ESSAYS On Several SUBJECTS.  
Written By Sir Tho. Pope Blount.  
Conamur Tenues Grandia.  Hor. Lib. 1. Ode. 6. 
LONDON, Printed for Richard Bently, in Russel-street in Covent-Garden. MDCXCII.   

The PREFACE.  
Reader,  
'TIS as impossible for an Author to please all men's fancies, as it is for a Cook to gratify every Man's palate. For the Minds of Men are of different Frames and Tempers, and therefore those Notions that are pleasing to one Man, do often prove nauseaus to another. This then is the reason, that Authors are either d●orn'd, or approved, not according to their own merits, or demerits, but even as the Reader stands inclined, who generally frames his Judgement from his own settled Humour, or Opinion; And as the Book agrees, or disagrees with that, so is the Author to receive his Fate. And thus is verified that known saying, Quicquid recipitur, recipitur ad modum Recipientis.  
What kind of Reception this little Treatise may find in the World, I neither know, nor value: I writ it in my idle hours, for my own Entertainment: And therefore if it relishes not thy Gusto, the only way to be even with me, is for thee to turn Author, and then (possibly) I may have occasion to return the Compliment. The Age we now live in is both Critical, and Censorious; and therefore if there be any part of a Book, which (either through the unhappy style of the Author, or the ill nature of the Reader) seems to admit of a double Construction, the Author may assure himself it shall be taken in the worst; upon which Consideration, I think it proper to acquaint thee, That whatsoever Opinion the Clergy may please to have of this Book, or its Author, I unfeignedly declare myself to be a true Honourer of them, I mean, of such of them, as live up to the Honour of that Holy Profession, and for those that do not, I as little Court their Favour, as I value their Censure.   

THE CONTENTS.  
ESSAY I. 
THat INTEREST Governs the World: And that Popery is nothing but Priest-Craft, or an Invention of the Priests to get Money. Page 1  ESSAY II. 
The great Mischief and Prejudice of LEARNING. And that a Wise Man ought to be preferred before a Man of LEARNING. p. 33  ESSAY III. 
Of Education, and custom; The great Influence it hath upon most Men. But that a good Education is not always Effectual. p. 62  ESSAY iu. 
Of the Ancients: And the Respect that is due unto them: That we should not too much enslave ourselves to their Opinions. p. 77  ESSAY v 
Whether the Men of this present Age are any way inferior to those of former Ages, either in respect of virtue, Learning, or long Life. p. 89  ESSAY vi 
Of Passion: And whether the Passions are an Advantage, or Disadvantage to Men. p. 141  ESSAY VII. 
The Variety of Opinions: Whence it proceeds: The uncertainty of Humane Knowledge. p. 155    

ESSAY I.  
That INTEREST governs the World: And that Popery is nothing but Priest-Craft, or an Invention of the Priests to get Money.  
INTEREST and Profit are the great Diana of this World. These, saith an Ingenious Author, like God, sit at the top of Jacob 's Ladder, and all our Actions are but Steps and Rounds to go up to them. To this Shrine the greatest part of Mankind are ready to offer Incense, and with this Golden Hook even the wisest and best of Men are apt to be caught. INTEREST is of that magnetic quality, that our affections are almost irresistably attracted by it: It is the Pole to which we turn, and we commonly frame our Judgements according to its direction. Men generally look more after the Dowry than the Beauty of Truth, its correspondency to their Interests, than its evidence to their understandings. An useful Error hath often found free admission, when important Truths, but contrary to men's Preconceptions or Interests, have been forbidden entrance. Temporal Expectations bring in whole droves to the Mahometan Faith; and we too well know the same holds thousands in the Romish. An advantageous cause never wanted Proselytes. The Eagles will be where the Carcase is: And that shall have the faith o● most, which is best able to pay them for't. In all Ages of the World INTEREST governed Mankind; and therefore we see the wisest Law●●●●● 〈◊〉 built upon this founda●●●●●●aking it the Interest of the Community to put their Laws in Ex●●●●●n; hence Plutarch reported So●●● to have said, That he had so 〈◊〉 his Laws, that the Citizens were sensible, it was more their Interest to observe them, than to Violate them. Almighty God, when he first gave Laws to his own People the Jews, was pleased to consider them as a Worldly, Covetous sort of People; and therefore to make their Obedience the more easy, he gives them a Constitution agreeable to their Genius, promising them all sorts of Temporal Blessings, such as possession of the Land, freedom from Bondage, etc. He very well knew, that Worldly Interest would go a great deal further than the pure, intrinsic worth of virtue and Goodness; and therefore that the surest way to enforce his Laws, was by striking upon their Affections. Thus is God fain to deal with Men, just as the Husbandman in the Gospel did; by proffering his Penny, before he can prevail with them to work in his Vineyard. Christ observed, That the Multitudes thronged after him more for the Loaves and Fishes, than for his Doctrine; intimating that few loved him Gratis, but to make advantage by him: And this the Devil knew too well, when he charged Job with it, saying, Does Job serve God for nought? In a word, Gain and Advantage is that which every Man aims at; Be the business never so bad, you may have it done for Money; and be it never so good, you cannot have it done without. Let us but cast our Eyes upon those two Religions, the Old Heathenish, and the Romish, and we shall soon see their Respective Priests offering Incense to the Unrighteous Mammon. No sooner was that, which was called by the name of Religion, planted among the Heathen, but immediately a Pert, forward sort of Men, I mean their Priests, stood up, and insinuated to the People the absolute Necessity of Sacrifices; and that these Sacrifices could never be acceptable to the Gods, unless they were offered up by uncorrupt, Sanctified Hands, meaning their own. How beneficial these Sacrifices were to the Heathen Priests, you may easily imagine; Since (according to the old Proverb) 'Tis an ill Cook that can't lick his own Fingers. And unless their Priests had found advantage by it, certainly they would never have enjoined the People such an unaccountable way of worship. For what a strange, and uncouth Belief was it, to think that the most proper way to atone and pacify their Offended Gods, was by Slaying and Sacrificing Innocent Creatures? Thus in the first ages of the World did Men suffer themselves to be gulled and choosed by the Artifice of their Crafty and Ambitious Priests. But before I proceed, I must here (in my own defence) make a short Digression; by desiring the Reader to observe, that the Sacrifices I mention, are the Heathen Sacrifices; And therefore if any one shall be so disingenuous, as to say that by an Innuendo I mean the Jewish Sacrifices; I have this to say in answer to such, That their want of Charity in judging that to be my meaning, which I never intended, is (I am sure) a much greater Crime, than any thing I have offered in the said Discourse. But since I have this opportunity, I will now declare my thoughts as to the Jewish Sacrifices; This therefore I take to be the true and only reason why Almighty God commanded his People the Jews the use of Sacrifices; not because he himself had any delight in them; but because the Jews had been used to this kind of Worship, while they were in Egypt; which had made a deep root in their minds; and that they were such an obstinate sort of People, that if they had not been complied with in this point of Sacrifices, (which was a Religion somewhat agreeable to their Idolatrous temper,) they could never have been brought off from their Idolatry, and Heathenish Religion: And therefore Almighty God allowed the Jews the use of Sacrifices, as a thing rather agreeable to their Genius and Complexion, than any way suitable to his own pure, Divine Nature. He did not prescribe these things because they were best, (saith the Reverend Dr. Tillotson,) but because the Temper of that People would then admit of nothing better. But I beg pardon for this Digression, and do now proceed. Was it not also from the same root, I mean, the Covetous temper of the Heathen Priests, from whence sprung up the first Idolatry that ever was in the World? Those crafty, Covetous Priests knew well enough, that the celebrating many Gods, and the introducing several Worships of them, would turn much more to their profit and advantage, than the single Worship of the Supreme God: And therefore rather than want Gods, they took care to Coin a sufficient number of them; there being no less (according to Varro) than thirty thousand Heathen Deities. And that the Priests (let them pretend to what they would) consulted not herein the good of the People, so much, as their own particular Interests, does most manifestly appear; by the choice they made of their Gods; most of which (we know) were renowned for nothing so much as for their Vices: Mars a bloody God; Bacchus a drunken God; Mercury a cheating God; and so proportionably in the several kinds all the rest; Nay, even their great capital God, Jupiter, was guilty of almost all the Capital Vices. And therefore no wonder, we find such gross and extravagant things in the old Heathenish Religion, when the very Gods, whom they worshipped, gave such Encouragement thereunto by their lewd Example: And where the Gods are naught, who can expect the Religion should be good; for 'tis the nature of all Religions, to incline Men to imitate him whom they worship. Another Artifice whereby the Heathen Priests used to make themselves esteemed and valued, was that Invention of theirs, the setting up of Oracles. 'Tis hard to say, who were guilty of the greater folly, the Ignorant Heathen, who believed those Predictions to come from Heaven; or those Superstitious Christians, who thought they came from the Devil; since they were both under a gross mistake. For certainly to any Man, who is unbiass'd in opinion, and who dares suffer himself to think beyond the narrow Rules of his Education, they cannot appear to be any thing but the mere juggling and Imposture of the Heathen Priests; who upon all occasions were ready to flatter the Prince, and to insinuate to the People the absolute necessity of complying with the Ambitious Designs of their present Rulers. Hence then, whenever there was any extraordinary occasion for making use of the People, as in time of War, it was always contrived that the Oracle should be Consulted, which never failed to Pronounce in favour of the Present Government, And therefore, no wonder the Priests were such Favourites at Court, since they were so useful to the Prince in the managing and steering of the common People. Thus it plainly appears, That Interest was the Principle of those Heathen Priests. Let us now see, whether, when Popery came upon the Stage, the World was any thing mended; or whether the Popish Priests were Men more abstracted from Worldly Interest, or no. In after times, when Rome Pagan became Rome Christian, then sprung there up a new Set of Men, who for Craft and Subtilty did many degrees outgo their Predecessors, the Heathen Priests; These appeared but mere Bunglers, compared to this new Brood, whose very Religion was nothing else but Sacerdotal Interest. For whoever examines the whole fabric of Popery, shall find that the cornerstone of that Building is Interest: And were is not for the Profitable part, I question not but the Foolish part of Popery would soon be laughed out of doors. But since the true nature of Things is best to be learned in their Minute Parts, we will lay aside Generals, and descend to Particulars: To begin therefore with the very Original of Popery, which you will find to be thus. As on the one hand it must be confessed, that the Primitive Christians, who were generally Subjects of the Roman Empire, had a very great deference and respect for the Bishops of Rome, because t●at was the Imperial City; so on the other hand, Church-History plainly shows, That, notwithstanding this great deference, the Bishops of Rome had no Authority or Jurisdiction out of their own Province, that is, beyond the Suburbicary Region of Italy, till after the Division of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western. It was not long after that Division, and chief upon the weakness of the Western Empire, that that Power, which we now call the Papacy, grew up. As the Empire decayed, so by degrees this increased and gathered Strength; the design being at first, not to set up a new Religion, but a new Monarchy in the place of the old than expiring. Thus while the Roman Empire was gasping for Life, did the Bishops of Rome force it to make what Will and Testament they pleased. Being thus established, and making Rome, whose name was still Venerable, the Seat of their Dominion, they soon obtained a Supremacy over the Western World. In this manner, and with these Steps did the Papacy first advance itself; their Designs being apparently Secular, tending not to the Salvation of men's Souls, but the Support of their own grandeur. And therefore these Spiritual Machiavillians, according to the old Policy, are for preserving their Empire after the same way and manner as it was at first acquired. No wonder then that the chief Topick of Popery, is Argumentum ab Utili; which of all Arguments carries the greatest force in the Church of Rome: And this will more plainly appear, if we do but draw up the Curtain, and present you with Popery in its full light. 'Tis scarce within the reach of arithmetic, what vast, prodigious Sums these several Doctrines [the Popes Supremacy, Purgatory, Indulgences, Auricular Confession, and the Celibacy of the Clergy] bring in to the Church; And therefore as one wittily expresseth it, They must maintain them, because they are maintained by them.  
1. As to the Pope's Supremacy. How slight a Foundation this Doctrine hath, I think to any rational Man will soon appear; for supposing St. Peter was Bishop of Rome, (though the Learned Dr. Barrow, and many others are of opinion he never was there,) and that as Metropolitan thereof he had the precedency of the rest of the Apostles; what then? Can hence a sufficient Power be devolved on his Successor, to raise a real Monarchy, and to claim an absolute Jurisdiction over the whole World, with a Power to dispose of Crowns and Kingdoms? This is certainly a Non Sequitur. Nor was St. Peter ever vested with any such privileges as these, nor did his Successors for many Ages ever Challenge them; And at last the only title the Pope had to them, was Usurpation. But how unreasonable soever this Doctrine may appear to those who get not by it, his Holiness hath reason to keep it up, since it serves to the filling his Cossers; And if he should once part with it, he at the same time Lops off the best Branch of his Revenue.  
2. As to Purgatory. This Doctrine was never so much as thought of till St. Austin's time, who both Said it, and Unsaid it, and at last left it doubtful; Nor did it come into any sort of Credit till about two hundred Years after, in the time of Pope Gregory the first. The Papists themselves are so divided as to all the points and Circumstances of this Doctrine, that possibly it will not a little entertain the Reader, to see the foolish variety of Opinions relating to this Doctrine. First as to the place, where they suppose this Imaginary Goal to be; Eckius will have it to be in the bottom of the Sea; Others will have it either in Mount Aetna, or Vesuvius; But Bernard de Bustis places it in an Hill in Ireland. Next, as to the Torments; Sir Thomas More will have them to be only by Fire; but Fisher, by Fire and Water; Lorichius neither by Fire, nor by Water, but by the violent Convulsions of Hope and Fear. Then, as to the Executioners, or torments; They do as little agree about them; for Bishop Fisher will have them to be the Holy Angels; but Sir Thomas More to be the very Devils. Then, as to the Sins to be there Expiated; Some will have them to be the Venial only; but others say the Mortal too. And for the time of the Souls continuance in that State; Dennis the Carthusian extends it to the end of the World; whereas Dominicus â Seto limits it to ten Years; and others make it depend on the number of Masses, and Offices, that shall be said or done on their behalf. Lastly, as to the extremity of the pains; Aquinas makes them as violent as those of Hell; but the Rhemists, in their Annotations upon Revelations the 14th, Verse the 13th, say, That the Souls there are in a very fine condition: And Durandus, de Offic. Mortuor. Cap. VII. between these extremes, gives them some Intermission from those terrible pains, upon Sundays, and Holy Days. So foolishly extravagant are these several fancies and conceits of Purgatory, that it may not be altogether impertinent to inquire into the Original and Source of this Doctrine. And this will presently appear to any one who is in the least versed in the Heathen Poets and Philosophers. These were the first Hatchers of this Notion, and from thence was it first derived. Homer, in the 2d. Book of his Odyss. entertains us with long Stories of Ulysses' descent into Hell, the Dialogues of Ghosts, the Punishment of departed Souls, and the Sacrifices to be offered to relieve them; And herein is he imitated by Virgil, who, in the Sixth of his Aeneids, brings in Anchises discoursing at the same rate. Nor were their Philosophers free from these sort of Dreams; witness Plato, who, in his Book de Anima, broaches the like Doctrine; And Cicero, in Scipio's Dream, harps upon the same string. Hence Bellarmin, urging several reasons for this Doctrine of Purgatory, his third is taken from the common opinion of all Nations, Hebrews, Mahometans, and Gentiles, both Philosophers and Poets. But to conclude this point, as ridiculous as this Doctrine of Purgatory is, there is not any one Opinion in the Church of Rome, that the Romanists are more zealous in the asserting; Nor is it to be wondered that they are so, since herein they act upon Demetrius' Principle, Because thereby they have their gain; And therefore well may they be allowed to be angry, and displeased at all those, who speak and write against it; for by that means their Craft is in danger to be set at nought. There being no Opinion in their Church, which brings in a better and more constant Revenue, by Masses, Dirges, Requiems, Trentals, and anniverssaries, besides Casualties and Deodands, by dying Persons, or their Friends, in hopes of a speedier release out of the pains of Purgatory. So that if this Opinion were once out of Countenance in the World, they would then lose one of the best Arts they have of upholding the grandeur of their Church. And it is very remarkable, That the fear of losing this Income, was one main Impediment to restrain the Pope from yielding to a Reformation.  
3. As to Indulgences and Pardons. In the Primitive times, when the Christians had committed any heinous offence, as for example, either in denying their Faith, or Sacrificing to Idols, for fear of Persecution; the Parties offending were enjoined some severe and long penance: And the rigour of this, the Bishops, or Pastors, in their respective Congregations, had power, (if they saw Cause) to mitigate at their discretion; which Mitigation, or Relaxation of Punishment, was called an Indulgence, or sometimes a Pardon. And this was derived from St. Paul, who released the Incestuous Corinthian from the bond of Excommunication, upon his Humiliation, and serious Repentance. This manner of Indulgence was Ancient, and of long Continuance in the Primitive Church. The first account we have of perverting this Custom, and the prostituting it to Secularends, was in the time of Pope Gregory the first, about the Year 600. And ever since that time, 'tis scarce credible what an immense Sum this Doctrine hath brought in to the Church. And certainly, of all the Arts that the Church of Rome hath for the raising of Money, this is the cleverest and neatest Contrivance; and therefore one wittily calls these Indulgences, Emulgences; and even by the Romanists themselves they are called, in their truest Signification, The Treasury of the Church. The Pope is the sole Dispenser and Disposer of these Indulgences; and therefore whenever he hath occasion, or a Mind to fill his Treasury, all that he needs to do, is, upon pretence of War against the Infidels or heretics, to send out, and proclaim Marts, and Sales for these Indulgences, upon condition that those, who would disburse any Sums of Money (which is all to be laid out (as he pretends) upon the said occasion,) should have Pardons and Indulgences for numbers of Years proportionable to the Sums they could, or would deposit; Nam aliter non absolvebantur, nisi tribuerent secundum Posse suam, & facultatem suum; For otherwise they could not be absolved, except they did disburse as much as their abilities would afford, as Henr. de Knighton, an English Historian in Richard the second time, honestly and plainly tells us; And then as for the Poor and Indigent, truly they deserve our pity, when the Taxa Cameroe Apostolicoe deals thus plainly with them, Nota diligenter quòd hujusmodi Gratioe non conceduntur Pauperibus; QUIA non habent, ergò non possunt Consolari; Note diligently, That such graces are not granted to the Poor; Because they have not wherewithal, they cannot be comforted. A very sad Case indeed! Thus, though our Saviour tells us, how, hard it is for a Rich Man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; yet by the Religion of Popery the difficulty lies wholly on the Poor Man's side; and the only Sin capable of Damning a Rich Man, is that of Covetousness; for let him but see his Holiness well, and he may then safely sing a Requiem to his Soul.  
4. As to Auricular Confession. The necessity of this Doctrine was unknown to the Fathers of the Primitive Church. Nay, about a Thousand Years after Christ, it was held disputable in the Roman Church. And though the Practice of it was imposed by Pope Innocent, in his Council of Lateran; yet even than it remained disputable as to the Doctrine, till the Council of Trent gave it the Sanction of Divine Faith. At first it was voluntary, and only used in Case of a troubled Conscience, or a strong Temptation: But it is now made necessary at stated times, in all probability to make the Priest Master of every Man's Secrets. This is the main Curb of the Laity, whereby the Clergy hold them in awe; for by this means they have an Intelligencer in the breast of every Great Man of their Communion; Which is a thing of that vast Consequence, that if ever they part with it, then farewell Popery▪  
5. As to the Celibacy of the Clergy. That this Custom was derived from the Heathens, will plainly appear; Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, That the Ancient heretics took occasion to condemn Marriage from the Precepts and Practices of Pagan Philosophers. And St. Hierom saith, that the Athenian Hierophanta's to this day, by supping the Broth of Hemlock, make themselves chaste (being forbidden Marriage,) before they were admitted into Sacred Orders, or advanced to Prelatical Dignity. And Alexander ab Alexandro informs us, That the Priests of Cybele did castrate themselves, that they might be chaste. And he further adds in the same place, That those who performed their greatest Solemnities (or their Chief Priests) that they might continue in chaste Religion, and escape the Contagion of Women, did emasculate themselves with certain Herbs. And Euripides testifieth, That in Crete those whom they called the Prophets of Jupiter, do not only abstain from Flesh, but also from all savoury Meat. And the like did the Indian magis, who were advanced to the Priesthood of the Sun: And among the Assyrians, the Priests of Diana Ecbatana lived in perpetual Virginity. To add more Testimonies is needless, since the Romanists are themselves so far from denying it, that several of them, as Pope Syricius, Medina, and others, urge it as an unanswerable Argument against the Marriage of Priests. But notwithstanding the great care the Heathen Priests took as to their Chastity, yet we find it signified but little; And therefore Arnobius describing the single life of Priests amongst the Heathen, saith, Where are Whoredoms more frequently committed than by Priests, even in their Temples, nay before the very Altars? And in the Conclusion he tells us, That their Lust was more frequently discharged in Chancels, than Brothel-Houses. But having showed this to be a Custom derived from the Heathens, and the effect it had; let us (now) see, whether the Primitive Christians had any such usage; and when, and by what means, it was at first introduced, and the Use that hath since been made of it. That there was no such Usage in the Primitive Church, is most certain, for St. Ambrose in his Comment on 2 Cor. 11. testifies, that all the Apostles, except St. John and St. Paul, had Wives. And also Eusebius, Ruffinus, and Socrates, Ecclesiastical Writers of great Note, do all testify of several very Religious Bishops, who had Children by their lawful Wives, after they were Bishops. And the Greek Church even to this day observes it for a Custom, not to admit any into Holy Orders, unless they were Married; as judging them then more stayed, and less subject to Temptations. The first account we meet with of prohibiting Wives to the Clergy, was not long before the Nicene Council: A foolish Opinion had then seized the Heads of some of the Leading Men of the Church, That no Married Man was fit to officiate at the Altar; Whereupon the Question came to be started in the Council of Nice; Of which matter the Ecclesiastical Historian Socrates, Lib. 1. Cap. XI. gives us this account, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 etc. It pleased some of the Bishops to bring in a new Law into the Church, That those who were dedicated to the Holy Ministry, viz. Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, should not sleep any longer with their Wives. But this at first was most strenuously opposed, and particularly by one Paphnutius▪ an Egyptian Bishop, who had formerly one of his Eyes plucked out for the Testimony of the Blessed Jesus. Nor did this Doctrine advance itself into a Decree, till above fifty Years after, at which time Siricius Bishop of Rome first ordained it; though for many hundred Years after it was not much observed, till Gregory the Seventh, commonly called Hildebrand, began to put it in Execution; by excommunicating all such Married Priests, as would not immediately quit their Wives, and take the Oath of Continency. And this hath been strictly observed ever since; The Council of Trent having denounced an Anathema against all those who shall say, That Clerks in Holy Orders may contract Matrimony; And that such a contract is valid, notwithstanding the Laws and Constitutions of the Church. But how little this Romish Celibacy signified amongst their Priests, as to the keeping them chaste, even their own Historians can best inform us. Matthew Paris tells us, The Pope thought it almost a Miracle to hear a Candidate for a bishopric attested to be a pure Virgin; Alvarus Pelagius, a Portugal Bishop, in the 14th Century, in his known Book De Planctu Ecclesiae, amongst other crying Sins of the Roman Clergy of his days, Laments in an especial manner their Incontinency, wishing that the Spaniards and Regricolae especially, had never promised Continency: The Children of the Clergy being, in those countries, says he, more numerous than those of the Laity; and what is more detestable, for several Years together, from their concubine's beds they go strait to the Altar. And in another place, the very same Author complains of their debauching the Women, who came to Confession. Alfonsus à Castro tells us, That if they should attempt to conceal the Incontinency of the Clergy, their own Children would proclaim it. Johannes Aventinus affirms, that the Salacity of the Priests was so famous, that it was grown into a Proverb. Robert Holkot, who lived in the fourteenth Century, a Dominican by Profession, and born at Northampton, styles the Priests of his days, Priests of Priapus and Baalpheor. Johannes Gerson, speaking of the Incontinency of the Priests, saith, That it was so rooted and Epidemical an Evil, that as things stood under the reign of Celibacy, if Priests were not allowed the use of common Women they would (in several places) fall upon the Wives and Daughters of their Parishioners. Nay, even Albertus Pighius and Dominicus Soto, as stout Assertors as they were of the Celibacy, yet were so ingenuous as to confess the lewdness it Occasions. Thus could I, from several other instances of the like Nature, drawn from their own Historians, dilate upon this Subject; As also, by adding the remarkable Instances of the great Incontinency, or the unchaste Celibate of several of their Popes themselves; as of Paul the Second, Sixtus the Fourth, Innocent the Eighth, Alexander the Sixth, Julius the Second, Leo the Tenth, Paul the Third, Julius the Third, etc. But I forbear this, since raking of Dunghills is an Employment more fit for a Scavenger than a Gentleman. That so great Wickedness should ever be practised amongst such as serve at the Altar, is indeed a thing much to be lamented; but that ever any Christian Church should allow and approve of such Practices, is matter of Astonishment; And yet that the Church of Rome does so, is most clear, and manifest. Hence we find it was one of the Germane Grievances, That such Priests as were disposed to live chastely, and abhorred this Sin of Uncleanness, were compelled to take Dispensations to keep Concubines. Nicolaus de Clemangis also makes the same sort of complaint; What a strange thing is it, says he, That in several Dioceses now a days the Rectors of Parishes bargain with their Bishops for licence to keep Concubines? That Great Angelical Doctor of the Church of Rome, Thomas Aquinas (whether from his own Complexion, or no, I know not) seems to be so great a favourer of this Vice, that he argues for it in a pretty odd sort of a Manner, in his 4th Book De Regimine Principum; Id facit in Mundo Meretrix etc. A Whore in the World, saith he, is as the Pump in a Ship, or a Privy in a Palace: Take these away, and all will be filled with stench and annoyance. Most Incomparable Divinity! Sure if this Rule be true, no place for sweetness can compare with Rome, where, by the best Computation, are reckoned three Thousand licenced Harlots, which pay an Annual Tribute to his Holiness. But to return to my Subject. Since it plainly appears, that this Doctrine of the Celibacy was never used, nor practised amongst the Christians of the Primitive Church, how came then this Innovation to be introduced into the Church of Rome? Cui bono, for what end and purpose hath it so many Ages been so very zealously asserted? In promptu causa est, the reason is very obvious, and a Man with half an Eye may see the Policy of it. This Doctrine than is maintained by the Policy of the Court of Rome, on purpose to make advantage of the Clergy, both while they live, and when they die. Hence their great Espencoeus cries out shame of that execrable Custom of indulging Concubinage to Professors of Chastity, at a set annual rate; assuring us, That amongst the vast numbers of Delinquents in this kind, few, or none, suffer any other Punishment than that of the Pocket. But besides this, 'tis of great advantage to his Holiness, to disengage the Clergy from all Civil Interests, and thus to make them wholly depend upon the Court of Rome; which is a thing could never be effected, so long as the Clergy gave hostages of their sidelity to the Civil Government, by the Interests of their Families and Children. And therefore this Invention was cunningly enough contrived; That as the old Roman soldiers were forbidden Marriage while they received pay, lest their domestic Interests should abate their courage; So the Celibacy of the Clergy was strictly enjoined, to make them more true and hearty to the Interests of the Court of Rome. And the vast advantages that accrue to his Holiness by this one Doctrine of the Celibacy of the Clergy, is scarce to be computed; since now the Church is the general Heir to all the Clergy.  
Thus have I run over those five several Gainful Doctrines in the Church of Rome; whereby it is most manifest, That, let them pretend what they will, grandeur and Secular Interest is all they aim at; And therefore let us no longer wonder at this Priest-Craft of theirs, but rather conclude with that Ingenious Cardinal, who, when the People flocked about him, gave them his Benediction in these words, SI DECIPI VULT POPULUS, DECIPIATUR.   

ESSAY II.  
The great mischief and prejudice of LEARNING. And that a Wise Man ought to be preferred before a Man of LEARNING.  
LEARNING does but serve to fill us full of Artificial Errors. That which we so much admire under the name of LEARNING, is only the knowing the fancies of particular Men, Deliri veteris Meditontes somnia vana, in effect but like Gossipping Women telling one another their Dreams. The Romans were so far from esteeming Learning, as an essential part of Wisdom, that with them the word Scholar was seldom used but by way of reproach. A Learned Man may not improperly be compared to Aesop's Crow, decked with the Feathers that he had stolen from other Birds. He maketh (indeed) a great show in the World, but he may thank others who are at the charge of it. In a word, There is not a simpler Animal, and a more superfluous Member of a State, than a mere Scholar; He is — Telluris inutile Pondus. And were I to give a description of a Pedant newly arrived from the University, I could not do it more to the life, than in the words of Horace;  
Cùm septem Studiis annos dedit, insenuitque  
Libris & curis, Statuâ taciturnius exit,  
Plerumque & Populum risu quatit—  
No wonder then, that the Italians, in their Farces, always bring in a Pedant for the Fool of the Play. That Learning is no way serviceable to the life of Man, even daily experience sufficiently shows; for how many are there in the World, of high and low condition, that live pleasantly and happily, who never trouble themselves with Learning▪ Neither is it serviceable to Things Natural, which an ignorant Sot may as well perform, as he that is vested with the greatest Learning; Nature is a sufficient Mistress for that. Nor doth it conduce to Honesty, and to make us better; Paucis est opus literis ad bonam Mentem, little Learning is requisite for a good Mind: Nay, some are of opinion, it rather hindereth it; And that where Learning and Knowledge go in the Front, Pride and Ambition always follow in the Rear. Hence it is observed, That Rome for the first five hundred Years, when it flourished in Virtue and Valour, was without Knowledge; And so soon as Learning came amongst them, they then began to degenerate, and to run into Factions. The best established Government that ever was, and from whence have sprung the greatest Personages in the World, I mean the Lacedaemonian, made no Profession of Learning; And yet it was the School of Virtue and Wisdom, and was ever Victorious over Athens, the most Learned City of the World, the School of all Science, the Habitation of the Muses, and the Storehouse of Philosophers. Learning then serves for nothing, but to invent Niceties and subtleties, artificial cunning Devices, and whatsoever is an Enemy to Virtue and Innocence. Atheism, Errors, Sects, and all the troubles of the World, have risen from the Men of Knowledge and Learning. If we search into the Morals of the most Learned amongst the Heathens, I mean their Philosophers, we shall find but little agreement betwixt their Practices and their Doctrines; And that the one did generally run counter to the other. Plutarch tells us, That not only Socrates and Plato, but also that the rest of the Philosophers, notwithstanding their outward show and ostentation of some Virtues, were generally as intemperate, incontinent, and wicked, as any common or ordinary Slave. But of all other profane Authors, Lucian paints them in the most lively Colours. For in his Dialogues he bringeth in Menippus speaking of the Philosophers thus; Because I was (saith he) uncertain what Course of Life to hold, I thought good to go to the Philosophers, and to take their advice, that they might direct me therein; not considering, that, as the Proverb saith, I cast myself out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire; for I found amongst them all things more uncertain than amongst any sort of Men, insomuch that the Life of the veriest Idiot, seemed unto me more happy than theirs. For when I beheld their Lives, I perceived they were clean Contrary to their own Precepts and Doctrine; those who taught that Money and Riches were to be contemned, did gape after nothing more than Gain, lending to Usury, teaching for Hire, and doing all for Money; Those who in words seemed most to contemn Glory, referred the whole Course of their Lives thereto; And to conclude, Those who openly spoke most against Voluptuousness and Pleasure, secretly sought and embraced nothing else. Thus (we see) the Practices of Men do not always hold an equal pace to their Theory— Video meliora, probque, Deteriora sequor. We naturally know what is Good, but naturally pursue what is Evil. Probitas laudatur, at Alget— All men are so just to Virtue as to commend her, but few are so just to themselves as to Practise her. But to return to my Subject. If we look back into the first Ages of the Church, we shall find that Philosophy was the chief Seminary of the main Errors broached in those times. And this (no doubt) Tertullian was highly sensible of, which made him style the Philosophers, the patriarches of heretics: And Cornelius Agrippa says, That nothing more adulterates Divinity than Philosophy, forasmuch as all heresy whatsoever hath had its first rise out of the Fountain of Philosophy. The Primitive Fathers of the Church, were wont to apply themselves with great diligence to the study of Heathen Philosophy, on purpose to enable them to fight the Heathens with their own Weapons, and to Baffle them with their own Arguments. Hence they chief consulted the Philosophy of Aristotle and Plato; but chief Plato's; Because that seemed to speak plainer about the Divine Nature; and also, because the sweetness, and powerfulness of Plato's Writings, taught them at the same time the Art of Speaking, and the Strength of Reasoning. Having thus provided themselves against their Adversaries, they easily got the Victory over them: For tho' the Heathens, for so many hundred Years, had very zealously asserted the truth of their several Religions; yet now their Philosophers were so baffled by these Christian Doctors, that they had nothing to say; and at last were so ingenious, as to confess the ridiculousness of their Religions, and to own the purity, and reasonableness of the Christian Worship. And now, after so good a Beginning, who could expect so unhappy a Conclusion? For it so fell out, That the Christians having had such good success against the Religions of the Heathens, by their own Weapons; instead of laying them down when they had done, unfortunately fell to manage them one against another. So many subtle brains having been set on work, and heated against a Foreign Enemy; when that was over, and they had nothing else to do, (like an Army that returns Victorious, and is not presently disbanded) they began to spoil and quarrel amongst themselves. Hence that Religion, which at first appeared so innocent and peaceable, and fitted for the benefit of Humane Society, was miserably divided into a thousand intricate Questions, which neither advance true Piety, nor good Manners. And from hence sprung up the first Heresies in the Church. And thus we see how little Religion is promoted, or advantaged by any assistance of Humane Learning, which the Apostle sufficiently inclucates, when he so wisely advises us, To avoid all vain Philosophy. And as Learning is of little use in making Men truly Religious; so it likewise signifies but little in making us either good Subjects, or great Politicians: Licinius, and Valentinian, Emperors of Rome, were wont to say, That their State had no poison more dangerous, than that of Learning. Lycurgus also seemed to be of the same opinion, when he established Ignorance in his republic. Most Men do attribute the greatness of the Grand Seignior's, and the Duke of Muscovy's Power over their Subjects, to this one single piece of Policy, viz. their suppressing of Literature. And do we not see here in England, That in time of Popery, when that little stock of Learning that was amongst us, was cloistered up in Monasteries and Abbeys, the ignorant Common People patiently crouched, and readily bore whatsoever burden was put upon them. But as soon as ever Learning peeped abroad in the World, and began to diffuse itself amongst the Vulgar; they than began to expostulate with their superiors, and immediately threw off that yoke, which formerly they and their Forefathers had so long lain under. And indeed, upon this consideration it is, that Princes take so much care to keep their Subjects in Ignorance, by suppressing all such Books, as lay open and prostitute the Arcana Imperii to the Knowledge of the Vulgar. For Books give Men new Hints and Notions, and those Notions do often put Men upon such Actions, as are not always agreeable to the Interests of Princes. Hence that Subtle, and Crafty Prince, King James, (I mean the First, not the Second) would often say, That of all sorts of Subjects the Thinking Man made the worst. And even by daily Experience we find it confirmed, that the highflown Arbitrary Men (commonly the Darlings of Tyrants) are not Men of the deepest Thoughts, nor of the greatest Foresight and Consideration; since if they were; they might easily discover, That the absolute Power of the Prince, cannot be made up of any other Ingredient, than the Slavery of the Subject. But even in some tempers there is such a Natural love to Servitude and vassalage, that they think no pleasure comparable to the hugging of their Chain; And with the Slavish French Man, their greatest Glory is, Notre Roy est Absolu, the Grammatical Construction whereof is, We are Slaves. But that ever any, who call themselves English-Men, should sink into such a meanness of Spirit, so degenerating from the Virtues of their Ancestors, (many of whom lost their Lives in the generous Asserting of the English Liberties) is that, which as our Forefathers could never have dreamt of, so, for the Honour of the present Age, I hope, Posterity will never Remember. But Monsters are the Product of every Age; And there is no Climate without some infects. Though Liberty be the Mistress of all Generous Souls, and is that alone which gives a Relish to Humane Life; yet I say, there hath been lately found amongst us a sort of Animals, who have been as Industrious in giving up, as ever our Noble Progenitors were in Establishing our Liberties. But whatsoever Charms, these the more Gross, and Earthly part of Mankind, may think there is in such a Lazy, Slavish Subjection, yet to Men of more refined Intellectuals, and whose Veins run with a Nobler sort of Blood, all that the World can give without Liberty hath no taste. It must be confessed, That in the two last Reigns, this Precious Jewel of Liberty hath been little valued; Nothing hath been sold so Cheap by unthinking Men; But alas that doth no more lessen the real value of it, than the ignorance of the Foolish Indians, did that of their Gold, which at first they exchanged for the most inconsiderable baubles. 'Tis the happiness of our Constitution, That King and People are both Bounded; And cursed be the Man, who shall go about to remove either of these landmarks: The Crown hath Prerogative enough to protect our Liberties; And the People have so much Liberty as is necessary to make them useful to the Crown: So that the King's Prerogative, and the Subjects Liberty, do naturally tend to the preserving of one another. It was the Observation of that Learned Attorney General, Sir Francis Bacon, That whilst the Prerogative runs within its Ancient and Proper Banks, the main Channel thereof is so much the Stronger, for overflows evermore hurt the River. Certainly it was no ill saying of Pliny the Younger, to the Emperor Trajan, Foelicitatis est posse quantum velis, Magnitudinis velle quantum possis, It is an happiness for your Majesty to be able to do what you will, But your Greatness consists in doing what you justly may. And Comines (that honest French statesman) notes, That it is more Honourable for a King to say, J'ay des Subjects si bons & Loyaux, etc. My Subjects are so good and Loyal as to deny me nothing, than to say, I take what I please, and I will keep it. And those Courtiers (adds he) that Preach any other Doctrine, do not a little mistake the Interest of their Masters, and are so far from exalting their grandeur and Prerogative, that they make them indeed no Kings. For as Bracton says, Non est Rex ubi dominatur Voluntas, It is not a King where Will and Pleasure bears sway; but rather some cyclopic Monster, which eats and drinks the Flesh and Blood of Mankind. Nay, even King James the first (that high Asserter of Prerogative) in his Speech in the Star-Chamber, Anno 1609. saith, That no sooner does a King give over Governing according to Law, but he Ceases to be a King, and degenerates into a Tyrant. And the Lord Chancellor Bacon tells us, That the People of this Kingdom love the Laws thereof, and nothing will oblige them more, than a Confidence of the Free Enjoying them. What the Nobles of this Land upon an occasion once said, NOLUMUS LEGES ANGLIAE MUTARI, We will not have the Laws of England altered, is imprinted upon the Hearts of all English Men, who take themselves to have as good a Title to their Laws, as to the Common Air they breath in. And therefore Sir Walter Raleigh (a man of no Vulgar Observations) tells us a great Thing, and in no wise to be slighted, That the Kings of England have evermore sustained more loss by one Rebellion, than by a hundred years' Observance of MAGNA CHARTA. 'Tis observed of the Camel, that it lies quietly down till it hath its full Load, and then riseth up, but the English Mobile is a kind of Beast, which riseth up soon when it is overladen; And therefore (to conclude this Point) as an English Monarch may (so long as he observes the Laws) be the happiest Prince in the World; So if he will turn Phaeton, and drive furiously, he will in the end find himself a King not of Men, but of Devils. But to proceed. That Men of Learning are not always the greatest Politicians, even the Experience of all Ages does sufficiently show. That great and Learned Antiquary, Mr. Selden, informs us, That when Constantine became Christian, He had so great an Affection for the Clergy, that he put great part of the Civil Government into their hands: But after 3 or 4 years' Experience, he was very sensible how fatal this Error had like to have been; Whereupon he took new Measures; and in the Posts of these unhappy Politicians, he was fain to put in a Set of Lay-Men, who having truer and better Notions of Government, soon corrected, and amended their Errors and Mistakes. That the Clergy of England have since the Reformation been much abridged of their former Power, is what I think every Man will grant. And therefore that such of them as love to be Great and Powerful, have still a hankering after that old Constitution, I for my part cannot so much admire. But how comes it, that the Clergy are not now allowed to have as great Power, as in times of Popery? The Reason is very apparent; Because we found by Experience, That when they were vested with such great Power, no sort of Men ever carried it more Arbitrarily, and Tyranically, nor (indeed) committed greater Solecisms in politics than they did: And therefore the History of those times does sufficiently warn us against running into the same Error. When men act out of their own Sphere, who can expect any good will come of it? And therefore we find it seldom happens, That the Statesmen are more fortunate in meddling with Religion, than the Churchmen with State affairs; Each mars all with tampering out of their Provinces. Christ's Kingdom is not of this World; Nor ought the Divines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to meddle in this Political Province; And when they do, no sort of Men prove so unfortunate. Let us hear what the ingenious Andrew Marvel, says as to this Point. Whether it be, that the Clergy are not so well fitted by Education, as others for Political Affairs, I know not; though I should rather think (said he) they have advantage above others, and if they would but keep to their Bibles, might make the best Ministers of State in the World; Yet 'tis generally observed, that things miscarry under their Government. If there be any Counsel more precipitate, more violent, more rigorous, more extreme than other, that is theirs. Truly I think, the reason God does not Bless them in Affairs of State, is because he never intended them for that Employment. Or i● Government, and the Preaching of the Gospel, may well concur in the same Person, God therefore frustrates him, because, though knowing better, he seeks and manages his Greatness by the lesser and meaner Maxims. Upon these therefore, and such like Considerations, the wise Venetians have so slight an Opinion of the politics of their churchmen, that whenever any thing that is of a considerable nature, occurs to be debated in the Senate, before any Suffrage passeth, they cause Proclamation to be made, for all Priests to departed; and the proper Officer, with a loud and audible Voice, pronounceth these words, Fuora I Preti, Out Priests. And it is further remarkable, That he who in this commonwealth is called the Divine of the State (an Ecclesiastical Person to be advised with in matters of Religion) is commonly chosen such a One, as is reputed the least addicted to bigotry. That no sort of Men have proved more fatal in their Counsels to Princes, than the Political Divines, is a truth too much confirmed by Experience to be denied. That which these Men chief aim at, is to render themselves acceptable at Court; as knowing▪ that the best Preferments come from thence; And therefore if they can but sooth and please the Prince, they value not whether their Doctrine be true, or false. Hence than their chief business is to give a helping hand towards making the Prince Arbitrary: And their way to do this, is by entitling him to all those Regalia's or Prerogatives, that the Kings of Juda, or Israel, ever enjoyed or usurped; as if the Judicials of Moses were calculated for all Seasons, and all Meridian's. And thus arose that Doctrine, That Monarchy is Jure Divino. But this way of proceeding is no new Invention, for we find it very usual amongst the Ancient Heathens, whenever they had a mind to obtrude any odd Belief upon the Common People, they presently trumpt up a Jus Divinum; and after this manner we see both their Laws and Religions were established. Thus Solon's Laws were said to come from Minerva; Lycurgus derived his Laws from Jupiter; Numa Pompilius, the first Founder of the Roman Rites and Ceremonies, declared he received them from the Goddess Aegeria; and Mahomet pretended his Religion was imparted to him, by the Angel Gabriel. There is not any thing whatsoever, that derives so great an Authority amongst Men, as the opinion of Divine Favour, or Heavenly Designation: And therefore St. Austin, speaking of that custom amongst the Heathen, of deriving the Pedigree of their Heroes from the Gods, says, That he looked upon it to be of great use; in as much as it made valiant Men, fancying themselves to be heavenborn, upon the confidence thereof, to undertake high attempts the more boldly, intent them the more earnestly, and accomplish them the more successfully. And Ludovicus Vives says. That another great advantage which accrued to the Heroes by this Belief, was the readiness which hereupon they found in the common People to submit to whatsoever they commanded, as thinking their very Commands to be Sacred, and Divine. This therefore made Scipio, that he cultivated and improved that opinion of the People, viz. That he was begot by some God; and Alexander in Lucian tells us, That it furthered him in many great designs, to be accounted the Son of Jupiter Hammon; for hereby he was feared, and none durst oppose him, whom they held to be a God. Thus we see, that that piece of Policy, which many of our Court-Flatterers in the late Reigns have been so fond of, viz. Their asserting Monarchy to be Jure Divino, is but borrowed from this old Heathen Custom; the Original design whereof was, first to flatter the Prince, by making him believe his Power was absolute, and his Will was uncontrollable; and then to impose upon the People, by making them believe, That a Prince (though a Tyrant, and the very worst of Men) was not to be opposed or resisted. But from what I have now said, let no Man think I am an Enemy to Monarchy; for I do most Solemnly, and Unfeignedly declare, That of all sorts of Governments, Monarchy is the most agreeable to my Genius; and that of Monarchies, the pure and unmixed would please me best (it being that by which the Almighty governs the Universe) could Humane Nature be long trusted with it; and could we be as certain, that his Vicegerent on Earth would as easily imitate those Divine Attributes of Wisdom and Goodness, as they are prone to lay claim to his other Attribute of Power and Greatness. But alas, Kings are but Men; they are not exempted from Error; They have their Vices and Infirmities, their Sallies and enormites', like the rest of Mankind: And indeed, considering the unhappiness of their Education, and their being continually surrounded with Sycophants and Flatterers, 'tis a wonder they prove at the common rate of other Men. Hence therefore that great Man of Wisdom and Experience, Philip de Comines tells us, That a virtuous Prince is worthy of more than ordinary applause. Thus (as a late ingenious Author observes) the fault is not in the Government as Absolute, but in Humane Nature, which is not often found sufficient, at least for above one or two Successions, to support and manage so unlimited a Power in one single Person, as it ought to be. And now, to return to my Subject. Since Learning therefore is a thing of so little value, and use to Mankind, as we have made it appear to be: how vain are those, who extol it to such a degree, as to make it the Standard both of Happiness and Wisdom; by concluding, that no Man can be either Happy, or Wise without it: Though the Scripture tells us, That he who increaseth in Knowledge, increaseth in Sorrow; and daily Experience shows us, That folly and Learning do often Cohabit in the same Person. The ingenious Montaigne, enquiring into the reason, why Men of Learning do generally seem to be more uncouth in their Discourse, as also more unfit for business than other Men, saith, I cannot conceive the true Cause hereof, unless it be, that as Plants are choked by overmuch Moisture, and Lamps are stifled with too much oil; So are the Actions of the mind overwhelmed by over-abundance of matter and Study: And in a diversity of Things, as in a mist, the Mind is apt to lose itself. Thus we see that Learning is so far from contributing to Wisdom, that if it be not well managed, it really hinders us in the pursuit of it. And a great part of that which we call Learning, is like Cobwebs, which though they seem fine and artificial, are of no manner of use. For what is a Man the wiser for knowing the Genitive Case in Jupiter? Or whether we should write Faelix, or Felix; or what are we the better for knowing how many knots there were in Herculeses Club; or whether Penelope was honest or no? And yet as ridiculous as these things are, Many of those Men, whom the World hath called Learned, have trifled away their time in these, and such like inquiries. In a word, it is not the knowing much, but the knowing what is useful, makes a Man a Wise Man. And therefore if a Man have all other Points of Knowledge and Learning, yet if he wants that one of Sibi Sapere, all his other Knowledge is but Impertinence, and a gaudy sort of Ignorance. There are indeed some Men, who are arrived to a sort of Lip-Wisdom, as I may so call it; who have a knack of talking like Wise Men: By their Discourse you would judge of them, as the Ancient Heathens did of their Heroes, That they were sprung from the Gods; But if you search into their Actions, you would rather think them akin to the Horse or Mule which have no understanding. Odi Homines iganavos operâ, Philosophos sententiâ, was the saying of a Great Man; I hate Men that Act like Fools, but speak like Philosophers. He who speaks, but does not Act like a Wise Man, is at best but like a Tinkling Cymbal, which makes only a pleasant noise. Certainly of all parts of Wisdom, the practic is the best. To conclude then, It is not a Man's cloistering himself up in his Study, nor his continual Poring upon Books, that makes him a Wise Man: No; this property is to be acquired only by Meditation and Converse. For Reading may very properly be compared to Eating, and Meditating to Digesting; as therefore to one huor Eating, we allow many hours for Digesting; So to one hours Reading we should assign a sufficient time for Meditating, and Digesting what we have read. Or else, as the one by breeding ill humours, and obstructing the passages, impairs the Health of the Body; So will the other be of no less prejudice to the understanding, by occasioning Diseases to the mind. Thus do many Men, through their not observing this Rule, instead of improving, really impair themselves by their Studies. For by overmuch Reading they clog and oppress their Minds, and so digest nothing. They stuff themselves so full of other men's Notions, that there is no room for their Faculties to display themselves. Whereas the Man of Thought and Meditation, moves in a larger Sphere; He does not thus pinion his Fancy, but puts it upon the Wing, which seldom returns home without some noble Quarry. And did Men but know, how much the pleasure of Thinking transcends all other pleasures, they would certainly put a greater value upon it. For nothing is comparable to the pleasure of an active, and a prevailing Thought: a Thought prevailing over the difficulty and obscurity of the Object, and refreshing the Soul with new Discoveries, and Images of things, and thereby extending the bounds of Apprehension, and (as it were) enlarging the Territories of Reason. But the Learned Man that daily plods on in his Reading, and that never makes use of this thinking Faculty, by reflecting upon what he hath read, quite loseth this Intellectual Enjoyments; Nor is he sensible of that Suavissima Vita, as the Poet calls it, of Descending into himself, and being daily sensible of his own Improvement: But like the carrier's Horse, he still keeps the old Track; and his Learning (to continue the Simile) like the Pack is but a burden to the Beast that carries it. But now, after all that hath been said against Learning, thus much I must own, and acknowledge, That Learning when it meets with an ingenuous temper, and is joined to a pregnancy of mind, is then of excellent use and Advantage: For there is no Man but will speak the better, where he knows what others have said upon the same subject. And sometimes the Consciousness of his inward knowledge, gives a graceful Confidence to his outward behaviour. But on the other hand, if Learning happens to be in the possession of a Fool, 'tis then but a bauble, and, like Dr. Donne's sundial in the Grave, a trifle, and of no use.   

ESSAY III.  
Of Education, and custom; The great Influence it hath upon most Men. But that a good Education is not always Effectual.  
WE suck in the first Rudiments as we do the common Air [facili haustu] as the Lord Bacon expresseth it, without Discrimination or Election, of which indeed our tender, and unexercised Minds are not capable. And, I confess, 'tis necessary we should do so; nor were there any hurt in this innocent easiness, did not most Men all their Lives worship the first thing they saw in the Morning of their Days, and ever after obstinately adhere to those unexamined Receptions. But this is the mischief, when we are Children we are apt to believe every thing; and when we are grown Men, we seldom examine Things, but settle in their first Impressions, without giving ourselves the trouble to consider, and review them. And these prejudices, by Custom and long Acquaintance with our Souls, get a mighty Interest, and shut them up against every thing that is different from those Images of Education.  
Quô semel est imbuta recens, servabit odorem  
Testa diu—  
said the Heathen Poet; the first seasoning Principles and Prejudices, which we receive in our Youth, stick closely to us for a long time after. The Wise Philosopher tells us, That the Soul of Man is Rasa Tabula, like a white Sheet of Paper, out of which therefore it must be more than common Art, that can so clear take out the first Writing, as to super-induce a new Copy fair and legible. This is the true reason why any Person finds it so difficult to quit those Notions of Religion, which have been established in his mind from his early Infancy. There is a marvellous agreement, and natural kindness to those Opinions, which we suck in with our Milk; They are like Foster-Brothers, to whom it has been observed, There is as strong an Inclination as to the Natural; we play and converse with them from our Cradles, and as soon as we can go alone, we take them by the hand; we sleep with them in our bosoms, and contract an insensible Friendship with them, a pleasing Familiarity, which takes off all Deformities; we love them, and we like them, and their very Blackness is a Beauty, as it is with the African Nations, to whom even that which we judge Deformity, appears more lovely than the most delicate European Beauty. Thus it was truly said of Philo, That every Man's own Religion seemed to him the best, because he judgeth of it not by reason, but by affection; like those Philosophers, of whom Cicero spoke, who liked no Discipline but their own. Hence we find and, that the best account many can give of their Faith, is, that they were bred in it; And the most are driven to their Religion by Custom and Education, as the Indians are to Baptism, that is, like a Drove of Cattle to the Water. Thus do we judge all things by our anticipations, and condemn, or applaud them, as they differ, or agree, with our first opinions. 'Tis on this account that almost every Country censures the Laws, Customs, and Doctrines of every other, as absurd, and unreasonable, and are confirmed in their own follies beyond possibility of Conviction. In a word, there is nothing so absurd, to which Education cannot form our tender Youth; It can turn us into shapes more Monstrous than those of afric. For in our Childhood, we are like the melted Wax to the prepared Seal, capable of any Impression from the documents of our Teachers. The Half-Moon, or Cross, are indifferent to us; and with the same ease can we write on this Rasa Tabula, Turk or Christian. Hence therefore it is, That we find no Religion so irrational, but can boast of its Martyrs; Nor no Opinion so silly and ridiculous, but has had some Philosopher or other to support and defend it. And because there is not any thing more strange, than the great diversity of Laws and Customs in the World; I shall not here think it impertinent to transcribe some of those which are most remarkable; as for Instance, To account it a most pious and Religious Act, to kill their Parents, when they come to such an Age; and then to eat them: In one and the same Nation Virgins go with their Privy Parts uncovered, and married Women carefully cover and conceal them: Where Children are excluded and Brothers and Nephews only inherit: Where Chastity, in unmarried Women, is in no esteem; for such may prostitute themselves to as many as they please, and being got with Child, may lawfully take physic to make themselves miscarry; but Married Women keep themselves chaste and Faithful to their Husbands. Where the Custom was, that every Bride should be prostitute to all Comers the first Night, and she who had entertained most, was most honoured: Where they have no Marriages, and therefore Children only own their Mothers, not being able to guests at their Fathers: Where Bawdy Houses of Young Men are kept for the Pleasure of Women, as there are of Women for the Necessities of Men: Where the servile condition of Women is looked upon with such contempt, that they kill all the Native Women, and buy Wives of their Neighbours to supply their use: Where they boil the bodies of their Dead, and afterwards pound them to a pulp, which they mix with their Wine, and drink it: Where the greatest Oath they take, is to Swear by the Name of some Dead Person of Reputation, laying their handup on his Tomb: Where the ordinary way of Salutation is, by putting a finger down to the Earth, and then pointing it up towards Heaven: Where it is the Fashion to turn their backs upon him they salute, and never look upon the Man they intent to honour: Where, whenever the King spits, the greatest Ladies of his Court put out their hands to receive it: And where also the most eminent Persons about him stoop to take up his Ordure in a linen Cloth. Thus have I Collected, and Copied out several of those Customs, which to me seem the most extravagant, and uncouth; whereby it plainly appears, that there is no Opinion or Imagination so idle or ridiculous, which is not established by Laws and Customs, in some place or other. Thus, in a word, do we see the mighty power of Custom and Education; which is so great, that the rankest follies are counted Sacred, if Customary: And the Fashion is always handsome and agreeable, though never so uncouth, or ridiculous to an indifferent Beholder. In short, we are civil or uncivil, good or bad, foolish or wise, or any thing else according to Custom, which Erasmus calls the Monosyllable Tyrant, because 'tis formed Mos in Latin; though Pinder styles her the Queen and Empress of the World. Seneca says, That we govern ourselves not by Reason, but by Custom, accounting that most honest, which is most practised; and error serves us for a Law, when it is become public. Custom we know is of so great account among physicians, that according to the great Hypocrates, there is no one thing aught more to be regarded: Nay, says he, whatsoever a Man is used to (altho' it be bad) is less harmful than what we are not accustomed to, although in itself it be better. And among the Lawyers we see, there is nothing more esteemed of than Custom: Prescription is always counted the best Title; and the Common Law, which is nothing but several Customs established by time and experience, has always the preference of Statute-Law, and is esteemed the Nobler part. Again, Custom governs our very Affections; and we love rather by Custom, than by Reason Hence Mothers more tenderly effect their Children with whom they commonly converse, more than Fathers do; and Nurses more than some Mothers. Custom hath likewise such a Power over the Imagination, that when we are asleep, we often dream of those things, which our minds most run upon when we are awake. And what a mighty Influence has it upon the outward senses? which may be perceived in those Persons, who (after they have been for some time kept in a dark place) come into a full and open light; not being able to bear that luminous Body, which by its glaring seems to dazzle and offend their sight. And hence it is, That those who live near the Cataracts of Nile, as also those several Tradesmen whose noise displeases us so much, and who dwell in Mills and Forges, Custom has made it so familiar to them, that they are no ways disturbed with this constant clattering, but rest and sleep as quietly with noise, as others do without it. Thus doth Custom sufficiently show its own Force and Power, which is stronger than Nature, inasmuch as it both altars and destroys Nature, and is so poweful that it cannot be destroyed but by itself. To conclude then, the Power of Custom is much greater than most men imagine; and therefore it is, that through mistake we often call that the Law of Nature, which really is but the effect of Custom. That affection, which we say every Man naturally bears to his own Country, whence comes it? Is it not from Custom? I know indeed, some tell us, that this love to our Native Soil, is by the instinct of Nature, as Beasts love their Dens, and Birds their Nests. But I rather think it is from civil institution, as being accustomed to the same Laws, the same Ceremonies, the same Temples, the same Markets, and the same Tribunals. No wonder then, that the Generality of Mankind is so influenced by Custom, since that Idea which most Men have of Truth and Reason, is no other, than what Custom dispenseth to them. And hence it is, that we often are so strangely deluded, and imposed upon. For Custom, says Montaigne, veils from us the true aspect of things. Miracles appear to be so, according to our ignorance of Nature, and not according to the essence of Nature. The continually being accustomed to any thing, blinds the eye of our judgement. Hence therefore it is, That as the Greeks and Romans formerly called all Barbarians, who followed not their Laws and Fashions; so we still keep up the same humour, by judging all those who differ from us in their Customs and Usages, to be at least Ridiculous, if not Barbarous. Though (after all) the Barbarians are no more a wonder to us, than we are to them; nor (it may be) with any more reason. Those Americans, who kill their old decrepit Parents, instead of believing themselves Parricides, call us Cruel for letting ours continue so long in the Miseries of old Age: And as for that Practice of theirs (which to us seems so unnatural) of eating their own Parents, they think they do thereby give them the most noble sort of Sepulture, by burying them in their own Bodies, in a manner reviving them again, and regenerating them by a kind of Transmutation into their Living Flesh, by the means of Digestion and Nourishment. And to say the Truth, there are many Laws and Customs, which seem at the first view to be savage, inhuman, and contrary to all Reason, which if they were without Passion, and soberly considered, though they were not found to be altogether just and good, yet at least they might be plausibly defended by some kind of Reason. A wise Man therefore ought to suspend his Judgement, and not to be overforward in Censuring and Condemning the Practices and Customs of other Nations: which sort of narrowness I find many are subject to, and with the hermit, are apt to think the Sun Shines no where, but in their Cell; and that all the World is darkness but themselves. But this certainly is to measure Truth by a wrong Standard, and to Circumscribe her by too narrow a Scantling. But to proceed, Since Custom hath so great a sway in all our Actions, we may well look upon it, as another Nature; nay, sometimes we see it Conquers Nature; Thus by Custom did Mithridates render poison so familiar to himself, that it lost its noxious Quality; and we find whole Nations in India, that live upon Toads, Lizards, and Spiders. Custom then is no slight thing; it is that which ought in the first place to be regarded, since it exercises so absolute dominion over us. Plato reproving a Boy for playing at some Childish Game, Thou reprovest me (says the Boy) for a very little thing: Custom (replied Plato) is no little Thing. And (says Montaigne) He was in the right; for I find our greatest Vices derive their first Propensity from our most tender Infancy▪ and that our Princpal Education depends upon the Nurse. And therefore since Education carries so great force and Authority along with it, how much does it behoove such Parents, who have any regard to virtue and Wisdom, to give their Children a virtuous and sober Education? though (indeed) this does not always prove successful. For Nero, notwithstanding his two excellent Tutors, Seneca and Burrhas, received but little Improvement. Cicero's Son to the stupidity of his Nature, added Drunkenness, and returned from Athens and Cratippus as great a Blockhead as he went. Marcus Aurelius provided fourteen of the most approved Masters to Educate Commodus, yet could not rectify his froward and Barbarous humour. Thus, as Sir Henry Wotton observes, There is in some Tempers such a natural Barrenness, that like the Sands of Arabia they are never to be cultivated, or improved. And according to the old proverb, Ex quovis ligno non fit Mercurius— There are some ●rab-Stocks of such a nature, that all the engrafting in the World can never correct or amend. But these Monsters of Nature are not often to be met with: For we usually observe, that the Culture of the mind, as of the Earth, doth deliver it from the Barrenness of its Nature; And that the toughest, and most unbended Natures by early and prudent Discipline, may be much corrected and improved.   

ESSAY iu.  
Of the Ancients: And the Respect that is due unto them: That we should not too much enslave ourselves to their Opinions.  
AS we should not be so fond conceited of ourselves, and the extraordinary Abilities of the Present Age, as to think every thing that is Ancient to be obsolete; or, as if it must needs be with Opinions, as it is with clothes, where the newest is for the most part best; so neither should we be so Superstitiously devoted to Antiquity, as to take every thing for Canonical, which drops from the Pen of a Father, or was approved by the consent of the Ancients. Antiquity is ever venerable, and justly challenges Honour, and Reverence; but yet there is difference between Reverence, and Superstition; We may assent unto them as Ancients, but not as Oracles; They may have our minds easy and inclinable, but there is no reason they should have them Captivated and fettered to their Opinions. As I will not distrust all which without manifest Proof they deliver, where I cannot convince them of Error; so likewise will I suspend my Belief upon probability of their Mistakes; and Where I find reason to descent, I will rather respect Truth than Authority. As there may be Friendship, so there may be Honour, with diversity of Opinions; nor are we bound therefore to defy Men, because we reverence them We wrong our Ancestors more by admiring than opposing them in their errors; and our opinion of them is very dishonourable, if we think they had rather have us followers, of them, than of Truth. The greatest respect we can show the Ancients, is by following their Example: which was not Supinely and Superstitiously to sit down in fond admiration of the Learning of those that were before them; but to examine their Writings, to avoid their Mistakes, and to use their Discoveries, in order to the further Improvement of Knowledge: This they did; and never any Man took a greater Liberty in censuring and reproving the supposed Errors and Mistakes of the Elder Philosophers, than Aristotle himself; And therefore I do not see any reason, why he should be allowed greater privilege, than what he himself thought good to allow to those before him. Veritas nec mea est, nec illius, aut ullius, says Saint Austin, No man can say I am infallible; for as we are men, so we are subject to Error. As for the Truth of Things, Time makes no Alteration; Things are still the same they are, let the time be past, present, or to come. Those things which we Reverence for Antiquity, what were they at their first Birth? Were they false? Time cannot make them true: Were they true? Time cannot make them more true. The Circumstance therefore of Time, in respect of Truth and error, is merely impertinent. For as Antiquity cannot privilege an Error, so Novelty cannot prejudice Truth. I know in all Ages there have been those, who with a great deal of Zeal and Elegance have declaimed against New Things, setting forth the great danger of Alteration and Novelty. But let us not be frighted with Shadows: If to be the Author of New Things, be a Crime; how will the first Civilizers of Men, and Makers of Laws, and Founders of Governments escape? Whatever now delights us in the Works of Nature, that excels the rudeness of the first Creation, is New. Whatever we see in Cities, or Houses, above the first Wildness of Fields, and Meanness of Cottages, and Nakedness of Men, had its time, when this imputation of Novelty might as well have been laid to its charge. It is not therefore an Offence, to introduce New Things, unless that which is introduced prove pernicious in itself; or cannot be brought in, without the extirpation of others, that are better. If Novelty should always be rejected, neither would Arts have arrived to that perfection, wherein now we enjoy them, nor could we ever hope for any future Reformation: though all Truth be in itself Eternal; yet in respect of men's Opinions, there is scarce any so Ancient, but had a beginning, and was once counted a Novelty; and if for this reason it had been condemned as an Error, what a general darkness and ignorance would then have been in the World, in Comparison of that Light which now abounds. The great Architect of the World hath been observed not to throw down all Gifts and Knowledge to Mankind confusedly at once, but in a regular Parsimonious method, to disperse them by certain degrees, periods, and progress of time, leaving Man to make industrious researches and investigations after Truth; He left the World to the Disputations of Men, as the wisest of Men says, who in acquisition of Natural Truths went from the hyssop to the Cedar; One day certifieth another, and one Age rectifieth another, and the Morrow hath more Experience than the preceding day. Those times which we term Vulgarly the Old World, was indeed the Youth of it, and though if respect be had to the particular and personal Acts of Generation, and to the relation of Father and Son, they who fore lived and preceded us may be called our Ancestors, yet if you go to the Age of the World in general, and to the true length and longaevity of Things, we are more properly The Ancients, and the present Age is the greatest Antiquity: Hence, as the Lord Bacon observes, we generally have a wrong notion of Antiquity; For (says he) to speak truly, Antiquitas Seculi, Juventus Mundi; That which we commonly call Antiquity, is but the Nonage of the World: And in this respect the younger Brother may be termed more Ancient than his Elder, because the World was older when he entered into it. The admiring of former Ages, was a Vanity that possessed all times as well as ours; and the Golden Age was never the present. They who went before us, have not prevented us, but have opened a door, that we may enter into the Recesses of Truth: He that comes last hath certainly the best advantage in the Inquiry. Our ancestors have done wisely and well in their Generations, but they have not done all; much work still remains behind, and he that lives a thousand Ages hence, shall not have reason to complain, that there are no hidden truth's fit for him to inquire after. There are more Worlds to conquer: Every day brings a new Light, and by a wise and careful Labour we may improve what our forefathers spied, when they peeped through the Crevices. If the latter Ages could be abstracted from the mixtures of Interest, and the Engagement of their Party, they are in many things better able to teach the People, than the Ancients. There is certainly a truer, and more certain Knowledge of Things now than formerly: But that which spoils all is, Men are grown a great deal more cunning, and few there are, who take any other aim, than that of Interest; So that hence it is, that many times it proves safer to rely on the Authority of former Ages, though more ignorant, than of latter Ages, which though more knowing, yet more dangerous to follow, in respect of that Design and Artifice, which now a days Men use, on purpose to promote their own private Interest. In short, it behoves every one in the search of Truth, always to preserve a Philosophical liberty: Not to be so enslaved to the Opinion of any Man, as to think whatever he says to be infallible. We must labour to find out what things are in themselves by our own Experience, and a through examination of their Natures, not what another says of them. Non tam authoritas in disputando, quam rationis moment a quoerenda sunt, said Cicero; A Man ought not so much to regard the Person who speaks, as the Thing that is spoken. But it is the unhappy humour of too many Men, jurare in verba Magistri, servilely to tie themselves to the Authority of particular Men, and to see with other men's Spectacles: The greatest part of the World being rather led with the Names of their Masters, and with the Reverend respect they bear their Persons or Memories, than with the Soundness and Truth of the Things they teach. Men first take up a Confidence of the Learning or Sanctity of a Person, and then all his Notions are received implicitly, and are strictly embraced, without the least examination: And this Admiration of men's Persons, has in all Ages been of huge mischief, and very pernicious; It has nursed up private fancies into Solemn public Errors, and given an unhappy Perpetuity to many Heterodox Opinions, which would else have expired with their first Defenders. Men do not any where more easily err, than where they follow a Guide, whom they presume they may safely trust. Belief, without evidence of Reason, must be only there absolute, where the Authority is unquestionable; and where it is impossible to err, there only it is impious to distrust. As for men's Assertions, Quibus possibile est subesse falsum, what one said of Friendship, Sic ama tanquam osurus, Love with that Wisdom, as to remember you may be provoked to the Contrary, is more warrantable and advantageous in Knowledge, Sic crede tanquam dissensurus, so to believe, as to be ready, when Cause requires, to descent. It is a too much straitning of a Man's own understanding, to enthral it unto any; And besides, there is not any thing which hath bred more distempers in the Body of Learning, than Factions and Sidings; when as Seneca said of Cato, That he would rather esteem Drunkenness a Virtue, than Cato Vicious. To conclude, There is no one thing hath more stunted the growth of Learning, than a stiff adhering to the dictates of the Ancients; For he who makes Plato or Aristotle the Standard of Humane Knowledge, cannot possibly transcend the Learning of Plato or Aristotle▪ the utmost he can do, he may come up to that height, but (like water) he can never rise higher than the Source. Now if we inquire the reason why the mathematics, and Mechanic Arts, have so much got the start in growth of other Sciences; this may very well be thought to be one considerable cause of it, That their Progress hath not been retarded by this Reverential own of former Discoveries; Herein Men have acted freely, without laying any restraint upon themselves, or Embargo upon their Intellectuals: No man ever thought it an heresy to out-limn Apelles, or to out-work the Obelisks: It was never imputed to Galilaeus as a Crime, That he saw further than the Ancients, and that he chose rather to believe his own Eyes, than either Aristotle or Ptolemy. Those famous Optic Glasses, which are now so serviceable to us, are not a jot the less valued, because they were not used by the Ancients; nor do we give the less credit to their Informations, because they were hid from Ages. The Polar virtue of the Loadstone, was unknown to the Ancients; this was reserved for latter days; and yet no Man is so silly, to think the vast advantages, which accrue to Mankind by that noble Invention, are (therefore) the less to be esteemed. And had the Author of that Invention (one Flavius Goia, a Neapolitan, who lived about three hundred years ago) been of this narrow Principle, That we are not to transcend the Bounds of the Ancients; we must then (for want of this Discovery) have committed ourselves to the sole conduct of the Stars; and (as the Ancients did) must we always have been creeping near the Shoar: Then the fourth part of the Earth had been yet unknown, and Herculeses Pillars had still been the World's Neultra: Seneca's Prophecy had been an unfulfilled Prediction, and one moiety of our Globes an empty Hemisphere.   

ESSAY V.  
Whether the Men of this present Age are any way inferior to those of former Ages, either in respect of Virtue, Learning, or long Life.  
THat the World doth daily decline, is an Opinion so Universally believed, that whoever goes about to defend the Contrary, presently shall be thought to maintain a Paradox. But that thing called Universality, is so slight an Evidence of Truth, that even Truth itself is ashamed of it; For what is Universality but a quainter word to signify the Multitude: Now Humane Authority at the strongest is but weak, but the Multitude is the weakest part of Humane Authority: It is the great Patron of Error, the most easily abused, and the most hardly disabused. The beginning of Error may be, and generally is, from Private Persons, but the maintainer and Continuer of Error is the Multitude. To infer the truth of a Religion, from the Number of its Professors, is falsely to conclude the fineness of the Cloth from the largeness of the Measure. How vain and Ridiculous then is it in the Papists, who think this argument of Universality, so invincible a Proof of the truth of their Religion. If Multitude be an Argument that Men are in the right, in vain then hath the Scripture said, Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to do evil: For if this Argument signify any thing, the greater Number can never be in the wrong. Indeed could wishing do any good, I could wish well to this kind of Proof; Sed nunquam ita been erit rebus humani●, ut plures sint meliores, It will never go so well with Mankind, that the Most shall be the Best. In short, the best that can be said of Argument and Reason drawn from Universality and Multitude, is this, such Reason may perhaps serve well to excuse an Error, but it can never serve to warrant a Truth. Notwithstanding therefore, that the opinion of the World's constant Declining is so firmly radicated in the minds of most Men, yet this is no sufficient reason, why we should acquiesce in such a belief; Nor can any thing be more unphilosophical, than an implicit Faith in this matter. And therefore we shall now presume to enter upon the Subject. There are two extremes common amongst Men: the one proper to young Men, who always value themselves above their Predecessors, and like Rehoboam, think their own little finger stronger than the whole Body of their Fathers; the other peculiar to Old Men, who always extol the time passed above the present. To speak impartially, Old Men, says Dr. Brown, from whom we should expect the greatest Example of Wisdom, do most exceed in this point of folly; Commending the days of their Youth, which they scarce remember, at least well understood not; extolling those times, which in their younger Years they heard their Fathers condemn, and condemning those times, which the grey Heads of their Posterity shall commend. And that Old Men always were of this temper, we may understand from Horace, who makes the same Complaint of them. Now, the reason why Old Men are so much out of humour with the present times, I take to be this; They being for the most part much altered from what they were in their Youth, as to their temper and Complexion, and being full of sad melancholy thoughts, this makes them think the World is changed, whereas in truth the Change is in themselves. It fares with them in this Case, as with those whose Mouth is out of taste, or whose Eyes are bloodshot, or are troubled with the jaundice, the one imagining all things bitter or sour, which they taste, and the other red or yellow which they see.  Virg. Aen. 3. 
Terraeque Urbesque recedunt.  
Themselves being launched out into the Deep, the Trees and Houses seem to go backward, whereas really the Motion is in themselves, the Houses and Trees still standing where they were. Seneca tells us a pleasant Story of Harpaste his Wife's Fool, who being all of a sudden struck blind, would by no means be persuaded of her own blindness, but still cried out how dark the Room was grown. Such for the most part is the Case of Old Men, who, by reason of the Infirmities of their Bodies and Minds, no longer finding the same gust and pleasure in the delights of the World, that they found in their Youth, lay the fault upon the World, instead of imputing the same to themselves, as they ought to do. For God creates not Souls now with 〈◊〉 advantages than formerly; He is 〈◊〉 liberal of his Favours to us of this Generation, as ever he was to any before us; And Nature being still as wise and powerful as heretofore, and the Universal Causes the same, their Operations must be likewise as perfect, and their Effects as excellent in these days, as they have been in any. Let not Men therefore deceive themselves, and think that we live in the Dregs of Time, and what mighty advantages the Ancients (as they call them) had over us; for if Antiquity be to have the preference, the advantage will then be of our side: For Antiquity consists in the old Age of the World, not in the youth of it. 'Tis we are the Fathers, and of more Authority than former Ages; because we have the Advantage of more time than they had, and Truth (we say) is the Daughter of Time. And besides, our Minds are so far from being impaired, that they improve more and more in acuteness; and being of the same Nature with those of the Ancients, have such an advantage beyond them, as a Pigmy hath upon the Shoulders of a giant; from whence he beholds not only as much, but more than his Supporter doth. But since the Question now to be handled, is rather of Fact than of Right, the best way of discussing it, will be by comparing the past Ages with the present, and that in these three Respects, of virtue, Learning, and long Life.  
1. First then, if we survey the Vices of former Times, they will certainly appear more Barbarous and Epidemical, than such as now Reign in the World. Even to this day, do we not esteem it an unparallelled piece of wickedness, That no stranger could enter Sodom, without being defiled by the Lust of the more than brutish Citizens? A Crime so foul, that nothing but Fire and Brimstone could purge the stench of it from the World. After this, among the Egyptians was that of the Strawless Tax. The Grecians under their wisest Lawgivers approved of Theft, if it were committed with Art and Cunning. And Drunkenness was so usual a Vice among them, that from thence Pergraecari, signifies to be mad with Drink. The Romans had two Rules of Drinking, which they commonly observed; The one was, to Drink down the Evening Star, and Drink up the Morning Star, ad Diurnam stellam matutinam potantes, saith Plautus; The other commonly practised among them, was the Drinking so many Healths, as there were Letters in their mistress' Name, according to that of Martial:  
Naevia sex Cyathis, septem Justina bibatur,  
Quinque Lycus, Lyde quatuor, Ida tribus.  
Nor were their very Women free from this excess; Nay, Seneca assures us, that even in Drinking, they sometimes outdid the Men. But to proceed. Have we any so vain as Xerxes, that would think to whip the Sea into Calmness? or so Prodigal as was Alexander, who, according to Plutarch, spent twelve Millions of Talents upon Hephoestion's Funeral? Such a prodigious Sum, that many question whether at that time the Revenue of the whole World would amount to it. Or, what Prince is there in these days so prosusely extravagant, as Heliogabalus, the Emperor, who was possessed rather with a Madness, than excess of Prodigality; he filled his fishponds with Rose-Water; he supplied his Lamps with the precious Balsam, that distils from the Trees in Arabia; he wore upon his shoes Pearls and Precious Stones engraven by the hands of the most skilful Artists; his Dining-Room was strewed with Saffron, and his porticoes with the dust of Gold: And he was never known to put on any Garment a second time, whether it was of the richest Silk, or woven with Gold. Then as for the Cruelty of former Ages, we shall find it many degrees to transcend any thing that is done in these days; even amongst the Jews, who by their Religion pretended to more preciseness, what more common amongst them, than Incest, Fratricide, Parricide, Sawing Men to Death, and the most Barbarous sorts of Cruelties, oftentimes committed only for the diversion, and entertainment of Princes? What Action did ever carry in it so much of Inhumanity, as that of the thirty Athenian Tyrants, who caused the Daughters of some of the Slain Citizens to dance, in the Blood of their own Parents, who had newly been murdered by them? Lucius Florus tells us, that the Germane Women, in their Wars with the Romans, would very commonly take their Naked Sprawling Infants, and throw them in the face of those they fought with; thinking that so inhuman a Spectacle might daunt the Roman Courage. Was there ever since then, any thing like the Ten Persecutions? What but Nero's Luxury, could ever compare with Nero's Cruelty? And yet Domitian, in one particular, outwent him; for he took delight in seeing those Torments executed, which Nero but commanded. What shall I now say of Servius Galba, who, when he was in Spain, having assembled together the Inhabitants of three Cities, to consult (as he pretended) about their common safety, at one stroke cut off seven thousand of them, among whom were the very Flower of their Youth? I might also tell you of Licinius Lucullus, who, contrary to express Articles, put to the Sword twenty thousand of the Caucaei, after they had surrendered: And of Octavianus Augustus, who, after the taking of Perusia, at one Sacrifice offered up the lives of three hundred of the Principal Citizens at the Altar of his Uncle Julius: And of Antoninus Caracalla, who being incensed against the Citizens of Alexandria upon the account of some jests they had made of him, entered into the City in a peaceable manner, and summoning before him all the Youth, he surrounded them with his soldiers, who, upon the Signal given, fell immediately upon them and slew every mother's Son of them; and afterwards using the like Cruelty upon the rest of the Inhabitants, he utterly destroyed that most Spacious, and Populous City of Alexandria. Thus could I easily give many more instances, to show the wickedness of former Ages, not only in respect of their Barbarous Cruelties, but of their other Vices; but I forbear this, since I very well know, that the Character of those Times cannot be better described, than is already by the Apostles, in their several Epistles: For what a Monstrous Catalogue of Sins do we meet with in the first Chapter to the Romans; Sins of so deep a dye, and of so horrid a nature, and such an Inventory of all sorts of Wickedness, That one might very well imagine the Apostle had been rather describing some Vision of Hell, than the Seat of the Roman Empire. To conclude then this Point, let us not imagine that ever any Age was, or will be free from Vice and Enormities; while Humane Nature continues, there will be Frailties: Vitia erunt donec Homines erunt, saith Tacitus, Vice hath always had a being in the World, and will continue as long as Men are upon Earth. How unreasonable is it, to think that Man can be better out of Paradise, than he was in it? Nemo sine Crimine, The best of Men have their Imperfections. We are no Angels upon Earth, but are always transported with some Infirmity or other; and 'twill be so, while these frail, fluxible humours reign within us. This as I conceive is that Black Bean, which the Turkish Koran speaks of, when they feign, That Mahomet being asleep among the Mountains of the Moon, two Angels descended, and ripping open his Breast, they took his Heart, and washed it in Snow, and afterwards pulled out a Black Bean, which was the portion of the Devil, and so replaced the Heart. All things here below run in a kind of Circle; And as in Arts and Sciences, so likewise in the Manners of Men there is a Vicissitude and Revolution. Virtue and Vice have no settled Habitation; every Climate hath had its turn: Sometimes one country carries it for virtue and Learning, and sometimes another. Athens, which was formerly the only place for Learning and Civility, is now quite overrun with Barbarism and Ignorance. Every Nation hath its Achme, or highest pitch of Elevation; And when once the spoke of the Wheel is uppermost, it soon whurries to the bottom. As a Kingdom rises in Empire, so it enlarges both in virtue and Vice; and when it declines, so the Declension of these is proportionable. And though as to particular Kingdoms, one time may be either better or worse than another; yet take the World in Gross, and lump it together, we shall find that Humane Nature is much at the same Standard, as it was formerly; And as we commonly observe of the Sea, That as it gets in one place, it loses in another; so every Age may make the same Observation of the virtues and Vices of Mankind.  
2. The next thing to be considered, is, whether former Ages excelled the Present in respect of Learning. Of all the Ancients there were none more esteemed for Learning than the Egyptians: The old Egyptian Learning was so Famous, that the Spirit of God, sets forth the Eminency of Moses' Knowledge by his skill in it, and the Matchlessness of Solomon's Wisdom by its exceeding it; And therefore we may very well conclude, that the Egyptian Learning in those days, was conversant about more generous and more useful Notices, than afterwards; such as Geometry, Astronomy, Policy, physic, and other such like Arts, which either were perfective of their Rational Faculties, or did Minister to the Uses and Necessities of Nature: as is generally reported by all Ancient Historians. But had the old Primitive Learning of Egypt been the same it was in latter Ages, it had been as great a disparagement to Moses, as 'tis now justly reputed a Commendation, That he was accomplished in all the Egyptian Learning, and had amounted only to this, That he was a vain trifling, Superstitious Fellow. And what the Egyptian Priest objected to the Greeks, That they were always Children, might be more truly applied to themselves, if it be the property of Children to value trifles. What Childish Fooleries their hieroglyphics were, Learned Men now prove from the lost labour, and fruitless industry of Kircher's Oedipus Aegyptiacus. Certainly, if they had designed to abuse and debauch this humour, they could scarce have contrived more fond and extravagant Emblems; and indeed their Courseness, and unlikeness to the things they should resemble, sufficiently discover them to have been but the rude Essays of a Barbarous and undisciplined Fancy. These hieroglyphics, says the Learned Bishop Wilkins, seem to be but a slight, imperfect Invention, suitable to those first and ruder Ages; much of the same Nature with that Mexican way of Writing by Picture, which was a mere shift they were put to, for want of the Knowledge of Letters. And it seems to me questionable, says the same Author, whether the Egyptians did not at first use their hieroglyphics upon the same account, namely, for want of Letters. It is scarce credible what a mighty noise this hieroglyphic way of philosophising hath made, though there is so little of substance in it, and how exceedingly it took in the Infancy of the World; as it is the property of Children, to be taken more with sensible Forms, Shadows, or Pictures, which please the Fancy, than with solid Reason. Indeed, to a Man that considers it, nothing could ever seem more preposterous to the design of Learning, than these hieroglyphics, or Mystical Representations, which were unavoidably clogged with two Inconveniencies, very unsuitable to the propagation of Knowledge, which were Obscurity and Ambiguity: For it not only cost them a great deal of Time to gather up such Symbolical Things, which might represent their Conceptions; but when they had pitched upon them, they were liable to a great variety of Interpretations, as is evident in all those remainders of them, preserved by the Industry of some Ancient Writers. I cannot therefore imagine any rational Man could think that Study worth his pains, which at the highest can amount but to a Conjecture; and when it is come to that with a great deal of pains, it is nothing but some ordinary and trivial Observation. Certainly (saith the Learned Stilling fleet) this kind of Learning deserves the highest form among the DIFFICILES NUGAE, and all these hieroglyphics put together, will make but one good one, and that should be for LABOUR LOST. I might here (if it were not too great a Digression) show how very Pernicious the use of these hieroglyphics were to the Vulgar, who seeing the Attributes of God represented under the shapes of Animals and Plants, took occasion to adore those Corporeal Things, and so became the most Superstitious of all Nations, going so far as to deify Garlic, Onions, Rats, and Toads. But to proceed: The truth of it is, the Egyptians seem to have had only Knowledge enough, to know that their Neighbours had none at all, and cunning enough to pretend an inspection into strange and abstruse Mysteries; knowing that others by reason of their Ignorance could not control them, and by reason of their Credulity would be very apt to credit them; And thence they continually abused the Credulous Grecians with Tales and Fables. The Learned Stilling fleet tells us, There want not grounds of Suspicion, that the old Egyptian Learning was not of that Elevation, which the present distance of our Age makes us apt to think it was. And the Learned Conringius, in his Book de Hermeticâ Medicinâ, hath endeavoured to show the great defects there were in it. Nor can it, I think, be denied, saith Stillingfleet, but according to the reports we have now concerning the old Egyptian Learning, some parts of it were frivolous, others obscure, a great deal Magical, and the rest short of that Improvement, which the accession of the parts and industry of after Ages gave unto it. It were easy to show, how much even those parts of Learning, wherein the Egyptians and the other Ancients did most excel, have been improved in these latter Ages; But this Task having been performed by abler Pens, I shall only touch upon three Things, so very useful to Mankind, viz. Anatomy, Geography, and Navigation; to show what a mighty improvement they have received in this last Age. First then, as for Anatomy; This Art, was doubtless in very little use among the Ancients. I know indeed, there are some who tell us, that the Egyptians were very accurate in the Knowledge of Anatomy; but when I consider how excessively curious and Ceremonious, or rather Superstitious they were in preserving their Bodies entire and unputrified, I cannot but conceive their opening them was rather for the emboweling, than the anatomising of them. As for the Grecians, this Art could not well be in practice among them, because their usual Custom was to Burn their dead Bodies, as we find it attested by Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch; and besides, had Anatomy been in use among the Grecians, there is no dispute but the works of Hipocrates, yet extant, would have discovered it, which we do not find in any place they do: Nay, so far from that, that Hypocrates himself going one time to visit Democritas, he happened to find him busy in Dissecting several Beasts, who ask him what he meant by his being so employed, Democritus (by way of Apology) makes him this reply, Haec Animalia quae vides proptereà seco, non Dei opera perosus, sed fellis bilisque naturam disquirens. Now, if he apprehended that the Dissecting of Beasts might be looked upon as an hating of God's works, he might much more have feared that censure, had he cut up the Bodies of Men. Nor does it appear by any thing extant in the Writings of Galen, that that other Father of physicians, ever made any Anatomy of Humane Bodies. Nor was this Art practised among the Romans, nor indeed could it be, forasmuch as they held it unlawful, Aspicere humana exta, (as Pliny in his Preface to his 28 Book tells us) to look upon the entrails of men's Bodies, And Dion in his 55th Book says, That it was allowed to Tiberius to touch the Body of Augustus, Quod nefas aliàs erat, which otherwise had been unlawful. And that the Primitive Christians favoured not the Practice of Anatomy, will plainly appear from Tertullian, who in the 4th Chapter of his Book de Anima, speaking of one Herophilus, doubts whether to call him Medicum or Lanium, a Physician or a Butcher, Qui Hominem odiit, ut nosset, saith he, Who hated Man, that he might know him: And St Augustine in his 22th Book de Cru. Dei. Cap. 24. runs much upon the same strain. And among others we find Pope Boniface the 8th such a professed Enemy to this art of dissecting Humane Bodies, that he threatens immediately his Thunderbolt of Excommunication to all such as should do any thing of this nature. Thus we see how very shy and unacquainted the Ancients were with this most excellent Art, which certainly is one of the most useful in humane Life, as tending most to the Eviscerating, and disclosing the secrets of Nature. But now in these latter Ages, we have taken off this thick Veil of Superstition, and there is scarce any Man, who has not a desire to know, How curiously and wonderfully he is made. Hence then Anatomy hath of late been a free and general Practice; and particularly in this Age it hath received wonderful Improvements. For proof whereof I need not take much pains, since there is no Man that hath the least insight into physic, but knows how much the Learned Dr. Harvey in that excellent Treatise of his, De Generatione Animalium, hath transeended all that went before him, in that full and satisfactory account he there presents the World with, concerning the Constitution, Structurer, and Nutrition of Humane Bodies: What a mighty name hath he justly got in the Orbis Literarius, by that wonderful and surprising discovery of the Circulation of the Blood; a Doctrine so Universally embraced, and so unquestionably true, that a Physician would be thought a heretic primae Classis, who should in the least dispute it? How much is the whole college of Physicians indebted to the memory of the Famous Dr. Glisson, for giving them a more true and perfect account of the Nature of Sanguification, Bilification, Separation of Urine, and other Humours from the Mass of Blood, than ever the World was formerly acquainted with? And does not the Incomparable Dr. Willis deserve to be reckoned among the Benefactors of Mankind, for those great Discoveries he hath made of Nutrition, Generation, and Separation of the Succus Nervosus, and Animal Spirits, with their preternatural affections? How glimmering a light, and how imperfect a notion had the Ancients of the nature of the Saliva, and other Juices that are conveyed into the Mouth, together with their Passages; until our Learned and Famous countryman, Dr▪ Wharton, and of late the Learned Steno so happily disclosed those Secrets of Nature? Did any of the Ancients ever imagine, that the Lungs consisted only of Vessels and Bladders? That the Liver, Spleen, and Reins were Conglomerate Glandules; and yet that these are so, that expert Anatomist, and great Naturalist, Malphighius, hath informed the World? Which of the Ancients ever dreamt, That the Testicles of the Male should be nothing but a Conglomeration of Vessels; and the Female Testicles, Ovaries; was not this Discovery also an honour reserved for the present Age, and to the Industrious and Learned De Graef are the thanks due? Who among the Ancients ever rightly informed us as to the Operation of Cathartick Medicines in Humane Bodies; or as to the Reason of the different Colours of the Excrements, that are observed to be evacuated by them, until that great Anatomical light, Sir George Ent, imparted it to the World? Which was it of the Ancients, that ever had a true notion how the Chyle was conveyed into the Mass of Blood? We very well know, they told us it discharged itself through the Meseraick Veins into the Liver; but as to its true Passage into the Blood, they were as little able to give an account of that, as they were to demonstrate the Commixture of the Air therewith; and yet they had the confidence to teach it in their Schools as an Ens Rationis, though they had never made any Proof, or Experiment for the truth of this Assertion. In what a high Measure than did that great Antomist Dr. Lower, oblige the World, by his great Industry and indefatigable pains, who in that rare and admirable Tract of his, De Cord, hath not only more punctually showed the true passage of the Chyle through its Lacteals, Receptacle, and Chyliferous ducts, than formerly; but hath plainly demonstrated that it is impossible there can be any other, by which it should have its discharge into the Mass of Blood? Nor are his Arguments less nervous and cogent, for proving the Commixture of the nitrous Particles of the Air with the Mass of Blood. Thus have I given you an account of several of the most considerable Improvements made in this present Age, in that part of physic relating to Anatomy; All which ingenious and excellent Inventions, are of great use, as affording us better Hypotheses in physic, and by Consequence tending to a better and more effectual way of Curing Diseases.  
The next thing that falls under our Consideration, is to show how much Geography hath lately been improved. The Ancients were so very defective in this Art or Science, that the Learned Varenius tells us, That the most General and Necessary Things belonging thereunto, were then unknown; as the Flux and Reflux of the Sea; the Habitableness of the Torrid Zone; the Poplar property of the Magnet; the Diversity of Winds, the true Dimension of the Earth; Nor had they any true Descriptions of remote Countries, concerning which both the Greeks and Romans had very sabulous Relations; they knew not that the Earth was encompassed by the Sea, and might be salled round; They were totally ignorant of America, and both the North and South parts of this Hemisphere; yea, and understood very little of the remoter parts of their own Asia; That part of the Indies that lies on the other side of the River Ganges, was in a manner a Terra Incognita to them; they knew little or nothing of the vast Kingdom of China, nothing of Japan, or the numerous Oriental Islands, and these made a great, if not the best part of Asia. But that which to me seemed stran her, or more remarkable, is, That neither Thucydides nor Herodotus, nor any other Greek Author Cotemporary with them, have so much as mentioned the Romans, though then growing up to a dreadful power, and being both Europeans. Budoeus in his 4th Book De ass, tells us, That the Grecians were so utterly ignorant of the Spaniards, that Ephorus, one of their most accurate Geographers, took Spain, which he calls Iberia, to be a City. It was in former times counted so dangerous a thing to believe the Antipodes, that Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz, by chance seeing a Treatise written by Virgilius, Bishop of Salizburg, touching the Antipodes, thinking that some Damnable pernicious Doctrine might be couched under that strange Name, complained first to the Duke of Bohemia, and afterwards to Pope Zachary, Anno. 745. By whom the poor Bishop (whose great misfortune was to be Learned in such a blockish Age) was condemned as a heretic. Nay, even St. Austin, Lactantius, and some other of the Ancient Writers, do by no means allow of the Antipodes, but look upon it to be a ridiculous, incredible story; And Venerable Bede is much of the same Opinion. The Learned Fracastorius saith, That our Ancestors knew little Westward beyond the Fortunate Islands, and Eastward as little beyond Catygara, now called Canton, the Richest City in China; So that (as that Learned Author informs us) of the whole Habitable World, scarce one half was known to the Ancients. Now, by the account I have here given, it plainly appears, how grossly ignorant the Ancients were in the knowledge of Geography, at also what a vast Improvement i▪ hath received in these latter Days For our Navigation is far greater, our Commerce is more general, our Charts more exact, our Globes more accurate, our Travels more remote, our Reports more intelligent and sincere; and consequently, our Geography far more perfect, than it was in the Elder Times of Polybius and Possidonius; yea, than in those of Ptolemy, Strabo, and Pomponius Mela, who lived among the Coesars. And if this Art was so very defective in the flourishing times of the Roman Empire, there is no dispute but it was much more so, in the days of Aristotle and the Groecians: And therefore no wonder the Macedonian Youth was no better instructed, than to believe he had conquered the whole World: when (God knows) there were Nations enough, both before him and behind him, to have swallowed up the Young Commander, and his Triumphant Armies, at a Morsel.  
I am now come to the last Parallel, and that is, to show what vast Improvements the Art of Navigation hath received in these last Ages. Cardan, a great searcher into the Curiosities of Nature, tells us, That among other late Noble Inventions, that of the Mariner's Compass is the most worthy of Admiration, as being of the greatest use and Convenience to Mankind. By the help hereof, we are now able to find out a way through the vast Ocean, in the greatest Storms and darkest Nights, where is neither Path to follow, nor Inhabitant or Passenger to inquire; It points out the way to the skilful Mariner, when all other helps fail him, and that with greater certainty than the wit of Man can possibly do. By means hereof, are the Commodities of all Countries discovered, Trade, traffic, and Humane Society maintained, their several Forms of Government and Religion observed, and the whole World made as it were one commonwealth, and the most distant Nations, Fellow Citizens of the same Body politic. But the best way to make us rightly value the blessing of this Invention, is, by considering the many shifts and Inconveniencies the Ancients were put to, for want of it. We may easily imagine, how inconvenient the Ancients found it to sail by the guidance of the Stars: For in dark Cloudy weather, when their Pleiades, Helice, and Cynosura were not to be seen, the Pilot was always at a loss for his Guide, and knew not how to steer his Ship, but lay exposed to the casual conduct both of Winds and Tides. And for this reason, the Ancients seldom or never durst venture into the main Ocean, but were fain to go creeping along by the Shoar side: And no more than this (as we have reason to believe) did the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the Tyrians and Sydonians; who though renowned in History for great Navigators, yet by the most Learned are thought to have performed their Voyages only by Coasting, and not by Crossing the Ocean. Hence therefore it was, That the Commerce and Communications of those days were very inconsiderable; Their famed Travels in Comparison were nothing: And that renowned ten years' Voyage of Ulysses (so highly celebrated by the Poets of Old) was much short of what many of our Merchants do now every Year perform. Thus you see how very defective the Ancients were in this Art of Navigation, the Benefits and Advantages whereof are so very Considerable, That the Wealth and Strength of a Nation are really to be computed in Proportion to their flourishing herein. It was long since a wise and true Observation of Cicero, Qui Mare tenet, eum necesse est RERUM potiri, He that commands the Sea, must necessarily enjoy all things. There is not any thing can be a greater Demonstration of the Flourishing of a Nation, than when its Genius lies towards Naval Affairs, and when by its Industry it is arrived to a sovereignty of the Seas; This is the true Characteristical mark of the greatness of Empire: For whoever is Master of the Ocean, does ipso facto command the Trade of the World, and whoever hath the Command of that, hath the Absolute disposal of the Riches of the World, and that Money is that which governs Mankind, is a Demonstration as clear as any in Euclid. Thus without the least straining of the Argument, we see it naturally follows, That nothing is more vain or ridiculous, than for a Prince, or State, to pretend to an uncontrollable Greatness, that hath not first laid their Foundation in the Deep. And who can be a better instance of this than that Great Emperor Charles the Fifth, whose carelessness in his Naval concerns not only broke his own Design as to the Universal Monarchy, but likewise terminated in the ruin of his Successor? And this oversight or neglect (though too late) that great Prince was sensible of, when he so strictly gave it in Charge to his Son Philip, That if either he would be happy at Home, or considerable Abroad, he should take care to make himself Great at Sea. By his Example then, let no Prince, who aspires to be great, slight or neglect this Watery Element; since 'tis but a jest in politics, and an Utopian Fancy, to think to arrive at the utmost height of Empire, without Fleets and armadas: And that Prince who thinks to give Law to Mankind, must be sure in the first place to make the Sea his Friend. This (without a Figure) is to build upon a Rock, whose Foundation will stand firm and sure. And therefore that Spirit of Laziness, which makes the Spaniard so much slight this Rule, is that, which (in spite of the Wealth of the West Indies) keeps him so poor and beggarly: And while he sits idle at home, swelling with his own Pride, the English and Dutch (by their Industry) grow Rich by his Spoils, and with his Treasure of the West Indies do they carry on the Trade of the East. Thus you see, the improving of Trade and Commerce, is no such slight matter; Nor is it to be wondered, that this does so often prove the Ball of Contention; for men may well be allowed to be zealous, when their interest is so nearly concerned; and this, that Wise and Glorious Princess, Queen Elizabeth, very well knew, when she so narrowly eyed and observed the Dutch, whom she was always jealous of, lest they should grow too great in Navigation, and so by that means might prove our Competitors both by Sea and landlord. Since then Commerce and Navigation bring such mighty advantages to a Nation, 'tis no wonder, I say, that the greatest and wisest States, and Governments, have been so very solicitous for the improving it. Trade is the very Life and Soul of the Universe, which, like the Vital Blood in the Body, Circulates to the Health, and well-being of the whole and when by the failure of Industry, there is a stop put to Commerce, it often proves as fatal to the Body politic, as the stagnating of the Blood does to the Natural Body. What were the World but a rude and dull Indigested Lump, a noisome and pestilential Mass, did not Commerce, like the Sun, by its Universal Rays, exhale all its malignant and noxious Vapours, and by a continual Motion and Transaction, render it wholesome and profitable? What would become of the Busy Soul of Man, had she not found out variety of employment for its Exercise? And therefore Nature wisely did foresee the many and great Inconveniencies of Idleness, how that it would Convert the World into another Chaos, making the Earth but as one dull and useless Mass, when she hid her Rarities and Treasures in the secret Bowels thereof, and buried them in the Watery Deep, and lodged them at so vast and remote a distance, that so their Worth and Value might be a Spur to Labour and Industry to fetch them thence. Nay, God himself is particularly called the God of the Isles, as looking on them, by Virtue of their skill in Navigation, to be the best Factors for the Common Good; and as a Blessing upon their Industry, we find most Isles and Maritime places exceed all inland Cities and Countries in Riches, and Variety of Plenty. We see then, 'tis not the vastness of Territory, but the Convenience of Situation; nor the Multitude of Men, but their Address and Industry, which improve a Nation. Now, since we have hitherto discoursed of Trade in general, and the several Advantages that accrue from thence; possibly the Reader may not think it altogether impertinent, if we entertain him with an Account of the Original of Trade, and show how, and by what steps and Methods Commerce hath advanced itself amongst Mankind. The first of all Humane Race, when they were dispersed into several Lands, were at first sustained by the Fruits of the Earth, which fell to their share. These at first they cherished, and used, not by any Rules of Art, but by that Natural Sagacity, which teaches all Men to endeavour their own Preservation. And that they might peaceably enjoy these, they thought the best Course they could take, was to Associate themselves into Families, and to enter into little Leagues, and thus begun Civil Government. But finding that no Place was so fruitful as to produce all Things necessary for Humane Life; this put them upon a Necessity, either of taking by force what their Neighbours possessed, or else of Exchanging the several Productions of their respective Soils. This than was the way and Method of Trading, in the first Ages of Mankind; when one had eaten or spent what was his own, he repaired to his Neighbour for more, at the same time accommodating him with some other Thing whereof he stood in need, by way of Exchange, the respective value of the Things being limited according to their estimation of their goodness and scarcity, in the first place; and then of their Beauty or Comeliness. And because Oxen and Sheep afforded them the most Commodities, as their skins for Clothing, and their Milk and Flesh for Food, besides other uses to which they were serviceable, they made all their traffic with Cattle, in which their whole wealth consisted. But because 'twas too troublesome a thing for Man to drive always a Flock of Sheep before him, or lead a Cow by the Horn, for making of payment; the Industry of Men increasing, they cast their Eyes upon that which was in the next degree of most use to them, and most durable; and finding that nothing was of more general use than Iron and Copper, and especially that the latter was the fairest, and easiest to be melted, and cast into Kettles and other domestic Utensils, they made choice thereof, mutually giving and receiving it, by weight, for other things they needed, and divided it by Pounds, which word still remains amongst us, to signify Twenty Shillings, which is very near the just value that a Pound of Copper had in those days. And to save the Labour of weighing this Pound, and the parts of it, they stamped upon one side the Figure of a Ship, with the weight and value; and on the other side the Picture of one of those Beasts, which are designed by the word Pecus, whence Money came to be called Pecunia. Afterwards the Arms of the Prince were substituted instead of the Ship, and Cnostantine put a Cross in the place of the Beast. Now because, in the old Gaulish Language, a Ship was called Pile (whence the Word pilot remains to this day) the side of the Coin on which the Ship was is still called Pile, and the other Cross, how different stamps soever have succeeded since. This was the first Original of Trade, which from a narrow Commerce between the Hills, the valleys, the Woods, the Plains, and the Rivers, that bordered one upon another, is since extended to the whole Compass of the Earth. And now, 'tis high time to dismiss this Subject of Navigation and Trade; and therefore having already demonstrated, how much the Present Age hath transcended Former Ages in those three parts of Learning, viz. Anatomy, Geography, and Navigation, I now proceed.  
If from the first Ages of the World we turn our Eyes to latter Times, I mean, to the Times of Popish Darkness, we shall Comparatively find that great is the light we now enjoy. Ignorance (we know) is the Mother of their Devotion and the very Essence of Popery, therefore no wonder that before the Reformation Learning was at so low an Ebb. King Alfred in his Preface upon the Pastorals of St. Gregory (which he translated into English) says, That when he came first to his Kingdom, He knew not one Priest on the South side of the River Humber, that understood his Service in Latin, or that could Translate an Epistle into English. Vignier in his Ecclesiastical History affirms, That Gerbertus the first Archbishop of Rheims and Ravenna, afterwards Pope, under the name of Silvester the Second, was reputed a Magician, because he was well skilled in the Mathemathicks. (Thus, saith Dr. Fuller, do Ignorant People count all Circles above their own Sphere to be Conjuring, and presently cry out, those Things are done by the Black Art, for which their dim Eyes can see no Colour in reason. And in such Cases, when they cannot fly up to Heaven to make it a Miracle, they fetch it from Hell to make it Magic.) And how low Learning ran in England amongst the Native Nobility, in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth, too plainly appears by the Motto on the Sword of the Martial, Earl of Shrewsbury, which was, Sum Talboti, pro Occidere in imicos meos, the best Latin that Noble Lord, and perchance his Chaplains too (in that Age) could afford. Erasmus tells us, That some Divines in his time undertook to prove, That heretics ought to be put to Death, from those Words of the Apostle, Haereticum Hominem devita, which it seems they understood, as if he had said, De vitâ tolle. I have read of two friars disputing whether God had made any more Worlds than One; the One wisely alleging that passage of the Gospel touching the ten Lepers which were cleansed, Anon Decem facti sunt Mundi? As if God had made Ten Worlds; the other (with great gravity) looking into the Text, replies as wisely, with the words immediately following, Sed ubi sunt Novem? But what is become of the Nine? So as from thence he would prove but one to be left. An old Priest in Henry the Eighth's time, being reproved for reading in his Service Book Mumpsimus Domine, instead of Sumpsimus, replied, He had now used Mumpsimus these thirty Years, and for his part he would not leave his old Mumpsimus for their new Sumpsimus. At any time when their Priests were taken breaking Priscian's head, their common Defence was, those words of St. Gregory, Non debent verba coelestis Oraculi subesse regulis Donati, The words of the Heavenly Oracles ought not to be Subject to the Rules of Donatus. But these are Stories so well known, that I ought to Apologise for insisting so long upon them; and therefore to proceed to the last Question, viz.  
Whether Men do now live to as great an Age, as they did formerly? It must be granted, That in the first Ages of the World, both before and for some time after the Flood, Men did generally arrive to a much greater Age, than they have done since. But this is certainly to be attributed to some extraordinary Cause, and not to the Ordinary Course of Nature. The World (we know) was then to be replenished with Inhabitants, which could not so speedily be done, but by an extraordinary Multiplication of Mankind; Neither could that be done, but by the long lives of Men. And again, Arts and Sciences were then to be planted, for the better effecting whereof, it was requisite, that the same Men should have the Experience and Observation of many Ages. We know it was the Complaint of Hypocrates, Ars longa, Vita brevis; And therefore Almighty God, in his Wisdom did then proportion men's Lives to the length of Arts: And as God gave them this special privilege to live long; so 'tis probable he gave them withal a Temper, and Constitution of Body, answerable thereunto. As also the Food wherewith they were nourished, especially before the Flood, may well be thought to have been more wholesome and nutritive, and the Plants more Medicinal: And happily the Influence of the Heavens was at that time, in that climate where the patriarches lived, more benign and favourable. These (as far as we poor Mortals can Conjecture) might be the reasons, why Divine Providence did assign to those first Inhabitants so long a lease of their Lives. But in aftertimes, when the World was fully peopled, and Arts and Sciences were Propagated, than it pleased the same Divine Providence to curtail, and abrige the Life of Man; insomuch that in Moses' time the common Standard of Humane Life was Seventy, or at most Eighty Years. And so it was ever after counted. Hence also Herodotus sets the longest Bounds of Man's Life to be but Eighty Years. Barzillai was said to be a very Old Man, and yet he lived but to fourscore: And David was full of Days, yet but Seventy Years Old. Solomon, as Divines Conjecture, was not Sixty, yet it is said, when Solomon was Old. The Learned Joannes Jonstonius tells us, That in all the Records of the Roman, Greek, French, and Germane Emperors, there were but four who lived to be fourscore. And our English Chronicle informs us, That Queen Elizabeth outlived all her Predecessors from William the conqueror. Petrus Crinitus saith, that the Egyptians by a subtle Conjecture, taken from the Weight of the Heart, found out within what bounds the Life of Man was included; they affirming, That it was scarce possible for a Man to live above a Hundred Years: For, said they, the Heart every Year till Fifty increased two Drams, and from thence to an hundred Years it decreased as much, and so returning to its Original Weight, it can then make no further Progress. Now, though this Observation does certainly carry in it more of Curiosity than Truth, yet doth it plainly show, That the common Opinion of the Ancients, was, That Men did seldom live above a Hundred Years. And we find, the Learned Varro was also of the same Belief, and therefore he tells us, They called the space of a Hundred Years, Seculum, from Senex, an Old Man, because they thought that was the utmost Period of man's life. Thus than we see, That Men live now as long as they did formerly; and that for these three Thousand Years at least there hath been no Alteration. It is the Observation of that great Philosopher, the Lord Verulam, Decursus Seculorum, & Successio Propaginis, nihil videntur omninò demere de Diuturnitate vitae; The Course of Times, and Succession of Ages, seem to have no whit abated from the length of men's Lives. No doubt, says that Noble Lord, There are times in all countries', wherein Men live either longer or shorter; longer, most commonly when the Times are Barbarous, and the Diet more plain, and more given to Bodily Exercise; Shorter, when they are more Civil, and there is more Luxury and Idleness; But in these Things there is a Vicissitude and Revolution; The Succession of Generations altars it not. If it did, the first Man in reason should have lived longest, and the Son should still come short of his father's Age: So that whereas Moses tells us, That the Days of Man in his time were Threescore Years and Ten, by this reckoning they might well enough by this time be brought to ten or twenty, or thirty at the most. In a word, we will not say, but that Accidents, Accidental Occurrences, Intemperance, ill and noxious Effluvia from the Earth, Waters, and intemperature of the Air, and other Accidents may in these latter Ages of the World produce some such Diseases, and accidental Disorders, as may possibly more infested Mankind, and occasion more Mortality, than in former Ages: But as to the regular and ordinary Course of Natural Procedure and State of Things with Mankind, yea and other Animals, there seems to be little or no decay, or Variation from what hath been formerly.   

ESSAY VI.  
Of Passion; And whether the Passions are an Advantage, or Disadvantage to Men.  
'TWas the usual saying of a very Ingenuous Person, That Passionate Men, like Torkshire Hounds, are apt to overrun the Scent. They have not the Patienee to pause and deliberate, but Quicquid in Buccam venerit, whatsoever they think they speak; and therefore it is, they often run into such gross Absurdities; for as Aristotle well observes, Qui citò pronunciat, ad pauca respicit. A mind transported with Passion, rejects the best Reasons, and retains the worst Opinions; like a Bolter, which lets the Flour pass, and keeps nothing but the Bran. Therefore Plato speaking of Passionate Persons, says, They are like Men who stand upon their Heads. They see all things the wrong way. How inconsistent Passion and Reason is, Seneca seems to intimate, by that Expression of his, Nemo consilium cum Clamore dat: And how incompatible the Spirit of God and Passion is, the Holy Scriptures themselves do plainly show; For when Elias was upon the Mountain, there came a Whirlwind, and God was not there; then an Earthquake, and God was not there; But at last came a still Voice, and God was there. The Scripture likewise exhorteth us, To possess our Souls in Patience; intimating, according to the Lord Bacon's Paraphrase, That whosoever is out of Patience, is out of the Possession of his Soul: Well therefore might the Poets call Anger a short Madness: For look upon an Angry Man, when he is in the height of his Rage, and you may see all Africa, and its Prodigies in him; He is more savage than the tigers there; Blow him into a Flame, and you may see Vulcano's, Hurricans, and Borasco's in him. And certainly were he (while his Passion was thus raging) forced to look himself in the Glass, those very Convulsions and Distortions his Anger had put him into, would soon shame him into a better temper. In short, there is no surer Argument of a Great Mind, than not to be transported to Anger by any Accident whatsoever; The Clouds and Tempests are formed below, but all above is quiet and serene; which is the true Emblem of a Brave Man, that surpasses all Provocations, and lives within himself. This made a Great Philosopher say, that a Wise Man ought to be like the Caspian Sea, which is said never to Ebb or Flow. But from this excess of the Passions to infer an utter uselessness of them, to me seems very unreasonable: For I cannot think Nature is such a severe stepdame, as that by her Planting these Passions in us, she designed only to Plague and Torment us: I therefore conclude, There is an honest and an innocent use of them. As Bias once said of the Tongue, that it was the best and worst part of Man, so may we of the Affections; Nec meliores unquam servos, nec Dominos sentit Natura Deteriores, They are the best Servants, but the worst Masters that Nature can have; like the Winds, which being moderate, carry the Ship; but drown it, being tempestuous. And as it is observed in greater States, so does the same hold true in Man's little commonwealth, That those who are the fittest for Service, if once they become Mutinous, always prove the most dangerous sort of Enemies: And thus the old Rule, Corruptio Optimi P●ssima, holds true. I know there have been several Modern Stoics, who with a zeal much transcending their Knowledge, have declaimed against the Passions; Nothing less than an utter Extirpation will satisfy these Men: They are not contented with our keeping them under, and retaining them upon the same terms, as Abraham did those domestics he bought with his Money, whom the Scripture saith, He both circumcised, and kept as Servants; But they tell us, that the Mind ought to deal with its Affections, just as Pharaoh would have dealt with the Jews-Males, whom he thought it best to cut off, for fear they might (some time or other) be in a condition to make head against him. But whether this be reasonable or no, let any Man judge: Because the Passions are now and then disorderly, must we therefore wish there were no Passions? No certainly; for this would be every whit as unreasonable, as to wish there were no Rivers in the world, because it sometimes happens, that by their overflowing we receive great Detriment. When I consider, That our Blessed Saviour, who took upon him all our Natural Infirmities, but none of our Sinful, has been seen to Weep, to be Sorrowful, to Pity, and to be Angry; I cannot but then conclude, That a Man may be Angry and Sin not. It is not the bare Agitation, but the Sediment at the bottom that troubles and defiles the Water. The Passions are so far from being always hurtful, that we read of several that have received great advantages from them. For Wit proceeds from Active Spirits, or a good Degree of Heat in the Brain; And therefore they, who have been denied by Nature this Faculty, and will not take the Pains by Study and Exercise to improve their Parts, do oftentimes increase their Heat by some high Passion, and so appear more Witty and Ingenious than at other times, when their Spirits (being as it were benumbed with Cold) are not able to exert themselves; And from hence came that known saying, Vexatio dat Intellectum. Seneca, hearing a dull Orator make a most Eloquent Harangue the very day his Son died, cried out, Magna pars Eloquentiae est dolour; so Polus the Actor, to enable him to make a more lively Representation of the Grief of a Father upon the body of his Deceased Son, brought in an urn the Ashes of his own Son newly Dead. So much for the Passion of Grief. Then for Anger, Si Natura negat, Facit Indignatio versum. Archilochus and Hipponaux were two very indifferent Poets, yet in mere Spleen and Malice, to be revenged of two Persons that had injured them, invented those Doggrel sorts of Verses, iambics and Scazons, which they did to such a Perfection, that their Adversaries despairing of ever being able to answer them, made away themselves. And as for the Passion of Love, let the Smith of Antwerp pass for an Instance; who being rejected by his sweetheart because of his dirty Profession, changed his Hammers and Anvil, for Pencils and Tables, and so from an Inconsiderable blacksmith, he became the most noted Painter of his time. Thus we see, the Passions, if rightly managed, are of great Use and Service to us; But if once we suffer them to grow headstrong, Lions, Wolves, and tigers are more governable. We too well know, there is not any one thing hath done more hurt to the Christian Religion, than the Spirit of Passion; as is most evident by those many late unhappy Disputes and Controversies amongst us. 'Tis strange, that Men cannot talk of Religion, but at the same time they must Quarrel too; as if the best way of establishing the Law of God, was by violating the Laws of Charity. I thank God my Charity is of an Extensive Nature; I refrain no man's Company, because his Opinion comes not up to mine; Nor do I think it reasonable, that a difference in Opinion should divide an Affection. men's Understandings are not all of one Size and Temper; and therefore it cannot be imagined, there ever will be such a Consonancy, and Uniformity of judgement amongst all Men, no, not amongst Wise and Good Men, but that in many things, yea, and those sometimes of great Importance, they may and will descent one from another unto the world's end. But it is one thing to Dissent from, and another, to be at Discord with, a Man: Ita dissensi ab illo (says Tully concerning himself and Cato) ut in disjunctione sententiae, conjuncti tamen amicitiâ maneremus. 'Tis an excellent Rule, saith Bishop Wilkins, to be observed in all Disputes, That Men should give soft words, and hard Arguments: That they should not so much strive to vex, as to convince an Enemy. If this were but diligently practised in all Cases, and on all sides, we might in a good Measure be freed from those vexations in the search of Truth, which the Wise Solomon, by his own Experience, did so much complain of, when he told us, That in much Wisdom there is much Grief, and he that increaseth Knowledge, increaseth Sorrow. There is nothing so impertinent in Disputes and Controversies, as Anger and Passion: For every Man is fond of his own Notion, and no Man cares to be huffed and hectored out of it; And therefore this Blustering way is so far from inclining us to yield to men's Opinions, that it rather hardens us against them, by giving us a prejudice to their Persons. They are the gentle Insinuations which pierce, as Oil is the most penetrating of all Liquors; And the best way of Proselyting Men, is to gain their Affections. If Disputes could be managed with Temper and moderation, Men might certainly reap great benefit by them: But our unruly Passions do so much get the Ascendant over our Understandings, that this is a thing rather to be wished, than to be expected. Upon this Consideration was it, That the great Montaign was for suppressing and hindering all Disputes and Controversies: And much of the same Mind was the Philosopher Plato, who in his republic prohibits this Exercise t●o Fools and ill-bred People. I think, there is not any Man so ignorant, but knows, That nothing hath been a greater scandal to the Reformed Religion, either among Heathens, Mahometans, or Papists; nay, nor hath given a fairer occasion for bringing in of Atheism and Infidelity, than our Divisions and Animosities, which proceed from our many Controversies and Disputes of Religion. Indeed, our Controversies about Religion, saith the Learned Stilling fleet, have brought at last even Religion itself into a controversy: For weaker heads, saith he, when they once perceive the Battlements shake, are apt to suspect the Foundation itself stands not firm; And if they see any thing called in Question, they presently conclude, there is nothing certain. Luther, observing how prejudicial School-Divinity had been to the Christian Religion, cries out, Quam primùm apparuit Theologia Scholastica evanuit Theologia Crucis. I wish the Disputes of this Age, have not done as much mischief. When Men will be wiser than God, and in their foolish Wisdom think it fit to add their strength to God's weakness, as a speedier and surer way to establish the Truth; then does God, to convince them of their folly, suffer that strong Man, the Enemy of the Gospel, (whom none but his Almighty Arm can bind and Master) to come, and Sow his Tares of Division, which soon overruns the good Seed of the Church, and so brings all to Confusion. Thus then, by our foolish Notions and Conceptions do we often slain and dilute the very Fountain itself. And as the Jews dealt with the Blessed Jesus, so do we now with his Holy Religion, by platting its head with a Crown of Thorns. And this is that, that hath robbed the Christian World of its Unity and Peace, and made the Church the Stage of Everlasting Contentions. For nothing puts Men more out of humour one with another, than Schisms and unnecessary Breaches of Church Communion: This naturally sours the Tempers of Men, and alienates their Affections to the highest Degree; for both Parties endeavouring to vindicate themselves, are forced to recriminate, and these Recriminations always end in Heat and Passion; And so, like two Flints struck together, they will be continually sparkling and spitting fire at one another, till they have kindled the Quarrel into an inquenchable Flame. Thus we see, how much even Religion suffers by these unhappy Disputes and Quarrels among us: For there is nothing does more abate the inward strength of Religion, than when it is rarified into Airy Notions and Speculations; This (indeed) gnaws and consumes the very Vitals, and in a short time will quite destroy the substance of it. It was the Motto of the Primitive Christians, Non magna loquimur, sed vivimus, our Religion consists not in Talking, but in Doing Great Things. But may not the Reverse of this be properly applied to the Present Age, viz. Non vivimus, sed Magna Loquimur. Religion is now become one of the Arts Sermocinales, a Talkative Mystery, an Art not to govern the Mind, and to regulate the Actions, but to Frame and Fashion Discourse. And now to conclude, 'tis no wonder, that our Disputes and Controversies have so ill an effect, when our unruly Passions have so great a share in them. For, as we have said before, the Passions if not moderated, are the Brutish Part in us; and therefore, when we transform ourselves into Beasts, it is not to be supposed we can Act like Men.   

ESSAY VII.  
The variety of Opinions: Whence it proceeds: The uncertainty of Humane Knowledge.  
ALL our several Opinions are nothing but the mere various tastes of several Minds, framed partly by our several Natures, partly by our different Educations, and Instructions, and partly by the various Encounters, which we have met with in our ways of Life. Hence it is, that Quot Homines, tot Sententioe, Opinions are as numerous as Mankind itself; and that the several Constitutions of our Minds, differ no less than those of our Bodies. There are as many Internal Forms of the Mind, as there are External Figures of Men: And the Soul of Man hath its palate, as well as the Body; Opinion being nothing but the Gusto or Relish of the Soul: Nay, some have been so Critical, as to affirm, That there is so great a Correspondence betwixt the one and the other, that those who are of a different Diet, are generally observed to be of different Opinions; and the Learned Dr. Harvey gives this for the reason, Because (says he) a different Diet sends up different Steams to the Head, and according to these Steams are men's Opinions. But this sounding more like a Notion than a Truth, we shall lay no stress upon it, but proceed. There is (then) a certain Congruity of some Opinions to the particular Tempers of some Men; and therefore we see, how readily such Doctrines, as suit themselves to the particular Inclination of the Mind, or Understanding, are embraced, and received; whereas those that are opposite to it, are commonly rejected with the greatest contempt imaginable. Thus do we Love, and Hate without being able to give a Reason why. Some Faces both of Persons, and Things, we admire and dote on; to others, much better deserving our esteem, we can scarcely afford a common Civility. Indeed, the dull and unactive Spirits, that concern not themselves in Theory, give not themselves the trouble to examine Matters, but taking Things in the Gross, follow the Common Belief, and are for keeping the beaten Road; But those, whose Minds are of a Brisker, and more Vigorous Constitution, will fall into that of their particular Crasis. Hence then, I say, is it, we find Men taking in some particular Opinions with strange Pleasure and Satisfaction, upon their very first Proposals; when at the same time they will not hearken to others, though they recommend themselves with a much greater strength of Reason. In a word, almost every one is satisfied, That there is a particular Genius, or special Inclination in men's Minds, and that some Opinions do naturally make a much greater impression than others; But the vexata Quaestio is, how, or from whence this Temperament of the Mind proceeds. Some therefore tell us, That this great Diversity of the Operations of the Mind, is to be ascribed to the Souls dependence upon the Body, and that a Good, or Bad Disposition of the Organical Parts, does certainly render the Soul either Vigorous or Unactive in its several Operations. Whatsoever defect (then) we may perceive in some Men, we are not to think it proceeds from any Deficiency in the Soul, but from the Coexistence it has with a Body ill disposed for Assistance and Information. For he who is carried in a Coach, (as the Body is Vehiculum Animoe) though he himself could go much faster, must yet receive such Motion as that affords; And Water, which is conveyed through Pipes and Aqueducts, though its Motion by itself would have been otherwise, must yet then be confined and limited by the Posture and Proportion of the Vessels through which it passes. Hence we are told, That some Men are even by Nature, and Complexion, inclined to virtue and Goodness; As it was said of Clitus, (whom Alexander in a Drunken humour slew,) That he had virtues by Nature, and Vices by Accident; And that others, even by the oddness of their particular Make and Contexture, are determined to Actions of Vice. It was a received Opinion among the Ancients, That outward Beauty, was an infallible Argument of inward Beauty; and so on the contrary, That a deformed Body was a true Index of a deformed Mind, or an ill Nature. Hence was that of the Poet:  Clauda tibi mens est, ut pes: Natura notasque Exterior certas Interioris habet. 
As also that of Martial, Lib. 12. Epigram 54.  Crine ruber, niger over, brevis pede, lumine laesus: Rem magnam praestas, Zoile, si bonus es. 
It was also the saying of Victorinus, In distorta Membra virtus cadere non potest: And Pythagoras was so bigoted to this Opinion, that he would never admit into his School any that had the least Natural Blemish or Deformity. Upon this general Opinion was grounded that common saying, Cave tibi ab iis, quos Natura Signavit, which we may render thus, Whom God hath marked, let Man Mark. And therefore Homer, speaking of the several ill Qualities of Thersites, taketh care to fit him with a Body suitable to such a Mind. Now, the reason (possibly) why Nature for the most part order it so, may be this; the Method she takes (though imperceptible to us) is Regular and Mathematical, and therefore probably nothing may more break and disorder that Symmetry she observes, than by matching a good Soul with a deformed Body; for this seems to be Impar Congressus, putting things unequally together. But yet this Rule is not so general, as to admit of no Exception, as we may see in the Emperor Galba, a Prince of an unhappy outward Figure, of whom it was said, Ingenium Galbae malé habitat; The same may be also observed of Agesilaus, and some others, (though not many;) and therefore Seneca tells us, Ex casà vir Magnus exire potest, & ex deformi humilique Corpusculo formosus Animus & Magnus. I grant indeed, several Examples there are of Great Persons, whose outward Deformities have been very remarkable, and yet we find their virtues and good Qualities highly celebrated; But yet (possibly) did we but make a narrow search into their Lives, we should find the difference and alteration was chief wrought by Education or Custom, which oftentimes over-sways Nature. Thus we see, what a great Correspondency there is betwixt the Soul and the Body, which is such, that they manifestly participate the Affections one of the other: And therefore if the Body be sick, the Soul is altered in its Operations, as we see in high Fevers, and other acute Diseases: And on the contrary let the Soul be sad or joyful, the Body is so too. Therefore the Sophisters of old were wont to Purge themselves with Hellebore; when they would dispute best. For though in its Essence the Soul depends not on the Corporeal Organs, yet it depends upon the same in its Operations, which are different according to the divers structures of the Organs; which, if they were alike disposed, their Actions would be alike in all, and at all times. Whence saith Aristotle, if an old Man had a young man's Eyes, he would see as clear as a Young Man. That Ingenious Master of Poetry, Mr. Dryden, speaking of the mutability of Man, says, That our Minds are perpetually wrought on by the temperament of our Bodies: which (saith he) makes me suspect, they are nearer allied, than either our Philosophers, or School Divines will allow them to be. I have observed, says Montaign, That when the Body is out of Order, its Companion is seldom at ease: An ill Dream, or a Cloudy Day, has power to change this wretched Creature, who is so proud of a Reasonable Soul, and make him think to day what he thought not yesterday. The Learned Dr. Henry More. says, That our Imagination altars, even as our Blood and Spirits are altered; And therefore, says he, as Dreams are the Fancies of those that sleep, so Fancies are but the Dreams of Men awake; And these Fancies by Day, as those Dreams by Night, will vary and change with the wether, and present Temper of the Body. But to proceed; Others are of Opinion, that this great Diversity proceeds from another Cause, to wit from the Climate. Peter Heylin, speaking of the Dispersion of the Families of the Sons of Noah, says, That though they all descended from one Common Root, yet by the Situations of their several Dwellings, they came to be of several Tempers and Affections; in which they were so different from one another, that they seemed rather to have been made at first out of several Principles, than to have been derived from one Common Parent. The Ground or Reason of which difference (says Heylin) is to be attributed to the different Tempers of those Countries in which they lived, and to the different Influences of the Heavenly Bodies on those several countries; which do continue still the same, though many times the countries' shift and change their Old Inhabitants. Thus, if we inquire into the old Characters, which either Florus, Caesar, Tacitus, or Juvenal gave of the old Britain's, Gauls, Germans, Normans, etc. we shall find that the same virtues, and Vices, do still prosper under the same climates, notwithstanding in most of these Places the old Inhabitants, or their Breed, are quite wore away. 'Tis observed, That where the Heaven is always in the same Posture, as toward the Poles; or where the Sun heats almost in the same Degree, as near the Equator, (which makes the Days and Nights equal,) the Manners and Inclinations of the People are also equal: And on the contrary, Those that by the several Remotions and Approaches of the Sun have different Constitutions of Air, receive suitable impressions from the same, which are afterwards manifested in their Actions. As (therefore) Fruits and Beasts differ according to the several countries, in which they are; so are Men born more or less Warlike, Just, Temperate, and the like, according to their several climates. And therefore Plato thanked God, That he was an Athenian, and not a Theban. Plutarch tells us, That those of the higher part of the City of Athens were of a quite contrary humour to those that dwelled about the Gate of Pyreus; and it is observed, that those who dwell on the Noth-side of a Mountain, differ as much from those that dwell on the South side, as they do both from those in the Valley. Now, from this Diversity of men's Tempers, proceed the several Forms, and Constitutions of Government; and thence it is, that in the same countries we find little Variation as to Government, but that in all Ages they have still kept to much one and the same Form; the same Genius or Temper ever continuing under the same climate: And whenever any Country, either by persuasion, have Voluntarily, or by force have been compelled to quit their old Form of Government; yet in process of Time they naturally return into the old Channel. This then is the reason, why those who inhabit the most Intemperate Climes, are always for preferring the despotic, Arbitrary Rule; whereas those who live under the more temperate, and less severe climates, especially in Europe, have affected and preferred more gentle and moderate Governments, running anciently much into commonwealths, and of latter Ages into Principalites, circumscribed by Laws, which differ not so much in Nature as in Name. The natural reason whereof, says that accomplished Author, Sir William Temple, I take to be this, viz. That in the more Intemperate climates, the Spirits either exhaled by Heat, or compressed by Cold, are rendered faint and sluggish, and by that reason the Men grow tamer and fit for Servitude: That in more temperate Regions, the Spirits are stronger and more active, whereby Men become bolder in the Defence or Recovery of their Liberties. Now by what we have already said, it plainly appears, That the great Variety of men's Actions and Opinions cannot proceed from the Diversity of their Souls, which are accounted all equal, but from that of their Bodies; wherein according to the various Tempers thereof, the Soul produces that variety of Manners. Let us not then any longer wonder, to find so great a Diversity of Opinions in the World; since it is a thing wholly impossible for all Men to be of the same mind: For so long as men's Organs are of several makes, and we live under divers climates, we must necessarily have different Sentiments, and Apprehensions of Things. Nor would there be any harm in this Diversity of Opinions, could Men but divest themselves of that Pride and Arrogance, which makes them so fond of Propagating their own Notions, But while every Man pretends to the Spirit of Infallibility, and must be a Dictator to the rest of Mankind, than there is nothing but Confusion and Disorder to be expected. And this was that, which made such Disturbance, and Embroilments amongst us in the late times: every Opinion was made an Article of Faith, and every Article became a Ground of a Quarrel, and every Quarrel made a Faction, and every Faction was zealous, and all zeal pretends for God, and whatsoever is for God cannot be too much; and indeed, we were come to that pass, That we thought we loved not God, unless we hated our Brother, and that we had not the virtue of Religion, unless we persecuted all Religions but our own. But let us not deceive ourselves, for, whatsoever some may think, this is not the violence that gains Heaven; Nor is there any thing that makes us more unlike God, who is the Father of Mercies, and the God of all Consolation, than a Furious, Hot, and Persecuting Spirit. His appearance was in the soft and still Voice, not in Whirlwinds and Hurricanes; and where there is Spiritus Procelloe, we may satisfy ourselves it proceeds from another Principle. The Holy Ghost was pleased to appear not in the Form of a Vulture, (a ravenous and devouring Creature) but in the shape of a Dove, the Emblem of Meekness. The true Church is styled by the name of the Lily amongst Thorns: The lily does not Scratch and Tear, that's the Property of Thorns and Briars, the most inconsiderable sort of shrubs. (And indeed, let us but reflect who were the chief Promoters of our late Persecutions, and we shall find they were the slightest of the Clergy, and the most Profligate of the Laity: None being so fit to make shipwreck of other men's Consciences, as those who have none of their own.) The most natural and effectual way (then) of Promoting the Blessed Gospel, is by following its own Rules, and Precepts of Meekness and Moderation. Sweetness and Ingenuity will more command men's Minds, than Passion, Sourness, and Severity: As the soft Pillow sooner breaks the Flint, than the hardest Marble. Therefore, when we would convince Men of any Error by the strength of Truth, we should do it with all the tenderness, and in the most obliging manner we are able. For Truth and Love are two the most Charming Things in the World; and when these go hand in hand together, there is no Humane Force can withstand them. But that which proves very mischievous to many, is their taking that to be zeal for God and Religion, which really is nothing but their own violent and surious Passion. True zeal than is a sweet, Heavenly, and gentle Flame, which makes us active for God, but always within the sphere of Love. It never calls for Fire from Heaven, to Consume those who agree not with us in all Points and Circumstances. It is much of the Nature of that kind of Lightning, (that the Philosophers tell us of) which melts the Sword within, but never sindgeth the Scabbard: It strives to save the Soul, but at the same time hurteth not the Body. In a word, we may learn what kind of Zeal it is we should make use of in promoting the Gospel, by an Emblem of Gods own, given us in the Scripture, those Fiery Tongues, which upon the Day of Penticost sat upon the Apostles; and that these were Innocent Flames, no Man can doubt, for we do not find, that they did so much as sing an hair of their heads. This then is true Zeal, and whatsoever is more than this, proceeds from evil, and is no other than a Fever in the Soul. There is not any thing that drives Men more furiously, nor that hath more disturbed the Peace of Mankind, than Mistaken Zeal. Odia Religionum sunt acerbissima, is now grown into a Proverb; of all Hatreds, there are none more furious and unnatural, than those which arise out of Contrarieties in Religion; and it is generally observed, That the less Material their Difference, the more implacable is the Hatred: As the Turks think it more acceptable to God, to kill one Persian, than seventy Christians. Nothing so vehemently alienates men's Affections, as variety of judgement in matters of Religion; Here they cannot disagree, but presently they must fall together by the Ears; and when once Religion divides men's minds, no other common Interest can unite them; and where Zeal dissolves Friendship, the ties of Nature are not strong enough to reconcile it: And therefore our Saviour tells us, That in this Case Men would forget all the Bonds of Natural Obligation; insomuch that the Father would deliver up his own Child, and the Children their Parents unto Death: As we find, that the bloody Hatred of Cain against Abel arose from the different Acceptance of their Sacrifices. Nor indeed is it to be wondered, if that enmity grow excessive, which hath zeal to kindle it, and pretence of Religion to warrant it: For when that which should restrain, and set limits to a Passion, is made a Party to engage it, and fuel to foment it, no wonder if a Passion, which hath no Bounds from Religion, do impose none upon itself. And this occasion of mutual Hatred, we find observed even in the ridiculous Superstitions of Egypt, when one Town would kill and eat the Flesh of another, in zeal to the Calves, or Sheep, or other Creatures, which they did severally worship. Now, having showed how much mischief Mistaken Zeal has done in the World, I need not spend much time in showing the ill Success that Persecution hath constantly been attended with; the History of all Ages has done this to my hand. Sanguis Martyrum, semen Ecclesiae, is a Truth will last to the Worlds End. For there is scarce any Man so void of Humanity, but hath good Nature enough to compassionate those that are in misery, and at the same time to show their abhorrence to the Authors of such Cruelties: And therefore, no wonder that Persecution doth rather increase, than lessen the number of Martyrs; for as it gives most Men a prejudice to the Persecuting Party, so it inclines them to commiserate the Suffering Party; and this kindness to their Persons, does often terminate in the favouring their Opinions. How preposterous then is it in any State, or Government, to endeavour to force their Subjects to Unity in Religion; when, alas! the experience of all Ages shows how impracticable the Thing is. 'Tis true, a State may sometimes force all its Subjects, to submit to an outward Uniformity in all Things that concern Divine Worship; but yet they must know, that every public Disturbance in the commonwealth, breaks all those Bonds asunder of dissembled Obedience, and that such Compulsions do both beget and ripen all Disorders. Thus we see, that it is men's being so fond of their own Opinions, which gives the greatest disturbance to Mankind; and while we are so highly conceited of our own Parts and Abilities, it cannot be otherwise. Now, the only cure for this sort of Vanity, is to reflect upon the uncertainty of Humane Knowledge. The reason then, why wise Men do never appear so peremptory, and Dogmatical as others, is, because they very well know, there are but few things so certain, as to create much boldness, and confidence of Opinion. It was probably upon this Consideration, that the wise Romans showed so much Modesty, when they gave their Sentiments and Opinions, concluding still for the most part with these two words, IT A VIDETUR. 'Tis the Observation of the witty Montaign, That as amongst wise Men he is the wisest, that thinks he knows least; So amongst Fools he is the greatest, that thinks he knows most. Humane Nature is very fallible, the wisest of Men do sometimes err, and therefore at the very instant a Man seems most positive, how does he know but he may be most Mistaken? Do not even our very Senses sometimes deceive us? And yet most of our Conceptions are taken from the Senses, and we can scarce judge of any thing but by the help of Material Images, that are thence conveyed to us, according to that old Rule, Nihil est in Intellectu, Quod non fuit prius in sensu. Since therefore our Senses are so very fallacious, and from them result most of Humane Knowledge, how fond and ridiculous is it in any Man to pretend to such an Assurance? Est in ipsis rebus Obscuritas, & in judiciis nostris Infirmitas, saith Tully; so slight a Thing is Humane Knowledge, That the most inconsiderable, and minutest Works of Nature, serve to Puzzle, and Confound it. Plato says, That in Man there is no such Thing as Science or Knowledge, 'tis but barely Opinion: And in another place he calls Opinion, a middle Thing betwixt Ignorance and Knowledge. Indeed, while we are in this World, we do but behold by the favour of a Glimmering-Light, the Phantasms and Shadows of Things, which Custom makes us take for Bodies and Truths: In a word, we may properly be said to see the wrong side of the hang; and let us pretend to what we will, the utmost of Humane Knowledge, is but a fair and hopeful Conjecture. Our Demonstrations are raised upon Principles of our own, not of Universal Nature; and, as the Lord Bacon notes, We take up Opinions, suitable rather to the Analogy of ourselves, than that of the Universe. How unreasonable then are those Men, who are so positive and Dogmatical in their own Opinions, that rather than admit of the least Contradiction, choose to make the whole World an Aceldama and a Babel? And thus, have we not by sad Experience found it most true, That all the Miseries, which have attended the variety of Opinions since the Resormation, have proceeded from this Grand Mistake, the making our own private Opinions the Standard of infallible Truth? Whereas all wise Men ought to consider, That truth is a thing not certainly known; Nay possibly, the alwise God thinks it too dazzling a Thing for the Eyes of us poor Mortals, and therefore reserves it for our Glorified Faculties.  
FINIS.