Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

But there is a great difference about it betwixt Church-Doctors; some agreeing with these Poets and others affirming the time to be in Autumn: but truly, in strict speaking, it was not created in any one, but all of the seasons, as the Author saith here, and hath shewed at large. _Pseudodox. Epidemic._ lib. 6. cap. 2.

_Sect. 22. Pag. 35._

_'Tis ridiculous to put off or down the general floud of_ Noah _in that particular inundation of_ Deucalion,] as the Heathens some of them sometimes did: _Confuderunt igitur saepe Ethnici particularia illa diluvia, quae longe post secuta sunt, cum illo universali quod praecessit, ut ex fabulis in Diluvio Deucalionaeo sparsis colligere licet; non tamen semper nec ubique. Author. Observat. in Mytholog. Nat. Com._ Then amongst those that confound them, he reckons _Ovid_ and _Plutarch_.

_How all the kinds of Creatures, not onely in their own bulks, but with a competency of food and sustenance, might be preserved in one Ark, and within the extent of 300 Cubits, to a reason that rightly examines it will appear very feasible._] Yet _Apelles_ the Disciple of _Mercion_, took upon him to deride the History of _Moses_ in this particular, alledging that it must needs be a fable, for that it was impossible so many creatures should be contain'd in so small a space. _Origen_ and St. _Aug._ to answer this pretended difficulty, alleadge that _Moses_ in this place speakes of Geometrical (and not vulgar) cubits, of which every one was as much as six vulgar ones; and so no difficulty. But _Perer. l. 10. com. in Genes, quest. 5. de arca_, rejects this opinion of _Origen_, as being both against reason and Scripture.

1. Because that sort of Cubit was never in use amongst any people, and therefore absurd to think _Moses_ should intend it in this place.

2. If _Moses_ should not speak of the same Cubits here, that he mentions in others places, there would be great aequivocation in Scripture: now in another place, _i.e._ _Exod. 27._ he saith, God commanded him to make an Altar three Cubits high; which if it shall be meant of Geometrical Cubits it will contain 18 vulgar Cubits; which would not only render it useless, but would be contrary to the command which he saith God gave him, _Exod. 20. Thou shall not go up by steps to my Altar._ For without steps what man could reach it. It must therefore be meant of ordinary Cubits; but that being so it was very feasible. I can more easily believe than understand it.

_And put the honest Father to the Refuge of a Miracle._] This honest father was St. _Aug._ who delivers his opinion, that it might be miraculously done, _lib. 16. de Civ. Dei, cap. 7._ where having propos'd the question how it might be done, he answers, _Quod si homines eas captas secum adduxerunt, et eo modo ubi habitabant earum genera instituerunt, venandi studio fieri potuisse incredibile non est, quamvis jussu Dei sire permissu etiam opera Angelorum negandum non sit potuisse transferri_; but St. _Aug._ saith not that it could not be done without a miracle.

_And 1500 years to people the World, as full a time_, etc.]

_Pag. 36._

_That_ Methusalem _was the longest liv'd of all the children of_ Adam, etc.] See both these Points cleared by the Author, in _Pseudodox. Epidemic._ the first _lib. 6. cap. 6._ the other _lib. 7. cap. 3._

_That_ Judas _perished by hanging himself, there is no certainty in Scripture, though in one place it seems to affirm it, and by a doubtful word hath given occasion to translate it; yet in another place, in a more punctual description it makes it improbable, and seems to overthrow it_.] These two places that seem to contradict one another are _Math. 27. 5._ and _Acts 1. 8._ The doubtful word he speaks of is in the place of _Matthew_; it is {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}, which signifieth suffocation as well as hanging, ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}, which may signifie literally, after he went out he was choak'd) but _Erasmus_ translates it, _abiens laqueo se suspendit_: the words in the _Acts_ are, _When he had thrown down himself headlong, he burst in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out_; which seems to differ much from the expression of _Matthew_; yet the Ancient Writers and Fathers of the Church do unanimously agree that he was hanged. Some I shall cite. _Anastas. Sinaita, l. 7. Anagog. Contempl. Unus latro ingratus cum esset typus Diaboli, et Serpentis, et Judae, qui se in ligno suffocavit. Gaudentius Brixiens. tract. 13. de natal. Dom. Mortem debitam laqueo sibimet intulit praeparato_, etc. _Droggotoshen. de sacram. dominic. pass. Jamdiu erat quidem quod Christo recesserat, et avaritiae laqueo se suspenderat, sed quod fecerat in occulto, palam omnibus innotuit. S. Martialis in Ep. ad Tholosanos. Non sustinuit poenitentiam, donec laqueo mortis seipsum consumpsit. Ignat. ad Philippens. Diabolus laqueum ei ostendit, et suspendium docuit. Leo Serm. 3. de passion.----Ut quia facinus omnem mensuram ultionis excesserat, te haberet impietas tua judicem te pateretur sua paena Carnificem. Theodoret. lib. 1. haeretic. fabul. Ille protinus strangulatus est, quae fuit merces ejus proditionis. Chrysostom. Hom. 3. de proditore. Pependit Coelum Terramque intermedius vago funere suffocatus, et cum flagitio suo tumefacta, viscera crepuerunt, etc. Bernard. Serm. 8. in Psal. 9. Judas in Aere crepuit medius._

1. There are those that are so particular, that they acquaint us with the manner, as _that it was done with a Cord. Antiochus Laurensis, Spem omnem a se cum abjecisset, insiliente in eum inimico (sc. Diabolo) funiculo sibi praefocavit gulam. Oecumen. in Act. Fracto funiculo quo erat suffocatus decidit in terram praecipitio._ 2. _That it was done on a_ Fig-Tree, _Beda. Portam David egredientibus fons occurrit in Austrum per vallem directus, ad cujus medietatem ab occasu Judas se suspendisse narratur: Nam et ficus magna ibi et vetustissima stat._

Juvenc. _lib. 4. Hist. Evangelic_.

_Exorsusq; suas laqueo sibi sumere paenas,
Informem rapuit ficus de vertice mortem._

3. Some acquaint us with the time when it was done, _viz. the next day after he had given the kiss_. So _Chrysostom. Homil. 1. de proditor. et Mysterio Coen. Dominic. Guttur prophanum quod hodie Christo extendis ad osculum, crastino es illud extensurus ad laqueum_. But there are two, that is _Euthymius_ and _Oecumenius_, that tell us, _that the hanging did not kill him_, but that either the Rope broke, or that he was cut down, and afterwards cast himself down headlong, as it is related in the before mentioned place of the _Acts_: _Agnitus a quibusdam depositus est ne praefocaretur, denique postquam in secreto quodam loco modico vixisset tempore praeceps factus sive praecipitatus, inflatus diruptus, ac diffisus est medius, et effusa sunt omnia viscera ejus; ut in_ Actis. _Euthym._ cap. 67. _in Math. Judas suspendio e vita non decessit, sed supervixit, dejectus est enim prius quam praefocaretur, idque Apotolorum Acta indicant, quod pronus crepuit medius_. Oecumen. in Act. And this may serve to reconcile these two seemingly disagreeing Scriptures.

_Pag. 37._

_That our Fathers after the Flood erected the Tower of_ Babel.] For this see what the Author saith in his _Pseudodox. Epidemic_. l. 7, cap. 6.

_And cannot but commend the judgment of_ Ptolemy.] He means of _Ptolemaeus Philadelphus_, who founded the Library of _Alexandria_, which he speaks of in the next Section. He was King of _Egypt_; and having built and furnish'd that Library with all the choicest Books he could get from any part of the world, and having good correspondence with _Eleazer_ the high Priest of the _Jews_, by reason that he had released the _Jews_ from Captivity, who were taken by his Predecessor _Ptolemaeus Lagi_; he did by the advice of _Demetrius Phalereus_ the _Athenian_, whom he had made his Library-Keeper, write to _Eleazer_, desiring him that he would cause the Books of the _Jews_, which contained their Laws, to be translated for him into Greek, that he might have them to put into his Library: to which the Priest consents; and for the King's better satisfaction, sends to him Copies of the Books, and with the same 72 Interpreters skilled both in the Greek and Hebrew Language, to translate them for him into Greek; which afterwards they performed. This is for certain; but whether they translated only the _Pentateuch_, as St. _Jerome_ would have it, or together with the Books of the Prophets also, as _Leo de Castro_ and _Baronius_ contend, I undertake not to determine: but as to that part of the story, that these Interpreters were put into so many several Cells, whilst they were about the work of translation; and notwithstanding they were thus severed, that they all translated it _totidem verbis_; it is but reason to think with St. _Jerome_ (notwithstanding the great current of Authority against him) that it is no better than a fable.

_The Alcoran of the Turks_ (_I speak without prejudice_) _is an ill-composed piece, containing in it vain and ridiculous errors in Philosophy_, etc.] It is now in every mans hand, having been lately translated into English; I shall therefore observe but these few particulars in it, in regard the book it self is so common; and indeed they are not mine own, but _Lipsius_ his observations. He begins, _O nugas, O deliria! primum_ (saith he) _commentus est, Deum unum solidumq; ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} Graeci exprimunt) eundemq; incorporeum esse. Christum non Deum, sed magnum vatem et prophetam; se tamen majorem, et proxime a Deo missum, praemia qui ipsum audient Paradisum, qui post aliquot annorum millia reserabitur, ibi quatuor flumina lacte, vino, melle, aqua fluere, ibi palatia et aedificia gemmata atque aurata esse, carnes avium suavissimarum, fructus omne genus quos sparsi jacentesque sub umbra arborum edent: sed caput faelicitatis, viros foeminasque, majores solito magnis Genitalibus assidua libidine, et ejus usu sine taedio aut fatigatione._ These and some others that are in the Alcoran he reckons up. _Sed et Physica quoq; miranda_ (saith he) _nam facit Solem et Lunam in equis vehi, illum autem in aquam calidam vespere mergi, et bene lotum ascendere atque oriri, Stellas in aere e catenis aureis pendere: terram in bovini cornus cuspide stabilitum, et agitante se bove ac succutiente fieri terrae motum; hominem autem ex hirundine aut sanguisuga nasci_, etc. Just. Lips. _Monit. et exempl. Politic._ cap. 3.

_Sect. 23. Pag. 38._

_I believe besides_ Zoroaster _there were divers others that wrote before Moses_.] _Zoroaster_ was long before _Moses_, and of great name; he was the father of _Ninus, Justin. lib. 1_. _Si quamlibet modicum emolumentum probaveritis; ego ille sim Carinondas vel Damigeron, vel is Moses, vel Joannes, vel Apollonius, vel ipse Dardanus, vel quicunq; alius_ post Zoroastrem _et Hostanem, inter Magos celebratus est_. Apuleius _in_ Apol.

_Sect. 24. Pag. 38._

_Others with as many groans deplore the combustion of the Library at_ Alexandria.] This was that Library before spoken of, set up by _Ptolemaeus Philadelphus_; in which 'tis reported by _Ammianus Marcellinus_ there were 700,000 volumes; it was burnt by _Jul. Caesar's_ means, whose Navy being environed before _Alexandria_, he had no means to keep off the Enemy, but by flinging of fire, which at length caught the Library and consumed it, as _Plutarch_ hath it in _Vita Caesaris_: but notwithstanding we have no reason to believe it was quite consumed, because _Sueton_. in _Claudius_, tells us, that that Emperour added another to it; and there must be somewhat before, if it were an addition; but true it is, too many of the Books perished; to repair which loss, care was taken by _Domitian_ the Emperour, as the same _Sueton._ and _Aurel. Victor._ do relate.

_I would not omit a Copy of_ Enoch's _Pillars, had they many nearer Authors than_ Josephus, _etc._] For this the Story is, that _Enoch_, or his father, _Seth_, having been inform'd by _Adam_, that the world was to perish once by water, and a second time by fire, did cause two Pillars to be erected, the one of Stone against the water, and another of Brick against the fire; and that upon those Pillars was engraven all such Learning as had been delivered to, or invented by mankind; and that thence it came that all knowledge and learning was not lost by means of the Floud, by reason that one of the Pillars (though the other perished) did remain after the Floud, and _Josephus_ witnesseth, till his time, _lib. 1. Antiq. Judaic_. cap. 3.

_Of those three great inventions of_ Germany, _there are two which are not without their incommodities._] Those two he means are _Printing_ and _Gunpowder_, which are commonly taken to be _German_ Inventions; but Artillery was in _China_ above 1500 years since, and Printing long before it was in _Germany_, if we may believe _Juan Concales Mendosa_ in his _Hist._ of _China, lib. 3. cap. 15, 16_. The incommodities of these two inventions, are, well described by _Sam. Daniel_, lib. 6. of the Civil Wars.

_Fierce_ Nemesis, _mother of fate and change,
Sword-bearer of th' eternal providence,
Turns her stern look at last into the West,
As griev'd to see on Earth such happy rest;_

_And for_ Pandora _calleth presently_,
Pandora Jove's _fair gift that first deceived
Poor_ Epimetheus _in his imbecility.
That though he had a wondrous boon received,
By means whereof curious mortality
Was of all former quiet quite bereaved.
To whom being come deckt with all qualities,
The wrathful goddess breaks out in this wise:_

_Dost thou not see in what secure estate,
Those flourishing fair Western parts remain?
As if they had made covenant with fate,
To be exempted free from others pain,
At one with their desires, friends with debate,
In peace with Pride, content with their own gain.
Their bounds contain their mindes, their mindes applyed
To have their bonds with plenty beautified._

_Devotion (Mother of Obedience)
Bears such a hand on their credulity,
That it abates the spirit of eminence,
And busies them with humble piety:
For see what works, what infinite expence,
What Monuments of zeal they edifie,
As if they would, so that no stop were found,
Fill all with Temples, make all holy ground._

_But we must cool this all-believing zeal,
That hath enjoy'd so fair a turn so long_, etc.
_Dislike of this first by degrees shall steal,
As upon souls of men perswaded wrong;
And that the sacred power which thus hath wrought,
Shall give her self the sword to cut her throat._

_Go therefore thou with all thy stirring train
Of swelling Sciences (the gifts of grief)
Go loose the links of that soul-binding chain,
Enlarge this uninquisitive Belief:
Call up mens spirits, that simpleness retain,
Enter their hearts, and knowledge make the Thief
To open all the Doors to let in Light,
That all may all things see but what is right._

_Opinion arm against opinion (grown)
Make new-born contradictions still arise,
As if Thebes Founder_ (Cadmus) _tongues had sown
Indent of teeth, for greater mutinies:
Bring new defended faith against faith known,
Weary the soul with contrarieties,
Till all Religion become Retrograde,
And that fair lye the mask of sin be made:_

_And better to effect a speedy end,
Let there be found two fatal Instruments,
The one to publish, th' other to defend [SN: Printing]
Impious contention, and proud discontents:
Make that instamped characters may send
Abroad to thousands, thousand mens intents;
And in a moment may dispatch much more,
Than could a world of pens perform before;_

_Whereby all quarrels, titles, secrecies,
May unto all be presently made known,
Factions prepar'd, parties allur'd to rise,
Seditions under fair pretences sown;
Whereby the vulgar may become so wise
That with a self-presumption overgrown,
They may of deepest mysteries debate,
Controul their betters, censure acts of State._

_And then when this dispersed mischief shall
Have brought confusion in each mystery,
Call'd up contempts of State in general,
And ripen'd the humour of impiety,
Then take the other engine wherewithal [SN: Guns]
They may torment their self-wrought misery;
And scourge each other in so strange a wise,
As time or tyrants never could devise_, etc.

See _Bellermontan._ in his _Dissertat. politic.
dissert._ 29. and 30.

For the other Invention, the Latine Annotator doubts whether the Author means Church-Organs, or Clocks? I suppose he means Clocks, because I find that Invention reckon'd by a _German_, with the other two, as a remarkable one. It is by _Busbequius_, speaking of the Turks, who hath these words: _Testes majores minoresque bombardae, multaque alia quae ex nostris excogitata ipsi ad se avertunt; at libros tamen typis excuderent, horologia in publico haberent, nondum adduci potuerunt._ _Epist. Legat. Turcic._ I suppose if he had known any Invention which next to the other two had been greater than this, he would not have named this, and this being the next considerable, we have no cause to doubt but the Author meant it.

_To maintain the Trade and Mystery of Typographers._] Of this _Cunaeus_ in his _Satyre Sardi voenates_. _Qui bis in anno nomen suum ad Germanorum nundinas non transmittit, eruditionem suam in ordinem coactam credit, itaq; nunquam tot fungi una pluvia nascuntur, quot nunc libri uno die_.

_Sect. 25. Pag. 40._

_The Turk in the bulk that he now stands, is beyond all hope of conversion._] That is, in respect of his great strength, against which it is not probable the Christians will prevail, as it is observed by _Monsieur de Silhon_. _La Race des Ottomans_ (saith he) _quae oste a Dieu la Religion qu'il a revelee, et aux hommes la liberte que le droit des Gens leur laisse a fait tant de progres depuis trois Cens et quelques annees qu'il semble qu'elle n'ait plus rien a craindre de dehorse, et que son empire ne puisse perir que par la corruption de dedans, et par la dissolution des parties qui composent un corps si vaste. Mr. de Silhon en son Minist. D'Estat. l. 1. c._

_None can more justly boast of persecutions, and glory in the number and valour of martyrs._] Of the fortitude of the Christians in this particular, _Minutius Felix_, in the person of the Ethnique, hath these words, _Per mira stultitia et incredibili audacia spernunt tormenta praesentia, dum incerta metuunt et futura; et dum mori post mortem timent, interim mori non timent._ And afterwards, when he speaks in the person of the Christian, he saith, that Christian women and children have in this surpassed _Scaevola_ and _Regulus_: _Viros_ (saith he) _cum Mutio vel cum Atilio Regulo comparo: pueri et mulierculae nostrae cruces et Tormenta, feros et omnes suppliciorum terriculas inspirata patientia doloris illudunt_. Minut. _in_ Octav. _vide Aug. de Civit. Dei, lib. 1. c. 23, 24_.

_If we shall strictly examine the circumstances and requisites which_ Aristotle _requires to true and perfect valour, we shall find the name onely in his Master_ Alexander, (_that is, no more than the name) and as little in that Roman worthy_ Julius Caesar.] _Aristot. 3. Ethic. cap. 6._ amongst other requisites, requires to valour, that it keep a mediocrity betwixt audacity and fear; that we thrust not our selves into danger when we need not; that we spare not to shew our valour when occasion requires: he requires for its proper object, Death; and to any death, he prefers death in War, because thereby a man profits his Country and Friends; and that he calls _mors honesta_, an honest or honourable death: and thereupon he defines a valiant man to be, _Is qui morte honesta proposita, iisq; omnibus quae cum sint repentina mortem adfuerunt metu vacat_. So that by the Author's saying, there was onely the Name in _Alexander_, he means only that which is rendred in the two last words, _metu vacans_, and not the rest that goes to make up the definition of a valiant man, which is very truly affirmed of _Alexander_, who exposed himself to hazzard many times when there was no cause for it: As you may read in _Curtius_, he did, in the siege of _Tyrus_, and many other ways. _Cettuy-cy semble rechercher et courir a force les dangiers comme un impetueux torrent, qui choque et attaque sans discretion, et sans chois tout ce qu'il rencontre_, saith _Montaign_, speaking of _Alexander, l. 2. des Ess. cap. 34_. And for _Caesar_, it cannot be denied, but in his Wars he was many times (though not so generally as _Alexander_) more adventrous than reason military could warrant to him; and therefore _Lucan_ gives him no better Character than

_Acer et indomitus quo spes quoq; ira vocasset
Ferre manum, etc._
Lucan. lib. 1.

To instance in some Particulars: with what an inconsiderable strength did he enterprize the conquest of _Egypt_, and afterwards went to attaque the forces of _Scipio_ and _Juba_, which were ten times more than his own? after the Battle of _Pharsalia_, having sent his Army before into _Asia_, and crossing the _Hellespont_ with one single Vessel, he there meets _Lucius Cassius_ with ten men of War, he makes up to him, summons him to render, and he does it. In the famous and furious siege of _Alexia_, where he had 80,000 men to make defence against him, and an Army of one hundred and nine thousand Horse, and two hundred and forty thousand foot, all marching towards him, to raise his siege; yet for all that he would not quit the siege, but first fought with those without, and obtain'd a great Victory over them, and soon afterwards brought the besieged to his mercy.

_Sect. 26. Pag. 41._

_The Council of_ Constance _condemns_ John Husse _for an Heretick, the Stories of his own Party style him a Martyr_.] _John Husse_ did agree with the Papists against us in the Point of Invocation of Saints, Prayers and Sacrifice for the Dead, free Will, Good Works, confession of Sins, seven Sacraments, etc. _Gordon. Hunt. l. contr. 3. de Sacr. Euch. cap. 17_. Yet was he condemned for maintaining certain Articles said by that Council to be heretical and seditious, and was burnt for Heresie. Now as I will not say he was an Heretick, so can I not maintain that he was a Martyr, if it be but for this one Article, which in the 15. Sess. of that Council was objected against him, which he did acknowledge, but would not recal, _i.e._ _Nullus est Dominus civilis, dum est in peccato mortali_. If that Doctrine should be believed, we shall have little obedience to Civil Magistrates; and without that, how miserable is humane condition? That which begat compassion towards _Husse_ in those of his own Party was, that he had a safe conduct from the Emperour _Sigismund_; and therefore it was, say they, a violation of publick faith in the _Council_ and _Emperour_ in putting him to death.

_That wise heathen_ Socrates _that suffered on a fundamental point of Religion, the Unity of God_.] That _Socrates_ suffered on this Point, divers Christian Writers do object to the Ethniques, as _Justin Martyr_, Apol. 2. _Euseb. l. 5. de praeparat. Evangelic. c. 14. Tertul._ in _Apolog._ cap. 14. and _Lactant. de justitia_, cap. 15. whose words are these: _Plato quidem multa de uno Deo locutus est, a quo ait constitutum esse mundum, sed nihil de Religione; somniaverat enim Deum, non cognoverat. Quod si justitiae defensionem vel ipse vel quilibet alius implere voluisset, imprimis Deorum Religiones evertere debuit, quia contrariae pietati. Quod quidem Socrates quia facere tentavit in carcerem conjectus est, ut jam tunc appareret quid esset futurum iis hominibus qui justitiam veram defendere Deoque singulari servire coepissent_.

_I have often pitied the miserable Bishop that suffered in the cause of_ Antipodes.] The suffering was, that he lost his Bishoprick for denying the _Antipodes_. Vid. _Aventin. in Hist. Boio_. Besides him, there were other Church-men of great note, that denyed _Antipodes_, as _Lactantias_, _Augustin_, and _Bede_.

_Sect. 27. Pag. 43._

_I hold that God can do all things: How he should work contradictions, I do not understand, yet dare not therefore deny._] Who would not think the Author had taken this from Mr. _Montaign_, whose words are, _Il m'a tousjours semble qu'a un homme Christien, cette sorte de parler est plein d'indiscretion et d'irreverence [Dieu ne se peut disdire,] [Dieu ne peut faire cecy ou cela]. Je ne trouve pas bon d'enfermer ainsi la puissance divine sous les loix de nostre parole. Et l'apparence qui s' offre a nous en ses propositions, il la faudroit representer plus reverement, et plus Religieusement._ Liv. 2. des Ess. c. 12.

_I cannot see why the Angel of God should question_ Esdras _to recal the time past, if it were beyond his own power, or that God should pose mortality in that which he was not able to perform himself._] Sir _K. Digby_ in his Notes upon this place saith, There is no contradiction in this, because he saith it was but putting all things that had motion into the same state they were in at that moment, unto which time was to be reduced back, and from thence letting it travel on again by the same motions, _etc._ which God could do. But under favour, the contradiction remains, if this were done that he mentions; for Time depends not at all upon motion, but has a being altogether independent of it, and therefore the same revolution would not bring back the same time, for that was efflux'd before; as in the time of _Joshua_, when the Sun stood still, we cannot but conceive, though there were no motion of the Sun, but that there was an efflux of Time, otherwise, how could the Text have it, _That there was not any day, before or after, that was so long as that?_ for the length of it must be understood in respect of the flux of time. The reasoning of Sir _Kenelme_ is founded upon the opinion of _Aristot_. who will needs have it, that Time cannot be without mutation; he gives this for a reason, because when we have slept, and cannot perceive any mutation to have been, we do therefore use to connect the time of our sleeping and of our awaking together, and make but one of it: to which it may be answered, although some mutation be necessary, that we may mark the mix of time, it doth not therefore follow that the mutation is necessary to the flux it self.

_Sect. 28. Pag. 43._

_I excuse not_ Constantine _from a fall off his Horse, or a mischief from his enemies, upon the wearing those nails_, etc.] _Hac de re videatur P. Diac. hist. miscell._

_Sect. 29. Pag. 44._

_I wonder how the curiosity of wiser heads could pass that great and indisputable miracle, the cessation of Oracles._] There are three opinions touching the manner how the predictions of these Oracles were perform'd: Some say by vapour, some by the intelligences, or influences, of the Heavens, and others say by the assistance of the Devils. Now the indisputable miracle the Author speaks of, is, that they ceas'd upon the coming of Christ; and it is generally so believed; and the Oracle of _Delphos_ delivered to _Augustus_, mentioned by the Author in this Section, is brought to prove it, which is this:

_Me puer Hebroeus divos Deus ipse gubernans
Cedere sede jubet, tristemq; redire sub orcum.
Aris ergo dehinc tacitus discedito nostris._

But yet it is so far from being true that their cessation was miraculous, that the truth is, there never were any predictions given by those Oracles at all.

That their cessation was not upon the coming of Christ, we have luculent testimony out of _Tully_, in his _2. lib. de Divinat._ which he writ many years before Christ was born; who tells us that they were silent (and indeed he never thought they were otherwise) long before that time, insomuch that they were come into contempt: _Cur isto modo jam oracula Delphis non eduntur, non modo nostra oetate, sed jamdiu jam ut nihil possit esse contemptius_. So that for that of _Delphos_, which was the most famous of them all, we see we have no reason to impute the cessation of it to Christ; Why therefore should we do so for any of the rest?

For their predictions, let us consider the three several ways before mentioned, whereby they are supposed to operate; and from thence see whether it be probable that any such Oracles ever were.

The first Opinion is, that it was by exhalation or vapour drawn up from the earth; and gives this for a reason of their being, that they were for a time nourished by those exhalations; and when those ceased, and were exhausted, the Oracles famish'd and died for want of their accustom'd sustenance: this is the far-fetcht reason given by _Plutarch_ for their defect; but 'twas not devised by him, but long before, as appears, in that _Tully_ scoffs at it, _lib. de divinat_. _De vino aut salsamento putes loqui_ (saith he) _quae evanescunt vetustate_. This seem'd absurd to others, who do therefore say this was not to be attributed to any power of the Earth, but to the power of the Heavens, or _Intelligences Coelestial_; to certain aspects whereof, they say, the Statua's of those Oracles were so adapted, that they might divine and foretel future events. But yet to others, this way seemeth as absurd as the others; for, say they, admitting that there were an efficacy in the Heavens, more than in the Earth; yet how can it be that men should come by the skill to fit the Statua's to the Aspects or influences of the Heavens? or if at any time they had such skill, why should not the same continue the rather, because men are more skilled in the motions of the Heavens, of later than in the former time? Again, they do not see how it should be that the cause should be of less excellency than the effect; for if a man (say they) can by his industry make such Oracles, why can he not produce the same effect in another man? for if you affirm that the Heavens influence is requisite, they will tell you that Influence may happen as well to a man, as to a Statue of wood or stone. Therefore the third sort being unsatisfied, which either of the former ways conclude, that this was perform'd by the Devil; but for that it will appear as contrary to Reason and Philosophy, as either of the former; for Philosophy teacheth that things singular, or individual, are to be known only by sense, or by such an Intellect, as doth know by its Essence; and Theology teacheth that God only knoweth the heart, and that the Devil doth not know by sense, nor by essence; and since 'tis admitted by all, that most of the answers that were pretended to be given by those Oracles, were _de rebus singularibus_, or _individuis_; it is evident that these predictions were not perform'd by Devils. How then? why those predictions which the ignorant Heathen took to come from Heaven, and some Christians (not less ignorant) from the Devil, was nothing but the jugling and impostures of the Priests, who from within the Statua's gave the answers; which Princes connived at, that they might upon occasion serve their turns upon the ignorance of the people; and the learned men, for fear of their Princes, durst not speak against it. _Lucian_ hath noted it, and so a more Authentick Author, _Minut. Felix._, in _Octav. Authoritatem quasi praesentis numinis consequuntur dum inspirantur interim vatibus_. But in process of time, the people grew less credulous of their Priests, and so the Oracles became to be silent: _Cum jam_ (saith he) _Apollo versus facere desisset, cujus tunc cautum illud et ambiguum deficit oraculum: Cum et politiores homines et minus creduli esse caeperunt_. Sir _H. Blount_ in his _Levantine_ voyage, saith he saw the Statua of _Memnon_ so famous of old; he saith it was hollow at top, and that he was told by the _Egyptians_ and Jews there with him, that they had seen some enter there, and come out at the Pyramid, two Bows shoot off; then (saith he) I soon believ'd the Oracle, and believe all the rest to have been such; which indeed, is much easier to imagine than that it was perform'd by any of the three wayes before mentioned. St. _Aug._ hath composed a Book, where he handleth this point at large, and concludeth that the Devils can no more foretel things come, than they are able to discern the thoughts that are within us. _Aug. lib. de Scientia Daemon._

_Till I laughed my self out of it with a piece of_ Justin, _where he delivers that the Children of_ Israel _for being scabbed were banished out of_ Egypt.] These words of _Justin_ are, _Sed cum scabiem AEgyptii et pruriginem paterentur, responso moniti, eum (se. Moysen) cum aegris, ne pestis ad plures serperet, terminis AEgypti pellunt. l. 36._ But he is not singular in this, for _Tacitus_ tells us, _Hist. lib. 5. Plurimi authores consentiunt orta per AEgyptum tabe quoe corpora foeduret, Regem (Ochirum)_ (he means _Pharaoh_) _adito Hammonis oraculo remedium petentem purgare. Regnum et id genus hominum----alias in terras avertere jussum._ Et paulo inferius, _Quod ipsos scabies quondam turpaverat_.

_Sect. 30. Pag. 45._

_I have ever believed, and do now know that there are Witches._] What sort of Witches they were that the Author knew to be such. I cannot tell; for those which he mentions in the next Section, which proceed upon the principles of Nature, none have denyed that such there are; against such it was, that the _Lex Julia de veneficiis_ was made, that is, those, _Qui noxio poculo aut impuris medicuminibus aliquem fuerint insectati. At. ab Alex. Gen. Dier._ l. 5. c. 1. But for the opinion that there are Witches which co-operate with the Devil, there are Divines of great note, and far from any suspition of being irreligious, that do oppose it. Certainly there is no ground to maintain their being from the story of Oracles, as may be seen from what hath been said on the precedent Section.

_Nor have the power to be so much as Witches._] _Pliny_ saith, so it fared with _Nero_, who was so hot in pursuit of the Magick Arts, that he did dedicate himself wholly to it, and yet could never satisfie himself in that kind, though he got all the cunning men he could from the East, for that purpose. _Plin._ l. 3. _Nat. Hist._ c. 1.

_Pag. 46._

_By conjunction with the Devil._] Though, as the Author saith, it be without a possibility of Generation, yet there are great men that hold, that such carnality is performed; as _August, in Levit. Aquin. l. 2. de qu. 73. art. ad 2._ and _Justin Martyr, Apol. 1._

_Sect. 33. Pag. 48._

_It is no new opinion of the Church of_ Rome, _but an old one of_ Pythagoras _and_ Plato.] This appears by _Apuleius_ a Platonist, in his Book _de Deo Socratis_, and elsewhere. See _Mede's Apostasie of the latter times_, where out of this and other Authors, you shall see collected all the learning _de Geniis_.

_Pag. 50._

_I cannot with those in that great Father securely interpret the work of the first day_, Fiat lux, _to the creation of Angels_.] This great Father is S. _Chrysost. Homil. in Genes_. But yet 'tis his opinion, as also of _Athanasius_ and _Theodoret_, that there is express mention of the creation of Angels, so that they need not rest upon this place, which they admit to be somewhat obscure. The place which they take to be express, is that of the 130 _Psalm_, where _David_ begins to speak of the Majesty of God, in this manner: _Confessionem sive majestatem et decorem induisti, amictus lumine sicut vestimento_: Next he speaks of the Heavens, saying, _Thou hast stretched them out over us like a Tent._ Then he speaks of the Angels, _Qui facis Angelos tuos spiritus_. Now if it shall be objected, that this expression is onely of the time present, and without relation to the Creation: Answer is given by Divines, that the _Hebrews_ have but three Tenses in their Verbs, the Preterperfect, Present, and Future Tense; and have not the use of the Preterimperfect, and Preterpluperfect, as the _Greeks_ and _Latines_ have; whence it ariseth, that the Present Tense with the _Hebrews_, may, as the sentence will bear it, be translated by the Preterimperfect, as also by the Preterperfect and Preterpluperfect Tense; and this (they say) is practised in this very passage, where the Phrase, as it is in Hebrew, may be rendered as well _qui faciebas_, as _qui facis Angelos_, etc. Vid. _Hieronym. in Ep. ad Titum, et Thom. Aqu. 1. p. qu. 61. art. 3_. The Latine Annotator saith, the Father meant by the Author, is St. _Aug._ and quotes him, _l. II. de Civ. Dei_ cap. 9. which place I have perused, and find the expression there used by St. _Aug._ is but hypothetical; for these are his words: _Cum enim dixit Fiat lux, et facta est lux, si recte in fine luce creatio intelligitur Angelorum_, etc. Where you see 'tis but with a _Si_, and therefore I conceive the Author intends not him, but _Chrysostom_.

_Where it subsists alone, 'tis a Spiritual Substance, and may be an Angel._] _Epicurus_ was of this opinion, and St. _Aug. in Euchirid. ad Laurentium_.

_Sect. 35. Pag. 52._

Moses _decided that Question, and all is salved with the new term of Creation._] That is it which _Aristotle_ could not understand; he had learned that _ex nihilo nihil fit_, and therefore when he found those that disputed that the World had a beginning, did maintain that it was generated, and he could not understand any generation, but out of matter prae-existent _in infinitum_, therefore he took their opinion to be absurd, and upon that ground principally, concluded the World to be eternal: whereas, if he had understood that there may be such a thing as Creation, he had not done it, for that solves his _processus in infinitum_. Take from _Plato_, that the World had a beginning, and from _Aristot._ that it was not generated, and you have the (true) Christian opinion.

_Sect. 36. Pag. 54._

_In our study of Anatomy, there is a mass of mysterious Philosophy, and such as reduced the very Heathens to Divinity._] So it did _Galen_, who considering the order, use, and disposition of the parts of the body, brake forth into these words: _Compono hic profecto Canticam in creatoris nostri laudem, quod ultra res suas ornare voluit melius quam ulla arte possent_. Galen, 3. _de usu partium_.

_Sect. 37. Pag. 55._

_I cannot believe the wisdom of_ Pythagoras _did ever positively, and in a literal sense, affirm his_ Metempsychosis.] In this the opinion of _Grotius_ is contrary to the Author, who saith this opinion was begotten by occasion of the opinion of other Philosophers, who in their discourses of the life that is to be after this, brought such arguments, _Quae non magis de homine quam de bestiis procedunt_. And therefore, saith he, _mirandum non est, si transitum animarum de hominibus in bestias, de bestiis in homines alii commenti sunt_. _Lib. 2. de ver. Relig. Christ. (vide etiam Annotat. ejusd.)._ But yet there is a shrewd objection against the opinion of _Pythagoras_, if he did mean it literally, which is cast in by the Sectators of _Democritus_ and _Epicurus_, which _Lucretius_ remembers in these Verses:

_Praeterea si immortalis natura animai
Constat, et in corpus nascentibus insinuatur,
Cur super anteactam aetatem meminisse nequimus?
Nec vestigia gestarum rerum ulla tenemus?
Namsi tantopere 'st animi mutata potestas,
Omnis ut actarum excideret retinentia rerum,
Non ut opinor ea ab laeto jam longiter errat._

[Lib. 3.]

This Argument, 'tis true, is _pro falso contra falsum_, but yet holds _ad hominem_ so far, that it is not likely (as the Author saith) but _Pythagoras_ would observe an absurdity in the consequence of his Metempsychosis; and therefore did not mean it literally, but desired only to express the Soul to be immortal, which he, and the other Philosophers that were of that opinion, who had not heard of Creation, could not conceive, unless it must be taken for truth, that the soul were before the body; so saith _Lactantius_ of them. _Non putaverunt aliter fieri posse ut supersint animae post corpora, nisi videntur fuisse ante corpora. De fals. Sap._ c. 18.

_Sect. 41. Pag. 59._

_I do not envy the temper of Crows or Daws._] As _Theophrastus_ did, who dying, accused Nature for giving them, to whom it could not be of any concernment, so large a life; and to man, whom it much concern'd, so short a one. _Cic. Tusc. quaest. l. 3._ How long Daws live, see in _Not. ad Sect. 41_.

_Sect. 42. Pag. 61._

_Not upon _Cicero's_ ground, because I have liv'd them well._] I suppose he alludes to an expression in an Epistle of _Cicero_, written in his Exile, to his wife and children, where he hath these words to his wife: _Quod reliquum est, te sustenta mea Terentia ut potes, honestissime viximus, floruimus. Non vitium nostrum sed virtus nos afflixit, peccatum est nullum nisi quod non una animum cum ornamentis amisimus_, l. 24, Ep. 4.

_And stand in need of _Eson's_ bath before threescore._] _Eson_ was the Father of _Jason_, and, at his request, was by _Medea_, by the means of this Bath, restored to his youth. Ingredients that went into it, and the description of _Medea's_ performance, _Ovid_ gives you, _l. 7. Metam._

_Interea calido positum medicamen aheno_
_Fervet et exultat, spumisq; tumentibus albet._
_Illic AEmonia radices valle resectas,
Seminaq; et flores, et succos incoquit atros
Adjicet extremo lapides Oriente petitos,
Et quas Oceani refluum mare lavit arenas:
Addidit exceptas lunae de nocte pruinas,
Et Strigis infames ipsis cum carnibus alas,
Inq; virum soliti vultus mutare ferinos
Ambigui prosecta lupi, nec defuit illi
Squamea Cinyphei tenuis membrana Chelidri,
Vivacisq; jecur cervi; quibus insuper addit
Ora caputq; novem cornicis secula passae.
His et mille aliis, postquam sine nomine rebus
Propositum instruxit mortali barbara munus
Arenti ramo jampridem mitis olivae
Omnia confudit, summisq; immiscuit ima.
Ecce vetus calido versatus stipes aheno
Fit viridis primo, nec longo tempore frondes
Induit, et subito gravidis oneratur olivis.
At quacunq; cavo spumas ejecit aheno
Ignis, et in terram guttae cecidere calentes,
Vernat humus, floresq; et mollia pabula surgunt.
Quae simulac vidit, stricto Medea recludit
Ense senis jugulum, veteremq; extare cruorem
Passa replet succis, quos postquam combibit AEson,
Aut ore acceptas, aut vulnere, barba comoeq;
Cunitie posita, nigrum rapuere colorem.
Pulsa fugit macies: abeunt pallorq; situsque:
Adjectoq; cavae supplentur corpore rugae;
Membraq; luxuriant. AEson miratur, et olim
Ante quater denos hunc se reminiscitur annos,
Dissimilemq; animum subiit, aetate relicta._
[262-293.]

_Sect. 44. Pag. 62._

_Extol the Suicide of_ Cato.] As doth _Seneca_ in several places; but _Lactantius_ saith, he cast away his life, to get the reputation of a _Platonick_ Philosopher, and not for fear of _Caesar_; and 'tis very probable, he was in no great fear of death, when he slept so securely the night before his death, as the story reports of him.

_Pag. 63._

_Emori nolo, sed me esse mortuum, nihil curo._ _Were I of_ Caesar's _Religion_.] I doubt not, but here is a fault of the Press, and that instead of _Caesar_ it should be _Cicero_. I meet not with any such saying imputed to _Caesar_, nor any thing like it, but that he preferr'd a sudden death (in which he had his option) to any other; but I meet with such a saying in _Cicero_ quoted out of _Epicharmus_ [_Emori nolo, sed me esse mortuum nihili aestimo._] Where _Cicero_ sustaineth the part of the _Epicure_ that there is no hurt in being dead, since there remaineth nothing after it. _Cic. 1. Thusc. qu. non procul ab initio_.

_Sect. 45. Pag. 64._

Or whence _Lucan_ learn'd to say, _Communis mundo superest rogus_, etc.] Why, _Lucan_ was a Stoique, and 'twas an opinion among them almost generally, that the world should perish by fire; therefore without doubt from them he learned it. _Caelum quoque cum omnibus quae in caelo continentur, ita ut coepisset desinere, fontium dulci aqua marisve nutriri, in vim ignis abiturum. Stoicis constans opinio est, quod consumpto humore mundus hic omnis ignescat._ _Minutius in Octav._ But _Minutius_ should have excepted _Boetius_, _Possidonius_, _Diogenes Babylonius_, and _Zeno Sidonius_, who were _Stoiques_, and yet did not think the world should be destroyed by fire, nor yet by any other means.

_Sect. 46. Pag. 65._

_How shall we interpret _Elias 6000_ years_, etc.?] _Lactant._ is very positive that the world should last but 6000 years; but his reason for it is somewhat strange; thus it is, _Quoniam sex diebus cuncta Dei opera perfecta sunt, per secula sex_, i.e. _annorum sex millia manere in hoc statu mundum necesse est_. _De Divino praemio_, cap. 14.

_Sect. 47. Pag. 67._

_Ipsa sui pretium virtus sibi, is but a cold principle._] It is a Stoical principle. _Quaeris enim aliquid supra summum, interrogas quid petam extra virtutem ipsam. Nihil enim habet melius. Pretium sui est._ Senec. _de vit. beat._ c. 19.

_That honest artifice of_ Seneca.] What that article was, is to be seen in _Senec. l. 1. ep. 11_. _Aliquis vir bonus nobis eligendus est, et semper ante oculos babendus, ut sic tanquam illo spectante vivamus, et omnia tanquam illo vidente faciamus._ Et paulo post; _Elige itaq; Catonem; si hic videtur tibi nimis rigidus, elige remissioris animi virum Laelium_, etc. which though, as the Author saith, it be an honest Artifice, yet cannot I but commend the party, and prefer the direction of him (whoever he were) who in the Margin of my _Seneca_, over against those words, wrote these: _Quin Deo potius qui semper omnibus omnia agentibus non tanquam sed reipsa adest, et videt; ac etiam ut Testis, vindex et punitor est male agentis_.

_I have tried, if I could reach that great Resolution of his (that is of _Seneca_) to be honest without a thought of Heaven or Hell._] _Seneca_[6] brags he could do this, in these words: _Si scirem deos peccata ignoscituros, et homines ignoraturos, adhuc propter vilitatem peccati peccare erubescerem. Credat Judaeus Appela: non ego_.----

[6] _Tho. Aquin. in com. in Boet. de Consolat. prope finem._

_And Atheists have been the onely Philosopher._] That is, if nothing remain after this life. St. _Aug._ was of this opinion. _Disputabam---- Epicurum accepturum fuisse palmam in animo meo, nisi ego credidissem post mortem restare animae vitam_, etc. Aug. _l. 6. conf. cap. 16_.

_Sect. 48. Pag. 68._

_God by a powerful voice shall command them back into their proper shapes._] So _Minutius_. _Caeterum quis tam stultus est aut brutus, ut audeat repugnare hominem a Deo ut primum potuit fingi, ita posse denuo reformari, nihil esse post obitum, et ante ortum nihil fuisse; sicut de nihilo nasci licuit, ita de nihilo licere reparari. Porro difficilius est id quod sit incipere, quod quam id quod fuerit iterare. Tu perire Deo credis, si quid nostris oculis hebetibus subtrahitur. Corpus omne sive arescit in pulverem sive in humorem solvitur, vel in cinerem comprimitur vel in nidorem tenuatur, subducitur nobis, sed Deo elementorum custodi inseruntur. In Octav._ _Vide_ Grot. _de veritate Relig. Christian. ubi (lib. 2.) solvit objectionem, quod dissoluta corpora resititui nequeunt._

_Sect. 50. Pag. 71._

_Or conceive a flame that can either prey upon, or purifie the substance of a soul._] Upon this ground _Psellus lib 1. de Energia Daemonum_, c. 7 holds, That Angels have bodies, (though he grants them to be as pure, or more pure than Air is) otherwise he could not apprehend how they should be tormented in Hell; and it may be upon this ground it was, that the Author fell into the error of the _Arabians_, mentioned by him, _Sect. 7_.

_Sect. 51. Pag. 73._

_There are as many Hells as _Anaxagoras_ conceited worlds._] I assure my self that this is false printed, and that instead of _Anaxagoras_ it should be _Anaxarchus_; for _Anaxagoras_ is reckon'd amongst those Philosophers that maintain'd a Unity of the world, but _Anaxarchus_ (according to the opinion of _Epicurus_) held there were infinite Worlds. That is he that caus'd _Alexander_ to weep by telling him that there were infinite worlds, whereby _Alexander_ it seems was brought out of opinion of his Geography, who before that time thought there remained nothing, or not much beyond his Conquests.

_Sect. 54. Pag. 75._

_It is hard to place those souls in Hell._] _Lactantius_ is alike charitably disposed towards those. _Non sum equidem tam iniquus ut eos putem divinare debuisse, ut veritatem per seipsos invenirent (quod fieri ego non posse confiteor) sed hoc ab eis exigo, quod ratione ipse praestare potuerunt._ Lactant. _de orig. error._ c. 3. which is the very same with Sir _K. Digbie's_ expression in his Observations on this place. I make no doubt at all (saith he) but if any follow'd in the whole tenour of their lives, the dictamens of right reason, but that their journey was secure to Heaven.

_Sect. 55. Pag. 77._

Aristotle _transgress'd the rule of his own Ethicks._] And so they did all, as _Lactantius_ hath observed at large. _Aristot._ is said to have been guilty of great vanity in his Clothes, of Incontinency, of Unfaithfulness to his Master _Alexander_, etc. But 'tis no wonder in him, if our great _Seneca_ be also guilty, whom truely notwithstanding St. _Jerome_ would have him inserted in the Catalogue of Saints, yet I think he as little deserv'd it, as many of the Heathens who did not say so well as he did, for I do not think any of them liv'd worse: to trace him a little. In the time of the Emperour _Claudius_ we find he was banish'd for suspition of incontinency with _Julia_ the daughter of _Germanicus_. If it be said that this proceeded meerly from the spight of _Messalina_, (and that _Lipsius_ did not complement with him in that kind _Apostrophe, Non expetit in te haec culpa, O Romani nominis et Sapientiae magne. Sol. Not. in Tacit._) why then did she not cause him to be put to death, as well as she did the other, who was her Husbands Niece? This for certain, whatever his life were, he had _paginam lascivam_, as may appear by what he hath written, _de Speculorum usu, l. 1. Nat. Qu. cap. 16_. Which (admitting it may in a Poet, yet) how it should be excus'd in a Philosopher I know not. To look upon him in his exile, we find that then he wrote his Epistle _De Consolat._ to _Polybius_, _Claudius_ his creature (as honest a man as _Pallas_ or _Narcissus_) and therein he extols him and the Emperour to the Skies; in which he did grosly prevaricate, and lost much of his reputation, by seeking a discharge of his exile by so sordid a means. Upon _Claudius_ his marriage with _Agrippina_, he was recall'd from Banishment by her means, and made _Praetor_, then he forgets the Emperour, having no need of him, labours all he can to depress him and the hopeful _Brittanicus_, and procured his Pupil _Nero_ to be adopted and design'd Successor, and the Emperours own Son to be disinherited; and against the Emperour whom he so much praised when he had need of him, after his death he writes a scurrilous Libel. In _Nero's_ Court, how ungratefully doth he behave himself towards _Agrippina_! who although she were a wicked woman, yet she deserv'd well of him, and of her Son too, who yet never was at rest till he had taken away her life, and upon suspition cast in against her by this man. Afterwards not to mention that he made great haste to grow rich, which should not be the business of a Philosopher, towards _Nero_ himself, how well did it become his Philosophy to play the Traitor against him, and to become a complice in the conspiracy of _Piso_? And then as good a Tragedian as he was, me thinks he doth in _extremo actu deficere_, when he must needs perswade _Paulina_, that excellent Lady his wife, to die with him: what should move him to desire it? it could in his opinion be no advantage to her, for he believ'd nothing of the immortality of the soul; I am not satisfied with the reason of _Tacitus_, _Ne sibi unice dilectam ad injurius relinqueret_, because he discredits it himself, in almost the next words, where he saith, _Nero_ bore her no ill will at all, (and would not suffer her to die) it must surely be then, because he thought he had not liv'd long enough (being not above 114 years old, so much he was) and had not the fortitude to die, unless he might receive some confirmation in it by her example. Now let any man judge what a precious Legacy it is that he bequeaths by his nuncupative will to his friends in _Tacitus_. _Conversus ad amicos_ (saith he) _quando meritis eorum referre gratiam prohiberetur, quod unum jam tamen et pulcherrimum habebat, imaginem vitae suae relinquere testatur_. It cannot be denyed of him, that he hath said very well; but yet it must as well be affirmed, that his Practice hath run counter to his Theory, to use the Author's phrase.