receive any but that which he did clearly perceive to aim directly at his and the Common Interest If after publick Debates he did yet doubt concerning that Opinion to which he inclin'd he would privately conjure some of those who differ'd from him to tell him freely the Reasons of their Advice which they would most willingly doe knowing that Anaxagathus never esteem'd those his Friends who out of fear of contradicting his Inclination would conceal what they knew concerning his Good By this means he secured himself against Flatterers and made the utmost Improvement of his Friends Abilities To his Wariness in Deliberation he added Stedfastness in his Resolves and Diligence in the Execution of his Purposes In his Carriage he express'd a Majestick Gravity never condescending to such Actions as import lowness of Soul diminish the Veneration of Royalty or expose his Person to any Contempt yet he alwayes manifested so much Serenity and Sweetness that he incurr'd no Hatred by the most severe Exercise of his Regal Power Knowing that it is easier to prevent Hatred then to regain Love and that Malice cannot be slighted without some Hazard he declin'd avoidable Offences He ever match'd Clemency with Greatness of mind knowing that Mercy shewn by one that hath great Power doth unspeakably oblige and that it was never any Advantage to a Prince to be hated which is alwayes the Effect of Cruelty When any Favour was bestow'd he ever let the People see that it proceeded freely from his own Goodness and when Rigour was exercis'd which was but seldom they saw it was a necessary Punishment of Sins which ought not to be pardon'd There is no Reason of just Infamy for which Princes do sometimes receive a dishonourable Character in the Book of Fame which he did not well observe and carefully avoid He was very curious of his Conversation lest it wanted the just Ornaments of every Moral Vertue because he knew that Princes cannot hide their Actions and that it was no assurance that he had done well because none durst reprove him He was unwilling also to make an Example against the Law and let his Subjects see that it was possible for sin to be unpunishable He would make no use of an Arbitrary Power though his People knew it was their duty not to resist him neither did he think he lost any thing of his Power by not doing every thing which he might Whilst the King strictly observ'd the establish'd Laws the People learn'd Obedience from his Government His great Care of his Subjects safety made them perform their Duties with an unspeakable willingness they esteem'd the King's Riches their Publick Treasury and when they pay'd their Taxes acknowledg'd that they gave but a Little to secure All. Anaxagathus lived alwayes according to the Degree of a Prince yet manag'd his Expences so frugally that they did never exhaust his Revenue For this there was great Reason for though Money was not the Sinews of his Wars but rather the Love and Courage of his native Souldiers yet he knew they must be pay'd when they are imploy'd and that with Silver a King may hire men as well as buy Iron with Gold The truth is he had little cause to think of entertaining any forein Auxiliaries for he was so entirely beloved at home that he could not but be much fear'd abroad His Subjects endear'd his Happiness to themselves and made their Loyal Affections so manifest upon all Occasions that Conspiratours had as much reason to expect Punishment though they should accomplish mischief against his Person as they are alwayes fearful when they design it against other Princes It was a singular testimony of the Prudence of Anaxagathus that he had obtain'd whatever could belong to a Prince's Security when to the Majesty of his Person the Defence of the Laws the Assistance of his Friends and the Strength of his Guards he had added the Universal Good-will of his People Being assured of this he slighted the vain Strength of chargeable Forts maintaining only One in a weak place of his Frontiers and that rather for Pomp then any Defence that he expected from it Thus did the Good King Anaxagathus live in Glory contemning that poor Honour which some weakly endeavour to perpetuate by Statues of frail Stone for the Everlasting Image of his Vertues was fram'd in the Souls of those which could not think upon him without Admiration His whole Kingdom was his Theatre and all his People Spectatours applauding his wise and just Actions There was no City in his Dominions which did not preserve his Trophies made of Conquer'd Hearts This was Anaxagathus his Happiness and indeed what greater Felicity is there then to be able to impart Prosperity to many others His discreet Subjects thought themselves happy too for they saw that they enjoy'd what Freedom Mortal men are capable of and they desired not that extravagant Liberty which the Ignorant Multitude often talk of sometimes rebel for but never enjoy exchanging Obedience and Peace for Sin War and then just Slavery under such as for their own ambitious Ends made them in love with Treason Thus the Kingdom flourish'd under Anaxagathus and they had no small grounds of Hope that it would never wither for as they could not enjoy a better King so neither did the King or the People desire a more Hopeful Successour then the most Excellent Prince Alethion who was the only Son of Anaxagathus I pray you Cosin said Theonoe with the leave of this good Company since you are so good at Descriptions will you give us a short Character of his Perfections by this means we shall not only enjoy the pleasure of your Wit but you will also detain us by a beneficial Delay from the hearing of that at which we are assured before-hand that we shall be griev'd Though I have reason to blush replied Amyntor at one half of the reason which you give for your Command yet I will be obedient in the best manner that my poor ability will allow Alethion was a Prince of a lively Complexion sprightly Eyes black Hair curling naturally in handsome Rings of a serene Aspect of a tall Stature goodly Shape and Princely Carriage of an obliging Conversation mix'd with Majesty He had a quick Wit equall'd with a solid Judgment He spake with facility and delivered extraordinary Conceptions in most clear Expressions Those Connate Notions of Truth which God hath bestow'd as a Natural Glory upon Rational Souls did shine in his bright Intellect like fixt Stars unclouded with those ill-sented fumes of Lust which darken wicked Minds To this Light he added whatsoever may be gain'd from Experience enlarg'd with much Conference and great Reading He had a constant Propension of strong Desires to all Excellent Attainments a most piercing Wit for the finding out of such means as would help to accomplish his End and was unweariedly diligent in the use of them That he omitted nothing which might make him Master of his Noble Designes
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hope the Daughter of Eupistis True Faith Hope is the Expectation of the Soul in time to enjoy the Object of its Faith 203 Empsychon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Living or Inspired with Life In the II. Book it signisies the Rational Soul examining Doctrines by its discerning Faculties and approving for True and Good what agrees with them and the other Rule Grapton or the Revelation of the Divine Will committed to Writing See Grapton 103 Engastrimuthus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that speaks out of the Belly call'd also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of that immodest way by which the Pythones pronounc'd their Oracles This trick was used of old The Woman which Saul consulted is called 1 Samuel 28. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Domina Pythonis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bottles because the Devil us'd to speak out of her swollen Belly as out of a Bottle and is well rendred by the Lxx 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristophanes bragging in his Vespae that he help'd other Poets to make their Comedies saies that after the manner of 〈◊〉 one that was famous for this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. entring into their bellies poure forth Verses Some of the Heathens asham'd of this obscene business allow'd the Devil a more honourable place the Breast and call'd him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if he spoke the same way that some late Juglers have us'd who form an articulate sound though those which are present cannot perceive that they open their Mouth Here it is put only for one troubled with Hystericall fits by which some in these dayes have put tricks upon the Ignorant 142 Enthusiasm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divine Inspiration by which Holy men of old were enabled to speak and do extraordinary things Here it is taken for the mere pretence to it by which device Religious Mountebanks have often abus'd the credulous world Eristes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a contentious person 2 Eros 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Love 80 Erotocleus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Glory of Love 27 Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thanksgiving by which name the Greek Church did properly expresse the nature of our Lord's Supper that Sacrament being appointed to make a thankful and honourable Commemoration of his Death 165 Euergesia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beneficence the Twin-sister of Philothea or the Love of God 259 Eumenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benign 118 Eupathus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that is easily affected with things of a gentle Disposition 77 Eupistis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Good Faith or True Belief which is described Book IV. 201 Euprepon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comely or Decent In the III. Book it signifies one that was not inamourd with the gawdy outsides of Exosemnon yet abhor'd the baseness of Pseudenthea 131 Euprosopon a fair Shew from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One that sets a fair face upon things 150 Eusebia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piety 201 Euthanatus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Good Death the Happy close of a good Life 281 Exetazon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that Examines or tries things It is here put for Inquiry and is therefore call'd Apiston's File because by ingenuous Examination and diligent Search we find out the Truth 103 Exorcista 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Conjurer Those which would see more such like Pranks or think those very uncouth which I have related concerning Exorcista in the III. Book may be satisfied if they will read a Book call'd Tres Energumenae Belgicae where they will soon perceive whether I or the Exosemnians have abus'd the Popish Exorcisms 139 Exosemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outwardly Venerable which all grant that Church to be upon whom that Name is bestow'd 133 F FOrzario from Forza a Violent Person that makes Power his Law the Husband of Inganna Craft for Power associates it self with Cunning the better to accomplish its Designs 31 G GAlenepsyches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Calm of Soul Tranquillity of Spirit one of those three invaluable Jewels which a true Lover of God doth possesse See Ommelion and Terpsithea 239 Gelosia Jealousy 2 Gnothisauton 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy self I have call d the Governour of Tapinophrosyne by that name because the Knowledg of ones Self is the naturall Root of Humility 195 Grapton 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Written the Revelation of the Divine Will committed to Writing See Empsychon 103 Gynicaeus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Womanish It denotes a man imprudently Uxorious 63 Gynopicrene from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Womanish bitternesse or feeble Peevishnesse 2 H HAmartolus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sinner 199 Harpagus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rapacious the Servant of Plutopenes Covetousness is usually attended with Rapine 24 Heautus one that doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-interest which disturbs the common Happiness of the World 167 Hedonia from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pleasure the name of the Voluptuous Queen of Piacenza 79 Hemicalus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 half Good one that is in a small measure persuaded to be Vertuous 251 Hermagathus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good Mercury or happy Messenger 11 Hesychia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quietness Tranquillity 159 Hierographon from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy Scripture 206 Hydraula 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Musical Instrument that sounds by Water 193 Hyla 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matter In the IV. Book it imports the Hindrances which arise to a Good man out of this Bodily state That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the learned Bishop in his Hymns so often praies against under the several names of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Tempting Bawd the Corporeal Cloud a Dog that barks and bites the soul Tempests that rise from the body 197 Hylotes from the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the III. Book signifies the dull Sympathy which the grosly Ignorant have onely with Bodily things 121 Hypernephelus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above the Clouds no unfit name for such as take such wild flights of fancy that sober judgement cannot reach them One that speakes or writes Mysterious Nonsense 167 Hyperoncus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 very Proud 155 Hypnotica from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sleepy Sleep and Idleness are the supporters of Ignorance 121 Hypsocardes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Height and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heart It notes Arrogance and overweening thoughts by which a man is lifted up above a just estimation of himself See Megalophron 195 Hysterica from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Womb. A Woman troubled with Suffocations commonly call'd the fits of the Mother 142 I IConium from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Image It is us'd in the III. Book to express that sort of Religion which is made
of Wealth in regard of Philosophy He hath given away a great part of his Estate to promote such in the course of Study as having great aptitudes for noble Undertakings are hindered only by the want of such things as are necessary to support our common Life and hath now only left a reasonable Competency for himself and his Family He seem'd not to be so much incited to Philosophy by former Examples or perswaded to it by the Exhortations of his Parents and Tutors but was rather inflam'd by an innate Love of Wisdom which with a mighty force deriv'd from the inclinations of his own soul thrust him forward when he was young to all excellent endeavours He doth not professe himself a sworn Disciple to any one Sect of Philosophers but embraceth Truth wheresoever he finds it His manner of Conversation doth something resemble that of Socrates If Anacharsis had found him at Chaenae he would have taken him for Myson and been no less pleas'd with him He did so imitate both in the prudence of a frugal Temperance that no disease durst meddle with him left it should be starv'd with Hunger and Cold. His Life was an impartial Correction of all Vicious Manners yet though he was a most rigid observer of Vertuous Rules he did not allow himself to imitate the severity of the Cynicks because he thought that they did many times rather bite then reprove He was not apt to take notice of those Faults which he saw in others only he did constantly despise those whom he observ'd to be very curious of words and as negligent of their Actions These he usually call'd Chelidones because their Custom is to make a great noise with select words to boast of round Periods soft Compositions rare Inventions and brave Sentences to seek the glory of voluble Speech and desirous to be cried up as great Oratours or else jingling with Syllogisms producing large Inventories of Questions and clattering wheresoever they come with loud Disputations and affrighting their Auditors with endless contradictions claim it as their due to be admired for deep Philosophers whenas God knows under these fine shows made more plausible with a contracted Brow a severe Countenance an affected Gate and a distinct Habit they do often hide Unspeakable Ignorance Foolish Opinions Contentious Pride Vain-glory and an innumerable company of Trifles He did not despise these great Pretenders because he himself was ignorant of the Art of Speaking for by reading the best Authors and exercising himself to speak and write he had attain'd to the top of that excellency or that he did undervalue Philosophy but he was griev'd to see it expos'd to scorn in the world that small matter which these great Boasters profess being no more like true Philosophy then an old Woman in a Tragedy looking sadly is Hecuba He thinks no method of teaching comparable to Example and though he says nothing of himself yet it is manifest to all that understand Vertue that he is a most lively Representation of it In summe he is that bright Mirrour in which all may see incomparable Wisdom sincere love of Truth perfect Humility exact Justice the true measures of Temperance Tranquillity of Spirit Freedom of Soul and such a Sweetness of Deportment that all who have had the happiness to converse with him become Lovers of his divine Perfections and think that they have found that happy Guide who not only understands Truth himself but restores Liberty and Joy to all such as know him Though it is impossible but such Perfections must needs gain him Estimation yet he hath one particular Excellency which commands an Universal Love For he hath such a rare dexterity in performing all Offices of Friendship that he hath no Acquaintance which hath not found the benefit of it in such respects as are suitable to his condition He had much obliged the Plutocopians not only by composing private quarrels which usually happen amongst Neighbours whom he restor'd to Amity but 〈◊〉 in appeasing of more publick Commotions in which he shew'd no lesse Prudence then Charity for he perswaded the Seditious to lay down their destructive Idiopathies and yield quiet obedience to the common Laws The effects of his powerful presence were so generally Beneficial that there was no ordinary person which did not obey him as a Father and those which were in Power honour'd him as a Friend It happen'd that not long since Orthocrinon having observ'd some which managed the publick Affaires of the City to abuse their Trust to their own undue Advantages he reprov'd them so smartly that his freedom of Speech and impartial Honesty procur'd him so much hatred that for a good while he had not been in Plutocopia But hearing that two Philosophers lately come to the City were apprehended and brought to a publick Trial for Misdemeanours by them committed well knowing what Sentence would be pass'd upon them where they were to be judg'd he went hastily to understand the matter and meant if they were innocent to intercede for them but perceiving in part by those which stood near the Door that things were managed unhandsomly for he heard some say Aha! these are new Sins I never knew any body that was hang'd for weeping we must cry no more I care not for that said another but it vexeth me to think that we shall not be allow'd to laugh Our Court is very severe to day but will it be so alwayes and shall we be condemn'd too before we have spoke for our selves By this talk Orthocrinon understanding both the faults for which they were accus'd and that the Judge intended to condemn them without giving them leave to make their Defence hereupon he made haste towards the Tribunal Whilst Bathypogon and his Assessours wondred at his Appearance in such a time Orthocrinon resolv'd their doubt by speaking to them after this manner It is now a good while Bathypogon and you the rest of my Friends of Plutocopia since I gave you a Visit and I am sorry that I come now so unhappily for I see you are ready to doe that which if I be not misinformed by the By-standers is extremely to your dishonour You are going to condemn two Strangers before you have heard them speak for themselves Your Presence would be acceptable said Bathypogon if you did not hinder our proceedings but we cannot bid you welcome if you endeavour to represent us as unjust We did not intend to condemn them till two Lawyers had accus'd them of great Crimes and we can not want Evidence for the truth of their Charge for they are such notorious Offenders and have so generally disturb'd the peace of our City that there is scarce any present who hath not been molested by them However worthy Judge replied Orthocrinon you must observe your Laws and then especially when you are about to pronounce Sentence upon others for the Breach of them and since your Law doth not permit any man to be condemn'd unheard I pray you let
Teeth you have Hands and Eyes can you not look to your self What would you never go alone Child You are troubled that you have not a perpetual Keeper assign'd to you This is a foolish objection God hath made Day in vain for such as are offended with the Light of the Sun and laid Rewards to small purpose before such as hate Action and we must needs think that all those do whom every trifling Accident tempts to be Idle When the Prince had said these words he left his Chair and walk'd up and down the Room but perceiving a melancholy in Diaporon's Countenance he ask'd him if he was troubled with any thing which was spoken No Excellent Prince replied Diaporon but I have some scruples yet from which if it were not uncivil I should be glad to be delivered by your gentle hands Propound them then said the Prince and we will discourse walking Then Diaporon proceeded thus I should acquiesce in the Reasons which you have alleged concerning the state of Vertue and Vice but that I am told there is no such Liberty as you have mention'd in that all things are moved by the Laws of an Invincible Necessity and that all Causes are chain'd to their Effects by such a Fatal Connexion that no Election Wit or Power can break the least Link which if it be true your fair Discourse concerning Choice is but a pleasant Imposture Particularly they say That we are made in our Natures what we are and determin'd in our Actions to what we doe by the Influences of the Stars from which also by an inevitable Order we are to expect our Condition of Life for all the time that we are in Being The Prince replied To resolve the first part of your Objection Diaporon I would have you to consider whether it be likely that Men are no more Authors of their Actions then those Automata which are mov'd with springs of Steel or whether we do no more deserve blame for Irregular Actions then a Watch ought to be beaten when it goes wrong When men live Vertuously are they no more to be prais'd then the Tools of an Artist which have been imploy'd in making an excellent Machine Did the Hellespont deserve as much to be whipt for breaking the Ships of Xerxes as a Parricide to suffer Death for Murthering his Father Or was it as rationall in that proud Persian to write Letters to Mount Athos as for Atossa to have reprov'd her Son for that Folly What difference can there be between any of the foremention'd Instances if all things be tied by the Laws of invincible Destiny and are extrinsecally determin'd to all their Actions Those who can swallow such Absurdities need make no scruple of throwing Vertue and Vice out of the World and indeed by entertaining the foresaid Opinions they are oblig'd to doe it But God forbid Diaporon that you should engage in such monstrous wickednesse Let me tell you also added the Prince that what you said concerning the Stars is most extravagant If you can imagine such Fancies to be Credible you are prepar'd to believe all those Ridiculous Fables which idle Dreamers have reported concerning the Stars These pretenders to new Principles of knowledge which scorn the old because they did not invent them and it may be because their necessary Consequences are altogether unacceptable to their debauch'd Humour would have us think that by the Motions of the Heavens and various Circumrotations of the Stars a Matter was generated at first which being spred and sown in the Earth gave a Being to Men. A story of the same Credibility with Lucian's Dendritae and may pass in the same Rank with the Fable of Deucalion and Pyrrha If by these omnipotent Influences men became Rational Creatures I suppose some piercing Effluxes which proceeded from the Bull 's Horns boar'd their heads with two holes before and one of each side that they might hear and peep through them and that their Masculine irradiations make Boys as the Feminine do Girles To what other Cause should we ascribe the Difference of Sexes I guess also that from some extraordinary Illapses their Rival Fortune-tellers the Gypsies took their Original But which will they say Diaporon that these potent Stars produce these admirable effects Ignorantly or Knowingly If they doe it Ignorantly we must suppose that they run round like blind Horses tied to a Mill-wheel But for Honour sake I suppose they will say that they doe it Knowingly and so every Star is an understanding person and it is no great boldness to affirm that for some old doting Nations made them Gods and bestow'd as it was fit divine Worship upon them as they did also upon every Earthly Being which was beneficial to them committing not only stupid Idolatry but ingrateful Sacrilege for they robb'd the Master of his Honour to give it to his Vassals We may now easily imagine what other rare feats these knowing Stars do perform Certainly the Sun and Moon no mean persons have excellent Discourses when they talk together in their Conjunctions The Turks those grand Masters of Learning have inform'd us that they lie together in the Eclipses and beget Stars A fair solution of the Phaenomenon of new Stars which are sometimes observ'd by Astronomers The Sun is Hot and therefore every Night goes to bed in the cool waters of the Atlantick Ocean and makes oblique Motions toward the Tropicks to refresh himself at the Fountains of Cold the Poles and by his nearer approches visits one of them in Summer and the other in Winter left they should take his too-long absence unkindly for they are very sensible especially of Civilities It is very likely that the Moon is the Sun's Wife and that with his leave she doth sometimes officiously supply his absence in the Night left the darken'd Hemisphere should fall out with her Husband It would trouble us to guesse what these living Creatures do feed upon for they must needs be hungry and thirsty but that we may remember that the Earth and Sea not unthankful for the daily Courtefies which they receive from them do continually exhale Tributary Vapours to keep their Benefactours alive These are the Great Princes which domineer over this lower World who by the Sidereal Influences which are sent down from their high and mighty Powers do raise Humane Spirits and Affairs as easily as the full Moon swells a Cat 's Eyes These Potentates dwell in those magnificent Houses which Judicial Astrologers have built for them founded not much unlike to Castles in the Air. Without question they have an excellent Polity among them and the Greater Powers give order to those which are Inferiour who dare not be disobedient to them whatsoever it costs them It is manifest in that poor Diana lost her Temple which was burnt at Ephesus that night when Alexander was born because she was sent by order of some higher Intelligence to be Olympia's Midwife These sensible Stars may well be those Wheels upon which
after the same manner by which Men subdue Beasts and we thought we might as soon as we could re-gain our Liberty Right according to his own Law depending merely upon greater Strength It may be so said the Captain and since I have more Power then you I will take punishment of you for the Death of my friend and immediately commanded his Servants to kill them Here Philalethes interrupting his Servant and turning to Bentivolio and Amyntor said I did easily foresee that such as these or worse Mischiefs would soon happen under the forlorn Government of Antitheus and ask'd his Servant if he did not see Antitheus Only once as he pass'd by in a Coach I saw him through the Glass of my Chamber-Window replied his Servant for he doth seldom go abroad and never without a very strong Guard alwayes fearing lest some of Alethion's friends should stab him Philalethes ask'd him how he was reported to spend his time He answer'd Much after that manner which Sardanapalus us'd in 〈◊〉 Who are his usual Companions said Philalethes As I was inform'd I will acquaint you replied his Servant for I durst not venture into the Castle He hath made Pasenantius and Antholkes his Principal Secretaries Dogmapornes is his Favorite Panthnetus is the Steward of his House Philedones his Treasurer Asynetus his Chief Justice Autautus is the Captain of his Guard and his Brother Proselenus is his Lieutenant Psychopannyx Saprobius and Udemellon are of his Bed-chamber Medenarete is his Minion Astromantis with his inseparable Companion Thaumaturgus are his Physicians Scepticus Hypsagoras and Antigraphus are generall Buffoons to them all I hear also that one Hieromimus lately come to town hopes by the Intercession of Hypsagoras to be entertain'd by Antitheus and that Anopheles doth much favour him Gastrimargus Cantharus and Aphrodisius are all preferr'd by Philedones This is all that I could learn in Polistherion Philalethes said nothing only shak'd his head and bade his servant withdraw When he was gone Bentivolio desired Philalethes that besides his pardon for their former troublesomeness he would please to oblige himself and Amyntor with a short Character of the foremention'd Persons adding that upon the hearing of their odde Names he could not but imagine that they were observable for some singular Qualities I shall willingly doe it said Philalethes Pasenantius is a man of a most perverse Disposition and so is Antholkes they both take a great delight in contradicting what others assert and think nothing well said or done but by Antitheus and themselves they are very agreeable to his Humour because they have a rare faculty in minting new Words and Phrases of which Antitheus makes no small use for by expunging all known Terms he hopes to extinguish all receiv'd Opinions and to introduce his new Philosophy into the World But his Expectations have a very weak Foundation for it is observ'd that after he hath taken much pains to divulge some hidden Mystery in strange Sentences he hath been found only to have wrapp'd up a Falshood in unusual Terms or to have obscur'd some common Notion which every Novice understood as soon as he had enter'd the first confines of Study and could have express'd in better Words Shall I give you a taste of his Variations by which he hath advanc'd a Philosophical Ignorance For God he hath put Nature for Providence Chance for Creation Eternal Vicissitude for Prescience Fate for Liberty Omnipotence for Contingency Necessity for Possible Future for History Mystery for Cruelty Justice for Discourse Contradiction for Philosopher Dictator for Hypocrisie Wisdom for Religion Mockery for Theology Atheism Of Dogmapornes you have heard something already and of his Unworthy Opinions concerning the Divine Providence in the story of Apronaeus he hath many more of the same nature for which as being very fit to be entertain'd in Brothel-Houses but worthy to be banish'd from all Civil Societies because they send down a mischievous influence upon Humane Life he was call'd Dogmapornes I have often fansied that his Countenance doth very much resemble the Air of the rebellious Giants and that he is much of that Disposition which did so corrupt the Manners of the old World that Almighty God was provok'd to 〈◊〉 them with a Deluge If ever Apostate Angels begot Children upon Lascivious Women he may well be thought to have come of that Race Autautus would have us believe that the World made it self or at least did of it self Eternally exist in loose Atoms and that after many wild encounters the jumbled particles as if they were playing at the ancient sport of Oscillation did at last luckily throw themselves into that infinite number of rare figures of which this World consists Proselenus is of the same opinion and is usually very troublesome to the Company where he happens to be with strange stories of Men whom he affirms to have been fifty thousand years older then the Moon and hath fram'd many fabulous Tales of Eve's Great Grand-mother whose Father as he says was call'd Praeadamita He affirms also almost in the same words with the Atheist of Florence that we should have certainly known the Customs and Accidents of the former World but that a great Deluge happen'd in Adam's time by which all the Records of the foregoing Ages were destroy'd and no Persons preserv'd but Adam and his Wife two Mountainous Shepherds and that Adam to gain the Glory of being reputed the first Father of a new World a strange Ambition to seize upon the thoughts of a poor Shepherd agreed with his Wife to conceal the knowledge of that which was destroy'd from their Children by which means it came to pass as he guesses that we have only the notice of about five or six thousand years time but supposes that Adam's Posterity did find some Remembrances of another State yet to support the Honour of their Family reckon'd them but Fabulous Devices made by some of their Predecessours Philedones is one wholly devoted to a Voluptuous Life of which he hath made choice as his only Happiness as he saith merely in Imitation of the Exemplary Vertues of the Epicurean Gods who rejecting the troublesome Cares of this lower World doe nothing but feast themselves in Heaven He was inclin'd to Sensuality by his Natural Complexion but when he doubted a Man was made for more noble purposes then those of which a Swine is capable he was confirm'd in his way by two of his Companions Panthnetus and Udemellon who made him believe that Men have no Souls but that as they are born and grow like Beasts so they wax old and die as they do and are not accomptable in another World for what they doe in this When he put this scruple to them But what if the Soul should be Immortal You need not fear that said they for if Souls supposing that there are such things did not perish with their Bodies they would be so thick crowded together in the other World that some of them would have been
glad of the Errand to come and tell Atheists of their Errour and reprove them for speaking against their Existence With such foolish Arguments they have perswaded poor Philedones to believe that all Felicity is in Pleasure and that only to be measur'd by the Belly and with the help of Gastrimargus Cantharus and Aphrodisius whom he hath made Purveyours for his inordinate Appetites he is so improv'd in Luxury that he will not eat without a Deaths-Head hung over the Table nor drink but in a Priapus and will have none to present his Ambrosia but a Ganymede He repents of nothing but the Time which when he was young he lost in serious Studies and to signifie to the World that he is a real Convert he hath declar'd that he will have no Remembrance after Death but a Monument made after the fashion of that Statue which Sardanapalus had at Anchiala and this Epitaph upon his Tomb HERE LIES ALL PHILEDONES Psychopannyx creates his Companions some disturbance for he contends that the Soul is a substance distinct from the Body and shall awake again though it sleep a while in the state of Separation being not able to live out of the Body but because he was in some doubt whether the Soul having snor'd many hundreds or thousands of years without so much as any Dream of Life or Sense will not afterwards be unable to know it self again they were content to take him into their Company as an Honest Heretick but of late Udemellon hath made him much more acceptable for as the only way to make him hope to escape the Punishment of a Wicked Life he hath perswaded him to be of his Opinion That there is no Judgment to come and that the Resurrection is a mere Fable Asynetus is one whose part in this Infernal Tragedy is with a scurrilous boldness to traduce the notion of Conscience and he hath acted it so to the Life that those which have seen him have imagin'd that he hath often stab'd that tender part of his Soul But some that know his Constitution say that such a callous Matter is grown round about his heart that no Dagger will pierce it He doth teach Men to take off the sense of Sin by committing it often that is to contract an Habitual Impenitency by a frequent Repetition of Wicked Actions and to rifle the Native Modesty of their Souls by adding greater Crimes to smaller Sins herein following the damn'd Example of those Traitours who make it their Excuse for committing the highest Villanies that they have already done such as can be defended by no other Means He hath utterly spoil'd a young Gentleman call'd Saprobius whom he hath made a miserable Spectacle of a Vicious Life Sin hath done its utmost upon him having now left him nothing but a despairing Soul in a putrid Body I look at him as irrecoverably lost because he is mortified to all sense of Ingenuous Principles by which means he hath broken off from himself those Handles by which God doth take hold of us and seems to have murther'd those friendly Guardians which God hath appointed to reduce such as think to free themselves from their Obedience by a rebellious Flight Medenarete is a She-Philosopher and so in many respects acceptable to Antitheus Her Opinions are very conformable to Saprobius his Practices She esteems Vertue nothing but Words Laws the Opinions of Men in Power She denies that there are any Eternal Rules of Righteousness which took their Original only from God or that there are any Indispensable Principles of Good and Evil or that God hath written any Laws upon Humane Nature in any other sense but that Vertue and Vice are determinable by the Customs of divers Countries and Holy Rules variable according to different Fancies of several Ages or Persons That Religious Constitutions are only founded in the Wills of Princes and Piety supported by the Credulity of the Ignorant Vulgar and the Obedience of such as are forc'd to doe what they are commanded She doth boldly affirm that it is only a Rustick Bashfulness or else a Cowardly Fear that hinders Men and Women from saying or doing any thing when they are out of the reach of the Law and that what is abhorr'd by all the World as most Evil would become Good if it pleas'd those who have Authority to determine so and that what is generally embrac'd as naturally Good because it agrees with the Common Principles of all Mankind would become Evil and ought to be rejected as Wicked if the Laws of Men did appoint so This is that brave Medenarete with whom Antitheus is infinitely inamour'd What Astromant is is you may partly guesse by those wild Notions of Fantastical Astrology of which you have heard something in the Prince's Discourse with Diaporon His Custom is to tell strange Stories and to pretend an extraordinary Ability to doe great Matters by reason of his peculiar acquaintance with the Stars which he esteems the principal Ability of a Physician and absolutely necessary to one that hopes to be successful Thaumaturgus is a Jack-pudding to the Mountebank and goes along in his Company much-what with the same Grace that the Monkey doth with the Bears I will not trouble you with any longer Description of him you will quickly hear of him in Polistherion Anopheles is an intimate friend of Astromantis he is wholly taken up with making of Talismans i.e. useless Images imboss'd or ingraven in Stone Wood or Metall under certain Constellations made to represent some Celestial Planet or Conjunction of Stars that is bearing the Figure of those living Creatures which are describ'd in the Heavens and especially in the Zodiack which hath its name from them These being thus compos'd as he saith receive a Power from above for the Stars being much taken with the Resemblance of their Figures send down potent Influences upon those small pieces of Stone Wood or Metall which they not only retain themselves but are also able to impart to other Matters of the same Figure as to a piece of Clay or Wax taking an Impression from them His Talismans thus made doe as he would make us to believe in a natural and constant way strange Wonders as for Example They drive away Serpents and Rats from Cities cure those which are bitten by mad Dogs or stung by Scorpions chase away hurtful Insects out of Fields as Locusts and Caterpillars and deliver people from the Pestilence and all Contagions of the Air nothing of all this depending upon any Conversation with Spirits which he esteems Fancies Thus as he says he hath reviv'd the old Art by which the Jews made Teraphims and the Arabians and Egyptians fram'd Statues according to the Rules of Astrology and Natural Magick and having fetch'd down the Spirits of the Stars imprison'd them in these Shrines much after the same manner that Daemons are said to be included in Humane Bodies by which means their Talismans of Brasse and Stone do move and speak and
All Created things are destinated to some particular Use and have distinct Properties by which they are fitted for their several Ends and those Properties are the Excellencies of every Creature The Nature of a Man doth by many degrees transcend that of most other Beings because he hath higher Principles by which he is fitted for more noble Actions Those Innate Notions of Truth and Goodness are plac'd in his Soul as Fountains of Law from which he is to take direction concerning the Government of his Life Truth and Goodness are Eternal Things and therefore subsisted before we were born but when we come into Being we find the Notions of them imprinted upon our Minds that is our Natures are such that as soon as we come to have the use of our Faculties by the exercise of our Reason we are forc'd to acknowledge their Existence and perceive their Usefulness and so are as it were born Guides to our selves being enabled to draw such Conclusions from these Natural Sentiments as make sufficient Rules for our Actions and are encourag'd by mighty Perswasives to doe that which is Good being convinc'd of the Excellency of Vertue by the Natural Testimony of our own Souls By this you may understand that Vertue is a just Conformity to our Inbred Knowledge a Correspondence with the Dignity of our Natures and a Pursuit of those worthy Ends to which we are not only destinated but naturally oblig'd 'T is true reply'd Medenarete I have often heard such things pronounc'd concerning Vertue but I alwayes esteem'd them rather as Witty sayings of eloquent Philosophers then any convincing Assurances that Goodness is a Reality Men do usually talk of the Difference of Good and Evil and say that it is indispensably unjust to hurt an Innocent person that a sense of Gratitude is natural to all Men and some such other things But I have heard it affirm'd that these Notions are only Qualities which dispose men to keep that Peace in the World of which they have a beneficial share and that they are not obliging Laws till they be so constituted by the Civil Sanction of a Supreme Power and that men do then yield Obedience to them only for fear of Punishment and so have no other Motive to those which you call Vertuous Actions but Self-love It is manifest also that notwithstanding all that which you say of the Natural Sense of Good and Evil implanted in our Souls yet men are very different in their Opinions concerning their Definitions and notwithstanding that irreconcileable difference between Right and Wrong which you believe to be Real the greatest part of the World do confound it in their Actions I might adde also that some who are esteem'd Vertuous are so far from being of your mind that they make no scruple to say that God if he pleas'd might command that which is most Evil to be Good If these Allegations be true it follows that Obedience to Holy Rules is a thing only founded upon respect to Self-interest that Vertue is not a thing of an unchangeable Nature and that the Obligations to observe the Differences of Good and Evil in our Designs and Actions is not so indispensable as you would make us believe I know very well said Aristander that many such things use to be objected against the Nature of Vertue by those who speak against Honesty to shew their Wit and disparage Goodness because they have no mind to practise it But I can easily shew you the Falshood of these Pretences if you will have the patience to entertain a little more Discourse concerning this Subject I shall be glad to be so oblig'd reply'd Medenarete and if there be truth in that which you say concerning Vertue I shall willingly profess my self an affectionate Friend to that which hitherto I have not much regarded Very well said Aristander I shall endeavour to demonstrate that the Nature of Vertue is Immutable that the Difference of Good and Evil cannot be chang'd and that the Reasons of Moral Duties are Eternal and so give you a clear notice of the Vanity of your Objections The unalterable Congruity which is between Vertue and reasonable Souls appears by the Essential Inclinations to Moral Goodness which God the Author of our Being hath implanted in our Nature and by this that many Vertuous Dispositions are fair Resemblances of the Divine Perfections that others are Appendages immutably proper to our State all highly Perfective of our Being and that a just Conformity to those Rules which correspond with these Principles is so necessary to our Happiness which consists in a quiet Repose of Mind and a serene Delight in the enjoyment of our selves and God our chief Good that it is impossible to attain it by any other means These Assertions are of such moment as to that Satisfaction which I would give concerning the nature of Vertue that I must crave leave to explain them with a larger Compass of Words and so make the truth of them all more apparent It is as natural for men to form their Actions according to the Notions of Moral Goodness which are in their Souls as it is to see with their Eyes and we ought as well to suppose that these Inward Laws were given us for the Direction of our Life as that our Tongues were bestowed upon us that we may Speak It is as easily possible for men to become Rats and Toads as to put off the Obligation which is laid upon them by God to observe Natural Righteousness Neither is the Congruity which Vertue hath with our Souls more alterable by any extrinsecal Power then the hour of the Sun 's Rising is determinable by the Word of an Emperour Laws can no more render Vice agreeable to our Constitution then they can make Seconds and Sevenths in Musical Compositions to sound as Harmoniously as Thirds or Fifths An Artist may as soon frame a Quadrangle consisting only of three Angles as make Ingratitude commendable And a Physician may as rationally pronounce that a man distress'd with a Fever is not sick as affirm that there are no Torments of an Evil Conscience Whosoever will seriously consider it may plainly see that the Nature of Vertue is unalterable and that it hath an Essential Connexion with our Souls for there is an Eternal Reason why that which is good for Men should so bealwayes These Holy Rules took not their Original from the Appointments of our Parents the Pleasure of our Tutors Traditions receiv'd from former Ages or Imitation of present Examples but are the general Dictates of common Reason which whisper unto us from within whether we will or no that they are Good in their own nature These Laws are of an Ancient Date not made in the Reign of such and such Kings or in such a Session of Parliament but as old as Humanity and of themselves obliging antecedently to all Positive Commands It is true Princes should enter these amongst their Statutes and because they are immutably Good
himself a mischief by a preposterous endeavour to satisfie a vicious Will God having so inseparably annex'd our best satisfaction to the Rules of our Duty the old Philosopher might have given a very plausible reason for his Passion if he had included those who endeavour to divide Pleasure from Honesty in the Curse which he wish'd upon those who first attempted the Divorce of Vertue and Profit However the Attempt is to no purpose for the distress which accompanies Vice is so unavoidable that the most insolent sinners which are recorded in History have confess'd an Inward Nemesis to follow them and to compensate the Wickedness of their Actions with proportionable Punishments making every Place too hot for them and all Conditions uneasie Those who have so far despis'd Vertue that they would not acknowledge it to be any thing have not withstanding found the burthen of an Evil Conscience to be extreme heavy and complain'd of the Torments which they suffer'd from the Displeasure of the In-dwelling God How natural this disturbance is appears also from the Restlesness of profligate Offenders who though they enjoy the Success of their Vices and live in the heights of Luxury by the benefit of Rapine do yet desire rather to have gotten Riches by some honest means being reprov'd by themselves when they consider that Unhandsomness which will never cease to attend their unjust Prosperities This gives us assurance that the Laws of Vertue are of force to condemn where they are not obey'd and that the Divine Light is seen when it is not follow'd and that it is a very jejune Explication of the Torments of Conscience to say that it is only this Some men say that they knew them who knew others who knew the state of Sinners to be unhappy Besides this I might also adde that the unalterable Repugnance of Vice to our Felicity is manifest by those extravagant Appetites and wild Desires to which Men are often subject which whilst they are not mortified by Vertue do gall the Soul by a ravenous unsatisfiableness and make what soever might administer to its Content useless By that which I have said concerning Good mens Happiness I would not have you think that the Repose of Vertue consists only in a dull Indolence a mere freedom from Grief or such a state of Content as that in which we find our selves after we have quench'd a Thirst for Good men experiment also such Actual Pleasure as thirsty persons find when they drink Delicious Liquors both whilst they are conversant in the Operations of Vertue and when they call to mind the Honest Actions of their past life By which it appears that they are not mov'd to compliance with Holy Rules by Extraneous Principles or are induc'd to perform their Duties by Mercenary Perswasions as Hopes of Honour and Desire of Riches they have Innate Motives far more cogent from that rare Content which is the natural Companion of Vertue and Good men have alwayes thought this Intellectual Delight so far beyond the sensual Titillations of fleshly Objects that they have esteem'd Wicked persons not to fall more below the Dignity of such as are Good by the Depravations of Vice then they do come short of their enjoyments in the truth of Pleasure under which pretence they became Renegado's to Vertue Those who affirm Pleasure to be the end of all Humane Actions speak true enough if they understand themselves well and there is no danger in that which they say if they be not mistaken by others As nothing is of more pleasant gust to our Rational Appetite then to doe excellent Things so it is proportionable to the great Ends of our Nature to seek such Delight for in this pursuit we come to taste the Pleasures which all Good men find in the noble Union of their Souls with the Divine Will and so partake of true Freedom for being by this most pleasing Fruition unchain'd from the mean love of little things and secur'd from the distraction of low Desires they are joyn'd to that great Good which is ever present with all but those who have dispers'd their Souls amongst infinite Vanities and so do not enjoy themselves or who having contracted a Contrariety of Disposition to God's mind are not capable of Union with him Vertue prepares us for God's Inhabitation who is never unwilling to dwell in Good men And whilst they give him as they ought his Right of Willing what he pleaseth in them and acting their Powers according to his Divine Wisdom and Goodness they partake of the greatest Happiness to which Men can be exalted and satisfie their Minds in the enjoyment of the chief Good which doth also instill into their Souls and preserve there a pleasant Hope of Immortal Felicity by the continuance and advancement of the same Fruition in the Eternal World they being sufficiently assur'd that nothing can separate a Soul from everlasting Bliss which is married to God by hearty Love And this doth complete a Good man's Repose for being at peace with himself by reason of the Friendly Testimony of his Conscience and highly pleas'd with his present state he finds also an unspeakable ease of Mind in the Hopes of that which he shall be in the Life to come Thus said Aristander turning towards Medenarete I have obey'd your Command having shew'd you the Excellent Nature of Vertue assur'd you concerning its Existence and given you an Account of that Happiness which Good men derive from it After this it would be impertinent to adde much to overthrow your Objections for they must needs fall of themselves If Vertue doth include in its own Nature an essential Congruity with Reasonable Souls there is no more necessity of a Law to render its Rules Obliging then to pass an Act to make it fit for us to see with our Eyes and since Vice doth alwayes discompose that natural Order it is as impossible for all the Civil Power in the World to make it agreeable to our Constitution as to make us smell with our Ears That Vertuous men are not good for Fear of being punish'd is sufficiently confirm'd by that which I have already discours'd and I must tell you that this is a very Contemptible Objection for they do not esteem any man Good but him who will not sin though he is not in danger of any external Mulct neither do they account him an Honest man with whom they durst not play at Even and Odde in the dark And if you ask then what use there can be of Laws which are alwayes vain without the supposition of Punishment I must let you know that they are prudently given with a general respect to all men To the Bad because since all will not understand the Reasons of their Duties nor be perswaded to love Vertue for most worthy considerations it is of great Interest to the World that Wickedness should not be spred by Impunity but that Enormous persons being directed by Law should also be restrain'd from
Erotocleus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Glory of Love 27 Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thanksgiving by which name the Greek Church did properly express the nature of our Lord's Supper that Sacrament being appointed to make a thankful and honourable Commemoration of our Saviour's Death 165 Eudaemon a good Genius one that makes men Rich who is the only Good Angel whom the Covetous acknowledge 15 b Euergesia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beneficence the twin-Sister of Philothea or the Love of God 259 Euesto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quiet State I have us'd this word partly to signifie that tranquillity which is necessary for Philosophical Contemplations partly to express the happy Repose of wise and good men 24 b Eugenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Person of a Noble Descent and an Ingenuous Disposition 180 b Eumenes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benign 118 Eupathes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who is easily affected with things of a gentle Disposition 77 Euphranor from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that laughs at the Follies of the World 18 b Euphron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a pleasant good-natur'd Person who both enjoys himself and makes others chearful 295 b Eupistia from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Good Faith which is describ'd Book 4. 201 Eupistus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a true believer a Faithful Person 202 Euprepes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comely or Decent In the Third Book it signifies one who was not inamour'd with the gaudy outsides of Exosemnon yet 〈◊〉 the baseness of Pseudenthea 131 Euprosopon from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that sets a fair face upon things 150 Eusebia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piety 201 Euthanatus a Good Death the happy close of a good Life 281 Euthymia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of mind the Portion of Vertuous Souls 46 b Exetazon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that examins or tries things It is here put for Inquiry and is therefore call'd Apiston's File because by Ingenuous Examination and diligent Search we find out Truth 103 * Exorcista 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Conjurer Those who desire to see more such Pranks or think those very strange which I have related concerning Exorcista may be satisfied if they will reade a Book call'd Tres Energumenae Belgicae where they will soon perceive whether I or the Exosemnians have abus'd the Popish Exorcisms 139 Exosemnon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 outwardly Venerable which all grant that Church to be upon whom that name is bestow'd 133 F A True Faith describ'd 201 The sad Consequences of a false Faith 150 The Agreement of Faith and Reason 203 A Father's last Advice to his Sons 376 b Forts Esprits Courageous Spirits a Title which the French Deists bestow'd upon themselves after they had so confirm'd their Infidelity that they were able to disbelieve all things 161 b Forzario a Violent Person who makes Power his Law The Husband of Inganna Craft for Power associates it self with Cunning the better to accomplish its Designs 31 G GAlenepsyches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A calm of Soul Tranquillity of Spirit one of those three invaluable Jewels which a true Lover of God doth possesse 239 A Garden describ'd 1 b Gastrimargus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Insatiable Eater 152 b Gelosia Jealousie 2 Geron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Old man 32 b Glycypicron 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bitter-Sweet as all terrene pleasures are 18 b * Gnosticks from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge an unclean Sect of Hereticks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Epiphanius calls them who gave themselves this Name prerending that they only were dignified with the Knowledge of Truth though theirs if ever any in the World was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge falsly so call'd as St. Paul said Their Opinions were most absurd and their Practices abominable See 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 Plotin one of the best Platonists and possibly a Christian wrote against them Ennead 2. Lib. 9. See Pansophia and Achamoth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy self I have call'd the Governour of Tapinophrosyne by this name because the knowledge of ones self is the Natural Root of Humility 195 * God Arguments of his Existence 188 b A Description of the Divine Nature 189 b Of the Connate Idea of God ibid. In what sense the Notion of God is 〈◊〉 to our Souls 191 b That God is as knowable as other things and how 194. 195. b. which Des-Cartes hath well express'd in these words Quamvis enim 〈◊〉 Dei perfectiones non comprehendamus quia 〈◊〉 est de Natura Infiniti ut à nobis qui sumus 〈◊〉 non comprehendatur nibilominus tamen ipsas 〈◊〉 distinctiùs quà m ullas res corporeas intelligere possumus quia cogitationem 〈◊〉 magis implent suntque simpliciores nec limitationibus ullis obscurantur Princip Phil. Parte primâ It is an unreasonable demand to require that he should shew himself as we please So Eurip. in Baceh Pen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. ` Do you say that you have seen God plainly as he is No but as he is pleas'd to shew himself we must not appoint him in what manner he will be seen The naked essence of all things is hid from us much more that of God which I suppose to be suggested in the Inscription which was put upon the Temple of Isis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good men alwayes happy 80 b Grapton 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Written the Revelation of the Divine Will committed to writing See Empsychon 103 False Guardians reprov'd 55 Gynaeceus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Womanish it denotes a man imprudently Uxorious 63 Gynaepicria from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Womanish bitterness or feeble peevishness 2 H HAdes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Invisible state of the other World which sensual persons do not love to hear of 23 b Hamartolus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sinner 199 Happiness describ'd 83 b. and afterwards in Aristander's Speech Harpagus from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rapacious the servant of Plutopenes Covetonsness is usually attended with Rapine 24 〈◊〉 one that doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Self-Interest which disturbs the common Happiness of the World 167 Hedonia from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pleasure the name of the Voluptuous Queen of Piacenza 79 Hemicalus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 half good one who is perswaded in a small measure to be Vertuous 251 Hermagathus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good Mercury or happy Messenger 11 Hesychia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tranquillity 159 Hierographon from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Holy Scripture 206 Hieromimus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one who makes an affectate Imitation of holy things His Principles his Design his Confutation you have Book 6. beginning pag. 297 b Hilarion from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chearful 341 b Hypocrites false Pleas for their sins
Musick as well as they and not believing that the Trees or Stones did ever dance after any Harper though some Poets have said so Thus as he would have the Constitution of the World understood without a God so he would have all the Phaenomena of Humane Nature explain'd without a Soul that so Men may be free if they please to live like brute Beasts to whom by his Argument they are not Superiour The best notion which he can bestow upon the Soul is but a Vivacious Habit of Body or the local Motion of some particles and the Beasts have that and Life possibly is an Harmonical Wind such as is convey'd by Bellows through the Pipes of Organs whom we may suppose to live as long as they breathe Discourse is nothing with him but Motion with Reaction of which a Lute-string is equally capable with any Man He obliterates all Connate Idea's of God by which Excellent persons think themselves inabled to converse with the Divine Nature as the Eye being replenish'd with a Crystalline Humour is made capable of seeing the Sun Thus Men are represented as no more fitted for Religion then Beasts But as his Doctrine raiseth Wood and Stones to the same pitch of Sense with Humane Nature it is but a small matter for him to depress it to the same Level with Beasts either in Excellency of Knowledge or Capacity of Religion It is consequent to this That the Soul is Mortal How should it be otherwise being but Motion when that ceaseth it dies And considering that many believe otherwise he adds that the Immortality of separate Souls is only a Window open'd into the dark Region of Eternal Torments by such as have been fool'd with the Demonology of the Greeks I perceive you are cloy'd with his Natural Philosophy and therefore I will set no more of it before you but give you a taste of his Ethicks But doth he acknowledge any such thing as Vertue said Bentivolio You may well make a Question of that replied Philalethes by what I have reported but I will tell you what he says and then you may judge He asserts that in the Natural state of Humanity all things are indifferent that nothing is absolutely Good or Evil and that no common Rule of Good and Evil can be taken from the nature of the Objects themselves but all things are to be measur'd by mens Appetites which have the only Power to make whatsoever pleaseth them Good He supposes men in the state of Nature to be a company of Licentious People stragling up and down the surface of the Earth without any Law obnoxious to no Authority incapable of Sin both because there are no Eternal Rules of Good and Evil of which the best Philosophers have believed the Law of Nature written upon our Hearts to be a Transcript and because no positive Commands were given to them for from whom should they receive them who were their own Lords He says that the World had never been troubled with those useless Notions of Vertue and Vice but that some proud Ignoramus introduc'd them upon an arrogant Supposition that men have Liberty of Will that is a free Principle of Action whenas by his words all the Freedom that they have is that they do not see that they have none mens Wills being like other things extrinsecally determin'd Hence he infers that either there is no Sin or that God is the Author of it who doth not only help us to Act but force us to Will teaching the vilest Persons to excuse their worst Actions by accusing those causes which with irresistible sorce necessitate them to operate as they do Thus Deliberation is rendred as a great Foolery and a Horse made as capable of Honesty as a Man and a Stone as either of them Conscience which the Good men of all Ages have ever rever'd as an in-dwelling God is despis'd by him as an Idol made by false Imagination Blame is reckon'd but a signification of Displeasure not the Imputation of a Fault His new Gospel hath abolisht ingenuous Shame and says that those whom we call our first Parents had no troublesome resentment of their Eating the Forbidden Fruit as a Crime but express'd a little Anger against God for not making them with their Cloths on as if they had been blind and did not see their skins before they broke their Creator's Orders or had no reason to blush when through an ingrateful Carelesness they devested themselves of the Innocence with which he indu'd them by doing what he had prohibited Thus he hath exterminated Sorrow for unworthy Actions which in sinners begins the Practice of Repentance and made humble Prayers by which all the World doth express a Dependance upon God as impertinent as if we should make an Oration to the Sun to day to perswade it to rise to morrow It 's true sometimes he makes bold with his own Doctrines and frets at cross Accidents and says that by reason of great Prudence one man is fitter to give Advice then another and admits of the Distinction which is made between Counsels and Commands with many other such like pronuntiations which being mingled with his assertion of the extrinsecal Pre-determination of all Actions and Events are Arguments against the Liberty of the Will compos'd much after the manner of those Horns which Mahomet saw upon the heads of some of his Monster-Angels which as he says were made of Snow and Fire Mens particular Natures being thus represented you will expect that he should appoint strange Rules to govern them when they are joyn'd in Society They would be excellent if they were proportionable to that great Conceit which he hath of his own Ability in this kind for before his time he saith the Doctrine of Civil Government was unknown and that his Prescriptions are far above any Comparison with what hath been deliver'd by the best Legislatours in the World in that the better sorts of Beasts have a more prudent Politie then Men and could promulgate better Laws if they would please to speak in such a language as we understand But some which have consider'd his new Modell affirm it to be only a fictitious supposal of a state of Humanity that never was or will be and that his several Dictates are useless Consequences drawn from false Principles and perversly applied to the Condition of Mankind which doth not only reject them as impertinent but abhor them as mischievous to the Nature and Happiness of Men. Some of his Orders suppose men to be Autochthones Intelligent Mushromes or else Pre-Adamites born before the Moon upon some Arcadian Hill others are fitted well enough for the Serpentine Brood of Cadmus or for a barbarous 〈◊〉 of Men degenerated into Beasts but they agree not with the nobler state of Mankind which by the prudent appointment of our great Creatour is derived from our Common Parents Adam and Eve whose state was never Anarchical for their Creator was their King neither were they at any
time without Law for they came not into the World till God had fix'd the Principles of Reason and the Roots of Love in their Natures and obliged them by bringing them into Being to observe the Laws which he had written upon their Hearts Their Liberty was not unlimited for these Laws bounded it neither could their condition be a state of War unless they should fight against themselves for by an universal Law well known to them all they were oblig'd to love their Neighbours as themselves They have deserv'd all Commendations who writing upon this Subject have not only reduc'd the Civil state of men to right Principles but represented a better to mens consideration then was yet ever seen but in Books that so the World might meliorate it self by the just imitation of a noble Example But Antitheus hath so far encourag'd the World to Degenerate that he hath made the Nature of Men worse in his picture then ever it was in it self For he hath presented the first state of Rational Beings as a War of all men against all men that is a Commonwealth wherein every man is his Neighbour's Enemy and in which every one may justly doe what he will where the use of Force and Fraud is lawful where every man having a Right to every thing may get Possession of it as he can by enslaving or destroying not only what doth hurt him but also that which he imagines able to annoy him every man's Appetite being the Rule of what he may desire and his own Apprehension the sole Judge of the best Means to attain his Ends. He affirms sometimes and it is correspondent to the foremention'd Principles that Cain did no wrong to Abel since he only took out of the way one that was offensive to him and as it was no Injustice to kill his Brother so it was but Wisdom to tempt him into the Field that he might have an opportunity fit for his purpose Antitheus thinks it was no just Reason to move him not to doe it to his Brother because he would not have had his Brother done it to him and that Cain was punish'd by God unjustly since he had done nothing but what he could justifie by the Law of his Nature being to give no accompt of his Brother no not to God since he was not his Keeper He slights the Foundation of Happiness which God had laid in Civil Society pretending that Reason and Love will not hinder men from doing harm to others But then he should have put some better Principles then what we have yet seen for Fear and Hatred will not doe it and if he thinks that they are the only means of Self-preservation it is a weak thought For though Reason and Love did require men to doe only good to others yet they did not forbid them to defend themselves against such as should transgress the just bounds of Common Good But his own Reasons are good enough for him who supposeth neither Abel to have been Cain's Brother nor Adam to have been their Common Father and so excuseth Cain from any Obligation to Fraternal Love and makes him unaccomptable to Adam though he depriv'd him of a Son without his leave By this you may perceive that his Doctrine is not agreeable with the first state of Nature but only a false Imagination of his own and useful nowhere except the barbarous Regions of Cyclopia Antitheus having bountifully allow'd this strange Liberty to Men in the state of Nature hath taken what care he can to assure it to them in all states and let them know that it is incapable of receiving prejudice from any thing not excluding those limitations which they themselves shall set to it by voluntary Promises declaring to them that they are not bound to keep any Covenants made in the state of Nature and hath added that no Promises are at any time to be thought inviolable for any Reasons taken from the nature of Honesty which make them sacred Bonds since Words are but Wind but that men ought to perform what they have said for fear of Evil Consequences which may happen upon the breach of their Promises Men in his Opinion either not being under the force of a Divine Law or that continuing no longer in force to oblige men to their Duty then till they have opportunity to neglect it without Danger from their Neighbours These are his Sentiments concerning those mutual Duties which Men owe to one another in general what his Opinions are concerning them as they are under Government you shall soon know whilst I tell you what Power he assignes to the Magistrate how he determines the People's Right and how he takes from them both what he had formerly allow'd to them by cross Grants He hath gratified the Supreme Magistrate with a Power of Creating Good and Evil and pronounc'd that his Absolute Will is Divine and Humane Law and would have his People to believe every thing to be Just which he Commands and that whatsoever he forbids is for that Reason Evil and that no Laws made by him can be unjust That Subjects have no Propriety in whatsoever they possesse and hold their Lives merely at the Will of their Prince who without doing any injustice may take away the Life or confiscate the Estate of his most innocent Subject and that all things are his in such an unlimited sense that if he please he may justly give away or sell the Sovereign Power Having consider'd that the Vulgar which are almost all the World are easily taken with specious Pretences he exhorts Princes to learn the Art of Dissimulation and to esteem it a most necessary part of Royal Accomplishment to be able to Counterfeit all plausible Vertues especially Piety that is prostitute the sacred Notion of a Deity to Worldly Interest and remembring that so long as men continue Bad as they do yet to be truly Good will sometimes prove dangerous he says they ought to know also how to make a profitable Use of being not Good though they seem so at all other times and because it is accompted a Point of Honour in a Prince to verifie his Word he adviseth him when it is his Interest to break his Promises to colour the Action with pretences of Urgent Reasons that the Common people may think he was necessitated to violate his Faith At other times reflecting upon that boundless Power which he had bestow'd upon Princes and fearing that the People would think him guilty of Adulation and say that he had misinform'd Princes in point of their Right to gratifie their Ambition he hath made a Compensation for his Errour by granting unreasonable Allowances to Subjects For to make the Possession of Royal Power insecure in Princes hands he hath given the People leave when they can to take it from them and when they are put to suffer Wounds or Death though never so justly he hath authoriz'd them to resist and lest they should doubt that they are obliged