/ « 7' -r PRINCETON, N. J. ^ Presented by Vt-(2^c5 \ cX S/r\^~T^-V-V Ox^ . ecc- Divisioti Section ■■ Lately Printed, 'THE PraSiical Chriflim, or Devout: Pmkent ~: A Book of Devotion, Containing the whole Duty of a Ghriftian, inaliOcca- fions and Neceffities. Fitted to the Ufes of a holy Life. In four Parts. By R, Sherlock, D.D.late Recftorof Winwick. The lacred Hiftory : Containing, i. The Hiftory of the Old Teftament. a . The Life of our blefled Saviour. 3 . The Adions of the Apoftles. To which is added. The whole Faith and Duty of a Chriftian, explained in the Words of Scripture, by W. Stkvensok, Re6lor oiMorningthorp in Norfolk, Mechanical Eflays on the Animal Oeconomy : Wherein not only the Conduft of Nature in aaimal Secretion, but Senlation, and human Gene- ration are diftin£lly confidered and anatomically explained; 8cc. Vr.fs. Colloquia Chirurgica: or. The whole Art of Surgery and Anatomy epito- mised and made eafy, according to modern Praftice. By way of Dialogue. The 3d Edition, revis'd and corre£led,with many Additions and a large In- dex not in the former, Pr. is.6d. Both by James Handle y. Surgeon. A Perfwafive to the People o£ Scotland, in order to remove their Prejudice to the Book of Common Prayer. Wherein areaniwer'd all Objedionsagainft the Liturgy of theChurch of £»^/. By P. Barclay, A. M. The 2d Edit. NB. The firft Edition of this Book was publiflied in the Reign of Her late Majefty Queen Anne, of glorious Memory, by whofe fble Bounty one Thouland of them w^ere diftributed to the People of Scotland : Many more have fince been diftributed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and likewife in Neva-England, by the Piety of feveral Gentlemen and Ladies. The Chripan Life : or. The Divine and Moral Duties of a Chriftian, as laid down by that great Apoftle St. Paul; reduced after a methodical manner under their proper and diftinft Heads. To which is added Refledtions on each Difcourfe, with Prayers adapted to the Senti- ments therein exprefi'd ; byT. MoRRiT, A. M. A Difcourfe concerning the Refurredion of Jejm Chrlji^ In three Parts. The tliird Edition. By Humphry Ditton, jlate Malter of the new Mathematical School Chrift's Hofpital. Dialogues concerning Eloquence in general, and par- ticularly that Kind which is ht for the Pulpit. By the late Archbiftiop ot Cambray. With his Letter to the French Academy concerning Rheto- rick, Poetry, Hiftory ,• and a Comparifon between the Antients and Mo- derns. TranClated from the French, and illuftrated with Notes and Quotations, by W. Stevenson, M. A. Redtor of Momw^f^or/) in Nor/i/^. Bifhop W I L K I N s's Principles and Duties of Natural Religion. The Eighth Edition, Secreta Monita Societatis Jefu : The Secret Inftnidions of the Jefuits. In Latin and Englifli. -Price bound 2 s. Agr'icola of Gardening by Dr. Brad- Bifl:e's Poetry, a Vols. \i s. ley, in 4/0. £/?e«'s Novels, ad Vol.Sx'*?. Antiquities ol- Stamford, 8^'0. Bayleys EngUflj'D'iQiion'xxy, 8x/o. Atalantis in 4, Volumes ixs, Brightland's Englijh Grammar. Next Week •will be Tublifhed, Mr. Rymer's General Reprefenration of Revealed Reli- gion 5 in which the chief Prejudices that have been entertain'd againft it are cxamin'd, and the pradicalEndpropos'd by it, recommended and refcucd from unfaithful Evafions. A CONFERENCE W I T H A T H E I S T; Containing an ANSWER To all the moft ufual Objedions of the Infidels Againft the Christian Religion. In FIVE PARTS. By WILLIAM ^ NIC HOLS, V>,Y). The THIRD EDITION, with the Addition of Two Conferences^ the One with a Machiavelian, the Other with an Atheifi. All carefully revis'd and prepared for the Frefs by the Author. Vol. IL Printed for J. Holland, and f. Bowyer, in St. VauPs Church-yard; A. Betteswortpj, and J. Batley, in Pater-mfer-row ; F. Clay, without Temple-bar^ and J- Walthoe, juu'. over-againft the "Royal-ExchaTige. M. DCC, XXIII, CONFERENCE WITH A T H E I S T, Of the Authent'tcalnefs of the ScrMure^ Credentius. Philologus. g^^if^^^^»,ll A ^ III III Hiloloqm having given Credemint a very handfome Entertainment : When EJin* rier was done, and thofe of the Family; withdrawn, they were both agaifi lefc alone ; whereby they had a convenient Opportunity of profecuting their for- mer Difpute. Phil. Well, isiys Philoio^uSi I firidj' by your Thoughtfulnefs, that your Mind is upon our religious Debate ftill ; and, I confefs, it has been ho un- plcafing Satisfaction to me, to hear you fay Co much for your Religion as you do. Indeed the Types and Pre-? didions of Chrift have always, till now, lain very hard upon my Belief; and to be plain with you, I took them t6 be only the idle Fancies or Miftakes of Menj who did not underftahd the Places of Scripture from whenci VOL, IF B the/; ^Conference they were cited ; but fince you have ifhewn that this ha^ all along been the national Way of Interpretation -of thefe Places among the Jews, and that it is agreeable to the ufuaj Method of Prophecy to begin with a fecular Sub- ] eft, and on a fuddeoaJiyjthe Effort of the Holy Spirit, to run off to a divine one, I confefs I am not fo pe- remptory in my Opinion as I was before. I muft needs own, upon more ferious Thoughts, that there is nothing in the Lives of Chrift and his Apoftles, that deferves that Contempt and Ridicule, which fome witty Men throw upon them ; and that the Rules which they lay dov/n for Men to follow,^ would be much for the Good and Satisfaftion of Mankind, if they were ge- nerally obferved. But ftill I much doubt of the Autho- rity of thofe Books, wherein thefe Things are related ; and whether fbme have not contrived thefe fine Schemes of Morality, with a divine Stamp upon them, to make them pafs upon Men the better. For my Part, if I were fure thefe Books were of GOD Almighty's inditing, I fliould be very fcrupulous how I offended againft the leaft Point in them : But if they be only moral Rules, laid down by well-meaning Men under the Umbrage of divine Au- thority, then I think there is Scope for a prudent Lati- tude for me to pick and chufe amongft them as likes me beff. But when you pretend to fo much Certainty of the Scriptures being indited by GOD Almighty, you are not fo much as fure by what human Hand they were firft wrote. I will not fland to infift now upon fbme leffer Pieces of the New Teftament \ but I fee that even the Ground- Wo. k of all your Religion, the Books of Mofis, as they. are called, 'cannot be faid by whom they were wrote. Father Simon, an exad Infpefter into thefe Matters, will have thefe, as other the moft ancient Pieces of the Bible, to be written by fome yevnJJi Scribes, who anciently wrote the Memoirs of that Nation ; and were made into one Piece, with Additions and Amendments by fome more modern Compilator. And Splmfa fufpefts them to be forged totally in latter Times. But however, be the Matter as it will, Mofes could never be the Author Qf Parti v. wii^ a 'TiiEisT, 6f them, unlefs he can be fald to write after he was dead. Says the Writer of thefe Books, Behold the Word which Mofes Jpt^ before all the Congregation of Ifrael ! Which fhews that Book to be written by one who hved after the Children of Ifrael had pafl'cd Jordan. Mofis is fpo- l(en of as a Third Perfon, and that with a high Strain of Commendation, which no Body can be thought to fpeak ,of himfelf, Nwnb. xii. 3. Mofes was the meeke^ Man upon the Earth. There arcfe not a Prophet in Ifrael like untor Mofes, Deut. xxxiv. 10. The -Writer of that Book re- marks. That the Canaanite ovas then in the Land, Gen. xii. 6. Which Remark would be frivolous, unlefs it was written after the Canaanite was expelled, by the Prevalericy of the Ifraelites Power. The Author of thefe Books gives feveral Names to Cities and Places, which were not known till after Mofes' s Time. As Gen. xiv. 14. that Abraham purfued the Kings to Dan ; which Compellation was owing to the Tribe of that Name, and not given till Their Set- tlement in that Place, which was not till long after Mofes. He fpeaks of Hebron, which was fo called from the Sort of Caleb. Nay, he fpeaks pofitively of Matters of Fad, which happened not till many Years after Mofes was dead. As. Gen. xxxvi. 1 1. And thefe are the Kings "ivhich reigned in the Land of Edom, before there reigned any King over the Children of Ifrael : Which plainly iliews this Book to be written by one, who lived after the Ifraelitif]} Monarchy was begun. And t>eHt. ii. iz. it is related, That the Sons of Eiau dwelt in Scir, after they had driven ont and dejiroyed the ancient Inhabitants called Horims, as the Chil- dren of Ifrael did unto the Land of their Pojfejfwn. So that the Writer of this muft needs live after that Conqueft, which Mofes did not. And laftly, the Writer of the Pentatetfch, Deut. cap. tilt, gives an Account of Mofes's Death and Burial, which does manifeftly evince that ic was not Mo/es himfelf. All which, and more, is clearly- made out, beyond all Contradiftion, by Pererins in his Book of the Pr£-Adamites, by Mr. Hobbs in hi$Zj:viathany and Spinofa in \\\sTraBatm Theologo-Politicus , and therefore you ought in Modefty to give up this Caufe to us Unbe- lievers; B s Crcd^ 4 ^Conference Cred, It would be very pleafant, indeed, if you cotiltl perfuade us to this ; but the Arguments of your Authors muft be much ftronger, before we can part with our Religion upon fuch eafy Terms. Mofcs «/- But I wonder, PhihlogHSy that you fliouH exclude a \TeAHthor^^^^^^ from being Author of a Work, which he has flood efthePcn- ^" PoA'cffion of tor fo many Ages ; and that upon a few tateuch fy ^0"^ Criticifms, advanced at nrft, without any juit Ground, Ml Anti' by Ahen E^ra, a yew, and from him retailed by following quny. Infidels and Opiniators. I profefs, thefe Men are the boldeft Criticks I ever met with ; and by the fame Rules, which they go by, they may difpute what Authors they pleafe out of the World. But how came thefe Gentle- men, above all the reft of the World, for fuch a Num- ber of Ages before them, to find out this Secret ? All thefe Obfervations are obvious enough to any one, who reads Mofes's Writings ; and yet we find none of the Ancients thought they had fufficient Grounds to queftion their be- ing written by Mofa upon this Account- None of all thefe could be fo ftupid, as not to take Notice of the Account of Mofess Death at the End of Deuteronomy ; and yet they were fo wife, as not to make the Gonftruc- tion of it, which thefe bold Writers do. They knevv very well, that fuch Criticifms were too pdlow, to bear down the univerfal Confent of the World in this Matter. For I dare fay, no Book was ever attributed to any one with more univerfal Confent, than this is to Mofes. Jo- JeploHSy Juflin Martyr, Eufebim, and St. Cyril, quote many Heathen Writers that give a great Charader of Mofcs, upon Account of his being the Author of thefe Books : As Manetho, Philochorns of u4them, Eupolemm, ^pollonim Molo, Cajior, and Diodorus Siculus. Na)^ the Teftimony ©f Juvenal is a fufficient Confutation of this Opinion. Tradidit arcam (^uodcnnqne volumins Mofes. Pli^r^ and Tacitus likewife allow Afofes to be the Writer of thofe Law5, which go under his Name. Ntmiemus. the Philofopher, when he calls Plato Att'mfng-Mofest to be V Part IV. with ^ T H F r s T, j be fure looked upon Mofes as Writer of the PentAteuch : and fo did Longinus, when he gave an Inftance out of him for his Tublime Way of Writing. But the Tranfla- tion of the SeptMagint is yet older than thefe Authorities, and there alfo is Alofes deemed the Author of thofe Books. Confider yet farther, That Julian, and Porphiry, and Celffis, had all the Malice ix)th againfl: Afofes, as well as againft the y^i^ifi and Chrijiian Religion, that could e'ver be harboured in human Minds ; they endeavour upon all Occafions to expofe his Laws, and his hiftorical Relations; but they never had the Forehead to aflfert, that Mofes was not the Author of them. They knew very well, that upon the fame Grounds, by which they pretended to that, they muft give up their Homer and HerodotuSi f^irgil and Livy, who have no other Claim to their Writings, but only univerfal Confent ; and therefore they were fo ' wife, as to leave thefe hardy Arguments, for tne Infidels and Criticks of our Time. Next let us confider Father Simons Suppofirions in this 'P^thr Si- Matter ; which, I confefs, are. as extravagant and ill- *^^n'/5«/>- grounded, as any of thofe of the more openly incredu- n^yf^l°^J^^ lous ufe to be. He tells us. That the Books of the Pen- tateuch, as other Farts of the Old Teftament, were writ- ten by the pubjick Scribes of the Jews, upon loofe Leaves rolled up together round a Stick, and afterwards compiled into the Form of Books by Efdms, or fome other modern Writer. Which loofe Leaves, he tells us, occafioned the Tranfpofitions of Paflages, and the Repetitions frequently to be met withal, in Scripture. Here is a very fine Hy- pothefis of the Father's advancing indeed ! But as ill a Ground-work cf the Authority of the Scriptures, as any Infidel could be fuppofed to have laid. This learned Man may probably have ihewn his Wit in this curious Projed j but, I dare fay, he would have (hewn his Religion more • by keeping in the old Road. But to examine a little the Particulars of this ftrange Hypothefis. Here are feveraJ bold Suppofitions, whicn the Father ought well to have proved, namely. That there were fuch infpired Scribes in all Ages, that they ufed to write their Books upon fuch P 5 '""jf^ 6 ^Conference loofe Leaves ; and, That there was fuch a Compilator, who added thefe together, and put in and left out at his Dircretion. To begin with the firft of thefe wild Suppofes. How does he prove, that there were fuch infpired Scribes, in all Ages among the yeius, up to the Mofaical Times ? Why, the Father fays, That in all well-regulated Kingdoms, and particiilarly in the E^Jlern Nations, they had alwajs certain Perfons, whofe Province it was to fie that the mofi conjtderable Occurrences of State fjjmld h prefirved in Writing ; and therefore concludes there muft be fuch among the Jeovs : Hifi. Crit. Lib. i. cap. z. And he farther urges, That there 7vere fuch Scribes among the yEgy ptians, and therefore Mofes being bred up in the Learning of the Egyptians, and being a perfe5i Lawgiver, he muji be fuppofcd likewife to or- dain them among the Jews. And are not thefe ftrong Rea- fons to build luch an extravagant Opinion upon ? But ^crillT^t ^'^^^ ^^^^ it follow, that becaufe in all well-regulated King- ■p>rite Scri- doms there were fuch Scribes, therefore the yews mufl pftire a- have fuch ? There are in all Governments a great many mongthe Things which would do well to be, which notwith- jcw^. landing are not. It is a very odd Way of arguing, in this corrupt State of Nature, to fay a Thing is fo, becaufe it ought. Is this a good Confequence, Tliat no infidel or heterodoxical Book, which endeavours to undermine Religion, is read in England or Trance, becaufe no fuch ought to be publickly read in a Chrijiian Commonwealth ? Can no Religious be an Infidel, becaufe every one, who pretends to be a good Catholicki ought to be a good Chri- ■ fiian f But grant that publick Scribes are and ought to be in every well-eftablillied Commonwealth ; yet how dees it follow from hence, that there were infipired Scribes among the Jews ? There might be Scribes in i/J:> Books were tacked together, a^ well as thofe of the Books of other Nations ? And if his Argument of Conveniency be any Proof of a Matter of Faft, it is very probable they were fo. For what a trou- ■blefome Thing would it be to read a Book, the Leaves of which were fo loofely rolled up ? Nay, who would not think of the eafy Invention of Pitching the Leaves together, to avoid fuch Diftradion ? And this really was the Way of ordering the Volumes, or written Books a- mong the Ancients. The Leaves of the Papyrus, or thg Parchment, were tacked one to the other (like the Roll^ in u(e amongft us) and fo rolled round a Stick, rill they an-ived to a fuitable Bignefs ; which Roll they called a VolHme. Tibullus, Ovid, Plbry, Martial, and others, that •fpeak any Thing of the Fafliion of the ancient Books, defcribe them in the foregoing Manner, which is perfed- \y inconfiflcnt with this Notion of Father Simon. ' If • it be faid, that this Fafhion might obtain among the Greeki and F.omans, becaufe they made ufe of the F^ipp-us and Pnrchmcm ; but it was other v/ays among the Jevs, who, as the reft of the ancienrcr People of the World, might write on Pahn Leaves, as farro and Plif/)' relate. To this, I fiiy, that it is a Miftake in Parro to think> that.the XJk of Paper made of the zy£:^yptiari Papyrus was fo inb- dern in Europe, as he fuppofes ; for lie contends, that ^^cxandcr learned the Ufe of it firft, in his Conqueft of B 4 the ^ C O N F E R E ^ C E t|ie Eafiern Empire, when he was building Akxandrid. And this Fliny has fufficiently evinced ^. " I find (fays ** he) great Authorities againft the Opinion of Vayyo, as *' to the Antiquity of P^per. Caffim Hemina, an antient *' Writer of Annals, in his fourth Book relates, that *' Cneim Terentm the Scribe, as he was ploughing over a- ^' gain his Field, which was upon the Mount JanicHluSt *' he found a Cheft, in which Nnma King of Rome had *' lain, and in the fame Cheft were his Books found j P. *' Corndim, F. Cethegm, M. Bebim, O. F. Pamphilus being *' Confuls, to whofe Time from the Kingdom of Nnma «« are reckoned DXXXV. Years, Whifh Books were •* written upon Paper ; and which, yet, to the greater <* Wonder, had cpntiqued buried fo many Years. Where-; ^' fore, ip (o remarkable a Matter, I will fet down the vei^ '* ry Words o£ Hemina, Some wondered how thefe Books ** could continue fo long, and he gave the Reafon thus : *' There was a Jquare Stone "which lay about the middle of the *' Cheji, bound all about with Wax-Candle^, and upon this the ** Books were laid, which was thought the Qaufe why they di4 ^* not rot. "The Books were done over with Oil of Cedar» •' which was ejieemed the Reafon why the Worm was not in, ^* them. In thefe Books were \yritten feme Precepts of the *< Pythagorick^ Philofophy ; and were burr^t by O. Petilitts *' the Praetor, becaufe they were Books of Philofophy. " And there he likewife tells a Story of Mutianus, whg was thrice Conful, and Prefident of Z^cw in P/Zw/s Time, who averred he had then lately read a Letter of Sarpedon fent from the Siege of Troy, which was written upon Paper. And long before this, it is probable, that the Ufe of the Papyrus, and the Way of making up Books, as the Greeks and Romans did, might be in Ufe among the Eafiern Na- tions, who were nigh to, or did converfe with the i>£gj' pians. And if the Books in the Jev^if? Nation were of the fame Form with thofe of others, as it is probable in the latter Time of that Commonwealth they were, the Suppofition of Father Simon's loofe Leaves is at an End, * Plin. Nat. Hift. lib. 13. cap. 13. Part IV. wi.'h a Tuiisr, It is plain, that fome very like Form of making up Books was in Ufe in the Dtwidkd Time, from an Exprellion in the 40th Pfalnty which bears David's Name. /« the Volnme of the Book^ it is ivritten. The Word is (ingular, Bimgillath, and denotes only one Roll, which would pro- bably have been expreffed plurally, if there had been fo many loofe Pieces as the Father pretends. And if any Argument may be drawn from the Ufage of the ^^3^^/ ac this Time, and for many Ages backwards, they joyn the Sheets of Parchment, upon which their Law is written, together, and fo roll them upon the Sticks. But as for Father Simons FaQiion, I defy him to produce any Age or Nation where it was in Ufe ; unlefs it be in the Story of Sybil, and her Leaves, which is the exad Em]?lem of this Father's Notion. But as for the Mofaical Times, I que- ftion whether the Way of Writing upon Paper or Leaves either were in Ufe. It is moft probable, that the Way of Writing, then moft in Ufe, was engraving the Letters upon Wood, Stone, or Lead. The firfl: Writing we have an Account of in Scripture is the Tables of the Law, which were of Stone, and probably they were adapted to the common Ufage of that Time ; for moft of the ecaufe they refer fo often to the • -■ -■ - - - - - Mattq !Part IV. "Juhh ^ T H e I s t. t j Matter contained in them, and fo conftantly exhort to the Obfervation of the Laws there prefcribed. Phil. « And perhaps Efdras forged thefe Books too, *' when his Hand was in j as he might do all the reft of ** the Canon of Scripture. Cred. But there is all the Reafon and moral Certainty in the World, againft fuch a Perhaps. A Man muft have a very good Will for Forgery indeed, to forge fo many Volumes as thefe are. l£ Efdras had had the Luck to come off fuccefsfully in counterfeiting the Petitateuch, methinks he might have congratulated his good Fortune, and fat down content with that ; but he was mad to put himfelf upon other Hazards, which could do him but little Ser- vice. For when he had made the People believe, that his contrived Pentateuch was Mojes's, why fhould he go to forge the Pfdms and Prophets, which fignified very little to the Cheat you fuppofe him to be carrying on ? Nay, how is it poffible, that one Man fhould be able to counter- feit (b many different Pieces ? What a tedious Toil would it be, to feign fuch a long Series of Hiftory ? What won- derful Care and Labour would it require, to make the Parts of it but tolerably to hang together, fb as not to be difcover'd even by a heedlefs Reader ? And the Labour will be greater yet, when we confider that all the other Books muft be written too by the fame Man. But the Difficulty will ftill increafe, when we confider how many different Stiles this one Man muft imitate ; the noble and fublime Way of Expreftion remarkable in Job., I/aiah, and feveral of the P/alms ; the Gravity and Majefty of Mofes'^ Writings, and the flowing Plainnefs of the o- ther Hiftoriographers ,* the Mournfulnefs oiyeremkhy the Rufticity of Amos, the Denfity and Clofenefs of Solomon, and the enigmatical Vifions of Ez.ekiel and Daniel. Cer- tainly no Man ever had fuch a Task as this, which thes Infidels put upon Efdras. The fame Man might as well be faid to have written all the Greeks and Latin Poets and Hiftorians, as fo many of the Canonical Books : For the Stile of thofe is not more different from eaclj other, or the Compofition more difficult; ^^ And 14 ^Conference And now, by your Leave, I will endeavour to encoufi- ter a little with your Gigantick^ ArgumentSy by which you Infidels are wont to defy the living God, and the re- vealed Books of his Servant Mofes. The firft Argument is drawn from an Expreflion in the Preface of the Book o£ Deuteronomy, The Words jphich Mo^ fes /pake unto all IJrael beyond Jordan in the JVildernefs i which difcovers, as is pretended, tliat the Book was writ- ten by one wholiv'd in the Land o£ Canaan, which is v/ith- jn Jordan. This is a Part of the Myjierj of the nvelvci as lAben Ezjra calls it ; by which piece of Cant, he means twelve Places of Scripture, which he, or fome Infidels of his Time, had pick'd out, to make the World believe,- that the infpired Books were not written by thofe whofe Names they bear. But what if, after all, the Words are not to be tranflated beyond Jordan ? And it is plain, our Englijl) Tranflation has render 'd them on this Side Jordan. The Original is Begneber Jardan, which the Lexicographers- fay is,on thi^Side ; and they give this Mark of Diftin(5tion, that when Gneber is joined with the Prefix Mem, it figni- fies beyond, but when joined with Beth (as in this Place) it fignihes on this Side. In fome Places it fignifies over againfi, as Exod. XXV. 27. Ezek. i. 9. In other Places it fignifies ontheSideof,2&Exod. xxviii. z6. Jfa.xii.io. Jer. xlviii* 28. Andiiht Sept uagint, though in mod Places they tran- flate Begneber, by wif'xi, yet fometimes they render Gna-i h.er. Side j as i Kings iv. 24. He had Peace (tic Tuvlay "Jav fy.?f «r) on ever^ Side. But there is a Paffage two Chapters after this, Deut. iii. 8. which it is impoilible to make Senfe of, after ^ben Ez,ra's Tranflation of the Word : H'e took^ At that Time out of the Hand of the tivo Kings of the Amo- rites, the Laiid -which was on this Side Jordan. For Mo fes to fay, where he was, the Land beyond Jordan, he mufl mean the Land of Canaan, where the Kings of the Amo- rites had nothing to do, and where Adofes never took any Thing. But after all, fuppofe, we ihould grant that Be^ gneber fignifies in this Place beyond, which we have proved It does not, yet this Suppofirion of thefe Infidels will not from hence follow. It would be no very great Impropri- •----• cty Part IV. with <^ T H E 1 s t . '11 Cty of Speaking, for Mofa in his Circumjflances, being ov\x\-\QEafi-{\dito^Jordani to c^i&.lhz.l beyond yordan. The Romans call'd the Gauls^ though they were in Gallia them- felves, Tranfalpni, and the prefent Italians, when in Eng- landy would, without Solecifm, call all on this Side the Al^s Tramontani. If I, being in Holland, was to write our Hiftory of England, I (hould never flick to fay, The King fuch a Time went beyond Sca^ though I, when I wrote it, was on the other Side of the Sea myfelf. For the Hiftory being chiefly designed to be read in England, I would purpofely adapt every Thing to the common Way of Speaking there. Now Mofes being aflured by God, of the Settlement of the Ifraelites in Canaan, which was with- ' in the River Jordan, and his Books being defigned for ftanding Memoirs, to be read by that Nation after their Settlement ; what Incongruity would it be for Adofes to call that Place beyond Jordan, which the Jeivs, who were to read his Hiftory, would ever after their entring into Ca^ nam call fo ? Certainly never any Author's Work was pretended to be criticis'd away after this fimple Rate ; and I durft undertake, if fuch Arguments were to be allowed, to difpute the Authority of an hundred Books in the World, which are neverthelefs unqueftionable. As to the fecond Argument you urge, That A4ofes is in thefe Books fpoken of as a third Perfon, and fometimes has Commendation given him -, I do not conceive, that this does prove Mofcs not to be the Author of thefe Books. For there are feveral Hiftories in the World, the Authors of which are in no Wife queftioned, that are written by Perfons, who all along mention themfclves in the third Perfon ; which is the more proper Way, when the Mat- ter is hiftorical, and the Writer is principally concerned in it ; for then a Man may fpeak more freely of his own Adions, and not feem to talk fo much of himfelf, as he would do when he fpeaks diredly in the firft Perfon. And if this was any Argument again ft the Genuinefs of the Books of Mofest we may as well queftion the Hiftories of Ctefir^ Xenophony or Jofephm. Nay, thefe very Au- tlwrs, I liave mentioned, fpcak altogether as much, or more t6 >? CoNFKRF-NdE tnore, in their own Commendation, than Mo/es ^oes.^ How often does Xenophon, in his Hiftory of the Expedi- tion of Cjriis, relate his great Skill in managing the Army, his Fame and Intereft among the Soldiery, his Contempt of Money, and the like ? And how often does Cefar^ in his CommemarieSy make Fetches to blazon his Fortitude and Clemency? Jofephtts-, in his Hiftory of the yewiJJj fVars, declares of himielf that he was the ivifejl of Ml the Jews ; That he was admired bj the Roman Chiefs for his great F'ir-^ tues J That Titus ivotidred at his Fdrtittide under AfflSiion, &c. Which is as much as what y^ fes ("hould feem to be willing to force a Coniplenient from his Reader, by minciiig the Matter, and pretending that his Honour or Virtue were not fo great as might feem td fome, and that he might have given Occafion for fome: Men's Mifunderftanding, or the like : But when plairi Simplicity, he here records his Virtues, as he does in o- ther Places his Failures ; this is to me a demonftrative isTote of unafFeded Antiquity, and alio affords a Caft of the real Goodnefs and Simplicity of that ancient Prophet. Your next Argument is drawn from the Obfervation^ ^vhich the Author of the Pentateuch makes, of the Ca-* 9Taamte's being in the Land. But why doth it rieceffarily from hence follow, That the Writer of this mufl needs live after the Canaanite was expelled by the Ifraelite ? Abeii. Ezra, who firfl advanced this Notion, will not be pofi- tive, that this Confequence mufi: be drawn from it. He fays. That it is probable the A^eming of the Words are. That the Canaanites took^ the Country front fome former Pojfeffors i hut if this be not fo, then there ii a Mj fiery in the Matter, ivhich he that underflands, let him hold his Peace. And it were to be wiflied, that Spinofa had been as modefl: as his Mafler. But if any one ferioufly confiders the Circum^ ftancds of the Hiflory, from which thefe Words are taken j' there is no Ground tor that fecond irreligious Senfe, which uiben Ez,ra flily hints at. In that Chapter, where thefe Words are found, is related the Command jAbraham had from God, to leave his own Country, for a Land which God Ihould fhew him ,• which Injundion Abraham rea- dily obeyed, and went into the Land of Canaan. Now it is but reafonable, that the Relator of this Affair, fliould tell the Reader what People inhabited this new Country* This is expeded from every Hiftorian, who fpeaks of Pla- ces not generally known : As C<£far does, when he writes of his Expedition into GauloY Britain. Nov/ why might not A'lofes fay. The Canaanite was in that Landy as well as Cefar fay. Such a Province was inhabited by the zy£dtui VGL. II. S a"4 I 8 ^ C O N F E R F N C E and another by the Bellovaci? Nay, there feems to be a farther Remark in this PafTage, for the Satisfadlion of the Reader, which is this. It is known, that about Mofcs's Time, and before. Nations frequently changed their Seats, going from one Country to another, and very few were of long ftanding in the Places where they lived : Therefore it was a material Remark of Mofes to fay, Thac the Canaanite was the Inhabitant of that Country, even in Abraham's Time. This, confidering the State of thole early Times, feems to be the plain Senfe of the Words, and much more natural, than that which the Infidels would put upon them. For, fiippofing Efdras, or fome other late VVriter, had wricten this Book, what a wife Piece of Work was it to inform the Reader, that the Canaamtes for- merly lived in the Land of the JJraelites, which every Child of their Nation muft be fuppofed to know ? Nei- ther Efdrasy nor any otha* Man of Senfe, could have made fuch an idle Remark as this ; to obferve that the Ifiaelites did not live in the Land of Qmaan, before their Progenitor Abraham came into it. As for your next Objeftion, That fome Names are mentioned in this Hiftory which are of a more modern Impolition than Mofes's Time : I anfwer, this may be fanly accounted for, by (lippoling that fome ancient Tran- fcriber changed the old and forgotten Names, for the new ones, which were better knov/n ; and it is poffible this might be done, at the Review of the Scriptures in Efdras\ Time. But as for thelnllances you have mentioned, they, in all Probability, might be the ancient Names in Mofes s Time. Gen. xiv. 14. Abraham is faid to purffte his Ene- mies unto Dan ; which might not be the Name of the Ci- ty called from the Tribe, but fome other Place. St. ye- rom, and otliers write. That Dan is a River in Paleftine, which joining with Jor-t makes up the famous River Jor- dan : So that probably the Dan here mentioned, may be that Rivulet. And as for the Name Hebron^ it is not faid in J-opuay that the new Name Hebron was then given, but the Name of Hebron was before Kirjah-arba, which might be a conlidcrable while before, for what any one can afcertain. Nei- Part IV. wtih ^Theist, ij^ Neither is your Objedion from Dent. ii. 12. fb confi- derable, as your Authors would make it : Our Tranflation has it thus : The Horims alfo dwelt in Seir before Time, but the Children of H{2m fucceeded them^ when they had dcflrojed them from before them. And dwelt in their Stead, as Ifrael did unto the Land of his Pojfejfon, &c. i. You may note, that thefe three whole Verlcs together, ^';^. 10, 11, 12. are all put in by Way oi Parent hefts-, and it is poflible may be the Explanation of fome later Writer than Adofes. 2 . However, it was not at all improper forMofes to fay. That the Ifraelites had driven out their Enemies, and pofTefTed their Place ; for though in A^ofes's Time, this was not ab- folutely true of the Canaanites, yet this was true of Sihon King of the uimorites^ and Og the King of Baflian ; and the Tribes of Reuben and Gad had their Settlements in the conquered Countries in Adofess Time. Wherefore i^\(t Arabick^Verfion is not, ^^ Ifrael did unto the Land of his Pojfejfion, &c. but, yls Ifrael hath done in certain Pojfej- flons "ivhich God hath given hi?n. And fo as for your laft Objedion, concerning the Re- lation of the Death and Burial of Mofes^ at the End of DeHteronomj-, we need not fay with Philo and Jofephusy that he wrote this Prophetically ; it is fufficient to fay, as the Generality of the Jews do, That it was added by Joflr^a, who continued the Series of his Hiftory j or by Efdrai and the great Synagogue, upon the Review of the Canon of Scripure, after the Captivity. Phil. All this is pretty plaulible ; but you cannot fay fcj much, I believe, for the other reputed Authors of the Books of the OldTcflament * ; for to begin with the Book of Joflma ; that Hiftory could never be written by that Perfon. For it ftiews itfelf to be written by another Man, who fpeaks of Jofma as a diftinft Perfon, and that fome- times with great Commendation, which he cannot be fup- pofed to do, without great Indecency, himfelf ; as Jojh. vi. 27. 71?^ Lord^uas with \oih.Wi., and his Fame was noifed throughout all the Country : And Chap. xi. 15. He left no- * Tr^a. Thcol Pol. f. if?, &c, C & thin^ 20 /f C O N F R R E N C E thing undone of all the Lord commanded Mofes. Befides, he quotes the Book of Japer, or the Jufi, as an ancienter Book than this of Jopma^ and out of which this feems to be collected Nay, the very Relation of his dying Speech and Burial, fhews it could not be written by Jojljua. But there are two Places which put it out of all Exception, that this Book was written fome Ages after yo/7;«<^'sTime,Chap. xvi. I o. It is faid, They drave not om the Canaanites, that dwelt in Gezer, hut the Canaanites dwelt among the Ephraim- ites unto this Day. And Chap. x. 14. There was no Day like that before it, or after it, that the Lord hearkned unto the Voice of a Man. Now no Writer can with any Propriety ufe thefe Expreffions, but one who lived a confiderable Time after thefe Things hapned. To fay nothing of the Book of Judgesy where the Kings o( IJrael are mentioned. Judges xv'ii. 6. xviii. i. From a PaiTage, i Sam. i. i. it js evident. That the Books of Samuel were written in late Times,nayfo long after tS'<«»?/^f/,that his Times were counted by this Writer Ancient. Before Ttme, in Ifi-ael, when a Jidan went to enquire of God, thus he ffalze ; Come, and let^ Its go to the Seer j for he that is now called a Profhet, was in foretime called a Seer ^. Nay, it is plain, that this Book is a Colledion out of diverfe older Writers, andthofe odd- ly huddled together; becaufe tliere are two Accounts given of David's becoming known to SauU one by quieting his €vil Spirit, and the other by killing the Philijiine, Vid* Cha. xvi. and xvii. The Books of the Kings and Chroni" des were compiled in latter Times, out of other Memoirs, I Kings xiv. I5>, and 29. out of the Book of Gad, i Chron. xxix. 29. and Jddo, 2 Chron. ix. 29. and xii. 15. And as for Ez^ra and .Nehemiah, thofe Books could be wrote by neither of thofe Perfons whofe Names they bear, becaufe Neh. xii. p, 10 there is a Catalogue of the Pricfts down to J-addus. who lived in the Time of Alexander the Great, and met him in his Expedition, Job is a Book wrote by no Body knows v/Lo ; and it is uncertain, whe- ther it be an Hiflory, or an Allegory : It feems to be a * Id. />. i;j, sen: part IV. -whh ^Theist, 21 jgentlle Compofition by the Affcdation of the heathen Poetry, where there is a Council of the Gods called, and Momm> which is here called Satan, carps at the Divine De- crees. But however, it plainly appears to be the Work of a ftudious Man, at Eafe in his Clofet, and not of a fick Man languifhing in Afhes. ThzPfalms are a late Compo- fition, for many of them relate to the Captivity ; and Philo writes. That the 84th Pfalm was compofed when Jehoia- km was detained in" Prifon at Bubjlon ', and the Spth was ■wrote when he obtained his Liberty. The Proverbs of So- lomon, perhaps, are not older ; however, not more ancient than King jojiah, as appears from Prov. xxv. i . Theje ara the Proverbs o/Solomon, which the Men o/Hezekiah, IQng^ it came to pajs in the thirtieth Tear, in the fourth Month, in the fifth Day of the Month, without naming the Year, or the King's Reign, as fuppofing thofe fulBciently known by what had gone before. Neither is it probable, that, what we have now, are the Set of Piophecits uttered by C 5 HofcA ^1 ^Conference Hofea, they being fo very few ; whereas he is faid to have prophefied fourfcore and four Years. We have nothing of the Prophecies of Jonah, but that to the Ninevites ; where- as, 2 Km^sxw. 25. he is recorded to have prophefied to the Jews. The Book of Daniel feems to be compofed long after the Return from Babylon, when the Sed: of the Pharijees was up, becaufe, in the laft Chapter, the Refurrec- tion of the Dead is fo plainly defcribed, which their Op- pofers, the Sadducees, did deny. In Ihort, all the hiflo-^ rical Books of Scripture *^, and many of the others, do plainly appear to be the Work of one Hiftorian, who was carrying on the fame Defign : For he begins to give an Account of the firft Origin of the Hebrew Nation ; how Jl^o/es gave them his Laws, how he made Predidions of the promifed Land, of their choofing a King, and their Calamities when they negleded-the Law ; which is fhewn all along in the Series of the Hiftoiy, 'till it ends in the final Downfall of that State. But as for other Matters, which make nothing to the Confirmation of that Law, this Compiktor palTes them over in Silence, or refers his Reader to other Writers. And for all you have faid to the con- trary, I fufpecl Efdras to be the Man. For Neh. viii. 9. it is (aidiT^hat hecauJedthcLaw of God to be read,and explain-^ ed, and thej gave the Senfe, and they underflood the Scripture. Which was probably this new Glofs oi Efdras, which goes now under Mofes's Name, and was a Comment upon JHoJes's old Laws. And when this was done, I pre- fume he fet himfelf to write a Hifiory of his Nation, from the fir ft Creation of Mankind, to the Diflblution of the Jewifh Common-wealth, giving different Names to the Books. Cred. You have amaffed here together, Philologus, a great many Sophifms of a very confident Writer, who fhews, throughout his Atheiftical Book, a great deal more Fore- head than Argument, which is the general Charafter of moft Men of that Strain. But to confider a little the Par- ticulars of this furious Attack, * Trad. Theol. Pol. ^. 16?. It Part IV. whh ^ T ri F. T s T. 23 It is no Part of the Chriftian Religion to believe tf.at yo- Jofima the fma wrote his Book ,• but becaufe generally in the ^ewifJ} ^f"''^^^'' V J, 1 • 1 J 1 • X- ' 1 • r> r "-e Book of Church It has gone under his Name, tJiere is no ivealon ,,;_J^J,^^g■' to quit this Opinion, e(pecially when there are no Argu ments to the contrary, which are fatisfadory. In the Time of the Writer of the Book of Ecclejiajlicus, he feems to be reputed the Writer of this Book, by an Expreflion there, Eccl. xlvi. i . Jefus the Son of Naue was valiant in the Wars, and Succcjfor of Mofes in the Prophecies, i. e. in the Language of the Jews, the next Writer of infpired Scripture after Mnfes. This Book is quoted by the Wri- ter of the Book of Kings^ i Kings xvi. 34. In his Days did Hiel the Bethelite bmld Jericho : He laid the Foundation thereof in Abiram his firji-born, and Jet up the Gates thereof in his youngcji Son Segub, according to the Word of the Lord, which he /pake to Jolliua the Son of Nun. \Vhich mani- feftly refers to the faying of JopM, Jojl}, vi. 26". Cm fed be the 2i4an before the Lord, that rifeth up and. build- eth this City Jericho : He Jhall lay the Foundation thereof in his firJl-born, and in his youngefi Son he (Jjallfet up the Gates of it. And the vigorous old Age of Cdeb, mentioned JoJl:>. xiv. 10. is alluded to by the Son of Sirach, Eccl. xlvi. ylndthe Lord gave Strength unto Caleb, which remain- ed with him to his old Age. Befides, there is a remarkable Note of the Antiquity of this Book, that it calls the Months by the Names of Firfly Second^ &c. which the Books of Efiher, Haggai, Daniel, i^c. do not generally, but call the Months by the Babylonijh Names. As to your Argument, That he could not be the Au- thor of it, becaufe he is fpoken of in the third Perfon, and that there are fome Things faid therein, v/hich refped his Pi'aifc : this is no more (as I have faid before) than what is ufual in other Writei's ; and you may as well take away Cefar's ovyojephm\ Book from him upon this Account,as this from yofljua. And fo for the Account which is given in this Hiftory, of his Death and Burial, it is probable that Samueli or the next Succeffor to him in the Prophecies, fupplied thofe Paflagcs, before he began the Hidory of the 'fudaes. C 4 Is td ^Conference It is true that y<)/7:>;!/^ quotes the Book ofjafier; but li does not appear, that this was an ancient Hiftory out of which this was compiled : It was probably, as Grotim con- jeftures, anli^/fiK./oi' or Song ot Vidory, upon the Con- quefts of the Gibeonitei, and fo written before Jojlma com- pofed his Hiftory. Neither do the Expreffions \iinto this Day] and the like, prove this Hiftory to be written feveral Ages after the TranfacSions in Jofhua's Time ; for the palhng over of feveral Years is fufficient ,• and Jopua writing his Hifl:ory in his old Age, he might fpeak of the Adions of his younr ger Time, as Things done a confiderable Time ago. ^ . Nor can I think, that the Books of J^gei and Samuel ^Author 0/ ^'"^^o"^'^*^^^" ^5 yo*^ would pretend. That the whole Books, ]\idgts,and which bear Sa^Kueh Name, were written by Samuel, no the Berin- body will contend, though it is probable, that the for- vmg of Si- j^gj. pgj.j. q£ ^j^g £jj.^ g^QJ^ ^^^ wrote by that Prophet, who likewife lays the faireft Claim to the Book o£JudgeSy and to that of Ruth. That the Book of Judges is very ancient is manifeft, becaufe it is alluded to in a Pfalm of David, which he made upon the removing the Ark. When thou wenteji forth before the People, when thou didfi march through the Wddernefs, the Earth jhookj, the Heavens alja dropped at the Vrefence of God. Which Words are an ex- aft Imitation of Judges v. 4. Lord, when thou wentefl out of Seir, when thou marchedfl out of the Field of Edom, the Earth trembled, the Heavens dropped, the Clouds alfo dropped Water. And immediately after the Pfalmifi fays, 71?^^ ths Mountain Sinai, was moved at the Prefence of the God of \{- rael; which Words are likewife copied from the Words which follow in that Chapter of Judges : The Mountains melted from before the Lord, even that Sirai from before the Lord God of Ifrael. And it is evident likewife, that this Book of Judges was written earlier than moft other of the hiftorical Books, becaufe the Hiftory of it is referred to 2 Sam. xi. 2 1 .Whof?mte Abimelech the Son o/Jerubbeftieth § Did not a Worn m cafi a Piece of a Adillfione upon him from the Wall, that he died in Thebsz ? Which Hiftory is recor-^ ded, Judg. ix. 53. Neither it is any Objeftion againft the Book' Part IV. ivhh ^ T heist. 1$ Book of Judges, that the Kings of Ifiael are attuded xoy by fome Expreffions, as. In thofe Dajs there ivm no King in Ifrael. For if this Book was written by Samnel, as is moft probable, he might very properly make this Remark, as living fome Time after the Monarchy was fettled ; or however, this might be only a Note of Explanation ad- ded by Efdras, upon the revifing the facred Books. Nor do the Books of Samuel wmt their evident Marks of Antiquity : They are referred to, Pfal. cxiii. 7. where a PafTage of Hannah's Song is tranfcribed. He raifeth up the Poor out of the Dnji, and lifteth up the Needy out of the Dunghill, that he way Jet him 7uith Princes, even the Princes of his People. Which PafTage in i Sam. ii. 8. is thus. He raifeth the Poor out of the Dufi, and lifteth up the Beggar from the Dunghill, to fet them among Princes, and to make them inherit the Throne of Glory. The Hiftory of thefe Books likewife is referred to, i Kings xx. 27. 5'o Solomon thrufi out Ahii- athzr from being Priefl unto the Lord, that he might fulfil the Word of the Lord, which he fpake concerning we Houfe of Eli in Shilo. Vid. i Sam. ii. 31, 35. As to the particu- lar Authors of the greateft Part of thefe Books, it is not ,^ ^^^^ ^ abfolutely certain who they were ; the Generality of the p^...^ '^„ ye-ws do with Probability affert, That the fir ft 24 Cha- Kaihaa*W pters were written by &y»Whimfelf, and the reft by the Pro- Gad. phets Nathan and Gad. Nor is it any Objection againft the Antiquity of thefe Books, that we find explained in them what the Word Seer fignified in ancient Time, whereas this may be only one o^Efdras's explanatory Notes, and coming in by Parenthefis, looks later than the Origi- nal Text. And as for the Objeclion which Spinofa fo tri- umphs in, of the two different Relations how David be- came known to King Saul ; I confefs, I cannot fee any Thing like what he pretends, viz,, the jumbling together the diverfe Relations of two Authors. In the fixteenth Chapter David is recommended to Saul, to play before him, which he did, and cured his Melancholy, for which he had a Kindnefs for David: And in the feventeenth Cha- pter he comes to him to profer his Service to fight Goliah. Ai*d it is not much, that Satd did not know D^d again j for id ^Conference for it was no great Wonder that a King, in the great Hurry of a Camp, did not exa6tly remember a young Mufician he had formerly feen, and that too in the Depth of Melan- choly, when hardly any Thing made Impreffion upon his Mind, but only his own black Thoughts. But the for- mer Chapter (aysySaulhad made him his Armour-bearer; and that might be only fome Office about the King's Per- fon, like our Pages or Querries, of which there might be many in Number, and little Duty required, fo that he might live at home in his Father's Houfe ftill, and enjoy that Dignity. But after all, it is poffible, that this Part of the Chapter may be related proleptically out of its Place, and this Time of David's being fent for to cure Saul's Me- lancholy, might be after his killing Goliah ; it being ufual for the Hebrew IVriters to do fo, they not tying themfelves up to the Exadnefs of the Greeks and Roman Hiftories. But however, it is plain, that thefe are not the Relations of two different Writers; for in the feventeenth Chapter, when David is defcribed, he is faid to be the Son of that Ephrathite by the demonftrative Pronoun rn%*1, to fhew the fame Jejfe was meant, who was fpoke of in the former Chapter. But then, what Objedion is it againfi: the Truth of the Chronicles ^'^^^^ of the King^s and Cronicies, that they were colleded a Compila- out of more ancient Memoirs ? and fuppofe too, if you t'wn after pleafe, Efdras to be the Colledor. The Books at firfl the cci^tt- ^ygj.g -^j-ij-ten by Men of a Prophetick Spirit, and they ^''■^' were not the lefs the Word of God, by being put into a- nother Form, efpecially by one who was a Prophet him- felf, as Efdras was. Nay, fo very fcrupulous feems this Compilator to be, that he takes the very Words of the ancient Prophets, out of whofe Memoirs he compofed thefe Books, as is evident from 2 Chron. v. 5). vrhere the Inrrodudion of the Ark into the Oracle is defcribed, and it is faid, There it is unto this Day. Now either the Books of the Chronicles were written before the Captivity, under the f rfl: Temple, when the Ark was there, or elfe Efdrasy the fuppofed Compilator, made Ufe of the very Words of the ancienter Prophet, out of whom he tranfcribed this Work Part IV. with a Ti^tisr. 27 Work. Either of wliich Suppofitions gives fufficient Au- thority to thefe Books ; for if the Author lived before the Captivity, he was an Eye-witnefs of many of the Mat- ters of Fad he relates ; and if he lived after, we fee he is fo juft to his Original Authors, as not to vary a Tittle from their Words. All that Efdras, or whoever elfe the Compiler was, added of his own, were fome genealogi- cal Obfervations at the Beginning of the Chronicles., and fome other Paflages of little Moment, which relate to the Times after the Captivity, The Book of E^^ra, all but the fix firft Chapters, was ^^^^ ^^yo^g compofed by him : For Ezra fpeaks exprefly in his the Boo'.: of own Perfon, as Chap. vii. ver. ij. Blejfed be the Lord God ^^^^^^f^^' of our Fathers, "which has fut fnch aThing into the King's Hearty to beautify the Houfe of the Lord, which is in Jerufalem, and hath extended his Mercj unto me, before the King and his Counfellors, and before all the Kings mighty Princes : And I was Jlrengthned as the Hand of the Lord my God ivas upon me, and I gather d together out o/^Ifrael chief Men to go up with me. And that we may be certain, from the Infcri- ption of the Book, that Ez^ra wrote this, you may fee that Artaxerxes's Decree, which he fo magnifies God for, is direded to Ez^ra, where the Words [Thou Ez,ray Cv"c«] are ufed. Now why Ihould any one, who fpeaks ■ fo exprefly in his own Perfon, be denied the being Au- thor of a Book, to whom by all Antiquity it has been at- tributed ? Indeed, the firft fix Chapters feem to be written by another Perfon, who came over from Babylon, in the firft Return, upon the Decree of Cyri'^s, which Ez:ra did not \ for he came over with thofe Jc-^vs who retur- ned upon Artaxerxes% Edid, and wTotc the Hiftory of that, which he added to the fix firft Chapters of this Book, and gives the Hiftory of the firfi: Return ; fo that both thefe added together, make the compleat Hifiory of the Jnvifl) Reftorarion, the former Part of which Ezra faved himfelf the Trouble of writing anevv', it being done ready to liis Hand by fome one elfe, and which he ap- proved of, Thac 1^ ^ C O N F F R F N C E Kehemiah That Nehemiah was the Author of the Book that goes Author of under his Name, there is litde Resfon to doubt, fince it that Book. ^3j.j.jg5 j^-g ^^^^^^ ^p^j ^^^ j^^^.p^ Church hA5 all along at- • tributed it to him. The Son of Sirach mentions his building the Walls of Jsnifdem, recited in that Hiftory. ^nd among the EUtl was Nehemias, 7vhofe Renown was great, who raifed up for us the Walls that were fallen, and Jet up the Gates and the Bars, and raifed up our Ruines again, Eccl. xlix. 1 3 . And it is plain, that the Book of Nehemiah was not only received into the Js^vifo Canon, but went under Nehemiah's Name, when the Books of the Macca- bees were written, as is plain from ^ Mac. ii. 15. The fame Things were alfb reported in the Writings and Commen- taries of Nehemias, and how he, founding a Library, gathered together the ASis of the Kings and the Prophets, and of David, and the Epifiles of the Kings concerning the holy Gifts. Nor is Spinofa's Argument any Ways conliderable, whereby he would prove that Nehemiah could not write this, becaufe Jadduah, or yad4pts's Naqie is mentioned, who lived fo long afterwards ; fot it is obvious to any one who looks upon that Paffage, that it is in all Probability a Supple- ment added, after the tirft Writing; of thac Book, by fome one who had a Mind to make the Genealogy of the Priefts compleat to his Time i for if Nehemiah had been a counterfeit Piece, no Forger could be fo filly, as to make Nehemiah fpeak of fo many Generations of Priefts after his Time. Job. The Author of the Book of yob is indeed uncer- tain ; but being received into the Jcwifl) Canon, muft be fuppofed to be written by an infpired Writer. The Author of it, whofoever he be, is very ancient ; and lived, as is moft probable, before the Promulgation of the yewifj) Law : for there are not any Traces to be found of the Mofaical Precepts in the whole Book ; and we may find fome Things contrary to them, as particularly yob's offering Sacrifice himfelf afrer the patriarchal Man- ner, which was allowed only to the Pnefts under the ytidaical Law. Neither has the Conjecture of Grotius much Sohdity, who would have it written by a y^w, upon Part IV. wuh a Tiizisf» 20 upon Account that the Place where fol^ lived is called the Eajf, as the y«w ufed to call Arabia. For any other Perfon, who lived Wejlward in Situation, might call yob's Country the Eafl ; or the Inhabitants of that Place them-^ * felves might call it the Eaji, in refped of the Weflern Di- vilion of AfiA. It is not improbable, which fome con- jedure, that it was written by Mofa, during his Abod6 in Egjp, or in his Flight into the Land of Midim, before he had promulged the Juddcd Law : And his Defign might be to hearten up the Jeivs under the Severities of the Egyptian Bondage, by fhewine the gracious Defigns cf God's Providence,- and that he oftentimes lays his fliarpeft Afflidions upon his beft Servants. That th6 whole Story is an allegorical Fable, muft in no Ways be allowed ,• for the Teftimonies of Ez^eklel and St. James* who mention Job as a real Perfon, prove the contrary of this Opinion : Nay, from hence it appears, that the Book of Job was generally read among the Jovs in Eze~ klel's Time, which was before the Compofing of Efdras'i Canon. But as for Spimfds Arguments, to prove this Book a gentile Compoiition, they are vain and frivolous, and wholly anfwerable to the paradoxical Humour of that Un- believer. What a pretty Fancy it is to think, that the Author of Job imitated the poetical Fables of the Con- vention of the Gods, and the Story of Momm ? But any Thing may be faid to make the Scripture look ridicu- lous. Let us turn to the fourth Book of Homer's, Iliads, and fee how he defcribes the Congrefs of his heathen Deities. ^ *0/ cTe* Qioi TTttp* Zjjj'J jy^nitMi/c/ ti'^^avn The Gods ivere nil fit in Counjels round Jupiter, upon the golden Pavement, where Hebe filled them NiBar in golden Cups, i;i which they drank^ round to em another* Now 30 A Conference Now a witty Atheifl might make Sport enough with fuch a jolly Meeting of the Gods as this j and one would think that Homer had only a Mind to expofe them by fuch an ' odd Defcription. But when the Author of the Book of Job fays, Thai there was a Day, ivhen the Sons of God came to prcjent themfelves, before the Lord. What is there in this, that is not agreeable to the Dignity and Majefty of the divine Nature ? This Writer does not fay thefe An- t^els are called to counfel, as Homer s Gods were, but to Duty and Service. And not only the Jewijl) Writers fpeak of Angels Jianding before the Throne of God, but the Pagan Theologers fay the fame in their Hymns, {F'td. Orph. Hymn.) and allow demi-urgical Powers, and other fubordinate Daemons, that are alfiftant to the fupreme Deity. And fo as for the Story of Momm, that ill- natured four God, who would do no good himfclf, and ■was ufed to carp at whatever was done by any one elfe j his Story is fo little famous even amongft the Greekjmi\ Latin Mythologers and Poets, that it is not fuppofable, that an Eafiern Writer fhould take a Hint from fo obfcure, and fo little known a Charader as this. As for that little Witticifm of your Author, That the Stile of Job favoun more of a Aian at Eafe in his Clojet, than of an affiled Man lying languifl)ing in the Afloes ; I anfwer. That no Body fuppofes that thefe were the very Words which Job ufed in his Mifery. We all own, that thefe Things are fitted out in a poetical Drefs, and are not reprefented fuch as really they were ; but in fuch artificial Characters, as it pleafed the holy Spirit of God to recommend Patience under Affliftions to Mankind, and to vindicate the Ju- ftice of Providence in the Inflances of afflided Piety. The The Pfalms are no late Compofition, but moft of them Tfdhr.s. y^QYC written before the Captivity. Indeed we ought not, as fome do, to attribute them all to David, when their feveral Titles do allot them to other Authors, although a great Share of them are owing to that infpired Prince. It is certain,- that in the ancientefi: Times, both after and before the Deluge, holy Men were wont to fing the Praifes of God, for fingular Mercies received, in Hymns 5 th^' Part IV. with ^ T h e i s t. j i the Care of compofing which, Perfons of good Parts, and of a prophetick Spirit, were pleafed to take upon . themfclves, as is plain in the Inftances of Mofis and Mi^ riam, Deborah, Davids Solomon^ &c. Thefe Hymns were wont, not only to be learned by pious People, as Helps to their Devotion, but were delivered to the Levites, to be laid up in the Archives of the Temple, as Jofephns writes, Jint. lib. 5. cap. 1. and out of thefe tlie Levites. made their Choice, to fing upon fet Occafions in the Temple. Of thefe there were a vaft Number gathered together, compofed by the Prophets^ of fo many pre- ceding Ages in the Temple of Jernfalem, before the Burning of it by the Chaldeans ; for Solomon himfelf is recorded, to have compofed above a thoufand. Of thefe Hymns a great many were carried, by fome devout Men, into the Captivity, and brought back again with them upon their Reftoration ; which, together with fome o- thers compofed at Babylon, were, by Efdras, and the great Synagogue, formed into this Book of Pfalms, which we now have. But though the whole Book of Pfalms, in the Form they are now in, be not older than Efdras, yet many of - them were known by the ancient Prophets, who lived before. For a Part of the firft Vfalm is, in a Manner tranfcribed by Jeremiah, Jer. xvii. 7. Blejfed is the Alan •that trujleth in the Lord, and whofHope the Lord is ; for he Jhall be as a Tree planted by the Waters, and that Jpreadeth ovit her Roots by the River ; and fyall not fee when Heat comet hy but her Leaf fjjall be ^reen, and /hall not be carefiil in the Tear of Drought, neither fjall ce.zje from yielding Fruit. The, Words in the xcviiith Pfalm His right Hand and holy Arm^ hath gotten him the Vi^ory^ and all the Ends of the Earth have feen the Salvation of our God, are cited Ifi. Hi. 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy Arm in the Eye of all the Nations, and all the Ends of the Earth f.\ill fee the SaU •vation of our God. Thit of Jeremiah, Lam. v\ 15). 77;o», Lord, remajneji for ever, and thy Throne from Generation to Getier Alien, is taken out o£ Pfalm ci. That of Ifvah 1. 9. Thejf alljbdl -ivax old m a Cisrm-cm^ is talven out of the /I verbs 31 ^Conference Ci. Pfalm likewife. So that the Pfalms are fo far frdrri being modern Compofitions, that they are fome of the oldefl:, and moft unqueftionable Parts of Scripture. Eolomon There is little Doubt to be made> but that the Main inthcrcf of the Book of Proverbs was written by King Solomorit ^■'^ ^^0- whofe Name it bears in the Title. The firft twenty four Chapters feem to be the original Colle6lion, made by So* lomon himfelf, and were the Beginning of a greater Work, which was deftroyed with the Temple at the Captivity. And the following Chapters are a Colleftion made by others, as appears by the Beginning of the twenty fifth Chapter. The Proverbs of Solomon, -which the Men of Hezekiah, King of Judah, copied out. By the Men of Hezeklah are meant fome Perfons, which the King em- ployed for this Purpofe : They were probably Eliakhn, the Son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah the Scribe, and yoaJJy, the Son of ^fi.ph the Recorder, who were Secretaries to Hezekiah, and who might poflibly likewife have the Af» liftance of the Prophet I/aiah. This CoUedion holds to the thirtieth Chapter, which has the Title of u4^ur, buE who this ^gur was is uncertain j he does not feem to be Solomon, from the mean Charader he gives himfelf : Surely I am more brutijlo than any Aian, and have not the Vnder- fiandjng of a Man ; I neither learned Wifdom, nor hofve the Knowledge of the Holy. Prov. xxx. 2 . Which is no Ways agreeable to the great Wifdorti God gave Solomon, i Kmgi iv. 29. nor, indeed, to that Charader which Solomon, in Ecclejiafies, gives of himfelf : / have gotten more IVifdom than all they that have been before me in Jerufalem ; yea^ my Heart hoih great Eyferience of Wifdom and Knowledge ^ Eccl. i. \6. The laft Chapter, which bears the Name of Lemuel, muft likewife be written by King Solomoni who either was fo called by his Mother, in his Child- hood, Lemuel ; or that Prince on purpofe took this dif- guifed Name. This Chapter feems to be made up of fome wife Inflrucflions, which his Pdother Bathfjcba had taught him, when he was a Child. Bur, I confcfs, I do not underftand Spinoff's Logick, when he argues, Tliat the GolkcTtion of the Prgverbs is not Pcirt IV. w'tth ^ T II F. I s T, 3 J not older than Jojtah's Time ; becaufe the Men of Hezj:' hjih colleded fome of them. Why, do not all the World know that yojiah was the Great Grandfon of Heze^ahf and flouriihed nigh an hundred Years after him ? So that if all the Colledion of the Proverbs were owing to the Men of Hez^ekuihy they were an hundred Years older than Joftah. Neither is there any material Argument againfl: Solo- Ecclefaflst moft's being Author of the Book of Ecdejiafies. GrotiM^y indeed, would have it to be written by Zerubbabel, be- caufe of fome Sjriack^ and Chddee Words which are found therein ; but it is poffible that thefe Words might have crept into the Hebrew Tongue* in Solomons Time ; or, at leaf!:, Solomon, by his Converfation with fo many ftrange Women, might have learned them. But the great Cha- rafler of Wifdom which this Author lays Claim to ; his building Houfes and planting Vineyards, his making Gar*^ dens and Fiih-pools, his gathering fo much Silver and Gold, which he fpeaks of, Chap. i. is the peculiar Cha- rader of Solomon, and which fuch a poor Prince, as Ze- rubbJjel, could not pretend to. Neither is it any Ob- jedion againft the Divinity of this Book, That there are fome Expreflions, that look like the Epicurean Notion of Providence ; for the Author difputes the Arguments on both Sides academically, and determines at laft on the true Side, as appears by the Clofe of the Book, Let m hear the Condufwn of the whole Matter ; Fedr God, and keep his Commandments ; for this is the whole Duty of Adan. For Cod Jljall bring every Work^into Judgment , with every Jecret UTjing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. The Synagogue of the Jews., and the Church of Chriflj Canticle f, have all along attributed the Canticles to the fame King Solomon, and the Title of this Song fpeaks the fame. And though fome Hereticks of old, and fome Anabaptii1:s of late, have looked upon it only as an ordinary Love- Song, yet the Pious in all Ages have efteemed it an alle- gorical Dialogue, between God and his Church. There is no Reafon but to tliink, that the Book of^f^^'^^' IJaiah was written by that Prophet; for the beginning of VOL. IL D the 34 A C O N F E R E K C E the Book bears his Name* The Prophecy of iraiah the Son of Amos, which he faw concerning Judah <2»^/ Jerufalem, in the Days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah. Nor can it with any Probability or Truth be faid. That the Prophecies were utter'd by Ifaiah, and the Book written by another Hand : For the Prophet is ex- prefly commanded by God, to write his Prophecy him- felf. Go now, write it before them in a Table, note it in a Booki that it may be for Time to come, even for ever and ever, Befides, Ifaiah oftentimes in this Prophecy, fpeaks in the firft Perfon, which a Compiler could not with Propriety do. In the Tear that Uzziah died, I faw alfo the Lord Jit- ting upon aThrone, Ifa. vi. i. Moreover the Lord f aid unto me. Chap. viii. i . It is obfervable, that this Prophet was of royal Extradion; his Father was Amos, not one of the twelve Prophets, but the Brother of King Az^ariah^ "which noble Education gave his Stile a Turn, above the reft Q>£ the Prophets. He was fawn afunder by a wooden Saw, as the Jews relate, under the tyrannical Reign of King Manages, to which moft probably tlie Author of the Hebrews 2}^\:^'^£.s, Heb. xi. 37. They were fawn afunder. That this Prophecy is older than many other Parts of Scripture, is evident, becaufe almoft two Chapters of it, viz,. Chap, xxxvii. and xxxviii. are well nigh, verbatim, tranfcribed in the fecond Book of the Kings, Chap. 15), C^c. and {bme ExprefTions are imitated by Jeremiah. Eve* ry Head JJjoll be bald, and every Beard, and upon all the Hands fJj all be Cuttings, and upon the Loins Sackcloth. There J^joli be Lamentation generally upon all the Houfe-tops of Mo- ab, and in the Streets thereof, for I have broken Moab like a Veffel, wherein is no Pleafure, faith the Lord. Which \s an exact Imitation of Ifa. xv. 2. 'Nio^h floall howl over Nebo and Medeba ," on all their Heads fljall be Baldnefs, and every Beard cut off. In their Streets they f)all gird them- felves with Sackcloth ; on the Tops of their Houfes, and in their Jrloufes, and in their Streets, every one jhall howl, weeping ahwidantly. And fo again, Jer. 1. 2 . Bel u confounded. Me; odach is brol'^K in Pieces, her Idols are confounded, her Imagci CVS broken in Pieces. Which Teems to be copied from Part IV. with (3 T«£iSTe 35- from Ifatah-x^v'u I. Bel hojveth cioivn, ^eho Jioopeth. And thefe Words, Ifaiah xxiv. i8. He that fieeth from the Noife of the Fear, /ball fall into the Pit, and he that cometh out of the Midji of the Pit, JJmU be taken in the Snare, are found without any Variation, Jer. xlviii. 4. which is fufficient to ihew, that in Jeremy's Time the Prophecy of Jjkiah was extant. But as for Spinofa's Objec^iion, that it is fufpicious that this is not Ifaiah's Book, becaufe here are none of the Adls of Vzx,iah in this Prophecy, whofe Ads, 2 Chron. xxvi. 22. he is faid to have written ; this Objedion is fuffici- ently anfwered, by faying, The ^^s of Uzziah were ano- ther Book of the Prophet's Writing, which by the Title feems to be a perfed hiftorical Book of the Reign of that King, and to be nothing like this Book of Prophecies we are now upon. That Jeremiah wrote his Prophecy himfelf, may htjeremmfh known from the Infcription of his Book. 71?^ Words of Jeremiah, the Son of Hilkiah, of the Priefls -which were in Anenoth, in the Land of Benjamin. And afterwards, in feveral Places, he fpeaks in his own proper Perfon. ^nd the Word of the Lord came to me. And afterwards ; And the Lordfent his Hand, and touched my Mouth. And that he wrote his Prophecy himfelf, is plain from Jer. xxix. 1. Now thefe are the Words of the Letter ^i-te/? Jeremiah the Prophet fent from Jerufalem, unto the Reftdne of the Elden •which were carried away Captives. And from Chap. xxx. 2. Thus /peaketh the Lord God of Ifrael, frying, Wite all the Words which I have fpohen unto thee in a Book^ And a- gain in Chap. li. ver. 60. And Jeremiah wrote in a Book, all the Evil which floould come upon Babylon. And more- over, he cxprefly tells who was his Amanuenfis, who wrote the Words from his Mouth. The Word which jq- remiah the Prophet fpake unto Baruch, the Son of Neriah, when he had written thefe Words in a Bcok^ at the Afouth of Jeremiah, Jer. xlv. i. Certainly no Teflim.ony can be more pofitive than this. That this Prophet wrote this Pro- phecy himfelf. The Prophecies indeed do lie fomewhat obfcure in the Book, but however they may be reduced Da to ^6 yf C O N F E R E Is' C E to thefe following Heads : The firft contains the Prophfe^' cies to the Time of King Jehoiakim i the fecond under' King Jehoial^, full of new and grievous Comminations, after King Jehoiakim had ordered the firft Book of Pro- phecies to be cut and burned : Then are fubjoined thofe Prophecies which Jeremiah predided after the Deftruftion of Jerufalem, 'till the Time he and Bamch were carried into Egyft, which Prophecies do terminate at the laft Claufe in the li/?, Chapter ; Thus far the Words of Jeremi- ah. It is obfervable, That the Prophecies which were predided in King Jehoiaf^m's Reign, are placed laft, after others, which in Order of Time ftiould have come before, and thofe in the Reign of Zedekiah ^ve inferred in theMidft of others. Bur, however, this might eafily come to pafs, by the Negligence of Tranfcribers, without any Deroga- tion to the Authority of the Book, or being forced to own Spimfa's Suppofition, That this Book is only an Ex- trad out of diverfe others. For what though the Parts of this Book be fome-what confufed, how does that make it to be a Colledion out of other Books ! Why may not the Parts of one Book be diforder'd, as well as Pieces out of diverfe be confufedly put together ? But you fay, there are Contradidions in it, and the Caufe of Jeremiah's Im- prifonment related diverfe Ways, which the fame Author v/culd not have done. The fame Argument will hold likewife againft a Compiler, who, to be fure, read what he tranfcribed, and therefore would never have fet down two contradidory Stories in two Chapters, which follow one another. But after all, here is no Contradidion in this Matter ; and nothing but a blind or perverfe Malice could make one. In the xxxviirh Chapter it is recorded, That Jeremiah was taken up upon Sufpicion of Flying to the Chaldeans as he was going into the Country, into the Land of Benjamin.^ and caft into the Prifon of Jonathan, where becaufe he continued prophecying of the certain De- ftrudion of Jerufalem, he is order'd to be thrown into the Dungeon of Malchiah. But this Critick is a little miftaken, when he makes the xxxviith Chapter to be a Continuation of the xxift. For in the firft Jeremy fpeaks to iPartlV. wifhaTHiisr. 37 to PafJpftr and Zephaniah j in the la ft to Sephattah, Gedali- ah, Jucd and Papnr. And fo he is when he (inds a Fal- fity in the Predidicn of yeremy, that Zedek^h fhould die in Peace. All that Jeremy prophefied came ex36tly to pafs : Thou j])dt not, fays the Prophet, efcape ont of his Hand, but jlodtfurely be taken, &c. Tet hear the Word of the Lord, O Zedekiah King of Judah, thm faith the Lord of thee. Thou jlxtlt not die by the Sword, but than flxtlt die in Peace. Now to die in Peace here, is in Oppoiition to dying by the Sword, or dying a violent Death, which Zedekiah did not : For, I hope, that all blind Men do not die violent Deaths; and in this Senfe, "Ledeklah, though he had loft his Eyes, yet being fuffer'd to die a natural Death, he might pro- perly be faid to die in Peace. That the Prophecy of £^f%/ was written by the Pro- ■gz.ekieL phet of that Name, x^tjnvi do univerfally agree; befides, his Name is prefix'd to the Book ; and he fpeaks always in the firft Perfon, The Lord faid unto me. Son of Man, &c. He was the Son of "Buz^i, a Prieft, of the Race of the High-Priefts, and Cotemporary with Jeremiah j he was carried away into Chaldea with Zedekiah, and began to prophecy by the River Chobar, five Years after his Ca- ptivity, continues that Office twenty Years, and was af- terwards killed by a Prince of the J(nvifl) Blood, for his warning him againft Idolatry, as they tell us. That Ez^- hleVs Prophecy is a Fragment of a greater Work, is but a Fancy of Sfinofa ; for the feemingly abrupt Beginning of his Book, does not prove any fuch Thing : For tho- he begins, A^ow it came to pafs, in the thirtieth Tear,* in the fourth Month, on the fifth Day of the Month, without mentioning any King's P^eign, yet this may be underftood, as R. Kimchi mttr]px&is it, of the Jubilee ; or, as Jonathan paraphrafes, lince the Time when Hil/^iah found the Law, But let this Epocha of Time be what it will, it was fome very remarkable one, which the Jews at that Time reck- oned from. It ftiould feem that the Jews being captiva-r ted, thought it either not fit, or fafe, to reckon by the Reigns of their own Kings, and they were not yet e^ ^ough reconciled to the Conquerors, to reckon by their D 3 Reigns; 38 yf C O N F E R E N C E Reigns; and therefore they took fome other Mark of Time to date their Computations by, which might be liable to lefs Exception. aniel. That the ancient Jews looked upon Daniel as the Au- thor of his Book, and to be an infpired Prophet, is evi- dent from this PafTage of Jofefhia. Whatfoever Books Da- niel left written by him, the fame are read at this Day with m, and we do believe from them, that Daniel had a Communicati- on with God. And as for thofe Arguments which fome modern Jews make ufe of, to prove he was not properly a Prophet, they are fond and filly ; for let God communi- cate Himfelf to him how He will, yet ftill he is a Prophet, becaufe he predids future Things, and thofe in fo plain and exprefs a Manner, as few of the other Prophets are herein comparable to him. And this Jofephus was con- fcious of, and affirms the like : For he not only calls him One of the greatefl of the Profhets, but prefers him before the reft. For, fays he, he docs not only frediEi future Things^ but limits the T'ime in which they are to happen. u4nd when other Prof hot s predict evil Things, and for this Reafon raifed the Hatred of the common People againfl them, Daniel 7vas the Fore-teller to them of good Things. But Spinofa fays. That this Book was written after the Maccabees Time, ei- ther to prove the Refurredion againft the Sadducees, or elfe to fhew how Daniel's Prophecies were fulfilled, to con- firm the People in their Religion, and to teach them not to defpair in Calamities. I anfwer. This is all confident Affertion, v/ithout any Ground of Truth, or Shadow of Proof; and I may as well fay Demofihenes's Orations were written by Julius Ckfar, and his Speeches againft Philip were made to hearten up the C<£farians againft Pompefs Ar- my, I ihall not have Time to run over the Characters and Authorities of the reft of the Prophets ; it is enough to fhew, that all thefe were very early received into xh^Jew- ijh Canon of Scripture : And to do this, I need only ap- peal to a remarkable PafTage in the Book o£ Ecclejiajiicus ; where, after Praifes beftowed on Ez^kieli and ofher Pro- phets and Worthies of IJraely there are thefe Words ; ^nd Part IV. wh/j a T HEIST, ef the twelve Prophets let the Memorial be blejfed, let their Bones ftourijl) again out of their Place \ for they comforted \'\Qch'i and delivered them hj affwred Hope.^ JEccluf'.'w. lo. So that it is plain, in this Author's Time, the Old Tejiament was in the fame Order it is now, and that all thefe twelve Pro- phets were received into the Canon. As for the particular Objedion againft Hofea^ that you urge ; as if his Book was not genuine, becaufe it is not big enough to contain the Pro- phecies of fo long a Life. To this we need but fay. Why it is neceflfary that Hofea fhould write all his Prophecies ? Or, why fhould [all his Prophecies come to our Hands ? But your laft Stroke which you make at the Old Tejia- ment is the fiercefl of all, viz,. « That all the hiftorical *' Books of Scripture, and moft of the others, feem to " be written by the fame Hand, and with the fame De- '' fign, viz,. To rhew the Fate of the Jewijl) Nation, in " keepingor obeying yI/oy?/s Laws, c^c. never mentioning '* any Thing elfe." To which I return you this, I hope, fatisfadory Anfwer. 1. AH thefe Books do not feem to be written by one Hand ; for the Stile, Compofition, particular Affedions and Opinions, do feem as diflferenr, as thofe in any diverfe Writers. Does not every Man find a plain Difference in his Palate, when he reads a Chapter of Nehemiah, from what he does, when he reads one in the Pentateuch, al- though it be in our Englip Tranflation ? Do Ez,el^el, or Daniel, read any Thing like the Books of Kings, or Sa- muel? If they had all been compofed by one Hand, there would not have been any Thing, that looked like a Con- trariety ; for the fame Author would have been fo wary in his Expreflions of the fame Thing, as he would not have given the leaft Ground for fuch Cavils. 2. Neither is there any Reafon, to think this one Hand to be Efdras. He is faid indeed to explain the Law, and give the Senfe of the Scriptures, Neh. viii. 9. But I think there is a great deal of Difference between expounding Scriptures, and making them. But if Efdras, or any o- ther Hand had been to make this Law, or to write this Hiftory j there is no Reafon to think they would Vv'rire iff D 4 as 39 4P , ^Conference as tViefe were written. Had a cunning JewijloVntii been to make a new Law, for the People of the yews, as I ob- ferved before ; he would never have invented fuch a trou- bklome one as this, fo various in its Particulars, fo nice in its Obfc;rvations, fo fevere in its Sandions, slmoft in every Thing fo very rigid, and fo very dirficult, that a Man could never reafonably expeft, that a whole Nation fhould bow their Necks to fuch a Yoke. He would not have made the Office of the Prieflhood fuch a burthenfome Ex- ercife ; as to attend upon the daily Sacrifice, when a lit- tle monthly, or annual Service might have done as well. If he had invented all the Hiftory, he would have omitted the Faults, to be fure, of the great Men of the JewiJI) Nation ; he would never have told, how bafely the firft Founders of the Jewip Tribes betray'd their Brethren ; what perfidious Homicides two of them were, and ano- ther inceftuous. In lliort, the whole Series of Hiftory would have been ^uite otherways contrived, if it had been only a Jew's Invention 3 . But it is a very falfe AfTcrtion to fay, That nothing is mentioned in thefe Books, but what relates to one De- fign, namely, to fhew the Fare of the Jewijh Nation, upon their Obedience or Difobedience to Mofiis Law. I grant, that this is a true Dedudion from the Jew'tjly Hiftory; but it is wonderfully unlikely, that all thefe Books were written purely for that End ; for one might have made that Truth out, without an hundredth Part of the Trouble which thefe Books coft Writing. But how many Things in Scripture are recorded, which have no Relation to the Jewip Nation, and which make as much for the Gentiles as the Jews ? What does it relate to the Jews more than the reft of the World, that the Hiftory of the Creation or Deluge fhould be given in Scripture ? What does it fignify to the Jewijl) Affairs, to have the Account recorded of the Leaders of the firft Co- lonies after the Flood ? What does it fignify to the Affairs of that Nation, that the early Inventors of fome ufeful Arts are related, who v/ere not Jews, but lived long be- fore the y«/^//^ Nation had a Namej as JnbaU TnbdCam, Part IV. w'uh a TheibtI 41 C^rc. Therefore I am amazed at Spim/a's confident AfTerti- 6n, Tliac nothing is mention 'd in Scripture-Hiftory, but what relates to the JeTi'tp Affairs. For the Hiftory of the firft two thoumnd Years of the World, relates no more to the Jeii^s than it does to the EfigHJJj. If a jfeii* had contrived ic purely for the Sake of his own Nation, why did he not make the Jeivip Religion two thou- fand Years older than the Scrjptural-Hiftory does ? It was altogether as eafy to have made it as old as Adam, as well as to have fettled its Beginning in Abrahams Time : He would in all Probability have made Seth the firft circum- cifed, and all the ceremonial Law of the yews, as old as the firft Sacrifice. This any Je7v> that was difpofed to counterfeit, would have done ; for it is unaccountable, why fuch a forging Jew iliould give the Gentiles Religion two thoufand Years Antiquity beyond the Jewijl) ; as ic is plain the Writer of the Mofaical Books does. There- fore I fay, it is a plain Proof, that thefe Hiftories were not written only to fupport the Religion of the Jeivs, and for the Honour of that Nation ; but to relate plain Matter of Fad, and Truths ufeful to all Ages, without any fuch Regard. So much Trouble are we put to", fe- rioufly to fct ourfelves to anfwer all the filly Objedions, and falfe AfTertions of thefe Infidel Writers. Phil. But pray, good Sir, upon Suppofition that thefe Books are not Counterfeits, but written by thofe whofe Names they bear. How do we know that they were in- fpired Books, and written by the fupernatural Influence of God's Spirit ? Some of thefe Men might be called Pro- phets, becaufe in an illiterate Age they were able to write and read ; as among fome People, any one who is fome- what a better Proficient in Learning, than themfelves, is reckoned a Con j uror.No w this might be all the ordinary Peo- ple's Fancy and Opinion ; but how do you prove,that thefe Books were indited by the Holy Ghoft? Or, how are we fure,that ihtjews did not take into their Canon, infteadof jnfpired Authors, fome ordinary fecular Hiftorians i Cred. All who underftand the Nature of the Jerwify Conunon-weakh and Religion, know how impoflible it ' ■ •' ' was 41 ^Conference was for any one to arrive to the Chara(5ier of a Prophef^ without being really one. None could pretend to that Charader without the Credentials of Miracles ; and no one dared to do it, without fufficient Authority, by Rea- fon of the fevere Punifhment, which was entailed upon falfe Prophets : So that the Power of Miracles was as much a Mark of a Prophet, in that Church, as Letters of Orders are Proof of any one's being of the Miniftry in this. The Sermons, or Speeches of fuch prophetick Men , were always looked upon as the Oracles of GOD, and as didated by the divine Spirit. You ludicroufly buffoon the Matter, when you make as if their Learning gave them that great Charafler i for it was not their literate Education they were revered for, but their Revelation : For there were feveral Men of Letters among the yews, as the Scribes, who yet never pretended to prophecy, tho* perhaps they might be more elegant Writers than the Pro- phets. Jt was very well known among the Jews, at the Tirne of Forming their Canon, what Books among them were written by infpired Men, and what by ordinary Au- thors ,• and there is no Doubt but that Efdnts himfelf, be- ing a Piopher, was efpecially direded by the Holy Spirit of God, in the Choice of his Colledion ; though it were fufficient if he ufed only human Caution himfelf, with the Affiftance of the Synagogue in which he prefided, and which were convened for this very Purpofe. For it is not to be fuppofed, but that thofe holy and learned Men, who lived fo nigh to the Time of the Prophets, muft needs know, what Authors were infpired, and what were not. Phil. But ftill I have great Reafon to doubt of the Authority of the Books of the New Tefiament : Indeed thefe Books bear fpecious Names, as being written by the Apoftles of Jefus Chrift ,• but it is very much to be quef- tioncd, whether they were written by thofe Authors. There have been formerly fo many fpurious Books, which have pretended to the like great Authority, that one may very well queftion whether thefe are not of the fame Rank. What a World of Gofpels were handed about in the pri- mitive Church ? Some were for the Gofpel according to the Part IV. w}th a TnEisr. 43 the Enptitws, others for that according to the Hebrews, and others for that according to the Twelve Apoftles; fome read a Gofpel according to St. Peter, fome according to Sr. Paul, and others according to St. Matthias y the Gofpel of St. Andrew, St. Bartholomew, St. Thomoi, St. Philif, of Thaddem, Barnabas and Nicodemm, and the Tra- vels of Paul and Thecla, befides other Books which pre- tended to a like Charader ; the Ads of Andrew, Phi- lip and Thomas, with a Number more of the fame Kind. Now how fhall any one tell, among all thefe, that our four Evangelifts are the true ones ? Why may not thefe be fpurious as well as the reft ? And why may not the Epiftles of St. Paul, and the other Apoftles, be as well forged, as other Things in their Names formerly were ? Cred. The fime Reafons that prove thofe other Gof- pels, and pretended Apoftolical Writings, to be fpurious, prove thefe to be genuine. For the Church of God in early Times having examined thofe, and finding them to be contrary to the received Faith, and not to have been delivered down by fufficient Authority, have thought fit to rejed them ; whilft they have all along embraced Thefe with the greateft Veneration. Thofe Pieces have been re- ceived indeed by fome particular Men and Seds of Chrif- tians, but never by the univerfal Church, whilft thefe Jiave been looked upon, as canonical Scripture, by the Church in all Ages. Thofe were like fome particular up- ftart Opinions, which have prevailed among fome Men for a while ; whilft thefe, like the common Didates of Reafon, have been entertained every where, and by All. So that we may, with as much Ground, queftion the uni- verfal Principles of Reafon, for the Sake of a Number of paradoxical Opinions, as to doubt of the genuine Go(pels^ upon Account of thofe counterfeit ones. The firft of thefe is, the Gofpel according to St. Mat- ^.Matthew thew, which (according to the Teftimony of the moft ancient in the Chriftian Church, viz^* Papias; Iremus, &c.) that Apoftle wrote in Hebrew.. There are Autho- rities brought out of this Gofpel by Clemens Romanus, by 'Barnabas, in his Epiftic, by Ignatius and Poljcarp, by ytt- Jlin 44 /f C O N F E R E N C E Jim Martyr, and Jren^m ; nay, this Gofpel was owned by the Heretick Cerimhus, who lived in the Apoftolick Times, and who rejevfted all the reft, becaufe they contradided his Herefy. It was very early tranflated our of Hebremt or Sjriac^ into Greek, in the Apoftolick Times ; and St. yerom certifies. That in his Time he law a Hebrew Copy of it in the Library of Gefarea. St. Mark. The Gofpel according to St. Mark, was written by a Difciple of St. Peter, who was a different Perfon from that Mark^ mentioned in the Epiftles of St. Paul. Irenans fays, He compofed this Gofpel out of the Sermons of St. Peter, and others, and that St. Peter approved it, wherefore fome have called it the Gofpel of St. Peter, as Tertnllian writes. And Jufi'm Martyr quoted feveral Palfages out of this Gofpel, as canonical Scripture. St. Luke. The Gofpel of St. Luke was written by a Difciple of St. Paul, of that Name, a Phyfician by Profeflion, of the City of Antioch, and one who was well verfed in the Greeks Tongue. He was no immediate Difciple of Chrift, what- foever fome pretend, becaufe he fays, what he wrote he learn'd from others. It is plain from his Preface, That there were feveral other Gofpcls extant in his Time, and probably feme of thofe fpurious ones before mentioned ; which made him, as Eufebius fays, undertake the Evange? lick Hiftory, to refcue it out of bad Hands, having been informed of the particular Circum fiances of thofe Tranfr actions by Eye-WitnefTes, and particularly being aided by the Affiflance of his Tutor St. Paul. Therefore it is fuppofed, that St. PohI means this Hiftory, when he fays, According to my Gofpel ; and for this Reafon he gives St. Luke this Elogium, ^hofe Praife ts in the Gofpel^ This Gof^ pel is quoted by Clemens Ro7nanusy and the Epiftle of Bar-: nabas has (bmething out of it. Iren^us owns it, and fo do iht Hereticks Cerdo and Marcion, who admit of none elfe. jfrffsfthe The fame St. Luke wrpte the Ads of the Apoftles, as ap- -ti./"-/ es. p^^rs from his Preface to T'heophilus ; and tlie Antiquity of this Book is fufficiently proved, becaufe it was rejeded by the Heretick Cerimhus^ who lived in the Apoftles Time. Part IV. ti/i/^ ^ Theist. ^f That St. Johns Gofpel was written by the Apoflle of ^orpdofs, that Name, is the joint Voice of Antiquity. It is quo- ^^'^^• ted by yuflifi Martyr, who lived the next Age after St. Joh^, as authentick Scripture ; and Authorities out of the fame are made Ufe of by Iren!^h<: of read in the Churches very early in the Apoftolick Times, ^*' ^^"^• as appears by that of St. Feter, in his fecond Epiftle, where he mentions St. VauVs Epiftles , and fays , In which are fome Things hard to be underflood, which they thai are unlearned and unflahle wrcfl, as they do alfi the other Scriptures, unto their DeJlruEiion. Clemens Ro- manus takes many Fxprefiions out of thefe ; the Epiftles to tliQ Galatians, a^nd Philippians, are quoted hy Polycarp, thff Scholar of St. John ; and fome Places out of thofe, and others, are cited by Aihenagoras^ Clemens Alexandrinusy and Tertullian. Only fome have doubted whether or no St. Paul wrote the Epiftle to the Hebrews ; but the beft Judges of Antiquity, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Eu- febius ^.nd Jerom, attribute it 10 St. Paul. However, this Epiftle was taken fo anciently for Scriptuie, that Clement of 4d /^ Conference 'o^RomCi who was cotemporary with St. Pauh cites foffle PafTages, Verbatim^ out of it. And St. Jerom writes. That this Epiftle was always attributed to St. Pmlf in , the Eaflern Cnurch, though it was for fome Time excepted againft in the Latin, zftftle of The Epiftle of St. yames is quoted by as ancient Au- .Sf. James, t^ors, as Clemens ^lexmdrinHij Origen, Cyprian, and Ter^ tfillian i and though, as Eujehifts relates, it was for fome Time doubted by fome, yet it is plain, that upon better weighing the Matter, at laft all received it. zpirtles of The Firft of St. Peter was always univerlally received, A>. Peter, as of undubitable Authority : The Second (as Origen, EttfebiHSy and St. Jerom write) was fome Time doubted, *. tf. whether it was St. Peter % ; but the fame Writers who relate this, themfelves adjudge it to him, and it is mentioned in the Catalogues of canonical Books, viz., of Clement of u4lexandria, of St. Athanajins, and Nazi" mzjcn, :EpifiUof yj^g Epiftle of St. Jade is quoted, as canonical Scri- ■ -^^ ^' pture, by Tertnllian, and St. Cyprian, and is in all the Ca- talogues of the facred Books, from Clemens Alexandrinus'i Time. Indeed it was fome Time doubted, hke the fe- cond of St. Peter, by fome Churches, but upon mature Confideration, it was univerfally received. It feems to be written upon the fame Occafion, as the fecond of St. Peter, viz. to warn the Faithful againft the Pretences of the Gnoflicki, or fuch other early Hereticks. PhiL Indeed, I am fufficiently fatisfied, that thefe Books were very anciently received in the Church, and that in the Times of thefe early Writers they were look'd upon as canonical Scripture, and as written by thofe wnofe Names they bear ; but how can you prove to me, That the Trick was not plaid fome Time before their Time* and that thefe prefent Gofpels only had better Luck, to be more generally received than the fpurious ones ? Cred. It is to me an undeniable Argument, that thefe Gofpels are true and genuine, becaufe the Ancients rejec- ted the fpurious ones. If they had ufed no Manner of Caution in receiving canonical Scripture, there miglit be fome Part IV. whh <^ T h e i s t. 47 fbme Queftion, whether thefe were fo or no i but when they were fo critical in their Examination, to diftinguilh the True from the Falfe, to be fure they had as good Rea- fons to embrace the true ones, as to rejed the falfe. For it is plain they would not be impofed upon by any fliam, Hiftories, fince their Judgment and Diligence werefo great, that they threw afide any Impoftures as foon as they were offered. As to the exad particular Times, and other Cir- cumftances, when and how thefe Writings came from the Apoftolick Hands to the Church, the Want of particular Hiftory for thofe Times will not fuifer us to know j but there did not want indubitable Authority for the follow-, ing Ages to be afcertained, that they were written by thofe very Apoftles to whom they were afcribed : Tho* the general Tradition only is a fufficient Argument to any reafonable Man, that they were fo. For what Reafon have I to queftion, whether fuch an Author wrote fuch a Book, which all the World, where his Book was read, (aid he did ? Is it not a Madnefs for me, to deny that Ckfar wrote the Book of Commentaries, or Livy that famous Roman Hiftory, becaufe it is poffible, fome Body might forge it in their Names ; or becaufe I can- not bring any pofitive Proof, who firft received the, original Papers from their Hands ? Thefe Books have the fame Proofs of their Genuinenefs, as all the other Books in the World have j that is, they have been univerfally owned to be written by thofe Apoftles j and what can a- ny one defire more ? For your fuppofed Polfibilities will lie againft all the Books in the World befides. But yet farther, there is more to be faid in Favour of thefe Books, than of any other. When the World received a Book from the Hands of C(tfar or Livy, they contented them- felves with the Tranfcriprs of it ; they did not make a Re- pofitoiy for the original Manufcripr, for Pofterity to fa- tisfy^thcmfelves of its Authority, or to compare their Co- pies by. But this was the Cafe of moft of the Apoftolick Writings, as all Antiquity does juftify. The Oriqinal Papers were recited, in fome Churrhss in Tertullians Time, «$^appears by tha: renmrkable PafTage in his Book, Of Prc-^ fcriftions 4? y^ Conference Jcnptions agalnjl the Hereticks. Age jam, ^c. Ton thai have a, Mind to cxercifi your Curiojity, in the Matter of your Salvation, run through the Apojiolick^ Churches, where the Sees of the Apojiles do Jiill remain, and there you JJjali find» that their very authenticl^Letters are recited. At Ephcfus the Original Gofpel o£ St. John, written by that Apoftle's own Hand, remained even to the Time of the Emperor Ho- mrirn. Nay, fo over-fcrupulous were many Chriftians, e- ven in Ignatius % Time, that they would hardly admit a- ny Thing for Scripture, but what they had feen in thefe Archives, or Repojitories ; which Nicenefs that holy Mar- tyr blames them for J "Hjckoti tivuv Ki'^pvmv Iav kv 'ntf «77 y-.ypef^^a.l, a.-^iiiPi^axAV ^i %n nr flvju-^t -^ &C. / have heard fome fay. That I do not believe a Gofpel, unlefs I find it in the Archives, and when I anfwer it is -written, they fay, it lies before them. But my Archives are Jefus Chrifl, ( ' aotittIa not "ASiiJtTtt ) thofe incorruptible Archives, his Crofs and Re- Jurre5lion, and Faith by Him, in which I would be juflified in your Prayer. Now when fuch extraordinary Caution was ufed in receiving thefe Writings, and fuch wonderful * Care taken in preferving the Originals, more than ever was known in other Books ; it fhould feem, that the Provi- dence of God did herein particularly concern itfelf ; to give thereby the fulleft AfTurance to the Faith of Chri- ilians, and to filence the Cavils of Unbelievers. Phil. But ftill there is fome Ground for Doubts ; for though many Chriftians received thefe Books, yet others rejeded many of them ; and this fpoils your Argument of univerfal Reception. Cred. They were univerfally received by the Catholick Church, and thofe who rej^ded them were only fome He- reticks, who therefore difowned them, becaufe they con- tradided fome mad Opinions of theirs. Hence St. Mat- thew was rejeded by the Manlchees, becauf; he brought fo manyPalTajjes o£ t\\tOldTeflament ro pre )veChrift theMeflias, which did perfedly contradid their Herefy, rhey denying • the God of the Jeifis ro be the God of the Chrifiians. The Alogi would not allow of St. John» who makes Chrift the Part IV. with a Thei$t« 4JI> the Logos \ and for fuch Reafbns Cer'mthM, CarpocrMeS, and AUrcion, excepted again ft St. Z,»%'s Gofpel ; and o* thers againft St. PrnV'?, Epiftles* So that upon the whole, there is very little Weight to be laid upon the prejudiced Exceptions' of thefe crazed Hereticks, in Oppofition to the Teftimonies of the whole Chriftian World, when no one would lay any Strefseven on their unbiaflfed Judgments in any Thing elfe. Vhil. Although we ftiould grant, that thefe Books were written by the apoftolick Authors they are afcri- bed to; yet ftill the moft material Part of the Quefti- on lies behind, that i5, Whether ^dt Writings be infpired by God Almighty, or no ? Biit it does not at all appear, that the Apoftles wrote as infpi- red Prophets, but only as ordinary Dodors ; and if fo, then I fee no Reafon why St. VaaVs, Epiftles fhould be more accounted to be infpired Scripture, than Balzac's Let- ters. And indeed, I am the more confirmed in this Thought, when I obferve the Stile of the Apoftles "^ to be quite different from that of the Prophets ; for they uftier in their Difcourfes with a 7hm faith the Lord ; but thefe fpeak only according to their own human Opinion. Nay, St. Paul talks fi-equently as a Man wavering in Opinion, and perplexed in Doubt, and puts it to the Choice of his Reader, whether he ftiould be affented to, or no, which is far from the Character of an infallible infpired Author t. Therefore we conclude ■ (fays he) that a Afan is jujlified by Faith, &c. Rom. iii. 28. For I reckon that the Sufferings, &c. Rom. viii. 18. I fpeak^this by Permijfwn, and not of Commandment, i Cor. vii. 6. I give my Judgment, as one that has obtained Aiercy, ver. ult. All wnich Expreflions are nothing like the Speech of one, direded by the infal- lible Spirit of God. Neither would the Apoftles have written fo barbarous Greel^ had they been infpired by God, it bi'ing unreafonable to afcribe all thofe Solecifms \o the Holy Ghoft. Befides, the Apoftles ufe Arguments to perfuade, like other ordinary Men, which is nothing like * Tra^b Thcol. Pol. />. 198. -|- Lkm, f. 199. VOL. II, £ the 50 y^CoNFFRFNCE the old Prophets, whofe Province it was to foretell, and to command in God's Name, and riot, to difpute. Nay, they fabmit their Arguments ^, fome Times, to the Rea- der's Judgment. I/peak^as to wife Men-i judge je "what I Jay^ I Cor. x. 15. Befides, St. Paul'ishhv fromfpeak- ing after the peremptory Way of the Prophets, that, irt- ilead of ccmmanding in God's Name, he is forced to ufe Intrearies: For Love' s Sake, I rather bcfcecb thee, Philem.S, And there is yet a farther Proof, that the Apoftles wrote and taught only as ordinary Do6lors ; becaufe St. Panl'is unwilling to bmld tfpon another Afans FoundMion, Rom. xv. 20'. From whence we plainly (eef, that, each Apoftle had a diftind Method of teaching from the reft, like the Tea- chers of Tongues and mathematical Sciences, who had ra- ther begin with their Scholars perfectly untauglit,than to have them come to them, initiated in another Mafier's Method* Which different Method of the Apoftles was theOccafion of feveraUhange and contradictory Opinions, which vex- ed the Church, for many Years, after the apoftolick Times '^*. Neither would they have differed from one another, in the Points of y^f//c^/^/o«, and the Obfervatj- on oi .Joi'tp Rites ; if they had had the prophetick Spi- rit of God to have direded .them. Or, if they had been infallibly infpired, they would have been more exad in their Numbers, and not have faid about a certain Tim.e, or about fuch a Numiber ; which plainly fhev/s that they could not exadly tell the Surn, which an infpired Man mult, needs have done. And, kftly, whereas St. P^W mentions th.Q Spirit of God being in him, 1 Cor. vii. 40. he only means his own Mind, which was of an honeft, fincere,i or fpiritual Intention ; it being his Opinion, That a Wi- dow lliould not marry a fecond Husband, declaring. That jhe ii happter if ps abide after ?ny Judgment ; and I thinks mfo that I have the Spirit of God. That is, I defign to Jive a lingle Life, and my Reafon, which God gave me, tells me, I am the happier for it, and my Refoluticn is * Tra. For why ihould the Apoftles be tied exadly, to this Phrafe ? Indeed this^ and other £xpic{fions like itj were Forms of Speech in Ufe among the Prophets, in ancient Times ; but, there ifot having been any Prophets for fe- veral Ages, before the' Coming of Chrift, this Form of Ejipreflion was grown out of Date ; and therefore the Apoftles might very 'well be allowed, to ulher in their tiew infpired Writingss, with fuch other Sort of Forms, as to the H6ly Ghoft and them ftnould fcem moft Bu There was no abfolute Neceflity that they ftiould tell fheir Readers exprefly. That what they faid was the Word of God, when all that were acquainted with their Charader, knew they were infpired Men ; and when the conftant Miracles they did, fliewed rhey had the Affiftance of the Holy Ghoft, a thoufand Times better than their faying (o would. But though they do not begin with, 7%iis faith the Lord, or. The Word of the Lord ; yet they fay that which is tantamount to it. They begin with fuch an one, An Apojlle of Jefns Chrifl, which carried ■with it all the Charadter of the greateft Prophet ; as all, whom they wrote to, well underih)od. For an Apoftle wa«; one of thofe immediate Meflcngcrs of Jcf:s Chrifl» fent by him to preach the Gofpel to the World, b^ing eri- dowcd with the Power of Miracles, and the Gifts of tlie Holy Ghoft, who was to lead them into all Tr;:th, and to inCpire into their Minds, upon all Occaflons, what Vvas lining for them to- fey, y^/<«rr. X. 19. Every Chriftian El of- yi ^Conference of that Age knew,- That the Words of an Apoftle, when he taught ROigion, were the Words of God, and that he fpoke only as the Spirit j^ave him Utterance; and there- fore for him to urge any Thing more to affert his Infpira- tion, was fiaperfluous. jtpnjllesnot 2. Neither do the Apoftles at any Time talk like doubt- doubtrng jj^g Men, fluduating in their Opinion, as if they were Bo.lnne. "°^ ^^""^ of what they faid ; and the Arguments which you have brought to prove the fame, are very far from doing it. When St. Panlkys^ That hereckom, that the Sufferings of this prejent Time, are not 7vorthj to be compared with the Glory thatJJ}all be revealed in us ; his faying he reckons, is no Mark of his Doubt there, but is only a Meiojis, or dimi- nifhing Form of Speech, which in Reality figriifies as much as if he (houla fay, He was fur6 of it* For what Man ever doubted, whether fuch immortal Joys, as the Chriftians expert in Heaven, will not over and above com- penfate for the flight temporary Afflidions of this World ? Should the Apoftle have made a Doubt of this, as Spimja pretends ; the whole Gofpel, and all his preaching had been a Jeft. But this is fuch an ufual Way of fpeaking among all Writers, to ufe a low Expreffion, which means more than it generally fignifief, efpecially when the Mat- ter, as in this Place, is out of all Doubt ; that, methinks, Spinofa fhould be afhamed to ufe fuch a filly Criticifm, to fupport his Infidelity, And fo when St. Paul fays, he fpeaks xr-1^ mjyyvuu/.viv by Permiffion^ as we tranflate, (but rather as Dr. Hammond explains it) according to Cottnfel, it is no Argument of the Apoftle's nor being infpired. But fup- pofingthat by PermiflTjon he meant, that hefpake this of his own Head ; this does not prove that the other Parts of the NeivTeJiament are not infpired,becaufe in thisCafe aboutMar- riage,or abflaining from the conjugalBed he did fo.For this is a. particular Cafe, in which the Apoftle might very well in- terpofe his own human Judgment, which to diftinguifh from the divine Diredlion, he tells the Corinthians it was his private Opinion. So that at the fame Time, wherein he owns this Advice to be his private Sentiment, he does implicitely declare all the reft to be the Command of God. But Part IV. ^ wtth a Tu^fST. yj JBut it is mofl: probable that roT^f^i^'Aut does not here fignify Permijjion, but CounfeU and is oppofed to Evn^ay', Com- mand ; and is as much as if he fiiould fay, I do not preach this as a Command o^ God, which it is a Sin to negledt, but only as a Connfcl, which it is better at this Exigence to comply with. And when the fame Apoftle fays, He gives his Judgment as one that has obtained Mercj, he does not mean, that his was the private Judgment of an ordinary Perfon, as Spinofa pretends ; but his Meaning is, That he gives his Judgment as an Apoftle, which ajjoflolick Mi- niftry \t was the great Mercy or Favour of God to be- flow upon him. 5. But you have a notable Argument againft the Infpi- ^ ' ration of the Nav Teflament, Becaufe the Greeks forfooth, -xacinlfi is not fo exad as you would have it. Bur, I pray, Why in the muft the Holy Ghoft be obliged to make the Apoftles Greek, m fpeak Greek, juft as they did at Athens ? For perhaps in /2«T/2 all Greece, the Greeks Tongue was fpoke exaftly no where j^pgdies elfe. The Holy Spirit of God did not think fit to con- inffn-ation, defcend to fuch a Nicety as this, to have Regard, in d divine Revelation, to the fpruce Phrafes of a few fine- fpo- ken Citizens. It was the Defign of the Holy Ghoft to make them infallible Divines, and not. Grammarians or Rhe- tors ; and if fo be their Dodrine was true, he could not think himfelf obliged to take Care of the Finenefs of their Greek^^ But if the Greeks of the TVht^ Teflament had been as fmooth and pure, as that of Xenophon or //derates, you Unbeliever's would have cavill'd at it more for the Ope- rofenefs of its Stile, or its being too like human Eloquence, or fome-what elfe ; which would have been a more mare- rial Objeftion, than its not being written in exad Gr^f^. Therefore the Wifdom of the Holy Ghoft is eminently difplayed, in making the Apoftles fpeak fuch Greek, as their Countrymen fpake all over AJia and Greece ; which ferved the Purpofe of preaching the Gofpel better among them, and all other ordinary People, than if they had fpoken with all the Refinednefs of the Town of Athens. Nay, I fhould think, that, to all reifonable Men, it llioul4 feem much more proper, That the Apoftles ftiould rather ** E 3 write 54 ^Conference write? like Hellemjlicd Jeivs, than Greeki bred at the Uni- verluy of Athens. Nor their . 4. O ! But their . Reafonining is a great Objedion a* reafom^. gainft their Infpiration. I find that the Holy Writings muft be sttack'd by you all Manner c( Ways ; fometimes you are difpleafed with them for politively commanding, and nov/ for reafoning. How can God Almighty pleafe Men of your Perfaalion ? But why may not infpired Men make Ufc of Reafon and A'-guments ? Their In- fpiration does not take away their rational Faculty ,• and, I hope, an Argument is never the worfe for being infpired. Indeed, the Precepts of an infpired Teacher are to be o- beyed, whether he gives a Reafon for them or no ; but when God is pleafed likewife to infpire him with proper Arguments, to prove the Reafonablenefs of thofe Precepts, this is a double Oblig?.tion to comply witli them, as be- ing fatisfied, that they ought not only in Duty, but in Reafon to be obeyed. Nay, we ought to be fo far from queftioning the Truth of the divine Revelation for this, that we ought rather to admire the wonderful Goodnefs of the great Author of it j that he is pleafed fo far to con- defcend to our Capacities, as to make them Judges of the "Fitnefs of his Injund:ions. But you fay, The infpired Prcphers did not reafon, and therefore, lince the Apoftles reafon, it is to be prefumed, that they do not fpeak by Infpiration as the former did. This indeed, is one of Spinofiis Affertions, than which, nothing can be more fal/e or confident to affert. For in the very firft Chapter of the firft Book of Prophecies in the Bible, God by his Prophet Ifaiah, tells the Jeivs, That he will condefcend to reafon witli them ; Come, let m reafon together, fays the Ij)rd, Ifa. i. 1 8. And, indeed, there is a Vein of reafon- ing confpicuous in God's Injundions, or Declarations of his Will, throughout all the Books of the Bible. For e- ven when he only propofes Rewards or Threats, this is in ibme Meafure an Appeal to Reafon ,• for no one can think it realonable to incur a Punillimenr, when he might obtaiR a Reward. Does not God reafon with Q/'», when he asks' him, U^hy he wai iirothy md his Conntenmce fallen ? Part IV. wifh a Tut I ST. jy If thou doeji well, flialt thou not be accept &d? Andif^midoeji not •wellfjin lieth "at the Door, Gen« iv. 7. "Is riot that Reafoning, when God fay s, Ahnm' s A/ame fjjall U called Abnh^m, for a Father of ^nany JVations [have made thee? Is it not a Reafbn which God gives in the fecond Commandment, why Men i^ould not worfhip Images, God is a jealous God? Is it not a Rcafon why the feventh Day is to be kept holy, becaufe, /» Jix Days the Lord created the Heanjen and the Earthy Sec. Were not the IJraelites to be kind to Strangers, for thisReafon, be^ caufe they were Strangers in the Land of Egypt, Exo. xxii. 21. And does not God give the Reafon why his Favours were fo remarkably fhewn to the yews, TVot becaufi yewere more in Number than other People (for ye "were thefewefi of all People)' but becaufe the Lord loved you, and becaufe he would keep the Oath which he hadfivorn unto your Fathers, &c. Deut. vii. 7. And is not all that Reafoning in the firft Chapter o^ Ifaiah. Hear 0 Heavens, and give ear O Earth, I have nourifJjcd and brought up Children, but they have rebelled againft me. Tloe Ox k^oweth his Owner, andtheAfs his Adajicr's Crib, but Ifiael doth not hnow, my People doth not conjidcr, Ifa. i. 2 and 5. It were endlefs to give any more Inftances, fince every Page almoft of the Old Teflament, is full of them. And now. Would any one think, that ever fuch a Pretender to Thin- king, as your Friend Spinofa, fhould be guilty of fuch a ftupid Piece of Confidence, as this Alfertion betrays ? 5. But your Author is much concerned Th^x St. Pat4l,Ncrthatstl if he was divinely infpired, fliould condefcend to ufe Intrea- P'ui «/f^ ties to Philemon. But why might not an infpired Apoftle, ^'*^>'^^^'"' or Prophet ufe Intreaties ? St. Paul's Irrfpiration did not make him proud ; and he v*'as as willing to do allgood Ofiiccs to the mcanefl: Chrifl:ian,not with {landing thegi-earnefsof his Reve- lations and apoftolical Mi{rion,as if he had been but an ordi- nary Believer. "This is no Argument at- sll of^ainilrhe Infpira- tionof this Apofl:le,buton theorher Hand, itis ademoiilira- tive Proof of the Divinity of that bkfied Religion, which could infpire a Perfon of the apoftolick Dignity wltli that Humility, as to write fo preffmg a Letter, as this, in behalf of a poor converted Slave. But you and y.oiir Author fhould have confidered, before you made- this an Objedion againft E 4 the J/J A CONFERFNCE the Apoftles; whether none of the Prophets had ufed In- treaties. For as for this Intreaty of St. ?ml to Philemon^ it is only upon Account of a fecular Matter, that he would be reconciled to his Servant Onefimm : But the Prophet Je^ remy befeeches Zedekiah to comply with a divine Revela- tion : Obey, I befeech thee, the Voice ofth& Lord, Jer. xxxviii. 20. 7^^f-'^^''"S 6, As for your Notion, that the Apoftles preached the £rorJ/"-^°^P^^» after the Methods of human Art, becaufe Si. Paul ter humm fiySj he was unwilling to build upon anothers Foundation ; *m. that is only a fportive Conjedure of your Fancy without any Foundation of Reafon for it. For the Apoftle, in that Place, gives the Reafon for his fo doing, viz.. That it would be more advantageous for the fpreading of the Gof- pel, to preach it in Places that had not yet heard of it; as is plain by the very following Words, Ai it is written-, to whom he wa^ notjpoken oftheyjjjailjee: And they that have not heard Jhall under fland. Rom. xv. 21. Bijferer.t ?• Neither was your fuppofed different Method of the Methodof Apoftles teaching, the Caufe of the Herefies of the firft ^he Apo- Ages. For the Apoftles Glory in their preaching, of but ft e^, not ^^^ Lordy one Faiths one Baptifm, Eph. iv. <. and take it the Caufe _ r 1 ^ ii./t • \ ^i n i i i ^ cfHeref'ies. ^^r a tundamental Maxim, that Chriji is not divided-, i Cor. i, 13. And they . earnejily contended for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints, Jude 5 . There was never any Scheme of Morality, and religious Worihip fo uniformly taught by fo many Men, as the Gofpel was; for the Doci- trines of all the Chriftian Nations, throughout the whole World, never differed in any material Point for many Ages, As for the unorthodox Opinions of the Hereticks of thofe Times, they were owing to Simon Magus-, and fuch like wicked Inftruments, whom the Devil raifed up to difturb ' the Progrefs of the Gofpel. which he plainly forefaw was like to ruin his Kingdom. Thefe mad Opinions of the tL/^ones were never heard of in the Preaching of the Apo- ftles; but look rather to be taken out o^ Hefwd'sTheogoniaj than out of the Apoftles Sermons, or Writings. Compare but the plain and ufeful Dodrincs, contained in the apo- ftolick Epiftles with that idle fanciful Stuff, which Iren£vu Part IV. whh a TutisT. j7 in his firft Book againfl the Hereticks has colledcd out of their Books ; and you will never imagine, that thofe wild Opinions did proceed from fuch fober Men as thefe. 8. Neither is the feemingContradidion between St.. P4«/ '''''»'»l and St. yameSi concerninj^ Juftification by Faith, an Ar- l;^;^^^ „g gument, Tlwt the Apoftles wrote only as private Dodors, n/^jeSfio>i and not as infpired Men. For this is only a verbal Con- 'liaiuft tradidion, and the IVleaning of thofe two Apoflles is not '■'^'''J'Hf'- difFerent. For by IFbr/.^s St. Patil means one Thing, and St. yames another. By TVorki-, St. Paulmeans the Works of the ceremonial Law, and St. yames means moral Aftions. The Cafe was this : St. Paul difputing againfl: the yejps, proved that a Man could not be juftified or faved by keep- ing the ceremonial Law, which, as it was impolTible to be fully obferved, fo neither had it any Tendency to make a Man better, or to pardon his Sins: And therefore con- cludes. That Men could be faved or juftified only by the Gofpel, or by Faith in yESVS CHRIST. Hence forae Lihertmes afterwards took Advantage from this Do6lrine ; That fince Men were juftified by Faith and not Workr, therefore they concluded,it was no Matter to take Care about good Worksj and if they had but Faith inChrift,they miglit be faved without them. This wicked Dodrine St. yanies under- takes to confute, and proves, Th^xzManis juJlifiedbyWorl^y and not by Faith only, James ii. 7.4. He does not conti'adift Si.PaHl,nox: fiy,thac the ceremonial Law is requifi te to Salvati- on, or that Men are not juftified by Faith in Jefus Chrift; but he contradids that falfe Explication thefe Libertines had put upon his Words, and ftiews, That good Works, or moral Adions are requifite together with Faii;h, to juftify every Man. p. But you fay, the Apofule's Writings cannot be in- ^^^^^.^ fpired, becaufe they do not exadly exprcfs the Time wlien ofrvaJrefs fuch a Thing happened. But why fhould an infpired Au- <>i Time or thor be obliged to relate all the little Pundilio's of an Ac- ^f^^^^^f. tion, more than an ordinary Hiflorian ? Docs Livy ovThu- cydides \\(q to fiy, fuch a Battle was fought juft fo many Stadia from fuch a Place, or began upon jufl: fuch a Minute of the Day ? Nay, would ihey n )t be looked upon as ira- per- J8 A C O N F F. R F N C F. pertinent, if they had done fo? Then why might not St Luke as well fay, That Jefm began to be about thirty Tears i>ldy as to be obliged to fay, how many Months ana Days he was more ? Ltike iii. 2 5 . Why might not the fame Au- thor lay, the Number of the Believers 7vai absntfive thou-' find, as properly as to tell the exad Number ? To have been fo pre'cifely exad in every Relation, would have been unworthy of the Wifdom of the divine Spirit, and would have ferved to no other End, but to gratify Men's idle Cu- riofities. It is true, that the Holy Ghoft, who didated this, knew the exad Time and Number; but it is not ne- cefTary, that he fhould reveal all that he knew to the Apo- ftles, efpecially the Knowledge of thofe Things, v/hich did in no Manner tend to the Bulinefsjthey were concerned in. Vau'^.h-y- ■^°* "^^ ^^ ^^^^^ 7^^ ^^^ ^" thelaft Place, concerning St. ^i,;,T^ Sv-c. Paufsthmkhig he has the Spirit of God,viz,.That this Spirit of Cod was only an honeft Intention of living in Celibacy ; I think this is a very miftaken Interpretation. I know Gro- tius inteipreis it much after this Rate, TVbfi imelligit Revela- tionem, Jkd Jincerum njfe^um Deo ^ piis ferviendi. But to him I will oppofe the Interpretation of one, whofe Se<5l are not wont to be over-great Friends to .Infpiration; 'tis oi Slichtingim the Socinian> AHthoritatem Paulus hic Sen- temi^ Honour and Authority has been given to them by Chriftians, ^(]'Jrin[pl- all Ages. For otherwife. Why fliould Chriftians always ^^/,v„. appeal to thefe as to Oracles, to decide all Manner of Diffe- rences in Religion ? Why Ihould they, in all Times, look upon every Sentence thereof to be a divine Axiom, be- yond which there could be no Appeal, snd no Difpute ? The old Hereticks, that denied the moft confiderable Ar- ticles of the Chriftian Faith, yet never queftioned the Di- vinity of Scripture, and though they denied the Authori- ty of fome Parts, yet they owned the Infpirarion of the reft ; they argue from Scripture juft as the Orthodox do ; and triumph over them, when they think they have it on their Side. Now, unlefs thefe Books were infpired, how. is it pofiTible that Men, of fuch different Interefts, fhould have that Opinion of them, and that Veneration for them ? You cannot fay, that it is the Antiquity of thefe Writings which hath given them that Authority, becaufe they had the fame Deference paid them by thofe that lived in the fame Age wherein they were written : For Clement and Ignatius confirm their Doflrines by the apoftolick Writings, as well as modern Divines. If you •fay it is becaufe they were the Apoftles ,' I anfwer, that the greateft Share of that illuftrious Charafter arofe from their Infpiration, which all Chriftians did ever believe, to" be not only in their Sermons but in their Books likewife. 5. But farther, fince it has pleafed God Almighty to ^j^^,,,,^,;,^ reveal the Chriftian Religion to the World, it is but rea- ffmmon fonable, that he fliould contrive the beft Ways for prefer- t>^e i>ef? ving it incorrupt, and- fuch as it came from his Hands. ?^'/^f|^'.' But unlefs the Scriptures be infpired, this Defign is not ^^ ;j'.„;,j,'_ anfwered : For if the Books of the Neiv Tefiament were written only by fallible Men, who had not the AiTiftance of the Holy Ghoft in their Writing, then they may pof- fibly contain fome Errors, which may corrupt tbe Faiih, w hich 6i ^ Confer E NCR which is not confident with that Care of the true Religi-* . on of the Gofpel, which God in his own Nature is in-« dined, and in his holy Word has declared, to have. If the Scriptures are not infpired, How fhall any Differences^ which arife in the Church, be decided ? Traditions are on both Sides perhaps pretended, and the Errors which continually creep into them, make them a very uncertain Guide j and the infallibility of Popes and Councils, which may likewife be pretended, fuppofe ftiH an infpired Scri- pture for them to interpret ; fo that if thefe Books be not infpired, there is no certain Way to decide any Difference in Chriflianity ; and upon this Account, if once Contro- verfies arife among Chriftians, they muft neceffarily wran- gle them out unto the World's End, without any Poffibi- lity of Reconciliation. Which is a Thing, that to be fure the Wifdom, and Goodnefsj of God would, infome Meafare, take Care to prevent. Nay, I appeal to you,- Philologies, upon Suppofition that you owned the Chriftian Religion to be a divine Inftitution, taught by God ; whether you do not think. That God Almighty would take Care that thefe Writings, which he fore-knew all Po- fkriry would appeal teas the Touch-ftone of true Chri- ftianity, fhould not be liable to any Error; and that his holy Spirit would have ailifted thofe Compofitions with fuch an infallible Veracity, as to be of fufBcient Authority to filence all Differences when they fhould arife : I fay^ you cannot but acknowledge. That, when God had foun^* , ded fuch an Infiitution, he would have taken this Care to prefer ve it. vroofofin- ^' ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ wanting moft evident Proofs from the fpiratbn Scrjpture itfelf, that thofe Books are divinely infpired. from ^rn- One might be adured of this, if one confidered only thofe pure. Promifes, which our bleffed Lord made to his Difciples* u4nd vjhen they bring yoH unto the Synagogues, and unto Ma-^ gijlratcs and Powers, take ye no Thought ho-iv or what Thing yejjjall anfiver ; for the Holy Ghojl JImU teach yon in the fame Hour ivmt ye pall fay, Luke xii. 1 1. Now if the Holy Ghoft took fuch Care, about what they fpake in fuch publick Places, he v/ould have as vigilant an Infpedion of Part IV. W///& r/ Theist, 6^ of what they wrote to all the World. Chrift promlfes them another Comforter, Tvho is to abide with them for evert John iv. i!^. And therefore that Comforter cannot be uippofed to defert them, in fuch an important Concern, as writing the Books of the Nen> Tefiament. But the Com-* fort err which is the Holy GhoJ}, whom the Father will fend in my Name, he fljall teach joh all Things, and bring ail Thkigs to your Remembrance whatfoevcr I have faid nnto yoUt John xiv. z6. Now when could the Apoftles have fuch Need of an infallible Teacher and Remembrancer, as when they were writing the Life and Do<5trines of Jefus Chrift, and giving Rules of Inftrudion for the Good of Chri- ftian Souls, to all fucceeding Ages ? So that, if God did not aflfift the Apoflles in this Work, our Saviour did not niake good his Promife ; which no Chriftian muft allow. But there are pofitive Texts of Scripture, which declare the BcMoks of the Noif Tefiament to be infpired, St. Paul fays e^ifprcfly, i Cor. ii. 16. We have the Mind of Chrifi ; that is, he was infpired both in his writing and preaching. The good Thing which was committed unto thee ({ays St. Vaul to Timothy) by the Holy Ohofl which dwelleth in as. From which it IS plain, that he fpake by the Affiftance of the Holy Ghoft, when he inftruc^ed Timothy, i Ttm. i. 14. Tefeek^ a Proof of Chrifi fpeai^ng in me, lays the fame Apo- ftle to the Corinthians, Chap. xiii. ^. And he fays, thofe that defpife the Apoftles, defpife not Man but God, who hath alfi given unto us his Holy Spirit .^ \ Thef. iv. 8. Now there could be no Force in this Argument, if St. Paul did not think that this. Advice, which he then gave to the Thejfalonians, was diiftated by the Spirit of God. So a- gain, I Cor, xiv. 57. If any Man thinks him/elf to be a Prophet, or Spiritual, let him acknowledge that the Things which I write unto )ou, are the Commandments of the Lord : That is, the Contents of that Epiftle are as much infpired, by the Holy Spirit of God, as the Revelations of any fpiricual Man whatfoever. St. Peter likewife allows St. Paui\ Epiftles, to be wrote by the Wtfdom given by God : In which, fays he, are fame Things hard to be underfiood^ which (hey that arc unlearned and unflable wrefl, a.s they do alfi <54 /J C O N F F R F N C E alfo the other Scriptures, i Pet. in. 15. Where you may obferve, that the Apoftle, not only allows St. Paul to write by a Wifdom afforded by Infpiration, but equals his Writings with the other Scriptures, viz. Thofe of the Old Tejlament which the Je^vs did moft undoubtedly own to be infpired. And (o much for the Scripture-Proofs, which are fufficient to fatisfy every Chriftian that thefe Books are divinely infpired ; and to fatisfy any other rea- fonable Man, that the Apofl:les at leaft pretended to fuch Infpiration. Tromanci- 3» The next Thing I promifed you, was to bring fome em Autho- ancient Authorities in Favour of the Infpiration of Scri- »■'(>'• pture, in which I fhall be very fliort. Clement of Rome, who lived in the Apoflles Time, fays, that St. Paul's E- piftles were mofi certainly infpired , for fpeaking of his firfl Epiftle to the Corinthians, he ufes thefe Words st* rt/»)6«Ac 'rviVfMVK~< 4t???/^«, which he mofi djfuredly Jent by the ^p Jifiance of the Ploly Ghojl, Clem. Ep. Edit. Colom. p. no. Theophibu Antiochenu^, who was Bifhop of uintioch, Ann. Chr. 170. calls the Evangelifts wvH''.'.«7T(pop8f the Bearers of the Spirit J and fays both the Prophets and the Apoftles did Ii7i iaviviuav M^c/hD/Ayeu, fpeak by the fame Spirit. Theoph. ad Autol. Lib. 3 . Irencem fays, Scriptura perfeEla funt verba Dei & Spiritu ejus di^-<£. The Scriptures are per- fe5l as being/poke by the Word and Spirit of God, Adv. Hge- ref. Lib. 2. Vnus ^ idem Spiritm qui in Prophet is quidem praconavit, &c. ipfe 0' in Apojlolis annunciavit. Id. Lib. 5. The fame Spirit which preached in the Prophets did evangelije in the Apojlles. Jt*flm Aiartyr fays, That the Scriptures which the Chriftians build their Faith upon, are not idle Tables, but Vv^ere ,u?<;di 'T^/ivue/'}®- ^c-i>: full of the Divine Spirit, Dial, cum Tryph. Ed. Par. 116, Clemens Alexan- drinus csWs St. Paul Sia7Av<&^ m^vhO-. The divine A- poftle, Strom, i. He fays, That the Chriftians, by rea- ding the Scriptures, are 3toJ^VotK,7T,< that they have, i«f« y^uuA-m, facred Books, and that they are xrsfct -m via 0=K 'OfjAwtxAvot inftirutcd by the Son of God, Strom, i. ^dit.Com.p. 137. And Strom. V. p. 24. he affeits n^o- (piiTVi 'incu 78 f Aotj^akj, dec. That the Apoflks were Pro- phets, Part IV. whh ^ T h e i s t. tf y fhen, one Holy Spirit •working in them all. And he el/e- where calls them wziuA-m uoMm> Difclples of the Spirit, Strom. I. Tertullim f^ySi That it \s l\\t Majejtas SpiritPis San^i, the Majejh of the Holy Ghofi, which fpeaks in one of St. Paul's Epiftles. DeRefnr. Cam. c. 24. And Origen fays, that thefe holy Books are not the Commentaries of jiien, but are written by the Infpiration of the Holy Spirit, Philoc. Cap. I. To run down lower among Chriffian Wri- ters, and to cite all their Authorities for the infpiration of the apoftolick Writings, would be infinite. But what has been brought hitherto has been fufficient to ihew. That the firfl Chriftians, even in the earliefl Time of the Gofpel, did own, that the Books of the New Tejlament were divinely infpired. And vs/hen thofe Men, who li- ved in, or fo very nigh, the Time of the Apoftles, did u- niverfally acknowledge that thefe Books were infpired. We of this Age can have no Manner of Reafon to doubt of it. If they that had the Opportunity of examining the Originals of thefe Books, and converfed with thofe that were acquainted with the Apoflles and their Charader, and muft needs know whether the Apoflles gave thefe out for. infpired Books or no ; if thefe early Chriftians owned them to be fuch : We, tho' we have not the Advantages of making the fame Trials, have no Reafon to deny, but that they had that Infpiration, which the Church has in" all Ages attributed to them, I muft nov/ difcharge my la ft Part of my Promife and Horo far fliew, what, in my Opinion ; is the Extent of this divine *^^' ^"^~ Infpiration, and how far the Apoftles were infpired by •^'"'" r. the Holy Ghoft. TJ. Now I do not think, that every particular Expreffion, Word, and Letter were diftated by the Holy Ghoft ; fo that the Ajxjftles were nothing but the bare Amanucnfes j-,^^ ^.^, to the Holy Ghoft, and that they had no more Share in /?/« gene- the Compofition, than my Servant has, when I di<5late a rally m.^ds Letter for him to write. For this does not leem confi- ^'-'.^/'r/. T ftent with the Nature of the divine Operations, which xalliki.^fon. do n3t ufually put fuch a Force upon human Nature, they a(5iinf^ in fuch a Way, as is agreeable to their rational Fa- VOLe XL F cukies 66 ^Conference cultles. But if the Holy Ghoft fhould have di(5]:ated to the Apoftles after that Rate, they had been only pure Or- gans to the Holy Ghoft, and perfed Machines for him to work upon, without any Manner of Exercife of their own Faculties. Therefore it is moft probable, that God Almighty dealt with them, more like rational Creatures ; which was by letting their Minds have fome Share in this divine Work. It is more agreeable to Reafon, to think, that he fuggefted thofe divine Thoughts firft to their !^linds, and ordinarily left them to weigh them in their Thoughts, as they did other Truths, and to put fhem in- to what Expreffions their Fancies were naturally inclined to ufe ; ftill prefiding over them, and keeping them, from expreffmg any Thing contrary to the divine Mind, or to the Dignity of the facred Subjed. And it is farther evi- dent, that the Apoftles (as the Prophets heretofore) had fome Share in the Expreflion at leaft ; for otherwife there is no Account to be given of the different Styles of thefe Perfons, which varied according to their Tempers and E- ducation. For if the Holy Ghoft had been the fole Au- thor of every Expreflion ; the Style of every Book in Scripture had been uniformly alike ,• or however there would not have been that Difference found, as now there is, and which may be afcribed to natural Caufes. If the Holy Ghoft had dictated every Word ; why ftiould Ifai- iihi who was bred in a Court, be more florid and magni- ficent than Amos, who had his Education among the Herd \ Why ftiould St. Luke, who had a polite Educa- tion, write his Books in better Greel^ and more agreeable to the Greeks and Latin Hiftories, than St. John ? Why fhould St. Paul, who was brought up among the Rfihb'ms, difcover more of Jen'tjh Learning and Rabbi- nical Reafoning, than the other Apoftles ? Why ftiould St. John, above all the others, difcover in his Writings fo much Sweetnefs of Nature, and fo much'Love and Ten- dernefs, if it was not in fome Meafure owing to his natu- ral Temper ? Thefe are undeniable Arguments, that the Apoftleshad fome Share in their Divine Compofition?, and that they varied tlieir Expieflions, and in fome Meafure modelled Part IV. w'tih a TheIst. 6f hiodelled their Thoughts, according to thefe Qiialifica- tions. But then we muft own, that the chiefeft Part of the chkf of Senfe was infpired by God. He fuggefted to their Mind the senfa thofe divine Truths, which they revealed to the World, '>^fp'red* either when they were writing, or if they had learned them before, by refrediing their Memories, and taking Care, that they added or omitted nothing that was mate- rial. It is an impoflible, as well as a very needlefs Things for us to difcover, how far the divine Spirit interefted himfelf in infpiring the Apoftles, and to tell exaftly what in their Compofitions was owing to Reafon, and what to Infpiration. It is fufficient to fay, that the Holy Ghoft afforded all the Afliftance, which was neceffary to mak^ theirs to be infallible Writings. Therefore we may be fure, that the AiUftance was more or lefs, according as the Subjeft, which they wrote of, required. When they wrote hiftorically of Matters of Fa^, which they them^ felves had fecn, or which had been reported to them by credible WitnelTes, there was no Reafon, that the Sub- ftance of this Hiftory fhould be revealed to them again j it was then fufficient onlyi to have their Memories re- frefhed, as our Saviour had promifed them, and that the Holy Ghoft iliould fo far infped them, as that they might not be guilty of any Error in the Relation. Where any new Divine Truths are delivered by them, which were not taught them by Chrifl: when he was upon Earth; there it is neceffary to ailert, that the whole of thofe were im- mediately infpired into their Minds by the Holy Ghoft ; becaufe fuch Truths could not be the Refult of their hu- man Underftanding or Reafonmg, nor yet the Treafure of their Memory ; and therefore thefe could come in- to their Minds no other Way, but by Infpiration. And as for other Things which may be found in their Books, fuch as Reafonmg and Arguing from revealed Truths, that which is moft rational to think in this Point is this : That the Holy Ghoft fuffer'd them to make Ufe of their rea- foning Faculties, as far as the Arguments were fuitable and (blidj at the fame Time quickening their Invention, and F ?, clearing ^8 ^CoNFERE>5C.£ clearing their Judgment^ and hindering them from writing any thing, which might be illogical or impertinent. Somitimes But then I farther add, that the Infpiration of the the Hor.:s. Holy Ghofl fometimes proceeded fo far, as to infpire the very vVords and Ways of Expreffion. I obfei'ved to you before^ that it was very probable that the Word ^l was inferted in the Gofpel of St. Adatthcw, by the particular Diredion of the Holy Glioft, in the Relation of the In- ftitution of the Lord's-Supper, Drink je all of this. Mat. xxvi. 27. And fo A4arl^x\w. 23. ^ndthey all drank^of it. Now it is not reafonable to think, that thefe two Evangelifls inferred the Word u4ll by Chance; for it is not a very ufual Way of Speaking, and we fee it is omit- ted in the Relation of the Delivery of the Bread ; and therefore mufl: be intended by the Holy Ghofl: for forae farther End; which is, to fhew that all the Communicants have a Right to the Cup, which he forefaw in future Ages would be by fome facrilegioufly denied them. And fo it is not . to be doubted, but that the Holy Ghofl: did particularly dired them, in fome feeming accidental Ex- prelTions, which he ordered them to ufe ; That Chrifti- ans might have thereby evident Proofs from God's Word, for feveral principal Articles of the Chriflian Faith ; fuch as the Dodrines of the Divinity of Chrifl: and the Holy Spirit, of Jufl:ifi cation ^d SatisfadionjC^c. Many good Ai'guments for which are drawn from fome particular Ex- preifions in Scripture; which would have been wanting, for the Support of thefc Chriflian Truths, if the Holy Ghofl had given the facred Writers Leave, to have ex- preffcd thofe Paffages orherways. Of the Style of Scripture. Pkt. 1 XT E have faid enough upon the Authors, and' 'J\ of the Infpiration of thefe Books ; and now, if you pleafe, we will difcourfe a little about the Style of them. If the Compofing of them was any Ways owing to the Holy Ghofl:, methinks they Ihould have been written in a much finer Language than we find rhey P:irt IV. ivhh c7 T H F J S T. 6^ they are. The common Reafbn of Mankind expecfls, that a divine Compofition lliould have in it the Height of Eloquence ; and therefore, the very Heathem ufed to fay, that the moft admired Pieces of Eloquence, whe- ther in Verfe or Profe, were divinely written, and the Authors of them infpired ; which ExprelTions, though they are metaphorically to be underftood, yet they fhew the Senfe of Mankind, what Eloquence is reafonably to be expeded in Books, which fhould be divinely infpired. But alas ! how mean are the Scriptural Compofitions to thofe of the ancient Greeki and Romans, and other truly elegant Writers. Here is nothing to be found of that charming Numeroufnefs of Words that Propriety and Copioufnefs of Expreflion, that Noblenefs of Thought and Argument, and that Exa6lnefs of Method which render thofe ancient Pieces fo truly admirable, and much more deferving the Name of Divine than thofe you af- ford it to. In a Word, that contemptible Meannefs of the Scripture Style, has been aKvays to me a great Argu- ' ment againfi: its Divinity ; for if fo many admirable Beau- ties are to be difcovered in the Style of Cicero, which were all owing to Art and Nature, one might reafonably expedl to find the fime in a Compofition of the Holy Ghoft, who to be fure underftood the Art of Eloquence altogether as well. Nay, one finds in thefe Books fo many uncouth and odd Expreffions, as is enough to turn the Stomach of us nice People, who are ufed to Style and Elegance. Cred. And now, for once, iliould we grant all yom 'Eloquence Suppofition true, namely, That the Scriprure Style was as ''"^^j?/'^^^''^ contemptible and void of all Eloquence as fome would ' "• ' J * make it ; what would this argue again ft the Authority, or the Ufefulncfs of thefe Books ? What though the Arguments be not dreffed up fo neatly, as in your pro- phane Authors, they may be altogether as fhong and cnn- clufive ; and, if the Lcgick be but good, what Matter for the Rhetorick ? As for fine Words, they prove no- thing at ali ; they only flalh a falfe Fire in the Fancy, and raife a.Jingle in the Ears, but they make no Body cither wifer or better. F 3 Nay, 7iO /^ C O N F E R F N C E Nay, in fuch grave and momentous Matters, as are gene- rally the Subjedt of the Holy Scriptures, it would be nigh- Jy improper ro make ufe of fine Rhetorical Flourifhes. It "would be a J ft for a Phyfitian, to Write a Recipe for a Sick IVIan. in a juft Ciceronian Style ; and to throw all the Names of his Drugs and their Quantities, into Ar- tificial Periods. And who would be fo fimple, as to expedl a Conveyance of an Eftate to begin with one o^Tully's Ex- ordiums ? Now if we do not cxpeft Eloquence in thefe common Concerns of Life, what more Reafon have we to exped it in Matters relating to our Salvation? When weareready toexcufe the Phyfician and the Law- yer, if they do but their Work fubftantially ; why fhould we exped: that God Almighty, in faving our Souls, fhould likewife tickle our Ears/" What a flrange Levity is therein this Expedation ? This does plainly fhew, that fome Men are more concerned for their Bodies and Eftates, than they are for their immortal Souls ; when they are fo capricious and humorfome, in one more than in the other. Nay, this fine Eloquence, which you fo much admire, is generally made ufe of, when Men delign to dazzle People's Minds which they cannot convince ; being otherways con- sent with an eafy and plain Argumentation. Fur es ait Pedio, Pedim ejwd^i Criwirta raris Lthrat in ^ntithetis « Pedius is Taxed with Theft, but when Pedius cant deny it what does he fay ? Why hepiz.z>les the Matter with Rhetorick^ But God Almighty, in Inditing the Scriptures, had no Defign to put Fallacies upon Men's Reafonings, and to gain over their AfFedions by Arts, which would not diredly perfuade their Underflandings. He was to deliver the Terms of Mens Salvation, and the Rulesof their Duty; which required no Rhetorick to exprefs, and the more plainly and familiarly they were delivered, it was to the better Piirpofe, Thefe Holy Writings were defigned for the Benefit and Ufe of all Mankind, the greateft Part of which are illite- rate and perfedly ignorant of the Beauties of Rhetorick; fo Part IV. zv/f/j a Theist, 7t (o that, if thefe Books had had tiie greateft Perfedion of that Art beftowed upon them, it had been perfedly loll; to above three Quarters of Mankind, who would have been apt to have defpifed them for thof^ Sublimites of ExpreiH- on, which fome few oratorical Ears only might have ad- mired them for. Nay farther thofe Elegancies, which you would have the Scriptures to have abounded v/irh, would but have puz- zled common People's UnderftandingSjand ferved them only to gape at, inftead of being inftrufted by them. Suppole that the Scriptures had been written after the Plan of Plato's Dialogues, aud in every Page had been pregnant with his towring Thoughts and rapturous Expreifions ; had they talked of Mo»ads and Diads, of the Flights, Defcents, and Moultings of the Soul, of the concentrical Union with the Deity, and the like; what a World of Edification com- mon People would have gotten by this? Nay what impar- tial Man will not allow, that thofe Thoughts of Plato, if they have any Meaning in them, are not better expreffed in Scripture, in the Hiftory'of the Creation and of the Fall of uidam^ and the Reparation thereof made by our Saviour in the Gofpel? Thefe are plain fenfible Truths to be underftood by every one, whilft the other are dreffed up in fuch phi- lofophical Cant, that the moft laborious Students, in that Sort of Philofophy, can hardly tell what to make of it. And the Cafe would be much the fame, if the Scriptures were written according to the ordinary Rules of prophane Oratory ; for the common People would have been very little affeded with fuch Rhetorical Figures ; and thofe plain Relations and familiar Inftances, fo frequent in the Bible, ai'e a thoufand Times better fitted for their Capacities. To what has been faid upon this Head, there are two Things more, which render the Ait of Eloquence perfed:- ly ufelefs in Scripture, and thofe are thefe. Firflt The Authority of God Almighty, by the Di- redion of whofe Holy Spirit thefe Writings were indited. For what needs there any Art of Perfuafion, when he who is infallible Truth does didate to us ? When we are per- fuaded, that i: is God ^^'ho fpeaks to us, all the Oratory ■xi. F.4 and 72 ^Conference and Logtck in the World cannot make us more certain of the Things, nor more firmly to aflenc to them, than his bare Aflertion. Nay, if he fhould give no Reafon for it, his bare faying fo, who cannot deceive us, is of more Weight than a thoufand Arguments. And Secondly, the Motives which God has propoun- ded in Scripture, for the obeying his Commands, are much more effedual to perfuade Men than the exa6i:eft Eloquence ; and thofe are future Rewards and Punifh- ments. Knowing therefore the Terror of the Lord we per- fuade Men, fays the Apoftle. For certainly the Flames of Hell are more apt to deter Men from a finful Courfe than the moft moving Oration : And the Joys of Heaven will fooner incline a Man to Goodnefs, than the fineft Charms of Rhetorick. If Men's Affeftions are not to be rou- fed up by thefe powerful Motives, the Strains of Ora- tory, to be furc, will make but a very faint Impreflion upon them. Crct^and 2. Neither are the Compoiitions of thofe prophane Latin An- Greeks and Latin Authors, which you do fo much admire, rhoi-s net ^^ ^^ Standard of true Eloquence ; as if no Compofi- the Stan- . ■' ^ ^ ^ r ■ a 1 ^ 1_1 '^ ihivd of I- ^'O'^ could be laid to be eicgant, but what comes up to loqueMc. their Rules and Method of [peaking. For Eloquence, like Words, is a pure placitory Thing, and does depend upon the Opinions and Cuftomsof Men; fo that what is eloquent, in one Age or Nation, may be barbarous in a- nother. For Eloquence is only a Way of fpeaking, which Falliion has brought into Repute, ; and as every Nation is Miftrefs of its own Words to ufe them, or difafe them at her Plcafure, fo (lie is of the Compofition of thofe Words, and may mold them into w^hat Contex- ture (he pleafes ; fo that That Way of Expreffion which is mofl in Ufe, am.ong Men of the bell: Figure in fuch a Country, is the National Eloquence. Though one of Dcmofihcness Orations be very elegant Greeki yet if any one fhould make a literal Tranflation of it into the facred Tongue, it would be barbarous Hebrew ; becaufe thofe Greeks Idiotifm.s and .peculiar Ways of Expreffion, and Argumentation too, were never in Uk in that Nation. ' ' There- Part IV. with ^Theist. 73 Therefore It is a great Miftake, to account the Greeks and Latin Eloquence to be the only true Standard of E- loqucncc ; for they are only the Standards of the Elo- quence of thofe Nations, or perhaps of fome other Nati- ons, which have learned their Rhetorick from them j but they are far from being the Standards of the Eafiern Elo- quence, to which they bear very little or no Analogy. Indeed in moft of our European Languages, the Elo- quence is pretty conformable to that of the Greeki and Romans ; becaufe of late Years learned Men have made that their Pattern, and many of thefe Languages were derived from the Latin Tongue. But it is unreafcnable to ex- ped this, in Writers, many of whom lived long before thefe Greeks and Latin Authors, whom we prefcribe for the Pattern of our Eloquence, were born. It is fufficient that Afofes or Ifaiah wrote, according to the moft falliion- able and efteem'd Eloquence of their own Times ; but it is very unreafonable to exped, that the Holy Ghoft fhould have infpircd them with an Eloquence which was perfedly unknown in the Countries wherein they lived, and which the Greeks themfelves had not in any Perfedi- on, till about the Time of Plato and Demoflbenes. There were about that Age in Greece, great and wonderful Ge- nius's, and who expreffed their noble Thoughts with ex- traordinary Art and Accuracy ; from rhefe Men's Books the Rhetoricians (as for Inftance ^rijiotle) drew up the Laws of Eloquence, and fiamed their Rules of Rhetorick from the Beauties they obferved in the Writings of thefe Men ; and to thefe Laws all fucceeding Writers of that Nation tied themfelves up, for ever after. As for the Latins, they fell into the fime Road with them, by going to School at Athens, or by having Greeks Tutors from thence; fo that Cicero's Eloquence is very nigh of the fame Mold with Demojihenes's, and whatever new Beauties he was Mafter of, he himfelf drew them out of his own Orations into new Rules, or Ojtinfilian or other Rhetors after him did the like. Now our Infidels argue very fillily, when they (ay, how poorly the Scri- pture; come UD to the Rules of Eloquence in Refpeft of 74 y^ C O N F E R E N G E of Tnlly or Vemofthenes ; when thofe very Rules of Rhe- torick were made out of Tullfs, and Demojlbenes's Boolts. And what Wonder is it, that a Thing does beft correr ipond with itfelf ? For nothing can be fo like, as the fame. If I was to draw up Rules of Rhetorick out of IJaiah or St. Paul, and Men would agree thofe fhould be the Standard of Eloquence ; though a thoufand Men fhould imitate thofe Styles, not one would be able to come perfedlly up to them. So that before you condemn the Scripture for want of Eloquence ; you iTiould not only compare them with the Writings of Demojihenes and Cicero, and the rhetorical Rules drawn from their Books, which the Sacred Writers never converfed with ; but you fhould compare theni with the Ways of Speaking in the Eaflern Nations, and the reputable Eloquence there ; and then, if you find that they are defective in a decent Way of expreiling their Thoughts and Sayings, and do not come up to what was efteemed very elegant in thofe Countries and Ages, then we fliall be willing to own the Charge. But when Men expe£l that thefe Books fhould be writ- ten like thofe of the Greeks and Romans, or (as many do) with the fine Air of a French Ellayer, and are for expo- ling ev.ry Expreilion that does not hit in with thofe nice Rules they are fond of; what can betray their Igno- rance or Folly more ? As if Atofis could not be an in- fpired Writer, unlefs the Holy Ghoft molded his Words into the Style of Cicero, or had written like Mohtaigne or Rahlds, which in thofe Ages had been unintelligible Bar- barity. Scriptures 5. And after all, I cannot allow you, that jthe Greeks eivoid the and Latin Eloquence is the fole and true Standard of Elo- Vices of E- qygjj(-£ . fQj. Yliat is fo far from being fuperiour to the ■mhich ' Scriptural, that it is in many Points inferiour. I do not Greek am! contend, that there is as much Art in Mofcss Hiftory, as Latin Ah- Jq the Style of Livy ; or that St. Peter or St. Paul's Ser- thors are ^q^^ g^g f^ curious Ccmpofitfons, as Tully's Orations : /« ■jec . g^^ J ^^^^ ^j^^^ ^l_^^^^ facreJ Compofitions are not only more eloquent for the Times and Places they v/eredefigned fofj Part IV. whh a TuEisT. 7j for, bur, that they are free from fome Vices in Eloquence, which the Greel:^3ind Latin Writings were fubjed: to. As for Inftance, the Hebraic Eloquence is void of that ex- iraordinary Verboiity and Crouding in of Words to no Purpofe, which the Generality of Pagan Authors are guil- ty of. If one was to ftrip Demoflhenes or Ifocrates's Ora- tions of their Avct>, c/^ 'ai^'s, 6l 7m'Sj of their (W^/s, vus U t^a s &c. of an Abundance of their infignificant Epithets and Circumlocutions ; of a Number of their long compound Verbs and Nouns, which carry no more Senfe with them than their Simples ; and a great many other Parts of a Period, which ferve to no other Purpofe but to make it roll roundly ; one might, ordinarily fpeak- ing, reduce three Lines of Greekjviito one of Senfe. And as for the Laiin Eloquence, which is ufually more denfe and comprefs ; yet even in that there is fuch an af- fefted Co^ia Fcrborum, with a Negled of new Matter, fo much Curioufnefs in ranging Words, and bringing in fenflefs Particles, that when they are brought to the jufteft Rules of Criticifm, it is a great Queftion, whether all this be not rather idle Pedantry, than true Eloquence. And this was the Opinion of lamhlkm the Philofopher. Bar- baroHs Languages (fays he, meaning the Oriental) have a great deal of ji^vr^fAt graceful Brevity, and have Icfsof vim- biguitj and Redundancy of Words. And indeed, if we confi- der impartially thofe artful Compofitions of the beft Ora- tors, even of Tully himfelf ; we cannot but own them guilty oftentimes of a jejune Operofenefs, which our fe- riousReafon cannot allow to be true Eloquence, and which frequently too has nothing extraordinary, but an agreeable Chiming that tickles the Ears. Let us examine, for In- ftance, the firft Period in Tully s Orations, the Exordium of his famous Oration, Pro Pub. Chtintio; which, though one of his firft, is looked upon to be one of his moft celebrated Compofitions. It begins thus : Qua duae res in Civitate flurirnum pofTunt, ca contra nos ambs faciunt, in hoc Tempore, fumma Gratia O' Eloqucntia j cjuarum al- teram, C. u4quili, vereor, alteram metuo : Elon^uentia O. Hortenfii fjc me dtccndo impediat mnnihil commoveor, Oratia- 7^ /f CONFKRFNCE Gratia-Sexti Nevii, ne P, Oumtio noceat, id vero mn me" diocrtter pcrtimelco. Now what an Abundance of nice and ufelefs Art is here ? Our Orator, I am fure, in this Place does libr^rc in ^:mhetis, as Verjipu fpeaks, to a Nau- feoufnefs ; he ranges each Word as precisely in its Place, as if he was planting an Orchard, and fetting Trees by the Rule, with \vhole Rows of oppofite Words to an- fwer one another. Here is Amh^ fet againfl: Budi, foffunt againft faciunt, Eloquentia againfl: Gratia, Hortenjim againfl: N£vim, and metno againfl: vereor ; with a noceat to an- fwer to the impcdiat, and pertimefco to comrmveor. NoWj to think ferioufly, was it worth our Orator's While to make all this rhetorical Stir, and to fpend {o much Time, as this cofl: him, to varnifli over this one Period ; which no wife Man would like the better, and the lillieft: would not be the more convinced by ? For my Part, I mufl: freely give my Opinion, that fuch a laborious Curioufnefs in Style, as this i^, has no more in it of true Eloquence, than the writing Ana-zrams and Acrofticks. And I mufl: needs think worfe of them, when the Oiators follow thofe yet nicer Pundilio's of Rhetorick ; fl-icking Figures about their Oratioivs, as the Ladies do Patches on their Faces ; meafuring out their Periods to fuch precife Length^, and molding them according to De- metrius Phalerem's Rule, into three Members ; or making tlicm to begin with ylnapafls, and end with Dichorees. Nay, I am almoft confident, Philologns, that you your felf, upon the raoft mature Confideration, mufl allow, that the unaiFecled Gravity of the Scripture Style is m.uch lefs liable to Cenihre, than fuch an elaborate Curiofity. Srcmh:^ 4. But next, I would ■ have you to take Notice, that Unrajrh- ^|^g feeming Uncouthncfs of fome Expreflions in Scrip- ^'i^r^'^'.turQ docs Gvife from the literal Tranflation, which moft: fhe Ltierai ^ ■ ■ •> i-t. r i/^- Tra/ifUtti- of you read it m, witiiout having Recourle to the Ori- en. ' ginal ; which if you did, it would give quire another Turn and Appearance to thofe Thoughts, v/hich may look odd or mean to you now. The Tranflation of the Bible does appear with lefs Advantage than the Verflons of other Books; becaufe in thofe the Tranflators take a greater Part I V. with ^ T H E I s T. fj greater Liberty to accommodate the Idiotifms of the Lan- guage in which their Author wrote, to thofe of that into which they trandate him ; but the Tranflators ®f the Bible tranflate the very Hebraifms they find in the Original. For That being a divine Compofition, the Tranflator ought not to make fo bold with it, by limit- ing the Senfe of it, as he might do with another Book ; therefore he is obliged to leave thofe hebraical Phrafes in the Text ftill, to the End that the Reader may pafs his Judgment of them, as well as the Tranflator. Now when we read the Tranflation of any other Au- thor, which is literally done as this is ; it looks altoge- ther as uncouth as the Englip of our ordinary Tranfla- tion of the Bible. What poor forry Stuff does it look like, to read a Page of the common Latin Tranflation of Homer or Pmdar, without the Greel^? Thefe two noble Poets, under this Difguife, do not appear half fo good Writers as the Author of Chevy-Chafe. Or fuppofe, that one fliould pretend to flievy an Englijh Gentleman or Lady, who did not underfl:and Latin, the Beauties of Horace %= Odes, by this verbal Tranflation of the two firft Verfes } jMdcenai atavis edite Regibus, O ^ prajidium & duke decus meum, &c. A4re(s a double Copulative by two ^nds. Neither do the EngliJJ} fay, in the Abftract Guard or Safeguard, but Guardian or Tutelar. We do not call any one our Grace or Ornament : But to fay fiveet Grace is yet more un- couth ; though dulce deem among the Romans was an ufual flattering Phrafe, to exprefs a Dearnefs to thofe they loved, which we never ufe. And the Cafe would be the fame, if our Englifh Idi- otifms were tranflated into any other Language. Our common Expreflions, to fet a Copy, to make a Trade, to look^to ones Hits, to fetch a Turn, to be brought a-Bed^ yackz^-Nokes for a Fool, a Canary- Bird for a Knave, JVill with a Wifp, yack^'^-Lanthorn, &c. would feem ve- ry odd, if literally tranflated into any other Language ; and fo would an hundred French or Italian Exprefliohs in ours. Therefore I mufl: conclude, it is a very ridi- culous and ignorant Pride, in a great many Gentlemen of your Way, to make Sport with the Scripture for a few Hebrew Idioms, that do not exadly correfpond with our modern Phrafes. There are a great many Expreflions in Scripture, which are AUufions to ancient Cufl:oms, which are now grown obfolere, and of which there are no Traces left in Hiflory, which may make them, for that Reafon, feem to us flat and jejune ; though in the Time when they were written, they carried with them a great Deal of Spirit and Brightnefs. Now to laugh at the Scripture, for thefe Idio ms and AUufions, does ihew as much Wit, as to laugh at the Images of the Old Greeki and Romans, becaufe tney are not dreffed in our modern Fafnions; or to make Sport with our Grandfather's Pidures, becaufe they are not drawn in long Wiggs and Cravats. For 'tis altogether as ridiculous to think, that the ancient Hebrews fhould fpeak like us, any more than that they fhould go habited, as we do. BefideF, in every Language there are certain peculiar Graces, in the Contexture of the Words, in the Cadence of the Periods ; many other Schemata Lexers, a beautiful ranging of Particles, a graceful Analogy and Relation be- tween feveral Words, which are all loft in the Tranflatiorij an4 Part IV. With ^ T H E I s T, 79 and which Men muft be well verfed in the Original, to have aTafteof. Now to undervalue the Style of the Scrip- rures, without having fearched into thefe, is as wife and modeftan Undertaking, as to pretend to criticife upon /^ir- gils Style from our Englijlo Tranflations. There are feveral Beauties in the Original Scriptures, which are vanifhed in our Verfions, by the ill Tranflation of Hebreiv Words, which have a various Signification ; and our Interpreters fometimes light upon the wrong, fo that by this means oftentimes a very noble AUufion be- comes flat and unafFefting. Sometimes the Speeches of mean and unlearned People are Verhmm inferted, the Sacred Writers not giving them- felves the Liberty of making for them Rhetorical Efo^ p that there is hardly any ta- king their Meaning, or reading them with any tolerable Pleaflire. But this is not the Cafe of the facred Pen-men. ■Their Books are written, in a very proper and regular Me- thod, and though not in all the Formalities of the Gree^ and Latm Plan, yet in fuch a Way, as is eafy to be under- flood, and not unpleafant to be read, bat even beautiful to thofe, who are accuftomed to the Oriental Compofi- tions. Can any one expect any Hiftory to be nlore methodical, than that of A hlomm 54 !^C0NFEREKCE bylonlm Captivity, do moft methodically obferve the Or- der of Time, and what is yet more,do fet down the Num- ber of the Years of Princes R.eigns,and fo exadly reckon from other remarkable Epocha's of Time,that the prophane Hifto- ries are no Way comparable to them ; thereby aifording us a better Foundation for Chronology, than any is to be found among the Greeks and Latin Hiftorians. Do not the Evangelifts moft methodically begin with Chrift's In- carnation, and end with his Crucifixion and Refurredion, and all along declare his Preaching, and miraculous Adi- ons ? Nay, is not there a methodical Defign ' running throughout the whole Tenor of all thefe Hiftories ; wherein one uniform Thread of Providence is difcovered, and all the ancient Types, and remarkable Tranfadions do- fall in with, or make Way for, the Kingdom of the Mef- fitu \ And fo for the argumentative and exhortatory Parts, of Scripture, there is Method enough to make them in- telligible ; and, though the Partitions and Tranfitions are not fo formally diftind, as in fome other Books, yet they are plain enough to be difcerned, by any careful Reader. Neither is it {o proper, that epiftolary (and fuch like) Difcourfes, fliould be fo exadly methodical; for^ as to this Point, perhaps Tully's Epiftles are as liable to Ex- ceptions, as thofe of St. Vaul. Tarticular 5. Neither are there wanting fome particular Reafons, Reafons o/why the Books of the Holy Scriptures do, fometimes, ^r^^'^yfkem more immethodical, than fome other Books. For thefe Booki are moftly written in a Language, in which many J^fon^ls have a different Signification ; which, if taken in one Senfe, in which they are fometimes ufed, will make two Sentences all of a Piece, and mutually to depend up- on each other ; but, if taken in another Senfe, in which they are fometimes ufed, will make the Sentence, where they are found, feem perfedly to ftand by itfelf, as if it was brought in heedlefly, without any Manner of De- fign. Another Reafon, why the Scripture does, fometimes, look immethodical, is this ; That, oftentimes, in an hifto- rical or prophetical Relation, there is, on a fudden, a pre- didive part IV. w//^^ The 1ST. 9j did'ivc Excurfion made of the MeJJiM, which may look, at firft Sight, like a carelefs Ramble of Thought ; but is really a very wife Forecaft of the divine Providence, which does upon all Occafions, take Care to give Men a fledfaft Hope of that wonderful Mercy, which in Fulnefs of Time God Almighty did defign to afford to Mankind. At other Times, the Method is' neglefted, not out of Heedlefnefs, but out of juft and wife Defigns ; and the Holy Ghoft takes Occafion, to confirm fome important Truth by his Authority, which does not lie diredly, in the regular Tenor of Difcourfe, but he takes Occafion to remark it by the Bye ; which Occafion not being laid hold of, fuch a Revelation would have been wanting to God's Church, or would have required a diftind Dif- courfe to have revealed it ; and, by that Means, v/ould have made the Scriptures too prolix, and unferviceable to the Generality of Men. And laftly, a great Deal of the Immethodicalnefs of Scri- pture, will be taken away, by reading it in the Original ; for, oftentimes, the Stops are not rightly made, in our Tranfiarions, which fometimes divide thofe Sentences which ought to be conjoined, and unite thofe which ought to be feparated ; which Negled frequently fo di- fturbs the Senfe, as to make it look very wild and flaring to thofe, who do not obferve the Propriety and Connexi- on in the Original. In fhort, I defirc, that you would make thofe Allov/ances to the Holy Scripturesjwhich you do to other Books, for their Antiquity, the Greatnefs of their Subjecfl, and other particular Exigences and Circum- fiances ; and that you would come to the reading them with a ferious and devout Mind ; and then, I am confi- dent, you will never much matter their Want of Me- thod. Phil. You have gotten over this Matter pretty well, but ftill the Obfcaritj of Scripture is, with me, a great Argument againft the Divinity of it. For who can think, that the Holy Ghoft fliould ever write after that cloudy Rate, as methinks moft of thefc Authors do ? The Want of Perfpicuity is the moft intolerable Fault, which any Author ^6 A Conference Author can be guilty of, Fof this deftroys all the End and Deiign of Writing, which is to be underftood ', but he that writes obfcurely, whilft he pretends to inform a- nother of his Mind, leaves it unintelligible to him ftill. Now, if God Almighty Ihould ad after this Rate, he would put a Banter upon Mankind, as giving out, that he had revealed his Will to them by a Written Word, when at the fame Time he had wrapped it up, in the darkeft and mofl: inacceffible Clouds. Had God been pleafed, to have made fuch a Revelation, he would undoubtedly have done it with all imaginable Plainnefs, and made it as clear, as that immortal Light he dwells in \ nay, out of his im- menfe Goodnefs to human Nature, he would have taken the greateft Care, that nothing ihould be obfcurely ex- prelfed in a Book, of fuch momentous Concern, as up- ®n the right Underftanding of which. Men's everlafting Salvation does depend. But how can you reconcile this, with the profound Darknefs of the Scriptural Books, whereof hardly one fingle Text is clearly intelligible ! For the Truth of which, we need only appeal to the Colle-< 6tion of Criticks, where every Verfe in the Bible has, it may be, half a Score Meanings put upon it. Now there can but one of all thefe Senfes be the Meaning of the Holy Ghoft, which is the Diredion to Mankind ; and, among thefe Interpretations, all which fometimes bid e- qually fair for it, who can tell which That is ? So that upon the whole, here is a Revelation of God's Will to Mankind, to dired themfelves by it ; but, by the Obfcu- rity of it. Mankind cannot underftand it, or be able to diftinguifh God Almighty's Meaning, from the different Meanings, it may be, of Origen or Jerom, Erajmns or Crottpu. Cred. But I pray hold a little. Sir ; for you take a great many Things for granted, and pafs over a great many more unconfidered, which you ought not in Juftice to do. Hijloryand j. You are too hafty, when you fuppofe the whole Bo- g^ao?/ ^y. ^f j.j.g Scriptures, to be univerfally obfcure. For fome ■bMn'm Things therein are written as intelligibly, as in any Book^ scri^turf, ----- whatfoever P^rt IV. imth a T heist. 97 wharfoever. Moft of the Hiftoiical Parts of Scripture are written in a plain fimple Style, which the ordinarieft Peo- ple do much eafier underftand, than they would do a Tranflarion of Thucydides or Saluji. Indeed it happens, oftentimes, that Commentators upon thefe Books differ, upon the Interpretation of a Word, the End or D^fign of of an Aftion, or upon an old Cuftom, or the like; whilft the whole Subftance, and Tenor of the Hiftory remains entire, and in which all the moft differing Commentators do agree But if this were any Objedion againft Scri- pture, it would as well hold againft any old Greeks or La- tin Books, upon which Commentators do as often difagree, as they do upon Texts in the Bible. And yet no Body ever faid, that Homer, or P^irgily or the forementionedHi- ftorians, were unintelligible Authors ; becaufe the Notes, that are written upon thefe Books, are very different from each other. And, as for the dodrinal Parts of Scripture, • they are far from being obfcure in thofe Points, which it is neceffary for Men to know, in order to their Salvation. The Dodrines of the Incarnation of Jefus Chrift, and his fuffering for the Sins of the World 3 The Do6lrines of future Rewards and Punilhments ; TheNeceffity of Re- pentance and a good Life, in order to Salvation ; The common Doflrines of Morality, and thofe other impro- ved ones of Peaceablenefs, Humility, Self-denial, For- givenefs of Injuries, c^c. are fb plainly delivered, and o- ver and over again repeated, that Words cannot make any Thing more intelligible, and more exprefs. Now thefe are the main Things, which every Chriftian ought to to be moft follicitous about ; and therefore it is no great Matter, if other Doftrines, of lefs Confequence, be not manifefted in fo clear a Light. If a Man underftood but only thefe Things in Scripture, and was not able to tell the Meaning of any Thing elfe, he would under- ftand enough to work out his Salvation by ; which is a Mercy, as great as moft Chriftians can reafonably de- fine, and which anfwers the principal End, of God's re- vealing his Will to the World. 2. And, tho' fome other Parrs of the Scriptures be fbme- VOL. II. H thing 98 A CoKFFRf^CF Some fub- thing more obfcure, yet tliere is a very good Reafon to be ^"^:^'^'^'"f;a11edged for it : Becaufe the Sublimity of the Subjeft, ^cannot 'be treated of in it, will not allow of a greater Clearnefs. No fUia. one can reafonably expect that a Book^ of Algebra,, or clofe Metaphjjid^y fhould read as glibly as a plain Hijiorkal Re- lation, or a fmooth Copy of Ferfes ; becaufe every one knows, that thefe abftruier Parts of Learning do require deeper Thoughts, and clofcr Applicaiion of Mind, than other Subjeds of Literature ; and that they are not comprehen- ded, by the Hrft tranficnt View of the Underftanding. Now we do not lay, That, upon this Account, algebra- ical and meraphyfical Writers are obfcure ; for they may write with all the Clearnefs imaginable upon fo fublime Subjects, and yet may not be under flood by every un- skilful, or curfory Reader. And this is frequently the Cafe in the Holy Scriptures, feveral Paffages of which relate to the Dodrine of the Holy Trinity, and the Eternal Ge- neration of the Son of God ; others fpeak of the Nature of A'igeh, wlx)fe Beings and Operations are above the Ken of our Underflandings ; others are Prophecies of future E' vents,\vhok Nature it is to be dark and obfcure; and bftly fome othtrssrcDefcriptionsofthe other Pforld,\vhich it is impoffible, in this imperfed State, that we can have exad Notices of. Now all fuch Paffages, though they do look obfcure, yet this is not the Fault of the Writer in exprefling them ; but it is owing to the fublime Nature of thefe noble and tran- fcendent Exijiences, and to the Shallownefs of our iveal^fOn- derjiandings, which cannot comprehend them better. obfcure 3« There are many other Places of Scripture, which Tciff^^ges now look obfcure, but in Procefs of Time, and, after may be jfome great Revelations of God's Providence, will be perfe(5l- thber^^ ly underflood, and will clear up into a Meridian Light. There are feveral Paffages in the Old Tefia?mnt, which are predictive of the Aleffias, and which Men could hardly tell what to make of, before the Coming of Chrift ; but his Life and Sufferings have given Demonflraticn, of the Propheticalnefs of them ; this has afl-brded fuch a Light to the Underflanding of them, that all their former Ob- fcurity is now vanifhed and gone. And there is as little j Doubt i of Part ly. ,W!th a TriEist. pp Doubt to be made, but tlidt there are many Texts, both in tPie OUzndNewTe/iamentjwhkh. are now vailed with Ob- , fcurity, but will hereafter be as clear as the Day : All thofe PafTages, which relate to the fHture Ejiate of the Chnrchi to the Reign of ^ntichrift, to the Converjion of the '^feivs^ Sec* will then be difmantled of all their prefent Darknefs, when thefe wonderful Events fhall come to pafs ; and it is ' not to be doubted, but there are feveral other great Revo-^ lutions in the Church, and Providential Di/penjations, v/hich fhall hereafter happen, that fhall give Light to many other Places of Scripture, which at prefent we cannot under- fland, or elfe we put a wrong Meaning upon. 4. It is no Fault in the Scriptural Writers, that fome oifurt/f Paflages of their Books are obfcure ; becaufe we are not 'Y^'fi'/^t fufficiently verfed in the Htfiory, Cufioms, and the L.'^^-'vxsicimfs guage of the Jews, relating to the Time when thefe Books /^ thjtrp^ were written. Many of thefe Paflages would be better # Lm- made out, if we underftood the Hebrew Language as well ^"^^^ ^-"^ as the Enghfl) ; but the Hebrew Tongue having been a '•'' ' ^' dead Language, for many Hundreds of Years, and the Old Tejiament being the only ancient Book which is writ- ten in it, it is no Wonder, that we cannot attain to fuch a Knowledge of the exad Signification of Words, as when we have a Multitude of Books to read in the fame Tongue. In the la ft Cafe, an Expreflion cannot well happen to be obfcure, upon Account of the not under- ftanding the true Signification of the Words ; becaufe thofe Words, if they have a dubious Signification in one Book, are plainly expreffed in another ; a Word that is hard to be underftood in Homer, is very eafy when com- pared with the fame Word in a Verfe of Hejiod, where the Context does more plainly determine the Senfe ; which Word would never have been underftood, if there had not been fome other Greeks Author extant, who had ufed the fame. So that the Obfcurity of fome Places in Scri- ptures, which you unjuftly charge upon the Confufednefs of thofe Writers Thoughts, does many Times arife, from Want of Books in the fame Language to interpret them by. Other Paffages in Scripture are obfcure, becaufe they H z refer 100 ^Conference refer to fome old obfolete Cuftoms among the Jeivs, that we know nothing of, and therefore it is no Wonder, that the Senfe in thofe Places is obfcure, when the Metaphors, which are brought to illuftrate it, cannot poffibly be un- derftood. Suppofe (for Inftance) that the Art of Gun- nery were perfectly loft, and nothing remaining in Hiftory ' of the Ufe of Guns ; and fuppofe that one was to read an Englijl) Book, in which a Man is faid to make afalfe FtrCt that is to be balked in an Enterprize, or to attempt a Mat- ter unfuccefsfully ; I fay it would be almoft impoflible, or at Icaft very difficult to find out that this was the Mean- ing of That Expreffion, if there had been no Traces left of the Ufe of Guns, in the Age wherein fuch a Book was written. Other Places are obfcure, becaufe they allude to fome remarkable Matters of Fa6i:,which were well known in the Writers Age, . but are not recorded in the Jewijl) Hiftory, which we now read ; and therefore, upon this Account, we may very reafonably pardon the Obfcurity of them, unlefs you think the Scriptural Writers were o- bliged to write Comments upon themfelves, and to explain as they go on, all their own Metaphors and Allufions. Now, whereas thefe Circumftances are, more or lefs, in- cident to all ancient Writers whatfoever ; and you do not ufually charge the Obfcurity, which arifes from them, as a Fault upon them ; I cannot fee, with what Face of Ju- ftice you can pafs this Cenfure upon the facred Pen-men, many of which are the ancienteft Writers in the World ; who befides wrote in a Tongue in which there is fo little extant, ' and that too in Ages^, of which there are remai- ning fo very i^-^ Memoirs. ^eci[or.a- 5 . But after all, the Obfcurity of fome Places in the blmefs of Scripture?, is fo far from being a Fault, that it is a peculiar Z"'"^^'''^,'''-' Excellency in them, and an Tnftance of the Wifdom and fcure Goodnefs of God, in ordering them to ,be £ompofed af- ter that Manner. It is highly requifite, that the prophe- tical Parts of Scripture ftiould be frmewhat obfcure, and fhould be plainly intelligible only after the Crmpletion ; leaft, if they were before-hand under ftood, they might either feem to bear hard upon the Freedom of Man's Will, or Part IV. w}/h a TuEisT. loi or put God Almighty upon new Meafures- in his provi- dential Difpenfations i or lea ft the happy Prediftions ftiould elate Men with too much Joy and Prefumption, and the calamitous ones deprefs them with a too dtfponding a Fear; neither of which are very reconcilable with the divine Methods in governing the World. It is not without manifeft Wifdom defigned, that fome PafTages of Scri- pture fhould be very difficult and cbfcure, to raife in Men a facred Awe and Veneration for thefe Books, which would be more generally wanting in Men, if they were written with the bright Perfpicuity of our common Au- thors. By this there is fuch a Sort of devotional Refped: raifed within us, as there is by the Gloominefs of an an- cient Church, which is not to be efFeded by the pleafant Lightfomnefs of other Buildings. By this Obfcurity, likewife, God Almighty teaches us Humility, and puts us in mind of the Shallownefs of our finite Underftan- dings ; ("hewing us. That it is owing to his good Will and Pleafure, That we have any Knowledge at all of di- vine Truths ; That he reveals to us juft as much as he pleafes, and, at his Will, veils over the reft with Darknefs. By the fame Difficulties he gives us an Opportunity, of exercifing our Diligence in thefe facred Matters ; for o- iherwife Men v/ould bemore lazy in the Bufinefs of their Sal- vation, nor would the divine Truths be [o ftrongly imprinted upon their Minds, as when fome of them, v.ith fo much Diffi- culty and Study, are to be found out in the Scriptures. Phil. But methinks, Credentius, it is no light Objedion again ft the Scriptural Books, that they are pregnant with fo many impertinent Paffages, as render them naufeous to every one, who has any true Tafte of the Exxellency of Style, It always fhews the Prudence of a Writer, when he avoids every Thing that is trivial in an Argument or a Relation, and lets no Thought pafs, but what is juft and proper to the Bufinefs : But the Scriptural Writers give themfelv/;s up to an extravagant Loofnefs ; they generally dwell long upon Matters very infignificant, and lightly flip over the moft important. One can hardly have Pa-. ptnQG with the Writer of the Pef7tatmch,\^hQn he makes fuch H 3 3 J © 2 y^ C O !^ F r. R F N C E a tedious dialoguing between Abraham and his Servants, yofeph and his Brethren, and the like ; and pafTes over To many greater Occurrences of thofe early Times, which were much more proper to be recorded. Belides, the other Parts of the Bible are full of fo many trivial Hiftories, Que- ftions, Anfwers, and Remarks, that one may very well conclude J That it is fo far from being a Colled:ion of necefiary and im.portant Truths indited by God Almighty, that an impartial Reader cannot guefs it to be the Work of wife and prudent Men. For Hsrodotm and Thucydides, Salufi and Livy, who were aflifted only by their own na- tural Parts, do never fall into fuch grofs Faults and Abfur- dities. And who can think that God Almighty fhould ad: according to the Rules of fuch an adorable Wifdom in the Compolition of the Body of every Plant, and A- nimal, as to make nothing fuperfluous in their whole Con- texture ; and yet, in the Book, which was indited for the Salvation of Mens Souls, he iliould fuffer fo great a Part of it to be trivial and foreign to the Purpofe ? Cred. I, And who can think, That you ihould be able to pafs a juft Judgment upon every Paffage in Scripture, fo as truly to pronounce that only fuch Things are written with Prudence and Defign, and others impertinently /" It •jhr mean- requires a confiderable Skill in Anatomy, to be able to give T -tZi? an account of the true Ule of every Mufcle in the Body, (irenccept- and whillt you are not, it may be, very exa6l in tnat Art, ry tj the it will not become you dogmatically to aflert that any one ^''''■/''^J''''^'i/ of thofe Mufcles has no Ufe, becaufe you do not under- fland it. I do not believe, that you have laid out miore Time upon the Study of Theology \.\\^r\Anatomy\zn6. therefore you fhould not pronounce any Book or Faflr.ge of Scrip- ture, trivial or ufelefs, before you have fufficiently ex- amined it. Every Part of Scripture is not trivial, that does not immediately conduce to the Salvation of Mens Souls ; any more than any Part of the Body can be faid to be ufelefs, which does not contribute to our vital Subfift- ence. A Man's Body may live and perform the moft principal Operations of Life without Hair or Nails, with- PUt ten Fingers and two Eyes, but yet it will not be fo perfe(3l; PnrtlV. ■ zv'ifh a Thfist. 103 perfed and beautifi.il as with them, nor fo agreeable 10 the confummate Art and Wifdom of our Divine Creator. And fo there is no doubt, but that Men might be favcd without the Book of Rath, or the Hiftory oflfiac and Rebecca, or yofiph's Captivity ; but then it does not from hence follow, that therefore thefe Relations are perfectly ufelefs and tri- vial. They would be freed from this Exception, if they were only to be looked upon as Tome remarkable Memoin ofi\\QjewiJJ:>Hij}ory, and as giving fome Account of the Lives of very confiderable Perfonagcs of that Nation. But Thc'^-ehtti- when we confider together the whole Scheme of God's pro- "^ "/ ''^^ vidential DirpenCatlon, in fending the MeiTitzs into the World, T'^^-/T and the Methods, he was pleated to take, m preparing the patrinrchs Way for it ; how he firft feparated one Man'sFamily fom not trivial, his idolatrous Relations and Countrymen, and made his OfF-fpring to be the Standard of true religious Worpip for many Agc«;, and from whofe Loins the defigned Savi- otir of the World was to come ; I fay when we confider this, it is but reafonable to fuppofe, that fome particular Account fhouid be given of the Origin of this extraordinary Family, by Vv'hich all the World has received fuch a wonderful Benefit in the Birth of Jefus Chrift. Neither would the harmoniousCorrefpondenceof 6'o to a few Lines. A!! th^ Major and Minor Prophets run juft in the fame Note, only denouncing temporal Judgments againft the finful Jews ; and not one of them advances one Step further. The Sermons of Chriji are but the fame Thino over and over, and all of them reduceable to two Words, Faith and Repentance, And fo, as for the ^psflo- lick^ Epifiles, they are but juft the fame Ledure coldly repeated,, only now and then a Word intermixed for the abolition of the Jeivijh Ceremonies, after Chriftianity had fet up for it klffirjl at ^ntioch. Cred. I. But I lliould think, Philologm, that this forry Kind of Keafoning or Banter, or v/hat you pleafe to call it, fhould be full as naufcous to the nice Gentlemen of your Way, as the Scripture Repetitions. Now fuppo- Repeitiscns fjj^g ^g ihould allow your Charge, That Repetitions are /' '''^;,'{_ more frequent in the Bible than in am other Book^ And is not ran Ji:<- there very good F^eafon for this { Were the Holj Scrip- ihors yoho tpires all written by one Man, or at one Time ? And what ■n-rste the . p^^k Or Undeccncy is it, that two Prophets or Apofiles ^c)s^:,.)es. £j^^^,]j f^y j|-,g (;j^g Things, any more than that the fam^e Hiftory (hould be written by J4ppian and Curtiiis, or the fame Arguments made Ufe of by Ariflotle and Cicero ? The Bible is not properly one Book, but a Colleftion of in- fpired Authors, in which it is to be expefted that the fame Things fliould be over again repeated, as we do in a Col- leiflion or Body of the Greeks or Roman Hiflorians. Tr-infal 2. But what, if feveral Things be reiterated, and that ihtfses i-QQ j^y fj-jg fgj^o Authors ? They are chiefly pradical Du- onrjtto -e j| which Can never be too fufliciently inculcated. Re- v-adrnt^ pcntsnce and a good Life are Things which can never be theif^ i>: 0- talked to us too often ; for, as to thefe Matters, Men da ticsl-.L-.iids.jr^QX. want Information, but Memento's and Admonitions', and therefore, upon this Account, vou do very ill to find Part IV. -ze^/z/j V7 Thf.ist. 107 find Fault with the facred Writings, when you fliould ra- ther admire the Goodnefs of Almighty God, in condef* cending fo gracioully to our Infirmities, that, in every Paj^e almoft of his Holy Word, he affords us Inftruftions and Exhortations, to thefe great and momentous Dnties, which weare fo unhappily liable to fail in. z. Other Repetitions there are in Scrioture, which the . Holy Ghofi has with very great Wifdom made, thereby to Things tU- fuit his Exhortations to the feveral Interefts, Capacities verfiy urg'd and Inclinations of Men. Some Places of Scripture are to (mt-wtth adapted to work upon Mens Fean, and others upon their ^^Z'^'^-^^- Love ; lome exhort Men to the Ooedience ot God s Laws, by Arguments drawn from his Juflice, by repre- fenting him a jealopt4 and a terrible God ; others peifv/ade the fame from his Goodnefs and Alercy, befpeaking him to be the Lord, kind and merciful, and long-fufferingy the Father of Mercies, and the God of all Comfort. In fome Men Fiety and Devotion is raifed, by contempla- ting the Poiver and Wifdom of God, in his Creation and Pro- vidence, as they are painted with the moft noble Strains of ' Eloquence in the Book of Job and the Pfalms ; others are more moved by the Reprelentation of his Love to Man- kind, in fending his Son, which St. fohn fo much dwells upon. Some Places exhort Men to be good from the Re- ward, others from the Beauty of Vertue ; fome exhibit the Danger, fome the Turpitude, and others the Folly of Sin. One Text commends Sobriety from its temporal, another from its eternal Recompence j one reprefents Pride as contemptible to Men, others as hateful to God ; and though there are many Texts which exhort to Charity, yet they do it upon diftind Grounds, fome urging our Gratitude to a gracious God, fome the Love of a fuffc- ring Saviour, fome pleading our own Wants, and natural Tendernefs andCompaffion, others our indifpenfibleDuty, and others our Inrercft. Now you may call this naufeom Repetition, or what other ill Name you pleafc, but, m PvC- ality, the Wifdom of God is as beautifully difplay'd in this, as in the other Parts of his Providence. The Crea- tion itfelf is not more wifely and more curioufiy adorned, by Io8 v^ C ON FE R F.NGE by all the wonderful Variety of Plants and Animals^ than the Scriptures are delightfomely furniflied, with all poffible Variety of Arguments for a good Life, and the Love of God. Heat'^en 4* ^'^^ ^^'^^^ y^^ ^^^^ °^ itaufeoHs Repetition, I pray, [Authors as ^'^o^ Sir, how will you be able tp clear your beloved much [tih^ Heathen Moralifts from this Imputation. Seneca is moft je^ to Re eminently notorious for this Fault : He tumbles and toffes ■ ptit.o.-i. g^jQ^. Qj^g fingle Thought for a Page or two together ; he feeds his Reader with nothing but whipt Cream, with a very little Senfe frothed out into a Multitude of Words. So tha: if he does not repeat the fame Words, he repeats the fame Senfe over and over with a Vengeance. And if you would but ftrip your divine Pkto too of all his unin- telligible Rant j and turn all his rhetorical Flights into com- mon Senfe, you will find but a very little Room taken up by it. It may be, I grant, that Cicero and Plutarch, and ibme others of them, write more clofely, and argue more juHly ; yet, e^•en they, have as much of the Cram^ be Rcpetita as their Neighbours. Whilft you may ob- ferve, in the Holy Scripture, a great Variety of Argu- incnti for a good Life, fome drawn from a temporal, o- tiiers from an eternal Reward ; from the Fear, from the I.os'C of God, from the Hopes of Heaven, from the Ffars of Hell, from the Gratitude to our Saviour, from five Senfe of our Confcicnces, and the Dignity of our Chriflian Calling ; you can fee nothing like this Variety in thois ?4oialifls, rhcy go backwards and forwards with their Honeftum and Decorum, and fo on to the Lnd often- times of a long Treatiic. Striptire 5. As to what ycu reflecfl upon the Writings of the tina'icMcil Prophets and ApoiHcs, and the Sermons of our blelled i^'^_ ^^^: Lord himftlf ; the Calumny is peifedly groundless. ^.j.. ,.s! p^^ thtvt is no fuch naufeous Repetition in the propheti- cal V/ritings, as you pretend. Indeed tliere are, in all of them, many of the fame /?/, and other- '''''^'^' times againft the Kings : At one time againft Judah or IfrAsU another time againft Edom or ^y£gjft. One Pro- phecy reprehends them for their Pride, another for their Idolatry, and another for the Profanation of the Sabbath. Sometimes they are threatned with /Kur, fometimes with Pefldence, other times with Scarcity, and fometimes with Want of Prohets, or the Famine of the Word, Amos viii. 1 1. One Prophecy gives them the joyful News of a Re- jlanration from their Captivity, another of their Redemption by the Meffias, and others do foretell the Perfon, the Suf- ferings, the Kingdom and Exaltation of Chrifl. One is weep- ing over the oki Jerufalem, another is ravifhed with the Thoughts of the new. In fome Places the Jews are up- braided for their Folly in trufting in an Arm of Flefti, and in others for their Sottifhnefs in worfhipping Images. ■ Now, methinks, it fhould carry with it an Air of too much Confidence to aflert, that the Prophets do all (ay the fame Thing, over and over, when there is fuch a won- derful Variety of frelli Matter in them, as is hardly to be parallel'd elfewhere. But 'tis a Jeft of an Argument, when you object a- cWtf and gainft our Saviour's Sermons, that he preached notliing .(./V^/'s/Zt'^ but Faith and Repentance. And what if he did no't ? There would have been f-efh Matter enough, in thofe two £>reat Heads of the Gofpel, to have fpoken upon ; for all the Gofpel Graces are reduced to tliefc. Now would it not be a poor Objeflion, rais'd a;^ainft Arifoilc^ to fay there is norhing but Suhflance and Accident in all his Books ,• when 'ris known that the Philofophcr himfelf .would have willingly owned the Charge, he himfelf ha- no y^CoNFERFNCE ving divided every thing in Nature into thefe grand Bran- ches ? But our Saviour ( as hkewife his Apoftles ) did not dwell altogether upon thefe Graces in general, he runs thro' all the particular Duties of Morality ^ and exadly ftates them, according to the Meafures of the beft, and moft exalted Reafen. And give me leave further to fay, that in the fhort Compafs of our Saviour s Sermon upon the Mount, there is couched more good Matten and more iblid Truth, than in all your Greek and Latin Philofophers put together. And you will find proportionably the like, in the Epiftles of the Apoftles; if you w'lW vouchfafe to read them as carefully, as you fliould. Phil. But ftill, Credentius, I want that defireable Thing caird good Reajbning in all Parts of the Scripture. • When I read a Piece of Cicero's Morality, I cannot but be in love with the Duties he recommends ; he makes them to be fo agreeable to my Reafon, fo conformable to my Nature, or my State and Condition in the World, that methinks I am charmed into the Pradice of them, -whether I will or no. He fhews me fo much beautiful Order and Harmony., and Agreeablenefs with the Laws of Nature in every Vir- tue; fuch an ugly Unproportionablenefs in Vice, fuch an Incongruity with and Difturbance to Nature j as makes, in the Eyes of every rational Man, the one to look lovely and delightful, and the other monftrous and abominable. But the fcriptural V/riters are not Mafters of this noble Cualification, they honeflly enough tell Men what they fhould do, but give them no Reafon for it ; and, when Men have their Paffions and their Interefts on their fide, they think they have Reafon enough againft it. But, however, though Men iliould be really convinced of their Duty by this, yet bare Authority can never have that In- fluence upon Mens Lives, as a rational Perfuafion. Cred. 1 think, PhilologyU, I fhall never be able to wean you from this Heathen Rationality, as if no Aiorality was to be taught, out of the Mode of the ancient Philofophers. Indeed the Scriptural Writers do not make ufe of the exad: philofophick Phrafeology, they are Strangers to their Cant of Sftmmnm Bonum^ Honejium^ Turj^e^ 8 not in any material Points, that do at all affed the Main pj||^,^/^*^ of Religion ; and therefore you fhould from thence take scripture. Notice, that it is no very wife Undertaking to make Ufe of fuch an Argument againft Chriftianity, which if gran- ted, would do it no Manner of Diskindnefs. Indeed, if you could prove that one Part of the Scripture faid, tkit Jefui Chr'ifl WiU horn of a Virgin, and another after the or- dinary Aianner of Generation ; if one Evangelift lliould fay, that he arofe from the Dead, and another, that he lies buried in fuch a Place ; this would be an Objedion, which the Infidels might make fome Ufe of; becaufe it would over- throw the very Foundation of Chriftianity, when it iliould be ihewn that the Hiftory of the principal Articles of it were uncertain. But for fuch little Sort of verbal Contradiiftions, as you hint at, fome fmall interfering in Chronology and Account of Time ; this ihould methinks 'break no Squares in any Writing wliatfoever ; for there were never two Authors who have recorded the fame Mat- ters of Fad, but have differed from one another in many Points of this Nature. And it iliews, that you are very hard put to it in your piqueering againft Scripture, to find Fault with it, for fuch Things, which neither you, nor any Body elfe, would blame in another Book. some /light 2. You fliould take Notice that thefe litde feeming Con- Co-'itradic- tradidions are fo far from invalidating the Authority ^^^'i'''"^ .9f the Holy Scriptures, that they do in a great Meafure;;^jVj of yOL. 11. I CQXi'Scritttire. 114 ^Conference contribute to fupport it. If the Scriptures had been written by a Cabal of Men, who had defigned to have impofed upon the World, they would moft undoubtedly have u- fed all Circumfpedion and Caution, that nothing like a Contradidion iliould have appeared in their divers Rela- tions ; nay they would have contrived them to have been as like to one another, as two Tallies are. For nothing is wont to be fo exad: as a ftudied Cheat. And therefore it is a great Argument of the Veracity of thefe VVritei s, that they agree with one another fo uniformly in all principal Points, and negled an Exadnefs in fome little Pu-Millio's, which nothing but a Confederacy could have made them agree upon. All feem- 5. And even thefe fmall Difficulties, which you call ingContrci- ContradiElio72s, are very fatisfadorily folved by Chrijiian fhf"'l'^iT Writers, if you will but give youriclf the Pains to confult foi-veil. them ; either by fhev/ing the different Acceptation of the Words or Expreffions in the feemingly interfering Places, by fettling the Chronological Accounts, by comparing them with other Parts of Scripture, that have an Analogy with them, or by other good Rules of Interpretation and Criticifm ; which are wont to be unexceptionable in the Explication of all other Authors. There couU 4. And it is but reaionable to fuppofe that there fhould not but be ^e fome of thefe feeming ContradiUtons, if we confider the mCortra ^^^^"^^^^ Cuftoms and Ways of fpeaking, which were in dkiion'sari- ^^^ i" thofe former Ages, and which are now forgot j which fing from might determine the ExpreiTions of Scripture to a certain ancient Cn- Senfe, which for our Ignorance of them we cannot now joms. |-Q conveniently put upon them. So that fome Expreffi- ons, which are nov/ feemingly repugnant, m.ight be more eafily reconciled, if we were confcious of tliofe Ufages, to which one of them might probably metaphoricallj allude- Hebrero Befides, v/e know the Hebrew Tongue is a veiy narrow Tongue. Language, and one Word has fometimes a great many Sig- nifirarions, which, being put into Gree^ as in the JVew Tejiament, is fuppofed to retain all thofe Significations ffill; fo that \v hen tv/o Places are feem.ini^ly contradidory, they ciay frequently be made to agiee, by giving the fame Word Part 1 V. iv'ith ^7Thfist. liy Word one of its Significations in the firft Place, and ano- ther of them in its fecond. This does commonly enough happen in the Greek^invid. Lat'm^ and particularly in our , own Language ; and if we iliould be fo peevilhly critical, as fome Men are upon the Bible, there is hardly one Book whatfoever wrote, but fome fuch verbal Contradidions may be picked up out of it. Add to this, that Accounts of Time are fo difficult to chrondei be ftated, the fupernumerary Months of Kings Reigns do often puzzle the general Computattom, the numeral Figures are {o liable to be miftaken, and the JewiJJj Years do nor exadily quadrate with the Grecian, either as to their Length or their Beginning ; that it is no Wonder that in the Mid (l of thefe Dijfficukiesj there are to be found many fceming Repugnancies in the Chronology of Scripture. But this is no more than is oftentimes to be found in modern Hi" Jiories, and yet we do not pretend to take away the Credit of them upon this Account. Phil. I muft confefs Credentim, you have given foiti^ liot very improbable Solutions, to the Objedions we are' ufed to raife againft the Writings of the Bible, and I can-' not but own that thofe Books are not liable to all thofs Abfurdities, which are fometimes charged upon them^ But though you have pretty tolerably rubb'd oft thefe Imputations againft Scripture, yet ftill there is fomething fticks behind, and lies very hard upon my Mind, and that is the very great Mukitude of Objedions thefe Books are fubjeft to. When an Abundance of Imputations and hard Things are laid to a Man's Charge, though by the Dexterity of his Wit, or Luckinefs of his Circumftancesj he may chance to hit them all off tolerably well j yet ftill Men will be apt to fufped: fomething worfe of him, be-* caufe it is hardly fuppofable that fo great a Number of Al- legations ftiould never be charged againft one of a perfect Integrity. And in the like Manner I urge in the Cafe of the Holy Scriptures ; that though the ObjecTtions a- gainft thefe Books may be wiped off with tolerable So^ iHtions, which the Wit of Divines and prejudiced Chrifti- ans have put their Brains to rack to think upon for rhi^ I X Purpofei il6 /^CONFERFNCE Purpofe ; yet one cannot imagine why the Bible, of aft the Books in the World, fhould be mofl liable to thefe Exceptions. When I read a Piece of Livy or Florm, e- very Thing lies eafy upon me as I go, the Matters ofFdiy carry Probability with them, and the Argumenti Solidity ; and I am never troubled with thofe cumberfome Objed:i- ons, but at every Step, in reading the Bible, I am forced to ftand in Need of the Criticks to remove for me. This is a Thing I cannot tell what to make of; though I lliould not be able to convid thefe Writers of downright Fallity and Impofture, yet methinks if they had plain Truth of their Side, they could never be involved in fo many Difficulties and Perplexities. Cred. But if this be all which flicks with you, Philologusy I think I iliall be able to give you a fatisfadory Account, why the Holy Scriptures are more liable to Exceptions than other Books ; which I lliall ihew do not arife from the Fault of the Authors who compofed them, but from the neceffary Grcur/jjiance and Nature of thefe Writings, and the Paflions and Prejudices of Men. Smpture I. It is but veiy reafonable to fuppofe, that a Book writ- hnsjf. ore fen fo many Ages ago, fince which> all the Circumftances '^han\\'hr °^ "^^^ World have undergone fo mighty a Change ; a Boohs from Book Written in a Language, which bears fo little Analogy the/Ira, ii:_e-^ith thofe wc converfe in; a Book which delivers new nefj of the and many unheard-of Dodrines, which the World would \TJttn^''' be a Stranger to, without they were read here ; That ^^^ ' fpeaks of many mjjierious Points concerning the Divine Na- ture, and the furprizing Dijpen/ations of God's Providence ; Thar eives us an Account of a Spiritual Kingdom and ano- ther World, which in this imperfed State we can have no exaft Notices of Now I fay, It is but reafonable to fup- pof?, That a Book of this Nature fhould be more liable to DiJjicHlties and Exceptions, than one written after the ufual Way of Speaking on this Side the World, and which talks only o^ the ordinary Matters we ufually converfe about. Men cannot but now and then flick, upon framing their Minds to thefe lofty Ideas, and in bringing thefe unufual Expref- ilpns to the Level of our odiaaiy Languages. 2,. And Part IV. with (^ T H F. I s T. 117 2. And befides, there is another very good Reafon ^-'"^ '^- why, fometimes, there is more DiHicuity in coming to ^^'j'^'*'^"''' the Knowledge of fome Paflages of Scripture than of other J;,.^'^ ^^^'^'' Books ; which is the great Number of thofe who have commented upon this Book, and varioufly interpreted Places quoted out of it. For oftentimes Annotators upon Scripture, difcover too great a Vlimtj, in being defirous to find out fome new. Interpretation of a Text ; and others do falfely interpret it, to make good a fond Opinion, pr to fupport a Caufe. Now whereas there have been fuch a a World of Interpreters upon tlie Bible, more than upon any other Book, and the Pairiges of it are more diverfly explained ; it is but reafonable to fuppofe, That fome Men who have not the exadeft Jud';-"nents, when they have before them all thofe divers Explications, fhould be more puzzl'd in underftanding Scripture, than fome other Books. But however, the Fault of this is not to be charged upon the Holy Scriptui^es, but upon human Infirmity and Pafli- on ? And any other Book might be liable to the fame Misfortunes^ if it was placed in the fame Circumftances, and had fo many disagreeing Opinions, to rack and tenter the Senfe of it. 3 . And fo likewife, there is another very good Reafin ^j^°'^f'^f why v/e iliould exped, That there fhould be more Ob- ^fi-f.^.j jettions raifed againft the Authority of the Scriptural Books, Men to op- and the Dodrines contained in them, than are againft any /'"/■ '^ other in the World. Becaufe there is no other Author in the World, that it is fo many Men's Intereft to fmk the Credit of, as of the Bible. All the wicked Men in the World are of a Party againft thefe Writings, it is their Intereft to have them provd Impoftures, and then they think they can fm on fecurely. It is no Wonder, that lewd Men have no Set of Objedions againft the Books of Livy and Florn^, becaufe thefe Books are no Check up- on them, for their Drinking and Whoring ; but the Gof- pel, which fo ftridly obliges to Temperance and Ch^Jlity, and denounces eternal Damnation againft Drmkrnncfs and Adultery, muft needs have all the Wits of th;fe fenfual Wretches at Work againft it ; for their Confcienccs \vili I 5 ' iiever 5j8 ^Conference pever let them be quiet, either till they leave their Sins of - disbelieve the Bible ; the former they are refolved not to do, and therefore they fet all Hands amain to filli for Ar- guments to gain them the glorious Comfort of Infidelity, if the Bible had faid nothing againft their Sins, they would have had nothing to fay againft the Bible ; or if the Hi-^ ftory ofLivj or Floms did give alike Curb to Senfnality,they would not want fomething to fay to invalidate the Credit pf thofe Books ; they would quickly be ready to 'give out, that all that Roman Story was contrived by fome cunning E0ras or other, or fome pious Deceiver, to fupport there- by the Defigns of Prieftcraft, and to tyrannize over Men's Minds by bugbear Tales. And now, Philologtu, before I have done with you upon this Head, that 1 may engage you to a better liking of the Holy Scriptures, and to a more pleafurable reading of thofe facred Trads ; I would advife you to one or two Things, which, if, you and other Perfons of your Way would obferve, I am fure. That the Scriptures would ftand fairer in your good Opinions, than now they do. , ,. Firfi, I would advice you againft drolling and ridicu* wrs wonli hng Scripture. You ought to avoid this Pradice, only like Scrip- becaufe it is an Un-gentleman-like Quality , and makes you ture better guilty of a great deal of Rudenefs in {peaking contemptu- f ^'^^K oufly of thofe Writings, which all Chriftians, whom you tear Irol- ^^^e amongft, have the greateft Refpecl and Veneration for, Ih'gu^onit Why do not you make Refledions, upon the Reputation of the Fathers, and the Wives of the Gentlemen you con-^ veife with, as well as to make Sport with their Faith and the Dodrines of their Redeemer ; which to all good Men are equally dear with the other ? And I wonder, any P/lan that pretends the leaft to good breeding, ftiould be guilty of fuch barbarous Incivility, as to put a good Man's Soul to that Pain, which he fuftains at vour playing upon Cod's Word. But I muft further tell you, that by this Praiflice you put a plain Cheat ypon your own Judgment, and will pot {'c?^Qr ycuifelf to confider the Scripture, as it is in Itfelfj h\xi as you wantonly reprefent it i and, whilft you con- Part IV. zviih a TuvAST. tio continue to do fo, you are no more able to Judge of the Arguments and Style of Scripture, than a Man can judj^e of the Colours of Things, through a pair of red Speda- cles. For then you do not criticife upon the Scriptures, but only upon that awkard Thing that you are pleafed to drefs up for it. I pray. Sir, do you think, that any Man was able to judge of the Excellency of F'ir^il, by F'irgil in Travefiy ? Could any one find out the Perfecti- ons of that noble Poet, the Livelinefs of his Defcriptions, the Spirit and Propriety of his Speeches, and thofe con- ftant Rules of Decency, he, above moft other Writers, is obfervant of; by that ridiculous Figure, which that gal- lant Poem is moulded into, by the ingenious Burlefquer. What a wretched filly Thing does J^irgil's Hero appear, in that antick Drefs ? And the braVeft Character in the World, by the Means of that ludicrous Art, is turned into a mere Fool and a Monky. And it is ju ft the fame Thing, when you pick out Paffages of Scripture, and drefs them up after this Rate. Do you think, that then you can pafs a truejudgment upon them ? No, Sir, you only confider your own awkard Reprefentation, and fal- lacioufly perfvvade your Mind, to think the Scriptures as contemptible, as you have pictured them. The only Way to give them a juft confideration, is ferioufly to read them, and to let them fpeak their own Senfe, without any of fuch artificial Mimickry ; and then, I am fure, they will appear folid and reafonable enough, to all wife and well- difpofed Men. Secondlj, I would advife you to read the Scriptures, in if thy the original Languages they were written in ; and then 'ff:'^'^f^^^_ you will difcover a Number of Beaiuies in the Stile of ^y /,,^/ thefe Booksy which are hid from you now, and which Languages. will render the reading of them much more pleafant to you. Or however you fhould make yourfelf acquainted with the JeTi^ifi Cuftoms and Phrafes, by ftudying the Books of learned Hebrew Critkkl-, which will render the Ufages and ExpreflTions of that Nation more familiar to your Mind ; fo that by this yon will be better pUafedy with the AUHJiom and Phrafeologj of thefc facred Writings^ than you were before. I 4 Thirdly^ no A Conference If they Thirdly, To have a true Tafl;e of the Scripture Style, and '*""^' j J^'^^ to read it with the urmoft Agreeablenefs and Pleafure, you ^^ '■'*'' fhoiild take Care to praftice the Gofpel Virtues. It is im- poffible that a fincerely good Man, of any Perfuafion what- foever, fhould not reaa the facred Writings with fome Sa- tisfadion and Pleafure ; for let him be never fo much an Infidel to the Chrijlian Religion, yet, if he have a Mind truly vertuoHs and good, he cannot but be affeded here, with that Spirit of Piety and Love of God, with thofe noble Strains of Devotion and Zed for Virtue and God'i Honour, and with thofe excellent Rules for a Holy Life, which are not to be found in other Booki- No Man can be unaffed:ed at reading thefe Things in the/Zo/K Scriptures, but thofe who by an ill Life fliew they have no Value for them ; and I am confident Philologm, by as much Pagan Morality as I fee you to profefs, you cannot but fome- times, in your Mind, afford them fome Manner of 'E- fteem. But if you would proceed further in a Courfe of ChripanGoodneJs, if youv/ould come to pradice that Meek- nefs and Self-denial, that Forgivenefs of Injuries and loving Enemies, thofe frequent Returns of Devotion, that Cha- litablenefs to our Neighbour, that Contempt of the World, and the ardent Love of God which the Gofpel teaches ; you would think the Holy Scriptures, which in- force thefe Duties by the moft powerful Arguments, to be the moft delightful Book to read in the World. A pious Man's Soul will be inflamed with a fweet and moft pleafing Paffion, when he beholds fuch a lively Copy of thefe Virtues fet forth, in the Life of the blefled Jefus ; to read how meek he was under his Reproaches, how pa- tient under his Sufferings, and how fervent in his Devo- tions ; how zealous for God's Honour, how charitably good to the Diftreffed, and what a generous Lover of and a Benefactor to the Souls of Mankind. Such a Perfon, when he obferves what a Chriftian Bravery and noble Contempt of Death is to be found in the Lives and Wri- tings of the Apoftlesjwhat Qdmmble^rguments for 2goodLife, and the Sufferings for Chriffs Sake ', he cannot but feel his Soul warmed, and in a Manner tranfported, with an un- cxprefTible Part IV. whfj a Tuv.i ST. 121 expreffible Pleafure, far fuperior to any that is to be attain- ed, by reading the moft eloquent of the Heathen Booki* For thefc only pleafe the Fancy for a while, by an agree- able chiming of Words, and Turn of Thought ; but the other give us that folid Joy, and Satisfaction, which the Refledions of a good Conscience, and the Hopes of Hea- ven will afford. Of the Truth and Excellency of the Chrifliaii Religion. Cred, TXT' HAT is the Reafon of all this mufing, VV Philologm ? What terrible Objedions are ■we to be attack'd with next ? Phil. Why, truly, Credemimy I am ftudying what to fay further to you ; but you have beat me off from eve- ry hold, that I am at a Lofs, what Branch of Infidelity to lay hold upon at lafl. I am now neither Pagan nor Chriflian, my Soul hangs in a perfe6l ty£qHilibrmm ; it trembles fometimes to this, and fometimes to the other Side, and knows not where to fix. Add now but a lit- tle more Weight to turn the Scale, give me, I befeech you, but fome pofitive Proof of the Truth of Chriflia- nity, after you have fo fairly anfwered the ObjecStions a- gainfl it ', and then, my dear Credentm, I sm your Con- vert for ever. Oh ! Were it as much in my Power as I afti willing to be a Chriflian j I am throughly perfuaded, that there is that folid Comfort and Satisfadion in a true Chriflian Holinefs ; that to enjoy it I could be willing to be deceived into your Belief There is fuch a Peace- fulnefs and Serenity of Mind in living a Life of the flric- tefl Virtue, and fuch a ravifhing Delight in the Affu- rancc of everlafting Happinefs ; that I really would en- deavour to attain this Satisfadion, tho' there were nothing in it but the pleafing Phantafm and Delufion. Cred. God be thanked, that you are come to this Temper, and may the Grace of his Holy Spirit finilli the Work that is begun in you. If God of his infinite Goodnefs may haply make me arj Inflrument to your- '. • Good*' 122 ^Conference Good, I fhall think thefe Hours I have fpent in difcour- fing with you upon thefe Subjefts, the beft laid out of any Time of my whole Life. But there are fo many excellent Books already v/ritten upon the Subjeft you are now putting me upon ; that I think you had better have Recourfe to them for Satisfaction in this Matter ; and probably you cannot be a Stranger to their Arguments al- ready, only you w^ant, it may be, to confider them more attentively. Phil. I befeech you, my good Credemms, not to deny me this laft Requeft, as you have been already fuccefsful, I pray go on, to compleat your Conqueft over me. If you do not perfedly make a Convert of me now, I am ' in great Danger of relapfing, when my Infidel Acquain- tance have fprung new Scruples in my Head. As to the reading Books in Defence of the Chriftian Religion, I muft confefs to my Shame I have hardly ever read any ; iince I was fettled in Infidelity, I have always been afraid of luch Books, for Fear of unhinging my Mind, and making me not to be fuch a thorough-paced Unbeliever, as I was willing to be. And fince that Time my Trade has been, not to hear what has been faid for Chriftia- nity, but to pick up every Thing which can be faid a- gainft it. Cred. I am forry you have been driving fo ungodly a Trade, and I hope in God for the future, you will bet- ter employ thofe excellent Parts God has bleffed you with. Though by the Bye, I cannot but admire that your Gen- tlemen fhould think Infidelity fo fine a Thing, as to be afraid of lofing it ; and that they fliould talk fo much againft the Chriftian Religion, when they have never given themfelves the Trouble of underftanding the 'Grounds of it. But, fince you have laid this new Task upon me, I will endeavour to do you what Service I can; and will lay before you fome few principal Arguments, to fatisfy you of the Unreafonablenefs of your Unbelief of the Truth, and Excellency, of the Chriftian Religion. Argtiment Part IV. with ^Theist; 123 Argument I. It is no inconfiderable Argument, to prove the Unrea- fonablenefs of your Infidelity, and the Truth of that holy Religion you are wont to oppofe ; to confider the Sillinefs ^'''«w» of that Scheme of Principles, which you go upon. Were ^"'"/''•'^ ourChriftian Grounds fuch loofe and precarious Things, ^,r^e^e c/ as your Infidel ones are, what an Out-cry would you raife iifiM againft us ? But all your Contradidious Huddle of fanci- L'nnci[>les. ful Dreams and Surmifes muft be deemed, forfooth, not Belief, but good Senfe and Reafonings. I know it a fun- damental Article of your Religion to believe nothing, (that is) nothing which you don't believe ; but then you have a very long Creed of your own, made out of Mr. Hobbs's dogmatical Pronunciations, and Spinojas confident AfTerti- ons. You think it too great a ftrain for your Belief to own, that the World was made by the Creation and Con- trivance of a wife and good God ; but then you can eafily clofe with the Contradidious Hypothefes of atheiftick Philofophers, that this World is nothing, but God him- felf tumbled and tofled in Variety of Figures, and fepara- cromd- ted into fo many diverfe Parts as there are different mate- /./} o6Je- rial Beings; tho' at the fame time the Pains and ToWksy ^Hois of the Imperfeftions and Deformities of thefe Tilings (hew, that ■'^I''^^^^ '*' they can be no more but poor and dependent Creatures of ^^'^^,-^. an all-happy, impaflible, all-fufficient Being, who you have. ^,>y. Faith to believe is paffible by the meaneft Part of his Crea- tion. You cannot vouchfafe to believe the Scripture-Hi- ftory. That all Mankind have defcended within this fix thoufand Years from one Original ; but then you can cre- dit their impoffible AlTertion, that make the World eter- nal ; tho* 'tis plain it would have been over-flocked Mil- lions of Years ago ; and when you are urged with this Dif- ficulty, you can believe as many Plagues and Deluges to obviate this Objection, as you pleafe. Above all the things in the World you cannot believe a Miracle ', but you can believe, that this wonderful Thing which was thus in- dubitably aflferted, was done by fome uncommon Power of Nature; 124 y^ C O N F E R E N C E Nature ; that the lono Day in yoJJom's Time came to pafs by the Refradion ot the folar Rays ; and that the Blind and Lame in the Gofpel were healed ( and the Dead too, I fuppofe, raifed) by the Fancy of the Patients. You can- not believe that Chrift rofe from the Dead ; tho' he was talked to by fome, and handled by others, frequently con- verfed with by his Difciples, and viewed by 500 Chri- ■ftiansj many of which laid down their Lives for this Te- ftimony ; yet you can believe a fimple Jewifh Forgery, that his Difciples ftole away his Body from amid' ft the Guards ; tho' 'tis plain, the Day before they had not Cou- rage enough to ftay Vv'ith him at his Trial. It is too hard a thing to perfuade you, that the Mofaical and the Propheti- cal Books were written by thofe ancient Perfons, whom the Jewifh Nation, among whom the Authors lived, have always afcribed them to ; but you can believe that fome few atheijiical Criticks, who lived many thoufand Years af- ter, can affign them a i^etter Original ; and that Efdras, af- ter the Captivity, wrote all thofe Books, which the Jews thought were written fo long before ; partly to aggrandize the Office of the Priejihood, and the y^'ii'ip Race, and partly to exercife his Faculty of Writing. Their foo- And as you oppofe that revealed Religion, which we hfJiSche^ne profefs, bv fuch a filly and groundlefs Set of Suppofitions , '^ which no wile JVlan, upon conlideration, can alienc to ; fo you (hew as little Reafon in drawing out that Scheme of natural Religion^ which you pretend to advance in Op- pofition to the Chrijlians. You raife trifling Objedions againft our Saviours DoElrinesi but what do you fay to thefe extravagant Paradoxes and Irregularities in the Books and Lives of your Philofiphers-, that you fo much depend upon ? Can you find a compleat Rule of A4orals among them, whofe Lives were oftentimes an Habit of Lewd- nefs, and whofe Books flill will make us blufh ? You re- jedl the Splendor of Chrift ianity, which has brought Life and Immortality to Light ; and are content to take up with a miferable Uncertainty about a future State, de- pending only up3 1 flight Philofiphical Conje^uresy which after all have little or no Influence upon your Party ; but Part IV. Tvhh a T Bi,isr, iiy as I have heard thefn frequently affirming, that they be- lieved that their Horfes had as great a Share of Immorta- lity as themfelves. What is all your rational Morality ^ you are wont Ibmetimes to boaft your fclves fo of, but only a little vain, uncertain and partial Reafoning? What is that Principle of Honour which you fo much extol, but only an unregenerate Pride and a fcorning to do like the reft of the World ? With you Firtuopts, is nothing elfe but reputable, and what the Country and the Perfons you live among, efteem j therefore among Libertines you make no Confcience of being lewd, though you aie alhamed it may be to be knavifh ; and when you are out of the Eyes of Men, who might cenfure you for it ; you ftick not to defame or defraud, to ftab or poifon, or to commit a- ny of the moft execrable Villany, or Lewdnefs, that can be named. For in this Cafe the Spur of Rej)Htationy which is your only Motive, is gone ; and a Man may have the Credit of being VirtaoHs in the Eye of the TVorldy though he be never fo wicked in the Darlv. Drunkennefs is fre- quently among the Gendemen of your way reafoned in- to no Vice, becaufe it is a fociable and inoffenfivePleafure; and Whoredom is made blamelefs, for being but a Compli- ance with natural Inclination. Nay the moft abominable Lufts, which Chriftians muft not name, have their Ad- vocates for them among you. By the Help of your na-- tural Religiony you can find Reafons to flight and defpife your Wives, and advance young Whores over their Heads, for no other Reafon but that they are younger or hand- fomer; you can ^x\di Reafons to betray and undermine your Friendsy when Self-intereft comes in the way; and tojuf' tify the moft ungenerous Revenge and outragious Crueltyj becaufe Honour forfooth is refle<5ted upon. Now, I pray, Philolomsy conflder, if any reafonabk Man, upon feriom Thought, can take up with thefe Prin- ciples. Methinks it fliould be a moft convincing Argument of the Truth of our Religion, that Men, who are To ma- licioufly fet againft it fhould fo weakly oppofe it ; and that thofe, who are for pulling down Chrijiianity, are for ndvoKcing a Scheme of pretended Morality, which is made up ii6 A Conference up of nothing but Palli on, and Lewdnefs, and InconfiP tency. How can you in Juftice oppofe that Religion^ which you have nothing, or but the fillieft things, to fay againfl: ? How can you pretend to regulate your Prac- tice by thofe Principles, which open a Door to all the Villany in the World ? Moft certainly if our Religion was a Cheat, you would be able to find out fome flron- ger ObjeUiom to attack it with ; and if your Set of Prin- ciples were the true Religion, they fhould methinks gain fome holier Profellbrs, than moft of thofe are, who are wont to cry them up. Come, come, Philologus, don't impofe upon your felf any longer; it is eafier to believe the Chrtfiian Creeds than all thofe phibfiphicd Paradoxei and bantering Stuff, which the Infidels advance againfl , it ; but, as for the 'DoUrines which our Religion teaches, they tend to make Men ^W -^vAJober^ whilft yours are calculated only for the Ufe of Rak^s-i and Libertines. Phil. I am forty our Party fhould have given fo great Caufe for this Cenfure. But what is your next Argu- inent. Argument II. Dratstn Cred. My next Argument (hall be drawn, from the from the extraordinary Harmony of the Parts, of the Chrifiian Reli" cf the £^^^' There is hardly any Lye or Miftake, but what Tarts of has one Part of it clafhing and interfering with another^ chrifilani- and it feldom or never happens, that any thing but Truth ^* is folely of a Piece with it felf. Therefore it is a con- liderable Proofs that Chriftianity is no Forgery ; becaufe, among fuch Variety of Parts, fo much Hiftory, fo ma- ny moral Doftrines and Articles of Faith, there is no- thing to be found repugnant or contradidory. For, moft certainly, no Man ever told a Lie fo long as the whole Bible, but that he would contradi(5i: himfelf a hundred times over, and difcover many moft manifefl Marks of the Impofture. But when we further con- fider, what a wonderful Harmony runs thro' the whole Scheme of Chriftianity, and how furprizingly agree- abkf Part IV. wifh a Th^.ist, 117 able one Part of it is with another, to fuch a Degree, as is impoffible that the Wit or Subtilty of Man fliould ever contrive, this gives us perfed Demonftration of its divine Original, and does as ftrongly convince a confidering Man, that the Go/pel was taught by God, as he is perfuaded that the World was made by him. For as it is impoilible, that fuch a wifely contrived World could ever be made by any Thing but by an all- wife God ; fo it is likewife impoffible, that an Inflituti- on of fuch admirable Beauty, and Symmetry of Parts, as the Chriftian, fhould owe its Frame to any Thing lefs than the fame divine Wifdom. Should we grant you for once, that the Apoftles might invent fome few fham Sto- ries about Jefus Chrift his Birth and Refurredion, and feign fome wonderful Actions done by him ; yet it is as impoffible for them to have contrived the whole Scheme of Chriftianity, as it had been for them to have made the World. Here are an Hundred Things in this wife Difpen- fation, that furpafs all human Forefight and Capacity ; and we difcover many wonderful Correfpondencies in it, which it is impoffible that any Man before Hand could have thought of, had he been to have ereded fuch a Scheme ; unlefs you will fuppofe, that Men could com- bine together, who lived near two Thoufand Years afun- der. I will inftance, in fome Particulars, that you may clearly fee the Force of this Argument. There is an ex- traordinary Correfpondence in that Account, which the Chriftian Religion teaches, as to the Beginning and End of the World, That it fhould be made out of a Watery Chaos, and be deftroyed by a Conflagration of Fire. This muft needs be allowed to have a very rational, and philofophical Appearance, and curioufly of a Piece with it frlf ; nay it v/ould be a beautiful Scheme of the Afun- dan Revolution^ if it had been gueffed at only by any fin- gle Man's Thoughts ,' but yet it appears more divinely harmonious, and out of the Power of Man to contrive, when this Scheme was delivered by two feveral Men f^em- ingly of no philofophical Genius's ; one Part of it be- ing given by Mofcs, and the other by St. Peter, almoft "" two Il8 ^CONFERENCB two Thoufand Years after. You cannot but alloWj That there is a furprizing Correfpondence between thfi Predidions of the Old Teftament, and their Completi- ons in the New, and That it is a very extraordinary Thing, that fo many Prophecies, that were acknowled- ged by all the Jewijli Antiquities, to be Predi(5^ions of the Meflias, fhould all fo very luckily correfpond with the Aflions of Jefus Chrift, and no Body elfe. And you may likewife obferve how curioufly, by Degrees, the Gofpel Light is ufher'd in ; how the firft dawning of it breaks itfelf, though obfcurely, to the fallen Progenitors, and more clearly yet to the Patriarchs and Founders of the Jeivijl) Race ; how yet a greater Degree of Light does manifeft it felf to the later Prophets, ftill more and more, till the rifing of the Sun of Righteoujhefs himfelf, and the Gofpel was difplay'd in its Meridian Glory, in the Life and Dodrines of our bleffed Lord. It is extraordinary furprizing, that the old ceremonial Law fliould bear fuch an exaft Correfpondence with the Gofpel ,• that thofe un- couth ritual Ufages fhould for many Ages have no tole- rable Account given of them, and yet upon the Appear- ance of Jefus Chrift, Men might perceive that his Life and Dodlrines were fuch, that thofe Ceremonies did as exadly prefigure them, as if one would have invented Hierogliphicks purpofely to reprefent them. How excel- lently of a Piece is the Fall of Man by Adam, related in the Hiftory of the Creation, with the Redemption of him by Chrift, as it is fet forth in the Hiftory of the Gofpel ? So that thefe Things could not more exadly correfpond, if A^lofis and the Evangelifts had caballed to- gether to draw up the Scheme, Now from whence can you fiy proceeds all this fuprizing Harmony, of which you cannot give a like Inftance in the World ? You do not fee any Thing like this in the Hiftories of Herodotus and Livy, or any other Hiftorical Relations. But you may plainly fee, that there is the fame Thought and De- lign runs through the Old and New Teftament, and that ?very thing feems to be manaf»ed by one general Con- nivance; 6 that wbofpev^jT haq § Han^ in the j^Jethods sf_ Part IV. with <7 T HEIST. no of the Gofpel, had the greateft Share in the old Law and Prophets too. Therefore you muft grant one of thefe two Things, either that the Apoftles invented the Mofaical Law, and all the Old Teftament as well as the Chriftian Religion, which will be a little too bold for you to aflert ; or elfe that the all-wife God was the Author of both thefe Inftitutions, the latter of which was prefigured by the former ; that it was he that made the Predidions and the Completions fo admirably agree ; that he occafi- oned all thefe furprizing Analogies and Similitudes for the Confirmation of our Faith, and fuited every Thing in the moft curious Harmony thi'oughout the whole Dif- penfation of Providence, from the Fall of Man to his Redemption, from the making to the burning of the World. Add to this the harmonious Correfpondence between the exterior Parts of Chriftianity, how aptly all Things therein are contrived j a Baptijm to initiate into the Com- munity of Chrift's Church, and Excommumcatton to ex- pell out of it ; the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, to commemorate, and to convey the Benefits of his Pa{fion> and Ahfilntion to reftore fallen Chriftians : BiJJjops to over- look the Flock, fubordimte Paflors to feed it, and Deacons to perform other Offices in the Church. Add farther the Dodrines of Chrift's SatisfuBion and Intercejjion for the Pardon of Men's Sinh and the hearing their Prayers ; a future jHdgment of Men's Adions in this World ; and in the next the Recompenfe oi Eternal Glory for the Good, and Damnation for the Bad. Such an admirable Sclieme of Religion as this, is not only impollibje to be invented by a few poor unlearned Fifliermen, but does furpafs the Capacities of the greateft Wits and Scholars in the World to put together. The Hypothefes of Plato and Ariflotle, and thofe other famous Sages among the Heathen, are poor mifcrable incongruous Stuff in Refped of this noble Inftitution ; and are as inferior to it, as the little Feats of Art to the wondrous Works of God and Nature. Phil. I confefs there is a great Deal of Uniformity ob- ferved in the whole Bufmefs of our Redemption ; but VOL. IL K why 1 2 o /^ C o !s r ?. R I' ^ c E why might not this Scheme be wrought into this Order by Degrees, and why might not the Difciples feign the Aftions of Chrift to be fuch as the yeiPs expeded thofe of the A4ejjias to be, from the Types and Prophecies in Scripture. Cred. To this I anfwer, Philologm, that this Scheme of Chriftianity could never grow into this beautiful Order> by the Cafualty of new Additions. Such a Contrivance might make perhaps juft a tolerable Appearance, but could never difplay fuch a charming Regularity, as our Religion does. That would look juft like a Houfe patch- ed up by Degrees at different Times ; where all the Art imaginable cannot hide the Deformities : whilft the whole Draught of Chriftianity does refemble a beautiful Strudure raifed at once, where every Thing is adapted with Order^ Decency, and Defign. As for what you objed farther, that the Apoftles feigned the Adions of Chrift, corre- fpondent to the prophetical Predictions j pardon me, if I fay* this is a very filly Suppofition. For the Apoftles mighc JK well have forged thofe Prophecies as the Aftions of our Lord ; for thofe Adions of Jefus Chrift were alto- gether as well known to the Jewifl^ Nation, as the Pro- phecies themfelves. For how could they forge his Mira- cles, which fo many Thoufand Jeivi had fenfible Expe- rience of, and of which his Enemies were fo convinced, that they attributed them only to a diabolical Caufe \ How could they feign the Manner of his Death, when he fo often told his Followers, that it was the Will of God, that he ftiould die, and fliew'd by what Kind of Death he fliould lay down his Life for his Flock j when he was condemned to be crucified by a Roman Judge, and died in the Face of almoft all the y^22^//Z? Nation, at their great Confluence to the PafTover ? Nay, all the Adions of Chrift were fo remarkable, that it was im- pofTible, that the Apoftles could frame a Hiftory about nim, which was not true, at a Time efpecially, when fo great a Part of the Jeivs knew what he did, as well as they. Vhtl Part IV. whh a Thfist. X2i PhiL I thank you for this Information, and I defire you would proceed to your next Aigument. Argument III. Cred. My next Argument is drawn fiom the fpeedv ^ Progrels ot Chriitianity, notvvirhitanding the many Dif- reat ir- ficulties it had to encounter with. If I had no orhcr :.refs of Argument, for the Truth of the Chriftian Religion, but "^^'■'r'^'^-'y this of the mcredible Progiefs of ir, againft all Oppofi-''''^'^*"''''^* tion ; I could not but think it to be from God, who alone could procure it fuch an unparallerdSiiccefs. Do you confider with your felf how miraculcufly it look;, That i z poor Mechanicks fhould difpafe themfelves inro different Parts of the World, to prea*.h an unh?ard of Religion, con- trary to the Laws eveiy where eftablilh'd, and even to IVkn's natural Appetites and Inclinations i and yet that this Grange Religion lliould fo every where prevail, that within twen- ty or thirty Years after Chri{l':> Afcenlion, it Ihould have footing in all the principal Parts of the Roman Empire ; That Churches of it ihould be fettled, not only at ye* rnjalem, but at Antioch, Smyrna-, Cormh^ Eph^fiu, Atex- mdria, and even at Rome itfelf. A few Years afcrr we find a greater Increafe ; for in Trajan s Time, and in Bi' thynia, one of the more obfcure Parts of the Roman Em- pire, the Chriftians were grov^n fo many, \\\2.iPltnv, the Proconful, was forced to write to the Emperor to know what to do with them. Fifa efl mihi res digna coiifultc.' tione maxime yr after tericlit ant turn niultitudincm, (^c. It feems to be a Thing "ivorthy of Conjkltatlon ; ejpcciallj tj Rca* Jon of the great Aiultitude of thofe "who are in Danger, For many of every Age and every Order-, and both Sexes, are and will incur the Danger of being Criminals. For the Contagion of the Chriftian Super/lition has not only ran thro' the Cities* but infixed Towns and tillages and Farms. The Templci of *he Gods are almofl dcfoLitc., our mo^} folemn Kites are o- mitted, and the Augms of Sacrfcei are hut a. very few *, * Ir n Lib. i . Tcvtul. Adv. Jud. K z Now A Conference Now this dreadful Complaint, by x}i\\s Heathen Gentleman i of the mighty Increafe of the Chriftians was not much above threefcore Years, after Chrift's Afcenfion. But in the next Age, the Apologifts glory, that Chriftianity was fpread to the remoteft Corners of the World, among the Indians, ManritanianSy Getalians, Spaniards and Britains ; among the Sarmatians, the Daci, the Germans, and the Scythians. And Tertullian does, in particular, brave the Hea^ then, with the incredible Succefs of Chriftianity. Hejier- nijumus & vcjlra omnia implevimus, ZJrbes, Infitlaiy Cajlel- Li, Aiunicipia, Conciliabula, Cajlra ipfa, Tribus, Decurias, Palati- ttm, Senatum, Forum. Sola vobis relinqmmm Templa. Wc arc but of Tejicrdajs Growth, and yet "we are fo numerous as to fill all the Places which you call yours : We fill the Cities f the I/lands, the Cafiles, the Burrows, the Counfels, the Camps themfelves ; the Tribes, the Decuri,„. ten defend and keep up the groffefl: Errors, and retard the Progrefs of the Truth, even againft the Endeavours of thofe of equal Qualifications ; but that thefe wife and learned Men fhould fuffer their Country-Religion, every where, to be run down by jn idle Story, and not be a- ble, by all their Parts and Learning, to fupport it againft the Attacks of a few Fifhermen j and that there fhould be nothing elfe in this but pure Chance, is what a pru- dent Man can never believe. Or if we confider, 2. The Secular Pmver, by which the other Religions, which secular Chriftianity prevailed againft, were eflablifhed. The^""'*''- Laws and Government, in favour of any Opinion, are a mighty Support to it ; for thefe in mod Parts of the World are fufficient, we find, to uphold the filliefl Su- perditions, againft Truth and Reafon. Then how cap we think, that thefe ftiould lofe all their Efficacy, upon the preaching of the Gofpel, by meer Chance ; and that Men ftiould fuffer their own Country Religion to be neglefted, and a foreign one embraced, and all the Power and Policy, they could employ, ftiould not be able to hinder it. And this is yet more incredible to think, if ; we confider 3. The Prejudice Men muft have againft p„,«j,V,. fuch a new Religion. If God Almighty had not af- fifted the Apoftles Preaching, the very Biafs upon Men's Minds, in favour of the refpecflive Religior|s they had been educated in, would have kept them from embracing K 3 Chrifti- 1^4 y^CoKFERFNCE Chriftianity j for, though you may fuppofe fbme few JVIen to be of free Thoughts, and more difinterefted Af- fedicns yet when you ccnlider, what ftrong PrepofTef- fions Education lays upon cur Souls you cannot but own, when whole Cities and Countries all on a fudden fnou Id throw aiide their mofi: ancient, fplendid, and fa- cred Rites they had been bred up to, for a defpifed new Religion, thar there muft be the Finger of God inter- pofing in fuch an unheard of Event, and over-ruling IVl^n's Pallions in Subordination to his moft wife Purpofe. Which Aigumfnr is yet more convincing, if we confi- der how this Prejudice was heightned, by rhe Severity of that R-'ligion tl.ey were to embrace ; whfn the Con- ve'-ts mild not but know, that they kft an eafy and pom- pous Rel'gicn that was calculared to gratify Men's Pride andLuxuiy, and all oi her carnal Affections, for one that obliged them to mortify their dearefl: Lufts, and often- times to deny themfelves the craving even of innocent Dwf res ; and yet, lor all this, that fo m.any Myriads of People fhould quit this eafy and fcnfual Sarisfadiion, for the Rigor of the ancient Chriflian Difripline, and the Seveii'y of our Lord's Precepts, is a moft amazmg Thing to rifle(?l upon. 4. So we cannot but own the fame Power of God in the Progrefs of Chriftianity, when we T erje cut! cr. look upon ihc Pcrfcutiom the firft Propagators and Pro-» fefTors did encounter with. It is impoflible, that Im- poftors could ever have had the Courage, to have under- gone thcfe cruel Suiferings which the Apcftles and pri- mitive Chridiansdid, thofe Crucifixions, Burnings Broil- ings, Divulfions of their Limbs, and other moft horrid Toitu-es which their Perfecutors lludied to invent; thefe would quickly have m.ade any Falfificators to I'uive owned their Chcnr, and indeed would have put a Stop to any new Sed whatfoever, but that which God Almighty .was refolved to keep up. 5. But the Progrefs of the Gof- Kotwh'h- pel appears yet more miraculous, when we c^nfider the j^r.iU'g Aieann^fs of the Propagators. It would not have been fo e"/c/'^^r ^''"^ ^ Wonder, if the Apcftles had been the wifeftand jrofi^r^. learnedft Men in the World; for then the Strength of tc/s. ^ their Part IV. whh ^ T h E i s T. 1 3 j their natural Parts, and the Advantage of their Studies might have born down weaker People's Underflandings, and manag'd them at their Plcafure : But it amazes one to think, that fuch mean illiterate Perfons that never had fo much as the Advantage of their own Country Learning, Ihould confound the Philofophy of the more refined Parts of the World ; that whereas the moft celebrated Sefts of the Philofophers had continued many Ages and yet were confined within a very fcanty Number of Dilciples, not- withftanding the Greatnefs of their Parts, and the Depth of their Learning, Thefe poor Men fhould draw all the World Profelytes after them, and make Men Difciples of the Chriftian Phibfophy wherever they came. If ever there was an Intervention of the divine Power in human Affairs, it was here, when Ignorance and Simplicity had not only the Advantage of, but did triumph over all the Wit and Learning in tlie World. Phil. But methinks. Sir, this Argument is not fo very • , conclufive as you imagine; for Mahomet amfrn and Qua' ker'tfm fpread very largely in a very little Time, and yet you will not allow the Affiftance of the divine Power in thefe Inftances ; or however, if you will admit it in fa- vour of the Quaker, you will not compliment the Turk fo far. Then why might not the Sed of the Chriftians be as lucky as thefe ? Cred. As to the Proprefs of Mahomet anifm. That pro- ceeded upon Methods, perfeftly different from thofe of _ Chriftianity. It is no great Wonder, that Mahomet fo ^l°^ll^J widely extended his Religion, when he taught it with ^^,;,-/;„ „^ Sword in Hand, and haa Power to make the poor con- vwdld. quer'd Wretches fay, they would be of any Religion he had a Mind they lliould ; but there lies the Miracle ia the Propagation of Chriftianity, that it was carried on with all the Meeknefs and Peaceablenefs imaginable, with- out the leaft Sedition or Tumult, only by a gentle Per- fuafion of Men's Minds and a Converfion of their Hearts, whilft all the Force and Power, which were employ 'd to fapport the Mahometan Impofture, were turned again ft this holy Inftitution. Add to this, that Mahomet (ottfm K 4 ^i but that his Omnipotence, Juftice, Mercy, (^r. lliould be more truly taught, and, as far as is poffible, more juftly explained, than in the Books of the raofl thinking Philofopher.'' What Reafon can you give, why Chrifti- anity fhouid exhibit fuch a fatisfadory Account of the Corruption of human Nature, by its Defcent from a depra- ved original Stock, v/hen the greateft Part of the World either never obferved this Truth, or thofe Philofophers w ho did, gave fuch lame and pitiful Explanations of it .'' Does it not feem wonderful to you, that this Religion ihould afford fuch a rational Account of the Redemption of a depraved and (inful World ; whereby the Honour of the Divine Jufi ice might be fecured by an infinite Satis- faction, and God's Meicy likewife be extended to the forfeited Souls of offending Mankind ? Mofl certainly^ if you did not know how thefe noble and rational Truths were firft taught, you would fay, that they ow'd their Original to the wife.O: Philofopher in the World, who had out-done all who had gone before him. But when yoa confider, that thofe Truths were either firil: taught, or wifely woven into his Religion, by fuch an obfcure Perfon as Jefus Chrifl appeared to be; and who chofe for his Scholars, to teach thefe Truths to, only a few poor Tifliermen : It is impoffible that thefe Dodrines could be owing to the human Reafoning of thefe ordinary Men, but only to the Infpiration of God, who raifed their Thoughts above thofe of the greateft Philofophers. And* by the fame Reafon too, it is manifeft. That the Mofaical Writings, and the other fcriptural Books owned by the ChriftiaBS, Part IV. "With .%T HEIST. 151 Chriftians, where mnny of thcfe Truths are originally taughr, were infpired by God ; becaufe the wircft: hu- man Writers, with all their Learning and Application, could never arrive to the Knowledge of the like Truths. 2. This Argument will be yet more ftrong, when ^'■^^'"^' you confider the more pra-5tical Dodrincs of the Chri- ftian Religion. Does it not amaze Men of your Princi- ples, when you confider, that fuch mean Men as thefe, fhould deliver fuch a Syftem of praftical Rules, as the World was never acquainted with before ; and which fliould as much exceed all theEchicks, even of fhe Stoicks thcmfelves, as the Light of the Sun does the Twinkling of the Stars i* What can you think, when you fee thele Men alone teaching t':at admirable Virtue of Hftmiliij, ■which curbs Men's bold afpi ring Spirits, fweetens a haugh- ty and turbuienr Temper, and gives them an obliging Air of Modefty and Compliance ; whilfl the Books of your Philofophers are calculated, only to infpire P>len with Pride and Arrogance, to vaunt themfelvcs upon im.agi- nary Virtues, and haughtily to defpife the reft of the World ? How come thefe Men to lay down fuch excel- lent Rules for the Peace and Quiet of Mankind, for bear-f ing v/ith one another's Faults, for forgiving Injuriesi for patient fuffering of Affronts, and for loving Enemies, and themfelves to tranfcribe all this into their own Prac- tice ; when neither the Books, nor the Lives of the Phi- lofophers, came up to this Charader? How come they to be more conlidering, than all the reft of the World, or that our Saviour Chrift fliould be the flrft Legiflator or Founder of a Religion, who iliould go about to ob- viate the Inconveniencies of Polygamy, and Divorce ? Where do ycni find the true Ufe of the Paflions fo ex- adly ftated, as in their Writings, where neither Anger is abfohrely forbid, nor Anger without a Caufe is allowed? If the Chriftian Philofophy was not infpired into thefe Men, how could they poffibly ftate this Point better than the Anjiotelians^ or the Stoicki ? The Philofophers, and mioft celebrated Legiflators, thought it enough to per- fuade M;n to refrain from vicious Adions j but why L 4 fliould 15a A Conference fhould our Saviour, and his Apoftles, go fo much be-i yond this, as to forbid all Ads of Concupifcence and unlawful Defires ? Is it not very much, that amidft all the Study of Morality by the Heathen Philofophers for fo long a Time, and am.ong all the 6ne Things they faid upon it ; that none fhould be the Author of fo ufeful a Precept, as that of our Saviour, Whatfoever ye 7vpuldthat JUicn jjjotild do unto jou, that jhallye do unto them ? It is true, there are a great many excellent moral Truths, fcat- tered abroad in the Books of Philofophers, fome perhaps in Platoy fome in ^rijiotky and others in Epi^etus or Plu-' tarch : But for a compleat Syftem of Morality, I defy you to find it any where, but in the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift. Nay, thefe Philofophers, if they were right in managing one moral Point, they were wrong in another ; the Platoniflsy Stoicks, Peripatetickl and Epicureans were all gailty of fome very notorious, and fome very wicked Errors ; but for a true Orthodox unexceptionable Morar lity, without any manner of Fault, which the impartial Reafon of Mankind mufl: for ever affent to; the New Teftament was the firft Book, that ever taught it in the iWorld. What can you fay to thisi* Was this pure Chance, that thefe illiterate Mechanicks outdid all thefe Se(9:s of Philofophers .'' You may as well fay, that a Man by Chance might write a better Book of Geometrical Elements, than Euclid's ', for thefe Philofophers ftudied as much for their Books of Morality, as for thofe they ■wrote in Geometry. Now that thefe ftudied elaborate Books fnould be far exceeded by the extemporary Preach- ing of fuch mean Men as the Apoftles, this is perfed; Dcmonftration of the miraculous Affiftance of God, who muft divinely infpire thefe Truths into their Minds, which it is impoffible, that otherways they could ever have thought of. If there were no other Proof of the Divine Authority of the Chriftian Religion, methinks this were enough to convince any reafonable Man of it. 3 . But we may urge this Argument yet homer upon you, by putting you in mind of thofe excellent Motives which the Founden of Chriftianityhave pre^ribed, to excite Part IV. 'is'jith /xTheist. 155 excite our Praftice to theDodrines they lay down. What poor mean Motives to the Pradice of Morality were thofe, which the Heathen Philofophers advanced ? Tliey tell us, that we ought to be good and virtuous, becaule Virtue is (o beautiful a Thing. And what one Man, a- mong a hundred, is to be convinced by this Argument.^ The vulgar Part of Mankind, and even the Generality of other People, are not of fuch a generous Frame of Soul, as to have any great Regard to this Bravery of Vir- tue; neither have they Leifure or Capacity to obferve that Order and Comelinefs v/hich di/plays it felf in vir- tuous Actions; or, if they had, the Pleafures of Senfe carry a ftronger Byafs with them, and turn their Minds with much greater Facility, than fuch fpeculative Noti- ons poiTibly can. What does it fignify only to talk of the Beautifulnefs of Virtue to a young Man, who is in- clined to Vanity and Luxury .'' The ftrong Impetus of his Paffions, and the boiling of his youthful Blood, will overpower all fuch philofophical Reftridions, and he "will never balk a fenfual Satisfadion, in Compliance with a grave Thought. Now this Defed of the old Moral Principles, Ariflotle was very fenfible of, and therefore he in his Ethicks declares, that young Men are not proper Auditors or Students of the moral Philofophy. But thofe Motives, which the Chriftian Religion lays down, are fitted to work upon all Ages of Men ; the Fears of Hell can chill the young Voluptuary's Blood in his luftful Defigns, and the Hopes of Heaven do often make Men, in the Bloom of their Youth, to defpife all the giddy Vanities of this World. Now unlcfs God Almighty jdid aflift the firft Propagators of this Religion, how is it poffible, that Men of their Figure lliould, likewife in the Motives to a virtuous Life, out-do the wifeft Mora- lifts among the Heathen ? How fhould they underftand human Nature better than thofe Men who laid out fo much Time in ftudying it ? Till you can give a fatif- fadory Reafon for all this, which 1 am fure it is impof- fible for you to do, you muft allow. That God afford- ed thefe ordinary Men fuch a Share of thq divine Wif- -- — - - - dogj, TromChri- Jlianity co}}iparcd vpith the falfe Reli- gions. 15^ A CoNFEHENCE dom, as made their Morality, in all its Parts, infinitely to exceed the wifeft Le'ftures of the Porch ^6. i\\tLjceHm, Phil. I confefs I have nothing to fay againft this, and I cannot bear up againft the Strength of fo cogent an Argument. But I p]ay. Sir, go on. Argument VII. Cred. If the Chriftian Religion were fuch a Sham or Impofture, as your Party would have it, why fhould it not difcover thofe Abfurdities which all other falfe Reli- gions do \ If Chrift and the Apoftles had only put a Trick upon the World in this Inftitution, why fliould they not fall into as much Folly, and Ridiculoufnefs, as 3II other Impoftors? For I defy you to fliew me any falfe Religion, that is, or has been in the World, but what hath many Things fo foolifli in it, that it is not only impolTible to come from an All-wife God, but does difcover the Weaknefs of thofe Men who firft con- trived it. For your Counterfeits are for the moft part ordinary and illiterate Men, and thofe not of the ftrongeft Heads ', they generally want clofe Thought and Contri- vance to make Matters hang together, and for this Rea- fon they are guilty of fo much Sillinefs, as to be difcerned in their Impoftures. heathen Now this is evidently to be difcovered in the old Hea- Keligion. then Religion, which was made up of a Parcel of idle Stories, for the moft part coined at firft by fome filly Priefts, and Poets in the Infancy of the Grecian State, though afterwards advanced to be the Religion of the greateft Part of the Roman Empire. But yet, for all this, nothing can appear more wretchedly ridiculous and ab- furd, tnan this Religion. Can any Thing be fo foolifh, as- to load the Divine Nature with fo many Crimes and Imperfedions, as the Heathen Theology does ? To make one God, and that the fupreme God too, an Adulterer, and another a Pimp; one Goddefs a Scold, and another a Whore; to ftock Heaven with Strumpets, and Sodo- mites, and Drunkards, and Baftards i, to make their Dei- ties fighting and quarrelling, diffembling and lying ; to be Part IV. iso'ith n^T HEIST. 155 be lame, and blind, and old, and wounded. Can any Thing be more ibolifh tlian the Stories '\v\ their Theor gony; of their Gods not only getting Children like Men, but eating them like Cannibals ,• their Battels with Titans and Gyanrs, and their running out of Heaven for Security upon Earth ? What wretched filly Stuff is the Hiftory of their Demi-Gods, or Hei-oes ; of Perfeusy Thefem, Orpheus^ and all the other contradidious Tales, you read in Ovid's M'etamorphojis, which is notliing elfe bur a Compendium of the Heathen Divinity ,'' And fo likewife, if you take a View of the falfe Reli- Mnfiotn^" girn propagated by Mahomet, ir is full of nonfenfical Ab- ''*"' fuidiries. What ftrange Stuff do we find in the Alchoran, about the Angel of Death, whofe Head is fo big, that from one Eye to another is a Journey of a thoufand and feventy Days;/ of the Angels in the fixth Heaven, one of which has feventy thoufand Heads, and as many Tongues; of the Cow which fupporrs the Earth, which has four hundred Horns, and from one Horn to the other, is a Journey of a thoufand Years ; of the Angels which fup- port the Throne of God, that have Heads fo big, that a Bird cannot fly from one Ear to the other ; of the Key of the Treafury of one o^ Mofes's Subjeds, which was {o big, that it weighed down a Camel; of the Wives and different Shapes of Angels, fome of which are like Men, others like Horfes, Bulls, Cocks, &c. of the Devil's re-, fufing to rife up to God Almighty, becaufe he was of a fiery Nature, and from thence God laying upon him the Curfe of being the Tempter of Men; of the true Num-r ber of Sleepers, and whether the Dog was one, and the like? _ Or if you look upon the Superftition of the Brofnhjf, Braminx, which obtains among the Eajl-Indian Idolaters, you will find the like ridiculous Fooleries. You will fee them wedded to a filly Superffition, which confifls only in fome fanciful Abflinences and Humours ; in not daring to touch a Piece of Silver or Gold ; in taking their Fooa only out of earthen Velfels ; in (trolling about all their J-ife long as Vagabppdsj or elfe fhutting themfelves up in hollow 156 A Conference hollow Trees or Caves ; with other ridiculous Stories of Tranfmigratjon of human Souls, upon which Opinion fome will not dare to pluck up a Root out of the Earth, left they fhould feparate a Soul from the Body; of the Sun's being to have at laft feven Eyes, which will burn up the Earth, out of the Afhes of which, two Eggs will arife, producing Male and Female for the peopling the Earth again ; and laftly, of the two moft deadly Sins, which are of all the moft unpardonable, to kill a Bramint or lie w ith his Wife. Which laft foolifti Caution, Ma- homet likewife wove into his Impofture, pronouncing a double and treble Damnation to his Wives, who ftiould fuifer themfelves to be abufed, and to thofe who abufed them. Traditions '^^V' ^^^" thejeivs themfelves, when they vary from cfthe Tal- their Revelation delivered to them in the Old Teftament, »?« and all my Doubts are vanifhed. Argument IX. "^rom the Cred. If this be all that fticks with you, I will endea- iroof of vour to remove this Difficulty, probably to your Satisfac- ^%l^^ tion ; and which will ferve too for a farther Argument of t^ght mi the Truth of Chriftianity. As for the Diftance of Time, iild. which you are fo much afraid of, it fignifies very little ; for we may have now as clear Proof of thofe Matters fix- • teen hundred Years after the beginning of Chriftianity. as we might have had but an hundred. For if Men, who lived within an hundred Years or lefs after the Apoftles, did carefully examine thefe Matters, having Opportunity and Capacity to do it, and after having fo done did acquiefce in the Truth of them ; we at this Diftance have as little Rea* fon to doubt of them, as if we had examined them our felves. It is plain, that the main of the Chriftian Reli- gion, or at leaft as much as the Infidels concern themfelves with, has continued the fame for many hundred Years laft paft. We find the principal Articles of Faith and Dodrine, the fame in the Books of the School-Divines, and before them in the whole Body of the GreekjxiA Latin Fathers, up to the firft Ecclefiaftical Writers. But for the prefent, we will ftop at St. Iremus, who flouriftied before the Year 170, that is fomewhat above an hundred Years after Chrift's Afcenfion. Now *tis plain, that the main Points of Chriftianity believed and taught in Irenntuss Time, were the fame as are now. He fpeaka . there of Three Perfons of the Trinity, Lib. i. Caf. a* . £rf^. 4. C<4p. 2^, 57. Of the Divinity and Eternity o£i. Part IV. with a T h e i s t. i6t the Word, Lit^. i. Cap. ip. Lik i. Cap. i8. Of the Condemnation of all Mankind by j4dams Sin, Lib. 5, Cap. 30. That to redeem Mankind thus loft, it was requilite that the Word fliould be made Fleili, by the Merits of whofe Palfion all Men might be faved, Lib. 3 . Cap. 16, 20, 22. That good Men fhoiild be eternally happy in Heaven, Lib. 5. Cap. 51. and wicked Men for ever puniihed, Lib. 4. Cap. 47. That Men's Bo- dies fliall arife at the laft Day, Lib. 5. Cap. i6. He o^^^'ns all the four Evangelifls, and rejeds all the fpurious Gofpels, Lib. 5. Cap. ii. He throughout his Book, fpeaks of the Gofpel Virtues like other Divines, and quotes other Books of Scripture, appealing to them as a divine Authority, after the fame manner as we would do now. Therefore in Irenxm^s Time, Chriftianity was juft the fame I'hing as it is in ours. Now the Queftion. is, whether IremHs had good Grounds to believe this Religion, or whether he was not impos'd upon, and made to believe a Cheat. But the C\m'id:Qv o^ Iren^us is fo' cohliderable, that you can by no Means fufpecl the lat- ter. He was a Man of very good Senfe and great Learning, (as appears by this Treatife againft the Herefies, and his moft judicious Epiftle to Pope VtHor) and therefore could not be impofed upon by any idle Storie*^, which he would take up without Examination j and his Circum- ftances were fuch, that he might very well examine all Matters relating to the Apoftles. For Irenaus was the Scholar of Poljcarp, who was the Difciple of St. yohn-, and who converled with other of the Apoftles ; as he him- felf records in his Book of Herefies, Lib. 3. Cap. 3. but is more particularly fet down in his Epiftle to Flori- nus the Marciome, as it is inferted in the id Book of Eufebius's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory. The Pallage is very remarkable, and therefore I beg leave to repeat it entire to you, in his own Words, t tur« ris «Jiyiw,«tT5f , Thcfe Opt' nions (fays he to Flortfim) the Presbyters who were before ttSy and^who conveys' d with the ylpoflles, did not teach. For J ftw yoHt vAjilJl I was yet a Lad, in the lower K^n with Poly carp, behaving your fdf very well in the Palace^ and VOL. IL M endeavour- l52 ^CoNFER-KNCEl endeavoHring to do what ivaspleaftng to him. For I hettcf remember theje Things-, than thoje which happened Jince* For what we learn when 7ve are Bojs, increases together with the Souly and is united with it. So that I am able to tell the verj Place, in which the blejfed Poly carp was wont to Jit and difcourfe, his Way of coming in and going out, the Character of his Life, and the Shape of his Body ; what Difcourfes he made to the People, and the Converja- tion, he faid, he had with St. Jolin and with others that hadjeen the Lord, and how he rememhred their Difcourfes i what they faid concerning the Lord, concerning his Mira- cles, and concerning his Doftrine, according as Poly carp received them from thofe, who had been the 'Af's6,1.» or Eye-witneffes of the Word of Life; Jo he related all thefe Things ly material not to be convinced> as * Second Thorrgk}, Fp. Dcd, p, 4. f Ib.F.p.Ded p. 3. 4-p. 4- in m iy4 -^Conference in the Cafe of Demetrius, vjho made Jilver Slirines for the Goddefs Diana. Ad. 15. 24. There the current of Objiinacy runs jirong, and the Prejudice is not only carried on by the Principles of Education, but is heighten- ed alfo by a freJJj addition of Self-interefi. But, tho' I am inclined to pay thefe Gentlemen all the Defe- rence their Charafter requires, yet I cannot think my felf obliged to foUow them, and their Authorities from the ancient ^ Fathers, whoje Scrutinies in the My- fieries of Religion, as appears by their Writings, is very fuperficial, rejolving them into implicit Faith, where the Difficulties feem too knotty for their Apprehenjion. But after all, Philologus, I proteft to you, I have nothing in my View but an honed Defign, and if I know my felf, I am of an humble and teachable Temper. / do ajfure you, upon the Faith of a Chrifiian, that all I have pubiijhed formerly, upon this Head, t '^'^■^ wrote with an honeji Intention, to convince the World, and if I my felf could be convinced, that theje my Opinions de- viated from, or were contrary to divine Truth, I jjjould be more ready to recant my Error, than all good Aden will be to expofe it as falje and atheiflical. A iotlli%- Phil. I muft needs own, Eflibius, that, notwith- nefsto be ftanding God has fuflfered you to fall into a moft grie- /^"".'■^j"' '^ vous and pernicious Error, yet ftill his heavenly Grace ^underHe- ^^^ ^^^^ ^ favoiu-able to you, as to fuffer you to re- terodoxo- tain a good Difpofition towards Convidion, and a pnions. WiUingnefs to return unto the Faith. Which by the Way is an Attainment which the Generality of thofci who have advanced Heterodox Opinions, do not ar- rive to. For fuch Men are for the moft Part four and morofe, proud and dogmatical they having by their ill Opinions forfeited the Efteem of all good Men, it is natural for them to hate them again 5 and either to enter into a Correfpondence with irreligious People, or to abandon themfelves to a fullen Retire-' ment. And befides, fuch a Degree of Self-Love, and * Ep. Dcd. p. 2. -j- Ep. Ded, ult. Fondnefs Part V. whh <^ T rt E i s t. 17^ Fondnefs f6r Men's own Notions, mixes with their AfFed:ions, that it is a great Degree of Mortification, to the bell: Men, to own themfelves to be miflaken in the fmalleft Matters ; it is the moft hteral Verification of the plHckhig out the Eye, and cutting off' the Hand mentioned in the Gofpel ; and therefore, to be fure, in great and monftrous Errors, which fhake the Foun- dations of our common Faith, the Devil will not be wanting to make the utmoft Advantage, he can, of human Frailty ; working up their Pride, and Shame, and Obftinacy to the higheft Pitch, to keep them from returning to the Unity of the Faith, and the Bofom of the Church. From hence it has come to pafs, that, •mong fo great a Number of grofs and fenfelefs He- refies, which through the feveral Ages have infefted the Church of God, we have not an Account from Hiftory, but of a very few of the Propagators of thefe odd and wicked Opinions, who have had the Grace, or the Refolution to recant them, or, as for ought appears, Ihew'd any Willingnefs thereunto. Therefore, Sir, you ought more efpecially to ddore the Mercy and Goodnefs of God, for fuftering the Grace of his Holy Spirit fo abundantly to work in your Heart j after fo great a Defe6tion from the Faith of the Gofpel, in fo important an Article thereof: And you ought by all Means to chcrifh thefe good Motions ; by hearty Endeavours, for underftanding the Truth ; and by earneft Prayer to God, for the excellent Gift of Charity, of which Grace heterodox- ical Opinions are more peculiarly deftruftive. To do this, will be the propereft Method, you can perfue^ for being convinced of your Errour ; or, at leaft, for the rendring it m.ore excufable in the Sight of God. 2. Next, Sir, I would advife you to take Notice, j-.^.^^^ j^^. that you have no reafon to fanfic, that you have terodoxo-' little to anfwer for your Opinion, if it prove a Mi- ?'"""» '^^' ftake,- becaufe, forfooth, it does not affect the Main ^^'^^^^""•^'^ of Religion. For the fame may be faid of mofl: of the Hcrcfics,- gj6 -^Conference Herefies, which have hitherto difquieted the ChurchJ For very few of them all denied the Refurredion and eternal Life ; though, by the Way, to affert a Death of the Soul, though but until the End of the World, is half-way in the Doftrine of Hjmemepts and Phi' letus. But pray, Sir, confider, that there is no Errour ift Matters of Faith, which is inconfiderable. To deny the finalleft Point thereof is to oppofe the revealed Will of God, and the Determination of his infinite Wifdom I for, I am fure, it is no fmall Degree of Arrogance, whatever it be of Errour, to think, that to be too little a Point to be infifted on for Men's Be- lief, which God thought confiderable enough, to be made known to us in his Holy Word. Confider farther the mifchievous Confequences, which for the moft part do enfue, upon the Propagation of any incon- fiderable Error, in Point of Dodtrine. Think of the Difturbances, which are given there- by to the Minds of good Chriftians ; how the Con- fciences of unlearned People are perplexed, to find their Faith unfettled by fuch odd Notions, advanced againfl the Belief they were baptifed into. Think how frequently the Unity of the Church is broken, by fuch erroneous Dodrines ; for, when once Men have efpoufed a fond Opinion, they will endea- vour to fupport that by Numbers and Profelytes, which they are at a Lofs to do by Arguments. And, in- deed, there ai'e feldom wanting unthinking People to follow any Foolery, which learned Men can with fome tolerable Specioufnefs advance. And it is worth your farther Confideration to take notice, to what Inconveniences the flightefl Error may expofe your felf. For all Miftakes, efpecially when by Writings made publick, are wonderfully prolifick. Men endeavoui' to make good one Error, by advancing a' fecond; and that again will be fupported by another Heterodoxy, till the Man at lafl is either wholly clouded aud bewiJdred m Whimfy and Caprice, or elfe makes a per- Part V. with ^Theist. 177 a perfed Shipwreck of his Faith. I have not been an unobferving Spedator of the different Degrees of Infide- lity, which Men have fucceflively fallen into : How from a DiOike of Myfteries in Religion, and of the ancient Terms and Explications of the Church, they have pro- ceeded to deny the Divinity and Satisfadion of our Bleffed Lord : From thence they have made a Step far- ther, to relifh nothing in the Cliriftian Religion but the pure Morality of it ; and, after that, to fanfie that the Chriftian Religion has informed us of nothing more than the ancient Philofophy did before, befides fome ftreight-laced unpradicable Precepts which their Reafon cannot allow; and therefore, for the future, they are refolved to make Deifm (as 'tis called) the only Standard of their Religion. And this too, in Time, comes to be unfatisfaftory ; for if their Lives do not come up to the Principles of natural Religion, and, if, upon Refledion upon their Adions, they cannot perluade themfelves into the Hopes of attaining to a future Happinefs, or the avoiding of the Punilli- ttients of another World, Natural Religion then becomes as much Cant and Prieft-craft as Chiiftianity, till at laft they fink into the moft forlorn Condition of dowm-ight Afiheifm ; fo as to own no Virtue, no Vice, no future State, nor fo much as any God in the World ; but only a blind, necellary, univerfal Na- ture, or an eternal Chain of Caufes. How much your Notion, Efiibms, contributes to thefe Effeds, fhall have a more particular Confideration hereafter. 3. After this I cannot but obferve, in \^}\2X.vmity of you have faid. That you are guilty of an equaU««"^^^^/J' Degree of Vanity and Cenforioufiiefs therein, when]^^'^^^^ ^„. you tax the Clergy not only with not imd^v^ jgrpnd ftanding this Queftion fo well as your felf, but thatRf%»» they keep up the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality, ^'f'^!^^ becaufe they find their particular Accounts and Ad-^^^^ r^^^ vantages in it. But I pray, good Ejlibius, fince you'Gofpd. give me the Task of being the Parfon's Advocate, What do the Clergy get by this Dodrine, more than by VOL. II. N any 178 ^Conference any other ? The Popifh Priefts indeed get now arid then a Spill for an Orate fro j^imk ; but fince Pur- gatory is no Dodrine of our Church, why fhould not our Clergy be as impartial Judges in this Quefti- on, as EjiibtHs himfelf ? But however a Stroke at the Fundion, now and then, muft be for Decency's fakcj and to fhew a Man's Parts. To deal one's Blows di- redly among our own Clergy, favours too much of Roughnefs and ill Manners; and therefore it becomes more falhionable, to whip the Parfons upon the Backs of Heathen Priefts and Popifti Friars, as Occafion ferves. But chiefly. Sir, I cannot but tax you with a Vani- ty, which I find you are inclined to, in common with too great a Number of the Gentlemen of the prefent Age, and that is. That you are very fond of advanc- ing Notions out of the common Way, and in a new- faflmn'd Drefs, as you call it ; as if the Doclrines of Jefus Chrift were, like your Cloaths, to grow in or out of Fafhion as the Humour takes. But there is fre- quently an unregenerate Pride, which lies at the Bot- tom of all this : Men love to appear tvifer than their Ifeachers, and affed to diftinguifh themfelves by a Su- periority of Learning, above that of their Minifters, by venting fome ftrange Tenets, contrary to the cur- rent and eftablifhed Do<5i:rines of the Church. They fanfie, if they did not now and then talk or write out of the common Way, and be picqueering at an Article of Faith or fo, they would look like other Folks, and feem as much to be led by the Nofe by their Parfons as they ; but, upon Occafion, boldly to attack a main Point of Religion, and to advance fome ftrange Ne- fir urns in Divinity ; this, 'tis fuppofed, gives a Cha- raSler, and builds a Man up into a Figure, efpecially in the Opinion of fome little unthinking People, who flre wont to admire, and gape at every Thing in Re- ligion, which is ftrange ancl novel, and which they da Hot ufe to. heaf at Ckurclvon Sundays, I mufl part V* with (^ T h e r s t. 179 t rtiufl confefs, Efiibiusy J am at a lofs to account for it ', how fome People have of late run into a Notion, That the Clergy are not fo good Judges of thefe Mat- ters as other lettered Gentlemen. This is a Fancy which, I am fure, is contrary to the general Senle oF all Mankind, in other Concerns. Does any Man think, that 'tis inconvenient to tnift to the Opinions of the Lawyers, concerning a Difpute about his Eflate ; be- caufe they have made it tliteir Buflnefs to ftudy all the old Rules of the Law, and are inclined tenacioufly to adhere to the Maxim.s of their ancient Books and Precedents ? Will any Man of Senfe fcruple, to lay the State of his Body before a learned Phyfician, and to take his Advice in a dangerous Diftemper; becaufe he has made it his Bufinefs to ftudy Galen and Hippocra- tes, and the Books of other eminent Profeffors of that Art ; and who for that Reafon, may lie under Sufpicion of having his Notions cramp'd, and his Judgment by af- fed by the Rules, and Prefcriptions, of thofe former Praditioners ; or may be fuppofed to be of a Party to fupport the celebrated Aphorifms of that Profeffion ? A Man would be counted mad, if upon fuch Con fide- rations as thefe, he ftiould lay afide a learned Councel, and truft his Eftate in the Hands of a prating Self-con- ceited Petti-fogger ; or, if he ftiould, upon the forefaid Account, prefer a pretending Quack to a learned Doftor. And yet in theological Points the Tables muft be quite turn'd, and every Body be a better Judge in Divinity, than thofe who have made it the Bulinefs of their Lives to be skilful in it. If fome Men have attained to a httle Smattering of Defcartcs or Hobbs's Philofophy, or have but gotten their Head furnillied with a few S breads out of Kcckerman or Zabarel, they are prefently big with Notion, and out comes a Book to bid Defiance to an Article of Faith. And yet the unanimous Judg- ment of all the learned Divines in the World, in Op- pofition to fuch a Fancy, muft have no Weight to coun- ter-balance it. One would think, that, in the Opinion of all impaitial Meji, thofe Pcrfons, who have long ap- N 1 plied l8o ^^CoNFEPvENCE plied tjiemfelves to the Study of the Holy Scriptures^ upon which all theological Points are founded j who have been converfant in- the earlieft Writers of the Chmxh; who not only beft underftand the Catholick Doftrine of their own Times, but have had the Advan- tage of fearching into whatever was taught by the A- poftles themfelves, who lived but juft before them j Thofe Perfons who are skilful in the original Languages, in which the Holy Books were written, and have nice- ly fearched into the Cuftoms and Traditions of the Jew- ifh Church, which are the principal Key to the Under- ftanding thofe Writings : I fay 'tis but reafonable to think. That thefe Perfons who are endowed with thefe Qualifi- cations (as God be thanked a great Number of our Cler- gy are) fhould have a Title to be heard in a Queftion of Divinity, which with fo much Diligence they have ap- plied themfelves to, before any Man, who being bred up to other Studies, but having fprung an odd Scruple in his Head, turns over his Bible, to fifh for Texts to countenance the Singularity. Authority 4. In the laft Place, I beg leave to remind you. That of the ana- you do with little Reafon fb flightingly rejed the Au- ^^^^J^^^^^^thorities of the ancient Fathers of the Church. There is of Faith, ^o Body pretends they are infallible, neither are their Scrtitimes in the Myfteries of Religion fo fuperfcial as you pretend. Their Arguments are not always Demonftra- tion, 'tis true, and they may fometimes advance Proofs in Support of an Article of Faith, which are not fo very conclufive ; but however, they cannot be denied to be very good WitnelTes, of what was an Article of Faith in the Ages they lived in ; and, let their Logick be as de- ftdive as you pleafe, their Books will ftill be a ftanding Evidence againft the Heterodoxies of modern Innova-- tors. But notwithllnnding this, I believe, the Gene- rality of tlie World will be of Opinion, that all the Fathers of the Church are lefs liable to be nuftaken, than the fingle Author of Second Thoughts. For they will have a great Deal of Reafon on their Side to incline them to think. That 'tis kfs probable, that the learned Bi- ihops? Part V. with ^ T h e i s T. iSi ihops who prefided in the great Sees of Rome and ^lex- andria, Conflantimple and Carthage, for fo many fiiccef- f ive Ages, were all mnl:aken in a plain Article of the Chri- ftian Faith, and which was likewife confirmed by the concurrent Dodrine of the Divines of all Ages, and of all Nations ever fince ; than that the Truth luckily ihould light only on the Side of a Writer, educated to another Profeflion, and who was not known to the World riH 1700 Years after Chrift. Efi. Let this be as it will : Yet ftill I am of Opinion, That Men would not be generally fo averfe to this Do- dirine of ours, if it were not for the Prejudices they have contraded in their Education. ^ Hoou oft have I feen, even in little and trivial Alatters, fame Men fo extraordi- nary ferverfe and pbJHnate, that prep your ^rgujTKnts e- ver fo clop, urge jour Reafons ever fo clear, jet fl ill you. will but beat the Air, .& non perfuadebis etiamfi perfua- feris. Andthh Obflinacj, is perhap grounded on no other Reafonj than what Edtication has implanted. The TinU- ure given in In/ancj made a very deep Dje, and almofi in- delible Impreffion on the fudgment, of rather Fancy., never to be ivafloed out without great Tains and Difficulty, if it ever can be at all. And give me Leave to add to this another Reafon, of their not fo readily complying with this Opinion ; and that is, the Fear of fuftaining a popu- lar Odium for going out of the common Traft. f To avoid this Scandal, and Reproach^ Jlien have formed to themfelves Rules, and learned fome from others,hy which as in one common Road they will continually per fever e to aU: ; and whofoever foall endeavour to dijfuadc them, will but feem as one that babbleth, Mid as a Setter forth of new DoSlrines, as St. Paul ji^as by the Stoicks ^W Epicure- ans, ivhen he preached to them the Rcfurreciion, Adh xvii. 1 8. Nay, I doubt not, but that the Clergy themfelves would be in a veiy coming Way to our Opinion, 4. // by th^ Influence of Spiritual Promotion they did not own, And pra^ice many Things, as Articles of Faith, which * Page 3. f PAg. r 1 . 4- Pag, ;; i . N A they 1 82 ^Conference they do mt believe. And the Reafon of Men's aiding pf the Evangelifi explains by the Example of the chief Rul&rSy mam of 7vhich believed on yefns, but, becaufe of the Pha" rifees, thej did mt confefs him, leji they flxuld be put out of the Synagogue : Fosr they loved the Praife of Aien more than God, Joh. 12. 42. But however we muft own that this is an ufual Infirmity of human Nature, and Men are as obftinately foohih in other Matters, f Many flickle fiill for fcveral exploded Opinions in Philofophy, and are fierce Advocates for Fairies and Pigmies, and conceive Death as he is pictured to be a Form- of dry Bones, and that he flrikes thofe who at any Sichnefs are appointed to die^ ivhich gives Ground to the vulgar Phrafe of being Death-, firucki Nay, the learned Univeriity of Oxford it felf muft not pretend to be over-guilty of Infallibility, for they, to ferve a Turn in aprefcnt JuEiure of Affairs, have condemned as highly pernicious, and ranked among antimo- narchical and Commonwealth Principles, an unqucjlionable Maxim, * Sui ipfius Converfatio eft primum Principium- Natura£._ Yet our wife Nation of late have fivallowed down the Belief of a Deity, ii^ith lefs Scruple than this DoEirine. In Ihort, the Dodtrine of the Soul's being a a fubftantial Form, or incorruptible Being diftind from the Body, \. is a DoElrine of the Romifl? Church, out of which the Reformed came, and ferves only to bring in more Cold to the Calf in Horeb. And thofe of the Clergy, who pretend to believe it, are tempted to do fo by worldly Profits and good Preferments : and all I can fay for them. is, that fuch Men for Lucre fin againji God, and their own Confcience. Phil. This is a home Charge indeed, EJlibius'; and if it were alias true as it is bold, it would bear terribly hard upon all the Preachers, and Believers, of the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality. But really, Sir, 'tis my O- pinion, That the Merits of your Caufe very much fail YOU ; and that your Argument, upon this FJead feems to walk lame in feveral Particulai-s. For, t P^g^ 4r- * Pag- 39- -{- Pag. j-o, j-i. Part V. with oteflt quod non dicatur ab aliquo Philofophoru/n^ Tu fc. Qusft. / kl^oiv not how it comes to pajsy that a JHan cannot Jpeak^anj Thing fo abfurd, but that one of the Philojbphers has J aid the fame. But after ail> Eflibi- us, the Philofophers, who are too apt to wrangle and divide upon other Points, are pretty much of a Side in this. The Atheiftical Philofophers, indeed, who made Atoms the Principles of all Things, made the Soul a- greeablyto coniiftoffome little brisk fiery Spirits, which kept in for a While, but were afterwards extinguilTied. But the other graver Philofophers of all Sorts, allowed the Soul to be a fpiritual Being ; only it may be fome- times they might ufe the Similies of Air or Fire, to ex- plain it by. For, in the Infancy of the Greek Philofo- phy, that Tongue wanted Words to exprefs a fpiritu- al Subftance by, and therefore the ancient Philofophers might very well be excufed, if they expreffed their Mean- ing by the ufual l^rms which their Tongue afforded; if fobe they bore any Analogy to Spirit, and they could ufe them to exprefs fuch a Being, though in a metapho- rical or tralatitious Senfe. For the jews were forced to do the fame ; for their Word Rnach-, by which they are wont to exprefs the Soul, fignifies originally a Wind ; and yet I think, it will be a difficult Point to prove, that the Jews held the Soul to be nothing more than JVind^ or J^/r. But granting the widefl Difference, you can ima- gine, among the Opinions of t,he Greek Philofophers, concerning the Soul's Spirituality or Immortality ; yet how does this affed: the Chriftian Dodrine there- of? The Chriflian Philofophers, and Divines, for many" fucceffive Ages, have unanimoufly maintained this Dodrine, as it was delivered by Chrifl and his Apoftles : and, though the FIcathen Philofophers might labour un- VOL.ll. O d^r 1 94 ^Confer. ENCE der many Scruples, and Diverfity of Opinions concern- ing this Point ; yet We, by the Revelation which our Religion affords, have a certain Rule to walk by herein ; our blelled Lord having brought Life and Immortality to Light, through the GofpeL Ariftotle'j Secondly, Metliinks 'tis hardly worth your While, Efii- '^ftlTsoul^^^^' to labour another Point fo very hard ; and that is to -vindicated. Confound u4rifiotle's Definition of the Soul, by making Nonfenfe of it. For my Part, I am no more obliged to de- fend one o£ ^rijiotle^s Definitions, than one of Lilies Pro- phecies : For I think our Chriftian Religion, and all the Doftrines thereof, may be very true for all his being miftaken. But becaufe Arijiotle's Definitions have been long made Ufe of in Chriftian Schools, and the Autho- rity of that great Philofopher weighs much in the Opi- nions of all learned Men ; but chiefly for Truth's Sake, and becaufe I don't think he deferves in this Point the Treatment you give him ; I will fpeak a Word or two in his Vindication, as to that Affair. uirifiotle has given two Definitions of the Soul. The firft is general, fo as to take in the vegetative and fenfible together with the rational Soul. In his fecond Book de j^imk,, he thus defines it. *y;^-f hiv hro.iyj^.a. -a is^iir-f, to draw up and to conco(5t the Juices, to increafe the Parts, and to cloath them with that beautiful Ver- dure which the Vegetables are wont to appear in. Sup- pofe fomething of the Nature of Bones to be turn'd in- to the Proportion of thofe of an animal Body ; fuppofe them to be cloathed with mufcular Fibres, and tied toge- ther with Tendons , and all the Tubes to convey Blood and animal Spirits ; and what will all this lignify towards Life and Senfation, unlefs God infufeintoit fuch aper- feElive Energjj as the Pliilofopher here defcribes the Soul to be ? Unlefs God fuperadd fuch a/r/? A^ by lys , divine Omnipotency to make it move and perceive, it will ftill remain dead Clock-work, and nothing more ? And therefore I hum.bly conceive, that this Definition of A- rijiotle remains firm and unlliaken, againfi: all the At- tacks you have hitherto made againft it. Indeed Plotinus the PUtonickjvas advanced fomething more confiderable, in Oppofition to it. And he, En- nead. 4. Lib. 2. finds Fault with this Definition of Arijlode, for making the Soul to be hrixiyj^u, which he thinks does not agree to the rational Soul. But he is miftaken in what Ariftotle means by hTi>.iyjM^ whoun- derftands not that which is only ordained to give Perfec- tion or Completion to another ', but fomething that is abfolute in its own fclf, but yet adds Perfedion to fome- thing elfe it is joined to. Now PlotinHs, confidering that the rational Soul is fomething abfolute in its own Na- ture, without any Relation to the Body, only upon this Account blames Ariftotle's Definition ; which he would not have done, had he underftood s')"-£A«,^Conference Alteration is made in Matter, by the Figure and Vofiti' on, and Motion of the Parts ; the mighty Changes that are affeded by the Chymift's Furnace, in Liquors and Metals ; the Contexture of the minute Parts of Bodies, which are difcovered by the Microfcope, and the Va- riegation of Colours by the Reflection and Refradion of Light ; with the many other Diverfifications, in Ap- pearances of Things, which are difcovered by the ex- perimental Philofophy in the lafl Age ; they would never have had Recourfe to the continual Creation of new fub- flantial Forms, for the Production of every new natural Body. But being deftitute of thefe Advantages, which thefe noble Arts and Difcoveries have afforded i they were forced to make ufe of thofe metaphyfical Noti- ons, which a fubtile Genius afforded them, for the car- rying on their Philofophy, But however, though one cannot affent to their O- pinion, That all natural Productions were diilinguiflied, and forted into their particular Species, by individual fubftantial Forms : Yet it cannot be denied, but that e- very fingle Man has a fubllantial Form, by which he is diftinguiftied f-om every other Man, and from all other Creatures ; and that this fubftantial Foi m is the rational Soul. For Firfl-i That the Soul is a Suhflance, is evi- dent to every one that considers, that 'tis impoffible for an Accident to be the Subjed of thofe feveral Properties which the Soul is endowed with ; as to perceive, to will, to underftand, to be capable of Joy and Gjief, of Defre and Averfation. There is no one but is fenfible of the Abfurdity, in attributing thefe Qiialifications to an Ac- cident or Mode of Being. Thofe Men who are un- willing to allow the Soul to be a fpiritual Subftance, ftill for the moft Fart own it to be feme Subftance or other, though a material one. The only Difficulty that flicks with them is, That they cannot conceive any Thing to be an immaterial Subftance ,• becaufe they think, that Subftance and Matter are convertible Terms, and that they cannot have any Notion of fuch 'immiterial or fpiritual Subftance. But the Fault of ftich Men Part V. with ^ T H E I s T. Men is, that they have too grofs and unphilofophical Conceptions of Things, and fuffer their Thoughts to be too much piepofTefled, by the low and narrow Ide- as conveyed by their Senfes ; by vulgar Expreffions ; and by the Reprefentations of material Objeds. Becaufe, forfooth, they call a Piece of Cloath or Plate fubft ..tial, which has fuch a fufficient Degree of Thicknefs, or fuch a large Quantity of Matter in it, as inables it to continue long in Ufe and Wearing ; therefore they con- clude there can be no other proper Notion of Subftance but this, which the Vulgar has conceived under that Name ; and that there is no Subftance but what has Divifibi- lity, Impenetrability, and the other Properties of that grofs Subftance which they fee and feel. Now if, when Philofophers and Divines call the Soul a fpiritual Sub- ftance, they meant Subftance in this Senfe ; they might be juftly chargeable with an abfurd and contradidious Notion. But when they declare their Meaning to be. That the Soul is a Subftance of a Nature perfeftly dif- ferent from tliis, exclufive of all Length and Breadth, and Thicknefs ; and is a Being, that has feveral Modes and Properties agreeable to its Nature attending it, and as perfedly diftind as corporeal Beings have ; this car- ries in it no Impoflibility or Conrradidion ; and they having before defined and. explained what they mean by fuch a Subftance, the Word Subftance, when applied to this Conception, is altogether as proper, as when it ftands for that grofs Notion which the Vulgar have of it. For by the fame Reafon, which they advance againft this lixpref- fion, they may cavil at mod: other philofophical Words ; which for the Generality (in the Greek Tongue efpe- cially) are vulgar Terms appropriated to a philofophical Senfe. And Languages not being compofed by Divines or Philofophers, thefe Perfons would be put upon the Task of coining a World of ftrange Jargon, to exprefs their abftraded Notions by ; if they were not allowed to ufe the common Words in a fometliing new Senfe. Se- condly, It is like wife as evident to any one that well con- fiders it, that the Soul of Man is his particulai* Form. O 4 ;Tis 199 :oo ^Conference 'Tis that which conftitutes him in the Order of Beings he is of, and diftingniilies him from all other Indivi- duals of the fame Species. Forma dt^t cjje Mei. The Form gives Being to the Thing. Nov/ that which makes a Man to be Man, and to be that particular individual Something that he is, is the Soul. For the Body con- tributes not at all, to make a Man the fame Something that he is. For if you allow this, you muft allow that a IV'ian is by fo much a different individual as his Body alters. But I perceive, and know my felf to be the fame Some- thing, that I was tv/enty Years ago, tho' I queflion, whether or no I have an Ounce of the Body remaining I carried about me then. To fay I am.patch'd up h.y gra- dual Reparations, like an old Ship, till I am wholly al- tered, will not m.end the Matter. For fuch a Ship fo altered, is a different Siiip, only it bears the fame Name. But I am confcious, I am the fame Perfon, though my Body be ever fo much altered : But if miy Body were the I, or that Something that I am, there could be no Ground for me to perceive that Alteraiion ; Becaufe the new-added Parts could have no polfible Traces or Ideas of an old Perception. And here I cannot but cbfei"ve, that you fall into your old Error again, of conceiving phi- lofophical Truths after the vulgar Way of thinking. The vulgar Form, or Idea which Men have of u4l- cibiades is, comiely, black-hair'd, tall, eloquent, paf- fionate, endowed with fuch a Number of other Ac- cidents and Qualities, which are remisrkable, and ferve to diflinguifh that noble Perfonage from other Men. Bnt if thefe Qualities happen to be altered, and if on a fudden, he become grey, fiommering, wrinkled, mild, ^c, we no longer know this Perfon to be Akihiades ; and fo this outward Form we diflinguiHi him by, is loft and gone. But if we gradually perceive thefe Alterations growing upon him, and take up other nevv' Marks of Dif- tincftion, we conceive a new external Form of him^ which infenfibly coming upon us, we imiagine him to be the fame Akihiadei ftill. But after all, thefe outward ^appearances dp by no Means make Akihiades to be that parti= Part V. with a T h e i s t. particular rational Man : For he is confcious to Klmfelf to be the fame ^cibiades, though no Body belides knows him to be fuch. For that Self-confcioufnefs of one's own Thoughts would tell one, he was the fime Man, tho' his Body was fo much altered, that one did not know it one's felf. I think no Body v/ill deny a Man to be the fime individual, after the Small Pox as before ; though his Face be fo much altered, that he is feared at it himfelf, when he looks in the Glafs. And he is ftill the fame, though he lofe his Arms and Legs ; nay, though he Ihould lofe all the reft of his Body ; if fo be ne have any other Organs continued to him, to convey the Impreffions of corporeal Beings in the Way of human Life, and did not become a feparate Soul. And even in that State he would continue the fame rational Being, though disjoined from organifed Matter; as I fhall fliew you farther by and by. From all which I conclude. That iince the Soul of a Man is a true Subftaqce, and not any Accident or Mode, which does conftitute him to be that particular rational Creature that he is ; the Soul is not im- properly called by the Schools the fubftantial FoiTn of Man. Efi. But you have not proved the Soul not to be an Accident yet ; and, for all the reft you have faid, I am fo very little fatisfied with Ariftotle\ Definition of the Soul, and with the common Notion which Philofophcrs and Divines have of it, that I will venture to give a De- finition of it my felf, which will, I fuppofe, be liable to fewer Excep^ic ns, than any that hitherto have been gi- ven : and in the Explication thereof, "^^ I pall declare what Sentiments I conceive of the true Ejfcnce of human Sotil, and ivhat 1 frefume to be the mo (I rational Idea thereof. Anima eft Afflatus originaliter infenlili materia? divinitus infufus, quo eadem vivit, fentit, & ratiocinatur. f T^^ Soul is a Breath originally infnfcd by God into infenjible Adattcr , by which it lives, and exerts Senfe and Reafon. I call it an Afflatus or Breath, becaufc this is agree- able to the Scriptures. The S fir it of the Lord has made pe, and the Breath of the Almighty has given me Life, '' * Pag. 89. t P-9I. Job 201 202 -^ Confer. ENCE Job xxxiii. 4. By the Word of the Lord wtre the Heavem ■made, and all the H&fl of them by the Breath of his Mouth, Pfal. xxxiii. 6. which are Allii lions to God's breathing in- to Man's Noftrils the Breath of Life in the Hiftory of tJie Creation, which is no more, than that God made dead Aiatter, or Alan, with his exterior Shape to become a li- ving Creature ; but it would be an ah fur d Supfofition tofup- pofe, that God conveyed into him a fpiritual Subjiance through his Noflrils. I fay, ^ quo materia vivit, &c. by which I mean an aSiive Power infeminal ALatter, de- rived at fir fl from God, which is but an Accident, t and which is fo far from being a Derogation to God, that it is rather a magnifying his Power, that he is able to make Accidents to execute fach Operations as others conceived impofible to be done, without the Af[iflance of a fubflantial Agent. X Which Accident or Afflatus is the Caufe, not only of Life and Senfe, but of Reafoning likewife ; for ^'^ I make Reafoning not to be the fole AH of Man, but of every Animal in a lejfer Degree, it being a Propriety which necejfarily folloivs Life and Senfation. So that in Inort, ^f Adan is only a meer Piece of Aiechanifm, a curious Frame of Clockz'ii^orkj, and only a reafoning Engine ; whicli is a- greeable to that of St. Paul, Hath not the Potter Power 0- ver his Clay, Qrc. But however, Afan is fuch a curious Piece of Aiechanifm, as floews, only an Almighty Power could be the firfl and fole Artificer, to make a Reafoning Engine out of dead Matter, H to pry and fearch into the Nature of Heaven and Earth. Phil. I proteft, Eftibius, This is Novel enough of all Confcience, and if Singularity will carry your Caufe, you will do it without Exception. Afflatus's, and Ac- cidents, and Machines I durft engage, were never before jumbled together in a Difcouife of the Soul ; and I fancy were your Mafter Mr. Hobbs now alive, he would quick- ly be upon you with a bantering Tranflation of what you here advance ; and we iTiould have more of his in- blowings, and blowings-upon, to make your Terms intel- ligible to the Englilh Reader. *Pag. C2. fP.Ji^.. ::{:P. loi. **P.97. ^f P. 123. f {- P- Ii4- I. But Part V. with <^ T H E I s T. 203 I. But before I come to examine your famous Defini- Sorsl not an tlon, which I may prefume to fay is entirely yours ; I '^"'*^^"^- beg leave to ipeak a Word or two to you, concerning your Notion of the Soul's being an Accident. I prefu- med, that this had been a Thought fo inconteftably ab- furd, that one might fafely have argued from the con- trary thereof, as a moft allowed Principle. But this is a prying Age, which will not fufFer us to take any Thing for granted, but wliat is home-proved : And therefore, with humble Compliance, I fet my felf to make out that the Soul is not an Accident ; which by the Way the Ge- nerality of the World will think as wife a Piece of Work, as to prove that Socrates is not his Horfe. Accidents , among Logicians and Metaphyficians , ai'e divided into two Sorts ; Accidents of Inhajion, and Accidents of Predication. Thofe are called Acci- dents of Inhdijion-i which are fuppofed to inhere or really exift in the Subjed; as for Inftance, Whitenefs, Bit- ternefs, Hardnefs. Thofe are called Accidents of Predication, which are not really in the »Thing it felf, by Way of real Exiftence, but are framed by the Mind into a Sort of accidental Nature, by abftrafting or join- ing together fome particular Relations or AfFedions in the Subjed ; as Paternity, Orbity, Happinefs, Holinefs. Now to which Clafs of Accidents, I befeech you, is the Soul to be reduced ? Accidents of Predication, I prefume, they will not be ranked under. For then the Soul muft be only an ab- ftraded Idea, which has nothing real in its Nature, but only the Foundation of its Abftradion ; and therefore w^ could not fo properly call it the Soul, as Sonlnefs, Ani- maitj, or at beft, Rationabilitj. But all thefe are Ficti- ons of the Mind, or Modes of Thinking, toaffift Men, and make them more ready in the Art of Reafoning j but have no Manner of real Exiftence in Nature. And to make the Soul to be fuch an Accident, is to fay the Soul is no mare, than a Centaur or Chimaerai which is as much as to fay, there is no Soul at all. Let 204 ^CONFFRENCT- Let US now fee, if the Nature cf inherent Accidents willfuit with it. Is the Soul, can you think, in the fame Manner in the Body, as Heat in the Fire, and Sweetnefs in the Sugar ? I prefume not. For moft if not all of thcfe Accidents, which are improperly called of Inhtefion, do not inhere in the Subjcd, as moft of the old Philofophers fuppofed them to do. For Heat is not in the Fire, but in the Hand, or other Part of a fenfitive Crea- iture that percei^'es it ; and if there were no Senfation in the World, Fire could be no more faid to be hot, than Snow is. So Bitternefs is not in the Aloes but in the Tongue, whilft it is tafting Aloes, or by Occafion of this, the Idea cf Bitternefs is excited in the Mind ; and we can no more conclude from thence, that Bitternefs is in the Aloes, than that Griping is, becaufe when it comes into the Belly it produces that Pain. So that, in ihort, thefe Sort of Accidents have not much more Reality in them, than the former. Nay, if we confider thofe Accidents, which do feem more clofely to adhere to the Subjecl, fuch as Qiiantity, Figure, and even Motion ; even thefe will not appear to have fo much in Reality in them, as is imagined. For Oiinntity is notliing .elfe but Body confidered by the ■Mind as extended. Figure is not any thing more than the lame Body, considered as extended within fuch parti- cular Limits of Space, and determined by fo many crook- ed or ftrait Lines of fuch a Longitude ; which never- thelefs do not add any Thing poiitive to the Nature of Body. And as for Motion, which feems to bid tlie fair- cft, for a pofitive Being, of any Thing we call Acci- dents; I cannot beaffured, whether That add any Thing new, and of real Exiftencc, to Body or no. If each Bo- dy maintains its Duration by Reprodudion, (as feems to fome Philofophers moft probable) and God's Confer- vation of Beings is continual Creation ; then what we call Motion is not at all diftind from Body, but on- ly Body conftdered, as fucceffively produced in feve- lal Places. But Part V. whh ^ T h e,i s T. 205 But perhaps you are governed in your Opiniofi, by what Second Thotights lays tlov. n, p. 10 1 5 That the Soul is Motion with Scnfation. For my Part, I ani not able to underdand, either how the Soul ihould be Motion, of Motion with Senfation. For if the Soul be Motion, then where there is mofV Motion, there is moft Soul ; fo that, by this Notion, Souls mufl: abound moft in Storms, and Belfries, and in the Explolion of Cannons. But if the Soul be Motion, what is the Subjed of it ? Perhaps you will fay, * Seminal Matter which is the Ve- hicle of it, from Generation to Generation, like the Mo- tion of a Bowl. But fuch an Allertion will not cure the Weaknefs of this Hypochelis. Suppofe the whole Animaly or Vital Nature belonging to Mankind, that is, accord- ing to your Fancy, fuch a Degree of Motion, to be. com- municated to Adam ; then Aciam had as much vital Mo- tion, as all Mankind have had llnce Adam, or at leaft as all Mankind have now : For, according to this Sup- polition, they had their Motion from Adam ; therefore Adam could not confer more vital Motion than he had himfelf. So that Adam muft have as much Life, as a thoufand Millions of Men : That is, he muil: live thirty or forty Thouland Millions of Years : or at leafl: for fome Time of the feveral hundred Years he lived, he muft have enjoyed thirty or forty Millions of Degrees of vital Mo- tion, .more than any one lingle Man now does. For the Cafe is plain ; If one great Bowl hit agajnft three little ones at Reft, and communicates Motion to them ; all the three little ones can't h.ave more Motion, than the ^reat Bowl gave them, and which the great Bowl it felf liad. If there be five thoufand Pipes, in London, laid in of the Nev/-River Water -, all thefj five tlioufand Pipes cannot contain more Water, tlian the New-River did before. So that, upon the whole, Adam muft be a veiy ftrange Sort of Monfter, to have all the vital Motion in him, which all the Men in the World have : Or there muft be more vital Motion in rlie World than v.'as in Adam j and * Pao;. 100. 't> therefore 2o6 ^Conference therefore it was not convtyed from hinij in the Vehicle of Seminal Matter^ This I think is very plain. Nor do I underftand, how the Soul fhould be Motion "ivith Senfation, Motion I have fome Idea of, and Senfa- tion I can readily conceive; but, if I join Motion and Senfation together, there I confefs I am at a Lofs. Forfen- fitive Motion is to me as incomprehenfible, as green Mo- tion, or bitter Motion. But, how comes Motion to be fenfitive ? Motion as Motion is not fuch 5 nor can it be -faid, that its being joined with organifed Matter makes it fo. For Motion in organifed Matter is but Motion ftill. For, let Matter be ever fo well organifed, the Motion thereof can be only Motion to Eaft or Weft ; or fwift or flow Motion ; or Motion in a right or circular Line, or the Uke ; but all thefe QuaUfications of Motion will never make it fenfible. Therefore to make Motion fenfi- ble, you muft add to it a fenfible Being, which is what we call a Soul. From all which I conclude, that the Soul is not Motion, nor any other Accident whatfo- ever. How Man II. You define the Soul to be an AfHatus or Breath, w^^e^^.'j-infufedinto Matter by God at the Creation. Now I ' *Breath of ^^^^^ 7°^ go Contrary to the Rules of Definition, to Cod. make Ufe of a metaphorical Expreffion therein ; and which befides you underftand in a Senfe, which the in- fpired Writer of the Holy Scripture, you cite, never meant. For when Mofes fays in the Hiftory of the Cre- ation, that God breatkd into Adam'j Noflrils the Breath of Life, and he became a living Soul: There can be no- thing of that Kind of Afflatus concluded from hence, that your Hypothefis fanfies. It is plain, that the Word Breathing muvi be ufedin a metaphorical Senfe; for God being a Spirit, and not of human Shape, he cannot pro- perly be faid to breath, in the common Acceptation of the Word, as Animals do. Therefore, by this Word, muft be underftood fome other particular Adion of the divine Power, as is fuitable to the Nature of God. It is evident, by this Relation, that God was pleafed to make Uk of fome other divine Adion in the Creation of Man, different Part V. with a T H E i s t. different from that of the Creation of other Beings. He was pleafed to create them, and to give Life to them, by f^V^g or (peaking. And Godfaidy Let the Waters bring forth abundantly. Gen. i. 20. AndGodfaid, let the Earth bring forth the living Creature after his Kind, v. 24. But in the Relation of Man's Creation, God very remarkably, takes a Sort of Council or Deliberation, Let us make Man in our Image y after our Likenefs, Gen. i. z6. And he has a Soul given him, not hy fajingy but by breathing. ISiow what imaginable Reafon can be affigned, why the Creati- on of Man fliould be fo related, in fo different a Manner from that of other Animals, if there had not been fome- thing very different, in the effential Parts of their Confti- tution ? What is there in a Man, excepting liis reafbnable Soul, that can with any tolerable Pretence, be faid to be the Image of God ? For, as for the Socinian Notion of Dominion, I look upon that to be inlipid Banter. But the rational Soul of Man may not improperly be faid to be the Image of God ; for nothing in all the World does fo nighly refemble him, as fuch a Ipiritual Being. There- fore the Holy Scripture calls the AngeLs, the Sons of Gody Job : ii. I. Becaufe of their Refemblance of his Nature. And Flato * calls his Damons, ^ton %-m^xc„ for the fame Reafon. So Hierocles, f, in his Notes upon the Pnha- gorickJV Qrks, having divided the Damons or intellediual Natures into three Ranks, he fays. That God places i» the firfl Clafs, -m ^>(r« ofjt.'>uif/,ivci civru, thofe Spirits which mojl nighly refemble him. In the fccond Clafs, rl^v fj^ir-^'j i^at- t,o7)ir» Kin.-- ■;ijt..yi^ , thofc that havc the ?ruddle Likenefs of him. But in the third and lafi Bench , ww'vr&v t iayJTm uurS, -m. TT'r} .;;. bvi'a.» cf/jC'Viriv uji/Mttu. icpnujiva, thofe of all the Imagcs '}vhich are mofl dijiant from the divine Likenefs. And in another Place, nf£r« y. tS et*= dec. It is agreeable to the divine Nature, to produce Images of himfelf not alto- gether liable to Perturbations, and to fall into Sins, as the Souls of Aden, which are the lowejl Kind of intelligent Nanires, * 2lat mA^ol. Socr. fJikr- in Car. Tyth. Vci-f. i. Nor 207 2c8 ^Conference Nor was this Notion, of the divine Imagery of the Soul, the Opinion only of the Heat Men Writers ; but the Jewiih Dodtors themfelves explain the Words of Mojes, in that Senfe likewife. I Ih all mention two of the moft conliderable, Philo and Maimomdes. Philo, de 2\4ptyid. Opif, lays, W <^' i!x.av >^iXix,rcci xi-.ru rev TJJ5 -iv-^'i^ v/'c^avu. v5v- This SimiUmde of Man to God is Jpoken with Rela- tion to the Afind, juhich is the governingPrincifle oftheSouL And again in his Treatife, Quod Deterior Potiori injtdiari Joleaty Tie calls the Soul, xa^aK-T^fu, B-mc, ^wuyjiuc,, &c. the CharaSier and Ejjigies of the divine Power, which Mofes 'verj fr overly calls God's Image ^ meaning that God is the Original or Sampler of the rational Nature-i and JUfdn the Copy made from it : i^ ^ Firjl, «io A Conference 'Becaufe no Tirjl:^ Becaufe it can never certainly come to the Know- ThreT'" ledge of any Man, that they do exercife any Ads of Reafon. For they want Speech, to commuhicate their Ideas or Thoughts t)0 us j and therefore we can never judge, whether their Thoughts have any logical Con- nexion or no, or whether there can be any Thing in them, which we can properly call Reafon. 'Tis not your faying they have Reafon, and my being not able to prove the contrary can perfuade me, that they are poffef- fed of this Faculty ; for this is no more, than if a Mail ihould tell me, that the Moon was a great Mountain of Gold ; which, though I could not get thither to difprove his Alfertion, yet I have as many Arguments againft the Moon's being made of Gold, as there are other Bo- dies in the World befides Gold, which 'tis equally a& probable the Moon is compofed of, as of that Metal. If you tell me, that Brutes do exercife feveral Ads, which cannot be diftinguiflied from Reafon, as a great many may be inftanced in, from Horfes and Dogs, and Elephants, and other Creatures. I fay, though it muft be granted that fome of the Adions of Brutes do pro- ceed from a reafoning Mind ; yet the Queftion is ftill, what that reafoning Mind is, whether it be the Reafoii of the Brute it felf, or the Reafon of God. When a Man builds a Houfe after a particular Figure, raifes the Walls to a Height proportionable to their Thicknefs, and covers it with an Arch agreeable to the Bajis ; we muft allow this to be done by Reafon, which confiders thefe Proportions, and adapts the particular Parts agreeable thereunto. And therefore we muft allow likewife, that Reafon does diredl, in the Formation of the fexangular Cells of the Bees. But this Reafon, which fo direds them, is not the Reafon of thefe Infeds, but the Reafon: of the fupreme Creator of all Things ; which impels thefe little Creatures, to form their Cells in fuch a mathe- matical Proportion. And, in the fame Manner, fuch a fuperior Reafon pufhes on all other Creatures to avoid hurtful Objeds ; without a particular Confideration of the Danger, they are like to receive from them. This is; Part V. with ^ T i&j E r s'T. 211^ is fo very powerful in Nature, that Man, (whofe Ani- ons are determined moftly by the rational Soul) when He fancies he is (bnding upon a Precipice, and ready to. hav.2 his Brains dafhed out by the miglity Fall ; his Body ftartks, tho* but at the vain Apprehenfion thereof, and tho' he knows before-hand, he can receive no Danger from fucha Conception. But 'tis reafonable to think. That in Brutes the Impulfe is yet much ftronger, they being more feared at the Apprehenfion of Danger, fancying it often from thofe who do not delign them Hurt ; which makes them fo difficult to be tamed. Now 'tis from this Principle, that all the Docility, which they can pre- tend to, proceeds. A Dog falls into his Fetches and Cringes at firft, only to avoid the Blows which are given him; and, when he has been long ufed to thefe, he re- peats them without any more Thought, than a Man moves his Fingers upon the Strings, in a Tune he has played over a thoufand Times. Secondly-, It is not conceivable. That a Brute fhould ex-Becaufe crt any Ad: of Reafon, without what the Philofbphers//:'7 f^-vr* call Reflexion ; That is, a confidering of the Nature and ^ ^^^^^'^ Properties of Things, and drawing Confequences from them. There can be no Reafoning, without having ab- ftra^ed Thoughts of the Nature of Things, and draw- ing general or univerfal Ideas from particular ones : With- out compounding fome Thoughts and dividing others : Without having Perception or the Truth and Falfity of Things ; without judging thofe Ideas, they Jiave but little Conception of, to be agreeable to thofe of which they have a elear one : And Lafllj^ without being able to draw Conclufions, from the aforefaid Operations of the Underftanding. • Now, I think, that no one can with Tuftice afcribe fuch a Power to Brutes j and there- fore It may fairly be concluded, they have Dot the Fa- culty of Reafoning. Indeed the Author of Second TlooHghts is fo fanguine a: to imagine, that the Souls of Brutes do make reflex Adions upon themfelves, and do not only form univerfal Propofitions, but have Ukewife a Confcioufncfs of Fault. P z And ai2 A Conference And fays exprefly, ^ A Brute finds that this Man heats him, another does fo too, and likpvife a third, upon "which, he will necejfarily avoid all Aiankind in general. But I would fain know of that Author, what Brute does after two or three Beatings avoid Mankind in general. Nay, thofe Brutes which do avoid Mankind in gene- ral, have feldom been beat by them at all. Birds and Reptiles, and all other weak Animals flie off, the firfl Time they fee a Man, before they are able to form an uni- verfal Notion of Mankind. I confefs I fhould have thought, and wifer Heads than my felf are of my Mind ; That all this might be fairly attributed to Self-Preferva- tion, and a ftrong Principle of natural Fear, which prompts them to run away from every Thing unknown as dange- rous ; and I believe the Generality of the World will reft fatisfied with this Account, till this new Logick of Brutes is better explained. But a Confcioufnefs of Fault is another new Improvement of the brutal Knowledge. We have feen before, what Advances the Beafts have made in the dialedical Studies, and now we are to obferve what great Moralifts they are going to be. But I pray who ever talked of Brutes being confcious of Fault be- fore ? Fault is the Tranfgreffion of a moral Law. And Confcioufnefs is the Knowkdge of fuch a Lav/, together with a Senfe of the Demerit of Punifhment, upon the Violation of it. But I am at a Lofs to find, w hat moral Law the Brutes are fubjed to. Their natural Law, as it is called, that is, the Diredion of their Nature by their All-wife Creator to the particular Ends he has determined, has been often difcourfed of: But as for any moral Law, which concludes them under Fault, and their being confcious of it too, it is, I think, here the firft Time faid. Certainly no Man ever talked, ftriclly and phi- lofophically of a Dog's Fault before : Or that ever the poor Beaft was morally confcious of his Crime, and, ibr this Rcafon, for the future endeavoured to avoid it. Every one is convinced, that he endeavours to avoid no- thing but Blows, which he is fcnfible will follow upon ' * Pag. 170. fucE Part V. w/th a T h e i s t. 212 fuch an Aflion. And, when he avoids the Place of any punilliable Adion which hq has formerly fmarted for, 'tis not the Confcioufnefs of the Fault, but the Me- mory of the Pain, wliich makes him fly from it ; in the fame Manner as a Man throws his Body into a Poife, to fecure himfelf upon a Stumble ; which is not o rafii- oned by any rational Deduftion, but by a pui-e Inftincfl of Nature. To fupport this famous Dodrine our Author ad- vances anothei", and that is. That Brutes have a Sort of Free-will, which he founds upon their *■ Objiinacy and Re- fraSlorinefs : and tells us roundly. That whatever Medium can be brought to prove Will in Man, the fame may be brought to teflify its Being in Brutes. But I fuppofe this Pofitivenefs may be a little abated, when it fhall be confi- dered, that it is an evident Proof of Man's free Will, That he has a Liberty to do what he is commanded, or nor do it ; or if he pleafe, to do the juft contrary ; or to fufpend his Volition, and not to will at all ^ or laftly, to will any Thing elfe upon no other Motive than to fliew his Liberty of Willing. Now I think it will be difficult to prove. That Brutes have a Will, as to all thefe Partis cukrs. For a hungry Beaft, if you do not frighten him from his Food, will neceffarily eat. You cannot pcrfuade a healthy Horfe to will Fading, as readily as to ftand at a full Rack. He cannot refrain from any Impulf; of Na^ ture, unlcfs you put ibme violent Reftraint ot Terror up- on him. But I am weary of confuting flich Abfardities ; and I fanfie, Efiibius, that a Man of your Senfe and Learn- ing can never go heartily into fuch odd Opinions : but that you only have a Mind to fee, how well you can ban- ter the World, in maintaining fomie Paradoxes, which you are pleafed to try your Skill upon, and to draw your Pen in Matters untouched by former Writers. IV. I now. Sir, come to perform thelaft Task your '^^•'^ >•"/ » Objedion has laid upon me. And having confuted, l^'-'^-'"^- think, the Notion which your new Philofophy lays * Pag. 171. P 3 down> f 14 A C O N F E Fx E N C E down, That Brutes have Reafin ; I proceed to examine your other Opinion, That Man is but a Machine. What a lingular Invention is here ? Beafts have Under- ftanding, and Man is Clock-work. A good Compli- ment this I profefs to Hogs and Horfes, Efiibius ^ but €tir Species ai'e very little obliged to you, for it. Now for once, EfiibifiSy for your Satisfadion, and in Vindication of our own Kind, I will prove that Man is not a mere Machine. By Man's being a Machine, I pre- fume you mean. That Man performs all the mental (Ope- rations of Thinking, Reafoning, Willing, &c. by the pure Motion and Configuration of material Parts ; and that it is not requifite to this End, to add Mind or any fpi- ritual Principle,' diftind from Mattery but that Matter fo organifed does think and will in Man. Now I plain- ly declare to you, Sir, that I am of a contrary Opinion, ■and befides the being countenanced therein, by almofi: all wife Men in all Ages, my Judgment is goveruqd in this Point, by thefe following Confiderations. ^ecr^tife Firfi, Becaule there is Thought in the World, wh^-e ihought there is no Mechanifm or organical Contexture ; and j^V'"' therefore it is poiTible, at leaft, that the Soul or thinking Faculty of Man is fomething elfe, befides Matter organi- fed or enlivened. But, fince we are fure that God is a thinking Being, and has Undcrftanding, and Life and Will, without any mechanical Contexture of Paits \ and we are not abfolutely fure, that any Thing elfe is endu- ed with Thought by any other Means, therefore 'tis more probable, That the Soul of Man too is a thinking Being, diftind: from the Compages of the Body. Tliis Argument is very conclufive upon your Principles, £- jiibiHs y who I think allow God to be a Mind, and ac- knowledge the Exifi:ence of Angels too. Now if God, and all the numerous HofI: of heavenly Spirits do think without Organifaticn:, as they are fpiritual Beings j it is but reafonabie to fuppofe, that human Souls do fo too. If you go oiF from your Point, and fay that all Things are Matter, and God is fo too, either whole Matter, or a fm of it j I ask the firft Queftion, if all Things be Mat- ter^ Part V. With ^Theist. 21$ ter. How comes there to be any Thought ; unlefs Mat- ter-it felf be cogitative ? But if all Matter thinks, how comes a Man to be a more thinking Thing than a Tree ? Nay, if all Matter thinks, where there is more Matter there is more Thought ; and fo a Mountain muft be the wifeft Thing we can find out. If God be only lome fine reafonable Part of Matter : What Account can be given, why one Part of Matter lliould be more reafona- ble than another ; or why Finenefs lliould include Rati- onality ? Or laftly, how comes there to be fuch an infi- nite Diftance between Matter ; that fine Matter lliould be the God, and coarfe Matter the Creature ? Secondly, Becaufe Body fo mechanically ordered cm- ^^^'^^f not not, by any Means, be conceived capable of producing ^^^'^^''^^f_ Thought. Now if organifed Matter could produce ;;;,/;-^„. Thought, it muft be one of thefe three ways ; either by its own Power fimply as it is Matter ; or by Virtue of its Organization ; or as it is affifted by the Power of God. We will try all thefe three Wa}'s, and the Difficulties which attend each. /i"r/?, Matter of its own felf, by all that we can con- ceive of it, is a dead unadive Thing ; which has nothing imaginable in it but what is purely paffive ; and tlwugh it be capable of receiving many Qualities, yet it is impofli- ble it can give any. Or if Matter were capable of con- ferring any Qiialifications ; all material Beings, which had an equal Quantity of Matter, muft have an equal De- gree of Perfedions ; than which nothing can be more ab- furd. But though Matter were capable of conferring any Qualities, which were agreeable tO'its own Nature, and which it felf could be the Subjeft of : Yet it fhocks com- mon Senfe to imagine, that Matter can give a Qiiality or Perfection v/hich it has not in it felf, and which is as dif- ferent from its Nature, as the moft dired Contrariety or Contradidion can be. For all that we can polfiblv con- ceive of Matter is. That it is fomething extended or ta- king up Room ; That it is impenetrable or folid, and will not let another Body get into the fame Place with it ; and That it is capable pf receiving a great Number of Figures. P 4 But 2i6 ^Conference But how can this contribute any Thing towards making a Soul or a thinking Being ? Indeed one Part of Matter joined to another willencreafe Bulk j and the Parts differ- ently fituated will produce a new Figure ; becaufe Bulk and Figure are originally included in Matter, and which by its Nature it may be fuppofed to contiibute to. But to fay. Matter can produce Mind, is more abfurd than to fay, I can produce an Angel, or a Moufe can write a -Book of Mathematicks. For Mind is more above Mat- ter, than any one of thefe is out of the Power of the o- ther. For my Part I have been often wondring, how the Materialids Ihould get it into their Head, to join two fuch incompatible Notions together, as Mind and Mat- ter ; or to impgine Matter, not only to confer the Pow- er, but ever to be fo much as capable of thinking. A white Blacknefs, a flow Swift, or a cold Hot is not half fo much Nonfenfe j becaufe a Subjed: may contain fome Degrees of each of thefe contrary Qualities : As Water may be luke-warm. But extended Thought or think- ing Solidity is all Contradidion and Abfurdity. And fo indeed are all the Properties of Mind and Matter, when put together. For the Mind is prefently fliocked witji Jargon and unintelligible Notion, if you talk of a Yard , of Underftanding, or a wife Cube, of a triangular De- fire, or a hoping Hexagon. Therefore how is it poflible, that Matter Ihould be any ways able to produce Thought, which it not only has not in it felf, but which in its Na- ture, and all its Properties it is fo diredly repugnant to. Secondly, It is not by any Means conceivable how the Organization of Matter lliould produce Thought. For we can imagine nothing in the Organization of Matter, but only Matter augmented, or encreafed to a greater Bulk I or the Parts of Matter attenuated ; or Matter put in a different Situation or Figure i or Matter moved in . fuch a Degree of Swiftnefs, or within fuch or fuch Terms pr Points. Now not one of thefe Modifications of Matr ter, or all of them together, are capable of producing Thought; If to augment Matter, or to add more of 1% can be produftive of Thoughts then an Elephant would Part V. with a T h e i s t. would be more thoughtful than a Man. If Matter at- tenuated could work the fame Effed, the Mind would be more excellent in the Bodies of Flies and Mites ; be- caufe all their Organs are of a finer Contexture, and their Animal Spirits, which move in fuch little VelTels, muft be much purer drawn off than ours. Neither can it be aA ferted with Probability, That Matter moved with any Degree of Velocity whatever lliould make it thought- ful ; for that is only the carrying it into a Number of fuc- ceflive Places. But if Matter be not thoughtful in one Place, it cannot become fo by being carried into ten Thoufand : For the Change of Place cannot change the Nature of a Thing. And the Cafe is juft the fame of Figure. For Figure is only the Difpofition of the Parts with Relati- on to one another : And if Matter be not thoughtful before the Figuration of it, the being figured can never produce fuch an EfFed : For what Relation has it to Thought, that five thoufand Parts of Matter lie Eaftward of the Center of any Body, and ten thoufand WeRward ; that on this Side it is conical, on another Side pyramidal or circular ? All this is no more than the bare Situation of Parts, with Relation to each other ; and is but juft the like, as when I fhake twenty Shillings in my Pocket ; it is but the fame twenty Shillings ftill, though this or that, or the other Piece lie uppermoU:. Nay, 'tis not Matter in grofs or Matter attenuated, with Motion to Eaft or Weft or any other Way, nor all Kinds of Figures put together which can produce Thought ; becaufe thefe lingly having no Manner of Tendency to produce it, they all in Conjundion will be but like fo many Cyphers without Figures \ added together, they will ftand for juft nothing at all. Thirdlj^ Neither is Matter capable of thinking, though affifted by the Power of God. I will not fay fo rough a Thing as. That 'tis out of the Power of God to make Matter think ; but I fay, 'tis contrary to all our Concep- tions, and to the ordinary Ideas that we have of the Na- ture of Things, that he fhould make it cogitative. For \£ we fuppofe any Part of Man, as fuppofing fome Part ef 217 2i8 A Conference of the Brain of yldam's Body, which God at firft failii- oned out of the Earth, to be made cogitative by Almigh- ty God ; this Part of his Brain fo made cogitative would be no longer Matter ; for the Materiality of it would be deftroyed, and it would immediately become a Spirit. Por, in this Cafe, there would be a double Share of God's Omnipotency required ; firft to annihilate this Matter, and then to produce a Mind or Spirit in its Room. And then, befides, it could not with any Propriety bg faid. That that Matter was cogitative, but that the new-created Mind was fo. For the Matter would be no longer re- inaining, but would become a pure Non-enitty, of which there could be no Affedions predicated. If you fay. That God in this Cafe would add a cody by Difeafe or outward Force becomes fo incapacitated ; rhe Soul by the Wifdom of God is difpbfed of, as the Rules of his Providence have determined ; and carried to fuch Places of the World as he has made Choice of, for being a Receptacle of them until the Refurredion. Now 'tis ridiculous to imagine, that the Soul which by the Dircdi- on of God's neceffary Laws is determined to live for fome Time in a feparate State, fhould be able to ftruggle with its Creator j and in Defpight of him to continue in this World, when he has refolved to difpofe of it in ano- ther : Or to think, that it fliould contend to live in an unin- habitable Carcafs, againft the Will of God ; as a malicious Spirit perfifted to ftay in the Demoniack, againft the Command of the Difciples. Though after all, Eftibiusj the Inftance perhaps, which you have made Choice of, does not ferve to make out the Point which you defign it for. For though I am very well fitisfied, that our Saviour did caft out many Devils, which had pofTeffed the Bodies of Men at that Time he lived upon Earth, God Almighty fuifering the infernal Kingdom to rage then more than oi^dinary over human Kind -y to the Tnd that the Power of the Meflias might more particularly be difplayed, by a Demonftration of his Miracles that Way : Yet by the Context of this Place it riiould feem, that this affliftcd Perfon, at that Time cu- red, did not labour under more than an ordinary Difeafe ; it being as much a Miracle in our bleffcd Lord to reftore Health to fuch an one by a Word fpeaking, as if he had done a Miracle of the lame Nature which you fuppofc. For the affecfted Perfon, there fooken of, is faid a-iU-nu^j^i/.t to be LunMickj, as we tranHate it, or to be under the Influence of the Moon. Though the Word o-sAijwaifoM-ai lignifies properly to have the TnlUug-Sichncfst which the Latins call Aiorhus facer ox Com'ninlts. And -;>'i^->i'5? in clalTical Writers ligmfics one, that fuffers under that Infirmity. Q Though 22(5 J Conference Though it muft be acknowledged, that not only the Jews, but the Heathens did imagine, that Perfons who had this Diftemper were poflefTed by a Daemon, and were at that Time thought to be under a prophetick Infpira- tion *? ivS-ioi^ovri(; >^ ia-o(/jiv(x, vrfeXiycvrKi^ and which Paulus ^^gtmta the Epitomifer of Galen calls h^iX'^iy^';, Lib. 3 i Ci 14. But however all the Symptoms, mentioned irt the Hiftory of this difeafed Perfon, do exadly agree to the Falling-Sicknefs ; jca^^s? ^^3w to be under lamentable Paroxyfms or Paffions, arid oftentimes to fall into the Fire-, and into the Water-, v. 15. Now it be- ing ufual to the Jews to attribute moft EfFefts to fpiritual Caufes ; profperous Events to good Angelsj and unlucky ones to bad oues : Therefore the Evangeliftj according to the Jews national Philofophy, calls the Dif- eafe here fpoken ofj ^n»jonov a Cacodsmon or Devil. Now, it being uncertain whether the AjEfliftion of this Perfon were more than an ordinary Difeafe, you have not Foundation fufficient to build your Argument upon^ of the Dijfficulty of ejefting a Spirit out of a Body. Though after all, EJiibim, I will not break with you upon this Point i and I am of Opinion, That there is more fpiiitual Agency mingles it felf, not only in the Matter of Difeafes, but in other AfFaii'S of human Life, than I believe you do : For I cannot eafily bring my felf to think, that you who are fo avow'd an Enemy againf^ Ghofts and Appaiitions, are over-fond of Pofleflions or Enchantments. Efli. I fhall niov/ accofi you with another Argument againft the Soul's Immateriality, which I prefume you will not have the good Luck to hit off fo well. And that ihall be drawn from the gradual Increafe of the Soul's Fa- culties and Perfedions, from the State of Childhood to Manhood. * For in Order to maize Compleat Adan^ thai is, Man able and capable of exerting the Operations of Rea- fon in VerfeUion (for a Boy is a Man., quatenus a living Soul) fo far at leafl as a Man by Learning, Converjationy '* Pag. 108, 109. BCC4 Party. isyith ^ T H E T s t. 227 &c. is able to attain^ a full Growth of Parts fcems to be one uecejfary Ingredient towards a ferfett and compleat Organi- z.ation, i. e. when a Aian has attained to his full Growth^ for before that his Judgment feldom becomes confirmed and fettled-, his Reafon fluEiuates-i and all his ^iions fecm to be done with great P^ariety and XJnjlendinefs^ as if his Soul had not the full Growth., nor flreuhed it felf to the titmofi Pitch of Expanficn, to create and fettle fxt Notions in the Aiind of Aden, without that Levity and Ignorance that generally attends younger Tears, Now if any one flmdd ask^ me, why I attribute Solidity of Judgment not to begin gene^ rally, till Men have attained to their full Growth ; I give them no other than this philofophical ConjeQure, though Afatter of FaEl plainly confirms what I fay ; Becaufe ac- cording to the Supplement continually made by Adeats, and Drinks to the Blood, Accretion to Parts is ujiially continue ally made, or the Parts of the Body continually augment or increafe, and becaufe the Blood is in perpetual Circulation, and receives continual Additions of nutritious Juice, the Ideas imprejfed on the Spirits {the finer Part of the Blood) cannot but fuffer various Alterations, and when they ought to be fiercer, and fettled (fuppofe in the Brain) a new Flux of nutritious Juice blots out the former Ideas, and inclines Man to thinkj, and a^l, according to the Imprefjions the for- mer Ideas made on him : This makes you fo inconfiant and various in all rational Actions, and Infants at firfl feem to be mere Machines, and floew but finder Glimmerings of Reafon. So that in fhort, '*' the intellective Faculty or ef- fential Part of the Soul is augmented and increafed by Learning, Education and Converfation ; therefore capable of Augmentation, and confequently liable to perijh. Phil. However fond you may feem» Sir, of this fine^^^ ^^^,^; philofophical Reafoning ; yet I think it is fo very hx m-ralfthe from cftabliiliing the Point you contend for, that it is con- ^oul h trary to the ordinary Didates of common Scnie and ufual '^f,l^^°f^'^ Experience. For, if the Soul receives its Improvement fs Materi', from the Growth of the Body, you muft allow, that.iuVy. * P^g- ^?^* Q^ 1 upoili 22 § ^Conference upon every Increafe of the Body, the Soul mufl: be ad-^ vanced, either to a greater Degree of Magnitude, or at leaft, to a higher Degree of Perfeftion, in its Qualities or Endov/ments. But I fuppofe this is not very agreeable to the Notion, which every one mull: have of a Soulj nor to the Obfervations which we are able to make, con- cerning its Operations. For no one can think. That a Man's Soul is like his Skin ; that it ftretches out to fuch a Length and Breadth, according as his Body is more or lefs extended. For this would engage us upon a new Language, and different Form of Speaking and Under- Handing, from what we have : and then we fhould talk of Souls of two, or four, or fix Foot long, the very Imagination whereof is abfurdand ihocking to the Mind. Or if you fuppofe, That, as the Body increafes, the Soul only receives fome perfeftive Qiialifications ; this alfo is pregnant with an equal Number of Incon- fiftencies. For if the Growth of the Body add Per- fe<5lion to the Soul, then the more the Body grows, the more Perfed:ions the Soul muft be endowed with. And then the moft thoughtful and wife Perfons, that could be aifigned, would be your greateft big-boned People, the ' Hercules's and Colehurns of the Age. Nay, when ever Men grow fat or lean, their Intelleduals muft increafe or abate upon it : For their Bulk increafing muft add Thought and Wifdom ; and their Sparenefs of Flelh muft take off from their Underftanding. But Experience, which Ihews that none of thefe Eifedis happen from thefe aifigned Caufes, does likewife demonftrate, that your Sup- pofition has no Ground to warrant it. And 'tis impofE- ble tliat ever you fliould prove your Point, unlefs you can make out, that Men of little Stature have no more Keafbn and Judgment, than Boys of the fame Size arc endowed \\ ith. But if you had been pleafed to have given your kli' a little more Reflexion upon this Head, you might eafily have been convinced. That young Per- fons do not owe the Improvement of their Underftand- ings to the Growth of their Bodies, but to the Cultivation of Part V. whh a T h e i s t. 229 of their Minds, by a good Education; or to Attention and Application, and mature Experience. And this Vo- latility or Levity in Youth, which you attribute to the Addition of new Parts, is more properly affigned to ano- ther Caufe J- viz.. to their Inexperience and Want of Ac- quaintance with fome new Ideas, \\'hich they are taken with upon the firfl: Appearance, and diirelilh again upon a nearer Examination. For, when the Soul makes its hrft Entrance into the World, every Image, which does not carry Dread or Danger with it, is pleafant and entertain- ing ; which, when it has been fometimes under View, and all the Pleafures, which it can afford, have been enjoy- ed over, is laid afide with as much Indifferency, as it is taken up with Eagernefs. And upon this Account, e- very Stage of Life has its particular Scenes of Pleafures, wherein it finds its refpedive Gratifications ; and when thefe are over, a new Set of Satisfaftions fucceed to enter- tain us with. Children run with Eagernefs to painted Toys, to Whiflles and Rattles, or to any other little Thing, which carries with it a gayilli Novelty ; which, after a fnort Time, they look upon with as much Cold- nefs and Indifferency as we Men do. Young Men pur- flie the Pleaiures of Senfc, together with Jollity and Hu- mour, in a no lefs vehement Degree of "Pafiion and De- fire ; all which Things are as tailelcfs to old Age, as they are chaiming to Youth. So that a great Deal of that, which you call Inconftancy or Unfteadinefs in Youth, is really none of thofc Faults which you make it ; it is ra- ther fome growing Degree of Wifaom, and does plainly fhew forth the Excellency of the Mind, which, in an unknown State and a World of Matter, is notahsays to be charm.ed by the empty Pleafures it finds here : but ha- ving viewed them all round, comes at length to know, that they do not abound with thofe Perfedions, which they feem at firft to promife to the admiring Spedator. But if Youth in thele tender Years, and under thofe great Difadvantages of Inexperience, iliould fland obliged ne- ver to change their Opinions of Things, but tcnacioufly tp efpoufe :nd keep up their firfl mifhkcu Thoughts 0^5 an4 230 ^Conference and Conclufions j Men muft be Boys as long as they live, and never have their Judgments in the leaft improved, from feven to feventy. But the wife God has laid human Nature under other Rules and Difpenfations -, he lets Truth into Man's Mind by gradual Portions, as he is ■ capable of it ; fuffers him to be entertained with the Sa- tisfad:ion of one Objed for a While, and, when he grows tired with that, relieves him with another ; thus com- fortably leading him through the different Stages of J^ife, by a conftant Vievv^ of frefh Entertainments ; the Im- perfections whereof are continually difcovered, till we drop at laft into another State : where we can enjoy the inexhauflible Stock of Perfedion in the Deity it felf, at whofe right Hand are Pleafures for evermore. Therefore I conclude, Efiibius, Thar this Inconftancy or Levity in Youth, as you call it, is owing to Inexperi- ence, and the Frame of our Natures, which is conftitu- \td. by God, to gain its Notices of Things by Degrees ; and I cannot bring my felf to think, tl.[at it itiould be at-^ tributed to the new Parts added to the Body of a Youth, in his growing. For if thefe new Parts added to the Bo- dy were the Occalion of the Change in Opinion, there is no Reafon to be affigned, why all new added Parts of the fame Nature fhould not produce the fame Opinions. And then Men, that live upon the fame Food, muft have the fame Thoughts generated in them ; and they would acquire new Notions, not from Books and Experience, but from their Diet. A Man that has been ufed long to feed upon Flelh, would have his Head new turned, and a frefh Set of Notions infufed into him, by keeping Lent. People muft have one Sort of Fcod to make them Caivlmjrs, and another Remonjtrants ; one Kind of Diet to incline them to be Cartefians^ and another to be Ariflo- telians. And if you will oblige me fo far, as to tell me ;;> what Diet you lived chiefly upon, when you changed the Catholick Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality for your new Notion, I will for your Sake? fet a Mark upon that F^od for the future. Part V. with a T Heist. 2^^ Efti, For all your Pleafantnefs on this Subjed, I have another knotty Difficulty for you to difTolve, which you will not be able to laugh off at the fame Rate j and this is an Argument drawn from the refpedtive Brisknefs and Dulnefs of Men's Parts. "^ For the Degrees ofPerfe^i^ on of ailing in a Mans SohI, undoubtedly much depend on the SuhjeEl of which Man is compounded : One is of agile and fuhtile Parts, others more heavy and dull by their natural Conjiitutions ; bejides the Advantages of Education and Converfation. Now this could not be if the Soul were the Fountain of all thefe Operations, and that Jpiritual Subfiance they would have it to he : Beeaufe immaterial Beings in the fame Species, we mufi fuppoje to be equal in Perfection of Operation quatenus immaterial ; be the Sub" ~ jeSl Matter, in which it is, ever fo much indijpofed. For what Objirutlion can Matter make to an immaterial Being, which can 'penetrate it / And confequently every Creature endowed with fuch an immaterial Subfiance, would be equally perfect in its Operations too, which we fee manifefily contradi^s Reafon and Experience, Phil. That fome Men are bleffed with far greater A- Brisknefs or bilities of Mind than others are, I think is a Truth deni- ^tdnefs of edbynonei but the Queftion is, Whether this Difpari- J'^'^^'J^J^''" ty of Endowments proceeds, from a different Make ory-^^,„ ^^^^. Conftitution of the Soul it felf, or from the Organifa-/er. tion of the Body ? or, if it does receive Improvement from the happy Frame of bodily Organs, whether this be an Argument to prove it material ? We affert therefore in the firft Place, I. That it is not improbable, but that the Souls of soul's dif- Men jare of different Degrees of Perfedion in their veryferera in original Nature. For all the Produdiions of God do a- f'^^''' ^'''^'- bound with wonderful Variety ; and there is not only an infinite Number of different Species and Claffes of Beings, but the particular Individuals are diftinguillied from each other, by the Prefence or the Want of fome peculiai' Perfedions ; which fome of them enjoy, and others are bereft of. 0^4 The ^CONFEB^ENCE The Apoftle has remarked it of the Celeftial Bodies, There is one Glory of the Sun, another Glory of the 2iioony ' and. another Glory of the Stars ; and the lame is as obferva- ble in the other Parts of the Creation. In all Plants and Plowers of the lame Kind when nicely examined, you may find hovv^ they are diflinguillied from each other, by iingiilar Streaks and Textures i by the Slendernefsof the Stalks, or tlie Spread of the Leaves, or by a thoufand o- ther particular Beauties and Elegancies, What a mighty Difference is there in the Strength, and Swiftnefs, and Ge- ncrolity ot Horfes? How greatly does one Dog excel another in Jiis Smell, his Nimblenefs, or his Sagacity ? How is one Bird inferior to another, in the Strength of its Wings, the Colour of its Feathers, or the Pleafantnefs of its Note \ And it cannot pafs the Obfervation of any one, 'fhat the Features and Shapes of the Faces and Bodies of Men, and Women, are not owing altogether to fancy and li- king ; but that there is, in every one of them, fuch a particular Symmetry and relative Proportion, either to the Vv'hole or the adjoyning Parts, as makes every lingle in- dividual either fuperior or inferior, in their Perlonage, upon Comparifon with another. And to come yet nigherto the Nature of a human Soul, we are informed by God's Word, that there are very diftinguifhing Perfeftions among the angehck Be- ings, which make feveral of them fuperior to others. They are called Angels and Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Pow- ers ; all which do denote, if not different Ranks and ClalTes, yet very unequal Degrees of Perfedions in thefe exalted Beinjjs. Now upon Conlideration of all This, I am very much inclined to think, Efiibim, That fince God Almighty has framed all the Work of his Creation, in fuch diffe- rent Degrees of Excellence i 'tis hardly to be fuppofed, that lie has caft the Souls of Men fo exaftly into the fame Mold, as to leave no Matter of Difference, with Re- fpeft of INlcliority or Deteriority, among them. ] •' , • M You Part V- whh a T h e i s t. You fay moreover, that immaterial Beings in the fame Species mufl be equal in their Operations quatenus immaterial. But I do not fee any Manner of Cogency in this Argument ; Nor do I think the Words, which you exprefs it by, reconcileable to common Senfe. If your Meaning be, that all immaterial Beings are ec|ual as, to their Immateriality, that is, one is as much an im- material Being as another j who ever denied it? But this is a very improper Senfe of Equality, and does rather denote, that they agree but in one Thing, and are different in all the reft ; than that they lliould, with any juft Propriety, be denominated equal. For properly Equality does lignify fuch an Agreea- blenefs in the Make and Conftitution, the Durabi- lity, Beauty, Readinefs of Operations and the like, in two diftinft Beings ; that one is lookt upon as alto- gether as good (as we ufetofay) and valuable as the other. Now in material Beings this Equality may be receded fj-om ,- wJien one of the two Objeds compared together, is diveriihed by Figure or Morion, or by Addition or Subftraftion of Parts. So that, if Bodies equal (to ufe your Way of Speaking) quatenus Alatcrial, can be diver- fified into feveral Degrees of Perfcdion by thefe differ- ent Modifications of Matter ; by a Parity of Reafon it muft be allowed, That of two thinking Subftances, e- qual as to their Cogitation, one may receive a different Perfedion, from its being endowed with a nobler Under- ftanding or a more redtified Will than the other. For, if an extended Being becomes more noble, and better, i^y being well figured without, or well organifed within, or from its being impelled by juft ai^i orderly Motions ; why fhould not one thinking Being be more excellent than another ; by how much the more the Capacity of its Underftanding is enlarged, and its Will hasaPropenfity to 'be more eafily (governed ? Therefore if a Soul comes into 'onc Body, which is better inclined to underftand \yhat-ever is propofed to it than another, and with a Will more readily difpofed to follow the Dic^tatcs of that Un- derftanding; fuch a Soul is more excellent in its original ; "1 *" . ' Con? 233 254 -^ Conference ,-ConfHtution ; and confequently all Souls, upon Suppo- fition that they are immaterial, are not equal. II. Neither is it credible, that the Soul receives its Livelinefs and Brightnefs, from the good Contexture and Difpofition of the Body. ^udifica- Firji, Becaufe it is very obvious to ccnfider, that ma* tionsof the ny Perfbns who are of a very weak and fickly Conftitu- Soulpro- ^-Qj^^ ^j,g neverthelefs endowed with a Soul of the from'the nioft vigorous Nature. Although their Bodies labour Difpofition under very grievous Infirmities, and they hardly enjoy of the Body, g^ Minute's, Refpite from Pain and Sicknefs ; yet all this While their Soul exerts its Operations with the greateft Sprightfulnefs and Agility ; and oftentimes takes in a larger View of Things, makes clofer Obfervations, and deduces Confequences at a remoter Diftance, than thofe who continually feel the Eafe of athletick Health. Now if the Soul did entirely depend upon the Body, for the regular Difcharge of its Operations ; a fickly Body would always occafion faint and languid Thoughts, and fuch Men's Reafons would be as feeble as their Joints. Nay, if this Philofophy wliich you advance were univerfally true ; the Amputation of a Limb would maim a Man of a confiderablc Degree of his Underftanding ; and a ufelefs Hand or Foot would make a proportionable Defalcation, from all the reafoning Faculties. Secondly-, Becaufe oftentimes in the very Article of Death, when all the bodily Faculties are decayed, the Mind difplays it felf in the utmoft Vigour, and difcovers fuch noble Conceptions of God and Religion, of the Vanity of this World, and the Joys of the next, as Men in the beft State of their Health are hardly ever able to ar- rive to. The Soul then feems, in good Meafure, to have tightned her felf of her Burden of Flefh, and to be mo- ving towards God without Clogs and Fetters ; and being in a Manner got loofe from the Carcafe fhe was tied to, flie begins to perfonn her Operations with her natural Freedom, and take a Tafte before-hand of the Liberty of • that free Heaven fhe is going to. HI, Part V. with a T H E i sT. 255 III. Nor, though the Soul does receive Improvement This gran or Difadvantage from the Contexture of the bodily Or- ^^'^ P^"'^^^ gans, is it any Argument to prove that the Soul is ma-"'"J^^^-'^f terial. It cannot be denied, but that the quick Moti- on of the animal Spirits does very much invigomte the Fancy, and quicken the Memory, and give the Soul a new Turn of brisk and lively Thoughts : And when thefe are heavy and languid, the Wings of the Soul flag by the dull Weight, all the Operations thereof being performed with a wearifome Unweildinefs. But then this (does by no Means -prove, that the Soul is material ; but that it ads in material Organs, which, according to the good or bad Difpofition tnereof, makes its Faculties dif- play themfelves, in more or lefs Degrees of Perfedion : Juft as the Air breathed into a muiical Pipe, if it be well and artificially fafhioned, gives forth all the different Sounds clearly and harmonioufly ; but if it be lefs nicely made, the Notes are rough and grating. Now, as in this Cafe, no one can fay. That that Breath of Air, which is blow'd into it, is the Pipe, tho' it very much depends upon the Pipe as to its Harmonioufnefs ; fo you can with as little Reafon fay, that the Soul is Matter, becaufe it depends upon the curious Difpofition of the material Organs of the Body, to be able to perform its Opera- tions with any Degree of Eminency. Efit. Now look to your felf, Philologus : I am going to charge Home upon you this Time. Here is a terri- ble Demonftration in Mood and Figure planted againfl you, which will fweep away you, and all your little Ar- guments for the Immortality of the Soul, Rank and File. ^ Major. That DoElrine or Belief is moji agreeable to a ra- tional Mature, which is mofi eafj to be comprehended or un- der flood, as having in it more probable Grounds of Truth, Minor. But the DoBrine of the Mortality of humane Soulsy is more eafj to be comprehended, and has in it more probable Grounds of Truth than the Immortality. Concl. Ergo, it is a Belief or DoBrine more agreeable to rational Mature. The ,6 ^CCNFERENCE T'he Adajor Propojition I do not conceive can any Wajs be denied : For though there arc fome Things difficult to be cor/fprehended and underfiood, and thofe verj Things too have equallj probable Grounds of Truths jet v>e muji allow a rational Nature does mojl approve of Things ; eajjto be underjiood, and Things which carry with them the Face of plain downright Truths, rather than myflerious Intricacies and oft-times nothing but perplexed Oppojitions. *Tis but a Strain or Stretch, as 'twere, upon a rational Nature to urge it with incomprehenjible Problems, extraordinary dif- ficult if at all to be underfiood ; but that which is mojl a- greeable to it, if undoubtedly plain eafy Truth. Now as to ^ the Proof of the Minor Propojition, I thinly it admits of very little Difficulty (though I will not do it fyllogifiically as favouring too much of Pedantry always to proceed fo) for 'tis more eafy to be comprehended that a mortal Princi- ple jjjould be joined to a mortal, and both equally perijJjable, than that an immortal one (Jjould be joind to a mortal one, \\z. Soul to Body, and to furvive it to ail Eternity. This J urge philofophically, abjiraEled from the Notions of Reli- gion i and according to the Opinions Heathens had of the Soul, and the Nature of Union by them laid down, as ii- mile gaudet (imili. Phil. This Demonflration, Ffiibius, efpecially when 'tis ufliered in with all this logical Solemnity, is fuch a terrible thing, as is enough tofcare us ordinary People at the Apprehenfion of it. But however it has this good BfFed upon us, as to make us look about us a little, and to take a nice VieW:, whether or no the Adverfary be re-;- ally poffelled of that frightful Strength which he pretends to. Therefore being awakened into good fober Cauti- on by the Danger which )'ou threaten ', we will for once take Courage to examine into the Force of this de- monftrative Syllogifm, which, tho' it look as big as the Trojan Horfe, perhaps upon Trial, will be found to have nothing elfe but Wind in its Belly. But to take X.O Pieces this Monfter of an Argument. It is a pretty Pag. ij-i. while jpart V. with <3 T h e i s t. 237 while, Efiibiusy fince I have been converfant|wIth the Laws of Syllogifm -, but yet, if my Memory does nor fail me, one of them is, that the Terms of one Propoli- tion ought not to be varied when repeated in another; but I thmk your Syllogifm is a little peccant in this Mat- ter, by changing the Words, as having in it into and has in it ; which Alteration is very material, and makes your Minor toaffume more than your Major lays down. I. We will begin with the firft Propolition. That The Major Do^rine or Belief is mofi agreeable to a rational Nature ^''°f- of'^ which is mofi eajy to be comprehended or under fiood, as ha- r ''^"^'^ ving in it more probable Grounds of Truth. This Vro^o- jiration lition you conceive cannot any Wajs be denied; but I ^mconjiikred.. of Opinion, that it is all Ways to be denied, and that there is hardly any Part of it, which is not with juft Reafon deniable. Nay when you fay, That what is mofi eafj to be comprehended^ or under jlood-, is mcfi agree- able to rational Nature, even that Propoiition is not uni- verfally true. For there are Truths very difficult to be found out, wliich the Mind very readily acquiefces in, when ftie has attained to the Knowledge of them. For a great Part of the Pleafure of mathematical Studies pro- ceeds, not barely from the Inveftigation of Truth, but in great Meafure from a comfortable Refled:ion, upon having fuparated fuch great Difficulties in the coming at it. Nay, 'tis evident to me, that a great many Men are not beft pleafed with plain Truths and Matters v.diich lie eafy in tneir Underftandin^ ; from their appearing fo ve- ry fond of any odd out of the way Notion, ^^'hich may prefent it felf to their Fancies. For 'tis common enough to obferve, that thefe Perfons pride themfelves upon fuch fantaftick Opinions, which they can never have any to- lerable Comprehenfion of, more than upon fclid Truths, of which they have the cleareft Ideas. And 1 appeal to the Confcicnce of fome you know ; if they do not feel xT fecret Pride in tlieir Minds nriling from the Con- iideration, " That they, by the Dint of ftrong R-cafon- " ing, or deep Application, have opened fome new Mines " of Truth, which were inacccffible to all before them ; *»■ and 238 ^ Conference '' and if they do not like their own Opinion the better? " becaiifeof the Difficulties they have waded through in ** the Purfuit of it ; or, however, for that they were *' fo great as to leave the Endeavours of all former Ex' *' plorators in the Search thereof unfuccefsful^ who have ^' given them the Occafion of reaping the Honour of " making the firfl Difcovery. " Nay farther, there are fome Truths which are very agreeable to rational Na- ture, and which are not at all comprehenfible ; Reafon not at all boggling to comply with them upon that Account. I am perfeftly fatisfied of the inhnite Di- vifibility of Quantity, and yet I have no Manner of Comprehenfion how it fliould be performed. I am abfolutely certain, that God Almighty is infinitely good ^ And yet I am not able to comprehend either what God is, or what infinite Goodnefs is. For in fuch Cafes it is not requifite, that the Nature of the Subjed:, or the" precife Manner of fuch Operation iliould be exadly com- prehended by the Mind : It is fufficient, that the Un- derllanding perceives the Agreeablenefs between the Con- ceptions it has of thofe Affedions, which are manifeflly evident in fuch an incomprehenfible Being. For though the Soul cannot comprehend the Nature of God, or the Nature of infinite Goodnefs ; it can underftand the A- greeablenefs between the Idea of God, and the Idea of infinite Goodnefs. And the Underftanding is altogether as eafy, whilfl it is demonftrating infinite or incompre* henfible AfFedions of infinite Subjefts, as it is whilft it is predicating finite Properties of finite Subjefts ; be- caufe it is highly agreeable to Reafon, that an infinite and incomprehenfible Subjed: fhould contain many Truths not to be comprehended. But you are guilty yet of a farther Miftake, when you lay down, that a Thing is more eafy to be underfiood, as having more frobable Grounds of Truth. For I do not by any Means think, that this Expreffion is confiftent, either with Propriety or indeed with Truth it felf. For Intelligiblenefs, or Comprehenfibility, does not altogether depend upon probable Grounds, but upon other Caufcs, Fof Fart V. with a T H e i s t. 239 For probable Grounds of Truth are the Caufes rather of Jijfent, than Intelligibility. I do beheve or think fuch a Thing to be true, becaufe there are probable Grounds to perfuade me into that Belief or Opinion ; but thefe probable Grounds do not make it one Jot more intelli- gible. For to render a Thing intelligible I muft have ei- ther an exad Notion of the Nature of the Thing, or of the Modus of its Operation, or at leaft, that the Affedii- ons of it are agreeable to fome other undoubted Principles, which my Mind is before polTelTed of. But, as for the frobable Grounds you fpeak of, they do only aifure me of the pure Exiftence of the Thing, without any far- ther Confideration. For things which have no real Ex- iftence are capable of being underflood, though they have no probable Grounds of Truth as to their Being. Thus Univerfals and pure entia Rationis, whidi have no real Exiftence, but are only Creatures of the Mind, are Things which neveithelefs ai-e intelligible, and are the proper Objed: of the Underftanding. For I can very well underftand, that a Man is an Animal, and that a- Centaur is a Thing made up of a Man and a Horfe ; and yet I have no probable Grounds to perfuade me, that there are any fuch things in the World, in the Mannner I conceive them to be. II. Neither is the minor Propofition of your boafted Syllogifm without its Faults, in which you allert. That the Doclrine of the Mortality of human Souls Ygyf^ijfy is more cafj to be comprehended, and has in it of the Soul, more frobable Grounds of Truth than the Immor''''''^^'^''^ tality. ^'^^ And here in the firil: Place give me Leave to oh- i.^A:/. ferve, thdt of the two Claufes this Propofition is made up^ of, the former is by no Means agreeable to Truth. For juft contrary to what you fay, the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality is more eafy to be comprehended, than that of its Mortality. Becaufe exifting or living is more agreeable to the Notion every Man has of a Soul, than dying. I don't believe, thiit the Mind could readily be perfuaded, that any Animal could die, if it had never beheld 5^6 ^Conference beheld an)' Inftances thereof. For if (Man were imme- diately fprung up out of the Ground in the Manner the Epicureans fanfie him ; or, as we Chriftians are inftruc- ted from facred Writ, like as Adam was formed ; I don't think any Man, fo made by God, could perfuade himfelf, before he faw the Death of fome Creature, that even his Body was perifhable. For whereas he found this organifed Body in Being, from his firft Acquain- tance with it, he could not tell but that it might always continue in this Being ; unlefs he had experienced, that the Courfe and Order of Nature were againft fuch Con- tinuance ; which Experience was not to be obtained, till the Death or Diflolution of fome fuch-like organi- fed Body afforded Demonftration to the Mind that the Body was periOiable. But I will defy all Mankind, to produce fuch demonfti ative Inftances of the Diffolution of the Soul ; and fince Men are abfolutely certain, that the Soul does exift, and they can never be certain That it is any Time hereafter in a State of Non-Exiftence ; therefore I conclude 'tis more eafy to the Underftanding to conceive, that That Soul does always exift or is immortal; and confequently, what you affert, is falfe. N(?r has Secondly^ Neither is there any Truth in your other more pro- Claufe wherein you lay down. That there are more proba- ia6le j^jg (3i-ounds of Truth, in the Dodrine of the Soul's Truth. Mortality, than for the contrary Doftrine. For, not only upon Account of feveral unanfwerable Arguments, (which I could urge upon you now, in Behalf of this Doftrine, and fliall have Occalion to ufe before you and I part ) the Dodirine of the Soul's Immorta- lity ftands built upon the moft probable Grounds, which can be imagined : But your Dodrine, of the Mortah- ty of it, is founded upon no Manner of Grounds at all, (as is evident by what v/e laid before) when the Proof is turn'd upon your Side. For whereas 'tis certain, that the Soul is in Being, and vou can never prove that any Soul ever ceafed to be : fo we muft needs have the great- er Share of Probability on our Side of the Queftion : For we Part V. with ^ T h e i s t. 241 we are in PofTeffion of Being and adually experience it ; but I am fiire you cannot fay fo much, for your future State of Non-Exiftence. III. But you endeavour to confirm this Argument, by *5imi!e a philofophical Axiom. Simile gaudet Jimili. From ?^". ^ "" whence you conclude, that if the Body be mortal ^^'^^ uniierjlood. material, the Soul which is joined with it is fo too. Now I know not what Force this Axiom may have in fome philofophical Matters ,• but I am fatisfied it can have ve- ry little Force in the Affair which, you apply it to. 1 doubt not but this is a very true Expreflion, when applied to the Humours and Difpolitions of Mankind, and indeed of all other Animals : which love to converfe, and keep Company with thofe, that are of a Temper like to their own; and are apt to difrelifh thofe whole Qua- lities are different, tience that of Horace i Oderunt hilar em trifies, trijiemqi jocofiy Sedatum celeres, agilem gnavnmq, remijji. Hor. Ep. 18. And this makes Martial wonder, that when a very bad Couple were come together, that they did not better agree. XJxor fejjima, feJJimHs maritus : Adiror non bene convenire vobis. Of the Validity of your Axiom in this Senfe, Efii- biusy I will not difpute with you. But how far it holds in Philofophy we will a little confider. I think Arijlotle fome where or other does make ufe of an Axiom pretty like this, which you bring. "'OjW/ojsv ojM/oi« cptAov. Like has a Friendfliip for Like. That is, according to the Prin- ciples of his Philofophy, Bodies of a fimilar Nature have a Sort of Appetency to unite together. Thus Fire moves upward to meet the great Mafs of that Element, which he fuppofed to be fituated above the Air : and Stones with other earthy Subftances move downward, to con- fort with the other Parts of that grofs Element, which they are related to. But that was a great Miftake in that Philofophy, to imagine any proper Places or Re- gions of the four Elements, to which all the particular VOL, II. R fcattered 242 ^CoNFEPvENCE fcattered Parts at a Diftance were tending, as to a Center* And the Ariflotelians were led into this Error, by their prefuming that Gravity and Levity, were two abfolute Qualities, elTentially diftind ; by one of which, Things were enabled to move upwards, and by the other to move downwards. But if they had confidered, that all Matter was in it felf vv^eighty; that what we call light, was only fomething not fo heavy as another Body it was compared with ; and that fuch light Bodies moved upwards only by the Pro- trufion of - more heavy ones , that forced their Way firft to the Center : I fay if the Arijiotelians had fuffici- iently attended to thefe Obfervations, they would have had no Occafion for yonx: Jimile gaudet Jimili^ to carry the fcattered Parts of the Elements to their refpedive Regions. Some farther countenance to this Maxim has been given by the Operations in Chymiftry ; wherein the Parts of Bodies that are of a limilar Nature feem byaKindof natural Delireto run together. But there does not feem to be any thing in thefe Operati- ons, that does necelTarily imply fuch an Appetency. For when by the Heat of the Fire the infenfible Paits are put into a violent Motion, the m.ore fubtile Particles flie away, and the other by Reafon of a particular Configu- ration flick together, as they happen to meet in their tumbling and tolling about. Now this Cohaefion is no more occafioned by a natural Impulfe or Delire of the fi- milar Parts to be united together; than the fame is requi- red to make my Hand more difpofed to frick to a Piece of Pitch, rather than to a Piece of Marble. And the Reafon is the fame in the Mixture of Liquors that oc- cafion Fermentation : Which is not any Animofity or Fight properly fo called between the Parts, which bear a natural Antipathy and Irreconcilablenefs to one another, as fome have imagined. For that Intenfenefs of Heat which is occafioned by the pouring Water upon Lime, or the Mixture of Spirit of Wine with ^qaa Fortisy Spirit of Nitre y or Oil of Vitriol ^ is not a Fight or Strife of the Parts with each other, but an Ebullition caufed Part V. with a T H E r 3 T. caufed by a real burning j the fiery Particles being let out of the Caverns of the refpedive Bodies in which they were lodged, by the Infinuation of the Water, or Spirit of Wine. And to this, or the hke Caufes, may be attributed any great fudden Altciation in the Heat or Colour of mixea Liquors ; rather than to any concei- ved Enmity between the Parts. So that the Foundation of your Argument being deftroyed, and there not appear- ing any fuch Friendilup or Enmity in Nature as you fuppofe ; it will not follow, that there is any fuch In- compatibility between Body and Spirit, as will make the Union of them improbable upon this Account. Nay the Argument, which you urge to weaken the Dodrine of the Immateriality of the Soul, does very much fupport it. For, if there had been an exad: Friend- fliip and Agreement between the Soul and Body, it would be an Argument that it was material ; but Imce not only the ancient Philofophy, but the Chriftian The- ology aoes plainly denote a particular Struggle and En- mity between each other, it is no little Part of a Demon- ftration, that it is a Ipiritual Being, to which the other has no Manner of Relation. This Sort of LuEia or Wreftling together is remarkable among all the Philofo- phers, particularly the Stoicks and Platonifts. And the Apoftle St. Paul obferves the fame. For the FleJJj lufieth againfl the Spirit ; and the Spirit againfl the FlcJJj : Jbid thefe are contrary the one towards the other'-, fo that ye can- not do the Things that je would. Gal. v. 17. Ffli. But notwithftanding all this Sp-^cioufnefs, I fhall find you farther work yet, which will put you harder to it to give a rational Satisfadion for. For when I fhall have laid before you a Propofition backed with the Proofs which I defign to fupport it by, you will find it a difficult Task to get over it. And that is, "^ That the DoBrine or Belief of the Mortality of hstman Souls contains in it no moral Turpitude, and confec^ucntly the Light of Nature is not repugnant to it. For that * ^ag. isi- , , R. 1 iifhich 243 $^4 -^ Conference which contains in it am moral Turfitude mufi be repugmiit ^ to the Law of Gody in contradiding the moral Ohliga^ tionsj which he has laid upon us^ that are ejfentially true, which it is plain that this Do^rine does not. Nay on the contrary, the DoBrine which yon maintain, leads to Sh- perjlition, as being the true Grounds of praying for the Dead and feigning a Purgatory. Phil. But I think, there needs very little Study, to give a fatisfadory Anfwer to this Apology for your own Doftrine, and the Imputation you lay againft ours* And in Order to this, I lliall endeavour to make good againft your Opinion, in the firft Place, this Charge. DoBr'me of I* That the Doftrine of the Mortality of the Soul,which the Morta- you are Advocate for, does contain in it a moralTurpitude , lityofthe and therefore cannot juftly put in for that Innocency and IndifFerency, which you plead in its Behalf. For Firji, Any Dodrine muft contain in it moral Tur- pitude, which is contrary (as you will obferve) to the Law natural : And, upon Conlideration, it will appear that this Dodrine of yours is fo. For if you take the natural Law to be, the undoubted Rules of right R.ea- fon, which the Minds of all impartial Men do readily affent to. Your Dodrine is diredly repugnant to this. For there is not one Man in ten thoufand, but who will . readily clofe in with the Doftrine of the Immortality of the Soul, as we hold it ; but I queftion whether there are or ever were a hundred Men in the World, that e- fpoufed your Notion. If you take the Law natural to . be a Scheme of Pv.eligion, revealed to the firft Parents of Mankind, and handed through all Ages, and to all ISfations in the World : The Dodrine of the Soul's Im- mortality is very agreeable to this Tradition, but yours carries the greateft Oppofitio'n to it. For all Nations in the World, by fome Means or other (either by Reafon or Revelation) have fallen into the Opinion which we contend for : But few Men, unlefs Epicureans and Athe- ifts, and fuch like Scum of the Philofophers of old Time, have been Advocates for yours. And, indeed, • Pag. !;•+. Part V. with a T h e i s t. if y6u take the Notion of natural Law from univerfal Confent, I do not know any one Branch of the JLaw natural, which has been more univerfally received, than the Belief of the Soul's Immortality. Other Parts of moral Duty have been univerfally tranfgreffed, or pub- lickly difcountenanced by whole Nations ; as Theft was tolerated in fome MearurebytheiS/7^r/<«;7jj- publick Com- mixtures by the Britaws; Polygamy and vagrant Love by others -, fome proftituted their Wives at their Marriage, others killed and eat their Parents when old : But even thefe Nations, though they fo notorioufly violated natu- ral Law in the forefaid Particulars, ftill maintained the Dodrine of the Immortality of the Soul. So that it from hence appears, that hardly any Law natural was fo firmly imprinted in the Minds of all Men, as this Be- lief which we are now defending. From all which, E~ fiihiHs, I conclude, that if moral Turpitude be founded in the Breach of natural Law ; your Opinion, which breaks in upon fuch a Law of Nature, which the moft barbarous Nations, in the midft of all their Ferity and Savagenefs, when they had ftripped themfelves of fo ma- ny other Rules of Dut)', could never divefl themfelves of: This Opinion of yours, I fay, is one of the broadefl Inroads, which can be made, upon the Law of Nature, and confequently does contain in it a very great Degree of moral Turpitude. Secondly, Another Reafon, which I have to evince the lllnefs of your Opinion, is, that it opens a wide Door to a wicked Courfe of Life. For if once Mtn can be pcrfuaded, that their Souls are mortal, they will indulge themfelves in more Senfuality than they dare do now. When they confider they have a Soul exifling in them, a Soul which will continue long after them, and which is like to pay a fad Reckoning for the wicked Adions of Life which they have committed here : Their Hearts "will often fmite them, and their Confciences recoil upon them, and there is a continual Damp within them which palls all their vicious Enjoyments. As long as any Belief, as long as any Difb'ufl of this remains in a Man's Mind, R 5 flw 245 9^6 A CONF EFlENCE the Adulterer's Pillow is ftuck round with Tliorns,and the Drunkaid's Cup is mixed with Gall. By which Means the Grace of" Gcd oftentimes brings it about, that Men take Shelter in Virtue and Religion, only to avoid the Uneafinefs of Vice. This the Epicureans were fo fen- fible of, that they endeavoured with all Might and Main, to efface this Belief out of the Minds of Menj for they could never arrive to an undifturbed Senfuality, whilft thefe natural Notions wete galling them in the Com^ miffion of their Crimes. • — Metus ilk foras pr^cceps -Acheruntis agendus Funditus, humanAm qui %'itam turbat ab imo. Omnia fkjfendens monis nigrore : neq, Vllam Ejfe volnptatem liqmdam puramcn relinquit. Lucre. Lib. 5, jiwaj IV e mufl the Fear of Acheron drive^i That rujflles into Storms all human Life : That/preads around Death's Blacknefs^and annojs With difmal Thou-ghts the mofi refined Joys. And this made the Author of thefe Verfes fpend a fixth Part of his athciftical V/ork, in endeavouring to prove the Mortality, and Materiality of the Soul. For, with- out this Notion well fecured in the Minds of his Difci- ples, they could never be fuch Epicuri de grege Porci, fuch compleat Epicurean Hogs as he defigned them. For no Se6t of Philofophy v^^hatfoever, but what maintained the Mortality of the Soul, could allow Men in a full Swing of fenfual Pleafures. For if there were no Ely- Jium, and no Acheron, no Fieaven and no Hell, yet wicked Men could never be eafy if the Soul was im- mortal in any Refpcft, even upon the Pythagorick Principles of Tranfrnigration. For a Man could not readily allow himfelf in a Courfe of Vicioufnefs, if he was only afraid, in another Revolution of the Soul, to be condemned to the Body of a nafty Sv/ine, or to carry Panniers as an Afs or a Pack-horfe. But, as for thofe that are perfuaded that the Soul is abfolutely mortal, and does not furvive the Grave ; their Conclu- sion inuft b$ that of the Senfuahfts the Apoftle ipeak§ Part V. with a T H e I s t. /peaks of. Let us eat and drinkj for to Tnorrow "ive die. For fcich Men cannot poflibly have any Check upon their Actions, be they ever fo leA\'d and vicious : For, if they aicpsifi'adcd the Soul does not live to another State, 'tis^ but VVifdom to indulge it in all that is pleasant to it in this : All the Caution is, not to live fo faft as to dcftjoy Life , but there can be no Reftraint upon them, not ro make it as pleafant as they can. O ! but you go upon Chriftian Principles of a Re- furredion of the Body, and Men iliall be rewarded and punilhed after their new Organization. Perhaps this may be your Opinion ; but I am afraid if you draw off any one from the Catholick Belief of the fe- parate lixiftcnce, and make him believe that this is all Heathenifh Invention, ImpoiTibility , Jargon , and Bemetriuis Craft : I wai-rant you, your Profelyte will have fo good Thoughts of himfelf, as to think he has learned as far as his Mafter can teach him. A thoufand to one, Eftibius, but your apt Scholar drops you there, and will venture to fliift for himfelf, con- cerning the Dodrine of the Refurreilion of the Body. I think, I fo well underftand the Temper of thofe Sort of People, who are like to be the greatefl of Ad- mirers of your Arguments, as not to be a falfe Prophet in this Cafe. For, if once you fet them loofe from the common Principles of Religion, they will take fuch a Swing afterwardr,, that you Ihall never be able to flop them in their Career. You teach them that the Soul mufl die j but you will never perfuade them that- it fliall ever live again. For what they are perfuaded dies once, they will ibe apt to think does always con- tinue in that dead State. When once you have con- vinced them of the Mortality of the Soul, you may talk to them as long as you will of the Revivifcency of the Body; and they, like deaf Adders, will ftop their Ears to it, though you charm ever fo wifc^ly. Befides, it is the Cuflom of this Age, to indulge it felf in a Curiofity of having all things proved, as much as may be, by Dint of Reafon j and Matters, R 4 which 247 248 ^ Conference which are bottom'd only upon Revelation, are too apt to be received with a Flatnefs and IndifFerency. Now you will find it a hard Matter, to demonftrate to fuch People, the Refurredion of the Body lim- ply of it felf ; but this Dodrine is very much help'd forward by a Belief of a feparate Soul, which is fup- pofed to be waiting for a joyful Refurredion. There- fore you do very ill, to go about to enervate this Dodrine of the Soul's Immortahty, which is pro- bable upon pure natural Principles, and opens a rea* dy Way to the Belief of the Refurredion of the Bo- dy. And if you confidered, how much of the A- theifts Work you did for them, by this Projed ; you would tremble to think of the Confequences of it. And though I am willing ftill to retain a good O- pinion of you, Efiibiusi yet I cannot think. That if any Atheift, or Infidel, had a Mind to un- dermine the Christian Religion, he would, upon the firfl Onfet, have purfued any other Methods than you have done. For 'tis a common Subtilty pradifed by thofe wicked Men, not to attack the whole of Chri- iliianity at once, but only to def]:roy fome main Parts of it ; and to leave the refl {landing, to be kick'd down by any Body elfe, of lefs Abilities. And thus Hobbs and Spimfa^ who I am fully fatisfied were two of the mofl abfolute Atheifts, that ever were in the World, left a great Deal of Chriflian Phrafeology in their Writings, which they induflrioufly turned into a ridiculous Cant, to make our Rehgion more odious j but I am verily perfuaded that they believed no more ^ of God, or Devil, or Heaven, or Hell, or Virtue or Vice, or any Thing we call Religion, either Re- vealed or Natural, than the Grand Senior believes, that he fhall be faved by Jefus Chrifl. And indeed I dp not know any athelflical Book, which for fever^ Ages has been written, but has pretended high Re- gards for fome Parts of Chriflianity, whilfl it has ^een attacking others, if for no other Reafon, yt% mrdj XQ beguile unwaiy Readers. For 'tis plain^ Part V. with a T h e i s t. 249 tliat even That Wretch Faninus pretends, by a fham Defence, to fupport Chriftianity ; whilft he is, in the moft fpitcful Manner, oppofing it. And the fame is' obfervable of the Eficureans of old, that they did Fer- his ponere, rebus tolUre deos. Therefore I muft needs farther fay, EflibiuSi that it is alfo a very great Sin of Scandal, which you give your Fellow-Chriftians, not only by advancing fuch unorthodox Opinions, but by managing them fo, as to give Occafion for many to think, you are driving on an Intereft againft the com- mon Religion, by the fame crafty Methods as its great- eft Adverfaries are wont to do. And by this you put your Friends, upon extending their charitable Opinions to the utmoft Stretch, in hoping, that you have no far- ther Defign againft the Faith, than you have as to this Particular declared. II. Neither is it any Argument againft this 'Do^rmz^f^mortdi- of the Soul's Immortality, That it has been abufed by|*' "f^^^^ fome Perfons to Superftition, and That the Papifts havey-^/^^^ ^g. taken Advantage therefrom, to fet up Superftition orcaufeabu- Pr^yers for the Dead. fedtosu- Firfl, Becaufe the beft Things in the World are M.P'fi'*^"''' able to be abufed, and very often adually are fo ; and yet we ought not to abridge our felves of the lawful Ufe of them, for that Reafon. The Fire, which cherifties our Bodies, and drelfes our Food, is often made ufe of for the Deftruclion of Men's Lives; and fo the Meat and Drink which nourifties us, is turned, by the Intempe- rance of others, to their Ruin. But yet I believe tnis Confideration will not have Weight enough with any Man, to forego the Conveniencies of them, to avoid thefe poifible Misfortunes, which may happen from them. And, as this Rule holds in the Tranfa6tions of human Life, fo it has its Force likewife in the Dodrines and pofitive Inftitutions of Religion. We leain from the Holy Scriptures, how the Injunftion of the Cere- monial Law, which was defigned partly as a Typical Reprefentation of the Oeconomy of the Second Cove- riant, and partly as » Bar of DiftinzovTa.i tiV t^ To7:w Tov ci)^iMircvrot.nk r\\i o-^nroZ&ioZ. Their Souls fljall go into a Cer- tain invijtble Place defigned for them by God, and there fball flay waiting for the RefurrcBion. Afterwards re- feivittg their Bodifs, andperfcElly rijingj that is, bodily, as ' '' our 252 ^Conference OHr Lord aroje, they jhall then come into the Sight of God. Id. Lib. 5. Cap. 51. Now Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead are not imputed to the Praftice of the Church, in the Ages when thefe Authors wrote ; and therefore the Immortality of the Soul may blamelefsly be held, without running into thefe Errors, which you objeft, as the Confequences of it. I will add only to thefe the Authority of Jufiin Martyr i who, though a Pla- tonick Philofopher, does not appear to be any Advocate for Purgatory, or Prayers for the Dead, and he gives his Opinion of the feparate Exiftence of human Souls, Thus, 'aaa« ;xAi KJ^£v KTzohiia-y.iiy, &c. / do not fay that all hu- man SohIs do die, for that would be a Gain to wicked Aden, What then ? Thofe of good Men remain in a better Place, but unjuji and wicked Souls in a worfe Place, expeSl- ing the Time of 'judgment, u4nd thofe that are worthy to apfear before GodJIjallnot die any more ; but the other jhall be funifhed, as long as God is plea/ed, they jhall be, or jhall be punijjjed. Dial, cum Tryph. Which Opinion of his, though it be particular as to the perpetual Durati- on of wicked Souls ; yet it (hews the Dodrine of the Church in his Time, of the feparate Exiftence of Souls after Death, and before the Refurredlion. Thirdly, But in a Word, the true Reafon of the creeping in of thefe Errors into the Church, was the Decay of Chriftian Piety, and the mixing too much of Philofophy with Religion. When the Fervour of Pri- mitive Chriftianity began to cool, and the Faithful al- low'd themfelves in fome Liberties, which were neither countenanced by the holy Scriptures nor the Pradice of their Predeceffors : They could not tell how tq reconcile thefe and Religion together ; for fuch Pradices, by the Tenor of the Gofpel, were found to exclude from the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore they caft about, how to render fuch Adions confiftent with Salvation. For when any of their Friends or Relations, of whom they had a natural Inclination to hope the beft, were found to die in fome known Sins which the Gofpel threatned with Damnation ; they were very uneafy, to think Per- fons Part V. wkh a T h e fs t. fons, they loved fo well, fliould incur fo fad a Puniih- ment ; and therefore they turned their Thoughts about every Way, to make themfelves eafy on this Refledion. And fo hkewife there were fome Bofom Sins, which they cherifh'd within themfelves, and could not be perfuaded to diveft themfelves of, that made them as eager upon the fame Search ; how they might enjoy the Pleafure of thofe beloved Sins here, and not be out of Hopes of Sal- vation hereafter. Now the Platonick Philofophy came in very feafonably to their Relief here, by Reafon of that Purgation of Souls which they fpeak of i whereby wicked Souls they tell us were amended and purified, by having the ox^if^cc, or Vehicle for a long time continu- ed in Water or Flame : And thus iucixi^fx^ivoi tZvts ; II. I do aiTert, That the Word Nefhefi, or Soul, scr,p(ure ^q^j frequently fignifie the governing Principle in Man, '^^ha/we contradiftinguillied from Body, and quite different from ((unmonly Life, and what we commonly call Soul. Now that we idlsoiil. may clearly m.ake it appear, that the Writers of the Holy Scriptures had the fame Notion of the Soul that we have, and that they did not only mean Life by it, as your Fancy fug^efts ; let us obferve, that all the ufual Affec- tions which the niceft Philofophers have attributed to the Soul in their Books, are afcribed likewife to the Soul in the facred W^ritings ; and in all thofe Places the Soul, is called in the Hebrew, by the Word Nefhejlj, and tranf- lated by the Septuagint -^'jx^. 'Tis the Nephejlh or Soul diftindl from Body or Life, that Vnderftands^ and Wills, and Joysy and Grieves : but to attribute thefe Af- fedions to Life, will make Nonfenfe of all the Expref- (ions. For how can Life underfland, or Life will, or Life joy, or Life grieve ? But to make your Error here- after upon this Point wholly inexcufable, I will give my felf the Trouble, to recount the principal Places in Scripture, where thefe Affedions are attributed to the Soul, which 'tis impolfible can ever be afcribed to Life. VnderflandiKg is attributed to the Soul, Prov. xix. 2. That the Soul be 7vithout Knowledge is not good. How long JJjall I take Counfel in mj Soul ? Pfal. xiii. z. So is Volition or Will afcribed to the Soul. The Lord hath commanded thee to keepy and do thefe Statutes with all thy Soul, Deut. xxvi. 16. Take heed to ferve him with all your Heart and with all your Soul, Jof. VXii. 5. u^d thou, Solomon, my Son, know thou the God pf thy Father, and ferve him with a perfe^ Hearty Ubenephefli Part V. with ^ T h e i s t. 269 Ubenepheih Chaphetfa, anda 7villing Mind, which the Seftuagint do tr2Lni\2XQ, ^^^';^jf S^sAso-^, i Chron. xxviii. 5. So likewife is the PajQBon of Defiring given in Scrip- ture to the Soul. Whatfoever thy Soul lufteth or long- eth after, Deut. xii. 20. Aiy Soul thirfieth for the living God, VL xlii, z* So is that of Averfcuion, Jk\ Soul is "iveary of Life, Job x. i. A'fy SoLtl refufeth to be comforted, Pfal. Ixxvii. 2. And thus Joy is afcri- bed to the Soul. Afy Soul jhall be joyful in the Lordy Pfal. XXXV. 5>. My Soul fjall be joyful in »ty God, If. Ixi. I o. And fo is Grief. JVefaw the Anguipi of his Soul, Gen. xlii. 21. Te pall ajjlitt your SoiAs, Lev. xvi. 29. His Soul within him ffjall mourn. Job xiv. 2 2 . My Soul is exceeding forrowful. Mat. xxvi. 28. Now, if all thefe are Affedions, which do properly belong to the Soul, and cannot be attributed to Life : Then that Pro- pofition which you affert is falfe. That it is a Do5irine mofi confonant to the whole Tenor of the Holy Serif tures. That human Soul and Life are the fame Thing, I have one or two Remarks to make farther ; before I let you go from this Point. Now I defire to know, what Senfe you can make of thofe Texts of Scripture, which afcribe Sin to the Soul, if Life and Soul be the fame Thing. Shall I give my firfi-born for my Tranf- greffion, the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul ? Mic. vi. 7. But how can Life with any tolerable Propriety be faid to fin ? For Sin is only incident to a reafonable Being j but Life, according to you, is nothing elfe but organical Contexture continued in Motion. But this Text of Scriptute attributes Sin to a Principle intirely diftind from this organized Body, viz.. to the Soul : which the Prophet here as nicely diftinguillies from the Body, as any of the Ethnich^ Philofopers, whofe Noti- on you will have this to be. Nay, I will truft it to the Judgment of any reafonable Man in the World, if he does not think, upon reading thefe Words, that Pro- phet who wrote them, had not a Notion of the Diftinc- tion between Soul and Body, by each of which there were perfectly different Effects produced : The Fruit of 270 ^Conference of the Body were Children^ and Sin was the Produce of a degenerate Soul. Another Thing I fhall obferve is this, That when the Word IsTephep, in Scripture, has a Signification different from what we underfland Soul, in our Language, this very Difference of Signification does imply the Exift- ence of fuch a Soul, or Being, diflind from the Body, which you make it your Bulinefs to impugn : And confequently thofe Proofs, which you bring for the Support of your Dodrine, deflroy it. 'Tis plain, that the Word Soul does fometimes fignifie Self in Scripture, Defile not your felves or Souls with any Manner of creep- ing thing. Lev. xi. 44. Hab. ii. lO. But there would be no Reafon, why Soul fhould fignifie Self in Hebrew, if the Jews did not think, that the Soul was the only Principle of Individuation, and made a Man that felf- fame, that he is. But if the Jews retained the Notion, which you Materialifts follow, that one Man is diflin- guifhed from another, only by the different Parts of Matter, which go into their Compofition, and by the different Configuration and Organization of them ; It would have been a Jeft for to call Self by the Name of Souly when Selfnels was only occafioned by Body. If the Jews, whilfl they were forming their Language, had been of this Mind, they would rather have adapted their Forms of Speech to more corporeal Conceptions, and have exprelTed Selfnefs or Individuation by fomething of Body, as our Saxon PredecelTors did in coining our Tongue, who had no Revelation to affifl them, and no other Philofophy than what their Senfes allowed them. Upon this Suppofition they would not have faid a Soul, this Soul, &c. but a Body, fome Body, no Bodjy to denote Individuation. And fo again, whereas the Jews in their Cenfus's, reckoned by the Souls, as all the Souls (the Perfons) ■ivere threefcore and fix. Gen. xlvi. 16. if they had not thought Man compounded of a Body, and a reafonable Soul, whereof the Soul was the mofl worthy Part ; they would have faid as the. Romans do, not fo many Souls, Part V. with a T H e i s t. 271 Souls, but tot Capita cenfebantur in Civitate, There were fo many Heads, or Bodies, in the Common- Wealth. I fliall make one more Remark, which is this. That, as for the other Signification of the Word Nephejh, which fometimes alio denotes a dead Body, this Signi- fication of the Word does manifeftly imply. That the Jews had a Notion, not only of tne Soul's being di- ilinft from the Body, but that it did feparately exilt af- ter its DiflTolution from the Body. For unlefs theyfanfied> that there was a Soul always hovering about a Man's dead-:^ Body, they would never have called, that dead Body a Soul. It iliould feem moft probable. That there was an Opinion among the Jews as among other People, that the Soul of every deceafed Perfon, had for a Time, an hankering after the Body, and would endeavour to be as near it, as it could, and that whilft the Body was above Ground, the Soul would be fo too .• And therefore they were of Opinion, that the Soul could never be perfed:- ly quiet, till the Body was buried. Now this burying of the Body was called, the Burial of the Sotil, as is plain from that of Virgil. Animamq'-, Jcpulchro Condimm It being a common Opinion among the Heathen, that the Souls were not at reft, if their Bodies lay unbu- ried; as appears by the Complaints of Elpemr in Ho- mer's Odyjfes, Lib, 1 1 . and of Vdinurus in Virgil's e^- »m. Lib. 6. Now though I will not prefume, pofi- tively to fix this Opinion upon the Jewiili Nation ; yet, unlefs we will fuppofe, that the feparate Soul had fome Relation more than ordinary to the Corps before its Burial, there can be no Rcafon affigned, why the touching a dead Body, fhould be faid to be defiled by 2 Soul. immortaU- III. Neither is your AlTcrtion without juft Excep- ^^ '"^jj^ tion, when you fay, that the Soul is not, in any Part^/^,>) j)^,. of Scripture^ faid' to be Immortal. For though this chine of * - Truth. ^^"/' '-'■'■ 272 A Conference Truth be not laid down in exprefs Terms, yet there are many Texts which do unexceptionably imply the fame Truth. Ai, The Spirit returns to God that gave it, Eccl. xii. 7« Fear not thofe which kill the Body i but can- not kill the Soul, Mat. x. 28. To day JJjalt thou be with me in Paradifi, Luk. xxiii. 45. IVhilfi we are at home in the Body, we are abfent from the Lord, and we are willing rather to be abfent from the Body, and be frefent with the Lord, 2 Cor. v. 6» Blejfed are the Dead which die in the Lord^ for they refi from their Labours, Rev. xivi 13. I pray God that your whole Spirit, Soul and Body be preferved blamelefs unto the Coming of our Lord Jefus ChriJ}, i. Cor, v. 23. Now thefe, and fome other Texts which might be farther urged for this Purpofc, do as plainly evince, that the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality (as we hold it) was believed by thefe Writers, as if they had fet down, ANI MA EST IMMORTAL IS, in Capital Letters in a Hundred Places. But if our Conference be not interrupted:, thefe Texts iliall farther be infifted upon, and you iliall have a fair Hearing to any Objedionsj which you can make againil them. Salvation IV. You Urge it as another Objeftion againft our Do- cf Souls £^j-ine, that Salvation of Souls is mentioned but in one Imorethan P^^ce, of all the Old and New Teftament, and then it onceini fignifies Deliverance from Perfecution. i Pet. i. p. Scripture.. Receiving the End of your Faith, even the Salvation of your Souls. And fuppofing this to be true, yet this one plain Text of Scripture is enough to ruin your whole Hypothefis. For 'tis plain from hence, that there is a Salvation of Men's Souls ; and if Men's Souls be favedj then there is not only a Salvation of Men's Bodies at the Refurreftion ; and there is a great Danger, that the Souls may fall into, without any Confideration of the Body. And the Apoftle calls this the Salvation of Souls ; becaufe Souls are liable to fall into a State of Punilhment, before the Bodies of Men do. But pray let us conii- der, a httle, this temporal Punifhment which you fay, that the Apoflle, only in this Place, fpeaks of, a DeUve- Part V. with a T H e i s t. Deliverance from. But, this, I muft needs fay, Efii' him, is the wildeft Notion that ever was advanced. For the very firft Words of the Text do eternally filence all that you have to fay upon that Head. Receiving the End of your Faith, even the Salvation of jour Souls. Now could it ever enter into any one's Head to imagine, that a Deliverance from Perfecution was the End of the Chriftian Faith. Did the Chriftians, by embracing their Rehgion, think you, propofe no other End to themfelves than this \ This was a ftrange Motive indeed, to take up a New Religion upon. If this was all they aimed at ; could they not better have avoided Perfecuti- on, by not being Chriftians at all \ But it makes one alliamed, tofet one's felf ferioufly to anfwer fuch a Jeft of an Argument , Which but that you talk it with a grave Air, I Ihould only imagine you deiigned to banter us with it. But let me tell you. Sir, that though the Salvation of Souls, in thofe very Terms, be exprelTed but once ; there are other Places which make out the very fame Dodirine clearly, in other Words. Fos when the Apo- ftle fays, I would gladly he /pent for your Souls, z Cor. xii. I 5 . what can be meant otlierways, than than he would wear out his Life for the Salvation of the Souls of his Chriftian Brethren ? Again, the Apoftle writes, Heh, xiii< 17. Ohey them that have the Rule over you, and fub- mit jour felves, for they watch for your Souls, The Meaning can only be, that they muft follow the Advice of their Paftors, who are encnarged with the Inftjudi- on of them, in Order to the Salvation ot their Souls. And when Chrift is called the Shepherd and Bipyop of our Souls, 1 Pet, ii. 25. I cannot imagine any Senfe can be given of that Expreflion, but that he does, by his Al- mighty Power, infpeCi: and overlook us, in Order to the Salvation of our Souls. And the fame Apoftle again, I Pet. iv. 19. Wherefore let them that fuffer accord- ing to the Will of God, commit the keeping of their Souls, to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. By which can be underftood nothing elfe, but that the fuf- VOL. IL T fering 275 274 ^ Conference fering Chriftians fbould not repine at what they under- went ; but, though they fufFered Death ir felf, they ftiould truft their Souls with an All-gracious God, who would keep, and take Care of them, with alike Kindnefs, as he firft created them. I have one Text more which I fhall urge ; which though it has not in it the very numerical Words, Salvation of Souls, yet I ^ think it comes as nigh it, as you can well defire. Re- ceive Tvith JUleeknefs the engrafted Word, which is able to 'fave your Souls, Jam. i. 21. And I do not fuppofe, that you will fay there is any material Difference, be- tween here is thy Victory ? The Sting of Death is Si>h and the Strength of Sin is the Law. But Thanks be to God who giveth us the F'iciory^ through our Lord Jefus Chrift* But the Souls of wicked Men have no Realon to be raifed into fuch a Tranfport, upon the Thoughts of their DifTolution. Efti. * Another Argument is drawn from the Nature of the RefurreBion., which this Dotirine of an Immortal, Immaterial, Self-fuhjifling Being after Death feems very much to perplex, if not fundamentally to fuhvert. If the Soul of Alan as dijiin^ from the Body be the only Caufe of Life, in JUaterial Aian-, and difiinti from- it j then the Body is only a pure pajfive Lump and Inflru- ment of the Soul, even whiljl it is conceived to live, and confequently ought not to fuffer for the Sins Man com- mits. t Again the Apo file fays. We fliall all be changed, in a Moment, in the twinkling of an Eye, at the laft Trump, &c. Where it is very obfervable here, and in the whole Courfe of his Writing, he fays. We, not our Bodies, v^'ho cannot be called We, as. We Ihall not all fleep, We Ihall be raifed Incoruptible, and. We fliall be changed ; which could not be true, were the Soul, our better Part, an Incorruptible, Immortal Being already, for that has no Change at all, but retains its firfi Immortal Nature. i Add to this. That the End of the RefurreEtion, which is the bringing Men to account for their Deeds done in * Paj;. 217. Y Pag. m. f ibid. T 4 the 279 sSo ^Conference the FleJJjj ivould feem vain and needle fs. For if the Seals of Good Iiden ivhen they died, went immediately to Heaven^ and the Souls of the Wicked immediately to Hell ; what Need of a general Day of 'Judgment ■, to call Men to 4C- coptnt for their uiSlions ? If they are in Heaven already y they have their ultimate End of Reward i if in Hell, their PmiJJjment ; a Revocation from either of which is granted to be neither frobable nor pojfible. For to fay, the Body add.ed to the Soul after the RefHrreSlion aug- ments Happinefs or Jl4ifery, I look^upon fuch DoEbrine to he precarious, and founded only on irrational Conje^ure. uind lajily. If the Soul were in a State of Happinefs ftr Mifery, as foon as feparated from the Body, it mufi he prejudged before a Refurre^ion, which is contrary to the whole Tenure of Scripture, i Cor. iv. 5. Rom. xiv. 10. Jude 14, 15. t I know fome Divines urge the J\[ecejjity of a general Judgments notwithfianding Mens being glorified or condemned before-hand, viz,. That Sin- i^ers may in the Face of the World be convift, and brought to publick Shame for their Offences -, and that the Righteous may in Hke Manner be publickly com- mended and rewarded ; which is only a pretty Motion to pleafe vulgar Heads, and coz,en a rufiick, ZJnderflanding into the Obedience of Religion : But if we fcan the Depth of it, there is no Weight in it. For we fee by common Ob- Jervation * with what Impudence, and flrange Effron- tery many Criminals hear their Sufferings \ and therefore fare a defpairing reprobate damn'd Sinner can have but little shame on him that Day. Phil. You have advanced nothing upon this Head, but what will admit of a very eafy Reply ; and methinks there appears fo little Strength in thefe Arguments, that you muft before-hand have very good Difpofitions to this Caufe, if they can have any Manner of Influence Upon You your felf NoJnjuJiice J, ^.s to the Injuftice of the Body's fuffering, when ^totfffrf^^^^ ^he Soul according to us, that fms^ That is top tItQ' 'tis the ^^ulfhf I Pag. i2j.. * Pag. 2i6. M! unphi^ Part V. with ^ T h e i s t. 28; unphilofophical to infift upon. For I will grant readi- ly, with you, that 'tis the Soul, properly {peaking, which fins ; but then on the other Side, I fay, that 'tis the Soul only that fufFers too. For as Body ^»i Body cannot lin, fo hkewife. Body (^jua Body cannot fuffer. If my Finger be bruifed or cut off, 'tis not my Fin- ger that fuffers, but I that fuffer by the Hurt or Lofs of my Finger : Now that I which fuffers, is not Finger, or Leg, or Arm, or Head ; but that Principle I find in me, which underftands, and wills, and perceives. Now if there were not this underftanding perceptive Princi- ple in me. That Part of the Body might be cut, and mangled a thoufand Times over, and no Pain produced. Therefore, though 'tis the Soul that lins, and afterwards fuffers in the Body, it can be no Injuftice to the Bo- dy ; becaufe the Body cannot fuffer ; and therefore your Suppofition is abfurd, which fuppofes the Body to fuffer. For there is a great Deal of Difference between the Bo- dy's fuffering, and the Soul's fuffering, by Means of the Bod)': For though Body cannot luffer, yet the Soul is capable of Suffering diverfe Ways. The Soul, as Soul, may fuffer by terrible and defpairing Thoughts, and Reflexions upon its own ill State; but tlien all this Suffering is fuch as is agreeable to a Spiritual Being, without any fenfible Pain. But to make the Soul capa- ble of fuffering Pain of Senfe, or Pain from the Im- preflion of outward Objeds, it is neceffary, that the Soul lliould be joined to Body. But then ftill 'tis the Soul that fuffers the Pain, which by Virtue of the Bo- dy is convey'd to it : And 'tis not the Body which is pained, but the Soul is pained bodily. And the Cafe is fomething the fame, as if a Man fleals away my Mo- ney, and applies it, it may be, to worfe Ufes than I defigned it ; it is not my Money that fuffers, but I that fuffer by my Money. Now Man's Body being the mofl dear and intimate of Poffeffions, and being united to him by a vital Union, this occafions Pain in the Mind more fmartly, and more frequently than any thing elfe, tha: bears a more diflant Relation to it. But flill 'tis no more 282 J Conference more the Body that fuffers by having the Organization of it difcompofed by a Cut or a Blow , than my Money fuffers by the forefaid Mifapplication. Tfjat 'tis II' Neither is it any Argument againjR: the Immorta- faul. We lity of the Soul, that the Apoftle fays, fFe that are a- ihall be ^^^ Hj^n y^ chanaedy -we (ImU he camht up^ dec. For ArTiTmcnt ^^"^^^ "^^^'^ Impropriety is there in this if the Soul be of%eSoulslvrymoxLd\y than if it were Mortal? But you fay an Mortc.lity. Immortal Soul cannot be changed j very good ! No more it can't as to its Immortality, but it may as to its other * Qualifications ; It may be more good, more holy, more difpofed, and inclined to God ; it may have its Know- ledge more improved, and all its Appetites, and Pafli- ons more at its Command. So that, if the Soul be on- ly changed in this Senfe at the Refurredion, it is fuffi- cient to juftifie the Propriety of the Apoftle's Expreifi- on. We pyalL all be changed. But it is evident from Re~ 'v elation, that we fliall be greatly changed with Relation to our BodieS:, for this corrnptible Body Jlyallput on Incor- ruption. For as it is at prefent compofed of corruptible Principles;, fuch as are fubjed; to decay, and to be worn out in Length of Time, it fhall then be made up of fuch Parts, which tho' perhaps as nimble as the Light, fhall be more lafting than the moft folid Adamant. Now we are made up of Parts, which have Relation chiefly to the maintaining and continuing animal Life ; but 'tis moft probable, that thefe Parts lliall be vaftly altered, when we Ihall no longer eat or drink, or marry, or be gi- ven in Marriage. Now whereas the Bodies of Men are at the Refurredion to be fo much changed, from what they are in this World ; the Apoftle does with very great Propriety fay, We fhall all be changed ; although the Soul did receive no Manner of Alteration at all. For a Man may as well be faid to be changed, with Relation to his Body, as to his Soul. H^ppinefs ixi. But I affert farther, in Anfwer to what you improved ^^^^ advanced in this Objedion , that the Happinefs of after the Souls is improved at the Refurredion beyond what it Hefurrecii- was in the State of Separation : So that what you fiy is on. 1-^yJ- Part V. with <« T H e i s t. 285 not well grounded ; that if they are in Heaven already, they have their ultimate End of Rewai-d. For the whole Tenor of the Scripture-Language fliews, That there is a great Difference between the Satisfadions in thefe two States. The firfl is called a Being with Chrift, a Being with the Lord, a Sleeping, a Reft from our Labours : But the Phrafe of the Holy Scriptures is very much heightned, when they come tofpeak of the Joys, which the Soul and Body fliall partake of, after their Re-union at the Refurredion. For this State of Blifs is defcribed by Kingdoms o.nd Crowns, and a.Hoftfe eternal in the Hea- vens ; yoys, -which neither Eye hath feen, nor Ear hath heard, neither hath it entred into the Heart of Afan to conceive, -what God hath prepared for them that love him. And 'tis upon this Account, that our Church makes Ufe of this Expreffion, in her Office for the Bui-ial of the Dead. Befeeching thee of thy Goodnefs, JJjortly to ac- complijlj the Number of thine EleU, and to hajien thy King~ dom- ; that we, and all thofe that are departed in the true Faith of thy holy Name, may have our perfedl Confum- mation and Blifs, both in Body and Soul, in thy eternal and everlajling Glory. IV. But you fay, that this Dodlrine of ours concern- Avgwr.er.t ing the feparate State of the Soul, does imply there ^YQdrannfrom two Judgments ; which you think is not only inconlift- ^'^^-^f/"''" ent with it felf, but is contrary to the Tenor of the Ho- 'y^Jr^^cnti \y Scriptures. And to liipport this your Opinion, you anj-n^tred. bring feveral Texts out ot the New Teftament. The flrft is, I Cor. iv. 5. Therefore judge nothing before the Time, until the Lord come, 7vho will both bring to light the hidden Works of Darknefs, and will make manifefi the Counfels of Hearts, and then every Man fhall have Praife of God. But this Text does by no Means invalidate the Dodrine of the Soul's going to a Place of Joy or Sor- row, before the general Refurredion. The iVleaning of it is, the Apoftle having been calumniated by fome of the I'udaizers, for having too great a Regard to the Gentiles, and fhewing the Difanulment of the Ceremonial Law by the Death of Chrift; he does very mildly reprehend them. 284 ^CONTERENCE them, for the Injuftice of fuch Cenfures ; and tells them> that in fuch a difputable Cafe, in which there might be good Men of both Perfuafions, they fhould not judge too ralhly, but leave the Determination thereof to the Day of Judgment : And then it fhall be declared, who is in the Right. And if he were fuch an ill Man as fome reprefented him, his hidden Workl of Darknefs Jhould be made manifeji : But if he appeared to be a good and fin- cere Man, he JJjould have Praife of God. And fo in the other Texts out of the Romans^ the Apoftle argues a- gainft rafh judging, by an Argument drawn from the fame Topick. But "why dofl thou judge thy Brother^ or Tvhy doji thou fet at nought thy Brother ? For we fhall all Hand before the Judgment-Seat of Chriji. And as for the Text which you quote out of St. Jude. Behold, the Lord Cometh with ten thoufandofhis Saints : To execute Judgment ttpon all, and to convince all that are ungodly anwng t hem, of all their ungodly Deeds, which they have ungodlily committed, and of their hard Speeches, which ungodly Sinners have ffo~ ken againfl him, Jud. 14. This fhews ai) ancient Prophefie or Tradition, of the Jev/ifli Church, that there would be a general Judgment of all Men, whether good or bad ; for the Manifeftation of God's Juflice, and for the rewarding every one according to his Works. But this does not e- vince,That in the meanTime, good or bad Souls fhould not be in a different Condition of Sorrow or Happinefs. For, as wc do not fuppofe that good Souls do arrive in that in- termediate State to their full Completion of Blifs, fo nei- ther that bad Souls undergo their terrible Agonies, which they mufl; fubmit to after the Refurredion. For in this Interim, the Souls of good or bad Perfons do not perhaps enjoy or fuffer more, than what the Tendency or Incli- nation of their Natures difpofes them to. Good Souls, by their pious Difpofitions towards God, do naturally re- ceive the Comforts and Satisfactions of contemplating the Divine Nature, and adoring and imitating, according to their Capacities, his Excellencies : and (I doubt not) but God of his Goodnefs is inclined, with Regard %o their earneft Thirft and Defire after Holinefs and Di^ vii>e Part V. 'With ^ T h b i s tJ 2S$ vine Truth, to afford Variety of Illuminations and Com- forts, to fupport and entertain them till the joyful R.e- • furred:ion comes. And befides, if there were nothing of all this, the very Refledion upon their well-fpent Life, and their comfortable AfTurance of their being Partakers hereafter of fuch ineftimable Joys ; That their State of Probation is over ; That they are no longer in Hazard or Jeopardy ^of their Salvation ; and That they are no more fubje(5t to Temptations, and in Danger to mifcarry in their everlafting Welfare : This would create a very great De- gree of heavenly Happinefs ; and there would be no Need of a particular Judgment or Difcrimination of Souls to fe- parate Conditions, to inflate them in this Happinefs. So on the other Side, wicked Souls have contraded fuch diabolical Difpofitions, by their evil Adions in this World, that they mud needs carry thefe Habits with them to the other, and their Spight and Malice, and A- verlion to Goodnefs, together with their Want of Tafte of all fpiritual Refrefliments, and their being deprived of all corporeal Pleafures, ^to which their Souls in their Life- time have been only accuftomed ; this mufb make the Condition of fuch earthly Souls very uncomfortable ; and it would be Hell enough for fuch Souls, to be under thefe fad Thoughts and Difappointments. But when they re- fled upon that Happinefs which they have forfeited, and thofe terrible PunilTtiments which they are fhortly hke to be doomed to ,• there needs no pofitive Punifhment to be ad- ded to them, to make their Condition as comfoitlefs and miferable, as a Soul of it felf can be capable of being. If you ask, how fuch Souls can beafluredof their ever- lafting Condition, before the General Judgment : I anfwer, that the very Company of the Spirits, which they mufl perceive converfant with them, will give too fad a Demon- ftration of what they mufl hereafter exped. For as good Souls are under the Condud and enjoy the Society of good Angels and righteous Souls, fo wicked ones Iiave their Portion with the Devil and his Angels. ^tlmelfor V. But before we difmifsthis Head of Difcourfe, I "itifl ^^'^JJ^^j/'' fpeak a Word or two to the Cavil you advance againfl the j«^^we»f 2^6 ^Conference Reafon, which our Divines give for a genera] Judgment ; T'hat Sinners in the Face of the World may be condemned^ and bropight to publick^ Shame. And though you call this a fretty Device to coz,en ruflick^ ZJnderfiandings ,• yet it is fuch a Device, if you will call it fo, that all Religion andjMorality depends upon. For the only Demonftrati- on that we have of a future State (I mean by natural Reafon exclufive of Revelation) is, that it is but agreea- ble to the Juftice of God, to make amends for the Suf- fering of good Men, and the Profperity of bad. Now it is not reafonable, that God fhould fet thefe Things in Ways, that Men who took Notice of the Inequality in this World can have no Knowledge of. For thus when God condemns Hypocrites to everlafting Punilhment, for their vile Abufe of Religion to ungodly Purpofes and fel- fifh Defigns ; it is but reafonable, that they who have been in this "World deceived by their outward Form of God- linefs, fhould be fatisfied by feeing the fecret Wickednefs of their Heart difplayed, that they do deferve the Punifli- ment which is allotted them. And thus when God rewards fome with eternal Happinefs, who have loft their Repu- tation in the Eyes of this World by the Malice or Treach- ery of others ; unlefs God, at that great Publick Audit, does difcover their Integrity publickly to the World, his Juftice will not be difplayed with that Exaftnefs, as is requifite for the righteous God to have it. Nay, I muft add farther, that the very Thoughts o f fuch a publick Shame, is fuch a killing Refledion to all Men of a generous Spirit, that it oftentimes gives a Check to wicked Inclinations, and does frequently occa- fion Men to avoid a Sin, which though they can do here in Privacy, yet they know that at the general Alfize, it fhall be publifhed in fuch a numerous Aflembly, among all the holy Angels of Heaven, before all the religious and pious Saints, before their higheft and deareft Re- lations, before all thofe Myriads of Inhabitants of all Na- tions, of all Ages, before all the numerous Progeny of Mankind down from Adam to that very Day. Men that can tolerably bear their Faults being difclofed a- mons: Part V. with a T H e i s t. 287 tnong their own Companion^, can never bear being ex- pofed, in fo publick a Manner. Andbelides, if this had been a Fancy, that was calcii- lattd only to coz,e?i rtifikk^ Vnderflandings ; I prelbme, our Saviour would not have urged it, as an Argument worthy of the Confideration of his Followers. For there is no- thing covered which Jfjall not be revealed : neither hid, that JJyall not be kf^irnvn. Therefore whatfoever ye have fpoken in Darkncjs jlmlt be heard in the Light : And that which ye have fpokcn in the Ear in Clofets, jhall be f reclaimed upon the Hon fe Tops, Luk. xii. 2, 5. Neither is there any Force in what you affert, as to the Impudence of fuch reprobate Sinners, who it is not likely will have any Senfe of Shame : For all the EfFed:, that God cxpeds from their Sham.e in the other World is, that by tne Fear of being fo publickly expofed, they may be deterred from Sin in this World ', and though their be- ing expofed to Shame will not then tend to their bettering, their Day of Grace being paft \ yet it will mjghtily tend to the Manifeftation of God's Juftice, and to Ihew that he is righteous in all his Works. Efti. Another Argument which I foall make Vfe of to fttpport the Do^rine of the Soul's Mortality, is drawn from the Nature of our Redemption, as thus, * That which fell by Tranfgrefjion required, by Chriji's Blood, Redemption. But Adam or the whole Man fell by Tranfgreffon ; Ergo, the whole Man by Chrifi's Blood, required Redemption, The Syllogifm, I think^perfeU: in every Part, and the minor Proportion proved already. For if the Body were only fub- jeFt to Mortality, then not Adam, but a Part only of Adam became fubjecl, and confequently, that Part only fell by the Tranfgreffion. Now ivhat only fell required, or needed RC' demption. Redemption being only necejfary for Tranfgreffion. But this the whole Tenor of Scripture loudly declares againfi :■ For Chriji is He i'^ho has delivered us from the Power of Darknefs, and hath translated us info the Power of his dear Son, in -whom wc have Redemption thro his Blood, €ven the Forgivenefs of Sins, Col. i. 15. Pf here the Parti- ♦ Pag. 227, 228. cles 288 ^ Conference cles U S and W E cannot denote the Redemption of our B&^ dies only, but the whole A4an, the whole Tranjgrejjion^ by him^ that V. 1 8. was the firft born from the Dead, who v. 2 1* reconciled us his Enemies to prefent us holy, and un- blameable, and unreproveable in his Sight : Thefe Texts without troubling my felf to cite infinite more, evidently JJyew, that Chrifi by his Death hath redeemed U S, viz,, the whole 2\dan who finned and required Redemption. This I thinks I need not urge with any more confirmatory TextSy the Scripture ajfording fb many, and fo numerous Argu- ments to prove this Point, viz. That the Sacrifice of Chrifi' s Blood onceJJjed, fjpall be an Atonement for the Sins 6f the Whole, and not a Part of 2\dan, chift's Re- Phil. Indeed, Efiibius, you might have fpared your felf demotion the Trouble of this long Argument : For you have fet 'b\T^^B y^°^^ ^^^ ^° prove in many Words, that which I don't dy and know any Body denies ; or at leaft very few. For I know Soul, no Sed of Chriftians but the Socinians, that does not ac- knowledge, that Chrift has redeemed our Souls as well as our Bodies : And they own a 6'ort of Redemption of our Souls too, that is from the Power and Slavery of Sin. But all orthodox Chriftians whatfoever do acknow- ledge, that by the Blood of Chrift we are redeemed both Body and Soul : Or that the Effeds of that meritorious Satisfaction do extend to our Souls, as well as our Bo- dies. Our Bodies are redeem'd, by that AU-fufficient Sacrifice, from the Power of the Grave or temporalDeath at the Refurredtion : And our Souls from the Power of the Devil, and that fpiritual Death, which Sin occafioned in the Rigor of the Law, by obtainingjthe eaiier Terms of Salvation in the Method of tl^e fecond Covenant, which was obtained, and fealed by this Sacrifice of our Bleffed Lord. So that I cannot tell what you would be at, £/?/• bius, when you infift fo much upon the Redemption of the whole Man : For we of the Church of England, I am fure, never talk of a Redemption of half Man. For we learn out of the Holy Scripture, that the Redemption purchafed by the Blood of Chrift extended to our Souls as well as Bodies. And this we take to be the Meaning of the Part V. with .^ T h'e i s t. ■ 289 the Salvation of Souls mentioned therein, Jam. i. 21; 1 Pet. i. 9. And accordingly at the Delivery of the Ele- ments ill thcAdminiftration of the Lord's Supper,Wemakc Ufe of thofe Words, 77?^ Body of our Lord Jefus Chrifl which n'as gi'Ven for Thee^ The Blood of our Lord "Jcfas Chrifi which was fljed for Thee, prefcrve thee Body and Soul unto Eternal Life. And this I think is fufficient to be faid to this Objeftion, which tho' it be defigned, I fuppofe, to attack the Doctrine of the Soul's Immortality, does rather defend it: .But all the Mifchief that lies m it is This, it feems to impute a Dodrine to Chriftianity, 'viz.. that half Man only, i. e. Man's Body, is redeemed, which I fay is a Doftrine, that not one Chriftian in a thoufand will vouchlafe to own. Efti. The lafi Argument .^ or rather Complex of Argu- ments being the fever al Texts of Scripture, comes next to he conjideredy whereby I will endeavour to prove the fecond Part of my general Propojition, That the Soul of Alan or Life (as I call it) will not be renewed until the Day of the ReftirreEHon. As fir f: from Job x. iS. I fjjould have been as if I never had been, and been carried from the Womb to the Grave. Andfo£<:c/. iii. 9.' If. xxviii. 18. Job. iii. 11. id. xiv. 7. Pfal. Ixxxix. 48, ^r. Phil. But the Time wears fo fift, that I cannot ftay to give a diftin(5l Anfwer to all thefe Texts of Scripture which you have mifinterpreted, and given a wrong Senfe to. For the Objedions of the Materialifls drawn from thefe Paffages have been confuted an '^' hundred Times over. Efli. But in good Truth, Philologus, I don't love to be put off with fuch quick Anfwers ; I find you have a Mind to fhake off the Difpute, when 'tis like to go liard againfl you. But you lliall hear, before we have done the Hiftorical Account, which I have ready fof )^ou ; to fliew what a modern Invention the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality is i and how the World had been fome Thoufands of Years, before ever Men's Heads were * Vid. Calv. VOL* IL U filled 2^0 ^Conference filled with this Notion. ^ Now 1 as to this Adatter af- Jert, that the Generality of the Je^vs^ nap I may fay uni' verjally, ivere of Opinion-^ that Man would die, and never live again, efpe daily the Sadducees, tho' fome owned both Spirits and Angels, Thus upon our Saviour s Argument, that God was the God of Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob ; they feemed to he confounded andfiruch^ dumb, not thinking that Text related to the Refurrettion of the Dead, And in the next Place I affrm, that ivhofoever he or they were, that firfi afcribed Immortality to the Soul of Jidan, f as conce'i^ ved to be a Spiritual Sub fiance united to his Body, I will not at prefent controvert, but only make this general Conclujion ; That he was, and mufi be a Heathen, that firjl broached that Do^rine; and if the JKgyptisins did it, as it is very probable they fir(i did, they muji either do it, by miftcon- jiruing the Books of Mofes, and mijinterpreting the Mean' ing of fome Texts therein contained, or elfe out of a Brava^ do, to out-balance the DoUrine of Mofes, as they imagined^ by promijtng Bleffings and Rewards in another Life to their jyifciples, when as the 'Jews apprehended only Temporal Bleffings to be their Reward in this prefent Life \ for their Vertues and Religion. From the ^Egyptians, this Do" ^rine was carried to the Chaldeans, who added fever at o- ther Whims to it, as the Notions of Supercelefiial Intelli' qencies, irrational Souls, as is to be f'een among the Re- mains of the Philofophy of that Country. The DoSlrine of the Soul's Immortality being thus propagated in Hgypt, Chaldaea, and it may be Jome other of thofe neighbouring Countries, the GreekjPhilofophers fetcht it thence. ^^ And thefirfl that travelled for it, was Thales the Milefian, who taught it to his Scholars, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Pythagoras. Pythagoras cultivated this Do^rine fur^ ther, having alfo travelled into ^Egypt and Chaldaca, and learned the Myfieries of thofe Countries, "^t Socrates made no farther Advances in this DoBrine, than Pythsigoim had done before, treading very near in the Steps of him, aitdthe * Pag. jj-p. t Pag. 35-7. iPag. S^i. ** Pag. 367. *t Pag.. 380. forrnep Part V. wi^ha T H e i s t. 291 former Philofophers. But at length this DoBrine was "Wrought up to its higheji Pitch by Plato, who added to it Pra-exijlence, Self-Motion, &c. fo that all the Writers about the Soulfince-y have been Copiers from him. Nor did, his DoBrines prevail only among the better Part of the He a" then World-) but in following Ages, The firfl Fathers of the Church, fays a learned Author, were almofi all Pla^ tonicks, ^ and great Characters were given of Plato, bi St, Denys, St, Juftin, Clemens Alexandrinus, St, Ori- gen, St, Cyril. St. Bafil, Eufebius, Theodoret, Ar- nobiiis, Ladantius, St. Auftin, St, Ambrofe, and ma^ ny others. Whereby it appears to me demonflratively plain j That this Notion of humane Soul conceived to be a Spirit, united to the Body, crept into the Church by the Means of the firji Fathers thereof, fo heartily efpoufing the Platonic!^ Philofophy, Phil. You have here, Ejiibius, afforded us a great deal of fine Hiftorical Learning, which if it were all true* would go a great Way to deftroy our Dodrine of the Immortality of the Soul. But by making fome Remarks Upon thefe Matters of Faft, which you here afforded, and by alledging fome other Palfages out of ancient Writers, I doubt not but to defend this Point of our Rehgion from all the Attacks* that you and all others have made againft it. I. I find, Eflibius, that we are agreed on both Sides* Do^^nW^^^ that this Doftrine of the Immortality of the Soul is no ^^° ^°^^'^ Modern Opinion. You your felf own, that it was the ^^J^'°f^'^' ^ Doftrine of the mofl early Fathers of the Church ,• fome Greece, of which Hved 150 Years after Chrifl : So that it was long before the Dodrine of Chriftians at that Time. But you allow ^^ff°^ it to be a Dodrine generally received among the Heathens, Greeks and Romans, much older than that : For their Philofophers Books were full of it after Plato % time, who flouriflied 3(^0 Years before Chrift. And you own further, that this Doftrine was taught in Greece by Thalcs^ whoflourilhed in the Year of the World 35$<5j that i#». * Pap-. ^84. Us 251 292 ^Conference 252, Years before Plato. So that according to your Con- ceffion, this is an Error which has obtained among the learned Men in the World, for above 230 Years. But by your Leave, Efiibiusy we will go a little farther with it, and carry it on to the Time of old Homer the an-" cienteft Writer which Greece affords ; and he lived 3 3 <5 Years before Thales, that is about the Year of the World 3000, which is 5)48 Yeai"S before Chrift. And how long before Homer's Time it had been a Traditional Do- (ftrine in Greece, no one can tell. For it appears by read- ing of Homer's Poems, that the Generality of People had much the fame Notion of the feparate Exiftence of Humane Souls, as we have. Thus Achilles addreffes himfelf to the Soul of Patroclus, as a Thing really exift- ing after his Death : Which Homer, who fo very well jmderftood humane Life, as rarely to be guilty of any great Indecency or Impropriety, would never have done ; if it had not been the fettled Opinion of the People of his Age, in Greece, All hail, O Patroclus, altho' thou dwelleff. In Hades darksome Faults Kai v, itcti etxxec TonMrce,. T'hey havc Jeveral mythological Relations, like Plato of the Immortality of the Soul, and Judicatures in Hades, andfome other Matters of a like Na- ture. Strabo, Lib. 15. And Clemens u^lexandrinus f^ys fomething much Hke this of thefe Philofophers. K«r«- ^fiovS uvut istt,- >.iyyin(ric,y. They defpife Death, and do not value at all to live, being perjkadcdof ihe Tranjmigration of their Soul, Clem. Alex. Strom. 5 . And Diodorus Siculus records fomething not unlike of them, n'A^,>.o(,yuiiMovrM H (nio ^« ^^visa-t tia. "^ The AngiU think the Ghofts of Men the only '* Gods ; by thefe tliey fwear, thefe they confult as O- ** racles ,* to whom when they have prayed what they " have a Mind to, they lie down upon their Tombs, " and whatfoever they dream on there, goes for an ora- " cular Refponfe. Pomp. Mel. lib. i. If we take a Progrefs to the Northern Part of the World, we iliall find the fame Opinion tenacioufly efpoufed there. This appears, as from other Memoirs, fo particularly from a remarkable PalTage in the Speech which Julian feigns Trajan to fpeak in his Cafares. And from thence it is plain, that this Dodrine was owned by the old Getes, K«i tZv Fetov iiv'^ l^iiXov, 8cc. I havc totally dejiroyed the Nation of the Getes; who were of all Manlzind ihe moji Tvarlike ; not fo much for the Strength of their Body, but for the Opinion that Zamolxis, whom they ivorfjip for a God, has fixed in their Afinds. For hecaufe they do not think^they floall die, but that they fimll be tranfplanted to other Habitations, they go to die with as ir.Hch Readinefs as Aden are wont to fet out upon a Journey. And the fame Thing with fome Variation is witnelTed by Mela ; Ouidam fieri funt, or admertemparatiffimi. Get a utiqne : id v aria o- pinio perficit. uilii redituras put ant animas obeuntinnt. ^lii etfi non redeant, non extingui tamen, fed ad beatiora tranfire. Alii emori qnidem, fed id m-elius ejfe o^uam- vivcre. Itaque lugentur apud quofdam pmrperia natique deflemur. Tuner a contra Fefla funt, cr veluti facra, cantu lufnq; celebrantur. " There are fome of the Thracians, barba- " rous and mod ready to lofe their Lives, as particularly " the Getes ; and that is occalioned by fome diiferent O- '' pinions which obtain among them. Some think the *' Souls of deceafed Men retuin into Bodies again. And " fome that, tho' they do not return, yet they are not cx- " tinguiilied, but go to fome very happy Places. Others *' are of Opinion indeed, that they die, but that fuch " Death is better than Life. Therefore Bu-ths ai-c bc- " wailed among them. And Funerals are made Fefli- " vals ; and, as if they were Holy-days, are celebrated ff with Songs and Sports. Pomp, Mel. Lib. 11. in U 4 Thraciki, 296 ^Conference ThraciL If we turn our Eyes Weflward, and take a View of the Gauls and ancient Britains, we fhall find the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality to be rooted in their Minds likewife ; as having this Leffon conftantly taught them by their Mafters the Drmds. For thus Ca-, far writes of them. Non interire animas^ fed ab aliis foji mortem tranjire ad alios ; at que hoc maxime ad virtu- iem excitari putant, metu mortis negle^o. " They do " not believe that the Souls die, but that after Death "■ they pafs from one to another ; and they think that *' they are very much excited to Valour by this Opini- «' on, by contemning Death. Ccef Bell. Gall. Lib. VI. The like ^ppian, de Rebus Celticis, declares of the Ger- mans : Linchofatanus of the Inhabitants of Guinej, and of the Chinefe : and "of the PerPivians and A4exicans, Jofe- phus u4co[ia. So that what you, Efiibius, make the In- vention of the 00 JCONFEB^ENCE thoH haft fent Aiejfengers to enquire of Baalz^ebub the GoJt of Ekron (is it not becanje there is no Godin/fraelto enquire ^f his Word ?) therefore thou fljalt not come down off that Bed on which thou art gone up, but (iMllfurelj die. i King, i. 1 6, But not to run this Matter into a greater Length, it is evidently plain, (if thete were no other Argument to fupport it) that the ye7vs did believe that this was the true Soul of Samuel, which is recorded thus to have Ipo- ken to Saul ; from a PafTage of the Son of Syrach j Eccl. XX vi. zo. u4nd after his Death Samuel prof hefted, and fjxwed the King his End, and lift up his Fbice from the Earth in Prophecy, to blot out the Wickednefs of the People, Nay 'tis Proof enough, what was the Senfe of the yeiv- iJJj Nation as to this Point, from their ancient Doxology or Form of Thankfgiving, which we ufually call the Song of the Three Children. For after having invoca- ted, to the joining in the Praife of God, Meteors, and Vegetables, Fifhes, Birds, and Beafts, and good Men ; it adds, Oye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, Blefs ye the Lord, praife him, and magnifie him for ever. I fliall for- bear in confirming the Pomt we are upon, to bring in the Teftimonies of Jofephus and Philo -, for they, you will fay, were too platonical to be fair Witnefles in this Cafe. But I hope you cannot except againft the Wri- tings of the New Teftament ; and if you will credit them, they clearly make out what was the Opinion of the Jews, as to the feparate Exiftence of Souls, in our Saviour's Time. When the Difciples faw Chriji walking on the Sea, they ivere troubled, faying. It is a Spirit, and they cried mt for Fear. Matth. xiv. 27. And again, when Chrift appeared after the Refurredion, they were terrified and afraid, fuppojing they had feen a Spirit. Luke xxiv. 57. Now both thefe Times they fuppofed our BleiTed Lord, whom they efteemed as yet only a mortal Man, to be adually dead, and that they only faw his Ghoft. Which is not only an Argument what was the Notion of the Jews at that Time, but of the real Exiftence of fuch Spirits; for if tliis Notion had been fo foolifh and dan- gcjL-ous as Ejlihins pretends, I am confident, our blelTed Lord Part V. with ^ T H E i s t. 3°^ Lord would not have been wanting, to have redified an Error of that utmoft Confequence. And further, That the feparate Exiftence of the Soul, was a Point of the Jeivij]} Faith, is evident to any one that looks into their ancient Writers. This is clear from Shemoth Rabba ; Why did Mofes fay, Txod. xxii. 1 3 . Remember, Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob ? Riethin faith. The Lord faid unto Mojes^ I look^for ten Aden from thee, as I looked for that Number in Sodom. Find me out ten Righteous Perfons among the People, and I will not dejiroy thy People. Then faid Mofes, Behold here ami, and Aa- ron, Eleaz,ar and Thamer, Phinehas, Caleb and Jofah : But, faith God,Thefe are but feven, Where are the other three? When Mofes knexv not what to do, he faith, O Eternal God, do thofe live that are dead ? Tes, faith God. Then faith Mofes, If thofe that are dead do live, remember Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob, So another Jewifo Writer, Rabbi Samuel, lar Noichman, faith, R. Jonathan faith. How doth it appear, that the Dead have any Difcourfe among themfelves ? It appears from what isfaid. And the Lordfaid unto him. This is the Law concerning which Ifware unto A- braham, to Ifaac, and to Jacob, &c. and then relates fome longTales between two Spirits in a Church-Tard. And becaufe, Efiibius, you feem to lay fome Strefs upon the Song of the Mother and feven Sons in the 2 Macca- bees vii. as if they had no Hopes of any longer Exift- ence, till the Refurredion : I will recite to you an old Rabbinical Glofs upon that Part of Hiftory. When fix of her Sons were flain, and the youngeft brought out in Order thereunto, tho' he was not more than two Years and a half old ; The Mother faid, Cafar, by the Life of thy Head, I befeech thee, let me embrace and kffs my Child.. This being permitted her, jhe plucked out her Breajh, and gave it fuck^ Then, faid fje, by the Life of thy Head I intreat thee, defar, that thou wouldfl firfi k[ll me^ and then the Child. Cafar anfuered, I will not yield to thee in this Matter ; for it is written in your own Law, The I lei' fer or Sheep with its young one, thou ffyall not kill °^ ^"^ fame day. To li/hom pe : 0 thou fooliflxfi of all Mor- tals, 40i J CoNFEPvE?^CE fals, hafi thou performed all the Commands y that this ohlji is wanting ? He forthwith commands, that the Child jhuuld be kill'd. The Alother running into the Embracej of her little Son, kijfed him, and faid. Go thou, O mj Son, to Abraham thy Father, and tell him, thus faith my A4ot her : Do not thou boaji^ f^V^g-> ^ built an Altar, and offer d my Son : For my Aiother hath built fevcn Altars, and of- fered feven Sons in one Day. Midraih. Ecpah. Now tho' thefe Stories are fo6liihly told after the talmudicaf Way ; yet they fhew the Senfe of the Jews, concerning the feparate Soul, and that good Souls do immediately go to Happinefs, or to Abrahnm's Bofom. For that Phrafe "which our Saviour makes Ufe of, to denote the interme- diate State of Happinefs of a good Soul, viz,. Abraham*^ Bofbm, is the common Language in Rabbinical Writers.- Rabbi Judah this Day Jits in Abraham's Bofom. Hierof* Relaim. Neither is this the Dodtrine only of the myftical talmu- dical Writers, but the more accurate of the Rabbins afTert the fame. Maimonides defines the Refurredlion, to be the Return of the fame Soul into the fame Body. Epift. de Refur. Mort. So another famous Rabbi, Judas Zabarai When ever any good lidan is made Partaker of the World to come, as foon as he departs out of this World, he floall en* joy the Splendor of the Divine JUajefly, and fuch high De' lights', Why fyould7i'e believe, that every jujl AfanJJjould return into this World, when his Body and Soul is united ', I fay into this turbulent poor World, that is next Door to Hell itfelf, and for the Sake of this, to leave thofe Joys to which nothing is wanting ? Is not this an undervaluing Thing, for a jufi Aian to do \ How much better then is it to believe^ that the Soul of ajufl Man only returns to his Body, and that his Joys are not intermitted which are eternal? Rabbi Levi faid, Whilji the Soul is in its State of Glory, itfupports it felf with the fuperior Light, and is clothed with it : But when it flmll return to its Body in the World to come, itflmli return to it precifely with the fame Light. And then the Body too fhall Jhine, with the Clearnefs tff Heaven, It is a Saying of Rabbi Saadias Jaon, in Sapher Haemanot, that Part V. with a T H e i s T. that is, in aTreatifeof the EfTenceof the Soul. More^ over, Ipiji that Mens SohIs Jhallfo long continue fiparate, till the reji of the Souls are gathered together, ivhich the Di- vine EJfence has decreed. And this jhall be the End of the Duration of the World. But -iuhen the Number of them fliall be compleat and gathered together, the Souls JImU be united to their Bodies, And, tho' forae of the Jewifjj Writers do allow with the Socinians, that the Souls of the Wicked do perifh ; yet thefe very Perfons do grant, that the Souls of the Jud: do remain in a happy State, waiting for the Refurredion. The Soul of the Wife remains after Death y hut the Soul of the Fool goes to defe^. Ibn. Latiph. In flioit, never were Writers more unanimous in the maintaining any Dodrine, than the Jen's are in maintaining the Im- mortality of the Soul. And I cannot leave my Thoughts upon this Head, before I have laid before you a handfome Strifture made by an old oriental Writer , whofe Name is Algalz^el, upon ibme Virtuolo's or Phylicians, who had ftudied Nature fo long, till they had forgotten the moft uncontroverted Maxims in Religion, and made the Soul only a Complexion of the Body. And in his Book,, which is intituled The Deliverance from Error, he has thefe Words. Of Naturalifis there arc fome, who con- templating fenfible Things, as the Situation of Feathers in Birds, and of Scales and Fins in Fifties : Of Flowers and Leaves, and Fruits and Kernels, in Flams and Trees : Of Nerves, and f^eins, and Arteries, and Limbs in Animals : And bejtdes the Proprieties of all thefe Things, looki^tg upon Colours, Odors and Sapors, finding infome Life, and in others Life and Scnfe of Touch : In others Sight, Hearing, in others S^elling,TaJle, and Touch : Finding in all thefe fo much Skill andlndufiry, they are fore' dt o own a God ; but in going fur- ther they fancy Man to be allThings in like other Animals, and thinks the Rational Soul does conjiji in the Complexion of the Body, and that upon the DeflruUion of the Body, and its Com- plexion,does follow theDeflrutlion oftheRationalSoul likewife. And now I beg your Pardon, Eflibius, for tiring your Patience with this long Ikadrole of diy Rabbinical Ci- tations, which I would not have offered unto }ou, but that 205 304 J ConfePvEnce that I thought it very necefTary to redifie your Miflakfy in thinking, That the Dodrine of the Soul's Immortality, and feparate Exiftence, was owing only to the Notions of Heathen Philofophers. And for Want of fufficient Confideration, that the ye7i>s were as much chargeable with this Opinion as the Heathens, you have ventured to ftart your Hjpot he/is ; but I hope upon this Light, you will afford what I have here gather'd together a juft Reflexion in your Thoughts. We mufl: all own indeed, that 'tis our Bleffed Lord alone, that has brought Life and Jmmortality to light through the G off el. But yet it muft be allow'd too, that the World had fome confiderable Notions of it before. The Heathens were upon good Grounds perfuaded, that the Soul was a Being, whofe Ex- iftence did not depend upon Matter ; and therefore might fubfift after its Separation from it. The Jews, who be- ing allifted by Revelation, could go further than the Hea- thens, were perfuaded that the Body too, after a determi- nate Time, would revive again, and be freed from the prefent Inconveniencies of Animal Life ; but ftill they could not have any great Degrees of Certainty thereof; becaufe they never faw any Inftances of it. But the Chriftians have the utmoft Alfurance of all thij, by the Refurreftion and Afcenfion of Jefus Chrifi j who has gi-i. ven Demonftration, by his Rilmg again from the Dead, and fo vifibly afcending into Heaven, that the Soul, once feparated from the Body, may be united again to it ; and that the Bodies and Souls of all his good Followers iliall partake of that everlafting Happinefs, which their Blef- fed Lord is gone before to take Poffeflion of. Now I wonder, Efiibius, that you lliould ever undertake fo un- handfome an Office, as to go about to undermine one of thofe common Notions of Religion, that even the Hea- thens are vouchfafed the Knowledge of; and after all that extraordinary Light, which Chriftianity has bleffed the World with, in Relation to the Soul's future Condtioh, to endeavour to bring us back to a greater Darknefs, than ever fpread the Face of the Earth in the grolTeft State of Paganifm* Part V. "di'Hh a T H e i s t. Paganifm. But I hope you will hereafter confider bcttef of it. Eflib. Well, Sir, I will do in this Matter as I Ihall judge proper. But I am afraid, by this long Talk of ours, we fliall tire Credentim, Cred. You need not make any Compliment, Ejiibipis, to my Patience : For I will afTure you J[ have heard what has been faid on both Sides, with a great Degree of Satisfadion. I mufl: needs fay, that the Merits of the Caufe lie on Philologus's Side : But yet it muft be owned, that you have advanced more Arguments for the Opinion, than are ufually urged by that Sort of Men, whole Inte- reft it is to filh mofl: about for them. I condemn you chiefly for making fuch a Wafte of your good Learning, to fupport an Infidel Queftion, and whicJi might have done iome confiderable Service to the World, if it had been employed upon a more ufeful Subjed. And if I could find Fault with Philologus for any Thing, it fhould be for rallying a little too fmartly upon Efiibius, and for fome few Severities of Expreffion, which make up too common a Part of all Controverlies. Not but EJlibius has many Faults to account for upon that Head ; for his rough Way of treating his Adverfaries, and fometimes whole Bodies of Men that lie in his Way, can never be excufed,- and if Philologus mixes more Salts with his Vinegar, he makes it but the more fmarting. Phil. Come, Credemius, never give your Head Di- fturbance with that Matter ; Eflibius and I are old Ac- quaintance, and can indulge our felves in taking fome Freedom with each other, which you grave Gentlem.en will not allow. We fhall not fall out, for a few fparring Blows : For thefe ferve only for a little Salt and Sauce, to give Relifli to a dry Difpute. But never think, that we have any Spite or ill Will at one another. We are like the Lawyers at the Bar, who rub one another up with a few rough Expreffions, in the Heat of their Caufe ; but when that is over, are in good Humour again. And, I am fure Eftibim will not take any Thing ill of me, that I defign'd for his Good, and Advantage. For fince VOLL. IL X CredemiHS 305 3o6 ^Conference Credent'ms has by the Blefling of God wrought fo happy a Change in me, That Saying of our Saviour fhallbe my MottOj Converfm tH confirma fratres : I ami'efblved, up- on all Occalions, to reduce into the Truth every Strag- gler from the Orthodox Fa/th, who lies in my Way. and I hope what I have faid, Ejiibim, may have its good EiFeft upou you. And, if you are convinc'd by any Reafons that I have oflPered, I would not have you fuf- fer an Obftinacy, or a Fondnefs to your own Notions, or a Fear of owning a Miflake, to keep you up to the Point you have formerly efpoufed, tho' you are perfwa- ded of the Errour of it. 1 confefs 'tis a great Piece of , Mortification for any one to own a Miftake : For almoft every private Man, tho' he condemns Infallibility in the Pope, would fain be thought to have a little of it in himfelf. But this is more efpecially among Perfons, whofe Reputation engages them to appear very knowing in thofe Matters, which they happen to be miftaken in» And this is the Occafion of thofe bloody Fights, which happen fometimes among Theologues, in their Writings againft one another. Each of the contending Parties thinks his Honour is nicely concern'd, to have the Truth of his Side ; and that it will be a lafting Blemiih upon his Reputation, not to underftand a Point of Divinity as well as another that is bred up to that Profeffion. This is the Occafion of Controverfies being fpun out to fuch a troublefom^ Length ; that Men will write Books when they have nothing to fay ; and that after one is con- vinced, and both are tired, yet neither will yield. But, Ejiibif'is, you have, God be thanked, none of thefe Difficulties to conflid with ; for you being bred up to another Profeffion, your Honour is not fo tenderly con- cern'd, if it appear to the World that you are miftaken in a Point of Divinity. For Divinity having not been a Study which you have particularly applied your felf to, it is no Difgrace to you not to be fo underftanding in that, as you are in Matters belonging to your own Profeffion. Therefore Part V. with a T H e i s t. Therefore pray, good Ejiibins, take this Matter in- to your Confideration once more, and do not divide your felf in Opinion from the Orthodox Belief, if you can find any tolerable Reafons, which may fettle your Judg- ment in this Point again. It muft needs be a great tJnea- finefs to a Man, to ftand divided from the eftabJifhed Doftrine of the Church, which he belongs to. It makes him very uneafie even to himfelf. For whether you will call it Confcience, or the Prejudice of Educa- tion, or what likes you beft ; yet ftill his Mind haunts and torments him ; raifes a great many Sufpicions and Mifgivings, that he may be in the wrong, and what fatal Confequences may attend his oppofing a Divine Truth, if he fhould happen to be fo. This makes him uneafie to other good Chriftians ,• for fiich pious Perfons are fhock'd at their very falling into the Company of one, whom they know to have m.ade a Revolt from the Faith in fo important an Article ,* and they are apt to imagine that the Converfe of that Man muft fprcad Contagion about him, whom God, by the withdrawing his Grace, has fufFered to fall into fo great an Error. Befides, the Confideration of the Harmlefsnefs of our received Do- • and the Difficulties which are found in reconciling and tuning together the Jars and Difcords of fo many irritated Spirits. There is flill a greater Trouble frequently incident to thofe great • Perfons, and that is the Care and Danger arifing from bloody Wars ; which fo often cut off fuch a Number of their dear and brave Subjeds ; that turn oftentimes the mofl f^oiuifhing Kingdoms into ^eldamas and Fields of Blood ; that from the moft promifing Begin- nings, eii,d in Pefolation and utter Coufulion i or, by fome 5i6 ^Conference fome unfeen Turn of Affairs, change the Lawrels of a triumphant Monarch into Prifons and Chains. Add to this the Uneafineffes which arife.from calling for Supplies from their Subjefts, to maintain the Charges of Go- vernment and expenfi ve Wars, and to be forced, againft their Inclinations, to draw Money to defray the pub- lick Expences, oftentimes from poor Families, whofe ur- gent Neceffities make them pine under the Want of it. Add farther yet, the Cares which arife from the Intri- cacies of deep and hazardous Counfels ; which continu- ally keep their Minds thoughtful and penfive, with a conftant Eye of Caution and Exaftnefs ,• always to be engaged in concerted Methods to form Correfponden- cies and to keep up AUiancies, and to have in View the feveral Attempts and Intrigues of fo many foreign Courts, who by the Affiftance of fo many crafty Po- liticians, are ail purfuing their feparate Interefts ; and that but too often, to the Detriment of their Neighbours. Now when the gracious Creator of Heaven and Earth has promifed his AfTiftance to all thofe who call upon him faithfully, when 'tis He that giveth Wifdom, EccL ii. i6. and Patieuce, Rom. xv. 5. when 'tis He that fiilleth the noife of the waves and the tumults of the feoplc, Pfal. Ixv. 5. when 'tis he that makes peace and cre- ates evil, Ifa.xlv. 8. whither can Princes apply them- felves in thefe Exigencies, withfo much Hopes of Suc- cour, as to fuch an Almighty AiTiftant ? Wicked Prin- ces (who, by their enormous Violation of God's Laws, have loft their Hopes in the divine Protedion, and can truft only in the Arm of Flefh for their Defence) when at any time they are preffed by any of thefe Difficulties, , they fink into the utmoft Defpondency, and all their natural Courage turns intO' wretched Abjection and Timidity : Whilft he that has God for his Friend, and flies to his Afliftance for Aid in the Time of Trouble, can look the moft formidable Danger in the Face with Courage and Security ,• as expe<5ling a Protec- tion from Him, whom all Things in Heaven and Earth do Part V. with ^Machiavelian. 517 do obey. And thofe who endeavour to poifon Princes by ill Principles, and incline them by evil Pradiccs to forfeit this heavenly Comfort and Protcdion, are guilty of moft wicked Treafon , and do rob them of a great- er Satisfaftion than the ampleft Revenues or Dignity can afford. III. Another Argument for Princes to perfevere '^^^Becauf'-of fincere Piety towards Almighty God, is the Confidera- the Dan- tion of the manifold Dangers, which they are continu- ^""^ "^^'"^.^ ally expofedto. We find, that the wicked Contrivan-^^2^"^'' ces againft thefe facred Perfonages fome where or other do fo frequently take Eifed, as, for this very Reafon, to draw over the Minds of Princes with more Concern and Anxiety, than thofe of other Perfons. This is ob- fervable enough in any one Generation of Men, and for the moft Part in any fingle Nation ; where fome one Prince, or more, has not only been laid at, but ruined and deftroyed by fome fuch wicked Contrivance. But if we carry our View into the larger Field of ancient Hiftory, there we fhall have a Scene opened to us of fuch tragical Ends and Misfortunes of Princes, as would make any one to think, that has not a firm Be- lief of the wife and unfearchable Methods of God, That Providence had abandon'd them, without any Care or Concern, to be worried by the Fury of wicked and mercilefs Men. How many do we read of murdered by Ruffians ? How many poifoned ? How many killed in the open Field? How many received a Dagger into their Bowels, whilft they were giving a kind Recepti' t)n (as they thought) to a dear Friend ? How many have been invited to a Banquet, which, when they have kindly accepted of, to the utmoft Violation of all the Faith of Hofpitality and Honour, they have taken in their Bane with the Meat or Drink, which has beea offered them by their perfidious Entertainer ? How many have been flain with their whole Armies, by the more powerful Arms of an invading Neighbour ? How ma- ny have fell Sacrifices to the Tumults, or Rebellions of their 3i8 ^Conference their own Subjeds ? And how many more have dropf from the Top Pinack of Honour to the moft abjeft and forlorn Eftate of Mifery ; that have begun their Lives in a Throne, and finifh'd them in a dolefom Dungeon ! Now, fince the princely State is furrounded with fo many Dangers, whither can one of that Dignity fo juftly flie for Succour as to Almighty God ; Who, by a watchful Providence, does over-rule all the Affairs of the World, and wifely difpofe them according to his good Pleafure ,• to that Pialm good God whofe Angel encampeth round about them that xxxiv.8. fear him; ivho covereth them with his Feathers, and under his wings is their trufl : They jhall not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pejiilence that walketh in darkriefs, nor for the 'DefiruUion that wafieth at noon day : A thou^ fandfhall fall at their Jide, and ten thoufand at their right hand, but it JJmU not come nigh them. Certdnly, it muft be the greateft Comfort in the World for a Prince, that by the Tenour of a good Life and a conftant Applicati- on by devout Prayer to the Throne of Grace, is afl'u- red of the divine Proteftion, and that God takes a fpe- cial Care of his Prefervation. For then he will pafs on with Courage and Satisfaction, whilft all the Dangers of that high Station are flying thick about him ; and the Reflexion upon his Friendlhip with God, and his De- pendence upon him, will make him fearlefs to all thofe formidable Evils, which fo much threaten and affrighten other Princes ; who by their ill Lives, or by Negleft of God's Worfliip, may prefume themfelves to be out of his Proteftion. He can enjoy Peace and Serenity, let the Clouds be never fo dark and black about him ; whilfl: the others by a confi:ant Series of Fears, and Sufpicions, and Jealoufies, and other Paffions, which their timorous Fancy muft fuggeft, do fufFer before- hand all the Misfortunes, which that Condition is li- able to. Thefe are fuch cogent Reafons, as muft needs perfuade all thofe, who have any Belief of God and Providence ; that a Prince can never be fo well difpos'd to Part V. with ^Machiavelian. ^f o to govern his Country, or to ferve his own true Inte- reft, with his People, or with his Allies, as by a fin- cere Piety and true Devotion to God Almighty : For as by his Providence he muft be fuppofed to be the fupreme Governour of all humane Affairs ; therefbre> to be fure, even the greateft of Princes, (who arc but fome little under- Wheels, which take their Turns and Movements from his Almighty Direftion) can have fto Power or AlTiftance from themfelves ; and are not enabled to fecure themfelves from Danger, but as they are beholding to the infinite Source of Pow- er in Almighty God ; and who, by repeated Affuran- ces in his holy Word, has promifed to exert it for the Sake of his good Servants. IV. But to carry this Matter fomething farther : .^^^ ^^^ Even the Atheift himfelf muft be forced to confe{s,tionfcan- upon better Confideration, That tho' there were nodalousand God, and no Providence, and no future State; yet ftiU iththem,andwent about throHghoHt all the Cities ofjudah and tatight the Peo- fUy 2 Chron. xvi. 9. And other Princes are very ho- nourably mention *d for rooting out falfe Religions, and other Corruptions which had crept in among God's Peo- ple. Thus King u^/a is reported to have done good in the Eyes of the Lord', for he tookjway the Altars of the firaage Godsy and the high Places^ and brake doivn the Images^ and cm down the Grove y z Chron. xiv. 3 . And iS'^^/nimfelfi in the beft Part of his Reign before his falling from God> is recorded to have cut off" thofe who had familiar Spirits, and the TVizards out of the Land, i Sam. xxviii. 9. From which, and many more Inftances, we find it remark'd, as a very noble Qiiality of a Prince to promote true Re- ligion and Piety, and to extirpate all falfe and erroneous Worfhips and Pradices, bat we find nothing in favour of Counterfeits and Impoftures. Moreover we find holy Princes pioufly employ'd in building Temples to the fupream God, 2 Chron.. iii. r. Ezjr. vi. 8. and repairing them, 2 Kings xii. 5. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22. and reforming fome Irregularities which had got into the Ecclefiaftical Offices, and improving the divine Worfliip; as particularly Solomon, who appointed^ according to the Order of David his Father, the Courfes of the Priejis to their Service, and the Levites to their Charges, to praife and minijier before the Priefls, as the Duty of every Day reijuired, 2 Chron, viii. 14. But throughout the whole Bible there is not the leaft lucouragement given for falfe Gods, or a falfe Worfliip ; 53'i A Conference but contrarywife a Curfe denounced againft all fuch Votaries, Deut. xxyii. 15. and immediate Death infiifted upon Perfons who lliall entice to fuch a ftrange Religion, Deut. xiii. i. Now all this Account of the Princely Duty, as it is laid down in Scripture, is very pious and rational, as that of the Unbelievers is unrcafonable and impious; as will be farther manifeft by the Confiderarion of the following Particulars. . ^^ II. For it is highly reafonable that Princes fliould exert mufl defend xhdr Sovereign Power in Defence of the true Religion Religion revcalcd by God, out of Gratitude to Almighty God for oiitofGra- ^i^g mighty Favour conferred on them in placing them in 2^5'* " fo high and auguft a Station. ■ It was not from any Merit of their own, that God permitted them to be born to this ibining Honour: He might (if he had pleas'd) have ordered them to grind at the Millj as eafily as to fit upon the Throne; or might have cloathed them in Rags, inftead of Purple. And whereas there are fo many Millions of People in a Coun- try, whereof the greatell Numl^er are forced to get a poor ^ Subfiftence by the Sweat of their Brows, and the eafier Circumftances of others are oftentimes by truckling to fhe hauf^hty Contempt of domineering Superiors : The ^reateft Monarch in the World, might have been placed (if the great Creator of all things had fo pleas'd) in the loweH: of thefe Conditions. But when he has fingled out for them fo choice a Condition, when he has felefted and refined all -the Satisfaftions of liuman Life, and as it were drawn them off the Lees which other People' Plca- flires are mixed with, for their Ufe; and this without any Subferviency and uneafy Dependence, but all thefe Pleafures are heightned by the Enjoyment of the intirell: Liberty wh'^ch- human Nature affords; moft certainly there refts itpcin them the higheft Degree of Gratitude to be paid to^fa bountiful a Creator, who has befriended thern with fo diftinguilliing Favours. ■ Now fince'God'is an all-fufficient Being, and there is no Recompence to be made to him, all the Returns which ^ith rtMACHIAVELIAN. 533 which a Prince can make muft be to God's Creatures, and thofe efpecially to whom he bears the greateft Love. Now this is the Church of Chrifl, the Congrega- tion of all faithful People, which Chrifl fo loved thstt he gave him/elf for itj Eph. v. 25. Now if our bleffed Lord does elteem Unkindnefs done to any one of his poor Difciples, as done to himfelf, Matt. xxv. 45. we may be afihied that a beneficent Adion done to the whole collective Bcxdy of his faithful Servants, or to a very large part of it, will not be valued in Heaven at a lower Rate. ■ ^ in. Another Argument that it is Part of the Duty Becmfethe of a Prince to fuccour and defend the Church, is upon chrifttan account, That the Doulrines of Chrift's Church do veiy /-A^m much tend to the Support of his ficred Office. their Ojfce. There was never any Religion in the World which did befpeak fuch high Honour and Lfteem for, and fuch exad Regard to the fupream Power, as that which was delivered to Mankind by our bleffed Lord. He taught us, by the moft illuftrious Example, how to difcharge Gur EHities this Way; For he himfelf being a Perfonof the higheft Dignity upon Earth, was yet pleafed to fhew the moll; humble Obedience to his Civil Superiors. Ra- ther than be wanting in the Payment of a irnall Tax which was charged upon him, he put himfelf to the Expence of a Miracle to pre cure it for the Govern- ment; taking a great deal of Pains to redify the mifta- ken Opinions of fome Men, ( who under the Pretence of being God's People, thought themfelves exempt from all Duties to the Civil Government; commanding them to render unto C.Efar the things which are Cxfar'j, oi well iii unto God the things which are God's, Matt. xii. 21. When the Multitude would have forced the Crown of IJrael upon his Head ; which tempting Offer would have iTiook the Loyalty of fome of the greareft Pretenders to it; he refufes the illegal Overture with a pious Indig- nation, and tells them, That his Kingdom was not of this JVorldyJoh. xvi. ^6. And when a warm Difciple of his, in Defence of his Maftcr, drew his Sword upon an Of- ficer 355 ^ Conference ficer of the Civil Magiftrate, he not only rebukes hirn," but for that Offence denounces a fevere Sentence againft him, which was afterwards inflided upon him; They that take the Sword, pall per ip by the Sword, Matt. xxvi. 52. And laftly, fuch a Regard did he pay to the Civil Magiftrate, that tho* he pafs'd Judgment upon him by a ftrained Interpretation of the Law, and without any Ground, but only to gratify the Importunity and Ma- lice of the Jewifh Clergy^ yet he vouchfafed quietly to acquicfce under his unjuft Sentence, and to undergo that painful and infamous Death which he had adjudged him to, when by the leaft Word he might have fum- mon'd in Myriads of Angels to his Refcue ; or by his own Power might have laid all his Adverfaries dead be- fore him. His Apoftles after him, both by their Doftrine and Example preached the fame Leifon to the World. They exhort all Chriftians to be fnbje^l to the higher Powers, upon confederation that they are ordained of God, Rom. xiii. I. and have a divine Authority enforcing an Obe- dience to their Injundions. They require a Submiflion to every human Ordinance for the Lord's Jake, i Pet. ii. 13. not only out of Fear, but for Confcience fake, both out of Obedience to the Commands, and in Compliance with the Example of our Bleffed Lord and Saviour Chrifl him- felf. Now fince the Chriflian Church is conftituted upon fuch peaceable Principles as tend fo much to the Eafe and Quiet of Governours, and are fo admirably fuited to the Support of their Authority ; they cannot purfue their own Intereft by any properer Methods, than by ta- king into their Care and more efpecial Protedtion, a Body of Men, who, by the Rules of their holy Profeflion, are folemnly engaged to pay them all that Duty and Re- fpecS, which others mufl be brought to, by Terror and Compulfion. Now, by how much any Body of Chri- ftians Hiall by falfe GlofTes upon this plain Dodrine of our Lord and his Apoflles, or other peftilential Opini- ons copied from the Atheiftical Philofophy, corrupt thefe wholefome Tenets of Cliriftianity j they by fo much the more 'With a^Machiavelian. 336 mdre do forfeit the Countenance and good Efteem of a Chriftian Prince, and have thereby a lefs Pretence to his Care and ' Sovereign Protedion. As on the other fide, thofe Chriftians that keep up fteadily to the Rule of their bleffed Mafter, and take care confcientioufly to difcharge their Duty to their Prince, in all thofe refpeds which the Gofpel requires of them, they have a more efpecial Title to his Patronage and Love ; and every good Prince, both by Inclination and Intereft, will be difpofed more peculiarly to befriend them, who not fo much out of any Profpeft of Advantage , as from the pure Didates of their Confciences, think themfelves obliged readily to obey him. Befides, this Argument will have its farther Weight, when it fliall be confidered, that the Chriftian Religion, when it has its full Influence upon Men's Lives that ic ought to have, gives fuch a peaceable Bent to their Na- tures, and molds them into fuch quiet and pliable Habits, as takes off a great Part of the Trouble and Turmoil of Government, when it is exercifed over the untraftable Tempers of wicked and irreligious People. This cures them of Pride and Ambition, which fpur Men on to make the moft infblent Demands, and afterwards pufh them upon the precipitate Methods of revenging the Refufal of them '(; by Plots and Seditions, when they prove unfucccfsful. This infpires them with a Chriftian Charity, with a Love of Peace, and a hearty Concern for the publick Good; and inclines them to poftpone all private Advantages, to the general Welfare of the Community and mutual Con- cord. This diverts Men of all thofe Paflions and Vices which are the Bane of Society, and inures them to the Habits of thofe generous Virtues and Qualities, which make Communities happy, even with the leaft Applica- tion of their Governours. Now it muft be the nigheft Concern and Intereft of a Prince to cherifli with a moft tender Care, that Holy Religion which makes their Government fit (b eafy upon their Hands; and by a voluntary Compliance with tneir Lawg 336 A Conference Laws and Injundions, rids them qF all the Trouble and tnvidioufncfs which an Obedience enforced by civil Pe- nalties, and a coercive Power, would occaiicn. Trinces ' jy, A farther Reafon why Princes lliould take, care P^onlcUe- ^^^ ^^^j pfoted: Religion, is, becaufe it is not endowed ftLinityje- With fufficient Power to defend it felf, and provide it felf caufecie- pf thofc Advantages, which are requilite for its Sub- feKcelifs. jn{];ence. Now this is a fufficient Plea to any generous Mind, for Relief and Afliftance. And fince God Al- mighty has lodged fo much Power in princely Hands, they cannot make that good ufe of it, which Providence expects of them, unkfs they lay it out in the Afliflance of thofe w ho want it. This has occafion'd the fuccour- ing of Orphans and Widows, from the Ufurpations and Ravages of powerful Men, to be a point of Juflice, which has in all Ages claimed the Magiftrate's Aid i ?ind to .deny it when deligned, has been efteemed to be a Sort of .renouncing the Pity and Tendernels of human Nature. Now it has pleafed Almighty God to conftitute his Church in a State of Pupillage, and to deny it that co- jcrcive Authority which he has veftedthe fecular Pow- er with. ; And fince in a Chriftian Government the Church is jfo mutually blended with the State, that in fome refpe6t ^they make up but one Body : Whatever Power the .Church wants for the Support of its Conftitution, and •for the Defence of it agarinft its Adverfaries, it muft bor- row of the chief Magillrate of the State j to the end that thofe evil Perfons who. are not to be reftrained by Church-Cenfures, whofe Penalty is only Spiritual, they by the Smart of fecular Pun^ihrnents, may be either for- ced into theif Duty, or be obliged to forbear their Inju- ries offered to the Congregation of the Faithful. And this is more efpecially neceffary.in thefe latter Ages of the ': Church, when the Power of Miracles is ceafed. For in the primitive Times a temporal Penalty did moft com- .mon'y attend Excommunicari6n, which the Apoftle calls, a Buffeting by Satan, 1 Cor. iv. ii. which extraordinary Power upon the Government's becoming Chriilian, be- came 'ipjtth ^Maghiaveliak. 337 came lefs frequent: A delivering over to the fecular Power fupply'd the place of that mighty Derelidiion of the Holy Spirit of God which accompany'd it before. Now fince Cod Almighty has in this, as well as in other Cafes, appointed Princes to be his Vice-gerents, and to receive .the Church into their Patronage , which for a Time he kept iri his own, they cannot anfwer the Truft repofited in their Hands, unlefs they imploy their great Power in the Defence of the Church, which he has made them Nurjirtg Fathers of, when he deliver'd it into their Protection. The feveral Ways by which a Prince may fuccour and defend the Church, may be as many as the Dangers arid NecelTities of it. ' And therefore their Power is to be implored, whenever the Church is infeded by pcftilent Hcrcfies, or Schifms; that thofe poifonous Dodrines, or impious Defedions, may not tend to the Subverfion of the Faith. They are to be applied to, when the Rii^hts of the Church are invaded, or their Cenfures defpifed ; that thofe who value not the being turned out of the Congi-egation of the Faithful, may either be re- claimed or deterred, by feeling the Stroke of the fecular Arm. It lies within the compafs of their high Fortune or Power, either by their own Liberality, or recorh- mending it to the Charity of their Subjefts, to build up or repair the Edifices of the Church, that the Worfliip of God may be performed in a decent manner ;4nd thac the Sordidnefs of the Place where Devotion is perform'd, may not take off the Reverence which is due to the Ex- ercife of thofe holy Offices. It may be a further part of their princely Care, to augment the Revenues of thofe who officiate in the Church, when the Scantinefs of their Income will not provide for the Neceffities of their Sub- fiflence, or for the Dignity of their Calling; that their Minds may not be diftrafted by the Urgency of their Wants, from the Duties and Studies of their Fundion; and that the Meannefs of their Circumflances, may not create a Difguft to their ProfefTion. yoL. II. z y. But 338 A Conference Uctforthe V. But as foi* the Defence of a falfe Religion, no jnterefiofa ^jfg qj. g^^^^j princc, Of indeed any one who has the leaft JS« Senfe of God's Providence or Goodnefs, will undertake dlje Reli- it. For when he confiders that every Minute he is un- ^ion. der the Direftion of God's good Will and Pleafure, and that his Crown ftands or falls accordingly as his Good- nefs and Wifdom appoints ; he muft with the utmoft Care and Caution, avoid the doing any thing which may tend to the diflionour of that great Being, from whom he expecSs continual Succour and Defence. Now nothing can be more difpleafing to, or a higher Provo- cation of Almighty God, than to fet up a falfe Worfhip. For this IcflTens the Reverence and Efte^m which is owing to the great Creator and Preferver of all Things ; it gives a Share of the Honour, which is only due to the Maker of the World, to his poor Creatures ; or finds out wrong Ways to pay an unacceptable Refpeft to him, which ei- ther he in himfelf abominates, or, in his Revelation to Mankind, has no where direded. For indeed nothing can be fo fpightfuUy contrived, in Oppofition to the Ho- nour of Almighty God, and to bring him, as much as may be, into Contempt with his Creatures, as to impart the Worfhip which is due to him, to Devils, or dead Alen; or, to pretend, outcf Refpeft to the God of Truth, to advance Lies and Impoflures. This is plain from the Nature of the Thing it felf, but is more remarkably fa from his Holy Word, as it is laid down to us in his ear- lieft Revelations to Mankind. For we find that the whole Book of the Old Teftarnent does abound with the mofl terrible Threats and Denunciations againft the Sins of Idolatry and Superftition. By reafon of thefe abominable Crimes, which the firft Generations of Man- kind after the Flood fell into the Guilt of; God Al- mighty, who at firfl: communicated himfelf to all his devout Worfhipers, left thefe Apoftate Nations to their own felves, and confined his Correfpondence and particu- lar Influence to the Family o£ Abraham; which alone, of all the People in the World, continued in the Wor- flrip of the one and the true God. This inclined him to " blcfs *with ^Machiavelian^ 5J9 tlefs this People moft remarkably, even in their fbrefl Af^ flidions; and whilft they were under an unmerciful Cap- tivity in -or Calamitous. '^uhariy Nephew to Conjlantine the Great., being edu- cated in the Principles of the Chriftian Religion, under Z z £tifebm 340 A Conference Eiifebiia Eifliop of Nkomedhi, and during the Reign of his Ccufin Confiantius, taking upon him the Office of i Reader in the Church ; but was perverted to Paganifin by the Subcilty of Maxlmm the Philofopher, and being proclaimed Emperor, he openly renounced the Faith. He began to rebuild the Heathen Temples, and to revive the Sacrifices J he demolillied the Chriftian Churches* depofed or perfecuted the Bifiiops, forbid the Chriftian Children to be educated in Humane Literature, and did every thing he could in defpight to the Holy Religion. Being called into the Eaft to reprefs the Perjian War, he threatned an utter Extirpation to Chriftianity when he returned from his Expedition. But God, by a remark- able Judgment, cut nim fhort, being mortally wounded in a Battel which he rafhly enterprized with the Perjiahsy he died moft execrably blafpheming; catching up the Blood which flow'd from his Wound, into his Hand, and throwing it up to Heaven, he cried out in a diabo- lical Rage, Thouhajl conquered we, ^ O Galilean i which was the contumelious Name the apoftate Wretch was want to call our Blefled Saviour by. Bede reports t? that Redvalt King of the Eafi Saxons, being converted to Chriftianity, afterwards relapfed into Heathenifm; and like the old Samaritan, worfhiped God and his Country Idols in the fame Temple; but prefently afterwards was taken off by Death, living how- ever to fee his eldeft Son bafely murdered by one Riche^ bert a Heathen Man. William Rufm^-) by fome of our Hiftorians is reported ro have been fo loofe in his Principles of Chriftianity, that he defigned a Difpute between the Je-ivi and the Chriftians, of which, if the firft prevailed by Argu- ments, he declared he would renounce his Baptifm : Which Stor)' , if it be true (and he be not belied by the Monks of that time, to whom he was extraordinary fevere, by pillaging their Convents) the Juftice of God was very remarkable in his End. For he was fuddenly f Sozom. Hift. Eccl. f Bed. Hift, Ang. Lib. 2. c. i /. \ Ma. Paris. killed with ^Machiavelian. 54.1 killed by the glancing of an Arrow fhot at a Deer in the JVav Foreji by one Sir Walter Tyrrel a French Knight, Henry the Fourth o^ France, after his reconciling him-.. felf to the Church of Rom^y could never be truired by the JcTuits, and the other Bigots of tliat Church : But was firft attempted upon to be murder 'd by one John Caftel, who direding his Dagger at his Throat, but mif- fing his Aim, only ftruck out one of his Teeth. His pious Sifter thereupon made this religious Refledion, Tott have dented God already. Brother, 'ivithjour Aiomh, "ivhichy joH fee, has been thusfo rcma k^blj punijhed. Have a Care of denying him in your Heart. He reigned ten Yeai's after in a very profperous Condition; but God Almighty, by a terrible, tho' late Aft of his Juftice, punilhed his Apo- ftacy : For in the Year i<5io. at a time of Publick Joy, when he, riding in a pompous ProceflTion at a folemn Co- ronation of his Queen, he was ftabbed to the Hear^ with a poifon'd Dagger by Francis Ravaillac, a Francifcan Monk. Chriflimy late Queen of Sweden, by her forced Re- nunciation of her Crov;n, and fome other late Princes of Furore, by thejr Misfortunes which they have fuftained after their Perverfion to the Romifh Faith; are very clear Inftances of God's heavy Indignation falling upon thofe Princes, who inftead of defending the true Reli- gion, have unhappily oppofcd it, and by the Rules of ungodly Policy, and . to ferve fome fecular Ends, have been perfuaded to proted and countenance a falfe one in lieu of it. But fince I have proceeded thus far in thefe Hiftorical Remarks, I will beg leave to obferve further (which the famous LiiUatuitts has wrote a Book about) that of all the Roman Princes who were the Authors of thofe moft terrible Perfecutions in the primitive Times, againft the poor Chriftiarjs, not one of them died in peace. Nero, the Author of the firft Perfecution againft the Chriftians, upon whom he laid the blame of burn- ing of the City, which he had fired himfelf ; at the Approach of Galh\ Army to Rome, he run away in Z I aDif- 341 A Conference a Difguife, hid himfelf in a Cellar, and fearing left he fhould be deliver'd alive into Galba's Hands, laid violent Hands upon himfelf, and that too after the moft cow- ardly manner, perfuading his Page to kill himfelf firft, tQ lliew him what it was to die. Domitiarit the next fierce Enemy of the Chriftians, was murdered by a Confpiracy of his own Domefticks j; liis own Wife likewife being in the Defign. The Emperor Dec'msy who gave fo great Vexation to the Church of Chrift, ended his Life unfortunately in his Expedition againft the Scythians: For being worfted by the Enemy, either endeavouring to fly, or to efcape fal- ling into the Hands of the Barbarians, he and his Horfc were plunged into the Mjre of the Fenns which lay near the place where the Battle was fought, and his Body never afterwards recovered to receive the Rights of an honourable Burial : Bur, ^s Ldla>jms fays. Lay naked and uncovered, and, as became the Enemy of God, was the Food to 7mld Beajis and Birds* Valerian, who at his firftEntrance upon the Empire, was fomewhat favourable to the Chriftians; when he grew more fettled therein, Ihed a great deal of their Blood. Which was remarkably avenged by God in his following Sufferings. For being betrayed in the fight with Safores^ King of Perjia, by Machinus, he was taken Prifoner by that barbarous King, who made ufe of him for a Step to tread upon when he mounted his Horfej after having detained him a Captive till he grew old, he at laft flead him alive. Aurelian the Author of another Perfecution againfl the Chriflians, was murdered by a Confpiracy, which was fet on Foot by Aiinefleus his Libertus, who feigned a Liflof feveral noble Perfons, who he pretended his Ma- fterhad defigned to take off, which drew them to a Plot agrinft his Life, which Defign they bloodily executed at a place in Thrace, called Cxnophrurifffn, as he was going pthQ Per/Fan War. Fhe liUtth aMACHlAVELIAN. 34.3 The Perfecution ofDhcleJiM was jointly carried on by himfelf, and his Coleagues in the Empire, Maximimart and Galertus, The ends of all which were fignally un- fortunate. Dioclejian vext by the Troubles of the State ; and that the Chriftian Religion which he defigned to eradicate, grew but the more for his Cruelties again ft it, in a Pet refigned the Empire, and afterwards left the World under a lingring and painful Difeafe. Alaximinitm hanged himfelf, being befieged by Conftmtine at Mar-> fellies, Gderim^ the chief Inftigator of that Perfecution, died of an Ulcer, which fpread it felf over his whole Body, which occafioned fuch a noifome Stench to pro- ceed therefrom, that all his Phyficians forfook him, whom in a rage he caufed to be Slain, as alfo feveral others whom he fent to for Relief; from whom, when he had learnt that he could receive no Benefit from the Rules of their Art, he likewife cruelly murdered ; himfelf, dying fhortly after in a moft terrible Torment. Now all thefe difmal Calamities which have befel the forementioned Princes, who have either been Apoftates from, or Perfecutors of the true Religion, cannot be afcribed to pure Chance, or the ordinary Courfe of Pro- vidence; they were too remarkable, and too univerfal, to be afcribed to fuch a Caufe. For if the Perfecutors and Apoftates had been ordinarily as happy as other Princes, this Plea might feem fomething fair ; but it does not ap- pear from Hiftory, that any one of all thefe Perfons lived and died happily, but on the contrary, every one of them had the Finger of God fignally evident in their punifliment. This I prefume is fufficient to evince, that every good and wife Prince muft be inclined to pro- tect the true Religion, and not to countenance a falle one, with regard to the Honour of God ; which is dis- credited by a falfe Worfliip, and which he has in feve- ral Ages vindicated by fucn remarkable Judgments upon Prince?, who have in this particular violated it. VI. Another Reafon why a Prince fhoukl not coun- ^?"^"'^ tenance a falfe Religion, upon account of furthering a /,„ -^^ ^^^ politick Intereft, is, becaufe fuch meafurcs will fertainly not long Z ^ %X prevail. 34+ A Conference at laft fall him and turn more to his detriment, than pofTibly he can reap advantage by ferving a prefent turn by it. For nothing but Truth can bear an exad fcan- ning ; and there are prying Men in all Countries who will fearch to the bottom of Things, of Religion, efpeci- ally, which lays Reftraints upon Men's Adions, and they will endeavour to throw off the Yoke as far as may be almoft of any Inftitution; but however, will never be lon^ tied down to the Rules of a Religion, in which they can difcover any Flaws; which no Superftition, fei; up only by a Politick Invention, can be free from. Now whenever fuch a Difcovery is brought to light, the Re- putation of a Government which fets it a foot, is inrirely loft, and it is not in the Power of any after-game, to recover the Difgrace which fuch an Impofture brings with it. Indeed the Impoftures, which carried on the iongeftand the moft fuccefsful Cheat, are thofe of the 6^/- bylline Books, and the Oracles of Delphi, mentioned by Mnchidvely but even thefe in time loft their Credit. The Oracle of Apollo was remarked, in King Philip of Ma- cedons Time, ^thi'Tr'Tri^nv, ro declare whatever King Phi' lip would have it ; and I do not know, whether ever it was received by any fenfible Man, more than as a jug- gling Office fet up to deceive fimple People, by a few loofe and ambiguous Words. The Sibylline Books were kept up fo clofe in the Hands of the chief Magi ft rates of Rome, and confulted only upon Extremities of Dan- gers, when Men's frights made them conftrue any thing to their Advantage ; that they could never come to be fcanned by Men, in their cool and fedate Thoughts. And it may be a queftion, whether thofe ambiguous Verfes were not counterfeited by the Pontifices, upon the pre^ tended fearch, rather than found in the Original, But if they had been fuffered to come under the publick View, and to have been commonly read by the People, there is no doubt but they would have been as con- temptible in former Times, as they became in the latter, VII. Bm with a Machiavelian. 54.5 VII. But after all, altho* Princes could be aiTiired, that Snterfiirion any Superftition or Religion they lliould fet up, was orf-dfe ne^ out of all fear of being difcovered to be a Cheats yet ^7S7'* that Timidity, which it would for the moft part ftrike into Men, their Subjed's Mind, would do more Mifchief to their State, than could be recompenfed by any Advantage which would accrue from the fuccefs of the Impofture. For all Superftition fills the Mind with fuch unnatural Fears, that upon any eminent Danger, they are more ready to grovel and languifh under it, than with a brave Ala- crity to encounter with it. For this pofTeffes Men with a Senfe of the Anger of fome great preternatural Power, and at the fame time gives them but very un- certain Hopes of appeafing it. For to have a Notion only of the Power and Severity of God, without his Goodnefs and his Willingnefs to be reconciled to, and to befriend Mankind, muft load Men v/ith anxious and diftrading Cares, and make them very Hearrlefs in en- terpriling any thing which they are perfuaded they have an offended Deity to oppofe them in, and whofe Wrath they know not how to avert, but only by fome fanci- ful Opinions which they cannot give any great credit to. Now the Chriftian Religion alone, by the Clearnefs of its Revelations, has reprefented to Mankind the Nature of God in its true Light : This lliews how much Goodnels does always mix it felf with the Divine Severity ; how ready our gracious Creator is to be reconciled to his Pe- nitent Creatures; and that it is his eflential Property in the midft of Judgment to remember Mercy. 'Tis this fuperftitious Humour that makes the barbarous Nations oftentimes lofe the opportunity of an advantagious Battle, upon tke Account of an Eclipfe, or fome other fancied Omefi. Neither would the Roman Nation have made fuch a mighty Run in their Conquefts through the World ; if their Generals had always tied themfeh es clofe to the Rules of their Country's Superftition. Sometimes they ^ made the Augurs try over their Art again and again, till fomething at laft offered it lelf, which was according to pheir Pleafur?. Or fometimes they defpifcd them; as Pfihlim 34-6 A Conference Tublm ClattdiHs, who in the fecond Pmick^ War, wheS he was deterred by the Augur from attacking the Cart thagmlcm Fleet, becaufe the facred Chicken would not eat \ he commanded them forthwith to be thrown into / the Sea, faying, Ifthey would not eat, he was refohed they fijould drink' Superflltion IX. I will crave leave to add one thing further for fup- Tvhenknown port of this Argument, and that is the common Pradice nincedh ^^ "^^^^ Nations, to fupprefs and difcountenance any Re- ivife Nn- ligion, which upon careful Confideration they have found liens. to be falfe. It is reported by Lizy "^j that when the Bac- (hamlia, or Feafts of Bacchus were firft introduced at Rome, there were fcandalous and unheard of Wicked- neffes pradifed, under pretence of thofe My fteries. Un- cleannefs of all forts were perpetrated even upon the moft tender Ages of both Sexes, and that for the moft part by force; the Shreeks and Outcries of the Sufferers be-r ing drowned by the noife of the Drums and Cymbals, which did always attend thofe Rites. When thefe things came to the Knowledge of the Senate, inftead of encou-? raging a Religion which the common People were very fond of, and therefore according to Machiavel's Policy, ought to have been cherished, they delegated an extraor- dinary Power to the Confuls, to examine into thofe Enor- mities, and to punifh them with the utmoft Severity. And information'being given in againft a great many; feveral Men and Women, rather than be brought to the Difgrace of a Trial, made away with themfelves^ many others were found guilty and executed ; it appearing that above 7000 Perfons of all Qualities, had Lifted themfelves into this horrid Combination. After this the Confuls had further Order given them, to extirpate the BacchamlU. firft out of Ro?ne, and then out of all Italj. It appear'd to the Senate at another time t> that there were fome unallowable Pradices in the Rites of /Jis and Serapis; and therefore by Decree of the Fathers, the Temples of thofe Deities were ordered to be demoliflied, But no Artificer in the City out of Reverence to thefe * Liv. Hift. Lib. 39, | VaL Max. Lib. i.Cap. 2. Gods* lioith ^Machiavelian. 34.7 Cods, daring to undertake the Work which the Senate . had commanded : At length Patilus z^milim the Conful laying afide his Coat, took a Hatchet into his Hand, and with it fplit down the Door of the Temple his own felf^ The Magiftrates of Bern -^ before the Reformation, condemned four Dominican Friars for a piece of roguifli Impofture upon one Jetxxr, whom they made to believe that he faw Vifions of the Virgin Mary, and the holy Angels, in order to fupport the Dominican Tenets, againft the Frtmcifians ; making ufe of the Devil, as it is faid, to carry on the Cheat. Of which Villainies the Friars being convifl by their own Confeflions, were burnt in a Meadow near5fr», A. D. 1509. Add to this a remarkable Story out of the Ads and Arrefts of the Courts o^ Paris f. There was in that City belonging to the Shop of a Painter, a Piece, in which was painted the Image of the Virgin A^ary^ and which the Painter was wont to hang out for a Sign of his Pro- feflion. This, for a very fmall Price, was bought up by a Country Curate near Paris. As foon as he had got it into his PoffefTion, he forthwith f;ts to work, and bores two Holes through the Pidure in the place of the Eyes, and faftned behind it two Branches of a green Vine, cut off at the time when the Vines are ufcd to bleed; fo very artificially, that from the Diftillation of the Vine, the Pidure feem'd to cry. A vaft Crowd of ordinary People daily come to fee this new Miracle, and among the reft, the Painter and his Wife. They pre- fently know their old Pidure; and after a little Exami- nation, finding but the Cheat, make it known to the whole Country. The Prieft being convifted of the Fraud, is condemned to be hanged, and the Pidure to be broke in Pieces. But if the Politicks of Machiavcl had been as much in vogue in that Nation then, as they have been of late, the Prieft had not deferved fo great a Penalty upon any other fcore, than that he did not ma- nage the Cheat with fufficient Dexterity. ■* Vid. Burnet's Letters. Munftcrs Geogr. Lib. j. + Papon, in Com. Sen. Lib. i.Tit. i. 54-8 _ A Conference Of the Duty ofal^RiNCE to his 7ieighhow" 2?ig States and Potentates. Demob, But I think that thofe ftrait-laced confcienti- ous Counfellors, which are about a great many Princes, are very much out in their Politicks, when they preach it into their Ears, * " That they ought inviolably to *' keep his Faith, even when fuch an Obligation is pre.- " judicial to him, and the Neceffities and Occafions ** which brought him into thefe Engagements, are over *' with him. Indeed, if all Men were good, this Pre- ** cept were to be condemned ; but when fo much Wick- ** ednefs abounds among Mankind, and whereas it is not «' likely they will keep their Faith, the Prince is not *' obliged to preferve his. Befides, it is to be prefumed, /* that Promifes extorted by Force, may be broken (e- " fpecially if it be forthePublick Good) whenever that " Force or Neceflity is gone, t That the Prince who <' has a Mind to]increafe his Revenues, and to extend '' his Dominions, muft above all Things, take care to ** learn the Art of Deceit. Now to be able to deceive, <* he muft learn readily to make ufe of a great many Pre- <' tences, Diflimulations, and Perjuries ; and a Prince '* framed by Nature and Art for this Purpofe, will ne- " ver fail of being fuccefsful in the Defigns he is carry- '' ing on by thefe Means. For Men, for the moft part *< are fo very fimple, and fo little cautious, and fo often " prefTed by their prefent Neceffities, that he that can *' ad a mafterly Part in thefe Arts, feldom fails of finding ** fome one or other, ready to be drawn into thefe Toils. *« II That if a Prince be in fuch firm Friendlhip with any *' Neighbour of his, that he dare not direftly violate it, *' and wage War upon him ; let him find fome fpecious * Mach. Prin. Cap. i8. f Com, in Liv. Lib, i. Cap. 13. 11 Com. Lib. 2. Cap, 9. *' Pretence ^ith a MACHIAVEtlAN. 349 " Pretence to make a Rupture with fome Ally of his* ** For then he will think himfelf obliged to defend his " Confederate, and by fo doing, he will be adjudged to '* have broke the Peace betwixt them firfl:. Eudem. But as I am of another Opinion, -t/;*. That it is the Dftty of a Prince to freferve invioiaiply the Leagues •ivhich he is entered into ; fo, God be thanked, Demoborust our Bibles do give us a wifer and honefter Part of thefe Matters than you do, and fpeak dire(9:ly contrary to the Fraud and Perfidioufnefs which you would fet up in the World. I. We are told in thofe holy Books, that no one fliall Scripture live in God's Tabernacle, or is fit to be reckoned among ^^ ""'' godly People^ bnt who walketh uprightly, and doeth Righ» ^,w^ ^^1 teotifnejsy and Jpeaketh the Truth in his Heart, Pfal. xv. 2. ferve their Nay, If he change, though he fweareth to his 07vn Hurt, ^'^^«^'*- V. 4. he is unworthy of that Honour. It is an univerfal Rule of Chriftianity, laid down by the Apoftle, incum- bent upon all the Profeflbrs of it to obferve, Lje not to one another. Col. iii. p. But of all Lies and Falihoods, Frauds in the concerting, or the maintaining national Contrails, are of the deepefl: dye, by how much the Injury is the further extended; a whole Nation fufFcring by any indired: Dealing offered to the Prince thereofi And how little is to be gained by any Potentates tricking and fliifting in thefe fblemn Engagements, may be learn- ed from that of the wife Man : The Hand of the Jiout or brave (not diligent, as we tranflate it) JJmU bear Rule ; but the deceitful fijall be under Tribute, Prov. xii. 24. And we likewife find, that the holy Scripture does al- ways reprefent good Princes inviolably obferving the Leagues which they had miade ; and that there is a cer- tain Mark of God's Difpleafure fet upon thofe that did refufe to ftand to them. Thus we read that Abraham religiouHy obferved the League which he made with-^i^/- meleckj, Gen. xxi. 22. and the Alliance with that Prince's Family was continued in his Son Jfaac's Time, Gen. xxvi. %6. And Jofuah thought himfelf obliged with Exad- nefs to maintain the League which he had made with the CibcT 350 A Conference C'theomtei^ although he was led into it by the Fraud and Diffimulation of that People, Jof. ix. r6. Thus a League is fokmnly entered into, and faithfully difcharged be- tween King Solomon and Hiram King of Tyre, i Kings v. 12. Add to this what we learn from theie holy Books, 2 Chron. xxxvi. where the breaking of the League with Nehnchadnex^Zjar, is faid to be the principal Caufe of Ze^ dekiahy and his People's Sufferings by their Captivity. u4nd ■he rebelled againji King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him fivear by God, Therefore he brought upon them the King of the Chaldees, who flerv the young Alen with H Sword in the Houfe of their SanEtuarjy and had no Compaf- Jion on joung Adan or Maiden-, old Man, or he thai floop-^ eth for Age : He gaUe them all into his Hand, From all w^hich it is plain, that the holy Scriptures do require of a Prince, that whatever he hasfolemnly engaged with any neighbouring Prince or Potentate to perform, he oughtj, •whatfoever temporal Detriment may enfue, confcienti- ouHy to make good. And in fupport of God's Word againft the atheiftical Pretences, he has the Dictates of right Reafon to bear him out. leagues II. For every wife and good Prince, that has any Senfe mviolp.bh, of Religion and Providence, muft think himfelf indif^ Cod a wit- psn^^hly obliged to difcharge whatever he has promifed vcfs ef under fo folemn a Tie; becaufe he has made God Al- thcti). mighty a Wirnefs of his Sincerity, and has voluntarily* called down his Vengeance upon him ', if he be not en- tire in his Refolutionsj and do not take care to make good all, that in that moft religious Engagement he has bound iiimfelf to perform. For to be falfe to God Almighty^ after his Name. is fo folemnly invoked, his eternal Vera- city and Omnifcience appeal'd to, and his Vengeance imprecated : This is to make the prophaneft Mockery with the adorable Perfedionsof God, and to play with the very Thunderbolts of Heaven : And God will, in his due Time, pour out the fevereft-Vials of his Wrath upon fuch perfidious Oitenders. Indeed he does often- times, to carry on fome fpecial Defigns which his good Providence has forecaft, fpare them a while, it may be, to W^^^M ACHIAVELIAN. 551' to 611 up the Meafure of their Wickedncfs, and to make *em afterwards fall more remarkable Victims to his JuP tice. But if their Punifhment does not attend them in this World, they muft exped a woful Reckoning in the the next. For fuch a profane Mockery of God, fuch Violations of the moft facred Engagements, fuch a bafe Collufion with good Men, and horrid Deceit and Op- preffion of the Innocent, are Crimes of fo diabolical a Complexion, that we cannot exped: God will let them enjoy all the Comforts of this World, and fuffer them to drop into the next with the fame Fate as other People, whofe Adions have been far better, and their Fortune worfe. And we ihall hereafter fee, that when God comes to wind up, and to make even in his providential A6h, the bft fad Tragedy of fuch profperous Offenders, will perfe<5lly acquit God's Juftice of any Teeming Irregularity here ; the moft terrible Degree of God's Vengeance be- ing prepared for fuch enormous Violations of his Laws, and Affronts to his Honour : For Tophet is ordained of eld I jea, for the King it is prepared : He hath made it deep and large ; the Pile thereof is Fire and mmh Woodi the breath of the Lord, like a Stream of Briwjlone, doth kmdlt it, Ifa, XXX. 55, III. All good Princa muft be very circumfped how Becaufk they bear in upon thefe facred Engagements ; becaufc Leagues they are the only Fence, when they are out of aflual ^'^^ ""^ ^ Arms, for the Security of their State and People. For ^aiZIs. if once thofe rdigious Ties fhould be laid afide, all Man- kind muft disband, and break up into a State of War and Confufion. Wherever Pov/er did prevail, Juftice mull give place : The World would be fill'd with miferable Outrages, and Afts of barbarous Hoftilities; and all Na- tions overfpread with DifTolation and Blood ; Kings would continually break their Promifes to their People, and Sub- jeds difclaim their Allegiance to their Prince; fmall Principalities would be confhnt Preys to powerful Mo- , narchs, and great Princes would wear out their Strength, and deftroy their People, by continual Warring upon one another ; and every crowned Head muft be forced either JO 55^ ^Conference to be a perpetual Butcher of his Neighbours, all bis Life-* time wading through Blood ', or elfe to be a Vidim to the Cruelty of others, or to wear his Conquerors Chains. This would moft certainly be the Fate of the World, if the Security of Alliances were removed, and Princes could truft to nothing but Force and open Arms. Now "whatfoever Prince is guilty of Unfaithfulnefs in his Alli- ances, does as much as in him lies, endeavour to bring the World into fuch miferable Confufion. For if the reft of his Neighbours iliould imitate the Falfenefs of fuch a Copy, there would be no Fidelity left in the World, but all Mankind muft fall a worrying one ano- ther like Bears and Tygers. Trinces IV. It is a further Argument, that Princes ought con- Tvho ob- fcientioufly to obferve whatever they have covenanted Leagues, "^^^^ ^^^^' AUies ; becaufe thofe Princes and States which mcfi happy, have been the moft punftual Obfervers of thefe Promifesj have been the moft flourilliing and fuccefsful. It was this Integrity, more than the Force of the Roman Arms, ■which help'd on the Growth of that mighty Empire. For whoever had once put themfelves under their Protec- tion, and had obtained their Promifes of Friend lliip and Security; for the Generality, out of Love to their Juf- tice and Fidelity, they ever after, till the Diflblution of that Empire, continued in their Alliance. Inftances of their Fidelity in this kind, lie thick throughout all the Hiftory of that brave People. "^Ptolemy King of had Ends fuitable to fuch fhameful Arts which they had long exercifed. Hmmhalhv^'mfj^ his Aimy totally routed by Scipio, was forced to fly to Prnfias King of Bkhjnia for Succour : But being demanded of him by the ^o- ^ans, and fearing the Kmg's Fidelity to him, poifon'd himfelf. And the City of Carthage, not many Years after, was utterly defhoyed by the Roman Senate. The Downfal of Scjfhax King of Nnmidia f, was owing to his Breach of the League with the Romans^ Oifenln'C and Defenlive, againfi: the Carthagimam. For he being inveigled to marry ^fdrnbal the CarthagmUm General's Daughter, broke his Faith, and made War upon the Romans, with whom he liad firft confederated. But in carrying on that unfaithful VVar, he was beaten and taken Prifoner by Scifio ; bewailing in his Captivity the Violation of his Faith. His Kingdom was given to Adajfauijfa, a Prihce who had been true to the Romah Intereft, wirh whom his Wife Sophonisbay who had been the Occafion of his Miftries, confented to marry. Modern HiftoriesHlikewife give us frequent Inflances of the Misfortunes of thofe Princes who have viola- ted their Faith in this Nature. For Philip VI. King of France, having folemnly fworn never to invade any Ter- ritory of the Empire," and being defirous to be in Pof- feffion of a Fort near Camhroj , which did very much dnnoy him, he fent his Son the Duke of Normandy with an Army to befiege it, whilft he himfelf only bore the part of an ordinary Soldier; thinking he had cfcapedthe force of his Oath by this Trick. But the juft Provi- dence of God was not deluded by fuch a Wile. Fof the Duke of Normandy was forced to raife the Siege; * i-:. ib. f, Lib. Hiit. Lib. 30. |) Froifl'. Hift. Lib. r. A a 2 and 55^ A Conference and a little while after the King had the terrible Over- throw given him by the t.nglijl} at Cre^j, A like Misfortune befcl Charles Duke of Burgundy * ; who having given his Faith to the Earl of St. Paul) Con- ftable of France, to proted him, he perfidioufly gave him up to the French King, by whom he was af- terwards beheaded. But this Prince taking not long af^ ter into his Service one Gampobach-, an Italian Count, he betrayed him to the Duke of Lorra'm at the Siege of Nancy \ who by means of his Treachery fetting upon him unawares, routed him, and kill'd him, and feiz'd upon his Principality. Many more Inftances might be alledg'd upon this Head, hut I refrain from fo ungrateful a Task : What has been alledg'd being fufficient to evince, that the Di- vine Difpleafure does not fail of difcovering it felf in the Punilliment of thofe Princes who have not had a fuf- iicietit regard to thofe folemn Engagements, which in their Treaties> and other publick Agreements, they have entred into. Demob, But what a Simpleton do you Chrijlian Poli- ticians make of a Prince, whom you would have ftand with his Hands behind him very tame and peaceable ; when by aiming again fl a neighbouring Nation , he might add a good large Province to his Dominions; But he muft ftay, forfoothj according to your Do6lors, till he have a lawful Caufe to go to War, and then he has loft the op- portunity. But the Florentine Politician much better ad- vifes his Friend Laurentie de Aiedices', " To fet upon the «♦ Conqueft of all Italy, which he might eafily bring *' about, if he follow'd the Examples of ^gathocles and *' Ccep.r Borgia : That tho' thefe were great and admira- *f' ble Perfbns, yet they were but Men ; and they had *' not a more favourable opportunity ofFer'd them than *' Lameniius has. And thofe great Aftions which they •' enterpriz'd, were not more juft; nor did God AL *' mighty, by giving them Succefs, fliew himfelf more J^ friendly to them. In this Enterprize there is thg ? Com. Lib. 4.. c, ix. «< Height W?& ^-MaCHI AVELr AK. " 557 * Height of Juflice. For thai War is jtiji ivhich is ftcedful: " Thoje Arms are fiom which are taken up for thepuhlick^ Wed " ; that is in plain EngiiJJ}, the Prince's Glory or Con- venience. Endem. But I fhall maintain , (for all you have faid The Scrip- on this Head,) that a Prince is to take Care that the ^^^^^tl'^t Wars he wages with his Neighbours be grounded there ought upon juft Caufes, and fhall flick to the Scripture Doc<- to 6e a jufi trine therein, which enjoins all Chriftians, to have Peace ^^"f^ a Step-mothery and rather choofe to be in none^ than in the tnoji dcfrahle De^ee of Honour, But nothing « fhorter //- 'ved than an inconjiderate Happinefs, he fcornedthe highefi Condition for a fad and cdamtous one. But to come to Princes of a larger Size, even thofe who have been efteem'd Conquerors of the whole World , or however poffefTed a very large Share of it. Cyrut the Great had the good Fortune to fubdue the whole '^JJjrian Empire which had lafted fo long, and had ftretched it felf out to fo vaft an Extent ; but was at lad beaten by a Woman, viz.. Tomyris Queen of the Scythi- ans) and not only beheaded by her Order, but was in- fulted by that fierce Princefs after his Death ; his Head being put into a Pitcher of Blood, to be drenched enough with that, which he had fo long thirfted after. The next Conqueror was the famous Alexander King of Macedon ; he having a mighty run of Succefs, firft in the overthrow of Darius*s Army , and by that get- ting Pofleflion of Perjia and Media , and afterwards in conquering India and Scythia, grew fo foolifhly conceited upon thefe mighty Advantages of Fortune, that he would be worfhiped as a God, tho' at the fame time he fell into fuch fhameful Degrees of Intemperance and Out- rage, as made him feem beneath a Man. This made him Iiated by his befl Friends, who poifon'd him at Bahyloni when he was not much more than thirty Years of Age» And the Empire which he had obtained, was divided among his great Officers, uintipater, Seleucus, and Ptolemy^ There is one more of this viflorious Size, and that is, Julius C^far. And truly he, in other Refpeds, had too many gcod Qualities to be reckoned among thefe bully Princes. He was a noble Orator, and a brave Statefm-an and Soldier i and, but that his Ambition was fo great as to engage his Country in a Civil War , and to en- flave their Liberties ; he defcrves to be reckoned as one of the greateft Perfonages which ever the World bred. H? entirely con<^uer'd all JFrancey and brought it into ■ the with aVi AcnikvntiAi^l 365 tlie Form of a Province : He made a confiderable Pro- grefs in the Redudion of Germtwj and Britain; and after this , becaufe he was deny 'd fuing for the Conftilfliip in his Abfence, waged War upon his own Countiy, which af^ ter the beating oi Pompcy^ and his Adherents, he became Emperor of. But, as Patercnlus obferves. Non obtigit illi fins qftam qmnqne menjium principalis qaies. He had the Enjoyment of this Empire, which he bad fought with fo much Eameftncfs , and obtained with fo much Hazard and Bloodfhed, no more than five Months* For he was then ftabbed in the Senate by Brutus and Cajjiusy and fome other Confpirators ; who having been bred up under a Repubhck, would not brook their Li- berties jfhould be invaded, and that one of their own Order ftiould exercife a kingly Power over them. Thefe are the great Conquerors which make fuch a found in ancient Hiftory, and which have fired later Princes by an Emulation of their Examples, to purfue the like Steps in extendinj* their Dominions. But if thefe great Perfons woula confider likewife the unfor- tunate Ends, which all of thefe made, they would not be fo over-fond in taking Copy from them. For it is not owing to Chance that they went out of the World in fo Tragical a manner ,- but it was a neceffary Refult of the bold and hazardous Undertakings they went upon. For nothing enrages Men more than the opprefling their Liberties , and the enflaving their Country : And the more Countries a Prince fubdues, the more Enemies he has; which are all at work to deftroy the Perfon which has done them that infupportable Injury. So that it is no wonder that in the largefl Conquefts, in which more Enemies are enraged, and there are fewer Friends about him to truft, among fuch a Number of treafonable Confpi- rators being a-foot at the fame time, fomc of them muft- in all Probability fucceed. Then is it worth while for a Prince to involve hfm- felf in neceffary Ruin, if he was fure to get the Empire pf the whole World for a Year or two? And yet, as mat- ters ilaud in the prefenr Age, it is not like that any one Prince 966 u^ GoNFEREl4CE Prince fliould ever be able to attain the Dominioh of one twentieth Part of it. For in former times, Coun- tries lay more open, one decillve Battle oftentimes de- termining the Fate of a whole Nation. And when there was any .great Empire in being, if the Emperor's main Army was .once deftroyed j all that mighty Government muft of courfe overturn upon it. So that the Chance o£ fuch a vafl: Government, might be a pretty reafonable fpur to an ambitious Prince, to venture a confiderable Stake to attain it. But at this time of Day, every Foot of Land is to be got by Inches and hard Blows; every conquered Country being bought dearer than it is worth. And one might give an Inftance of a modern Prince* and make it to Demon ftration appear, that he has wafted the Lives of more Men in conquering a few little Coun* tries, than were deftroyed heretofore by Cyrus, Alexa- der, and Cc/Sr, in conquering the whole World, three times over. Now it is matter of great wonder, that any Perfon, that knows the Difficulties and the Ha- zards of conquering but one neighbouring Country j unlefs the Affedions of the People be in a Difpofition to a Revolution, fhould ever attempt it ; much lefs rtiould he forming any Schemes for an Univerfal Monarchy. the chiefeft Miftake which leads Princes ihto this Itch of conquering is, the falfe Notion of Glory got into the World, which inclines them to think, that tnis confifts only in winning Battles^ taking Towns, and laying large Trads of Land under Contribution. Whereas there is more true Glory in making a good L^w, or in doing a beneficent Adion, than in deftroying an Enemies Army of twenty thoufand Men. Becaufe the firft are Bene- fits to the Common-weakh, without being prejudicial to any one elfe; and by doing thefe, Princes do in forae meafure imitate the di ine Goodnefs, which is Iriendly to all Mankind, and injurious to none. Up-.n this con- Cderation I think Pofterity is mo'-e obliged to any one of our old Kings or Queens, who have L.Jlt us bur an Hofpital or a Bridge, than to the great ' ':/» Ile.'ry xha Fifth, for his famous yiis* Scripture Fudem. But in dired Oppofition to yoiir Italian Docirme, Mafter, our holy Religion teaches us a better Leffon j ihatvrm- thg ^y^ole Tenour whereof, as it is difplayed to us CCS ought -i^T-T-n • ^■ ^^^ l-t to be nier- *" th^ NewTeHamenr, is directly contrary to this bar* £:M in barous spirit of Cruelty, which this ungodly Politician thetr Con- ^qq^ recommend. We are impowered to ask Forgive- '^"^■' ^' nefs of our Offences againft Almighty God, upon no other Conditions, than as we, thofe that trefpajl ^againji usy Mai. vi. 12. forgive, md je pall be for* 'given, Luk. vi. 57. We learn from thence, that mni hut the merciful Jhdl obtain Aiercy, Mai. v. 7. that he fljall have Judgment 7vithoHt A^ercj^ that hath fjewed na Mercy, [am. ii. 13. We are commanded to love our Fne* mies, Mai. v. 44. and are told, if we ihut up our Bow- els of Compaf/ion to our Brother, the Love of God dwel- leth not in us, i Job. iii. 17. And there are feveral Paf- lages in the Old Teftamcnr, which do recommend to us, if not an equal, yet a proportionate Degree of Tender- nefs. Indeed it muft be acknowkdged> that as for the feven ^ith aM A cm AY EhiAis. 569 Teven Nations of Canaan, whom for their Idolatry and incorrigible Wickednefs, God Almighty by a fpecial Order gave Commandment ; that the Ifralites JJjouldfmite them till they had Htterlj dejlroyed them, afid thM they Jbould wake no Covenant with them, nor jlmv Mercy unto themy Deut. vii- z. But then it muft be confidcred that this was a particular Injunftion of God Almighty, who has a foveraign Right over his Creatures, and may difpofe of them at his good^Will and Pleafure; and the ill Confe- quences of their fparing them is particularly given, 'for Fear of their making Marriages with them : Thy Dan^h-^ , ter thofi JJmU not give unto his Son, nbr his Daughter pult thoft take unto thy Son: For they will turn aivay thy Son from folloJiJing me, that they may ferve other Gods, Deut. vii. 5,4. But as for other Nations and Cities, God Almighty coitimxands his People the Jews, that they ftiould ihew a very confiderable Degree of Mercy and Compaflion. When thou comefl nigh to a City to fight againji it, then proclaim Peace unto it : And it fjall be if it make the anfiver of Peace, and open unto thee then it fjjull he, that all the People that is found therein fl^ll be Tributariei unto thee, and they flxill ferve thee* And if it will make na Peace with thee, but willmake War againji thee, then thoufjalt ifejtege it. Sec. And when it is taken, he gives them Liberty indeed to deftroy all the Men, but commands them to fjpare the Women, the little Ones, and the Cattle, Sec. Deuti XX. 10, 1 1, &c. We find a remarkable Inftance of the Com- panions of the Vidorious to the Conquered, in the Ifi raelites to the Tribe of Benjamin, vv'hom they had Wai: with; that when by the Fate of War, almoft all the Wo- men were deftroyed, they provided them Wives of the Women of Jabefty C/Zf^i^, Judg. xxi. 14. fo the dcfigned Severity to the Captives of the Tribe of Judah^ which were taken by the Ifraelites, is reprefenttd by Obed the Prophet, 2 Chron. xxviii. 8. As again thofe Perfons are commended who rofe up and tookjhc Captives, and with the Spoil clothed all that were naked among the?n, and arrayed them, and JJjod them, and gave them to eat and to drinkj^ anointed them, and carried all the Feeble of them upon AJfcs, VOL. ir. B b md -iyo A Conference m^ brought them ?o Jericho to their Brethr^j, v. i^^* Which DiretStions, it they be not more confonant to the beft Reafon of Mankind, as well as the Peace and Wel- fare oF it , than thofe advanced by our Florentine Secre- tary, and others of his Followers; let it be judged from the enfuing Confiderations. Such Cm- 11. For fetting afide, that this Method, which thefe tlty tmne- Infidel Politicians prefcribe , does partake fo much of ''#"7- brutifh Cruelty, and would render a Prince fo much a Salvage or a wild Beaft , that it would be a very diffi- cult IS'latter to perfuade a Perfon of a generous Educa- 'tion to fuch a bowellefs Inhumanity, as in cold Bloody to butcher all the People of a Province, to make way for new Inhabitants from his own Country : I fay, tho* it be a hard Matter to bring a Prince to fuch a Barba- rity, there is no manner of Occafion for the Exercife of this Crudty. For the conquered People may be at fiilft kept under by the Arms of the Vidor, and afterwards they will come of Courfe to be reconciled to their new iirince, and his Government. For human Paffions, tho° never fo violent, are laid afleep in time, and Men enter into a Friendlliip and Familiarity with them, to whom they bore formerly the greateft Hatred. The Perfua- lion of Friends, the Company they converfe with, the Bounty of the Conqueror, and the apparent Intereft "which they find in complying with the new Eftablifh- ment, do tie People's Affcdions oftentimes fo clofe to a Prince afi:er his Conqueft of a Country, that there is .very little need of any confiderable Force to keep them under, much lefs is it neceffary to extirpate them. And we do not find, that the Romamy who underftood the Nature of waging War better than any Nation , ever found themiel ves under a Neceility of taking fuch cruel Me-p thods, as are before fuggefted, for a Security of their Conquefts. They generally cither thought it fufficient to maintain the conquered Country by ftrong Garrifonsj or by fending Colonies of their own People to incor- porate with the fubdued Inhabitants* As they did to with a Machiavelian. 571 ArdeA^^y Fr'tgelU\y FelitraW, PnteoUiy and other Pkces. Indeed as to Luceria |, it was debated in the Senate whe- ther or no the City fhould not be deftroyed, upon Con- fideration, that thefe Citizens had been perfidious in their Revolting, after their having given their Faith folemnly to the Romans, upon their firit Redudion ; and that it was too far to fend the Roman Citizens among a faithlefs People : But however that Opinion was over-ruled, and a Colony of two thoufand five hundred Perfons were fent thither. Carthage alone was the great Inftance of their Severity, which tho' the Senate, for Realons of State, ordered to be deftroyedy yet they fliewed much more Mercy to this unfortunate City, than thefe Rules, of Adach'uivelian Policy do allow. They dcftroy'd only the Houfes of the City, but fpared all the Inhabitants, which would furrender themfelves; which were in Num- ber, as Appian writes, fifty Thoufand. III. Befides, if vidorious Princes or States, fhould ^^'^ *^^^-' barbaroufly deflroy the People whom they had fubdued, '^/■^'^^'^^ their Empires would be rather weakened than ftrength- f^:nt. ned by their Conquefts. For the Strength of a King- dom does not confift in Extent of Dominions, and in fpreading over vaft Trads of Ground, but in the Number bf Subjeds. And a Million of Subjeds, clofely united together by Vicinity of Habitation, are a much greater t'orce, than double the Number when ifcattered abroad throughout wide Territories. So that for a Prince to deftroy the old Inhabitants of a conquered Province, and to fend a new Drain out of his own Subjeds at home, is only to place his People out of Call, and to put them in an Incapacity of being ready to ferve him, when he has the mod: urgent Occafion fortheir AHiftance. This v/as the Occalion of the great Decay of the SpamJJj Mo- narchy, which 200 Years ago looked formidable upon alt Europe ; but by their mighty Colonies fent into Pcrrt and Mexico J and other Places of America, they fo difunited ' * Liv. Hift. Lib. 4. t Ici. Lib. 8. • Hid. Lib. 9. 4 Id. Lib. ?|. 4- Liv. Ilift. Lib. 9, B h % the 37^ A Conference the Force of their Kingdom, that for many Years lafB paft, they have been forced to ftand in need of their Neighbours, to preferve their Dominions from being a Prey to any Invader. There is no vv^ay for the Power of . any Nation to increafe, but only by the Numbers of their People, either thro' their natural Fruitfulnefs, or by in- corporating of other People with their own. This af- fords Wealth and Strength to a Government, by fup- plying it, upon all Occafions, with Men and Money ; whereas large Fields, with a few Inhabitants, afford no Aififtance, and ferve only to invite the Infults of a popu- lous and more poweiful Enemy. Therefore if there be any Advantage to be made by Conqueft, it muft be by winning the llibdued People over into the Intereft of the Vidor, and to embody them among his own Subje(5ts, and not by deftroying them ; that by this Means he may reign over more Men, and not enjoy only an airy Jurif- dis^Hon over Meadows and Forefts. j^je Con- IV. It is to be confidered further, that a kind and ci-uerd mny merciful Ufage of a ccnquer'd Enemy, gains oftentimes '" ^i"to ^° much upon that People, that they not only lay afide love the their Animofities and Refenrments againft the Vidor, but Conc^ueror. fometimes come to love him with an Affedion equal ta that of their natural Prince. This was remarkably evi- dent in the Example o^ Alexander the Great, who by his Indulgence to the conquered Perjiam, became fo dear to them, that at his Death they fhew'd all the Signs of the deepeft Sorrow, cutting off their Hair, and putting on their mourning Garments: Non m FiBorem (lays * C«r- tins') Cr modo hoflem, fed m Gentis futc juflifjimum Re^em^ vero dejiderio lugebant. They did not heivail him as a Con- (jHCror, and as one lately iw Enemy ^ but as their vwn lawful Kin(r^-, and with an unfeigned Swrcnv, V. But if he, and other great Princes and States, had taken A^achiavel's Method of deftroying the conquered Inhabitants, they muft have left no Body at home inr thcu- own Countr)' ; and in the Places whither they ha^ Gontrflry 'Examples 0: rrinces. * CL Curt. m\. Lib. 10.' 6^1 W^Z? ^MaCHI ^VELI AN. 573 jfent them, tlie Inhabitants would have been fo thin, that Mountains and Rivers would have been as frequent as Men and Women in fuch a new Settlement. For what would the People o( Macedonia have fignified to have been fpread over all the Perjtan Empire ? What would the Inhabitants of the City of Rome have contributed to fend Colonies to have ftock'd all the Parts of that mighty- Empire which they attained ? l( they had deftroyed the old Inhabitants, to make way for new Occupiers, thefe muft have been fo widely difperfcd from one another, t'hat the greateft Part of the World muft have become wild for want of Correfpondence. But thefe wife Nations knew better what Ufe to make of their Conquefts, than our atheiftical Politician could have direcfled them. For they took the Methods of Mercy and Clemency to re- concile the Affeftions of the old Inhabitants to them, and not by cutting their Throats, to turn their Country intq a Wilder nefs. It was better Advice, and mix'd with a great Degree of Wifdom and Tendernefs, that which was given by poor King Croc/us, when he was taken Cap- tive by Cjms. When he faw the Perjlam advancing to fack his principal City, and Cyrus feemed to infult him / upon it. You do not (fays he) deftroy my City, but yours, and all the Wealth, and the People which your Soldiers deftroy, is the Lofs of you who are the Victor, and not of me who was the laft Poifeflbr of it ^. And with the fame Argument Belifarim endeavoured to per- fuade Totila the Goth from facking of Romef. The Ro' mans were fo far from deftrpying their captive Enemies, that when the || Carthaginian Embafladors came to Rome for the Redemption of their Prifoners, and offered a large Sum of Money for their Ranfom ; they fcnt them home 2740 Prifoners, without doing any Harm to them, or without a Farthing of Charge. They were fo far from making away with t Sjphax, a conquered King of 7V»w/- - di>t, who, tho* for Reafons of State, they were obliged to * Herod. Lib. r. f Procop. Lib. 3. U Val. Max. Lib. ^o. Cap. i. i Id. ib. B b 3 keep; 374- A Conference keep an honourable Prifoner, yet when he died, thej^- made a noble Funeral for him at the publick Charge. A<5ls of Eiaveiy of this kind, are fo frequent in all the older Hiftory of Rome^ that I could fill up my Treatife with them. It fliall fuffice me to produce only one more, in the Declenfion of that Empire. And that is of the Emperor Aurdian^ as 'tis related by Vopifcm. When ^urelknczmQ to enter into the City o^ Thy ana, but find- ing it ?i\vs againO: him, to his great Difappointment, he faid in his Anger, / ivill'not leave a Dog in this Toivn, Upon this, by the Vigour of the Soldiers, who were fpurred on by this Refolution of the Emperor, with Hopes of a Reward, and by the Treachery of one Hem- cUwmov^ who out of Fear of being put to Death, be- tray'd his Country, the City was taken. " But the «' .Emperor at the fame time 2;ave too remarkable Inftan- ** ces, one of Juftice, the other Lenity. For he com- ^ manded Herackmmon to be put to Death as a Betrayer " of his Country. But when the Soldiers asked leave "^ of him, that according to his Promife, they might " have Liberty to plunder and deftroy the Town : / '' onlj faid (fays he) that I ^vould not leave a Dog in the " Town-i therefore^ Gentlemen^ if you pleafi, I give you li- " berty to kill all the Dogs therein." For this noble A6t of Clemency, 'tis owing to the Memory of this Prince, to tranfcribc out of the fame Hiftorian, the Letter which he jfVrote upon this Occafion of the taking oi Thy ana, Anrelim the Emperor, to A That a ^}^Q profefs the Faith of Chrift, are commanded to love ouQht to ^^^ . Be kindly affcBioned one to. another, with brotherly Love in Honour preferring one another,. Rev. X. And that great Perfons fhould not mind high Tloings, but to condefcend to Men of law Efiate, v., 1 6. The holy Scripture likewife lays it down, that Rnlers are not aTerrortogoodJVorkl, but to the evil, 'Kom.xni. ^* That Humility is the ready Way to Honour, Prov. xv. 2 5 . They alfo recommend the Examples of Princes, who have ufed kind and courteous Behaviour to their Subjefts : As of Hoinor, and Sichem his Son, who came to the Gate of their City, and communed with the Men of their City, Gen. xxxiv. ' 20. And of David, for his ready AdmiCTion of the Woman of Tekoah, whom Joab fent to perfuade the King for the recalling Ahfilom, z Sam. xiv. And we have in. the fame Books a lamentable Inflance of the ill Confe- quences of the Roughnefs, andfowr Behaviour of a Prince to his Subjeds, in that of Rehoboam, who, when the People fued to him for the Relaxion of fome of their Grievances, which had grov/n up in his Father's Time ;. made anfwer. That his little Finger floould be as heavy as his Father s Corps ; that if his Father chafliz^ed them 7J/ithWhipS3_ he would do it with Scorpions, i Kings xii. 10. Burthen fee the fad Event of this : ^ndwhen all Kirad/aw that the King hearkened not unto them, the People anfweredthe King, faying. What Portion have we in David ? To your Tents, O Ifrael ! v. 16. Hence proceeded the Rent of the ten Tribes from the Crown of Judah. Now that the Scrip- , ture is niore.reafonable than thefe wild Dcdrines of the Irreligious, will appear from hence. 11. Be-. WV/? rt MaCHIA VELIAN. 377 II. Becaufe a Prince receives the greateft Satisfadion Sathfacii. from an humble, and kind, and courteous Behaviour to "» /" « his Subjefts, and in winning their Aflfedions by doing Y^Tekved them all the good he can. For there is nothing which hy his affords fuch a Pleafure to the Mind, as the very aft ofsui>Jec}^. doing good, and the after Reflexion upon it. And upon this Account, Princes who are placed in a Capacity of befriending Mankindin fb high a manner, by the -^reat Power which is lodged in their Hands , mufl excite in them fuch pleafurable Ideas, that none can have any No- tion thereof, but thofe and good Perfons whom Provi- dence has vefted with thofe Abilities, And there is likewife fuch an agreeable Relilh excited in the Mind from Ads of Humility and Condefcenfion in great Per- fons, as adds a greater Degree of Happinefs to their high Fortune, than all that their Riches and Honour can pof- libly afford them. There are fuch delicious Senfations arifing from the Eulogmms and Applaafes of their Infe-? riors, for doing kind and grateful Offices to them; that all the other outward Pomp and Magnificence which Occafions only dread and awful Admiration, is, but fiat and infignificant in Refped of it , and is the caufe of fo much Envy and Ill-will, as makes all they- Glory to be but a torment to them ,■ and inftead of Pleafure and Satisfadion, fills their Souls only with a Number of un- eafy and difcontented Paffions. What agieeable Thoughts muft the Minds of thofe Perfons be blcffed with, to think at what an eafy Expence they have purchafed the good Opinions of fuch a Multitude of Perfons, that have their Lives and Fortunes ready at tiieir Devotion, oftentimes for little more tlian a few kind Words or gracious Adions. A remarkable In fiance we have of this in Hiflory, in the Example of 6'frw4»/c^; the. Hcjr- Apparent to the Empire o^Rome'y who, tho' he endeavoured by all Means to avoid Popularity, that he might not give Offence to that jea- lous Emperor Tibcrmsi yet the Bravery of his Virtue, and natural Goodnefs and Humility, rendered him fo dear to all the Soldiers and Ro'/mn People j that once walk- 57S A Conference walked in a Difguife through the Rounds of the Camps to difcover feme diforders of the Soldiers, or Negleds of the Officers. He found where-ever he came fuch loud Peals rung in his Commendation; that , as the Hiflorian (^t^k^jfrHcbamrfamafuh he did enjoy the Fame of himfelf. princes I] I. Nor is it only the greateft Satisfaction to Princes Security, j-q j^^yg ^\^q Lqvc of their Subjeds, but the greateft Se- ^of hh^^ rurity likewife. Numerous Armies, and well-ftor'd subjecis. Magazines, are but a poor Defence of a Monarch who has loft the Hearts of his Subjeds. For Pikes and Muf- quets will not Fight of their own felves, and a difobli- ged Soldiery wants only the Opportunity of going over to the adverfe Side, and betraying their General into the Enemy's Hands. Nay, the faithfulleft Araiy will not long pio'Left a Prince, that is univerfally hated by his Subjeds. For Armies, tho' they be great and formi- dable, yet they are not Immortal; and it muft be owing to the Love of the People, that they are-fupplied with any Recruits, or otherways they muft die away and dwindle to nothing. And the ftrongeft Citadels^ tho' they may for fome time frighten the poor Inha-! bitants of a Neighbourhood, yet after a while they muft be beholding to the fame for a little Vifluals and Drink", In ftiort, that Prince that is fo happy, as to have the Love of his Subjeds, has every Thing at his command which may contribute to his Security or his Honour. Their Purfes are open, whenever his Neceflities call for Supplies; their Perfons are ready whenever Men are wanting for his Service ; and he cannot ftand in need of any Thing, which it is in their Power to fur- nifti him with. But where this is wanting, the greateft Funds become ufelefs, and for the moft Part are made a Prey to the Enemy ; or however both Men and Money muft in time be exhaufted, and can never be made good, but by the good Will of the Subjed, which is the only perpetual Bank to fupport a Government. Now what Prince would not be at the Expence of a few gen- tle Words and good humour'd Looks, to gain the Hearts of their Subjcds, whofe Aifedions are very often pur- chafed rjuith « M A C H I A V E'L I A N. ^j) tliafed at no dearer Rate. All Men have naturally fuch a value for worldly Greatnefs, that they are' ready to Sacrifice their Blood for being kindly fpoke to, or any ■other way taken Notice of by their Soveraign; nay, their very Families, for feveral fucceffive Generations, are wont to value themfelves for fome ancient Marks of Princely Favour beftowed upon their Predeceflbrs; and think they are more particularly obliged to be Loyal to the Royal Line, by which their Family has formerly been honoured. IV. But the Life of a Prince according to the Ma^ Friuces, phiaveliofj Inflitution, that does place all his Security in '''^-"' #^* Guards and Citadels, and in the horror and dread which ^fl^Jj^^g his Subjeds had of him, muft be the moft difmal and rnifernbk, difconfolate Thing in Nature. He can have no Peace, no Satisfadion in his Mind ; but muft be tortur'd with a continual Series of Fearsand Sufpicions. For Fear does na- turally beget Fear; and thofe that endeavour to render them- felves dreadful toothers, are afraid of them again. For whom Men fear, they confequently hate ; and therefore the Prince, that is fo Unfortunate by his ill Government as to incur this, he muft be fearful of all the infiduous Practices which ill-affeded Men are able to bring about. Cicero in his Offices fpeaks widi a Roman Spirit upon this Head. *' They that would be- feared, are firft *' afraid of thofe whom tliey arc willing to frighten. " Wliat fliall we think of old Diomjius the Tyrant? *' What racking Fears was he tormented with, who *' was afraid to fuffer the Barbers Razor to come under ' " his Throat, and tlierefore fingcd off his Beard with *' hot Embers? What lliall we think ofyilexander Phe- *' r b|ut the jufteft Reafon likewife does bear Witnefs to it. ^'ijyof , II. For 'tis but reafonable, that thofe who' are pof- 90 Jefeml ^^^'^ o^ ^^^"^ greateft Power, ihould make ufe of it for from op- refcuing the weak and harmlefs from the Injuries of po* }>-e£w>i. tent Oppreffors^ For where-ever God Almighty has lodged an extraordinary Degree of Power, he does not defign that the Perfon, he has conferred it upon, fhould make ufe of it only for his own particular Advantage,^ For then all Men would have been vefted with an equal Degree of Power : But when it has pleafed the all-wife' Goodnefs to afford a greater Share thereof to one than to another, it is a manifeft Indication, that God defigns that every Pai t thereof, which is more than is fiifficient for fuch Perfons own Security, he lliould be ready to lay it our, for procuring the Safety of others, who lland in Need of it* Bciides, it is the chief End and Defigri of the princely Dignity, to defend innocent Perfons from the Aflauks of injurious Aggrefiors.* For People do with Readinefs pay them that extraordinary Honour^ and part v/irh a competent Portion of their Income in Taxes, chiefly in Confideration, that they expe(5l Pro- tedion frorn them. So that when Princes do deny iheni this', in Cafe they ftand in need of it, they betray the. the high Truft which is repofited in their Hands, and do unjuftly receive fuch Tributes from them, without doing, oii their part, what, by a tacit Compad:, they bave covenanted to do. From hence it is plain ,• that every Prince ought to provide his Subjeds with juft '"-Jtnth «MAGHIAVEtIA.N. 58} 6nd equal Judges , to determine the Differences whii;:h xmy arife among his People j and to Redrefs the Inju- ries of thofe, that fuffer by any powerful or outragious Hand. And he is further to take Care, that no Cor- ruption do mix it felf with their Determinations, and that wealthy Perfons by their Riches , do not gain the Favour of the Judge on their lide, to the Prejudice oi" poorer Litigants. Upon this account Jeihro, the Fa- ther-in-Law of Mo/es perfuades him; that he iliould choofe Magiftrates, That were Men fearing God, loving Trmh, and hating Covetoujhefs, Exod. xviii. And other good Princes have not failed to follow this Copy. The famous Ouintius Cincinatus, and Cato Cenjorius, gained that great Efteem, they lived and died with among the Roman People, by freeing innocent Perfons, by the Ju- iHce of their Determinations from the Fraud and Inju- ties of opulent and powerful Men. uiugujins C the good Emperor flood ftill, and not at all provoked with fuch a Freedom of Speech, heard patiently what fhe had to fay. Nayj our own Princes have formerly fat in Perfon in their Courts at Wefiminjler. liThus Henry III* hi together with his Jufticaries in Trial upon Peter ds Rivallis-, and palled Sentence upon him. And at another time he joined himfelf with the Barons of the Exche* quer^ and made fevere Orders againft all Sheriffs and Bai- liffs of Towns incorporate, who did not Yeaily appear St the ExchcfAer , to pay fuch Money of the Kings as was come to tb.eir Hands. So King Edward the Fourth ufcd to fir in Perfon certain Days together in his Court of Kings-Benchy to fee how his Laws proceeded with Ju- fl-ice, making fcN'eral fevere Decrees againft exceffive Pride in Apparel. * Suet, ill Aug. , f Dion, in Adr. \ Atat. Paf.' in. But 'with « M A C H I A V E L I A N. 585 III. But for a Prince to turn this high Power, v/hich U.iju/latid .God has inverted him with, as Machiavel advifes,^ to the f^jj'J^f^ Oppreffion or Deftrudion of his Subjefts, is the mofl er.vyhis horrible Degree of Injuftice. For with what Confci- subje£fs ence can he , that is intrufted to be the Father of his ^'t^' Country, and to proted and cherifli all his Subjeds as if they were his own Children, take away any of their Lives by Affaffinations ; or by raifing any falfe Ac- cufations againft them, deftroy them under the Pretext of thofe Laws which ought to defend them? Befides, this is a Pitifulncfs and a Cov/ardife which is beneath the Bravery of the princely Dignity. For every Prince, that unjuftly takes away the Life of any one of his Subjeds, does manifeftly betray his Fear of him, and that he does not think himfelf fecure without his Deflrudion. But this is fo weak and ungenerous a Part, that no great Mind ought, or can fubmit to it. For why fhoulda ^ Perfon, who has the whole Power of a Kingdom at his .command , be frighten'd at a fingle Man, who perhaps has no Will, or to be fure no Power to hurt him ? The Cafe is different of Traitors, who may be numerous, and for that Reafon formidable; and befides they have forfeited their Lives to the Laws, and therefore the Prince ftands obliged to fee them duly fulfilled. But for any other Perfon who has offended his Prince, only for wane of fome Refped, or fome Negled or Mifcarriage in a Trufi"i a frown from fuch Auguft Perfonages is as much as their Honour will allow : To go further is to make Majefty too cheap; but to enter into Confederacy with Ruffians and Informers to take away an innocent Life, debafes a Prince who makes ufe of fuch wicked JVleans fo low , and in a manner to fet him upon a Level with thofe vile Wretches, whofe A{rifl:ance he makes Ufe of ibr the Accomplifhment of his Defigns. IV. As for the fpecious Pretences, which our Politi- The Vre^ cian advifes his Prince when he defigns fuch Ads oV°"" f°^ . Wickednefs to make ufe of, they feldom are able to ftand ]hrou"h, him in any Stead. They ferve to make the Crime look more black, by adding Diflimularion to a guilt which V O L. 11. C € w*si 386 A Conference was great enough before. Befides for the moft partj Men , in carrying on fuch hellilh Defigns, are fo infa- tuated that the Pretences they take up :, to cover over fuch a Guilt, are as foolifli as their Aftions are abomi- nable. A remarkable Inflance of this we havf in Nero Ctfar"^, when he plotted that villainous Murder of his Mother ylgripf'ma. The Pretence, which he and his Accomplices took up, was this : When ^grip^ina had fent a Meflenger to the Emperor, a Dagger was flipped between his Feet, as if it had dropped from under his Clothes ^ and he had a Defign therewith, by ylgrippinas Order to have murdered Nero, Upon this a Ruffian is fent to affaffinate the unfortunate Lady, as if he was necefficated to do it in his own De- fence. And yet this Excufe, as foolifh as it is, was the be ft that could be contrived by Nero and his Coun- fcl. And Seneca, who wrote a Letter to the Senate, in the Emperor's Name, to excufe the Murder, could think out no better an Argument than this ridiculous Story. For which, Tacitus fiys, that every Body jeer'd at that dialler of the Imperial Eloquence, who, inftead of an Apology, had made a Confeffion for his Scholar. Such a fooliili excufe Tiberius made, to take away the Life of Crer/iutius Cordus ; only, becaufe, in a Hiftory of the Reman Afeirs, he had called CaJJiusf, Romanorum uU 'tmum , the. hji Mm of a Roman Spirit, Such a pitiful Sort of a Defence was made by the Emperor Caracalk, when he had killed Iiis Brother (7^/v?, who was a fine Gentleman, and a Scholar, and recommended himfelf to the good Opinion of all Men, by the good Qualities he -ftood poflefTed of, v\diilft WCaracalla was univerfally ha- ted for his Cruelty : He being nothing but a Butcher in the Purple, fpendingall the Time of his Empire, in mur- dering his Subjecls, As foon as he came to the Empire, being jealous that his Brother's Vertues would recommend ■'' Tac. An. Lib. 14. f Tac. An. Lib. 4. I .Elius Sf a:t. in Vita. Anf. Carac, hii^ ISDlth.a M A C H I A V E t I A N.^ 387 liim to the Army, he ordered him to be murdered. And all the Excufe he was able to make for this Wickcdnefs, was, that his Brother defigncd to murder Jiim. And when fome of his Creatures would have had him made a better Excufe for himfclf, by an Oration in the Senate ; he is reported to have made anfwer, 'Tna-'zeajier Aiatter to murder a Brother, than to defend it. V. Neither can a Prince reafonably cxpefi: any Hap- --'^'^ pinefs or Security , after he has been guilty of fuch a ^'''"^'"^ bloody Ad, however he endeavours to recommend him- 'a-jdmifor'. felf to the common PeopI?, or the Relations of the mur- tnnnte. thered, by Ad:s of Beneficence. For the Generalir]'- of Men have fuch an Abhorrence of Blood-guiltinefs, that they can never reconcile their Affedions to any Perfon, who has ftained himfelf that way, altho* he be orhcr- Ways of the greatefl Dignity. And thofe unhappy Prin- cesj who have been tempted to take av/ay the Lives of their Rivals or Adverfaries wrongfully, in Order to fecure their Government, have found them felves moil: miferably miftaken intiieMeafures they have taken ; and have gene- rally loft their Crowns or their Lives by fuch Actions, inftead of defending them : The Relations of the fuf- fering Parties feldom failing to revenge tlie Deaths of their Friends. This was very handfomely alluded to, by the unfortunate young Prince, we were juft now men- tioning , Gcta the younger Son of Sevcms the Emperor : who when his Father was giving Order to have all, that had been in Arms againft him to be dedroyed; his Son Geia asked the Qiieftion, Whether they had any Friends or Relations? Yes, a great many anfwered one. Why then, fiys he, 7ve [lull have more People fad pipon our ViC* tory than joyful. Which was as much, as with Security and good Manners, the wife and good young Prince could fay to a ftern Father ; intimating, than ic VvMs not only very cruel, but very dangerous, to difoblige fuch a Number of the Relations ana Dependants of the Per- fons he defigncd to make away with* And indeed this good Advice had taken EfFcft, but that Plamianns and y-iivertdis two v.'icked Courtiers interpofcd, who hoped Q c % to 388 !^^ Conference to enrich themfelves by the Eftates of the profcribec^* But, if you pleafe to make Remarks upon Hiftory, you ihall feldom find any of thofe Princes, who founded the'ir Governments upon Murder, but who have gone out of the World by the fame violent Ends. It would be in- finite to make a Colledion of all Inftances, which might be alleged upon this Head : It fliall fuffice to make an Gbfervation or two, upon the Death of the Princes we have before inftanced in. Tiberiusy who was one of the moft cruel and deceitful Princes that ever was in the World , who endeavoured to purchafe his Security by murdering Men by Poifons, AfTaffinations, or falfe Ac- cufations ', yet, for all his great Cunning in thefe Mat- ters, he came to be fo univerfally hated for his Cruelty, that he could not think himfelf fecure any where, but in a fad rocky Ifland called Caprea, which was not better than a Prifon ; to which there was but one way up into, and in which but one Man could go a Breaft. Here the wicked timerous Emperor lay lurking all the latter Years of his Life, continually fcar'd with Fears of Confpiracies , and torn with the Stings of his Confci- cnce; as appears by the beginning of one of his Let- ters to the Senate. TVhat Pould I write to you, my Lords-y or how jljould I write, or what fjould I not write ? If I can tell, may all the Gods and Goddejfes dejlroy me fajler than I find my felf every Day decaying already. And tho* he liv'd to an old Age in this miferable Solitude, yet he did not go fairly out of the World after all; for in his laft Fit of Sicknefs, becaufe he did not die, as 'twas expefted he would, he was flifled in his Bed- clothes by his Servant Macro. Nero for his Cruelty was drove out of his Government, and killed him- felf in a dark Hole in which he hid himfelf. And Caracalla, after the Murder of his Brother, and fo ma- ny of his Subjeds, was killed by Macrinm the Cap- tain of his Guards, and who fucceed him after in the Empire. PemoJfl "With ^Machiavelian. 389 Demob, There is another Thing which your People ire very faulty in, when they get about a crown'd Head; for then they din into it Objeds of Mercy, and ObjecT;s of Pity ', that is, they get Money into their Pockets by it, or a Reputation among the Vulgar, and withal ha- zard their Prince's Security, when Juftice ought to take place, and Offenders to fulfer. * " For it fcarce ever " happens, that Kindnefs and Indulgence, which a Prince *' may ufe towards his Subjects, when he is forced to ** make ufe of them upon account of a Rebellion, or any •' other Fear, is thankfully received by them. For the ** People never look upon fuch Adions to be Favours to '* them; they only account them to proceed from the " Neceflities of fuch a Prince's Circumftances. So that *' this only puts the People upon Projeds of bringing •'' their Soveraign into fuch Straights again. Wherefore '* a Prince ought never to fuffer himfelr to come into that *' Condition, fo as to be neceffitated to ufe his Subjeds '' with Kindnefs and Liberality ; for then it will be ever '* out of his Power afterwards to ufe them worfe. And ^' again, it may be for a Prince's Intereft to feem kind, " and merciful, and liberal. But he ought to train him- ** felf up to be flexible and various in his Difpofition ; *' fo that when Occafion requires, he may be able to ad " a contrary Part ; for his Aifairs will oftner requii-e of 5' him to be cruel, unmerciful, and tenacious. Endem. But we, God be thanked, are better inftruc^ Scripture ted, when the holy Scriptures readies us, ThiLtthe merciful ^^^rme^f only pall obtain Mercj^ Mat. v. 7. Thsit Mercy andTruth ^^^"-^^ ^^ prefirve the King^ Pro v. xx. 18. And that his Throne pall be ejlabliped by Mercy, Ifa. xvi. 5. That when the -wicked Man is worthy to be beaten, the Judge pall caufi him to lie down ; and forty Stripes may he give him, and not exceed^ Deut. XV. 2, 3. The wife Man reaches. That a merciful Man doeth good to his oivn Soul: But he that is cruel, trou^ blcth his own Flop, Prov. xi. 17. That the Light of the King^s Countenance is Life, and his Favour as a Cloud of th tie or no liking to it before. For Subjeds are like high- mettl'd Horfes, the more you curb them in, the more eager they are to run out. Befides, a merciful and good- natur'd Govcrnour takes fuch firm Poffeffion of the Hearts of his Subjeds, that they are afhamed to oifepd onewhq is unwilling to punifli ; and they cannot find in their Heart to do an Adion, which their Prince is forced to punjfh with fo much Reludancy. Add to this, that whenever a mild and merciful M.igiflrate does punifli, it carries the greater Weight and Authority with it, and the Sufferers are always more affeded therewith. For, |vhen Punilhments are frequently and haftily inflided,, with a Ma CHI AVE Ll AN. 593 they are look'd upon to proceed only from the Anger of the Magiftrate, or his Affedation of Power : Bur, ■when they are extorted from a calm and gentle Mind, Offenders are throughly convinced, that their Fault has really deferved a Penalty, which was adjudged by a Nature fo very averfe to all Severity. IV. There is fuch a vaft Power which is lodged in a p^i^ces ex^ Prince's Hands, over the Lives and Liberties of Sub- ecuth/g jeds, that if ever he fhould think fit to execute it to his Severity to full Extent, he would make a Solitude of his moft po- *^^"/f'J^ pulous Cities, and drive Men into Woods or Cslvcs, pL his or foreign Territories. If they fhould be profecuted Feople. upon every Omiflion of a Duty ; and if they fhould have the full Extent of the Letter of each Law which they have tranfgreffed, turned upon them, there would be no tolerable Living in the World. Therefore it is the Part of every wife and good Prince, to overlook fub- ordinate Magiflrates, that they be not over bufy in ex- tending the Laws beyond their Dcfign and Meaning, to the Detriment of their Subjeds; and if it fhall hap- pen that any well-defigning, or not any other irreclaim- able Perfon, fhould, by any Misfortune or Failure, in- cur the Lafh of a very fevere Law, he fhould extend the Plenitude of this his liigh Power, to exempt him from fuch Punifliment. V. All Princes, who have fpared their Subjed's Tauhn'J Lives or Eflates, which were forfeited by Law, or have ^'■'^fi'" freed them from any great Punifliment , do enjoy the menu of Satisfaftion of feeing fuch Perfons to be living Monu- the Vrinces ments of their Praife, and to fet forth the Commenda- clemency. tion of their Clemency to the whole Nation. For what can a Prince get by fending a Man out of the World .^ But when a Life is given back to one that had forfeited it , fuch a one lives ever after to the Glory of his Pre- ferver; every one tliat fees him, afcribing the Caufe of his Living , and of his being a Comfort to his Friends and Relations, to the Goodnefs of that merciful Prince that has refcued him from a Sentence, which would have deprived hiiji of all thefe Benefits. Nay, farther; of- • t^ntimes 394 ^ Conference tentlmes a Prince by forgiving a Subjed, has of an im- bitrered Enemy, procured himfelf a faft Friend. A re- markable Inftance whereof, we have in ^/^f^^^^ Ci Conference « from his Subjeds. For a Prince may afford to hi *' bountiful out of other Men's Fortunes, which are «' taken as Booty in War, as was the Cuftom of Cjrusj <' uilexander^ and Cifar-y but he ought to be very fpa- «« ring of his own Revenues. For nothing does more <« exhauft a Prince than great Largeffes to his Subjeds. '* Neither have I feen any thing done confiderable by « any Prince of our Age , but who has been Parfimo- *« nious ; for all the reft have funk to nothing. Pope *' JhUus^zs very Munificent, till he arriv'd to thePope- •< dom; but when he got that, he bid farewel to his •' Liberality, to enable him to carry on the War againft ** I^ms XII. King of France. And Ferdinand King " of Spain had never been fo Succefsful in his Enterpri^ *' zes if he had affeded the Glory of Liberality. '■Bounty Endem. But this ftingy Principle which you Atheifls yffbtchouY would endeavour to inftill into the nobleft Minds, is Religion ^Q j^^jTg ^ thing, that few Perfons.of that noble Extradion %endsto will be fond of embracing it. But our infpired Books primes, iay down much better Maxims on this Head. For in thofe Writings, Charity and Liberality, according to all Men's Abilities, are recommendfd as indifpenfable Du- ties for all Chriftians to performi. We are commanded to break^otir Bread nnto the Hungry ^ Ifa. Iviii. 7. And to give, if 'we expeB it JJ)ouldbe given unto hs, Luke vi. 38. And to dijlribfite to the NeceJJity of the Saint s, Rom. xii. 13. To do good, and to communicate forget not: And for an Encouragement to this we are told , That jimhfuch Sacrifices God is well pleafed, Heb. xiii. 16. That he that gives charitably but a Cup of CQldWater-tpall not lofi hs Reward, Matt. x. 42. And we learn from our Savi- our's Difcourfe, that charitable Chriftians are firft called into everlafting Glory ; Come , ye blejfed of my Father, enter into the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World: I was hnngred and ye gave me Meat, 1 7vas thirjly and ye gave me Drink^, Matt. xxv. 35. And be- sides, there are in Scripture Examples of Princes recom- mended, who have been remarkable for extraordinary ^ds of Charity and Munificence. As ofjobi who is reported "With « M A C H I A V E 1 1 A ISf. 597 Itported to have been Ejes to the Blind, and Feet to the Lame, and a. Father to the Poor ; that the BleJJing of him that was ready to periJJj came upon him ; and he caufed the Widow's Heart to Jing for Joj-i Job xxix. 13, ^c, S,o Dofvid gave the Spoil of the ^malekites to the Tribe of yudah , Behold a prefent for yon ( fays he ) ^ the Spoil of the Enemies of the Lord, i Sam. xxx. 16. The Boun- ty of the fame Prince was very remarkable to Mephi^ bofheth, to whom he reflored all the Land of Saul his Fa- ther, and offered him the Favour of eating Bread at his 74- ble continually , 2 Sam. ix. 7. So is the Example of ^0- lomon very confpicuous for his munificent Hofpitallty,' Whofe Provifion one Day was thirty Meafures of fine Flower^ and threefcore Meafures of Mealy ten fat Oxen, and twenty Oxen out of the Paflurcs, and an hundred Sheep, befides Harti and Roe-bucks J and Falhv-deer, and fatted Fowl, i Kings IV. 22, 23. And the Officers provided ViUual for King So- lomon, and for all that came to King Solomon'^ Table, every J\4an in his Month, they lacked nothing, i Kings iv. 27. Re- markable like wife was the Munificence oi Artaxerxus, who gave Commiflionto xSxtJews upon their Refloration, To carry the Sdver and Gold which the King and his Counfiellors have freely offered unto the Godofl(x3£\, whofe Habitation h /« Jerufalem, Ezra vii. 1 5. And how famous Princes were in thofe Times, for Ads of Munificence, may be learnt from the Stoiy of Araunah the Jebufite, who fo freely gave his Threfliing-floor, and all that belonged to it, ta King David: For it is faid, that all thefe things Araunah gave as a King, denoting that it was the part of a King to be extraordinary Munificent, i Kings xxiv. 23. And ia the New Teflament, Kings are called Benefadors, Luk,» xxii. 2 5 . From all which 'tis abundantly plain, that ac- cording to the Scripture Dodrine, Princes ought to fig- rfalize themfelves for Ads of Munificence to their Sub- jeds , and not to be guilty of a fordid Parfimony as the Atheifls would advifc. II. For God Almighty has fent Men into the World> not to ad fcparately for their own Intercfl, and to keep all the Happinefs which they can engrofs fingjy to them- felves j 398 A Conference Tr'incQs art felvcs J but has given them Reafon and ftrong Inclinati-^ toheboim- ^^^ ^^ guide and inform them, how tliey ought to be We l7 Terviceable to the reft of the World, and to let other Peo- their extra- pie partake of thofe larger Communications of the divine orti'm.iry Bounty which they are bkffed with. Our Reafon fug- Kevenue. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^j^^j. ^{^^^ Qq(^, of his infinite Mercy, has been pleafed to befriend us with the choiceft of his Blef- fmgs ; that when we flov/ in Plenty, and can have a teady Enjoyment of all Things which our Appetites can •wifli for, we ought not fullenly to feed upon thefe de- lightful Entertainments only by our own fdves, whiUl tfiere are fo many of God's Creatures, and our Feliow- Servants in the World, which ftand in need of the ordi- nary Supports of Life, and which to fupplythem with, would be an extraordinary Degree of Comfort, without any perceptible impairing of cur own Satisfadions. Be- Udes, the Wants of fuch poor diftreffed People, have an Advocate in our own Breafts, a ftrong Bent of Nature, which we call Pity or Commiferation, pleading for them : For God in his Wifdom has been fo pleafed to mould and compofe our Conftitutions, that v/henever we have a piti- ful Objeft before us, Nature v/iil not let us be at quiet till we have redreffed its Wants : There is fuch a yearning of our Bowels, and fuch a damp upon our Spirits, that we muft in a manner, v/h ether v/e v/ill or no, give our Affiftance towards their Relief. Thefe are invinfible Motives, befides what our holy Religion affords, to per- fuade all Perfons of the more plentiful Fortunes, kindly to difpcnfe out of their Abundance, fomething confide- rable tov/ards the Maintenance of poor People. Now whereas the Revenues of Princes, do by vaft Degrees, exceed thofe of private Perfons, their Charity, and Be- neficence, ought, by a like Degree of Proportion, to ex-i ceed that of their charitable Subjeds. But ftill it mufl be fuppofed, that Allowance is to be made in this Cafe, for fo much of the Revenue which is necellarily employ 'd , for the publick Ufe ; it not being reafonable to think that: a Prince /"hould be anA^'erable for his Charity farther* than ^duhh a MACHlAVEILtAN. 559^ tlian in Proportion ro that Part of the Income which expends for the Maintenance of the Royal Port. III. Befides, there is fuch a Glory arifing from Ads Becaufe of Bounty, and fuch a Pitifulnefs andPoornefs of Spirit "f^^^^^"" attends Avarice; that no Prince can maintain the Cre- Bravery of dit and Reputation, which is requifite to his high Dig- Boimy.^ nity, without cultivating the one, and avoiding the other. For mofl of the princely Education have fuch generous Spirits , that they cannot forbear relieving any poor People wliich they behold in Want ; they have na- turally fuch tender Compaffions for the Miferies of iVlan- kind, fuch a Love of Glory, and fuch a generous Pride to refcue thofe who are under Afflidion, that they arc inclined to give Eafe to any Sufferers, tho' at the fame time they may be fatisfied, they bereave themfelves of many other outward Satisfadions. The greateft Error which mofl: of thefe auguft Perfonages are apt to fall into, is, that they do not purfue the exadeft Meafures, in get- ting a Knov/ledge of thofe Perfons who are fittefl: Ob- jefls of their Beneficence and Charity; but are ready to extend their Bounty to thofe, who firfl: prefent them- felves to them, as needing their AlTiftiance. Hence, in all Ages, it has been too jufl; a ground of Complaint; that fcveral Court- Parafires have without fufficient Defert, m vJe their way to their Prince's Favour, and have engrofled their Liberality to your own felves, to the Exclufion of thofe who have needed it more. F|:w Perfons, of this great Rank, have found any thing in their Nature of that fordid Temper, which thefe irreligious Politicans recommend; it being too bafe a Degradation of their Princely Honour to fl:oop to fo mean a Vice, and to all thofe fordid Arts which thofe fbrry Difpofitions muft put them upon. Perfons of that high Extradion are not liable to tlie Temptations which a lower Condition is Subject to, nor are puflied on by a greedy Defire of heap- ing up Riches to make themfelves a Fortune; whereas ■-- Providence has been fo kind to them, as to make them ro be born to a more plentiful Condition, than other Peo- ple by all their Carking and Caring, can poflibly arrive to. \o6 A Conference tol And therefore 'tis a needlefs Attempt, for them to be fcanty and niggardly in their Expences, which they cannot have any pofifible Hopes of bettering their Condi- tion by ; tho' by an unhandfome Way of Living, and by foregoing all generous Adions which may recom- mend themfelves to their Inferiors, they may in all Pro- bability make it a great deal worfe. An ordinary Man indeed, by faving and pinching , may have fome Hopes of raifing himfelf from a Citizen or Gentleman, to fhine at laft like Ermines : But a Prince is placed in the high- eft Degree of human Greatnefs at firft , and upon that Account has no occafion to look out for Methods of i-aifing himfelf to a higher Condition. Other People are uneafy, whilft they fee fome of their Neighbours in a fuperior Form of Riches and Honour; but 'tis perfe6i:ly Needlefs for him , to lay out any Endeavours to get above others, who is above all about him already. There is no Ambition of this kind left for fuch Perfons to purfue, but only to Imitate and Copy from thofe sbove them, and that is God and his Holy Angels. And indeed, from hence they may excite in themfelves a glorious Emulation worthy of their high Fortune, not to contraft themfelves within their own Happinefsj and to enjoy all their great Satisfadion to their own felves; bur, like the good and beneficent Spirits above^ to be ready upon all Occafions , with their Power and Afliftance to befriend Mankind wfth any Help, which they fhall ftand in need of; or, like the great God of Heaven and Earth, who out of his Infinite Satisfadionsi is pleafed to communicate to his Creatures as great a Share of Happinefs, as their refpedive Natures are capable of. Liberality IV. It is a further Argument to ftir Princes up to ftnrigth. Bounty and Liberality , that by thefe Ads their Go- vernmient is extraordinarily fupported and ftrengthenedi For every Prince's Crown fits the fafter upon his Head, by how much the more he enjoys the Love of his Sub- jefts. But People's Affedions are by nothing more ftrongly tied to their Governour , than by Ads of Beneficence* Perfons run with Eagernefs, not only to ferve and affift* bu? ens a Go I'emment with a Machi /vveli an. 401 but even to lay down their Lives, if occafion requires^ for thofe who have refcued them from Poverty and Di- ftrefs, and by bountiful Donations have made their Cir- cumftances eafy to them. But when thefe beneficent Grants come from a princely Hand* they take fafter hold upon People's Hearts, by how much the more they carry a fort of Honour with the Bounty; Men plea- ling themfelves , that they are taken Notice of by Per- Ibns of that extraordinary Condition, and that they are vouchfafed the Honour of partaking of the Royal Mu- nificence. The Thoughts of this makes the fmallell: Largefs from the Crown, to be received with much Joy and Exultation ; the People making an Eftimate of the Gift, not from what they themfelves receive, but from the Dignity and Kindnefs of the Donor. But when their charitable Ads are great and munificent, wlien they make their Subjeds fenfibly feel the blefled Effeds of them. Men are rapt up with fuch Admiration and Gra* titude, that they are ready to adore fo gracious a Be- nefador. What Subjed could not be enamoured with fo good a Prince as Titus t^efpajiany who being admo- nifhed by fome of his Friends, for promifing fome great Things which he mufl: with Difficulty perform , made this Anfwer, that a Prince ought not to let any go unpt^ tisfied from him ? Who one Night, at Supper, calling to Mind, that he had conferred no Benefit on any one that Day ; cried out, / have lojl a Day ? Alexander the Great* tho' he had a great many Faults, which difobliged fe- Veral of his Friends about him; yet> by his noble Ge- tierofity, he made himfelf dear to the Generality, both of his conquer'd and his native Subjeds. And tho* his Bounty was often abufed, yet fo brave was his Tem- ^ )er, that he never repented of what he had done. As , le was always a noble Bencfador to learned Men, fo . le having a particular Efteem for Anaxarchm the Phi- lofopher, he commanded his Treafurer to pay him any Sum of Money which he fhould defire : The coyetous Phi- lofopher taking Advantage of fo generous an offer , had the Confidence to ask no lefs than a hundred Talents, VOL. IL D d tb.ac 40 :i Bounty r.evcr in- jurwus to Frinces. Covetouf- nefs preju- dicial to Princes. A Conference that is more than ten Thoufand Pounds in our Engliflj Money. The Treafurer demurs a little upon payirfg fo great a Sum, and tells his Mafter of the unreafo- nabknefs of the Philofopher's Demand. The King lliew- in*' no manner of Difpleafure, but contrariwife a great deal of Satisfaction ; come, fays he, the Man has done but as he fhould do : For he knew that he had a Friend that was both able and willing to give. V. Neither is it to be thought, that Princes by their munificent Ads fliould {o exhauft their Treafures, as to be in Straights for Monies to carry on the publick Bufinefs. For a generous Prince has always the Peo- ples Hearts at his Service , which are the beft Key to their Coffers , and whenever they have Money in their jveeping, he cannot want it. It was not only a very wife, but a very well-natur'd faying of Confiantius Chlo' rus"^, mentioned by Eutropius: Who faid he had rather have the publick Wealth to be lodged in private Mens Hands, than under the Locks of the Exchequer. Nor do I remember any where in Hiftory, to have read of a Prince who ruin'd his Affairs by being too libe- ral. Indeed, fome Princes have waftefully fpent their Revenues upon fome odd Humours, and in enriching fome forty People who have done them no Credit, which Adions they miftook for Liberality. As Nero Gejar, who fpent fuch an infinite Treafure upon Sraoe-Plays, and fencing Matches, and running Cha- riots; in building prodigious Houfes, and cutting Ca- nals: But then as he got the good Opinion only of fome of the Mob by thefe whimfical Expences, fo he loft the Affedions of moft of thefe, by fome of his following Ads of Cruelty. VI. But it is rarely known, when a Prince l-us given himflf over to Coveto'ifnefs, that he makes any Fi- gure m the World; but generally it happens, that he involves his Affiirs by it in great Perplexities and Mif- ■fortunes. Perjem^ King of Macedonia t, might have kept * Eutrop. Kift. Lib. lo. f Liv, Hift. Lib. 44. hr$ iSDlth n; M A C H I A V E L 1 A N. 405 his Kingdom, if ir had not been for his fordid Temper. Ton when he was in War witli the Romai^n^ jie, to make himfelf the ftronger againft that powerful Enemy, bar- gains for a confiderable Sum of Money with the Gdls^ who had fettled in Illyricumy ro have lent him ten thou- fand Horfe, and the like Number of Foot. The Calls are ready with cheir Forces , and demand the Payment of the Money. But PerfeuSf who knew how to keep his Money better than his Kingdom, fliuffles about the Payment of if, and at laft tells Clondicus th?ir General, or King , that he had need but of half that Number of Soldiers ; Clondkns asks if he would pay proportionably a:ccording to his Contraft for that Number : To which Qiieftioh, when he could not gain a fati fidory Anfwer> he returns back again to IlljricHmi ravaging all the Coun- try as he went. For want of this fupply. Per [cm loft the Battle to the Romms at Pjdna^ and afterwards had all the Wealth which he forfeited his Kingdom to fave, taken by Vaulm t/^myliuSi the Roman General, in his Palace at Pella. M. Craffks was the richeft Senator of Rome, and had an Eftate, as appear'd by the Coifis ^, greater than any Romm ever had before; but being of a covetous Hu- mour, and having a mind to increafe it, tho' it was too big before; he got the Parthisk^WdX to be decreed by the Senate to him, judging by the Spoils which Lucidlus brought Home formerly from that War, that it muft turn to his great Profit. Upon this Expedition he goes, takinj^ Jernpilem in his Way, and being invited by the Fame of the great Riches of the Temple , took away out of the publick Treafury, of the Monies of Orphans and Widows there repofited, and which Pompey had /pared, to the Value of 800000 /. He was prefently after kil- led by the Parthians, and never lived to enjoy any thing of this Wealth) which he fo facrilegioufly obtained. t Afakritus the Emperour was as to other Matters a good Prince, but fo intolerably covetous, that he mind- ed nothing but filling his Exchequer : At laft he grew fo very griping, that he grutched the very Soldiers their f Jofcph. Antiqu. Lib. 14.. c. 8. f Pompon. Lxt. in Mair. D d 2 Pay; 404. A Conference Pay* Which gave Incouragement to his Lieutenant Phocas, to take away both his Life and his Empire from him. Neither did Phocas, warned by the Example of Mauritius, avoid fplitting upon the fame Rock ; for he>' whilft he was intent upon getting of Money, loft the moft confiderable Branches from off the Roman Empire. For in his Time, ^ Germany, Gaul, Spain, a good Part of Italy , Pannonia, Mafia , and a great Part of Africa re-* voltedj and in the Eaft, Armenia, AJfjria, Arahia and zy£gjft, were over-run by the Perfims, and other barba- rous Nations. Which Misfortunes were chiefly afcri- bed to the intolerable Covctoufnefs of Phocas. The Tenets Demob. I muft add further, that by your Chriftian ""^/v^^'' Maxims > you do a great deal of Mifchief to Govern- ^ ^ ' ments; particularly by that of Peaceablenefs, and mutual Concord. And your Divines, with their melting Ha- rangues, upon this Head, do more harm than one is aware of. For Fadions are the beft Tools a cunning Prince can work with : Without thefe he is like a Ship in a Calm, he is forced either to lie by, or dully tide it along; but Fadions are Wind and Sail to him; for fome Times clofing with this Party? snd fometimes with the other, he can fteer his Courfe to what Point, or with what Swiftnefs he pleafes. And concerning this my Phrentine Tutor does excellently well Remark. " Our Anceftors the Florentimans t, efpecially *' thofe among them who were the moft famous for Wif- " dom, wei-eof Opinion, that their Government was beft " eftablifhed by fomenting inteftineDivifions. Wherefore " in the Towns which werefubjed to their Juriididion, •' they did all they could to create Differences and Broils " among the Inhabitants. So the ^»f?/4»i, led by the fame *' Counfel, cherirhedthe Fadions of the G^fZ/^and Gibel'- *' lines, that the Minds of their Subjeds being taken up in " the Profecution of thefe Quarrels, might not be at " leifure to form any Rebellion againft their Govern- " mem". And elfewhere he lays down. *' Connai y to the Opinion of many others, I affirm, " that civil Diflentions and Seditions are good and profita-; * Id inPhoc. f Mach. Princ. cap. 20. ..'..1 bic •BwV^aMACHIA VELIAN. 405 ^* ble to a Government: And that it was by thefe that " the Common- wealth of Jlome, raifed it feJf to that ** mighty Height to which it arrived. I know tliere *' are fome who pretend that it rofe by their warlike ** Vertue, and good Fortune : But thefe Perfons do not " fufBciently confider that warlike Vertue is owing ** chiefly to good Manners and fl:ri6l Difcipline, and " that without thefe, there is no fuch thing as good " Fortune. Nor is it certain that thofe good Man- ** ners and Laws, which made the Romans fo par^ ** ticularly famous, arof«from Seditions. For brave Ac- ** tions and excellent Examples proceed from a good *' Education; a right Education from wholfoiTKC Laws *' and Inftitutions : But Seditions and inteftine Divifions " are the Caufe of good Laws, and therefore they ought 5' not to be fo raihly condemned by fome, as they are. Endem, But in Oppofition to this Dodrine of you Scriptur& and your Tutor ; I think every good Prince is obli- Doffrine, ged as much as in him lies, to quiet all Animofities and '^^ ^ Quarrels , which may arife among his Subjeds, and to ^^o-^; f,, lay the Foundations of a firm Unity and Concord among promote them. Which is the conftant Dodrine of the Holy ^'^^'^^ ^: Scriptures : Which oblige all of us who profefs the Chri- '3^/ ftian Religion, are obliged to htwe Peace one with amther-t Mark ix. 50. and to follow Peace -with all Men, 2 Tim. ii. 22. We are told, that the Frms of the Spirit ^ or that holy fpiritual Religion which we profefs, is Peace^ Gal. V. 22. And we further learn from hence, that iSV- dition istheWork^of the Flefjy Gal. v. 20. and the fame Apoftle looks upon it as a thing unfiiitable to the Per- fedion of the Chriflian Religion, to have Divifions among the Profeifors of it. For whereas there is amon^ pu Envying , and Strife j ajnd Divifions, are yet not carnal, ^md walk^ as Men? i Cor. iii. 3. And he in another Place bids us fet a particular Note of Diflindion upon {hofe who difturb the publick Peace, for ill Men ; Mark ihem which catife Divifions, Rom. xvi. 17- We find like- wife , under the Old Teftamcnt , tliat God Almighty pimilhed with th(? mofl; Terrible of Judgments, the Se- D d :; di^ion 4o6 A Conference dition which was raifed by Cord}, Dathany and Abiranfj whom the Earth fwallowed up, Numb. xvi. 51. and the People who followed after thefe feditious Ringleaders, were deftroyed by a devouring Plague, v. 49. So God punifh'd Miriam, for feditious Speaking againft Afojes, with Leprofy, Numb, xii. 10. So almoft the whole Tribe o£ Ephraim is deftroyed b)^ Sedition, Jud. xi. 12. And the Nation of the Jews, from being one confide- rable Monarchy, by the Sedition raifed by Jeroboam and his Parry, was fplit into two petty Kingdoms, i Kin^. xii. The Pfalmift notes it as the moft pkafant thing in the World, for Men to behold Brethren it was quite otherwife; they fquabbled more for Offices, and a Share in the Go- vernment, than for Laws. And by this Method the People got the Tribunes, thofe democratical Rabble-Dri- vers to be fet up, and a Law to be paft, that any one of the common People might be Conful. The Gracchi in- deed raifed a Sedition for a Law, but a very bad one it was ; the Lex Agraria, a Law for levelling and dividing the Gentlemens Eftates among the common People ; but they loft their Lives in this Attempt, as they well defer- ved. What good did the Faftions in Ctfar and Pompey's Time do ? They ferved only to engage all the World al- xnoft on the Sides of thefe great Men, and to cut one another's Throats unmercifully ; becaufe, forfooth, Ctejair^ mift the Conful ftiip, and Pompey could not engrofs the Hollows of the Roman Mob to himfelf. What good did our Forefathers get in England by their long Quarrels on the Sides of the white and red Rofes ? To bring in the Family of Lancajier, at a vaft Expence of Blood and Treafure, and three or four Generations after to turn them out again at as dear a Rate ? What did we get by the late Civil War, bat to rid our felves of a fmall Tax not (o legally afTefled, and to lofe a tenth Part of the Youth of the Nation, to bear a conftant Tax for above twenty jYears, and to fuffer ten thoufand Families to be begger'd : And laftly, out of fome imaginary Fears of Popery, to fill the Nation full of Sedaries and Fanaticks ? If Sedi- tion and Faction be at any time the Occafio* of a good ilaw^ with ttMACHIAVELIAN. 413 Law, as our Politicks plead in its behalf, it is no more to be commended on that Head, than any other Sin or Wickednefs. For is Clipping and Coining therefore any Benefit to the Nation, becaufe it was the Occafion of fuch very good Laws being made againft it? If Fac- tion and Sedition were ever the Occafion of making a good Law, it is a Matter altogether as accidental as this. The fame Law might have been enafted with Calmnefs and Quiet, and without any thing of that Difturbance which Fadion muft obtain it by. But as for thofe Gentlemen who feem to be in Love with Fadion, and are pleafed to afcribe fo many good Effeds to it ; I recommend to them the Defcription of it given by ThttcydideSy in the third Book of his Hiflory. When Aden are once engaged in the FaEiion, they change the common very Names of Things, A blockzheaded Boldijefs is called Bravery and Zeal for the Parly i to take Time to conji" der, is a more fpecioHs Co'wardife i to be moderate^ is only to take up a Pretence for Ditlnefs ; to have PrudencCi is to be Jlo7v and unfit for Buftnefs ; to be hot and mad-headedy is to do as a Man fhould do ; but to aU with Safety ^ and to take Advice, is to defert ones Principles, and to fly of. To talk^ pajjionately, is to be true and honefl ; but to contradiEi fuch a Talker, is to be a dangerous Man. He is a wife Man thai can trapan another in Difcourfe, or if he can forefee the Traps that are laid for himy he is yet a Shrewder, But if a Ma» endeavour to keep out of fuch Peoples Company y he is a Perfon unfociablcy and afraid his Enemies fJ}ould eat him, Inffjort, he is the Man that dcfcrves mofi Pratfcy who can do one of the contrary Party mofi Mi/chief, ejpecially if he can do it un- aware Sy and when he does not thinkjfit. Demob. I difcover your Chriftian Statefmen, Eudcmimy Bocirine of to be at a great Fault again, when they will be tying up ^^^^ ^rreligi- their Princes to the Advice of Councils and Parliaments ; "cmniel who are to tire him out with long Speeches, and peevifh and for Contentions, and fpend more Time in ccnfulting Mat- arbtirari^ ters, than they may be in doing. One who underftood ^^"■^'■• thefe Things befl, fays, ^' It is a certain Axiom, and a [^ perpetual Fjule, that good Counfel ought to proceed »» from 414 Scripture I>o£lrine, that a, i'rtnce ought to follow the Advice of good Cannfel. A CoNFEREN^fi '^ from the Mind, and Prudence ofa Prince alone; hot *^ on the other Side , that the Prudence of the Princ6 *^ fliould arife from good Counfel. For unlefs the Prince *' be wife himfelf, he cannot make ufe of good Coun- *' fel. For if the Prince commits the Care of his whole *' Government to one alone, it will be very hard for '' him to find a Perfon, whom it may be proper to en- *^ charge with his Secrets, and the other Parts of (o " great a Truft. Or if he may perhaps find fuch ari " one , he may be in t)an^er of being dethroned by " him ', for the Defire of Rule can be reftrained by no *' Vertue. But if a Prince , who is not of Abili- " ties himfelf, fhall call others into his Counfel, he *' will moft certainly be continually diftraded by theii- 'trary Charms, in an uncontrolable Authority, that few Prin- ^''^^''' ces have Refolution enough to refifl the Propofals, which aie made them for the enlarging theif Power, and for advan- ^i6 A Conference advancing an independent Exercife of their Will. Some- thing of this Nature is fweet to Flefli and Blood, of every fort of Make. For ordinary Perfons find , that it goes much againft the Grain > to be cdntradifted and oppo- fed in their Determinations, and therefore Perfons of that high Birth j who have more Honour and Spirit, are iefs patient of having the Wifdom of their Inclinations called in Queftion. Therefore, to avoid any Inconve- nience , which may arife from fuch frailty of Human Nature, every wife Prince ought, in the firft Place, to «void, and to drive away from his Prefence, all fuch ill Adviiers, and to fuffer them no more to be about him^ than he would do Toads or Vipers in his Bofom^ And in the next Place , he fhould have a Care of refolving upon any Matter of his own felf too precipitately, for fear his Honour fhould engage him to ad to his own Prejudice. But after all this Arbitrary Power, of which fo many Princes have been fo infinitely Fond, and which fo many have loft their Lives or Kingdoms in Purfuit of; is a thinq-, v/hich, tho' a Prince might attain to it, isim- poflible he could ever arrive to a compleat Exercife of. For tho' a Prince could engrofs the fupreme Power, in the Government of a Nation abfolutely to himfelf; if he could make Laws, raife Monies, judge, condemn, pardon , execute, according to his uncontroulable Plea- fure; yet fuch a Prince would be as much influenced in the Determination of his Will , as orte who can do no- thing but under the Diredion of Laws. For 'tis im- polTible that fuch a Prince can difcharge all the Bufineft of his Government himfelf,- nineteen Parts in twenty muft be executed by his Minifters of States and other inferiour Magiftrates under them. So that if there be any Sweetnefs in Arbitrary Power, the Prince enjoys but a fmall Share of it, the greateft Part of it being en- grofled by his Miniftry, v/ho, for the moft Part, ad according to their own Pleafure, without confulting that of the Prince. But •the Mifchief of it is, that thofe Princes who have ftruggled moft for Arbitrary Power) W^/?? (^Machi A^vEtr AN. 417 pDwer, and thought they had got themfelves into the hioft perfed PofTcflion of ir, have had really lefs thereof than thofe good Princes who have been contented to go- vern according to the Prefcriptiori of the Laws. After fiich Princes have ravifhed all the Liberties away from their Subjeds, they have given thefe, together with their own Liberty, up to Tome Wife, or Mifs, or Va- let de Chambre , who have managed them at their Plea- fure. Atigt^Hs, one of the wifell: Princes, in his latter \'ears,, was almoft wholly under the Management of his Wife Livia* Ttberm butchered almoft the whole Senate, upon Sto- ries carried him by a few roguifh Informers, whom he maintained about him. Calm did nothiiig, but, as the mad drunken Rakes he kept Company with, advifed him, Qmdlm was a mere Tool to his Liberti, he wouid do nothing without the Ad\'ice either of TVarciJfus or Palias; and when th: Lmperor declared his Refolutions to marry, the great Ladies of Rome endeavoured to recommend themfelves,, thro' the favoiir of thefe forry Rafcah. But as Arbitrary Power is a Thing which no Prince can Exercife, fo it c5ught not to be in the PoiTefliion of any one, tho' he colild. For an Arbitrary unaccoun- table Power, is fit only for God himfelf, and indeed he has intruded it with no one elfe. For all the Parts of the Creation, from the higheft to the loweft, are Subjeft to Laws. And indeed fuch i Power is fafe only in God Almiglity's Hands, who has infinite Goodn°fs to qualify his Almighty Power, and infinite Wifdom to make a proper Ufe of it. But for any one fingle Man, tho* never fo wife and good, to be vefted with fuch a Plenitude of Power, muft be attended with unfufferable Mifchiefs. For all Men wharfoever, are liable to Paf- fions, which are apt to mifguide their Reafon, and a Judgment made under the Poffcfiion of thefe, is as un- likely to be true, as if a Man fhould judge of Colours, by their Appearance to him in the Jaundice. And there- fore, if a Prince were to govern accordmg to his own Will, he migtit deftroy in a hafty Fit of Anger, not VOL. IL E e ' only +i8 The Ad- lantagts in a Go- 'vernmem ojGonn- fels and Parlia- ment. A Co NFERE NGE only one of the bcft Men, but one of his beft Friends ; as nothinii; is more common, v/here fuch defpotick Power prevails, ns is evident in the Example of Cijtus, who was killed by yllexayider the Great in a hot Fit. Bad fides, there is no one fo wife, but he is liable to be im- pofcd upon by falfe Suggeflions and Infinuations : But Chara wherein he had wrote down the Names of three Peribns he defigned to have murthered the next Day, viz.. his Concubine Marcia-, his General L^ttus, and his Cham- berlain EleEius, only for advifing him not to fet up his Court at a Fencing-School, which he refolved to do. The Writing was brought to thefe three Perfons, who, by a fecret Combination, agreed to difpatch him firfl: ; which Confpiracy having fucceeded, they conferred the Empire on Pertimx. I know not whether fo much Love of defpotick Pow- er, or downright Foolifhnefs, were the Occalion of the Extravagancies of Heliogabalus's Reign *. For he was a poor filly Creature that the Army placed upon the impe- rial Throne, becaufe he was of the Race of the Antonmes, He was bred up among fome of the Women that belong to the imperial Family, and who liv'd among the barba- rous People in Phosnicia^ and was by them made a Prieft to one of their Country Gods. When he was called to the imperial Purple, inftead of that Habit, he would ne- ver appear but in the taudry Coat he ufed to Sacrifice to his God. He fill'd his Court with a Pack of rafcally People, Player?, Charioteer^, Barbeis, ^r. and by their Diredion did a World of M.f.hief to the State, promo- ting thefe Fellows to the chiefeft Employments. He made a Dancing-Mafter to be General of his Army. He made one Player the Prmccps Juventutis, another the chiefs * Heliogabalus. WtfeaM ACHIAVELIAN. 4^5 ^f the Senatorian Orders and a third, the chief of the ILqueftiian. In entertaining thefe forry Company, he made a vaft Profufion of the Wealth of the Empire; and by their Advice killed a great many noble Perfonages, over-ruling all the Laws according to his Humour and Caprice ; but at lafl: having a D.-fign upon his Brother uilexanders Life, who was Qefar with him, he fell into the Difpleafure of the Army, which alone fupported him in thefe Extravagancies, and they in a Fury fet upon him, and fent him out of the World without Mercy. VI. But our irreligious Politicians, in order to pro- Ng ^reat mote arbitrary Rule among Princes, do pretend it is fo Dljpcuhy difficult for a Prince to pick out wife Perfons that are{^''J^^J''"^^ able to dired him in his Affairs, and honeft Men who a good will not betray him ^ and that it is the fafeft Way for Comfel. liim to trufl: none but himfelf. But this is a foolifh Pre- tence which thefe Men lay hold of : For there are few Princes- of fuch weak Abilities, that they are not able to make a Judgment what Perfons are raw and unexperienc'd in publick Bufinefs, and who have long applied them- felves to it. And it can hardly happen that ever fuch a Monarch fhould-^t upon a Throne, who, like HeliogOr. halns, (hould take his Privy-Counfellors out of the Play- houfe. The far greateft Part of Princes have fo excel- lently an Education, they have, from their Infancy, been fo accuftomed to Affairs of State, that thofe Matters be- come habitual to them, and that they feldom fail in their Judgment, in making Choice of a Minifter of Abilities, at leaft, if not of Fidelity. But flill there is no need of fuch an extraordinary Acutenefs for making fuch a Choice : For a good Miniftry once well chofen, will keep up it felf, the Places of thofe who drop off, being fupplied by the Diredion of the Remainders. Neither will it plunge a new Prince in any Difficulties to chufe ^ them out at firft ; for thofe who have been Counfellors in a former Reign, are always ready at hand upon a new Succeflion \ Their long Experience in fuch Bufinefs, and their Fidelity to the Predecefforsj being fufficient Vouchers 4-^6 ^Conference Voucliei'j both for their Abilities and Faitlifulnefs. Such a ^ood Counfel was ready provided, as we obferved be- fore, by Marcus, for his Son Commodiis, which if he had vouchlafed to make life of, he might have been as good and happy a Prince, as he was cruel and unfortunate. Viiriety of VII. Another Argument of you MachiavcUam, to opintcns of frighten Princes from taking the Advice of good Coun-- Counjdlors, ^^Y^^^^^ is, becaufc of the Variety of their Opinions. But we«r^/ 'a fJ^o^s Variety of Opinions being laid before any wife FriKce's Princej he has a very excellent Opportunity of confide- wi^'iiirs, j-in^ them all throughly, which would not have other- wife come into his View : For 'tis abfolutely certain, that more Arguments upon any Queftion will be fug- gefted at an AfTembly of wife Men, than can poflTibly enter into the unaffifted Thoughis of any one Perfon, tho' of the gieateft Compafs and Depth. And any Prince who would be confounded, as thefe Men pretend, by the contrary Opinions of Men in fuch a CounfeJ, would be in greater Confufion without the Afliftance of their Debates. But after all, if a Prince fii all determine himfelfbythe Majority of his Counfel, all this pretend- ed Confulion will vanilh ; and to do (o, will not only be a fufficient Ground for the Juftification of his Prudence, but in all Probability, will be moft for his Security and Honour. THE ^Wl th a Machiavelian. w Q&^MM'^mm^^>^ Oct ,^?r^3^f .^«&o^ THE CONCLUSION. J)emob. ^J^^^Jj^ U T ftill, EndemiuSi you feem to proceed all along upon a great Mif^ take, as if a Prince were obliged to govern his Adions accorcfing to the Rules of moral Vertue, or be what you call a good Chriftian j thai; is, one who difcharges all the ftrift Duties which your Religion enjoins : Which if he did, would render him a poor fneaking Creature, much fitter for a Cloyfter than a Throne. But as I am of Opinion, a Prince need nci^t trouble himfelf with thefe moral Rules, fo I think thht the Bufinefs of their Calling is fuch, as will not fuf- fcr them to be fetter'd by thefe ethical Laws, which may be obfervcd by IVlen of Leifure, and who live in a Shade, but not by thofe who are involved in fuch a Multiplicity of Bufinefs. and whofe great Defigns would be marred by the Performance of fuch nice Punctilio's. Etidem. But in Dtfpight of thefe atheiftical Tenets, I doubt not but to make out to you. That a Prince mtVf not only confcicntionJly difiharge the Potts of his Chrijlian 1)mj/j but in that Sratm has the Advmtage of arriving to Off 4i8 A Conference • m higher Pitch ofGoodnefs than other Perfons. Which will be clear from thefe following Confiderations. Agood I. All Vertue is the more excellent, by how much Trince with the more Difficulty the Ads thereof are performed ; ^"°i7 ^T ^"^ ^y ^^^ much the more Good it conveys to Man- cmfeof ' J^in<^' '^ow the Vertues of a Prince are ennobled by Tetnpta- thefe two Improvements, beyond thofe of other Men. itons. -j-j^g Temptations which Perfons of that high Fortune are fubjeft to, whenever they are overcome by the Force of Religion, raife their Vertue to a higher than ordinary Pitch, and fet them above the common Race of Chri- ftians. For the Chriftian Religion is a fort of fpiritual Combat, wherein every Profeffor takes his Lot, to en- counter v/ith fome Temptation or other i and thofe that are called out for the moft difficult Conflids, whenever they have gone through them vidorioufly, they have thereby made fuch Proof of the Strength of their Faith, and the Noblenefs of their Refolutions, and arrived there- by to fuch a Firmitude of Vertue, that they are far beyond the ordinary Proficients in Chrift's School ; ai-.d when- ever God comes to adjuft the Rewards of another Life, they may reafonably exped that one of the highefl: Prizes of Heaven will fall to their Share. Now the Royal Lftate, above all other humane Con- ditions, is moft expofed to Temptations ; and therefore Vfhen thefe great Perfons get clear of them, the greater is their Goodnefs, and the more glorious will be their Reward. 'Tis a more eafy Matter for Perfons of lower Rank to preferve their Innocence intire, and to make no Deviations into Vice, when the Temptations of tranf- greffing their Duty, are weak and lefs frequent. Perfons of lower Condition have pleafurable Objeds prefented, but rarely to their View, and v/hich oftentimes it is out of their Power to enjoy : But thofe in the other fo exalted a Station, have every thing that is defirable con- tinually laid before them ; all the Glories of this World are continually in their Eyes : So that it muft be an ex- traordinary Stock of Grace and Religion, which can keep with ^Machiavelian. 4.29 keep them within the Lines of their Duty, who have lb many continual Invitations to go out of it. Some Pleafures are too expenfive to be purchafed by any but thofe of the greateft Incomes; and fome deny themfelves the Sarisfaftions of them, becaufe it will bear too hard upon their Circumftances to procure them. But when Perfons of the Royal Dignity deny themfelves fuch Pleafures which their plentiful Income might with Eafe fupply them with; this can be owing to the Force of Religion alone, and to a moft noble and diftinguifhing Vertue, which for the Sake of Goodnefs, can overcome all the paffionate Cravings of humane Nature. Thofe of a lower Figure are oftentimes retrained from violating their Duties by the coercive Power of the Laws; and they dare not do what they have flrong Inclinations to, for fear of being puniifh'd for it : But the princely Power is above all thefe Reftraints ; and when they ex- adly obferve their Duty without any Force, but what is given by the Grace of God, and the peculiar Bent of their own Vertue ; this gives their Religion a new, and a braver Turn ; and fhews that their Hearts are actuated with an uncommon Love of God, and a Senfe of Good- nefs anfwerable to their great Dignity. II. As the Religion of a Prince becomes the more ex- aU his cellent by confliding with ftronger Temptations than ijenuom other Men ; fo likewife every Chriftian Vertue which ^^'">ns they arrive to the Habit of, receives a peculiar Value and ^yg^.Jj^' Excellency for the Circumfl-ances which neceffarily at- tend the Pradicc of it. The Devotion which they pay to Almighty God, is more acceptable to him than that of other Perfons. Not that God has any particular Fondnefs for the Pomp and Glory of their Condition ; for he is no Refpeder of Per- fons, all good Men being equally dear to him. But God does accept the Prince's Devotion with a greater Degree of Complacency, becaufe this recommends it felf to him by a greater Degree of Goodnefs, than that of others. It is not fo conliderable a Point of Vertue to Ipend an Houi 4?0 u4 CoNiFERENCE Hour or two in a Day upon religious Exercife, and the Worfiiip of Godj in thofe who have little or no Bufinefs to do, whofe Time hangs fo uncomfortably upon their Hand?, that their Devotions are but a Sort of Diverlion to help them off with it. But when a Prince, every Minute of whofe Time is crowded up with Bufinefs, who can feldom fequefter to himfelf a little Time for neceflary RefreAment ; fhall neverthelefs conftantly frequent the ftated Hours of religious Worlliip, befides his private Addreffes to God : This improves fuch an one's Piety to a- greater Height, and fends his Petitions up to Heaven with a more effectual Force. Countoufnefi and Humility are neceflary Duties for every Chriftian, and they carry Charms with them wherc- ever they appear. But when they difplay themfclves from the Throne, they difcover a Beauty of Religion, which is unimitable in a lefs Fortune. For Perfons of a lower Efhte to be courteous and humble, is only to be tolerably civil to their Fellow-Subje6ls ; but however their Condition being nigher to that of their Inferiors, than their Prince's high Fortune is, their Humility can- not pretend to an equal Degree of Perfedion. For that Perfon is the moft humble, who makes the loweft Stoop to befriend his Inferiors : Therefore the Prince who is Mafter of this Vertue, muft of Neceffity have any others but his Seconds, at the beft, in it. The Forgiving of Injuries is a neccffary Chriflian Duty, every one of our holy Profeilion being obliged to conquer all our Appetites of Hatred and Revenge. But no one is able to come up to fo perfedive a Degree of this Duty, as thofe of the princely Dignity. For this Vertue of Forgivenefs, is fo much the greater as the Offence which ,is forgiven rifes in its Magnitude. Now an Offence againft a Prince, is greater than the fame committed a- •ainft any other Perfon ; upon which Account, the Goodnefs which is pleafed to pardon it, is of a peculiar Superiority to that of others. III. A '(7/7^f;o» has been always juftly efteemedaftrong f'"'""'^* Ar<»ument of its Truth and Reality: Now there is no Pro- ^ckpfow- pofirion in which the Conjent of Mankind has been more iedgement /^riflly and unexceptionably Vniverfal ih-Sin this. That of a Deity. ihere is a God: There having not been any Age fo Ig- norant, or Nation fo Barbarous, but what Acknow- ledged and Woriliipped fome Deity or other. Now 'ti<; impoffible to fuppofe fo Perpetual and Vniverfal a Fallacy (if fuch it were) ihould be impofcd upon the jtnited Reafon of Mankind. If fome Crafty Politician eitj will remain in its full Strength, and be fufficient to en- force our Conclufion, Thai there u a God, As therefore the Pretence of attributing thi^ Notion of a Deity to the Politicly Subtlety of fome StatC'En^ineer is Impious and Vain, fo neither js it poffible to conceive that all Man- kind fhould of themfelves, without any previous Grounds enforcing or perfuading it, fall into this Notion y Nay, on the contrary, 'tis ijnpofifible to account for this «»;-; •verfal Confent any otherwife than by founding it either upon the rational Evidence of the Thing it felf, or upon the Authority of a Divine Revelation* E-ither bf whicH ( and we have cogent and condufive Arguments to prove both ) is fufficient to evince to us the Exijience of a God^ The Objedion drawn from the extreme Barbarity of fome Nations will not be of force fufficient to fet afide what we now contend for. If there are any People (q Barbarom with an At heist. 4.4,7 ^ Varbarom that it cannot be made appear they have any Notion of a God; {o neither can the contrary be eafily made appear, fuch Barbarity rendring all Commerce and Correipondence with fuch a Nation very difficult, if not imprafticable. And if it could be made appear, the Judge- ment of fuch a rude Multitude muft needs be of little Weight in the Cafe, and efpecially ought not to be put in the Ballance againft i^t joint Confent of all the far grea- teft and wifeft Part of the World. Arg. IV. Another Argument of the Being of the Crimes of Perfons whofe State and >?CoNFERENCE and Power fet them above the Reach of all human Laws^ have been remarkably attended with the greateft Hor- rours : Inftances whereof we have in Tiberius, CdiguUf JSTero, and others, whofe fupreme Dominion left them no- thing to apprehend from the Power of Magiftrates ; and therefore thofe Agonies which threw them into fuch Convulfions, and diforder'd them in fo violent a man- ner, could have no other Caufe than the ConviElwn of Cotjfciente, and the dreadful Sentence of that Internal Jtid^e, awarding them future Mifery and Punifhment as a juft Recompence of their daring Impieties, and confign- ing them over to the Vengeance of Heaven. 'Twas ioms. fuperiour Judge, whofe uncontroulable Power thofc Fears confeft. Now this fuperionr Judge, whom all wick- ed Men have ever dreaded, whom all wicked Men muft ever ftand in Awe of, can be no other than God. Thefe Arguments, Phyjins, are fufficient to prove that there is fuch a Being as God: And if they are well con- fider'd, they do afford us likewife an Opportunity of being let into the Knowledge of the Nature of this excellent Being, fb far as the Shallownefs of our Capaci- ties will admit. Therefore to go back to the firft Ar- gument, whereby we prov'd that there muft of Necef- fity be an Eternal, Self-exifient Being, the firfi Cauje of all Things; God h om. 2^0^ f^jj^g ^11 xhings are producM by this Jirjl Caufi, np en . ^ ^j^^ Pofwer which they are endued with, muft be in him ; becaufe whatfoever Pofwer he does impart to ano- ther ( as dependent upon him ) he muft neceffarily have more eminently in nimfelf: And whatfoever Power is poffible to be, muft be inherent in him who is the Fountain of all Power : And therefore he muft be Om- nipotem. No Power is greater than his, on the contrary, his Power is fuperiour to all other. The Reafon why a difficult Thing, though PoJJible in it felf, becomes im- poffible to us, is, becaufe there is more Ptnver to refift in the Thing to be done, than we have PoTi'er and Strength to encounter it with ; if we were aiTifted with a proportionate Addition of Strength, we could quickly conquer do decay or are defh-oy'd, is, hecaufe they are not endued with Power fufficient to hin- der it : The Reafon why Combuftibles are deftroyed by Fire, is, becaufe they have not Strength enough to oppofe and mafter its Vioknce: The Reafon why Men muft give way to a mortal Difeafe, isi becaufe they have noc ■Strength and Power to relift it. But God^ who is the Fountain of all Power, from whom proceeded whatfoever is Mighty and Powerfnl in every thing, he, doubtlefs, has more Power or Strength than any of his Creatures; fo that 'tis impoifible that he who has by his Power given Being to every Thing in the World, lliould lofe iiis Be- ing by the Predominancy of the Infer lottr ^rA Created Power of any Thing elfe. That the Divine Kature is Omniprejent, may be prov'd O/mnprei from the fame Topick of Self-Exijience and NeceJJity off^^'^ Being. Por, if the Deity be not Omniprejenti tliere is lome Place where he is not Prefent; fo that if it be not neceffary for him to be in this or that Place, it is not neceflary for him to be in any other aflignable Place; and confeqiiently it is not neceffary for him to be at all. The Abfur- dity whereof fufficiently appears, in that it deftroys the Suppofition of necejfary Self-Exiflonce ; which, as it has already fully demonftrated, fo is it the moft incontefta- ble Principle in the World. Befides, the Omn'tprefince of God is a neceffary Confequence of his Creative and Co«- fervati^e Power. For wherefoever any Thing is created, preferv'd, orupheldi i\\txtGod'\s; for wherefoeva* there is real oBion, there is red Exifience. Therefore it fol- lows, that where any Particle of the material World is, G g 2 ' " God 45^ ^Conference God mu{[ be in that Place to conferveit; wherever any intelldlMal Nature is, he muft be there to continue it in it's Being; And if the infinite Space be a Being (as feme pretend) as having all the Properties and Affedions of a Being to be demonftrated of it> it muft be concluded, that God is there likewife to uphold it in it's Being ; Or if it be only a formal Conception of the Mind, ariiing from the Idea of Immenfity, the Fou.ndation of fuch con- ceived Immcnfity mufl: be an Irnmenfe or Omniprefint Deity, Fhjfus. And what a mighty Exploit have you been about all this Time, and how glorioufly have youatchiev'ci it? You have been proving that which no Body ever denied. For who mufl: not own a Self-Exijiing, Eternal and Infinite Somewhat ? But this coes not prove a GOD ; For Matter it felf may be Etemali &c. But how do you prove that this felf-Exiftent being is a Mind ? That it is Intelligent, Holy, True, Juft, Beneficent, Merci- ful, &rc. with a great many other fine Qiialities, which you Believers di efs up your Notion of a Deity in ? Here your Chain of Argument leaves you, and for the Proof of this you muft fall to begging of Principles again. Cred. If you will have a little Patience, Phj/fitu, I will difpatch this Matter to your SatisfaClion, if Gentlemen of your Stamp can feel any in h6u^ Convinced of the Truth, Anintelli- ^^ prove thc Intelligence and Wifdom of the Deity ^ gtnt Being. I might prefent you with a View of the Beautiful Or- der and Oeconomy of Nature ; the wondrous Variety of the (everal Parts of the Creation, their Exqinfite Contrivance for their refpedlive Ends, with the harmonious Concurrence of each to the Ornament and Vfe of the Whole. But I fliall wave this Method at prefent ; chufing rather to demonflrate the Intelligence and Wisdom of the Deity by the fame Argument, by which I prov'd his Self-Exijience. And here I mufl go back again to the Contemplation of my felf: And as I have ihewed before, Thar, fince I was fure I had a Being, I muft be as certain there was z prime Caufi of my Being, which Caup had no Caufe of it's Being, but was Self-Exijlent ; fo, by the fame Argument I provei . that God is an Inielligent Being, for I am as cer- "with fl;?« A T H E 1 s T. 453 tain of my Thmkjnjr^^ as of my Being \ nay, more cer- tain, if poffible. For I come to the Knowledge of my "Bemg by my Confcioufnefs of my having the Power of Thmkingy which does by coniequence infer Beings Whence the fame Argument that proves, There is a prime Cmfi of Being, equally proves, there is a prime Ctmje of Thinhingy which is likewife Thoughtful or Intel- ligent, For as 'ris impoflible that Nothing ihould be the Canfi of Something', and therefore there muft be fonic thing Eternal and Self-Exifient : So 'tis impoffible that Something Vnthinhmg or Vnintelligent fl^ould produce any thing Thinking or Intelligent. And as to all moral Perfe6lions, fuch as Holinejfs, Truth, yuftice. Beneficence, Aicrcj, &c. being in fome degree Ferfedions in human Nature, they muH: be in a more Eminent manner found in the 'Deitj, which is the Omfe of fuch Perfedions in us. But let us take a View of them lingly, and we fhall find that each of them is necejfarily inherent in the divine Nature. To begin with Holinefs, By Holinefs is underftood a Negation of all Sin, fV^ickzHolj, ednefs and Tmral Turpitude , and an actual Habit of and Vijpofition to every thing that is P^irtuous and Good. Now we cannot conceive a Deity without fuch Qualifications. For 'tisfliocking toour Minds to think of a Faf/e, aLewd or an impure God. 'Tis perhaps more cafy to imagine, that God is wanting in f )me degrees of Wtjdom or Power, than that his Nature fliould admit of any degrees of ^^tce or iVickednefs. But farther, his HoUnefs may be inferr'd from thofe other uittributes which we have before demonftrated. Now we may come at this the more clearly, if we con- sider v^hat Sin or Wickednefs is, to which Holinefs is op- pofed. Sin (as the Apoftle well defines it) is theTran/^ grefion of a Law, whereby either the Authority of the Legifiator is violated, or the Rcafon upon which the Sane- tion is grounded is rejeded. Now 'tis impoffible that God fliould be charg'd with any Fault, or Immorality upon either of thefe Accounts. For he being the firjl Caufe or yilaker of all things, hath an abfolme Autho- G g 5 n/jf ^'54 A Conference rit-j over thernj but nothing can have any j4Hthsrity^ over him: So that lie can be bound by the Authority, of no Legijhtorsy tljey being fo iar Ironi having any Toiver or yarijliifilon over him, that the grsatcji Princes-, in the World are his Creature s and ruffJs. Neither can God be guilty ot any moral Obliquity, as it implies a contridifting the Reafon upon which any Laiv is groun- ded. That the divine Naitirs is fubjeft to any human, SanWon, tho' founded upon ever fo great Rcafin^ no one was ever fo Extravagaut as to imagme. But yet there are fome' Obligations, v/hich we may in a large Senfe call £vj?w, which even God himfelf is bound by ; not upon account of any Authority fuperiour to his own, but upon, account of the ejfemial Rectitude and Pcrfedion of his Na- ture : For tho' as God's Power is InfinitCy and he mighfc if he pleas'd do every thmg that is conceivable to be done,- yet he will not do any thing, but what his Wifdom {hall judge fit to be done. Aiii this Fitnefs does ariie, partly from die Nature of God himfelf, and partly from the different Relations which things bear to one ano- ther. Now 'tis impoffible that 6W lliould aEh either unfuitably to his own Nature, or incongrmufly with re-' gard to the Capacities and Powers of the feveral Parts of the Creation. For a Wtfe, and a fowerful God cannot be fuppos'd to aB Injudicioufly, or Weakly^ nor a trm God C as he Ihall be hereafter prov'd to be ) Fallacioufly* And iince [it has pleas'd God to create fuch a World as this is, wherein all the different Parts are fo corwriv^d as to be conducive to the Good of the Whole ; he can- not be fuppos'd to break in upon his own Defign, and to be a Patron of thofe Enormities, which diflurb the publick Peace, and oppofe the Good of the World he has created. Now fince there is fiich a Relative Fitnefs and Congruity in the Nature of things with one another, as makes the ading agreeably thereto the moft proper ; it cannot be conceiv'd but that God Almighty fliould, in all his divine Proceedings, obferve the moft exaft Con- formity to it >■ for every intelligent Being whatfoeverj. does gd according to thefe Rules, fo far forth as he is not 'u>)ith an At n^i^T. 455 Ihindred by fome Defcd: either of Power or Vndcrjl.tndmgy or by a Will vitiated nnd dcprav'd by il! Habits. Then certainly Almightj Gody who is enda'd with an injinite Wtfdom to know the moikfit xid proper Means conducing TO every End, will n:ver profecute his Hnds by uf^Jit or improper ones. He that is vefted with an Omnipotent Power, whereby he is able to malie every thing bend to his Pur- pofe, v.'ill never apply to Methods unequal to his D^- jligns, or whofe Efficacy can either be defeated or difpu- ted : He that is perfcBly true md faithful-, will never have Rccourfe to Means defbiidive of Ins Creation, or injurious to it, and thereby contrary to the efTential Pro- perties of his own Nature. From all which, we may as firmly conclude the Hobiefsof Gody as we do his Exifience. Therefore the old Heathens were inexcufable, who attri- buted lc7i>d and vicious y^ciiom to their Gods : Nor is their Opinion lefs condemnable, who make God the Amhor of Sin-, by flying that he pofitively decrees it. The former Opinion is vanifli'd and gone out of the World, fince the fpreading of the Gofpel, and the latter has no other Support or Defence but an Aflertion equally contrary to Truth and Reafon, viz,. That God does not ivill Things, becaufe they are antecedently good ; but that they are thciefore good, becaufe he ivilh them. But this is as ab- furd as to fay, that God wills his own Nature-, and that he is, becaufe he would he j which is to make him to he before he is. For fince a great Part of the Goodnefs or Illnefs of Actions, does depend upon their Stiitahlenefs or ^nfuitablenefs to the divine Nattire-, there muft of Necef- flry have been, from all Eternity, a certain ReBitndey or Pravitj, upon tlie Suppofition of fuch Aftions, which fnufl be cither pleajing or difpleafng to the divine Mind ; and therefore God could never will fuch Actions which he did from all Eternity forcfee the leaft Pravity or Obliquity in. I have been the longer, Phyftus, upon this Head, be- catife the greatefl Part of Religion is founded upon this Attribute of God, and unlefs Men have true Notions thereof, they cannot have fuch a juft Senfe of the Diffe- 456 A Confer e nce rence of Good and EviU nor fiich reverential Conceptions: of the Deifjy as may enable them to pay him that reafo- nable Service which his Excellency and PHrltj require. True. And now we further proceed to prove, that God is True or Ernhfal. By the Truth of God we underftand a Conformablenefs of his Word to his Mind, and of his Mtnd to the Nature of Things. So that God not ooly Jias a ferfecl Knoivledge of all Things really as they are, which is grounded upon the Infallibility of his Imelled ; but when he is pleafed to make any Declaration thereof to us, his Words are agreeable to his Mind; and Thingi nre, or fhall be, juft as he defcribes or pronounces of them. Therefore whenever God makes a Revelation of Things unknown before, they are txad:ly (6 as he reprefents them ; when ',e exprelTes to us his Dcfire of any Thing he would have done by us, he does really take a Satisfad:ion in our doing it J- when he forbids us the doing any Ad:ion, he certainly bea-s a Diflike thereto, or perceives fome In- convenience therein, which would render it prejudicial to us, v/henever he predicts any Thing, it fhall certainly come to pafs, unlefs it be fomerhing that has a Condition annexed to it; in which Cafe, the Condition not being perform'd, the Prophecy is verify'd, tho' the Thing do v.ol come to pafs. Now that fuch Truth doth ejfentially belong to the divine Nature, may be demonftrated firll I'rom God's Gmnifciencc : Becaufe he that knows all Things, cannot be deceived in any Thing, fb as to put a Fallacy upon his Creatures through Ignorance or Mifiake : And lince there is an ejfential RcBitude and Holinefs in his Na- itire, lie cannot be thought to put a Cheat upon his Ciea- tures out of Dcfign, Nay, all thofe Wcaknejfes and Im- verfdiio -s which may tempt Caeatures to Fraud and injin- cere Dealings nre not to be found m an allperfeEl and all^ powerful Creator. IVlen are incited to utter Falfehoods by the Piofpc-fl of Advantage, or fcar'd into Infincerity by jFears o( Danger or Djfafter : But iht glorious and ever- hleflcd God, can have no farther Improvements of his Fe- iicity m View, nor be under any Apprehensions of having his Glo}y dmiinifhed. Men we fee will run counter to fomc i^ith an Atheist. 457 fome Promifis with the fame Precipitancy with which they made them; they will violate others through Forget fnl- vefsy Ficklenefs, or Want of Ability to make them good. But none oi thefe Irregularities or Defers, can affed an all-wife and all-powerful Cod, who has infinite Knowledge and Conjiancy to guide him in making any ProwifeSy and m infinite Power to enable him to perform them. In the next Place we proceed to the Proofs of the next Attribute afcribed to the divine Mind, viz, Jufiice. Juflice is the giving every one his Due : Therefore 7«yZ. whatever with Reafon can be faid to be due from ^ Creator to his Creatures, or from Cod himfelf to the infi- nite Dignity of his own Nature, that God Almighty will certainly pay. For not to pay what is due to another, ar»gues ImperfeUion ayidWcahnefs, and is contrary to that Wifdom andHolinefs which we before demonftrated to be ejfentially inherent in the divine Nature. The only thing herein further to be proved, is. That God is obliged to maintain the Honour and Dignity of his own Nature from being infultedi and not to fuffer one Part of Mankind to injure another. But we have the general Confent of all Mankind to vouch for the Truth of thefe Particulars, who have agreed to beg Pardon of God, and to deprecate the Punifhment which they are perfuaded his yufiice would otherwife infli^ upon our violating his Com- mands ; and to appeal to the "^fufiice and Vengeance of God, whenever they are injur d by their Fellow-Creatures, Now this general Opinion of the World, in all Ages, is ground- ed upon very good Reafon. For if God has given the World any Lau>s (as all Mankind almoft believe, and I fliall by and by prove he has) we muft fuppofe that he, as well as other Legiflators, muft keep up thefe La:uxs by SanElions, which alone will engage Men to the Obferva-^ tion of them : And the Rewarding and '^unifimg according to the Tenour of thefe San^ions, is what we call the divine yufiice. Bcfides, without this he could not main- tain the Charader of a Creator, which would very ill con- fift with permitting one Part of his Creatures, with abfo- lute Impunity, to injure the other. The 458 A Conference Good, or The Goodncfs or Beneficence of God, may be eafily in- benejiant. ^^xx^A Irom the foregoing Attributes and Properties of' the ^af/'t'w^ Nature. As a Creator of fo pompous and magnifi-' cent a Strufture as the /^^-/-^ is, he has given us a no lefs illuftrioHsTeftmony of his Goodnefs, than of his JVtfiom and Pojwr ; the inteile^ual Part whereof efpecially, nuifl: needs by their very Framey appear defigned as no other than Objetls of his Beneficence. Infomuch as this amiable At- tribute may juftly be efleemed one chief Motive to Jiis exerting his Omnipotence in the farpriling Works of the Creation. For he could have no View in it to any new Jncreafci either of his own Happinefs or Glory. For what could a thoufand M'Wlds contribute towards enhancing that ejfential and confitmrnafe Felicity which he had from all Eternity enjoy 'd? Or what new Acceflions to his Glory. could he derive from the Praifes and Hallelujahs often thoufand Choirs of .Men or Angels i* Not that this Good- nefs does flow from him by the blind Laws of fatal Necef- fity-i but is governed by the ivife Determinations of the ^;'- 'Vine Wdl-i to be exhibited at fuch Times, and in fuch Manner, as his infinite Wifdom lliall dired and appoint j which naturally leads me to the Confideration of another Property or ejfential Quality of the divine Nature^ which you did not mention, viz,. ^ Yree -An entire Liberty and Freedom of ABion ; which we ^^e»t. fhall al/b prove to be an infeparable Property of the divine EJfence. Whatfoever is the prime Caufe of all Things, muft be free : For whatfoever is a nccejfary Caufcy mufl be an infirumentd Caufe, at leaft a fecondary one : For a Caufe which is under any Degrees oiNeccffuyy cannot be fa^ to dh fo much, as to be aUed upon ; and confequently is fubjed to the Caufality of fome/>mr Caufe, which de- ftroys the Suppofition of its being the prime Caufe. So that i^ God be the prime Caufe^ (as we have already prov'd him to be) he is ^ifree Agent. Again, if Go^ be not a free Agenty there is nothing in the World that now is, that could not have beeny or have been any otherwife than it now is ; and nothing in the whole Courfe of ISfAtHrs could adniic of any Fkimon. There muft of Neceffity ^j>jith aw Atheist. 4.59 Neccljitj be juft fiich a Number of Men, and fuch a Number and Species of other Animals and Vegetables : The Earth could not have been an Inch bigger or lefe than it is : The Planets could not have mov'd in either greater or leffer Circles, or in Planes more or lefs parallel to the Plane of the Ecliptick, than they do now. But it is not in the leaft repugnant to Reafon, to fuppofe that there might have been a thoufand Diverlifications in thefe Particulars (if the divine Wtfdom had fo determined) with-, cut any Prejudice to the Nature of Things. The da- ring Affertion of that philofophical Prince, who was fo bold as to fay, If God had confulted htm when he made tha World, he would have told him how to have made it better ; tho' a flagrant Inftance of the higheft Prefumprion and Arrogance in arraigning the divine Wifdom, yet manifeftly implies this other Quality, and allows the Creation to be entirely free, in fuppofing he might have difpofed Things in another Order than what we fee them : And tho* we muft in Humility and Truth, acknowledge our felves in- capable of contriving Things better than they are, yet this does not fliew, that God is not 2. free Being, but that he is an infinitely wife one. Laftly, if God were not a free Agent, all the Canfalitiei proceeding from him would be infinite : For an infinite Caufe a<51:ing neceffarily, miift produce an infinite EffeEh\ for i\-\Q EffcB muft be of the fame Nainre with the Catife^ unlefs there were a free Wilt in the Cattfe difpofing it to produce Effects different from its own Nature. So that if God be of Necefjity the Caufe of Men, Trees, Horfes, ^c. he muft produce an infinite Number of Men, Trees, Horfes, Cy^c. which is both falfe and abfurd. Therefore we may juftly conclude, that fince God was the efficient Caufe of the World, and might either have made it at this Time, or that Time, or not at all ,* thac fmce he might have contriv'dthe Frame of the feveral Parts of the Univerfe (if he hadpleas'd) in different Manners from what it i<; : And laftly, fince we are certain that many of the Effe^s of the divine Nature are finite, which could not proceed from a Caufe that is infinite, were it not alfo/r fuch an incon- ceivable Sf(K€ of Tims y in all m^mier oiPoJitiom, Whilft k 4^1 A GoNFEIlkNCE it was In irregular Vofitions-i it was a Chaos ; when through various Trhks and Bounces, it had once jump'd into regu^ Ur ones, and the Frame wherein we now fee it, 'tis what we call a World. This is likewife curioufly and empha- tically argued by the forementioned moft excellent Au- thor, where he fayS) ISIam certe neq; ConfJio Trimcrdia "Rerfiw Or dine fe cjMag; atq^J.igaci Mente locnrHnt^ Ncc quos quxq] d.ircnt Motus^ pepigcre f)rofeB» : Scd quU WHltw.odiSj rKuUis mutata^ per omne Ex infmito vexmtur pcrcita plagis^ Oir.ne genus Aiottis^ O" Cactus expcrlundo Tandem dcveniunt in talcii Dijpofituras OHalihtiS hicc Rebus conftjVn JHmma create ; Et nmltos etiam magnos fervata per annos^ Ut femel in Aiotus conjccia efi Convenienteis^ 8cc. Lib. I, Toy fure mthin^ng Seeds did ne'er difpofe Themfelves by Counfel, nor their Oi-der chop. Nor any Compact made how each fhould move. But from Eteryial through the Vacuum ftrove i Varioufly mov'd and turnd, until at laft, Moft Sorts oi Motion, and o^Vnion paft. By Chance to that convenient Order hurl'dj Which frames the Beings that compofe the Wbrldi And thefe fame Seeds v\o\v orderly maintain'd In thofe convenient Amotions they have gain'd, &c, Creech* Cred. One would have thought that the antient Phf- lofophers, the Platonijis and Stoicks, h^d fo folidly confu- ted this ^tomick^Atheifm of the Epicureans, that it would never have been able to have held up its Head again : But there is nothing fo ftupid or abfurd, but, if their Lufts and PalTions can be thereby gratify'd, will find Abetters in a licentious Age. But in anfwer to thefe Epicnrem Arguments, I Ihall (hew you, [I . That isjith an At HEIST. ^6^ 1. That the Frame and Contexture of the Vniverfcy '\s fo far from deferving the Reproach of thofe Defeats and Imperfe^iom your Cavils would charge it with, that eve- ry Part of it manifeftly difcovers as a wofi noble and ma(r- nificent Defi^n^ fo a mofl exqui/ite W'tfdom and Sagacity \n the Contrivaijce. 2. That Matter and Motion could not only not make this admirable Collection of fo vaft a Number of regularly formd Beings which compofe the Vniverfe, but they of themfelves are not able to produce one fingle Animal. Before I proceed to whichj I will beg Leave to recite to you a Piece of Cicero's Reafoning upon this Head, in his Book de Nat. Dear. Htc ego non mirer ej[e quenquamy &:c. " How can I but admire there fhould be any Man '* in the World who could 'perfuade himfelf that certain " folid and indivifible Bodies, endow'd with no Quality *' but their Motion and Gravity, fhould be able by their *' fortuitous Concourfe, to frame this noble and beautiful *' World ? A Man that can think this, I don't fee but " he may be brought to believe, that if a vaft Numbei- of " the Figures of the one and twenty Letters fliould be " caft in Gold, or any other Metal, and at random ** thrown upon the Ground, they fliould fall into the *« Order of the Annah of Ennius, fo as to be diftindlly *' read i tho' 1 believe it to be above the Power of Chance •* to make one Verfe. " Then how do thefe Men pofitively alTert, that a <* whole World is compos'd of little Corpufcles wirhoirt *' Colour j without Quality, cafually meeting together^ ** without the leaft Forecafi or Dejign of any one? Nay, •* that innumerable Worlds are continually made by this « Means, whereof fome are always rifing up, and others *' decaying ? But if a Concourfe of Atoms be able to make «« a World, why cannot it make a Horfe, a Temple, a '< Piazzay or a City ? Thefe Things have much lefs La- •' hour in them, and are much eafier to be done. And " indeed thefe People talk fo fillily about the World, that ** they do not feem ever to have given themfelves the *^ Trouble of confidering the admirable Fi^rniture of the * Heavens. 464 ^Conference *' Heavens. 'Tis excellently well faid o£ Arijiotle, if *' there were (fays he) any Inhabitants under the Earth who ** fjould live in fine Houfes there, all furnifh' d (as the Hou- *' fei of great A-^en ttfe to he) with Statues, P inures, and *' other rich Moveables ', whofijouid have heard from Fame !^* and Report^ that there was a divine Power or Deity ^ and <* if after this, the Caverns of the Earth being laid open, *^ thefe Perfons fjjould ijfue from their dark. -Abodes, and ** mounting theje upper Parts of the Earth, jhouldview the «* Bright ncfs, and tajle the Refrepments of our z/£theri " when on a/uddain they fiiould have a f^teiu of the Earthy *' the Seas, and the Heavens ; jvhen they JJjould confider the «< Greatnefs of the Clouds, and the Force of the Winds, when *' they fJ)ofild behold the Sun, and come to underftand his <« Greatnefs, Beauty, and Influence, that to his genial Rajs *' we owe a thoujand Produ^wns of Nature, as 7vell as ti> •' his diffusd Lujlre the Splendour of the Day ; and 7vhen, *'' to recompenfe his Ab fence, and qualify the gloomy Horrori *« of the JVight, they fhould fee all the Heavens deckt and *' befpangled With Stars i when they f}?ould obferve the va- «< rious Phafes of the Moon, fometimcs increafing, andfome- " times decreafmg, together with the Rijing and Setting of " all thefe in Jbfix'd and unchangeable Courfes, as not to be ^' in the Uafi alter din the longefl Space ofTimt : When they «* fliould behold thefe Things, they would then thiuk^ there " were Gods indeed, and .that all this was the Workfnanfjjip *' and Contrivance of fuch excellent Beings, as before they *' had heard of* The Latin Orator purfues this Argument ; " Now ** (continues he) as in that temporary Darknefs once , «* occafioned by a fulphureous Eruption of Mount *' ^y£tna, whereby the neighbouring Countries are faid " to have been obfcur'd to that Degree, that for two •' Days together no Man could know another; when at •* laft the SiiH had prevail d, and difperfed the dark " Cloud, had r^ftor'd his chearino Light to the Eyes of " thofe bcwildied In'.ahitants; how could it but ap- " pear to them a kind of Return from the Shades of ^ Death ? So could we fuppofe our felves from a pre- i ** cedeut with an At HE I ST. 465 '* cedent eternal Darknefs, to be on a fudden furpriz'd ** with the dazling Brightnefs of this great Luminary of ** the World, what a glorious Figure would that of the ** Heavens appear to be ? But Men's Eyes being accuf" *' tom'd to this Sight, it grows ordinary and familiar to *' their Minds ; fo that they don't admire, nor are folli- ** citous to know the Caufes of what they always fee ; as •* if the Novelty of Things ought more to excite our " Curiofity than their Beauty, Ufe, or Greatnefs. ** But who can efteem him a Man, who when he be- ** holds the regular Motions of the Heavens, the efta- *' blifh'd Orders of the Stars, fo excellently conneded •* and fitted among themfelves, fhall deny that thefe *' Things were formed by Reafon, but affert them to be *' the Produds of blind Chance ? When yet the moft *' fagacious Reafon in the World cannot penetrate into " the Wifdom by which they were created. " When we obferve the Motion of a Machine, e. g, *' A Sphere, or a Clock, or feveral other Things of the *' like Nature, we make no doubt to fay thefe are the *' Works of Reafon : But when we behold the rapid " Motions of the heavenly Bodies, which, tho' whirl'd ** about with fuch incredible Celerity, yet perform their " periodical Revolutions with the utmoft Exa(51:nefs for *' the Happinefs and Confervation of all Things j can *' we entertain any Doubt that thefe Things are brought *' about by Reafon j nay, that they are the Effeds of «' the moft excellent and divine Reafon/"' By this Way of Reafoning, Phyjius, we may eafily perceive in what Efteem this wild Notion of the Epicure" a»s was amongft the wifeft and moft learned of the An- tients : And furely the extreme Stupidity and Abfurdity of fuppofing the World (a prodigious Colledion of Parts^ as various in their Nature, as regular and bemtiful in their Difpojttion) to be the Ejfe^ of Chance, is fo evident to common Senfe, as fhould not only make ouxfine Gentlemen afham'd of it, but fhould banilh it out of tli^e Thoughti and Converfation of all rational Creatures, H h Phjf. Here ^.66 u4 Conference Phyf, Here is a little Mifreprefentation, Credentm, and we have Reafon to complain of unfair Dealing, We do not fay that all the Parts of the World are void of Beantr and Elegance-^ but that a. great Part of them are fo. And then we fuppofe that the Defers and Irregularities of (b many Parts of the Vniverfe, are a ftronger Argument a- gainfl; that fublime Wiidom and Power which you con- tend for, than all the fine beautiful Things you have, or may mention, can poffibly be for it : And therefore we conclude, that it is much more agreeable to Reafon, to attribute all thefe Things to Chance, which from fuch an iyifinite Varietj oi Matter, and in an infinite Space ofTime^ may produce many Things orderly and regular', than to afcribe that EffeEl, wherein the leaft Inconfiflency appears, to an eternal all-ivife Mind, whofe very Idea excludes all Error, all Defe^, all Imferfe^ion. It would be tedious and fuperfluous to recount all the Irregularities of the Vniverfe, which as they are numerous, fo are they ob- vious to the moft curfory Obferver. Lucretius has touch d upon feveral of them, with his ufual Juftnefs and Elegance. Principio qHAntHW C^^li tegit impetus ingens ? ^ Indz avidam p.incm Ahmes^ Sy'vxq; feramm Pojjidere^ tenent R^tpes^ vajheq; F.dndeSy Et Mare qi^od late 1l err arum difiinet orat : Inde dtias porro prope partes fervlius Ardor AJidmfq: Gelt cajns Mortalil'AS anfert. Lib. 5. For firft, the heav'nly Tradls what Creatures fill? Why Beafts in ev'ry Grove and iTiady Hill ? Pools take up Part, and Part tlie Ocean's Tide, Whofe fpreading Waves the diftant Shores divide : Two Parts in three the Torrid Zone doth burn, Or Frigid chill, and all to Defarts turn. He goes on and tells you, that the few remaining Parts of the Earth, capable of ?fFording any Reception to their vifl;le Lord, and a». mittirg of /.^k^^« Inkahitants, are all fo "With an Atheist. 467 (b harbarom, rttde, and unfirmtftil, that 'tis impoffible they ihould proceed from that Liberality and diffufivc Goodnefi which is inherent in the Deity, efpecially from that dar- ling u4ttribfttey his Philanthropy, and benevolent Concern for his Kindred Man, not only the IJfue of his Powery but the Tranfcript of his Perfe^ions, the Char£e of Provi- dencCi and ihtfecaliar Care oi Heaven, QhocI fptper efl Arvi^ trnien id Natura fa^ vi Sentibns ohdncat^ ni vis Htimana reftfiat^ Vital causd^ valido conjueta, hidenti Jngcrere^ et Terram prejfis profcindere aratris. Ibid. And all the other Fields what would they breed If let alone, but Briars, Thorns, or Weed ? Thefe are their proper Fruits, this Nature wou'd, % Did not laborious Mortals toil for Food, > And tear, and plough, and force them to be good :} Did they not tear the Clods v/^irh crooked Share, By frequent Torments forcing them to bear. My Author proceeds, and Ihews you, that even when through indefatigable Induftry, and the Imksf Concurrence of kindly Seafons, and other accidental Cau/eSy every Thing feems to favour the Labourer's Wifhes, and to promife a plentiful Return to his Pains and Toil ; all at iaft by fome ttnluckjy Hit or other is defeated, his Hopes are nipp'd, and his promis'd Harveft blafted by too much Heat, or Wet, or Wind. Et tamen interdum magno qnafita lahorcy Cum jam per terras frondent^ atq-, omnia florent ; Ant nimiis torret fcrvoribm c^therias Soly A'-it JHhiti perimant Imhres^ gelid^qi Prmna^ Tlahraq) Ventornm violento tttrhine vexant. Nay often too, when Man with Pains and Toil Has got the better of th' wnvilling Soil^ Hh* Whea 4-68 A Conference WhenFlow'rs put forth, and budding Branches flioot, Look gay, and promife the defired Fruit -, The fcorching Sun with his too bufy Beams Dryes up theFruit^, or Clouds drown with their Streams* Or chill d with too much Snow they foon decay. Or Storms blow them and all our Hopes away. And may we not juflly expoftulate with him, how fuch a monftrous Brood of wild Beafts and noxious Ani- mals, the Rage of Difeafes, and undiftinguifhing Death, fhould be fuffer'd to infefl: the Earth, to blemifh the Face of Things, make Nature hideous, and deform the Work of an dl-perfe^ Mind I Tr^eterca genm horrificum Natnra Ferarum H'^^i^nie Genti infejlnm^ terraq; 'marlq; Cur dit atq; mget Z cur Ann'i tempore morhos yipportcint f qaare Mors mmatura vagAtur f But farther, why fliould Parent Nature breed Such hurtful Animals? Why fliould flie feed Deftrudive Beafts ? how could fuch Monfters grow. Did the l^nd Gods difpofe of Things below ? Why Plagues t' all Seafons of the Year belong ? And why lliould hafty Death deftroy the Young ? Add to this that partial Diftribution which is fo vifi- ble in the Difpofal of the Condition and Circumftances of Life allotted to the pretended Favourite of A^^/»r^> Man; in all her Difpenfations towards him, we may obferve more of the Severity of a crnelMiJirefs, at leaft the Indif- ference of a Stepmother, than the AfFedion and Tender- nefs of an indulgent Parent to her darling Offspring. Ke iflues from the Womb with Cries and Lamentations, is a long Time wholly infenfible of his Beings and equally in- capable of procuring rhe leaft of the Necejfaries for the Support of it : In a Word, he is wretched and helplefs to a Degree beyond all other Creatures. 'Tis furely highly irrational, as well as indecent, to charge infinite Wifdom, with an Atheist. 46^ Wifdom, yuflice, and Goodnefsy with fuch ftrange Ineqm- litp unworthy the Weaknefs of vain corrupt Man. 'Turn porro fuer^ ut fcevis projeElus ah Undis NaviUj nudns humi jacet^ Infans^ indigus ontni V it all Auxil'w^ quam prmum in luminis or as Nixihtis ex Alvo Matris Natura profudit^ VagitHqi locum hguhri complet ; Hi aquum eji Cm tantum in Vtt^ reflet tranfire malorum. At vari.t crefcant Pccudes^ Armenia^ Fer^q; Nee Crepitacula eis opa' junt^ nee caiq; adhibenda eft Al»iife Creator would doubtlefs have affigned them. Befides, Creatures, the Levity of this Argument, and its manifeft InconrpC" tency (even fuppofing the Truth of what it infinuates) to prove what 'tis brought for, it wholly turns upon a MiA take ; and had Lucretius had the Advantage of thofe Dis- coveries which experimental Philofophy has fince his Time made to the World, he would fcarce have made ufe of fuch an ObjcElion ; and therefore the Ignorance, or Impu* dence of thofe who urge it now, is fo much the more aftoniihing and inexcufable. By the Affiftance of Mi- crofcopes there is a vaft deal more of Life difcover'd in Nature, than the Ancients were acquainted with. In a fmall Quantity o£ fiagnating Water, dt putrifyd Fleff^y over-ripe Fruit, &c. there are more Animals to be aif- cerned, than the Philofiphers of thofe early Times imagi- ned there were in the whole Creation : And that there are Myriads of living Creatures yet undifcovered, whofe Minutenefs may efcape the Scrutiny of the moft exqui- fite Opticks both of Nature and Art, may be not impro- bably conjeftur'd. So that from objeding the Scarcity of Ttihabitams, we ihould rather fall to admiring and adoring the diffufive Goodnefs, znd fiupendous Fecundity of the di" vifte ^ith an At HEIST. 47 1 vifte Natffre, fo illuftrioufly difplay*d in fuch numerom Orders of Irving Creatnresy which in their feveral Ways ceafe not moft effedrually to proclaim the Being; to cele- brate the Praifes, and confefs the Bounty of their muni- ficent Creator. And how ridiculous is the Complaint that this great Expanfffm of the Air, or Sky, is nothing elfe but a vn^ ffffpty Space? How are you fure it is fo ? And if it were, where would be the Hurt of it ? Dogmatically to aflert or deny any thing of that which we are fo little acquaint- ed with, is certainly a great Piece of Arrogance. For any thing you or I know, Phjjius, vaji Shoals of jinimd' Cftles may be fwimming about in the liquid <[/£thery as Hfhes do in the Sea. Nay, the Body of tht filar Fkme itfelf, and every Planet, may have their refpedive Com- plement of Inhabitants. But were it otherwife, where would be the Mifchief ? Where would be either the Reproach to the divine Wifdom and Goodnejs, or the Pre- judice to other Beings ? Would you think the Air more wholefome for being thickened with Swarms of Flies I Nay, when God, to ferve the Ends of his own Provi- dence, has rais'd up vaft Multitudes of thofe Animalcules, and fent them in Floats through the Air, have not Sick- neffes and Plagues generally folio w*d upon them? At leaft, have they not prov'd fo vexatious and troublefome, ^at People have been willing to compound with the Lofs of feveral other Conveniencies of Life, to be rid of the great Uneafinefs ? And where is the Abfinrdityy or the Inconfijlency with the Divine Wifdom^ to fuppofe this fpacioHS Fault over our Heads, to be wholly void of In- habitants ? Muft thefe vafi Spaces be therefore deemed ttfelefsy the Autlior a Being without Thought or Deji^n, and the "whole Workj\o other than the Effe^ of the foriu- ftous Jumblings ofjlupid Matter ? Be pleafed only to re- fleft how neceflary 'tis that there fliould be a conveni- ent Diftance between each of the Planets, for the more Regular and uninterrupted Performance of their feverd * Motions aud Revolutions. The Intervals between the Sun fmd Moony and other Planets, are vajllj extenjive ; true j H h 4 and ^ya A Conference and the "Bodm that move therein are alfo of aprodiglom Magnitude, and require a proportionate Space to perform their Motions in. To find fault with all that Matter which makes up the Compares of thefe great Bodies, and reprefent the vaji Space which is required for them freely to revolve in, as an empty, ufelefs Defert, is as abfurd as to quarrel with the Bulkjmd Figure of the feveral Bodies of Men, Horfis, and Elephants, that they differ amongft themfelves, and that there is a profufe Wafte of Mate- rials, becaufe the Bodies of thefe Animals are made bigger than thofe of Flies and Mites. If God Almighty, out of his infinite Wifdom and Sagacity, has determined to form drverfe Clajfes of Beings, of a jkhrdinate Bnlk^, one under another, hemuft, by the /ame Rules of JVifdom, contrive fuch convenient Methods for their Subjlfience and Opera- tions, as are agreeable to their refpe^ive Natures. id. Trom Your next Quarrel is with the Hills, Mountains, and the ufeful- Rocks, which you would reprefent as monftrous Excrefien- nefs of Hills ^-^^^ ^^ BlemiJJjes of Nature, and Deformities of the Vni^ 1'ains and' '^^'^fi ' whofe_/?^f/? Precipices, and rugged Cliffs, give Hor- Koch. ror to the Sight, whofe capacious Wombs perpetually teem with roaringWtnds, which ever and anon they difcharge in dreadful Hurricanes, hurling wild Defolation all about> and whofe towering Summits, lodg'd in Clouds, become the hideous Manfions of eternal Storms* Is this the Language of a Philo/opher, a Confiderer ^ Nature, and a Reafoner upon Caufes ? That unconfind Va- riety which entertains our Eyes which Way (oever we look, ihews the Gaiety of Nature, the Riches of her Thought, and the nnbonnded Invention of her Mind. Thofe Spedlades which you fuppofe give Horror, ftrike us ra- ther with an awful Reverence; appear, methinks, like flately Monuments of the Magnificence and Grandour of their Author, and the weary Traveller himfelf at once pants and admires. And had your Infidelity a Power eqi^al to that afcrib'd to Faith, fo as you could level thefe Hill.s or remove thefe Mountains, and bury their lofty Heads in the Sea, what would you gain thereby but the dull cloying View of one uniform Flatf In vain would with an Ax heist. 473 would you roam over the extended Plain in quefl of No- velty ; the fame Objeds would ftill falute you, and every Day prefent you with the languid Profped of the fameunvary'd Level, whofe diftant Bounds indeed would| feem to reach the Skies, whilft you fhould in vain pur-| fue the fleetmg Sammit, which, like the Squirrel's Wheelj would elude your Toil, and ftill you muft fweat and wander in the Bottom. Nay, whatever of Beamy the moft variegated Plains afford, we muft owe the Difco- very of it to thefe Eminencies, themfelves remaining con- fefs'd no fmall Part of the Beauty and Ornament of the whole. But the Magnificence and Beauty of thefe StruBures is not a Confideration of fo much Merit and Importance^ "as the noifle and excellent Purpofes for which their all-wife ArchiteEh has defign'd them. Thefe lofty Eminencies break the Winds, and skreen us from their Fury, with- out which we fhould be expofed to the Rage ofTempejis in a more fatal Degree at Land, than they are at Sea, and to fuch violent Hurricanes^ not only at the Equinoxes, but at other Seafons of the Year, as would create us incredi- ble Mifchiefs, If thefe did not ftop the Clouds m their Paflage to the KForth oi South, the diurnal Motion of the \ Earth would force moft of them to the Poles, before they difcharg'd the Rain, whereby vaft Tra^s of Land between the tivo Tropicki, would be parch'd with Drought j and rendred unfruitful. We owe to the Hills the Bene- fit of Brooks and Rivers : And to the Rocks we owe thofc fruitful Beds of Stones and Minerals, which fupply us with Materials for building and adorning our Houfes and for making thofe Vtenfils which fcrve fo many Pur- pofes and Conveniencies of Human Life. To reproach the Tvj^w^of the World, on account of '^^- '^rcm that great Mafs of Waters which compofe the Ocean, that ^^^ Jf^(^ it \s fuperfluous and ufelefs, is equally unphilofophical with Sea. the reft of your Objections, fpringing frcm the fame dark Fountain oi Ignorance, or Want of Attention to the Ends and Vfes to which thofe vajl liquid Trcafures are appoint- ed. Were there no Sea at all, or did it^ not bear tlie fime 4.74 -^ Conference fame Proportion it does to the Bulk^ of the Earth, there muft needs follow a confiderable DiminHtion of the Va- pours, which being exhaled from it, defcend in refrejhing Dews and Showers; and confequently the Earth muft be depriv'd of a great Portion of that Moijiure which is ne-p ccfTary to feed her Jukes, and nourilh her Plants and Fruits: The Rivers (which are, as it were, the vitai Blood of this great Body) muft in all Places run very ftial- low, and fome by this Means muft have their Channels quite dry. 4th. Tronk The Woods, which you think fo great a Blemilh to theUfelef- jj^g Creation, are indeed not only Ornaments thereof, mods and^'^^ wonderfully ufeful to Mankind. How convenient the Variety and refreftiing a Shade do they afford in the hotter Cli* *f noxious mates, and warmer Seafons of the Year ! And what Art ■^imals, gj^j Labour is ufed in the Gardens of great Men, to form a faint Imitation of the fame Convenience ! Hence we are fupplied with Fuel for our domeftick Ufes, and Tim-^ ber for the building our Ships and Houfes. And fo wifely has Providence ordered it, that Woods grow ge- nerally in fuch Places, where other Plants will not fo con- veniently flourifh j fome on Moraffes, and others on the Tops of craggy Hills: Nay, it is obfervable, that the Firs and Cedars, the moft ufcfnl and beautiful of the Sjhan Race, take Root in the Summits of cold Moun-^ tains, and extrad: Nourifliment from fuch rocky Stones, as no Tool can enter, no Labourer can pierce. Your other Objedions againft the Wifdom of the Creation, are taken from the Variety of venomous and noxious Animals, and the many Labours and Calamities to which our mortal Condition i^ expofed ; but thefe are all built on a falfe Suppofition, viz,. That the prefent State of the World is the fame with that in which it was originally created; whereas I have in my Conference with your Friend Philologus^ clearly demon ftrated the contrary, and proved that the Earth has, for the Sin of our Firft Parents, been fubjefted to a Curfe, and divef^ ted of its primaeval Beauty and Perfedion : And all the Calamities to which Mankind are expofed, are the fatal, bus "with an Atheist. but juft EfFeds of the Tranfgreflion of that moft eafy Law given to the Protoplaji in Paradife, and therefore cannot be urged as Objedions againft the Wifdom or Goodnefs of our Creator. Indeed all the Obje^lions I have ever met with againft the divine Contrivance of the World, from Gentlemen of your Complexion and Kidney, appear to proceed from no other than either a Principle of An'ogance and Prefump- tion, (a haughty Difdain of Talking or Thinking like other Men, a wild Ambition of being the Authors or Leaders of a Seft;) or from the foul, impure Source of their Lufts and Paflions ; which receive fome Encourage-, ment from this Chance-medley IVork^ which they would make of the Creation; whilft the Purfuit of them muft meet with many Checks and Interruption from the con- trary Notion o£zJupreme aU-ivifi Being, who, as the jiti- thor and Maker of all thefe Things, muft govern them by certain I.,aufs and RuleSy confonant to their refpedive Qualities and Natures, and confequently with Regard to z\\ voluntary rational Agents, muft be a ftrid Obferver and uivenger of all Impiety and Sin. Were our Minds defalcated and freed from the bafe Tindure of thefe corrupt Appetites and Pajjions, inftead of cavilling at the Frame of Nature, we fhould rather admire the excellent Order and Contrivance of it, and adore that infinite Wifdom which alone could produce a Work fo exquifitely perfed. How can we but with Reverence and Wonder con- template the illuftrious Splendour, the unaccountable Fa," riety, and the harmonious Order of the heavenly Bodies? What can give us a more exalted Idea, either of the Mag" nificence or Wifdom of that Defign which form'd thela pining Orbs, than to view and confider them in that Site and AfpeU m which the more improv'd Difcoveries of modern Aftronomy have reprefented them ? For Exam- ple, to obferve this Syftem in which we live, the beau- tiful and orderly Diftribution of the feveral Planets, with the Conftancy and Regularity of their refpedive Mo- tions* In 475 476 ^ Conference Tht sm. In the Center is placed the Body of the S^m^ a prodi- gious Glohe of Fire, above 494,000 Afiles in Diameter* which is near 70,000 times as big as the Earth. Mmury. Next to the Sm, in a little Circle comparatively to the rell, moves the Planet Mercury, being diftant therefrom about 21,000,000 of Miles. It revolves about the Sun in 88 Dajs\ fo that the Year to the Inhabitants of that Planet (if it has any) is not longer than 3 Months, or about I of ours 1 and probably their Days are proporti- onably fhorter, tho' the precife Length thereof on ac- count of this planet's near Vicinity to the Sun, often pre- venting it's being feen, has not been yet determin'd. Venus. Next to this, in a larger Circle, moves the Planet Venus, whofe Diameter \s computed ar 4941 Miles ; itsDiftance from the Sun at near 40,000,000 of Miles, about which it makes it's periodical Circmt in 2 24 Days, 1 8 Hours, the Year there being 7 Months and \. -Earth md At a farther Diftance from the Sun, in a ftill larger Meon. Circle, moves the Earth, the Planet which we inhabit. Its Diameter is about 8000 Miles; it revolves about the Sun in 3(^5 Days, 6 Hours, which is the Length of our Year. It turns about its own Centre in 24 Hours, which makes our Day, and is diftant from the Sun about 54,000,000 of Miles. This P/<^»^f has another of /(?^r Magnitude (about a z6th Part of its own Bignefs) hove- ring over it, and never forfaking it during its long Paf- fage round xh^Sun ; which little Planet we call the Moon, of about 200,000 Miles Diftance from the Earth. Mars. If we go farther from the Sun, we have the Planet Mars, about half as big again as the Earth, diftant from the Sun oboMt % 1,1^1,000 Miles, Its Day, or Revo- lution about its Centre, is much the fame with ours, vizj, about 24 Hours ; its Year, or Revolution about the Sun, is <^87 Days, or almoft 2 of ours. The Earth of this Planet feems to be of a blacker Colour than the reft» which makes the Light refleded from it, look of that dusky Red. The Light and Heat which it receives from the Sun, is not above half as much as ours, nor has it any Moony or Jecondaty Planet revolving about it« In 'with «W A T H E I S T. 477. In another Circle, tho' far larger, and at a very great 7«?"^^- Diftance, moves the Aobleft and largeft Plamt of all the reft, called Jupiter. It is upon the fmalleft Cortiputa- tion 60 times as big as the Earth, diftant from the Sun almoft 3 Hundred Millions of Miles. This great PU- net whirls along with it in its Circuit four Moonsy com- monly call'd Satellites^ or Life-Guards to this princely Planet^ fome of which are not lefs than the Earth. The firft, or nigheft to the Planet^ performs its Circuit in fomething more than one Da^ 1 8 Hours. The fccond Satelles in fomething more than 5 Days 1 3 Hours. The third, in 7 Days almoft 4 Hours. The fourth, in i ^ Days, and fomething more than 1 8 Hours. The diur- Tial Revolution of this great Planet about its Axis, is but 10 Hours i tho' its Revolution about the Sun be n of our Tears. Tho' the Sun muft ftrike this Planet, at fo great a Diftance, with a much fainter and more languid Ray than it does our Earth, yet the ftiining of fo many Moons, muft needs give a bright as well as an agreeable Luflre. But in a ftill larger Circle, and vaftly diftant from the Sf^tum. reft, moves the Planet Saturn, di '^flrange znd furprijing Figure. It is not only a round Ball, like the other Pla- >tets, but it has a Hoop of a prodigious Circumference quite round it, at a Diftance from its Globe of | of its Diameter. So that this Vianet" s Inhabitants who live within its Tropicks (for the polar Parts feem uninhabita- ble) have always over their Heads a bright fhining Arch of Light reaching from one Part of the Heaven to the other ', which as it muft make the Nights very glorious, (o in the Day-time, tho' its Splendour, hke that of our Moon, be much abated, yet it imbibes fuch a Portion of Warmth, as to refleft a comfortable Heat upon the In- habitants, whereby the Defed of fo remote a Diftance from the Solar Rajs, is in fome meafure fupply'd, and an additional Occalion given of magnifying the flupendous Wifdom of the divine Contrivance. The Days of Saturn are much about the fame Length with thole of Jupiter, viz,, 10 Hours: But his annual Circuit lound the Sun. is no 478 A Conference no lefs than 50 Tears, He Ins five Moons^ ov Jecondarj PLmetSy revolving about him ; which when they are all at once in the Full (as they are at the Equinoxes of this planet) they, together with the lucid Arch which incir- cles him, muft make fuch a glorious Appearance as to us is inconceivable. If there were nothing elfe remarkable in this 'wondrom StruBnYe of the Vniverje, but the framing thefe Planets fo orderly and exadly, and difpofing them fo as to de- rive all their Li^ht and Heat from the fame Sun ; there were enough to extort the Tribute of our Thanks and Praife for fuch illuftrious Inftances of the divine Wifdom^ Coodnefs, and Poiver. But when we alfo confider thofe excellent Laws of Motion which he has fubjefted them to, and the -proper Diflances he has placed them in, the leaft Deviation from which, would difturb the Oeconomy of the whole, if not involve it in utter Confujion ; it is e- nough to drown all our Thoughts in Wonder and ^00" nijhment, Tf>emutud Another Inftance o^ivife Defign we have in that Pr/«- AttraBion ciple of Gravitation, ox mutual AttraBion^ which the -/^«- of the fe- fljgy. ofN^ure has planted in all Matter or Body, where- "o^^Mmlr^ by not only the fmaller Bodies ihould move towards the cr their ' greater, but the leffer alfo fhould in fome Meafure, and Gravita- in Proportion to their Bignefs, attraU the greater. That '^heT ^^^^ ^^^^ ^" ^^^ ^^ ^^* ^^^^ clearly appear, not only from the Motion of Stones, and other heavy Bodies towards the Earth, which is the greateft Mafs of Matter in this Part I of the Vniverfe, and confequently draws all other Bodiei to it ; but from the Tendency of the Moon towards the Earth, which would be perfedly fucked in, or drawn to it, if the Rapidity of its Motion did not keep it up, ho- vering over ir, and attending it through all its annual Courjes round the Sun ; the like is proved from the Gra^ vitation of the feveral Moons about yupiter and Saturn^ which would not attend the great Globes of thofe Planets in their Revolutions about the Sun, if they were not fo attra^ed by them, that they cannot feparate from them. This mutndAttralUioni or Gravitation of the feveral Parts of *with aw A T H E I s T. 47^ of the Creation upon each other, may therefore be juflly cfteem'd a moft excellent Inflance of the divine Wifdom and Sagacity ; fince without it> 'tis impoffible to conceive how the Vntverfe could fubfift, how it could preferve that Synmetry, and maintain that Order and Regularity which in all its Parts we behold and admire. Of Affinity to this, is another Inftance of the divine The clr^ Wifdom, obfervable in the Circumvolution of the Planets cumvolu^ about the Body of the Sm. They had but onejlmple Mo- fiY^f*" tion'm the Beginning of the Creation imprefs'd upon them, about th» whereby they were propellM in a flraight Line ; but it was Body of by the divine JVifdom fo prudently contriv'd, that thefe ^^* ^^' Jimple Motions fliould receive fuch confiderable Alterations in their Determinations by the Attraction of the Sun, as to be bent into Curves : And tho every Minute they are endeavouring to go off, according to the DireElion of their frji-imprejld Motions in the Tangents of the feveral Circles they move in, yet they are ftill brought back again by the Attra^lion of the Sun, (or other central Bodies) and forced to move in a Circle round it. And fince by the Improvements made in the modern Aflronomy, the true Syflem of the Planetary World is difcovered, there are fuch mrprizing Marks of the profoundeft Wifdom in adapting the refpedlive Degrees of Motion and AttraBion in the Pla-^.ets, which do appear, as afford us mod: aftonifhing Inftances of that infinite Forefight which fo excellently dif- pofed them, and muft oblige us to pronounce of the whole, 'Tis God's doing, He alone hath made it. He kath form'd it. Phyf. I begin to be fenfible. Credent ius, of my Folly and Rafhuefs in attributing the Formation of fo wondrous and harmonious a Syftem, to a fortuitous Concourfe of dull and fenfelefs Atoms ; and am convinced, that Chance, which never yet was able to produce fo much as a mean humble Cottage, could not give Exiftence to the glori- ous Fabrick of the Earth and Heavens. I fhall therefore cxcufe your enlarging on this Head, and readily allow, tliat fo excellent a Creation could never be the Effed of mere 480 A Conference mere Matter and Motion t But ftill I have one Diffi- culty behind, to which you have as yet made no Reply ; and that is the unequal Diftribution of Good and Evil among Mankind. If there be a God, he muft doubtlefs bejuft; but how can we reconcile it to our common Notions of Juftice, that thofe who obey the divine Will with the ftri6teft Exadnefs, fhould be expofed to fo many Calamities, Injuries, and Afflidions; while thofe which defpife God, and trample on his Laws, are ftrong and mighty, and enjoy an uninterrupted Tide of Felicity and Voluptuoufnefs ! Such a moral Defeft is a far ftron- ger Objedion againft the Exiftence of a Deity, than any Arguments we can draw from the natural Frame of this World. For I confefs ingenuoufly, that thofe are often to be afcribed to our own Ignorance, rather than any real Blemifn in the Creation; but this Plea cannot be admitted in the prefent Cafe ; for if we know any thing, we undoubtedly know what is jufl: and what un- jufl, and we cannot be more certain of any thing, than we are, that a Being of infinite Goodnefs can never a6t in fo unjuft a manner, as to grieve and continually afflift the Righteous, and crown the daring Tranfgreflbr with the choiceft of his Bleffings. Clear me this Difficulty, Credentim, this is my principal Scruple, and if you can give mc a fatisfa6tory Solution, you will more than al- moft perfuade me to be a Believer. Phyfius'^ Cred. I blefs (jod, PhjJtHS, that fo little is wanting to la(t oij2c- jYiake you a perfeft Convert from Infidelity : I fay, fo twn anjwe- j-^^j^ , ^^^ nothing can be eafier than to give an unanfwe- rable Solution to this pretended formidable Objedion, and to vindicate the divine Majefty from all Imputations of Injuftice, on account of the Profperity of the Wicked, and the AfHiftions of the Righteous in this World. And this I fhall do, by proving clearly to your Conviction thefe two Things : Firfl, That the Objcftion is for the moft part falfe and groundlefs. And Secondly, That fo far as it is true, it is no Argument at all ags^nft the Exigence or Providence of God. Fivft 'With an At HEIST. 48 1 Firft then, I fay, this Objedion is in great meafure Good Men falfe and groundlefs; for if we make an exaft Scrutiny, "maej"ttor we fliall find, that in the ordinary Courfe of Things, ud uln^ good Men are more profperous even in this World than prof^emts. the Bad. The Ax, the Gibbet, and the Rack, are ap- pointed by God's Vicegerents, JVho bear not the Sword in vairti for the Punifliment of the Evil-Doer ; and thofe fecret Sins which efcape the Cognizance of the Magif- trate, are often puniihed with fuch loathfome ©ifeafes, fuch extreme Penury, or fuch agonizing Pangs of Con- fcience, as make Life a Burthen to the Soul, and as it were anticipate the Horrours of Hell in this World. The Good and Virtuous, on the contrary, generally enjoy Health of Body, and Peace of Mind, which are the chief Felicity of Life, and without which all the Plea- fures of this World are taftelefs and infipid : And even in thofe calamitous Times, when Religion is under Per- fecution, or a profperous Ufurpation triumphs, under all their Sufferings for theii- Duty to God and the King, they can comfort themfelves with the Profpeft of that Crown of Glory which is laid up for them in Heaven. Befides, our Paffions and Prejudices often miflead us into a wrong Judgement concerning the Perfonsand Ac- tions of Men : Thofe whom we love, we are always inclined to think well of, and thofe whom we hate wc generally cenfure with the utmoft Severity ; and then be- caufe God does not reward and punifli Men according to the Sentence which our fooliih Forwardnefs, and blind Envy pafiTes upon them, we rartily difpure the divine Juftice, and arraign the Decrees of Providence. The Hypocrify alfo of Mankind is fo great, that even where there is the greateft Shew and Oftentation of Virtue and Piety, we are liable to be mod miftaken; and many whofe Condud in the Eye of the World feems fair and unblemiHied, indulge themfelves fecretly in the Pradice of fuch heinous and crying Sins, as if known to the World, would extort from them an humble Confeflion of the Righteoufiiefs of all the Judgements with which I i God 48' A Conference God in his infinite Wifdomis pleafedto vifit them. Since therefore we are fo incompetent Judges of the Goodneis or Badnefs of Men's Lives, fince we are fo eafily decei- ved by the Artifices of the defigning Hypocrite, and fb frequently mifguided by our own Pamons and Prejudices ; we ought to leave off our profane Murmurings againft Providence, and to refign our fallible Judgements to the all-knowing Wifdom of him, who alone feeth what is in the Heart of Man, and who will render righteoufly to every Man according to his Works. 'Kisi.fons Secondly, Tho' it muft be acknowledged, that in many ■why the inflances the Way of the Wicked is feen to profper, and ef -'ooT^ Power is in the Hands of the OpprelTor, while the Men, and Righteous perifheth, and no Man layeth it to Heart, the Frofpe- apj when he crieth out in the Bitternefs of his Soul, he rtty of the f^^^,^^)^ ^q Comforter: yet this is no Objeftion againfl Wicked, are ,^.„ ^ ., -' r>->iriru°- mobjecti- the Exiltence or Providence of God, for the rollowmg ons agamft Reafons : Firfi, Becaufe many of the good and evil Things a God or of this World happen to us, not as Rewards and Punifh- ■ mentSj-but as neceflary Effefts of the ordinary Courfe of Secohd Caufes. Secondly, Becaufe this Life is only a State of Trial and Probation, not of final Retribution. Thirdly, Becaufe we are not to effeem our Condition in this World good or evil, by its prefent Satisfnclicn or Uneafinefs, but by its ultimate EfFefts and Confequen- ces. And lajilj, Becaufe fuch a promifcuous Diflribu- tion of Good, and Evil in this World, is requifite and iifeful to confirm our Belief of a future Judgement. I fhali enlarge a little on each of thefe Particulars, for your fartl"" r Sat!::f?.(5lion. ' '' My firff Obfcrvatfon was, that many of the good and evil Things of this World happen to us, not as Rewards and Punilhments, but as neceflary Effects of the ordinary Courfe of fecond Caufes. In this Life good and bad Men are fo mingled together, that in Cafes of common Calamities, whatever happens to the one, muff happen alfo to rb.e ether, v/ithour an immediate and miraculous Interpofiil of the divine Providence. Thus while God permits liuith a?^ A T H E I S T. 483 permits Second Caufes to proceed in their natural Courfe, how is it polTible that War, or Peftilence, or Fire, or Tempefts, or Famine, Ihouid diftinguilh between the Good and the Bad ? And fo long as free Agents are left to ad freely, wicked Parents will, by the repeated Ex- cefs of their Riot and Lewdncfs, entail Difeafes, Poverty, and Ignominy, on their righteous as well as unrighteous Pofterity. Neither can we reafonably expeft that God fliould, by a miraculous Interpoiition, avert all thcfc Ca- lamities from all good Men; for this cannot be done without giving a perpetual Difturbancc to the Courfe of Nature ,• which being, when confidered in the whole, fo orderly and regular, fo full of exquilire Beauty, and admirable Contrivance, ought not to be continually check'd and inverted for the particular Benefit of fom^ few Men, how good and ris^hteous foever. The Juftice of which AflTertion you will with much greater Wiliin^- nefs acknowledge^ when you have confider'd. Secondly, That this Life is only a State of Trial and Probation, not of final Retribution. The all-wife De- crees of Providence have placed us here as Candidates for Eternity ; and it is the VVill of God, to try and exercife us in all thofe Virtues, as well palfive as aflive, that are proper to our Nature, that improving from one Degree of Perfedion to another, we may be fitted and pi-epar'd for the final Reward of our Stcdfaftnefs the unfpeakable Enjoyments of celeftial Glory and PJcafure. And can we then wonder at the Afflictions wherewith the Righ- teous are tried and purified? or doubt of the Jufi:iC(S o£ God, when their light AtHivftion, which is but for a Moment, Iliall be rccompenced with fo bright i Crown, fuch an exceeding VVeight of eternal Glory ? Adverhty is the pi'oper Seafon for the Exercife of Faith, Patience, Fortitude, and Refignation to the divine Will,- 'and without it we ihould have no Opportunity to brino thofe Virtues into Ad. Nay, if the Righteous wer^ always profpsrous, and the Wicked always vifited witft^ fom 2 Judgement proportionable to their Guilt, all Virtui^ I i 2 would ^84. ^Conference would be at an end ; for the Freedom of the Will would be entirely thereby deftroyed ; and where there is no Freedom of Choice, there is no Virtue. Such a Proce- dure would by its conftant Influence on our Hopes and Fearf, violently compel us to obey the divine Commands ; for who would dare to be a Traytor, while the Ax is lifted up, and aimed at his Neck, ready for his immedi- ate Execmion, upon the Commiffion of the firft Of- fence? The Fear of inftantaneous Punifhment would then compel us to abftain from Fvil; and the Profped: of a fpeedy and certain Reward would irrefiflibly incite us to do Good : And what Excellency, or what Praifc, or what Virtue is there in fuch a conftrained Obedience? Thirdly, V/e are not to efteem our Condition in this World i^ood or bad, by its prefent Satisfaction or Unea- linefs, but by its ultimate EfFeds and Confequences. The divine Providence hath difpofed and conned:ed all Things into fuch a Series and Order, that there is no fingle Event or Accident, unlefs purely miraculous, but what depends on the whole Syftem, and hath innumera- ble Caufes antecedent to it, and innumerable Confequences attending it. Now what thofe Confequences will be» whether good or bad, is beyond our Skill to prognofti- cate : So that tho' our prefent Circumftances be ever fo bad, confider'd fingly and by themfelves ; yet if we had a clear and diftind View of all thofe Confequences in which they are to terminate, we ihould often find that Event which at firft feems moft calamitous and afflidive, to be moft beneficial and profperous in the final Refult of Things. To judge of the Happinefs or Mifery of good or bad Men, from a tranfirory View of their Con- dition, without having a due Regard to the future Con- fequences of the Profperity of the one, and Adverfity of the other, is extremely rafti and imprudent; and we dailv fee Caufe to repent of fuch a foolifti and hafty Judgement, and to acknowledge the Afflidions of the Righteous to be a great Bleffing, and the (hort-lived Felicity of the Unrighteous, a moft grievous and fatal Curfe.