was expired which is not yet pass'd for 't is now but a year and four months with us nevertheless could we now get away from hence it would do well But the King answer'd Apollonius will not dismiss us before the end of the eighth month for you see that he is full of Courtesie and Humanity too good to reign over Barbarians But when he was resolv'd to depart and the King had given him leave so to do Apollonius call'd to mind the Gifts which hitherto he had forborn to receive until he had gotten Friends in that Countrey wherefore going to the King he said to him Best of Kings I have hitherto bestow'd no Benefit on my Host also I owe a Reward to the Magicians wherefore my Request is that you would be mindful of them and for my sake take care of them being wise men and full of good will towards you The King being exceedingly well pleas'd said unto him You shall see these men to morrow made marks of Emulation and greatly rewarded moreover in as much as you your self have need of none of my Riches permit at least that these men pointing to those about Damis may receive something of my Wealth even what they will But when they also turn'd away at this word Apollonius answer'd Do you see Oh King my Hands both how many they are and how like one another However said the King take a Guide to direct you in your Iourney and 5 Camels whereon you may ride for the way is too long to travel it all on foot Let this be done Oh King answer'd Apollonius as you command for they report that the way cannot be passed over by any who doth not so ride also this Creature is easie to be provided for and fed where there is but little Forrage I suppose likewise that we must provide Water and carry it in Bottles as men do Wine for three days Iourney said the King the Countrey is without Water but after that there is great plenty of Rivers and Springs I conceive it best for you to travel over Caucasus for that Countrey is fertile and affordeth good Accommodation Now when the King asked him what Present he would bring him from thence Apollonius answer'd It should be a pleasing one for if said he my Converse with the men of that Countrey improve my Wisdom I shall return to you far better than I leave you Whereupon the King embracing him said unto him Go on your way for this Present will be great Illustrations on Chap. 24. 1 COâ—temn even Death it self c. It is worthy the observing saith the Lord Bacon that there is no Passion in the Mind of man so weak but that it masters the fear of Death Revenge triumphs over Death Lâ—ve slights it Honour aspireth to it Grief flyeth to it and Fear pre-occupateth it Nay we read that after the Emperor Otho had slain himself Pity which is the tenderest of Affections provoked many to die out of meer compassion to their Soveraign Moreover Seneca adds Niceness and Sâ—tiety saying that a man would die though he were neither valiant nor miserable only upon a wearisomness to do the same thing so often over and over Hence it is that the Approaches of Death make so little alteration in good Spirits that they appear to be the same men to the very last instant Thus Augustus Caesar died in a Complement Livia conjugii nostri memor vive vale Tiberius in Dissimulation as Tacitus saith of him Iam Tiberium vires corpus non dissimulatio deserebant Vespasian in a Jest sitting upon a Stool Vt puto Deus fio Galba with a Sentence Feri si ex re sit Populi Romani holding forth his Neck Septimius Severus in Dispatch Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum c. Bac. Ess. Again many vulgar persons are seen to bear Deaths intermixt with Shame and Torments with an undaunted assurance some through stubbornness and some through simplicity who without any visible alteration take leave of their Friends and settle their domestick Concerns but an hour before they die sometimes singing jesting or laughing and sometimes drinking to their Acquaintance with their very last breath even as unconcern'd as Socrates himself could be One saith Montaign when he was led to the Gallows desired it might not be through such a Street for fear a Merchant should arrest him for an old Debt Another wish'd the Hangman not to touch his Throat because he was ticklish Another answer'd his Confessor who promis'd him he should sup that night with our Saviour in Heaven Go thither your self to Supper for I use to fast at nights Another calling for Drink upon the Gibbet and the Hangman drinking first said he would not drink after him for fear he should take the Pox of him Another seeing the people running before him to the place of Execution told 'em they need not make such haste for that there would be no sport till he came Another being upon the Ladder ready to be turn'd off a lame Weneh came and offer'd to save his Life by marrying him but he perceiving her Lameness cryed out Away away good Hangman make an end of thy Business she limps And many other Stories of the like nature I could here produce to shew with how little Concern some men look Death in the face Quoties non modo Ductores c. How often saith Tully have not only our Commanders but also our whole Armies run violently on to an undoubted Death Tusc. Qu. lib. 1. Pyrrho being in a violent Storm at Sea made those that were timorous ashamed of themselves by shewing them a Hog that was on board the Vessel what little Concern he had for the Storm What cause have we then to boast of our Reason if it only robs us of our Tranquility and Courage making us more fearful and unhappy than Pyrrbo's Hog Mont. Ess. Death is a debt due to Nature our Lives are borrow'd and must be restored What is it makes Death so irksom to us when Sleep the image of Death is so pleasant Is it the parting with a rotten Carcass that is hardly one hour free from trouble sickness or pain Is it the leaving that which we shall not need our Estates Is it the loss of Conversation such as bely'd you betray'd you abus'd you and deceiv'd you Is it the fear of pain or the fear of what shall become of you hereafter If it be the fear of pain and that you esteem of Death only as you do of drawing a Tooth Emori nolo sed me esse mortuum nihil estimo wish it were out yet fear to have it drawn then take this for your comfort Si gravis brevis si longus levis Cic. de fin lib. 2. You shall read saith the Lord Bacon in some of the Friers Books of Mortification that a man should think with himself what the pain is if he have but his Fingers end crushed or tortured and thereby imagine
and written by that eminent Poet and Divine Dr. Donn the Dean of Pauls wherein with no weak Arguments he endeavours to justifie out of Scripture the Legality of self-Homicide As to the second Objection of self-Preservation those that are for self-Murder urge that self-Preservation is no other than a natural Affection and appetition of good whether true or seeming so that if I propose to my self in this self-Killing a greater good although I mistake it I perceive not saith the Doctor wherein I transgress the general Law of Nature which is an Affection of good true or seeming and if that which I affect by death as Martyrs who expect a Crown of Glory and to lye snug in Abraham's bosom under the umbrage of his Beard be really a greater good wherein is the Law of self-Preservation violated Therefore some that are Enemies to our Faith will have Afflictions to be God's Call out of this Life and by the same Reason as we preserve our well-being ought we then to destroy our ill-being Another Reason which prevails with them as shewing self-Homicide to be consistent with the Law of Nature is this that in all Ages in all places and upon all occasions men of all conditions have affected iâ— and inclin'd to do it when man as though he were Angelus sepultus labours to be discharged of his earthly Sepulchre his Body And though this may be said of all other sins that men are propense to them and yet for all that frequently they are against Nature yet if this sin saith the Doctor were against the particular Law of Nature and that so it wrought to the destruction of our Species any otherwise than intemperate Lust Surfets or incurring penal Laws and the like it could not be so general since being contrary to our sensitive Nature it hath not the advantage of pleasure and delight to allure us withal which other sins have When I frame to my self a Martyrology saith he of all which have perish'd by their own means for Religion Countrey Fame Love Ease Fear and Shame I blush to see how naked of Followers all Vertues are in respect of this Fortitude and that all Histories afford not so many Examples either of Cunning subtle Devices or of forcible and violent Actions for the safeguard of Life as for the destroying Petronius Arbiter who served Nero a man of Pleasure in the Office of Master of his Pleasures upon the first frown went home and cut his Veins How subtlely and curiously Attilius Regulus destroy'd himself whom Codrus exceeded in forcing his own Death Comas Captain of the Thieves died by stopping his own Breath Herennius the Sicilian beat out his own Brains against a Post. Annibal for fear of being reduced to the necessity of being beholden to others died with poyson which he always carried in a Ring as Demosthenes died with poyson carried in a Pen. Aristarchus starved himself and Homer is said to have hanged himself because he understood not the Fishermens Riddle Democles scalded himself to death Portia Caâ—o's Daughter and Catulus Luctatius died by swallowing burning Coals Poor Terence because he lost his 108 translated Comedies drowned himself And the Poet Labienus because his Books were burnt by publick Edict burnt himself also Zeno upon a small hurt of his Finger hanged himself when he was almost an hundred years of age for which reason Laertius proclaims him to be Mira faelicitate vir qui incolumis integer sine morbo excessit Portius Latro kill'd himself for a quartan Ague and Festus Domitian's Beloved only to hide the deformity of a Ringworm in his Face Hipponiâ—s the Poet rimed Bubalus the Painter to death with his Iambicks and so Cassius Licinius to escape Cicero's Judgment choak'd himself with a Napkin These and many other Examples could I instance were it necessary as those who die voluntarily for Religion and the Wives among the Indians who burn themselves upon their Husbands death One of the most cruel Roman Emperors said of his Prisoners that he would make them feel death and if any fortuned to kill himself in Prison he would say That Fellow hath escaped me Lastly Cato alone that pattern of Vertue may serve instead of all other Examples Moreover I do verily believe that he who hangs himself in a Garret as the late Parson of Newgate did feels less pain horror and trouble than such as die of Feavers in their Beds with Friends and Relations weeping about them CHAP. XXIV Apollonius whilst the King lay sick told him many things of the Souls Immortality Divers Speeches pass'd to and fro between them Apollonius is at length dismiss'd by the King with Camels and other Necessaries for his Iourney into India NOw the King being fallen sick Apollonius standing by him utter'd so great and so divine things concerning the Soul that the King-plucking up his courage said to the standers by that Apollonius had by his words caused him not only to contemn a Kingdom but even 1 Death it self when the King shew'd the Trench to Apollonius which was made under Euphrates and whereof we spake before and ask'd him whether he thought it not a great wonder Apollonius depressing the strangeness thereof said to the King It would be a wonder indeed if you were able to pass over so deep and unpassable a Current on your feet Afterwards when he shew'd him the Walls of Ecbatana saying that they were the Dwelling of the Gods Apollonius replied They are not certainly the Dwelling of the Gods and whether they be the Dwelling of men I cannot tell for the City of 2 Lacedemon Oh King is inhabited without Walls Again when the King had been administring Iustice to certain Towns and boasted to Apollonius that he had spent two days in hearing and determining Causes Apollonius answer'd You were very slow in finding out what was just Aâ— another time after the Tributes coming in thick from his Subjects the King opening his Treasury shew'd his Wealth to Apollonius alluring him to the desire of Riches But Apollonius admiring at nothing which he saw said to the King To you Oh King these are 3 Riches but to me nothing but Straw When the King demanded what he should do to make good use of his Riches Apollonius's Answer was If you make use of them considering you are a King Now having had many such Conferences with the King and having found him ready to do what he advised him to also thinking that he had sufficiently convers'd with the Magicians he said to Damis Go to now Damis let us begin our March towards the Indians for they that sail towards the Eaters of 4 Lotus being taken with the sweetness of that Plant forget their own proper manners but we though we have not tasted of any thing that is here do yet tarry in these parts longer than is fitting I my self had the same thoughts said Damis but reckoning the time which we conjectured from the Lioness which we saw I waited till that space
the Exposition of an Arbitrary Power is unlimited and its vvays past finding out Dum furor in cursu est currenti cede furori Ovid. It is not altogether safe in this Plotting Age to ask vvhat 't is a Clock for who knows but some over sage-Coxcomb may from that most Wicked Quaere cause you to be apprehended for a Iesuit as having some treacherous Conspiracy to Execute at such an hour that makes you so inquisitive of the time of the day But to doubt of any thing that is delivered in verbo Sacerdotis vvhat can be a more Damning Sin Therefore if you should interrogate any such how he could prove his Divine Commission his Doctrine Inspiration and the like I knovv his Ansvver vvould be that you are a sawcy wicked fellow that it concerns not Layicks to meddle with such matters that you cannot go to Heaven but by his means that if a King or Principal Magistrate did send you a message or Command by one of his known Officers you would nâ—t then presume to make all these uncivil Questions and that you may as vvell believe an Ass spoke as believe there is a King of France or City of Rome vvhich you never savv c. But to the Point The vvhole Translation I have already finish'd and had proceeded thus far as you see in my Illustrations vvhen I found the Alarm vvas given in all parts vvhat a Dangerous Book was coming out such a Book as would unmask all practical Atheists vvhich they being the greater number of men might therefore prove of pernicious consequence to the Publick Above all the Popish Clergy thought themselves chiefly concern'd herein Who are so zealously revengeful and malitious that I fear'd it might fare vvith me as it did vvith poor Esop Who notvvithstanding he had broken Jests upon several great Kings and Potentates vvithout being punish'd for the same yet only speaking against the Priests of Delphos cost him his Life the Story runs thus Esop being arriv'd at the City of Delphos and looking upon the Priests he said I may fitly compare You to the Wood which is carry'd upon the Sea beholding it afar off we judge it of great value but when we come near we slight it Even so did I when far from your City admire you but coming among you find you to be the most useless of Men. Now when the Delphian Priests heard this fearing lest he should disparage them in other places they determin'd craftily to take away his life Whereupon taking a Golden Cup out of Apollo s Temple they secretly convey'd it amongst Esop's Baggage who not being aware of their Subtilty began his Journey to Phocis whereupon the Delphians pursuing him charg'd him with Sacriledge He deny'd the Fact but they searching his Baggage and finding the Cup about him prevail'd with the Ignorant multitude who knew nothing of the Cheat to put him to death as a wicked Sacrilegious Person Now fearing least some such Chalice should be thus thrust into my Portmantue and the silly common People made believe I was a Thief or an Atheist which might cost me my Life as it did Esop I thought it my safest way to let the two Milstones of Knavery and Folly grind on to the end of the World without interposing my inconsiderable Opinion which like the small Barly-corn vvould serve only to be ground to pieces it self vvithout any effect upon the motion of the Stones 'T is a thing of most Dangerous Consequence to oppose any Doctrine that is publickly receiv'd how sottish soever it be I have often vvonder'd at the obdurate Hearts of some incredulous Mahometans vvho even to this day persist in that Heresie of believing in the story of the Seven Sleepers that there vvere but Five besides the Dog that slept 300 years in a Cave Whereas the Aâ—CORAN positively declares that true Believers affirm them to be Seven and their Dog to make up the Eighth vvith a severe Anathema upon all that believe othervvise Now for my Part rather than incur the like Anathema I think it much more safe to believe as the Church believes And vvere I a Mahometan should most vvillingly subscribe that there vvere 800 besides the Dog if the Mufti directed me so to do But as I am shall at all times pin my Faith upon my Lord of Canterbury's sleeve Wherefore if the Clergy vvould have APOLLONIUS esteem'd a Rogue and a Iuggler that being risen from the Dead he is one of the principal fomenters of this Popish Plot or that there never vvas any such Man as APOLLONIUS vvith all my heart vvhat they please For I had much rather have him decry'd in his Reputation than that some grave Cardinal vvith his long Beard and Excommunicative Ha should have me burnt for a Heretick Therefore for these Weighty Reasons I have thought fit to Prorogue the remaining part of this History till Interest have no longer need of a Holy Masque and till there be discover'd some nevv Road to the Heavenly Ierusalem vvhere every honest Man may go without Leading-strings or without being put to the Temporal charge of a Spiritual Guide and till Men quit the thoughts of going to Heaven by the same means as they go to a Play-house viz. by giving Mony to the Dore-keepers Si Religio sit Fabula Umbra fiet Sacerdos Lastly As for my Illustrations Notwithstanding they have ever some coherence with my Text yet I likewise design'd them as Philological Essays upon several Subjects such as the least hint of my Author might present me with And herein making some occasional Reflections upon the defects of Humane Conversation it may as I expect no otherwise render me odious to all such guilty Persons whose Follies are here exposed For instance Religion is a thing Sacred but he that shews how it is sometimes made a Cloak for Knavery and how some Men fight the Devils Battle under a counterfeit Banner of Christ ut melius possis fallere sume Togam Shall render himself a mortal Enemy to Hypocrites In like manner Honour is Venerable as being when justly confer'd the Reward of Virtue But he who should tell you that it is somtimes made use of only as Fullers-earth to wash out the stains of an ignoble and base Original or as a support to the sinking credit of some half-witted rich Heir new launch'd into an Estate and thus upbraided by the Poet Rarus enim fermè sensus communis in illa Fortuna Horat. Whoever I say exposes any thing of this Nature cannot but acquire the ill will of all such who have nothing to shew for their Gentility or Brains but a Patent and so the like upon all other Subjects Now the main Scope and Design of Books in general is to teach either what Men should do or what they really do whereof the first instruct you in little else than what every Devout Old Gentlewoman teaches her little Grand-son and differ not much from our Childrens Common Catechisms But on the contrary those
write The Inhabitants of Cappadocia were esteem'd to be of a poysonous nature in so much that if a Snake should draw bloud of a Cappadocian the mans bloud would poyson it 7 Proteus the Son of Oceanus and Thetis esteem'd by the Ancients a God of the Sea for that reigning in the Isle of Carpathio and in Egypt he chiefly inhabited moorish watry places by the assistance of which Waters he preserv'd himself from the fury of the Scythians He sometimes dwelt in the Pharos or Tower of Alexandria It is reported by all the Ancients that this Proteus used when he was asleep to be transform'd into divers shapes into wild Beasts Serpents Birds Trees Water Fire c. from whence arose that Proverb Proteo mutabilior The Author of which Fable Homer is thought to have been for so he writes in his Odysses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the same purpose hath Virgil written Georg. 4. Fiet enim subitò sus horridus atraque Tigris Squamosusque draco fulv◠cervice Leaena Aut acrem flammae sonitum dabit atque ita vinclis Excidet aut in aquas tennes dilapsus abibit Ille suae contra non immemor artis Omnia transformat sese in miracula rerum Ignemque horribilemque feram fluviumque Liquentem Most of our ancient Poets have written to the same effect As Horace lib. 2. sat 3. Ovid Metam lib. 8. and Silius Italicus lib. 7. Horace compares the unconstancy of vulgar people with this of Proteus Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea Nodo Some report the original of this Fiction to be the Diadem which Egyptian Kings used to wear whereon were engraved divers shapes of all kinds of things Natalis Comes says that this Proteus or as some call him Vertumnus reign'd four years before the Trojan War An. Mundi 2752. and that Paris having ravisht Helena fled to Proteus for shelter which both Herodotus and Diodorus affirm CHAP. IV. Where Apollonius was born also concerning the marvellous Vertue of a certain Water APollonius is reported to have been born in a certain Meadow near unto which there is now a Temple erected to him therefore let not the manner of his Birth be unknown as something worth relating That when his Mother was near the time of her delivery she was admonish'd by a Dream to go forth into a Meadow to gather Flowers which accordingly she did the day following Where having stay'd somewhat long and her Maidens being all dispers'd and imploy'd in gathering Flowers she her self fell asleep in the Grass Whereupon the Swans that fed in the Meadow encompass'd her round in a Circle whilst she slept and clapping their Wings as their manner is fill'd all places round about with a great noise a South-west Wind blowing gently at the same time over the Meadows Now she being awaken'd from her sleep with the singing of these Swans was presently brought to bed of a Boy any fright being apt to make a Woman fall in labour before her time Moreover the Inhabitants of that place say that at the time of her 1 delivery a flash of Lightning fell down from Heaven upon the Earth which was no sooner seen but immediately ascending up on high into the Air it vanish'd quite away This very thing as I conceive portending that the new-born Child should transcend all earthly things and dwell near unto the Gods they foreshewing a brightness above all things below with a vicinity to the Gods and all the greatness this man arrived to Now there is near unto Tyana a 2 Water for Oaths consecrated as they report to Jupiter which the Inhabitants call 3 Asbestos that is to say such as will not be consumed by fire The Spring it self is very cold however it boyleth and bubbleth up like a Kettle over the fire This Water as they say is mild and sweet to the taste and sight of all such persons as are just and careful in keeping their Oaths but unto them that are false and 4 perjured it is a present punishment in so much that having drank thereof it seizeth their hands eyes and feet taking them with Dropsies and Consumptions Nor are they able to depart from thence but abiding by the Water-side they there confess their perjuries and lament their calamity The Inhabitants of that place acknowledge Apollonius to be the Son 5 of Jupiter notwithstanding he himself affirm'd that he was the Son of Apollonius Now in process of time being grown up to those years that are capable of Discipline he soon gave remarkable Testimonies of his great Wit and Memory He used the Attick nor would he so far comply with the custom of the place to use any other He drew the eyes of all men upon him for his incomparable Beauty Illustrations on Chap. 4. 1 T Is well known to all men that have search'd into the Records of ancient Time how necessary it hath ever been esteem'd for Heroes to have a Birth no less miraculous than their Life as it appears by the several Histories of Semiramis Cyrus Romulus and many of the heathen Gods We have a common saying That a good beginning makes a good ending and a miraculous Birth goes half way towards the making of a Prophet A seventh Son because unusual without any Daughters between is naturally born with a healing Hand according to the Vulgars opinion A Prodigy at any persons Birth like a Comet hanging over a Kingdom hath ever been esteem'd an Omen Thus was Plato's swarm of Bees that lighted upon him in his Cradle lookt upon with admiration although perhaps had not his Life been so eminent it would never have been regarded or remembred Now when Poets or vain Historians do tell of such prodigious Births of great persons I conceive that such Wonders may be Lyes that have been added after their Deaths to compleat the strangeness of their Lives since no Story loses by its carrying for every man improving his Talent in those Cases desires to make his Tale more wonderful I have heard the Story of a Bastard-child that being cast off London-bridge in a Hand-basket was miraculously caught and saved by a Boat that was accidentally going underneath The strangeness of this Child's preservation gave many curious persons great expectation what he would come to but he disappointed them all for he was no sooner grown up to be a lusty young Fellow but he was hang'd for stealing verifying that old Proverb He that 's born to be hang'd will never be drown'd This matter of Fact is certainly true and happen'd in Queen Elizabeths Reign But to conclude this Subject I question not but Hierocles in his Parallel did impiously compare this Miracle of the Swans and Lightning at Apollonius's Birth with that melody of holy Angels and new Star appearing at Christ's Nativity as being both equally strange but not alike true For to believe any Stories that are not approved of by the publick Authority of our Church is Superstition
into the Land of Promise Ionas fail'd in predicting the destruction of Niniveh within fourty days intended but delay'd Elijah fail'd in foretelling many things to come to pass in the days of Ahab which yet were not fulfill'd till after his death Isaiah fail'd in foretelling the death of Hezekiah the next day when his life was prolonged 15 years afterwards Many other Prophets also failed and their predictions are found either not to have come to pass at all or else to have been suspended Amongst 400 Prophets of whom the King of Israel asked counsel concerning the War he made against Ramoth-Gilead only Micaiah was a true one The Prophet that was sent to Prophecy against the Altar set up by Ieroboam though a true Prophet and that by two miracles done in his presence appears to be sent from God was yet deceiv'd by another Old Prophet that perswaded him as from the mouth of God to eat and drink with him So that if one Prophet deceive another what way is there of knowing the Will of God but by Reason The Apostles and Evangelists also fail'd Peter fail'd when he was reprehended by St. Paul for telling a Lye craftily Matthew also fail'd when he wrote that Christ was not dead till the Lance had pierced his side From whence it follows that all Prophets and Writers in some things seem to fail and erre according to the Scripture which faith all men are Lyars Now the occasion of this failing may be for that the Holy Spirit did sometimes leave them This Spirit was sometimes with Moses but when he struck the Rock it was departed it was with Aaron but departed when he made the Calf it was with Miraim their Sister but not when she murmur'd against Moses and so likewise was it with Saul David Solomon Isaiah c. but rested not constantly with them Neither are Prophets always Prophets or Seers or Foretellers of things to come nor is Prophecy a continual habit but a Gift Passion or transient Spirit The Prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the coming of a Messias are certainly more exactly and truly fulfill'd in the Birth Life and Death of our Saviour Christ than ever any Prophecies or Predictions were yet the Iews do most impiously object against them Some of their Manuscripts I have now by me amongst which there is one of so remarkable a subject that I thought fitting here to insert it it being a Dialogue between a Turk and a Iew where the Turk invading that Province which of right belongs only to the Christians doth in a very extravagant manner attempt to prove his Prophet Mahomet to be the true and only Messias prophecied of in the Old Testament whilst the Iew opposes it out of the same as follows Turk The last time we discours'd together upon Religion I remember you put a Question to me What I thought of the coming of the Messias whereupon my Answer was That I thought him already come Iew. You did so and I likewise call to mind how that at the same time I ask'd you In whom that Prophecy was fulfill'd and you reply'd In Mahomet after which we were immediately interrupted therefore now proceed with your Argument Turk The chief Arguments I shall produce are the ancient Hebrew Prophecies contain'd in the Old Testament And of them we will first begin with that of Deut. 13.4 where Moses bids them hearken unto the Prophet whom the Lord their God should raise up unto them from amongst their Brethren whereby Mahomet seems to be pointed at according to my apprehension Iew. I cannot allow of that For first although it is a sin not to hearken to God's voice yet doth it not therefore follow that they were to listen to every one that pretended himself a Prophet since Experience taught that there arose up many false Prophets amongst them Secondly To believe that Moses promised Mahomet as the only Prophet to whom they should hearken is without any grounds from Moses's words and rather a subversion of them as will appear if we consider the end for which Moses said a new Prophet would come also if we examine the Directions he gave them to know if the Prophet spake in the Lord's Name or presumptuously First For the end of this Prophet's coming Moses knowing they desired God himself might not speak to them told them that God would raise up a Prophet putting his words into his mouth and he shall speak to you viz. direct you in the right way and tell you of your sins Secondly This Prophet should be from among them which we are no where told that Mahomet was and if as some Arabick Historians write his Mother was a Iew yet that doth not argue his Father of the same Tribe since ever after the Captivity the Israelites married amongst Strangers Thirdly Moses promis'd his people to receive great peace and plenty from the coming of this Prophet whereupon the Christians so much startle us when they tell us of Augustus's peaceable Reign during Christ's abode upon Earth but for Mahomet his Doctrine is supported only by the Sword also there were never more Frauds Thefts Wars Massacres Murders and Bloudshed known in the World than since the first planting of the Mahâ—metan Religion So as Moses seem'd rather to point at those Prophets which were raised unto our Forefathers when they came into the Land and possess'd it than at your Prophet Mahomet Turk If Murder and Bloudshed are such heavy Crimes what made you crucifie that good and holy man Christ Jesus Iew. Because we have a Law amongst us which says that if any Prophet teaches contrary to that Covenant which God hath made with us at Mount Sinai that Prophet shall be stoned to death for endeavouring to withdraw them from the Lord their God Deut. 13. Wherefore the Iews thought to stone Jesus for Blasphemy that he being a Man made himself God Iob. 10.33 for said they we have a Law and by that Law he ought to die in that he made himself the Son of God Iob. 18 7. Turk We have the same Law amongst us but what made you falsly accuse him before Pilate for speaking against Caesar whereof he was innocent Iew. Because being under the Roman Power and so unable to exercise our own Government we could not take away his life for that other offence committed against our Religion and therefore made use of this device Turk A pretty Religion indeed which like Popery regards only the directing your intentions so that if the end be good you care not for the means though you wade through innocent Bloud to attain it But to proceed The Lord God in making a new Covenant hath destroyed the old wherefore though ye were to hearken to Moses and the Covenants which God made with him at Mount Sinai so long as ye lived in the Land God gave you to possess yet notwithstanding you had broken that Covenant and the Prophet had said in the Name of the Lord he would make a new
the Empire Yet nevertheless the most general and most reasonable opinion is that Cyrus alone was the first Founder of the second Monarchy because that whilst Darius lived the Empire was divided betwixt Cyrus and himself for as Xenophon testifies Cyrus out of his liberality and bounty permitted Darius to possess the Kingdoms of Media and Babylon during his life both which after Darius's death he united to his own from which union we may most properly derive the original of the second Monarchy and by consequence attribute its sole foundation to Cyrus It was call'd the Monarchy of the Medes and Persians because the Empire did chiefly consist of those two Kingdoms The principal Enlargers of this second Monarchy were Cyrus the Great Darius Hystaspes and Artaxerxes Longimanus as for the rest of the Kings that ruled it they were so tyrannical and vicious that the Empire suffer'd much under their Government till it was totally subverted under the Reign of Darius Codomannus who being overcome by Alexander the Great lost both his Life and Empire which was immediately thereupon translated into Greece where Alexander began the third and Grecian Monarchy from that fall of Darius Codomannus This second Monarchy of the Medes and Persians lasted from its beginning under Cyrus to its subversion under Darius 228 years wherein there were two Families possest the Empire the first was of Cyrus the second of Darius Hystaspes as for the Family of Cyrus it expired in his Son Cambyseâ— who killing his own Brother Smerdis and committing Incest with his Sisters did afterwards lose his life by a Rebellion of the Magi who pretending the King's Brother Smerdis was not slain set up a Pseudo-Smerdis of their own to reign which was soon discover'd by his cropt ears and made away by the Nobles After which Cambyses having left behind him but only one Daughter Pantaptes and the Empire being left without a Prince to govern it was agreed on by those seven Noblemen Otanes Intaphernes Gobryas Megabysus Aspathines Hydarnes and Darius afterwards call'd Hystaspâ—s who had lately conspired together and destroy'd both the Magi and their Pseudo-Smerdis that from amongst themselves a new King should be elected after this manner viz. that each of them riding the next morning into the Suburbs he whose Horse first neigh'd should obtain the Empire which thereupon as I have shew'd elsâ—where fell to Darius Hystaspes by the cunning of his Groom Oâ—bares who giving his Master's Horse a Mare in the same place over-night the Horse immediately fell a neighing so soon as he came thither again the next morning and so won his Master Darius the Kingdom whose Family was the second and last Race of Kings that govern'd this second Monarchy of the Mâ—des and Persians as appears in this Line of their Succession I. Familia Prima 1. Cyrus the Great 2. Cambyses II. Familia Secunda 3. Darius Hystaspes 4. Xerxes 5. Artaxerxes Longimanus 6. Darius Noâ—huâ—â— 7. Artaxerxes Mnemon 8. Artaxerxes Ochus 9. Arsames And 10. Darius Codomâ—â—nus who was the last of the Persian Monarchâ— and in whose death the second Monarchy was extinct for Alexander the Great robbing him both of his Life and Empire did thereupon begin the third great Monarchy in Greece As for the third Empire or Monarchy which immediately took its rise from the fall of the second it is called the Grecian or Macedonian Monarchy from its 〈◊〉 Founder Alexander the Great who was of Macedon and a Grecian born for he â—aving overcome Darius the last King of the Persians first establish'd this third Monarchy of Greece in the year of the World 3642. aâ—te Christi Nat. 329. This Dominion of Alexander's excell'd all others that had been before for that having annex'd the Kingdoms of Media and Persia to his own Empire of Greece he in the space of twelve years rendred himself almost Master of the whole Universe But this third and Grecian Monarchy lasted not long in this united flourishing condition for Alexander dying without Sons and leaving his Dominions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the worthiest occasion'd many Competitors every one in his own esteem claiming a share till after many sharp Contests amongst them four of the most eminent shared the Empire between themselves dividing it into four Dynasties or Kingdoms viz. the Kingdom of Macedon the Kingdom of Asia Minor the Kingdom of Syria and the Kingdom of Aegypt all which were in process of time reduced to the Roman Yoke 1. Asia Minor was conquer'd by the Romans when Antiochus the Great was vanquish'd by L. Scipio the Proconsul who for that Victory was ever after call'd Asiaticus Iustin lib. 31. and Livy lib. 37. 2. The Romans subdued Macedon when Paulus Aemylius the Roman Consul took Perseus the last King of Macedonia Prisoner which was A. M. 3803. and about 156 years after the death of Alexander the Great 3. The Romans conquer'd Syria when Tigranes was defeated by Pompey which was 260 years after the death of Alexander M. Iustin Plutarch Livy 4. and lastly Augustus Caesar added the Kingdom of Aegypt to the Roman Empire upon his Victory over Anthony and Cleopatra reducing it into the form of a Province which happen'd 294 years after Alexander's death Plutarch in Anton. Polem lib. 3. ch 8. So as this Grecian Monarchy lasted compleatly 300 years that is to say from the death of Alexander the Great to the death of Cleopatra 294 years as Ptolemy writes whereunto if 6 more are added for the Reign of Alexander from the death of Darius Codomannus to his own death it will amount to the just and full time of 300 years Arrianus Diodâ—rus Now for the Succession of those several Kings that possess'd the four Divisions of this third Grecian Monarchy they were as followeth I. Over the whole Grecian Monarchy reign'd Alexander M. 6 years beginning his Reign A. M. 3642. II. Over the Monarchy as it was divided reign'd four several Kings the Macedonian Asiatick Syrian and Aegyptian I. The Kings of Macedon were 1. Aridaus the Brother of Alexander M. 2. Cassander the Son of Antipater 3. Philippus the Son of Cassander 4. Antipater and Alexander both Sons of Cassander 5. Demetrius Poliorcetes Son of Antigonus King of Asia 6. Pyrrhus King of Epirus 7. Lysimachus of Thrace Alexander's Officer that kill'd the Lion 8. Ptolemaus Ceraunus Son of Ptolomaus Lagus 9. Meleager one of Alexander's old Officers 10. Antipater the II. 11. Sosthenes 12. Antigonus Gonatas Son of Demetrius Poliorceres 13. Demetrius the second Son of Antigonus 14. Antigonus the second sirnamed Doson 15. Philippus Son of Demetrius the 11 th was overcome by the Romans 16. Perseus the last King of Macedon who being overcome by Paulus Aemyâ—â—us the Roman Consul was imprison'd during life by which means the Kingdom of Macedon coming under the Roman Jurisdiction they were nevertheless permitted to enjoy their freedom till being betray'd into a Rebellion by a counterfeit Philip their Commander the Romans upon that reduced them into a Province
after Aridaeus had enjoy'd the Title of King 6 years and 4 months Olympias also kill'd Nicanor the Brother of Cassander But Cassander hearing she was arrived in Macedonia marched out of Peloponesus against her he also bribed all the Souldiers of Aeacida as well as Polysperchon's Army on whose assistance she solely depended when she being fled to Pydna he there besieg'd her took her and afterwards put her to death she refusing to fly for her Life And such was the end of Olympias the Mother of Alexander whom she had outlived 8 years In the next place he privately order'd Roxane and her Son Alexander to be slain Now Polysperchon to revenge himself on Cassander set up Hercules the Son of Alexander by Barsine who was a Youth of 14 years of age and had been educated at Pergamus Hereupon Cassander fearing lest the Macedonians should be too well affected to this young Hercules for his being descended of Alexander did by way of Counterplot take to Wife Thessalonice the Daughter of Olympias and Sister of Alexander the Great And this I conceive was the Wedding whereat Speusippus recited his Poems as Apollonius here mentions Afterwards Cassander waged a second War which was against Antigonus and soon after died of a Dropsie himself having reign'd 19 years and leaving behind him three Sons of his Wife Thessalonice viz. Philip Antipater and Alexander who came all to an ill end See Iustin Diodorus Plutarch and Laertius Vitâ Phocion 13 Exercise all the Grecian Games There were four principal Games or Shews in Greece whereof the first and most eminent were the Olympiads the second Pythii the third Istmii the fourth Nemei Now designing to treat of all these separately I shall begin first with the Olympiads as being the principal of the Grecian Games Know then that these Olympick Games were first instituted by Hercules in honour of Iupiter they were celebrated once every five years beginning from the 11 th and lasting to the 16 th day of the first Month. Now an Olympiad which comprehended the space of 5 years was an Epocha of time where by the Greeks reckoned their Chronology for as we count by years and the Romans by their Lustra so did they by their Olympiads beginning their first Olympiad A.M. 3174. from which time instead of saying 26 years they would say the first year of the sixth Olympiad c. Also they receiv'd their Name from their Situation as being near the City Olympia in the Province of Elide Now the use made of these Games was to initiate the Youth of Greece in Feats of Activity for that the greatest numbers of men that ever met upon any such Assemblies used to resort thither some as Spectators and others in hope of Victory The original of this Institution was said to be thus That Hercules with his four younger Brethren Paenaeus Ida Iasius and Epimedes being return'd from the Mountain Ida to Elis proposed a Match of Running betwixt them all only to make Sport also that he who outrun should be crown'd with Olive Branches which accordingly Hercules was he being then the Victor who thereupon from the number of those five Brethren instituted the like Sport to be practised every 5 th year to the honour of Iupiter as I said before Also the Victor was according to the first practice ever after crown'd with Olive which gives Aristophanes in Plato occasion to deride Iupiter's poverty as being unable to bestow a Crown of Gold upon the Victor when instead thereof he presented him with a Crown of Olive Branches Nam magis auro decuit si dives is esset Transl. out of Aristoph Some say that Iupiter himself instituted these Pastimes upon his Victory over the Titans when Apollo outran Mercury In these Games Eusebius writes that Corilus an Arcadian wan the first Prize but Pliny and Isacius affirm that Hercules the Son of Alcumena and not the Hercules before-mention'd was the first Founder and Victor of these Sports and Prizes For the Exercises used at these Olympiads that Epigram of Simonides shews what they were wherein he enumerates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et saltus pugnis levitate pedum Atque Palaestra Leaping Fighting Running and Wrestling were the principal Subjects of their Contention notwithstanding they had many others as running Races with Chariots Dâ—sputations betwixt Poets Rhetoricians Musitians and Philosophers Also the manner was then to proclaim Wars or enter Leagues of Peace Of this Subject see more in Cael. Rhodig Natal Com. Mythol Polyd. Virg. and in all the Greek Poets and Historians The second of the Grecian Games were the Pythian so call'd from Pythion a place in Macedonia wherein they were dedicated to the honour of Apollo in commemoration of his Activity in vanquishing the great Serpent Python that was sent by Iuno to persecute his Mother Latona as the Fable saith which Python Strabo lib. 6. expounds to be a bloody wicked man and enemy to Latona whose Name was Draco In these Games the Conquerors were crown'd with Laurel as appears by Lucian and Ovid Huic Iuvenum quicunque manu pedibusve rotave Vicerat esculeae capiebat frondis honorem Nondum Laurus erat Metam lib. 1. The Victor was at first adorn'd with other Boughs but afterwards they made use of the Laurel which Tree was appropriated to Apollo Pausanias in Corinth writes that Diomede at his return from Troy having escaped the danger of Shipwrack did in the nature of a Thanksgiving first institute these Pythian Games which were celebrated once a year at the beginning of Spring as Dionysius in his Book de situ Orbis hath it Instituere choros omnes victoria quando Grata suit cum jucundum ver incipit cum Arboribus dulces nidos subtexit aedon Sic interpr The persons who chiefly frequented these Sports were the Inhabitants of the Cyclades and all the Islanders about Delos Pythia was also the Name of Apollo's Priestess The third of the Grecian Games were the Isthmean celebrated every fifth year in the Isthmus of Corinth from whence they receiv'd their Name They were instituted by Theseus in honour of Neptune as Plutarch in Vitâ Theses testifies Some say they were dedicated to Palaemon the God of the Havens and I conceive that both Opinions may possibly be true for as much as Neptune and Palaemon are sometimes Synonyma in the Greek Poets however they were both Gods of the Sea Neptune of all Palaemon only of the Harbours and Sea-shores In these Sports the Victor was crown'd with a Garland of Pine-tree The fourth and last of the most eminent Games in Greece were the Nemaean so called because they were kept in the Forrest Nemea These Feasts were celebrated by the Argives in honour of Hercules who had so valiantly overcome a Lion in that place and afterwards wore his Skin for his Armour Notwithstanding some say that these Nemaean Games were ordain'd in remembrance of Archemorus the Son of King Lycurgus Now besides these four above-mention'd they
Cardinal Vertues Justice and Injustice are none of the Faculties neither of the Body nor the Mind if they were they might be in a man that were alone by himself in the world as well as his Senses and Passions they are Qualities that relate to men in Society not in Solitude It is consequent also to the same condition that there be no Propriety no Dominion no Mine and Thine distinct but only that to be every mans that he can get and for so long as he can keep it Methinks Horace gives us a pretty description of this state of war and much to the same effect with Mr. Hobbs's in these lines Quum prorepserunt primis animalia terris Mutum turpe pecus glandem atque cubilia propter Unguibus pugnis dein fustibus atque it a porro Pugnabant armis quae post fabricaver at usus Donec verba quibus voces seâ—susque notarent Nominaque invenere dehinc absistere bello Oppida caeperunt munire ponere Legeâ— Ne quis fur esset neu latrâ— neu quis adulter Nam fuit ante Helenam cunnus teterrima bâ—lli Causa sed ignotis perierunt mortibâ—s illi Quos venerem incertam rapientes more ferarum Viribus editiâ—r caedebat ut in grege Taurus Horat. Lib. 1 Sat. 3. Now the Passions that incline men to Peace are fear of Death desire of such things aâ— are commodious to a happy Life and a hope by their Industry to obtain them from whence spring Arms Laws Magistrates and all Civil Government which in respect that man is more rapacious false and perfidious than any other Creature are more essentially necessary for him than for them Birds feed on Birds Beasts on each other prey But savage man alone does man betray Prest by Necessity they kill for food Man undoes man to do himself no good With Teeth and Claws by Nature arm'd they hunt Natures allowance to supply their want But man with smiles embraces friendship praise Most humanely his fellows Life betrays With voluntary pains works his distress Not through Necessity but wantâ—nness For Hunger or for Love they fight and tear Whilst wretched man is still in Arms for fear For fear he arms and is of Arms afraid By fear to fear successively betray'd Base fear the source whence his best actions came His boasted honour and his dear bought fame That Lust of Power to which he 's such a slave And for the which alone he dares be brave To which his various projects are design'd That make him generous affable and kind For which he takes such pains to be thought wise And skrews his actions in a forc't disguise Leading a tedious Life in misery Under laborious mean Hypocrisie Look to the bottom of this vast design Wherein man's wâ—sdom power and glory joyn The good he acts the ill he does endure 'T is all from fear to make himself secure Meerly for safety after fame we thirst For all men would be Cowards if they durst Satyr against Man It may saith Mr. Hobbs seem strange to him that hath not well weigh'd these things how Nature should thus dissociate and render men apt to invade and destroy one another wherefore not trusting to these foremention'd Inferences made from the Passions he may perhaps desire to have the same confirm'd by Experience Let him therefore consider with himself what opinion he hath of his fellow-Subjects when he rides armed upon the Road of his fellow-Citizens when he locks his Doors of his Children and Servants when he locks his Chests and Truncks Does he not there as much accuse mankind by his actions as I do by my words Nay as well the Civil Law which ordains a punishment for Murder in this World as the Sacred which prohibits it upon pain of damnation in the next are sufficient Arguments to justifie the rapacious and fraudulent Natures of men Men naturally desire to be govern'd by them that will govern them cheapest and care not how often they change their Masters so that they may gain but two pence in the pound by so doing Thus we see the common Souldier fights for him that gives him the most Pay when without ever considering the justice of the Cause or any thing but their own Interest for a brown George and a Groat a day they murder such as never did them wrong and like Mastiffs upon a Bear are set on by no other Motives but the Claps of a luxurious and ambitious Master never considering that he who hath least to lose ought to venture least like that most wise Cobler who refusing to â—eep Holiday as others did upon a Victory his Prince had obtain'd and being asked why reply'd As he was a Cobler before so he should neither mend nor mar his condition let the Victory go how it would for that he was sure both parties must need men of his Trade And this may suffice to shew the ill condition which man by meer Nature is actually placed in 2 Kings Concubines The Eastern Princes as well ancient as modern have never wanted their Seraglio of Concubines notwithstanding some were more addicted to them than others and accordingly have their success been for that Monarch who keeps but one hand upon his instruments of Pleasure and the other hand upon his Sword may happily succeed well but he who like Sardanapalus pinnions both hands upon those lower parts and quits the possession of his Sword for a spinning Wheel and a Mistress will inevitably fall into the same ruine neither indeed as Cyrus bravely spoke doth it belong properly to that man to command who is not of more worth than those whom he commandeth When a Woman governs a Prince she wears not only the Breeches but the Crown War and Peace are wholly in her hands to her Ambassadors solely address themselves to her all persons make their applications for Debts Offices and places of preferment both in Church and State she only can play the Donna Olympia when either by stealing his Papers of State she betrays his most secret Counsels to Foreigners or by constituting men of wicked principles in all Offices of Trust she scandalizes both Church and State Again As with private men so is it with Princes the very expences of such women are often destructive to both for as the one may bring himself to beggary by paying a hundred pounds for that which is worth but a shilling so may the other by raising his expences proportionably so oppress his Subjects with Taxes as shall endanger an Insurrection leaving himself unable to oppose his Enemies either abroad or at home Therefore well might Solomon say that women will bring a man to a morsel of Bread since one Cleopatra can consume 600000 Sesterces at a draught as if nothing but the richest Oriental Pearl would serve to quench her thirst Hanc volo quam redimit totam Denarius alter Mart Now how much those Eastern people are addicted to this Vice would seem incredible did not our
daily Experience inform us of the truth thereof When Sultan Achmet who lived but in the year of our Lord 1613. had 3000 Concubines and Virgins listed in his Venereal Service Purchase's Pilgrimage page 290. Nay in those Countreys the Wives are not all offended at the Rivals of their Bed for as custom hath taken off the shame so also hath it extinguish'd their anger Thus we read in holy Writ that Leah Rachel Sarah and Iacob's Wives brought their fairest Maiden-servants unto their Husbands Beds also Livia seconded the lustful Appetites of her Husband Augustus even to her own prejudice and Stratonica wife of King Deiotarus did not only accommodate the King with a handsom Maiden but also enroll'd the said Concubine for one of the Ladies of her Bed-chamber educating her Children and using all means possible to have them succeed in his Thronâ— of so base a Spirit was Queen Stratonica Again Princes have been as often ruined by their Wives as by their Concubines Thus Livia is infamous for the poysoning of her Husband Roxalana Solyman's Wife was the destruction of that renowned Prince Sultan Mustapha and otherwise troubled his House and Succession Edward the Second of England his Queen had the principal hand in the deposing and murther of her Husband Now this kind of danger is then chiefly to be fear'd when the Wives have Plots either for the raising of their own Children or for the promoting of their own new Religion or else when they be Advowtresses of all which her differing from her Husband in Religion whether she be Wife or Concubine renders her the most dangerous for then she looking upon him as out of the reach of God's mercy can think nothing an injury to his person or a loss to his Estate if her ghostly Fathers are pleas'd but to encourage her Lastly Upon another account Women have many times been the destruction of States Nam fuit ante Helenam Cunnus teterrima Belli Causa Horat. Lib. 1. Sat. 3. Paris his Robbery committed upon the Body of the fair Helena Wife to Menelaus was the original cause of that fierce War between the Greeks and Trojans the Rape of Lucreece lost the Tarquins their Government the Attempt upon Virginia was the ruine of the Decem-viri the same arm'd Pausanias against Philip of Macedon and many other Subjects against many other Princes in so much that Aristotle in his Politicks imputes the abomination of Tyranny to the injuries they do to people on the account of Women either by Debauchments Violences or Adulteries and this he delivers the rather for that no one Vice reigns more amongst Princes than this of Venery Semiramis is said to have had conjunction with a Horse and Pericles to have begun the Peleponesian War for the sake of Aspasia the Socratick Curtezan Iuda the Iewish Patriarch was a Fornicator and Sampson one of the Judges of the people of God married two Harlots Solomon the wisest King of the Iews kept whole Troops of Curtezans Sardanapalus that great Assyrian Monarch lost his Kingdom for a spinning-Wheel and a Whore Iulius Caesar the Dictator was called the Man of Women Mark Anthony was ruined by Cleopatra and Thalestris Queen of the Amazons march'd 35 days Journey through strange Countreys only to request Alexander the Great to lye with her which having obtain'd she returned home again well satisfied Much such another was Ioan Queen of Naples of fresher memory as also Pope Ioan which though denied by modern Papists I find confirm'd in some Books I have now by me that were both written and printed before the Reformation as for instance Polycronicon and another old great Chronicle entituled Chronicon Chronicorum Again Queen Pasiphae was another Example of Lasciviousness Heliogabalus much advanced the Art of Bawdery and Domitian is reported to have acted Sodomy with a Bull. And many other great persons were there whom History mentions that forsook their noble Enterprizes for the Snares of Love as did Mithridates in Pontus Hannibal at Capuâ— Caesar in Alexandria Demetrius â—n Greece and Anthony in Egypt Hercules ceas'd from his Labours for Iole's sake Achilles hid himself from the Battel for Love of Briseis Circe stays Vlysses Claudius dies in Prison for Love of a Virgin Caesar is detain'd by Cleopatra and the same Woman ruined Anthony For being false to their Beds Clytemnestra Olympia Laodicea Beronica and two Queens of France called Fregiogunda and Blanch as also Ioan Queen of Naples all slew their Husbands And for the very same reason Medea Progne Ariadne Althea and Heristilla changing their maternal Love into Hatred were every one the cause and plotters of their Sons Deaths 3 Nay if he be not a very Coward he will kill himself c. All things are importuned to kill themselves and that not only by Nature which perfects them but also by Art and Education which perfects her Plants quickned and inhabited by the most unworthy Soul which therefore neither will nor work affect an end a perfection a death this they spend their Spirits to attain this attain'd they languish and wither And by how much more they are by man's Industry warm'd cherish'd and pamper'd so much the more early they climb to this perfection and this death And if amongst men not to defend be to kill what a hainous self-murder is it not to defend it self This defence because Beasts neglect they kill themselves in as much as they exceed us in Number Strength and lawless Liberty yea of Horses and other Beasts they that inherit most courage by being bâ—ed of gallantest Parents and by artificial Nursing are better'd will run to their own Deaths neither solicited by Spurs which they need not nor by Honour which they apprehend not If then the Valiant kill himself who can excuse the Coward Or how shall man be free from this since the first man taught us this except we cannot kill our selves because he kill'd us all Yet lest something should repair this common Ruine we daily kill our Bodies with Surfets and our Minds with Anguishes Of our Powers Remembring kills our Memory of Affections Lusting our Lust of Vertues Giving kills Liberality And if these kill themselves they do it in their best and supream perfection for after perfection immediately follows excess which changing the Natures and the Names makes them not the same things If then the best things kill themselves soonest for no Affection endures and all things labour to this perfection all travel to their own death yea the frame of the whole World if it were possible for God to be idle yet because it began must die Then in this Idleness imagined in God what could kill the World but it self since out of it nothing is Donn's Paradoxes The two chief Objections against self-Homicide are the Law of God commanded in the Scriptures and the Law of Nature which obliges every man to self-Preservation As for the first of these I refer you to that excellent Treatise entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
what the pains of Death are when the whole Body is corrupted and dissolved whereas many times Death passeth with less pain than the torture of a Limb for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense Death is but felt by Discourse because it is the motion of an instant Aut fuit aut veniet nihil est praesentis in illa The Sickness that occasions our Death is perhaps less painful than many other Sicknesses we have formerly had however that is antecedent to Death and so relates not to it and for Death which is nothing but the seperation of Soul and Body I cannot concei ve it to be any pain or at most so short as not worth an hours fear If it were Death it self which caus'd the pain then all men would have the same Agony at their departure since Death is common to all Secondly If it be the fear of what shall become of us hereafter that depends altogether upon Faith which Faith ought to be regulated by the holy Scriptures but at this time writing in a Philosophical way I shall treat only of such Opinions as have been maintain'd according to un-enlightned Nature Know then that some have deny'd any Reward or Punishment hereafter as thinking that the supream Being concern'd not himself with humane Affairs Ipsa suis pollens opibus niâ—il indiga nostri Nec bene promeritis capitur nec tangitur ira Lucr. 1. Rich in himself to whom we cannot add Not pleas'd with good deeds nor provok'd with bad Others deny any future Account believing that when we are dead we shall be as though we had never been born according to these lines of the Poet Post mortem nihil est ipsaque mors nihil Velocis Spatii meta novissima Spem ponant Avidi Solliciti metum Quaeris quo jaâ—â—as post obitum loco Quo non nata jacent Tempus nos avidum devoraet chaos Mors individua est noxia corpori Nec parens animae Taenara aspero Regnum sub domino limen obsidens Custos non facili Cerberus ostio Rumores vacui verbaque inania Et par sollicito fabula somnio Senec. Troas Act. 2. Chor. Thus English'd by a Person of Honour After Death nothing is and nothing Death The utmost limit of a Gasp of Breath Let the ambitious Zealot lay aside His hopes of Heaven whose Faith is but his Pride Let slavish Souls lay by their Fear Nor be concern'd which way nor where After this Life they shall be bâ—rl'd Dead we become the Lumber of the World And to that Mass of Matter shall be swept Where things destroy'd with things unborn are kept Devouring Time swallows â—s whole Impartial Death confounds Body and Soul For Hell and the foul Fiend that rules God's everlasting fiery Iayls Devis'd by Rogues dreaded by Fools With his grim grisly Dog that keeps the Door Are sensless Stories idle Tales Dreams Whimsies and no more Many other as vain and impious Tenents were held amongst the un-enlightned Heathens which I shall treat of more at large in my Illustration of the Souls Immortality and have only instanced these at present to shew that before the Gospel shin'd amongst them many denied a future Reward and Punishment and those who did so could have no fear of Death upon the account of what would become of them hereafter But now writing in a Christian Government I shall wave all such Arguments and fly only to the infinite Attribute of God's Mercy which were not infinite did it not extend to the vilest Sinner in Hell He delights not in the death of a Sinner and we have found daily Experiments of his Mercy may such a thought never enter into my heart that the Deâ—s optimus maximus communis Pater of all Mankind should create men to damn them The best natured of the Fathers viz. Origen had another opinion of God and thought the very Devils themselves would not suffer eternally which if it was an error was an error on the right hand Has God brought us into the World preserv'd us in it several years given us a comfortable subsistance brought us to our Journeys end in peace and happiness and shall we then at last distrust him We knew not how he would dispose of us when we came into this World and we know not how he will dispose of us when we go out of it but since he dealt so bountifully with us before why may he not do the same again The very Dogs that wait at out Trenchers will upbraid us with this Diffidence when after two or three meals meat and one days sport they chearfully follow us without any distrust at the first whistling Summons Neither will I despair when our Divines tell me I have offended an infinite Majesty unless I had infinitely offended him which I neither can nor would do For I consider him not only as my God and Creator but also as my heavenly Father who will own me for his so long as I do nothing purposely to offend him and that if through the sensual Nature in me I commit any frailties he will give me only a filial chastisement and with that his pardon I think I may without vanity affirm that the thoughts of Death are not at all frightful to me and though an unprepared Death I dread yet a sudden Death of all others appears to me least terrible Mitius ille perit subita qui mergitur unda Quam sua qui liquidis brachia lassat Aquis Ovid. de Ponto l. 3. Lastly As for a future Account I find the Bill to swell rather than shrink by continuance From all which I conclude that Death needs not seem terrible to any out of a fear of what shall become of them hereafter unless it be to such who by their hard censures of God Almighty make Salvation seem almost impossible and of those I wonder any will marry since according to their belief 't is above ten thousand to one but the Children they get are damn'd Men saith the Lord Bacon fear Death as Children fear to go in the dark and as that natural Fear in Children is increas'd with Tales so is the other Nevertheless the Groans Convulsions discolour'd Face Friends weeping Mourning and Obsequies represent Death more terrible than really it is Pompa mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa It is as natural to die as to be born and to a little Infant perhaps the one is as painful as the other Moreover Death hath this advantage also that it openeth the Gate to Fame and extinguisheth Envy Extinctus amabitur idem Horat. However this fear of Death which Nature hath implanted in us all is one of the greatest Benefits Mankind enjoys since without it there would be no Peace no Meum or Tuum and no security either for Life or Estate all Laws then being rendred uneffectual Now some are so base-spirited to judg of men according to their Deaths if they be of a Perswasion different
cleans'd the Stables of Augeas King of Elis wherein many thousand Oxen had dung'd continually a long time together for turning the Current of the River Alpheus and causing it to pass through the Stables he by that means carried away the filth all in one day 8. He brought a Bull from Crete into Greece drawing him along the Sea which Bull breath'd nothing but flames of Fire and was sent by Neptune as a punishment amongst them 9. He took Diomedes King of Thrace Prisoner giving him to be eaten of his own man eating Horses and afterwards breaking the said wild Horses he brought them to Eurystheus 10. He took Prisoner Geryon and his Cattel who was King of Spain and reported to have three Bodies because he had three Kingdoms 11. He went to Hell and brought thence with him Theseus and Pyrithous as also the Dog Cerberus And 12. he took the golden Apples out of the Garden of the Hesperides and kill'd the Dragon that kept them from him All which Actions rendred him terrible to the Tyrant Eurystheus for whose sake he had perform'd them Now concerning these Labours of Hercules mention is made in Lucret. lib. 5. Ovid. Metam 9. Senec. Agamemn 806. Hercul Fur. 214. and 526. Herc. Oet 15. Silius 3 333. Sidon Carm. 9. Boet. lib. 4. Met. 7. Claud. praef in lib. 2. de Raptu Pros. Moreover from hence arose these Proverbs Herculei Labores signifying a Work impossible to be atchiev'd Herculis Cothurnos Frustra Herculem Hercules Simia and Hercules Hospitator Suidas interpreteth Hercules's Club to be Philosophy whereby he slew the Dragon i. e. Natural Concupiscence Lastly For his Death it happen'd A. M. 2752. Ant. Christ. 1196. The learned Jesuit Galtruâ—bius who writes his Life more at large than any one I have met with supposes this Hercules of Thebes to have been the same that releas'â— Prometheus contrary to what Philostratus here asserts and this may proceed from the obscure Records of those Times which attribute the Actions of all others of that Name to this Hercules the Theban or Lybian as call'd by some because he conquer'd Lybia 3 Eagles Amongst all Fowls the Eagle only can move her self strait upward and downward perpendicularly without any collateral declining Munster This Bird is commended for her faithfulness towards other Birds in some kind though she often shews her self cruâ—â—â—â— They all stand in awe of her and when she hath gotten meat she useth to communicate it only to such Fowls as accompany her but some affirm that when she hath no more to make distribution of then she will attack some of her Guests and for lack of food dis-member them Her sight is sharp and quick in so much that being in the highest part of the Air she can easily see what falleth on the Land and thereupon the sooner find her prey It is said that she can gaze upon the Sun and not be blind and will fight eagerly with the Dragon who greedily coveting the Eagles Eggs causeth many Conflicts to be between them The Poets have call'd her Iove's Bird and Iupiter's Armour-bearer because she is never hurt with Lightning She has great affection towards her young in so much that she will endanger her own Body to secure them bearing her young ones on her back when she perceiveth them to be assaulted with Arrows She usually preyeth on Hares Geese Cranes and Harts as for her practice in killing the Hart Munster saith it is thus When she laboureth to destroy the Hart she gathereth much dust as she flyeth then sitting upon the Hart's Horns shaketh it into his eyes and with her wings beateth him about the mouth till she makes him fall fainting to the ground The Eagle buildeth her Nest-upon high places as Rocks and Mountains and the property of the young Eagle is when she findeth a dead Carkass first of all to pick out his eye Now although the Eagle be very tender over her young yet when they be able to fly of themselves she casteth them out of her Nest because she would have them shift for themselves and no longer depend upon their Dam. Moreover Aristotle writeth that when the Eagle waxeth old the upper part of her Bill groweth so much over the under that she dieth of Famine But Augustine observeth further that when the Eagle is thus overgrown she beateth her Bill upon the Rock and so by striking off her cumbersom part she recovereth her strength and eating to which the Psalmist alludeth Psal. 103.5 Which makes thee young and lusty as an Eagle Swan's Specul Mund. 4 So great was his Stature As for the bigness and stature of mens Bodies it decreaseth nor by succession of Off-spring but men are sometimes in the same Nation taller sometimes shorter sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker as the Times wherein they live are more temperate or luxurious more given to labour or to idleness And for those Narrations which are made of the Giant-like statures of men in former Ages such as the Poets and Philostratus here mention of Prometheus many of them were doubtless meerly Poetical and Fabulous I deny not but such men have been who for their strength and stature were the Miracles of Nature and the World's Wonder yet may we justly suspect that which Suetonius writes That the Bones of huge Beasts or Sea-monsters both have and still do pass currant for the Bones of Giants When Claudius with great strength entred this Island as Dion Cass. speaks l. 60. he brought with him a mighty Army both of Horse and Foot as also Elephants in great number whose Bones being since found have bred an error in us supposing them to be the Bones of Men and not of Beasts as Speed our Chronicler doth A notable Story to this purpose Camerarius reports of Francis the first King of France who being desirous to know the truth of those things spread abroad touching the strength and stature of Rowland Nephew to Charlemain caused his Sepulchre to be open'd wherein his Armour being found and the King putting it on his own Body found it so fit for him as thereby it appear'd that Rowland exceeded him little in bigness and stature of Body though himself were noâ— extraordinary big or tall Likewise I have often heard my Father say that the Coffin or Tomb-stone he saw in one of the Egyptian Pyramids wherein it is thought one of their ancient Kings were buried is of no greater length than his own Coffin must be If men have decay'd in their stature since the first Ages then by consequence the first Man Adam must have been a Giant of Giants the highest and most monstrous Giant that ever the World beheld whereof we have no account in Scripture Holy Writ makes mention of Giants in the 6th of Genesis not long before the Floud but long after the Creation Therâ—â—â—â—e Giants in the Earth in those days saith the Text. Nevertheless it is the phrase of holy 〈◊〉 to call such Giants as are in behaviour wicked
where great Debates arise their Spirits grow warm and all Heaven is in a Mutiny only because Achilles's Mistress is taken from him which at the bottom is but a Trifle 'T is likewise by this great Art of Fiction that all the Voyages and indeed every step that Telemachus made in the Odysses to seek his Fatheâ— Vlysses became considerable because Minerva is of his Retinue and of his Council and all became remarkable by the â—mpression they receiv'd from the Conduct of a Deity that presides over Wisdom Rapin's Reflect on Arist. Poes But to conclude this point The greatest Excellency of Homer lyes in his Invention in his Moralâ—ty in the Elegancy of his Words in his Epithets and Adverbs wherein he surpasses all others Yet notwithstanding all this that hath been said some Exceptions have been rais'd against him ex gr that by the Fable of his Iliad he has disgraced his Countrey in taking for his Hero a person who occasion'd the destruction of so many gallant Officers whom he sacrificed to his grief and discontent That Homer's chief Hero Achilles is made subject to great weaknesses and imperfections below his Character when according to the Pourtraicture Horace hath left of him Achilles is a Bravo but withal hasty impetuous furious passionate violent unjust inexorable a contemner of Laws and one that places all his Reason in his Sword Impiger iracundus inexorabilis acer Iura negat sibi nata nihil non arrogat armis Horat. Arte Poet. Achilles is cruel even towards the Body of Hector so far as to take pleasure in exercising vengeance upon it and out of an unparallel'd Avarice sells to his afflâ—cted Father the Body of his Son I shall not say any thing of his quitting with a Lightness not to be pardon'd that great and generous Enterprize made by a general Combination of all Greece upon the occasion of a she-Slave for whom he abandons himself to tears and complaints with many discoveries of weakness That if the Action and principal Subject of Homer's Iliad be the War of Troy according to the judgement of Hâ—race who therefore calls him Trojâ—ni belli scriptorem then that Action is defective and imperfect in as much aâ— that War has not in the Iliad either beginning or end according to that Verse of the Poets Infaelix operis summa qui ponere totum Nesciat Horat. Epist. ad Pison But if the principal Subject be the Anger of Achilles as is more likely and as Homer himself acknowledges by his Proposition that Anger has indeed a beginning but neither end nor middle for it is thrust out of doors by another animosity of the same person against Hector for the death of Patroclus so as there are two Anger 's one upon the loss of his Friend the other upon the taking away of his Mistress But the greatest defect is that the rest of the Poem has no connection with that Anger and Homer during the space of 18 Books thinks no more of it as if he had clearly forgot his Proposition and Design but during that long Interval speaks only of Sieges Battels Surprizes Consultations of the Gods and all things that relate to the Siege of Troy which made Horace as I said before think that the Subject of the Iliad was the War of Troy according to the Name it goes under So that which way soever we look on that Poem it will in that part appear defective Neither is the Odyssey an Action more correct than that of the Iliad it begins with the Voyages of Telemachus and ends with those of Vlysses All is made for Telemachus in the four first Books Menelaus Nestor and the other Greciâ—n Princes relate to him the Adventures of Troy without any thought at all of Vlysses which is the principal Action so that the four first Books of the Odyssey are neither Episode nor part of Action nor have any connexion with the rest of the Work in so much that the Fable of the Odyssey is apparently double Take them as they are and one knows not what to make of them In the Representation of those Games and Pastimes which Achilles in the 23d Book of the Iliads makes upon the death of Patroclus there are abundance of things utterly incredible Also Homer introduces Miracles and Machines without any just occasion when Priamus hath lost Hector Iupiter sends the Goddess Iris his Messenger to caution him to take care of his Son's Body and redeem it from Achilles as if his Father who had so great a tenderness for his Son could not think of it himself without a Machine to put him in mind that he was a Father If Telemachus in the Odyssey go to find out Vlysses in the Courts of Greece he cannot stir a foot forsooth without the assistance of his Governess Minerva to lead him up and down by the Sleeves Nay this Machine hath not so much as any appearance of probability in as much as Minerva conducts Telemachus to seek for Vlysses all over Greece save only to the place where he is which she ought not to have been ignorant of upon the score of her Divinity from which nothing should be conceal'd And yet this is Homer's way to imploy the Gods upon all trifling matters as so many Porters without any regard to their rank thus Mercury becomes Coachman to Priamus as well as his Scout Again Homer's Episodes are forced His Kings and Princes speak as scurrilously of one another as so many Plowmen could do Thus Agamemnon in the Iliad treats Chryses the High-Priest as an extravagant impious person when he only demands with much respect nay and with Presents his own Daughter which Agamemnon had taken away from him by force In like manner the Priest forgetting all Charity did out of revenge implore Apollo to destroy the Greeks Vlysses whom Homer proposes as an exemplar of Wisdom suffers himself to be made drunk by the Pheacians for which Aristotle and Philostratus condemn the Poet. How extravagant was it in that accomplisht Sage so soon to forget so vertuous a Wife and Son for the dalliances of his Prostitute Calypso to run after the famous Sorceress Circe and being a King as he was so far to debase himself as to go to Fifty-cuffs with a rascally Beggar named Irus Priamus in the 24th Iliad does not speak like a Father when he wishes all his Children dead so Hector were alive again his grief might have been express'd some other way How barbarous was the Inhumanity of Achilles upon the dead Body of Hector How immodest and undecent was the long though accidental interview between Vlysses and the Daughter of Alcinous in the 6th of the Odysseys In fine There is but little observance of Decorum in Homer's Poems Fathers cruel and harsh Heroes weak and passionate Gods subject to miseries unquiet quarrelsom and mutinous c. What can be more ridiculous than the Discourse which Antilochus's Son Iliad 23. makes to his Father's Horses telling them His Father Nestor
and thorny Brakes Whilst the misguided follower climbs with pain Mountains of Whimsies heap'd in his own Brain Tumbling from thought to thought falls headlong down Into Doubts boundless Sea where like to drown Books bear him up a while and make him try To swim with Bladders of Philosophy In hope still to o'retake th' escaping light The vapour dances in his dazled sight Till spent it leaves him to eternal night Then old age and experience hand in hand Lead him to death and make him understand After a Search so painful and so long That all his Life he has been in the wrong Huddled in dirt the Reas'ning Engine lyes Who was so proud and thought himself so wise Pride drew him in as Cheats do Bubbles catch And made him venture to be made a wretch His wisdom did his happiness destroy Aiming to know that World he should enjoy This supernatural gift that makes a mitâ— Think he 's the Image of the Infinite This busie puzling stirrer up of doubt That frames deep myst'ries and then finds them out Trifling with frantick Crowds of thinking Fools Thosâ— Reverend Bedlams Colledges and Schools Born on whose wings each heavy Sot can pierce The flaâ—ing Limits of the Vniverse So cheating Oyntments make an old Witch fly And bear a crippled Carkass through the Sky 'T is the exalted power whose businesâ— lyes In Nonsence and Impossibilities This made a whimsical Philosopher Before the spacious World his Tub prefer And we have modern cloyster'd Coxcombs who Retire to think 'cause they have nought to do But thoughts were given for Actions government Where Action ceases thought's impertinent Our Sphere of Action is Life's happiness And he who thinks beyond thinks like an Asâ— Satyr against Man 3 Philosophical Pirates give themselves to Gluttony Veneâ—y c. It was ever the Reproach of the ancient Philosophers that their Lives were no way correspondent to their Doctrines and that Probitas laudatur alget Their long Robes great Beards and affected Gravity were so notoriously defamed by their Avarice and dishonest Lives as made them often banish'd from several States and at last quite ruined the profession In those Times the Heathen Religions did little meddle with Morals but especially with the Rites and Ceremonies of divine Adoration leaving the moral part of humane Conversation to be managed by moral Philosophers who with their loud prayses of Vertue gull'd the World for many Ages till after notorious and universal experience of their lewd Lives and gross Hypocrisie it was found that such talkative Vertue was but â— Chimaera or Nomen inane Lucian in his Dialogue concerning the Manners of Philosophers brings in Menippus speaking thus of them Because I was saith he uncertain what course of Life to hold I thought good to go to the Philosophers and take their advice that they might direct me herein not considering that as the Proverb saith I cast my self out of the frying-pan into the fire for I found amongst them all things more uncertain than amongst any sort of men in so much that the Life of the veriest Ideot seem'd unto me more happy than theirs For when I beheld their Lives I perceived they were clean contrary to their own precepts and doctrines those who taught that Money and Riches were to be contemn'd did gape after nothing more than Gain lending to usury teaching for hire and doing all for money those who in words seem'd most to contemn glory referr'd all the whole course of their Lives thereto and finally those that openly spake most against voluptuousness and pleasure secretly sought and embraced nothing else Thus far Lucian But to justifie this by Example let us reflect upon some few of the most eminent amongst them What can be more absurd than the Laws of Plato wherein following the Doctrines of his Masters Socrates and Pythagoras he not only tolerates but enjoyns community of Women and a promiscuous generation also that young Men and Women should be stark naked when they perform'd their Exercises at the Gymnasian Games Likewise what shall we say of Aristotle Plato 's Scholar whom divers that lived in the same Age did testifie to be a most wicked man Cephisodorus the Disciple of Isocrates charg'd him with Delicacy Intemperance and Gluttony Lieon the Pythagorean said he was so covetous that he used to sell the Oyl wherein he bathed himself Demochares objected against him that he betray'd his own Countrey Stagira to the Macedonians and finally one of his Followers who undertook to defend him against others confesseth that two things commonly reported of him were probable that is to say that he was ungrateful to his Master Plato and that he secreâ—ly debauch'd the adopted Daughter of his Friend Hermias the Eunuch and married her of which Eunuch he had been also before so much enamour'd that Eubulides saith he made a kind of Marriage with him and Theocritus of Chio wrote an Epigram of their bruitish Love and Conversation Euseb. contra Philosoph Lastly Let us examine the Laws of Aristotle than some of which nothing could be more barbarous One was that if a man had any lame or deform'd Child he should cast it out like a Whelp and expose it to perish Another Law of his was that if a man had above such a certain number of Children which number he would have determined according to every man's ability that then his Wife should destroy the fruit in her Womb when ever after she conceived than which nothing could be more inhumane Neither can I forbear to mention another Constitution of his which was no less absurd or ridiculous when prohibiting the use of lascivious Pictures for fear of corrupting the Youth he nevertheless in the same Law excepteth the Images and Pictures of certain Gods in whom saith he the custom alloweth Lasciviousness Again Aristotle who hath written so exactly of all moral Vertue in his Book de Ethicis or de Moribus and was himself the Prince or Head of the Peripatetick Philosophers was forced to fly privately out of Athens for fear of being punish'd for his wicked Life he most ungratefully as some say poyson'd his best Benefactor Alexander the Great who had restored to him his Countrey and trusted him with his Life he deny'd to the Soul any place of Joy after this Life he collected the Writings of others whose several other Copies having stifled he publish'd them under his own Name and last of all running mad out of an immoderate desire of Knowledge he is said to be the Author of his own Death And so much for Aristotle See Agrip. vanit scient In the next place Our great Seneca whom notwithstanding St. Ierâ—â—â— would have inserted into the Catalogue of Saints as little deserv'd it as either Plato or Aristotle for I do not think any of the Heathens lived worse than he did as we may find if we trace him right In the time of the Emperor Claudius we find he was banish'd for suspiâ—ion of Incontinency with Iulia
the Daughter of Germanicus and if it be said that this proceeded meerly from the spight of Messalina why then did she not cause him to be put to death as well as she did the other who was her Husba d's Neece But 't is most certain what-ever his Life were he had paginam Lâ—scivam as 〈◊〉 appear by what he hath written de Speculorum usu l. 1. Nat. Qu. cap. 16. which admitting it may in a Poet yet how it should be excused in a Philosopher I know not In his exile he wrote his Epistle de Consolatione to Polybius Claudius's Creature and as honest a man as Pallas or Narcissus wherein he extolls him and the Emperor to the skyes seeking a discharge of his exile by so fordid a means whereby he lost much of his Reputation Upon Claudius's Marriage with Agrippina he was recall'd from Banishment by her means and made Praetor when having no need of him he forgets the Emperor labouring all he can to depress him and the hopeful Brittanicus also procured his Pupil Nero to be adopted Successor and the Emperor 's own Son to be disinherited likewise against the Emperor whom he so much prais'd when he had need of him after his Death he writes a scurrilous Libel In Nero's Court how ungratefully doth he behave himself towards Agrippina who although she were a wicked Woman yet she deserved well of him Also towards Nero himself what a treacherous part did he play in becoming an associate in Piso's Conspiracy Noâ— must we here omit his vast Riches and Avarice Moreover He doth in extremo actu deficâ—re when he must needs perswade his excellent Lady Paulina to die with him which according to his opinion for he believ'd not the Souls Immortality could be no advantage to her Last of all The Philosopher Theodorus who was honour'd with the title of a God deliver'd iâ— as his opinion that wise men would not stick to give their minds to Thieving Adultery or Sacriledge when they found a seasonable opportunity that none of these are evil by Nature and that setting aside the vulgar opinion there is no Reason but a Philosopher might go publickly to a Whore without Reproof Many more Instances could I produce to shew not only the ill precepts which were taught but likewise the evil Lives which were led by many of the ancient Philosophers whose practices have continually run counter to their Theory Now from hence it is that the wisest Governments grew to manage the Peoples Conscience rather by Religion than Philosophy since the terrors of Hell and hopes of Paradise would more effectually reform mankind than any Philosophical Notions And whereas the Philosophers were so multiply'd into Sects as St. Austin out of Varrâ— reports them to have been almost 300. and in effect each giving the other the Lye now Religion seemed likely to be more agreeable to its own Doctrine and more united in it self Yet in after Ages even that divided into so many Schisms as made a kind of necessity of setting up one supream Judge whose Dictates right or wrong should decide all Controversies about Religion and regulate the manners of the Clergy this rais'd the Pope over the Christians and Mafti over the Mahometans Yet in both of these so prone is flesh and bloud to corruption that many times the greatest Doctors are forced to bid men do as they teach and not as they do which nevertheless is apt to discredit the very Doctrines themselves among vulgar people who are more inclin'd to believe what they see than what they hear But to speak as a moral man their pretended Religion and Philosophy consisted in this Compositum Ius fasque Animi Sanctosque recessus Mentis incoctum generâ—so pectus honesto Pers. CHAP. XIII The Narration of King Phraotes touching his Parents and himself namely how his Father being in his youth cast out of his Kingdom studied Philosophy amongst the wise men and how he himself being instructed by his Father in the Greek Tongue was sent to the same wise men to be taught Philosophy but after the death of his Father was recall'd by his Father's Friends to the Kingdom AS for my self this is the History of what hath befallen me I am descended of a Grandfather who was a King and of the same Name with me but my Father was a private man for being left very young two of his near kindred were according to the Laws of India made his Guardians and managed the Government for him very tyrannically Whereupon they appear'd grievous to the Subjects and the Government was evil spoken of in so much that many of the Nobility conspiring together against them did at the great Solemnity when they were sacrificing to the River Indus set upon them and kill them when seizing on the Government they shared it amongst themselves Wherefore my Father's kinsmen being very solicitous of his safety when he was not yet 16 years old sent him to the King that reigneth near the River Hyphasis which Kingdom is far greater than that which I possess and the Countrey much more pleasant When the King would have adopted him his Son my Father refused it saying that he was unwilling to strive against Fortune who had already deprived him of Rule Wherefore he entreated the King to give leave that he might be brought up in Philosophy by the wise men of that Countrey which would make him the better undergo his domestick evils Now when the King was willing to restore him to his own Kingdom my Father answer'd If you perceive me to be a true and genuine Philosopher you shall restore me if not suffer me to continue as I am When the King heard this he himself went with him to the wise men promising to bestow no small Benefits on them if they used their utmost diligence in educating that Youth who was by nature so generous They discerning something more than ordinary in him very freely assented to communicate their Wisdom to him and readily instructed him who was as fully intent upon Learning After 7 years were expired the King falling sick of a Disease which ended his Life sendeth for my Father and maketh him co-partner with his own Son in the Kingdom giving him his Daughter then marriageable to Wife But he when he perceived the King's Son to be overcome by Flatterers Drinking and such like Vanities as also to have a suspicious eye over him said to him Take your Estate to your self and order it how you please for it is a ridiculous thing that he who is not able to recover his own Kingdom should boldly intrude into anothers grant 〈◊〉 only your Sister for this alone of all your Estate will satisfie me Wherefore taking his Wife he withdrew into those Places that are near to the wise men wherein he had 7 very pleasant Towns which the King gave to his Sister for her privy Purse Now I being sprung from this Marriage and my Father having instructed me in the Greek Learning he