competent Estimators and are accustomed to bring much Patience and Attention to the discernment of difficult and important Truths profess themselves satisfi'd with them the Probations may yet be cogent notwithstanding the difficulty to have their strength apprehended For if such a difficulty ought to pass for a mark that a Ratiocination is not valid no Reasonings will be found fitter to be rejected or distrusted than many of those whose Cogency has procur'd such a Repute to Mathematical Demonstrations 3. It may also be deduc'd from the foregoing discourse That 't is not always against Reason to embrace an Opinion which may be incumbred with a great Difficulty or liable to an Objection not easie to be solv'd especially if the Subject be such that other Opinions about it avoid not either the same Inconveniencies or as great ones The first part of what is said in this Consideration will often follow from the Supposition made in the precedent Discourse For those things that render a Doctrine or Assertion difficult to be conceiv'd and explain'd will easily supply the Adversaries of it with Objections against it And as for the latter viz. the Clause which takes notice that the Consideration to which 't is annex'd will chiefly take place in that sort of Opinions that are specifi'd in it it will need but little of distinct Proof For 't is manifest enough that if the Subject or Object about which the Opinion propos'd is conversant be such that not only the contradictory Opinion but others also are obnoxious either to the same Inconveniencies or to others that are equal or greater the difficulties that are urg'd against a Theological Doctrine may as hath been shewn already in the first Corollary be rationally enough attributed not to the unreasonableness of the Opinion but to somewhat else The last Consectary that as I intimated may be deduc'd from the precedent Discourse is That 't is not always Unreasonable to believe something Theological for a Truth which I do not say is truly inconsistent with but we do not clearly discern to comport very well with something else that we also take for a Truth or perhaps that is one indeed if the Theological Tenet be sufficiently prov'd in its kind and be of that sort of things that we have been of late and are yet discoursing of The generality of our Philosophers as well as Divines believe That God has a foreknowledge of all future Contingencies and yet how a certain Prescience can consist with the Free-will of Man which yet is generally granted him in things meerly Moral or Civil is so difficult to discern that the Socinians are wont to deny such things as depend upon the will of free Agents to be the proper Objects of Omniscience and the Head of the Remonstrants though a very subtle Writer confesses that he knows not how clearly to make out the consistency of Gods Prescience and Mans freedom both which he yet confesses to be Truths being compell'd to acknowledge the former for the latter is evident as well by the Infiniteness that must be ascrib'd to Gods Perfections as by the Prophetick Predictions whereby such contingent Events have been actually foretold And the reconcilement of these Truths is not a difficulty peculiar to the Christian Religion but concerns speculative Men in all Religions who acknowledge the Deity to be infinitely perfect and allow Man as they do to be a free Agent But I have made this Section so prolix already that I must not enlarge on this third particular And therefore I shall shut it up with an acknowledgment of Des-Cartes which may be apply'd not only to it but to almost all that has been discours'd in this Section and indeed to a great part of this Letter He then in an Epistle that came not forth till some years after the Writers death speaks thus to the Philosophical Adversary to whom 't is addressed As I have often said when the Question is about things that relate to God or to what is Infinite we must not consider what we can comprehend of them since we know that they ought not to be comprehended by us but only what we can conceive of them or can attain to by any certain Reason or Argument SECT VII And now 't is time to advance to one of the main Considerations I had to propose to you concerning the Subject of this Letter and it is this That when we are to judge whether a thing be contrary to Reason or not there is a great deal of difference whether we take Reason for the Faculty furnish'd only with its own innate Principle and such Notions as are generally obvious nay and if you please with this or that Philosophical Theory or for the Faculty illuminated by Divine Revelation especially that which is contain'd in the Books commonly call'd the Scripture To clear and inforce this the better I shall invite you to take notice with me of the two following particulars We may then in the first place consider That ev'n in things meerly Natural Men do not think it at all Irrational to believe divers such things upon extrinsecal Proofs especially the Testimony of the skilful as if it were not for that Testimony a Man though born with good parts and possibly very Learn'd in the Peripatetick or some other particular Philosophy would look upon as Irrational to be believ'd and contrary to the Laws of Nature Of this I shall give you some Instances in the Phaenomena of the Loadstone and particularly such as these That the Loadstone though as was above intimated with one part it will draw yet with another the same stone will repel the same point of the same excited Needle and yet at the same time be fit to attract either point of another Needle that never came near a Loadstone before That though it be the Loadstone that imparts an attractive virtue to the Iron yet when the Loadstone is cap'd as they call'd it and so a piece of Iron and consequently a distance is interpos'd betwixt the stone and the weight to be rais'd it will take up by many times more than if it be it self apply'd immediately thereunto insomuch that Mersennus relates that if there be no mistake he had a Loadstone that of it self would take up but half an Ounce of Iron which when arm'd or cap'd would lift up ten Pounds which says he exceeded the former weight three hundred and twenty times That a Mariners Needle being once touch'd with a vigorous Loadstone will afterwards when freely poiz'd turn it self North and South and if it be by force made to regard the East and West or any other points of the Compass as soon as 't is left at liberty 't will of its self return to its former Position That a Loadstone floating on water will as well come to and follow a piece of Iron that is kept from advancing towards it as when it self is fix'd and the Iron at liberty 't will draw that
Metal to it That without any sensible alteration in the Agent or the Patient the Loadstone will in a trice communicate all its virtues to a piece of Steel and enable that to communicate them to another piece of the same Metal That if a Loadstone having been markt at one end be cut long-wise according to its Axis and one Segment be freely suspended over the other the halves of the markt end that touch'd one another before will not now lie together but the lower will drive away the upper and that which regarded the North in the markt end of the intire Loadstone will join with that extreme of the lower half which in the intire stone regarded the South That as appears by this last nam'd Property there are the same Magnetical Qualities in the separated parts of a Magnet as in the intire stone and if it be cut or even rudely broken into a great many parts or fragments every one of these portions though perhaps not so big as a Corn of Wheat will if I may so speak set up for its self and have its own Northern and Southern Poles and become a little Magnet sui juris or independent upon the stone from which 't was sever'd and from all its other parts That if a Loadstone be skilfully made Spherical this little Magnetick Globe very fitly by our Gilbert call'd a Terrella will not only being freely plac'd turn North and South and retain that Position but have its Poles its Meridians its AEquator c. upon good grounds designable upon it as they are upon the great Globe of the Earth And this will hold whether the Terrella be great or small I might not only much encrease the number of these odd Magnetical Phaenomena's but add others about other Subjects But these may suffice to suggest to us this Reflection That there is no doubt to be made but that a Man who never had the opportunity to see or hear of Magnetical Experiments would look upon these as contrary to the Principles of Nature and therefore to the Dictates of Reason as accordingly some Learned Aristotelians to whom I had occasion to propose some of them rejected them as Incredible And I doubt not but I could frame as plausible Arguments from the meer Axioms of Philosophers and the Doctrine of Philosophick Schools against some Magnetical Phaenomena which Experience hath satisfi'd me of as are wont to be drawn from the same Topicks against the Mysterious Articles of Faith since among the strange Properties of the Loadstone there are some which are not only admirable and stupendious but seem repugnant to the Dictates of the received Philosophy and the course of Nature For whereas Natural Bodies how subtile soever require some particular Dispositions in the Medium through which their Corpuscles are to be diffus'd or their Actions transmitted so that Light it self whether it be a most subtile Body or a naked Quality is resisted by all opacous Mediums and the very effluvia of Amber and other Electricks will not permeate the thinnest Glass or even a sheet of fine Paper yet the Loadstone readily performing his Operations through all kind of Mediums without excepting Glass it self If the Poles of two Magnetick Needles do both of them regard the North another Philosopher would conclude them to have a Sympathy at least to be unlikely to disagree and yet if he bring these Extremes of the same Denomination within the reach of one another one will presently drive away the other as if there were a powerful Antipathy between them A somewhat long Needle being plac'd horizontally and exactly poiz'd upon the point of a Pin if you gently touch one end with the Pole of a vigorous Magnet that end shall manifestly dip or stoop though you often take it off the Pin and put it on again And this inclination of the Needle will continue many years and yet there is not only no other sensible change made in the Metal by the Contact of the Loadstone but one end has requir'd a durable Preponderancy though the other be not lighter nor the whole Needle heavier than before And the Inclination of the Magnetick Needle may be by another touch of the Loadstone taken away without lessning the weight of the part that is depriv'd of it The Operation that in a trice the Loadstone has on a Mariners Needle though it makes no sensible change in it or weakens the Loadstone it self will not be lost though you carry it as far as the Southern Hemisphere but it will not be the same in all places but in some the Magnetick Needle will point directly at the North in others 't will deviate or decline some degrees towards the East or the West And which seems yet more strange the same Needle in the same place will not always regard the same point of the Compass but lookt on at distant times may vary from the true Meridian sometimes to the West and afterwards to the East All the communicable virtues of the Magnet may be imparted to Iron without any actual Contact of the two Bodies but barely by approaching in a convenient way the Iron to the Loadstone for a few moments And the Metal may likewise be depriv'd of those virtues in a trice without any immediate Contact by the same or another Loadstone If you mark one end of a Rod or other oblong piece of Iron that never came near a Magnet and hold it perpendicularly you may at pleasure and in the hundreth part of a minute make it become the North or South Pole of a Magnetical Body For it when 't is held upright you apply to the bottom of it the North-extreme of an excited and well-poiz'd Needle the lower end of the Iron will drive away that Extreme which yet will be drawn by the upper end of the same Iron And if by inverting you make this lower end the uppermost it will not attract but repel the same Lilly or North-point of the Needle just under which it is to be perpendicularly held Though vis unita fortior be a receiv'd Rule among Naturalists yet oftentimes if a Magnet be cut into pieces these will take up and sustain much more Iron than the intire stone was able to do If of two good Loadstones the former be much bigger and on that account stronger than the other the greater will draw a piece of Iron and retain it much more strongly than the lesser and yet when the Iron sticks fast to the greater and stronger Loadstone the lesser and weaker may draw the Iron from it and take it quite away These Phaenomena to mention now no more are so repugnant to the common sentiments of Naturalists and the ordinary course of things that if antecedently to any Testimony of experience these Magnetical Properties had been propos'd to Aristotle himself he would probably have judg'd them fictitious things as repugnant to the Laws of Nature Nevertheless though it seems incredible that the bare touch of a Loadstone should
he was not to have sinned 1. This is reasonable for no man is sensible of danger approaching but he will endeavour to prevent it as soon as he can and he may delay so long that it will grow impossible If a mans House be on fire will he not presently endeavour to quench it If he be bitten with a Serpent doth he not seek for present remedy He which is fallen into sickness makes haste to send for a Physician every body knowing that recovery is then most to be hoped for when proper Remedies are used in time A Disease may prevail so far by neglect of those Medicines which would have cured it at first that neither they nor any other will be able to do it afterward Delay in this affair makes the work grow harder By repeating of sin the Offender hardens his heart and though afterwards he turn Penitent he will find his task more difficult because instead of a slighter disposition which he might have more easily conquered at first he must now conflict with a firm habit Shall he which cannot outgo a Footman hope to outrun Horsmen 2. The demerit of sin encreaseth by delaying to return Can he hope for mercy who hath stood out in rebellion to the last He which delays to repent treasures up wrath against himself when as God knows if his wrath be kindled but a little there is no man able to endure it It is strange that any Conceit should come into a mans Head that acknowledgeth his dependance upon God to make him defer his return to him by repentance It is possibly this He means at last to repent of his negligence Doth he and yet is deliberately negligent at present It is a new sort of Vertue this to sin pretending an intention to repent and as odd a kind of wisdom to abuse infinite goodness in hope to find that favour of which the course of life which we chuse makes us infinitely unworthy and being continued in will give us strong reasons to despair of when we dy 3. Pardon is not to be had no nor repentance when we will He who is so gracious that he pleaseth to pardon when we truly repent hath not promised we shall have grace to repent when we please We are advised in Holy Writ to seek the Lord whilst he may be found and when that is we are told I love them that love me and those that seek me early shall find me How applicable this is to the matter of Repentance we may see by what is said in the fith and sixth verses of Psalm 32. David was in great distress by reason of Divine Wrath which lay upon him for his sins whereupon he took himself to repentance speedily bewailing and openly confessing his Faith to to God and so returning to his duty found pardon For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found He that knows how great a matter it is to be reconciled to an offended God and that there is a time of finding mercy which if it be slipt the sinner is eternally undone will thereupon make what speed he can to return to God and humbly seek his favour in a seasonable address lest he lose himself with the opportunity It is not many years since the Master of a Ship loitering ashore and not taking the advantage of one Tide when the Wind blew fair with which other Ships went out was forced by contrary Winds to stay in the Port till the forementioned Ships made their Voiage and return'd They are bold people but extremely sottish who slight opportunities of doing that which belongs to their chief good when they know they cannot command the stay or return of such seasons Dost thou slight God in thy youthful health when to have served him early is the unspeakable consolation of old age and which they who then want it would purchase with all the World if they had it upon their Death-bed Is not old age burthen enough except it be plagued with the heavy remembrance of a wicked life This hath made many to cry out with him in the Tragedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Alas for me that men may not grow younger twice and as often old that so I might in my after life correct what was not well done in the former part of it 4. Though a man begin never so soon this work of Repentance is not to be done of a sudden It will require great pains and much time and therefore none is to be lost Can sin which hath taken deep root in the soul be drawn up at the first pull Can our unwillingness to do it be mortified in a moment Is a habit of sin soon master'd No but as we have been longer in contracting it and so making it stronger it will not be conquered but by the contrary habit of Vertue which requires time to be implanted grow and get strength in the soul. It may be that we have many Vices to overcome and do we hope to do that presently We have committed many Errors and can we repent of them all on a sudden We have many things to do and those not easie to one accustomed to sin We are to make our selves Vessels meet for our Masters use but it will require time to do it considering how we are put out of order by sin and therefore all possible speed is necessary in the practise of Repentance 2. As Repentance must be speedy so it must be sincere and that we shall find if it answer those descriptions of it which are given in holy Scripture vvhere it is called The renewing of the mind crucifying the old man and his deeds putting off the body of sin and destroying it crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts purging our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in Gods fear being made new creatures and partakers of a Divine Nature vvith many more expressions to the same purpose The Sense of which is comprehended in these four Particulars 1. Sincere Repentance begins in a change of the inward disposition for which Reason the true Convert is called a new man as we learn from Eph. 4. and the alteration is so great that it denominates the Penitent to be a new Creature which is not meant as to Transubstantiation of Nature but Emendation of Temper making the Penitent not another person but a better Man A few Scriptures considered will make this so plain that every one may know what it means and judge himself accordingly It consists in two things 1. In change of Apprehension 2. In Alteration of Affection 1. In change of Apprehension he which is truly Penitent hath another sense of things than he had before which the Apostle calls renewing in the spirit of the mind by which he now understands the goodness of God and perceives that to be perfect and most acceptable of which he had but mean thoughts before