, >. '■ ' ’ y‘t ■ \ f,.' c , V -■ vy ‘-V.. '' . V y . , , rj <: * . ' - ' ' ' v.-'*.'^/ v '* ^ --r / ' m \ i % • .j; ; y< )r I t ^Wg w ft* \ ■ \ f m. ‘i2h .P86 dtLc f ^ f- T H [£ VISIONS OF THE u L-i Before it comes into the In Se veral D I A L O G U E S. Written by a .M E M B E R OF THE Athenian Society. Thert'^ an immmerahk Company t?/’Pre-exifient Souls 5 thofe that tranfgrejs^ are fent doivn mto Bodies^ fo as being furify'd by fuch Difciplinej they may return again to their ou'n Vlaces, Pythagoras. LONDOJJ, Printed for 3 Iafjn DimtOU, at the Raven in the Pcuhrey^ 1692. -A. TI3 tr. -4 ir'i o in 'S' r. 73 a — ro i~ cn I” V‘l til Ln ■ > I ^ .1 The PREFACE to the Reader. ^ HE Occcajion of this following Treat ife^was i the extravagant DoBrine of ttittyTi^hich of late hath been fo warmly mana£d^ that it wants hut a little more to be made a iph. Article in the Creed of fome perfons.7 have pur* fud the humour^ but yet as Comcedians do^ when they drefs up an Apej to make it appear more ridi- culous : The Ingenious will difcern it at fir(l fight. To fuch as eneyuire the real Deftgn of this Vubli^ eation^I anfwer^ the graver Conferences carry their meaningin their Frontifpiece ; and the more jo- cofe are not without their moB folid Morals ; which perhaps may be more taking to fome Read- ers^ than if they had appear d in a common Drefs. In the whole Difcourfe I have advanc d many things wholly new and unblown upon^more efpe- cially in the 14th. Dialogue^ where Nature Conceptions, and Aftions of unbody’d Spirits are di^inBly treated of. If I am ask'd for my Au- thorities^ I anfwer^ What appears realbnablCj wants no other Recommendation than being (o 5 and as to what appears over lirange^ Let the Reader confideryhat Philofophy had never been improvM had it not been for new Opinions ; which afterwards were reBify^'d by abler Pens, -andfo the frfi Notions were loft and namelefs, un- der new SuperfiruBures ; but fuch a Fate is too agreeable for my Judgment to repine at.) or my V anity to hope for. Perhaps I have morereafcnto beg pardon of my Brethren ^the Members of the ^0Cf= EtP) than of the World) in that I have only men-* tion d the SubjeB to them)Without taking their ad- A 2 vice The Preface to the Reader, ^ice ifi the Cowpofure 5 hui^ my Impatient Book' Seller, alkdging the nearnefs of the Term, ncca- fond the hmrying it into the Prefs ; fime of cur Ademhers being juf now gone out ofPown^^ feme retir'd atprefent to their El^ates in the Countre'y. However^ to make amends for any thing of Errors which have happen'd by hafie, andw^^t of review^ ( which are many ) I think fit to pro - wife the World Two more Pieces, which jfjall have the infpe^kion of the whole Socie;.y this only ^rettnds Of 6efti?e It comeg nito iijt 'Bnop 5 fi the other two will treat of ')E ^entmieutsi of tfie €»oa! toljett lit TSoOP, VIZ. in Infancy y Dreams pi ranees^ Dot a. and tftC mOnttCt Of itg(£.ti{!ence m a "-patate tiate, niittu jcyn^d again to the Body, The Fidt Ireatife is Adatver of Ridicule and a Dream ; ( lee the la^- Dialogue. ) The Two , following will hear more grave DifcourfeSj being cert ain Truths \ and perhaps th^ dee pelt My ft e- ries that Revelation or Aatural Philofophy can treat of ; and we hope they may be fo managd as net to he a little welcome to the world fioth as to removing many falfe Notions, and advancing Ibmething new. One thing more I have to offer ^ that whereever thg Reader meets with fuch Terms as Time, Place, or Matter attributed to Spirits y he take'emnot according to the common accepta- tion^ but as fomething that bears fuch proportion to Spirits, as Time, Place and Matter do to Bodies, I havedone^ and doubt not but to meetn>itb both Applaufes rfwrf Hiding, in both Parries, /re/w fucb as think, them- felvey fujjicicnt pudges : But I beg their Par don^ if Tm con- ey rn d at neither , being refolvd to continue as fecret and invifi- U'J as the Beings oj Pre-cxiflent Spirits, The. The Contents of the Several DIALOGUES. A Trefatory Dialogue between the Secreta* ry of Fate and the Author’^ Soul. I . Between the Spirits of a Poet and a Drun- kard. 2, Between the Spirits of a Jacobite and a Wil- liamite;, about the Royal Congrefs, 5. Between the Sprits of ^Ballard and a Necro^ mancer. 4. Between the Militia of Rational Souls, 5*. Between the Two Orders^ Rational and Ve- gitable. 6. Between Mercury^ a Pre-exiflent Spirit, a Dead Man, Charon, and Hobbs. 7. Two Spirits upon the Ramble^ and the Spirit of an Ufurcr that had fir angl'd himjelfj and walk'd in a Cburch^yard^ about his own Tomb, 8. Between Two Spirits, the Order of V^egita- ble Souls, and Cupid. 9. Between an Aflrologer and a Mountebank. 10. Between Tyv o Sfints, about the Retrogra^ dation of the Dragon’s- Head and Tail. II. Between ^Spirit and his Friend, lately Im\ body'' d in an Infant. 1 2. Between she whole Order of Rational Souls, and Two Intelligencers from the other IVorhl i;. Between the Spirits of Emperor a Beggar. 14. Between Two Spirits that made a Contt^aSl to keep a Correfponde?K€) whoever came to he Embodied fir, f, ' ivo " The Contents. 15'. Spirits^ about the Mufickof the Spheres, 16. BetJi^e^n The Spirits of a poor DoBor a»d his Briend^ and a modern Vhilofopher^ alias Sharper, 17. Between Two Spirits on the Ramble^ and a Flight of Witches, with their Guides 18. Between Two Spirits that are to be Mayor and Mayorefs of a certain Corporation: when they come into their Bodies. 19. Between the Parca^, ( •viz,. Clotho, Lache- iis, and Atropos, ) and a Book-Seller. 20. Between a Tranfmigrated Soul, and an Unbodied Spirit. 21. Between the whole Confiftory of Spirits, examining a Heretick Soul , about fome new DoBrines held forth in oppofition to the com-' mon recei'v d Opinions of the -Stherial Fra- ternity. 22. Between the whole Confiftory of Spirits, being a Difco'very of Vulgar Errors^ receivd by that fuppos^d Heretick Spirit yet a Prifoner. 23. Between the Spirit of one that is to be a Member of the ATHENIAN SOCIETY, a Correfpondent, and of fome that are to be Querifs, 24. Between the Spirits of a General, a Mid- wife, and an Executioner. 27. Between the Spirits of Two ProjeBors, 26. Between Two Travelling Spirits, iy. Between the Spirit that is to belaf Embodied^ and the Spirit that is to be fir ft re-united to its Body at the Day of Judgment. 28. Betwixt Two Spirit s^ one that pretends to de- deny Pre-exiftence, and the other ^ to prove it. PRO: PROPOSALS For Printing a Book^ Entituled^, The young Students LIBRARY ; Containing Extrads and Abridgments of all the molt Valuable Books Printed either in England^ or in the Foreign Journals ^ from the Year 6^^ to this prelent Time. — To which will be added an Introdudfion to the Ufc of Books^ in New EjTay upon all forts of Learning: Written by the The Propofals are as follows. !• Hat this Volume will contain (as is X fuppoled ) about One Hundred and Twenty Sheets^ Printed in a very fair Let- ter, and of the fame fize with our feveral Mercuries and Supplements^ that it may bind up with them, or be fold iingle to thofo who defire it. II. The Subfcribers to give lo j. for eacB Book in Quires j whereof 5* s. to be paid at the Time of Subfoription, and 5- at the Delivery of the Book i which, confidering the exceflive Dearnefs of Pa per, and Charge of procuring the Foreign Journals f\s not dear, ill. To encourage all Perfons that foall con- contribute to the procuring of Snblcripti- ons, he or they that fiiall procure Subferi- ptlons for 6 Books, fhall not only have a 'ytL gratis^ (which will reduce it to about S s,jd. per Bookf) but (hail alfo have given ’em in the New Ejjay upon Learnings and an Emblem of the whole tPj DrawainaF ty : Shou’d I lay really what that is^ Man- . kind cou’d not underftand It^ becaufe of an Incongruity ( as urged before ) betwixt the Tower and Suhje ^ : I might as well enjoyn em to fmell vnth their Eyes^ or tune an Inflrument hj their Tafie. But however, to fi^eak as near as I can to their Capacities_,^ Quantity and Tlace^ be}' ond the Ccelum Emfyreum^ are fwal- / lowed up, as Time is, in Eternity. Before thii Ccelum Ewpyreum and its mat" rial Inclolures were created, all was, as nov- is, beyond it ; ■ and when the laft Fire (a part of rhat mate- rial Fabrick) lhall burn up all the relt of Mat- ter, and by the Fiat of its awful Creator con- fume it felf, there lliall be no more Matter^ Jime^ or Flace^ but all return to the fir(f Eter- nal Conffitution.* Not fo much as Bodies immortailizd Ihall be Matter^ according to the Definition now made of it ; but a new Something j which cannot be tranf- lated out of the Language of Spirits, into that of Men : Matter is not fo perfect as Immate- riality^ Time as Eternity^ Flace as Incircumfcrip- t ability. And whatever Humane Philo- fophers woLi’d be at, I can experimentally af- fare ’em, that they come as near an Adequate Conception of thefc things*- wlien they think not at all of riiem, as they do in their moft FJevated Co7itemplatmii. However^ not to leave ’em altogether in the dark, a Colleftion of what you now do in this pre-exifient State will (if deliver'd according to their Capacities^ not make ’em lels ignorant, efpecially when they are put in mind of the Method of theu* cvvn Living before they came into their Bodies. B 3 A.S. aii&cntutejS of 1^.5. Perhaps they will not believe th^ ever afted liich things^ but look upon all as a Dream or FiBion. " ■ " What think you of Pythagoras his Colleftions before he went into his Body ? A Copy of luch an Original miift be authentick upon your Subfcriptionj and conlequently ufeful to Mankind. S. F. I muft attend the Defiinies^ who are now Sitting in Council i but when I return. I’ll bring you the Original out of the Regifiry^ which you may tranflate as near as the Lan- guage of Spirits can be adapted to the Lan- guage cf Men. DIALOGUE 33|c-ej;(ffcnt ^ptritss* DIALOGUE I. ' BetTveen the Spirits of a Poet^ and a Drunkard. D.T T TEll rnetj Brother : Which way is % V Flight defign’d ? P. I have juft left the Bofopt of CaufeSy to take a Profpedl of the lower World j, to lee if there be any Preparation for my Re- ception there: And yet I’m much troubl’d at the Apprehenfion oF being clogg’d with that uneafie, reftlefs Lump of Humanity, and the attending Conlequences make me very im- patient. A Why lb ? What Conjeftures have ye ? F. ’Tis the want of reaibnable Conjectures | for by all the Obfervations I can make of my Temper, I cannot refolve my left whether Im a MaU^ cr a Female Sfirit. But why do I thus bufte my felt about Sexes ? Certainly ’tis ominous, and argues my Imbodving near at hand : But if after Six Jhoufand Tears ExpeBa- tion I fliou’d be ty’d to a 1 ftiall reckon it a Forc-ftalUng my iJamnation, and had e*en as good commence Devil, without any more adce, and take up with one Hell. — — See you not that Wretch in yonder Grove, with his Hat over his Eyes, Icratching his Head,^ tearing his hfails^ and lending his poor Hackhcy-Soul about, like a Spaniel Dog, to fetch and carry Similitudes, Rhimes, Compo- B : fitioHj Cfte auaenturesf of fition, &c, I remember^ about Thirty Years fince, when he was ourGompanionj hewoud (bmetirhes break oif in the midfi: of a Dif- cour{e,without bidding God-bV’ye^ and away to the Brooks, Groves and Fountains; which made me fufped: the nearnels of a Poetick Preferment.” — — But^ hark! The Hu- mour of our late Companion in his new Lodging ! When formlefs and inanimate I lay. Sleeping in Chaos with my FeUojv-Clay^ Or eer thofe teefning T articles had met , T*o make this wretched Compofition fo compleat^ Without my Knowledge or Concurrence-^ thou Bidfh me awake and live *^ — Well, and what then ?— WhytheSenfe \% put before the Rhime : Now ’twou’d be charitable to allurne an Airy Organ, and help him put, viz. 1 know not how. Poor Wretch ! He knows not what to do^ unlels he undoes all, and begins again, which he’d as lieve be hangd as attempt, having ta- ken fo much pains about it already. Oh, for Sy/iphus's reftlefs Stone , or Belides^s leaking Tun ! They are minute and pettite Tasks to his., .Not Ixicns Wheel lias half the Torture of an.over hahy Period. — But this is r.df all ; ' When he has undergone the bitter Throws and Vains of Rbimejlnp , then the I^arling Og-fpring of his Brain turns proffi- tute tp‘ the Abufes of all the World: The Praifesof wife Men are fo few,that theirVoice IS loft in fo large a Theatre ; and the nume- rous rous Applaufss oF Fools are too loud a Scan- And after all this, Is’t not pity the poor Rogue fliou’d take (iich pains to be dam- ned ? For there’s not one Poet in Five Thou- fand that efcapes It had gone hard with OuUbam himfelf, ii it had not been for the Penance of his own Satyrs. Say, Fdlow -Im- materiality : What ftiall I do? lean never look down upon a Couple of Lovers, but Fm afraid their Toying will end in making an Helkcnian Vyifen for me ; efpccially if the In- namorato is for Balls, Mafquerading, and Love- Sonnets. D. Alas, Brother ! Fm all Refen tment and Pity. Little do Mortals think what Plague we are at, about the Lodging and Entertain- ment we expert at their Hands: But for my part, your Apprehenfions of Incorpo- ration are ail Charms, and Sweetnefs, to the difmal Reception I look for. P. — - VVhy, what’s the raatter'with 5'ou ? D . — lean never leave our happier Re- gions, to viiit the lower Elements, but, before lam aware, I find my felf amengii: Sea Fowl, hovering over Rivers, Ponds and Marfiies, admiring the Scaly Sholes, and envying the Pa-(Hme of thole ever thirhy Revellers. Now, What can this mean, but thatl’m ordain’d c o aduate a + And iffo. Hell is a Toy to fuch a Confinement : This Moment wou’d I plunge into the bound lefs Depths, to be fccur’d from fuch a Companion. But why that rafh Tiioiight ? Is not Hell alfo crowded with ’em ? And are not its Hon ours doubled by their Confeffion? Yet, if Hell cou*d he B 4 Hell 'C&e aoacnttitcis of Hell without ’em. ’cwoud be .1 happy Place^ and nothing in’t of the Beafl;, Antick or Non- lenle^ but a rational Complaint of Derpair.-* VYonoer not, dear Brother, at my deeper Reflexions, till youVe confider d yonder Fi- gure at the OU D — —l-Tavern. What think you of their Motions, Converfe and Paflions ^ Suppple all their Difcourle were taken in Short-hand^ and the weakefl: Perlbn amongft ^em flioud have a View of the wlx)le when he’s in a Mood of Thinking : Would not he blufli at fuch Follies, at fuch an unaccounta- ble Expence of Time ; efpecially if he thought an Hour ib fpent was of equal length with any other Hour in the Line of Life, and muff be equally accounted for? Alas! Who wou'd luppole that Souls, cloyfler’d up in thele fen- fualiz’d, unthinking Statues, were ever our Companions ! Come, let’s retire towards our peaceful Regions, and not be VVitnefles of what a Midmight Scene produces. A Toeis Stru^hire! afraid of a Voetick Manfion ! ’Tis a Paradife, to what I dread. Nor is there any Spirit in all our Order . that can be afraid of Inch a Body, but I niult meet with it in this Epitome of all Plagues. A Drtmkard can he Voet^ beggar. Cully ^ Buffoon, or any thing: So that I am like to meet with the moft abieX Slavery in Nature. ' Spirits* ' M DIALOGUE II. Between the Spirits of a Jacobite and a Williamitc ^ about the Royal Congrefs. 'T ye lazy Dog : Are not ye aftiam’d wl to kennel and fnore in that Star^ till it fmells again of Drowfinefs ? J. Who’s there ? Now, are not you a fpiteful Spirit, to difturb my Refi, when you have taken yours ? You are jull crept out of fome ftx’d,idle Luminary, where you have had no jolting, nor diilurbance, and come to perplex me, who am already Topfie- turvy with the fwift Motion of my 'Errauck Manfton^ which moves at leali a Hundred iMiles a Minute.— — It I am out in my Computation, ’tis becaufe rm fcarce awake. W, Arile, prating, and let’s away to the Ap- fignatkn, J, What Aflignation ? What d yc dream of ? Have ye call’d in at Aquarius ^ for a Dram o’ the Pitcher ^ W. No, no : A Kojal Congrefs of all the Princes in Chnjiendo7n are met together, and Thouland Thoiifands of naked Souls are crowding for Commiffions, to infpire the iuc- ceeding Generation of that illufrrious Con- vention, J, Well, f- asaentates of y. VVSll, Idont care, I wait for new Re* volutions ; but if I d’d not, I wou’d not budge one Foot, for Fm fure we can t all fpeed ; and ’twou’d vex me to the Heart to put in for a 'Grinds Off-ffring^ and afterivards'ytde the Wooden Horfe in St, James’ Park, or turn Cohler, W, Well, I’m loth to Ipoil the old Tenet in the other World, that AU Souls are equals and are only d'tverfiffd hy the Difpofitions of their Organs ; or Td proclaim thee a mean, little Soul, fcarce fit to animate Plants and Mine- rals. y.— • Pray, be gone about your Biifinefs : I tell you once more, Pm for a hroad Sword and a Centry-Box at the End of the CanoU : And for your Proclamations, ’tis not good I catch ye tranfgreffing upon the Grafs, left I take the Forfeiture, and give you a Strapado or two in* to the bargain. I believe you are a 3[tiCdbtt0''Sou1, or you wou d not abfent from the Congi efs. J. Perhaps I am, and it may be I ftiall have a greater Commiffion than I tell you ol : But this I can aifure you, there ai^e many S that v/ill come in for Com- miffionSj with pri'vate Lewi dl ores in their Fohs^ in fpight of ail the Care and Diligence chat can be us’d to the contrary. W, Tis poffible : But what’s the If- fue of it ? — — - You fee Jove has taken a particular Care of the Brit'tfh Monarch^ Perfon and Concerns,— and every SelCons the Triangular Supporter ^vc^cliQs a late Repentance to his Enemies. Igj^e-eriifent spfn'ts?> I don’t value that; that can on- ly dilcompofe the Body which I fhall be ty d tOy and fo I lhall be the Iboner at liberty a- gain for more Rambles. — You’re miftaken; you’ll find other Obligations upon your felf when you come to be incorporate^, than you now dream of. But turn and take th other Nap, whiift I attend, and know how to be happy^ cither in my own, or in my Companion’s good Succeis. dialogue III. Betrveen the Spirits of a Baftard and a Necromancer. B.-*T)Reacb Patience to me — O Hell X and Fury ! That I who was the great Comrade of Alexander ^ Julius Cafar^ Arifiotlt and Cato XJtican's Souls ^ flwud now at length be cloyder d up in an Ojdcr-Wenclo s Baflard ! I law the Saracen s-Head Porter and her at work, but I little thought the Teeming Embrio was defign’d for me. Alas^ from how great Hopes am 1 fallen ! The prefent Lewis and his Allye attended me like Lacquies, and if I had not been upon the Ramble at their firft want of Motion, I had certainly had the Rcfuftl of thole Commiffions ; but how I mull away, and into fuch a Body too, as humble Irm (were Cfie ao&rnttttres^ of (were he now alive) wouM Icorn the bafe Al- liance, Now mull: I drudge about with Dan- dry-Comhs^ and SmaU Cod-Betty^ or el(e move a Thoughtlels Lunip^ from Door to Door, and olteh meet, inhead of Bread, the threat- jiing Charity of Add yet to this, Kib’d Heels, a Snotty Nofe, and part of E* gypt^ PJagues. — Ah Conflantine^ when only thou and 1 were Candidates for the Ro- wan Sceptre y I Iktie thought of fuch an home- ly Cottage.- ORage, V Vretchednels ! jv; Who’s this that talks of Rage and Wretchednefs, v;ithout comparing his with my hard Fate ? A bafe born Emhno to enliven ^ ’Tis a happy Rehdence to mine ! If Fate.wou’d but give me my Choice, J’d hug the Brat ; nay. I’d give my Hopes of future Happinels to boot, and think’t an eafie, cheap Damnation to what I muft of force endure. jB.— — Howl^ — Now my Impatience cools, and grows milder, to think that the De* dinies have not left me the only Stigmatized Infortune, But how, in what great Indance am I thus out-done ? N, A young Ignatian juft form’d, when le- veral of us pricking in the Lottery of Fate^ he fell to my Share ; whereupon I rsad in thoie Brazen V ilumes, and found that he will be a Necromancer : Alas, how ftiall I be treated from ihofQOfjciom Imps of Darknefs^ (the A (lifters of that Black Art ) which I iiave fo often cha* jed out of tliefc purer Regions, wh^n they have been upon their hafty Errands t — Or what can 1 expc(ft from our own Society^ when I my leif ftiall hereafter come upon the feme {ame Account, mounted u^on a drudging Fallen Angela being ty’d to too great a Lump of Clay to Ibar aloftj as now Fm us’d to do, now Tm ^fure Agent ^ unconilrain’d and free, oblig’d to truckle to no Humane Laws ? But, alas! my Freedom is about to fink. Incorporation beckens me, (a Law feverer than all the %t\t to Mankind. — — The firft Choice I now expeft, is to commence Junior Vevil^ and wear th^Impofior's Badge, 1 lell my I'elf, to buy Preferment in that holy Fribe* But,0 ihe fop* pijl) Rules that I muff ule, to cheat my felf and others ! Such W ords repeat, and luch Cha- racfters draw; flich antick Polfures ufe, and fuch Familiars encertain : And then the Con» lequence of all this is only to pleale this Sen/e, or gratifie that Malice ; when all’s a moft egre- gious Cheat and Fiction, only the Enfurance of Damnation is real. I remember Dr. Fau-^ fius^s Spirit faid as much to me, and boaffed how he’d fool the Devil : But when he came to be inclos’d in Flefh, he ftreighc unaftive grew, dull, and incapable to think, projeft, or judge of what he undertook ; and when he dat’d to play about the fiery Ditch ^ he fell, and funk for ever. B . — ► Alas, hard Fate! Well, fince we muft away, where is this Jefiuit to live? — • Say, — • that when our Bodies are afleep, we may meet, converle, and pity one another’s HardiTiips. N. Within Ten Miles of — He that can play at Legerdemain with Hell^ caji eafdy Bilk an AB of Parliament, B.--- True I lhall find you out DIALOGUE %f)t ^tHJcntutEjs of DIALOGUE IV. Betrveen the Militia of Rational Souls. O^^TT/’Ell, Gentlemen, the Quarrel in- V V creafes betwixt the Souls of our Order, and thofe of the Vegitahk^ I can’t yet tell what will be the Event, but I think it Wifdom to difcipline our felves in the Art of War, which we have almoft loft, ’tis fo long fince the Skirmifti of Michael and his Angels, with the Devil and his* I was but Lieutenant then, and brought up the File next the loweft Rank of Angels, but we quickly did the Bufi- nefs when we came to engage > and I doubt not but we ftiall have the fame Succefs againft thefe turbulent Vegitable Spirits, if they do pro- ceed to mufter. Lieut, i. But, pray what Remarks did the Afirologers and Vtrtmfi of the little, heavy Globe, called Earth, make on the A- (ftion ? Capt. Why, tndv, ( as one of our Order, that held Correfpondence with ’em, told us,) they retir’d to their Clofets, and were ready to crack their Brains; all the Pious went to Prayers, and not one amongft that Race^ but were almoft diltradled. The Roaring of our V djicles they call’d Thunder h our Balls they cal- led Thunder holts ; and our Priming with the Antiperifiafis ot Snow and Spiritom Sulphure, that they cailVi and all this to Inch a Miracle, PlC'eilftent 1 1 Miracle^ that ’twas put in their Chronicles^ But another remarkable Paflage was this ; the Elements clear’d up, and Men ventur'd out of their Houles again, to view the Hea- vens, when we had juft routed the Rebels^ and were in purfuit of ’em, leaping from Star to Star ; which made the gazing V Vorld be- low us think ’twas a Shooting of Stars, — But to the Bulinels in hand : Is our whole Number here ? Lieut, Yes, Captain, Capt, Very well. Silence there.^^^ To the Right ^ To the Right ^ To the Rj^t : As ye were: To the Lefty 7o the Left about : As ye were. Lieut, — You make too great a Noilei • the World below us will be alarm*d again, and expect a Charge upon their Heads. Capt, Who’s there, that Catechiles me? • Set him upon Charleses Wain^ with two Dozen of Thunder-bolts at his Heels, and to abide the firft Charge of our Infantry for his Sawcincfi.- So, very well : Mind that third File. — - Keep in Order, or you fhall ride with your Companion. — — Silence there behind.^ " ■ — — Exhale new Vapours. Ccndenje new Clouds, Shape your Clouds into Vehicles, Trepare your Balls and Hail-fiones. Prime with Snow, Ram doti'n, - Advance^ Prefent, ' Charge. Lieut, C&e a&aenttitejs of Ohj dear Captain^ How aiii I pelted ! See Iiow the Region is Icowr’d be- hind me for Three Hundred and Fifty Leagues together : Then what mull I fuffer, that am lb near your roaring Muzzles. Capt . — Enough : Let him down. — But who is yonder^ that makes luch hafte to-^ wards us ? MeJJenger , — O CaptaiHj Sad News! Your laft Charge has overthrown three of the Via* nets HouJeSj and ruin’d all their Afpeth^ Con- junctions ^ Oppofitions^ &c. that they will never fee habitable ^ again : So that ail the Afirolo- gick Souls are up in Confpiracy, and fwear a Revenge for fpoiling their Trade. Capt. How ? How’s that ? Mejjenger, Aries, Taurus and Gemini are no more, and the Adrologcrs are up in Arms. Capt, Afirologers dare neither plot nor fight, iinlefs they conTiik the Stars. Now^ if the Tlancts Houfes are broke down, the Art is bu- ried in tile lame R nines : So that there’s no danger of any thing but Noile, or Revolt to the A zgitahle Souls. Well, Lieutenant ^ for the lutLire you’ll learn to be more modefi::— - See tint you take a Lift ol Names, and call a Rendejvouz, for Exercile once a VVeek, and re- member to fill up the Places of fuch Souls as are lent into the other World ; Y ou need not trouble your ielf about your Charge, it will lad but till 1 6^7. ’Tis faid the Ahlen: nium be- gins then. DIALOGUE Ci)8 aeuentiues of DIALOGUE V. Between the two Or^/cw, Rational and Vegitable. Trolociitcr 3 Genrlemenj fince we are VV all equal b}' Creation^ and Inequality is only contingent by Agnation in different Organs^ my Opinion is this, (though Fm willing to fubmit to the Judgment of this honourable CenfiftoryJ that a Contention about Superiority may^ by a fblemn Decree^ be en- aded Criminal, and a ievere Penalty enjoynd ; or elfe, that the two Orders ofSfirits may chufe their leveral Champions for a friendly Dif pute^ and caff Lots who fliall begin^ that we may never hereafter be troubl’d to compofe our continu’d (iy£therial Wran^linzs^ o o Both Orders^ — - A Friendly Difpute, deci- five by Plurality of Voices^ is the belt Me^ thod. Prokcutor Chufe your Champions then. Is’t done t Both Orders^ Yes 5 and the firft Lot falls upon the Vegitable* The Plea of SOUlS for a Superiority o%>er the Eationdl Yegit, I cannot but think my felf ex* treamly happy, (Moft Reverend Judges,) in that I Lave this Opportunity, on the Behalf of C epiv ‘STDe ^Uiicntuitg of curOodty\ (whether defign’d iov Trees, Herbs, or Minerals^) to make my publick Defence a- gainil that imperious Order of Rational Souls, who daily (iibjeft us to their Abufes^ and an- ticipate the Tyranny which their Brethren^ now incorporate in the Lower Worlds ulurp over us. Eut_, not to tire your Patience with remote Circum /lances j I jhall only ^apply my felf to whaPs materially pertinent to the Bufinefs in hand^ not doubting to prove^ but that we ought to be equal, at iea/f, if not preferred up- on all Accounts tiiat have ever yet been judgM iuBicient for a Didinftion of Priority in other Calb. And Firfi, An Jpple-tree is an Exiftent in Nature, as well as Man, and much more ob- fervant ef her Laws; is never drunk norglut' tonous, invades not the Right of its Neigh- bours, never lyes, circumvents or quarrels, ne- ver cries nor laughs at A[>pearances of things, never fools nor cheats it leif, nor is proud of its own Shame : But all this, and greater Irre- gularities than theie, are committed by Man- kind, againll: th.Q jufier La^vs of Nature. Now the Con lequence is plain, thtit Mankind being greater Aggrelfors upon the Privileges of Na- ture than we, we rnuli: be dearer to Nature than tlicy ; and we doubt not but the Prefe- rence was defigrfd us, only they got the /far t by /ome Trick and Circumvention, and wou’d now endeavour to perpetuate their Uiurpa- lions by Culiom. Thus far to our purer In- nocence, and exaifer Oblervance of Nature’s I aws ; which is our firfi: Argument for Prefe- Next spirits^ Next^ To the Excellency of our Exiftence after Incorporation ; in which^ Nature flievvs a particular Care of us^ by airuniing us into her immediate Midwifery ; but, as if Ihe were afraid to be accelfary to the monfrdns Frocrea- tions of leaves hirn to the Caprices and Wlilinleys of his own Lulf^ to beget, or not beget, as he pleafes. And when he is begot, what Image bears he ? Perhaps he’ll tell ye, the Image of the God of Nature, But we beg his Pardon there, and (hall take the Freedom to tell him, that his Vices have effac’d that j and now, inffead of his polluted Body, LegSj Arms, Feet, we can fhew an innocent Trunk, Root, Branches, Trust, ire. And as to his Immortality, we are not yet behind him; for we can’t be annihilated, but are always Ibmewhere, or in fome thing. Kay, thelaff Fire it felf fliall beget in us (as well as in iiim) a more glorious Change, and not deffroy us. But as to our Converle, or Knowledge in the Laws and Conilitutions of Nature, he is far our iinferior; and he might quickly difccrn it, if he wou’d but ufe the fame Mealiires for Trial, as he does vvith his Neighbours ; who, if they can do well, he concludes they can lay well. But when do we act irregularly ? Are we not always juff, temperate t &c. In Adi- nerals, the WhiCerlng and Embracements of the Load fione and Iron might convince proud Humanity of our Knowledge : As allb the Love betw^een the Stone Fantarbe and Gold is as noble as that firigle Iiiifancc of a Fylades and Orefies. Amcngff Trees and Plants, the Fr iend- fliip between the Olive and Myrtle, the Nature 20 Cfje of of Seff/ihle Plants^ fas your Pride condefcends to call ’em,) which fli rink at the facrilegious Hands of Humanity ; the Plant which ye call tlxQlndhn La7nb‘j the dropp’d Leaves of fome Trees_, which run aw^ay from yoii_, and many more fuch IniianceSj might fatisfieyouof feme hidden Worth and Knowledge in us^ which ye pals over becaufe ye can’t conceive - the Profundity of it, by reafon of the weaknefs of your Organs^ and Defeftibility of Judg- ment : And yet, notwichlfanding all thisj you fliall have an ingrateful, proud M*an come in- to an Orchard, on the Back fide of a Houfc he calls his own, ( Fool that he is, to be fo miifaken in Loans and Ufiirpations,) and with a threatning Ax hew down fome poor, help- lefs Tree, not confidering all the time, that cou’d he underftand the VtBim Vegitahles DU- he might hear himfelf thus upbraided .* — Ingrateful Aia?i ! Where is my Fault ? JVhat have I done^ thus to he wounded^ and tore f rom 7ny hap- Jij Society j into the revenging Fire ? Is it hecaufe I yielded my Fruit Without a Grudge ^ and paid the Annual Rent of Flat nr e without Acquittance ? Be- cau/e I kept the for my Winds from off thy Houfcj or lent my hofpitahle B/anches for thy Poultrey^ to retreat from the ravenous Bex and Voice at ? lo grow and fruBfife is my 5 and to deprive me of that ^ hecaufe 1 am goodj or hecaufe I cannot defaid my felf ccmplam. or rfifi thee, is the fame Cruel- ty as to engage a Betitfahlor, hound Hand and Foot. ILne/l Pythagoras, although upon wron^ Frinciples,, wcud not have treated me thus. Thus might this Tyrant of Nature hciv the injur’d Tree cxpafi'ulate wit'n him, ii he had Senfe and 21 snd realbn enough to do it. Thus much for the Excellency oF our Nature when incorpo- rate ; and which we might urge as an Argu- ment of Preference. But after allj we’ll relinquiili the Ad \ran- tages of what has been faid^ on purpofo ( if pcffible J to gratific that Monfter Humanity^ and only infill upon the enfting Topck , which has nothing in’t of Accufationj Cen- fure, or Pride_, 'viz,. ’Tis generally believ’d all Souls are equal in Entity ; whereupon it fol- lows, that we are not yet drain’d into the Po- fteriors of Immateriality ^ having not yet fuf- fer’d any Change, or been included in Mat- ter or Form ; fo that whatever Indignities have hitherto been call upon us , it has been out of a Suppofition of Degenera- tion by mingling with improper Organs in the lower world : Now either we are com- pell’d to it or not ; the laft ye are fenfible is not our choice^ and the firfl there’s no refill- ing ; and if fo, we ought not to be defpis’d for what we can’t avoid ; for we being com- manded into Organs that are only fit for Vegi- fatten^ doVegitate^ and the Rational finding a convenient Organ for Ratiocination, does ra-^ tiocinate. Whereas if the Rational had been cloyfter’d in the Organs of Vegetables^ or the Vegitahle had been fent into the Organs of Rationalsj we had chang’d our Offices, and commenc’d* alternate Beings: Where is the difference then ^ or what realbn is there for Kationals to pretend Priority overus ? None at all ; No more than when Three Novice- Picers fhou’d gaff 83 Toj or 12^ and he that C 5 throws aj crj£ atilienttire^ of I throws mofl^ lliou'd brag of his Nobility^ for o^ing a greater Debtor to Fortune than the others: Thus our degrees of Exiftence in the other world, will be owing not to our proper Choice, but a Defpotick Impulfe and Diffofal'of late ; fb that we {hall aduate there like exifd Kings ^ who are not left of the Blood'Kojd ^ for Suiferingor Confinement. The Defence of the JRStlOltill ©jBCt of Siuls , againfi the Flea of the SCg’ltilMC Fatiional,-^ — Our VegitaUe Orator ( moft Judicious Auditory) has been pleas’d to offer to relinquifn the Advantages of the former part of his Harangue, when he found he had fpent his Stock of Calumny, to raife a pre- judice in your Unbyaft’d judgments againft the Dignity of our Order ^ and afterwards^ un- der pretence of Accommodadon^ being len- fible of the weaknefs of his Caufe, wou’d in- finiiate one Tcfick void of Accufationj Cen^ fure^ov Pride ^ (as he calls it,) we might add, or Reafon.) But as we are not againvl: any Overtures of Peace that fhail be decreed by this Worthy Ajjmhly j fb we fhail endeavour to fhew a deep reientment of any difhonou- ble Terms to attain it. Wherefoie we refrore our Antagonift all the Advantages he can make of the- former part of his Difeourfe •, w’hich we fhail difeufs particularly. And firft , We never treated thefe VegitaUes as FJc'a-Exifiences in Nature, nor have they proved one Ad of Tyranny which we have exercis’d exercis’d over ’em. And why they fhou’d boaft of their not being, drunk, Injarious, lying, quarrelling, circumventing, &c. is very ridiculous; fincc their Organs incapacitate them from fuch Fundions. Suppofe it were criminal to fly, lliou’d a Rock boaft of irs Virtue in regaining ? Not, unlefs Nature had given it Wings, Power and Plcafure to fiy : And they’ll come off no better inaccufing us of ^quarrelling, injuftice, &c. It fliews the great variety of Functions we are capable of. Befides, in doing lb, we purfue an appearance of fbme Good , ( for we can’t will Evil as Evil,^ and in doing fb, we ad naturally ; fo that at the fame time as they accufe us of quar- relling* d^c. they accufe themfelves of bloom- ing, frudifying, c^c. which is natural to them. As for that obfervation. of Natures aifuming them into her immediate Adld^vifry and Care, and leaving us to our own pleaiirre in Gene- ration, Vis an argument of our prehemenence; for Nature deals with them as Parents do with Children and Fools ; they muft be fed, kept out of Fire and Water, and Provifion made for ’em ; but we being above fuch lit- tle ufages, are able to procreate without com- pulfion/and are accordingly left to our felves^ Nature always employing moH of her Care where her works are mo[i weak and imperfe^^ As to the defacing our firit Image by our Vices, we have already anfwer’d it above ; in fhewing how ridiculous and foreign it is to urge a Cafe out of their own Claffisj altho* if they were capable to underftand it, we cou’d tell ’em of a remedy for ourreftoratioa B 4 But 25 24 C&e ansentuits of But what a wretched Argument they bring to make their Duration equal to our Immor- tality, upon liippoficion of Non-annihilation ; for tho’ we grant ’em to be always fbmewhere or in Ibmething after a fpecifick diffolution by Motiorij ( or Fire, which is the fame, ) yet they come to be namclefs, — indihinguifhablej and as hard to find out, as vdisn they lay in the bolorii of their Chaos or firfi Matter^ and ’tis as good to be nothing, as an undefinable Separation of unknown Particles. But we put off our Nature to receive it again more refin’d than before. The next Argument infifted on, was. Their excellency cf Converfe^ and Knowledge of the Laws and Conjlitutions of Natures which is all and Riddle to cur Order ^ nor can we fuppofe it, for all thole In fiances that they have brought to confirm it, without violence to Reafon ; but however, fince we will not be behind in Civility, for quietnefs lake, we’il grant ’em an tmJ{7iGtrn DialeB and Con- 'uerfe^ and lee what will come on’t then. The Idiom cf your Language, be it what it will, is not to be excus’d from Lic. s, Slan- ders, Herefieje^Cj For no doubt, but when a Learned Tree amongff ye, holds forth the Do- dlrine of FruS:ificaton, you fhall have its next Neigbour with lecrec liibtcrranean Fi- bres, fellonioufly fucking away the Sap and Life of its Teacher; and the more audacious W ood~hine. not aflanfd of a publick Rape up- on every PU^n it meets with, and lince ye ymurlelycs agree that Words and Adlions are Sympathcticl' , wdrat Equivocatiorts^ private Cabals Cabals and Plots ye have together, when ye lee an hopeful Ewbryo-Vlant^ without giving any affront, environ’d round, and ilrangled to death with an Ambufh of malicious Thorns and Briars : And fince ye give us two or three Infrances of the Sympathy (which ye call Converfe) between Vlants and Minerals^ ye mud give us the Liberty to obferve, that ’tis but them Inftances, and a few more that are to be found in your whole Occoncmj^ but that generally you arefo fufpicious, and afraid of one anothers Tricks, and Circumventions, that ye keep no Correfbondence at all. As to a man’s Tyranny over his Apk-Tree^ in cutting it down when he pleales, the Im- putation is lod, if we prove he has a light to do it, as we Ihall by and by, when we come to confider your lad unanjwcrable Tcfick : In the meantime, the fine Harangue ) on make the falling Tree to fpeak, is very different from the cudom of other Trees, who in fuch a moment are rather dudying revenge, than any thing elfe ; as may be leen by their often failing upon, and killing theperfcn tl^t cuts ’em down ; nay, we cou’d give you fome In- ftanccs where your Revenge has been fo un- jud, as to dedroy the Horles and Oxen, that only dood by to draw ye away, and that on- ly in obedience to their Maftei’s Command. And now to the laft Tepek ; the only Pil- lar upon which ye boldly offer’d to lay the Stfuclure of your whole Ylea^ in which you urge, T'hat there’s no reafon of preheml- ncnce where the choice is not our own, but tks deffotkk hnfulfe cr Difpofal of fate 5 bring- 26 Sts&eittur^d of ing the Inftances of D/cers, and the Nobility of an Exil'd Kwg; to whicha we anfwer,Tliat Dignity is Dignity, whether acquir’d or con- fet’d, to ufe your own Inftance : Suppofe J, B, C. equally skilful, throw, wholliould throw moft for a certain Preferment, and C. accidentally^ or by a fecret Order ofFate^ cafts IJ, when A» caft only 8, and B, lo, is not C. upon his Invefiiture into his Office, more honourable than and B. elpecially when they come bare-headed to petition ffich or fuch a Favour from him, they are mad if they don’t believe it, and he deferves him- felf to be turn’d out of his Office that under- values it, lb far as not to execute it, and keep up its Privileges. To the laft Inllance , we anfwer. That Fate is not accountable to Per- fbns, whether it prefers or debafes ’em ; but it expe^f s in both conditions they make the belt of its difpolals: and thus wc conclude, not at all doubting the favourable Suffrage of this Convimtion, to confirm our Privileges and Dignity above the Order of Vegitabks, Major F much Tre~ fence of Mind as to fee us^ and t?'cop off' quietly ^ with their Hair bolting up an end. But here and there are a very few that have more ade- quate Conceptions of us, and neither leek nor flee our Company, knowing that we Souls and Spirits have no more Power over ’em in Bodies, than we have out ; and that what- ever Power we have at any time is only lent US, and alio limitred, and not to be extended when and where we p^leafe : So that we are really no morejin our own Nature and Power, than what their Fancy makes us. Ihiis Rea- fon fecures fbme againft us ; and Religion a very few, who can mafler all the little Sugge- fl ions of Fear by their Faith, V V D 2 2.” Spirit, ^6 Cfje cf Inspirit . — Very well.- Next, Why do ye thus hanker after a rotten^ putrifying Body » chufing that Shape that it once bore, before all others ? Suicide, Becaule I was turn’d out of doors by violence, without lb much as taking my Leave of it, or its bidding me Farewell.— And cou’d I quietly brook fuch an abrupt, ha- fly Separation from a Comrade, 1 had been fo intimate with for near Seventy Years } What tho’ it was deaf to my Counlels and Reafbnings, yet it was my other Part ; and as before Incorporation I found my lelf imper- fect, but half an Entity, now 1 am lb again, and ihall be, till I am re united to my old Companion. But this is all R'ddle to you, who have not yet known how Souls ad in Bodies, how the Intcllcd conceives Ideas of Material Objeds by the Senles. Did you but know how the V ifive Power conveys the Si- militude of the Thing I’een to the Soul, you’d widi to be incorporate, tho’ it were in one fingk Eye : How much more when you’d have all theSenfes to command ^ When you’d have a whole Adicrocofm to rule in, like a Dei- ty Now, after all this. Which of you wou’d not love thePicmembrance of fuch an Union, and imitate it, till the time of R e-union ren- ders ye a perledf, compleat Being again? But what was the Reafon of your fudeien Separation from the Body ? Anfw, The Body being part of my felf, I was willing to gratifie it as far as I cou’d, even to a Weaknefs; which I continu’d lb long, till it grew habitual, and I loft my Com- mand, ^7 niandj fixing my Happinefs upon wrong Ob', the little Concerns of the World 5 which bearing no Analogy or Proportion to the Greatnefs of a Soul^ caus’d an Uncafinefs. ’Tis incongruous to try Sounds by the Tafte^ they being the only proper Objedts of the Ear. There is no Objedt for the Soiiii but God ; as appears by its lleh when fix’d on him^ and Uneafinels every where eife. And thus by the Importunity of my Body, and the Defe- ^Hbility of juft Perception^ expeding HappP nefs where it was not to be had, grew impa- tient under the Difappointment , even to Strattgltng^ to be rid of the Burden. 2 . Spirit. Alas^ unfortunate Brother ! We can do no more than pity thee, and own our Obligations for theie Diicovetiefc.— — ^ F.arewell. DIALOGUE VIII. } Between Two Spirits, the Order of Vcgitable Souls, Cupid. — '\’T7’£11_, What News, Brother? VV 2 . Sp. Theftrangeft Adventure you ever heard of. Cupid having Commiflion to diifrafl: fome body in the o.r thcr World, as he fled down he mif?d his Way, and rambl’d into our Regions, wiiere she Ordtr of Vmtahks are pillaging the little 5> 1 Wag 38 C&e of Wag of his Tow and Qiuverj and pretend to cure him of his Blindneis. I. Sf. — Let’s away to lee the Humour on’t : I believe the arch Knave will put a Trick upon ’em ail^ and come olF with flying Colours. Cupid. Nay , biit^ Gentlemen Spirits^ pray be civil*— What’s the meaning of this ? Vegit. The meaning on’t is, that fince you have found the way into our Quarters, we have a Mind to hinder your Pranks here ; wc have no need to be fool’d and plagu’d, as the Inhabitants are both in Heaven and Earth (if we may believe the Poets.) Cupid. 13 V me ? Vegit , ^ — Yes, by you. And what can we expect from one that bewitches his own Mo- ther with Anchifes'^ &c. You know nothing (lil warraiit you) of Hya- cintJms, the Adultmus Net^ and a Thoufand more fuch things: Do you ^ Nor can Jupiter himfelf efcape you, f ur down goes his Target and Thunderbolt;^ and away to 1a7i^ and Tujh- Fin with Ganynede : Sometimes he’s Metapho- riz’d xmo Guld^ now a Swan^ then a BuU^ anon a Shepherd^ and fo on^ according as your Whiiiifeys dldate, whiifl: the Government of the World 'lies at Sixes and Sevens, and he that has the longed Aails and Teeth is the bd} .Entity : And when your Caprices and Magots are fiirfeited with z^Etherial Amours^ away ye troop to the Earth, where you tye a Prince to a Stage>p]ayer, and a Princefs to a or eife plague Equality by Deipa- ration 59 ration of Enjoyment ; laughing at the poor Wretches, to fee ’em covetous of their Mif- fortunes. Wherefore vve conclude it necefla- ry for our own Peace, and out of pity to our Neighbouring Worlds, to difarm you of your Power, and cure that Bllndnefs which makes you fhoot thus at all Adventures. Cufid, ’Tis a Ifrange thing (Gentlemen Souls j why Is having a Botp and Quiver^ (as if no Body elfe us’d neither,) muft upon ne- ceffity be the God of Lo've^ and fentenc’d fo to be by thofe who confels they never faw me before. A great Ralhnefs, certainly, for the Wildom of your Or^/er to be gyiltyofl But, to put you out of all doubt, affureyour lelves, I am a Spirit, as ye are ^ only with this dif- ference, I have fuffer’d a DliTolution from a Body, and ye are yet unbodied. Time was, I actuated that famous Scythian^ Vomaxathres^ that flew the great Boman^ Marcus CraJJm ; and was accounted the bed Archer thai; Scy- thia ever boafted of. Now, hearing that one Sagittarius, a Refident of theie Regions, was fam’d in that Art, I came on purpole to create a Correfpondence, and try the Skill of the Hea‘venly Archer, Vegit, Well, if this be fo, and you are that Fomaxathres, we beg your Pardon for our Errour, and think our felves happy in the Miftake.*— ‘^^g/V^^ri/^/furpaffesiii thisAit, ne- ver making his Butts lefs than ten Degrees di- ftant. - — ~ Do ye fee that Milky Way there, fo much talk’d on by the Foets ? Elis Shafts have fcour’d that Road by their frequent Motion, and have kept that part of the Sky clear from D 4 ditt'k 4 © Cf}e SBacnttireg of dark Matter^ and Excrements of Stars 5 which is the realbn of its Almtude : But the Lower World, like Fools, not knowing fo much, do fancy it to he the W,iy for the Souls of the Bieiied to mount to V^irauice.—^ Come, let’s be gone; weTl quickly ititroduce ye into gitarius's Acquaintance. Cupid. 1 long to meet the Artift^ that we Muglit give .you feme Divertilement by our Skill. But^ which is the Way to the Lower IVorld ? Vegito — You muff leave Venus on the Left, and lo to 59 Degrees, ;;o Minutes oi Capri- corn \ afterwards the Coafr is clear, and divi- ded into Right Lines to all parts of the Globe, — FarewelL Gentlemen s I’m in hafte i * now, ni call tigsin feme other time. Vcgit^ And is the Impollor gone ? Cer- tainly he was Cuv'id, Why were we Ed be- witch’d as to believe hifn t Cou d we think the God of Love cou d [peak Truth^ w'hen all his Suh jtBs are given to Ljing, DIALOGUE IX. Betivcen an Aflrolooer a^id a Mouiv tebank, p?c^cfi{fcnt Afir*- — To furvey the Stars^ and take a Note on the Influences written on their Fore- heads. Mount, — Why fo ? A fir, — Fni Fure I lhall be an Afirologer^ and ’tis good to make Colleftions againtt I have need of em: I have a hrong Fancy that I fhall be the Freshet of Europe, If I’d been imbody’d but Twenty or'Thirty Years fince, I had been the Second Lilly ^ or, at leaffj his Succeffor. Eut if, after all_, 1 lliou’d for- get what I now do in this Pre exiftent State^ I fhall be hardly put to it, about the Fate of Great People^ the Change of Wmd and Weather^ Sweet hearts^ Lojjes^ Travels^ Life^ Deaths and every thing eife, unlefs you’ll keep Correfpon- dence with me. Mount, Ay indeed, fuch a Correfpon- dence wou’d make you famous ; but Fve juft receiv’d a Couimiffion to take PolTeflion of an Embryo j fated for a Mountebank : So that I can ferve you in nothing, but by giving you Information pf the Death of thofe he defigns to kill. . jfir. That will be (bmething : But what lhall I do for the reft ? Mount, As the reft of your Neighbours do : Gueis at whads moft probable. Afir Then I lhall be miftaken fome- times. Mount. ’Tis your Intereft you fhou’d, or you’d be Arraign’d for a VVix^ard, ’■ A fir ,'—. — ^Tis hard fuch an exquifite Skill and Death Ihou’d be Rivals. But is there no v/ay eife to eicapc the Fagor, and be famous? Mount*'- 4 ^ Clje of Mount* YeSj as a Licens’d as we have to kill People. Pra}^, what’s that ? Mount. ‘ — Bring otiier Peribns into a Con- fedefacy with you^ who defign, near loch a Time, to Plot, Fight, Marry SaiL Mafque- rade, or any thing elle that is to be done; and then fall on Prophefying : But you muft be very confident, and remember a great ma- ny Authors Names, (no matter for their Works,) the pretended Influences of the Stars, and Examples of the Wonders you have per- form’d, and other Mealures fuitable to the blind Side of the Enquirer. And if you can but Rhime, like young Lilly o’er his Pills, your Cuftom grows as thick as Hops, and you may lye in Bed and gather em. Afir* --Now I’m Hock’d indeed, to gull three quarters o’tn Town. But won’t my pre- lent Collections alfb be ufeful ^ Mount, ^ — Yes, if ’t were poffiblc to re- member ; but the Clog of Humanity depref- les the Vigour of our Faculties, and makes us quite different Beings : So that what I’ve told you now , muH be repeated in the other World, and that will be fufficient, with good Management. Afir. Bm fatisfy’d. But what will you do to be as famous as he that came lately (all ’ at one time, I think ’twasj from all the Courts in Chrifisndom^ into this part of the Globe juft under us ? You know who I mean, the Stars tell me fo; I can’t forbear trying my Fa- culty. Mount. 4 } Mount . — — Right : I was a great Familiar with his Soul, before Adam and E^e went to Bed together. About 2 5"^ 3 Years fmce_, he was for going into a young Criffm ; and I ve- ry hardly diffiiaded him, by telling him, his. Miftrifs wou d he skill’d in Valmefiry , and read his Pafs into another World through his own Styrrup-Leather. Afir.- A kind Difappointment. But what’s this to the Qiieftion I ask’d ? Mount.- — Well, he’s a famous Mounts han\ now, and cures every thing that he fails not in ; and when he miffes, he cannot loie his Reputation, for he left that behind him in Italy y where it ftarv'd to death. Aftr. How came he to be fo famous then ? Mount. E’en as you muft ; by Confe-' deracy, thusj The Lyar that be makes ufe of, to roar about the Stage, and tie the unthink- ing Multitude together, having got a credu- lous Patient, takes the filly Thing by the Eland, to that Corner of the Stage where the Curtain hangs, and the lift’ning Dodor behind it — and then he begins to examine what Grie- vance? Where? How long? and fiich other like Queffions as are for his purpofe. Where- upon the Dodor draws off at a dilfance, and the Patient is introduc’d ; to whom he tells every thing, like an Oracle, without any Que- fiionsj receives his Fees, and fets a little longer time (for luch a deiperate Cure) than he de- figns to tarry. And fo he deals with the whole Generation of Adam^ to the latter end of the Chapter.*— — • There are a Thoiifand other handy 44 handy Ways of killing People^ and getting their Moneys for’t^ but 'cis not for my Intereit to make ’em publickj lell the World flioud be convinc’d agaiml: I Ik up, and ftone me^ amongft the rell of my honeft Fellow-Tra- vellers, DIALOGUE X. Two Spirits^ about the Re- trogradation of the Dragon’s Head and Tail. I. Sp — you hear of the Drjgon\ LJ Frolick ? 2 . Sp, Not 1 : 1 have been upon the Ramble thele three Days, I am but jull now arriv’d in this Region^and am going to tell my Landlord Atjuanus^ that 1 have no defign to bilk my Lodging. But^ pi'sy, what’is this Fro- lick you talk of? 1 . The Dragon s Tail taking it ill to come always behind_, giew very importu- nate to lead the Mead for one Day ; and the Head being tyr’d out with continual Sollicita- tions, agreed to be led : Accordingly the Tail let forward , and began his Journey ; but wanting Eyes, loon miftook his Courle^ and rambled to tbe Borders of his Regions, i where be fell down, and light upon A^mrinds Water- pots^ tlljc of 45 pots ) which flew with fuch a Noife^ that the lower World thought it a Clap of Thunder. Tifces being the next Sign^ (and peeping above Water, to learn what Ifrange Motion that v/as ) cry’d out to his two Fiflies tofecure them- ielres, for the Leviathan was upon the Scam- per for Prey. The Dragon (which he thought to he the Leviathan) being fo bruis’d with the Fall, began to repent of his Retrograde Jour- ney j for his Head, by fuch a Motion, got the Vertigo^ and dizzy Drunkennefs, his Body was cut by the Puchers the Abules the unfor- tunate Traveller light on from the Inhabitants of that Region ; who taking him for a Mon- ger, began to furround him, maullinghim with the Beam of Lihra^ and the Fragments of the Pitchers^ without asking Queifions, or taking the Legal Procedure againft him fox the fuppofed Invafion. 2 This Account is furprizlng, efpecial-’ ly being fo near my Lodging. Methinks this wou’d be very proper for Application, if the Story was told in the lower world, where Rea [on is pofipndto Senfe ^ and the ill Con- lequences ieldom taken Notice of, till the whole Man is fhipwrack’d and loll ; But what became of the Dragon ? I Sfr — Nature finding her work imper- fed, without the re-aflumption of the fallen Wretch into h's place, and that the whole Generation of ylflroiogers wou’d be at a lofs in their Obfervations, ordered the Dragon to be put into the one of Libra's Scales, and a Weight into the ocher, fufficicnt to mount him up into his own Region ; which was ac- cordingly 4 ^ Cfje of cordingly done; where^ being arrived, he fet head foremoft^ and fwoi*e by all the P/a- mts he wou’d never be rul’d by his Tail a- gain, The Ti?// being afhamM of irSxMif- carriage, hid it felf betwixt the Legs^ which is the Reafbn that the little Stars in’t difap- pear’d , when Archimedes thought to have found ’em at the end of his Teleicope. DIALOGUE XI. Between a Spirit and his Friend , lately hnbodied in an Infant. 5'^rV,„T’T THat. have you forgot your old V V Com panion?or are you afleep as well as your Body ? Friend, Who’s that ? -^Your late Friend A when we partedj 3 ^ou defir’d me to pay you a Vifit in your new Lodgings and you knew I was al- ways pundual at an Affignation^ where Friend (hip was the Motive : I long to know what Entertainment vou have light on^ what Liberties you cnjay, or what Con- finements you lie under, that I may take an Eflimate thereby what I have to truii to when my Turn comes. Fr. To give a Journal of myEnter- tainmentj will be juft the lame Satisfaction that a Criminal has when he is no longer per- plex’d if 47 plex’d betwixt Hope and Defpair ; but isaf- fur’d he fhall be bang’d ; but you are not deny’d the Criminal’s Comfort^ to wit^ Com-- pany : But not to detain you from Particulars, when I parted with you, I immediately ilioc into the Emhryo I told you of, as fwifc as a Falling Star , and before I was aware, I was clifpers’d through the whole Lumps not a Finger or Toe but I was hufie in’t, as the hafty Heir is amongif his Coffers and Leafes when his Father’s a dying ; but as to my firft Motion , I thought ’ twas juft like a half- drown’d Fly, when the Sun begins to ftiine upon it, which firft puts out a Leg, then a VVing, and fo by degrees gathers Motion, till it prefumes upon its own ftrength, and new Adventures j lb 1, f.rft a Knee, then an El- bow, , then a Heel, and fb on^ till I grew fo troublefom a Gueft, that my Mother cry ’d out for help, to be fiiuc on me; &lb by a^/> of Eje^icndifpoifcfsd me of my warm Tene- ment, and turn’d me out into the wide world, nahed, hclplefs, and fs/l of Tears: But then began the Plague of Dependance, and the Dare my Misforrunes; for yon will hnd wlicn you come into a Body, that a Soul does fympathize, receive an Irapreffion of Plealiue or Pain, accordihg to the refent- ment of the Senles, ^ 'vice 'verfa^ the Body participates in the Bale or Difturbance of the Soul.^ I am now but juft fix weeks old, and methinks *cis longer than the Six Thoufand Cfje aatjcntures of hugs them to death ; but my Niirfe only mocks me with fuch a Kindnefs ; for when flie has almoft flrangled me for want of Breath, fne recovers me to ftrangle me again. And if I Itch or Smart, am fwadled coo Ifraight or too loofe, am hungry, or over-cramb*d, ’tis all one; for Fve no way to declare my grie- vance^ but by fprawling, making a foul lace, or exercifing my treble Organs, and that does not avail me neither , for I’m only look’d upon to be peevifli, and out of humour; whether this Ulage will kill me, or whether I fhail weather it out to abide worfe, I know not : But this I know. That if I was to begin my Tre-exident State again. I’d fake heed of liich extravagant Rambles as cou d be atton’d by no lels a Penance than fuch an Incorpora- tion. Sp. If you find fuchPenance for Vrg- exifient Extravagances^ alas what will become of me, who am in ten times deeper than you ; the foot of my Account will be ama- zing, when your fmall Debt has llich fevers Exafiions. Fr. — I don’t know that, but pray with' draw ; here comes the Nurfeto beflabber me with Caudle ; if ilie finds the Body without me, and unadive, the Houle will be all in an uproar, and my new Companion will be laid out , and flarv’d to death ; and 1 dread a Second Change, remembring the old Pro- verb,- ’^Seldom comes a better. DIA- •49 DIALOGUE xii, BetrPeej? the whole Order of Rational Souls, and Two Intelligencers from the other World. \ Order,-- — XX7'^^3t,more Complaints Hill ? ' V V Shall we be for ever plagu d with Repetitions of the harlh Reception our Fraternity find below ?»- — '-Flere^ Whoi are the Friends of the Parties incorporate ? Stand forthj and declare your Grievance. I [ntelL A great Intimate of mine, and a Member of our Order, is unfortunately ty’d fo a Fidler^ who runs eternal BividonSj to the great Curie of every Vifitanrs Ear ; never confidering, that what delights him^ may be a great Mortification to another.* — One of Iiis Acquaintance the other Day, being tir’d with a WhimleV) on Green Slee^^es and Pud- ding-Vyes^ (an Air well known to the Mufical Tribe in that Globe,) began to be free with him , telling him what he thought of his En- tertainment *, and in Conclufioiij broke his Crowd and Fiddie-ltick. Order,— Perhaps he might delerve iti But how couM the Soul (your Friend) fuffer by that Aiccident ? I. IntelL — I ask’d my Friend this very Qiie~, frion; and he anfwei’d,- — — That tlio’ by a Habitude of Incorporation he began to love ^ E the ia;3S3etttuteg of the Body, yet he was fo much afraid of Vio- lence^ (bein^ a Party^) that he try’d all the Windows of his Tenement, to make an E- fcape ; but coming to the Ear, he heard the welcome Sound of Im^ofe lefs on jour Friends^ md fo farewell. My Friend thinking the Storm was over, began to love the Ear for the wel< come News he heard in’t, tho’ indeed ’twas the moll frequent part of Refidence that my Friend had in the whole Material Fahrlck . — » He had not tarry’d long thvere, but he was fammon’d to tune another Fiddle \ but the Chamber-door was firft lock’d, and no Fidler was at home for more V ifitants : So away they went to work ; the Fidler with his Fingers^ Wry Mouthy and other antick Geftures ; and my Friend, according to his Office oi Per-- ceptionj judg’d of Meajure and Treportions, And having tun’d that alio into the ufual Concor^ dance., a Aiour7ful Ditty was to be compos’d, and let, to bewail the unhappy Abufe of his V/ooden not confidering that the bare Remembrance of a Dilgrace is afflifting to any body, but one that carries his Soul in his Ears, Now, my Friend being ignorant what Piilance lay between h flat and b Jharp^ or how much a Lejfer Third differ’d from a Greater Sixth ^ was not fo able as willing to affift his Comrade in the Compofure : Who thereupon rag’d, fvvore, gre w dillraded, and out of Re- venge, has cruelly confin’d my Friend to the cold Priion of his Fiddle, where he ules to vi- iit iiim two dr three times a Night s allowing no better Converle, than the doleful Accents erSt Adad Tom Bedlam. Order. Or^er.- -This Account is Argument difmal enough to add to our Litany, From Ftdkrs, Li- her a nos^ Do?mne» But Vt/ho’s thefecond Com- plainant ? What has he to fay ? 2. IntelL — * — - ^ Race of— Order. — Of what ? 2. IntelL-Oi— I dare not mention the ugly Name^ for fear it h ings a Diftradion amongil iis, and the very Malignity of the Sound in- fect us with the Fatality ot its Herefies. — —• But if a general dark Charaeler will fatishe^ "ds unwillingly ready. Order. Certainly it canh be much worfe than the Accounts we have already. Let’s have the fulb particular Relation. 7 ., hit ell — Well, hnceyeare lb covetous of what ye will repent^, take it. A Society of Virtuofoes, in which a Friend of mine has: lately commenc’d, and for which Fm fare he’ll be damn’d, has bewitch’d the other World with frnidelsDilcourfes, unprofitable DifpULes, heedlels Digreffions, of PoJJe, Ejfe, Quiddity, Tredicament , and a Thoufmd luch Sounds ; by which they have loll their own Reafon^ and defpoibd their Followers of theirs too.’ They will make every thing dirputable, ib much as the PrePxiJlsnce of Souls: Nay .they ’ll. not believe t\\Q Exifiestce of a Deity, iftfiCir An-, tagonilt proves it not by aSyllogifm, in Adood and Figure. Two and Three is not hi^ve amonglf them j without a Confequence from jiuf Premifes. A certain Heretick Feda?it the other Day maintain’d a Vacuum, arid profelyted a fnnple Country Gentleman by fuch feeming Rea&nSj as he w.anted Senie to confute. - — 5 ^ Cfjc dtlitlCntttlTg of One of’eni^ ss I was inforni’d, was tliis^ — 7/ vjcti^d he ridiculons to thmlz^ that when a Gnat pupoes hack a parcel of Air 7i>ith its JVmgSj that' pared driven aitothu before tt ^ and that another 5 cmd fo the ftirring of the Little Toe of a Flea jhotdd raifi a Bunch upon the Back of the Umajerje. The unthinking Vleheia'n having long wifti’d Suicide no Murder^ bscauie his MhtrelTes Unkind- nefs mack him weary of his Life, llraightway rciii'd cut of the Affembly^ and thank’d his pitying G'enm for providing a way to cure his Melancholy , by the help of a Vacuum ; relblving to lay die Fault upon Nature in the Day of Judgment, that he was accidentally in a place^ ivhere he cou’d not live any longer^ for want of Breath. Whereupon he imme- diately made and executed his Laft Will and Tef ament j and took his Leave of all his Friends.' — And,, in order to find out a emtm^ he caus’d all his BIundcrbulTeSj Guns and Mufquets to be laid over a Gate^ ready to dticharge ; and behind two of his Ser- vants_, well mounted, with a hanging Carpet between ’em, with io much Lead at the hot- tom as to keep it tight and perpendkular ; and thus, having wiilrd liappinefs to his fair Tormenrer, he order’d the Pieces to be fir’d, and his Servants (to whom he had bequeath’d his Ilorics for this lail Qliice of Friendfliip) to let Spurs to their Legacies, and follow the fcowi’d Road, he liimldf bringing up the k.ear, asid ebiarging about for the Vacuum. But after fie had almoif run himfelf out of breath in a vain Puriait cf ir, he retir’d to the Allcunbly or V^rtufoesj which was not yet broke pje=rxiucnt broke up, faluting his Teacher by the Name of Mad man^ and Beggar of §iuejiions. But the Virtuofo^ to maintain his Credit, aTerted that the Gentleman might have found the Vacmm if he had follow’d clofe up to the Carper. Whcreiiponj another of the Gentleman’s Ac- quaintancCj refenting his Friend’s Dilgrace, order’d the fame Trial again^ refblving to keep up clofe to the windy Engine, to prove the Ailertion a Falfity h but he ^ to keep Ground,, ran himielf cut of breath, and fell down dead : Which Accident upheld the Cre- dit of the Vacuur/i* Another woud prove, ‘That a [mail Thready ivhich 7Vas e&gially twifcdy and all of the fams Matter^ ivoud fufiam a greater weight than a Cable Rcpe that was unequally twiflcd. To prove vviuch, he offer’d this Realbn, That being all of a fnngth^ it -had no place to break frsh A little Schcol-Eoy that Bcod by^ wifli’d his Father had known that Secret before his Ship-wreck. It had been all one^ (reply’d another of hisFormi- fellows ) for the Thread woud^ have broke clofe by theShip^ by reafon of the Additional Weight of the re'si of the Thread* In like manner^ tf the Thread bang’d in a perpendicular Ltne^ with a Weight at the End of it^ it woud break at the Up- per End^ hecattfi the Lower End wcud mt hear jo much Weight as the Upper End^ by the Weight of the Thread* ATy, Suppofe the Thread laid upon a Level., and extended beyond Its firengh ; having no place to break firsts it muB break in all places at once : For if Farticulars cannot act beyond their Tower ^ Generals cannot \ both coming under one redicammt^ Three Quarters oi cne Auditory E 3 cou’4 n ^4 Cfte ^mntum of cou’d not underfrand the Boy, who therefore was whipp’d for his Sawcinefs and Interrup- tion. So that that Orator alfo late down with his Credit. A Third flood up, atid^ without pretend- ing to prove any thing, drove all the Auditory out of the little Wit they had left, by asking, Whether there may ?iot bs an Infinity o f Worlds y:his Globe being not fio big as thoje above ? Whether this World wight not he made out of the Rains of a preceding Old One ?- Whether thefe Globes may not he the Excrements of the Sti?i ? Whether it might not he better fer the 'next Generation to he taught to go upon All Four, for fever al good Reajons that wight be given > Whether the Eeprefentatives of Nature s Pudenda 7Pere 7zot a mere proper Badge of Eloncur to wear at a Cavalie'rs Girdle, than a Svsord i fmee thps is a Mark of Death ^ and that of Life <' Whether this Juft of Grajs ( pulling one out ot his Pocket) may not he a Man within theje Sixty Tears ? Whether, ifi it 7vere pojjiblefor one Man to imitate another in all hts Members^ Motions and Gefures^ that Imitator jJoould mt, hy Equality of Orga? 2 s^ be jufeeptive of the others Jhoughts and Inclination ? Whether an Eternity of Matter is difiputable ? Whether the Souls of Aden are Ere^exfient^ or Contemporary with the Body ^ Whether it is not a great Absurdity to at- tribute to a Vacuity that ^iality ofi Tuldmgtoa Bocly^ and that Space which are the Dependencies cf an Extent, ivhich can only agree to a Subfiance ? Whether ^ — Order. Hold : No more Whethering in Virtiiocifm. Poor Earth ! Alas, What Enter- tainment can we expedt in thee ? We Ihall be fvveetiy p!e=enffent ©pfritp ss fweeciy brought to if VirtHocifm finds en- couragement , and propagates till rhere‘sno other Trade for us to take up with. Hailen our Spindles, dear Varca , whilft there are fome Infidels ^ and Oppofers of theie Do- ^rines. dialogue: xm. (Between the Spirits an Emperor and a Beggar. Beggar. — I S enough for Humanity^ that knows no better, to be Noifie Querulous^ and arraign the Juftice of Fate, and the wife diipenlation of Providence, who fits not the f articular Chain of Caufes to the private humour of this or that Party ; but relped s the univerfal Good at once : hence I am iatisfied, the dejpicable Fofi allign’d me, is wifely difpes’d, and ought to be accepted wdeh gratitude, fince ’cis inconfiflent with the goodnels of the T>ruim Being, to make a gene- ral Good incompatible with a particular one ; whence it is aUb plain, ‘that I may be happy in my Station. But w/as I to chiife, and knew not what Fate had ordain’d me, Fd be an Emperor at leaf Tdow full of Charms is it to irritate the Divine Original &f Beings, to fee whole Kingdoms depend upon me^ to he encom- pajs'd with eternal Heads of Hake dm fs 5 to have E 4 the lEfje of the f07ver of exalting one^ and dehajing another ; of rewarding Vtrtue^ and pmijlnng V ice ; of dij- pojing of Life and Death ; m fhort^ to be an 'Earthly God. Now muil i fufi'er Affronts and AbufeSj without the power of Revenge, to Hoop, and acknowledge my dependance to almoH every Being. Alas, what’s the mean- ing of that Vro^jidmtial RuUk^ That jMan is tlie Lord of tlie ivoi id ; Tii at Beali'jFilli and Fowl are his, when there’s fo many Rivals- that the Title is lOih and one part of i Juma- nity can pretend fo little to a propriety in. Iltileh That the iame Predicament lerves for us, and tliofc tilings we are laid to he Lords oh? lAimdifpfes of Man as he doe's of a Beajf even to exchangin'/^ ^ Slavery. Me- thinks it is unaccountable s fince all are out of the fafne fiamfd with the fame ImpeJ- jlon^cqual in their ISfothingtieJs^ both d parte antCy and d pane pofi. Nay their very Souls which animate thefe grojfr Vehicles^ arc allb equal, only adiiig differently, by a more or lefs aptitude of Organs, or inequality of Educa- tion. Emperor.-~->-^T\\Ci we Spirits fell not when the Angels did ; yer we liave cerrainly the lame defectibiliry of Judgment ; for two things (efpeciaily Oppofites) cannot be both be[l. Cali you a Beggars Condition delpicable and (la- villi? ’Tis certainly the happleif Pof in the Creation ; and were it pofiibie for Fate to be guilty of a Caprice, and calt Lots once mor e about the Difpofals of Emperors and Beggars^ Fd petition to renew my Chance ; poBihly 1 might the . fecond time alter my Condition, and come out a happy Bjeggsr. J7 Pie=e«lent @pui'tg. Beggar. — —Why io ? Errj^eror.—Bacauic there appears to me a greater happinefs in an umnvUd Cottage^ than in the l^ci^e Crowds of Flatterers. Little does the Tlcheian know how hea^vy aCrevm weighs \ how great the Trtilt is, and how hard to be managed. ’Tis the Court that’s full of chery ^ Ambition^ Bride , Bribes^ and fiich a dreadful Catlaogueof Vices, that ’tis inipoHi- ble for the beft of Men to arrive to a greater degree of Goodnefs there, than a Negation of E'uil. The IVatch muff be kept fo ilricHy^ that there’s tbm to at'i ^irtuciifly. But in the retird Solitudes of Poverty ^ one Third of Olir Temptations are lolf , the uneafmefs of tJoe Senfe^ caufes a fear ch after the quiet of the Mind. We have nothing to refill: in Solitude, but a few llragling Thoughts ; nor nothing to leek after, but to be happy. There we are free from piblick Calamities : and private Enemies^ unenvv’d in every thing but Happinefsjand ’tis ioipoflible to Heal that from us, when we have nothing elie to do but to keep it : Nay, if we Ihoifd communicate it, welofe nothing, but have more by giving. I coiul reckon up Augufius^ Diode fan^ Maximhian, Vatius^ Em- fedodes^ &c. who laid by their Scepters for Spades; and cou’d allb mention how happy the Change was; but the i cmcmb'ance wou’d make my Crown too uneafie, which now I muf bear as well as I can. Be^^ar. ther fide what OD|0t||eiS by our different — Tis in vain to wifh on ei- can’t be avoided. But , fdp ’t the Cafe be ftrangeiy alter’d Stations in the other World ? — * Methinks C&e aoisenfutts of Methinks 1 fee you Ibinedmes royally feakd amongft ths Refrejentativei of your Kingdom^ fometlmes in private Council^ turning over the. ■ Cabakj or d^^rker M- ftmes of State^ hut always looJid Pip073 as more than 777ortiil. Methinks I allb fee my felf injiu’d and over-powVd by the Mmt of Demnatioi^ ^ and rny Addreffes to your Highnefs^ by Friends or Petition, in agi- tation; Methinks I fee niy cold reception^ the Meannefi oi my Concerns loft amongft Mat- • ters of greater Mome73t, and my Importunity for a Dilpatch, anfwer’d by the Infolences of a hundred fuhordinate Officers ; one denies me admittance, another turns me out, and every one looks upon me an impertinent, worthlels things becaufe I left all my lAohtllty and At- tttidance behind me among the Stars. By this you may in ibme meafare judge of the diftradied Cares of a Crowsi ; how amongfx thefe numerous Com- plaints, Petitions, &c. ’tis impollible to' hear and redrCiS all, time won* c permit, and Om^ nlprefence i-s not confer"* d to Earthly Scepters, to aa every where, and every thing at once . Think y’ It not afiiifi iug to a Father to fee many of his Ckdldren ilrugling under Unhap- pineifes, and whiift he relieves Ibnie, others perifli ; and alfothat he has many more un- der the fame Circumftinccs, that he knows not oh Be7^'ar> ' Enough ; let’s not tiunk fo muen on the E-vils of Hujnanlty^ as to lofe the lenie or that little Good of vvliich it is capa- ble 5 Ab^ to be happy m fome thmgs, becat cant m every thmg, an mklnd 7 heft t capa- ■aufe we to our Pie=e.tlfient @pin't0. fehes* Compare the Diltradions of other Crowns to yours, whiUl I examine 'wbofe Cot^ . tage is than mine ; and this (with other like Inferences^ ) will divert the black Refle- dlons vve have made ; An earthly Philolb- pher could lay^ 'Nemo Mtjer nifi comparatas<. Comejef's not learn of the TVcrld below mjbut give them Examples. We can’t mils, if* we retire to our Resion ; for there being nothing hut Equa- lity^ '’tis impofiible any one fhou’d pretend to be mors happy or milerable than another. DIALOGUE XIV. Eetr^eeu Two Spirits that made a Contract to hfiep a Correfpondencey whoever came to be Embodied firji,, Ihe 'Unbodied he can underffand Spirit. me^ now I have afliim’d this Body or Air.- — Holo Brother — I have lieen calling thefe two hours to no purpofe Do you hear me now ? Bedjed Spirit » — Hear ye I Yes ; who are ye ? And v^hat’s your Bufinels ? UnbodfdSp. What, Have you forgot me your old Comrade ^ a?id jour CentraB ? Has this Lump of Humanity jpoifd all your Fa- cultiesj 6o of . cukieSj or are you ungrateful^ or over-proud of your new Lodging ? Body'^d Sp. — I don’t know what you mean by ForgethilJieLj or Contraft. Unbody d Sp. Thafs very ftrange : Fm certain^ ^ the Body you Tvere to animate, ^nd by conlequence, vou mufl be the lame Indi'vi- dual that agreed with me to keep a Correfpon- dence^ when you came into this Body. 1 had forgot my lelf, and have been all this time fpeaking to you in the Language cf Spirits^ not knowing it was too fine for the Perceptions of an Organiz’d Body. BodydSp. — -By this you’d make me be- lieve a Pre-exiflent State cf Seals before they come into the Body ; But if there be fuch a State J have wholly forgot it ; only I have Ibme dark Ideas of things when they are mention’d that 1 never law nor heard ol before ; which probably may proceed from the CognL^ance 1 took of em before I was imbody’d. Unhody'^d Sp. That’s no Argument at all ; lince that Idea gives you neither the Species.^ nor the Form of the Thing Ipoken of, if nei- ther be iiiention’d ; as for lnftance,lf I dion’d tell you in general Terms, That at the ^Vefi- end of the Vatican at Rome, there’s a curious Pi(^>ure ; you wou’d prelentiy fortn an Idea of it in your Mind ; but perhaps it may be a Sahit-i infleadofa Land-skip : but to pals over thaq have you zny -Idea of the La?miage of SpF rits ? Bodfd ^~None but Rich as is Orga- nical. ' Unhodj d XJnhocJyd Sp.^ — By this you may fee your Eri'O'ur again ; for Spirits f^eak one to another^ as Man does^ whm he [peaks to God in his Mindi Again^ Man’s V oicc is limited ; I mean,, when he fpeaks, he is not heard but at fuch a di- dance *, but when one Spirit fpeaks, all the Thotifand Millions of Spirits^ where-ever dil*- pers’d throughout the Creation^ have a di- ftinft perception of fuch Speech, ifdire&ed to them all at once ; or if direfted to any one Spirit^ be he never lb far olf^ he only hears ; and not one of all thole that are be- twixt him and the Speaker; fo that 'tis as or- dinary a thing for Spirits to converle one with another at the moft protracted diltances^ as ’tis face to face ; but this is only to your Ca- pacity ; for there’s no fuch a thing as diftancc amonglt Spirits ; for they are as near one ano- ther, when the whole Ccekm Empyreum is betwixt ’em, as they are when both together, and yet they are not like God, every where at once^ cr omniprefent. Bodfd Sp, - This is ftrange DoCtrine to Mortals ; pray’ how do Spiris move ? whether locally by a Medium^ or in an in* dant, or in Time, or how ? UnhodfdSp. — —None of all this — for what is impartible, is not moveable ; for, ac- cording to Humane Thtlofophy^ (which holds in this Gale,) any thing that is moving, whilft it is moving, is partly mtermino aquo^ and part- ly in termino ad quem ; which is inconfiltent with Impartihility. Nor can a Spirit move lb, as to pafs through a Medium : As for Inftance, To go from London to Rcme^ or Cenfiantmopk^ without (C2 Wje aftSentuits? of without paffing over the dif^ance,, or places betwixt ’em : Now every thing that paffes^ pajfes through a place equal to it Jelf^ ( as fappofe through Air^ Water, &c. the place that the Body is in, is equal to the Body which fills it.) Bat the place equal to an Indivifible Spirit^ (fpeaking ad Uumanum Captum) is a ? and therefore if an Angel or Spirit^ by his Mo- tion, palTss through a Medium)]^ muft necef- larily pafs through or number manj Fomts in termmo ad quern ; which is impoflible. To Ipeak yet nearer the Common Appyehenficn of MortalSj a Man may in his Mind think of France^ and then immediately of Syria, with- out thinking of Italy, which is die Medium, betwixt both : And this comes neareft the Motion of Spirits ; now whether this Motion is eifeded in Time , or in an Inffant. ( As thus. When God Almighty commifliona- ted an Angel to go and appear to Manoah, whether in coming from Heaven he might be a Day^ an Hour, or a Minute ; or whe- ther he was there in the fame u’nfucceJJIve Moment wherein he receiv’d the Comaiiffion.) To this we anfwer in relpefb of Men, who are ty’d up to the gro[s Rules of Time, Flacc, Matter, &c. There was a Flux of Time be- twixt the Receipt of the Commiffion^ and the Execution of it : But in refpec^t of the Nature of Angels, the Receipt of their Coniniiffion, the Execution of it, and a Thouiand Years after the Execution of it, v/ere all included in Ojie : The Realbn of it is thus, if there were a Time for the Begin- ning of an A^tionj and another Time for the Ending ^3 Ending of then there wou’d be Siicceffion, and by confequence Vartihility ; but that’s in- confiftent (as above) with the Nature of an Indivifihle Beings as an Angel or a Spirit are. Bodfd Sprit* But Tuppofing Motion^ Time^ Tlace^ &c. to be attributed to Angels and Spi- rits, in refpe^l to Mankind, as really they are: As it may be faid, A Sprit is in fuch a Placs noTv^ and was not two Hours fince. Suppofing (I fay) fuch a way of fpeaking, in reference to Mankind , how is it feafibk for a Spirit^ ct Witch, to be Ib^ orto go through the Key-^ hole of a Door ? Unbody" d Spirit, Well, allowing fuch a Gon- delcention, ad Humanum Capum^ yet ’tis a vulgar Errour, Firft, As to Witches : They ne- ver do it, ’tis their Spirits, and they (I ineati their Bodies and Animal Life) are all the while in an Exafninated Trance,, wherein the Devil does make ufe of their Fancy, to inform them of what palfes at a dlliance in thole Aerial Bo- dies that refemble them, and in which their Spirits really are : As Mankind want not ma- ny Inflances of fuch Truths. A Spirit’s paf- fing through a Key-hole is abfurdly ridiculous ; for fince Matter is not determinative on Spi- rits, ’tis all one to them to pals through Gold^ Glajs, or the mod: Continuous Solidities in Na- ture^ as to pafs through Air only. So that when a Spirit alTumes an Aerid Body, fince Air it felf is Matter, or a Bod}^, and hnce tiiere can’t be Tefietration of Bodies, ft follows, that a Spirit which is to go through Glafs, Stone^ 8cc. leaves the Aerial Body which it has 5 and only palfes through the Glafs , ^4 of Stone^ in its own Nature^ and alTunies 1 77€WiBody of Air on rhs other fide ; anrl here al- may be a Solution of thofe f range Riddles^ (for lb they are to Ibme Mortals^) how a receives the Wound in th^ lame Part^ in which the Aeri '1 Repreientation of her re- ceiv’d it. As for h, "ranee; A Fallen Angel prompts a Witch to affiici: liich a Perfon : She conlents ; and being under th^sAngeh power, he makes ule of natural Methods, lb as to in- vert the ordinary Operation of her Animal Powers, (as above,) that j]ie falls into a Trance^ inlenfible of Burns^ Cuts, &c. Now this wicked Angel having a permijjive Vejjejfion of her Spirit, forms SL Body of Air tor it, organiz’d, and lit for Perception, in which it alTauks and af- files the Perlbn defign’d : But in all the In- Ifances that Mankind can bring of fuch Aerial Reprefentations that have been Irruek at, whe- ther in Humane or Brutal Shape, the Perlbns that ft ruck never felt that they hit anj thing hut Air ; which is a certain Evidence that Was / not the true Body of what it reprefented. Now, this vjtcked Angel being prefent with the Witclds Spirit, and taking notice where, and what the Wound wou’d have been, had it hecii a real Body, ainongil other the Occur- rences that he reprefents to the Witch" s Fancy, he infmuates the Wound, and at the lame time inflicts it himleU upon the real Part of the Body whicli was reprefentatively cut or wounded in the Ihantafm ; the Witch all the time believing the whole to be a real Truth, and acted per- Ibnall}’* XJnhodfd pie'Cn'fient 8)pfn'tsj> Eodyd f , Poflibl}^ ’tis fo. Eut^ is there :i N^if. of Sprits^ or dijferent Species amofjgl^ ^cm XJnbodjdSpHi. Humanely fpeaking, there’s Thoufaftds of Thoufands but in the Language of Spirits there’s no fuch a grofs Term as Num- ber ; for Number is a difcrete Quantity ^ caus'd by a Divifon of Continuity : Eut this is incon- liftent with the Nature of Spirits. And as to Difference of Spicies, to which we might add Equality, or Inequality, they are Terms adapt- ed to Matters and therefore amongft Immate- rial Beings, ’tis the mod: egregious Nonlence chat can be imagin’d. Bodyd Spirit, Whai’s the difference betwixt a Spirit’s Perception^ and ours ? Unbody d Spirit, A great deal, Men think^ by means of the Senics. Suppofe the Eye: Fiiffj There mufi: be an Union betwixt the Sights and the thing ieen ; for Vifion is not in except the thing feen is after a certain manner in the thing feeing and this not by an AlTumpcion of the Subffance, but of the Si- militude of the thing leen^nto the Eye. Now this Eifve Power having affum’d a Similitude oh the thiiUg feen into the £3'e/he IntelkEl ah fr abbs Univerfals fre?n it ; which Acf is call’d the Perception, and according to this Perception we judge and aft. But ’tis not fo with Spirits, they have no Perception from dinjifble or fen- fihk Gbjebis* for what by our Senles we know of Material Objefts, that they know from the Effluviums of the Deity. As for In- ilance^ God is the Caufe of every Suhfia?}ce, both m to Its MMter and Form i therefore Gcd^ ac- F cording 6 ^ Jltiiitntiiitjs of cording to his Eflence, (which iVrhe Caufe of all things) is the Similitude of all things. Hence Angels atid Sprits^ vyhen they look up- on God;, do (asipaGlafs") fee and know, all Material and lin material Objeds and Things whatevei-j when he pleafes to communicate a Knowledge : And thus it is that Departed Souls ha%>e Knowledge of things happening in this Life. Bodfd Spint. What s the difference betwixt a Spirit’s I’hoiights and Language;, fince you fay that their Language is like our Thoughts ? Vnhodfd Spirit. 1 have already told you^ that as Men have their Perceptions by means of their SsnleS;, fo Spirits have theirs from the immediate hmanations and Ideas of all things which they fee originally in God . This is the' manner of their Perception^ and the making known this Perception^ by direding the Re- fult of it to one another^ as Men do their Minds to thcmlelves, when they ipeak to themlelves internally ^ without Lip or l%ce. ThiSj I fayg is the Language of Spirits ; which is as diilerent from their Perceptions as the Acl of Receiving and Communicating is a- mongf}; Men. Body d $p:.rit. Whether do Spirits and An- gels love, lear^ arc angry or pleas’d^ &c. as i\len arc. 'U7ihGdy d Spirit. Not at all, ’tis inconfillent with their Nature, rhefe being Adts adapted to the Powers of thQ Sen/it i^je Sotd: So that \vhc.n Speech j Love-^ hiate^ Fear ^ Courage^ Tempt' riWce.GLz. arc attributed to Angels or bpirirs/tis an or a Condelcention adapted to iiiiinanc Dials^l. To Love amongfi Spirits, is p?e=ei;fC[€nt ©pintjS^ is to wifk Good to one another : To rejoyce^ is to reft the Will in fbme good Habit ; Temfe^ ranee is a Moderation of the W^ill, according to the Rule of the Divine Will : fortitude is a firm and relbliue Execution of the Divine Will : And fb of all other Concupifeibk Powers. Body d Sprit. Whether can (everal Spirits be in one place at the lame time. Vnhodyd Sprit, I have already told you, that Spirits knew no fuch a thing as Vlace \ ’f is as incongruous a Term to dieir Nature as 'ime is. So thatj what you call Blacc^ is *hs fame thing to them as 'no place; and if Ib^ Spines, according to that Notion you have of Plaee^ may be FiveMillions together in a Quart-Bottle^ and yet never a one be there ; but ’tis impoft- llble to make you underftand the manner how^ :■ farther than by a dark Similitude. Suppoie i! Five Millions of Perlbns Hiou’d all delire at the fame time to be upon the Fop of the Monument.^ fereefted in Remembrance of the Conflagra- : tion ot the Fire oi London : J Now thele Five i Millions defiring to be there at the fame time, a it follows that their Minds muft be there all at once ; yet not one of km can lay, his Thought F; or Mind was crowd d there by other Minds wT.ich a were there allb : And thus might Five Millions ef Spirits bc in a Quart Bottle at one time^ with- !i out juftling one another for Room i hrz thus only by a Virtual Application of them. .. es thi- li then — — I muft be gone, there’s a General 'I AffignationoP our Order to meet at the ^'^*uck !t of the Spheres^ and if my Place be found empty x! ray Name will be darn’d out of the Catalogue^ upon a Suppofitton that I am imhodfd, li F 2 Bodfd 67 6S C!)e aastnttircg of Bodfd Spirit. Well, I acknowledge my Ob-- ligations for this Favour : Pray, let me con- verle with you as oft as you can, it won’t be long but I fiiall put off this Chg^ and change Circumftances with you ; and then I’ll be as ki nd in informing you of iuch things as you will alio forget when you come into a Body. dialogue XV. Betnixt Two Spirits, about the Mu* fic\ of the Spheres. i,Sp. — T’M weary with that drumming i fort of Nolle? there’s nothing but an Eternal Din of one Tune_, o’er and o’er. There’s better Muhck, ten to one_, every Z>V- tholo7?2ew- Fair, 2 . Sp. Pray, let me ask you one Qiiellion: h there any Mufick better than the Original of all Mufick ? i.Sp,' No. 2 .Sp. — Very well: Then hnce tlicleM//' cal Diaitems^a,nd x!t\^[charmQnims Adotmis proceed fron> the different Pofitions and Heighths of the Planets^ and the Correfpondent Symmetry of the Heavens^ are the frfi Original of AAuffck j ail other iTarmony which the lower World pretends to, are but Imitations oi this great Original, So that thole little tickling Fancies ot !o?nckj Dorick^ Thrygian^ and other other Meal’ures, are but a different way of Trial to come the neareB ours ; and if Mor- tality cou’d find out the true Spherical Mufick^ they wou’d never feek farther, nor alter it for any other, becaiife ’cis impoffible to defire or chiife an ImperfeBion^ when VerfeBicn (lands by» But ’cis no wonder the World helovj us think the Mufick of the Spheres a Fable, when one of our own Order iTiou’d undervalue it at fuch a rate. But perhaps you are of the fame Opinion as Mankind, and thefo are only Words of Courfe, becaufe you have a mind to be upon the Ramble, 1. Sp, Truly, I am not very well fatisfied^ whether I hear any thing, or no. 2 . Sp. Yes, you hear, but without Con- cern ,* which makes me believe, that you be- long not to otirs^ but to t\iQ Ammal Order j and in that Order you are dcfieivd to animate an Afs^ which, amongffall Cvcs.tmQS^ne'ver heeds Mufick, You, and all Mankind, mufi: grant, that the Flanets move^ and that Sound necejja- rily proceeds from Motion ^ and that this Sound mufi: either be fweet or harfli : Now, if a fix’d Obfervation of Numbers moderate the Mo- tion, it efFe(3:s a Sjmphonous Harmony ^ confb- nant to fuch a Motion ; but if it be not go- 'vern'd by Meafures^ there proceeds an unplea- lant Noife. But in this admirable StruBure ofi the Hea^em^ there is nothing but jet led Rules and Proportions^ curious Differences ofi Magnitude ^ Celerity^ and Local Dijiances^ which are confiant- ly circumagitated through the Ethcrial Orbs ; as In the following Figure. 70 C&e aaaetttut£0 of *Tis thic Syfieme that all Muficians imitate; and thofc i hat come the neareft it^ have made th - i’ Calculati^s from Arithmetical Vrofortions^ in which this lafi Age has exceeded all former ones^ having now laid down 'Kuks to reduce ali Audihles into Vifibles^ or Vijihles into Audtbks\ that is^ can give Diredions for Building a Houle, agreeable to the Meafures of a Mufied Cemfojure \ or can f ay the Troportions of anj Houft no'iv htitU\ upun a Mufical Inftrument* If IVlankind fea' ches a little deeper in the Muft- Science^ they will find oat a Device to imi- our Spherical Mufick by a voluntary Self Motion, or frame Inftruments that fhall pky themfdves, i, Sp, Say you fb? Indeed^ the Noz/ehj' that wou’d colt me many a Ramble. 2. Sp. But why loveMufick on Earthy more than here ? j. Sp. Becaufe I find by my Heavinefs, I am grown lb like a BoJy, that I fhall foon have fuch a Relation ; and you know *ds natural for all Beings to be afFefted with fomething like themfelves : However_, I’ll be fore (if I can re- member) to inform the Lower World or the Rea- fonablenels of Spherical Mafck* and what Meafores they ought to take, to come as near it as pollible. In the mean time, Farewell. 2. — Hold : If youdefign to vifit the Lower World, you may be forweiilde to ’em, if you put ’em in mind of ufing kfs Vbyfickj and more Mufick, lince it alters al! the Paiiions of the Mind, and is the readiefl way to cor- reB Grief Anger, Tity^ Love, Fears, Defires, and all other Palfions of the Mind : And if the Mind may be thus regulated, their Phyficians need not to be told how great an Influence it has upon the Body. Another Remark you may add, (if you are like to find Credit,) that’tis on- ly the Mtifick of the Spheres that keeps Attgels and Spirits in a perpetual Health. , DIA- Cfje atiijf nturcs of DIALOGUE XVI. Between Two Spirits of a poor Do^ Slor^ his Friend^ and a modern Fhilofophery alias, Sharpen Dehtor,l^Ar,h’upcy ! Oh the dreadflil Sound JD is fufficiently confonndative with- out the thing it lelf j a Dun to my Breakfaft every^ Morning j and to play at Hide all day long for fear of the Counter-Vermin ; and all this toO;, (if Fate knows what’s what J by the Prodigality of a hopeful Son, who^ with Cccks^ HoufeSj and half a doz,en MiJJes , coifd thruft a dozen fiich Effates as mine ^ into the narrow Compajs of a fe 7 u Bonds^ Bills ^ Mort- gages^ &:c. Oh thefe unwelcome Lights of Heaven, how fall they number out TJfe-Mony- T>ays ! Alas, what an unhappy Spirit am I ! How gladly wou’d I change Conditions with s.Vegjtahk Soul^ tho* it were to animate an humble Shrub 1 Friend — How Brother, animate Shrubs^ and fleep in iuch a glorious Star as thjSj where you can have no difrurbance at all; pray Ue a little farther, and take the other Nap, and you’ li be weil- ' Debt. — I cannot fleep for the Scrivener ^ he oites me fb ; and if by chance I fall into a Slumber ^ I dream of the foar Mans Boxy and md tie Quarter-day^ or elle that I fee my Son on Horfehackj riding into ^tagmires. Friend , Why do you rave of Son^ garter- day ^ &:c. and are not yet got into the other world ? Debt. — — But Fm a going ; and my Mis- fortunes will be fiich there, as I have [juli: now told you. F'4end. — — Alas Voor wretch 5 and don’t you know how to prevent all this ? Arife^and follow me; there’s a Company of Wits thatin- habit the Planet Mercury , will certainly put you into feme way to avoid your Misfor- tunes nay, tho’ they are fuch are inequitably fated to you. Debt. AlaSj my Scris Horfes have eaten me into a Gonfumption, that 1 can Icarce get up •, but however Til try, hnce you talk of Remedies ; Come^ let’s be going. Friend. * Holo Mercurial Philofephers^ open the Wicket there. Vhiloph, Who’s that ? His Bawling has made my Brain mijcarry of a hopeful Notion.-— However^ come in; Debt. I’m forry for that j I wilh I cou’d mifcarry of mine too • — — Bur where’s the Philofopher ? I can’t fee him. Philofopher. Look up^ Friend>D’ye ex-^ pe6t a Wit to lie growling upon Threftiolds. Debt, — Blels me ! he’s han^d up in a Basket yonder^ ^ Pray Mr. Philofopher., why fb high ? Philofoph. 1 walk hF Air-t and gaz,e upon the Sun^ and if my Intelledf were not thus fufpmded, I fliou’d think as little Thoughts as you aoiienttitcs of you do. ■ ■ — •" But what’s the occafion of your Vifit ? Debt. Vm going into the other Worlds where I (hall be torn in pieces with Vehts and Ufury ; which to avoids I wou’d ei- ther pay in current Money or Words. The firfl: I jhan’t be able to raife ; and the laft Fni not Matter of 5 therefore I’m come to ask your Counlel about it. Vhilo[ofh. — There’s no need of tht fir if your Debts were double. I’ll teach you prefently how to come off. — -Stay a little ; — Ay ^ that's right. Oh happy Art ! This it is, not to limit ones Thoughts to a Threlhold; but like a Bird fetter’d in a String, to allow ’em Liberty to play and flutter in the Air. — - In the firfl: place, you muft (led the Moon^ and keep it under Lock and Key Thirty days before your Day of Payment comes. Debt. Why fo? Philofoph. If you pay Ufe by the Months^ and there be no Moon to meafure out thefe Months^ then no Ufe can be de- manded. ' Debt, - — I don’t know how to effeiS: fach a Task ; — — I think ’tis far better to hang my before the Day of Payment, and then my Creditors will never profccute.me. Fhilofioph. No, no. Roll talk like one that was never hangd up in Basket — Don’t you know the Law provides two days, one for Citation, or Demand of Payment, and the other for Payment ? Debt. — — Well j and what then ? pje-efiffent Ihilof. — 'Tis impoffible they fhou’dcome both at a time ; ib that one day is a warning to get ready ^ and run away the next. But this is not hah ; you are to learn the all-convincing S fetch befide. Bek. ^ Pray what’s that ? Thilef. — You muft learn to where you find your Creditor a little loft : As for inhanccj When they ask you for Money ^ fetch ’em out a Taltfinan , or any other thing, and ask ’em what it is ? If they lay, they car^t tell\ reply. Do you ask Money ^ and are fo very a Dunce? If they ask you for the Interefl^ ask ’em what they wean , or what kind of Creature that is ? They’ll anfwer, ’Tis an Encreafe of Money hy Months^ Daysy &c. Ask whether the Sea grows bigger by an encreafe of all the Rivers that run into it ? If they lay. No ; Ask ’em. With what a Confcience they can exped: their Money fliou’d increale ; and lb you may treat ’em all to the End of the Chapter. Debt. — — I don’t know what to fay to’t, for I believe thele Shams won’t take, efpeci- ally finee I have to deal with a Shole of Horfe- Leeches^ call’d Scriveners^ Bankers ? ’twill pals with Tailers, Barbers, and a few Drapers: but 1 muft be going, Farewel Mr. Basket- teer. Rhilofofher Pray as you go along, Re^ member the poor Trifoners* DIA- C^e auisenturcsi of DIALOGUE - XVII. Betrveen Two^irits on the Ramble^ and a Flight ^^jTWitcheSj with their Guides. i. 5/>.T TEY-day ! What s the meaning of XI this ? Yonder’s Materiality flying in the Air : What can be the Supporter ? 2.Sf. Necromancy j perhaps, or Sorcery^ or Witchcraft. Come, Sliall we put a Spp to’t ? Fm fure none oi the Creation has any Bufl- neft there with T^tibs^ Caldrons^ &cc. i. Sp. There s a Colt, and a Calf too : Per- haps they are the People the World in tht Moorty and are going to fbme Fair. 2 . Sp. What! Going to a Fair out of their Globes ? No. Come, let’s attack ’em at the worft it can but be the Devil, and we are as llrong as he, and lels innocent. j. Sp. Right: Let’s look big, andfpeak boldly. Stand, there: What Com miffion have ye in thele (garters, you Tuh-man ? What! Have ye young ones with ye? Ye Ilia n’t wag an Ace farther, till we know upon what Errand ye are polling. I. Fallen • Why, ye Etherial Stragglers : Are we bound to give you an Account ? i.Sp. Ye muft do’t, or difoblige your Hags^ to defei|d your lelves, Fallen p?e=es:iffent 2. Fallen Sf . — Don’t prejudice my CaUron] and ril tell ye whither I’m marching with my Tribe. 1. Sp. Say then. 2. Fallen Sp. Into the French King's Cel- lar for two or three Hours, to treat my faith- ful Servants there^ with every thing that’s grateful to their Senfes. I. Sp. Very well. And yoii^ Mr. Tuh- 'volant^ fay which Wav bound, — quickly, — or 'we’ll turn your Diddi-Birds out of their Nell • do you lend ’em Wings, if you can, to bear up their Garbidge. i.FalL Thus have I feen a laden Pin- nace brav’d by a meaner empty Veflel. Well, 1 alfo am upon the fame journey 5 and if ye will come along with us, you’ll lee Inch Entertainment as none of your Order ever law before; ^ i.Sp.- No,’ We mud have no So- ciety with Jpofiates. ^ vs ■■■.■ - Come, turn out of your Lodgings, we mull have the Tub i mount your Servants upon that Cok. JVitches. We are a Dozen of us already, and therefore too many, unlels we mull ride upon the Main, and hang upon the Tail. I. Sp. Yes, yes ; any how, according as you can agree ; we give no Orders in that.— So, that’s very well. Come, turn out of the Caldron^ and beftride your Calf; he looks as if he wanted to fuck you.- Very well:' — — Now, Ladj-Haggs^ jogonlbftly, that ye don’t jade Your Couriers before your Journey’s End. •jt'- 2. Fallen CSe of 7.,PatlenSf. Remember this when you come to be Incorf or ate : AlTure your felveSj we fhall be equal with you then. 1. Sp. Come^ don’t prate^ for fear yc Humble^ and loft a Bunch. — We know your Power well enough, that ’tis limited. No more ; — - Troop off, and Ihcw your Shapes. 2 . S/>. — This Plunder will be extreamly welcome to Aquarius : You heard of the Mil- fortune of his Water 'Tots being broken the other Day, by the Retrograde Dragon • Ha ! — won’t theft ferve in their Room as well as may be ? I. Sp.— If they had been both of a lore, it had been better ; this Tuh will be fubjedf to leak. But perhaps Aries can hammer tht Cal- dron into Two with his Horns, and afterwards pufh it into the lhape of the Pitchers : And if fo, we’ll make a Bone fire of the7«^, and laugh at the World below, who will Ihoot it with their Teleficopes^ for a prodigious 2 .Sp. — Right, again.^ But methinks, the Plealantnels of this Enter prift ftems to be abated, by the Concern of getting unperceiv’d into our Lodgings : Suppoft w^e Ihou’d be met with by the Watch, ’twill fpoil the Humour on’t. I. S/7. — Pifh, never trouble yourftlf about that ; Leave the Management of it to me. , DIALOGUE l^je-eytSeut ©pints. DIALOGUE XVIII. Between Two Spirits that are to be Mayor and Mayorefs of a cerXain Corporation : And when they come into their Bodies. i.Sp.T Have juft now been with the Secretary X of to be relolv’d about fbme Corf oral ^efions^ for I judg’d my Imh dying near at hand. But ’cwas not that that puft’d on niy Curiofity fo much, as to know why I had liich an unaccountable Indination to your Company. 2 . Sp. And are you refolv’d now ? 1 . Sp. Y es : i’ m to be Lord Mayor of — in 1 740. and you are to be my Lady Mayorefs* 2 . S;>. 1 the Mayorefs ? Why fure 1 Am not I as he to be my Lord Mayor as you ? I. Sp. I llippofe you will always think (b^ or elfe you il break the Cuhom ; but Fate hasde- fign'd your Mould different from mine : You are to have a liody of a peculiar^ thin^ brittle fort of Clay and, in fhort^ you’ll be the weaker Vefef and therefore defign’d for other Ules than the Burden of a Sword aftd Mace, 2,Sp. What Ules, (my Dear:) Methinks 1 begin to be in Love^ before I know what it is. 1 . Sp. Did you take notice of thofe three Scu/s that Bed by juft now ? 2. Sp. 86 Clje aofientutes of 2. Yes : Are they to be our Relations, when we come into the other IVorld ? i;Sp. No nearer than your Son and two Daughters, There were two other Souls that us’d to be much in their Company about Twenty Years fince, which in a little time will be your Father and Mother : But I ihall fpoil the Bufinels, by reckoning Genealogies, Till told, you’ll be very levere to liie. 2, S/>. In what ? 1 . Sp. Unkind Prudence^ and more cruel Cu^ fiom will bind you to hard Laws^ and teach you this Lcflbn ; Starve your felf^ to keep your Slave poor, 2.Sp. That’s a hard Leflbn^ indeed; But perhaps ’tis taught, to avoid harder. i,Sp.— Right: For thofe that don’t ftand upon their Guards are eafily trepann’d^ and wheedl’d into a Thoufind Misfortunes j efpe-; cially^ that great one of Rajl) Weddmgs. But to avoid all this^ let you and I finilR our Couit^. Blip here. 2. Sp. Fm afraid Pre^exiflent ContraBs will be forgot, or, at leaif, raife Jeaioufies amongft our Rival-School fellows. i.Sp. Never tear that : AiTumc one o/ yi/>, and Fll prepare anotlieij and then we’ll talk it once o’er again. 2 . Sp. But what Drefs is A-la-?mde ? I Sp. Ruffs and Commodes will be out of Failiion: But what need you take care of that ? Any Drels is every Drcis, if there’s no other prelent to compare it by. Ay, that will do. — — » O the Charms of the Petti- coat ! Methinks I’m already got within the Spirits. the Influence of that Command, hcreafe ajul Multiply, 2 . Sp. This is a near way of Wooing indeed. Where’s your Billet'Deuxes^ your V ows and ; Dying? 2 i.Sp. Hold, no more of that Nonienflcal 1 Cant 5 ’ds all but an honeft way of Formca-> \ tion at a diftance. 2 . Sp. Fye upon this Doctrinal Part of Woo- ing: The World below woiul think this a ftrange Name for their Tendernejjes. 1 I. Sp. Tis neither better nor worfes if I r love a woman j ’tis no more in other terms^ chan 1 wmd Jleep with her j fo that fqueezing Hands, graining Knees, kifling, hugging are Infant-Oflers on both Tides at ]ometkmg d elfe ; ’tis the extremity of thefe Defires thac [i Jheds the Blood of Rivals, prompts to Sui- cide^ and Tenants Bedlam ; — • when perhaps the Party all the while bejiev’d it to be pure Love, innocent Gratitude, harmlefs Efteem^ refiiTd Friend Ihip, d^c. iSot corfidering that J1 true Friendfhip increafes by the multitude of ft Rivais,and thac no Man was ever angry with his Neighbour for loving his Wife’s Soul; oj wiiCn. you come into the otlter world, you’ii ’ll End no ^tlts nor Bullies in Bedlam for Love, no Aifronts taken at the Eneomiums " of a "V^'oman’s Mind, no defoeration for want of d an Union of Souls, In ihort, all Languifh- )f mencs. Sighs, Vows, Prore(tations, and all Q the long CJmjl-Crojs Royi^ of Lovers is nothing II eUe but the plain So^ So^ in another .Drels. j. Friendlhip is another thing, and is coo (acred ^ CO be mention’d at the fame time as Love ; 2 G it %\)t aDijentutesi of it has no depcndance at all on the Body, far- ther than that has a relation to the Mind y but Friendfhip is a Subjeft too foreign for monopolizing Lovers^ and may be difcufs’d when we have notliing elle to do ; therefore in lliort, what Stomach have you to an ho- neff Prolification ? Am I yours now ; or mufl: 1 tarry till a real Naturalization reads the fame Leffon to you o’er again in another World ? 2 S/>. I’ll confider on’t ; and in the mean time^ if I fhou’d confent, 1 hope you’ll fee me better rigg’d than the reft of my Neigh- bours. 1 Sp. Yes, yes, never fear that. 2 sp. • — . Then Fm yours;- but I won’t fay, I love you, left you Ihou’d tell me again what Love is. DIALOGUE XIX. Between the Parcae.^ ( Clotho, Lachefis, and Atropos, ) and a Book-Seller. Varca ™— T T P Mr. Letter-monger^ and pre- UJL pare for your Body, we are drawing out the firfi Tbred ^ your livnpoYA- tay • Bookfdlcr. — — What mine ? Pray lay that Difi.ifft by, and take another > do dear Lady^ and atid let not me be a Priloner thefe hun- dred years, — Tm afraid of hcor- ^ration ; for even Di'vimt^'Beoks ^ are * a meer Drug; but perhaps in a hundred ‘ years more. Times may be better: I never intreafed before, deny me not now. I Pm-ca. We’il grant your Requeft a(^ loon as any Body’s elfe ; but the Dice are call, and there’s no refiding Fate; you n7uft budge whether you will or no : Come, don’t think to wheedle^ <7-d perluade 12 US like Cufiomers ; you arent got behind the Coun^^ ^ ter yet. Bookfeller. I know it very well ; ^ — and fince there’s no Intreaty that can pi evail. I’ve ■ 1 done. Now muft I ftand Gentry fe^en years 2 II with my fingers in my mouth , and bare- headed, the better to receive the Impreffion of the cunning Myftery. Methinks I have got it already ; Now for a fine Fetch with that Author about Sufernumera^ ries, or Printing a greater Number lecretly^ ' than I contracted for ; Can’t 1 handfomly in- terlope with my Neighbour H-— ’s Copyj 3) ’tis a very good one, and the Author is at work ^ again. Suppoie to get the next Copy, Igo and cut- bid for this ^now ’tis too late, and tell the Au- thor he was Wheedled and Chous'd out of his I.abours. ^7 nmfb fqmez^e that Book hinder^ t‘ ^twill help towards the lofs of my late Imprtffim. rj This Copy- Money runs away with a I d- great deal of my Gains, Can’t I turn Plagiary.^ and with a handlbm Height of Hand, put a I i new Title upon that old Book ; or were’t nor belt \ V to turn Author my felf by pillaging other Mens li G 2 Works, Cfte aciienturejs of Works-^Right^ that will do, I’ll part with no more Copy-Money thefefeven years. This ColUBton which I have already made^ would pais^ with a good Title Page . — ^ and I, can invent fome Ipeci- ous one for it.’Tis not a Farthing matter whe- ther ’tis agreeable to the Subject within treated Qf But how fhall I come off with thofe Scandalous Vamfhkts^ I fhall print under the Name of John a lS!okes upon Tower hillf Gruh-fireet, the Strand^ or any where elfe? Shall I fuifer for another’s Va?nfhktteerlngj for telling News before it happens^ and fbme- times iuch as always has^ is^ and will be a Notorious Lye? No I thank ye^ fb long as I know how to be in League with the Mejjcn- ger of the Frefs^ and ibme body elle, I’ll run the haiard. Now for a Body ! with all the fatisfadion imaginable, for when Icome in- to the other Worlds pollibly I may attain to be as crafty as my Neighbours^ and if fo, Nl ven- ture one fiep further y to get above *em ; I have only one Requell to make, (Dear Miflrefsof Fate) 'that you willfend but a. few Book feller and a great many. Authors into the World, for theie Threefcore and Ten Years. DIALOGUE .8j DIALOGUE XX. betwixt a Tranfmigrated Sonly and Tranfmig.\TT Spirit, V V ELL, how fare our Friends^ Brother ? I long to be a Member again of your Society, and to be freed from the ftrange Alliances I have con- trafted. Unhodyd Spirit. Why^ what Relations have you nov/ ? Tr. Sp. My prefent Relations are a. forward Crop of Beans^ but what Kindred I Hiall meet with the next Harveft, I know not : I came out of a Sprat the lafi Tear^ having tinith’d my Circuition and Change through ali the fVatrj Inhabitants. XJnbodfd Sp. Pray, what fort of Fifh gave you the molt troublefome Entertainment? Tr. Sp. The Porpm^ by far, to be fure every Welterly Wind 1 was Drunk with tumbling o’er^, and o’er, if it had not been for a.pittymg Collier^ who by a lucky Shot made a hole juii big enough to creep out of my Prifbn, I might have lain in Sa/t pickle theie forty years longer ; but ’cis all one, for I was turn’d out of one Prifbii, to be Chain’d Jn another ; for I can’t expeft to change the Laws of Fate and have Cfie tttittejs of have my Tranfmigrations ftnifht before another Thoa fand Years more arc expired. Unb. 5/). lb ? Tr. Sp Becaufe I mufl: run through all things Terrefirial^ Marine^ and Volatile^ before I have finifht my Task, and expiated the vvicked- nefs of my Vre-exi^mt State^ which expiation always lafts three thouland years i ’tis an un- alterable Decree, that all Spirits are to bepu- rify’d by fuch a Dilcipline, only here’s the difference ; that Spirits are to attuate moftly in thole Creatures that are of the fame Dirpo-* fitions as they were ; as for Inlfance ; The Juftice of Fate affigns fuch as are Jngry and Malicious into Serpents, the Ravenous into - Wolves, the Fraudulent into Foxes, and fb of the reft ; only here and there’s a good Spirit^ whole .i6^ions being moft rational, tranfmh grates out of one Man mto another^ finijhing moft of the three Thousand years in humane Bo»- dieSj and as for other Creatures, the Fates take cat e that they fpeedily die, that that part of the Tranltnigration may be quickly over, and reafon good, for if by chance they lliou’d beunjdftly confin’d beyond the three Ihoufand Tears^ there’s no amends to be made, but fome prefe’^ment amongft the Ofticers of Fate, who are always exempt from the Duties of Humanity. Unb, Sp. Pray give an Inftance of lome Soul that has animated feverai Humane Bo- die?. 7r. Sp, I rny fflf w'as firft infus’d into thakdes, thon paffd into Etiphorbm^ then into Hermotictik ^ then \tkXy Pyrrhus^ then into thagoras ; 87 ihagoras ; then I left flu inanity ^ and Tranf- migrated into an Elephant^ and fo on through evei7 diftind Species in the Creation^ and now at laft Fm got into a Bean. Unk Sp. 1 can get into a Bean too_, if I pleafe : But here’s the Qaeftion ; Is this Bean^ rnj proper Repdence , and am by a Virtual Contaftj confin’d more to it, than to any other Beingj or Place whatever ? I am rather of Opinionj that all this noife about Tranfmi^ gration is no more than thus. That fuch as are of an equal Temper, Judgment, Inclina- tion, may be laid to be unanimous, or aded by the lame Spirit, efpecially if they live in different Ages. I can’t conceive it to' be any thing elfe, but, like Care^ Motion^ Stud)\ &c. cf [ome dead Perfen appearing in fome living one 5 and thus you, if you aded Pythagoras^ you were no more EuphorhuSj Hermotinns^ or Vyrrhm^ than as you had an Inclination to the leveral Excellencies that appeared in thole Perlbns,and thus a Tranfmi gration into Filhes, Trees, Plants, &c, is nothing elfe but a ft udy of their Nature. Ir. Sp. You might have added. That *tis a Dodrine that has not been received in the lower World thefe many Years ; and that’tis alfb believ’d, that ’t was a politick Juggle to make the Age Virtuous, by fuggefting, that if Perfons liv’d ill Lives, they ihou’d fuller luch and fuch dreadful Tranfmigrarions after Death ; but youll find to your Sorrow, when you come to put off your firft Body, that all is matter of and no Politick Juggle. G 4 Sp. S8 . C&e aasentut^s Of Unh, Sp. When it comes to’tj I’ll believe but not before, fince Vphagoras^ who is af- firm’d to be the greatefl: Patron of this Do- DIALOGUE XXL Amongjl the wh^le ’Confiftory of Spirits, Examinwg a Heretick Soul, ’ about fome new DoBrines held forth in Oppoftion to the Common receiv'd Opinions of the ^Ethcrial Fraternity. Corj0orj>.Ty'Roducc the Prifoner^, and his A Pamphlet ; and let’s hear what he can fay in proof of his new Doftrines 5 if we admit of one Innovation here^ no wonder the World below us is all in flames and Di^i- ftons^ Regifier of Fate, He is ready here, and his Pamphlet too— —Will ye be pleas’d that f, or he read. Config, fCo, let him begin, and make his Defence to every particular Article as he goes along. Rnfoner* I accept the freedom of making my Defence to the Myflerious Truths that I have difeovered, as a very great Favoufj vand Ihail without any Preface begin as fol- lows. > 9 ^ Cfie atiftcntureis of The Firft Cannon I lay down That the Sun ani Moon are no Planets {as is •vulgarly be-- Ik'vd) but the two Eyes of the Worlds and that which you call EclipfeSy is nothing elfe but the llVorlds winking when 'tis Jleepy, Confifi. How! the World fleepy? Prove that. Vr. You’ll allow the World to be Matter, and as foon as it was created, to be fent of an Errand, and ride Poft until this very Minute, without any intermiffion whatever : You will alfo grant, that the whole is of the fame na- ture as all its parts, and that motion wears a- way, and deftroys what is material, unlefs it have fome Reparations, ’tis impoflible always to run, move, ad, &c, 1 fpeak of particular parts oi Matter^ and the fame alfo holds good concerning the whole. I know the great Ob- jedion that you’ll make, and therclore will Obviate it, to lave your labour, •vtz.. ’Tis im- foffible to pretend to particular Funciions in Na- ture^ and at the jame time to be ajleep. To which, 1 Anlwer.— — That the Soul of the World is never fleepy, no more than the Spirit in Humane Bodies ; but you can’t deny it impoffible for a Man in’s Sleep, to Walk, Saddle Horles, Mow, Plow, ^c, of which, there are Inftances enough ; jull fo. the Soul of the World follows on its Task, tho’ its material frame may be alleep ; for if it did not it would break its Comrniflion, by leaving Ibme part of the World in too long a Darknefs ; but this is not a Pofition enter-^ rain’d only by me, take the Sentiments of the lower World upon it, fome of which call the Eclip- 91 pje'Ctifient EcUpfes Tftdw, or the Labours of the Moon, (bme (hot at it to keep it awake^ Ibme held up Torches^and founded Inftruments of Brals to eale it : Whence one of their Poets. Cum fruftra refonant ara auxiliaria Luna. Metam. Lib. 4 * I And another. Una laheranti peterit fuccurrere Luna. Juven. Sat. 6 . All which confidered, perhaps may render the Dodrine as reafonable as ’tis new. Conjlfi, — Well, we fliall weigh your Rea- Ions by and by^ what’s your next Thefis. Pr, Second Canon, liat the Conjiellations in the Heavens ^ call'd the Dragon’s-Head and Tail, are nothing elfe but pieces of a pickled Whale. To prove which^I have the Man in the Moon to be my Voucher, who is a perfon of lb great Credit, and Reputation, that Hoab made him the Bo^on of his Ark, His Rela- tion is this. That one Morning, during the Flood, being very curious to take his leave of an old Neighbour or two that were got upon a Wind-Mill, to lecure themfelves from Drowning as long as they cou’d, the Moon being at Full, (that is broad awake) and ac- cording to her uliial Method going to take a Draught of Sea Water, (which by the way, is the reafon why Tides (well, on purpofe for a full Draught) Ihe liickt up a Whale, and the Bojlon of the Ark at once, with a bundle of Cable C&e anaentitte^ of Cable Ropes at his back^ biic being not us’d tQ fuch Vidaals, HiC pickled the Fifh, and prefen ed it to the Aftrologick Souls/' who have eat up all but the Head and Tai]_,). but kept the ^ "on to be her Valet de Chamber, Ccnfifi, A very ftrange Relation, but we ihall know whether true or no, when we have fent a Meffenger for the Man in the Moon : Li the mean lime proceed. Tr, Third Cannon. That the Moon is drunk, mice a Month ; I aon c pofitively aflert this, but am willing to recant if any of you can Ihow me a better realon why her Face fhou’d be fo red, when ilie takes a dofe of the great S^/r Boivle^ alias the Sea. Confid. We lliall confider of that allb— — proceed. Vr, Fourth Gannon, ^hat the occafion nfihe TJniverfal Deluge^ vfos the Tears of the Devil . and his Angels^ iisho for grief to be routed and caft out of Heaven : 1 hey had two Defigns by their Tears^ for when they found they could not get in again_, they bang’d about the Com cave and Battlements thereof, as Flies do up- on the Cielingof Houfes^ weeping as well to eafe themfelves as to be reveng’d of Mankind, ib finding themfelves to be very mat^y, they Wept a numerous Company of Clouds, which were all that time in failing down upon the Ecirch, as is betvvix: Adam and Idoah ; but Fm rot io conceited and pofidve, as to believe this the reafon, if you can give me a better. -'But however I mult beg the liberty to. bepolicive in my next Gannonj w. ' 95 Fifth Cannon. That the caufe-of Winds flying hach. 7 vard and fcrward^ is the breathing of the Worlds jufi 0 s Mankind facki breath in and cut. To prove this ("tor 1 know you expe(5t nolefsthan a Demonftration) I need not fay you muft confider^ (for you do^j That there can be no Efte^t without a Cauie^ no Motion without a Mover ; The Opinions that pals in this, and the lower World too^ have not been enough examin’d, *viz,. That the Sun, Moon, and Stars being Monftrous Bodies, and continually upon the hurry ’tis iuppos’d, that they moving, drive the Winds along with ’em, and that the difference of their Motions, caufes different Winds, or an Agi- tation of the Axir, this, and that way ; which is impoffible, becaufe then w'e Ihou’d have no Weiterly W inds,moff of the Erratick Stars mo- ving Weffw ai d^which hinder the W*inds from coming that way ^ befides, all Southern and IMcthern Winds wou’d be unnatural, but we know that they are as common as Eafterly Winds. Nor woudthe Ratification of W'^a- ter fas the Philo (bphers in the lower World Tream)be enough to lupply fuch great Winds, and Hurricanes, as fonietimcs happen, for tliey only proceed inimedintely from the lungs of the World, when it has catch’d cold or is difpos’d to Laugh or Whiffle, which makes the Air fly fafter our. I mighc add here, mlfead of putting it into another Cannon, -—-That all Earthquakes proceed from the flghing of the World when *t!S in a melancholy Hiimonf, tor it railing up its Body (as Man does his Brcaft when- he fighs) and being brittle where it has of: the fewefl Ribs (I mean Mines, Quarrles^c^^'^ as vulgarly called ) the Buildings, and Cities Banding in thofe places, tumble in into’s Bowels to lecure themfelves from a tranfport into the World of the Moon. —Well, Gentlemen, I hope ’tis your Si- lence that gives Conlent unto theie Truths, and not an Amazement at their Novelty. In Confidence whereof, I proceed to my Sixth Cannon, That Stars are the Buh- hies of the World, at which all Jfirologers fuck^ and that all that don't love Aftrology were put out to Nurfe, and wein'd with grojjer Dyet, But I beg your Pardon (Gentlemen!) I turn’d over a wrong Leaf ; this is your own received Principle, therefore no need to prove it, I meant thus—- That ^tis as poffible for an Aft to drink up the Moon, as to cure W mnds hy Sympathy. Conffti Ay, indeed now you lay Ibmething, that is, as much as to fay ’tis poflible for an Afs to fuck out one of the Eyes of the World 5 forfo you call’d it but juft now \ but pray be- fore you prove it, prove a poffibility that it may be proved. Pr. Pray, Gentlemen, let me have fair play, I mean the liberty of a Philofbpher If 1 prove it, I alfb pro re a poffibility of pro- ving it : Don’t I ? Confiftj Yes. Pr. Very v/ell. To proceed then. I am to tell you that my Correlpondence from the other World is very good and creditable, and ’ds often found there, that the Man travels in pains of Childbirth, when the Woman her felf ©pititjS. felf is Deliver d without pain : That if lome fort of Leaves are rub’d (whilft growing) up- on a Corn, VV^art, &c. that Corn, or Wart lhall die 4s the Leaf withers away : -- — Thus fmall ideal parts, or fancy’d Reprelentatives of what is real, have the fame Sympathetick Effed, that a true Caufe wou’d have, when you come into the other World, read Sir Ke- mlm Digh/s Works in this kind. Now thofe that can deny an Afs to have no Fancy, deny themfelves any ; But to be fliort, and give you an Inftancc that is matter of Fad. One of my Correfpendents (Juudo^^vives) gave me an account of a certain People that did imprifon an Afi for drinking up the Moon ; the manner was ihus:*-^ — ‘The Afs being driven to the Water to drink, the Moonlhin’d very bright, and refltded in the water juft where the ACs drunk ; the Afs fancy ’d ftrong- ly, puird hard to draw in the Moon, and it had the effed accordingly, tho' fome were fb filly as to believe the Moon being in danger, flipt out of fight behind a Cloud. Hereupon the Afs was brought to the Bar, to receive a Sentence according to his Deferts; and as the Senate were gravely debating the matter, one Harts up, a little wifer perhaps than the reft, and made the fhort following Speech. • -7 1 Gentlemen, ’Tis my private Opinion, (and I hope not unreafonably) that ’cis no trifling bufincfs for our Town to loole its Moon ,*and I know but of one way to recover it again, 'viz, by giving the Afs a ftrong Vomit, to weaken his Fancy, for ’tis that that keeps the Moon a Prifoner in his* Maw. >■ No, fay* I 9^ Cfie auaentuteis of lays another^, I think it much better that the Ais be cut upland the Moon taken out of him 5 in Ihorr, they handled the A(s fb feverely, that he had forgot his Supper, and the Moon fiole whole, and iindigefted again into its own place againft the next Night, but ever after play’d at Bo-peep, when Ihe law the Als come near the Water-* Gentleman, ’tis all matter of Faft, and as great a truth as my next Pofition. Seventh Cannon. That thofe Devils that were furtheB furju'd by Michael and his Angels ^yvL, as far as the middle Region of the Air^ are all Taylors y and cut out t he Clouds into Shapes of Hogs^ Trees ^ Ships ^ Dromedaries ^ &c. on purpofe to be talk d on and wondered at by the ignorant Country People of the World below. To prove which, you may be pleas’d to re- memberj the Prince of Wicked Angels fell by Pride in endeavouring to be like his Ma- ker- and when he was excluded, and chafed out of Heaven, he cou’d not forget the No- tion, but wou’d yet be imitating^ and make the Reprefentations of all Creatures in Clouds, and Condens’d Bodies of Airi might fif there was occafion, to ftrengthen this Argument) add, that he has alfb his Oracles, Miracles, Sacrifices, Prielts, in fhorc above one tialf of tlie W orld his true and taithfiil Servents, and ajl this becaule the old Notion of Imitation was lb deeply rooted in his mind —Now it being prov’d, that the Pi incc of fallen Spirits, docs ach fo and fo 5 it toliows, that ail the liibordinate Mob have an Itch to imitate their Head, it being a great triirh; Regis I ,• Regis ad Exemplam totm Componitur Orhis, Subieds will be imitating their King, and Children their Parents, let ’em a6t good or bad. By Taylor, and catting out Clouds, I mean only Metaphorically a (h aping of Clouds, and I fhall think none of you Here- ticks, if you call ’em Carpenters, or Statua- ries.- Confift — Well, and the next. Pr. That ne%fer any Spirit was fent into a mam Body^ to joyn with it as its proper half , cr as a convenient refdence^ hut as into a Vrifon for Debtj purely for Debt 5 and not (as is pretended) for ramblingy or other Extravagancies^ To prove which, you need only to confult the Records of our Honourable Court of E- quity, and you’ll find the Decrees generally run thus : That having upon the humble Suit of the PlantifF impartially weigh’d and confider’d the Defendant B's Charge^ “ wherein is proved, that befides bilking his Lodging, he never paid for the cleanfing his Wings, nor whitening his Wand; be it therefore EnaBsd by the Prerogative of this Honourable Court of Spirits, Thar the faid Bj be forthwith tranfported into the other World, and be kept clofe Prifoner in a Hu- mane Body for Seventy two Years (or fomc other Number, proportioned to the na- ture of the Debt.) — And this is farther prov’d by my Correfpondents in the other World, who tell me, they often get into the Ear to lifkn if there be any fubied of diflolution, H and 98 Cfje atiiientureis of and fometimes mount up into the Eye, and take a view of the Skies, their old Lodgings ; and when the Eye (that is to fay, the Wicket door, or rather the Grate of the Priibn) is clos’d up, ’tis more terrible to ’em, then ttifljittff, 0? Oouble 31ton0 to a Criminal j and thus much for Incorpation Penalties. Eighth Cannon. ^Tis as eafie a thing for Ships to [ail in the Clouds of the Air^ as in the Sea^ and ’’tis an Invention that ovill be found out Tvhen Mankind jhall dif cover the way into the World of the Moon, This Cannon confifts of two parts, vi'Xo, Hypothetick and Vropheticky to prove the Hy- pothefis.— Clouds are form’d in the Air ei- ther ordinarily, or extraordinarily ; ordinari- ly by the Exhalations of thin and moift Va- pours, jufl: as the Ifeam of a boiling Caldron alcends, which meeting together, and Juftling in the air, by little and little are condens’d into thick Clouds, or airy Rivers, which by degrees empty themfelves again into the Sea, t as all other Rivers do upon the Earth .Extraor- dinarily, when leveral Winds meet together (as ’tis frequent in fbme Seas) the equal ftrife caules a whirling violent afcention of fighting Particles, which form a Vacuum in the fhape of a leaden Pipe, or Pump as high as the Clouds, but Nature abhorring a Vacuum, fills that valt Pipe with Water, by way of SuHion or drawing up. So that prefently there are formed Clouds of many Millions of Tuns of Water,whichcaneafily enough bear up a Ship, for water loofesnot its nature in being lefs,^ as u evident by a Ship as well in Twenty ^IztMznt 99 Twenty Fathom deep, as Twenty thoufancF Nor has it left power in the Air, than on the Earth ; for a Tub of Water upon the top of a Houfe, will bear up a Hat. kick, &c. as ea- lily as the Well in the Ground, from whence that water was taken. But though we have prov’d j that Ships may fail in the Air, W3 shan’t promife profperous Voyages, which brings me to the Prophetick part of my Can- That Mankind fliall difeover the way into the World of the Moon^ when they find out the way of Sailing in the Air ; I could prove this alfo, but that it wou’d leffen the Credit of Prophefies, which admit of no demonftra- tion, but matter of faB : Therefore I ihall wave it, not defiring to be believed, till it be fulfill’d. Confif, Thats reafbnable enough, — ’What elle have vou to ofler ? Vr. Ninth Cannon. That Saturn is neither Bafe nor Tenor ^ hut Counter-Tenor in the Mufick of the Spheres^ I have my own realbns for this IShegatiz/Cy and I exped: the lame liberty that the Philo- fophers have in the World below, that is, Not to prove Negatives. Let all the Mufical Souls amongll ye, prove the affirmative, and Til not only yield the Caiife, but give ’em both my Ears for a demonfiration fb foon as I have ’em. But to proceed, if I may fpeak with- out oiFence, or particular Refiedions on this Honourable Confiflorj, who are now my Judges, I have a great many more Negatives to offer in oppofition to as many received O- pinions amongft you, which ys have taken H 2 upon ICO Clie aiitjentuitg of upon Truft, withour examining the reafbna- bleneis of ’em ; in which (provided I may be freed from my Confinement^ and the Ca- lumny of it,) I lliall oblige all our Fraternity with my farther Diicoveries. Ccnftft * — — We’ll do you ju{fice_, and upon perfoi mance of your promife, you fhall have your Liberty. DIALOGUE XXII. Between the whole Confiftory of Spirits, being a difeo^ery of VnU gar Errors^ received in that So- f iety^ by the late fuppos^d Heretic\ Spirit yet a Prifoner. Trijener — HE Goednefs of my Caufe is to me inRead of Qiieltions ; therefore T lhall immediatelv begin to difeo- ver tl'ie vulgar Errors of our Society. The Condition of nty Releafmenc, Secretary of Fa~e. Mold a little; here’s the Man in the Moon come now ; let’s hear what he can lay ahop.t the Pickl'd Leviathan'^, if upon Oath he confnms not your TelHmony already deliver’d, how jKall we believe what you lhali oiter hereafter. -Swear him there^ and Adminifier the Interrogatories al- ready drawn up to that end. Notary Notary VublicL ’Tis done — — h'nfrimis^ do you know the Priibner at the Bar ? Have you ever held Corrcfpondence with him ? And if lb, how long? Man in the Moon. Yes, I do know the Prh loner at the Bar, and have held a farticular Corrcfpondence -QMQv fince 35 Years before the JflOOO* Not, Tub. ItemfN^s ynu the Bofion ^Noah’j Ark ? Did the Moon fuck a Whale and you up with a bundle of Cables at your Back^at full Tide in the Univerlal Deluge^ declare the trutbj and nothing but the truth. Ycu are upon your Oath. Man in the Moon. The affirmative of every particular of this fecond Interrogatory is truth. Not. Tub. Item Are you now Valet di Chamber to the Moon ? Man in the Moon. 1 am. Confi'}, He’s very pofitive, pray examine a- bout his Humanity^ Sufien.ince^ 8 cc. this looks very liifpicious. Not. Pub. Item^ Were you a Adan^ cr (I Spirit, when you were B oft on of the Ark ? If the hrih How come you to live lb long without putting eff the Body ? If the ladj was there any more Spirits with you there at the lame time. Remember you are upon your Oatbj and therelore fpeak the whole truth, and no- thing but truth. Man in the Moon. 1 was then, and yet am of Humane Race^ and poffibly fhall conti- nue lively and well, till the day of Judgment, by realbn of the agreeablenefs of that iyBthar fo H i my %oz €]&e aa&entttteis of my Stomachy I am never Sick^ Hungry^ Thlrfty^ nor Weary ; tor there’s no crude V apourSj or grofs matter to turn into Ditea- fes. Nor is it at all ftrange, fince the lower World tells you, of one Epimendies {Viridiar, Ltb* 4. prob, 24. ) that flept Seventy Five Years without Meat and Drink, and of a whole Nation in India, that lives upon pleafing OdoYSy ( Nat, Hift. lib.’j.c.'^*) and of Democritus that was fed divers days with the fnidl of hot Bread [fiteg, Laert. lib, i.cap. 9.) why fhou’d it teem llrange to you^that pure ^ther Ihou’d afford fuch a Nourilhment, when your com- mon, grofs, vaporous Air nourifhes Vegita- bles ? Onic?is, and the Semper^uive ^ ftioot forth and germinate, when hang’d in the o- pen Air. What think ye of the Birds of Pa- radife, that have nothing elfe to feed upon but Air ? Go and ask Rondoletius how it was poffible for his Frie^ to live forty years upon nothing but Air ? Or what he meant, when be fiid he was an Eye-witnefs of one that had lived Ten years without other Nourifiiment. From all which ’tis no wonder that the pure iAEther fhou’d have fuch Effects upon me, as you now fee ; though if there were occafion for it, there’s alHb res of Diet ; but they are given only as Phyfick to miv Comers into our World in the Moon^ as preparatory to a perpe- tual Ahfiinence, - Gentlemen, I hope what I have faid is fatisfad:ory j and fb I de^ fire the liberty to withdraw: The Aloon isa- wake, and ready to get up by this time, and if I mils my Attendance^ I may be turn’d out of my Office. p?e^effffent ©pWts. Confifiory. Very well; difcharge the Wimefs^ and fee him wfe home in the Moon again. — In the mean time^ — do you, Mr. Philofopher^ proceed in your Difco- veries ; you fhall have a very favourable Con- ftrudion of what you offer. Prifoner. — I acknowledge my Obligations, { mofl judicious Patrons ) and lhall impart whap I have found out^ with as much Humility and Modefty as Truth can ftoop to.— lOJ Firft then, I fliall prefume to call this re- ceiv’d Opinion a Vulgar Error. That Taurus has any Horns ^ or that he feeds of the Schems and Draughts of Afirologers in the lower World. 'Afirol Sp. How’s that ? Blafphemy I proteff : What will you make a fucking Calf of one of the great Supporters of the Stars ! Pri/o^er. — — Pray, ^V.AJhrologer^ Not fo faftj left you fhou’d tire ; and then your Bull ( I affure you ) cannot carry you^ tho’ ye offer every day a Bundle of Schemes to him. Suppofe there’s ro fuch a Being in all the Heavens as Taurus , but only a Nominal Di- vifion of the Heavens^ what will become of Horns and Fodder then ? Afirol^ Sp . — He raves certainly.—— Prove what you fay. Fri/oner, Nay hold there ; what bid a Phi- lofopher prove Negatives ! Do you prove the Affirmative if you can ; if not^ tell this ho-^ nourable Court why you believe itf AfiroL Sf» —Let me confidera little. - — H 4 Prifomr. 104 CSC gpDijentutcgi of Trifoner.^ Come never vex your lelfto find out what is not^whon the Sun goes through that Parc or Divifion of the Heavens, ( or if you wlllj when that part of the Heavens moves by the 5«w, ) it is faid to be in Taur^, becaufe it happens at the time of the Year when the Countrey-man tills, manures, and plows his Lands by the help ot Oxen or Bulls ; like wile when the Sun is in Gemini, ’tis (aid to ^ I be fo, becaufe of the Fairing and Copulation of I moft Creatures at that time *, and fo of the reil of the Signs ; wliich are only Appellat- ions, and no real Beings. I cou’d tell you, that tiie;e^slome in the World below us, that know as much ; but this wou’d be too like one of their Proverbs, ‘viz,. If you wotid know what News at Courts you mufi enanire in the Countrey ; And this puts me in mind of ano- tiier fahe Opinion among us, That the Devil is a Male Spirit. This is taken upon Truif too, without examination of his Tefiicles : if there be ever a Midwife-Spirit among you, that knew him out at Nurfe, or that had any private Fami- liarity , or learn’d it by his own Confeffion before he fell, Midwife-Sp. 1 knew him out at Nurfe, but was never very curious in that particular, ; but he told me himfelf that he was a Male- 't^pirit, Fpfgner. He told ye ! If you have no bet- ter Evidence than that, it proves nothing. ’Tis w^il known. The fir ft Word he fpoke was a Lie ; pje'tFfffent a Lje ; and ’cwas for lying that Michael chas’d him out of Heaven. — I’m perlwaded he’s an Herrnophradue^ my realbns are thefe \ was a have and Mafculim fort of Impiety when he pretended hinifelf to be a God, and gave OracleSj and Propheffd *, but ’twas a Feminine Ibrt of wickednels^ to be afraid of the Pentafigk of Solomon^ the Liver of Tobias his Fijh^&iQ found of Tetragrammaton^ the Ver- tue of tiipericofty the Root of Baaras : Cou’d any thing but a Focminine De^ik be Command- ed by Charms^ Spells^ Conjurations^ CerterSy Notes, and Dajhes, In {liort, can the Devil be any thing elle but a RigH^ that is, either Man or IVoman^ to gratifie the Witches ^ and Wizards of the world below, Can he be any thing elfe bnt an Hermophrodtte, whofe Language looks both ways at pnee^ and is ei- ther true or falfe. Aio te t/£acidem Romanos vincere pojje. No, no, the Cafe is plain ; and I hope this Honourable Convention will order it to be regi- ' Rred accordingly. And fo I lhall proceed to take notice of another Vulgar Error amongft us, viz>. That the Soul of the World is not fubjeSl to the Pafftonsof Humasse Spirits, or that it is not fometimes Merry ^ Sad^ &C. I fiippofe,if I prove the contrary you’ll look fo mjhfiilly upon one another, that you’ll have an immediate Confirmation of it by the World* s ic6 CFje SlBUeittiiits of iVorld^s Langhi?ig at yen : ’Tis a certain truth, aiiCi ii you will but feef out of the fVickets of jour .Sr^ri^and viev« the Face of the Elements^, you will juft now fee it look with a pair of Bluhhrd Eyes, the reafon of it is this i Taking a view of the Creation, it cafually fixt one of its Eyes upon the Gdlkk Jerrttorks^ and feeing fo much Tyranny, Pride, Extortion, Blaf- pheniies, &c, it cou*d not refrain from Weep- ings the Inhabitants of the World below us, call it liaining^ not believing that the frequent fliowers of Tears that fall amongft ’em, are a bewailing their Irregularities ; and thus, when it fees Ibme good and vertuous Aftions, it looks with a pleafant Air^ and fmiles upon ’em, and that they call Sun-lhine. The other Night, the World had got the Highcough ^which is very often miftaken for Thunder. ^ - — -We are in almoft a hundred Miftakes about the W orlds Common ABions ; when it Spits ^ *cis er- roneoufly fuppos’d to be a Shootmg of Stars ; when it turns its Head on one fide, either in a fit of Laughter s or by being afham’d at fome unhandfome Affionsit fees, prefently ’tis con- cluded, there’s an Eclipfe of the Sun ; and in this Opinion, the World below us are deeply rooted ; Now fmee I am not ftingy, or par- tial in Communicating my Oblervations, I wou’d have Ibme of you Aftrologick Souls fwhen you come to have Bodies^ to unde- ceive your Neighbours about that which they call an Eclipfe of theSun^ for ’cis laid down as a Maxime amongft’em. That the Sun being a greater Boely than the Moon^ Can never be to* tally Eclipfed • which Error does fo much af- front p^e^efiltent front the Harmonious Order^ and make of the Univerfej that the Worlds as unable to put up fuch Indignities, has been in the Hu- mour Ibmetimes to clofe both her Eyes at once, and leave Mankind muffled uf in a perpetual Night • for you mufl: believe, that if the Face of the World be proportioned to its Body, it niiift be pretty broad ^ at leaft Ibme i o oooo Miles. So that the Eyes muft Hand a great diftance one from another ; nay, the Inhabi- tants of the lower World grant as much in effec^l when they fay the Sun is in an Orb vaftly higher than the Moons now taking their O- pinion for granted, the Sun may be totally E- clipfed according to their own Principles as in the Figure annext ; for when the Face of the world ftands fide-way to the Earth, lb that the Moon is betwixt the Earth and the Sun, ’tis plain, the Moon does not only Ecliple the whole Body of the Sun, but as far about as the Circle B, the Body of the Sun, al- though bigger than the Moon, extending no farther than A. Another C§c 95&cnf«rfs( of io8 Another Vulgar Error^ wich I h ave mel widij is this. *Ihat there areno moreW orlds habit able hy Men, than the 'Earth, Moon, Sun, and the rejt of the Vianet with a few fix^d Stars, Now 109 Now this I know, by ray own Experience, to be a falfhood, for coming home late cm Night by the Seven Stars, I peep d into the leaft amongft ’em ( which you knov/ is leldom vi- able to the lower world) and 1 faw Thou- fands of Little Men and Women going to a Fair, but they were no Vigger than Rats ; I con’d not forbear Thilofophiz^ing upon it^ and at laft I fatisfy’d my lelf with this Conclufiofi, that all Stars were Worlds^ and the People in ’em were proportion’d according to the bignels of ’em, and I was confirm’d in my Opinion when I confider'd that the Inhabitants of the Earth were about two Tards high, that thole in the Moon were as high as the largeft Steeples^ and that the People in the Sun wou’d make nothing of ftepping Seven Miles at a ftep in their common walking, hnd that an ordinary fucking Flea had a Trunk as big as an Ele- phant ; now Gentlemenj that you may be fatisfied as well as I, that the leaft Star is an Habitable Worlds ’tis but taking a little more notice of ’em in your Rambles. Another V ulgar Error amongft us is, That there are feme new Stars fince the Creati- cn^ cr at leajl old ones mended-^ as that in CaiTopeia, that in Sa^:tarius, and many ethers* For Firft, (as introduiftive to what follows) i fhall prove that Scars don’t borrow their Light from the Sun^ but have their own innate light, as Fifti Scales, Rotten Wood, &c, not with- ftanding all the plauftble pretences of Earthly mjc asaattuteis of TUlofophers ; becaufe, if they borrow’d their Light from the Sun, or by Refleftion, they would not always have the fame appearance, fince the World moves its face fometimes lb, that both its Eyes are hinder’d from looking upon (uch and fuch Stars^ and fometimes by reafbn of the Interpofition of one anhther ; but fuch and llich Stars have always the fame Lufirci provided the Clouds don’t interpofe or hinder the light from making a right Judgment. — ^Secondly, They are not matter folid and compabi as the Earth is^ for *tis evident to every bodies experience, that motion wou’d in time wear ’em away, but they are only Globulous formations out of the firfi lights which finillit the Circumrotation of Heaven and Earth, e’re the Sun, Moon, or them lei ves were created ; and if fo. Light is not fubjeB to attrition or wearing away, no more than Darknefs, which in fbme fenfe is a quality ra- ther than a body : Hence no Stars grow old, or wear away, and if fo, no need either of mending or making neiv ones^ for a conve- nient perfe6i: number was at firft created ; befides, if they fhould be mended, what would have become of their Inhabitants the fametime^ or where muft they have dwelt till their World had been new Kig^d ? Thole Stars talk’d on, in CaJJhfeia^ Sagitariusy ^c, were nothing elle but Meteors or Evaporati- ons from the bodies of other Vianet s^ caus'd by the Sun i and as the matter whereby tliey were fed csafed, they dilappear’d ; and the truth of all this is well known by many of our Society, who were at the fame time upon Ill PlC'e):K£nt ©pmts. the Ramble in thole Quarters.— — The next vulgar Error I obferve is this^ ’lhat in a few Ages the "People in the World below us mil teach the Rucks in MadacaE far to fly with 'em into the World in the Moon-i and fleal Jome of thofe Inbahitanis tojhow 'em at Bartholomew Fair. By what wild Notion diis Opinion came to be propogated I know not, but the Authors of it doalfo tell us^ that a Ruck is a Bird with wings twelve foot long^ and that they make no more of fooping up a Horle and his Rider^ than a Kite does of a Moufe^ lb that they can eafily carry a Man any whither betwecm their Pi- nions, or in their Talons. But tho’ I grant this to be truth, yet the Voyage is too long to undertake ; for according to my lalt Calculati- on, the diftance between the Earth and th& Moon is one hundred (eventy nine Thouland, ieven hundred and twelve Miles lb that liip- poling it poffible for a man and his winged Courfer to fly half a year together, it would be 980 miles a day, ( too violent a motion for breathing) before he cou’d get to the Moon, which wou’d be a very hard Task without Meat, Drink, or Sleep. And ialtly, ( for ril mention but one more at prcfent ) 'tis an Erronious Opinionj Hhat a Spirit cant carry, away the whole Uni- ver/e at cnce^ if he might he permitted to do it* If iiz 3Bi3e!ituit0 of If a Spirit can /[^eave a Chair, a Stool, a Man, &c. he can alfo remove the World. The reafbn is, matter is not determinative upn Spirits^ firfi:, not as to place ^ for if a Spirit cannot be circumlcrib’d, it follows that all Places are the fame to him, and that if a Spi- rit moves a Chair from its firll Station, he can alfb move it ten thoufand xMiles further, all the labour being only willing [uch a motion. Nor is it the Quality of matter that can hinder this motion, all matter being the fame to him *> we have daily in fiances of Spirits pajjmg thro' Glafs^ and the moft continuous matter as eafily as through Air, which is a more extended Bo- dy. Nor is it ^antity that Can hinder this motion, for ’fis granted that a Spirit can as ' eafily move a man as a flea^ and if fb, he can ! as eafily run away with a Star as a man, but i this he is not permitted to do, fince fuch a | motion would fpoil the harmonious and regular pojition of the Heavens : but to prove it potiible to remove Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Sea^ ii^y^ and the whole Coslum EmpyreUm at once ; I fhall offer,—— That a Spirit moves not mat- ter by application of matter to the thing mo- ving, ( as when a man moves his Hatt off jits Head, he moves it with his hand, which is another body ) but by a vertual Cental or Application of the Will, juft as a man moves his own Body, which is only by wiU'mg a mo- tion to it ; juft fo when a man moves his hand, he moves it not by help of the ocher hand, but by the immediate ath of hu will. Now the Spirit in a man is limited by Incorporation, and can move nothing but only its members. Of or what it applys its mcmbei s to ; which aUb being matter are ecnfind to Proportions in re* fpeft of that other matter which they are ap- ' ply’d to, yet an unbodied Spirit being confin’d to no particular Matter can tDlll a motion to any matter^ which is effeiffive upon matter, as greater Povvers command lelTer. Nay, I might yet further offer that a fpirit might move all the Univerfe at once ( I mean the Ces- ium Empjreumj and all the Globes within it ) without difplacing the particular parts* as the Wheels, Weights, &c. of a Clock, when the whole Clock is mov’d away at once ; for a Clock will follow its regular motions in Italy as well as in England, fo that (Gentlemen Spirits,) if you have a mind to examine matter offa6l, there’s no more to do than to make a tryal, only I have this to tell you, that you cannot tell whether you move the or no, be- caule you carry all matter and place with you, fo that there will be left no place behind to meafure from, and if lb, no dilfance, and conlequently no motion to be judg’d of; nor can we who are within the Globe perceive it, fince- we Ihall be always at the lame dilfan- ces_, juft as a fly wou’d be in a honle if the houfe were removed. This is all I have to offer at prefent, by which I hope I may have not only performed the Conditions of my Libercyj but deferve a Philofophers body in the other World. Confifiorjj Very well^ be it Enaded forth- with, that he 111 prly the fir it vacancy in the atljeman S)3Cfet|>, I DIA- II C5e ol DIALOGUE XXIII. Bctrveen the Spirit of one that is to he a Member of the ATHENIAN SOCIETY^ a Correfpondent^ and of fome that are to be Querijls. Athenian T T OW a Member of the Athenian Member . — JTT Society I a privy Counleilor of the Stars ? a Rejolver of all '^uefiions I very Have at ye Phificks and Metaphi- fich, Methinks I long to begin the fearch^ Nature lays open lier hidden (lores, the 'vegi- table 'ivorld coiiits my Infpedtion^, the Spirits of animate Beings crowd to be treated on, and the CAefial bodies flooo to my Embraces^ as Luna did to her Endymion. Though other Spirits tremble at the thoughts of Incorpora- tion^ \is a great part of my happinels to think onr, and Fam iinealie in nothing but delays of Commencement. Pray Gentlemen Spirits^ if ye have any kind relentment of my expeda- tions, begin and ask ms Ibme Queftions, that I may try my faculty. A Qucrifi. Very well^— -I fhall be one of your humble Queries in the other World, and to (ave us both Ibme labour, pray anlwer beforehand, whether the Clin be found outfo as to be made prabhicable ; and allb the reaibn of the 8U,t tCflW of that unquiet Elciiient. Athe- Pie=etiflEnit uf ^Athe.Memr — — Yes, ’tis poffible to find out a piadicafile iLongitaae, but i iiian’c dilcover the Method bow till I come into the other Worlds and am lecure of tne thoufand pounds Legacy, the promis’d reward ; fb that 1 /hall intreat you, and all other my loving Querifts^ to let me take my own time for re~ folving Quehions of Intereft i but as to the flux and reflux of the Sea^ I’ll impart the difco- very ; Know then that the whole mafs of the Creation is Otte 'Bcmg, and that Water and Air are to it_, as fa^ is to Trees, or as blood md ferum are to animat© Bodies; and that the Unil3£rMS)pii:itw^hich is difperit through every individual Particle of Nature^ and more eminently gather’d roge^ ther in the midft of that 'uafi frame^is the S'Ultj which being plac’d in the Centre of the Earth refemblcs the fpirit of man^ which is al fb more particularly feated in the heart ,* this premis’d, I further add. That the Sun w'ou’d expire if there were not an Element of Air to oppofe and fight with ; which 1 prove thus, particu- lars are of the fame nature as their Genera ls^ and a (mall fire clos’d up lo that it can have no Air to oppole it, immediately grows unad:ivs and expires. And thus, when a man ceaies to breath, the vital heat or fpirit within having nothing to fight with, grows idle, and dyes. To which I (hall yet add, as a relblution to the Quefiion, I'hat the (irife betwixt the Sun and the Air thins and fiibtilizes the Sea, and cau(es the flux and (welling of the Tides as a fmall fire aifeds the bubling water that near it ; and tdius the (Irife betwixt the vl- I 2 116 €^ije aosentutc^ Df ^■al heat and the refpiring Air in bodies, rari- fies and hirs up the blood to a piilfation^ or a and fyfiole, agreeable to the flux and reflux of the Sea, and as the pulle is eafier difcern’d in tlie Arms and other extream parts ,than in the main huit of the body ; So Tides are moO: remarkable at the iliores. Tims Life is maintain’d by oppofition, and thus all compounded Extdences are prclerv’d by unnatural Wars. One difficulty more is to be refolv’d, and Fve done, Ibme Seas have their Tides every two hours, fome every four, and fbme every fiX, which periods are caus’d by the different humors of the Seaj as fome are more terrene and heavy than other, fome more fait and lulphurcous, fome more thin and vaporous, and accordingly their refpc- dHve qualities encreafe to fuch and fuch a de- gree before they are proper fubjeds for the Sun and Air to work upon, which being de- ffroy’d by agitation, they are fo long before they encreaie to a proper head again ; and this allb runs parallel with the Cnfis, cr fits of Fevers in humane bodies^ which allb differ ac- cording to the humours of the body, the cholerick humour increafes three days, the melancholy four, and (b of the reft, before they can come to fuch a degree or Crifis of the diftemper, and thus 1 have confider’d the refemblance ot the great and Intk World by way of anf’vver to this Qiicftion.^ — And now propole your next. Querift.— flere’s the Correfpondent come Irom your Incorporate Bretlircn the Athenian * Stv/Vtj' in the otlier World, perhaps they may be be puzled by their Querifts^ and have there^ fore defir’d you and the relt of their Succefr fors Affiltance. Correfpondent. Tour Imhodied Brethren helow^^eet ye well^ wi^nng ye all good orgsnizjd bodies patient Querifis,^ intreat a continuance of Correjpondence: ’They ha've hy me fent you fix Quefiions^ defiring you woud communicate your thoughts upon ^em^ and if ye will find to them what difficulties you meet with amongfi your Ethe^ rial Querifis they^ll impart their Opinions to you* The following Qnefiions are according to the qua- lity of the federal Members* Whether the Pope be An- tlchriit or no ? S0at})ematinam Whether there may be found out a Cannon to meafure a Ipherical Convoid ? jLOfffciait, — What’s the proper difi-' nition of glorify’d rhatter ? ClWMan^ What reafbnableanlwer we can make when we are ask’d, Why upon Di- vorces we take penal Security that the Inno- cent party marry s not again during the Di- vorceds Life, when the forfeiture and pay- ment of fuch penal fecurity will not larisfie the Law. 3LatDl?0Cf — Whether Lazarus's Eftate belong’d to the next Heir or himfelf after he rofe from the Dead ? Pray affift me witli two or three natural Rhimes to Cl)inincPt — How to find out a way to give intelligence in fix hourSj of Ships at ico Leagues diitancCj in order to profitable En- furanccs. I 3 117 'll 8 Cfje of ®UtgCOlt> W hether an Uomunculm produced upon the Grounds that Taracelfm has la'd down wou^d have been animated by Bloody or fuch vjhite Matter as V ermin have that are all^D produc’d by unnatural heat ? Their Bookfeller^ and Mr Smith the Coffee- Man^ want alibfo kno^^r whether there be any Cure for the atljeilian Member. — Here’s nothing that is beyond the power of an immediate perception. Say, all ye tt/£thereal Quertfts^hsi^Q you any doubt to fend into the other World ? — It ye have, propofe ’em to our Correlpondent ^ who is jail now going thither. 1 Querifi. I'm afraid I fhall be a Poet ^ diredt me by what meajures I may be exempted from the fate of the old Proverb j Poets are pool bp DeSfmp^ 2 — — I have but one to offer.—— How may I attain to an cffeftual Form of Courtfliip r But pray, let it be anfwer’d in the very next Mercury \ for Lovers are im- patient. 3 ^orijf, — I have a very ferupulous Coniclcnce. Pray, is it lawful to eat Black 'Puddings ? 4 Qtierifl ■ I want to know the Rea- fons why thofe Qiieftions 1 lent about fix weeks fince are not yet anfwerd : I think niy Que/tiofis deferve a Thought as well^ any Bodies elfe. 5 ^ When comes out the nexl Volume 6Qusrif, What curious Tranflations are defign’d for the liext Supplement ? 7 ^erifi, Tm a little afham’d, or I woii*d ask when I Ihall be Marry’d? Pray, let me be anfwer’d the next Tuejday \ which being the lirft in the Month, is the Day ap- pointed by the Society for Love-Queftions, and the Doubts of Ladies. 8 Quer^. Why many Queftions are never anfwer’d ? Jacohitiflj^ Ohfcene^ Scan*' dalom' Riddltfli^ Scc ? Since every Bo- dy wou’d have their own Thoughts preferr’d to their Neighbour’s, — - let rrune come the nexr. 9 Qutrif ^.^ — — Why they pais over Que- flions of TWO or three Months handing, and take notice of Popular 5ubje6fs, Curious Ac- cidents, and luch as can’t be pafrd over with- out great prejudice to the Querift ; which looks a little partial — I want a fpeedy Anfwer, 10 Querifi, Why the World below is lb fooiiih as to expeft one Paper to pleafe every Body, fince the variety of Educations, ConftiCLitions, S'c. create different Judgments, lb that what pleales this Perlon, offends that ; and what offends this, pleales that; Infbmuch that ’cis a true Riddle, 7o pkafe mofi^ is the way to offend mo(i ; and to offend mofi^ ts the way to pkafe moH ? Let the next Mercury treat of this Subjed , it being a Matter of Confe-^ quence' Correfpondent,'- Pray, difmifs me; the Society is fet, aud I fliali iofe a great part of the Conference. Athenian Member, — ^ Very well! Re- member us to our Enabody’d Brethren^ and I 4 tell aaftentttreis of tell *em they /hall have their Qieftions an* fwer’dj and fcnt to ’em by their next Sefli' ons, and we hope they will confider of thele (ent by our ^tberial Querifis ; tell ’em alio, that a Continuation of this Correlpon- dcnce is very agreable to us^ and /hall never be broke off by our negled. — One thing jTjore^ You mull remember to call in at Venus as you go along ,* there’s a Female Spirit at a great lofs in a certain loft Affair j ihe wants a Refolution of her Doubts as foon as poffible. DIALOGUE XXIV. Bctpjeen the Spirits of a General^ a Midwife, a^d an Executioner. General T Can’t think my fflf to be of X the fame Speies as other Spi- rks are. — How the difpofal of fb many thoufand Souls! — Strange! what a /pacious Mannour am I Lord of? What a numerous Crow'd of living Tenements ^re at my Command ? Methinks I fee my IcU at the Head of 6coco Men, who adim- plickly, without queftions : If I command^ they fight, march, encamp, or what I pleafe. Methinks I lee my Enemy drawing near, and It depends cna fingle Breath, whether Thou- fands X pjecfifient Spfn'tiS. lands fall or none : What fignifies a Diadem^ or Tyrian Rohes , when the Sword commands them to be laid afide ? Alexander was not fear’d as Thilifs SuccelTor ; but as a General, and a Conqueror. Is there any Spirit that can pretend te fuch an abfolute Power over its fellow-creatures as a General ? Midwife, What Defpotick Spirit is this that prefumes to huff, and encroach upon my Priviledges ? A General ! ’Tis a little noifte^ hufie that is fo far from having an abfolute Difpofal of its Fellow-Creatures: as to have its dependance purely from me, Is it not in my power to cruih the Wretch^ and bring it ftrangled into the World ? And then where’s the Difpofer of Crowns, the Jingle Breathy that was to determine the Life and Fate of Thoufands ? How [mall is that Tower over others^ that is not able to preferve it [elf ? BefideSj admit a General to have a dif- penfation for an uncommon entrance into the World ; how would he do for proper Sub- jefts of his Power, if he difown’d his Obliga- tions to me? Where wou’d he have his At- tendance, if I fhou’d deny to ailifl him by aiding humane VroduBions I Gemral~- ^ How, I depend upon a whi- ning Female Midwifry ! If the more hardy, and Mafculine Beings obey me, what can the more helplefs, brittle Clay, call’d Woman^do^ If ’tis in a Commander’s Power to put all to the Sword, by what Artifice can you plead an Immunity ? ‘ ^idwife ^ — -By that of Gratitude 5 IfMale Spirits are not wholly ignorant of fuch a Vertue ; 12 < - Cfie aoijentuteg of Vertu© j a mean recommence to defiroy^ ihofe hy whom we linje, But to pa/s over that .* The firft Refufal of any thing is xnoft noble ; and then you can’t deny but we have our power of dirpofing of Life and Death before you : Be/ides^ Life being more ' noble than Deaths we have yet the preference^ iince we difpofe of that ^ and you of thtsi Executioner, — What a vain Contefl: is here about a Preheminencf" aat belongs to neither ot you ? Gen ,'-^>^, — » What have we herc^ another Controller of Fate ? Execut. Yes, very often of the Fate of Generals and Midwifes tO'^>. Gfw.- Oh that ' had • a Body, SLtld this Injolent Gihhet Gaz,er . V;r ; that I might Cane him for his £aj - Execut, ^ Not ib paffionaie good G^ne~ ral, — - if you know any other K eajon hc- lides your Sword, pray aniwer n\e — whe- ther ’tis not the End of an Action tiiAt di^ni*- fissit ? Orj whether Adions in them- felves are either good or iii otherwife chan as they receive iuv. denoniinadons from the End which determines ^ne.m ? Gen, 'Right j Yhat wouM you infer from hencCj the honoi r of fixing a Crimi- nal’s Ear-knotj or piling up the expiating Fagot ? Execut. No, but that my Office be- ing the Execution of jiAlf and prudent Laws, is far more honourable than the murthering Ambition of Generals, or the Midwifryof vicious Humanity. The molf juft Wars that happen 0pi'rit0^ happen, are never without the injuftice of de- ft toying (bme Perlbns, that have no other fault but prejudic’d Judgments ; and Midwi- fry is lb blind an A<5lion, as to make no dif- ference betwixt the Legitimate and Illegiti- mate, betwixt Fathers of Countreys and Ty- rants 3 betwixt the Prince and Beggar. But in a due Adminiftration of juft Lawsj there’s an immediate diftindion betwixt Me- rit and Demerit, Vertue and Vice : In ftiort, \is lo ablolutely necelTary, that neither the Body Politick, nor private Perlbns can be lafe and happy without it ; and therefore nobly great, and meritorious, as a Prelerver of No- bility amongft other Conditions. Gen. I never decide Difputes any other way than by my Sword ; therefore if youpei fift in thele Herelies, prepare to end the Argument by force." "— - Execut.'^ 1 never fence, nor refift till I tie up my Adversary ; if you’ll tarry till then, I’m lure I lhall convince you.* — Midwife. Difpute and quarrel as long as ye pleale, I lhan’t yield the preheminence to either of you ; Belides, ’tis unjuft, ( Jince we are all Frofelytes to our own Conclufi- onsy ) to give Judgment decifive upon our own Cafes. If you think it convenient, we’ll refer the Difpute to the Arbitration of the^tflfUtett who will do US all Juftice. Execut.— ^Agreed. Gen, — March then j lut^ 1 will lead m the File thither^ 125 DIA- 4 124 C&c saaeiitufesf of DIALOGUE XXV. Between the Spirits of Two Pro- jeSlors, I Spirit T T OW! ^ well fledgd Cully ^ XjL juft come to Town ^ and brought along with hirn an unbawk’d Fancy, a ftrong Faith, and a deep Purfe ! Very well, Tis no common Catchy a band- fom plaufthle Harangue ; and he’s mine ; But yonder’s one of my Comrades. Holo Brother J0|O)iCrtO?, What ProlpcA hare you j of your Diicov-eries in the lower World ^ Are | they like to fucceed or not ? — Tm upon the wings of an imaginative Faculty ; and am fancying my felf in purfuit of the Game. 2 Sp . — ^Firftlet melee how I lhall come off in what I’m now upon. 1 Sp . — Why have you not yet effecfted your Promife of recruiting the exhaufied fiores of Nature about Thunder and Lightning ? 2 5p.— -What do you mean ? I Sp. When Nature was commanded to mufter up all her Sulphury Stores ^ and V en- giance call’d for their dilpofal on the Cities of Sodom and Gomorah, ’twas you (if! miftake not) that offer’d to railq a new Supply with- " out a Bankrupcy of any of the four Elements, i 2 Sp^ 125 - pje-epiftent Spirit^. 2 Sp.-— — That I have done long fince ; but the great bufinels in hand is 1 Sp. < — - Is what ? ril warrant you ’tis fome Intriegue that you are for managing when you come into the Body : Come we’ll fuppofe our lelves already there ; What wou’d you be at ? 2 Sp. Twenty Thoufand Pounds at leaftj and a Name to out live Monuments. — - The Notion’s frefh and coming ; and me- thinks I fee a Coach and %ix a little behind it, attending me as a fraall Teftimony of fuch a uleful Difcovery. 1 sp, Then you’ll forget me ; At- tendance and Ceremonies will prejudice your Eyes from looking upon your old Friends; In fhort, you’il be moulded into a new Na- ture. 2 Sp. — i V/elj^ fince you will be fancy- ing Incorporation, methinks I hear your Que- ffion urg’d in the Body^ and my lelf making ExcufeSj and coming over you for a handfom Treaty on purpofe to feek an opportunity of telling yo’^ how lafting my Friendfhip wou’d be. Methinks I alio lee vou vex that you were prevented tn the Queflion , and my lelf asking^ What u become of all the auxiliary Ma- gazines fent in by your creduloifs Dtjaples ? ; Sp. Your Fancy’s pretty near the Truth ; but I cou d tell you that you’il be at a ff range lols without an Apprentiihip of fe-' ven years held in the Subterranean Conclave^ o’th’ Southern fide of the le. 2 5p.- VV by what’s to beiearn’d there, more than Decoy or Wheedling in a To -•-——re or two I Sp, 126 C&e atmentures? of 1 Sp. ^ To come off handfbmly after all, and manage the Concern fo wifely, as never to fail bringing the t^feful Difeovery to perfedion ; but for want of Two or Three Hundred Pounds more^ which will oblige the Engagers cither to refign their firft inte- reftj rather than come in deeper ^ or force ’em to the laft fliifc of paying their Footing, ( which isj Breaking , ) and commcnc'ng Pro- jedor themfelves ^ which, in my Opinion, is a very fine Trade amongh fofc Fleirs, crC'* dulous Bankers ; nay, amongft all that are Babes in V/orldly Philofophy, But to wave the Thoughts of che Body, and return to our firft Subjed:. You have fupply’d the exhaufteu Stores of Thunder and Lightning, Pray which way are your labouring Thoughts employ’d now ? And what farther Difeovery have you to communicate to the Univerle ? 2 Sp. ’Tis a weakneB to defign before TrojeBors'y and the furclf w^ay that can be found out to be fuppl anted ; therefore I defirc to be excus’d,farther than to tell y^u in gene- ral Terms :Iam offering Fropojals to theKegifier of Fate, for a regulation of the t I know no Reafon the Sun ihou’d not be call’d to an Account. T'or being idle twice a Year» when the Inconveniences of his loy tring are fo deftrueftive to the whole Frame of Na- ture, by burning up its radical Moifiure on one fide, and fuffering the other fide to lie imprifon’d in the Chains of Frofi and Dark- nefs^ without the leaft demerit. I P?e»enltent ©pfri'tis. . ^ X2^ 1 Sf. Indeed this has not yet been confider’d ; but wc n’t it diibblige the Com- putation of the Afiroltgick Souls ? 2 Sp. Particular Interefts muft not come in competition with a general Good: —But admit luch afmall inconvenience ; I can quickly red refs that. 1 Sp. Nay^ then you*l encroach up- on my Studies • for I have been drawing a Scheme of the Reguldiion ofTime^ 6 cc. for which I exped no imall Recom pence. 2 Sp. Pray where does your Calcula- tion begin ? I Sp, -From the very Minute that the Deluge began ; which ^ as I take it was about Seven a Clock i’ th’ Morning^ from the Creation of Souls 2192 Years. 6 days 2 Minutes^ 2. sp. — ■ — You pretend to great Exad- nels. 1 Sp,^—'T\s necefTary ; or I had chang’d Winter for Summer before now. 2 Sp , — — Wellj and have you any thing elfe to promote ? 1 Sp, Nothing at preient, but to fc’cure my felf from being pump’d out of my Piojed, till 1 am certain of my Reward* 2 Sp. Farewel then. I Sp. If you had not been in hafte, I cou’d have told you how Naab's Compafs and Sea-Card were the very ririt Enterprize I brought to perfedion : But more of this the next Meeting. V DIA- Cfic iJiHjeitturcs of 128 DIALOGUE XXVL (Betweefi Two Travelling Spirits, 1 Spirit— ^XT* EL L met Brother ; how VV far this way? 2 Spirit, Into the Sphere of Saturn ; I have only that part of the Univerfe to be ac- quainted withj and at my return home, I fhall have a compkat Journal , with Ibme Re. marks^ not a lictie curious and diverting. 2. Sp. — — I am juft come from thence, and am willing to give you a particular Re- lation of every thing there ? But pray what are the moft curious Remarks you have met with in this long Ramble. 2 Sp. In the Region of the Moon I found fome furprizing Novelties ; particular- ly, the manner of that Planet’s Motion. - — The Moon is generally believ’d to perform its Circuitionby a Principle of Self-Motion, which Nature at hrft communicated to it ; but ’tis an Errour ; for the Moon is a Lif clefs tnanimati Alajs, and can no more move of it felf than a Pewter-Difh can ; nor is it ( as fome have concluded ) bowl’d along by Spi^ fits amongft the reft of the Stars ; for then a Twinging Gigantick Spirit wou’d fometimes throw it out of its due Cariere, and make it rub, or fall foul upon fome of the other Pla- nets. No no, fuch Caprices in Nature are not to be met with.-:! — ’Tis continually carry ’d carry’d along by half a dozen Spirits in a large Lanthorn , half of it tranfparent , and the other half dark,, and thefe half dozen Spi- rits are reliev’d by another half dozenpnce in four and twenty hours^: The realbn of its leeming Increafe and Decreafe^ is nothing elle but the turning of the darker or brighter fide of its Lanthorn more or lefs dkeBIy or ohliqm-^ ly towards the Gkhe of the Earth, I can alfb alTure youj that there’s not one Star in the Heavens that moves of it ielf; but what ar© carry ’d along by Spirits ( plain Spirits^ not In- telligences, as foine Philoibphers dream ; for there’s no fuch Beings. ) There are many ftrange Opinions amongft Mankind about the Motion of the Heavenly Orhs ; A. Spirit that left its Body in a Dream jull when I came in- to the world of the Moon^ gave us fome mer- ry Tenets about it ; as_, that the Elements were divided into Spheres^ like the Films of an Onion ^ and that fach and fuch Stars mov’d in fuch and fuch Films. Some again held. That Stars were put upon Strings like Beads, and pufhM on by Legions of Spirits, Some wou’d have ’em half underand half over their Films and Chanels cut for ’em to roul along : Some believe that the Film is tranfparent, and that Stars are bowl’d along up em : Some, that they hang under their Films^ and that there’s a kind of a mucous Matter, which makes ’em flick like Flies with the feet upwards to a Cieling : but fome belieVe there’s no fuch things as Spheres ^ Films ^ or Divifions of Ele- ments; but that they hang in the Air upon iheir own Centre, whirling about like Boys K Topsr 130 m)t 0f I Tops at Shrovetide. Thus far the humane ' Spirit diicover’d the wild Opinions of his Brethren. I Sf, This is plealant indeed ; but I believe I light on lome Paffages as remarka- ble. You kuow that every Globe has ticular ^ther^ which moves along with it ; and that there are indefinite Spacesy Vacuums^ or Interfiitiums betwixt the Vlmets^ if not, the vertiginous motion of one (L/£ther would juftle with another. You are alfo latisfy’d, that the Globes of Mercury and Luna^ have either of ’em a Republick of Philofbphical Souls , that left their Bodies , and yet re- tain their old Notions. It was my chance to travel that way when there was a piiblick Difpute betwixt forne late deceafed Cartefians, and forne Peripateticks ; every Soul was arm’d Cap-a-pe with Dilewmaesy Tropojh tionsy OhjeBio7jSy &c. But the Dilpute about Motion and innate Ideas^ was manag’d fo warmly, that they forgot their Footing, which was upon the extremity of the Vortex, and down they came fluttering into the indefinite Space or Vacuum I was telling you of. Very well ( fiy3 a Teripatetick So«/, ) this Fall is no Motion, becaufe there’s no Continuity {>f Matter tomeafureby 5 and therefore I de- fie you all to prove a poGibility of getting out again. A Cartefian Soul fell a laughing at fuch a Challenge, and told him, he ought to I get a new Body, and make Experiments . j and afterwards coniider the Theory.- ^ | No, fays the 7eripatetick\ it can’t be done; and therefor© Til aot offer to budge till I fee SI a Demonfiration of a poffibility , in Mood find Figure, And as they were examining, a certain Minor which was propos’d, comes a Comet, and with a Brufti of its Tail fcowr’d the Facuumy and dalh’d the Diiputants upon the Vortex again. 2 Sf. And what became o’th’ Caufc then ? I Sf.~ It was put by till another Con- ference, by reafbn of a black deformed Spirit that had had the Misfortune to leave its Bo- dy for a worfe Place , which came roaring and howling into the micUf of the Cartefian Sculs^ crying out. Where’s the Spirit of Des- Cartes^ that pretended to prove a Deity by Innate Ideas ^ when he fhou d have prov’d liich Idea to be the Idea of a real Being 5 ’twas the weaknefs of this Argument that damn’d me: Befidcs, I’m continually chous’d and hunted about by a company of fnearing Devils^, that ftigmatize me with the fcandalous Cha- rad:er of a Cartefian Spirit pointing at me with their fiotj Paws^ as I pals along ; Do ye fee ( fays one ) yonder Inhabitant of the Cartefian World : See ( fays another ) the Ar- tift that preaches of a liibtle Matter which forms the Liquidity of Bodies. Pray ('lays a ThirdJ will you go ask your Mafter what he means by the Sun’s fortrang a great Vertex of fluid Matter for the Stars to fwim in ? And whether the Sun is both Agent and Patient in fuch a Formation? If not, of what pre- exiftent Matter he forms this fluid Matter t Or, whether he pretends to an immediate Cfeatiom of it out of hotlnng ? with a thou- K z find Cfje acienttttes of iaiid more iuch puzzling Queftions^ which doubles my damnation^ to folve *em.^ — — Now Mr. Des Cartes^ if you can keep up your Credit^ and mollifie my Plagues, do it quick- ly Don’t trouble me yet, reply ’d the P5llOf0p!)ICaI Spirit, left you fpoil a new Notion that I left unfiniihed upon my Death- bed. O ( fays the Black Dijciple ) that my Mafter ftiou’d ftudy to damn People when they are dead Pi I warrant you , ’cis to find Gut the reafon why Mercury is ibmetimes near-* er the ILarth than the Sun : But pray^ by the vyay, what’s the Ufeof this, and a thoufand more fuch Vh^snomenas ^ it Vertue be. the proper Task of the Inteiledb, dc if the bufinefs of a wife Man be not Talking, but living ? Thus the poor Spirit troop’d off again with- out his Errand, ratling his invifible Chains^ and calling Phiiolbphy %tti^tbUbi(Uh I Sy. This was a very ftrange Paf- fage indeed, and puts me in mind of half a dozen Philofophical Spirits, which were hud- dled together, and ty’d Muzzle to Muzzle in the Bajiile of Mercury^ for pretcnding.to find Gilt a way to appear vifiblc to ^-lortals^ with- out the aifumption of Aerial Bodies, or any other Vehicle ; as I paisd by ’em, there was one that had his Notion too ietlcd to remove it by liicha Treatment. Courage (faid he ) Comrades; Til procure a fpeedy Manu- raiiiion horn this Cage , by appearing in this pofture to the Inhabitants of every Globe, and making ’em fend Ambaffadors to our judgesabout us, Say you fo { fays one of ’ciB ) I pray make a Demonftration to 115 US firft how it may be done. Thus ; (reply’d the other) The Reprefentation of Things is not always confin’d to the ordinary Method of alTuming the fimilitude of the tiling leen into the Eye , which neceffariiy (appofes a Subjecft to bealTumed ; but the vifive power may exercife Ideas and Similitudes of things that are not ^ by indifpofitlon or illufion. Thus by beating up the interior Organs^ and adfing briskly upon the Fancy, I can make the Pati- ent to believe a refemblance of what I pleafe^, or I can deceive the Eye^ by indifpofing it, through the annoyance of internal Fumes , Vapours, — — Thus have I made Ex- periments on Perfons, who^ whilfl: they have been lying in Bed, wou’d look upon the Win- dows, and lee Curious Globes ^ and Figures of all fijafes and colours wou’d move before the Eye, if> the Eye follows ’em, or wou’d purfue the motion of the Eye, if it drew from ^em. 1 might add the poffibility of accom- plilEing my end by falfe Refractions of Light, Interpolitions of Bodies, But Til let that alone till 1 come into a Body ; when Til rake Ibme pains to undeceive the World below about Apparitions of 111 Spirits, which are as commonly form’d in the Eye, as inclos’d in Aery Vehicles. Hold, not a word more of their Cuftoms ( reply ’d the other ) lelE wc ftou’d be over-heard, and lb receive double PunilEment for Correlpondence with Apo- Itates — - Thus the poor muzzled wretches were confin’d for Ibme time ; but at their Trial, they* upon urging fome luch Argu- ments as i have now offer’d, convinc’d their K 5 Judges, 34 m)t auucmutes of Judges, and were again fet at Liberty. a. Sp , ■ — — I lememberl was there at the fame time, and there came in a Meffen- ger Tofi hafie, laying. There are juh now liv’d a great number of Separate Souls upon the Ccvfnes of the Moon^ that pretend to bring in Remonf ranees againlt the whole Vbilofephical Academy of Sods ; at whieh, the Spirit of Ari- ftotle , who was always good at Sukerfa^es and By-holes^ complain’d ot Indirpofition, and that he wanted to converfe with the Spirit of Galen but he was no fooner clear of the Crowd, but he mounts up through the Coelum lEmpyreum, and gets out of the Wicket into that 'vaft indefnite Space, to be free’d from the importunate clamour of his thoufand thou- land Difciples fluttering about him. I cou’d not forbear follo\^ ing him, to fee the humour on’t ; and amongft other things, I overheard him crying out, Oh that I had been Alexan- der’s ikorfe^ inffead of he being my Pupil ; then I had liv’d quietly in Hifiory, and had been only Curvetting, Pawing, or Neighing in tie Fancy of the Learned : But now ( Wretch that I am ) Peue did d fo deep, that I have net only lofi my felf, but am dJo accefjiry to the Deftru* xSion of Profelytes. Methmks I fee my felf eatching at ImpojJMities ^ and indead of ^em, grafp jome ftrange hew itching Dream ^ that has either Blafphemy a gain si the Gods int^ or is a (acriUgiom Story of i heir Secrets, belying what I coud not dij cover. Alethinks I alfo fee that in' lyuifittve Race of Aiankind Uftning to partake of the forbidden Notions, and rather than fail, they turn over my J'forks fo oft till they find fime- thing in that I my Jelf never thought of^ nor ^ dejignd. Hereupon^ they begin te explain JnCOUT- P^CltflftlCS ) till they are ferva by fitcceeding Ages 04 they jerv d me j but the whole Blame and Tunifhment retorts upon me, becaufe I Jet *em firji at work. Oh that 1 had depnd (U^ttUC to have been Vertue ; and ©iCt to have been Vice; td fcap'd the jcowring of [omany duplicated Dam- nations, and might have walked quietly in the Battlements of the Moon^ without Noifs and Dtfurbance. But as I was intent upon the Philofopher’s ExpoftulationSj 1 fawat a diftance three Mil- lions of feparated 'Spirits, all Females ; they had been ridicuVdj and chas’d out of all the Globes for their awkward , and brought along with ’em the Fafhons of Two and Fifty Languages into the Indefinite Space above the Heavens. Some had got Ruffs a- boiit their Necks as big as Cart-wheels; Ibme Head Dreffes as large as the Tail of a Comet i fome were in one Drefs_, and Ibme in ano- theri a few were rubbing and fcowring the outfide of Heaven, to make it tranfparenr, that they might fee to drefs their whole Bo- dy by it ; fome were doing, fome were lin- ing ; fome were pleas’d, fome in a Paffion: fome lik’d their own Mode the beft, and Ibme prefer’d that of another; and fome were quarrelling with every particular Drefs, and ms-dQ up a.yargon of ad Dreffes zogQthQV : But to lee the different Figures, Pofiures^ Courc- fieSj Complements, and Tittle-tattle amongft ^em, made me believe that they were fome generation of Spirits which 1 had never K 4 heard asamtttte0 of hpard of : Whereupon, I apply’d my fcif to the Arifiotelian Soul I told you of, to defire his Opimon^ who told me, he had doneOp/wi- ; but if I wou’d ask the Spirit behind me, I might be inform’d : Upon which, I turn’d me round, 6c &w a Thing all hung with Clouds and Vapours, in an Aery Humane Shape, wringing his Hands, and fighing at 4 v^retched Rate ? as I made up to him, I cou’d hear him lay, Foor Heraclitus, Whither now ! Tiafi thou fearched the whole Uni* 'PerJcj and every particular Globe of the Creation ^ to retire from new OhjeBs of thy Over-pity aU thisy to find the greatejt behind in this Indefi- nite Space? Ala^^now I am def per ate in my Search^ and will give o^er^ fince Female Spirits are f& wedded to Impertinencies^ as not to leave ^em v^hen dead. — Upon the mention of the Word Female Spirits^ I troop’d off' witli all the fpeed imaginable,for fear of being caught up for a Foot-Boy.Spirit,by one Madam C — in Exchange Alley ; who 1 well knew w’as as proud of a Livery- Boy, as Vaint and Fucus : I had no foonergot within the heavenly Wicket again, but I ffiimbled upon a Difputation that was held upon the Verge of Saturn, But I came a little too late, and cou’d only heaf the latter part of the Conference; which by Plurality of Voices, fix'd a Liberty cf Confid- ence., and that the Spirits ot Fagans^ and Chrifiians^ fliould all be free to believe themfelves Children ofi Thtlofophy , and of the Number of the EleB. 1 pals’d on from thence without taking any Leave ; ( for there are no Spn its among the Stars^ that ufe Ce* jemonies. p^e-epiflent Spiritism remonles ^ but European Female Spirits ^ and they were moft of them chas’d out of the 17- nherfe, as I noted before j and coming near*, the Globe ot Jupiter, there was a great Con- Gourfe of Spirits about a Chalenge between a Heathen and Chiiftian Vhilofophick Soulj, concerning the Burning up cf the World x Here might Humanity if they’d had Eyes and TrofpeBive Glajfes firong enough, have leen their old Maxime confuted, which fays. There s no penetration of Bodies', for here were at lead ten Millons of Spirits got together all into one Body to hear the Difpute ; but there was (iich a fluttering Hubbub, that the Orators were fain to leave off a while, to fee if the Noife would ceale ; tho’ in vain, for every little Auditor wou’d pretend to diftatc, and give his Opinion : I cou’d hear one fomething louder than the reff, crying out, — - Alas, alas, if the World is to be burnt up, and all the Stars confum’d, what fhall I do for a Lodging 5 I ihall ne’er away with the Converfe of Femi^ nine Spirits in the indefinite Space : Oh, lays another, for my Mafter Ariftotle, how gladly wou’d I learn o’er again the Leffon of the World’s Eternity, that I might be able to con- fute this Litigious Spirit, that pleads for an nntenanting of the Stars. Another was for Bantering j and faid , the Univerfe wou’d make a prodigal Burnt Offering. Thus one cries out one thing, and another another ; fo that the whole Affembly began to vote it pe- nal to name liich a Topick ; and that there ihou’d be no moreluch Challenges for fear of a Tumult. You know I was always a mor- auftntttitejs of tal hater of Tumults and Quarrels ; fo that being in hafte to get away, I made but one flight to the World in Venus ^ where I light upon a very high Mountain ; but I had not tarry^d long there^but the Mountain was fiirrounded with Myriads of Female Spirits^ Arm’d Cap a-fe with immaterial Javelins , BowSj Darts, and Colours of War ; and one amongft the reft, comes up to me, giving me to underftand in fiioit, that I muft either quit that Globe, or prepare to encounter all the Inhabitants ; which were moftly Ama%^^ mam and Stokejjes, and had a Charter from the Secretary of Fate , to make that Globe their Retreat, to fccurc ’em from the Info- lencies of Male Spirits ; and allb, that they had the Privilege to chaftife all intruding Male Spirits as they pleas’d, by a Court Mar- tial ; and therefore , believing me to be a Traveller, and a Stranger to their Cuftoms, were fo courteous, as togive me time and op- portunity to difpofe of my f^lf as I pleas’d.^.—^ I view’d the fbft Herald from Top to SATO Toe, andconfidering her Air •• ^ and Features, I remember that in my lall Search in the ^ ^ Regiftry of Fate, I had feen T H N C her CharaSer, with this Sig- nature oyer againft it. I had no need to ask Queftions upon this Reflexion, knowing the Riddle would be re- folvM in another Globe, Amo Dom. 1691. and fo without any acknowledgment of the Ob- ligationjor other complement,than in thought, I flood off again j and in about two Seconds l^je^ejcillent ©pin'tjg. of a MinutCj got to the Boundaries of the World in Mars: There I was up to the Ears at fifft dalli^ amongft Malc-Sfiriu 5 (forgive the Expreffion^rm to be embody ’d ftiortly , ) and found ’em generally calling Councelsof War, which put me upon the Curiofity of enqui- ring what Religion they were of 5 and I was inform’d they were moftly Chrifiian Spirits : and upon asking what their General was ? I preiently concluded ^ Nothing at all ■ ~ A flrange kind of Exreffion^ Brother’, is not it? But ’tis not lirange^ when I add. That it was farther told me, they were to fight againft, and deftioy one another, for fuch mean In- terehs, as ( when examin’d,) are not worth the exercifing any Paffion but Indeed this amaz’d me above whatever 1 met with in all my Rambles, altho’ the next Encounter was not altogether unworthy my Refiexi* ons. ’Twasthus: A little farther was a Nunnery of Spirits , wherein a certain Fault had been committed i but I dare not fay what, for fear of profecu- tion the next time I travel that way, (ince the Law was fatisfy’d, in giving up the Cri- minal to the ^06 0 f ©pints ; which hand- led her feverely enough ,* and afterwards a- way they hurry’d her to a certain Meeting of BiJl'enting Spirits*^ and having pull’d the Non- rejijlmg Breacher off his Tedeftal^ ( for they ule neither Cliairs nor Pulpits in that Globe,) one of the Rtng-kaders mounts, and begins as follows : Liberty^ Boyj^ Liberty 5 away with thefe dull Cantjnghp'^rJu^ ^1^5 pntence- of being C&e airtjettturejs of only meet to plot againfi our Freedom', Why do they tell us of hard Names and thinking, and not preach up Liberty, or (omethmg elfe tbais new ? For my part^ tm for Toleration of nothing but what luits my Humour. No matter whoi^s uppermofi^ or what the laft ot next Council decrees s ^tis all one to ^Ob ; ^nd who-* ever is of my Opinion ^ let him hold up the dirty end of his Wand, and cry ClUCfe — Hereupon, they all cluck- d fo loud that the Spirits which carry’d that Globe ^ ran away from their Commiffionj and down it fell be- twixt Mercury and the SuTiy and fpoifd the Ftolomaick Syfieme of the Heavens ; for my part, I got out of it as loon as I cou’d, and left the Rabbky who were going to pull a Pe- dant out of his School, for Tyrannizing over one of their Brethren. I was no fooner got fafe out of the Whirli- gigg-Planet^uX. I met with Charles's laden with twenty doz^en of Souls, bundled up dole, and laid neatly upon Villowt of Snow ; as f came near, to ask the meaning, up ftarts one oi them, and call’d me Impertinent and Saury,, for not making my Honours before 1 ask’d Queftions ; whereupon, I made a very hum- hie Grin^ and call’d ’em worjhipful Dons ; thinking ’em to be Spanifh Souls ; upon which, one of ’em condefeended to tell me, in an^ fwer to my firil Queltion, That they were Gentlemen Souls, and fcormng the Drudgery of walking into their Bodies, were accom’- modated with that Heavenly Calajh to ride in, cautioning me for the future to be more ex- ad in rpy Diflinftions, and to ehferve a due Pie^ejiCent Spirits. Deference io the Honourable. It growing late, I ftep’d into the next Star ? where the Inha- bitants were very fmall, yet very courteous, and entertain’d me handibmely that night. The next Morning I let out upon my Ram- ble again, and met the Cara^an^ (alhs Charles's wainJthQ lecond time_,laden with a new Shoal of Spirits^ and bound for the other world ; at which I began to make my Honours ( as pre- caution d) but was laugh’d at by the Waggo^ ner, who told me^ they were a Company oH Pick- Pockety High-way, and Clipping Spirits^ ( that is defign’d for Bodies of fuch Profefli-f ons ) and foreknowing the unkind Treat- ment they were to meet with in the other World, wou’d not go into their Bodies ; but were forc’d to be carry ’d. 1 was a little vex’d at the Miftake ; but you know {Brother) that Travellers mult comply with Cuftoms, and put up Indignities on all hands. 1 Sf. — ^’Tis very right ; and without liich compliance, ’tis better to tarry in ones own native Star, where there’s freedom both to (peak and adt, without conftraint.*^ - ■ ■ But amongft all your Rambles, did you never make a Vilit to the Globe of the Earth ? 2 Sp, Don’t mention that Place, if you have any relpeft to my Eafe; for as it is the very Sctllltg and of the Creation, lb have its Inhabitants proportionable Qualifica- tions. I Pray pardon my Inquifitivenels, and give me one Inftance ; I know not by what Fatality it comes about ; but a new the- ory of Pmn is as bewitching tome^ as a fmall ^Toilkk in fUafun. % Sf, 141 Stiaetttureis of 2 Is it fo ? Why then Imagine your lelfamongft a numerous Crowd of Mor- tals i every one a Bafiik or Vatican to your old dear Acquaintance ; Suppofe you faw your Relations looking out of Mortal Eyes, ( as the Grates of Prifons ; ) and now and then Realing a Glance at the "Skies^ the place of their old habitation : Suppofe you alfo hear one calling out to you. Pray pay me a Vifit at night, when the Body has little need of my Attendance, that I may give you an Account what an ambitious, reftlels Lump it is that I animate: Pray (ftys another) come fee me when my Body's aQeep, that I may have ibme vent to my Sorrows, by telling you the vaft difference betwixt a Body’d and an un, body’d Spirit. No, C fays a Third, ) but if you’l come and fee me. I’ll preach the Do- arine of Humanity to you v polTibly it may have fuch an effeft upon you, as you may efcape the firft Damnation for three of four hundred Years longer. Suppofe you hear five Thoufand more beginning to make their Complaints, and the Body, like a lip-ffaff , orSerjeantjhurrying’emaway into new expe- riments of Horror, before they can tell their Story our. 1 S/>.— Hold, pray no more IVe enough of Humanity : Lei's be gonej if your way lies towards the World in Saturn bear you Company, 2 Sp. — — Fm oblig’d to you : March them pje^ctiCtcnt g^piritg* HI DIALOGUE XXVn. Betrpeen the Spirit that is to be laj^ imbodyd , and the Spirit that is to be jirji re-nnited to the Body at the Day of Judgment. JeJOld , hold , Brother^ don’t * leave me yet : Alas, he’s gone, and with him all the whole Society of Spiris / What have I to converfe with now but inanimate Globes, aud fenfelels Conftel- lations ? What fignifics it that I am Lord of all^ when I have no SubjeAs to reign over 5 no agreeable Mate ( I mean, of the f^ie Spe- cies^ ) to accompany me ? XJnkind j^te, to imbody all the Thoufand Thoufands of my Bre^ tiren, and to leave me to wander up and down the Univerfe by my felf ! — The World is to me a fort of Frifon^ not by Di- minution^ but by Depri'uatiou ; tor a Prifon is not properly call’d a Prilbn/or being fo^r^^r, or fo little y but being a Confinement from fuch and fiich Enjoyments, — Oh that 1 coud ceaft to be, or tranfmigrate into any other Clojfis of Creatures ! For what ftate is more unhappy than that which giw a power of en- joying Goody and denies a Subje^ to exercife hk power upon ? But hay, why do I repine ? Some Spirit muft neceffarily have been the Cfie aufienturcs of laft » and tho’ it is I, yet it cannot be Jong but my Turn will quickly come. 2 Sp, Nine hundred ninety nine Millions of Millions, —— Let me fee again; pof- fibly my Calculation may be falfe. — -Suppofe once more^ that everryMan f computing one Man with another,) is Compos’d of a handful of pure Earthy all the Particles of the other Elements being feparated from it , then it follows, that jufl: fo many Handf uls of Earth as the Globe contains in it, may be made in- to Men ; but no more, unlefs the GoJ of Na- ture will make more Earthly Globes ; for when every Man riles at the Day of Judg- ment, and alTumes his own particular hand- ful of Earth3 if there fhou’d be more Men than Earth, Ha, Some Souls mull go without Bodies ; which is very ablurd. Nor is it very realbnable , that the Earth Ihou’d not every Bit of it be made into Men, that when they come to take every one their own, there may be no Earth left v and then ’tis an eafie thing for the lafi Fire to confume the other Elements. No, -that won’t do neither i for I’d forgot that Man is made of all the Elements; and therefore when all the Earth is fpent in making Men, the Elements muft be Ipent likewile, that is, the whole Earth, Air, Fire and Water, will f when every one takes their own J be equally divided, and march up and down an Eter- nal JUtSCftnto , or Vacuum, in living Oloriffd Humanity, - — Very well, now I have it ; There were at firft 9999999999 Spiritsj and there's jull fo many handful of Dull pie^epilfent ©pints. I Duft intbe Earth. Now if I couM tell how f many Spirits arc yet unbody’d, ’tis but fub- ! trading the Remainder from the firtt Num- ber^ and the difference is the Handfuls of Earth that are yet to be made into Men ; and when I know this^ I ftiall know how long it will be before I fliall be re-united again to my Body^ which I was feparated from about 3 ca® Tears (ince, Methinks I long to renew the old Acquaintance, 1 m ... What Mathematical Soul is this ! that’s computing the Day of Judgment ? It I has always been too deep a Secret for Hu- i manity to pry into* 2 sp.— I have laid by that dull heavy Lump a great while fince. 1 S;?.— But ’tis faid^ that Angels them- . felves are ignorant of that Day. 2 Sp.i— Yes, they were fo ac that time, when (iich Words were f^ken, becaule they knew not how faft Spirits wou’d be unbodied, or how the Age of Man might fhorten ; nor confequently how long it wou’d be before the World was made into Men ; but if you can , give me an Account how many Spirits are yet unbody’d, I will tell you juft now how long it is till the Day of Judgment, I -Sp None of ’em but rny felf. r 2Sp.~ — How 1 are all the 999999999 Souls ( which were made upon the lame day that the Angels were ) lent into Bodies, ex- 1 cept you ? , I Yes,all but my felf ; Fve julf now i parted with my laft Companion. L 2 Sp. Cfje ajsentutesj of t 2 Sf. Iffo, the date of your pre-exiftence is juft at an end ? perhaps within this quarter of a Minute 5 for there’s always fome young i Body or other gaping for a Soul to aftu- ^ ate it. ^ . 1 Sp. 1 ftifill be very glad of it ; for ’tis r >afflifting to be the only remaining Creature I of one Species. _ 2 Sp. ’Tis fo. But — f 1 Sp, Farewel ; I am call’d away too, and with me the whole Race of unbodied Souls loie their Name^ and change their very Nature. 2 Sp. * Is he gone ? 1 knew it . coil’d not be long that he had to tarry,— ^ J.et me fee ; No, That won’t j do ; That’s right ; upon a modeft com- ' putaiion,the World muft expire within thefe j 70 Years ; for it’s great odds this laft unbo- j died Soul will be feparated again before that j Teriod : Befides, there muft be fome left a- j' live, which will undergo the (ame change j. without dying, as the Body and Soul will do | at their Re^union \ therefore perhaps within thefe 70 all will be over. Now f methinks I lee that little fliare of Duft that be- longs to me, receive its firft Impreffion, and beckon tome to renew our old Acquaintance snd Union ; Methinks I lee my felf as eager in my Embraces of my old Comrade, and as buiie in exercifiog my Offices of Tmeptiou] 6cc. as ever. But I’rn at a lols as to the man- ner how, becaule of the inexprsffible Change j tiiat my Organs muft undergo. But I’ll let 1 ih at Thought alone, iince Fm fatisfy’d. Ex- perience i. ence !rtef Pie=e]eiflent perience will teach me, that and every thing tlfe within a very fmail Revolution of Time. I'lng f ifitu* t ti;: DIALOGUE XXIX. Betmxt Two Sprits , one that pre- tends to deny Pre-exiftence^ and the other to pro^e it. IV it )n’t| )m-' dQ )0' lat a* ige dOi ^ I iini )wi 3S- ' [1(1 ‘ C3 ; Sf s I- e t I 5piriL— TTTHat am 1? Whence is VV my Original ? And to what end am I defigtf d ? 2 — You are a pre-exiftent Spirit,made upon the Day of the Creation ; Tour Original is Nothingnefs ^ as to the SuhjeB ; hut as to the Caufe^ it is the Eternal Mind, j who, when he fees fitting, will provide you a Bo- dy to ad in. 1 Sfs —— What do you mean ? For my part, I believe you and I are both of us juft now created ; but if you are pre-exifient, and it now is ^coo Years and more fincethe beginning of your Exiftence, pray anfwer me, EIo7iJ many Sons Adam had ^ 7vhat fart of the Tear the World Wijs made in ; but don’t anfwer after the old Evafion, vitc* at all times of the Tear \ but in what Sign the Sun 7 vas firB f laced ? 2 I have forgot now, ’tis fo long fiiice. auaeitturejs of 1 sp, — - I thought Reminifcence had been co-effential with, or a part of the Na- ture of Spirits ; for according to the beft De- finirions, the Soul is a Cogitative Faoulty. Now if Thinking ^ Difpofing , Meditating , Exa- mining j Compounding , Dividing , Appre- hending, Joyning the Subjed and the Attri- bute^ Affirming/ Denying, Sufpending, be the Fundion and Natural Afts ot the Soul, it is neceffary that Memory be an ef iential Attribute of it; for how is it poffible to compare two things together^unlefs we re- member the Firft after we have examin’d the Second ;for to think of two Things atonce_,is impoffible^and it is fo granted by all that make a duedillindVion between a Finite and an In- finite Being h being what comes nearelf this Ad., is the quick dillindion of Letters in Readings or the fwift^ yet regular Motion of the Fingers in Mufick. Now fince Reminis- cence is co-eilential with Souls, an Argument may be drawn from hence to prove you de- generate , if not a IS! on Exifienf 2 Sp. — That I have a Being I’m cer- tain, and this Converfe with you^ demon- if rates it. I Sp. Come, I’ll grant you for once, that you are pre-exiftent, if you’d grant me, that my Body which Fm julf now going into, 35 alfo pre-exifrent, and was created before iddam had a Being ; but I’ll ask for no Con- ceffionsj which Fll not firft delerve by de- mon ftration ; ~ — - For I may prove my Body contemporary with Adants altho’ not vifible till above 5:000 Years after he was created. 2 Sp. ^ Sp, Pray how can that be? 1 sp^ When Matter was created^ ’tvvas a great Store-houfe of all other Beings tha‘: were to be created from it, all which ky confufedly flecping in their Chaos ; btit of this Lump was Adam created and il fo, be him- felf was potetitially in it before he had a fpe- cihck Being. After his Creation , he was maintain'd from the produd:ions of Earth and Water j by a deflrucfion of, or more proper- ly^ through a converfion of their Natures in- to his. Hence Adamh Children were only a Tranfmutation of other material Bodies^ ot the Effed: of Meat and Drink in new gnres, which lay once in fuchand fuch Crea- tures, and before that in the material Chaos we firfl: fpoke of. Now fince the Mechanifin of Nature is order'd that it cannot be de- ffroy'd funlefs by its Author, i)buc only tranf- muted or chang’d into other Matter ; as a Fire that burns_, part of it goes to Allies, part into Soot^ part into Air, but yet is always fbme- where^ or in fomething; lb that all the vifi- ble Changes we lee, are nothing elfe but a converfion of one Element into another back' wards and forwards, according to the adapt- nels and modihcations of Agents and Patients^ This confider’d, it will plainly appear,, that that Body which I am juft now going into, was the laft year part of it growing in fuch a Crop of Corn^ part of it in liich an Apple- tree^ part of it in fuch a River^ part - of it in luch an Ox, Sheep, Fowl,d^r. and only by a proper Revolution of Particles un- der different Species^ lb adapdy difpofited, that atontutejs of that Nature found the Compofition to fit one new di^lnd: Species by itfelf; and according to its Commifiion, or firft Settled Chain of Caufes produc’d a humane Body^ fit for the Aftuationand Conjunftion of a Spirit. Hence ^tis nianifeft my Body was as foon in the Bofom of its Caufes as Adams, and the lafi: Body that fhall be created, as fbon as mine. Nay,to go farther,rince fromEternity the great Creator did defign to make a World, from which my Body was to be produced, I might fay, that my Body was from all Eternity de- signedly and potentially, tho’ actually in time, ; which is t^ie utmofl: that can be faid of the Pre exiftence of Spirits. And I defie every Spirit in the Univerle, to prove the leaf!: dif- ference in Time betwixt the aftual Com. mencement of the Exiffence of its Body, and its felf, or that the Potentiality of both is not equal, to wit, eternal. I Sp, This Argument wou’d hold , if it cou’d be p^ov’d. That the Soul is not fo cloggd a?sd incapacitated in its AB cf Reminifcence by coming into the Body^ hut that it might eajzly re- colleBwhat has happened in its pre exigent fiate. For we have innumerable Inftances of the Soul’s being more incapacitated in its Functi- ons one time than another, in the fame Bo- dy, and this by Fits, Diltraftions, Difeafes, &c. Which to me appears dernonftradve, that if the {ndifpofitions of the Body, whicli are only accidentah hiiider a regular opera- tion of tSe Soul ; much more may the Body k felf, when firlt ty’d to, and made coeffexnciai i\ ith it. . 2 Sp, We’ll grants much depends on the Body, as to the Mode of Perception and adi- on, but not (b very much as is fuppos’d ^ To mention that leifure time of Dreams ; When perhaps the Body and Soul have the lead 'adual dependance one of another, we fliall find the habit of Reminifcence frefh at awa** king again ; but to jhew for once ^ that the Soul does not forget what it afts when fepa'- rate from the Body, by realbn of the Body’s indifpofition. Confider the Cafes of Trances^ Examinations of Witches, drc. what think ye of a Soul that has rambled out of the Body for two or three days together, and when it has return’d, and the Body reviv'd, it has told of infallible Truths fome hundred Miles diftance, where it felf adually was : This we have hundreds of creditable Indances to prove? which confider’d, does fully ( from the firft prefuppos’d confequence of Reminifcence, J deftroy theDoftrine oi Pre-exifience. 1 Well, I fhall confider of it as loon as I have any leifure 5 in the mean time ‘ ^ Farewel. 2 sp.-~ Farewel ^ A F I N i /ikpi J/c 3 ij'V- V7y '~-K \ ; •unton (John) ]The Visions of thi )UL, before its comes into the Body in veral Dialogues, written by a Membei the Athenian Society, first edition, irioiis cuts, sm. 8vo, orig. calf, 1692. are i very curious work which is supposed to give the ;ouver.sations between the souls of a Poet and a Drunkard, a Bastard and a Necromancer, Charon and Hobbs, an Emperor and a Beggar, Pascal and a Bookseller, a General, a Midwife and an Execu- tioner, etc.