let us begin with the Ionick Philosophy of which we have already declar'd Thales the Instructor of Anaximander to be the first Founder The End of the First Book Diogenes Laertius Containing the Lives Opinions and Apophthegms Of the most Famous PHILOSOPHERS The Second Book Translated from the Greek by Sam. White M. D. The LIFE of ANAXIMANDER ANaximander a Milesian was the Son of Praxiades He held that the Beginning and Principle of all things was the Vast Immensity however no way bounding the Air the Water or any other Thing That the parts were subject to Alteration but that the whole was immutable that the Earth lay in the middle as it were claiming the place of a Center being of a Spherical Figure That the Light of the Moon was a false Light as being borrowed from the Sun which was at least equal to the Earth and the most pure sort of Fire He was the first inventer of the Gnomen which he fixed in the Dials of Lacedaemon which were then no other than places proper for the observation of the Shadows which the Sun cast whereby as Phavorinus records in his Universal History he mark'd out the Tropics and Equinoxes and erected Horoscopes He was also the first who undertook to delineate the Perimeter or Circuit of the Earth and Sea and to frame a Sphere that ' embody'd both those Elements Which done he set down in writing a short Exposition of such things as occur'd most plainly to his Apprehension In the second year of the fifty eighth Olympiad he had attained to the sixty fourth year of his Age as Apollodorus the Athenian declares in his Chronicle and dy'd not long after but he flourish'd in his prime during the Reign of Polycrates Tyrant of Samos It is reported That one time among the rest as he was singing certain Boys laugh'd at him which when he understood Therefore said he it behoves us to sing so much the better because of the Boys There was also another Anaximander a Milesian likewise who was an Historian and wrote in the Ionic Dialect The LIFE of ANAXIMENES ANaximenes a Milesian also was the Son of Eurystratus and a Hearer of Anaximander and as some say of Parmenides likewise He affirm'd the Air and the Infinite Immensity to be the beginning of All things and that the Stars did not move above the Earth but round about it He wrote in the Ionic Dialect affecting a plain and concise Style He was born in the sixty third Olympiad as Apollodorus testifies and dy'd about the time that Sardis was taken There were also two others of the same name born in Lampsacus the one an Orator the other an Historian and Nephew to the Rhetorician who wrote the History of Alexander's fam'd Atchievements There are likewise extant two Epistles of Anaximenes the Philosopher to Pythagoras of which the first â—uns thus Anaximenes to Pythagoras THales himself in the progress of his Studies from the flower of his Youth to his Old Age was not altogether free from misfortune For as it was his custom going forth one night with his Maid Servant to behold the Stars in the midst of his serious Contemplation forgetting the situation of the place while he went forward gazing up to the Skies he fell down a steep Precipice This was the end say the Milesians of that famous Astrologer But we among the rest of his Scholars forget not the Man nor our Children who are his Disciples likewise But we embrace his Doctrine and ascribe the beginning of all our Learning to Thales His second Epistle was this that follows Anaximenes to Pythagoras CErtainly thou did'st consult our Advantage more than our selves in returning from Samos to Crotona where thou livest in Peace For the Sons of Aeacus are offensive to others and for the Milesians they are in subjection to their Tyrants And the King of the Medes threatens us severely too unless we will submit our Necks to the Yoke of Servitude But as yet the Ionians seem readily resolv'd to fight with the Medes both for their own and the Liberty of their Neighbours But the Enemy so surrounds and over-powers us at present that we have little hopes to preserve it How then is it possible for Anaximenes to mind his Contemplation of the Skies living as he does in continual dread of Perdition or Slavery But thou enjoyest a perfect Tranquillity honour'd by the Crotonaeans and other Italians and crowded with Disciples out of Sicily The LIFE of ANAXAGORAS ANaxagoras a Clozomenian the Son of Hegesibulus or Eubulus was a diligent Disciple of Anaximenes He was the first who attributed to Matter Sense and Reason thus beginning his great Work which is both delightful and loftily compos'd All things at the beginning sprung together then came the World's Intelligence and shap'd and embellish'd every individual Species whereas it was call'd the Great Intelligence Of which thus Timon in his Silli For thus fam'd Anaxagoras profoundly taught That the vast Mind like some great Hero fought Rebellious Chaos that disdain'd controul And then it was that the Worlds mighty Soul Millions of ranging formless Bodies fix'd Rammass'd Compacted here conjoyn'd there mix'd Vntil at length the vanquish'd Mass gave o're And all agreed that was confus'd before This Person was not only eminent for his Birth and Riches but for the Grandeur of his aspiring Mind For he surrender'd his Patrimony to his Relations at what time being by them tax'd for neglecting his Estate What then said he are not you sufficiently able to take care of it Soon after he left 'em all and retir'd himself to the Contemplation of Nature not minding publick or private Affairs Insomuch that to one who thus accosted him What! then takest thou no care of thy Country Yes said he no Man more pointing to the Heav'ns He is said to have been twenty years of Age when Xerxes invaded Greece and to have liv'd seventy two But Apollodorus in his Chronicle affirms him to have flourish'd in his prime in the Seventieth Olympiad and that in the first year of the Se-Seventy eighth Olympiad he ended his days He began to divulge his Philosophical Exercises at Athens under Callias in the twentieth year of his Age as Demetrius Phalereus reports in his Compendium of the Athenian Rulers Where they say he continu'd thirty years He affirm'd the Sun to be a massy Plate of Red-hot Iron bigger than the Peloponnesus Which some assert to have been the Opinion of Tantalus before him He held that the Moon was full of Habitations Mountains and Vallies and that the Principles of all things were endu'd with similitude of Parts For that as the dust and filings of Gold might be embody'd into a Mass so was the Universe compos'd of little Bodies consisting of similar Particles That heavy Bodies possess'd the lowermost place as the Earth Light things the uppermost as Fire and the Middlemost he assign'd to Air and Water That the Sea lay below the Earth which was broad the moisture being
at Dios in Macedon speaks him to have been struck with Thunder in these words With footy Thunder all besinear'd Here by the Muses lies interr'd Together with his Gold'n Lyre The Thracian Orpheus he whom Jove High Heav'n commanding from above Struck dead with his Celestial Fire Now they who affirm Philosophy to have deriv'd its Original from the Barbarians pretend to shew us the form and manner of Instruction that every one made use of together with their Customs and Institutions declaring that the Gymnosophists and Druids uttered their Philosaphy in Riddles and obscure Problems exhorting Men to worship the Gods to do nothing that was Evil and to practise Fortitude Clitarchus also in his twelfth Book asserts the first to have been great Contemners of Death That the Chaldaeans wholly employ'd themselves in Astronomy and Predictions That the Magi were attentive altogether upon the Ceremonies of Divine Worship Sacrifices and Prayers to the Gods as list'ning to none but only to themselves They also discours'd of the Substance and Generation of the Gods which they affirm'd to be Fire Earth and Water condemning all manner of Images and Similitudes more especially those that asserted the Gods to be Male and Female They taught also several things in reference to Justice accounting it impious to burn the Dead but held it a vertue to ly with a Mother or a Daughter as Sotion relates in his Thirteenth Book More than this they practised Divination and Fortune-telling affirming not only that the Gods appeared to 'em but that the Air was also full of Specters through the redâ—ndancy of mix'd and various Exhalations forming themselves and piercing the Opticks of those that were sharp sighted However they forbid external Worship and the use of Gold. Their Vestment's were white they lay upon the Ground their Food was only Herbs Bread and Cheese Instead of Wands they made use of Reeds with the sharp ends of which they took up their Cheese and so put it to their mouths But as for Incantation or Conjuration they understood it not as Aristotle testifies in his Magic and Dinon in his Fifth Book of History where the same Author observes that the name of Zoroastres being interpreted signifies a Worshipper of the Stars which Hermodorus also confirms Moreover Aristotle in his First Book of Philosophy declares the Magi to have been more Ancient than the Egyptians and farther that they believ'd there were two Principles of all Things a Good and an Evil Daemon of which they call'd the first by the name of Jupiter and Oromasdes the other Hades and Arimanius which Hermippus also witnesses in his First Book of the Magi Eudoxus in his Periodus and Theopompus likewise in his Eighth Book of Philippics Which last Author farther declares it to have been the Opinion of the Magi that Men should rise again and be Immortal and that all Things subsisted by their Intercessions Which Eudemus the Rhodian also relates Hecataeus asserts That they believ'd the Gods to be begotten Clearchus surnamed Solensis in his Book of Education affirms the Gymnosophists to have sprung from the Magi and some there are who derive the Jews from the same Original Moreover they who write concerning the Magi condemn Herodotus denying that ever Xerxes darted his Javelins against the Sun or that he ever offer'd to fetter the Sea which by the Magi were both held for Deities but that their forbidding of Statues and Images might probably be true However they grant the Philosophy of the Egyptians to be the same as well in reference to the Gods as to Justice and that they held Matter to be the Beginning of All things out of which they distinguish'd the four Elements and allowed the Production of several Creatures That they worship'd the Sun and Moon for Gods the first by the name of Osiris the other by the name of Isis whose mysterious worship they conceal'd under the similitudes of Beetles Dragons Hawks and other Creatures according to Manethus in his Epitome of Natural Things and Hecataeus in his First Book of the Egyptian Philosophy And farther that they erected Temples and Images because they understood not the Form of the Deity That they believ'd the World to have had a Beginning to be Corruptible and Sphaerical that the Stars were of a fiery substance and that their temperate mixture produc'd all things upon Earth That the Moon was Eclips'd by the shadow of the Terrestrial Globe That the Soul was immortal and frequently Transmigrated That Rain was produc'd by the alteration of the Air with several other Philosophical Opinions and Conjectures of the same nature as may be gather'd from Hecataeus and Aristagoras They also constituted several Laws in reference to Justice the honour of all which they gave to Mercury Also to several Creatures that were generally useful to Mankind they attributed Divine Worship If we may credit their own Relations they boast themselves to have been the first inventors of Geometry Astrology and Arithmetick And thus much concerning the first invention of these things But as to the Name of Philosophy Pythagoras was the first that call'd it so and assum'd to himself the Title of Philosopher when he disputed at Sicyon with the Tyrant of the Sicyonians or rather of the Phliasians according to Heraclides of Pontus for he would not allow any mortal Man to be truly wise but only God. Before that time Philosophy was call'd Sophia or Wisdom and he who profess'd it was dignify'd with the Title of Sophos or Wise as one that had reach'd the sublimest vertues of the Soul. Now more modestly he is called Philosophos an Embracer of Wisdom Nevertheless Wise Men still retain the name of Sophists and not only they but the Poets also For so Cratinus in Archelochus calls both Homer and Hesiod as the highest Encomium he could give those famous Authors Now they who particularly obtain'd the more eminent Title of Wise Men were these that follow Thales Solon Periander Cleobulus Chilo Bias and Pittacus in which number there are some that reckn Anacharsis the Scythian Myso the Chenean Pherecydes the Syrian and Epimenides the Cretan and some others needs will also add Pisistratus the Tyrant And these â—ere they whom Antiquity reverenc'd under the Title of Wise Men. As for Philosophy it is said to have had its first Foundations laid by two Persons of equal Fame Anaximander and Pythagoras the one the Scholar of Thales the other the Disciple of Pherecydes By which means Philosophy being thus divided that which was founded by Anaximander was call'd the Ionian Philosophy in regard that Thales who was Anaximander's Master was a Mylesian of Ionia The other the Italian Philosophy because that Pythagoras who was the Author spent most of his time and publish'd his Philosophical Tenents in Italy The Ionian Philosophy terminates in Clitomachus Chrysippus and Theophrastus the Italian with Epicurus For to Thales succeeded Anaximander to Anaximander Anaximenes Anaxagoras followed Anaximenes and Archelaus follow'd Anaxagoras after whom came Socrates
of various Names to preserve his Writings from being thumbed by rude and illiterate Readers For he said that Wisdom was properly the knowledg of those things which were apprehended by the Understanding and were truly existent which was separated from the Body in the Contemplation of God and the Soul. Moreover he defin'd Wisdom and Philosphy to be an inbred desire of Divine or Heavenly Wisdom But generally he took it for all sort of Skill and Knowledg as when we call an Artificer a Knowing Man. He also makes use of the same words to signifie several things Thus he makes use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signify Plain or Simple as in Euripides thus speaking of Hercules in his Lysimnius Careless and Plain but for the most part honest Who measured Wisdom still by Deeds not words What e're he said he meant The same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato frequently uses sometimes for Honest sometimes for Small tho' at other times he makes use of different words to signify one and the same thing Thus he calls Idea sometimes Genus sometimes Species as also the Beginning the Exemplar and the Cause Sometimes he expresses the same thing by contrary words Thus he give◠the Names of Entity and Non Entity to Sensible Entity because it is generated Non Entity because of its being subject to continual Change. Moreover he calls Idea that which never is moved nor is permanent the same one and many And this he uses to do in several other things As for his works they require a threefold Exposition First what every one of the Subjects are that are discoursed of Then the end of the Discourse whether according to the first Intention or in lieu of an Example whether to assert or 〈◊〉 fute and thirdly whether rightly and truly said In the next place in regard there are several marks and Characters affixed tohis Books let us take some account of Them also The Letter X. is affixed to Sentences and Figures altogether according to the Platonic Custom Double XX. to his peculiar Opinions and Tenents X′ accented to his more polite and elegant Flourishes Double accented X″ to the Emendations of others A little Dagger †accented for the rejecting ridiculous Confutations An Antisigma to shew the double use and transpositions of Writing A small Half-Moon to shew the Context of the Philosophy An Astcrisk * to shew the Concurrently of Opinions A Dagger to denote a Confutation And thus much for the Notes and particular Marks which he that desired to understand gave s much Money to his instructor as Antigonus the Carystian relates in his Treatise concerning Zeno late put forth As for his Opinions which he most fancied they were these That the Soul was Immortal and transmigrated into several Bodies having its beginning from Number but that the Beginning of the Body was Geometrical He defined it to be the Idea of a Spirit altogether separate moveing it self and consisting of three parts That the Rational part was seated in the Head. That part which was subject to Passion and Anger in the Heart and the Part which brought forth Desire and Concupiscence in the Navel and Liver That it encompassed the one half of the Body all over in a circular Form consisting of the Elements and that being divided according to Harmonical Intervals made two Semi-circles joined together◠the innermost of which being divided into six Parts made all the other seven Circles and lay Diametrically to the Left side within the other close to the side upon the Right and therefore it was most predominant as being but one For the other was divided within of which the one was of the same and the rest of the Other alledging this to be motion of the Soul that of the Universe and of the Planets and that by means of the middle Segments holding Proportion with the Extreams she comprehends all Beings and adapt◠'em together as having the Principles of all things in her self according to Harmony That Opinion arises from the Elevation of the Circle of the Other Knowledg from the Elevation of the Circle of the same That there were two Beginnings of all Things God and Matter which he calls Intelligence and nominates to be the Cause That Matter is without form and immense from the coalition and conjunction of Forms That this Matter at first being hurried up and down without order was at length rammassed together into one Place by the wise God who deem'd Ordel more seemly than Disorder That this existent Matter is divided into four Elements Fire Water Air and Earth Out of which the World and all things therein were Created only that the Earth is immutable believing it to be the cause of that Diversity of Forms whereof it consists for that the Forms of all other things are of the same kind being all composed of one Oblong Triangle tho' the Figure of the Earth be peculiar to it self seeing the Figure of Fire is Pyramidical the Air resembles an Octaedron the Water an Icosaedron but the Form of the Earth is Cubical Which is the reason that the Earth never changes into Them nor they into the Earth However he denies every Element to be confin'd to its proper place for that the Circular Motion by constraining and depressing to the Center congregates the smaller but separates the more bulky things which is the reason that when they change their forms they also change their Places That the World was Created single and one and was made a sensible Being by the Creator as being for its greater Excellency endued with Life and as the most glorious of Fabricks proceeding from the best of Causes and therefore but one though not Infinite because the Exemplar by which it was Created is but one That it is of a Sphaerical Figure as being the Form of the Creator For he encompasses the whole Creation and the World contains all other Forms of all things Moreover that it is smooth without any other Circular Organ as having no need of any such thing farther that the World is Immortal because it cannot be dissolv'd again into God. But that Cod was the cause of the whole Creation since only that which was good could do good That the best of causes was also the cause of the Creation of Heaven For that there could be no other cause of the most lovely part of the Creation than the best and most excellent of intelligible Beings which it being certain that God himself is and that the Heaven is also likest to him as being the next that transcends in Beauty there can be no Creature that it can resemble but only God. That the World consists of Fire Water Air and Earth Of Fire to the end it might be visible Of Earth that it might be solid of Air and Water that it might not want Proportion For solid things derive their Solidity from two Mediums to the end the whole may be made One. But then it takes its
proportion from all things that so it may become perfect and incorruptible That time is the Image of Sempiternity which always endures but that time is the Circumrotation of the Heavens For that Nights and Days and Months c. are but parts of Time and therefore there could be no time without the nature of the World. That after the Creation of Time were also Created the Sun the Moon and Planets and that God kindl'd the Light of the Sun that the number of the Hours might be manifest and certain and that the Creatures might be capable to understand Number That the Moon moves above the Circle of the Earth next to her the Sun and over them the Planets That they are all endued with Life as being all consolidated by a Lively Motion That for the greater Perfection of the World being made like to the Intelligible Life the nature of all Creatures was made which the Earth enjoying the Heavens also must of Necessity enjoy That the Gods were for the most part of a fiery Substance That the various sorts of Living Creatures were divided into three distinct Kinds such as lived in the Air such as the Water nourished and such as bred upon the Earth But that the Earth was the Eldest of all the Deities in Heaven The Structure of which was reared for the variation of Day and Night and that the Earth being in the Center is moved about the Center Now in regard he asserted two Causes therefore he said some things were Diuturnal others proceeded from the necessary Cause those were Fire Water Earth and Air not Elements exactly neither but capable of Impression which consisted of Triangles joined together and would be resolved again into the same and that the Elements from which they sprang were the oblong Triangle and the Isosoeles And these were the Beginnings and twofold Causes of all things whose Exemplar and Pattern were God and Matter which of Necessity must be void of Form as all other Substances capable of Impression That the cause of these things was a necessary cause which receiving the Ideas begat the Substances and was moved by the dissimilitude of its Power and by its own Motion compelled those things that were moved by it to move contrary to it That these Causes at first moved without any Order but when the World began to be embellished and adorn'd they received their Symmetry and Order from God. For there were also two Causes before the Creation of Heaven though very obscure and irregular till the World was brought to Perfection and then the Heaven was made of a Mixture and Materials chosen out of all Existences then Created He held that God and the Soul were Immaterial for that as being such and no otherwise it could be free from Corruption and Perturbation And for Ideas he supposes 'em to be certain Principles and Causes that such and such things are by Nature what they are Concerning Good and Evil his Tenents were these that the End was to be like God. That vertue was sufficient to render Life happy though it wanted these Utensils of the Body as Health Strength quickness of the Senses and the like or the exteriour advantages of Wealth Nobility Honour c. For that without these a wise and vertuous Man might be happy moreover he may be admitted to the Government he may Marry and he will be sure to observe the Laws besides he will make as wholesome Laws for the Benefit of his Country according to the utmost of his Ability unless the perverseness of the People frustrate his good Intentions He held that the Gods took Care of human Affairs and that there were also Daemâ—ns or Spirits He first design'd the Notion of Honest to be that which is contiguous to laudable rational profitable and seemly as they are imprinted by Nature and taken so to be He also discoursed of the truth of Words and may be said to have been the first that had the true Art of putting and answering Questions as being his continual Practice Moreover in his Dialogues he allowed the Justice of God to be a Law to the end he might render his Perswasions to Justice the more prevalent and prevent the Punishment of Evil-Doers after Death Which was the Reason that he was look'd upon as fabulous and trivial by some Persons while he intermixed in his Works such Stories as those as if the uncertainty of what should happen after Death would be a means to deter Men from injustice and injury His distribution of things as Aristotle affirms was after this manner Of Blessings said he or enjoyments some are of the Mind others of the Body others Extrinsecal Justice Prudence Frugality c. he plac'd in the Mind Beauty Health and Strength in the Body Riches Friends and Prosperity of our Country he numbred among external Happinesses and thus he asserted three sorts of Blessings He also divided Friendship into three sorts Natural Sociable and Hospitable Natural the Friendship of Parents to their Children and Kindred one to another of which also other Living Creatures participate Soâ—iable is that which Custom and Converse begets where there is no tye of Consanguinity such as that between Pylades and Orestes Hospitable is that which we shew to Strangers being induc'd thereto either by Letters of Recommendation or some secret Sympathy of Disposition to which some add a fourth which is Amorous Friendship As for the Forms of Civil Government he allowed five sorts Democratical Aristocratical Oligarchical Regal and Tyrannical Democratical is where the Multitude have the Power in their hands and chuse Magistrateâ— and make their own Laws Aristocracy where neither the Rich nor the Poor nor the Noble but they who are the most Just and Vertuous and consequently the Best Oligarchy is where the Magistrates are Elected by their Estates for the Rich are fewer by much than the Poor Regal Government is either according to the Law or by Succession The Kingdom of the Carthaginianâ— is a Kingdom according to Law for it is Political but that of the Lacedemonians by Succession Tyranny is that when the People aâ—â— govern'd by force and constraint of one single Person against their wills He asserted also three sorts of Justice The one that related to the Gods the other to Men the third to the Deceased For they that Sacrifice according to the Law and are careful in observance of Religious Ceremonies are Just and Pious toward the Gods. They who pay their Debts and deliver up their Trusts are just toward Men And they that take care of the Monuments of their Predecessors and pay their Funeral Duties to their Friends are just to the Deceas'd He also asserted three sorts of Knowledge The one relating to Trade and Manufacture the other Speculative the other Practical In the first are included Carpenterâ— Shipwrights and the like professing a Craft or Trade To Practical he referr'd the Art of well governing neat piping or playing upon the Harâ— which all consist in
cannot be lost contrary to Cleanthes They also affirm That Justice is Justice by Nature and not by Constitution of Law as Love it self and right Reason are according to the Opinion of Chrysippus in his Treatise De Honesto They also hold that Discord it self is not contrary to Phylosophy For if this were not true there would be a Deficiency in Life it self as Possidonius affirms Chrysippus also asserts the Liberal Sciences to be of great Use in his Treatise of Justice And Possidonius maintains the same Opinion in his Book De Officiis The same Authors aver That we are not just to other Creatures because of the Dissimilitude that is between us and them They allow a Wise man to be in Love with young Lads that carry in their more beautiful Aspects the Marks of Ingenuity and a Propensity to Virtue as Zeno in his Common-Wealth and Chrysippus in his Lives and Apollodorus in his Ethics declare For Love say they is an Endeavour to gain Friendship for the sake of appearing Beauty nor is it for the sake of Coition but of Friendship Therefore Thraso having his Mistress wholly at his Command abstain'd from her for fear of being hated So then Love is a Tie of Friendship not to be blam'd as Chrysippus acknowledges in his Treatise of Love. Beauty they define to be the Flower of Love. Now there being Three Sorts of Lives the Speculative the Practical and the Rational Life they say The Third is to be preferr'd For that a Rational Creature was created by Nature sufficient for Contemplation and Practice Farther they say That a Wise man will readily surrender his Life for his Country and his Friend though he suffer Torment Mutilation of Members or the most incurable Diseases 'T is their Opinion also That Wives should be in common so that a man might make Use of the first he met by accident for thus Zeno and Chrysippus both ordain'd in their Common-Wealths for that they will all have the same Charity and Affection for their Offspring and by that means Adultery and Jealousie will be remov'd out of the World. They affirm that Common wealth to be the best which is a mixture of Regal and Popular Power And this is a Brief Accompt of their Morality though they have asserted many other Opinions not without probable Grounds As for their Natural Philosophy it is comprehended under the Places of Bodies Principles Elements Deities the End Place and Vacuum Thus specifically But generally they divide it into Three Places Of the World of the Elements and of Causes The Place of the World they divide into two Parts For by the means of one Consideration they associate to themselves the Mathematics which teach 'em to enquire into the Nature of the wandring and fix'd Stars and the like As Whether the Sun be as big as he seems to be And the same concerning the Moon the Rising and Setting of the Stars and the like By means of the other Speculation which is only proper for Naturalists they enquire What is the Substance of Natural Philosophy what the Sun is and what the Stars are as to Matter and Form whether Created or not whether Living Bodies or no whether corruptible or not whether govern'd by Providence and so of the rest The Place of Causes also they distinguish into two Parts Under one Consideration falls the Question common to Physicians concerning the Dominion of the Soul what things are existent in the Soul of the Seed c. What remains is common also to the Mathematics as How we see what 's the Cause of the Optic Fancy what the Cause of Clouds Thunder Rainbows Halo's Comets and the like They assert two Principles of all Things the Active and Passive The Passive that same lazy and feneant Substance call'd Matter The Active God which is the Reason contain'd in it Who being Sempiternal was the Architect of the whole Structure and of all things contain'd in it This is the Opinion of Zeno the Cittian in his Treatise of Substance With whom agree Cleanthes in his Book of Atoms and Chrysiyppus in his First Book of Physics toward the End Archedemus in his Treatise of the Elements and Possidonius in his Second Book of Natural Philosophy However they make a Distinction between Principles and Elements for the one they hold to be without beginning the other Corruption that the Elements shall perish by Fire for that the Elements are corporeal but the Principles incorporeal and incorruptible A Body as Apollodorus defines it is that which consists of Longitude Latitude and Depth and this he calls a Solid Body The Supersicies is the Termination of a Body or that which has only Length and Latitude but no Depth And this falls as well under Thoughts as Substance A Line is the End of a Supersicies or Length without Breadth or having only Length A Point is the Termination of a Line and is the smallest Mark that can be They hold but one God to whom they give the Names of Intelligence Fate Jove and sundry other Appellations This God at the Beginning when he was alone by himself turn'd all Substance into Water having rarify'd it first into Ayr. And as the Sperm is contain'd in the Birth thus this Spermatic Reason of the World remain'd in the Water preparing the Matter for the Generation of external Beings and then the four Principles were created Fire Water Ayr and Earth This is the Discourse of Zeno in his Book of the World of Chrysippus in his first Book of Physics and of Archedemus in a certain Book of Elements An Element is that out of which all things were at first produc'd and into which they are to be dissolv'd again That all the Elements together at first compos'd that motionless Substance Matter That Fire is hot Ayr cold Water liquid and Earth dry and that the same Part still remains in the Ayr That the Fire is uppermost which they call the Sky where the Sphere of the Planets was first created next to that the Ayr below that the Water and the Earth the Foundation of all as being in the middle They affirm the World to be God three manner of ways First The peculiar Quality of the whole Substance incorruptible and without Beginning the Architect of the whole adorn'd Structure after some Periods of Time consuming and swallowing up the whole Substance into Himself and then restoring it out of Himself again In the next Place they affirm the Ornamental Order of the Stars to be the World. And Thirdly A Being consisting of both Possidonius defines the World to be the peculiar Quality of the whole Substance compos'd of Heaven and Earth and the Nature of the things therein contain'd Or a Systeme of Gods and Men and of those things created for their sakes That the Heaven is the outermost Periphery or Superficies upon which all that which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Divine Nature was fix'd Moreover That the World was
that was sold That if any Man put out the Eye of him that had but one he should lose both his That where a Man never planted he should never take away if he did the Crime to be punish'd with death That it should be death for a Magistrate to be taken in drink Homer's Poems he ordain'd to be transcrib'd in such a Contexture that where the first verse ended the next should begin So that Solon illustrated Homer beyond Pisistratus as Diochidas testifies in his fifth Book of Megaries He was the first that call'd the Thirtieth day of the Month 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Old and the New And first ordain'd the number of nine principal Magistrates to pronounce Sentence as Apollodorus relates in his Second Book of Legislators In a certain Sedition that happen'd he would neither side with the Citizens nor the Country People nor the Seamen Among the rest of his Apothegms he was wont to say That Speech was the Image of Deeds That he was a true King who was strongest in Power and that the Laws were like to Spiders Webs which held whatever was light and weak but were easily snapt asunder by what was big and ponderous That Speech was seal'd up by Silence and Silence by Opportunity He compar'd the Favourites of Tyrants to Counters for that as they sometimes made the number greater sometimes lesser so were Favourites advanc'd or disgrac'd by the Tyrant at his pleasure Being ask'd Why he made no Law against Parricides He reply'd Because he despair'd of meeting any such Criminals To the Question Which was the best way for a Man to preserve himself from doing injury He answer'd If they who were unprovok'd had the same sence of the injustice as they who were injur'd He was also wont to say That Plenty sprang from Wealth and that Plenty begat Contempt He advis'd the Athenians to regulate the days according to the course of the Moon And forbid Thespis to Act or Teach the making of Tragedies as an unprofitable and fabulous sort of Learning So that when Pisistratus wounded himself he cry'd out I know his Instructors Among the public Admonitions which he scatter'd among Men according to Apollodorus in his Treatise of the Sects of Philosophers these were the Principal To look upon Virtue and Probity to be more faithful than an Oath Not to tell a Lye To follow noble and generous Studies Not hastily to enter into friendship but the choice made not rashly to break it Then to govern when a Man has learnt to be governed To give Counsel not the most acceptable but most wholesom To be guided by Reason and Judgment Not to converse with bad Society To honour the Gods And reverence our Parents They report also that upon Mimnormus's writing the following lines Vnhappy Man who free from cares and pain And Maladies that seek for cure in vain To sixty years of age can seldom reach Er'e death the swift Career of Age impeach gave him this smart Reprimand I hear thy sad complaint but leave it out Nor take it ill that we advis'd thee to 't Or else enlarge and write That cannot reach To eighty years e're Death his course impeach Other Admonitions also he gave in Verse of which these are recorded to be part Beware for wicked Man must still be watch'd Lest secret mischief in his heart be hatch'd When smooth he speaks and with a smile as fair As new blown flowers exhaling fragrant Air. Man's double Tongue can flatter or can howle When prompted by a black corrupted Soul. Moreover most certain it is that he wrote partly Laws partly Speeches partly Admonitions to himself as also concerning the Common-wealths of Salamine and Athens above five thousand Heroic Verses besides Iambics and Epodes And at length upon his Statue this Epigram was engrav'd She that the pride of unjust Medians tam'd Fair Salamis for Naval Combat fam'd More famous she for Solon's Birth hecame Whose Sacred Laws immortaliz'd his Name He was in the flower of his Age much about the forty sixth Olympiad in the third year of which he was Prince of the Athenians as Sosicrates affirms at what time also he made his Laws He dy'd in Cyprus aged fourscore years with this Command that his Bones should be translated to Salamine and being burnt to Ashes should be sow'd over the Island For which reason Cratinus in Chiron introduces him speaking after this manner This Island I possess so fame resounds Sown o're the fertile Telamonian Bounds There is also extant an Epigram of our own in our Book of Epigrams which we formerly Consecrated to the Memories of all the Wise and Learned Men deceas'd Fam'd Solon's Body Cyprian fire did burn His Bones at Salamis are turn'd to Corn. His Soul into a nimble Chariot made The Tables of his Law to Heav'n conveigh'd Not to be wonder'd at for well they might The weight of all his Laws was then so light He is also reported to have been the first who utter'd that Apothegm Nothing to Excess And Dioscorides in his Commentaries relates that as he was weeping and wailing for the death of his Son whose name we could never yet understand to a friend of his that reprov'd him saying What does this avail thee He reply'd Therefore I weep because it avails me nothing More than this we find nothing in his Life remarkable but only that the following Epistles are said to be his Solon to Periander THou writest me word of several that lye in wait for thy Life I must tell thee that shouldst thou resolve to put 'em all to death 't would nothing avail thee For it may be one of those persons that conspires against thee is one of whom thou hast the least suspicion either jealous of his own Life or condemning thee and resolving thy destruction not only for thy pusillanimous fear which renders thy suspicions dangerous to all Men but to gratifie his fellow Citizens Therefore 't is thy best way to forbear to avoid the cause of thy fears But if thou art resolv'd upon violence consider which is strongest whether thy own foreign Guards or the Trained Force of thy own Subjects For then having no Body to fear there will be no need of Rigour or Exilement Solon to Epimenides NEither had my Laws been of much advantage to the Athenians neither hadst thou by repealing 'em done the City any good For neither God nor the Lawgiver alone can be profitable to a Common-weal but they who govern the Multitude as they please themselves Who if they sway the People as they ought then God and the Laws may do good but if wrong they will be but of little use 'T is true perhaps my Laws were not better than others yet they that refus'd to observe 'em did a great injury to the Common-wealth And such were they who would not oppose Pisistratus in his design to invade the Government They would not believe me when I foretold the Truth but more credit was given to them that
Chrysippus Poâ—sidonius and Antipaâ—er affirm it to be the Air. Boethus assâ—rts the Globe of the Fix'd Sâ—ars to be the Divine Nature Nature they sometimes define to bâ— that which comprehends and embraces the World sometimes that which causâ—s the Products of the Earth to groâ— and flourish Nature therefore is a Habit deriving motion from it self according to the Sâ—ermatic Rationalities terminating and putting an end to those things that flow from her at certain prefix'd times and performing what she was ordain'd for and it is apparent that she aims at profitable Pleasure by the Structure of Man. On the other side Zeno Chrysippus Posidonius and Boethus in their Treatises of Fate assert all things to have been created by Fate Now Fate is a Series of things link'd together or else thâ—t Reason by which the World is administer'd They also allow all manner of Divination to be substantial or else Providence Which was the Opinion of Zeno Chrysippus Athenodorus and Posidonius But Panaetius will not yield it to be a Substance for that the Prima Mâ—tâ—ria or first Matter was the Substance of all things as Cleanthes and Zeno both acknowledge Now Matter is that of which any thing consists and it is call'd sometimes Matter sometimes Substance or the Caâ—se of all things both general and particular but the Substance of the Whole neither increases nor diminishes A Body they say is a terminated Substance as Apollodorus and Antipater define it It is also Passive for if it were immutable those things which are could not be form'd out of it Hence the Division of it extends to Infinity Which Chrysippus denies for that there is nothing Infinite which can be divided The Mixtures also are made quite through the whole and not with Limitation or by Apposition of Parts for a small Quantity of Wine being thrown into the Sea will resist for a time but soon mingle and lose its Nature They also affirm That there are Daemons or Spirits which have the Guardianship of Humane Affairs and that the Souls of Wise men being departed from the Bodies become Hero's As to those things that derive their Original from the Air they say That Winter is the congealing of the Air by reason of the Sun's remoteness the Spring a more moderate Temper of the Air upon the Return of the Sun to our Hemispere Summer when the Air is heated by the approach of the Sun to the North and that the Fall of the Leaf is occasion'd by the Sun's Departure from us That the Winds are the Flowings and Inundations of the Air various in their Names according to the Climates from whence they come and of which the Sun is the Cause by exhaling the Clouds That the Rain-bow is the Reflexion of the Sun-Beams upon Watery Clouds Or as Possidonius defines it the Manifestation of some part or portion of the Sun or Moon in a dewle Cloud concave and shewing it self firm and contiguous to the apprehension of Sight as the Periphery of a Circle fancy'd in a Looking-Glass That Comets Bearded Comets and other Celestial Meteors are substantial Fires caus'd by the thicker Part of the Air drawn up into the Ethereal Region A Sun-Beam the kindling of a sudden Flame swistly darted through the Air and representing to the Sight the Figure of a long Line The Rain is the Alteration of a Cloud turn'd into Water when the Moisture exhal'd by the Sun either from the Earth or the Sea loses its first Operation and thickens into Ponderosity which being congeal'd is call'd Frost or Ice Hail is a more solid Cloud crumbl'd by the force of the Wind. Snow is the Moisture of a compacted Cloud according to Possidonius Lightning is the kindling of Clouds shatter'd and brok'n by the Wind as Zeno defines it Thunder is a Noise which proceeds from the rushing of the Clouds one against another A Thunder-Bolt is a vehement kindling and baking of a substantial Cloud which then comes poudring down upon the Earth the Clouds being once brok'n and shiver'd in pieces A Typho is the sâ—oaky Wind of a broken Cloud carry'd vehemently to the Earth A Prester or Fiery Whirlwind is a Cloud surrounded with Fire carry'd by the Wind into the Concavities of the Earth or else a Wind enclos'd in the Bowels of the Earth according to Posidonius Of which there are several sorts as Earth-quak's Yâ—â—nings of the Earth Burnings and Ebullitions Now having plac'd the Earth in the middle they make it the Center of the whole next to which is the Water which has a Center likewise with the Earth so that the Earth seems to be in the Water and above the Water is the Air in a Body resembling a Sphear That there are five Circles in the Heavens the Arctic which always appears the Summer Tropic the Equinoctial the Winter-Tropic and the Antarctic They are also call'd Parallels because they never meet one another The Zodiac is an oblique Circle because it touches the Parallels They also reckon five Zones the Frigid Zone beyond the Arctic Pole uninhabited through extremity of Cold the Temperate Zone the Torrid Zone the Southern Temperate Zone and the Southern Frigid Zone They further conceive Nature to be an artificial Fire tending her own way to Generation which is also a fiery and artificial Spirit That the Soul is sensible and is a Spirit bred within us therefore it is a Body and remains after Death but is liable however to Corruption But the Soul of the whole is incorruptible the Parts of which are Souls of Beasts Zeno and Antipater affirm the Soul to be a Hot Spirit as being that with which we breath and by which we are mov'd Cleanthes also asserts That all souls are so long durable till they lose their Heat But Chrysippus allows that Pre-eminency to none but the Souls of Wise men As to the Senses they affirm Sight to be the Interval between the Sight and the subjected Light conically extended according to Chrysippus But as Apollodorus defines it that Part of the Air which resembles a Conical Figure next the Sight of which the Basis is the Object next the Sight which is apparent to be seen when the Air is smitten with a Wand Hearing is the interval of Air between the Speaker and the Heurer smitten into Circles which upon that Agitation flows into the Ears like the Circles made by a Stone in a Cistern of Water That Sleep proceeds from the Relaxation of the sensible Faculty being put upon the stress in the Principality of the Soul. That the Passions are occasion'd by the Alterations of the Spirit The Seed is that which was appointed by Nature to generate the like to that by which it was begotten and that the Seed of Man mixes its Moisture with some Parts of the Soul thereby to communicate the Reason of the Parent to the Thing generated which Chrysippus affirms to be a Spiritual Substance as appears by the Seeds that are sown in the Earth which being too old never grow