those very Excrementitious parts of it that Nature rejects are not without some degree of Warmth too any more then the rest Even the Veins and Arteries have a kind of sparkling in them as of a Spiritous and Fiery Motion And it has been often observ'd that when the Heart of any Creature is new pluckt forth it pants with such a Quivering that it seems to have the Activity of Fire Whatever therefore Animal or Vegetable has any Life at all derives it from the Warmth that is included in it Whence it may be gather'd that That Nature wherein this Heat is Embody'd has within it a certain enlivening Virtue that conveys it self thorough the whole World And This will better appear upon a more Acute Explication of this General Fiery Property that pierces into all things I will therefore take a view of the several parts of the World which are sustain'd by means of the greatest Heat ‖ An Exemplification â—f the Matter by the Earth which is suppos'd to be Lower then the Water and the Lowest of all the Elements And First Thus much may plainly be discern'd in things of an Earthy substance For we see that Fire is produc'd by the striking of one stone against another that Earth sends forth a kind of smoak when new turn'd up And that Water is drawn Warm in Winter time especially out of Well-springs This happens by reason of the Heat that is shut up in the Caverns of the Earth and which upon the Contraction of the Water in Frosty Weather is kept the closer in There might a great deal be said and sundry Proofs urg'd to demonstrate that all things that spring out of the Earth and those Seeds themselves which being There generated and inherent in Plants are contained in the same do receive their Rise and Growth from the temperament of Heat That there is also a certain Mixture of Heat in the Water both the Fluidness and the Effusion of it do declare for it could neither be turn'd into Ice by Cold nor Thicken'd by Snow and Frost did it not dilate it self into Flowings upon being Thaw'd and made Liquid by the Heat that is mingled with it Thus does it become hard by Northern and other Cold Blasts and it softens again and is dissolv'd by the Contrary * The Heat of the Seas suppos'd to be Natural not adventitious The Seas too when toss'd by the Winds are Warm'd to such a degree that it is easie to apprehend that even this great body of Moisture it self is not without a certain Heat included in it Neither yet is this Warmth to be reputed only external and adventitious for it is rais'd up out of the Inward parts of the Deep by Agitation This happens to Our Bodies also when they are heated by Stirring and Exercise The very Air it self thô Naturally the Coldest of all is however in no wise destitute of Warmth much Heat being mixt even with It also It proceeds from the Exhalation that arises from the Water of which some of it may be taken for a kind of Vapour deriving its Being from the Motion of that Heat which is contain'd in the same A Resemblance of This may be seen in Liquors made boyling hot by the putting of Fire under them Now as for the Fourth Part or * They held the Whole Universe to be a kind of Fâ—fth Element Element that is yet behind it is altogether fervid the whole Nature of it and communicates vital and salutary Heat to all other things Whence I conclude that since the several Quarters of the World do subsist by means of †The Force of Heat Heat it cannot but be thorough a certain Propriety of equal and moderate Warmth that the Vniverse it self has for so long a time been sustain'd And this so much the rather too in regard it may be presum'd that this hot and fiery Quality is infus'd into every Nature to the intent that it might be capable of breeding and begetting its Like For it is from This that Living Creatures and whatever is fixt in the Earth by the Root must necessarily receive Birth and Augmentation So that it is Nature that binds together the Four Parts of the World and preserves it and that not without the Assistance of Sense and Reason neither For every Being that is not Single and void of Qualities but annext and conjoyn'd to Another must needs be indu'd with some one Virtue of an Excellency paramount to all the rest As Reason in Man in Beasts something Analogical to it from whence the Appetites of things do take their Rise As for Trees and all that grow out of the Earth Their Principality is suppos'd to be contain'd in their Roots Now That I term Principality which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then which nothing in its respective Kind can or even ought to be more Valuable That then wherein the Principality of Universal Nature resides cannot but be the most Excellent and deserving of Authority and Dominion over all things From the Parts to the Whole We see that Parts of the Universe for there is nothing in the whole World that is not a Portion thereof are furnish'd with Sense and Reason And therefore that Particular of it wherein its Soveraignty abides is surely indu'd with them likewise and That too in a more large and admirable proportion So that it inevitably follows that the World is qualify'd with Wisdom and That Nature which holds all things in its Embrace with a Perfection of Reason Consequently the World is a God and the Powers thereof are contain'd in * Universal Nature â—t being termed both the World and a God Divine Nature As for the Heat also of the Vniverse Heat in Universal Nature it is more Pure Clear and Lively and so more apt to move the Senses then is This Warmth of Ours whereby those things that are Familiar to us are continu'd and encreas'd Since Man and Beast then have This Heat in them and so come to be Sensible and Animated it were Absurd to affirm that the World which is indu'd with a more compleat bright free with a most quick and volatile Ardour is without any Sense at all especially since the Heat that appertains to the Vniverse is not agitated by Another or by outward force but is spontaneously moved of it self For is any thing of greater Might then the World that it should be able to force and stir up the Heat that it is furnish'd with * Plato's Authority press'd in confirmation of what he delivers Plato who passes for a little God among the Philosophers is of opinion that there are Two sorts of Motion the One Proper the Other External and that That which of its own accord is actuated by its self is more Divine then the Other that is mov'd from Without This Voluntary sort he places only in our Minds and conceives that from Them the †The Motion of Universal Nature
the Land the Water and the Firmament and come to a knowledge of the Magnitude of the Clouds and the Force of the Winds should behold the Sun and understand the Proportion Beautifulness and Efficiency of the same that it occasions Day by spreading its Light over all the Sky And further when Night had darken'd the Earth they should view the whole Heaven diversify'd and embellish'd with stars and the various Lights of the Moon both Waxing and Waining the Risings and Settings of them all and their Courses Certain and Immutable throughout Eternity When I say they should see all This they would undoubtedly presume both that Gods there are and that these so mighty Works were of Their effecting And Thus far He. Another Allusion to the same purpose Let us also Imagine Darknesses as great as were Those upon the Eruption of the Fires of Aetna that are said to have obscur'd the Countreys near about to such a degree that for two days one man could not know another And when upon the Third the Sun appear'd again they seem'd to one another as if they had been a new restor'd to Life And did it so fall out now in Eternal Darknesses that on a sudden we should see the Light how strange would the face of the Sky appear to us But now by the daily use and custom of our Eyes our Minds are wonted to it and neither Admire nor search into the Reasons of what they have always before them As if the Novity rather then the Bulk and Worth of matters ought to incite us to an Enquiry into their Causes Could he be judg'd deserving the shape he wears who upon viewing the so constant Motions of the Heavens such Immutable * Three things in every Order the Efficient Form and the End Orders of the Stars and all things so apt and compacted among themselves should deny that in These which are govern'd by a Wisdom above the Reach of all Counsel there is not any Reason at all and averr them to have been made by Chance When we see any thing as a Sphere a Clock or the like mov'd by some or other kind of Ingenious Device we make no question of its being the Result of Reason And can we then upon Observing the Powers of Heaven to be turn'd and carry'd about with a wonderful Celerity and most constantly compleating * Yearly Revolutions Anniversary Vicissitudes to the perfect Health and Conservation of all things but be satisfy'd that These come to pass by Reason and That too a Transcendent and Divine BUT let me Now A Demonstration of the Order throughout every part of the World whereby a Divine Providence is plainly discernible waving subtilty of Dispute take a kind of speculative Survey of the Beautifulness of what we affirm to be administer'd by a Divine Providence †And First of the Earth and Earthly things And First of the Universal Earth which is seated in the Middle Quarter of the World is solid round and every way conglobated as to its proper Inclinings within it self cloth'd with Flowers Herbs Trees Fruits the Incredible Multitude of all which are distinguish'd by an insatiable Diversity Ad to This the gelid Perseverings of Springs the Crystal Waters of Rivers the most virdent Clothings of Banks the hollow Depths of Caves the Cragginesses of Rocks the Heights of impending Mountains and the Spaciousnesses of Fields As also the hidden Veins of Gold and Silver and the infinite store of Marble What likewise and how Various are the kinds of Beasts both Wild and Tame the Flyings and Singings of Birds the Grazings of Cattle and the Life of Forrest-Beasts What now shall I say to the Race of Man Who being ordain'd as it were to Till the Ground suffer it not either to be made desolate by the Salvageness of Wild Beasts or turn'd into Desart by the Roughness of Trees And as the Effects of whose skill and pains do Fields appear Isles and Coasts diversify'd with Houses and Cities All which were it but as easie to be taken in by the sight of the Eye as it is by the Contemplation of the Mind no body could so much as look upon the Earth and doubt of a Divine Reason Next of the Sea and the things of the same And then again how great is the Pulchritude of the Sea How Taking the Form of the Universe The Numerousness and Variety of Islands The Emenities of Coasts and Shores How Many and Different are the Kinds of Creatures some Under the Water others floating on the Top of it Some Swimming and Others again in Natural shells cleaving to Rocks And the Sea it self coveting the Land does in such a manner play along and bound its Coasts that they may seem to be but One made up of Two Natures Then of the Air. Next to This is the Air bordering upon the Sea distinguish'd into * Night and Day sorts of Air. Day and Night Being sometimes rarify'd and extenuated it is carry'd on high and Otherwhiles Thicken'd is driven into Clouds And collecting Humours enriches the Earth with showers As also extending it self at large it produces the Winds The same Air causes the Annual Vicissitudes of Heat and Cold enables Birds to Fly Relieves by Respiration and susteins every Animated Being There yet remains the Last of all Now of the Sky the Highest from our Abodes the All-embracing and containing Circle of the Heavens Coelum which same is also call'd Aether the Sky the utmost bound and Determination of the World In This the * The Stars Fiery Figures do fulfil their appointed Courses after an admirable manner Amongst which the Sun The Sun spoken to being sundry Degrees Larger then the Earth is carry'd about the same and it Rising and Setting occasions Day and Night As also coming nearer the same Earth Some times at Others withdrawing farther off it makes each Year two ‖ Reversions Contrary from the Extreme †i. e. Two Digressions from his Ordinary Stage In the Interval of which it sometimes affects the Earth with a kind of Sadness as it were and Otherwhiles again chears it in such sort that it looks as if it were pleased and gladdened with Heaven As to the Moon The Moon which as Mathematicians shew is bigger then one Half of the Earth it * i. e. Runs the same Stages wanders in the same spaces with the Sun and one while going along with it another turning from it it imparts to the Earth the Light that it derives from the Sun and changes its Light into several Forms And moreover being some times under and Opposite to the Sun its Beams and Light are darken'd And at Others interfering with the shadow of the Earth when right over against the Sun it is by the Interjection and Interposition of the same Earth suddenly Ecclipsed and put out for a season The Planets Those Stars also usually term'd Wandering are carry'd about the Earth in the
into all Parts Therefore is it Continu'd and in Conjunction with the Sea and naturally carry'd toward the Heaven by the Tenuity and Heat whereof it being Temper'd yields Vital and Salutary Breath to living Creatures Lastly of the Stars Now the highest Part of the Firmament called the Sky surrounding This does both retain its own Ardour pure and not thicken'd with any mixture and is joyn'd to the Extreme part of the Air. In the Sky are the Stars mov'd which both preserve themselves Conglobated by their own Power and also sustain their Motions by means of their very Form and Figure For they are Round Which Forms as I take it I have made out before are the least subject to Violence The Stars are likewise of a Fiery Nature and therefore are fed with those Vapours of the Earth Sea Rivers that are exhal'd by the Sun out of the Warmed Fens and from the Waters And when the Stars and the whole Sky are nourish'd and refresh'd with them they send them forth and draw them up again so that little or nothing is lost or consum'd by the Fire of the Stars or the Flame of the Sky * The Stoique's General Conflagration and Renovation of the World From Hence Our People judge That likely to come one day to pass which †A Stoical Philosopher that Writ several Books of Morals Panaetius is said to have made some doubt of Viz. That at the Last the World would be in a General Conflagration when upon the Consumption of Moisture neither the Earth could be fed To its Original the Water nor the Air ‖ return again the very Spring of it being gone when there 's no longer any Water Thus would nothing be left save only Fire * Acting by a Soul and so a God From which Reanimating Power the World would be Renewed and in the same Order and Beauty I will trouble you but with One word more concerning the Stars Of Those too The Virtues of the Planets convenient for the Birth of things that are said to Wander Of These there is so great a Consonancy from Motions very much unlike that when the Top of Saturn would I hil the Middle of Mars Heats and Jupiter plac'd between Illustrates and Tempers them Those †Venus and Mercury Two that are below Mars are assistant to Sol and the Sun himself fills the Vniverse with his Proper Light and Luna the Moon being Illuminated by him conduces to Gravidness Birth and Maturity So that if any one there be that is not affected with this Connexion of things this as it were Agreeing Cimentation of Nature I take for granted that he never Reason'd with himself upon any of these matters WELL A Transition from Celestial to Terrestial things and First Vegitibles spoken to to descend from Heavenly to Earthly things what is there in Them wherein the skill of an Intelligent Nature does not appear In the First place as to things that spring out of the Ground the Trunks do both afford Stability to what they sustain and draw Juyce from the Earth whereby those that subsist by their Roots may be nourish'd The Bodies of them are also cover'd over with a Rind or Bark to the end that they might be the more secure against Heats and Colds As for Vines now they lay hold of Props with their Tendrels as with Hands and erect themselves just as if they were Animals Moreover if they be planted near Cabbages or Colworts 't is said they will not touch 'em in the least but avoid them as things hurtful and pestiferous Then Animals their Constitutions Food Coverings c. What a wonderful Variety is there likewise of Living Creatures How strangely are they capacitated to this end that they may every one in their respective kind preserve themselves Of Them some are cover'd with Hides others cloth'd with Fleeces and some Over-run with Bristles Some we see are clad with Feathers Others overcast with Scales Some are Arm'd with Horns Others have the Help of Wings The same Nature has in a large and plentiful manner provided Food also proper to every one of them And I could say What and how Ingenious a disposition of Parts and how admirable a Composure of Members there is in the Figures of Animals for the Receiving and Digesting of it For all Within is so fashion'd and plac'd that there is not any thing superfluous or not necessary for the Detention of Life She has likewise bestow'd upon Beasts Sense and Appetite that by the one they might be incited to an endeavour of getting Natural Food and by the Other distinguish the Hurtful from the Salutary Moreover some of them come to their meat Going Others Creeping some Flying and Others Swimming And They some of them also take it by opening the Mouth and by the Teeth Others hook it in to them with Claws and some again by the Crookedness of their Beaks Some likewise Suck Others Peck Some swallow whole Others Chew And some too there are so Low that they can easily feed upon the Ground While such as are Taller as Geese Swans Cranes Camels are assisted by the longness of their Necks * i. e. A Trunk Hands were given to the Elephant because the Bulk and Vnwieldiness of his Body render'd his coming to Food the more Difficult As for such Beasts as Live by preying upon Creatures of another kind Nature bestow'd upon them either strength or speed Upon some also a sort of †Contrivance Machination and Cunning As Spiders some whereof do I may say Weave Nets that so if any thing lights into them they may destroy it Others again stand upon the Watch and seize and devour whatever drops But then for the ‖ Pinna a Fish with a rugged brown shell ending narrow Nacre-fish Pinna as the Greeks term it with its two great shells wide open it holds a kind of Combination with the Sprawn to the end of getting sustenance So that when little Fishes swim into the Gaping shells the Pinna having notice of it by the Biting of the Sprawn shuts them in Thus is there a Society between Creatures very much Unlike upon account of procuring Food And Herein it is matter of Wonder whether these Natures came to Associate in consequence of any familiar Congress betwixt one another or did so even from * i. e. from some Original Principle the very Beginning There is something also to be admired Amphibious Creatures and the Policies in those Water Creatures that are bred upon the Land 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 â—â—â—rs'd of as Crocodiles and the River Tortoises and some Reptils too that thô not generated in the Water make to it yet as soon as able to stir Moreover it is usual with us to set Ducks-Eggs under Hens by Which the Ducklings being Hatched are for a while fed as their Damms but at length they forsake those that produc'd and brought them up and upon sight of the Water
Location of Members nor This strength of Wit and Understanding could ever have been effected by Chance The 2d Branch of the Subdivision proving that All things in the W rld that are of Human use were created for the good of Man The whole World in General made for the Benefit of Men And particularly first the Sun Moon and things above IT remains for me to make out by way of Peroration that whatever in this World is of Human use was made and provided for the sake of Man In the First place then the whole Vniverse it self was created for the sake of the Gods and of Men and whatever is therein prepar'd and invented for the Behoof of Man For the World may be said to be the Common House of the Gods and Men or the City of them both It being They alone that acting by Reason do live by Rule and Civil Institutions Wherefore as it is to be presum'd that Athens and Lacedemon were built upon the score of the Athenians and Lacedemonians and as all things in those Cities are rightly affirm'd to belong to the said People So is All that the Vniverse contains to be held to appertain to the Gods and to Men. Thus the Circuits of the Sun Moon and the rest of the Stars thô they be undoubtedly necessary to the Cohesion of the World yet are they also expos'd as a Sight to Men For there is no Representation more Beautifull more Congruous to Skill and Reason or that is less apt to Sate us In as much as their Courses being Definite we so come to know the Maturities Variations and Vicissitudes of Times and Seasons And if These are only understood by Men alone for Their sake must they be supposed to have been Order'd and Appointed And then for the Earth Then that the Earth and the Productions thereof were made for the lawfull use of Men only and not of Beasts also which is so fertil in Fruits and various sorts of Grain sending them forth in great abundance can It be thought to produce these things for the sake of Brutes or of Men What need I mention the Vine or the Olive-Tree whose most plentifull and exhilerating productions are of no use at all to Beasts neither do These know how either to plant or dress them or gather in due season and store up their Fruits The Benefit and the Care of all That belonging to Man alone As Pipes therefore and Strung Instruments are presum'd to have been invented upon the account of such as can make use of them so must what we speak of be acknowledg'd to have been provided for the only behoof of those that know what to doe with them Nor yet will it hold that because other Animals pilfer or snatch away some of These therefore were they produc'd for Their sakes also for Men store not up Corn for the benefit of Mice or Pismires but of their Wives Children and Dependents Beasts then as I said before take these things by stealth but the Owners of them openly and freely So that it is not to be deni'd but that these great stores of things were provided upon the score of Men. * An Irony Unless perchance such a plenty and variety of Apples and their pleasantness both of Taste Smell and Sight should raise Doubt whether or no Nature caus'd them for the good of Man alone Next that the Beasts themselves were made for the sake and service of Men. Nay in truth so far were any of These from being made for the behoof of Beasts also that we see even Beasts themselves to have been generated for the service of Men. For what are Sheep which could neither get food subsist nor bring forth their Young without the Human care and assistance good for but only to furnish us with Cloaths by their Fleeces shorn and woven And then for the fidelity and watchfulness of Dogs their affectionate Fawnings upon those they know and so great hatred against Strangers their Incredible Sagacity and wonderfull Chearfulness at the Sport what does all this speak but that they were bred for the Convenience of Men What need I mention the Oxe whose very Back plainly shews he was never fram'd for Carriage but his Neck made for the Yoke and his strong broad Shoulders for drawing the Plow To which Creature in the Golden Age that Poets tell of when the Ground was to be Till'd by a cleaving of the Glebe no sort of Violence was even offer'd But then at length came on that Iron * i. e. Race or Generation Age That First dar'd Hammer out the Fatal Sword And kill and eat the Tam'd and Broken Oxe So Usefull and Beneficial were Oxen Then held to be that it was deem'd an Impiety to eat any of their Entrails It would be Long to recount the Advantages we receive from Mules and Asses which questionless were Created for the use of Men. But as to the Swine what else serves it for but to be Eaten And Chrysippus says that its Soul is instead of Salt to keep it from Putrefaction And in regard the Flesh of it was very good Man's-meat therefore did Nature make it one of the most Fruitfull of Creatures What shall I say to the Multitudes and Deliciousness of Fishes or of Birds which are in so many respects grateful and delightful to us that sometimes one would almost think †i. e. The Stoique's Providence had with Epicurus held Pleasure to be the Supreme Good in that she made such plentifull provisions for the Gratification of the Senses especiaâ—ly of the Touch and Taste Our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been Epicurean Neither yet are these to be Caught but by Human Art and Cunning Thô it is not to be forgot neither that some Fowl both * Et Alites Oscines Wild and Tame as our Augurs speak are to be presum'd to have been Created for matters of Divination Moreover we give Chace to Wild and Savage Beasts as well to the end of feeding upon them when Run down as of exercising our selves in Hunting as in a kind of Military Discipline and also of making use of them Elephants c. when Tam'd and Instructed And we likewise extract out of Their Bodies and not only from certain Plants and Herbs sundry Medicines for Wounds and Diseases The benefits whereof we have perceiv'd by long and frequent Experience All things as well within as upon the Earth belong to Man With our Minds as with Eyes may we survey the Earth and the whole Sea observe the Seasons occasioning the perfection of all things the spaciousness of the Fields the thick Woods that grow upon Mountains the Grazings of Cattle as also the Fluxure of the Waters with incredible Swiftness and Rapidity Neither is it only upon the Ground but even within the most Inward Caverns of it that an Infinite number of profitable things are to be found which in that they were only made for the good of Man
with relation to the Deity To the same Purpose also wrote St. Cyprian or whatever other ancient Authour it was that passes under His Name in the Introduction to the Treatise of the Cardinal Works of Christ Thus much for the Preamble or First Part of this Second Book PVRPOSING to proceed according to Balbus's Four fold Distribution of his Dispute let me tell ye by way of Epitome of the First Branch thereof the Scope of which is to make out there are Gods The Being of a Deity the First Branch of the Stoical Disputation prov'd by Three sorts of Arguments i. e. the Existence of some or other Divinity that he confirms the Point by Arguments of Three Sorts the Consent of all Men the Constancy of the Opinion the Appearance of the Gods and the Revelation of things to come are of the First and for the Second and Third they are plainer in the Context it self than to need a Declaration So that I pass to the Contents of the First Branch The Contents of each Section of the First Branch of the Second Part or Balbus's Dispâ—tation as follows PART II. SECT I. From lin 14. of pag. 73. to lin 7. of pag. 74. Balbus entring upon the Proof of a Deity draws the First Argument to that purpose from Heaven which being beheld all men presently Confess that a God there is-THENCE to lin 27. of the same page Another Reason that perswades of the Existence of a Deity is the fixt and stable Opinion of him in the Minds of all men and the Religious Adoration constantly paid to his Majesty THENCE to lin 33. of pag. 75. He also collects the Thing from the Appearances of the Gods themselves THENCE to lin 6. of pag. 77. He undertakes to strengthen the Credit of Divine Revelations which he conceiv'd to be of great force toward Confirming a Deity First by removing all suspicion of Fiction then by Variety of Events and the Punishment of some that slighted the Tokens THENCE to l. 20. of pag. 78. Somewhat is likewise deriv'd toward the support of Predictions by pressing the Examples of their Ancestours who shew'd much Faith Piety and Constancy in their Care of the Auspicia THENCE to lin 15. of pag. 80. That so Firm Prop of Divination at First drawn from the Event it self of the Things Divin'd only in the General he Now resumes and fortifies with the Predictions of the Sibylls and the Answers of the Southsayers as if found True but more especially by the peculiar aâ—d notable Eact of Tib. Gracchus which he relates at large in the whole 10. and 11. Sectious almost THENCE to lin 2. of pag. 81. Then by a Brief and Clear Syllogism fetcht from Divination he Concludes that Gods there are And that the Conclusion might not be Infirm in any part he Anticipates an Objection that would ruine it In the end he again inculcates what it was the Drift of the whole to prove the Existence of a Deity Confirming it by the Testimony of Nature as by the Seal and Suffrage of all Mortals THENCE to lin 34. of the same page He Here urges over again much what the same Arguments in proof of a Deity that he had us'd before only they are Confirm'd by the Authority of the Principals of the Stoical Sect Cleanthes Chrysippus and â—eno And First of Cleanthes who speaks of fâ—ur ways whereby men have come to a knowledge of the Deity Three of which are set forth in This Section the Other in the Next THENCE to to lin 20. of pag. 82. The Fourth and Chief Cause alledg'd by Cleanthes for the Impression of a Notion of the Deity in the Minds of Mortals is the Contemplation of things Celestial A Cause that he Here Illustrates by a queint and proper Comparison THENCE to lin 8. of pag. 83. He produces the Argumentation whereby Chrysippus collected the Existence of a Divinity That there is something or other in Universal Nature better than Man and so there must needs be a God In proof of the Antecedent Three Reasons are given the First of them deriv'd from the Noble Effects that exceed Human Ability is in This Section the other Two in the ensuing THENCE to lin 33. of the same page What Chrysippus has prov'd in the Section above I mean the being of something in the World that is Better than Man does Lucilius also now Confirm by two Arguments to be more at large expounded by and by THENCE to lin 24. of pag. 84. The Divine Mind of the World is collected both from the Mind of Man and from the Excellence it self of the Vniverse THENCE to lin 9. of pag. 85. He moreover Confirms the Divine Mind of the Vniverse First by the Admirable Consent of the Parts of the same World Next by the Constant Variations of the Seasons of the Year Then by the Tides of the Sea the Vicissitudinary Flux and Reflux whereof is so Certain and Lastly by the Course of the Stars in so Steady an Order for so long a time THENCE to lin 33. of the same page He strengthens the Assertion of Reason in the World by the Authority and Arguments of Zeno in Transitu noting the Stoical Brevity in Disputing and by a decent Comparison shewing how much Rhetorick surpasses Logique THENCE to lin 20. of pag. 86. The same Zeno labours to to make out what he stickled for in the Last Paragraph that the World is indu'd with Sense and Reason by two Other Syllogisms and a Double Similitude THENCE to lin 6. of pag. 87. He advances to the Physical Arguments made use of by the Stoiques in erecting their Divinity and before All states This Principle that whatever has Life Lives by the benefit of a kind of Heat THENCE to lin 25. of the same page He Confirms the Position of the foregoing Section that all Life is deriv'd from the virtue of Heat by the Authority and Arguments of Cleanthes THENCE to lin 18. of pag. 88. This same Vital Heat of the two Sections above shews he more at large by an Induction through the Four Elements to be diffus'd into all the Parts of the Universe THENCE to lin 3. of pag. 89. From the Earth he advances to the Water and endeavours to make appear that in It is Heat implanted by Nature THENCE to lin 33. of the same page He finishes the Induction before set upon and far more easily demonstrates the Heat above averr'd to be included in the Bowels of the Earth and Mingled with the Water to abide also in the two remaining Elements the Ayr and Fire Whence by a step from the Parts to the Whole he Concludes the World it self to be in like manner preserv'd by means of the same Heat THENCE to lin 15. of pag. 90. He set to demonstrating the Fiery Property in the Sections foregoing taught to be disfus'd thorough the several Parts of the Vniverse to be also indu'd with Sense and Reason And with This Intent he Premises as if Decreed
the Auspicium was to be begun anew in the very Passage over the Pomoerium when he return'd to take the Tabernacle afresh not that which he had taken before but a New one as Plutarch in Marcello expresly avers whereby he was again to Observe from the Sky So that when Tiberius Gracchus the Auspicia not yet Perfected was call'd back into the City to Hold a Senate and remember'd not to Auspicate as thorough the Pomoerium he went forth of the City again to Take Another Tabernacle the whole Creation of the Consuls even by This one Errour became Inauspicious and Void the Consuls were not duely elected there was a Fault in the Election pag. 80. pag. 80. lin 1. that so the Election might be made Void the Senate Decreed that the Consuls should abdicate themselves from the Office which was done accordingly and the Consuls did Quit it accordingly what c. lin 4 c. mistake be mistaken in Expounding them c. lin 29. Stones and Gapings or sodain c. pag. 81. pag. 81. lin 18. Blazing Stars in the Firmament Meteors in the Air and those Blazing Stars which c. l. 22. P. Africanus Minor another c. lin 30. Conversion Circular Motion of c. lin ult any way prejudic'd made any Alteration in he c. pag. 82. pag. 82. lin 16. pag. 84. All Philosophers down from Trismegistus of Opinion that Human Souls proceeded from and were Particles of the Soul of the World Whence scil but from the Divine Mind had Man c. pag. 84. lin 2. This Errour reign'd in all Schools and Academies down from Trismegistus even to the Dawn of Christianity For He in Cap. 10. delivers that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the One Soul of theVniverse do All Souls exist Adding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mind is not rent from the Essence of God but as it were disfus'd even as the Light of the Sun Whence Epictetus One for All the Stoiques took occasion to say that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Souls are so ty'd and joyn'd to the Deity as existing Particles of him and fragments after a sort pluckt away The E rour confuted by St. Augustin Contrary whereunto St. Augustin in Epist ad Optat. Milevit Writes that the Original of the Soul lies hid without danger Yet Thus much that we are not to believe it to be a Particle of the Deity but his Creature And He Confounds the Errour in Cap. 2. of his Original of the Soul by this Impregnable Argument should the Soul be a Particle of the Divine Mind either God would be Mutable wich is remote from the Divine Nature or the Soul void of all Mutation and so would neither degenerate into Worse nor advance to Better nor begin to have any thing in it self or that it had not which is plainly False and in short Lastly that c. l. 6. wherein we breath which we draw in breathing i. e. Attract by Aspiration The drift of an Argument of Balbus c. lin 10. The Argumentation Here of Chrysippus or of our Balbus is Obvious Man deriv'd the several Parts of his Body from the respective Parts of theVniverse therefore his Mind also from the Mind or Soul of the World Solstices and Winter-Seasons Summer and Winter Solstices c. lin 33. Rolling Conversion of c. Pag. 85. pag. 85. lin 2. contein'd conserv'd by c. lin 8. and constant Spirit Soul or Mind diffus'd through all the Parts of the World c. lin 9. Errours Blemishes of the c. lin 19. And That Thus too The same Zeno Argues Thus also c. lin 33. more closely scantly c. pag. 86. pag. 86. lin 2. a different way of proceeding a more Fuse way of Disputing c. lin 21. from Nature Principles of Natural Philosophy Fire alone not the Authour of Vital Motion c. lin 28. their Proper Vital Motion c. lin 34. This is not True unless a Soul be also present which may Impart to the Ingenite Heat as its Instrument the Vital Power of Moving But and then such c. lin ult convenient Fervency c. p. 87. pag. 87. l. 1. i. e. Every thing that has Life is mov'd not by a fortuitous and casual motion but by a definite and a certain temperate rule and in the same Tenour which and so c. l. 2. all Bodies the Bodies of all Animals c. lin 9. That Nature wherein this Heat is embody'd has within it this Nature of Heat i. e. Fiery Property has in it self a certain c. lin 26 27. take a view of touch upon the c. lin 33. things that spring out of the Earth Seeds which the Earth conceives and those Seeds themselves c. and whatever things i. e. Plants the Ground contains generated out of it and fixt Therein by their Roots do receive c. of Heat i. e. of the Heat of the Earth A Stoical errour pag. 88. pag. 88. lin 13 c. by the Contrary by warmth c. lin 29. in the same in the Waters c. p. 89. pag. 89. lin 12. every Nature c. is thus extended thorough every part of the World in as much as in It is the Power of Procreating and Faculty of Generating From which both Living Creatures c. l. 27 c. it is the Fiery Nature that c. lin 34. void of Qualities Solitary but c. pag. 90. pag. 90. lin 2. But now we see that some Parts c. lin 19. that Particular of it the Sky wherein c. lin 23. admirable lively c. lin 26. and the Powers c. and all Vertues or Excellencies contein'd in the Divine Nature thereof i. e. of the World c. lin 32 33. the Heat also of theVniverse the Skie it is c. lin 34. lively active then c. lin 35. move the Senses create Sense then c. lin ult of ours plac'd in Sublunary Natures c. pag. 91. pag. 91. lin 1. continu'd preserv'd in vigour c. lin 2. agitated caused by c. lin 11. Proper and implanted in the Thing mov'd c. l. 18. That which what of c. lin 19. the other that that which is c. lin 21. Voluntary sort Proper Motion c. lin 22. the Heat of the World the Skie c. lin 26. Plato Plato's Ten sorts of Motion in his 10th Book touching Laws reckons up Ten kinds of Motion Circuit Local Transition Condensation Rarefaction Augmentation Decrease Generation Corruption Mutation or Alteration in another caused by another and Mutation in it self from it self What he meant by the two last of them the Proper and the External and made in another Which two Latter only as proper for his Purpose has Lucilius here mention'd Concerning which the Atheniensis Hospes of Plato in the Book before cited speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There must
or Weazon THENCE to lin 7. of pag. 165. The Seat Office and Faculties of the Pâ—unch or Ventricle as also the Temper and Duty of the Lungs Describ'd THENCE to lin 4. of pag. 167. He elegantly shews which way Nutrition is effected and what Parts are Assistant to that Work THENCE to lin 13. of pag. 168. He teaches Whence and Where the Vital Spirit is Generated and likewise How from the Heart it is diffus'd into all the Body through Arteries in like manner as the Bloud by Veins THENCE to lin 18. of pag. 169. He in some measure sets forth the Structure and various Vses of the Bones Then he comes to the Composure of Man altogether fitted for Contemplation and Thereby a Knowledge of the Divinity which was what Providence had regard to in Framing it THENCE to lin 18. of pag. 170. The so commodious Situation of the Senses every one in its proper Place argues a Divine Providence THENCE to lin 28. of pag. 171. He anew admires the Divine Skill in Contriving the Senses and First in Framing the Eyes which are Here most elegantly Describ'd THENCE to lin 8. of pag. 173. The Eyes are follow'd by the rest of the Senses most strong Evidences of a certain Divine Workmanship THENCE to lin 5. of pag. 174. He Demonstrates the Excellency of Human Senses above Those of Brutes and First of the Eyes THENCE to lin 22. of the same page He shews that Men surpass Beasts in the Other Senses also THENCE to lin 15. of pag. 175. He teaches that from the same Providence came those Human Vertues usually term'd Intellectual and in the First place the Faculty of Reasoning Whence arise Arts and Sciences THENCE to lin 28. of the same page He not unelegantly commends the Dignity and wonderfull effects of Eloquence THENCE to lin 9. of pag. 176. He relates the Instruments of Speech in Praise of Provident Nature THENCE to lin 31. of the same page He ascribes to the Divine Bounty the Composure and Aptness of the Hands and in the three following Sections discourses at large how Convement they are in This particularly observing the ready and easie Subserviency of them to many Arts THENCE to lin 14. of pag. 177. He Here further produces other advantages of Life obtein'd by the Work and Benefit of the Hands Namely Food the Service of Labouring Beasts and Metals THENCE to lin 2. of pag. 178. He now winds up the almost numberless conveniencies of the Hands in the use of Wood more especially and the Tillage of the Ground toucht upon by the By in the Sections above THENCE to lin 27. of the same page From the Fabrique of Man's Body he advances to the Other Half of Him his Mind or Soul the most sharp and piercing Eâ—ge whereof does Single Astrology of all the Sciences especially commend Each Fruit and Excellence of which Famous Art is Toucht by the way And then he puts a Period to this somewhat Long Consideration of Man absolutely concluding the matter in Proposition that this so Artificial Composure of the Body and admirable Subtlety of Wit are to be attributed to Providence not to Fortune THENCE to lin 25. of pag. 179. Having thus subjected to our view the whole Structure of Man he clearly speaks it to be his Intention in the rest of the Disputation to make appear as a further Demonstration of the Providence of God toward Vs that whatever in the Vniverse is plac'd Without us was originally ordain'd and provided for Our sakes Now in this Paragraph he will have First the World in General then Heaven and Heavenly Things in Particular to have been Perfected for the Behoof of Men as well as for the Gods THENCE to lin 23. of pag. 180. That the Fruits of the Earth were generated for the Sake of Men not of Beasts THENCE to lin 3. of pag. 181. He shews by an Induction in almost four entire Sections that Beasts were created by the Deity for the Convenience of Man and in This represents the Advantages we reap by Sheep and Dogs THENCE to lin 18. of the same page To what Vses we put Oxen. THENCE to lin 5. of pag. 182. Providence has further granted Mules Asses Swine Fish and Birds for our Service and Gratification in sundry respects THENCE to lin 30. of the same page The Benefits deriv'd from the Hunting of Wild Beasts plainly speak even Them also to have been procreated for Our Behoof In the Last place he takes it for granted that the Whole Earth all the Waters which are so wonderfully productive of Advantages both within and without were made for and accommodated to us who have the Fruition of their Treasures and Opportunities THENCE to lin 25. of pag. 183. Divination Confirms the peculiar Providence of the Deity toward Man THENCE to lin 27. of p. 184. The Divine Providence not only consults Mankind in General but also Particular Persons THENCE to lin 12. of pag. 185. The Stâ—ique's Assertion before that none of the Eminent Men â—â—uld have been such without the Assistance of the Divinity is here strengthen'd by the Authority of the Poets as also by the Appearances of the Gods Portents and the rest of that sort of Significations of things to come THENCE to lin 27. of the same page He briefly Refells the Vulgar Objection against Providence of many Incommodities daily happening to Mortals and so puts an End to the Branch Sake the so mighty things I have been speaking of were with such Contrivance Amendments Explanations c. of the Last Branch of the Dispute pag. 159. Originally made and design'd whether c. pag. 159. lin 28 29. sustein'd Preserv'd by c. lin 31. fram'd c. taken so much peins upon the pag. 160. God did not take any peins in Creating the World c. pag. 160. lin 1. Moses Writes that God was so far from being put to any peins in Creating the World that he did it with a Word i. e. the Word and the Work were together For says S. Ambrose 1. Hexa He did not Speak to the end that the Operation might ensue but the Work was Done in the very Instant of Uttering the Word But And it c. lin 12. draws in takes in the more Air c. pag. 161. pag. 161. lin 2. bruis'd c. Cut in pieces and masht by them c. lin 6. stop the Breath hinder Respiration c. pag. 163. pag. 163. lin 10. Capacity of the Capacious Paunch c. lin 11. Breath Air from c. pag. 164. pag. 164. lin 1. at Others scil in both its Orifices overcoming c. lin 8. Breath The Vital Spirit Assistant to Concoction the Spirit scil that Three-fold one the Natural Vital and Animal which most Physicians allow to be included in the Veins Nerves and Arteries the Ventricle having them all in great Numbers all c. lin 12. taking in Remitting Breath and Dilate in taking it in to the c. pag. 165.
it does not follow that if there was no World there were no Ages I do not mean such Ages as are made up of so many years and upon a computation of so many days and nights That could not be I grant without the Revolution of the Orbs But from Infinite Time there was a certain Eternity not confin'd to any Rules or Measures of Seasons Thô How it was we cannot understand no nor as much as imagine that a time there should be when no Time was ‖ Epicuruâ—â—s Argument against tâ—e Stâ—â—ques Providence there is no such because â—â—e must haue beeâ— Idle whâ—â— it wâ—s Impossible fâ—r her to have 〈…〉 Resolve me now Balbus why your Providence was Idle all so Immense a Space Was she loth to undergo so much Toyl Nothing of That kind could reach the God-head Nor in truth was there any in the Case seeing all Seminary Powers the Air Fire Earth Water are said to have obeyed the God of Nature And then wherefore was he ambitious of turning * Aâ—dilis an Officer amongst the Romans that had in charge to adorn the Temples and puâ—lique Spectacles City Surveyor as it were and garnishing the Firmament with Signs and Lights If for his own more commodious Habitation for an Infinite space before he dwelt it should seem in the dark as in a dungeon Moreover can we believe him to be Taken with That Variety wherewith we see Heaven and Earth to be imbellish'd What Entertainment can This be to Him Or if it were a delight he could not so long have been without it Or again were all These made as you still tell us for the use of Men Of Wise men only Truly a great Lumber of things for a very small Company Or of Fools First there could be no reason for his accommodating the Bad And further what could he hope to get by 't in regard Fools are confessedly the most miserable even in the very Notion of such For then Folly what can be more Deplorable And yet once more seeing there are such numberless Crosses incident to Human Life that a Wise man is Fain to temper them by his Vertues Fools on the contrary are neither able to avoid them at a distance nor to Bear them at hand Now for those that have bestow'd Sense and Reason upon the World it self He objects aâ—ainst thâ—sâ— who thâ—msâ—â—â— the World to be indu'd wiâ—h Reason they appear to be utterly Ignorant of the Nature of the Mind and what Forms it is possible for it to Actuate But These shall be spoken to by and by and I will now continue my admiration at the Heaviness of †The Platoniques c. them that will needs have it to be Animated Immortal and Happy and Round withal Which is a Figure to which Plato ascribes more then to any Other tho for my part I should as soon have given my Vote for the Cylinder Square Cone or Pyramid * Why the World could not be happy were it suâ—h a God â—s Pâ—ato pretends But what kind of Life do they appropriate to This Round Deity Why a being whirld about with an Incessant unimaginable Celerity With which Motion I do not see how Happiness and a steady Mind can be consistent A Motion the least exercise whereof upon Our Bodies is Painful why then may it not be alike Troublesome to Him too Nay the very Earth as part of the Universe must consequently be a Portion of the Deity But a great deal of This is barren and uninhabitable some of it scorcht with the over near approach of the Sun and some again by his too great distance harden'd and cover'd with Frost and Snow Wherefore if the Wâ—rld be a God and These Parcels of it some of his Limbs must necessarily be parcht and burnt others chill'd and benumb'd He now comes tâ— wâ—â—t mâ—re especially relaâ—es to the Stoiques and opposes to All the Principlâ—s of his own Sect. BUT I will now report and prove the quality of what you Lucilius are more directly concern'd in Beginning with the Last of the above-nam'd Elements ‖ He blames Thales fâ—r suppâ—sing the Mind to be able to livâ— without a Body câ—ntrary to the judgment of thâ— Epicurean and yet substâ—tutiâ—g 〈◊〉 Water as 〈◊〉 and so making the Deity to â—e Mâ—rtal as it wâ—re For Thales Milesius who was the first that searched into matters of This kind made Water the Original of all things and God to be That Wisdom which formed All things out of Water Now if the Deity can subsist abstracted from a Corporeal Sense or Nature why did he assign it a Watry one were the Mind it self able to live without a Body Anaximander phansy'd that the Gods were born and that after a long space of time they dy'd and that there were Innumerable Worlds * The Epicureans held God to be Eternal But how should we conceive the God-head to be other then Sempiternal Anaximanes was next who pronounc'd the Air to be God to be Generated Immense Uncircumscrib'd and in perpetual Motion †And â—â—aâ— he is â—f Human which they t ke 〈◊〉 be the mâ—st beautiful sâ—ape As if That which is absolutely void of Form could be a Divinity to whom must needs belong not Some only but the most Beautiful shape Or how should that which had a Birth be exempt from Dissolution Him Anaxagoras both follow'd and borrow'd of But yet he was the first that affirm'd the Model of Universal Nature to have been projected and perfected by the efficacy of an All-comprizing Intellect ‖ His Exceptions against Anaxagoras's Doctriâ—e are all Epicurean too Wherein he was not aware that to such an Incomprehensibleness there could be no Conjunction of any sensible Motion nor that there cannot be any sense at all where the Soul is not affected upon external Violence So that if he accounts upon this Intellect as something in the Nature of an Animal there ought to be some or other Existence yet more internal and within it from whence it might take a name But what can be more Inward then the Mind and therefore it is enclosed in an External Body This Doctrine will not go down with Him And * Epicureans We on the Other side are not able to apprehend how there can be any Soul separate from all material adjuncts †He was a Pythagorean Alemaeo of ‖ A famâ—us City of Calabria Crotoe in Deifying the Sun Moon Stars as also the Mind did as little consider that Thereby he attributed Immortality to Mortal Things Nor yet did * He haâ— a great many followers in this Opinioâ— Pythagoras who asserted the Essence of One Vniversal Soul included in and extended thorough all frail Beings and that Ours were still taken from it †Why the Wâ—rlâ—â— can have no Soul any more discern that in such a rending away of Human Souls the Deity it self could not but be dilacerated and that seeing our Minds were to
respect any of these can be deemed Happy a man can hardly Imagine Heraclides Heraclides's whiâ— sies â—isapprov'd of Pontus who came out of the same School has stuffed His Books with sundry Childish Fables One while he will have the Vniverse to be a God another an Intelligence and by and by the wandring Stars divests him of a †And therefore Ch ldish sensible Body and yet pretends his Form to be Variable In the same Books he also crouds the Air and the Earth into the number of the Deities So are Theophrastus's The Inconstancy of Theophrastus is not a whit more Tolerable for sometimes he attributes divine Prerogatives to the Mind Then to the Firmament and anon to the Planets and Celestial Constellations ‖ And alsâ— his Scholar Strato whâ—se Opâ—â—â—ns were mu h the same wiâ—â— Pâ—thagorâ—s'â— Nor yet does his Scholar Strato dignify'd with the Title of * For his grâ—at a 〈◊〉 to the Study of sâ—â—sible Nature Naturalist deserve more regard who makes the whole Divine Vertue to be seated in and diffused thorough Vniversal Nature and to occasion Birth Growth and Dissolution but withal to be void both of * And consequently of Prudence and Pleasure according to Their Doctrine Sense and Form BUT to return to your Friends He comes now to take the Stoicks themselves directly to task beginning with their Founder Zeno. Balbus Zeno was of Opinion that the Law of Nature was a Divinity capacitated to stir up good Desires and quell the contrary Thô how such a Law should come by Life we are as much to seek as we are assur'd that the Deity is Animated In another place the same Person Deifies the Fiery Circle of the Heavens Only there 's no conceiving of a God that understands nothing †He derides the Opinion we can have no notion of any such either in our Prayers Wishes or Desires In Other Books he makes a certain Impulse extended thorough all Natures to be divinely affected He attributes as much to the Stars also and to the Years Months and Seasons And in his Exposition of Hesiods Theogonia or Origination of the Gods he destroys the imprinted conceived Notions of the Deityes reckons not Jupiter Juno Vesta nor any of the rest that are of Vulgar Appellation in the number and teaches that those Names are in a certain respect to be affixt to things Mute and Inanimate Nor is his Scholar Arish any nearer the Mark Aristo blam'd too in phansying the Figure of the Gods to be Indiscernable that they are without ‖ Contrary to thâ— Opinion of the Epicureans As also Cleanthes Sense and doubting whether they have Life or no. Cleanthes who was a Hearer of Zeno at the same time with the Other First Deifies the World it self Then the Universal Mind and Spirit Next he pronounces for a most certain Deity That Highest Lowest All-surrounding and Embracing Heat which may be call'd the Firmament The same man Doating as it were in the Books he wrote against Pleasure One while holds the Gods to have a certain Form and Shape Then that the Stars are the Only Deities and at length that nothing is more Divine then Reason Thus that Great God whom we only know in Contemplation and take no other Impression of then in the Notion of the Mind Thus that God I say comes not to appear at all Persâ—us censur'd Perseus another of Zeno's Scholars teaches to reckon upon those as Deities who have been the Authours of any Invention beneficial to Human Life and to dignify the Profitable things themselves so found out with Divine Appellations intimating as if they were Gods in very deed rather then matters of Divine Institution Now what can be more absurd then either to attribute Divine Honours to things sordid and deform'd or to place in the Number of the Deities men long since Dead and Rotten for whom Tears and Mourning were the most proper sort of Adoration Crysippus's Opiâ—ions Reported and condemned As to Crysippus who is held to be the sharpest Interpreter of the Dreams and Dotages of the Stoiques he set up a great Company of Unknown Deityes and so wholly Unknown too that it is impossible to get any Information of them even so much as in Conjecture Thô one would think that a man might take any Figure into his Imagination First he makes the Divine Virtue to be plac'd in Right Reason and in the Mind and Spirit disfused thorough the whole Mass of Nature Then he Deifies the World and the Universal Effusion of its Soul Next the Power of That Soul influencing the Mind and Judgment By and by that Common Nature which contains and conjoyns all things Then again the Fatal and Dark Representation and Necessity of things to come as also the Fire and that which I before term'd the Sky or Firmament And Lastly those things which do naturally flow and persevere as the Water Earth Sun Moon Stars and that Supreme Circle which environs the whole World and such Men too as have acquir'd Immortality The same Person stickles for the Sky or Firmament to be him who is usually call'd Jupiter for That Air which glides thorough the Water to be Neptune and for the Earth to be Ceres after the sâ—me fashion interpreting and applying the Ordinary Names of all the Other Deities He avâ—râ— further that the Power of that Eternal Rule or Law which seems to be the Guide of our Lives and the sourse of Honest actions is also Jupiter and calls this Immutable Decree it self Fatal Necessity and the sempiternal verity of future Events But none of These seem to have any thing in them in the least expressive of a Divine Vertue Thus far his First Book touching the Nature of the Gods And it is the chief scope of his Second in such sort to accommodate to what he had deliver'd in his First the Fables of Orpheus Musaeus Hesiod Hâ—iner that the most ancient Poets who never dream'd of any such matter might seem to have been Stoiques He was of Seleucia a Town near Bâ—bylon and therâ—â—â— re he was call'd Babylonius Him Diogenes of Babylon imitating in the Treatise he entitles Of Minerva will not allow the Story of Jupiters Birth and the Rise of the Virgin to be a Fable but reduces it to Physiology That Fable is that upon Vulcan s cutting of Jupiter 's Head with an Ax a Little Armed Girl Minerva started out of it who Invented the Arts. The Pâ—ilâ—s â—her as muâ—â— Ouâ— upon This Sâ—bject an â—â—s Extravâ—gant â—â— the Poets Egyptians Mâ—â—â— and the Common People And thus have I run thorough most of the Dreams of Doaters rather then Judgments of Philosophers which truly come little short of the Fictions of the Poets that have poyson'd by their very suavity in Absurdity and Unreasonableness These having introduc'd their Gods raging with anger inflam'd with Lust and presented to our view their Feuds Brawls Skuffles Wounds as also their
must undertake for thô you should prevail for an admittance that the shape of the Gods and of Men is one and the same For Then the Divinity would require all the Tricking and Tendance that we bestow upon our Bodies have his goings runnings lyings down leanings sittings holdings and in Brief be capable of speech and discourse ‖ And Male and Female Neither are the consequences of your making them Male and Female less palpably incommodious Insomuch that I can never wonder enough how that * Epicurus Prince of Yours should come by these Opinions BUT you are continually pressing us to hold This for a Certain Happiness as Consistent with the Form of the Sun c. as with a God of Human Figure that the Deity is both Happy and Immortal And why may he not be Happy thô not Two-footed Or This Beatitude or Blessedness they are both of them harsh Words but must be mollify'd by use but be it what it will why I say may not either That Sun This World or some Eternal Wisdom destitute of Human Shape and Members be capable of it * Epicurus further press'd upon for not allâ—wing any thing to be believ'd which we do not either See or Feel All that you urge to the contrary amounts only to This that you never saw any Happiness the Sun or the World had in them Well! And did you ever see any Other World then This either You 'l say No. How durst you give out then that there â—re not six hundred Thousand only but Innumerable of them Reason taught as much And will not Reason teach you †The Gods as much exceed us in Form as in Mind and Immortality This sooner that since in our Re-searches touching the Best Nature Happiness and Eternity are only to be met with in the Divine it cannot but as much surpass us in Excellency of Mind as in Immortality and as of Mind so of Shape likewise Wherefore Then being Inferiour in Other respects do we pretend to an Equality with it in point of Figure ‖ Our Vertues rather Divine then our Figure Man's Vertues one would think should come near to the Divinity in Resemblances then his Form But to press the * Of not Believing where there 's no seeing or feeling Other Topique yet a little further Can any thing be more Childish then for a body to deny the Being of those Monsters that are generated in India and the Red Sea It is not possible even for the most inquisitive to make a Discovery of the many Creatures that abide in the Earth Seas Fens Rivers And none of these now must be allow'd to Be because we never saw them †Like Forms like Dispositions no True Assertion Nor again is your Similitude of Dispositions inferr'd from likeness of Shape that you so highly account of any thing at all to the Purpose For is not the Dog like the Wolf and That filthy Creature as Ennius calls it the Ape likest to Man When as they are not of a Little contrary Dispositions The Elephant comes short of no other Beast in Prudence and yet of how much Larger a Size is he Here I speak only of Beasts But even amongst Men too find we not different manners in Bodies much alike and Dispositions unworthy of their Forms Should then your late * Velleius's sâ—phistical gradation way of Argumentation Velleius once take place see what would come of it You took for granted that Reason could not be in any other Figure then what is Human and another may assume in any Other but what is Earthy had a Birth Growth a time of Instruction but what is compounded of Soul and a frail fading Carcasse In short but in a Man a mortal Man †Reason mâ—â— be in any form since Our Bodies are as frail and infirm as any Now if you can put over all these hard things what need you stickle so much for a bare Figure You could see it seems that Man was indu'd with Reason and Understanding thô attended with all these Infirmities that I have advanc'd Which when taken away you are nevertheless able to ‖ They make God to have the shadow only of our Bodies not the Substance know God you tell us provided the Shadow or Lines of them do but remain This is not to speak deliberately but to talk at a venture * All superfluities incommodious For surely you did not consider what a comber and hinderance any thing useless or Superfluous is not in Men only but even in Trees How Troublesome is it to have a Finger too much And why so Because there 's no need of a Fifth either for Use or Ornament Whereas your Deity now abounds not in a Finger only but in a Head too a Neck Shoulders Sides a Paunch Back Hams Hands Feet Privities Thighs If you suppose These to be contributary to his Immortality wherein I pray'd are any of Them nay or even the Visage it self either necessary to Life * What Mâ—mbers are Vital and Essential to Life These rather the Brain Heart Lungs Liver for They are the seats of Life To which the Features of the Face are no way Essential You found fault with †The Stoiques c. whose Opinions drive to a certain point those who from the Marvellousness of the Works upon a view of the whole World and its respective Parts Heaven Earth Water and the Ornaments and Imbellishments of the same the Sun Moon Stars as also upon an Observation of the Changes Complements and Vicissitudes of Times and Seasons collected and presum'd that there could not but be some Excellent and Admirable Essence interested in the Creating Actuating Governing and Administring of them Who though they should be out in their Conjectures yet a Body may see what they would be at ‖ Which these of the Epicureans do not But as for You what notable atchievment do you reckon upon that may seem worthy of a Divine Wisdom and afford ground for a perswasion that Gods there are I bear in my Mind say you an unaccountable prenotion of a Deity * Their prenotion of a Dâ—iâ—y invalidated Of a Bearded Jupiter no doubt or a Helmeted Minerva * The Gods not such as the Statuaries represent them to be But do you take them to be such then How much more tolerable are the Phansies even of the Ordinary sort in This Particular In that †The Opinions of the Common People adjudged more Rational they do not only allow the Deities Human Members but a capacity to make use of them too and therefore assign them a Bow and Arrows a Spear a Buckler a Trident and a Thunder-bolt And thô they cannot see what they do yet will they not hear of their being altogether Idle ‖ And those of the Aegyptians too because they only Deifie Beasts in consideration of the good they receâ—ve by them Even the so much undervalu'd Aegyptians
themselves never yet decreed divine Honours to any Creature from which they receiv'd not some considerable Benefit Their Ibes destroy multitudes of Serpents for being a sort of tall Birds with rough hard Legs and a long Horny Beak they preserve Aegypt from the Pestilence by devouring those swarms of Wing'd Serpents that are brought by the South-West wind from the Deserts of Lybia And so they neither harm by their Biting while alive nor by their Stink when dead I could shew the advantages they reap by their Ichneumons Cats and Crocodiles were it not that I 'm unwilling to be over tedious Yet I will wind up the Topique with this Remarque That whereas the very Barbarians Deine Beasts in consideration of the good they do them * Wâ—â—â—â— Epicurus's 〈◊〉 neither thinks of nor does any â—hing Your God contrary-wise is so far from being Celebrated for any Favour that he performs not so much as the least Action He does nothing at all says he †The Gods not 〈◊〉 Truly Epicurus is much of the Humour of those Idle Lads that prefer no blessing to a Holy-day And yet even They too when they have got a Play-day do busie themselves in some â—â—â—â—â—ve Exâ—â—â—ise or other Whereas the 〈◊〉 is to be reputed so entirely 〈…〉 slâ—â—â—h that should he but Stir 〈…〉 much as his Happiness is worth Wâ—â—â— The Consequence of making them sâ— Doctrinâ— not only strips the Gods of all divine Motion and Operation but tends to render Men Lazy also since not even the Deities themselves can be Happy if they take any pains Their Residence Doings and the reâ—son of their Happiness according to the Epicureans enquir'd into But yet be it as you say that They are of Human shape Where do they reside Then What is their Course of Lifeâ— and wherefore is it that you term them Blessed For it seems necessary that he who would be Happy should use and have all good things within himself †The Order of the Elements Now each Inanimate has its proper station assign'd it the Earth the Lowest the Water above That the Air higher then both the highest of all is given to Fire ‖ All Animals have certain places allotted 〈◊〉 Of Animals some live upon the Land Others in the Water And some again being Amphibious inhabit both Nay and there are yet Others which are thought to arise from Fire and may be discern'd fluttering about in burning Furnaces I demand First therefore * Demands what is your Divinities place of abode Then if he stir at all what Appetites are capable of removing him from his post Lâ—stly Since it is proper to all †And covet something or other agreeable to their Natures Animated Beings to covet some certain thing or other that is agreeable to their respective Natures what is it that God affects what special End does the motion of his Mind and Reason tend to In a word how comes he to be Happy How Eternal For a Tripp in any of These Particulars is a * Makes him Mortal Blot Thus we see that †Idle conceipts knâ—w not where to stop and Prove Nothing an Ill-grounded Proposition comes to no Issue ‖ Epicurus's means of discerning the Figure of the Deity For you moreover deliver'd that the Figure of the Deity was only discernable by the Mind not by Sense That it was neither Solid nor Invariable That a Perception of it was affected by a Similitude and Transition of Images that incessantly proceeded from Innumerable Atoms upon which our Phansie being intent we So came to discern and presume that That Nature is Blessed and Eternal * Charg'd with Vnintelligibleness and Imaginariness Now what in the Name of those owers that are the subject of this Dispute do you mean by all This For if the Gods do only exist in Thought in Imagination and are absolutely void of Substance and Solidity what is the difference betwixt Imagining Thinking of a Divinity and a Hippocentaur †The Agitation of Mind by which it is supposed to be effected asserted to be vain phantastical Motion Other Philosophers term all such Effigiations of the Mind Vain Cogitation but You an Approach and Entry of Images into them ‖ An Example of such Idle Motion Thus I call my conceipting my self to behold T. Graechus Harangueing the People in the Capitâ—l and collecting Voyces against his Collegue M. Octavius Idle Motion while You affirm that the Images both of Graechus and Octavius do persevere and from the Capitol are brought to my Remembrance That the Case of Divine Images is not Unlike Tois by an earnest Intention whereupon our Minds are stir'd up and so we come to understand that the Deities are Happy and Immortal * Images being void of substance â—anâ—â—t 〈◊〉 aâ—â—forâ—e uâ—â—n the Miâ—◠〈◊〉 here 〈…〉 images themselves are objected Or if theâ— could yet Happiness would not be any consequence of it Now supposing that any such Figures there should Be whereby the Mind might be affected yet 't is only a certain naked Species of them that is represented And how comes That Violence either to be Empharical of a Blessedness and Eternity †The First author of them But what are and whence came these your pretended Images You have this Conceipt from Democritus who is himself very much reprehended for it And you find no Consequence upon it neither but the whole Cause it self halts and staggers ‖ The Preâ—ence of them maâ—e out to be Improbâ—â—â—e For what can be of harder Demonstration then how the Images of all men of Homer Archilochus Romulus Numa Pythagoras Plato should come into My head Not in the self same Forms that they were of neither So that how should they be Theirs then Or Whose Images are they Aristotle writes that there never was any such Person as the Poet Orpheus and Others say that the sort of Verse usually called Orphique was invented by one Cecrops a Pythagorean And yet Orpheus or according to Your way the Image of him has often run in my Thought Whence is it also that one kind of Figure of the same man appears to me and another to You Wherefore have we Representations of things that never either were or could be as Scylla Chimaera Or of such Men Places and Cities as we never beheld with our Eyes How happens it that I command them at pleasure Or that they câ—me even of their own accord while I am sleeping The whole Pretext Velleius is pure Triftle You do impose Images not upon our Eyes only but upon our Minds too so great a Privilege have you to talk Idly But how Inordinate you are in the Particular your pretended frequent occurring of such a * Epicurus's Transition of Visions Exploded Transition of flowing Visions that the same Thing may be seen by Many at One and the Same time speaks out I should blush to acknowledge that I understand not any thing of all
This were but your very selves who maintain them a whitt more knowing in the matter For how do you make out that †No Images because nâ— Atoms to furnish them Images whirle about Incessantly Or if so how come they yet to be Eternal They are supply'd by Innumerable Atoms you say But do These same Atoms cause then that they should be all Sempiternal Here you run to your ‖ And his Aequilibration Equilibration for so with leave I 'll express your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and tell us that since * Epicurus made Innumerable Atoms to rise and perish every Iâ—stant And at this rite to hâ—ld on to Eternity Nature is Mortal it is consequently Immortal too By This Rule because Men are Mortal they must some of them be also Immortal and seeing they spring from the Earth they spring from the Water likewise And you say further that as there are that destroy there cannot but be that preserve Admit That But then let them conserve Things that Are For I cannot make out these Gods to have any †Because they cannot be made up of Atoms as the Epicurears seem to conceâ—pt Being at all But how comes this whole Mass of things to proceed from and consist of * His pretended power of Atoms deny'd Atoms Were there as there are not any such they might jostle one another perhaps and be jumbled together but could never be able to Make Shape Colour or Animate So that This is in no wise a sufficient †And so the Immortality of the Gods not prov'd by them proof of the Immortality of the Gods Now then to their Happiness It is unquestionable that nothing can be Happy without Virtue But then Virtue consists in Action whereas your Deity is alwayes Idle so not Virtuous and therefore he cannot be ‖ Nor their Blessedness Blessed neither What kind of Life leads he now He enjoys a constant supply of all Good things without any Bad intermixt But what are those same Good things Pleasures that relate to the Flesh no doubt for you acknowlege no other delight of the Mind then what arises from and returns to the Body I hold not You Velleius to be any of those Epicureans who * Because not thoroughly seen â—â— the Grounds and Reâ—sâ—ns of his Doctrine blush at those words of Epicurus that express his inability to conceive of any Good separate from the Delights of Sense and the Palate all which he sticks not to reckon up one by one What Diet therefore what Liquours what Varieties of Musique and Flowers †They are not capable of seâ—suâ—l Pleasures What Scents or Touches will you Administer to the Deities to fill them with Joy and Delectation The Poets indeed have provided them Nectar and Ambrosia to make merry with and an Hebe or a Gâ—nimede to fill them Tipple But what will You allow them Epicurus for I neither see now your Divinity should come by any such nor know what to do with them if he had 'em So that Human Nature seems better accommodated then the Divine toward Living happily as being possess'd of sundry kinds of Pleasures But these you hold to be only superficial ones that barely Tickle 't is Epicurus's own word the Senses as it were Will there be no End of This Fooling For even our Philo himself could not away with making sport with the Esseminate Epicureans and their Luscious Pleasures He had indeed at his Fingers ends divers of Epicurus's Sentences in the very words that they were Originally couch'd in And repeated yet more sluttish ones of Metrodorus's who was Epicurus's Fellow-Philosopher every Inch of him * Metrodorus's scandalous Opinions This same Metrodorus taxes his Brother Timocrates for scrupling the certainty of all things constituent of a Happy Life to be measur'd by the Belly and This not one single time neither but diverse I see you allow of what I say for you know it to be True And if you did not I could produce the very Books themselves †To oppose the reduâ—ing of all things to Pleasure as their Vltimate end forreign to the present question But it is not my business at This time to impugn the Referring of all things to Pleasure That being a Question apart but only to shew that your Gods enjoy not any and therefore even according to your own Doctrine cannot be Happy ‖ Epicurean Reâ—sons for the Happiness of the Gods confuted But They are free from Pain And is That enough to compleat your most blessed Life abounding in all good things They ever phansie themselves to be Happy you say as having no other thoughts to trouble their Heads with Consider well on 't now and toss it in your mind whether the Godhead does nothing else thorough all Eternity but only Think All 's well with me and I am Happy Nor yet can I see which way that God should be Happy who is continually push'd and agitated with a Restless incursion of Atoms and from whom Images do constantly proceed Epicurus's Doctrine destructive of the very Being of a Deity But Epicurus has written Books also expresly to inculcate Piety and Râ—verence to the Deities True And how speaks he There So as that â—â—u would think you were hearing the Higâ—â—riest Scaevola or Coruncanus rather theâ— Him that subverted Religion and destroy'd the Temples and Altars of the Immortal Gods not with Hands as did Xerxes but with Arguments For wherefore must we worship the Deities when as you pretend they neither regard us nor so much as Do or are Solicitous about any thing at all But their Nature is so Glorious and Excellent that it makes its self Venerable to a wise man by its own Power * He proves not that they are of an Excellent Nature and therefore the pretence for Worshiping them falls But can there be any thing worthy of Honour in a Nature that only contemplates its own Happiness and neither will do does or ever yet did any thing And then what Piety can be due to one that we are not beholden to Or how can we stand in the least bound to Him that we must challenge nothing from †Piety defin'd For Piety is a Justice toward the Gods But how should there be a Right where there is no Intercourse nor Communication of Offices ‖ And Sanctity And Sanctity is the Skill of Worshiping them Now why they should be Worshipt at all I see not if we neither receive nor must hope for any Good at their hands Why again are they to be Reverenc'd out of an Admiration of that Nature wherein we discern not any thing Extraordinary You value your selves upon delivering us from Superstition Why Epicurus's Opinions do not only take away Supersti ion but Religion too e'en as much as do Diagoras's c. which is an Easie matter truly if you destroy all in the Gods that might Create it What more in effect did those
* Another Simile to know the Lord of Nature When you behold a fair and stately House either you are not to be wrought into a Perswasion that it was built for Mice and Weasels even thô you see not the Master of it And would you not shew your self miserably Weak indeed then should you Compute upon so admirable an Appointment of the Universe so great a Variety and Beauty of Celestial things so mighty a Bulk and Power of Land and Water to be All matter only of Your Accommodation and not the Mansions of the Immortal Gods Is not This Plain enough also A Collation of Higher things with Lower to insinuate that Man's Mind derives from Abâ—ve and is Demonstrative of the Existence of a Deity that what is Higher is still more Perfect And that the Earth is Lowest of all and compass'd about with a very thick Air Whence as we observe it to fare in such sort with diverse Cities and Regions that the Wits and Faculties of the People are the Duller because of the Fogginess of the Climate the self same thing happens to Mankind in General for that they are plac'd upon the Earth which is the grossest Quarter of the World And yet from the force even of Human Policy may the Existence of a certain Wisdom and That more profound too and divine be presum d upon For Where as sayes Socrates in * Who represents Socrates teaching that it came from Above Xenophon did Man get This of his Moreover if any one ask how we come by that Humour and Warmth which is diffus'd through the Body that terrene solidness of â—arts and in short that Vital Spirit of ours it is manifest that some of These we deriv'd from the Earth some from the Water some from Fire and some again from the Air wherein we Breath But Then for That which far exceeds the Other Reason as I term it or in more Words if you please the Mind Vnderstanding Cogitation Prudence Where found we it Whence had we it †The World infer'd as upon a Consequence to be inâ—u'd with a Reason every way Compleat and Perfect Shall the World have all the rest and yet want This one thing which is of the greatest Value Unquestionably Nothing is and not only is but can so much as be imagin'd to be Better Fairer or more Excellent then the Vniverse And if Wisdom and Reason are most to be accounted of That which is confessedly the Best cannot but be indu'd with them The Harmonious Relation of Natural things urged in proof of a Deity How comes there to be so agreeable consentient and persevering an ‖ Natural Communication Alliance of things surely no man can deny what I say Could the Earth come to be cover'd ar one time with Flowers and at another with Ice and Snow Or the Approches and Retreats of the Sun be known amids such a Number of things that are in continual self-variation by the * In Capricorn and Cancer Solstices and Winter-seasons Or the †The Tides that by coming and going seem as it were to Breath Breathings of the Deep and Compressions of the Waters be mov'd by the Wax or Wain of the Moon Or yet the Different Courses of the Stars be maintain'd by the same Rolling of the whole Heaven That all This I say should come to pass that there should be so harmonious a Concert of all the Parts of the World amongst themselves could not certainly but be Impossible were they not bound up and contain'd by One Divine and Constant Spirit These things when handled in the free and distinct Method that I have in my Thought will be the less obnoxious to the Cavils of the * Who Quarrel'd all things Academiques Thô indeed at †The Founder of the Stoical Sâ—ct Zeno's scant and streight rate of Couching them they lye the more Open to Exception For as a Running Stream is seldom or never corrupted but standing Water easily So by a flowing Vein of Expression the Errours of the Reprehender are wash'd away whilst the Narrowness of a Pincht course of speaking is scarce able to ‖ Bâ— Reason of its Obscurity defend it self For Thus did Zeno Press all that I dilate upon Whatever Acts by Reason says he is to be prefer'd to that which does not But nothing is Better then the World Consequently it makes use of it By the same way of Reasoning may it also be prov'd to be Wise to be Blessed and to be Eternal For all these things being more Valuable then are those which want them and nought Preferable to the World it necessarily follows that it is a * That produces and conserves all things God And That Thus too No part of any thing that wants Sense can be Capable of Perception But some Parts of the Universe are Sensible Therefore is not the World destitute of sense He proceeds and urges yet more Closely * An Argument drawn fr m the Definition of Generation Nothing says he that has neither Sense nor Reason of its Own can generate what is qualify'd with Both But the World produces things indu'd with Life and Reason And Therefore it must needs it self be Animated and participate of Reason He also concludes the Argument with a Similitude as his Manner is Thus. If well-tun'd ipes are made out of the Olive-Tree it is not to be doubted but there is a certain Innate skill of Piping in the Tree it self Or if the Plane Tree produce good Fiddle-strings the Presumption is the same Viz. That a Natural Musical Virtue is inherent in those Plane Trees And why then may not the World be deem'd Animated and Wise when such as are indu'd with Life and Wisdom do come forth of it The First Topique The Existence of a Deity â—prâ—â—'d by Argumenâ—s drawn from Nature BUT since I am fall'n into a different way of Proceeding from what I spoke of in the beginning For I deny'd that this First Topique requir'd to have much said upon 't in regard every body could not but see that Gods there are I will confirm the Point it self by Arguments drawn from Nature For so it is that whatever is capable of Nourishment and Encrease contains within it an Efficacy of Natural Heat without which it could neither be Nourish'd nor Grow For things that are Hot and Fiery are agitated and impell'd by their proper Motion But such as are nourish'd and encreas'd are indu'd with a temperate and convenient Fervency which so long as it abides in us Sense and Life do remain also but when This is chill'd and extinguish'd we our selves are immediately put out and perish Now by Reasons much of a sort with These it is that our Cleanthes shews what a great proportion of Heat is inherent in all Bodies For he will not allow that there is any Food so gross as that it is not to be Digested within the compass of a Day and a Night and
whole Earth and as to its Touch it has a power not only to Warm but many times to Scorch Neither of which it were able to do if it were not of a Fiery Property Seeing therefore says he that the Sun is Fiery and fed and nourish'd with the Vapours of the Ocean For no Fire can subsist without some Nourishment or other it must necessarily either be like that Fire which we make use of for profit and sustenance or That which is contain'd in the Bodies of Animated Beings Now as for This Fire of ours which is requisite to the Convenience of Life it is a Consumer and Devourer Confounding and Ruinating whatever it catches hold of Whereas the vital and salutary Heat of the Body conserves cherishes augments sustains all things and indues with Sense Wherefore he makes it to be obvious Which of these two sorts of Fire the Sun is of in regard It likewise occasions All to flourish and every thing in its respective Kind to come to Maturity Since the Heat then of the Sun is of the same Temper with that Warmth which abides in Living Creatures the Sun it self must Consequently be indu'd with Life And also the Stars that are constituted of that Celestial Ardour which is term'd the Sky * The Better the Part of the World the more Noble the Creature that is bred inâ—â— And whereas some Creatures are bred in the Earth some in the Water some in the Air Aristotle holds it very absurd to conceipt that no Animals at all are generated in that Part of the World which seems to be most * Because a Fiery Quality causes Life proper to produce them Now the Stars do abide in the Firmament which being the most subtle part and still vigorous and in agitation whatever Animal proceeds from it cannot but excell in Quickness of Sense and of Motion Wherefore since they are generated in the Sky it is but meet that they should be indu'd with Sense and Vnderstanding Whence it will follow that they are to be †To have a Divine Nature reckon'd in the number of the Gods For it may be observ'd that such as live in Countries of a clear and thin Air are commonly sharper Witted and of better Intellectuals then those that are born in a Thick and Foggy Climate And the nature of the Dyet also is held to have some effect upon the ‖ Wit which proceeds from Heat Edge of the Mind Probable therefore it is that the Stars are of an Excellent Vnderstanding because they both inhabit the Ethereal Quarter of the Vniverse and are fed with the Humours of the Water and the Earth purifi'd and extenuated thorough so great a Distance But the Order and Constancy of the Stars are yet more eminently Declaratory of their Sense and Vnderstanding For nought can be mov'd according to * In a Regular and constant Order Rule and Number without Advice and such a Consideration as has nothing Rash in it Various or Fortuitous Now the Course and eternal Stability of the Stars cannot be expressive of †Some held her to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and without Reason See more of This in Pag. 120 and 121 of this Book Nature because they are perfectly Rational nor of Fortune neither which being a Friend to Change will not away with steadiness It follows therefore that they are mov'd of Themselves and by virtue of their own Sense and * Divinity â—nd Conseâ—â—tly are â—mated Senâ— and Raâ—al â—atural Unâ—ral and â—ntary Moâ—â—â— Nor is Aristotle again unworthy of Commendation for conceiving that whatever is capable of Motion is †mov'd by Nature by Force or by Will Now the Sun Moon and all the Stars are mov'd As for those things that are mov'd by Nature they are either carry'd Downward by their Weight or Vpward by reason of their Lightness Neither of which happens to the Stars for Their Motion is Circular Nor yet can they be said to be mov'd against Nature by means of some greater Force for what can be more Powerful then she It Remains then that the Motion of the Stars is Voluntary Now if a man be satisfy'd of This it would not only argue in him Ignorance but Impiety to Deny that Gods there are And truly there is not much difference betwixt gainsaying it and depriving them of all ‖ Procuration Intention and * As the Epicureans did Action For I take it one that does nothing cannot properly be said to Be. †The First Point concluded with an Asseveration of the Existence of a Deity Wherefore the Existence of a Deity is a matter so clear that no body in his Witts can well make any Question of it The Second Topique Begun from Attention and Difficulty § 2. WE are Next Therefore to Examine what kind of Nature they are of In which Consideration it is very hard to carry our ‖ i. e. advance them from Sense to Reason Thoughts from the Appearances of things to our Eyes This Difficulty has so far wrought upon the more Vulgar sort and upon some * The Epicureans who judg'd by Sense as well as the Common-People Philosophers also that are little above them that they cannot take in any notion of a Deity but from the Idea of a Man Which light and unsound Opinion having been confuted by Cotta there is no need for me to say any thing to it †The Former Hypotheses repeated and accommodated to the Prenotion of a God But since by a certain Impulse of Spirit we are prepossess'd with an Assurance that Such God is as First to be Animated and Then not to be surpass'd by ought in Nature I see not what may be more accommodable to This Presension and Notion of ours then First of all to take the World it self then which nothing can be more Excellent to be indu'd with Life and to be a Deity Epicurus who truly was far from being Lucky at a Jest Or worthy of his ‖ Athens whi h was the Emporium of neat Speaking but Epicurus who was of it was a plain and vulgar spoken man Countrey may make as merry with This as he pleases and avow himself unable to conceive what a Round Voluble God should be Yet shall he never beat me out of * The belief of a God it Nay and his very self too Proves as much For even He allows that Gods there are because there must needs be some or other admirable Nature then which nothing can be Better †Zeno's Argument Repeated Now then the World there is not any thing Better sure And it is moreover unquestionable that whatever is Animated and partakes of Sense Reason and Vnderstanding is more valuable then that which has them not Whence it follows that the Vniverse is Animated and participates of Sense Reason and Vnderstanding And the same Argument is Conclusive of its Divinity likewise But This shall anon be made Plainer out by the
Power Stirring up necessary Motions in all Bodies And Others That it is a Virtue partaking both of Reason and Order proceeding as it were in a Track and declaring what the Cause of every thing is and what the Effect Whose Skill no Art no Hand no Artist can attain unto by Imitation For as much as thô Seed be exceeding Small of it self yet is the Virtue of it so great that if it fall into a Nature proper for Conception and to contain it and get but matter whereby it may be sustained and encreased it so forms and fashions every thing in its respective kind that Some are nourish'd only by their Roots Others indu'd with Motion Sense and Appetite and a capacity out of Themselves to beget their Like Again there are yet Others also who apply the word Nature to every thing As Epicurus who Divides Thus All Natures that are says he do consist of a Body and a Void and the Accidents that accompany them * Nature according to the Stoiques consists of Orâ—er and Art But as for Our People when we say the World is supported and govern'd by Nature we do not understand after the manner of a Clod a scrap of a Stone or any thing of the like sort that is without a faculty of sticking together But of a Tree an Animal in which there appears nothing of Temerity but Order and a certain Resemblance of Art Now if those things which subsist by their Roots A Course of Argument to mâ—ke out that aâ—l things are subjected to and govern'd by Nature after an admirable manner do live and flourish by the skill of Nature The Earth it self is undoubtedly sustein'd by the same Art and Power of Nature as one that being Impregnated with Seeds produces and brings all things forth of her self embracing the Roots she augments them and is her self again nourish'd by higher and external Natures And by the * Exhalations expirations of the †i. e. The Earth same is the Air also fed the Sky and all the Stars Wherefore if the Earth be upheld and nourished by Nature the same Reason holds too for the rest of the World For Roots are fixt in the Earth Animated Beings are sustain'd by breathing the Air and the Air it self sees hears sounds together with Us for without it none of these could be done nay and it is mov'd with us too for wherever we stir where-ever we go it seems as it were to give place and to yield And whatsoever things are carried in the Middle which is the Lowest part of the World or from the Centre to the Superficies or by a round Conversion about the Middle all These do constitute One Entire Nature that holds the whole World together And whereas there are Four sorts of Bodies by the Vicissitude of Them it is that the Nature of the Universe is continu'd For the Water arises out of the Earth the Air out of the Water the Sky out of the Air And so backward again the Air proceeds from the Sky the Water from the Air and from the Water the Earth which is Lowest of all Thus by the moving upward and downward back and forward of These Natures whereof all things do consist is effected a Conjunction of the several Parts of the World Which must necessarily be either Sempiternal and of the self same Garniture and Appointment that we now see it to be Or certainly of an exceeding long standing and likely to remain for a great and almost Immense space of time Now whethersoever of these it be it follows yet that the World is administer'd by Nature For what sayl of Fleets what Embattlement of Armies Or on the Other hand to make a Collation of the things that Nature effects what shooting up of a Vine or a Tree Moreover what Figure of any Animated Being and Compaction of Members is significatory of so great skill of Nature as is the World it self Either there is nothing at all therefore that is govern'd by ‖ Sensibilis Sensitive Nature or it must be confess'd that the World so is For that which contains all other Natures and their Seeds how can it self but be administer'd by Nature If a Body should allow that Teeth and the Beard do proceed from Nature but not that the Man himself out of which these grow exists by the same Nature he could not be thought to understand that what produces any thing out of it self is of greater perfection then the thing so produc'd Now the * Which the Stoiques held to be Vniversal Nature and a Deity World is the Seedsman Planter Begetter as I may say and the Educator and Nourisher of all things that are administer'd by Nature and cherishes and sustains every one of them as its Parts and Members But if the Parts of the World be administer'd by Nature by Nature also cannot the World it self but be govern'd And indeed with the Administration thereof is no fault to be found For of those Natures that Were the Best that could be is effected Let any one shew how they might have been Better But That no body will ever be able to do And whoever would mend any thing in it will either make it worse or desire that which is not possible to he done But if all the Parts of the World are so constituted that they could neither have been more convenient for Use nor fairer to the Eye let us examine whether they be Casual or else in such a State that they were no way able to Cohere but under the Influence the Direction of Sense and a Divine Providence If then the things that are perfected by Nature are Better then such as are wrought by Art and that Art effect not any thing without the help of Reason Assuredly Nature her self is in no wise void of Reason How therefore can it be Proper when you cast your Eye upon an Image or a Picture to conclude that there went Art to the framing of it And upon Making at a great distance a Ship under Sail not to question its being Steer'd by Skill and Reason Or when you see a Clock either of Brass or of Water * Scipio was the First that Invented the Water-Clock in Rome to understand that the Hours are Told by Art not by Chance And yet to think the World which contains these very Arts themselves the Masters of them and all things to be destitute of Counsel and Reason Should any body carry the Sphere lately invented by our Intimate Friend Posidonius each Conversion whereof effects the same thing in the Sun the Moon and the Five Wandring Stars that in the Compass of every Day and Night is wrought in the Heaven into * They were accounted to be Barbarous Countries Scythia or Brittany what one even of those very Barbarians would doubt but there went Reason to the framing of it Whereas †The Epicureans c. Greek and Latin who appropriated all Learning and
betake themselves to it as their proper and Natural â—lace So great a Care of preserving it self has Nature implanted in every Creature I have likewise read of a certain Bird call'd Platalea the Shoveler that lives by watching of such Fowl as dive into the Water For when they have duckt and caught a Fish he flyes to them presses their Head with his Beak till they let fall the Prey and then seizes upon it himself It is further Written of this same Bird that he will fill himself with shells and when concocted by the heat of his Stomach cast them up again And thus he extracts out of 'em matter of Nourishment Now the Sea-froggs are said to * Obâ—â—ere or else cover themselves in the Sand c. throw themselves upon their backs on the Sand just by the Water side and when Fish approach them as to Baits kill and devour them There is a kind of Natural War between the Kite and the Crow in so much that the One breaks the Others Eggs whenever he lights upon them Aristotle has noted a great many things but a body must needs admire at what he has observ'd in the Cranes Viz. that when in quest of Warmer places they cross the Sea they fly in the Form of a Triangle by the highest Corner whereof they cut and beat back the Air the slopings of both sides as by Wings in the nature of Oares advantage them in their flight And then the Basis of it is like a Ship befriended with the Winds They also rest one anothers Heads and Necks upon the Backs of those that fly foremost and because he that Leads as having nothing to lean upon cannot do This he at length gets behind that so he likewise may repose himself the next of those that have rested succeeding in his place And so they take their Turns throughout their whole Course I could produce sundry other Instances much of a sort with This but This may suffice upon the Main But to come to more familiar matters The Care and Impulses of Beasts toward keeping themselves in a state of Health how solicitous are Beasts to secure themselves How do they cast their Eyes round about while Feeding and take shelter in Dens With many other strange things And then how wonderful are those Particulars which were not long that is not many ages since discover'd by the Industry of Professors of Physique The Aegyptian Ibes take care to purge themselves by the Vomit of a Dog It is reported that Panthers when run Mad by eating venomous Flesh have a certain Remedy that as soon as they have us'd it keeps them from Dying and Recovers them The Wild Goats in Crete being shot with poyson'd Arrows seek out an Herb call'd Dictamnum Dittany and having Tasted of it the shafts 't is said drop out of their Bodies And Hinds too just before they Fawn do thoroughly cleanse themselves with a small Herb term'd Sesela Hart-Wort 〈…〉 â—f â—sâ— Dâ—â—gers 〈◊〉 â—â—curing 〈…〉 Let us next contemplate how every thing respectively with its proper Weapons defends it self against Fear and Force Bulls with Horns Bores with Tusks Lyons with Teeth 〈◊〉 Black 〈◊〉 for such 〈◊〉 That in the â—â—agg at the â—eck of this Fish and therefore the Romans made use of it for Ink. Some secure themselves by Flight Others by Hiding-Holes The Cuttle-fish by the effusion of * Ink the Cramp-fish by Benumbing And there are also sundry Creatures that keep off their Persuers by the Intolerable Odiousness of their smell Providential Provisions for the Perpetual adornment of the World Moreover to the End that the Beauty of the World might never Fail Providence has been particularly careful that there should always be Kinds as well of Beasts as of Trees and all things that either subsist †i. e. Trees and Herbs by their Roots in the Earth or are sustain'd by their Trunks All which truly have that strength of Seed in them as to produce Many out of One. Now this Seed is included in the most Inward Part of those Berries that proceed out of each Stock and with these same Berries are both Men plentifully Fed and the Earth furnish'd with a Renovation and Supply of Trees of the same sort Instincts of Nature toward the Gâ—neration and Support of Animated Beings What shall I say either to the great Reason that Appeares in Beasts toward the perpetual conservation of their Kind For First they are Male and Female which Nature Fram'd for the sake of Conservation Then the Parts of the Body are most Convenient both for Procreation and Conception And there are also in both Sexes most strong Desires of Copulation Now when the Seed is fallen into its * i. e. the Sells of the Womb. places it draws all the Nourishment in a manner to it self in which being Intrench'd it Forms an Animal Which Birth when slipt out of the Womb the greatest part of the Damm's Food in such Creatures as are nourish'd by the Dugg turns to Milk and the New-fallen without any other Directer then the pure Instinct of Nature covets the Teat and Thence draws sufficient nourishment And to shew that there is nothing of Chance in all this and that 't is the work of a †Solertis Naturae Wise and Provident Nature those that bring Many Young ones as Sows and Bitches have a Number of Papps given them which such have fewer of that bear but a few at a time What now Natural Affections of Beasts toward their Issue shall I say to the Tenderness of Brutes in educating and looking to their Issue till able to shift for themselves For thô Fishes t is said when they have Spaun'd their Eggs take no further care of them the Spawn being easily preserv'd and brought to Life in the Water And thô Tortoises and Crocodiles having difcharg'd their Burthens upon the Land cover the Eggs and so back again they Quickening and being brought up of themselves Yet Hens and other Fowl not only need a quiet place to Lay in but also make Holes and Nests and strew them as soft as they can that the Eggs may be the better kept Out of which when they have Hatch'd Young they tend them in such manner as with their Wings do protect them from Harm either by Cold or the Sun if the Weather be Soultry And when they came to be Fledg'd they see to their Flight and are freed from the rest of their trouble Man usefull to some parts of the Creation and other parts of it again profitable to Him Moreover to the Health and Conservation of some Animals and of those things that grow out of the Earth is Human Art and Application very Usefull For divers Cattle as Plants could not be safe unless as well Men lookt after them And then again other places afford sundry great Opportunities for our own Advantage and Encrease The Nile Waters Aegypt and having Drown'd and Flouded it all Summer it
from when e proceeded the c. what degree the Compounding of Unguents Saucing of Meats and the Delicacies of Corporal Pleasures are arriv'd We stand indebted to the Gods for our Reason the Faculty of Speech and all our Abilities of Mind And then again whoever clearly discerns not that the very Soul and Mind of Man his Reason Vnderstanding Prudence were Perfected by a Divine Care I hold him to have no claim to any of them But while I handle This Point I wish Cotta I were Master of your Eloquence For how would You illustrate First what an Understanding we have of Matters Then how we lay together and confer Premises and Consequences by such means collecting what may be concluded from each several and This we find out by †i. e. Syllogism Reason We moreover Define things apart and then take them all together by Comprehension and so come to understand Knowledge the Power thereof the Quality and that then It is not ought more Excellent even in God himself Further how valuable are those things which You †There can be no Art without Science and They held the very best Philosophy to be no better than Inscience Academiques either think slightly of or utterly exclude which thô they are without us yet the perception and comprehension of them fall both under the Senses and the Mind and of which also when examin'd and compar'd one with another we make up Arts partly necessary for the Convenience and in part for the Pleasure of Life And now for the Mistress of all the rest as you are wont to term it the Faculty of Speech how Illustrious how Divine is it In that it enables us to Learn what we were Ignorant of and to instruct others in what we know And then by This we Exhort Perswade Comfort the Afflicted deliver the Affrighted from their Fear moderate Excessive Mirth and asswage Lust and Anger This it is that has brought us over from a Wild and Salvage course of Life and bound us up in the Fellowship of Civil Institutions Laws and Cities Nor yet will ye believe unless you mark it well how exquisite the Work of Nature is in order to the use of Speech For in the first place an * i. e. Aspera Arteria or the Weazon Artery runs along from the Lungs even to the Inward part of the Mouth thorough which the Voice drawing its Original from the †i. e. The Brain which as I said before Plato held to be the Seat thereof Mind is convey'd and sent forth Next in the Mouth is plac'd the Tongue bounded by the Teeth and This modifies and terminates the Immoderate Effusion of the Voice and so renders the Sounds thereof distinct and articulate by driving it to the Teeth and other parts of the same Mouth Hence is it that * i. e. The Stoiques Our Party usually Resemble the Tongue to the †Vs'd in playing upon the Cittern and other Musical Instruments The Aptitude and Vsefulness of the Hand and the Works produc'd by the sâ—me Quil the Teeth to the Strings and the Nostrils to those Cavities that in Tunes resound to the Strings Thus too how apt and ministerial to how many Arts are the Hands that Nature has given to Man For the Fingers are easily bent and with as little trouble stretch'd by reason of the Supple Commissures nor is there any pain at all in either Motion Therefore is the Hand by Application of the Fingers fit for Painting Turning Carving and Playing upon Pipes and Strung Instruments These now are Works of Delight the Next of Necessity as Tilling the Ground Building of Houses Coverings for our Bodies both Woven and Knit And the whole Workmanship of Brass and Iron Which may give us to understand that it is by the Activity and Invention of the Mind the Perception of the Senses together with the address of Artificer's hands that we come to have whatever may be needfull either to our Cloathing Ornament or Security to have Cities Walls Houses Temples By the Industry likewise that is to say by the Hands of Men has great both variety and plenty of Meats been prepar'd the Fields with their help producing many things as well of present use as that are ripen'd by time And we also feed upon Flesh Fish and Fowl Catching some and bring up others Moreover we Back Four-footed Beasts and make them fit for Carriage by their strength and speed augmenting our Own On some of them we lay burthens and impose Yokes and we turn the * Vnderstanding Quick Senses of Elephants and the †Quickness of scent Sagacity of Dogs to our proper advantage We dig Iron a Mettal necessary for Tilling the Ground out of the Caverns of the Earth And find out the most secret Veins of Brass Silver Gold as being both Convenient for Use and gracefull for Ornament As for Trees and all Timber Planted and Forrest with some thereof we make Fires to warm us and dress meat and some again we Build with that by Houses over our Heads we may be protected against Heats and Colds The same also is highly Usefull for Making Ships By whose Voyages we are from every Part plentifully suppli'd with all Conveniencies for Life Furthermore it is We only that Command the most Violent things that Nature has ordein'd the Sea and Winds by means of the Art of Navigation And we hold the possession and benefit of a great deal of what the Ocean produces In Man too is the Dominion of all the Goods of the Earth We enjoy the Fields and the Mountains the Rivers and the Lakes are Ours We sow Corn and plant Trees render the Ground Fruitful by Inductions of Water bound direct or divert Rivers as we think good In a word we endeavour in the ‖ i. e. The Partâ— of the World Nature of Things with our Hands to effect as it were Another Nature The Excellencies and Perâ—â—â—ions of Human Reason What either shall we say to Human Reason has it not penetrated even into Heaven it self For it is We Alone of all Earthly Creatures that have understood the Risings Settings and Courses of the Stars By Man are the Days Months Years determin'd and the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon What How great and When they will be Noted and Foretold for all time to come Now the Mind contemplating these things receives Thence a Knowledge of the Deity from That springs Piety to which is annext Justice and the rest of the Vertues And from These results a Happy Life Like and Equal to that of the Gods falling short of the Celestial Beings in no other Particular save only what is not necessary to Happy Living Immortality The Conclusion of this Branch of the Argument Now in setting forth these things I take it I have fully made appear how far Human Nature exceeds That of all other Animals From whence should be collected that neither such a Figure and
Substantially but Adjectively Individual and that may not be broken and beaten in Pieces And since every Animal has a Passive Nature None can avoid the Necessity of receiving somewhat from without which is to say in effect of bearing and suffering So that if each Animal be Mortal there is none Immortal If every Animal may be cut in Two and Divided none can be Individual none Eternal But all Animals are liable to receive and bear external violence Necessary therefore it is that every Animal be Mortal Dissoluble and Dividual For as if all Wax be Mutable there can be nothing of Wax but may be Chang'd any more than of Silver or Brass if the Nature of Silver and Brass be Variable So in like manner if the Substances that * i. e. The Elements are whereof all things are compounded be Alterable no Bodies at all can be Vnchangeable But as you teach those Elements whereof each thing consists are Mutable Therefore is every Body so too For were any Bodies Immortal All would not be Mutable So that in Consequence all Bodies are Mortal For all Bodies are either Water Air Fire Earth or what is constituted of These or of some of them But there is nothing of these that perishes not For both whatsoever is Earthy may be Divided And Water is so Fluid that it is easily press'd and parted As for Fire and Air the least Impulse makes way through either of them as being highly yielding by Nature and subject to Dissipation Moreover they all not only perish but are chang'd too into one anothers Natures as when Earth turns to Water Air arises out of That the Skie out of Air and so for their Course * i. e. When a Higher and Better Nature is chang'd into a Lower and Worse as Fire nto Air Air into Water c. backward again Now if those things whereof every Animal is Constituted be Perishable no Animal can be Sempiternal †Hâ—viâ—g Thus destroy'd the Divinity of the Woâ—ld he Now sets about overthrowing its Eternity Nay and thô This were not Insisted upon yet can no Animal be sound that had not a Beginning and shall be for ever For they are all indu'd with Sense Consequently they feel Hot things and Cold Sweet and Bitter and cannot by any sense enjoy what 's Gratefull to them without being liable to that which is otherwise Wherefore if they be sensible of ‖ i. e. Of the Impression that Pleasure makes upon the Sense Pleasure so are they of Pain And whatever is subject to Pain must necessarily be liable to Dissolution So that it is to be acknowledg'd that every Animal is Mortal Moreover whatever feels not Pleasure and Pain That can be no Animal since as an Animal it must needs have a sense of such things Now what does feel them cannot be Eternal and each Animal does In Consequence not any Animal is Eternal And yet further there can be no Animal without a Natural Appetition and Aversion What 's Agreeable to Nature is Coveted and the Contrary Declin'd Now every Animal covets Some things and shuns Others And what it does avoid is Opposite to its Nature and that which is so has power to destroy it Necessary therefore it is that all Animals Perish Innumerable reasons might be produc'd to infer and conclude that there is nothing partakes of Sense but must Die For the very Things themselves that we are sensible of as Cold Heat Pleasure Pain and the like when they are in Excess Kill Now no Animal is without Sense Consequently none is Eternal * A New Argument to prove no Animal to be Eternal For the Animated must needs be of a †i. e. Substance Nature either Simple as an Earthy Firy ‖ i. e Spirable or Airy Animal or Watry And what such a thing should be there can be no apprehending or Compounded of more * i. e. Elements Substances every of which has a place the Highest Middle or Lowest proper for it to be mov'd in by the Power of Nature And These may hold together for a time but that they should Always is Impossible forasmuch as each of them must necessarily be taken again to its own Place And Therefore no Animal is Sempiternal But Your Party Balbus Exceptions against the Stoiques for placing all the Power of Nature the Life of Animals in Fire and then making That Fire Eternal and a God use to ascribe All to the Virtue of Fire following †He was by the Greeks Nick-nam'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 s enebrosus Heraclitus I presume a man that every one interprets not the same way thô since he would not have understood what he wrote I 'le pass him by For Thus you say that all ‖ i. e. Life Now Heat is the Native Instrument made use of by the Soul whether Animal Sensitive or Vegetible Power is Fire and therefore that both Animals Die as soon as this Warmth fails them and also that in every Nature of things such live and flourish as are indu'd with Heat Now I see not why if Bodies perish when Heat is extinguish'd they should not Die too upon the Loss of * i. e. Radical Moisture Vpon the Consumption of which Animals Dissolve Moisture or of Breath especially since over much †As in the Case of a Fever or the like Disease But then This is a Death Contrary to Nature Heat kills them likewise So that This holds good in the Other as well as in Heat But let us see the * i. e. The Conclusion of the Disputation and whither it Tends Issue This you would have I suppose that there is not in Vniversal Nature and the World any †i e. That is an Animal of it self even from without i. e. plac'd without the Bodies of Animated Beings save only Fire Which same Fire is an Animal of it self without the Mixture of any Other Nature i. e. without any other Nature that may Join it self with it Animal from Without beside Fire And why so now rather than save only the ‖ i. e. Wherefore would you rather have no Animal from without in the World but Fire then but the Soul i. e. but the Air which we draw in Breathing Soul from * i. e. Of which Soul i. e. of which Air the Life of Animals does also consist as Anaximenes and other Philâ—sophers held which too the Life of Animals proceeds and upon that consideration it is term'd †In Another place Tully makes Anima to be so call'd from Animus so that uâ—less we suppose so great a man to have Contradicted himself it were better perhaps to saâ— upon which Consideration it is term'd Animal Anima But how take you as for Granted that Life is nothing else but Fire One would think it likely to be somewhat Compounded of Fire and Soul together But if Fire be an Animal of it self without the mixture with it of
Mercury Drowned instead of being Rewarded by Pelops whom Jupiter had reviv'd and for his Shoulder that Ceres had eaten up given him an Ivory one for whom at a Race for Hippodamia when 13 had run and lost their Livâ—s he left the Chariot-wheel loose and brake the Neck of his Master Oenâ—maus a King of Elis who was told by the Oracle that his Son-in-law should occ sion his death as iâ— fell out But the Kindred and Pâ—steriâ—y of Pelops Thyâ—stes Aegisthus Agamemnon Niobe Orestes c. were ever after Unfortunate and came to Untimely Ends. Myrtilus Whether the Poets have deprav'd the Stoiques or They given Authority to the Poets is not easie to say But Monstrous and Incredible things are deliver'd by them both Now neither was the Vexation of whom the Iambicks of †Hipponax hurt * An Ephesian Poet so Deform'd that Bupalus drew his Pâ—cture to be laught at which so Incens'd him that he wrote an Invective against him and made him hang himself or or of him wounded by the Verses of ‖ A Parian Pâ—et who wrote such Iambicks againâ—t his Father in Law Lycambes for Espousing his Daughter Neobule to him and afterward refusing to give her is forc'd him to hang himself and that his Daughter also Archilochus occasion'd by the Deity but it proceeded from themselves Nor when we reflect upon the Lust of Aegisthus or of * The Son of Priamus who stole away Hellene and so occasion'd the Destruction of Troy and of all his Family Paris derive we the Cause from God while we hear the Voice I may say of the Crime Nor yet do I impute the Recovery of so many Sick to †The God of Physique Aesculapius more than to ‖ A Famous Physitian of Coüs who dy'd in the 104. year of his Age. Hippocrates Or think the Laoedemonian * i. e. Laws Discipline was given the †i. e. The Citizens of Sparta the Metropolis of Lacedemonia Spartans by Apollo rather than by * A King of Sparta who having made many Severe Laws pretended he Establish'd them by Divine Inspiration and the advice of Apollo himself Lycurgus Two more Examples to confirm his Thesis that Men not the Gods are the Occasion of all Evils and Misfortunes to Men in that the Deity cannot be Angry An Objection that they could have prevented them not answer'd as one would expect He concludes there is no Providence at all with Relation to Human Affairs I say that * General of the Achaians who turn'd the Liberty allow'd by the Romans to their Hurt and offer'd Violence to their Embassadours which occasion'd the War that ended in the destruction of Corinth Critolaus †i. e. Occasion'd the Overthrow and Destruction overthrew ‖ The Capital City of Achaia in Greece Corinth * The Carthaginian General who for the Cruelty he us'd to the Souldiers under the Scipio's in Spain was the Cause of Carthage's being burnt and utterly destroy'd by Publius Cornelius Scipio the Proconsul Asdrubal †The Metropolis of Africa Carthage 'T was They put out those two Eyes of the Sea-Coast and not that the Divinity had taken Offence against any You saying he cannot be mov'd to Anger at all But Vndoubtedly he was able to have reliev'd and ‖ And so after a sort was the Occasion of their Overthrow may some Stoique object preserv'd such Great and Famous Cities there being nought that God cannot doe as You Teach even without any labour For as the Members of Man's Body are easily mov'd by the Mind and * The Will is the Mistress of the Faculties Will so is every thing possible to be done mov'd and chang'd by the Divinity of the Gods Neither say you This in a way of Fâ—ndness and Superstition but Physically and upon Rational Assurance In as much as the * i. e. The Materia Prima Matter whereof All is made and †i. e. Of it self and not by Accident Is is so yielding and malliable that not ought but may in an Instant be fashion'd out of it and chang'd And that it is the Divine Providence that has the Command and Disposure of this Universal Matter And therefore turn she which way she will she can effect whatever she pleases So ‖ The Academique's Inferences from this Doctrine of the Stoiques A Gradation from Particulars to all Mankind in Denial of Providence The Stoical Tenets Clash one with another He concludes with denying it to be his Meaning to Destroy the Divinity of the Gods now either she knows not what she is able to doe Neglects Human Affairs or cannot Discern that which is Best She takes no Care of Particular Men. Well! Nor of Cities Not So Nor of Countries neither and Nations Now if she slight even These what marvel if the Whole Race of Man be neglected by her But how can you say the Gods attend not all things and yet affirm that Dreams are imparted to and distributed amongst Men by the Immortal Beings Much good may 't do ye with these same * i. e. Providence and other Stoical Tenets Dreams then since Your Opinion stands for the Truth of Dreams You say further that Vows are certainly heeded by the Deity Now Individuals make These Consequently the Divine †i. e. Providence Mind regards Particulars Observe ye her not therefore to be less busie than you speak of But suppose her very much taken up turning about Heaven Overseeing the Earth Governing the Water Why yet lets she so many Deities be Idle and doe nothing at all Why sets she not some or other Vnemploy'd Gods for You Balbus have expounded them to be Innumerable over Human Affairs This is in a manner all I had to Deliver concerning the Nature of the Gods not to the Intent of Destroying it but only of letting you see how Intricate a Point it is and difficult to be Explain'd When Cotta had thus spoke he made an End The Conclusion And Balbus Return'd upon him You have born very hard indeed Cotta upon the Disputation with so much Religion and Foresight ‖ And by Arguments Confirm'd instituted by the Stoiques touching the Providence of the Gods But since Night is coming on you shall allow me some other day to Argue against what you have said For the Contest must be for * Pro Aris Focis A Proverb Religion and * Pro Aris Focis A Proverb Sacrifices for the Temples and Holy Places of the Gods and for the very Walls of the City which you High-Priests account upon as * So the Romans held them to be Romulus being â—hought to have kill'â— his Brother Râ—mus because he Profan'd the low and now built Walls of Rome by Leaping over them But yet they Consecrated not the Gates in that they were of Common Use Sacred and are more carefull to Fence the City with †Because Religion is a stronger Safeguard to a City than either Walls or Bulwarks The Little Island of Delos was not afraid of any body tho' so vâ—st a Treasure was in it and it had no manner of Defence belonging to it Religion than even with Walls Now ‖ Scil. Temples Altars c. These to * i. e. Not to stand up in the Defence of Desert while I have Breath in my Body were surely a Great Wickedness Truly Balbus Reply'd Cotta to This I should be glad to be Confuted am rather for Discoursing of than Pronouncing upon what I have Deliver'd And well aware how much you are too strong for me No †This is sp ken Ironically Doubt of it Interpos'd Velleius as one that believes even Dreams to be sent us from ‖ No the Stoiques and Romans held not Dreams to be sent by Jupiter but some other Deity as Persius Intimates in his Second Satyre Jupiter Which same Dreams yet are not so Vain and Idle as is the Discourse of the Stoiques touching the Nature of the Gods Judgmâ—nts upon the Two Disputations THIS having Pass'd we gave our Opinions Velleius lookt upon Gotta's Dispute to be †Acording to the Positive Epicurean way Truer than Balbus's but to ‖ To Cicero who was the Auditour me Balbus's Argument seem'd of a Nearer * Spoken after the manner of the Academiques of which Sect Tully was who helâ— that our Greaâ—est Certainties were only more Probable Appearances of Truth nor Truths de facto Resemblance to â—ruth THE END
Civility to their respective Countries These People are at great Uncertainties as to the very World out of which every thing arises and wherein All is made whether it was effected by Chance by some or other Necessity or by a Divine Wisdom and Reason And conceipt that ‖ A famous Geometrician of Syracuse who made an admirable Artâ—ficial Sphere of Glass wherein the Motions of the Sun Moon and the Other Planets were Represented to the astonishment of the Beholders He said he could remove the whole World had he but Where to place the Foot of his Engine Archimedes did more in Imitating the motions of the Spheres then Nature in Causing of them Notwithstanding that the Perfection of the One is by many degrees more Curious then the Counterfeit of the Other So too for That of the Shepherd in * A Tragique Poet. Actius Who having never seen a Ship before When at a great distance he discry'd the divine and new Vessel of the †So those 54 Worthies were call'd who accompany'd Jason in the ship Argo to fetch the Golden-Fleece from Colchos Argonauts at First wondring and being astonish'd at it he speaks in This manner So huge a Bulk a float with horrid noise ' It from the Deep turns up the Sea before it Whirls ' loft the Billows and then Down again Dashes and throws about the Waves As if A Broken Cloud were roll'd along Or some Torn Rock were Hurry'd on high into the Air By a Tempestuous Blast Or else some Whirl-Wind Press'd in th' Encounter of two Raging Seas Vnless perchance some Island be cast up Or * In Fable Neptune 's Trumpeter Triton †Or Thus either 'bout to overturn his Den At th' bottom of the Wavy Ocean Has with c. Rising from his Watry Den Has with his Trident loosen'd at the Roots Some Mass of Stone and tosst it into th' Air At First he is at a loss what kind of Nature That should be which he sees but knows not what to make of And the same Person upon beholding the Young men and hearing the Singing of the Marriners cryes They keep a Din now with their ‖ Rostris Snouts like That Of Sharp-set Dolphins And so on 'T is such a Song I hear methinks as if * The God of the Woods 'T were our Sylvanus The Example accommodated to Philosophers Now as He at First sight thinks he Eyes something Inanimate and void of Sense but afterward upon a fuller view begins to Imagine the Quality of that which he doubted of So ought Philosophers if the first appearance of the World happen to confound them to Resolve yet at length upon observing the Certainty and Equality of its Motions and all things in the same to be govern'd by establish'd Orders and an Immutable Constancy that there is not only some certain * The Existence of a Deity gatherable from a Contemplation of the Universe Inhabiter in this Divine and heavenly Mansion but a Superintender also a Disposer an Architect I may say of so great a Work so weighty a Charge But truly to Me †The Epicureans c. They seem not so much as to take into their Thoughts the Wonderfulness of things Celestial and Terrestrial ‖ The Order and Continuation of the World according to its Parts For first of all the Earth is plac'd in the Middle part of the Universe and every way surrounded with that Nature whereby we breath and live call'd the Air. The word is Greek I confess but yet it is now entertain'd amongst Us and as common as if it were Latin This again is encompass'd by the boundless Sky Aether which consists of the Fire above We shall borrow * i. e. Aether this word also for Aether may be used in Latin as well as Aer Thô Pacuvius enterprets it Thus What I am speaking of by Vs it term'd Coelum and Aether by the Greeks As if now he were not a Greek that says This But he speaks Latin Yes But like a Grecian His very Speech bewrays him t' be a Greek By Birth As the same man elsewhere has it But to return to greater matters In the Sky then there are innumerable Starry Lights whereof the Sun enlightening All with its bright beams and being many degrees bigger and larger then the Earth is the Chief And after Him the other Stars of vast Proportions And yet These many and mighty Flames are so far from harming the Earth and the things that are therein that they are of advantage to it and So that were they remov'd from their Stations were the Temperature of them withdrawn it must needs be burnt up with such great Heats Epâ—curus 's Atoms confuted May I not Here admire that any one there should be who can perswade himself that certain Solid and Individual Essences are carry'd about by Force and Weight and that this exquisitely adorn'd and beautiful World was made by a fortuitous Concourse of the same Whoever phansies This could be for ought I perceive he may as well think that were a great many sorts of the * The Romans had no K. W. 〈◊〉 in theâ—r Alphabet One and Twenty Letters either of Gold or any thing else thrown somewhere together it were possible for Ennius's Annals to be by a shaking of These down upon the Earth compos'd so as to be ever after Legible When it is a question whether Fortune could have so much effect as to one single Verse of them with what Face then can these People affirm the Vniverse to have been perfected by little Bodies without either Colour Quality which the Greeks term 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Sense but flocking together at random and by Chance Or that there are Innumerable of ‖ i. e. Worlds them either some Rising Others Dissolving and Perishing every Instant of time But if a Concourse of Atoms be able to frame a World why can it not make a Porch a Church a House or a City Which are Works surely of much less Toyl and Difficulty Trust me * The Epicureans They bable so inconsiderately concerning the Vniverse that I cannot think they ever meditated upon this admirable Adornment of the Heavens Which is the †The Third Point the imbellishment of the Sky Next Point Now A Passage out of Aristotle to insinuate that the World is govern'd by Reason Aristotle delivers himself excellently well If any there were says he that had always dwelt under ground in lightsom and convenient Habitations beautify'd with Signs and Pictures and provided of all those things that such as are reputed Happy do abound in And tho they never stir'd forth had receiv'd yet from Fame and Hear-say that there is a certain Divine Power and Majesty After This upon the Opening of the Earth should they be able to make an Escape and go out of those secret Abodes into these Seats wherein we live When all on a sudden they should see