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If any Damage or Defect be perceived, the Proprietor, on tbe return of the Book, informs the Librarian. A Proprietor lending a Book forfeits Five Guineas. y-^ y y y-yy >-^[TUEWI^IAN, printer, EXETER. WKL •.•'% DUKE "DIVERSITY [ox-^ H 'treasure 'Koom Ji GLEAN I NGS O F ANTIQ.UITIES. CONTAINING, I. An Ess AY for Explaining the Creation and the Delug e, according to the Senfe of the Gentiles. InaLETXERtoa Learned Perfon. II. A Discourse of Oracles, giving an Ac- count of the Sibylline Oracles; with an uncom- mon Explication of VirgiVs Fourth Eclogue, and feme other Parts of his Works relating to them. To which is Added, An Account of the Oracles delivered at Delphos, and in the other Temples of the Gentiles ^ and of the Rife and Ceflation of Oracles, both among the Jews and Gentiles. III. Some Notes concerning Familiar Spirits. ifj John Beaumont, Gmt. Jnxius iizquiro fefelit qua lo?7ga Vetufias^ Eruo qiids tacitis ohfolmre Ubris. Multaqne, dtim meditor^ imiti dociih'e Magijfn ; (^leisfnior^ ^fitte queis, nil mihi dulceforet. L O N ^ Ni Printed for W. T a y l o r, at the Ship and BhuHh Sivau in Pater-mftevRow, M.dcc.xxiv, > s O ^ ^^' ' • V/. . ~ -^. ^^/,,rvv^'^ (V) R.B.K. To the Honourable Richard Edgecombe Efq; Sir, ^ Mong all the Amufe- ments this World af- fords, Men of the ftrongefl Inftinds have found none more charming, than a Purfuit of Knowledge : Gra- vis vi Dedication. 'vis * e/i Sitis bonarum rerum cut fola friiendi ajfiduitas Me- dicinam facit. And as I have always indulgd a ftudious Life, and have lately ga- thered together a few Glean- ings of Antiquities, which contain fome Matters befide the common courf^ of Learn- ing ; and, as I conceive, high- ly worthy an inquiry into : I have now thought good to make them publick, and humbly infcribe them to your Name. And tho' your honourable Station in the Government may much en- gage your Thoughts, I am inclined to think,the Nature * Symmachiis Epifl. L. 3. Ep. 45*, of Dedication, vii of the Subjeds I treat of, may be an inducement for you, at fome leifure Minutes, to take a tranfient View of them. And if fome Particu- lars in what I have written may feem obfcure, as indeed they would not admit of an open unfolding ; I Ihall al- ways be ready to attend your Commands for explain- ing them in the beft manner I may : being, SIR, Tour mofl Humble, Mo ft Obliged, and Moft Obedient Servant y John Beaumont. 7J&e foUoxvitig ERRATA ought to he combed before Terufat. pAgc 10. 1. 34. read He^aphs. p. 12. 1. 33. f. celebrate, p. 16. 1. ii» «• mentes. ib. 1. 20. r. of the Deluge, ib. I. 30. r. AJia. p. 33. 1, 8, 21, aj. r. Anhnry. ib. 1. 23. r. ^>ett. p. 68. 1. aj. r. Fencer, p. 80. 1. ai, r. wSiva?. p. 83. 1.3. t. Orgiis. p. 93. 1. 33. r. yA*j?. p. 98. 1. 29. r. we might, p. 101. 1. 17. r. defpiciet. p. 103. 1. 11. r. Vota mea. p. 106. 1. i, blot out the Poet fays. p. 133. 1. 27. after Age, add, after the Flood, p. 140. 1. 11. blot out an. ib. 1. 30. r. to the. p. 141. 1. 27. r. to fit under, p. 144. 1. a6. r. l^and. p. 163. 1.9. X. ImpoHures. p. 164. 1. 15. x. having, p. 153. 1. !$> c. a little befote, p. 193. 1, 35. r. Anakft. H. 4. b, p. zoj. 1. 1. r. JUrfaag. A N ESSAY FOR Explaining the Creation and the Deluge, according to the Senfe of the Gent iLEs: ivhere a tranfient Notice is taken of the 'various Hypo- thefes ha've been fet up for explaining them. In a Letter to a Learned Perfon. SIR, • APPENING lately to be prefent where a Difcourfe was ofl'ered concerning Mat- ters of the moft remote Antiquity, w'r,. the Creation, the Deluge, the Chinefe Chronology, &c. and having drawn to- gether fome Conjeftures thereunto relating, I adven- ture to publifh them in this Letter to you j hoping B I 2 Jn ESSAY for Explai^iing I may receive your Thoughts (which I greatly value) concerning them ,• as likewife thofe of fome other Perfons, who may have confidered thefe Matters : -which, the greater and more antient they are, be- come the more liable to the Difcourfe of all Ages. No Nation in the Univerfe has come to our know- ledge, which has fo much amufed and amazed the Chriftian World, as that of China ; and this efpe- cially on the account of its Chronology, that Nation having kept, from the Beginning of their Government, unexceptionable Records of Times and Tranfadions, far beyond thofe ot any other Nation. Some will have it, that only the Nation of the Hehrtros knew their own Antiquity, and that of all other Nations ; that, with the latter, all antient Tranfadions were uncertain and fabulous i whereas the Hebrews knew the Origin of all things, and even the Age of the World itfelf, and have recorded them in their Writings : that where the Sacred Hiftory ends, the Hiftorical Time of the Gentiksy Chaldeans, Greeks and Romans begins ; that is, a little before the Babylonian Captivity : for from thence begins the JEra of Nabonajfar, that of the Olympiads^ and that of the building of Rome, And it's obfervable, that thefe three famous j^ra^s began, in a manner, at the fame time 'y that is, within an Age, or a few Years, one of the other : for, according to learned Chronologers, the Efocha of Nahonajfar began An. Mundi 3257, be- fore Chrifty An.j/^j. that of the Olympiadfy A. M. •3228, before Chrifl^ An, -j-jS. that of the building of Rome, A. M, 31^6, before C/;ny?, 748. So that be- fore thefe Times, all things were, in a manner, meer Ignorance and Darknefs. And many learned Men have thought, that Mofes is the Perfon from whom all the fecret Meanings of the Fables, or the Truths corrupted by the Fables, among the Gentiles, are to be fought ; they not being to be explained but by the Hebrew Antiquities, tho fome the Creation and the T)ehtge. 5 fome are of opinion, that the Hebrews took mod of their Rites and Learning from the Egyptians. What we have received from Mofes, has beea handed down to us by fuch Authority, that it is not free for thofe who have been trained up under the Engagement of his Books, to call in queftion the Truth of the Time there denoted for the Creation, the Deluge, or any other Matters therein contamed ,• tho it may be obferved that Mofes does not tell us whence he had taken what he had written concern- ing the Creation, the Deluge, the Antediluvian Pa- triarchs, &c. or that he had it from any publick Re- cords of a Nation or People, (the Cbineje Affairs be- ing all fo recorded) but delivers all meerly upon his own Authority ; tho Father Simon, at the end of his Critical Hiftory on the Old T'eflament, in a Catalogue of Books there annexed, tells us of a Book written by Abrauanel, intituled, Mifhaboth Elohim, 'the Works of God, printed at Venice about the Year 1545. in 4^0. where he treats learnedly concerning the Creation of the World, and withal examines whence Mofes took what is written in the Book of Gcnefis : which Book I could widi we had ; tho, I fuppofe, Abratmnel goes there upon the fame Principles he does in his Preface to his Commentary on JcJ})ua, where he fays, lUiofe they call Scribes, or Prophets, aniong the Jews, took care to gather together what pafled in the State, and did not only write the Hiftory of their Times, but took all the liberty of adding or diminifhing what they thought proper to the Memoirs of the other Prophets that had preceded them. And Father Simon, in his faid Critical Hiftory, /.i.e. 2. tells us, That the grea- teft part of the Sacred Books that are come to us, are but Abridgments or Summaries of the antienc kdi% that were kept in the Archives of the Hebrews, And Abrauanel is of opinion, that thofe Books being re- viewed by the Sanhedrim, or other Perfons divinely infpired, had all the Authority neceilkry that could B 2 be 4 "j^u ESS AY for Explaining be defired in an Affair of this importance ; and he is fo far perfuaded of the Truth of his Principle, tha^ he dares deny, againft the Senfc of the Dofiors in the 'Talmudy that Jojhua and Samuel were the Authors of the Books that bear their Names > and fays, that Sa-- tnuel was the Author of the Book of Jojhua and Judges j and that the Books of Samuel and Kings were written by the Prophet Jeremiah^ who, according to him, compiled them from the Memoirs of Samuel^ Nathan, Gad, and the other Prophets or publick Writers that lived before him. However this may be, it mufl: be obferved that Father Simon, in his Anfwers to the Objeftions made by Mr. Spanheim and Dr. Dupin againft his Critical Hiflory, owns that he cannot apply to the Book of Genefis what has been faid of the way of regiftring publick Ad:s in the time of Mofes; and fays, that the Hiftory of the Creation, the Deluge, and in a word, of all the Fads and Genealogies comprized in Genefis ^ are (imply related, as if Mofes had taken them from fome authentick Books, or had them by fome cer- tain Tradition, as Eufebius fays he had them by Tra- dition from his Anceftors; it not being mentioned in all Genefis that God didated to Mofes what is there related, or that he received it by the Spirit of Pro- phecy. I am not ignorant that Manajfeh Ben-Ifrael, in his (^th Problem concerning the Creation, is of a contrary Opinion to what is before delivered, concerning the Knowledge of Mofes as to what he has writ of the Creation : and becaufe I love to be open in what I write, and to give the full Strength of what is wric againft any Opinion I may be inclined to follow ; I fhall here give you what he writes in this Problem, which is thus propofed ; Whether Mofes invented the Hiflory of the Creation of the World of his head, or whether he had the Knowledge of it by T'radition qy Revelation I And on this head, he writes the Creation and the T>eliige. 5 writes as follows : Man's Underftanding inclines more to believe that the World was from Eternity, than that at feme time it had a Beginning; and there- fore it could not be that Mojes feigned the Creation of the World from his own Head : For will any Man's Mind didate to him, that the World was created in the fpace of fix Days, and no more, nor no lefs .> Who, of fet purpofe, would feign that the World was made at certain Intervals of Time; fince it feems to make more for the Glory of God's Powxr if it be faid, the World was made in an Inftant ? And who would imagine that the Heavens were firft created without Stars, and that they were adorned with them on the fourth Day ? What judicious Mind can conceive that the Plants were created on the third Day, and the Sun on the fourth Day ; fince naturally they receive their Vegetation from the Rays of the Sun ? What Reafon didated that a whole Day was fpent in the Creation of the Fiflies and Fowls, and not a whole and entire one was fpent in the Creation of the moif perfed Being, i^/z.. Man ; but he was created in one and the fame Day with mute Animals ? Who, of his own head, would feign fuch a Story as that of Adam^ Cam, Abel, and and the whole Series of all the Generations } Where- fore I conclude that Mofes could not, from the Inven- tion of his own Head, defcribe the Way and Manner of the Creation ; much lefs can it be underfiood thac Mofes had the Knowledge of thofe things which he writ concerning the Creation from the Tradition of Anceftors. For tho you fuppofe the Tribes of Ifrael received thofe things handed down, as it were, to them from Jacob, Jacob from Setn, Sent from Noah^ Noah from Methufalem, and he from Adam ; yet a Doubt will always remain, by what way they came to know all thofe things that were done before, in the fpace of fix Days, fince Adam himfelf, who is to be made the firll Fountain and Origin of this Tradi- tion, 6 J;i ESS AY for Explaining tion, was created at laft, on the fixth Day. Add to this, that if Mofes had known thofe things by Tra- dition, the fame things would not have been un- known to many Nations and People. Wherefore we muft neceffarily fay, that the Cre- ation of the World was revealed to Adaniy and that his Pofterity received it by Tradition from him. But becaufe it was not fit that a thing of fo great weight fhould rely on the Authority, Credit and Teftimony of one Man ; therefore God, in the fecond place, ap- peared to Mofesy and gave a clear Aflurance of this thing to all the People in Mount Sinai^ commanding the Obfervance of the Sabbath, that it might appear by a certain Memorial, that the World was cre- ated in {\x Days, and that God refted on the fe- venth. Now it remains for us only to explain why Mofes, in defcribing the Creation of the World, does not declare that he received it, by Revelation, from God himfelf: for the Explication of which thing, what follows may contribute. The Prophecy of Mofes was by fo much the more worthy, and exceeding the Pro- phecy of all the other Prophets, that to thefe, at the time they received the Prophecy, only the Senfe, or the thing comprehended in the Prophecy, was re- vealed, but they delivered that Thing, or Senfe, in their own Words to the People ; and for that reafon, they ufed this Form of fpeaking, And the Lord fpake to me^ And the Lord faid to me : as tho they would fay, Thofe things we deliver, tho we exprefs them with our own Words ; yet they have the Senfe which we have received from God himfelf. But to Mofes not only the things were prophetically delivered, but to- gether with them the very Words alfo, with which they were to be delivered, were didated i and this is the Caufe that Mofes^ when he delivers thofe Revela- tio.ns, does not fpeak otherwife than if a third Perfon fpake, relating thofe things which God had com- manded. the Creatio7i and the T>ehige. 7 manded, and which Mofes himfelf had done : whence are thofe Forms of fpeaking, And the Lord /pake to Mofes, And the Lord faid to Mofes. From hence ap- pears a Solution of the Doubt after this manner : Since the Scripture, as a Type, and Charafter, relates things themfelves as they are, and fo is bound to fol- low in relating the Hiftory of Things, the Order and Series of Time in which each Thing began, or was done i it would be abfurd and very incongruous, that in the Hiftory of the Creation of the World, which was 2000 Years before Mofes, a mention fhould be made of Mofes; for fo it would be faid that Mofei prophefied before he was born : which fince it is abfurd, the Scripture begins with an admirable Wif- dom and Order from the Creation of the World, which was made in fix Days, and follows it on from the Birth of Adam and his Pofterity, to Mofes ; and from that time, as often as it mentions Mofes, it ftill relates his Prophecy in that ordinary Phrafe, as tho fome third Perfon related it. Therefore we conclude it much more credible, that, tho it may be granted he received the Creation of the World by Tradition, yet that the fame was revealed to him afterwards by God, and after the Way and Manner as the fame is defcribed. Many and great Reafons make for this Opinion, which fhall be brought by me elfewhere at large. So far Manaffeh Ben-Ifrael. Here we fee this Author oppofes what is fet forth before, and I fhall leave it to the judicious Reader to confider the Weight of what he has delivered, with- out adding to what is faid before : As for the greac Reafons which he fays he fhall fomewhere give us to fupport his Opinion, I cannot find them in any Book of his which has come to my hands. I hoped to have found them in his Conciliator on Genejis^ but they are not there ; tho poflibly they may be in the Addenda to that Book, which he has fince publiflied, and which I have not feen. But wherever they are-, I doubt 8 An E S S A Y y^r Etcp laming doubt they will prove but Rabbinical Re afons i afid I ihall now proceed on my Matter. When we confider that Mofes intimates a time for the Creation, it may be proper to obferve, that all the Gentiles (the Chinefes not excepted) held the World to have been from Eternity, either in the prefent State it is, adorned with Animals, Vegetables and Minerals ', or in a Chaodical or Atomical State, from which afterwards it was brought to Perfedion : for by their natural Light they could not attain to the Knowledge of a Creation, which is a fupernatural Ad, but held to their Maxim, Ex nihik nihil fit. And it has been the Opinion of many as able Divines as Chriftianity has had, that it is not to be made out from Human Reafon but that the World has been from Eternity, by an Emanation from the firft Caufe, as the learned Maimonides, in his More Nevochim, far.i, c. 7. well makes forth, faying, Whatever Arguments fome Men bring as Demonftrations to make out the Newnefsof the World, they are incertain and wholly doubtful j nor are they abfolutely and precifely de- monftrative, unlefs it be to him who knows not the difference there is betwixt a Demonllration, a To- pick, and a Sophifm : but to him that underftands thofe things, it appears more clear than the Noon- day, that many doubts adhere to thofe Proofs, and that thofe Principles cannot be demondrated by any natural Reafon. And Manilius, 1, 1, />. 5. •y. 25. ha- ving fet forth all the Opinions of the antient Philo- fophers concerning the Rife of the World, 'viz,. Whe- ther it were from Eternity, or rofe from a Chaos, in Time, &c, has dared to conclude thus : Semper erit genus ip pugnay dubitmque manebit Quod latet^ & tantum fupra efl hominemque Deumque. Its Rife will ftill be in Contefi, nor can 'The Doubt be clear' d, furpajpng God and Man, And the Creation and the T>eluge. 9 And when any of the Gentiles write of a Chao^^ and the Rife of the World [from it, we find, as to the Time of that Rife, they leave it wholly indefinite ; and what they fay elfe of it, is only by way of //>- fothefis (they well knowing it to be beyond the reach of Man to have any thing certain in this matter) to comply with the Apprehenfions of the Vulgar, who cannot conceive how any thing fhould come to have a Being, but by a gradual Rife, as in common Gene- rations. And £0 St. Aiffiin, de Crj. Dei, /. lo. c. 31. tells us. That, as to what the Gentiles have faid^ as to the Beginning of the World, Fuit Inltium Suhflitu^ tionis, non Tejnporisy it was only a fubilituted Begin- ning, on the account before mentioned. And if any of the Gentiles who have read the Books of Mofef^ fhould be asked what they thought of what Alofes has written concerning the Creation ; it's natural to believe,that not being brought up under an Engagement to what he had delivered, they would take the fame freedom with him, as we have done with their Legifla- tors, in faying,That,as to a Communion they pretended with invilible Powers, who dictated their Laws to them ; this was only faid by them to gain Authority with the People : And Dicdorus plainly fays the fame of Mofes ; tho probably they would own, that Mofes fetting up for a Divine Legiilator, had framed an //y- fothefis very conformable to his Undertaking, in ma- king that God the Creator and Framer of the World, whom he would have to be in a particular manner the Ruler of the JevjlJIj Nation. They might confi- der that, as it's the Bufinefs of Legillators to culti- vate the moral World, and not the natural ; fo they draw all Phy/icksy and the other Sciences, to Morals, and fet forth fuch a Rife and Periods to the World, as they think^luit bell with their moral Ends. And it's maniFeft Sz.Atiflin looked on what is delivered by Mofes concerning the Creation, to be fet forth by way of Hypothejii j otherwife he could not have maintained, as C be 10 ^Jn 'E^S A.X for Explaining he did, that the World was created in an Inftant, and confequently not according to that Order which Mofes fets forth. Which Opinion alfo, as Ahulpha^ rabius tells us in the beginning of his Hiftory of the Dynafties, tranflated into Latin by Dr. Pocock, was held by Gregorius Nyjfenus and Jacolus Edijfenus ; as it was likewife by Procopius and Cajetan^ and many of the Rahbinsy who bell underftood and allegorized the Bible according to their myfterious Cabbalay and the Traditions of their Anceftors. And Phik^ in the beginning of his firft Book concerning the Allegories of the LaiVy plainly writes, Rufticana Simplicitatis efl futare fex diebuSy aut utique certo tempore mundum conditum. So MaimonideSy in h]S More Nevoc him , part 2. c. 30. fays, that Heaven and Earth were created together ; and in his foregoing Chapter, that all things that are faid concerning the Work of the Creation, are not to be underftood and taken according to the Letter, as the Vulgar think : for if they were, the Wife Men would not have commanded them to be hidden, nor would have ufed fo great Care in hiding and involving them in Parables, and forbid any Difcourfe of them before the People, becaufe their literal Senfes either beget ill Thoughts, Imaginations, or Opinions concerning the Nature of God, or overthrow the Foundations of the Law, and introduce fome Herefy. And in his Preface, he fays, it is not pofTible to make known the Work of the Creation to Flefh and Blood ; therefore the Wife Men have been forced to ufe Parables, AEl- nigmasy and very abftrufe Speeches. I know Johannes Picus has fhewn a great Effort of Wit and Learning in his fevenfold Expofition of the firft Chapter of Genefis^ which he calls Heptaphus ; on which, tho I (hould not pafs that Cenfure which a certain Author has done, faying it to be written Magna oflentatione^ fed parvo friiciu ; yet I believe there are many Men of a luxuriant Genius, who often in their Comments on Authors^ floridly fet forth many things. the Great mi and the T)ekige. 1 1 things, which the Authors themfelves never dreamt of. Dr. Hyde, in his Hiftory of the Religion of the Per- fians, tells us of another Hyfothefis concerning the Creation. He writes, that inflead of that we call the Hexanjerorty or fix Days Work, thofe that were of the Race of the old Per/tans believed God created the World in fix 'Times, fo called w ith regard to the fix Days mentioned in the Scripture -, they thinking that in fo great a Work, a Day is put for a Collec- tion of Days. This Dodrine they had from Zoroajler, the Perfian Prophet, who ftridly enjoined a Feftival Obfervation of thofe fix times, which fome think to have been more antient than Zoroa/ier, and fay that God firft admonifhed the old King oiPerfia, called Gienjhedy of thefe times, and that Zoroafter long after renewed and ordered a Continuation and a farther Obfervation of them ; but haply this is fabulous, for it feems that Zvroafler firft inftituted and enjoined them to be obferved by the Peifians. There is an Agreement among all their Authors concerning the Names of the faid Times, and their Order, and concerning the Number of the Days in general, and of the Order of the Creation ; but con- cerning the Site of the Times, that is, in what Month, Day, and in what part of the Year they began, it is not fo. However, all the Days of the Creation numbred together make ^6^^ which com-' pleat one whole Year. Now to fettle the Month and Day, and the part of the Year in which the Times began, and in which the Pei'fians feem confufed, we find their beginning of xheir laft Feaft is certain, without any Difference among them ; whence by the Guidance of that we may determine of the reft after the following man- nei^ according to the antient Order of the Months. C % Jfi, T^^^ 12 "^/^ E S S A Y for Explaining jft, The Creation of the Heavens in 45 Days, be- ginning on the nth of Mzy, lafted unto the 2^th of ^nne, both inclufively. 2^/y, The Creation of the Waters in 60 Days, be- ginning on the 26th oi June, lafted to the 25 r/? of Atiguft, both inclufively. ^dly^ The Creation of the Earth in 75 Days, be- ginning on the 26th oi Augufl, lafted to the loth of N(^vemher^ both inclufively. ^thly. The Creation of the Trees and Plants in go Days, beginning on the nth o£ November y lafted to the lot h o^ December, both inclufively. ^thly. The Creation of Animals in 80 Days, begin- ning on the nth oi December y held to the loth of March, both inclufively. 6thly, The Creation of Man in 75 Days, beginning on the firft of the remaining Days, held to the loth of May, both inclufively. In the whole a compleat Yea r^ or "^6^ Days ; fo that according to them, as far as we may gather, the Creation feems begun in the Summer, about the Month of May, and to have been ended upon the Revolution of the Year at the fame time ; fo as upon Adam's Creation all the Prodwdions of the Earth were in their full State of Perfedion. Therefore, after their Belief in one true and eter- nal God, which they held before, this was Zoroafier's next Precept, that in each of the faid Times, there fhould be celebrated inevery Time Rve FeftivalDays, with Feafting and Joy; wherefore even at prefent, the antient Perjiam and their Magi, according to the Inftitution of Zoroa/ler, in each feftival Time of the Creation, celebrated Rvq Days, and during thofe Rv& Days praife God foi- the things he created in that part of Time, and exhort Men to all the Offices of a pioui Mind, which anfwer to thofe Works. The the Creation and the Dehtge. i j The feftival Celebration therefore of each of the fix Times lafts only for five Days, tho they believe the Work done in each time laftcd more Days in do- ing, as is faid before. Zoroafler therefore taking the Hiftory of the Cre- ation both from the Hebrew Bibles^ and the Mouths of the ^ev:s in Per ft a, wrefted and interpreted it after this manner, expounding the fix Days there men- tioned to be C\x Times, each confiding of many Days, the whole Sum of which makes a compleat Year ; he being uneafy to think that fo great a Work as the Creation of the World was haftily performed in C\x Days, and theretore affiqned longer times for it. Now tho God could have created the World, and all things in it, in an Inftant ; yet in compliance w^ith Mens Apprehenfions, he divided his Work into fix Days, and refled the feventh, to be an Example for Men, whom he would have to fandify the feventh Day, which he ftridly commanded, and ordered fe- vere Punifliments to be inflided on TranfgrelTors. So far my Abftrad from Dr. Hyde^ as to Zoroafier*s Byfothejts, concerning the Creation. Having confidered the Creation, I fhall now pro- ceed to the Deluge ; and if we fhould ask the Gen- tiles what they thought of what Mofes has written con- cerning the Deluge, doubtlefs, as it's manifeft in what they have fet forth concerning Deluges, and a Reno- vation of Things, they only intimated in a parabolical way (that Style being generally ufed in the Eafteni Parts) a Deluge of Vice and Diforder in the World, and a new Form of Government fet on foot by fome good Man ; fo they would conclude that Mofes meant no more, and that no fuch thing as a general Deluge had ever been, there being no Records among the Gentiles of any fuch thing. I faid, it's manifefl: the Gentiles meant no more by the Deluge they mention, than what is faid, becaufe it is very well known, the peluges they mention, tho defcribed as general over ■ ;he 1 4 "J/i ESS AY for Explaining the whole Earth, as that of Mofes is, were only little Deluges of particular Countries, which they, giving a loofe to Fancy, extended at pleafure, to amufe the Vulgar, well knowing the Judicious would take them right. So, according to this, 'Dx.Hyd^ \xi his Hiftory of the Religion of the Perjians^ c. 9. tells us, that one Kejomdras w as faid by the Indians and Per^ fians to be the Reftorer and firfl: Propagator of Man- kind after a Deluge; which Fable meant only that Kejomdras being one of the Kings of the firfl Dy- fiaflies of the Medes^ took that Kingdom out of the hands of the Ajfyrians^ who had ufurped it, and re- ftored it to the Medes : whereupon, becaufe he was the Reftorer of that Empire and Religion, he was siHrmed by them to be the Reftorer of Mankind, or at leaft they were pleafed fo to ftyle him, becaufe he w^as the renowned Author of the Reftoration to the Median and Perfian World. So again. Dr. Hyde tells us, that Ibis Shana^ an Arahiany writes in his Book concerning the firft and laft things, that there were fome Magi who deny a Deluge, as the Indians and Chinefesy and feme other Oriental Nations : and that others of the Magi acknowledge a Deluge, but faid it was not univerfal, nor paffed beyond the Top of a Mountain near Huldany a City in the Confines of -4/^ Jyria and Perfia, But to return to the Gentiles above-mentioned ; they would be free to own that a Deluge fet forth with fuch Circumftances as that of Mofes is, carries more of terrour in it, and more emphatically exagge- rates a Judgment of God on a finful World ; it be-* coming a Divine Legiflator fo to do, the fame being ufual with the Prophets, as Rabbi Elcha Ben-Da'vid in his ingenious Tra(^ de Fine Mundiy tranflated from the Hebrew into Latin by Gaffarely well obferves, con- cluding his Book thus ; King David, and the reft of the Prophets, when they announce the Anger and Vengeance of God^j do it by thofe things which ftrick tloe Creation and the T>ehige. i <; ftrick the greateft terrour in the Minds of Men; as faying, it will be done with Flames of Pitch and Brimftone, tho' thefe things will not happen proper- ly, and as the Letter fays. So when Ifaiah foretels a Vengeance againft the IdumeanSy he fays the Rivers will be turn'd into Pitch, and the Earth into Sul- phur, tho' thefe things did not happen in the Punifh- ment of thofe Idumeans, The Prophets therefore, when they fay it will rain Fire and Sulphur, under- ftand only that God will chaftife Sinners with fevere Punifhments : And other Authors have obferved, that prophetick Denouncings have very often fome- vvhat Hyperbolical in them ^ fo that they are not al- ways to be taken according to the Letter, and that thofe Hyperbolical Speeches are very ufual in the Eaftern Parts, of which many Inftances may be gi- ven ; and as for Parabolical ExprefTions ufed in the Scripture, 'Father Simon obferves, that many Parables in them are fct forth with fuch Circumftances, that Men would be apt to take them for real Truths, un- lefs they were declared to be Parables. And as however particular Mofes has been in the defcription of the Place of the terreftrial Paradife, we know the Allegorical Fathers laugh at thofe who feck after a corporeal Paradife, they concluding all that: is faid of Paradife muft be underftood allegorically. So I believe, however circumftantiated the Defcription gi- ven by Mofes of the Deluge may be, many palling by the literal Senfe, will adhere to the parabolical, they thinking this to be what Man ought chieHy to attend to. Indeed, if Alofts's Delude could be reftrained to the Senfe of the Gentiles , (a Point which I rake not upon me to maintain, and leave it to others to con- fidcr whether, and how far it would derogate from the Dignity of the Scripture, if it were) it would fave Chriftian Divines a vvorld of Labour, in anfv.ering almoft infuperable Difficulties which attend the De- luge, as commonly underllood, according to the Letter, un^ 1 6 An ES S A Y for Explaining unlefs they will have a continual Recourfe to Mira- cles, which we know the learned Gentiles ridicule. Somnia, terrores Magkcs^ miracula^ f^g^^y NoEiurms LemureSy portentaque "Theffala rident. The fame Explanation alfo would have faved th(5 Labours of many ingenious Men, who, finding their Underftandings over-fet by the Difficulties attending the Deluge, as literally fee forth, have exerted their Efforts feveral Ways, by fetting up Hypothefes for extricating themfelves. 'Velut unda truditur unda^ ' Sic varia exagitant altas molimina menfes. Which brings to my mind what Mr. Saurin writes in the third Part of his Examen of M. Jurieus Theology^ p. 8^4. "Viz,. I may fay without Breach of Charity, that the mod fublime and profound Wits are the moft fubjed to give into Vifion, to take Fancies for Realities, and to build Syftems of odd Conceits and Chimera's. But to intimate feme of thofe Hypothefes, fome tell us, that the Waters of Deluge only affeded Palefline^ tho fome Rabbins fay that Country, thro' a particular Privilege, was free from thofe Waters. Some fay that thofe Waters overflowed all Ajia, and no more. Some again will have the Deluge to have happened by the Motion of a Comet near the Earth. Another fays, he conceives the Deluge happened upoii the Earth's changing its Center, FleBereJt nequeo Stiperos, Acheronta movebo ; By reafon of the Weight of the Waters which fell in AJiUj and chiefly in Palefline, unequally preffing it, and that thereupon the Ocean of the Antipodes fent up vaft Inundations into the oppofite Hemifphere 5 which. the Creatio7z and the T>elugei if which tho it might feem to imply a Failure of Wa- ters, at that time, with the Antipodes^ fo that that Part of the World was notdrownMi yet admitting that the whole Globe of the Earth was not all over- flown at the fame time, he fays, that, by reafon of the manifold Motions of the Waters, all the Moun- tains came fucceffively to be covered. Another, doubtlefs with many Years Labour, has fram'd an Antediluvian Earth, feated over an Abyfs of Wa- ters, which Earth being clov^en by the Heat of the Sun, at length, fell into the Abyfs, which upon its overflowing, caufed the Deluge : And this Author, in his Work, exprefles fo great an Aflurance of his Hypothejis, that he doubted not but it would (land all Tryals, faying, that it carried in it more than a moral Certainty, and that he would give any Man thanks that would fhew him any Failure in it; which, I think, I have effedually done in many rc^ fpeds, tho I never received thanks for it, nor did he think fit to offer any reply ; as Men of Prudence are wont to be filent, when they find what is offered againft them will not bear a Reply. But I have been told by fome Perfons who ufed to converfe with the Author, that they heard him fay, he did not think any Man could have offered fo much againft his //y- potheJiSy as I have done. Dr, Edwards^ in his new Difcoveries relating to human Knowledge, publiftied An. 1714. under the head of Natural Philofophy, tells us of a great and moft valuable Demonftration of the univerfal Deluge, and of its Writer's profound Knowledge and Judg- ment, a Specimen of which Demonftration he had been favoured with a fight of; which, when finifhed, he fays, will be one of the greateft Mafter-pieces of Natural Philofophy, and of all forts of choice Lite- rature that this Age has feen, or perhaps ever fhall fee. And now, after more than eight Years Expec- tation, we h^ve that Specimen^ as I fuppofe, publiflied I^ under 1 8 \/^/^ ESS AY for Ey^plai?ting under the Title of, A third Edition of an EJfay to- viavds the Natural Hifiory of the Earthy &c. where the Author gives fome account of the univerfal Deluge, I cannot fay a Demonftration of it ; for he fuppofes the Deluge, as defcribed by Mofes^ which he ingenu- oufly owns to have been caufed by Miracle, and fays, fag. 183. that as Nature^s Syftem was then, and is ftiil fupported and ellablifhed, a Deluge neither could then, nor can now happen naturally : And if fo, it feems to me all Hypothejes and Demonftrations of the Deluge muft be out of doors ; for thefe mull be grounded on Reafons, or feeming Reafon^, drawn from Nature, and not from Omnipotence, or the fir ft Caufe, ad quam, ut aiunt, turpe eft Philofopho re- currere 3 and indeed I think it as improper for Men to amufe themfelves in fetting up Hypothefes, or offering Demonftrations for making out the Deluge, and its Effeds, farther than we have a plain Scripture War- rant for them, (as w'e have not for fome Effeds which the Author afcribes to the Deluge) as it w^ould be to fet up Hypothefes and Demonftrations for making out all the Miracles mentioned in the Scripture. So far am I from thinking any Hypothe- fis or pretended Demonftration in that kind to be a choice and valuable Piece of Literature. If Mofes and Zoroafter have fet forth the Creation in an Hypo- thetical way, it was only ad ufum capnimque vulgiy and not to make the thing out philofophically, as Hypothefes fet up by Philofophers muft do : And I believe when Mofes writ what he has concerning the Creation and the Deluge, he did not think Men of Learnings knowing in Nature, and the Ways of Legiflators, would go about to bring what he had writ under a Phyfiological Confideration in a publick way. But to proceed i the Author all along his Ef- fay, often refers himfelf for making out many Pofi- tions he advances, to a larger Work which he intends to publifii in due time i and in his Preface he defires thofe the Creation and the T)clnge. 19 thofe who do not eafily apprehend the Connexion of his Syftem, to have patience till that larger Work comes forth ; which Advice I fhould have been in- clined to follow, only confidering that Life being a contingent thing, potfibly the World may never fee that larger Work, as I never exped to fee it myfelf, w^ell knowing the time of my Diflblution to be near at hand : wherefore I thought it might not be an ungrate- ful thing to the Learned, if I gave them my thoughts concerning this Work, as it relates to the Deluge. And as I have amufed myfelf many Years in Philofo- phical Studies, and am a Well-wiflier to Natural Hiftory, I fhould be glad to contribute any thing, tho but a fmall Mite, toward a clear proceeding in it. Whereas the Author often refers to his larger Work for making out his Propofitions, I fhall not in- vidioufly fay, as perhaps fome might, PoUicitis dives quilibet ejfe poteft : Intimating as tho the Author never intended to publUli the larger Work he mentions, for I am really perfuaded he intends it ; but I muft fay, I doubc much whether he will ever be able to make good fe- veral of his Propofitions, fo as to fatisfy thofe who duly infpeft the Works of Nature. Not but I con- ceive all Men will own the Author has bellowed greac pains in making Obfervations, and employed much thought in confidering and digefting his Matter, and given confiderable lights to many Parts of Natural Hiftory ; and I am fo far from envying all due Ap- plaufe to a Perfon who fhould help to clear our Un- derftandings in Difficulties we lie under, as w^e con- fider many natural Phanomena, that I fhould highly congratulate his fortunate Succefs in it. It^s no fmall Undertaking to fet forth the whole Oeconomy of Nature as to this terreftrial Globe ; and I think he that attempts it, tho' he may fail in fome Points of D a it. ^6 ^;^ E S S A Y for Explaining it, may ftill come off with honour by the Poet's Saying, Magnis tamen excidit aujts. The main Point the Author goes upon in his Work, is the Confideration of the marine Bodies found on all Parts of the Land round the Globe, and at all Depths in the Earth in digging, and how thefe Bo- dies were brought on the Land. And in the firfl: Part of his Work, he examines the Opinions of for- mer Writers on this Subjed, the Means whereby they thought thefe marine Bodies were brought out upon the Earth, the Changes of Sea and Land, and other Alterations of the terraqueous Globe, which they fuppofed to have happened : and fetting by all other Opinions as infufficient for fuch a Work, be- caufe the prefent Circumflances of thefe marine Bo- dies, he fays, do not fquare with thofe Opinions, but exhibit Phammena that thwart them, and give plain Indications they could have never been put into that Condition we now find them, by any fuch fhort and particular Agents as they propofe ; he concludes they muft have been brought forth on the Land by the univerfal Deluge. And in regard he judges the forefaid Circumftances are impartially related in his Obfervations, he fays, he fhall fbew from them, and from the Number, Order, Variety, Situation, Depth, Diftance from the Sea, and other Accidents of thofe Bodies, that they were not born out from the Sea, and laid upon the Land by any of the Cau- fes affigned by others : And in the fecond Part of his Work, which is concerning the Univerfal Deluge, he fets forth that thefe marine Bodies were then left 'lapon the Land, and the Efteds the Deluge had up- on the Earth ; for making out both which, he fets forth Hiftorical Fads and Obfervations, which are too long for me to fet down and examine here, 1 pretending at prefent only to a tranfient View of wha5 the Great io?i and the deluge. 2 1 what is offered by feveral Perfons concerning the Deluge j but whereas the Author has drawn Infe- rences from thofe Hiftorical Fads and Obfervations which contain the main Dcdrine he takes upon him to make good in his Work : and fince I can neither fee that all the Inferences are duly drawn, nor ap- prove of the Dodrine they contain, I fhall fet down fome of thofe Inferences, and fubjoin a few Thoughts concerning them. The firft Inference is. That thofe marine Bodies were born forth of the Sea by the univerfal Deluge, and that upon the return of the Water back again from off the Earth, they were left behind at Land. The fecond Inference fets forth the Ef^efts the Deluge had upon the Earth, and the Alterations it made in the Globe, which were, that during the time of the Deluge, while the Water was out upon, and covered the terreftrial Globe, all the Stone and Marble of the Antediluvian Earth, all the Metals of it, all Mineral Concretions, and in a word, all Fof- files whatfoever, that had before obtained any Solidi- ty, were totally diflblved, and that the faid Cor- pufcles of thefe foUd FofTiles, together with the Cor- pufcles of thofe Subftances which were not before fo- lid, fuch as Sand, Earth, and the like, as alfo all Ani- mal Bodies, and Parts of Animals, Bones, Teeth, Shells, Vegetables, and part of Vegetables, Trees, Shrubs, Herbs, and all Bodies whatever that were ei- ther upon the Earth, or that conflituted the Mafs of it, to the greateft depth Men ever dig, were afTumed up promifcuoufly into the Water, and fuftained in it in fuch manner that the Water and Bodies in it toge- ther made up one common confufed Mafs. Now, there being a Connexion betwixt thefe two Inferences, I fhall confider them together ; and in what the Author lays down in his firO: Inference, and the ground he goes upon, he feems to me very pre- carious, notwithftanding all his Obfervations : for he here 2 2 '^/^ E S S A Y y^r Explaimfig here fuppofes, without any Proof, or telling us he lays it down as a Poflulatum^ that there were none of thofe Marine Bodies found upon the Earth, or in digging before the Deluge j whereas, I am inclined to believe, and fee nothing from Scripture, Hiftory, or Reafon to the contrary, That if an Antediluvian Philofopher could be raifed from the Dead, he might fatisfy us, that the fame forts of Marine Bodies were then found on the Earth, and in digging, as are now. And as it was above 2000 Years from the Creation to the Deluge, according to the Septuagint Chrono- logy, (which, it feems, mufl be looked on as authen- tick, the Pope having allowed the Miflioners in China to own that Chronology, to fave them from being laugh'd at by the Litterati in that Nation) who knows w^hat Changes might have pafTed betwixt Sea and Land in that time ? And again, if the Au- thor ihould propole that Poflulattim to be allowed by the Gentiles^ they would never yield to it ; for the they fhould admit what he contends for, viz,, that there have been no very confiderable Changes on the Face of the Earth fince the Deluge, this fignifies very little to them ; for as they held the World to have been from Eternity (an Opinion which human Reafon cannot overthrow, as Aquinas tells us, Mun* dum capijfe eft credibile, non autem demonflrahile aut fci' bile) there w^as time enough for the Sea and Land to have changed Places a Million of Times. And for want of Records, Man is never like to have the Sa- tisfaction to know what Changes have pafs'd between Sea and Land, but mud content himfelf with conjec- tural Surmifes. As we confider how the Marine Bodies, accord- ing to the Author, were brought forth of the Sea by the univerfal Deluge, and left on the Land on the Return of the Water, we may note, the Author, p. 28. tells us, it's moft certain, and the Relations of divers confirm it, that the Tydes, and Storms, even the the Creation and the T>ehige. 2^ the moft tempeftuous and turbulent, afted only the fuperficial Parts of the Ocean, the Shallows and Shores, but never reach the great Depths, or difturb the Bottom of the Main i thefe are quiet and free from Commotion in the midft of Storms as in the greateft Calm ; fo that the Shell-Fifli which are refi- dent in thefe Places, live and die there, and are ne- ver diflodged or removed by Storms, nor caft upon the Shores, which thofe Fifhes that live near the Shores are : And here the Author adds, he will prove at large in his greater Work, that fome of the Shells of the Fifhes that live in the greater Depths, or the Bottom of the Main, were alfo brought forth on the Land at the Deluge. Now if this be fo, it muft be concluded that the Commotions of the Wa- ters at the Deluge were much more boifterous and violent than they have been ever fmce; and if fo, I know not how this may well confift with what the Author writes, p. 285. njtz,, it is not any Paradox, notwithftanding the Diflblution of the Earth which happened at the Deluge, to fuppofe there was this or that Mineral in the fame Part of the Globe after- wards, where it was before that happened. The Water of the Abyfs indeed changed its place during that time, fo did the Sea, and bore the Bodies it con- tain'd, many of them, out along with it : but the terreftrial Parts of the Globe, Metals, Minerals, Marble, Stone, and the reft, they, tho diffolved and affumed up into the Water, did not ftir or remove far ; but at the great general Subfidence, fettled down again in or near the fame Place, from which they were before taken up : for the W^ater was all out upon the Face of the Earth before ever thefe ftirred, or were fetched up out of their native Beds, and they were all funk down into the fame Beds a- gain before the Water began to fhift away back to its old Quarters, fo that it could not contribute any thing to the removal of them ; and the Wa- ter 24 -An ESSAY for Explainmg ter was in great meafure clear, and difengaged from the earthy Mafs before it went off: and it was well it was fo, for had not the Mineral Matter of the Globe been held to its former Station, but hurried about, and tranfpofed from place to place, 'tis fcarce- ly to be conceived how many and great Inconve- niencies it would have occafioned. The fame like- wife for Vegetables j had the Seeds of the Pepper Plant, the Nutmeg, the Clove, or the Cinnamon Trees, been borne from Java^ Banda^ the Molucca s and Ceylon^ to the Northern Countries, they muft have ftarv'd for want of Sun ; or had the Seeds of our colder Plants fhifted thither, they would have been burnt up and fpoiled by it: but things generally kept to their proper Places, to their native Soil and Climate, which had they not done, all would have been confounded and deftroyed. So far the EJfay. We fee here the Author makes the Waters of the Deluge tempeftuous and calm at his pleafure ; tem- peftuous, to remove the Shells from the deepeft Parts of the Sea upon the Land ; calm, to keep the dif- folved Metals and the Seeds of Vegetables to their refpedive Pofls without ftraying : the reafon of which Tempefts and Calms, perhaps we may know hereaf- ter. Indeed, as the Author truly fays, it was well the Mineral Matter held to its former Station, and was not hurried about, and tranfpofed from place to place, becaufe it would have occafioned great Inconvenien- ces ; which Inconveniences, tho he does not name, I will tell him one : The Fifties could not have lived where fuch a Menfiruum as diffolvcd all Metals and Minerals prevailed j nor could their Spawn be pre- ferved in it, nor even the Seeds of Vegetables ; and it looks a little awkward for the Author to fuppofe that all Metals, and the other Bodies mentioned in his fecond Inference, were diffolved and alTumed up promifcuoufly into the Water, and fuftained in it in * fuch manner that the Water, and the Bodies in it to- the Great io7i and the deluge, 2 5 together made up one common Mafs \ and that this Menflruum which difTolved thefe Bodies, muft have flood hovering over the Place where the Metals were originally lodg'd, till it let them fall again into their old Places, and in their old Form of folid Ores and regular Beds. And, as he tells us^ f. 284. that Metals and Minerals were no lefs plenty before the Deluge than now; they muft have been difperft then, more or lefs round the whole Globe, as they are now, and it would feem no lefs than the calling in of a Mira- cle to determine that Menflruum after fuch a particu- lar manner as always to attend the Metals and Mine- rals, without difperfing itfelf throughout the whole Mafs. Again, tho' the Author tells us the Seeds of Ve- j^etables were not carried by the Waters of the Flood from their native Seats, yet, he fays, fag. 80. there are found in the Strata of the Earth, the Bones of all the Parts of Land- Animals, and often of fuch as are not Natives of the Countries in which they are found ; as the Skeletons of very great Elephants in England^ and alfo incredibly large Horns of the Moofe-Deer, a Creature not known to be now living in any Country but America. So, pag. 81. he tells us, there are dug up in fome Northern lilands great num- bers of Trees, and many of them very large,in which lilands there are at this day growing noTrees at all, and where, by reafon of the great Cold of thofe Countries, ^tis probable none ever did, or could grow. Now if thefe ponderous Trees and Animals were brought by the Deluge from we know not how remote Coun- tries, how comes it that the light Vegetable Seeds were not ftirr'd from their native Soil and Climates ? The Nature of the Menflruum alfo ought to be confidered, which the Author affirms to have diffolved all the Mineral and Metalline Bodies at the Deluge. ir a'-Man melts a Pound of Lead, he has his Lead again ; but if he melts a Pound of Ore^ he will never E have 26 An ES S A Y /(?r Explaining have his Ore again, tho he may have fome Metal from it. And I would gladly be informed by the Author, whether Chymiftry furnifhes any Menflruum which will diiTolve Ores^ fo that they can become folid Ores again ; as he fuppofes all the Ores were diflblved at the Deluge, and became folid Ores again after they fubfided as the Deluge was almoft over. I was many Years fince at the Houfe of my late honoured Friend WiBcim Stroud Efq; at Street^ two Miles from Glaftvn- lury in Somerfetjhire^ who carried me into his Labora- tory, and (hewed me a piece of Pottern Ore, which he then took out of a Alenftrtmm, in a Galley-pot, nor did he conceal from me what the Menflruum wass he fhewed me alfo fome running Mercury, which he then took out of the faid, Menflruum, and had been drawn from the Ore by the Menflruum : but it muft not be thought, if the Menflruum had diflblved the whole Body of the Ore, it could ever return to Ore again. We call that Ore, Pott em-Ore, becaufe it's ufed by Potters to glaze their Earthern Veffels, and is the mildeft fort of Lead-Ore, that is, the eafieft to yield to the Fire, or to a Menflruum, of any dug on Alendip-HHh. If the Author thinks he has fairly made out what he lays down in one of his Obfervations, or hiftori- cal Fads, viz,, that in all Parts of the Earth the Strata are compiled, and the marine Bodies difpofed in them every where after the fame Method, and fo as apparently to fhew things were reduced into this !Method in all Countries at the fame time, and by the fame means i I doubt he will not eafily perfuade others to it : For tho we may allow him that the ma- rine Bodies found in the Strata of the Earth were every where lodged there after the fame method, and by the fame means, I cannot fee any thing cogent to al- low that they were placed there in all Countries at the fame time i for tho Plants grow every where, by the Influence of the Sun, after the fame method, and by the the Creation and the T)ehige^ ij the fame means, they do not grow alike in all Coun- tries at the fame time ; and if the Sun has not fo general an Operation on the Earth, as to make Plants to flourifh in all Countries at the fame time, much lefs may it be expe(5ted that any other Caufs fhould operate^ over the w hole Globe at the fame time, fo as to dilfolve all fubterraneous Bodies to receive Sea-Shells and other Subftances into them. Wherefore I think it more probable that Sea-Shells have been gradually enchacM in Scones and Mineral Bodies by partial Changes in all Parts of the Globe, as Matter has been gradually prepared both at Sea and Land for receiving them : And it is my opinion, that all Stones and folid Bodies which coLtain Sea- Shells within them, received them into them upon their original Concretion from an embrionate State, and were not diflblved at the Deluge to receive them, as the Author contends ; and as thofe embrionate Subftances are prepared more or lefs in all Parts of the Sea and Land, I conceive they are chiefly pre- pared at Sea, where the fub-marinc Ferments are fo ftrong, that they emit Blafts of Fire, caft up Iflands, ^c. and at Land, efpecially where the Mountains, tho now far from the Sea, continue the Protrufioii begun, while the Sea covered the Countries where they are, and where, through the Strength of Fer- ments, Erudations often happen both in Mountains, and even in lower Lands, by which Trees and other Bodies are fwallowed up in the Earth, and large and deep Swallow-Pits appear on the Land, in the Bot- toms of which, if Men dig, they find the Trees fo fwallowed up ; not a few of which Pits are found on Mendip-Hills in So7neyfet(Ioire^ with thofe fubterra- neous Trees found in the Bottoms of fome of them : and I doubt not but the like Pits are frequent where any other confiderable Mines are. I fhall proceed now to the Author's third Infe- rence, which is, that, at length, all the Mafs thap E 3 was 28 'An ESSAY for Explaining was born up in the Water, was again precipitated and fubfided towards the Bottom ; that this Subfi- dence happened generally, and as near as poflibly could be expeded in fo great a Confuiion, according to the Laws of Gravity : that Matter, Body, or Bo- dies which had the greateft quantity or degree of Gravity, fubfiding firft in order, and falling loweft ; that which had the next, or a ftill lefTer degree of Gravity, fubfiding next after, and fettling upon the precedent, and fo on ; and that the Matter fubfiding* thus, form'd the Strata of Stone, of Marble, of Coal, of Earth, and of all the reft. Now on this Inference I have many things to of- fer : Firft, Whereas the Author fuppofes that the Earth, and all the Bodies belonging to it, except Vegeta- bles, and the Parts of Animals, being diflolved at the Deluge, fettled again towards the end of it, fome lower and fome higher, according to their fpe- cifick Gravity ; this, in general, is contrary to my Obfervations, tho fometimes Beds are placed accor- ding to fuch Gravity ; and tho, I believe, if any Man will make trial, by digging either on Mountains or Plains, he will as often find in finking Beds of a light Subftance under Beds of a more ponderous Sub- ftance, as on the contrary ; yet I think it moft pro- per to confider this in Mines, where Nature feems to keep a greater regularity than elfewhere. And I think k not eafy to conceive how, according to the Author's HypotheJJs, the Particles of Metalline Ores, which are the moft ponderous FofHIes we know^ of, fhould have fettled themfelves on the higheft Parts of the Earth, ijiz,. in Mountains, and many times near the Sur- face of the Earth there, in thofe Veins Agricola calls Vena Subdiales. If we confider the Rakes which con- tain Metalline Ores, where the Beds of thofe Ores^ and of the other FofftleSy which vve call Rake-fill^ ftand either perpendicular to the Horiz^on, or lie in fome degree of Obliquity to it, we fball find, that in the Creation ajzd the T>ehige. 29 in the firft Formation of thofe Strata, and of the Clifcs that bound them on either fide, (which all Men win judge to have been formed together) there was little regard to Gravity ; and this, whether thofe Strata were originally formed in an Horiz^ontal Pofi- tion, as the Author feems to think, or from an em- brionated Earth, as fome will have it, in that per- pendicular, or oblique Poficion we find them : for if they were originally form'd in an Horizontal FoCi" tion, how comes it that, if a rcfped were had to Gravity in their Formation, the Parcicles of the Me- talline Ores, which are much more ponderous than thofe of the Clifts which bound them on either fide, (whether thofe Clifts confift of Limcftone, or Slates, or Tile) did not fink beneath the Particles of the under Gift in their Formation ? If the Metalline Ores in Rakes were form'd from an embrionate Earth in the perpendicular or oblique Pofition we find them, how comes it that in finking for Ores in thofe perpendicular and oblique Strata, we often find the Strata, where Ores are, made up interchange- ably of Earths, Ores, Spars, Crootes, and other Fof- files ; and that the Ores, which are the moll ponde- rous, do not always, as they ought, fettle in the loweil Place ? Upon the whole, I find no more re- gard to Gravity in the Formation of Minerals, than in that of Animals and Vegetables : We have a Maxim in Phyjlcks, Spiritu diftenta omnia po generis af- finitate ^iflant. So that the Archaus, or forming Spi- rit of the various Minerals in the Earth, has no more regard to Gravity, than the forming Spirits in the Seeds of Animals and Vegetables have in the Formation of the feveral Subfiances of which their Bodies confift. If you converfe with Miners, they will tell you, there are both Quick and Dead Rakes ; and that the Quick are fo calTd, not oiJy becaufe they contain metalline Ores, but likewife becaufe the Earths and Stones in thofe Rakes are generally or a mere jo J/i ESS AY for Explaim;/g more vivid Colour than in the dead Rakes, a ftrong vivifying Spirit afcending in them ; and I believe that thofe who do not confider the Energy of a forming Spirit in the Earth, befide Gravity, will not reafon rightly concerning it ; tho Gravity many times may account for the Pofition of fome Stratay where the Particles have not been expanded by the forming Spirit. As I have mentioned a forming Spirit, it naturally leads me (tho a little befide the Point in handj to confider the Hypothefis, which a Perfon of great Thought has publifhed for folving the Phanomena of the World, fo that fuppofing only Gravity and Mag- netifm, or Tradion, he proceeds to account how all things are in the Site we find them ; but I know not how far Men may be led to acquiefce in this, or any other Hypothefis which may be offered in that kind : for if in the Formation of the Microcofm we find it beyond the reach of Man to comprehend and account for the Rationes feminaks a caujt^ fuperwril?us, feu a primo ccnditore direBas^ which are the Sources of all its Adions, much more muft this be faid in the For- mation of the Univerfe : So that after all Efforts, it feems, poor Man, in the fearch ^of Nature, muft be content to fit down with an humble nil fcitur, or at leaft with what the learned Morhoff (ays, in his Differt. de Paradoxis Senjuum^ c. 2. Relinquenda eflmulto maxima pars Phanomenormn phyficorum occultioribus quihufdam caufis qua ah bum am ingenio fat is deprehendi non poffunt ; which occult Caufes are the Je-ne-ffay-quoiy the dernier Reforty or laft Appeal in fuch Enquiries. Socrates plainly found this, and wonderM others did not, and therefore laid by fuch Refearches, and wholly apply 'd himfelf to Morality ; and many £of the an- tient Philofophers found the fame : And if God has pleafed fo to frame human Underftanding, that it muft be always kept in doubt, we muft be contented with it. But the Creatwi and the T>ehige. 3 1 But to return to the Author of the ElTay, he tells us, in the fourth part of his Work, which treats concerning the Formation of Metals and Minerals, f. 238. he (hall make an enquiry, in his larger Work, why Metals and Minerals lie fomecimes fo near the Surface, and did not, becaufe of their great Gravity, at the general Subfidence in the Deluge, fall to a much greater Depth than we now find them, even to fuch a depth as to have lain quite out of hu- man Reach, and fo have been all buried and irreco- verably loft. For which Enquiry we muft wait the Author's leifure and pleafurc ; in which, perhaps, he may ofi'er fome Anfwer to the Objedion I have made before, viz,, how the ponderous Ores come to be al- ways placed above the lighter Cliffs in their firft For- mation. There is one thing alfo, concerning which I would willingly be informed by the Author, viz.. whether in Coal-works, where there is a Regularity obferved, as well as in Mines, he has obferved that generally the upper Clift, which hangs, or lies over the Coal, be of a lighter Subflance than the Coal itfelf. Neither do we find in the Cut of the Fountains 0/ Modena^ given us by Ramazxini^ that the Strata there, in (inking, are placed according to the refpective Gravity of the Subftances of which they are com- pofed ; but interchangeably, the lighter andfmore ponderous, the one over and under the other. I could produce Inflances enough in this kind ', but here we are got into a Subject in which few are ac- quainted, and there muft be an Appeal to Miners, Colliers, and other fubterraneous Adventurers. As to the fourth Inference, I leave it to the Au- thor's Suppofition, and to be made out when he pleafes. To the fifth Inference, viz.. as to the general Stra- ta^s of the Earth compofed of the Sediment of the great confufed Mafs, being plain, even, and regular, and 32 Ju "ESSKY for Explai7ii7ig and the Surface of the Earth being even and fpherl- cal, and not interrupted or, broken, and the whole Mafs of the Waters lying above them all, and confti- tuting a fluid Sphere invironing the whole Globe ; I fay, tho this may do well in Fancy and a Mathema- tical Abftraction, I cannot conceive how, in Fact, fo vaft a Globe of Earth as this is, whether cover'd with a Sphere of Waters or not, fhould be more even, fpherical, and lefs interrupted and broken than it is at prefent ; the greateft Mountain on the Earth not being fo much to the whole Globe, as a Grain of Sand is to a Globe of three Feet Diameter : fo that Man cannot make any thing proportionally io evenly round as the Earth now is. And this alfo, I think, may fatisfy, as to what is faid in the Author^s fixth, feventh, and eighth Inferences, which relate to the fame thing. And thefe are his chief Inferences ; after which he fays, that by a careful and deliberate Examination of fill the Circumftances of thofe Marine Bodies, he was abundantly convinced they could not have come into thofe Circumftances by any other Means, than fuch a Diffolution of the Earth, and Confufion of Things. And in the Conclulion of the fecond Part of his Book, he tells us, that in his larger Work he fhall particularly confider and prove many Particulars which he there fets down, and which, if I live to fee well made out, I muft fay, Et erit miJji 7nngnns Apclio. Meanwhile, I wifh fome may not look on it as a Banter put on the World, when they fee fo many paradoxical Proportions advanced, as we find through- out the Author's Book, and all to be made out here- after. Kuhnannus writ a Letter to Atbanajtus Kir-- cher in which he told him of many wonderful Dif- coveries he intended to publifli; Kircher, in his An- fwer^ advifed him to forbear amufing Men with fuch Notions, Ne oHaviis fafientum audira. One the Creatiojz a7id the "Deluge. j } One Particular the Author fays he will prove, is. That Sand-Stone does not now grow by Juxta-pofi^ tion, as they fpeak ; that is, by a continual Addition of new Matter; nor in tike nianner as the Bodies of Animals afid Vegetables grow and are augmented, as others are ot opinion. As to this, the late Mr. Jolm Aubrey^ S. R. S. told me, that at Avery in PFthfiirey two great Stones, which are of the Sand'-kirtd, (land up high above the Ground, betwixt vvhich, within the Memory of Man, a Coach and Horfes could pafs ; whereas now, thofe Stones, keeping flill their eret5l Poflure, a Man on horfeback cannot pafs betwixt them. Now, as thefe Stones muft have grown, I doubt Men will be uneafy to ftay till hereafter to know how they grow. A Man would think it muft have been either by drav<^ing outwardly ail Addition of Subflance from the Air, or by an inward Protrufion of Parts, as they drew a Supply of Subftance from the Earth. As for the Truth of the Relation, a Man may be fatisfied from the old Inhabitants oi' Avery; and I may here note, that the many Stortes which are feen ftanding above the Ground at Avery, are of the fame Grott with thofe at Stonehenge, both having undoubtedly been taken from the great Stones called the iVea- thers, lying oh the Downs betwixt Marlborough and Avery. It may farther be obferved, that the Author's /i/y- pothejis feems fomewhat allied to thofe of Gonz^alesy Canes, and the late Dr. Burnett ; a fmooth and eveii Orb of the Earth muft be made, of we know not what Depth 5 coilch'd on the face of an Aby fs, reach- ing we know not whither: and this Or^ muft be broken in due time to m.ake the Nothings call'd Moun- tains, and other fecming Unevenneifes of the Earth. And tho the Author fay^: Mountains vvere not raifed fucceffively, and at feveral times, being flung up or elevated by Earthquakes ; I muft believe that all the F burning 34 '^// E S S A Y for Explaining burning Mountains on the Earth have been raifed bjr a fubterraneous Mover: and I think it as natural and rational for us to believe, that fo powerful a Mover as appears to reign in thofe Mountains, may as eafily raife a Mountain, as a Mole may a Molehill, tho the gradual Rife of thofe Mountains has not been ob- ferved. And if that Mover can overthrow Moun- tains, of which there are Inftances enough, why may it not raife them? So Pliny writes, /. 2. c. 8(5. Naf- cuntuY alio modo terray ac refente in aliquo Mart emer- gunt, veluti paria fecum faciente natura, quaque hauferit hiatus, alio loco reddat. So, tho the Author is pofi- tive in telling us, p. 55. contrary to the Senfe and certain Knowledge of the Antients, that Therafia and other Iflands w'ere not raifed by a fubterraneous Mo- ver; we find Seneca, 1.6. Nat. Quaft. c.21. writes thus : "Therajiam no/lra atatis infulam, ffeElantihus nan- us in /Egao Mari natam, quis duhitat quin in lucem fpi- ritus "vexcrit ? Now, whom muft we believe here ? Seiieca was a Man of no fmall Repute, and relates a notorious Fad happening in his time i which, had it been falfe, he would have expofed himfelf to be con- tradicted and ridiculed by every little Companion : or muft we believe a Perfon, who, without any Proof, after fo many Ages, tells us, there was no fuch thing ? And who, I think, with the like AfTurance, might as well call in queftion the Truth of a late Ifland's being caft up near the Canarier, I fhall proceed a little farther on this Subjed, and declare it my Opi- nion, That not only the burning Mountains, but the other Mountains alfo, which contain Marine Bodies in them, and even the whole Earth, have been gra- dually protruded from the Sea, according to the Senfe of Manilius, I. 1. p. 6. v. 12, Ewerfere fretis monteSy orhifqiie per undas Exiliit^ vafto daufus tamen tmdique ponto. The the Creation and the T)ehigel j 5 'The Mountains from the Sea ejnerg'd, and aU The Ecirth i the Sea furrounding ftill the ivhole. And according to which Opinion, I conceive the Marine Bodies in the Earth are more naturally ac- counted for, than by the Author's way ; an embrio- nate Earth being always prepared by the Sea to re- ceive thofe Shells and their Impreilions : and can any Man think the vaft Body of the Terraqueous Globe lefs able, thro fubterraneous Ferments, to protrude Mountains, than the Body of Man, in a Fever, is a- ble to protrude the Puftules of the Small Pox, or thofe of a common Itch, which are each of them in- finitely greater in proportion to the Body of Man, than the others are proportionably to the Body of the Earth ? And indeed the Ufe of Mountains being confidered for fuppiying the Earth with Water, by the Rivers rifing from them, we cannot but conclude that one of the great Offices of the Sea has been to prepare Matter to be protruded by fub-marine Fer- ments, according to the Exigency of the Earth. And notwithftanding the Author tells us, p. 58. that when he firft direded his Thoughts this way, 'twas a matter of real Admiration to him to find that a Be- lief of fo many and fo great Alteratioiis in the Earth had gain'd fo large footing, and made good its ground fo many Ages in the World, there being not the leaft Signs nor Footfteps of any fuch thing on the whole Face of the Earth ,* no tolerable Foundation for fuch a Belief, either in Nature or Hiftory : I fay, not- withftanding this, I believe the Opinion which the Author goes about to explode, will hold as long as the World lafts ; tho I am not ignorant that fome late German Writers abett the Author's Hypothefis in part, 'uiz,, as to the Marine Bodies being brought forth upon the Land by Noah's Flood, and have fome- what foreftalled his Matter. I am not here at leifure to difcourfe at large what Changes have been on the F a Earth, 50- ^J7i ESSAY for Bxplainmg Earth, but we have Evidences enough there have been many, and we muft confider that Nature pro- ceeds by gentle degrees in her Operations ; and not- ■\^4th{landing, the Magillerial Aflurance with which the Author runs on thrqughouc his whole Book, I inuft be of opinion, many Sden ot Thought will ne- n/er he brought to believe^, th^t Nature did fuch a Work as he contends fpr at o\\q, Job. And whereas he tells us, f. P3. that when he confidered the Effeds of the Deluge according to his HyPothefis, it appeared at firfl fo wonderful and furprizing to him, that he was for fome time at a ftand ; I fuppofe it will not feem ftrange to him, if other Men take time to C041- fider whether the Motives which determined him to adhere to his Hypothefis^ aife weighty enough to deter- mine them. And as he fuppofes there were no marine Shells on the Land before the Deluge, he may do well to tell us plainly whether he, be of opinion that no Sea-Shells have been inchafed in Stone, &c. fince the Deluge, for it fhould follow from his Hypotbefis that they have not- And as he tells us, p. 123. that Sand-Stone does not ftiil confolidate, that is, that Matter which w^as a few Years ago lax, inpoherent, and in form of Earth or Sand, does not become daily more hard and confiftent, and by little and little ac- quire a perfed Solidity, as foiiie have aflerted : this, I fay, feems to abett that Opinion, and in othei? words to tell us, that the petritying Faculty is ceafed in Nature; which would be a piece of News in Na^ tural Philofophy, but fuch as will require a flronger Confirmation, than I beheve we fhall ever receive. I have feen, in the fide of a Hill in the Southern Part of Wiltflotrey a Bed of light Cockle-Shells, of a- bout two Foot thick, lodg'd betwixt Beds of a loof^ and brittle Sand-Stone ; and if any Man fhall tell m^ thofe Shells were fufpended, and confequently feverM from each other in the fluid Mafs, which is faid to have overflown the Globe of Earth at the Deluge, ^n4 the Creation a7id the T>elugc. J7 and that, at length, they fubfided in fuch a regular Bed, I cannot conceive it : and there are Thoufands of fuch regular Beds of Shells, which demonftrate the fame Moral, and, I think I may fay, Phyfical Im- poflibility. Whereas, if we allow either that the Sea had covered that Hill for a confiderable time, and that the Shells were formed there from the Fifties to which they belong ; or that thofe Beds were pro- truded from the Deep, it no way interferes with our Reafon. Again, I am well fatisfied there are Rifings and Subfidings in feveral Parts of the Land, though commonly no notice is taken of them. A Gentleman redding not far from the Bathy told me, that if a Perfon flood at a certain Gate, not far from his A- bode, within the Memory of Man he could not fee the Top of the Roof of a Gentleman's Houfe {land- ing at Ibme diftance from it ; whereas now, a Perfon {landing at the faid Gate, can plainly fee the Foun- dation of that Houfe. And other Inflances may be given of this kind. I fhall only take notice of one thing more, which the Author fays he proves from Obfervations made from himfelf, or others, vtz>. That the bottoms of deep Mines are very fultry, and the Stones and Ores there very fenlibly hot, even in the Winter and the colder Seafons. Now, as to this, tho Dr. Browiiy as I remember, in his Account of the Mines at CremmtSy tells us, fome of them are very hot at great Depths, yet this does not hold generally ; for the Heat of Mines does not proceed from their Depths, but from the Nature of the Folfdes that are in them, at whatever Depths thofe Fofliles are found. I remember about forty Years fince, two ingenious Miners made a Tryal for Lead Ore at a Place called Black-Down, near 'Taunton^ in Somerfet/bire, who told me, they fank there in a green Sand, and at two or three Fathom Depcii, they found it fo hot, they could fcarce bear it. And fo, as to Damps in Mines, they happen not always at 5 8 '^7^ E S S A Y for Explaining at great Depths, for I have been told by fome Miners on Mendif-HtUs^ in the faid County, that they have funk there in fome Places, where a Candle would not burn at two or three Fathom depth. I find that which led the Author to conclude that deep Mines are hot, is, the H)pthefis he goes on, of a central or abyffine Fire j whence he writes, f. i5i. that the "fherma, natural Baths, or hot Springs, do not owe their Heat to any Collud:ation, or Eft'ervef- cence of the Minerals in them, as fome Naturalifls have believed, but to a fubterraneous Fire, the Ori- gin and Oeconomy of which, he fays, p. 158. he will give an exad Account of in his larger Work. Now, tho many Men favour the Hypothecs of a central Fire, and other fubterraneous Fires derived from it ; and among others, the learned Kircher, in his Mundus Sukerraneus, has writ at large on that Subject : I cannot wholly agree with him in it, nor with what the Author here fays. For I fee not why there may not be a Colludation and Effervefcence a- mong fcveral Minerals in the Earth, (a Dodrine abet- ted by fome Chymical Experiments) fo as to heat the Water of Baths, and even to break out in open Fires, as fuch a Colludation and Efervefcence, and even an open Fire often happens from feveral Plants laid together in a Hay-ftack ; and Men mav as well tell me, that the Fire of a Hay-ilack is caufed by a Com- munication from the central Fire of the Earth, as the Heat of Baths and in Mines, the I may allow a Communication of fome Fukam^s^ at great Depths in the Earth, which are very diftant from each o- ther on the Face of the Earth. But what I con- tend for, is. That there are m.any diftind Ferments in the Earth, fufficient for heating Bath-Waters, and breaking out into open Fires, without any Com- munication with a fuppofed Fire in the Center or an Abyfs. Pr: the Cr eat 1071 arid the T>ekige. 39 "Dr, Jordan, in his Book of Natural Baths, c. 2. "writes, That there is a Spirit or Ferment in Mineral Subftances, as in Allum and Copperas Mines, which being broken, expofed and moiftned, will gather an adual Heat. Agricohiy Eraftus, Lihavius, &c, avouch from the Experience of Miners, that in moft Places Mines are fo hot, they can hardly be touch'd ; tho, it's likely, where they work for perfed Minerals, th-e Heat which was in the Fermentation, while they were yet breeding, is much abated, the Minerals being now grow n to their Perfedion. And for this Heat, we need not call for fubterraneous Fires, the in-bred Heat being fufEcient, as may appear alfo by the Ore of Tin-Glafs, which being dug up, and laid in the moid Air, will become very hot. So Arfenick and Sublimate, being mixed together, will grow fo hot, they are not to be touched ; and if this be fo in little Quantities, it's likely to be much more fo in great Quantities. So far Dr. Jordan. Many Years fince I bought an Ounce of the Spirit of Vi- triol, at the Apothecaries Hall ; when the Man, of whom I bought it, had poured it into a Glafs, and weighed it, I told him I would have it difcoloured : w^hereupon he dropt into it fome Drops of the Spirit of Sulphur ; upon which, tho they are two of the greateft Acids we know, they prefently fo fermented, that they crack'd the Glafs, and the Man, after the Ferment w^as over, poured it into another Glafs. You may fee Inftances more than enough of this kind in the "TraEl, de T'hermis Carolhiis, writ by Dr. Bergenis, Profeflbr of Phyfick at Wittenberg, c. 5,^. who, in the fixth Chapter, writes, There is an Alu- minous Earth near the River Mulda, betwixt Leippck and IVittemherg, not far from the Town of Duben^ which Earth being pregnant with the Stones called Pyrites^ when it is dug up and caft into great Heaps, does not only conceive a vehement Heat, but foon breaks out in an open Fire, So, to explain how the Motion 40 'A7i E S S A Y ^/^r Exp hi mug Motion and Adion of the Sulphur on the Iron, which are joined in the Pyrites^ is flirred up, he propofes this Experiment:. If you pound common Sulphur ta a Powder, and mix with it an equal Quantity of Fi- lings of Iron, and add Water to them, and work and knead them together till they have the Confiften- cy of a Pafte, as Meal has, mixM with Water j you will find the Sulphur will work on the Iron, and, in a few hours fpace, they will grow hot, and emit a fulphureous Smoak and Odour, and foon break out in an open Flame. And I am clearly of the opinion o( Bergerus, that the various kinds of the Pyrites are the chief Ingredients for caufing all fubterraneous Heats and Fires. And I have feen, in feveral Mines, perpendicular Beds of thofe Pyrites, fometimes a Foot, fometimes two Foot thick, and more. And if any Man goes to the £ath, and knows the Smell of a burning Pyrites, he will eafily perceive the Butb-Water has a rank Smell of the Pyrites. If I fhould proceed with what I have to offer on the Author's Ejjay, I muft write a Book as large as his of it, which would be much beyond the fhorc View I intended ; in which, I think, I have exceed- ed already : neither have I Thoughts of writing far- ther on it, my Hand much failing me in writing, and it not agreeing with my prefent Cireumftances to keep an Amantienfis, neither will my Spirits long bear a due Attention. I believe many Perfons may wifh the Author would haflen to make out the many Aflertions he has advanced, whereby the World might partake of fome of the great Lights he has in the Knowledge of Nature ,* which, if he delays, it ha- zards their being baulkM for ever in their great Expedations, and no fmall Glory may be loft to himfelf. Having mentioned a little before Mendip-Hills in Somerfetfhire, I cannot think of thofe Hills without fome Refentment : I . have by me a Tranfcript of all the the Creatmi and the T>ehige. 41 the Mineral Laivs belonging to thofe Hills, which I took from the Books lodgM in the bands of the Lead-Reeves belonging to the four Lords-Royal, to whom the Body of thofe Hills belongs ; to which Laws I have writ a Preface, giving a general account of thofe Hills, both relating to the Mines gnd the Herbage : which Laws and Preface I intended to have printed in the Natural Hiftory of that County^ which was recommended by fome Gentlemen of the Royal Society, to be undertaken by me. And accordingly I printed a Draught of my Defign, and attended the Parliament-men of that County here in London with it, who feem'd inclined to favour it i but it being in the Reign of the late King Jamef, when People were generally uneafy, and the Difturbance of Monmouth^ Rebellion falling chiefly on that County, it difcouraged me in it : and farther, tho I believe the Gentlemen of the Royal Society w'ere finccre in their Recommendation, I found there was another Party of Men, who, for Reafons known to themfelves, were refolved to ob- ftrud my Proceedings in it, and by fome clandeftine Pradices, let me know it after a fevere manner ; the fame Party having purfued me ever fince with a far greater Severity, if we mufl: call fo, a continual thwarting all our worldly Concerns ; which notwith- ftanding, (if I may be believed) has no way affeded me, I never having fought worldly Advantages; and if at any time Fortune has thrown them on me, I think I have fhewn great Indifferency in that refped. I beg the Reader's pardon for this fhort Digreflion, and fhall only add, that Soinerfetfoire deferves a good Natural Hiftory, it having a great diverfity of Soil, and confiderable Antiquities, and it affords two con- {iderable Heads of Natural Hiftory, which Dt. Plot had not in his Hiftories of Oxford/hire and Stafford/hire ; I mean the Heads of Mines, and the Sea : the firft: of which every Man cannot undertake, for he ought to know the Terms of the Miners, and their Ways G of 42 [^/^ E S S A Y yc?r Explaining of working, and to have made due Obfervations in Mines; which things will require feme Time. If any Man delires to know the Etymology of the word Mendrp^ I may acquaint him that fome write it Mendif^ and otherways ; but doubtleCs it is originally a Britiflo word, Myndidd in the Britijh fignifying a Mountain, as you may fee in Dr. Davis's Britifh DiE^iminry, where I firft obferved it, no Man having given me any intimation of it, nor has any Man, as far as I know, taken notice of this Etymology : and the higheft Hill on Mendip-HHh, which Sands above Wells^ is called Pen-hill, the word Pen being alfo Britiffo, and fignifies a Head ; fo that Pen-hill is the Head Hill. But to return now to my Subjed. Having intimated, before I took notice of the fe- veral Jlypothefes concerning the Deluge, the great Difficulties which both Divines and Philofophers meet with in making it out according to the Letter, 1 fliall here fet down Ibme of thofe Difficulties. Som.e learned Men have fet forth, and I think not without reafon, that there muft have been the quan- tity of ten Oceans of Waters to reach 15 Cubits above the highefl Mountains ; which Waters, Nature could not furnifh, without Miracle, nor get rid of them for the Deluge to ceafe. As for what the Au- thor of the Ejfay before- mentioned has intimated, that an Abyfs furnifhed thofe Waters, when he has told uS how thofe Waters came upon the Earth, we fhail know what to reply. Some maintain, and I think it not eafy to refute them, that the numerous Species of Animals peculiar to America, and never feen in other Parts of the World, could not have come to the Ark, at the beginning of the Deluge to have been there preferved, without Miracle, nor pafs tack into America, when it was over; and this, both on the account of the Diftance and Impaflablenefs of the W^ay, and the Difference of the Climates, which all thofe Animals could not bear : befides the the Of eat 1071 and the Tie luge. 4| tjnaccountablenefs how all the differing Species of Animals throughout all the Parts of the Earth, fhould have intelligence that Noah was building aa Ark to fave himfelt and Family, and a few of each Species of Animals, and that they mull render them* felves there for that end. Was it by a Prophetick Inftin(5i:, or by Angelical Minlllry ? Belides, it feems ftrange that not one of the many Species of Animals peculiar to America fhould have remained here after the Flood was over, but that all of them fhould return. Indeed Rabbi T'anchujna tells us, when God bid Noah to take into the Ark 7 Pairs of all clean Animals, Noah asked God how he fhould ga- ther them together into the Ark. Whereupon, all the Angels preliding over every Species of Animals, defcended and gathered them together, and Food for them : So that this Point is accounted for, if we take his word. Some of the Rabbins feem to laugh Men out of the literal Senfe of the Deluge, when they tell us, that Ogg King of Bafan, a Remnant of the Giants, rid aftride on the Ark all the time of the Deluge, having fworn to Noah and his Sons, he would be their eternal humble Servant, and that Noah bored a Hole in the Ark, and daily fupply^d him with Provifions through that Hole ; and fome fay Methufnk?n rode there alfo, whom the Septuaginc will have to have lived fourteen Years after the De- luge. Some Rabbins lay the Waters of the Deluge were all fcalding hot, except it were thofe near the Ark, v.hich were kept cold by Miracle, left they Ihould melt the Pitch ufed about the Ark : And ac- cording to this opinion, they held that all the Fifhes were deftroycd ; and indeed, tho the Waters of the Deluge were not hot as they fay, it's hard to con- ceive, how they fhould be fo qualifyM, that both Frefh ard Salt- Water Fi flies fhould live in them, and all the amphibious Animals muft have been involved in the general Deilrudion. Rabbi Smmon tells us, G % that 44 ^/^ E S S A Y for Explaining that when Noah fent the Crow out of the Ark, the Crow flew abot^t the Ark, and would not depart from it, fearing fonie of the Birds in the Ark might be too fond of his Mate in his Abfence. Another tells us of a Dialogue betwixt Noah and the Crow ; the Crow asked Noah why among all the Birds and Beads in the Ark, he alone muft be fent abroad j that Noah anfwered, that the Crow being an un- clean Animal, the World could well fpare him, be- ing neither good for Food nor Sacrifice : That God interpofed, and reprefented to Noah^ that in future times the Crow would be of great ufe, efpecially in the time of EUas the TislAte^ to whom he would fend the Crow to feed him ; and therefore the Crow ihould be fpared, and kept for better Times. A- gain, fome will ask what became of all the burning Mountains at the time of the Deluge, if the Waters were 15 Cubits above them ; doubtlefs they would make a fad fputter, and caufe ftrange Convulfions in the Earth, before they would be extinguifhed, efpe- cially if there be a Communication betwixt thofe Volcano's at fo great a Depth in the Earth, as fome affirm ; who are led to fuch belief^ becaufe it has been obferved, as the learned Itigius in his Book, de Montium Incendiis, informs us, that fome burning Mountains of Europe ^ Africa y and America, have bro- ken forth at the fame time ; I fhall add, that thofe Breathing-Holes of burning Mountains are of greater confequence for the Subfiftance of the Earth than fome may imagine. If any Man fhould fay there were no Mountains before the Flood, as fome have afferted that Opinion, they expofe their Ignorance, as to the Works of Nature, not having confidered the abfolute Neceffity and indifpenfable Ufe of Mountains on the Earth ; and they may confider what Scaliger fays againft Cardan, Exerc. 43. De Montium Origine qui quarit, quarat is quoque de Maris, Cosli, & aliorum; nam fie delirant profeilo quidam^ qui ex Diluvio raptam fub* du^amque the Creation a7id the T>ehigc. 45 duSiamqite terram deterfofque Montes ab Aquis in Mare fracipitantihus prodiderunt. They may alfo do well to tell us from fome authentick Records, when j^wa, Vefuvius, and many other famous burning Moun- tains had their firft Eruption ; for till this be done, many will be inclined to think the time of their firft Eruption was more antienc than the time fubftituted for the Deluge. Itigius and Crimus are the two befi: Authors I have met with concerning burning Moun- tains, the former, in his Book de Monthan Incmdiis ; the latter in his Vefuvius ardens ; having examined all the Authors they could meet with concerning thofe Eruptions, could not find any certain Records con- cerning it. They tell us of fome Intervals of the burning of thofe Mountains, but do not fatisfy us concerning their firft Eruptions. And Crucius de- clares it his Opinion, pag. 47. that Vefuvius was a burning Mountain from its firft Formation, or a little after ; and Kircher maintains that there w ere fubter- raneous Fires created with the Earth from the be- ginning, and diftributed throughout the Univerfc, continually burning, and drawing the Air thro the FifTures, or Orifices of Mountains, for their Support, and purging themfelves by a difcharge of Smoke and Soot ; the Well-being of the whole fubi unary World depending on thofe Fires. If we confider the Offers have been made in the Accounts of China concerning Noah's Flood, we find them various, imperfect, and indeed contra- didory, and full of forcM Conftrudions put on the faithful Annals of thofe People. Martimus in the firft Decad of his Chinefe Hifiory, writing of Yau^, the feventh Emperor there, endeavours, tho in vain, to make the Chinefe Account of Time to fall in with the Hebrew Chronology as to Noah^s Deluge : I fay, in vain, becaufe this Emperor, according to him, began his Reign in the 2357th Year before Chr/fi, which is fooner than thofe who adhere to the Hebrew Chro- 46 ^/^ E S S A Y ^r Explaining Chronology allow. And Maninim having mentioned a certain Deluge which happened in China during this Emperor's Reign, and which the European Chrono- logers would reduce to the time of Noah\ Deluge, fays, he fhall eafily grant that all the Hiftory of that Nation till that time, was either feign'd, or relates things which happened bdore Noah's Flood ; the Me- mory of which things haply was preferved in the Ark, it being likewife the Opinion of learned Men, that many things alfo of Religion were there pre- ferved from Oblivion and being loft. But to go a- bout to perfuade the Chinefes to believe this, he fays, would be an indifcreet Undertaking, they maintain- ing the Credit of their antient Writings as Oracles ; nor are they to be moved from it. But as for him- felf, he fays, he makes no fcruple to fay that this Taus was the fame with "janus, the Affinity of their Names and Times perfuading it ; which Janus is be- lieved by many to have been Noah. This Opinion of Martinius, that Yaus was the fame with Janus and Noah, is followed by fome others, who are for maintaining the Hebrew Chronology ; tho Martinms himfelf fpeaks doubtfully of this Opinion, f. 21. of his Chinefe H\{iQxy ; where, he fays, he holds for certain the farther part of AJia, which he de- fcribes, was inhabited before the Flood : but it does not appear to him after what manner the Memory of things was preferved, if all Mankind, excepting Noah and his Family, were wholly drown'd. Now, to fhew the Weaknefs of this Opinion, "uiz,] that Taus was the fame with Noah, let it be confi- dered, firft, That tho the Chinejes mention a Deluge in their Country in the Reign of Taus, they give not any Account of the Origin and Caufe thereof, nor fpeak a word of any particular Family faved in an Ark, nor had any Tradition concerning the Ante^ dihivian Patriarchs, nor of the Creation ; nor had they the leaft knowledge of the Hdrev: Language and Let- the Creatmi and the T>eluge. 47 terSy which Language is generally Icok'd upon by the Learned to have been the Primitive Language, buc ufed a Language and Charaders wholly d: lie ring from them. Neither had they fo much as a Name for God, as Martinius writes in the beginning of his Chi- nefe Hiftory, faying, Concerning the chief and prime Author of things, there is a wonderful Silence among them all ; for in fo copious a Language, God has not fo much as a Name : which Noah doubtlefs would have taught them, had he ever been among them. And again, notwithllanding the Deluge mentioned in the time of Taus, in which many might have perifh'd, their Nation, Emperor, and Government, ftill con- tinued : fo that all thefe things confidered. Men muft oddly ftrain their Fancies, to imagine this Deluge the fame with that of Noah. Secondly, Father le Comte, in his Memoirs concerning China, Tom, 2. Letter 2. writes thus: The Chinefes, more happy in their Beginning than any other Peo- ple of the World, drew almoll: from the true Source the holy and firfl: Truths of their antient Religion ; the Children of Noah, who difperfed themfelves in the Eaftern JJia, and probably founded this Empire,, having themfelves been WitnelTes during the Deluge of the Almighty Power of the Creator, had given the Knowledge of him to their Defcendants, and in- fpired them with the Fear of him ,* the Footfteps we ftill find of it in their Hiftory, do not permit us to doubt of it. Fohi, the firft Emperor of China, care- fully bred up in his Houfe feven kinds of Animals for Sacrifices, which were offered to the Sovereign Spirit of Heaven and Earth, &c. Here we fee Father le Comte fuppofes the Deluge of Noah to have paft before Fohi, who was about 600 Years before Taus ; and how do thefe Stories of the Deluge cohere, if it fhall be faid that Martinius and le Ccmte go upon differing Chronologies ? This will not fatisfy, for the Queftion will ftill lie^ How comes ic 4^ Jn ^S"?) XY Yor Explaming it to pafs, that there is no mention in all the Chwefe Annals or Records, of any Deluge there before Taus ? I doubt the Gentiles will not think this Queftion fair- ly anfwerable, and the Chinefes being fuppofed by all Chronologers to have had a Government at leaft as near the Deluge, if not before it, as any People, they muft have known it w^ich a witnefs, or unque- ftionably received a Tradition of it ,* and in cafe of either, it's incredible they fhould not have conveyed this Knowledge or Tradition to Pofterity. And here I muil fay, I cannot believe Martinius and k Comte have delivered their ferious Senfe in the trifling Of- fers they have made for proving Noah's Deluge from the Chinefe Hiftory ; and I think it appears plainly enough they only thought they muft fay fomewhat feeming to favour the commonly-received Opinion of Noah's Deluge, however interfering with the Chinefe Records. Neither can I fee any thing in the Chro- nological Accounts of Chinay fet forth by Father Co«- flet and the three Jefuits his Aflociates, which feems fo flrong for making out Noah's Deluge from the Chimfe Hiftory, as the total Silence of it in the Chi- iiefc Records, feems to make againft it. If it fliall be faid. That, tho the Chinefe Hiftory be filent as to Ncah's Deluge, the Relation that Mvfes gives of it fuftices j the Gentiles will tell you, that whereas an Annalift plainly records Fads as they happen, the End of LegiHators is to eftablifh a Go- vernment and a good Morality among Men : wherefore they muft fet forth Fads, be they real or feign'd, which ftrike the Imagination, whether they are as Judgments upon, or in favour of Mankind, who will not be brought fo ealily to Obedience and a Comi- pliance with moral Duties by other means ; and that the Greeks^ Romans^ Egyptians^ ^nd other Nations, conftantly ufed this Practice for thofe Ends. The learned Hottinger in his Hiftory of the Creation^ p. pp writes, That many afted the Praife of Antiquity, which the Creation and the "Deluge. 49 which thofe who are taught better, or more certain things, ought not to allow them ; they are to be brought to the Fetters of the Scripture, and if they do not admit of its Authority, they are to be rejetfted with a generous Contempt. But the Gentiles will have little regard to fuch proceeding ; and Philofo- phers, however they may acquiefce in Laws intro- duced for the Well-Government of Mankind, will not fufter themfelves, in the Search ot Nature, to be ftinted in their Thoughts by Legillators, who have other Views in what they fee forth in that kind. This perhaps the Chinese Philofophers may here reply, for they had no notion of making a general Deluge a Symbol of a general Corruption of Mankind, as the Greeks and other Nations had. Not having met with any Author who has made an Offer at explaining the Senfe of the Gentiles^ as to the foregoing Matters, I would not with-hold from the Learned what upon long thinking, I conceive it muft have been j which perhaps may be of Tome fer- vice to them. The learned Leidekkerus^ in his Work de Repub. Heir. /.J. c. 13. obferves, That while the Symbolical and Parabolical Ways of teaching were in ufe, it might well happen that Hieroglyphical or Mythical Doc- trines may have pafTed infenfibly into Hillories^ the credulous Minds of Men believing them to be true Relations ; which I look upon to have proved very detrimental to true Religion : for when Men of en- quiring Spirits perceive that Parabolical and Mytho- logical Relations are put upon them to be believed as real Truths, it breeds a Confufion in their Un- derftandings, and they know not where the end of impofing will be. And, I think, fince the Paraboli- cal Way of teaching is antiquated, if Diinnes, in- ftead of amufing the World with many ufelefs, if noc pernicious Difputes, would beflovv fome time in fairly fetting forth what is meerly Parabolical or My-« H thical 5o Jn ESSAY for Explaim7ig thical in Dodrines relating to their Funftion, which have been derived to us from the antient Mythical or Ante-hiftorical Times j it would be of good fervice to Mankind, to keep them from draining their Wits in contriving Hyfothefes and other Ways to falve Difficul- ties raifed meerly on imaginary Foundations. So Mai- wonides^ in his Preface to his More Nevochinif writes as follows : The Intent of this Book is to explain the abdrufe and mythical Paffages which occur in the Writings of the Prophets, of which it is not ex- preily faid that they are Parables, but are fo propo- fed, that it feems to the Ignorant and Unskilful they ought to be underflood according to the literal Senfe ; nor does any thing appear to them to lie hid under the Letter, but being weighed and examined by learned and intelligent Men according to the li- teral Senfe, they prefently have Scruples and Doubts in their Minds, which I endeavour to clear in great part in this Book. BuUialdus^ in his Commentary on Ptolomey's I'raEl de Judkandi Facultate^ &c. p. 99. tells us. That when this Book of Maimonides was firft brought out of Egypt into France^ the "Jews there con- fpiring, caufed it to be burnt, becaufe it feemed much to favour the Truth of the Chriflian Religion. Tho perhaps it may have been, partly, for that it lays open fome parts of the Law, which they were more inclined to have kept in Myflery. ^ Stral/o, lib. i. fays. It is neceflary for Legiflators and States to adopt the Fables of the Poets, for im- printing a Senfe of Religion on the Minds of the People : For do not imagine^ faith he, that Women and the Vulgar can be brought to Faith and Piety by Philofophical Difcourfcs ,• for this there is need of Superftition, and without Fables you cannot in- troduce Superftition. It was neceflary therefore to forge Fables, as Apparitions and Hobgoblins, to ter- rify the Ignorant. Philofophy is but for a few, Fa- bles are a publick Good, and fill the Theatres. In the Creatiofi and the Dekige. 5 1 In reference to this Symbolical Dodrine, GaJhus^ p. 904. on LaElantiuSy writes, Mofes contradids the Fable oi t\\Q Phxriix^ Gen.ch.j. ^er.^. which, if the holy Fathers had confidered, they would not have abufed that Fable to eftablifh the Refurrection oF the Dead- That Simile might be of force to reprove the Gentiles^ who denied the Refurredion of the Flefh ; but not with Chriftians, who ought to be taught the Myftery of the Refurredion from the Word of God, and not from thofe idle Fables. Bochart deals more gently with thefe Fathers, faying, If they failed in that refped, it was not done thro an Intent of deceiv- ing, but thro Credulity. I know, tho Mai?nomdei is free to intimate which of the Parages of the Prophets are Parables, and which not ; yet he is againft laying open all things to the People : for in the firft part of his Book, c. 17. he fays. Do not think that only Divine Wifdom is to be hid from the Vulgar and the Generality of Men, for we judge the fame of Natural Wifdom, which he calls Ofus Berefchit^ as he does the other Opus dc Met- cavah-y and tells us, it is a Saying among the Wife- men, In of ere Mercavah ne coram unico quidem nijt fu" erit fapiens, inttUigeniy & turn tradem ei fumma tanttim & generalia capita ; & in opere Berefchit, ne in duohus qui^ dem. And this way of proceeding, he fays, was not only in ufe among the Dodors of their Law, but was alfo antiently obferved by the Philofophcrs and Wife- men among the Gentiles^ who hid their Principles, and fpake of them in Enigma s. Now in reference to this, I think, as to Divine Matters relating to the Spirit, it would be to no purpofe to talk of them among the vulgar and unex- perienced Perfons, fuch Matters being in their nature unexplicable by Man, the Knowledge of them being pradical, and arifing only from the internal Opera- tion of the Spirit; and tho fome Writers of ^myftical Pivinity have explained the Nature of that internal H a Ope^ 5 2 Aft E S S A Y y^r Explainifig Operation as clearly as poifTible, yet common Rea- ders take no Guft in it, it not falling under their Apprehenfions. But how far a difconfolate Cloud muft be kept over Mens Underftandings in reference to natural Knowledge, it does not well appear to me from any extraordinary Efieds I have obferved among Nations where fuch Managements have been praclifed. For if the Chinefes^ without Mythological Philofophy or Theology, or -Enigmatical Dodrines, have car- ryM on as antient, and perhaps as good a Govern- ment as the World has had : I fee not why this myfterious way muft be always continued in all Countries, tho it might have been ufeful, and fit to be pradifed in fome Nations for a time, where the People were rude and barbarous, and of a perverfe and intradable Difpoficion, and while all Learning, both Divine and Natural, was among the Priefthood, and they ufed both as they pleafed. But if any Men now ftiould urge the Continuance of that myfterious Cloud over the Heads of Natural Philofophers in things that belong to their Province, I doubt they would fcarce be able to contain them frorn crying out, ad Populum Phakras, Not but I well know there are fome things relating to natural Knowledge which naturally carry an Injundion of Secrecy in them, fo that thofe who are let into the Myftery, if they are in their Senfes, will not divulge them, nor communi- cate them to others, unlefs it be by fome fecret Ways known to themfelves, and fo that the Parties to whom they are communicated fhall never know whence it comes. Much more might be faid con- cerning thefe Matters, but I muft not forget that I write a Letter, and conclude. If Noah^s Deluge fhould be explained according to the Senfe of the Gentiles^ it would draw after it many other things which would require to be ex- plained otherwife than generally they have been hi- thertOj and which may require fome Confideration ; but the Great io?i a7id the T)ehtge. 5 j but till I have the Senfe of fome learned Perfons concerning what I have here written, and particu- larly your own, which I much defire you will favour me with, I fhall not enlarge at prefent. IF any Man fhall fay, I feem in fome places to prefs things too far in favour of the Opinion of the Gentiles^ I fhall only reply, that I know not how Truth can be well eftablifhed, but by having all Objedions well venti- lated, that things may be fet in a clear Light to Man's Underftanding. And as all Academies allow an Arguing Pro and Con on all Subjeds for that end, I defire what I have here written may be look'd upon as an Academical Exercitation, which I pre- fume I may promife myfelf from your Candour; being, S 1 Ry Tour Very Huinhk Servant, J. Beaumont. 1 ( 55 ) DISCO URSE O F oracles: GIVING An Account of the Sybilline Oracles \ mth an uncommon Explication 0/ V i K G i l's fourth Eclogue, and fome 0- ther Parts of his Works relating to them. R. Van Bale is not the only Perfon who has been inclined to believe that the Oracles of the Gentiles were carried on meerly by the Impoflure of the Priefts, without any Co-operation of evil Spirits in thofe Performances : for Calms Rbadiginus, LeEi. Ant. I 2. c. 12. writes concerning the Oracles as follows. The ')6 J T>ifconrfe of Oractes. The Oracles, tho they have been often found to be very vain, yet it's moft certain that the moft an- tient Divines and P1atoni[ls were wont to pay a very great Reverence to them, and endeavour 'd to uphold them with Reafons. But as there were three kinds of Theology among the Antients ,* one Fabulous^ which they called alfo Hiftorical, chiefly afcribed to the Poets j the fecond. Natural^ which is Myftical, and entertained by the Philofophers ; the third. Cm/, which grew in ufe in Cities by Cuftom, and fo be- came ellablifiied by Laws : Oracles and their An- swers were comprifed in this laft kind ,* and if we make a curious Search whence Oracles firfl crept into the World, I have found, as it feems to me, by a long and continual Reading, that they were not in- ftituted or propagated by the Gods, nor Devils, but by certain crafty Men, who would make a gainful Trade of them. Which was the Opinion of the moft famous Greek Philofophers, the Peripateiicks, Cynicks^ and Efkureans -y by whofe Writings the Vanity of the Oracles is not only laid open, but the Evils thertce arifing are plainly demonftrated : and this is proved by the fubt'ly contrived Anfwers of the Oracles, fitted to any Event, and given by wicked Men, too much pradifed in Impofture, and tricking others, thro a Principle of Avarice. Which Anfwers Were framed or patchM together by a combined Deceit, after their Emilfaries or Spies, of whom they had many, who were Partakers of their Wickednefs and Gains, had roved about Cities to help to carry on the Cheat. For thefe Men moft diligently en- quired into what People had an occafion to know, and informed the Managers of the Oracles, who attend- ing in the obfcure Caves, gave Anfwers to thofe who came to confult them, whom the great Defire implanted in Men of knowing what is to come, often combined with Folly, prompted to it. This is an Evidence of the Cheat, that many of the Soothfayers and A T>ifcotirfe of Oracle i^ 57 and Prophets having been put to the Rack, have con- feiled that the whole Prieftly Office of Divining was carried on by their Frauds. I know Laciantius writes, and Apuleius Teems to confirm it, that Aftrology, Di- vination by Birds and Oracles, are the Inventions of Damons, whole Bulinefs it is to darken, or cad Mifts before the Truth. Haply thefc things may not be wholly tranladed without Damons being concerned, as they join with natural Caufes. If you ask aker what manner Damons are able to know future thmgs, Poi'phyrius, in a Book he publifhed concerning Ora- cles, fays, That whatever future things are predided, by Oracles, they are all predicted from an Obferva- tion of the Heavens ; but you muft know, fays he, that the Gods alfo often lye, for there is no certain and clear Forefight of future thingf^, which are not only involved in Intricacies, as to Men, but likewife mod uncertain, and all befet with deceitful Circum- ftances as to the Gods themfelves : and if it happens that fome God has a Foreknowledge of fomc things, yet it does not happen to him at all times. Huetius, at the end of his Deincnflratio Evangelical writes concerning the Oracles as follows : Before I make an end, I think it proper for me to fay fomevvhat of the Oracles of the Gentiles, which for a very long time, under the colour of a Prophe- tick Faculty, fool'd the Vulgar, and may furnifh aa Argument to the Adverfaries of the Chriftian Law for invalidating the Force of the Predidions of the Old Teftament. But if the Prophecies with which they defend themfelves, were Lyes and Impieties, what Support can Truth have from them > Even when thofe Oracles flourifhed moft, they had fo little Credit amongft Men of a found Senfe, that nothing was more contemptible among them, as appears from Cicero, lib. 2. de Di'vin. and from Origen, //^. 7. againft Celfus, where he fets forth, that Ariflotle and the Pe^ rifatetichy and Epicurus and his Followers, defpifed I and 5 8 J Tiifcourfe of the Oracles and refuted thofe Oracles, which, by a common Cuftom, derived from Anceftors, were received with Admiration throughout all Greece. And Porphyrms, a Man very well known in thefe Matters, openly con- feiTes the Vanity of the Oracles, he having writ a Book of the Philofophy drawn from Oracles. I could eafily confirm the Thing with many Telli monies. Examples, and Reafons ; but fince Eufdius, through- out his whole fixth Book, de Prap. Evang. has per- formed it, I refer the Reader to him. The fame al- together is to be thought of the Sybilline Verfes j not only of thofe new ones we have, which are common- ly cenfured of Impofture, but likewife of the an- tient, which the Antients mention, cenfured alfo by Cicero, lib, 2. de Divin, After the ufeful Labour beftowed by Blondel in demonftrating the Vanity of thofe Writings, it would be a Labour ufelefs to the Reader, and ungrateful to myfelf, to write more at large on this Argument. So far thefe two Authors, Rhodiginus and Huetius, whom we fee much inclined to Dr. Van Dale's Opinion ; tho for feme Reafons, perhaps, they do not plainly fpeak out, and fully de- clare for his Opinion, as we find Mr. de Fontenehe has done, in the Abridgment he has publifhed of Dr. Van Dak's Book de Orat, Vet. Ethnic. Now, fince Huetius has intimated, as we have feeti before, that the Sybilline Verfes are wholly to be charged of Vanity and Impofture, as the other Ora- cles are, efpecially as to what they are faid to con- tain concerning Chrift i I fhall firft fpeak of the Sy- hils and their Verfes, and then of the other Oracles. And I mud fay, that among all the Authors I have met with, Boxhornius feems to me to have given the mofi; judicious and concife Account of the Sybilline Verfes, tho I have read Blondel oi the Sybilsy and Crajfet againft him, and Markius againft Crajfet^ and Crajfet's Reply, and more than twenty other Authors con- cerning the Sybils and Oracles j fome of them being pretty of the S I B Y L sr 59 pretty voluminous. But as Boxhomius^s Account pleafes me beft, I (hall here give you an Abftraa of it. BoxhorniuSy near the Beginning of his Hiftoria Vni" verfaliSy writes concerning the Syl;ils thus : Some of the Antients will have it, and feme of the Moderns beheve, that the Birth of Chri/i was known to Auguftus from the Syhiliine Oracles, and that thence it came to pafs that he who at firft was very averfe to the Jewi/Io Woriliip, became changed afterwards, and had a great Efteem for the JeiviJI) Religion ; but they amufe us with Fables. Many of the Fathers tell us, that the Syl;iis prophefied fome things con- cerning Chrift ,* nor do I, to fpeak with the learned Cafaukn, wholly deny it: but that Augufius knew any thing certain of the King Meffias, and particu- larly of his Coming, from the Syl^ils Verfes, none of the Fathers have faid it, and thofe are in a great Er- ror who believe it. The People of the Jeivs^ and fo Chrift^s Difciples, who had read the Scriptures, and had heard the Predidions concerning Chri/i often ex- pounded in the Synagogues by the Scribes and other Dodors, did not, even at the time when they lived with our Lord, ever fufped any fuch thing. The Difciples of John Baptift, who had heard their Mafter preaching concerning Cbrifly and had feen the Dove falling from Heaven on him, yet when John was kept in Prifon, near his End, they remained Unbehevers, and forced him to fend to our Lord, to ask whether he were the Perfon to come, or whether they muft exped another. Mat, ii. 3. And fhall we believe that the Pagans^ taught by their SybilSy knew To great a Myftery ? Shall we then equal or criminally pre- fer the SybiJIine Oracles to the truly infpired Oracles of God ? Very learned Divines have called Ifaias an Evangelical Prophet, for his plain Predidions of the Meffias to come ; but in all the Prophecy of Ifaias, no fuch thing is read, as muft have been in the Books la of 6o \J T)ifcourfe of the Oracles of the Sybils^ if chat be true which is faid of Au" guftus. I conclude therefore^ that all thofe fo very plain Prophecies concerning Chrift, which many a- (bribe to the Sybils, were undoubtedly drawn by fome Chriflian or Semi-chriflian Impoftor, from the Hiftory of the Gofpel. There is one thing which may be objeded to me, '2^/21-. the Ciimaan Verfe, mentioned in the fourth £c- logue of ^r^i/,who flourifhed under Augujlus, and which no Man can fay to be an Invention of the Chriftians ; and the moft learned Chriftian Fathers interpret thofe things to be faid of Chrifi^ which feem by way of Flattery to be afcribed by f^trgil to the Son of Pollio ; and it's manifefl that Eufebius, St. Aufiin, and others of the Fathers, and many other learned Men, have affirmed, that what is delivered by Virgil from the Sybil cannot truly be interpreted of any other but of Chrift 5 and Eufebius, at the end of the Life of Conftan" tine, where he explains that Eclogue of Virgil, tells us, that the Poet, to avoid being cenfured by fome great Men, as writing againft the Laws of his Country, ^nd difturbing the Belief received from their Ancef-^ tors, has caft a Veil over the Truth, by modifying his Matter, fo as to make it feem liable to a plaufible Conftruftion. I do not doubt but fuch Authorities and Teftimo- Viles will be brought againft me, to make out, that the Sybils have delivered fuch things as are faid of them concerning the Coming and Miniftry of Chrift \ but thofe are no lefs in an Error who have delivered thofe things, than thofe who embrace them. And J will fet forth what I conceive to be the Truth of this Matter. I do not deny, that tho the Scrip- ture, and Hiftories divinely infpired concerning the Coming and Life of our Lord, abundantly fuffice to eftablifh a Chriftian's Faith ; yet that there is fome? what of weight, efpecially for overcoming the Incre- ^uHty of the Pagans^ in thofe Teftimonies of the cf the Sibyls. 6i Pagans, by which the Truth of the Hiftory of the Gofpel is confirmed : And indeed they are much to be valued. But, 1 fay, I muft alfo here neceflarily confefs, that an Injury, and that a very great one, is done the Truth, v hen a Lye, or that which is falfe, is called in to its Patronage ; for it does not want fuch Defenders. That the SyhWine Oracles are falfe, for that the Authors lye, I think appears plainly e- nough from what I have fet forth before, tho many things publifhed under the Name of the Sybils, may contain Truths not to be doubted of. As for the Ar- gument of the Cwnaan Verfe, I own that thofc things are undoubtedly true, and ought to be applied to Chrift alone, which are faid in it. But as true as thofe things are, fo falfe it is that the Cumaan Sybil delivered them, tho it be fo faid by the Prince of the Roman Poets : And I will lay open the Origin of this Fidion, or Lye, that Men may underftand that what is truly foretold of Chrift and his Coming, is falfely affirmed to have been predided by the Sybil, And the thing, as I think, is evidently thus,* and I believe that no Man, who duly confiders it, will de- iiy it. It^s known among Chriftians, that from the beginning of the World, after the Fall of our firft Parents, in whom all their Pofterity ftood condemned, there was an Oracle delivered from the Mouth of God concerning a Mediator betwixt him ofiended, and guilty Men ; and that this Mediator would take on him, at his appointed time, human Flefli from a Woman, for the Salvation of Man. It's alfo known, that fuch kind of Oracles were afterwards repeated often from the Mouths and Writings of the Pa- triarchs and Prophets by God's Infpiration. It's like wife known, that an exprefs Mention was made in thofe Oracles of a Scepter, a Kingdom, a Leader, Prince, and King. It's laftly known, that the vulgar 'Jews interpreting thefe things, took all of them con- cerning the King Mejjias^ and his Kingdom, and a Kingdom 62 J T>ifcGurfe of the Oracles Kingdom of this World, tho unadvifedly, as the thing itfelf fhewed. Nor is it to be doubted but the ambitious, boafting and infolent Nation of the 5^^iL> J always talked high of thefe Oracles, and of this their Opinion among the reft of the Eaftern Peo- ple, and perfuaded them there would fome time come a Prince from the Eaft, and from Judea, who would reign far and near. When the Gentiles had received thefe things from the Jews, as the Jews had, received them from the Prophets, the Gentiles not knowing the Prophets, who were divinely infpired with the Oracles, afcribed them to their Prophets, efpecially to the Sybils; therefore whatever things are read as foretold by thefe concerning a Lord and King to come, fuch as the Meffias was, had doubtlefs their Origin from the Prophets of the Old Teftament, and not from the Sybils. The Prophets and Priefts of the Gentiles either foretold nothing concerning Chrift, or if any thing might feem predided by them, they ut- tered what was predicted before by the Prophets, and conveyed to them by the hands of the Jeivs, Wherefore the Sybils^ in truth, only related the Pro- phecies of others, and did not prophefy themfelves. There is no Man that reads the Scriptures, but muft know that God has not done to any Nation, or Peo- ple, as he has done to the Jews : For Myfteries were revealed by the Patriarchs, Mofes^ and the Prophets, concerning the Fall of our firft Parents, the Redemp- tion of Mankind by the Seed of the Woman, which fhould bruife the Head of the Serpent, that is, by the Redeemer and Saviour of all who fhould believe in Jefus Chrift ; and concerning other things which belong to Man's eternal Salvation. Thefe things were not formerly revealed to the Gentiles, otherwife the jffiuf had not been dealt with after another man- ner than other Nations, but it appears they were o- therwife dealt with ; wherefore the Jews are called God'ij People, and they are fo by a fingular Title and of the Sibyls* 65 and Prerogative, becaufe then thofe things concerning the Salvation of Mankind by the Coming and Incar- nation of the Mtjjias, %vere made certain and manifeft to the Jeivs alone. If to the Jews alone, if to the fole People of God, which is the Jifdaick, wherefore, or how may we believe that the fame things were known to other Nations, unlefs haply by the Jews ? And indeed, as we have faid already, the Nations knew fome things concerning the Coming of a King who would rellore mod happy Times to Mankind ; but not by the Oracles of the Syl^ih, or others, but by what they had delivered to them, and received from the Jews, to whom firft and folely thefe things were revealed by God^s fole Infpiration, firft from his Mouth, and afterwards by the Patriarchs and Prophets. Nothing is more certain than thefe things. That the things we have hitherto declared con- cerning this Matter, are undoubtedly true, and de- ferve Credit from thofe that judge rightly, contrary to what has been delivered and believed to this time, may be certainly made to appear, as it feems to me, even from the Oracles themfelves fpread abroad con- cerning the Coming of Chrift, both before his Com- ing, and about the Time of it, throughout the whole Eaft, and very much fpoken of among the Romans themfelves; thofe Oracles being taken from the Pro- phetick Books of the Old Teltament, and made known by the Jews to the Gentiles. If we look into tlie chiefeft and nobleft of them mentioned by Suete^ nius and Tacittts, we fhall find the thing to be as I have faid. I fhall fpeak firil of that mentioned by Suetonius. The Oracle which chiefly makes for this, and which was moft fpoken of about the time of the Birth oi Auguftus, and fo near the Birth of Chrift, is recited by Suetonius in the Life of Auguflus, from the Hiftory of the Life and Affairs of the faid Cafar^ vvric ^4 ^ T>ifcourfe of the Oracles writ by Julius Marathus, whom of a Bond-^man he . had made free. The Words of Suetonius are thefe : Julius Marathus tells us, T'hat a few Months before Km^ guftus vjas born^ a fublick Prodigy happened at Rome. He underftands by the word Prodigy (as appears by the Sequel) an Oracle, whereby it was declared^ that Nature ivas bringing forth a King for ths People of Rome ; that the Senate being frighted, decreed that no one born thai Hear /hould be brought up j that thofe who had Wives xuith Child, as every Man might hope, took care that the Decree of the Senate /hould not be carried to the Treafury. This is a remarkable Paffage, and fo much the more worthy Obfervation, becaufe none of the Chriftians, as far as I know, have mentioned it, even where they contend that the Coming of the King Jefus Chrift, and his Birth, were known to the Gentiles. The Oracle therefore mentioned by Julius Marathus, was received by the Romans from the Jews and the Eaft, together with that perverfe Opinion which the yews were then poffefTed of, concerning the Reign of the King Meffeas, which they would have to be only of this World. Therefore that appears to be true which I faid, that the Oracles which formerly were uttered concerning Chrift, being corrupted by the ill Interpretation of the Jews, and fo delivered to the Pagans^ gave them an occafion of afcribing them ra- ther to another, as to Augujlus, and others, than to Chrift, to whom alone they are to be referred, and whom alone they fignify. Thofe Oracles therefore which, being known to the Gentiles, mentioned the Birth of the Lord Meffias, and not being well under- ftood by them, are afcribed to others not concerned in them, were not from the Sybils and other Prophets among the Pagans, but from the antient Prophets ; which being received from the Jews, the Gentiles, both thro Ignorance of the Truth, and a Defire of flattering their Princes, would have to be uttered con- of the Sibyls. ^5 concerning them i whereas they fignified none but Chrift. The Coming of the Mefjias was lefs known to none than to the ^evos themfelves, tho from the Divine Oracles which they had in their cuftody, it might and ouglit to have been moft known to them. But at the Coming ot Chrift, the Church of the ^ev^s was all fallen into Fadions, and they minded more the fomenting, promoting, and increaiing of Parties, as every Man was difpofed, than the Truth ; Exam- ples of which kind, every Age more than fufficiently fhews. VVhence it came to pafs that the chief Ora- cles, and efpecially thofe delivered formerly concern- ing the Mc[Jias, were either neglefted, or little un- derftood by moft, tho the Jews ought chiefly to have had a regard to, and conlidered moft thofe Oracles in which their greateft Concern undoubtedly lay. Thus the Key ot Knowledge, fo called by our Sa- i^iour, Luke ^.^2. was concealed, and that Key of Knowledge was, without all doubt, an Inftrudion, that is, certain Rudiments, as it were, from which, and by which the Oracles of the Prophets being ex- plained as they ought, the Coming of the Mefjias might be underftood. But in that Matter the Ma- fters and Dodors of the "Jews both had been, and then were either as no body, or moft negligent. After fome Leaves, Boxhornius adds : It appears that about thefe Times both the "Jews and Romans talked of an Oracle that a King fhould arife, who coming from Jiidea^ fhould reign every where. Which the- Jews interpreted of the worldly and large- extended Empire of the-MelJias, and King cf the Jews; and the Romans afccrwards of Vefpajian and Tituy, I'aiitus exprefly mentions this. Hi ft. 5. Many^ faith he, viere perfuaded it was contained in the antient Books of the Priefls^ that at that time the Eafl would prevail, and Men come from Judea would have the Dominion i ivhich round- about Speech foretold Vefpafian and Titus. But the vul- gar Jews, according as Men are led by human AffcBions^ K in- 66 Z4 Difcourfe of the Oracles interpreting this great Fate for themf elves, ivere not changed even by Adverjity to an owning of the 'Truth. Nor does Suetonius otherwife exprels himfelf in Vefpafian : There was an antient and confiant Opinion, fays he, that it was ordered by Fate, that at that time Men coming from Judea flooidd have the Dominion. This being fre- diBed of the Roman Emperor, and the Jews d, awing it to themfelves, rebelled. Authors agree in it- Doubt- lefs the Coming of a Perfon about thefe Times, and the Reign which was not of this World, and both Jews and Romans were ignorant of, were lignified of the Lord Mffias. And if we carefully compare, as %ve ought, the Words of this Oracle with that of the Prophet, which is extremely like ir, and expreffed almoft in as many Words, concerning the Coming of the King Meffias, we fhall find it taken from the Pro- phetical, and delivered from the Eafl to the Romans. Not only the Senfe of the Oracle, but even the Words were thefe j At that time one proceeding from Judesi fhall rule. So both fpeak and deliver the Oracle, Suetonius and Tacitus, That Men proceeding from Judea Jhall bear Sway. They w rite in the Plural Number, becaufe the Romans interpreted it of two, Titus and Vefpajian. That Plural Number therefore does not feem to be fo much of the Oracle, as of the Interpre- ters of the two, Titus and Vefpajian. Nothing more like Cnay, it appears it muft really be faid to be one and the fame Oracle) than that of the Prophet, obferved and repeated by the EvangeHfts, in which it is exprefly faid of Bethlehem of Judea, a Leader fhall proceed from thee. Titus and Vefpafian went from Rome and Italy into Judea, and were not Jews of Judea by O- rigin, that they fhould bear Sway : and the Queftion is concerning a Jew by Origin, who fhould bear Sway, who is no other than the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and fo Lord of all, Jefus Chrift. From the things which are faid before concerning this Argument, it clearly appears, that neither the Sibyls knew^ or predided any thing of thofe which fomq would of the Sibyl s^ 67 would have them, concerning the Coming of the M^/*- fias \ much lefs that others from confulting and in- fpecting their Oracles, could have a certain know- ledge of them. It appears alfo, (or I much deviate from Reafon, and the high Road of Truth, for the finding out and Ihewing of which, this my Labour, whatever it be, is employed) that neither Auguftus^ or any other Romans who were Pagans^ had any thing of certain Knowledge, even from the true prophetical and divinely-infpired Oracles, concerning the Incar- nation of the King Meffuis. Since they falfely and ambitiouily interpreted the true p^ophetick Oracles, received from the Jews concerning the King Meffias^ (not underftood by the Jews themfelves) of the Ro^ man Cafars, and extending their Reign or Empire far and wide, as the Jews alfo did of their King. The thing fpeaks itfelf, and is clear : Nor do I by this Dijfcrtation detract any thing from the Chriftian Hi- ftory of the Coming of our Lord, but I would only have thofe and the like things taken away and ex- punged, which are but the Inventions of idle and foolirti Men, ignorant of things formerly done ; who, under I know not what colour of fetting off Chri- ftianity to an advantage, which, as plainly delivered by the Evangelifts, and according to Truth, whea well underftood, is highly fufficienc for a Chriftian, have publifhed falfe things for true, and ridiculous things for magnificent. So far Boxhomius^ who Teems to me to have faid here enough to leften the Efteem which fome may have for the Sibylline Oracles. I fhall here fubjoin a Paflage from St. Aufiin relating to what is faid before, which I conceive may help to fettle Men^s Thoughts in this Matter. St. Aufiin, lib. 18. de Civ. Dei, c. 26. writes thus, fpeaking of the Gentiles : Since they do not believe our Scriptures, their own, which they read as blind Men, are fulfilled in them, unlefs haply fome one will fay that the Chriftians feigned thofe Prophecies K a c«n- ^8 ^J T>ifcoiLrfe of the Oracles concerning Chrift, which are produced under the Name of the Sth)\^ or of others. And again, c. 27. It may be thought that all Prophecies which are pro- duced from others than the 7^u'j concerning the Grace of God thro Chrifl Jefus, are forged by the Chriftians ; and therefore there is nothing more llrong to convince all Aliens, if they contend concerning this thing, and to uphold our own Men, if they think rightly, than that thofe Divine Prophecies may be produced concerning Chrift, which are written in the Books of the "Jei^s, On this PaiTage the learned Mr. Bkndel writes as follows : Would to God the Children of the Church had kept themfelves to thefe Bounds, and banifhed from their Hearts the evil Ambition of rendring themfelves Authors of fome pious Frauds, and had conceived an holy Shame at thofe Frauds that Im- poftors had tried to introduce into the Houfe of God. To give you fome farther Light concerning the Sibyls, I fhall here fet before you what the learned MkraiUus, in the firfl Volume of his Ethmfhrcnius, l 3. dial. 2. writes concerning them, as follows : There is one thing holds me in Sufpenfe, Whether the fame Judgm.ent is to be paffed of the Sil^yhy as of the other Daimoniolepti ; and I judge that as aim oft all particular Nations had their Sibyls, we muft not think the fame of all of them, as thofe People did not think the fame thing. And if we believe Eucer, the word Sibyl did not antiently denote a divining Wo- man, but a religious Dodrine concerning God and Divine Things. Thus therefore they do not err who fay, that even in the Times of Noah, the moft aa- tient and firft Sibyl of all was a Hebrew, called Sam- bethes or Sabbes^ perhaps from the Sabbatum of the Ifraelites -, whence alfo Sabatius Saga, the chief Pon- tiff from Armenia even to Ba^ria^ mentioned by Be^ rofus^ drew his Name. For the genuine Dodrine • con- of the Sibyls. ^ 69 concerning God, and the moft antient Religion of the Patriarchs, (the Poflerity of Noah being difperfed into the moft remote Parts of the Earth) was not pre- fently obliterated, and each particular Country had in efteem their own S'thyl^ their Cahala^Wiidom and Reli- gion. Some preferved uncorrupted what they had drawn from the Religion of the Patriarchs ; fome fooner, fome later, receded from the Footfteps of their Anceftors, and having received and approved various Corruptions, made themfelves new Religions. Thence the Chaldeans had their Sihyl^ which converted Theology into Philofophy ; the Egyptians theirs,which added Pra/iigia and the Magick Arts ; and the Greeks theirs, which, from Candia and I'hehes^ invaded al- moft the whole World with Fables and fubtile Alle- gories. We muft not therefore have the fame regard for all the Slhylsy nor all Religions ; for thofe that a- gree with the Hebreiv, muft be owned to have ac- knowledged the true God : but thofe whom an evil Error had drawn to the Worftiip of many Gods, I boldly fay, they were infpired by evil Spirits. There were poflibly many Women, who, tho called by va- rious Names, might have all come under the fingle Name of Sibyls, or, according to the Chaldeans, of Sambethefes, becaufe theyadmoniftied Men concerning Religion, being moved to it by a peculiar Afflatus. There were alfo Propheteftes among the People of God, filled with the celeftial Deity, whofe Miniftry God ufed in declaring his Will, whom thofe that pleafc, may call Sibyls. Yet it hence appears that ma- ny Sibyls, mentioned by Hiftorians worthy of Credit, were not moved by a good, but a bad Genius ; that they were more employed in promoting Superftitions, than in abolifhing them. And this may be feen even from thofe Books which Ainalthea, the Cumaan Sibyl, whom others call Herophile, offered to 'Tarquin ; for in thefe, LeBifiemia were commanded for procuring the Favour of Apollo^ Latona, Diana, Hercules, Mercury^ and yo jfTiifcourfe of the Oracles and Neptune; and other things were contained In them, making for the fuperflitious Worfhip of Da- mons. To which we may add, that the Fury and Rage with which mod of the Sibylsy and even the Cumaan Sibyl of Virgil^ when Anfwers were to be given, were agitated, is a manifeft Sign that they were in the power of evil Spirits who moved them. For the true Prophets underftood Vifions without Madncfs, and therefore they were called Seers. And as often as the Prophets of the Gentiles uttered things to come, not difcerned in their Caufes, nor fuggefled by evil Damons, but revealed from God, God would have it to be made appear from this fpecial Illumina- tion, as by a certain Pledge, that it would come to pafs, that the Gentiles would fome time be fupplied with Waters from that perpetual Fountain, whence the Houfe of ^Juda^ as being in their Inheritance, drew Waters plentifully. Balaam is an Example, and he whom Paul calls Epimenide^, a Prophet of Candia. The Apoftle calls him a Prophet, not a Poet, or Phi- lofopher ; for Plato, Laertius, and others, teftify, that he was skilful in Divination, and writ a Book con- cerning Oracles. Among all the Prophets of the Gentiles, Mopfus, Idmon, 'Tirejtas, T^elewus, Amphiaraus^ Helienus, Martius, Zoroafier, Hydafpes, had a great Efteem for the Sibyls ; nor were the Sibylline Oracles forged by the Chriflians, as Cafaubon intimates, and Mount ague argues againft him. So far Micr alius. Here I may obferve, that as Peucer fays, the word Sibyl did not antiently denote a divining Woman, but a religious Dodrine concerning God and Divine Things : and as we are not certified from Hiftory concerning the Number of the Sibyls, the Times they lived in, their Age, Lives, Religion, and the like j fo it feems we are left to judge of them as we think good, whether thofe Writers were Men or Women, the Truth of the Matter not bein^ retrievable. -5b- cinuSy in what he writes againft Wiekus, endeavours to of the Sibyls. 71 to make the Exiftence of the Sibyls doubtful, faying^. It's hkely that what is related of the S'llyh^ are Fa- bles ; and that it feems we ought rather to believe they never exifted, becaufe no one in their time has written any thing of them. But notwithftanding what Socims fays, it cannot be doubted but there were Books which antiently came abroad under the Names of Sibyls; fome of th^ Gentiles before Chrift (who cannot be fufpeded of Fraud) having quoted fuch. But 1 think what he fays may very well ferve to confirm the Doubt of the Authors of thofe Books, and it I may be free to give my Opinion concerning them, I believe the Perfons who wrote the Oracles (fuch as they were antiently) afcribed to the Sibyls^ were the Priefts attending the Oracles, who might be called Sibyls^ that Word fignifying Partakers of God's Counfels, as they pretended themfelvcs to be. And thefe Priefts are known to have been very ready at verfifying, they always putting into Verfe the Anfwers the Pythia delivered in Profe. And it's known that Hejiod, who by fome learned Men is af- firmed to be the Cwnaan Sibyl whom Virgil means, and who was born at Cuma in the Leffer AJia, was a Prieft belonging to a Temple dedicated to Apollo and the Mufes, feated at the Mountain Helicon^ not far from Parnaffus, where he compofed his chief Poem, prefcribing certain Laws, as it were, of Well-living to his People; and in which he particularly fets forth the Ages, to which Virgil refers. And it's a farther Inducenient for me to believe the Managers of the Oracles were the Writers of the Sibylline Verfes ; be- caufe, as Sir John Floyer, in his Hiflory of the Sibylline Oracles, where he anfwers Opfop^us's Objedion, well obferveSj that from thofe Oracles, Orpheus, Horner^ He pod, Virgil, Ovid, and all the Greek Philofophers, borrowed their Notion of the Creation, the Deluge, the Rewards of the Juft, and Punifhments of the Wicked, the Golden Age, cheir Sacrifices, the Con- flagration 72 A T>ifcourfe qf the Oracles flagratlon of the World, ^c. For as there feems to be no doubt but the Writers of the Oracles (who- ever they were) had a good underftanding with the Legiflators and other Managers of Civil Govern- ments, they knew with what Opinions the People ought to be pofTeffed. As the Story of a SthyVs carrying Books to 'Tarquin feems to me fabulous, I am ^clined to think that thofe Books were originally introduced by the Ro- mans, on a politick account, by the State, to amufe the People, as Occafions might prefent, in Difficul- ties of Government, which will often occur in all States. And thus I may agree with Mr. Whiflon, in his Vindication of the Sibylline Oracles, that a diffe- rence ought to be made betwixt the Capitoline Copy of the Oracles, and the others. Near the beginning of his Book, after he has fet down from Vopifcus an Account of the Capitoline Copy, and the Emperor Aiirelians Letter to the Senate concerning it, he gives us two Corollaries, as follows : Cor. I. Since thefe }pxtttndQ,A Sibylline Oracles, laid up in the Capitol, (land originally on no other Authority than one Woman^s Afl'ertion, or, at mod:, as fup- ported by fome Heathen Augurs ; fince they were fo ftridly concealed from all but a few of the Heathen Priefts : Since their pretended Contents did fo evi- dently tend to confirm Pagan Idolatry and Pclythetfm; and fince they were never ufed but on Emergencies of the Pagan-Rowan State, and upon the Diredion of the Pagan- Roman Senate, there is great reafon to fuf- ped Impofition in the whole Matter : and that thefe Oracles, of what nature foever they were, or whence- foever they were derived, were no better than pious Frauds, made ufe of to govern the Roman People withal. Cor. 2. The real Sibylline Oracles, fo publick, fo ! famous, and fo much quoted by Heathens, "Jews and Chrillians, were entirely difierent from the Capitoline pretended I of the Sibyls. 7^ pretended Oracles : This is moft evident from every Charader. The one were exceeding ancient, the other, in comparifon, modern; the one belonged to all the World, and its great Events, the other only to the Romans ; the one were for one God, the other for many ; the one were againfl Idolatry, the other for it i the one were publick, the other private; the one were for true Piety and Morality, the other for Superftition, and Tricks of State ; the one contained Predidions of Events in Providence, and the Affairs of true Religion, and the other belonged to the fmall and petty A^airs of the Roman State, in its political Concerns only : So that thofe who confound thefe two forts of Oracles together, as the modern Cri- ticks generally have done, proceed without any folid Foundation at all, nay rather in contradidion to all the original Evidence in this Matter. Thefe are y[xWhi^ons Corollaries ; after which he tells us, the original fingle Roman Copy was burnt with the Capitol, about eighty Years before the Chriftian /Era \ and that another Collection of S'ih)U line Oracles was made from feveral Countries^ and laid up fecretly in the new Capitol. This he makes out from feveral Authors, and among others from Dionyjlus Halicarnajjus^ who particularly adds, that among this new Collection fome fpurious Verfes, di- ftinguifhed from the reft as being Acrofticks, did appear; and in this D/owr/«j fays, he does but fol- low the authentick Account of T'erentius Varro, whofe Narration it is, in his Treatife of Divine Matters. So far Mr. Whiflon. Now, we may here note that 'ferentius Varro lived in Cicero's time, which was before Chrift ; fo that if thofe Acrofticks were then concluded to be fpurious^ (tho, I conceive, few will believe them to be the fame with thofe Acrofticks we have now concerning Chrift) it may be fome Inducement for us to believe thefe L latter 74 ^ T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles latter alfo to be fo, belidcs other Reafons we may have for it. We may farther take notice of what is intimated by BcxborniuSy in his Quaftiones Romana^ Qj^^ft 4^* concerning the Capitoline Copy ; where, according to what is fuggefled before by Mr. Whiftoyiy he writes thus : But what if this Copy were the Arcanum of the Roman Empire ? They pretended as tho they had feme fecret Myfteries, fome fecret Books con- cerning the Will of the Gods, v/hen there were none extant. And this was done, that according as the NecelTity of Affairs might require, they might per- fuade the People from them, it was the pleafure of the Gods that this or that thing fhould be done, or omitted ; the Pretext of a Divine Command extorting an Obedience, which otherwife could not be ob- tained. Thefe are the Arcana of States, efpecially of the Roman, which Tacitus rather calls Arts and Um- brages of things, in which one thing really is, and another thing feems to be, and a thing is feign 'd that is not, that a thing may be done which ought to be ; for fuch is the Nature of the People, that being baitea by fpecious Pretences, they may believe under a falfe colour, what they would not believe, if they fhould hear the Truth. As for the Cumaan Sibyl, mentioned by Virgil in his fourth Eclogue, I know many learned Men have writ Comments on that Eclogue ; and as we are all here upon conjedure, it's no wonder if Men vary in their Sentiments, and if I differ from them all, unlefs it be that Mr. Dodwell, in his Book of the Diftinclion he^ tv:een Soul and Spirit, feems to concur m opinion with ine, f. 25 6" 26. of the fecond Edition. It being the Opinion of many of the Learned, that the Verfes in that fourth Eclogue are not properly applicable to any but to Chriftj I think it proper for me to premit a few things relating to that Opinion, Ijefore I deliver my own Senfe concerning it. Mutius of the Sibyls.' 75 Mutius Patifa publ idled a Book, de Ofculo feu Con- fenfu Ethnica & Chriftiana Philofophia ; that is, con- cerning the Agreement of the Pagan Philoi'ophy with that of the Chriftians : in which Treatife he fets forth, that the My fieri es of the Chaldeans, Egyptians^ Perjians^ Arabians, Greeks, and Latins, as being taken from the Hebre-c^s, are confonant to our Faith concern- ing God. And the learned Kircher was fo well plea- fed with this Book, that he ftiles the Writer of it, Hand ignobilis Author. But I think we muft have fomething more particular concerning the Myfteries of Religion, for a right underftanding of this £c- logue. Our late eminent Dr.lVaUis, Anno 1682. publifti^d two Sermons together, which he had preached to the Univeriity of Oxford^ concerning 77 e Necejjity of a Re- generation ; which Book I think highly worth our reading, and fhall give you a few Particulars of it. He takes his Text, John 3. ©* 3. where Chri/i fays to Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I fay unto thee. Except a Man he born again, he cannot fee the Kingdom of God, Oa this, the Dodor fays, Nicodemus was a great Maa among the Jeii:s, a Pharifee, a Ruler of the Jews, a Mafter in Ifrael, yet did not underftand the Dodrine of Regeneration, as appears by his Queftions, 'ver. 4, 9. How can thefe things be ? How can a Alan he horn when he is old ? Can he enter a fecond time into his Mother's Womb, &c. And by Chrift's Expoftulation, ver.io. Art thou a Mafter in Ifrael, and knoweft not thefe things ? A little beneath the Doiior adds : That which is Chrift's Dodrine in the Text, fhall be my Podrine at pre- fent, the Neceflity of a Regeneration, or a new Birth : Except a Man be horn again, he cannot fee thi Kingdom of God. It's a Dodrine, which perhaps may feem as ftrange to fome in this Age, as it did to Nicodemus then, there being thofe, who do not only (as perhaps at firfl he didj doubt of it, but fcofl' and ^•eproach it, who make but a Jell of it at the beli, L 2 if 7^ A T)ifcottrfe cf the Oracles if not a Subjed of Burlefque and Drollery, and fuch like unfavory Difcourfes, unbefeeming Chriftians ; but we Ihall find it, firft or laft, to be a ferious thing, not fo needlefs, nor yet fo very eafy, as prophane Perfons perfuade themfelves. As the DoBor intimates here a Labour vv'hich at- tends a Perfon in whom the Work of Regeneration pafles, I think we may here aptly apply what Feflus A'vienus de Arateis fays of the Celeftial Conftellation Engonajts, or Hercules : ' Et cujus latuit qtwque caufa lahoris^ Panyaji fed mta tamen, cut longior atas Emit excujjts arcana negotia rebus. If any Man would know who Panyajis was, fome Writers tell us he was Uncle or Coulin-German to Herodotus ; but thofe who conlider the Etymological Import of Names, will know that fome of that Name are ftill living. Next, the DoSior proceeds thus: As to the Truth of this Dodrine, it will need no great Proof, being the very Words of the Text, which will rather need Explication than Confirmation. And two things are here to be explained ; what is meant by feeing the Kingdom of God, and what by being born again. Now, I muft refer you to the DoElor for explain^ ing thefe things, it being befide my Bufinefs to en- large upon them here, and fhall only add one Paffage of the DoEior^s fecond Sermon, on the fame Text ,• where, /?. 3 ^. he writes thus: I know very well, that the Name of the Spirit In this loofe Age is made matter of Burlefque and Drollery, but fo are all the facred things of God, his Being and Providence, Heaven gnd Hell, and the Day of Judgment ; yet we inuft not therefore be drolled out of our Religion. The Truths of God will itill be the Truths of God, notwithftanding the Follies of Men ; thofe Admoni- lionSj Quench not the Spirit^ gueve not the Spirit^ walk of the Si b y l s. 77 v^alk in the Spirit, &t. vere intended for ferious Ad- vice ; nor will the Follies of fome, who may pretend to what they have not, excufe the Malice o( others, who make a mock of holy things. So far Dr. Wallis^ whofe Sermons I recommend to Mens Perufal ; which, tho he was a great Man, and publifhed many ufeful Books, feem to me to be worth all the reft. Having given an Intimation from Mutius Panfa^ that the Myfleries of the Gentiles were confonant to our Faith concerning God, and fome Pafl'ages from Dr. JVallis, concerning a Regeneration ; I Oiall now pro- ceed (with all SubmifTion to proper Judges) to deli- ver my Senfe concerning Virgil's fourth Eclogue. As I look on Virgil in his Paflorals to have had an eye to Religion and Church-Difpenfations, and its Paftors, as well as to Civil Affairs ; fo, I conceive, in this Eclogue, where, at entrance, he intimates he fhould (ing fomewhat great, his chief Defign was to celebrate that inward Birth, which attends a Rege- neration, after a fpiritual Death, which mufl: firft be undergone ; the higheft Reach of Church-Difcipline being to bring Men, by a due training, to this rege- ,nerate State. And if I am inclined to think that many of the Gentiles became Partakers of this fpiri- tual Death and new Birth, I mufl fay, that after having fpent no fmall time in confidering the Wri- tings of the Gentiles, I cannot make a tolerable Senfe of many PaiTages in them, but as they are explain- able with reference to thcfe interior Tranfadions. I find it fo in Virgil, in his Bucolicks, Georgicks, and ^- neids ; and I find the like in other Authors of the Gentiles. I am perfuaded Virgil, in his fourth Eclogue, has celebrated this new Birth, in which himfelf and many others of the Gentiles were initiated their way, and did not unknowingly write of Chrift by a Pro- phetick Inftind, as fome will have it, becaufe many things there faid, cannot, in many refpe(5ls, be ap- ply'd 78 J T>ifcourfe of the Oracles ply'd to Chrift, tho many learned Men have judged they muft j nor to the Son of Pollio^ tho many Inter- preters have applied them to him, whereas he is not mentioned in that Eclogue. And if what is faid of the Birth there celebrated, be applied to him, we mufl own, he is there reprefented as tho he were to become a greater Perfon than Augvftus. If the Genethliacal Encornium in this Eclogue fhall be applied to the new, or inward Birth, and the bleffed Times that attend it, all things admirably anfwer to it 5 for when this great Work of Regeneration is over, by which Men are taught a higher LeiTon of Juftice than the reft of Mankind have learnt, then is their time to ad in the full Latitude their Spirits bear to, according to the Pofts they are in j they being then to be trufted beyond all others, and there being no fear but they will then ad according to Juftice and a perfed Charity, their Spirits being fully poffefTed with them. Aggredere ! magnos, aderit jam tempus^ homves^ Chara deujn foholesy magni Jovis incrementum ! Dear Offspring of the Gods, ]oves great Increafe / O ! novi's your time great Honours to pojfefs. And tho fome Perfons after a Regeneration fall ar gain, and that fo dangeroufiy, that St. Paul fays, as for thofe who have received the holy Gift, and fall again, there is no poflible way to renew them to Re- pentance ; yet I can fcarce think any of them can be carried fo far aftray, but they will ftill be led by a ftrong Byafs to the central Juftice they imbibed in their Vifitation. Indeed when the Church has brought Perfons to a regenerate State, FunBa eft Of" ficio fuOy fhe has done all that may be expeded from her, nor can fhe go farther ; fo that the Reftoration of fuch fallen Perfons muft be from their own Re- fledions^ of the Si B Y l s. 79 flexions, which will not fail now and then to return upon them. And here I mufl: aver, that thofe vvho have expe- rimentally obferved the Work of Regeneration and inward Birth to have pafsM in them, if they are alfo learned, will be able clearly to verify within them- felves all that the Poet has fet forth relating to the Birth he celebrates, and particularly what he fays in the Clofe of this Eclogue. Incipe^ parve Puer^ rifu cogmfcere Matrenty Matri longa decent tulerunt faftidia menfes. Tour Mother^ Child^ by Smile begin to know, 'Ten long Months Loathings JJk did undergo. For the Church being the Mother of this regenerate Child, undergoes great Loathings for a long time, while fhe obferves the Irregularities it commits ; and this Child, as it comes to have Senfe, and conliders the Methods taken by its careful Mother for bring- ing him to his regenerate State, cannot forbear, ac length, from beginning to take notice of her by a Smile. And I cannot fee how thefe two Verfes can be applied to Chrift, as many learned Writers will have all that is faid in that Eclogue, touching the new Birth, to be fo applied. And I defire any Reader, who may be inclined to their Opinion, fairly to (how me how thofe Verfes (hould be applied to Chrift ; for, I fuppofe, no one will fay the BlefiTed Virgin was at any time troubled with offendve breed- ing Qualms, or a Naufeoufnefs, or had fuch Loath- ings in her Child-bearing, as there exprefs'd. Ano- ther thing w^hich, I think, fufficiently (hows Virgil could not mean Chrifl in that Eclogue^ is, that the Perfon there meant is often to make his Return in an orderly SuccefTion of Ages, as he had done before. Jam redit & Virgo^ vedeimt Saturnia regm. Which 8o A T>ifcourfe of the Oracles Which frequent Returns cannot be faid of Chrift^ tho well they may of the inward Birth I contend for. And thofe who do not confider the various Revolu- tions which pafs in the inward Man, or, indeed, thofe in whom a Regeneration has pafsM, can ne- ver be let into the Knowledge of this Myftery. When I faid, that a regenerate Perfon will be able to verify in himfelf what Virgil has fet forth relating to the Birth he celebrates, it muft not be underftood of a Plenty and Profperity of all things in this World ; for Chrift's Kingdom is not of this World, nor are the Joys of his Kingdom like to the Joys here. And if we confider the State of ^iidaifm at Chrift's Birth, we fhall find it horrible, as the learned Hottinger ob- ferves, Wfl.EccleJ. far. i. c.i. It w^as all deformed, whether we regard the Church, the Schools, or Com- monwealth : And the Jewijh Rahbins themfelves fpeak plainly of the fad Times that would be at the Birth of the Mefjlas. The T'almudifls fo greatly exaggerate the Pains of the Meffias, which Chrift himfelf, Math. "24. &' 8. calls coJlyci/y that is, the Pains of Child- birth, that a Man may not a little wonder with what face the intoxicated Jeivs fhould then promife them- felves Halcyon Days, and an Affluence of all things. The antient T'almudifls thought far otherwife, whence in Gem. Sanhed, c.ii, §.2(5. at the time the MeJJt as y the Son of Davidy will come, there will be very few Difciples, and the Eyes of thofe that are, will wax dull thro Vexation and Grief j Calamities will fall upon them, and moft fevere Decrees will be rnade^ And in Sota, cap. 74t. the Son will afflrd his Father ^vith Ignominy, the Daughter will rife up againft the Mother, the Daughter-in-law againft the Mother- in-laws and every Man's Domeftick will be his Ene- rgy. See Chrift's own Words, Ato. 10. 34, 35, 3(5. I'hink not that I come to bring Peace on Earth, I came not to bring Peace, hut a Sivord. For I am come to fet a Man at 'variance againft his Father j, and the Daughter againft her of the Sibyls. 8 i her Mother ; and the Daughter-in-law againfl her Mother^ in-law; and a Man's Fues fiall be they of his own Houfe^ hold. He that loves Father and Mother mere than me^ is not worthy oj me ; or he that kues Son or Daughter more than me^ is not worthy of me. So a^ain, Luke xii. 49, 51, 52, 53- I am come to bring Fire on the Earth-, and what will /, but that it be kindled ? Do ycu think that I am come to give Peace on Earth, I do not fay fo, but rather Divijion ; for from henceforth there fljall be five in one Houfe divided, three againft two, and two againft three ; the Father floall be divided againfl the Son, and the Son againjl the Father, dec. Whence Abarbanel, in his Com- ment on Daniel, writes, that the Chriliians had heard from the Jew^, that moft grievous Calamities were to be in the W orld at the Time of the Meffias: Firft^ A fhameful Forgettulnefs of the Law then feizM on many in the Church. Secondly, A perverfe ExpHca- tion of the Scriptures. Thirdly, An Obfervance of Pha- rifaical Traditions. Fourthly, A prophane Introdudiion of Simoniacal PracStices. Fifthly, Pernicious Clafhings of Herefies and Hereticks, of Schifms, Schifmaticks^ O'c, See Hottingey, This was the State of the Jews when Chrift canle ; yet the latter fews perfuaded themfelves, that God never intended any other thing, when he chofe the People of Ifrael, and gave them the Law, and pro- mifed them the Meffias, than that they Ihould enjoy a carnal Happinefs while they ferved God according to the Law j and that if this Happinefs fhould be loft for a time, by reafon of TranfgrefTions, all Things would be fully reftored again by the promifed Meffias^ So that when it^s faid, Hofea xiv. 5, 6, I will be as the Dew unto Ifrael, it f) all grow as the Lilly, and ca ft forth its Root as Lebanon ; its Branches /hall fpread as the Olive-'free, and its Smell as Lebanon, &c. the 'JeWs^ (as Luther obfcrves. Tow. 7. Witteberg. p. 341.) un- derftood thefe Things to be faid of the Mejftas, and therefore when they hear the Likeneffes of Corporal M Things $2 ^ J T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles Things propofed, they expe(5i: from the Meffras the' Conveniences of this Life, and corporal Bleffings, ac- cording to what is before exprefsM i and that the ^ews will be the Admiration of all Nations through- out the Earth, and that they alone fhall fway every where : But as for a Forgivenefs of Sins, the Gift of the Holy Ghoft, and Eternal Life, they do not dream of them. This Blindnefs hence arifes, that, as Chrift objeds to them, Matt. xxii. I'hey know not whofe Son the Meffias is. Now, as I have fet forth the State of the 'Jews upon the Coming of the Meffias, fo it is the fame upon a Regeneration, or New-Birth ; for tho* thofe whom God is pleafed to favour with it, are fil- led with fuch a Spiritual Joy, that they would not be without it for the whole World, it muft not be thought that they have regard to an Affluence of worldly Conveniencies, or a carnal Eafe in this Life, where we muft always be in a State of War with our three Enemies, the World, the Flefli, and the Devil; or a liberty of Sinning, which the World commonly takes for happy Times : But they have learned to value a Happinefs of Mind according to the Word of God. And tho' Virgil celebrates a Birth, according to that outward Affluence of all Things, which is the only Happinefs the World can relifti, or well ap- prehend, yet I doubt not but he had a Talle of the other, or of that Happinefs which attends a Purity of Mind, and had a chief regard to it in what he writ. However, he thought fit to gratify Auguflus and his Favourites by celebrating a golden Age with worldly Profperity attending their Reign, and ev*n the Reign of the Mefftas muft be fo celebrated for vulgar Appre- henfion, the fpiritual Senfe being only for the few that are capable of it. That Virgil, and many of the Gentiles, had a Tafte, and the higheft Efteem for this fpiritual Happinefs, fufficiently appears from what they have fet forth concerning it : So Eurip. m Bacchis, A6t,i' yfh^XQ thQ Chorus Baccharum, fays, a if the S I B Y L sr 8^ O heatum^ quifquis Falix gnarus Dei SacYorunty Vitam fiat : Ac animam initiat Orgyis, Bacchcms in motJtibus, Sacris furus ItiftYatimibus ! So, again, the Chorus in AriftofhaneSy at the End of his firft A6i;, in Ranis^ fays, Nolis enim Sol fulgidus SoliSy & hilaris efl Lux^ Sacris qui initiamur^ & Piam bene degimtis Vitam, erga & incolas^ Erga & Peregrinos, The Eluftne Myfteries had regard to the Life to come, and the State after Death ; and thofe who were initiated in them, were accounted more happy and honourable, not only in this Life, but likewife in that to come ; for they believed, that by Luftrations Souls were cleared from the Contagion of mortal Things, and fitted for the Contemplation of Things divine. So Sophocles writes concerning the Myfteries : 'Thrice happy thofe, who when they^ve feen The Myfteries, to Death refign : For thofe alone have future Blifsy AU others^ endlefs Mferics. And here it deferves to be noted, that from the foregoing Verfes of Euripides, Ariftophanes, and SophO" cles, and from all other Paffages of the Gentiles, where they fpeak of their Myfteries, it appears, that whe- ther the Perfons initiated fpeak of themfelves, or others fpeak of them, they are ftill reprefented as tranfported into an uncommon State of Mind ,* and M 2 indeed §4 J T)ifmtrfe of the Oracles indeed fuch as the Regenerate find themfelves in, and this notwithttanding the Ridicule many of the Fathers put on all the Myfteries of the Gentiles. And what Philcftratus tells us, L. 4. C. 18. is remarkable, vixj. that Aj^ollonius Tyanaus, being at EpidauniSy at the time oF the Initiations, and defiring to be initiated, the Hierophnnta refufed it, faying it was not lawful for him to initiate an Enchanter, and to fet open th^ Entrance of Elyjium to him that was not pure in di- vine Things (as Olearius tranilates the lad Words) or, to a Man polluted with the Society of Demons, [as Bullialdus tranflates them in his Notes on T'heon Smyr- nmSy chap, i.] tho* afterward, when Afolknius had ?nade himfelf known, the Hierophama initiated him, as he defired. Thus we fee the Gentiles thought the Minds of thofe they initiated, to be purified, and that others were not worthy of it. The faid Bulli- aldus ^Ifo, in the Place mentioned, writes thus : As in Religions the ultimate End of thofe that recei- ved the Myfteries, was a hoped Blifs and Happinefs, as it appears before from Euripides^ Plato, and others, and thofe who were initiated in the Elujlne and other Myfteries, and at length were admitted to a fight of them, believM they had attaint the Life of the Gods; fo Plato afferts the ultimate End of Philofophy, to be the fight of God, as far as it*s poffible for Man ; according to which, Abammony an Egyptian Mafter, aptly difcourfes, in his Anfwer to an Epiftle of Por- fhyrius to Anebo, as follows : The benevolent and propitious Gods therefore, being led by fuch a Will, fend Light abundantly to religious Perfons, and thofe who apply themfelves to divine Things, and recall their Souls to them, and caufe them to be united to them, and accuftom them while they are yet detained m the Body, to recede from corporeal Things, an4 to be led to their eternal and intelligible Principle. And it clearly appears from thofe Works, that what SHp now fpeak of, is the Salvation of the Soul ,* for while of tbe Si^Y LS. 85 while the Soul is converfant about blefled Objeds, it changes its Life for another, and produces other Effects; nor does it think itfelf obnoxious to a hu- man Fate, being then of a right Mind, and often omitting its own Life, pafles in Operation to the blefled Life of the Gods. So far Ahammon ; and this feems to me to be what Chriftianity afpires to. But note here, that Plutarch, from whom we have the foregoing Paflage of Sof hecks, in his Difcourfe, Hov) the Poets ought to be read, tells us, that they ought to be read with that Prudence which Diogenes ufed againft Sophocles, who has caft a Million of People into Defpair, by thofe Verfes which he writ concerning the Religion and Fraternity of the Myfleries of Ceres ; for Diogenes being told of thofe Verfes, cry'd out. What does the Man fay ? Shall the Thief Patacion, when he dies, be in a better Condition after this Life, than Epaminondas, only bccaufe he has been of the Religion and Fraternity of the Myfleries ? And here I may note, that many Chriftian Divines tell us, that none but fuch as are regenerate can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. If fo. Lord have Mercy upon us ; for, as of the dooooo Children of Ifrael, who fee forth from Egypt, for the Land of Promife, only two of them liv'd to enter it : So, I doubt, if none but the Regenerate, and fuch as keep to a regenerate State of Mind, fhall enter into the Kingdom of Hea- ven, little more than a proportionate Number will ever enter there. Indeed there is this to be faid for the Regenerate, that none but thofe in this Life, can have a Foretafle of the Joys to come, which is no fmall Privilege for them i and none can have a right Senfe of what is writ by myftical Divines, nor of the moft valuable Learning in the Antients, efpe- cially in the Poets, (however fome may value them- felves upon reading the ClafTicks) without this Dif- pofition : But to forcclofe God's Mercy againfl all but the Regenerate, I dare not think of fetting Bounds 86 A T)ifcourfe of the Oracles Bounds there. Note, that when I fpeak above of the Regenerate, I write to thofe who praclically know what a Re£^eneration is, according to the Intimation of Dr. WalUs, tliere being fomewhat extraordinary which pafles in it, befide the common Pra(5i:ice of ^ Chriftian Life \ and this I intimate, that People may not fancy they know what it is, when they do not. To go on with fome other PafTages of the Antients concerning their Initiations. Vlato in Phadone fays. Whoever fhall go to Had^s unexpiated and uninitiated, will lie in the Dirt; but whoever fhall come there purged arid initiated, will cohabit with the Gods. Jfocrates^ in his Panegyrick concerning thofe Myfte- ries, writes, Thofe that partake of the Initiations, have pleafant Hopes both concerning the Iffue of this Life, and all Eternity. Cicero fays, de Leg. L 2? That by the Myfteries, Men from a rude and barba- rous Life are poliftied for Humanity, and brought to a gentle Difpofition. As they are called Initiatings, fo by them w^e really know the Principles of Life ; nor do we only receive with Joy the Way of Living, but likewife a better Hope of Dying. Arianus in EpiB. l.^. C.21. writes,* Initiations become ufeful, if we have an Opinion that all thofe things were or- dered by the Antients for inftruding us, and amend- ing our Lives. And indeed it was called reAgrw, be- caufe it w^s believed to bring a Perfection of Life. See more what the Gentiles thought concerning thefe Myfieries, in Sir John Mar/ham's Canon Chronicus^ in the elevenih Age, under the Head Hades, For the better underftanding of l^irgirs fourth Ec- logue^ I fhall give you fome light concerning the Golden Age he there defcribes, and that new Birth which, as I conceive, he there fets forth. Mr. Dod-' •well, in his Book of the Separation of Churches, c. 14. obferves. That by the Golden Age is meant the time of the Reign of the Spirit ; as long as the Divine Seed of the Sibyls. 87 Seed continued among Men, or as long as they lived, KcCldL hoji>Vy fo long the Gods themfelves appeared and converfed familiarly with Men, till the Degeneration of Mens Lilies, to the Irafcible firft, and then to the Concupifcible Faculty of the Soul, by degrees exiled them back to Heaven again; fo that Aflraa was the laft of them that ftaid below : yet fhe alfo departed at length, according as the Provocations of Men grew more and more intolerable. And this was alfo made the Age of the Giants, who are faid to have fought with the Gods themfelves, for refilling thofe Divine Influences, which are then fuppofed to have been fo familiar : and thefe Giants brought the De- luge, and were alfo caft into 'Tartarus. And the New Teftament compares the Sin of the Apoftates from the Gofpel, with the Sin of thofe who perifhed in the old World, and makes the Punifhment by Fire, which fhould be inflided for the Sin of thefe, exadly anfwering to the Punifhment by the Deluge. And Chriftianity was a reftoring Men to that Divine Seed which thofe before the Deluge enjoyed^ till they loft it by their Mifdemeanors ; and ^uftin Martyr makes the living, /wsr^t K'jy^:, to be 'the fame thing with being a Chriftian : and Conftanutie applies all Virgil's fourth Eclogue, where he defcribes the Golden Age according to the Principles of Hefiod and PlatOy to the State of Chriflianity. And the Spirit was look'd on to be a Divine Nature, as that was then, and fuppofed to make us the Sons of God, as Plato calls thofe ajn^y'om ^ivy who lived then, the Souls of Men being then in an ha>7t^ and Coalition with the Fontal y^o)p^. And according to Plato^ as long as Men were good, God kept the Government of the World in his own hands ; but as they degenerated, fo he was thought to leave it to Fate, Neceility and Fortune, as if he then took no farther notice of it. And feeing Chrift, whom the Primitive Chriflians took for the QeihU^i ^oyiQ-, had the Government of all 88 A T>ifcourfe of the Oracles all things committed to him by the Father, it was reafonable for them fuddenly to expecl thofe happy Times, which, according to this Hypothejls^ were con^ fequent to fuch a Government. The whole Confti- tution of the Government of the Church in that Age was Theocratical ; all the Officers of the Church were invefted in their Office by the Holy Ghoft him- fclf. So far, as to the Golden Age. Concerning Rege- neration and the new Birth, I give you what follows ; 'Trifmegiftus is an antient Author, and is faid to have been an Egyptian Philofopher ; but the Credit of the Works afcribed to him, being lately brought in queftion by fome Criticks, I know not whether any thing taken thence might ferve for an Inflance of a Perfon among the Gentiles who was knowing in the My fiery of Regeneration. The late Dr. E'verardy who, in his Sermons, has fufficiently fhown himfelf j practically knowing in the Work of Regeneration, thought fome of the Works afcribed to him worth a Tranflation, and has given us his Poemander and Af-- clefius in Engli/h ; which I believe he would not have done, unlefs he had had a good opinion of fome part of their Contents. I know fome conjedurc, the Works afcribed to Hermes were written by fome Chriflian ; if fo, and if what he has written con- cerning Regeneration, fhow him to be knowing ia that Work, he is a good Chriflian Teflimony for the Reality of fuch -a thing. If he were aGemile, his Teflimony mufl Hand good as a Gentile. The feventh Book of his Poemander contains his fecret Difcourfe in the Mountain of Regeneration with his Son Tif, concerning Regeneration and a Profeffion of Silence. And perhaps this may be the Mountain of which the Poet faid. " ■ " ■ ^am monte Potltus Ridet anhelantem dura ad fajiigia turhamo The of the Sibyls. 89 The Sum of what he fays in this Book, concern- iQg Regeneration, is this-. His Son defires to be in- ftruded in that Myftery, to which he profefles him^ felf an abfolute Stranger, and without which his Father had told him no Man could be faved, and in which he had promifed to inftrud him, if he would withdraw himfelf from the World, which he faid he had done. Hermes therefore anfwers him to this eftcd : This intellectual Wifdom, O Son ! is to be underflood in Silence, its Seed is true good, it's fown by the Will of God, and the Man who is thus born is the Son of God. This New-Birch, Son, is not taught, but is brought to our Mind when God pleafes. If you ask me the way of Regeneration, I can only fay, that I fee in myfelf no feigned Sight or Spe<5tacle, made through the Mercy of God ; I am gone out of myfelf into an immortal Body, and am now what I was not before, but am born a-new in Mind. This thing is not taught, nor is it to be feen in this Elementary Body, and therefore I neg- led: my firft compounded Frame ; not that I am fe- parated from it, for I have a Touch and Dimenfions, but I am eftranged from it. You fee me, O Son ! with your Eyes, but as you difcern me prefenting a Body, I cannot be feen with Eyes as I am now; and would to God, my Son, you alfo may go cue of your- felf without Sleep, like to thofe who dream in theic Sleep. NOTE heve^ that in the M^ork of Regeneration^ Men are carried out of themfehes, by faffing into an ex'* tatick State ; in which, tho they are not afleep, they are in a fort of waking Dream, like to thofe who dream in their Sleep ; and this is that Sleep of which it is faid. Cum de-^ derit dileElis fuis Svmnum, ecce Hareditas Domini I and the Spiritual Death pajjeth in this extaiick State, of which it's faid, Pretiofa in confpeBu Domini Mors Sanc^ torum ejus ; and in this State Men may be faid to he be^ Jide themfehes, according to that of St» Paul, % Cor. 5-i5«» N /i go ^J Tiifcotirfe of the Oracles If we are he fide ourf elves ^ it^s to God-ward ; if we arefohery H^s for your fakes, it's the Love ofChrift that xuorksthif in us. And lee it be noted, that as in the Act of Ge- neration, which Phyficians i.eii us is like the Fit of an Epilepfy, the Powers of the Body are fo a- gitated, that the Perfons concerned pafs into a Trance, or a fort of Extatick btate, in wnich an E- nergetick Force pafTes from them, cauhng an Im- pregnation for a Propagation of the Species ; fo in the Work of Regeneration^ the D'vine Impulfes are fo ftrong, that the Perfons concerned find themfelves tranfported into a fort of Extafy, in which a new Eirfh is brought forth, which may be called the in- ternal Miff as : and upon that Birth fome of the Per- fons concerned hear heavenly Mulick, as the Angels are faid to have fung in the Air at the Birth of Chrift, and of which the Waits, who go about our Streets with their Muiick before Chriflmas, and wait- ing the Birth of Chrift, prefent us a Type. Some are then brought to a Communion with Spirits, and other Knowledges are communicated to them, with which the reft of Mankind are no way acquainted: and if any Men, having an opinion of their Parts, make their Underftandings the Meafure of Know- ledge, and ridicule fuch things, let them confider that there are a thoufand things in Law, in Phyfick, in all the Arts and Sciences, Avhich are impenetrable to thofe who have not groundedly learnt thofe Arts and Sciences, however vaft a Genius they may other- wife have, and how able foever they may be in pene- trating things of the higheft nature. T'rifmegiftus goes on : If you ask who caufes this Regeneration, it's the Son of God, one Man, by the Will of God. You muft farther judge from the changeable things of this World, what is true : for this is not changeable, and is underftood Qiily in Power and Adion. And the Mind only can underftand that Generation which is in God. And 4io not defpair. Son, but you may do this i draw it into of the S f B V L s.' 91 into yourfelf, and it will come; have a Will to itj and it will be done ; vacate the Senles ot the Body* and there will be a Generation of a Deity ; purge yourfelf of the brutifli Afteds of Matter, which you may do by degrees, thro the Mercy of God \ and by this way and means a Regeneration is w rought. And as for the reft, my Son, be lilent, and hope w ell, and the Mercy of God will not be wanting to us. And rejoice, my Son, for being purged through the Power of God to a Clearnefs of Senfe, the Know- ledge of God conies to us j and as this comes, Sor- row will fly away to thofe that are capable of it. Whoever thro Mercy has attained to a Generation in God, leaving Corporeal Senfe, knows himfelftobe divinely conftituted, and rejoices, being made fted- faft by God. Hermts at laft concludes : My Son, ha- ving learned thefe things from me, keep to the Ver- tue of Silence, revealing to no Man the Tradition of Regeneration, left we be thought Calumniators. This is the Subftance of what I have drawn from the obfcure wording of Hermes^ concerning Regene- ration ; in which I difter in fome places from Dr. £- verarcfs T'ranflation, he perhaps having tranflated from another Copy than that I have, which is a Venice Edition of Hermes's Works, fet forth by Fr, Patvicius^ Anno i$9S' Avho tranflated them into L^f/w from a Copy he had from the Library of Ranz^onm. As I have confldercd what is here faid concerning Rege- neration, 1 fliall be inclined to believe with Mr. Doi- ijjell^ in his Book of The Separation of Churches, c. 15. that he that writ it was a Chriftian, till it fhall fome way appear to me that the Poemander, as we have it, was extant before Chrift's time : for he feems to me to have Hints more than ordinary concerning the Myftery of Regeneration. Mr. Dodzvell, in his fore- cited Book, p. 33^. writes thus: UctM^yzvijU is a Term exprefly ufed by the Author, who goes under the Name of Triftnegifitis^ who, if he were really a N 2 Chri- 92 ^A Tiifcourfe of the Oracles Chriftlan, as I believe really he was, yet he feems at leaft to have perfonated the Perfon whofe Name he was pleafed to aflume, and confequently in hira to have perfonated the Egyptian Philofophy. So Plato., when he would give an account of the Principles of Socrates^ or Timaus, brings them in, difcourling in their own Words. And tho Pythagoras himfelf is faid to have written nothing, yet the Golden Verfes^ and other things quoted by the Antients, bear his Name, and very probably the fame Account may ferve foi; the Orphaicks,i\\dii they were alfo defigned by the feve- ral Authors to exprefs the Senfe of Orpheus, and the Principles of Religion introduced by him. And I believe feveral of thofe antient Works, which at pre- fent bear falfe Titles, w^ere firfi; infcribed with thofe Titles by the Authors for this very reafon, without any defign of impofing on the World. As therefore on thefe accounts it will appear probable that the Author intended to deliver the Principles of the Egyf^ iian Philofophy^ which pretended to Hermes as its firft Author; fo it*s very probable alfo, that he meant that Scheme of it which prevailed in his own time at Alex- andria^ which was the EleBi'ue, made up of feveral Scds that agreed in oppofition to the Scepticks and Atheifts; V/hich School much influenced the World in that Age. And it's therefore very likely to be alluded to in the New Teftament, which fuppofed its Readers imbued vith thofe Principles. And according to this Philofo- phy the Return of the Soul from Heaven, whence it came, is called a new Birth : So Porphyry tells us, that the Defcent of the Soul into this VVorld, is re- prefented by the Bees and Honey in Homer's De- scription of the Antrum Nympharum^ as Emblems of the firft Generation ; and yet withal, that the NeSlar, the Drink of the Gods, was made of Honey, to fhow that the fame Refemblance very well fitted the Return, or fecond Birth of the Soul alfo : and it's probable, it was hence given by the Primitive Chri- itians of the Sibyls. 95 ftians to new baptiz'd Perfons. Milk and Honey alfo were both of them ufed to Infants in their firfl Birth, and fo were very fit, according to the Myfti- cal Philofophy, which was of great ufe then, for bringing many over to Chriftianity, and fo muft needs have been fuppofed true by them who on this account received it, where it was not correded by exprefs Revelation. And by this PalTage of Porfhyry it ap- pears, that the fame Philofophers took it for a fit Symbol of the fecond Birth alfo : Nor did the j^gjp- tians only exprefs this Notion of the Return of Souls to Heaven by the Name of a fecond Birth : 7'ertuliian ufes alfo the word Regeneration concerning them, and the Worfhippers of Mithras^ a Religion that then very much prevailed among the Myflical Philo- fophers, and other celebrated Myfteries. The fame thing is faid more particularly concerning the ^gyf^ tian Myfteries by Apuleius, Met. lib. 11. who fpeak- ing of ///J, fays. For the Apartments of Hell, and the fecuring of Salvation, are in her hands ; and when any one confecrates himfelf to her, it's done as it were with a voluntary Reiignation to Death, (ince it is a pafTuig from a profane Life to a religious ; fo that a Man feems then to be born a-new, as being fet on a new foot for Salvation thro the Favour of the Goddefs. And Apulems calls Mithras, the Prieft who had initiated him, Father -, Complexus Mithram Sa- cerdotem & meum jam parentem. So St. P^m/ calls him- felf the Father of thofe he had converted. And as the Scripture fpeaks of the Life after Converfion, as a new Life, fo it does therein only allude to the Style of the Philofophers who make the (Tco]-Aeictv «(?' »AMf, the efcaping from the Corruption of the World, to be a Recovery of a new Life j and they make the Ao>(^- to be a winging of the Mind, by which they are made capable to afcend upwards, to a recovering of a Divine Life. And accordingly, the very Name of ozyjHp is afqribed to him by SimpUcim in that exeel- lenc 94 -^ T>ifcourfe of the Oracles lent Prayer of his, with which he concludes his Commentary on EpiEletus : and that it is by the Spi- rit this Government is adminiftred, appears from Afuleius^ in his Tranflation of the Afdefius of 7r//- megiftus. Now if w^e put the Principles of this Hypothefis together, they will fully amount to the Account the Scripture gives of Chrift as the hoy©-y fo much of it at leaft as we are at prefent concernM for : Firft, the new Life will confifl in a Conjundion with the aoq/©-, to whom they alfo afcribe it, as the Scripture does. Secondly, this a6>©- exerts his enlivening Power in us by the Spirit, as the Scripture tells us Chrift does ; fo that they who have not this Spirit, cannot partake of this Life. Thirdly, the firft Infufion of the Spirit is that which enables us to afcend, and to exercife any Ad of the new Life, and therefore is moft properly call'd the new Birth ; and therefore they who have not yet received the Spirit, as the Principle of Regeneration, cannot be fuppofed to have received it at all, and by thefe Principles cannot be fuppofed capable of afcending into Heaven, be- caufe this is the Wing by which they are enabled to afcend thither. Fourthly, this Infulion of the Spirit, as a Principle of Regeneration, was expeded in thofe Baptifms which were then received in the com- monly received Myfteries of that Age j and accor- dingly, the partaking of thofe Myfteries was particu- larly recommended by Pythagoras for this Purpofe of Philofophy. And, Fifthly, That we may not ad- mire that Baptifm, which was only a Ceremony of admitting Difciples, fhould alfo be made a Myftery, and, as fuch a one, made ufe of for communicating thofe Spiritual Influences which were ufually exped- ed in Myfteries i this was alfo frequent among the Philofophers of thofe Times, efpecially the Pythago* ream, from whom the Ejfeem feem to have borrowed many things, as the Ch^iftians did from the Effeens, to of the Sibyls. 95 to fuit the Way of inftrudln^ their Scholars, as to the Cuftoms of their ufual Myfleries. So far Mr. Dodinell^ who delivers here much more of this Sub- jed, and in his 16 cap. he fets forth the Likenefs be- tween the Defign of the Heathen Myfteries, and of the BlefTed Sacrament, fliewing that they were com- morative, and that generally of the Sufferings of their Gods ; that they were performed by external Symbols, particularly Bread was a facred Symbol of Unity obferved in the Rites of Mithras among the Pythagoreans ; and in the antient Way of Mar- riage by Confarrearion, and in Truces, among the Jews : That the Myfteries were defigned particu- larly for the Good of the Soul, and that in the State of Separation : That in the Myfteries they were obliged to a Confeffion of Sins, and to undertake new Rules of living well ; in which Particulars, Mr. Dodwell has fhewn much Learning, which well de- ferves to be confidered by Learned Men. See much more concerning the foregoing Myfteries in Reinejtus's Syntagma Infcript. Antiq. Clajj. i, hfcript. 40 and 48, where he relers to many Authors concerning them. To proceed now, and to make things fomewhat more clear, and to remove Difficulties which may perplex fome Men in this Matter of the new Birth, I offer the following Particulars for a farther Informa- tion. ly?, Notwithftanding the Exorbitancies of Humane Nature, there is a tender Virginal Part in the Soul of Man; and this is that Virgin, which being im- pregnated by the holy Spirit, is the immediate Bringer forth, under a Church Guidance, of the internal Meffiah : of which fome Chriftian Divines write, that Chrifl is a Shadow, a Symbol, a Figure, and that Chrrfi*s bodily Prefence muft depart, or we fliall never have his fpi ritual Prefence. For, faith he, John Sy& ^6. Except I go away, the Spirit or Comforter cannot come. Indeed, till Chrift comes to be formed withia 9:6 J T)ifcourfe of the Oracles within us, an Hiftorical Faith of him fignifies little, it's no more than the Devil has as well as we ; it's the Chrift in our Hearts, born within us, and cruci- fied within us, which muft fave us. And St. ^aul fays, 2 Cot, %,& i6. that after this Chrift is bom within us, hmcefirth know we no Man after the Flefly^ yea tho we had known Chrifl after the Fle/h, yet henceforth lue know him no more. zdly, I ihall farther fliew, that the Jews and Gen- tiles were acquainted in this Work of Regeneration and the inward Birth, as Chriftians are, and that the Gentiles had the knowledge of this Myftery from a very remote Antiquity, tho it may not be eafy to find out how, and at what particular time, they firft came to receive this Knowledge. Firft it appears, that the Jews were knowing in this Myftery, becaufc when Chrift faid to Nicodemus^ Unlefs a Man be horn again, he cannot fee the Kingdom of God ; and Nicodemus feem*d furprized at this Saying, and knew not what he meant, Chrift replied to him. Art thou a Mafler in Ifrael, and knowefi not thefe things^ This plainly fhews, that every Mafter in Ifrael ought to be well knowing in the Work of Regeneration, as they had been of antient Times. So i Cor. lo. it*s faid, that all our Fathers did eat of the fame fpi ritual Food,, and did drink the fame fpiritual Drink, for they drank of the Spiritual Rock, and that Rock was Chrift ; that is, they had the fame Spirit, and Faith in Chrift as we, and were all Chriftians as we. This PalTage, I think, confirms the other, and we may have reafon to believe that this Knowledge of the Myfteries of Chrift, and a Regeneration continued in Vigour among the Jews, as long as all the Hope the antient Fathers of the Jewijh Nation conceived concerning the Coming of the Mejftas, confifted in the fole Spiritual freeing of their Souls from the ty rannical Dominion of Sin and the Devil : And that Religion was ftrongly upheld among them from Adam to I vf' the Sibyls. 97 to the Deflrudion of Solomon s Temple, and all were faved that died piouOy in that Faith. But in the time of ZorobabeFs Temple, as they faw the Term pre- fixed to it by the Patriarch Jacob^ Gen. 49. and the feventy Weeks of Daniel drawing to an end, and were in daily Expedation of the Meffias^ they began to entertain a monftrous Opinion, unknown to their Fathers, concerning him, ^viz.. That he would not be their Redeemer from the Power of Sin and the Devil, but from the Gentiles ; and hither they wrefled Avhatever the Patriarchs and Prophets had prophelied concerning the Spiritual and Celeflial Benefits of the Mefjlah : and this was the fole Caufe why the 'jevjs rejected Chri ft, that they expeded an earthly King and Kingdom, and a Corporal Redemption, and did not fee Chrift furnifhed with carnal Force for ac- complifhing fo great a Work. And as by the Com- ing of the Mefjlah they promifed themfelves only car- nal Good, and Temporal Happinefs ; fo they thought nothing pafles betwixt the Mejjl ah and Man concern- ing the eternal Salvation of the Soul, which Man, thro his Dignity, as being a j^^iu, and thro the Me- rit of his VVorks alone procures ; to which they afcribe every Good and every Reward, w^hether temporal or eternal ; and thus the Hope of Ifrael is fallen to the Flefh, their Faith and Religion is adulterate, while it is become carnal, which was formerly fpiritual. If the M'-ffias ought to do nothing in the World but what they now fay, and promife themfelves by their perverfe Faith, God would not have publifhed him, and forefhewn him by Types, and promifed him after fo folemn a manner y nor would the Patriarchs, Pro- phets, Kings, and holy Fathers, have fo earneftly defired him for 4000 Year«. And Manajfeh Ben Ifrael^ in his fecond Book of the Refurredion of the Dead, fays, it would not be fo great a wonder if the Meffias came to fubdue many Kingdoms and Empires, fince we oiten fee it happen, that many poor and abjed O Perfons 98 ^J T>ifcourfe of the Oracles Perfons have come to be Kings and Emperors, and to be Lords of many Countries ; and lince it is predic- ted, that upon the coming of the MeJJtas, the Scepter will be taken away, the Dominion of the Meffias is not to be placed in an outward Scepter or Kingdom. So much concerning the Jews, as to the Dodrine antiently in vigour among them concerning Regene- ration, tho^ almoll: forgotten at the Coming of Chrift. Secondly, That fome of the Gentiles were alfo know- ing in the Myftery of Chrift, it appears from St. Au- fiin, w^ho, L. 18. C. 47. de Civ. Dei, writes thus : It^s not incongruous to believe, that there have been Men in other Nations befide the Jezvs, to whom the My- ftery of Chrift has been revealed, and who have had Impulfes to prophefy of him ; nor do I think the Jews dare to contend, that no one has belonged to God beftde the Ifraelites, fmce Ifrael began to propa- gate^ his elder Brother being rejected. Indeed there has been no other People which has been properly called the People of God, but they cannot deny that there were certain Men alfo of other Countries, be- longing not by an earthly, but a celeftial Society, to the true Ifraelites, Citizens of the Country above. If they deny it, they are eaflly convinced in that holy and admirable Man Job, who was a Foreigner to the Jeijos, and who is fo praifed by the divine Oracle, that, as for Juftice and Piety, no Man of his Time was equal to him , and I doubt not but this was or- dained by God, that from this one might we know there might be other Nations alfo, who lived according to God, and pleafed him, belonging to the fpiritual Jerufqlem; which, it is to be believed, has been granted to none but thofe to whom God has revealed that one Mediator betwixt God and Man, the Man Chrift Jefus, who has been foretold to come in the Fielh by the antient Saints, as he is declared to havq ^ome to us, that one and the fame Faith may by him of the Sibyl s^ 99 lead all the Predeftinated into the City of God, the Temple of God, the Houle of God, to God. On this Paflage of St. Auftin^ Vives writes thus : For thofe of the Gentiles who followed Nature, that Guide not defaced and corrupted with evil Judgments and Opinions, might be as gratelul to God, as thofs that kept Mofes's Law ; for what thefe attain by the Law, tnofe might have attain'd without the Law ,' and who were fuch without the Law, arrived at the fame Place as the Jews, lince they ileer'd their Courfe to the fame ; nor was there any other dirterence be- twixt them, than there is when one Travelier carries a written Direction of his Journey, and another trulls to his Memory or Judgment : And the fame would happen to a Man now, who having heard nothing of Chrift in the remote Parts of the World, fhould keep thofe two great Commandments concerning the Love of God and our Neighbour, in which Truth itfelf has affirmed the whole Law and Prophets to be con- tained. To this Man, his Confcience is a Law ; in fuch Men what is wanting but Water ? fince they have merited and received the Holy Spirit, as the Apoftles. Peter teftifying that fome are filled with a divine Afflatus, and this Light, whom the myftical Water has not yet touch^'d, and this Light of fo Living, is the Gift of God, and proceeds from the Son, of whom it is written, that He enlightens every Man coming into this World. And according to this, Paulus Schalichius, in his Book De Juftitia & Jure, and De Gradatione, writes, Hac noniina Filii Dei, verbum^ mens opifex, Caufa, ami apud veteres Philofophos babeantur^ Platcnem, Ariftctekm & Anaxagoram, Chaldaos, Sibyllas, Mercuriumy Orphea, omnem Platonicam Gentem, apparet totam de Filio^ qua nunc colitur Tbeologiam cognitam, ado* rat am, pradicatain, antequam ipfe Ho??Jo fieret. To give fome Liftances of what the Gentiles knew of this Spiritual Death and New Birth, beiide what: may appear in Virgifs 4th Eclogue^ where I take that O 2 Birth 100 ^J T)ifcoitrfe of the Oracles Birth to be celebrated, I am of opinion that VirgiFs fecond Eclogue was written as preparatory for thofe who Vv'cre to be initiated in the New Birth : For, if I know any thing, that Eclogue was written, as by a skilful Paftor to one under his Cafe, according to the Ars Amatoria and Ohftetricia of Socrates: For, as to what Interpreters commonly fay, that Viygil, under the Name of Corydon, there fets forth his paflionate Amour for a beautiful Youth given him by PoIIio, I cannot acquiefce in it, but look on Virgil as a Man of a more ferious Spirit, than to trifle w ith Poflerity in recording an Amour in that kind : Nor did he, in my opinion, make his court in that Eclogue to Cornelius GalJus, for his Friendfhip, as fome learned Men have judged, even this End, as it feems to me, not anfwer- ing Virgil's great Genius and Depth of Senfe. For whereas it's faid by the Learned, that Virgil imitated ^Theocritus in his Bucolicks, Hefiod in his Georgicks, and Hofner in his /^neids, and in them equalled Homer y furpafled HeJIod, but came much fhort o^ Theocritus ^ I inuft fay that I cannot find any thing in Iheocritus (I know not whether it may be for want of good Speda- cles) which out-does Virgil's fecond and fourth Eclogues, in the Senfe I underfland them, and which I know may be applicable that way, however others may interpret them ; tho' I well know the learned Huetius looks on Virgil's eighth Eclogue^ as far exceed- ing any of the reft. There were antiently among the Gentiles, as there are ftill among Chriftians, fome contemplative Per- fons, who lived in the Woods, and ufed fomiC uncom- mon ways of training for their PupiJs j they played on the Seven-Reed Pipe of Pan, and fang their Lays to thofe they made love to. The Leffons they gave, car- ried a double Meaning, fo that many times it was long before they were obferved ; but when they were, their Charms were fuch, that they feldom failM of Succefs. I know a Perfon, who, as foon as he heard a of the Sibyls. ioi a Corydon finging to him in the Woods, prefently wrote the following Anfwer, under the Name of Alexis^ as follows :. J L E XI S Corydoni fuo fumme colendo, S. T. T>. S/T, quondam Paflor Cory dm ardehat JJexw^ Delkias Dornini^ nee quid f per aret hahebaty 1'antiim inter denjas umbYoja Cacumina fagos Ajjfidue veniebat^ ibi fua car?nina folus Momibus <^ S)lvis ftudio jaBabat inanl, Cory don ! iji non, flans in contraria Ventug Obftiteraty dulcrfq; iua imdiilamina voci^ Audijfety 'voto ilk tuo certe cbvius ejfst, Non forrno[us erat, tali fedfretus Amore Candidus efl, Jperat quo que fe fore candidiorem, Qiiis te defpircet ? tu quis Jis quarit Alexis. Quam di'ves nivei pecoris, quam la^is abundans Nil dub it at, nunquam deer it tibi copia me His, Mille tibi Siculis errant in montibus agna, Lac tibi non aflate mvtun non f rigor e defitl Cant as qua fvlittis Ji quando armcnta vocabat Amphion Dircmis in ABao Aracyntho. Quod fis formofuSy faciant te littora certum Dum placidum mentis ftabit Mare, nee tibi Daphnin Judicefeprafert, te nunquam faUet imago, O tantum liceat mihi tecum fordida rura Atque humiles habitare cafas, & figere cervos, Hadorumq-y gregem viridi compellere hibyfcOy . T'ecilm und in fylvis imitari Pana canendo. Pan primus calamos cera conjungere plures Inflituit, Pan curat eves cviumque magiflros. Nee me paniteat calamo triv/Jfe Labellum, Hae eadem ut fciret^ quid nonfuBurui Ak^i^ ? 102 'J Tiifcoiirfe of the Oracles Eft tihi difparibus feptem compaBa cicutis Fiftula^ Damatas dom tibi quam dedit olim, Et dixit moriens^ te nunc habet ifta fecundum. Maxima dona equidem^ faucis concejfa beatis. Et talenty ut fatear, nuper mihi mtus amicus Obtulit, heu, nimium dura fub conditione. Praterea duo, nee tuta tibi valle reperti Capnoliy fparfis etiam nunc pellibus albo, Bina die Jiccant ovis ubera, quos mihi few as, 'Jampridem a te illos abducere "Theftilis orat. Nee faciety mihi char a nimis funt munera njeflra ; En tibi jamque adfum, funt & quia Pignora amoris^ lum tua nympharum quoque grate dona recepto ; Nee ft muneribus certet "viEiurus lolasy Anne ego te fugiam ? cum Sylvas Diique habitarunt, Dardaniufque Paris, placeant ante omnia Syha, Torva leana lupum fequitur, lupus ipfe capellam, Florentem cythtfum fequitur lafciva capeUa, Jamque egomet Cory dona, trahit fua quemque voluptas : Afpice aratrajugo referunt fufpenfa jwveneiy Et Sol crefeentes decedens duplicat umbras. Me tamen urit amor, quis enim modus adlit amori ? Ah Cory don, Cory don, noli deftftere ecepto, Semiputata tibifrondofd wis in ulmo eft', Non alias transferto tuum, crudelis, amorem ; Omnia, qua fua funt, tibi conceffurus Alexis y Dulcia cantabis modo carmina fape petenti. Alexis was not fatisfied by writing the foregoing Anfwer in Verfe, but wrote alfo the following Epi- ftle in Profe. J L E XI S Chironi, Daedalove fuo fumme colendo, Vir Clariffime, EX o?nnibus Bonis a Deo mortalibus conceffls, Sapientia certe, quam in te fingularem flgnofco^ primas tenet, & admi^^ of the Sibyls. 105 admiranda tua feritia in decanatiffima Philofophorum Pan- aced conficiendd valde me in tui admirationem rapuit, cujus 'viresfere fuper-humanaSy lel multis e doBiovibus incredi-; biles vifas, te fatrocinante^ expertus fum. Gratias^ qua-- les potuiy pro tantd tud in me Benejicentid, jam olim tibi rependi in Epiflold quadam a me fcriptd, utinam a te re-^ ceptd, eafque jam pridem iterajfem, fi modus certus inno- tuijfet, quo fcripta mea ad manus tuas pervenirent. Legi equidem, apud Myftas, vivos divino tuo fungentes miinerej, cmn in Sylvis lateant, baud facile cuipiam fe cogmfcendos dare ,* proindeque parum fpei eji, nota mea apud te tantum Valetura, ut inter amicos familiares me recipere digneris^ immo de tanta_ felicitate tantum non defpondeo : hac tamen adfari liceat, cum virum fapientiffimum te cognofco^ nilque niji rationabik obfequium te a quocunque expvflurum, fub quacunque lege & conditioner in ami cor um numerum, fi optare liceat^ me recipiesy ad omnia me paratijfnnum te in- njmtirum fpondeo. Verba defnnt qui bus ad amicitiam be-., nevo lent ia?n que te tilterius provocem. Vale feliciHime, Vir optime, Patrone generofiffime ! Alexis having writ thefe two Epiflles, never fent them, for want of a due Diredion, as he complains in his foregoing Epiftle, and intimates that he had fent Corydon another Epiftle before, but doubted whe- ther it came to his hands, tho he fent it to an Ac- quaintance of Cvrydon ; who owns the receipt of it, but is not free to own that Corydon ever received it, or to tell his true Name, or Place of Refidence. The Epiftle which this Perfon received, and was defired to convey it to Corydony was as follows. Vir ClarifTime, 'T^Lura olim legi de admirandd potentid Artis & Natura^ 1 JL ^^^^5 ^^ ^^^ intellexiy nee talia referentibus fidem ad- hibui ; jam vero tua dicmn pietas, an generojitaSy certo henevolentia multo ?najora mihi hifce in rebus demonfira- fity quam vel animo dub it ant i quondam eis inejfe fufpicatus fum. 1 04 A 'T>ifcoiirfe of the Oracles fum. Quid aiitem res eft ? alter Deucalion a Prometheo ad?7tomtus de diluvio in montem Parnafji me red ft ; prava- lentibus undiSy ac tandem fuhfidemibus eodem etiam mon-^ flrante viam, Dodonam adij^ fyhamque vocalem per^ agravi ': ttbi^ & diEiu mirabile, animalium cum 'volatilium turn terreftrium Linguas^ cateris mortalibus ignotas, diSlu citiiis edidici ; immo &, Diis tejiibus, ava tinnientia ab Angelis fulfata, curetu?n Cymbala crepitantia, nafcente ^ove, admirandafque Spheranim harmoniasy ter (D" am* plius audiii : Noe cu?n aqua terras cooperuerim, primo ex area cor'vum einifit, avem infauftum, qui nee domino Juo bona: fpei indicia reporta^jit, emifit tandem & columbam meliora experturus. Quid dicam ? exundat animus^ plura tamen de hifce Myfteriis err ami charta committenda non funt, Et hacfortajfe male fana videantur^ ab anifno licet multo faniori profeBa, quam olimfuit. Deus, pro ijotis meis, te fervit incolumem lie eat mi hi corporis falutem ei ex animo precari, a quo animi recepi medelam. Heu quales gratia pro quali munere ? Vicit officium Lingua beneficii magni* tudo. Vale feliciffjme, Verum uhi nulla fugam reperit fallacia viBuSy In fefe redit^ atque hominis tandem Ore kcutus. Now, I do not admire that Corydon was not free to be known to Alexis, notwithftanding the great Good- will he might have born him, fince M. d'Herbilot, in his Bibliotheque Orientale^ tells us from the Arabians^ under the Word Afrar, which fignifies Secrets and Myfleries, that their myftical Writers fay, they re- veal their Secrets only to thofe who are capable of underftanding them, and that even thofe to whom thefe Myfleries are unfolded, cannot declare them to others, fince they ought to be concealed j and it ought to fatisfy them, that they can entertain themfelves in a mute Language, with him who has made them Par- taker^ of fo great a Favour ; and it^s known that the n:oft learned and wifeft Men^ include various Senfes int of the S I B Y L s^ 105 in what they write, and, as tho* they were doing janother thing, hint to the Learned and Studious, wonderful Secrets, or Arcana of Natural and Divine Things. If we look on VirgiTs Georgich, we fliall find many Paflages there, which fhow him to be acquainted in the Spiritual Death and New Birth. Near the be- ginning of his firft Georgick^ after he has laid to Au^ guftuSj that the World was in great Expedation of him, whether he wou'd make himfelf famous by Sea, or by Land, or become a Conflellation in the Hea- vens, he writes thus : Qtiicquid eris (nam te nee fperent 'tartar a Regem^ Nee tibi regna'udi veniat tain dira cup i do ; Quamvis Eiyjios rniretur Gracia Campos, Nee repetita jequi ctirct Proferpina matrem) Dafaeikm eiirfum, &c. Whatever you II he (for Hell ne^er hopes y on King, Nor fo feek Rule to wiflpfo direful thing ; 'Tho* Greece admires th' Elyfian Fields^ nor ijas Proferpine/ow^ zvith Ceres thence to pafs) Vouchfafe your Favour " Now thefe Verfes manifeftly fhow, that fome Si- byl had led Virgil through the fubterraneous Re- gions, as the Sibyl had carried j^neas, and other Heroes, thither ; (for as our learned Sanford obferves, in his Work, De Defeenfu Chrijli ad Inferos, Lib. 2. prope finem. No great Man occurs in the Poets, hut he fome time defcendcd into Hell) a:^d that he had a free Intercourfe to the Elyfian Fields, otherwife he could not have told Auguftus that the Greeks admired thofe Fields, nor know why thofe Fields were admired by them, nor why Proferpine was fo well pleafed w^itii Pluto's Habitation, that fhe carM not to return upon .the Earth, when her Mother Ceres came to fetch her; P nor io6 A Tiifcourfe of the Oracles nor why the Poet fays, it^s a direful thing to become K-ing of Hell ; nor (let me fay it) are thefe Things knowable, without having paft the Spiritual Death I have mentioned. And Virgil^ in his fixth ^neid^ admirably fets forth this Tranfadion, and the Labour that attends it ,* where we find that JEneas having a Defire to. converfe with his Father Anchifes^ in the Ehjlan Fields, applies himfelf to the Sybil, who prefided over the Groves where the Entrance into the fubterraneous Regions is, (being deputed to it by Hecate^ who bears Sway in Heaven, Earth, and Hell) and defires her to be his Guide to lead him to him. Hereupon the Sybil well knowing the Labour there is in this Tranfa&ion, diifuades him from the Under- taking, faying to him. 'Facilis defcenfus Avernt ', NoEles atque dies patet atri jama Ditis : Sed revocare gradum, fuperafque evadere ad Auras^ Hoc cfuSy hk labor eft. Pauci quoi aquus amavit Jupiter y aut ardens evexit ad ^thera Virtus ^ Diis geniti, potuere j tenent 7nedia omnia Sylva^ Cocytufque (tnu labens circumftu.it atro. Quod ft tantus Amormenu,^..tanta Cupido efty Bis Stygios imare Lacus, Us nigra njidere I'artara, & infam 'juvat indulgere Labori ; j Accipe qua peragenda prius. It*s eafy going to Hell; Black Dis'f Gates zve kno'W are openfiill : But to return^ and rifts to the bright Sun^ Here lies the toiljome Work ; few this have done^ Whom Jove has lov*d ; or ardent Vertues raife Vs to the Skies y or God-born Men j the Ways *That lie betwixt, with Woods are all heftety And dread Cocytus clofte fturrounds the Pit, But if your Mind he ftuch, fto great your Zeal^ 1q vifit twice the Stygian Lakes and HeUi m of the Sibyls. 107 Ani this mad Labour needs you II undergo^ 'Then learn of me what firft you have to do. And beneath, when /Eneas comes to enter the Cave, the Poet writes, ,.." ''.*'*, ■ ■'■ Proculy ! procul efie prof am ^ Conclamat 'vates, totoqne abfiflite iuco. 'Tuque invade viam, vaginaque erife fetrum^ Nu72c animis opis^ iEnea, nunc feflore firmo. The Sibyl cries y Far now^ far he gone From this whole Grove, you Men that are profane^ And you with Sword in Hand, come on your IVay; iEneas, now your Courage you muft try. And when the Ghofts prefented thcmfelves before jEneas, the Poet fays, Corripit hie fulita trepidus formidine fervum ^neas, flriEiamque aciem venientibus offert^ Et ni doBa comes tenues fine corpore vitas Admoneaty volitare cavafub imagine formic ^ Irruat^ & fruftra ferro diverberet umbras, -^neas here with fudden Fright being feared, Prefents his Sword, and /lands upon his Guard, And if the Sibyl had not told him, they ^ Were airy Souls which fuch like Shapes difplay, ^ If ad vainly firove with's Sword the Ghojis to flay, j Now to explain this Tranfadion as clearly as may be, it is to be confidered, that the Hades of the an- tient Gentiles fignified both the Place of the Elyfian Fields, and the Place of Punifhment. of the Wicked ; or, properly, the invifible World, or the invifible State of the Mind of Man after a corporal or fpiri- tual Death : and as it is a Prieftly Fundion to bring P z Mea iqS a T^ifcottrfe of the Oracles Men acquainted. with the invifible World, or State, and to aid them in pafUng to it ; fo, by the Sybil, we muft underftand fome Prieft, or Clergymaii, vvhofe Office it is to perform this. And as the Sybil ex- poftulates with JEneas concerning his Defire of twice going to Hell, or the Hades, this plainly inti- mates, that befide our natural Death, after which we come to this Knowledge, there is a fpiritual Death, which fome Men undergo in order to a Re- generation, being aided in it by a Sibyl : the Labour of which to the Undergoer is bed known by Expe- rience i and Dr. Wallisy as is intimated before, tells us, it is not fo eafy a thing as fome may imagine. However, thofe who undergo it have this Maxim to comfort them, Deus flagellat omnem Filium quern re- cipit. As for the Ramus Aureus^ which muft be carried as a Prefent to Proferpina, by thofe who will gain an Admittance into thofe fubterraneous Regions, and have a free Intercourfe there, I have explained it in the fecond Part of my Conji derations on Dr. Bur- net'j- "Theory of the Earthy chap. 7. where I treat of JParadife. By what I have fet forth before from Ftrgily I do inot pretend to compare the Pagan Luftrations with thofe of Chriftians, they having not a like Founda- tion to proceed upon. However, it may not be un- grateful to confider how far human Reafon guided them for purifying their Minds, and how far they proceeded in it« Lomeierus, m his Book de Luftrationihis Gent ilium, i', J 5. where he treats concerning the Pradice ufed by the Gentiles for purging their Minds, writes thus : TheG^^^^//^^ underftanding, from the Did:ates of jReafon, that God is a moft pure amd holy Spirit, ipafily concluded they could not hold a Communion ^ith h'lm, unlefs they conformed themfelves to his Iniagej and therefore all the greateft Men of Senft of the Sibyls. 109 among them judged a purging of the Mind to be the chief Religion. So ^I'tny^ in his Panegyrick on 'Trajan^ fays, I obferve the Gods are not fo much pleafed with tlie diligent Prayers of their Adorers, as with Innocency and Sanctity j and th^t he is more gracioufly received by them, who brings to their Temples a pure and chaftc Mind, than another a medicated Prayer. A.n(Mo Perfius^ Sat. 2, Quin damns id Superis^ de magna quod dare lance Non pofjh ?nagm MeJfaU lippa fropago, Compofitum Jui fdfque Aninio fanciofque recejfus Mentis, & incoEium generofo Peclus honeflo, Hac cado ut adynoveam Temp/is & Fane litaho, We give the Gods, ivhat Great Men, from their Store, Cannot prefent them, far from giving more : A Mind fincere to God and Man we bear. An honeft Heart, not fway'd by Hopes or Fear, Of this let me be (lill an Offerer, This Myftery lay hid under their luflral Ceremonies, w^hich were inftituted by their Anceftors for an A- mendment of Manners, and rectifying the Exorbi- tances of Life ; and they had recourfe to Heaven as the Source of this Sandity and interiour Purgation. So Cicero, Li. de Nat. Deor. Both our City and Greece have brought forth many lingular Men, no one of whom is to be thought to have become fo but by God's particular AfTiftance : Wherefore the Poets, and efpecially Homer, joins certain Gods with the chief Heroes, Vhjfes, Diomedes, Agamemnon, Achilles , as Companions in their Dangers and Straits , and af- terwards concludes, No one, therefore, has ever been a Great Man without fome Divine Afflatus, Concerning jhe Poets that Paffage is well known j Efi 1 1 d A TUfcourfe of the Oracles j^^ Dens in nobis^ agitante calefcimus tUo, [ Impetus hie Sacra Semina Mentis hahet. God reigm in ns, by's Agings we take fire^ Such Sallies y Seeds of Sacred Mind in/fire. And Ariflotle owned in Man a nobler Principle of hi^ profperous Fortune than Reafon, faying, It is not Nature, nor Reafon, but a good Genius guiding him, Eth.Eudem. /. 7. c. 17. And again, ih.c. 18. the Queltion being propofed, What is the Principle of Motion in the Soul ? This Anfwer follows, It's manifeft therefore that it is as God is in the Uni- verfe, and all things are again in him ; for the fame Deity that is in us, after fome manner, moves all things ; and the Principle of Reafon is not Reafon, but fomewhat more excellent ; and what is more ex- cellent than Science but God ? Which Place of Ari^ Jictle, Scaliger confidering, Z. de Subtil. Exerck. 307. SeB, 25. he ftarts this Queftion, What , doft thou fay. Divine Man ! Is there fomewhat better in us than Reafon itfelf? Were the Rays of the Holy Ghoft known to thee ? The Genius of Socrates is well known. Indeed they made Philofophy the Inftrument of interior Purgation, to which the' wifefl: of the Gentiles afcribed a purging Force, for introducing Vertues, and bringing the Mind to ia Likenefs with the Deity, Hence Cicero, 'I'ufc. 5. fpeaking of Phi- lofophy, fays. One day well paft, according to thy Precepts, is to be preferred before a finning Immor- tality. Whofe Aid then fliall we ufe before thine, who haft given us a Tranquillity of Life, and taken away the Terror of Death ? Plato^ in his Phadrus, fays. The Soul having fal- len to inferiour Things, has broken its Wings, and is raifed again by Contemplation ; fo that a Philofo- phical Meditation recovers thofe Wings. This is that contem- I of the SxBYLs. Ill contemplative Life which the Hebreivs and Academicks called a precious Death ; and, Plato (aySy is to be defired by Wifemen, Macrob. I. i. in Som. Scip, c. 13. the force of which is fuch, that it fharpens the Un- derftanding, and feparates Man from Man j which when he has attained, he fees not only the Secrets of natural Things, but likewife is carried with fwifc Wings, and a purged Mind, into Heaven, and is filled with the Knowledge of Divine Things. Af- terwards being inftruifted by the immortal Gods, he reveals abftrufe and admirable Things to ignorant Men. Plato^ in h^s Phado^^ ■ fays, this is called a Death, a Freeing and Separation of the Soul from the Body : And afterwards, Thofe chiefly and only ^efire to free it and feparate it, who rightly philofo- phize ; and therefore a Philofopher does not fear Death, becaufe he is not a Lover of the Body. Such are celebrated by Ovidy Fa ft. i. Falices Anima, qiiihus hac cogmfcere friinmn^ Inqiie Domus Sup eras fcandere Ciira fiiit ; Credibile eji, illas pariter Vitiijqiie Jccffquey Altius humanis exeruijfe Caput, Non Venus & Vimmt fublimia PeSiora fyegity Officmnve forty ?nilitia've Labur ; Nee levis Ambitio, perfufdque Gloria fiico^ Magnarumve Fames follicitavit Ofum : Admovere Ociilis diflantia Sidera noftris^ JEtheraque Ingenio fuppofucre fuo. Sic petit ur Ccclum , 'Thrice happy thcfe^ who make their chief Delight \ To know thefe Things ^ and take this lojty Flight j . J^^e ?nay believe fuch rais'd abo've the Sphere . Of trifing Jokes and Vices reigning here. No Lufl, nor Wine, kg Tails of M^ar^ or Gcivn, Tl:efe fearing Minds have floaken and caft down y Nov 112 A T>ifcoiirfe of the Oracles JSIor vain Amhiticn^ nor falfe Glory's Vieiv^ Nor worldly Cares thefe ever could fubdue : 'The diflant Stars they've brought down to our Eyes^ As by their Wit they mounted to the Skies. Thus Heaven is gaind ■ ' "^ I may infert here alfo what Calius Rhodiglnus has writ concerning thefe Matters, /. 7. c. 13. Thofe who have writ that the Socratick Inflitutions are a fort of Image, or, at leaft, a Shadow of the Chriftian Inte- grity, and that the Old Teflament is confirmed by the Platonick Theology, and the new by the Wifdom and Manners o^ Socrates ; thefe truly, let it be faid with- out Envy, either^ folely, or with very few, feem to have conceived the Depth of the Things which God was pleafed by fome fecret way to inftill into the Minds of thofe Men : for in Plato's Book con- cerning the Soul, after Socrates has taught us that the Meditation of a true Philofopher confifts in this, that the Soul purge and feparate itfelf from the Body ; and that true Vertue confifts in a purifying, which is attained by Wifdom, Juftice, Fortitude, and Temperanc e he prefently fubjoins. Wherefore thofe w^ho have eftablifhed Myfleries, are by no means to be neglcded, for they feem earneftly to admonifti us by feme fecret way, that whoever go to Hades ^ not fo purged and initiated, wallow in the Dirt as the Generality of Men do, but that the others live with the Gods j and therefore it^s commonly faid, Multi Hhyrjigeri, fed Bacchi Perpauci, and only thefe very few are rightly infiruded in Philofophical Myfteries. And as Bacchus is taken for a genuine Philofopher, and a Man qualified ad Unguem ; fo the Platonicks think him fometimes taken for fome Chief Prieft, whom Mythclogers affirm to have been twice born ; fignifying, that a Prieft, prefently upon his being ini- tiated, muft be reborn, or that the Mind of a perfed Prieft I of the Sibyls. 115 Prleft being wholly inebriated with the Deity, feems then to be born anew. So far Rhodiginus. But for a more perfect purging of the Soul, and a more fubhrne Contemplation, the Philofophcrs pro- ceeded to that Species cf Magick, called ThMurgia i concerning which fee St. Auflhi de Civ. Dei^ L lo. eg* Befides this, applying themfelves to Contemplation, they minded that Part of Philofophy w hich direds the Will and Aticccions ; for a Difcompofure of liiefe is a great Lett to the purging of the Mind, as Bo^-^ thiiii Cings, Lib. i. de Confd. Philof. T^ii quoque fi 'vis Lumitie claro, Cernere njertim^ Iramite reEIo^ Carfere callejn^ Gaudia pelk^ Pclle H'imorem, Spemque fugato^ Nee Dolor adftt^ Nuhila Mens eft Vincldque Froenis \ Hac ubi regnant. If you'd fee Truth, and take the flraiteft u^ay^ Difcha, ge your Mind from Hope ^ Fear, Grief and 'Joy 5 That Soul is clouded^ and in Fetters bound, IVhere thefe do reign And to cure this Ev^il the Philofophers, and chiefly Secrate^, brought the Philofophy of Life and Man- ners among Men, and made them enquire into what was Good and Evil ; which he did after a pleafant manner : for to take away Vice, he commanded fomewhat which was very like to Vice ; as to take away Love, lie brought in Love : for in many Dia- logues of Plato he fliews himfelf to be a true Lover ; which fome Men not well perceiving, have charged that Holy Man of an execrable Crime. So in ZenC" phons FeafI: he calls himfelf the Pander of Men ; after the fame manner, if he faw one addicted to Pleafure, he commended true Pleafure,* if to Rich- es, he commended true Riches : By which fweec 114 ^ T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles way of afting, he did not properly fo much draw Men, as lead them ; nor root out Vices, as waftt them away. The Stoicks way of acting was con- trary ; for to take away great Vices from Men, they "would not admit the leaft, nay they would have all to be equal ; which CiceYO alfo, in his Paradoxes^ ar- gued for, according to the Senfe of the Stoicks. And to turn Men from Vice, they allowed no PafTions, which others, by a wholefome Method, converted to a Habit of Vertue. Thus, in this Life, thefe Purgations proceeded, till the Soul being freed from the Fetters of the Bo- dy, was carried back to its Divine Principle whence it had its Origin, as Boethius fays, de Confol. Phil, I. 3. 'Quas Lege henigna Ad te con'uerfasy reduci facis Igne reverti'. Which, turnd to you^ ftill by your gracious Law, And circling Fire^ into yourfelf you draw. This, I conceive, is enough to fhew, that m^tiy of the Gentiles were acquainted in the Spiritual Death and New Birth ; to which I fhall only add, that the Story of Arifteus and Proteus^ in the fourth Georgick of Virgil, and many other Paflfages in his Works, are not to be underftood but by Pcrfons experimen- tally knowing in the fpiritual Death ; and I (hall note, that the Gentiles were commonly brought to the Knowledge of that Death by fome fecret Pradi- ces, which are not accounted lawful : fo that they came in by the Window, and not by the Door, which a due training leads to. Cicero, in his Tufculan Qiiefiions, I. 5. after having confidered thofe that take a View of the World, and obferve the Motions of the Celeftial Bodies, the Order of Things, their Rife and Origin, Life and Death, the VicilTitude and Changes of Things from one of the Sibyl sr 115 one into another, tjc. has this Expreflion, H^c trac tanti animo .& ncSies & dies cogitami^ exiflit ilia a DeO Delpbis pracepta cognitio, ut ipfa fe mens vitiis exutam cognofcaty con j unci amque cum ?nente divina fe fentiat, ex 1^0 infatiabili gaudio compleatwr. Which ExprefTion I icannot conceive any Man could fo feelingly make, as he feems to do, unlefs he had pafs'd the Spiritual Death I have inencioned : So when I read the 34th Ode of Horace Parens Deorum cultor & infrequenSy &c. I cannot but conclude he had a Spiritual Vifita- tion, whereby he was brought off from his licentious Opinion to former Thoughts, or a New Birth, as it may be called. He exprefles his Vifitation, which occajfioned his Return, by an unufual Thunder hap- pening in a clear Sky : But thofe who know what Praftices the antient Paflors ufed on fuch Occafions, may have another Interpretation of that Thunder ; pot but fuch a Thunder might happen : For M. Voifin^ in his dedicatory Preface to his Book, entituled Tfieo- logia Judaoru?n, which Dedication is to the Prince of Conde, tells him, among other Things, that as he was carrying to be baptized, a great Clap of Thunder happened when the Sky was ferenej as another alfo did at the Time when he was baptized. That Theolo" gia Judaorum may be worth reading, becaufe the Au- thor there fhews from the Books of the Hebrews, that the fame thing which is now called the Chriftian Re- ligion, was in being with the Antients before Chrift came in the Flefh. So Lucan, L. i. v, ^oo. & feq, fpeaks of Thunder in a clear Sky : Fulgurafallaci micuerunt crehraferem* Q^Z And ii6 [J T)ifcotirfe of the Oracles And beneath, "^acitmn fine nuhihtis ullis Vulmen^ et ArBois rapiens de panibus ignem Percuffit Latiale caput, Thofe Vvlio find a Difficulty to admit that a Re- .generation has pad among the Gemiies, may read what a great Mailer of a contemplative Life has writ, 'which perhaps may make the Admittance of it not to feem fo difficult. He writes thus : God is extremely various in his Operations, differing in the Ways by \^'hich he leads Souls to the Perfeclion of his Love. We fee daily, by Experience, before our Eyes, that fome Ferfons fiiall labour all their Lives, with all Sin- cerity, both in mortifying their Nature, and in mace- rating themfelves with pious Aufterities, and trying to fill themfelves with all Virtues, employing in it all poilible Liduftry, who neverthelefs fhall never be wor- thy of having the experimental Knowledge of the true Spirit of God, nor of his fecret Ways, or interiour Operations, which he fhows the Souls he hath cho- fen ; or if they arrive at it, it*s very late, and after long and great pains-taking. Others, on the con- trary, fhall have no fooner fet their Foot in the way of Perfeclion, but foon, after a true Sorrow for their 3ins pad, behold ! God will communicate to them fo great an AiHuence of Gifts, Graces, and Spiritual Lights, that prefently he discovers to them the Ope- rations of the moft noble Faculties of their Souls, to fhow them whither he will one day draw them : an4 what is more, it often happens, that where Sin has moil abounded, there alfo God will fhow himfelf ijioit abundantly in the Communication of his Favours: A thing indeed wholly wonderful, are thefe infcruta- ble Secrets of the Divine Wifdom. See Barhanfon^ in Praf. in L. 2. De Amor is Divini Occultis Semitis. This, perhaps, may lefTen the Strangenefs of what Favours Qodi may have ftiown to fome of the Gentiles, of the Sibyls. 117 I (hall add one thing here, which was pradifed by the antient Gentiles ^ for purifying the Mind, and is known to few : They joined, with their Mcrahty, the occult Dodrine of the Celeftial Motions ; a Dodrine fo antient, that Chiron taught it AchiUeSy and it came originally from the Egyptians, whofe antient Prieffs, as Pierius tells us, were fo thoroughly feen in all the Obfcurity of Nature, that that Difcipline feems to have been handed down to them by Inheritance : And Commentators tell us, that the Learning delivered in -Virgil's fixth JEncid^ was taken ex ahijjima JEg)ptiO' rum Difciplim. And it is obfervable, that Virgil has given us eleven Hexaflicks, each containing the twelve Signs of the Zodiack, which it's probable he would not have amufed himfelf in compofing, unlefs he had known fomewhat highly valuable in Aflrology. DietericuSy in his Specimen Antiq. Bibl. ip. <^S^. writes. That the Egyptians are faid to have been the firfl of Mortals, who by their Study, and the Greatnefs of their Genius, attained the Knowledge of the Courfe of the Heavens, and of all the Celeftial Motions ; to have been the firft who prefcribed a Form of Living, and the Difcipline of Manners ; that their Aftrology has brought forth a fuperftitious Phyfiology and The- ology ; that it has introduced the pernicious Magical Arts, and Demoniacal Expiations; concerning which Magical Theology of the Eaftern People, we exped a peculiar Trad from Gilbert Gauhiiin. So far Diete- riciis. So Prudentius, in his fecond Book againft Sym^ machus^ fpeaking of the Devil, fays, v. 8^4. In Magicas Artes trahit involuitque Mathefin, So again, v. 475^. JSlec frafcripto aliqno pellet pia vota Mathefisi To ii8 ^J T>ifcoiirfe of the Oracles To this fecrec Science of the Egyptians for purifying the Mindj a certain Tranfadion celebrated by the Poets may be faid to relate. They tell us, that when Jupiter was born, the Curetes preferved him from •S'^- turriy who was wont to devour his Children, they making a noife with their Timbrels and Dancing ; fo that Saturn could not hear the Infantas Cries, and he was fafely conveyed away. Some fay the Curetes ^ Cabiri, *TelchmeSy Corybantes, and DaByli Idei, were the fame; fome thought them near allied, tho fome- what differing, and that they were moved with a Fury ; that they rcfided not only in Candia and Phry- gian but like wife in Samothracia^ formerly called Dar- dania^ and in Lemms. Archemacus of Euboea fays the Curetes inhabited Chakis^ whence they were called Chakidiansy from their Arms of Brafs. Some fay they were Gods; others fay they were Servants of the Gods ; and others fay they were Daemons. Now, if you defiVe to know what thefe Curetes really were, I will tell you ; as I am afl'ured by a Perfon who fays he has often feen them, and converr fed with them : They were thofe Genii^ or familiar Spirits, which now and then attend fome Perfons, either coming of their own accord, or being caufed to appear to them by fome Art, as Porphyrins tells us in Eufehius^ they may, as Pfellus does alio, lib, de Da- mon, And as for the good Office they are faid to have performed in faving 'Jupiter^ by the Sound of their Tymbrels, &c. you muft know that this Jupiter is conilriied by fome to be that new Birth which is brought forth in us, and which was alfo brought forth among the Gentiles, as appears by their Expref- iions concerning thofe who were initiated in their Myfleries; and thofe Curetes or Genii attend with rheir various harmonious Sounds, chiefly at the time of that new Birth, tho' thofe Sounds and Apparitions are then perceived only by the Perfons concerned, to whom they feem, or are real^ the' not to any Stander- by : I of the Sibyls, 119 by : And if in celebrating the Myfteriesof Rhaa^ or the Mother of the Gods, Perfons under the Name of Curetes^ Coribantes^ &c. made noifes with their Tym- btels, Cymbals, &c. this was only outwardly to per- fonate and typify what the Genii inwardly performed. So BuUialdtis^ in his Notes on T'heon-Smyrnaus^ c. i. which Author he tranflated from the Greek into La- tin^ obferves that Etiflathius on this Verfe of Homer's Iliad 16. Says, m'ow, that is, mVo;^, fignifies vocal i for of all ina- nimate things, Brafs alone feems to have a Voice : and the Pythagoreans fay, T'hat Brafi rings^ omni Spiritui di- viniori ; and therefore the Tripod made of that Metal, was confecrated to Apollo. And all Winds ceaftng, the Air being calm, and all other things being filent and Jlill, hoi- lovD Bafons feem to be Jlruck, and made to ring. And to my certain Knowledge, thefe ringings are heard by fome Perfons ftill, as I have fet forth at large in m/ Book of Genii, or Fa?niliar Spirits, c. 5. Where I have given an account of what Perception Men have had of Spirits by the Senfe of Hearing ; which Book was extant long before I met with this Pailage of Eufiathius, and which I was glad to fee, as it fatisfies me that many of the Ancients were wont to hear fuch Ringings ,* and doubtlefs thefe harmonious Ring- ings were what the Pythagoreans are faid to have called T^he Harmony of the Spheres. At the famous Temple of Jupiter Dodonaus, the ringing of the Dodonaan Brafs was fo celebrated, as Philoftratus tells us, that the Brafs Statue of the Nymph Echo was there fet up, holding her Finger on her Mouth, to (hew that fhe was filent, being overcome by the refonant Dodonaan Bafons, much more fonorous than herfelf The Epi- tomator of Strabo, for Strabo himfelf, through the Injury of Time, was defedive in this place, fays thus : l2o J T>tfcozirfe of the Oracles thus : The Proverb Dodonaan Brafs had hence its Rife ; there was a Bafon in the Temple, over which the Statiia of a little Man hung, holding in his Hand a Brafs Whip which confifted of a triple Chain, hav- ing Knobs hanging to it, which continually flriking the Brafs Veflel, as it was blown up by the Wind, made great Sounds. Suidas fays, that Damon tells us the Oracle of Jupiter Dodonaus w^as compafled all round with Bafons -, one of which being ftruck, all refounded one after the other, fo that the Circuit of that Sound lafted a long time. The fame Suidas fays at the fame place, a Statua flood there placed on high, holding a Rod in his Hand ; and near the Statua was a Bafon, whence a certain harmonious, pleafant, and fweet Sound proceeded. Arifictle, ac- cording to Suidas^ defcribes this Oracle other wife ; he fays there were two Columns, on one there was a Bafon, and on the other flood a Body with a Whip in his Hand, whofe Cords were made of Brafs ; when they were moved by the Wind, they flruck againft the Bafon, and fo gave a Sound. I have given thefe Inftances, as looking on thofe Statua^s flriking on the Bafons, to be only Types of what the Genii per- form to thofe who lie under a certain Operation for initiating them in the Myfteries of the Ancients. Ar^ chemachus the Euboean fays the Curetes inhabited Chal- ets , and were called Chalcideans from their Brafs Arms : and Brafs is thought very proper in Religion and Sacred Rites. So T'heocritus, Idyll. 2. according to Mr. Creech's apt Tranflation, Bark, Theftilis ! our Dogs begin to hoivl, *The Gbddefs cornes^ go beat the brafen Bowl. Where the Scholiafl notes, a Noife was made by beating on Brafs when the Moon was in an Eclipfe, and at the Deaths of People ; for Brafs was thought to be pure and good for cleanfing Pollutions ; where- fore I vf the Sibyls, 121 fore Apollodorus fays, /. de Diis^ ic was ufeJ In all Con^ fecrations and Expiations. So Hercules is faid to have made the Aves Stjm- phalides, by fotlie called Plcidas, to fly from .^.r^ cadia to the Ifland Aretia, by the ringing of a Brafs Inftrument, when he could not otherwife conquet them. So AfoUonius^ I. 2. Argonaut. Sed neque ut Arcadiam fetiit njis Herculh, arcti Ploidas inde lacu vo lucres Stymphalidas uUd Pellere 'ui potuit^ nam que hoc ego lumine vidi. Aft idem ut mnnibus Crotalum pulfavit in alta^ Exiflens fpeculd profpetlanSy protinus ilia Cum clamore procul linquentes littus^ ierunto When Hercules t' Arcadia "djent to clear 'The Lake of the Stymphalian Birds were there j With Bow he could not do it ; I faw the thing i But he no fconer made his Cymbal ringy Being got aloft in a watch Tower ^ when they Being fcar'd^ firait with loud Clamours flew away, And that Crotalum^ with which he frightned away thofe Birds, is faid to have been made by Vulcan, and to have been given him by Pallas^ the Crotalum being a mufical Inftrument of Brafs ufed by the Egyptiati Priefts, and flruck on with an Iron Rod ; and I doubt not but it was introduced by them with other mufical Inftruments among their Magical Pradices, by Ana- logy to what pafles in the Minds of fome Men as they lie under certain Vifitations : the Egyptian Priefts being skilled in the ways for difpofing the Minds of ' Men to perceive fuch Ringings, as well as for dif« cerning or feeing Apparitions, And Sensca^ in his Agamemnon, fays, that Hercules alfo, with the Sound ot his Crotalum, drove away the Dragon which guards ed the golden Fruits in the Gardens of the Hefperides, Ji Audi'Vtt 122 A T)ifcottrfe of the Oracles Audinjit Sonitum ere fit ante Lamna Frigidus cuftos^ nefczus Somni ; LJnqueret cum jam nemus omnefulvo Plenus Alcides vacuum Metallo, Note here y That whereas I have above tranflated the word Crotalwn^ a Cymbal, as many do, Adolphus Lampe, in his ingenious Tracl, de Cymbalis veteyiim^ /. 3. c. 12. declares it hi5 Opinion, that the Crotalum was a double Iron Plate, tho^ I rather think it of Brafs, and that the one llriking againft the other caufed the ringing Noife. In Seneca the word Lamna is uied for Lamina. Frigidus Cujios w.as tke Dragon, fo Virgil fays, frigidus Anguis. That Men may not wonder at the Expofition I have given of the Curetes^ &c. I may acquaint you that Strabo, who has writ much concerning them, /. 10. tells us. That, as many things are written Hiftorically concerning the Curetes^ &c. fo many are written Theo- logically, and after the way of the Poets ; and fo as they may be brought under a Philofophical Scrutiny, and as other Men may give what Interpretation they pleafe of them, fo I have attended to the Theological Senfe, and write from a Tranfadion which a certain Perfon known to me has feen to pafs before his Eyes : and let me fay it once for all, that ail Myfteries of Religion, which do not tend to the purifying of the Mind, and a fettling it in the Teleftical State of the new Birth, feem to me to go belide the great End to which Providence and Men of the founded Senfe have always direded them. If any Man fhould go about to reftrain all that is writ concerning the Cu- retes, dec. to the plain literal Senfe, he would find nothing but Confufion. When any thing occurs in my reading which fhocks my Underftanding, after I have turn'd my Thoughts every way, I try to verify that fpiritually, which I cannot do according to the Letter, of the Sibyls. 12 j Letter, and often find an Eafe to my Mind that way. Philo^ and Ongen^ and the other Allegorical Fathers proceed this way in expounding the Scriptures ; and i think we mull follow the fame, to find a tolerable Senfe in many more things deliver'd by the Ancients, than fome Men feem willing to allow. The aforefaid Strabo fays. Some affirm the Covybantes to be certain Damons, the Children of Minerva, and the Sun, others the Children of Saturn, others the Children of Jupiter, and Alliope, and that they are the fame ^vith the Cabiri and Curetes, and that their Adions are myfti- caljthat all Difcourfe concerning die Gods enquires into the ancient Opinions and Fables, occultly infinuating the natural Thoughts ot the Ancients concerning things themfelves, and always expounding the Fable in difcourfing : but clearly to folve oW t\\G Enigma s^ he thinks not eafy, tho^ it's eafy to draw together a Heap of agreeing and difagreeing Fables. Lillius Giraldus in his Sptag. Hijh Deor. intimates, that it's a wonderful thing is delivered concerning the Cabiri, if it may deferve belief; 1^/^. that thofe who were ini- tiated in their Myileries were believed to efcape all Tempefts at Sea ; which is very true, if it be taken in a right Senfe : for it imports no more, than that he that is initiated in thofe Myfleries is become fupe- riour to his Paifions, fo that nothing can move him. 'Strepitu7J7que Acherontis avari Subjecit pedibus. As for thofe that would fee more concerning the Curetes, &c. I refer them to Strabo, Lillius Giraldus, Calcagnmus, in his Dialogue entitled, E^.vfV^^/o ; Meur^ ftus, in his Creta ; Guthelbeytus, de Mxfieriis Deorum Ca- biroYum, &c. I ftiall add one thing here concerning the Curetes. Delrius, in his Comment on Seneca* s "Thyejies, writes thus : Arnobius tells us, from Nigidius, that fome have thought the Lares of the Latins to be the R 2 fame T24 A T>ifcoiirfe of the Oracles fame with thofe the Greeks call Uai Daclyli and Curetes ; and, I think, if a Man joins what I have written con- cerning the Genii on Seneca's Medea^ and concerning the Manes on his Oedifus^ with what I have writ here concerning the Lares, he will find no unaccurare Ac- count of thofe obfcure Names j and I refer Men to the Author. But I have lookM on Arnohius^ and find that he was naufeated at theConfufion he found among the Gentiles concerning thofe Names, and writes thus near the end of his third Book, after having fpoken of the Curetes^ Lares, &c. you fee nothing is here faid coherent, nor any thing on which a Man, by a fair Conjecture, may rely , for the Opinions fo waver, and one fo confutes the other, that either nothing is true at all in them, or if fome one of them may be fo, WQ know not which it is, through fuch a Diverfity of things ; unlefs haply you will fay, that tho"* we do not perfonally know who the Lares, who the Pe- nates, dec. are, yet we may believe that there are fuch Beings, fince the Confent of Authors maintains it, and that they are rankM among the Celcflial Beings ac- cording to their order. So far my Abflrad from Arnobius, Now, as to my own Judgment in thefp Matters, I can only fay, that when I read any thing among the 6^fc«i'//^j concerning the Genii, Lares, Lemur es, Larv^, Manes, Curetes, dec. I direct my Thoughts to my own Experience concerning them, having frequently {eeii ^nd converfed w^ith them, and think myfelf lefs de- ceived than thofe who try to verify what is faid of them fome other way. A great part of what the Gentiles have writ concerning them, relates to the Magical Pradices which were fo common among them, nor is it to be underftood without fome infight in that kind. Agrippa, in his Epiflle to Tyithemius, L. !• Ep. 25. fays, it^s a great queftion. Why Magick, which, in the Judgment of all the ancient Philofo- pherSj was looked upon as the mpfr fublim^ Reach of " ■ : • " ' Human of the Sibyls. 125 Human Knowledge, and was always had In the high- eft Veneration among the antient Priefts and Sages, became afterward fufpefted, and always hated, by the holy Fathers, from the beginning of Chriftianity ; and, at length, was exploded by Divines, condemned by the Canons, and profcribed by the Confent of all Laws : and he intimates feveral Ways of the Corrup- tion of that Science, on which account it was fup- prefsM. But, in my Opinion, he does not aflign the main Caufe for it : For as Adions are fpecified from their End, fo the great Caufe of its Suppreflion, was, that many applyM it, or might have appIyM it, to a wrong End, that Science not being Diabolical in its Nature, as fome may imagine : But, as Pfellus fays, L. de Damon, c. iilt. it's a certain Faculty judged by the Greeb to be of an eminent Virtue, and the high- eft Portion of the Priefthood. And Arijlotk, Met. L. 14. C. 6. places the Magi among the Wifemen. As in what I have here writ, I hav^e often inferted Things relating to the Theology of the Gentiles^ which is much ridicul'd by the Chriftian Fathers,* perhaps it may not be an ungrateful Office, if I lay before the World, what, according to my Reading, feems the Truth of the Matter. Gakottus Martins^ in his Book entitled, DoBrina Promifcua, c. 17. writes thus : All the Elements have the Names of Gods, and were ac- counted Gods among the Antients; for Antiquity called the Fire, Vulcan; the Air, Juno; the Water, Neptune, or Oceanus ; the Earth T'ellus, or Pluto : but Men of Senfe might fay, whence did this Madnefs feize thofe wife Men, that they fhould believe the Elements Gods, fo that they offerM Sacrifices to cer- tain Effeds of them ? Nigram Hyemi pecudenty Zephyris faUcihus albam. For Oblations occur ev^ery where. Now it is to be obfervedj that according to the Opinion of Plato^ the 126 ^A T>ifcozirfe of the Oracles the Ideas of Things j that is, the Forms, and as I may fay, Seals (for the Idea is the original Species of Things) are perpetual. And to be more clear, let us give an Example ; among a Hundred thoufand Hor- fes, or Bullocks, or of other Species, if we will find the Beginning and Origin, by going back from this lafl Horfe to his Sire, and from this Sire to another Sire, and fo on, we mufl: neceffarily come to one Horfe im*^ mortal and perpetual, begotten of none, which made the others j and fo concerning Bullocks, cSTc. therefore that increated and immortal Horfe, bemg as the Seal of the others, is nothing, to fpeak as a Chriftian, but the Equine Form and Idea in the Divine Mind ; for Aquinas manifeftly declares that the Ideas of all things are in the Divine Mind, and that they are the Divine Efl'ence, by which God itts and knows all things. Antiquity therefore called the Idea of the Earth, in the Divine Mind, Vluto^ Tellus^ Ceres, Cjhele^ under differing Refpeds : The Idea, that is, the Form of the Water, Neptune, Oceanus, Neveus 5 of the Air, ^uno and Pallas ; of the Fire, Vulcan and Vefla \ all which Things they often called alfo by other Names, by reafon of divers Effects j for the Goddefs Pomona is the Virtue and Idea given Trees, procreating the Fruits on the Branches ; therefore in Pliny fhe fpeaks thus : / generate the ^uice cf IVine^ and the Liquor of Oil; /, Branches and Fruits, dec. They accounted therefore the Eternal and Immortal Forms in the Divine Mind for Gods, and worfhipped them, and that rightly ; becaufe nothing is in God, but God. Now they underftood thefe Ideas and Forms of all Things in the Divine Simplicity, after various Ways : Some interpret the Words of Plato, as if he would fay, that thofe Ideas are Angels, who, by the Divine Comn and, had the care of creating Things, God's Majefly being at Reft. The Mathematicians differ in this Matter ; feme fay the Heavens are animated, creating all Things by the Images fealed in them ; for there of the Sibyls. 127 there are 48 known, the unknown being in a manner innumerable ; and that from thefe Images, as from the Ideas of Things, all Things in the World have drawn their Origins, to their Likcnefs ; fo that the Form of a Lion, forms a Lion ; of a Horfe, a Horfe; and fo in the reft. Yet fome, not only Mathematicians, but Interpreters of the Scripture, as Albert and 'Thmnas fay, that the Heavens are the Inftrument of God, wherewith he works : And this Opinion does not differ from that before, unlefs it be that the former makes the Soul of the World to be God, and the latter holds that God was the Creator of all Things, and that he formed them animate or inanimate ', but as to the Formation of the Ideas, they feem to think the fame : For if God ufes the Heavens as an Inilru- ment, in producing things, as they fay, it's truly no- thing elfe, but to command that the Forms exifting in the Heavens, do what God wills, and that this was ordered from Eternity, as God faid it, and Things were made, he commanded, and Things were created. Antiquity therefore, as Chriftianity thinks, worfhipped the Ideas of the Divine Mind ', for calling the Idea of the Fire, Vulcan; of the Air, 'jiino i of the Water, Neptune ; of the Earth, Pluto ; it owned them as Eternal and Immortal Gods ', and when they offer- ed Sacrifices, as black Cattle to the Winter, they in- tended them as pleafing to the Divine Will. So that what Things are thought very foolifh by the Ig- norant, being taken with a Grain of Salt, came by the higheft Wifdom into Honour and Worfhip ; among which Tnings, nothing is judged more befide Reafon than to have imagined Priapus a God, and to have woriliipp'd him ,• concerning whom I fhall give you a few things : Priapus and Lampfaais^ were Towns in Hellefpont, and at Priapns^ Rttfticus qui dam taut a metn" hri viiilis inagnHudine futt^ tit e Civitate puljiis fit, ne inulieres denjaflaret. Whence they called Priapiis from the Place, and dedicated a Temple to him, as to a Deity : 128 A T>ifcoiiYfe of the Oracles Deity t And tho^ Virgil calls him the laft and a new Deity, yet in the Scripture, an antient mention is made of him. So Reg. L. ^. c. 15. v. 15. it is writ- ten'; An^ Afa removed his Mother Maacha from being Queen ^ left fie fiotild be the chief Leader in the Ceremonies q/'Priapus, and in the Grove /he had confecrated to him; and he demolifhed his Cave^ and brake the moft filthy Imagey and burnt it by the Brook Kedron. But wife and acute Men will fay, whence comes it that fo great a Madnefs feized the Antients, Ut membro virili, tarn turpi y tamque abhorrendo, tit fine infamia nominari non pojfit^ Aras dedicaverim, 'Templa adificaverinty Sacrifi^ cia obtulerinty it a ut non mo do Gentilitatemy Damonum folenia delufam, fed Judaam quoque, ubi veri Dei cultus frequens erat, hac monftra invaferim. Thefe learned and acute Men are anfwered before, for they worihipp'd the Ideas of Things, and dedicated Temples and Statues with their Enfigns to them, not without a Caufe I for when they affign a Viper to M^fculapius^ who does not fee, if he minds what we have faid con- cerning Venice T^reacle, that the Vertue of the Viper is very great in Medicines ? In this refped therefore, they afcribe it to ^fculapiusy as the God of Phyfick. They dedicated a Temple to Priapus, becaufe Anti- quity w^orfliippM the Idea of Fecundity, and becaufe among all cultivated Things, Gardens are the moft fruitful, therefore they called this Idea of Fecundity, the God of Gardens; and as they intended to make an Image and Statua for this God, they fet up a Virile Member, as the moft fertile Part of Man ; for among all Things that carry a Refemblance of Fecundity, the Virile Member is the chief, for it reprefents the Fecundity of thofe Things, than which Nature has produced nothing more excellent, nothing more di- vine, for it fhews Man as the Fruit of its Fecundity: They worfhipp'd therefore this Image of the Virile Member, becaufe it prefents the Idea of Fecundity ; and among thofe things Fecundity prefents, this is the of the Sibyls.' 129 tlie mod excellent, for the precious Frame of Man furpailes the other Fruits we have of Fecundity ; they rightly therefore made the Virile Member the Image of that Idea. I have thought good to fay this, that ig- norant Men may not think it fo fooliQi a thing to have adorn'd Temples with a Virile Member, and to have given it a divine Worfliip, for Human Reafon conjedured thefe Things ; and it might fail, and Er- rors might eafily arife : But in the Chriflian Faith, nothing but Truth fhines, for it's divinely infpired, and has expunged the Errors of the Antients j and in divine Things, Human Conjedures do not fuffice, but an In fpi ration from Heaven is necelTary to en- lighten the Minds of Men, and fo inflrud them, that they may not be mifled by fallacious Errors, and may be recalled from Human Conjedures, and direded to Heaven : So far Galcottus Martins. If thofe who read the Fathers, where they refled on the Religion of the antient Gentiles^ would take what is before written "with them, they would not probably think the Gen- tiles fo ridiculous as the Fathers, on all Occafions, feem to make them. The uncommon Explication I gave of Virgil's 4th Eclogue J has drawn after it the long Sequel of Thoughts I have here given you, which tho' fomewhat remote from the Subjed of the Oracles of the Sil^yls, firft propofed by me, may ftill be faid to relate to a fort of Oraculous Difpolition of Mind, which attends that New Birth I fo often mention. If the Uncom- monnefs of the Subjed may make it feem odd to fome Perfons, and draw a Cenfure from them, perhaps it may draw alfo the Poet*s Reply ; ; O major tandem f areas injam mimri / (>Si) DISCOURSE O F T H E ORACLES Delherd at Delphos, and the other Temples of the Gen- Tiles; and of the Ceffa- tion of them^ both among the Jews and Gentiles. HERE is this Difference betwixt the Oracles delirered at the Temples oF the Gentiles^ and the Oracles of the ^ihyh^ that the former chiefly regarding Human Affairs, belonging to the Happinefs of this Life, predi(5i:ed the good and evil Succelfes of fu-* ture Things. And v/e feldom fiixl in Hiftory that S % ihe 1 J 2 -^ T>ifcourfe of the Oracles delwer^d the Daemons were confuked concerning a better Life, or eternal Blifs after Death : But the Prophecies of the Sibyls did not flop in Human Affairs, but are be- lieved to have opened a Way, by divine Infpiration, of true Kappinefs to the Gentiles, involved in the Darknefs of monllrous Errors and Superftitions. But as there is a Doubt concerning the Authority of the Sibylline Prophecies, fo there is concerning the Truth of the other Oracles : and as I have declared it my Opinion, that the Writers of the Sibylline Oracles, •were the Mannagers of the other Oracles, they having chiefly prefided in religious Matters, and preceded all the Poets ; fo I look on all the other Oracles, and all the Divinatory Arts, to be vain and ufelefs Amufements of Mankind j not but now and then, there may be true Predidions : but there is that Contingency in them, that take one time w^ith ano- ther, they are fo far from being worth while, that they do more Hurt than Good j befide thofe impious and execrable Practices which thofe Oracles have often didated to Men. I know the Antients were divided in Opinion concerning this Matter. Lucan Pharfal. 5. writes thus : (tho' perhaps more from the Opinion of the Vulgar, than his ow^n Senfe) Non tdlo facula dono I Nofira cdrent majore Deum, qitam Delphica Sedes Quodjiluit, foflquam Reges timuere futurUy Et Superos vetuere loqui,' Our Age has loft no Gift of God fo great ^ As by the Silence of the Delphick Seat : And this, \aufe Princes fearing wJoat vjill come. Fur bid the Gods to tell their fatal Doom, But others are of a contrary Opinion : fee Theodo^ r^r's Book of Oracles, where he fets forth the great Evils were caufed by them, and gives the firft Inflance 171 the Tej/iples of the Gentiles, t ^ ? Inftance in the Athenians^ who, being prefsM by a Fa- mine, confuted the Oracle j and the Pythia anfwered it would not ceafe till the Athenians fent feven young Men, and as many Virgins, to Minos, to be devour- ed by the Minotaur. Eufebius in his Py\^p. Evang, fays much on the fame Subjed. See alfo Dr. Clafen^ in his Book concerning the Oracles and Sibyls, c. i8. where he fets forth at large, many abfurd and im- pious Anfwers of the Oracles ; and this Author may be look'd upon infiar o?nmu?n, he having written more comprehenfively on the Oracles and Sibyls, than any other Author. And any one that confiders the pernicious Confequences that followed on the ambi- guous Anfwers of the Oracles to Crajm^ and many others, may eafily be fatisfied of the Folly of Men in applying to them ; and indeed, it feems to me a -wonder that they lafted fo long in the World. Plu- tarch, in his Trad, why the Prophetefs Pythia ceas'd . to deliver Oracles in Verfe, tells us, that they had lafted 3000 Years,' whereas our learned Marfiam, in his Canon Chronicus, under the fourth Age from the Deluge, where he fpeaks of the Oracles of Egypt, whence the Greeks are faid firft to have had their Oracles, fays, the chiefeft of the Oracles of Egypt ^ was that of Latona, in the Town Buti ; and that an Oracle came thence to Alycerinus, King of Alemphis^ in the fifth Age, that he fhould live but fix Years, and die in the feventh ; nor zuas there found any Oracle more antient among the Gentiles. And how this will anfwer chronologically w^ith Plutarch* s 5000 Years, will require Confideration ; doubtlefs he went on another Chronology than we do, and we want him alive to make it out ', but we may here note, that this Oracle oi Latona, was about four hundred Years before Mojes fet up an Oracle by God^ Appoint- ment : For Mar/ham fays, that the going out of the Ifradites from Egypt, was in the ninth Age afcer the Flood, 'Viz,, in the 857th Year after it. As for the ceafing 134 ^ T^ifcoiirfe of the Oracles delivered ceafing of the Oracles among the ^evis^ David recei- ved many Anfwers from the Mercy-Seat. But as Sir '^(jhn Marfloam tells us, at the beginning of the four- teenth Age, where he fpeaks of Solomon^ Temple, he -was the laft that received any Anfwer from the Lord. For tho' Solomon made an Oracle to place there the Ark of Covenant, and made in the Oracle two Ghe- rubims, yet neither Solomon^ nor any of his Succeflors, nor of the High Priefts, are read to have confulted that Oracle, much lefs to have received any Anfwer from it. So that the Ark, from that time forward, may be faid as well to have been filent, as to have refted, tho' the Rabbins, and thofe that followed them, contended that this Oracle firft ceasM in the Babylonian Captivity. Again, as for the Oracle of Urim and Thummim, which was the moft antient Ora- cle among the Jews, Jofephus tells us, that ceas'd two hundred Years before his Timej and we know the Prophets among the Je'ws ceasM in Malachi, who was about 400 Years before Chrift. Now, if the Oracle from the Mercy-Seat ceas'd about 1000 Years before Chrift, and the Prophets among the Jews about 400 Years, and the Oracle of Urim and 'Thum" ?mm 200 Years before the time oijofephus j I know not why the Fathers, and other Chriftian Authors, fhould make fuch a ftir about the ceafing of the Oracles of the Gentiles^ about the time of the Coming of Chrift j for the Wonder feems to be, how they came to hold fo long, they being grow^i into fuch Con- tempt, that in all Probability they would have ceas'd, tho' Chriftianity had not been eftablifhed ; and many of them were ceas'd before Chrift's Coming, as fome of them ceas'd about hisTime, and many of them held long after Chrift. And we find that Julian, being urg'd by the Chriftians concerning the ceafing of the Oracles of the Gentiles, he anfwer'd, that the Spirit of Prophecy was ceas'd alfo among the Jews ', and that the Chriftians themfelves had no Oracles to con- fulc. in the T^emples of the GE-^rihisl 135 fult. To which, Cyril of Alexandria reply'd, Tom. 4. L. 6. contr. Julian, pag. 198, 199. That if .the Spirit of Prophecy were ceas'd among the Hebrews, it was, that all the holy Prophets, who had received their Knowledge from the holy Spirit, proclaimed the Myftery of Chrift ; but after he was come, and ap- peared to Men, the Grace of antient Prophecy ceas'd : But that now God infpired the Saints with the Knowledge of future Things at his pleafure, and dwelt in their Souls. But here it may be faid, that tho* the Prophets generally proclaimed the Myftery of Chrift, yet the Oracles from the Mercy-Seat, and by Vrim and T'/mmmim, did not relate to the Myftery of Chrift, nor can any Reafon be affigned for the ceafing of the Oracles from the Mercy-Seat, but God's Pleafure, after he had eftablifh'd David, a ' King according to his own Heart, on the Throne ; the ceafing of the Oracle of Urim and Thummim being I to be afcribed to the fame caufe. Again, we find the Oracles, and all Divinations, were ridiculed on the Stage, even before the Times of Malacbiy in whom Prophecies ceas'd among the Jews; for Euripides, who was before him, in his Helena, AEl. 2. v. 359. brings an old Man on the Stage, who fays thus : But novj it's plain, hefoPe our Eyes, Prophets are vain, and full of Lyes, Jn Flame divine of f acred Fire, There's nothing found, nor to admire Jn Chant of Birds ; nay, Madnefs 'twere To think Birds help in Mens Affair, And beneath. Perhaps yoiill fay, God won't have this Thing known ; why then mind Prophecies ? With Sacrifice we mufl appeafe The Gods, and Bounties ask of thefe ; Not 136 '^J "Difcourfe of the Oracles delwefd ■ Not heeding Prophecies, thofe vain '\ Amufements of the Life of Man, No Slug grows rich by prophetiz^ing, A found Mind with a good advifing, A Prophet is. And the Chorus adds, rm of the fame Mind with the old Man Concerning Prophets ; he that can Get Heaven's Favour^ has the heft Cf Divinations in his Breafl. To fay fomewhat of the Oracle of Deiphos, Fa- ther VEfprit^ Provincial of the Capucins for the Pro- vince of Normandy y publifhed a Book in French, Anno 16^2. in Quarto, in which he gave an account of a PoU'eiTion of the Nuns at Louviers, near Rouen ; where, after having obferved that fome of the Devils pofieffing the Nuns, were learned, and others not, he tells us, pag. 285:. that he asked one Devil, poflefTing a Nun, his Name; who anfvver'd, his Name was Delphon, and that this Name was compofed of feveral Languages ; De, being Latin, el, Hebrew, and phon^ Greek : So that the word Delphon lignified the Light of God ; and to this Name, fays he, the glorious Gift of Agility anfwers. Hereupon Father I'Efprit inter- rupting him, faid, it ought rather to be the Gift of Brightnefs. The Devil replyM, Go you Dog, it's by Motion and Agility that the Sun communicates its Brightnefs to the whole Hemifphere ; and fo Del- phon does by his Agility, going every where to make himfelf honoured and reverenced. So far Father i'Efprit. Now it's known, that the Oracle of Delphos was the moft celebrated Oracle throughout the World a- mong the Gentiles; and if this Etymology will bear, there could not be a mor^ fplendid Title given an Oracle, than to call it the Light of God. Sir /// the T^einplcs of the Gentiles. 1J7 Sir John Mar^am^ in his eleventh Age after the Flood, fpeaking of the Kings of the Argives, tells us. That the Times of Acrifius^ a King there, Grandfon to DanauSy were celebrated by the Inllitution of the Delphick Oracle: Phoemonoe, who w^as the firft Prieftefs there, finging Ani'wers to him in Heroick Verfe, twenty-feven Years before Orpheus^ Mufaus^ and Linus Mafter of Hercules were in being, who all flourifhed in this Age. That Phocmouce was of great Fame, fhe being the firfl Interpreter of the God AfoUoy and the firft that fang Oracles in Hexameters^ fhe having invented that Verfe. I know Men are of various Opinions concerning what is underflood by the Name of Tripod^ on which the Pythia is faid to h^ve fat when fhe deliv^ered her Oracles, and I have Notes by me drawn from many Authors, in order to have cleared this Matter : but I find the Accounts are fo contradidory concerning it, that it is not to be done fatisfadorily, and we are left only to Conjedure ; nor do I wonder at it, fince the 'Jevos, from whom other things might have been expeded, have not preferved us a Tradition to be relyM on concerning the Vrim and T'humm'nn^ what they were ; Authors in their Accounts of them agree- ing like Clocks, Aben Ez.ra, and others of the Rabbins plainly faying they knew not what they w^ere. The learned Peireskius thought there was fome great My ftery contained in the Tripod, and was very follicitous in confulting learned Men concerning it ; but we have no account of any fatisfadory Anfwers he could get in it. If a Tripod had been ufed in all the Tem- ples of the Oracles, fomewhat more than ordinary might have been imagined in it ; but being ufed only in a Temple or two, it may leflen our thoughts that way : And according to all Accounts, Oracles were long given at Delphos before Tripods were in ufe ; for upon the firft difcovery of that Oracle, all Perfons that came to the Mouth of the Cave there, and re- T ceived 1 58 A jDifcoiirfe of the Oracles delwer*d ceived the prophetick Breath, were feiz'd with the Spirit of Divination. And whereas the Temple of Delfhos was five times built, as Paufanias tells us, L. 10. the laft of which Temples was (landing in his^ Time, we find, that under the third Temple, which he fays was made of Brafs (the firft being only of Laurels, and the fecond of as poor Materials) no 'Tripod was ufed ; of which Temple, Licetus, in his Book entitled, Antiqiia Schemata Gemmarum Annula- rium, p. 185. has given us a fine Cut; where the Brafs Temple flands on a Rock, having a large Lau- rel Branch ifTuing from the top of its Roof, and fpreading itfelf obliquely over the Entrance, the Pythia {landing in view within the Entrance of the Temple, no Tripod appearing, .and giving an anfwer to one who comes ta confult the Oracle ; her Body being naked from the Navel upwards, and fhe having a loofe Garment, which hangs on her right Shoulder^ and covers alfo the lower Parts of her Body to her Feet ; which Garment fhe holds together with her right Hand, and has a Harp in her left. This Tem- ple is built in a round Form, with Pillars, and has a wrought Roof in the form of a Dome or Cupula. And tbo' Licetus does not fay it was made of Brafs, yet the Cut could not be taken from any other i the Make of it, and its Antiquity, as being before the ufe of Tripods, being confidered : which Tripod ^ with all its Circumftances, feems to me to have added lit- tle or nothing to the divinatory Faculty; but was introduced partly for the conveniency of the Pythia, that the Breath immediately received from the Mouth of the Cave might not offend her ; partly as a Type of the three Succeffions of Time, all known to ApoUoy and partly as a theatrical Amufement for the People ; as we know, in a few Centuries after Chriil, fuch Amufements were introduced into the Chrifliaa Church, which in fome fort Teem a Revival of Ju- daifm. As 271 the T'empks of the G-e^^tw. e s. i ^9 As to the Form of the Ti'ipod, it was a Machine <;onfifting of four Parts, as Martinius defcribes it in his Lexicon. Firfl, Of a Frame with three Feet, whence it was called a Tripod. Secondly, Of a Crater, that is, a Bafon or Bowl fet in that Frame. Thirdly, of a Plate or Table of Gold, or gilt, which covered the Bafon on which the Pythia fat to deliver the Oracles. And this Table covering the Bafon, was the Table of the Sun, or Apollo, on which he infpired the Pro- pbetefs : Such a golden Table alfo dedicated to the Sun, being placed on a rich Bed in a Chappel, on the top of the Temple of Jupiter Belus at Babylon^ where a Woman attended it j which Temple was poo Foot high, as Herodotus tells us : and the Table at Delphos Avas called Hubntis, whence alfo Apollo was (tiled En- i?ohnus,and theFrophczeiics Enholfnides. Fourt bly^T her q "Was a Brafs hollow Covering over this Table, within which the Pythia fate, and whence her refonant Voice came : which Covering was called Cortina, and hence Apollo was ftiled Cortinipotens. And conformably to thiSj Gifanitis on Lucretius^ p. ^pp. writes. The brafen Cover of the Tripod was the Cortina, the Tripod w'as a very great golden Veflel ;. this had a golden Plate or Table laid over it, on which the Pythia fate when fhe gave Oracles. They called that Plate Holmus, as Julius Pollux fays, L. 10. The Author of the Delphi Phocnicizantes feems to agree with this Defcription of the Tripod in all things but the Cortina : He fays, that thofe of Delphos, to conform themfelves in all things with the way of the Hebrews, and to fet up an Oracle at Delphos, like to that at Silo, made there the like Machines, vix^. a Cortina, to the likenefs of the Tabernacle ; a Tripod, to the likenefs of the Ark of Teftimony ; and an Hol- mus, to the likenefs of the Mercy-Seat ; on which Hol^ mus thQ Pythia (siZe, or flood, when fhe gave Oracle^; as there were two Cherubims on the Mercy-Seat But I cannot allow the Cortina to have been an Edifice T 2 raifed 1 40 ^ T>ifcourfe of the Oracles deliver* d raifed to cover the T'ripody as he fuppofes, and no Author elfe, as far as I know j but rather that it was fuch a Cover to the T'ripod and HolmuSy as I have mentioned : tho' I conceive fuch a Covering as I have defcribed before to the brafs Temple, from Licetus, may not unaptly be called a Cortina, it being in the Form of a Dome, or Hemifphere. Now, of all the Cuts of Tripods I have feen in many Authors, that given us by Belk-foreft, in his Cofmography, torn. 2. p. 140. where he gives an ac- count of an Achaia, feems, as I conceive, to come neareft the true one ; it being conipleacly mounted, and looking more like a T'ripod of ufe, than fuch as are commonly feen in Authors, which are only the Cuts of little votive Tripods, never intended for ufe : and this Cut of Belle-foreft, which I here alfo give you, was taken, as he fays, from a Tripod found in the Ruins of Delphos, tho' he does not tell us from what Hands he had it ; and its Cortina is in the form of a Tent, as the Author of the Delphi Phcemciz^antes conceives the true one was. Indeed no Bafon ap- pears in this Cut ; but the three large Thighs appear- ing in it, fuppofing both the Legs and Thighs of this Tripod to have been of Brafs, and hollow, as they feem to have been, might very well have fup- plyM the Place of a Bafon, if the ufe of it, as it*s conceived, were chiefly for its ringing, and fonorous Quality ; or thofe three large Thighs may not im- properly be look'd upon as three Craters, or Bafons, anfwering to three Feet of the Tripod : and as for the three interwoven triangular Figures which are feen in the middle of the Cortina of that Tripod, I conceive, that as the Pythagoreans called the Tripod, Triops, with regard to the fight Apollo has of the Times prefent, paft, and to come ; fo thofe three Fi- gures were to denote three Eyes, with regard to that three-fold Sight, as the three Feet of the Tripod $ire faid to have denoted the fame. If any Man can offer ^(RAQIAVAOIVVIJOJAOCIX^ This Tripod vias found in the Ruins of Delphos. ■^ N.B. T^e binder is to^lm this Cm to facef: 140. in the T'emples oftheG^^TiL-Es. 141 offer a more probable Conjedure concerning thofe three Figures, I fhould be glad to fee it. Mr. Schvttus, Antiquary to the King of PniJJta, publifhed a Book in French^ Anno 17 14, with this Title ; A new Explication of the Apotheofis of Homer, repefented on an ancient Marble^ and concerning the Ufe of the Tripod at Delphos, and of the Employ of the Engafirimuthi. Now, as for the Explication of the Apotheojis of Horner^ reprefented on the Marble, it feems to me he has given a confiderable Light to it more than what was given before, by Kercher^ Cuper^ Hein/itis, Gronovius, and IVeflein^ all Men of great Name, whofe Explications he has fet forth in his Book 3 and on the occalion of the Figure of a Cortina^ as he conceives, in the Marble, he comes to treat of the Cortina^ and the other Parts of the Tripod^ and its Ufe, with whom I cannot agree in many refpeds. He conceives the Cortina and Bafm w ere two Hemi- fpheres made cxadly to fit each other, fo that both join'd made a Sphere, and he has given us feveral Cuts of Tiipods with thofe two Hemifpheres fo join'd : but I conceive thofe Bafons and Cortina, fo join'd, were only in little v^otive Tripods, and not in "Tripods of ufe, tho' thefe alfo were fometimes votive, or given to the Temple, as that of Belle-forefl feems to have been, they not being fo convenient for rhe Pythia to fit on, as a Cortina in the form of a Tent, unlefs the Cortina^ made in the form of an Hemi- fphere, were v^ery large : and indeed we want the true Dimenfions of the Bafons and Cortina in ufe, as to their Depth and Diameter, which I have not met with in any Author. Again, Mr. Schottus makes the Cortina and Holmus^ or golden Plate which covered the Bafon on which the Pythia fate, to be the fame thing, wiiich confounds the whole Defcription of the Tripod ; and whereas he makes the Pythia to (it on the Cortina^ this could not be, if the Cortina were in the form of a Tent, nor can I conceive how it fhould well be, if it were in the form of an Hemifphere. Befide, 1^2 J 7)ifcourfe of the Oracles delivered Befide, her fitting on it would hinder its Sound, concerning which Sound I fhall fpeak beneath ; whereas if fhe fat on the Gold Plate, the Sound both of the Ba^on and Curtma would be free, efpecially if the Plate, tho' it covered the Bafon^ refteifcotirfe of the Oracles delwefd as Dr. Spon fays, or as Gajfendus fays, 16^0; a Brafs 'Tripod was found in the Forum [Juliiy on the Coaft of the Sea of Liguria, and -was carried to Peireskius^ "whofe Life is written by Gajjendus^ in which he de- fcribes it, as Dr. Spon alfo does in his Mifcel. Enid. An- tiq. where he has alfo given us a Cut of it : But they feem to me both fo obfcure in their Defcriptions, that I cannot get any clear Notion of it from them, which I ftiould fufped to proceed from the Tardinefs of my Apprehenfion, unlefs the learned Spanheim^ in his Notes on CaUimachus, Tom. 2. p. 3^0. had obfer- ved, that Gajfendus is fhort and perpIexM in his De- fcription of it. And as for Dr. Spon^ he leaves the thing obfcure in feveral refpeds : For firft, he does not give us the Dimenfions of that Tripod, but fays, it may properly be called a Delphick or Pythian Tripod^ and feems to be made according to the Proportion and Likenefs of the true Delphick Tripod; whereas Gajfendus tells us, it was little more than a Foot high, and was look'd upon as a Votive Tripod^ fuch as were hung up in the Temples, fo that it could not have been a Tripod of Ufe, as the Dodor feems to have fancied it, according to the large Figure he has given us of it, p. ri8. where he defcribes it thus: It is compofed of five Parts, of which the lower-moft is as the Bajis, on which three others ftands, as Legs, or Pillars, fupporting the fifth, which is in the Form of a Bowl or Bafon, the whole made of Yellow Brafs, and w^ell wrought. He calls the Bajis on which the three Feet flood, H)pocrateridion ^ a Term ufed alfo by Plutarch in his Trad of the Ceajing of Oracles^ and fignifies a Cratercula, or little Bafon, and is of a Tri- angular Figure, made after tne Form of that trian- gular Delphick Machine, which ferved as a Cover to the Mouth of the Cave whence the Prophetick Breath iffued ; and had a triangular Hole in the mid'fl of it, over which the Pythia fat when fhe gave Oracles. This Bafon alfo had three fhort Feet under ^^y in the Temples of the Gentiles. 145 it, to fupport it; whence he fays it was called aTri- pod^ tho' I think it niuch more reafonable that Ma- chine ftiould have been called fo from the three large Feet {landing on the Bajts. Gajfendus adds to this Defcription, that the Cortina was not that under Ba- fon, for the Pythia does not get on that, but another Hemifphere with a fort of a fcaly Surface, refembling the Skin of the Serpent (lain by Apollo, wich which the Hole before-mentioned was covered ; fo that the Pythia had the Cortina under her, and the other Ba- fon hanging over her. Now I mull confefs I am here wholly at a lofs ; for firfl. Dr. Spon does not here mention any Cortina^ or give us any Sketch of it in his Figure, whicli neverthelefs all Accounts tell us was ufed in the 'Tripod when Oracles were given. Secondly, Where- as all Accounts tell us that the Tripod was high raifed, and the Pythia afcended to it; he makes her to fit in a three-fquare Baton at the Foot of it, which no o- ther Account mentions. *As for Gajfendus, he men- tions a Cortina, but tells us, no more than Dr. Spon^ whether there were any Cortina belonging to Peiref" kiui's Tripod ; and only lays the Pythia had it under her, and that it covered the Triangular Hole: and if fo, it mud have hind red the Prophetick Breath from afcending to the Pythia, no Account telling us that Cortina was perforated. Mr. Scottus alfo fays, the Iripod being placed over the Orifice of the Cave of Apollo , whence the Prophetick Breath iflued, the Pythia feated herfelf on the Cortina of the Tripod^ whence fhe gave Oracles, as he fays Dr. Spon alfo did, fince he confounded the Cortina with the Baf on ; but I fay Mr. Schottus takes no notice here as he ought, that Dr. Spon makes two Bajons in his Tripod, and mentions no Cortina to cover either of them : and this I conceive muft be, becaufe he found no Cortina in Pet* reskius's Tripod J and yet would fuppofe it perfed, U which \i\6 A "Difcoiirfe of the Oracles delwer^d which it was not, for want both of an Holmus and Cortina ,* Non Tripodas Cortina tegit, Mr. Schottus proceeds farther to tell us that the I'vifod was not defigned only as a Seat, it was for a more important Ufe i it ferved for the Mouth of A^ polio himfelf, who anfwered thofe that came to con* fult him, and not the Pythici. As for the Mouth of ^4polIOy he fays the Bafun and Cortina being made of a very fonorous Metal, and being formed as two He- mifpheres, which when joined together made a fphe- rical Body , it is eafy to conceive diat the fubterra- rjeous Wind which entered with Vehemency into the round Concave by a Hole in the bottom of the Bafon which he calls a Navel, excited there a loud rum- bling Noife, which may be called the Voice of A- polio. He conceives alfo that the Pythia on the Cortina had a care at the fame time fo to modify the rum- bling Npife in the Cavity of the Tripod, as to make it fome way refemble the Words they would have Apollo pronounce. He alfo enquires into the Nature of the Engaprimuthi of the Ancients, and fays all agree they were Perfons who took on them to pre- dift Things to come, but that all Men do not agree concerning the Perfons that ufe this Profeilion, nor the way by which they pra(5life it ; moil believe they were Perfons who had the Faculty of fpeaking from their Belly, or of forming Words which feemM to proceed from the Belly, or fome other remote part; and he refers us for Inftances to Brod^us and the Delphi Phceniciz^antes, &c. tho' he owns this Idea does not agree with the Reflections which fome of the Ancients have made concerning them. He obferves, that Hermolaus Barbarus and John Gerrard Voffius thought the Engaftrimuthi were Perfons who made ufe of certain Veffels of Glafs or of other Matter called Gqftra^ or Veffels with Bellies, by which they predicted ; and he proves by Authorities, that the in^ fide of the 7r//oi w^as called a Belly^ and that from Chi§ ( i7i the \temples of the G entiles. 147 this Belly iflued the confufed Voice which pafled for the Voice of Apollo ; and he thinks we may hence conclude, that the Engaflrimuthay or Pytbia, was a Perfon who repeated or explained more diflindly what had been faid from the Belly of the T'ripod after a more confufed and lefs intelligible manner. Now, as for thefe farther Particulars of Mr. Schottus ; Whereas he fays the "Tripod was the Mouth of ApollOj who gave Anfwers himfelf, and not the Pytbia, and that flie only explained the Words ob- fcurely delivered by Apollo through the Tripod; this is contrary to what Plutarcb, and mod of the other beft Authors have writ, and thePriefls attending the Oracle might eafily have contrived that great rum- bling Noife in the Tripod^ for amufing the People, without making it the Voice of Apollo to deliver ob- fcure Words to be explained by the P)tbia ; and fo making her as an Attendant on a Puppet-Sbow, to ex- plain what the Puppets fay. And if Apollo himfelf fpake, I w^ould ask why could not the Priefts take the ^X^ords from his Mouth as well as the Pytbia, fo that fhe w^ould be ufelefs, unlefs the Words became more Authentick by coming from theMouth of an old Wo- man than from Apollo ; and I wirti he had told us whether he thought that which he calls the Voice or obfcure Words of Apollo, really proceeded from a Py- tbonickSp'wky or only by contrivance from the Priefts attending the Oracle, for I find him generally inclined to Dr. Van Dale's Opinion, viz>. that all Things relating to the Oracle were carried on by their Im- pofture. And if it be his Opinion there was no fuch Thing as a Pytbonick Spirit, I wirti he would read tlie Anfwer Father Baltus has writ to Mr. Fontenelle^s Book of Oracles, which is an Abridgment of Dr. Van Dale ; and he will find that Anfwer has fi-^ lenced him : So that no Reply has been made, and I believe Mr. Scottus may find it will not bear a fair Reply, and I have given an Abftrad of that Anfwet U s beneath* 14S J T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles delher'd beneath. Whereas Mr. Schottus quotes Hermolaus Bav" hanis from Leo Allatius^ faying that the Etigafirimuthi were Perfons that made ufe of certain Veflels of Glafs, or of other matter called Gaftra or Veflels with Bellies, by which they predicted j to have dealt ingenuoufly, he fhould have given us the whole Paflage of Leo Allatim^ which is thus in his Syntagma de EngaftrimuthOy pag. 422. Hermolaus Barharus writes, bethinks that thofe who in Divinations ufe Bafons are called by the Greeks Engaflrimantes, which word does not much differ from Engaflrimuthus^ becaufe Gafler is a kind of Veflel whofe Form is varioufly un- derftood : but whoever knows the various Kinds of Divinations, will readily confefs that Hermolaus Barharusy with others, are deceived in a plain Fad ; for the Divination which is made by the Inftiga- tion of the Devil in a human Body, and thofe which are made in Veflels, as in Giafs Vials full of Water, or in a Bafon, or a Cheft, or other Things, the Devil fuggefting certain Figures and Images, mightily difler, and are of a very diftering nature i wherefore they are not to be confounded. Brodaus found out the Error of thefe Men, who L/^. 9. C. ip. writes, that thofe are deceived who fay the Engaftrimantes ufe Bafom, and a certain Veflel which is calle4 Gafter, PfclluSy NketuSy CedvenuSy Curopalatesy GlycaSy and the Tfeudo-Antifthenes in the Life of Alexander the Great y give us Inftances of Divinations by a Bafon, Vials, and other Veflels. So that Leo Aliatius, Brodaus, and many others are clearly againft the Opinion of Her^ molaiis Barharus and Mr. Schottus, unlets they will eti- lar«^e the Signification of the Word EngaftrimuthuSy and make it the fame with Pythomantes, which fig- nifies any one who predicts any way future Things by the help of the Devil ; and Dr. Van Dale in his Book De Divinationibus Idololatricis, c. p. fhew^s that the Pythia, in giving Anfwers, was not withal an En- gaflrimitha^ for thefe generally delivered their Words with m the Temples oftbeGE^TiL-Es. 149 with an obfcure Muttering, and the Pythia with a Voice more than human. I fomewhat wonder that none of the Fathers have given us a particular Account of the Noife made in the T^ripod, and other Particulars of the Oracle at Delphos and elfewhere ; fince Eufebius, de Praf. E'vmig. /. 4. c. I. writes thus : Many of the Prophets and Soothfayers, not only of the Antients, but even of our Time, being forc'd by Torments, have declared that the whole APfkir of the Oracles was carried on by their Inventions j from whom alfo we know the Ways and Artifices ufed by them have been exqui- fitely laid open ; and they, as Seducers and ill Men, have been put to death, according to the Laws : Which things are fo clear, that they are known to all Men. For not only fome of the Vulgar, but others of the Better Sort, and even Philofophers, who valued themfelves on the account of their Gown and Learning, own'd it : Whence fome one perhaps will not ftick to fay, that neither Gods nor Devils fet up thefe Oracles, if they were the Inventions of fedu- cing and wicked Men for filthy Lucre. Which Opi- nion, we know, pleafed many of the Greeks^ and moftly the moft celebrated Philofophers j for the Pc- ripatetich, Cynicks^ and Epicureans think fo, whom I greatly admire, for that being born and educated in moft corrupt Manners, and taught by their Parents to reverence their Gods and Oracles, they could of themfelves emerge from thofe Errors, fo that they dared alfo to write that the Oracles were not only falfe, but llkewife ufelefs and detrimental to many. The faid Eufebhis, in his fecond Chapter adds this : Tho the Vanity of the Oracles may be lliewn many ways^ yet I have refolved not to anfwer after this way, 'viz.. that the Oracles were let up wholly by the fubtle Inventions of Men; bntps I have begun, not denying them to be from fome Power, becaufe the Refutation of this Point does not a little conduce to 150 A Difcotirfe of the Oracles delwer^d to the Gofpel. For if it fhall be fliown, that both Greeks and Barbarians were ignorant of the true God before the coming of Chrift, and were led away as blind Men, by feducing Daemons i the Myftery of the Evangelical Difpenfation, whereby we are freed from that Seducing and OpprefTion, cannot but be much admired. So far Eufehius. Where two things ought to be noted : Firft, That the Chriftians in his time forced the Priefts attending the Oracles openly to declare all the Artifices ufed by them in carrying them on, fo that they might have conveyed them to Pofterity. Secondly, That notwithftanding all the Artifices ufed, the antient Chriftians held the Pythian \vere pofl'efsM with a Pythomck Spirit. As Peireskius was much amufed concerning the 7r/- pdy and fpared no pains in confulting learned Perfons concerning the Myfteries which he conceived Jay in it ; fo I think when we confider the various Relations we have concerning many other things relating to the Delphick Oracle, they may no lefs deferve our Confi- deration : Some fay it was a Tyrant, fome a Robber, fome a Serpent, and fome a Gyant that was overcome and flain by Apollo, and gave anoccafion for the Infti- tution of the Pythian Games : And as for the Place of this Vidory, fome tell us the Pytho was flain in Myjia^ fome inP/;rx^/^,fome in Cilicia, fome in Pythecufa, fome in Bocotia, and fome in Syria. And as for Apollo himfelf, whom they feign to be the Father of the Day and of Light, he is as hard to be found ; whom fome affirm to be the Son of Jupiter, others of Bacchus, fome my- thically make him a God, fome interpret him to be the Sun, others fay he was a military Commander, fo that the Pythian Apollo muft be confulted concern- ing himfelf. The ingenious Author of the Delphi Phoonicizantes has a particular Opinion concerning this matter : He tells us, that in a manner all things which are related concerning ApoLo, and the Pytho, chiefly regard Jojhuah the Leader of the Ifraelites^ and Og the King i7itheTe7nplesoftheG'E^Ti'L'Es. 151 King of Bafan ; and that whatever was mod cele- brated among the Delphians, whether it regarded the Paanick Games ^ or the Temple itfelf, the Oracle, the T'ripod, or the other things, w ere formerly takea from the Hebreius. Now, as I have before allow'd, that there is a good Agreement betwixt the Tripod and the Ark of Teftimony, and betwixt the Hvbnus and the Mercy- Seat^ which this Author contends for ; and unlefs I had feen the Cut of the large Cortina^ covering the Tripod in the form of a Tent, in Belle-forefl^ as men- tioned before, I might have been inclined to think the Edifice he mentioned railed over the Tripod, might have ferved for the Cortina : yet, as to what he fays, that what is related of Apoilo and Pytho^ was originally meant of Jofiiia and Og^ I cannot a- gree with him. To give my own Senfe of thefe Matters, when I confider, that the Priefts attending the Oracles were acquainted in the wdiole Myftery of Gentilifm re- lating to religious Pradices, and perfedly knowing in their Initiations and the Methods ufed in them, I muft: conclude, that the Affair of the Oracle related to thofe Initiations, for bringing Men to a regenerate State, which is the highefl Perfection the Mind of Man can be brought to in this Life : and that by Apollo, they meant the holy Spirit attending that State, by whom all things are revealed to us ; and tho' the Gentiles had not a rightFoundation of Faith to proceed upon, yet, according to the Knowledge they had of God, in which they came little fliort of Chriftians, they had ways of bringing the Mind to a Purity and Conformity with him, and fo difpofing it for a revealed State, in which Oracles are gi- ven : And as Divines tell us, that Prophecy is a Gift gratis datum y non gratwn faciens, it does not feeni flrange if God fomerimes let the Gentiles partake of ir^ tho' they often abufed it, either voluntarily, or for want 1^2 A T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles delivered want of knowing, in fome Particulars, what God might require of them, being mifled by evil Spirits. Plutarch y who was a Prieft of Apollo y and a Native of Bceotia, where the Oracle was, and, as it may be prefum'd, as critically knowing in all things relating to it, as any Man, hi his Trad of The Ceffation of Oracles, introduces, among others, one Cleombrotus^ •who came from the Oracle, and, on an occafion given, makes the following Relation. The Tent of Boughs, which isereded every ninth Year in the Area of the Temple, is not the Reprefentation of the retiring Place, or dark-fhaded Lurking-Hole of a Dragon ; but rather of the Houfe or Habitation of fome Ty- rant, or King, and the Affault is given him by a {ilent Surprize, at the Gate called Dolonia, that is, the Spy Gate j the young Lad, who a little after is brought there, having a Father and Mother ; the Tent fet on fire, by cafting burning Torches at it, the Table over-turn 'd ,* and then thofe that have done it flying through the Gates of the Temple, without looking back i and, laftly, the Flight of the Lad to many Places, and his being brought to Bon- dage J and, after all, the Expiations and Ceremonies that are ufed in the Valley of T'empe, make me fuf- ped that this reprefents fome notable Exploit and bold Enterprize which has formerly happen'd : for it's a JePc to fay, that ApoUo, for having killed the Dragon, was forced to fly to the remoteft Parts of Greece, to be fet right again, and purify'd ; and that there he made fome Offerings and Effufions, as Men do when they will appeafe the Anger and Indigna- tion of thofe Damons we call Alaflores and Palumnei : that is to fay, Purfuers of Punifhment and Ven- geance for fuch enormous Crimes, the Memory of which laus forever, or of fome very ancient Offences. It's true, the DTcourfe I have fometime heard related concerning this Flight, and Abfenting, is very flrange and wonderful s but if it contains fomewhat of Truths in the Temples of t/je G ^-^ til es. i 5 j Truth, we muft not think it a fmall and vulgar thing which was then tranfaded at the Place of the Oracle. So far CleomlrotuSy who relates this Story, by the by, as he had heard it, tho' he afterwards declares it his Opinion, that Dj:?noni prefided in the Oracles. Now, as for the foregoing Story, I Ihall give you my Senfe of it in fhort ; viz. I look on the Serpent, or Python, which is faid to be overcome and llain by Apollo, to be the animal or old Man fujdued and flain by the Holy Spirit, which attends a regenerate State. This is that Python of which ^;V^//fpcaks in his 4 Ed. Occidet & Serpens, & fallax Herha Veneni Occidet, JJJyrium vulgo nafcetur amomu?n* And a little beneath, Pacatumqiie reget patriis virtutihus Orl;e?n. As for applying all the Particulars before fet down, according to this Interpretation, I leave it to Men acquainted in the Work of Regeneration. As for others, perhaps fuch Applications might feem tedious to them, or be received with contempt. The faid Phitarch, in his Treatife concerning the word £/, which is engraved on the Gate of Apollo's Temple at Delphos, tells us of many other things which deferved to be confidered there; vit.. Why they never burn there but the Wood of thcFir*^ Tree, to keep in the eternal Fire ? W^hy no Perfume is there made but of the Laurel-Tree ? Why in that Temple there are the Pidures only of two Deftinies, and not of three, as there are every where elfe ? Why it is not permitted any W^oman to approach the Oracle ? And fuch other Matters, which incite and draw all Men of Thought to ask, defire, hear, and difcourfe of the Meaning of thefe Things. To fhew X £h« 154-^ T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles delivered the Truth of this, he bids us only confider how many Queftions have been raifed, and learned Dif- courfes made concerning thefe two little Sentences there found, Know yourfeif, and Nothing too much ; and he fays the word Ei is no lefs fertile for occafioning fuch fine Difcourfes. And in the conciufion of this Tra(3:, he fays the word Ei is in fome fort contrary to that Precept, Know yourfelj\ and in fomething a- greeing with it : for the former is a Word of Adora- tion and Admiration of God, as he is Eternal and always in Being ; and the latter is a Notifying and Memorial to mortal Man of the Weaknefs and Ina- bility of his Nature. And we find that Cicero^ in his "tufctilan QiieftionSy L. 5. gives a fine Explication of this Precept, Know yourfelf; where he fays, As we confider the admirable Order of the World, and re- volve it day and night in our Minds, we arrive at the Science enjoinM at Delphos, viz. That the Mind of Man having depofed all Vice, know itfelf, and have a Senfe of its being united with the Divine Mind, by which it^s filled with an infatiable Joy. I muft confefs, I know no higher ExprefTion, or more feeling Refentment of a Deity can be uttered by a regenerate Chriftian. And it feems no wonder, that Plutarch, who was the moft learned of all the Gentiles . fince Chriftianity, having fo great an Efteem, as he expreffes, for the Founders of the Oracle of Delphos, and for their Precepts and Inflitutions, and perhaps not having converfed with the learned Chriftians, ftill continued a Gentile. I may here note, That the two fhort Precepts, Know yourfelf, and Nothing too much, are faid to have been firft introduced by "^thales and Chilo, two of the wife Men of Greece-, for Inhales being ask'd. What he thought the moft difficult thing in Nature ? anfwer'd. The Knowledge of a Man*s felf And Chilo had of- ten this Saying in his Mouth, Defire nothing too jnuch : But the AmpUByons^ who were the Deputies for i7i the T'empks of the Gentiles. 155 for the general Council of Greece^ are faid to have caufed thofe two fhorc Sentences, and this other, he that anfivers pays, to be writ on the Gates of the Pythian Apollo ; as Plutarch tells us in his Difcourfe concerning fpeahng too much. Plutarch alfo, in the Confolation he fent to Apollo- nius on the Death of his Son, writes thus : There are two Precepts writ in the Temple of Apollo at Delphos, very neceflary for Human Life ; the one is, Kno'U) yourfelf; the ot\\tv ^Nothing too ?nuch: for on thefe two Precepts all the others depend. And thefe two are confonant and agree together, explaining each other as much as poffibie 5 for in know yourfelf, nothing too much is contained ; and in nothing too much, know yourfelf is comprized : and therefore the Poet Ln, fpeaking of thefe two Precepts, fays thus : Know yourfelf, is eafjy faid^ But not fo eafy to he done ; For none among the Gods above This underfiands, but Jove alone. And Pindarus fays, the Wife greatly admire this Saying, Nothing in excefs. He therefore who fhall always have fuch a Reve- rence for thefe two Precepts, as ought to be fhown the Oracle of Apollo, will eafily apply them to all the Affairs of Human Life, and know how to carry himfelf dextroufly and modeftly, having regard to Human Nature ; and not be puft up with Vain'* Glory for any thing that might happen, nor be too much dejeded, defolate, and afflided thro' a Weak- nefs of Mind, adverfe Fortune, or the fear of Death, which make an Impreffion on our Hearts for want of well knowing and confidering what ufually hap- pens in the Life of Man, through Neceflity and the Difpolition of Fate. So Euripides ^ X 2 mo 1 5^ -^ T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles delwefd Who yields to ivhat he can't avoid^ Shews he has a right Senfe of God^ And is by Men accounted wife, ^nd fo the Poet Epicharmus wifely fays, A Man is made^ and then unmade^ ' All things return to what they were : 'fhe Soul to Heaven^ and Earth to Earthy Wl.'at Harm in this ? does Nature err ? So far Plutarcho There is a Fable concerning Delphos^ which may be worth noting: They fay that Jupiter^ having a n^iind to find the Middle of the Earth, let fly two Eagles, of equal S\^iftnefs in their Flight ; fome fay they were Crows, fome Swans, and perhaps they were black ones, one from the Eaft, the other from the Weft, which both met at Delphos ; whence Del- phos is called the Middle of the Earth, and the Na- vel of the World. And in the Temple there, a Na- vel of white Marble was fliown in memory of thi^ Fad, and two Golden Eagles were there placed near the 'tripod : but many other Places alfo being called the Navel of the Earth, I fhall here give you fome Notes which I drew together, many Years iinccj, concerning it. Grotius tells us. That, in the Scripture, Judea is called by the name of the Univerfe, and it's in this Senfe we muft underftand that ancient ExpreiTion of the Jcws^, w^hen they fay Jerufalem was feated in the middle of the Earth ; that is to fay, in the midft of judea : as Delphos, which was in the middle o( Greece^ "was called the Navel of the World by the Greeks, The Mtiffehnen tell us, That, in the place where Mecha was built, there was always, from the Begin- ning in the ^'ein^les oftheGu'i^Ti'L'Es. 157 ning of the World, a little Hill made up of red Sand, where all the Arabians came in Flocks to offer their Prayers for obtaining the Graces they hoped for from Heaven ; and this Place, from that time, was efteem'd the Middle of the habitable Earth. Phuvautus tells us, that Delphos is called the Navel of the Earth ; not that it's the Middle of the Earth, but propter c//.!?»v ; that is, by reafon of a divine Voice, or Oracle there given. R. Salomon Franco writes thus : Jerufale?n is called the Navel of the Earth, in refped of its being pla- ced between Africa, Afia, and Europe. The Jews call the Temple the Heart of the World ', and as the Heart in a Man's Body inclines fomewhat towards the left Side, fo the Temple on the top of the Mountain was fomewhat towards the South Side. The Temple is the Heart of the World, which com- municates its Influence to all Parts of the Body ; and the Temple, fay the^^xuj, was the Place where- in the Lord manifefled himfelf to his People, and wherein that Divinity was prefent which had a par- ticular care over them. Munfler, in a Dialogue he has publifhed between a Cbrifiian and a Jezu, introduces the latter fpeaking more fully, thus : They fhall build of the Wood of Libanus, the Sanduary, which is placed anfwering to the Throne of Majefty. And as the Throne of Majeily is the Seat of God, confequently the Sanc- tuary is his Footftool : nay, and the Gate of Heaven is over the Sanduary, and this is, as it were, the Navel of the World. And the Land of Ifrael is pla- ced in the middle of the World, and Jerufakm is placed in the middle of the Land of Ifrael^ and the Sanduary in the middle of Jerufahn, and the Tem- ple in the middle of the Sanduary, and the Ark in the middle of the Temple ; and the Temple of Sanc- tity is called the Throne of Majefty. Dr. 1 5? J T)ifcoztrfe of the Oracles delwer'^d Dr.Rauwolfey in the account of his Travels, writes. That the Greeks have Sitjerufakm the Temple of Mount Calvary^ the Place of Skulls whereon Chrift -was crucified, and alfo the beautiful Chancel that is in the middle of the Church ; wherein is a round Hole, about a Span over, in a Stone which is, as they pretend, the middle of the Earth : according to the Words of David, when he fays, God who is my King, from the beginnings has framed as in the middle of the Earth. I may add here what is faid, Ez.ek. C. v. V. 5. Thus fays the Lord Jehovah^ that is Jerufalem, / haie placed it in the midft of the Nations^ and the Earth round about it. And Buxtorf in his Lex, Chald, Thalm. p. 2054. tells us, that the Rabbinifis fay the World is like to the Eye, whofe White is re- prefented by the Ocean, which furrounds the whole World, the Black is the World itfelf; the Apple that is in the Black, is Jerufalem; and the Image which is feen in the Apple, is the Sanduary. We know it has been a politick Practice for Princes to place their chief Seats in the Hearts of their Country, for an eafy difpatch to all their Provinces, as occafions might require ; and this holds as well in Spiritual Afiairs, as in Temporal. As for thofe who would be more critically knowing how Jerufalem came to be called the Navel of the Earth, I refer them to the Libe-r Cofri, publifhed by Buxtorf in He- brew and Latin, at Baj^l, in the Year 1660. where, in his Notes, he has inferted what Mr. Selden has written on that Point. It feems flrange how the Peruvians fhould fall in with the Notion of thefe Parts of the World, in calling their chief Town Cufco, the Navel of theEartbi the word Cnfco fignifying a Navel : Concerning whicl\^ Garcilliffo de la Vega, in his fecond Book, c. 11. of the Tmas, writes thus : The Empire of the Kings, Tncasy was by themfelves divided into four Parts, which they in the Tefiiples of the Ge-^ til es. h^q they call the four Parts of the World, conformably to the four Parts of the Heavens, Eafi^ Weft^ North and South. The Town of Cufco was the Point or Center of the faid Empire, and it fignifies, in the particular Language of the Tncas, the Navel of the Earth j a Name not improperly given it, nor without a great Refemblance : for all Peru is long and narrow as the Body of Man is, the Town of Cufco makes al- mod the middle of it. If any Man will ftiil be uneafy, till he finds fome Satisfadion concerning the Navel, or Middle of the Earth, he may read the beginning o( Plutarch's Trad concerning The Offation of the Oracles, where he writes thus : Epimenides having heard the Story of the Flight of two Eagles, or Swans ,• and being defirous to know whether this Story were true, confulted the Oracle of Apollo, where the Middle, or Navel of the Earth was ; who gave him an ambiguous and uncertain Anfwer, fo that he could find no fix'd Senfe : where- fore he compofed thefe Verfes, There is no Navel in the Sea, Nor in the Earth ; and if there he^ Prefume not this to Man is known. But to the Mind of God alone. Thus Apollo aptly chaftifed this curious Enquirer, who was tor bringing an old Fable to the critical Teft of Truth. So far Plutarch, As for the Queftion, Whether evil Spirits were concerned in the Oracles delivered to tht Gentiles we know Dr. Van Dak, and Mr. Fontenelle maintain the Negative. But if they had read and duly con- fidered Voffius, de Idololatria, Vol. I. L. i. C. 6. pof- fibly it might have (iw'd them the labour of compc- fing their Books of Oracles, I fhall here give you an Abftrad of what Voffius delivers in his fore-^ mention'd Book and Chapter. That x6o A Tyifcoiirfe of the Oracles delwer^d That there are miniftring Spirits both good and" evil, which, by the Philofophers, are called by the common Name of Damons ^ by the Petipatetkh In- "• telligences j by Chriftians, good and bad Angels ; is a Dodrine which has pafs'd by Tradition, for many Ages, and is confirmed by a fourfold Reafon, 'viz,. by Speders, Oracles, Magick Arts, and Prodigies. The Saddiices did not acknowledge Spirits ; or if they did, they underflood by them only Qualities produced by God in the Mind of him whom he would inftrud in fomething ; or they thought God pro- duced Spirits when he would employ them, and afterwards deftroyed them i and produced them, by feparating fom.ewhat from the Soul of the World, which afterwards returned into the general Nature. Among the Philofophers of the Gentiles, Democritus did not own any Spirits. Nor Ariftotle, others than the Movers of the Celeftial Orbs , which likewife his chief Interpreters held, as Alexander, Simplicius, and Averrhoes, Tho' others of them held otherwife ; but thefe receded therein from their Mafter, as well as in other things. Firft, T'heophraftus ; many Ages afterwards, Ammonms^ Philopomis ; and among the Arabians, Avicenna and Algaz,el : nor was there caufe why thefe fhould befworn to the Opinion of Democritus, or Ariflotle, who before had left the Opi- nion of the Ancients. For Pythagoras aflferted Da- mons ; and if we believe Simplicius, Lib. de Anima, he was the firft of the Philofophers that did it. Nor s it to be doubted, but m it Pythagoras followed thofe whom he had ufed for Mafters ; the 7%racians, Egyp- tians, Perjians, Chaldeans, and others. Plato followed this Opinion, and his F(>Jlowers, Apuleius, PlotinuSy Porphyrins, Proclus^ and Pfellus. It may feem ftrange, whence the Gentiles knew there were Spirits, or Damons, which the Sadduces, Peripateticks, and other Men, of great Name, deny : as many do a: this day, who beheve nothing but what 171 the T'emples of tbe G E^t^ tiles. i6i what they feel with their Hands, or fee with their Eyes. Yet not only the Vulgar of the Gentiles^ but the Flower of the People among them, held there were Spirits : nor were thefe Men ignorant, that Im- poftors fometimes feign Spectres, or melancholy or mad Perfons fometimes fay they fee therw. And the fame happens, thro' too much Fear, to many Perfons, whence Women and Children, and the like, fee them : And the like Reafon holds in purblind, deafifh, and drunken Perfons, who, having a weak Senfe, fometimes ferioufly aflirm they have i^tn or heard thinj^s, which no Man of a found Senfe believes. Whence Plutarch, fpeaking of the Speclre ot D/ow, in his Life, writes, Thofe who deny fuch things, fay no Djcmon or Spectre has appeared to any found Man ; but that Children, Women, and Perfons delirous, through a Weaknefs of Body, when they are fallen into fome Error of Mind, or bodily Diftemper, have ilrange and abfurd Opinions, that they fuperftitiouf- iy believe fome evil Djc?non has poflefs'd them. But Plutarch tells us in the fame place, That the Genii of Dion and Brutus, fignified their Death to them. Thefe were not Perfons of mean Spirits, but great and grave Men, both knowing in Philofophy ; who, neverthelefs, were fo moved by the Spectres, that they follicitouily told their Friends the things they had feen. It would be too long to relate all things which have been teflify'd, by grave Men, of the Gen- tiles : You may read various Authors who have treated this Argument. Thefe relate fo many Facts teflify'd by Men of a found Senfe, that to deny Faith to all of them, would be only for a Man who, being felF-confcvous of his own Folly, meafures other Men by his Foot, and thinks there are no honed Men %\orthy of Credit to be found. We know the Opi- nion of Spedres held among the Jews ; for Matthew •14. and Mark 6. we have the Relation of Chr ft's Y walking i62 JT>ifconrfe of the Oracles delhefd walking on the Waters, and that the Difciples thought they faw a Spedre. Nor oid the Gentiles only gather from Spedres, that there were Demons and Spirits, but iikewife from Oracles, which are othervvife called the An- fwers of the Gods j which were not only from the Frauds of Priefts, fmce they predided many things, \vhich the Aciuenefs of Manx's Wit could no way reach to. And this they did, to thofe who came to try the Oracles fubde Men, and no way credulous. So that, tlio' tlie Vulgar embraced all things, the more Wife did not believe all things ; tho' they did many, vhich fufficiently appears from their Con- fiancy in relating them. Arifiotle^ who did not be- lieve Demons, or, at lealt, does not mention them, but when he fpeaks from t'le Opinion of others, afcribes Divinations to a melancholy Humour ; fay- ing, Thofe that abound with it, excel moll in Un- derftanding; becaufe the Acrimony of black Choler contradts the Spirits, that they better perceive ob- fcure and difficult Things. Nor do I deny this to have place in thofe whofe Knowledge depends on the Senfes ; but the rcafon is diifering, in thofe whofe Knowledge draws its Origin from elfewhere. P/«- tarch, and others, chofe rather to place that Caufe in a Terrellrial Vapour received into a well-tempered Body, and (lirring up the Mind of Man ; and there- fore they afcribe the failing of the Oracles, to the Earth's ceafing to emit that Vapour. But this feems trifling : for to grant that the Mind of Man may be ftirrcd up by fuch Vapours ; whence, I pray, will they make out they have any other Force, than to make Men deliver with more Subtilty and Eloquence the things they knew before ; as Poets, when they have taken a free Glafs of V/ine, make better Ver- fes ? Wherefore, fince Ariflotle and Plutarch^ Men of oreat Fame, could bring nothing better, I conclude we muft by no means (lop in inferiour Nature, but rife in the T*emples of the Gentiles. i<5j rife to the fuperiour Caufes of Nature, fuch as De- mons : Which, therefore, Porphyrins and Ja-mllktis af- firmed to be the Caufes of Oracie<^. Thofe who are of another Opinion, fay, That Oracles were contrive:! by the Frauds ot Men : and this makes Oracles fufpeded, that comr.ioniy they were fo ambiguous, that they l^ood in need of an- other Oracle to be underflood. But tho"* fome Ora- cles were contrived by the Impoftors of Men, ic does not follow, but fome were by the Fraud of illuding Daemons : And if they were ambiguous, ic does not follow they were not Dxmoniacal ,* becaufe the Damom themfelves, being if^r.orant of future Contingents, built indeed on a fubde, but a fallacious Conjecture: wheretore there was need of obfcure and perplex 'd Words, even for Damons, whereby the Oracles might be thought ill underftood, if the Event did not anfwer. Nor is it enough, if you flop in the Subtilty of the Priefts; becaufe many things were foretold, to which the Mind of Man could noc reach, as may appear from what is remaining of the Oracles. The Gentiles alfo gathered there were Spirits, or incorporeal Subftances, from thofe wonderful Works wrought by Magick, both Thewgick^ or white Ma- <;ick, and Geotick, or black Magick ,* both which are looked upon by fome to be Demoniacal, tho' others will have all Magick to be natural : and others, as Petnis Aponerifts, fay it proceeds from a vehement: Imagination, which troubles the Spirits and Vapours. Petrtis Pojiipcnatius^ in his Treat iie de Incantationibus^ L. 4. fays, thofe ftupendous things are done, non by the force of Inchantmcnt, b'.it of the Lichanters, and that through an occult Property oi the Man. For as Stones and Herbs have wonderful Virtues, thro' the InBuenccs of the Heavens, fo, by the Inrlux of Heaven, one Perfon receives a Virtue be{:ore an- other of working \s ondcrful Things : But the Cafe Y z of iSd, J T>ifconrfe of the Oracles delwer\l of Plants and Stones is plainly differing, where the fame Virtue agrees with the whole Species j but a- mong Men, a few only do wonderful Things.^ Wherefore, (ince thofe things exceed the Power of Men, they can be from none but a Damon. They objed, that nothing has been fo much de- fired by feme, as to do wonderful things by a Com- merce with Damons J but they could by no means attain it : whence they gather, that thofe who are called Magicians, impofe on People only by jug- gling Tricks. But the queftion is not, w^hether the Senfes many times are impofed on, but it fuiEces, that many things could not be done without a Compad with an evil Spirit. Nor does it matter, that many, who, with great Labour, have fought this Commerce, could not attain it. For fometimes God may not per- mit it, or the Damon may fhunit; and commonly he applies to fimpleand credulous Perfons, as Women, and thofe who are inflav'd to their PafTions, as to thofe who burn with Lull, or a defire of Revenge, who are eafily deluded and abufed by them. They gathered alfo there were Damons^ from Oflents, or things happening againfl Nature, and Prodigies, which very often are rhe Fore-runners of the Death of Men, or of great Changes, or Revolu- tion of Kingdoms. This is owned even by Machia- 've/^ who, L. I. Difpu!, c. ^6. fays. That great Chan- ges are wont to be foretold in Towns and Provinces, and that by certain S'l^cs, or to be denounced by the Prefages of Men. The fame writes thus after- wards : Tho' I may freely confefs myfelf ignorant of the Caufe, yet Imuftown the thing itfelf to be fo, both from Ancient and Modern Examples ; and scknowledge, that all great Revolutions that have happened tofomeCity or Country, have been wont to be foretold, or forew^arned by Interpreters of Dreams, or by fome Revelations, Prodigies, or Signs in the Heavens. Now^ whence Prodigies and Ce- leftial /;/ the Temples of the G-e^atw.^i. 165 leftial Signs proceed, he cannot fay, but by referring them to Spirits : for after he had profefs'd himfelf ignorant of the Caufe, he fubjoins what follows ; Un- lefs haply we think fit to fay with Come Phiiofophers, that the Air is full of Spirits and Intelligences; who, forefceing future things, and condoling human Cala- mities, forewarn Men of them, by thefe Signs, that they may be able feafonably to prepare and fortify themfelves againft them. Which things fufEciently teach, that fince he would not have recourfe to the fupream Caufe, he found none more proper, or meet, than Aerial Spirits. I fhall add one Paflage here from the fame Author, relating to the fame Subject. It is in his Epifile to Johan. Beverovicius, concerning the Pphmijfa of Satil^ where he writes thus : As for thofe who are of a contrary Opinion, they cannot perfuade themfelves that Spirits have any Commerce with Men ; and I have often talk'd with fuch Perfons, and have found them to have read the Scriptures very negligently, or however they might diilemble, that they little (et by the Authority of the Scripture. So far Voffius. And this is confirmed by Mr. Bayle^ who, in his Diclimary^ under the word Ruggeri^ fays, there are Chriftians Orthodox in all things elfe, but cannot perfuade themfelves that evil Angels are concerned in any thing, and reject, without exception, all that is faid of Magick and Witchcraft : if they contented them- felves to fay, there is nothing but the Scripture can prove the Exiflence and Operation of evil Spirits, we fhould not vender at their Opinion , for it's certain, that Reafon furnifhcs (Irong Difficulties againil the Enipire of the Dev il, founded on the Notion we have of God's Wifdom and Goodnefs : but it's a very rafh Undertaking, not to fi^y fomewhat worfe, to go about to reconcile a Rejection of all the Power of the Devil with the Scripture. Thus i66 J T>ifcotirfe of the Oracles delwefd Thus we fee it's known, not only by Tradition,' but by a fourfold Reafon befides, that there are Spirits. . Andl think the learned Voffius has here touch'd up- on all the material Points relating to this Subjed, and fufficiently fliewn, that it is noteafy for any Man to fet up any Hypothecs but that of Spirits, tolerably to folve the Phenomena, or unqueftionable hiftorical Fads, which are alledged concerning thefe Matters ; and I wonder the learned Dr. Van Dale fhould con- clude, that all that pafs'd in the Oracles, was by the Impoftures of the Priefts, when I find elfewhere, he is free to own other Things for true and real, and not to have been aded by Import ure, which feem to me as flrange as any things which are faid to have pafs'd in the Oracles, and much of the fame nature with them. In his dedicatory Preface to his Differtations con- cerning the Origin and Progrefs of Idolatry and Su- perftiticn, he gives us a Relation of a thing which pafled at Amfierdam^ Anno i$66. which Relation he takes from the Hiiliory of the Reformation, written by the Reverend Gerrard Brantius, and attefted by unexceptionable Perfons. It is thus : A great part of thofe Children who were maintained in the Hofpi- tal of Orphans, both Boys and Girls, and thofe to the Number of fixty or feventy, being obfefsM by evil SpiritSjWere not only forely troubled with various and great Torments, fo that being afterwards re- llored to their Health, fomewhat of the Evil remain- ed with them throughout their whole Life ; but alfo climbed up the Walls and tops of Houfes like Cats ; caft fuch perverfe and heliifh Looks on Perfons, that they much daunted even the ftouteft Hearts : They fpake firange Languages, and with a hiiTmg Tongue, difclofed many wonderful Things of what, at the moment they fpake, was tranfading in the Coun- fel-Houfe of the City : For it happened that one of 171 the T^emples of tha Gentiles. j6j of thefe Boys faid to Katharine Gerrard, one of the Mothers (as they call themj of the Hofpital-Chil- dren, Your Son John Nicholas is going to the Hague, but he will do no good there: after which Words llie leads this Boy with her, he being then a little freed from his Fits, to the Town-Houfe, and at that moment in which theCounfel of the Town w'as broke up, her Son met her as fhe was going down the Stairs, whom fhe ask'd whether he were going to the Hague : he being furpriz'd, confefs'd it. She added, this Boy here told it me; which being heard, the Thing was told the Bourrough-Maft'^rs ; and that Refolution being now deteded, the going to the Hague was omitted. And a little beneath he goes on thus : And tho' thefe Boys were clofely lock'd up in the Monaftery of the Pauliw'/ls, yet they could break open thofe Gates that were lock'd, and ran out ia Crowds, ten or twelve together, through the Streets, and went to the Mayor's Houfe, and upbraided him with wonderful Things, and, as many fay, for his cruel Mind to the Reformed ; and ic's faid they dif- covcred many fecret Counfels which were in agita- tion againft the new preaching of the Prote- ftants. Here Dr. Van Dale adds : I do not deny but what is here related really happened ; but he will have thefe fupcrnatural Things to have been wrought by thefe Children, by order of Divine Providence, and not by the being obfefs'd by evil Spirits, as the Hiftorian and all others affirmed it. But what will he fay to the many other Vifitations in this kind, which we have altogether as well atteiled as this : Will he have them all to be wrought by the Order of Providence, or by Impoflure, without the Inter- vention of Spirits ; or will he give us fome other fair Hypothefis to folve them ? His Refolution for one of thefe ways will be expcded. Mr. i68 A "Difcoiirfe of the Oracles delivered Mr. Fontemlle wrote a Hiftory of Oracles, backing Dr. Van Dale's Opinion, maintaining, that evil Spirits "were not concerned in the Oracles of: the Gentiles -, and Mr. Fontenelle in his third Chapter fets forth, that one Reafon why the Chriftians held the Opinion of Da- mens being concerned in the Oracles, was, that they •were fond of Plato* s Syftem, who maintained the Opinion of Damons. To this. Father Baltus^ a Do- minican, who has writ two Volumes in O^^^x'o again ft 'Mr. Fontenelle^ in his firft Volume, Part I. Chap. 15. and the following, makes this Reply : That, fetting by the Opinion of PlatOy there were three true Rea^ fons why the antient Chriftians held Damons were concerned in the Oracles. The firft of thefe Reafons is the Authority of the Scripture, and here he gives an Inftance in the Oracle of Beelz.ebuby which was at Acharon ; and that Ochczias, King of Ifrael fent to confult him to know whether he fhould recover of his Difeafe. But that which more ftrongly perfuaded the antient Chriftians to this Opinion, was, the per-? fcft Conformity they obferved there was betwixt the Oracles of the Gentiles and thofe the idolatrous Jews confulted ', fuch as Diviners, Magicians, and falfe Prophets, and particularly all the Men and Women that were poffefs'd with a Spirit called Python, of which it is fo often fpoken in the Scripture. They could not doubt but thefe Spirits were true Damons^ fince St. Paul drove away an evil Spirit from a Girl who was poflcfs'd with it ; and the Spirits of the Priefts and Prieftefies of Delphos were of the fame na- ture with that in this Girl. The Second Reafon which confirmed the antient Chriftians in this Sentiment, which they had learned from the Scripture, and which confirmed them after away that they could not doubt a moment of it, was. That they themfelves drove away the Damons from the Oracles, and from the Perfons by whom they gave their Anfwers. That they obliged the evil Spirits that prefided in the Ora- cles 171 the T^e7Uples of the Gentiles. 169 cles to own, in thePrefence of the Pagans themfelves, that they were evil feducing Spirits. That they forced them, by the Invocation of the Name of Jefus Chrifly to quit the Priefls and PrieftefTes of the Idols, whom they had poffefsM after the fame manner tnac St. Paul drove away the Spirit Python by which that Girl, of whom it is fpoken in the ^Bs of the Afoflksy deliverM alfo Anfw ers and Oracles : and they fo certainly drove away thefe evil Spirits j they filenced them with fo abfolute an Empire; they forced them fo neceflarily to own what they were, that they challenged the Pagans to make an Experiment, fo far, as to offer themfelves to be put to death, if they did not drive them away, before their Eyes, and iri their Prefence, and make them own their Impofture. And here the Author cites many Paflages from the antient Fathers, Tertullian, LaBantiuSy St. Cyprian^ Mtnutius Felix, Athanaftus, Armhius^ Sec very full and expreffive to this Effed, which I recommend to the perufal of any Perfons that doubt of this Fad. In- deed the Pagans faid that this proceeded not from the Power and Authority the Chriftians had over their Gods, but from the Horror and Hatred their Gods had for the Chriftians and their Religion ; but LaEian- tins, L. 4. Infl. Div'm. c. 27. fays to this. As tho' any one could hate another, but him that either hurts him, or can hurt him ; nay, it's more agreeing with Majefty prefently to punifh thofe they hate, than to fly from them. There was an Anonymous Perfon who pub- lifhed Remarks in Defence of what Mr. Fontenelk had advanced againft evil Spirits having been con- cerned in the Oracles, and brought Arguments a- gainft Father Baltus's Reafons for fuch Spirits ha- ving been concerned in them ; to which Arguments Father Baltus, in his Second Volume, Part. I. c. i5, and the following, replies, That all the Fathers, not one excepted, have fpoken of this Power which Z th» 170 ^JT>ifcourfe of the Oracles delwefd the Ciiriftians had of driving away Da?nons, by the Invocacion of the Name ot Jefr.^ Chrift ; and that there is not one of them but has given Inftances of it, and u^cd them as Proofs of tne Divinity of Ctirift, and of toe Truth of our Religion. That all the Faithful cf the Hrft Ages, were convinced of this, and that no Perfuafion was more conftant, more univerfal, and more authorized, than this ; that there is not one of the antient Pagans, even of the mod violent againft the Chriflians, that has charged them of Impoilure in this kind, and that has denied thar they drove away Damons, as they confidently aiTerced in their Books ; that when the Pagans gave for a Reafon of their Oracles ceafing in the Prefence of the Chriflians, that it was not from the Power the Chriftians had over their Gods, but from the Horror and Hatred their Gods had for the Chriftians and their Religion ; they moft clearly own the Fad in queftion. That Celfus himlelf was fo far from denying this Power to the Chriftians, that he owns they really had it ; but renewing the Calumny by which the Jews tried to deny the fame divine Power which was in Jefus CIrnft, by faying that he drove away Da?nom but by Eeelz,ehtib the Prince of them ; he faid the fame, that this Power of the Chri- ftians proceeded but from Inchantments, and the Invocations of Damons, On which Origen anfwer'd him, that this was a grofs Put-off, and a manifeft; Calumny, fince it's evident the Chriftians did not impioy either Magick or Inchantments to drive away Damons, but the fole Invocation of the Name of "^{efus Chrift, with a fimple Recital of fome of his Anions : And when Celftis and fome other of the Pagans, afcribed to Magick the Power the Chriftians excercifed over Damons, they did not deny that Power ; on the contrary, it's evident that by what they faid, they owned it at bottom^ and agreed to ^"^' • IT iji the I'emples of the Gentiles. 171 Upon the whole, I think the general Agreemenc of the Fathers in this Fact, of the Power the Chri- flians had over the Damons attending the Oracles, and elfewhere, is not tairly anfwerable; for to deny Faith to the Fathers in a thing fo clearly and gene- rally allerted by them, and not difproved by their E- nemies feems to me to be a high Violation of Huma- nity, they having been Perfons of Learning and Inte- grity j and all that is faid againft them, is of too little Weight to counter-ballance fuch a Teftimony in an evident Matter of Fa6t. The third Reafon the Chriflians had to believe Damons were the Authors of the Oracles, was, thac the Oracles led Men to all forts of Crimes and detefiable Infamies ; whence they concluded, that the Oracles could not come but from thefe curfed Spirits, w ho feek but to deftroy Men, and throw them head-long into all Deviations and Diforders; they led Men to human Sacrifices, which could not be commanded but by Damons, or Men pollefs'd by them. So, they commanded the Practice of all moii- flrous Lulls in their Temples, Games, and Feflivals ; the Oracles alto led Men to Idolatry, Wars, Mur- ders, Seditions, and caufed infinite Deaths, and the entire Ruins of Kingdoms and Common- wealths. Father i>Vfw^, for a Conclulion to the firft Part of his Anfwer to Mr. Funtenelle's Hiflovy of OradeSy ad- drelles himfelf to him after this manner : Sir, I know not whether what has convinced thefe great Men, and with them all Chriftian Antiquity, will fuffice to perfuade you ; however it may be, I pray you to examme thefe Reafons by which they believed Damons vvere the Authors of the Oracles of Paga" nifm, and to tell me afterwards, whether to be con- vinced, as they WTre, they could have more cer- tain, or more convincing Proots, than the Tefti- mony of the Scripture, the Teftimony of their Eyes Z z and 172 J Difcourfe of the Oracles delwefA and Ears, and in (hort, that of the Oracles them- felves. I fhall here add one Relation concerning thefe Matters, which feems to me to carry fome Weight. Origen, in his feventh Book againft Celfus^ writes, that Celfus fays, at the Temples of Trophomus, Am" pbiaraus, and Mopfus^ their Gods were feen in hu- man Shapes, and that not in a falfe Appearance, but manifeflly confpicuous : to which Origen anfwcrs, not by denying the Fad, but faying, we know thefe to be Damom, and to be fed with the Blood and Steams of exhaling Vidims, and that they are retained by thefe Baits in thofe Prifons, which the Greeks think to be the Temples of the Gods ; but we have certainly found, that they are the Habitations of impofturous Damons, Origen Bdds ; Celfus , after this, malicioufly fays, concerning the Yorcfaid Gods pre- fenting themfelves in human Shape, that they did not pafs by once, as Chrift the Seducer did, but always familiarly difcourfed with thofe that defired a Con- verfe with them : By which Words he feems to inti- mate, that he accounted Chrift for a Spedre when he was feen by his Difciples after his Refurredion, as tho* he had pafled before their Eyes with a fadden Flights but that thofe Gods to whom he afcribes a human Shape, denied not a perfonal Converfe with any one who defired it. But could a Spedre (as he thinks^ fwiftly palling by, to deceive Men after an Illufion of their Eyes, operate fo efficacioufly, and convert the Souls of fuch Men, and perfuade them to do all things according to the Will of God, who would call them to an account, in Judgment ? How could fuch a Spedre make Damons fly, and perform other great Works, not keeping to one Place, as thofe Gods he fpeaks of in a human Shape, but palling through the whole habitable World, and ga- thering and drawing to him by his divine Power, as many as he finds inclinable to live well ? So far Origen, r in the ^e7nples of the Gektiles'. lyj Origen. Now, when Cdfus fays, the Gods commonly appear'din aHuman Shape, and freely converled Avith any that defired it, did he lye in it ? If fo, certainly it was the higheft Impudence or Folly in him, to offer this before fo learned a Man as Origen ^ who, he muft imagine, would well inform himfelf from many others oi the learned Gentiles^ concerning the Truth of this Fad. There is one Crime that Father Baltus charges the Oracles of, belide thofe mentioned already, which alfo makes out, that Damons were concerned in the Oracles , iiiz,. Tiiat Magical Pradices appear in the way the Oracles were given, and in their Eftablifh- nient. In his firft Volume, Part I. c. 15. he fays, the ancient Chriftians did not doubt of this ; they were perfuaded it was as much by Magical Inchantments, as thro' their own Malice, that the Damons poflefs'd themfelves of certain Places, and Perfons, by which means they gave Anfwers. And if you confider what Porpbyrius, Jamblicus, and Eunapius relate of thefe fame Oracles, and what they teach concerning their deteflable Theurgia, which was nothing but the Art of calling forth of Damons^ and making them give Oracles ; you will underftand with the ancient Chriftians, that the Oracles were always accom- panyM with Magick : and if the Damons were the Authors of Magick, they were the true Authors of the Oracles. Again, Father .6/z/f«j, Chap, 20. writes thus : Eufe- hius fhews that the Oracles taught Magick ; and he proves it at large, by the Teftimony of Porphyrins^ and of the Oracles which he has produced to au- thorize his T'heurgick Philofophy, to which the greateft Part of the Philofophers, of his time, were extreamly given, with himfelf. And here Father Baltus quotes a Paflage from EtifeLius^ Prap. Evang. L. 5. C. 10. ;ho' in the Edition I have of his Works, which is that 174 -^ T>ifcoiirfe of the Oracles delwer'd that of Bafil^ in which the Praf. Evang. is tranflated by T'rapez.umius^ I find it is at the beginning of the feventh Chapter, where he writes thus : The Gods themfelves, of the Gentiles^ were the Inventors and Teachers of the Magick Art : For whence fhould Men learn, but from the Da?ncm themfelves, with what things they are compelled? So Porphyrius fays, in his Book of Oracles, Demons have lignified to Men, not only their fortunate Converfation, but likewife with what things they are delighted, and by what they may be underftood ; and moreover, by what things they may be compelled, and what things are to be offered to them, and what Days mufl be HiunnM, and of what kind the Figures of the Ima- ges ought to be, and in what Places they frequent ; and there is nothing which has not been learned from the Gods themfelves. So far Eufehius^ from Porphyry, Now, here we find that the Managers of the Ora- cles were acquainted in the Magick Art, as the Phi- lofophers of thofe Times generally were. And Leo- nardus LeJJtus, in his fecond Book de Juftitia & Jure^ plainly fays, That all the Platonkks^ he not excepting Marciliiis Ficimis, either were Magicians, or Favourers of Magick. And indeed the Greek and Latin Poets were initiated in the fame^ as is eafily feen in their Works. Nor, in truth, are their Works rightly to be underftood in many places, (tho^ they may be conftrued) without a Magical Key. And thofe fe- cret Sciences were openly taught in Spain and Italy, till the Time of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, who fupprefsM their being publicklv taught in Schools, for fome politick Reafons; tho' they are ftill privately taught by a certain Body of Men, who are thought fit to be entrufted with them. I do not mean the invifible Body of the i^o/v-CVz/a/j^j", which much amufed our Dr. Flood') but another Body, which may not improperly be called by the foregoing Name j they generally carrying about them a Rofe (tho' unob- ferved in the T^efnplcs of the Ge^^^ til u s. 175 ferved by many)as a Symbol of Silence ; and are many of them crucified Chriflians, as all who experimen- tally know what a Regeneration is, muft be. As for the Society of Rof)-Cruciam^ which has made fome Noife in the World, Heideggenis, in the Life he wrote of Ludovkus Fabricius^ tells us, that his Father, who was born Anno 1575, and died Anno 1638, wrote a Book againft the Brothers of the Rofy Crofs : the Au- thor of which Sed was one "jfnngius^ a Profellbr of the Mathematicks at Hamburg ; a Libertine, who, in his Cups, impudently and impioully confpiring with his Companions, to amufe the World with fome fpe- cious new Invention, printed and pubhflied to the World the Book entitled, "The Fame of the Rofy Crofs, And Ludovicus Fiibridiis confirmed this, having it from the Mouth of the Secretary of Heidelberg^ who was privy to this Lnpoflure. This perhaps may be the Jungius mention'd in a Book written by Dr. Gannannus^ intitled, Oologia ; where, /^^z^. 55. the Doctor tells us, it was told for cer- tain to Sebajiian Jiingius, that a Dog which had de- voured fome Food, which a Country Woman had prepared for her Hens, to make them lay ftore of Eggs, and larger than ordinary, as he followed his Mailer in a Journey, was feen by many Spedators to void many Eggs, one after the other, which made him very weak ; but that Food being carryM off, up- on this Excretion, he was rellored to his former Vi- gour. This Story might very well have been added to his Book of the RofyCrucians. As I have intimated before, that the Greek and Latin Poets, among the Gentiles^ were initiated in the fecret Sciences, and w^re not ignorant of a Regene- ration, and the New Birth, (they calling the Vifita- tion in which thefe are manifefted, a Dreaming on Parnajfus, where all Myfteries are revealed to them) and the Method ufed to bring Men to them ; fo fome of our Chriftian Poets were knowing in the fame. And 1^6 A Difconrfe of the Oracles delivered And the ingenious Poet Palingenius^ whofe Name imports a Regeneration, in the tenth Book of his Zodiacus Vita, gives us a Procefs for bringing Men to a regenerate State, which he calls a Procefs for mak- ing the PhilofopherVStone, for you muft know thefe two commonly go together : Which Procefs the Phi- lofophers obtained, addrelling themfelves to 6b/, Lma^ and Mercury^ Pegging them to teach them fome eafy way whereby they might have an honeft Support, and not be expofed to the Contempt of the Vulgar. And as the reading of this Book was pro- hibited by the Council of T'rent^ pofTibly it may be, becaufe this grand Secret is divulged in it. How- ever, to gratify the Chymifts, and others who may make a good Ufe of it, I fhall give you here the Pro- cefs, didated by Phoebus^ as follows. Nunc juvenem Arcadmn, infidum, nimiumq; fugacerriy Preuditey & immerfum ftygiis occidite lymphis. Mox Hyales gremio mpojitum, Deus excipiat quern Lemnia terra colit^ fublatumq; in cruce figat. 'Tunc fepelite utero in calido & dijjfohite putrem i Cujusftill antes Artus de Corpore noflro, Spiritus egredius penetrahit^ & crdine mirOy Paulatim extiuElum nigris revocabit ab umbris Aurata indutum chla??iyde, argentoq; ni tent em. Projicite hum demum in prunos^ renovabitur alter Vt Phoenix^ & qua tangit perfecia relinquet Corpora^ Natura leges & fader a vincens : Mutabit Species paupertatemq; fugabit. Take this Arcadian, flitting, treacherous Eoy^ And, dipped in Stygian Waters, him deftroy. Then fet on Hyale^ Lap^ let Lemnos God Take him to him, and crucify the Lad, Then, in a ivarm Wonih placed, his Taint dijfolve, Whofe dropping Limbs a Spirit (hall devolve From me ^ and penetrate y and flrangelyfo^ Dead in the ^einphs of the Gentiles* 177 lUeaS, by degrees^ fmll hrtng to life a-uew^ AH clad in Robes of gold and fiher Hue, Cafl him again on hot Ccals^ Proteus like^ He^U he renew' d, and all he touches ?nake Moflperfeci: Nature's Laws and Poivers excetl ^ Species he^H change ^ and Poverty repelL I have formerly defired many learned Men, as oc* cafion prefented, to explain the Meaning of thefe Verfes to me ; but could never be gratifyM in it, till feme Perfon, who keeps himfelf conceard, and will not vouchfafe to be known to me, gave me fome Intimation of it in fome fecret way. In what I have intimated before, that there is a Body of Men, a fele(5l Number of whom apply them- felves to fome fecret Sciences for the end mentioned ; it is not faid by rote by me : for an intimate Ac- quaintance of mine, on whofe Veracity I can rely, has aifured me more than once, that he has been in- vited to be of that Society, who would freely com- municate all their ways of proceedings to him, and let him make his choice to live in what Part of Europe he pleasM, and have all things allowed him to his defire, if he would join with them. But, tho' he would willingly have been let into the whole My- ftery, which mufl be a great Satisfadion, and per- haps the greateft Scene this World aftbrds, and high- ly defirable by any Man y yet he could not prevail with himfelf to comply with fome Conditions pro- posed to him, and did not proceed. And, as by what he has pradically known in their Proceedings, he finds it's a two-edg'd Sword they manage, which will cut both ways, and may be well or ill applied : He wifhes them w^ell in making a good Ufe of it, and that they would w^ell confider the Subjeds they work upon; for certainly here, if any where. Men ought thoroughly to confider, Qj^id valeant humeri, quid f err e recufent. And I doubt not but many perifh under A a that 178 J T>ifcoiirfe of the Oracles deUoer\d that. Operation, as Euftachius tells us, that CiYce'^% Potions deftroy thofe whom the Mufes do not fa- vour ; according to which, Theocritus concludes his ninth Idyllium, thus : Thofe^ ivbom the Mufes favour, fiand a Proofs ^GainflCixQts Potions ^ and the Power of Love, Plutarch^ in his Book concerning the virtuous Ads of Women, tells us the following Story : There was a time when the M'dejtan Virgins fell into a ftrange Raving, and a terrible Humour, without any apparent Caule , only it was conjedured it muft be fome poifonous Quality of the Air, which caufed this Alienation of Mind. They were all on a fud- den feized with a delire of dying, and a furious Hu- mour of hanging themfelves, and many did it fe« cretly ', and no Remonftrances, nor Tears of Parents, no Confolation of Friends, could any way prevail with them : for they found ways of deftroying them- felves in defpite of all thofe who narrowly watch'd them. So that, at length, it was thought a Punifh- ment fent by God, and that no humane means could remedy it, ''till, by the Advice of a prudent Citizen, an Edid was publifhed. That if any one hanged her- felf for the future, her Body fhould be expofed naked in the publick Market-place, which clearly put a flop to this Humour. Whence Plutarch con- cludes, it^'s a great lign of a good and virtuous Na- ture, to fhew fuch a fear of Infamy and Difhonour, that thofe, who neither dreaded Death, or Pain, could not bear the Imagination of a Shame and Dif- grace, which could not affed them but after their Death. So far Plutarch. Servius, on the fecond Book of Virgil s Georgicks, tells us, that the fame Frenzy once happened to the Virgins at Athens. Now, as for this feemingly unaccountable Dif- eafe, I doubt not but the Managers of the fecres Arcs I have mentioned, knew well enough what ic was, and poffibly an Over-dofe of their Phyfickmay havo i?i the Temples of the Gentiles. 179 have gone a great way towards promoting it, And I could wifh no more Inftances, even in latter Ages, were to be found of that kind. It appears, by the form of putting a ftop to that Difeafe before -men- tioned, it was a mental Difeafe, no bodily Conta- gion, or poifonous Air, which could not have been ilopp'd that way. We know Regimen anhnorum efl (lYs artium ; but there is a great Nicety in it. Mite homiyiwn ingenitim flcEii dncique per artes Non rigidaiy dofla mobilitate decet. Youth's tender Minds floould be wrought on^ and led By gentle Aits, not roughly managed* To return to Virgil. As J have affirmed the Birth celebrated by Virgil to be the inward Birth, I may take notice, we find three ways for bringing Men to this regenerate State. The firil is, by the immediate Call or Vifitation of God, as it happened to Saint Paul. The fecond, by the common training of Church Difcipline. The third, by a Means more thaa ordinary ufed to bring the Mind of Man to be de- livered of this Birth. And this was the way gene- rally ufed by the Gentiles for this end, the Managers of this Work having a regard to that Saying of thePoet, FleBere fi nequeo Super os, Acheronta moveho, 'this is the long Line which great Fifl)ers ufe^ When muddy Streams lie wide, and Fijlo refufe 'The Bait thrown near the Shore Nor do I w^onder at this Proceeding among the Gentiles ; for indeed they had no genuine training, as there is among Chriftians, for bringing Perfons other^ wife to a regenerate State, which they look'd on as the moft perfed: and confummate State a Man can arrive at in this Life, and confequently for the great Benefit of Mankind. It feems ft range, that even among the Americans ^ there is found a Difcipline carrying fome Analogy to fhofe ufed by us for bringing Men to a regenerate A a 2 Sta^C;? i^o J T>ifcourfe of the Oracles deliver' d State, by mortifying the luxuriant Spirit of Man \ So that he lliall be fet on a new foot for guiding his Adions during the remainder of his Life. And fince I conceive it may be grateful to thofe who are not versM in Hiflory, and may not have heard Rela- tions of this nature, I fhall give here fome In- flances of it. Mr. Lawfonj in his Account of the Indians of North-Car olinay tells us, they have an odd Cuftom among them called Hufqitenawing their young Men, in which they proceed thus. Moil commonly, once a Year, or at lead once in two Years, thefe People take 0S many of their young Men, as they think are ablp to undergo this Pradice, which, they fay, is to make them obedient and refpe-ftful to their Supe- riours, and is the fame to them as it is to fend our Children to School, to be taught good Breeding and Letters. Tiie Houfe appointed for it, is a large ftrong Cabin, made on purpofe for the Reception of the young Men and Boys that have not pafled this Ini- tiation, and it is aH'^yssitChrift?nas that this is done. The Youths are then brought into this Houfe, and kept there in the Dark during the Tranfadion, where they more than half flarvc them. Befide, they give them Pellitory-Bark, and feveral intoxicating Plants, that make them go as raving mad, as any People ever were ; and you may hear them make the moft difmal and hellirti Cries and Howlings that ever Human Creatures exprefsM. All which continues? about five or fix Weeks, and the little Meat they eat, is the naftieft, loathfome Stuff, and mix'd with all manner of Filth it'^s pofTible to get. After the time is expired, they are brought out of their Cabin, which is never in the Town, but always at a diftance cfF, and guarded by a Jaylor or two, who watch by turns. When they fir ft come out of the Houfe^, they are as poor as poiTibly may be, and feveral di^ under this diabolical Purgation. Moreover, they eithec in the Temples of the G en t i l Et. i8i either really are, or pretend to be dumb, and do not fpeak for feveral days j Mr. La^f on thinks, twenty, or thirty : and look fo ghaftly, and are fo changed, that it's in a manner impolTible to know them again, tho' you were never fo well acquainted with them before. He would fain have gone into the Houfe of Confinement, to have feen them in their time of Purgation , but the King would not fuffer it, telling him, they would do him, or any other white Man a mifchief that ventured in among them, which made him defift. They deal after the fame manner with the Girls, as with the Boys ; and thefe young Peo- ple are very much afraid of it, many of them run- ning away at the time to avoid it. The Savages fay, if it were not for this, they could never keep their Youth in Subjedion ; befide that, it hardens them to the Fatigues, and all manner of Hardfhips, which their way of living expofes them to i that ic carries off all infirm Bodies that would have been only a Burthen and Difgrace to their Nation, and faves the Viftuals and Cloathing for better People, that would have been expended on fuch ufelefs Crea- tures. After Mr. Law/on has given us this Account, he obferves that very few give us Accounts of thefe Sa- vages as they ought j which happens, becaufe thofe, who write Hiftories of this new World, are fuch as Intereft, Preferment and Merchandize draw thither, and know no more of that People, than they do of the Laplanders y which is only by Hearfay. Mr. Beverly, in his Hiftory of Virginia ^ gives u5 like account of this Hufquenamng Pradice in ufe there, as follows. The Solemnity of Hufquenawing is commonly prac- tifed there every fourteen or fixteen Years, or oftener, as their Young Men happen to grow up. It is an Inftitution, or Difcipline, that all young Men muft pafs^ before they can be admitted of the number of the i82 J T>ifcourfe of the Oracles delivefd the great Men^ or Cockaroufes (as they call them) of the Nation. The whole Ceremony is performed af- ter the following manner. The choiceft, and briskefl: young Men of the Town, and fuch only as have acquired fome Trea-^ fure in their Travels and Hunting, are chofen out by their Rulers to be Hufyuenaw d ; and whoever refufes to undergo this Procefs, dares not remain among them. They carry them into the Woods, and there keep them under Confinement, and defti- tute of all Society, for feveral Months, giving them no other Suftenance but the Infulion or Decodion of fome poifonous intoxicating Roots, by virtue of which Phyfick, and by the Severity of the Difci- pline they undergo, they become ftark flaring mad ; in which raving Condition they are kept eighteen or twenty Days. During thefe Extremities, they are Ihut up Night and Day in a flrong Inclofure, made on purpofe, one of which h^ faw belonging to the Paumaunkie Indians, in the Year 15^4. It was in the Shape of a Sugar-Loaf, and every way open like a Lettice for the Air to pafs through, of which he has given a Cut, T'ab,^. fig- S^- ^^^ this Cage thirteen young Men had been Hufquenavfd, and had not been a Month fet at liberty, when he faw it. Upon this Occafion it is pretended, that thefe poor Creatures drink fo much of that Water oi Lethe, that they per- feftly loofe their Remembrance of all former things, even of their Parents, their Treafure, and their Language. When the Dodors find they have drank fulHciently of the Wyfoccqn, fo they call this mad Potion, they gradually reftore them to their Senfes again, by leflening the Intoxication of their Diet. But before they are perfedly well, they bring them back into their Towns, while they are fiill wild and crafy through the Violence of the Medicine. After this, they are very fearful of difcovering any thing ©f their former Remembrance i for if fuch a thing fliould i7i the T^einples of the Gei^til v. s. 1 8 ^ fhculd happen to any of them, tliey immediately muft be Hufquenaw'd again. Now whether this be real or counterfeit, I do not know, Jays he 5 but cer- tain it is, they will not for fome time take notice of any body, nor any thing with which they were before acquainted, being flill under the Guard of their Keepers, who conftantly wait upon them every where ''till they have learned ail things perfectly over again : And thus they unlive their former Lives, and com- mence Men by forgetting they ever were Boys. I can account no other way, fays he^ for the great Pains and Secrecy of the Keepers during the whole Procefs of this Difcipline, but by afluring you it is the moft meritorious thing in the World to difcharge that Truft well, in order to their Preferment to the greatell Pods of the Nation, which they claim as their undoubted Right in the next Promotion. And on the other hand, they are fure of a Paflport into the other World, if they fliould by their Levity, or Negleft, fliew themfelves in the leafl: unfaithful. Thofe whom I ever have feen,/?)^ he^ to be Huf- queuaw'd^werQ lively,handfome, well-timber'd young Men, from fifteen to twenty Years of Age, or up- "Wards, and fuch as were generally reputed rich. I confefs, fays be, I thought it at firft fight to be only an Invention of the Seniors to ingrofs the young Mens Riches to themfelves ; for after fuftering this Operation, they never pretended to call to mind any thing of their former Profperity, but their Goods were either fliared among the old Men, or brought to fome publick Ufe, and fo thofe Youngfters were obliged to begin the World a-new. But the Indians deteft this Opinion, and pretend that this violent Method of taking away the Me- mory, is, to releafe the Youth of all their childifll Impreffions i and from that flrong Partiality to Per- fons and Things, which is contraded before Reafon jgomes to take place, they hope by this proceeding to root 184 ^ Tiifcotirfe of the Oracles delivered root out all the Prepofleflions and unreafonable Pre- judices which are fix'd in the Minds of Children i fo that, when the young Men come to themfelves again, their Reafon may ad freely without being byafs'd by the Cheats of Cuftom and Education. Thus alfo they become difcharged from the Remembrance of anyXyes of Blood, and are eftablirtied in a State of Equality and perfect Freedom to order their Adions, and difpofe of their Perfons as they think fit, with- out any other Controul than that of the Law of Nature. By this means alfo they become qualified, when they have any publick Office, equally and im- partially to adminifter Juftice, without having refped either to Friend or Relation. So far Mr. Beverly. Mr. PuYchas^ in the fourth Part of his Pilgrimage, L. I. c. 6. gives us fome farther Account relating to this Practice in Virginia^ to whom^ for brevity fake, I refer the Reader. Garcilijja de la Vega, in his Hi (lory of the Tncds of Peru, L. 6. c. 24. gives a Relation of a Practice fomevvhat like the foregoing, where he writes of the Ceremonies obferved in conferring Knighthood oii the young rwc/7j-, which Honour rendred them capa- ble of all Imployments, both Military and Civil, and without which they were not allow'd capable of either. I refer you likewife to the Author. I have given you the foregoing Infiances of the Pradices ufed by the Americans for fubduing thd luxuriant Spirit of Man, and bringing it to a new State, which, as it carries fome remote Refemblancei to the Work of Regeneration, fo it feems to have no fmall Agreement with what has been pradifed among the Gentiles in the other parts of the World y who, in the Rites they ufed in their Expiations, and my- flical Regenerations, pretended, as the Americans did, to fet the Mind of Man on a new foot, after its being purged and cleared of the vicious Habits contraded by it, through evil Impreffions and Pre- poifellions^ in the T^emples of the Gentiles. 185 poffeffions, which Man is fubjcd to from his Infancy. No one could be initiated in the facred Myileries of Mithres^ among the Perfians^ 'till he had undergone all kinds of Chaftifements, of which there were eighty Degrees, fome more remifs, others more fevere : for they began with the more mild, and fo proceeded to the others. For inftance, they muft fwim for many days over large Extents of Waters ; then caft them- felves into the Fire, afterward live in a Solitude, and undergo long Failings, and other the like Difciplines. When they had thus given a Proof of their Sanc^tity, and Fortitude of Mind, and of their being fuperior to their Pallions, in patiently bearing and abiding all thofe Torments, if they furvived them, they were then at laft initiated in the fecret Myfteries of Mithres. But I muft here tell you, that a magical Operation works a greater Mortification, and brings the Mind of Man to a greater Purity than all thefe Severities ; which Truth, perhaps, nothing but Experience may convince fome Men oh I hope, in what I hare here written, I have explain- ed fome Things of Antiquity more clearly than others may have done. It was what I had in view when I fet upon this Compofure. If fome Men do not value Studies of this nature, others perhaps may : And indeed I do not know what may defer ve a Man's In- quiry, if thefe things do not. Men's Imaginations are whirl'd about by various Impulfes, fome one way, and fome another, and their Thoughts are va- riouily directed, according to the various Impreffions their Minds may have received. RefeniuSy in his Preface to the Edda IjJandorwn^ tells us, Ottinusy the Hero or God of the Northern People, was often feen to appear in the Form of an old Man, who had but one Eye. The Reafon of which the Edda tells us, was, that Ottinus came one day to Mi- 7nenis, who had the Fountain of Wifdom in his p^f- B b feffion. i86 J DifcGtirfe of the Oracles delwer^d feflion, and defired that he might have a Draught of It ; which not obtaining, he pawn'd one ot his Eyes for it. Whereupon Freedom being given him, as foon as he had drank, he found himfelt' adorned with an eminent Underftanding and Wifdom. Ottinus having therefore pavvnM' one of his Eyes, which perhaps he never received again, it^s no wonder if he often ap- peared having but one Eye. Now this Fable, I conceive, may be thus explain- ed ', That a Man has two Eyes, one of Faith ^ and another of Reafon ; and that the latter muft be laid by, for him to drink of the Fountain of Wifdom with the Eye of Faith alone. CaliimachuSy in his Hymn on the Birth of Pallas^ tells us, that I'irejias^ having feen her there naked, was wholly deprived of his Eye-fight i and that Pallas, being moved by the Tears of Charido^ the Mother of 'Tirefias, who forely complained of it, and for whom Ihe had a great kindnefs, told her, That fhe had not caufed her Son to lofe his Sight, but that it was a Judgment had pafied according to the Laws oi Sattirny that if any Man fhouid behold any of the immortal Gods, without their leave, he fhouid receive a feyere Punifhment j which Decree was irrevocable, fince the Deiiinies had ordered it fo at her Son's Birth : but thaL fhe would make him an ample amends for his Lofs, file would endow him with the Spirit of Prophecy beyond all others .; give him a noble Staff to guide him in his way i grant him a long term of Life ; and, when he died, he fhouid be honourably entertained by PlutOy in the fubrerraneous Regions, and pafs up 2(nd down among the Dead as the fole wife Man. Now, I conceive, the genuine Explication of this Fable to be thus : Whoever has feen the Goddefs of Wifdom naked, or without her Veil, mufl lofe his Eye-fight, as Horner^ as weU as T'irefeaSy is faid to hai^e done : for after fuch a Sight, the Eye of Man's ; Underftanding is othervvife directed than according /// the "temples of the Gentiles. 187 to common Senfations^ they are become introverted* are pafl: into the invifible World, and have a free Com" niunication in Hades^ or the Elyfian-Fiehis : Solemque fuum^ fua Sjdera norunt. They have the Gift of Prophecy ; they have a Staft' to guide them in their way ; are long-liv'd as the ^y- bil, length of Life being calculated, not by the num- ber of Years, but by extent of Knowledge, as to things paft, prefent, and to come : And I am inclined to think, that Men qualified according to this Expli- cation, may take fome Guft in what I have written in this Book. Bbi KOTES (.8,) NOTES CONCERNING GENII, O R Familiar Spirits. AVING fome Years fince publiflied a Book of Genii^ or Familiar Spirits^ I (hall here give you a few fliorc Notes relating to them. Lomeierus, in his Book, De Veterum Gen^ tilum Lufirationilpus, c. ii. where he writes of vifible Appearances of the Gods of the Gentiles, fets do\vn a Paflage we have in Heliodoms, Mth, 1. 3. where Cala^ firis tells Cnemojiy that he had feen Apollo and Diana, not in a Dream, but really ; and adds. The Gods and Deities, Cnemon, as they come to us, and go from us, transform themfelves, for the moft part, into a human Shape ; but very rarely into that of other Animals. And tho' they are not feen by the Prophane, they can-* not efcape being known by the Wife : for they may be difcerned by their Eyes, they having always a fted- faft Look, and never doling their Eye-lids* And they are igo Notes coitcerning Genii, are much more known by their Motion, which is, not by fetting one Foot before the other, but by a certain aerial Impetus, readily cleaving the Air, rather than by a v\alking through it. Wherefore i\\t Eg)^- //^«f make the Statues of their Gods with their Feet join'd together, and as it were united. Which things alfo Hornet' knowing, as being an Egyptian^ and in- ^ftruded in their fecret Learning, has intimated after an occult and ihtricate manner, leaving them to be underftood by thofe that can underfland them. So he fays of Pallas^ At que truces oculi fuljere tuenti: And of Neptune^ Namque pedum crurumque ftmul 'vefiigia pone Perfacile agnoviy remeante aurafque fecante. The Words p erf ac He remeante importing a flowing Paf- fage : from this fort of pafling, the Gods are faid by the Greeks to ilide along. "Theocritus^ Idyll. 27. writes, Immortales vero vccantur Dii f.ne pedum ufu facli. From fuch a PalTage JEneas knew his Mother going from him, Virg. i. JEneid, v. 400. ^ 5 JEneid^ 6^'jj^ 648, 64^. Et vera incejju patuh Dea. 'viz,. As carried on by a light Wind, as a fmall VefTel, or as Aiding away by a fiippery Motion, as on Ice- Nor have fuch Appearances cf the Gods been ac- counted vain, but cfHcacious, and carrying with them fome falutiferous Aid, as being wont to portend, ei- ther Health to the Sick^ or Comfort to the AiRicled* or or Tamiliar Spirits. 19 1 or Aid to thofe that labour under any Difficulties. So far Lomeierus. I have noted this Paffage of Heliodorus, with the Additions of Lomeierus^ becaufe I think the Tradition of this Fad well deferves to be tranfmicted to Pofle- rity, it being a faithful Account of the manner after which Geniiy or Familiar Spirits, appear to thofe who fee them, when other Perfons prefent fee no fuch thing. And as I have averr'd my own Experience in this kind, I mud declare, that as often as thofe Genii have appear'd to me, it has always been with that fwimming Motion through the Air, and not fetting one Foot before the other, as ufual with Men, when they pafs from one place to another. I know many Perfons laugh at all Apparitions; and it's not for thofe I record thefe things, but for thofe to whom fuch Genii may appear ; who, as they will be much fur- prized at the hrfl Sight of them, I know will be glad to find that others have had the like Experiences, and to be inllrudcd in the manner of their Appearance, and in what they may portend. I fhall farther here obferve to you, that whenever fuch Genii have appeared to me, I have always look'd on my felf to have been, for that time, in an extatick State of Mind ; and conclude, that mcll: Perfons, who fee Apparitions, unfcen by others, prefent with them, are in fuch a (late, tho' many times unobferv*d by them- felves j the various Difpofitions of Mens Minds not be- ing to be underftood without a good Hiare of philofo- phical Learning, and much Application ufed. In this extatick ftate of Mind, Men are faid to dream wa- king I and the antient Poets callM this a dreaming on Parnajfus, in which Dream their Minds were opened, and they were led into Knowledges incommunicable to others in a common ftate. And as common Dreams, according to what many Perfons may obferve in them- felves, often carry in them a prophetick Energy, Co |hat what they dream comes to pafs ; fo it's no won- der. tg2 Notes C07icerui/^ Genii, ^er, if in this extatick State of Dreaming C during which the Aftral Impulfes are incomparably ftronger than in common Dreams, or in the ordinary Courfe of Life) that prophetick Energy more efEcacioufly exerts itfelf, fo that Perfons then, both fleeping and waking, furprizingly fee, forefee, and predid what the Mind of Man in a common ftate cannot bear to. And I doubt not but the true Prophets were in thefe extatick Dreams when they prophefied : But as their Minds were purified by a due prophetick training, their di- vining Impulfes always direded them to deliver whole- fome Truths. Whereas others, who either by fome fevere Circumftances of human Life, or by being ma- gically wrought on by fome villanous Abufers of that Art, are brought into this extatick State without a due training, fo that they have not pafs'd a purgative Life, but have their Minds ftrongly poffeft with Paf- fions and vicious Habits : Thefe Perfons, I fay, tho* their ftrong Lnpulfes may now and then direft them to deliver ufeful Truths, yet they more often deliver vain Falfhoods, and many times are led away by de- plorable Delufions ; as we may fee in thofe Wretches "U'ho are accufed of Witchcraft, and who commonly confefs things as really tranfaded, which only pafs in them in thefe extatick Dreams, and who for want of Judges knowing in this myfterious State of Mind, have been barbaroufly profecuted and murthered, even to the Ridicule of Mankind ; fince Men may be as well executed for falling into a Fit of an Epilepfy, the other being as involuntary, and as much out of the Perfon's power to avoid. I may here alfo acquaint you, that this Extatical Difpofition of Mind is many times contagious, accord- ing to the Difpoficions of Perfons who may be with fuch as are in it. This is manifeft in the Vifitation which happen/d fome Years fince in Ne'uj England, where onePcrfon happening to have the Speder Sight, it became in a fhorc time fo general^ that two hundred were or Vamiliar Spirits^. 1 9 1 Were accufed of Witchcraft, and about twenty exe- cuted J the like having happen^ in many other Countries. Indeed all Perfons are not infected with this extatick Contagion, tho^ much ufing with thofe that are in thofe waking Extafies, but only fuch as are difpofed for it, as it happens in contagious Difeafes. The late Mr. Ernes ^ famous for his AfTu- rance of his Refurre6:ion, when he went among the Prophets firft, little thought of his becoming one , but had not been long with them, when he found himfelf feizM with the fame Spirit : and I have been prefent when, upon a young Woman's falling into a Convullion Fit, to which fhe was much fubjed, pre* fently another young Woman^ who chanced to ba prefent, and who never had a Fit, nor feen any one in a Fit, fell into the like Fir, after a more fevers manner than the other. I fhall farther give you here my Thoughts con-^ cerning thoie People in Scotland^ who are faid to have the Gift of the Second-Sight by Inheritance from Father to Son ,* and it is my Opinion^ that thofe who firft had this Gift by Defcent, were be- gotten when one of their Parents were in an extatick State : and I recommend this Notion to a farther Conlideration. I know fome of the Ancients tell us what Methods have been ufed to bring Men to a Converfe with Genii ; but I fhall not enlarge upon this here : and I hope and believe the Explication I have given of thefe Matters, may, and will prove of good ufe to fome Perfons, who may not cafily find the like in their common Reading. As for thofe who laugh at all Apparitions, as only imaginary, I fhall give them two or three Inilance?^ and leave them co their Confideration. The learned Nicholaus Selneccerus, in AnaleB. L^.b, writes thus : It's true that many Spirits walk a- bout, and are often feen -, and we do not only read oi Inllances, but I my felf have known Inftances, and C Q bavis 194 Notes coiiceT7iing Genu, both feen and heard Specters j concerning which the Gentiles faid. Sunt aliquid Manesy Lethum mn omnia finite MelanBhcn, L. de Anima, tells us, he had feen Speders, and knew many Men worthy of Credit, who affirm^ they had both feen, and difcourfed with them. Campanella, L. 4. de Smfu Rerum, writes thus : PIo- tinus and Poyphyrius fay there areAngels both good and bad, as daily Experience teaches, and my felf alfo have found by manifeft Experience, not when I ear- neftly endeavoured it, but when I was minding ano- ther thing ; and therefore it's no wonder if they did not appear to curious Nero. The fame Author in the fame Work, L. 2. c. 25. tells us, he knew many other Perfons, who from Disbelievers, became af- terwards convincM of the Reality of fuch Appa- ritions by their Sight, and a Converfe with them. The fam.e Author again, Met. p> 2. c. 6. Art. 3 writes thus : We know there are both good and evil Spi- rits, from Perfons being tormented by the latter, and vifited by the former j and my felf, when I was upon a long Enquiry after them, found nothing of them, but only when I thought not of them. Therefore let Pliny, Ariftotle, and their Followers be {ilent ; for, it*s mod certain there are Damons in the World, and it's a foolifli thing, not to fay im- pious, to deny it : for there are many of the bed: of Men, and of the moft learned, who certify this from their own Experience, Men not Deceived nor De- ceivers : And I know this now my felf, and am not led by the Credulity of others. So far Campa^ neUa ; and here you may read much more for con- firming this Truth. See alfo the fame Author, Met, p.^. 1.12. c, 2. where he proves the Exiilence of Angels and Damons^ by Reafon, Experiences, Wit- ness, or Familiar Spirits. 195 ntfles, Authorities, and the Confent of all Nations. Now if any Man fhall confidently tell me that thefe are all Illufions, as many are apt to do, and laugh at fuch Experiences, when I am convincM that thefe Laughers are Men of more Learning and Candor than the foregoing Tefti monies, I may con- iider farther of it : Mean while, I hope they will give me leave to have fuch Regard for their nega- tive againft three good pofitive Evidences, as a Court of Judicature is commonly wont to have. I know it's made a Queftion by fome, whether Speclers are aerial Images having a real Exiftence, or only imaginary Appearances and the Fancies of melancholick and weak Perfons, who fancy they fee Speders, when there is nothing real. But to grant there are fometimes fuch Fancies, muft all Ap- paritions be fo? In my Book of G^«//, or Familiar Sp- rits, C. 4. I have given a Relation of fome Women condemned for Witchcraft, at Chelmsfird, in EJJex^ Anno 16^^. one of whom, whofe Name was Eliz.a^ heth Clark J faid more than once to the Company pre- fent with her in the Night-Time, that flie would call her Impi for them to fee them ; and fhe did call for feven or eight hnps by their feveral Names; and all the Perfons prefent, to the number of Eight, faw them appear in the fhapes of Dogs and Cats, &c. and this they dcpofed on Oath before a Magiftrate. Now I would ask any Man, whether he looks on thefe Impi only as the melancholy Fancies of this Woman : Indeed fome who maintain that all Ap- paritions are only imaginary, tell us that the ima- ginative Species in the Mind can form the Air into the fame Likenefs ; wherefore they think it in the power of melancholickPerfons to form Speders in the Air ; and Helmom de Ortn Med. Tit. de injeEiis Mater, fays. The Power of the Imagination is fo great, that it's able to produce fome real external Things; which being produced by the imaginative Power as Cc 2 it's i()6 Notes concernmg Genii, it's join'd with the Jrchaus, conflitutes a fort of fha- (dowing Apparition, which walks about, and has a proppr Subftance, Now if this Dodrine could hold, it might account for the aforementioned things ; but others are of opinion this Dodrine cannot hold according to found Philofophy, viz,. That the imaginative Faculty in Man has fo great a Power, that of it felf, it can produce fome real Effeft, either within or out of the Body of the Perfon who imagines. I fay of itfelf, becaufe the imaginative Faculty of itfelf produces no Effed, but by Accident and indiredly, as it changes the Body of the Perfon, or that of the Em- bryo within it, by flirring up the Appetite, and this the removing Faculty, which moves the Spirits ^nd Humours; but it pt-oduces no Effcd on an external Body, there being no afTignable Vehicle, Way, or Me- dium for it to perform it by. If therefore there are Apparitions which have a real Subfjftence, they muft be explained feme other way, which will be hard to do but by the Hypocheiis of Spirits. There is this to be faid for a real Subiiftence of fome Speders, viz,. That they are feen by all Perfon s pre fen t, as the Imps before-mentioned, and not only by fome par- ticular Perfon, who may fay, he fees them, when others do not. Secondly, that they are perceived not only by the Sight, but likewife by the Touch j ^s fome have been ftruck by them, when others have been prefent. Thirdly, they have fometimes carried away, or removed things from one place to another, and given other Marks of fome real and underftanding Agents. If we find it diiKcult to account for what Experience evinces of the Beings ^nd Operations of Spirits, you may confider what Camfanella writes concerning it. Met. p. 3. L. 12. C 5. j^rt. 3. the Head of which Article is thus : That the way is unknown to us by which an Angel adapts ^ Body tohimfelf i yet h is moft true, that he appears mi or Familiar Spirits. 1 97 and operates in a Body, and Experience muft not be deny'd for an Opinion. In the Article itfelf he freely owns, that thefe things cannot be underftood, nor does he find them well explained by any Divines ; yet he fays rhey ought to be believed, tho^ the Way is unknown to us : for the Art of the Superior Intel- ligences is not perceived by the Inferiors ; as the A- mericans thought it impoflible that a Paper fliould convey Thoughts, and that Clocks fhould tell the Hours of the Day, by a fpontaneous Sound, which things are obvious to us. Mr.Saurw, in his Defence of the Dodrine of the Reformed Church, concerning the Principle of Faith, has a material Paflage relating to the foregoing Sub- je(5t, c. 2j.p. 329. where he whites thus : Mr. IVitftus proves by many Examples, that the inward Inflruc- tions of God's Spirit go in fome Subjeds to a Re- velation of particular Events ; which is contradided by fome Divines : and tho' I make not myfeif a Par- ty for Mr. IVitJttii, or thofe Divines, I think Mr. IVit- fitis's Opinion the more probable , and it's certain, that thofe who are fot^ the Negative, cannot main- tain it but two Ways : Firft, in fhewing the Cha- raders of Falfhood, in fome of the particular Relations, on which the Affirmative is eftablifhed. Secondly, in faying that if a Man be not fure, that thefe Relations are falfe, ht is no more fure that they are true. It is not neceflary, he fays, toadvertife, that he does not fpeak here of the Examples given in the Old and New Tellaments : The fame Re- ftrictions are made in the famous Controverfy bt- tw'ixt the Efpriti Forts and Foibles concerning Appa- ritions, the Operations of the Devil, and the Enter- prizes of Witches and Magicians. Wife and pious Men, who are neither of the Efprks Forts nor Foibles^ in that evil Senfe which is commonly given to this Title, believe, by a divine Faith, the Truth of the fliftories contain'd in the Word of God j but they judge 198 Notes C07icer7iwg G k n 1 1, judge after a differing manner concerning common Re- ktionSjWhich are the Subject of the People's Wonder, and of the Raillery of thofe who look on themfelves as above the People : Some of thefe Relations are pofli- ble, the greater part are falfe ; and there are very few of them certain ', or perhaps none of them at all are fo. Here we find Mr. Saurin feems inclined to think (as many do) that there is nothing real in what is faid of Apparitions, or the Operations of evil Spirits, Witch- es, and Magicians ; but I fee not how he fhould be fo inclined, if he kept to what he has laid down be- fore concerning God's Revelation of particular E- vents ; where he fays, that thofe who are for the Negative, cannot maintain it, but either by (hew- ing the Characters of Falfhood in the particular Hi- ftories on which the AfErmative is eftablifhed, or by faying, that if a Man is not fure thofe Relations are falfe, he is no more fure they are true. And here I muft ask Mr. Satirin, or any Man eife, whether they can fhew Characters of Falfhood in the forego- ing Relations I have given of Apparitions, or fay the Truth of the Fads I have inflanced, is not fair- ly infured. Avmtinus^ in his Annals of Bavaria, I. 4. gives us the following remarkable Relation concerning an Apparition : In Germany, not far from the Town Bing^ where the River Navas mixes itfelf with the Rhine, there is a Village, commonly call'd Cumcnt (quafi Caput Montium) a Name given it by the Romans, whtw they pofleiTed that Country, becaufe there begin the Mountains which run along with the Rime towards the North : There, in thefe our Days, a revolted and roving Spirit ha^ done many Itrange things, playing prcftigiating Tricks, and infefting the Inha- bitants. Fivft, this curfed Spirit, feen by no Man, began to throw Scones at PerfonS, and to knock at Doors. or ^aviiliar Spirits. 199 Doors. Soon after, this peftilent and wicked Genim^ taking a Human Shape, gave Anfwers, difcover'd Thefts, accufed many of Crimes, and fee a Mark of Infamy on them, ftirr'd up Difcords and lU-Wiil a- mong Perfons : By degrees, he let fire to, and burnt down Barns and Cottages, but was more trouble- fome to one Man than the reft, always keeping with him wherever he w ent, and burnt his Houfe \ and, to ftir up the whole Neighbourhood to deftroy this innocent Man, the wicked Impoftor openly declared, that for this Man's Crimes the Place lay under a Curfe, and would be unfortunate j fo that the Man was forced to lie without doors, all Perfons denying him entrance into their Houfes, they looking on him as one followed by evil Spirits : He, to fatisfy his Neighbours, carry *d a burning-hot Iron in his Hand, with which not being hurt, he prov'd his Innocence : neverthelefs the wicked Spirit burned his Stacks of Corn in the Fields,- and as he was daily more and more troublefome, the Country People were forced to acquaint the Archbifhop of Mcntx, with it, who fent Priefts to expiate and luftrate the Fields and Villages ; which they did with folemn Prayers and confecrated Water and Salt. The wic- ked and difturbed Spirit at firft ftrove againft them, and wounded fome with Stones : but being over- powered by divine Exorcifms, and adjured by effi- cacious Prayers, heat length ceafed, nor did he any where appear. When the Priefts were gone, this peftilent Spirit returned again, and faid, while tliofe bald-pated Priefts mutterM I know not what, I lay hid under the Amiciduin of one of them (whom he named j who, by my perfuafion, lay the laft Night with his Hoft's Daughter. And having faid this, the wicked Ghoft went oft' with a mighty roaring Noife, and left the Country quiet. » An Occafion being here given, it will not be be- ftJcs our Purpofc to take thir.gs a little higher, con- cerning 2oo Notes concerutjig G £ n 1 1, cerning the burning-hoc Iron, the fcalding Wate^^ and fingle Combat, and the expiatory and pretorial Ceremonies ufed on their account : Our Anceftors being moft religious Perfons, confided more in God than themfelves, rely'd more on the Divine Juftice and God's Promifes, than on their own Wit, or Wif* dom ; and rather flood to the Divine Decrees, than their own Opinions : They lookM on God as pre* fent in all Ads and Things done and thought ; things were then ratify M, when the Divine Plea- fure had adjudged them : they concluded that all things were done in the Theatre of Heaven, God looking en them : and therefore in doubtful Cau- fes, efpecially in Crimes which could not be proved by any Human Teitimony, they fled to the Divine Pleafure, to the Supreme Majefly, who could not be deceived, as to an honorary Umpire, and Judge of all things. The Senate, People, and Friefls, who came in Crowds to fee a fingle Combat, as I find m the Salkk-Law^ implored the Divine Aid, they com- memorated the Benefits which, on a like Occafion, our Saviour, through his Benignity and Clemency had conferred on them ; they minded him of his Pro- mifes, recited Examples, prayed that his mighty Power would fhow itfelf on the prefent Occafion, according to his Promife,as it had always done hither- to ; and that, according to his Juftice, he would be prefent to the Innocent, and grant him Vidory. Free leave was granted the Accufed of making choice of, and hireing whom he pleafed to fight for him, the Accufer was forced to fi^ht himfelf. I find in the antient Books ot Sacrifices, the burning- hot Iron, and the fcalding-hot Water were confecrated by the Priefts with the following Prayers : God, juft Judge, flrong and patient, who are Author and Lover of Juftice, who judge equitably; judge, O Lord, that which is juft, becaufe your Judgments are right j who look on the Earth, and make or Familiar S^r^'tsl 201 make it tremble. You Almighty Lord, -v^-ho have faved the World by the comiiig of your Son otir Lord Jefus Chrift, and redeemed Mankind by his Paffion, do you fanctify this fcalding-hot Water, as you prefervM the three Children Sidrach, Mifach^ and Ahdenago, who were caft into a burning Fur- nace by the Command of the King of Babylon ; do you moft clemently bring it to pafs, that if any In- nocent puts his Hand into this Water, it may be drawn out fafe and unhurt, as you preferred the three fore-mention'd Children from the Fiery-Fur- nace, and freed Sufanna from the Crimes falfely laid to her charge. But if any culpable Pcrfon, having his Heart hardenM by the Devil, fhall pre- fume to put his Hand into it, let your moft juft Piety vouchfafe to declare it, that your Power may be manifefted on his Body, and his Soul may be faved through Repentance. God, juft Judge, who are Author of Peace, and judge equitably, we humbly pray you, that you >vill vouchfafe to blefs and fandify this /row, ap- pointed for making a juft Tryal of fome Doubts ; fo that if an Innocent (in the fore-mentioned Caufe where a Purgation is fought) fhall take it Fire-hot in his Hand, he may appear unhurt : and if the Pcr- fon be culpable and guilty, let your Power be moft juft in this, by declaring it in him,* fo that Iniquity may not prevail over Juftice, and Falfhood may yiel(ito Truth, through our Lord, &c. And thefc things were fo far from being judged impious, that I Hnd thofe Ceremonies for Purga- tion were ufed by the moft holy Pontiffs, the moft Chriftian Princes, and by Men and Women confe- crated to t}"^e Service of God. That was rl\en to be Wife, to truft in God, to place all our Hope in him. In our Age nothing lefs is pradifed, for it'^s now lookM upon only as a Folly and a provoking the immortal God to Anger by irritating him ; Thus D d wc 102 Notes C07icer fling Genu, we fee, the fame Fad, in divers Ages, is accounted in one place Piety, and in another Error. So far Aveminus. Now there are many things to be noted in thisRe- lation : Firft, as to the evil Spirit^s throwing Stones, knocking at Doors, and burning Stacks of Corn, we have had the like Inflances in England and Scotland ; and there is now a Houfe in London^ in which, for the three Years laft paft, there have been heard, and are ftill, almoft continual knockings againft the Wainfcot, and Over-head ; and fometimes a Noife like telling of Money, and of Mens fa wing, to the great dillurbance of the Inhabitants ; and often Lights have been feen there like to flafhes of Light- ning ; and the Perfon who rents the Houfe has told me, that when fhe has removed eight Miles from London, the knockings have followed her. Secondly, It's remarkable, that the Perfon chiefly concerned in the Difturbance at Camont^ put himfelf upon the fiery Tryal for his Purgation, which I do not remember to have met with elfe-vvhere, on the like Occafion. Thofe who are unacquainted in the Tryals of Ordeal, may have recourfe to feveral Au- thors concerning them. Bangeruis in his Notes on the Chrontcon Sla'vonim, writ by Helmoldus and Arml-' dus^ has drawn together many Inftances of them : In his Notes on the Firft, he writes. That there oc- cur many Examples of thofe Tryals from the fifth to the thirteenth Age, and fome later : And if what Aveminus relates, paft in his own time, it muft be fo late as about the Year 1500, for he was born An. 1466. and died in the 68th Year of his Age. If there were Truth in thofe Tryals, and to be relied on] we might juftly lament our Times. Heu J tarn frafentes mhis cognofcere Divos Non Iket,-^ But or Fa7niiiar Spirits. 20 j But Trithemius in his Chron, Hirfang. tells us, that about the Year 12 15. when many Perfons of both Sexes had incurred a Sufpicion of Herefy, Conradus de Marpiirg, an Apoftolical Inquifitor^ put them all, without diflindion, on the fiery Tryal ; but 7'rithemius owns he burnt many Innocents, and fays, that after he had exercifed this cruel Butchery till the Year 1233, he was kill'd. Bmigertui examines alfo whence thefe forts of Tryals came among the Chriftians ,* whether they ufed them in imitation of the Gentiles, or of the Divine Rites of the 7^tux, and fays, they fcem in the Tryal by \\^ater, to have had a mind to imitate the divine Law of the "^ews, in their Cup of ^ealoufy : but the Fiery-'J>yal may feem to hare been de- rived to them from the Gentiles ; for the MelTenc^er who told Cre0}7y King of 'Thebes, that the Body of PolymceSj which he had order'd, on pain of Death to be thrown out in the Fields, and lie unburied was privately buried, (which was done by his Sifter j^ntigcne) when he found the King was much in- cenfed at it, and would excufe himfelf and his Companions, who were fet co guard the Body, faid as we find in the Antigom oi Sophocles, Mo Man is found zvho did it, and it is hid to us. But we are ready both to take a red- hot Iron in our Hands And to walk on burning Coals, and to fcjcar by the Gods 'That we neither did it, nor had any Knowledge Of him that either adidfed it, or did it. And here I may note what Strabo WTires, /. 5. as follows, concerning thefe Tryals : Under the Mountain SoraHe, ftc.nds the City Feronia, by wljich Name alfo a certain Goddefs is call'd, to whom the People of j:hat Country pay a wonderful Veneration, and llie has a Temple there with a wonderful fort of facred Myfteries, for thofe that are infpired by that God- Dd 2 dGfSy S04 Notes concerning^ Genii, defs, walk with their bare Feet on burning Coails, without being hurt ; and a world of People flock there every Year, at a certain time, to fee this per? form-d. Others think the antient Chriftians intro?' (duced the Fiery-Tryal from the Bible ill-underftood by them J for in the Prayers with which they con- fecrated 'the red-hoclron, they often referred to the Examples of Siirach^ Mifach^ and Abdenago^ and God has often manifefted his Prefence by the Fire, as ^ thing agreeable to the Deity. Eang'inm concludes thus : Who may not have caufe to wonder that, tho* the Caeleftial Deity has given no Command for Mens making ufe of thefe Tryaiss yet oftpn by them he has given a Teftimony pf Guilt and Innocency. Grotius in his Prolegomena to his Hiftory of the Goths, anfwers, That be- caufe God Avas better plcafed with plain Honefty, than with nice liudied ways of Addrefs, he ac- commodqrcd his wonder-working Power to the Laws of thofe innocent People, who fought to find out the Innocence of particular Perfons by the Touch of fire-hot Plough fl:) ares. But notwithflanding God was fometimes pleafed to give Teftimony of Guilt and Innocency by thofe Tryals, yet all Men were convinced, at long run, that many unjuft Judgments had pafs'd in them. All the famous Civilians in Germany unanimoufly concluded, that in criminal Caufes thofe obfcure, divinatory, fuperftitious, and indeed, nuU Proofs, did not fuffice ; but Proofs more clear than the i^oon-Day, were required, and all the moft learned jDivines, Politicians, Phyficians, and Philofophers exploded this mad way of Tryal, calling it a fu? perflitious Invention^ introduced by Satan r.nd credu- |ous hearkeners to him, the Devil*s May-game, the ground of dangerous and fcandalous Tragedies : fo that| at length, they were totally abolifli'd. Thu? or Familiar Spirits^ ^25 Thus wc fee ; that after Chriftianity had egregi- oully plaid the fool about a thoufand Years, they began to grow wifer, and Meu have had fairer Play in criminal Caufes ; and as Man's Condition is foniowhat mended in this refped, it may be wifh'd, and I am forry I cannot fay hoped, that all thofe who adminifter Juftice, as to Meum and 'Tuum^ in Chriftian Governments, would feriouily condder they are incomparably out-done in that refped by the T*urksy and the more r2iUo\'\d\Pagans^ and would think of fome Amendment. I cannot now enlarge on this Subjed, but muft fay, I think Men cannot enough refent thofe villanous and execrable Abufes daily put on them by the delays of Juftice and the Corruptions ufed in the Adminiftration of it in the generality of Chriftian Governments : — — "— '— 2Vb» hie Arcana revelo, Non igmta loquor^ Ikeat vulgata refare. And as Avent'mus obferves, that what at one time is accounted Piety, at another time is accounted Error, we may confider what Chriftians, partly by their Policy, and partly by their Zeal without Know- ledge, have brought Religion to. Nunc gerit hanc^ aliam Speciem nunc inJuit anno RelUgiOy ad procerum Sen/a parata loquL T'hiSy or that Maik Religion every Year Puts on, as Rulers ivhifper in her Ear, I fliall only add one Obfervation here, viz.. That as all Men muft allow there was a Reality in the fore- mentioned TryaU, both among Chriftians and Pagans; fo that fome carried burning-hot Irons in their Hands, fome dip'd their Arms up to their Elbows ia fcalding-hoc Water, fome walk'd on burning Coals, 2o5 Notes concerning Genii. Coals, &c. without hurt i I fay, as thefc Fads muft be allowed, unlefs we take all Hiftory for a Ballad, this feems to me a ftrong Proof for the Exiftence of Spirits, or invifible Intelligent Beings ; and if any Man will be Refradory, and admit thofe Fads, but deny the Exiftence of the other, I defire him to fhew me wherein the Admittance of thofe Facts, fits more eafy on his Underftanding, than the Admit- tance of the other. And fo I conclude this Work. F 1 N 1 s. / '7rt-« 0' L '^^ 4(^'^ /. ; •««••« ^im:^ ■•..f" •M # (!•# •">/« m f - ■•;. ^ «' 1^^