and of Protestants with Roman Catholicks But it appears also that when he reflected upon the difficulties of reuniting which are already and upon those w ch arise every day he look'd upon the Reunion as a thing which ought to be wished for but of which there is but little hopes Thus it is that he speaks in several places In the first part may be seen Letters 422.426.519.649.976 Where he complains particularly of the new Institution of the Scapular and of the books of the Office of the Virgin which he looks upon as obstacles to peace This is what makes him speak thus to his Brother William Grotius in a letter of the 21. of February 1625. Hoc voti magis est quà m spei praesertim cum Romae M. Antonii de Dominis damnata si◠memoria corpore exusto Et tamen sunt qui me Romam invitent Sed quae tanta precor Romam mihi causa videndi But as when we ardently desire a thing this Passion often makes the difficulties disappear which are in the obtaining thereof so Grotius hoped sometime that he should see it but rather as a simple object of his wishes than his hopes so it appears by the Letters 534. and 637. of the 2. p. that he flattered himself that in time the Roman Church might relinquish several of its Tenets and correct several abuses whereof the most understanding persons of that Communion complain every day He hoped nevertheless to see it but this Idea flattered him so pleasantly that he could not but say Amare liceat si potiri non licet What he had written in his youth was objected against him as contrary to what he maintained towards the end of his life But first he saith that if all this be examined there will no contradiction be found in it and he adds in the second place that if by a more advantage by the conversation of the Learned and by much Reading his judgment is become more solid he ought no more to be accused of inconstancy than St. Augustin who retracted in his old age several things which he had advanced in the first books he published P. 2. l. 647. Besides these matters of Divinity which respect Controversie some Questions of Morality are found in these Letters which are not of a less importance for example What rule men should keep in the estimation of things which are exchanged and sold and in the Interest which can be demanded for ones money l. 953. p. 1. As this depends on infinite circumstances the Laws have defined nothing upon these matters People have been forced to be referred to natural equity which all men ought to have for one another Ruarus demanded of Grotius if a Man can espouse two Sisters after one another because the Divine Laws say nothing on 't tho' human Laws prohibit it and if a Christian is oblig'd to follow but mans Laws Grotius answers that Princes have Right to declare null these sort of Marriages just as the other Contracts and that a Christian is oblig'd to follow the Laws unless they are altogether unsufferable Let. 327. and 336. P. 1. In the Letter 1057. Grotius expounds a place of his book de Iure belli ac Pacis and sheweth in what sense these words of Jesus Christ ought to be understood He that will take your Coat from you let him take your Cloak c. The sense of the explication which he gives in this Letter cannot be comprehended without comparing it with the book above mentioned One Nicholas de Bye of the Society of the Menonites which Grotius calls genus hominum non malum had sent him a great letter by which he endeavoured to prove that it was prohibited to Christians to make War to punish with Death Grotius answers to that several things in the Letters 545 and 546. of the 2d P. which may be added to what he hath said upon these matters in his book de Iure Pacis ac Belli An Extract of the Letters of Grotius II. Part Treating upon Law History and Politicks WE have run thro' the Criticks and Divinity in the Letters of the famous Grotius It remains that we should make an extract of the matters concerning Law History and Politicks Tho' he undertakes not to treat throughly on this subject there are nevertheless several places which may contribute much to the understanding of divers hard questions in the Law History and in the Government of States III. The famous question concerning the Domination of the Sea may be referred to Law which hath been so often agitated in the North. There was at the beginning of this Age a dispute between the English and the Dutch concerning the fishing for Whales Commissaries were named on both sides to regulate this difference Grotius was one of the Commissaries of the Province of Holland and he relates the success of the Conference which they had with the English Commissaries in his Letter 56. 1. p. He saith they silenced the English and made it appear that neither the Country of Greenland nor the Sea belonged to them and that the Dutch could not lose the liberty of their Navigation nor of fishing for Whales whereof none had any right to claim the Propriety to himself We clearly shewed saith he that the Land belonged not to them seeing before the year 1596. no body had gone to it that the Hollanders discovered it and gave it the Name which it hath yet as is evident in all the modern Geographers Spheers and Mapps They would fain have persuaded us that Hugh Willoughby discovered it in 1553. But we prove by the very Journal of this Voyager that he being parted from Finland took Anchor at the Isle of that Name which is very far from Greenland that he in fine died with Cold and Hunger with all his Companions upon the Coasts of Lapland where some Laponians found them the next Summer and whence their journals were carried into England The English could answer nothing to all this only that there had been much wrong done to their master to contest a Right with him which he had till then peaceably possess'd In the letter 15. P. 2. He treats of this question to wit Whether a Lord of Holland might yield something touching the Rights of Navigation and Commerce without the Consent of the States He maintains he cannot because the Lords of Holland were but the Guardians of the Rights of the People without being able to Alienate them as he says may be shewn easily by the Laws of the Countrey Upon this occasion he saith that Holland was a free Countrey even under its Lords and that this liberty began not when the King of Spain was declared a Receder from his Rights or when a Truce was made with him Grotius brings some reasons for this which may be read in the Original Grotius had written in 1615 to the Embassador of the States at the Court of France touching the Controversies which were in agitation at that time
and it is very strange how punctual they are in them They surpass all other Nations both for the diversity and number of honourable Titles which they give themselves as well as in certain Airs of Civility and good Breeding which they affect and in the care they take of their Cloaths There can nothiâ—g be seen more composed than the Countenance Actions and the Ways of their Learned Men And the Women apply themselves after such a manner to Bashfulness Modesty and Chastity that these Vertues seem born with them Their Magnificence appears in their Feasts which they keep with much Pomp and in their Publick Works and sumptuous Buildings which for their Greatness and Number in the Authors Opinion easily surpass all other in the Universe In general the Palaces of their Princes and of the chiefest Mandarins look like Towns and the Houses of some private Wealthymen resemble Palaces The great Canal which the Author describes with his ordinary exactness and which he says is 3500 Furlongs long which are about 350 French Leagues This Canal I say is one of those Works of Art where Profit is so well joined with Magniâ—icence that by means of it one may go from one end of the Kingdom to the other which is the space of more than 600 Leagues and all this way by the Chanel or by Rivers only one days Journy by Land and to cross a Mountain an advantage which the Jesuite our Author which has gone this Voyage himself observes to be beyond any that is to be found in any Country of the Universe He adds that whereas there is no Town nor Village that has not some River or Channel or at least some Navigable Arm of the Sea that this convenience renders Navigation so common there that there are as many almost seen upon the Water as upon the Land people may soon judge the usefulness of this for Commerce and with what case plenty spreads it self over all the parts of this Kingdom Besides there is no Country that is more rich in proper Goods and that draws more from its own Fund than China all is had there and it may be said almost above wish and not only what is necessary but plenty of all delicious things The quantity of Gold that each Province has is so great that instead of coyning it to buy other things with it it is sold like other Merchandize As for Silver as there is none that comes into the Country that can be carry'd out again there being rigorous Laws that prohibit it it may be easily judg'd that this Nation that is more greedy of this Metal than any other is has gathered immense quantities of it since the beginning of this Empire that is more than 4050 Years ago All other Metals are found there at least in as great abundance as in any other Climate especially Tin anâ— Brass whereof the Chinois Handicrafts-men make several Works precious as well for the goodness of the Matter as for the excellency of the Work Nor are Silk and Wax what this Country has least of The first is not only the fairest and best in the World but is there in such great abundance that most places of Asia and Europe furnish themselves thence and that besides the incredible Quantity that is made use of in China it self where the use of it is so common that the very Foot-boys wear Satin and Damask The Wax is of a certain sort peculiar only to this Kingdom the fairest neatest and whitest that was ever seen and being of a more agreeable use than ordinary is used by the King himself and by all the Court and the Lords and Mandarins and by the Men of Learning and generally by all rich Folks It is produced in certain small Trees near the bigness of our Chesnut-Trees and that by means of certain small Worms which by a natural instinct pierce these Trees to the Sap and which in eating all together as admirable as it is peculiar to themselves prepare purify and at length turn it into Wax as white as Snow they after pass out through the same Hole that they made to enter this Wax when it comes to the outward Surface of the Tree the Wind and Cold congeals it and it hangs in form of Drops In fine one cannot express the Price Beauty Variety and Quantity not only of their rich Cloath but also of the Skins and precious Furrs that this Nation makes use of especially in the Northern Provinces and at the Court of Pekin And what belongs to other things necessary either for the maintainance or conveniency of Life as Flesh Fruit and other Provisions it may suffice to say that they have all that we have and besides this Stores of such things as we have not There is no Country in the World where the Nobility have greater interest to keep the Crown in the Reigning Family than the Gentry of China have seeing all considerable Noble-men and great Lords do not subsist but whilst that Family lasts and that as soon as another is raised to the Crown they are all ruined by him There has been but one Family to this very day that could exempt it self from this sad Fate And it was that of the famous Confucius for the Merit and great Worth of this great Philosopher and the incredible Veneration which his Memory is preserved in has maintained his Family in all its Splendour for above 2020 Years so that flourishing yet in the same State of Esteem and Honour it may be with justice call'd the Antientest Family in the World But among all the Advantages attributed to China it is pretended that it deserves to be esteemed for nothing so much as for the Excellency of its Government and it is here that our Author gives the Relation as curious as important of the Conduct of this Empire In general the Mandarins the Officers and Magistrates of all the Kingdom they are distinguished into 11 Orders whereof the Differences are so well marked and the Subordination so just that in the Authors Judgment there is nothing comparable to it any where else The Mandarins of the first Order or the King's Counsellors of State form the Supream Tribunal whence all other depend After this come 11 Great Tribunals among whom the Kings of China have distributed all the business of the Kingdom And they pretend that the Establishment was made 2000 Years before Jesus Christ and that it has continued ever since in the same manner wherein it is seen now if some Corruptions be excepted that may have slipt in of these 11 Tribunals there are 6 of Mandarins of Learning as they call them and 5 of Mandarins of Arms. The 6 first are the most powerful because there is hardly any thing but what is subject to their Jurisdiction and they may be said to govern China The first of the six is that which has a general Rule over all the other Manderins and can give them their Places or Employment or take them away
per voi e dovevate far la per voi e non per altri We thought that the Reader would be glad to learn the Adventures both of an History and an Author who have made so much noise And therefore shall proceed to the Work it self What had been Printed at London contained but the Antient and Modern State of Great Britain It is to be had entire without any thing cut off in the two First Volumes of this Edition except the Author thought it more expedient to reserve for the Fifth Volume any thing which was Historical The First Volume contains eleven Books whereof the First gives a brief account of the History and Religion of England whilst it had been possessed by divers Princes and bore the Name of Britannia to wit unto Egbert who reduced it altogether under his Power and gave it the Name of England or of Anglia at the end of the Eighth Age. There are in this First Book divers things very curious concerning the Druides and the Gods who were adored in England before the Faith had been planted in it The Author describes in the Second Book the Greatness the Situation the Provinces the Rivers the Cities the Bishopricks the Inhabitants the Fertility the Merchandises the Negotiations and the Buildings of England The Third Book is employed altogether upon the Description of the Famous City of London Here there is more exactness than in the very Writings of some English who have given the Publick the state of this Famous City and that of the whole Kingdom There is according to the supputation of Mr. Leti near Four hundred fifty thousand Souls in London and about Six Millions in the whole Kingdom The Fourth speaks of the Government and Priviledges of the same City as well as of the Factions which do divide it The Sixth describes the Humour of the English and the Application they have to Religion and to the Observation of the Laws of the Country The Seventh is a Continuation of the same subject and a description of the Laws and divers Customs of England The Eighth speaks of the strangers who are in that Country and chiefly of the French Protestants who have fled thither some time since In this is the Declaration of the King of France importing That the Children of those of the R. P. R. may convert at seven Years accompanied with political and very curious Reflections In the Ninth Book the Author describes the Three States of England the Clergy the Nobility and the People but particularly the first It contains the number and names of the Bishops of this time the manner of consecrating them their Revenues c. The Tenth speaks of the State of Roman Catholicks in England of their number of their Exercises of the Endeavours to bring in again their Religion of the Missions of Fryars and of the Complaints they make of Protestants The Author adds the Answer of the Protestants to these Complaints and shews by the Catholick Authors the Designs of the Court of Rome upon England and of the Intrigues it makes use of to bring it under its Yoke The last Book of this Volume contains the Policy of the Court of England and its Maxims of State The Second Volume is composed of Eight Books whereof the two first do treat of the Religion and different Parties which divide it Therein are to be seen the Disputes of the Conformists and of the Non-Conformists the Opinions of the Quakers of Anabaptists c. The Fourth contains the Foundations and the Rights of the Monarchy of England the Revenues of the King and other Particulars of this nature There are several things in this place which cannot be found elsewhere The fifth describes the Government of England the King's Council the Parliament and the divers Tribunals of Justice of this Kingdom Herein are the Reasons why Parliaments have opposed in so many Rencounters the Designs of King's which Strangers are commonly ignorant of The sixth speaks of the particular Government of Cities and of Countries as also of the Posts of Governours of Places of the Garisons and of the Land Forces and Sea Forces of England The seventh is a Description of the Court and the King's Officers and of the Royal Family The last speaks of the strange Ministers who are at London of the manner wherewith they receive Ambassadours there Residents Envoys c. and of the Priviledges they enjoy Here is the Description of those who were in England whilst the Author lived here He tells very frankly their good or ill Qualities and this is not a little useful to judge of their Negotiations and to know why the one succeeds without pains in his Designs whilst the other stumbles every where It were to be wished that all the Histories which we have were thus circumstantiated For as there would be much more pleasure in reading them so we might also profit thereby much more than we do We should know not only the Events but also the secret Causes the Intrigues and the means which have contributed to the great Revolutions and it is what may profitably instruct us What signifieth it to know in general that a certain thing hath happened in a certain Year if we do not know how and wherefore It is the Conduct of Men which serveth us for an Example and an Instruction and not the simple Events which of themselves are of no use to us But where are there Men so couragious as to write without Flattery the History of their Time Where are there Princes who are so just as to suffer that their Truths should be told to their Faces Where are there even Ministers of State who would permit that their Defects should be divulged during their Life Nevertheless it is but then that it can be well done for if in the time wherein things are fresh more than one half is forgotten much more are the following Ages deprived of the knowledge of a thousand particular Facts which have produced great Affairs The Author having thus described the State of the Kingdom in the two first Volumes takes up again in the three others the sequel of the History of England from Egbert and continues it unto M DC Lxxxii He hath disposed his Work after this manner that after having made all the Essential Remarks of the History of England in the two first Volumes he should not be obliged in the following to interrupt the course of his Narration The third Volume contains Six Books whereof the last is destined to the Life of Henry the VIII The fourth Volume is composed of Five Books the first whereof includes the Reign of Edward and of Mary and the Second that of their Sister Elizabeth In the Third the Author after he begins the History of King Iames who reunited the Three Kingdoms makes a Description of Ireland and Scotland and speaks of their Ancient and Modern State after which in the Fourth Book he composes the History of the Reign of King Iames wherein
that time as Dr. Owen relates them Vid. Considerations pag. 224. First As to the state wherein their Jewish Learning stood at that time it was briefly this First The Jewish Historians have kept the Succession of their Learned Men for a Thousand Years from the time of our Saviour and by their Account as well as all other History of those Times there remained neither Learning nor Learned Men of any Eminency in Iudeah any longer than A. D. 340 or thereabouts for about the Year of Christ 340. in the Person of R. Hillel ceased the Promotion to the Dignity of Rabbi in the Land of Israel Tsemach David fol. 47. And if the Dignity ceased 't is unlikely the Profession should flourish any longer and from that time and onward they give us an Account of their Learning and Learned Men in Babylon Secondly Seeing the Jewish Writers have been so carefull to preserve the History of the Mishna of the Ierusalem and Babylon Talmuds it is very unlikely they should pass over so great and glorious an Invention as was this of the Authors of the Punctation in so deep silence had there been any such And the rather because Thirdly The Jews flourished at that time in Babylon whilst those of Palestine were very low and therefore 't is most improbable to imagine that the Wealthy and Famous Babylonian Jews should leave the eternal Praise of this Work to the poor Jews of Tiberias oâ—ly And that because Fourthly The Jews Talmud of Babylon hath not only obscured but even extinguished that of Ierusalem so that the Jews to this day are governed by the Babylonian Talmud It is therefore very unlikely that any such Masoretick Curiosity as might oblige all their Nation should not have the Honour drawn to those of Babylon also Fifthly It is very unlikely that what required the Approbation of the whole Nation should be so silently imposed on them all by some Men of Tiberias at such a time when for that present and many hundred years after the flourishing Schools of the Jews were at Babylon Elias Levita confesseth the Masorites were of divers Ages as in pag. â—â—3 And the truth is the Masorites were Hundreds and Thousands for many years one Generation after another and we know not the time of their beginning nor the time of their ending How likely then is it to be that those of Tiberias A. D. 500. must invent and place all the Punctation when all he brings to prove it is no more than this That some Rabbins commend the Skill and Accuracy of the Masorites of Tiberias but proves not what time those Masorites of Tiberias lived in whether A. D. 500. or before Secondly As to the state of the Jewish Nation with respect to their Calamities at and before A. D. 500. rendring them unfit for such a work as the Punctation which requireth such Leisure Ability and Learning as is only produced under a prosperous state Now these are briefly the Scenes of their Misery before A. D. 500. First From A.D. 68. until A.D. 72. were hundreds of thousands of Jews destroyed as the Translator of Eusebius reckons up out of Iosephus Euseb. Hist. lib. 3. cap. 8. And that the Captives at the taking of Ierusalem were Ninety seven thousand And the number of all that died during the Siege within Ierusalem were Ten hundred thousand Vid. Iosephus's Wars lib. 7. cap. 17. Secondly Another Scene of Misery was under Adrian A. D. 136. Euseb. Chron. ad Ann. 136. Of this Euseb. Hist. lib. 4. cap. 6. saith When the Jewish Rebellion waxed vehement and grievous Ruffus Lieutenant of Iudeah being sent with a great Power from the Emperour forthwith slew an innumerable multitude of Men Women and Children destroying their Regions and Countreys With a Destruction saith Dr. Owen seeming equal to that of Jerusalem under Titus Vespasianus This was most violent at the City Bitter not far from Ierusalem and belonging to it which when taken and Barchocheba their Seducer destroyed This whole Nation says Eusebius was banished and generally the whole Countrey of Ierusalem by the Laws Decrees and Appointment of Adrian So that by his Commandment it was not lawful for these silly Souls to behold their Native Soyl no not afar off from the top of an Hill This City viz. Ierusalem then to the utter Ruine of the Jewish Nation and the manifold Overthrow of the ancient Inhabitants being brought to Confusion began to be inhabited of strange Nations and after that it was subdued to the Roman Empire the Name was quite changed for unto the Honour of the Conquerour Elias Adrianus it was called Elia. By this Second Desolation as Dr. I. O. observes they were brought very low made weak and contemptible unspeakably diminished in their Numbers and driven into obscurity all the World over Now saith Dr. I. O. pag. 224. that there was formerly a School and Learned Men at Tiberias is granted Ierom hired one Learned from thence But that they continued there in any Esteem Number or Reputation unto the time designed by our Authors for this Work is not made to appear from any History of Jews or Christians Yea it is certain that about the time mentioned the chiefest flourishing of the Jewish Doctors was at Babylon and some other Cities in the East where they had newly compleated their Talmud the Great Pandect of the Jewish Laws as themselves every where declare That any Persons considerably learned were then in Tiberias is a meer Conjecture and it is most improbable considering what Destruction had been made of them at Diocaesaria and Tiberias about the Year of Christ 352. by Gallus at the Command of Constantius Socrates Scholasticus lib. 2. cap. 27. by whom the Jews were overthrown in Battel and the City Diocaesaria laid level with the Ground Now that there should after all these Destructions of the Jews be such a Collection of them so Learned so Authorized as to invent this Work and impose it on all the World no Man once taking notice that any such Persons ever were is beyond all belief pag. 224. Object 1. Capellus answereth First He is not precise when where and by whom the Points were invented Resp. Then he should not insist on those words of Aben Ezra From them we have all the Punctation nor should he so oft contend for it and suppose it proved Object 2. Capellus saith They might come from all Parts to Tiberias Resp. This is said without and against all History or Testimony of those Times 2. But the Argument is That so Noble a Work is not mentioned in History And he does not attempt to prove it is Object 3. He saith Yet there may be some one learned Man or other there to begin this Work unobserved Resp. But how could the private Work of one Rabbi be forthwith embraced by all the World that receive the Scriptures And placed through all Bibles and yet no notice taken of the Author in the History of those Times Object 4. But there were
small Difficulty to found any thing thereon It seems the People sometimes stoned those that were accused without staying for any Sentence or Order of the Judges according to the Custom of the Romans Obruere ista solet manifestos poena nocentes Publica cum long as non habeâ— ira moras Whether it was so or no they observed no Formalities towards St. Stephen except the Witnesses according to the Law Deut. 17.7 The hands of the Witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death and afterwards the hands of all the People The Law most wisely established this That provided he that was put to Death was Innocent the Witnesses who were the cause of his Condemnation were only guilty of his Death since he was kill'd by them before the rest of the People cast any Stones against him Some say the Martyrdom of St. Stephen was three Years after the Death of Iesus Christ Eusebius supposed it to be a little afer his Ordination and the Excerpta Chronologica published by Scaliger places his Death at the end of the eighth Month after the Ascension of our Lord. Lucian the Presbyter saith St. Stephen was Stoned in the North of Ierusalem at the side of the Brook Cedron a little without the Gate that hath since been called the Gate of St. Stephen and formerly according to some the Gate of Ephraim after others the Gate of the Valley or the Gate of the Fish Some Travellers to the holy-Holy-land tell us that they have seen the place where St. Paul kept the Garments of those that Stoned this Martyr The Empress Eudocia had formerly caused to be built near this place a Temple which bore the name of St. Stephen And as those who are curious after the Search of Relicks never fail to find what they please so they have discovered not only the place where St. Stephen was stoned but also the very Stone that he kneel'd upon which was afterwards carried to Mount Sion and placed in the Church that was built in Honor of the Apostles Baronius also relates That some devout Persons kept one of the Stones with which St. Stephen had been stoned and that it is still to be seen in the Treasury of Ancona I shall rehearse these things as Dr. Cave has done without refuting of them tho' he says enough to testifie he does not give Credit thereto He yet reports other Circumstancâ—s drawn from Lucian's Epistle and from the Menology of the Greeks which I shall not repeat lest it should savour too much of the Legend and only relate what Lucian Presbyter of Caphargamala in the Diocess of Ierusalem saith that in the 415 th Year of our Saviour that Gamaliel formerly Lord of that City after being converted from the Jewish to the Christian Religion had revealed to him in a Vision that St. Stephen was buried there The Bishop of Ierusalem thus advertised by Lucian made these Relicks be taken up and carried to Mount Sion from whence they were sent to Constantinople as Nicephorus informs us who hath been very diligent to relate all Histories of this Nature With a great deal of Reason Dr. Cave observes that excessive Veneration to Relicks was one of the Defects of that time by consequence one cannot much confide in these sort of Histories He brings another out of Baronius not less Marvelous than the precedent 'T is thus that a Viol full of the Blood of St. Stephen brought to Naples by one Gaudois an African Bishop used to boyl of it self every third of August according to the account of Ancient time as if it had been just shed But since that Pope Gregory XIII having corrected the Calender this Blood doth the same at the end of the thirteenth of August in which day after the new Reformation the Feast of St. Stephen is kept a manifest Proof say they that the Gregorian Calender is received in Heaven altho' in some Countries Hereticks have refused to follow it The Author adds not so much Faith to Modern Miracles as to those who did them and to what is spoken of in the time of Honorius It seems not Irrational to believe that there was a great number of Sick Persons who were cured by the admirable Odour that proceeded from St. Stephen's Tomb the first time it was opened if we may give credit to Lucian and Photius But he relies more on what St. Augustine says in his City of God Liv. 22. c. 8. of Miracles done in a Chappel where some of St. Stephen's Relicks were kept carried from Ierusalem into Africa by Orosus Dr. Cave believes God might do Miracles then to convert the Heathens which were in great Numbers amongst the Christians in those days where altho' there was no necessity of them yet he could not tell what might be done The Author of the Logick of the Port-Royal speaking of the same Miracles maintains that all men of Sense whether they had Piety or not must acknowledge them as true But one of a good Understanding and Pious too could not well think that St. Augustine should suffer himself to be deceived in things of that nature and upon slight ground would take that for a Miracle which was not so or that he made use of them as proper means to convert the Heathens without examining whether they were Matter of Fact or not it is very certain that he relates them with great Assurance and at this day apparent Falshoods are advanced with no less Confidence Tho' this is not a place to examine the Miracles of St. Augustine 'T will be more to our purpose to pass to the Life of Iustin Martyr Who was born in a City of Samaria formerly called Sichem afterwards by the Inhabitants Mabarta and in fine by the Romans Neapolis and Flavia Cesarea because of a Colony sent thither by Vespasian His Father whose Name was Priscus brought him up in his own Religion and took a great deal of care to have him well instructed in Philosophy He engaged himself particularly to that of Plato which was a means as he himself has declared of his embracing Christianity Having conceived a dislike against the other Sects of Philosophers he becomes a perfect Platonist and from that a Christian after he had some Conference with an Old Man of that Persuasion in Palestine He gives an account of his Conversion in his Dialogue with Tryphon but the Learned receive this as a feigned History or at least look upon it to be extremely imbelish'd Dr. Cave believes it to have been about the 132 d Year after our Lord. Nevertheless he quitted not his Habit of Philosopher for amongst the Greeks they were not attired like other Men. St. Ierom says the same of Aristides an Athenian Philosopher and Origen of Heraclus who was since Bishop of Alexandria The common People generally wore a single Tunick without a Cloak those that were of a better Quality or Richer had always a Cloak besides which the Philosophers had also but no Tunick
hereby Sound as well as Shape is discarded whatever elsewhere be pretended 3. That the LXX altered Letters as well as Vowels appears as in innumerable places elsewhere so in particular by the thirteen which the Jews own they designedly did corrupt viz. 1 Gen. 1.1 2 1.26 3 2.2 4 5.2 5 11.7 6 18.12 7 45.6 8 Exod. 4.20 9 12.40 10 24.5 11. 11 Deut. 4.9 12 17.3 13 Lev. 11.6 Not that all these places are found now so altered but some of them only So in Gen. 5. the Flood was A. M. 1656. but by the LXX 't was 2262. or 2242. as they have altered the Age of the Fathers 'T is well known how uncertain all things are about the LXX Iosephus expressly affirmeth That not the whole Bible but the Law only was translated by them in his Proaem Vid. Drusius Observat. lib. 6. cap. 9. Scal. ad Euseb. fol. 123. Wouwer Syntag. c. 11. Dr. I. O. of the Integrity of the Hebrew and Greek Text pag. 335 336 337 338 339. En Esrael on Megillah pag. 132. saith The Law only was permitted in Greek and that too for Ptololomy ' s sake only Vid. Ludovicus de Compeigne de Veil de Sacrificiis pag. 449 450. 5. Whatever was translated by them 't is certain that the Autographon of it if left at Alexandria was consumed to Ashes in Caesar's Wars and that Ierom could not find a Standard for to mend the Various Readings of it hy And 't is observed they shew such Ignorance of the Hebrew Tongue as is unmeet to be ascribed to such Persons as they are supposed to be Vid. Munster Pref. ad Bib. And 't is known they frequently read as they please for no Copy is found by which they can be supposed to translate 6. Let them shew therefore that our Greek Bible is the true and genuine LXX before they tell us they had no Points Vid. Cooper Dom. Moj. pag. 223 224 c. And as to the Chaldee Paraphrase which is objected also Resp. 1. 'T is a Cento of divers Persons and Ages That on the Law agrees best with the Letters and so likewise with the Vowels but that on the Prophets differs alike from both so that the Letters as well as the Points would be rejected on this account 2. 'T is a Paraphrase and not a Translation and so not tied to the Rules of a Translation nor do they always make a Litteral Interpretation § 5. 'T is objected That the Ancient Hebrew Character was the same with the present Samaritan which never had any Points or Vowels Resp. 1. Though it be not now known to have Vowels it follows not therefore that they never had any 2. Postellus shews that Ierom owned that they had Vowels 3. This Objection would have lead us if we had room enough to prove which was the First Tongue and Character but at present we can but refer to those who have so done 1. Those that affirm the Hebrew to have been the First Tongue are Iosephus contra Appionem lib. 1. Euseb. Caesariens de Preparatione Evang. Ioseph Scalig. Epist. ad Thomasonum Buxtorf Fil. de Linguae Hebraeae Antiquitate Origine Desertationem I. Oweit Theologoumenon lib. 3. cap. 2. Cooper Dom. Mos. cap. 3. Hieron Com. in Zephan cap. 3. ver 18. Orig. in Num. Hom. 11. Aug. de Civ Dei lib. 16. cap. 11. Ambros. in Phil. cap. 3. Nicol. Lyr. in Isa. cap. 19. ver 18. Mercer in Gen. 11.9 Pagn Inst. Heb. cap. 1 c. The Names of Adam Sheth Cain Noah c. properly signifying what they were at first used to import in the Hebrew Tongue only c. 2. That the present Hebrew Character and not the Samaritan was the first and most ancient of all is proved and owned 1. By the Jews as Aben Ezrain Tsakooth Rabbi Sal. Iarchi Com. in Est. 9.27 R. Moses ben Maimon in Com. on Mishnaioth R. Ephodeus in Maase Ephod R. Iacob ben Schelomoh Ben Chabib in Ein Israel on Megillah pag. 142. Balmes Gram. cap. 1. R. Azarias in Meor Enaim cap. 58. 2. By the Christians Picus Mirandul in Epist. ad Ignotum Theodor. Bibliander Com. de Optimo Gen. Gram. pag. 76. Gulielmus Postel lib. de Orig. cap. 5. Marcus Marinus Brixianus in Arca Noae ab initio let 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Franciscus Iunius ad lib. 2. Bellar. de Verbo Del cap. 1. Nicol. Fuller in Miscel. Sacris lib. 4. cap. 4. Schickard in Bechina Happerushim pag. 82. Broughton Consent pag. 126. Caesar Baron Analium tom 2. pag. 293. Buxtorf's Dissâ—rtatiâ—nem de Litteris Hebraeòrum Thomas Bangus Hauniensis Coelum Orientis Excert Literaria pag. 209. Vid. Cooper Dom. Mos. pag. 23. Dr. I. O. Theologoumenon 3. So that we deny that the Samaritan was the Ancient Character But though we should grant that it were so and that Ezra altered it and brought in this New Character 4. This very well agrees with Ezra's introducing the Points Which fits this Character well enough though it did not suit the other and had it been possible to have preâ—erved the Sounds of the Punctation to that time without the Shapes yet from that time it could not be done which made the Punctation necessary But 5. We deny that Ezra did alter the Character as they suppose and shall enquire why they think he did and examine the strength of their Reasons for such a Conceit First then they say 'T was because the Iews had forgotten their Old Tongue and Character in the Captivity and learned the New Resp. This is most unlikely For 1. The same Men were alive at the burning of the first and at the building of the second Temple and so many of them too as confounded the Shout of the Young Men by the Cry of the Old Ezra 3.12 13. Enough doubtless to keep their Tongue at least the Character of it And 't is incredible that the Men of the same Age should forget their own Character wherein they were so much exercised having their Bibles with them always and that in their own Character only and dwelling together in the same Cities without any converse with others in Matters of Religion about which the Scriptures treat and very little in Civil Matters No Marriages were made with others they had their Bibles Dan. 9.2 but 't was unlawful for them to learn the Arts of the Chaldeans And it cannot be proved that they commonly had or learned other Books or Characters They held Correspondence with the Jews in Iudeah and elsewhere as Ieremiah's Letters shew being sent unto them which must needs be done in their own Tongue and Character The Priests and Levites were with them to instruct them which must be done out of the Old Law by Reading and Expounding it They were also in continual Expectation of returning to their own Land Language and Worship And can we imagine they should then forget the Tongue of Canaan whereby they hoped to converse with their Countrey-men
and serve God at Ierusalem and learn the Language of a People whom they hoped to see destroyed and their Tongue with them Also Daniel and the Prophets of that time wrote their Prophecies mostly in the Hebrew Tongue and altogether in the Old Character as none doubteth it is then most irrational to suppose that Ezra should reject them whilst they were even wet and newly written to introduce another Character And that they commonly spake their own Tongue after their return appears in that it was accounted a strange thing that the Children spake partly the Tongue of Canaan and partly that of Ashdod which they learnt of their Mothers who were newly married there to the Jews so that there was no occasion of this Alteration of the Character Some say 't was done that the Scripture should be dispersed and spread through the East Resp. This helps it not Why then was it not put in the Chaldean Tongue They are little the better for its being in their Character only Some say the Jews in hatred to the Samaritans left their ancient Chracter because they would have nothing in common with them Resp. Why then did they not reject the Law also which the Samaritans held likewise Would they thus give the Samaritans cause for ever to triumph over them for having left the Ancient Character wherein the Law was first given in its Original Purity to the Care of the Samaritans their Enemies whilst themselves had rejected it for that of Babylon Were these the Acts of those Jews whom they say dare not put one Point to the Law that they might represent the first Autographon of it as it was written by Moses And who account the Bible unfit for Publick Use by the least misplacing of a Letter or making a letter that is larger or lesser than his fellows but equal to the rest But so it was though they know not why as Eusebius Jerom the Talmuds and some Coyns found with the Samaritan Character do testifie Resp. 1. These Witnesses were born five hundred years after the Fact about which they testifie which impairs their Authority The Fathers had little knowledge of that Tongue especially Eusebius and Ierom who knew most might easily be mislead by the darkness of that time The sence of the Talmuds is disputed by the Jews who say the Talmuds do not intend any such thing as is here fathered upon them but say their Opinion was That the Character we now have was the first ancient Character wherein the Law was at first written by Moses but not commonly understood till Ezra ordained the writing of the Law in that Character only Iacob ben Chabib on Ein Is. p. 142. And as to the Old Coyns as there might be 1. Several sorts of Characters some fittest for Embossing or Engraving and yet the same Hebrew Tongue So 2. The Story is fabulous But be it so if they were so ancient must it needs follow that because these Letters were then known and in use that they only were so Or that the Bible was written with them and those now in use unknown 3. 'T is as confidently affirmed that there were Coyns as anas Solomon's time taken up with the same Hebrew Letters wherein the Bible is now written Vid. Schickard Bechin Hap. Hottinger Cip. Heb. So that this Testimony is as much for the present Character as for the Samaritan being the Ancient Character But the truth is as Dr. Broughton declares in his Positions touching the Hebrew Tongue speaking against this Assertion That Ezra invented the Characters which now we have pag. 668. he saith The Trojans were not willinger to betray their own City than our loytering Fathers and loytering Selves to give Machmad all strength of victory Iews by Fables have overwrought us c. § 3. And thus have we examin'd the Exceptions to the Testimony of the Jews for the Antiquity of the Points by all which 't is faintly suggested That the Iews do not own their Antiquity when at the same time 't is known that all the Jews who at any time have written or expressed their Opinion about the Points have plainly owned their Divine Antiquity Elias only excepted who nevertheless believeth that all the Punctation is perfectly the very same that was at first expressed by the holy Pen-men of the Scripture that only the Shapes were placed by the Masorites not one Iew can be produced that doth so much as doubt of the Antiquity of the Points c. All the People of the Jews to this day follow the Punctation and do still universally publickly profess they believe the Antiquity and Divine Authority of the Points nor is there one Man left alive so much as of Elias his Opinion among the Jews And so much for the Testimony of the Jews for the Antiquity of the Points CHAP. III. §. 1. The Testimony of all Christian States and Churches Ancient and Modern Considered § 2. The Objection of Jerom's Translation and the Fathers and some Modern Divines not owning the Points Answered §. 3. Wherein the stresâ— and strenght of the Testimony of Iews and Christians doth consists § 1. AS to the Testimony of Christians this likewise is Universal of all Ages Places and Parties as appears by their received Translations taken out of the Hebrew as 't is now Pointed But hereunto is objected the silence of Ierom and the Fathers as to the Points the Translation of Ierom differing from the present Punctation the Fathers having recourse to the LXX the Opinion of many Eminent Modern Divines both Papist and Protestant for the Novelty of the Points c. Whereunto we Reply First As to the Silence of Jerom about the Points and that therefore they were not in his time 't is Answered 1. Ierom's Translation for the main of it shews he had the Sound and Force of the Punctation Whether Pointed Copies were as common then as they are now we do not debate nor whether he could get one or not though they were in being then with the Jews nor yet whether the Names of them were then the same they are now nor what need he had to mention them though he had them when many large Rabbinical Commentaries since the Masorites take no notice of the Points neither as Alsheech Abarbinel c. Yet some will dispute several places of Ierom wherein they affirm he speaks of them But grant he were silent about them were they not in being therefore Ierom is as silent about the Keri and Ketib and the Chaldee Paraphrase and yet both were before his â—ime Ierom saw not all things nor is it proved that he mentioned all he saw None else but Origen among the Fathers saw or knew any thing considerable of the Hebrew in those dark times and they were oft constrained to conceal their Esteem of the Hebrew Original because of the Ignorance and Obstinacy of those times Hence 't is no wonder the rest of the Fathers take no notice of the Points when they generally understood