others tell us and so many other creatures of one Climat or Country or of
a man would think had they laid a foundation for such a height and the work left imperfect Herodotus or some after him had taken some notice of it whereas the account we have of the height then extant and to be seen is rather incredible than gives any ground of suspition of any imperfection I should rather think that the foundation being laid when the work began to rise and to make some shew it was interrupted and in after ages not many ages after I believe brought to that perfection in which it was to be seen in Herodotus his days Yet again I must confess that if the platform of the top of this Tower was so large as to contain a large Temple or Chappel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are Herodotus his words which may signifie either it may be not unlikely that some further or higher structure was intended if not this very Temple or Chappel from the beginning if the builders had not been interrupted So that in the conclusion I think there may be as much said for it as against it that this Tower of Herodotus was the very Tower of the Scripture Should any man object the long continuance of it fourteen hundred years as Pererius doth cast it from the first erection a long time for so high a structure it will be answered that the Pyramids of Aegypt as great or greater a miracle in my judgment all things considered than this Tower was have already stood twice as long and are yet in case according to the best account we have of them to stand some thousand years if the world last so long AND by the way let us take notice that the account Herodotus full two thousand years ago hath given of these Pyramids is yet most followed by them in our days that have had the curiosity to view them and the skill withal as able Mathematicians and Geographers to examine every circumstance of his description with accurateness We may therefore the better believe him in the account he gives of other great works extant in his days which himself not trusting the relation of others had the curiosity to view that he might satisfie himself and posterity the better As first his account of that miraculous Labyrinth which he saith himself though he judged the Pyramids when he first saw them far to exceed whatever was most admired in Greece as the Temples of Ephesus of Samus or the like yet the Labyrinth he thought went beyond even the Pyramids That Labyrinth where he saw twelve great Halls with a multitude of Pillars and stone roofs A thousand five hundred rooms above ground he saw and as many he was told and believed under ground answerable to the others but those he was not admitted to see as repositories for the body of the Kings the founders of the Labyrinth and some sacred or consecrated Crocodiles Out of the rooms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he passed into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chambers out of chambers into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 closets and so into other Halls so that he was ravished he professeth with the sight above measure The walls that inclosed the Labyrinth were engraven with many figures and at the end of the Labyrinth a Pyramis adorned with variety of Animals Truly I make no question but there was enough really to be seen to ravish him or any man that had seen it Yet we must remember that he was in a Labyrinth and might easily lose himself in his reckoning besides that his very admiration and astonishment might make him less able to observe so diligently as otherwise he might have done And that his leaders and informers the Aegyptian Priests who knew the certainty might of purpose to make their miracle more miraculous as they did in then years and some other things add somewhat is very possible This may be thought and not improbable yet we may not conclude from bare probability that so it is certainly Now to say that after this Labyrinth he saw the Lake called the Lake of Marios which he yet admired more than all he had seen before as himself doth profess to some may sound like a fable it doth not so to me who am very confident that the description he makes of it is very exact according to the truth of what he saw with his own eyes The same I may say of all those other strange things which either of Babylon or any other place are recorded by Herodotus as certain and true all or most attested by some others and by later Chronologers not questioned though to many who by what they now see or is to be seen judge only I doubt incredible BUT I may forget my self and whilest I tell of strange things that were once pass by the miracles of our time that are now to be seen Such is Coenobium B. Laurencii or St. Laurence his Hospital in Spain according to Bertius a learned Geographer his description and testimony Truly I should think so of it by his description And for his testimony the words are very significant and express Opus istud praestantissimis nobilissimsque operibus quae vel extant usquam vel unquam fuerunt adnumeratur ab iis qui cum judicio spectare nova iisque vetera conferre queunt This is more than I have heard of it by any Travellor yet not more than may very well be true For it is a true observation of Pliny both of great wits of great works Alia esse clariora alia majora If there be any other such great work of our times which I do not mention it is not because I dote upon antiquity but because I know it not not my partiality but my ignorance Neither am I of that opinion that all great or costly works deserve truly to be admired but such only as are as profitable publickly as they are great or such at least as for their beauty and magnificence are so ravishing that they teach us withal less to admire ordinary petty sights and objects which vulgar souls are so taken with If Aristotle may be heard I hope he will when men return to sobriety that is truest magnificence and deserving highest commendation which is bestowed upon the Gods as in the erection of magnificent Temples and the like not because they need it but the better to set out their majesty unto men and next unto this that magnificence which is beneficial unto the people So he Not to mention the Temple consisting of one stone the roof excepted which Herodotus doth tell us of not without some admiration of it he tells us of a large and miraculous edifice hewn out of a rock consisting of one simple stone which to transfer from Elephantina the native place of it to Sai where Amasis King of Aegypt did appoint it to be placed for a rare sight two thousand expert mariners were employed for the space of three years Herodotus I confess doth tell us of it as much admiring which I profess of all
Kings order brought to Paris and by him bought to be kept in his Cabinet of rarities as the very bones of a Gyant This Riolanus doth not deny Peireskius that great and famous Antiquary upon accurate examination of all circumstances did at first pass his verdict that probably they might be true bones of some great Gyant of the old time but afterwards did rather incline to think them the bones of an Elephant Riolanus after some conjectures doth pitch upon that at the last to make them fossilia bred and begot in the earth because saith he it is the property of some grounds to produce some bony stones or stony bones which have all the properties of true bones Or that they might be made by art which may be done he saith and in time thus metamorphosed by the water He hath more conjectures but in this particular case for as to the nature of the Fossilia in general and the marvellous works of nature in this kind I believe much but in this particular case in my judgment so improbable that it doth to me clearly appear that he had more will to oppose others than ability to give better satisfaction himself His exceptions from the dimensions or properties of the bones as first related I shall not take upon me to examine or to control it is not my trade Only I can say there might be some mistake in the relation or somewhat besides the ordinary course of nature which doth happen we know sometimes I my self when I was young did see a grave in Spittle-fields two or three days after it was opened The skull was broken in pieces by him that digged the ground and the pieces scattered and some carried away But by some pieces that were found and put together the whole skull by the Kings appointment as I was told being drawn out according to art did equal a bushel in the compass of it So I was told and I think by one of the Court and a Scholar but I am not certain I my self was then sick of a disease which I think caused more wonder than the Gyants bones It was but a pin but a very costly pin it proved in the compass of seven years for so long it was not before it came out of my body but before my body was well of it so that I was seldom out of the Chirurgeons hands But Physicians I thank God cost me little Sir Theod. Mayerne and Dr. Raphael Thoris I had in London where most of my sickness was who were my very good friends as they had been my Fathers But to return I had some of the Coins that were found in this Spittle-field's Grave But that other Grave is my business That that Grave should be the Grave of Teutobochus that Gyant or Gyant-like man mentioned by divers Ancients who according to Peireskius his casting must have been some 10. or 12. foot high according to an old inscription pretended to be found in the said grave besides other reasons that have been given I less believe it for that very inscription which I am sure cannot be of that antiquity except we should say that such a grave being digged up many hundred years ago which by a constant tradition or by some much worn inscription did appear to be Teutobochus his grave to increase the miracle of his height and bigness it was of purpose so re-built and the inscription also according the wit and genius of that age so renewed This is possible a man may say and somewhat of that nature I am sure hath been done in more than one age Witness the old Statues which with changing of their heads became the Statues of divers men or perchance of Gods and Men successively and many other things done in that kind which I will not stop to call to mind because there is no need except I had more confidence that it is so indeed I shall conclude nothing but as I begun when I have well considered of all particulars in the relation of these bones what I account certain in it what doubtful and perchance fabulous and read what others have thought and written of it and not of this only but of many such relations of graves and bones well attested I am at a stand and suspend my belief But therefore to conclude that all such relations are false because we cannot absolutely resolve or answer all doubts and Queres I hold that a very preposterous way and very unworthy the profession of a Philosopher or one that seeks after truth time may reveal many secrets which are now hid and diligent searching may find some but well agreeing with the dull and sottish Epicuraean humour which to prevent the trouble of inquiry and withal fearing that we may be forced sometimes to go to a higher cause than the sanctuary of Atomes hath found a compendious way to reject all as fabulous any evidence of truth to the contrary notwithstanding which it cannot give a reason of We have their own words out of Lucian a great friend if not professor of the Sect in our Preface to Dr. Dâ—e's Plato therefore said well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that To wonder and to admire was a quality that well became a Philosopher and was indeed the beginning and foundation of all Philosophy And so Aristotle too more than once very rightly For to wonder and admire doth cause inquiry and diligence it also sharpens the wit and brain But to believe nothing true that is strange and admirable doth well become such infidels who make their ease and their pleasure their God If any except that rather to wonder little Nil admirari the Poet saith may become a Philosopher better as he whose work is to dive into the causes of things which cause wonder to the ignorant that may be true too rightly understood since that not to wonder or to wonder but little is the fruit of having wondred much and that too from Aristotle that true master of reason indeed a title lately usurped by some who have as little right to it as any men of the world I think 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But what if the deceitfulness of men more than the obscurity of nature or any other cause be the cause of our admiration That also must upon such occasions among other things be remembred and those Etruscae Antiquitates before spoken of may serve for a pregnant example what pains some men though they get nothing by it will take to contrive a cheat and what admiration they cannot by true to raise it by false miracles What if some men though they cannot contrive any thing that will be ripe to work whilest they live yet can be so base and unworthy as to solace themselves whilest they live with the presumption of deluded posterity by their means So indeed it might happen that four or five hundred years before that grave was opened in Daulphine some such conceited man if man to be called and not Devil rather