consequently ought not to be set down to her Account That therefore for his speaking Truth of the first Fathers of the Church altho' it was not advantageous for them no such Conclusion ought to be drawn as that he design'd to do the least injury to Religion That we ought not to confound the private and personal Interests of the Church-men with the general Interest of the Gospel That this was an Artifice which the irregular Clergy made use of to authorize their ill living or hinder others from daring to reprove it as if what was levell'd only at their disorders must needs strike directly at Religion itself whose unworthy Ministers they must own themselves to be That we ought likewise to distinguish between good and bad between Orders that were instituted with Reason in the Church and the Abuse that was made of them in order to let the World see that those who blame the Abuse don't censure the thing itself and that those who recount the ill Actions of wicked Men don't lose the Respect which ought to be paid to the Good That it is notoriously manifest that the Truth of Opinions don't make all such as profess them virtuous and that speculative Errors don't corrupt the Manners of all those who are engaged in them so that the mixture of good and bad in the Conduct of Life is almost equal between the Orthodox and the Heretics That therefore we ought not to take all for Gospel which the former say nor yet to reject every thing as false that comes from the second but that we ought to examine what both of them can say according to the same Rules which the Law prescribes for sifting of Witnesses in Civil and Criminal Affairs That in fine it is of the last importance to speak out the truth freely in all this lest the Libertines should imagine that 't is a Belief among the Christians that the Opinions of the Mind or Employments in the Church change Vice into Virtue and Virtue into Vice and lest Persons of weak Judgments should insensibly be led into it by seeing both one and the other equally consecrated in the Person of Ecclesiastics and at last forget that the Christian Religion consists in believing the Doctrins of the Gospel and obeying its Precepts and not in the Respect that is paid to Men who are neither made better nor more knowing by their Dignities This is what ought to be said in a Preface to an Ecclesiastic History and what Sozomen perhaps wou'd have said if he had dared to speak all that he thought But it was too dangerous at that time to speak thus at Constantinople as it is still so in the greatest part of Europe Of the Stile of History III. IT is not necessary that I should speak of the Order which an Historian ought to observe because the Series of the Time sufficiently directs him in that and the Rhetors have assign'd Rules for the Narration which are as suitable to an Historian as they are to an Orator As for the Style the only Qualities which it ought to have is to be pure clear and as concise as possible without becoming obscure 'T is in History where we ought principally to employ that simple and natural Style which the Masters of this Art so exceedingly commend As an Historian only proposes to himself to inform his Reader of what has happen'd without any design to move or divert him any farther than the Matter may contribute to it without the Historians having any such Thought all sorts of studied Ornaments are superfluous and an Affectation of shewing one's Eloquence is altogether impertinent We ought to hear what is said upon this Head by Lucian or by d'Ablancourt for it signifies nothing which of the two speaks provided that the Rules are good History say they is more chast than Poetry and can no more employ the Ornaments of the latter than a virtuous Woman those of a Harlot and so much the more as it has no occasion to be beholding to Fiction and has none of those Figures and Movements which transport and disorder the Soul If you bestow too much Decoration upon it you make it resemble Hercules when he has Omphale's Cloaths on which is the highest piece of Extravagance They likewise say in another place discoursing of an Historian That his Style ought to be clear and natural without being low for as we assign him Freedom and Truth to regulate the Matter of his Narration so Clearness and Perspicuity ought to regulate the Manner of it The Figures ought neither to be too sublime nor too far fetch'd unless when he comes to describe a Battel or to make an Harangue For upon those occasions he is allow'd to elevate his Style and if I may so express myself to unfurl all the Sails of his Eloquence However it is not necessary that he should raise himself in proportion to the things of which he talks and he ought to preserve his Style altogether free from the Enthusiasm and Fury of Poetry for 't is to be fear'd that if he rises too high his Head will be apt to grow giddy and lose itself in Fiction Therefore if he has a mind to rise let it rather be by the Things than the Words for 't is infinitely better that his Style should be ordinary and his Thoughts sublime than that his Thoughts should be mean and his Style elevated or that he should suffer himself to be too violently hurried by the force of his Imagination Let his Periods be neither too long nor too much studied his Style neither too harmonious nor too negligent because one has a tincture of Barbarity and the other of Affectation This is all that may reasonably be said in general of an Historical Style for I am by no means of their Opinion who pretend that the Style of an Historian ought to be more elevated than that of an Orator and almost Poetical as * Lib. X. c. 1. Quintilian believed Neither do I believe that 't is necessary for a Man to be an Orator to be an Historian as †Lib. II. de Oratore c. 9. seq Cicero has maintain'd As Instruction is his main and principal Business all that is not serviceable to that end has no relation to the History what Taste soever the Ancients had of these Matters who were somewhat too fond of the Ornaments of Rhetoric If a Man has a mind to please his Reader by his Style 't is enough if it has the above-mention'd Qualities A Narration conceiv'd in pure Terms clear and short is sufficiently agreeable of itself and needs no Foreign Ornaments to recommend it if the things we relate do otherwise deserve to be read So soon as the Reader perceives that an Historian makes it his Business to display his Eloquence he has a very just Reason to suspect his want of Integrity because 't is the Custom of Declamers to alter the things they relate that they may make a
were deprived of their Pre-eminence among the Grecians and the Liberty of their Country But the Romans cumbered with Wars in Spain and Italy busied in regaining Sicily and Sardinia enjoying not a full Peace whith the Macedonians and Grecians when the Carthaginians endeavoured at the same time to be the uppermost the greatest part of Italy having joyned with them and sent for Hanibal the Romans I say tho' exposed to so many Dangers not only sunk under so many Misfortunes but grew stronger than before by the number of their Troops which were sufficient to resist all their Enemies and not at all as some fancy by the help of Fortune Had they had no other Help they had been quite ruined only by the Defeat of Cannae where out of six Thousand Horse they saved but three Hundred and Sixty and out of Eighty Thousand Foot whom they had raised for that Expedition there remained after the Battle but three Thousand and a few more It has been always an easie thing and is so to this Day for Foreigners to settle themselves in the Vnited Provinces especially in Holland and the City of Amsterdam provided they obey the Laws of the Country which has made the Country so Populous that there is none like it in all Europe Whereas had they scrupled to receive those who fled thither it would be a deserted Country and consequently ruined and subject to the Inquisition for they had never been able to resist the Spaniards without a great number of People But they who founded that Common-wealth seeing that many People faithful to the Government under which they lived were persecuted for their Religion in several parts of Europe resolved to receive all those who would retire into their Country provided they would obey the Civil-Laws Whereby the States so Peopled their Country and keep it still so full of Inhabitants that the long Wars they have had by Sea and Land from the beginning of their Common-wealth and their continual Navigations in the East and West-Indies do not at all exhaust ' em Again the better to encrease the number of the Inhabitants and lest Poverty should force the Common People to retire into other Countries they take an extraordinary care of the Poor for whom there is so much Money spent every Year in the Province of Holland that several crowned Heads in Europe have not so great a Revenue From whence arises a prodigious number of Tradesmen of all sorts Seamen and People of all Professions who are necessary in a Country From thence also arises the extraordinary Industry of its Inhabitants such as is to be seen no where else That Policy which is so agreeable to Reason and Revelation is so Wise and Admirable as that it is an Unjust and Impious thing to look upon a Man as an Enemy what-ever his Country or Opinions may be if he will obey the same Civil Laws and use his Industry to promote the Good of the State Nevertheless several great Nations of Europe which think themselves to be more Polite than the Hollanders have not been able yet to apprehend a thing so clear and grounded upon the most certain Principles of Humanity and Christian Religion They are so far from allowing Foreigners to Settle among them that they even drive away their Country-men either under pretence of Religion or by taking no care of the Poor They are far from admiring the Humanity and Christian Charity of their Neighbours On the contrary they have so strange a Notion of Morality and Religion that to take pity of one's Neighbour and do to him as one would be done by is look'd upon by them as want of Religion and Virtue But this is not a fit place to enlarge upon that Subject After what has been said 't is no difficult thing to see why some States in Europe fall to Decay and why on the contrary others are so flourishing The second thing which I have mention'd as necessary for the Preservation of a State and to make it flourish is that it must have great Revenues without oppressing the People Which may be done when a Country is very full of Inhabitants and no Body exempted from Taxes because then tho' every Body pays but little there will arise large Sums by reason of the great multitude of People Again this may be done when there is great Industry in a Country because the Imposts upon exported and imported Commodities may bring in a great deal of Money As to the Lands they ought to be taxed in proportion to what they yield and they yield little when the Country wants Inhabitants and there is but little Industry in it because then there is but a small quantity of the Products of the Earth consumed either at home or abroad These are the chief Springs of the Revenues that a State can have There is no need I should enlarge on it because it is a thing which every Body knows For the same reason I shall not prove how necessary it is that a State should have considerable Revenues to be in a condition of defending itself against a Foreign Invasion No Man can doubt of it especially in this Age. I shall only observe some Faults which they commit in several States against this undoubted Principle The Inhabitants of several Countries may be divided into three Classes The first is the Clergy or in general all Church-men The second is the Nobility and those who enjoy the same Privileges with them by reason of their Imployments And the third is the rest of the People who live by their Industry without having any particular Privilege When the Clergy and Nobility are but few or have no Privileges they cannot be look'd upon as a considerable part of the State that is to say so as to encrease or impair much the Publick Revenues But when either of them are very Numerous and enjoy great Immunities as in Spain Italy and else-where they make a considerable part of the Inhabitants by reason of their great Number and Riches It cannot be denied but that a great number of Secular and Regular Church-men who use no Industry to make their Country Flourish and enjoy great Revenues without paying any Taxes must needs be chargeable to the Publick since they considerably lessen the Revenues of the State and hinder it from being Peopled with Men who would encrease them and besides have no Industry to bring in Foreign Money So that the more the number of such Men encreases in a State the lesser will its Revenues be Besides it wants People to defend it in an open War for the Secular Priests and Monks are not bound to defend the Lands which they enjoy not to mention the Nuns who by reason of their Sex are exempted from it Their Business is to Eat their Revenues and not to fight for them whereas did those Revenues belong to Lay-men they would think themselves obliged to defend 'em at the hazard of their Lives Thus the great number of such
damns no Body meerly for having sinned but for having not repented If he has made 'em frail he only requires of 'em what the frailty of their Nature is capable of Besides it was not necessary that God should prevent or stop Moral and Physical Evils which are the Effects or Punishments of Men's Vices to be accounted a benign Being and a Lover of Virtue That we may be convinced of it let us examine 'em singly But we must raise ourselves above the Notions of the Vulgar concerning the Duration and Greatness of the Evils which happen either during the whole Life of each particular Man or all the time God will be pleased that this Earth shall continue To give an acount of the Conduct of an infinite Being as much as it is possible for us to do we must as it were forget that we are limited and place ourselves if I may be allowed to say so in the room of him who is Infinite Or else we shall not be able to defend his Cause or give any good account of what he does God does not act by the limited and weak Notions of Men which are the Rules of their Conduct which made him say by a Prophet That his Ways are not our Ways nor his Thoughts our Thoughts The physical Evils we suffer seem to us to be intolerably long if they last as long as we live or only some Years We complain and impatiently cry out that God delays too long to help us especially if those Evils are very violent But if we put together all the Evils which have happen'd and shall happen to Mankind whilst this Earth subsists our weak Imagination is troubled and terrified and we are apt to think that he who governs the World has scarce any care of us and is nothing less than a bountiful Being But if the Almighty should all of a sudden raise our Minds to a State of Perfection whereby we might have a clear view of the Duration of the Earth such as it is when compared with Eternity and see the moment it begun and the moment it will cease to be that length of time which frightens us would disappear and we would say that there is an infinitely less proportion between It and Eternity than there is between one Minute and a Hundred Millions of Years Then the Evils which now extort so bitter Complaints from us and seem to us to be so dreadful would not move us in the least because of their short duration Among Men if a Child be sick they who have him under Cure do but laugh at him when he complains of the Bitterness of a Remedy which they give him because they know that in a very short time he will be cured by it There is an infinite greater disproportion between God and the most understanding Men than there is between 'em and the most simple Children So that we cannot reasonably wonder that God should look upon the Miseries we suffer as almost nothing since he only has a compleat Idea of a Eternity and looks upon the beginning and end of our Sufferings as being infinitely nearer than the beginning and end of one Minute We ought to reason after the same manner a concerning Vices and vicious Actions which last not long with respect to God If a Clock-maker should make a Pendulum which being once wound up would go right for a Year together abating two or three Seconds which would not be equal when it begins to go would any one say that such a Clock-maker is no exact and skilful Artist In like manner if one Day rectifies for all Eternity the Disorders which the ill use of Mens Liberty has been the cause of will any Body wonder that God made 'em not to cease during the moment Men lived on the Earth Our Origenist would go on still and say But I perceive that the Manichees will object to me the everlasting Punishments with which God threatens impenitent Sinners in the Scripture that is to say the greatest part of Men. I don't deny but that Christ threatens the Wicked with an Eternal Fire and I will not insist on the Ambiguity of those words but how do the Manichees know that the supreme Law-giver of the World has not the Right of remitting the Punishments where-with he threatens the Wicked when he shall think fit When a Sovereign Prince condemns any one to a perpetual Imprisonment he always expresses himself after an absolute manner but he does not tie his hands so as not to be able to remit Punishment of those whom he has condemned When God promises something to his Creatures his Supreme Goodness and Faithfulness oblige him to make it good and notwithstanding the infinite Distance there is between him and us we might justly complain that we were deceived if he did not perform his Promise But if after he has threatned free Creatures to keep 'em in awe and begun to punish them without giving 'em any Hopes of seeing an end of their Punishments he thinks they have suffered enough and makes 'em afterwards eternally Happy who can complain of him Is there any thing in it that is unworthy of the Divine Goodness and is not such a Notion very agreeable to the Idea we have of an infinite Mercy which consequently is not to end with the short duration of Mens Lives to give way to an eternal Severity There is no need our Origenist should speak any longer on this Subject What he has said is sufficient to stop the Mouth of the Manichees and I do not design to shew that his Opinion is a plausible one by enlarging upon it and confirming it with such Arguments as in all likelihood Origen used to confirm his Opinion I have had no other Design than to shew that the Manichees would have no cause to triumph over Humane Reason if they should have to do with such Men as could but defend themselves as well as Origen whose Opinion is notwithstanding rejected by every Body After all there is no Comparison to be made between the Opinions of the Origenists as I have fairly represented 'em and Manicheism or the Doctrine of the Two Principles The latter is altogether inconsistent with the Christian Religion one Essential Article whereof is to acknowledge but one God Creator of all Men whereas Origen's Opinion may be consistent with the Belief of all the Essential Articles of Religion That Great Man was never call'd a Heretick for it whilst he lived and it would be very hard to declare him Damned after his Death meerly because of that single Opinion Besides since the Manichees must be confuted by Reason rather than Revelation the greatest part whereof they rejected it must be confest that Origen's Method being not contrary to Reason may be made used of in such a Case as this If any one at this day could not be reclaimed any other way as it might happen it would not be amiss to argue with him according to this Method since it
excessively encrease CHAP. X. Of Mr. Le Clec 's Works NO Body can give a better Account or the Works and Studies of Mr. Le Clerc than I And since it is necessary that the Publick should be inform'd of it because of those who wrote against him I 'll say what I know of it Humane Learning Philosophy and Divinity with their Dependences have been his chief Studies and he has equally applied himself to them from his younger Years so as one of those Sciences succeeded the other by turns according to the Circumstances he was in He does the same still and 't is likely he 'll continue to do so the rest of his Life I cannot tell whether he has well succeeded or no in the Works he has published concerning those three Sciences You know the reason of it But I can tell you with all the Sincerity I am capable of that I am persuaded he searched Truth with great Application without having any other Design but to find it First in what concerns the Christian Religion and then about several Points which concern Divinity Philosophy Church-History and Humane Learning As for the Christian Religion I know not only by what he has written concerning it but also by what he has discoursed on several Occasions that he is fully persuaded of the Truth of it not out of Custom or Weakness or because one may somtimes get something by feigning to be persuaded of it as it seems many do but out of Reason and upon Examination Few Men have more meditated on the Christian Religion than he has done and perhaps there is not one Divine who has a greater Notion of God and Christianity than he has He can't abide that weak or doubtful Arguments should be used in their Defence out of Policy because they work on the Minds of the People and Ignorant Men. He thinks that Men thereby equal Divine Revelation with false Religions which are kept up by such a Method for want of a better Whereas no other Arguments ought to be made use of for the Proof of the Christian Religion but such as are proper to it and wholly distinguish it from Falshood which cannot be defended with the same Arms. He affirms That whoever doubts of the truth of Christianity has not a true Notion of it or cannot Reason well or desires to indulge his Passions But to see the Christian Religion in its due Light he thinks it ought to be considered as it was in its beginning without mixing any Human Doctrin or any Explication of unintelligible Things with it Those Explications and Human Doctrins are as he thinks the cause of most Disputes and Errors not to mention a thousand other Evils which they have occasioned Wherefore he speaks of 'em with as much Contempt as he admires what God has revealed to us by Christ and his Apostles Mr. Vander Waeyen a Cocceian Divine will notwithstanding deprive him of the Title of a Divine in two Libels he wrote against him But he troubles himself so little with it that on the contrary he would be very sorry to be accounted a great Divine by such a Man as that Professor of Franeker Mr. L. C. professes himself to be a Christian and does nothing that contradicts his Profession but he would not be a Divine of Mr. Vander Waeyen's Stamp and he is not the only Man of that Opinion There are very few Reformed Divines but despise that sort of Divinity Mr. Spanheim Professor in the University of Leyden with whom the Professor of Franeker is not at all to be compared has spoken his Mind plainly enough on this Matter and Mr. Vander Waeyen's Indignation against him has not prejudiced his Reputation in the least Mr. L. C. beseeches God That he would teach Mr. Vander Waeyen what the Title of a Divine requires of them who bear it and will not dishonour it Tho' he had early studied the Philosophy of Descartes he follows only his general Principles which he admires and thinks that the only reason why Descartes did not keep to them when he came to Particulars is That he made too much haste desiring to publish a complete System before he died I 'll tell you more of it when I come to Discourse of Mr. L. C s. Philosophical Works The general design of 'em is to form the Minds of Young Men and open them a Way to the search of Truth even in the most important Things For the Author is of Opinion That the true Method of Philosophizing is of very great use to establish the Truth of the Christian Religion and shew the excellency and necessity of its Precepts He thinks that a Man must not part with his Reason or stifle its Light to perceive the Beauty of Christianity Such a Method seems to him to be the infallible way of establishing all manner of Errors On the contrary the better a Man Reasons the more he 'll be convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion The Study of Languages and Human Learning has taken up part of his Life and is still his greatest Diversion He is persuaded that it is of great use for the understanding of Holy Scripture as it appears by his Works He also believes That that sort of Study is very useful to improve Men's Minds and moderate their Passions if at the same time the Study of Philosophy be joyned with it for they must never be divided A Man enables himself thereby to make his own what he finds in Ancient Authors that deserves it without being in danger of admiring their Faults as it is commonly done by such Criticks as only cultivate their Memory That Reading enables one not only to express his Thoughts agreeably and elegantly but also more clearly and distinctly provided it be attenedd with good Logical Rules which must never be neglected and which the Criticks are most times Strangers to Mr. L. C. is of Opinion That if the three Sciences I have mention'd were joyned together the Knowledge which depends on them would very much encrease and consequently Virtue and Honesty would not be so scarce as they are for he maintains that Ignorance is the Mother of Vice and that true Learning is the Fountain of the most solid Virtue If Divines I say were also good Philosophers there would arise a great Advantage from it they would lay aside all pitiful and childish Arguments which their Books are full of and which they often vent as Articles of Faith whereby they do a great prejudice to Religion They would not betray it without being aware of it by saying that Men must renounce the most certain Knowledge of their Reason to embrace if They would propose their Thoughts in a much clearer and better Order and convince the Minds of their Readers or Hearers after such a manner as would influence their Lives The whole Body of Divinity would be reduced into Maxims or necessary Consequences drawn from them and the necessity thereof would soon appear in order to live
and compleat Ideas of all the Doctrins contained in Revelation and perfectly understand whatever it says He is far from thinking so He believes as well as all those who are not deprived of Common Sense that there are a great many Things in God and his Revelation which we do not at all comprehend and which we very imperfectly unlerstand But such an Obscurity ought not to be confounded with Contradiction which cannot consist with Truth Neither must we pretend to know more than what has been revealed to us but must be content with that adding nothing to it There are some Mysteries in Things that concern God which we shall never be able to dive into and which nevertheless we are sure of by Revelation and sometimes too by Reason as Mr. L. C. has shewn in his Pneumatology For Instance the Apostles speak of the Messias not only as of a Man but also as they use to speak of God the Father and ascribe to him the Creation of the World whereby it appears that they did not look on him as a meer Man but as being so closely united to the Divinity that what God did a long time before he was born may be ascribed to him But no Man can define the manner of that Union and form to himself a clear Idea of it What must we do therefore in such a case We must be content with the general and confused Idea which the Scripture gives of that Matter and not go about to explain what we understand not or impose on others the necessity of believing our private Explications †See P. 2. Ch. VII n. VI. Reason teaches us that God created the World out of nothing but no Man can know the manner of it There are a great many other Things which are true Mysteries and have been always acknowledged to be such by Mr. L. C. both in Natural and Revealed Religion so that he is far from thinking that there are none at all as Mr. Vander Waeyen unjustly lays to his Charge 'T is true that he is no great Admirer of the Mystical Explications of Prophecies which the Cocceians give us but if it be a Crime all the other Reformed Divines will be guilty of it If any one likes them let him enjoy the great Knowledge he thinks to have but he must not be angry with those who think they ought rather to meditate the clear Precepts of the Gospel and endeavour to imprint the love of them in themselves and others All those who attentively read that Treatise of Mr. L. C. will perceive not only that Unbelievers cannot be convinced by any other Reasons but also that the Author of it is fully persuaded of the Truth of the Religion he defends not out of Credulity or Interest but by good and clear Reasons and such as no reasonable Man can oppose This is the use he made of his Philosophical and Theological Studies as all those who have read his Works may observe in a thousand Places Dr. Cave is the only Man that I know of who has publickly censured the Treatise concerning the Causes of Vnbelief He was so bold as to say in his Dissertation concerning Eusebius That Mr. L. C. shews himself to be ill affected to Christian Divines If these Words a Christian Divine signifie in Dr. Cave's Dictionary a Vicious Man who looks upon his Profession as a good way to enrich himself to live a voluptuous Life and domineer over the Consciences of other Men 't is past doubt that such a Christian Divine is not acceptable to Mr. L. C. who has sharply censured those Christian Divines who dishonour Religion by their scandalous Lives But if Dr. Cave means by a Christian Divine a good Man who lives according to the Religion of Christ and his Apostles 't is a base Calumny in him to say that Mr. L. C. is ill affected to a such Divines One may see the VI Chap. of the 2d Part of his Treatise concerning the Causes of Unbelief wherein he gives a description of those Church-men who by reason of their vicious Lives contribute to confirm Unbelievers in their Obstinacy There is not one honest Man but will say as much as he none but Atheists will confound the Vices of Church-men with the Maxims of the Christian Religion and none but Debauchees can desire that Vice should be tolerated for the sake of a Profession which they dishonour If Mr. L. C. had said that all Church-men are debauched and live a scandalous Life it were a Calumny but when he says that there are but too many who do so what does he say but what every Body knows and which all good Men lament every where Those who complain of the Faults of Clergy-men are really their Friends since they endeavour to reclaim them they are also Friends to Christianity and would do it great Service if their Complaints were able to produce a happy change in the Lives of Vicious Church-men On the contrary those who cannot abide that such Men should be censured and who omit nothing to palliate and consequently to perpetuate their Faults which the People imitate or abhor and which give occasion to Unbelievers to reject the Christian Religion those I say are truly Enemies to Christian Divines and Religion and only Friends to Church-Preferments and Ecclesiastical Authority I could easily shew that Mr. L. C. has not said the fourth part of what was said by St. Gregory Nazianzen and Isidorus Pelusiota on this Subject yet no Body was ever offended at it But Dr. Cave will understand better a Latin Book wherein Mr. L. C. will make hip sensible how much he is to blame for having used him as he has done upon this account Mr. L. C. is persuaded that those who will carefully examine his Treatise concerning the Causes of Vnbelief will be convinced that the Study of true Philosophy is of great use to reclaim Unbelievers and vindicate Religion from all the Objections that can be raised against it provided it be attended with the Study of the Holy Scripture Indeed those who cannot reason well nor expound Scripture according to good Critical Rules do but expose Religion to the Raileries of Unbelievers when they undertake to defend it and 't is their Fault if Unbelievers think they have better Reasons than Christian Divines Of his Ars Critica IN the beginning of the Year 1697. Mr. L.C. published his Ars Critica in 2 Vol. which was soon after reprinted in England I shall say nothing of it because the Journalists have lately published some Extracts of it besides 't is a Work well known by reason of its Subject I shall only observe that it contains a Specimen of what might be done if the Study of Philosophy and Divinity was attended with the Study of Humane Learning The Philosophical Turn which the Author has given to several Things relating to Humane Learning and the useful Examples he has quoted out of Sacred and Prophane Writers shew the Connexion
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
doing better than they The Republic of Letters is at last become a Country of Reason and Light and not of Authority and implicit Faith as it has been but too long Multitudes pass no longer there for Arguments and all Cabals are silenced There is no Divine or Humane Law which prohibits us to bring the Art of writing History to Perfection as we have endeavour'd to bring to Perfection the other Arts and Sciences As a Philosoper is not to be excused now a-days if he speaks obscurely or supposes incertain things for certain after the Example of Aristotle and other ancient Philosophers who have committed the same Faults So the Example of Herodotus or Livy is no manner of Protection to those that imitate their Defects and Vices If we commend them it must always be remembred that these Commendations are paid to what is good in them as the Purity and Elegance of their Style but by no means to their Faults and Imperfections Besides we ought to consider that we esteem them in part because we have no other Monuments left but theirs and that we don't believe them but when we have no just Reason to contradict them or for the sake of the Probability of their Narrations or because we have no Testimony more ancient and more exact than theirs to correct them We believe in short the Gross of the History but we remain in suspence as to the Circumstances The Case being thus if there are great inconveniences in making no Citations neither the Example of the Ancients nor their Imitators is enough to cover from Censure such as have omitted to do it We therefore maintain that if a Man avoids to quote his Vouchers the reason of it is because he wou'd not have any one to examine the History as he relates it by comparing the Narration with that of other Historians who writ before him For what way is there to examine what any Author says in case he cites no one in particular unless we had every Book that he consulted and had carefully read them and preserv'd them in our Memory Not one Man in a thousand is capable of it and not one Man in a thousand has all the Books which he ought to have for this purpose But besides this we have always a just Pretence to think that we are impos'd upon for it may so happen that the Author whom we read has follow'd some Historian whom those who have an interest to examine the History have not by them or else have not read him or lastly have forgotten him But tho' we dare not immediately charge that Historian with Falsehood who has not made his Citations so neither dare we rely upon him As by following this Method 't is easie for a Man to sham a Romance upon the World without fear of discovery and to give his History whatever Turn he pleases the suspicious Reader does not know where to take his Word and immediately throws aside a Book on which he cannot safety depend It has been affirmed that a Modern Historian who has compos'd a very large History concerning the Troubles of Religion took this course that he might with more safety invent what might make for his side and satisfie the Facts that displeased him For my part I never examined him and therefore can say nothing to this Business but I must confess that the Method he has follow'd makes him suspected of all that has been laid to his Charge and that he has no other way to justifie himself but by fairly producing his Witnesses otherwise he will never answer the Objections and Complaints that have been made against his Books and which without question have come to his Ears before now Besides this they maintain that the Precaution which some Writers have taken to place the Authors whom they follow'd at the Head of their History is altogether insignificant unless they had cited the particular Places because that it is liable to almost all the Inconveniences which we complain'd of in those who don 't cite at all In effect 't is a very difficult matter to know what Historian a Man may have follow'd in every Fact even tho' he had them all But they carry the Matter farther and say That oftentimes this pompous Catalogue of Authors is only made for Ostentation and that the Compiler of it perhaps never saw the Covers of half the Books he puts in his Muster-Roll 'T is certain that nothing is so easie as to compose a great List of Historians whom we never beheld and to place them boldly at the Head of a History but supposing it compos'd with never so much sincerity yet still it depends upon the Reader whether he will believe it or no. There is only one thing I know of which can pardon this in an Historian and that is our being assured of his Veracity For this reason it is that we don't think the worse of Thuanus for having used this Conduct Those evident Marks of Sincerity and Moderation which he shews all along have made us forgive him this Fault altho' we don't forgive it in such People as Varillas whose Passion and Romancing Genius are conspicuous in every Line of his Works Of Truth II. THE second thing we require of an Historian is that after he has taken all poffible care to instruct himself in the Truth to have the Courage to declare it without being byass'd Who is it but must know that the principal Law of History is that it dare to utter nothing which is false and that it dare to speak all the truth that it may not give the least Umbrage that it is influenced either by Affection or Prejudice These in short are its Foundations that are known by all the World †Cicero Lib. II. de Oratore c. 15. Quis nescit primam esse Historiae legem nequid falsi dicere audeat deinde nequid veri non audeat ne qua suspicio gratiae sit in scribendo nequa simultatis Haec scilicet fundamenta nota suns omnibus But in order to observe this Law which is without dispute essential to History a Man before he sets himself down to Write ought entirely to disengage himself from all sorts of Passions and Prepossessions without which he will certainly suppress or disguise the Truth nay and publish a thousand Lies either on purpose or else for want of taking due heed 'T is impossible to say any thing upon this Article more vehement or more solid or more necessary than what Lucian has said in that Treatise where he teaches us in what manner a History ought to be written I will here set down some of his words and will follow d' Ablancourt's Translation altho' it only expresses the Author's Meaning and has retrench'd a great deal from the Original Above all says he we ought not to be devoted to any Party for we must not do like that Painter who painted a Monarch de profil because he had only one Eye We
Writers of France don't think that 't is possible for the Council that governs it to commit the least Indiscretions so high an Idea they have of their wise Maxims and steddy Conduct I will not pretend to oppose this Idea of theirs because in truth it is founded upon diverse weighty Reasons But they should judge of Facts and their Consequences without having any regard to them because the most prudent Councils are not always infallible but are subject to take false Measures altho' this does not happen so often to them It is likewise reasonable that those that admire the Conduct of the other Princes of Europe who join'd against France should remember that the best Heads are sometimes over-seen We ought to do Justice reciprocally one to another and to judge of Faults and great Actions by themselves and by their Consequences and not altogether by Preposession Of Ecclesiastic History THESE Precautions in my Opinion are absolutely necessary for an Historian if he wou'd acquit himself as he ought in his Undertaking We may find as already has been observ'd Examples and Proofs of it in the best Historians of Pagan Antiquity But there is a sort of History among Christians wherein if we must talk Historically that is to say without being byass'd all the above-mention'd Rules that have been prescrib'd for the Writing of History are neglected and violated An Orthodox Author that undertakes to Compose an Ecclesiastic History cannot be too hot-headed and zealous for his own Party nor have too violent an Aversion for the other Sects He must shew this Disposition of Mind all along in his Work for therwise he will be defamed not only for a Man of no Abilities but likewise for an impious Person 'T is but just he should propose to himself as a Recompense for his Labour some Ecclesiastic Dignities if he is of a Profession to pretend to them or some other equivalent if he is a Laic upon condition he all along favour Orthodoxy that is his own Party If he be so ill advised as to speak never so little in favour of the Heretics or such as are opposite to his own side he must expect to be expos'd to the fury of Zealots to their Accusations and perhaps to all the Punishments Ecclesiastic and Civil that are inflicted in the place where he lives unless he will retract these rash Truths which are to be found in him advantageous to Heresy He ought to fore-arm himself with this Prejudice and never lay it aside viz. That all that may be honourable in Heretics is false and that all that is said to their Disreputation is true As on the contrary every thing that can do honour to the Orthodox is undoubted and all that reflects upon them is a downright Life 'T is necessary that an Orthodox Historian should carefully suppress or at least extenuate as far as in him lies the Errors and Vices of those that are respected among the Orthodox altho' they are not well known by them and on the other hand that he exaggerate as much as he can the Mistakes and Faults of the Heretics Besides he ought to remember that any Orthodox may serve as a Witness against a Heretic and ought to be believed upon his word and that on the contrary a Heretic's word ought never to be taken against the Orthodox All the honour that must be allow'd him is to hearken to him when he has any thing to say in favour of Orthodoxy or against himself An Orthodox may be cited as a Witness in his own proper Cause but a Heretic must not be so even in that of another In short there are Maxims which he must not examine but follow if he undertakes to write Ecclesiastic History under pain of Infamy Excommunication Banishment c. After this manner the Centuriators of Magdeburg have written on one side and Cardinal Baronius on the other which has obtain'd both of them among their own Party an immortal Reputation But we must confess at the same time that they were not the first and that they only imitated the generality of those that preceded them in this way of Writing It had been the fashion several Ages before this to search out in Antiquity not what was really there but what we judged ought to be there for the good of the Party which we had espous'd and to represent the Ancients such as we found it for our porpose that they should be for the advantage of the Cause which we have undertaken to defend A Man certainly found his profit in writing after this manner and danger in doing otherwise Sozomen in * Lib. I. c. 1. his Ecclesiastic History after having enumerated the Monuments out of which he compil'd it goes on as follows For fear lest any one should condemn my Work of Falsehood upon my not being sufficiently instructed in Matters as they happen'd because he finds the Relations in other Authors different from mine he must understand that upon the occasion of Arius's Opinions and those which sprung up afterwards the Governours of the Church being divided every one writ to those of his own Opinion concerning those things which he himself had taken to Heart That having assembled Synods a-part they confirm'd whatever they had a mind to and frequently condemn'd their Adversaries in their absence That they made their Court to the Emperors and the Great Men about them and left no Stone unturn'd to gain them over to their side and make them receive their own Opinions That in order to pass for Orthodox in the World each Party took a particular care to collect the Letters which favour'd their Sect and omitted the rest And this says he has given me abundance of trouble in my Search after the Truth But since the Sincerity of History requires that we should do all that in us lies to discover the Truth I thought myself oblig'd diligently to examine these sorts of Writings If I relate the Quarrels which the Ecclesiastics have had among one another about the Preference of their Sects let no one believe that this proceeds from Malice or any sinister Design Besides that 't is just as I have already observ'd that an Historian should prefer the Truth to all things the Truth of the Doctrins of the Catholick Church does but appear the more by it having been several times put to the Proof by the cunning Designs of those that opposed it c. It seems that he durst not speak all that he thought for after he had taken notice of the Quarrels and Ambition of the Ecclesiastics as well as of their Writings and Letters directly opposite one to the other he ought to have told his Reader what Rules he had follow'd in his History to distinguish the Truth from Falsehood Besides he ought to have concluded otherwise than he has done and have said that the vitious Lives and wicked Actions of the Ecclesiastics have no Connexion with the Christian Religion which condemns them and
it till towards the middle of the same Age and about the end of the former To shew how little a stress we ought to lay upon these Theological Reflexions the above-mention'd Historian who never fails to attribute the Advantages of the Spaniards to a particular Favour of Heaven which declared itself against Heresie is obliged shamefully to turn the Tables when he comes to speak of the Victory which the English obtained over the pretended invincible Armada of the Spaniards and to reason in the following manner †Towards the end of Lib. IX Dec. 2. 'T is reported that Queen Elizabeth went to Church in a Triumphal Chariot in the midst of the Colours of the vanquished Enemy and that she ordered the Spoils of the Spaniards to be hung up there after she had given Thanks to God for this Victory who had been as she believed so favourable to her upon this Occasion Whereas at that very time when she made it be believed that he most favour'd her he shew'd that he was incensed against her since he permitted her to abuse this good Success to confirm Heresie the Yoke of which she might have shaken off both for herself and for her Kingdom to her great Advantage if she had been overcome Besides the Winds and Tempests did not give the English much reason to magnifie themselves and they had no reason to believe themselves better Men because they were more fortunate unless they conclude that we ought to prefer the Impiety of Saracens and Turks to the Piety of the Christians since these Barbarians have often beaten the best prepared Forces of the Christians This last Reflexion is very true But if Strada had remembred it all along where he speaks of the Victories of the Spaniards he might very well have spared a great deal of impertinent Rhetoric to shew the favours of Heaven towards the Catholics in the Advantages they gained over their Enemies This it is to have two Weights and two Measures to pretend that Providence favours one side when it gives them Victory and that it is angry with the other when it treats them after the same manner However I am of Opinion that one may safely say that in case the Spaniards had succeeded in their design'd Invasion of England Strada wou'd have said That God had changed the Winds in their favour and blessed a Fleet which went to exterpate Heresie in that Kingdom It will perhaps be offer'd in favour of Strada and other Historians who write in this manner of whatsoever party they are that it is not possible they should believe that Religion not to be true which they follow and consequently that they should not look upon every thing as a favour of Heaven which serves to establish it For my part I don't in the least hinder them from thinking so but I maintain that these Reflexions ought not to be allow'd a place in History when 't is no part of our Business to render to our Religion what we owe to it but to instruct all Mankind if we are able by Truths which cannot be contested on any side Let them believe what they please as for what concerns their own particular but let them censure none except it be upon Principles of good Sense or of Religion that are acknowledged even by those whom they censure No Man ought to be blamed for not doing what he believes he ought not to do according to his own Principles so long as he retains them altho' these Principles are false If we can blame him 't is for receiving Falsities without examination but it belongs to Divines to enter into this Dispute and not to Historians who don't treat of the Errours but of the Actions of Men. Besides this these Historians that are so partial in the matter of Religion are extremely subject to give an advantageous turn to all the conduct of that Party which supports what they believe to be the Truth to say no worse of them I don't speak of the Varilla's and Maimbourgs and other Liers of that stamp who have renounced all Truth but even of more moderate Historians It were to be wished that when they begin to write their Histories they had forgotten the Party which they espoused in the present Divisions of Christendom that they might have been able to speak of their Disputes and Differences as Men wou'd do that were not at all concern'd in them The Love of a Party as reasonable as it may appear to be makes us always lean somewhat towards it when we come to relate any thing that is disadvantagious to the good Cause If I might here be allowed to describe the Idea which I wou'd have an Historian frame to himself of the Divinity in relation to those Events that are comprehended in History I wou'd tell him that he ought to consider God as the common Father of all Mankind who looks down with compassion upon their Errours and their Vices but contents himself with giving them Laws which they may observe or violate without his intervening to make them be obey'd by Rewards or by sensible Pains during this Life reserving it to himself to display his Justice when he shall have judged that Mankind has continued long enough upon the Earth As these Sentiments can be called in question by no Man an Historian ought to look upon what we call Happiness or Unhappiness in the things of this Life as Accidents that neither denote the Anger nor the Approbation of Heaven and to draw no Consequences in this respect either to the Advantage or Disadvantage of any Party whatsoever Altho' God has discovered to Mankind by Reason and by Revelation what is agreeable to him yet he has accompanied neither the one nor the other with so great a Light that it should be impossible for us to take that for Reason or Revelation which is not really so He permits Men to dispute upon these Principles and without doubt he likewise looks upon them with pity yet for all that he does not draw the Curtain if I may so speak which conceals him from our Eyes and appear in an uncontestable manner to come to decide our Controversies He will do that whenever he sees it convenient in the mean time 't is every one's Duty to remember that he is a Man subject to Errour as well as another and equally submitted to this last Judgment of the Creator of the World None among us Christians disagree about these Principles and Historians in particular ought to remember them more than any other Men. If they thought seriously of them they wou'd not be ready to make such sharp and violent Invectives against the speculative Errours of other Men even supposing them to be Errours Strada for example had not declaimed so eagerly against Heresie as he does upon all Occasions and principally in his †In the beginning of Lib. II. Dec. 1. History when he assigns the Causes of the Wars of the Low-Countries where he employs all his
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
better himself by it This is exactly the Notion the Graecians had of a Tyrant according to †Polit. Lib. III. c. 7. Aristotle's Definition who says That Tyranny is a Monarchy which aims only at the Good of a Monarch This is not a fit place to confute that Doctrine which being compared with what I have said of a true Policy will easily appear unworthy of a Man who has not lost all Sense of Virtue Indeed those who are most fond of it dare not openly own such pernicious Principles The most Arbitrary Princes without excepting the Grand Signior endeavour to persuade their Subjects that the Good of the State is the only thing they aim at to which they Sacrifice all things if they aim to be believed Thus Tyranny and Vice make as it were satisfaction to Freedom and Virtue But because there are every-where especially among those who are the nearest Attendants of Princes a great many Men who only mind their private Advantage by flattering Sovereign Princes and so Reigning with them if they can Machiavelism tho' never so detestable has made a great Progress in the World Those who are infected with it brand with the Name of Seditious Doctrine the Sentiments of those who believe that the Power of Princes is bounded by the Laws and they continually say in Europe as well as in Asia that a Prince is Master of his Subjects Lives and Estates And because 't is not safe in many Countries to contradict those scandalous Discourses that Doctrine or at least part of it has been entertain'd by several Historians They intimate every-where that a State cannot be Happy and Quiet unless People blindly submit to the Will of a Prince as being born not to form with their Fellow-Creatures a Society advantageous to all its Members but to be Slaves to the Prince Church-Men most of whom claim a Right to a like Monarchy over the Souls of Men have flattered the temporal Power as much as they could in hopes of being upheld by it in their Claim and of reigning likewise over the Bodies as well as the Souls of Men because of the strict Connexion there is between those two things And the better to succeed in their Design they have made use of the Divine Authority as if the Christian Religion was only consistent with an absolute Empire over Men's Bodies and Souls as the Muftis and Alfaquis promise Mahomet's Paradise to those who are the best Slaves to the Sultan This is the Reason why we see so many Histories written by such Men full of that Spirit of Slavery towards spiritual and temporal Sovereigns And herein many of our Modern Historians are much inferiour to the Heathen Historians We may observe in the latter constant and setled Principles of Equity and Justice when they treat of Princes and their Subjects Every Page of their Histories contains such Sentiments as become free and rational Men. But the Histories of many Modern Authors are full of shameful Flatteries of Princes to whose Will they Sacrifice all their Notions of Equity and Justice They will tell you that the least Irregularities of the People towards their Sovereigns deserve all the Punishments of this Life and the Life to come but the greatest Crimes of a Prince against his Subjects are but Venial Sins I have often observed that many of those who speak of the Revolutions of England in Histories or in common Discourse express a great Indignation against the Inhabitants of that Country because they have not submitted themselves to their Kings as Slaves in imitation of their Neighbours The English are commonly accounted a wild and inconstant Nation for no other reason but because they obey their Kings when they do not incroach upon their Priviledges and oppose their Designs when they go about to destroy them whereas in other Countries they are used to obey unjust as well as just Commands That happy Nation is as Dutiful and Obedient to its Kings as it can be without endangering the loss of the publick Liberty and whilst their Kings require nothing from them that is contrary to their Priviledges they are ready to do any thing for them as we have seen in this last War ended in 1697. under the Reign of a Prince who lets them enjoy their Liberties But they will not make themselves Slaves as others have done Their Neighbours who are submitted to an Arbitrary Power call it Wildness and Inconstancy whereas a Greek or Roman Historian would call it Constancy and Love of Liberty On the contrary a blind Obedience ready to commit all sorts of Crimes at a Prince's Command is accounted by them Faithfulness to one's Prince and Country whereas the Greek and Latin Authors would have call'd it Slavery Thus the Change of Notions and Customs has brought in the Change of the Names of Virtues and Vices The Words of Cato to the Senate as we find them in Salust may be applied to those Men We have lost a great while ago says he speaking of his time the true Names of things because to give away another Man's Estate goes by the Name of Liberality and Boldness in doing Ill is call'd Courage Jam pridem nos vera rerum Vocabula amisimus quia bona aliena largiri Liberalitas malarum rerum Audacia Fortitudo vocatur 'T is certain that the ancient Historians very much exceed the Modern in this respect but there is one thing in which the latter do perhaps exceed the former It seems that the ancient Historians were ignorant of what Nations owe to one another Justice and Equity seem'd to them to be Virtues good for private Men but to which a whole Nation was not bound 'T is for this reason that they describe with great admiration the Conquests of great Empires such as the Persian and Roman If at any time they find fault with the Conduct of those ancient Conquerors they do it only when they shamefully broke their Promise or were excessively Cruel But they seldom blame the desire of domineering and enslaving neighbouring Countries on the first favourable Opportunity Such a desire if it can be satisfied by the way of Arms is accounted by the heathen Historians a noble and heroical Act. They very much esteem'd those who enlarged the Bounds of the Empire without enquiring whether it was just or not provided they were successful in their Undertakings The Romans for Example made continual Wars not so much in their own Defence as to make themselves Masters first of Italy and then of the neighbouring Countries till they had submitted to their Empire the best parts of Europe Asia and Africa all along the Mediterranean Sea The Greek and Latin Historians strived who should describe best their Wars and Conquests in such a manner as easily shews that they much more admired their Bravery and Skill in improving the Occasions of making themselves greater than they would have admired the justest People in the World who keeping within their Bounds would have been contented to
repulse the Injuries of their Neighbours without endeavouring to enlarge their Territories If at any time they blame their Ambition and Injustice as they do sometimes 't is nothing if compared with the Praises they bestow on them when they mention their Victories The Christian Religion having given us more exact and compleat Notions of Justice than the Heathens commonly had several Christian Historians have spoken of the Ambition of the ancient Conquerors in Terms more agreeable to the immutable Law of Justice than the Heathen Historians ever did I confess that the ancient Philosophers have said a great many things on this Point which are almost as sound as what has been said by Christians but it was only the Philosophers that spoke so and the Historians had no great Regard to their Opinions An †H. Grotius Incomparable Author hath the first shewn in this XVII Century what are not only the Laws of Peace but also of War and has so clearly taught what Nations owe to one another that it can no longer be doubted whether making War out of meer Ambition be not perfect Robbing and Murdering That great Man has reduced into an Art and methodically proved the Truths which were dispersed in several Authors on this Matter and has confirmed them with many Examples and Quotations So that if any Historian will give the Title of Just and Pious to any Prince who made or will hereafter make War out of Ambition he ought not to take it ill if he is accounted a base and shameful Flatterer A Prince who has reduced several Provinces to an extream Misery and Poverty and destroyed several Millions of People out of meer Ambition and without being provoked will never be look'd upon as a good Man unless Paganism should prevail again or Machiavelism should become every-where the Religion in fashion The Heathens praised much the Clemency of Julius Caesar to whom what I have said might have been justly objected because he spared the Lives of many of his Fellow-Citizens who had fought against him to preserve the Liberty of their Country and at last submitted to his Tyranny But no Historian worthy of that Name can hereafter cry up the Clemency of those who have done or will do any such thing Princes who little think of the Miseries which a War brings on their Subjects and Neighbours or are not moved with the Calamities and Tears of an infinte number of innocent and unfortunate Families or the great Blood-shed which attends a long War will never be cried up as Merciful and Just but by such Men as have scarce any Notion of those Virtues or by Flatterers whom no Body can bear with but they who dare not contradict ' em This is what I had to say concerning History If I have spoken somwhat freely let no Body find fault with me for it but rather with the Matter itself which admits of no Palliation I know very well that this Discourse and the like will not hinder Historians from Flattering and Lying but I suppose those Gentlemen will not take it ill if one speaks sometimes the Truth CHAP. IV. Of the Decay of Humane Learning and the Causes of it THERE is without doubt a Decay in the Common-wealth of Learning in several Respects but I shall only mention that which concerns Philology 'T is certain we have not seen for a long time in any part of Europe any Men who equal the illustrious Criticks who lived in the last Century and the beginning of this For Example We see no Body who equals in Learning Application of Mind and Bulk as well as Number of Books Joseph Scaliger Justus Lipsius Isaac Casaubon Claudius Salmasius Hugo Grotius John Meursius John Selden and a great many others whom I need not name because they are known to every Body I have a due Esteem for many learned Men of my Acquaintance but I am persuaded that none of them will complain if I say that I know none who equals those great Men in Learning We have seen nothing for a long time that can be compared with their Works I have enquired into the Reasons of it and I think I have found some satisfactory ones Some of them concern those who should favour the Study of Humane Learning but do it not and some concern them that profess that Study and bring Contempt upon it I shall instance upon some few to which the Reader may add his own and what he has observed by his Experience The Difficulties of that Study I. TO begin with the latter I mean that which can be objected to the Men of Learning The first Reason why few Men have applied themselves to the Study of Humane Learning and consequently why fewer still have had an extraordinary Success in it is that they who were learned in that sort of Science did not care to make it easie to others Because most of them attained to the Learning they had not by a short and methodical Way but by a vast Reading and a prodigious Labour they did not at all care to facilitate to others the means of acquiring that Learning Having if I may so say got with much ado to the top of the Rock thro' steep and thorny Ways they thought it just that others should undergo the same Toil if they would attain to the same degree of Learning But because there are few Men whose Genius is so bent to the Study of Humane Learning as to resolve upon taking so much Pains to get the Knowledge of it 't is no wonder if most Men have been discouraged almost from the Beginning and if a great Knowledge of that sort of Learning is so scarce at present Perhaps it will be askt What those learned Men of the first Rank should have done to facilitate that Study besides what they have done I answer that there are two-sorts of Books which may serve to acquire that sort of Knowledge which have been wanting ever since the Study of Humane Learning hath been in Vogue Of Critical Notes upon the Latin Authors THE first Books we want are good Editions of all the Greek and Latin Authors not only correct but also illustrated with all necessary Notes to make them more Intelligible But to come to Particulars I begin with the Latin Authors and I say that the learned Men I have mentioned or others like them should have given us at least all the good Latin Authors not only revised upon such ancient Manuscripts as we have but also illustrated with short clear and methodical Notes on all the difficult Places and such as were not above the Capacity of young Men and might serve those who have made some Progress Whereas the learned Men I spoke of have been most times contented to publish Authors with meer critical Notes about the true Reading to which if they have added any thing for the understanding of the Expressions Opinions or Customs they have done it only upon some few places to make a shew of their
whence it follows that whatever Union hath not such an Aim is prejudicial to it It should rather be call'd a Conspiracy than an Vnion since the Name of a Virtue cannot be reasonably given to a thing which prejudices or destroys the Society What has been said of the Civil may be said of the Ecclesiastical Society which can only Flourish by the great number of its Members and by Learning for Learning is in that Society what Riches are in the other and Concord Not to speak now of the Number and Learning of such a Society I shall only observe that the Union of those who govern it ought not to be a tyrannical Conspiracy which destroys it Such is for Example the Union of the Inquisitors in Spain and Italy who perfectly agree among themselves but to do what To hinder Lay-men as they call 'em and Church-men who might discover some Errors introduced into Religion out of Ignorance or Abuses crept into the Discipline through Ambition from proposing at any time a Reformation and consequently to keep every Body in a profound Ignorance or an unlawful Dissimulation and Hypocrisy It were much better for the Church if there were many Disputes rather than a perpetual Tyranny which hinders Men from being instructed in the Christian Religion and convinced of the Truth of it by good Reasons I shall say no more on this Subject because I intend only to treat of the Decay of the Civil Society in several States But I must answer an Objection 'T is said That it is absolutely necessary to suppress Diversity of Opinions in matters of Religion because under pretence of Religion the State is divided into several Factions which are so incensed against one another that they often break into an open War and use one another most barbarously And 't is usual on this occasion to heap up Examples of Disorders and Civil Wars which happen'd in several States under pretence of Religion But what will follow from thence Nothing but that as soon as a Religion whatever it be is established in a Country no Alteration ought to be allowed in it for fear it should cause some Disturbance But such a Principle will justify all the Proceedings of the Heathens Jews and Mahometans against the Christian Religion which they have persecuted to preserve the Publick Peace in the Countries wherein their Religion was the strongest Besides 't is false that the Toleration of several Religions causes any Disturbance On the contrary Persecution necessarily produces all the Disturbances which follow from the diversity of Opinions Were all those who obey the Civil Laws tolerated and were Men persuaded that Humanity not to mention Religion requires of 'em that they should bear with one another they would live most happily in the World tho' they were of different Opinions But when Men are persuaded that the greatest number has the right of deciding what People are to believe and of persecuting all those who will not submit to their Judgment when the strongest Party begins to use ill the Weaker till it he forced at least to dissemble its Belief then Disturbances begin and Persecutors destroy the Civil Society under pretence of Defending Religion In a word they who only desire to be tolerated commit no Disorder and none but those who Persecute them Disturb the State But Church-men say they stir up the People to use one another Ill and Great Men often take hold of such an Opportunity to raise dangerous Disturbances But that very thing shews that it is not Toleration but the want of it which disturbs the State Were Men persuaded as of a Maxim essential to Religion and Policy that they ought to bear with one another as long as they observe all the Duties of the Civil Society the Discourses of Church-men or the Cabals of Great Persons would not be able to disturb the Peace of the State under pretence of Religion But it is not out of Love for the peace of the State or out of a design to do it Good that Church-men have opposed Toleration and established the contrary Opinion as a Religious Doctrine No they have done it out of a desire of Domineering of not being contradicted and of encreasing their Revenues which grow more considerable in proportion to the number of those who submit to their Decisions If Princes encroach never so little on their pretended Privileges they will endanger the Peace and Tranquillity of the State rather than abate any thing If the State enjoys a profound Peace notwithstanding the diversity of Opinions they don't scruple to disturb it that they may oppress such as they do not like If was not for any Sedition that Ferdinand and Isabella expell'd the Jews out of Spain in 1492. The Jews had no Authority in the State and were contented to enjoy the liberty of Trading quietly They were not accused of any illegal Practices against the Government The zealous Inquisitors expell'd them to have an occasion of Enriching themselves with the Spoils of a great many Families and not to do the State a good Service The ill Designs of the Moors might also have been very easily prevented in the same Kingdom after they had been subdued without making Spain a desert Country by driving them out of it I could add more considerable and later Examples of People ill used not for having committed any Disorder but by the Suggestion and Conspiracy of Church-men whose Divisions in matters of Religion have never been so prejudicial to any State as the fatal Union of the greater Number to oppress the lesser One may easily conclude from what has been said that the States the Laws whereof tend to encrease the number of the People and make them quietly enjoy the Fruits of their Labour by requiring of them no more than they are able to pay and where they that command and they that obey make the Publick Good their chief End or do nothing at least but what contributes to it one may I say easily conclude that States which go upon such Principles must needs be Flourishing and on the contrary that they which have opposite Maxims must necessarily fall to Decay Therefore any State which expels Loyal and Faithful Subjects and lessens the Number of them by any means whatever they be any State wherein they are opprest with Tailles and Imposts whereby they are so impoverished as not to be able to exercise their Industry Lastly any State wherein they are not unanimous in procuring the Publick Good contains in itself some Principles which will insensibly destroy it unless such an Evil be timely prevented But the Remedy necessary for the Cure of such a Disease can be proposed only by Men who have nobler Thoughts than the Vulgar For the common sort of People mind only their private Good and are no farther concern'd in what happens in the State than as some few Persons whom they favour get or lose by it for the present without caring for others or for the time to
is past doubt it were better to be an Origenist than a Deist an Atheist or a Manichee For my part I undertook this small Essay only to take off a little of the Manichees Presumption and excite Divines to treat of this Matter which would require a whole Volume if it were particularly examined CHAP. VII Men easily believe what their Passions suggest to them MEN are apt to Believe what they Desire and the weakest Reasons which persuade 'em appear to 'em like Demonstrations After they have thus deceived themselves the decisive way wherewith they discourse of what they Believe serves to deceive others or at least they fancy they have persuaded them with Reasons the weakness whereof would be palpable if they were free from Passion Quae volumus credimus libenter quae sentimus ipsi reliquos sentire putamus They are Caesar's words in this Commentaries Book II. Chap. 27. We willingly Believe says he what we Desire and easily persuade ourselves that others are of the same Mind We find in the Perroniana That Cardinal Sforza who did not believe the Power of the Pope no more than several other things told Cardinal du Perron that it was an easie thing to prove it at Rome The reason of it is that they who have a mind to get Preferments at Rome must either believe the Pope's Power or pretend to believe it The Ground of this Thought is not new nor the manner of expressing it Socrates said in like manner as Aristotle †Rhet. Lib. II. c. 9. relates it That it was no difficult thing to Praise the Athenians at Athens The reason of it was that the Athenians out of Self-love were so well pleased with their own Praises that they admired the worse Reasonings when they tended to prove something which was glorious to their City They applauded the worse Orators provided the Praises of the Athenians were the Subject of their Discourses They who only reason out of Passion and Interest should think sometimes of this and ask themselves whether those who have contrary Passions and Interests would like their Reasons and then perhaps they would perceive that Self-love imposes on them For certainly no Man has a greater right than another to establish this Rule for himself That what favours him is true and what is disadvantageous to him is false If the Europeans pretend to make use of it they must not take it ill if the Asiaticks will do the same or if they disapprove of it in the Asiaticks they ought to make use of the same Rules which they will have the Asiaticks to submit to and must admit of whatever can be proved by those Rules Such are the Rules of Logick which cannot be neglected in any part of the World without reasoning ill But it is as difficult to follow those Principles of Reason when some Passions or a long Custom oppose them as it is easie to acknowledge the Truth of 'em when they are proposed in general The Chineses for Example would readily approve of those Rules and consequently they should acknowledge all the Truths which can be proved by them as this for Example that Polygamy is unlawful Yet 't is impossible to convince 'em of it and it is the greatest Obstacle to their Conversion which the Missionaries meet with †Nouv. Mem. de la Chine Vol. II. Lett. 4. The Mandarins who are forbidden to use most Pleasures which the People are allow'd live as it were in a kind of Seraglio to make up that loss wherein they spend their time when they are free from Business Tho' they have but one lawful Wife yet they are allow'd to take as many Concubines as they can maintain and the Children born of 'em are look'd upon as Children of the lawful Wife and bred up with equal care with them To be admitted to Baptism they must promise to the Missionaries that they will part with all their Concubines and be contented with one lawful Wife They often promise to the Missionaries every thing else but their Passions and Customs are too much set against this Point they cannot believe that God requires of Men that they should have but one Wife tho' the conformity of this Doctrine with Reason may be more easily shewn than of several others which the Chineses approve of without any Reluctancy When we propose to the Mandarins says a Missionary the other Difficulties of our Religion they will dispute and endeavour to overcome them and despair not of doing themselves Violence but this last Point discourages them presently and takes away from them the thought of Converting themselves Then he alledges the Example of a Chinese who wou'd have been Baptized but was quite out of conceit with it by reason of that Article The difficulty of acknowledging the Truth encreases still among the Chineses by reason of the Laws which authorize that ill Custom and so perplex several of 'em who would turn Christians that they know not what to do They who turn Christians are permitted to take to Wife one of their Concubines if the lawful Wife will not embrace Chistianity but the Laws forbid the Chineses to do it and they are not allow'd to Divorce their Wives but in very few particular Cases Besides the Relations of the Wife thus Divorced by her Husband would not fail to Revenge themselves and force him in Law to take her again The Conversion of Women is more difficult still A Concubine for Example acknowledges the Truth of the Christian Religion and is very sensible of the miserable condition she is in She desires to be freed from it and admitted to Baptism She is told that the first thing which her Faith requires of her is to part with her pretended Husband She gives her Consent to it and even desires it with all Heart but she says I belong to a Mandarin who bought me If I leave his House the Law impowers him to apprehend and punish me as his Slave If by chance I escape him whither can I go to be safe My Parents who have Sold me durst not take me into their House and I cannot fail to fall into the Hands of another Man who will draw me into the same State of Life from which I desire to be freed I must therefore stay in the House where I am but how can I resist a brutish Man who only minds his Passion which he may justify by the Laws and Example of the whole Empire 'T is in vain for me to represent to him the Holiness of Christianity which I desire to embrace my Intreaties my Tears and even my Resistence and all my Endeavours are not able to move him It happens also sometimes that an Idolater being weary of his Christian Wife will accuse her unjustly and with much Money get a Permission to Sell her to another Man Nay sometimes he will Sell her without any other Formality and retire into another Province How can this Woman being in the Hands of an Adulterer
Happily in this present World and be acceptable to Him who placed Men on Earth for a short time to make 'em Happy after Death if they will observe his Laws which are very beneficial to them during this Life If Divines understanding Revelation as they should and making a good use of Reason were besides so Skill'd in Human Learning as to be able to read all sorts of Ecclesiastical and Prophane Authors in the Original Languages so many Materials joyned together and rectified by the invariable Rules of Revelation and Reason and beautified with all the solid Ornaments of a true Eloquence so many Materials I say would have a great influence on the Hearts and Minds of Men. Solid Thoughts being attended with the Order and Light which Philosophy affords and set off with all the Ornaments which Reason allows of would insinuate themselves into the Minds of the most Obstinate Men and Charm those who have a good Judgment and an upright Heart I will not say That we see now the quite contrary because Things which should be inseparable are now divided This I leave to the Judgment of those who are skill'd in those Sciences Mr. L. C. believes That the Famous Hugo Grotius whose Writings are above Envy joyned together the three Sciences I have mention'd For if he did not fully understand the Art of thinking well because the Philosophy of his Time was still full of Darkness he supplied that defect in great measure by the strength of his Reason If he shewed so much Sense and Judgment without the help of Art what would he not have done if he had been throughly acquainted as we have been since with the Art of Reasoning and ranging one's Thoughts in a good Order Suppose there were now in Holland many such Men as Grotius or more Learned than he was a thing not impossible if Men studied as they should how great an influence would their Learning have not only in the Vnited Provinces but also over all Europe Then indeed we might hope for such a general Reformation of all Sciences as would be worthy of Him who has given us Knowledge to make a good use of it Mr. L. C. has intimated several times That so noble an Idea has often Charm'd him and afforded him a thousand agreeable Reveries If the World never sees any thing answerable to it they at least who are Skill'd in those Things may innocently busie themselves about Thoughts which fill the Mind with Admiration for God and the Christian Religion and inspire the desire of knowing and teaching Truth without Anger and Animosity against those who are ignorant of it If Philosophers were also Divines and well versed in Human Learning how solid and sublime would their Thoughts appear How useful should we find their Principles As they would take out of Revelation what is wanting to Reason so they would by degrees dispose the Minds of those who learn Philosophy to take the right side in Matters of Religion and would shew 'em on all occasions the Excellency of the Light of Reason And as the Philosophy of the Schools which succeeded the wretched Rhetorick of the foregoing Ages made an end of corrupting Men's Minds and disfiguring Religion so a sound Philosophy would kindle again the Light of Reason which was extinguished only to introduce a thousand Errors and would dispose Men to perceive all the Beauties of the Gospel If the Discourses of Philosophers were full of useful Examples taken out of Ecclesiastical and Prophane Authors to which the Rules of the Art of Reasoning should be applied such a Method of teaching would make one apprehend the use of Philosophy which is otherwise altogether confined within the Walls of an Auditory and so becomes Contemptible I confess That most Philosophical Matters are not very susceptible of Ornaments but it is certain that if they can be exprest in proper Terms and such as agree with the use of the Language they are exprest in as much as possible they become thereby much clearer and more pleasant to every Body and consequently more useful because Men are more attentive to what they understand and like than to such Things as can hardly be understood and have I know not what that displeases tho' they are good in themselves This has been observed in France since they began there to Philosophize in French Some Books full of the most abstruse Philosophical Enquiries have been read by many People with Delight and Profit because they are well written and are free from the barbarous Terms of the Schools One might have seen the happy Effects of it if the Inhabitants of that Country were not unwilling to be undeceived To come now to the Study of Languages and Human Learning it is certain That if those who apply themselves to it would Study Philosophy and Divinity at the same time they would be much more useful to the Publick That Study concerns Things of the greatest Moment since the knowledge of the Scripture and Ecclesiastical History depends as much on it as on the knowledge of the Things themselves A great many new Discoveries might be made still in those Sciences which would raise and enlighten one's Mind and inspire it with a greater respect for the Divine Revelation Instead of which most of our Criticks grow Old in the Study of Grammatical Trifles which are of very little use and wherein one may be mistaken without any danger If they were also Skill'd in Philosophy they would judge much better of the Ancients than they do and give us a more exact Notion of them whereby we might be enabled to imitate them in what is good and avoid what is not so They would order their Thoughts so as to avoid Error and enlighten the Minds of their Readers For want of such a Method they oftener admire the Faults of the Ancients than what deserves their Admiration because they seldom have any certain Criteriums whereby they may distinguish True from False and what deserves to be esteem'd from what does not When they have a mind to Communicate their Thoughts it proves often a confused heap of indigested Learning which can hardly be reduced into any Order and is full of False Reasonings This is partly the reason why that sort of Study is so much despised and why so many People fancy that it is almost inconsistent with good Sense and Reason Mr. Vander Waeyen who in all likelihood never troubled himself much with Philosophy and Human Learning having first of all applied himself to the common Divinity of the Reformed and then to that of Cocceius seems to be angry because others Study the Sciences I have been speaking of and calls Mr. L. C. as it were out of Contempt Critico-Philosophus tho' he Complements him sometimes Indeed it is much more easie to say any thing that comes into one's Mind concerning the Sense of the Prophecies as when they boldly affirm that the Reformed are meant by Juda and the Lutherans by Ephraim in the
Decisions To compleat his Course of Philosophy he wrote shortly after a Natural Philosophy which he published in 1695. and was reprinted two Years after in two Vol. in Octavo So that all his Philosophical Works are contained in four Vol. Whilst I am on this Subject it will not be an unseasonable Digression if I undertake to justify Mr. L. C.'s Method of proving the Immortality of the Soul Being of Opinion that its Essence is unknown to us he thinks that its Immortality cannot be proved by any Arguments taken from its Nature and that we must use such Proofs as the Divine Goodness affords us which has created Men to make 'em eternally happy Some think that the Certainty of the Immortality of the Soul is thereby lessened as if weak Arguments were to pass for good Reasons because we are concern'd in them and as if we had but doubtful Proofs of the Divine Goodness Had we no other Proofs of it but those which the Revelation afford us methinks they were sufficient to satisfy them that are convinced of the Truth of the Revelation A Learned Bishop in England †Mr. Locke's Reply to the Bishop of Worcester's Answer to his Second Letter p. 418. seq having objected to a Gentleman of great Parts that he lessen'd the Certainty of the Proofs which persuade us that the Soul is immortal by saying that its Immateriality cannot be demonstrated he returned him an Answer which I shall make use of against those who have censured Mr. L. C.'s Pneumatology This your Accusation says Mr. Locke of my lessening the credibility of the Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection of the Body is founded on this That the Immateriality of the Soul cannot he demonstrated from natural Reason Which Argument of your Lordship's bottoms on this That Divine Revelation abates of its credibility in all those Articles it proposes proportionably as Humane Reason fails to support the Testimony of God Does God promise any thing to Mankind to be believed It is very fit and credible to be believed if Reason can demonstrate it to be true But if Humane Reason comes short in the Case and cannot make it out its credibility is thereby lessened Which is in effect to say That the Veracity of God is not a firm and sure Foundation of Faith to rely upon without the concurrent Testimony of Reason i. e. with reverence be it spoken God is not to be believed on his own Word unless what he reveals be in it self credible and might be believed without him What I have above observed is so visibly contained in your Lordship's Argument that when I met with it in your Answer to my first Letter it seem'd so strange from a Man of your Lordship's Character and in a Dispute in Defence of the Doctrin of the Trinity that I could hardly persuade my self but it was a Slip of your Pen. Your Lordship says You do not question whether God can give Immortality to a material Substance but you say it takes off very much from the evidence of Immortality if it depends only upon God's giving that which of its own nature it is not capable of To which I reply any one 's not being able to demonstrate the Soul to be Immaterial takes off not very much nor at all from the evidence of its Immortality if God has revealed that it shall be Immortal because the Veracity of God is a Demonstration of the Truth of what he has revealed and the want of another Demonstration of a Proposition that is demonstratively true takes not off from the Evidence of it For where there is a clear Demonstration there is as much Evidence as any Truth can have that is not self-evident The whole of your Lordship's Discourse here is to prove That the Soul cannot be Material because then the Evidence of its being Immortal would be very much lessened Which is to say That 't is not as credible upon Divine Revelation that a Material Substance should be Immortal as an Immaterial or which is all one That God is not equally to be believed when he declares that a Material Substance shall be Immortal as when he declares that an Immaterial shall be so because the Immortality of a Material Substance cannot be demonstrated from Natural Reason Let us try this Rule of your Lordship 's a little farther God has revealed That the Bodies Men shall have after the Resurrection as well as their Souls shall live to Eternity Does your Lordship believe the eternal Life of the one of these more than of the other because you think you can prove it of one of them by natural Reason and of the other not Or can any one who admits of Divine Revelation in the Case doubt of one of them more than the other Or think this Proposition less credible the Bodies of Men after the Resurrection shall live for ever than this That the Souls of Men shall after the Resurrection live for ever For that he must do if be thinks either of them is less credible than the other If this be so Reason is to be consulted how far God is to be believed and the credit of Divine Testimony must receive its force from the Evidence of Reason which is evidently to take away the Credibility of Divine Revelation in all Supernatural Truths wherein the Evidence of Reason fails Those who have found Fault with what Mr. L. C. said concerning the Immortality of them Soul need only consider those judicious Remarks to be convinced that their Censures were very ill grounded But to return to Mr. L. C.'s Philosophical Works those who read 'em may easily perceive That besides the general Design of that sort of Books the Author endeavours to make the Study of Philosophy profitable by applying its Principles to the most sublime Doctrins of Theology as far as they have a Connexion one with another He shews in a thousand places the Origin of several Errors of School-Divinity which sprung from a false Philosophy and sometimes vice versâ the Errors which a false Theology introduced into Philosophy for those two Sciences have often corrupted one another Elsewhere he lays down a sure Foundation to convince one's self of the Truth of the Christian Religion He proves in his Pneumatology the Existence of a God and all his Attributes as much as it can be done by the meer Light of Reason Whereby one may observe what are the Foundations of Natural Religion on which the Christian is built Mr. L. C. expersses in his Philosophical Works a great Esteem for Descartos whose general Principles he follows but he often departs from his particular Conjectures which he confutes with Reasons and Experiments He often declares in his Pneumatology and Natural Philosophy that he proposes only some Conjectures which might prove false and he frequently says that a Man must suspend his Judgment He carefully distinguishes every where what is demonstrable from that which is uncertain Those who have a great
Divine Revelation in general and the Christian Religion in particular than his Adversary 'T is in vain for Mr. Vander Wacyen to call Impious and Prophane some Passages of the Treatise concerning the Inspiration of the Sacred Writers The Publick knows very well that Mr. L. C. does not own himself to be the Author of that Treatise and that there is scarce any thing in it but what was said before by Grotius whose Works have been so often reprinted and who is look'd upon as the most excellent Interpeter of the New Testament Mr. Vander Waeyen should have written against him and he would without doubt have done it were it not that the meer Name of Grotius will weigh down all the malice of his Adversaries But Mr. L. C. will do well to publish a Latin Book wherein he 'll examine some Questions which Mr. Vander Waeyen has only entangled For instance Whether Philo took out of Moses what he says concerning the Logos Whether the Platonicks meant the Word by it Whether Plato took out of the Old Testament that he says concerning the three Principles c. He may shew by the by that Mr. Vander Waeyen has but slightly studied that Matter and that it had been more for his Honour not to meddle with it He may also easily prove that he cited Philo with great Sincerity and Exactness and that his Adversary shews no Sincerity in what he says on that point But the Professor of Franeker must not be too impatient He ought to be contented now that he has fully vented his Spleen against Mr. L. C. As for Mr. Van Limborch he has so perfectly confuted Mr. Vander Waeyen's Objections and so well satisfied the Publick in that matter that it would be needless to do it again after him The things which the latter has collected against the Remonstrants are so inconsiderable and confused and shew so much Anger that every Body may be sensible of it Mr. Vander Waeyen's Accusations are so unjudicious and he is so well known by reason of his Quarrels and passionate Carriage towards other Reformed Divines that he can do them no prejudice He has encreased the Reputation of those against whom he wrote at the cost of his own I 'll Instance upon Mr. Spanheim †See Frid. Spanbemii Ep. ad Amicum Ed. Vltrajecti 1684. pag. 71. seq Mr. Vander Waeyen was so ridiculous as to teach him how to confound the Degrees of Longitude and Latitude and to laugh at him because he had said that the New World reaches above 180. Degrees He could not forbear saying with a magisterial Air That Mr. Spanheim spoke very ignorantly ignorantissimegrave and that Geographers reckon only 180. Degrees from one Pole to the other as if Mr. Spanhiem had meant Degrees of Latitude Mr. Vander Waeyen's Dissertation being printed and published the late Mr. Anselaar a Minister at Amsterdam gave him notice of his Blunder but it was too late Mr. Spanheim and several others had already got some Copies of it and that Passage was only mended in those which remained in the Bookseller's Hands Mr. Van Limborch hinted by the by at that gross Mistake to oblige Mr. Vander Waeyen to be more modest and reserved in censuring others †Vid. Discus p. 68. But he feigns to know nothing of it whereas he should make a good use of such a warning to leave off insulting so proudly those who are not of his Mind We may learn from thence that Boldness and Confidence in speaking prove not that a Man is sure of what he says Mr. Vander Waeyen affords us an instance of it for he has committed a childish Fault at the very same time that he was insulting and laughing at Mr. Spanheim without any reason for it 'T is a piece of Craft which has been practised a thousand times and tho' the Fallacy lacy of it has been detected as many times yet the common People are still deceived by it †Juvenal Sat. XIII v. 109. And a great boldness in defending a bad Cause is look'd upon by many as a sign that a Man trusts the goodness of his Cause Nam cùm magna malae superest audacia causae Creditur à multis fiducia Mr. Van Limborch must not trouble himself with what the Professor of Franeker thinks of his Works A Man who is well pleased with precarious Explications of Prophecies and fills his Head with so many Chimaeras cannot but dislike good and methodical Explications of the Holy Scripture and such as are grouded on the clear sense of the Words and Grammatical Rules But all those who are acquainted with the Principles of the Reformers and know that in matters of Religion every thing must be proved by the Scripture literally expounded without any mixture of Humane Doctrines will always set a great value on Mr. Van Limborch's Books whatever Allegorical Divines may think of ' em However I believe as well as Mr. Vander Waeyen that Knowledge shall be encreased among Christians but it will not be by substituting in the room of Reason and Critical Rules the wandering Fancy of those who expound the Holy Scripture as they do the Chiming of Bells God on the contrary will make use of Reason and Critical Learning which are now cultivated more than ever to produce that Change The Divines of the Church of England are much esteem'd because they Reason better and make better use of the Knowledge of Languages than others do in many other Countries 'T is true that Mr. Vander Waeyen has no Kindness for them because they cannot abide the Cocceian Explications of Holy Scripture but approve of those of Grotius and other like Interpreters But how can they help it They must as well as so many other Reformed Divines patiently bear the misfortune of not pleasing him Of the Treatise concerning the Causes of Unbelief NEXT to the Commentary on the Pentateuch Mr. L. C. published his French Treatise concerning the Causes of Vnbelief wherein he examines the Motives and general Reasons which induce Unbelievers to reject the Christian Religion He published it in 1696. and promised to translate it into Latin and to add some Notes in confirmation of what he says He is so persuaded that the better a Man reasons the better he may be convinced of the Truth of the Christian Religion and the Beauty of its Morality that he constantly says in that Book that Men fall into Unbelief for want of reasoning well Nay †B. 2. Ch. VI. n. IV. he affirms that whoever says we must renounce Reason to believe Religion betrays it for assoon as we lay aside the Light of Reason we can apprehend nothing in Revelation and are not able to understand the Proofs it is grounded upon which suppose that we can reason He thinks that those who have cried down Reason designed to deceive the People and make 'em believe any thing But on the other side Mr. L. C. believes not that we ought to have clear
quarrel abroad they will quarrel at home with their Collegues Mr. L. C. designs to write a Latin Dissertation wherein he 'll examine this Question When a Man must answer the Calumnies of Divines It is not less necessary than that which was printed at the end of his Logick De Argumento Theologico ex Invidia ducto Those who endeavour to encrease their Reputation by speaking ill of him will see what his Reasons are for not answering them In the mean time he must apply himself to the Search of Truth and publish it as carefully as he has done hitherto but with the Caution which Christian Prudence requires on such an occasion Who can be entrusted with the care of speaking and maintaining Truth Not those who don't enquire after it because they don't love it and stand not in need of it to raise themselves in the World Nor those who have not the necessary Qualifications to find it out and to publish it Nor those who know it but dare not speak it out for fear of exposing themselves For it must be confest that in several Christian Societies they have not the liberty necessary to explain Holy Scripture and Religion There is but one Christian Society in Holland that can do it and tho' it be inconsiderable it has already afforded several Great Men. In. all others they don't often think as they speak nor speak as they think Indeed many Learned Persons on this side of the Sea and beyond it among the Roman Catholicks and Protestants look a great while since upon the Writers of that small Party as the Interpreters of the Thoughts which they themselves dare not publish in Places where they live and as the Assertors of Truth and Liberty which are opprest almost every where else I will not make their Encomium but I shall only say that those who are in such Circumstances ought to speak freely whilst they can do it and want not People that will hear them Time will come when we shall reap the Fruits of the Seeds of Piety Charity and all other Christian Virtues which their Works spread over all Europe and hereafter it will be a Subject of Wonder how Men who so much deserved Thanks could be so traduced and ill spoken of They are the only Men to whom we are beholden for the Moderation which is every day more and more entertained by the most knowing and judicious Protestants and for a great many general and particular Truths which would not have been heard of yet or been well proved if those Authors had been silent There is no need I should insist longer on this Subject nor say that Mr. L. C. took care of the Edition of some Books written by other Hands Neither is it necessary that I should mention those which he wrote as it were to divert himself whilst he was composing some others which required more attention Such is his small French Treatise concerning the good or ill Luck of Lotteries which he published in 1696. when Lotteries were so much in vogue in the Vnited Provinces He also took care of the Edition of the Fathers of the Apostolick Age in 1698. in 2 Vol. in Folio and added some few Notes of his own as it appears by the Prefaces he prefixed to it If those who have more time a greater Genius more Learning and Conveniences than he as there are without doubt a great many in England and elsewhere would take as much Pains for the Publick as he has done the great number of good Books which would come out in a few Years would perhaps create a dislike of so many bad ones which are published every day But besides the above-mentioned Reasons they that could write more commodiously than others are not commonly so inclined to it as those who have less Conveniences
believe that they doubted of its Authority This Mr. Clark published a Book intituled Anti-Nicaenismus in 1694. and died soon after If to what I have said you add the Preface of the Notes on the beginning of St. John's Gospel you may know why Mr. L. C. published that little Book at that time Mr. Benoit a Minister at Delft thought sit to write against it in a Dissertation printed at Rotterdam in 1696. Mr. L. C. did not answer it and will not do it for the same Reason which hindred him from answering several others viz. because he believed that the Reader was able to judge of that Dispute by comparing those two Books without the help of a Reply I don't know whether Mr. Benoit took it ill for he desired that his Book should make a noise in the World However he thought fit to reflect upon Mr. L. C. a great while after in the Libels he wrote against Mr. Jaquelot and Mr. Le Vassor tho' Mr. L. C. was not concerned in that Quarrel Mr. Benoit was in hopes that Mr. L. C. would presently take up the Cudgel and that his Book which no Body would buy would by that means sell the better But he was mistaken and Mr. L. C. was as little moved with his Libels as he was with his Dissertation and would make no Reply out of Prudence and Contempt for such Disputes The first Reason he had for it is that 't is needless to write Books in order to explain what every Body understands 'T is true that Mr. Benoit speaks as if he understood it not but let him read again the Passage he wrote against and then he may answer himself Mr. L. C.'s second Reason for not answering him is that the Indignation which most French Refugees have expressed against his Libels and the Satisfaction he has been obliged to make after he had endeavoured to stir up the People against two of his Brethren have so humbled him that there is no need any Body else should do it Instead of writing against those who don't meddle with him he should answer the Complaints of several of his Country-men who openly charge him with want of Sincerity in his History which many People look upon as a Book fitter to Defame than Honour the Party His crying down People as Hereticks will not put an end to their Complaints On the contrary he will perhaps force some great Persons to publish what they heard him say some Years ago They remember very well that he profest himself at that time to be a moderate Man The next Year 1697. Mr. Vander Waeyen published his Dissertation concerning the Logos which I have already mention'd and that it might sell the better added to it a Book of Stephen Rittangelius who had been a Jew and turned Christian wherein he endeavours to prove that the Chaldee Paraphrasts meant by the Word of God the same thing that St. John did For my part I don't believe it and in my Opinion Rittangelius has very ill confuted his Adversary but this is not the Question in hand Mr. Vander Waeyen being not contented to confute Mr. L. C. omits nothing to make him odious He had a great while before acquainted the World that he was about a Dissertation wherein he would prove that Mr. L. C. had not faithfully cited Philo. Mr. Van Limborch Mr. L. C.'s Collegue hearing of it undertook to compare all the Passages of Philo quoted by Mr. L. C. in his Notes on the beginning of St. John's Gospel and finding that he had truly cited them he told some Body of it who acquainted Mr. Vander Waeyen with it Whereupon Mr. Vander Waeyen inveighed so furiously against him as to accuse him of a base Calumny Mr. L. C. was at that time so busy about a Book which is lately come out and of which I shall speak hereafter that he could not answer Mr. Vander Waeyen but Mr. Van Limborch did it with great moderation and so as to stop the mouth of any other Man but him A Cocceian Divine who for several Years has been used to Quarrel does not easily blush tho' he be clearly convinced or at least his inward Shame is not to be seen in his Writings But there is one thing in them which is very visible viz. a great Confusion whereby it plainly appears that he knows not what he says tho' he makes as great a bustle as he can This one may observe in Mr. Vander Waeyen's Reply intituled Responsionis Limborgianae Discussio which from the beginning to the end is an exact Picture of an Angry Man As for the matter of it it is a confused heap of usesless Quotations and pitiful Arguments without any Connexion and Order and sometimes the Reader is at a loss to find any sense in it His Dissertation concerning the Logos is no better but because he took a little more time to compose it he seems to be more sedate whereas he is quite out of his Senses in the other When a Man takes such a course the Dispute is at an end for to what purpose should any one answer him Were he convinced of Calumny a hundred times one after another he would go on still without minding what the Publick will think of it For Instance Mr. Vander Waeyen having accused Mr. Van Limborch of want of Sincerity and having been convinced of it himself as clearly as that two and two make four says notwithstanding with his wonted Boldness †Discus p. 48. that the Remostrants shew a greater moderation to I know not whom than to the Reformed as if the Books of the former were not full of Protestations whereby it appears that they are ready to live in the same Communion with the Reformed provided their Opinions be tolerated But whilst they require from the Remonstrants that they suppress or renounce their Opinions when at the same time they canonize and preach up such Doctrines as the Remonstrants believe to be erroneous how can the latter re-unite themselves with a good Conscience A re-union whereby a Man suppresses what he thinks to be true to give place to what he believes to be false if there was nothing else is unworthy of a pious Man and there is not one honest Man among the Reformed who would approve of such a Re-union with the Lutherans Mr. Vander Waeyen cannot be ignorant of the Sentiments of the Remonstrants on this Matter since they are known even to Children in the Vnited Provinces What signifies it to dispute with a Man who is positive and confident about the most uncertain things and scruples not to deny what is as clear as Noon-day Besides the Publick is not at all concern'd in personal Disputes and will not read Books that contain nothing else Mr. L. C. should therefore lose his time if he took the Pains to confute the Calumnies and injurious Words of that Professor of Franeker especially if it be considered that he has exprest in his Works a greater respect for