1*^ \ -6^ 4iJ - V o SEMINARY,* I '^ % Princeton, N. J. I >ee<^^>9 EtK IgR E F L E C T I O N S LEARNING; Wherein is fhewn the INSUFFlClENCr \ Thereof, iiijts fcveral Particulars : r.'^M ■ flPord^o'ewnce the Ufefulnefs and NeceJJitj .OF REVELATIQN. The S I X T H E D I T I o N, By aGENTLEMAK L N D O N: Printed for J AM Es and John K n a P T o n, at the Crcwn^ and Richard V/ i l k i Nj at the Kings-Head, in St. Paul's Church-Tard. M DCC XXVII. %Vi^ I itf^^ PREFACE. JVOR K of this Nature, that would fo hardly find a TatroUy will ft and the more in need of a Tre- face. Men that write in Commendation of Learning, ufually feek out Jome Great Genius to prefix to their Book, whom they make an Inftance of all the Learn - ing and TerfeBions that are defcrib'd in it- Were I to choofe a Tatron con- A ^ fifientlf PREFACE. fidently with my "Dejign, 1 muft com- plime7it him with the Weaknefs of his Tarts and Shortnefs of his Underjiand- ing ; which is fuch a Compliment y as I prejume I fhall willingly be excusd from. But then a Treface will be the more necejfary to give an Account of my Undertaking i which is rather to enquire into the Abufes^ and to (bow the Infiif- fciency of Human Learning, than whol- ly to difcredit its Uflk No Man '^ver did 'this without ItiJ par aging ^is own Underjlanding 5 nor decry d Learning but for want of it j it having been an old Obfervation, that will hold perpetually ^ That Knowledge has no Enemies except the Ignorant, An Attempt of this Na- ture woidd be utterly impracticable , for either it would be well performed, and then it muft be done by Reafons bor- row d from the Stores of Learning i by which means y by reafoning againfi Learn- ingy we mufty at the fame Time, reafon for ity and all our Arguments muft re- turn upon us 5 or if the Terformance were unlearnedy it would be to na Turpofe, PREFACE. Ttirpofey and might as well be let a- lone. This then is no fart of my De- All that I intend is^ to take it down from its fupposd Heights, by expojing the Vanity of it in fever al TartictdarSy its Inftifficiency in the reft, and I be- lieve I might fay its T>ifficulties in all : And there is the^_,more need of this in ^» Age, in "which it feems to be too much magnified ; and where Men are fond of Learning alwoft to the lofs of Religion. Learning is our great Di- ana 5 nothing will pafs with our Men of Wit and Senfe, but what is agree^ able with the niceft Reafon j and every Mans Reafon is his own Underftand- ing : For if you examine them to the Bottom^ thefe mighty Tretenders have no truer Grounds to go upon than other Men, only they ajfeEi a Liberty of judg- ing according to themfelves, and {if they could be allow d it) of making their own Judgment a Standard of Others. They $le ad for Right Reafon^ but they A 3 mean PREFACE. mean their o-ji'tiy and talk of a reafon- able Religion, ijuhilfi their own falfe Notiofis are mifiaken for it 5 and while they feek the Goddefs, they embrace a Cloud, In the mean Time they take us off from our ftirefl Guide , Religion fuf fers by their Contentions about it, and "■jL'e are in danger of running into Natu- ral Religion* Where thefe Things will end GOTi only knows i it is to be fufpeEted they may at lafl end in the Thing we fear^ and may bring us about to that Religion for which, of all others, we have the mofi abhorrence. For after Men have tryd the Force of Natural Reafon in Matters of Religion, they will foon be fenfible of its Weaknefs ; and after they have run themfelves out of Breathy and can center no where, they will be glad of any Hold where they think they can find it $ and rather than be always wandring, they will take up with an Infallible Guide. I am unwilling to en- tertain fuch hard Thoughts of a neigh- bouring PREFACE. bouring Churchy as to think they are /owing T>tfcord among us to that Tur- pofe 5 but I much fear we are doing their Work for them^ and by our own ^ivifions are making way for a Blind faith and Implicit Obedience : And may it never be /aid. That as Learn- ing was one great Inftrument under G O T)y to bring about a Reformation \ fo the Abufe of it, by the 'Divine Ter- miffion, has brought tis back to the fame Tlace from whence we came s ^"nd that our Enemies have done that by fe- cret Engines and domefiic Dijira^ions, which by open Attempts thej were ne- ecency and Re- fpe^y except Monf. Le Clerc, who has not defervd fuch Treatment. I have feen little of Monf Pcrault, and a con- fiderable 7 art both of his and Mr, Wot- tonV BookSy come not within my Ac- count of Learning 5 for 1 have nothing to fay to Sculpture y 'Tainting, Archi- texture. Gardening, Agriculture, &c. which I take to be more properly of Me- chanical Confideration, But if Learned Men will needs include thefe likewife within the Compafs of Learning, it fljall give me no T^ifturbance : The Bounds of Learning are of late wonder- fully enlarged, and for ought I know, Mr, H's Trade-Tapers may pafs in Time for a Volume of Learning. Not that there is any need of fwel- ling the Account s for Learning is al- ready become fo voluminous, that it be- gins to [ink under its own Weight i Books crowd in daily, and are heaped upon Books, and by the Multitude of them both diflra£i our Mindsj and difcou- rage PREFACE. rage our Endeavours, Thofe that have been writ upon Ariftotle, are almofl innumerable : In a very few Centu- fieSy from Albcrtus Magnus, till a Jhort Time after Luther, there have been Twelve Thoufand Authors^ that have either comme7ited upon his Books^ or follow d him in his Opiitions, This we have from good Authority^ thd the Author that reports and cenfures it, had fiirely forgot , that he himfelf has (irengthend the Objection, by publish- ing a grofs VoUimey only to give an Account of Ariftotle, his Writings, and Followers. ( e ) But however their Number may be in the Old Thilofophy^ I believe we may reckon by a modefi Computation-, that fince that Time to ours, we may have had double the Num- ber of Authors in the New 5 which tho fome may look upon as an Argument of (0 V. Pr. Partic Difcuf. Pcripat. I 10. p. 145. Baf. Fo!. PREFACE. of Learned Times 5 for my fart 1 have quite different Thoughts of Things^ and mufl needs efleern it the great Mif- chief of the Age we live in, and can- not hit think we jhould have more Learnings had we fewer Books, I have notwithfianding adventurd to throw in one to the Account^ but it is a -very fmall one^ and writ with an honefi T>efign of leffening the Number : I propofe neither Credit nor Advantage^ ( for I hope to take effectual Care to be in the "Dark '■>) if 1 may do fome lit- tle Service to Religion:, and no ^if- fervice to Learning, I have my End. I am inclined to hope the Treat if e may be of fome Ufe, as an Hifiorical Ac- count, in obferving the 'Defers, and marking the Faults that are to be a- voided by Beginners 5 and, foffibly, u may afford fome Hints io wifer Men, As it is, I offer it to the Public 5 if it proves tifeful, I Pcall have much SatisfaBion in my [elf $ and if other - wife. PREFACE. wifey I fhall be very willing to be made a frejh Inftance of that which I intend to prove. The Weaknefs of Human Underftanding. C O N-^ CONTENTS. Chap. Pag. I. TT Ntrodudion I IL J[^ Of Language % III. Of Grammar ^ 25 IV. Of Rhetoric and Eloquence 38 V. Of Logic <5l VI. Of Moral Philofophy 76 VIL Of Natural Philofophy Z% VIIL Of Aftronomy lOl IX. Of Metaphyfics 115 X. Of Hiftory 127 XL Of Chronology 14^ XII. Of Geography 162 XIII. Of Civil Law 177 XIV. Of Canon Law 194 XV. CONTENTS. XV. Of Phyfick 208 XVL Of Critical Learning 226 XVII. Of Oriental Learning,") Jewijh and Arabian S 247 XVIII. Of Scholaftic Learning 260 XIX. The Conclufion 274 XX. The Appendix 287 R E F L E C- ^ .y ( I ) REFLECTIONS UPON LEARNING, &c. CHAP. I. INCH I firft begun to think, I have always had a mean Opinion of two things. Human Under- ftanding, and Human Will 5 The Weaknefs of the latter is a confeffed thing , we all of us feel it, and moft Men complain of it, but I have fcarce yet met with any, that would own the Weaknefs of his Underftanding : and yet they both fpring from the fame cor- B rupt Re FLfeCTlONS • rupt Fountain f and the fame Caufe, that has derived Contagion upon the Will, has fpread Darknefs upon the Under- ftanding j and however Men may pleafe thcmiclves with an Opinion of their own Wifdom, it is plain, the wifeft Men know little, and they that are fulleft of themfelves, and boaft the higheft, do u- fually fee leaft, and are only wife for want of thinking. We have had a mighty Controverfie of late betwixt the Old and New Philo- fophers, and great inquiry has been made> whether the Preference is to be given to the ancient or modern Leai'ning : For my Part I will not venture to engage in fo warm a Controverfie j but it's fome Argument to me, that we have not over- much of the thing, otherwife we fhould know better where to find it 5 and if I would fay any thing, I fhould be of Opi- nion, that neither fide has reafon to boaft. What the Wifdom of the Ancients was, is not fo eafily known at this diftance^ by thofe Specimens of it that are left us, it upon Learning. it docs not appear to have had any thing in it very extraordinary, or which might not be attained to by their Pofterity, without {landing upon their Shoulders^ Have not fomc Dark and Oracular Ex- prelTions been efteem'd enough to entitle a Man to the Reputation of Wifdom > And was not any odd, and fometime ex- travagant. Opinion, if fubtilely main- tained, iufficicnt to fet a Man at the Head of a Party, and make him the Author of a StCt of Philofophers ? The moft Anci- ent Philofophy was ufually wrapt up and involved in Symbols and Numbers^ which, as far as they can be explained do not contain any thing very myfteri- ous 5 but it was the Intereft of thefc Great Men to keep a Diftance, and be dways in the Clouds, that they might be thought profound, and procure a Ve- neration by the Obfcurity of their Writ- ings. They that have writ more plainly? have (at leaft fome of them) been plain to an Objeftion, and have faid little more, than what good Senfe, improv d by Obfervation and Thought, would fug- B 2 geft Reflect ions geft to moft Men without Reading. To fay nothing here of the vaft variety of Opinions amongft them, which will fall in more properly in the thread of my Difcourfe 5 they did not agree in the firft Criterions of Truth, which they have made as many and as different as could poffibly be thought of, and carried their DifFerencesftfo far, that it put the Scep-^ ticks pretty early upon doubting of every thing, and at laft brought them to deny that there was any luch thing as Truth in the World. The Moderns have not yet gone fo far, but they have made fome Advances, and feem, by pretty eafie Confequences, to be leading us towards it : For fmcc Arifiotles Philofophy has been exploded in the Schools, under whom we had more Peace, and poffibly almoft as much Truth as we have had fince, we have not been able to fix any where? but have been wavering from one Opinion to a- nother. The Platonick Philofophy was ifiirft introduced with the Greek Learning, and upon Learning. and wonderfully obtain d for fome time, among the Men of polite Letters 5 but however Divine it might fecm at firft> and for that reafon was entertained more favourably, it was found upon a fhort tryal to lead to Hercfie, and fo went off again under a Cloud. The Moderns were now wife enough to fet up for them- feivcs, and were more plea^id-with their own Inventions, than with the dry Syf- tems of the Old Philofophers. Several Attempts Vv^ere made unfucefsfoUy 5 nor had they fet out long or done much, till they had run themfelves into fuch a Maze, That M T>es Cartes thought it neceffary to fit down and doutt, whe- ther they were not all out of the way : His doubts increafed upon him by doubt- ing, and he mud have continud under them, had he not by a ftrange turn of Thought ftruck Evidence out of Uncer- tainty 5 for he found fuch ftrength and conyiftion in doubting, that he brings an Argument from it to prove a firft Truth, The reality of his own Exiftence : ^e likewifc borrowed great Light from B % Ideas, 6 Reflections Ideas, which have been fmce improv'd, by comparing their agreement and difa- greement with one another, and with the ReaUty of things : And fince that Conformity has not been evident enough^ we have been confulting the divine Aoy®^ or Ideal Worldy to fetch thence more perfed Ideas, and are at laft come to fee all things in GOD ; a way which, could it be as eafiiy made out, as it is affcrted, 1 do not fee, what we could de- fire further i for we fhall hardly fee more clearly in a State of Glory : But all thefe Particulars we (hall meet with, as we go along. What has been faid of Philofophy is true in other forts of Learning, and however we may be puffed up with vain Conceits, and may flatter our felves with Difcoveries of New Worlds of Learn- ing, and fancy there is little hid from the profound Search and acciirate Enqui- ries of fo Learned an Age j to me it feems we are yet much in the Dark, that many of our DifcoverieSj are purely ima» ginary. upon Learning. ginary, and that the State of Learning is fo far from Perfedion, much more from being the Subjeft of Oftentation, That it ought to teach us Modefty, and keep us humble. To this end, I pro- pofe to trace it in its feveral Branches ; and were the Management of my Argu- ment anfwerable to the Truth of it, I fhould not doubt of giving Satisfadion to impartial Readers. B4 C H A P, 8 Reflections ww€wwwwmwwwwwwmwwww CHAR IL Of h AN GV AGE. LANGUAGES being the Channels by which moft of our Learning is convey'd, it is necffTary to the attaining of Knowledge, that thefefhould be kept clear and open i if the Streams in thefe run muddy, or arc corrupted, all the Knowledge that is convey'd by them muft be obfcure : Words at the beft are no very certain figns of things ^ they are liable to Ambiguity, and under that Ambiguity are often fubjeft to very different Meanings 5 and tho' this, as far as it is the common condition of Speech, muft be fubmitted to, and is no Objefti. on in plain Laws and eafie Precepts, tha^ nc intclUgibk enough in any Language \ yet upon Learning. yet in Matters of Science, it is much o- therwife 5 thefe are nice things ; the drift Meaning is to be obferv'd in them 5 nor can we miftake a Word without loofing the Notion. The firft Language, the Hebrew, was very plain and fimple, (a good Argument of its being an Original) confifting of few Roots, and thofe very fimple and uncompounded ; It feems fitted for the purpofe, for which it was defign^d, which was not fo much to improve Men's Knowledge as to better their Lives 5 and this End it did pcrfcdly anfwer : Indeed the Ancient Tongues are generally the nioft uncompounded, and confequently more plain and eafie 5 but then, whilft things continued thus, as Languages were eafie, fo they were defedive, and there- fore as from neceflity Men were put up- on improving Speech ; fo particularly as Arts increafed. Languages grew up with them, and Men were put upon coining new Words to exprefs the new Ideas they h^d of things. This has enlarged the lo Reflections the Bounds of Language, and fwoln it to fuch a height, that its Redundancy is now a greater Inconvenience, than the Defeftiveuefs of it was before. The Inconveniencies from Languages are chiefly two 5 Firji, Their Variety : And Secondly, Their Mutability, i . Were there only one Language in the World, Learning woiiid be a much eafier thing, than it now is i Men might then imme- diately apply to things, whereas now a great part of our time i^ fpent in Words^ and that with fo Uttlc Advantage, that we often blunt the edge of our Under- ftanding, by dealing with fuch rough and implcafant Tools : For however apt Mea may be to overvalue the Tongues, and to think they have made a confiderable pro- grefs in Learning, when they have once overcome thefe, yet in reality there is no internal worth in them, and Men may underftand a thoufand Languages without, being the wifer, unlefs they attend to the things that they deliver : It is in order to this that they are to be learnt, and it 1% upon L E A R N I N G. II is the hard condition of Learning, that in this refpcd, it cannot be without them : This labour muft neceflarily be de- y^ur'd in our way to Knowledge, and every Man muft dig in this Mine, that hopes to be Mafter of the Treafure it conceals 5 much Drofs is to be feparatcd, and many Difficulties to be overcome. Wh E N I fpeak of the Variety of Lan- guages, I do not mean that all of them are nccefTary, at leall not to all forts of Learning 5 v/ere this our Cafe, we could have few compleat Scholars : But tho' all of them be not neceffary, yet fome of them are allowed to be fo, particularly fuch as are ftiled Learned j and there is fuch a Connexion among mod Tongues of the fame kind, that it is hard to ex- cell in any one, without fome tolerable skill in the reft. This is pretty plain iii the Greek and Latim and the reafon is clearer in the Eaftern Tongues, where the Affinity is greater. Two of the Langua* ges that in their different kinds pretend to moft Learning, (I do not here inquire^ how 12 Reflections how truly) are the Arabick and Greek 5 and it happens not well, that thefe two are the mod copious and difficult. They that have Skill {a) in the firft affure us, that it abounds in Synonymous Words, that it has five hundred Words for a Ly- on, and almoft a thoufand for a Sword, (a)wwal. which are enough to make an intireLan- f!^4^' ^"^ g^^S^ > a^d almoft as many as all the Ra- dicals in the Hebrew Tongue. And as for the Greeks which is unconteftedly Learned, moft know how copious it isj for tho* its Radicals are not fo many as might be imagined, which fome have computed not much to exceed three thou- fand, {b) yet this is abundantly made up in its Compofitions, and however fimple it may be in its RootSy it ipreads very widely in its Branches : If we add to this, Of) v^VM^ its many different Dialeds, and all the 3^*^ *^''° various Infleftions of Nouns and Verbs, which diverfifie Words, and diftinguifh them from themfelvesj this will fwell the Account much higher, and make it almoft an infinite thing. So that what ftom the variety of Languages, and the Cofta upon Learning. i ^ Copia of thofe that are reputed Learned, one great Obftruftion lies in the way of Learning, The other Inconvenience is from their MutabiUty 5 for whatever their Number may be, yet were their Nature fix'd, and their Condition dated, the Meafures that are taken from them might be more ftea- dy 5 but when to the Multitude of them, we add their Mutabihty, we are ftill un- der greater Difficulties. Words, like o- ther things, are fubjed to the common Fate of Viciffitude and Change 5 they are always in Flux, Ebbing and Flowing, and have fcarce any fix d Period : For being go- vern d by Cuftom, which it felf depends upon one of the moft unconftant things in the World, the Humour of the People, it is fcarce poffible it fhould be otherwife : No Prince ever gave Laws to thefe. de- far ^ w4io gave Laws to Rome^ could give none to its Language 5 and it was look'd upon as the heighth of Flattery in that Sycophant, that offered to Complement him with fuch an extravagant Powers in this. 14 Reflections this? Cuftom is only abfolute. We can fcarce have a better inftance of this, than in the Tongue we are now fpeaking of, the Latin : That Language that was fpoke foon after the Foundation of Rome^ was perfedly unintelligible in the Age of ^z^- gujius i nay, fome hundred Years after that Period, and not 150 before Cicero's Time, the Tongue, that was then Vulgar, can hardly now be underftood without a Comment. This is evident from the Infcription upon the Columna Rojirata^ that is yet in being, and a Copy of which {c)rrokg. has been given us by Bifhop Walton (r). In Cicero s Age, that Tongue was in its full heighth j it had been growing up till then, ever after it was declining, and had only one fhort Stage of Perfedion. They that came after were obferv'd to write with fome mixture, even Livy had his Tata'vinity-, which is moft probably un- derftood of a Tindure from his Country Education, Successively on, they were more corrupt h T at er cuius T, Seneca^ 6cc. ftill writ^ upon Learning* i ^ writ with a greater mixture i till at laft, either by mixing with Foreign Nations^ in fending Colonies, or by the breaking in of Barbarous People upon rhem, the Language funk into Decay, and becams utterly Barbarous. The Greek Tongue had the fame For- tune with the Latin, tho' it continued Vulgar longer 5 for as Greece did affift the Romans, in giving Perfedlion to theit Speech, (they having not begun to cuU tivate Arts, or polifh their Language, till they had fubdu d Greece) fo they receiv'd a great Tindure and Corruption froni their Conquerors; either firft, when they became an Acceffion to their Empire, as' ^- appears from thofe that writ in that Tongue after the Redudion of Greece $ or after, when the Empire was tranflated to Conjiantmople, and that City became new Rome, and the Seat of the Empire. From that time the Greek funk a-pace^ as muft needs be expeded, where the Latin wzs the Court Language, and made ufe of in their Laws and Courts of Judi- cature i i6 Reflections cature ; and the Greek in a manner con- fin d to the Vulgar. In Jufiinians Time,, who was not very long after ConftantinCy it is plain, it was much corrupted, as i^ evident, from the A6ts of the Councils of thefe Times, and the Acclamations of the People and Clergy on fuch Occafions 5 Inftances whereof are given by T^u Frefne^ in his Learned Preface to his Greek Glof^ (d) §• 7. /^^/ (^)» As we defcend lower the Cor- ruption is greater, as is fhewn by the fame Learned Pcrlbn : The Redudion of Con- fiantinople by the Franks-, was one other great Blow 5 the lafl: and fatal Stroke was given by that Deluge of Barbarifm, in the inundation of the Turks y who bore down all before them. What the Condition of (e) Turco' it now is, may be feen in CrtiJtuSy ( e ) xil'y^zM' whence will appear not only the prefent corrupt State of that Tongue, but alfo the Reafons from which it proceeds, ei- ther from the Mixture of the Latiriy the Tiirco-Arabicy and other ForeignTonguesr or bv dividing Words that fhould be con- joyn d, or running two Words into one, that (hould be divided 5 or by other Faubs ill upon Learning. 17 in Orthography, that is now in great neg- ka amon^ them. And what is mod me- lancholy in the Account, is, That even at Athens, that was once renowned for Learning and Eloquence, their Tongue is now more corrupt and barbarous, than in any other part of Greece 5 to that de- gree, as is there taken notice of, that it would draw Tears from any one to ob- ferve, (/) the miferable Change. In all {f) jh.f Parts of Greece, their Speech is fo far de- 99- generated from its ancient Purity, that as a Learned Greek cannot throughly under- ftand the Modern Vulgar Tongue, much lefs is the Ancient Greek underftood by the Moderns. Now under this great Multiplicity, as well as Change, what Difficulties are we to ftruggle with, and what Uncertainties are to be overcome ) Our Words are fo many, and fo uncertain, that there is both great Difficulty in becoming Matters of them, and Rafter that, in fixing and deter- mining their Senfe : We are to trace them up to their firft Originals, and afterwards to C purfus Reflections purfue them down to their laft Decay, to mark their feveral Times and Periods 5 in ail which they much vary, and are often capable of different Meanings, or their true Meaning is very obfcure. There is only one way of coming at their Meaning, after they become dead Languages, and ceafeto be Vulgar, by the Books that have been writ in them : But befides the want we ZYt in of fome of thefe, and Defefts in thofe we 'have? tho* they might ferve well enough for common Ends and Ufes 5 yet the things we are now enquiring af- ter, are Matters of Science^ which are ab- ftrufe things, and not fo eafy to be ex- prefs'd in fuch proper Terms, as are not liable to be mifunderftood : Such particu- larly are Terms of Art, that muft needs be obfcure, as being too comprehenfive, and taking in more Notions than one, un- der the fame Word : Which tho' of good ufe, as being defign'd to make Know- ledge more compendious, yet have fre- quently turned the other way, by requi- ring large Comments, that have been of- ten writ upon a fingle Word, and perhaps after upon L E A R N I N G. ip after all, have left it more doubtful than it was before. Dictionaries indeed have been caird in to our Ailiftance, which have been compird with much Pains and in great Plenty, not only for Words, but for Sci- ences and Arts 5 but befides the no great Agreement that is among them, they are fwoln to fuch a height, and become fo nu* merous, that thofe very Boo]$:s, that were defign d as Helps, now breed Confufion, and their Bulk and Number is become a Burthen. Such alone as have been com- posed for the French Tongue (which as yet is no Learned Language, though it bids pretty fair for it) would fill a Library, and only one of thofe, and that not the largeft, has been the Work of Forty Years, tho' it was carried on by the united Labours of the French Academy 5 after all which Care, it has not efcaped Cenfure, but has been thought to want Correction 5 and does thereby fnew how impoffible it is to fet Bounds, or give a Standard to Language, for which purpofe it was deftgnd. Not C 2 only 20 Reflections only every Tongue, but every Faculty has met with this Help 5 "Diciionaries are be- come a great Part of Learning, and no- thing remains, but that as it has fared with Bibliotheques, which were grown fo {g)v,Ant. numerous, that {g) a Bibliotheca BibUo- ph,Lah.' ^kecanim was thought a neceffary Work, fo Diftionaries fhould have the like Ser- vice done them j a "Dt^tonarium "DiBi- onariorum, might be a Work of fome Ufe, I am fure of great Bulk, and I wonder it has not been yet undertaken. To redrefs and heal all thefe Inconve- niences, an univerfal Remedy has indeed been thought of 5 a Real Chara5ier and Vhilofophical Language ^ a Work that has been purfued of late with great Applicati- on, and with fome Expedations of Sue- cefs and Advantage ; But however plaufi- ble this may fcem at a diftance, it is to be fear'd, it is only fo in the Theory, and that upon Tryal, it will be found an im- pradicable thing. For this Language being defigncd not to cxprefs Words but Things, we muft lirft be agreed about the Nature of upon Learning. 21 of Things, before we can fix Marks and Charadcrs to rcprcfent them, and I very much dcfpak of fuch an Agreement. To name only one : When Bifhop JVilkins firft undertook this Dc%n, {h) Subflance {h)Reai and Accidents were a received Divifion, ^, ^'^ and accordingly in ranking things, and re- ducing them to Heads, (which is the great Excellency of this Defign) He proceeds according to the Order they (land in, of Subflance and AccidentSy in the Scale of Tradicaments 5 but were he to begin now, and would fuit his Defign to the Philofo- phy in vogue, he muftdraw a new Scheme, and inftead of Accidents muft take in Modes, which are very different from Ac- cidents, both in Nature and Number. Bi- fhop JVilkins was an extraordinary Perfon, but very projeding ; and I doubt this De- fign may go along v;ith his T^adalus and Archimedes, and be ranked with his Fly- ing Chariot and Voyage to the Moon. The Divifion of Tongues was inflided by GOD, as a Curfe upon^^umane Ambition, and xnay have been continued fince for the fame Reafon 5 and as no Remedy Ixas been C % yet 22 Reflections yet found, fo it is moft probable, it is not to be expefted, nor are we to hope to u- nite that which GOD has divided. The Providence of GOD may have fo order d it for a Check to Men's Pride, who are o- therwife apt to be building Babels^ were there no Difficulties to obftrud and exercife them in their way. CHAP. upon Learning. 23 CHAP. IIL Of Gram m a r. 1"^ H O' Grammar be look'd upon by many as a trivial thing, and only the Employment of our Youth, yet the greateft Men have not thought it beneath their Care : Tlato and Ariftotle among the Greeks^ and Cafar and Varro among the Latins^ have treated of this Subjed. In our times the Common Gram- mar, that goes under the Name of Mr. Ltly^ was done by fome of the mod confiderable Men of the Age : The Englijh Rudiments by Dr. Colet Dean of Tatd's-> with a Pre- face to the firft Editions, direfting its Ufe by no lefs Man than Cardinal Wolfey i The moft rational Part, the Synta^y was writ C 4 ^i* 24 Reflections {t)p,Tom, or correded (i) by ErafmuSy and the o- ^'^*'"^'' thcr Parts by other Hands : So that tho^ Mr. Lily now bears the Name, which while living he always modcftly refused, yet it was carried on by the joint Endea^ vours of feveral Learned Men, and he per- haps had not the largcft Share in that Work. Were there more of C^far and Varro extant, they might be of good ufe to us in our Enquiries, but all Cafars Book on this Subject being loft, and only fome parts of Varro left, we want two good Helps : Tho* from thofe fhort Specimens we have of C£fary we were not to exped too much (k) z. 19. from him 5 he has been quoted by {k) A, ''•^- GelUus with a doubtful Charader, and (/) L, r. twice or thrice (/) by CharifiuSy an Anci-^ ^•^^;^^f* cnt Grammarian, and always to corred Ed.pHtck. him, as he will feem to dcferve to any one who will take the Pains to con fult the par- ticular Places : And as for VarrOy his Books are chiefly about the Etymologies of Words, which are of no great Ufe, being obfcure and uncertain. The upon Learning/ 25 The following Grammarians are yet more defective j we have a large Collefti- on of them put out by Vtitfchius, who (againft the Cuftom of moft Editors, that feldom ufe to fpeak difparagingly of their Authors) ingcnuoufly confcdeth, that fomc of them were fcarcc worth an Edition. And moft of them having been writ, either when Learning was low, or after Barbarifni had begun to overflow the Empire, it is no wonder that they do not rife above their Level, or tliat while they lay down Rules in this Art, they fcarce write in tolerable Latin. T?nfcian himfelf will be no Ex- ception to this, who, notwithftanding his ftriclnefs in giving Rules, and Severity in cenfuring others, has much ado to pre- fervc himfelf from Barbarifni : Let any one read fome of his firft Lines, he will need go no farther to make a Judgment. Some of our Modern Critics have de- ferv'd well of this Art, who as they have ws'd more Perfpicuity, fo they have writ with much greater Purity, than moft of the 26 Reflections the Ancient Grammarians have done : ValUy Erafmus, and our Linaccr have taken much Pains, and iliown gr.at Judg- ment in this Matter ; and yet after all, as if nothing had been done, arileth San^ktSy and after him Schioppius^ and corred all that had gone before them. Cicero and ^tinEiilian were blind with thefe Men, who made fuch difcoveries, as never had been thought of, by any of the Ancients 5 all Grammar before them was, Clo acinar polluted and full of Miftakes 5 theirs only is the true Way, which they pretend is highly Rational, containing few and eafie Rules, and under thefe, fcarcc any Excep- tions. Tho' if this new Method be exa- mined, it will be found as fallacious, and they as fallible as other Men : Sanciiuss great Principle on which he goes, is, That Languages, and particularly the Latin^ are not purely arbitrary, or depending barely on Ufe and Cuftom, but that an A- nalogy has been obferved, and a Reafon may be given of the Idioms of Tongues, and upon this he builds a P^ational Gram- mar, This perhaps might hold in fome Mealure upon Learning. 27 Mcafure in the Hebrew^ as far as its Words were imposed upon juft Rcafons ; but in the Latin Tongue, which he treats of, that was firft form'd, and afterwards grew up in Confufion 5 and under a People, while they were yet barbarous, we are not to expeft fuch mighty Regularity, The Romans knew nothing of Grammar, till the Times of Ennius, when that Tongue was pretty well grown, and confequently could have no great Regard to it in form- ing their Language 3 and therefore for any one now, to pretend to fix the Analogy of Words, or to reduce all under ftrift Rule, is to let Bounds where they were never intended, and to find a Reafon that was never meant. Had Grammar been as Ancient as Languages, we might have pro- ceeded in this manner 5 but it being invent- ed only as a Help, and not framed origi- nally as an immutable Rule, we muft fuit it to our Bufinefs as well as we can, but are not to expeft it fhould be Uni- form, and not liable to many Exceptions. Td 22 Reflections To take a fhort view of fome Particu- lars 5 ( I .) As to Letters, we are not yet agreed about tlieir Original, which might be of ufe in fixing our Alpliabets : For tho' the Greek Letters, and from them the La- tin, fcem'd derived from the ^hceniciariy and thefe again from the Ancient HebreiJUy as has been attempted to be fhcwn, not only from Hiftory, but from the Affinity of Letters, by turning the Hebrew Cha- rafters towards the right Hand, according to our Way of Reading 5 yet there lies one great Objedion againft this : That CadmtiSy who brought the Tho^nician Letters among the Greeks, is only faid to have brought /ixtcen, and therefore muft have left fome behind him -, for the Thosnician or i/^f- ^r^c£,' Alphabet was always fixt, and of the fame length as now, fince we have had any Writing 5 a ftanding Evidence of which wc have in feveral Alphabetical Pfalms and Chapters. Were this more certain, it would help to determine our Alphabets, both as to their Numbers and Powers > whereas now wc arc uncertain in both, and upon Learning. 29 and there are great Difputcs among the Critics, as to fome of the Elements, whe- ther they be Letters or no. (2.) In the Etymological or Analogical Part, we labour under the fame Difficul- ties 5 nor can it be otherwife, where Lan- guages were fo much the EfFed of Chance, and were not franVd by any fettled or eftablini'd Rules. When Varro writ his Book, "De Lingua Latina, it is plain this Analogy was a difputable thing 5 he brings feveral Objedions againft, as well as Rea- • fons for it 5 and his Inftances are fo many, and his Objeftions fo confiderable, that he muft needs be allowed to have left it doubtful. In the fame Age, whenaQuef- tion was put by Tompey to moft of the Learned Men in Rome, {m) concerning ^^^ y^ the Analogy of a very common Word, ^'^^'j/^' they could come to no Refolution about it, tho' Cicero was one of the Number, and fo it was left undetermin d. And if the thing were fo much controverted a- mong them, who had better Opportuni- ties of Enquiry, as living nearer the Ori- ginal, 30 Reflections Original, when many Monuments of An- tiquity were left, and the Latin yet a liv- ing Language among them j it muft needs be much more lo to us, who live at this diftance, and want many of their Helps 5 Our greateft Light muft be borrowed from their Books, and we can be only more Happy in the Application. Accordingly we follow them pretty clofe, and are much more direded by the Cuftom of ancient and approved Authors, than by the Rea- fon of Words that are perpetually varying. How many Words are there agreeable e- nough with Analogy, and of Modern Ufe among Learned Men, which yet, becaufe they are not us'd by the Ancients, are not only diilik'd, but are look'd upon by the Critics, as Vitia Sermonis ? Innumerable (n)Devh. Inftances may be had (n) in VolTms'. Few Sermon, , _ ^ ' '-^ i^p,rfim. Men would be afraid to ufe, Incertitudo^ IngratiUido 5 and other Words of the like Nature ; there is nothing difagreeable in them, or difproportionable to Speech 5 and yet becaufe they have not been us'd by the beft Claflic Authors, but have been feemingly avoided, when they came in their upon Learning^ 3 their way, and either Paraphras'd, or Greek Words put in their room, they have been exploded by our Modern Criticks. The Anomalifms in Words have been fo many, and the DifFerences yet more among thofe that have treated of them, that fome have gone fo far as to deny the thing it felf, and to allow no Analogy either in the Greek or Latin Tongue. 3. Grammar has fared no better in the conftrudive Part, whether we will be guided by Rules, or Authority of beft Au- thors i the number of Rules is become a Burden, and the Multitude of Exceptions is yet more vexatious. If we will believe SchioppiuSy there are five Hundred Rules in our common Grammars, in the Syntax only of Nouns, and Verbs, and Partici* pies, and fcarce any of thofe without their Exceptions, and fo proportionably in the other Parts of Syntax ; all which muft em- ploy a great Part of our Time. Or if we will be dire<5ted by Authorities, the Cri- ticks have been fo unmercifully fevere,that we fcarce know which to follow : Cicero, tho' 32 Reflections tho' the moft unexceptionable, has not cfcaped their Ccnfure $ he has been pelted by them, and Valla and Erafmus have charged him with Soloecifms. T)hittus com^norans Athenis — erat Animus ad te fcribere ,• and ^mm in animo haberem rO vid. navtgandi, {o) are noted Paffages to this ronf'^ai' ^^^P"^^^' And indeed tho' OV(?r^ be looW opTom.u upon as a Standard of LanG;ua£;e with us, Faiia.L. i. J^^ l^c was not fo to thofe of his own Age j Tp) i^7. ^^^^^^^^ (/ ) ii^ an Epiftle to him, charg- ^^ s- cth him with falfe Latin, and being put upon a Vindication, he defends himfeif by the Authority of Terence i of that, what- ever Cicero be to us, Terence was then the better Authority. Neither of them furc arc unexceptionable, nor any other that we can meet with, tho' we fliould carry our Search through the whole Set. 4. Pronunciation has been the Subjeftof great Debates, cfpecially in the Greek Tongue, the Pronunciation of which has been more negledled : And tho" at firfl: View, it may fecm a light thing, and hardly worth a Debate, yet the neg- left upon Learning^ 33 negled of it has been of very ill confe- quence to that Tongue. For while the Modern Greeks had little regard to the Powers of their Letters, and mix'd and confounded the Sounds of their Vowels and Dipthongs, and run moll of them into one, in their Pronunciation, they came at laft in many Words, to write as they fpoke, which was one great occafion of the Corruption of their Tongue. This Vici- ous way of Speaking was brought by the exil'd Greeks into Italy, and from thence together with Learning, fpread over the greateft part of Europe, till it met with a check here in England, from two very e- minent Men, both of them fucceffively Profeflbrs in the Univerfity of Cambridgey Sir Thomas Smith, and Sir John Cheek. And becaufe the Controverfie is not much known, and may afford Ibme light to the Pronunciation of the Greek, I will give a brief Account of this Grammatical Wan I T was in the latter end of He7i. VIIFs Reign, that Smith and Cheek began to ob~ ferve the Inconveniencies in this fort of D Pro^ 34 Reflections Pronunciation 5 they faw that not only the Beauty of the Language was loft in this way, but likewife its very Spirit and Life were gone, by the lofs of fo many Vow- els and Dipthongs, and the Language be- come Jejune and Languid : In this way of fpeaking it, nothing of Numerofity ap- peared in the Ancient Orators and Rheto- ricians, nor thofe flawing Periods, for which they had been rcnownd in Old Greece 5 neither could they themfelves fhew their Eloquence, in their Orations or Lec- tures, for want of the Beauty and Variety of Sounds. This put them upon thinking ( )vchek.^^ a Reformation, {oj) and having confult- j>e Ling, ed moll of the Ancient Rhetoricians, and nunc.Dif. Other Greek Authors, who had treated of ^stlph!^^ Sounds, and finding fufRcient Grounds w'mt.ftarf. ^^^^^ thence for an Alteration, with the v. Smith D6 pro^ Confent of moft of the Learned Linguifis Gr!''^'''^'intheUnivcrfity, they fet about the Work, with fome little Oppofition at firft, but af- terwards with Succefs, and almoft general Approbation. Cromwell was then Chan^ celior of the Univerfity, under whom Re- formations were not fo dangerous, but Gard^- upon Learning. q ^ Gardiner fucceeded, who difliked all In- novations, a flop was put for fome time : This Man affum'd a Power, that defar never exercised, of giving Law to Words, and having writ to Cheek then Greek Pro- feflbr, to defift from this new Method, which in reahty was the ncient and true way, and not meeting with a fiiitable com- phance, he fends out an Order in his own Name and the Senate's, which being too long to infert at large, I (hall only men- tion two or three Heads of it, as bein<^ fomewhat extraordinary. §iutfquis noftram poteftatem agnofcis^ fonos Uteris five Gr£cis five Latinis ab ufu publico prajentis feculi alienos privato judicio affingere ne audeto, T>iphthongos Gracas nedum Latinas, nifi id diarefis exigat, fi)nis ne diducito At ab 6, & e<, ab /, fono ne diftinguitOy tantum in Orthographia difirimen ferva- to 5 )i, i, u, uno eodemque fono exprimi- to, Ne mult a. In fonis omnino ne Thilo^ Jophator^ fed utitor prafentibus. D z After 06 Reflections After fuch a publick Declaration, there was no farther room for private Judg- ment 5 an Obedience was paid, and Gardi- ner s way prevail'd, till a Reformation in Religion, made way for a Reformation in Language, that has obtained ever fince. However, the Controverfie was then ma- naged with much Warmth and Learning : Gardiner infifted principally upon Cuftoni, and the Authority of the prefent Greeks. On the other fide, they pleaded Antiquity, and that drawn down from the moft anci- ent Authors 5 feveral of the Greek Rhetori- cians were brought into the Controverfie, and other Authors that had dropt any Ex- preffion that looked that way 5 and a Man would wonder to fee fo much Learning fhewn on fo dry a Subjed. Where the Vidory lay is pretty vifible, and fo great (r) Giof. ^ ^^^■^ ( ^ ) ^s 2)// Frejrie could not have Gr, ?rAf been at a lofs, how to determine the Mat- ter, had he not been poffefs'd with Parti- ality for a Party, which he fhews too plain- ly, by blaming Bifhop Goodwin (though very §. 12. upon Learning. gj very unjuftly) for leaving Gardiner out of this Catalogue of Bifhop^. B u T I have run out too far in Gram- matical Niceties j whoever defires more on this Subjed, may meet with enough in Bilhop Wilkinsy (/) and I have princi- ^^^^^ pally infifted on fuch Particulars as have ^'^^';^' ♦ «' I . tag, 4j been ncglcfted or over-look'd by him. m. P i CHAP, g8 Reflections -i& -t? S .t. .$. cS- ^ 'S ^-^ -^ •$- ^ .^ -t- ^ ^ -^ -S S Sy CHAR IV. Of Rhetorick and Elocluence- As Grammar teacheth us to fpeak properly, fo it is the Part of Rhe- torick to inftruft, how to do it e- legantly, by adding Beauty to that Lan- guage, that before was naked and Gramma- tically true. If we would be nice in di- ftinguifhing, there is a difference betwixt Rhetorick and Eloquence, tho' we treat of them under the iame Head ; the one lays down Rules, the other pradifes them 5 and a Man may be a very good Rhetorici- an, and yet at the fame time a mean Ora- %ot : Perhaps §lutn£itlian gives as good Rules as Cicero y I am fure in better Me- thod, and with greater Clofcnefs 5 where- as upon L E A R N I N G« gp as the other is fo much an Orator, that he cannot forget it ; whilft he afts the Part of a Rhetorician, he dilates and flouriflies, and gives Example inftead of Rule : And yet a Man that would form a Compari- fon betwixt ^dnBilians Declamations) (if yet they be ^iinStilians) and the Ora- tions of Tulfyy would be in great Danger of forfeiting his Difcretion. The Ancient Romans had Orators a- mong them, and fome Eloquence. In- ftanccs whereof we have in their Hiftory almoft as high as the Tar quins : But it was then a chad thing without Paint or Drefs^ Rhetorick was not yet known among them, the Name of it was not fo much as heard of fome hundred Years after, they want- ing a Word to exprefs it by, which they were afterwards fore d to borrow from the Greeks {t). As foon as it came among (t)siuin^, them, we trace it in its EfFeftsj for as a- ^ ^..^^f mong the Grecians, whence it was bor- rowed, it had occafion d Tumults and Con- cuffions of State, efpccially at Athens, where it prcvail'd moft, only Lacedamon P 4 was 4 o Reflections was more quiet, from whence it was ba- ^nifh'd, and where a plain Laconic Style was in vogue 3 fo at Rome, when once it had got any Footing, and the Gracchi:, the Brutiy and other Demagogues begun to harangue the People, there was no more Peace in that State, nothing but continual Broils and intcftinc Commotions, till they had fought themfelves out of that Liberty which they feem'd to contend for, and their Heats ended in the Ruin oi their Common-wealth. The Roman Orator had fcen fo much of this in his Time, before Things were brought to the laft Extremi- (u) De in- ty, that he begins his Book of ( ^ ) Rhe- -vm.Rhet. ^^^.^j^ ^^.^j^ ^ ^^^^j^j.^ whether that Art had brought greater Advantage or Detriment to the Common- wealth ) And if an Ora- tor, where he is treating of Eloquence, were fo doubtful in the Matter, we need not be at a Lofs on which fide to deter- mine the Cafe, T o pafs by Confequences that are not juftly chargeable on Things, which are ge- nerally good or otherwife, according as the upon Learning. 41 the Perlbns are that ufe them, we will confider the Art it felf. If it be an Ad-^ vantage to any Art, to have been treated of by Men that are skilful in it, this Art fiiould have received greater Improvements, and be nearer Perfection, than moft others, having been confidered by one of the great- eft Matters that ever was. Cicero has com- / pos'd pretty large Treatifes upon this Sub- jeft, that have been preferv'd and delivered down to us 5 particularly two (^), in the(x)D«fO- former of which, as he treats of the feve- orato*r ral kinds, and lays down fuch Rules, asfj//'"*' are neceffary to be obferv'd in our way to Eloquence $ fo in the latter he delineates and gives us the Portraiture of a perfed Orator. I will not pretend to judge of fo great a Mafter 5 thus much may be faid with Modefty enough, that as in the firfl Treatifc, the Perfons in the Dialogue differ from one another 5 fo in the lattef the Orator feems to differ from himfelf : In the firft he is doubtful, in the latter im- prafticable. In his Dialogue, (which has fo much the Face of Probability, that fome among the Learned have milhken it 42 Reflections for a real 'Conference 5 ) the Perfons in» troduc'd are equally Great, and argue and difcourfe with equal Learning ; and heha- ^ ving affign'd no part to himfelf, confiftent- ly witii his Doubtful ncfs in this Matter, a Man may fometimes be at a Lofs, which fide to clofe with. And his Orator is too great and inimitable an Example, perfectly imaginary, and confequently of no U(e in human Life, for which Eloquence is de- fign d. He himfelf gives him only an Ideal Being, and owns that he is no where to be found but in the Conceptions of our Mind^ And indeed we mufl: not exped to find him any where elfe, if all thofe things be neceifary to an Orator, that he fcems to re- quire. For firft. Nature and Genius are indifpenfably neceffary, without which the Wheels being clogged and under Force, will drive heavily ; our Orator muft have a flowing Invention to furnifh him with Ideas, a ftrong Imagination to Imprefs thcm^ a happy Memory to retain, and atruejudg- |3ftent to difpofe th^m in their due Rank and upon Learning. 43 and Order. He muft have Law to lead him into the Knowledge of the Conftitu- tion and Cuftoms of his Country 5 Hiftory, to acquaint him with Examples 5 Logic, to fupply him with proper Topics 5 and Morality, to enable him to penetrate into^ and apply to the Manners and Palfions of Men, the "h9>/ and Ylct^^y which are the fJpiings of Adion, and Sources of Perfwa- fion : In fhort, being to treat of every thing, he muft be ignorant of nothing. He muft be, in Cicero's Language, a TVife Man ; that is, a Man of Univerfal Knowledge ; and, what is more a Paradox, he muft likewife be a Good Man 5 a Quality that fo rarely accompanied Heathen Eloquence, that both Cicero and ^anBilian are much at a Plunge in alTerting it to the Greek and Roman Orators. He muft not only have a general Knowledge of things, but muft have Skill in adorning them 5 he muft have, the greateft Art, and yet at the fame time tke Skill to conceal it 5 for whenever Art appears, it lofeth its Effeft, and nothing can pleafe, much lefs perfwade 5 but what is natural The moft external things arc neceffary 44 Reflections iiccciTary to his accomplifliment 5 he muft not only have Eloquence in his Words, but likewife in his Looks 5 decent Moti- ons, and an Air of Perfwafion, that grace- ful A(ftion and Pronunciation, which T^e- mofthenes made the firft, and fecond and third thing, and which had fo great a Share in his own Compofures, that we aire not to wonder, that his Orations pleafe lefs in the Reading, than they did in the Deli- verance, as wanting three Parts of what they had when they were fpoke» These being the Qualifications that are neccffary to a compleat and perfeft Orator, it is next to impofiible, theie fhould ever be any fuch Man. If any fuch were, in whom all thefe Conditions met, it muft have been he who requires them, I mean CicerOy who had the happieft Genius^ an4 that cultivated 'With the greateft A^t an4 Induftry, that perhaps ever Man had 5 he A)z.!o. whom ^a/»^/7/>^, (;') oppofcth to all the iat>. I. Grecian Orators, to whom he gives the Force of "Demofthenes^ the Sweetnefs of Ifocrates^ and the Copia of Tlato 5 he whom upon L E A R N I N G, 4^ whom he ftiles the Name not of a Man, but of Eloquence it felf 5 and gives it as a Rule, by which a Man may judge of his own Proficiency in Eloquence, if Cicero begins to pleafe him : Yet this Cicero was fo far from pleafing in his own Age, that as he met with Detradors among his Ene- mies, one of which composed a Trcatife {z) againft him, under a very difparaging {^^ Largi- Title $ fo he did not fatisfy Brutus among ""a^uTceL his Friends, who taxeth him with loofe- ^^^•^'^A nefs in his Compofurcs, and charges him with want of Nerves and Strength. And ^inciilian {a), where he comes to ^x- . x ^^ ^^ plain himfcif, tells us. That he ftiles Cicero ^^Z- '• a compleat Orator only in the vulgar Meaning of the Word, for in the ftricl: Senfe he was yet to feek, and docs not only defire Perfedion in him, but acquaints us with the Faults he was charged with {b\ to wit. That he was turgid and fwcll- (B) l. n, ing in his Expreffions, too frequent in Re- ^^^' ^'^^ petitions, broken in his Compofition, and not only eafie in his Stile, but foft. In the laft Age, when Learning begun to re- vive, and Cicero was ftudy'd almoft to the Negleft ^ ^6 Reflections Neglea of our Bibles s yet one of our great Critics in the Latm Tongue, could never be reconcird to a Ciceronian Stile, (c)certe nor could hear him read {c) without Wea- ciceronh ^'^^^^^^ and fomcwhat of Loathing. diSlionem nunciHam frohare potult, nee Jms faflidlo audire, V. Card. Eplji. ad Chek.p. 176. I T is not yet agreed among the Learn- ed, which of his Compofures are the mod Elegant, otherwife it were eafier to know where to make our Refledions. Sir Willi- am Temple brings his Oration for Labienus^ (d)p.^i3, {d) (whom, by an Error very pardonable among fo many Excellencies, he miftakes for Ligarius) as an Inftanceof the Power of Humane Eloquence. It muft be con- fcft this is a remarkable Inftance 5 here was the greateft Orator and the greateft Judge, (for Cafar is allow'd by Cicero to be one of the moft Eloquent Perfons of his Time) C^efar comes into the Place of Judicature, breathing Revenge againft Z/. gariusy and with an obftinate Refolutioa to condemn him, but with Difficulty is prevailed with to hear Cicero in his De- fenfe? upon Learning. 47 fenfe, which he gives way to, rather as a thing of meer form, than with any thoughts of yielding to his Perfwafion : However, no fooner is he heard, but he moves and affefts 5 and when he comes to touch upon Vharjaliay the Qonqueror has no more Soul left 5 he takes Fire and is tranfported beyond himfelf 5 he fhakes and trembles, and drops the Paper that he held in his Hand ^ and in fpight of all his Refolutions, abfolvcs the Criminal, whom he was de» termined to condemn. And now I think I have allowed enough to Eloquence -, but to deal impartially, the Force of it is fo great, and the EfFed of it fo wonderful in this Inftance, that it would raife a Man's Curiofity to enquire into the Caufe. Had this Oration been loft, we fhould have had moft terrible Out-cries and lamentable Complaints among the Learned, of the Lofs that the World has fuftain'd in fo confummate a Piece. Lo it is yet extant ! And altho' this, as every thing of Cicero's, be excellent in its kind, yet fo much will be granted, that it may be read without Rapture and Amazement, Bur 4^ Reflections But granting as much force to Elo- quence as can be defired, how is it, it does perfwadc, in this and other Inftanccs > I am fure not from Rational Arguments^ which ought to be the proper Means of convincing a reafonable Man, but from quite different Motives and Topics of Per- Avafion : Cafars dcUberate, and perhaps moft reafonable Refolution, was not to pardon fo great a Criminal, an implacable Wretch, that had afterwards a hand in the Blood of his Deliverer. The Orator does not fo much feek to convince him of the Unreafonablenefs of the thing, as endea- vour to prevail with him from other In- ducements 5 he applies to his Paffions in- ftcad of his Reafon, his weak and blind fide, by putting him in mind of the Thar- f alt an Field, of his Glory in fubduing, and the greater Honours he had acquired by Pardoning 5 he ftiles him Father^ tho' at the fame time he thought him an Ufurper, and bids him remember it was his People that begg d Ligarius of him, and that h^ could not do a more Popular things than by upon Learning. 49 by yielding to their Rcquefts, and giving way to ills ufual Clemency. Such are the Topics that are brought from Rhetoric ! The truth of it is, our common Eloquence is ufually a Cheat upon the Underftand- ing5 it deceives us with Appearances, in- ftead of Things i and makes us think we fee Reafon, whilft it is tickling our Senfe : Its ftrongeft Proofs do often confift in an Artificial Turn of Words, and Beautiful Expreffions, which if unravell'd, its Strength is gone, and the Reafon is de- ftroy'd. There are few that read Seneca^ that do not imagine he writes with great Force and Strength, his Thoughts are lofty, al- moft every Line in him is a Sentence, and every Sentence does feem a Reafon 5 and yet it has been well obferv'd, by a M after in the Art of thinking {e), who has (e) MaU^ taken fomc Pains in unraveliino fome of ^^^^,^^- 1 1 /- n T- m Recherche his loftieft Exprellions, that there is little P.zMb.z, more in him, at the bottom, than a Pomp *^' '^' of Words. And the fame Obfervation is made there, upon two other Authors, E the 5o Reflections the one of whom is not To proper to be mention d, the other is not worth the mention : All of them are known, and are as much quoted, and will go as far in Popular Difcourfes, as Authors of clofer Thought. I T is not enough to fay, that this is the Fault of thofe Authors, and not of Eloquence ; for its End being to perfwade^ and the Perfons whom we arc to deal with, being ufually the People, who, as they are the moil, are not generally the wifeft 5 if we would perfwade them, we muft fuit our felves to their Capacities, otherwife we muft be content to lofe our End. An appofite Similitude is Argu- ment with them, and a quaint Saying will go farther than a fubftantial Reafon i for being guided by Imagination, they are moft afFcded with fenfible Refcmblances ^ and not having Capacity to penetrate into things, that which is cafieft, and lies up- permoft, perfwades them moft : So that, unlefs we could make them wife, they will be eafie and credulous, and will be kd i^pon Learning. ^r led by Appearances inftead of Truth, And this is one Reafon, why Eloquence could never flourifh, at lead not arrive to any confidcrable height, unlefs it were among a People that had Undcrftandings above the ordinary Size, fuch as the Athenians once were, and afterwards the Romans : And for the fame reafon it is, that the wifeft Men are not always the beft Ora- tors, either at the Bar or in the Chair j for they arc too much above the People's Level, their Ai^til^^^T fhoots over, and it is no wonder if they mifs their Aim. And if it be yet faid, there is notwithftanding fuch a thing as tme Eloquence, that will always have its Force with Wife Men : I grant there is , but befides that, this is to reftrain us to a very narrow Compafs: Wife Men will be mod guided by Wife Conflderations, fuch as are grounded up- on clofe Argument, and rational Conclu^ fions, which are more properly the Bu- linefs of Logic, than of Rhetoric and E- loqucnce. Iz Haying ^2 Reflections Having gone thus far in my Reflec- tions, principally with regard to the An- cient Orators, it is almoft needlefs to ex- amine the Moderns s fome of their Patrons in other forts of Learning, have given up the Comparifon in this$ fo that if the An- cient are found to be wanting in Perfec- tion, we are not to exped to find it in the Moderns. However, a word or two of them. The French have fhewn moft Care in this Particular, among whom an Academy has been crefted for the refiniag the Language ; the Members whereof have Ipent whole Days in examining the Pro- priety of a Word, and have been no lefs Accurate in ftudying the Beauties and Or- naments of Speech, and Numerofity of their Periods : But I doubt the Oblervati- on is true, that whilft they have been fo fcrupuloufly nice, they have run into the Fault of over-much Accuracy, and by ad- ding Beauty to their Language, have broken its Strength 5 by Spinning and Refining it, and giving it too much Paint and Flourifii, much of its Mafculine Strength is lofl ; and upon Learning- 53 and I have fometimes thought that it boded not well to that Society, that their firft Prize of Eloquence was given to a Woman if). It is certainly a Fault in 7) Mad. Oratory to be too curious in the choice of Words, a bold Period, tho' againft Rule, will pleafc more, than to be always in Phrafe ; and a decent Negligence is often a Beauty in Expreillon, as well as Drefs 5 whereas by being over Corred or always Flourifhing, our Periods become either too lufcious or too ftiff. And yet tho' fome Members of the French Academy have pretty freely ccnfured this Fault, and have defervedly laugh'd at fome Gentle- men, that did not only mifpcnd their time in fludied Periods, but in avoiding rough and unfound Words, it is plain fome of their own Brethren have run into the fame Fault, and have been curious and af- fed:ed in their Style, almoft to a degree of Superftition. For what can be faid lefs of him who composed [g) a large ^^) Af. ^^ Book in five Volumes, in all which he ^'>.^^^'- 4eclined making ufc of a common, and hi/}. Acad. almofl: unavoidable Word (Jj), only be- 50^"" '^' E a ^ caufe ('^ ^^" 54 Reflections caufe it did not pleafc him > Or did Mr. Vaugelas employ iiis time better, who having undertaken the Tranflation of §ltuntus Curtius, no very great Perfor- inance, fpent thirty Years in tranflating his Author, and yet left it an unfinifh'd Work ? In which Work it is very re- markable, that having left five or fix dif- ferent Tranflations in the Margin of his Book, that which flood firft was generally (i)ih.p. approved of as the beft (/), as containing "'^* his firft and Natural Thoughts, whereas the others were probably more forced and ftraind. But Mr. Teliffon, in his Hiftory of the Academy^ has given us a Tanegyric upon the French King, which I fuppofe rs defign d as a Specimen of French Elo- quence 5 and being there in five different Languages, every Man may read it in a i known Tongue, and be able, in fome I meafure, to judge, to what degree of P^r- * fe£lion, Oratory has arrived among our Neighbours : Tho' the Truth of it is, the flngUih Tranflation is wretchedly mang- led. ■I upon Learning. 55 led, and fo different from the Author's Senfc, that it ceafesto be his. However, take it in the Original, 1 believe it will not be pretended, that he has painted out his Hero in fuch charming Colours, as ei- ther Tliny has done his Trajan, or Cicero Vompey in one of his Orations [k), or (k) Proie- Cafar in another. The Academies Rhe- |^ p^^' toric is yet wantins;, which they have c;i- ^^^'^f^-' yen us an expedation of, both in the fame Hiftory, and in tlie Preface to their Dictionary. But that Work having coft them forty Years, and a Grammar being in Order their next Undertaking, if that iikewife fhould employ them a propor- tionable Time, their Rules of Eloquence feem refcrv'd for Pofterity, and not for us. The Englifb, as they have not taken the fame Pains, nor purfued the Defign with equal Induftry with their Neighbours, by ereding Societies for the Improvement of Oratory j fo whatever their Perfor- mances have been, they have been more mo deft in their Pretcnfions : For though E 4 the ^6 Reflections the French have compofed large Volumes upon this Subje^l:, with much Oftentation, yet I fcarce know of any, that have been publifn'd by the Englijh , whether it be that their Genius inchnes them to Strength rather than Beauty, or that trufting to their Native Force, they defpife the Fine- nefs of Art. They have indeed been {Dv.com. charged by their Neighbours (/) w^ith a de^s^^-^' ibrt of Eloquence that is not very charm- 65"^'.foa i"g> ^^ beginning their Difcourfes gene- rally with fome Prophecy or furprizing Story 5 which if it were true, is not per- haps fo much to be attributed to their want of Skill, as to their Compliance with the Humour of a People, that attend too much to Prophecies, and are too much afFeded with Stories : But however, it were 200 Years ago, when the Obfer- vation was firft made, it is otherwife now, when Oratory, after the many Changes it has undergone, has put on a quite diffe- rent Face : Tho' even from thofe frequent Alterations, its Inftability is too remark- able, and would tempt a Man to think, that in fome meafure it depends upon Hu- mour, I upon Learning. 57 mour, and has not fo immovable a Foun- dation as might be witVd. For to look back, a very little, in thofe dark times, it is not impoiTiblc, that Eloquence was much about that pitch, the Obfervation would have it, in a blind Age, when Legends were in Fafhion, and the People were kept in Ignorance, and led by wonder : A Reformation in Religion brought with it an Advancement in Learn- ing 5 and as Elegancy begun then to be re- ftored to the Latin Tongue, fo in Queen Elizabeths R^ign, the Writers of that Age, feem to have afFefted a Ciceronian Stile in Englifh, both in the length of their Periods, and often by throwing the Verb to the End of the Sentence : The fucceed- ing Reign degenerated rather than impro- ved, when the Generality run into an af- feded way of Writing, and nothing would pleale, without a fantaftick Drefs and Jingle of Words. And tho' in the fol- lowing Reign, this way of Writing was much laid afide, yet even then they larded their Difcourfes fo thick with Sentences of Greek ^8 Reflections Greek and Latin, that as things now are, it would be a hard matter to excufe them from Pedantry. What lort of Oratory obtain'd in the late Times of Confufion, " is well known, efpecially in the Pulpit : As if the Obfervation of our Neighbours had been calculated from them j little Si- militudes and odd Examples, and a worie fort of Cant, was the Eloquence of thefe Times 5 which notwithftandingcharm'd the People to that degree, that it hurried them befides themfelves, and almoft out of their Wits. And tho' Oratory may be thought to be now at its full height, and we may flatter our felvcs, that nothing can be ad- ded to the Strength and Solidity of thofe Difcourfes, that are publifh'd among us almofl every day, upon every Subject 5 yet I will not undertake, but that fome- what may be produc'd in the next Age, fo much more perfed, at Icaft more plca- fmg, than any thing we yet have, that the prcfent Eloquence (hall be look'd up- on by our Pofterity with j:he fame neglect? with which we now treat the Performan- ces of our Fore-Fathers. No doubt, what they npon Learning- ^9 they writ pleas'd their own Age, as much as our mod boafted Pieces pleafe now $ and we ought not to be too confident in our own Performances, with diiregard to other Ages , unlefs we will make our fclvQS the Standard of Eloquence, and not give other Men leave to judge of us, as we have done of thofe before. I KNOW no Reafon, why it may not vary according to Times as well as Places, which in the latter Cafe it fo evidently does. That that which is look'd upon as Elegant in one Nation, would be laugh'd at by another People. The Eaftern Na- tions are fo different from us in their Stile, that could our moft Elegant Com- pofures be underftood by them, thev would be thought flat and infipid j ^ they being fo accuftomed to Sublime and Lof- ty ExpreiTions, that nothing will afFed them, but what is fetched from the Sun, and Moon, and Stars. And nearer Home, where the Differences ought not to be fo confiderable, the French and Italians^ who have taken fuch Pains, and fpent fo much Time 6o Reflections Time in polifhing their Stile, yet charge one another with Imperfedions in their way of Writing, and both of them dif- fer from the English, Every Nation can difcover Faults in their Neighbours, and do not confider that their Neighbours fee the like Faults to blame in them. CHAP. upon L ;^ A R N I N G. 6i CHAP. V, 0/^ L o G I c. LOGIC, in the Modern Phrafe, is the Art of T h i n k i n g j and being defign'd for a Help or In- ftrumcnt of Reafon, its very Nature im- plies Weaknefs in the Underftanding j and therefore we ought not to value our felves too much upon our Ability, in giving fubtle Rules, and finding out Logical Ar- guments, fince it would be more Perfec- tion not to want them. GOD Almigh- ty, who fees all things intuitively, does not want thefe Helps $ He neither ftands in need of Logic, nor ufes it j but we, whofe 62 Reflections whofe Underftandings arc fhort, are forced to collect one thing from another, and in that Proccfs we feek our proper Me- diums, and call in all other Helps, that may be fubfervicnt to Reafon. There was little confidcrable done in this Matter before Ariftotle^ (for the Eleatic Logic was only an Art of Wrang- ling, as the Academic was of Doubting :) He was the great Advancer of this Art, infomuch that, ever fince his time, the main Grounds of Reafoning have been borrowed from him, even by thofe that have defpis'd him. But as nothing can be begun and perfedcd together 5 fo his Lo- gic has been charged with feveral Defefts 5 for whereas all Logic is properly reduce- able to the four principal Operations of the Mind, the two firft of thefe have been handled by Ariflotle very pcrfundo- rily, to fay no worfe> and of the fourth he has faid nothing at all : Mod of his Time has been fpent upon the third Ope- ration, of which he has treated fo largely, that his Logic is in EfFeft^ an Art of Syl- logizing, upon Learning. t53 logizing. In this he glories as his own Invention, and has been fo much valued upon it by fome, that it has been ftiW by a modern Author, (m) the greatefi Effort (m)napln. of Human Wit. But tho' the Invention ^f/^jr^^^ be confeffcdly extraordinary, to reduce ^ 375- our vague Thoughts and loofe Reafonings, that are almoft infinite, to certain Rules, and make them conclude in Mode and Figure '-i yet v/hofoever confiders the Na- ture of a Syllogifm, in how many things it maybe falfe in the Matter, and peccant in Form, That not only the Terms and Propofitions muft anfwer to one another? but muft be adapted to the Notions of Things, and that thefe two are hard to be conneded i whilft every little Slip in a Propofition, or Ambiguity in a Word^ can fpoil the Syllogifm, will have a lefs Opinion of its Conclufivenefs, and will find it a hard Thing to bind any Syl- logifm fo clofe upon the Mind, as not to be evaded under fome plaufible Di- flinftion. An o- (54 Reflections (n) Bacon. A NOT HER Modem (n) I am furc Jslov. Or- gan, p. so. had this Opinion of the Matter, for which ^^^* Reafon he thought it neceflary to feek out another fort of Logic. I N L Y hint at the principal Operati- ons of the Mind, for if I fhould defcend to lefs Particulars, there are few things in Ariftotle, that have not been excepted againft by Modern Authors i fome of whom have gone fo far, as to queftion the Genuinenefs of his Books, becaufefor- footh, they cannot difcover in them that Flumen Orationis^ that Cicero fpeaks of. But tho' there can be no fufficient Ground to think them fpurious, notwithftanding better Arguments have been brought to that Purpofe by an eminent Philofopher of thcfe later A2:es, io) yet we have too (o)Pit. iD y \ ) J Mirand. much Rcafon to believe they were cor- 58^^'^c!*' rupted, from Strabos {p) Account of ip)v. lib. ^1^^-^. h^yjj^o; been mutilated and confumed with Moifturc, by being bury'd fo long under Ground in Greece after Arijiotle's Death j and after they were brought to' Rome^ upon Learning. 6t Rom€y by having been again mangled by ignorant Tranfcribcrs : So that it is hard to know how much we have of Arijiotle, The Logic in Ufe among the Romans^ was rather a fort of Rhetoric than Logic> in which Senfe it is geticrally to be un- derftood, where we meet with mentiori of itijfcong them : It was firft borrow'd from the Stoics who were in vogue at Rome J before Ariftotle was much known there 5 and their Logic having been ra- ther Specious than SoUd, and confiding much in Pomp of Words, and in giving plaufible Colours to improbable Things, was beft fitted to that People, who were lately farther concern d for that Art, thait as it was of Ufe in Point of Eloquence. And tho' Cicero takes in Arifiotky efpeci- ally in the 21?/>/V^/ Part, that has moft affi- nity with Rhetoric, yet it is plain, he has likewife followed the Stoics, tho' rt was not reputable enough to be own'd. What the Romans have done upon this Sub- je£l, is not worth much Notice, hav- ftig had little Occafion to make ufe of this F Art, 66 Reflections Art, and what they have of it to Purpofe, being borrow'd from Arijlotle ; the adivc Life was their Bufinefs, and Difputing ne- ver feems to have been much in Fafhion with them. However when Cicero begun to re- Vive in thefe latter Ages, this fort of Lo- gic was again attempted 5 the Men .9&^ice Palates could not relifh Ariftotley%, he was dreft up by the Schoolmen^ and vv^ere fo madly ftruck with Cicero^ that they thought all forts of Learning was to be borrowed from his Stories ! Cicero is drawn in beyond his Province, and his Topicks ranfacked to frame a Logic. But tho' thefe Men were extraordinary Perfons, yet nothing fhews more plainly, how ne- ceffary it is for Men to keep within their proper Bounds , for when they come to treat of this Matter, it is fo foreign and un- weildly in their Hands, that they make very ordinary Work. They bring indeed fome plaufible Objeftions againft Arijlo- tle^ and fo far they are within their proper Sphere j but when they fhould lay down feme- upon LEARNING. 6j fomewhat new of their own, they either offer nothing, or what they do, is fo un- fuccefsfuily, as only to (hew that they are out of their Element, and that Logic is none of their Talent. I fpeak this of the firft Reformers of Learning 5 For tho' Ra- tnus run in with them, in his Oppofition to Arijlotle, yet he has out-done them in this, that he himfelf has given us a plaufi- ble Syftem ; (for I cannot look upon Valla s Performance to be fo much) which tho' it was much read and commented on, upon its firft appearing in the World, yzt feems now to be difregarded, and in the next Age may probably be forgot. M Y Lord Bacon faw clearer into the Defeds of this Art, than moft Men did 5 and being neither fatisfied with the Vulgar Logic, nor with its Reformations that were made, fuitably to his vaft and enter- prizing Genius y attempted a Logic wholly new, the Plan of which is laid down in his Novum Organum. The way of Syllo- gizing feem'd to him vei*y fallacious, and too dependent upon Words, to be much F ^ rely'd 68 Reflections rely'd on 5 his Search was after Things, and therefore he brought in a new way of Arguing from IndtiBion, and that ground- ed upon Obfervation and Experiments. Tho'this Plan, as laid down by him, looks liker an Univerfal Art, than a diftinft Lo- gic, and the Defign is too great, and the Induftion too large to be made by one Man, or any Society of Men in one Age, if at all pradicable : For whatever Opinion he might have of the Conclufivenefs of this Way, one crofs Circumftance in an Experiment would as eafily overthrow his IndtiSiioTiy as an ambiguous Word would diforder a Syllogifm ; and a Man needs only make a Tryal, in any Part of natural Hiftory, as left us by my Lord Bacoriy to fee how conclufive his Induciion was like to have been. To fay nothing, that not- withftanding his blaming the common Lo- gics, as being too much fpent in Words, Himfelf runs into the Fault, that he con- demns 5 for what elfe can we make of his Idola Tribus, Idola Specus, Fori, Theatriy or of his Injiantia Solttaria, MigranteSy Often/iViCy Clandejiina, ConfliUitiva^ &c. but upon Learning. (5p but fine Words put to exprcfs very com- mon and ordinai-y. Things ? After the Way of free Thinking had been laid open by my Lord Bacon, it was foon after greedily followed , for the Un- derftanding afFeds Freedom as well as the Will, and Men will purfue Liberty, tho' h ends in Confufion. The Cartejians have been obferv'd to be no Friends to Logics their Mafter has left nothing extant upon that Subjed, except fome fcatter'd Expreflions 5 unlefs a Treatife of Method mud be interpreted a Logic, which not- withftanding is more properly Metaphyfi- cal. One of his firft Principles of Rcafon- ing, after he had doubted of every Thing, feems to be too circular to be fafely built upon 5 for he is for proving the Being of a GOD from the Truth of our Faculties, and the Truth of our Faculties from the Being of a G OD : He had better have fup- pos'd our Faculties to be true, for they being the Inftruments that we make Ufe of in all our Proofs and Deduftions, un- Icfs we fuppofe them to be true, we are F I at |o Reflections at a ftand, and can go no farther in our Proofs : So that the Way of Suppofmg, feems to be more rational, than that of Doubting. The Notion of perceiving Things by Ideas, is of a Piece with this, which, however plaufible it might feem when firfl: ftarted, after it came to be examined. Men's Ideas about the fame Objeds hapned to be fo vaftly different, and that in Things that were the moft clearly and diftinftly percciv'd, that it was a great Prejudice a- gainft this Opinion. There are few of the firft ftarted Ideas that have not been ex- amined, and many of them efFedually con- futed, by the late Improvers of this way, and other Ideals fubftituted in their room, which have given no more fatisfadion to others, than the firft did to them : And till we can agree about fome Rule or Stan- dard, by which to meafure and adjuft our Idea's, it is only a loofe way of Thinking, and there can be no end of Controverfie this way. Altho' there be little hopes of this, whilft we have Reafon to believe^ that upon Learning. 71 that nothing pleafeth more in this way, than the Liberty it gives, or which every Man takes of framing new and fine Idea s. I am no Enemy to free Thinking, yet I muft always wifh, we might proceed by fomeRule, (for a Rule is no Bar, but a Per- fedion of Freedom) otherwife, I am fure there is no Agreement to be expected, and it is to be fear'd we (hall end in Confufi- on. Clear and diftinft Preception has been given us for a Rule, and the Con- formity of our Idea's with the Reality of Things, has been given as another ; but it is no good Proof of either, that Men have differed much in fome of thofe things, that have been fuppos'd to be the mpft clearly perceived, and mod agreeable to the Na- ture of things. The great Difficulty is, in difcovering that Conformity, or in clear- ing and diftinguifhing our Thoughts 5 for every Man s Idea's are clear to himfclf, I T would be look'd upon as an Omif- fion, to pafs by the Art of Thinkingy fup- pofed to be writ by M. Arnault (q). The (q)i'^rt b^ft Part of it muft be own'd to be bor- i^^^i; Far. 6S. V 4 row'd 72 Reflections row'd from Ariftotley only by cloathing old Terms under new Ideas^ which (hows that it is not fo eafy to frame a new Lo- gic as a new Philofophy, and gives Ground of Sufpicion, that this Philofophy is not at perfed Amity with Reafon, otherwife they might more eafily be adapted to one another. One thing upon which this Au- thor values himfelf, is, his fubftituting ufe- ful Inftancesj in the Place of thofe trivial common ones, formerly in Ufe with the old Logicians, which he makes an Ob- jeftion to the old Way : But can it be an Objeftion to any thing, that it is fuited to the End for which it was defign'd \ The Ufe of Inftances is to illuftrate and explain a Difficulty, and this End is beft anfwer'd by fuch Inftances as are familiar and com- mon : Whereas the Inftances which this Man brings are ufually taken from other Sciences, and fuppofe Men to be wife al- ready, contrary to the Intention of Lo- gic, which is only an Introdudion to o* ther Sciences, and being fitted for Begin- ners, fuppofeth our Knowledge to be yet weak, and is defign d for an Inftrument to help upon Learning. y^ help us forward. And yet there is a worfe Objedion againft his Inftances, that many of them being borrowed from an unfound and corrupt Divinity, they can hardly be read by Beginners without Danger of bc'^ ing corrupted : For fuch falfe Opinions are never more contagious, than when they are held forth to us under fuch plaufibk Appearances j nor are their Imprefllons ever like to be more lading, than when they are fuckt in with the Principles of Reafon, I will not fay, that thefe Opi- ens are fown there on Purpofc, th^t. they might grow up with our Reafon, but where fo much Divinity is mixt with our Logic, it is very fufpicious that it has a Meaning. The laft Syftem of Logic that I have met with, is the Medecina Mentis^ which has been efteem'd the beft, and for ought I know, may maintain that Charafter till a new one appears : It is not fafe to cen- fure an Author of fo eftabiifh'd a Reputa- tion $ only thus much a Man may venture to fay, That it feems to be too ftrong Phy- fick 74 Reflections fick for moft Mens Conftitutions s and it looks fo like a Mountebank to boaft of iPn^lft. ^^^^ai^ible Cures {r], that 1 could not but ir^f, have a lefs Opinion of this Author. He makes light Account of the former Logi- cians s and Perception, which was thought to be fo clear a Mark of Truth, is fhewn by him to be often the EfFcd: of Imagi- nation, (s) and therefore he fetcheth his Criterion higher, which he placeth in Con- ceptioriy or a yet higher Degree of Cogita- tion, But whether Knowledge be ground- ed interception or Conception^ feems not very material, provided they could fhcw us the Way, how to find it : This is what we dcfii'c ! And the telling us, we mud aflent to nothing, of which we have not a Conception, does not feem to further our Search over-much. It ferves well toano- thect^urpofe, to (hew us the fhortnefs of our Reach ; for if we muft alTent to no- thing without Conception, we muft needs know very little, there being few things, that we conceive perfedly. I am apt to think Mr. T, has borrowed fome Hints from this Author, tho' he has apply'd them tQ upon Learning, 75 to Purpofes the Author never meant, and indeed flatly difavows : For the Au- thor feems to mean well, only is too fan- ciful a Man, to make an extraordinary Lo- gician 5 and whoever reads his Medicina Corporis will be confirmed in this Opini- on : If his Rules of Reafon be not better fuited to the Mind, than his Rules for Health are fitted to our Bodies, he is not like to be much follow^. CHAP. 76 Reflections CHAR VL 0/^ Moral Philosophy. Mo R A L I T Y may be confider'd two Ways, as an Habit, or a Rule, either as it is in uS;, or as an Art for the Condud of Life, and a Doftrine of Manners : In both Refpefts it is very imperfed, if confider'd only in its own Strength, and without the Aflift- ances of Revelation s Philofophy being as unable to give Rules, as Nature is to practifc them. Mod of the Pilofophers, and feme of grofier Capacities, were len- fible upon Learning ^j fible of this : They were fo far bewildred in their Search after Happinefs, as to be able to perceive their own Wandrings, and could feel the Difordcrs of their Na- ture. But how to return into the Way, or remedy thefe Diforders, was beyond their Power. SOC RATES was the firft, who, after the Philofophers had tir'd themfelves out in the fearch of Nature, with little Succefs, obferving the great Uncertain- ties and Vanity of fuch Enquiries, brought down Philofophy from fruitlcfs Speculati- ons, to the Ufes of Life ; His Opinions in MoraUty were clearer and much bet- ter grounded, than thofe of moft of the fucceeding Seds 5 having had truer Noti- ons of GOD, of the Immortality of the Soul, and future Rewards, than the reft had i without which all Vertue is a float- ing, unftable thing, wanting both its due Etid and fufficient Foundation. But tho' hs was clearer than moft of the reft were, yec he exprefles himfelf too doubtfully tc be depended on. Moft of his Philofo- phy 78 Reflections phy is in broken Sentences, deliver'd with much Doubtfulnefs, and his dying Words are well known, when he had leaft to fear, which are fo full of Diffidence, that they can give little encouragement to o- thers to follow him. He propofeth his Senfc, as a probable Opinion, of the Truth whereof, he had conceived good Hopes, from its Agreeablenefs with the Divine Goodnefs, and the Order of Pro- vidence ; rather than built upon fuch So- lid Principles, as would give Affurance, and bear Men up in the Difcharge of their Duty, where it meets with Reproaches and Difcouragements, the ufual Atten- dants of Vertue. T LATO does little more than co- py from his Matter, and being aw'd by his hard Fate, fpeaks yet with more Re- fervc : His mod Divine Dialogue, is chiefly a Relation of Socrates s Opinions, and an Account of the Difcourfes he had -with his CO r. p/4- Scholars, fometime before he died {t), ton. Ph^-: j^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ Socratic and Tlatonk way- having been Enemies to dogmatizing, and ratheic upon Learning. y^ rather doubting and denying than af- ferting any thing 5 we are not to expeft Certainty, where it is not pretended to. ARISTOTLE is more noted for his Order in bringing Morality into Syf- tem, by treating of Happinefs under Heads 5 and ranging it in Claffes according to its different Objeds, and diftinguiihing Ver- tues into their feveral Kinds, which had not been handled Syftematically before, than for any real Improvement he made in this fott of Knowledge : Which was a Diviner Thing in Tlatd^ Dialogues, al- tho' only Lax and Moral Difcourfes, than it was under all the Advantages, that Ari- ftotle could give it by reducing it into Or- der ; whilfl: he wanted the only Thing that could render it amiable. As for the reft of the Philofophers, they generally go upon falfe Principles 5 That Sed of them, which was ftrideft in its Inftitution, and pretended to the greateft Perfedion, the §toics^ v^cxq more cxtrava- 8o Reflections extravagant than moft others were : Their Rule was to live up to Nature, which as they underftood it, was to diveli them- felvcs of Humanity 5 for that was to be laid aiide, and an abfolute Unconcerned- nefs to be embraced^ in order to the Hap- pinefs they were to be poffefs'd of 5 Their Wifemen was to be Rich and Pow- erful, and every way Happy in the midft of Torments : All Good with them was equal and alike 5 only their Wifemen (u)v Sen ^^^ fomewhat above the God's {u). In ^A-53-^y^ fhort, their Philofophy was all Paradox, aliquid quo sapi' it made a great (now, and dazled thofe 7I/DmZ\ that looked no farther than Appearance, but was nothing more at the Bottom, than an Oftentation of Wifdom. I T were too tedious to recount the various Opinions of the Heathen Mora- lifts, which in fhort Compafs of Time, were grown fo numerous, that it gave occafion to the ScepticSy to difpute the Truth of all, and to maintain that there was nothing True or Falfe, Good or EviU and confcquently ta place their Happinefs in upon Learning. 8i in a pcrfed indifference^ an kra.icL^),rt in the Underftanding ; and ^rgtoW.^'ejx in the Will {x\. This was to go beyond {x)v,Six. 1 1 r 1 Empiric. the StoicSy who as they could tccl no/.i.c.u. Pain, fo thefe Romantic Heroes could tafte Happinefs without being afFe£led with Pleafure. Their Mafter Tyrrhon, who flourifh'd about th^ time of Zeno, was fo ftmck with this Principle, that if a Cha- riot or wild Bead came in his way, he fcorn d to turn afide, and muft often have perifhed, had he not been preferv'd by his Friends. He was bed anfwer'd by the Dog in "Diogenes Laertitis (/), which (y) ^^'M* coming upon him by furprize, 'ere the rhon, Philofopher had time to confider, made Nature dart back, and the Philofopher Gonfefs, that fuch imaginary Principles will not hold. In Varro's Time the different Opini- ons were fo extravagantly multiplied, that in his Book of Philofophy (^), he reckons {^.y.Aug, up two hundred and eighty-eight feveral Defj.ip^ Opinions, only concerning the Summum '^- '• Bonum, And if the 'difference were fo G great 82 Reflections great concerning the ultimate End, which all Men defire, and in which, if any thing, the common Senfe of Mankind fhould feem to agree s we may cafily imagine what agreement there was, in other lefs Ends and particular Duties. 1 need not fhow ity it IS a common Theme, and may be feen in every Treatife of Mora- lity. * But tho' Morahty may have been very imperfed amongft the Philofophers, it is otherwife, I fuppofe with us, who have better Light and a furer Rule for our Diredion, than they had : It is true it is fo, whilft we keep to our Rule, but when we forfake that, we go aftray like other Men. Our Modern Cafuifts, efpecially the JefiutSy afford too clear an Evidence of this, who by darting nice Cafes, and philofophizing upon them, have brought us back in fome things to the State of Philofophers : They have already given us a new Notion oi: Philofophical Sin, which as ftated by them has no fuch Stmg in it, as to deter moft Men from its Commilll- \ ' on. upon Learning. 83 on. Their Thcfes are printed, that were to be maintain d by the Jefuits at T>ijon ; the firft of which is, Teccatum Thilofo- phicum jeu moraky eft A£ius humamts dtfconveniens Natura Rationali & Rec- t£ Rationi : Theologicum vero ^ mor- tale eft tYanfgreJJio libera legis ^ivina : 7hilofophicum quantum^vis grave, in ilb qui TDeum vel ignoraty vel de T>eo a£iu non cogitaty eft grave ^eccatuniy fed non eft offenfa T>eiy neque Teccatum mortale diftolvens amicitiam T>eiy neque £ternk poena dignum : A Thefis indeed very fa- vourably to the Heathen Philofophers, but impoflible to be reconciled to tiie Princi- ples of the Gofpel. It has been reprinted at the Hague (^), and fufficiently anfwer- (a) nouv cd and exposM by a good Hand, tho' no- fJ^j^.^L thing can expole it more than naming it. ^ ^^ ^^y^ This is only one of their Cafuiftical Decifiofts i a large CoUedion of which may be liad in the Jefmts Morals (^), /^^jv^^^^/, which as reprefented by a Dodor of the ^^^ J^f- SorbonnCy and he quotes their own Jicen- 1667, fed Authors, is fuch a Syftem of Morality, G 2 as 84 Reflections as the Heathen Philofophers would blufh to own. According to the Doftrine of that Morale how many Sins are there, that may be committed, and what Duties that may not be evaded in fome Degree, or under fome Diftindion \ Their one Dodrine of Probability, is a Ground of as much Liberty, as an ordinary Sinner can dcfire : For if a Man may ad upon a probable Opinion, and an Opinion becomes then probable, when it is fupported by one Reafon, or maintain d only by one (c)v.ma' x>oaor (f), I will venture to affirm, there i^8. are few Things fo hard in Morality, that have been defended by the loofeft Mora- lifts, that have not been maintaind by fome of the JefuitSy as cited in that Book. And yet this is not the utmofl: Liberty, thele nice Cafuifts and indulgent Fathers have ailow'd : They go farther, and where there are two probable Opinions, a Man may ad upon that which is lefs probable, nay, he may venture upon an Opinion that is only probably probable j which is certainly as low a Degree of Probability, as can well be imagirk^d i and I do not upon Learning. 85 fee, how they can go lower, imlcfs they would allow a Man to ad upon an Opi- on that is improbable. I T might have hctn expeded, that where fo many hard Opinions have been charg'd upon the Jefuits^ as have been produced in the Jefutts Morals :, they fhould fay fomewhat in their own De- fence : Somewhat indeed they have faid, and one of the Pleas they infift upon moft is. That many of the fame Opinions are maintained by the Schoolmen, fomc of whom were Canonized, and their Books generally received in the Church of Rome. But whatever Opinion they may have of fuch a Defenfe, it is nothing to us, who bring the fame Charge againft the School- men, that we do againft the Jefuits, as far as they maintain the fame Opinions;, and we think them the more dangerous, if they have not only been defended by JefuitSy but by fuch Men, as by having been received into the Catalogue of Ro- miflj Saints, have in a manner Canoniz'd theif Opinions, by being Canoniz'd thcnv Q 1 fclvcs. 86 Reflections felvcs, and made their Church in fomc meafure, anfwerable for them : Tho' to do that Church right, others of her Mem- bers have taken offence at fuch Dodrines, particularly the Janfenijis j and among the Bcncdidins, Father Mabillon, tho' o- therwife referv'd enough in his Cenfures, yet where fuch loofe Cafuifts come in his way, cannot forbear giving them a La(h> and declaring it his Opinion, that a Man may read Tullys Offices with more Profit (A) Etud, i-han he can do certain Cafuifts {d) i rnonaft. . Par. 1. Which tho' fmart enough, as commgfrom "' ^' a modeft humble Man, yet another French- man has faid a feverer Thing ; where he defines MoraUty as treated by the Cafuifts, L* Art de chichaner avec T^ieu s and in- deed in their way of handling, it looks liker an Art to eafe Men from the Bur- den of rigorous Precepts, by fhewing them the utmoft Bounds they may go without Sin, than what it fhould be, a Direftion for the Eafe of tender Confcien- ces, by fhewing Men their Duty in par- ticular Cafes. To upon Learning. 87 To fpeak the whole Matter in one Word ; a good Confcicnce and an upright Man will fee his Duty with only a mo- derate Share of Caiuiftical Skill, but into a perverfe Heart, this fort of Wifdom en- ters not : It is uiually fome Luft to be gratified, or Danger to be avoided, which perverts the Judgment in pradical Duties : But were Men as much afraid of Sin, as they are of Danger, there would be few Occafionsof confulting our Cafuifts. G + CHAP. 88 Reflections .% '±^ .% .% ^t- ^' '% ■% '% '% 't' '% '% '% '% '% ^% '% ^% ^ CHAR VIL O/^Natural PhilosophYc PHYSICAL Knowledge, taking in the whole Compafs of Nature,, is too vaft a Subjed to be compre- hended by Humane Mind ; it is an un- exhauftible Mine, wherein we always dig, and yet never come at the Bottom : For tho' the Things it treats of be material Objefts; and as fuch, fenfible and eafiej yet when we come to treat of them in a Philofophical manner, they fhun our Senfe, and are liable to equal Difficulties with nicer Matters. There is nothing more common in Nature, than Matter and Mo- tion, npon Learning. 89 tion, or more eafily diftinguifh'd ; but then we muft uiiderftand them to be fo, only in their groffer Meaning ; for if we fpeak of fubtle Matter and inteftine Mo- tion, they efcape the niceft Scrutiny of Scnfe : And yet thefe are the fecret Springs of moft of the Operations in Na- ture ; and as for grofs Matter and vifible Motion, they are rather of Mechanical Confideration. A Philofophers l^ufinefs is to trace Nature in her inward Recedes and latent Motions 5 and how hid thefe are/ is beft known tothofe, who are moft converfant in Philofophical Enquiries. Such Men by looking deep into her, and obferving her in all her Windings and Mazes, find Matter enough for Won- der, and Reafon to adore the Wifdom of GOD, but at the fame time only meet with Mortification to their own Wifdom, and are forced to confefs, that the w^ays of Nature, like thofe of G O D, are paft Mans finding out. ARISTOTLE who has gone fo far in his rational Enquiries, has given us po Reflections us little infight into Phyfical Truths 5 for having franVd a Body of Phyfics out of liis own Head, all the various Thanomena of Nature were to be fuited to his Philo- fophy, jnftead of his Philofophy's being drawn from Obfervations in Nature : His Reafoning, which did well in Logics, was fomewhat out of Place, and mifgui- ded him here, where he was rather to be led by Obfervation ; and where he does make Obfervations, they are ufually un- philofophical, and fuch as few Men could be ignorant of : His four Elements are grofs Things, and leave the Underftanding at the fame Pitch where it was, and his three Principles do not advance it much higher : His firft Principle, as he has ex- plain d it, is unintelligible $ and the laft of the three is no Principle at all, unlcfs we will allow that for one Principle, that is deftrudive of another : He tells us, that all Knowledge is to be derived from the Senfc, and yet prefently forfakes that, and flies to Reafon. But his Philofophy is enough decry'd already, and needs not be brought lower than it is. 1 upon Learning- 91 I N E E D not here reckon up the Opi- nions of other ancient Philofophers 5 moft of them have been revived, and have been again confuted, and have dyed the fecond time in our own Age. The Opinion of Thales and the Ionic Se£l, in making Wa- ter the Principle of all Things, lias been revived by thofe, who have attempted to explicate a Deluge from fuch an Original. And the Opinion of Tythagoras and the Italic SzQ^, in placing the Sun in the Cen- tre of the World, and afcribing Motion to the Earth, has been maintained anew by Copernicus and his FoUou'crs 5 and tho' Tr an/migration of Souls be one of Tythagoras's hardeft Sayings, yet it has found a Patron of late in a Countryman of our own {e), who has maintain'd it ^^y Mr. in a qualifi^d Senfe, which perhaps was as ^«^>^^'- much as Tythagoras meant. An Anima Mpndiy Pre-exiftence of Souls, with the risft of Tlatos Opinions, have found a ftrong Party in their Defenfe : And many other late Opinions, which have little in them, except their i^ovelty, to recom- mend 92 Reflections mend them to the World, do really want that too, and might be eafily (hewn, to be only the Spawn of the ancient Philo- fophers 5 by whom as there is nothing fo abAird, that has not been faid, fo they have fcarcc faid any Thing fo extravagant, wherein they have not been followed. But among all the ancient Opinions, none have been reviv'd with more gene- ral Approbation, than thofc of T>emocri- tus and Epicurus^ the Founders of the Atomical or Corpufcular Philofophy 5 an ill Omen to Religion, when they who have explicated the Produdion of the World, by the Laws of Mechanifm with- out a G O D, have been fo generally fol- low'd. In this Mr. T)es Cartes has been too fuccefsful, whom tho* it would be ve- ry unjuft to charge with Denial of a GOD, whom he fuppofeth to have created Matter, and to have imprcfled the firft Mo- tion upon iti yet in this he is blameablc, that after the firft Motion is imprefs'd, and the Wheels fet a-2;oin2, he leaves his vaft Machine, to the Laws of Mechanifm, and fuppofeth upon Learning. 95 ftippofeth that all Things may be thereby produced, without any further extraordi- nary Afliftance from the firft Impreffor. The Suppofition is impious, and, as he dates if, deftruftive of it fclf : For, not to deny him his Laws of Motion, mod of which have been evidently fhewn to be falfe, and confequently fo muft all be, that is built upon them, his Notion of Matter is inconfiftent with any Motion at all 5 for as Space and Matter are with him the fame, upon this Suppofition there can be no Vacuumy and there can be no Mo- tion in a Tlenum : Motion is only the Succeflion of Bodies from one Place to another j but how fhould they fuccced from one Place, if there be no room to receive them in the next, which there can- not be, if all be full ? And the Difficulty is ftill greater upon the firft framing of Things, before the fubtle Matter is pro- duced, that was to (uit it felf to all the little Interftices, betwixt the larger folid Bodies, which muft needs clog and inter- fere with one another, unlefs we will al- low fome fluid Matter, that will yield and give 94- Reflect ions and give way to the other s Motion. Mr. ^es Cartes imagines he anfwers all this, by a Succeffion of Bodies in a circular Mo- tion i but I think this Motion carries its own Confutation with it, and that no- thing can be fuppos'd more abfurd, than to imagine, that upon the Motion of eve- ry httle Atome, the whole Frame of Things mud be difturbcd and let a-going. Motion is one of Mr. "T^es Cartes's dar- ling Principles, and by this and Matter, he pretends to iolve the greateft Difficul- ties that are iri Nature 5 and it is very re- markable, that he has not fail'd more in any of his Notions, than in thefe two great Fundamentals of his Philofophy > for allowing him thefe, his other Expli- cations hang together fomewhat better. But this it is to frame Hypothefes out of one's own Imagination, without confulc- ing Nature, which Mr. ^es Cartes has not done, for it was equal to him, whar. Hypothefes he went upon, and had Fa- ther Merfennns (/) told him that a Ka- fin,Keflex, ctitmt was as much in fafhion, and as a- ^''^^^' greeable to the tafteof the Age, as a Tie- num upon L E A R N I N G. p^ num then fcem'd to be, we fhould have had an Hypothefes grounded upon a Va- cuumy and no doubt as fpccious and plau- fible, as that \vc now have ; perhaps more plaufible, being more confonant to his own Senfe, as having been his firft De- fign, and the other only hammered out by the Diredion of his Confident Merfennus. And it is a wonderful Tiling, that Men fhould run mad after fuch an Hjpothejis^ which as it has not the leaft ground in Nature, fo the Author himfelf never be- liev'd it. It has been anfwer'd and effec- tually confuted in all its Branches, by fe- veral Hands, but by none better than the Author of, yi Voyage to the World of Des Cartes, which tho' not always con- clufive, is every where ingenious, and confutes him in his own way 5 for one Romance is beft anfwer^ from the Atmofphere of a Comet, as might occafion a Deluge, yet it is impoflible for him to carry them off again, after the Occafion is over i and for ought I can fee, they muft have continu d with us, till the return of his Comet. So that whatever Differences may be alledg'd betwixt Hypothefes and Theories, they arc much upon the fame level, as to any real Light they have yet afforded to Nature 5 and one great Difference feems to be this, that the former are only modeftly propo- fed, whereas Theories are ufher'd in with greater Aflurance. It is well if Theories be not as much out of Fafhion in the next Age, as Hypothefes arc in this 5 for fo ma- ny Obfervations and Experiments are re*^ quir'd to raife a Theory, that I defpair of ever feeing One that will bear the Teft. When I fpeak of Obfervations and Experiments, I would not be thought to Hnder-value a vSociety, which has been H crefted 98 Reflections erected to that purpofe, and whofe Endea- vours have been fo fuccefsful that way al- ready : But however fuccefsful they may have been, thofe excellent Perfons have more Modefty, than to over- rate their own Performances ; and nothing has done them more Injury, than the Vanity of fome few Men, who have been fo Tla- net'flrucky as to dream of the PoflTibility of a Voyage to the Moon, and to talk of making Wings to fly thither, as they would of buying a pair of Boots to take a ^omi- (^)Mf.G's ney (g). The genuine Members of that S34'. ' ' Society have other Thoughts of Things, being far from any hopes of maftering Nature, or of ever making fuch progrefs, as not to leave Work enough for other Men to do. One of their Number, a great Glory of their Society, after he had grown old in their Studies, learnt Modefty and Diffiding thereby, and was never more referv'd than in his full growth and ma- turity of Knowledge, when he had leaft Reafon to be fo. And another incompa- ble Perfon, who has added Mathematical Skill to his Obfervation upon Nature^ af- ter upon Learning* 99 ter the niceft Enquiry, feems torefolve all into Attraction 5 which tho' it may be true and pious withal^ perhaps will not be thought fo Philofophical. The Truth of it is, we may as well reft there, for after all, Gravitation was never yet folv'd, and poffibly never may 5 and after Men have fpent a thoufand Years longer in thefe Enquiries, they may perhaps fit down at laft under Attraction^ or may be Content to refolve all into the Power or Providence of GOD. And might not that be done as well now > We know little of the Caufes of Things, but may fee Wifdom enough in every Thing : And could w^e be content to fpend as much Time in contemplating the wife Ends of Providence, as we do in fearching into Caufes, it would certainly make us better Men, and, I am apt to think, no worfe Philofophers. Por tho' final Caufes have been fo much banifhed from our Modern Phyfics, yet nothing is more to the pur- pofe, or more eafie to be underftood. Whereas Caufes are yet latent 5 and it is H 2 very loo Reflections very remarkable, that the very laft Author, (h) M. le [h^ that has given us a Syftem of Phyfics, after all the Difcovcries that have been talked of, and Improvements that have been made in Nature, has been forced to proceed in zn Analytical Method for want of Principles to go upon, and inilead of demonftratingEfFcds from the Cauies? has been fore d to trace the Caufes of I hings from their Effedls : Which tho' it be foiiie Argument of the Author's Modefty, yet I do not fpeak it to commend his Perfor- mance, for his Phyfics are like his other Works, faulty enough. chap; upon Learning. ioi 4- -t^ s 't- 't' & -t' 4^ 't^ -$3 -t^ -s -t^ 'X' '^ <% 't' •% ^% -t' CHAR VIIL 0/ A S T R O N O M Y. TH E Chaldeans were the firft (un- \ck you will except the Chinefe) that we meet with in Prophane Story (/), that made Obfervations upon COciW. the Stars : Two Reafons might incline i.j.^. i.* them to this 5 firft, the Evennefs of their Country, which afforded a free and open Profpeft ; and next, the Opinion they had of the Stars, whom efteeming as Gods, it muft have been a Part of their Religion to look up to Heaven and obferve them. But then their Obfcrvations were princi- pally Aftrological 5 they did not fo much meafure the Heavens, as fetch their Di- regions from thence, and were more con» ccjned for the Influences of the Stars, than H 3 their, Reflections their Motions : So that tho' Aftrology were at its full heighth amongft the Chal- deanSy yet Aftronomy never feems to have arrived at any Maturity. The fame may be faid of moft of the Eaftern Peo- ple 5 even the Chinefe, after they have made Obfervations upon the Stars above Four Thoufand Years, yet have made fo little Progrefs in Aftronomy, that upon the Arrival of the MiJJlonarieSy their Ma- thematicians could not cornpofe a perfeft Calendar {k). The two Hypofhefes of Ttolemy and Copernicus will take in moft of what needs be faid on this Sub j eft ; for as to that of Tycho Brahe, as it is in a great meafure compounded of thefe two, and feems defign'd to account for Difficulties in both thefe HypothefeSy fo it is liable to feveral Objedions in them both. The Ttolemaic Hypothecs has too much Appearance of Art, to be efteem'd Natural, all its Epicycles and Eccentrics:, and other Ambages y can never be thought the upon Learning. i 03 the Contrivance of Nature, which afts in a more fimple manner, without going fo far about ; thofe foUd Spheres, which it fuppofcs have been fhatter'd and over- turnd by the Modern Philofophers, and fliewn to be inconfiftent both with the TrajeSiion of Comets, and with that e- qual Light, which is conveyed to us from the Planets and other Stars, which by paffing through fuch different Mediums and foUd Bodies, muft have fufFered in- numerable Refradions : Several of the Phenomena of the Heavens admit of no tolerable Solution this way, particularly thofe of Mercury and Venus^ and the Accefs and Recefs of the Polar Star to and from the Pole, which in the time of HypparchuSy was diftant from it 12 De- grees, but is not now fully three, and in Procefs of Time will recede from it again more than ever 5 and the many different, and likewife oppofitc Motions of the Stars and Spheres are not eafily conceived. But nothing is fo inconceivable as the Velocity of their Motion 5 for upon this Hypothefis they muft be fuppos'd to move H 4 io^\^^ I04 Reflections fome ThoLifand Miles in a Minute, which tho' it may be conceived by Philofophers, is not very obvious to common Under- (landings. Such are the Objeftions that have been commonly brought againft this Hypothefis, which have rendered it f o hard of Digeftion j and tho' nothing can ex- cufe the hard Saying of that Prophanc (*V/;W Kin^ (/), fo well known and fo often Mt. quoted, yet it may be fo far mollified, that having been levelfd againft this Hy- pothefis, he did not theieby pretend tq corred the Works of G O D Almighty, only did not believe them to have been fram'd in luch a manner by GOD, as 7tO: lemy has defcrib'd. The Copernican Hypothejis values it felf upon its Eafinefs, and the great Com- pendioufnefs of the way it goes in : But tho* it accounts for Appearances more compendioufly than the other does, and without the vaft Apparatus^ that is re- quired in the Ttolemaic Hypothefis, yet it contains things as incomprehenfible as the other does : For as the Celerity of Motion upon Learning. 105 Motion in the former exceeds all Belief, fo the Regularity of Motion is unfathom- able in this. The Motion of the Earth is of hard enough Digeftion in it felf ; but fuppofing it to move in a fluid Medium, who is there that can imagine, that ii fhould be fo regular and uniform as it is ) The Fluid, with which it is environ d, and in which it moves is unftable, and muta- ble, confifting of little Bodies, that are always altering their Pofition to one ano- ther, and changing their Shapes by con- ftant and mutual Attrition j and yet tho* the Ambient Fluid be always altering, the Motion is the fame. It defcribes our Days by its Diurnal Motion upon its own Axis, our Years, by its Annual Revolu- tion, and our Seafons, by that and its Inclination, and all thefe fo regularly^ as not to vary in fo many Succeffions of Ages 5 and yet we muft believe that this Conftancy and Regularity is maintained by fluftuating Matter, the mofl: unftable thing in the World. The exafteft Movements or Machines that Humane Wit can frame, are fubjeft to innumerable Diforders, ci- ther io6 Reflections ther from the breaking of the Sprmg of their Motion, or wearing of their Wheels, or fome other external Impulfc or inward Decay, and therefore always want our Care, either to fet them right, or keep them in order 5 only this vaft Machine and Frame of Tilings, preferve& its Courfe, and never varies, tho' aded in appearance by the moft unconftant Cau- fes. A Man that well confiders this will be inclined to entertain a more favourar bie Opinion of the Ancient Philofophers ; and tho' he cannot believe the Heavens to be turned and adted by Intelligences^ yet he would find it almoft as hard to apprehend, how they move without them : Whatever become of Intelligences, an Intelligent Being muft of neceility be taken in, without which our Philofo- phy will be very unable to do the Bufi- ncfs. There is another Difficulty in this Hypothefis, which the Copernicans can- not eafily get over, and which will per- plex any Mans Underftanding that welj confiders upon Learning. i 07 confiders it : That the Earth is only a Point in refped to the Univerfe, tho' it be a pretty large Toftulatum, yet poffibly muft be granted upon any Hypothefis j but that not only the Earth, but the whole Magnus OrbiSy or that vaft Orbit which the Earth defcribes round the Sun, fhould be efteem'd a Point, (without which Sup- pofition the Copernican Hypothefis can- not be maintain d ) is fuch a ^Tojitdatum in Aftronomy, as the more a Man thinks of, the lefs eafily he can affent to. For what is the Magnus OrbtSy or vaft Circle, which muft be efteem'd as a Point ? To take only the Scmidiameter of this Cir- cle, or about the fixth Part of the Whole, Hugenius [m)^ no incompetent Judge of(^«)coyi thefe Matters, has calculated the Diftance *^'[^^'^'/ betwixt the Earth and the Sun to about 17 Million German Miles ,• or in other Words, that fuppofmg a Bullet fhot from a Gun could retain always the fame Ve- locity it had at its firft Difcharge, with this fwiftnefs in about twenty-five Years, it would pafs from the Earth to the Sun : All which immenfe Diftance? is about a fixth io8 Reflections fixth Part of Copernicus^ Point. It is true, Htigenius affigns a proportionable Diftance (if there can be any Proportion in fuch an Immenfity) to the fix'd Stars 5 for this Bullet being fhot again, with the fame (rOxh.f. fwiftnefs, \\c{n) fuppofes, it might come at the neareft of the fixt Stars in about 700 Years, which is fuch a Diftance as common Apprehenfions cannot reach, and will once more require a Philofopher's Un- dcrflanding. In this vail: Compafs, our Aftronomcrs have difcover'd new Worlds (like that fanguine Conqueror who was feeking out new Worlds before the old one was half fubdu'd 5 ) every Planet muft be a World, and every Star muft have its Planets : This Projed was purfud by Mr. Fontanelle in a plcaling entertaining way, but has been embraced by others with greater Seriouf- 1 i\z'[s. What thefe Worlds are, might as v/ell be left undetermined, GOD having thought fit to fay little of them, and hav- ing placed them beyond our reach : But if wc may gucfs at the Difcoveries that are upon Learning. 109 are to be made in the rcmotcft Stars, from thofe that have been made already in the nearcft, the Moon, I do not think they will make any great addition to Know- ledge. It muft be confelVd that mighty Difcoveries have been talk'd of in that Planet : Hevelhis has given us its Geo- graphy, and has marked out {o) every {o)seUmi^ Mountain and Valley, Sea, and River, as ;.. 216. exadly as if he had been there, in his ac- curate Map of that World. RicciohiS (/) has gone a Uttle farther, and has af- (p)Alma^ fign d every Aftronomer his Proportion of Ground : You may there meet with the Land of Copernicus y GaliUus and Keplar 5 and it is but juft that they fhould have the Benefit of their Invention : And the fame Author, to fhew his Modefty, has plac'd Ricciolus in the beft and moft con- fpicuous Spot of Ground in that World. But are thefe Men in eaxneft > Or do we yet know where we are \ That the Moon is an Opake Body is no new DiP- covery, the Nature of Eclipfes has long fmce (hewn it, and I am afraid it is little we yet know beyond this, For tho' the no Reflections the Moon has been divided into Sea and Land, and the Divifion fo much acknow- ledg'd, that a Man's Parts muft have been fufpedcd, that would have doubted of the Thing j and tho' tiie obfcure Parts of its Body have been generally thought to be watry, and the luminous Parts earthy and folid 5 yet this Divifion fcems rather to be grounded upon an Inference of Reafon, to wit, That the obfcure and watry Parts imbibe the Light, whereas the earthy folid Parrs refledt it, than up- on the Experience of Senfe, aflifted by Glaf- {cs. Thefe Glaffes indeed difcover the difference betwixt the dark and lumi- nous Parts much more clearly, than the naked Eye can, but will never fliew the Nature of either, or what Subftance they *are of, much lefs diftinguifh the different Portions of Earth and Water : But Men come poffefs'd with an Opinion of Seas and Rivers, and then eafily think they fee them (as every Sound does anfwer the Tune that runs in our Ears) and after one Man has feen them, it is a Reproach to the next, not to be as acute and diftinguifh- upon Learning. i i i ina; as he, and fo we cheat one another into a tolerable Agreement. That this is the Cafe I am verily perfwaded : For tho* I can neither pretend to good Eyes, nor good Glaffes, and therefore will lay no weight upon my own Opinion, yet Huge?imSy who had them in Perfedion, and who writ fince thefe accurate Maps were taken, could neither obfcrve Seas nor Rivers in the Moon, and expreffly de- nies, that any fuch are to be fecn there (^). (q) cof And there is this Reafon befides, that if ^.114/ ^ any fuch were, they muft neceflarily raife a mighty Atmofpherey which, as it would hinder our clear Profpedl at all Times, fo by its Clouds, it would fometimes darken one Part of the xMoon s Body, and fome- times another ; whereas now the dark and luminous Parts are always the fame : So that, as far as I can fee, we know little more of the Moon, than that it is an o- pake and folid Body, and fo much wc were pretty well affured of, before Tele- Jcopes came in faihion. No 112 Reflections No doubt Telefcopes are a noble In- vention, and the Difcoveries that have been made by them are very confiderable, but as to the difcovering thereby the Na- ture and Subftance of Heavenly Bodies, I look upon it as utterly impoffible : And yet this is the modifh way of framing new Worlds : We firft obferve Seas and Ri- vers in the Moon, and if fuch be there, there muft be Plants that they water, and if Plants, there muft likewife be Animals to feed upon them, and all thefe are dc- itgn'd for the Service of Men. The Rea- fon is eafily carried further ; for if the Moon be a World, by Parity of Reafon, fo muft the other Planets be alfo > and if all the vifible Planets are carried about in the Vortex of the Sun, which is no bet- ter than the other Stars, no doubt, the other fix d Stars have their attending Pla- nets, as well as the Sun, and fo we have a Plurality of Worlds with a Witnefs. But this Chain of Reafoning is eafily bro- ken, by breaking its firft Link : For if there be no Waters in the Moon, in con- fequence upon Learning. 113 fequence of that, neither arc there any Plants or Animals, or Men 5 and if none of thefc be there, by Parity of Reafon, neither are there any in the other Planets, and fo the whole Chain falls to pieces. These World-Mongers are always ob- jcding the improbability of GOD's fram- ing fo many vaft and Glorious Bodies, only for the fake of this Earth, fo incon- siderable a Portion of the Whole : Amongft the reft HugenmSy who in one place makes this Objedion, in another Part of his Book (r), as if he had forgot himfelf, (r)p.ii^ thinks it enough to fay, that GOD raifed this mighty Frame of Things, that he might contemplate and delight himfelf thereby 5 and were there no other Reafon, we ought to acquiefce in this. But they that argue thus, feem to meafure Things by their Bulk, which is a falfe way of Reafoning : There is more Beauty and Con- trivance in the Strudurc of a Human Bo- dy, than there is in the Glorious Body of the Sun 5 and more Pcrfeftion in one Ra- tional Immaterial Soul, than in the whole I Mafs 114 Reflections Mafs of Matter, be it never fo bulky. There cannot then be any Abfurdity in faying, That all Things were created for the fake'of this inferior World, and the Inhabitants thereof, and they that have fuch mean Thoughts of it, feem not to have confider'd who it was that died to Redeem it. Let them meafure the World by that Standard, and they cannot under- value it any longer, without fome Reproach to Infinite Wifdom. CHAP, npm Learning. I^ CHAR IX. 0/M ETAPHYSICS. METAPHYSICS having fo great an Affinity with Logic, and being fo interwoven with the Learning of the Schools, 1 need fay lefs of them in this Place : They are ftil'd by Ariftotle Natural Theology, from whence we may be enabled to take fomc Meafures of them : For Natural Theology is in it felf a poor weak Thing, and Rea- fon unaffifted has not been able to carry the cleareft Philofophers very far, in their Purfuit after Divine Matters : We have fcen this already in pradical Truth, arid I ^ the Reflections the Reafon lies ftronger, in fuch as are Speculative. And if we fee Co dimly in Phyfical Matters, which are nearer our Scnfe, and in a manner exposed to View, how much more muft we be bewildred in our Search after Spiritual abftrafted Truths, in the Confidcration of Univer- fals, and of Things of a Tranfcendental Nature, fuch as fall properly under the Confideration of Metaphyfics > For tho' Metaphyfical Truths may Be certain c- nough in their own Nature, yet they arc not ufually fo to us, but being abftrufe Things, and lying deep and remote from Senfe, it is not every one that is capable of undcrftanding them, and there are yet fewer that underftand their true Ufc. They are ufually under the Conduft of fubtle Men ; and thefe nice Profeffors, inftead of refolving Doubts, have fpun out new Dif- ficulties, and fram'd Labyrinths, out of wliich they have fcarce been able to dif- entangle themfelvcs : So that Metaphy- fics, which were at firft only Natural The- ology, are nov/ become the moft artificial Things in the World. upon Learning. t) N E need only dip into any Syftem, to fee how thefe Men are plunged in fet- ting out i for whereas there are two Things of prineipal Confideration in Metaphyfi- cal Knowledge, its ObjeEt and Affe6iions j and whereas Philofophers are pretty well agreed about the Objeft of other Sciences, as that Quantity is the Objeft of Mathe- matics, and Matter of Phyfics, and fo of the reft $ the Metaphyficians have not come to any tolerable Agreement about the Oftjeft of this Science, or Sapience, or whatever you will call it. Suarez pro- duceth fix different Opinions, and himfclf brings the feventh, which is his own. And as to its Affeftions, they are again at a Plunge to find out Affeftions different from Beings (which feems to comprehend every Thing ) for if the AffeEiions and Subje£l are the fame, their Demonftrations arc Identical, and prove nothing, But thefe are dry Gx^nliderations, What Artftotle has done upo^ this Svibjeii, is much fhort of a perfedt Work, 8 Reflections and is rather an Effay, than a complcat Treatife i for tho' he has left fourteen Books upon the Subjcd, yet they are loofe and indigefted, which is not ufual with Arifiotky where he has given his laft Hand 5 and the two laft are fo foreign to his Defign, and fo unfuitable to the place they ftand in, that fome have thought fit cither to ftrike them out of his Works, or to place them in a new Order : And indeed his twelfth Book fliould feem to be his laft, which concludes with his No- tion of G O D and fpiritual Beings ; though none ot his Books are Divine enough, to give a true Account of Natural Theology. It is plain, he wants Light in thefe Mat- ters, and neither knows where to fix, nor what to determine j which is one Reafon of the Obfcurity of his Books of Meta- phyfics, for no Man can write clearer than he thinks. And therefore his Commen- tators have often tugg d in vain, in labour- ing to make out a Meaning, where pofll- bly the Author himfelf was at a lofs. If any Man could have underftood him, A- vicen had the bcft Plea, who was as fub- tlc upon Learning. 119 tie a Philofopher, and fludicd him as much as perhaps any Man ever did 5 and yet after he had read his Metaphyfics forty times over, and had them all by Heart, (which I will venture to fay, is more than ever any Man will do againj he was forc'd to lay them afide as unintelligible (j). In (s)v.vit. one Thing I muft do him Right, that where- ^'^!^''"'' as he has been reprefented as too pofitive and dogmatical in his Opinions, it is the Fault of his Followers, not his : He be- gins thefe Books in a very different man- ner : His third Book (for the two firft are chiefly Prefatory) is taken up with Doubts, and the Title of the firfl: Chapter is, The Ufe of T)oubttng'^ to do which well, he makes one Mark of a Philofopher, and gives this Reafon, becaufe unlefs a Man knows how to find out and ftate a Diffi- culty, it. is impoffible to folve it 5 as a Man muft fee the Folds and Windings of a Knot, before he can untie it. So that the Art of Doubting is no new Invention, having been known to Arijlotle, as well as the Moderns, with this Difference only, that be does it more modeftly, and i« not fo I 4 Sceptical;, 120 Reflections Sceptical, as the firft mighty Pretender to this Way. And becaufe we arc come thus far, let us confider this new Method of Know- ledge by Doubting, upon which our Mo- dern Metaphyfics turn fo much, and of which our new Philofophers talk fo loud- ly. For my Part I can fee no great Ufc cither of their Doubting, or of the Know- ledge it leads to. For what is it we muft doubt of? Even of the moft certain Truths in Nature, of the Verity of our own Bo- dies, as whether we have Hands, Arms and Legs, (/). And what is the firft Knowledge that refults from this Doubt- ing > That fince I doubt, I am 5 for that which doubts, muft it felf neceffarily have a Being. Now allowing all this, I do not think we are much the wifer : For had ever any Man real Doubts of thefe Matters > Or did ever any Man in his Wits queftion the Truth of his own Be- ing .> Such Doubts and fuch Proofs arc only fitted for melancholy Perfons, and I hope, we are not philofophizing at this Time upon Learning. 12 1 Time of Day to yield Convidion to fuch Men. Evident Truths and firft Principles may be reafonably fuppos'd ; and indeed they muft be fuppos'd, for they are not capable of Proof, there being nothing clearer by which they may be prov'd 5 and for a Man to offer a Proof in fuch Mat- ters, may make a pompous Show, but it is no real Advancement of Knowledge. The old way of proceeding upon allow'd Principles feems to me more rational than this Method of queftioning every thing, till we have unfettled the firft Grounds and Foundations of Truth : And however ufeful Doubting may be in Philofophical Enquiries, it ought always to fuppofe a Ground, for a groundlefs Doubt is fo far irrational. After our Philofopher has done witli Doubting, and has prov'd to us our own Exiftencc, he brings us at laft to the Being of a GOD ( « ), in which a great Part of W MiJ&-> his Metaphyfics is fpent 5 and I am fo un- *^* ^' willing to weaken any Proof to that Pur- pofc, that I fhall pafs it over : Only thus much 122 Reflections much may be inofFenfively faid, that his Proof from the Idea, is the abftrufeft and tlie Icaft conclufive Argument that has been brought > for tho' conftant and univerfal Agreement in the Notion of a GOD, may be a good Argument to prove his Exift- ence, and famihar enough to the weakeft Capacities, yet this Idea^ as managed by our Author, is neither clear nor the moft conclufive : For what is there of either, in the objedive Perfeftion or F.eaUty of this Idea^ being greater than the formal Perfeftion or ReaUty in the Mind, and therefore that this Idea cannot proceed from thence, but muft have fome fuperior Caufe to produce it \ When after all, this obje^live Reality is nothing more than an Operation of the Mind, or rather a Mode of its Operation, which is fuch a Reality, as one would imagine, the Mind alone might be able to give it. But this Fhilofopher s Metaphyflcs arc only Meditations, a compleat Treatife was to be given us by his Followers j amongft whom M, Toirety I know not how, has obtaind upon Learning. 123 obtain d a Name : He has refin'd upon his Mafter, and is fo full of Thinking, that he has made Cogitation to be the Subftance of the Mind {x)y and in purfuance of this, (x) cogl- the ElTence of God to be likewife Cogi- ^^c, 3! 5.' tation 5 which, with other odd Opinions, will hardly recommend him to confider- ing Men. 1 always look'd upon A/. Toiret as a ^hanatic in Philofophy, and have been confirmed in my Opinion, by what has happened fmce 5 for a Phanaticifm has no Bounds, he has fince (if he be the fame Man) exprefs'd it in his Divinity, by lick- ing up the Vomit, and adoring the Opi- nions of a filly Woman, of whofe infpi- ration he is as well ajfuredy as of the Be- ing of a God {y) 5 an Expreffion which (y}v,B&ur, nothing but Enthufiafm can excufe from f^p^Q^' Blafphemy. And therefore I have the more wonder'd to fee a Comparifon fornVd betwixt T/ato and Af, Toiret, which I could have wifh'd had been let alone. I MUST rank Mallebranchin the fame Order, whofe Recherche has furnifh'd out fiich refin d and abftrafted Metaphyfics, as if 124 Reflections if they were defign d for Comprehenfors j he has exalted Ideas to their utmoft Height 5 and becaufe they bore not with them Cer- tainty enough, whilft they were barely Operations of the Mind, or Reprefentati- ons from external Objefts, he has plac'd them in a Subjeft that cannot err ; to wit, in the Wifdom of G O D himfelf j whom having fuppos'd to be the Place of Spirits, as Space is of Bodies, and that there is an intimate Union betwixt GOD and the Soul of Man, by attending to him, who is always prefential to our Minds, we arc to fee all Things in this Ideal or Intelligi- h'l^pt. "^'^ ^^^^^ (^)- Now, tho' there can be }„c,6,i, no doubt, but GOD can lead us into all Truth, by difplaying himfelf to us, and perhaps may deal thus with us when wc are in Heaven i yet this way feems too fu- pernatural whilft on Earth, and too clear for frail and weak Men, who arc not yet to know by Vifion 5 and it is withal fo like the inward Light of a new Scft of Men, as not to make it over reputable : To which purpofe 'tis very remarkable. That Malkbranch's Opinion having been cfpoufed upon Learning.' i 25 cfpoufed of late, by an ingenious Pcrfon of our own, with all the Advantages of Beauty of Style, and Perfpicuity of Ex- preffion ; yet the Men of new Light have taken fuch hold of it, as to make it ne- ccflary for him to write an Apology to difengage himfelf from the fakers, who would needs have it thought they had gain d a Profelyte {a) : Wherein, though (a) C9nd, he has diftinguilh'd himfelf from thefe Peo- ^. 183. pie, yet thus much he owns. That if the fakers underjlood their own Notion, and knew how to explain it, and into what Principles to refblve it, it would not very much differ from his. In another Thing there is too great an Agreement, that thefc Men of Thought have too low a Value for Human Learning, either as it lies in our common Books, or in the Book of Nature, in refpeft of that Light which difplays it felf from the Ideal World, by attending to which with pure and defecate Minds, they fuppofe Knowledge to be moft eafily had. Experience and Deduc- tions have been formerly efteem'd ufeful, but in tkis compendious Way to Know- ledge, 26 Reflections ledge, provided we make our Approaches, with our Souls purg d, and with due Pre- paration of Mind, there needs little more than Application and Attention. Indeed Prayer has been made another Condition, which tho' it be proper and of good Ufe upon all Occafions, yet it is not fo perti- nent here, where we fpeak only of natu- ral Means. CHAP. upon Learning. 127 CHAR X, QTHlSTORY. IS c A R c E ever met with any Hif- torian who does not write true Hifto- ry, if you will take an Account of him from his Preface, and not be too nice in examining his Book : The firft Pages are ufually filled with the Care and Inte- grity of the Author, which, polTibly, are to be found no where elfe. Thofe who have taken moft Care, have been charged with fome Negligence 5 and all of them have been fo far faulty, as to extort a Confeffion from One of their Number, wherein he fairly owns, That there is none of the Hiftorians that do not lye in fome Things taentium. 128 Re flections (i) vefifc. Things {&). He names feme of the moft init." — unexceptionable, and pretends to be able Neminem scriporum to make good his Charge by unconteftablc 2i™. Proofs. Let us take a fliort View. am perti- net, non aiiciuUeffe We havc little confiderable remaining of Prophane Ancient Story, except what we have left us by the Greeks and Ro- mans : For as to the Chaldean Hiftory of BeroJuSy and the Egyptian of Mane- thoy they both writ fince Herodotus^ and we have only fome Fragments of them left, preferv'd by Jofephusy Eufebius, &c. And the Books that go under thefe great Names, are the imprudent Forgeries of Annius of Viterbo. And as to Sanconia- thon, who has given us the Phoenician Hiftory, tho' he pretends to be much more ancient y yet his great Antiquity has been queftion d by Scaligety and his very Being by Mr. ^odwell : So that thofe we arc to depend on are the Greeks and Ro- mans. The GreekSy as they havc not been noted for their Veracity in any refpeft, fo upon Learning. 129 fo their Truth and Integrity in this Parti- cular has been always fo queftionable, that Gr£cta Mendax has been ftigmatiz'd in Hiftory : We have no tolerable Account from them before the Olympiads 5 the Times before thefe were the Mythic Ages, and are Fable 5 and when the Hiftorical Age commenceth, our Accounts of Things arc not much better : For they having not originally had any Public Annals, or Re- gifters of Things 5 and amongft their anci- ent Authors, the Toets having had the firft Rank, we may eafily imagine what fort of Accounts are to be expeded from thofe Men, who were either to follow uncertain Reports and Traditions, or what is much w^orfe, to copy the Poets. Ac- cordingly, their firft Accounts were very loofe, and rather Poems than Hiftories, which they have been charged with by the Romans pretty freely 5 and §luinEiiUan is fo far from foftning the Matter, that he compares the Liberty they took to a Poe- tic Licence {c). But no Man has expos'd {c')infi'tK them fo much as Jofephus {d) has done. \^)cottr. He tells them, Their Accounts of Things ^PP'^^^- K are ^' '' 130 Reflections are all novel ; That they have no Public and Authentic Annals^, nor any Author more ancient than Homer, and thofe they havCy do differ from one another : That Hellanicus differs from Acufilaus 5 That Acufilaus correEis Hefiod, and Hellanicus Ephorus : He again is correEiedbj Timaeus, as Timseus is by others^ and Herodotus by all : And yet this is that Herodotus, who has beeia ftiFd the Father of Hiftory 3 tho' he might with equal Right be nam'd the Parent of Fable. I know what Apo- logies have been made for him, efpecially from late Voyages and Difcoveries : But it is enough to fay, he cannot be defend- ed, and that thofe few Inftances, which have been brought, do rather fhow the Wit of his Agologifts, than figniiie much towards the redeeming the Credit of their Author : His Miftakes are too numerous and too "rofs to be accounted for, from fome accidental Agreement vv^ith modern Difcoveries. I T muft be confefs'd, fome of the fol- lowing Hiilorians have writ more cauti- oufly ? upon Learning. 131 oufly, and in this the Children have ex- ceeded their Father, particularly Thucydi- des, who has been noted for his Accuracy and Care : But not to infift upon Jofe- phuss Authority, who has not exempted him from the common Cenfure, a si'eat Part of his Hiftory is taken up with large Speeches and Harangues, which had never any Exiftence, except in the Imagination of his own Brain 5 and the reft of his Sto- ry is of too narrow Extent, both as to Time and Place, to be of any confiderable Importance in the Account of Ancient Times, of the Darknefs whereof he him- felf complains in the Entrance of his Book. He who has done moft, and wliofe Ac- counts are moft extenfive, is T>iodorus SmihSy taking his Rife from the Original of Things, and defcribing the World in its full Latitude and Extent 5 and let any one excufe him from Fable, and the Caufe is yielded. His firft Five Books are al- moft a continual Fable, defcribing more Ages than the World has had Duration, and fuch Nations as have had no Being, Luciano True Hiftory has fcarce any Thing K 2 more 132 Reflections more incredible, than what may be met with in that Author. The beft Thing that can be iirg'd in his Excufe is. That he owns and confefTeth the Charge that is brought againft him 5 entitling his firft Books, Mythic Hiftory, which, in plain Englifb, is fabulous : But this Argument has been largely profecuted by a learned (e)Orig pen(^). Sacr. cap. ^ '' 4. Well, but however fabulous the Grecians may have been, there may be more Certainty in Roman Story : It is poffible there may, and yet not near fo much as might be deflred. The moft Compleat and only General Hiftory we have among them is Livj/y whofe Genius has been thought to equal the Majefty of the People he defcribes. To pals by his Tatavinitj, which has been underftood by fome, of Partiality to his Country, and his long Orations that are pure Fidion, and monftrous Prodigies, which are fuch Vanities as only ferve to amufe the weaker fort of People : His Accounts of remote Times are dim and blind 3 and, for want of upon Learning^ 133 of fufficicnt Vouchers, are juftly queftion- able. He himfelf defcribes the firft Times, to the Foundation of Romey as a Poetical Period, rather than grounded upon un- doubted Monuments (/) $ and after the (/)ii^. Building of the City, he complains. That the Ufe of Letters had been very rare, and confequently little could be confign'd to Writing 5 that therefore the Memory of Things was his beft Guide, at leaft fo far as to the Burning of Rome, when mod of their publiek Monuments did perifh with their City {g) : Which could they have (g)Lih.6, been preferv'd, yet they were fo jejune ^' ^' and naked, that they could hardly furnidi out Materials for a tolerable Hiftory. The firft Ground of the Roman Story, is the Coming of (i^neas into Italy s with this Livy begins his Book, and ufh- crs it in with tolerable AfTurance $ and if any Thing could be known among them, it niuft have been their own Original j and yet this is fo far from being allowed, that Strabo {h) plainly (hows, (lySneas never ,^^ ^. flirr'd out of Troj ; and if Homers Au- ^l- K 3 thority 134 Reflections thority be of any weight, it is plain, he did not only die there, but his Pollerity were to reign there in fucceeding Ages (t) Iliad, (i). And that he never fet Foot in Italfy °* * ° ' has been made pretty evident, in a late E}fjitZ[ I^iff^^i't^^on to that Purpofe {k). And yet ^ne.^s notwithftandins; what can be faid againft fueritm it, this was fo recciv'd a Truth at Rome:, that the Ancient Families derived from Ve- nus and ^^yEneas $ and upon this Reafoii the People of Troy had Privileges and Im- munities granted them by the Romans^. efpecially by J, C^far, who derived from them : But this was an EfFeft of Partiality to their Country, and of Vanity, in being thought defcended from Gods and He- roes j wherein, with like Reaibn, they have been fmce imitated by other Nati- ons. The Truth of it is, this Partiality to their Nation does ihew it felf in all their Hiftorians : They reprefent themfelves not only as the moil Valiant People, but like- wife as the mod Juft and Faithful in all their Wars and Alliances 3 and having had the upon Learning. 135 the Advantage of writing their own Story, they muft have been believ'd in all they fay, had there not been fome way left of difcovering the contrary. Themfclves dif- cover the Opinion their Enemies had of them. Galgacus, our brave Countryman, is introduced defcribing them as Pyrats and Public Robbers, Men of infatiable Ava- rice and unbounded Ambition, and upon thefe Motives, as Difturbers of the Peace of Mankind : And though no doubt that noble Speech of his in Tacitus was made for him, yet the Hiftorian had not obfcrv'd a due decorum, had he not made him fpeak the Senfe their Enemies had of the Roman People. And tho' Tolybtus does fometimes cenfure the Roman juftice, yet he no where difcovers fo much Truth, as by what he tells us of Fabius and Thili- mts. It feems thefe two had writ the Tunic War, the one a Roman, the other a Carthazinian i the one blames the Car- thaginians almoft in every Thing, and the other the Romans : It is pojQible they might both'be blameable ; but I know no reafon why we are not to give as much K 4 Credit 136 Reflections Credit 'to the Carthaginian, as we are to the Roman, Had fuch Hiftorians as Thi- lintis been yet preferv'd, we might then have known all thz Roman Faults, as we now read little, befides their Vertues ; tho' we have the kfs it#d of them to this r/)F.Afi». purpofe, the Chriftian Apologifts (/) hav- Lan^jnd. ing left fuch an Account of their Juftice and public Vertues, as is very inconfiftent with their own Hiftories. And indeed we have one fure way of detefting their In- sincerity, by comparing them with facred Story. What monftrous Abfurdities have Jufiin and Tacitus related of the Jews, where they might have had Opportunities of being better informed ? And we are not to think, that they have been more inquifitive in knowing, or perhaps much more favourable in defcribing other Na- tions : So that upon the Whole, the i? He had defign'd a Hiftory from the Foun- dation of Rome to his Time 5 and in or- der to that, defign d to begin at his own Confulatey and write backward to Rornu- his {n) : A very prepofterous and unac- („) v. bu countable Method, did not the Reafon '{'•^''/[-^^ appear : The Good Man was full of him- >//^^^<" felf, and was impatient to come at his own Praifes 5 Cataline, no doubt, was in his Head, and after he had prefs'd his Friends to write that War, and could not prevail with them to undertake it, he is refolv'd to do it himfelf : And whether in the Conduft of the Work, Ciceros Charader would not have been too large, and Cat alines too foul, I leave to every Man to judge : Would not Cat aline have been painted out in the fame Drefs as he now ilands 138 Reflections ftands in the four Orations > And had out Orator's Hiftory come down as low as An- thony, fnould we not have had too much of the Thtlippcs, to be reconcilable to Truth > Cicero requires fo much of Orato- (o)'DeO'X^ as an Ingredient in an Hiftorian ((?), rat. L 1. ^ ^ '^ juxt. init. and fo much Partiality in his own Hifto- l\y^' rian, as to confirm the Sufpicion beyond a Doubt. I F I fhould defcend to Modern Times, I fliould have a large Field before me; but the Path is fo trodden, that every Man's own Reading will furnifh him with Obfervations : If there fhould be any Man, who has made none of this kind, he needs only perufe the Englijh and French Hiftorians j and by comparing them together, he will find Matter of Diverfion and Admiration at the fame time. How differently do they defcribe the fame Ac- tion ? how manifeflly in favour of a Par- ty ? How often do the French glory in a Vidory, which with the Engli^J isefleem'd an Overthrow > And again, How do the Engli(ld fometimes proclaim Viclory, where their upon Learning. i 39 their Enemies think they have given them a Defeat > How do they both triumph, where perhaps neither of them have rea- fon to glory > Or if the Advantage be too undeniable on our Side to be contefted, as at AgtncoiiTt and Creffey^ how do our Enemies feek to leffen it ? How do they paUiate every Thing, and charge Heaven, or crofs Accidents, or mad Defpair, with the Fortune of the Day ? How do they turn every Stone, and labour to have the Succcfs and Honour fall any where, ra- ther than on the Englifl) ? Whereas on the other fide. How do the Englijh ar- roo-ate all to themfelves, and their own Courage, and fcarce allow any Share to Fortune or Defpair, or lucky Accidents ? You have Fabius and Thilinus, only al- tering the Nation in the French and En- gli^. What a Reproach to Truth was it that a T^uke of Orleans^ one of the firft Perfons in France^ fhould be faid to be openly executed for Treafon at Ta- riSy as was reported in twenty Hiftories, whilft the Duke was living, and could con- tradift the Report, who afterwards dy'd in 1 40 Reflections in Peace, to the Shame and Ignominy (p)v.'Bo- of ail his Hiftorians {p)) Or who could nlfi^ab!^, i^^sgii"^^? that it (hould be thought an u- niverfal Cuftom amongft the Engiifh, that upon an Invitation to a Friend's Houfe, the Perfon invited, fhould in Comple- ment, lie with his Neighbour's Wife ? And yet this, however barbarous it may feem, has been related by an European Cq)choi' Hiftorian (q), a Chriftian, and one that c^ocon^. .1. j.^^^^ almoft to the laft Century. Would not a Man have fufpeded he had liv'd two Thoufand Years ago, or in fome remote Corner of the World, where the En- glifh had been reckon d amongft barbarous People ; These are Domeftick Inftances. Jf we look Abroad, upon the Difcovery of the JVefi-IndieSy what ftrange Relations have we had from thence I Wc have been told there of a Nation of Amazons, of Giants of a prodigious Stature 5 the People of fuch monftrous Shape and tru-v culent Afped, as if they were of another Species 5 and as many Cannibals, as might ^at npon Learning. i^i] cat up an ordinary Country (r). Where- ^^^^^J* as, upon further Enquiry, Ave meet with ocean, p, no Amazons, unlefs long Hair and want pJcU.'z. of Beards will metamorphofe Men into ^'^^'^S, Women, and the People are much of the fame Size and Shape with the reft of Mankind : But the Spaniards either faw them in a Fright, or were under the Va* nity of reporting ftrange Things 5 or be- ing in love with the Gold of the Country, they were to reprefent the People as Mon- fters, that they might have a fairer Pre- tence to dcftroy them. And fuch In- ftances may ferve to illuftrate ancient Hif- tory. Doubtlefs Herodotus and T)iodo- rtis were imposed upon by fuch falfe Re- lations, and had not the like Opportu- nities with us of correfting their Mif^^ takes. I SHOULD be infinitely tedious, fhould I give a Hiftory of incredible Things, and therefore I only touch upon fome few, and thofe too Matters of Fad, which ought to be moft certain : Where- as, fliould we launch out into Myfteries of Reflections of State, and the Cabinets of Princes, which are the nioft inftrudive Part, and moft properly the Bufmefs of an Hiftori- an, we fhould be ftill more in the Dark. Matters of Fad are vifiblc Things, and fall under common Obfervation s whereas politick Reafons and Confiderations are abftrufe and hidden, and only penetrated into by fome few of clearer Capacity and deeper Reach. Every ordinary Capacity can judge of Time by the Point or Hand, but the Spring and Secret Motions are only obferv'd by Men of Skill. Thefe Men in the State are the Minifters, tho' . the Secret be often hid, even from them 5 for the Reafons which Princes give are often only pretended, and rather what they would have others think of them, than the true Motives by which they are guided. Such Things are out of my Road, and therefore I difmifs them. I s H A L I. only obferve further. That however Vicious our Hiftories may be al- ready, there has been one way taken to make them more Corrupt, by Secret Hif- tories upon L E A R N I N G. I43 tories and Turhfh Spes^ and other Books of the like nature 5 which by an appear- ance of Truth, and by mingling it with Falfchood, impofe upon Men of eafie Be- lief 5 and are now grown fo numerous? that it is a Matter of Difcernment to di- ftinguifh betwixt Spurious and Genuine Pieces. To which I may add Varillus and Matmbiirgh, and other French Au- thors, who write with fo Romantic an Air, as if they defign d rather Pleafant Books, than True Hiftoryi and rather to entertain, than inform their Reader > who give us Paint inftead of Drefs, and make Heroes, if they cannot find them. I H A V E done with this Head, and have kept clofe to one Condition of Hif- tory, the Confideration of its Truth 5 for fhould I take in all the Conditions required by Voljius and Le Moyne^ we fhould either have very little Hiftory, or none at all. The Jefuit Le Moyne, one of the laft that has treated of this Sub- jeft, requires fuch Conditions, and lays down fuch Rules as no Man can follow 5 and 144 Reflections and is Co nice in his Examples, as to al- *Di/r. r. low * only Four Hiftorians among the RomanSy and not fo many among the Greeks, and all of them fhort of Per- feftion. And as to the Moderns, he is yet more fcrupulous, in admitting them into Account, only it had been ftrange, had he not found two or three of his own Order, MaJfeuSy Strada, and Mart- ana, whom he thinks fit to equal with Tacitus and Livy. He defigns us a Hif- tory himfelf, and to that end has chalk'd out fuch a Method as he means to pur- fue : But if we may judge of his Vera- city, by his perpetually running a Parallel betwixt Hiftory and Poem ; or of his Pre- judices? by his Partiality to his Order, he is not like to out- do his Predeceffors : And notwithftanding his great Defign, wc may conclude this Chapter, as he does his Book, That a Compleat Hijlory fhatl not appear, but in that Tear that difco- I vers the Terpetual Motion^ and the Thi- lofophefs Stone. In upon Learning. i^^ I N all this Chapter I have faid nothing of Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, from which, next to facred Story, we have the greateft Af- furance ; and even from Prophane Story (notvvithftanding all its Flaws) we have more AiTurancc, than in mod other Sorts of Learning. CHAP. 14-6 Reflections .1" .t? S &^ ^ -^ -f"- -% -% ^% ^% '% <% S~- 'S '% ^ ^ '^^ '^ %• ^^' %' %' %' -^ # %' %' "$• ■$ %' "^ "^ %' %' %' ''4' ^ ^ CHAR XL 0/^Chronology. CHRONOLOGY and Geogra- phy have been look'd upon as the two Eyes of Hiftory : If thele fliine dim, our Hiftory muft be yet more obfcure 5 without thefeit lies in Confufi- on, is only a Heap of indigefted Matter, flat and infipid, and will neither profit nor delight in Reading. It is Time and Place that give Life as well as Beauty, and a naked Relation of Things, without Circumftance, is very unafFefting Stuff : So that if thefe can be had, they will be an Acceffionof Beauty 5 in want of thefe, there will be as great a Blemifh. And in what upon Li EARNING. I47 what meafure we have them, we muft next enquire. And here again I fhall pafs by the Fabulous Accounts of Times 5 inch as the Chineje^ Egyptian^ and Chaldean may be juftiy thought to be : For tho' If. Vof- Jius has attempted the Chinefe Antiquity, and the ^^jv/^ri^/^ Dynafties have been en- deavoured to be reconciled by our learned Countryman Sir John Mar (ham ; yet there are fo many Things to be fuppofed in their Accounts, and fo little Poflibility of Proof at fo immenfe a Diftance, that the Syftems which they raife are perfectly precarious i and whatever the Aim of thofe Authors was, I doubt neither of their Books have done Service to Religi- on. They feem to me like an Hypothefis in Philofophy j which being granted, ouf Philofophers will argue plaufibly upon it, and make a fhift to reconcile all Difficul- ties that fhall be brought, though the Ground they go upon be Fidion and En- ehanted : So thefe Men will fhift off Ob- jedions pretty plaufibly, and lay Thmgs L z together 148 Reflections together in fpccious order, tho' the Foun-^ dation they build upon be laid in the Air. *Tis true, our Accounts of Greece are fomewhat more clear and certain, but then they are fuch as are too recent : If you trace them up to their remote An- tiquities, the Gnecians are as obfcure as the reft of the World : The Athenians^ the moft knowing People of that Race, know nothing of their own Original : According to themfelves they were kvrd-^' 6oH$y and either fprung from the Earth, or had no Original at all. When their Hiftorical Age takes place, yet their Peri- ods of Time are dark and confufed, and their Chronology is not fo ancient as their Hiftory. This has been obferv'd by Sir ci^^74! 7' Marfham (a), who fhews, that the an- X39. cient Greeks were wholly unskilful in Chronology, efpccially in the Technical Part of it. There was fuch Diverfity and Inequality in their Years, and fuch Vari- ety in their Periods and Cycles, as did ne- ccflarily occafion great Confufion 5 and it upon Learning. i 49 it was impoflible they fhould make right Computations of Times, where they had no fure Rule to go by : This they had not ; and accordingly their Year was fo diforderd, and their Recurrent Feafts- thereby fo unfettled, that Arijlophanes {b) {h) jfp. pleatantly tells us, That the Oods them- ^rund.p, felvcs did not know them 5 and introdu- ^^^* ceth the Gods complaining of the Moon, that by her uncertain Notice of thefe Good-Times, they were difappointed of their Entertainments, and often forc'd to return back hungry to Heaven. Meton was the firft who adjufted thefc Differen- ces, and reduced their Accounts to tole- rable Regularity, by the Invention of that famous Period of nineteen Years, for which he has deferved the Honour to be recorded in Letters of Gold : Tho' his Period was not fo accurate, as not to be capable of Amendment, and therefore was afterwards correfted by Calippus and Hip- parchus $ fo very unfteady have their Computations been. The Arcadians vs\2i^ have been thought to have been before |hem in this, if you will take that Ac- L I count; i^o Reflections count of their being before the Moon, affign'd by fome 5 by underftanding it of their having had a Courfe of Lunar Years, before the Greeks had fix'd their Periods : unlefs Scaligefs Reafon will be thought (c)Proleg. more probable {c). ad Emend. Nor are the Roman Computations more regular : It has been looked upon as a Matter of Wonder, that the Romans fliculd differ fo much in their firft and great Epocha^ the Time of building their ^menf.^^i. ^^^^ * Ontiphvius {d) reckons upon Seven ^aft'p'^s^ different Opinions, moft of them main- tained by confiderable Authorities, and is not a little amazed at the Difagree- mcnt. I fhould have wondred if it had been otherwife, confidering either the Darknefs of their ancient Hiftory, or the Irregularity and Uneoualnefs of their Com- putations. So little regard had they to Order in Time, upon the Foundation of their City, that their firft Years were nei- their regulated by the Courfe of Sun or Moon. Romulus inftituted fuch a Year as might be expeded from a Warlike Prince^ upon Learning. i^i Prince, and an illiterate People, confift- ing of Ten Months, beginning at Marchy and ending at T^ecember ( e) : And al- (e)v.Bion'' though this Year was loon difcover'd to ducai. ' fall fhort of the Natural Year and Courfe f^-^-3^ of the Sun 5 yet it is probable, he had not Skill, or perhaps Concern enough to corrcd the Miftake 5 and the Intercalati- ons that were made, were done in an unskilful or negligent manner : So that the Tear of Confitfion muft have happen d fooner than it did, had it not been fuc- ceeded by a Prince, who had more Incli- nation for the Arts of Peace than War. Ntima undertook the Calendar where Ro- mulus had left it 5 and tho' I do not think he had any Affiftance from Tytha- goraSy asfome have imagin'd {/"), (which (f) Blond, I doubt will appear to be a Chronologi- ' * ^^^* ^' cal Miftake) yet he reduced the Year to better Order, than could be reafonably hop'd for in fo dim an Age, by adding the two Months, which had been want- ing in Romulus's Account, and ordering fuch Intercalations to be made, as w>cre neceflary to fet right the irregular Days. L 4 But 1^2 Reflections But whether it was that his Calendar was yet very imperfed, or that the High- Priefts (with whom the Pov/er of Inter- calation was lodga) were wanting in their Duty, or whether fomewhat of both concurr'd to the Miicarriage ; this is certain, that before J, C^fafs Time, the Courfe of the Year was fo much difor- der'd, that the Months had run back into one another j their Winter was run into Autumn, and their Summer into Spring : and had not that wife Prince apply'd a Remedy, their Winter might have run into Summer. Thefe Inconveniencies being obferv'd by Cafar, put him upon a Reformation, which he attempted by his Pontifical Power, and the Affiftanceof SoftgineSy a skilful Aftronomer 5 and having run all the irregular Days into One Year, confifting of Fifteen Months according to SuetoniuSy or of 445 Days, as Cenforinus will have it 5 by One Year of Confujton he brought their Calendar again to Order, by fuch a Regulation as is too well known to need to be explained. However, his Computations ( notwithftanding the Skill of upon Learning. ito of the Undertaker) were not accurate e- nough, for in lefs than 1300 Years (from the Council of Nicey to Gregory XIJI.) the Calendar and the Heavens were found to be again at Difcord, and to vary Ten Days in the Courfe of the Sun, and a- bout Four Days in the Courfe of the Moon 5 which brought Things into fuch diforder, as to occafion another Year of Confufton, under that Pope, in the Year 1582. And tho' this Pope's Reformation has been thought fo compleat, as to be ftyl'd A Terpettial Calendar, and Medals have been ftruck upon the Occafion, to perpe- tuate the Memory of the Thing, yet he muft be a bold Man that will undertake it fhall be perpetual 5 or will venture to maintain it to be fo exad, as not to ad- mit of Improvement. This is well known, that it had not been long abroad, till it was cenfured, and its Failings difcover d by Scaliger and Calvifms^ and wanted an Apology from ClaviuSy who had been one of the principal Perfons employed in the 154 Reflections the Defign 5 with fo Httle Succefs notwith- ftanding, that if wc will beheve Scaliger {g)sccL^ (^), it wants a fecond Apology. And p. 51. unleis the Motions of the Sun were per- fectly regular and uniform, even to Mi- nutes and Scruples, ( which, according to the befl: Calculations, they are not ) it is fcarce poffible they fnould fall under an invariable Rule. However this be, unlefs this Calendar were more generally received than it has yet been, it is like to occa- fion further Confufion : For whilft it reaches little further than to thofe King, doms under the Obedience of the Pope, and the "Julian Account obtains in al- mod all the other Chrifiian Parts of Em- ropey we are cutting out Work for future Critics, v/ho are like to find Employ- ment enough fome Hundred Years hence, m reconcihng the Differences which fhall anfc from the Old and New Style. Fro m this Hiftorical Account of Thnes^ I think we have a fair Specimen of the Uncertainty of Chronology. Should v/e remove the Scene from Times to Men they upon Learning. 155 they will further evince this Truth : The two Great Men in this Sort of Learning, were Scaliger and Tetavius 5 the former of thefe has taken prodigious Pains upon the Subjeft, which appears in fevcral of his Works, fo more particularly, in his great Work of the Emendation of TimeSy of which he had fo good an Opinion, and was fo much complemented by learn- ed Men, upon his Divine and Immortal Work, that a Man would have imagin'd the Difficulties in the Accounts of Time had been pretty well clear'd, and little left to be done further. His Divine Work had not been long abroad in the World;, e'er it was taken Notice of by Tetavius, who had fpent as much Time in thefe Studies as Scaliger had 5 and is fo far from allowing him thofe mighty Praifes, that he (hews he had been al- moft under a continued Miflake. A great Part of Tetaviuss T>o5trine of Times, is fpent in confuting Scaliger 5 fcarce a Chapter in his Five firft large Books, wherein Scaliger is not niention'd, and Jiis many Errors and Hallucinations difco- ver'd ^ I^^ Reflections ver'd 5 ill fuch manner, that his Work might as rcafonably be entitled, a Confu- tation of Scaliger, as a T)oElrine of Times* He will fcarce allow him to have done any Thing well in Chronology 5 or to have made any confiderable Difcovery, unlcfs it were in the Julian Period : And after he had granted him that Praife, as if he had done him too much Honour, he rctrads that Commendation, and will not allow him to be the Inventor of that Pe- riod, but to have dole it from the Greeks (h). And if that Inven- (h) At profeeto in tot scrip^ tion had been allow'd th ah eo Chronoloz'icis librist ni- , . / i • i i j , , ^ ^ / , him, (which our learned ku fere ejiy quod momentum alt- ^ quoded rem uiiam hahtat\ quod- Primate perhaps with que reprehenfionem ejfugiat, prA^ mOtC TCafon doCS atttl- ter particulam ijlamy qua Juli. . ^^ J PerM.n,.,yi.m e.piic...t ^^^^ ^^ ^ Countryman . (^uanquam in eo cajiioan- Of OUr OWn, a BidlOp of Sm efi mn mhii scaiiger : (§)uod Hereford) yct it being fe Teriodi tllius Invent or em , ac _,,.,_,. tnethodifuiMorl^^-r^^ancenim ^^^7 ^ Tcchmcal Thmg, ^ Gruis trani^ulit Do^r, aild COmmOH McafurC remp.l.<).c.i. fQj. fixing and reducing other Periods unto, and it felf no real Period in Time 5 tho' it be of good ufe, as an Inftrument to work with^j upon Learning. 1^7 with, yet it is no real Difcovery in the Accounts of Time, which notwithlland- ing this, remain in the fame Obfcurity, on» Jy they may be ra*ng d in better Order, under this common Period, than they were in before : So that either Scaliger had difcover'd nothing, at lead nothhig confiderable, or he has been very unjuftly cenfured by his Adverfary Tetavius. In many Things, no doubt, they have been both of them miftaken 5 tho' both of them pretend to demonftrate, and in many of their Calculations proceed with Mathema- tical Affurance, What has been done fince, has been chiefly in the Hiftorical Part of Chronolo- gy, (the Controverfie fome Years ago, having run much in the Technical, the Reformation of the Roman Calendar, having probably turn'd Mens Difputes that way) wherein Father Tagi has ex- celled, and from one accidental Obferva- tion ( to fay nothing of his other Difco- veries) concerning the ^linqnennaUay ^ecennalia, and other Roman Feafts, has given' Reflections given much Light to the Roman Fajiiy and difcovcr'd the Miftakes of Scaliger^ ^etavkis, BeroniuSy and moft of theHif- torians and Chronologers, who have writ before his Time. How far his Obferva- tion will hold, Time muftfhew 5 he feems to glory too much, where he compares it to the Difcovery of the Wejl-Indies by Columbus (i). Our late incomparable Bifhop of Chefter^ as he begun to write about the fame Time with Vagi, fo he has done it with like Succefs i and from fome dark Hints, and particularly from his Obfcrva- tions upon Tlotinus's Life by 'Porphyry, has given much Light to a very obfcure Part of Hiftory, in his Cyprianic Annals : Tho' I cannot altogether have the fame Opinion of his Pofthumous Chronological Works : For behold the Power of Preju- dice, even in good Men ! The Biihop in this Work being to fettle and adjuft the Succeffion of the Roman Bifhops 5 it hap- pens xh^t Etttychiuss Ann2i\s were of good Ufe to this Purpofe, and very agreeable to the upon Learning. 159 the Bifliop's Opinion. Who this Euty- chhis was, is well known, one whom the Bifliop in his Vindication of Ignatmss Epiftles (/^), had reprefented as too mo- {h)Par.\, dern Authority to be much credited, liv- ing in the Tenth Century, and ignorant of the Affairs of his own Church, a tri- fling Arabic Hiftorian, without Judgment, and contradicting himfelf : And yet this fame Euty chins, when he favours the Bi- fhop's Opinion, tho' he knew little of his own Church, is good Authority in the Affairs of the Church of Rome, where he had reafon to be ignorant (/), and the Bi- (/)o/e Ufu Niimiftnattimy has largely fhewn the (m) Deu- ^^^ ^^ Medals (m), in Chronology, which fa Num. 2)// Frefne and Foygy, which "DuFrefne^ and Foy-vaillant have fince illuftrated by Example j the one in tlie Conjiantinopoli- tan Emperors, the other in the Hiftory of the Seiucid^, accommodated to Medals; and a third has gone fo far, as from a few obfcLirc Medals of Herod's Family, not only to call in queftion the Autho- rity, but by broad Intimations, to fufpeft of Forgery, both "^ofephuSy and feveral others of our beft Authors. But befides the Danger from a dim Legend or Infcrip- tion, where the lead Stroke will alter the Senfe, or determine the Number very dif- ferently 5 whoever confiders, that Annius of Viterbo could forge large Hiftorics, will furely not think it ftrange, that we fhould have Forgeries in Medals. It is too cer- tain, there have been fuch, and the Thing is fo noted, that fome Medals are now as valuable^ upon Learning. 161 Valuable, for being exaft Counterfeits, as others are for being truly Originals. And as to Infcriptions, who knows not, that it was generally the way of Flattery to com- plement Princes and Great Men of all Sorts, with fulfome Elogies ; and that T>omtti- ans Medals and Infcriptions were caird in after his Death, becaufe he had not de- ferv'd fuch Honours \ And tho' I do really think the prefent French King to be a wife and hcroick Prince, yet I believe there are few v/ho would be willing to take his Hiftory from Meneftriefs Lewis IV. from Infcriptions and Medals. M CHAP, i62 Reflections CHAR XIL O^Geography, A Stranger to Geography, that fhould read the Voyages of Ulyjjes or c^/EneaSy as they arc dckrib'd by the Poets, and fhou d obferve the Time that is fpent, the Removes that they make, and Dangers they undergo, in being tofs*d from Shore to Shore, would be apt to imagine, they had vifited mod Parts of the habitable World 5 and yet it is plain, one of them fcarce went any further than the ^^gean Sea, and neither of them ever pad the Mouth of the Streights : It is much lb with our ancient Geogra- phy, upon Learning. 163 phy, where we have a great Noife, and little done. The Poets were wife, in flopping fnort of the Streights 5 for had they launched out, and led their Heroes beyond thefe Bounds, they muft have been in Danger of being loil, all beyond having been Terra Incognita : Nor can this feem ftrange in the Poets 5 the ancient Hiftorians and Geographers knew little further. Herodotus {a) is loft when he (a)Herod. pafTeth the Streights , Tojidonius and il'Jdinit. ArtimedoruSy in Strabo, make the Sun to fet there i and Ariftotles Philofophy will carry him little further, who will needs have India to confine upon the Streights and Hercules s Pillars : And in- deed it is fo far true, that the Streights and India did border upon one another, as India feems to have been a common Name among the Ancients for Ignorance, for where they knew no further, they caird it India s of which Strabo tells us, (^) all the Geographers that have ^i\t {h)L\h,%: have given us nothing but Lyes. I will not enter upon a Narrative of the Miftakes of the Ancients, and iTiew how they have M 2 confounded 164 Reflections confounded Places nearer Home, and jumbled Sea and Land together ; how fome of them have miftaken the Mediter- ranean, and joind it with the 'Terjian Sea : How the Northern Seas have been made to run into the Cafpiarij that is re- ally a Lake 5 and the Arabian has been made a Lake, that is well known to flow into the Ocean : He that has a Curiofity may meet with a plentiful Harveft of fuch Miftakes in vy^r^^^? 's Three firft Books. ST R A BO indeed has correaedma-- ny of thefe Miftakes, and has delivered Things done to us with greater Accuracy : But neither is he exaft enough j he is too much an Hiftorian to be a good Geogra- pher, and wanting Tables and Maps, and the Longitudes and Latitudes being Things beyond his Skill, without which it is fcarce poflible to fix Places aright, he muft needs err for want of fuch Helps to guide his Courfe : And the fame may be faid of moft of the reft of the Geogra- phers, before or foon after his Time. The upon Learning. i6^ The Honour oi reducing Geography to Art and Syftem, was referv'd to Tto- lemy 5 who by adding Mathematical Ad- vantages to the Hiftorical Method;, in which it had been treated of before, has defcrib'd the World in a much more in- telligible manner : He has delineated it under more certain Rules i and by fixing the Bounds of Places from Longitude and Latitude, has both difcover'd others Mif- takes, and has left us a Method of difco- vering his own. What thefe are I need not fay 5 the moft con fider able may be feen m Agathidamons Map of the World, which is printed with Ttolemfs Works, and is the firft of its Kind now extant. A Man may fee there with fome pleafure, what Idea the Ancients had of the World, after it was thought to have been pretty plainly difcover'd by Ttolemfs Labours : No very clear one you may be fare : Among other Miftakes, the Situation of Britain is quite miftaken 5 Scandinavia^ a large Peninfula, is divided from the Continent, and contrafted into a poor M 3 narrow 1 66 Reflections narrow Mand : Africa is dcfcrib'd with- out Bounds, and no Paffagc allowed from the Mediterranean to xhc Red Sea 5 and it will not be wondered, if the Defcrip- tion of India be remote from Truth. Lcffer Errois abound in him : How many of this Kind have been deteded by a late (i) duvet, skilful Geo2;rapher (/) only in one of our German. or \ / j ^nttq. European Nations ? And how many more might be fliewn in the reft ? And if he could 'be fo much deceived, as he is in the Defcription of Cyprus^ an Ifland near A- lexandria, and almoft at his own Door, it will not feem ftrange, that he fhould be more out in his Accounts of Scandinavia and Britain, It is certainly no Commen- dation, that the fore- cited Author prefers "Tlinfs Accounts to TtolemfSj who has not been very reputable for his Accura- cy or Truth, and that Strabo (in the Hiftorical Part) is preferf d to them both. W E have had a Geography of late deducing all Things from the Phoenician Antiquities, which has appeared with Pomp enough to dazzle Men into an Opinion thereof;, upon Learning. 167 thereof, and thereby to obtain Credit and Reputation in the World. The Author is a confiderable Perfon, and one, who hi order to eftablifn his Thoentcian An- tiquities, tlie firfi Thing he complains of, is want of Monuments {k), and therefore (^]^l^^' ^ ^ ad Chan, flies to the Greeks to fetch them thence 3 fo that we are much in the fame place where we were. However, what are thefc Monuments which we meet with there ? By his own Confcflion only fome loofe and broken Fragments, which feem to difcover little more, than in general, that the Phoenicians made long Voyages, and vifited remote Countries 5 and what is that to us, if they have left us no Charts or Journals, which they have not done ? So that at laft he ufually takes Ihelter in the Derivation of a Word or Place from a Thoentcian Root j wherein, tho' he has been happy enough in his Conjedures, yet this Way is principally conjeftural, and too precarious to build a Geography up- on. If this be all, 1 will undertake Go- ropius Becanus will go near to do as much for the "Dutch i 7 ere Tezron for U 4 the 1 68 Reflections the Celtique , and alnioft every Country that pretends to an Original Language, and has a fanciful Man amongft them, will do the like for their own Nation. I am unwilling to oppofe this Author for the fake of his Title, which is Geogra- phia SacrUy and ihall readily grant, nay, it is what I contend for, that as far as it is Sacred, it is likewife true 5 but where he leaves Mofes^ he forfakes his Guide, and wanders as much as the Phoenicians ever did. I H A V E no defign to form a Com- pariion betwixt the Ancients and Mo- derns, they are both alike to me 5 but the Advantage in this, is too vifible on the Side of the Moderns to be diflembled : They have open d a Paffage to a New World, unknown to the Ancients, and thofe Parts of the Old, which have been thought uninhabitable, have been found to be inhabited , and their Torrid Zone to be Temperate enough, by refrefhing Showers, and conftant BreezeS;, and cold Nights, by the diredl Setting of the Sun, and upon Learning. i 6p and Interpofition of the whole Body of the Earth. Antipodes y who have been the Subjedt of fo much Controverfic, are to us Matter of Fad i and the Globe it felf has been conipalTcd with \^(s Noife by Magellan and T^rake^ than the Thocnici- ans and Greeks could coaft upon the Me- diterranean : However, lealt we fhould fwell too much upon our Difcoveries, there is yet World enough left unde- teded to be a Check upon our Ambi- tion. I AM not of his Opinion (/), who fO ^^ thinks that almoft one half of the Ter- vlyer.voi. reftrial Globe is yet undifcover'd, but by '•^^-5• modeft Computation, I fuppofe we may allot a fourth Part. That there is a vaft Southern Continent, as yet fcarce look'd into, is now paft Controvcrfie 5 tho' I much doubt, whether the further Difco- very would turn to great Account 5 for the TDutch, who pretend to have faiKd to the 64th Degree of Southern Latitude, have obferv'd Mountains cover'd with Snow 5 and no farther South than the utmoft 170 Reflections utmoft Bounds of America, the Straits of Cf«;Nar- Majrellan are fo froze in April (m\ that borough's ^ -r- i- t vo'^age, tncre is then no palling that way for Ice : ^' ^^* So that much of the Country muft be cold and barren, anfwerable to our Nor- thern CUmes on this Side. The Northern Parts of America are yet undifcover'd, nor can it be determin d, till its Bounds that way be laid open, whether it be a vail Ifland or a Continent. Africa, tho' it has been compafs'd round and round from the Mediterranean to the Red-Sea, yet little more than its Coafts are thorough- ly known, except Egypt and AbaJJia : Its Inland Parts have been either not fuf- ficiently viewed, or imperfedly defcrib'd, neither the Merchants Gain, nor the Mif- fionaries Zeal having determined their Pur- fuits to fuch rude and deiblate Countries. And as to Afia, what a prodigious Com- pafs are we forc'd to fetch about, to come at the extreme Regions of that Quarter of the World;, moft of which might be fav'd, and a Voyage made with half the Charge and Time, could a PalTage be difcover'd by the North, to Tartary and China ? A npon Learning. 171 A Paffage which has been often attempted, but always with Difappointment, and fometimes with the lofs of the Adventu- rers i and is Uke to continue a ne plus iiltray to their moft daring Endeavours : Whether we confider the Dangers they are exposed to from rough Winds, in a Chme intenfeiy Cold 5 or from Mountains of Ice, which are the Rocks that are moft fear d in thofe Seas ; or the Difficulties in making their Way in thick Mifts and Fogs '■> or what may happen worfe, in Nights of fome Months continuance, and no Moon either to direft their Courfe, or give them Light. To fay nothing of a vaft Ridge of Mountains, which has been obferv'd by our late Miffionaries i^n) x.o ftretch it (n) Le felf forth into the Tartarian Sea, the M7moir. Cape whereof has never yet been doub- ^'^' ^^^' led, and probably never may : It being doubtful, whether thefe Mountains may not reach to the oppofite Coaft, and join America with the Afian Continent : So that the Bounds of Ajia on that Side, as well as the oppofite Armenian Coaft, have been hitherto hid from our Enquiries, There 172 Reflections There is one Thing yet very lame in our Geography, the fixing the true Longitude of Places , and tho' feveral new- Ways have been lately try'd to redrefs this Inconvenience, both from exad Pen- dulums, and from Obfervations upon the Irnmerfions and Emerfions of Jupiter s Satellites^ yet they have not altogether prov d effedual. For want of this, China has been plac'd in our Maps five or fix hundred French Leagues further diftant than it really is {0), and an imaginary Country found out, to fill up the vaft intermediate Space -, and VoJJlus^ who de- lights in Paradoxes, who has magnify 'd Old Rome to above Seventy Miles in Compafs, and its Inhabitants to Fourteen Millions of People (/>), has removed it yet farther off. And tho' the Jefuits of the Miffion, have pretended to reftifie this Miftake, from the Mathematical Obfer- vations above-nam'd, yet neither could VoJJius fee into the ftrength of fuch Ar- guments, and I much qucftion whether they would have obtain d Credit, had not a Miffio- upon Learning. 173 a Miflionary of the fame Order [q) dc- W ^'^ril termiiVd the Matter in a more undeniable way, by opening a Paflage froiwMufcovy to ChinUy and by marking the feveral Sta- ges, and fhewing, from undoubted Rela- tions, it was only a Journey of fo many Days. And yet the Difficulty is greater at Sea, which is not capable of being fo eafily meafurcd, and where the Obferva- tions in our Telefcopes cannot be fo re- gularly made, as they may upon firm Ground $ and there it is the Jefuits them- [elves complain, they are at a lofs. VOSSIU S\i^^ affignd fuch a Rea« ion (r) of the Variety in fixing the Lon- ^^^ y^^-^ gitude of the Eaftern Part of the World, ^^Z^'"^- ^ ' />. 169. as may be extended further, and be of excellent ufe in Speculations of this Na- ture. Upon the Difcovery of the Wefl- Indies by the Spaniards, and a Paffagc open d by Sea near the fame Time to the Eafi by the Tortuguefey Alexander VI. by the Power which Popes have of dif- pofing of Temporal Kingdoms, did by folemn Bulls (/) difpofe of this new rionA.%, World ''^' 3. Reflections World to thefe two Nations 5 and hav- ing divided it into two Hemifpheres, the Wcftern ' Hemifphere he allotted to the Spaniards, and the Eaftcrn to the Tortti- gttefe j a Divifion which the "Dutch and Englifi) have not thought themfelves o- bliged to fubmit to. However, the Di- vifion was made 5 but when the Parties came to claim their refpedive Shares, a Queftion prefently arofe about fixing the Longitude, and the Topes having not been then infallible in Matters of Faft, efpecially in fuch as depend upon Mathe^ matical Calculations, the two Nations were left to end the Controverfy betwixt themfelves. The great Contention was about the A/i?//^^r^-lilands, w^hich the Spaniards claim'd as theirs, and the Tor- tuguefe pretended fell within their Share in the Divifion 5 and Men of Skill beins confulted on both Sides, the Spanijh Geo- graphers went one Way,, and the Tor tu- guefe went another i and fo far were the two Nations from coming to Agreement, that they differed almoft forty Degrees in their Calculations, which is a large Pro- portiou upon L EARNING. I J ^ portion of the whole Globe -, and yet fo obftinate were both in their Accounts^ that Orders were given by PubUekEdids, that the Degrees and Meridians fhould be no otherwife fixt in their feveral Charts and Maps, than as they have been deter- mined by the two Nations. How much the one Side was miftaken, has been fince better known 5 the Conclufion was, that whilft the Longitude was determind, in fuch an unaccountable manner, by pub- lick Edicls and abiblute Power, it occafi- oned flrange Confufion in our Degrees and Meridians, of which VoJJltis thinks we have not recovered fince. But granting the Globe to have been nicely meafured, has it withal been as accurately defcrib'd ? I doubt not. How are our Modern Geographers perplext in making out the Situation of ancient Pla- ces \ BabyloYiy once the mod glorious City upon Earth , is almoft as much hid [t), (/) i«y/^, as the obfcureft Village ever w^as j nay, ^* '^^^* they often ftumble, where they tread in known Paths. Ferrarius has given us 176 Reflections us a Geographical Didionary, pretending to be Univerfal, afterward fo much en- larg'd and corredcd by Baudrandy as td feem a new Work 5 they were both of them Men noted for their Skill in Geo- graphy : Notwithftanding which, their joint Work had not appeared above twelve Months in the World, till Monfieur San- [on had difcover'd five hundred Faults (u)Ncuv. [u) only under the firft Letter A, A Ann. 84." Work of the like Nature has been fincc ^•3^0. pubiifh'd in Eng/ffh by two other extra- ordinary Perfons 5 and tho' no SanfoTZ has yet made his Gbfervations upon it, yet I will undertake, with the little Skill I have in Geography, to fhew greater Miftakes under the Letter A, than any that occur in FerrariuSy or Baudrand. To name only one, the Azores are there defcrib'd as the fame with the Canary IJlands i which is an Error of worfe Confequence, and more inexcufable, be- caufe the firft Meridian is ufually pla- ced in thefe Iflands : And yet they ftand thus in the correfted and enlarged Edition. C H A P. upon Learning. 177 CHAR XIIL Of Civil Law. WE have certainly one great Proof of the Excellency of the Ro- man Laws, from the Confcnc of thofe many Nations, by whom they have been received -, and that too, where there is no living Authority to enforce them, and they come recommended only by their own native Force. The Ro- man Laws have liv'd longer, and fpread wider than their Arms ever did, and the Conquefts of their Wifdom have been greater than thofe of their Power. How- ever, there is only one perfeft Law, a Character to which no Human Ordinance N can 178 Reflections can have any Claim, and of which the Roman Laws will be found upon Exami- nation to fall much fhort -, notwithftand- ing the Reputation of Wifdom that they ftand poffefs'd of. The Twelve Tables contain the firft Grounds of the Roman Laws, and having been Abridgments of thofe of Solon at Athens, and thofe of the other Cities in Greece^ renown'd for Knowledge, added to the ancient Cuftom of Rome--, if there be any Wifdom in Human Conftitutions, it might be expeded to be met with there. It was of thefe Tables, that Cicero pro- ix)'beoA nounced under the Perfon of Craffus (x), rat. L i» jj ^ /' that they were of more Ufe and Autho- rity, than all the Books of the Philofo- phers : We have only fome Fragments of them left, collected by Baldwin and o- thers 5 amongft which, as there are fome Things hard, fo that Law which permits the Body of the Debtor to be cut in pie- ces, and divided amongft his Creditors for want of Payment, is not only cruel but Mcom. barbarous. Baldwin^ iy) himfelf can- deLeg.12. Tah, €, 46. not upon Learning. 179 not quote it without Exclamation j and §lutntiUany who could give a Colour to moft Things, and as a Roman was con- cern d to do it in this, yet where this Law comes in his way, rather fecks to eycufe it (^), than offer at its Defence : The {z) Ap, bed Thing he fays for it is, That it was ^^ '^ - then antiquated, and as fuch we leave it with the reft of that Sett, and pafs on to thofe that are now in Forc^ie, the Impe- rial or Jufiinianean Lavvs, and will fee what Exceptions can be made to thofe. They are principally reducible to two Heads, the Tandems and the Code : where- of the firft contains the Opinions of learn- ed Lawyers 5 the other the Decrees of Roman Emperors. As to the InJiituteSy they ufually go along with the Tande^is^ and are only a Compendium, or ufeful Introduftion to young Beginners : And the Novels are a Supplement to the Code : The Feuds are not of Roman Original, but Cuftoms of a later Date, and meaner Extraction. N 2 The I So Reflections The Civilians y who pretend that if the Latin Tongue were loft, it might be found in the Book of TandeEts, would take it ill to be thought miftaken in the Word Tande£i 5 which altho' a Mafcu- (a) H. line (a)y is generally ufed by them in a Steph. de , ' ^ '' auf.L'mg. Femmine Signification : This is a light ^'^*^^' Error, only it is in the Threfhold. It will not be denied, the greateft part of the Tandems were writ with Purity e- nough i they have that from the Authors and the Age they were writ in i and fo much is own'd by thofe Critics, who have been pretty fevere upon the other Tomes of the Law? and therefore I (hall make no Objeftion here 5 no more than I fliall that the Emperor, by whofe Order they were colledled, is under no very advan- tageous Charafter for Learning 5 that which Suidas gives him being 'AvccXcpot/S^il©-, a Man that did not underftand his Al- phabet : For tho' he were unkarn'd him- felf, he might employ Men of Under- ftanding i and if Tribonian were fuch, who was the great Inftrument in that Work, upon Learning. i8r Work, his Lavv^s will have no lefs Autho- rity upon that Account : But fo it hap- pens, that Tribonians Character is worfe than the Emperor's, not for his Under- ftanding, but hitegrity 5 being reprefcnted by the fame Author [b) as a corrupt Per- ^^y^^^^; fon, one that writ Laws, and took them away, and proftituted Juftice for the fake of Lucre 5 one that comply 'd with his Prince's Paifions and Humours, and flat- tered him almoft to Adoration. I know Suidass Authority is fufpedled in both thefe Inftances, and therefore I fhould lay the lefs Weight upon it, did not Jufti- nian feem to countenance the Charge in his own Conftitutions (^), where he ^(- {e)v.con' fumes fuch Titles and Honours, as Tri- ^'/J^;^fr bonian is faid to have given him : How- vdeconf, , . T- Bigeft.ubi ever, I charge nothing upon this Emperor, Divina I only cite his Words, and leave others to 5?umen judge of and reconcile them. noftrum. vc. But whatever Tribonians other Qua= Sifications were, I doubt we have too much reafon to blame his want of Care § ^nd to fufpcft thq Conception of the Tan- N ?. de£}s. 1 82 Reflections dcEis, as well as the other Tomes of the Law, was ahafty Work, and not digeftcd with that Accuracy, which a Work of that vafl: Importance might juftly require. For whereas in his Time the Books of the Law had been growing up above looo Years 5 and had been fwoln to that Bulk, that they were contained in 2000 Vo- lumes, fo many as could not eafily be read in fome Years, much lefs compared and digefted, and reconcil'd : Triboniariy with his few Afliftants, had overcome all thefe Difficulties in a fhort time, and in three Years had finifh'd the T>igeft and InjlituteSy then added to the firft Draught of the Code 5 which laft, in all probabi- lity, having been compos'd too haftily, was forc'd to undergo an Emendation, and to come forth in a fecond Edition. And doubtlcfs the T)igeft might likewife have been more corred, had it coft more Years, and had had Tribonian's fecond Care. The Emperor himielf feem'd furprizd with the Difpatch j for as before it was undertaken, he ftiles it an infinite Work, fuch as none of the former Emperors had ventured upon Learning. 183 ventured to undertake, or thought poflible 5 fo after it was finifh'd, within the compafs of Three Years, he plainly owns (d) he (d) confii^ did not imagine it could have been efFed- ^^ ' ' ' ed in lefs than Ten. Accordingly the Marks of Hafte have been obferv'd in the Work 5 in fome Places too fhort, and confequently obfcure ; in others redun- dant, and the fame Things repeated, only in different Words, or from different Au- thors : Antinomies are almoft unavoida- ble in fuch variety of Opinions and An- fwers, and fometime inextricable Difficul- ties occur, by mangling the Senfc, and curtailing Authors : Some Things in that or the Code feem not fo confiftent with the Canons {e) 5 and other Cafes yet har- (e)wtn- der have been cited (/) by a learned o'leg.con. Advocate. A great Part of it is fpent in f^)^//' Cafes and fubtle Opinions, poffibly of ^^^^- ^-^ greater Learning than real Advantage in the common Ufes and Occafions of Life 5 and all thefe are left as much indi2;efted, in loofe and broken Sentences 5 not in fuch method as is fuitable to a regular Bo- dy of Laws : Moft of which Particulars ^ 4 havQ 184 Reflections have been taken notice of by Bud^uSy Hottomariy Valla, and others. Nor is the Code lefs liable to Cen- iiire, for befides that it wants much of the Purity and Learning which appear in the TandeEis, Tribonians Unskilfulnefs or Infincerity (\o more vifibly difplay themfelves here : For, whereas almoft all the Books of the ancient Lawyers are now loft, (the Blame whereof, if fome Mens Sufpicions may be credited, will fall heavy on the Emperor, or Tribonian) from whofe Labours the Tandecis were colleded 5 and therefore we are lefs able to judge of any unfair Dealing that has been fhewn there. Many of the Empe- ror's Conftitutions do yet remain, and have been preferv'd in the TheodoJianCode : Prom all which it is eafie to determine, what fort of Treatment the Imperial Con- ftitutions have met with in Tribonian^ New Ck^mpilation, Some of the Con- ftitutions have been altered without Judg- ment, and others in fuch a manner, as betray no little Ignorance in the Com- piler : upon Learning. 185 pilcr : In fome the Words are ftruck out, that determine the Senfe of the Law ; and again Words added, that give it a new one: One Law is fplit into Two, and fometimes Two are run into One : The Time and Date are often miftaken, and fometimes the Perfon j the knowing both which does afford great Light to a Con- ftitution ; with other Miftakes, which I fhould not have ventured to have put down, had they not been fhewn at large in a learned Preface, and more learned Prolegomena to the Theodojian Code : A Code of fuch ufe to this Day, that there is no underftanding Jttftinians Law without it, and formerly of fuch Autho- rity, that for feveral hundred Years after Jtifiinians Time it did obtain {g) in (g)v.seld. fome of the Weftern Parts of Europe, f/f; ^^^^ when '^ufiinians Law was in a manner '^' ^,'^S' extinguilh'd and forgot, and muft have ch. 36. been in danger of perifhing, at leaft in the principal Part of it, the TandeBs, had it not been preferv'd in the Tifan or Flo- rentine Copy, from which all our other , (h) Ant, Copies \h) have been taken, and is now Auguji. , , Emend. I, usd J. ,. I, 1 86 Reflections us'd as Law : So that by a ftrange Re- verfc of Things, Jujimians Law, which for fo many Ages was loft or neglected, does now obtain, and the Theodofian Code is in a manner antiquated : The Theodo- fian Code was the better Law, till the Reign of LothariuSy when Jtifiinians Law begun to revive ; and now it Teems Juftinians Law is better than that, and Time, or Chance, or Opinion fhall de- termin their Worth. It is plain, Jufti- nians Law had not the fame Efteem at its Birth, as it has fuice acquired by Age, fince it could go into difufe fo early after its Conception, as to make it a Queftion, (r}Pafy. Whether it obtain d its Courfe (/) in Juf- ff. 33. tinians own Reign ? Or if it obtamd then, as doubtlefs it did, it kept its Ground a fhort Time, till the Reigns of Baftlitis and LeOy when Juftinians Law was a- bridgd and reformed by thofe Emperors, as he had done by the Laws before his own Time : And thefe Emperors Laws obtain d in the Eaft ( under the Title of the Bafilic Conftitutions) till the Diflblu- rion of that Empire, as the Theodoftan Code upon Learning. 187 Code had done in the JVeJl : So that if we might meafurc Things by Succefs or Duration, Juflinians Laws have not yet been long-Uv'd $ and what is more llir- prifing, it might perhaps be made a Qiie- ftion. In what Senle they liv'd now > For if we will believe a noted Author, who had Reafon to underlland their Au- thority and Extent (i:), they have not now fk)sirW. the Force of Laws, either in France, Spain Temp. r. ' \. p. 101, or Holland, (fome of the moil confider- able Nations in Europe^ but have only the Force of good Reafons or Authority, when alledg d , but the Cuftoms and Sta- tutes of thofe Places, are only Laws : And of this Opinion Mr. Selden (/) n\sdL feems to be, as to fome other European ^'f^^' ^ I lee, €.6. Nations. A F T E R the Confideration of the Tan- de5is and Code, if I fhould take in all thofe large Volumes that have been writ upon them, I fhould make no End. The firft Attempts of this Kind were pretty modell, only by explaining the Text ia fhort Glofles, which was Accurfiuss Me- thod : 1 88 Reflections thod : Buf he having not had the Affift- ances of Human Learning, and particu- larly of the Greek Tongue, the want of thefe have betray 'd him to grofs and chil- difh Miftakes : And it is a wretched Glofs, where a Sentence of Greek occurs in the Text, H£c graica funt qua nee legi nee intelligi po£unt : And yet his Authority is great in the Law, much greater than that of his Son 5 of whom (l)v.Gry' It is faid he never made a eood Glofs (/). phiand. de '^ ^ Commentaries fucceeded Glof- (cs, and have fwoln to a larger Bulk : In this Kind Bartolus is of great Name 5 whofe Authority is as much valud in ibme Nations amongft the Modern Law- yers, as Tapinians was among the An- cients 5 who, as he was to be followed, where the Opinions of the Lawyers were im)jyuch equally divided {m), fo Bartolus s Opi- i'%^' '* nions of late have been of like Force : He was confeffedly an extraordinary Man 5 and might have done more Service in his Profeffion, had he not liv'd under the fame Infelicity of Times, and wanted the fame upon L E A R N I N oi 189 fame Helps that Accurjius did, whereby he dafh'd againft the fame Rocks. It was from him we have had that noted and almoft proverbial Saying, that has caft fome Reproach upon the Law, («) T>e i^^v-'^if' verbebus non curat JurifconfultuSy an treher, odd Expreflion for an Interpreter of that Law 5 one Title whereof is, of the Sig- nification of Words : But this was a Title that he did not care to meddle with, and which his Enemies have char2,'d him with not daring to explain. Notwithftanding all his Faults, he ought not to have been treated fo reproachfully by L. Falla, and the Men of polite Letters : For however unpolifh'd he may be in his Style, or nice or obfcure in Expreffions, or however ignorant in Hiftory or Roman Cuftoms, it is certain, he is not that Goofe and Afs that Valla [p) would make him ; and that ^^^ op; he has m*ore Law, tho' the others may ^' ^32- have more Learning. The polite Men of this Sett, who gave the laft Turn to the Law, were Al- ciaty Cujacius^ Btid^us, and others : They have ipo Reflections have indeed reftored the Law to its pri- mitive Purity and Luftre, and cloath'd it in a more elegant Drefs, and made tiiat a pleafant Study, which in the Hands of Bartolus and Baldus was uncouth and rugged : They have given it all the Ad- vantages of Human Learning, and ran- fack'd all the Stores of Arts and Sciences to fetch thence Beauties to adorn it : But whilft they have bufied themfelves in va- rious Learning, and attended to too ma- ny Things at once, they have been thought wanting in the one main Thing i and have had lefs Law, than many of thofe whom they cenfure and defpife. Ant. Auguftiniis, who fhould have been nam*d with the firft of this Rank and Order, does in a manner confefs the Charge, and owns, that Bud£uSy whilft he had been too much diftraded in attaining the Tongues, had made no great Progrefs in the Knowledge of the Law. The moft confiderable Improvements that have been made by thefe Men, have been princi- pally upon one Title, about the Signifca- tion of Words j in which, however they may upon Learning. 191 may have exceird, they have been reward- ed by Bartoluss Followers, with no bet- ter Charafter than that ot Grammarians and Critics. And indeed many of their Difcoveries are not very remarkable, and fome of them trifling , a Catalogue of which may be had in Albertcus Gentiliss two laft Dialogues, which, becaufe it is too fportful, 1 forbear to mention. That wherein they unconteftedly excel, being the Signification of Words, will be al- lowed to fall fhort of the Knowledge of Things. One Thing fhould not have been o- mitted, that has occafion'd no little Ob- fcurity and Confufion. When the Law by the Bulk and Number of Books that were writ, was grown too voluminous, a Way was taken up of contrafting it into a narrow Compafs, by fhort Notes and Abbreviations : This Way was found to be of fuch ufc, and fo compendious, that it prevailed much 5 but its Inconvenience was quickly difcover'd from the Ambiga- ity that fuch (hort Notes were fubjed to, and 192 Reflections and therefore they were forbid by a Con- uTi'.iY. ftitution (p ) of "^uftinian. However the Mifchief was not fo eafdy remedy'd as forbid, for it ftill prevaii'd, and that al- inoft in Jtijiinians own Time 5 ^^d fonie of them have crept into the Flo- rentine TandeSis, which tho' fo ancient as Jtijihiany (as fome have been of Opi- iq^'V.Ant, ^^Q^ . j^m- whom this very Thins {q) mend. I, I. docs fufficicntly confute) yet muft be c, I. granted to have been writ foon after : And at laft they grew to that height, and oc- cafion d fuch Confufion and Ambiguity, that fcveral Treatifes have been writ to explain them ; a Coliedion of which, and a Specimen of the Notes may be had in Tutfchius. Even of late they have been found fo troublefome, that the Ita- Han entrcd them in his Prayer, amongft the three Evils he petitioned to be deli- vered from, (he might have deprecated great Evils) and after, T)a furia de Villaniy and T>a gtiazabuglto di Medici i T^a gli (r) V, & C£tera de notai, was the Third Peti- Hug. de tion {r\ Orig. Ser. And upon Learning. ipo And here again, as in tiie Entrance upon this Chapter, I muft profefs my E- fteem for the i?^?;;?^;^ Lav/s, which I would by no means be thought to undervalue 5 and all that I inferr or pretend to prove, is this, That no Human Laws are exempt from Faults 3 fince thofe that have been look'd upon as mod Perfcd in their Kind, have been found upon Enquiry to have fo many. O CHAP. ip4 Reflections ■S -'^ -i- -^ '% A -^^ ^ -*' ■'t- •■!? ^ 'ti '% ^ -:^ '^ -t? -S .^ CHAP. XIV. 0/ C A N o N La w. IH A V E no Dcfign to bring Contempt upon the ancient Canons, which were doubtleft very well fitted for the Occafions of the Church in its purer Ages 5 having been framed by Men of Primitive Simplicity, in free and conciliar Debates, without any ambitious RegardSo That which is juftly complain d of, is, that thefe Canons are too much negleded, and a new Sort of Difcipline erefted in the Church, eftabliflid upon different Foundations, and oft-times for different Ends with the former 5 which is fo no- torious, that it has given occafion to a Diflinaion amongft fome Members of the Church of Rome, betwixt the Old and New upon Learning. 19c; New Law : Efpecially amongft the French:, who pretend that the Gallican Trivile- geSy are chiefly Remainders of the anci- ent Canons, which they have preferv'da- gainft the Encroachments of the Roman Pontiff. For that Prelate having taken advantage of the Fall of the Roman Em- pire, and of the Confufion among his Neighbours, upon the Inundation of the Goths and Vandals, and other barbarous People, and of the Ignorance that enfued thereon, made a pretty eafie fhiftto ered: a New Empire, and for its Support it was neceffary to contrive and frame a New Law. I Ihall not recount the feveral Ad- vances that were made in the feveral Ages 5 IJidores Colleclion was the great and bold Stroke, which tho' in its main Parts, it has been fince difcover'd {a) to be as im- (a) v, pudent a Forgery as ever was, yet to this ^^^^^- ^^^ Day ftands recorded for good Authority vTur/ in the Canon Law. The two principal Parts of this Law are, the ^Decrees and the T>ecretalsy which, to give them the greater Face of Autho- O z rity. ip6 Reflections rity, anfwer to the Tande5is and Code iii the Civil Law : For as the TandeSis con- tain the Anfwers and Opinions of famous Lawyers i and the Codcy the Decrees made, and Sentences given by Emperors i fo the Decree confifts chiefly of the Opini- ons of the Fathers and Definitions of Coun- cils, and the Decretals of the occafional Sentences and Decrees of Popes. As to the Clementines arid Extravagants^ which may anfv/cr to the Novels, they are only Supplements to the other two Parts, and we have yet no Inftitutes in the Canon Law : For as to Lancelottuss Book of Inftitutes, which Dr. T)ttck feems to make a Part of the CorpnSy he is therein mi- fiakcn, if it be his Opinion, for wanting {h)Dou';as Sanftiou and Authority {b)^ it is only yet Droit. a private Work, Can. Par, The Decree carries Contradiction in its very Title, being Coyicordantia *T>ifcor- danthmi Canonumy or a Concordance of difagreeing Canons : Or, if there were none in the Title, I doubt there are too many in the Body of the Work, which h^ve upon Learning. ipy have occafioiVd innumerable Gloffes, and bufied the Canonifts in reconeiling thcin. It having been compiled by Gratian, in an ignorant Age, we ought not to be too nice in examining it 5 and perhaps it were unreafonable to require too much Accu- racy amongft fo much Ignorance : And therefore if liis Style in Latin be fome- what coarfc ; or if in quoting a Greek Father or Council, he miftakcs their Mean- ing, or gives a wrong one, that might eafily be forgiven him, Greek being a Lan- guage that was not underftood in that Age 5 and was rather the Misfortune of the Time, than his own : But then if he gives us fuch Fathers and Councils as have no Being $ or if he miftakes a Father for a Council, or a Council for a Father 5 this furely is not fo pardonable 5 and yet this is what he has been charged with {c) by (c)Ant. Authors of his own Communion. And tmenT amonff the Tefuits, who are not ufually <^'"'»'--Di- wanting in the Caufe of their Church, Bellarmin owns, that he has quoted a Heretick inftead of a Father. And the poor Monk having probably never {ecu O 3 many 1 98 Reflections many of the Decrees and Councils that he had occafion to ufc, nor trac'd his Au- thorities to their Fountains, but having j made ule of others CoUcQions, it was im- pofTible but he fhould fall into Miftakes 5 which are fo numerous, efpecially in the Names of Pcrfons and Places, that a Man had need of good Skill in Hiftory, and of a New Geography, to underftand him aright j and without fuch Helps, one may eafily lofe himfelf in traverfing the De- cree. I T might be expected, that he fhould be pretty exact in the Names of Popes, thefe being his Law-givers, whofe Autho- rity he makes ufe of upon all Occafions 5 and yet even in thefe he fometimes mif* carries, and gives us fuch Names as were never heard of in ancient Story. I can never read him, but he puts me in mind of a late noted Author, who has given us a Church Hiftory of Bifhops and their Councils : For as in that Book you may {d)vMf.^^^^ with a Council at Arauftcan (^), T.o'Br another at Toletane, and a third ztVienne near upon Learning. '199 near France, with others as remote from Knowledge as thefe are : So in Gratian you may find like Miftakes, only altering the Language, a Concilium Aurajicenfey Ano[mritaniimy Bifpalmje^ and more of the like Nature : One would be tempted to think, that Mr. 5. had ftudied the Ca- non Law, and had borrowed his Authori- ties from thence. After fo much Ignorance we are not to wonder, if Gratian have no very favourable Opinion of Human Learning, which is condemned in the Decree, more particularly Poetry and Logic : Thofe of the higheft Order in the Church, even Bifhops themfeives (e\ are forbid to read (e^v.Tii' Books of Heathen Learning; 5 and St. le-^l^Jl'V'^ romes Authority is urgd, who was re- GemiUum provd by an Angel for readmg Cicero, legat.-^ It is true, the Canonifts endeavour to re- concile this, by alledging other Places in the Decree, where Learning is allow'd, and by (hewing it to be Gratian^ Way, to cite differing Canons and Opinions to the faoie Purpofe ^ and I will grant fo O 4 much 200 Reflections much if they plcafc 5 but then it can be no great Commendation of a Law, that it contains fuch contrary Opinions, that it muft be another Man s Work to reconcile them. Nor does his MoraUty exceed his Learning s the Decree in cafe of two Evils, the one of which is unavoidable, (/) Di' allows us to choofe the lefs (/) ; which •^'^ '^ ' altho' the Canonifts would underftand of the Evil of Puniflimcnt, yet it feems pretty plain from the Text, and the Inftances there produced, that it muft be underftood of the Evil of Sin 5 in which Senfe the Cafe can never happen, unlefs we will admit of a Neceffity of Sinning 5 which is as impoffible in Morality, as any the greateft Difficulty can be in Nature. That which follows in the 34th Diftinftion is yet worfe, Is qui non habet uxorem, cr pro uxore Concubinam habet, a Commu- nione non repellatur i which in Modefty I forbear to tranflate, and could hardly have believ'd it to have been in Gratian : And when I firft met with it there, I thought it had been only to be found in fome old Editions, and concluded with my upon Learning. 201 my felf, it mufl: be amended in that more corred and authoriz d Edition by Gregory XIII, but was fiill more furpriz d, when I found it {land there uncorrected, as if there had been no Hurt done. 1 think no- thing can be faid worfe, unlefs what is faid by the learned j^nt, Augufiinus in his fifteenth Dialogue of his Emendation, to be in fome Books of Gratiany to be fo> ^i non habet uxor em-, loco illius Concu- binam habere debet. If any Thing can be faid worfe of them, than they have faid themfelves, it may be had in Luther (^)^ ^^ oper. who began the Reformation with burninG; ^'^'I'rV the Canon Law i and in Vindication of what he had done, made a Colleftion of fuch Articles, as were moft liable to give Offence. I have not yet compared his Quo- tations with the Text, and therefore do not put them down 5 but if they be faith- ful, I am fure there is enough to give a Man a hard Opinion of the Canon Law. The Decretals, tho' not altogether fo grofs as the Decree, are more imperious, having appeared in the World, when the Papal 202 Reflections PapalPower was grown to its full height 5 and having been compird by Gregory IX. and confifting principally of the Conftitu- tions of Innocent 111. the firft of whom wag'd almoft a continual War with an Enmperor, and the latter fubjugated a King, and caird him his Vaffaly nothing better could be expeded. For tho' feveral Gon- ciliar Decrees and Canons were intermixed with the Papal Conftitutions, yet they are with fuch Exceptions and Refervations to the Pope's difpenfmg Power and abfolute Dominion, that they became ufelefs : Popes were now become the Fountain of all Power, and both Princes and Councils were brought under their Obedience. It {h)Vih,\, is exprefly faid in the Decretals (^), That tap% ^^ Councils have prefix d La^jos to the Church of Rome, inafmuch as all Cotm- cils do borrow their Authority from that Church, and the Tapal Authority is ex- cepted in them all. And Innocent, in the Title T>e Majoritate, exalts the Papal Power as much above the Regal, as Spi- ritual Things are better than Temporal, or the Soul fuperior to the Body 5 and hav- ^ng upon Learning. 203 ing compared thefc two Powers, to the two great Lights in the Firmament, infers from thence, That the Pontifical Autho- rity is as much fuperior to the Regal, as the Sun is greater than the Moon : Upon which there arifing fome Difference con- cerning the Proportion of Magnitude be- twixt thefe two Luminaries,and confequcnt- ly betwixt thefe two other great Powers : The Glofs does learnedly refer us to Tlo- lemfs Almageft to ad/uft the Proportion. But I need not cite particular Conftituti- ons, a good Part of the Decretals turning upon this Point, and refolving all into a Monarchial Power at Rome: For which Reafon the Five Books of Gregory {i) (i)DoHjat. have not yet been receiv'd in France, with- ^f^j^^^ out Reftriftions, no more than the Sixth can Par. Book of Boniface YllL has been. 17. The ClementineSy notwithftanding a good Part of them were given in a pre- tended General Council at Vtenne in FrancCy yet are no Conciliar Decrees, on- ly the Conftitutions of Clement V. Such having been the manner of fome of the late 204. Reflections late Weftern Councils, That the Bifhops were only Affeffors or AdvKers, or at the mod: Aflenters, and the Pope alone de- find in a pretty abfolute manner 5 and therefore they are not ftyi'd Decrees of fuch a Council, only the Conftitutions of Clement in the Council at Vienne, The Extravagants are tedious Things, and want thatMajefty, which Brevity gives to Sandions and Decrees : Both they and the Clementines have this befides, that having been compiled in the Scholaftic Age of the Church, they are mix d with Theolo- gical Qucftions, and arc as much Divinity as La\y. Nor is the Glofs better than the Text, which, however it be of great Authority among the Canonifts, yet it may be juftiy queftion'd, whether it deferves fo much ? For to take Things as they rife, and to 2:0 no further than the firft Page of the Decree : Gratian having begun his Book very properly, by diftinguifliing betwixt the feveral Sorts of Right $ and having faid that Jtis was fo called, becaufe it was Jujl^ The upon Learning. 20^^ The Glofs upon this obferves, that there is a Right that is neither Equitable nor Tuft {k)y and produccth Inftances, that are {k)(Piuan. . . 1 T» • -u doom eji, neither pertnient, nor prove the Foint 5 aif^uod and then coiickides, that in all Cafes up- >/; ^^'f^ on a Reafon, and for Publick Good, Ri- q^^^ nee, gour is indue d againft Natural Equity, and oift. in fome Cafes without a Reafon. Take another Inftance upon the Decretals (/), Wiib.ti which beginning with the Symbol of our Faith : Upon that the Author of the Glofs enquires into the Nature of Faith ; and having pafs'd the Apoftle's Account, as an imperfeft Definition, gives a much more infufficient one of his own 5 for which he is juftly chaftiz'd by Erafmas : And as for the Word Symbol^ that iTiould not feem to be over difficult, he derives it from Syn and Bolus, which in the Lan- guage of the Glofs does fignifie Morfellus ^ and then enquiring into the Number of Symbolds, he adds a fourth to the other three j for no Reafon that I can fee, un- lefs it were, that they might Anfwcr to fo many Gofpels : Befides other lefs Miftakes upon the fame Titlc^ which I pafs over, becaufe 2o6 Reflections becaufe the fame Glofs fays, that Modi^ cum quid non nocet, and cites the Deere- rS?3^1'^* tals {m) for it, where Modica res is faid *^- not to induce Simony , and yet the Mo- dica res there mentioned, is a Horfe, The Canonifts are too numerous to be mention d here, and therefore I pafs them over, and indeed they generally keep to the Text, and runout upon the Power of the Pope, to the great Diminution of Councils, or indeed of any other Autho- rity. And whereas in that large Collecti- on of Trafts that was publifh'd at Venice:, there are two grofs Volumes concerning the Power of Popes and their Cardinals : It is very obfervable, that there is fcarce any Thing faid of Councils, unlefs by fuch as will be fure to fubjed them to the Pope. That haughty Bifhop is their Darling Theme ; and one of them has gone fo C») jofeph low, as to write a Trad {n) about the A- vei rr"^. dor at ion of his Feet : Nor fhall I infill upon Beadora- ^^^ diffcrins; Opinious and Conftitution in tio»e Pe- ^ ^ uHmRo- the Decree and Decretals, in how many !I?r1', '''' Things they interfere and crofi, and m rom. 13. h^^y upon L E A R N I ^y gI how many more they contradidlthe Civil Law. Baptijia a SanUto Blafiio has fur- nifli'd us with two hundred clon traditi- ons betwixt the Canon and Cfivil Law : Zanetin has difcover'd a great/ many Dif- ferences of the fame Kind : an d I fuppofe it were no hard Matter to fx^^ell the Ac- count yet higher : But I leate thofe we have already to be reconciled I cd in the Law. :>y the learn- 207 That I may do all Right to the Cane u Law, it mufl bi ownd, that the Canonifis have in, ^rpreted the Word Concubina in a Senfe of near Ajj inity with Wife : In the heft Senfe it is had enough, , and has been jt*ftiy cenfured, | CHAP. 2o8 Reflections '% '% r^ .% ^fe ^ ^^'^ '% S S 'S .-^- -^ -t. 't. r^ .% #- #- .t" ''.j- '-J5-' '^* "^ '-i > *%-' ''■^' '-^ '^ ""-^ ''i' '•^' '^' '-$-' %$•' '^' "^ "^ ^ ^^ CHAP. XV. o/:p H Y S I C K. IF any Credit may be given to T/iny (a), we ^ihall have noReafonto boaft of the Ii ivention of Phyfick, two great Operations h i that Art, having been ow- ing to two inc :onfiLkrable Creatures. Bleed- ing and Purf ;ing have been taught us by the Hippopot. imiis and Ibis 5 the former of which bei pg overcharged with Bloody breaths a Vein j, by rowUng himfclf among the fharpReed 5 of the Nile 5 and the lat- ter fucking in the Salt-water, adminifters a Cathartic, b} ' turning her Bill upon her Fundament. I will not vouch for my Au- thor, (whom . if I would make ufe of, it fliould be to a ciiiFcrent Purpofe, in {hew- ing. upon Learning. 209 ing, how little Reliance there is upon our Natural Hiftory ) altho* the Account he gives here of Phyfic may be as true as theirs is, who fetch its Original from ^^yEfculapius and Apollo. It is doubtlcfs ancient i Men's Neceility and Defire of Health did put them early upon this Search 5 and Hippocrates, who liv'd 20CO Years ago has left a Treatifc concerning ancient ^hyjic : So that it was ancient in his Time. But the Phyfic then in Ufe was' chiefly Empirical : Hip- pocrates brought in the Rational Way $ and what he did in this Art, did fo far furpafs others Labours, that their Works are in a manner loft and forgot ; and Hippocrates, who was then a Modern, is to us a very ancient Author. His Age gave him Authority 5 and altho' that, and his (hort Way of Writing, have render d him Icfs intelligible to ordinary Readers, yet he was almoft univerfally follow 'd ^ His Aphorifms have been look'd upon as [ratei^^' Maxims; and Macrobiiis (,b) fpeaks of J^^l^^JJ^ his Knowledge in fuch lofty Strains, as quamfaiu P are 1/ 210 Reflections are only agreeable to G O D Almighty : Notvvithftanding, of late he has been dif- cover'd to be a frail Man, his Aphorifms have been examin d, and the Danger de- teded, in blindly following great Names; and how mifchievous the Confequences may have been, in an implicit Submifli- on to all his Rules, may appear from one, which once crudely fwallow'd, has coft^ io many Lives 5 all which might have been fav'd, had the contrary Pra£lice been ventured upon Iboner, which is now (0 Boyle found {c) to be not only fafe, but falu- 2.^.5. GALEN, as he differs from Hip- pocrates in fome Things, fo he follows him in the Main ; and both in Explain- ing his Author;, and where he gives us his own Sentiments, is fomewhat tedious : He tires and diftrafts his Reader as much by being too large, as .the other does by faying too little 5 which yet might be ex- cused, had he in fo many grofs Volumes and different Treatifes, left us a compleat Body of Phyfic. But this he is fo far from upon Learning. 211 from having done, that it fcarcc fccms to have been in his Dcfign ^ moft of liis Pieces having been undertaiccn with par- ticular Views, either to gratifie Friends, or his Helps of Memory, or Exercifes of Invention. His Anatomical Pieces, which have been cry'd up above Meafure, have been lefs admir'd, fuice nicer Obfervati- ons have been made in Anatomy, than he was capable of making 5 and thofe which he has made, are often erroneous, for want of a Comparative Anatomy, in comparing and diftinguifhing betwixt the Bodies of Men and Brutes : Moft of his Obfervations having been made upon the latter, and it being queftionable whether he ever faw the Diffeftion of a Humane Body. Even his Treatife T)e Ufu Tar- tium has been cenfur'd, as in many Things grounded upon Inferences of his own, rather than upon Obfervations from Ex- perience and Vie\v 5 and the Parts arc defcrib'd there in fuch Order, as none will think fit to imitate, unlefs any Man can find Method, in beginning with the Hand, and proceeding to the Foot, and 212 Reflections lo up again to the Belly. And tho' he has been remarkable for his Care and Ten- dernefs of Life, which he has expreiVJ, as in other hiftanccs> lo particularly in being againft publiiliing exquifite Treatifes of the Nature of Poyfons 5 yet 1 queftion whether it will be thought another In- llance of it, that he fometimes took away 'J) De fix Pounds of Blood [d) in a Fever ; and ^at. per blcd his Patlcnts, till by Fainting they Tap^'i^. could bear no longer 5 for which he was twitted in his own Time, as appears from .^ ^^ his Books {e), and was faid to work Cures, Meth. by murtherini^ Difeafes. Med, l.g. '' ^ €. 4. Whatever Fault he had, muft have been deriv'd upon his Succeilbrs ; for as he commented upon Hippocrates^ fo the following Phyficians have copy'd Galen : The Greeks^ Oribajius^ cyEginetay and <:^/Ettus, have in a manner tranfcrib'd him ; and Avicen-, and i\\t Arabians have done little more than tranflate Galen into their own Tongue : And their Tranila- tions having not been over faithful, and the Verfion double 5 firft, from the Greek to upon Learning. 213 to the Arabic^ and from that back again into the Latin, they cannot be depended upon without eminent Hazard, cfpecially in the Names of Drugs and Plants, where the Miftake in a Word may endanger a Life. They were fubtle Men, and moft of them Logicians, accordingly they have given Method, and fhed Subtilty upon their Author, and little more can be faid for them. The Chymifts have appcar'd with fo much Oftentation, and with fuch Con- tempt of the Arabians and Galen, that we have been made to expect Wonders from their Performances. TaracelfttSy who would be thoudit the Head of a SzCt, has treated the Gaknijls fo rudely, as if they were the mofi: ignorant Men in the World, and had little Skill beyond a Pla- fier or a Purge : Tho' neither ought he to have vaunted fo much of his Difcove- ries ; one of his great Admirers (/) hav- ... ^^^ ing lliewn, that fome Part of his Skill '«^«^ was dole : And it is fome Prejudice a- pnnc\ gainft him, that a Man who pretended to P 3 luch 214 Reflections fuch immortal Remedies, fhould himfelf die in his 47th Year ; whereas Hippocra- tes and Galeyi are faid to have liv'd be- yond an Hundred. I F there be any Thing certain in Chy- miftry, it ought to be their firft Princi- ples which the Chymifts have fubftituted in the Place of others, which they have thought fit to explode i and pretend, that theirs are fo evident from the Andy [is of Bodies, that there can be no room to doubt : And yet whereas at firft we had only three of thefe Principles, their Num- ber is already fwoln to five ; and who knows whether they may ftop there ? Or whether their Pradice be better erounded than the Principles they go on > For tho' great Cures have been efFefted by Chy- mical Prefcriptions, and thofe too in a manner lefs cloying and naufeous than the former Pradice would admit of, by feparating the Faeces with which the Ga- lenical Medicines are clogg'd 5 yet the Queftion w^ill be, whether they be not attended with other Inconveniences > Whether upon Learning^ 215 Whether they be equally Tafe, and have no dangerous Coniequences to difcourage their Ufe ? It will not be denied, that the Chymical Preparations are more vigo- rous and potent in their Effeds, than the Galenical are i and often work fuch Cures, as the other grofs Medicines have not Adivity enough to effect : But then, as their Aftivity is great, is not the Danger fo too ? And does not the fame Power that enables them to heal, empower them to deftroy \ And whilft the Cures are re- corded, are not the Mifcarriages forgot ? Have not our enterprifing Chymifts fome- timcs preferv'd Life, only to make it the more miferablc, and fav'd their Patients, by ruining their Conftitutions ? Have not their ftrong Optats often diforder'd the Head i and their too free ufe of Mercury ^ Antimony y &c. the whole Habit of the Body \ If fuch Cures be offered me, I hardly accept them. He is the true Phy- Iician, who attends to all poflible Confe- quences ; who does not heal one Difeafc, by procuring us a worfe, but reftores P 4 fuch 21 6 Reflections fuch a Life as a Man can enjoy ; But where lliall this perfed Man be found ) Some have gone as far as China to rind him out $ of which People's Skill fuch Wonders have been reported, as the Chymifts themfelves can hardly pretend to. The Circulation of the Blood, which with us is a modern Difcovery, has been ofJ-Ir known there, according to VoJJitis {g), /. 70, 71. 4000 Years 5 they have fuch Skill in Pul- fes as is not to be imagin d, but by thofe that are acquainted with them 5 and the Arabians are there faid to have borrowed thence their Knowledge in Phyfic. Even the Miffionaries, who have reafon to know them befl, grant that there is fome- what furprifmg in their Skill of PulfeS;, Oj)LeLet. ^j^^ ^^y^ ^^ ^j^^y j^^y^ made Obfervation in Medicine 4000 Years, and that when all the Books in China were ordered to be burnt by the Emperor Chiohamtiy thofe in Phyfic were preferv'd by a particular Exception. But yet they likewife acquaint us, that moft of their Skill is built upon Obfervations, which have not been im- proved upon Learning. 217 prov'd to fuch Purpofcs, as they would have been by the Europeans 5 and that for want of Philofophy and Anatomy, the great Foundations of Medicine, their No- tions are confufed, and their Pradice in fome Things ridiculous. The Chine fe are an unaccountable fort of People, ilrange- ly compounded of Knowledge and Igno- rance : They have had Printing among them, and Gunpowder, and the Ufe of the Compafs, long before they came a- mong the Europeans , and yet for want of due Improvement, thefe ufcful Inven- tions have not turnd to any great Ac- count 5 and Phyfic has had the fame Fate: So that after all our Travel, the mod con- fiderable Improvements in this Art, are mod probable to be found at Home j and being fo near, need not be much en- quired into. W E have generally Men enough ready to publifh Difcoveries, whether real or pretended, whilft Deiiciencies in moftx^rts are often conceaFd, or pafs'd by in filence. What Noifc have we had for fome Years about 2iS Reflections about Tranfplantation of Difcafcs, and Transfufion of Blood 5 the latter of which has taken up fo much Room m the Jottr- nal des Scavans, and Philofophical Tranf- adions 3 and the English and French have contended for the Difcovery 5 vv^hich not- withftanding as far as 1 can fee, is like to be of no Ufe or Credit to either Nation. The retrieving the ancient Britannica has made no lefs Noife, Muntinghis has writ a Book upon it, and wx were made to hope for a Specific againft the Scurvy : After all, it is like to come to nothing, and Men lofe their Teeth and die, as they did before. The Circulation of the Spi- rits is a third Invention, which if I might have leave to judge^ I fhould think fcarce capable of being prov'd ; for neither are the Spirits thcmfeives vifible, nor, as far as I know, docs any Ligature or Tumor in the Nerve difcover their Motion, The Circulation of the Blood has indeed been faid to be demonftrated to Senfe by Mon- ^ fieur Leewwenhoeky by the help of his Glaffes, and Men have been look'd upon as dull that will not fee it. I v/ill not queftion upon Learning. 2ip queftion the Fad, tho' I cannot but ob- ferve that a late Italian (/) Author has (i) uom, in cfFed done it for me, who either has ^moT^/An. not met with M, Leeuwenhoek and his 9^,^^^^- Experiments, or cannot fee fo clearly in his GialTcs as he does 5 which, however it be, ought to be fome Check upon Af- furance. I might enumerate a World of fuch like reticulars ; Anwald\ Tanacea difcufs'd by LibaviuSy and Butler s Stone fo much magnified by Helmont^ were as much jalk'd of in their ov/n Time, as moft Things we can pretend to, and yet they are dead, and have been buried with their Authors. The moft confiderable real Difcove- ries that have been lately made, have been in Anatomy, and Botany : No Man in his right Wits will conteft the former 5 though the Difcoveries in that Kind have been rather in the Parts of the Body, than in the Humors and Spirits and Blood, which are the principal Seat of Health as well as Difeafe : For the firft feem deiign d for Strength and Motion, and fall not im- properly 2 20 Reflections properjy under a Surgeor/s Skill ^ the lat- ter are the Seat of Life, and under the Confidcration of Phyfic, and are yet im- perfedly underftood Till thcic be tho- roughly known, which perhaps they ne- ver wili, there will be one Fundamental Deficiency in our Phyfic. Another groat Deficiency was ob- -n fl^.. ferv'd bv mv Lord Bacon (k) in his Time, otLear. j^i^^ ^vjl[ ] belicvc always hold, and that is in Comparative Anatomy : He then granted, as we mav with more fafetv, that iimplc Anaromy had been clearly handled, and that the (cveral Parts had been dili- gently obfervcd and defcribed 5 but the fame Parrs in ditTercnt Perfons had not been duly compared, nor have they yet been ; tho' we may ditter as much in the inward Parts of our Bodies as we do in our outward Features, and that difference may occafion great variety in Application and Cure. This is a Deficiency that is not like to have a fpccdy Remedy, requiring more Diffeclions than moft Men have Op-, portuniry of making. Nor upon Learning- 221 Nor arc the DcScicncics kfs in the Botanic Part 5 for tho' this fort of Know- ledge be mightily enlarged, fince the Dif- covcry of the Eaft and JVc ft -Indies, by opening a vaft Field, and giving a much larger P^ange to it than it had before j yet the great Difficulty remains ftill to be o- vercome. Our Herbals, it is true, are fufficiently llorVi with Plants, and we have made a tolerable fhift to reduce them to ClaJJes, and to dcfcribe them by Marks and Signatures, fo far as to diftin- 2uifh them from one another : But as their Characlcriftic Marks arc known, arc their Virtues fo too ? I believe no Man will venture to affirm it. The Qtialities of many of our Plants and Simples are yet in the Dark, or fo uncertain in their Operations, that they arc rather Matter of Curiofity, than Subje£ls of Skill : Or where fome of their Virtues are too remarkable to be conceal'd, yet they ad one w^ay fing- ly, and quite otherwife in Mixture and Compofition i or they may have one Ef- feci when outwardly applied, and a quite different one when taken inwardly, after they 2 22 Reflections they have undergone fo many Alterations in the Blood and Stomach, as they muft do, before they can reach the Part affed- ed 5 and they may again vary, according to the different Temper of the Bodies to which they are applied. It is not enough to fay, their Natures may be known by being chymically refolv'd , for their Ef- fefts are often very difproportionable to the Principles and Parts that refult from the Andy (is : There are other Parts more fubtle, and yet mod adive and vigorous in their Operation, that ad upon the Spi- rits, as the grofler Parts do upon the Blood and Humors, and thofe the fubtiieft Chy- mifts, and the moft exquifitive Analyjis will not be able to reach. In fhort, whether we conlidcr our Bo- dies, or our Medicines, Phyfic muft be the moft uncertain Thins; imasjinable : Our Bodies are more compounded and unequal than other Bodies are^ moft other Crea- tures live upon a fimple Diet, and are re- gular in their Appetites 5 whereas Man feeds almoft upon every Thing, Flefh and Fi(h, upon Learning.' 223 Fifh, Fruits and Plants, from the Fruit of our Gardens to the Mufhroom upon the Dunghil 5 and where Appetite fails, In- vention is caird in to fweii the Account 5 high Sauces and rich Spices are fetclVd from the hidieSy which occafion ftrong Fer- mentations and infinite Diforder in the Blood and Humors : Hence proceed fuch variety of Difeafcs as perplex and diftra£t the Phyfician s Skill, A found Body and healthy Conftitution is eafily rcftor'd when ogt of Order 5 Nature in a great Meafure does its own Work, ( a noted hiftance whereof we have in Cornaro in LeJJius^ who by Regularity and Temperance had brought an infirm Body to fuch a Tem- per, that he w^as not troubled with any Difeafe, and any Wound in him would in a manner heal it felf 5 ) whereas in a dilbrder'd Body, every little Thing is a Wound and Difeafe, and a Phyfician muft give a new Conflitution, before he can perfect the Cure 5 this is a hard Tryal up- on our Phyfician, and yet by our way of living we often require it. It 224 Reflections I T is the harder, bccaufc his Medicines and Methods of Cure will not enable him to work Wonders : For tho' our Materia . Medica be large enough, and to look in- to our Difpenfatories, one would think no Difeafe incurable i yet the Mifchiefof it is, all thofe fine Medicines do not al- ways anfwer in the Application, nor have they been found fo Sovereign in our Bo- dies, as they are in our Books. All which Things have fo didracled our PhyficianS;, that they vary even in the moft common Method : At one Time they keep their Patients fo clofe and warm, as almoft to ftifle them with Care, and all on a fud- den the cold Regimen is in Vogue : In one Age Alkalies are in Fafhion, and in the next Acids begin to recover Credit 5 Antimony at one Time is next to Poifon, and again, the moft innocent Thing in the World, if duly prepared : Bleeding is pradis'd in one Nation, and condemn d by their Neighbours 5 fome People are prodigal of their Blood, and others fo fparing, as if fo miKh Life and Blood. went upon Learning. went together i Helmont and his Follow- ers are for the latter Way ; Galen and IVillis, and their Followers, encourage the former : And all of them, as you will imagine, with equal Afllirance. 225 a CHAP. 226 Reflections CHAR XVI QT Critical Learning. CR 1 T I C I S M, as it is ufually prac^ tis'd, is little more than an Art of finding Faults, and thofc commonly little ones too, and fiich as are of fmall Importance to the Scope and Defign of an Author. Monfieur Bayle was fenfible of this, Avhofe firft Defign was to publifli a Didionary of FaultS;, but was diverted from his Purpofe, by his Friends repre- fenting to him, that they were not con- fidcrable enough to be infifted on : And yet he hath that to fay for himfelf, that they were fuch as were taken notice of by upon Learning. 227 by Scaltger, and other noted Critics, ei- ther fome miftake in a Name, Time, Place, or other minute Circumftance. The Truth of it is, Criticifni is at a low Ebb j Men will be finding Faults in Au- thors, and yet our Store is well near ex- haufted, for there are tew Faults in this ^ Kind that have nor been taken notice of. ERASMUS, and the firft Sett of Critics, had Matter enough to work up- on i a long Age of Ignorance had cut out fufficient Employment, by vicious Co- pies, and obtruding fpuiious for genuine Authors J the diltinguilhing of which was a Work of Ufe and Skill : But af- ter the Bufinefs is pretty well done, the Vein of Criticifins; ftill continues j Men will play fmall Games rather than want Employment ; fo that our Modern Cri- tics have ufually either degenerated into Grammarians, or if they foar higher, it is too often, by venturing too freely up- on thofe Books, which ought to be hand- led with greater Tendernefs. Their Bu- finefs fometimes is in finding Faults where C^ 2 there 228 Reflections there are none, or in perverting the Senfe, that they might make Room for Correc- tion. ^ And for as much as thefe Men do find Faults with all the World, they have no Reafon to take it amifs, if one who is none of their Number, does find one or two in them. I fliall fcek for no more (nor have I Room in the Compafs of a Chapter) but they fhall be in two Critics of Name , one of whom has writ the Art of Criticifm s the other A Critical Hif- tory of the Old and New Tejiament. The former, Monfieur Le Clerc^ is as free in his Cenfures as any Man 1 ever met with, and oft-times as unhappy. He begins with ErafmuSy for I take the firft Thing 1 meet with, whom he expofeth W ^^^. U) as icrnorant in Geography, for having; I./. 13. in his Notes upon Acts 28. miftaken Rhe- gium^ a City in Italy ^ for a Town in Sicily 5 and for having took Melita an Ifland, cither for Mitylene a City, or the fame Ifiand that is fituate in the Me* diterraiiean, or African Sea, for an ob- fcure Ifland in the Adriatic : And then fails :Ed. Lond. upon Learning. 229 falls foul on him, as a Manthat had fcarce ever feen a Geographical Map. It fcem'd very ftrange to mc, that Erafmus^ who is known to have writ his Commenta- ries upon the New Teftament, with the Map of the Roman Empire always before him, fhould be guilty of fuch Errors in Geography, and therefore I had the Cu- riofity to confult the Author. I have not fo bad an Edition of Erafmtis as M. Le Clerc quotes, but I confulted the w^orft Edition I could meet with j in that he is fo far from placing the Rhegium in Sicily y that he exprellly fays, it is a City in Italy^ and correfts St. Jerome for having been guilty of fo grofs a Miftake : And as to Melita the Ifland, he diredly diftinguifh- •eth it from Mitylene the City, which I- fland he placeth betwixt Africa and Sicily ^ a Situation very different from that which Monf Le Clerc endeavours to faften up- on him. Monsieur Le Clerc in the next place is angry with Erafmus for quoting flugo CarrenJtSy being an Author of no Q, 3 Credit;, 230 Reflectio^ts Credit, and one who liv'd in the Scho- laftic Age, and fecms to think he was led into his Miftake, by trufting fo mean an Authority. It is true, Erafmus does quote Hugo Carrenfis, but it is only to make fport with him, as he does fometimes with the Schoolmen ; and Monfieur Le Clerc needed not have gone above ten Lines further for a convincing Proof of this, where Erafmus calls upon his Rea- 'apoA^c^' ^^^' ^^ laugh ( ^ ) at Hugo Carrenjis for :^8. -y.!!. his Critical Obfervation upon the Sign of Cajfor and Tollux, Well! But Erafmus is not yet clear of Monfieur Le Clerc, for he remembers that Erafmus fomewhere in his Notes upon St. 'Jeromes Epiftles, miftakes the City of Mitylene for the Ifland Melita^ only he forgets the particular Place, but it is fomewhere, where St. Jerome men- tions St. Taul's Shipwrack. I always fuf- ped a Man where he forgets the Place, and therefore I will help his Memory 5 it is in St. Jeromes Epiftle to OceanuSy in the firft Tome of Erafmus % Edition j where. upon Learning. 231 where, if Erafmus reads Mitylene, I fup- pofe it was only bccaulc it was the fame Word which was us'd by his Author St. Jerome 5 both of them make it an Ifland, and exprellly the fame where St. "Paul fufFer'd Shipwrack, and without qucfiion the fame that Erafmus meant in his Notes upon the AEis. If Erafmus be to be blamed in any Thing, it is for making St. Jerome read Mitylene inftead of Melitay for in all the MSS. that I have ken of that Father, and 1 have ken more than one, the reading is Melita : But I dare fay that is more than AL Le Clerc knows. Erafmus may have had Miftakes in Cri- ticifm 5 for tho' he tells us of himfelf, that his Care in publifhing St. Jerome was fuch, that it coft him almoft as much Pains in reftoring his Works, as it did the Author in writing them 5 yet Marianus VtEiorius {c) pretends to have made 1500 Ccj Epi/d Corrections upon him barely in the Edi- Pio^uari tion of that Father, and xhe Benedictines ^ "' no doubt have added more. But as for iV/. Le Clerc s Attack, I dare be confident they will neither hurt St, Jeromey nor Q. 4 any 7^2 Reflections any of his Editors ^ tho' he falls as foul upon the Bt^nedi&mes as he docs upon Erafmus. He would gladly make the World believe, that they undcrftand not. Greek 5 and indeed they pretend lefs that way, and therefore their chief Care hither- to has been m the Latin Fathers, in which they have deferv'd great Commen- dation : But as to M. Le Clercs Critical {^lom.i. Obfervation {d) which he paffeth upon «^/- 13- thcni with fo much Contempt, it is fo far fliort of Proof to me, that I cannot but thmk their Miftake better than his Correction, I am fure more agreeable to St. Jeromes Meaning, H E has paft the fame Cenfure in ano- ^'IpofiT ^^"^^ Wo^k ( e ) upon one who has lefs ^ni.9%, deferv'd it, the learned Sorbonift Cotele- rmsy who has not been fufpected of want of Greek, till M, Le Clerc took him to Task 5 he has caught him tripping in his Greek, where all Things were plain, and tells us, he has fhewn it in his Notes up- on Barnabas and Clement. Por my Fart 1 can meet with no material Cor- reftions upon Learning. 233 reft ions upon cither of thcfe Authors ; and the only Thing he chargeth him with in his Preface is, That he renders y.e(jpcc- AccioxJS^, capitulati?ny which in M. Le Clercs Opinion, Hiould be fiimmatim^ which in Reading our Animadvertcr, a Mah would think Cotelerius had done, either in Barnabas or Clemenfs Epiftlcs, I have read over haftily thefe three Epi- files. I will not be over pofitive, but I am pretty confident the Wofd does not occur in any one of the three 5 and if it be to be met with in the Clementines, it is nothing to the Animadverter's Purpofe s for we are not to exped to meet always with Claffical Greek there, or with Words always in the Senfe of Claffical Authors. Cotelerius ( f) has rendered the Verb ^^n^^^^ ?ce(pccActiocy, as M. Le Clerc would have ^'^^■^f it 5 and if he hath rendered the Adverb otherwife, it is probable it was not from Miftakc, but Judgment. Had M. Le Clerc confider'd, that there is a fort of Ecclefiaftical Greeh very different from the Claffical, he would have been more referv'd in his Cenfures. But this is a fort 234 Reflections fort of Greek wherewith he feems not to be much acquainted. St. Jerome^ who underftood this fort of Greek better than either of them, has rendered ivct5ce(pa,Actiai- (i)^dE- G-^<3^ by, recapitulare (g J -, and tho' Af. phef.cap, j^^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^j^^ oppofe, I muft think St. Jerome a good Tranflator. Our Hiftorian is a Critic of a higher Form, but fets out as unfortunately as M. Le Clerc has done : To recommend the Critical Art to the World, he tells us. That in St. Jeromes Time feveral Ladies of Qiiality made Criticifm their Study ; (h) Btfi. Qnd to prove this ( ^ ), quotes an Epiftle v'teux Teji. of that Fathcr, to Jtmia and Fretella^ ^' ^* ^' which fhews them to have been know- ing in the Greek and Hebrew. The He- brew was fo little known in that Age, that perhaps St. Jerome was the only Per- fon of his Time, that underftood it per- fedly, except the Jewifli Rabbins, who were his Inftrudorsj and this Father Si- mon knows very well : But as to the Fa- ther's two Ladies, I can affiire him, there were none of that Name that underftood a Word upon Learning. 235 a Word of either Language : For Simnia and Fretella were two learned Men of , Sr. Jeromes Acquaintance. Somewhat of this was obferv'd by a Friend of VoJJms (i) : And if Father Simon have any doubt (^^l'^-''. of the Thing, I have that Epiftle now be- fore me in two very fair Mamtfcrtpts ; in both which it is, "DeleBiffimis Fratri- bus Simnia & FretelU. This is no very great Miftake, but it is always ominous to {tumble at the Threfhold. I WILL not trace him thro' his Mi- ftakes 5 I Vv ill only note one other, which an Englipoman has better Opportunities of examining than other Men have. Fa- ther Simon (k) has not taken more Pains (k)Hili, upon any one Subjed, than he has done n!t.c%^ upon the ancient MS. Cambridge Copy ^^^^^^; of the Gofpels and Ads of the Apoftks, -^erf.c.i,^ and two other Manufcript Copies of St. haul's Epiftles ; the one in the King of Frances Library 5 the other in the Libra- ry of the BenediEiines of St. Germain : In the Latin Copies, of which he thinks he has difcovery the ancient Vulgar La- tin. o 36 Reflections tin-, as us'd in the Wcftern Church befoix St. Jeromes Time, to whoT* we owe the Vulgar now in Ufc. 1 fhouid be as glad, and would so as far to meet with the an- cient Vulgar of the New Teftament, as any Man fliall do ; but cannot be of Opi- nion, that Father Simon or Morinus have met with it in thefe Mannfcripts. For to fpeak only to the Cambridge Copy : Any one that has obferv'd that Manu- icript, knows, that the Latin Copy an- fwers the Greek \o exaftly, that there are very few various Readings : So that if the Latin be ancient, as the Wilgar undoubt- edly was almoft as ancient as the Preach- ing of the Gofpel at Romey the Greek pro- bably is fo too 5 and it will hardly be imagined, that had there been a Latin Co- py fo exadlly agreeing with the Greek O- riginal, before St. Jeromes Time, that he would have ventur'd upon, of^have thought a new Tranflation ncceffary. St. Jeromes manner of reforming the ancient Vulgar was, by comparing and reducing it to the Greek Original : But here was a Copy already, agreeing with the Greek. If it be upon Learning. 237 be faid the Greek in that Manufcript may be a more Modern Copy, but ftill before St. Jeromes Time, and that the Latin is tranilated from it : This may be true, but then the Latin is no longer the ancient Vule,ar, bur a later Verfion. There is one pretty probable way of trying it, by comparing the Citations in the New Teftament with the fame Texts, as they ftand in the ancient Vulgar in the Old. This I have done in the TfalmSy and am far from meeting with any exaft Agreement : The fame Obfervation will hold in the Old Ecclefiaftic Writers, as far as the Vulgar can be traced there 5 and I believe Hilary the Deacon, who has been noted for keeping clofeft to the Old Tranflation, will be no Exception to tliis Rule. Had Father Simon been as quick and diligent in obferving Differences, as he has been in marking Agreements, per- haps he would not have been fo hafty in drawing his Conclufion : In many Things there is an Agreement beiwixt the anci- ent aud modern Vulgar, but no Man vv^ril conclude 238 Reflections conclude from thence that they are the fame. (i)Hifi. ^ Father Simon truly obferves (/), that ^ the Greek in thefe Manufcripts is very faulty, and grounds an Argument there- upon, that they could not for that Rea- fon be brought from Greece. Had that Father had a Copy of the Latin Verfion of the Cambridge Manufcript, as he has of the Greek, he would have found, that the Latin is the more faulty of the two i and that not only in the Orthography, but Concord. For what would he think of Hie verbuSy John r. 21. 1;. 23. Or of Retiam, v , 6. and repeated, v. 8. Or of Cum ejfet in Mefopotamiam pojiea- quam morttms ejfet in Charris, inftead of iritis quam moraretur in Charait : Ads 7. V. 2. Or of Ejjet ei Filium, v. 5. Or of Juftitias coepiffet cum genus noft- rum, 1;. 19 .^ All which Miftakes are to be met with in two Chapters and more, which I forbear to mention, as I do to tranflatc thole 1 have mentioned, becaufe I would not uncover the Nakednefs of this Verfion, upon Learning- 239 Verfion. But tho' Miftakes of this Kind be fo common, as to occur pretty fre- qaently in this Mantifcript, yet they are not very agreeable to the Style of the Ages before St. Jerome, We have e- nough left us of the ancient Vulgar, to enable us to judge of its Style, by all the Remainders of it we have , tho' it has not Elegancy, which it did not affect, yet it appears to have been writ with tolerable Purity 5 whereas the Verfion we are now fpeaking of, is uncouth and rude, and al- moft barbarous. What then fhail we think of it ? Whatever the Verfion is, or whencefoe- ver it is taken, the MS. it felf feems to be Gothic 5 and probably both are of the fame Extra£lion, and were done after St. Jeromes Time, when the Goths had over- run the Empire, and Father Mabillonim) W^'f^^- ^ ^ dtp lorn. the greateft Judge of MSS. of this Age, /• 347. fets the fecond Part of this MS, no high- er. We have already feen the Verfion is rude, and fuitable enough to thefe Times 5 ^uLff, and Dr. Mar^all {n) upon the Gothic %'lj^^^ Gofpels^ ^^' 2^0 Reflections Gofpcls, has obfeiYd fuch an Agreement bctM'ixt thofe Gofpels and the Cambridge Manufcripts, that he thinks them to be taken from the Greek of that Copy $ and this Agreement he has lliewn in feveral particular Texts. The Charaders in that MS, are many of them Gothic , and Fa- thcr Simoriy wiio thinks he has met with Greek Letters in the Latin Copy of the fecond Part of this MS. and grounds an Argument upon it, is undoubtedly mi- ikken, for they are only Gothic Charac- ters, feveral of which have a great Affi- nity with the Greek : The Abbreviations are often the fame in the Cambridge MS, and Gothic Gofpels, and the Numbers cx- prcfs'd by Numeral: Letters i and V are fometimes pointed, and ti for t, put down after the Gothic way 5 and Eufebius's Ca- nons are plac'd in the Margin, in a rude manner, without Marks of Diftindion to make them ufefui, with other Gothijms, that might be obferv'd, did I defign this for any more than a Hint or Specimen. One Thing is too obfcrvable to be pafs'd over, that whereas our Saviour's Genealogy upon Learning, 241 in St. Luke^ is plac d in Columns in the GotJnc Gofpcls, it is put down in the ve- ry fame manner in the Cambridge MS, which is the more remarkable, becaufe the reft of that MS, is writ in long Lines, and the Words ran into one another. From all which one would be apt to in- fer, that this Copy v/as taken under the Goths, that it is compounded of the An- cient and Modern Vulgar, which were both of them in Ufe in the Gothic Churches, and particularly in Spain two or three Centuries after St. Jeromes Time; tho' in many Ages it differs from them both, as it needs muft, whilft it keeps fo clofe to a Greek Copy, much differing from any Copy, either Printed or Manu- fcript that we now have. It has been ta- ken from a Copy fitted for Ecclefiaftical Ufe : For that it has been taken from fuch a Copy, appears from the 'K^io^^ma- (^cLTd, or Leflbns markt in the Margin Ru- bric-wife 5 and from the Word t2A@-, fometimes put at the end of a Leifon, to denote the Conclufion of a Readins;. That thefe are the Marks of fuch Copies R has 242 Reflections (o)uiji. hss hzcn obfeiTd by Father Simon (0), 33. and he needed only have apply'd them to this Manufcript, to have fhcwn it to have been taken from a Copy of this Nature. I am fo far fatisfy'd of its being taken from fuch a Copy, that I once thought it to have been iitted for the Churches of the Greek Empire, when both Greek and Latin were fpoke there, as they were from Confiantine^ till after Jujiinian ; in like manner, as they yet have the Bible in two Tongues in fuch Places where the People are of two Languages : But I think 1 have Reafon to alter my Opi- nion. What Father Si?non further conjec- tures concerning the French MSS. of St. 'Paul's Epiftles, being the Second Part of the Cambridge Copy, is undoubtedly true of one of them : For befides that in a Catalogue of the Books of the NewTefta- ment, at the End of one of thefe MSS. (p) Morin, ip ) ^^^ Gofpcls are placed in the fame i.uExerc. Q^^^^^^ whcrcin they ftand in the Cam- bridge Copy, St. John immediately after St. Mat' upon Learning. 243 St. MattheWy and the Agrecablcnefs in the Character betwixt the Cambridge and Benedi[itne Copy, according to the Spe- cimen of it we have in Mabillon (^q). (qjT.i^i. There is a Fragment of St. Johns lafl: E- piftle, betwixt St. Mark's Gofpei and the ^cfs of the ApoftleSy not altogether in the fame Hand, but in a Verfion fome- what different from the prefent Vulgar, which fhews the Catholic Epiftles have been there, and that the Book was once intire, bating only the Revelations :, that were not for fome Ages fo univerfally re- ceiv'd in the Church If I have brought the Age of this MS„ too low, or leflend its Authority too much, 1 fhall be ready to alter my Opinion upon better Rcafons, for I am not much concern'd for the Reputation of a Critic. I hope I fna'l always have a due Concern for Religion and the Church, and that my Opinion fhould be true, 1 think, is the Intercft of both. For this Copy dif- fering fo much from all others, the lefs Authority we give it, it will be able to Pv 2 do 2i].^ Reflections do the lefs Hurt. I am fure they have let it too high, who fetch it from Iren£- iis, or ^1., Hilary, both which Fathers were bora before the Goths had Letters -, for that the Characters are Gothic ^ I think I may be pretty pofitivc. For this Rea- foii I fhall never defire to fee it printed, tho' a worthy Perfon feems to have that Defign, and a Scheme has been mark'd out to that purpofe : But I hope that learned Body, in whofe Cuftody it is, will have more regard to the Will of the Donor, whofe firft Intention it cer- (OF.H^x. tainly was, that it fhould not (r) be pub- Acad.Can. llih Q. I TS various Readings have been given us already in the Toljglot Bibles, tho' not over accurately, and fufficient Care taken that it fhall not, In una epcemplo perichtari : And what would the Critics have more } Even Father Simon has pro- cured a Copy from England, tho' I much fufped it is no other than thofe various Readings, the Father tells us, Morinus had from Junius the Library-keeper of Cambridge-^ upon Learning. 245 Cambridge 5 by fuch a Miftakc ( f) as a- (f)^^^' nother Critic has given us a Magdeburgh 30. College at Oxford, But of this perhaps too much. I WILL only offer one Criticifm, in order to wipe off a Blot from the En- glish that has been unjuflly caft upon the Nation, cither by the Author or Inter- preter. I have already {aid in another Chapter, that Chalcocondylas does report" of the Englijhy that upon a Vifit made to a Friend, it is permitted the Stranger by way of Complement to He with his Neigh- bour's Wife : This the learned Interpre- ter of Chalcocondylas does plainly fay, and it (lands fo in the laft Royal Edition of that Author : But the Word in Greek is, >cu(7ctyTcc, * which one would fufpeft was rather meant of Kiffing : No doubt fome wandring Greek had been in Eng- ^ 3 /ana, * K^a^ being a proper Word for Rifling, there can be no great Doubt of the CorreSlion I made, nor needs the Word be thrown into a Glojfary any otherwifi than as it feems to h there rendered from the Englifli. R E F L E C T I O K S landy and having ob'^'ery'd our way of Kifling our Neighbour's Wives, which might as well be let alone, had reported it to Chalcocondylas in a Word of neareft Affinity in the Greeks and thereby given Occafion to this Miftake. This Account feems fo probable, that (with Submiffion to the Critics) 1 durft almoil: venture from thence, to add one other Word to our Gloffaries. CHAP. upon Learning. 2^7 CHAR XVIl Of Oriental Learning, Jew isH and Arabian. IT lias been an old Qiieftion, and much debated among learned Men, whether greater Profit or Inconveni- ence arifeth from reading the Jewijh Books. On the one hand it is ailedgd, that the Hebrew Tongue, and JewiQy Rites and Cuftoms, can be no way fo well learn'd, as from thenifelves 5 and that as in order to undcrHand the Greek and Ro- man Polity, it is neccffary to read Greek and Latin Authors 5 fo, if we would be acquainted with the Jewifh Affairs, A^e cannot learn them better, than from their R 4 own 248 Reflections own Books. On the otiier Mc, they have been charg d with grofs Ignorance, even in their own Affairs 5 and their Books laid to be fo fluffed with Trifles, or, Vv'hat is worfe, with poyfonous Opinions, that the Profit in Pveading them will not counter- vail the Danger. Accordingly they have met with a very different Fate , at one Time they have been order'd to be read menu's. ^^^^ Audicd, as by Clement the <,th [a] in ^'^•i- the Council of Vienne : And again, the Talmudic Books have been adjudg'd to be burnt, as 12000 Volumes were by public {h)v.sixt. Order \b) only out of one Library at Cre- L2,p,iio, mona 5 and had not the famous Reuchlin advocated for them under the Emperor Maximilian, they had been in danger of an univerfal Ruin. I N fuch Variety there may be need of Diftindion 5 and therefore the Jewifh Writers may be confider'd two ways, ei-- ther as WitnelVes or Interpreters : In the firll Senfe, they have been faithful Depofi- tories, and very ufeful in handing down the Sacred Volumes, and in preferving the Text upon Learning. 249 Text intirc : In the other Senfe, their Skill or Authority, as Interpreters, has not been thought very ccnfidcrable. The great Rcafon whereupon their Books have been valu'd, has been their feeming Antiquity. In the laft Age, we have been told of Books as old as Abra- ham and Ezra, that have had the Fortune to be believ'd by wife Men j {c) znd (c)v,pe- could their Rife be trac'd up and derived ''i^'^'^. i- txerc. o. from fuch an Original, they would have cap.i.Ex-- ere. 0. c. Reafon to be valu d : But this Vizor has 8> ^c- been taken off, and their Novelty or Im- podure has been deteded : Morinus has brought down mod of them feveral Cen- turies from their boafted Height. Their Talmud that has been commented upoia by the Modern Rabbins, has been fhcwn to be little older than the Age of Jufti- nian, the firft Authentic mention we have of the Mifna, or Text of that Book (for the Gemara or Comment niuft have been yet later) being in one of his Novels {d), (d)NoveL and probably, the Contention among the ^'^''* Jews about receiving it, had given Occa- fion 2^0 Reflections fion to that Law. Origen and St. "^Jerome knew nothing of that Book 5 who not- withftanding were inquifitive Men, and knowing in the Hebrew, and having had Opportunities of conllilting their Hebrew Mafters, and Occafions of citing them, and having; Aonc it in Things of iefs mo- ment, could not have avoided mention- ing this, had it been then in being, and ' lb noted, as to be a {landing Law Eccle- ^i/'l'i!' ^^^^'^^^"^ ^'"^^ Civil among the Jews, [e) ere. 6. Their two Books Bahir and Zohary fo venerable among them for their mighty Age, have been brought dov/n yet lower 5 tho' whatever Age they be of, they can be of no Ufe to any, being only a Heap (f)Bux- of Cabbaliftical Niceties (y), which, tho' Rah, ' much valued by fuch Men, as admire e- very Thing that is abftrufe and hidden, are fuffieiently known to be nothing better than Jargon a^id Cant. The Truth of it is, few of their ancient Books have been thought much better, being either fomyf- tical, as hardly to be underfcood, or fo full of grofs Legend, as to force them to take fheltcr under Allegories to reconcile them to upon Lea p.n i n g. 251 to Senfe. There is little Light to be bor- row'd from them, for almoft i ooo Years after the lad Deftniftioa of their Temple ; and tho' about thwit Time, fomc of the modern Rabbins began to introduce Learn- ing, yet this was no Part of their Rab- binifm, but a Departing therefrom j mod of the Learning they had was borrow'd from the Arabians i and MaimonideSy ^i primus inter Juos defit niigari, by mixing Philofophy and Reafon with his Comments, in order to make their Books fpeak Senfe, thereby gave ftich Oftencc, that he was continually perfecuted for it by his Brethren, {g ) and hardly efcap'd {g) bux- being branded for a Heretick. They that ^^M^r. ' have taken the fame Way, ought upon their Principles to fall under the like Cen- furci and it ought always to be remem- bred, that the modern Rabbins have done beft, whofe Authority by their Age is in- confiderable, and their Skill not io extra- ordinary, as to need be imitated by Chrifli- ans, who now underftand their Language as well, and their Critical and Philologi- cal \evoch. 2^2 Reflections cal Learning much better than they do Nevt!h? ^hemfelves. Even Maimonides {h) con- Tar. I. feflcth of his Times, that the l^ews were €a^. 67. ^ ^ not then skilful in their own Language. I AM not ignorant with what Defien fome Men have decry 'd the Rabbins : Whatever their Dcfign may have been, they may have fpoke Truth, and at the fame Time miftake their Aim : We have the lefs Reafon to be jealous of them, fince they are not the only Men that have gone this Way : For to pafs by Lathery who has treated the Rabbins very rugged- (t) in Gen. ly? (/) Ict US hcar what a great Profeflbr, ^!^' ^^* ReucJblms Scholar and Succeffor, lays of them, one who had Ipent all his Life, and (k)joh. Part of his Eflate in thefe Studies: {k) In w.rjierus. j^.^ Pj^-efacc to the Didionary (one of the firft confiderable ones of this Kind) he gives this Account ■> " In them is no Light, " no Knowledge of God, no Spirit, no ^'^ true and foiid Art, no Underftanding *' even of the Hebrew Tongue — They '^ have done nothing worth notice to-? ^' warda upon Learning. 255 " wards Undcrftanding the facred Text : " Their Dictionaries and Comments have *' brought more Obfcurity than Light or " Truth—And then goes on to Challenge them in Matter of Fa£t, and to point out a better Way than that which they have foUow'd, and fuch as himfelf has pur- fud. He may have gone too far in depref- fmg the Rabbins 5 if he has been too warm in decrying them, doubtlefs others have gone too great a Length the other way, who have ftudied the Talmud fo long as to draw Contagion from thence, and almoft become Rabbins themfelves. A Countryman of our own has exceeded in this, who, tho' he has only comment- ed upon one Book, has had fuch Faith in the Talmud, as to believe, ^'^ That many " of its Traditions were Divinely deli- *' vcr'd to Mofes in Mount Sinai, which ^^ it was not lawful for Mofes to divulge " in Writing ; but being tranfmitted " down orally to his Poftcrity, they are " related to us in the Talmudic Books, (/) And 2^4 Reflections {i)v.Pr4' (/) And lead this fhoiild not be cnoueh, ma.Muha iic is ot Opinion, " There are many al- yJleciorica. , , . . o • • >j ^piadi- icgoncal and pious Sayings contain d aa, quA agitati " nity, and mov'd by God. Could any mine 7b' J^^"^ \\^^^^^ faid morc ? Or could it be ini- teptipro- ^^ain'd, a ChriHian would have laid To tUi,eri4nt. infcripris much ? If thefc be the Fruits of Rabbiuical cis contt' iinquu'ies, lurcly they are better let alone. ibTd.'''^* That a Man that is convcrlant in thefe fort of Studies Pnould undervalue all o- ther forts of Learning, is no new Thin^ j it is v/hat has been ob!erv'd, and tor which a B^eafon may be given: For thefe Enquiries being out of the way, and not every Man's Poffellion, vulgar Studies niuil be deTpis'd by Men of uncommon Attainments, zvA tho!e only valued that are difficult and uncommon. Or that o- thcrs fhould imagine they find Eloquence in the Rabbins, and Hiould compare A- bravanel to Cicero, and Akn-Ezra to {m)sim. Sahifiy {m\y is not very ftrange 5 for Men /.3. c. 7. are apt to find Beauties in Elemifhes, where they have placed their Affedions : But that upon Learning. 2^^ that Men fhould proceed to idolize them, no other Rcafon can be afllgnd, but that which is given for all Idols, and that is. That they are all of them 'vain. Because the Rabbins have been faid to have borrowed moft of their Humane Learning from the Arabians:, 1 will like- wife fpeak one Word of them. As the Jews have borrowed from the Arabians^ fo have the Arabians from the Greeks, For they were fo far from having any Learning of their own, that the true Arabs y the Defccndants of IfrnaeU had no Let- ters i and their Language mud have been led, had it not been preferv'd in their Poems, that were compos'd by their an- cient Bards {n), and by their Facility be- (^^^p,,cck ins: cafily learnt, v/cre delivered down ^^■' '^'^^*'- Arab, from hand to hand. Other Learning they had very little, except Poetry, till having over- run the E after n Parts of the Greek Empire, they were taught it by the van- quifli'd People, who tranflated the Greek Authors for them into their ov/n Lan- guage i and the Arabians being Men of quick 2 5^ REFt. ECTIONS quick Wits ; refin'd fo much upon their Authors, that Ariftotle became more fub- x\!^ \\\ the ArabiCy than he was before in his own Tongue j and fo much was he admir'd in that Drcfs, that he was turn'd from thence into Latin, with Averroes upon him 5 and for feme Time one was not thought to undcrftand Ariftotle aright, unlefs lie had read him with Averroes^ Comment, But this Humor held no longer than Averroes came to be under- flood, (underftood 1 Ihould not have faid, for perhaps no Man ever undcrftood him, but till he came to be better look'd mto) for then his over-great Nicety was not only difcover'd 5 but bcfide other Errors, he was charged with the Whimfies and {o)Lufi Vifions of the Alcoran {0) : And Aver- Vtv. de ' cauf.ccr- roes is now as much out of Fafhion for L/^. 5. his Philofophy, as Avtcen is for his Phy- fic, tho' they were once the Wonder of their A2:c and Nation. Physic and Philofophy were the Stu- dies wherein the Abrabia?is excell'd moft^ and therefore the Books of that Kind were upon Learning. 257 were firft tranflatcd and publifh'd among us : But fmce thofe Books have ccafed to be admir'd, an Attempt has been made another way, and we have been furnifli'd with a Sett of Arabic Hiftorians, by Er- j^eniuSy GolmSy and Dr. TococL Their Books may be feen, and containing Mat- ter of Faft, every Man is able to judge of their Performance : What fort of Hifto- rian Abulpharaijus is, may be inferred from his learned Editor, who was under Difcouragements in publifhing him, from his Difagreement with Greek and Roman Hiftory, I am fure Eutychius is no better (whom Mr. Selden is pleas'd to ftyle our C^gyptian Bede ) : His Hiftory of the Council of Nice is fuch a Romance, as exceeds all Faith, but that of a Rabbin or Arabian (/). According to him a- ;£.. ..^^ bove 20Q0 Bifhops met at Kice : After Z'-"''^*^^^' they had been above two Years in affcm- bling there, the Patriarch of Alexan- dria is appointed Prefident, and no moie Notice taken of HoJiuSy than if he had not been prefent : Confiantine is defcrib'd as transferring his Power upon the Bi- S {hops 2^8 Reflections (hops by the Delivery of his Ring, Sword, and Scepter, with other Things equally abfurd : And that the Canons might bear better proportion to the Number of Bi- fhops, in the Arabic Copies we have a- {ef)V.Ahr.^o\z a Hundred ; {q) whereas all the ^uttfch, World knows there are only Twenty ge- vind.Par, nuinc Canous of that Council. I.e. 17. W E have been told oftner than once of Lhy compleat in Arabic^ yet dormant among their Manufcripts : But if their Tranflations be no better than their Hit (r) m tories, (and if we will take Huetiuss ( r ) f!rpr\ ^^' Account of them, they are rather worfe,) /.III. xv^e have no Reafon to defire it over-ea- gerly, tho* it could be produced, which I almoft defpair it ever fhall. Nor have we Reafon to be more fond of their Ge- ography, if we may make an Eftimatc from that Tafte thereof, which has been given us by Gabriel Sionita^ in the Nu- bian Geographer y who has relifh'd fo little with the World, as not to raife any Thirft or Appetite of having more. With what Exaftnefs he has defcrib'd the three Parts of upon Learning. of the World, particularly Europe, might be eafily fhown, were it worth the while to trace him in his Failings : He is to be feen, and every one that has a Globe and Maps, can judge of the Work. 259 I N one Word 5 the great Ufe of the Arabian and Rabbinical Writers feems to be, in confuting the Alcoran and TaU mud j and to that End there is no doubt they may be eiFeduaily ufcfuL S 2 CHAP. 26o Reflections CHAR XVIII Qf Scholastic Learning. DIVINITY, as it is profefs'd in the Schools, is become an Art, and fo profound a Piece of Learn- ing, that it requires great Parts and much Pains tomafter it^ an Argument fure, that it is not fo very necelfary, otherwife it would need lefs Skill to be underftood. I would not detraft from, much lefs deny all Ufe of this fort of Learning, tho* if I (hould be free in my Cenfures, I fliould have good Authority to warrant me there- in i moft of the firft Reformers having led the Way, and fome of them having de- claimed againft it pretty warmly. Its great Abufc upon Learning. 261 Abufe in the Church of Rome had given too juft Occafion to this i for that Ciiurch having adopted it into her Syftems, and interwoven it with mod of her Opinions, and the Schoolmen iiaving been the great Champions of her Caufe, the Reformers were never fafe, till they had difarm'd her of this Hold, which they did by expofing this new Method, and introducing in its Stead a much furer one, built upon the clear Text of Scripture, and Deduftions from thenca, which they made Ufe of in all their Conferences and Difputations. This, tho' the true and ancient Way, and moft agreeable to the Simplicity of the Gofpel, yet had been much negle£ted by the Schoolmen, who having broached new Opinions, were to fupport them by new Methods, and the Scriptures having been filent, or not fpeaking home to their Purpofe, they therefore us'd them very fparingly : The Authority of the Fathers was caird in, and where thcfe were de- ficient, Arijiotle's Philofophy was to fup- ply ^thc Defeft, (without whom, if the S 3 Obfcr- 2(52 Reflections V ) In che Obfei'vation in my Author (/) be true, %ranparte a Neighbouring Church had wanted fome coiihlver Articles of Faith) the Fathers and Philofo- ^Ejfat7a pl^ic^l Reafons were their greater Strength. mente tuu xho\ after all, it muft be confefs'd, that' titt generi dicaufa; whcrc the Opinious of their Church have Vnoafofe not bccu couccrn d, and where they have itTZZ a^S^*^ t>arcly upon the Principles of Rea^ cAvano d't fon, they have often done exceeding well 5 mohi art't. ' ^ colt dife. only launching out beyond their Line, they del Cone, have as frequently mifcarried. Tr'idetn. L 2. The Faults in this fort of Learning arc chiefly thefe : (i.) Defedivenefs for want of proper Helps. (2.) Incoherence. (3.) Nicety. (4.) Obfcurity. (5.) Barba- rity, (i.) The Languages are one proper Help i for Arijiotles Philofophy, and ma- ny of the Fathers being writ in Greek, it was neceffary, in order to be Mafier of thefe, that the Language wherein they were writ fliould be undcrftood : This Help the Schoolmen wanted, having had no Greek, and only a very moderate Share of Latin ; Ariftotle was known to them in a Tongue that was none of his own, and upon Learning. 263 and being obfcure enough in himfelf, was much more fo in wretched Tranflations 5 and the Fathers, who were very intelHgi- ble in Greek, were either obfcur'd, by being turn d into another Idiom, or were made to fpeak fomewhat they never meant. Both Greek and Latin Fathers have been treated equally ill, for want of another proper Help, "uiz. Critkifniy in diftin- guifhing genuine from fpurious Authors i for want of which. Authorities have been crudely fwallow'd down without Diftindi- on5 falfe Authorities have been obtruded, and true ones rejeded, or often mutila- ted i the Age of Authors have been con- founded, and fome late Impoftor has af- fumed the Name of a veneral Father. In- ftances whereof (for 1 do not love to dwell upon Sores) may be had in Launoy in fe- verai of his Epiftles, and in T>an£uss Cen- fure upon the firft Book of Sentences. (2.) By Incoherence I do not mean any Inconfequence in the way of Arguing in the Divinity of the Schools, but a Dif- agreement of the Parts, that it principally S 4 confifts C4 Reflections confifts of y which being chiefly two (as we have before obferv'd) the Sentences of the Fathers, and Ariftotles Philofophy, what tolerable Agreement can there be be- twixt two Things fo very different \ Moft of the Fathers were Tlatonifts in their Opinion, poilibly for the fake of fome Agreement which that Philofophy feem*d to have with the Chriftian Religion : Ori- gen^ St. Chryfofiom, and to name no more> St, Aitguftiney who was more followed in the Schools than all the reft, was of that Number : Ariftotle was either much neg- Icded by the Fathers, or where they had occafion to fpeak of him, they ufually condemn him i and that either for his fo- phiftic way of Reafoning, or for his un- fuitable Notions of God and Providence, which are of the firft Confideration in the Schools, Even in the Church of Rome, Ariftotle was often forbid, fometimes or- dered to be burnt 5 and what is moft ftrange, at that Time when his Books were .,j^j^^j^ commented upon by Aquinas ^ they ftood noy de prohibited by a Decree of Gregory IX. rijior. {g) Of late, almoftin our Time, a Pro- Vortuna " /- t upon Learning. 265 pofal was made at Rome to Gregory XIV. that Arijiotles Philofophy might be banifh'd the Schools, and Tlatos fubftitu- ted in his Place, as being more agreeable to the Chriftian Religion, and Senfe of the Fathers , and above forty Propofiti- ens were then produc'd, wherein ^latos Confonancy was fhewn ; in all which A- rijiotle was pretended (>&) to be diffonant (^h) lUd. from the true Religion : Whether upon ^'^^' ^'^• juft Grounds or no, I will not venture to determine 5 for fince Platonifm has ob- tained, as it once did pretty early, and has again done of late, it has been found lia- ble to as dangerous Confequences, as any that have been yet charg d upon the other Philofophy. I only bring thus much to fliew, that there can be no good Agree- ment in this Particular, where the Parts are of fo different a Nature, as the Fathers and Arijiotk, and fo jarring, that they cannot naturally cohere. (3.) Nicety is the great Fault of the Schools J her Doftors have been flyi'd, Tra^ founds Subtle^ Irrefragable -, Titles which they 266 Reflections they have mofl: valu'd themfelves upon, and fecm not much to have afFeded the Reputation of being Familiar and Eafie, at leaft none of their Titles have been de- rived from fhence. They delight in re- fining upon one another, and fometimes fpin fo fine a Thread, that it is either broke, or much weakned in drawing it out : They have perplex d Knowledge, by llarting infupcrable Difficulties, and feem in this to have run into the fame Fault with your too profound Politicians, who, as they have often forefeen Defigns, which are neither pradicable, nor ever intended 5 fo thefe Men have proposed Objeftions that would never have been thought of, had not they firft ftarted them s the Confe- quence whereof has been, that we have furniflied our Enemies with Objedions, who have made Ufe of our Weapons, and have turn d our Artillery againft us. This is too vifible in our modern SocinianSy who have often gathered out of this Store- houfe, and by picking up Difficulties in the Schoolmen, have turnd their Objedi- ons into Proof and Arguments, and have thereby npon Learning. 267 thereby gaind the Reputation of fubtle Men. Thus Controverfies have been multiphed, and thofe we have already, have fwohi to an unmeafurable height, and every Difference has become irrecon- cileable 5 whiift Men ftudy Nicety more than Peace, and ftrctch their Wits, and rack their Inventions, to out-reach their Opponents. And it were well if the Mifchief had ftopt here, and Mens Curi- ofity had not led them on, from nice Queftions to fuch as are impious : It has done this ; and leaft I fliould be thought to do them wrong, I fliall refer the Reader to an unexceptionable Author (^), one of (^) card. ^ Perron, de the greateft Champions the Church of v EucLr. Rome ever had, for a Catalogue of them; ^q^' ^^* which are fo offenfive to Chriftian Ears, that I forbear to put them down in En- glifh, though he has not fcrupled to give them in a more common Language. (4.J OBSCURITT, v/here Things are intricate in themfelves, if they be not fo clearly explained in treating of them as might be defif d, the Nature of the Things 268 Reflections Things will excufe, as not being capable of Perfpicuity 5 or if hard Terms are made ufe of, if very ^fignificative, and not too many, this is- what is allowable in all Arts : Eut then, if Terms of Art have been mul- ' tiply'd beycgid[ Neceflity, and without Sig- nifitanc:^ 5 or if Things that are plain in themfelves have been obfcur'd, by being ,-. handled too artificially, this fure is a great * v**^* Abufe; and this is what has been charged upon many of the Schoolmen. The Myf- teries of Religion are not capable of being rendred obvious to Rcafon? and therefore if they have not made thefe plain, they are not to be blam'd ; they would have been more excufable, had they explained them lefs, and had not trufted too much to rational Helps in explaining Things that are not the Objefts of our Underftanding. But tho' Myfteries are not to be explain d, other Thiags in Religion are clear enough, and would continue fo, were they not clouded and involved by too much Art. I do not charge this as a general Fault, tho* k be too common , fomc of the School, men are ieis obnoxious to this Charge, and upon Learning. 269 and generally the firft are lead obfcure i and Lombard and Aquinas^ the two Au- thors of the Sentences and Sums^ have been more plain than many of thofe that have writ upon them, whofe Comments have often helpt to obfcure the Text. It is an odd Commendation that is given by Car- dan ik) to one of our Countrymen, one W ^« Subtil, of the moft fubtil among the Dodors, that /. i6. only one of his Arguments was enough to puzzle all Pofterity ; and that when he grew Old, he wept becaufe he could not underftand his own Books. Men that write ^e Suhtilitatey muft be allowed to fay what they pleafe 5 but thofe of ordina- ry Capacities would have thought it a greater Charaftcr, that our Doftor had well explain d that one Argument, and had writ fo, that he might have been un- derftood. There are great Charms in be- ing efteem'd fubtil ; and it is an Argument hereof, that Cardan commends this Au- thor for his Subtilty, whom in all proba- bility, he had never feen 5 othcrwife he could not fo foully have miftaken his Name, 270 Reflections (I) Rich. Naaic, as he docs (/), and as fome others | fjjund sui- have done, that have fpoke of this Au- ] ^o6irin£ T>. Tho- ^^g^""' m£y he endeavours to prove in fo many feveral Chapters, that St. Thomas had writ his Books, not without fpecial Infu- fion of God Almighty. Chap, i. That in writing them, he received many Things by Revelation. Chap. 2. That all he writ was without any Error. Chap. 4. That Chrift had given Teftimony to his Wri- tings. Chap. 6. And to (hew of how near the fame Authority St. Thomas's Sum is to the Holy Scriptures, he aflures us, That as in the firft General Councils, it was u- fual to have the Holy Bible laid open up- on the Altar, as the Rule of their Pro- ceedings i fo in the laft General Council (which with them is the Council o^ Trent,) St. Thomases 272 Reflections St. Thomas's Sum was plac'd with the Bi- ble upon tiie fame Altar, as another Infe- rior Rule of Chriftian Doftrine. Chap. 8. which is very agreeable to what has been {n) Tau- writ by a Jefuit {ri) upon the fame Sub- i!iSl!2. K^? That all the General Councils that have been held fince St. Thomas liv*d, have taken the Opinions they defin'd from , his Doftrine. It were needlefs after this (0) Petr. to cite the Elogy of another Jefuit, {0) cfnn!^' ^'^^^^ ^^- Thomas is ftyl'd an Angel, and tbid, that as he learnt many Things from the Angels, fo he taught the Angels fome Things : That St. Thomas had faid, what St. "Patil was not fuffcr'd to utter : That he fpeaks of God as if he had feen him, and of Cl^rift, as if he had been his Voice, and more to this EfFeft. When fuch bold Expreflions arc o- penly vented, it is Time to look about us, and it concerns every Man to endeavour to give a Check to fuch daring Aflerti- ons. I am far from detrading either from the Knowledge or Holinefs of St. Thomas^ which doubtlefs were both extraordinary 5 but upon Learning. 273 but when a mortal Man is equalFd to the Angels in Heaven, and fuch Elogies given him, as, if he were capable of hearing, he muft blufh to receive 5 it is Juftice to him, to refcue him from falfe and undue Praifcs. To do him Right, he has im- prov'd Natural Reafon to an uncommon Height, and many of thofe Proofs of a God, and Providence, and Natural Reli- gion, that have been advancd of late, as new Arguments, with fo much Applaufe, have been borrowed from him or other Schoolmen 5 and arc only not his, by be- ing put in a new Drefs, and fometimes in a worfe Method. Had it been his For- tune to have liv'd in a happier Age, un* der better Opportunities, and with thofe Helps that we now enjoy, he muft have made a greater Genius than many of thofe who are now looked upon with Wonder. CHAR- 274 Reflections CHAR XIX. The Conclusion. AN D now having gone thro' the fcvcral forts of Learning, and ob- ferv'd the various Defeds, and oft- times Uncertainties, which they are fub- ]z€t to : The Conclufion is obvious. That fince no compleat Satisfaction is to be met with from them, we are to feek for it fomewhere elfe, if happily it may be found. It may be fouad, but not in our own Pow- ers, or by our own Strength 5 and that ■ which our moft exalted Reafon, under all its Improvements, cannot yield us, is only to be had from Revelation. It is there Wjc may upon Learning. 275 may fecurely reft, after the Mind has try'd all other Ways and Methods of Know- ledge, and has tir d it ielf with fruitlefs Enquiries. It is with the Mind, as with the Will and Appetites 5 for as after we have try'd a thoufand Pleafures, and turned from one Enjoyment to another, we find no Reft to our Defires, till we at laft fix them upon the Soveraign Good : So ia purfuit of Knowledge, we meet with no tolerable Satisfadion to our Minds, till af- ter we are wearied with tracing other Methods, we turn them at laft upon the One Supreme and Unerring Truth. And were there no other Ufe of Humane Learning, there is at kaft this in it : That by its many Defedls, it brings the Mind to a Senfe of its own Weaknefs, and makes it more readily, and with greater willing- nefs, fubmit to Revelation. God may have fo ordered in his wife Providence, thereby to keep us in a conftant Dcpen- dance upon himfelf, and under aNecefli-. ty of confulting him in his Word 5 which lince profane Men treat fo negleftfully al- ready, they would have it in greater Con- T 2 tempt; 27^ Reflections tempt i and it would be much more vile in their Eyes, did they find any Thing within them equally perfed, which might guide them in their Courfe, and bring them to the Haven, where they would be. But this fuice they do not meet with, it ought to wean them from an Opinion of themfelves, and incline them to feck out Satisfaction fomewhere elfe^ and to take fhelter where it may be found. I H A V E faid nothing in this whole Difcourfe (nor can I repeat it too often) with dcfign to difcredic Humane Learn- baptmsVn ^"S 5 I am neither of theif Mind {a) who Germany, were for burning all Books, except their Bibles 5 nor of that learned Man s Opi- nion, who thought the Principles of all Arts and Sciences might be borrowed from that Store-houfe i I would willingly put a juft Value upon the one, without de- preffing the other : But where Men lafii out the other Way, and take the Liberty to exalt Learning to the Prejudice of Re- ligion, and to oppofe fhallow Reafon to Revelation^, upon Learning. 277 Revelation, it is then Time, and every Man's Bufinefs, to endeavour to keep it under, at lead to prevent its afpiring ; by not fufFcring it to pafs its due Bounds. Our Reafon is the proper Guide in our Enquiries, and is to be followed, where it keeps within its Sphere i but fliining dimly, it muft borrow Rays from the Pountain of Light, and muft always aft fubordinately to Revelation. Whenever it croffeth that, it is out of its Sphere, and indeed contradifts its own Light 5 for no- thing is more reafonable, than to believe a Revelation, as being grounded upon God's Veracity, without which even Rea- fon it felf will be often doubting. That whatever God (who is Truth it felf) re- veals, is true, is as fure and evident a Propofition, as any we can think of : It is certain in its Ground, and evident in its Connexion, and needs no long Confe- quences to make it out 5 whereas moft of our rational Deduftions are often both weakly bottonVd, and depending upon a long Train of Confequences, which are to l?e fpun from one another, their Strength T I is 2/8 Reflections is often loft, and the Thread broken, be- fore we come at the Conclufion. And tho' it be commonly objeded, that there are as many Differences con- cerning Divine Truths, as about thofe of Nature : Yet I think there needs nothing farther to be faid to this, but that Meu would approach Divine Truths with the fame Difpofitions, that are required by Philofophers to the Reading of their Wri- tings, and the Objedion would foon fall to the Ground. The beft Philofophers require, that in reading their Books, we fhould lay afide Partiality to a Party, all Paffion and other Prejudice ; and let Men only approach the Scriptures with the fame Preparations of Mind, and with th^fe and ordinary Grace (that is never wanting to thofe that feek it) I dare be confident they will have no Reafon to complain of Obfcurity or Ambiguity in thofe Sacred Writings : With thefe Helps (that are had by asking) the weakeft and moft ordinary Capacity fliall fee enough, and Ihall not ftand in need of deep Reach or upon Learning. 279 or Penetration, which are neceffary to the underftanding of Natural Truths. God, who would have all Men happy, has likewifc made them all fo far wife, and has fo ordered, that the moft impor- tant Truths, fhould be the moft eafie and common 5 and it can be no Objedtion, that to the underftanding of them, we muft make ufc of ordinary Means, and muft come prepared with fuitablc Dii- pofitions : This is what is neceflary in all other Things ; for every Thing is beft underftood by the fame Spirit by which it is writ. God has gone yet farther with us : Neceflary Truths are not only the moft common, but he has likewife made them the moft convincing, and has given them a Power, that is not eafily refifted. Ra- tional Arguments, however convincing they may feem, are uftjally repelled by Reafon 5 and it is hard to convince a Man by fuch Methods, that is equally Mafter of Reafon with our felves : Whereas Di- vine Truths make their own Way, they T 4 aft 28o Reflections aft upon us with a fecret Power, and prefs the Mind with an almoft irrefifla- ble Strength, and do not only perfwade, but almoft force an Affent : The firft only ad like Light, the other ftrike down and pierce us thro' like Lightning. Wc have as remarkable a Paffage to this Pur- ni^TT pofe (^), as moft in Ecclefiaftical Story 5 fin\fr which tho' well attefted, yet were it on- >-'-^-3- ly a Parable, the Moral of it might be of good Ufe. Upon the convening of the firft General Council at Nice, and the appearing of the Chriftian Bifhops there, feveral of the Heathen Philofophers ofFcr'd themfelves among the Sons of ^ God, intending to fignalize themfelves upon fo great an Occafion, by attacking the Faith in its moft eminent ProfefTorSy and by endeavouring to overthrow it by Philofophy and Reafon. To this End feveral Conferences were held upon the Principles of Reafon, by the moft noted Men of their Party 5 in which one of the Philofophers more forward than the reft, begun to grow infolent upon a fuppos'd Advantage, and muft needs triumph be- fore upon Learning. 28 1 fore Vidory : An aged Bifhop took fire at this, one who had been a Confcllbr in the late Perfecutiion, and was more noted for his Faith than Learning : Philofophy he had none, but encounters hi^ Adver- fary in a new Manner, in the Name of Jeftis, and by the Word of God, and with a few plain Weapons drawn from thence, he humbles the Pride of this ar- rogant Philofopher, and (Iraightway leads him Captive to the Font : All the Reply our Philofopher had left him, was, That ' while he was encountred by Philofophy and Humane Learning, he defended him- felf the fame Way ; but being attacked by higher Reafons, it was neceffary for him to yield himfelf up to the Power of God. Such is the Force of that Word, which fmiple vain Men fo much con- temn. What then muft we do > Arc we to give our felves up to this Word, and lay afide all Humane Learning ? I am far from thinking fo, and have already caution-d againft any fuch wild and Ana- baptiftical 82 Reflections baptifticai Conceit j thefe two may well confift. Learning is of good Ufe in ex- plaining this Word, and the Word ferves very well to lefTen our Opinion of Hu- man Learning : The former may be fer- viceable whilfl: it ads minifterially and in fubfervience to the latter s but being only a Hand-maid to Religion, when- ever it ufurps upon that, it is to be kept down and taught its Duty : It is ftill only Hu- mane Learning that is very weak and very defedive ; and after all the great Things that can be faid of it, and the Ufes that may be affignd it, it muft af- ter all be confefs'd that our Bible is our beft Book, and the only Book that can afford any true and folid Satisfadion : It is that which fatisfies and never fatiatcs j which the deeper it is look'd into, plea- fcth the more, as containing new and hid Trcafures, by the opening where-, of there always fprings up in the Mind frefh Plcafure and new Defire : Whereas Human Writings (like all Human Things) cloy by their Continuance 5 and we can fcarce read them the fecond Time with- out upon Learning, ? - out irkiomencfs, and oft-times not with- out naufeating thofe fine Things that plcaie fo wonderfully at the firft reading. The Sum of all is this, we bufie our felves in the Search of Knowledge, we tire out our Thoughts, and wafte our Spirits in this Purfuit, and afterwards flat- ter our felves with mighty Acquirements, and fill the World with Volumes of our Difcoveries : Whereas would we take as much Pains in difcovering our Weaknefs and Dcfefts, as we fpend Time in Often- tation of our Knowledge, we might, wdth half the Time and Pains, fee enough to fhew us our Ignorance j and might there- by learn truer Wifdom. We frame to our felves new Theories of the World, and pretend to meafure the Heavens by our Mathematical Skill (that is, Indefinite Space by a Compafs, or Span) whiift we know Jittle of the Earth we tread on, and every Thing puzzles us that we meet with there. We live upon the Earth, and moft Men think they reft upon it 5 and yet it is a very difficult Qucftion in Phi- iofophy^ 284 Reflections lofophy, Whether the Earth Refts or Moves : And is it not very wonderful that we fhould be fuch Strangers to the Place of our Abode, as to know Nothing, whether we reft there, or travel a daily Circuit of fome Thoufand Miles > We rack our Inventions to find out Natural Reafons for a Deluge of Waters, by fetching down Comets from above, and cracking the Cortex of the Earth to fur- ni(h out fufficient Stories for that Pur- pofe ; and yet from the Convexity of the Waters and Subfidence of the Shoire in fo many Places, it is hard to account ir\ the Courfe ot Nature, why there fiiould not be fome Deluge every Day : And perhaps Providence is the fureft Bar, that has fet Bounds 10 the Waters which they fhall not pafs. We are not only puzzled by Things without us, but we are Stran- gers to our own Make and Frame : For tho' we are convinced that we confift of Soul and Body, yet no Man hitherto has fufficiently defcrib'd the Union of thefe two, or has been able to explain, how Thought fhould move Matter 5 or how Matter upon Learning. 285 Matter fhould aft upon Thought : Nay, the moft minute Things in Nature, if duly confider'd, carry with them the great- eft Wonder, and perplex us as much as Things of greater Bulk and Shew. And yet we, who know fo Uttle in the fmalleft Matters, talk of nothing lefs than New Theories of the fVorldy and vaft Fields of Knowledge 5 bufying our felves in Natu- ral Enquiries, and flattering our felves with the wonderful Difcovcries and migh- ty Improvements that have been made in Humane Learning, a great part of which are purely imaginary ; and at the fame Time neglefting the only true and folid and fatisfadory Knowledge. Things that are obfcure and intricate wc purfuc with Eagernefs, whilft Divine Truths are ufually difregarded, only becaufe they are eafie and common : Or if there be fomc of an higher Nature, they fhall poffibly be rejefted, becaufe they arc above, or feem- ingly contrary to Reafon, whilft we ad- mit feveral other Things without fcruple which are not reconcilable with Revela- tion i tho' Reveal'd Truth be certainly Divine 5 86 Reflections Divine i and the other, either no Truths at all, or at the bcft, only Human. This fort of Conduct is very prepofterous ^ for, after all, true Wifdom and fatisfado- ry Knowledge is only to be had from Revelation 5 and as to other Truths which are to be colleded from Scnfe and Rea- fon, our Ignorance of them will always be fo much greater than our Knowledge, as there are a Thoufand Things wc are ignorant of, to one Thing that we through- ly know. ATTEN' upon Learning, 287 ^ T P E ND I X. WHILST I have been free in cenfuring others Faults, I ought to be ready to acknowledge my own. I never doubted but I was as fubjed to them as other Men 5 tho' upon a ferious Review of my Book 1 have not yet met with many, and fuch as I thought material I have correfted. The great Ob- jeftion that has been made by my Friends, is rather a Defed than a Fault. I am told by them, my Conclufion is too fhort, and that I ought to have enlargti upon the Neceffity of Revelation. This I am fenfible of, and freely own the Charge, but have neither Time nor Opportunity now to redrefs it : And befides the Ar- gument has been fo well and largely treat- ed 288 Reflections ed of by other Hands, that little new can be faid upon the Subjed. On the other fide, I have received Let- ters and Papers from fcveral Hands, which flatter me with an Opinion that I have done fomewhat well j fome of which it would have been an Advantage both to my Self and Book to have publifh'd : But I deny my Self herein, only make this fmall but grateful Acknowledgment to the Worthy Perfons from whom they came. And when the Word Infufficiency in the Title may be liable to Mifconftrudi- on, I underftand no more by it, but that Learning is imperfed and very dcfedivc in its leveral Particulars, as I explain my felf all along in the Book, and more par- ticularly in the Preface and Conclufiono FINIS. N -•. V ,0 *>4^.> //^ 'nc ^^' ty ^^^ ^f