like the Fellow who having given the Name of the South-wind to the North-wind defended himself by saying That in truth it was the South-wind brat that he was then endeavouring to get home again But let us see what follows Illi indignantes magno cum murmure montis Circum claustra fremunt Celsâ sedet Aeolus arce Sceptra tenens mollitque animos temperat iras Nî faciat mania ac terras coelúmque profundum Quippe ferant rapidi secum verrántque per auras Angry with being locked up in this manner they rage with a great noise about the Mountain that confines them But Aeolus who sits on a high Eminence with a Scepter in his Hand softens and moderates their Indignation If he did not do so they wou'd carry away with them the Sea the Earth and Heaven like so many Balls thro' the Air. This is what we may properly call To throw the House out of the Windows Can it be supposed with any manner of probability that the Winds that arise from the Earth and brush over its Surface wou'd blow it the Lord knows whether if some body did not look after them Besides whither wou'd they blow it What! to the imaginary Spaces or the Intermons of Epicurus What is this Heaven that the Winds wou'd carry through the Air Some Interpreters say That 't is the Air itself But what can be more ridiculous than to say That the Wind carries the Air thro' the Air that is to say that the Air moving from a certain Quarter is carried cross itself If we are to understand the celestial Bodies to wit the fix'd Stars and Planets 't is not only a gross mistake in Phisics worse than the idle Dreams of Epicurus but a monstrous Hyperbole I know it may be replied That Virgil considers the Winds as Persons nay what is more as Gods but whatever is feign'd of those sorts of Gods whom the Mythologists call Physical Gods ought to be founded upon the Nature of the things that are deify'd Thus take it in what sense you please 't is evident that we cannot excuse this Passage He still adds Sed pater omnipotens speluncis abdidit atris Hoc metuens molémque montes insuper altos Imposuit regémque dedit qui foedere certo Et premere laxas sciret dare justus habenas But the almighty Father Jupiter fearing this hid them in black Caverns and over them set massy high Mountains Besides this he gave them a King who by his Order knew how to hold in and let loose the Reins according to certain Laws As if two or three small Mountains were able to keep in those Deities that with the Breath of their Mouth cou'd blow Heaven and Earth whither they pleased and as if a thing so changeable as the Winds so far as we know any thing of this Nature cou'd be subjected to Laws However these magnificent Expressions that Virgil uses in this place hood-wink the Reader to that degree that he does not perceive the absurdity of this Fiction There are several more in Homer which I will not examine having no intention to make a compleat Critic upon these two celebrated Poets or indeed any other I know that what they call Probable and Wonderful in Poetry signifies another thing than what we commonly call by that Name We look upon it in Homer and Hesiod as Wonderful but not exceeding the Bounds of poetical Probability that there are more †Hom. Iliad Lib. XVIII Hesiod in Clypeo Herculis Sculptures upon one Buckler in basso relievo than can be imagined to be crouded in a Space a hundred times as big that these Sculptures move and speak as if they were so many living Persons nay that some of them hang in the Air and fly about the Bucklers like Flies yet don't stir from it To excuse the Ridiculousness of these Fictions 't is pretended that these Bucklers were wrought by a God but who ever saw the Gods work Miracles in this nature All this had pass'd for absurd idle stuff had it been written in Prose but we admire it in Verse for the beauty of the Expression just as we admire Grotesque Figures upon Marble for the fineness of the Sculpture This set Virgil upon imitating these Poets in his description of Aeneas's Shield which is to be found in the eighth Book of the Aeneis tho' it is not altogether so extravagant Theocritus has attempted the same thing upon a wretched wooden Cup in his first Idyllium where he likewise represents things which Sculpture cannot express But that we may be the better able to conceive the Ridiculousness of this poetical Probability let us hear what Aristotle says of it in his Art of Poetry altho' he pretends to defend the Poets and to give them Rules †Chap. XXV We follow the Version of M. Dacier We ought says he to use the Wonderful in Tragedy but much more in an Epic Poem which is this respect goes as far as the Unreasonable For as in an Epic Poem we don't see the Persons that Act all that exceeds the bounds of Reason is very proper to produce the Wonderful in it For Example what Homer tells us of Hector 's being pursued by Achilles wou'd be ridiculous upon the Theatre for no one cou'd forbear laughing to behold the Greeks on one side without making any motion and Achilles on the other who pursues Hector and gives the Sign to his Troops But this is not seen in an Epic Poem Now the Wonderful is always agreeable and for a proof of this we find that those that relate a Story commonly add to the Truth that they may better please the Hearers This is well enough when we don't carry Matters farther than they 'll bear but when we go to the Vnreasonable we make ourselves ridiculous to those that love to use their Reason in every thing that is to all wise Persons A Poet says he a little lower ought rather to choose things Impossible provided they have the air of Probability than the Possible that are incredible with all their Possibility I own that all that is Possible is not credible but whatever is Impossible in my Opinion is much less so 'T is to no purpose to say That what is impossible to Men is not so to the Gods and so that when the Gods intervene those things that are impossible to Men become probable A Man that has not debauch'd his Tast by a blind admiration of Antiquity cannot digest this foolish profusion of Miracles for the sake of Trifles of which Homer is so full None but the †Inhabitants of the Isle of Scheria in the Ionic Sea Phaeacians whom Vlysses banter'd as he pleas'd without fearing to of he caâ—l'd a Liar for his pains cou'd divert themselves with reading these ridiculous Miracles were they not told with all the agreeableness imaginable I mean as to the Expression Another thing which contributes very much to surprize our Reason in reading the
and whose Victories and Conquests make their People greater Slaves and more unhappy than before Which puts me in mind of a remarkable Answer of a Roman Senator who at a time when the State was engaged in a dangerous War having used his endeavours to get a Covetous and Interested Man tho' his Enemy to be elected Consul because he was very well skill'd in Military-Affairs rather than any other who were not able to command the Armies of the Republick answered those who were surprised at it †A Gell. Lib. IV. c. 8. That they had no reason to wonder if he had rather be Plunder'd than Sold Nihil est quod miremini si malui compilari quà m venire The third thing which is absolutely necessary to make a State Flourish is that its Members and those who govern it ought to agree among themselves and entirely mind the Publick Good If in a kingly Government when the King can undertake nothing of Moment nor make any alteration in the Laws without the consent of the States it happens that the King aims at an Arbitrary Power and that the States on the contrary make it their Business to preserve their Laws and Liberties such a Division will necessarily unable them to Defend themselves Abroad and make good Laws at Home The King is wholly taken up with the Thoughts of surprising and subduing the States if he can do it and the States being busied in defending their Liberty against Craft and Violence cannot mind things of less Moment In the mean time a thousand Disorders are committed at Home and no care is taken to prevent the Evils which threaten them Abroad Such a Spectacle has been seen Fourscore Years and more in England where Kings and Parliaments were so taken up with their publick and private Divisions that they thought of nothing else In the mean time a neighbouring Kingdom did whatever it pleased and put itself in a Capacity to molest all its Neighbours Nay it was almost ready to Invade a Common-wealth whose Forces joyned with its own would have served to put in Fetters not only the Parliament but also the King of England During that interval of time they might have enacted many Laws which England very much wants as may be seen by the Experience of its Neighbours especially the Vnited Provinces In a Common-wealth made up of equal Members a good Union in procuring the common Good is of very great use to make it Flourish and Dissension is the most dangerous thing in the World We have seen it in these very Provinces when in the Year 1672. they were like to be altogether ruined †Introd ad Hist. Cap. VI. n. 21. Samuel Pufendorf who was a very Great Man has in vain enquired for some other Reasons of the extraordinary Progress the Enemies made in so short a time against that Common-wealth There were no other but Dissension which hindred it from making the necessary Preparations against the Invasion of its Enemies No Body doubts that Concord will make a State Flourish and that Discord is very dangerous to it but care must be taken to have a right Notion of the Meaning of those Words A Concord useful to a Monarchical or Aristocratical Government is such as aims at the general Good of those who live under it If in a Monarchical State wherein the Power of the Monarch is limited by the Laws the chief Members of the State should of their own accord or by force agree to submit all the Laws to the Prince's Will without having any regard to the Good of the State such an Union would not be at all advantageous to it It would change a Society of free Persons into a Company of unhappy Slaves The Readiness of the Chineses to obey their King blindly does but confirm his Tyranny and encrease their Misery For those who depend on the Will of one Man subject to a thousand Passions whose Fancies can be restrained by no Law can be sure of nothing Such a Man has some Favourites who have other Favourites under them and suffer themselves to be Bribed and such a Form of Government is but a Subordination of Tyrants every one of whom endeavours to get something by the Slavery of the People But 't is said That the general Obedience of the Chineses serves to maintain the Peace in their Country and that they enjoy thereby all the Advantages which a good Union can procure They mean all the Advantages which can be enjoyed in Slavery But there is not one Free-Man but had rather see more frequent Disorders than to undergo a perpetual Slavery Besides 't is false that there are no Civil Wars under such a Form a Government The most enslaved People will be at last weary of an excessive Tyranny and at the first opportunity will shew that the Love of Liberty is not quite stifled in their Hearts Such a thing has happened several times among the Chineses and Turks Few People being concern'd in keeping up Arbitrary Power in a certain Family or a certain Person and the greatest part having reason to complain of it few will oppose a Change in the Government and other believe that if they get nothing they will lose but little by it The same ought to be said of an Aristocratical Government The Union of those who Govern such a State would be of no use unless it procured the Observation of the Laws and the general Good of the Common-wealth This we may learn from the History of the Thirty Tyrants of Athens and the Decemviri of Rome The Union of those Men served only to oppress the People and make 'em miserable because their chief Design was to satisfy their Passions without having any regard to the Publick Good Concord may be also considered with respect to the People who when the Government is so setled they may quietly enjoy the Fruits or their Labour by obeying the Laws of their Country which no Member of the Society can alter or transgress at his pleasure ought to think themselves happy and to obey unanimously the Orders of the Supreme Power To keep the Multitude in so good an Union 't is necessary not only that they be the better for it but also that they should know their own Happiness Without which there will always be some restless Men who having lost all they had by Debauchery and Idleness would attempt to recover it by some Disturbance Such Men will easily persuade a People who think they live unhappily to rise up against their Sovereign on the first occasion On the contrary when the People are generally persuaded that they cannot better their Condition by a Change and that they should hazard losing much by it it is a very difficult thing to seduce them I could make several Observations on this Subject but it is not my design to write a general Treatise of Politicks The Union of those who govern a State and of the People ought to aim at the Publick Good from
Book and they don't want Words when they are attack'd they think that they perfectly satisfie all Difficulties and answer all Objections Thus this sort of People fall foul upon every thing without Distinction which does not suit with their Passions in a vain Presumption that a Torrent of Words will effectually do their Business for them and that they shall never want a Supply I knew a Man of this Character who thought that Talking and Proving were the same thing so that after he had talked a great deal he fancied he brought abundance of Proofs and on the contrary that those that talk little prove nothing He perswaded himself that the World counts the Sentences in a Book just as they do Soldiers in an Army and that the more Ink a Man uses the more Reason he has on his side One may apply to this Man a Saying of †See Aulus Gell. L. 1. c. xv Salust Satis loquentiae sapientiae parum Words enough but little good Sense On the other hand those that are really Eloquent after they have form'd a clear Idea of the Propositions they intend to prove for this in short is the end of all Discourses whatever they are if they are reasonable make use only of those Proofs that appear the most simple the most direct and the most sensible and reject all the rest After this they adorn the Proofs they have chosen with all the Decorations that solid Eloquence uses to employ and of which I shall take occasion to discourse at the Conclusion of these Reflexions When they have a fertile Subject which deserves to be enlarged upon they talk the longer of it But if it is Barren and the thing in hand is not of that importance as to require a long Examination they soon dispatch it In a word they lengthen their Discourse according to the Nature of their Subject whereas others amplify theirs according to the extravagant Desire they have to talk much or to make a show of their pretended Eloquence The former talk when they have something to communicate which deserves to be heard and the latter never hold their Tongue but when no Body will do the Penance to listen to them The second Fault we may observe in those that are only Masters of a false Eloquence and which concerns the Choice of what is proper to be said is that they believe that if they are not allow'd to say every thing that comes into their head they are not however obliged to use no Arguments but such as are concluding They flatter themselves that the World ought to consider them as Persons of a nice Discernment if they employ no Reasonings that are palpably absur'd that shock the Imagination The slightest Appearances and the most incertain Probabilities serve their turn They perpetually confound the Possible with the Probable and the Probable with the True Their Discourses and Works are full of Reasonings of this Nature which wou'd no more endure the Test of Logic than a gilded Shilling wou'd endure the Touch-stone If we confine them to Syllogism and carefully consider their equivocal Expressions and their precarious Principles we shall find at first sight that they are nothing but pure Sophisms which are founded upon Ambiguities or Suppositions that cannot be defended We shall find that by Reasoning after this manner there is nothing which we cannot attack and nothing which we cannot prove We may meet abundance of Examples of this Nature in the Writings of the ancient Philosophers and Fathers of the Church especially when they Dispute or Reason upon the Old Testament In every Page we find Suppositions altogether uncertain and which 't is impossible to prove if once we deny them and Arguments that are wholly built upon the Ambiguity of some Words which they wou'd not give themselves the trouble to explain to have an occasion to Reason out of our sight It will be told me perhaps that I ought to talk more respectfully of the Fathers and that the consent of Antiquity for Reasoning in this manner is a sufficient Proof that it is warrantable and good But I have nothing to do here with Theological Doctrins wherein their Authority uses to be of weight Logic at present is the Business in debate which will not allow the Authority of Citations but only the strict Rules of Art Whoever violates them is to be tried before the Tribunal of Logicians tho' it were an Oecumenical Council confirmed by several others There is no Authority in the World that can make Arbitrary Laws for good Reasoning or change a Sophism into a true Syllogism or make a just Argument become a Sophism without altering something in it No Person has power to grant Immunities to the Prejudice of the Rights of Reason or to make any Exception in favour of any thing of this Nature We must either obey the Rules or undergo the Sentence The true Rhetoricians follow upon this occasion the Authority of the Philosophers or rather the inviolable Light of good Sense They maintain that when a Man is to prove any thing solidly he ought to employ no Reasonings but those that are solid If he will needs make use of probable Reasonings whatever he concludes from them cannot be more certain than the Proofs he brings All that he can make of them will only amount to a Probability Now as there are several Degrees of Probability a Man likewise ought to have a regard to that and to make slight Appearances go for no more than they are really worth In the Civil Law for Example there is no Authority which can make a bad Consequence go for a good one When any thing is to be proved by a Law or an Act we must plainly shew that the Terms of that Law or Act cannot be possibly understood in another sense Probability especially when it is slight serves only to spoil our Cause For the Advocate of the other side let him underhand his Profession never so little will not fail to observe that nothing concluding has been urged in the Case and the Judges demand solid Proofs and not simple Conjectures If any Man should be so ill-advised as to Reason at the Barr upon the Laws as Origene does upon the Bible he wou'd be hiss'd out of the Court and in a short time no Body wou'd retain him unless he intirely changed his Method Let People say what they please since the Fathers never had any such Privilege from Heaven as to be exempted from following the Laws of good Logic we lie under no Obligation to believe that those Reasonings are good in their Writings which wou'd be exploded any where else However in several parts of the World those that design for the Pulpit read them to model themselves upon their Eloquence and to use upon occasion their Words or their Arguments and as if they durst not employ the Rules of Logic to examin them by they learn by little and little to Reason just as they did and at last to
their Ideas of Justice and Humanity were too limited and narrow and they knew not that all Men are equal in matter of natural Right †See Plutarch in his Life Caesar had no more right to make War upon the Gauls and Germans than the Pirates of Cilicia had to take him Prisoner and sell him for so much Ransom In the mean time these Pirates are never mentioned but with Detestation and the Victories of Caesar are infinitely extolled Christians ought not to imitate the Pagans knowing by the Gospel that all Men are Brothers and are subject to the same Laws one towards another by the Right of Nature proceeding from God himself who is the common Father of all Mankind However when they come to speak of Christians and Turks one wou'd often be tempted to think that the Turks were created by the bad Principle of the Manichaeans whom we were not at all obliged to treat with Humanity but when we cou'd not hurt them with safety to ourselves but that on the contrary the Turks were obliged to observe all the Laws of Justice towards the Christians as if they were the only Creatures of the good Principle The Turks on their side are not much more reasonable towards the Christians but these latter as having received a fuller Light ought to be more Wise and Humane When they speak of the Violences committed by the Knights of Malta upon the Turks they ought to speak of them in the same Terms as of the Robberies of the Pirates of Barbary upon the Christians On the contrary all the Ports of Christendom are full of Groans and Complaints when those of Algiers or Tunis have taken a Christian Prize and all the World rejoyces when the Knights of Malta take any Turkish Vessel The Lives of several grand Masters of Malta and many Knights of that Order are full of that Injustice There is no sort of Punishment which the Robberies of these Turkish Pirates upon the Christians don't deserve there are no Commendations which the like Civilities of the Knights of Malta to the Mahumetans don't challenge If the Turks should endeavour to pervert the Christians in their Empire by Rewards or Punishments by giving Mony to such as wou'd take the Turban and by ill using those that should continue firm to their Religion how shou'd we exclaim against this Barbarity and what dismal Complaints should we hear in all parts of Christendom upon so Tragical a Scene And if the Mahumetans tired out with the Constancy of the Christians who obey'd them should all at once turn them out of their Habitations and oblige them to quit the Dominions of the Grand Signior when we should see all Christendom fill'd with Grecian Refugees all People wou'd Curse the Mahumetan Tyranny and exclaim at such horrid Injustice And no doubt on 't they wou'd have good reason so to do because there is no Authority in the World which has a Right to impose a Religion upon any Man whatever nor to persecute those that are of a different Opinion merely upon that account But when Cardinal †See his Life by M. Flechier Lib. I. Ximenes converted the Moors of Granada with a Purse in one Hand and Chains in the other some People will tell you that the Moors had no Reason to Complain What is a detestable Action in a Mufti or an Alfaqui becomes a meritorious Work when a Christian Churchman does it tho' he cannot produce any Power from Heaven which authorizes him to treat the Mahumetans in a manner which they cannot employ against the Christians without Injustice By what Revelation do we know that God has given certain Rules of Justice to the Christians and Laws altogether different to other People For my part I confess I don't know But if it should be replied That Truth has this right over Falsity that it may persecute those that are in an Errour by those whose Sentiments are true I have two things by way of answer to it The first is That Men still dispute what is true and what false and that the Mahumetans for instance are as fond of their Opinions as the Christians can be perswaded of theirs Thus if you lay it down for a Rule that Truth has a right to persecute Errour you furnish them with Weapons and you cannot complain of their Persecutions For in short so long as they are fond of Mahumetanism 't is a necessary Consequence that they fancy themselves in the right to persecute the Christians The second thing is That altho' I should allow you that the Persons whom you persecute are in an Errour yet I will always maintain that Errour is not a Crime when those that are engaged in it in all other Respects observe the Laws of Civil Society and are not punishable for any breach of good Manners 'T is evident therefore that there is no Power which has a right to ill Use and persecute its Subjects under a pretence of Errour in Religion as there is no Magistrate that can punish a Mathematician for making a Mistake in Calculation It follows from hence that an Historian who ought to ground his Judgment upon Truths that are indisputable and universally received ought to speak with Indignation of the Conduct of Cardinal Ximenes and the Catholic Kings towards the Moors instead of approving or palliating it as some Historians have done They describe Ximenes and these Princes to us as Lovers of Justice yet make them commit a crying Injustice against several thousands of Moors by persecuting them and forcing them out of their Native Country because they wou'd not turn Christians If the Moors that lived on the South-side of the Strait of Gibraltar had used the same Cruelties towards the Christians that had been found among them what horrid Descriptions had they not made of it in Spain 'T is not only the Infidels who have smarted under this sort of Justice which is never good but when it has the stronger side to support it Christians have employ'd it against Christians I mean those whom we call Heretics The Historians of each Party being prepossess'd with this strange Idea have in scandalous manner extoll'd the Justice of Princes who have made use of violent Methods to ruine those that were of their own Opinion and exclaim without Reason against the contrary party when they take the same course Now we must either condemn all those that persecute for the sake of Opinion or equally absolve them When they deposed the Arian Bishops and Priests and sent them into Banishment when they used their Followers ill and took away their Churches from them then they did nothing but Justice and care was taken to suppress all the Complaints which they made of these ill Treatments and of the odious Circumstances that attended them But when the Arians return'd the like Kindness to the Bishop of Alexandria and some others and endeavour'd to oppress their Party then there was a horrible Violation of all manner of Justice
sudden and yield every-where to the Carelesness of those who mind only the present Time and care as little for the Time past as for the Time to come But a great many learned Men having embraced the Protestant Religion and proclaimed every-where That the Knowledge of Humane Learning had open'd a Way to the Understanding of Holy Scripture and Church-History so that the best Way to know the Errors and Abuses which wanted a Reformation was to Learn throughly the ancient Tongues the Party who had no mind to make any Alteration in the Practices or Opinions of the latter Ages began to suspect those who so much cried up Humane Learning and so by degrees neglected to promote it All Favours were only bestowed upon the zealous Defenders of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy and Learning which had been so much admired before was look'd upon by degrees as a thing which might do it more Harm than Good Thus Italy and Spain ceased almost to produce any thing of that kind and the Libraries became useless Ornaments for the Inhabitants of those Countries That Dislike of Humane Learning spread as a Contagion in the neighbouring Countries and even in those where they should be of quite another Opinion 'T is reported that a great Minister of State who was altogether a Stranger to Learning used to call those who profest it Seditious Persons in all likelyhood because they are the Men who have most insisted upon the Authority of the Laws Justice and Equity Indeed in the Countries where Machiavelism prevails the Notions of the Ancients concerning those things do not at all agree with the ungovernable Passions of a Supreme Power And this I think is one of the Reasons which are very Prejudicial to Learning in some Countries Thus the Defenders of the Supreme Authority of the Ecclesiastical Monarchy on the one side and the Defenders of the Arbitrary Power of Temporal Princes on the other have been of Opinion that the Reading of the ancient Heathen or Christian Writers was so far from being necessary that it was believed for some time it were much better on the contrary that the Republican Notions of the Grecians and Romans should be forgotten and that the Opinions of the ancient Christians both in the East and West which do not agree with the Modern Doctrine and Interests should be covered with the Vail of an unintelligible Language They have lookt for Men who would obey without any Reply and make it their Business to Maintain and Encrease the Spiritual and Temporal Power without any regard to the Notions which Men had in former Times Soldiers who have no Principles nor Sense of Virtue and Clergy-men who are blind Slaves to the present Power and examine nothing and execute with the utmost Rigour whatever Orders they receive are look'd upon as the most unmoveable Pillars of the Church and State and they who quote ancient Authors and whose Principles are independent on the Will of Princes can have no Hearing Some Reasons to cultivate Humane Learning anew BUT in the Countries where they make it their Business to have no Laws but such as are founded upon natural Equity they need not fear that the Republican Antiquity should contradict 'em and therefore they should encourage those who endeavour to give the Knowledge of it They who are not afraid to find any thing in the original Works of Ecclesiastical Writers that may be prejudicial to the Notions of Religion and Virtue which Holy Scripture affords should omit nothing to encnourage Men to enquire after Truth The better it is known the greater the Authority of the Laws will be and Justice more flourishing Tho' properly speaking Humane Learning includes only the Knowledge of ancient Languages and what is necessary to know Antiquity yet it puts us in a condition of knowing things themselves by furnishing us with the means of Conversing as it were with a great many learned Men both Heathen and Christians So that it has a strict Connexion with all the Knowledge we can get by the Reading of ancient Authors And the Desire of Knowing what they who lived before us believed said or did as much as it can be Known cannot be satisfied without such a Learning The Knowledge of Dead Languages is as it were an Interpreter whom we carry along with us to Travel if I may so say in an Intelligible World which exists only in Books written in Languages that are not spoken at present Without such an Interpreter 't is impossible to know what past in it And as great Princes have Interpreters of several Languages to treat with Strangers so we must keep up that Knowledge and make in as common as it can possibly be unless we give over the Thoughts of knowing what past in former Times These general Reasons and several particular ones which I pass by should engage Princes to encourage the Study of Humane Learning and they who apply themselves to it should use their utmost endeavours to make it Easie and Pleasant to those whose Favours can make it flourish again more than ever it did I do not pretend to have shewn all the ways that can be taken in order to it 'T is enough for me that I have pointed at some of the chief and given occasion to think of it to those whom it most concerns CHAP. V. Of the Decay of some States THERE are some States which do manifestly Decay in respect of Arts and Strength There is no need I should name them and shew their Weakness particularly Every Body knows it but every Body knows not how they come to be weakned The better to understand the Reasons of the Decay of a State it is necessary to know what can make it flourish since it falls to Decay because it wants that which could put it in a flouishing Condition There are chiefly three things which can make a State Happy at Home and Dreaded Abroad The first is a great number of Inhabitants The second The Revenues of the State which ought to be great without oppressing the People And the third is The Union of the several Members of the State who ought to contribute to the publick Good Where-ever those things are to be found it may be said there is Peace and Happiness unless a very violent Storm raised by a greater Power should fall upon such a State and where-ever they are wanting one may certainly affirm that the State will fall to Decay if the Disorder last never so little But I must come to Particulars and prove each of those three things at large First It cannot be doubted but that the number of the Inhabitants does so much contribute to the Greatness of a State that without it any State will be Poor Weak and in Danger if the Neighbouring-Countries are better stock'd with Inhabitants The better a Country is Peopled the more Industrious are the Inhabitants every one striving to Maintain himself as well as he can which very much encreases Trade brings in Money
come CHAP. VI. A Vindication of Providence from the Objection of the Manichees MR. BAYLE has displaid in several places of his Dictionary the Objections of the Manichees against the Unity of one Holy and Bountiful God and even furnished them with some Arguments to attack the several Systems of the Christians He thinks that when they argue against us they are much stronger than we and that the best way for all the Sects of Christianity is to be silent and to believe what the Scripture says without troubling themselves whether what it teaches agrees with the Light of Reason or no. I am not of his Opinion and were I at leisure I would undertake to shew at large that he is mistaken when he says that they have so great an Advantage over all Christians whoever they be I shall only set down here some Principles which may be made use of to bring the Manichees from their Error concerning the Ill Principle which they joyn with the Good one but I must first of all make two Observations The first is That by answering the Objections of the Manichees I do not design to wrong Mr. Bayle whom I do not at all suspect to favour their Opinions I am persuaded that he has taken a philosophical Liberty of Arguing pro and con in many cases only to exercise those who understand the Matters he treats of and not to favour those whose Arguments he alledges The Objections he makes are such as may be made in an Auditory of Divinity and Philosophy wherein the greater an Objection is the more Honour there is in resolving it He may with reason require of his Readers that they should do him that Justice and it cannot be denied him For my part I am very willing to grant his Request but I think I may likewise be allow'd the liberty of Answering his Objections requiring that no odious Application of my Answers be made to the Author himself The second thing I shall observe is That as Mr. Bayle thought he might afford the Manichees such Arms as he pleased I may also be allow'd to ward off their Blows as I shall think fit He thought it was a great Mortification for Humane Reason not to be able to defend Providence against one of the most ridiculous Sects that ever were but I think that one of the least approved Sects among Christians is able to answer all the Arguments of the Manichees As he pretends not to defend the System of those Hereticks or approve of the Arguments which he furnishes them with I ought to have the same Liberty with respect to Origen in whose Name if I may so say I shall undertake to answer the Manichees I declare I will neither defend nor approve all that he said nor all that one of his Disciples is going to say I am not at all concern'd in his Reputation or Doctrine and every Body may think of 'em as they please The present Question is not to satisfy any Body on this Subject but only to stop the Mouth of the Manichees by introducing an Origenest disputing with them If such a Man can silence a Manichee what may not one expect from those who should argue much better than Origen's Disciples But I leave it to the Judgment of Divines and Philosophers I think that an Origenist having read all the Objections of the Manichees might argue thus The Manichees pretend they can prove that we must acknowledge an Ill Principle that is to say a mischievous One and an Enemy to Virtue by reason of two things which we observe in the World The one is Physical Evil to which Men are subject such as are Diseases Pains all the Inconveniences of Humane Life the other is Moral Evil that is to say Vice and whatever is consequent to it The Manichees are very careful to set forth all the Moral and Physical Evils which happen to Men and then they say that if the Principle which governs the World is the Author of those Evils he is neither a benign Being nor a Lover of Virtue and that if he permits them tho' he sees and can hinder 'em he is altogether unconcern'd for our Miseries and our good Actions They add that it is manifest that Goodness is not a Property of that Being since he has decreed to condemn the greatest part of Men to everlasting Punishments or at least that he hinders 'em not from running headlong into those dreadful Torments tho' he is not ignorant of it and can easily prevent so terrible a Misery Our Origenist would go on and say What the Manichees say concerning the Moral and Physical Evils which happen among Men cannot be denied nor can it be doubted but that if he who governs them were the Author of their Vices he would be an Enemy to Virtue in general and to Justice in particular if he should punish them for Faults which himself caused them to commit But it is not true that Men necessarily commit Faults which God punishes Necessity is inconsistent with what we call a punishable Fault as well as with an Action capable of Reward Either of 'em must have been done freely that is so as one might not have done it to deserve Reward or Punishment It is a Maxim acknowledged by all the Law-givers in the World which no Body can reasonably oppose Therefore God only permits Men to transgress his Laws when he has given 'em whatever is necessary to observe them If he does not hinder it tho' he sees it and is able to keep us to our Duty 't is because he has made us Free that there might be room for Virtue and Vice Blame and Praise Rewards and Punishments Every one may be convinced of it by his own Experience and his inward sense of the Faculty he has of doing or not doing good or bad Actions which deserve to be praised or blamed This all Law-givers and Magistrates suppose as an undeniable Principle sine they reward or punish Men according as they obey or break the Laws Our Origenist would go on still and say I confess that there arises a great Inconvenience from thence viz. That Men can make an ill use of the Power they have of obeying or disobeying the Divine Laws and God could not be ignorant of it even tho' he had not foreseen it since all Men disobey his Laws This is the reason why he does not stop the Current of Physical Evils which overflow the World Sinners do not deserve that God should interpose after a Supernatural manner to free them from those Evils and they cannot complain of ' em But why say the Manichees has God created Men liable to Sin sine he could not be ignorant of the Evils which would follow from it I answer That Men cannot complain of God upon that account for two Reasons The first is That he does not require of Men that they should be without Sin which would be unjust as being above their Nature The second is That God
Professor of Divinity at Groeningen should gather all that Gisbertus Voetius said to defame him and on the contrary to wrong the Memory of Voetius should make a Collection of all that Maresius wrote against him one might with reason believe that he makes sport with the Publick or designs to impose on simple Men. This has been nevertheless practised of late by a Divine of my Acquaintance against a Friend of mine He has collected some silly things which some passionate Divines have writ against him as if one could rely upon the Judgment of Ignorant and Unjust Men It would be an easie thing to beat him at his own Weapon and publish what some Men as Orthodox as himself have said against his Opinions But Censures ought not to be minded except when 't is a Man's Interest to forbear Censuring When Cardinal Baronius speaks Ill of some Popes his Opinion deserves without doubt some Consideration When Melanchton gives but an Ill Character of some Lutherans of his time one may reasonably think that they gave occasion to speak Ill of ' em The same Passions with which we are moved now reigned likewise formerly as all those who have carefully read the Church-History are convinced We must therefore weigh in the same Scales the Praises and Censures of past Ages with those of our time and give 'em no more Weight than Equity requires and a severe Examination will allow If this were done as it ought to be how many Church-Histories are there which would deserve to be thrown into the Fire The best would serve only for Chronological Tables to rank Facts according to the order of Time There is another thing to be observed concerning Praises and Censures or if you will Good and Hard Words viz. The Style of the time wherein the Authors of 'em lived They who lived for Example when the Republick of Rome was still flourishing or in the Reign of Julius Caesar were wont to Praise those of the prevailing Party and to Blame the Unfortunate as it has been the constant practice of Men but they were much more reserved than those who lived in the Third Century under the Reign of the last Heathen Emperors or in the Fourth under the Reign of the Christian Emperors In Julius Caesar and even Augustus his time the greatest Flatterers could not have been endured if they had said what the Emperors said of themselves in their Laws and Edicts They who know the Character of the Age of Augustus need but look on both Codes to find a great many places in them which would have been thought intolerable at that time That which is most strange is that the Christian Emperors followed such an ill Custom even in such Laws as concern'd Religion wherein one would think they should have exprest themselves with more Modesty For Example here is a Law of Arcadius Honorius and Theodosius Junior which was published in the Year 404. Let all the Officers of the Palace have warning that they ought to abstain from going to tumultuous Assemblies and let those who out of a SACRILEGIOUS Mind dare oppose the Authority of OUR DIVINITY be deprived of their Employments and let their Estates be confiscated Cuncta Officia moneantur tumultuosis se conventiculis abstinere qui SACRILEGO animo auctoritatem NOSTRI NVMINIS ausifuerint expugnare privati cingulo bonorum proscriptione mulctentur Cod. Theodos Lib. XVI Tit. IV. L. 4. The Letters they write are styled Sacred Letters †Ibid. T. V. L. 20. Sacrae Literae When the Sons speak of their Father they call him their Father of Divine Memory and their Divine Father †Ibid. L. 20. 26. Divae recordationis divus Genitor They call their own Laws Oracles and Heavenly Oracles †Ibid. L. 51. even when they recall ' em Honorius speaking of an Edict whereby he granted Liberty of Conscience to the Donatists in Africa expresses himself thus in his Orders which we find in the †Vid. Cod. Theodos Gothofredi T. VI. p. 300. Conference of Carthage We are not ignorant of the Contents of a HEAVENLY ORACLE which the Donatists by a false Interpretation pretend to favour their Errors and which we recall'd heretofore tho' it mildly exhorted them to Repentance Nec sanè latet conscientiam nostram sâ—rmo COELESTIS ORACVLI quem errori 〈◊〉 posse proficere scaeva Donatistarum interpretatio proâ—â—â—â—tur qui quamvis depravatos animos ad correctionem mitius invitaret aboleri eum tamen etiam antè assimus When Princes spoke thus of themselves what would not their flattering Subjects say They would give 'em the Title of your Perpetuity and your Eternity Perennitas and Aeternitas vestra as we may see in Symmachus's Letters directed to several Emperors St. Athanasius had reason to laugh at the Arian Bishops who bestowed that Title on the Emperor Constans †De Synedis p. 718. T. I. Ed. Paris an 1698. They says he who deny that the Son is Eternal call him the Emperor eternal King But the Emperors themselves did not scruple afterwards to assume that Title of Honor as it appears by a †Cod. Theod. L. XV. T. I. L. 31. Law of Theodosius the Great which begins thus If any Judge having finished a publick Work inscribes his Name on it rather than that of OUR PERPETUITY let him be accounted guilty of High-Treason Si qui Judices perfecto operi suum potiùs nomen quam NOSTRAE PERENNIT ATIS scripserint Majestatis teneantur obnoxii Instead of those Words Tribonian inferted †Lib. VIII T. XII L. 10 these into the Code without mentioning OUR DIVINITY sine NVMINIS NOSTRI mentione Church-men followed the same Custom for the Bishops were not call'd merely by their Names but with the addition of most Holy most Pious most Acceptable to God most Happy our most Holy Father and other such Titles which the Acts of the Councils are full of especially when they mention'd the Bishops of Great Cities I doubt not but that they knew very well that those Titles of Honour were not to be understood in their full Sense However they were not bestowed without Flattery nor accepted without Vanity The Censures and Invectives of that time were no less excessive Such is the Character of the Spirit of Flattery It inspires Men not only with a thousand mean things towards their Superiors but also with strange and violent Passions against those they are angry with This one may see in the XVI Book of the Theodosian Code Tit. V. concerning Hereticks to whom the Emperors or their Secretaries give all sort of ill Language And lest it should be thought that they speak only of the Manichees or other like Hereticks whose Doctrine was inconsistent with Morality Arcadius and Honorius defined what Heresy is and denoted those whom they call'd Hereticks †Cod. Theod. Lib. XVI Tit. V. L. 28. They who shall be found to recede never so little from the Sense of the