upon the perpetuity of the Faith of the Church concerning the Eucharist and concerning Bertram in particular his Work intituled Ratramne otherwise Bertram the Priest of the Body and Blood of the Lord printed in Latin and French with an Advertisement wherein in shewn that this Author is a witness not suspicious of the Faith of the Church in the ninth Age at Roan in 12. But the efforts that a great number of Learned men made against the new Tenets which were introducing in that time were unprofitable Whereas those Tenets were too advantageous to the Court of Rome not to maintain them with all their might It lacked but one thing only which was to diminish the power of Emperors to whom they were submitted until then It worked powerfully therein and begun by publishing Suppositious pieces in vertue of which the Popes pretended that the Soveraignty of Rome and Italy belonged to them and that they had an universal Jurisdiction over all the Bishops of the World to that purpose tended the false Donation of Constantine to Pope Sylvester and the Epistles attributed to the first Bishops of Rome of which Blondel and several other learned men have shewn the falshood Notwithstanding the manners of the People Monks and Clergy were in the utmost corruption and a horrible account is given us of the depravation of the tenth Age drawn as well from the writings of modern Catholicks as from the Authors of that time The conduct of the whole Clergy from the Bishops of Rome with the least degree of Priests and Monks was so far from the duties which the Gospel prescribes us that there have been few Ages whilst Europe continued in Paganism more corrupt than that was This is so known that it 's needless to make a further stop thereat and those who would be instructed throughly in it may only consult Vsher and the Authors whom he cites The eleventh Age is in like manner described and they assure us that the year M. after the Birth of our Lord was afflicted with divers Prodigies besides War the Plague and Famine which ravaged Europe a long-time as it appears by the testimony of divers Authors which may be read in Vsher. In that time they reckoned amongst Prodigies the Comets and Eclipses and the Historians a little while after describe them to us in such frightful terms as if we never had seen any we should tremble for fear in reading what they say thereof But when once one hath a wounded imagination nothing ordinary and common is seen all is great and wonderful and we see even that which never was such as was perhaps the Dragon whereof Glaber Rodolphus speaks in his 11. book c. 8. The Saturday night before Christmasday was seen in the Air saith he a surprizing Prodigy a frightful Dragon which was all Shining with Light and which went from the North to the South The evils of that time and the reports of these prodigies true or false made it to be believed that the time was come in which Antichrist was to appear after that the Dragon should be untied This was probably enough grounded upon what is said in the Apocalypse that the Dragon was to be chained during a thousand years and then let loose These thousand years were reckoned from the Birth of our Lord by which the Devil had begun to lose his Power until that time This calculation was not new seeing it is found conformable to that of St. Hippolita's Martyr of St. Cyril and Chrisostome It appeared without doubt more just and better grounded so that they expected from day to day the coming of Antichrist and end of the World Many People made a difficulty to undertake any considerable business and even of re-establishing the Churches which were destroyed fearing they should work for Antichrist Lastly when they saw it did not come they were perswaded that they did not well understand the Propheâ—y and went about rebuilding the Churches and to live as before Richard Victorinus of Scotland who upon the relation of Iohn Major his Compatriot is the first who maintain'd that the Holy Virgin was exempted from Original Sin saith in his Commentary upon the xx Chap. of the Apocalypse that as to the Letter the thousand years were already accomplished a long time since but that it could not be known when Antichrist would come nor when the Serpent would be unloos'd Thus it is that the Interpreters of Prophecies which they understand not never miss of a back door to escape at when the event sheweth that they are mistaken There is a great likelihood that our age will furnish us with some examples of this truth As it 's desired in great evils to know if they shall last long those who of late have arrived to a great many Protestant Churches have made a great many to covet a knowledge of the time to come some thought they foresaw it in the obscurity of the Praedictions of the Apocalypse and have foretold it with sufficient boldness tho' they agree not amongst themselves no more than those who undertook to do the same thing the eleventh and twelfth age Glaber Rodolph saith that in effect the Devil was let loose in 1000 because one Vilgard who taught Grammar at Ravenna and some others had essayed in that time to re-establish Paganism But this event appears too inconsiderable to apply unto him what is said in the Apocalypse of the Dragon who was to be loos'd Also our Archbishop believes that Antichrist was not to be be looked for out of Rome and that the Devil was enough at liberty whilst in the Pontifical Chair sate a Magician such as was Sylvester II. if the Authors of that time may be believed and whilst great errours were brought into the Church as the infinite Power of Popes Transubstantiation and Prayers for the Dead And it is observ'd that Berengarius Wickliff and his Disciples have maintained that from that time this Prophecy of the Apocalypse begun to be accomplished There have been notwithstanding some who have believed that the thousand years were to begin at the Ascension of our Lord as Iohn Purvey saith and Wickliff seems not far from this thought in a place of his Trialogue which Vsher cites Some persons had already been of this opinion in the time of St. Augustin as he testifies in his City of God l. XVIII c. 53. But these people speak with more precaution than the others for they did not positively say that the World would end 1000 years after the Ascension of Jesus Christ but only that it might be that there were but a thousand years from this term unto his last coming annos mille ab Ascensione Domini usque ad ultimum ejus adventum compleri posse One of the new Interpreters of the Apocalypse hath said the same with much prudence that the present Persecution may end in three years and a half God if he will saith he elsewhere can reckon the three years and half of the death of
perfect and we know not what those meant who had the care of this Edition in putting in the Latin Title Opus integrum unless these words signifie only that there have been inserted in divers places additions which the Author had made 1. For to conceive well the change which happened by little and little in the Christian Church we must begin at the Original and consider the State in which it was for the first six Ages Hegesippus assures us that during the Life of the Apostles Hereticks scarcely durst appear but that as soon as these Holy men were dead a great number of them were seen openly to oppose the truth In that time divers Philosophers attacked the Christian Religion with so much the more boldness that the Christians were destitute of Persons who could refute the Pagan Religion and defend Christianity with sufficient eloquence This is what Lactantius testifies in these words Si qui sorte literatorum ad eam contulerunt defensioni ejus veritatis non suffecerunt And a little lower after having named Minucius Faelix Tertullian and Cyprian quia defuerunt apud nostros idonei peritique Doctores qui vehementer qui acriter errores publicos redarguerent qui causam omnem veritatis ornate copioseque desenderent provocavit quosdam hac ipsa penuria ut auderent scribere contra ignotam sibi veritatem This scarcity of able men made many Hereticks to slip in amongst the Christians and easily seduced the weak and ignorant who were in a very great number But as soon as there were Christian Emperours the corruption was much greater pleasures began to be introduced into the Christian Church and amongst Ecclesiasticks there appear'd Enmities and Divisions And because Bishops were rich and considerable they made use of all manner of means to attain Bishopricks and when they came to it they assumâ—d a Tyrannical Authority These disorders always encreased until they came to a great head as Vsher shews is too evident by many passages of famous Authors who have left us frightful Characters of the corruption of their Ages It encreased particularly in the time of Boniface III. who came to the Chair in Dcvi and who obtained of the Emperor Phocas the title of Ecumenick Bishop and Chief of the Church The Historians of that time describe this Phocas as the wickedest man in his Age and Cedrenus saith that a holy Monk having asked of God several times why he had made Phocas Emperour a voice from Heaven at last answered him Because I have found none worse This History true or false marks the horrour People had for the memory of Phocas Vsher believes that it was then that Antichrist came into the World and that he was during some Ages but in his Childhood Boniface according to him contributed not a little to the establishing and extending his Empire Yet there were Assemblies held and couragious Persons found that opposed the progresses of certain Tenets who have much contributed to the Grandeur of the Ecclesiasticks in general and Popes in particular amongst which our Author seeks for Antichrist as most part of the Protestants do A Council composed of cccxxxviii Bishops condemned in the year Dccliv at Constantinople the worship of Images and gave this reason for their proceeding that there is but one Image instituted by Jesus Christ to wit the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist which represent his Body and Blood Although the second Council of Nice opposed it and re-established the worship of Images in Dcclxxxvii These Canons were rejected in the West by the Churches of great Britain as our Archbishop shews by divers English Authors The Churches of Germany and France did the like in Dccxciv in the Council of Francfort the History of which may be seen as well as that oâ— Nice in a Dissertation of Mr. Alix's intituled Dissertatio de Conciliorum quorumvis definitionibus expendendis at Paris 1680 in 8 vo Charlemagne writ himself against Images and sent what he writ to Pope Adrian who had had his Legates at the Council of Nice and who had approved thereof But it is not the custom of Popes to learn Religion from any one Adrian had no respect to the remonstrances of Charlemagne whom he endeavoured even to refute the Images were adored at Rome as much then as before and his Successors did as much as he 'T was this that obliged Lewis the meek to convocate in DCCCXXV an Assembly of learned men at Paris who examined the question of Images and condemned their worship They even collected a great many passages out of the Ancients who disapproved them and sent them to Pope Eugenius II. by Ieremy Bishop oâ— Sens and Ionas Bishop of Orleance with order to treat mildly of this Affair fearing that in resisting too much they should engage him to an obstinacy whence he would not recede In DCCCXXXIII The Sons of Lewis the meek having conspired against him the rumour run in France that Gregory the fourth was onward in his way to come thither to excommunicate Lewis and those of his party but the Bishops who were engaged in the Interests of this Prince declared that they would submit in no wise to his will and that if he came to excommunicate them he would return himself excommunicated Vsher besides relates divers other examples by which it appears that the Liberty of the Churches of France and Germany was not yet quite extinguished even at the end of the tenth Age seeing it was thought strange that a Cardinal sent from Rome blessed a Chappel in the Diocess of Tours without the permission of the Bishop of that City There are also remarkable words of Arnulph Bishop of Orleance in a Council of Rheims held in DCCCCXCII where he saith speaking of the Pope If he is destitute of Charity and pufft up only with his Knowledge he is the Antichrist who is seated in the Temple of God and who shews himself as if he was a God But if he has neither Charity nor Wisdom he is in the Temple of God as a Statue or as an Idol from whom an answer can be no more expected than from a Marble Si caritate destituitur solaque scientiâ inslatur extollitur Antichristus est in Templo Dei sedens se ostendens tanquam sit Deus Si autem caritate fundatur nec scientia erigitur in Templo Dei tanquam Statua tanquam Idolum est à quo responsa petere marmora consulere est If this principle of Arnulph is true it 's requisite the Defendors of Popes discover by what wonder they are all full of Charity and Learning altho' they appear in our eyes either Ignorant or Proud and oftentimes both together Vsher then sheweth how that the Tenet of Transubstantiation was much resisted which began to be introduced in the ninth Age. He rangeth among the Defenders of the spiritual presence Rabanus Maurus Bertram Iohn Scot Erigene and several others upon which we may consult Mr. Arnauld and Claude in their dispute
Choice of such a Person as pleases us and who has an agreeable Temper It wou'd not be unpleasing to have her handsome but since 't is not very common to find such a one we ought to be contented if she please us whether she does others or no and that 't is not always advantageous for the Wife to please all the World But 't is not sufficient to be pleas'd with her Beauty except there be a Sympathy in Humours The Author advises us to study the Genius of those we design to marry that may the better succeed in spight of the Address that some make use of to hide their weakness he adds for the better security that we may choose one that is young and resides near our own habitation In the first place he advises to a choice in a well ordered Family and to observe the equality of Condition and Fortune and to take care that she has no such pre-engagements as may make her marry him by constraint To these things only which regard the Lover he adds two others for the choice of a Husband which relate both to Women and Children he adviseth them upon the whole to a conjugal Amity good Example Devotion and Moderation in the pleasures of the Bed and gives good reasons for what he says There is upon this subject also one of the elegant Epistles of Anthoninus de Guerre's Advice touching the Education of Children In fine we may say without flattering Mr. Chause that there appears in the whole Book the Character of an honest Man and good Christian without prejudicing his Favour we may see besides good Wit much reading of the ancient Poets many things that divert the Reader at the same time that they instruct him I believe that a good part of Mankind wou'd be glad that this Work might have the same Success that the discourse of Socrates had at Xenophon's Feast this great Philosopher so sensibly touch'd the Guests in speaking to 'em of Love that those amongst 'em who were yet Batchellors made Vows to marry and those that had Wives immediately took Horse and ran full speed home that they might soon embrace their Wives 'T is a good Observation that the Author who in his Book exhorted Men to marry says not a word to perswade Virgins to the same He well foresaw that this Silence would surprize some of his Readers therefore he has put 'em out of pain in the Preface by acquainting them that Virgins are sufficiently convinced of the necessity of Marriage therefore want no Exhortations thereto 't is certain says he that though a Virgin never proposes Marriage because of her modesty there is nothing she so passionately wishes for her Heart often gives her Mouth the Lye she often says I will not when sometimes she dyes for desire The rest of the Passage ought to be read The Lives of Saints and Saintesses drawn from the Fathers of the Church and Ecclesiastical Authors Tom. 11 4to at Paris 1687 with Approbation of the Doctors WE have not seen the first Volume of this Work but 't is sufficient to give an Idea to the Reader of it and the other Ten that are to follow because 't is apparent the Saints in Ianuary and other Months have not been less fruitful in Miâ—acles than those of February whose Lives are contained in this Second Tome But two of the Licensers assure us that the Author continues to give Marks therein of his Exactness and great Judgment Tho' the Month of February hath but 28 Days yet there are more than 60 Lives in this Volume without reckoning that one Life sometimes includes the History of several Saints They are all Edifying at least for those who suffer themselves to be gained rather by Declamations than solid Reasons who are only touched with Noble Actions rather than with what is related in a Sublime and Periodick Style In the Title the Authors which are made use of are commonly marked and the place is sometimes marked in the Margen Neither do the Licensers fail to say that tho' Men make a kind of Religion of Piously cheating others in the matter that the Author treateth on after having first abused themselves He on the contrary advanceth no fact but for which he hath Witnesses which cannot in Reason be denyed being perswaded that how bright soever the Actions of Saints are they alwayes makes less Impression upon the hearts of Men as soon as there is any Ground to doubt of them It were a thing to be desired that not only the Lives of the Ancients that have been Canonized were given to the Publick but also a compleat Ecclesiastical History written in a Style as pure as that of this Book Such another Work would be extreamly profitable providing the Author always kept the Character of an Historian and fell not into the ways of Preachers eâ—pâ—cially of the Catholicks It may be that Vertuous Actions that would be read therein would make more Impression upon the Mind and would more Efficaciously oblige the Readers to imitate them such is that which the Author relates of the Solitary Moses which Maria Queen of the Sarazins asked of the Emperour Valens to be Bishop of the Christians of her Nation He was brought to Lucius Bishop of Alexandria who was an Arian to be Consecrated but Moses would not receive from him the Imposition of Hands because he had dipped them in Blood and defiled them by the Death of a great many Saints Lucius who imagined that the refusal of this Hermit came from this that he believed him an Heretick answered him That not knowing which was the Faith it was against Justice that he should thus treat him before he knew him Your Faith replyed Moses shews it self clearly by your Actions So many Servants of God banished so many Priests and Deacons Relegated into Countries where Jesus Christ is not known exposed as a Prey to wild Beasts or consumed by Fire are convincing proofs of the Impiety of your Belief For we know that these Excesses are infinitely opposed to Jesus Christ and unworthy of all those who have the Sentiments which they ought to have Ethelbert was made a Saint who was first King of Kent that embraced Christianity and he certainly deserves it were it for nothing but the Sweetness with which he received the Preachers Pope Gregory I sent him The Monk Augustine was the chief of them and was accompanied with Forty others Before they came into England he stopped in the Isle of Thanet which is on the East of the Province of Kent whence he sent word to the King that he came from Rome to bring excellent News to those that would believe him and would follow the Advices he would give them seeing they would be certain to Reign everlastingly with the True God and of enjoying Heaven and all manner of Happyness Some time after the King himself went to meet those Missioners and speak to them in these terms These are fine words and
the Court of the Gentiles into that of the Women by three Gates which were at the East South and North that which was at the West was for to pass from the Court of the Women into that of Israel They ascended to this Gate of the Court of Israel by fifteen steps for the ground of this was higher by ten foot than that of the Women This gate was called the Gate of Nicanor Iosephus saith it was of brass and that twenty men could scarcely open it Amongst the Presages that preceded the ruin of Ierusalem one of them that most surprised was that which happened to this Gate which being well locked and bolted with great barrs of brass opened of it self one night and no man meddled with it The Court of Israel was imbellished within with a Porch which extended all round about the Temple and which was supported by a rank of Marble Pillars except in places where there was some building which advancing it self within side did hinder the continuation thereof Lightfoot hath carefully sought after the names and usages of these different buildings and of the gates that were between both But it shall suffice here to remark that men entred into the Court of Israel by six gates besides those we have named There were on the North three on the South three The other two were on the East opposite to the Altar of Burnt offerings those of the middle were over against the Holy place and the two others over against the Holiest of all The Court of Israel was properly called the space that was betwixt the Pillars of the Porch and the Wall It was about 16 foot and an half in breadth and was 140 paces in length The square space between the Porch and the Frontispiece of the Temple was called the Court of the Priests whereof the ground was higher by some feet than that of the Court of Israel On the right and left of the Gate of Nicanor there were two Pulpits which were equal in height to the Ground of the Court of the Priests where the Levites which sang the holy song were accustomed to place themselves At the corner of the Court upon the right as you came in were to be seen Marble Tables Pillars and Buckles of Iron fasten'd to the Pavement there they Sacrificed slead and washed the victims On the other side was the Altar of Burnt offerings This Altar was 15 foot high and that the service might be made therein there was made a kind of an ascent of stone without stairs of 48 feet in length This Altar was squared and was above 36 feet in circuit but it was much more large at the bottom At the end of the ascent was a large edge of a foot and a half broad upon which the Priests ascended to adjust the Wood of the Altar to lay thereon the Victims and to rub with Blood the four Horns of the Altar which extended themselves from the corners of the edge unto the Top. Lightfoot upon the occasion of the Altar proposes some difficulties which he thinks cannot be resolved without having the Jews recourse to a Miracle 1. It cannot be comprehended how it was possible to offer in a few days upon so little an Altar such a prodigious number of Victims such as the Scripture sometimes speaketh of as when it is said that Solomon offered in 14 days 22000 Bullocks and 26000 small Cattle 1 Kings 8.63 They must therefore needs have offered more than 1500 Oxen and above 8000 other Victims a day Tho' all these Victims were not to be intirely burned it 's yet very difficult to conceive how they could burn the very Fat of their Entrails and Kidneys 2. The Blood of so many Beasts would make one think that all the Court must be overwhelm'd and have drawn an infinity of Flies together and caused a great stink 3. The Smoak and Scent of so much flesh burnt should have necessarily stifled those that were about the Altar He answereth to the first difficulty that Solomon offered not only upon the Altar but in the middle of the Court as the History testifies it and that the Fire from Heaven is infinitely more quick than ordinary Fire to the second that by a perpetual Miracle there never was a Fly in the Court of the Priests and that the Blood ran in an instant by subterranean Chanels which brought it to a sink made for that use and to the third that by a third Miracle the Smoak did rise always directly upwards what wind soever there was so that it did not incommode those who were imployed in the Court. Now to come back to his dimensions it was about 50 paces in length from the East to the West and almost twice as many in breadth We shall not mark the Basons nor the other Vessels that were in it because our design is only to describe the prinpal parts of the Building Those that would be instructed throughly therein may consult Lightfoot himself On the West of this Court was the Frontispiece of Solomon's Porch by which they entred into the Holy place The Top of the Holy Mount was not even but it extended it self from the East to the West the Threshold of the Entry of Solomon's Porch was 33 foot higher than that of the Gate of Susan This Frontispiece was 150 foot broad and 180 high It was of a new white Marble after the manner of Jasper and of a Structure equally fair and solid The Gate was sixty foot high and thirty broad and was all imbellished with Gold which gave a great lustre and which appeared very far off The body of the Temple which was but 100 foot broad and 150 high was behind the Porch It comprehended the Holy Place and the Holiest of all and divers Chambers above and on all sides Although the Roof of the House was almost flat the middle was more elevated and formed as a new Stage higher than the Apartments that were on the North and South This Top was garnished quite round with a kind of a Rail as was common for all the Tops of Houses in Iudea I shall stay no longer on this Description Lightfoot can fully furnish the curious wherewithal to satisfie themselves farther about the difference betwixt the Dimensions of the Temple of Solomon of that which was rebuilt at the Return from Captivity and of that of Herod their different Uses Apartments Places where the Priests and Levites kept Guard at night the changes of the place where the great Sanhedrim were to sit and the disposition and figure of the Cherubims and of the Ark which giveth him an occasion to expound the manner whereby Ezekiel Isaiah and Iohn in the Apocalypse describe the mysterious symbol of the Presence of God In fine we may see here a compleat Treatise of the Temple of Ierusalem drawn from the Scripture from Iosephus and the Doctors of the Thalmud 6. After having given an Idea of the Temple and of all its parts there
4. What he hath remarked upon the Sea-Water which is on the side of Berkelse-Sea is also very Curious The bottom of the Sea is very marshy in that place In Winter it appears very clear in the middle of Summer it begins to whiten and in the midst are seen as it were small green Clouds Mr. Lewenhook having filled a Glass with this Cloudy Water and stirred it after having let it settle a whole day hath remarked in it as it were Strings of a Spiral Figure and thick as Hairs composed of small green Gâ—obules where were also an Infinity of small Animals round or oval figur'd which were of different Colour and moved on all sides but very slowly and which appeared a thousand times less than the least of those which are seen in Cheese Fruits or in Moldiness 5. Finally having exhal'd the Solution of Salt he found that the Saline Particles were either Round Pyramidal or Quadrangular and very polished An Extract of an English Iournal containing some Observations made upon the Salts and Oyls of mix'd Bodies MR. Coxes who made these Observations finds much probability in the Opinion of Vanhelmont who saith That the variety of Brimstone commonly makes the diversity of Species in the Mixt and that the most considerable Changes are made by the Separation of a Sulphurous Nature and by the Introduction of a new one This Brimstone is not a simple Body but inflamable and in form of Oyl This Oyl which is drawn commonly with the Water includes the principal Qualities of the mix'd But the Salts as well fix'd as volatile restore the Earth and Water to their elementary Simplicity if they retain not something of this Specifick Oyl So the fix'd or volatile Salts are different among themselves but proportionably as they yet retain some mixture of these Oyls Let one take some volatile Salt whatever let it be sublimated in a Vessel of Glass high enough for a gentle Heat let this Operation be reiterated several times it shall be found that there still remaineth some Oyl at the bottom of the Vessel and the Salts being deprived of this Oyl shall become very homogenious But because it is hard to rule the Fire so justly that no Oyl shall be mixed with Salts they may all be reduced to a certain Simplicity by a more easie way Spirit of Salt well rectified must be poured upon a certain quantity of volatile Salt a little purified When there shall be no more Ebullition and that the Salt shall be enough the Phlegm must be separated from it which is done with a mild Heat This Phlegm will carry with it some portion of the volatile Salt Sublimate what remains and you shall have good Armoniack Salt Mix it with an equal quantity of good Alcali Salt well calcin'd or pour upon it good and strong Grounds of an Alcali because the volatile Salts do not so well mix with the fixed as the Acids do the least degree of Heat shall sublimate the volatile Salt deprived of all its Oyl and by this means all the volatile Salts are reduced to certain common Proprieties What all these Artificial Operations do is yet more easily effected in the Air which is full of volatile Salts which are sublimated from Subterranean Places from Plants from Animals The Air depriveth these Salts of their Oyl but being dissolved in the Rain or in the Dew and carried in Vegetables they are specified by the other Principles tho' they may be easily reduc'd by Nature or Art to their first Simplicity The same Uniformity is the Spirits that have the taste of Wine which are nothing but the most subtle Oyl of Vegetables which are as it were pounded by Fermentation into lesser Branches than the Oyl For before the Fermentation there is Oyl drawn from it but not Winy Spirits after the Fermentation there remaineth a little Oyl and even after the Fermentation of a Plant when you draw the Oyl from it you 'll scarcely have any thing of the Winy Spirit When this Spirit takes with it some part of this Oyl whose Branches remain whole it puts difference among the Spirits but when after several Digestions or reiterated Distillations these oleagenous parts are cut into lesser Branches or that the degree of Heat which raiseth the Winy Spirits cannot raise those grosser Oyls what difference soever there was in the whole Bodies these Spirits became very homogenious and this is seen in changing the Oyls of Vegetables into a Winy Spirit which is done in several manners Put upon an Ounce of the essential Oyl of a Vegetable two or three Pounds of the Spirit of Wine well dephlegmed the Spirit immediately by a simple Agitation devoureth this Oyl and changeth it in its Nature New Experiments drawn from the English Iournal ONE of the principal Vertues of Salts which are drawn from Plants is to make the Image of these Plants to revive and appear in all its Beauty It hath been doubted a long time whether the Thing can be done Some do even as yet doubt thereof But the Experiments which have been made in France Italy Denmark and elsewhere suffer us no more to doubt on 't Mr. Coxes hath lately made some in England upon this Subject and he writeth that having drawn a great deal of Salt of Fern and dissolved a part thereof by the damp Air after having dryed it the rest of the Grounds being filtred became as red as pure Blood This colour denoted that there remained many Sulphurous Parts He put this Solution into a great Vessel or Bottle of Glass where after it had rested five or six Weeks a great part of the Salt fell to the bottom and became browner whereas the upper remained white And then it was that upon the Surface of this Salt there was seen to rise up a Fern in great quantity When the Fern was burned it was as yet betwixt dry and green So the Salt was as it were Tartarous and Essential being dryed by a great Fire it diminished much in Weight and became whiter because there had been before some Oyl and some Acid. Having mixed equal Parts of these Ashes which came from the North and which are called in English Pot-Ashes with Armoniack Salt there arose immediately a volatile Salt and some time after he saw appear a Forest of Pines Deals and of another kind of Trees which he knew not An Extract of a Letter of Mr. Hugens of the Royal Academy of Sciences to the Author of the Iournal of the Learned concerning the Catoptrick Glass of Mr. Newton I Send you the Figure and Description of Mr. Newton's Telescope As to my Opinion which you desire to know touching this new Invention though I have not as yet seen its effect I think I may say it is Fine and Ingenious and that it will succeed provided there be Matter found for the Concave Looking-Glasses which may be capable of a lively and even polishing as that of Glass which I do not despair of The Advantages of
like all others of Levin of Wine of Beer c. by the Spirits that agitate it and throw it up He says that the Motion and Agitation of these Spirits ought to have its Periods even independently of all exterior Causes as we see in Critical Days and in all sorts of Fermentations So Winds blow by Gusts and the Surges of the Sea are unequal the tenth being more violent than the others And by that he gives a Reason why Lakes have not a Flux and Reflux the Water being very pure and by consequence have not these Spirits that agitate it from time to time and why Tides are greater in some places than others is more difficult to conceive in his Opinion than the Reason why Vines thrive more in some places than in others The Moon according to his Judgment may determine these Spirits and contribute to their Agitation from whence it comes that the Periods of the Tides agree so exactly with those of this Planet And he pretends 't is as probable as to say That the Moon concurs to the Effects which cause Melancholy in Lunaticks by the Temperament that it produces in the Air which is dispersed every where but he does not think that the Moon excites these Spirits precisely by its Heat for we see that an extraordinary Heat often hinders these Fermentations It may be adds he that it mingles some Spirits with the Light which are devolved with those of the Sea Thus we see 't is not Cold only which produces Ice upon the Water but that certain Vapours mingling themselves therewith assist in the Coagulation An Extract of an English Iournal containing Remarks upon Mr. Plot 's History of Oxfordshire THE Remarks upon Oxfordshire are only the Inventions which many Learned Men of that Province have at divers times made known to the Publick The First is An Instrument invented by Sir Christopher Wren to know the Changing of the Weather which therefore is called the Weather-Clock This Instrument serves also to discover the Cause of the Good or Bad Air and to prevent the mischievous Accidents which proceed from the last The Second is Another Instrument invented by the same Person to know exactly the Quantity of Rain which falls in a Years Time in such a Space of Earth as shall be determined The Third is A Striking Clock invented by Mr. Iohn Iones the Motion whereof is caused by the Air of a Pair of Bellows and this Air has the same Effect as the best Spring in the World The Fourth is A way how to prevent Stacks of Hay from taking Fire and Rats and Mice Eating of Corn. The Fifth is A Mill which Grinds Corn Breaks Stones and does other things all at the same Time The Sixth and Last is Also a Mill which at the same Time makes Cyder and Mustard Grinds Corn and passes Meal through four different Shutters altogether or separately by the Labour of one Man and an Horse An Extract of an English Iournal containing many Experiments made with Phosphorus prepared by Dr. Slare of the Royal Society THere are two Sorts of Phosphorus the Liquid and the Solid which are not materially different being both drawn from the Body of Man That which is Liquid is a Substance mixed with a Liquor which although burning when it is in a Solid Mass cannot spoil nor even heat a Hand how delicate soever it may be when it is washed therewith If this Phosphorus be stopt very close it preserves not its Light much longer nevertheless in one of those Experiments that I have made I observed for five or six different and successive Times a kind of Darting although the Vial was close-stop'd which made me conclude The Experiment was the same with the shining Phosphorus of Dr. Esholt its Darting bearing some Resemblance to Lightning The Solid Phosphorus is not materially different from the Liquid as I have already said being made chiefly of Urine I am convinced one might do as much with the Blood if it could be had as easily and in as great a Quantity since Urine is only the Serum of the Blood passed by the Reins The Substance of this Phosphorus may be made as Transparent as any Rosinous Body and melts in hot Water like Wax When it is covered all over in Water it ceaseth to shine but as soon as any little part thereof escapes and gains the Air it shines again although the Vial was sealed Hermetically I have kept it without Water many Days in a very large Vial and although it always shined its Brightness or Weight diminished not at all or so little that it was not discernable The Pieces of this solid Phosphorus are some of 'em much more inflamable than others Some of 'em one may take in ones Hand without Danger but others that take Fire and burn as soon as ever they are touched if the Hand be never so little warm We have seen a Piece weighing about two Drachms which taking Fire in a Chamber where there was no Candle and distant from us light like a Faggot and burnt the Carpit and Table whereon it was laid This Sort of Phosphorus ought to be managed only by Men of Experience and Wisdom With that which is not so inflamable one may make Characters upon a blank Paper which in the Dark appear like Rays of Light but if it comes near the Fire these same Characters as soon as they are warm change Dark and continue so for as long a Time as good Ink will This Light is very diffusive of it self I have made with this new manner of Pencil above an hundred Characters without wasting a twentieth part of it Half a Grain laid upon my Hand communicated its Brightness to the utmost extent of it and so continued all Night the Hand shining also the next Day A Grain of this Substance exposed to the open Air flamed for seven or eight Days so that during the Day shutting the Windows of my Closet I cou'd always perceive it stiring and when I look'd very earnestly I could see a whitish Flame come out of it into the circumambient Air. After all the Matter was consumed there remained no Cinders but only a little Moisture which had an acid Taste but having left off to consume the more gross Portion there was found much more Moisture which had the Taste of the Oil of Sulphur This made me remember That the greatest part of my Friends who saw this Experiment called it a Sulphurous Flame Indeed it seemed that in all its Proprieties it had more relation to Sulphur than Saline Concretes chiefly because of its inflammability and because it did not destroy itself nor dissolve in Water An Extract of an English Iournal containing the manner how with many singular Experiments of Preserving Fish Butter Flesh Fowls Fruits and Roots in a very good Estate and for a long Time THis is done only by the means of Salt upon which he observes 1. That refined Salt is the best of all to salt Fish
very People who make use of it are ashamed thereof when Superstition and Cruelty leave them any interval to think with a little more calmness on what they do This is so true that most of those which have abondoned themselves to the blind Zeal of Superstition have made use of the same artifices Our Age hath seen an illustrious Example of it and if we compare what Gregory saith hereof and the evil Crafts of Iulian with what hath been done not long since in a great Kingdom there will be a great Similitude found betwixt them We shall pass it by here fearing lest it should be thought that we have a mind to stop at a Parallel so Odious as this 6. Amongst the Reasons whereof Gregory makes use to shew that Iulian could not succeed in his Design he thus describes the power of the Saints which Christians honoured Have you not feared those to whom so great Honor is done and for whom solemn Feasts have been established by which Devils have been driven away and Diseases cured whose Apparitions and Predictions are known whose very Bodies have as much Virtue as their holy Souls whether they are touched or honoured of whom some drops of Blood only have the same Virtue as their Bodie We see by these Words and divers places of Gregory and other Fathers of his time that there was then a great deal of Respect had to the Relicks of Saints and that a great many Miracles were said to be done at their Graves It is astonishing that Gregory who loved inlarging hath not said even that the Bodies of Saints had more Virtue after their Death than during their Life for there is no comparison between the multitude of Miracles which were said to be done at the Graves of Martyrs and those which they did whilst alive Many People believe that the Falshood of some Christians and the Credulity of some others contributed much to hold up Paganism 7. Our Author makes a Panegyrick upon the Monks in the sequel after having despised Socrates and Plato and all the Pagan Philosophers Gregory reproacheth Iulian that he did not love Virtue in his Enemies but certainly Zeal made him commit here some such thing and it is very certain that he had infinitely learned more out of Plato and the Discourses of Socrates than in the Conversation of all the Monks that he had seen As to their Lives the endless Seditions of those Pious Hermits and their implacable Humor shew sufficiently that they were infinitely beneath these great Models of Pagan Antiquity 8. He remarketh very well that to be desirous to ruin the Christian Religion in a time wherein the Roman Empire was full of Christians was to undertake to ruin the very Empire When they were in a small number they could not be ill treated without Prejudice to the State but when they were numerous they could not be engaged without causing great Convulsions and too much disorder It were to be desired that the Imitators of Iulian had well weighed this Advertisement of Gregory who despiseth most justly all the good that could accrew from the Government of Iulian in comparison with the evil that so detestable a Design would have caused if he had been able to put it in Execution It were yet to be wished that our Age had been well instructed in the Horror which the Snares that Iulian by his Officers and Soldiers laid for Christians Gregory saith that some Christian Soldiers having one day when Iulian gave some Liberality to his Army cast Incense in his Presence into the fire according to an ancient Custom usually interpreted as if they had burned Incense to the Idols Nevertheless many others had done it without any Reflection and being admonished of their Fault as they invocated Iesus Christ making the sign of the Cross after their Meal by some one that told them they had renounced him they went immediately crying out in the Market-place and in the Ears of the Emperor that they had been surprized and that they were Christians Iulian provoked at the mistake banished them 9. Gregory describes some horrid Cruelties against the Christians which Iulian had authoris'd in Egypt and Syria He saith that the Inhabitants of Arethusa a City of Syria after having made Young-Women consecrated to God suffer a thousand Indignities killed them eat their Livers all raw and gave their Flesh to Swine to feed on covering it with Barly These People treated with an abominable Barbarity the Bishop of this City who notwithstanding appeared almost insensible in his Torments and Gregory marks that this Bishop in the time of Constantius exercis'd having liberty from the Emperor an Habitation of Devils to wit a Pagan Church This Action of Mark of Arethusa had drawn upon him the Hatred of the People as a Pagan would have been detested by the Christians if he had destroyed one of their Churches Notwithstanding Gregory a little lower saith not only that the Christians did not Treat the Pagans as they had been Treated by them But he asketh of them What Liberty Christians had taken from them As if it were nothing to pull down their Temples as was done since the Reign of Constantine They continued with the same Rigor under the following Emperors and that they might be Reproacht with nothing of Paganism it was Prohibited on pain of Death to Sacrifice to Idols with the Applause of all the Christians if St. Augustin can be believed We must not forget to Remark here another effect of the Rhetorick of Gregory It is that in speaking of the Christian Young Women of Aretâ—usa who had been so Abused he Accuses not only the Pagans but also makes an Apostrophe to our Lord thus O Iesus Christ how shall I suffer the pain which you had then 10. Iulian added Insults also to his ill Treatments and in taking away the Christians Goods he said he only assisted them to observe the Gospel which commanded 'em to despise the things of this Life This Railery is in the forty third Letter of Iulian where he saith that the Church of the Arians at Edessa having done some Violence to the Valentinians he had Confiscated all their Mony to distribute it to the Soldiers and kept their Goods to himself fearing lest the Arians being too Rich could not get into the Kingdom of Heaven Gregory Answers to this amongst other things that Iulian acting thus made as if he imagin'd that the Gods of the Heathens thought it necessary that People should be deprived of their Goods without deserving it and that they approved of Injustice He might have been satisfied with this Answer but he adds that there are things which Iesus Christ hath commanded as necessary and others which he hath simply proposed for those that would observe them without indispensibly obliging any one to do it Such is according to Gregory the Commandment of abandoning the Wealth of this World 11. One thing for which they abused
Sweetness and admirable Purity of Manners a perfect uniformity of Conduct penetration of Judgment Application Vigilance constant Love for Truth and for Justice chiefly a solid Piety which makes him act secretly in the eyes God alone as if he were seen of all Men. So many Vertues have well deserved that in an Age so little advanced he is made Chief of the Counsel of Finances and justifies each day so good a choice and shews that the King is a just Dispenser of his Favours and has the Supream Gift of discerning Minds Happy is he whose Memory we Honour to have so worthy an Heir of his Name and Vertues And we should not be less happy to give him a Successor among us tho' having chosen you Sir to repair so great a loss we hope you will publickly aâ—low our choice and perfectly answer our Expectation The Academy asketh nothing of you for it self that you are not obliged to do for your self You owe it to the Reputation you have acquired by your Works you owe it to the Blood you derive from the Grand-Chancellor of the Hospital your Third Grand-Father more Illustrious still by his Excellent Writings than the Eminence of the First Employment of the Kingdom you owe it in fine to your Illustrious Mother which may be compared to the Cornelia's who speaks her Tongue with so much Grace and Purity and who having made you receive such Eloquence from her Breast hath given us occasion to believe that you were born for the Academy and that you were Educated for it in the Arms and Lap of the Muses themselves But what Talent soever you may have for Eloquence the New Obligation that you have to Consecrate your Studies to the Glory of Lewis the Great our August Protector will make you more and more feel how difficult it is to speak worthily of a Prince whose Life is a contiual Series of Prodigies Poets complain they have not Expressions enough to Represent the Marvelousness of his Exploits and Historians on the contrary that they have not Simplicity enough to keep so many Marvels from being supposed so many Fictions What Art what Application what Conduct must not one have to present a probability of the great things which he hath done I speak not of his Astonishing Valour who hath taken as it were in running a Race the strongest Cities of the World and from before which the most numerous Armies have always fled for fear of a Fight I think now only on this Glorious Peace which we enjoy and which was made in a time when there were on every side nothing but Provocations by our Victories nothing but the States declaring themselves Enemies to our Interest nothing but Princes jealous of our Advantages all with different and incompatible pretentions How then appeared on a sudden this happy Peace It is a Miracle of the Wisdom of Lewis the Great that Policy cannot comprehend And as he alone was able to give it to all Europe he alone also is able to keep it How much of Action of Insights into matters of Provision is there in him to cause that so many free States and whose Interests are so contrary should submit to the terms that he hath prescribed unto them We must equally see what is past and what is to come as well as what is to have a Genius of an extraordinary force and extent which no Affair burthens that no Object deceiveth which no Difficulty stoppeth such in fine as is the Genius of Lewis the Great which is dispersed thro' all the parts of Europe and which is included therein acting both without and within with an unconceivable power It is as far as the utmost Bounds of the Earth that you have heard of so many holy Missions maintain'd by the continual Aid of his Power and Piety It is in Foreign Courts where it conducts and enlightens their Ministers that we only need to Read and Hear what his Prudence hath Dictated It is in the Frontiers of the Kingdom where he Fortifies after such a manner unravels our Enemies Designs and makes 'em all despair It is at the Ports where he builds those Prodigious Vessels which carry through all the World the Glory of the French Name It is in the Academy of War and Sea-Affairs where Noble Education joyned with the Nobleness of Blood produces Wit and Courage equally capable of Command and Execution in the greatest Enterprises It is in fine every where and causeth that every thing is ruled as it should be The Garisons always Crowded the Magazins always full the Arsenals always guarded the Troops always in breath and after the Travels of War are now busied in Magnificent Works which are the Fruits of Peace Thus it is that this great Prince acting at the same time on all sides and doing things which continually inspire Terror to his Enemies Love to his Subjects and Admiration to all the World can in spight of Hatred Jealousies and Mistrusts preserve the Peace which he has made because there is no State which seeth not how dangerous it would be to break it Some of the Princes of the Empire seemed to have some Thoughts and begun to form new Leagues But the King always equally Just and Wife not willing to surprise nor be surprised sent the Emperour word that if in two days after the date of his Declaration he received not positive Assurances from him of the Observation of the Truce he would take the Measures which he thought necessary for the good of his State His Troops at the same time Fly on the Borders of Germany and the Emperour gives him all the Assurances which he could desire Thus Europe oweth him a second time the Rest and Tranquility which it enjoyeth Spain on the other hand had done an Injustice to our Merchants and constrained them to pay a violent Tax under pretence they Negotiated in the Indies against the Ordinances The King suddenly to stop these beginnings of Division thought fit to send before Cadiz a Fleet Capable of Subduing all the Indies Immediately Spain Allarmed promised to restore what it had taken away and the King who was contented therewith hath appeared still more great by his Moderation than his Power For it is true that there is nothing upon Earth is so taking as to see a Prince who being able to do all that he pleases will do nothing but what is Just. But it is the Natural Character of Lewis the Great It is the bottom of this Heroick Soul where all Vertues are pure sincere solid true and make up one an admimirable Union which declares that he is not only the greatest of all Kings but also the most Accomplish'd of all Men. Those that shall Read these two Speeches may easily observe in them all the pleasingness that Politeness and a great Study could give Some after having compared them have made a Judgment equal to that which Belzac did in Times past of the Famous Sonnet of Urania He blamed not the